Win Tickets to Blogopolis 2013: #INTOTHEWILD Weaving Information for Leaders of the Digital World!

Last year, I was a speaker at Nuffnang's Blogopolis 2012 where I not only shared my learnings from years of blogging, I also got a lot of valuable insights from other bloggers as well.

This year will be no exception, and Nuffnang is taking our blogging know-how a step further with Blogopolis 2013: #INTOTHEWILD, Weaving Information for Leaders of the Digital World. I will be a speaker again this year, where I will talk about how we can use social media to guide traffic to our blogs.

Here's the brief:

This year, we are taking you to the Information Jungle. With the surge of social media, and other online platforms, we want to help you make sense of the digital world. Key speakers will be discussing social media know-how and digital marketing and advertising trends. Blogopolis 2013 is a day-long event starting with plenary sessions in the afternoon, and a post-conference party at night where key influencers in the industry will be awarded.

Blogopolis 2013 is open to everyone - bloggers, social media influencers, students, digital marketing officers, and advertisers, and anyone who is interested in the world of digital, particularly social media.
 

The line-up of speakers for this year are:

- Abe Olandres for The Cycle of Ads: How to Make Social Media Advertising Effective
- Aisa Ipac for Taking your Readers Offline: Successful Ways to Mount a Blog Event
- Christine Dychiao for Blog Fund: 10 Ways to Guide Back Traffic to Your Blog Using Social Media - Googly Gooeys (Tippy & Pong Go) for The Media Kit: Creating a Compelling Blog and Social Media Proposal
- Jeff Lo for Blog Thy Neighbor
- Jim Paredes for The New Nation 2.0
- Josh Vilanueva for Youtube: The Next Frontier

- Aris Olea (Creator of ConjuRain) Macky Lopez (Gwiyomi “Nasaan na si Mikay?”) for Going Viral

It will be a great opportunity to attend! You may sign-up for a slot at the Blogopolis 2013 website or you may try your lucky by scoring a ticket for yourself and a friend by joining my giveaway! I am giving away 10 tickets to 5 winners who will get 2 tickets each!

Join by using the Rafflecopter widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Incidentally, Nuffnang will also hold its first Nuffie Awards to recognize the contributions of selected online influencers!

Vote for your favorites HERE.

The Categories are:

The Game Changers
1. The Webmeister (Best Blog Layout of the Year)
2. The Newsroom (Best Source of Information of the Year)
3. The Jokebox (Funniest Influencer of the Year)
4. The Following (Best Community Engagement)
5. Bloggers’ Choice Award

The Movers & Shakers
1. The Social Engineer (Best Social Media Advocacy of the Year)
2. The Imagineer (Blogs with Best Photos)
3. The Rookie
4. The One for Zero (Twitter Influencer of the Year)
5. The N Factor (Blogger of the Year)
6. The Chosen One (Influencer of the Year)

I've been nominated for the N Factor, and it would be super great if you can vote for me too! Heehee.

Watson's Health, Wellness & Beauty Awards 2013

Watsons, the leading health and beauty retailer that provides you with everything you need to look good and feel great, honors this year’s biggest and brightest brands in the Watsons Health Wellness Beauty (HWB) Awards.  

Because aside from great savings, exclusive member privileges, and freebies, Watsons wants to recommend the most effective products for your daily health and beauty needs.

Now on its ninth year, The Watsons HWB Awards 2013 recognizes the most outstanding brands in terms of sales, promotions, customer service, and overall product excellence. 

Watsons holds the annual HWB Awards to help consumers choose only the best health, personal care, skincare, cosmetics, and hair care products, so they get more value for their money.

Among this year’s Beauty winners of the HWB Awards are the following: 

Maybelline for Mascara Brand of the Year, ProActiv for Acne Care Brand of the Year, Dove Hair Care for Shampoo Brand of the Year, Kojie San for Bath Soap Brand of the Year, Colgate for Oral Whitening Brand of the Year, Ralph Lauren for Prestige Fragrance Brand of the Year, and Nivea Men for Men’s Grooming Brand of the Year. 

For Health &Wellness categories, some of the winners are:  

Myra E for Adult Vitamin Brand of the Year, Ceelin for Children’s Vitamin Brand of the Year, Ascof for Cough Remedy Brand of the Year, ATC Redoxfat for Slimming Brand of the Year, and Belo Glutathione for Whitening Brand of the Year. 

Spot the winners of the HWB Awards. Visit any Watsons branch and look for the Watsons Recommends Seal of Excellence: 

For the complete list of the winners, visit www.watsons.com or visit www.facebook.com/WatsonsPH and follow @watsonsph on Twitter.

Mompreneur Summit 2013

Calling all entrepreneurs and aspiring mompreneurs!

Want to have a productive Saturday? I would recommend that you check out Mompreneur Manila's 2nd Mompreneur Summit, happening at the Blue Leaf Events Pavilion at McKinley Hill in Bonifacio Global City this Saturday, September 14, 2013.

The theme this year is Passion and Purpose, which aims to encourage and inspire mompreneurs to create and establish businesses created for a cause and founded with heart. These two driving forces are the keys behind every successful business—both of which are values innate to every mompreneur. 

The summit aims to help mompreneurs develop these values, helping them re-discover the passion to achieve something on top of being an active mom and successful homemaker, and uncover a greater purpose and a deeper, more meaningful motivational drive in finding fulfillment in their businesses through its impact on other people’s lives.

If you want to discover and further develop your passion and also find purpose in your trade, this is for you. Featuring a workshop on finding the meaning behind one’s business, this year’s summit will discuss points that go above and beyond entrepreneurial success.

The 2nd Mompreneur Summit features speakers to provide valuable learnings and insights. Following is the programme line up: 

Doing Well while Doing Good
AMOR MACLANG 
Director of PR and Communications, Geiser Maclang Marketing Communications

Positioning a Brand for Success: The Havaianas Story
ANNE ARCENAS-GONZALEZ 
Managing Director, Terry S.A., Philippines

Big Biz or Small Biz: Purposeful Branding
AJ and AUDREY DIMARUCOT 
Founders, Googoo and Gaga Clothing

Harnessing Passion Towards Success
JENNI EPPERSON 
Lifestyle Blogger, Media Personality, and Stylist

Using Multiple Intelligences to Make a Difference
JOY ABAQUIN 
Founder, Multiple Intelligence International School

Participation Fee to the 2ND MOMPRENEUR SUMMIT is P3,000/ person
*fee is inclusive of a conference kit, lunch, and morning and afternoon snacks.

For inquiries, email info@mompreneurmanila.com.

There's a Day Care for moms with kids in tow! Just advise via email that you will bring the kids so that organizers can register them.

Ready and raring to go? SIGN UP FOR THE 2nd MOMPRENEUR SUMMIT HERE! Limited slots are available. 

Furthermore, this year’s summit’s main highlight is also the 1st Mompreneur Awards, where the hard work, passion and innovation of successful mompreneur-led businesses will be given recognition. During the event, awards will be presented to the most admired mompreneurs in the following categories: Brand Positioning and Strategy, Brand and Product Innovation, PR and Word of Mouth Marketing, Web and Social Media Marketing, Social Mompreneurship and Advocacy.

Cole Vintage Blume 2013

At Cole Vintage, fashion is always in season, and for 2013, it is at full bloom. 

The 2013 collection called Blume, brings us a little hint of femininity, with loads of style. Timeless cuts come in brighter hues and all-time favorites are given edgier twists. 

Bold colors, bolder prints, forever classics. Cole Vintage is in season and in Blume. 

Which look is your fave?

Cole Vintage is available at The Ramp Crossings Glorietta/Trinoma/Shangrila, The SM Store Makati/Aura/North Edsa, Miabella Serendra, and The Podium.

SM Kids Fashion Celebrates Toon Fest Street Style

I'll admit it. When I was 12, I wore Snoopy jeans.

Snoopy jeans!

In fairness, the fit was great, the wash was a perfect light blue that went well with my Tretorn sneakers and pastel Esprit t-shirts.  But, it had a semi-gartered waistline and by all intents and purposes was meant to be worn by a kid. A kid.

Hey, when you're 12 and you still wear Snoopy jeans, you tend to blow things out of proportion and think of it like a social disaster waiting to happen. 

But kids these days are luckier. Because their clothes are just so much sassier. They've got so many options, and they can mix and match clothes without looking like their parents played tricks on them through their closet. Yes, even if there's a wide, toothy grin on the cartoon character emblazoned across a t-shirt.

“Kids have a fashion sense all their own,” says Ms. Jo Dy Juanco, Vice President of Children’s Fashion Management Corp. “SM Kids’ Fashion gives them a unique opportunity to exercise their creativity through what they wear each day.”

I got a sneak peek of the SM Kids Fashion Toon Fest line-up of clothes, which will be celebrated via The SM Kids' Fashion Toon Fest happening on August 30-September 1 at the SM Megatrade Hall 2 in Megamall. While they are character-based, you can't help but let out a little, "ooooh".

Many pieces are seriously cute and wearable. This is because the theme for this year is "Street Style", and the toon-themed clothes are designed to be worn with our kids' favorite closet staples. Just like my Snoopy jeans, they went with my trendy sneakers (well, Tretorns are classics now, heehee) and my Esprit logo tees, and looking back, were quite chic in fact.

In line with the street style theme, SM Kids’ Fashion is also hosting a Dream Photo Shoot Contest, where kids can come up with their most creative take on cosmopolitan wear. Contestants get a moment in the spotlight, a personal photo session with a renowned photographer, and the chance to become the next face of SM Kids’ Fashion.

So parents, doting aunts, uncles and grandparents, calendar this. This year’s SM Kids’ Fashion Toon Fest will take place from August 30-September 1 at the SM Megatrade Hall 2.

The SM Kids’ Fashion Toon Fest is an entertaining trade event where kids of all ages can meet and mingle with their favorite personalities and explore current trends in apparel. Favorites Garfield, Snoopy, Robby Rabbit, and Barbie, among others, debut with engaging images on clothes perfect for kids to learn and play in. 

Aside from an exciting selection of toon-themed clothing, booths at the affair exhibit charming attractions. Young visitors can take a stroll around a thrilling Toon City populated by famous faces with various exhibits, games, and merchandise for both boys and girls. 

Flashback to Chloé

Early this year, around March thereabouts, Barneys came out with a capsule collection of Chloé's greatest hits. Case in point, the Chloé Paddington, flared denims, and this wedge, among others:

I fancy myself a Chloé girl, circa S/S 2006. That was the season Phoebe Philo returned from her maternity leave, and came out with a collection that inspired me then as it does today:

Phoebe Philo for Chloe, S/S 2006 via style.com

Eyelets and cutouts are hot again this season, so whenever I look for white tops and dresses, I somehow can't help but look for something reminiscent of Chloé's S/S 2006 pieces. Now if only I could travel back in time.

Make Your Own Havaianas 2013

I've been out of the Manila scene for years that I have never ever been to a Make Your Own Havaianas event ever. Ever, ever.

I would see MYOH in photos and read about it in the papers and in blogs. My friend Conci is a fanatic. She goes and lines up practically each year. But I'd be like, I love Havaianas but I do not love those lines and I am not a big fan of squeezing into a crowd. I'm happy with my factory-made Havaianas.

But then! My friend Janice aka Mommy Mundo invited me and the rest of the SoMoms to the media  launch yesterday, and that's when I realized what the craziness is all about.

Me with Jackie, Kris, Jenny, Cai and Jen - nakikiuso ang mga nanay, photo courtesy of @havaianasphils

First, there's the limited edition pair that's only available to buy during the MYOH days.

Each year, Make Your Own Havaianas features a commemorative pair that best visualizes the theme for the year. This year’s theme is “Imagination” and it also happens to be the first-ever collaboration with a Filipino Illustrator and Havaianatico, Dan Matutina, who is renowned for his unique visual mix of handmade and digital, clean and dirty, and old and modern aesthetics.’

“Dan Matutina + Havaianas” is the first glow-in-the-dark MYOH commemorative pair with carbon blue sole and shows two spacemen with space markers connecting the stars to form images— representing how Havaianas invites each and everyone to let loose their creativity brought about by their boundless imagination.

Here's how the glow in the dark Havaianas look like. Eeeez for realz!

Incidentally, when we entered Rockwell Tent, guess what I saw? The Havaianas hot air balloon, with the balloon made entirely out of slippers...

Berry was just inside a few weeks ago, heehee:

We had walked past it on our way to Serendra and she begged to go back to High Street just so she could have a picture inside it. Cute!

Now back to MYOH. 

The next reason is the energy! OMG. It's so fun! From the time you fill out your MYOH form to the actual moment when the Havaianas kid goes and looks for your soles, strap and pins, its exciting ha.

Then when they start putting in the straps...

Punching in the pins...

To seeing your actual slippers all done, just the way you imagined. It's quite a thrill!

So take your imagination to greater heights this summer at Make Your Own Havaianas 2013. Experience the summer vibe that never goes out style with the world’s favorite rubber flip-flops brand. Take part in the Havaianas story on May 2 to 5, 2013 at the Rockwell Tent!

I'm going back and hope to see you there! For more details visit:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/HavaianasPhilippines
Twitter: www.twitter.com/HavaianasPhils
Instagram: www.instagram.com/HavaianasPhils

PS - Incidentally, you get 10% OFF plus pay using your points or miles when you Make Your Own Havaianas when you use your Citibank card!

Summer Sunnies 2013: Dolce & Gabbana

Do you know what D in D&G stands for? It's for Donya. Yes, "Donya". Because these D&G Sicilian Baroque sunnies are just so "Donya". I love the ornate relief design of gilded roses and unfurling foliage on sunglasses - it's like jewelry and sunnies rolled into one:

twine of roses and foliage in baroque style on the front...

...and on the temples

There's a less elaborate design, without the roses on the front. It's less "in your face", but just as gorgeous.

What I noticed from this season's collection of sunnies at BLI, and this is across all brands, is the focus on details. Little details that may or may not be instantly noticeable, but make a pair of sunnies special. Like the chain link detail on the temples of this pair...

Or the ubiquitous D&G logo on this one...

These D&G sunnies are available at LS Pascual Optical Rockwell and Shangri-la, Almeda Shangri-la, Almeda Shangri-la, Sarabia Rockwell and Adora.

Wait for more of my posts on the hottest shades of summer from BLI. In the meantime, for updates, follow LuxuryEyewearPH on Twitter and Instagram and Like them on Facebook!

Branded Lifestyle Inc. (BLI) is the distributor of luxury & fashion eyewear in the Philippines.  Brands in their portfolio include Coach, Tory Burch, Polo Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Miu Miu, Prada, Versace, Paul Smith, Oliver Peoples, Bvlgari and Tiffany & Co.

googoo&gaga Animals&Stripes

When I saw a sneak peek of googoo&gaga's latest collection for this season, I just couldn't help but squeal at the cuteness! It's like Christopher Kane gets a huge does of cute with the fluffiest animals thrown into the mix, and then set against eye popping summer stripes.

The inspiration? Well, according to Audrey, AJ has always wanted to do a collection inspired by some of his favorite animals, so he set photos against a backdrop of delicious candy-colored, almost-neon, stripes. Stripes of course, will always be a summer trend staple, forever reminding us of the sun and the sea. 

The collection is called, Animals & Stripes.

And I think, I want the shirt versions for myself too! Eeeep! Too cute!

 

Googoo & Gaga's Animals & Stripes Collection launches this weekend at Expo Mom at The Rockwell Tent. See you there!