Typhoon Odette 2021

A week has gone and yet I’m still out of words, more heartbroken. Exactly a week ago as most of us went through our day normally, my home, the city where I grew up; Cebu City, Philippines experienced the worst typhoon to date. The next morning (US time, couple hours after the typhoon passed Cebu around 11:00 PM-Ph time), I woke up early all of a sudden and a rush came through my head about the typhoon since I’ve heard about it a week before which led me to check my phone immediately. And as soon as I opened Facebook, there it was; images and videos I never ever expected to see and statuses of friends that were just truly unbelievable. This immediately went from one rush to another- check on my family and relatives. I started calling yet I couldn’t get answers. I left multiple messages and just stayed up and updated for a couple of hours before I head out again to get on with the usual work day. Hours passed and I still haven’t heard anything though I understood at the same time services were mostly down at that time. I went through my day feeling anxious, worried, and I can’t help but overthink about my loved ones based on the damages I’ve seen so far that day thanks to social media. It took at least 24 hours for me to find out my loved ones are okay and it had to come from someone else and not directly from them. Just like everyone, I’m very very thankful my loved ones are okay and alive.

As we all know, this super typhoon hit other islands as well and the damages are truly devastating. And as someone who lives abroad, I get daily updates only via social media because there’s not much coverage worldwide and locally unfortunately. I know I haven’t written my thoughts here for a while now and as I’ve said before, writing has always been a safe space for me and I will always get back to it especially in times like this when I need to express my thoughts- just like before. The hardest thing about being away in this very hard time my city is going through is that I can only do less. I wish to physically be there and help everyone rebuild our city but I can only do so much and I will use whatever I have and whatever I can in order to help. So this is me finally saying something, expressing my heart out slowly and I will continue to help with ANYTHING through social media like I already have in the last couple days and privately with my loved ones. To everyone who got affected by the super typhoon that are reading this, I will never 100% understand what you went through and experience because I wasn’t there when it happened but I believe this too shall pass and I’m so amazed how everyone is working together and helping each other get through this rough holiday time. No matter what the situation is, everybody deserves a nice, safe, and healthy holiday. Let me know if it will be a good idea to start some donations here or through my social media because I’ve honestly been thinking about it. Just working with connections for it. Either way I’m helping any way I can.

x,

Zaira

Buy Me A Coffee?

Look who suddenly wrote something after all the years that went by since the last 'promising' post. If you've decided to give up on me for whatever reason, I totally understand and do still appreciate you for the support you've given me and this blog. But to everyone that's just been patiently waiting and hoping I'd come back, hey! Hi! I'm here and that's what matters. Now, just like before, I need you to be with me as I once again, FINALLY, come back to blogging. After all, I feel like it's one of the very few things I know I'll always love doing. This time though, will be very different from before and you will see and understand as we go along. For years I've always thought about the 'come back' post- what to say, and if I have to explain myself and update everyone about what has happened in my life. Well it always seemed like that's such a long way and I would rather not do that so, I've finally decided to just write something in a way how you see someone you haven't seen in so long. And this is it. The best way I know at least. Or if anything, buy me a coffee? And let's catch-up! This is a way for me to start building my website slowly, with your support, love, and patience. Buy me a coffee! Check the link below or click right on the yellow-colored button on the right side of my website. Thank you for being here, I appreciate you and I hope you'll keep hanging out here with me. Just like the old times. Don't forget your mask! 

  BUY ME A COFFEE HERE

Where I Left

I owe you one.

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It's a roller coaster. Every year is! But what makes this year any different? Where was I and what happened? I left every reader hanging and got stuck with inconsistent social media posts. People asked me why I stopped posting and when is my next post, I gave them the lamest answer for the most part; "I had too many photos to edit and barely have time." Let me know if that sounds convincing enough or not, okay? But this post is no excuse for me because ever since I started, this blog is mostly for you guys and I wouldn't be here without all of you. As always, I'll be concise and clear. The early months of the year didn't turn out as good for me as well as few months by the end. 'Life happens' as they say it, really hit me hard and made me understood what that really meant. It was like an indirect face slap! 

But as you can see, I'm still here. Yay! I believe I'm the best version of myself now despite all that had happened and I'm here to let you guys know that I will never be MIA and leave you hanging for a very long time again. This is my longest backlog and I could hardly believe it myself! Let's reunite and catch up because we've been through ups and downs together 😉

So, shall we?

I've got a lot of things to tell you and let me start by telling directly that I've gained weight this year. People who've seen me know it and they tell it straight to my face. It's quite a big ish for me since I never gained this much until this year. Quite an experience I have to say but to give you guys proof, I thought about starting where I left off. I still have backlogs and travel posts from last year and I'm definitely gonna start from there until we get to this year's post (see? I never forgot you guys! Im not that much of a bad blogger). Attending events, joined my first ever bazaar (just last month!), and exploring other make-up brands (like having my 2nd box of Kylie Cosmetics this year) are just some of the great things I've achieved this year. It isn't so bad after all!

P.S. This is NOT my year-end post. Lol.

So Much Love,

Zai