Love for the Duchess

When Kate Middleton and Prince William announced their engagement to the whole world, my reaction was something like this: She's going to be a princess and she's NOT THAT pretty?!

Okay, don't get me wrong. I wasn't hating because I was one of the millions of girls out there wishing  she were in Katie Kate's shoes.

I'm talking about them.

And I wasn't hating at all. It's just that I've been a devout fan of the late Princess Di (thanks to my Mom's obsession over her) and thus my brain's been wired to somehow think that all princess should look as beautiful and regal as this:

But last week, I was browsing through pictures of Kate M.'s during her visit to Canada and California with her husband and there's something in her that made me, uhm, love her a little. Okay, I confess. I love her now!

So what is it, you ask? 

Her sartorial choices. Specifically, her very CLASSY/IC, VINTAGE, CHIC, TASTEFUL yet MODERN sartorial choices. I know her clothes are not jaw-dropping, like fashion-forward jaw-dropping, but her style exudes elegance, class and refinement. I've always professed that I love classic, vintage and timeless style and fashion (and that's why I don't really like following fashion trends) so when I saw what she wore during her trip to the North, it didn't matter that she wasn't Princess-Diana-pretty. I now respect this woman.

Very chic and sophisticated. I'll look for a similar ensemble for work. :)

Keeping it casual and laid-back. Ooooh, very nice.

I love this gown that she wore to the BAFTA soiree in California. It's very simple yet elegant. And classy.

I love the lace details on the shoulder! I must find a similar dress!!!

I'm not a big fan of the maple-leaf inspired hat but I absolutely love the cream wrap-around dress. And her shell-shaped, tasseled gold clutch is just love!

Little Miss Sunshine! I love her yellow dress! I saw a similar one at a department store! I'll definitely get it next week! :)

Bloody lovely. :)

I've seen her wear several dove-gray dresses. It must be one of her favorite colors.

Oooooh, I saw a navy blue lace dress that's similar to this piece she's wearing! I'll get it next week too! Yay! (And BOO! to getting broke!)

This wasn't taken during their C & C trip but I just had to include this one. Too pretty for words.

Fierce!

Aaaaah. I love this green dress of hers. And on her. I must find a similar one.

I must say I am now a Kate-konvert. She's definitely in my list of fashion/style icons/idols. I can't wait to see what she'll be wearing next in her public appearances!

Who Should We Love

I think this is something we should have been told to look for in a guy instead of these: "Find someone from a prominent family." "Find someone who's rich." "Find someone who has the same lineage as you." "Find someone who's successful career-wise."

Love someone who loves you not only for who you are but also for who you are not.

Love someone who truly takes care of you, someone who goes out of his way to be there for you.

Love someone who treats you like a princess, like a queen even when he knows that you are not a real-life royalty.

Love someone who loves and respects his mother and sisters...because a man who has those for the women in his life will surely treat you the same way.

Love someone who is not only kind and respectful to you but to others as well.

Love someone who can make you laugh with the silliest of things.

Love someone whom you can wrestle and play tickles with.

Love someone who is simple, humble and down-to-earth.

Above all, love someone who sacrifices so much to be with you, someone who does something out of the ordinary to take care of you, love you, and be his wife.

Alright, I Confess: My IQ is Equal to My Shoe Size.

I was in the middle of drafting a pleading when I learned that there's this person--okay, he's not just some random person; he's my mother's cousin, that is, my uncle--spreading this unfounded theory that I am not a law graduate of University of Santo Tomas but of Far Eastern University; that my paternal relatives are exaggerating my academic achievements and; that I am not really as smart as I seem to be or as some people would like to impress upon others.

My initial reaction upon learning about this very factual and truthful assertion?

I laughed out loud. Yes, LOL.

I can't help but feel sorry for this person. He must be leading a very, very miserable life that he had to go to the extent of maligning and discrediting the accomplishments of his OWN relative. (BTW, let this be a notice to the whole world, to the cosmos that I am hereby severing my familial ties with this person and from now on, I am no longer associated or affiliated with this vermin in any way.)

First of all, I would like to make it clear that I don't owe anyone an explanation. I don't have to publicly show my credentials to prove that I rightfully earned them. Hell, I don't even have to prove anything to anyone. But because the rumor of my imbecility came from a[n] (erstwhile) relative and of the fact that in this country, silence is always taken to mean implied admission, I shall present to you  hereinbelow the truth as honestly, objectively and fairly as I can.

If you're interested, read on.

There is truth to Mr. Miserable's (we'll call him that for purposes of this entry) claim that I studied in FEU. That's true. But what I took up from there was my pre-law course (AB Political Science). I studied law at the Faculty of Civil Law, UST. Thus, the contention, or better yet, the LIE that I am not a law graduate of UST, that I am not a Thomasian lawyer is utterly a product of Mr. Miserable's misery, jealousy, insecurities and psychotic tendencies.

Assuming for the sake of argument that I were indeed a graduate of FEU Law, what is wrong with that? 

Let it be noted that I am not impugning Mr. Miserable's assertion that I am an FEU law graduate because I am ashamed of my alma mater. I am doing so simply because it is not true!

I have always been proud of being an alumna of FEU. I've always considered myself a Tamaraw, even while I was at UST. I am proud of FEU not just because I took up my undergraduate course there but because it's from there that I learned and earned what I needed to survive law school and eventually pass the bar exams. Whatever I achieved and am presently achieving academic- and career-wise, it is hugely because of how the FEU educational system has positively molded me, my learning and my character. So to Mr. Miserable, I'm very sorry but you can't bring me down by broadcasting to the whole nation that I am actually from FEU because I, in truth and in fact, am and I'm very, very proud of it.

So how do I prove to you that I did study law at UST? 

Well, I can present to you an array of evidence. But I'm not going to do that because I don't want to descend to your pitiful, grim world. It's miserable down there. Awww. I commiserate with you.

To those who want to get to the bottom of this, who are curious or who are simply nosy, visit www.ustlawreview.com. There, you will see that I served as Associate Case Law Editor, Articles and Jurisprudence Editor and, later on, Editor-in-Chief of the UST Law Review, the official law journal of the Faculty of Civil Law. I wrote three articles for the said legal journal. You can find it all in there. Now, if that isn't enough for you, I don't know what is...because, to borrow a line from President Obama,  "I would say that I can't spend all my time with my UST diploma plastered on my forehead."

As to the asseveration that my paternal relatives are exaggerating my academic and professional achievements, they plainly are not. They are just PROUD of me because, after all, that's how  NORMAL people should feel when someone they have blood and familial ties with achieve something as huge as passing the bar exams. To make things easier for you to understand, Mr. Miserable, what I'm in effect saying is that YOU ARE NOT NORMAL. You  are mentally challenged. You should see a psychologist/psychiatrist/therapist soon. May Allah help you get well.

Going to the final asseveration that I am NOT smart, I must confess it's true: I'm an imbecile. I'm dumb. I'm stupid. My IQ is equal to my shoe size (US/Canada) which is 10. Maybe that's why I graduated with a summa cum laude distinction. Maybe that's why I was a dean's lister in law school. Maybe that's why I passed the bar exams!

I am used to being a constant and/or favorite subject of speculations and rumors (I don't know why, I am by no means a celebrity) so this recent false accusations shouldn't bother me at all, right? But no. I am somehow disappointed not because of the stupid and unsupported allegations per se but because of the fact that the person who is spreading these things is, or should I say WAS, an uncle! It's dismaying that, in many instances, the people you expect to be proud of you are actually the ones who are determined to drag you down with them.

Oh well. I guess that's one ugly reality in this life that I must accept. I'll just pray for Mr. Miserable and others like him that God grant them more blessings than I have been receiving so they won't have to resort to fabricating stories to make their lives a wee bit interesting. And I pray that Mr. Miserable be saved from the fangs of KARMA because I know some people who got a good dose of its venom because of gossiping about innocent people. And by innocent, I mean those people who have not done anything wrong to these gossip- and rumormongers so as to justify the latter's schemes  and attempts to destroy the former. Ahem ahem. Don't be consumed by your insecurities and jealousy, Mr. Miserable. Everyone I know who allowed those to eat them up ended up more miserable than they've ever been. Be humble enough to admit and surrender to the fact that there are just others out there who are better than you. Like me. Haha. =)

I won't be surprised if the next rumor I hear about me is that I actually didn't pass the bar. Keep them coming because, with what you're doing, you're actually giving the Two-Headed Eagle more inspiration and motivation to soar even higher than she already is!

Spread love and peace, y'all.

NBC

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/obama-can-t-plaster-birth-certificate-on-forehead-48132&cp

 

When the Light Bulb Lights Up the Most

Most of the time, our brains come up with the best ideas when we're not forcing it to do so and/or when we're doing the simplest of tasks.

This morning, I had an epiphany of sorts--an idea for a strong argument in a tax case I'm presently handling came running across my cranium while I was cooking my baon for work at 2 AM. Brilliant. =)

One of Our Earlier Dates

Handwritten Entry 01

I Always Wonder

When will the Two-Headed Eagle take off, soar and conquer the skies?

Dresses, Shoes and Women are Mint to Be

Yesterday, I got my pay for the week. Yesterday also, I spent almost the entirety of that pay on shoes, dresses and really pretty blazers. Ahhhh, the dilemma of being a woman. I'll post pictures of my shameless purchases hopefully this coming weekend. Maybe then you'll see why I couldn't resist buying them. I'm actually now wearing one of the dresses, one of the blazers and one of pairs of shoes I bought last night for the Pilipinas Natin event later this afternoon. The event will be graced by President Noynoy himself. Hence my extra effort to dress up. :)

Speaking of dresses, I am currently obsessing over mint green dresses. I saw one at the SM Makati Department Store last April while I was looking for a dress to wear for the oath-taking ceremony but it's freakin' expensive. It's almost P6,000! But it's really, really pretty. I hope it's on sale by now. I can't wait to have it as an addition to my miserably empty closet.

Here are some photos of mint green dresses I found on the net. Aren't they beautiful? The color just looks very cool and calming in  the eyes.

I WANT. Nuff said.

Why not? :)

Freida Pinto looks very regal and ravishing in this mint green gown.

It's for kids, I know, but I think it'd be great if there would be a version for adults. :)

This is very lovely. I must have something similar to this in my closet.

Oooh, I want.

Incidentally, I don't see celebrities wearing this color that much. I think it's time this color become the new black. It's too pretty it deserves to be seen more on the red carpet...or in any ordinary lady's wardrobe.

What do you think? Sound off below!

Smooches,

NBC

March 17, 2011: The Day I Earned Those Four Letters and a Period

MARCH. It's the month that every 2010 bar candidate dreaded--because it was the month the results of the bar examinations would be released.

As far as I was concerned, I had rather ambivalent feelings for the month. On one hand, I didn't want it to arrive simply because I didn't want to be told that I flunked. That's understandably every bar examinee's worst nightmare. On the other hand, I just wanted the agony of waiting to end. I no longer wanted Damocles' sword hanging over my head. I wanted to know the results so I could plan on what to do next and get on with life. Or end it. Kidding. But yeah, I did think of killing myself if I failed. I know, I'm such a loser.

Days before the bar results actually came out, I received an SMS from a friend, saying that judgment day (or Doomsday, at least for me) would be March 18. From then on, I started weeping like a bereaved mother.

On March 16, my best friend informed me that the results would be  released the following day. Wait, I thought. I was earlier told that it would be on March 18. I argued with her. I didn't want to believe what I was just told. I wasn't ready. No, I wasn't prepared to be told that I didn't make it...because the pessimistic schizo that I am, I'd never fully convinced myself during the entire six-month waiting period that I would pass.

I finally surrendered and stopped pointlessly arguing with her when she said that the information came from our school dean. 

So it must be true. Can I die right now?

I went to bed and started crying. It was the only way I knew  how to do to deal with something as overwhelming as the bar exam results.

For someone as desperate to pass as I was, I surprisingly didn't pray that I make it. I just felt that it would serve no purpose since the results had already been determined. It was just a matter of putting them out publicly, a matter of letting the examinees know whether they made the cut or not. So instead, I prayed for strength, for courage to let me accept whatever the result might be.

March 17. It finally arrived. My best friend and I decided to wait for the news together. We headed to SM Mall of Asia  at around 2:30 PM to watch a movie. We thought it was the only way we could half distract ourselves from being too immersed in the "imminent peril" that was about to hit us.

We chose to see the animated film Rango, "starring" Johnny Depp's voice. When we got inside the cinema, I dragged my best friend to the uppermost seats because I knew that, although we were about to watch a light-themed, animated film, I was going to cry (yes, again) for the rest of the day. Or maybe for the many years to come.


Midway through the movie, we were informed that the release of the results would be at 5 PM. It was around 4:30 PM when we received that information. At that point, I already accepted my fate--that I failed the bar exams. 


I did my best. It's not time yet. Maybe it's not the end of the world. I'll take it again next year. So what if people will laugh at me? They have no fcuking idea what I went through. Those were the thoughts running around my head at that point in time.


At around 4:45 PM, my best friend texted her friend whose mom is a clerk at the Supreme Court. She sent her a list of names, including ours, and asked if those names were in the list.


GULP.


My best friend's phone rang. Her friend replied. GULP. The message read:


"You (my best friend) passed! X, Y and Z made it. Nesrin B. Cali also passed. Congratulations! x x x"


My brain went completely blank. I didn't know what to say. I hugged my best friend so tight and cried (uh-huh, I told you I was  going to cry infinitely) silently.


We decided not to finish the movie and headed outside.  We were walking around the mall, not exactly knowing where to go. We were flying. We were floating. We wanted to scream and jump around like crazy but our rational selves prevented us from doing so. Oh boy do I want to preserve that feeling beyond forever. By far, it the HAPPIEST MOMENT of my life.


We didn't want to inform our families of the news because the official announcement from the Supreme Court wasn't out yet. We wanted to be careful--what if the news relayed to us was incorrect for some reason? 


Minutes after 5, my best friend's sister called, telling us that she saw our names in the list of passers published in the Supreme Court website. That's when it utterly sank into me that, fcukyeah, I AM NOW A LAWYER.


We stayed in the mall for an hour or so. We were just running, and dancing around (by that time, our rational selves were suppressed by  the uncontainable happiness, excitement and elation that overtook us), loudly calling each other "Attorney!" in public (yes, losers, I know) until we got exhausted and went home to get some sleep...peaceful, sound sleep that wasn't interrupted by horrific nightmares of us failing the bar. Ahhh, we hadn't slept like that in a long, long time.


During the months that I was waiting for the results, there was never a moment that I felt confident that I would pass. And that's because I knew I wasn't able to give my 1000% in preparing for the exams. I was going through some personal turmoil during the bar review. I was so distracted and unfocused then that I started properly reviewing  in July (the exams were held in September). Plus, there were times too that I was slacking off. I would sleep more than I should (haha). I knew that if I failed, I had no one to blame but myself.


But with Allah's grace and with the help of the people who took care of me during the bar review/exams (Hello to my best friend's family! I love you guys!), I earned my "Atty." in my first take. Alhamdulillah, ya Allah. 


To this day, I still get teary-eyed every time I remember the whole crap I went through to have those four letters and a period before my name. Law school, bar review, bar exams month (which will be the subject of another blog entry if I get the time to do it), waiting for the bar results--they make up the whole of that crap. Working as a lawyer is an entirely different story. Or crap. Haha. But I'm not being querulous. Being a lawyer may entail more hardship than law school but I have no reason to complain. This has been my dream since high school. It's finally a reality. But even so, it still feels surreal. Up until this point, I still can't believe I'm a lawyer. I always forget that I am. I am only reminded of such fact when I sign my pleadings. :)
 

Taken during the testimonial dinner for new UST lawyers. :)

April 14, 2011: Oath-taking ceremony of the 2010 bar exams passers. :)

This is so Kim Kardashian. The pose, that is. Eeew.

With my lovely sister, Nellie. She's been with me all throughout the bar exams/results crap. <3

Office of the Solicitor General. :)

 
Till my next post. 


Love,


ATTY. Nesrin B. Cali
Admitted to the Bar on April 18, 2011
Roll No. 59447
IBP No. 859521


(I know this is too "provincial", if you know what I mean, but I've been a lawyer for barely three months and I'm still euphoric about it...so yeah, forgive me if I seem to be overly excited about placing that designation before my name. :D)

Dreams Derailed Me

I know I should be happy. Well, I am happy. But I guess I dream too much. And I expect them to become a reality. Dreaming has left me derailed and depressed. I've always wanted to be great at something, to be known for something. But that desire has left me wounded several times. And I never seem to learn.


Maybe I should stop dreaming. No, I SHOULD stop dreaming. I should stop reaching for the star because I now know I don't have the wings to have them in my arms. I'm not meant for great things as I believed. I'm meant for mediocrity.