Glow by Lady E

  A couple weeks ago, we found a Calabarzon Exhibit in the mall while buying a snack .  I told the lady that we will just check out the fair while she cooked our orders. I found a booth that caught my eye.  Specifically these:  Then I looked to the right and found these: I went to look at the accessories and the lady said that they were all made with cacao shells.  And the bags were made with cacao leaves.   Cacao shells? Nibs? Leaves? I was hooked! For one, my son and I love cacao.  Aside from chocolate, we have tea, nibs, and tablea, a local product that is 100% cacao. (My food platform features some recipes using tablea.)  And now I can wear them? And there’s a story behind the pieces? Of course, I had to get a few.  These beautiful things taught me to look for beauty after everything is used.  After the fruit is taken. After the shell is emptied. After what was once valuable is set aside. Because even then— there is still somethin...

  And a pair of barrettes It started quietly. With a few pairs of earrings. Nothing dramatic or loud. No grand declarations.  Nothing that felt like a turning point at the time. Just something I picked up during a visit to Museo Kordilyera in Baguio — handmade pieces, woven from stories I didn’t fully understand yet, but somehow felt. I wore them every now and then. Not out of intention. Just because they were there. But something had already shifted. Not in how I dressed— but in how I started to see what I was wearing. I became brand conscious.  Not how the world perceives that term. But I was becoming conscious that I was wearing too many brands.  Too much fast fashion. I never understood how a shirt with a heart with eyes on it could cost Php5,000 (about $82). (I’m not throwing shade at you if you like wearing expensive, branded things. You do you! 😊  This is my story.)  But as an artist and creator,  I do understand the hard work and creati...