Setting the Stage
Setting the Stage

Pin this, pin that. Like this, like that. I curate my Pinterest board and Instagram likes similar to a designer about to launch a new collection. The images have to inspire, have to spark. Entertaining photos make up a majority of the pie. Having my own home (or 60 square meters of space) means I have my own playground, my own canvas. It means I can decorate, entertain, create without abandon. I search and search for pretty things, dainty things, fun things to fill the table with. It still gets to me where stylists get all those stuff (a tree stump? glittered tablecloths? lavender sprigs?) but I guess what I find will do for now...

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Life & StyleDeanne BanaresDomesticity, Entertaining, Cooking, Decorating, Housewife Comments
Fem·i·nin·i·ty
Fem·i·nin·i·ty

Modern woman has a battlecry that sounds like a roar and a blast, like a man and a lion. Feminism is the word, isn't it? Let's fight for our rights, let's hand out flyers, let's take it to the streets because damn it, it's a man's world out there and it isn't fair. It isn't fair that they get dibs. It isn't fair that they get more money. It isn't fair that they rule. 

But you know what? That fight isn't fair to us either.

It isn't fair that we wish to be their equivalent, that we hope to share the same podium, that we dream of being like them. Because it was never meant to be that way... 

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ConversationsDeanne BanaresFemininity, Womanhood, Woman, Aya Cabauatan, Vania Romoff Comments
Bakers Gonna Bake
Bakers Gonna Bake

We're all used to hearing stories about the bigwigs, the trailblazers, the who's who. But what about the extraordinary stories of the ordinary people? Most of the time, they get lost in the muddle of all the glitz and glam which is a sad thing because these need to be heard and written about. After all, the everyday people - people like you and me - are the ones who make up majority of humanity's web. So with this blog, I've decided to seek these stories. The ones we can all learn from. The ones that show the rawness, the beauty of human life. Here's my second story:

When Interviewing Mian Dimacali

(production head of Mary Grace Café, cake designer, self-proclaimed peacock, and most importantly, my sister-in-law)...

1. Turn on the recorder of your phone to make her feel even more awkward. 'Seriously? Okay, now I have to watch what I say!'

2. Get deeply surprised when she says, 'I hated baking! I never wanted to fall into the same mold as my mom. When she would ask me to help her out in the kitchen, I would never understand what she was doing.' Note: You're surprised because she's actually really, really good at baking...

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ConversationsDeanne BanaresCake, Baking, Mary Grace, Pastry, New York Comments
The Turnover
The Turnover

Ah, it's ordinary time again. The decors have been boxed, the fridge cleaned out, the resolutions begun (or maybe not?). Don't call me a grinch but I particularly love this time of the year because silence takes over. Real life begins. And the calendar can finally be flipped. 

It's 2016, my friends. Well, it has been for almost two weeks now. But I still can't help and look back at what was. Facebook published a Year in Review, Instagram gave me the #bestofnine. Both collages left me feeling unsatisfied. So, in true Classy Musings form, I just thought about it. In chronological form, in vivid detail, as best as I can remember... 

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ConversationsDeanne BanaresNew Year, 2016, Life, Musings, Humility Comments