Do not settle.

So, I saw this on Cosmopolitan Philippines' Facebook page today:

And then I wrote this:

Dear Cosmo,

No. Just no.
Please do not tell women to settle.

If a woman wants a Stan Smith, she should get a Stan Smith.

And yes, I know it can be hard to find a Stan Smith nowadays, but if that's what you really want, then that's what you should get.

And if you want it in green, then you should go the extra mile to find it in green.

Don't get it in pink just because "andyan na eh" or coz "pwede na yan, cute naman eh".

No. Do not settle.

Find those gosh darned green Stan Smiths coz you deserve them.

And when I say green Stan Smiths, I mean the originals. Don't get the fake ones coz they're "easier to find" and coz "less hassle". You'll just end up spending more on something that merely felt like the real thing, but wasn't.

Again: do not settle.

And trust me: a Stan Smith is worth the wait. It will be exactly what you dreamt it would be. You just need to be patient.

Love,
Lil Miss Hugot

Do You Want to Join the Cosmo Team?

Sometime in March 2011, I sent in an application to Cosmopolitan magazine, answering one of their ads: the search for the next Cosmo.ph intern. And, on April 14, I was interviewed by Trixie Reyna and Cereb Gregorio along with 14 other hopefuls for the job.

I hadn't been inside the Summit HQ since my Candy Council of Cool days (which was - OMG - almost a decade ago already!), so it really blew my mind when I got there. I swear: Summit is the breeding house of fashionistas and ultra attractive people.

Anyway, being Little Miss Punctual, I got there half an hour early, which meant that I was actually the first one there (what a nerd!), but I was also the first one out of there (so ha!).

The first thing I had to do was just talk to Trixie and Cereb about why I wanted to work for Cosmo, what my favorite bits were in the magazine and what experiences I had in the industry - all while being videotaped by Nikki, one of their then-interns. And then I had to pretend that I was interviewing Natalie Portman… and since I tend to over-pretend at times, I actually ended up getting a little starstruck and tongue-tied. Can you say 'loser'? Still, I left the HQ exuding the amount of confidence you would expect from, well, someone that exudes an extraordinary amount of confidence. So, it really pained me when I didn't hear from them after the weekend. Or even the week after. And the week after that.

But, lo and behold! While I was out shopping with the baby and the baby-daddy the other day, I got an unexpected text from Cereb. She then called to apologize for not getting back to me sooner and then told me that they were interested in hiring me to start on the 20th of June. Suffice to say, I almost died. After all, working for Cosmo has been my dream since I started reading it (without my mother's knowledge) ten years ago.

Now, I'm supposed to leave for Davao on the 21st of June and for Cebu on the 15th of July. But, hey, Cosmo > random trips around the country, right? And who knows? I might get lucky and get to go anyway.

me, reading a back issue of Cosmo in my

black Forever 21 Hello Kitty tank top

Do you want to be a Cosmo intern, too? Then you're in luck because Cosmo is still searching for more interns. All you have to do is send your resume and writing samples to webmaster@cosmo.ph!