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I love your post about your kind of boy, Ines! Your story is so sweet and inspiring! I really hope that someday, I’ll find my dream guy too. (I’ll start praying the novena to St. Joseph that you sent us! Hehe!) He doesn’t have to be perfect—because duh, nobody’s perfect!—but he should have the following qualities:

1) A strong faith in God.

2) Can talk to me about anything and everything.

3) Loves and accepts me for who I am.

4) Responsible and hardworking.

5) Patient and understanding.

It’s not a requirement, but it would be nice if he looked like Drew Arellano too! (I love the boy-next-door type with a nice smile and cute dimples!) I was so kilig when we took this picture at the launch of Dove’s new beauty campaign! Heehee!

Angel

P.S. This picture was taken when we saw the printed copy of the September issue for the first time. We were so excited to see all the cuties! Can you tell that we loved what we saw? We’re sure you’ll love it too, so if you haven’t gotten a copy yet, you should go out and buy one for yourself real soon!

A few days ago, Mia and I were quite impressed by a text I received from one of our illustrators. I thought I had misinterpreted a drawing of his and texted him an apology. He quickly replied that no, I had gotten it right – and to prove it, he began quoting verses from a poem by e.e. cummings, the inspiration for the drawing! Mia and I looked at each other in awe and said, “I wonder if our boyfriends even know who e.e. cummings is!”  Now, whenever the girls at the Summit office hear this story, they all want this illustrator for themselves! Too bad he’s taken, girls!

But I know that my high school self would definitely want him for herself too. I clearly remember waiting outside the high school gates with my friend Romina, wistfully making up stories of the guys we were going to live happily ever after with. My list read something like this:

- must love books, poetry, music, and musicals (Broadway!)

- must write me poetry, love letters, basically sweep me off my feet

And guess what? When I got to college, I met him right away. It all began when I bummed a ride from one of his friends. Before getting into the front seat, he asked me if I had read Love Story by Erich Segal. When I said no, he handed me the book, telling me that I was going to cry buckets of tears. When I got home, I immediately began reading it – and promptly cried those salty buckets.  When I returned it, we began talking about the other books we had read. Then he offered me a ride home, and I wasn’t surprised to hear my favorite musical playing in his car. We sang along to it – with no inhibitions whatsoever. He couldn’t sing (at all!), but it was cool that he tried. A few weeks later, after taking me home, he told me he had a surprise for me. He pulled out a sketch he made of an island. He told me that whenever I wanted to get away, I could always escape to that island he created for me. I was touched. Just the way I was touched when he wrote me a poem, drew me a unicorn, gave me and my mom flowers on Valentine’s Day, and yes, danced with me. And I don’t think he had a problem with my huge Labrador retrievers, either. But there was one problem—I didn’t like him. He bugged me. He stifled me. I didn’t enjoy talking to him over the phone. And I found him annoying.

I was so frustrated. Wasn’t he the guy I had prayed for oh-so-fervently, on my knees, in my little high school uniform? He fit the bill. He was perfect. He was supposed to sweep me off my feet! But apparently, he didn’t. So today, I have a new list.

- must dance with me (even if he doesn’t know how)

- must be my best friend

Even if my boy doesn’t know who e.e. cummings is (plus, he refuses to read Love Story!) and I still try to bully him into writing me something sweet (I am not even hoping for a poem or a sketch of an island), he makes me feel like the most important person in the world. And that, I’ve found, is the best way to sweep a girl off her feet. 

love, Ines

P.S. What’s on your list?

As you girls already know, our September issue is HOT, HOT, HOT!!! But while Mimi hobnobbed with the top 50 Candy Cuties (Lucky girl!), I got up close and personal with our cutest cover boys ever—the Roco twins! (Do I have the coolest job in the world or what?)

At first they were a little shy during the interview, but then they warmed up and started answering my questions. I could tell that Dom is the more serious one, and Lex is the makulit one. They’re both so cute, I can’t decide who I like better!

Here’s Lex being groomed by makeup artist Barbi Chan with beauty ed Ria.

Is it obvious how happy I am to be talking to the twins?

Here’s Mimi drying the polaroids we took of the twins. As an added bonus, we had them autographed! (Find out how you can win the pictures—or a date with the twins!—in the September issue of Candy!)

 
Last Friday, Dom and Lex we’re at the office again for our Candy Cutie web chat! Are you one of the lucky girls who got to chat with them? Watch out for more live web chats with our other Candy Cuties or check out their video greetings only at candymag.com!

Love ya, Candy girls!

Till my next post,  

Angel  

FINALLY!!!

I’m so happy I can finally talk about our September Candy Cuties ish and tell you girls how much blood, sweat, and tears went into making this super special issue! (Okay, I could be exaggerating a little bit…)

In case you girls don’t know, we work on a magazine two months in advance. For this issue though, we had to work a little earlier just so that we could find THE CUTEST boys in town for you. Of course, cute is relative, but we made sure that every Candy girl would find at least 10 boys likeable! (Count and let me know how many boys you find adorable.)

I believe our Candy Cuties Editor/TeenTalk moderator/past Council of Cool girl Sharlene Tan did one fabulous job and found the finest cuties!!! Here we are posing for the camera with Angel right after the second shoot. (We actually had to schedule three different days just to accomodate all 100+ nominees.)

We got tired, but I admit it was fun shooting cute boys all day. Some of them were totally hilarious, others were dark and mysterious, but most of them were really friendly and easy to work with! A few of these boys admitted it was their first time (to pose and come out in a mag), so we worked extra hard to make them feel at ease. A few stars also dropped by, and it was amusing to note that despite being pros, some of them still need help too! Like with StarStruck Ultimate Survivor 2 Mike Tan, I had to help him fix his bangs ’cause it kept falling to his face no matter what he did. (What a tedious task…Hehe! )

Dakila Angeles, our best-est cuties photographer, was very patient with all these boys. He is SOOOO patient compared to me! When he knew I wasn’t satisfied with how the shot looked, he would give suggestions or simply make the boys pose in different ways until the picture looked perfect. (Only the best for you, Candy girls!)

On the first day of the shoot, I was especially happy to see an old friend, Sponge Cola’s Yael Yuzon! I’ve been asking him to be a part of the list since last year, and I’m glad he finally agreed to do it. He was so game to put on his "angsty" look then his "kwela" face. It was hilarious just seeing him work the camera! After his quick shoot, he saw my Chad Michael Murray-infested cubicle and decided that he wanted to pose for a picture copying Chad’s intense (as in nakaka-kilig) gaze. Of course, I had to have my picture taken with him! (Do you think he resembles Chad? If yes, then Yael is mine! HAHAHAHAHA!)

 I hope you girls loved this issue as much as we had fun putting it together. It’s great coming up with an issue that helps girls understand boys better (much like our May issue). Did you like our choice of cover boys this year? The twins are so hot! I found Dom cuter than Lex, but do you know who’s even cuter than the two of them? Their dad, Bembol. I’m serious!!!

Today’s a Friday and we’re finally meeting our newest batch of Council of Cool girls this afternoon. We decided to get eight unique girls for this year’s council, and based on their first assignments, I’m excited to hear their ideas and comments. (Want to know who’s in the COC? Watch out for our October issue!)

Did I already tell you girls that Angel and I attended the MTV Pilipinas Awards last Thursday? We had a blast grooving to the tunes of Radioactive Sago Project, Sugarfree, Cueshé, and Hale! (I’m even listening to Hale as I write this entry.) I have to say I was blown away by Gary V.’s performance. He always delivers EVERY SINGLE TIME. If you girls didn’t get to watch at the Araneta Colliseum, watch out for the show on TV. (Here’s Angel and I pretending we were stars in front of this year’s knockout logo! What do you think?)

Gotta go! Lunchtime is almost over and it’s freezing inside the office. I’m itching to get something sweet as my dessert, but I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t get something too cold or I’ll get a sore throat. Worse, I could get sick like Mia. Poor Mia! She has fever and has been absent for two days straight. Get well, girl!

Lots of love from the Candy staff,

Mimi