Naughty girl plays nice

I have always regarded myself as a study in contradictions. On the one hand, I'm this obedient Chinese daughter, a "good girl" in all observable regards (which is why I'm such a prime kaisaio candidate-- you should see how my parents' friends' eyes light up when they find out I'm single). On the other hand, I'm also this liberated, fiercely independent thinker who's capable of being a mean old bitch (and who's not afraid to raise a few eyebrows with a high hemline). I honestly do not know how these 2 contrasting personas co-exist in me, or how I manage to shift from 1 to the other depending on what situation (or company) I'm in, but the eternal battle between good and evil has always raged inside me, and continues to do so even as I age.

While I'd like to think that Bad Ailee is usually my more dominant nature, or at least my default profile, last weekend served to highlight the more "presentable" side of my delightfully polarized personality (Chinese matchmakers from miles away could smell my availability). Friday morning saw Good Ailee running errands like a maniac in the middle of conducting store visits: I picked up my mom's Christmas presents for her friends and godchildren, bought my parents' Christmas/wedding anniversary gift, scoped out the pearl choker my dad wants to get my mom, and got some fancy soaps to distribute to my high school barakada... all squeezed in between setting up our Arrow store for the Podium's 3-day sale and checking our outlets in Rustan's Tower and Megamall.

Saturday, I accompanied my mom to her high school class's outreach activity... at an orphanage. Everyone who knows me well enough can appreciate the comedy in that. Ailee surrounded by noisy/unruly/clingy children is not exactly the stuff Norman Rockwell paintings are made of (as Raqs said, "Alam naman natin na mabuti kang tao, pero hindi lang talaga bagay sa iyo ang ganyan."). But being the dutiful daughter I am, I scrapped my original plans for the afternoon to help out my mom, who also insisted on stopping by SM San Lazaro on the way home (store visit again!), making me late for Lynn's birthday party that night.

Sunday, after lunch with my high school barkada, I spent about 4 hours supervising operations at our store at the Podium, managing to sell a few items, avert a paper bag shortage crisis, and work my PR skills on several business and personal acquaintances who stopped by. During lulls, I zipped around the mall buying Christmas presents for my siblings, and succeeded in hiding my purchases from them when I met up with my family for dinner later that evening.

So Santa, although I have not been a good girl ALL the time this year, this weekend I was on my best behavior. That has to count for something (hint: the DVD box set of the extended editions of the LOTR trilogy would be nice).