Happy Anniversary To Me!

It's been a year since Baubles bangles and beads went online. All thanks to Nat who urged and nagged me to death about starting my very own blogsite.

I figured it would run for a couple of weeks and then just like wallpaper, fade away slowly. But I was more afraid of encountering writer's block more often than not. Who is to know that today, 12 months on, its still up and running. Through this blog, my loyal fans, yes all 6 of you, have seen life and death, family and friends and the ins and outs of my daily life. Some have bothered to leave a note or word or encouragement, others prefer to remain anonymous. But hey, I ain't complaining. Its also a therapeutic tool....an outlet for expression for me. Glad I listened to you woman!

And so with this, here's a toast to myself as I raise the champagne glass to another great 12 months ahead! (How time flies!)

ps. Chloe's picture was posted on my first blog. What could be more meaningful than to have her "guest-star" on my anniversary post :)

Spelling Bee!

My cheeky boy came running up to me the other night in excitement. Our convee went as follows :

Ethan with an impish grin : "Mummy, I learnt how to spell a new word today!"
Proudly, I went : "Good, let's hear it".
Ethan : "BMW".
I'm like : "Wha...at?"
Ethan : "BEEEEE.....AM.....DOUBLE U, he stressed! Easy right? Its my favourite car BMW and when I grow up, I'm gonna buy you one in your favourite colour black! Okay mummy?"
Me : Arr....er ...whatever rocks your boat sweetie!

certainly a Girly-Girl not!

Was dressing up to go to church this morning and just as I had finished putting on my lippy and was reaching out for my perfume, hubs walks into the room and hugs me from the back, shoving one of his manly watches at my face.

"Wear my watch." he went. "I like my woman feminine but with a hint of masculinity. It shows that she is bold, has strength, adventurous and not really a girly girl!" I was surprised but more amused.

I didn't mind one bit. In fact, I used to love wearing his watch ALL THE TIME when we were dating.
(also coz he had extremely good taste when it comes to watches.)

Just as how most men would love to see their wives in killer nighties, Z is no different. The only thing additional is that he'd kill to see me in his oversized pajamas as well! That's fine with me as they are oh, so comfy!

i LOVE pedicures!

It was exactly one month from my last pedicure. Been rather busy of late to make an appointment. The toenails badly needed to be filed and re-shaped and the soles of the feet, according to the hubs when he touched them last night, felt like sandpaper!

My pedi appointment was fixed for today. If you don't know me by now, such small things really excite me and I was counting down the hours, then later minutes to my appointment time at my fave nail salon at the moment. The lush velvety armchair and cushions are oh so comfy and my fave nail technician of all the nail salons I've been to, Cherry, (oh, where have you been all this time?) is ever so meticulous and takes pride in her work even though she looks tired most of the time. But can you blame her? It is not easy to be seated in the posture the way nail techicians do. Bent over, scrubbing, filing and polishing countless numbers of feet throughout the day. They must have very strong back!

And finally, new colours from OPI are out! Check out the lovely Russian Collection at www.opi.com
RUSSIAN NAVY, SIBERIAN NIGHTS and MIDNIGHT IN MOSCOW are my current fave! Duncha' just love their names? Whoever comes up with them must be one witty person! I was torn between trying a colour from the new range and a french pedicure. What a BIG decision that turned out to be! I was almost going crazy with the vast variety that was available and finally decided on a pink. I had wanted something sheer. ITALIAN LOVE AFFAIR was what was recommended to me. The tricky part about nail salons with warm lights is that the colours look different when chosen but once you step out, its a whole new different story! This was what happened to me. The pink on my feet now just looks too sweet and Barbie dollish. So totally not sheer and so not me.

You know how little girls and the colour pink go hand in hand? It's sure is a hit with my girl Chloe who cannot stop touching and admiring my feet. At least she doesn't think that they feel like sandpaper!!!

BBQ on the rooftop!

It was a family affair minus the younglings as there were lotsa booze involved. You name it, all your fancy cocktails were made possible with our very own personalized bartender, Steven. This time round, the birthday celebration for the July babies - Auntie Helen, Jeanne, brother in law Zach (who couldn't make it) and hubs was celebrated on the last Saturday of the month which was the weekend closet to all their birthdays with the exception of Auntie Helen whose birthday fell on the 10th.

Neeways, we had lovely BBQ-ed food and salads and yummy gelato for dessert. The pistachio and mango sherbert was a HUGE HIT with all!! We ate and ate till we could eat no more and still with food and countless shots we all had - the amount was still cheaper by how much we had spent on drinks alone last year..which was...drumroll please...A FREAKING ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!

Thank you Annie for your setting up your lovely rooftop, which was complete with the romantic lamp, throw cushions and wonderful music complete with speakers and amplifiers all. Hell, you had your whole room up there!

With all that said, it was a lovely evening filled with fun and laughter spent with family. Enjoy the pictures and pardon the cleavage! You'll know what I mean!

Thought of the Day

Was chatting with mom for slightly over an hour over the telephone whilst at work today. This is something I must do daily - to talk to her over the phone come rain or shine. There are days where we'd run out of topics. But I must hear her voice. It's my drug. But because I've been feeling under the weather a couple of days ago and with the National Day holiday thrown in midweek, I had my hands full with the kiddos and thus, missed talking to mom in the process.

I was bitching to her about stuff - work in general but more importantly, issues the hubs and me face as young parents. At one point, I got worked up and was somewhat crossed with dad and her for not warning me about how hard it is to BE A PARENT!

Mom's answer to me was to start praying daily and thanking HIM for whatever we have and whatever that may come our way. No matter how bad the situation may be cause things could have been worst. She also added that FAITH is important and will that
everything will fall into place nicely!

"And don't worry about not knowing how to pray! By having kids, we'll learn that automatically!" she concluded.

How true indeed.

One, Two or Three Chillies?

Had lunch with my partner in crime Cheryl Anne today. She was craving ramen. We headed to this ramen restaurant near the office. This is one restaurant where you decide the level of chilli or how spicy you want your soup base to be by indicating a tick on the menu denoted by chillies...one being the least spicy and five being...well, you need a fire extinguisher, maybe??

One chilli, two chilli or three asked the waitress? Cheryl being the chilli queen that she is proudly went "FOUR" whilst ahem, I went "TWO" softly.

I could just smell the spice as I saw the waitress approaching our way with our orders Cheryl tucked in merrily and even ordered extra chilli by the side whilst I struggled with mine. With sweat rolling down my face and tears welling up my eyes, I swear I've never looked more pathetic during lunchtime than I did today. What made it worst was that I was dressed in full suit.

Oh, and did I mention that the restaurant boasts about how their soup base is rich in collagen. Now, that's one big consolation.