~ Shoes ~

I do have a couple of indulgences and they are handbags and shoes. These are the two I find it hard to resist. One of my favourite brands of shoes is Crocs. These days they do really swanky pairs and they are very comfortable to wear. In fact, I do own quite a few pairs of Crocs and I alternate wearing them just so I do not wear them out. 

Anyway, while surfing around, I found these...

I saw this pair of Huarache Flat in Singapore last year and was enthralled by the colours. I did try them on and they were really comfy! However, as I was about to return to the UK, didn't get it (wouldn't have the chance to wear them in the UK not with autumn/winter coming). Checked back a few months later and they were on sale so they went into my basket and is waiting for me in Singapore.

 I saw this pair of Angeline Graphic Loafer and really luv the colour and design. It's so unusual! But they didn't have it in my size! Then last week, saw them in the sale, had my size and just had to get them. They are now waiting in Singapore for me. Actually saw them online in Crocs Singapore. I can't see them anywhere else in other countries. Just hope they are comfy! Taking a big risk here!

Read the reviews for this pair of shoes (Patricia) and love the heels on them. I'm not keen on wearing flats and prefer my shoes/sandals with slight heels. I wanted a red one which is more attractive but the black one was on offer so went for it. Well, being black I guess I can wear them with any clothes! Again, waiting for me in Singapore! Looks like I won't need to bring any pairs of shoes with me to Singapore for holiday this year...

I saw this pair of Retro Sneaker online in Crocs UK. Now that I do Zumba twice a week, I do need a pair of proper shoes as the ones I'm currently using have a curvy sole and it's not easy doing Zumba with them. I picked them today. Sad to say they are on the small side. I went for 4 1/2 size but they are just too tight. Shame as the shoes are so comfy and light too. And I simply love the colour!!! Anyway, I'm returning them and ordering a size up as they will be perfect for Zumba! It's a shame that in some Crocs shoes, UK4 fits perfect while in others, I have to go for UK5. Crocs sizes are not consistent at all!!! 

Now I don't like wearing flat flip flops. So when I saw these Capri IV Leopard Print Flip Flop on UK Crocs site, I was bowed over. They look stunning and I luv the slight heels on them! Received them and tried them around the house. They are of a relaxed fit so they are loose on the feet but it doesn't affect walking about in them. They are ever so comfortable and light too! And I love the massage pod on them. Definitely worth getting another pair for keeps!

 I came across these on the UK Crocs site. Now I've been wanting a pair that I can use on the beach, pool etc. and these seem perfect for it! Typical me went for the pink one 

I think they look gorgeous! I'll probably use them if there's any water activity about as I don't particularly like walking barefooted.

A girl can't have too many shoes!!! Hopefully they will last me this whole year. I don't mind buying them as they are ever so comfy as I can walk for miles in them. No other pairs of shoes have come close to the comfort level of Crocs. And they have certainly re-invent themselves coming out with really funky, swanky pairs! TTFN!

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Wishing my family, relatives and friends a prosperous, healthy new year! TTFN!

~ Happy Halloween! ~

An American tradition which is fast being adopted by the British, judging by the number of halloween costumes, halloween decorations etc. being sold in stores. I did get some sweets ready but sadly, no one came to trick or treat at my place. Oh well, looks like my son will be one happy boy! 

Hubby did carve the pumpkin and we had it lighted all night. He made pumpkin soup with what he scraped out. 

Happy Halloween to those who celebrate it! TTFN!

~ OS X Mavericks ~

My Macbook alerted me to the latest operating system, Mavericks. After checking the reviews (mostly favourable) on the App store, I downloaded it. Did I say it was free!!! Then, after backuping my Mac, I went ahead and download. The entire process was simple. I downloaded just before having dinner, came back to it ready for me to install. Installation took about 45 mins. 

What's new? The OS added a iBook & Maps icons at the bottom. Calendar had a different look. In Finder, you can now tag folders and files (probably need to learn how to use it effectively). 

The good thing about Mavericks is that it has sorted out my Adobe Bridge! I was having problems accessing images in Mini Bridge but not anymore. 

I'm looking forward to exploring more of the new OS. So far, I'm loving it and it has actually freed up more hard disk space for me! Yay! TTFN!

~ I'm Still Here...~

Alrite, I just realised I passed September without even blogging! To be honest, after arriving back from Singapore, I started work almost immediately and had to also sort the house out as hubby left it in a right mess! He didn't even help me with the laundry, not even folding his own clothes so I was left with piles and piles of clothes! Took me a few days to sort them out and ironed them. Not to mention getting back to the routine and entering every important dates in my diary! Hence, September passed by like a blur!

Well, I'm more settled now. In fact, the last week saw a surprise purchase of a new car for me by hubby! It started with a leaflet he received in the post about special deals for Kia. So that weekend, we went for a look and he mentioned either an automatic upgrade for the Soul or a Sportage. At that time, we didn't think of even getting a new car... just to look see! Anyway, he was given two quotes to ponder. Then the following week, I received a call asking me what I thought! I told the dealer I've not driven the Sportage so I couldn't comment. So arrangement was made to drive one the next day. I test drive one and actually like the car that I drove in. It had in fact, came in recently, a June-registered car but the sale fell through and therefore it was up for sale but not as a brand new car. The mileage was only 34 mile when I test drove it! Told hubby and brought him to see the car on Saturday. After that, everything happened so fast and the next thing I knew, he had purchased the car after some fierce bargaining!  I was in shock! I certainly did not expect a new car, let alone owning the particular car that I fancied! So last Wednesday, we said goodbye to the Soul (which I still like) that I had for the last 2 years and said hello to the Sportage!

After driving for a week, I have to say I really love this car! Initially I was kinda scared driving such a big car but somehow got used to the 'bigness'! It comes with a lot of gadgets that I wanted but mostly the panoramic sunroof that I craved for! The only thing I missed is the reverse camera that I had in the Soul. This car doesn't have one but it does have a reverse parking sensor (still not the same as a camera). The boot is much bigger than the Soul and therefore can house a dog's cage and still have room for other stuff. I guess that's is one reason why we upgraded the car... to have more room to include not just 2 growing boys but a dog as well! So I wouldn't call it my car (although I use it often) but it will be the family car during the weekends & holidays!

I even did a page on it: 

Supplies:
Traci Reed & Jade Day Studio: Mom's Gonna Snap
Font: Grand Hotel

There are a lot of major changes coming my way in the next few months! Not sure how I feel but I will just adjust as it comes along! One thing for sure... I've to get rid of all my physical scrapping stash! It just needs to go as after 2 and a half years, I've not touch them nor feel inclined to play with them. In fact, I rather play digitally! I derived greater pleasure from it! So my aim is to try and shift a mountain load of scrapping items in the next couple of months! Wish me luck! TTFN!

~ Universal Studios

Our third trip! They closed the double rollercoasters so I asked for a discount as my boys were looking forward to them. We got 10% off once we produced our foreign passports! This time, there were 2 new rides, Sesame Street and Transformers. We enjoyed the Transformer so much that we went on it 4 times! It was amazing! There were quite a lot more tourists this time so there were long queues on some rides. To be honest, we didn't bother and we came back later when the queue weren't that long.

To round off the trip, we managed to get a family portrait taken...

I think this will be our last trip there. I was getting a bit bored this time round! I didn't take as many photos as I should. Probably the next one will be in Florida! TTFN!

~ Sentosa ~

This week, my SIL and her hubby are in Singapore so we played hosts and brought them around. Today we went to Sentosa and had the most amazing time. SIL wanted to try iFly and the last time we were in Singapore, that part of the attraction wasn't ready. I couldn't resist giving it a go and my two boys decided to go for it too. 

First we had a talk by the instructor, showing us some basic sign signals that he would use. Then we were shown the basic limb positions. Once we demonstrated it, we were ready to fly!

All of us were given 45 seconds and we had 2 tries. All I can say is 'Wow'! It was the most amazing experience and quite exhilarating one too! Once you got the hang of it, it was easy. 

Definitely worth trying a second time!

Then we had a go at Segway. Again another fun activity. 

Finally tried the Luge too. We had 5 times on it and by the end, we had enough. All of us were racing with each other and had to avoid the newbies who were rather slow on the track! We even managed to coordinate such that all our photos were taken together (pic coming soon when I have the chance to scan it in).

Fun day, that all I can say! TTFN!

~ Happy Birthday Singapore! ~

It's Singapore 48th birthday today! And today is extra special as my family managed to get tickets to see the National Day Parade. You can't buy these tickets as they are balloted but we were lucky to be selected! 

Happy to sing the national anthem (& I still remember the words!)

All I can say is that it is amazing to be there in person, to witness the Parade and to soak up the atmosphere. Still proud to be a Singaporean and wouldn't change it for anything! TTFN!

~ June's News ~

Gosh a month went by without blogging! Unfortunately, June was a very busy month for me. My cute pooch fell ill after being castrated (nothing to do with the castration) but instead it was diagnosed as Beagle Pain Syndrome. The symptoms were high fever, not eating and lying down. It was worrying initially as we had no idea what was causing it and the vet assured us that it had nothing to do with his castration. Then another vet discover the Beagle Pain Syndrome and informed us. The treatment was steroid. I had to leave my pooch overnight at the vet as he had not eaten for 3 days and I was getting worried. Fortunately, the treatment worked and the next day I picked him up. He was weak but wagged his tail when he saw me. What a relief. Anyway, he's still on steroid treatment although his dosage has been reduced considerably. Hopefully he will come off it soon. 

Poor pooch. Noticed how skinny he looked! Picked him after an overnight stay at the vet. 

Towards the end of June was my son's Summer Fayre at his school where I usually help out but on the same day was a birthday bbq of my eldest and my nephew! A little early but it was the only day we could meet and celebrate as the next 3 weekends in July are way too busy for me. Hubby's sisters and parents were there for the celebration so it was a large gathering. Thankfully, the weather co-operated. It was sunny and warm, perfect for bbq.

Fab day for a bbq!

In between June I created and will be showcasing them over the next few days! July's gonna be another busy month for me too... violin concerts, parents' evening, Governor's awards, violin exam etc. Definitely looking forward when the school term ends on 23rd July!!! TTFN!

~ Spring Clean ~

It started before my best pal came over to stay. My current craft room is in the living room which also acts as the guest room too as we have a sofa bed there. In case you're wondering, we don't hang out in the living room, never have and probably never will! We hang out in the kitchen and after dinner, we go straight upstairs. It's probably the format of the house as the living room is located in a very awkward part of the house which we hardly venture there! Hence, perfect for guests!

I cleared craft area. I threw out tons of stuff I don't need and re-arrange the individual drawers to suit my crafting needs. So now, all my punches are in one drawer, stamping stuff in another, embellishments in another etc! I used to used the 3rd bedroom as my craft room before but my wee one wanted his own bedroom so hubby took my stuff out, re-configured the living room so that I could have a dedicated corner instead. Didn't bother me as I don't physically scrap anymore although I still need a little space for cards (I still do cards as I loathe to buy them. Besides, it more fun doing it). I've still have not gotten rid of my physical stash and I think it's time as I've not touched them for 2 years now. If I didn't need them in the last two years, I probably don't need them in the future! 

After coming back from the holidays, I cleared my bedroom. Found storage spaces for my handbags and cleared a bunch of rubbish under the bed. The weekend saw me extending it to the cupboard in the landing upstairs. I had no space for extra duvet and pillows so I sent hubby to Argos to get vacuum bags. Cleared out clothes that I've not touched for years & threw out more rubbish! Funny how 13 years ago, hubby and I moved into the house with hardly any belongings and now we have literally filled the house up! 

I even tackled one of the boys' room. Found out what the dog has been doing there... chewing up books!!! Even chewed up the wire to a broken lighting on the wall. Sigh! Cleared the mess and vacuumed up. 

My next job is to tackle the enormous amount of clothes we have in this house. The problem of being a hoarder is the inability to let go but I need to be firm. I'm fast running out of wardrobe space and I just need to chuck out clothes that is no longer needed. 

Looks like this month will be dedicated to spring clean. There's so much to do!!! TTFN!

~ Obsession With Handbags ~

I do have a morbid obsession with handbags. I buy them at regular intervals and I never use the same bag for long. I guess it started when I was a child, I used to change my school bags a lot. As I grew older, the obsession grew and I graduated to designer handbags when I was in my late teens/early 20s. And when money was tight, it was back to high street handbags with a cheaper price tag. And if I'm given a choice between clothes or bags, I quite happily go for the latter!

Today I realised how many I had when I was clearing my room and found some bags that I had completely forgotten I had them! I then decided to empty out 2 plastic boxes filled with hubby's rubbish (you know it's rubbish when he hasn't touched them for years!) to make way for my bags. I had to literally pull bags out from  every corner of my room, pack them nicely in two boxes. So now I do know what I've got and I can quite easily change them at will! (Actually, I do have another stack of bags stashed away in another room.) Wish I had done it earlier as my dog chewed up a very lovely handbag. It had a unique design and I was so upset. When I buy bags, it has to be somewhat unique in design and colour. I do avoid black and brown as I've got so many of them in those colours. I love them in unusual colours. The brighter the better!

Anyway, best pal brought me to The Factory Outlet in Swindon yesterday and I stepped into a Fiorelli store for a browse (with no intention to buy any) and saw this!

OMG! Jaw dropped and after mulling for a while, I had to get it! I was looking for a travelling handbag (for my impending trip to Singapore, any excuse!) and it had to be able to house my DSLR camera too. This fitted the bill perfectly and it kinda have the Bottega look, minus the hefty price tag of course! It came in four colours, black, yellow, tan and cerise. I would have gone for the cerise except that the store only had it in tan. Well, at the factory outlet price, it would have been a shame not to get it! 

Then today, while surfing around (don't ask why I was looking at handbags), I chanced upon this bag...

Again by Fiorelli. Checking the dimensions, I realised it would fit my 15" Macbook Pro perfectly. Yeah, I do have a laptop bag but always nice to be able to carry a laptop without publicly announcing you are carrying one. This came in 3 colours, black, tan and red. Went for red as it my fav colour. 

Am I nuts to be buying two new bags in a week? Possibly but I know I'll regret if I don't get the above as it is a bag that I have been searching for. What more, it came with a zip too. I generally avoid bags that don't have a zip as I don't feel safe carrying it around. And I do like carrying big bags... don't ask me what I put in there but I've got a handbag organiser so I simple transfer it from one bag to another.

Shame I don't have any daughters to share my passion for handbags. My mom is also another bag fanatic and I always raid her cupboard when I'm in Singapore to see what she has that I can use. If I'm bad, she's worst! And she loves buying clothes too! :) Oh well, one can't have too many handbags! TTFN!

~ Back From A Mini Break ~

It has been a very busy 2 weeks for me. My best chum arrived from Shanghai with her toddler and stayed with me for 5 days. Can't tell you how much that meant to me, having your best pal with you and being able to chat normally instead of over Whatsapp! Not to mention getting to play with her little boy who is now walking and quite vocal too. My boys took to him and the wee one even helped to watch over him. Bless him! I even managed to bring her shopping in between working hours and it was fun to do stuff that we used to do before!

Then half term came and we headed off to the Isle of Bute, Scotland to join my SIL and her hubby for a few days. The weather up there was fab! It rained only once and we had a few walks on  some deserted beaches. My dog had a field time running loose! It's fun to hang out in places not overly crowded at all!

The view from the house! How peaceful! That's the ferry coming into the island.

Got home on Tuesday after nearly 7 hours of driving (with stops in between), only to freshen up and head out once more to Circencester. Best chum had rented a cottage in Kemble and invited us over to stay. So off we went again. Talk about being in the most remote area around but it was sheer bliss not to hear traffic, neighbours or noise! 

The view from our car going to the cottage. Beautiful place, definitely worth keeping it in mind for future hols!

Finally got home on Wednesday night to a mountain load of washing to do! Oh well, back to routine then! TTFN!

~ Back Home! ~

Took a week's break and headed to Cornwall to stay in this:

We went 'glamping'. Rather than stay in a tent, we lived in a tipi. It was big inside but due to the chilly weather we have been having, it was kinda cold. Luckily there was a wood burner inside which we used to the max! There was a cooker inside too which we cooked for most days. There was also a double bed and two 3 more single mattresses (so you can imagine the space inside). We didn't hang around during the day as we went exploring different parts of Cornwall. We visited quite a few places such as Falmouth, Newquay, Padstow, Penzance and St Ives. My favs were St Ives & Padstow. We even did the Camel Trail from Wadebridge to Padstow on our bikes (yup, we brought 4 bikes with us).

The tipi is located on a farm and the farm has also another site, Orchard Yurt, again equipped with the necessary stuff for camping. Hence the word 'glamping'... camping with glamour! There is an indoor area with electricity and all the mod cons inside. We could get wifi too but it was extremely slow. Don't even try to download anything! 

Would I recommend it? Most definitely but in much better warmer conditions. When we arrived, that night we stayed, it was extremely cold. We survived and we had a lot of fun. I didn't think I could stand extreme cold but my body coped! Thank god for thermals! TTFN!

~ Happy Chinese New Year ~

Wishing all my friends who are celebrating, a very Happy Chinese New Year! 

When I think of all the CNY goodies that I'm missing, I wish I was back home now! What will this year hold? In terms of health, hopefully better than last year! TTFN!

~ New Year Eve ~

This year has been rather uneventful. On the family side, there has been some ups and downs. The worst was when we found out that 2 of our family members have cancers. We coped and we rallied together and thankfully, one is cleared now. We are awaiting news of the other so fingers crossed!

On the creative side, there has been ups and downs but mostly ups! In this month, I received quite a few happy emails that has made my day! Also I've signed up for another round of Art Journal Caravan 2013 so I'm looking forward to more art journaling. At the moment, I'm busily trying to finish up my December Daily (typical, did it late!!!)

However, the best is when I laid my hands on a new Macbook Pro with Retina Display. I waited a long time for it and so far, I'm so pleased with it. I'm looking forward to more creative activity with it. I'm still annoyed with the UK keyboard, mainly the 'enter' button (due to where it's placed, I keep hitting the "\" key instead! I guess I just have to stretch my little finger a bit longer.) 

Well, I leave with this message: 

TTFN!

~ The Lust Is Finally Over ~

Ever since the new Macbook Pro with Retina Display came out, I've been lusting over it. Actually I was already lusting over the previous Macbook Pro. Initially I was concerned about the lack of optical drive and the 256GB SSD size. But I realised that I hardly use my optical disk unless I'm burning DVD of my digi kits. As for the size, these days EHD of 1TB comes rather cheaply and I do store all my digi supplies on an EHD as well as photos too! If I have less space, then I need to do more housekeeping. Plus I do have a cloud storage of 3TB so what am I fussing about?!! With my mind made up and after a lot of sacrifices and saving, I took the plunge and got the 15" Macbook Pro with Retina Display! Hubby kindly contributed half of it too (partial Christmas gift). I was lucky that I could get educational pricing so that helped greatly.

Nothing like opening a new box!

I have to say, I'm so pleased with it! The screen is amazing! Having extra 2" screen to view is fab (the old one is 13")! I'm starting this laptop from scratch, i.e. not bringing over what was stored in my previous Macbook. Only the important files will be imported. As for not having an optical drive, well, I found out that I can easily use the one in my old Macbook. That was how I installed my new Photoshop CS6, using the optical drive of my old Macbook. Typical, Apple make it so easy to use their laptops!

I'm in the midst of setting my new rMBP (short for Macbook Pro with Retina Display).  I will certainly look forward to playing with this toy over the next few days and getting to know the new features. Top on my list is to get a cover for this new toy. My old MB was protected by a cover as I would hate a scratch to appear on the aluminium body. My only peeve is the keyboard. My old MB is a US keyboard. This new one is a UK keyboard and I dislike the enter button. Why couldn't it just follow the same pattern as the US one??? Apart from that, thankfully not a lot of differences between the two. 

This laptop will have to last me the next 2-4 years. I had 3 years of joy with the old one. I won't give that one up totally. Can't really upgrade too often, given the price of Apple laptops. But they really do last! Hub is probably on his 6th PC laptop since I had my MB. Not to mention how slowly it boots up as compared to mine!

I'm off to create... on my new rMBP! TTFN!

~ Merry Christmas! ~

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! 

~ December Already! ~

OMG! We have hit December! Where did time fly?

I had an interesting time last nite. Hub's company was celebrating 150 years of existence and held an event to host it. Together with invited guests, we watch a ballet on Cinderella at the Hippodrome and had dinner afterwards. Now, I've never seen a ballet performance before and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was very entertaining albeit quite a long one. There was 3 intervals! Didn't quite like dinner. We had lamb shank, not something I would order. It was cooked well though. 

Back to December, I always do an album for December and this year, I plan to keep up to date so I'm gonna get started! TTFN!

~ Disaster ~

So our li'l pooch created the first disaster today! Hubby went on the massage chair (I got a portable back massager for him last Xmas) and tried to use it for the first time. It didn't work. Then he checked and found that li'l pooch had chewed the wire near the remote... no wonder it didn't work! To say I was upset was an understatement as I use that back massager a lot since I do suffer from back pains frequently. Anyway, he said he would try and fix it.

Well, he did! He somehow managed to soldered the wires and it worked. However, it doesn't look aesthetically nice as before! Oh well, lesson no1 learnt! Never leave wires of appliances around! I thought I was done with baby proofing the house but looks like I need to do it again! TTFN! 

~ Banji ~

Did I say that getting a new pup is equivalent to a new baby! Yup, the li'l pooch woke us at 5ish in the morning! Gosh, never seen hubby woke up so quickly to tend to him! (Never did that when my boys were crying as babies in the night). 

Anyway, we are slowly getting to know him and he to us. He does whine a lot but I think he might be homesick for his mom. However, he didn't like the idea of being alone especially when I had to go off for work. Got hubby to come back to check him out. 

My boys have been brilliant with him even to the point of cleaning his poo and wee! They did promise to look after him! I'm glad they are keeping to that promise! 

Currently we are trying to toilet train him but it's not easy. We have had to put newspaper around and thankfully, he does his poop and wee on them! Ideally we want him to go outside. Let's see how it goes! TTFN!