Sparkled

The piece of sparkle that begins the creation of The Ring, has been chosen and purchased.

I am extremely pleased. It is after all, a fabulous piece of treasure.

He did well. And, I'd like to thank him for his unrelentless effort late into the nights, researching for that perfect piece of happiness. I was most amused that you even consulted the Holloway Cut Advisor *giggles*

Again, you did well. And I couldn't be much prouder and grateful for this gorgeous piece of 3x. Indeed, you know me too well. Inside out :)

  * thank you, bi *
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Basically.

B U S Y.

But I'm H:)ppy. Very happy.

Thursday's Little Delights

Starbucks, KLCC

2:20PM

Hot Chamomile Tazo Tea

It has been a productive AM today. I'm putting a check on the items below.

- 2 cross-x-bras in Nude and Black. As enlightened today, I'm a 34B and not 36B as I always thought. Auntie Triumph took a look at my chest and exclaimed, "No way you're a 36. Try the 34 first. Trust me." Auntie Triumph was right. The bras fitted snugly and yes, bras do get stretched overtime, so a 34 makes more sense than a 36.

- Found a basic pair of patent Nude heels. Been searching high and low for one. So. Darn. Comfortable. Cheap too. Great for running about in my new job. I'm checking  this item off the list with a 'star' for reason - superb find.

- Checked in my Tiffs for some TLC and rejuvenation. Was browsing the Ring Book and still, it's a tie between the Round Brilliant With Bead-set Band and the Round Brilliant With Square-cut Channel-set Band. Then again, I do not want a Tiff engagement ring. It's just way too predictable and lately... common?

- Made myself heard (politely, of course) at Topshop. Before flying off to London in early Dec, I was told my member's card needed to be replaced. It has been over 3 months and I still haven't gotten my replacement card. Worse still, NO ONE bothered to call me to update or anything. So yes, made it clear to them that I want my card ASAP. I'm so done with buying clothes from the F3 stores without the 10%. So done.

- 2 casual work tops in the colors of Cream and Ivory. Super comfy.

Chamomile tea in size Venti forces your bladder to go haywire. Let's just see how long I can hold in my pee. Some MSN funnies:

angie 刘 says:
eh when u coming??  

d4v1dv00 says:
why? u wanna go home d?
 
angie 刘 says: 
no, i want to pee
AHHAHAHA

Chew Soon™ says:
david said u want us to come over because nobody jaga your notebook for you cos u wanna go pee

David and CS, my good friends a.k.a The Ex-Colleagues. Both slaving away at the ex-company just across KLCC.

-insert happy dance- 
 Babe is taking the day off tomorrow. Weekend will officially begin in about 4 hours time.

I'm With You On This, X.

I love that feeling.

You know, the one you get when you take a deep breath and suddenly everything feels like it’s going to be okay. When you’re hopeless as can be, and life is going nowhere, there’s those moments we have every now and then where we just stop, and we get this feeling, that can’t be described, but you just... you just feel like everything really is going to be okay. 

Like the world stopped spinning for a second, and everything was clear. I need more of those moments.

- The X

Thank You

Project GC has now been replaced by Project A and Project M. Let's hope I'll get one of them. Although a personal preference leans more towards the M :)

Well, when if I do get the M (or A), I'm hoping the new company will grant me some vacay time. There I said it. The 'new company'. Here I am, as I type this, a wave of realization hits me. I am going back into the rat race again after a sweet 3 months break. Or honeymoon, as I prefer it to be. It was good while it lasted, and rightfully so - all good things must come to an end.

The Company. Isn't quite where I'd like to see myself working in. HOWEVER, it pays. It pays well. And the title that comes along with it on the name card is pretty nice to look at. No, it doesn't say CEO, but it does it for me. At least it will look good on the CV, if I manage to survive at least 2-3 years with the Company. Another mini perk - The Company is at Mont Kiara's Sunrise, just a wee 10min away from home. Client's place - Uptown, also 10min away from home. To office - go left. To client's - go right. Simple. Just how I like it.

I will have some minions under me (not sure whether that's a good thing yet)  and I start on Monday, the 16th. Can't say I am super-excited as at the end of the day, it's just another job for me. Though from now on, if I am about to lose it at work, I am reminded by Babe to keep chanting 'The $$$ Mantra'.

Think of the salary, think of the salary, think of the salary.

Project GC

I have been busy!

- Errands.

- Household chores.

- Going for massages with the gf.

- Project Declutter. On the scale of 10 of clutter-free success rate, we're an 8 now. The Wardrobe especially, looks smashing.

- Interviews. Yes, I've decided that I really do wanna continue working. So, I shall :)

And above all that, we have Project GC. Project GC requires time and strategy. Project GC can cause uninvited stress due to not-so-professional people / people without ethics. Project GC is the pot at the end of the rainbow.

I am working on it. I am working HARD on it. Mini treasures have been collected thus far, and I'm as happy as can be. Although seriously, Project GC IS the pot at the end of the rainbow. Not easy, but we'll be there, one step at a time.

Come sing with me now: "Slow and steady, we go. And to GC we go! "

*fingers and toes crossed* x

Clothes Folding Spell. I Need One.

Household hates. What are yours?

The OK(s):

1. Chopping / preparing ingredients for cooking.

2. Cooking, definitely. Therapeutic.

3. Handwashing laundry.

4. Hanging up the washed laundry.

5. Vacuuming and mopping the floor.

6. Cleaning and scrubbing the entire bathroom.

The NOT OK(s):

1. Folding clothes.

2. Ironing clothes. Absolute hate.

So, the point for listing down the above is to show to you JUST HOW MUCH I HATE FOLDING CLOTHES AND IRONING.

The only way to ease me into doing them is by blasting some of my favorite songs. The usual suspects - Madonna, Late Night Alumni and Hotel Costes. Hotel Costes is an absolute favorite when cooking. They (HC + Cooking) are like tango partners. They go hand-in-hand. They make me produce meals that are cooked with mucho amore. Corny, but true.

So now we have a pile of clothes just sitting there waiting for me to pick them up and patiently fold them piece by piece. We need God's intervention in this. I hereby, call out to God, to grant me the serenity to fold clothes without going crazy. Amen.

Random:

Book by Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones. Read it months ago and I loved it.

How can you not love a book that opens like this: 

Inside the snow globe on my father's desk, there was a penguin wearing a red-and-white-striped scarf. When I was little my father would pull me into his lap and reach for the snow globe. He would turn it over, letting all the snow collect on the top, then quickly invert it. The two of us watched the snow fall gently around the penguin. The penguin was alone in there, I thought, and I worried for him. When I told my father this, he said, "Don't worry, Susie; he has a nice life. He's trapped in a perfect world. 

Saw the trailer last night and I really hope it will be as good as the book. This rarely happens, I know. But I can still hope.

Everything But The Pork Jerky

Today, we got all the items listed in the shopping list. Well, almost.

- Babe's 2 new shirts

- Babe's new pair of loafers

- Got my dad 2 new shirts

- Found the ideal black swimsuit in Schwarzenbach for myself

Prior to that, we managed to get 4 great seats for Feb 11's opening screening of Valentine's Day. We look forward to this with Hot Hoochi Mama Julia & Hubby. A little pre-CNY delight before everyone gets caught up with the whole dong-dong-chiang business. Bought tickets also for the family for a movie on Feb 12.

Yes, we got everything and everything but the 'bak kwa'. There was none to be found. 

Nevertheless, today has been a great day. A slow and easy day that started with Babe going for a checkup with the doctor due to an injury during futsal, a nice little lunch, productive shopping and a mini massage with uDesire *wink*. I'll drink to more days like this. 

Cheers, everyone.

Repeat After Me

Everything will fall into place, you'll see.

Everything is gonna be ok.

*hugs*

Please. Just die.

We slept pretty late last night. Babe had a work event that dragged on till 2+am, while I was working on Project Declutter. 2 bags full, as of now. I aim to fill up more of the large IKEA plastic bags as I go along. Wasn't feeling particularly sleepy even though the little hand on the clock had touched 2.

By 2:30am, I had single-handedly massacred about 30 cockroaches. Maybe 3 large ones, 10 teens and the remaining ones which contributed to the majority number are infants/toddlers. Weapon at hand: Toilet paper (loads of it,for squishing) and a bottle of Bygone, for the adult roaches. We NEED to get the pest controller guy to come and seriously end this problem. I had just about enough of seeing baby roaches scurrying from one end of the room to the other.

I go: *squish squish squish*

And we have: 30+ dead roaches.

All 30+ of them were tossed into the toilet bowl and flushed away to oblivion. I don't know about you, but I have this sick satisfaction of killing roaches because they fcuking irritate the hell out of me. Not that our place is dirty. We have maids cleaning up the place almost on a weekly basis. I have even eliminated the hair-on-floor problem, so the floors are spanking clean. So seriously, WHERE.IS.THE.EFFING.NEST?!

*grrrrr*

Why do I get this being-mocked-at feeling that I can never rid them off despite my  daily effort of roach-massacring? 

Maybe she's right.

I am a survivor. I am like a cockroach, you just can't get rid of me.

- Madonna

Wordless Wednesday #2

Christmas Eve, 2004

It felt EXACTLY like what Catherine Frazier had described in The Women (2008). 

"It feels like someone kicked you in the stomach, feels like your heart stopped beating, feels like that dream you know the one when you are falling and you want so desperately to wake up before you hit the ground but it's all out of your control, you can't trust anything anymore, no one is who they say they are, your life is changed forever, and the only thing to come out of the whole ugly experience is no one will be able to break your heart like that again." 

The worst Christmas Eve morning ever. Ever. 
(And, I had to go to work right after that nightmare.)

I am a much happier girl now and I have God to thank, for sending someone like Babe my way. 4 strong years and counting baby!

*15 min into The Women and 15 min of pure girly fun thus far.

Wordless Wednesday #1

Today I Will:

1. Go shopping.

2. Chill at Starbucks, Borders with my laptop.

3. Check that Douglas Coupland book out.

4. Chillax.

5. And more chillax.

Right now, the Breakfast Buddy is coming to pick yours truly up for breakfast. She's running late. We hope we do not end up having brunch instead, yes?

I.need.my.breakfast.

Magic Beans

Here I am, watching Nigella does her magic on the TV while sipping a bowl of red azuki bean soup (hong tau sui, as we Chinese calls it). These red azuki beans are magic and I will tell you why.

I have been having constant lower backaches and sometimes it got so bad that I couldn't bend down to put on my own underwear. When a girl is unable to put on her own panties, trust me, it is extremely unsexy and it is a tragedy. This has been going on for weeks, until one fine day I went for a massage and Masseur Girl taught me to boil red azuki beans and drink up. Told Mom about this since she has a backache problem too. Didn't think she would take my little info seriously, but voila, a huge pot of red azuki bean soup appeared out of nowhere the very next day.

It worked. That bowl of red azuki bean soup healed our lower backaches instantly. If you are suffering from a backache that no amount of yoga or stretching can help, why not boil a pot of these magic beans and have some? Why did it work might have something to do with Calcium? Red beans are loaded with calcium, in case you didn't know. 

Try this little remedy and let me know if it works for you as it did for me. Red azuki beans are abundantly available in your local markets, both wet and dry. No Jacks required to climb any beanstalks to get them.

Stagnant

Don't know just how long more can the Self hold onto to this.

The Heart has not been truly happy for a long long time.

And the Head feels like letting go...

Operation Lean Mean & Toned

Confession time: I think I am fat.

Ok, to be honest I don't really think I am that fat. Clothes still fit the same, no double chin and top and bottom are still at 36 respectively the last I checked.

But (there is always a but)... the ideal body to achieve is no longer to be thin but a lean mean and toned one. 

I want toned arms.
I crave definitions on the frontal of my thighs.
I yearn for washboard abs. 

I want all these and I will achieve them.

I think it also has to with age. As I am nearing the dreaded big Three-O, the need to maintain the current body shape and state of health, intensifies. I am currently nowhere near Gisele, Eva or Alba, but if I were to have my current body now when I'm 50, I'm happy. Therefore, preservation is important but - I do not just want to preserve, I want to hit it maximum with a toned bod. No people, please have image of manly Madonna out of your minds. You know what I mean.

In order to achieve Operation LMT, there will be sacrifices. If watching what I ate in the past was just a casual thing, it is watching and scrutinizing food intake now like a hawk that I must do. There will also be secret weapons. In time when there are results, I will reveal who these little buddies are. No diet pills, I never believed in them. But you will know who and what they are when my upper arms no longer jiggle.

As you age, you have this group of friends you'd never want them in your lives. They are - Heart Attack, High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Hypertension and Cancer. Imagine, you can prevent them from entering into your lives, wouldn't that motivate you to stay healthy?

Osteoporosis. A major hit with the women. There was this study which I read, that calcium supplements do not work as well as we thought for strengthening bones and preventing osteoporosis. Exercise does. Weight-bearing exercises to be precise. How it works is that, by carrying weights, you are forcing your muscles and bones to strengthen and not weaken and wither away with age. Also, if you are a smoker, your bone density is getting fcuked up right now as we speak. Brutal truth yes, but you ought to know.

So yes, it's the 8th day of 2010 and I am proud to say, I am doing all I can to remain healthy and fit. If you are planning to as well, why not start today? Everything begins now and nothing starts without you taking the first step.

I know I sound like a motivational speaker in this post. But seriously, I have friends who are in their early 30s who are having problems like Gout, Chest Pains and Kidney Stones. I mean, how fcuked up is that?! I have never been hospitalized in my entire life *touch wood* except for my birth day and the only time I want to be hospitalized next is during child labour.

Seriously. Your health and you - you don't really wanna fcuk around with it.

Twenty Ten

2009. Past tense.

*sighs a feeling of relief* 

2009 was a year that many would want to forget and get it over and done with. I don't know about you but I do know many friends who thought 2009 was a real bitch of a year and it was. I wasn't spared. Truth to be known, I've had my fair share of shittiness right from start to the end of 2009. Dwell on it, I shall not. Speak of it, I will not. Let bygones be bygones, they say, for tomorrow is a better day and we shall all rejoice in the hope of a greater future. 

2010. Present tense. 

*pops the champagne and confetti* 

Amidst the sprouting fireworks in the skies, 2010 waltzed in with much hope for many. I know of many friends who are placing much hope for good changes in their lives for 2010. "Hope is a good thing, but without a sound plan and actions, hope is as hopeless as a steak knife without a fork"- I always remind myself this. My hopes and dreams, they tend to multiply rapidly when get carried away. I want to do this, and I want to do that. "But what is the plan?" Babe will constantly remind me. A good support partner, he is. For keeping me grounded at all times. And I love him for it. 

The List 

I don't usually have a New Year Resolution List but I do love the concept of a New Year, much more than the drunken festivities associated with its eve. New beginnings and new goals are delicious to contemplate and I have a few of my own. Just for 2010 :)

2010, is all about major changes in life and making life-altering decisions. 

*1* Taking relationships onto a higher level.
- Us: Babe and I have had The Talk :)
- Friends: Removing the rotten ones and keeping the precious ones closer to heart. 

*2* Live healthier. That translates to:

- Getting up early and going for a run

- Drinking lots of water - currently aiming for 2 litres - Mrs. Kidman-Urban swears by it, and if Mrs Kidman-Urban says it's good, it's good :)

- And getting a decent amount of sleep each night.

Nothing too dramatic but a slight uplift in quality of life. 

*3* Save up more for the Big Purchase Before Age 30. 

*4* Be grateful for what I have.

- I think its normal to take things for granted but one must remain grateful for everything: both material and non-material elements in our lives. 

*5* Go for that holiday. Not just any holiday but That Holiday.

With that in place, I am in good hands and is prepared to set course. A year of much hard work to be done, but achievable and a strong foundation to be built for the coming years.

Ladies and Gentlemen, today has been Day 1 of 2010.