Christmas Eve Dinner

Went over to the puppy's for Christmas Eve dinner and same as every year, I head over there in the arvo to help out

So the bunny and big bro toiled over peeling, chopping, slicing and dicing......

The extra tough pumpkin that took me forever to slice.... even Mr Kitchen man took his tools off to a corner to hide!

Anyways, as I was saying, while we were toiling away, the puppy was doing this O_o

(Clockwise Top L-R: Stuffed turkey with bacon strips, honey glazed ham with pineapples, pigs in a blanket and oven roasted brussel sprouts with beets)

The whole works. A table for fourteen!

Someone picked this up and said 'OMG you have a Jewish drink???'

Anne who showed us a magic trick earlier decided to test out our IQs. Needless to say, we ALL failed miserably :P

And right after that.... SCRABBLE time!!! iStyle :P

Look at the amount of Apple products these people have

Even the dogs were bloody content after the whole meal!

Merry Christmas everybody!!!

Shepherd's Pie : FAIL! Christmas Party : HELL YEAH!!!!

Had the team Christmas lunch at Delicious, 1 Utama today. Everyone was going with the pastas and I thought, okay let's see how their Shepherd's Pie fares...

FAIL.

1. The mash potato top with cheese was soft and sticky.
2. The meat inside was all soupy.
3. It was a tad over cooked.

Bleh

On the other hand... it was a pretty good lunch. My editor had this Q&A sesh (trivia about the magazine) and if you got them right, you'll score some pretty cool gifts!

Rachel (Advertising Manager) scored the first gift - OPI Bring on the bling laquer with matching 2-in-1 lip gloss

Janice (Sales & Marketing Executive) got Yves Rocher Olive Oil cream

Serena (Sub-editor) got a combo pack with La Mer!!! SO NOT FAIR *hmmph*

This is my combo pack of Anna Sui, Sothys, GA, and Body Shop cosmetics :)

Janice & I teamed up to get this OPI Burlesque set... w00t! I took the two red-ish ones because she didn't like them...

And a Chanel blush...

I want to be a living work of art...

Okay see... working in a women's magazine has definitely got its perks! First of all, not only do I get free products (fine, most of the time they're samples, but still....); reading gossip online is "research" and last but not least, I LOVE DRESSES!!!

Look at these Marchesa gowns!!! *swoon*

Baby Cherrie

Look how grown up she looks now! I still can't believe that my cousin Nick has a kid... and you know what's so funny about that? She looks EXACTLY like him as a baby!

Happy birthday Starbucks!!!

In conjunction with their 12th anniversary, and as a token Starbucks gave away free cups of freshly brewed coffee.

There was also this little donation bag at the cashier - for the life of me I can't remember what it was for... but since I was getting a free cup of coffee... might as well do some charity :)

You can't fight the tears that ain't coming

I'm pretty sure every other person says this, but I really love this song. Every time I hear it, I feel this sort of connection and emotions that I can't explain.

Goo Goo Dolls - Iris

And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now

And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
'Cause sooner or later it's over
I just don't wnat to miss you tonight

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of trut in your lies
When everything feels like the movies
Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just wnat you to know who I am

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am

May

may the sun
bring you new energy by day

may the moon
softly restore you by night

may the rain
wash away your worries

may the breeze
blow new strength into your being

may you walk
gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life

~ Apache blessing

Okay, you're married.

Read this about the Deppster today... Why Johnny won't marry the mother of his children.

Johnny Depp has been in a relationship with Vanessa Paradis since 1998, they've got two kids together - but Johnny's in no rush to put a ring on it.

Why? The 47-year-old just doesn't think Vanessa Depp has the same ring to it.

He said, "I'd be so scared of ruining her last name. She's got such a good last name."

After all this time, Johnny explained he already feels like he's married to the 37-year-old stunner, though he'd definitely get hitched if Vanessa wanted to.

"I never found myself needing that piece of paper," he said. "Marriage is really from soul to soul, heart to heart. You don't need somebody to say okay you're married."

I agree with the Deppster, marriage these days are so overrated, and to many people, dismissible - like a meal gone wrong or a shoe that doesn't fit any more. What happened to the sanctity of marriage?

Marriage is about a relationship that you share with the one you love, and want to share the rest of your life with. Marriage is about compromise. Marriage is about sacrifice. Marriage is knowing it in the depths of your hearts even without it having said or written.

So yeah, marriage is not about a piece of paper. But I'm a romantic and a traditionalist... I'd still like to have it at the end of the day :P

over reacting

I know it's about them and I know mom misses dad, but it just creeps me out when mom tells me stuff about them, you know.

Like today when she was waiting for an appointment, she texted me to remind me about something and ended the text with "oh and I had a lovely dream of Papa & I."

I'm pretty sure it's nothing explicit but it's just... EWWW I don't need to know you had a lovely dream about my dad.......

I'm feeling pretty creeped out right now. I know, I know, I'm over reacting over something tiny... but hey, I wouldn't be me if I wasn't :P

Happy monday, peeps!

never let your guard down

I realized that I have this curse of never being able to let my guard down, because the moment that happens... shit hits the ceiling...

I'm not just talking about my personal life but also my professional life... bah...

no kids?

Watching Season 3 of Giuliana & Bill on telly yesterday evening, we saw that trying to conceive was really important for the both of them.

I was thinking to myself that maybe it's just not the right time for them, I mean, God does work in mysterious ways and if it's not happening, don't force it.

Then at one point, Giuliana cries as she speaks with the therapist, "It makes me wonder what did we do wrong? Why are we being punished?"

That's when the puppy (who was playing games on his iPhone) comments out loud "Why do you want babies to begin with?"

I'm speechless... and I don't know what to think now....

catch up

I just had a catch up meeting with my editor... apparently I rock in every department except writing.

Apparently my grammer sucks and my style is too corporate, so I'll need to change that.

Bleh.

Happy Monday everyone.

My new recyclable bag!!!

Working in media has got to have its own perks... I get quite a fair bit of stuff to try out and this is one of them!

I have one other recyclable bag which I got from a BMW launch (that was courtesy of the puppy though) and it's made of parachute material from Onya Bags and it's super convenient because it folds nicely and fits quite neatly into your palm.

But yeah, I've been trying to use my own shopping bags since about 2005 and to tell you the truth it's been really difficult at first. So I can't begin to tell you how excited I am that so many places now realize the importance of using recyclable shopping bags. If only they do it on a daily basis.

Anyways, enough about my bags and recycling efforts. Let's talk about envirosax!

It's a really compact foldable bag with cool designs. Plus it's lightweight, water proof and supposedly can hold the same weight as 2 regular plastic shopping bags.

Isn't it just super duper pretty??? :)

They have a huge range of designs for adults and even cute kiddie ones... check them out here. You know what the great part is? It costs only RM25.90 each! I mean think about it, if you use a plastic bag each Saturday you go shopping, it can max out to RM1 per trip.... and in less than half a year, not only do you hit the same amount but imagine the amount of plastic bags you would've used?

Can't wait to use this little baby! And yeah if you see some girl carrying this bag around, you'll know it's me!

Origa-what???

*cringe*

Yes I know. I am so terrible at being Japanese sometimes!

歌舞伎 の着物

The pup and I went to a Kabuki Kimono exhibition at Isetan, KLCC today.

Kabuki stands for sing (歌), dance (舞), and skill (伎) which features the art of singing and dancing is known for its avant garde-ness and elaborate make up.

They featured 22 great authentic costumes worn by some of the greatest actors from the Meiji era (明治時代) to the Showa era (昭和時代).

Some names of these grand kimonos will be romanized as I have no frickin' idea on how to type it out.... I've done as much as I can so, if there's anyone who can help me, お願いしますよ!

助六由縁江戸桜 (Sukeroku yukari no Edo zakura) or Sukeroku: The Flower of Edo.

Look how elaborate they are!

Also from Sukeroku, this is Ukonsyusu botankujakusoshisyu keiseikake.

Worn by a lady in the role of 白玉 (shiratama)
Murasakihonjusu kusudamachirashishisyu keiseisake
紫本珠子 薬玉散し刺。。。 (this is as far as I can go :P)

Worn in the role of 意休 (Ikyu) by 7世松本幸四郎 (Matsumoto Koshiro the 7th)
Kurojusuji ryusyokkososhisyu kitsukehaori
黒珠子地龍。。。

Worn in the female role of 花子 (Hanako) in 京鹿子娘道成寺 (Kyokanoko Musume Dojoji)
Kurorinzuji shidarezakura ni odamakinui furisodekitsuke
I'm not even going to attempt this

Another one from 京鹿子娘道成寺 for 花子 's character worn by 6世尾上菊五郎 (Onoye Kikugoro the 6th)

This has got to be my favorite. I just love black kimonos because it makes all the details really "POP" out.

Worn for the character 岩藤 (Iwafuji) in 加賀見山旧錦絵 (Kagamiyama kokyono nishikie) by 5世中村歌右衛門 (Nakamura Utaemon the 5th)
Kuromonrinzu fujishisyu uchikake
黒紋綸子藤刺裲襠

Last but not least - I call this Tiger Stripes :P

Worn in 天竺徳兵衛韓噺 (Tenjikutokubei ikoku banashi) for the character 天竺徳兵衛韓of (Tenjikutokubei)
Kinshikumotatewakunamishishyu yoten
金糸雲立涌。。。

prove yourself

The pup and I have been looking at migration forms lately and today he sent me the checklist for the visa we're looking into applying.

His older brother Jon has generously volunteered to be his sponsor to go over and with the type of visa he's looking into, he's allowed to bring a partner along with him.

So this morning he was posed with this check list.

Which then prompted him to email me and said "Err. So we have to mark it NOW. Someway. How?"

HAHAHA... it just made me imagine a dog marking its territory... I don't know why...

But anyways, we have to prove that we have been living in a genuine and continuing relationship for at least 12 months.

So now we're thinking of ways to prove ourselves... any suggestions?

laughing in your sleep

Every morning before I leave for work, I lean in and watch him sleep for a bit. Then I'll stroke his hair gently and snuggle him a little before saying "I'm going out now, I'll see you later hun..." and kiss him on the forehead.

This morning... just as I sat on the bed and was about to lean in....

He started laughing and it was just so random that I started to laugh as well!

Then he opened his left eye ever so slightly, looked at me... and laughed some more.

"I had a funny dream... hahaha," and promptly fell back asleep.

*sigh*

Cute tees

I visit http://www.boredpanda.com/ every once in a while at work because well, lets face it... when you write as much... you tend to get a bit brain dead... which is an occupational hazard ok...

Anyways, saw this tee... and I thought I'd share it with you guys :)

About you... about me...

The puppy sent me this the other day and... it's suprisingly pretty accurate. Yes you're probably rolling your eyes and grumbling "Enough with the compatibility charts already!!!" but I don't care :P

About Pisces

Pisces is symbolized by the Fish. You're empathetic, openhearted and intuitive. You rely on your instincts rather than facts or logic, experiencing things almost completely subjectively. Daydreamy and creative, you prefer to go with the flow rather than fight the current.

DATES
February 19 - March 20

RULING PLANET
Jupiter / Neptune

RULING HOUSE
Twelfth House

ELEMENT
Water

BIRTHSTONE (SIGN OR MONTH)
Amethyst (Pisces)
Amethyst (Feb: Traditional / Modern)
Bloodstone, Jasper (Mar: Traditional)
Aquamarine (Mar: Modern)

QUALITY
Mutable

BODY PARTS
Feet

KEYWORD
Subconscious

DATE WITH DESTINY
Cancer, Scorpio

RUN FOR THE HILLS
Gemini, Sagittarius

WHERE YOU GLOW
Helping others

WHAT MAKES YOU TICK
Writing poetry

FITNESS FORECAST
Meditation

PLAY DATE
Going to the theatre

PERFECT JOB
TV producer, bartender

BEST ACCESSORY
Toe ring

A SURE THING
Taking in stray animals

DESTINATION
Morocco

PLEASURE
Romance, helping others, compassion

PAIN
Reality, mean people, insensitivity

WHAT'S MY LINE?
Make love not war.

About Scorpio

Scorpio is symbolized by the Scorpion. Intense and emotionally perceptive, you pick up on unspoken words and speak the language of gesture. Deep, mysterious and magnetically attractive, you yearn for emotional intimacy. If hurt, you really sting -- and you don't forgive easily!

DATES
October 23 - November 21

RULING PLANET
Mars / Pluto

RULING HOUSE
Eighth House

ELEMENT
Water

BIRTHSTONE (SIGN OR MONTH)
Beryl (Scorpio)
Tourmaline, Aquamarine (Oct: Trad.)
Opal Tourmaline (Oct: Modern)
Citrine, Topaz (Nov: Trad. / Mod.)

QUALITY
Fixed

BODY PARTS
Sex organs

KEYWORD
Sex

DATE WITH DESTINY
Cancer, Pisces

RUN FOR THE HILLS
Leo, Aquarius

WHERE YOU GLOW
Investigating

WHAT MAKES YOU TICK
Chess

FITNESS FORECAST
Sex

PLAY DATE
Chatting on the Internet

PERFECT JOB
Private investigator, surgeon

BEST ACCESSORY
Magnifying glass

A SURE THING
Magnetism

DESTINATION
The Netherlands

PLEASURE
Mystery, calling the shots, passion

PAIN
Exposure, simplicity, interruption

WHAT'S MY LINE?
Yeah, Baby!

4 ears, 2 years

Two years have passed since you first said "I love you"

Two years have passed since you've been in my life

Two years have passed and I've realized how much more wonderful my life is with you in it

Two years have passed and I've realized how much I need you

Two years have passed and I know deep down I never want to be without you

Two years have passed and I know that I would give up my own happiness to see you happy

Two years have passed since we've been together and I'm looking forward to more...

I love you


Here's to counting down to 1000 days :)

I wanna look like this....

.... when I'm pregnant :P

I know, I know, long shot... but isn't she just absolutely glowing? :)

A story of time... and love

Once upon a time, there was an island where all feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others including Love.

One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all repaired their boats and left. Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to persevere until the last possible moment.

When the island was almost sinking, Love decided to ask for help. Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said, "Richness, can you take me with you?" Richness answered, "No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you."

Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel."Vanity, please help me!" "I can't help you Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered.

Sadness was close by so Love asked for help, "Sadness, let me Go with you." "Oh... Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!"

Happiness passed by Love too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her!

Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come Love, I will take you." It was an elder. Love felt so blessed and overjoyed that he even forgot to ask the elder her name.

When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way.

Love realizing how much he owed the elder asked Knowledge, another elder, "Who helped me?" "It was Time," Knowledge answered. "Time?" asked. Love. "But why did Time help me?"

Knowledge smiled with deep Wisdom and answered, "Because only Time is capable of understanding how great Love is.

"Bring out the love in your life --- and see what happens

"Jealousy is the foundation of lack of self-esteem…

I believe in you, even if no one understands

I stumbled across this video today... and it just reminded me of how I'm sticking by him no matter. I don't know what it is but I have always just believed in him and his passions. Corny as it sounds, even when the world was against him saying that it's not gonna work, give up, get a real job and all that stuff... even if part of me wanted to say that to him too, a bigger part of me believed that we should always reach for the stars.

Not many people have the ability and strength (not to mention the means) to be able to quit the rat race and go for your dreams... and he does.

So as a believer in dreams coming true... of course I support him! :)



The Calling - Stigmatized
If I give up on you I give up on me
If we fight what's true, will we ever be
Even God himself and the faith I knew
Shouldn't hold me back, shouldn't keep me from you

Tease me, by holding out your hand
Then leave me, or take me as I am
And live our lives, stigmatized

I can feel the blood rushing though my veins
When I hear your voice, driving me insane
Hour after hour day after day
Every lonely night that I sit and pray

We live our lives on different sides,
But we keep together you and I
Just live our lives, stigmatized

We'll live our lives,
We'll take the punches everyday
We'll live our lives
I know we're gonna find our way

I believe in you
Even if no one understands
I Believe in you, and I don't really give a damn, stigmatized

We live our lives on different sides
But we keep together you and I
We live our lives on different sides
We're gonna live our lives
Gotta live our lives
We're gonna live our lives
We're gonna live our lives,
Gonna live our lives,
Stigmatized

insecurities

I told you so. In an earlier post I was saying that I just don't get to spend enough time at home now. I really do feel guilty.

As a result... the yearning, and mostly guilt manifested in my dream.

I dreamt that I was away on a weekened assignment (as I do quite often these few months) and it got canceled, so I came home. Only to find my largest insecurity come to life (well just in my dream).

In the dream I asked him why. He told me that since I'm always at work and all, he got bored.

To dream that your mate, spouse, or significant other is cheating on you, indicates your fears of being abandoned. You may feel a lack of attention in the relationship. Alternatively, you may feel that you are not measuring up to the expectations of others. This notion may stem from issues of trust or self-esteem. The dream could also indicate that you are unconsciously picking up hints and cues that your significant other is not being completely truthful or is not fully committed in the relationship.

I'm pretty sure it is just the self esteem and all that, since I'm not spending enough time.

Bleh.

Improve your life!

I have been so busy with work the last few weeks that I have been going home late, and not spending enough personal time - not just with myself but with my mom, the puppy and our kids....

If you really calculate the hours, it's not that much of a difference. But because I'm spending so much time and effort at work, I just get so tired when I get home that I don't want to move...

Anyways, I got this via email a while back and I thought that I should post it up... and read it occasionally. This was apparently written by Randy Pausch in a letter to his wife and three beautiful children to follow.

POINTS ON HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE

Personality:
1. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Don't have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment
3. Don't over do; keep your limits
4. Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does
5. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip
6. Dream more while you are awake
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
8. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner of his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more
14. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:
15. Call your family often
16. Each day give something good to others
17. Forgive everyone for everything
18. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
19. Try to make at least three people smile each day
20. What other people think of you is none of your business
21. Your job will not take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
22. Put GOD first in anything and everything that you think, say and do.
23. GOD heals everything
24. Do the right things
25. However good or bad a situation is, it will change
26. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
27. The best is yet to come
28. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful
29. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it
30. If you know GOD you will always be happy. So, be happy.

While you practice all of the above, share this knowledge with the people you love, people you school with, people you play with, people you work with and people you live with.

Not only will it enrich YOUR life, but also that of those around you.

Lunch with Dr Perricone

They launched their new eye gel - Cold Plasma today over a healthy lunch at the Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur.

I only have one thing to say. Well two things.

A. Launch was trying to be classy and all, but dammit the product stinks like no other! Dr Perricone believes in getting the best of your skin in three ways: through diet, nutriceutical supplements, and his award-winning line of skin care products and cosmeceuticals. Doing so, there are no artificial fragrances and all that nonsense in the products.

Cold Plasma, has DHA in it a.k.a fish oils!!! Garrrghhhhh. It actually smelt like dead fish! It was THAT horrid!!!

B. Healthy food isn't that all bad after all... but heck gimme regular food any day! On the same note, I loved the appetizer and entree.... not too crazy about the main and dessert...

Anyways, here you some food pix! :)

Our menu for the day

I found this to be interesting. Organic tomato consomme with tomato gazpacho caviar. I didn't know it was cold and they served it in a martini glass! How cool is that!!!

The forbidden bread basket. Bad carbs!!! But tasted oh so heavenly *swoon*

The entree - smoked salmon salad with aragula leaves, sliced almonds and cantaloupe compression.
p/s: LOVED this!

Macadamia seared halibut with eggplant caviar, grapefruit clams fricasse and a lemon chive dressing.

Almond grapefruit financier with yoghurt sorbet and cranberry reduction.

this shouldn't be happening

I'm having paranoid dream attacks. Two nights in a row...

It's very subtle, but it's there.

This shouldn't be happening now... not now... not after all that has happened, not after all that we've worked on, not after what we have been through.

I really pray it's just my conscienceness playing a game with me... I really do

Make A Wish

Did you ever want to make a wish and hope it happens? Try Leo Burnett's Make A Wish. It just might come true!!! :)

Here's mine!

bunny misses puppy

<3

having kids

The puppy and I were discussing this article we read about spirituality and that how this guy theorized that having kids is just this way of the devil suckering us into getting more people into this world where all that happens is suffering, growing old and dying.

I do agree with the article at one point because, let's put it this way, we're not entirely enjoying ourselves in this world - we're always worrying and wondering what will happen, the responsibilities of bringing another life into this world

Then he said "You know, that is kinda true... why do people want kids anyways? To feed their egos! To take care of them! Because our forefathers had already done that and implanted that thought in our minds,"

Which then made me wonder... how much is he agree with the article?

From what he's been telling me, he comes off as completely agreeing with the article and saying that we should just be responsible humans and not bring anymore humans into this world to suffer.......

*sigh*

Happy Friday peeps... I'm working this weekend... bleh!

I think I am Chandler

Fear. Anxiety. Water~

Why am I feeling this way?

Hmm must be those brownies last night... bleh