Not so Traditional

Not the traditonal Chinese Year New. Somehow, my brain refuse to register the CNY mood because there was so much stuff going on. I just recovered from the exam mood two weeks before CNY and then new term began right after the exam. I’m suppose to finish reading the whole textbook, more than 600 pages by the third lecture which falls on the first day of CNY but I’d only read 2 chapters. Very stress! As such, I didn’t remember to prepare specific dishes for the reunion dinner. At least we did that last year. Anyhow, the red packets still came in early! My mum still gave me and J 红包  even though we are married and Julian had received a bunch of 红包 from my family. Not forgetting  the traditional bak kwa (vacuum pack) too. ♥

Here’s to a not-so-interesting, not-so-tradition CNY to date

初一: Cannot sleep at all. Attended a straight  3hr morning lecture without sleeping for more than 24 hours. Surprising I was really alert. Took a quick nap and then to the Chinese restaurant for a good feast, sort of making up for the reunion dinner. Took some pictures of little fellow in traditional clothes. Dragon top for the dragon year. Shopped again at Topshop, my excuses were new clothes for CNY and there was 20% discount for students!

初二: Spill over effects of sleep deprivation. Felt so lethargic but still had to analyze two cases for tomorrow’s case discussion while attending to little one in between.

初三:  Uni. Lecture ended at 1700, reached home nearly 1900, had to analyse 2 more cases for tomorrow’s lecture again, could only get started around midnight, after the little one fall asleep. Shopped at NastyGirl, everything is so pretty! I discovered this through my friend’s tweet. Warning, addictive site.  Ordered a bunch of stuff, omg so guilty!

初四: Slept for 3 hours, woke up at 0515, left house by 0615, first lecture began at 0800 and last lecture ended at 1715, reached home at 1915. Dead tired. Family movie night, we watched the classic Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights.

初五: Picked up posts, my toner and Topshop parcel arrived. Then supermarket. Cleaned the whole house, followed by family movie night, Harold & Kumar II. Shopping at ASOS, I’m in love with Lilac and couldn’t resist the cluth and the ring! Pounds is quite weak against krona so it is a good time to shop in pounds.

Happy Chinese New Year! 恭喜发财，身体健康, 心想事成, 万事如意!!

In short, I miss CNY. Those gatherings at my grandma place, meeting my cousins and friends! The crowd, the noise, the food … everything!

Furry Furry

I couldn’t stop thinking about fur hats when I got back from Paris. Spotted a faux fur headband online from Topshop and then one thing led to another. Few more additions in the shopping bag. A knit cable snood, love the color! Matt wetlook legging, panel bodycon skirt and the faceted bracelet. I’ve dyed my hair, the color is bitter cappuccino and there wasn’t any significance difference. Haven’t dyed my hair in 3 years and it felt like I was a newbie all over again, should have picked a lighter shade instead. Second thing, should have also bought 2 packets of dye too since my hair is pretty thick. The color is more obvious under sunlight but I would have liked it to be 1 or 2 shares lighter.

Fur headband, one of my fav snood and the bling bling bracelet

The Last Semester

Exam just ended on last Saturday and school starts again on Tuesday. Last semester. Two more units and a thesis left. I have this particular lecturer (again!), life ain’t going to be easy. One more thing on the plate – to get an EU drivers license. My first attempt to learn driving, at last! It costs about  50€ per 40 minutes of driving, however, signing up with the package is slightly cheaper. Since I have no car to practice in, I’m going for the biggest package. I would need that.

Update. The first time I took 30 minutes to curl my hair. The second time it took me 10 min. The third time, only 5 min! I did not section the hair and I reduce the holding time from 25 seconds to not more than 15 secs. Results, softer curls! The curling wand has an adjustable heat setting from 1 to 10, I use a 5. My hair dye arrived yesterday, can’t wait to dye my hair and I just realized there won’t be a difference because I bought dark brown. Should have gone for a much lighter brown since my hair is so dark to begin with. Next round then.

Down to 5 minutes!

The first half of the year is going to be tough. A lot to do. And the second half of year is pretty much unknown. I don’t know what job I’m going to get, where we’re going to live. I don’t think I have time to go back to Singapore in June because that’s the time we plan to relocate, so much to do. I’ve been looking at a few apartments already and I can’t wait to move, we are upgrading!

Those CURLS!

I rebonded my hair for the first time last summer, it still lasts although I don’t want it to. The point is I get bored of straight hair really fast and I miss those natural waves that I used to have. That’s when Babyliss Curling Wand came in, my first hair wand. It’s quite different from the most of the curling irons because there is also no clamp to fiddle with and it should be held vertically instead of horizontally. Just wrap the hair around ceramic barrel, pretty easy. On my first trial, I spent less than 30 minutes on the whole head, while attending to the baby in between. Hopefully with more practice, I can get it down to 15 minutes. I thought the curls would loosen up after a few hours but it didn’t, it really last. The photo on the top left corner is taken before a light scrunching to loosen the curls. I also realized  changing the fringe parting after curling looks better as it adds volume. This wand is definitely a keeper, worth every penny!

Prior to curling, I used Syoss heat-protect styling spray, pretty decent. I started experiencing post-pregnancy hair falling in July, about 3 months after delivery. I know its common, it’s temporary and it will go away but I’m still paranoid. I started using this ‘Hollywood’ shampoo by Chaz Dean in August, endorsed by Alyssa Milano. I don’t want to sound exaggerating but my hair fall reduced significantly after a week of use. By end of august, no more hair loss. Not only that, my hair becomes softer too, no more dry ends. After curling my hair, it’s still as soft as before. It costs me 40€ for the haircare set of 4 items, inclusive of shipping, pretty reasonable. Now I switch it back and forth with normal shampoo since I have no bad issues with my hair. There are mix reviews about the shampoo, it doesn’t work for everyone but my experience has been a pleasant one.

No more straight business! First attempt with a curling wand.

This is my natural hair color. Going to dye my hair soon once the hair dye arrives, shipping on its way. Hurry!

A Toast to New Beginnings

Happy New Year to everyone! Julian makes this new year extra special. It’s the first time I spend the new year with my very own family. Julian got woken up by the blasting of fireworks just minutes before midnight and he’s too excited to go back to sleep. It’s just the three of us counting down to a wonderful new year right by our balcony, looking at the fireworks, in our very first apartment, couldn’t be happier. Joy.

2011 has been one of my best years despite the sleep deprivation. Still can’t believe I a mother! Traveled to Singapore with 2 month old Julian by myself, attended my cousin’s wedding, met up with my friends and relatives. This meant a lot because I only get to see them once a year. Juggling between my masters degree and being a mum, went on a European business tour, won a bike and my good friends got engage. Wonderful! There were also dark moments with the never ending assignments and the usual stress faced by students but not much longer I hope.

I’m so looking forward to 2012! It’s going to be a blast! Julian is turning one this year. My mum will be visiting us. Getting a new camera for myself. There will be graduation, new job, new apartment. Hopefully. We will be selling our apartment after graduation and probably move to Stockholm area. A trip back to Singapore maybe. I’m really looking forward to work, no more uni assignments and exams sound good to me. Let’s ride 2012.

Cheers to new beginnings!

20 Days

Just one day without Julian breaks my heart so much and there’s still 20 days to go. 20?! It seems forever! The hardest and longest 20 days of my life. I don’t know what to do, I can’t concentrate at all and I’ve been sobbing, trying to keep myself busy but it still doesn’t work. I’m not the only parent who feels this way from what I had read online, it is really hard for a mother to be away from the child when they are this young even if its only a few days or even few hours. If it’s not for the clash of our timetable with classes EVERYDAY and my exams, we would not have resorted to this even though I know Julian is in good hands. Once he’s back, I’m going to make it all up. I’m counting down! That also explains why I’m blogging again.

Something to lighten up …

J: Do you want to use it? (holding a new bottle of mouthwash)

A: Why? What are you trying to imply? (skeptical look and gives a stare – an unwicked stare)

J: No if you’re not using it then I would place it on the top cabinet.

A: So you’re implying that I’m short? (now the wicked stare comes in)

J: Nooooo  -__-  (he must be thinking it doesn’t pay to be kind)

A: …

P.S. If you happen to read this, you should know that I can REACH the top cabinet! ♥ Remember the rescue of the volcanic shaver foam from the top cabinet?

IsaDora

I’m procrastinating, trying to do everything to avoid studying for the exam which in two days. So here I am, doing what I should not. Out of randomness, I decided to capture the effects of  IsaDora’s 16 hours active moist makeup on camera. The positive online reviews totally convinced me to get it. I took the pictures 8 hours after applying it (didn’t plan this). It’s also my first time using IsaDora.I didn’t touch up the makeup (except lipstick) before the pictures were taken nor edit the photos afterwards. I bought the antishine mattifying powder as well because it felt really smooth, good for the T-zone.

I’m currently using Chanel’s long lasting concealer, it’s decent, however I prefer IsaDora’s active moist MUCH more. Some online reviewers claimed it to be better than Dior. While everyone’s skin differs, what suits one may not suit the others. This is definitely my keeper. First of all it lasts. I rarely touch up my makeup when I’m out, so this is the wonderful part. It has medium coverage (don’t need concealer), non-cakey, only need a little, reasonably priced and comes with SPF30, the bonus. I usually don’t stray away from Everyday Minerals but since they stopped shipping here, IsaDora is my new favorite and it feels amazing!

The Red Lipstick stays put. Doing the bimbo stuff again.

Effects of Procrastination. Not cool.

21 Days

21 Days without Julian. It’s not easy especially Julian is this young. I know he will be well-taken care of by his grandparents but still, as a mother you think about your child ALL the time.  I’m leaving for Luxembourg, Paris, Amsterdam and Kolbenz in Germany in less than 2 weeks to visit some companies. It’s hard to be selected and I don’t want to miss this. We begin with a photoshoot next week, follow by dinners in Sweden with some the presence of local press. As much as being really excited, I’ll also be missing Julian terribly but I’m only doing this because of the expected payoff and I think it’s worth it.

I’m really busy with uni with 4-6hours of classes almost everyday (travelling is another 3hours minimum back and forth). Sometimes, the journey back can take 3 hours! I don’t want to miss being with Julian so I usually start studying after his bedtime which happens to be really late. Although exams ended last friday, new term resume on monday which literally equals no break. Worse still, I have an oral exam next week which I really hate because you have to know the case very well, ensure calculations are correct before entering the battlefield to debate against others (group of 10, 20) and fighting to speak, it’s survival of the fittest. Insane amount of reading – 6 long journals and 3 chapters in a week for the oral exam preparation and I haven’t even started! Too exhausted after the exam week (4 hours for each paper)and far from being in the study mood again. Deeeeep trouble.

I’ve lost a further 4kg since I got back from Singapore. I’m at my skinniest now which I’m very certain it won’t last. Looking after Julian is my only exercise, pretty effective. Shopping is the one of the best ways to distress. I haven’t worn the new shoes yet (shipping arrived last week), probably too cold to wear them now anyway and I’m overly bias to the furry boots which I bought 3 days ago, can’t stop wearing it. So soft! I’m really looking forward to the Paris night out especially after watching Midnight in Paris, it’s so beautiful!

Distress Mechanism

Shopping, happy food, chocolate. You and me.  And a bottle of wine. 

Little Duckling

Julian starts flipping at 2 months, sitting by himself at 3 months, crawling at 4 months (crawls really fast), learning to stand at 5 months. We start  feeding him solids at 5 months and during his first meal, we are surprised that he can actually feed himself, he holds the spoon and puts in his mouth and it wasn’t messy at all.  Then he used his bib and wiped his mouth. Everything is captured on video. Julian is now 6 months old. He manages to stand by himself without anyone holding him 3 days after turning 6 months but he still needs to hold on to something. He’s also learning to walk now, in fact he takes his first 3 steps by himself today! He holds on to the sofa as he walk, I did not hold him although my hands are ready to catch him anytime, still a long way to go. His first word is ‘Hej’ which means hello in swedish. Being a mum is the BEST thing in the world, exhausting but rewarding!

My little duckling is half year old

♥♥♥

Swedish Midsummer Party