It's a Mob

We watched the coolest show, talked about the stupidest things, had the heartiest laugh.

It was a randomly marvelous night ❤

[VDL - Part 10] Ring “Pillow"

The good thing about having a theme for the wedding, is that you won’t end up buying things for the wedding aimlessly.

The not-so-good thing about it, is that you get so obsessed with wanting every detail to go with the theme, you find it difficult to settle for anything else.

Pops and I have been looking for the perfect ring pillow for our vintage-travel theme for the longest time. In fact, we had such high hopes on finding one in Kimchi-land, but to no avail.

Credits to our obsession to keep to the theme or our die-hard persistence to find that special something to hold our wedding bands, we resisted buying any of the pretty-frilly-lookin ring pillows. And thank God we did!

Because one random evening, we stumbled upon a quaint vintage toy store in town while searching for food (I know, we sound like we’re perpetually hungry).

And we saw this small, inconspicuous looking storage box shaped in the likes of a vintage suitcase!

While it doesn’t look like it’s made to hold rings, both of us knew we had to get it. And we know we’ll work sth out later :)

And so here’s our little suitcase of blessings with no lace, no ribbons and no satin...

But we love it!!

[VDL - Part 9] Save the Date(s)!

Just realized that I've not updated any VDL posts for quite some time. That shows how slack we have been in our wedding prep since we came back from Korea :p

Since the last VDL post, we've chosen our actual day gowns and suits, received our framed bridal photo from Korea, bought a bunch of material from paper market for wedding crafts (during GSS), went shopping for betrothal gifts (si dian jin) and (before even finalizing our guest list) created our own save-the-date! 

I was all over pinterest trying to gather some fancy ideas for our save-the-date mailer. I even contemplated doing a causal shoot for that because there are just so many lovely ideas! 

But one fine afternoon, as I sat in front of my Mac, browsing through our pre-wed photos from Korea, I added some texts to a few of my fav photos and...

Honestly, I think they turned out better than I expected! Considering the very minimal effort it took :X

So the fun and easy part of our save-the-date project is done, we pretty much have to bite the bullet and get through the finalizing of our guest list soon. Hrmps. 

5th

Another National Day came and gone. The 47th birthday of the nation marked our 5th year together :)

As usual, our anniversary is a quiet affair, where we just sit together with the family and let NPD take center stage.

But being the final anniversary that we are going to spend on national day, we pampered ourselves a little with some epicurean indulgence :)

We went to our fav restaurant on Sentosa for our fix for a slow, romantic dinner.

We love the place not just for the food and the service, but also its lovely ambience. It's comfortably littered with people so it's not dead quiet, and yet we get to enjoy enough privacy to just focus our attention on each other and HTHT. 

And the next morning, we went to our new fav hang-out to while away the holiday morning :)

A lovely, lazy brunch is one of the most therapeutic activities. I think it's good for the palette and good for the soul :)

We went home and had an extremely giggly gift exchange because we were both so thrilled by each other's presents! 

I lurrrvvvveeee my Einie thumb drive! I've been looking high and low for the Einie bobby head since I saw it on Night at the Museum, but we never managed to find it. So he got me this as a replacement till we manage to find the Einie bobby :)

And I customised these cushions for him and for our new home. 

As I'm doing this project, I realize that he is so many things to me. He is so many things that I am not, so many things that I never thought I needed in my life, so many things that I adore. And now, because he is so many things to me, he has become someone I can't live without.

I fall asleep every night giving thanks that he is in my life. And I pray that I will never forget what a blessing it is. That I will never take a love like this for granted.

Happy 5th year anniversary to my hubs-to-be :)

Balmain

I think I have quite a few posts which I've been wanting to update but haven't got around to putting them down in words :p

So I thought I better post abt this before I start putting it on my to-do (but never done) list agin.

I used to like buying watches quite a bit at one point of my life. But mostly fashion watches to wear for fun and purely to accessorize. But since my 21st bday, I've not really been actively looking to buy new watches. I've been wearing the same Guess watch from my brother since my 21st bday. Alternating b/w another watch which pops bought for me a couple of years ago.

So recently, I've been thinking that I should just invest in a proper watch which can last me through a good few years. But I don't really have a particular brand or style in mind. So I left it as it is. 

And some months ago, while reading a magazine, a Balmain watch caught my eyes. 

That clean-cut face accompanied by a see through arabesque cut-out spelt unique in a very subtle way for me. Something I couldn't have described out of thin air, but seeing it just makes me feel like it's the kind of watch I want.

Went on a shopping day out with mum today and since we were walking around aimlessly, she suggested watch-shopping, for fun. 

Popped into a few watch boutiques in town but not many carry Balmain, much less the 25th Anniversary edition.  Finally found one shop in Wisma that does. 

I tried it on my wrist, and the rest is history.

Ok, we did go around scouring almost all the other watch boutiques in Ion, Wisma and Taka, to look at other watches. But the rest all looked the same to me aft I tried on the Balmain watch (I know, it's psychological).

And so we returned back to the shop and mum volunteered to share it with dad and get it as a gift for me. To celebrate the year I got my promo and erm... the year I got hitched :p

And what can be more appropriate than a watch celebrating the 25th anniversary :)

I love the back of the watch too! Balmain's iconic arabesque and red rubies in discreet places.

The 188th out of 2012 pieces of the watch world wide. Apparently only 5 pcs were shipped to Sg.

Finally, an automatic watch :)

The super hardy wooden box for the watch doubles up very conveniently as a jewelry box :)

Random realization of my fancy for brands that starts with B.

Balenciaga, Balmain, Bvlgari.

And they will all mark very special milestones in my life :)

[VDL - Part 8] Meet the Parents

And the parents met today!

Probably one of our most worrying things to settle for the wedding. Heard so many awful stories that we've became rather paranoid abt it.

The session took place at Teochew City Seafood Restaurant because our original choice, East Ocean, was closed for private function.

Food at Teochew City was pretty good :) especially the Teochew cold crab and pumpkin yam paste.

The atmosphere was easy and comfortable and all of them were talking to each other with an odd sense of familiarity, it felt like they've known each other for quite sometime...

The funny thing is... They talked abt everything under the sun and only got to the main topic after the entire dinner. And it only lasted a good 15 mins!

But we are so so thankful that everything went well and smooth and they were still lingering at the escalator aft we left the restaurant, talking to one another! I think it really helps that our parents have met before and our mums have even gone on a tour tgt :)

And something interesting came out of the discussion. We may have new plans for post-marital accommodation.

But that... We'll settle in due time :)

Great week ahead everyone!

Momentum

Been back from our Korea trip for more than 2 weeks! Can't help but lament again, how time flies....

Had an enjoyable time during the photoshoot and we're pretty happy with the photos and the whole experience :) Just done with choosing our photos for the album :D More about that in another VDL post! And I'll probably do another Travel Diary post when I'm free to sum up my Korea trip :)

Right now, I'm just taking life one step at a time and trying to swing back into momentum. The right momentum.

Been trying to return home early so that I can watch TV with my family, have a good chat with mum, do some reading and have an early night.

Started on Purpose Driven Life when I was down on MC a week after I'm back. An awesome book and I have so much to learn from it. Been counting my blessings that God has so graciously showered upon me. I'm learning once again to seek true joy and not just fleeting happiness.

Speaking of MC, I felt pampered silly by Poppy's sweet gesture of sending me a bouquet of flowers to my house... Waking up to the sweet smell of fresh flowers was such an amazing feeling :)

[VDL - Part 7] Pre-wedding Shoot Prep

I feel like a potpourri of emotions these days.

Part of me is tired from work, part of me is all looking forward to the impeding Korea trip, part of me feels lost and unsure of what I need to prepare for the pre-wed shoot and part of me is anxious about not being able to finish everything before I go off.

I just did a 10pm today and I would gladly work OT for the rest of the week if I didn't have to run all the errands before the wedding shoot - Dental appointment, mani-pedi, change money, buy a casual dress for the shoot, pack luggage... And I've been wanting to do facial, go gym, but seriously, NO TIME! 

I feel so unprepared and I don't feel like I'm a BTB going for her pre-wedding shoot in 1 weeks' time -_-

Anyway people have been asking me abt our Korea pre-wedding package. It's all based in Korea - gown, studio, MUA and hairstylist, so I'm really excited and a little jittery about the whole experience!

And yes, it's mainly indoor shots precisely because it's Korea! That's what they are famous for :) But it's really because I  I love their make-up! I really really hope they do a nice one for me so that I can also learn how to do Korean make-up :p

Below are some shots from the studio that we chose. I hope the sun is as warm and fuzzy that day too :D

And I'm praying hard that we get to do a sunset shot like this!

I'm looking forward to having a good break as well :) My travel bug is biting and I'm feeling the itch having not travelled for so long. 

Still can't quite register, but we're flying off this weekend :D 

Ok now i'm really excited. 

Boo Boo Friday

Yesterday was boo boo Friday :(

Got into a minor accident on our way to work. A lorry in front of us e-braked and even though pops was not following v close behind, we couldn't stop in time to prevent crashing because it was too sudden.

Thank God that pops instinctively swerved out as he jammed his brake so the car was only scraped at the driver's side rather than crashing head-on into the lorry. If that had happened, I dunno how the car and us would have ended up.

But the car was in a bad enough shape that Pop's can't open the door on his side.

Our hearts pain to see the car in such a state coz it seems like s'one scraped of its skin, revealing the skeleton :(

But nonetheless we really really thank God that we're safe and sound :)

Lesson #6 - Do or Drop

This period has been CRAZY at work.

From a 4-person team to a 2-person team and a temporary 1-person team in a span of a couple of months during peak period. Not the best arrangement, but I survived!

Things will probably cont to be crazy till we leave for our shoot, but trough this period I think I've learnt 1 important thing.

When u think that you have TOO many things on hand, don't stop and procrastinate. When we feel overwhelmed at work, we tend to just stop and think about what what we should do. S'times, we forget to get started because we simply can't figure out where to start.

I've learnt to just get started and clear what ever I can, when I can. Procrastinating for that 15 mins may mean that I've wasted the time I could have used to clear my emails or craft an approval. 

And at the end of the day, I'm starting to learn to drop and go. There are just too many things on the list and I can cont working on them till the next day and the day aft if I don't learn to drop them and go at the right time. Workload will only increase as we progress. If we do not learn how to drop and go at appropriate time, how can we balance our time between work, self and family in the future?

And I'm thankful that I have pops to keep reminding me all this :) He has learnt the art of it and he has been very efficient in his work. I'm learning!