Someone's a natural exhibitionist.

So these days i try to get up just a wee bit earlier. Just a wee bit, like... half an hour earlier. I haul my lazy ass out of bed in the morning, brave the chill, get dressed for work, and walk my little puplet. I think the correct term for Sophie would be a puplet. I coined the term myself. The hubs says she's a cross between a puppy and a piglet. Sure she's a puppy, but she's got floppy ears and the softest pink underside, and snorts in her sleep. Very much like a piglet. Hence she's a puplet. Am i right? Alright, i'm veering off course here.

So I get up a bit earlier to walk my little puplet. We've just recently moved house. So its all new territory to her. The first few days she was very hesitant about going through the lift. I have to literally drag her into the lift. Kinda like a child dreading the first day of school. But now she's getting pretty good at it. Still a little unsure, but no more dragging her fluffy butt through the lift doors.

So whats the purpose of all this, you wonder? The getting out of bed a little earlier, the effort to walk Sophie in the morning, braving the morning chill. Well, for one thing... its healthy to get up and get going. She loves her walks. And of course i was hoping she'd learn to do her no.1 and 2's outside. On our walks, we'd go round the block. In the mornings, the sidewalk is full of pedestrians, mostly office folk, looking like they're dreading to get into work. So me and Sophie would be on our morning walk. We walk past a semi nice looking hotel. I'm thinking, "hmm...soph you haven't done your poo poo yet".. and this is how the conversation went.

S: hey mommy, why don't i do it here. this looks like a good spot.
B: what? here? right now? why can't you look for a tree for goodness sake.
S: but i have to go now mommy.... *big puplet eyes*
B: *grumbles under her breath*
S: laadee dummm...

and she goes on to do her business, right in front of a semi swanky looking hotel, which i will decline to name here. So there i am on the sidewalk. Attached to a little white fluff ball, who's decided to poop right out in the open, among passing on lookers, right there and then. On the sidewalk of said semi swanky hotel. So this happened once... and i thought. So yea, maybe its just that one time. She really just had to go. But boy was i wrong. She did a marvelous repeat performance this morning. Right on the same spot. And at the end of all this, i still have freshly made, warm, steamy poop to be picked up in the mornings. Oh don't you just love morning walks. I know i do.

Another lovely weekend with the hubs and sophie.

On Saturday morning, we told Sophie that we'll be going out for breakfast together, and hopefully to the park for a stroll after, this was the expression she gave us. She's probably just glad that we'll be spending the whole weekend with her. It was a sort of rather chilly morning, so the hubs had Sophie tucked comfortably in his jacket. Here is the hubs reading the morning paper and Sophie falling asleep.
Soon the sun came out, and it really was rather lovely, having breakfast outdoors. I had hot chocolate and the hubs had a latte. I just had to show you how enormous my hot chocolate was, much to my delight.
The hubs ordered a big breakfast, which is the typical aussie breakfast i guess. I wanted to be a little adventurous...
So i had blueberry pancakes with ice cream, drizzled generously with maple syrup. I was probably more thrilled at the fact that i'm having ice cream for breakfast. *big grin*
We were introduced to the owner's dog, Jason. We introduced Jason to Sophie. As you can see in the pic, neither party was too keen on each other.
After breakfast, we decided to go for a walk at the Fitzroy gardens, which is right opposite where we live. I figured it'd be good to give Sophie her first stroll at the park, even though we don't have a leash for her yet.
She was such a good girl at the park, it really took us by surprise. I expected her to run full speed ahead til all we saw was a white speck in the distance. But instead, she kept close to us while being all curious and excited at the same time.
She takes really good pictures when she's running 'mid-air'. These shots are hard to catch but so worth it. Because she just looks so deliciously adorable!
Sophie gave me this look, when i told her not to go wandering too far.
Sophie goes for a stroll with daddy.
More running in 'mid-air' pictures.
Right when we were walking back to our car, while walking and talking and walking and not looking where we were going, I hear a loud "Pong!".... and the next thing i know, the hubs is lying on the ground like this.
I'm guessing this is a common thing with really tall people, they tend to bump into things, and in this particular case, a branch.. which wasn't really that low hanging in the first place. Don't worry dear readers, the hubs is all fine now. And if you do see him tomorrow, don't forget to wish him a very happy birthday!

The littlest member of my family.

Everyone, i'm officially presenting to you, Sophie. The littlest member of my family. She's 12 inches tall and weighs 800grams. She's a bundle of energy, the house is filled with the pitter patter of her little feet. She snuggles with me in bed and is great company when she's not trying to bite my fingers off.
As you can see, she is highly fond of running around at breakneck speed when given the chance.
Another thing she is fond of is picking up random bits and pieces found on the floor and carrying it with her like she's just come back from doing the morning's shopping.
She rarely barks which is a good thing, seeing how her presence has to be kept in absolute secrecy at the moment, due to the fact that her current living quarters aren't very fond of furry balls of activity.
Although she is beginning to annoy Mommy by; testing her patience, nipping at her ankles like she's hearding a big sheep, barking back when being told off, chewing on her hair when mommy is trying to get some sleep, nightly trips to the loo and being greeted by stinky doggy breath in the mornings. She is still highly adorable when she wants to be. And nothing beats a soft welcoming furry ball of energy who is sincerely thrilled to see you at the end of a long day's work.
This is a picture of Sophie and her Daddy. Everyone say: "awwww...."

How can i not DIY flowers for my wedding.

Another thing that we DIY for the wedding was, flowers! Flowers, one of the most important elements to set the right tone for your wedding. Have too much of them steals the attention away from the bride, having too little makes the affair drab and plain. Hiring a florist to do up all the flowers would cost an arm and a leg. So, the only way to have fabulous flowers and save a fortune on them would be to do it yourself. About 3 weeks before the wedding i had begun preparations for the big floral project. Time was spent on hunting for the best floral supplier, types of flowers that are in season, best color pallette to suit the wedding, writing down a list of items to source in m'sia (with the help of one of my bridemaids) and countless hours of watching you tube and e-how.com on how to make your own bridal bouquet and boutonnieres. Not to mention hours of hanging out at borders and dymocks, perusing books on floral arrangements and techniques. Having some knowledge in floristry will help a lot or this will all seem like an impossible task. Did i mention i used to work as a florist's assistant, in a past life? *wink* So it was from a long long time ago, before i met my prince charming, that i had decided, doing up my own wedding flowers is something that i'd really really want to do for myself. I can't apologize enough for not having clearer pictures of my flowers, but i was just too preoccupied to make sure that my flowers would be perfect for the wedding to be taking a step by step pictorial of how i made them. So here are some snippets for your enjoyment.
I used, roses, hyacinths, lisianthus and tulips. In a mixture of white, cream and pink. Flowers were sourced from the prahran flower market. After all that research, i can honestly say that they had the best variety with the lowest prices.
Cream roses that i used mainly for the bridal bouquet and my 3 bridemaids bouquet. Aren't they lovely? These are white and pink lisianthus. They're a very feminine and frilly sort of flower. I wanted to use just the lisianthus for the bridal bouquet, but realised that they cost wayy too much, and you need more of them compared to roses. So i know roses are a bit 'traditional' but they are way more affordable. So at the end we used the lisianthus to complement the roses instead. My hyacinths were in white and baby pink. They have a lovely smell, but try having a dozen of them in your room, highly toxicating. I'm glad these flowers were in season. I used these with tulips as centerpieces for the long banquet tables. The end result was amazing!
Ivy leaves for the boutonneires. I couldn't get these from the florist, because according to them, they're not in 'season'. I didn't need a lot of them either, just a handful of leaves, so the hubs and i improvised, and did a drive around the neighbourhood with a pair of scissors. I'll leave you to guess how we got these. I'd like to thank the neighbourhood for providing me with my greenery for the wedding. Voila! This is one the maid of honor bouquet. I complemented the cream roses with a fringe of pink lisianthus around them. This was one of my favorite bouquets.
Thats my bouquet, but its only halfway done in this picture. I added white lisianthus around my rose bouquet. I didn't count how many roses i used, but the end result was a rather heavy bouquet.
Flowers were completed 2 days before the wedding. We had to keep them fresh in the fridge.
This is one of the boutonneires that i made. I used an assortment of flowers for different VIPs of the wedding. The pink and white tulip were for the mothers of the bride. Did i mention that i had to decorate flowers around the wedding cake as well? haha. thats another post to talk about...

Another wedding DIY project

So its been a week since the wedding. What an amazing 2 weeks it has been. My family's gone home. Life's back to normal again. And now i have time to blog!! I've been wanting to do this post a long time. About 3 weeks before the wedding I randomly decided to; make my own veil!! I had an existing veil, it was a short one, that only covers half the face, a.k.a blusher veil or birdcage veil. Goodness knows why I had wanted a short veil back then. Ask the rebel in me i guess. And i'm glad i decided to go with the long veil at the end. Adds so much more romance to the whole affair. Anyways, here a pictorial account of how to make your own veil. The process is surprisingly easy, and knowing that you made your own veil for your wedding just puts that much more satisfaction into preparing for the BIG day.
Materials needed: About 2meters of tulle, depends on how long you want your veil to be. Get a color that matches the dress. I wanted a really long veil, so i got about 2.5 meters to be safe. Plastic Comb, sewing needles, nylon thread and some really strong thread to secure the veil to the comb. I even got some glass beads to sew onto the back of the veil, which was why i needed the nylon thread.
Prepare a really big space to layout your tulle. DO vacuum or make sure that the floor is clean and free from bits of dirt and stuff, you don't want it sticking to your tulle. The basic shape is a long oval, folded into whats shown above. I didn't have enough rulers so i had to improvise with one ruler, and 1 cardboard tube but it worked good enough. It might be a little hard to picture it now, but the smaller 'semicircle' is meant to be flipped over to cover the face, and the longer 'semicircle' is the back part of the veil.
I think this is called a running stitch. Honestly I am extremely clueless when it comes to sewing jargon. But i'll try my best to explain what i did here. I did this 'running stitch' on the folding line using the length of the cardboard tube as a guide. You can sew along the entire folding line, but i'm told the result would be a more puffier and voluminous veil, i decided not to go with so much drama, so just a portion will do.
This is the fun part. When you're done with the sewing, pull on both ends of the thread and this is what you'll get! Pull the tulle together nice and tight and make sure it fits the length of the comb. I got it right the first time. *extremely proud with self* The strong thread is used for this.

Finally secure the tulle to the comb. I have zero sewing skills, so i just went with my gut feeling, and did loops around the comb. So yea, go with your gut feeling and common sense. Make sure the tulle is secured tightly around the comb. You don't want your veil to fall off during your wedding.
Once you're done, this is how your tulle should look like. You can leave it plain or you can add some interest to it, by sewing on some pearls, crystals, beads, lace, ribbons, grandma's dried potpourri collection... go crazy with it. But remember, it's suppose to look elegant not trashy, and don't sew any embellishments on the portion that covers your face, you don't want your sight to be blocked by beads while saying 'i do' to your hubby to be.

Btw, I actually went to the bridal shop to find out how much would a veil cost. They range from $80 to $200 depending on the length and how much detail is put into it. I spent about $40 on mine, which would prob cost about $150 from a bridal shop. *extremely proud of my own money saving efforts* And I actually enjoyed the whole process of making my own veil. So any of my girlfriends out there who's planning to walk down the aisle soon, give me a buzz and i'll be glad to make a veil for you.

A lovely day of sorts.

Yesterday was the hubs day off. We had a million and one errands to run. We were dead set on being very efficient. We started the day sorta kinda early. Took a short tram ride to the city to apply for my medicare. Took a number and waited a while, only to be told that we're short of one document. Its a good thing we live so near the city. So it was not a big deal to go back home to get it. Since it was almost 12, we decided to grab some lunch at a m'sian cafe. Ordered some hokkien noodles even though i knew it wasn't going to be the same as what you get in m'sia. I miss that dark sauced, smokey, pork fatty goodness. But you make do with what you have.

Pop back home just to put in laundry load no.2 of the day into the washer. The weather has been very un-laundry friendly the past week, so its been near impossible to get your clothes dry just by air drying it outside. I shudder at the thought of icy cold undies. sniff. So we've decided to do ALL of our laundry today and get them dried at the coin laundromat later in the evening. So back on the tram and back into the city. It was lunchtime and the trams are packed. We get to medicare, there is a crowd. We take our number and wait patiently. The numbers get called in a break neck speed. The electronic voice that belts out the numbers seem to be in a hurry. We are pleased, cause soon it was my turn. I put in my application and everything goes smoothly. I'm told to collect my medicare number later in the day.

Next on our errand list is; shop for our wedding bands. We walk randomly to some jewellers, browse at the windows mostly. Some rings are adourned with rocks that are obscenely LARGE. We walked past a little shop because it was empty. Had a little browse, and before you know it. We've put in a deposit for 2 rings. We spent about and hour and a half in the shop. The lady who served us was very warm and friendly and she was intent on giving us a very good price. I muse at how we are so casual and 'spontaneous' about the wedding. Relieved at finally having purchased our rings, 3 weeks before the wedding. We head back to medicare to get my number. And we're done in the city! Back on the tram, we head back home.

Our laundry is done, and we have to do our next errand; collect registered mail from post office. The post office happens to be a little further away in the land of surburbia. We haul all of our wet laundry into the car. And we head off to the post office. I collect my mail, and realise it was a letter from immigration. Guess what, I've got my partner visa approved. The hubs congratulates me and tell me that I can now officially reside in australia. erm. yay? We head back into the city, with our wet landry waiting to be dried. We get a nice parking spot right outside the coin laundromat. Haul all of our clothes into their giant dryers, i swear i can crawl in and dry myself, if i needed to. We then take a nice walk along the shops, we found a neat little japanese store. I'm in love with their tea cups and japanesey gadgets.

We shop, we buy and we were satisfied. Next was the supermarket. We had 2 things on our list, frozen peas and cranberry juice. We walked out with 4 bagfuls of grocery. This is what supermarkets here do to you. THEY MAKE YOU BUY STUFF. More stuff than you actually need. By now, our laundry is ready, they come out dry and toasty. Just the way we like it. We head home. Tired but awfully proud at all the errands we've completed today. I make 3 yummy dishes for dinner while the hubs folds the laundry. I hate doing laundry and he is scarily efficient in the clothes folding department. Dinner was highly satisfactory, we end the day cuddling in bed watching a movie. He fell asleep way before the movie ended. I had a lovely day of sorts.

Tonkatsu... here i come.

Recently after being recommended to watch a series of japanese cooking lessons on you tube. Thanks to Lyds, (who never ceases to amaze me with the kinds of things she can discover online). I've been hit by the sudden urge to cook everything japanese. So far, all I've been cooking is japanese curry. I think if i mention japanese curry for dinner one more time to the hubs. He's probably going to buy another pair of basketball shoes just to spite me. And we don't want that to happen seeing how we've got a million shoeboxes here, in our room. On the verge of an avalanche. So today i was highly motivated to step out of the house, take the car, and do my very own grocery shopping. Which is a first i admit. I bought the 3 main ingredients to any japanese cooking. Introducing, dashi seasoning, japanese soy sauce and mirin!
Now i'm all set and ready to cook japanese to my heart's delight. Well, not tonight, seeing that the beef's out and defrosting. There's still half a cube of curry left and we all know whats for dinner tonight.