Outfit Hall of Shame

I keep stumbling on such gems on ASOS that I just had to post this. Please be sharing some of your outfit hall of shame. But seriously if you can pull off these looks, more powahhh to you so please don't be sending hate comments.

What is that? And where would you wear that to? Please enlighten me.

This is just million times of Gold. Gold... like ya know if you want to star as a Bond Girl.

Excuse me while I'm channeling the Hamburglar... And why? Really just why?

Because I really want my crotch at my ankles... mega happy pants to infinity to you too. And at a price tag of 600GBP it's my party and I'll wear rainbow happy pants if I wanted to!

Yes ... I love ugly is an apt name. Is this so that the diaper fits under the pants? Like Bonds Roomies Pants for BABIES!

I don't know about you, but I really enjoyed doing this post.

First Christmas Day at home

This is the first Christmas day we had at home .. turns out to be a great big blessing that we did not drive anywhere. Please read further to look at what happened at our deck.

The menu plan was as follows and trust me when I say that my entire fridge is packed full of extravagant food. We had a big ham waiting to be studded and glazed. Prawns marinated in lemon rind, garlic and chilli to be skewered or the BBQ. And a whole snapper on the BBQ steamed in a foil package.

The kids tore into their presents this morning. We had balloons everywhere, stockings filled with Hot Wheels cars and gifts under their little tree. I received this from Mick - the porcelain ring with Love written on it. Mick realised that I wanted it and ran back to Issa Home Wares. :) Thank you! But it was the wrong size. Boo! He must think I have fat fingers or will have fat fingers after chowing into the ham.

For breakfast, I did buttermilk pancakes. One word nommmyyy. It is different to the normal pancakes that I do in terms of texture and it had a 'crusty' edge. It is a nice change but I am not sure that Mick thoroughly liked it. He ate it nonetheless... probably because it was covered in butter and maple syrup.

Then the fun begins with the ham. Skin it, get the glaze and then bake. I ran out to Bolton street and bought some salads. Glad that there were some spare ones in the fridge for sale. So ta daaaa we had surf and turf. The oysters that I collected from my friend was so amazing. It tasted creamy and I really need to find out which sort they were as I think I need to get them next time.

Had another coffee after lunch, just because.. and grazed on the mochi as our dessert. There was a tray filled with half red bean mochi and half was custard mochi made by a friend's Auntie. OMG these are the best ever and the sad thing is. Money cannot buy these, she will only make these on special occasions!

So we were lounging around the deck while the boys ran up and down with their trolleys. Got on and off their bikes as they zipped up and down. Decided it was looking like rain was coming in and moved the cushions off the deck lounge. One hour later, it absolutely bucketed down with hail. It was so heavy that I held onto D and had to pretend that I was not scared. But I was scared! When it stopped, we did a stock take around the house to see if anything was broken in the hail. Look what I saw!

The BBQ idea had to be dropped. We had the snapper in the oven, put a bit of rice on in the rice cooker instead of salads then pan fried the garlic prawns. I think I will be doing a Nigella Lawson and grazing on cold ham and mochi straight from the fridge. Kids were thankfully easy to get to bed.. actually I think that I will chow down some more mochi right now. Better wait for Mick to come back in from draining the yard.

Check this out!

I saw Balletflats post this on Instagram and I thought omgawd do want. They look like they came out of a fancy decoration box. Please be making me some thanks! Instructions are here. CLICK

All images are from http://balletflatsonmyfeet.blogspot.com -> please clicky.

Shorts weather

Oh wow it is shorts weather again.. and actually this feels like I am on a tropical island. Everything is growing in overdrive mode and Mick's business is so busy. Which is good but not good for us in other ways. Not only have I neglected my Christmas shopping, the shopping malls are a disaster no go zone! I had to take L out of the house to give Mick some peace. So had to hike to the local shopping mall - the not as ritzy one. I wore my Victoria Secret shorts and a top from Decjuba. Have not touched these shorts since my trip back home to Singapore at Easter.

Is it me? Or is Decjuba's tops really thin these days? I have not been in since earlier this year when I bought this waterfall top. But seriously, I made a remark that everything is unsuitable for work. I am not working in a club you guys. She responded that I should get a nude coloured singlet, one that they stock which had no seams. Ok thanks, but no thanks. ...

What do you think? Is Decjuba and generally all clothing shops stocking thin fabrics or am I just a prude?

Little Shop of Pretty Things - Issa in Ivanhoe

I met Helena many years ago since moving to our house. We used to run down to the pie shop that her mother owns on Burgundy Street hoping that we got there before it closed on a Saturday. The pie shop has since changed hands and so did Mad Meg's which was owned by Helena's brother. It has indeed been at least 4 years since I said that I will go to the shop. I am so bad! It is just that I do not to go Ivanhoe during times that the shop is open. I always drive past when it is closed and I can only see the shop window. And what a shop window it is! Well thankfully Issa has not changed hands and I finally made it in to have a browse while waiting for my sushi to be ready next door.

Issa is filled with pretty things, it is one of those shops that you describe as pretty little shop. You know the ones where you go in and you cannot not buy anything. She had porcelain rings with Love written on them. Sterling silver earrings, cute rose earrings, candles, bon bon soaps, cushions, room fragrance sticks, clothes, baby items, home wares.. well the list goes on. Helena told me her daughter and her decorated the front window and tries to change it often. Look at all the pretty Bison vases and home wares in the shopfront.

Exceptionally proud of D and L for not touching anything. I had bought a pair of rose earrings that were light pink in colour. When I went home, I realised it was too light for my skin tone. Mick suggested we take everyone down and get them exchanged for a darker colour. So I had warned D before going in that it is a little shop of things and he cannot touch anything. But he can smell if Mummy helps him hold things. Issa stocks Lovebird candles which are made in Melbourne. A fresh batch of candles were getting delivered and I held them up for D to smell. D thanked for the lady for her pretty candles .. such a little charmer. Candle lovers unite .. I have been buying way too many candles lately to replenish the old ones. But I just cannot leave without picking up one of these. I bought french pear, lime and coconut. She had an amazing melon scented one which I will have to get next time. I'm almost hoping that these candles burn a bit quicker so I can get some more!!! Trust me candle lovers, you need to get some of these!

I exchanged for these purple rose earrings and Mick bought me a pair of pretty tree shaped sterling silver ones. They were the first thing that caught my eye in the jewellery cabinet. Check out how my earrings were wrapped above! I am going back to get the Love porcelain rings next time.

Being in Issa is making me want to redecorate my house. Now just to get the boys to grow up quicker and get rid of the colourful plastic toys that are engulfing the dining room! I will have to make do with pretty earrings and messy house for now. The tree earrings are below.

Oh and outfit of the day - Stella McCartney for Target. I am glad that we had some sunny weather to put this on!

Issa Homeware and Gifts is at 149 Upper Heidelberg Road cnr Waterdale in Ivanhoe. There is parking at the back but just as easy to get a parking spot at Coles behind. If you do go there, drop into Cosi Duci for gelati afterwards!

The shopping before Payday excitement

I get paid monthly.. there I am putting it out there. Although it is not dire straits in my bank account stakes. There is always a psychological thing about shopping the day before payday.
The exciting part is December is when we get our increases. So I spent my sad increase this year on candles.

I had scoped out Glasshouse candles for ages, it must be when a friend commented on Glasshouse's Facebook page. I was in Peter Alexander on the weekend but got no service so no love there. Lucky for me, David Jones was having a sale last Wednesday. I am not sure if it was only for one day. They were having 15% off full priced candles. Helloooo.... The ladies that were restocking Glasshouse candles were uber helpful. So it felt good purchasing when I get good customer service.

I bought Little Black Dress - Manhattan and Bora Bora - Cilantro & Orange Zest. Cannot wait to light them tonight. It has been ages since I restocked my candles. Actually I think it has been one year! Insert shocked face emoticon here.



They were about $32 after the discount. I must say that I have spent more on less. So I am extremely happy with my purchase. My next stop is not anywhere near as exciting. It was to Mountain Designs to get a work shirt and pants for Mick. Here the guys just love me, I point and make decisions in 2 minutes all the while telling them. I don't know, that one will do and hey it's either blue or blue anyway. I did not get anyone from Mountain Designs trying to flirt with me today. Sadness. Lol

Baking with American recipes

Does anyone else just goes crazy for American recipes?
I love love love this book Baked! New Frontiers in Baking. But I have to admit that I first knew of this book from watching Martha Stewart. Mick HATES Martha and I LOVE annoying him by watching the reruns on Channel 7Two. It's glorious! Anyway, Matt was demostrating Whoopie Pies which I only just discovered recently that it is not as ubiquitous in the US as I thought it was!

The thing about American baked goods is ... the size. Everything is written for big portions. I had to half the recipe. And honestly, what the heck is a stick of butter? I always have to google it and it is really annoying. Either Australian suppliers need to figure this out and bring out sticks of butter on the market or I will go bananas! I know our cup sizing is different, but I figured that if I am using the same cup for both dry and wet ingredients, it cannot go that wrong ... right?
Well it did not. So I made the American style chocolate chip cookies. aka... dump everything lovingly into the Kitchenaid, form balls, resist overcrowding balls, and bake for 8 minutes - not 14. I made these ones and kept the unused dough in the fridge and made the cookies to be consumed fresh. As these are American style, it's very soft and yum yummm... Ohhh and I added Macadamia nuts too. They might cringe at that!

I really want to try the cakes but I do not have 3 x 8inch cake tins. And no I really don't know if I want a 3 layer cake! Anyone has 3 x 8inch cake tins to lend me?

ASOS Salon Cocktail Dress

I am late to post - it was more than a week ago that I attended the Christmas function we had for our Melbourne office.

I bought this ASOS Salon dress when it was on sale. Had my eye on it for ages but did not buy it until I was browsing the sales. Unfortunately (or in my case fortunately) I bought it a few months ago and I am no longer size 6. Tried the dress on the night before and I thought oh dear this is a little snug. But on the night, it was fine! Thankfully!! It was truly a gorgeous dress and I received many compliments. They must have thought it was different, Ling dressed up. LOL.

This is what I wore. And I am super excited because I do not normally do what I am wearing posts as I do not think what I wear is crash hot. Manolo Blahnik heels, LV Epi pouchette and my grandma's ring and pearl necklace. Had such a great night and cannot wait for the next year!

Christmas Ham sorted!

I ordered my Christmas ham from Greenvale Homestead about two months ago by email. Amanda confirmed the half leg order last week just about the same time that I wanted to email her too! I have been following Amanda and Anthony from Greenvale on Twitter for awhile and I thought oh Christmas ham! I should look into this. Amanda had reserved it and said it was $25/kg, each half leg is between 3-4kg.

Off we trooped to St Kilda Veg Out market this morning. Now if anyone knows me, they will know that I hate Punt Road. I will do anything to avoid Punt Road. Everytime that I am on Punt Road I ask myself why I am on there and say I should have taken Power Street. This morning was one of those why am I on this road!!! 2 lanes were closed and we had one lane to get through! What! What!!

It took an hour to get to St Kilda Farmers Reserve and we practically ran out of the car to the market! It was an amazing market. There was Mt Alexander fruit which was the best cherries ever tasted. Even D ate it and he was not feeling very well today. Parking was easy and nothing like Collingwood Children's farm. I only wished that it was not so far!

We came home with our box and could not wait to open it to have a look. Check out the gorgeous ham! It really looks amazing!

On a side note, I notice that I do a lot of wheeling and dealing on Twitter these days!

New Header!!! OMG I lurves itttt

I have complained about my layout for ages. I just cannot figure out how to get a proper header. I always find the beautiful ones that everyone has and I was like urghhhh! It cannot be that hard!

I stumbled about and I thought that I needed to get software for it... well the interwebz had progressed a lot since those times. Thank goodness for Twitter! What did I decide what to wear before Twitter. LOL! @fayemarieblogs recommended a free app and TA DA! Done!!

How much better does it look?

Gahhh overloaded in Takeaway

There is such a thing as too much takeaway!
I am at that point this week and I cannot take it anymore. Don't you just hate slipping off the meal planning wagon and you end up with stuff but not enough stuff or there is no vague plan of what to cook?

Fails this week - did not do a big meal on the weekend to store for the boys. No soup, bolognese, bakes nothing. I was so desperate that I made some sort of rice bake thing which was weird. The boys loved it .. for the first day and then it was yucky. Yesterday Daniel asked me for a cheese sammich and I gave in. I usually do not give him an alternate meal for dinner so I explained it to him. I think he understood as he thought about it.

So I had laksa yesterday which is normally nommy. But the local Chinese place is no Laksa King. I am takeaway out this week. But I did thoroughly enjoyed that Bolton Street charcoal chicken I had on Monday and questioned why people would cook considering it was $13.50 for Pesto Avo and Chicken salad, perfect chips with perfect seasoning and yummy half a chicken.

I really don't know how other people cope with their dinners and working full time! Please be sharing your tricks and tips!