We turn 3 :)

Sylvie!!!

THE BOOK has finally arrived!! :) Shipping had been delayed for more than 2 weeks but it's oh-so-worth the wait!!! 432 pages (40cm x 30cm) of luscious, gorgeous, drool-worthy, never before released photographs of the most beautiful (IMO) ballerina ever…

We are 2!

How fast time flies. It feels like just last week we were celebrating our 1st year together, and the week before I was walking down the aisle...

It's been an amazing 2 years, darling, and I thank God for granting us such a beautiful, blessed love. Thank you for always being so supportive and sweet, you really are my best friend. Here's to many more wonderful years together!

"Lutte Fille"*

Hubs got me my very first pair of Onitsuka Tigers today! The velvet laces and satin bits remind me of ballet slippers rather than the wrestling shoes that were supposed to have inspired the design.

*translates to "wrestling girl"

colour me beautiful

I was seeking fashion advice from Mini during one of our regular morning chats on gtalk when she introduced me to this most amazing site! It allows you to put together sets of clothes, shoes accessories, etc... that look like pages out of a magazine, and you get to browse the sets created by other users, by keyword or colour.

After a few minutes of surfing, I've now got a better idea what to match my orange peeptoes with! Here are some of my favourite combos:

sometimes i dream...

...of satin pointe shoes

...and how i'll never dance in them.

Quitting ballet was probably one of my biggest regrets. Deciding to get back to it too late is another. every sunday after class, I have to walk past the pointe class in the next studio on my way out, and I can't help but linger a while. I always feel a teensy twinge in my heart, thinking about how I could have been one of them but I gave it all up when i was so close.

Of course, now I just don't have the same strength in my ankles anymore, and a 1.5hour class a week is hardly enough to re-build that strength. I read about girls outside Singapore, never having danced before and then starting ballet in their 20s who find studios willing to let them go on pointe after a couple of years, and am filled with envy. It's so difficult to even find a studio in Singapore who will take adults seriously in class, much less consider pointe. Most classes are progressive, non-syllabi, recreational classes where the teachers aren't so strict. I miss the rigours of intensive training, repeating the same exercises just to perfect technique. I miss my nit-picky teacher, who nudged the back of our knees to test if we are holding our positions properly, smacked our butts, called us clumsy kum-suahs (her funny name for embarrasingly ungraceful little girls), and measured our waistlines monthly. I've never harboured thoughts of going professional, of course. But I at least want to be graded! (and yes, the meanie teenaged girls will prolly just laugh at old auntie me.... haha...)

At the end of the day, I know pointe isn't everything, and ballet is still beautiful without (at least to me). I love the music, the discipline, the graceful lines, the poise, the painful stretch in my aged muscles, the heady feeling of a piroutte (even if I can't do doubles anymore), the breathlessness after a series of jumps (getting old), and the tingly tired feet after. I love it - pointe or no pointe. And for all the wistful longing and aching regrets, I'm just happy knowing I am dancing again.

Thank you, darling, for egging me on (and bearing with my incessant, obssesive ballet talk)...

[Pics from (?) and Pond]

Saturday Indulgence

Gabes first toast: "Let nobody go home hungry or sober!" and so it was, a 6 course lunch, copious amounts of wine and free flow champers left us decadently drunk by 4pm... and lunch wasn't even over till 5.30pm...

and in our inebriated state, hubs and i got these for me. *grin*

Piccies from Chloe and Neiman Marcus

no more shopping! i promise..... (to try)....

i want....

Chelsea dress, Felicity dress and Nola bag from Tocca

Catching up!

Finally downloaded the hundreds of photos over the past few months from the camera. Here are some of them...

Char & J's pink & chocolate wedding - it was so much fun making all the decor! I got to be bridezilla all over again (albeit vicariously)... hee hee… Who’s getting married next? Indulge me!!

My Birthday! - which we celebrated on the 16th instead... Mummy made red eggs and had them delivered together with a yummelicious dinner. Hubs was really sweetums – he made a huge brekkie for the both of us before we headed out for some furniture shopping at the new Marina Square.

Christmas Candlelight Service - Arise, Shine!

- and that's XJ's handprint from when he was 14! :)


We got a half-day off on the Friday before New Years, and thought we’d try out Brussel Sprouts – this new place just round the corner, which served up pretty decent moules-frites, and Belgian beer. Of course, we couldn’t resist the very sinful but very delicious caramelized pork belly… *drool*

Update: Just realised from Sunday's papers that Brussel Sprouts is actually another one of Emmanuel Stroobandt's babies! Mmm.. wonder if they serve up foie gras too?

More bedroom inspiration

From Pottery Barn (L to R): Putty-green walls; Photo ledges; and Cappucino walls

btw, our chandeliers have arrived!! Going to check them out at the shop tonight, hopefully and make a final decision

Colour my world

We've been thinking about painting our rooms for a long time. Yes, i know... possibly a little late to do anything now, seeing that we've already moved in for close to 4 months, and a lot of the furniture is in place. But I've always wanted our room to look somewhat like the room we had at the Kenton Palace Hotel in Bariloche, but with a little more colour - creamy latte walls, pale olive drapes, dark espresso wood, plush white bedlinens, moody black and white matted prints and the soft glow of warm light from ivory lamp shades.

A few complications - no budget for painters, lack of time to DIY, moving the furniture around and away from drips. Maybe textured wallpapering would be easier?

Anyways, a friend recommended Domino, and i found these lovely rooms:



I like the "Cafe au Lait" wall colour in the first picture and the contrast of the dark wood picture frames. The botanic floral wallpaper in the middle is pretty! but i don't think DH is really into that. And finally, i wish i had space for a feature wall in our home - so many photos and so many mementoes from all our travels that we'd love to display. Maybe our next home, darling?

Take me home?....

Wedding Bells

Our dear friend registered his marriage today at a lovely, intimate ceremony at Windows East, Four Seasons. It looked like a page right out of Martha Stewart's - tall floral centrepieces, gold-rimmed bone china, sterling silver teasets, crisp white linen and homemade cupcakes topped with white, baby pink and frosty yellow icing. Sweet!