Life without my Maccie is....

Well, as some of you might already knew, my macbook aka MACCIE as we (me n sistas) call it...

have been in coma for over 3 weeks now....I am now writing with Z's lappie u see....and he'll be back in KL next Tuesday, so i will be silent again for a few more weeks...sigh.....hopefully he can get my Maccie fixed...

So, all the past weeks without being hung up on FB and blogp-hopping had actually been good for the soul..LOL! the artistic soul, that is! I found myself having the mood and time to really LOOK around me....and be inspired....no kidding...sounds corny i know..but it's the truth...

i got inspired in ways that would never be if Maccie had not succumbed to her coma.....

Ok, amongst the inspired thoughts.....and 'projects' that got done are....

* i'd do a single side wall painting (free hand lah, takda stencil bahhh) in my bedroom coz i realize the walls are huge and a bit plain for my own liking....and if it's presentable, i'd do one for my living room feature wall too.....cheaper than donning it with wallpaper:P

* i actually got a few designs in my head already for the 2 babes' CNY dresses...haha....(not too early if you are as tied up as I am....)

* i finally repainted the old teak chair that i 'mintak' from dad-in-law, i love the shape alrite...it's shapely and timeless, and it's T.E.A.K :D

* Have got an idea of what and where to plant certain greens for the garden, to rush for CNY...

Well, plants need mthssssss if not years to grow!!!

* Reorganized, altered the arrangement of my wardrobe space...now it's wayyy more organized, tidy and spacious! Thankfully!

I'd say....now i finally do understand why those writers (of books and songs) would go to their fave seclusion for inspirations...haha.....heck i am not saying i am one.......my point is, being away from my addiction has given me a chance to realize many little potentials in the things around me......and lots of fun creativities too!

But if you ask me, would i give up my Maccie? The answer is still NO! :P

if the baking continuesssss......

and I am someone who eats what I bake fyi,

So, if the baking continues......so is the eating.....

so I have to pray hard that I will not gain another 11 pounds of weight????? :O

GOSH! This is a tough decision.....

I can't bake without eating what I baked, that's for sure....

(that's just unfair, right? You do all the hardwork afterall....hehe) :D

hmmmmmm.......

They say sharing and giving makes you a happier (and slimmer) person......

so I guess I can still bake (a lot), and send most of the OUTCOMES

to mum's and godmum's???

okie, that shall be it! :D

I can't wait - PART 2

So i waited n waited for almost a month to receive the Elba cake mixer that we redeemed from Maybank Treatspoints, it's a very nice stainless steel and black body design, matches my kitchen perfectly.....so i waited in anticipation....hehe...

Only a few days ago, they only have the decency to tell us that we have to go redeem the product from SEN-Q directly...so DH went, and to make it worse, it is out of stock already, so they requested that we redeem the plain white mixer instead.....thinking that it's the same thing, DH got the white one lorrr.......
Well, when i got it, not only I feel disappointed that it's not the black & stainless steel, the mixing bowl DOES NOT ROTATE on its own when the mixer is running!!! And no, it's not a defect, it is MADE THAT WAY! I mean, how redundant is it to design a "STAND" mixer (with stand so that we dont have to carry it obviously), but without the rotating function so that we MUST spin it on our own??????? :P

Anyway, ahh..nvm lah...it has been done....

so baking it is! :D At least it is pretty powerful, has 5 speed function PLUS "TURBO" (LOL).....

So, here's the outcome of the session.....

my very 1st homemade fondant on chocolatey cupcakes! Couldn't find corn syrup at nearby stores, so i made my own......malas wanna go far to find just ONE ingredient....

Hehe......I am going to get more colours and ingredients with mum tomorrow...yay!

Not to mention a few cookie cutters too....yes, i dont even have a single one at home yet...

And i shall practise a bit coz mum's bday is coming up soon..very soon....in 2 weeks+++

the 'LAS VEGAS' Lemon Bar :D

No, this recipe has NOTHING directly related to this movie LAS VEGAS that's aired on Astro every Thursday nite @10pm, except for ONE episode where Delinda (Josh Duhamel's on-screen pregger gf) hired another pregger pastry chef, just because she's ALSO pregnant! :P So it happened that this new chef is damn irritating and never obeyed her boss' orders, and shuts people up by stuffing her yummy-looking LEMON BAR into whoever's mouth that was trying to tell her off at the moment! And it seemed that her lemon bar is sooooo damn yummy that it distracted those who were trying to make a point to her.....TILL my very own boss at home kept mentioning "IF ONLY YOU KNEW HOW TO MAKE THAT LEMON BAR"!!!

So, that IS how this lemon bar of mine happened.......okie? :P (told ya, it's not directly related mahhhh)

This (above) is MY lemon bar, fresh out of my oven a few hours ago.....

and I am very very very happy to announce that this shall be our family's fave dessert for quite some time from today onwards....lol! No kidding! It is really different from all the cheese cakes, butter cakes.....somewhat refreshing to the tastebud! Here, I decided to skip dusting confectioner's sugar on top of it to reduce sugar intake...

You dont have to worry even if you're someone who hates sourish food, coz it's not! It has the right amount of zinnngggggggg!!!! and citrusy taste, and crunch....yeah, did I mention the crust is very mouth-watering too???? Zac mentioned that to me twice, within 2 hours' time frame:D

So, if you are curious how good it tastes like, give it a try at home....

Here's the recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Best-Lemon-Bars/Detail.aspx

and be surprised how much you would actually love it.....LOVE, not like! :D Coz I myself did not even think it would be this good to eat at 1st, I made it today coz i just got my cake mixer a few days ago...haha..and I have 2 lemons sitting in my fridge waiting for their time.... :P, and that 'somebody' kept mentioning the LEMON BAR FROM LAS VEGAS MOVIE every now and then......yeah, really!!!

(If you watched that episode, you'll know)

In fact, there's so many highly rated lemon bar recipes around, so if you happened to find an even better one, I'd really appreciate it if you would update me too!

Okie, off I go.......to have another bite...maybe two..... hehe.....

Easy Peasy Party Favors : LITTLE GIRL's

Have you ever felt all gleeful and excited when you redeem your free goodie bag from X Magazine roadshow, or your birthday baggie from your fave beauty counters?

Well, that's how a little kiddo feels too when they get little surprises in their party favor bags when they attend a party, a birthday party most likely......and you will see that they would check out each other's goodie bag to see if EVERY thing is the same!

With a tiny wee bit of time, and effort and very little $$$, you can make cute unique party favors for the little girls who attend your lil girl or niece's birthday for example!  I guess the photos above already explained what I am suggesting here..... :D

To further make it double-useful, you can also personalize the card each hairpin is attached to, for example, have the birthday girl/boy handwrite 'THANK YOUs' on it.....she/he could even personalize each Thank You card with the recipient's name on it!

If the birthday 'subject' is too young to even hold her pencil properly, well, you can just design simple cards with the help of design softwares, then later print them out in artcards!

These tiny party favors are not only usable, little girls who receive these would be delighted!

And, isn't that what your party should be all about?!!!

Happy crafting! :D

De-pesticide your veges!

Did you know that you could de-pesticide fresh veges by soaking em in a basin of WATER + APPLE CIDER VINEGAR for several minutes?

***If apple cider vinegar is not economical or available, you can simply use WATER + ORDINARY VINEGAR + SALT!!!  :D

Yes, that's good to know, especially if you're cooking for kids like i do! :)

ELEVEN pounds!

Today, we managed to drop by my parents' place for a tiny bit while....

So, because i do not have a weighing scale at home *yet* :P  i only remember that my last weight was 46.5kg sometime in March 09, to which everybody kept exclaiming: "GOSH! U R SO SKINNY!"  (At my 5'3.5" frame, i really do not think i am that underweight at all...and trust me, i can wear any clothes super easily!)

I took out the weighing scale in sis' room, and stepped onto it.....

the number onscreen showed 51.3kg.......

ME to SIS:  is ur scale rosak?

SIS:  nouu....of coz not!

ME:  AISI!  I am 51.3kg?????  That means I gained weight and I didn't even know it!!!

***Except for the fact that i could no longer fit into most of my pants :P

In the car on the way home:

ME to Z:  Do u know i gained 11 pounds of weight?

Z: uhuh?

ME:  and it happened right in front of all my family members, and nobody even 'warn' me?

         How strangeeeeeee!  And it happened right in front of u too and u did not notify me too?

Z:  I do not realize it.....don't feel it.

(GOOD ANSWER)

ME:  ahhhh....no wonder I no longer get people commenting "AIYO! U R SO SKINNY"  :P

Do you know that women everywhere would pay those slimming centres thousands to shed that 11 lbs that I gained soooooo conveniently?  And here I am, getting 'THERE' without even realizing it....... tsk tsk tsk.......

Actually, to be very honest, the only place I'd like to lose some MAJOR FAT is around my waist, coz if that happens, I would be able to wear all my pants again, and that definitely would make life easier...... FYI, extreme dieting is OUT of the question, something I would not do to my body now (Yes, I am far more secure now than when I was in my teens when I would starve myself silly by eating just raw carrots and celery).  Besides, extreme dieting WILL NOT help you lose weight consistently, there will be downfalls...so BEWARE!

I might just start with getting hold of my old friend, THE HULA :)

An August Sunday

Everyone in d house woke up before 8am last Sunday, well, ever since Maia's in da house, we hardly have any chance to sleep in coz she's a morning birdie alrite! :P

It was a nice morning, cool, and quiet (becoz everybody else in the neighbourhood still asleeping that's why!), so I got this idea to make good use of Mr Tripody and my new and pretty quilt cover!

And this is the outcome.... :D  I'm lovin it!  All the colors and casualness.....(and the nature of MY babes who CAN'T pose for photos especially when you need them to stay very very still! :P )

ABOVE: So, which do u like huh!? :D  i can't decide, obviously.....that's why i put both of em here!

I somehow love the imperfect shots of the 3 of us girls :D coz i really do not have much properly taken photos with both of them in one frame!  I do believe imperfect shots are the ones you'll find amusing, interesting, memorable many years down the road........

TRI-colored FACE!

As i previously mentioned, I am making myself the guinea piggie for sampling 3 brands of minerals foundation that i got, so I can decide which to get in full sized jar!

So, now, I have MONAVE Claire on my forehead,  LUMIERE Light Golden Medium on left cheek, and EVERYDAY MINERALS Buttered Tan on right cheek!  Imagine how I look like now! :P

I think I have ruled out MONAVE after two applications, enough for me to decide I dont like its slightly too creamy thick texture on my oily skin :o

Stay tuned...to find out which one takes the crown as my Bare Minerals' replacement! :P