Friday, July 31, 2009

10 interesting (or not) things about myself

I am so so sorry that I have been so slow to acknowledge these generous awards from :


From the lovely Janet at Janetteria:


Which comes 'attached' with a tag:

Reveal 10 interesting (embarrassing, more like it in my case) things about yourself.

1. Growing up, I always wanted shiny black hair like other Asian kids I knew (mostly Japanese Brazilian)...I asked my mom why my hair was a reddish dark brown instead of black (despite being of 100% Chinese heritage), and she told me if I ate a lot of seaweed it would go black. I did, and it didn't (go black, that is), it all boils down to genetics (from my dad's side).

2. I love singing, but not in front of an 'audience/camera/people', as I suffer from stage fright. In 2 'auditions' I got so nervous I forgot my words mid-song and stopped...bad!

3. Hubby & I went out for 10 years plus, so when 'Charlotte' squealed in the 'Sex and the City' movie, excited about Carrie's engagement announcing to unsuspecting diners that her 'best friend was getting married to the guy she had been seeing for TEN years', I had a tear in my eye...s'pose hubby is my Mr. Big *blush*.

4. I was once a practising lawyer.

5. I am incredibly insectophobic, it can be quite embarassing.

6. I love reading (although I don't get to do so as much recently), and one year, counted how many books I read, the total was 74. Speaking of books...

7. Shameful confession: I only discovered the 'Twilight' phenomena in the last fortnight or so. I had heard about it (mainly through magazines & forums), but thought it was a TV series, and did not know what it was all about (other than it was about vampires, and was geared towards teenagers). One night I was bored and all movies I wanted to rent were out, so I borrowed/watched 'Twilight', and loved it (oh, the shame!), despite some terrible acting, weird 'video-clip'ish cinematography in some moments, etc...Now I understand Juan's of 'A Color' obsession with Twilight, who describes his life as 'Before Twilight and After Twilight'. I am very embarrassed to admit that since watching the movie, I have read all four and a half books (ie. including the online draft for 'Midnight Sun'), even though I have not been a teenager for well over a decade, and do not usually read this genre of books.



8. Not really about me, but my paternal grandfather has acted alongside Carrie Fisher (yes, Princess Lea herself) in a (terrible, shhhh don't tell him I said that) movie, and was also in a TV series that starred Nicole Kidman.

9. My first 'teddy bear' was a hand-me-down from my cousin, who was getting married (the bear was from her ex), and I was SIXTEEN.

10. I absolutely LOVE sakura (cherry) blossoms, they literally take my breath away.

via flickr.com

I would like to pass the awards & tag above to the following gorgeous bloggers:

1. Nini of 'Nini's Style'
2. Hanh of 'Life in Travel'
3. Juan at 'A Color'
4. Shin at 'Fashion Cappuccino'
5. Tanya at 'Captivate Me'

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Akira - My Wedding Dress (Part Trois)


So, now that I have been thinking wedding dresses, I have a dreadful confession to make...one that induces disbelief & horror in those whom I have previously confessed this to...And that is, that I have not dry-cleaned my Akira Isogawa wedding dress since my wedding day over 2 years ago...yes, you read right...oh the shame!!!

At first this was because several hours after the wedding, hubby & I left for our 3-day (yes, that was all my then job would allow me to take) honeymoon; on my return, my sister got married a few days later, and I then travelled for work for practically 3 weeks. When the dust settled, I did not know whom to trust my dress with. Procrastination/uncertainty kicked in, and lo & behold, 2 years have passed (shame on me), and I have been too scared to even look at it since, until today...

I have recently discovered a dry cleaner my friend trusted her Vera Wang dress with, with good results...I have 'tested' them with a grease-stained coat, and they have passed, so...I took a deep breath & took my (crumpled) dress from the top of my wardrobe, and had a look...held my breath for the worse...and it still looks good! Big sigh of relief, crumpled yes, but nothing else...so before I take it to the dry cleaners (at long last), I thought I would take some close-up shots to share...

click to enlarge







Saturday, July 25, 2009

With this dress I thee wed...


In less than a year, I gain a new sister-in-law, but she has yet to start looking at/for wedding dresses, I offered to scout some on her behalf...

Her likes: one-shouldered simple gowns, vintage dresses
Her dislikes: strapless gowns & the full-skirt meringue/very 'bridal' look.

As a fan of Marchesa, I think these would be the ones she would most like (especially the 2nd dress, that's the one I'm most excited about for her, and can't wait for her to see):

Marchesa Resort 2010


www.style.com

I found some other gorgeous options:

Elie Saab CTR Fall 2010 
A little extravagant, but so stunning:
www.style.com

Lanvin Resort 2010 
(playful)

www.style.com

Collette Dinnigan


www.style.com



www.collettedinnigan.com



www.style.com

I realized this is the dress my friend wore to her non-wedding wedding celebration (they insist it was really her now-husband's milestone birthday, but there was a wedding cake...)

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Bastille Day Dinner

To celebrate Bastille Day with a few friends, we hosted our own Bastille Day French Dinner:



We each chose a few dishes to cook, and even though there were only 6 of us, we had enough food/dishes for at least 20...



We started with French champagne (Veuve Clicquot & Louis Roederer), foie gras (hubby & I bought this in Paris some time ago) & shellfish Pâté , followed by Shallot Tarte Tartin:



After a delectable soupe a l'oignon au fromage (french onion soup), we had a fabulous Steak Tartare..



One of my dishes was a Garlic Chilli Prawn dish:



After polishing Chicken with 40 Clove Garlic, Double Baked Cheese Souffle, Ratatouille and Salted Cod & Silverbeet Au Gratin, we finished our meal with a delicious Crème Brûlée:



Love seeing all the little black dots from the Vanilla Bean.



Bon Appétit!

Nicholas K black knit sweater dress
Leona Edmiston Pins in Onyx
Stella McCartney striped silk dress
Chloe Silverado wedges