Dottie Angel

...is my new ou xiang. Granny chic is my new craze.

I want her book. (just ordered it!)
Dottie Angel.


And I want her house!




pictures reblogged from creamylife blog.

My 2011

1. On New Year's Day, we had an unexpected surprise in a form of a little embryo, who grew into a healthy fetus, only to have left us after 18 weeks. Can't believe it only happened this year. It feels like it's been a long long time. But I have never stopped thinking about him. Happy New Year, sweet Damien! XOXO

2. I had FIVE wholesale orders for my handmade cards and some pouches. I'm no millionaire, but this is huge for me, as a smalltime crafter. *pat on the back*

3. Daniel can swim! Without floats! In the big people pool! And he can ride on his bicycle without training wheels! *pat on his back*

4. Baked chocolate chip cookies for the first time after 20 years. Daniel worshipped me as the SuperBaking Hero.

5. Revamped my craft station.

6. Darren admitted in hospital for 2 nights, for mild pneumonia.

7. Shopped for a lot of craft stuff! See big smile on me face.

8. My school friend had a burst vein in the brain. Scared me out of my body. Thank God she is back on her feet now, living a normal life. It's amazing to get a second chance in life.

9. My institute director had a stroke. Shocked us all out of our bodies. She's still alive, but has not regained full bodily and mental functions... yet. Hope is a beautiful thing.

10. Got a Christmas tree for the first time at home. Didn't decorate it well, but what's more important are the gifts I WRAPPED. Yes, no more naked presents. They were all wrapped nicely with fancy paper, and ribbons and tags!

11. Attended Ajahn Brahm's inspirational life talk for the first time.
I learn that when we move forward to 2012, we must leave behind the bad unhappy things behind. And embrace the future. Leave behind the fear, the anxiety, and the bad experiences. Only then we can truly embrace the future. Don't ask yourself, "What if *insert bad thing* happen to me?". Instead ask yourself, "What if it DIDN'T happen to me". Also, learn from your success, and not failures. Of course, failures happens so you can learn and not repeat it. But don't dwell on it. Focus on your success and repeat it. Think of the moment you were happy in 2011, or an achievement and think about what is it that made it happen. Repeat that success. And the most successful people are the happiest people, regardless of wealth status. Do you think Michael Jackson was happy? Ha, think again.

That pretty much wrapped up my year. I hope you had a better year! Next is my 2012 inspiration :)

My Dream Wedding

I never had mine. If I could do it all again, It would look like something we can't achieve here in Johor Bahru. For many reasons.
I love simple, handmade weddings, maybe with bursts of bright happy colors. Something whimsical, dreamy, natural and just happy!

I would wear this. From J.Crew, have pocket, can stuff ang pows inside, and my iPhone so that I can constantly check Facebook. Haha.

And this. Tee hee.

This would be my shoes.

My bouquet. LOVE the gigantic awesome pink peony.



My groom's boutonniere.

I would have an entourage of matching-geared bridesmaids.

The heng-tai will wear funny socks.

Tell me what you do with wedding invitation cards you receive here in Malaysia. Say what? Yes, they go to the trashbin, where they deserve to be. Unless they are really special (and expensive to make), your mesmerized guests will keep them. Now, you wouldn't throw THESE away would you?






My escort cards. They don't exist in typical Malaysian weddings. Here, we have pretty wedding receptionists who will accept your ang pow and tell you your table number. 1,2,3...85. Never fancy names like Hope, Love, Faith, Gratitude, or Rosemary, Basil, Oregano. Because our san ku ma cannot pronounce them.



My table setting. Over here, why bother. No manpower, no creativity, not interested.



My table centerpiece. Same thing, not bothered, no creativity, not interested.


Menu and program fan. I love handwritten fonts.



Wedding favors. We always get the tasteless cartoony Chinese bride and groom illustration on a box containing tasteless round brown thing or weird polymer-tasting candies. Oh, they are chocolates.



The cake. OH, the cake. Here, we cut a FAKE cake. On the stage, followed by popping of the champagne and toasting Yam Seng. Standard protocol.



In JB, when we receive a wedding invitation, 99% of the time, it says "Peking Restaurant". Because there is nowhere else. I have to talk to Peking to build an indoor-outdoor wedding dreamland. Get it? An outdoor setting, enclosed in a giant dome. Forget it. Here are some of the places a wedding should take place.









We'll take beautiful candid shots.



And lastly, we'll have our first dance. Here, we eat the last dish of the 10 course meal, usually longan and almond jelly, and then go home.


Amazing, after publishing this post, I feel like I actually HAD my dream wedding!!