One month away...

We're finally reaching the final stretch of our NYC adventure. Just one more month.

Am i excited? Absolutely. Am i sad? Surprisingly, not at all. I'm really happy to have called the Big Apple my home for the past 3 years but am equally happy to say goodbye to her. Yes, i would certainly miss the many friends that we have made, the nice carefree 2+1 life we have lead (Yap, zero family obligations kinda rock) and of course, the seemingly endless holidays and road trips we have done. Yet, with all that being said, we both know it's time to go home. Mr Lim's work life balance here is close to zero and admittedly, I've enough of doing nothing. (It was awesome while it lasted but I think 3 years is enough.) Not to mention, the depressing winter days. BYEEEEE!

Meanwhile, we've been really busy with packing and sorting through our belongings. To account for the insurance of our shipment, we had to declare the value of all our stuff and it sure is scary to see the total value of all my shopping (No, I'm not saying it here, but it's certainly wayyy more than I have expected.). Guess that's a good way to keep my future spending in check. 

On a separate note, the bittersweet feeling suddenly hit me when I saw Sam playing in snow a couple days ago. I just felt a little sorry for him that that was probably the last time (in his lifetime) that he would feel the coldness and fluffiness of snow under his little paws. Sorry Sammy boy, while I can't give you snow, I promise you that you will have tons of grass, sun, beaches and humidity (pui~) in our future home. That is if you survive the flight. *Fingers crossed*

We are going home~~

Our family portrait...

When we did our bridal shoots donkey years ago, we didn't have Sam. Now that we have a new (okay, not that new) member in our family, I kept toying with the thought of doing a family portrait. Besides, I thought that it would be a great way to also capture our memories in the Big Apple. I was still obsessed with our wedding photographer, Terry from One Eye Click, but flying them over just didn't make any economic sense. Thus, after tons of research, I finally found a photographer that gave me the exact vibes I'm looking for. I can't really quite put that in words, but just looking at her precious works made me smile and I knew Melissa from Beimaged photography was the one for us. After a quick email exchange (she's like the friendliest and nicest person around!), we booked our photoshoot!

After some brainstorming, I we shortlisted a few venues - Central Park (duh.), Times Square and Soho. Reasons were simple: I wanted to go to Sam's favorite place on earth, an iconic place of NYC and the beautiful clobber stone of Soho.

The shoot was real simple. We chose our own outfits, did our own hairdos/ makeup, sent Sam for a groom and just went ahead and did it. It was really fun and causal and I love how easy Melissa is to work with. 

And the best part of it, I'm obsessed with the outcome. It's just WAY gorgeous and even better than what I've envisioned. It was just perfection in my eyes. We are certainly not the best models around but this is my family and I love them to bits. 

Anyway, here's part of the end product Melissa uploaded on her blog. Check out more here. 

PS: Spot the little bow tie I made the boy?

 

I'm just waiting for the rest of photos to be sent to us and I have already shortlisted a few that are certainly going up on our walls. 

We just need a little more wall space. 

Water trouble..

Shit happens. On a nice 'summer' day last week, I rushed out of the apartment (after using the toilet) to meet my friend for a walk in the park. What I didn't realize was that the toilet bowl valve malfunctioned and failed to seal the output of water into the bowl. As a result, it flooded the whole apartment (The water was about 2 inches!). It was so bad that the water actually seeped down two stories before someone discovered the leak. Fortunately for us, as it was a technical malfunction, as opposed to our negligence (e.g. forgetting to turn off the tap), we were not liable for the damage caused. A cleaning crew was called in almost immediately and they left behind 3 heaters and 3 industrial fans to dry out the floor. And those was the noisiest machines EVER. We were told to leave them on for as long as we could so that the floors could dry quicker. To make it worse, we were supposed to keep the windows closed. Arghhhh...

Being a typical obedient Singaporean, I left the fans on throughout the first day. The only time I got some peace and quiet was when I was walking Sam. What an irony. The crazy 42nd street was actually quieter than my apartment. -_-  By the second day, I was so frustrated that I refused to turn the fans on whenever I was home as they were driving me NUTS. 

A peep of the monstrous machines that were driving me crazy. No. 1 camping at the living room. While it wasn't exactly loud, it radiated warm air that made the whole room stuffy.

Two industrial fans in the hallway to dry the wall panels. Another heater and a smaller fan were in our bedroom.

The guest room was actually the worst hit, hence a heater and industrial fan were assigned there.

Well, to make the best of the shitty situation, I decided to have some fun and got the little monster to pose in front of the fans. It certainly does give the MTV effects with his coat 'dancing' in the wind.

 Love the silly looking mohawk!

Thank goodness Sam is super resilient and could not care less about the noise and the presence of the machines.

After a looooong 4 days, they finally removed the fans and *here's the best part*, relocated us to the fully furnished corporate apartment for a week and half while they replace the floors. Not too bad huh. I'm taking it as a vacation and all of us are enjoying it to the max!!

Updates...kinda..

So time flew right by me during the past two months. I've to say that I am pretty amazed by how much I've done.

Here goes,

My beloved cousin visited and left. We (Yes, Sam Forest Loo Lim came along too!) went to Killington,Vermont over X'mas. We (abandoned the little guy) stopped by Tokyo, Japan (I so LOVE Japan!) for a couple of days before heading back home in Singapore. I went to Hong Kong with my family (Mr Lim had to work) and then back to Singapore. I had a blast with my friends and family (got drunk twice) and enjoyed my first (two) reunion meals in the past 2 years. And then finally, before we even knew it, we were back to the good old big apple. What an adventure...

Oh oh..and once we got back, the little monster turned two. As usual, I spent a tad bit too much money on his silly pink cake (which thankfully he adored) and gave him a wee bit too much treats (well, he did have diarrhea for the next two days). All in all, as much as he was oblivious to how special the day was, I think he did kinda enjoyed his birthday.

Anyway, now that we are back (this time for the whole year, I swear I'm not flying 22 grueling hours back to SG again anytime this year) and grounded, it's time to finally catch our breath and take it slow...

My plan for the year...is to slack it away in the most fulfilling manner as it possibly could get. Well, maybe not.. Here's what I've in store!

1) I've signed up for an upholstery class with the furniture joint (Yes, it's to refurbish furniture!). I'm also looking into more sewing classes too!

2) I'm looking into some private classes for the little monster. Well, he's perfect in my eyes, but he does have a lot couple of issues that we should probably look into, i.e. horrible off-leash, bullies smaller dogs, doesn't come when calls, blah blah blah...

3) Catch one musical a month. Next stop... Once. Mr Lim was obsessed with the movie while I actually dozed off a couple of times. So we shall see if the musical could win me over...

4) Enjoy a nice dinner once in a while. Our next restaurant on the list is Annisa. Hee, saw the chef on top chef masters and was kinda intrigued by her Asian/ American fusion dishes, hence was inspired to go try it out. Fingers crossed that it won't disappoint...

5) Continue pilates and hopefully start and maintain a regular cardiac exercise routine.

Many more to include but since the little monster is bugging me right now and dinner has just arrived, I'll continue again when the blogging bug is back...

Meet the Breeds 2011!

I managed to drag Mr Lim and another friend along to one of my most anticipated event of the year - Meet the Breeds! Little Sam wasn't allowed at the event so off he went to daycare. Anyway, here's some of the photos we took.A samoyed.
My favourite siberian Husky.
A russell terrier begging for ice cream.
A Parson Russell and no, it isn't Sam. But don't they just have the same expression?
My favorite dog at the event - A pyrenean shepherd. I think it looks like a raccoon. If I wasn't restricted by the HDB ruling of a one-dog policy, I will most certainly get this dog immediately! (And the best part of it was, Mr Lim seemed to like it as well.) Arrrrr...
The happy me and maybe-not-so happy Zim!
A corgi that looks like Yoda!
Zim with his favorite breed - Welsh Corgi. (He liked this breed because of Ein from Cowboy Bebop.)
Possibly the ugliest dog around - The chinese crested. I guess this is what I would call cute, aka ugly but adorable. I love the way the tongue sticks out. =P
I spotted a mop, a Puli.
One highlight of the event was the huge amount of freebies we got. And of course, that certainly made someone really happy.
By the end of the 3 hours we spent, we were OD with dog breeds. But still, I LOVE it! Thankfully we are able to attend the event again next year! Till then....

The Book Of Mormon

IT WAS AWESOME~ INSANELY AWESOME.. It has been a long while since I had such a great laugh. It was definitely worth the wait and I'm really glad I chose to be a bitch and buy a single ticket.

It's absolutely a true blue South Park Creators production and I'm sure they pretty much offended everyone (Well, chinese got a hit too!). Despite that, I Love love love it!!!!
I so love the musical that the groupie side of me took over. (It has been a long while since I did it!) I actually stood in line, in the cold for a good 30 minutes to wait for the cast to autograph for the fans! And of course, I managed to get a photo with the two main leads!!

Pretty much not sure which autograph is whose.. but whatever.. it's now a collectible! ^_^
Josh Gad as Elder Cunningham..
Andrew Rannells as Elder Price..
I even bought the soundtrack (which is currently on the top of my playlist). Here's a peek of my steals~
I immediately went online when I got home to book tickets for a next show. Unfortunately, the show is so popular that no orchestra tickets were available up till Jan 2013! Sigh~ I'm so going to try the lottery tickets till I get it!

Professional VS DIY..

I recently took a liking of having wall art and bought two pieces that I wanted on my wall - the Izak Zenou's Henri Bendrel drawing and the Christina Strain's drawing I got at comic con. The next step was to get them framed. Annoyingly, both pieces were of awkard sizes, making it horribly tough to find frames and matting that fit to a T. I wanted to get both pieces professionally framed. However, after a quick research, I came to learn that framing is ridiculously expensive (usually cost more than the drawing itself. duh right?). Hence, I decided to frame one of the two (the more expensive one of course) and DIY the other myself.

I made a quick trip to Michaels' and found a matting board and a frame.

The original drawing..
A good 20 minutes and USD40 later. Unfortunately, the matting board did not fit ideally and showed only 1/10 the autograph on the bottom right corner. Pity as this was the best fit I could find.Meanwhile, 10 days and USD200 (+USD15 for transport. -_-) later, I received the professionally framed drawing that clearly showed the autograph and nicely cut matt.
What you pay is what you get. While the photos above looked pretty similar, the difference in the quality was quite drastic. The cheap frame from Michaels' was pretty much falling apart while I was putting it together. The ill fit also showed. In contrast, the frame from the framing shop was sturdy and looked/felt good. Most importantly, it fit to a T.

Having wall art is such a chore. Oh well, at least they both look good on the wall!

Sold!

I closed my very first deal on craiglist and it was way more painless than I expected. (Especially after hearing all the horror stories from others) I was able to sell my snowboard bundle (board, boots and bag) at a pretty good price and more importantly, to a more deserving owner. At least, the items would be put into much better use in her hands (She's going to Colorado to snowboard, lucky bundle)!

A little bitter sweet, but at least I got rid of another item that I really do not need.

One more item off my to-do-list! ^_^

Final Sewing Project!

I attended my last sewing class and completed yet another project. I decided to save some $$ by using the leftover fabric (from my tote bag project) and here's the final product...

Guess what it is for...
Yes, it's a Kindle Sleeve!!!!
I'm really happy with the outcome, especially since I've been looking for a kindle cover for the longest of time!

Pity all good things have to come to an end, BUT, at least I didn't walk away empty handed! 3 really neat projects and a new skill! (A skill that is constantly improving too!) I'm seriously considering moving on to another series of classes, though that would have to wait. We'll see. =D

My latest obsession...

is the Herman Miller Eames chair!!!!
I love love love love it!!! The vintage and modern classic vibe. Nice..*Wide Grinz*

I could most certainly picture them in the dining room set in Senja. Awww~~

I WANT THEM!!! Now I just have to convince Mr Lim...

My second Sewing Project...

I embarked on my second sewing project~

After spending X hours fabric shopping at Mood, I found a lovely orange striped cotton fabric!

As usual, the little monster has to sit on the fabric. -_-
Work in progress.. Was initially thinking of using purple biased tape at the side but it just didn't look quite right to me. Grey seemed like a much better choice!
Ta-da~ The end product...
An apron!

I would have posed in it except that I was wearing my usual sleeping shorts and tank top (which would most certainly go the wrong way..) and Mr Lim (who was still in his work clothes) refused to pose for me. Oh well, guess this works anyway.

One more mini project to go!!

Happy Deepavali~

Mr Lim's good friend from Stanford invited us to his place for Deepavali!! Being a huge fan of nice spicy Indian food, I was more than happy to go!

And boy, I wasn't disappointed at all!! Look at all the Yummy yummy food prepared by the mistress of the house! (Too bad for Mr Lim though.. No spicy food for him)
Hee, to add on to the festive feeling, we dressed up in traditional outfits! I was loaned a tunic while Mr Lim got away easy as he was wearing a nice/formal top so all he needed was a 'scarf''. I really liked the purple/green combo though.

And of course, I cheated on the little monster when I fell in love with this little cutie - The Havanese, Vito!
Yummy food, great company and a cute little dog. That's life~

The sexiest butt in the world...

Love love love it~