Confessions of a Curious Mind

A new direction

2012-01-09T20:43:00.000+11:00

Direction by nicole from Flickr

Happy 2012 to CCM readers!

Yes, it has been months since the last update. I have been through some challenging times and I needed a bit of time off blogging to recuperate. The good thing is that the dark clouds are gone and I'm living life to the full again.

During my time off I evaluated aspects of my life, including this blog. It has been so much fun blogging and engaging with you through comments and Twitter. However I wanted a change in what I blog about. As mentioned in this post, I am fascinated by how the internet and social networks change the way we shop, and after some consideration I decided to start a new blog to explore the topic. It will be a mix of news, reviews, interview and more. I'll still be writing about my various shopping conquests :-D

I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your support and friendship (it's lovely meeting some of you in real life!).

Now, hop over to The Etail Queen and say hi!

xoxo

To the Nation's Capital

2011-10-13T10:43:00.001+11:00

The Curious household is off to Canberra today - Mr C's work has an annual conference there, which is really a paid-for holiday for staff and their families. Mr C's dad lives in the area so we'll be spending a bit of time with him as well. It'll be TLG's first visit to his grandpa's house!

On the agenda - a morning at the AIS organised by Mr C's employer, dinners at the Australian War Memorial and Kingsley's Steak and Crabhouse (drool), and trips to the Floriade and Questacon.

Photo: Floriade Canberra 2011 by Galeforcesales

We're doing last minute packing now and will be off in an hour or so.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the week :-)

Thoughts from a Sydney shopping day

2011-10-11T07:20:00.000+11:00

The Bathurst 1000 was on last Sunday. Of no particular relevance to me, except when Mr Curious said to me on Friday "I'll watch the race with TLG at home, why don't you go out, maybe do some shopping?".

I didn't need to be asked twice.

So on Sunday I caught the bus into the city and spent the day within a 100m radius of Pitt St mall. Almost 6 hours of browsing, trying on clothes, and of course buying. I will write about my purchases but that's not the focus on this post. Below are some random observations on shopping from the day.

I arrived at QVB a bit after 10:30am and ALL THE SHOPS WERE CLOSED. I checked my watch to make sure I had the time right. The cafes must love it, they were doing roaring trades. I assume the decision to delay opening hours till 11am is based on the lack of sales during early hours, but I can't but think that with Myer, DJs and Westfields just a block away (or less) they may be shooting themselves in the foot.

Full prices at high street stores are getting ridiculous. I went into Country Road and French Connection and I cannot picture myself paying RRP on any of the items. With the current economic environment they go on sale fairly quickly (I saw a pair of sandals I liked at Country Road the week before, and by this week it was discounted from $70 to $50), but with overseas online retailers like ASOS and Zara (more later) I wonder if a general lowering of price points with fewer sales is a better way to go.

I went through both Myer and DJs looking for bargains. Didn't find anything at Myer (except some boys' underpants for TLG at the children section), the items on sale were not inspiring. I even went to Miss Shop to have a look (I was after some casual tops) and nada. It was more promising at DJs. There were racks and racks of discounted clothings to go through on both Levels 1 and 2, including some from Australian designer labels. Discounts were up to 75% for many designers. I didn't see clothings of similar calibre on sale at Myer. Where is Myer is offloading its unsold Australian designer stock?

I almost bought this Shona Joy top (discounted to $39) but decided against it at the end - I'm a bit uncertain about loose fit tops.

Photo: ebay seller thelifeofafashionista

I also tried on a lovely black Thurley dress (discounted to $149) but I need another black dress like a hole in the head.

I didn't leave DJs empty handed - I bought this fun top/dress from Kirrily Johnston's S/S 2010 collection for $99 (down from $399). No, I did NOT buy the matching leggings.

Here's a photo without the embellishments.

Photo: ebay seller shoresy_7

I like that it can be worn two ways. There is a small button to gather the sides to form a figure hugging dress (as above) or you can undo the button and wear it loose.

I know I'm super late but I went into Zara for the first time. I have been to Zara overseas so I knew what to expect. There were certainly lots of choices. I was tempted by some of the bright coloured jeans but the long line to the change room banished the thought. There is still a reasonable mark up between Australian and overseas prices, but not as much as other international brands such as Esprit. I can live with some mark up (Australia is a small market, far away and $A exchange rates can be volatile) but 100%+ mark up will stop me from buying. For all the hype at its opening, it is just another high street store with some nice stuff and some not-so-nice. I didn't buy anything.

GAP is boring. For a store with good basics I pick UNIQLO anyday.

I guess I'm never going to be a GASP girl - I bought something from Supre. Cute and a bargain at $20.

I also bought another one of the bra I liked from the CK underwear store at 50% off. Nice customer service from the SA which is always a plus. Another loyalty card to add to my collection.

I love online shopping but it IS nice to see, feel and try on clothes to see how they fit.

With DVF available at shopbop with free shipping, will the store at Westfields become an expensive fitting room?

Overall I'm lukewarm about the new-ish Westfields, I like the new labels that opened shop there but there is something about the layout that leaves me cold. ifc mall in Hong Kong is much more to my liking in terms of shopping centre design.

Exception to the point above: I love the food court on Level 5. Great variety, good quality and not a fast food joint in sight. Must explore the restaurants soon.

It feels like The Strand Arcade is slowly dying. It must have taken a big hit from Westfields. I didn't even go up to Level 2, half of shops looked closed.

I went into Burberry on George Street for the first time also. I saw a pair of sunnies in Vogue's October issue that I liked. Unfortunately they didn't suit me. The layout of the store was underwhelming, I didn't feel it at all. I hope LV does a better job with its new flagship store a block away (corner of George and King Sts, opening 3 December).

Shopping is exhausting. My body was ready for a lie-down by 3:30pm. I soldiered on until 4:15pm. As a form of exercise it was a fun one.

Blogging is exhausting too! Even this rambling post took almost 2 hours. Like shopping, it has been fun. I just need more hours in the day!

I have been thinking about writing a series of posts on shopping, especially on online shopping and the influence of social networks. This post may just get me started. Part of the series is a survey for you to complete - are you keen?

An open letter to a fashion thief

2011-10-09T07:41:00.000+11:00

Dear Sportscraft

I was reading the latest issue of InStyle magazine when I came across this in the Summer Steals feature.

"Hey, it features a bag I own!" was my initial reaction. Until I looked closer and realised that it was not. You see, I bought this Michael Kors bag earlier this year.

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to realise that the two bags look eeriely similar. The shape, the colour, the way that the shoulder strap can be worn two ways. Yes, the clasp of the Sportscraft bag is different and it does not have the tag and key, but putting them next to each other, no one would deny that the bags are almost identical.

I know the adage "Nothing is new in fashion", and that even major trends like the bold stripes from Prada's S/S 2011 collection ...

Photo: Team Peter Stigter

have been seen before.

Photo: Vintage dress on Etsy

Everyone understands how the fashion food chain works and for those of us who cannot afford designer gear day-in-day-out, it's a godsend. However there IS a line between "inspired by" and "blatant copy". That line is difficult to describe but it's dead easy to tell if someone crossed it. Witchery/Balenciaga anyone?

You may not care at all. Michael Kors is unlikely to take any action against you, and many people will be happy to cough up the cash for the bag, whether they know of the original design or not.

But you (must) know that you are a thief. You stole someone else's work, claim it as your own and profit from it. That's poor form.

I'll spend my money on high street brands that come up with their interpretation of the latest trends (or better still, with their own unique designs).

Yours sincerely

Ms Curious

Healthy Life Part 10: H2O

2011-10-07T07:28:00.000+11:00

Read any article about healthy living and drinking water is likely to be high on the list.

I'm pretty good with my beverage choices. I only have an occasional glass of wine or champagne (I'm also partial to nice sake), and juices and soft drinks are once-a-week treats. My only daily "vice" is a skim cappuccino or two.

I drink a good amount of water, but the amount I drink varies based on where I am. I drink like a fish when I'm in the office, at least 1.5L even if I'm not exercising. However, when I'm at home I don't drink nearly as much.

So what caused the difference? I use a disposible water bottle at work and plastic tumblers at home. So I think the bottle is the trick.

I know that the bottle that comes with the water are not meant to be re-used. After some research online I purchased several 750ml Camelbak Better Bottles.

Hand modelling from yours truly to give you a sense of the size of the bottle.

The bottle is made with BPA free plastic, and the bottle is spill proof even if the sprout is out because of the "Bite-N-Sip" valve. You have to bite slightly at the valve to release the water. The biting was a bit strange at first but it was easy to get used to, and now it's second nature.

I'm happy to report that the bottle increased my water intake at home. I still don't drink as much as I do at work (I think the air conditioning makes me thirsty) but having a water bottle around at all times makes it much easier to take a sip here and there. In fact I just had a sip before typing this sentence.

I take the bottle out when I go outdoors so I'm not tempted by sugary drinks, and that works too.

If you'd like to drink more water I highly recommend getting a bottle to carry around (I bought the bottles from Wiggle).

Home made butter chicken

2011-10-03T17:28:00.000+11:00

I haven't written a cooking post for what seems like forever. I have been cooking non-blog worthy food, partly because I was avoiding high-fat food, but mostly because I was lazy.

The lovely Ling tweeted about butter chicken a little while ago. I'm a big fan of the dish so I asked her for the recipe and kindly she sent it to me. I made it last night so finally there's something to share with CCM readers.

Ingredients
2 onions
cooking oil
1 clove garlic
1 tsp ginger (I used ginger powder)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 small piece cinnamon
2 pods of cardamom
4 tbsp cashew nuts
3-4 tbsp (60-80g) of butter
3 large chicken thigh fillets - cut into ~1cm wide strips
1 tsp red chilli powder (or to taste)
1/2 tsp dhaniya (coriander) powder
300ml passata

Finely chop 1 big onion and pan fry with 2 tbsp oil until golden brown, then put in the fridge to cool.

Blend the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, cashew nuts and onion into a smooth paste.

I mixed everything else first while the onion was cooling.

Before

After

After adding the onion and more blending it started to look like a paste.

Put the butter in a large saucepan in low heat (so the butter can melt gradually).

Chop the other onion lengthwise. Add to the saucepan and fry for 2 minutes.

Add the chicken and fry it for a few minutes each side.

Add the above paste and fry for a while. Then add chilli powder, coriander powder, passata and boil until chicken is well cooked.

I let it simmer for 10 minutes in low heat after the chicken is cooked.

The final step is to garnish with freshly cut coriander and 1 tsp butter before turning off the heat, but I didn't follow it.

I served the butter chicken with roti and steamed green beans.

As you can see in the photo above, the sauce is thicker than butter chicken from Indian restaurants and takeaway. Maybe I'll add some water to the mix next time. It is also less sweet and a bit more spicy which I like :-D Even with 1 tsp of chilli powder only it was too spicy for TLG, I'll have to cook some without chilli for him next time.

What do you think? Are you going to give it a try?

My Saturday

2011-10-02T08:29:00.000+11:00

Yesterday morning started with a glorious sleep-in (of sorts). Mr C went for an early morning bike ride. When TLG woke up I was half asleep in bed and ABC2 kept him company until Mr C returned. I stayed in bed for another nap and didn't get up until 9:30! Bliss.

The day's main event was a trip to Opera House with my friends S and E to see ex-High Court judge Michael Kirby as part of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas. One of the few joys in my law school days was reading Justice Kirby's compassionate and well written judgments, and it was a pleasure to see him in person. As expected he was articulate and wise, and he knew how to entertain the audience.

He spoke on 3 topics:

The importance of public education - the need for more funding (or re-balancing of funding between public and private schools) and for it to maintain a secular institution
Animal welfare - he stopped eating red meat and poultry after reading a book in 2009 about the cruelty of animal slaughter
Gay rights and same-sex marriage - he read out a letter sent to him by the Australian Family Association opposing same-sex marriage (and homosexual relationships in general) and he torn their arguments apart to the delight of the crowd. He talked about his love for this partner of 42 years, and that to deny his right to have a relationship with such a wonderful man is "evil" in his opinion.

His new book called A Private Life has just been published (he cheekily plugged his book many times during the talk). I'm keen to get my hands on a copy - maybe I'll do my FIL a favour and ask him to buy that for me for Christmas. Here's an excerpt of the book - oh if only I can write like that! And here's an interview with the ABC earlier this week.

On the way to the Concert Hall I saw some Gruffalo merchanises at the SOH gift shop. My sister gave The Gruffalo to TLG when we were in Hong Kong and he loved the book. So after the talk I went and bought him this cute apron.

I also liked the domino set - I think I'll get it for him next time.

We had lunch at Opera Bar. I had a delicious artichoke risotto and we talked (and talked), mostly about pregnancy and motherhood as E has a 4 month old boy and S is due for her first baby later this month. It was nice to have a good long chat with friends.

It was almost 4pm when we parted company. I headed to David Jones with the aim of buying a pair of sandals. I had no luck in that department, but a wander down to women's fashion led to the following purchases.

toi et moi cotton purple beaded throw

I have not heard of toi et moi before, it looks like a fun brand. This will be perfect with a black singlet and skinny jeans.

Diesel T-shirt

Brings out my inner rock-chick!

Antipodium Natural Urge dress

This photo isn't doing the dress any justice. Here's a maxi version that is sold out on ASOS.

Pretty, isn't it? And it was only $89 (down from $199). The sleeveless top in the same collection is on sale at ASOS for £65 so I definitely nabbed a bargain!

With a shopping bag full of goodies it was time to go home and spend some quality time with Mr C and TLG. TLG loved the apron and wanted to help me prepare dinner. I entrusted him with the important tasks of removing the husk from the corn cobs and spreading oil on the steaks, which he completed with aplomb. It was a lovely way to bond. And the dinner was yummy too.

Wishing you all an enjoyable end to the (for NSW and ACT readers, long) weekend!

Healthy Life Part 9 - Load me up with nutrients

2011-09-29T07:45:00.000+10:00

A little while ago I purchased a few health supplements online. This is one of them.

Not the most enticing looking beverage I know but it's good for you.

It is a "super green" type powder from Nutra Organics.

The main ingredients are barley and spirulina but it also contains alfalfa, psyllium husk, chlorella and kelp. All green!

I have to be honest, I didn't scrutinise the product's health claims, but sometimes I don't eat as much green vegetables as I should, and I thought this is an easy way to top-up.

This is what the powder looks like.

The "serving instructions" on the tub said you can eat the powder by itself so I gave that a try. I recommend against that method, unless you like having a gruggy yet powdery mixture in your mouth *shudder*.

I take it by mixing a heaped teaspoon with a glass of ice water, just like the first photo. It tastes ... green. Actually it is not too strong a taste. While I will not say it's delicious, it is quite refreshing, and I feel like I'm putting something healthy into my body.

One major change I noticed after taking it regularly is that my bowel movements became much more regular. I guess that's from the fibre. I can't attribute any other benefits but I feel good about drinking it. You can buy the powder at 30% off RRP here.

My friend Elizabeth started Schmoosli with her friends a while ago with the aim of making healthy and tasty wheat-free muesli. She kindly sent me a pack of "Heidi Gets High" to try.

The muesli contains oats, barley, rice flakes, rice bran shreds, dried fruits (including goji berries), nuts, seeds and cinnamon.

It tasted as good as it looked! There was a good mix of flavours and texture. And a 50g portion serves up 5.4g of protein and 5.3g of dietary fibre.

I like to mix up my breakfast so this is a very welcome addition :-D

I have also been taking some Cod Liver Oil on my PT Nat's recommendation (see her blog post) but silly me forget to take them half the time. I must remember during dinner every night!

Do you swear by any health supplement or super foods?

P.S. I haven't forgotten about goal setting. I went through my wardrobe last night and found 2 items of clothings that I'll use for my short term measurement/body shape goals. I will write about them soon.

P.P.S. Thanks to Jade linking about my tweet in her blog post - here's a good article from Dr Karl about the science of eating and how to change your poor eating habits.

Miu Miu double act

2011-09-25T08:35:00.000+10:00

I visited Miu Miu a few times, both in Sydney and in Hong Kong, when I was searching for a wallet. Although I didn't buy a Miu Miu wallet, I liked what I saw in the store, and I was keen to get something from them.

One of my best friends E lives in Hong Kong and she told me about her favourite store Twist, which sells a variety of designer goods. She likes it because she finds it less intimidating then designer boutiques, and many items are on sale. After the poor service I received from the Miu Miu boutique in Hong Kong I was not in a rush to go back.

I went with my brother B to Twist one day when TLG was playing with his cousins (my brother grew up in a family of women and is well trained on shopping). To me the store was like a Kit/Mecca/Sephora for designer wares.

Photo: Twist

First I had a look at keyholders. B gave me a Burberry keyholder a few years ago. I didn't know about fabric protector back then and the keyholder became grubby with use. Also, the hooks were not that good and the keys fell out a few times :-/

I have been admiring my sister's Miu Miu Matelassé tote (she also has the Stage clutch, yes she has a very enviable handbag collection!).

With that in mind I chose the Matelassé calf skin keyholder.

Love the print on the lining of the box.

(click the photos for larger images)

As a keyholder is fairly small, it's nice to have a print (like the Burberry) or textured leather in this case to give it a bit of oomph.

The light lilac colour is so pretty, and it's complementary to the soft pink of the Chloé without being matchy-matchy.

I like the hooks better than the ones in the Burberry as there is no clasp to fasten, so the chance of keys falling out is much lower.

I cannot emphasise how soft the leather is. Sometimes it catches me by surprise when I hold it!

Finally I have something to satisfy my lemming. Is a Matelassé handbag in my future?

After choosing the keyholder I wandered to the handbag section. My last few handbags have been on the formal end of the scale and I'm hoping to get something more casual. Something I can pair up with jeans, but still suitable for the office. I considered the bow bag but it was a tad too big for my needs, and the zip and fold-over "flap" did not suit my clusmy self.

Luckily there is a bag in the collection that fits my bill.

First of all, I really really like the shiny grey colour. It's versatile without being boring. It has a slight "marbled" effect that I think works very well with this bag.

Here's a close up of the gold hardware.

Most of my handbags have flaps, so it's a nice change to have a bag which gives me super easy access to my belongings.

The strap is long enough for me to wear the bag cross-body. Handy when I need to lug TLG around!

The best thing about buying the bags from Twist? You can join their loyalty program when you spend more than $HK10,000 in one transaction and you get 10% off all purchases! The keyholder and the bag totalled just over that mark so I saved around $HK1,000 :-)

I think I should go on a handbag shopping ban for a while after my HK haul. I wonder how long I'll last?

Music On My Mind - The Beatles

2011-09-23T07:27:00.000+10:00

I've been wanting to get into the Beatles for a while now. I listened to Abbey Road when I was on the plane from HK to Sydney (Come Together is an easy winner; I need sometime to digest the rest of that album!) but I needed a catalyst to really get into it.

I found it via Leigh Sales' tweet about The Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Beatles songs. Lying in bed with a sick tummy, I read about (almost all of) the 100 songs even though I didn't know most of them. Finding out how the songs are created, their influences (drugs featured prominently ...), the growth of the band from pop stars to music pioneers, and their inevitable break-up - it was completely captivating.

The logical next step of course is to listen to the music. I chose Rubber Soul purely because of the name. By golly am I blown away - first by how many of the songs I already know, and by how fresh they sound now, almost 50 years on.

Then I chose The Revolver, something that is already on my iTunes. I remembered listening to it a long time ago and not really getting it. I wonder what was wrong with me back then! Rock, folk, psychedelic and everything in between can be found in the album. And it's all good.

My favourite track so far is "Here, There and Everywhere" - I am a romantic at heart :-)

I'm sure there are many other discoveries to be made. Oh to be a teenager again and hole myself up in my room for days immersed in music!

More NYFW S/S 2012 goodness

2011-09-19T07:26:00.000+10:00

Going through the MBMJ S/S 2012 runway was so much fun I decided to look more. It's always inspiring to see beautiful designs. Here are some more of my picks. Enjoy!

Tory Burch

Naeem Khan

Marchesa

L'Wren Scott

Proenza Schouler

Caroline Herrera

For all-out glamour I can't go past the floral gown by Naeem Khan - what an amazing print and I love the silhoutte.

If I can pick 3 outfits for my wardrobe, I'll go for:

the black and white Caroline Herrera dress with that amazing red belt - effortless chic
the blue Tory Burch coat. The print gives the classic-cut coat a new lease of life
I can't even follow my own rules - I can't pick between the pale blue Proenza Schouler dress, the yellow and brown Caroline Herrera dress or the white L'Wren Scott dress. They're all so lovely!

What are your picks from the NYFW S/S 2012 collections?

Photo credits: Vogue.com.au, New York Magazine

Marc by Marc Jacobs S/S 2012 runway

2011-09-17T20:08:00.000+10:00

I've been a fan of Marc by Marc Jacobs bags for a while now (see here and here and here). After seeing mallhaciel's tweets about watching MBMJ's S/S 2012 show I was keen to have a look too.

Well, colour me impressed. I'm always attracted to clean lines, and I'm loving the colour combinations in this collection.

Here are my picks:

A nice twist to colour blocking. Navy is a key colour in this collection. Not a typical summer hue but it works with the contrasting bright colours.

I love this ensemble, simple, elegant and fresh (how cute are the shoes? more on that later).

A perfect look for summer.

Peplum one-piece - I like! And the navy + orange combo really works here.

Not 100% sure about the silhouette, but I like the relaxed look and black + soft orange is pretty.

The orange trim makes the basic trench a lot more interesting.

The shoes in this collection really grabbed my attention. Seeing the front-on shots I was expecting them to be flats or kitten heels. To my (slight) disappointment they are much higher, but they still get a tick from me. I wonder how long it'll take for the "inspired by" versions to appear at Wittner and co?

Of course I can't write a post about MBMJ withough mentioning the bags.

In the "maybe" column, I present the cube bag.

It's a fun concept but I'm not sure if I want to carry a bag this size around my wrist ...

There are a lot of totes in this collection. Regular CCM readers may notice that I'm more of a shoulder bag gal, but I do like this one.

It may be the perfect bag for someone who needs to bring lots of work documents home at night ...

And this is great for travelling or a trip to the gym.

Back to bags that are more "me". This is very cute.

I'm not usually a fan of patent leather bags but this may just change my mind.

I really like the simple makeup on the models (by Shiseido). Let the clothes do the talking.

Saving the best till last. This is my favourite look from the collection.

I want the whole lot in my wardrobe, NOW.

Have you been following NYFW? What are some of your favourites?

Photo credits: Vogue.com.au

Healthy Life Part 8 - Refocus

2011-09-13T22:10:00.002+10:00

It has been more than a month since my last Healthy Life post. It is a good reflection of how healthy (or not) I've been living. During my HK trip I managed to exercise once at the hotel gym, I walked a lot and lifted a certain 15kg weight around a fair bit. But I ate out almost every meal and didn't skim on dessert, and when I returned to Australia I continued to make poor eating choices. The low point was eating salt and vinegar chips in bed on Saturday night. I don't even like chips that much!

Photo: Breakfast in Bed by Long Jacket on Flickr

I made some good progress with weight loss/fitness when I started training with Nat and following her eating plans but I haven't been as vigilant lately. If I continue down this path nothing will happen.

Exercise-wise I'm going reasonably well, but I need to continue my quest to increase the frequency of workout. Now that the weather is warming up it will be easier to wake up earlier and exercise outdoors. I may also try Gillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred.

Because of the poor weather in Sydney last Friday I moved one of my PT sessions to tomorrow. Three intense workouts a week should kick my body into gear. I find it usually takes 2 weeks of regular exercise for it to become part of the routine.

As for eating, it's all in the mind. I know when I am at my weakest - after dinner. When I succumbed to temptation I knew that (1) I didn't need to eat - even if I felt a hunger pang I could sleep through it, because I have done it before, (2) it went against my goal. But I did it anyway.

I think one of my problems is that I have one of those airy-fairy "I want to lose weight" goals that is not measureable and not motivational. I need to set some SMART goals. Nat is going to measure me at PT tomorrow so I will have some figures to work with. Instead of setting a weight loss goal I want to set some measurement goals and some fitness goals. I will report back in a week. Hold me to that promise if I don't deliver!

Another problem with my bad eating choices has to do with sleep - or the lack of. I sleep too little for my body to function properly, and when I'm tired I'm more likely to crave for junk food, probably for the sugar high. I regularly stayed up beyond midnight, and during the week I need to wake up before 7am. It is not enough. The simple answer is of course "go to bed earlier" but it's easier said than done. I want to work on this, because I know it is an impediment to a healthy lifestyle.

It may take time, but with determination I'll get here. Watch this space!

Hong Kong beauty products haul

2011-09-12T08:18:00.000+10:00

With advice from 5 lovely beauty bloggers, I armed myself with a lengthy shopping list to Hong Kong. I came back with the following.

Bobbi Brown corrector, creamy concealer kit and concealer blending brush
Dior Addict lipstick in Dior Kiss
Lancôme Teint Miracle
MAC Prep+Prime Lip
Gosh Cosmetics Velvet Touch eyeliners (x4, 3 in photo) and Soft 'n Shine lip balms (x2)

I also bought this after I read about it in a HK magazine.

Inside there are 3 eyeshadows, 2 brushes, an eyeliner and a mascara.

The back of the packaging gives a step-by-step instructions to achieve a perfect smoky eye.

It was a complete impulse buy and I'm not sure if I should keep it...

I forgot to take photos of 2 Asian-based products - SKIN79 Super+ BB Cream and L'Oréal Paris White Perfect Micro-Vibration 3-in-1 Eye Brightener.

I haven't used most of the products because I wanted to take blog photos first!

I've tried the Lancôme foundation, BB cream, and Gosh eyeliner and lip balm so far and I'm pretty happy with them. In this post I'm going to do a quick review of one of the Gosh lip balms, #32 Angel (the other colour I bought is #40 Irony, a bright orange).

The Gosh Soft 'n Shine lip balm comes in a narrow tube.

There's a swatch. It is a soft pink with shimmer.

I took 2 photos of my lips wearing the lip balm, one with flash and one without (with some sunlight streaming in), as you can see the colour looks quite different. The colour IRL is somewhere between the two. I obviously need to work on how to take these photos!

It's easy to apply, pretty moisturising with reasonable wear considering it is a lip balm. I think this is a good dupe of Clinique's Chubby Sticks. It is not that much cheaper (Chubby Stick is $US17 and Gosh lip balm is $US13) but there are more colours available. Gosh Cosmetics is available at Watson's in Hong Kong (think Priceline) and I paid $HK98 (~$A12).

I don't know if I'll write posts about all the products, I'm not that good at being a beauty blogger! Which product(s) would you like to hear about?

Lemming: Prada A/W 2011 white dress

2011-09-09T09:09:00.004+10:00

Perfection.

Of course it's completely out of my price range. This ASOS dress is a very poor substitute but the skirt is nice.

What is your latest lemming?

One Chloé calls for another

2011-09-07T07:24:00.004+10:00

As I was ummming and ahhhing over this wallet at the Chloé store (it was a big decision!), something shiny caught my eye.

Isn't it pretty? It's like a puzzle waiting to be played with.

Then I looked at the rest of the bag and I liked it too! After some more ummming and ahhhhing it was added to the "shopping cart". And this Elsie shoulder bag is mine :-D

(click any photos in this post to see larger images)

The calf leather is a dream. It is unbelievably soft. And I just adore the turnlock, so beautiful, with an art deco vibe (which I love). Regular CCM readers know that I'm in a structured bag phase so this is right up my alley.

Even the lining of the bag is leather. How luxurious is that?

I had some reservations over the gold chain. I'm not much of a bling girl (diamond is excepted of course :-P) but this chain is not OTT, and I like that it is adjustable - double up to carry the bag on the arm or extend the chain to use as a shoulder bag.

I wonder if I'll look as chic as Sienna Miller?

So here are my Chloé double act side-by-side.

Pretty nice, n'est-ce pas?

My sister and I received lovely customer service from the sales assistant at Chloé, which made the purchasing decision that much easier to make :-)
Now, a poll on the next Hong Kong trip post. Would you like me to blog about:

(a) food
(b) make-up
(c) clothes, or
(d) more bags?

Yes I have a new wallet!

2011-09-05T07:17:00.002+10:00

On top of my Hong Kong shopping list was a new wallet (you may have read about my research). Before I left Hong Kong I went to the Ferragamo counter at DJs and store in MLC to have a look at their wallets and I fell in love with a wallet with the signature Ferragamo bow. I saw picture of that wallet in many colours online but the stores in Sydney only has it in black.

Before my trip I e-mailed one of the Ferragamo stores in HK and enquired about that wallet. The salesperson told me they have the wallet in light gold (not my style) and "Bordeaux". When I asked her what "Bordeaux" looked like she kindly sent me a photo.

I thought it was a nice neutral colour so I was 95% certain that I'd purchase it. I paid Ferragamo a visit soon after I arrived in HK. To my disappointment the photo was not an accurate representation of the colour - it was much closer to burgundy which pushed the wallet into granny territory :-(

I had lunch with my sister one day, and we decided to search for a wallet together afterwards.

I was attached to the Saffiano leather so we went to Prada to have another look. I considered this wallet. On the plus side it had lots of credit card slots, but it was a tad long.

We also went to Miu Miu to look at the two wallets that I blogged about earlier. I was seriously considering the smaller version but I wasn't 100% sure about the patent leather, plus the sales staff were rude so I didn't want to make a purchase there.

We looked at LV, Celine, Fendi, Burberry (plus others, I cannot remember them all) with no luck. We took a break and enjoyed afternoon tea at Cova (I posted a photo of the tiramisu we had in the last post. The dry ice effect was so dramatic and it was yummo!).

My sister then took me to the cake shop at Mandarin Oriental because she wanted to buy one for our big family gathering. As we were leaving the building she asked "What about Chloé?" as there was a Chloé boutique on ground floor. For some reason I didn't think of Chloé at all when I was doing my research but I was open to the suggestion.

I think you can see where the story is going. Yep, I found "the one" at the store!

Starting with the box ...

inside the dust bag ...

is my brand new wallet!

(click photo to see a larger image)

I love that it is something different. It's pretty and feminine but with an edge.

According to the receipt it is part of the Paraty collection. I couldn't see the relationship until I came across this on the Chloé website.

Back to the wallet. There is a coin compartment with press button at the front.

Next comes a zipper compartment.

Finally there are 8 credit card slots and the notes compartment.

For completeness here's the back of the wallet.

The leather is buttery soft - it is lambskin but it doesn't feel as fragile as the Chanel Camellia wallet I saw during my research.

I did the wallet transfer last night. Right now I have 8 of the most important cards in the cards slots, and the rest in the zipper compartment. I'm not sure whether that is the best way to go, I'll give it a go and see if I like it.

One interesting thing about the wallet is that the notes compartment is on the opposite side compared to my old wallet. When I accessed the notes compartment with my old wallet, the weight of the wallet is in my palm. However with the new wallet the weight will be away from my palm. It's a bit difficult to explain. If you look at the second last photo where you can see the credit card slots, you can see the rest of the wallet is to the right of the slots. I am a leftie and I accessed the notes compartment of my old wallet by holding the wallet with my left hand and getting the notes out with my right hand. If I do the same thing with the new wallet the bulk of the wallet will be hanging in the air.

I told my brother about this after I bought the wallet and he told me he went through the same thing when he changed wallets a few years ago, and it took him a long time to get used to it. I wonder how I'll go with it?

I am so happy with the wallet, not just because it is beautiful, but because I discovered it with my sister and we can treasure that memory together (only women can understand shopping as a treasurable moment, no?). She ended up buying the wallet for me so it is extra special! Thanks sis <3

Actually I left the store with something besides the wallet, but that's the subject of another post ...

Photo credits: Ferragamo wallet from photo taken by Ferragamo Times Square Hong Kong, Prada wallet from Prada.com, Chloé Paraty bag from chloe.com

Hong Kong 2011 snaps

2011-09-02T07:35:00.000+10:00

TLG and I are back in Australia safe and sound. I had a fantastic time with my family in Hong Kong and I think TLG did as well!

There are lots to blog about but I'm too tired to do it any justice at this point. Here are some photos from my iPhone to share :-D

TLG playing "mummy" and ordering me around!

Egg with fois gras and caviar

Tiramisu at Cova

TLG playing with a giant rubber duck (how cool is his shirt BTW?)

Wonton noodles, one of my favourite Hong Kong meals

Shopping at one of the many SaSa cosmetics stores

A giant golden Hello Kitty at a boutique (this is for you @mallhaciel!)

This is from a professional photo shoot. The photographer is excellent and I can't wait to see all the high resolution photos!

I'll work on my posts this weekend - watch this space!

Off to see the bright lights

2011-08-24T22:19:00.002+10:00

Hong Kong lights, by vendmr

So I'm off to Hong Kong tomorrow for a whirlwind family reunion. It'll be the first time my parents and siblings are in the same country since my wedding back in 2006!

There'll be lots of eating, a bit of shopping, and I predict buckets of tears when I say farewell to my brother who is moving to Japan (and it's his birthday today, happy birthday B!).

Mr Curious won't be coming as he can't take time off work. I'm going to miss him, but I suspect TLG will miss him even more! Mr C is recording some videos for TLG to watch in HK as I type <3

I won't be blogging during the trip, but I'm getting a local SIM so my iPhone will be in action and I plan to tweet on and post photos on instagram (under mscuriousccm).

Don't miss me too much! I'll be back before you know it ;-D

P.S. I went to the Red Cross and donated blood today. Their blood supply running low so please donate if you're eligible!

Melbourne 2011 Take 2 - Tidbits

2011-08-22T07:36:00.002+10:00

As I mentioned in the first post on this trip, Mr Curious and I went to Abbotsford Convent.

Operated by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, it was a convent for poor or vulnerable girls and women for over a hundred years. At its peak in 1912, over a thousand women and girls stayed at the convent or attended the day school. The site is now open to the public and housed studios, galleries and eateries.

TLG would have loved the grounds.

We didn't try out the cafe as we were still full from lunch at Curzao. Instead, we wandered around and enjoyed the tranquil settings.

Mr C took a photo of me soaking up the winter sun.

One of the best discovery of this trip was the work of Nicola Cerini. She has a showroom in the Convent and Mr Curious and I spent a long time admiring her designs. Her partner John patiently answered our 1001 questions.

Cerini designed an array of beautiful fabrics.

I fell in love with this pleated silk print.

I really want to use the fabric for our sofa cushions (I have one behind my back and one on top of my lap as I type) but I'm not sure if the silk is too delicate. John kindly cut a sample for us to keep and I'm going to do some research.

Mr Curious was attracted to Nicola's floor rugs. The Impatiens rug was on display at the studio. Pretty, isn't it?

Mr Curious' favourite is the Alhambra:

If we ever move to a house with floorboards we will definitely consider getting one of her rugs.

I couldn't leave without getting something, so I bought a set of oven mitt and pot holder in this gorgeous Blossom print.

This trip was about Mr Curious and I spending time together so shopping was not high on the agenda. I did pick up a few knick-knacks.

From top then clockwise:

A pen holder from Typo for my hair brushes in the bathroom (now that it's all tidy)

The Daily Mood, a flipchart with 47 emotions in cute cartoons, and amusing facts about each one on the other side, e.g.

A pair of fortune-cookie themed trainer chopsticks for my FIL

A pack of race car stickers for TLG

I also bought a grey scarf for the bargain price of $20 (nothing as fancy as the Missoni scarves of course) :-D

These two buildings are across the road from either other. I love Melbourne's diverse architecture.

Ah, it was such a lovely trip. The next one can't be too far away, can't it?

Sunday Lemming: Missoni scarves

2011-08-21T08:02:00.005+10:00

A timely shopbop e-mail led me to the Missoni scarf collection. I can't picture myself wearing Missoni clothings (a bit too full on for me) but the scarves are divine. The distinctive Missoni prints are perfect to bring a winter outfit into life. And less than $US200 for an Italian made scarf that can be worn for life is a good fashion investment in my book.

My picks from the collection are:

Zigzag scarf ($US138) - a classic Missoni design that goes with everything.

Multi-print scarf ($US198) - love the contrast patterns, and it's 100% wool!

Knit fringe scarf ($US154) - another pure wool scarf <3

Chenille scarves ($US138) - I love these prints!

When I started writing this post the last scarf was my favourite but now I'm not sure. They're all beautiful!

Which one takes your fancy?

Question Time: What beauty products to buy in Hong Kong?

2011-08-17T10:20:00.001+10:00

Photo: Shop till you drop by indigo_girl on Flickr

My Hong Kong trip is just over a week away - it's time to put a shopping list together. I have ideas on what I'd like but I don't know which brand to go for. This is where you can help! Have a read of my list below and I want to know your recommendations :-D

Liquid foundation - I'm using Shu Uemura's Face Architect Smoothing Fluid Foundation at the moment (in 554). I like it and the colour is a good match but I want to try something with a longer wear and medium to high coverage. I have combination skin so I don't want a very rich formula. Recommendations I've received so far include MAC Pro Longwear and Estee Lauder Double Wear.

Concealer - I bought Laura Mercier's Under Eye Perfector and Secret Concealer last year. They certainly helped but I'm always looking for an HG concealer. Should I try the famous YSL Touche Éclat or Bobbi Brown's popular corrector and concealer?

Eye pencil - Eyeliner is my #1 make up item - I can skip foundation but I always apply eyeliner before I leave the house. Try as I may I cannot master a liquid eyeliner so I'm in the market for more eye pencils. I prefer pencils over kohl eyeliners because it is easier to sharpen the tip. My requirements are pretty basic - easy to use with mininal smudging.

Lipsticks - Summer is coming and I want to wear bright fun shades. On top of the list is coral, but I'm always on the lookout for pretty pink and reds. Tara from Keeping up with me raved about Dior Addict so I'll give that a try. I'm also going to try MAC's Prep and Prime lip liner on Tara's recommendation.

Face primer - I finished my Shu UV under base mousse a while ago and I'm using FOA's base face primer right now. Cclarebear recommends NARS Pro-Prime Pore Refining Primer or Make Up Forever HD Microperfecting Primer. What do you use?

Eyeshadow quads: I like eyeshadow quads because the colours are always complimentary and it's easy to take one and put in the gym makeup bag. One of Emily Quak's recent tweets reminded me of Chanel's Les 4 Ombres and they sure look pretty. Now which one(s) should I get?

I also want to pick up a few more Chubby Sticks and I'm sure I'll discover other goodies once I'm there.

The floor is now open - I look forward to all your suggestions :-D

Melbourne 2011 Take 2 - The Food

2011-08-15T07:26:00.003+10:00

I love food in Melbourne. So much variety, and a different vibe from Sydney - intimate but chilled-out at the same time.

I was reading the onboard magazine on the flight to Melbourne and there was an article about street food in Melbourne. One of the eateries mentioned was Cruzao Arepa Bar in Brunwick. I've never had Venezuelan food before so I persuaded Mr Curious to go there for lunch.

The restaurant was casual with fun artworks on the wall. The middle and the bottom paintings were my favourites.

Cruzao's signature dish is the arepa, a pita-like pocket made with corn, grilled and stuffed with ingredients of your choice. Mr Curious ordered the pabellon (shredded beef, black beans, plantain and feta, left) and I had the llanera (pork leg, tomato and haloumi, both $9.50).

The arepa was soft and moist with a distinct corn flavour (similar to corn chips). The pork leg was in pull-apart territory, and the tomato slices and haloumi worked really well together. I can imagine this being served in street stores as a snack or lunch on the run. Mr Curious highly enjoyed his arepa also.

We also ordered the lequeños (cheese bread sticks with hogao, $11)

They were so good. Straight out of the oven (or frying pan? I'm not sure) it was doughy, cheesy and surprisingly light. The hagao was similar to a salsa but it was more like a paste. There was a small jar of chilli on the table to add a kick to the dish.

We were still a bit peckish after we finished the above so we ordered the empanaditas (filled corn pastries with guasacaca, with beef or cheese fillings, $11)

Don't they look golden and delicious? Well yes they were :-D

Mr Curious had a Brazilian beer and I had a virgin mojito to wash down the food.

I am so glad I found this little gem. I wish there is a similar joint in Sydney!

We went to The Press Club that night. No photo because it was a romantic dinner. My favourite was the eel kroketes (croquettes) that was part of the salmon main (photo here). On the flip side, I was a bit disappointed with the bread. I have a high expectation of bread from a Greek restraurant and it was only alright.

The restaurant ticks all the boxes - slick decor, efficient service and high quality food, but on a whole the dishes were a bit too rich for my liking. Mr Curious was a big fan though.

We were planning to go to Madame Sousou for breakfast (thanks for the recommendation Ling) the next morning but we slept in (bliss!) and with a full schedule ahead, we opted to stay in the CBD. Running in Lulu recommended Il Solito Posto for dinner but it was closed on Sunday, so we went there for breakfast instead.

I was still a bit full from the night before so I ordered the burcher muesli ($12)

I liked the grated apple on top - I'm going to try that next time I made bircher muesli at home. The dish was so fresh and a great way to start the day. There was a nut of some sort in the muesli which I wasn't a big fan of but it was easy to pick them out.

Mr Curious had the Italian scrambled eggs with prosciutto, roma tomato, basil and parmesan ($14) plus a side of bacon.

I was too full to sample his dish. He gave it the two thumbs up.

For lunch we went to our old favourite Ezard. They have a 3-course express lunch with a glass of wine for $55pp which was very good value.

I love the bread with their homemade olive oil and 3 dips (photo here). I can't decide if I like the sweet then spicy rock sugar/chilli combo more or the delicious bonito salt with seaweed.

The highlight of the meal was the pork belly with caramel sauce - rich but yet so refined.

I had the caramelised apple and rhubarb crumble with vanilla mousse and apple cider sorbet for dessert.

It was nice but not as "wow" as Ezard's other desserts.

Mr Curious forced down the honeycrunch icecream, toasted gingerbread and sugar swirl :-D

It was the first time I went to Ezard for lunch. With sunlight streaming in from the windows and less people it was a more relaxed experience which I enjoyed.

We were let down by the service though. We ordred the oyster shooters but they were never delivered (by the time we received our first course it was a bit pointless to ask for the appetiser) and the bill we received initially was incorrect (they didn't include the desserts). I didn't leave a tip. I didn't give them a reason and I wonder if I should've written something on the bill.

I will still go back to Ezard for its food, I'm hoping the below-par service was a once-off.

Overall it was another wonderful culinary journey. I can't wait to be back again. MoVida is on my hit list and I want to go to Madame Sousou next time!

Early start to summer dressing

2011-08-13T08:22:00.008+10:00

Last week's weather was such a tease - sunny and a maximum of 24-25. It's back to winter this week but that preview was enough to make me all excited for summer and new additions to my wardrobe.

A tweet by Glamour UK on 50 dresses under £50 led me to the Dorothy Perkins site and there are some lovely summer dresses on sale at the moment. I've never bought from them before but I'm tempted. Here are my picks.

Green block dress (on sale, £21) - I love the colour blocking trend!

Ginger block dress (on sale, £17)

Multi print oriental dress (on sale, £25) - what a fun print!

Multi check zip back dress (on sale, £17) - I picture this with a lightweight denim jacket

Navy stripe zip front dress (on sale, £10)

Red abstract print dress (£32) - I love the print but Mr Curious thinks it's hideous. What's your verdict?

Black/white cat print dress (£28) - what a fun print (click to enlarge)

What are your picks?

Update 13/8: I tried to place an order last night (for dresses #1, #2, and #6) but the DP site didn't accept my credit card (it's a 28 Degree Mastercard which I use for online purchases with no problems in the past). I went back to the site today and a lot of the prices have changed - some up and some down.

I ended up buying only dress #2 from the list above (now down to £12!) but chose another 3 items.

Purple floral sequin dress (on sale, £17)

Blue stripe tie waist dress (on sale, £15)

Lime cornelli scallop hem top (on sale, £20)

The 4 items came to a total of £64. Postage to Australia is £10.50 but for some reason I received a £10 discount so postage was practically free! The website still didn't accept my credit card so I used Paypal (which is linked to the same credit card) instead.

As an aside, The Dorothy Perkins website is a delight to use. I like the review system. One of the drawbacks of online shopping is that you can touch and feel the product, and it's really useful to hear other shopping's comments. I ordered one the dresses in a smaller size because the feedback was that the dress runs large. Negative comments of a particular item may affect sales but the whole system provides shoppers with more information and gives them confidence in making a purchase so it's a big plus to me.

A small bugbear - the search box on the top right of the page needs to be bigger!

I also wish DP (and other online shops like ASOS) allow user to filter by fabric. I don't like wearing polyester, especially during summer, so I exclude all dresses made with polyester. At the moment I have to find out one dress at a time. It'll be good if I can just exclude polyester in a search.

I hope they arrive before I go to Hong Kong later this month so I can put them into good use before summer in Sydney!

Melbourne 2011 Take 2 - The Art

2011-08-08T08:19:00.000+10:00

Mr Curious and I were very lucky to travel to Melbourne for a romantic (i.e. kid-free) getaway to celebrate our 8-year dating anniversary.

It is very hard to go to places like art galleries with TLG, so we took the opportunity to visit a few exhibitions during our visit.

Thanks to Mrs. McAwesome's recommendation we went to Abbotsford Convent and visited the c3 contemporary art space, which featured an interesting mix of artwork. Here are some of my picks.

Jill Herman

John Harris

Aaron Carter

Nik Papas

The idea of presenting photos as postage stamps is such a good one I may just create something like that myself.

We also went to the Vienna Art and Design exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria. The NGV is becoming one of my favourite places to visit in Melbourne. Both their permanent and special exhibitions are of excellent quality. I think I can spend days in there!

The Vienna exhibition was really enjoyable. It was an all-emcompassing program, from traditional art forms like painting and sculpture, to architecture, interior designs, decorative art and fashion.

I was fascinated by the rise and fall of the Secession movement. In their works I felt the passion of the artists gathering to create something completely different. With a group of people of such talent and strong individual visions, I guess it was inevitable for internal divisions to bring down the group. To me, the period is like a shooting star - short-lived but burnt brightly while it lasted.

The exhibition did an excellent job of telling the story of an ebullient period of art history. I enjoyed immersing in the world created by these talented artists.

Now, some of my favourite works:

Gustav Klimt - The Beethoven Frieze (1902) - there was a reproduction at the exhibition

Otto Wagner - Lobby of the Postal Savings Bank, Vienna (1906)

Armchair designed by Wagner for the Bank (1904-5)

Josef Horrmann, Postcard No 74 (1907)

Koloman Moser, Then Enchanted Princesses cabinet (1900)

Koloman Moser, plate 27 from Flächen Schmuck series (1901)

Koloman Moser (designer), Wiener Werkstätte (manufacturer) - Flower basket Model no. S 781 (1906)

Art at its best enriches one's soul. I was certainly inspired and rejuvenated by their brilliance :-D

Adding more wallets to the mix

2011-08-07T07:27:00.020+10:00

We went to look at a house yesterday. We liked it but the price tag was mind-boggling and we still need to do some renovation before moving in. Mr Curious and I spent the rest of the afternoon doing lots and lots of research and thinking. We were exhausted by dinner time.

So I spent last night relaxing by checking out more wallets to add to my shortlist.

The Ferragamo French wallet has a similar leather to my Prada wallet and the design is very classic.

The camel is almost the same colour as my current wallet.

I can go old school and keep a photo of TLG in my wallet :-D

This Celine lambskin wallet is a mix of elegance and cool:

Someone has posted real life photos of the wallet on the Purseblog forum and I think it looks even better than the stock photos.

I can't see this on the Celine website so I hope it is still available in stores.

I saw this super-cute Pucci card holder on NAP, I'd love to see it in wallet form.

And finally, if I have a cool $US1925 lying around I can get myself the Azap goatskin wallet from Hermès:

I don't like the style that much actually, but is it luxe or is it luxe?

What do you think about the new additions?

Update 5 Sept 2011: You can read about my final choice here.

Photo credits: Ferragamo and Hermès wallets from their respective websites, Celine wallet from Bluefly and from iluvmybags on Purseblog forum, Pucci from Net-A-Porter.

Healthy Life Part 7 - Turn up the Heat!

2011-08-05T07:42:00.008+10:00

After an indulgent long weekend in Melbourne (blog posts next week, I promise!) it was time to ramp up my exercise regime. I had personal training with Nat on Tuesday, yoga Wednesday morning, another PT session yesterday, and I plan to do a round of the 20 minute fat blaster at lunchtime today. I won't have any weights this time but the exercises were so tough it'd be enough of a workout without them.

I thought I'd share yesterday's PT session because it was a good full body workout and a fun routine.

~15 reps of each exercise, I don't keep count anymore :-D

Each set is repeated 3 times.

Set 1

Suspension straps ring rows

Photo: Portable Althetes

I like the suspension straps, it makes you exercise harder without the need to maintain balance like a fitball.

You can buy the straps for home use like this.

Photo: At Home Workout Source

I've seen a few videos on the variety of exercises you can do using the straps. When I'm ready to move up to another level of intensity in my workout I may consider buying a set.

Overhead tricep lunges with 5kg medicine ball

Photo: evbe

Set 2

Three quarter rolling plank with fitball

Photos: iBodz.com

The movements in this exercise are subtle but man it was hard! Great for core muscles.

Suspension straps chest press

Photo: Portable Althetes

The further back your feet are the harder the exercise. Standing with your feet together also makes it harder. If you're nuts you can try this with one leg off the ground ...

Set 3

Walking lunges with twist with 5kg medicine ball

Photo: Women's Health Australia

I can feel my obliques as I type...

And finishing off with good old burpees!

Photo: My Fitness Studio W10

I had to do burpees on Tuesday too, and yesterday I made a modification by not pausing at the plank position for too long and quickly jumping back to the squat position, I felt an improvement in the flow of the exercise (it was still tough!)

After the session I had a long-awaited massage at the physio. I told the masseur to focus on my neck and shoulders.

At the end of the massage (which was excellent) he taught me an exercise to stretch the rhomboid muscles (muscles of the upper back connecting the inside edges of your shoulder blades diagonally up to the spine near the neck).

Cross both arms and place both hands behind shoulders of opposite arms. Place feet hip distance apart and bend the knees slightly. Tilt body forward from the hips to around 45 degrees and hold the stretch for 15 seconds. Don't rush when coming out of the stretch - push through the bottom of the heels to get up slowly.

He said to do the stretch 3 times daily and I'm going to give it a go.

Did you do any fun exercises this week?

Search for a new wallet

2011-08-02T07:33:00.015+10:00

Mr Curious and I had a fantastic mini-break in Melbourne. Blog posts will come in due course :-D

My current Prada wallet has served me well since 2006 but it's getting on a bit, and I think it's time for a new one. My plan was to go to Prada and buy the same wallet in a different colour (that was what I did last time!). To my disappointment Prada does not make that particular wallet anymore, so I am on the lookout for a new design.

My requirements are:

Compact - I'm not a fan of continental wallets
Leather
Has at least 6 card slots
A separate coin compartment

After a late breakfast yesterday morning Mr Curious and went down Collins Street to do a bit of "research".

Out of loyalty I went to Prada first but nothing took my fancy.

I have a red LV Epi Speedy and I love the colour and the leather, and the Joey wallet looked good on the LV website.

However it didn't look as good in person. It was bulky even when it was empty, the leather felt a bit too stiff for a wallet, and the clasp was a hassle to me - I want the wallet to be easy to use.

The Gucci flap French wallet fits all my requirements. However I'm not sold on the type of leather or the colour, and I feel a bit too old to have a heart on my wallet :-/

Finally I found a worthy candidate from Chanel - a Camellia-embossed lambskin wallet (top left in the photo below).

Here's a better look of the lambskin (in a different style). The leather is SO smooth.

I like that the coin section is completely separated from the cards section and can be easily accessed.

I wasn't planning on getting a black wallet but I'm not closed to the idea (the wallet also comes in a dusty pink which I don't like). I want to look around a bit more but the Chanel is defnitely on my shortlist. I'm really looking forward to getting one when I'm in Hong Kong.

Oh yes, I will be going to Hong Kong for a family gathering later this month. Hello shopping with the strong Australian dollar :-D

Update 3/8/2011: Adding another wallet to the mix - love the colour of the Miu Miu. I need to check it out in person :-D

Update 2: So I went down to the Miu Miu store at Westfields to have a look. The wallet above is just a tag too long but I quite like this one:

I may even get the matching keyholder!

Update 5 Sept 2011: You can read about my final choice here.

Photo credits: LV, Gucci and Miu Miu wallets from their respective websites, Chanel wallet photos from Rakuten.com

Operation Declutter

2011-07-31T08:25:00.003+10:00

Project 1: Bathroom

Before - BAD

Interim - better but not good enough

Solution - Courtesy of Officeworks

Now

Project 2: Shoes

Before - DISASTER!

Solution - these beauties from Bunnings

Now

Next task will be to take a photo of every pair of shoes and stick them on each box.

Also tidied up our casual shoes rack

Two large bags of old shoes for charity

Bye bye shoe boxes!

It feels so good to be organised and know where my things belong :-D

P.S. I did a bit of decluttering of the blog too - do you like the new look?

Added 1 August: For those interested in the clear shoe boxes, here's a photo of the packaging. From my recollection they were $15 per pack.

Custom design Etsy earrings

2011-07-28T07:10:00.004+10:00

Before I made my first pairs of earrings, I was searching around Etsy for some new bling.

I liked this pair:

But I have quite a few pairs of pearl earrings already. I thought it would be nice to replace the pearls with some onyx drops like these.

I contacted the seller of the earrings about the modification but I didn't receive a reply. Then I remembered Wellstrung, the Melbourne-based Etsy seller I bought from last year. I sent her the request and she took up the challenge.

A few days later Bernadette came back with some designs. I was blown away by how beautiful they were!

I'm not sure why Bernadette used turquoise drops in the first design but I was so glad she did. I have been looking for something like that for AGES. There are a few pairs in my Etsy favourites - maybe she saw those? Anyhow I love the drops but I thought the earrings looked a bit too long, so I asked Bernadette to remove the circle in the middle. And voilà, a beautiful pair of earrings were born.

She created a mock up with a red drop too. Beautiful, but my heart was set on the turquoise. Someone snap them up!

And here's the second design.

I love love love the top part of the design with the 2 circle and the black sphere suspended in the bigger circle. So I asked Bernadette to remove the bottom part.

How pretty are they?

I thought the drops were sitting a bit too low, so I asked Bernadette if she could use the same type of fitting as the photo I sent her initially. She said yes but she had to order the parts.

A few weeks later Bernadette told me they were ready and sent me a photo of the finished product.

They are just perfection! I was in love.

I was so excited when they arrived at work. And I was right to be - they were even more beautiful in person.

And here are the model shots :-D

I am so chuffed with the earrings. A big thank you to Bernadette for her beautiful designs and for being such a lovely seller to deal with. Do yourself a favour and check out her Etsy store!

Leona for the whole family

2011-07-25T07:36:00.005+10:00

Regular CCM readers may know that I'm a bit of a Leona Edmiston fan. I think they're great for work - elegant and easy to look after. When I was in Hong Kong earlier this year I went shopping with my sister R for some work attire - she is time poor and doesn't have much opportunity to shop for herself. Leona is having a sale and I thought she might like a few new outfits.

I went to Myer in the city last Friday. I was assuming that my sister and I wear the same size (she is shorter than me but she is more ... well endowed), so if she doesn't like them I can keep them. Mr Curious said I was crazy to assume that we wear the same size (which is probably true!). I'm waiting for R to send me her measurements, I'll exchange for size if needed be.

Instead of just posting the model photos from Leona's website, I thought it'll be fun to run a comparison with yours truly, so you can see what the dresses look like in real life.

Dress one Ivy from the A/W 2011 collection. I've been eyeing it for a while and at $100 it's hard to say no.

Sorry for the blurry photo, I was using the self-timer on the camera and focus was not working properly. I hope you can at least see the very flattering silhouette.

I did take a close-up of the top part of the dress.

The tassles are nice without being over the the board.

I also bought two dresses from the Ruby range. I didn't pay much attention to the Primrose Panel when I saw it on the website but it looks better in person.

Mr C took over as photographer (thanks babe!). It is a very easy dress to wear. The red piping around the panel flips to the wrong side from time to time but it's a small complaint.

I also bought the Nicola in steel. I already own the original Nicola in navy and it is such a flattering dress.

I hope R likes them!

I also tried on a few other dresses:

Venus - it was a bit too figure hugging
Latifa - for myself. I love the print of this dress but for some reason the dress did not sit properly on me :-(

I noticed a few people visited my blog after searching for "differences between Leona and Ruby dresses", so I'm going to take the opportunity to give my impressions.

To me, the main difference between the two lines is the fabric used. The material used for the main line is usually thicker and of a higher quality. The belts on dresses from the main line (I have the Fern) are reinforced and more sturdy. Otherwise I don't see that much difference between the two lines. The prices of the main line are going up a fair bit so the Ruby line presents great value.

I visited Chatswood over the weekend and out of habit I went into the LE store. This time I bought something for myself - two pairs of Decadent Control Opaque stockings. I have a pair already, and while the "control" is minimal, they are true opaques and they feel luxurious. I also like that they sew in a tag at one end so I always know which side is the front.

I also bought two gorgeous dresses for my lovely nieces. Are the Frenchie French just the cutest?

Overall Ms Edmiston made quite an impression ... on my credit card ;-p

P.S. I notice a bit of piling on my navy Nicola (machine wash under delicate cycle in a laundry bag, then air-dry), so in the future I'm going to turn the dresses inside out before washing.

Update 26/7/2011: Turns out that Mr C was right and my sister is way smaller than me so I took two of the dresses back to exchange (I kept the Ivy for myself ....). There are some further discounts and I thought I'll try on a few other dresses. Next thing you know, I left the shop with 2 more dresses ...

The Cami Collar from the Ruby collection - I really liked the Clementine Cloud but it was sold out before I had a chance to buy it. I thought the Cami may be too "schoolgirl" but it's pretty nice actually. I'm going to wear this to work tomorrow :-D [You can see me in the dress here].

When I was at the store on Friday I saw a woman trying on a fuchsia version of the Pia and I thought she looked really nice. I gave the Pia a try and it was surprisingly flattering! Not something I can wear to work but good for a night out. I'm planning to wear it for our romantic dinner at Melbourne this Sunday.

I think I need to stop looking at Leona dresses for a while ;-P

Music On My Mind - Amy Winehouse - Love is a Losing Game

2011-07-24T08:52:00.002+10:00

Dear Amy

I hope you can find the peace that eluded you in life.

Thank you for the beautiful music you made.

Love
Ms Curious

P.S. Read this beautiful tribute to Amy by Russell Brand.

Healthy Life Part 6 - This Week

2011-07-22T07:32:00.001+10:00

I haven't forgotten about my health kick! Last week was challenging because of everyone's sickness and both my exercise (only 1 yoga class) and my eating suffered. So this week I'm doing my best to get back on track.

The suspension straps made an appearance on my training on Monday and it was tough! I quite like it though - it adds a bit of variety.

Photo: New Outlook Fitness

With the torrential rain in Sydney I suspect my session today will be cancelled. I worked up enough motivation to exercise at home for the first time yesterday. I tried Nat's 20 minute fat blasting exercises. I used a fold-up chair for step-ups and tricep dips and 3.8kg dumbbells. The exercises look simple but it was hard work!

It took me just under 25 minutes to complete 4 sets (goal is to finish 5 sets in 20 minutes) so I have plenty of scope to improve. I'll use this as a benchmark - my first goal is to finish 4 sets within the 20 minutes.

I'm starting to look into supplements. Nat recommended cod liver oil capsules which I am taking semi-regularly (I'm too forgetful!). I placed an order for these goodies last night.

OK, I sneaked in a treat as well. It's meant to be a healthy version of Crunch bars!

Wishing you all a healthy and fulfilling weekend. And to my Sydney readers - don't let the bad weather dampen your spirits!

P.S. I'm thinking about starting a photo-based food diary. Anyone interested?

Well hello, Kate Spade! Part 1

2011-07-20T07:14:00.014+10:00

Two different shopping journeys both ended up with Kate Spade. This is the first one.

Mr Curious received his bonus (not anything wow but nice nonetheless) and he offered to buy me a present. It didn't take long for me to think "handbag"! I didn't find anything with the right price/desirable ratio from the usual suspects (Shopbop, TheOutnet, NAP). A timely promotional e-mail* from Nordstrom about their sale piqued my interest. I don't usually look at Nordstrom because of their high international postage but their sales are pretty good.

(*Yes, those promo e-mails work!)

It didn't take long to find my bag of choice. The Kate Spade Fisher handheld satchel fits right into my attraction to structured bags. The last two bags I bought are bright-coloured so it's nice to go for a neutral tone. The discount (33%, to $US230) made the postage ($US44) easier to accept.

The bag took just over a week to arrive.

The shape and the size of the bag are perfect. I also like that it's lightweight.

The tan colour is lovely and the bright orange lining creates a nice contrast. By the way, the colour of the bag is the photo below is the closest to real life.

Because of the light colour and the fine leather, I am going to spray it with a stain protection spray before use.

The double compartment is a neat idea. I hate rummaging through the bag to find what I need, so it'll be good to separate things into 2 groups.

On the not-as-good side:

The small spade logo at the top of the bag creates a fairly big dent in the leather (you can see it in the first 2 photos). I'm hoping usage will relax the leather a bit.
I prefer zippers with 2 sliders so I don't need to pull the slider all the way to one end.
Some of the leather looks a bit stressed already.

This worries me a bit; I don't want the bag to age prematurely! I'll have to see how it goes.

Those reservations aside, I'm very happy with the bag. Thank you Mr Curious! <3

Forgettable weekend

2011-07-18T08:21:00.001+10:00

Actually, this post should be called "forgettable week". TLG was sick for most of the week (he had another cold after the ear infection that was caused by the initial cold!), I was sick on Friday with sore throat and body aches, and Mr Curious had a really bad cold over the weekend. We were going to host a dinner gathering with a few friends and had to cancel.

I was planning to blog about my new purchases but this photo I took earlier this week will have to make do for now.

There were a few bright spots in the blahness that was this weekend.

I took TLG to the Northside Produce Markets on Saturday and picked up lots of fresh meat and veggies. On my must-buy list are:

Over the Moon Milk (read my previous post)
Lamb patties from Ladysmith Lamb - will be cooking them tonight *yum*

Update: Here's my dinner tonight - doesn't it look good?

Fresh salmon fillets from Sapphire Coast - it is hands-down the best salmon I've ever purchased, and it is around the same price as salmon from the supermarkets! Incredible. They are vaccum packed so they last for longer.

For lunch I ate half a fillet as sashimi (I wish I had wasabi at home!) and on Sunday night I pan-fried some for dinner. Served with a squeeze of lemon juice on top - so good.

Mr Curious was still sick as a dog on Sunday morning so I decided to take TLG somewhere nice for breakfast. I've heard good things about coffee at The Source Espresso at Mosman so it was our destination. It was pretty packed when we arrived. TLG and I were lucky to get seats straight away. TLG did not stay in his seat for long...

I ordered the free range egg, mayo and watercress on grainy bread ($9.50 from recollection). I was expecting a poached egg but it came in sandwich form.

It wasn't much to look at but let me tell you, it was awesome! So creamy and tasty. Highly recommended.

I enjoyed the coffee too although it's not the best I've had. I was surprised by how hot it was, and I admired that they were able to make it that hot without burning the coffee (my pet hate).

I ordered a small piece of cake for TLG, gave them a $20 and received less than $1 in change(!) I guess that's the price of going somewhere trendy (Peter Fitzsimons was there in his trademark red bandanna with his son, who looks just like Lisa Wilkinson).

TLG and I roamed around Mosman for a bit afterwards. He loves fire truck and I showed him around the fire station. A fireman spotted us and gave us a tour around the station and TLG was allowed to "drive" the fire engine! He was a VERY happy boy.

I saw these art-deco style earrings by Sybella (available at Baku) when I was at Mosman last time and fell in love with them. I admired them from a distance this time.

They're not that expensive (around $100 I think) but that's a fair amount for costume jewellery, and since I have another etsy earrings order coming I thought I'd resist .. for now.

Those were just about all the good things that happened this weekend - intersected with a sick husband and TLG screaming "NO" to every nappy change and all through bathtime. Here's hoping everyone's back to 100% soon.

And I have something to look forward to. Mr Curious and I are celebrating our dating anniversary with an overnight trip to Melbourne in a fortnight sans TLG. Flights and hotel are booked but we haven't decided on activites/meals yet. Any recommendations?

Pretty things from ... In Style August 2011

2011-07-13T07:23:00.003+10:00

TLG has been sick since the weekend (ear infection, poor thing!) and we made an impromptu visit to the local library. While TLG roamed around the bookshelves, I grabbed a few magazines and relaxed.

Miranda Kerr is a hot mama on the cover of August's In Style.

I enjoyed reading the cover story. Miranda seems so grounded despite the glamourous life she lives. And I love her post-partum body! Look at this:

This is from 2009:

Her body is more womanly now. I hope the curves stay.

This shot is beautiful - I love it.

Now onto other pretty things. Here are some lovely dresses from Australian designers:

Ginger & Smart

Alice McCall

The dress on a model:

Sara Phillips

The model shot:

Colour blocking is such a fun trend and it's easy to wear too. I have not heard of Sara Phillips before. I like the look of her Spring 2011/12 collection Luxor. There are some fun pieces and judging from her previous seasons, the prices are reasonable too. Next time I'm at the Strand I'll look out for her clothes at the Corner Store.

When I'm searching for the model shots above I noticed that the designers have online stores with previous seasons' stocks on sale (here and here and here). I don't think I need any more temptation with shopping! There are my picks from the sale items.

Ginger & Smart Shattered Sleeveless Dress (from $465 to $233)

If they have it in my size I probably would have bought it.

Sara Phillips Kimono Cutout dress ($140! down from $390)

They do have one in my size but I have zero occasion to wear a dress like this. Someone go snap this up!

I'm not done with dresses yet!

Not 100% sure about Penelope Cruz's Pucci dress but it's captivating.

Eva Green in Nina Ricci - so feminine and dreamy

This is from the same Lover collection I wrote about in July's marie claire.

I wished I looked as glamorous as Kristy Hinze (in Sportscraft) when I was up the duff with TLG.

Onto bags. I'm not an Oroton fangirl but this tote looks bright and fun for summer.

The Oroton website doesn't have one in yellow yet but a pink one is on sale for $210. It is a good size and a good price - tempting!

The next bag is definitely in the lemming catagory. Behold the YSL Muse Two Medium leather tote:

I like this colour combo but I love it in purple (Net-a-Porter US, $1250).

And the latest collaboration between Longchamp and Jemery Scott is a hoot!

Now it's time for some bling. Love the colours (the Anton Heunis necklace is my favourite and it's not even my style).

I want Salma Hayek's earrings!

Want an easy pop of colour? Try one of these fun cocktail rings from Lotus Mendes.

I'm keen to go to the Love Lace exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum starting on 30 July. Anyone want to join me?

P.S. I'm not responsible for any spending by CCM readers after reading this post :-P

DIY solitaire earrings

2011-07-11T15:55:00.001+10:00

I went through a phase where I lose lots of single earrings. I was most upset about losing a cubic zirconia earring that I bought a few years ago, at the same store where I bought the jewellery for my matron-of-honour. They're simple and they go with everything - definitely one of my favourites.

See how lonely the "orphan" is?

I searched high and low to find a replacement but to no avail. Finally I decided to take matters into my own hands. I'm going to make them myself!

I know etsy sells supplies as well as handcrafted goodies so I did a search. Canterbury Lane has all the parts I wanted and the store owner Jing was very helpful so I placed an order.

A week or so later I received my parcel.

The silver prongs came in a pack of 4 so I ordered another a pair of round crystals as well. The colour is called "Vintage Rose".

I have no experience whatsoever with jewellery making so it was very much a matter of trial-and-error. I raided Mr C's toolbox for some equipment.

Attractive, ay? I don't even know what the tool on the left is called, it is used for cutting wires.

The prongs I bought are meant to be for pendants so each has a bail attached. My first task was to remove the bail. I used the cutting-wire tool to twist and break the bail. It was a bit fiddly but I got there at the end.

(Note: You can buy prongs without the bail. I chose this one because I didn't want the prong to be open at the back.)

Next I put the stone on the prong. As you can see the "claws" need to be clamped down to secure the stone.

It was a bit nerve-wrecking trying to use the pilers to press down the claws. I was worried that I'd break the stone, or even the claws themselves. After many tentative attempts these are the steps that worked for me.

(1) Clamp the prong with the pilers as pictured below (let's call it at 12pm and 6pm) - a little bit below the tips of the claws. Apply gentle pressure until you can feel a slight tightening.

Use your other hand to hold onto the prong (the stone can still fall off at this point so keep it levelled), then rotate the prong 90 degrees and do the same at 3pm/9pm.

(2) Tilt the prong by 45 degrees, use the pilers to clamp the prong as below. Apply gentle pressure to bend the claw at the top.

This is a delicate operation. If you press too gently the claw won't yield. If you press too hard you may chip the stone. Once you get it right the first time, you'll have a much better idea on the amount of force required.

Repeat the same for all 4 claws and the stone is secured!

The last step is relatively easy - use the pilers to open up the loop part of the ear wires, slot the prong in, then clamp the loop shut.

The first earring took a while to make as I tried different techniques. The rest were a lot quicker - around 10 minutes each.

Here are the finished products!

Aren't they beautiful? The CZ are so sparkly!

Actually I chipped the top of one of the CZ slightly. It is only visible in close-up. I don't mind the imperfection, it reminds me that they are hand-made - by me!

This was a lot of fun, and while I'm not going to become a jewellery designer any time soon, if I have new ideas I won't hesitate to make more earrings.

The 2 pairs of earrings came to a total of US$17.50 including postage. Now that's a bargain!

P.S. I posted all the giveaway parcels this morning. Elle, Lisa and Jadegrrrl I hope you get them soon!

Healthy Life Part 5 - Sugar-Free Oil-Free Muffins

2011-07-09T20:34:00.003+10:00

I've been on the hunt for healthy snacks to satisfy my sweet tooth, and muffins are on the top of the list. I want to make some for myself and TLG (he inherited my fondness of sweet things). Most recipes, even those classified as healthy, use a liberal amount of oil and sugar and I wanted to avoid them.

I hit jackpot when I found this recipe from a peronsal trainer's website. It does not have any butter, oil, added sugar or in fact flour! The oil is replaced by apple sauce and the flavour comes from fruit, nut, cinnamon (and the apple sauce) instead of sugar.

I decided to make my own apple sauce too, so there is no processed ingredient in the muffin. It's dead easy to make. Peel 3 green apples and cut into slices. Put them in a saucepan, add 1.5 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1.5 tablespoon of cold water, bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes.

Put it in the food processor for 10 seconds and presto! Fresh apple sauce.

Oops! I forgot to take an "after" shot.

Pour 1/2 cup of apple sauce in a bowl and mix in 2 eggs and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence.

Next, add 1.5 cup of rolled oat, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, 4 strawberries coarsely chopped and a handful of crushed walnuts. The "dough" was enough for 3 large muffins.

Spoon the mixture into a muffin tray and bake (180°C) for 20 minutes.

Not too shabby aye?

I was a bit worried that the oat would be too dry, but the eggs and the apple sauce moisten the oat and I like the chewy texture.

Given there were no added sugar, the muffin was not that sweet. The strawberries added just enough flavours, and the crunchiness of the walnuts was a nice touch.

I also made 3 muffins with wholemeal flour (right) instead of oat (left).

The wholemeal muffin looked and tasted much more like a traditional muffin.

The lack of sugar was more obvious with this muffin. I actually preferred the oat muffin because of the lighter texture.

Overall I am very happy with the new healthy snack. And TLG likes it too. I'm looking forward to trying different flavour combinations (bananas, sultanas, apricots, pepitas etc). I may try a savoury version too.

If you want to try this but you're concern about the lack of sugar, I suggest adding 1 - 2 teaspoons of honey to the mix or drizzle some on top when serving. Let me know how you go!

P.S. From recent posts you may think that I've turned into a health nut! If you like my shopping/clothing/jewellery posts, be patient - I have a few in the pipeline :-D

Winners are grinners!

2011-07-07T07:34:00.000+10:00

Gift boxes of cupcakes by For Goodness Sake on Flickr

Thank you so much for entering my giveaway. I love reading the comments and seeing which CCM posts you enjoyed. It is a lot of fun sharing snippets of my life with you.

Without further ado, there are the winners:

Alannah Hill bag - Elle

Kit Duo Cheek and Lip Creme - Lisa

Brooch from The Concealer - Jadegrrrl

Personal training session - Elise (via Facebook)

Congratulations!

Can the winners please send me an e-mail (mscuriousccm(at)gmail.com) with your postal address and I'll send the goodies over.

Thanks again for reading my little blog <3

Healthy Life Part 4 - Healthy Eating

2011-07-04T07:23:00.000+10:00

A big part of a healthy lifestyle is to eat healthy. I can exercise until the cows come home but if I'm eating chips and chocolate every day, I won't get anywhere fast.

To me, the number one rule to avoid the pitfalls of junk food is to banish them out of sight. I made the mistake with buying a pack of Mint Slices the other week. Despite my best intention to "portion control", the whole pack disappeared within 2 days (eeeep!). So I have to be strong and ignore the confectionary aisles when I'm at the supermarket.

Cutting out the "naughty foods" doesn't mean I can't enjoy a yummy snack though, I just need to be more prepared. This afternoon I made a delicious afternoon snack with fresh pineapple pieces, crushed walnuts, goji berries and low-fat natural yoghurt. You can read about the benefits of this snack here.

Another thing I'm trying to do is to bring my own lunch. I am not impressed with the takeaway options near work, and they're not cheap either. So by preparing my own lunch, I can make something healthy that I enjoy and I can save money, a win-win-win situation.

Those of you who read my post last Monday may remember that I made breakfast AND lunch for the week. Breakfast was quinoa with stewed fruit and lunch was grilled chicken with veggies and quinoa. I was a bit worried that I would be bored with eating the same food every day (I had a break on Thursday as it was my day off) but I was fine with it.

Yesterday I made another batch of lunches for the week. Thanks to Cats Love Cooking's recommendation I checked out Bake Bike Blog and tried out her tamari rice salad recipe. Actually I didn't have any tamari so I just used good old soy sauce. Well, the result was delicious!

I'm having microwaved eggs on grainy toasts for breakfast today; tonight I'll make a batch of healthy bircher museli for the rest of the week.

The combination of regular exercising and better eating have definitely improved my energy level. Yesterday was one of the most productive Sundays that I can recall. Not only did I do all the grocery shopping and made lunch (home made pizza), dinner (pea and ham soup) and the rice salad, I also folded a few baskets of laundry and did a lot of decluttering. Instead of my usual routine of lying around and taking a long time to get going, I just went for it. It felt so good to feel so energised.

I am still finding my way around a new approach to food, and I'll share my learnings in future Healthy Life posts.

What are the biggest obstacles between you and healthy eating?

P.S. The giveaway is closing tomorrow night - enter before it's too late!

Healthy Life Part 3 - Mind Over Body

2011-06-30T20:11:00.005+10:00

Skipping rope by MeFarSo on Flickr

One of the exercises in my PT workout last Friday was 30 squat jumps while holding a 5kg medicine ball. My thighs were burning after a while (there were also walking lunges, ouch!) and I was stopping frequently for rest. At the beginning of the third set of jumps my PT Nat said "if you pause during this set we'll start the counting from 1 again". I tried to push on but stopped at 15. When I started again and Nat counted "1" I was pissed off. I did 15 of the jumps already! I didn't want to do another 30. Part of me wanted to walk away, but I knew Nat wasn't going anywhere. At the end I somehow push my way through another 30.

Nat asked me throughout the session about how intense the exercises were. The exercises were tough but I felt that my mind was placing limits on my body. For example, if the exercise was for 20 reps and I was tired, I would unconsciously pace myself to stop after 10. I felt that my body was able to do more if my mind was not interfering.

Nat said that it is common, that plenty of people (including those who are fit) place mental roadblocks that stop them from exercise at their full capacity.

Why do we do that? I guess in one way it’s the brain trying to “protect” the body from hard work and muscle fatigue. Part of it is a lack of confidence and self-belief – “I’m not fit enough for this”. Of course there is just plain inertia too.

One of the best things about having a PT is that someone is there to help you kick the roadblocks away. So many times when I exercised by myself I would stop early because I felt tired, or because the weight was “too heavy”. The excuses are endless. With a good PT you have no excuse. The PT should know your fitness level and the sessions will be challenging but not beyond your abilities.

Nat said the best thing is to not think about it and surrender to the PT’s instruction. As she said, “why try to change something that is out of your control? Just DO IT.”

Sometimes I try not to count how many reps I’ve done, and ask Nat not to tell me my progress, so I can do the exercise without thinking. And I try to remember why I’m doing it, that it is GOOD FOR ME. They’re not foolproof methods (I still pause between reps more than I’d like) but I find them helpful.

Another example of “mind over body” is skipping. I’m one of the most uncoordinated people I know and my memory of skipping is more about tripping. When I saw Nat with jumping rope last Friday I developed an instant dislike, I just didn’t want to do it.

But it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Yes, I was still tripping the rope here and there, and it was hard work, but after a little while and some advice from Nat I was doing better than expected. To stop myself from overanalysing I started singing a song in my head and skipping to the beat.

Nat brought the rope again on Monday. She said she was going to break down my loathing of the rope. After Friday’s session I knew I can do it. Without my mind saying “this is too hard”, my tripping reduced dramatically and I was faster too. In the last set I only stopped once.

Skipping will never make my “top 10 fun exercises to do” list but I am no longer threatened by it.

This mindset change applies to eating too, but that’s the subject of another post.

What techiques do you use to push your body 100%?

P.S. To win a free PT session with Nat or other goodies, don't remember to enter my giveaway!

18-month-old blog birthday giveaway

2011-06-28T07:04:00.006+10:00

Time flies and this little blog is turning 18 months old this week! Ahh, my blog is a toddler now :-)

Party by Reografie on Flickr

As a thank you I'm having a giveaway. There are 4 prizes up for grabs.

1. Alannah Hill "Tea and Temptation" pink and black bow handbag

It's a brand new "vintage" Alannah Hill bag (back when she still used green labels). The bag comes with an AH dust bag. It'll look cute with a nice cardi or coat!

2. Kit Cosmetics Duo Cheek & Lip Creme in Turn it On

Featuring two pretty pink hues, with a yummy watermelon scent!

3. Bronze mirror brooch from The Concealer

I wrote about the talented Paula and her gorgeous brooches a little while ago. Thanks to Paula, one of you will be the owner of this lovely mirror brooch!

4. Personal training session with my personal trainer Nat

Nat has generously offer a free 30-minute personal training session for a lucky CCM reader. Read my post about one of my PT sessions, and Nat's blog for great exercise and nutrition tips.

This prize is open to Sydneysiders only.

How to enter?

There are 3 ways to enter this giveaway.

1. Reply to this post and write about your favourite CCM post - 3 entries

2. "Like" the CCM Facebook page - 1 entry

3. Tweet/retweet the following - 1 entry

Visit #MsCuriousCCM to win an Alannah Hill bag, Kit makeup, brooch by @TheConcealer or a PT session! http://t.co/6D1BCGT

You can enter any or all of the draws. Simply let me know your choices in your reply post, or send me a FB comment or tweet, depending on how you enter the draw. If you don't specify your preferences you'll be entered into all draws.

This giveaway is open internationally except for the PT session which is open to Sydneysiders only. Entries close at midnight Sydney time on Tuesday 5 July. I will pick the winners using random.org and announce them on Thursday 7 July.

Thanks again for reading CCM and good luck :-D

Busy as a bee weekend

2011-06-27T07:48:00.002+10:00

Haven't done a "a day in my life" post for a while. Last weekend was jam-packed with action so it's a good one to share.

We started off the weekend with breakfast at Booth St Bistro at Annandale. I read a review on SMH a little while ago and I was keen to give it a try. It is a charming little place.

I had my usual skim cap, it was good, very rich even with skim milk.

They delievered a complementary babycino to TLG. That would not happen in the lower North Shore :-/

I had the corn fritters with avocado and poached egg. I have only one word to describe it - FRESH!

Mr C ordered the French toast with bananas and bacon. He said it was the best breakfast he'd had for a long time. I had a bite of the toast and it was rich and fluffy.

And we ordered a kid's size pancake for TLG.

It looked pretty adult-size to me. And TLG polished the whole thing off! Incredible.

The bistro offered great value as well, with the above and a hot chocolate for Mr C the bill came to $45. I wish there are places like this closer to home. We'll be back again for sure.

There was a reason for travelling to the Inner West for breakfast - Leona Edmiston's vintage boutique had a 50% off sale over the weekend and I paid the Balmain boutique a visit. I came home with 2 new dresses.

The Claudia frock fits right into the block colour trend. Can you believe it is only $37.50! I expect to get good wear out of it in summer.

I also picked up a sample from the 2011 A/W collection - a belt-less version of the Taylor dress in black for $75.

Taylor:

My dress:

While I was shopping, Mr Curious took TLG to a nearby park. When I caught up with them they were on the swings together *love*.

The lovely SA at the boutique was offering Minties and I took one. I bit on something hard and spat it out. A few seconds later I realised that was a tooth filling! I called my dentist and begged for an emergency visit. Thankfully she had a last-minute cancellation so I could get my tooth fixed on the day. What a relief!

I love this wall art at the dentist's reception area.

We went to the scheduled house viewing after a quick takeaway sushi lunch. The house was nice but a bit rough around the edges. Part of me just wanted to buy it and avoid the weekly grind of house hunting but that's probably not the wisest thing to do ...

My BIL hurt his foot at work on Friday and he was not meant to be on his feet for a week. We offered to do a grocery run for him and we stayed around for a chat. I was so tired from late Wimbledon TV sessions over the week and the travails of the day, I fell asleep on the sofa.

Sunday was my turn to sleep in so I was able to stay in bed until 9am - glorious!

TLG has been asking me to make ice blocks with him because he saw it on Play School. We made blueberry yoghurt ice blocks and he loved it.

I'm glad I discovered a lovely food blog called Ooh, Look... when searching for a reciple. There are so many yummy recipes to try!

After a relaxing morning* I went out for shopping. I was a bit sick of my weekend "uniform" of stripy top and jeans so this was my outfit instead. I wonder if I look a bit "mumsy"?

[*I spent part of the morning on updating the blog template. Do you like it? The mobile theme looks nice too.]

I went to Target to stock up on underwear (I like one of their sports bras, a bargain at $20). As I was heading back to the car I walked past Cue and the next thing you know I bought a knitted jacket. Oops!

This was followed by a trip to Victoria's Basement to buy a better set of ice block makers (the $2.50 set I used fell apart). Don't these rocket-shaped moulds look fun? TLG was a fan and played with them the whole afternoon saying "blast off"!

With grocery shopping done, I went home and started a marathon cooking session. First off the block was the trusted pork chops with baked apples for dinner.

I then made breakfast and lunch for the week.

My breakfast for the next few days will be quinoa porridge with stewed fruit, a recipe from my personal trainer Nat. Stone fruits are not in season so I used strawberries and apples instead.

Lunch will be grilled chicken thigh fillets (some with honey and soy marinade, the rest with lemon zest and thyme), quinoa cooked with chicken stock, steamed carrots and broccoli. I hope they taste as good as they look.

I also made a batch of teddy bear shaped pasta with tuna and vegetable for TLG.

By the time I finished it was well after 9pm! The weekend ended with me writing this post and watching Formula 1 on TV.

Phew! This is a mammoth post - thanks for reading.

How was your weekend?

P.S. My giveaway starts tomorrow :-D

The great Australian dream ...

2011-06-23T21:36:00.004+10:00

Photo: Blue Cockatoo Cubby House

It's something that most Australians go through at some point in their lives and it's hitting us now.

Two of my best friends purchased new homes last weekend. Houses, you know, with no common walls, no strata headaches and a backyard.

The Curious household lives in a comfortable 3-bedroom apartment and there is no urgent need to move. But the house on a quarter-acre block is making its siren call. Owning a piece of land and having a house to call your own feel like a rite of passage.

Now that TLG is getting older and more active, the limitation of an apartment is starting to show. We have to make a concerted effort to take him somewhere so he can have a bit of a run around outdoors. I know he will love a backyard with his own cubby house. I can just picture the fun he'll have.

By living in an apartment, part of me feels that I'm letting him down.

But I know in truth TLG doesn't know any difference and he loves his home because he is with his mummy and daddy

I grew up in a 30sqm, 2-bedroom apartment with my mum, dad, older sister and uncle until I was six. Mr dad ran his small business at home and he had machinery in one of the rooms which made it out of bounds. I do not recall anything about those years but having fun with my family.

I know this is pressure that Mr C and I place on ourselves. But as parents it is only natural that we want to give our child "the best". Even if it means a hefty mortgage and cutbacks in other parts of our lives (goodbye new clothes and shoes?).

Is it worth it? I don't know at this point. We're going to start househunting this weekend. Maybe we will find our dream home. Maybe finding out how much we need to borrow will scare us off.

Let's see what the future holds.

Strawberries and Cream

2011-06-20T21:19:00.001+10:00

No, this is not a naughty dessert post ;-)

It's about one of my favourite sporting events - Wimbledon.

Long time CCM readers may remember my trips to Melbourne for the Australian Open last year and this year.

Tennis in the #1 spectator sports for me. I was obsessed about it in my teenage years.

Other kids my age went for pop stars but my bedroom was covered in posters of my favourite tennis players. I used to buy the newspaper just for the tennis results (kiddies, there was a time when the internet was not omnipresent!). I kept a scrapbook with cut-out of tennis articles, read my tennis magazine cover-to-cover, and even took photos of the the TV screen so I can have photos of my favourite players *shame*.

I was obsessed with Wimbledon. For those 2 weeks I stayed up late to watch the tennis, at least until my parents hauled me to bed. Our trusty VCR in the lounge room had a long-play function so I could record 6 hours of tennis overnight. After school the next day I would rewind the tape than hit "fast forward" until I find the matches I wanted to watch. Sometimes I would come across a gem - a feature on one of my faves, which I would watch it over and over and over ...

My all-time 3 favourite players are all Wimbledon champions:

1. Stefan Edberg

Oh how I loved him! The blonde hair, the beautiful smile, the brilliant backhand and master volleys ... what a package!

I was so awe-struck when I saw him in person at the Sydney Indoors in the early 90's. He was at one of the practice courts (in pink shorts no less!) and I managed to get an autograph (he only signed 3!). Man I was stoked! I went outside and called my bestie on the public phone and told her all about it. Ahhh those were the days.

There are lows with being a tennis fan too. When he lost at Wimbledon in 1991 to eventual champion Michael Stich without losing his serve once (he won the first set 6-4 and lost the next 3 in tie-breaks, yes I remembered the score without googling), I was so angry and sad and many tears were shed.

To prove the endorsement worked I bought a Wilson racquet and Adidas tennis gear; unfortunately you can't buy talent or skills ...

2. Andre Agassi

Who can say no to the bad boy of 90's tennis?

Agassi is all charms and his returns and footwalk are legendary.

I can still picture him falling and kneeling on the grass when we won Wimbledon in 1992, his first Grand Slam.

Reading his autobiography Open was a big relevation. Who would have thought a tennis Hall of Famer hated the game? And the work that he has done since his retirement with charter schools in the US is an inspiration.

To this day I still find it incredible that he is married to Steffi Graf, my favourite female tennis player. Look how cute they were at the 1992 Wimbledon Champions' ball!

If their kids inherited their parents' tennis genes, they will be unbeatable!

3. Goran Ivanisevic

Look, I embrace all types of players, and Goran is a worthy representive of big-servers. When his serve was on his opponents had no chance.

Like the rest of Australia I was glued to the TV on "People's Monday" for the 2001 men's final, but unlike the rest of Australia I was going for Goran instead of Patrick Rafter. My heart skipped a bit every time Goran served a double fault.

When he finally won in the fifth set I was brought to tears again, this time they were tears of joy.

One of the best things about Goran is his funny quotes:

"In every game I play there are three players in me that could surface anytime, Good Goran, Bad Goran, Crazy Goran! They can all serve aces."

"The trouble with me is that every match I play against five opponents: umpire, crowd, ball boys, court, and myself."

"Today's players, they do not know how. If you are going to throw it, you break it. You have to show commitment." (on throwing rackets)

Ah, what a trip down memory lane! I miss the exuberance of youth :-D

I still enjoy watching tennis now but I don't go for any players, I just like to watch good matches.

On that note I should go now. 7Two is broadcasting the tennis live from 9pm (no tape delay, yeah!) and Dokic is playing on centre court tonight. Go Aussie!

Reading list ... sort of

2011-06-17T15:50:00.000+10:00

Wondering where I have been? Well, I have been sick. Just your typical viral infection but enough to knock me around some. Continuous coughing is not fun.

In my sick days I have been reading. A lot. Here are some of the things that helped me pass my time.

I finished a book that I learnt of from an ABC radio book reading. I promise I'm not an 80-year-old in disguise! The truth is that I've been an AM radio listener for years, although I came across the book reading by chance.

The book is The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson. It is about a Scottish church minister who claimed to have met the devil. Well that is the headline, but it is about a lot more than that. I usually read non-fiction and I really missed the feeling of being immersed in a well-told story. And the book definitely gave me lots of food for thought, about how much control you really have over what happens in your life, among other things.

The book is on sale at Book Depository for a crazy £2.99. Grab a copy while you can.

The internet also featured heavily on my reading list. I spebt time catching up on my Miss Manners posts and my favourite advice column (Since you asked on Salon), enjoying Mamamia for the mix of news, humour and personal stories (I think Mia Freedman's onto something, and I like the new contributors), and having a chuckle on bad fashion choices on Go Fug Yourself.

Out of all my readings there are two articles that I recommend - for completely different reasons:

Regretsy's "pranks" post (password "fc4l") - do you want to annoy someone or cause someone serious grief? Read the list of devilish pranks in April's post (AND the comments), I guarantee you buckets of laughter.

Interview with Justin Timberlake - I was too old when N*Sync made it big to get into it, but I enjoy Timberlake's solo albums and even went to his SexyBack concert. I came across this from a gossip website and the interview is surprisingly enjoyable. Who knows Playboy really has articles worth reading?

One comment Timberlake made struck a chord with me. "I owe it to myself to do things that inspire me and not do things I don’t like." So simple, but how many of us can say we abide to it?

On that note I bid adieu and wish you all a great weekend :-D

Healthy Life Part 2 - Ready for Exercise?

2011-06-07T07:58:00.004+10:00

It has been a while since the first Healthy Life post. My personal trainer went on holidays for 2 weeks and, well, I have been a bit slack in her absence. She's back now and I'm back on track, so it's time to continue the series.

If you're looking to get into exercising, I think my session on Monday is a good start. It is a full-body workout and the exercises are pretty easy to follow. I used 2 x 5kg dumbbells for the exercises with weights.

(Talking about dumbbells, I ordered these gems when they were on 1-day.com.au the other day. 20kg dumbbell set for $40 when something similar costs $100 at Rebel Sports so it's a good bargain.

Now I have no excuse to skip resistance training in the weekend!

I'm waiting for them to be delievered now. I feel sorry for the delivery man ...)

Besides showing you the exercises, I'll share my impressions (which ones do I hate?) and some tips.

If you haven't exercised for a while and want to give this a try, you may want to start without weights and cut down the reps. Remember to engage your abs in all resistance exercises!

Are you ready? Let's go :-D

Set 1

1. Jog 150m

2. Dumbbell back squat to overhead press x 15

All exercise photos in this post are from Women's Health Australia

Straighten your legs and push the weights up into the air and in a powerful movement. Control the movement down into squat position. When squatting try to stick your bottoms out, the knees should not be too far in front of your toes.

3. Lateral lift x 15

This exercise was tough! Lifting 5kg each side was hard work.

I find the movement a bit easier when I focus on generating power from my shoulders. Again the movement should be smooth and controlled both ways.

4. Lunge forward (alternating leg) x10 each leg

Instead of having the weights by my side like the picture above, I lifted the weights up just above my shoulders throughout the exercise. I assume that was harder!

Repeat set 3 time (4 sets in total).

It was meant to be without rest between sets but I rested often to catch my breath. I lost so much of my fitness by not exercising for 2 weeks ;-P

Set 2

12 good old pushups

I was on my toes but I did "baby" pushups - only very small movement up and down. Hopefully I'll get better at this when I become stronger. My PT told me to concentrate on bending my elbows and avoid moving my hips.

Squat jump x 15

My exercise was similar to the one above but with my hands in front, touching the ground at each squat. I had to focus on keeping a straight back and not hunching too much when squatting. Keeping my head up and gazing forward helped me maintain the right posture.

I was buggered by this point and the jumps were painfully slow.

Repeat set 3 time (4 sets in total).

With all the breaks I took the session took around 45 minutes.

I was energised by the workout and I was so much more productive when I went home on Monday night. Instead of lying on the sofa I managed to declutter part of my wardrobe!

Are you gonna give this a go?

Pretty things from ... marie claire July 2011

2011-06-05T21:20:00.002+10:00

Once I saw the cover of July's marie claire I knew I want to blog about it.

(Click photo for larger image)

Megan Gale is absolutely stunning on the cover, especially on the subscriber's version without all the headlines. The dress is classic Alex Perry extravagance, and Megan's hair and makeup are perfect.

Megan's dress and more featured in the magazine are part of marie claire's Red Dress campaign. They are up for auction to raise funds for the Heart Foundation. I am surprised to learn that heart disease is the number one killer of Australian women!

My second favourite image from the campaign is Ruby Rose wearing Willow.

Ruby Rose has a certain air that works well in fashion shoots.

I love this Lover lace dress (from an article on the RAFW).

The soft lilac lace and 50's tailoring contrasting with the bright red singlet underneath is classic but yet so modern. Here's a look of the dress on the runway.

Photo: Vogue.com.au

The pale yellow pumps are perfect for the look too!

I have not heard of Carl Kapp before, I love the femininity of his collection. Gorgeous soft colours too.

It didn't really come out in the photo above, but the dress on the left is made with a beautifully textured fabric. I'd love to see it IRL.

This Alice McCall shirt looks fantastic on the model (from turn up the heat).

I don't have the body shape to carry this; I can only admire from a distance.

Mix prints are probably a bit too young for me to wear. I think this will look great for someone in her 20s.

Moving on to my FAVOURITE item from the magazine. These pink opal and onyx earrings are absolutely DIVINE!

They're Cartier and therefore completely out of my price range. I can only hope for affordable jewellery inspired by this collection ...

Talking about gorgeous earrings, how about these from Jan Logan for a cool $11,500? I love Art Deco jewellery.

(BTW there is a beautiful wedding feature in this issue for brides-to-be).

This gorgeous bright pink nail polish caught my eye.

This is from Dior's Summer 2011 Electric Tropics collection. I am not very adventurous with my nail polish (no blues or greens for me) but I do like me some bright nails. What a gorgeous colour!

If you're looking for a small gift, you can't go wrong with this pretty soap with the Eiffel Tower.

I think the foam cubes in this room are fantastic. The beautiful prints bring a pop of colour and they are handy as chairs for guests.

Last but not least, this bowl of curry laksa makes me hungry! I think I have to give this recipe a try (recipe here as requested by the lovely @sixinchheel).

(All photos are from marie claire Australia's July 2011 issue unless otherwise stated).

P.S. I am planning a giveaway to sweep away the winter blues ... watch this space :-D

Let my mind wander

2011-06-03T08:16:00.014+10:00

Thinking about u, by Wolfsoul on Flickr

Strolling through the wasteland
I want to find a tree for shelther
With sunshine
With water
And a gentle breeze

How should I face
The unknown ahead
And let my thoughts settle
As the sky changes colour
I need an overcoat for my emotions

This is right
That is good
I want to run
I want to flee
The truth is I'm scared
Can we just stop right now?
I need a bit more time
To let my mind wander

Looking out the window
I'm mesmerised by the street of blue
With loneliness
With laughter
And snow out-of-view

How should I organise
This hectic city
And the matters of my heart?
Hiding in a busy December night
I want to be by myself
Peacefully, quietly

What is right?
What is good?
Don't ask
Don't guess
Don't come too close to me
Can you bravely stop right now?
I need a bit more space
To let my mind wander

Strolling through the wasteland
I want to find a tree for shelther
With sunshine
With water
And a gentle breeze

Let my mind wander
by Cheer Chen
Translation by Yours Truly

Click here to hear Cheer perform this beautiful song unplugged.

Big A, Little A

2011-06-01T08:15:00.007+10:00

My heart has been heavy in the last few days, after I received two pieces of sad news. One involves a man in his early 40s and the other a newborn baby girl. They share the same initial, A, and I’ll call them Big A and Little A in this post.

Sadness, by Pixy E on Flickr

Big A

On Sunday evening Mr Curious received an e-mail from his boss. Big A, one of Mr C’s colleagues , was badly injured in a cycling accident. The doctors had to drain fluids from Big A’s brain and he is currently in an induced coma, as the medical staff wait for the brain swelling to ease.

I met Big A a few times at Mr C’s work functions. Big A is a larrikin and a true character. When the office organised a trapeze training session, he turned up in a Borat-style leotard and brought the house down! That was in front of his wife and kids (I guess they are used to his sense of humour). He is also a generous guy, a great husband and dad, and an active member of his church.

We have been receiving regular updates on Big A from Mr C’s boss and his condition appears to be stabilising but there is a long way to go.

The people in Mr C’s office created a montage of photos with Big A and his colleagues, which Mr C’s boss delivered to the hospital. They also set up a blog where Big A’s colleagues and friends can send their wishes and prayers to Big A and his family. It was very thoughtful of them. I shed a tear as I looked through all the photos on the montage which was posted on the blog.

Little A

On Monday my friend K posted a cryptic and worrying status update on Facebook. I messaged her to see if she was OK, and she wrote back saying that she was sadden by the death of Little A.

K told me about Little A when we had lunch a few weeks ago. Little A suffered a rare illness and was born with multiple deformities. She was on life support from birth to assist her breathing. Little A’s parents sought advice from experts in Australia and overseas and the diagnosis was not good. After much deliberation they made the difficult decision to take Little A off life support. She survived for a few days and eventually passed away. Little A's parents are understandably devastated.

Why?

The original title of this post is “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

It is hard to picture the happy-go-lucky Big A lying in a hospital bed, fighting for his life. I cannot imagine what Big A’s family is going through right now. As for Little A … what can I say? It is so unfair that she wasn’t given a chance to live, and I feel so much for Little A’s parents. I wish I can give them the biggest hug, even though I don’t know them.

Someone responded to K’s FB status with “Sometimes there just aren't any answers”*. And after thinking about it I agree with her. The longing for an answer in these situations is human nature, because we want to understand, we want help to make sense of something that doesn’t seem to make sense, and sometimes because we want to blame it on someone or something. But the world is not planning its every move. Each part of this planet reacts to others parts which react to yet other parts, and the result is what we know as life. Sometimes it brings beauty and joy (rainbows, sunny days, births), and other times tragedies (natural disasters and deaths).

Rainbow, by BhumiJoshi on Flickr

Some people may be disheartened by such a clinical and impassive view. I’ve heard people say that if the universe is created by a big bang and there is no guiding hand or higher purpose, our life is meaningless. I didn’t know how to respond to that argument then but I think I do now. Instead of despairing at the “emptiness” of life, I’m celebrating the fact that these “random” interactions of beings and things create so much beauty and joy, when they are not a given.

The other day TLG was opening his mouth when eating and showing off the half-chewed vegemite sandwich inside. I told him to stop because “it’s yucky”, and as you can expect it only encouraged him to do it more often, and he laughed at my disapproval. I took a video of his infectious laughter. That laughter was pure. It was beautiful and it made me so happy. Isn't it amazing that life can bring such unbridled joy?

That pearl of laughter IS what gives my life meaning. Everyone has their “pearls of laughter” – from family and friends, from beauty, generosity, kindness and discovery. If that is not worth living for I don’t know what is!

Messages

I wish Big A a speedy and full recovery, and his family strength in such trying times.

To Little A’s parents I send my sincere condolence.

And finally to Little A – your life touched so many people’s hearts (including mine), and your family will forever cherish the beautiful memories you shared with them.

Baby Feet, by Joel Horst [Luxart Studios] on Flickr

In honour of Little A, I will be making a donation to Bear Cottage, a children's hospice in Sydney which helped Little A and her family tremendously in her short life.

* I sent this post to K. That response I noted above was from Little A's mum

The ABC's of me

2011-05-31T12:55:00.005+10:00

Hi CCM readers. I've lost my blogging mojo for a bit, and I thought I'll steal from Gen (appl3pie), Jade (Jade Musings) and Cynthia (Black White & Bold) and share my ABC's with you.

A. Age: 35 (gah that sounds so old!)

B. Bed size: Queen, although when TLG sleeps in our bed we have less room than a single!

C. Chore you hate: Taking out the rubbish (thankfully the cleaners do that), folding clothes and ironing.

D. Dogs: No, my mum is afraid of dogs and we never have any as pets.

E. Essential start to your day: Skim cap

F. Favourite colour: Don’t have one, Mr C says I like pink the most but I don’t think so.

G. Gold or Silver: Silver

H. Height: 170cm

I. Instruments: I played the piano very poorly when I was in school. Now I can barely play chopsticks!

J. Job title: Banker

K. Kids: TLG is two and very cheeky.

L. Live: Lower North Shore in Sydney

M. Mum’s name: Vanessa

N. Nicknames: I don’t respond to any! Family and close friends usually call me by the initial of my first name.

O. Overnight hospital stays: For TLG’s birth only

P. Pet peeve: People who are rude with no respect for others.

Q. Quote from a movie: I have poor memory so I can’t think of any besides “Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you’re gonna get” from Forrest Gump.

R. Right or left handed: Lefty. As a bonus, do you know that 3 out of the last 4 US Presidents are lefties (Clinton, Bush Snr, Obama)? Past presidential candidates Ross Perot and John McCain are also lefties (OK I have some kind of obsession about being left-handed!)

S. Siblings: Older sister and younger brother. I <3 them both.

T. Time you wake up: As late as I possibly can! Realistically around 7am.

U. Underwear: Bonds or Target Hot Option bikinis. Not terribly exciting.

V. Vegetables you dislike: Squash and some type of parsley. I can count the things I don’t eat with 2 hands (liquorice, Japanese curry, jalapenos, white chocolate, caramel/toffee, any coffee-related food or drink items besides hot coffee and very good tiramisu).

W. What makes you run late: Looking for keys/wallets/other things that I misplaced. TLG throwing tantrums.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: A few through the years, I can’t remember much about them (I had one done on my thumb when I had a fracture some years ago).

Y. Yummy food you make: You can see plenty on this blog :-D

Z. Zoo animals: Panda, giraffe, polar bear, elephants … we went to Taronga Zoo 2 weekends ago and it was as much fun for me as it was for TLG!

Healthy Life Part 1 - Breakfast Smoothie

2011-05-23T00:22:00.006+10:00

I have been unhappy with my weight and my fitness level for a while, and I came to the realisation that I need some help to achieve my fitness goals.

In the last month I have been seeing a new personal trainer, Natalie, who is fantastic. Besides getting my behind kicked in the training sessions, I'm slowly changing my eating habits with her help.

The weight loss/body transformation part of the plan are still work in progress. However, I can happily report that my fitness has already improved, and my energy level is a lot higher.

I thought I'll share the things I learnt from Natalie with CCM readers, and hope you'll all get something out of it.

First cab off the rank is breakfast. My breakfast used to be a skim cap with either toast with jam or peanut butter, or a muffin. Hardly a healthy start to the day!

Natalie recommended a energy packed smoothie with 250ml skim milk, 2 tbsp low-fat yoghurt, a handful of frozen berries (or a banana) and a raw egg for breakfast.

As you can imagine it is super easy to make - just put everything into a beaker and whisk with a hand-held blender for about 15 seconds and it's good to go.

To make the preparation even easier in the morning I put everything except the egg in a beaker the night before, so I only need to crack the egg and whisk the mixutre in the morning. I like that the frozen berries get a chance to defrost in the fridge overnight, otherwise the smoothie becomes too cold for my liking.

When I tell people about the smoothie, the usual question was "you eat a raw egg"? That was my initial reaction too. I thought the smoothie would taste slimy but it wasn't. The whisked egg white made the smoothie frothy, but otherwise I couldn't taste the egg.

I still get a skim cap when I get into the office - I can't function without some caffeine in the morning!

I've been having a smoothie about 4-5 days a week. When I feel like something different, I have:

2 microwave eggs (crack eggs in 2 mugs, pierce yolk with fork and add a teaspoon of water to each egg, cook in microwave for 90 seconds with 70% power), a few slices of smoked salmon or a piece of fruit, or
1/2 cup of rolled spelt porridge cooked in water, with a dash of milk and a teaspoon of honey, and 1 microwave egg

I've been enjoying my new breakfast menu. Wanna give it a go?

P.S. To follow the Healthy Life posts (and new posts in general), you can like CCM on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, receive updates via RSS, or click the Follow button on the right column.

Short break: Cakes Made By Mel

2011-05-21T23:23:00.000+10:00

Some of you may remember the awesome fire engine birthday cake at TLG's birthday.

Here's another look.

The fantastic Mel made the cake for us but refused to accept payment because it wasn't up to her very high standards. I've been meaning to catch up with her and say thank you, and we had a lovely lunch today (I was going to blog about our lunch too but the establishment made it clear that good publicity was not welcomed; it's their loss).

Mel has been making beautiful cakes for a long time and she has now put a collection of her creations online. Here's a few snippets.

I can confirm that Mel's cakes taste as good as they look!

Check out Cakes Made By Mel for more of Mel's handiwork. Sydneysiders with an occasion to celebrate can contact Mel via the e-mail address on her website.

Rahmen Genki Artarmon

2011-05-19T23:34:00.000+10:00

Mr Curious has a work function tonight so I asked my brother B to come over for dinner. I wasn't in a cooking mood and we ended up trying a ramen place that my friend Fleur tweeted about a while ago.

Rahmen Genki is an unassuming Japanese ramen house close to Artarmon station.

First up was a plate of gzoya ($6).

The skin of the gyoza was nice and thin as Japanese dumplings should be. The filling tasted a lot like the ones in Chinese dumplings, which was not a bad thing per se, just different from what I expected.

I am on a eating plan at the moment where I'm not supposed to have grain-based products at dinner (will blog about that soon!), so I ordered a chilli teriyaki chicken ($12.50) and asked them to serve it without rice.

I've never heard of chilli teriyaki before so I didn't know what to expect. It was quite nice actually. B tried it and say it was exactly as advertised - teriyaki chicken with chilli added. The flavours were well-balanced, I could feel the heat of the chilli without it overwhelming my taste buds (which was important because I didn't have any rice to soften the blow of the chilli). I don't know the ingredient list of a typical teriyaki sauce but this one was tomato based. The chicken pieces were generous too, although there were a fair amount of chicken skin which I removed.

B ordered a spicy ramen (I think it's called Negi but I'm not sure, $11.50).

Accompanying the ramen were 2 slices of chashu (sliced pork), corn, bamboo shoots, sprouts and spring onions. There were no boiled egg but interestingly there were bits of cooked eggs throughout the broth.

I had a taste of the broth, it was one of those spicy broth that didn't taste very hot at first but kicked in after a few seconds.

B said the ramen was not as nice as its equivalent at Ryo's at Crows Nest, but that was a pretty high benchmark to set. B also said that he preferred "clear" broth and didn't like the bits and pieces of egg in it. I didn't think it was a problem.

I ordered the Tonkotsu ramen for TLG ($11).

The choice was a selfish one - I like tonkotsu broth and wanted to try it. It was a milky-looking broth but the flavour was not that strong. I like broth so thick they're almost like soup, this was not quite it.

I couldn't resist and tried a few mouthful of the ramen and I loved its chewy texture. The chashu, on the other hand, were too thick for my liking and a bit bland.

I've had some fantastic ramen in my two trips to Japan, and a direct comparison between them and the ramen at Genki would surely be unfavourable to the latter. However it is a good casual dining option, and I didn't have to queue in the cold for a bowl of noodles like I have to at Ryo's. They have high chairs and child-friendly cutlery which is a plus for families with young kids. I'm glad to have find the joint. Thanks Fleur!

Rahmen Genki
6 Wilkes Avenue
Artarmon
(02) 9410 3777

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Winter warmer - pea and ham soup

2011-05-15T22:25:00.001+10:00

After the success with the chicken and corn soup, I'm keen to try out other soup recipes. When I typed "soup" in the Taste.com.au search engine it came up with a bunch of pea and ham soup recipes, so I tried out one of them today.

Ingredients:

500g green split peas
1 tbs olive oil
2 brown onions
3 carrots, peeled
3 celery sticks, ends trimmed
1 large (about 750g) ham hock
2.75L (11 cups) water
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 dried bay leaves
4 black peppercorns

Soak the peas in a large bowl overnight.

Before

After - all puffed up.

Chop up the vegetables

Prepare the bouquet garni - thyme, peppercorn and bay leaves. The recipe said to wrap them in muslin cloth and tied it up with a string, but I didn't have any muslin cloth, so I used a tea strainer instead.

I didn't know what a ham hock is until today - cured and smoked leg ham. I bought mine from Hudson Meats.

Cooking instructions are super easy. Saute the vegetables over medium heat for 10 minutes.

Then put everything else in the saucepan, cover and bring to the boil.

Uncover, turn the heat down and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

The liquid is slowly evaporating.

The soup didn't look like the pea and ham soup that I know until the end. It takes a while for the peas to turn completely into mush.

Two hours' up and it's time to tear off the ham from the bone.

The soup is nice and thick now.

Plonk the shredded ham back into the soup and it's ready for consumption!

I'm happy to report that this is another success! The soup is so rich and warming, and the carrot and celery are so soft (the onion has disintegrated). I even managed to get TLG to eat the celery (people with young kids will know what a feat that is).

The star of the soup, however, was definitely the ham. The saltiness of the ham (with a hint of sweetness) permeates through the soup, and the flesh itself was in pull-apart territory. If you want to make the soup I recommend you get a good quality ham hock from your local butcher.

This recipes makes 6 generous adult-size serves. I'm bringing a bowl for lunch tomorrow and still have plenty left for dinner tomorrow. I spent around $17 on this recipe so it's less than $3 a serve - bargain.

I highly recommend this recipe, it's perfect for the cold weather. The hardest part is the dicing of the vegetables, and trust me, it is worth the (little) effort!

In the mood to shop

2011-05-14T08:22:00.003+10:00

Friday night at home, husband and child asleep. What to do? Online shopping, of course!

First stop was an old favourite, The Outnet (US site). After a lot of scouting I put 2 items in my shopping cart.

ALICE by Temperley Alisha knitted intarsia sweater dress (on sale, $US101.50)

It's a fun dress with a 60s vibe - perfect with a pair of opaque stockings, or a pair of knee-high boots.

Tibi Reversible belted wool-blend coat (on sale, $US258)

The plaid caught my eye - I like coats that stand out a bit from the crowd, and this is different without being over the top.

And it's reversible! So I'm practically buying 2 coats, right?

Update: Not only did I buy the two items above, I also bought this See by Chloé pleated tweed skirt with an extra 30% off this weekend (on sale, $US149).

I also found these beauties from Design by Kara, an Etsy seller ($US28).

Aren't they gorgeous! I can't wait to see them in person :-D

Short break: Flood it!

2011-05-07T21:29:00.001+10:00

Mr Curious introduced me to this game a few days ago. It is simple and challenging at the same time - highly addictive!

The game is called "Flood it" and the aim is to convert all squares into the same colour using a limited number of moves. Try out the online version below.

Play free Games - a game from Puzzle | Logic Games

And there is an free iPhone/iPad app here.

Go and have some fun :-D

Slow-cooked madras lamb curry part 2

2011-05-04T19:37:00.001+10:00

(Part 1 here)

So ... this is what the dish looked like after 8 hours or so in the slow cooker. Most of the liquid evaporated. It looks a bit burnt but it wasn't a problem once I stirred it.

I tried to heat it up in the slow cooker but it took forever to warm up, so I transferred the dish back into the saucepan. I wanted to add some sweet potatoes and peas - it was not enough liquid to cook the vegetables so I added some extra stock.

While it was simmering I made some mint yoghurt using this recipe (yoghurt, mint, garlic, sugar, lemon juice).

I put all the ingredients into the blender that came with the Bamix.

Ten seconds later.

The Bamix made the yoghurt very runny (I used Jalna Biodynamic yoghurt rather than Greek yoghurt because I bought 2 large tubs from the Easter Show). Next time I'll blend everything except the yoghurt then stir the mixture into the yoghurt manually.

Here's the final product:

With a spoonful of yoghurt.

Are you drooling now? If not, you should.

The lamb was in pull-apart territory.

The mint yoghurt was a great addition. The tanginess was a lovely contrast to the hearty meat.

The 1/2 teaspoon of paprika wasn't that spicy so we gave TLG a serve for dinner. He enjoyed it a lot and said "thank you for cooking it"! Thanks lovely little boy!

Now that I know how easy it is to make curry at home, I'll try my hand on other Indian recipes. Watch this space!

Slow-cooked madras lamb curry part 1

2011-05-03T23:49:00.003+10:00

With the weather getting colder, it was time to bring the slow-cooker into action. I looked up the reliable Taste.com.au and found a recipe for slow-cooked lamb curry. I bought the lamb cubes and most of the ingredients then looked at the recipe again. We have some al-cheapo madras curry powder at home and I didn't think much of it, so I decided to make my own curry paste. Lo and behold there is another recipe on Taste so I followed that one instead.

The ingredients for the curry paste are all easily accessible:

2 tablespoons ground coriander (I have coriander seed so I grounded my own)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 teaspoons grated ginger
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

The mixture did look like curry paste.

Brown 800g of lamb cubes in high heat in 2 batches.

After the second batch of lamb was removed, cook the paste in medium heat for 1 minute. Add back the lamb and cover them with the paste.

Add 1L of stock (I don't have any lamb stock so I used vegetable stock) and 4 tablespoons of tomato paste and bring to the boil (around 15 minutes).

Plonk the whole lot into the slow cooker.

Here's a closer look.

Set it to "low" for around 8 hours.

I will update tomorrow night with the finished product!

Pretty things from The Royal Wedding Part 2

2011-05-01T09:11:00.000+10:00

(Read Part 1 here)

Before we look at more gowns, let's pay tribute to the best looking man of the day. Yes, Prince William was very handsome in his uniform, and Harry was charming too, but my vote goes to long time eye-candy David Beckham.

That man knows how to dress! The slick hair, the morning suit, the top hat(!), and that magnetic smile, he is hotness personified. Posh is a lucky woman indeed.

[I am not a big fan of her dress - the colour is severe, and the silhouette is a bit bag-like. I like the hat though.]

Back to the women. I loved this as soon as I saw it on TV.

This is Charlene Wittstock, the fiancee of Prince Albert of Monaco. The hat and the wide collar are just divine.

The jacket looks a bit top-heavy in full view, but overall I think it is a lovely outfit.

It's great to see a dress at the ceremony rather than coats and suits. I love the patterns on the dress of Princess Letizia of Asturias, and the colour is fabulous too.

Moving on from the wedding ceremony, there are some gorgeous evening gowns.

Here is Sophie, Duchess of Wessex at the pre-wedding dinner.

Ignoring the very visible tan lines (yikes!) I think the dress is unique without being over the top. Her necklace is gorgeous too.

And Princess Eugenie looked gorgeous at the same event.

It is hard to believe that this is the same woman who wore that strange and unflattering blue outfit at the ceremony.

The mother of the bride, Carole Middleton, wore a beautiful pleated and tiered gown at the wedding reception.

Another winner from the wedding reception is the wedding cake!

Click on the photo above to see the delicate and becautiful decorations on the cake in close up. You can read about the cake in this mouthwatering glory at the official wedding website.

Finally, it's time to reveal my favourite photo of the wedding day.

Prince William poked his tongue out while whisking his bride away in an antique Aston Martin, the Duchess laughing and waving, and the L-plate with love hearts. A candid moment capturing the personalities of the newlyweds. So beautiful.

On that note, it's time to say adieu! May William and Kate enjoy a lifetime of happiness and adventure as husband and wife <3

Pretty things from The Royal Wedding Part 1

2011-04-30T15:23:00.003+10:00

I didn't plan to write a post about Wills and Kate's wedding, but after scouring for photos of the nuptials, I thought I'll share some of my favourite images.

I think Kate looks beautiful in her wedding dress. It suits her to a T, it shows off her best asset (how tiny is her waist???), and it is a style that will stand the test of time.

Some says Kate's dress is not princessy enough, or that the style's not original. As I wrote on Facebook last night, it is impossible for her to please everybody she might as well wear what she likes.

You've probably seen thousands of images of Kate's dress already, I'm showing one that is a bit different.

Click the photo above and check out the intricate lace on the dress! So beautiful.

And here's a close up of the bride.

The pinky nude lipstick colour is perfect and she sticked with her signature look of strong brows and eyeliner.

I love her earrings! They are from Robinson Pelham and feature acorns and oak leaves which are part of her family's new coat of arms, and they complement the Cartier "halo" tiara as well. A similar pair of earrings from Pelham's collection (below) will set you back GBP5,795. I'm sure they'll become best-sellers.

And here's a photo of her dress at the reception. Some smart cookie cut and pasted two photos so we can see the newlyweds together.

I suspect that dress is what Kate would have chosen as the wedding dress if she wasn't marrying a prince. The silver belt is gorgeous. And the prince looks dapper in bow-tie and suit.

Moving on to the guests now. The Queen surprised the pundits by wearing daffodil yellow (the money was on pale blue) and I think it's an excellent choice. The tailoring is perfect and and gloves, small structured handbag and cute shoes with bows complete the look.

The True Lover's Knot brooch is simply stunning, and very fitting for the occasion.

Let's admire it in close up. What a classic!

Part 2 covers the best looking man, more beautiful frocks, and my favourite photo of the wedding!

Easy peasy chicken and corn soup

2011-04-28T20:59:00.001+10:00

Mr Curious is under the weather and I thought a soup is good option for dinner. What better than chicken and corn soup for a cold winter's night?

The recipe is a slight adaptation of this recipe from taste.com.au.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 large chicken thigh fillets (~550g), trimmed and sliced
1 litre chicken stock
2 x 310g cans creamed corn
200g canned corn kernels, drained
2 egg whites
1/3 cup chopped coriander leaves

Heat oil in saucepan in medium heat, cook garlic for 1 minute. Add chicken and cook for 4 minutes.

Add stock, corn kernels and creamed corn, bring to the boil then simmer for 12 minutes.

Whisk egg white lightly and add to saucepan, simmer for 3 more minutes. Serve with coriander.

It was nom nom nom! The chicken was so tender and corn was sweeeet! The egg white bulked up the soup (yay for extra protein) and the coriander gave it a bite. I may add even more egg white next time.

I added some pasta in the serve for TLG and he loved it - he drank the last drop and asked for an extra serve!

An advice - please use home made stock. They're even easier to make and you can keep them in the freezer for months. The soup will taste infinitely better!

I freezed the leftover so I can bring them to work. I added some canned lentils to make it a more hearty lunch.

Next time I want to make my own creamed corn - promise I'll report back!

Changing my mind

2011-04-23T23:06:00.007+10:00

There is a Stop sign at a T-junction on the drive from the local shop to our home. I live in a quiet area and there isn't usually any traffic at the T-junction.

Photo: Stop sign by kougar

For a period of time, I was treating the Stop sign more like a Give Way sign.

Until I heard this joke on the radio one day.

A lawyer runs a stop sign and gets pulled over by a cop. He thinks that he is smarter than the cop as he is sure that he has a better education. He decides to prove this to himself and have some fun at the cop's expense.

Cop: License and registration, please.

Lawyer: What for?

Cop: You didn't come to a complete stop at the stop sign.

Lawyer: I slowed down, and no one was coming.

Cop: You still didn't come to a complete stop. License and registration, please.

Lawyer: What's the difference?

Cop: The difference is you have to come to a complete stop, that's the law. License and registration, please!

Lawyer: If you can show me the legal difference between "slow down" and "stop", I'll give you my license and registration and you give me the ticket, if not you let me go and don't give me the ticket.

Cop: Sounds fair. Exit your vehicle, sir.

At this point, the cop takes out his baton and starts beating the cr@p out of the lawyer and says, "Do you want me to stop or just slow down?"

As a joke it's not that funny, but it jolted me out of my recklessness. I always step on the brake fully at Stop signs now, no matter how "safe" the situation looks.

A while ago, I also changed my mind on a more important matter - gay marriage.

I always believe that gay and lesbian couples (I will use "gay" to refer to both in the rest of this post) should have the same legal rights as heterosexual married couples if they so choose. I thought that can be achieved by the recognition of civil unions, and that marriage can remain as a union between a man and a woman.

As I read more about this issue I started questioning my stance. What is the basis of my objection? I am not a Christian so I don't subscribe to any of the Bible-based objections. In any case I see marriage as a social institution not a religious one. I don't object to gay couples having kids either*.

(*You can read about studies on children of same-sex parents here and here.)

It all boils down to "tradition", the term people use when there is no good reason against change.

I thought about the issue from the other side - what marriage mean to gay people. The word "marriage" embodies so much more than a legal status. It captures the love and commitment that two people have for each other, to declare to the world that they will spend the rest of their lives together in a loving relationship. That's what marriage really means - not a piece of paper, not the legal entitlements. Does the sex of the two people matter? Of course it doesn't!

Photo: My Wedding Cake by Mark & the Zebra

I'm now a strong supporter of gay marriage. It frustrates me that our government is so afraid of the reaction of the vocal minority that it is not carrying out the wishes of the (quieter) majority.

I believe being open-minded is one of the most important human attributes. Circumstances change, our view of the world changes, and it is important to constantly reassess our stance, and not be afraid to change our minds when the positives from a change outweigh the negatives. In fact, it is liberating.

There are people with ideas and opinions that I find unreasonable or even offensive, but they don't scare me as much as people that are so closed-minded they just can't change their views.

Short break: Hot cross buns @ St Malo Bakery

2011-04-20T08:47:00.004+10:00

I dropped by St Malo bakery this morning to pick up some hot cross buns for my team at work. They gave me a special raspberry and dark chocolate bun on the house to try.

It was so good I have to share.

They will be open on Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Sunday from 7am.

Sydneysiders - get yourself one (or many) pronto!

St Malo Bakery
83 Willoughby Road
Crows Nest
(02) 9906 6256 ‎

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Oh so pretty!

2011-04-18T07:06:00.008+10:00

There are some talented people out there with a flair for design, creating gorgeous things. Thanks to the internet, and specifically to social media, I came across the fine work of these two ladies.

I "met" Paula aka The Concealer on Twitter. Not only is she a talented make-up artist (see her portfolio on her website), she also designed a series of beautiful mirrored acrylic brooches. The brooches are custom-made in Texas, and her creations range from the elegant to the whimsical.

Alice talking to a bunny brooch

Carousel Horsie brooches

Bird Cage brooch (Paula's favourite)

And my favourite, Bonsai!!! brooch

They are très chic. I can easily picture one of her brooches pinned on a casual canvas bag, or wore with a knitted top and pleated skirt/skinny jeans.

Check out her gallery for more designs and purchase details.

One of my Facebook friend "liked" the work of cho-chelle. It is impossible to not fall in love with these cute beanies (for kids and adults alike).

Sleepy Hooty beanies

Sock Monkey beanie

Earflap beanie with Flower

I'll buy one for TLG in a heartbeat - if I can convince him to keep a beanie on!

Visit cro-chelle's Facebook page on her online store for more details.

Unbelievable bargain

2011-04-16T09:28:00.006+10:00

I was one of the lucky winners of The Outnet's second birthday sale (on the US site). Look what I picked up for the princely sum of $US2!

Isn't it gorgeous? It's a Dolce & Gabbana printed silk dress with a RRP of $3220!

It was a bit stressful when the sale started; there were so many choices! I'm very happy with mine. The Outnet's twitter team said it was a highly sought-after item.

Let's have one more look of my new dress :-D

And postage was free too. It is incredible!

Can't wait for it to turn up :-D

P.S. The Outnet is offering 20% off all stock until 21 April, use promo code 2NDBDAY20 at the checkout.

Easy dinner: Lemon & Olive Mediterranean Chicken

2011-04-11T08:33:00.004+10:00

We were reading a cookbook on Friday night and a few pieces of paper fell out. They happened to be recipes I collected from one of the stores at the North Sydney Fresh Produce Markets, and I have forgotten about them completely! I tried the Lemon & Olive Mediterranean Chicken with Mint & Rocket Salad reicpe last night.

Here are the ingredients (for 2 people) with slight adaptations:

3 chicken thigh fillets cut into 4 cm cubes
4 shallots finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
250g baby tomatoes, cut in halves
2 thick slices of lemon, cut in halves
50g broccoli, finely chopped
1 orange, peeled and cut into segments
1/4 Spanish onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup mint leaves
½ cup rocket and spinach leaves
1 carrot, ribboned with vegetable peeler
16 kalamatta olives
2 tbsps Pureblends Mediterranean Blend
3 tbsps light balsamic dressing

The recipe was dead easy to follow.

Pre-heat oven to 200˚C

Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium heat. Add chicken, shallots and garlic. Stir and brown for 2 minutes.

Transfer to an oven proof dish. Add tomato, Mediterranean Blend, lemon and olives. Bake in oven for 20 minutes.

Going in:

20 minutes later:

(I tossed the broccoli in as well soon after the last photo as Mr C doesn't like raw broccoli, they were meant to be part of the salad).

Remove from oven and stir in half of balsamic dressing and discard the lemon slices.

Place all remaining ingredients in a bowl. Toss and serve as side dish to the chicken.

The dish was yum! The chicken was tender and absorbed the flavours of the herbs well. If you want carbs you can serve it with some cous cous or brown rice.

And I love the salad, the orange and mint were so refreshing. I'm going to add this to our regular green salads rotation.

You can purchase the Mediterranean Blend online or at the North Sydney Fresh Produce Markets (on this Saturday).

Ms Curious likes: Clinique Chubby Stick in Mega Melon

2011-04-09T22:11:00.002+10:00

When I was in Hong Kong earlier this year, ads for the new Clinique Chubby Sticks were everywhere. It didn't take long for me to pay the Clinique counter a visit and I picked up one in Mega Melon.

I've been meaning to write about it for ages but I didn't get around to it until this morning, when we were at Centennial Park and Mr C took TLG on a bike ride. So all the photos took advantage of the beautiful weather in Sydney today.

The Chubby Stick is advertised as a nourishing tinted lip balm. The packaging is classic Clinique.

The colour of plastic casing closely match the colour of the balm. In this way it's like packaging of lip glosses, it's easy to pick the right colour when you're in a rush.

As you can see by the dome shape of the stick, it has been well used since purchase.

Here's the swatch (the first CCM swatch, and it won't be the last!).

It's a sheer peachy pink that's well suited to warm skin tones like mine (NC40).

The balm glides on like a dream. I'd say it's smoother than a large number of lip balms out there.

Colour on lip is subtle with a touch of shimmer. In this photo it looks a lot pinker than the swatch, but IRL the peachiness does come through.

The thing I like the most about the Chubby Stick is the texture. According to Clinique's website, shea butter and mango are the magic ingredients. It's non-sticky and SO moisturising. I love how it sits on my lips, and how long the moisture lingers on.

Like most tinted lip balms, the colour is not very longlasting, but that's par for the course. The truth is, it's such a pleasure to re-apply I don't really mind.

Overall I'm really happy with the product. It's perfect for a casual day out with tinted moisturiser and light blush. I think it's going to be a great hit for Clinique.

Looking at the colours available, next on my shopping list will be a battle between Chunky Cherry, Fuller Fig and Whole Lotta Honey. You can read a review of Whole Lotta Honey by The Swatch Girl here.

I believe they will hit the stores tomorrow, and they're up on Clinique's website now for $A35.

Lemming: YSL postcard clutch

2011-04-08T21:09:00.001+10:00

And I don't even like clutches.

And it's striking in red (although I like black more).

Just gorgeous!

Siren call from The Outnet

2011-04-07T13:13:00.000+10:00

I am so easily persuaded to shop. All it took is a free shipping offer from The Outnet and I'm off hunting for the next outfit. And there are so many temptations...

From the US site:

Temperley London Titian silk-blend dress ($US394)

Thread Social Metallic zigzag cotton-blend dress ($US219)

Tibi Filigree-print draped silk dress ($US166)

Twenty8Twelve by s.miller Corbusier printed silk dress ($US131)

Vivienne Tam Satin-trimmed silk-blend cardigan ($US144)

And from the UK site:

Marc by Marc Jacobs Dancing Lights cotton-blend dress (£88)

Decisions decisions ...

P.S. Free shipping code is 2NDBDAYFREESHIP for both US and UK sites until 14 April.