{bubble tea love}

The Mr and I are starting to house hunt today... our landlord has decided to increase the rent on our current place so we have to move out.  Whilst the thought of moving and packing is making me cringe, it has also meant I have been thinking about interiors and decorating (note this goes totally against the current minimalist project the Mr is having us embark on - shh don't tell him!). I spied these gorgeous kitchens on one of my favourite blogs, Bright Bazaar  and have been a little inspired.  Perhaps some bold and bright colours for our new kitchen?

I woke up this morning, turned the laptop on and was hoping to see some pretty dresses from the Screen Actors Guild Awards... so disappointed.  The majority looked so blah + so uninspiring. Two standouts for me though were the below two ladies in white - love love love Rose Byrne in Elie Saab and Zoe Saldana in Givenchy.   I thought the Golden Globes were a bit fug too so let's hope the celebs lift their game a bit for the Oscars!

Just had the loveliest weekend... Despite the 8pm work call on Friday night! (a downside of working in a global company), I spent the rest of my Friday night with Pauline, Shwu, Odmaa, Nat and Sandra celebrating Nat's hens.  The Mr and the boys were away in Jakarta for Alex's bucks so us girls planned our own fun.   First stop was Maison Ikkoku (I previously blogged about their yummy coffee earlier ).  Since my first visit, they have opened a men's boutique and a fantastic little rooftop bar.  We ended up staying there all night after making friends with the bar tender and revelled in a fun night of gossip, chatting, yummy cocktails, bubbles, shots and chicken wings.  You always need a good midnight snack stop for the way home so we headed to Kampong Glam Cafe  for late night/early morning milo, 100 plus, kway teo, chicken curry and rice and noodles. The late night festivities of Friday meant my Saturday had a bit of a late start.  But it was a ...

via Phuong on Pinterest

Today is a day for bbqs, listening to the Triple J Hottest 100 (thank god work hasn't blocked it), watching the Sam Kekovich lamb ads, lamingtons, meat pies (I need to hunt one down at lunch time) pavlovas, fresh watermelon and hanging out with your mates.  Speaking of mates, check out this website for some great little gems: http://themeaningofmate.com/ Happy Australia Day!! x [...]

[...]   Happy New Year for those folks like me who celebrate Chinese New Year.  I am excited about the year of the dragon and what it will bring including lots of little dragon babies!!  I can't wait to meet my little nephew and the new little ones of some good friends. The Mr and I rang in the new year in the lush green surroundings of Ubud in Bali. We stayed at the most amazing resort, Alila Ubud .  I definitely recommend staying there if you are ever in the area.  Beautiful resort and the friendliest and loveliest staff.  Most of my time was spent poolside reading (I got through 3 books!) but we also ventured out and did what we often like to do during holidays - eat lots and find new restaurants.  We dined at Mozaic  - fabulous fabulous meal.  In the top 10 for the Mr.  More casual fare and some lethal long island iced teas and mojitos were offered up to us at Betelnut .   We also spent one morning biking around the rice fiel...

Two of my favourite bloggers, Scott Schuman and his lady friend Garance Dore , have shot a series of photos for Tiffany's " What makes love true " campaign capturing what they believe are moments of true love. Maybe it is all just advertising schmaltz but I think we need more schmaltz in this often cynical and harsh world x enjoying the simple things together love notes looking out for the other love letter post-it notes doubling on a bike - is this the ultimate in romance?  :) see the rest of the series  here

A very good friend of mine posted a link to this letter on facebook written by American writer, John Steinbeck to his son back in 1958.  Such a beautiful tender letter about love and life.    Read the whole letter here  but some of my favourite bits: First — if you are in love — that’s a good thing — that’s about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don’t let anyone make it small or light to you. Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it. The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it. If you love someone — there is no possible harm in saying so — only you must remember that some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into consideration. Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel, but they usually like to hear it also. It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another — but that does not make your feeling less valuable and good. And ...

one positive thing about working late and being last in the office is being able to turn your music of choice up really really loud and singing + dancing along :)   via Phuong on Pinterest

chiling out reading my first book on the kindle (Steve Jobs biography) and listening to some old school Adele... such an amazing voice.

The Mr bought me a Kindle Touch that arrived the other day.  exciting! I was pretty averse to this notion to begin with.  I LOVE proper books - the paper, the smell, the pretty book covers - I don't think I will ever stop buying real books.  However, I do see the benefits in e-readers (especially for holidays, travel and a nice alternative to lugging heavy books in your handbag!).  Pretty amazing how lightweight these things are. Now, importantly, I need to find a pretty cover to protect my kindle.  The ones available on Amazon are kinda ugly and B.O.R.I.N.G I have spied a couple on Etsy  that I don't mind the the look of - which do you think? Leather + Felt polka dots herringbone chevron - i haven't decided if the clutch style is naff or not.  I think it might be naff...  felt   leather I think the last two are my faves so far!  search continues... 

It's Friday, yay! That means it's casual friday in the office.. I am inspired by floral today and am wearing a lightweight lilac jacket with an apricot and pastel green floral print (a weekend bargain from Forever 21 ).  It sounds really random but it's pretty I swear! Some of my favourite florals are the designs from Florence Broadhurst , a designer from rural Queensland.  Signature Prints have brought her designs out of the archives and now you can see her prints on wallpaper, stationery  + clothing (cute collaboration with Kate Spade), home decor etc. She sounded like one fascinating and intriguing lady - singing and dancing her way through India, South East Asia and China in the 1920s.  She even founded an academy of arts in Shanghai.  You can definitely see Asian influences spreading throughout her designs.  A book has been written about her if you are interested in reading more, titled " Florence Broadhurst - Her S...

seeing them saturday night!  can't wait - it's been ages since we have been to a gig.  yay for dancing around in a park xx

Oh I wish there was Target in Singapore.... The gorgeous new Jason Wu collection for  Target is available in the US from 5 February.  Might have to try my luck online!

Some Monday mornings are good and some are a struggle like mine was this morning.  So to brighten up my Monday, a small collection of things I love that inspire me and make me happy: Forehead kisses from someone you love are the best!  Guaranteed to cheer you up. Giraffes!   My fave animal - so cute! Cherry Blossoms!  Fresh flowers will always bring a smile to my face and cherry blossoms particularly remind me of one of my fave places, Japan.   Cherries!  Have been eating loads of these at the moment (they always remind me of Christmas and the Australian summer)  Nude coloured heels and a stack of mags to browse through. See Mondays aren't so bad are they? :) All images via Phuong on Pinterest

a wonderful positive, inspiring little video to share with you on a Saturday morning.  It makes me want to get on my bike, betsy , and go for a ride!

This blog is my little outlet, a fun happy creative place for me.  I have always tried to keep the blog positive and keep the negative out of it, but unfortunately I am already struggling to meet my new year goals which I only listed down days ago. My goal to try and not stress out about things I can't fix is not going too well.  Sometimes you encounter some toxic  / negative people in your life and currently I am struggling a little on how to best deal with it. I went to my trusty Google and typed "how to deal with toxic people" and I found this helpful post .  I hope it helps you too when you are dealing with some difficult people.   I have extracted below what I found helpful, which will hopefully get me back on track! Avoid toxic people. In some cases it may not be an option (ie work!), but more often than not, it is. It is also common to believe you can get a toxic person to change while interacting with them. Y...

How good is it to plan holidays when you only just got back from holidays?!? via Phuong on Pinterest

It's awesome finding stuff in the back of your wardrobe that you haven't worn in ages - it's like shopping in your closet.  Today I pulled out some olive green pants that I haven't worn in forever and teamed it with a plain black top.  I was just needing a little something something to brighten it up.  So I pulled out the big flower brooch my big sister bought me to wear with my bridesmaid's dress at her wedding a couple of years ago and put it on ala Carrie Bradshaw (circa season 3 of Sex and the City).  I googled and that season was originally shown in 2000 - 11 years ago!  I really like it - I reckon we should bring the big flower back! [...]

I promise this will be my last new years related post! Being away for the Christmas / New Year break and some busy work weeks prior to that means that I have lots of catching up on my blog reading to do.  My Google Reader is a bit out of control! My favourite blogs are full at the moment of reflection and new years resolutions and goals.  So I'll jump on the bandwagon... for me the start of 2011 was up and down - pretty crap with some amazing highlights in between but it did (and for so many I know) get a lot better as the year progressed.  So to kick off 2012, some of my goals for this year are: 1. Get back into my fitness routine and finally do that half marathon I have been talking about running instead of just signing up for them and then not training / chickening out :) 2. Go to bed earlier - sleep more 3. Just accept there are certain things I can't control and try not to stress out  / overthink / overanaly...

1 Jan 2012 -  here's hoping the year is kind and wonderful and full of love and champagne for us all!  xx all great love affairs start with champagne  - Honore de Balzac via Phuong on Pinterest