out of..

song of the day:

And it's okay if you have go away
Oh just remember the telephone

well, they're working both ways
And if I never ever hear them ring
If nothing else I'll think the bells inside
Have finally found you someone else and that's okay
Cause I'll remember everything you sang

Cause you and I both loved
what you and I spoke of
and others just read of
and if you could see now
well I'm almost finally out of.
I'm finally out of, finally,
deedeeededede
well I'm almost finally, finally, finally out of words.
- Jason Mraz

sweets for my sweet...

In the light of the coming new year, I've created a customized calendar =)
I found great images from a site called dry icons and they're great for all design/scrapbooking projects.

I love this graphic!

I used sparkly paper and it looked soooo nice =)

here they are!

A closer look...

With the cover...

Cupcake madness continues with red velvet

I saw wall-e & eva candy decorations and I had to get them!

cupcake wrappers from martha stewart are perfect!

For A's birthday =)

I'm not much of a baker so you can see the mess. but what the hey!

cupcake madness

This is butter pecan with a hint of cocoa. Yup, fresh from the Duncan Hines box, except I added some cocoa. I was inspired when I saw that they make cream cheese frosting. I just had to try it.

coconut flakes! yum!

And because it is a cake mix after all, it was soft and fluffy.

here they are!

wedding items for sale!

After much deliberation, I decided to sell some more of my wedding stuff to clear out my ever-so-crowded storage closet. Click on the pictures to for better viewing.

Silk cherry blossom stems - SOLD

Colours available: 4 in dark pink; 1 in pale rose and white.

Original price: $10 each

On Sale for: $5 each! + shipping

I bought these from White Aisle and was discontinued after they run out of stock. Never used and still in original packaging.

Birdcage Card Holder

Original Price: $55.00

On Sale for: $30.00 + shipping

I bought this from HomeSense and had been very useful in collecting cards and well wishes.

The Wish Tree - SOLD

Original Price: $80.00

On Sale for: $50.00 for pick-up only

We bought two silk cherry blossom trees and put them together in a wooden crate with styrofoam and moss.

Pink Pashminas - SOLD

Original Price: $10.00 each

On Sale for: $5.00 + shipping

I have seven of these that were never used. I bought a lot and had few leftovers. The seven I have are still in original packaging. Great as a wrap or a bridesmaid gift.

And here they are as worn by my beautiful bridemaids.

Small roses for decoration - SOLD

Original Price: $18.00 each

On Sale for: $10.00 + shipping

There's 100 little roses in each pack. I used these for my favor boxes, as well as wedding bubbles. Very easy to work with for all your crafting needs.

Votive candle holders - SOLD

Original Price: $ 1.00 each with 5 votives (1 of each colour in each pack)

On Sale for: $0.50 each + shipping

I bought these from IKEA and is still on sale there if you need more. I have 15 of each colour, for a total of 60 votives.

Wicker Vases

Original Price: $35.00

On Sale for: $20.00 + shipping

These delicate wicker baskets with a ceramic vase inside were originally $40 each but one of the vase cracked and we got a discount. Perfect as a decoration for the church. We bought curly willows, light green hydrangeas and orchids to decorate and they were beautiful! You can see them from the previous picture too with the bridesmaids.

Chocolate brown CD paper cases

Original Price: $1.25 each

On Sale for: $70.00 for 80 paper cases

I have 80 of die-cut card stock in cocoa. This item requires assembly. The picture shows the assembled product with a pink ribbon and label I have created.

oh happy day!

a birthday card for a dear friend

sentimental clutter

November 9, 2008

Our place is a mess. In just 5 months, our initially empty place is now filled with stuff. Stuff we thought was cute and decided to keep. Stuff we thought went well with all our other stuff. Stuff we don’t want. Stuff we don’t need. Stuff we couldn’t figure out what to do with and are now just sitting there collecting dust. My parents moved to a new place and I had to pick up even more stuff of my past that had been quietly resting in my now defunct or dare I say, non-existent bedroom. Which literally meant, one of these days, I’d have to sit through the mess and decide once again, which memories need to be kept for another 10 or so years. Maybe it’s my compulsion to associate every single thing with a memory that keeps me from throwing things out. Maybe after all these years, I’m just a sentimental nut.

Our place is tiny. Tiny and functional. Even our stove is the small sized one. Our sofa is a loveseat. Our dining table is expandable. The only thing that’s big is our TV which we don’t even use all that much. Our home used to be essentially minimalist. But people as predictable as we are, we keep buying things, consuming things. Things we don’t really need but gives us relief from our temporary selfish cravings. Things that make us feel good. Things that seem to make sense at the time of purchase but means nothing now.

Organize. Prioritize. Minimize.

I don’t miss the mess. At times, I’m so frustrated I just want to throw everything out. Forget that they ever meant anything to me at one point or another. I’m just afraid I’d regret it once I really start throwing things out. These are memories of my childhood. These are things I’ve carried with me since our first big move to the city. These are things that I used to care about. And though I hardly even recognize myself in them, these are still things that made me who I am today.

falling in love with autumn

Finally---a fall picture! I seem to miss doing this every year since I moved here. Everytime we even get close to planning taking pictures, it's too late to capture all the colours of fall. And so off we go to an impromptu trip to Ottawa with our favorite travelling buddies. Thank God for Thanksgiving weekend!

We found this bench at Rideau Hall and look! Photo op!

I like this shot. It reminds me of the video we played at our wedding. I had imagined having our engagement pictures to be taken in the fall and so here it is, one year later...

This is a cool shot. And you can tell, we can't get enough of it. =)

So many things in my mind, and so many things to do! It's been four months now and we still haven't finished our Thank You cards and soon enough, it will be competing with Holiday cards we have to send. I'm also doing this course and though I'm not that excited about it, it's only a two month course and I can't wait to get it over with. Yet, I'm doing anything but start it =P There's been too much stress and negativity and true enough, little weekend getaways like this is what I need. The leaves changing colours, falling and flying ever so carelessly with the wind reminds me that with every beautiful end is an even brighter beginning....

"No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace,

as I have seen in one autumnal face."

--- John Donne

two more nights!

Yup. I have two more nights before my anticipated three-day Thanksgiving holiday from work. I just don't like doing night shifts; I never get sleep during the day, just like now. I can't wait until I'm on the good schedule again.

Anyway, I'm trying to get tickets to see this show and it seems they have good seats for the matinee slot on Thanksgiving Monday. I'm just waiting to see what A's schedule is like and hopefully see the show. It's been awhile since I've seen a musical in Toronto. I think the last one was The Lion King. Yup, it was a while back. The woman playing Maria was chosen through a reality type show in Toronto which I didn't get to watch but based on the video on their website, it seems it will be a good show. I'll let you know how it turns out.

It almost seem like I need a mini get-away every time I have consecutive days off. Work's just been so crazy and stressful at times that it's just necessary to take some time away from it all. How amazing would it be if we can actually afford taking a vacation every five days or so? Pretty amazing, I would say!

Anyway, I just heard they're opening a Jollibee in New York some time soon. Jollibee is a popular Filipino food chain famous for their fried chicken and classic Filipino style spaghetti. They were exclusively serving only in the Philippines and certain parts of US such as California and Las Vegas and so I am really excited that they're opening one closer to home. I think I will go back to NYC just for that. And maybe watch "The Little Mermaid" play that I didn't get to see the last time we were there. And take the double decker bus tour. And visit Grand Central. And walk along Fifth Avenue. And stay at this luxurious hotel.

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Beautiful, huh?

Haaayy...So much to do, so little cash. Ha ha.

nothing makes me smile more...

....than cupcakes!

I've been feeling quite depressed about something and just like I've always done in the past, I was hoping to divert all the negative energy and put it to good use. True enough, the old remedy worked like a charm. I started to feel good in no time. Look how cute!

I can't get enough of them!

They're red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Yummy!

I miss Wheng every time I bake. This was something we used to do together a lot.

Here they are in the cake plate we never thought we'd ever use. It was a wedding gift.

The best part --- A loves them =)