Weekend purse!

It came earlier than I expected! Sugar Hill Janet, my latest purchase during the Friends and Family sale.

(Photo from katespade.com)

I wasn't expecting it to be delivered in April. Am really pleased to get it so quickly!

V, a friend based in the States, helped me place an order online. She is super efficient and always replies to my emails within an hour. On top of that, she drove 4 hours to and back from NYC in the rain to hunt for a second bag that I set my eyes on. When that bag was out of stock and nowhere to be found, she took the initiative to send me the Janet first, just so I would receive it before my birthday. :) How sweet right? :)

That time of the year

The multi-purpose hall above my office has once again been transformed into a large examination hall. There is the usual parade of security guards at strategic points to ensure that students do not carry their bags into the exam hall. For the first few mornings, as I made my way to the office, this new batch of security would look at my giant ass bag nervously and ask if I am a staff member. Since then, I have flashed my staff pass at them even before they open their mouths. In return, I get grateful smiles and permission to click clack away in my 3 inches down the 50 metre long corridor.

AS related

J's AS condition flared up recently and almost every other day we have to deal with a different situation. In the most recent episode, his right foot started to swell. The usual pain killers he has did not work. I was desperate and thought icing it would provide some relief.

It was then I realised we did not have an ice pack. We threw ours away when we moved 2 years ago. So I grabbed a ziploc bag, filled it with ice, wrapped it with a towel and tied it with a rubber band.


You'd think J would be a little cheered by Mr Happy's smiley face. Alas he didn't even notice it.


In the end, the swell remained. The foot looked red and angry. The pain would not go away. We went to the doctor to get more medicine.

I hate AS. HATE it with every bone in my body. :(

Heartstrings

On a rare occasion, I got a chance to go to the market with my mom. She is 74 and I am 34 but when we are at the market it's like I'm 4 years old again. I follow her closely, never letting her out of my sight. She tells me what she is buying and how she is going to cook it. She teaches me how to choose the freshest of foods. The only things that have changed are I get to carry the basket now that I have more strength than she and I don't whine about how long she takes.

Family, you can't choose them but you can love them. :)

In press!

The chief editor wrote to tell me my book chapter manuscript survived the final review. Pearson Longman will publish the book, Asian Englishes, this year and this means I have my first 'proper' publication! (Well, let's not count conference proceedings.) I am LITERALLY bursting with joy!

My first book chapter!

Yes, it's only one chapter, not a whole book. But oh how I laboured to write that stuff! Now looking back, I cringe when I read what I wrote. ;)

Bacteria

I never thought this day will come.


But I have been told to eat bacteria. That's right, bacteria. Apparently my body lacks and needs 'good' bacteria. Yakult is not enough.

The good doctor first prescribed the stuff in powder form. He gave me many sachets and told me to dissolve it in water and drink. It smells like bananas but tastes foul! I mixed it with apple juice, drank it in one gulp and wanted to retch. Ondine tells me her 3 year old daughter, Jordan, is less of a baby than I. Read: she doesn't make a face, pinch her nose, or whine when she has to drink it. Me? I rather drink oil.

But the bacteria is a must, like it or not, and the doctor decides I will take it in the pill form instead. Can you say YUCK? :(

Peeved

He mocks, then he scolds.

Finally he gives up and tells me I just should do my PhD on Kate Spade.

My eyes lit up! Thick-headed me takes him quite seriously.

Ooh! How about the title being, 'Will you ever forgive Kate Spade?'

He scowls and walks away.

Oops. :|

Mondays are good for shopping

No, seriously, if you like shopping in empty malls and receiving great service, shop on a Monday.

Because I was given a $50 Takashimaya voucher, I decided to spend it at kate spade last night. I mean where else right?

And just over one iPhone cover, three saleswomen came up to serve me. One of them even took out seven covers of the same design so I can pick the best piece. This took 20 minutes?!

Oh they were bored all right, so bored on a Monday that they were glad to see someone walk into their store, someone besides a colleague to talk to!





This was what I bought, the Newspaper Print hardshell case. It's quite fun reading the classified ads. :)

A life of frivolity

Just how many iPhone cases does one need?

Well, if it's a kate spade, and you are crazy like me, I'd say many!

Spade matches my giant felt tote.

Yellow Jubilee matches my sunny yellow stevie.

Newspaper Print ... well this doesn't really match anything in particular but come on, it's monochrome! It should go with just about anything. ;)

♠ Chuffed ♠

I got the Support Japan Tote.

Well actually J got it for me. :)

The quest for the tote started in March even before it was sold in USA. The rest of the story is long, with lots of twists and turns and many many disappointments. I don't think anyone on the Internet cares to hear it except perhaps my kate spade sisters. And if they do ask over WhatsApp, I'll tell them. :)

To cut to the chase, at the point where I'd given up all hopes of getting the tote, J took matters into his own hands and got me the Japan tote from the boutique at Raffles City on Friday. Considering how the store only had 20 pieces for sale and my name was not one of the top 20 in a very long waiting list, it was quite a feat. On top of that, he put his name down on the waiting list for the second batch of totes so I can have an extra to give it to any of my KS sisters. I'm thinking Ondine? ;)

In the name of charity, $35.
In the name of love, priceless.

Missing the days

This is one of our favourite dating places. Because J has to consume a cocktail of pain killers daily, we have not been to the Post Bar much. (In fact I think only once this year.) Really looking forward to the day when he wakes up pain free and we can drink to our hearts' content!

A fever that won't go away

Over WhatsApp, I lamented to Ondine that we NEED a kate spade sister in USA. Everytime kate spade has one of these sales, we can't buy anything because kate spade no longer accepts credit cards from Singapore. On top of that, they are also not taking orders from vPost and ComGateWay which provide concierge services.


But of course, me being me, resourceful crazy tenacious when it comes to something I WANT, I managed to find someone who placed an order for me during this sale. Does she earn from doing so? Yes, because she's not a personal friend but a middleman. Nevertheless, I'm happy and excited! Can't wait for my purse to come! Hopefully before my birthday. ;)

Another mindless (but fun) purchase!

This came in the post 2 days after I placed an order online.

Trawling the Internet, as always I find something interesting to buy.

This time, it's an iPhone cover that looks like a cassette tape!

I paid $9 for it but later found another site that sells it for $5.90 (excluding postage). Oh well. :)

WTS: BNWT Kate Spade Larabee Dot Coin Purse

DizzyLizzy, a good friend of mine, is selling her kate spade Larabee Dot Coin Purse (in Breakers Green). It's brand new and comes with care card and tag. She's not a coin purse person and doesn't know what to do with this. :)

The item is from this season and still being sold on the kate spade website. See here.

(Photo from DizzyLizzy)

If you are keen, email her directly at yikie@singnet.com.sg

Treats for kids

I cannot remember how it started but I don't seem to be able to stop buying stickers. Every time I see stickers, I think about getting them for Ondine's twins.

The other day I decided to visit an old friend and because her daughter is about the same age as Ondine's Jordan, I thought I should get her some stickers. If Jordan likes the stickers I buy, surely Chloe would too. So I got a bumper pack for her, Chloe, not Jordan.

On the way home from the visit, I passed by a shop that sold stickers and stopped short in my tracks. J groaned.

Dora!
Who?
Dora! Jordan will love these! I have to get them.
But you just bought her some personalized ones with her name last week!
Uh huh.
And you bought a huge pack of stickers for Chloe yesterday.
Uh huh.
Why are you buying stickers AGAIN?!?
But these are DORA stickers. Jordan will be pleased!

But of course I did not just get the Dora stickers because Jordan has a twin and anyone who has bought anything for twins knows that you CANNOT buy for one without buying for the other.


So, I got Thomas the Train magnets for Evan! At least these are educational. Ondine can use them to teach time. :)

Random thoughts

It's Friday, I'm lazy, bullet points will suffice.

• I have neglected Lily. My giant ass tote is big enough to carry Lily everywhere but I have left her at home. I blame it on the iPhone app, LemeLeme (previously called LomoLomo). It is too easy to use and I like being surprised by the outcome because I choose to use the random mode. Last Friday I wanted to capture the moments J spent with his best buddies with my iPhone and one of his buddies taunted me. 'Where is your GF1? Your iPhone camera cannot make it lah.' I need to take Lily out more often.


• Baby videos make me feel stupid. There is one being circulated like wild fire on Facebook right now. It shows a pair of twins in diapers 'talking' to each other. Everybody is posting it. Men, women, married, single, parents, non-parents, youth, elderly... You get the drift. I watched the video carefully. I watched it from beginning to end twice. I didn't get a 'word' the twins were 'saying'. I don't see the point of the video. I can't understand why people said the video is cute. A kitten is cute, a puppy is cute, teddy bears are cute. Damn, I must be dumb.


• I love the elections. It sends everyone into a frenzy. There is excitement in the air! Suddenly everyone has a voice, everyone takes a stand. If I may borrow Kitty's words (although she strung them differently in a different context), 'It must hurt your ass to sit on the fence for so long.' So yes, one can be as dumb as a door knob like me but one can harangue all he/she wants for this is the season for whining. Speak now or forever hold your peace. ;) Then again, there's always 2016.


• How often do you charge your iPhone? Previously I charged my Nokia twice a week. Now? My iPhone needs to be charged daily, sometimes even up to three times a day! Ondine thinks I should take it to the shop to get it checked or changed. J simply tells me this: It's not an iPhone, it's a handheld game set to you, of course the battery runs out fast.
  Hmpf. :(