Amazing Lace

this is the ONE bridal company i'd want to co-host a wedding fair with! PRONOVIAS. and the art director of their annual magazine is someone i'd include in the whole project as well!

please view the pronovias magazine 2009 through their website here! my fave gown was oh-so-brilliantly captured in this spread. aren't the hydrangeas so yummy!? the last time i saw live hydrangeas still stuck to the ground was at a family friend's place in birmingham about 3 years ago.

and these are my other two favourites!

manuel mota

manuel mota costura

anyhow, spanish lace seem to exude more grace and sophistication than most types of laces. i think soft tulle trimmed with spanish lace for a veil will add distinct elegance to a bridal outfit. from left to right: Pronovias 2009, Valentino Sposa 2009, Pronovias 2009.

so grace kelly

Self Declared Break

why didn't we or just me, think of this? genius. chubbyhubby's 2-sink kitchen! i need this at residence figaro.

check out their new kitchen here

Reward Thyself

it's when your to-do list demands another page and/or your inboxes flood with emails, will you somehow find very good reasons to do anything else unrelated to those pending tasks! i hate myself sometimes. to help curb this pathetic tendency, i'm putting in place an immediate-reward system.

this week's reward?
Revamp the Bookshelf
Hawaiian Host Chocolate Coated Macadamia
(only once i've completed all of this week's tasks)!


taken from Habitually Chic - a color coded bookshelf?

happy weekend ya'll ;)

New Therapy

dressing the dresser is pretty therapeutic. and less damaging than retail therapy, only if i decide not to adorn the dresser with ranunculus.

madness ensues.

Danielle Amal

born 18th November, 1542hrs. she is Amal V - the fifth. i, on the other hand am Amal III! so please call us by our other names if you want to get a response from the correct Amal!

the 3.07kg niece


ilhan athar & danielle amal

Wedding at the Kampong

located in between Eunos and Geylang, the wedding this week took place at kampong ubi cc. foremost, i'd like to thank God my sister didn't go into labour over the weekend =) set up could only begin at 10pm + as a wedding event was held there earlier in the day. we did encounter a few (hilarious) problems...the most striking involved a non-cooperating security barrier! thankfully (yes again), syed and his friend drove and we got a lift back at around 2am. two of our cars were kinda held hostage overnight!

anyhow, the bridal couple wanted to work with red & white. trueblue singaporean ;) haha, and to soften such a contrast of colours, we used many greens. in the end, the whole set up looked pretty much christmasy. ho ho ho.

the bridal table - rich red velvet + roses of bright and dark hues + greens


the aisle - gold flamingos with rose bodies


the dais (pelamin) - ilhan watering the pines + dome lined with fresh roses and leaves + pillars & pines

Flowers and Dressers

table centrepieces

collection of flowers was a fun outing yesterday if we choose to forget about the massive price hike. this whole economic crisis affects running costs of small businesses like ours directly since we find ourselves very much at the mercy of the many suppliers above us.

thankfully, the batch of flowers and leaves ordered came from good crops. once done, i slipped into the cold room once again to check out fresh supplies of flowers for the week. peonies were a lovely lot! wax flowers came in 4 different colours - apart from the usual greenish and purplish hues, red and ochre hues were available too.

last night was spent conditioning the roses while today we completed all the arrangements required for this weekend's wedding. we worked mainly with red roses and leaves. pretty standard stuff i guess. set up begins late late saturday night!

apart from this weekend's wedding, i've been browsing the net for stylish dressers. i got so caught up, i decided to dress mine up! but here are a few from various sites - these pretty things are just perfect in pictures. according to my mom, dresser ornaments are dust collectors. but i guess it wouldn't hurt to dress yours once in a while and pretend you live in a magazine bedroom. haha =)

i really love these mirrored dressers and furniture in general - taken from cotedetexas.blogspot


like the colours - taken from cotedetexas.blogspot


taken from cotedetexas.blogspot


classic skirted dressers taken from cotedetexas.blogspot


the dreamy dresser taken from {this is glamorous}


from truesouthernheart.blogspot


vintage bottles or dust collectors - depends which light you wanna see them in - taken from absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot


this picture got me dresser crazy. the ranunculus are in the perfect shade of dusty pink well matched with the turquoise estee lauder bottle of something, enamel bangles and the pink bead/crystal necklace adds a nice element of translucency to this whole jpeg. - taken from stylecourts.blogspot


flowers simply transform a plain table to a pretty one. therefore, find of the day is this purple/pink hydrangea currently as big as my head and definitely bigger than nora's! haha =)


i'm thinking a lace mat for the jewelry box and i didn't expect the hydrangeas to be so large! but time is short now so i'll rethink later.

Red Carpet

i love rachel weisz. she's smart (cambridge graduate), beautiful and talented (oscar recipient). what we all hope to be right? anyhow - back to these clothes, i like the look of weisz (her shoes are too big?!) and i'd tailor the pale plum or light brown shirt dress on rose byrne.

i'm a big fan of renee's red carpet wadrobe. i watched THS-Renee Zellweger on E! channel and among the many stars, i think she's one of them with the better sense in fashion. to her left, i'm just curious to know how big keira's boobs are! seriously, is there even any? hahaha. alright, but her hair is very lovely here.

not a big fan of the dress she's wearing but her hair and make up are perfect. it's a classier take of the burlesque dita von teese look.

Good Morning Sunday

barça matches should be played at 2100hrs CET. that way i can enjoy my sunday or monday mornings like today, like this.

that baby girl was at the match this morning. she's just so cute dressed in complete pink baby barça wear! if i had a daughter, she'd don that on football weekends


hotcake-face salivates syrup!


okay i obviously cannot get enough of her! hahaha! all culés were that happy this morning =)
damage done and i'm loving the sunday morning sun.


alright off to a meeting now =) adeu...

Change

is the only constant

change ourselves
change for the better

start this weekend.

Because We're Worth It

it's that time of the year/month when your make up and beauty products run out - all together. i call this toilet inventory reshuffling time since i review the so called effectiveness of some prods i've been using. what i need for sure now is an eye cream! late nights due to deadlines or doing nothing and european football fan timezone dysfunction screams for eye creams! according to my sister, i should start using anti-ageing prods when i'm 25. and i should already be using eye creams.

problem is which eye cream? i'm not considering higher end brands because exposing one's skin to stronger ingredients at such a tender age of oohh-22 may not be too wise. well i think so cos your skin will not respond to other ingredients of lesser strength (which may still work well with your youthful skin) any longer. i don't want to find myself spending USD230 on a 60ml bottle of moisturizing cream before i hit 45! i'm not exaggerating. think creme de la mer. actually i hope i'll never need to spend that much to make myself look beautiful. i rather pray hard my ancestors good-skin genes live long in the family bloodline!

i've singled out eye creams from the l'oreal and olay range. maybe these 2. if you have any other recommendations pls share!

during my free Clinique make up consultation session today, i was introduced to Clinique's Perfectly Real Make Up foundation. i didn't think too much of it cos i don't (know how to) use foundation. i left purchasing lipstick instead after collecting my free samples of lip gloss and mascara. if you're invited to free clinique sessions pls confirm your attendance and get free stuff! hahah!

ok so when i returned home hrs later i seriously couldn't help but realise how smooth my skin looked and felt. it was not cakey or oily. it had a perfect matte finish. excited, i googled to read more reviews. i'm pretty much convinced and this will be my next present-to-self! i think it costs at least SGD50/60. it's going for USD22.50 in Obama-led US of A! if my friend ain't flying to NYC anytime soon, there's always DFS discount to rely upon. i seriously don't understand why clinique products in singapore are at least 20/30 bucks above US retail prices! at USD22.50 i could get it at SGD34 converted at a very 'conservative' estimated exchange rate of 1.5 (USD is gaining strength of late, yikes for shoppers).

alright apart from that i've decided to stop using olay total effects moisturising cream. it's still good but i'm beginning to like L'oreal's UV perfect XL Block that comes with SPF 50++. total effects is only SPF 15. uv blocking prowess is my top priority because this almost 60 yr old lady i know who boasts such beautiful skin swears by sunscreen. she's been using sun-protection products only since her youthful days. moral of the story: protect yourself, stop tanning, start applying.

Judge Everything by its Cover

Don't Judge a Book by its Cover.

so why do many people and companies invest so much money on branding then? let's face it. we are all attracted to beautiful things. and we will continue to spend on things that beautify us and our surroundings. (oh stop judging me) thanks to globalization, us singaporeans will finally be able to get our hands on products produced by two companies which know all about beautiful covers.

Gianna Rose Atelier is in town! their products can be found at The Ritz Carlton, The Fullerton Shop and one more shop at Marina Square. please refer to this week's Straits Times 'Mind Your Body' supplement for the details. GRA produces couture soaps and gifts in amazing packaging. a company with a brilliant eye for colour and class.

Claus Porto is in town too! this may have been around for longer. their stuff are available at Vanilla Home, Palais Renaissance.

Claus Porto Soaps

Scented Drawer Liners from GRA




i love this box


Soaps in Apothecary Jars


Pillow-shaped soap!

Hail Marni

Armani

Who art in Holts

Hallowed by thy shoes

Thy Prada come

Thy shopping done

On Bloor street

As it is in Paris

Give us this day, our Visa Gold

And forgive us our balance

As we forgive those who charge us interest

Lead us not into Wal Mart

And deliver us from Sears

For thine is the Louis,

The Gaultier, and the Versace,

For Dolce and Gabbana

AMEX