i shall not stop writing.

Ok... we have just subscribed to the cartoon channels on Astro and both my darlings are actually watching Clifford on Disney right now. Errmmm... by way of 'darlings', I meant the one and my 12-year old who has just finished his UPSR exams yesterday.

Surprisingly, little jj wasn't up this morning like she did for the past 2 days. I accidentally slept while feeding her around 3 am and woke up at 5.15am, almost missing our sahur. Thankfully, sahur was already cooked by midnight last night or else we would probably be eating McDonald's again :)

Hokayy... I've been a little 'slow' in my updates recently as I've been plagued by Farmville addiction on Facebook (hahahh!). I was told before how addictive this game can be and never really bothered to try it out until I saw 3 Farmville gifts from my dear cousin, Fida, who's far away in the UK. Once I started, there was no turning back and I even questioned myself why I didn't start earlier as I have missed out on a lot of rewards and wealth-sharing from friends who've started playing it long time ago hehe... yup, i t - i s - b a d, especially when you're also juggling puasa, a little baby, work and housework ;P

5 days of playing, I am already at Level 16 and managed to pull the one into it as well ;P the worst was us fidgeting after breaking fast in Keramat last Sunday as we didn't get to log in to monitor our crops haha.

Anyways, latest developments.......

| Jada has started to sing along to some of her favourite tunes! Our eyes would open so wide when we hear her attempts as her pronunciation is pretty inaudible although the melody part would sound not too bad :) sorry guys... no videos on this yet since she'd surprise us all when she does this and as soon as we realised what she did, we'd all give her one good stare and she'd stop immediately hehe.

| I just cannot resist Hada the Hippo. Found it on TinyTapir and was hooked when I read that its blanket is 5 feet long (because if little jj doesn't use it, I am exactly 5 feet tall haha...).

Ok... little jj hasn't been showing any tendencies of attachment towards any of her soft toys. She has plenty of soft toys but after she turned 6 or 7 months, she has stopped holding any soft toy for more than 3 minutes. Her favourite was once Tucker, the Lamaze tortoise but I now realised that she loved Tucker only because she was truly enchanted by her own reflection that she saw in the mirror attached to its tummy. And although my first born and I both had an attachment towards any teddies or any plush toys, we do not see any of those signs on little jj. Heck, even that thoughtful gift from one of the one's blog readers in the form of a red teddy bear the size of little jj, she only held it for a good minute before ignoring it since the day she saw it. It is bad that the teddy is kinda invisible (to her) and just lying there in her play pen, unattended.

So, when I saw this pink pet zoobie, I haven't lost all hope on little jj. I do believe she's got it somewhere deep inside (hehe...) or mommy would make it mommy's own pet ;P. I guess, part of me fell in love with Hada because I love all 'gadgety' stuff - it is after all, a 3-in-1. If little jj cannot see it for a soft toy, she would have inherited her parents' trait for loving multi-functional gadgets, won't she??

| My current love for gold jewellery has brought me to custom make the anniversary gift from the one. Yes people, our gifts to each other are hardly surprises (although the surprise would come in the form of emotions that entail any purchases hehe). I think I've mentioned before that I hate mind games and I dislike being disappointed with unreasonable expectations. And the one also agrees to this so that we'd get each other something that we both really want, not based on subtle hints. So, with my obvious new interest in gold, the one gave me a budget for the anniversary gift he owed me and I instantly knew the time has come to replace that charm bracelet I've always loved which was a gift from my granny for my first birthday - it was placed on my foot and later on my hand as I grew bigger. Guess that piece of classic bracelet can now be handed down to little jj.

I had to wait 3 months before getting it done since the budget that the one gave me was insufficient which I had found out when getting a quote from my favourite jeweller. I mean, the budget seemed good enough for me but not necessarily so, for the piece of bracelet that I require especially since price of gold has gone up quite rapidly. See... the bracelet has several elements that are meaningful throughout our 4-year journey together (and more to come!). And when it was insufficient, I had decided to wait awhile so that I am able to top up the amount when I get my next payment for some jobs that were already completed, or even maybe have the chance to top up the amount when I get my next hardship allowance from the one ;)

So yesterday, I beamed with happiness for the next piece of meaningful and lasting composition that will act as a simple collector of future gift ideas as it has 8 more tiny rings and 11 elongated hoops to hang 50 more charms. That's another 50 more years of celebration, don't you think? =D

I have plenty more to write but will end here, for now, with hopes to update more before Raya comes. Hope is good.

P/S: just a sneak preview below - I put on a sample of a hand-smocked dress for a writing job I had just completed for an e-commerce website. The dresses are awesome, I kid you not and my N86 8MP doesn't do justice to the dress (especially since little jj was wearing her bodysuit inside). I shall update you mommies out there once the website is up because your little girl should not miss out on wearing at least one of the dresses :)

mommy, this dress is too dark for my complexion... do you have one in pink?

The little one is asleep again after that eventful trip to
BSC this morning.

Due to my 'drama' yesterday, Nicole asked me to meet up with her so that she could cheer me up with my favourite iced-black coffee. I was gonna head on to BSC anyway since Faiq Jewels called me up yesterday to inform me that the one's ring has been repaired.

This morning, though, Nicole called to tell me that she was vomitting the entire night last night but that she has had a good rest and would be a little late. I was fine with that since I could then pick up the ring first and maybe do a little shopping in Cold Storage.

When I reached BSC, they had already started on the renovations on the other wing and it was such a hassle having to get out of the lift to the travellator at LG floor since I can only get out of the lift at 3rd or 4th floor. I did that at first but looking at how dangerous it looked going down using the escalator with a stroller, I quickly went down to LG and took the travellator, as advised earlier.

La Bodega was nevertheless still open despite the renovations. Although we planned to meet up at Dome, the environment doesn't look very relaxing especially when little jj is still not entirely well... this mother cat definitely wants to protect her from those noises and crowd.

I got my dose of coffee and little jj awoke from her nap when she heard Nicole's voice. She was all well-behaved until almost 2 hours after, just as I expected. But seeing a stranger with me, she became all excited especially when held.


All in all, it was a good meet. We talked about a lot of things and Nicole advised me to hire a weekly maid to take care of the cleaning up, laundry and ironing at home. Now why didn't I think of that... that would definitely take off all the stress on my shoulders and would allow myself and the one that quality time during the weekends instead of focusing on those little little things that shouldn't even be issues. Gosh, I feel so much better!

We went over to the jewellery store since I didn't have the chance to do that earlier due to the escalator-lift hassle and drove home straight after.

I managed to feed little jj lunch (she had chicken again!) and called the one to tell him his ring looked better than the original version - I had told them to make the enameling flat instead of protruding and they only made it half way instead of all the way to the bottom, to prevent from it breaking easily while the one's busy with work. Their job was fabulously done and I am extremely happy.

I miss wearing my engagement ring. Ever since I balooned, it's been almost a year since it fit me. So, last Saturday the one and I visited DeGem at 1Utama to have it enlarged.

Before going over there, I searched high and low for the receipt just in case we could get a better price (or rather, FOC) if we had proof that the ring was purchased there. Unfortunately, I found every other receipts but that.

The sales guy that serviced us was better than the one we dealt with before. Better in a sense that not only was he obliging to search for the copy of the receipt, he was more open in sharing info and facts on diamonds, and also showed us more options just for our info... in other words, he has more flair in marketing ;P

Truthfully, I don't know much about diamonds but am surprised at how knowledgeable the one is. I should thank my dear friend, Elaine, who had brainwashed him once on the quality of diamonds he should get me (hehe...) and thankfully, the one took all those info and used it to my advantage :D

The sales guy told me that my previous ring size 5 has now increased to 10. 10?!! Ohmygawd.

With that, he took another ring with a size 10 to ensure I am comfortable with that size. But but but... he took a size 10 ring with a diamond that's 0.1 carat more than mine hehe... and oh, the diamond on the ring is a Lazare diamond as opposed to our GIA certified.

What's that you may ask... gawd... I had no idea. Such a shame, innit? Diamonds are supposedly a girl's best friend but all I know is a diamond is either certified or not. Lazare vs. GIA is something entirely new to me until I heard both men talk about the clarity and cut bla bla bla... I'm really proud of my the one hehe...

The ring look totally exquisite on my chubby finger. I even thought it looked too shiny, too glittery on me when the one corrected me and said that no diamond is too shiny or glittery. Wow... I am again awed by him. I'm even surprised that he asked the sales guy how much more we would have to fork out if we were to upgrade the ring. Dang... the price was just so much more for an additional 0.1 carat Lazare. Suddenly, I was concerned if it was blood diamond. Hehe... but if my hubby wants to get it, I'm sure I wouldn't ask any questions and would love him for it ;P (not that I don't already love him now hehe). Women!

The one already know this fact about me... that I was never really into gold jewellery. I only wear 1 ring on both hands, I have always worn this charm bracelet that my late grandma bought for me on my 1st birthday which I wore it on my ankle then, I am not so much into necklaces and most of them were my mom's. I hardly wear jewellery and that's it. The jewelleries I really got were those that I would spend for me to have something to keep for a lifetime, ie. from the hantaran money and those that I've bought as birthday gifts or baby gifts for close friends. I always thought that gold is the best form of gift since it is lasting and the recipient could do anything to it in the future.

But... since we were browsing stuff over at DeGem, I suddenly remembered that I still have the hardship allowance the one gave me just before the end of last year which I have not spent on anything. All of a sudden, I no longer have any urge to buy more desginer bags. I mean, I'm no longer working, and I don't anymore change my bags the way I used to... and so, I thought, why don't I start a new interest in gold for its lasting value.

With that intention, I decided to visit my favourite jeweller, Faiq at BSC on Sunday. Well, I shouldn't really say 'favourite' since I've only went there 3-4 times in 3 years but judging at what I could get there vs. those I got from retailers like Poh Kong, I must share with you that you'd be surprised at what good deals you can get from them. What I like most about Faiq is that they only produce exclusive designs, ie. there's only 1 unit for 1 design. Therefore, no other people would be wearing that design unless it is reproduced by requests. They are also pretty strict on their quality because of that fact.

The only weakness is probably that there might not be a variety of range as those you'd find in retail stores. What I saw 2 years ago may be different than what I see now. Still, there ought to be at least 1 that you'd fall in love with.

Coincidentally, as I thought about the purchase I'd be making, my gorgeous friend, Nicole called for us to meet and where else if not our usual hangout. Only this time, I told her I can't be long and as a mom herself, she was understanding especially since I told her that I can't say what time I'd be at BSC. It will all depend on when little jj gets hungry for lunch. All I could promise was that I'd text her just when I'm about to feed little jj and she'll have 1 hour to get ready before I am done with the lunch, milk feeding and moi getting ready to go.

All was good and we quickly met up after not seeing each other for 2 months. As always, there'd be those hand-me-down toys and clothes for little jj, and I just love them. Thanks, darling. You're such a gem. My gem!

And, with that visit to Faiq, I thought it was time for me to get rid of those rings I got from people... I even let go of my first wedding ring and those rings I got from my former MIL. There's no point of me holding on to them anyway because for one thing, I am not a sentimental person, plus, I have never had any urges to wear any of them.

The owner of Faiq, Fazal himself attended to me. That's another thing I like about Faiq... Fazal will always attend to his customers personally when he's in the store. I reminded him of the ring I fell in love with during my first visit there but since it was a couple of years ago, I had to sketch it for him to refresh his memory.

I took awhile there because I was a little disappointed that they didn't have that many yellow gold rings this time. After trying out several designs on me I fell in love with this one ring in rose gold. Since it did look like a wedding band as I consider this purchase an upgrade to my wedding ring, I was sold on it. That purchase somehow felt so good ;D

Fazal took my other rings that I wanted to let go and I laughed when told that one of the rings which I got from a loser, the diamond and blue topaz on it were synthetic. Heh... cheapo. Well, good riddance, too.

So today, I was all excited for my outing with little jj to pick up the two rings that I had re-sized. This must be my 2nd outing with her (the first was almost a disaster since she was only 3-4 months). Thank god, I had Nicole to help me out then.

I fed her breakfast and milk, and we left immediately. I had to make sure I time the outing right since I was going to 2 places - 1U and BSC. Must make sure to feed her in 1U just before leaving for BSC since the latter doesn't have a nursing room in place (I think I should write in to BRDB before they start with the renovations on the other wing).

I was contemplating whether I should just carry little jj around since I was only going to one store but then again, if I did use the stroller, I would want to carry minimal baggage. Hence, for the first time in over a year, I took out that large Burberry bag I once bought for my Vaio to fit into at work. Man... it still look really good... and I chucked in little jj's clothes, diapers, diaper cream and wet tissues, apart from my other personal stuff. The best part is that the front pockets would accommodate my house keys and car keys so that I do not have to scramble into the bag in order to find them, with little jj held in another hand.


Picked up the engagement ring in DeGem and asked about men's ring too. Since I got this payment for a completed job, I thought I'd upgrade the one's ring as well. Unfortunately, they do not have any rings in suasa (electrum) but apparently, they can have one made for you. I saw some really beautiful designs and almost ordered one until senses came to me and told me to browse around before settling on something. Hehe how different I am now as compared to when I had a full time job... back then, I would just get what I like without making any comparisons. Now as I see it, I don't think that was smart.

Next, I made my way to BSC. I picked up my new ring in Faiq and browsed for men's rings as well. When I showed them the one's ring, I was shocked that they told me the ring could be repaired! Before this, the one had written about how the 'black subtance' encircling the centre of the ring chipped just 2 months after we were married. It has now about to come out completely. When it chipped just a little, Habib said it was of a hematite substance and costs as much as what we paid for the ring. Plus, it'll take months to repair as it is imported bla bla bla.

To my horror (and surprise), both DeGem and Faiq told me the black thing is 'enamel' or 'enameling'. Habib sucks! I guess this is one of the reasons why a good friend's dad once advised the one and I to not buy from retails outlets. They seriously think us customers are fools.

The only positive side of Habib is that the one's ring is still the most attractive and better looking than those I've seen anywhere. Thus, I opted for it to be repaired if the cost is reasonable, ie. if it costs as much as the ring, I might as well get something new. The guy in Faiq told me they could repair it in a week and the price they quoted was just too good to be true (sorry bee, no surprise hehe...). Again, that's why they've now become my favourite jeweller.

I returned home just in time for little jj to have lunch and quickly mashed up the banana I bought from BSC's Cold Storage.

It was a lovely outing. She was so well behaved, she warmed up to the sales personnel, laughed at my every joke and was a pretty cheerful baby all thruout the shopping adventure. We really should do this again soon...

a happy but tired baby.