Living Life In Color: 2007

Michelle

Today is really sad for me.. Jay left to go back to Korea for good.

Under the circumstances, I didn't cry as much as I thought I would.. but still cried a lot.. my eyes are all sore!

I slept most of the day since I didn't get much sleep the night before.

That's all for today... I'll be back to more regular blogging in the next day or two...

10 comments |

Little tooty toot toot

Michelle

A few weeks ago there was a mini call on Aussie Scrap Source blog for people to work with a new line of paper coming out. I posted a comment on the blog and got an email to say that I was one of the ones chosen! :D I got sent the full range of Been There Done That papers and rubons and was assigned to work with the Western Australia paper range.

Today, the layouts from this range is featured on the Aussie Scrap Source blog .... you can see my layout there! :)

I'll post it here later on too...

4 comments |

Making the most of time

Michelle

Jay has set his departure date.. he's leaving New Zealand on the 16th of December. I'm beyond sad about this.. I just can't imagine my life without him.. but there isn't much I can do right now. This is life.. and it doesn't always go the way you want it to.. I know that.

So instead of being all sad and upset, I'm making each day amazing and memorable and focusing on the good stuff.

Jay and I plan to go to all our favorite places to eat.. and he's going to eat all his faves before he leaves. :D At each of those places, I'm taking photos of every dish that we have and I'll be making a mini album for him at some point.

And on top of that, everyday till Jay leaves, I'm taking a photo of us together - doesn't matter if we look good or having a bad hair day.. the point is, I'll have a photo of us for each day that we're still together.

So my blog may be a little quiet for the next week or so.. but I'll try to update as often as I can. I have scrappy stuff to share and will do that soon!. :)

5 comments |

Slack blogger award goes to.....

Michelle

Me! Life has been crazy!! Absolutely crazy! I've had no time to even breathe.. much less blog! So much has happened in the past couple of weeks.. so I guess this will be a long post.. :D

What a weekend it has been! On Friday,16th November, straight after work I went to the Holiday Inn for the Stacy Julian and Friends event. Registration kicked off at 5.30pm and I got there earlier than Jo, Debs and Donna. It was quite interesting that a few ladies came up to me... and knew who I am! :D Apparently they've seen my photo from the Kiwi Jack Me Up blog... that was quite cool... got to meet a lot of new people and I got to meet Rae from the Kiwi Jack Me Up team too! :D

Got registered and got given a whole pack of products and my class schedule. After Jo, Donna and Debs finished registering, we went down to Esquires to catch a quick bite to eat before the crop. It was insane at Esquires! Only one guy working there on a Friday!?!?! Ugh.. anyway.. we were really rushed and just barely managed to make our way back to the hotel for the 'mingling' session. It was pretty cool.. we got to meet Renee and her husband Kent and also Stacy Julian and Nic Howard.. sadly I didn't get to see Wendy Smedley...I got a photo with Stacy Julian and Kent took a photo of us girls which he did post on his blog...

Photo courtesy of Kent Pearson - Kelly, Debbie, Jo & me

Stacy and me

After the meet and greet - the Mega Crop started. Stacy started by introducing herself and the other tutors. She went on to commence the Scrap Happy class. She mentioned something about needing volunteers and before she could finish her sentence, my hand shot up! I don’t even know what got into me! LOL! So there were 4 of us.. and she made us dance a little..haha.. for some reason, all inhibitions left me.. I didn’t care if it was embarrassing or not, I had fun! Her Scrap Happy lecture was awesome.. we were given workbooks and a lecture on the how to be happy - things we do that make us happy and things we can do to make us happy.. and then of course there was the synchronized stapling.... totally fun! After the little event, we had a little supper break. When we returned to the room, the 4 of us who volunteered were given cool WorldWin paper swatch... I got Stacy to sign mine. We were also given more freebies and a set of postcards which was the base of another mini class Stacy gave us.

The rest of the evening were spent doing our own scrapping - I didn't get too much done, but did do a page for my This Is Me Journal. I got home near to midnight and got myself partially organized for my class with Nic Howard the next day. I was completely exhausted after printing 2 photos and went straight to bed.

Saturday dawned.. a beautiful sunny day.. it felt amazing! I got all my photos printed and made my way to the Holiday Inn for my class with Nic Howard. Her class is just awesome! We did a clear mini album based on the things that 'represent' us at this moment. I left the class with a 80% complete album! More that I've ever managed to do in any class! So that was fantastic. I went home after hanging out and mingling for a bit.. met Trina at the Fiskars table...

Me and Nic

When I got home I finished up Lies's farewell card using the new Urban Lily secret keeper... I was pretty pleased with it.. :)

Went to the airport with Harridz and Yessy to see Lies off. Her flight got delayed for 30 minutes which gave us all a bit of extra time to hang out with her one last time. It was bittersweet.. she said a few words.. and we were still able to hold our composure. At the boarding gate, she went around hugging everyone and saying goodbye.. and when she got to me... I held on just a bit longer.. I'm going to miss her so much... Off she went to grab her bag.. and she turned around to look at me again... and came over for one more hug.. and that was my undoing... totally and completely broke down.. I couldn't help it.. she's like a sister to me.. and everyone kinda steered clear of me... Laura said she couldn't hug me 'cos she'd break down too.. I completely understood.. we were all very close.

After that, Harridz, Yessy and myself went to CHA for a late dinner and had a great time talking and laughing. It was good to take my mind of Lies's departure. We all went home and called it a night at about 11pm.

Sunday morning was spent finishing up the album from Nic's class the day before. And then I went down to the Holiday Inn to catch up with Jo.. the Christmas parade was on in town too. I got to see most of it as I made my way down to the hotel. When I got there, it was really quite, everyone's in classes. I chatted with Kelly and Rhonda and got to peak at the different classes and I purchased a kit from Nic's Confessions class. When Jo finished, we went downstairs to get a bite to eat and had a great catching up session. When the others finished we went down again to have another quick group chat and then Stacy took a few photos of us (which reminds me I need to email her to get them!) and went home after that.

Now.. everything else after that weekend have gone by in a total blur. So I guess I'll just post highlights...

Got a job interview at Victoria University Law School
Current employers offered me a very very very good deal to stay for another year.
Jay passed his last paper and will be graduating
I got sent a bunch of products to work with for the Aussie Scrap Source... my layout will be posted soon

Umm.. I can't even remember what else... LOL! So I'll stop here...

I promise I'll update soon!

0 comments |

Headless Chook!

Michelle

Today has been a crazy day at work!!!! I felt like I've been running around like a headless chook all day!

Tomorrow is looking pretty much the same!

ETA: A chook is a chicken. :D

P/S: If any of my loyal blog readers are wondering, yes, I'm still doing my daily cards, I'm planning to post them on a separate blog. I'll post a link on my side bar when I do. :D

10 comments |

Girls Evening

Michelle

Tonight, after work, we had a girls only evening. It's been a very long time since Laura, Lies and myself got together. It was a wonderful evening. We had a great time doing what we always do together... yummy food... awesome conversations and great laughs! Just perfect!

1 comments |

Weekend Report

Michelle

Wow.. the weekend went pretty quick! On Saturday, I had a small get-together with a few friends to celebrate my birthday. A few of my friends weren't able to make it prior to previous commitments.

In the morning, I went out for breakfast with Jay and went to the Asian supermarket to pick up a few things that I needed to make mee goreng. Went home and packed my stuff to take with me to Elvry's since I'd be there all afternoon with food prep and all. Elvry picked me up just before 1pm and we went to get more food. After that, we went back to her place and started prepping food for cooking. I bought a pack of meat for barbequing.. easy way out. So all we had to make was the salad and mee goreng (fried noodles). We cooked, showered, got changed and then Jay got there with his friend. Both the guys did the barbequing.. and then a few more friends arrived. I think we finally started to eat just after 7... it was a really relaxed night.. just a bunch of friends getting together.. eating together and catching up. I really enjoyed it. My friends knew me so well. I got a voucher for my LSS and also some scrapbook papers and embellies. Another friend compiled a CD of mp3s - a lot of my favorite songs and some new ones that he thought I'd like. :D Went home around 11pm after cleaning up with Elvry. Jay left with his friend and I only managed to take of my make up, changed into my pjs, checked my email and practically fell asleep! All in all, a pretty tiring day, but I was really happy my friends made time to come celebrate with me. Unfortunately, there weren't many photos.. and a lot of them blurred due to the dim lightings. :(

My birthday cake that Jay bought for me - yummy black forest cake. :D

Some photo fun... the whole group minus one of Jay's friend.

Elvry & I - this sweet girl offered her house for me to have my little birthday get together... that was so nice of her. She also made yummy tiramisu and helped me prepare the food! Thanks so much girl!

It was a different kind of birthday for me.. usually I'd go out for dinner with friends at a restaurant, but doing it at home was a nice change too. A lot more relaxed.

On Sunday I just had a lazy day at home, scrapped a little and just chilled.

2 comments |

Do I look older??

Michelle

I had a pretty great birthday! :D

My bosses bought me morning tea and gave me the coolest present ever! Look at how prettily it was wrapped up? When I opened it, I was totally blown away! They gave me a digital photo frame. What it does is that you plug in a memory stick or a USB that has photos and music on it. Then you use the remote control (yes, it has a remote control! ) to play it. A slideshow of photos with music playing will appear on the screen. You can watch movies (if you have it on a memory stick) and also TV if you have an antenna!! How cool is that?!

After work, Jay and I had an early dinner at Harem (middle Eastern food) - it was pretty good. After that, we took a nice drive around the bays and went to Soi Cafe at Evans Bay for coffee. It was such a beautiful clear and sunny day. The cafe was right next to the water and we even saw seagulls right outside the conservatory where we had our coffee.

We went home after coffee.. I don't like going out late on weeknights, makes me feel really tired. My parents and my brother rang me to wish me Happy Birthday too. :D

All in all, a pretty great day!

2 comments |

Happy birthday to Me!!!!

Michelle

Today I turn 28!!! OMG!

My 27 years on this earth has been pretty great so far.... I'm in good health.. I'm surrounded by people I love.. I have achieved some of the things I want to achieve in my life.. I've got a roof over my head, I have a job, I'm never without food... So, nothing to complain.

My aunt did this for me (on our family blog).... some photos are pretty old.. some as recent as last Christmas. :D

Michelle...Ma Belle....7.11.07
Happy Birthday...My Gal

Have a wonderful time..

Be grateful..

Be thankful..

and God Bless you always.

Hugs and Kisses

ti Lin and Un keith

My day so far has been fantastic! It's sunny and warm (my favorite kind of weather).

My bosses bought morning tea and gave me an amazing present (will take photos and post later on tonight).... lot of friends texted, emailed and posted birthday messages for me... and at lunch time I went to church for daily mass. This is something I do every year on my birthday, I have to go to church to give thanks and to ask for God's blessings and guidance for a new year in my life.

Back later to update more! Thanks for all the wishes!

19 comments |

Last day at 27

Michelle

Wow... today is my last day of being 27.

It has been a great year... I've achieved a few things that I set out to achieve... and it feels great!

3 comments |

Weekend is over.. again

Michelle

The weekend just goes too fast!!! Didn't do too much this weekend since Jay has an exam on Tuesday.. so I just stayed home, watched lots of Gilmore Girls and scrapped a little....I love lazy weekends.

Forgot to mention that I have a layout in the November ScrapStreet e-zine. We did a scrap tag and it's really cool to see the original layout and how it turned out at the very end.
Here's mine:

Just a few layouts to share.. this is my bosses' daughter.. got bored of scrapping my own photos.. so I asked them for a few to scrap. My boss (the wife) is a scrapper too, but she's been too busy to scrap, so she's really happy I asked to scrap some photos for her. :D Did this for the Kiwijack that went up this weekend. Go check it out!

DT layouts for OPAAT
October Kit

November Kit

Well... that's all for now...it's Guy Fawkes day tomorrow and there'll be a fireworks display down by the harbour. Not too sure if I'll be go or not, since it's a week night and starts at 9pm, and I don't usually like going out on weeknights. So we'll see...

8 comments |

Hello November!

Michelle

I can't believe that November is here!!

The year has past so fast!

It's my birthday next week! I'm turning another year older! Eeeeeekkk!!!!

This year has been pretty good actually...nothing bad happened... pretty cruisy and happy... as far as I'm concerned.. my 27th year has been pretty darn good! :D

Not sure what I'm doing for my birthday yet.. need to think about that.

Today I finally tracked down the alpha stamps I've been dying to get! So happy! I should be getting it in the mail tomorrow... so excited! :D

Anyway.. that's all for now.. back again tomorrow. I'm really trying to get back in the habit of blogging more.

4 comments |

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Michelle

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all who celebrate!!!

I can't believe that October is over.. and my birthday is in a week!!!!

Been a little busy lately... got my OPAAT kits last week... have yet to work on the October kits.. but did get to finish my November one. :D

More updates soon. :D

3 comments |

Mojo's back baby! YEAH!!!

Michelle

My week has gone by so quickly my head is spinning!!! Work has been really really busy.. when I get home at night I'm just so exhausted!

First of all, Happy 30th Anniversary to my mom and dad!

Exciting news! My challenge is up for this week at Scrap In Style. Head over there and join in the challenges! There are lots of great prizes up for grabs!

For me scrapping is not just about scrapping only the good things, but also the not so good ones. Life isn't always rosy and scrapping only the good things doesn't give a balanced or real look at my life. So my challenge to you is to scrap a regret - it doesn't have to be anything super serious if you don't want to. It can be regretting that extra slice of pizza you had or a friendship lost over something silly. I really regretted never wearing my braces to the full prescribed term, so here's my layout about losing the chance to have nice teeth. My challenge is to scrap a regret... here's my layout.

The long weekend is gone.. that was really fast!! I had a quiet one.. stayed home and scrapped all day Saturday and ordered pizza for dinner! Sunday I stayed in again.. just trying to scrap and mooch around and surf the gallery at SIStv. In the evening I went out to dinner with Jay. We went to the Diwali Festival after dinner and watched Indian dance performances including belly dancers and the runners up and winners of the Bollywood dance competition. That was quite enjoyable... and the plus point - free entertainment!

On Monday I scrapped in the morning and then went to the Wakefield Market for a late lunch. together with Jay. We met up with Laura, Peter and Adri there. After lunch Jay and I took a long drive around the bays. It was a gorgeous day.. sunny and warm. Just totally beautiful! It was great.Went home after that.. and just relaxed.. getting mentally prepared for work on Tuesday.

Mojo's back!!! I scrapped 5 layouts throughout the weekend! 4 on Saturday itself.. that's a record for me... see.. I'm a slow scrapper... and the most I've ever done is 2 1/2 layouts in one day... that's why I'm so excited and happy I actually churned these babies out!

LOVE the KC Collection!!! I just can't wait to create more layouts using the collection! JJ totally sent me mojo together with it!!!

I did this a couple of weeks ago... had the idea in my head for a while..Doodled all the little squares! :D

Okay.. that's all for now.. Off to get on with my DT work... :D

11 comments |

Things to share

Michelle

WOW! I can't believe I've not updated for so long!! The days seem to just creep up on me!!! I don't even know where to start.

My bosses are back in town.. and they brought me lots of pressies! :D They totally spoilt me!

Pashmina from Turkey
Worry beads from Athens
Necklace and pocket mirror from Paris
Plus Alien (perfume) and Toblerone too!

I haven't been in the mood to scrap at all for some reason.. no... actually I've been dying to scrap.. but when I sit down to scrap... I just can't seem to do it.. there's just no mojo! It's just really frustrating! Ugh!

I've got a layout that will be published in the ScrapStreet e-zine next month.

Attended a friend's bday dinner last weekend... and played pool with my ex-flatmate who was in town. I can still play! YAY! :D

Work has been insanely busy.

I got my box of goodies that JJ sent me for being the L'il Sis this month. OMG I LOVE everything she picked out for me!! And also the KC Collection! Woohoo! I can't wait to scrap this weekend.. it's Labour weekend here.. so it's a long one.... and the last long weekend before Christmas.... Weather is forecasted to be quite cold.. almost winter like.. so it's perfect to stay home and scrap.

I just got caught up with all my This Is Me challenges.. and now I've fallen behind again! Darn missing mojo! I did get this one done though.. more to come...

Hopefully I'll be back to update soon!

TGIF tomorrow!!! Woohoo!

7 comments |

October

Michelle

I had great intentions in updating my blog last weekend..but of course totally forgot about it! :)

WOW! It's October already. For me, October is the beginning of daylight savings. I love how the days get longer each day. A sign that summer is just around the corner. October is also when the flowers start to bloom - spring is in the air. This is also a month I contemplate a lot..How the year has just flown by.. what had I hoped to achieve at the beginning of the year.. have I achieved them. October is welcomed with mixed emotions - anticipation of summer and regret that another year is soon coming to an end. This is what October means to me.

Not much happening around here... just some things that are making me happy right now!

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Big Sis aka JJ has named me her first L'il Sis - in October. This totally makes my day today....

Warm Fuzzies

You can bet I'll be scrapping it!!

The Boutique at SIS has opened.. and in conjunction with that, there's a month-long celebration at SIStv! Come along and check out all the challenges and the widget competition! Lots of prizes are up for grabs.

Did a bit of catching up with my This Is Me journal entries in the past few days.

Here they are:

These two I did a week ago:

A layout I did in the weekend of my cutie pie cousins.

Well.. that's about it for now.. nothing much else to report apart from the fact that tomorrow is THURSDAY! Yay!!!!

15 comments |

Spring was here for a while...

Michelle

I was soooooo happy to see the sun! On Saturday I went out for brunch with the usual brunch crew - Adri, Laura and Andy... and Liang(Andy's wife) and Laura's mom.... we went to Sweet Mother's Kitchen. Now we've been there really often for dinner and dessert before, but most of us haven't been there for brunch so we thought we'd check it out.

I had Big J's breakfast (pictured below)... it was pretty good.. the sausage was really tasty! Full of flavors! After brunch we went for a walk along the waterfront and ended up at a restaurant/bar for coffee. Spent a couple of hours there just catching up with each other and it was great. The day was just lovely with a light breeze.. and you can see so many girls walking around in summer gear!!!

Went home and Jay asked if I wanted to go to the Botanical Gardens to take photos. I jumped at the chance since it was such a nice day and I've not had any new photos lately. So we walked around and got lots of photos!! YAY!

That evening I chatted with Lies on MSN and kinda got myself and Jay invited over for dinner! :) She had asked me on Friday for my mee goreng recipe.. and when we chatted.. she reported that she'd made them and they came out a little different to how mine tasted. So I said, she'll need to make them for me one day to test. And she said 'now?' and that's how Jay and I ended up at Lies' place for dinner. We got to meet Mao, one of Lies' flatmates. He's an avid photographer.. and has taken amazing photos! I loved them!! He took out his fisheye lense and we had a bit of silly fun! LOL!

All in all.. a great night... good food (Yes Lies.. your mee goreng was great!!!) and great company.. and a funny comedy, The Sweetest Thing (one of my all time favorites!) on TV. Just perfect.

Sunday was pretty quiet.. Jay and I went to North City Plaza for a look around... I was on the hunt for Fiskars XL Circle punch at KMart but there wasn't any there! Hmph! We had an early dinner at the foodcourt and off we went to do a bit of grocery shopping and that was our Sunday.

All in all a pretty satisfying weekend!

A few shots from my Saturday

Big J's Breakfast