Watercoloured Stripes with Scooter Boy

Have you been loving stripes lately? There's something nautical and fresh about stripes and they're such a wardrobe staple as they seem to come back in season often.

I was attracted to the watercolour-ish look of these chunky stripes. The blurry shades of blue popped beautifully with a necklace my Mum gave me.

This is my baby step into mixing stripes with dots. The black shorts have tiny little swiss dots on them and to add on chaos to the clashing prints, I added gold glittery flats.

We got a Micro scooter for Bubs, it's designed to be used from age 1 - 7 (or approx 20kg, I think). It comes with a little attached seat for when they're still small to push with both legs and you can remove the seat and change it to a handle bar when they get better coordinated or taller.

Bubs was doing a happy little dance while waiting for Hubs to fix it. He kept calling it a bicycle and was sooo excited because he's seen Elmo on his tricycle.

Off we go! This was just seconds before he fell over, LOL. I'd no idea how he could fall over from something that had 3 wheels and was pretty stable. He got this freaked out look and kept saying "pom pom (fall down) ah!" It took us a lot of coaxing for him to get back on the scooter.

And after a few days, he refused to sit on it by himself unless we're hoovering behind him to get ready to catch him if he falls. He decided it'd be far more fun to put Elmo on it and push Elmo along.

Chocolate Soy Mousse

A long, long time ago, my parents would take my sister, brother and me to hotel buffet lunches every Sunday. It was our thing and a much anticipated one too. There would be dazzling arrays of dishes to choose from, white clad waiting staff that were friendly to us little kids and of course, the best part were the rows of scrumptious desserts.

Back in the 80s, the most sophisticated dessert I'd ever seen and tasted was chocolate mousse. I was amazed at how it looked like ice cream, tasted like ice cream but yet wasn't ice cream and didn't melt. And the name! Mousse! I kept calling it a chocolate mouse and when Mum corrected me, my 7 year old mind conjured up images of an edible chocolate moose.

So I got all nostalgic and reminiscing about my childhood dessert when I saw this post (recipe included) for an easy chocolate soy mousse that didn't require a lot of fancy ingredients.

Get a bar of chocolate ... I choose to be naughty and got a few more than the recipe recommended just for that extra chocolaty taste.

And a block of soft tofu. Yes, people, I go organic where possible.

Break the bar(s) of chocolate into chunks and melt them over a pot of boiling water.

Blend the uncooked tofu with the melted chocolate, chill and serve.

Tadaaa, instant chocolate soy mousse!

All About Bubs

Cup of Jo's post about being initially disappointed on having a boy resonated with me. To those that know me, I'm such a girly girl, I can't stop shopping for pretty things and thought it would be incredibly fun to dress a little girl up in little tutus and play with Barbies. I remember confiding my fears in Hubs when we found out that Bubs was a boy.

"I don't know how to play with boys ... what on earth do you play with boys?" was a constant wail.

All that changed when we met Bubs for the very first time. He's a little bundle of energy, even from the very first day - he'd cry lustily whenever displeased, gulp his milk down hungrily like it was the best thing he'd ever had and kick his little legs around.

At 19 months old now, it's like having a mini whirlwind in the house. He fidgets when sitting down, runs around non stop, swings open the fridge and never fails to rush to Hubs or me screaming "ma-meee, da-deeee!", demanding a bao bao.

Like Joanna, I view the world now through his little boy's eyes. Things that were mundane before, such as soap suds, strays or stones, become objects of wonder. What do you do with little boys? There's nothing you can't do! Everyday is a new learning experience and constant activity for Bubs. Here are a few things we do together:

Bubs is at the stage where he's fascinated with wovvs wovvs (dogs) and miaooo (cats). Every time we go on walks, he tries to spot strays and waves frantically to them. This photo was taken at a kopitiam where he was fixated with the cat there.

I'm ashamed to say that Hubs and Bubs are both early risers and they mercifully let me have 1 - 2 hours extra in bed on weekends. When Bubs decides that I've had enough sleep, he bounces on the bed excitedly to show me his latest discovery of the day hidden in his hands: pebbles

It was our first time exploring poster paints together and we made such a mess. We didn't have any brushes so we improvised with a spoon, a fork and our hands.

I got cheap Popsicle makers but the plastic looked really flimsy so I didn't really want to eat anything from it and put it to good use by making colourful ice blocks for Bubs to play with during bath time. Bubbles and other kitchen utensils are his favourite thing right now. We've an assortment of bowls and spoons kept in the shower and Hubs said "so anytime I can't find something from the kitchen, I can find it here?"

Can't wait to create more fun memories and see the look of wonder and amazement on his face :)

My Everyday Face

Every single morning, I roll out of bed and when I look into the mirror, I give a little eek! If Bubs was good the night before and if I get my 10 hours of sleep, then all's well. Otherwise ...

Freckles are my bane. They are one of the things that somehow look cute on others but so out of place on me :( I don't even understand how I get them as I'm very particular about not stepping out of the house without some form of SPF on. And let's talk dark eye circles, I've always had problems with them but if Bubs is getting through a fussy growth spurt or a difficult teething period, they end up looking like bruises.

So to avoid looking like an extra from The Night of the Living Dead, these are my everyday essentials ...

Can I tell you how much I love Bobbi Brown's BB cream? I used to use a separate sunblock, wait for it to dry, then tinted moisturizer on top because I felt the SPF 15 in tinted moisturizers were inadequate until D told me about this BB cream. It has SPF 35, it feels more hydrating and has a slightly thicker coverage so it hides some of my freckles. To conceal all my tired looking bits, I use Bobbi Brown's Face Touch Up Stick. It hides my dark eye circles (they've a separate concealer for that but I prefer products that multitask), lightens freckles and annoying little zits.

I'm a blush addict - there's something about a swirl of colour on my cheeks that just makes me look more awake and lively. I can't narrow my favourite blush down to just a single shade but my current to go colour is MAC's Briar Rose (limited edition from the Venomous Villains collection). I've a soft spot for Maleficent, the elegant, evil sorceress from Sleeping Beauty.

Happy Birthday!

Birthdays for Hubs and I have been low key events now with usually just a cake (why hello, Humble Beginnings) at home. Can I tell you about my love for mille crepes?

 Delicate layers and layers of cream filled with cream, chocolate bits and dabs of peanut butter. Bubs was excitedly shouting "cake", before me could stop him, he bent over the box and used his mouth to steal bites of the chocolate shaving on top :)

Bubs had a blast blowing out the candle, it took him more than a few tries and yes, I'm pretty sure the top of the cake was splattered with his attempts (sorry to those that I gave pieces of the cake to)

A joint effort birthday card from my two boys.

 

And one of the best presents ever - my first durian of the season ... soooo so good. I'm one of those weird people that eat durian with a spoon and a bowl. Love the taste but hate the lingering smell on my fingers that I just can't get off, no matter how many times I lather up my hands with soap so this is the easiest solution. Bubs and I were fighting over this bowl of durian, he kept saying "more! more!"

Thanks to everyone for your well wishes, cards and pressies :) I feel so loved and blessed.