The Week In Review - Cinderella, Superfood Shipment, Berries Breakkie + Skinny Pie
By Melissa - Thursday, March 26, 2015
The Weekend That Was series (posts documenting how my weekends were spent) are sporadic in recent days due to the flurry of activities. Afterwards, Monday comes calling and the entire week... happens.
Until they (the series) strut in and make a full comeback, I'll be incorporating the interesting bits (if any) in the weekday posts.
A little insight on how my week (and weekend) went...
1. Cinderella with my uncle and The Little Sister on Friday (March 20th, 2015).
There are many things I did not enjoy about the live-action adaptation of this animated classic - Cinderella's behemoth (and frankly, rather ugly) blue gown, the unadventurous plot and the prosaic soundtrack, to name a few.
And already, I can feel the glares of the many, many fangirls of this movie burning up my skin…
So, here are the takeaways that I do love about this movie - The visually stunning world that was created, Cate Blanchett's terrific performance as the evil stepmother and the simple yet powerful reminder (which I hope will resonate within every man, woman and child watching) to have courage and be kind.
2. Meatless Monday.
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| Hard-boiled egg on wholegrain toast, sauteed mushrooms with thyme and butterhead lettuce. |
3. My shipment from iHerb arrived on Tuesday!
Exclamation point because I'm mad happy about the deal I got for the organic chia seeds (way cheaper, even after the USD-MYR conversion rate) and I'm pretty excited to try out the maca powder - one of the best superfoods for women to partake - after reading up on the glowing product reviews.
4. Berries for breakfast.
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| Korean strawberries and frozen blueberries. |
5. Skinny Shepherd's Pie.
The Week In Review - Colourful Breakfast, Ma's Birthday & Macaron = Burger
By Melissa - Friday, March 20, 2015
Hectic week, with much to do and as it always is, Time was not on our side. But, that's a never-ending story, so let's not get into that.
Some pics from this week's happenings and shenanigans...
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1. Fruity goodness for breakfast all through the week
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| Bananas, frozen blueberries and Korean strawberries. |
2. Meatless Monday - I'm thinking of making this a permanent fixture in my diet plan.
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| Sauteed mushrooms with herbs and toast. |
3. My beautiful Ma's birthday on Tuesday (March 17th, 2015)
Thank you for loving me before you ever laid eyes on me and thank you for choosing to love me now, 25 years later, after you've seen it all.
4. A macaron and a burger are identical.
Based on my colleague (TL)'s interpretation, logic and vision.
See, another colleague of ours got married this past weekend. She invited all of us and most of us were unable to attend the wedding luncheon because it wasn't held in Penang. So, we did the next best thing - We entrusted our gifts to Santa and got him to deliver it to her on our behalf, since he was slated to attend the ceremony.
She returned to the office a couple of days after, and gave us a macaron each as a token of appreciation for our gifts.
TL is two cubicles away from my little space in the office. When he returned to his desk, I distinctively heard him mutter to himself (in Mandarin), "Who placed this BURGER on my table?"
My other colleague, Kimi (who I assume heard TL's mumbling as well) exclaimed loudly a few seconds later, "HELLO! This is a macaron okay. MA!-CA!-RON!", all while brandishing the macaron at his face.
I tried holding in my laughter, but to no avail.
In the end, I laughed with tears streaming down my face, underneath my desk, with both hands cupped over my mouth.
BTW, a little education...
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| Source: Instagram. |
The Weekend That Was - BBQ Party, My Happy Baby, Butterfly Sighting + Mulberries-Picking
By Melissa - Monday, March 09, 2015
Saturday (March 7th, 2015)
PM: BBQ Party with Dee's cycling buddies.
We met at Uncle ST's place, and I adored the huge compound surrounding his house. I took the liberty of snapping a couple of pics before the barby began.
Soon after, the grill was fired up and the air was spiced with the most delicious aroma; an appetite-rousing mix of smoke and marinated meat. Yums.
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| From L to R (top to bottom): AMAZING baby back pork ribs, black pepper lamb (yuck!) and honey chicken wings. |
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| Garlic rosemary bread and tomato-olives bread. |
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| Homemade coconut ice-cream. Served with a swirl of gula melaka syrup, red kidney beans and cendol. |
It was a lovely gathering with the sound of laughter filling the night, an overabundance of food (FYI, what you're seeing in this post is only half of what was served that night - I made 8 kilos worth of mashed potatoes!) and new friendships.
Sunday (March 8th, 2015)
AM: Church.
Noon: Family lunch.
PM: Playtime with Max, ruby-red stained hands from picking ripe mulberries in our garden and caught sight of a butterfly before the evening was curtained by nightfall.
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| My happy baby, basking in the sun. |
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| Hi Mumma! |
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| Fresh mulberries. |
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| Winged beauty. |
The Week In Review - Melissa's Food Shop, Mulberries Compote + Chap Goh Meh Feast
By Melissa - Friday, March 06, 2015
Monday (March 2nd, 2015)
AM: Work.
PM: After-dinner decadence (courtesy of my aunt)...
Tuesday (March 3rd, 2015)
AM: Breakfast, complimentary from Strawberry Shortcake.
PM: Standing date with my bestie.
Wednesday (March 4th, 2015)
AM: Silenced the deafening cries of my alarm, rolled over to pick up Aurelia Bea and this was my first WA message of the day... Read more about Melissa's Food Shop with Foot Baths *here*.
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| Pic taken and sent by Archangel (who's in South Africa, at the moment). |
Breakfast was organic yoghurt, homemade mulberries compote + cucumber-pineapple juice with aloe vera and chia seeds.
Noon: Lunch - Lotus root soup.
Thursday (March 5th, 2015)
AM: Work.
PM: Chap Goh Meh (15th and final day of the lunar new year) feast with my family.
For one night only, I left Calories Counting at the door and indulged in a bowl of bubur cha cha (sweet potato soup, which is richly flavoured with thick coconut milk).
Friday (March 6th, 2015)
AM: Work
PM: The weekend couldn't come soon enough. My bed and I are planning to get reacquainted; it wouldn't be like the old days, but it's alright... We're good with taking things slow.
Most of the time, when I'm asked a question, I reply with an answer or explanation almost instantaneously.
I'm wired that way. I think of the what's coming while living in the now synchronously and I have an opinion on everything. Put the two and two together, and my nano second reply rate will make perfect sense to anyone.
However, after being at CM for 2 years, I have learned that it is best if I don't offer an immediate answer to every question I'm asked. Here's why...
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I was in Jakarta for a business trip with my boss 1.5 years ago and for the first two nights that we were there, we put up at Sunlake Hotel. Every room came with a claw leg bathtub, which made me very happy.
Once the meetings for the day were done and over with, I returned to my room and scrubbed every inch of the tub. Afterwards, I drew up a bath and submerged myself in the warm embrace of geranium bubbles. I went to bed all toasty that night.
The next morning at breakfast, my boss was griping about the hotel not having shower heads installed.
Like greased lightning, I whipped out Evie (Aurelia Bea's predecessor) and proceeded to show him a pic I took the night before.
I told him that the unassuming, lonesome thing was actually the shower head. All he had to do was to gently pull it out from its handle.
My boss listened intently to my explanation, stared at the picture and burst out laughing a few minutes later. After catching his breath, the following conversation ensued:
My boss: *still chuckling* Why would you show me a pic of you taking a bath?
Me: I DID NOT! I showed you a pic of the tub and the shower head.
My boss: *laughs even harder* It's a pic of you taking a bath. I'm gonna call you Bubble Toes from now onwards.
Me: *mortified* NoooOOOooooOOoo...
And just like that, for the next few weeks, I was Bubble Toes. To add salt to my already wounded ego, everyone else in my department got wind of the incident because of my bequeathed nickname.
That was the past. Way back in 2013. I thought that this embarrassing incident was locked in a forgotten vault which will never be opened again.
I was wrong. Today, a blast from the past paid me a visit.
I woke up to a WA message sent by Archangel, who's in South Africa at the moment...
A little while later...
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Lesson learned. Well and good. My blushing cheeks are a testament to that.
2015 Favourites - Red Carpet Gowns At The 87th Annual Academy Awards
By Melissa - Wednesday, March 04, 2015
Author's note: This post is a backlog from last Monday, which I never got to complete until today because Life unloaded an armful of stuff on me.
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Streamed the primetime encore of the 87th Annual Academy Awards and while there are a few notable moments which I loved (Neil Patrick Harris' opening number, Patricia Arquette's acceptance speech, Maroon 5's hypnotic performance, to name a few), I was really watching the broadcast for The Arrivals.
Here are some of my favourite red carpet ensembles of the night:
1. America Ferrera in an ethereal seafoam Jenny Packham dress.
Chiffon, just enough skin and a dramatic ombre effect. Serious love for this dreamy gown.
2. Emma Stone in a dazzling Elie Saab gown.
I might not be too crazy about the hue of the dress (chartreuse is one of my least favorite colours ever created) but I am most certainly nuts about the high slit and to-die-for back of the gown.
3. Jenna Dewan-Tatum in Zuhair Murad.
TOTALLY digging the plunging neckline and gorgeous detailing of the gown.
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This does it - I'm gonna set up a savings fund for a couture gown. And, I'm SO gonna hit the gym... tomorrow.
Saturday (Feb 28th, 2015)
AM: House viewing party.
My uncle recently bought a new house and we couldn't be happier for him. The Little Sister and I are counting down the days for the project to be completed so that the both of us could play interior decorators.
PM: Bathed Max on my own instead of sending him to the groomer's.
My little boy was all peachy and dandy after his bath, and looked mighty pleased with himself. Total Mumma's boy this one and that's more than alright by me (only in the case of canine sons).
Sunday (March 1st, 2015)
AM: Kicking off the first day of the month in church. No place better to be.
