Ag May ...

Shanghai Street Dumpling House 342 Little Bourke St Upon the recommendation of jetsettingjoyce , I decided to treat myself to some dumplings for lunch one day.   The day was stinking hot, the location was a not-so-short-walk-but-too-short-for-a-tram away, but I was determined.   And my determination and brief walk paid off.    Seated alone by the window bar, I ordered the mini fried buns and boiled pork dumplings.   The view was essential Melbourne with old buildings towered by new (ish, anyway), and small non-descript laneways hiding a treasure trove of glorious food and eclectic shops.   Shanghai Street Dumpling House is a small diner-like eatery like many other Asian eateries around Melbourne.  Limited seating is available, but the turn around of customers was quick from what I could observe, so the wait did not seem long for a table.  Service is fast and efficient.  Cash only.  Really – a no fuss place.  The focus is on the food. And so it should be… Th

Here's a snippet of some of my enjoyable moments during the past two weeks which I was able to capture on "film".  Enjoy! A luxurious coffee and cake on my own Mint Flake! Sisterly love at the dinner table Trying out a new recipe from Hello Kitty Cousin playdate One-on-one with mom My little ponies Can I join in the outfit-of-the-day photo session?  No clothes - no problem! Our first cast Mom's first week at work - how the girls sleep A back to work gift Sisterly pillows Our first fallen tooth

Hey everyone!   I’ve been thinking about my blog and what it is that inspires me to blog.   And here’s the deal… I like to write; I like to have an outlet for my thoughts (especially since I have a lot of them – like keeping track of where the number plates are up to and what ever happened to the series of number plates starting with G, H, I, J, K and L and maybe M but I’m not so sure about that one and yes, it’s just another rambling thought). Eh, excuse me, back on topic. Oh yeah, and I like to think that my thoughts and activities might be of use to someone some time somewhere.   Maybe even of use to me at a later date if I’m in need of inspiration. I originally started to blog, amongst other reasons, to document my journey into the crafts.   And now, I’ve started to view crafting as an extension to how I view my life and how I want to live at this point in our life.   So, I’m changing the focus of my blog and I hope that you can come along this journey with me.

I love Christmas.   I didn’t use to but now I do.   I’m sure it has something to do with having kids. These days, amongst the food and family and presents, Christmas and New Year seems to trigger the “look at my life” syndrome.   And part of this is this need in me to let my friends know, both those that I see on a regular basis and those that I see infrequently, that I am thinking of them. So, I make Christmas presents.   And this year, thanks to an inspiration by my sis a couple of years ago, I made some origami cranes in glass baubles. If you’re saying “oh, that’s nice”, well it wasn’t quite the reaction I was going for.   But if you’re saying “pretty, but how in heavens (or some other similar exclamation) did she get the crane in there?”.   Then that was the reaction I was going for. I think these could do with some jazzing up, but with a heartfelt note and some pretty wrapping, it more than serves my purpose. To my dearest friends and my lovely readers –

Let’s talk makeup. Firstly, what’s the deal?   Initially, to me, makeup was just something that you put on your face.   And that it had to look like you had put something on your face so that you can be deemed an adult. Until… one day, I was surfing the internet and I came across this beauty guru .   And I fell in love.   I fell in love with how I was looking at her face and not her makeup.   I fell in love with how she made Asian features look beautiful.   In how she took her beautiful youthful Asian face and turned it into a beautiful refined Asian face.   And that was part of my revelation – while I appreciated my Asian genes allowing me a youthful appearance, I wanted to be more refined and mature at the same time.   I saw how makeup could help me reflect how I feel about myself.   Ok, maybe not so much the refined bit and more the mature bit.   Ok, ok – maybe not so much the mature bit and more not-so-young.   Whatever.   There was just something about her look that a

Hi everyone!  And if you've had a birthday sometime last year (hehehe!!!), then HAPPY BIRTHDAY! It's been a homemade/handmade birthday theme this past year.  As much as possible, I have tried to give handmade gifts or contributed to a party as my present.  What I am most pleased about is that I have tried to use, as much as possible, the supplies that I already have on hand. Here's a snapshot of some of the gifts given this past year... Handmade notebooks with pen and paper (the paper was sometimes printed with Made By ... ).  This is, proudly, my own creation. Fabric Balloon balls for the little ones (again, my own creation!)... A variety of cakes (including a Yoda cake!! Yeah - for once my failed icing colouring actually comes in good!).  This was made by searching for heaps and heaps of images on the internet and trying to sculpt accordingly.  Dear Husband made for an awesome critic (in this instance) - "It's Yoda.  It had better be