Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Burgers and Christmas Lights

Hi blog xxxxxxxx

I'm finally home from my short weekend trip to London! I always do love London but I get so tired always hahaha I'm so used to being so inactive in Bristol that it gets admittedly difficult to adjust to such a quick-paced life there. But regardless, I had such a great time!

I spent dinner and lunch with Zaim - both times we ate at a burger place. First we ate at Stax and I'm pretty sure everyone's heard of it and has been there but it truly is such a great place for a hearty burger. It's really small and when we got there, they told us to wait for an hour. When she first asked "Do you have an hour?", I honestly thought it was just her being sarcastic because an hour????? But we did and it was a good thing it's so near to Topshop so we went there to do some sneaky Christmas shopping. I only got a pair of MUM jeans (my favourite type of jeans now, so roomy and so comfortable and it's so chilled and lai dback - kinda like me only in the form of denim hehe). There wasn't anything else that particularly stood out for me. I did get a furry keychain though and it's the cutest thing and so nice to play with! It's grey so it matches with my bag so well. I can't wait to get more! For all of my handbags!!



This was my second attempt on taking a photo of the very pretty Kingly Court and both INTERRUPTED by Zaim. See what I have to live with.


What a shopper, geez. (all actually mine)


I tried out the chicken and waffle and it wasn't bad!! The maple syrup oddly complimented the unlikely duo. But the cheese burger and Cajun fries still the bomb.


Probably sending a message or Snapchat to Iman who is the biggest lover of burgers. Only fair, she sends us like a million KGB snaps all the time.



I then also spent most of my time with Amal and Fatin and Najwa! Amal came over from Canada and was also the main and sole reason I came down to London. Don't think I would've made the trip if not to meet up with her. Was very nice to just chill with her and she's always the best reminder of KY to me. Everytime I hang with her, I'm reminded fondly of our days in KY and we're like the two biggest KY reps you will find hahaha

We went to eat at Roti King one morning which was something I was super super excited about. These past few weeks I have been craving for roti canai so so so so much and ever since I knew about the existence of Roti King, I was very determined to make a trip there. 


Ahh, the beauty of Malaysia. 


So for four girls, mee goreng mamak, kway teow, 2 portions of roti canai, roti telur, and lamb murtabak. Totes norms.




While waiting in the line for Roti King. Calling for any Malaysian entrepreneurs to please start more authentic Malaysian restaurants like this!

And then we went to Carnaby Street which was beautiful. The Christmas lights all around Central London is mesmerising and Carnaby Street was no exception! I didn't get anything from Brandy Melville this time round because as you know, I'm trying to refrain from buying winter things seeing how I already have enough boring sweaters at home to last the whole of winter. So I'm saving lotssssss of money from not buying knits and wooly goodies. I can't wait to go shopping there in Spring/Summer - their tees are lush. They're very Malaysia friendly seeing how they are so light-weight and forgiving.





This is Azam showing me photos of Taylor Swift on Brandy Melville's wall and that is me pretending to be interested...


I also went out for dinner with Dayana!! I've known her for a long time ago through social media (she's also the owner of the blog I mentioned in my November Favourites post) and she came to London for a few days before flying back home. 

She suggested Vapiano - an Italian place on Great Portland Street and this was our first time trying the place out. It had an interesting concept to it - when you enter the place, the hostess will give you a card and it acts like your Touch 'n' Go. So you go to any counter where you tell them what you want - you can choose any type of pasta for any of the different dishes. I stuck to my old time favourite - aglio olio and when you order, you're asked to tap your card at the counter and after you finish eating, you just go over to the final counter located at the entrance of the store and from there they'll know how much your meal was. Which was pretty interesting. They also go by free seating so it was kinda like a food court almost ? Only fancy. And my pasta was really really good!!! I thought it was going to be pretty bleh because it didn't look particularly appetising but it was actually really sedap. I loved it and I'd love to go again next time if anyone wants to fulfil their pasta cravings. 
Also, super nice to have had a sit-down dinner with her. The place is actually quite loud (maybe cause it was a Friday night) but it was really lively and so I guess it's not a very formal place which makes it great to have dinners like these! Laughed loads, learnt a lot and just overall such a good time with Dayana. We had a lot more in common than I thought and conversations went from Princess Diaries to how scary the future is for both of us. 





After the dinner, I went to Leicester Square to meet up with Amal and Mun where we laughed and laughed and LAUGHED some more over pastries and tea. It was a great day - from one friend to another. Maybe this is the charm of London - once you're in the city, getting from one place to another isn't difficult and you meet lots of friends here and there. Hmmm maybe I get it now. I always see on Instagram and Twitter and on Snapchat especially of my London friends meeting up with their other London friends so often and here I hardly meet Zati, Azam and Sofia haha. 
Ok fine London, I get it, you're charming, I get it.











Thanks for the weekend, dear city of London. You were and always will be mesmerising! 


xx

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

December's Wishlist

Tis the season to be jolly!! We are approaching Christmas now and just like every festive season, the holiday spirit is contagious! Christmas is so beautiful; the lights, the decorations, the Christmas markets, even the wrapping paper is beautiful! It just dawned on me that this year's Christmas would be my last as a student in the UK!! I'm actually really devastated because despite the horrible weather, Christmas is so stunning here. Everywhere is just jolly and decorated with gorgeous fairy lights and Christmas trees. My heart swells whenever I pass by houses adorned with Christmas ornaments. Reminds me of the 'Raya lights' my grandfather would put up around his house come Raya! And I'm also really sad because every year I would look forward to Bristol's Christmas market for its Dutch poffertjes. Amazing. I only order the one with butter and icing sugar. Amazing. I'm questioning myself as to why I'm not having it every day in fact..

Anyway, the point of this post was to write my wish list down. I used to write these all the time. Wishlists. But it only went as far as that... just wishing. Hahaha.

I'm only going to London for a weekend this time 'round because I can't really be bothered to stay on for Christmas and Boxing Day so besides catching up with friends and eating loads, I'm hoping to squeeze some sneaky little Christmas shopping for myself.

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1 Shoes

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I've said this before; I really don't like shoe shopping.

I have one pair of black heels that I wear for every formal occasion; it's been with me for about 3-4 years.
If the flats I'm wearing have no holes, I'm good. Don't need a new one.
I currently only have one good pair of boots (The zipper on my Primark thigh high boots gave out eventually so I'm now left with one). And it's no longer doing its job, unfortunately. For every puddle I step in, my socks get more and more wet. There was a 'Would you rather...' question once involving '... or would you constantly wear wet socks?' which sounded like a torture.

It is.

So I'm now on the hunt on getting a pair of trainers/sneakers. I didn't really want one before because I know myself and I know that when I reach Malaysian shores, I'll only reach for my flats and sandals. But now I'm thinking I need to get a new pair of footwear because I foresee rainy days ahead and I really don't want to have sloshy steps. And the only feasible option was to get a pair of trainers. Reason being is that I plan to go back to Malaysia for good after graduation (which is only in a few months) so getting a pair of expensive boots would not make sense. Besides, I can always use my trainers as sports shoes for the days I go to the gym (hahahahahahahahahahahahaha).



So what do I want? I don't even know to be honest! Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of trainers so I don't know what's 'nice' and what's not. They all look the same to me. For now, the only thing I have in mind is a simple black one. And it has to be light weight and not too bulky. And not too expensive either. So basically Bata school shoes.

I was looking around the other day and they all looked like really serious running shoes. Look, Nike, I just want a simple one, I don't need sole absorbers or what have you. Just get me a decent one without making it look like I was going to run a marathon.

Sigh I miss my sandals.

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2 Foundation

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Tried and tested - NARS' Sheer Glow is the winner for me. I highly recommend it - it is my holy grail foundation and I'm reminded on how much I love it with every application. I'm almost nearing the last drop now so I'm torn between just sticking to it or getting a brand new one from a new brand. I've read a lot of positive reviews for Charlotte Tilbury's Magic Foundation and I'm quite inclined to get it. It's also slightly cheaper than NARS' which is a plus.

I don't know if I should put my faith (and money) in Charlotte Tilbury's hands or should I just stick to what I know best? I'm very curious to how 'magic' this foundation is so I might make a trip to the CT counter one of these days. I try to find stockists OTHER than in Selfridges because that place is just crawling with people and sales assistant don't even look at you if you're not an Arab or Chinese so I've given up with that place.

Other than a new foundation and concealer, I've not been pining over any new make-up as of late. In fact, I left a lot of it back home. I only brought back a few lipsticks and a few of my NARS' eyeshadows. Maybe I should try getting a new blusher...

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3 Camera

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Ok, this is a big purchase. I think I might only get it once I get home to Malaysia next year. But I've been wanting a new camera for a bit now. I love my Pen but it's just too heavy and too bulky to bring anywhere. I want something you can just dump in your handbag instead of around your neck. So ideally, a point and shoot camera. Also with the camera I have now, although it takes beautiful photos in the day, it fails me once night falls. I've tried all sorts of settings but it's just not a night camera which is unfortunate because most of the events and occasions that would require me to whip my camera out happens to be at night or in low-lighting.

Maybe I should sell my current one? Hmm.

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4 A backpack.

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Seeing how this is already my third year, I made a choice to not bring any of my handbags back to Bristol. Because i) I didn't want to go through the hassle of bringing them back home later ii) What would I need to bring anyway? Just cards and phone. I don't even bring my wallet out anymore.

Then I remembered I'm a girl and I'm Asian.

Because where am I going to put my water bottle, my power bank (which btw the locals do NOT understand. It's revolutionary, guys. Keep up!), my hand cream, my mints/gum and a book??? Ok fine, I don't carry around a book with me but I'd like to have the option to??? I only have my WOC with me which can only barely fit my cards and lipstick. Everything else are all stuffed in my pockets. The bag I carry to university is a BRIGHT orange one and it doesn't go with outfits (hahaha allow me to be petty once in a while) so much so I'm looking to get a pretty decent backpack. Again, black. Leather. A non-fussy bag for a very fussy England. I also bought an 'N' sticker a while back and I want to slap it on and have a furry keychain with it.
It's going to be cute, guys. Wait for it.





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5 Pillow

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I have 7 pillows on my bed but they're all very soft and flat (might be because they're all like £3 a pop so ok fine my fault) but recently I had friends over so I had them sleep in my room and I slept in my housemate's room. She has 2 pillows. And both pillows are the memory foam ones. And man. There's a reason they're quite pricey in comparison to other pillows. They're amazinggggg! They appear quite shapely and hard but once your head hits the pillow, it just moulds comfortably for you. I can't believe I'm going on about a pillow but I'm soooo going to get these babies and have plenty of beautiful naps with 'em.


_____


That's all for my wish list! Besides the camera, it's a pretty realistic list I think. (Hi Mum)

The thing I'm looking most forward to shop for?

I can scrape the last bits of my foundation and moisturiser no problem and I'll just avoid puddles but man, those pillows. Dreamlike.

xx


Friday, December 11, 2015

VITS



I'm going to bullet-point my way through this blog post.

  • You'd think after living independently for a bit, I'd get the hang of routinely buying my groceries. I used to always complain about how often my mum would go grocery shopping. Every time we were in a mall, she always always ALWAYS makes a trip to the supermarket. Now that I'm living on my own, I undestand why. EXPIRATION DATES. Those darn things. I now put my bread in the fridge (shoutout to the Al Murisi sisters) and I now finally get to finish the whole loaf hahahaha. But every time I attempt to channel my (very hidden) domestic goddess, I always tend to put it off because I find that I don't have the right ingredients. And going to the grocers is such a pain. I would be complaining a lot less if I had my own mode of transportation but since that's not the case, grocery shopping is such a chore. I am aware of online delivery but that's only possible if I have to get > £25 worth of groceries when all I really need is cili merah.
  • I'm now listening to Justin Timberlake's 'Mirrors' and I remember the time when I had this song on repeat for at least 2 weeks straight. I still enjoy it though. I used to jam to every single song off the album but my favourites are Mirrors, That Girl and Strawberry Bubblegum. 
  • I just got back from dinner with Zati - haven't seen her in ages. And we're both in Bristol hah. She's been busy with work and I've been busy... at home. I'm always reminded how nice it is to just sit down with a friend and just talk. I feel so adult-like when I do go out on friend dates like these because it's such a contrast from when I was a kid when we would all go out in big groups. Laughs here and there but now that I think about it, there wasn't really much concrete and substantial conversation. I mean, obviously we were too young to have such conversations but we've all grown, haven't we! I'm a lot more comfortable having just a small group of close friends. I much prefer it. 
  • I don't understand Donald Trump. I don't think I even want to.
  • "It just may be because of the sons and daughters of this world that the people began to have faith in religions due to their parents who wished for their happiness and well-being above all else" - I got this quote from Reply 1988 (the Korean drama I've been watching and can't get enough of). I thought it was rather lovely. You know how parents go around saying "You'll never understand how much love you can ever have for someone until you become a parent yourself". I always pray for my parents and grandparents well-being and I know they pray for me too. It's known that in South Korea, about half of its population don't hold a religious belief. So knowing that fact, when I read this quote, it moved me a lot. From a South Korean perspective, children are that precious that parents are now believing in a higher power and praying to have their children know nothing but love and happiness. I was watching a Korean singing reality show ala American Idol (does anybody even watch that still?) and totally teared up when one of the judges asked the contestant "Do you know what makes a parent happy?" "By doing things that make them proud?" "No. Parents are the happiest when they see their child happy. That's all it takes". It's such a simple answer but it made me tear because of how sincere he sounded when he said that. Every time I do something for Iman or make her happy whether it's just getting her McDonalds, giving her her birthday presents or bringing her out for karaoke, my heart instantly grows with and for her. I get so happy just seeing her happy (and I do the same for Tania and Zaim but Iman is more likely to express her happiness out of the three hahahaha) and that's just my little sister. Imagine your own child! 
  • My goal in life is to somehow, someway, be established in Malaysia's fashion industry. I sometimes get embarrassed saying it out loud because I don't really dress the part. At all. I know so many people on Instagram and in real life who are a lot more fashion forward than I am. It's just that it's a lot of effort especially in the UK and it rains way too often these days to forego my very comfortable and very warm puffy jacket. And why would anyone leave the house with a hood-less jacket.
  • I finally bought my Skinny Mint detox tea again! I've grown to dislike the night tea because it has a funny spicy taste. I always just drink it while it's hot to mask the taste. 
  • But more importantly than the detox tea is that I bought ADELE TICKETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yo I'm so ready to sing my heart out come March 22nd!! 
  • I really really really miss eating McDonalds at 12am.
  • I went to Boots the other day to get vitamins. Since I lived abroad, I have been living everyday without taking any vitamins. My mum usually would have a bottle of chewable vitamins and she would place it just at the corner of the TV stand by the door so every time we would go into our parents room (way too often than they would like) we just instinctively grab 2-3 of them before we leave. The ones here aren't as nice and sweet. Even vitamins in Malaysia tastes better!!! How!!!
Hope everyone has a good weekend ahead of them! Eat chips, watch reruns of your favourite TV show in bed and save your parents the worry and take your vitamins.

xx

Saturday, December 5, 2015

November Favourites

Hi!

I'm currently waiting for my housemate to come home so we can make lasagna and banoffee pie. Yum! I haven't had lasagna in ages because it's so hard to find a halal one in the UK and for some unknown reason, banoffee pie is just so hard to get your hands on! We'll see how it tastes but I'm sure it'll be good (she's a good cook... I just bought the ingredients haha).

(Edit : I left that hanging yesterday. Lasagna was baked well, banoffee was delish and sweet and will be my lunch and dinner for a good few days now)





Anyway! I'm kinda free now because I've sent in my last coursework last weekend and school ends next week so we're practically already on break. I still don't know what I want to do on my Christmas break. I have exams early January so I have to study obviously but I still want to have some time to go to London and see some of my friends and EAT! You'd think I'd want to go eat fancy food. Not really, I just really want to go to Malaysian Hall and eat my favourite lauk hahaha how Malay am I.

It's already the 3rd of December. January is just in a few weeks can you believe that?!?!?! And I'll already be on my last term in university which is pretty daunting - time flies by so fast!! I've said that about a million times already but when I first got here, 3 years sounded so long!

I don't have much for my December favourites this time around because well.... I've not bought anything new and nothing I've loved loads 'cept for a few. And they're almost all Korean. Apologies..... no, actually not really hahahaha

1. Ramyeon




If you love spicy food as much as I do, then you're in for a treat. As a Malay, I do take pride that I can hold my cili padi. For me, nothing is good if there's no i) Salt ii) Cili padi. Like what is the point really if there's no cili padi. I even have them in my omelette. I've been eating spicy food since young and amongst my family, I'm the only one who can eat really spicy food. My brother used to but for some reason, he can't even do cili merah!!!

So anyway, I was introduced to this ramyeon by my housemate who was snapchatting it and it looked super good so I went to the Asian market and asked them to give me the spiciest thing they had in store and I made it as soon as I got home.

Guys. It was so spicy that I couldn't finish it. I had to take so many breaks in between because it was so spicy. The kind of spicy that I've never experienced before but still so good. Whenever I'm lazy to make myself rice, I just resort to ramyeon. I make sure to not have too much of it though because i) I don't want to run of it because I have to go all the way to the city to get my stock ii) I really am convinced eating that spicy is not good for you hahahah. It's the kind of pedas that goes to your head and you feel light headed. Over gila kan? But really, you have to eat it to understand where I'm coming from!

(I just realised I didn't post a photo of the actual ramyeon til 2 days after writing this post hahaha but of December 6th 9:52 UK time, the ramyeon I'm raving about is the one pictured under bad kitchen lighting) 

2. Korean Dramas (may or may not contain tiny spoilers)

I've said loads about 'Bubblegum' and it's already in the 12th episode and it's taken a darker turn but I'm still enjoying it loads because like I said, when the chemistry between the 2 main actors work, anything and everything works! Such a huge fan of Dong Wook and he is so charming in this. Also, very very handsome. I've always known him to be really handsome but maybe it's the constant lighting the production adopts to but here, he is so dreamy. Light radiating kind of dreamy. The storyline is very enchanting like and scenes just float and it gives off a very relaxed and chilled vibe and I love how they've incorporated light as a main element in this show. You'll understand if you've watched it! It also explores very deep and dark themes despite its light hearted title. The friendship between the main actors is unrivalled (the kind where one buys a type of ice-cream without even consulting with the other because they know each other too well) and it shows through out. It might be called as a typical friend-to-lovers drama but something about this show just gives me the FEELS.

But other than that, I've also been madly into Reply 1988. It's the third series of the Reply franchise, the first two being Reply 1994 and Reply 1997. I've not watched either but decided to get into this one. It is amazing. Dare I say that's an understatement?? An episode is a whopping 90 minutes so basically, when both episodes come out at the same time, it's as if I'm watching a whole movie! But it's brilliant - and ratings don't lie, the most recent episode got higher ratings than the finale of the previous series. Which should say loads.



Each episode presses on one main thing; like one episode was about mothers and the most recent one was about brothers. And it explores so many different aspects of it, so for example, the mother episode played on the ups and downs of being a mother, different perspectives of a rich mother and a poor mother and a single mother and the absence of a mother. It was so beautifully tied in, it made me tear loads. It's a really good show, very very heart-warming and how I like that most (if not all) episodes don't just center on the main couple, but instead on the dynamics of the different families. The different type of husband/wife relationship, the sibling relationship and most importantly, the friendship between the 5 eighteen year olds is so nice to see and so genuine, you can't help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I also especially love how much you can visibly see the dedication that went into production - everything looks very authentic, the set, the dressing, the cultural references. Everything! And please prepare your little fragile heart for the perfection that is Sunwoo. His relationship with his mother and sister is unreal sweet. Like the kinda man you can only ever wish to be acquainted with.

Wow. Over.

Regardless, if you're into Korean dramas but don't know what to watch, I sincerely recommend Reply 1988 (if you've not already completely fallen head over heels for the show). I absolutely love it and it's very different from a lot of things shown these days because of how much it emphasises on family relations. But of course there's the main couple everyone's rooting for because when do we not love a good ol' love story.

3. BTS



YO. Can. I. Just. Put it out there that the Part 2 album is my favourite of 2015?!?!?!?! I love every damn song - I even have their skit on my playlist (because why wouldn't you want to hear Jimin laugh)! They've very smartly split the Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa album into 2 parts, the first one released late April if I'm not mistaken so it's been 7 months since we've heard anything new from them. And I was very VERY excited to see how they could top their last album because it was so good.

K-Pop just surprises me again and again and AGAIN!!!!!!!! This album is gold, I love every damn song, I've had it on repeat and although it released late November, I've already listened to the whole album a months worth so it might as well be in my Favourites. It's sooooooo groovy, so danceable and when I heard it for the first time, it most definitely wasn't K-Pop reminiscent and I mean it in very good way. The beats, the melody, the VOCALS, the rap, is something else. They've been trying to set themselves apart from typical boy groups and they've pretty much done it. As much as I love EXO as they were like my first K-Pop loves, I can't compare this album to anything else because it's just that good. Rare is the time when you find an album where you love each and every song. No song you want to skip kinda thing? My favourite album of 2015!! Ugh, so in love. My favourite, if I had to choose, is definitely the Outro song. My favourite from the last album was also the Outro song but this one is ridiculous. Give it a listen !!! A lot of people have said it's very familiar to The Weeknd's 'Earned It'. I didn't think of it when I first heard it, the only thing I could think of when I heard this song was that it has decidedly become my favourite song of 2015.

There was an interesting read about BTS and how in the midst of the very conservative South Korean society, they're attempting to be more vocal (which not many groups are brave enough to do given the tight leashes they're on by their agencies). Come sit with me and I'll gladly explain how and why I'm so attracted to the South Korean culture - I still learn a lot these days about their behaviours and culture and it's super fascinating.




4. Dayana's Blog

I love reading blogs. In fact, I made mine because I loved reading my friends (that was in 2007 where everyone in my class was actively blogging). I wished they still blogged because they were all genuinely good writers and very expressive despite only being in high school then. I used to even have everyone's blog links on this blog but deleted them all a while back because no one was active anymore! If you need a hobby, take up blogging!! Sure, it's not really considered a 'hobby' per se, but it's really fun maintaining one because this space is entirely yours. You can write anything you want, express anything you want, put any thing you like. It's yours after all. Besides, it kinda acts like a time capsule. You can read what your 22 year old self said when you're 42. Cringe-worthy, of course but would we want it any other way? (EDIT : Just after I wrote this part, I went on Twitter to see that my mum tweeted (yes, she has Twitter as some of my closest friends would know) her own blog link! Hahahaha couldn't help but laugh because how cute!! Curious to see what she'll blog about! She's always told me she was better at speaking than she is at writing but I disagree - she's good in both! Yay, Mum! xxx)

A friend of mine (we've only met like once but she's already like a friend because we've had each other on social media for some time and she's the loveliest!!) runs a blog and she updates it weekly about her life in university in the US. And she writes like 1000x better than me! I keep telling about her to my mum because her blog is just so nice to read. Very calming for some reason. Here you have too many exclamation marks and fan-girling and pointless posts (but thanks for staying anyway!!). Hers is just very calm. Her blog posts are for the most part, about her daily life routine but even then, I find myself reading every single word because it's so well-written and the flow is so effortless. I'm so envious of good writing such as hers because I can never seem to be as eloquent in my writing despite blogging for 9 years now! Read hers after reading mine and you'll see what I mean! She updates it weekly and she's so much more active with her university routine there, makes me feel like a complete bum! Not that I already don't know I'm a bum, I didn't know just how much! Hahaha.

__

So ends my monthly favourite post! I haven't been out much for the month of November because I didn't really go out as I was down with a horrible cold and cough for 2 weeks and weather was really bad too so I didn't/couldn't leave the house much 'cept for classes. Alhamdulillah, I've gotten better since then! But I've still not been out much hahaha.

I was in Bath for a quick day trip last weekend to meet up with Puch whom I haven't seen in ages! And we went to have late lunch at Burger & Lobster! The branch in Bath is so gorgeous! Very fancy shmancy. And man, the food was so amazing, you don't want to finish it. I forgot how sedap it was! It's a good thing they don't have a branch in Bristol because then RIP allowance.

Hope December wraps up 2015 prettily and nicely, in a sparkly bow and ribbon. I'm thinking of getting a nice present for myself for Christmas, I just don't know what yet.

AND CAN WE PLEASE PAUSE TO PROCESS THE FACT THAT I'LL BE 23 NEXT MONTH?

Ok... breathe and slather more eye cream.

xx

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Mary Poppins

One would assume I would have gone to a musical or a play at least once, right? Wrong. I've not been to one though I really, really have always wanted to go, just been a case of wrong timing, not enough funds, no company.

But guess what came to Bristol???

MARY POPPINS, the one and only.

So as soon as I knew that there was going to be a Mary Poppins musical here in Bristol, I was so so determined to go and thank God I had Nana who shared the same enthusiasm as me.

I am SUCH SUCH SUCH a happy girl tonight - it was my first musical here and what better way to start it all off with Mary Poppins!!! I loved the movie and it brings really fond memories of my childhood so it was amazing to watch the whole show. They did change some aspects of the original storyline and they went on a complete new tangent but it was brilliant, nevertheless. The extraordinary bit dedicated to 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' was absolutely ridiculously amazing. I was so happy and it was so much fun to watch! It was so colourful and it was so joyous and everyone was clapping and singing along, it was such an experience!! The chim-chiminey-chim-chim-churroo also had everyone clapping along and the tap dancing was so so well done. Don't even get me started with the set and props - blew me away!

I even teared up at one point because i) It was a touching scene ii) Mary Poppins remains to be one of my most favourite childhood movie and memory. UGH so fun!!! Obviously I couldn't take photos but man, what a fun night. Now, I'm itching to go for more! People have been telling me to watch Wicked so I really hope to go this December or whenever I'm in London next!

xx

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

10 - 11

I have a huge love and hate relationship with Tuesdays.

I have a 10 - 6 schedule in university and 6:30, I have to rush to the city for my Korean class and that goes on for 2 hours and after that, Nana and I grab our weekly dinner date ; either at our favourite Korean place or... well, that's the only place we ever go to because it's just so sedap. So I always come back by 11. 13 hours out. If you know me, you know that's a huge feat. I love being home so going out for long periods of time is like a shock to the body almost like my legs are probably wondering "Why... are... we... functioning...".

But I hate Tuesday because of this busy schedule. I decided early on that I wanted to cram everything in one day if I could because then I could have rest of the week free (and also, not have to buy bus tickets everyday). And I feel like I'm a lot more productive when I have one busy day - like I'm forced to attend for everything since I'm already there in university anyway. Hahahah what a way of thinking but hey, whatever.

But I also freaking love Tuesdays because after the whole day being out, I come home to allllllllllllll of my Korean dramas and Korean shows alllllllll in HD and subtitles and allllllllll ready for me to watch. I mean. The best reward ever, really. I have green tea with me and I lay in bed and watch everything.

On top of all this, I actually also completed my coursework due this Thursday last Sunday!!! What?!?!?? Man, I should do this doing-work-early thing more often.

I'll blog properly tomorrow...

... I think.

xx

Friday, November 13, 2015

'She Was Pretty'



Ugh how cute is he.


So I just finished watching She Was Pretty. Pretty sure I've mentioned it before. It's this Korean drama I've been watching for the past 2 months. I'm about to attempt on a drama review because I have so much to talk about and no one to talk about it to ('cept for a very few. Hi, Nana!). I'm no good at writing so descriptively like how I've read in some reviews (the one at Dramabeans write SO well, I sometimes just read random reviews for her writing!)

That said, I might have bits and pieces of spoilers in this post so if you're planning on watching this lovely show, please refrain from reading.

________________________________________________________________________

See, I'm nice enough to even put a border so that you stop reading. Regardless, I'll try to not spill too much for you.


Oh my god. Do I love this drama or do I love this drama? It's so fun, so sweet, so loud, so bright (literally, the scenes were all shot so brightly, almost bordering over-exposure) and really makes you feel so warm about everything.

It's 16 episodes and I went through it weekly, so I didn't binge watch it or anything like that. This is my first Korean drama since Pride & Prejudice which was AGES ago. Nothing really piqued my interest and there have been dramas that I just gave up on the first/second episode. I've even watched one drama HALF WAY in (that's dedication guys, seeing how an episode is like an hour long).

What I LOVE about this show is how it is just very sweet and everything just comes down to love. In the sweetest and most genuine way.

Take our Idiot Reporter Shin Hyuk for instance. Played by the MOST wonderful Siwon. Honestly, this guy. What an actor. He serves as the comic relief for the show and he does it so well! Sometimes, I get really peeved with how unnatural some comedic acting can be but he does it so natural, so fun, makes you want to be his best friend. And given Hye Jin's appearance and careless behaviour, this goof ball still falls for her. The first of many lines that just melted me to slosh was

Hye Jin : I was really pretty back in the day! Hard to believe, right? But I really was!
Shin Hyuk : You still are.
HJ : Huh?
SH : I said, you still are. Beautiful.

And this was one of the few moments that he was not crazy or joking around. Which made it even sweeter. Given his playful manner, it can be easy to doubt his intentions and his feelings. Like was he for real or is he just brushing it off like it didn't matter? But although he was in high spirits all the damn time, you can still tell his feelings for Hye Jin grew more and more and more as they became close. It was very heart-warming to see him fall for all that she was in present day, frizzy haired and all.

Also, can we spare like 5 minutes to appreciate Park Seo Joon. I've decided. I'm going to watch everything he'll be in in the future. Such a good actor. It was very difficult to like him in the beginning because of how cold he was and how dismissive he was to Hye Jin. It did concern me a bit with how he was so obviously annoyed at Hye Jin at the start. Like??? She's your best friend and she must've been like that before so why you hating now?? Was it because she's not pretty now? I was annoyed at a point because here you have Shin Hyuk gazing lovingly at this girl from the next desk only to see her looking at Sung Joon. Like, girl??? You have someone who loves you flaws and all (cue Beyonce) and you're still blind?? To be perfectly honest, I was unsure of who I liked her better with right until the last episode. That was how much Shin Hyuk's feelings for her touched the hearts of the audience.

Although, there was a turn in the show where Sung Joon started showing his interest in Hye Jin. And this all before even knowing that she was the Hye Jin that he knew since he was a kid.

My other favourite scene ever in the show was when Sung Joon affirmed his feelings for her

"Even before I knew you were my Hye Jin, I liked you. It's always been you. Then, it was you. Now, it's you. And in 50 years, it'll still be you."

OMG MELTING RIGHT NOW JUST EVEN THINKING ABOUT IT I SWEAR THIS HYE JIN IS SO DAMN BLESSED TO HAVE A GUY WHO CAN SPURT OUT RIDICULOUSLY SWOON-WORTHY THINGS LIKE THAT AND ALL WITH AN HERMES SCARF WRAPPED AROUND HIS COLLAR (can't decide whether fab or tacky).

It was also heartbreaking to see Ha Ri falling for Sung Joon. It was finally time for her to realise what a real man looks like and it just had to be Sung Joon. She was radiating at the thought of Sung Joon but every outing, every date, every contact was accompanied with guilt. I didn't particularly like how dismissive Sung Joon was after finding out about Ha Ri. Like, how brief was that mini crisis!?!?! Min Ha Ri has equally a beautiful heart and the friendship between her and Hye Jin was so touching - these girls love each other like no other, always looking for one another and that part when Hye Jin rushed home from a date with Sung Joon (after finding out that he just left after confronting Ha Ri?!?! rude!) just to comfort her best friend. With Hye Jin, you really don't know who mattered more, the love of her life or the friend she's had forever. And I really liked that - she didn't weigh one over the one which was is just evidence of what a person Hye Jin is.

It was SO heartwarming to see Sung Joon's guards come down as the show progressed. He started acting cute and obvious and when he started warming up to Hye Jin during their little business trip, it was really refreshing to see a hard-exteriored character like him to finally just take a break. Even if he and Hye Jin didn't end up together, they would've been great friends still. He's still tough on his staff and with his work but only because he wants to take care of them. He found how much he liked this odd and crazy Hye Jin - which showed that he wasn't biased with his love for his childhood friend 'Hye Jin' who was played by Ha Ri (man, this must sound really damn confusing for anyone who hasn't watched this and is just reading this post for fun).

I didn't really like Hye Jin's character. I wasn't so sure if I didn't like the acting or the script. It was too forced. Her energy level was too much for me. Like, every little thing was just 10% too much. I mean, obviously you can't blame this on Jung Eum, it could've been the directors preference but it was endearing at first but it just got a bit much. The carelessness and messiness of her character looked a bit strained. Like, the stuttering and the shouting. Her chemistry with Sung Joon, although the relationship was so cute, didn't really do it for me. I thought it did at first but I've been watching this other show, Bubblegum, main roles played by Dong Wook and Ryeo Won and their chemistry is infectious and sickeningly good so I couldn't help compare the two shows. But Seo Joon is a brilliant actor - every time he shoots a loving look to Hye Jin, it felt like a literal shot to the heart and you're just left there thinking "They can't possibly be someone so in love like that". I had to constantly pause and scream into my pillow and slap myself before I could resume watching the show. The way he looks at her wins you every time. And he looks like a damn good kisser too at that. I liked how this show didn't really fake kisses too. I cringe at shows (cough The Heirs cough) with awkward kissing scenes - like you either want it or don't, guys, don't just touch lips and not go for it?????

And did you not just DIE at Hye Jin and Shin Hyuk's last goodbye ? Man, he really liked her. And when he told her to not go after she got a call from Sung Joon broke my already broken heart in more bits and pieces. Like, we're talking about a guy who steals underwear from his boss. For him to go '가지 마' (don't go) was award-winning. Loved his character perhaps the most because not only was he always in high spirits, but you can tell with this guy he'll love you with this all. Such a character - I'm going to miss Siwon and Shin Hyuk.

I got a bit peeved that Sung Joon didn't say a word about Hye Jin's make-over when it happened but now that I think about it, I'm glad he didn't. Because otherwise it would've been as if he's now attracted to her even more with her looks. Which was not the point of the show. I liked how he started  falling for her even before that and the fact that he didn't say anything about her make-over showed how much he didn't really care for all that. I also LOVED in particular, how Shin Hyuk particularly noticed the difference in her personality after her make-over. It became noticeably 'blah' after she got pretty. She was already pretty before this, anyway. This story was basically a message about how inner beauty can and should trump outer beauty. With a personality like Hye Jin's, who wouldn't love her.

All in all, I absolutely loved this show and I recommend it to anyone and everyone. It's a light hearted show about love and warmth and like I said before, I'm no good with descriptives but that's basically what it's about.

God knows how many times I've suppressed screams and shrieks to not let my housemates wake up, out of pure SWEETNESS. My heart beats fast to when I think about how simple Sung Joon's proposal to Hye Jin was. I was just aching after that. Couldn't deal. How simple but how bloody ridiculously annoyingly cute??!!!!! And how many times have I cried?!?!?!!?! More than I really should but that's besides the point.

Sigh.

I can't believe it's finally ended. I've endured 9 weeks for this show and so worth it, waiting impatiently every Wednesday and Thursday. It's the cutest love story, with such interesting characters (we can't ever forget the very garish Kim Ra Ra and her random Italian greetings! I predict they'll be a big thing to reference She Was Pretty with!). What am I going to look forward to on Wednesdays now???? I really, really hope Seo Joon gets involved with a new drama very soon because I'm such a fan of his (his face doesn't hurt either, so much prettiness in a guy i'm sobbing) and I hope that with this show he goes higher and further!

AND! Siwon is about to go to military (so his goodbye in the show was like a real good bye to everyone which made it even sad for me. Also, if you listen to the lyrics (ok fine, google translate them), you'll just CRY at his song for the show. It was played in a very prominent part of the show and made me cry buckets so whenever I hear the song, I get so emotional!) so we won't see him for the next 2 years in any acting project but let's hope the next 2 years come soon enough. I can't wait to see him in more dramas like this!

I'm such a huge fan of light-hearted dramas like this where girl likes boy and boy likes girl and they exchange loving gazes at each other when one's not looking and this was that show for me. Now that it's ended, I'm really going to miss the characters and the whole show. Made my heart smile, this one.

xx

Monday, November 9, 2015

Stay warm

Right now, it's 4:33 am.

My grandfather woke me up just now. He called me while I was sleeping but as much as I try to muster my 'fully awake' voice, I always always get caught.

"Sleeping, are you?"
"Um... yeah but it's okay, I'm up now"

And he told me somethings and before we ended the call, he told me

"Eat well, don't go hungry ok? And be warm, always."

Before the phone call, he had texted me but I hadn't read it before his call. It read simply 'Take care ok, love you'. My very, very simple day was made just because of that.

When I texted my mum that, she said,

"You're a very lucky girl, you know? He thinks of you all as his pride and joy"

The love I have for my grandfather knows absolutely no bounds. I always pray for his good health and good life and for his deeds to blessed and sins to be forgiven. As much as a heart can love, my heart loves my grandfather.

Isn't it amazing how some people make you want to be a better person? My grandfather is like that to me. I always want to be the best version of myself to everyone. Because of him. He radiates warmth and generosity and I want to be like that, y'know? I want people to see me as that girl who radiates warmth and generosity.

I thought I would blog about that so that in the future, when I read this, I'll be reminded of how much love I receive and how blessed of a person I am to be surrounded by the company of the most warmest and most kindest souls.




It's 4:59 am now.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

October Favourites

Didn't October feel like 5 seconds?

Already in the second last month of 2015. Let that just sink in, everyone.

That much closer to winter holidays, that much closer to turning 23, that much closer to graduating insyaAllah! And then that much closer to having to find employment, to marry, to have kids, to buy my own house, to buying birthday presents for my friends' kids!?!?!?!?! I can't.

We've come to that time of year when I eat dinner by 5pm only to get hungry 4 hours later. Also, guess what guys! I'm doing a No-Rice November. I don't know why, I just thought I'd try it out for fun. I went a month without shopping once, without chocolate once, without Coke once so thought I'd try challenge myself to not eat rice. And it's also because lately I feel so lazy and so unproductive and so sleepy all the time. Might or might not be the amount of rice I eat in a day so I'm trying to see how far this goes hahah. I might succumb 2 weeks in but we'll see!

Time for my monthly favourites!

Beauty

Nowadays, I'm very lazy with make-up. I only have foundation on these days. Sometimes I even skip concealer (which I look at as a brilliant thing - my skin isn't as bad as it used to be that I am now able to have the option of skipping concealer!). I don't even bother with mascara anymore. I used to. But then I just got lazy because they can be tough to remove. I've never really bothered getting into the hype of blushers and bronzers because they've proven to be a bit too much for my skin so I just completely forego it. I have to, however, keep my brows in tact. I haven't gone for threading in ages only because it's such a hassle to go the place I usually go here and I hate getting on the bus and be in public with really red skin (from all the threading, it becomes an awful shade of red around the brow area, it looks quite embarrassing! In KL, I usually just quickly get into my car and drive home!). So I just pluck. But I think one of these days, I have to make a point to drag myself out of this comfy bed I call my solace and into the Indian shop I call torture. Every single time I'm in the midst of threading, I just curse myself for doing it in the first place. But yeah ok moving on how did my threading problem become half of this paragraph anyway.

The only thing I do bother doing is getting my lips primed and prepped. I have a special lip balm from the skin specialist I go to in KL and it beats all the Vaseline's out there! It's amazing and I have tons of it left - it'll probably last me a good whole year. So before I get into doing my face make-up, I swipe a bit of the lip balm over my sad, chapped lips and by the time I've done my foundation and brows, the lip balm would've been absorbed fully. And then, it's on to the lips!

My current lipstick situation is very simple. I am really into the whole gradient lip trend. So what I do is I take a bright pink lipstick and just lightly dab it on the inner part of my lip instead of just swiping it all over. And then I just pat, pat and spread it but only slightly because I like the whole look of the colour to be concentrated on the inner part only. It looks really natural and effortless like you just had sirap limau. Which is my favourite drink of all time.

For this, I alternate between 3CE's lipstick and Topshop's newest lip ombre collection. It's a really cool thing, on one side you have the less extreme colours and then you open the other side and you get the brighter colours (the second picture). You're meant to use both I think to create the gradient lip look but I mostly use the colours in the first photo. I tried  the blinding bright pink in the second photo and it works just as well! It's perfect for what I want. I wouldn't wear a lipstick in these colour ever ever on the whole lip but it works so well if you just dab it on the inner part of your lips and all you have to do it just smack your lips once or twice and you're set! It's my new favourite thing.





For skincare, I tried out Missha's New Skin cleanser and it shouldn't be a surprise anymore that I love this one also. I was using Etude House's foam cleanser before this and that one was also very good. I've been using all types of Western cleanser all my life and my skin almost always feels uncomfortably tight after that. Felt like my skin was stripped of all its moisture! I've never had that feeling since I switched to the Korean foam cleansers. It's a lot more soft - definitely more ideal for my skin. My skin is noticeably softer and smoother and alhamdulillah, my skin is very well-behaved these days. I swear by Korean skincare products and I will only use it from now onwards because it's had such a positive effect on my skin. My dark spots are still there (but has reduced significantly in pigmentation) but no pimples nor zits.



It's not that difficult to get your hands on Korean skincare products here in the UK, I got mine from Yesstyle. They might not have everything you'd like but it's still a good place to get a majority of your Asian skincare needs. It's like my favourite store now.

Music

I'm pretty sure you've heard of Adele's Hello. It's almost a crime if you haven't. It's an amazing song - expectedly so. I can't wait for her full album release - she's never failed in my books. One of the very few singers I'd get the full album to play in the car. I find it really amazing that in the midst of a really up-tempo, EDM-driven generation, Adele's music is still so well-received by everyone. If Hello was just a taste of what's coming, I'll be counting the days for her album release!

Also! One Direction's 'Perfect'. First time I've had an English song on REPEAT. This song is so good - reminded me of how much I love these boys. They're growing up and it's showing through their music so well. 'Drag Me Down' was also such a good tune so I'm really happy they've switched it up a bit and their music now sounds a lot like them and not just generic studio-produced music.



For Korean music, f(x) has just released their new full-length studio album and it is SO. FUN. I didn't think I'd like it as much as I would but some of the songs are really catchy. You can tell SM has really been pumping funds into improving song quality. My favourites from this album is the title track, '4 Walls', 'Diamond' and 'Rude Love'. I never really liked f(x)'s stuff before this but this album exuded such a weird but so oddly fun vibe and I'm really digging it. I've had 4 Walls on repeat ever since it was released. Such a catchy dance track without it being too overwhelming. It's really one of my favourite K-Pop songs I've heard thus far this year. And the outfits for their stage performances is so ON-POINT. It has a heavy 70s reference (as was their whole concept with their teaser images and all) with bell-bottom pants and extra large shirts. One of my favourite concepts out of all the comebacks of 2015. f(x) is not your average typical k-pop girl group and I really appreciate that they're setting themselves differently from typical navel-baring, aegyo-driven girl groups. They radiate a 'too cool for you' aura and I. AM. DIGGING. IT. Consider myself a new fan!

Also, oh my God, DEAN. DEAN. WHERE HAS HE BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!?!? He is just gold. Found his music on Youtube and was just so blown by his music, it's amazing! I'm looking forward to more of his music. Listen to it here (it's not on Soundcloud so I can't include it in this month's playlist but give it a listen, it's a really sick tune).

I've also been listening to Hyuna's 'Roll Deep' so so so so so much. When I first heard it, I was so surprised as to how much I actually like it. I don't usually like this kind of music but it was so addictive??? I didn't even want to admit how much I liked it 'til my sister agreed to it and I knew it was good. It's just really strangely addictive. It kinda has an hypnotising effect on me. But then that's again, that's just the whole of K-Pop now that I think about it...

Anyway! Day 6's 'Congratulations' has also been on my playlist on repeat. I really like the message behind the song. Some of the lyrics go like

"Congratulations girl, didn't take you long to bounce back"
"Why should I wish you happiness when you're the one who left me?"

I love it! I LOVE it! On top of just really loving the music arrangement and vocals and rap, the lyrics were so on point for me. Not that I've gone through anything like that, I just really like that it's going against the generic sad songs we hear a lot nowadays. This song is more like 'Shove it, whatever, good for you" kinda thing and I just love it, it's just so me, y'know? Hahaha



App

For everyone reading this who would like to take up a new language, you should REALLY download this app called 'HelloTalk' if you haven't already. I was introduced it through the website where I've been learning Korean from.

It's basically like a language exchange program... but conveniently on an app.

So you just state what language you can offer to teach (for me, it's English) and what language you would like to learn in exchange (and for me, that's Korean of course). So they just give you this long list of people matching your needs, people who want to learn English and are willing to teach you Korean. And you just strike a conversation with them and it's easy as that! It's strictly not for any other purposes (mainly dating), and they're really strict with it, like you can't even enlarge their profile photos and proper precautionary measures are taken to ensure that you don't exchange photos and videos that aren't for educational purposes. So it's safe and user-friendly. Although you might have some people who'll try to get more than what they're supposed to, but that's what the Block button is for, I guess!

I've had so much fun on this app; I've been approached by many native Koreans who want to learn English and are willing to teach Korean. And this all for free. Obviously, they are in-store purchases (which I succumbed to) like unlimited translations. So for me, when the other side types in full Korean and when I don't understand, I can just have the app translate it for me without me going through the hassle of juggling HelloTalk and Google Translate (which is shit anyway).

I love it!! I'm constantly on it because the Koreans are so determined to learn English so they're always talking to me. And it's super fun because I finally get to use all the Korean I've learnt thus far and get correction and explanations from native Koreans. And since you're learning from native speakers, it's more conversational and less text-book which is always useful. It's great exercise on top of the private tutoring I've been having here in Bristol.

I can't advocate it enough, it's such a great idea!

__

That has been pretty much what I've been loving the past month. I'm going to save a post especially for this one Korean drama that I have been enjoying loads because I've got so much to talk about it.

But til then!

xx

Thursday, October 29, 2015

London and Stress

I've just finished with my assignment. Pulled an all-nighter and felt so tired after submitting it. At 8 am.

Remind me to never ever do last-minute work.

I spent the weekend in London because my aunty and cousin were here for a week so I went to go see them. So that was 2 days of being unproductive. Really, I have been having long, long nights doing this essay (I don't know why it was so difficult this time around, I usually don't mind doing essays!) that when we were having an hour break from classes yesterday, I was looking at lecture slides on my phone and then I went

" Lynn, have you seen my phone anywhere?" and got panicky and checked my bag, pockets, underneath my books.

Only for Lynn to say, "Nadia... it's there".

Right in front of me.

I was finding for my phone whilst using it...

...

Can you see how derailed I can get when stressed.

Well, that's over and done with! And while I'm waiting for my Korean drama to load (this is probably the best thing from doing my essay - I've refrained from watching anything online because I knew I wouldn't have had time otherwise), I decided to blog a little about my London weekend.

I have a love-hate relationship with London. I used to LOVE it but after getting so used to Bristol, I much, much prefer the laid-back vibe it exuded over London's craziness. I find I walk so much faster once I step into London and I HATE IT!!!! I usually walk quite fast anyway but London pace is another thing. I always am so tired after a day out. And then there's the tubes - going up and down the stairs, with like a million people walking from all direction. And the thing I don't like most is how it's so expensive. Thankfully I had my aunt here so my meals were paid for (hehe thank you, Aunty Nazu don't know if you read my blog... hopefully you don't) so that was one less thing to be mindful of.

But even transportation kills you. So mahal!!!! So happy to be back in Bristol.

Although I will say this.

London excites me; there's so many things to do and to eat and to see and it's just always appealing. Everything is charming and you always see something new. I do love it and as much as I am so reluctant to go there, I do look forward to be in the city. And there's something in the water in London lah, I've been pretty good with my shopping in that I've not shopped for myself in AGES! As soon as I was in London, I jus had the strongest urge to shop. Didn't buy the pair of jeans I wanted (Mum, that's £42 saved!), but I did get a Brandy Melville top and some hoop earrings. The Topshop on Oxford Circus does things to you...

But man, a weekend is enough to tire you out! Gonna conserve my energy now and stay in and watch Korean dramas that I've missed so much!







Mikhail was sweet enough to use some of the allowance Pak Tok gave him to buy us Amorino ice-cream! 

Other than just going around the usual spots in London, nothing much happened. But it was nice to be in familiar company. Always a good time with family.

Hope you had a stress-free weekend!!!

xx