little bitty girl

I know this meme has been going around for ages and I've been enjoying other people's. I finally got officially "tagged" by Abby so what the heck? Here goes -

Four Jobs That I've Had
1. Plate Beautifier - This was a job I had on weekends at our family restaurant. My main duty was to garnish plates going out. I still cut my carrots into flowers for a stir fry.
2. Working at a children's bookstore - My first "official" job as a high school student. I still love children's books and have a propensity to rearrange bookshelves at bookstores.
3. Bartender/Waitress - I had such a great time working with my high school best friend. We luckily got hired together and were a great team. Also learnt to consume a lot of alcohol at this stage.
4. Warehouse Manager for a clothing store - I would carry these huge boxes in four inch heels and put my "strapping" male assistants to shame.

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over Again
1. All of the extended Lord of The Rings - I know all the dialogue and it drives Stefan mad.
2. Amelie - everyone's favourite!
3. A&E's Pride and Prejudice - I just watched this on the weekend.
4. Any of Hayou Miyazaki's movies. - I really still am a kid at heart.

Four TV Shows That I Love To Watch
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. 60 Minutes
3. Cold Case
4. Anything on the Discovery Channel pertaining to ancient history - big nerd. :)

Four Places I've Lived
1. Melaka, Malaysia
2. Markham, Ontario
3. Etobicoke, Ontario
4. Toronto, Ontario
wow. BO-ring! I should rectify this one soon....

Four Places I've Vacationed
1. Negril, Jamaica
2. Melbourne, Brisbane and Gold Coast, Australia
3. Singapore
4. Ellicottville, NY

Four Websites I Visit Daily
1. Ebay
2. Etsy
3. Plethora of gossip blogs
4. All the links I listed on my site

Four Of My Favourite Foods (JUST FOUR?)
1. Asian Noodle Soups - I can eat only this until the day I die and be perfectly content as there is so much variety.
2. Any type of seafood - current favourite is grilled lobster with jerk seasoning.
3. Any in season fruit, especially the exotic variety.
4. Any food that my mama makes!

Four Places I'd Rather Be Right Now
1. Exploring the great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
2. Paris, France
3. Istanbul, Turkey
4. Barcelona, Spain

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Posted in Me-ness

I have been getting a lot of questions from designers lately on how to sell their product and it's made me think. There really are a lot of creative people out there who have really amazing ideas, but no idea how to get it into the hands of the people who would sell them. Hence the reason for this entry. It specifically applies to fashion, selling on a larger scale but I think the principles can be used for any type of product/service you are trying to sell.

Understand Your Target Market
One would think that this is a given but you'll be surprised how many people really don't do this. You can't say that your target market is people aged 16-65. It's just not possible. Really put some thought on who are the people most likely to spend the money on your product or service. Ask yourself - how much do they make, what do they do on weekends, do they go out for dinner? Do they have children? Anything to give you a clearer picture of who those people are. Use an online survey tool like Survey Monkey and get your friends and acquaintances to participate.

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Posted in Fashion Smashion

Meet Mernie, my best friend's baby! The name "Mernie" came about quite a few months back when I was in Vancouver last, when we were being nerds, trying to come up with the equivalent of "Bennifer" for ourselves. Stefan and Karen don't really make a good meshing name, but Marie + Bernie = Mernie was an instant hit.

That's what we've been calling her baby. It sucks that we don't know the sex yet mainly because it's so hard to pre-shop for the baby. Marie is the very first of my close group of girlfriends having a baby and I've been living vicariously through her. Every week that goes by we'll talk about how big the baby is getting - "Mernie's an apricot now!"....."Now, Mernie is a limon (the size between lime and lemon)" It's all been very exciting, I must say.

It didn't actually feel true until the ultrasound and woah! there really is a baby in there. It isn't some big hoax.

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Posted in Joy-Friends

To read my full review, click here.

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Posted in Fashion Smashion

As you can see, Stefan and I made the local paper today. I am actually surprised at how many people read that paper but I guess it just goes to show that just because I don't read it, doesn't mean no one else reads it.

For those who are or were curious, we didn't submit our picture in. After we eloped, I had sent all my personal contacts an email telling them about our marriage. A large number of those contacts happened to be people I work with, which happens to be people who work in the fashion industry. It just so happened at the time the Fashion editor was working on a "Groom" story and had asked around to see whether any one in our industry had gotten married. It just so happened that we did and that's what happened.

To be honest with you, I kinda had forgotten about it as the story kept on getting pushed back. After all, all the major fashion weeks around the globe were in full force. Who wanted to hear about a wedding story?

So the news hit today.

Stefan got a lot of ribbing from his footy friends who had somehow found out. Some people asked me how I, a person who works in fashion, could possibly buy my wedding dress on Ebay? First, I am pretty pragmatic about that kind of stuff. I just wanted a pretty dress that I could put in the Goodwilll bag or back on Ebay without feeling like I spent so much money on something that I am not really sentimental about. Secondly, do you know how hard it is to find a non-wedding-wedding dress in December, in the land of ice and snow?

Anyway, there it is -- my 2 seconds of fame. My proud papa bought a couple of copies and my crazy brother Kelvin, bought 5!

Kelvin, what is wrong with you? What the hell are you going to do with all those copies, for Pete's sakes?

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Posted in Stefan

Oh, I hate to be so "Woe is me!" but man, am I beat -- road trips, long hours, school. The glamourous life of being self-employed.

I know, I know. It's all going to pay off in the end but I am saying this out loud right now, I'm no martyr to work. If I won the lottery, I'd be off to the South of France, buying a century old farmhouse, fixing it up, learning how to really craft, write and cooking fabulous food for friends. Oh, the dream....

Here are other thoughts that are occupying my mind right now -

I saw more road kill and it makes me sad. Because when you think about it, it must mean that we have taken over their native habitat and they have nowhere to go.

Lisa is SUCH a food tease! She describes in detail about the lovely food she ate at Crustacean, BUT NO PICTURES! What's going on here?

I am beyond tired of this winter weather. Where is Spring?

I need to work on my bedside manners. Stefan wakes me up every morning with a sweet,"Good morning, gorgeous!" or "Where are my beautiful brown eyes" whilst I wake him up with a,"Don't make me ask you again!" In my defense, it takes me just one try to wake me up and it takes several with Stef. Still....

My oldest friend, Mae Fong called yesterday and it's so great to know that even though we're miles apart and so much time has passed, we can still click. It's like we've never been apart. I always say it's all because she's been there since I came home from the hospital after my mum gave birth to me.

As many of you know, we've been griping about our bed and we finally got one as a wedding present from Stefan's big bro, Nick. It's amazing what a big difference a queen size bed makes when you've been sleeping on a double for years. I feel like Stefan is like on the other side of the world and I must say I kind of miss our bed fights over more space.

Mav totally made my day! Look at the gorgeous cards she made for Stefan and I. I almost don't want to use them but I had specifically gotten them for "Thank You" cards for our wedding presents. Guess, I gotta get on that. She also sent me some of her limited Geese cards and they are SO gorgeous. You should buy some if you don't already have them.

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Posted in Much To Do About Nothing

Once upon a time, before we started dating, Stefan had a beautiful glass fishbowl. It was quite large and contained three goldfish, named after his then roommates and himself.

"Paulo" was the fish with a big hairy mole after his Portuguese namesake, "Stefan" was the beautiful albino fish and "Tom" was the grumpy, fat fish. As legend goes, "Paulo" and "Tom" killed "Stefan" because it was too beautiful, Paulo then killed himself out of boredom and "Tom" was left. Two sets of roommates and four years later, "Tom" still happily swum around the fishbowl. Stefan was convinced that he had the record for the longest living $2.99 goldfish.

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Posted in Much To Do About Nothing, Stefan

I was watching one of those TV celebrity gossip shows like Access Hollywood or some other nonsense last night. Anyways, they had this "breaking" trend news story about how a lot of women are getting elective surgeries to make themselves "virgins" again. They replace the hymen and sometimes, they also get the vaginal canal tightened. Supposedly, this is becoming quite popular and is considered the new boob job.

I can understand if you're doing this if you live in a society that might kill you for not being a virgin in the name of honour. But to do this as a "gift" to your husband for Valentine's Day or Christmas at a price tag of $5000?

What is this crap? Whatever happened to doing Kegel exercises? And where are the sugeries for men to make them virgins again?

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Posted in Glued To The Tube, Weirdness

There definitely are some perks to my job. One of the big ones is that I get to go on some road trips. It's really great because I definitely have the nomadic spirit in me and the thought of sitting just at a desk all the time would make me want to jump out the nearest window. Well, not quite so drastic but close enough.

It's funny because friends who live in Europe and Asia have no concept how large the land mass is in Canada. You really have to travel quite awhile to get from A to B, if you are visiting the smaller cities or towns from the metropolitan centres. Ontario, the province I live in, is the largest so I do have to do quite a number of road trips to get anywhere.

I am so country mouse-city mouse. I like to think I would like to live on a farm in a picturesque small town; but Stefan will only have to remind me that I sometimes have cravings for Vietnamese noodles at 3 a.m. to make me realize that I love living in the city. I guess that is why so many people in Ontario own cottages by lakes to go to on the weekends.

Stratford is such a beautiful little town. It's only two hours away - thank goodness! It has beautiful historic houses, a great Shakesperan festival in the summer time and a really quaint Main Street. I really wish I carried my camera with me. The snow was blanketed over farmland and gorgeous ice crystals were hanging from branches of ancient trees. Most of the houses were very well kept and I felt like I had stepped back in time.

Some other observations I made on this road trip -

Men are the worst tail gaters! Sometimes I was doing 140 km/h on the fast lane and I still always had some moron on my tail. The moron was always male. The speed limit is 100 km/h for Pete's sake.

I really find driving very calming which is a good thing since I have to drive so much.

I need to remember that when it's an open road, I should watch my speed limit. I have a tendency to speed. I guess that I am so used to the slow as molasses urban crawl on dense Toronto highways, that I get a little speed happy.

I was so shocked to see the calvacade of trucks on the highway. Even though it makes complete sense since we all need to get our goods from somewhere.

I can't decide whether it's worse to drive past fresh road kill or to drive over very flatten road kill.

Why is there SO MUCH road kill on Ontario highways?

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Posted in Travel

I was going to forgo my annual Oscar critique but some have reminded me that it simply wasn't done to turn my back on an old tradition. So here goes.

I miss the days of Cher and Bjork. Where has all the good times gone? Everyone is trying to look so chic so the effect is simply flat. Last night was the most boring Oscars to date. I went to bed after Reese's acceptance speech so that I could read a book. Oscar fashions were just as dismal, nothing but a sea of dark, dark, black, ugly, dark, dark.

Let's start with the 5 worst dressed.

Naomi Watts is one of the most beautiful women out there, why she chose a gown that was skin coloured and looked like a growth peeling off, I am not sure. Perhaps she was trying to look etheral but the effect was lost in all the tulle. Keira Knightly - I so wanted to like her, as it was her first time ever to the Oscars. Her necklace was stunning but her dress seemed very stiff and she seemed uncomfortable in it. Oh Jennifer Anniston! Why black? Why now? She just looked like she was in mourning with that sad dress and the sad necklace. Mrs. Tim Burton (Helena Bonham Carter) was an absolute nightmare in this shiny blue short number. Charlize Theron really needs to stop taking these ugly acting roles as it's really starting to rub off on her personal taste. I didn't even notice how beautiful her make-up was until this morning because I was so distracted by the giant bow. It's a pity really because she so would have been a best dressed if it wasn't for that lopsided thing on her shoulder.

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Posted in Delectable Design, Fashion Smashion, Star Gazing

I am so glad that Stefan is into design the way I am. Granted, he is more into the technical design but there is still the artistic side of him who really appreciates all forms of art. Secretly, I always feel like he's a repressed artist inside the technical monster that he is. Stefan still has all his paints from when he was in high school and Stefan's dad has all of Stefan's artwork still displayed at his home. And the thing is, he really was a good painter back in the day.

Anyway, enough about Stefan's repressed artist. He shared with me the coolest site! What an incredible body of work this is and such amazing detail to everything. I could spend hours just going through this guy's portfolio. I loved his use of mixed media, really utilizing the web to translate his views. The way he showed the logos he created and how when you hovered over the actually logo, you would see his thought process? Simply brilliant!

Ladies, click on the "reflect/respect" link and watch the video. Be prepared to be completely humbled and amazed by the message.

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Posted in Delectable Design

What an exhausting week this has been, both mentally and physically.

I'm having a hard time juggling my many hats. I've been taking an entrepreneurial course in addition, to it being my busy work season. Thank goodness the course isn't all the time but I've been putting in my full 12 hour days every day to make up for everything else.

I must say there have been some absolutely fascinating things that I've learnt so far. I have to admit that I am a nerd. I've always really liked school and learning. It's nice to do something a little different from my business, albeit if it's to learn on how to run it properly.

Regardless, I was just completely drained by Friday.

There is nothing like a little organization to make me feel like I've regained some control. Even if it's not true. This idea came courtesy of the lovely Abigail. Now, I am wondering what I am going to do when I bring the rest of my books from my parents place.

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Posted in Me-ness

Woo Hoo! I am always so excited when I switch my masthead. Only because I have such a short attention span and I get so bored of things quickly. It's another downside to being in the fashion industry, I think.

Lia, Stefan and I have really gotten our masthead making down to a science.

My wonderful Lia, who says that I am the worst and best client. I can always envision what I want but I don't have the skills to execute it. That is where Lia and Stefan come in. I remember the first masthead, which was Spring last year.

"Lia, I am thinking baby pink and mint green with a girly font. Just do whatever you like" I said. She came back with something and I was happy because back then it was really simple. (For the guys who are colour blind, no this is not the same colour scheme as last year. This is coral and lime, thank you very much!)

By summer, I came up with blue and hot pink as my colours. "Think cottage and relaxing. Boats , sun and water." I thought I was being very direct and creative. She gave me three options and I was like,"Err....this is not really what I had in mind...maybe you can add this or do this....."

Then there is poor Stefan, who I've always thought was my own personal web master. I am always expecting him to tweek one thing or another and I always want it right now!! It's even worse now that we're married, because I always think that it's my God given right to demand round the clock service.

Back in the day, I would give Lia colours to work with for the masthead but Stefan would get nothing for the rest. I would say, "Just do variations of what Lia did...." and then I would make him change it because I didn't like his colour combinations.

Yes, I am an unreasonable bum! Anyway, now that we've had a bunch of seasons under our belts, I try to make things as easy for them as possible. Now, I am really specific with details - I send both my overall colour scheme (using this handy tool and Photoshop), an image that I want and just let them do whatever. After all, they both do it for free and out of love for me. (I hope!)

Thank you, Lia and Stef for doing such a great job and for always indulging me!

Comments (4)
Posted in Delectable Design, Joy-Friends, Stefan