And There's More...

In addition to the lure of online shopping, I found another source of retail therapy over the weekend - PEOPLE'S PARK COMPLEX!

Yes, thanks to r@e, I braved the heat of this non-air-conditioned complex (of a million shops), overcame my claustrophobia of crammy changing rooms, bashed through the jungles of clothes all hung tightly together (forget about stylish, upmarket window display here)..... and emerged a Chong Kee fan. Uh, yes, that's the name of the shop.

The clothes here are an amazing lot, almost every piece a familiar replica of those from Zara, GG5, Southhaven etc etc etc. I was so thrilled to find a few tops that cost only an average of 30 bucks each, yet good quality and chic enough for work. You can tell I'm so determined to break away from the monotony of matching the standard shirt/cami with suits!






The bad news is, although I don't know if the above is good news to the hubs, I AM FAST RUNNING OUT OF WARDROBE SPACE. I thought I bought hundreds of hangars from Ikea, enough to last a lifetime, when we first moved in a couple of years back. But tonight, I realised that there are no more hangars left. Now, is there an emergency here?!

And some of my clothes have just started to invade The Boy's wardrobe space.....

The Big Swop

While The Boy is away in KL attending a colleague's wedding, I have a date with Beanbean tomorrow, for the Swirl Swap Swop!

The objective is to clear your wardrobe, of all those pieces of clothings that you no longer wear, either they no longer fit, or that they were impulse buys or fashion disasters. Bring them down, and add to the pile of cast-offs from the other girls. The great exchange begins.

An ingenious way to empty the wardrobe to make way for new clothes I say! At least you know that the clothes that you have cast away will end up with someone else who would appreciate them.

The idea is to be ruthless. But like I mentioned to Beanbean, I just cleared out my wardrobe a while back, so hopefully what I've managed to gather would be good enough.


We'll update tomorrow! :)

A Little Treat Amidst All That Work Stress

One trip, in less than an hour, in replacement of lunch. One trip, in less than an hour, a trip to Stamford House. One trip, in less than an hour, it left a rather big hole in my pocket.

The main culprits? Swirl, Dotted Line, and not fogetting Nicholas.


It wasn't easy choosing, cos there were just too many tempting pieces. With so many choices, it sure ain't easy being a woman! ;)

What's more, with all that work stress, "retail therapy" sure did wonders!

Where Shall We Go This Weekend?

Ruth's such a sweet darling. When I lost one of the earrings which she made, she promptly made a new pair, knowing how in love I was with that pair.

And now there's a matching necklace as well!! Thanks babes, they are absolutely gorgeous!!

Spreading the word for Sparkle Thots, check out her lovely collection at MAAD this weekend....

Illogical Buyer Behaviour

Finally, it's up!! Yes, gan cheong spider me had been excited all week, looking forward to this weekend, so that we can put up the Christmas decor around the house.

We bought the Jemej tree last year, and to be honest, I was initially dreading to take it out again, as the dismantling was pretty troublesome and messy.

But once the tree was up with the soft fibre optics lights twinkling away, I was immediately clapping my hands in glee. Isn't putting up the Christmas tree one of the simplest joys in life? :) Was tempted to buy more ornaments, or even change the colour scheme, but decided to keep to the classic gold for now, we love it.


Confession - I overindulged at iwannagohome! yesterday. I have been there a few times, and each time, I simply couldn't bear to part with so much money for so simple stuff. Yet, I succumbed to temptation yesterday. And bought these little things for over a hundred bucks.

Despite the fact that when I peeled off the S$29 price tag for that little pot of single poinsettia, to discover its first original price tag of 6.50 EUROS, I was still pleased and gleeful about my buy. Buyer behaviour, especially that of women, can never be explained.

Sigh.... aren't they gonna look so pretty on my dining table during Christmas? *dreamy look*

Priorities

Oh yes, even before I confirm a bed for us to spend our nights in Italy, I had to make sure that this is well-locked in first.


Ok, I'm ready for the trip.

Milan - The Fashion Capital

I've been so engrossed in checking out our accommodation for Italy, that I decided that I would not further kill any more brain cells thinking of what clothes to pack in my luggage. In fact, for a shopaholic like me, it's quite no-frills for me when it comes to packing clothes for holidays.

I tend to pack a couple of pairs of jeans, plenty of t-shirts, a couple of coats and only 1 pair of walking shoes. No "fashion parade" of sorts. No overloading of luggage - I try to save as much space as I can, so as to accommodate all that shopping. And then I end up looking the same in every picture.

And this I was intending to do, till r@e reminded me that I'm not going to just any country. I'm going to Italy - that is, Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan - one of the fahion capitals of the world. A country where it has always been well-known for stylish-chic fashion, a trend-setter, home of Gucci, Prada, Ferragamo and all. In short, the MOTHERSHIP of a true-blue shopaholic/fahionista.

Come on, EJ, what were you thinking of??? IT'S ITALY LOR!!!!!!!!

I was ashamed. To think that I was even contemplating carrying a backpack. R@e thought it was a joke. "I don't think Italian women carry backpacks lor. And you want to carry that into the Prada boutique???" she asked.

That's it. All of a sudden, I decided that just for today, only today, I would break that rule of saving up more money (than usual), just before we set off for the trip. I shopped with a purpose. And I was mighty pleased with the find. :D


Ok, back to tripadvisor.....

Toys

Emailer from Howard's Storage World just arrived in my inbox. Check out this new gadget - did you ever know such a tool existed??! Well, this is new discovery for me! Now, if only they have one for chilli crabs.....


And here's another one - a fizz-stopper to keep your coke nice and gassy!


I've always enjoyed and marvelled at some of the cool gadgets that Howard's Storage World brings in. Take this gourmet kitchen scenter for instance - I have one at home. I couldn't resist how cute this scenter looked - as a mini apron! And some of the drawer scenters I got from there have been very lasting, they make the drawers smell so good!

我要回家!

It's been a few days since I've been updating my blog entries. It's been a few days since I've caught up with everyone else's blog entries. I've not even been facebooking much. So pardon me for that.

Have been frantically trying to plan the much anticipated trip to Italy. It's going to be a 14-day trip, there being quite a few places we wanna visit, so there's a fair bit to plan for. Have been consulting all the friends who have been to Italy, and I've been so grateful for all their great advice and tips. Especially Beanbean, she has been an absolute angel, giving me some really great help!

That aside, finally checked out the newly opened interiors concept store, Iwannagohome!, at Great World City the other day.

The designer ware they have on display are absolutely GORGEOUS and so droolsome. Thank goodness the Jemej Home is more or less done up, or I would have spent an entire fortune doing up our house with some of the things they have! Imagine a bunch of roses (8 stalks made of silk material) costs about $70, a tiny pot of artificial flowers costs $60!!!

Just then, we saw them. The cushions. Words sewn with diamantes. My favourite at the store. One for me and one for The Boy - how cool is that?! Heh...




Gosh, everything is so nice!!! =p

Great Savings!

It's not very often that you find everything you set your eyes upon, during a sale, and they have it in YOUR size AND in good condition. In this case, mind you that such incidents have not happened in the longest time, you succumb to the lure of the very word in the English dictionary that can make your heart miss a beat - SALE.

Right from the minute I got off work at 1pm this afternoon, I met up with Heng-mummy (she's an excellent shopping companion with limitless energy) and we combed the malls non-stop (except for a small tea break at HK cafe, Central) for the next 7 hours.

It was a good day for me, I felt as happy as the farmer with a good harvest. I managed to get quite a bit at unbelievably good prices, and I didn't feel one bit hungry even though I went without lunch. We were a pair of hardcore shopaholics, on the loose!

I even bumped into Mr & Mrs Silver-Crv. Mrs was looking very good, one month away from the EDD. It must be so exciting for them!

When I reached home, I eagerly shared with The Boy my theory of sale - the more you spend, the more you save. And that was why i came home with quite a few shopping bags, including some pressies for him. He liked the shirts very much, it's called bribery. Heh. :D

The Sale Worth Waiting For

Lunch time came. We hopped onto the cab and zipped down to Orchard, all the way from Marina Square. We've been waiting till today to do this, since the whole of this week was packed with lunch entertainment. It was like breaking free of the prison, and this is what we had for lunch.


Thank goodness, I was STRONG and resisted temptation, emerging unscathed! Except for a small handphone strap lah.... =p

But came evening, the shopaholic adrenalin was still pumping high. And so we went down to vivocity for retail therapy part 2. I kept consoling myself that I won't spend as much come July. So DO IT NOW! Hehehehe.