Financial Planning for Babies

Babies here are not literally babies, bayi. What I meant is young executives who are new to the working life (like me…well, one year plus is still quite new) and just starting to lead a more stable life financially.

I started keeping track of my expenditure every month because, ONE, I’m a big spender. I spend a lot of money on unnecessary things like cheap clothes and accessories that will be worn out within a few months, TWO, it’s damn hard for me to save money. I go on a lot of holidays but instead of saving the money bit by bit every month, normally I’d just pool up my salary that particular month for a trip and just stop spending on anything. Which is just dumb.

Obama Wins!

I think this is the sweetest tweet ever :)

( Source : Here )

Congrats Obama!

Abuse

I met a friend recently and we got to talking about her friend, let’s call her A. My friend was telling me on why they had a fall out and somehow the reason was shocking, to me.

A is in a relationship with a guy. They’ve been together for a while. But A always complaints to my friend that her boyfriend always abused her. Like, physically abused her. When A came to my friend, she was limping and bleeding from her lips because she just had a fight with the boyfriend. He kicked her, I think they call it flying kick eh, kicked her in the stomach. And when she’s on the ground, she was kicked AGAIN. I swear, I was so shocked to hear that! She’s so tiny, how can she withstand such an abuse!

Review - St Ives Naturally Clear Green Tea Scrub

My skin is quite temperamental. It’ll be super clear with no sign of acne at all, but nearing to the damned time of the month, it will act out. I started having problematic skin when I went to my National Service stint for 3 months. It was hot, I was so bloody tanned, the water is dirty because we had a water shortage problem so we had to use the air kolah and well, you’re in the middle of the jungle so who have to the time to take care of their skin. So, I tried a few methods. Met several dermatologist (the best so far would be Dr Ranjit Skin Clinic, but you have to make an appointment first), tried a whole lotta meds too. But I hate it when I have to rely on oral medication, because one huge downside is that when you stop taking the meds, the acne will appear again and you have to repeat the medications again.

Then, I found this baby. I was randomly looking for a facial scrub because my previous facial scrub from Clarins has finished. So, walking around Guardian and I found the St Ives Naturally Clear Green Tea Scrub. But, like any smart girl buying beauty products, I gotta check with Lord Google. Normally, I’d just check any reviews and if the ratings are 4 and above, that product should be good. So, this green tea scrub got GREAT ratings. All 4.5 – 4.8 out of 5. So, I bought em straight away. The price is about RM27.50 or something.

The amazing product : St Ives Naturally Clear Green Tea Scrub 

( Source : Here )

Results

I used it and in just TWO days, I can already see the differences. My skin looks healthier, with a happy glow. The redness from the acne is completely gone. The bumps are still there but it’s definitely getting smaller. My pores are tighter and fewer breakouts since I start using it. My skin is less oily at the T-Zone area and I don’t have to use any makeup or powder for me to go out. It is really that good. I’ve been recommending it to all of my friends.

Review

Pros

Because this scrub has micro mini teeny weeny particles, you can use it daily without drying up your skin. The texture is creamy and does not produce a lot of foams because for my acne prone skin, foamy product irritates my skin. It’s not harsh on my skin, since I have super sensitive ones, this is a major win. It smells good, not overwhelming and you can use just a 10 cents sized dollop to lather on your face. I use it daily, and my first bottle lasted up to 3 months. Seriously, it’s good value for money.

Cons

Because it reduces the opening of your pores, there are very few dirty bits around areas that are a bit hard to clean it out, like for me is along my jaw line, that is trapped underneath your skin. So, that dirty bits clogs up and becomes small bumps. The small bumps can be cleared out by extracting them out but I think if you leave it long enough, it can be scrub out.

Overall, I really love this product. Great for my skin, my pocket and I don’t have to use make up at all (except for a little eyeliner, but come on, eyeliner is a necessity okay). WIN!

Excuse me for my dorky face. I’m just bad at taking self portraits

Childlike Wild

When I started working, I always had this idea of me being a 'grown up'. Like, I was sure that I'll change somehow, in terms of my clothes, style, the way I interact or something. Because, well, apparently start working is a big step in someone's life. Plus, working with older colleagues, they always tell me about the scarier side of love/working life.

Butttt, I'm well into one year plus of working, I still see myself as the little bright eyed girl looking at the world. I thought I'd be wearing clothes differently, do my hair or at least comb my hair. But here I am. I still dressed up the same way, less skin showing, but still as chillax as I used to before I started working. I still don’t do my hair ala Kim Kardashian curls everytime I go out, but I like to curl my hair for special occasions.

Maybe that’s just who I am. At this age I’m still dancing Gangnam Style in front of the mirror every chance I get and I still get excited over the tiniest things, like when that special someone calls me Sayang. Maybe we don’t have to grow old and stop doing silly things that make us happy. Maybe growing up and growing old is just a concept that other people want us to believe in to make us all the same boring set of people. I’d like to believe that even as I grow up, even as I know, learn and exposed to gritty and horrible truths, I can still be as optimistic about my life like a little child.

Hello, my name is Sara. I love long walks and long drives. I love cereal with slices of bananas at 2 in the morning. And I love being silly, laughing about the stupidest things until I snort, hugs, midnight conversations and love letters. Would you still love me? 

Copenhagenization

Back in May, I went for a two week trip to Copenhagen, Denmark and London. I've been to London quite a number of times so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect in London. But for Copenhagen, I wasn't too sure of what's there. Before coming there, the only thing I knew about Copenhagen are they have great Scandinavian designers, especially Bjarke Ingels and all his quirky buildings, Hans Christian Andersen, the Danish author who wrote 'The Little Mermaid' and 'The Ugly Duckling' and they are among the Happiest Cities and Greenest Cities in the world! Tu je. 

And before going, I wanted to experience a different kind of travelling. I went with my mom but she was busy with all the meetings she had to attend to in Copenhagen so I get to explore the city all alone and I was so excited with that idea. So I want to try travelling where I don't know what to find there but I will let myself explore by myself what's there for me to see. So, I avoided reading anything on Copenhagen prior to the trip.

The stories of my exploration will come someday but I want to write about the best thing I found there. It's called Copenhagenization. 

Why I love Music

I've been feeling pretty emotional this couple of days. Firstly, because I'm super swamped with my new job. In a couple of weeks, there'll be a launching of the project I'm working on. So, been really pushing and absorbing and immersing myself in this new culture at the office. But more on that later. 

Today I feel like writing. I feel like talking about memories. I'm just so tired of work that writing about these memories feels nice. Good and bad memories. The title of this post is why i love music. Certain songs evoke memories that are so fresh in my head, even if I think about the situation or location or feeling I was going through at that particular moment in time, I can smile or laugh or cry. Depends on the memory.

I just want to share a couple of songs that spark all those memories in me. I have a few. Some are great memories. Some are just normal memories. But all of them means something to me.

Sara's Bucket List

1. Run A 5 km Marathon 

2. Ride a unicycle.

3. Go mountain biking. 

4. Learn to Rollerblade or skateboard.

5. Go sailing.

A New Beginning

I think everyone around me knows how much I hate doing drawings on CAD / Sketch Up. Yes, I'm an assistant architect who hates doing drawings, how ironic is that. But alhamdulilah, I've been lucky enough to be able to work at my firm because I still remember going for the interview and telling them that I'd be great at site handling projects but I don't like doing drawings. And that is what I've been doing for the past year. I think the amount of knowledge aquired in the past one year is massive. Huge. But, it's time for a change.

Working for a developer has been a small dream of mine. I can't explain it, but it's there. A little fire burning inside this architect front. I wanted to join a developer straight after I finished my degree, but I told myself, Work at a firm first. See how things are. See if it fits. And now, after a year, I'm still not there yet. I still want to work for a developer, eventhough I'm having a great time at my firm.

So now, I finally did it. I went for an interview with a developer sometime mid of July. And bloody hell it was one super hard super crazy interview. Hahaha. Glad I made it through, Alhamdullilah :)

Work for a developer – CHECK!  

Journey Balik Kampung!

Hello virtual people! Selamat Hari Raya to anyone reading this :) And I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for any wrongdoings I have done to you, directly or indirectly. Been busy this couple of weeks (Will update on that later! Exciting news!)

New Addition to The Family :)

I'm so happy to share with everyone that I'm a proud aunt of a beautiful bouncing baby boy, Aariq Bin Mohd Azmir. He was born on 3^rd August 2012, at 3.48 p.m., weighing 3.48 kg. Nice number right? The whole family were with my sister during her labour. 

Me?? On camera??

Oh god. Back in May, I did this make over episode called 'Dress Me Up Fashion Valet!' for Fashion Valet by Celebrate TV. I've been a fan of FV ever since they started out. I was inspired by the co-founders, Vivy Yusof and Fadza. They are so young when they started out the business, and look how far they've come!

Anyway, back to the make over episode. I've always been a little camera-phobic. I'm so not photogenic and I take really bad pictures. And I'm really self-conscious in front of the camera...and karaoke too. Give me a mic for me to talk, and I can go on and on. But I'll never make it as an actress and you should thank me for not attempting that career path ever.

Mom's Birthday Doa Selamat Event

Yesterday was my mom's 50^th birthday. She's been planning for a little celebration with the whole family but since it's Ramadhan and my sister's gonna give birth to her son in a few days time we planned for a small break fast / doa selamat / terawih event at home on Sunday. But it turned out to be not so small (which never happens in any event my family plans)

We had a tent outside and also Nasi Arab, Mandi Chicken, Hummus, Nasi Lemak Opah from Taipan and other food that I didn't get to eat. Mom invited just family, close friends and neighbours over.

Short Trip to KCH - Day Two

Hello! It has been more than a week since my trip to Kuching. But I'll get to it soon. Been busy during the weekend with my mom's birthday doa selamat / break fasting / terawih event.

On the second day, we planned for a trip to the Cultural Village in Damai Puri? I'm not too sure what's the name of the area but I know it's near Gunung Santubong. But before we started the trip, we wanted to eat laksa sarawak and mee kolok. I tell you, I have a super huge massive appetite. The amount of food I can take, scary ok! I've never tried mee kolok before, and I tried laksa sarawak once when Tina cooked it. So, I had a pretty huge expectation on the food I'm gonna have that day.

We went Pasar Satok area to get our breakfast. But we were too late to get the laksa sarawak. Finished before we get to taste it :( So I tried Mee Kolok. Gahhh, so so good! I'm a big fan of soupy dishes so this is perfect for me. It tasted very meat-ish, so they give you a really hot sambal sauce to go with the mee kolok. The mee seems like a maggi mee. But taste better. 

Mee Kolok

The owner are these two siblings and they are the only two people managing the shop as they don't want the family's secret recipe to fall to strangers. But I think they should get more people to help around because the service was pretty slow. Or maybe it's the KL girl in me. I don't like slow services but in Kuching everyone seems okay with it. I don't know. Thank god the good mee kolok made up for the slow service :)

After having breakfast with Tina's parents, we're all set to go to the Cultural Village. It's about 45 minutes from Kuching City. We had an awesome time road tripping the whole way. And the journey there was lovely. It was raining, the breeze was so chilling and we can see Gunung Santubong from far. I was the only one who have been to the Cultural Village so I was telling em all the things we can do there. The Cultural Village is where they have the different races' traditional houses in one area. So they have Malay houses, Chinese, Bidayuh, Iban and lots more.

Gunung Santubong from far. You can see the silhouette of a woman's face. 

The moment we arrived, we were just in time for the Cultural Show. Lucky us! But you have to pay for the tickets first. The ticket is about RM60 for adults and RM30 for kids. For Sarawakians, it is about RM25. Oh and RM15 for Local University Students.

The Cultural Show is where they perform their respective dances. There's one with bamboo and hair feathers and sexy man wearing nothing but loin cloth. Hahaha. I was a bit shy when the two guys danced wearing the loin cloth because we can see up close since we're at the first row. Oh! And there was a section when the guys were doing 'sumpit' – blow dart. And they pulled me up to do it with them. Haha! Finally pop the balloon after the third try ;p

After that we went around the area. We saw skulls! I think it was awesome! They put it at the roof trusses and there's a fire burning underneath. The fire plus smoke is to prevent the spirit of the skulls to come down and disturb the house owners. The Ibans were well known back then as head hunters. Hehe.

Afterwards, we just chilled at the beach area at Damai Puri. And we hiked a lil bit to find a jungle pool. Pity we didn't have our bathing suits. The water was so so cold. And refreshing too. Can imagine if we go skinny dip or something at night then there's lizards all around us. Hahah! And from the beach in Damai Puri, we can take a boat for a dolphin tour (I was impressed. Never knew Malaysia has dolphins) and a tour to Bako National Park. We're planning to try that the next time we're in Kuching :)

Well, that concludes the second day of our Sarawak adventure! 
Pictures from Tina and Syu

Big Idea

You know that feeling when you have a big idea in your head? You can't stop thinking about it. You want to do it NOW. Your pulse goes faster thinking about that special idea that belongs to you. Your ears are warm from all the thinking. You just set a new goal in life. The goal is a new target for you. It seems so big but you want to do it. You want to see how far you can push yourself. It scares you. Everything seems to go faster then usual..

That's how I feel right now :)

( Source : Here )

Short Trip To KCH - Day One

I had a short trip to Kuching with my girlfriends last weekend. We bought the tickets early this year when me and Tina were talking about going on a holiday. So, she said she just bought a ticket to Kuching, her hometown, for a trip in July. Without thinking that much, I just bought the tickets and finally it's time for a break! 

I've been to Kuching around 4 times before. I kinda knew what to expect there. But for Farhana and Syu, it is their first so we planned to visit all the tourist attractions and eat everything. Oh god. I ate so much, I think I freaked out my friends. Haha! 

I drove around cos.. hehe, my local sarawakian driver is afraid to drive in Kuching *Points at Tina* Which is funny because she can drive great in KL. The traffic in Kuching is like an old lady's driving. It's like everyone is not rushing off anywhere. Everyone is super relaxed on the road. Oh, but I had a short battle with a road bully.

The minute we arrived, we went to one of the must visit places in Kuching. First is the sampan ride at Sungai Sarawak at the waterfront area. It was late and really dark at the river. We had rojak buah before getting on the sampan. The sampan driver said that there's buaya in the river, I don't know how true though. And we got splashed by this fisherman's boat and soaked too. I went to Top Spot smelling like river. And we had our dinner at Top Spot too. The butter prawn was glorious, masya allah. Yummyy. Oh. I totally forgot that I'm fasting. Haha. Happy Fasting dear reader! (If there's any..Hehe) 

 On the sampan. We had a good time cam-whoring

 My lovely ladies

The sampan

Dinner at Top Spot with Tina's Family

Pictures by Tina

Très Chic!

From time to time I'd check out The Sartorialist for Scott Schuman's photographs, I love his photos. He won't simply take photos of pretty/handsome well dressed people. He pays attention to the more subtle details of the style, for example how the cuffs are at the end of the suit sleeves. And I think it's more interesting how he notices all this fine details.

I have a style crush on his partner, Garance Dore. She's a photographer/blogger too. I think she's gorgeous. Not the pretty model-ish type of beautiful. I love her style. She's so effortless in the way she styles herself. She just wears her partner's shirt and looks wow! Apparently, it's very 'french' of her to wear clothes like that. To simply mix and match, couture and high street and vintage. 

I think to develop ones personal style, we should not try so hard to look stylish. There's no point in buying expensive clothes or tight shirts with your boobs hanging out saying hello to everyone. For me, as long as I feel comfortable wearing the clothes and not let the clothes wear me, I'm okay with it. I love dressing up, but if I'm wearing anything too low and I'd be pulling my shirt up all night, I'm putting it at the back of my closet. Maybe that's why I like Garance's style. She looks so confident and so comfortable. And she has the cutest french accent :) 

 My favourite photo of her. She looks cute here 

 This too. She's wearing a kid's jumper over her partner's shorts. Hehe. 

( Source : Here )

Garance Dore and Scott Schuman. Fashion Power Couple.

( Source : Here )

Short Sweet Night

Me, Kavs and Ims reunited

I don't always get to see my high school crowd. But we're constantly in touch thanks to whatsapp. Ims is working in Singapore. And she's a Singaporean too. So no luck there. Hehe. Kavs is working too, and Cy is doing her intership in Tioman. So fun right! 

So every time when Ims is in KL, we'll get together and just chill. Last Friday, we went to Vogue in Plaza Mont Kiara, where Ims' daddy performs. We went crazy! Reminds me of the good ol days. Haha. Watching Ims' dad perform makes me think of all the time when we were in high school and we'll be in Putrajaya every week to watch him sing at the Putrajaya Lake Club. We'd be on the jetty and rolling around laughing and looking at the stars. Good times :) 

Oh, and Ims is a great singer too. Here's a video of her performing with her dad last Friday. Ims's daddy performs there every Tuesday and Friday. Enjoy!

New List of Places to Visit!

I love travelling. Can never get enough of travelling. Alhamdullilah, my family and I are blessed with the opportunity to travel around the world. And I'm thankful that my parents take us travel with them too, hehe. I always have a list of places I'd love to go to. I think some of the places that made an impact in my mind mostly because of the history. I'm a huge history buff. And I read a lot of history books, listen to alot of pod casts and watch documentaries. So, I came up with the list as my check list for future travels :) 

Vatican City and Rome, Italy

Wow. I think I've had a thing for Vatican City for a bit too long now. But still haven't had the opportunity to go there yet. I think when I read 'Angels and Demons' by Dan Brown, I started to read and do my own research on Vatican City. Do you know that it's the smallest country in the world? How cute is that! Haha. And they have their own police, the Swiss Guards, who wears the funkiest outfits ever. Oh wow. Vatican City and Rome deserves a whole new blog post just to talk about all the places I'd love to go to. But just a short list now, St Peter's Square, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Sistine Chapel, Pantheon, Colosseum and so much more! Oh and I have great collection of mini ancient Roman and Greek statues too. 

 St Peter's Square ( Source : Here )

\

 The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo in Sistine Chapel ( Source : Here )

 The super cute outfits of the Swiss Guard! ( Source : Here )

Bavaria, Germany

There's only one reason that I'd want to visit Bavaria, which is about an hour plus away from Munich, that is to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle. Oh my god, it is the most beautiful castle I've ever seen ever. It's the inspiration behind the Disney castle, the castle they have at every Disneyland and also the Disney logo. It is so intricate and god, I have no words for the castle. It was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It was built quite recently too. I mean, not that old. Gosh I don't remember the exact year but I know it's somewhere around 1800-ish. But Ludwig is pretty eccentric. He has an elevated dinner table, so if he needs the table to be cleared, it will just disappear through the floor. Amazing! I was in Munich once, but didn't have the chance to go and visit :( 

 Neuschwanstein Castle ( Source : Here )

 The Interior ( Source : Here )

Florence, Italy

Florence is a pretty new addition to my list. Quite recently, I had a thing for Renaissance Art, again. So, been doing my researches on the Medici family, the patrons of Art, as we studied in History Form 4. But what we studied in school was pathetic. There's so much more to the Medici family! There was a series of massacre that was orchestrated by the Medici here which I think is super interesting. So, I always wanted to visit the Duomo and all the Renaissance paintings there.

 The Duomo ( Source : Here )

Moscow, Russia

I just added Moscow in my list of to go places after I went to Copenhagen, Denmark. At the same time when I was in Copenhagen, a friend of mine was in Moscow and St. Petersburg. So, I was looking at her Instagram photos and I thought, well, Copenhagen is at the same latitude as Moscow, (I even surprised myself when I knew this! Must've been one of the infos hidden somewhere in my head) I'm almost there! I mean, I made it to Copenhagen, a little bit more I can reach Moscow :)

( Source : Google )

And I like reading about the Romanovs Family. If you've seen 'Anastasia' the cartoon movie, where this princess escaped the massacre that killed the whole royal family of Russia, you'd know who the Romanovs are. And the sinister witch doctor, Rasputin (Listen to Bonnie M's song, 'Rasputin') and please, he is not the lover of the Tsarina.

The Romanovs family ( Source : Here )

Oh, interesting fact, to me at least, there are a number of ladies pretended to be Anastasia, the youngest princess of the Romanovs family, but years and years after that, they did a DNA testing to confirm the death of Anastasia by using the DNA of Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh as in the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. Cool rightttt? Hehehe. 

New Zealand

This is one of the countries that both me and Asyraf always wanted to go. We've been planning to go to NZ for so long. Both of us loves greenery and open spaces, with all the mountains and beautiful lakes. Plus, I can visit the set for Lord of the Rings filming that was filmed there. Trust me, I'm obsessed over LOTR. So if I ever get the chance to come to NZ, I'm the happiest girl ever :)

Hobbiton! ( Source : Here )

 ( Source : Here )

I'm so gonna do this! But I bet Asyraf won't. Haha. ( Source : Here )

( Source : Here )

Truth is ..

Life. No doubt that life has its ups and downs. I bet that every one of us have tasted the bitterness of life in whatever way life kicks you in the ass. However, how we deal with the problems make all the difference. In dealing with the problems, sometimes a good wake up call and clarity is what we need. So, I made up a list. The list consist of the things that I learned, accepted and dealt with, in order to have a more peaceful and happier life.

Nothing is permanent.

The thing we always forget about life is that it is NOT permanent. Everyone will have to face death. It is a destination that no one can escape. Like cathching a plane to a destination. Once you broad that plane, no other way but to arrive at the destination where you are suppose to land at. As Muslims, we believe that we are not just human on a spiritual journey, but we are merely spirits on a human journey. And eventually that human journey will end. And it's okay. Yes, it's heart breaking. But it will happen.  Accepting death is a way for you to acknowledge there is a greater power that somehow looks after you. The only story is how you die. And that is a whole other story.

I love you, you don't love me

In life, some people might not like you. And you might not like everyone in the world. And that's totally normal. Back then, I had a really hard time trying to accept this. I'd try hard to fix things up if one of my friends has an issue with me. But after trying for too long, I think that you can't force everyone or anyone to love you and like you. You just have to let time takes its course and let things go. If it's written in the stars that you guys are meant to be friends / partners / lovers, it will happen.

Fail, Fail and Fail

When I was in uni, we have this subject, Design, which is the most important subject that takes so much time, energy, sweat and tears for any architecture student. Every semester we'll see so many students failing this subject. I have seen some friends giving up and took up another course after they failed design. But some still soldier on even after they failed. I think that people should not be afraid of failure. Learn from your failures and move on to your next challenge. You failed once, learn from it and do better the next time. If you're not failing, you're not growing. We heard stories about how WD40 and the light bulb were invented. If they had given up after their first try, we'd never have all the inventions that makes our lives easier. 

Damn, that girl has everything!

Ahh...Envy. You're lying if you never felt this before. A girl you know with the perfect handbag, with her perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect perfect perfect life. You'd watch her from far wishing that you can have her life. But that's normal. Because in life other people with have better rezeki than you. And they will always have more than what you have. But that should not stop you from being grateful with what you have. You can't possibly get EVERYTHING you want right away. Work for it. Insyaallah, things will go your way. And if you still feel envious towards the perfect girl's shoes, think about how blessed you are to be able to buy shoes for your feet, when some people don't even have feet.

Some friends may not be BFF always

Friends. Wow. I can't imagine not having any. I don't have a lot. I can count them with my fingers. Including my toes lah. I figured that collecting a lot of friends or having 10000 friends on your Facebook list, means nothing if your friends bitch about you behind your back. Or spread rumours about you. Or tell other people that you talk in your sleep. So, it's okay if you have very few friends. I keep my friends close, the ones who stick by me during my darkest days. A friend stayed with me for almost two weeks in HUKM when my dad suffered a really horrible stroke attack. A couple of friends stayed up late at night to help me with my design during my final year just to make sure I'll graduate with them. Friends come and go. But real great friends stay with you forever.

Nobody can change your life except for yourself

Well, duh.

Malam Nisfu Syaaban

Masyaallah, tonight is such a beautiful night. The full moon illuminates the dark sky. Syahdu. And tonight is Malam Nisfu Syaaban. Malam Nisfu Syaaban is the 15th night in the month of Syaaban. Muslims believe that on Malam Nisfu Syaaban, all our deeds for the past year will be calculated and a brand new sheet is given to us by malaikat to calculate our deeds for the next year. A fresh start for all of us Muslims :)

And coincidentally, today is also my 1st year anniversary of working in the industry. I figured that my one year mark is a great time to reflect back on my progress and where I see myself in another year. So, I made a list. A list of all the things that need to be done by the time 2012 ends. Some items are do-able. Some are a little hard for me. 

The List

I hope for a better year for me. I mean, my year was fine. But not great yet. I need more improvement in my work, my financial and savings and also my life in general. I'm getting more comfortable with where I am now which is just NOT good. I am beyond grateful with the blessings I have. Alhamdullilah. But we must push ourselves to discover what are our limits and our potentials :) So, here's to a new beginning. And let's hope all the list will be fulfilled by December.

True blue baby I love you!

Haha. There goes my plan to start blogging religiously. Anyway, it's never to late to start :) 

The story starts here. My sister is 31 weeks pregnant and she's ready to pop out the little baby in about 6-8 weeks. And she's planning to stay in Shah Alam with us while going through her 'berpantang' or her confinement period which will last around 40 days or so. The whole family is really pumped about her moving back in and taking care of the baby with us. But the thing is, I took her old bedroom when she moved out with her husband. And my old bedroom is on the 2nd floor of the house so it'll be hard for her to take the stairs all the way up. So we decided that she will stay on the 1st floor near to my mom's room. BUT she will be taking my bed, a queen size MALM Ikea bed which I lovee. 

So now, I HAVE to buy a new bed since mine will be with my sister. Hahaha. So I started looking out for beds that will suit me. And since I'm changing the bed, might as well change the outlook of the room too :) So here are the things that I think it's pretty fun to share.

First thing that you must do before you start decorating is to think of the style of the room. And you must make sure that the room's style suits you, your personality and your lifestyle. My current room was my sister's old room so it is very her. Simple and Beige. Type of styles are like modern, classic, tropical, minimalist, rustic chic, contemporary and there's more but I can't think of any right now. Find out what's your lifestyle like. Do you read alot of books? If you do, you might need a reading area with standing lamp/bedside lamp and maybe a lazy chair or beanbag. Do you do a lot of work at home? You might need a study table or book shelves. Do you have a lot of clothes? Then you can determine the size of cabinets that you might need. Then you can pick your furnitures based on the styles that you choose. 

A minimalist bedroom. Free of clutter and clean cut furniture. Minimalism is not for everyone but I bet it'd be pretty zen sleeping here. (Source : Here ) 

A classical bedroom. Though this is quite rustic classic and it feels nice. There are some classic bedroom that looks so gaudy it hurts my eyes. (Source : Here )

 Room full of books. I love this. Just afraid if it will fall on top of me while i'm sleeping. (Source : Here)

This too! Such amazing colours. I love the burst of colours. But it looks a tad messy right? (Source : Here)

Then, the second thing is to think about the colour. My current room is Beige because my sister picked the colour. And I don't like beige that much. It's too colourless and too bright for me. But for the time being, I'm fine with it. And the room has this pretty gold wallpaper that my sister and her husband personally installed in the room so I will leave the wall paper as it is. So for me, I would want to choose a colour that can suit the gold wallpaper and the dark walnut built-in cabinets in the room. Since lately I've been into Blue colour, I was thinking of painting it Blue. I first go the inspiration when I saw Carrie Bradshaw of Sex and the City's bedroom in SATC the Movie. The room she decorated after Mr Big cancelled the wedding. 

  Carrie's Bedroom (Source : Here )

Since then, I always wanted a Blue bedroom. I've painted my room red and purple so both colours are out of the list. And the colour in Carrie's bedroom is perfect. But for my bedroom I'd want something on the greenish side of blue. Just to suit with the dark cabinets and the gold wallpapers. But I'd love the whole look of Carrie's bedroom. With the white skirting, white furnishes and the random photo frames. Maybe I'll do something like that. Putting random frames and random photos/postcards I took during my travels. And a plus point, blue is very calming. I kid you not. It helps to have a calming environment in your bedroom because that's the most important place for someone to unwind after a long day at work. 

After choosing the colour, you can choose the bed. Based on the style you have picked, now find the perfect bed! I think for me I like bold colours for my room so the best colour for my bed would be dark colours. If you have a light coloured bed, you can match them with white furnitures and get a more pastel-ish hue for your room. But lighter colours are harder to maintain because beds are not something you would buy frequently as normally you'd use the bed for 5years plus. So, it'll be better to get something that is easier to maintain. No fuss. 

Look so comfy!

(Source : Here )

In the end, you just gotta let your imagination go free and create the best space for no one but yourself. And make sure that you can fit all your knick knacks in your room. Oh and put a lot of your personality out there in your room. Be proud to put your favourite bantal busuk or teddy on your bed, put up your favourite pictures or painting or 'Legolas' poster, ANYTHING! Its your room and no one can tell you no :) 

How fun will this be!