Happy Birthday to me!

I'm a year older today.. Makes me reflect about what I have and haven't done.. It's like my whole life flashes before my eyes. Using rewind on my remote control.. Rewind last year, the year before.. Shit! I haven't really done much have I? I'm still in the confused state, somebody else's priority always come first. What happened to the young me who decided to change her life and pack up and leave when she was in her 20s and again when she was in her 30s.. Is it too late for her now?

Today I'm reflecting about how much more sacrifice I'm willing to do before I tell myself to stop.. Pretty deep shit hey..

I keep thinking I'll settle for less now as I'm no longer a spring chicken but you know what? I'm not really that old.. After all life really begins at 30.. But for me it's 34!!

Happy Birthday to me! Time to move on with life and put myself first..

Christmas and New Year in Oz... and little hairclips for the little ones

Yipppeeee!!!  Less than 2 weeks before we fly back to Australia.  I really can't wait to soak in all the sunshine during those few months!

Bring it on!

On another note, I've made these for my little nieces.  4 each!  That solves me having to find them Christmas pressies..  Yep!  I'm broke.. but these little critters took a while to make.  Lots of love poured into them.. ehehe..

They are little flower hair clips made from satin ribbons.  Each sewn with a little rhinestone except for the roses.  Each has either a wavy leaf or two little leaves attached.  Just realised there's only one rose among them.  Whoops!

Hope we all had a good weekend!

xx

Handmade Hair Accessories, fascinator.. for sale for sale!

Guess who's been a busy bee?  Well.. welcome to my Spring/Summer collections!  One of a kind hair accessories!

Now, I just need to get them listed online somewhere...

3 different types of hairbands..

I love the pink one the best.. it's 3 roses (1 big and 2 small) with sparkles in the middle of each of them..  Was so fun creating them! =)

These are hairclips as well as brooches (2 for the price of one! ;) ) .. Most flowers have some sparkles in the middle..  Most are made from satin ribbons.  The purple and the red and black flowers have goose feathers attached.  The green/red brooch has ostrich feathers attached.

This is actually white and is similar to the pink hairband I have above, except this one has a comb instead.. (and of course the added white rooster feathers) - Rhinestones in the middle.  The biggest is 1.9cm x 1.9cm

Last but not least, this is another fascinator I've made..  This one is made with sinamay base and the flower is made of white goose feathers and a sparkly rhinestone in the middle (approx 2.4cm) with a veil..  Attached to a black velvet band as well as elastic for double security.  I think this would be fabulous on the bride to be..

and here's how it looks worn!  I really need to get myself a mannequin head so I can show case my stuff properly..

Feedbacks please?  Would really love to hear what you think of them..

Cheers!

Xx

Pelikan Restaurant - Home styled Swedish meals

I thought with this post, I'll post some pictures of some of the places we love to frequent.

If we happen to have a craving for traditional Swedish home styled meals, we tend to head over to Pelikan Restaurant and try either their herrings (entree) or meatballs.  Please bare in mind that the meatballs are HUGE and if you order an entree, you might not be able to finish it up!

One of Stockholm's oldest, popular and finest restaurant, it has such cozy atmosphere and a great place to bring our guests from overseas and introduce them to some of the more traditional meals.. (I love the interiors and the high ceilings and large windows)

Pelikan Restaurant
Blekingegatan 40  
116 62 Stockholm

Menu..

One of the many faces of S.. This is... Saaaad..

Now, he's happy... It's actually more like.. Hurry up and take your goddamn picture grin.. =)

Myself and an ex colleague of mine from FSA, London.  She was here with her husband..

Serious looking face...  He sure can't live without his phone!

Blow fish S

Man, he sure can carry plates.  I could barely stack two tiny pile on one hand during my peak years working at the Convention Centre back in Brisbane and Melbourne!

The large windows...

Typical starter..  Something to whet the appetite..  Warm bread and crackers with butter.. Yum!

Entree:  Smoked baltic herring on rye bread with beetroots, capers, onion, roe and egg yolk - 106SEK.  I didn't try this but my friend's husband had a go and there wasn't even a crumb on the plate.  He loved it! =)

All four of us had the meatballs:  Pelikan's meatballs with cream sauce, gherkins and lingonberries - 182SEK.  

It's quite a huge servings as the meatballs (all 4 of them) are quite large compared to other places' meatballs.  The sauce is delicious and the meatballs are proper lean meat.  Comes with creamy potatoes.. This is what I call a proper meal.. ;)

We were warned by the waiter that most people can barely finish two meatballs.  Our table, most of us managed to finished 3 meatballs...

Cept for... yep.. You guess it!  ME!!  I polished every morsel on my plate...  

Needless to say, after lunch, I was wobbling out of the restaurant... and I was still full come dinner time, which was 5 hours later..

Go me!  *oink*

Wedding in Bali..

I know it's been over a week since we have returned from Bali, but I can't seem to stop writing about how great that place is as we descend into winter.

Here's some lovely shots of the wedding.  The food was quite tasty, but unfortunately, I do not like eating in the dark and it was quite dark and I couldn't see my food.. =(  :

The groom walking in

Gorgeous flowers

Aren't they sooooo cute!!!

Too many cuteness here..

The bride in her Vera Wang dress.. *droools*

Gorgeous dress

Flowers lining up the pathways

The room with a spectacular view..

Reception area..  Pity about the clouds (there were drizzle on and off, but it's all good in the end)

Waiting area where we wait for dinner (while the bridal parties and their relatives were having their tea ceremony)

Table centrepiece

Menu

Check the wet plate from the drizzle

Husband and wife's entrance

Slideshows of the two of them travelling together

Plated entree - Clockwise from the top left:  Karedok - salad with peanut tamarind sauce, Crisp Lumpia with ginger citrus sauce, Lemper - sticky rice with chicken dumpling

Garden dinner..

That's me with the bride!  Check out my fascinator which I wrote in my previous post hehe...  I know the shawl was a bit much, but my dress turned out to be too short and the top was too loose, so, I had to have something to cover myself up

Melted party favor..  Due to the slight rain and the humidity, the sugared almonds were melting.. quite gross.. =x

Speech by the best man.. After his speech I wonder if they are even friends.  One of the nastiest speech ever.. 

Main was spectacular but we were advised this is not the traditional wedding food.  The food served were mainly served during celebrations...

Main - Gorgeous array of colours!  Right in the middle is nasi tumpeng, which is the yellow rice.  Surrounding the rice is:  Bebek Tutu (Balinese smoked duck), Be Nyuk (Balinese shredded roasted chicken in spiced coconut cream), Tempe Baceam (marinated Javanese soy bean cake), Perkedel Kentang (potato fritters), Telor Dadar (Javanese omelette), Kacang Panjang Kalasan (long beans with coconuts and spices

Red Chilli Prawns - prawns with mild chilli paste

Sate Ayam - Chicken Satay with peanut sauce

Rendang Sapi - beef long - simmered in sumatran spices and coconut milk

Guest of honour of the table gets the best part - the top of the rice!

 Groom and bridal table

One of two speeches by the bridesmaids

Dessert

Creme Brulee (the best among all.. maybe cause it's only one tiny spoonful.. ;( )

The birthday cakes..  Two birthdays on that day.  The bride and one of the flower girl

France & Indonesia (the groom's French and the bride's Indonesian)

Singing the birthday song - in English, French..

Sooo cute, the facial expression!

Blowing the candles

The wedding cake and cupcakes

Big Smooch

First dance..

Aftermath... ouch!

That's it about Bali!  Honest!!

Have a lovely weekend!