christmas is near!.

I've got my hands full with making the house Christmas-worthy and boy I've gotta tell you, it's more challenging than I thought.

For one, picking out the nicest but most reasonable items alone requires brain-power worthy of Sherlock Holmes's very thorough deductions. Putting them up I can assure you, is no easy feat either.

I've always prided myself for being reasonably tall-ish. Sigh, today I discovered that I'm not quite tall enough to reach the ceiling even after standing on the table on tippy toes (oh shock and horror!).. Not even after borrowing my neighbour's ladder and standing on the highest rung=( Well desperate times call for desperate measures and I was truly desperate to reach the ceiling to replace my abysmal lamp shade with the spiffy new one I bought from Ikea.

And so, I stacked up all my Vogues and recipe books, placed them on the highest rung and finally... MANAGED TO REACH THE CEILING!!

YAYY!! pictures of the lamp shade for everyone!!=))

what's Christmas without some mistletoe?

my new lamp-shade!
(you DON'T want to see the old one, trust me... not unless you like cobwebs, dust and rusty chains...)

some sparklies over the fireplace

And finally, PURELY for your viewing pleasure and COMPLETELY out of topic;

Gelane and Memnoch
(s's and my alter ego in cyberworld!)

wishing on a star.

Finally, the day I've been waiting for all week has arrived. S and I planned to pay Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park a visit tonight!

Or so we thought...=(

We headed out to the city for dinner and it was pouring with rain. We were still hopeful though.

Oh how naive we were... Sigh, the rain didn't let up even after coffee and dessert. And so with heavy hearts, we trudged our way around the city. We will have to save Winter Wonderland for another day=(.

To make matters even worse, we forgot to bring umbrellas. Well I've always wanted to buy one of those dome umbrellas because I think they are super cool and keeps you the dryest among all other umbrellas. But after 2 hours of hunting, we wished upon a star with our fingers crossed and popped into Topshop for a last ditch try to find my elusive dome brolly.

Alas, they did not have my umbrella but what they did have was a star. A Superstar, that is... Beyonce Knowles was shopping in Topshop!=))!

Well, not really what I expected but.... I ACCEPT!=) I mean this is the woman that has one of the best video of all time. THE BEST VIDEO OF ALL TIME!

*but still boo to kanye west. BOOOOOOOOOO

very odd indeed.

This morning I woke up, turned the computer on and logged into MSN to have my usual daily chat with my dear mom whom I usually catch online when I wake up at 9 a.m. (equivalent to 5 p.m. Malaysian time)

She's always right there waiting for me as it's still business hours in Malaysia=) This morning however, her name was not on my 'online' list.

'Hmmm, that's strange', I thought to myself. I looked through my list again and did a double-take because I found a 'nadia' on my list. I never had another nadia on my list before!

Lo and behold... it was my Dear Mom.

'Hey mummy, can you please tell me why you are using my name as your nickname on MSN? it is called IMPOSTING you know?

To which she replied, 'Aiyoh yalaa.. I don't know what I press in office now it become your name and I don't know how to change it back to my name. Nevermindlah it's ok'.

hehehe=p. oh mummy, you are darn funny. love you very much. please don't cheat my friends and pretend to be me. Imposting is AGAINST THE LAW!.

that's us on graduation day!=)

the cutest little thing in the world!.

The temperature's a-droppin' in London and it's time to work the heaters! Call it my student instincts kicking in but I still can't bring myself to turn on the central heating. (having studied in Melbourne, we students have handy little tips of keeping warm without costing us exorbitant electricity bills)

For example;

1. boiling hot water to emit steam to heat up the apartment
2. placing a hot water bottle in bed 10 minutes before bedtime to ensure warm snuggly sheets

Now in London, though I do not have those heating restrictions any longer, old habits die hard. And just as well really...=) It's always good to save that extra dollar, is it not?

And so on extra cold days such as these, I turn on the portable electric heater strategically placed in a corner to warm up as much coverage area as possible. It usually warms the place up in 15 minutes=p

Well today, 15 minutes passed and I still felt cold. So I glanced towards the heater and guess what i found?

LITTLE CUDDLES STEALING ALL MY WARM AIR!!!

The Culprit caught red-handed

uh-oh...

but she's cheating! Because NO ONE can get angry at that face.
*krys admit it... not even you=p

Isn't she just the cutest thing in the world?? Look at her all fluffy and clean=)

being a christian.

I stumbled across this poem on a blog today and nothing resounds more strongly in my ears/eyes. For those of you whom I have had conversations with about Christianity, you would have noticed that I get very impassioned when I talk about Christian portrayal in the world.

The poem you're about to read hits home about what being a Christian really is. We are neither perfect nor better than anyone else. Quite the contrary... but we made a Choice to follow Christ. The road is not any easier but at least now we have direction and we know where it goes=)!

And let's face it, every little bit helps in this mysterious journey we're all on called Life.=)


When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'.
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say ..."I am a Christian,"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble,
And need Christ to be my guide.

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak,
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed,
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I'm not claiming to be perfect.
My flaws are far too visible,
But God believes I am worth it.

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches,
So I call upon His name.

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I'm not holier than thou.
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace somehow.

-Maya Angelou

what should i do now.

I have already done grocery shopping, the laundry, baked peanut butter and chocolate cookies, marinated the lamb shoulder to roast tomorrow for dinner and roasted the chicken to make chicken with chilli-lime mayo wrap for dinner tonight. Darn, it's only 1.30pm=(

Sigh...

Maybe I'll make Christmas cards!=)

favourites.

here are 2 of my favourite shots from the night out in the city! I photoshopped them for a more dramatic effect though (and also to cover up unsightly blemishes). Just refreshing my photoshop skills before they disappear altogether=(