The financial challenge

It's been almost two years since we have started living in KL and we do realise that we still have not managed to save as much as we'd like. Could it be that we have been living right next to Suria KLCC for almost a year now? Or the fact that we order in almost everyday? Or that we rely heavily on the taxi services? Or that everything is so expensive here? Or that we really just don't plan our finances properly? We don't even have children yet and here we are, trying hard to save up monthly for that rainy day.

I have decided that March will be the month I try to curb my spending (Ask me again by middle of March). I figured we don't really need the weekly maid service since we are trying to minimalise our home; everything we don't need will be boxed up and be put in the store. So, less stuff, less dirt to clean, right? Right! I am still in my 3 day challenge to clean up the house and trying to check everything on the checklist I created yesterday. So far, no good. Here I am just typing away, while sitting comfortable in our humongous sofa watching Sex and The City on Netflix. I promise myself tomorrow will be more productive. It was supposed to start today but we ended up going to Pavi at noon, had nasi ayam for lunch, had reflexology at Kenko and spent a good amount of time browsing through Daiso (scored some stuff for more of my DIY household cleaning chores! Woot!) ok wait....the good part at SATC is coming up! not the part where Samantha had new neighbours! hahaha the whole Carrie getting stood up at the wedding bit! ok now it's stuck to this part! story of my life!

Anywhu! Back in Pavilion, we went into Parkson and actually looked at the dining section; plates, glasses, the works! We felt so grown up! LOL! We decided that we would get some new china this coming payday. Well.. we would have to now rethink that since I just thought of this whole less spending challenge.. but it was nice to gaze and dream of all the dinner hosting we would do.

Okay the Mister is back from getting groceries for our carbonara dinner! Bye.

Swiffer no more

My sleeping pattern has been way off for a while now. I would fall asleep past midnight and I can say that the astro being in the room is highly contributing to this. I had a conversation with one of the ladies here about sleep and she mentioned how she is pretty disciplined in her sleep timings. She would already be off to dreamland by 9.30pm. My mind was blown away! How? She said that she would switch off the tv at a certain time and then she would doze off. I wish I could do that! My husband and I, we both need that in our lives. I think if we were to have enough sleep, we both would be more energised in the mornings, more fit to go through about our daily lives and maybe would even get stressed less.

So I will try to put that to the test....obviously won't start tonight as it is almost midnight and here I am on Pinterest, browsing through ikea, blogging, watching Second Chance on Fox & at the same time wondering what our plans are for tomorrow. I've mentioned to my husband that I'd like to go out after we finish cleaning up. laughs... Cleaning up is definitely hard in our household. We have ALOT of stuff that needs to be organised. We have the boxes, we have the labels, we have the time, but what we don't have is the motivation to actually get everything done pronto. Okay, so maybe that's another thing that needs to be put to test. Thanks to the New Year holidays, my husband will be free from work till Tuesday so we have three more days to attempt to finish cleaning up the house! I must say we did a good job today. We've cleaned up the master bedroom and bathroom! *good job R&L!* 

Thanks to this pin on Pinterest, I actually managed to make my own Swiffer pads! I have always been a fan of Swiffer products ever since i first laid eyes on it while going through Giant in the US. I never did like to do household chores, especially mopping! So when my husband and I got our first Swiffer Wet Jet for our little apartment in DC, I got abit rajin. a. bit. LOL. We even bought some extras when we did our last minute shoppings before going back to Brunei for good. I had a joke with some of friends on one of my last days in DC while we were having one of my farewell lunches, that they have to now become Swiffer agents and have to ship them back to Brunei for me...at that time, I was very serious! When we got to KL for our next posting, I was happy to find a similar product since I left my Swiffer back in Brunei. After using them a few times, I was disappointed that it was not as good as the Swiffer. So I eventually stopped using it and went back to the conventional mop & pail. Boo! That was until I saw the pin a few days ago and today I finally decided to give it a go! I had all the requirements!

• White vinegar - check
• Distilled water - check
• Cloths - check
• Ziplock bag - check!

I am happy to say that I have found a somewhat slightly similar version of the Swiffer Sweeper wet pads! Woot! They work so well too..and I can just wash the cloths and re-use them! 

So now I can try to tackle the very hard to do tiles in the living room tomorrow! Here's what we actually have to finish within the next three days :

• Clean up the cats' room 
• Laundry (Stacks and stacks of it!)
• Ironing
• Throw out all the rubbish
• Clean up the mini office room downstairs and maybe try convert it into the new cats' room. Atleast it's air-conditioned. We'll see....
• Divide all the stuff that we no longer wear / use into the donate or throw boxes.
• Clean the carpets
• Send some stuff for dry cleaning
• Clean the area by the pool

Overambitious? I think so! I had to stop typing down more because I got a little overwhelmed! LOL!

It's basically tomorrow now.. today? Anyways! Gonna attempt to get some sleep now and pray that I won't have nightmares about cleaning up the house again.

Archie alternative

Typing this as I wait in the hospital for my next appointment. I am glad I brought along my macbook. Normally I would just get an Archie or whatever new books they have at the tuck shop and read, but thought I'd save money today and just go online...and browse through online shops (save money? say whaaaa?)

I have been thinking of getting this day bed for my office for so long! I figure it would go nice in the home office for days when I just want to read a book in the office or watch my tv series. SOOOO productive huh? Just this morning my husband mentioned that he wants to turn the office into a home office / prayer room where we can mengaji too. I love the idea and that got me to pinterest! LOL! So many ideas. I know what to do now in my spare time.

Okay, going now!

Obsession over cosmetics

It's not normal I tell you. My obsession with cosmetics started when I was so young! I remember playing with my ibu's lipsticks back when we used to live in Sumbiling and I was still sleeping in my parents' room. I would sit down on her vanity area and play with her makeup while she's at work. Ibu would come back home with a clown of a daughter with lipstick smudges all over my face! To this day, I still feel bad for ruining lots and lots of her makeup but I make it all up to her by buying her makeup every now and then.

Back when we were still in DC, I would send her packages every other month, filled with goodies including makeup from CVS, Sephora or MAC. (She now has more makeup than me!!!!! =P ) We were lucky enough to have the outlets back in DC that sells MAC cosmetics for a fraction of the price and I would go crazy there stocking up on goodies for Ibu and I. This might sound silly but I had a lingerie drawer which I used to store my make up and I had plenty still in their boxes unopened that I actually started selling most of them off or give some to my friends in DC. Whenever MAC releases their limited edition goodies came out, my friends at MAC would text me to let me know. Our second apartment in DC was just a few minutes walk to a MAC store so we would drop by often...often enough that I made two good friends there; Thu & April. The MAC store was right next to one of the entrances to go to the Friendship Heights metro station so we pass by it almost everyday that my husband sometimes would opt for us to go all the way across to Mazza Gallerie (the other entrance to the Friendship Heights metro station) so we will avoid passing by the MAC store! =P He has no faith in me. LOL! Oh! MAC is also only two shops away from Sephora! CVS is right across the street in Chevy Chase Pavilion. Sigh! I miss Friendship Heights.

The MAC store next to the Friendship Heights station.

The Sephora store two doors away from MAC. *sigh* i miss...

When we got back home to Brunei, I had a little breather since there were not many options for makeup. But when we got to Malaysia, ohmy! On my first week, I thought I could be good and only buy what was necessary. My Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation was almost empty so I thought I would just go in to get it and get out. So I did just that......and also walked away with a  few other stuff. LOL. Skip almost two years to today, I still have the same obsession with buying cosmetics as I did back in DC almost 8 years ago...but I have managed to tone down and only buy what I need... HAHAHAHAHA. Okay I couldn't even type it with a straight face! =P I know my obsession will eventually die down. But for now, I shall try my best to refrain myself from getting unnecessary stuff!

Teamwork and then some.

The only thing consistent with me is my inconsistency. It has been two weeks since my last post! It has been a very busy two weeks & I have learnt so much; mostly on teamwork. I believe that anything can go well with great teamwork and it has been proven in the past two week.

We had our first coffee morning organised by our ladies whereby we have invited around 80 ladies to a coffee morning session with two presentations by two well known presenters ; 1) floral arrangement and 2) the art of table setting. The day went by so fast and it was very obvious that all the preparations and hard work didn't go in vain. Alhamdulillah. Teamwork was the key and we are blessed to have a few ladies who are very dedicated in making the event a great one and being led by a very hard working and even more dedicated patron who have done everything she can to ensure everything goes smooth. I sometimes wonder where she gets all the energy from. I reckon when someone is as passionate as she is, all the energy will come from within.

One event down and we are now onto the next! Something on a slightly bigger scale that will require more dedication and commitment. (T minus 25 days!!!!) We spent a good amount of hours today just doing research, meeting key people who can assist us and also discussed on what to expect during those days. It didn't help that I started my morning with waking up to a migraine but it didn't deter my spirit as I know that all the other ladies are taking time out of their schedule for this too. Thankful that I pushed myself to go as I got to visit Masjid Putra (Putra Mosque) in Putrajaya! Managed to even squeeze a Sangkaya splurge with the ladies! LOL!

Something to look forward to - the 4 day weekend! My husband and I planned to just stay home & clean. Oh!!! My first session with my personal trainer this year starts next week. I need all the luck I can get! Need to shed all these *ahem* cuteness off!