Joyful, Joyful

Because the weekend is here! (Although I'll be on call)

And because it's a joyful feeling to fit into clothes that you thought were doomed for the donate pile. It's made even sweeter when there really wasn't a concious effort to try and slim down.

These pants are almost 6 years old - I remember I bought them at the Banana Republic outlet in Ohio, when I was still trying to look for a job, fresh out of college. In those days, BR was, to me, high end.

It's nice to be able to fit in them once more and remember all the hopes and dreams that one tends to have as a fresh-faced young adult.

Stress

It's been a challenging week.

Sometimes I feel like I'm a teacher, trying to get her rowdy class of whiny 5 year-olds to sit still, listen and do their homework. Except in reality, I'm dealing with adults.

Banana Republic

It's nice to be able to kick off my shoes at the end of the day and just enjoy the fact that there's still daylight when I leave work at the end of the day.

Yves Saint Laurent Oversized Muse in Chocolate (2007)

I've brought my Muse out into circulation after a friend showed off her newly acquired one. My poor bag is somewhat stripped of its identity - I was fiddling with the lock one night while waiting for my ex-husband to try on some pants at the mall. I didn't notice that it was sans lock until I got home.

Lets hope the NY store will get a replacement lock for me soon.

 And I hope that you had a better work week than I did.

My Current Obsession

I'm fascinated with Old Hollywood glamour. And red hot lipstick comes with that territory, I think. There's just this glam feeling that's evoked with applying lipstick and lipliner that you just don't get with lipgloss.

I've always been too chicken to try it, much less wear it out in public. But there's nothing like a big change in your status quo that will make you be more open to trying something new.

MAC Viva Glam I (AC9) lipstick paired with M.A.C. lip pencil in Burgundy (AC9)

Morning Joys

There's nothing better than to be able to sit down and enjoy my favorite cup of Malaysian White Coffee leisurely first thing in the morning, while catching up with the news and other favorite blogs.

 It's a relaxing start to an otherwise hectic work day.

But unfortunately, that's not feasible for me - most mornings, I'll be lucky if I actually manage to brush my hair, pack our lunches and usher my 2 year-old out the door on time. I am NOT a morning person.

Until I change my habits and actually refrain from pushing the snooze button half a dozen times each morning, it's nice to dream of the "what ifs..." =)

What Does One Do...

When one has the mean reds?

For this lady, she puts on the most femme fatale shoes that she owns and plots her world domination plan, of course!

And we know that there's no one who does femme fatale better than Monsieur Louboutin.

Christian Louboutin 120mm Very Prives in Nude

Some Things I Love...

Books. I love reading. Always have, probably always will. There's something about settling down on the couch with a good book on a lazy Sunday afternoon that is just comforting to me.

Trying to be more domesticated - My goal is to cut down on prepared/processed/frozen foods by making my own, especially for the simple stuff such as waffles, hummus, soups, baked goods, etc. Plus, I've always loved the idea of being able to be the mom with the homemade baked goods for her kid and her friends after they come home from school

Sewing. Crafting. This started when my daughter was born. I wanted to be Supermom. There are tons of craft blogs out there that provide so much inspiration and motivation to make something with your hands.

Photography - Again, this started with the birth of my daughter. I see all these beautiful photographs out in blogland, capturing precious moments, and I wanted to be able to do the same. You'll always hear people remarking that "They'll grow up before you know it" and it's quite scary how true that is. The days can be long, especially when she's up to no good, but the years are short. It's flabbergasting to me that she's already 2 years old, and is well on her way to becoming her own individual self, with very specific likes and dislikes, and wants and opinions of how things should be.The photographs and videos that I've captured are probably more precious to me than my bag collection, or any other material good.