Alhamdulillah

Mr.Y always say that sometimes I can be ungrateful. Like, for instance, when someone compliments me, I deny the compliment. Mr.Y said that everytime something good happens to me or whenever someone compliments me, I should appreciate it and Maher Zain's song 'Thank You Allah' should be playing in my head. Haha.

So from now on, I'm going to start counting my blessings.

Starting with my job. I'm grateful I have a job when lots of people out there are unemployed. I'm grateful for the fact that my job gives me money to go shopping, medical & dental benefits and also discount on air travel. I'm also grateful because my job teaches me to be a stronger and better person each day. I am fortunate because of my job, I got the chance to meet a few amazing people who tirelessly listen to me complain about life and things like that (you know who you are babes!).

OK, that's it for now. I will continue to count my blessings from time to time, so watch out for Alhamdulillah Part 2, Part 3 and so on.

Til then, good night everyone and have a good week!

20 more days to go...

Today Mr.Y and I went to his tailor's to collect his baju Melayu. The workmanship is great. He also bought a matching purple + silver sampin to go with the baju Melayu.

I'm confused...is sirih supposed to be included as part of the dowries? If not, then I'll have to come up with one more gift for one tray.

I'm so looking forward for The Day. Can't wait to...

1. get all dolled up with professional makeup.


2. wear my specially tailored dress


3. receive all my dowries


4. pose for the photographers


5. share the special day with my close family members and friends


6. take our relationship to the next level

Sephora

It's Wesak day and I felt really bored. BBM-ed Mr.Y and asked him to accompany me to Pavillion. Wanted to check out Sephora across the street!

That's Sephora with it's futuristic architecture...

The lembaga hitam in this photo is me...a failed photography attempt to act like a tourist in my own country.

The Sephora store in Malaysia offers:

• 
  
  The usual departmental stores brand -- Clinique, Lancome, SKII, Benefit etc.


• 
  
  Brands from US/UK -- Soap & Glory, Burts Bees, Rosebud, Bare Escentuals, Smashbox, Urban Decay.

There's a "COLOUR WALL" at the store. At that wall, there were lots of eyeshadows in different colours. I almost went crazy. Mr.Y was patiently waiting for me while I run amok around the store.

Despite being in a beauty megastore, I ended up buying only 2 things: Sephora Loose Mineral Powder Foundation and Sephora Nourishing Nail Balm. Yes, there were lots of great brands, but the one that appeals to me the most is the very own Sephora collection. The nail balm looks yummy and smells so good.

In future, I will continue to buy from Sephora (they're opening a store soon in KLCC!) but I think I will only buy the eye makeup from the Sephora collection itself. I had promised myself not to try any face products (both makeup and skincare) because lately my skin had turned into sensitive skin.

Presenting...my engagement dress!

Finally...my engagement dress is ready!

OK, it might not have the 'WOW' factor in these photos, but I really really love it.

Today I went to Jln TAR with my mum and bought the sampin for Mr.Y to be worn during the reception.

Off-white sampin with gold thread...just like what Aunty L suggested.

My mum also bought flower corsages for the wedding committee team members (which primarily consists of her sisters).

The purple ones to be worn during the engagement, the brown ones will be worn during the reception.

Colourful rhinestones headbands

I have a thing for colourful stones. I love jewelleries and hair accessories adorned with colourful acrylic rhinestones.

A few months back, Mr.Y bought me a very expensive Evita Peroni headband (which I can never afford!). The headband has all these colourful stones lined up on it. I love it so much that I wear the headband almost all the time.


I'm always on the lookout for headbands similar to the one that Mr.Y gave me. Sadly, I couldn't find any so far. There's a similar headband at Evita Peroni, but it costs RM299 :-(

I browsed the Internet and came across FashionValet.net. There's a pink Sereni & Shentel headband that really caught my eyes. It's slightly cheaper than Evita Peroni (priced at RM120) but somehow I couldn't bring myself to buy it.

A few days ago, I went back to JB and went to Plaza Angsana with my mum and aunt. We went into a shop that sells art & deco stuffs. I found some bracelet, necklace and earring hooks and decided to buy them and make my own jewellery. I also found LOTS of colourful acrylic rhinestones and I went crazy and bought it in almost every colour.

As I was paying for my purchases, my mum commented, "Bila masa awak nak buat jewellery ni?" She was right, I have no time for art & craft hobbies. But I was determined to prove to her that me buying all these beads and accessories hooks isn't pointless. Today I went to ACE Hardware and bought nylon string and superglue.

I went home, and decided to make a bracelet. Too bad -- those rhinestones aren't suitable for making bracelets. I need to get normal beads. So I thought, nevermind, since I couldn't make a bracelet, I'll make something else. I saw a plain headband on my drawer and decided to make a rhinestone headband.

This is how it turned out to be...

My first handmade headband! I was so proud. I showed my mum and the first thing she said was, "What is the cost of making this headband? You should sell it. It's gorgeous."

I was ecstatic. So I decorated another plain headband with rhinestones.

Mr.Y also thinks that I should sell those headbands. Hmm...what shall I call my shop/business? Maybe I should name it after my mum's cat, Koko, since she's the one who suggested that I start a business.

Me -- Managing Director, Koko Jewellery Boutique.

Sounds good!

Chocs!

My mum's favourite task in planning my wedding is searching for the wedding favours.

Currently her plan is to give chocolates to the guests. There's a shop in JB called Bliss Candy that sells chocolates which you can customized the design and my aunts bought a few samples for me to try.The chocolates are so cute! They taste OK, but the pink ones are not very nice though.
On Friday I went back to JB and today I've arrived home in KL. Bought some chocolates at KLIA as part of the hantaran for Mr.Y.

Cadbury Quality Street (which I think will look reallyyy good on the hantaran tray because of the colourful wrappers) and Guylian Belgian Chocolates (which I assume will taste good).

My mum bought 2 boxes of cute chocolates to be given to the kids during my engagement ceremony...

Ladybird chocolates

Bees chocolates.

Very cute right??? I'm worried that I might finish them off before my engagement day!

It's hard being me...

...because I just can't simply buy any makeup / skincare products.

If I'm looking for cosmetics, I have to go for those that has either one of the following labels:

• ALLERGY-TESTED



• NON-COMEDOGENIC / WON'T CLOG PORES



• OIL-FREE



• DERMATOLOGICALLY TESTED

And if I wanna go the extra mile, I'll look for these labels:

• FRAGRANCE-FREE



• PRESERVATIVE-FREE

Just to be cautious because fragrance, preservative, alcohol can irritate skin.

Before purchasing any makeup or skincare product, I'll have to read the reviews first. If at least ONE reviewer mentions about break outs from using the product, then I won't buy it.