merry christmas to all

christmas was never a huge thing for my family – both families are non-christians/catholics and so the man and i grow up naturally focusing more on seeing it as a time of presents and drinking and feasting :)

this christmas is good well-spent. alexis is old enough to process it all and was actually looking forward to christmas, and understanding that she is getting presents and she learnt to wish people merry christmas. if anything, i really enjoyed the fun times we had with her over the christmas week :)

she cycles

alexis has officially added something to the list of her favorite things on earth: cycling.

the weather has been up and down here since the calendar officially welcomed twenty-fifteen. alexis seems to love the outdoor as much as the man does, cycling out in the traveling sun beams during the day, and sniffing the strong breezes. i am an indoor person but i love to soak up the morning sunshine and enjoy the neighborhood watch. and again and again, i find it amazing how that simple act of watching our lil one makes everything feel so much more refreshed and connected and alive.

i turned 31

today is my birthday. looking back, i got married at twenty-six, and we started a family a year after we came back from the states. ever since, my life were filled with baby and diapers. now, my life has been filled with plain fun and pure comfort. laughter, happiness, a complete sense of self confidence that i did not have in my twenties, watching my lil girl grow into who she will become :)

for the last couple of years while the man was still in the military, more often times than not, he is off of work to celebrate with me, which i love! but this year is a little different. he has a new job. he can't go on leave. birthday celebration will be on a weekend.

here is a little fact about me. i am much of a cake person. actually, for every birthday since i can remember i always hope for a cake, not from boutique bakery but from little unknown bakers that are tucked in a little corner on our island. strange? yes, maybe. or maybe it was that i just had not tasted a GOOD cake yet. not all cakes are created equally, just like no two people are similar. this year, mine was a cake from sophisticaketion. it was a two layered chocolate sponge cake embedded with a rose-flavoured buttercream roses :) how could it have been that pretty? all i can say is but it was.

last month while the man was at home for almost two months to clear his annual leave, he experimented a batch of one of my favourite macarons a while back and it honestly is amazing. they are handmade with love and hand-delivered to my office by my love, which made me all the more excited to gobble down a piece of it. sandwiched with salted caramel, you really can't go wrong with this macaron. however, i have been indulging in those homemade little gem sweets that i have not had any time and chance to take pictures or post about them.

you know those times when nothing compares to being with your family? i am content. i am more than content. i am happy.

happy birthday, angel.

i love you more each day

happy anniversary to the most amazing, thoughtful, handsome, sweet, loving, sincere, honest, talented, hard-working, perfect-for-me husband i could have ever dreamed of. six years... every year getting better.. and there are many, many more to come.

let me be old-fashioned here.
i. love. you. forever.

happy birthday, my lil one

my daughter turns three years old today, and for months she is begging me for two things: a trip to sea aquarium; checked and her birthday cake in her favorite colour - green; checked.

in all honesty, alexis has grown up to be a fine young lady. she is beginning to understand the significance of her birthday celebration. i am so proud to be her mother. i love her sweet nature, creative spirit, and everything about her. i cannot get over that she is three already! anyhow, those two wishes are easy to fulfil, really, so i just smiled and thanked myself for having such a simple lil girl :)

in fact, we had a busy, fun last couple of weeks and our entire family was just, well, ready for her third birthday. we went more than just sea aquarium, we went swimming twice in this week and also brought the birthday girl to universal studio. i ordered more than just a green coloured cake, i also ordered a hello kitty cake chocolate-banana cake for her school celebration and a sea-salt caramel cake for an intimate celebration with just us. in my way of thinking, each of us are blessed with so many birthdays in a lifetime and each one should be celebrated to the max. i do not mean huge blow out parties with tons of people, unless that is your thing. for us though, simple, classic birthdays spent together with fun and laughter.