Capturing 2016 Project

The idea of Capturing 2016 Project ignited towards the end of last year, 2015. I have always been so busy with work that at times,  I tend to forget I have a life beyond the walls of my work. I have family and friends to catch up with, a body to take care of, a mind that is always thirsty for new exploration and adventures and loads more. 

Over the years, I had given up quite a bit of personal interest and passion for reason I shall not state. I learned to prioritise some things over others and a couple of things that I always wanted to do, just went into coma hoping to be revived somewhere along the way. I always thought, when I have the time, I will do this and that and maybe some other stuff. 

Everyone has 24 hours a day, and perhaps my time management is not as efficient as others to pursue my interest and feed my curiosity. As 2016 approached, I reflected on the time I have had all these while. I alway thought I will revamp my room when I am about to get married. I will travel before having kids, et cetera.

For me, marriage did not happen like any average girl. Maybe it is not my time yet and I have always left this part to Allah, as... well, some things are beyond our control. We can choose who we WANT to marry, but it does not necessarily mean that the one we chose, is the one meant for us. He knows best and let's leave it at that.

Anyway... So what? Just because things did not happened the way I planned, I decided to create this project which will be carried out throughout 2016. To fill up my year with so many remarkable and perhaps achievable-slash-realistic to-do list that 2015 and before would be jealous, hahahhaa.

With the help of my bffs, Ayu and Ratna, it was suggested that I come up with 33 things (because I am 33 this year) to do in this Capturing 2016 Project. Things that I have always wanted to do but never did due to the endless excuses or reasons. I can be simple things which many take for granted but I simply am not able to enjoy such luxuries before due to time and other priorities. 

Hence, I decided to list whatever I have in the list (for now) and hopefully update this page from time to time with links of the stuff I did in achieving them. Here goes (in random order)...

1) Overcoming My Fear

2) Learning To Cook
(something...or anything other than pasta)

3) Make-Up Skill

4) Do a book review
I must make time for this

5) Head somewhere, sit and enjoy the reading pleasure

6) Attend non-work related course(s)

7) Staycation somewhere

8) Buy lesser clothes
(Mix and match the readily available and hardly used)

9) Blog about why I love online shopping

10) Pilox

11) Yoga

12) Zumba

13) Designing my own dress(es)

14) Stop buying more new scarves (except limited edition dUCks),
utilise the scarves I already have.

15) Learn to make Sherpard's Pie

16) Turning 33 in 2016

17) Spending more quality time with my bffs and family

18) Swimming at an infinity pool

19) revamp my room, change my room colour at least

20) A short getaway perhaps?

21) Pick up that floral arrangement skilled learned and arrange something, a bouquet for a dear friend.

22) Ramadhan Resolution

23) Learn to do flat lays

24) Unite with fellow dUCk scarf lovers everywhere through the dUCK For The Weekend project fun

25) Review a dUCk scarf


I will be revisiting this post from time to time and update my list as I go along. The list may change along the way, but I will be keeping it at 33. Hopefully I can achieve them all.

FV Intimate Tea Party

Last year, I received an invitation to Fashion Valet's Gaya Koleksi Raya event at Royal Chulan Hotel Kuala Lumpur. I remembered rushing quickly to the airport in order to arrive in time for their event at 6pm. It was well worth the rush as I ohhh and ahh over their collection. About 2 weeks ago, I received an invitation from FashionValet's PR associate. It was an invitation to FV's Intimate Tea Party at the Four Seasons Hotel. First thing's first, I had to make sure I do not have any work-related meetings, appointments, et cetera on that day before I replied to the RSVP. Secondly, all work must be done before I head to this event.

If you do not already know, I love FV since ages ago. I cannot rave enough about them, so I know I will cry blood if I had to turn down this invite.

Upon entering the place, I must say, I fell in love with the beautiful job FV did.

The presentation, the beautiful layouts, the colours and many many more I could not describe in words. So much effort and hard work went into ensuring this place looks wow.  The best part however, was meeting the wonderful people behind Fashion Valet itself. They were warm, friendly and uber amazing indeed. 

Guess what? I finally got to meet my idol, Vivy Yusof, the co-founder, the brain, beauty and icon of FV. She is truly a remarkable yet humble individual. How I wish I was able to write for some magazine company so that I could interview her and write a piece about her and Fashion Valet. 

I also got the chance to meet one the genuinely nice and beautiful beauty and talent behind FV SG, Wirda. She was the one who was given the task to organise this tea party and I believe, the entire team and her did a superb job. I could still smell the flowers placed on my table right before me. If you are reading this Wirda, I hope you boss gives you a big bonus!

The tea party was to showcase their exclusive collection from some highly sort after designers such as Mimpi Kita, Rizman Ruzaini, Innai Group, Nurita Harith, Syomirizwa Gupta and many many more. The invited guests and I had the first dip of what was available from FV and needless to say, we went, uhmm, a little above crazy at this preview.

Everything looks great and I can imagine myself styling those awesome pieces at various events which are not necessarily Eid related. We could not decide what to get and were definitely spoilt for choices. And here I was thinking, I still have clothes from last year's collection which needs to see the sun more often. 

Don't get me wrong, I love shopping, I love styling and I love dressing up, but I am also practical. I like to make sure my clothes are loved to the fullest before I retire them from my wardrobe to make space for newer ones. 

So what did I get? Oh, I am gonna leave that part a secret and reserve it for future styling posts. ;>

Aside from all these, I made some new friends at this event. 

I had the privilege of being seated on the same table as the beautiful Raihan and Wina. As well as the fashionably stylist Nurul and Zarifah. Seriously, these ladies are the true-blue walking everyday fashionistas. They are just like you and me, just that they simply have the flair when it comes to making sure they look amazing!

If you are wondering how can you possibly get your upcoming pieces from Fashion Valet without worrying about the size and fitting, there's a piece of good news. Fashion Valet is opening a boutique  soon for us Singaporeans, regardless of races in the heart of Singapore. They will be located at 313 Somerset, on the 3rd floor and their grand opening is just a couple of weeks away. I can't wait for that day to come!

naimefied look

scarf: Limited Edition dUCk Rose scarf

top: Smart & Stylish

pants: Samantha Sherina by Thian

Cooking

Cooking is a life skill. Maybe almost everyone regardless of gender or status knows that. Right?

I, on the other hand, am not a fan of this skill. I do not enjoy learning this skill in my late teen to early adulthood period. I remember my first home economics class back in secondary school. I was 13 then. We learned to do french toast. Easy peasy lemon squeeze, right? Everyone had beautiful golden brown slices of bread presented on their plates. Mine was almost black! 

I did try to fry an egg on my own after that. The hot oil just popped over and over again, and I almost got an umbrella to shield myself. Needless to say, my eggs were worse than my first attempt of french toast. It was not just almost black. It was inedible. 

Then my parents had to leave to perform hajj for a month long.

My Dadi and Dada would send food over to our place for my brother and I. At times we would go over to their place and eat. No cooking required there. Phewwww. There was a time I was so hungry and I felt like eating my mom's frozen marinated chicken wings. I missed her so much that I knew I needed her chicken wings to make me feel better.

I called Erwin, she came over to save my life. I got edible chicken wings marinated by my mom. I was one very happy girl.

Along the way, I did learn to cook. I like to think I CAN cook, I just DO NOT enjoy cooking, that's all.

Under my mom's cooking class guide, there is the preparation part where there ought to be specific ways of slicing vegetables, meat, et cetera. They all will end up in the tummy anyway. Why so nitty? Then there's the actual cooking part where you have to wait for the boiling part, the smell to come alive part and eventually, the cleaning up part. 

*yawn*

By the time all that is done, I deserve some time in a spa. I gotta salute the stay-at-home moms, housewives and those ladies balancing family and work life. It is not an easy task.

Recently, I am needed to shoulder this responsibility for my family. My mom supervised my cooking and check out the result.

I made egg + dried fish curry, along with fried vegetables. Not bad eh?
*blow fingernails*

What did my mom think? No comment is always a good comment. ^_^

Now I am thinking, maybe I can add something else to my Capturing2016 project, start our mother-daughter recipe book based on what my mom learned from my Dadi, her sister, her friends, maybe even from other recipe books (the tried, tested, improved and proven version) and bits of what I learned from my friends and the internet with my added twist.

I have no idea when I will start this, but it's definitely going into my list. In my dreams, it is going to be a best seller!

Glow with Primer

I was at Chanel's beauty counter getting a foundation for myself and asking 1001 questions. I was whining how I am not a fan of these time consuming routine on a daily basis and wonder if there was something I could apply on me without the need to apply any make up on.

She then said, 'You know what, why don't you try our sample primer. It is to be applied after your skincare regime and before applying the foundation.'

Me: I don't fancy foundation, this won't be of any use to me.

She: Even without applying foundation, the primer will make your face glow. Why don't you give it a try?


I was a little skeptic and thought, seriously? Glow? Hmmm...


The sample tube looks something like this below. Just a small tube which is about 2.5ml in capacity. You can't expect much from sample pieces right?

I then decided to give this a try and here's the result...

Yup, the primer somewhat made my face glow as compared to days before I learned about primers, much less used them at all. I now look forward to my mornings using primers for that added glow. So if you are a noob like me when when it comes to dolling up and seriously do not wish to have any foundation or powder on, the primer is something to consider.

Needless to say, the following weekend, I dropped back into Chanel's beauty counter and got myself a full sized pack. They loved what I did and gave me more samples to test out on my skin.

Next, I am gonna try adding some of the many different types of powders available in the market on myself and see I look like with colours.





P/S: This is not a sponsored post. I am just like everyone else, sharing what I believe would be helpful with clueless individuals such as myself. Hope you find the sharing useful.