Holidays

My 2-week break from work starts today.

(Yay! *Jumps on bed*)

Yet I set my alarm to wake up before 9am so I won't, once again, miss the delivery of my Manolo Blahnik.

I had already signed the FedEx's shipment release authorisation form and sticky-taped it on our front door last night so the deliveryman can leave the parcel on the doorstep in my absence. You know, in case I didn't hear the doorbell or him knocking.

But still, I wouldn't want to leave my Manolos on the doorsteps for too long. That would just be, rude?

After all, these shoes traveled halfway around the globe to come to me, their rightful owner. *Grins*

So I woke up early, made myself tea, surfed a little, got impatient, made more tea, and just when I was about to doze off while re-watching an old episode of Sex and the City, I heard the faint sound of a truck driving off.

I jumped out of bed, rushed to the front door, and the box was already sitting outside the door!

The parcel I have been waiting for 2 weeks!

I picked it up, skipped into our living room and, like a kid with their Christmas presents, couldn't wait another moment longer to open the parcel.

There they were.

Quietly laying in the signature white box of Manolo Blahnik were the pair of shoes that I have been wanting for 7 long years!

Holding a breath in my chest, I slipped them on, and they fit perfectly!

It was a monumental moment, definitely.

These are the shoes that I fell in love with the first time I saw them 7 years ago but never thought I would own them one day.

And here I am, holding them in my hands.

At long last, they are mine. *Sighs*

Even my husband, who normally doesn't have much of an opinion about my shoe obsession, commented that they are nice. He calls them "Cinderella shoes".

Yes, honey, it was a Cinderella moment indeed.

I might take pictures of them and post them on here sometime later if I could be bothered. (You know how lazy I can get these days.)

Although, if you've been following my blog, you probably already know which pair I'm talking about anyway. (And for that matter, how lazy a blogger I am.) *Winks*

Oh, and I forgot to mention that, as with all things in life, there are always imperfections.

The shoes are perfect (oh thank the Lord!), but the sales person forgot to include the dust bag in the box. :|

And yours absent-minded truly only realised that after she immediately ran off, in an ecstatic mode, to send an email to thank the sales person who helpfully tracked down the shoes in size 35.5 for her.

(Actually, Bee was the one who pointed it out. Imagine that!)

So she had to send another email to see if Barneys NY is willing to send out a dust bag separately for her special shoes.

Oh why does everything have to come with imperfections?! Grrr.

Maybe the universe is trying to teach my type A personality a lesson. Hmm. *Rubs chin*

Speaking of which, I still haven't heard back from David Jones or the sofa manufacturer about the tears in the fabric underneath my Marcus.

Well, I guess I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for the next few days.

If not anything, at least to stop me from dialing the numbers of those mentioned above. :|

For now, I think I'm going to lie down and take a nap on my incredibly comfortable sofa.

Let the holidays begin! :)

Marcus

Melbourne is sweltering through a heatwave today with temperatures topping 40°C.

Coincidentally, it's both the championship match of Australian Open today, and the Big Day Out 2011.

Also, my rostered Sunday to work.

My 2-weeks break starts tomorrow though, so I ain't complaining. *Grins*

While I was stuck at work trying to tie up loose ends before my holidays, Bee headed to the city to do some damage control to calm his neurotic wife's nerves.

First, he went to David Jones' furniture department about the tears in the fabric underneath our new sofa.

The nice sales rep, who sold us the sofa in the first place, reassured him that it's actually a very small problem and there is absolutely nothing to worry about. He believes that the fabric might have been accidentally ripped in the process of transportation or due to manhandling while it was still in packaging.

So I guess the deliverymen weren't as careful as we thought they were, even with the notice of specific instructions pasted all over the packaging of the sofa. :|

Anyway, we were also assured that it's an issue that can be easily taken care. The sales rep will contact the sofa manufacturer on behalf of us and ask them to send down someone to replace the whole piece of fabric underneath the sofa.

Apparently it's an easy and painless process that can be done quickly on the spot, in our living room, which I'm REALLY glad about because I seriously don't trust anyone else to handle my Marcus anymore.

Yes, I love our new sofa so much that I've nicknamed it Marcus. Feel free to judge me. :p

The only thing is, it might take the sofa manufacturer 1-2 weeks to schedule an appointment. Now, THAT I'm worried about.

After learning (the hard way, might I add) that people can be shockingly incompetent in doing their jobs, these days it's hard for me to trust anyone to do anything properly.

But I didn't want to be unreasonable. I might have a typical uptight type A personality, but I'm definitely not a difficult and pushy person.

So when Bee called me from the store to ask if I was comfortable with the arrangement, I simply said yes.

I guess I'll just try to relax, give people the benefit of doubts and trust that they will do a decent job.

A little bit of faith wouldn't harm anyone, but I sure hope that it doesn't go wasted. After all, there isn't plenty of those where it came from. :|

Bee also went to Myers on Bourke Street to pick up the Royal Doulton plates that have been reserved for me. Oh isn't he such a sweet darling? *Muacks!*

We were supposed to run a few errands after I finished work, but it was seriously too hot out so we decided to just go home instead.

Stopped by Officeworks on the way home to put on hold a few items that Bee wanted, then off to Grand Tofu to get our usual takeaways. Seriously, we go to that place so often that I think we deserve a VIP card.

Stayed in to watch the men's final for Australia Open 2011 - Andy Murray vs Novak Djokovic - with our Malaysian food takeouts and ice cold lemon lime bitters.

It was such an underwhelming match that I think I enjoyed my char kuey teow more than the game itself. And Andy Murray is such an ungracious loser! Couldn't he at least force a smile and pretend that he has the sportsmanship to lose with class?!

Oh the tennis world will never have another Roger Federer, just like Formula One will never have another Michael Schumacher.

Just my 2cents worth.

So at the end of today, there are still 2 holes on the fabric underneath the chaise of my Marcus, but I think I'm ready to overlook that and start loving it as it deserves to be.

I'm still a little nervous, yes, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that someone will soon come to redo the fabric so Marcus and I (plus Bee, of course) can finally begin our perfect relationship sans flaws and imperfections.

Till then, goodnight, my dear Marcus. Welcome to our home. :)

Unwrapping

I woke up around 8am this morning and couldn't go back to sleep.

So I waited patiently for my sleepyhead husband to wake up around noon so he could take me out to Westfield Doncaster.

The main purpose of the trip is to exchange a few items from the Royal Doulton dinnerset we purchased yesterday because they have minor imperfections on them.

Unfortunately, those particular items I was after were sold out at Myers in Westfield Doncaster.

I couldn't be bothered to go all the way into the city, finding a parking on a Saturday is an absolute nightmare! Instead of trying my luck at Chadstone again, I called Myers on Bourke Street to have those items put aside for me. The ladies at Wedgwood and Royal Albert/Royal Doulton are always friendly and helpful.

So Bee and I had our usual Saturday brunch at Laurent, and proceeded to do some shopping since it was the last day of Myers' stocktake sale.

I tried on a few Cue dresses, which fitted perfectly, but I wasn't sure if I wanted dresses made entirely of polyester. Besides, I really don't need another new dress since I have too many dresses that haven't even been taken out from the shopping bags yet!

Bee and I were also looking for some throws and cushions to accessorise our new sofa, but nothing caught our eyes.

Didn't see anything I like at Swarovski either since this Myers has different stock than their city store.

I did, however, come across the Maniac necklace worn by Blair Waldorf in the latest episode of Gossip Girl. It's absolutely stunning! Though I'm not sure if I can carry it off like Blair did, it might look a little OTT on us laymen. :|

So I walked away from the sale empty handed, but my husband came home with 2 Guitar Hero box sets (World Tour and Warriors of Rock) and a few other games for his Xbox 360, so now we can actually battle against each other since we have 2 new guitars! Woot!

Later in the afternoon, we finally got around to unwrap our new sofa.

I was going to record the whole unwrapping process, like one of those un-boxing videos on Youtube that I love, just for our own keepsake. But my usual technology-incompatible self forgot to press the record button, so yes, no video for us. :|

Okay, back to the sofa.

Whilst I'm glad to announce that it looks even better than the display in the showroom, I have to admit that the dark brown colour does darken the room a fair bit, and in a way, makes the room look a little smaller.

I mean, we have a fairly big family room, but this is a seriously huge sofa. The chaise itself is bigger than a king size single bed! I don't think we would have space for the reclining swivel arm-chair with matching ottoman that we were planning on getting, otherwise it would just crowd the room too much.

I guess we'll have to find ways to work around it. Maybe try to brighten the room up with a white rug (the carpet is already a light cream colour), ivory throws and cushions, and other light colour accessories. *Shrugs*

For the moment, I'm head over heels in love with our new sofa. The leather is so soft and luxurious, and the sofa itself looks absolutely majestic and elegant.

Then again, there's always the inevitable part of life - imperfections.

As we turned the chaise over to remove its paddings on the bottom, we discovered 2 small tears on the fabric underneath the sofa.

Not on the sofa itself, just the fabric underneath to cover up the wooden frames. If you know what I mean.

It's really nothing, but for yours truly and her typical type A perfectionist personality, it was an instant buzzkill.

I slumped onto the floor, nearly bursting into tears.

Bee tried to comfort me by reassuring me that it's no biggie and David Jones is either going to replace the chaise or get the manufacturer to fix the problem, but there was nothing him or anyone could say at that moment to cheer me up.

My stubborn head was fixated on the fact that my experience with the sofa has been tainted and can never be perfect again.

I was deeply saddened and disappointed.

I know it all sounds really overly-dramatic and unnecessary, but I was so upset that I couldn't even bear to look at the sofa again for the rest of the night.

I guess the higher the expectations you have for something, the harder it is to accept the disappointments.

"Sweetie, it's only underneath the sofa, normally no one or you would even see it." Bee said.

"But in my heart, I will always know that they are there!" I replied.

And when you pay *undisclosed amount* for a sofa, you would expect it to be nothing less than perfect, no?

Moreover, it's not just about the money. I had really looked forward to this and wanted it to be perfect, so it's a bit hard to swallow when it comes with such flaws.

But I guess that's the thing about life. Sooner or later, you will have to learn and accept the fact that things will never be perfect.

Sooner or later.

Delivery

Our sofa was delivered today.

On time, just after 1pm, as scheduled by David Jones' warehouse.

For that, I am impressed.

Then again, maybe I'm just easily impressed these days after my recent shocking experience with bad customer service and unbelievable incompetency of Optus.

Linfox was the delivery company DJ used, although the sofa came in a giant blue truck which I think used to belong to Officeworks (with the "Officeworks" word already scrapped off, of course).

The deliverymen were friendly, and the moving process was handled rather professionally and carefully (well, from what we could tell anyway), so no complaints there.

The sofa came securely padded and nicely wrapped up with the manufacturer's monogram all over the plastic covers.

They (a 2.5 seater + chaise) even had a notice on them that says " Dear Handler, could you please kindly handle the furniture with care. This is a piece of very expensive furniture, please DO NOT DROP OR DRAG the furniture. Thank you."

That really cracked me up! I should take a picture of it and show it to you guys.

The deliverymen didn't undo the wrappings and paddings, which is fine by us since Bee and I both like to unwrap things.

You know, kinda like the excitement of opening presents.

We didn't really have time to do it today though. So as we speak, the sofa is still all wrapped up and sitting in untouched our family room.

To sidetrack a little, I'm pretty bummed that I missed the delivery of my new Manolos this morning. Now I gotta wait till FedEx redelivers them on Monday. I've been waiting for those babies for nearly 2 weeks!

Oh well, good things come to those who wait? :)

On a brighter note, we finally got our new internet connection today, which we are SO glad about!

Bee and I were really struggling with having no internet access at home for the past week or so. We curbed our cravings by doing some surfing at work and on our phones, but it just wasn't the same. Or enough, for that matter.

So yes, as sad as it might sound, we are seriously happy to once again have real internet and be connected to the rest of the world.

In the evening, Bee and I rushed down to the city to pick up a Royal Doulton dinnerset that has been reserved for us at Myers on Bourke Street.

But the moment we arrived on 5th floor of Myers, the fire alarm (I think?) went off and the whole building had to be evacuated, all staff and customers.

Now that's something I haven't experienced before, being evacuated from such a large department store. I'm pretty sure some of the staff hasn't as well, because most of them looked just as clueless as us of what was happening.

While waiting for Myers to re-open, Bee and I distracted ourselves by doing some unnecessary shopping at DJ and Forever New, but my heart was just not in it. We came all this way just for those overpriced plates, man!

Luckily it was only a false alarm. Everyone was allowed back into the Myers building after 45 minutes or so, and I successfully collected my fine bone china.

Afterwards, we accidentally stumbled across the newly renovated 6th and 7th floor of the Myers building - electronics, entertainment and gaming department, aka my husband's candy store.

I gotta say, I'm very impressed with what Myers has done to their Bourke Street store. It's modern, contemporary, yet classy.

Though we (read: Bee) were particularly fascinated by the life size Lego Woody and Buzz Lightyear on the 6th floor. I seriously believe Bee would have brought them home if they were for sale.

On our way out, we passed by the Swarovski section which was having 50% off on nearly their entire range of collection. Too bad I didn't have time to browse properly since it was near closing time. There are a few pieces that I wanted and a few other that would make great gifts since there are quite a few birthdays coming up in the next few months.

I was too tired by the time we got home, so I guess we'll leave the unwrapping of our new sofa till tomorrow.

For now, it's time to dig into our supper takeaways and have an early night.

Happy weekend, people!

Disconnected

Our AAPT broadband internet was disconnected yesterday.

The technician from our new ISP, who was supposedly scheduled to visit yesterday, is now "unavailable" until Monday. :|

So yes, thanks to yet another example of human's error and incompetency, we are stuck with an internet-less weekend.

It's harder than I thought, really.

I guess internet is just one of those things that you don't realise how much you actually depend on it until you don't have it.

I mean, I would think I'm a person who doesn't even go online that much or that often compared to the average public, so I was really surprised to find it so difficult to cope without having constant access to the cyberworld.

Everything is just so convenient when it's only a click away. You can practically look up any information you want anytime you want. You can connect with your friends all over the world at the same time without even leaving your couch. Not to mention the beauty of online shopping!

Without internet, you suddenly feel so disconnected from everything and everyone else.

And I actually feel a little, um, insecure?

What is the human race going to do if the almighty internet were to be taken away from us once and for all?

Or rather, what did people even do before it came along?

Luckily, I could still get some quick fix with my brand spanking new Blackberry Bold 9780. You know, stuff like checking emails and Facebook. The surfing part is a little tedious, but hey, something is at least better than nothing huh?

My husband, on the other hand, had to freeload off my unlimited Blackberry browsing since he has yet to receive his Samsung Galaxy S. :|

And in between, we relied on our 58" Full HD 3D TV and Xbox 360 Kinect to keep us entertained.

Gosh, how much does our daily lives evolve around technology and electronics these days huh?

We originally planned on going shopping in the afternoon to pick out some new dinnerware from Wedgwood, but got lazy and decided against it.

I guess we will just stay in, watch a few movies, and, well, be disconnected from the rest of the world.

Tennis

I slept through most of today.

Maybe because of the weather, hot and humid.

Maybe I was tired from work.

Or maybe I was just bored because there was no internet to keep me entertained.

Our AAPT home phone and internet service was officially terminated around noon today.

I know this as a fact because I actually woke up early around 7am and still managed to surf, check emails and watch a few Youtube video clips before the line was completely cut off.

At one point, while I was still able to use the internet, I even doubted AAPT's efficiency. Like, maybe they did not key the correct date for service termination into the system, even after my 500 phone calls to them over the last week to confirm that a cancellation notice has been ordered in place.

These days, you just can't trust anyone to do their jobs right anymore. Somewhere and somehow, mistakes are bound to be made. Human errors (mostly), computer errors, system failure and the likes, sometimes beyond your wildest imagination. Hence the key is to double check, triple check, quadruple check and check again AND again.

Sounds tedious and lots of hassles, but hey, it's the only way to get things done nowadays. Sad, but true, how incompetent people can be.

So yes, I'm pretty sure you'd agree that my doubts were justified.

But no, AAPT came through, and our service was terminated as scheduled.

I'm not too sure if I felt disappointed or relieved though.

Maybe more of the latter. At least it saves me time and energy from having to get on the phone again next week and hassle them to rectify the mistake, not to mention there will be lots of other problems settling the bills and stuff.

And a little of the former, because we are now left with no internet access. :|

Anyway, I overslept and only woke up around 5pm when Wen called me.

Bee and I were supposed to meet her and KT around 5.30pm for the match at 7pm, but I completely lost track of time.

So Bee and I got changed in nano seconds, jumped into the car, and headed towards Melbourne Park rightaway.

Good thing the traffic on the freeway and exit to the city wasn't as heavily as expected on a Friday evening, so we managed to arrive just before 6.30pm, with still a little spare time to walk around, visit the kiosks and got something to eat.

The atmosphere was lively and vibrant as usual, with an enthusiastic and cheerful crowd to boot.,

The matches, on the other hand, were a little underwhelming.

Well, a little is an understatement actually.

In Rod Laver Arena, Venus Williams retired without even completing the first set in the 3rd round of women's singles.

Things are slightly better in Hisense Arena, though Kei Nishikori was clearly no match for Fernando Verdasco, currently ranked number 9 in the world and the second most celebrated tennis player in Spain after World number 1 Rafael Nadal.

Not sure if it he was feeling intimidated, but Kei Nishikori didn't even put up a good fight. Verdasco won by three straight sets - 6-2, 6-4, and 6-3 for 3rd round of men's singles.

But the crowd was still in good spirits nonetheless and cheered on for both opponents throughout the whole match.

Also, not to play the race card, it was refreshing (and funny at the same time) to hear people yelling out "ganbateh" in the crowd.

And by people, I was referring to yours truly as well. Haha.

The match between Kei Nishikori and Fernando Verdasco was still showing on TV when we got home, because there was no match to broadcast from Rod Laver Arena. :|

Oh well.

All in all, it was a pretty fun night, despite the short matches.

Good atmosphere, great company, and a glorious summer night with cooling breezes.

Tuesday

David Jones called and woke me up at 7.30am this morning about the delivery of our sofa.

You would think that the courteous thing to do is to call at least after 9am?

But I ain't complaining, just as long as my sofa is delivered on time and in perfect condition.

A friend of mine was furious at the deliverymen from a different sofa manufacturer for leaving multiple scratches on her brand new white sofa. She later made a complaint to the retailer (not DJ) for the sofa to be exchanged, but ended up only having the cushions with scratches replaced.

I think Linfox does deliveries for David Jones' furniture. I haven't had much experience with them in the past, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will do a decent job.

I mean, when we are spending that much money on a sofa, I would really prefer to not have the whole experience tainted by some people's un-professionalism or inability to perform their jobs properly.

Anyway, I booked in the delivery for next Friday. I like to prolong the anticipation.

Yes, I'm weird like that. :P

My new Blackberry Bold 9780 was delivered to me at work first thing in the morning today, so I have a new toy to play with this weekend! Yay!

Work was pretty quiet today, which I'm glad.

It's that time of the month, I'm feeling very tired and worn down, so I really couldn't be bothered with anything.

The weather has turned rather chilly again these few days. It's a good thing that I haven't stored our heaters away huh?

At the rate we're going, I think it's gonna be a very erratic summer ahead for us.

For now, I guess I'll go curl up under my favourite blanket and have a piping hot cup of tea while re-watching Sex and the City for the Nth time.

Stay warm, people.

Optus

Optus is seriously pissing me off!

I practically spent half of today hassling them on the phone, yet still achieved no real outcome of what I was after.

They just kept transferring me from one department to another, and everyone I spoke to either gave me a totally and absurdly different answer, or told me that it's not their department and transferred my call.

In more than 10 years that I've been with Optus, I've never had so much problem with them as the past few days.

Kinda reminded me of the type of customer service you would expect in Malaysia.

No offence, but I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that Optus is owned by Singtel. I'm just saying. :|

I ended up having to file a complaint for the unresolved matter.

Someone is supposed to call me back within 5 working days with a solution, or at least an answer.

Oh well. We'll see. I'm not exactly holding my breath though.

Can't anyone do their jobs properly anymore? Seriously!

These days, every corner you turn and every single thing you need done, someone is bound to make a mistake and screw something up. What's up with that?

I used to think that it's only bad and happens a lot in South East Asia where no one really takes their jobs seriously, but I'm starting to think that Australia is just as bad.

*Sighs*

On a lighter note, Australian Open starts today!

I have to admit that I'm much less enthusiastic about the tennis this year because work is wearing me down, but mainly because my heartthrob, Tommy Haas, is not playing.

Nonetheless, we got tickets to go watch the night match with Wen and KT this Friday.

Despite Haas' absence, I'm actually really looking forward to it since this is going to be the first time Bee and I go to Oz Open together!

It's only Monday, but I can't wait for the weekend already.

Hurry up already, Friday!

Sofa

Work was really slow today.

It was only a 4-hour shift, but for some reason, time was crawling!

Maybe I was just too eager to get off work so I could go visit my sofa. :P

We decided to take the 2.5 seater + chaise that we had our eyes set on yesterday.

The sales rep was nice, we were given a fairly good discount. He even threw in free delivery and the original leather care kit.

To be honest, I was still a bit weary at first. Until I was reassured by an independent interior design store in Richmond that the price we were quoted by DJ is a superb deal.

Apparently, it's even lower than the cost price for some of the independent retail stores. Not sure how true that is, but it sure made me felt much more relieved and convinced that we weren't being ripped off.

You see, Bee and I both suck at bargaining, and we have "easy targets" written all over our foreheads which the sales people can spot from a mile away, so it's rather rare that we get genuine deals and discounts.

Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the sofa won't overwhelm our family room, as it's nicknamed as the "papa bear" of the range.

But you know me, the bigger the better. I always tend to go over the top. :p

The chaise itself is big enough to be used as a single bed, and the sofa is soooooo comfortable!

Choice of leather is always a tough one, especially the colour.

Personally, I would have loved white or ivory leather furniture. But they are notorious for being really unforgiving and high maintenance. The slightest scratch or dirt is going to show and be an eye sore, which is going to be a huge problem for my OCD personality.

Bee and I were tossing between black and dark brown. In the end, we decided to go with the latter because it's readily available and we don't have to wait 3 months for it.

Oh well, another self-resolved dilemma! *Grins*

Besides, the colour is nearly a perfect match to my dark brown leather dining chairs.

Come to think about it, most of the new furniture we have bought so far are of dark colours. Mostly dark brown, since I love solid wood furniture.

We might have to brighten up the place with some light coloured accessories for contrast.

I was eye'ing some ivory throws and pillows by the same manufacturer of the sofa, but couldn't justify the cost of nearly $200 per pillow. Especially after we've just spent a ridiculous amount on the sofa itself.

After making commitment to the single most expensive piece of furniture we have bought so far, Bee and I loitered around the city for a little while more since it was such a beautiful summer day.

I tried on a pair of Miu Miu peep-toe gold glitter pumps with hidden platform, which retails for AUD720 in DJ. To my disappointment, they run really small to size and were very uncomfortable. My toes were struggling even in a size 6, and I'm normally a size 5.5.

I'm not giving up hope just yet though. I might check out the Miu Miu boutique in Chadstone next weekend to see if they have the closed toe version.

But I should really be chained to the chair to stop me from buying more shoes. :|

Had my weekly fix of salted fish fried vermicelli for dinner, followed by an evening nap.

All in all, it was a pretty good Sunday, but now Monday blue is slowly creeping up on me.

Hopefully it's going to be a good week ahead.

Until then, I shall be thinking fondly and looking forward to the delivery of our overpriced sofa.

Weekend

I woke up at 6am this morning to check and reply emails from Barneys.

The department store, not the purple dinosaur. Though I imagine it would be equally cool to receive emails from either of them. *Grins*

I don't even wake up that early on a weekday for work! Oh the power of the red soles.

Couldn't go back to sleep afterward, so I did a bit of online shopping while waiting for Bee to wake up.

Originally planned on staying in to get some rest, but the weather was too nice out there today, so I decided to head to David Jones in the city to try on the pair of Manolo Blahnik and Christian Louboutin pumps that have been put on hold for me.

It feels like Bee and I haven't been to the city for ages since we moved to the burbs. It's just too dreadful finding a parking and all.

If only DJ stocks Manolos and Louboutin at Chadstone and Westfield as well huh?

To my surprise, both pair of shoes fit perfectly.

For a brief moment, I wasn't sure whether I was happy or disappointed. I had only planned on getting one of the two pairs, not both!

Oh well. You know what they say, when the shoes fit. :)

Seeing how my shoe collection has rapidly expanded beyond control, Bee suggested (on his on accord, might I add) that he is going to build me a real shoe closet in the near future.

I couldn't believe my ears! The shoe closet I've been dreaming about for years!

His only condition is, his Matrix boots (a movie prop, worn by Keanu Reeves himself in the first Matrix movie) have to be on display in the shoe closet as well.

Um.

I had my hesitations, believe you me.

But since I was already given the diamond, and now he's voluntarily throwing in the shoe closet as a bonus, I guess I should be able to tolerate a pair of Matrix boots next to my Manolos. Good thing they are leather too. :p

After lunch, Bee and I rushed to do a little furniture shopping.

Why is it that your budget range seems to grow proportionally with the number of time you spend looking for something?

Today, every set of sofa we are interested in has been quoted close to $20k. And that's just for a 2.5 seater with a chaise.

I guess it's a good thing that I have been lazy and haven't been doing much of furniture shopping at all huh?

There is this particular one that kinda stood out to us and I think we like it more than the others, but the price tag is pretty steep too.

In the end , we decided to sleep on it and see how we feel about it tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that no one snaps it up before then.

Oh decisions decisions decisions!

We left the city around 5pm while the city was still buzzing with life. Both Myers and David Jones are open till late for the sales period. Myers till 9pm, and DJ till 7pm.

But yours truly gets tired and cranky easily these days, her days of shopping till you drop are long gone.

We bought takeaways home and I took a nap after food. Gosh, I seriously feel like an old granny sometimes!

It's nearly 11pm now and I just woke up.

I think I will probably go get something to eat, take the laundry out of the dryer, and do some reading online before I go back to sleep again.

I have to work a short shift tomorrow, but Bee and I have more shopping planned after that.

Happy weekend, girls.

Anniversary

It's our 7th anniversary today.

(Minus the itch. I hope.)

Bee and I met on this day, 7 years ago.

It feels like we've known each other forever, yet on some days, we still feel like very much like a newly in love couple.

Definitely zsa zsa zsu.

Here's hoping that, no matter what the weather of the outside world is, our love will always be like one of those perfect days in spring - warm, sunny, and bright.

And our hands will always be each other's to hold.

I love you, baby. Happy anniversary!

Lists

I've been feeling so unmotivated lately that it's really becoming a problem.

Most of the time, I just don't feel like or can't be bothered with anything at all.

It's much better than before our recent trip back to Malaysia. A lot better, actually.

But, still.

Well, I could always blame it on the emotionally draining nature of my work, but until I finally take the plunge and quit, I better find another way out of this rut that I've gotten myself into.

Lately, I've been blaming it on PMS, which is justified. I guess. *Shrugs*

Had really bad cramps at work today and was feeling hot and cold at the same time (like when you are about to get diarrhea?). Damn hormones!

Weird thing is, I'm not even that cranky today. Unless provoked, of course. :|

It was such a gloomy day today though. It rained sporadically throughout the whole day, and the sky pretty much reflected how I felt - dark and grey.

When it started raining cats and dogs around noon, I honestly just wanted to go home and lie in my bed.

The weather has been so horrible these few days - hot, wet, and humid. But I guess we really shouldn't be complaining given what's happening in Queensland.

Okay, back to the subject on being unmotivated.

I'm thinking that maybe I should start making a to-do list for everyday again. Like I used to.

It provides a sense of achievement and instant gratification when you tick off completed tasks on the list, doesn't it?

(Or is it just me?)

And it would probably make a control freak like me feels more in control of my life when I'm more organised.

For the longest time, I've been feeling overwhelmed because everything is either all over the place or happening too quickly. Instead of trying to get on top of them, I've simply chosen to go with the flow.

Which is so out of the comfort zone for my typical type A personality. Way out.

So yes, I should definitely start making lists again.

Maybe on Monday.

Mid-Fight

Expected work to be quiet today but turned out to be quite the opposite.

The flood crisis in Brisbane seems to be rapidly progressing. It's all over the news and everyone is talking about it. Some of the pictures and footages we see are simply heartbreaking.

There is a high possibility that parts of Victoria and other states might be affected if the weather and situation doesn't improve. Maybe we should start stocking up on food and sandbags. €€€€€@@€€

At work, we set up some coin donation tins today. It's the least we could do to help out those poor flood victims who lost their homes and loved ones.

On a lighter note, Bee pissed me off yesterday and I haven't spoke to him since.

It's nothing serious. I just didn't appreciate the tone he was using when he was talking to me last night.

And it only occurred to me today that this is actually the first fight we have in this new house.

Well, it's not really much of a fight or an argument since there have been no exchange of words and I'm just ignoring him, but still, a disagreement nonetheless.

He's apologetic and been trying to be nice after he realised that I was ticked off. He even sent me an email and sms while I was at work today to apologise.

But sometimes you just gotta teach your man a lesson - it's never okay to treat your wife/girlfriend any lesser than your most precious possession, because we truly are!

It's not about playing games or torturing the other person, it's just a gentle reminder that they can't simply take things for granted and expect us to put up with it.

Wouldn't you agree?

Besides, I'm not exactly in the best of moods because of work and PMS.

But I probably won't be able to keep this up for long anyway since our 7th year anniversary is coming up this Friday.

Oh well. I guess Mr. Cranky will just have to put up with Mrs. Cranky's silent treatment for just a little while more.

But he doesn't need to know that. :)

Sprouts

I have decided to take 2 weeks off work in February.

Bee and I have no plans on going back to Malaysia for Chinese New Year this year. I just needed a break.

I know that kinda makes me sound like a spoilt brat, especially since we just came back from a 5-weeks holiday, but I honestly don't think I can't handle it anymore.

My current workplace is annoying the crap out of me, and I hate it with a passion.

Every. Single. Day.

Having to deal with unreasonable and demanding patients (not to mention dishonest employers and cranky workers) on a daily basis is not only mentally and emotionally draining, but it also disappoints you constantly and strips away your empathy and trust in people.

In fact, I think I'm starting to lose faith in the good nature of the entire human race.

I can honestly say that I hate people in general. I'm not kidding.

There is only so much yelling, whinging, demanding and lying you can handle before you crack it.

The stress is weighing down on me everyday that I feel like it is silently killing off every single strand of my positive energy before it even has a chance to bud, let alone blossom.

At this rate my work is going, I seriously don't think I can make it through to April/May as planned.

So I'm taking a couple of weeks off to rejuvenate my tired old jaded soul and nurture those fragile seeds of my positive spirit.

If there is still any left, that is.

Hopefully, they will take root and grow.

Hopefully.

Dreams

I had two very vivid dreams this morning.

First, I dreamt that I was a student again, and I really didn't feel like going to school that day.

So I told my mum that I wanted to stay at home, and she agreed. She even suggested that she would personally speak to the teacher so I could take a sick day (which she would never do in real life, by the way).

I was overjoyed!

Then my alarm clock went off.

And I realised that I'm now an adult who has a real job, and no one could call to authorise a sick day on my behalf.

I snoozed the alarm, and went back to sleep.

Guess what? I had another similar dream.

This time, I told my dad that I didn't want to go to school. He assured me that it's okay if I wished to stay at home and he would write a letter so I could be exempted from school for the day (which, again, would never happen in real life).

Then my second alarm clock went off.

And I woke up to the real world. Again.

Where I have to go to work.

So I was knocked back and disappointed not only once, but twice, before my day had barely begun.

Which made waking up to go to work just that much harder today.

On the other hand, I guess that really shows how much I hate my current job huh?

Live

My main resolution for the new year is, to live.

Because.....

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." ~ Oscar Wilde

Welcome, year 2011. Let's make it a good one!

Happy New Year.