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Saving my ten little fingers July 21, 2010

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Close to Heart & Home, The Fairer Sex , 1 comment so far

dermatitis

I have always been prone to eczema and skin problems on my hands and fingers.  And everytime the problem presented itself, I tried many methods to heal it.  Creams, band-aids, abstinence from washing detergents, changing my diet, …you name it, I’ve done it before.

Several months ago, my hands and fingers started to crack very badly again.  Sometimes my skin would crack till it bled, and I had to use a band-aid to make the pain more bearable.  Many a time, you would see me with almost all fingers covered in band-aids.  Not a very sightly thing indeed.  Over-the-counter creams worked for a while, but it was only a temporary measure, because soon after, the problem recurred.  Strangely enough, the only finger unaffected was my ring finger on my left hand…which led me to believe that I should probably wear rings on all my fingers. :)

In addition, I sometimes had to do away with cooking for a few days in a row, to minimize my hands’ contact with water and detergents, resulting in the need to “tarpow” food for our meals.  I was also very sad that I had to resort to using disposable diapers instead of cloth diapers, for fear of aggravating the condition of my hands.

Well, anyway…when I was in Ipoh for a holiday about a month or so back, the problem became so unbearable that I was forced to go see a skin specialist.  The skin specialist took one look at my skin’s condition, and proclaimed it was contact dermatitis, which meant it was the detergents I was using that was causing the problem.  Using rubber gloves did not help much too, because according to the specialist, I might be allergic to rubber gloves.  So I was told to get cotton gloves and THEN put the rubber gloves on over the cotton ones.

The visit to the skin specialist in Ipoh cost RM175, and included a whole array of medicine!  Twice a day, I had to soak my hands in a dilluted solution of water and Potassium Permanganate (the purple solution used to oxidize wounds), which acted as a very mild astringent.

Then, there were three different types of cream and ointment to apply on the affected areas: one each for morning, noon and night.  On top of that, I was to apply vaseline as often as I could throughout the day, to maintain the moisture in my skin and prevent cracking.

To stop itchiness when necessary, the doc prescribed tablets; two different kinds to be taken morning or night, depending when the itch happens.

She also wanted to prescribe oral antibiotics, but changed her mind when I told her I was still breastfeeding.

Oh yeah, I’m not supposed to eat any beef, eggs or seafood too.  SIGH.  So no more steak and beef koay teow for me.  I’ve still been taking eggs though, but only the ones from free-range chickens.  As for seafood, I am only steering away from shellfish.

So how did all this medication fare?  Well, after a week of diligently following doc’s orders, my skin has shown marked improvement.  At least some semblance of my original skin is showing…But often times, I have forgotten to follow the regiment, and so sometimes I do find my fingers slightly dry.  Thankfully, I can now resume my use of cloth diapers little by little and I truly pray my hands and fingers would be back to normal soon, but sometimes it’s very difficult especially since I need to cook, clean and look after kids too.

So here are a few pointers I keep in mind and practise:

Do Men and Women see different things? April 18, 2010

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : The Fairer Sex, Thoughts & Scribblings , 12comments

dress

I wore my new tunic dress yesterday.  It has a vintage floral design with bell sleeves, with a V-neckline and buttons down the front till the waist, and comes with an accompanying sash.  It was a little too short to be treated as a dress, so I wore a pair of stretchy black pants too.

I love the dress and I think it is gorgeous!

But both my hubby and son didn’t like it. :(

Hubby said it is very old-fashioned and Ethan just said, “Mommy, I don’t LIKE your dress.”

So is it just me, or are the boys right?

How I got my brand new Kristin! April 10, 2010

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : The Fairer Sex, Thoughts & Scribblings , 5comments

Before I start my story, I want to make it clear that my delay in posting this piece of news does NOT in any way reflect what I feel.  I had wanted to post this on the day it happened, but circumstances were not in my favor….anyhow, better late than never…

*****

Now, one of my Coach finds when I got back from the US was a chic white patent leather clutch, something I had always wanted and I could see myself getting a lot of *fashion mileage* out of.  However, I was a little bit concerned about it being white and how I could keep it clean, and as fate would have it, when I took it out of the wrapper I shipped it back in, I notice to my dismay, that there were purplish streaks on the clutch.

coach1

I had NO idea how those marks got there because I had carefully packed the clutch in a plastic bag (which did NOT contain any purple markings, nor any color markings).  I was not sure how to clean it, because the instructions on the card in the clutch said to NOT use the Coach leather cleaner.  I tried to scrape it out gently with my nail, but it appeared STUCK to the leather.  I was mortified…see how horrible it looked?  It was worse because my clutch was WHITE!

coach2

So I did what I knew was the best thing I could think of: I emailed Coach and explained the situation.

And got a reply within an hour!  And they’re located in Florida!

Anyway, the Coach representative told me to send the clutch to them to inspect, and then they would advise me further. I promptly Fedexed the item to them, and within a week, I received a reply from the person-in-charge to say that they had decided to give me store credit to purchase another Coach item, since I believe the clutch I had purchased had already been discontinued.

As soon as I received that email, only one word crossed my mind: Kristin.

I have been infatuated with the latest Coach Kristin collection since it was launched, and there was no doubt in my mind that I was gonna get myself one from that collection.  After checking out the collection, I decided on the crossbody bag.  At that time, I was quite taken by the unique turquiose shade of the Kristin collection, but after Paris, who personally checked out the collection at the Coach boutique in KL, told me the color was duller in real life compared to online, I decided to choose the Chalk/Silver bag instead.

However, when I emailed the Coach representative to order it, she told me they were out of that shade, and she told me to check back in 2-3 weeks’ time.

Hehe…I emailed her after 10 days. 

And 3 days later, I received the email I had been waiting for.  The Coach Kristin crossbody bag in Chalk/Silver was now available.  I gave the green light for them to ship it to me, and religiously tracked the journey of my precious bag.

One day before it was delivered to me, I received a call from DHL informing me that there was sales tax to be paid amounting to RM94.67…which I fully expected, it being a leather bag and all.

The next day, the DHL guy caught me just in time as I was about to leave the house.  I issued him a check for the tax and gleefully took the box in.

And…tadaaa!!!  I’ll let the bag speak for itself:

coach3coach4

Actually it doesn’t look quite as white as WHITE, but more on the greyish side.  I guess that’s why it’s called CHALK.  The leather is really SMOOTH and I love the signature clasp on the bag.  The inside has many many card compartments, so it’s very suitable for me….and what I like about it is that it gives me two hands free!

I haven’t taken my little Kristin baby out on the town yet, but I just might…very very soon!  PLUS they ain’t got this crossbody bag in the Coach boutiques in Malaysia, baby! :)

I couldn’t help smiling when I received a promotional email from Coach today that said:

Crossbody: The bag style of the year.  We think it owes its popularity to the fact that shopping requires two free hands.

I couldn’t agree more.  And taking care of two kids requires two free hands too, I might add! :)  

I’m Crazily Belted Up! March 24, 2010

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : The Fairer Sex , add a comment

belts

Lately I have been adding some pizzazz to my wardrobe…at least that’s what I’d like to think.  Jazzing up my existing outfits with belts have definitely given them a new lease of life.  Love the color contrast, the different materials and (sometimes) the cocked eyebrow wearing a belt brings. :)

Plus…buying belts is certainly cheaper than getting a new dress, don’t you agree?

Absolutely RED with ONG February 23, 2010

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Relax & Celebrate, The Fairer Sex , 4comments

We are more than a week through the new Lunar New Year of the Tiger.  How has it treated you?

For me it has been a hot hot hot New Year.  I’ve been eating non-stop: cookies, drinks, bak-kwa….and now I am nursing an irritating dry cough.

redlips 

But I did enjoy the Chinese New Year holidays.  For a change, I chose to put on RED lipstick.  I am never one to wear lipstick, and when I do, it is of a shade that is subtle or very close to my lip color.  This year, I opted to usher in the “ONG” with RED lipstick, and red nailpolish.

…and you know what?  I discovered that with red lipstick, it cuts down my makeup time by about 10 minutes!  This is because I don’t need to put on a whole lot of eyeshadow and blush.  I want all the attention on my red lips, so the eyes just gets a simple eyeliner treatment, very light eyeshadow, and I just use my Georgia face powder for a light touch of peach on the face.  So putting on RED lipstick is definitely a great tip for mommies with kids :)

Mini little tubs of wonder December 16, 2009

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : The Fairer Sex , add a comment

I got a package today from Body Bar.  It was a gift from entering one of the many giveaways from My Women Stuff a few weeks ago.

When I found out they were going to send me “a little something”, I didn’t know what it was, so I was an eager beaver today when I tore open the package.

 

Inside, I saw many many mini green tubs of Madara Regenerating Night Cream.  The note that accompanied by gift said that it was a whole month’s supply of this night cream!

I was thrilled!  Not only because I get to sample a new night cream, but because it was packed so adorably in small tubs that it would be perfect for packing in my cosmetics case while travelling…and THAT would definitely come in handy when we travel to Ipoh and Taiping for Christmas next week.

Thank you Body Bar!  I am definitely looking forward to softer, smoother and plumper skin! :)

My latest Friday’s obsession November 15, 2009

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Drooling & Cooking, The Fairer Sex, Thoughts & Scribblings , 5comments

 

I’ve always wondered why TGI Friday’s does not offer any special promotions on Fridays.  Anyways, when we came back from the States, we discovered that the 3-course meal had become a 2-course meal instead (maybe because most people cannot finish the entire 3 courses?)

I had stopped ordering the course meals since they removed the half ribs from the entrée selection, but the inclusion of the Southwest Adobo Chicken recently is making me rethink my decision.  Love the marinated herbs in it, love the sweet potato crips (shaped like fries actually) and love the hot hot Jalapeno sauce!  Lately the chicken was done a tad too dry though. 

However, I’d still recommend this choice to anyone ordering the 2-course meal.  I’m not complainin’..my kid loves this place, even though they don’t give out balloons anymore.

Oh by the way, did you notice that I chopped off my locks?  Had a concave bob done last Friday.  My iffiness about it disappeared when my tot exclaimed, “Mommy’s hair is BEEEYOOOOTEEEFOOL!!!!” :)

From plain Jane to hot chick November 9, 2009

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : The Fairer Sex , 3comments

Isn’t it amazing what a simple classy accessory can do to one’s image?

 

I can now kiss goodbye to unforgiving glares from the sun, and say hello to a cool relaxing drive… :)

Thank you, thank you LOVE…. :)

(Hopefully NOT) Hair Gone! July 9, 2009

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : The Fairer Sex, Thoughts & Scribblings , 8comments

This is what I feed my hair every day, but it doesn’t matter because the inevitable has begun.

I am officially losing my hair.  Literally.

It happened about 3 years ago too, when Ethan was about 4 or 5 months, and now that Hannah jus turned 4 months, I find stray strands of long hair all over the place.  It’s all part of the childbirth and motherhood process really.

As if it wasn’t enough that my hair is already very little and fine as it is, this hair-losing streak will cause me more worries.  Does not help that my kids love pulling my hair!

Does anyone have any advice and/or solution for hair nourishment?  By the way, I don’t like using hair tonic, so strike that off the list, please!

My retail misses and kisses June 17, 2009

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : The Fairer Sex , 9comments

Just when it’s only about a month away that we will be back in Malaysia, I see this sign in the mall which is just a mere 15 minutes’ drive away.

 

Oh great.

*Now* the Coach outlet is gonna make a grand opening in this nearby mall?  In August?!!! … when I would have already left for Malaysia?!!

Maybe it’s for the better anyway.  For the better of my purse, that’s for sure! :)

Anyhow, I did get a chance to indulge in some shoe shopping at Macy’s Summer Sale just yesterday.  Got myself a pair of FitFlops and a pair of Easy Spirit heeled sandals for 20% off!  Each was $49.99 before discount.

 

Been wanting a pair of these FitFlops for some time now, because I had read that wearing these would help to tone the legs, butt and thighs!  Not that I’m gonna abandon the gym for good, but it’s a nice thought that I am still giving my legs a good workout whenever I ain’t conventionally exercising.  Dunno if this is a gimmick or not, so don’t hold it against me if it doesn’t work, okay?  Anyway, it feels REALLY comfy, and my little boy says it looks good on me.  That’s good enough reason for me! :)

 

And as for the pair of Easy Spirit shoes, hubby says it looks good…and he hardly ever says that for shoes.  Plus I love the way it hugs my feet. :)

I think it’s time I got myself a pedicure eh?