The Problem With Winning Something Is…

Posted on June 23, 2012 by The Giddy Tigress

…when you cannot decide what to get!

Well, it’s not that I won something *something*.  It’s because I won a cash voucher to get a DRESS from DoubleWoot!

So help me out here, my dear readers….I have RM30 to blow on one of these gorgeous dresses and now I don’t know which one to choose.  I know I need something not too short (some of the dresses in the site are way too short for me) and I know I need something to downplay errm….wide hips…SIGH.

Therefore I know I can very well cross out all the dresses with horizontal stripes in them, although I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to rock this gorgeous pencil dress.

At first I was thinking more along the lines of a clean cut plain-colored dress like this one:

This dress has a lovely zipper all the way down the back, and I find that so intriguing.  I like the black one (read: classic and timeless), but they didn’t have that one in stock.

Then I thought of ordering a spin-off from Kate Middleton’s Issa dress:

…but then I thought it might be a tad too short for me, so I continued searching.

At one stage, the flirty and casual Iking dress caught my eye.  I wanted the black and white one, but again, they didn’t have it in my size.  Plus, from measuring my existing dresses, this dress might also be a little too short for me.  Too bad, ‘cos it’s a really pretty dress, and it had a lovely scoop-back too!

I also considered a very unique color-block dress.  Loved how the bright colors contrasted against one another, but I only liked this color combo, which they didn’t have in my size:

At the rate I’m going, I’m thinking I might just choose the dress I had been eyeing for some time now, since it was launched a few months ago, but has been out of stock for a while.  It’s Kate Middleton’s Shola-inspired dress, but it’s currently on back order and I am not sure when it will arrive.

Don’t you just LOVE the cut on this one?

So people, what do you think?  Which dress should I get?

Posted in Relax & Celebrate, The Fairer Sex, Thoughts & Scribblings | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Superhero Father’s Day

Posted on June 18, 2012 by The Giddy Tigress

Let’s face it.  Getting a present for Father’s Day is the most daunting task in the whole wide world.  And if you have someone who already has a wallet, doesn’t wear ties and has a whole drawer full of socks, your back is really against the wall.

So this year, I decided to rope in the two little ones and make something extra unique for their Daddy.  After all, part of the novelty in gift-giving is in the making, no?

I got this idea from Alphamom and was totally sold!  And since Ethan’s current craze is the Avengers (a.k.a. superheroes), he was very excited to help me do it.  Well, it was supposed to be a group effort for Ethan and Hannah, but Hannah was busy learning the ropes on the PC at that time.  I printed out the labels and Ethan helped me stick the awesome labels on the snacks and drinks, and he even gave his own ideas as to how to decorate them.

See?  We even have “Hero Vitamin Pellets” (a.k.a. chewing gum) for Daddy!

…and can you tell what can drink we used for our “Hero Juice”? 😀

Hannah helped me wrap the box in brown paper, like a special delivery parcel.

Original, quirky and the kids had a lot of fun.  What more could we ask for, eh?

Posted in Close to Heart & Home, Parenting & Motherhood, Relax & Celebrate | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Quick and Easy Breakfast Packed with Wholesome Goodness

Posted on June 17, 2012 by The Giddy Tigress

Now doesn’t that sound like the tagline for a breakfast cereal!  Haha..

No, I’m not here to promote the latest breakfast cereal you can get from the store, but rather, I just wanted to share how I have been preparing breakfast for the past week or so.

Thoroughly inspired by my friend who regularly prepares yummy nutritious meals for her family, (and also because I literally drool over her food pictures) I decided to try making some wholegrain porridge for breakfast.

For a start, I’m experimenting with wheat berries and oat groats.

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Wheat berries refer to the entire wheat kernel, is crunchy in texture when cooked and if ground, you will get wheat flour. 🙂

Oat Groats are hulled oats, which are rich in fiber and super nutritious.

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I use only a quarter cup of each grain and that’s enough to make breakfast for two.

The night before, I put the grain combo into a pot and add about 2.5 cups water.  A dash of salt is optional.

I bring the mixture to a boil over very low heat and simmer it for 15 minutes or so.  Then I let it stand on the stove till morning.

When I wake up, I boil the mixture for another 20-30minutes and it’s ready to serve!  The wheat berries have an al dente bite to it, whereas oat groats taste a lot like your regular rolled oats but slightly firmer.  I like mine with a little bit of fresh milk poured in for flavor but hubby takes it milk-less.

You can eat it plain, or if you’re like me, you can let your imagination run wild and throw in a concoction of good stuff.

We’ve tried it with ground cinnamon and dried cranberries:

We’ve tried adding some maple syrup, ground cinnamon and steamed sweet potatoes:

And my favorite so far, which we had yesterday morning: with ground cinnamon, maple syrup and sliced strawberries:

Pleasing to the eye and palate too 🙂

Those strawberries actually were sour on their own, but when I added them to the wholegrain porridge, it was absolutely scrumptious!

I’ve read that you can add a sprinkle of brown sugar or some molasses if you like, as well.  The possibilities are endless!

This breakfast leaves me feeling healthy and yet full, but not the same way an oil-laden bowl of Hokkien mee in the morning does.  It’s a great way to start the day!  I’ve noticed some improvement on my complexion too; whole grains must be good for that too – and I’ve also become more regular. 🙂

Have you tried wholegrain porridge for breakfast, and if so, have you any suggestions for me? 🙂

My personal goal now though is to try to get my kids to love this as much as I do, hopefully leading by example.

Posted in Close to Heart & Home, Drooling & Cooking | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pampering Myself with A Soothing Facial Treatment from Cellnique

Posted on June 15, 2012 by The Giddy Tigress

Yesterday, after a hiatus of maybe 4 years or so, I finally went for a facial.  I was blessed to be invited by Cellnique to experience a facial treatment at Slimfeel Beauty SPA Wellness in Island Glades, Penang, which is one of the many Cellnique treatment centers around.  By the way, there’s a little something at the end of this post for all you readers out there who would like to try out one of the Cellnique facial treatments yourself. 🙂

I could not find any firm information from the internet about the origins of Cellnique products but it does appear to be an Asian-grown line, either from Malaysia or Singapore.  The flagship boutique for Cellnique products is CRES Wellness in the Klang Valley.  I have heard from a friend that the products are very good though, so I was excited to try it out for myself.

I was 10 minutes early for the facial but through some miscommunication, apparently they had been expecting me half an hour ago.

Oh well.

Parking was not a problem as the salon is a actually a converted double storey terrace house located on the main road, with 4 parking spaces available right in front on the porch…well, 5 if you drive a ForTwo or Viva.  But let’s not digress.

The reception area is downstairs, and carpeted stairs will take you upstairs to the treatment rooms.  I learnt from Yvonne (the beauty consultant and facial therapist), that besides providing Cellnique facial treatments, Slimfeel also specializes in spa and slimming treatments.  The spa and jacuzzi rooms sure look inviting! 🙂

So after the brief walkthrough, I was ushered into the facial treatment room.

Continue reading →

Posted in The Fairer Sex, Thoughts & Scribblings | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Isn’t my FabulousiTEE Fabulous?

Posted on June 13, 2012 by The Giddy Tigress

Oh yeah baby.

I recently won a contest…well, I wasn’t the main contest winner, but it was the consolation prize.  That’s also something, right?

So this is what I won: one of these unique, in-your-face tank tops, known as the FabulousiTEE.

I received my parcel yesterday, and I was very excited to open it, because if you know these FabulousiTEEs, they come in a lot of different designs.  Since I was not asked to choose which design I wanted, it was going to be surprise, and we ALL know how much I thrive on surprises…

Can you read what it says?

Errr….might need to cover it up soon to prevent my kids asking questions about what that B word means…hehe…

I did wear it to the gym today, and my kids didn’t ask me though, apart from the fact that Ethan noticed the new tee 🙂

I chose to layer it over a sports-bra top, because the neckline is actually quite low and open.  You could probably pull this over a bikini top or tankini at the beach and look fabulous too.

Here are some of the other designs available…I do like the Drama Queen and Vogue Fashion Love versions.


Photo Credits

So … what do you think?  Like it?  Hate it?

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