Finding Time and Progress

Yes, again, it's been awhile.  This is getting old.  I seem to be swinging in and out of the blogosphere as of the past couple of years.  Yes, I do miss blogging.  Back when I had practically all the time in the world, this was my little "project".  The internet to me is just such a wonderful place and one could learn so much from it, granted there are a few (ok, more than a few) bad and rotten apples tainting the web but for the most part, it's a huge knowledge arena with an even larger potential to grow.

When people say time waits for no man, well, it really doesn't.  You either get left behind or you find a way to catch up on it and master the wonderful art of time management.  Personally, that's a big issue I need to work on.  I'm either too early or too late and that really annoys me.  I can give myself a million and one excuses but end of the day I know where I went wrong and what I could've done better to improve myself.

Here's the thing about excuses.  They're really easy to make and sometimes you even get to fool yourself into believing your excuses.  But when you start thinking back and reevaluating your actions and decisions, it all boils down to you.  That holds true for me.  I know I have procrastination tendencies and sometimes I win the battle, sometimes I don't.  Best way to get things done is to not overthink it and give yourself time to back out but instead just decide and go in and get the job done.  It's pretty straight forward.  Really it is.  Now if only I can listen to my own advice at least 90% of the time.

Back to what I'd originally wanted to say, I really miss blogging.  Whether it's this blog or my beauty blog, I truly miss it.  I love taking product photos and editing and doing the write up, just everything!  Last night I just did some impromptu improvements to my beauty blog (which I've renamed and relocated, Casual Vanity) and I noticed there was a post I'd worked on a little while ago that have yet to be posted.  I'd even taken and uploaded product photos and swatches too, although I might need to retake and reupload them because it's just not the best shots really.  Anyways, from that I discovered new tweaks for Blogger which is super fun and this site has so many tips, tricks and tutorials on making Blogger do what you want for your blog.  Check out Helplogger if you want to learn more about customizing your Blogger blog.  I'm still giddy-ly browsing through the pages finding out new ways I could change the appearance of my blog the way I want. *wink*

Moving on...

I recently got an airfryer for the house. Some people (myself included) just love the taste of fried food but I don't like the greasy after taste (and plates) you get with it.  When I first heard about the airfryer, I was really excited but hesitant to buy.  The idea was wonderful, fry food with next to no oil.  Honestly, the price tag threw me off a bit.  The Philip one costs some RM1000 or so and I wasn't too confident it will in fact deliver its claims.  Recently I saw a friend post on Facebook about the amazing airfryer her MIL gifted her and then a beauty blogger I follow had one in her blog and raved about it.  I started looking at the prospects of getting it again and it still had the RM1000+ price tag in Parkson (and I imagine in other stores as well) but that was the older model too.  So I checked out Lelong and Lazada.  Lazada had the newer model (digital display instead of the knobs) which came with the stacking tray at a similar price as the one I'd previously seen in Parkson.

Many YouTube videos (research!) later, I decided to give in to purchasing it (yay!). Best investment in food and health ever.  Not only do you not need to add oil (unless the product you're cooking contains absolutely no natural oils then add maximum 1 tbsp), it extracts the existing oil (especially from frozen fried food) and coats the food ever so slightly with oil just for the purpose of making sure your food is cooked.  I love that you don't even need to thaw before cooking!  Love, love LOVE!!  So far we've only tried cooking frozen food (sausages, nuggets, seafood balls, fries) but I'm impressed.  I've seen some people try cooking steak and prawns in it on YouTube and can't wait to try.  I don't have to worry about leaving my brothers to fend for themselves food-wise as they can just cook some rice and pop something in the airfryer and go carry on doing whatever it is they're doing while they wait for food to be ready.  I'm getting the grilling attachment too so I can replace the basket with it and fry-grill some food.  Weeeee!!!!!

Now what else was I going to talk about? I got a bit distracted for a moment (30mins is hardly a moment, let's be honest here).

Ah yes.  Downsizing.  I've been living in excess in so many ways and I'm trying to downsize as many ways as possible.  I've sorted through some of my makeup and that's going off to friends and a garage sale. I'm getting rid of more than half of my handbag collection and we'll see what condition my shoes are in cos those need to go too.  Tangent topic: I've been really loving the Dexflex Comfort and Comfort Plus by Predictions range of shoes from Payless.  They're just super comfy!  Fioni isn't too bad either but it doesn't have the same cushion insole as the former 2 does.

I've been meaning to get back to my sewing projects too.  Maybe soon.  Was planning on sewing up my own Raya outfit with a friend.  Some things are so much more fun to do with a friend.  Hehe.

OK.  So maybe I'll save the other updates and chit chat topics for another post.  Fingers crossed it won't take months and years before that happens.  LOL!

Happy Ramadhan loves.

Neglected Hobbies and Growing Up

 December 30, 2013 
Where do I begin? I've not been blogging on any of my blogs for pretty much the greater part of this year. And to think I love writing and blogging too. Can I blame social media for that (pretty please?)? I think with the instant bursts of updates that I've been posting on Twitter and Instagram, there's little else for me to talk about or rather update on my full blown blogs.

It's not so much that I haven't had any profound revelations this year or that nothing interests me but for lack of a better explanation, I've been either asleep, marathoning TV series, spending time with my bros or just plain ol' housework. Yes, yes. Very domesticated. Responsibilities and time management ought to be BFFs but in my case they're more on a frenemy relationship.  *haha* Moving on...

 March 1, 2014 
*fast forward 2 months since the 2 paragraphs I drafted above... Eeekk!!*

To say plenty of things has been happening is both true and false really.  I teamed up with one of my aunts and opened our own little sofa and curtain showroom at Villa Tropicana (along the Penampang Bypass road). If you wanna see what we've got to offer, check out our facebook page, MYA Design Furniture & Furnishing.  If you live in the KK, Penampang, Inanam and surrounding vicinity feel free to drop by and have a look, yea.  We're open everyday except Monday. *wink*

Anyways, as I was saying... Apart from that, pretty much everything else is somewhat the same.  A few improvement and progress here and there but relatively the same nonetheless.  I tried out body massage for the very first time this year as per recommendation from a good friend.  Oh. My. God.  The most painful experience I could ever imagine willingly putting myself through.  It is supposed to be good for blood circulation and getting the veins to their optimal peak performing condition (if that makes sense).  I definitely went home with a few bruises here and there but the excruciating pain was pretty much just then and there (thank goodness!!).

Hurm... What else? Oo yea.  The part about growing up.  Well, I officially turned 30 about 2 1/2 months back (yay! December baby!) and to be honest, it doesn't feel any different.  Well, technically you don't magically become a full year older overnight, and I was 29 years 51 weeks and 6 days old before my birthday give or take. Anyways, the point being, adulthood just poses responsibility upon responsibility on a person.  The part that is quite the struggle point for me is to grow up in the circumstances that I'm in with the things that I had never envisioned myself to have to ever take on and not feeling like I'm allowed to feel overwhelmed or angry or suffocated and the likes.  I understand that everyone's journey is unique to them and I appreciate that I'm not out on the streets in much severe conditions but sometimes a girl just needs to vent. Plain and simple. Living in a house with boys, they're not the best listeners. Although I might be a bit biased since my benchmark is my mum who is still in my mind the most amazing person to ever walk the face of the Earth. Poor things. My brothers I mean. I'm grateful and very appreciative of the love and support from friends and family lending an ear (and a shoulder) whenever I need it but some things you can only share with your mum, or at least someone you can trust completely 200% or more.

Then there's the neglected hobbies.  I love blogging which may or may not be apparent from the posts I've done in the past (and amount of blogs I've created) but now I find myself not having the time (and sometimes inspiration) to write about stuff.  I think it might an OCD thing where I want to do photos and edit and stuff and the whole things gets put off when I don't get to do everything at once.  Hahahha.  Anyways, I think I need to blog again.  Keeps me sane.  Maybe home stuff like decor and organization? There are so many awesome bloggers out there doing those and I definitely am no where near their level of dedication and photo prowess.  I shall try to do my own thing.

Ah yes.  And my love, make up.  I wanna get that back up and running and maybe something more in the future.  I'll save that for when I actually get that future project launched. *wink wink*  But yea, if you're in the KK area and need make up services, or you want a private lesson at your home, drop me an email here and we'll set something up!  I've also got a ton of make up I've only used once or twice or a few times that I feel should find new homes soooo... I haven't confirmed yet but I'm gonna be joining possibly the Damai Garage Sale soon to sell them off for pennies.  It's gonna be seriously cheap and I'll have it sanitized and cleaned and there's a good mix of high end and low end brands all of excellent quality. Will announce that soon. *yippee!!!*