HANZKY

I turned *gasp* 33 last May. Being someone who's never think birthday is all that important, I didn't have any special plan that day. I brought Nasi Kebuli for everyone in the office, just like last year *nggak kreatif*. And then it was work as usual and I went to the gym next door for 2 hours. I had the most intense exercise to date. What's a better gift to give to myself than a healthy me, right? So that's what I did!.

I went back to the office at 4 and everyone was doing their own thing in front of their computer until I got to my desk and saw a birthday cake lit by 'Don't Ask' candle LOL. Very considerate of them I must say, they know I don't need a reminder of how old I am. And the cake, Oh My God, the cake!. It wasn't just a typical birthday cake but custom made to the #FitNFab theme I'm currently living. Red rice, peas, carrots, grilled chicken and lettuce were on top of the cake. Granted it was fondant, but where's the fun if I still have to eat only healthy food on my birthday, right? So yes, I indulged my self in the yummy cake, and ran like crazy the next day..LOL.

So thank you :). You just made me one happy girl. Always grateful to be surrounded with people like you :).

We did a video for Mommies Daily about Scotch-Brite Pel Microfiber Teleskopik. Who knew being an Inem can be done stylishly now? :P. Jehan watched the video a few times and little did I know she memorized the line at the end of the video and asked me to video her action :)).
Here's her version:

A tortilla is either corn or wheat. But a corn tortilla folded and filled is a taco, whereas a filled wheat tortilla is a burrito. Deep fry a burrito, it's a chimichanga. Toast a tortilla, it's a tostada. Roll it, it's an enchilada.

Since kids are in 'summer' break and they have been away a few times, I have the luxury to tuck under the blanket, turn the lights off and enjoy some movies...with the husband next to me. Here are the latest three...

I Don't Know How She Does It
I first read about the review in Mommies Daily, written by Lita. It's the one  movie where all working mother can totally relate to! A story on how we're always on a run and how hard it can be to juggle both worlds. We might not always sprinting like Sarah Jessica Parker does on the movie, but we do similar kind of multitask, we feel the same amount of guilt, we experience the same level of exhaustiveness. I love the ending where she refused to fly out of town because she already promised her daughter that she will be there during the next snow and make snowman with her. A brave and liberating decision by her. But that's only confirm my thought that there are no such thing as balanced life between career and family. There are trade-offs, but not balance. In the case of this movie, she can choose between meeting a potential client where it can jump up her career, or take a step back so she can fulfill her promise to the most important people in the world? Or maybe I'm just haven't mastered it, yet. This movie also shows us how being busy can make couple feel disconnected and drift them apart. And when someone decent is very appreciative of them and make them feel a little bit special and relaxed, the marriage can easily be doomed.

Julie & Julia
I've heard about this movie from Affi, about 2-3 years ago where we were invited to speak in front of AFS students. (I wonder why it took me so long to watch it). She used this movie as an example of how doing things you're passionate about can take you to somewhere you have never been. And there are many ways to do what you like. When food is your calling, being a chef is not the only option. You can have a culinary blog, you can be a restaurant/recipe reviewer, you can be a host of a culinary TV show, or you can open a restaurant, you can work in F&B and I'm sure there are more profession out there that are related to food. I love this movie. I love Julia character that portrays a very loving, brave, affectionate, warm and humble lady. I feel like I want to hug her. Meryl Streep is amazing and Nora Ephron movie is never disappointing. My favorite quote from this movie: You are the butter to my bread!

One Day
An absolute tear-jerker. I think I cried for more than 10 minutes toward the end of the movie. It's a story about two people who are graduated from the same college but just really learned about each other in their graduation day. Then they developed a strong friendship, with a little fling in between. There are so many twists and turns until they finally realized they belong together and then marry each other, 18 years post graduation. Unfortunately, happy ending is not in order and that's how I'm reminded again to never ever take anything for granted. Everything can changed in a mere hours, even minutes!. I LOVE this movie. It's based on a novel by David Nicholls, so many who have read the book is a bit disappointed. But I haven't read it and had no expectation when I watched it and turned out, I find it beautiful. Aside from the dramatic story, it offers breathtaking scenery of Paris, London and the other side of both countries. I watched it in Blu-Ray so they are even more sharp.  I'm also impressed by the aging process of the characters that have been portrayed perfectly. Oh, and Jim Sturgess is that charming in this movie.

I got this binder to house all of my DVDs. I have one each for Jibran's and Jehan's dvd but don't have one for mine and Oki's. The ones for the kids are in nicer color and built but I couldn't find one like those at the bookstore I went to, so I ended up with this black one. Ugly, right? But worry not because I have another polkadot fabric lying around :D. I cover it front and back and voila, it's looking much prettier :).
 

I'm loving this unfinished wooden stool I found at Le Souq Kemang a while ago. It gives an outdoorsy vibe to my dining area. Something that it badly needs. It can serve as a chair, or as a landing area for my bag and stuff when I get ready for work or just get home.

One of the things to describe me would be; I'm no couch potato :D. Really, I never find myself sitting lazily on my couch flipping channels. In fact, I haven't watched TV in a long time. I do watch dvds and read books from time to time, but it would be close to midnight where there is nothing I can do anyway. If I happen to have my laptop on my lap when I'm at home, that means I'm producing something, not just consuming what's available on the Internet.

It's rare that I can be home all day on the weekends but when that happens, you can bet I'll be decluttering the house, reorganizing things, moving furniture around, cooking and other domestic things. Case in point was last Sunday when I was home the whole day. In addition to playing with the kids, I gave a makeover to Jibran's plain canvas board, I made a cover for my dvd binder, organized the dvds, created a book of organizing project planning worksheet where I listed down things to do or to buy for every room in the house. What else? Ohh, I sorted the kids' clothes and put them in different bag. One to hands down to family, one to hands down to the drivers kid, and a few to keep in the keepsake box. The other night I went home at 7;30, kids were away in Bali and Oki was still in the office. What did I do? I transferred all the spices into the new clear jars I got at Kedaung :D. Things that I could've just asked mbak to do it but I do it myself.

I remember last Lebaran and when I had no helper at home and didn't have Female Daily related things to do and house was under control, what did I do? I launched the Tootsi Kids clothing line.

Whenever we're arranging a vacation, the thought of sitting by the beach doing nothing just enjoying the scenery never entertained me. I just feel like it's such a waste of time. I cannot not doing anything and knowing the world keeps moving and watch it goes by like that.

Heck I have never ever been to a spa. Not even once. That's kind of weird considering I own an online fashion & beauty media. I've only gone to foot reflexology place once in my life. And I rarely go to a hair salon for treatment. It's always either haircut or a quick blow and dry. A really quick one because most of the time, I shampoo my hair at home to save time. I guess I just can't picture myself lying there for a few hours without actually doing something. Besides, ngerasa percuma juga because even if I don't do anything, my mind will never quit! I have one busy mind.

When it's cooling down time after every session with my personal trainer, he would give me a massage and stretch my muscles. He would always say that my muscle is so tense and he needs them to relax so he can massage them properly. And that's always a problem.

But the good thing is, I don't feel stressed out. I do feel that I need a vacation soon but I'm enjoying everything I'm doing. I might have  million things on my to do list but I actually look alright. I don't look like Sarah Jessica Parker in 'I don't know how she does it?'. Even Nopai once commented how she never sees me in panic mode :D.

Maybe I just don't know how to relax? Or maybe I find relaxation in different form than most people do?

Well, whatever it is..I believe that what we do everyday has to be something important, something that will bring us closer towards our goals because we sacrifice a day of our life to do it. The goal can be anything, whether to have a more organized home, to have more money in our piggy bank, to be healthier, etc. And hopefully, that's what I'm doing day in day out.

Got a new haircut last week. I'm planning to let it grow so I just had it trimmed and layered a little bit. So I went to Sugai at One Piece, he is the only one who has cut my hair for the last 3 times I get it cut. I've never been this loyal to a hairdresser before :D. I like how it turned out. It's really a low maintenance kind of cut and made me look, ehm, a bit fresher. Just a bit :p.

I was in Jibran's room yesterday, took a few paper off the canvas board because they were not relevant anymore, such as last academic year calendar, invitation, etc. Then it just crossed my mind how boring this canvas is and immediately thought of a few things I could do to color it up. Decided to cover it with a polkadot fabric that I have in my fabric basket.  I love that the color fits his room perfectly :)