So Cute It Hurts

Celebrating love.

Valentine's day is upon us. Such a beautiful day to celebrate with the mister. A gentle reminder for us to appreciate the love and support (without any judgement) we receieve from our love ones. Celebrating the respect and the ability to adapt to each other's difference with the qualities of kindness, compassion and trustworthiness.

The most amazing feeling is knowing he is gonna be there for me. I can just say anything to him and i know i will be understoo...d. Vera and i just absolutely adore this surprise Valentine's roses bouquet from my mister. He even style and took this photo for us.

Happy Valentine's Day!
I hope it's a sweet one for you and yours.
Until next time, stay warm and safe.

in the holiday spirit

Hard to believe the year of the Goat is already over. It was a pretty great 365 days. There were of course the challenging parts ~ some days are just harder than others, although looking back i'm grateful for the hard days too. Thank you so much for dropping by throughout the Goat year -- it has been fun sharing bits of my world with you. I'm looking forward to another year in this space.

This year for the Chinese New Year holidays Vera and I are doing things a little different. We're on an adventure to visit the sweet mister. Our plan is completely open except for a couple of musts : sleeping in way later than usual and taking our sweet time eating every meal. I will continue to savor the slow, stay in your pajamas a little longer days of holiday hubbub.

Vera is quite fond of my new adorable socks slippers booties.

Wishing you and yours many beautiful moments in the year of the Monkey.
Taking it easy this week.
Be back soon.
Stay warm, folks {I'm freezing over here}.
Love to you and yours.

On the cusp to fall loveliness.

We just returned from spending a week at Ceylon. It was the best of times. This trip helped me completely understand the meaning of live simply, be grateful and give love. It's crystal clear -- when you find something that works there is no reason to look elsewhere. It's silly to admit but the outdoor and spontaneous adventures with my mister might have been my very favorite thing about this holiday. It was such a beautiful experience, one that... pushed me far out of my comfort zone and gave me the opportunity to see some parts of the world and my place in it in a much different way. I gained so much from traveling and will always be grateful for having the privilege of taking such an unforgettable journey. It was such a great time. So happy we made the trip.

I had captured quite a few simple, special and extroardinary moments that i want to pause, savour, remember and share ~ let's call this "On the cusp to fall loveliness" series.

I hope your weekend was full to the brim with wonderful adventures.
I think Fall is starting to make an appearance.
Keep warm.
Love to you and yours.

The dog days of Summer fun.

After a little unplanned hiatus, i'm back to say hello. Sometimes an unexpected and unplanned blogging break is such a good thing for me.

I went on a short summer vacation last month. It was the best of times and our days were so full. We ate like kings. Delicious cakes and home cook comfort food were devoured. There were long quiet afternoons naps and lazy days of serious lounging. There were lots of evening walks involving gardens burst with all kinds of colorful flower goodness and big city exploration. We've loved creating some of our very own traditions and spending the days just the two of us doing exactly what we want ~ celebrating love. Like i said, it was the best of times. Ahhh...summer vacation, i adore you.

Hope your summer is full of adventures and maybe a rainbow or two. 
Love to you and yours.

I don't blame her

Now that the holiday season is over, things are slowly returning to normal. Well, mostly, i'm still finding it a bit difficult to get back into a routine. For now, or at least for this weekend, i will continue to savor the slow, stay in your pajamas a little longer days of post-holiday hubbub.

The highlight of my new year was definitely last Thursday. Pettibon's here, indeed. She is so beautiful. She has the cutest little face i've ever laid eyes on. Her sisters (Coco, Kuroo and Ruki) love her. And so far they seem to be okay with me keeping "baby Pettibon" around. Pettibon also seems quite pleased to be part of our family. We're thrilled about all of this because we sure wouldn't think of parting with her. She's a keeper. A beautiful, snuggle little keeper.

I was really lucky and very blessed to be able to adopt her from sweet Linnette of LottaKalott. Pettibon has stolen my heart. Linnette's gesture of allowing me to adopt her has shown me that indeed i am fully capable of creating enough love in my family for four little ones. Welcome, sweet Pettibon. The girls and i are so very grateful and thankful we get to call her our baby girl.

Pettibon is a pirate Lea from the "Treasure Island and Pirate monkey" event with a beautiful face up done by a Chinese artist called "Hidden Dream" (Phyllia). This girl has seen the world, from Korea to Norway, from Norway to France, Spain and back to Norway. Now Malaysia.

The girls and i had quite a blast with Pettibon's photo-shoot (trying on so many different color wigs but we love her as a blond). Pettibon picked only to wear this pair of cottage bloomers by sweet Tricia of h. jardin. I don't blame her, she traveled from a cold country to a very warm tropical country. It's gonna take her some time to get use to the new environment and the heat. The girls are trying their best to make it easy for her. I could see that going over really well.

Sweet Linnette even gifted Pettibon's favorite pink shoes and some of her favorite outfits! They are just so adorable and i am sure this girl is very happy.

Hope your first weekend in 2013 is full of good times.
Have a good one out there.
Love to you.

woke up this morning and smiled at the rising sun...

Happy New Year!!! Well, a tad bit late. Sorry things have been so quiet around here. I am just finding it a bit difficult to get back into a routine after the holidays.

But i think today's a good day to get things back on the groove. Just because, today's the day i entered the world. It's also a new found appreciation for all my mama did to get me into the world on this day so long ago. It has been a beautiful adventure. I've had the privilege of traveling to faraway places, eating great food and laughing a lot, getting a wonderful education and made some wonderful friends (like you, yes you).

I can't resist, i have to show you a recent gift made for me by a very creative and thoughtful friend, Pei Li. These handmade life size and miniature size macaroons are just so beautiful and yummilicous. It came with a really beautiful french style container. This surprise gift is so wonderful i can't even begin to explain how overjoyed i am about it. Thank YOU so much sweet lovely friend!

What a beautiful day to get to celebrate, too. The weather is perfect and i see all kinds of good things in my immediate future. Here's to a year older. I'm looking forward to it.

May 2012 bring you and your loved ones much joy, love, prosperity, health and peace!
Be back soon. Until then, love to you and yours!

Out of the city

...and into nature.

The above photos pretty much sum up my life during the long Easter weekend. Bliss. My mood was changed from completely anxious and overwhelmed to relaxed and optimistic. As i looked through our little vacation photos yesterday night, i was reminded of how i felt that very evening i snapped these shots. It was one of those beautiful evenings that make the weather here in this country {"summer"} so wonderful ~ the crispness in the seaside air and that beautiful evening light falling all around. To top it off, i was in the company of my love one. Good times indeed.

I'm hoping to post one of my "many" craft projects sometime this week. I hope you are having a lovely week so far. I will pop in again soon. Until then, have lots of fun. Love to you and yours!

neat-o

Hello there, and Happy Easter weekend! It has been a really good one so far. I have fully recovered (thanks for all the sweet healing comments).

I'm all packed up and ready to hit the road for a sweet short weekend trip. No agenda, except for a long-awaited trip to soak in the sun and some exploring with my camera. We bought a set of cute rice ball and sandwich bento boxes {for the road trip} ~ i made some cute little rice balls and salad, he made some french ham and cheese toasted sandwiches. These bento box lunches do look fun, both to make and to eat.

I'll be back soon to bend your ear and hopefully upload a few photos i snapped on my work in progress(s). Have yourself some fun on a lovely sweet Easter weekend! Lots of love to you and yours.

Take it easy, friends.

sticky, sweet and cuteness

Just like that, another week has flown by. 

Today, let's take a trip to Antwerp Belgium to visit a lovely little shop along Melkmarket that also functions online for those not living nearby. Antwerp, a beautiful city blessed with amazing architecture, fashionable shops, inspired artworks and restaurants. It's commonly known for it's rich culture, history and world class shopping areas!

Among all these amazing shops, lies this very cute sweet little shop, Akotee. One thing that lured me into Akotee really, was the red with white dots logo and shop design! Yes, i'm such a dot nerd!

I did a little research and found out that the owner, Sonia Rymenas, opened her first shop in Antwerp back in 1973, inspired by Mexican culture. As time went by with many evolutions, Akotee was born. This little shop offers many useful, funny, sweet and sometimes strange "goodies". From special clocks, lamps, polka dot heels (!) to all kinds of bags for bikes, shopping, and casual in beautiful bright happy colors. You name it, they have it all!

I spent some time ooooing and ahhhhing over everything! Lovely, aren't they? I couldn't resist the sticky sweet cuteness of this special and very successful brand ~ "Kitch Kitchen". I treated myself to one of their lovely bags.

I hope that if you're ever there in Antwerp, you'll seek it out. Now it's time to go, i'm afraid. But don't worry, Akotee online is just a mouse click away! I'll be back next week with some weekend tibits.

Have a lovely merry happy charming weekend! Lots of love from me to you!

Celebrating paws-perity...

Hello out there. I'm still here, just feeling a bit quiet lately. The heat wave floating across this city of shared stories is making me want to hibernate a little. Thanks so much for all the sweet words about our re-engagement. Your kindness and congratulations mean the world to us. We had such a wonderful time celebrating. It was perfect in every way.

The man and i made it home a couple of days ago and we're happily settling back in. I must admit that i am having quite a hard time getting back in the swing of things here at home. It was so nice hanging out for a few days catching up with family and close friends. Together we made and ate comfort food, told stories, some games played and a whole lot of relaxing. I think i just had a perfect Chinese New Year vacation.

I simply couldn't attain blog balance without a few vacation shots.

Nian Gao ~ Chinese New Year Cake.

My favorite cookies ~ Love letters and bee hives.

Mama's little orange tree.

Pretty fake flowers at the mall.

Happy Neko family wishing you paws-perity.

More soon on SoCuteItHurts craftastic news ~ a little hint here of what is coming up! Have a lovely merry happy paws-perity week, months and year! Love to you and yours!