Holiday Cheer: Christmas Traditions

Happy Monday everyone! Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone. It's finally time to switch our focus to Christmas- by far, hands down, no contest here, my favorite holiday of the year!

There is something about those twinkling lights on the tree, the Christmas carols that I know by heart, the shopping for the perfect gift, the wrapping of said perfect gift, the build up and preparation for the big day, and the coming together of friends and loved ones that makes my heart fill with glee.

Growing up in Singapore, my holiday memories did not center around the cold weather, snow days or hot chocolate.

Instead, we celebrated our warm weather Christmas with traditions of our own: Putting up the fake Christmas tree and decorations as a family (well to be honest, more like we started as a family but by the end of the day, it was just poor ole Mama T finishing up), Mama T taking us kiddies to go buy our Holiday gift wrap for the year (we usually chose 2 or 3 different rolls of wrapping paper in complimentary colors and found the matching ribbons for it), spending the afternoon wrapping gifts with Christmas carols blaring in the background, spending evenings listening to Christmas carols as we watched the twinkling of the Christmas tree lights... I could go on and on.

With the passing years some traditions have remained exactly the same, while others have grown and changed with time. But no matter the tradition, Christmas is still my favorite holiday ever and I can hardly wait for the 2010 festivities to start!

What are you looking forward to this holiday season? What are the traditions that you keep?

Dressing Up For Halloween- An Inconclusive Review

Good Thursday ladies and gents!

How has your week been? Are you glad the weekend is just around corner? I know I am. It's been abnormally hot for this time of the year here in LA and I've been melting in the heat.

Anyway, if you remember my post from last Friday, where I not only shared my dislike for dressing up on Halloween, but in the same breathe also promised to give it another try?

Well I did... and it was ehhh... just as I suspected, not that bad, but also not that great.

Here was what I intended on going as... a fairy princess of some sort.

Here was what I ended up going as- a fairy princess of some sort minus the tulle.

Not as great huh? But the dress I had in mind was stored in a box with a bunch of moth balls and the smell was just overwhelming. So unless I wanted to
a. not make any friends on Halloween or
b. change my costume to a moth,
I had to make the last minute switch.

All in all, I had fun at my parties and such. But the fun had nothing to do with the dressing-up portion of the evening.

Would I ever dress up again for Halloween? Sure... I guess... the experience wasn't exactly horrible. I know this is a very inconclusive review of my position, but there is one thing I can say with certainty. After watching girls in slutty costumes struggle to bust a move without exposing themselves, you will never see me in a sexy costume- I will not be perpetuating that practice any time soon.

Why I'm not exactly a fan of dressing up on Halloween

I'll be the first to admit, I am a sucker for holidays and the hype that goes along with it. I love getting caught up in the holiday spirit, putting decorations up and planning parties and activities around the holiday. I guess you could say I constantly fall prey to the Hallmark commercialization of it all.

However, it must be noted that I am not exactly the hugest fan of Halloween.

When I was growing up, not many kids in Singapore celebrated Halloween. It was always more of an American holiday that us Singaporeans experienced via the Western media. However, I did grow up in a neighborhood that housed a handful of expats and I actually trick-or-treat-ed a couple of times in my younger days.

Despite the fact that I did get to experience a true Halloween per say, I never really took to dressing up. In fact, the last time I dressed up for Halloween was um... Sophomore year in HIGH SCHOOL?  *gasp* I went as a Catholic school girl for those of you who were wondering.

So if you are counting, that means that not once did I dress up for Halloween the whole time I was in college! *Gasp gasp gasp*

It's just that putting together a costume takes a lot of time, effort and money- 3 things I did not have in college. Furthermore, I truly hate that 99% of pre-made costumes for women are slutty! So yeah... that is my surface excuse for not taking a liking to costumes for Halloween.

Then there is the deeper issues of pretending to be someone I am not. I'm weird, I do not get a thrill out of transforming myself and embodying someone else. As pompous as this sounds, I like me just the way I am!

All this being said, I think this is the year that I might just give the dressing-up part of Halloween another chance to charm me.

I am not going all out, noooo, not by any means. But it might be fun to put on some angel wings or devils horns. And I might have fun if I allow myself to get dragged out to a Halloween party.

Who knows, I might start to feel a little inkling of like towards this aspect of the holiday? I'll report back next week.

Till then, what are your Halloween plans? Are you going to be a Debbie-downer and stay in? Or ham it up and don an elaborate costume?

Pictures were taken when I went trick-or-treating with my niece and nephew last year. 

Mid Week Pics & A Lament

1. Caramel Cracker Bars 2. I'm here :) 3. Pasta Boiling 4. Great Yeast-spectations

Is it really and truly Wednesday already? Is this week really being kind and flying by? Is Mama T really going to be by my side in 3 days?! *fist pump*

As I wait with breath that is baited, I've been attempting to get some summer reading in and have therefore been re-reading all the Austen classics. Yesterday I finally finished Mansfield Park. Inspired by the novel, I proceeded to head over to my local library to borrow the 1999 movie version of the book.

Alas, I was sorely disappointed. Despite having Johnny Lee Miller as Edward Bertram, the movie version differed so greatly from the book that I felt cheated.

Fanny Price so did NOT agree to marry Henry Crawford, albeit she later repudiated! Nor was she sent back to Portsmouth as punishment from a vengeful Sir Thomas. And come on! Would Mary Crawford really just proclaim her silly little ideas in front of the entire family? What about decorum? Or the more conservative social norms of that time and age? *Lament lament lament*

Times in Life to Wear a Tiara

I recently read a blog post by Kristin Van Ogtrop about the times in life when one should wear a tiara. While the whole princess/tiara/castle/shining knight on a white horse has never been my thing (my day dreams run more along the lines of wining olympic golds, being the most popular kid in high school *flip of hair*, attending paris fashion week in a kick-ass outfit, having a glamorous job that actually allows me to afford said outfit), the little girl in me did fancy the idea of a tiara.

So here is my list of occasions when I'd wear a tiara.

1. When I'm having a fat day. Nothing draws the eye away from my "fatness" like a sparkly tiara!

2. To the doctor's office. I admit I have a great dislike of dr's offices and in my mind, a tiara would some how make this horrible situation better.

3. If I'm ever forced to sing in front of a crowd at a karaoke bar. Again, same concept as #1, hopefully the tiara will distract from my less than perfect pitch.

4. When I'm slaving over a hot stove, cooking the day away. A tiara would look real fancy with the pretty apron mama T got me for Christmas.

5. When I'm out jogging/hobbling around my neighborhood. I know I've previously mentioned that I don't run unless I'm being chased, but lately I've resigned myself to the fact that I do need some form of cardio exercise. However, that doesn't change the fact that I cannot run and look like I'm about the keel over and die at any moment. The purpose of the tiara is so that passerby's will hence forth know me as the quirky girl with the tiara rather than the wimpy unathletic girl who should not jog because grandmas with walkers move at a faster pace.

6. When I finally get my work visa settled, I will sport a tiara and do a couple of fist pump type dance moves! Boo-ya!

So now it's your turn to share, when would you don a tiara?