hazelnutt house

Dear friends of Hazelnutt House (",)

I'm sure the May Day public holiday as well as the coming Vesak Day holiday are making you smile. Check out what made me smile lately (",)

Who would wear this tee?:

I was driving home one day and had to stop next to a bus-stop coz the lights turned red.  I saw a woman wearing an I LOVE LAKSA tee.  (Laksa is a really tasty local dish made from noodles and a spicy curry-like gravy). I did a double take and laughed out and wondered to myself... "Who in the world would wear such a tee?!" Soon the lights turned green and I drove off... but the thought of the woman wearing that Laksa tee was still on my mind.  It soon dawn on me that it had to be I LOVE ALASKA on her tee instead of I LOVE LAKSA!!! The A from Alaska must have been hidden from my view.  I burst out laughing the moment i figured it out (",)  I LOVE ALASKA made so much more sense than I LOVE LAKSA.  Don't you think so?

Soya Bean Pudding:

These creamy 'asian creme brulee' soya bean pudding are the craze right now.  I love soya bean milk and soya bean curd to begin with and wasn't sure if I'd like this new creation when it first emerged.  When I finally tried it, which was months after it was introduced, I found that I love these pudding to bits!  Whenever I have stock of these creamy tubs of goodies sitting in the fridge, I'll wait eagerly for tea time or dessert time to savour them (",)  I especially love the almond flavoured ones (",) I'll usually bag a stock of these in the Chinatown market from this store, 'Chi Ni Dou Fu'.  There is absolutely no crazy line at this store and the pudding is good enough for me.  In fact, I find it comparable to the famous 'Lao Ban' pudding which I've tried once, thanks to a friend.  No offence to   keen Lao Ban followers.  Another brand that is usually without a line is '51 soya bean', love, love, love the soya pudding from this store too (",) I smile everytime I savour one of these babies (", )

Breakfast surprise:

I'm sure lots of us grew up eating this traditional Indian 'Putu Mayam' - steamed vermicelli with freshly grated coconut and orange sugar.  I used to eat it quite often as a child.  When my parents came over to my place one morning, they surprised me with a packet of this precious delight (",) I've not had it for more than a year and don't even know where I can get it anymore.  Enjoying a 'Putu Mayam' really put a smile to my face (",)

Tree pose or Kungfu Panda pose?!:

I bought The Tod a pair of yoga pants and after putting it on, she decided to show me the Tree Pose that I showed her some time back.  I teased her and asked her if she's sure she was doing the Tree Pose correctly.  I told her that it looked more like Kungfu Panda's pose which really tickled her.  The Tod now squeals in delight whenever she does the Tree Pose.  She now prefers to call it the Kungfu Panda pose though.  Looking at this photo really makes me smile (",)

ME time:

While The Tod naps, I'll usually think of ME things to work on.  Sometimes I take a nap with her but on days when I am not tired, I like to try my hand at painting.  I used to paint with oils and acrylics but now I've taken an interest in the transparency and luminance of water colours. I'm happy with this quick and simple painting which I did.  Looking at the colourful butterflies made me smile (",)

Another ME time activity which I love is working out with my brother and his girlfriend.  Both of them are great rope jumpers, always trying out new styles and tricks.  I just jump the few styles that I've picked up and watch them egging each other on.  I love having fun and working out a sweat at the same time (",) I decided to lay our jump ropes out to form 'I LOVE U'... but looking at it, the ropes look more like fallopian tubes... sheesh!!! Don't you think so? We laughed so hard when I told them about it... (",) If you're interested in looking for good quality tangle-free jump ropes, check this site out.

New shops in the east:

I was walking around in Tampines One earlier today and I saw much to my delight two stores that will be opening soon.  I do not have to make my way to town to grab my Muji Cleansing Oil anymore (",) How lucky are we to have two Diaso stores in the east?  The one at Simei Eastpoint is already such a treat to us living in the east.  Now, we're getting another at Tampines One (",) Woo hooOoooo!!!

How was your May Day holiday, ladies?

I'll like to know what made you smile lately (",) pass it on... pass on the smiles (",)

Hihi friends of Hazelnutt (",)

The Tod and I were poking around in Watsons when I spotted these L'oreal Infaillable Eyeshadows.  I paid no attention to them when they were first released a couple of months back coz I am a hopeless case with cream eyeshadows. By the time I read about how easy to apply and budgeproof they are, they were already off the shelves.  Watsons is having a Buy 2 Get 1 Free on L'oreal products and I took the chance to purchase 3 of these gems (",)

I read up online and found out that this batch of eyeshadows are named for international release.  The earlier batch that was here had different names and they were for the US release.  Therefore, if you're looking for a particular shade based on the US released shades, you'll be seeing a different set of names for this lot (",)

I picked three very safe shades that I'll be sure to use on a daily basis.

L - R: Hourglass Beige, Forever Pink and Endless Chocolate

These highly pigmented eyeshadows are amazingly easy to apply.  I wore it for a full workday and they didn't budge without any primer.  My eyes tend to get irritated at the end of a workday due to eyeshadow fallouts that end up irritaging my eyes.  WIth these cream eyeshadows, I don't have the problem of fallouts (",)

For this LOTD, I used only Forever Pink as the base and Endless Chocolate as the contour shade.

• MUFE Mat Velvet foundation in shade 40
• Laura Mercier Blush in Rose Petal
• L'oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Forever Pink and Endless Chocolate
• Nars Sheer Lipstick in Cruising

Have a great May Day, ladies!!! Woo Hoo!!!

If you've missed out on these eyeshadows when they were first launched, don't miss them this time round.

Hi, friends of Hazelnutt House!

Here's me testing out my new goodies  (",)

In this picture, I've the Laura Mercier Gloss Stick in Black Orchid as well as the Laura Mercier blush in Rose Petal on.

Here's how the Black Orchid Gloss Stick looks.  A scary deep, dark purple.  It is very similar to Black Honey from Clinique which I HAD and it has gone MIA :( So, instead of getting another to replace it, I was happy to find out that Black Orchid was a close match. I like plummy lips and this is a great way to wear plums without it being too over the top as with creamy lipsticks.  Black Orchid gives a nice plummy finish that is very wearable.

Next, I tried on the Laura Mercier Lip Velvet in Royal Plum.

Royal Plum reminds me of Nars Dolce Vita lip gloss which you can see HERE (",)  Royal Plum is VERY pigmented and a little product goes a long way.  It is easy to overload the applicator with too much product so I've to be careful while doing so.  It has a creamy texture and semi-matte finish.  The product clings on tightly to the lips.  I thought it would dry out my lips but I'm glad it did not unlike some matte lip products that I've tried.

Lastly, the Laura Mercier blush in Rose Petal is such a wearble shade.  It is pigmented but not in a crazy way.  The end result is a nice soft neutral pink (",)

Here are the swatches in case you missed the earlier ones I posed (",)

I'm happy with my first Laura Mercier purchase!

Talk to you ladies soon!!!!!

Hihi :) friends of the Hazelnutt House (",)

My friend alerted me about Strawberry Net's 10% off cosmetics.  She has an additional 10% discount on top of the discount offered by Strawberry Net.  So thanks to her, I scored some good deals ... ahem... let's just say, this is a Mother's Day gift to myself (",)

I bought some Korres and Laura Mercier products:

From Laura Mercier, I picked up the:

• Blush in Rose Petal
• Gloss Stick in Black Orchid
• Lip Velvet in Royal Plum

Closer look at the Laura Mercier Lip Velvet in Royal Plum.  It wears like a creamy lipstick, but is housed in a gloss tube.

Laura Mercier Blush in Rose Petal:

The item that I am looking forward to trying, the Laura Mercier Gloss Stick in Black Orchid.  My Clinique Black Honey is MIA and instead of buying another, I thought i'd give Black Orchid a try.

Here are the swatches, like my friend says... makeup swatches are for public service (",)

Next up, Korres Raspberry Antioxidant Liquid Lipstick Trio:

Top to bottom: Red, Berry and Soft Pink

L - R: Soft Pink, Berry and Red

The Tod got all excited watching me play with my new toys (",) To prevent her from poking her little fingers into my stuff, I drew her a heart and she squealed in delight (",)

Talk to you ladies soon!!! Hopefully, I'll have time for some LOTDs with the new products (",)

Hi friends of the Nutt House (",)

I picked up two NYX lip products yesterday and here's how the NYX soft matte lip cream in Antwerp looks on my lips.  It looks like a bright coral on my lips and the texture is extremely smooth and velvety... like finely mashed potatoes... muah hahahaha!!! (",)

The lip cream is amazingly pigmented but you'll need smooth and soft lips for a good application.  If your lips are chapped or dry, it'll look rather nasty with the lip cream on the lips.  Despite the smooth application, I find that this lip cream doesn't wear very well.  It seems to dry out my lips which didn't surprise me as it has a matte finishing.

Here are the two lip products that I purchased:

(L) NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Juicy Pink

(R) NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Antwerp

I didn't do any lipswatch for the lipgloss as it not very pigmented. I'll use it as a layering gloss instead.  One thing that I need to point out is the fragrance of the lip gloss.  I don't like the scent :( It is an overpowering fruity scent... the scent probably lasts about a minute or two but I'll probably not be using this lip gloss that often coz I would have to brace myself each time I use it.

Here are the products that I used:

• Majolica Majorca eyeshadow
• Bourjois Liner Stylo eyeliner
• Giorgio Armani Designer Lift smoothing firming foundation in Shade 4
• Helena Rubinstein Magic Concealer in Shade 3 - Dark
  
• Bobbi Brown loose powder in Pale Yellow
• Jill Stuart Mix Blush Compact in Milky Strawberry

Have a wonderful Sunday!!!

Hihi friends of the Nutt House :)

I had a date with my girlfriend and we met at a Jap restaurant in East Coast.  We were thinking of where to go after lunch and she suggested Bugis Village.  I told her that i'll need to withdraw some cash if we're going there coz some of the shops only accept cash.  My friend checked her purse and said that she had a $100 cash with her and I suggested that we should 'budget shop' and challenge ourselves to keep within a $100 for our shopping trip.

It was fun walking around Bugis Village, scouring the shops for age appropriate stuff coz you ladies know Bugis Village caters to the younger crowd more than it does for people my age... Today's trip to Bugis Village was really pleasant!  It wasn't crazy crowded on a Saturday (",) Bless the people who weren't in Bugis Village ... hehehe (",)

I scored these tops at $10 each.   The sunny yellow top looks very translucent here but the material is quite thick.  I like that both tops do not crease easily and are not those unbearably warm polyester material (",)

In Bugis Junction, I saw a temporary display area selling NYX stuff and decided to pick up some lip products.  I chose the Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Juicy Pink ($12.90) and Soft Matte Lip Cream in Antwerp ($15.90).

Will do some swatching tomorrow (",)

Hope you ladies enjoyed your Saturday!!!

Hi hi, ladies of the Nutt House!

I'll usually think of some crafty ideas to work on with The Tod during the weekends and sometimes, it'll be nail art which I will painstakingly paint on her nails.  It'll take many tries to do an acceptable job coz like most Tods, mine can't stay still for a second.  Her hands may be stationary, but her bum and legs and body will be jiggling and the entire process will have to be repeated once the nail colour is smudged.

Here's a lady bug design that I found on the web & copied (",)

The Hubs wanted his thumb painted too and The Tod protested and reminded her dad that "Men cannot use nail polish, you know?"

Here's a grape design which I also found online.  The Tod wasn't at all impressed by this design coz it was tooOOooo tiny in her opinion.

I'm definitely looking forward to a relaxing weekend (",)!!! TGIF!!!

Talk to you ladies soon!!! (",)

Hello, friends of Hazelnutt (",)

The Tod has been wondering where the other Kracie Poppin' Cookin sets were and this weekend, I finally took the Bento Set out for her to play with (",) These little cookin' sets are fun, but I don't want her to be eating too much candy, therefore, i've to stretch the time between each set that she plays with.

The Tod loves scrunching up her face lately ... she calls that her monster face.

With all the coloured packets laid out and the mould in place, we're all set (",)

Check out the two white circles on the pic above ... that's an important 'template'.  Coz the panda's face has to fit the big circle and the ears have to fit the small circle.

I've to help The Tod a wee bit more with this set as compared to the Gummy Land set which we played with earlier.

The Bento Set is all ready :) .. definitely not as lovely as the ones that i've seen on YouTube (",)

The Tod was supposed to save some for me, but  she ate it all up :(

They taste like jelly, in case you're wondering... (",)

Talk to you ladies soon!

Hihi friends of the Nutt House (",)

Thought i'd drop by for a little weekend cheer!

Yeah!!!  Hip hip hurray!!!!!!  Whoopie doodles!!!!!

Earlier today, with The Tod in tow, we went to Parkway Parade to check out the newly opened Uniqlo.  Since it has been opened for more than a week, it was safe to enter the store ;p not crowded on a weekend hehehe (",)

I've only been to Uniqlo at Tampines One and Vivo City and neither carries children/toddlers/babies' clothes.  The store in Parkway Parade has a good selection of kids' clothes and some onesies for infants.  I was thrilled to spot some elastic band jeans for The Tod coz her current pair is getting too tight for her protruding belly.

Initially, I wanted something trendier and edgier from H&M but I did not see any jeans with elastic bands there.  Besides, the European kiddos have way longer legs and alteration is a must if I bought those for The Tod.

So, in Uniqlo, I picked up a pair of indigo jeans with elastic band at $24.90 and a decided that the cotton top at $12.90 would be a lovely addition to her wardrobe too (",) Oh yes, the band on the jeans is actually grey, and not white as seen in my picture below.  So for mummies out there looking for jeans with elastic band, you'll be glad to know that Uniqlo carries one design (yup, just one, no nonsense design) that is inexpensive (",)

Watsons' our favourite personal store has lots of jappy snacks recently. I decided to describe the items that I wanted to The Tod so that she can follow my description and pick out the snack that I want.  So here's what happened:

The Mum: Ok, Mama wants this packet of rice cracker and there is a picture of a BOY on it.  Let's see if you can find it.

The Tod looked really hard and really looOOong for it and I was slightly disappointed that she couldn't see it coz it was right under her nose.

The Mum: Hmmm... it is right here. (I pointed)  Why can't you see it?

The Tod: (shot me a look) This is not a BOY! It is a girl! There is a bow on her head!

Oops... My bad :( Oh yes... (Bin, if you're reading this, yes this snack is for you)

Not wanting to spend too much time nursing my embarrassment, I quickly got her to look for Jagabee and the strawberry caramel corn snack.  Both of which she found quite easily.

I'm so happy to find this strawberry caramel corn in Watsons coz I once got it from Daiso and since then they've not been bringing in stocks for this flavour.

Hehee...I didn't go out with the intention of getting all things Jappy, but somehow it just happened.  I only realised it on the way home that I also had Jap food for dinner and matcha ice-cream for dessert... hehee :)

I hope you've enjoyed your Saturday!   Talk to you ladies soon!!!!!!!!!!

Hi ladies of Hazelnutt House (",)

One of The Tod's favourite hobby is watching cake making and cooking videos on YouTube.  We stumbled across some Kracie Poppin' Cookin' videos where 'ingredients' are packed into packets or boxes and you'll be able to create edible burger sets (with fries and cola, no less), bento sets, ice cream cones, cupcakes, cookies and gummy candies.  She loves watching these videos! If you do a search on YouTube, you'll know why, coz it really does look fun!

I finally found a shop that sells it and promptly went there with The Tod to get her some to play with.

We picked up 3 Gummy Land sets, 1 Hamburger set and 1 Bento set (saving them for a rainy day when I run out of activities for her)

Here's the 'tools' for the Gummy Land set:

Remove the gummy cutters, add water to mix the colours and pour the gummy powder into the largest compartment.

The Tod adding the colour to the powder...

She knew exactly what to do!  I wanted to guide her through, but she has had all the steps carved into her lil' Tod brain.  I watched in dismay as I really wanted to have a go at it too :(

The gummy candy hardened within a few seconds and can be easily pushed out from the gummy cutters.

Here's The Tod's liltle gummy haul (",) ... taste like the regular jappy gummies, but not as tasty (",)

If you're interested, here's the online shop... there are quite a few retail shops islandwide too (",)

Candyland