A little tea party for my girlies and me.

I have been experiencing the strongest of cravings for sweets and sugar all day today -- and I am not one with a sweet tooth at all, usually!

Which then made me think: I think I want to celebrate my (un)birthday with a little tea party this year. Last year, the best friend and I co-hosted a BBQ and pool party at her house, and we all had such a blast swimming around sipping on cocktails, with no boys around to bother us!

Mmmmm... I am salivating at the idea of having nothing but cupcakes, cookies, pies and ice cream to feast on for a few hours! With the greatest of companies, too, no less. "Let them eat cake," I say.

So inspired! Must start planning once I come back from my travels.

The sweetest things.

You know what's sweet?

• Not having to be at work, or think about work, or do anything that even remotely reminds me of work, starting from tomorrow until July 1st.
  
  
• Visiting two entirely different countries, with two entirely different cultures, on two entirely different continents, in less than two weeks.

• Be totally inaccessible as my phone will not be working abroad. I was a little scared at first, seeing as how my Blackberry has practically become an extension of my physical self, but this will be a great time to leave everything and everyone I know here behind, and just really take the time to wholly focus on me, my family, and my loves. As free WiFi will be hard to come by, this will also mean no emails, no Facebook, no blogging. I can't wait to get back to the basics of just being!
  
  


• Le Manfriend put together a little care package pour moi for the unbearably long flights, including a neck pillow, ear plugs, eye mask, and antibacterial wipes (with moisturizing aloe, too, may I add). I AM THE LUCKIEST TO LOVE, AND BE LOVED BY HIM.

Yup. Super sweet. Now back to packing I go!

Fashion inspiration needed, STAT!

I am sitting here, feeling both nervous and excited about our photoshoot for a local boutique's lookbook tomorrow. My friend Tu-Anh is all sorts of talented; I really admire her for always being able to connect so many different people, from all different walks of life, all for a common cause. I am so humbled and thankful to be part of this project!

The bad: I am an awkward child, and will probably need lots of direction with posing and such.

The good: No figuring out what to wear because other people will do that for me!

On a similar note, I envy those women who always manage to look well put-together, whether they are at home or abroad. I personally never know what to pack when going on an extended trip, and usually end up cramming all sorts of items into my luggage the night before -- or, too often, right before rushing off to the airport the day of.

Ultimately, figuring out what to wear while you are away for six days would be a significantly easier task if I had a perfectly organized closet... versus having to sift through mounds of clothes, digging through six different drawers, looking for my favorite floral dress, or that one, specific gray sweater that would be perfect to snuggle up with on the plane. Picking out outfits should be fun, fun, fun, not a chore!

With that said, Operation Closet-Clean-Out, a la Carrie Bradshaw-style, is long overdue. Now all I would need is a sassy personal assistant to help me sort through the mess (and firmly reprimand me for still wanting to hold on to those too-short short shorts)!

Before

After!

More closet inspirations to remind me that I can no longer procrastinate on this matter:

Am in love with the last photo. In total, and utter, love with it. What a whimsically creative way to pare down the clutter (forcing myself to only keep important pieces), while also making great use of available space! Am officially smitten.

Life, Death, and all the years and decades in between.

Death came a-knocking. And Ong Noi left this world last Friday.

The following words may sound absolutely terrible to some of you, but it really isn't:

I am so glad that he is no longer suffering.



My parents, wanting me to thoroughly enjoy my time meeting the Manfriend's family and friends in Ohio this past weekend, did not tell me of my grandfather's passing until late last night. Your father did not want you to be sad, my mother tearfully explained through the phone.

And I, extremely touched, yet dispirited all at the same time, tried thanking her through one too many hiccups and sobs.

I cried and I still cry because I feel immense amounts of guilt and regret for not being able to visit him on that side of the world a lot sooner, while he was still alive. Now I only have memories to hold on to, and even they are fading.

Fading.

Fading away, entirely way too fast...

Aging, and death, can terrify the most secure of persons -- and after the deluge of emotions passed, I started to wonder how my grandfather must have felt or thought during his last moments on Earth.

They say that your life flashes by you in the few seconds you have left before you die -- but in the case of my grandfather, who was terminally ill with cancer for months before his death, I like to think that his best life moments were displayed before him in a great, big puzzle, pieced together by perfect little photographs, with familiar voices, far-off sounds, and favorite melodies playing in the background.

He was an old man and an old soul at 82, but he smiled often, always so happy and cheerful, a little child at heart.

He cried, he laughed. He loved, he lost, he left behind. He succeeded, he failed. Then he tried, and kept on trying and he picked himself up once again. He scrounged for dollars and then he made millions. He saw the world, he shared himself deeply and honestly.

My heart has been filled with aching sadness all day today. But every single time I feel it swell up, I remind myself to take comfort in the fact that he is no longer in pain; no longer lying there, with nothing else to do but wait for Death to come.

RIP, Ong Noi. I know you are in a better place now. I hope you were able to read, or have someone read, my letter to you.

I love you and miss you dearly.