Stretch a dollar...

I'm itching to buy the bowling ball & shoes set (not that i'm a professional bowler)... I'm itching to buy that the OPI nail polish which i think very very nice color... I'm itching to get a room makeover (new paint, new sheets and new book rack)... Too bad, all of em need $$$, and $$$ don't fall from the sky. When I want something I always tell myself that I can only have them by sacrificing my other luxury items. For example, when I splurge on m.a.c foundations & concealers, other cosmetics such as blushers, lipstick etc can be bought from drugstore or body shop. You can't have 12 cosmetics coming out from cosmetic counters (unless if u're married to a billionaire) It's one of the tips I got from City Chic: An Urban Girl's Guide to Livin' Large on Less book, a birthday gift from Mel last year. The book has all sort of tips to live large with less money.
A description of the book from publishers Weekly:
"Bursting with random tidbits-e.g., bakeries often slash prices heavily right before closing; it's best to shampoo your hair every other day, not daily; blue is supposedly an appetite suppressant, thus not a great color to paint your kitchen-Willdorf's handbook for the chick-lit crowd actually contains lots of useful information. The glossy magazine vet (she's written for Glamour, Worth, Entertainment Weekly and Teen Vogue) provides a cheat sheet for 20-something women dealing with life on a budget in a big city...."
Some tips :-
- Make your own coffee instead of buying the Starbucks coffee
- Brown bag your lunch (or breakfast)
- Run outside instead of working out in the gym
- Go watch movies on Movie Day/Ladies day (RM5) instead of paying the full price (RM8/9)
- * This tips only for lady bowlers, play on ladies day where you only pay RM14.80 for 4 games instead of the normal price RM19.40 (weekdays)/RM21(weekend)
Got any tips to stretch a dollar?

Wedding bells...

Wow.. it's really the wedding year... My list of married friends is getting longer... Let's see...
- nawaal who got married on may 6
- ninie who will be married this coming june
- my high school roomie, aisya june 2
- rina, june 30th...
-lin, june 9th
.... and surely it'll get longer as the year pass by!

Congrats the married couples !

Exactly what I need..

on a monday morning....

Run for your life

I just got back from 2 hours of self-defense class. A colleague knew someone who teaches self-defense class(its f.o.c!), and he asked the girls at the office to join . This sifu is an architect who owns a wood house(not the kampung one, it's very spa-like instead) at the hill. When I first walked into his house, it really feels like in japanese era. There's even nunchaku hanging outside the house. The house has beautiful landscape, with water garden (with the waterfall sounds even). I like the bathroom, it's open air , seems very inviting and relaxing.

Back to self defense, today was just learning about the basics on what to do when someone grabs your arm, or someone chokes you. Some of them very simple techniques which are very useful for women. The fact is, men are born to think that they're the protector. Of course, I mean what guys wouldn't want to be the hero, right? And we women tend to think that we are protected, that prince in shining armor is gonna come and save us. But anything can happen, it's always good to have some idea on how to defend ourselves (Even as simple as having a pepper spray in your purse).

In the coming weeks, I will be taught on what to do when someone grabs you inappropriately, someone threat you with a knife(im so anxious about this one!), and other situations. Of course we're going to practice with plastic knife, not the real one. Still it's still seems scary.
After going months without regular cardio (shopping is still the best cardio), I'm feeling bit tired(but still at the same time refreshing, odd huh?). Hopefully the next few times will be better. I'm looking forward to learn some kicks and punches!!!

TV Buzz

On tvland

• Desperate Housewives (Season Finale) - May 20th
• Gilmore Girls (Series Finale) -May 13th
  
• Bon Voyage gilmore girls, Ive enjoyed our 7 years together :)
• Heroes (Season Finale) - May 21
• I hope nothing will happen to Peter Petrelli :{
  
• Grey's Anatomy (Season Finale) - May 17

PixArt Result

It’s been awhile since my last update. Anyway, I’ve received my pixart order, and I can say that I am satisfied with it. Although some pictures which look like 0.1% dark in my laptop, look darker in the book. So my advice is, if you’re doing black-and-white pictures, make sure it’s not too dark. Here are some samples of the pixart photobook.

Front

Inside

Yesterday, I had my second experience of donating blood. My first time was 6 years ago at Uitm Shah Alam. Me and roommates were having a pact to go together, and at that time, just looking at the needle, I cringed. But since I already agreed to go with friends, I just went ahead and did it which turned out wasn’t so bad anyway....

The blood donation this time was held at the next building of my office. I went there accompanied by my colleagues after lunch. Basically here are the processes that you have to go through if you want to donate blood. First, you would need to fill out a form; it’s just a questionnaire about health history and stuff like that. After that, the nurse would ask you general questions, like whether you had at least 5 hours of sleep the night before and whether your weight is above the recommended weight (45 kg btw).

After that they would measure your Hb (haemoglobin) level to see whether you have enough Hb to donate. They would prick your finger with a small needle, and draw very little blood. If you’re a first timer, usually they would also detect your blood type.

When they say that you are eligible to donate, they would ask you to lie down on a bed . Firstly, they would put on cuff-like-thing above your elbow. Then they would find your vein, and inject the needle (which I thought is anaesthesia). Then after that, they would stick in the needle to draw the blood. Will you feel pain? Hmmm, not really, I can say that the pain that I felt only the needle prick. If you have a thing about needle, better if you don't look while they're doing it.

This time, my experience was different than my first one. After 5 minutes, I started to get chills/tingling sensations on my fingers, then suddenly it moves to my arm… Then I thought maybe the cuff was too tight (it did feel like it was tight!). Then I started to get chill sweat on my neck, after that I felt a bit dizzy. Thus, I started to move my arm and body just to be relax and comfortable. Guess what they didn’t tell, you’re not supposed to move your blood-drawing-arm. The needle moved in my vein, and then caused the blood to clot, so the flow stopped. In the end, I only get half a pint of blood drawn because my restlessness.

Surely, my experience was not so-very pleasant. But knowing the effect, it's worth every minute.

Turning ...

[21st Birthday with Lana & Con]
I'm turning 24 but I dont feel a day over 21 years old :D :D :D