Coming right up

I'm going to Vancouver!!!!!!

Yes, my flights are confirmed - departing from Sg 17 Feb morning and arriving in Vancouver also on 17 Feb morning (thanks to the very confusing time difference) and back to Sg by midnight on the 27th. A whole nine-and-a-half days with my darling, whom I've spent the past four days missing terribly.

Our first Christmas together was beautiful, as was our first New Year's countdown, despite the fact that my beloved flew off on New Year's morning amid many tears and much 'I don't want you to gos'. He told me to be brave but I couldn't hold back my tears as he hugged his family goodbye. When he finally turned to me we just held each other and sobbed. Even thinking about it now makes me feel like crying. Letting go is so hard, even when it's only for a short while.

Six weeks... feels like such a long time though. Thank God for webcam and MSN, I can still talk to my baby every night. Nothing beats the real thing though, and we're just counting down the days till we can hug and kiss and hold hands again. I miss his scent, his sleepy smile, I miss his arm carelessly thrown around my shoulders. I miss him all the time.

Oh God, this is hard.

Well I'll get through this somehow. WE'LL get through this. Right now work is keeping me busy and in my spare time I have my New Year's resolutions to keep... learning to cook and to play guitar, among other things, although I haven't even found the time to begin so far. I haven't even had time to blog till today - and I'm writing this during my lunch break!

I'm also supposed to be exercising more (and I will, I just want it to stop raining!) and I'm in the midst of redecorating my room. It's about 90% complete now, I've just got to hang the pictures and do the curtains and chairs and stuff. Will post pics when I'm done. The bathroom's been revamped as well and it's absolutely gorgeous. And everything smells heavenly because now there's potpourri and tealights everywhere. Ikea rocks! It has everything. I love browsing Ikea, although it's really the person you're with that makes it so cool. Somehow looking at pretty furniture alone isn't half as fun as when your special someone is right there with you pushing the trolley and helping you reach the stuff on the high shelves... *sigh*.

Lionel will be busy soon too when his term begins. Right now he's spending most of his time sleeping off his jetlag. He said it takes about a week to get over it. I hope it doesn't take that long for me - won't leave much time for playing in the snow when I come up!

Lunch break's almost over. I'll be back soon with pictures ;)

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Hello! Back again, with PICTURES!

Me pretty room. I've done it in red/pink/brown tones so it matches my favourite bedsheet.















Room tour! Okay let's start with the curtains. I like the curtains. Aren't they gorgeous??? They were the most troublesome items to get in my entire room makeover too. Let me tell you the story...
















The troublesome-but-so-pretty curtains

I initially wanted this totally elegant pair of deep red textured curtains that I saw at Ikea, but the price was rather shocking. $85!!!!! No way man. Instead I happened upon some pretty, shiny, satiny dusky pink material going for $20 at a shop in Holland V and immediately pounced. I thought I had more than enough but I brought it home and hung it up and realised I only had about half the material I needed. Was sitting on the floor staring at the unfinished curtains and feeling kinda bummed when Mom came in. On spying the curtains she immediately made loud noises of vexation/rebuke. Heh. I confidently told her "No problem, I'll buy more material tomorrow."

So I went back the next day only to find they were out of that colour. I ended up buying the purple instead. When my mom saw it she of course chided me again but I told her I was going to cut the material into strips, hem up all the sides and just hang them. And that's what I did. See? Pwetty!!!!!!

They only cost me $40. And I did them all by myself!!!!! Ok so I nearly wrecked my mom's sewing machine doing the hemming. In the end my mom suggested I use the neatening machine instead. I was like, wassat??? Turns out it's this handy little device that trims off the edges and stitches them so they don't fray. Cool... can I request that as a future wedding present? ;)

Anyway glad the curtains turned out great. They go really well with the display on the low bookshelf...















On top of the low bookshelf. Poster, potpourri, tealight. Pretty, innit?

...as well as the stuff on the study desk. The lamp sheds diffused light through the far end of the room... very sweet and soothing especially with my mp3 playing softly on 'shuffle' mode just before I turn in. Luxury ;)

































On the study desk and next to it. Aren't my bears cute???

Did the chair cushions myself too, well with a teensy bit of help from Mom. Now I absolutely love the chairs. The cushions just make them look so opulent.

And here's the music area. Where I will one day (soon, I hope) practise guitar. Anyway it looks pretty enticing so I guess that's incentive for me. Check out the black-and-white shots on the coffee table. The one on the left is me holding Lionel's guitar - he was teaching me to play The Cranberries' Linger (I think I look pretty good holding a guitar. Now if I could just learn to play it.). The photo on the right was taken at the Haagen Daaz at Holland V on one of our first dates (back when I still wore glasses!). Seems like ages ago...















The music area

This room holds so many memories. Most of the stuff I own has special meaning, and the items in my room all have their own story to tell. Here's a pretty jigsaw that I bought years ago at a funfair at Crescent Girls'. I remember I bought it 'cos I already had a similar-sized one in my room, a bright garden picture that my form teacher Mrs Wong gave me for coming top in English. And it was originally given to her by another class for Teacher's Day (with a message scrawled on the back and everything). Haha.















The jigsaw from years ago - I still love it. It's so soothing

On to the mini-vanity. I converted the old TV table into a jewellery-and-hair accessories area by simply adding a pretty pink batik cloth and spreading some jewellery boxes on top of it. I think the effect's quite charming. I could gaze on it for hours. Kidding! =P But seriously I just like looking at it - it's got all my scrunchies and hair clips and necklaces and earrings and bracelets and my little handbags somewhere within its glass-fronted insides. Plus all my letters and cards (neatly sorted out and boxed up) and notebooks and photo albums.















Oh speaking of cards, when I was sorting them out I came across this little gem from long, long ago. A 'Merry Christmas!' card from guess who? Yup, my beloved, from way before he was my beloved. The card is dated 24 Dec '03. My, my, what a long way we've come.

















Christmas card from Lionel dated 24 Dec '03, about four months after we first met. Sweet ;)

And if you noticed the two cute little doggy photo clips on my study desk, they were the present that came with the Christmas card. Bullie and Gracie. How sweet ;) And now the clips hold snapshots of us, taken where we love to hang out - near the sun, sand and sea. Wheeeee!

Lots of photos of us around the room. They'll help me get through the long months when he's not around. Those were great times. Longing for them... I tried to use the 'beachy' shots since that's where we had the most fun ;) Which means in most of my photos I'm wearing a bikini. Mom's first comment was, "Why so many sexy shots???" Hahaha.















Photos and memories

Photos over the mini-vanity... The first I christened the 'delicate' shot. We went fishing. Didn't catch much, but it felt so good to just laze in the sun and be together. Everytime I look at the photo the song Delicate comes into my head, the way Lionel plays and sings it. And everytime I hear the song it takes me back to that moment at the beach with him.

I think I've got a frog in my throat.

*Ahem* The second photo we took at Phuket right after we bought our 'attachment bracelets'. Hee. I think it's a cute shot and it looks really good in black-and-white. Another great memory.

My side table. So pretty. I've got potpourri and scented tealights everywhere and I keep the door closed when I'm out ('cos Elvis is wont to come up and shed fur and do nasty things in my room) so the place always smells lovely - it's really nice to come home to a sweet-smelling bedroom!




















And the centrepiece of the room.... (dumdumdum...) MY BED!!!!!! Zack Bear (the bigger one - a birthday present from Russ a long time ago) and Elliott (my newest acquisition with the sweetest disposition - he comes bearing gifts! No pun intended haha.) Although he clings fiercely to his little rose and won't let me take it. Oh well. He's soft and cuddly and best of all, he's a Christmas present from my baby.




















Zack Bear and Elliott getting cosy on my bed. Notice they both have hearts on their feet.

(Here's me with my Christmas presents... hee. More on my prezzies later.)




















My Christmas presents from Lionel

Ok back to my bed. Yes that's us again on the shelf behind the bed, with seashells and a pretty carved wood tealight holder, and that's also us reflected in the mirror (photos from the music area).

Moving along the shelf... more potpourri! And... the tissuebox! And... a big wooden bowl! Haha. I found this in the storeroom downstairs - I raided the place for stuff and ideas. Now I just dump my odds-and-ends in it when I come home and sort it out at my leisure. It's a lot neater than dumping my stuff on various surfaces and also more convenient. No more wondering "Where did I put my handphone/wallet/keys?"















The glass shelf above my bed. Shells, coloured glass pebbles, tealights and pretty vases.















And my bathroom!!!!! First, the wall leading to my bathroom... yes that's me with the crab, and him with the fishing pole. Nice bod, nice angle, I like.















My bathroom... (now with reading materials!!!!)




















Shower stuff. I 'revamped' the drawers with waterproof stickers ;)


































On the wall on either side of the mirror. So pretty!!!!







































And that's my pretty bedroom and bathroom. Feels like I'm staying at a beachside resort. Mmmmmmmmmm.

Now all I need is... someone to share it with. *Sigh* I miss Lionel.