Let’s Talk About Flatlays

8 / 17 / 17

Flatlays are photography styling of a few items in a picture. If you are on Instagram, most likely you have seen such images on fashion, food, beauty products or just about anything one can think of. Flatlays are usually taken using a smartphone from top down angle after you have arranged everything lying down. The flat lay photos are a chic and creative way to display pretty items, food or drinks. How the photo is taken, the lighting and the styling are important in capturing the perfect photo.

I like taking flatlays of coffee since I love coffee.

I am a lover of flatlays. Correction. I am obsessed with flatlays. I follow Flatlay Instagrammers and also go to Pinterest for inspiration. Currently, I am handling the social media side of a few companies. I use flatlays to promote their business on Facebook and Instagram. I am not an expert in photography but I am learning the ropes on how to take a good flatlay. It looks simple but a lot of work goes into making a flatlay. I am grateful that I have been given a chance to do this by these companies.

Did this for Father’s Day recently. The items in this photo belong to my hubby. It shows all the things he love to do like camping, hiking and bbq.

No Carb Noodles / Zero Carb Noodles / Carb Free Noodles

4 / 21 / 174 / 25 / 17

It has been 8 weeks since I have stopped eating carbs. This means no bread, noodles, cakes and just about anything with sugar. The first 2 weeks were pretty hard for me because I love carbs. As I want to eat healthily, I decided to stay off sugar. I am not sure how long this will go on but I intend to keep this lifestyle for a while. Sugar has many harmful effects and causes many health problems. It is very addictive and that is why many people crave for sugary foods. I had pretty bad withdrawal symptoms during the first 2 weeks. I did not step on the scale to see how much I weigh before and after but I know that I have gone down a few dress sizes. Yippee!

It is really difficult to find low-carb or zero-carb food in Malaysia. I was so happy to find this zero-carb noodles at an organic shop in my neighbourhood. I was told that many people with diabetes consume this type of noodles. This noodle is known as Shiraki noodles, Konjac noodle or Japanese konnyaku noodle.

It is actually something like Konnyaku jelly and made from konjac yam. RM5.50 a packet.Check out the nutrition facts – 0g of carbohydrate.

How To Prepare The Zero Carb Noodle

1) Drain the noodles and rinse them with water

2) Boil the noodle in a pot of hot water

3) I like my noodles without soup. Hence, I add a bit of soya sauce, sesame oil and pepper into the noodles once I have drained them.

The noodles being cooked in a pot of water

Fried an egg to go with the noodle. The portion is pretty small. Just something to satisfy my craving for noodles. I may buy again when the craving strikes again. Can be eaten with soup or pasta style.

How To Store Statement Necklaces

4 / 17 / 17

If you have been reading my blog, you’ll know that I love statement necklaces. A statement necklace can instantly refresh a basic outfit. I have all kinds of statement necklaces and cannot resist buying whenever I see them on sale. My favourite places to shop for statement necklaces are Lovisa, Aliexpress and Luccacal.com.my. I have been storing them in this yellow woven basket. Not a very good idea eh? I cannot see them at all when I want to choose my necklace.

So I went to Daiso and got a transparent shoe box to store the necklaces. Pretty messy but at least I can spot them right away. I don’t have a necklace stand as it takes up a lot of space and also a stand may not be able to hang my collection. I really need to find a better way to store my statement necklaces.

Zumba® Master Class- Mega Party Malaysia 2017

4 / 7 / 174 / 7 / 17

I cannot believe it that I will be participating in a Zumba Master Class Mega Party this October. My zumba instructor was just sharing about this event to our group and a few of my zumba friends decided to join. I was not interested because I still couldn’t zumba very well. Then one of my friends whatsapped me and asked me to come along and have some fun. She said we mothers have to reward ourselves sometimes. Just zumba and enjoy. Therefore, I have registered myself and now I can’t wait. More information can be found here – https://www.facebook.com/events/1318823978194036/ or check it out! here.

Cauliflower Fried Rice For A Healthy Meal

4 / 6 / 17

I have been seeing recipes on cauliflower fried rice and wondered how it would taste like. Usually people who use cauliflower to replace rice are those who want a healthier alternative. Rice contains carbs and is not good for people with diabetes as they need to reduce their sugar intake. About 4 weeks ago, I have begun to eliminate carbs from my food. No more coffee with sugar, bread, cakes, cookies, just about anything that has sugar in it. The first 2 weeks were pretty tough and I experienced headaches due to the withdrawal symptom. I was following Atkins’ Induction Phase during this time.

Things are a lot better now and I am used to eating no carbs. Since I have been eating lots of protein i.e. meat and egg, I decided to try the Cauliflower Fried Rice and googled for the recipe a few days ago

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium head cauliflower
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 large egg
pinch of salt
Olive oil
1/2 small onion, diced fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
Soy sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Coarsely chop cauliflowers into florets. You may also use the food processor.
Crack egg and beat with a fork. Season with salt.
Heat a large pan or wok over medium heat and add olive oil.
Add the egg and cook until set. Set aside.
Add the sesame oil and saute onions and garlic about 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the cauliflower “rice” to the pan along with soy sauce. Mix, cover and cook approximately 5 to 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until the cauliflower is slightly crispy on the outside but tender on the inside.
Add the egg then remove from heat.

I added some mix-vege (carrots, peas and corn) into my dish but I will omit that next time because they contain a lot of carbs.

Ta-daa…my Cauliflower Fried Rice. It tasted wonderful. I can say that cauliflower is now my new best friend.

Getting My Dance Fix With Zumba

3 / 31 / 173 / 31 / 17

I enjoy listening to music and I love to dance. This is something that many people do not know and my friends were surprised when they found out. Maybe I do not look like a person who loves dancing *smile* I have been waiting for a Zumba class in my neighbourhood for a long time. The reason why I don’t want to join classes which I have to drive to is because I know that later I may not look forward to attending classes when I need to drive over, look for carpark and etc.

So, I was very happy when I found a new Zumba class near where I live. I wasted no time in registering and got started right after Chinese New Year. Need to workout after feasting on all the goodies.

I enjoy the class very much as the Zumba moves are so fun. My Zumba coach is very experienced and conducts several classes a day, 6 x a week. She has been doing this for more than 10 years. I also love the music a lot and we zumba to some of my favourite songs such as Uptown Funk and Cheap Thrills. The sound system in the studio is fantastic and it is equipped with power conditioner available at Musicians Friend.

As last week was March break for school, Ashley followed me to my class and she also zumba-ed. She enjoyed dancing too but she couldn’t keep up with mommy *chuckle*.

When The Weekend Whizzed By

3 / 6 / 173 / 6 / 17

“Procaffeinating ~ The tendency to not start anything until you’ve had a cup of coffee

I really need a day in between Sunday and Monday.

Story of My Life

3 / 1 / 17

The crafty mood has struck. There are so many crafts that I want to do, thanks to Pinterest. Y’all know how addictive Pinterest is. Sometimes I wish there are more than 24 hours a day. I have a few projects up my sleeve and gotten ready all the material but just not enough time. March is here and it is a busy month for me. Can’t wait for some quiet days so that I can begin my project.

Any crafters out there? Are you like me?

It Feels Good To Be Pampered

2 / 23 / 172 / 23 / 17

When I was invited by A Cut Above in Mid Valley Mall to try their Shiseido Colour Treatment recently, I was so excited and jumped at the chance because it is not every day that one gets invitations to give their hair a makeover at a prestigious hair salon. So, I went to A Cut Above last Saturday afternoon to get my hair coloured.

I was greeted warmly by their Senior Stylist, Mr. Davies Lee. When he asked me what colours I like, I told him that I wanted a colour that would hide my gray hairs which are sprouting like no tomorrow. Yes, I am at that stage right now. He then showed me the colours that are available and what would suit me.

Since I already have some highlights on my hair, he recommended that I chose YBe7 which is brown base and the lighter tone would be the colour of my highlight. This colour combination suits me better.

Here are Davies and Yuki doing the highlight on my hair first.

Another staff (I forgot to get her name), applying the base colour to the root area and all over my hair.

Time to blow dry my hair while waiting for the colour to set in. The whole treatment process was very fast and it took about 20 minutes. One thing I noticed is that there is no stinging sensation on my scalp at all. Whenever I go for hair colouring, I can feel my a burning sensation on my scalp during the hair colour application. It is something that I do not look forward to. I am surprised that I did not experience this at A Cut Above.

When the time is up, I was ushered into the washing area for a good hair wash. The shampoo smelled very nice and I was given a good head massage by Yuki. One of the highlights (pun intended) of this session is the Special Scalp Renew treatment that they gave me. As soon as the formula was massaged onto my scalp, I felt a refreshing minty sensation. It was as though 100 tubes of peppermint toothpaste were applied onto my scalp. It was such an awesome experience. My head immediately felt so much lighter. I wished the treatment would go on for an hour. This is such a wonderful treatment that I truly recommend. So out of this world! I could still feel the tingly mint sensation when Yuki was blow-drying my hair.

Here is me with the new hair colour.

I love that the brown base shade has covered my gray hair and the highlights are now in ash colour. According to Davies, it is better that I do not bleach my hair too light as it is not suitable for me. This look is more natural and the colours are balanced. I love it!

This is my ‘before’ look. The highlights on my hair were in light shade and looked dry.

Thank You Very Much A Cut Above, Davies and team for this wonderful experience. I really appreciate it.

Have you been caught in this situation before?

4 / 28 / 16

So one weekend I was at the mall and was checking out some sales items at Uniqlo. While going through the shelves, I saw a lady who was standing opposite me wearing the same top that I had on. Horror! She didn’t notice me but I quickly held a plastic bag which I was carrying to my chest to make it not so obvious that we are wearing the same top. I still haven’t done looking at the shelf so in order to continue doing what I was doing without anyone noticing, I had to do that. Pretty funny incident but a little embarrassing. I bet if I were to shop online like at kirkland store Guitar Centers, I do not have to worry about bumping into another person wearing the same outfit.

This is the black top from Padini which I wore. Gotta becareful next time.