parents-are-out-of-town-weekend-potluck

Hooray for Friday! What will you guys be up to? My folks are out of town this weekend & they've permitted me to hold what i would call "my-folks-are-out-of-town-potluck-party". Intimate affair with the usual suspects. Can't wait! My weekends have been so eventful!

Wishing you a lovely time too! xoxo

p.s Will be trying out yet another chicken dish: Skillet Rosemary Chicken. Both the food & photography is just delish.

when life gives you lemons,,

Plop it into your iced tea! This is my favourite: caesar salad + iced tea, at my favourite cafe. Oh and this new book i'm reading is truly a masterpiece. Hope to share that with you soon! True love in little packages, bursting pockets of surprises. dududuhhhh~

So excited about the new year! It's been a wonderful year but i'm looking forward to all the big projects that i have planned. A few personal upgrades, a few travel destinations & plenty of big, grown-up decisions to make. A brand new journey that's bigger, better, faster. This is about to get interesting, so ready for some real action & adventure.

Also a little note for a very sad Gyira. Hope you'd pick up a book, smoke some fags & have girly time. You'll be back in shape in no time. Here's hoping for better days ahead! I promise to recommend some books & do a little review soon since i once told you i would but never did. xoxo

Happy Wednesday, my sweets!

Keep Calm, Carry On.

Reeling from an awful, awful day. This week hasn't been the best one in awhile. It's tricky to even pour out what's going on so i'll try & share an example that could best be applied to everything else.

This morning i've decided to put on my old & torn jeans. Torn in the correct & intended places, just reminding. So i got to work & i knew i didn't look all that fab but i figured it's not unsightly so it might work out or the least, go unnoticed. But i got to work & someone asked if i 'got RAPED' a moment ago. Urm, self-explanatory.

Contrastingly though, Elfe came to visit me & through our phonecall i was beginning to suspect that she might put me through some sorta survey or something. Thankfully not, because it is Elfe afterall. She's all kinds of awesome, if you'd just allow me to reiterate. So we had our favourite soy latte, chatted & i got a lomo camera for Christmas. Awww..

Amazing, i can never explain to you how i always believe angels exist in the form of the people you love & care about. It's crazy that they surprise you just when you need them & they usually don't even know they've done that for you. Universal magic in the work. I cannot be more blessed.

Matters of the heart can be so delicate & so strange that it often materialises into something awful when it goes out of hand. Sometimes you don't know where you are & what exactly you're dealing with. And most times, you don't even mean it. Keep it together. Taking the time to forgive yourself could just be the mend to what's broken in your soul.

Keep calm, carry on.

Happy Friday!

Adios! Don't want to do anything more than slip into my 'hedonistic shell' for a moment and meet all my insane buddies, chat about nothing with loaded vulgarities, give hugs, smoke endlessly & just have fun like we always do.

Have a sweet weekend everybody!

halloween 2010, dirtyland

Nothing more than halloween pictures i never posted.

here comes the weekend!

Happy Friday & yay to the weekends! Have a fulfilling one everyone! xx

(doodle is by elfe!)

letters & friends

Remember my lovely friend Lizzy? Well, she sent me a message not too long ago to ask what i thought about writing letters to each other. My answer? "Yes, please!". There's nothing i love more than pretty paperie, getting ambitiously crafty and continuing a wonderful friendship the old-fashioned way. Which in my opinion, being the traditionalist that i am, feels truly sincere & expressive. Digital mediums just can't do it the way letters can, however way you cut it. Only my thoughts though!

We haven't officially started writing to each other just yet. Liz will land in the UK in about 2 weeks and as soon as she's settled in, she'll send me her first letter with her mailing address so i can write back. I cannot wait!

P.S have you heard of the Benevolent Postcard Society? I've posted about them sometime ago and i'm still smittened by this charming project. Wouldn't it be so nice to form a tiny club of people from different corners of the world to exchange postcards and well wishes?

to live & love: a very special post for a very special person

I'm going to introduce the most special person to me today. This is Lizzy and i received a message from her this morning that made me cry a little (yes, in the office).

I first met Lizzy in the winter of 2008 while i was on a holiday in Perth, Australia. For the first time, my brother & i were going on a vacation independently so it was what we considered a 'big trip'. I won't lie to you, being two really young asians, we were really intimidated by Australia. But Australia, however it was intimidating at that time, showed us to a friendship with its most wonderful citizen.

Liz was backpacking around Australia at that time & had already been staying at the backpackers we checked into for a couple of months. Knowing we were really shy & possibly a little a scared, she made us feel really warm & at home. We were also introduced to Dean & Scott from Ireland who were so wonderfully nice too.

We hung out all night sharing stories about our homeland, their travels, travel tips within Perth & everything. Simply, we were no longer freaking out because we now had these amazing new friends who'd look out for us, who showed us some places, gave us their sleeping bags because it was way too cold at night, woke us up for breakfast & even cooked us dinner before we left home.
The friendship didn't finish from the time we boarded the flight home. In fact, many times in the last year or so, Lizzie would send me messages to see how i was doing & even offered me her shoulder to cry on when i was going through a very difficult episode in my life. Note that she lives miles away from me & constantly travels.

Tell me now, is this person not an angel to you?

It's these little acts of kindness that will live in us forever. She's a true inspiration. I've learnt that you'll never know the impact of your good deed, no matter how little or large, on someone.

So this was what i received from sweet Lizzy this morning,

"hey maria, i have a day off so i thought i'd spend it in the library and fall into my own little world for a while....for some reason i had an impulse to click on your blogspot while i'm on facebook quickly, because you'd posted something for your lovely brother's birthday.

i feel like we are so alike it's not funny, and i suppose we never really had the oppurtunity to get to know each other well enough to realize that - we did only briefly meet each other for 2 or 3 days. i always thought your were lovely and i have met many many people on my travels who are beautiful people, but the way you talk about your love affair with life, with friends, family, art, books, activism - this constant flowing raw energy for a more fulfilled and happier you - i hold it so close to me, recognise it, understand it and i think it's a very special gift when you happen to stumble upon someone else who shares such fundamental values.

i wish that we were better friends. you seem to have so much light spilling out of you. your gift must be that you radiate this light upon other people.

that's all i had to say, i hope you have a beautiful day darling. you have made my day! xo"

It's so heartwarming, i couldn't help but cry. I don't think Liz understands how special she is or how thankful i am to have met her.

Well, I did mention that i have never wished for massive readership or 10000 blog hits a day but i've always meant for this space to be where i would meet like-minded people like you & lizzy, who are similarly passionate about love & life.

I hope someday, we can all come together, maybe even through this blog, to build friendships, share thoughts, & create waves of magical, positive, infectious energy for each other. I pray many seasons of good karma for Lizzy, for you & for everyone.

It's fantastic to be alive & in love.

meet Elfe!

Happy first day of a new month and week guys! Just wanted to share the beautiful artworks of my talented friend, who doubles as my activist soulmate tackling issues like gender discrimination and animal cruelty, please meet the very charming, Elfe.

I’ve told Elfe countless times that I will adorn my own apartment (when that comes) with a variety of her paintings. Oh and I’ll throw in a bonus- she’s fantastic to work with!

You can commission Elfe to paint and know she’ll have it done beautifully (for a budding artist, she’s shipped her work all the way to Australia and fast going beyond).

Show her some love over at her blog or contact her to see more of her work and don’t forget to show young local artists some love along the way.

of pogo sticks and scary mixes

So good to catch up with everyone there. The party was wicked.

life's little tidbits

Inspirations are everywhere, you just need to look. This christmas letter from Drey in '06 will remain on my inspiration board forever and by simply reading it over again yesterday, i've come to a decision that i'm giving my dancing self a second chance. Slowly this time.

A life without dance, is like a life without love.

the stuff we do outside my house

How was the weekend? Me and the girls got down to finally celebrating our babe's birthday and awww, it was perfect. I mean what could possibly go wrong with good home-cooked dinner, fairy lights, candles and some jazz. Basically, our menu for the night went as simply as follow,

Appetizer:
Baked salmon & baby potatoes + mesclun salad + asparagus.

Main:
Roast chicken
Pasta pie

Dessert:
Chocolate fondue

I need to specially mention Nini's pasta pie which she painstakingly put together like it was a piece of art and was so RUDELY DELICIOUS that we're all asking her for another round of it. Her roast chicken was also lovely and while she rocked the mains, i did the appetizer and I thought we both did a pretty neat job.

Have a sweet Monday, my loves. Come right back tomorrow!

Herb & Dorothy

I've been meaning to watch this cute and endearing story of the famous Vogels. It's finally screening for the first time here in Asia and you can watch it at the Design Film Fest that's near over. I think i've been missing out on these goodies for some time now, let's get back on track.

p.s WHDH, sad you can't make it cos this other one's for you!

By the way, WHDH has a wonderful blog, so give her a visit. Her posts are really fun and informative. She makes me want to go back to art school all the time!

In other news, i'm just about to link everyone following me from here. Tell me if that's okay or i'll just go ahead with it. xx

dreaming of India

I find myself dreaming about India these couple of days and i so badly want to experience it. So in the chaos of yesterday, a sweet friend of mine wanted me to take my skills somewhere and that place is no other than the magnificent Chennai, India. I haven't thought much about it since i barely had the chance to but i see myself lying in bed tonight thinking long and hard (with a smile of course) if i would want to live there. Even if just for a while. Let's see how that's going to work out! Whatever the outcome may eventually be, i know i want to be there. Someday soon hopefully.

Yesterday was a loooooong day and i have a splitting headache now. Happy Friday!

Bali 2010

Bali is still magically gorgeous, friendly and warm, rich in its culture, safe and oh so exhilarating. Though in some areas, a pinch more expensive and a little more developed. Bali is getting richer and we know she deserves it.
This time round, our friend Zie, took us into her amazing home somewhere a little further away from where the great Tanah Lot Temple stood. I consider myself way too lucky to be given a chance to experience the real Bali.
We woke up to sun-kissed paddy fields that stretched into the horizon, locals living a different kind of life away from mass tourism and commercial grounds, we watched villagers rise early to work on plantations, we ate local push cart food..
And for the highlight of it all, we rode on Zie's horses through lengths of paddy fields into a secluded beach where there was not a single tourist! Black volcanic sand, clear water, clean beach and hardly anyone there except for a few young couples and some kids pocket biking on dirt bike tracks sponsored by Electric. I was so honoured to be there! Thanks zie!

Balinese food is too good to miss, i learnt that this time! So if you're planning on vacationing there, be adventurous and don't ignore roadside stalls. They serve the best local delights, three times cheaper than the many restaurants and cafes. Just make sure they cook it fresh for you, if you're afraid you might get sick. The downside is that i've gained so much weight from this trip and i'm paying for it now. So no yummy food posts in the weeks to come! But here's some photos for your viewing pleasure. Come back tomorrow!

(kick-ass photos stolen from Nini, my talented babe)