Living La Vida Rita

Homemade DIY Christmas Craft For Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 16:29:00 +0000

We made these fun things as a part of OB's Christmas homework.
Obviously, mommy had more fun than him :)

This one's made of used folder cut into shape and decorated with multicolor round stickers. The star is cut out of a clean menu from a restaurant.
OB had lots of fun adding the colorful baubles all over the tree.

These are made of used box and the remaining of the folder :)

The crown is made of the rest of the folder, decorated with the same stickers.

Simply attach rubber band at the back of the crown to fit any size comfortably.

Did you make anything this Christmas? Show me, show me.

My Boys Shop IKEA

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 07:42:00 +0000

My little dude gets this super fun traffic rug.

He absolutely loves it! He placed all his car toys & built little buildings using his lego. Great buy!

The bigger boy gets a bed table which we should be able to use for laptops, tablets, or breakfast in bed.

Loveee shopping at IKEA :)

Happy weekend, everyone!

Matchy Matchy

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 23:53:00 +0000

Matching OB & papa shirt from ad-lib :)

We love their collection of father & son outfits.

Wore them to the epic Sunday Roast at Butcher's Club Deli with foodie gogor & cece :)

Happy day!

Little Joys In Life - Wild Flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 11:13:00 +0000

To all purple lovers out there. Life is better with flowers. Have a great week!

Matching Father & Son Shirts From Ad-Lib Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 11:13:00 +0000

Can't wait for my boys to wear these cute shirts! HK$6xx for the pair after 20% off :)

Summer Whites

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 11:43:00 +0000

Now that I got a bit of a tan from our weekly trip to the beach, I love wearing whites! Wore this ensemble to work today.

Dress from Zalora, sandals from Vincci (Malaysia).

Khaleesi Hair Style: Expectation VS Reality

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 06:44:00 +0000

My latest hair disaster.

I wanted bigger curls ala Game of Thrones' Khaleesi, but ended up with crispy Indomie :D

Yikes!

Sobs...

Sky Blue and Pastel Sparkles Nails

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 00:44:00 +0000

Happy to discover Play, these cute gems from Etude House. Cute trendy colors, adorable bottle, solid color in 2 coats & very pretty sparkles in unique shapes & pastel colors in 1 coat! Plus, they're only HK$28 each. Yeahhh!

Initial Sale Shopping Loot

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 05 Apr 2014 01:11:00 +0000

Getting into Initial when it's having a sale & talking to their super chic sales guys = guarantee damage of wallet.

SC did exactly that and bought these 2 fabulous jackets. They were reduced from HK$2480 to HK$780. Woahhh... What a guy to do but succumb to this wonderful temptation? Hehehe

You like?

Go & see if you could find some good deals ;)

Steal of the Month - Rain Boots from Footspot

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 00:31:00 +0000

The hardware & straps made these look cool, they are black but don't look like garbage/ fish market work boots, they don't look too much like rain boots & I got them on sale for HK$269 from Footspot ;) I'm ready for rainy season :D

Happy Shopping at Dr Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 12:12:00 +0000

Nice deal on Dr Kong kids shoes.

50% off your 2nd (lower price) pair.

I normally really really dislike Dr Kong's style, but I found these ones pretty cute for OB.

I adore camo!

And these sandals for summer.

2 pairs for HK$4xx.

I'm pleased!

PS. Their service is superb! They help you finding the right size & style, great with kids, friendly despite having a naughty customer delaying closing time & even offered bigger bag to house my groceries. Is this what they called great "customer experience" these days?

Sparkly Blue Nail Art

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 07:05:00 +0000

This week's nail color :)

Something light & sparkly to welcome spring & summer...

These are the nail polish I used:

Zoya Blu

Essie Jazzy Jubilant Luxe Effects.

You like?

Now show me yours!

Valentine's Day Inspired Nail Art

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 00:41:00 +0000

Pale pink OPI & essie sparkles.

Sparkly red OPI & manicurist's mix of nude. This is my first time getting my nails done with soft gel in a nail salon & my experience at Nail Box Causeway Bay was really bad. The manicurist had a major attitude problem, complaining endlessly about how hard it is to remove my DIY sparkley polish, throwing stuff, sighing.. Another manicurist was being clueless the whole time; I had to tell him how to mix a nude shade using white, yellow & pink paint. It took 5 failed attempts by different manicurists to draw a heart, until finally the owner came to the rescue. The result is amateurish & the red color smudging onto the nude shade; they charged HK$308 & still had the nerve asking if I were gonna take a package. Ugh. I so will NOT.

Mad About These Leopard Print Men's Shoes

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 03:24:00 +0000

Found these cool pair in a random outlet at Wharf T&T in Kwun Tong for HK$169!

Bought them for SC but I think he's not in love with them :( story of my life :(

Pffft. Better buy for myself next time.

Easy & Pretty Storage Necklace

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 17:22:00 +0000

I have a confession to make. I buy necklaces, I buy lots and lots of necklaces.
But I almost NEVER wear them.
One of the reasons is because they are all tangled together into a huge pile of monstrous mess and I hardly can see all of the necklaces that I have.

I saw this necklace storage solution a few times on Pinterest and thought that it is pretty cool, it works, and it's totally doable! So went ahead and did it.

This way, each necklace will have its own hook, the possibility of them getting tangled together is dramatically reduced, and I can look at all of them - it does NOT make choosing easier though :p

Plus, it makes use of my corridor and it looks pretty.

All I had to do was to purchase cheap kitchen railings and hooks from IKEA and get them installed.
This works like magic for me... maybe until I bought many more necklaces I don't need :)

Shopping Kate Spade Outlet Citygate Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 28 Sep 2013 11:33:00 +0000

My first time roaming around Citygate outlets without naughty baby :)

Here's my loot from Kate Spade.

This bag is light, can be a shoulder/sling bag. The color should be pretty easy to go with anything. HK$1,650. Ooops. SC just found out & is now scolding me.

My wallet is falling apart & this one is too cute to be true! It has notes & coin & plenty of cards compartments. HK$800.

I'm now officially banned from shopping.

OB's Outfit

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 02:22:00 +0000

Look at my boy werking it. Fierce!

Mama's proud :D

He's wearing Uniqlo tee, earthy tones Hawaiian shorts from Global Works, Hallmark socks & Adidas sneakers.

Navy Blue & Pastel Yellow

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 06:14:00 +0000

What I'm wearing to work today. I just realized that my necklace matches my pants & my shoes matches my dress!

Lady story dress (I have this in 3 colors), uniqlo pants (I have this in 5 colors!!!), M&S shoes (I can only wear it in the office) & monki necklace :)

Make Up Shopping - NYX

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 00:37:00 +0000

OMG, can someone stop me from shopping? We just got a car & SC's nightly driving practice to the malls isn't helping my shopping madness!

Last night I saw a huge NYX counter in Tsuen Wan's City Landmark & could not resist getting this make up palette in a cute box. It has neutral shadow colors that I already have (sigh...), few shades of blush & bronzer. It cost HK$290.

It'd be great for business trips (more excuses from a shopping addict).

I also have a major addiction to buying eyeliner pencil, so I'm trying out this brown one. So far so good, it costs HK$85.

Please no more shopping mall tonight.

Shopping Hong Kong - Chic & Bitter

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 02:57:00 +0000

Another round of crazy summer sale shopping. Here's one favorite item from my recent haul. The hilariously absurd text on this pastel mint stretchy tee caught my eye, the cut fits me (yay!) & the price isn't too bad. HK$249 from Collect Point.

H&M shorts, big big pixel clutch, Union wedges, various bangles. Wore this for another round of what else? Shopping! Yay!

Summer Sale Shopping For My Boys

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 04:02:00 +0000

Fab shirts for papa & OB. Plus a cool hawaiian themed print shorts for OB at awesome prices! Shopaholic mama is very happy despite getting nothing for herself...

All from Collect Point, Mongkok, Hong Kong.

Crazy Summer Sale Shopping - Hong Kong Cotton On

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 15:07:00 +0000

I literally went MAD buying HK$5 jewelries from Cotton On.
HK$5!!! Too awesome!
I LOVE SUMMER SALE!
I've been wearing these babies in the past few weeks.
The mad shopping will continue.

My 5 Tips to Photograph Kids - aka My Naughty Boy

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:01:00 +0000

OB doesn't follow any photographic instructions such as "smile", "make V sign", "don't move", "look into the lens, baby".

So here are some tips to photograph naughty kids like him :D

1. Be Patient & Be Quick
Wait patiently for golden moments, and when the moment arrives, be ready to fire that shot.
This moment when he looks into my lens happen only in a split second. I had to point my lens waiting for the moment for a bit. Arm starting to ache, nose starting to sweat, but it was worth it :)
Big aperture (f/ 1.4 here), plenty of natural light, fast shutter speed (1/80 here)

2. Get over blurry/out-of-focus pictures
Sometimes you get beautiful smiles like this but you don't get the perfect focus. Get over it, make it work, and frame that photo anyway :D

3. Very close up objects make beautiful foreground
That white flare is actually a pillow placed very close to my lens. It gives the shot a heavenly effect.

4. Get them to do things they love
Most of the time, I've made my peace for never having my son posing against a beautiful background that I wanted. So, I often photograph him when he's watching his favorite shows on iPad (Thomas the tank engine, Chip & Dale...) or listening to dad reading him a story book. His eyes sparkles when he does things that he loves.

5. Place the point of interest behind you
Not the case of this picture. The iPad was on my left, that's why he made that funny face when Chip & Dale tricked Donald Duck yet again. I should've placed the iPad behind me :)
Oh gosh, I need an assistant.

Have fun & take lots of pics. Every moment is precious!

What I used to take these pics:
Canon EOS 7D & 50mm f/1.4 lens
iPad with his favorite shows

Gray & Glitter Nails

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 03:52:00 +0000

Nails for this week. Bought a couple of Revlon polish from Sasa (couldn't resist!)

DIY Repurposed Upcycled Home Decor & Toy - Happy World Environment Day

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 03:14:00 +0000

Some of the fun repurposed/upcycled things in our little home :)

Apart from not letting things go to waste, we adore the rustic aesthetics of repurposed things & doing these projects helps keeping our creative juices flowing too!

Our little king.

This is made of cardboard from a toy box with shredded & crunched brochure.

So easy & so fun.

The feature wall in our flat.

The most left is a map from Skyrim (SC's an avid gamer), crunched up and fitted into a cheap frame. We also use cutouts from old magazine, an old postcard, and accessories that I don't frequently wear anymore. They look great on the wall!

Magazine cutouts make really cute wall art :)

This is a super old & unused table lamp we found in SC's grandma's place in China.

We simply changed the bulb and use it.

Works perfectly & look oh-so-good!

My favorite. Kowloon Dairy milk glass bottles.

They are perfect for these water plants.

Happy World Environment Day!
Have a Repurpose Driven Life, & create, create, create.