The Versatile Blogger Award!

Many thanks to the lovely Michelle from Ispirato Design for this award. Michelle, it is very sweet and kind of you to present me with this award. I feel truly honored. I also enjoy visiting Michelle's blog because her blog is always full of gorgeous inspirations.

Once again, similar to the Stylish Blogger Award and the One Lovely Blog Award, I am required to reveal 7 interesting facts about myself.

1. My all time favorite color is green. I knew it was my favorite color even when I was a child because when I see green objects, it makes me really happy. Other colors are beautiful too but they didn't evoke any emotions like green does. I remembered the first time I felt in love with green, it all started with the green grasses. To me, green is like a breath of fresh air. Do any of you love green as much as I do?

2. I have a topiary obsession. I like them because they are green (obviously) and they are manicured to perfection. Being a perfectionist, I just love anything that looks perfect and symmetry. Since owning a home a few years ago, I have been buying so much topiaries, from small topiaries (about 1 feet) to bigger topiaries (about 4 feet). Now, I have 9 topiaries which included artificial green and brown ones and those preserved ones in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Crazy, I know.

3. As much as I love interior design and all things decor related, I do not read design blogs till a few months ago. I knew blogs existed since year 2003/2004 but all I read are food blogs, personal blogs and fashion blogs. Do you see a pattern here? Have you noticed how weird I am?

4. I remembered the first thing that inspired me. It is the four color combinations I see in a banner in a mall when I was a kid, about 5 or 6 years old. Those colors are red, yellow, blue and green. I was so inspired with these four color combos that I chanted these four colors repeatedly (but quietly) until I got home from the mall because I want to remember it. You know how kids have coloring books and that sort of thing, so with my "new found knowledge about colors", I would make sure I color everything in those four colors to create the most impact. If I need to introduce a new color to that color combo, I will start with orange then purple. When I thought I found a "formula" for something, I tend to use it again and again.

5. I am a collector. Because I don't have much toys as a child, I tend to collect things. I have collected colored feathers, stickers, foreign coins and currencies, stamps, first day covers, bookmarks and anything I deemed beautiful and adorable at that time. I am still very much a collector till these days. Besides topiaries, I love collecting Parade of Cows figurines, watches, office magnets, etc.

6. I do strange things during strange hours. I have found myself cleaning the microwave or the oven at odd hours, say 1 am or 2 am at some nights before I go to bed simply because I discovered a tiny stain and I feel the need to get rid of it right away. And that tiny stain lead to deep cleaning usually.

7. I can play the piano but not at a performance level. I have passed the Grade 5 practical examination and the Grade 6 theory examination. I also passed a duet examination (Grade 6 with distinction). I love playing my favorite songs but I hate practicing. I wanted to learn how to play the piano when I first saw someone played it beautifully in a movie.

Hopefully, you enjoyed reading bits and pieces of quirky little facts about me. And now, 'The Versatile Blogger Award' goes to:

1. My Beautiful Life

2. First Sense

3. V T Interiors

4. Decor Is Like Butter

5. Blurry Bright

6. Santi Royal Home

7. Travel Moon

8. Seven Seven Inspire

9. Wishful Thinking

10. The Short And Sweet Of It

11. Sublime Home

12. Swirls Of Happy

13. B For Bel

14. Homestilo

15. A Casa Dava

When you get a chance, please visit these fabulous blogs. They are my daily dose of inspirations. I am sure these blogs will inspire you, too.

Stylish Blogger Award!

Many thanks to the lovely and wonderful Miss Walker for this award! Miss Walker, you are very sweet and I am truly honored! I enjoy visiting your beautiful blog everyday because your blog is always full of great ideas and gorgeous inspirations.

Again, similar to the 'One Lovely Blog Award', I am required to reveal 7 things about myself.

7 things about me:

1. I am a very meticulous person on the inside but a very clumsy person on the outside. Whatever I do, I always think about the minute details especially when it comes to design, cleaning, planning things, etc. Oh, I am also very detailed-oriented when it comes to irrelevant things, too. When I say 'clumsy on the outside', I mean physically. You will never see me a day without bruises on my legs or arms because I tend to accidentally knock myself into furniture, walls and everything in between, everyday.

2. I cook for my family everyday except during weekends. Although I cook everyday, I dislike cooking because I find the routine mincing, slicing, chopping and dicing very boring. The ironic part is, I love trying new recipes ( mostly recipes I found online ) because I love experimenting in the kitchen. So far, I have cooked Thai food, Korean food, Western food, Indian food, Japanese food, Malay food and of course, Chinese food. My motivation to learn new recipes come from not knowing how the dishes will turned out eventually because I love the element of surprise. In addition, I also love indulging in new flavors and learning new cooking techniques at the same time.

3. Although I am an extremely picky eater, I truly enjoyed eating. My all time favorite and comfort food? Noodles! Because they are so versatile and so delicious! I can eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper!

4. I hope to visit Paris and Venice some day. Both are such romantic cities.

5. I don't smoke and drink at all, not even occasionally or socially.

6.  I can remember faces and voices very well but I can't remember numbers and figures. I don't even remember my own phone number so I had it saved on my cell phone as a reminder.

7. A true story. When I was in elementary school, I rode the school bus everyday. The school bus was packed to the brim everyday and all the poor kids (me included) who came in late had to stand on the aisle of the moving bus with their huge backpacks. The strange thing is, there is a girl in high school (a stranger) who would always save her seat for me. She would always waved her hands to signal me to come to the rear of the bus where she sat everyday. When I came to her seat, she would stand up and gave up her seat for me. I never once say 'thank you' to her because I was an extremely shy girl back then but in my heart, I was deeply grateful for her kindness. She was like a guardian angel and I will never forget that. Up until now, I didn't understand why she would save her seat for me because they are so many other kids without a seat too. I find her act of kindness very inspirational because fast forward a few years later, when I was a high school student, I found myself saving a seat for another kid without a seat, too. I truly believe in paying forward the good things people did for me. If more people were like her, our world will definitely be a better place.

Hopefully, you enjoyed reading some bits and pieces about me. And the 'Stylish Blogger Award goes to:

1. Sparrows And Arrows

2. Alamode

3. Design Chic

4. Inside-Out Design

5. Live Eat Smile

6. Simple Dwellings

7. The Interior Root

8. Design Elements

9. Habibi

10. Heather Nette King

When you get a chance, please visit these lovely blogs. They are such wonderful reads. 

Have a wonderful Easter weekend, everyone! Hope you have fun!

Regards,

Jessie

A birthday wish!

Time surely flies and with a blink of an eye, I turned 31 today. Bye-bye youth, I will never see you again! But it is okay. Although I am getting older and gaining weight on the side, I am looking forward to many more birthdays to come. There are just so many things to look forward to and to accomplish, however hard they may be.


This year, one of the best decision I made is starting a blog. I have always enjoy reading other people's personal blogs, food blogs and fashion blogs for so long but I never thought I will be having one simply because I don't think I have the right materials or will I be disciplined enough to update them frequently. The most ironic thing is as much as I love interior decorating, I only started reading decorating blogs since the middle of last year. Anyway, much to my own amazement, I managed to update this blog everyday ever since I started it on February 13, two months earlier.

The best thing that comes from blogging is meeting like-minded people. I don't know about the rest of you but I don't seem to have any friends that love interior decorating as much as I do. Many people I know seems to view furniture as utilitarian and not something they can admire as well. With meeting like-minded people through blogging, it leads to building friendships as well. And building friendships through sharing common interest is the greatest thing. In addition, the constant support they gave me through commenting on my post really moved me. A big thanks to all my readers, followers and commenters! You really, really made my day when you post comments and that keeps me going when I feel like a slacker!

As fun as blogging is, there is just one thing that has been bugging me. It is the mysterious readers. I feel like I do not know them at all. So, since today is my birthday, I have a simple wish. I wish that everyone who happen to read this post would come forward and tell me a little bit about themselves. I will be very appreciative if you state your age group( 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, etc), your occupation, how you chance upon this blog, which is your favorite post and why, content suggestions and your website, if you have any. Frequent commenters are welcome to tell me more about themselves, too. I hope it's not too much to ask for! :-)

Thanks for taking the time to read! Have a happy weekend, everyone!

Regards,

Jessie

One Lovely Blog Award!

A big thank you to my new blogger friend, My Beautiful Life for awarding me the 'One Lovely Blog Award' yesterday. I feel so honored. Besides being one of the sweetest person I know in blogosphere, she is also a very supportive friend. (She always drop by my blog and leave comments.) And I can't thank her enough! :-)

Following the tradition of this award, besides linking back to the person who nominated me, I must reveal 7 things about myself, nominate 15 other bloggers for this award, leave a comment on their blogs and tell them to pick up their prizes.

Seven facts about myself:

1. I was born and grew up in Malaysia in a small town named Ipoh. I have been staying in the United States for almost 9 years.

2. I am multilingual. I can speak: 

i.   English (a second language in my home country)

ii.  Cantonese (a Chinese dialect)

iii. Mandarin (the official Chinese language) 

iv.  Hakka (another Chinese dialect) 

v.    Malay (our national language)

I can speak each languages with different levels of fluency. Cantonese is my first language. The funniest and most ironic thing is, I can read and write in English and Malay but not in Chinese because I have never received any prior formal education. I only recognized approximately 100 words of Mandarin. (mostly self-taught)

3. I can draw anything (quite accurately) if I am shown a picture but I can't draw very well using my own imagination. Weird but true. I guess my imagination is not concrete enough.

4. I love looking at creative, beautiful and elaborate window displays! I find it very inspiring and I can stare at them for minutes. Sometimes, I also take pictures.

5. I am the pickiest eater ever. I dislike candies, chocolates, desserts, ice-creams, cakes and cookies of any kind. People always seemed a little surprised and skeptical when I told them this little fact about myself. After hearing what I said, most people always find it hard to believe and often responded with "You really don't like them or are you just on a diet?" It sounds strange but true but I have never liked them even when I was a child. 

6. I graduated from Campbell University, North Carolina with a degree in Mass Communication, majoring in Advertising. 

7. I am a perfectionist. For example, if I planned to wash the bathroom sink, I usually end up cleaning the bathroom mirror and the bathtub, mopping the bathroom floor and reorganizing everything in the bathroom or else I wouldn't be satisfied.

Hopefully you enjoyed reading all the facts and the little quirky things about me! :-)

And the 'One Lovely Blog Award' goes to: 

1. Brooke from Inside-Out Design

2. Maurenice from Villa Bisono

3. Kirsten from 6th Street Design School

4. Shelli from A La Mode

5. Jasmin from Oh How Sublime

6. Kellie from This Blessed Nest

7. Jessica from The Eagle's Nest

8. Leah from The Way We Are

9. Louise from Table Tonic

10. Janell from Isabella And Max Rooms

11. Amy from Positively Splendid

12. Melissa from The Inspired Room

13. Chelsea from Two Twenty One

14. Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick

15. Chelsea from Interior Chocolates

When you get a chance, please visit these lovely blogs. They are such good reads!

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Regards,

Jessie

A weekend makeover!

Not the home improvement kind, unfortunately or else I will show you the before and after pictures. If you have been following my blog, you would have noticed a big difference in my blog today. A new header, some new dividers and a different blog template. I spend the entire evening today tweaking my new blog header with the help of this wonderful website: www.befunky.com. I am not sure if it is a new website so, I just want to share it with all of you. The great thing about this website is, it is absolutely free! ( unless of course you want to pay $2 per month for premium upgrades) You can apply effects, enhance and edit your photos online with so many different tools they offered. I had so much fun trying all the free tools. What about you guys? What softwares, applications or websites do you use to enhance your photos and contents on your blog? Any  good suggestions? I would love to know and try them someday.

Back to my new blog header. Overall, I am happy with it because it looks so colorful and cheery but the only problem is, it is not centralized. I have tried so many ways which includes widening the blog header but it only makes it looks worse. Any ideas how to centralize a blog header? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Hopefully, you will love this weekend blog makeover! What are your thoughts? Do you prefer the old blog template or the new one? I would love to hear from you!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!