Archives for March 2013

Mommy Makeover at Style Essence

When I have a mom who dresses other ladies up for a living and a younger sister who will never wear the same outfit twice to different events, it’s hard not to care about how I look.

I ‘allowed’ myself 6 months of looking like a frumpy mom. Those 6 months included my last trimester of pregnancy, and 3 months post pregnancy. I made the effort to dress and look presentable whenever I had to leave the house, not only to avoid comments from my mom, but it was something I deemed important to my self-esteem.

Most of us tend to use motherhood as a valid excuse not to have the time to dress up or to apply make-up. So when Flo shared with me about her business, Style Essence, I thought “Why not have this as an activity for SMB’s 1st birthday bash?”  It will be an enriching and fun session for us to learn some finer points on style and make-up.

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We had two separate sessions at Style Essence, one in the day for the SAHMs and WAHMs, and one more in the evening for the FTWMs.

Styleessence17L to R – Trainer Florinda, Samantha, Natasha, Adora and Calla, James and Irene (still looking gorgeous sans makeup)

Flo who was our trainer for both sessions, started with a quick color analysis of our skin tone, to determine if we had ‘warm’ or ‘cool’ undertones.

Styleessence18Evelyn’s a ‘warm’ and I think Dominique likely is a ‘warm’ color as well

She shared this tip on how to determine if you are a ‘warm’ or ‘cool’ color; look at the veins on the underside of your wrist. If the veins are more blue / purple, you have cool undertones. If you see green tones, then you are a ‘warm’ undertone. Turned out have both warm and cool undertones, so I will rock any shade 😛

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We learned about how to dress for our body shape before we dived straight into hands-on for our skin.

This is the way we washed our faces with a 3-in-1 cleanser,

Styleessence20L to R – PC, Wacky Liza, Pamela, Adeline and Gila Regina

and applied exfoliating mask on the half of our faces.

Styleessence5L to R; Evelyn, Jenn, Me, Dominique, Rachel, Irene

Styleessence9L to R; Estella, Madeline, Jiahui, Adora, Pamela, Adeline, Regina

After deep cleansing and exfoliating one half of our faces with Marykay’s Botanical Effects Mask, it was time to ‘paint’ our faces!

Styleessence11L to R; Pauline, Pamela, Adeline and Sandra

It’s hard not to feel like the centre of attention when you are in a room full of bloggers pointing their cameras at you, when you are being made-up by the pro.

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And the outcome of the workshop? Glamour Mamas!

Styleessence21L to R; PC, Liza, me and Pauline

You know a make-over workshop is successful, when you have Sarah, who hardly ever uses makeup on her face, doing her own makeup and looking this good post make-over.

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With an informative session from an engaging trainer, great company from the ladies from SMB, looking fabulous was a great way to celebrate SMB’s 1st Birthday Bash!

Styleessence 40From bottom L to R; Natasha, Sarah, Calla, Me, Pauline, Dominique, Trainer Florinda, Rachel, Edlyn, James, Irene, Evelyn, Samantha and Trainer Bernadette

Styleessence 36Bottom L to R; Jiahui, Estella, Liza, Pamela, Adora, Trainer Florinda, PC, Madeline, Adeline, Regina, Sandra, Susan and Trainer Bernadette.

 

Thanks to sponsors Style Essence and dinner by The Shepherd’s pie, in collaboration with SMB’s 1st Birthday Bash 2013.

SingaporeMomBloggers

 

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A Mad Science Party!

K had his first Mad Science Party experience for his birthday this year. The last birthday party we had for K, with friends, was when he was four. Surrounded by excited 3-5 year olds running amok in the estate, having to break up fights along the way, and needing to calm an over-stimulated K who threw a tantrum halfway during the party, was not exactly my idea of a great time.

Not for me anyhow.

But I am sure the kids enjoyed the party, I suppose. After all time slaving over the computer to plan for party games, creating materials to print and laminate, sourcing for decent things to fill the goodie bags. What about the cake? I am now convinced that pretty fondant cakes look really fancy and pretty, but the taste? Bland and dry.

I told myself this year that K’s birthday will be really simple, just a cake and some goodie bags. So when Mad Science got in touch with me recently, I was thrilled to be able to have a party for K, all without any hassle on my end.

All I needed to get for the party was the cake.

MS 1The red and blue thing on the chocolate banana cake is a $9.90 plastic spiderman topper. Not fondant, the kid doesn’t care for it. Who eats fondant anyway?

 

So, the key highlight of the party has to be the arrival of the Mad Scientist from Mad Science and her travelling laboratory of beakers filled with colorful liquids and intriguing gadgets.

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Have you ever been in a room with 23 kids who are fascinated and engaged with the activities for a full 1 hour 15 minutes? Then read on to see what went on in K’s party that could have enthralled them from the start to finish.

K’s Air Blast Party from Mad Science included numerous interactive experiments, intriguing chemical reactions and hands-on activities  :-

  • The first experiment was with a boiled egg (Eggbert) and a glass beaker (his house); Eggbert the two inch Mad Science assistant can’t get into his house because he has overeaten! How did the Mad Scientist get Eggbert into his house? The science of air pressure is used to solve his predicament.

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MS 7comTadah!

  • The second experiment was with styrofoam. Peggy’s apartment is a mess (of styrofoam), how can we help her to clean up? The kids learnt about chemical reactions when Mad Scientist dramatically shrink the mess to help Peggy clean up

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MS 10Oh look! The mess has shrunk!

 

  • Create puffs of vortices with vortex generators! The Birthday boy gets to blow a candle the Mad Science way, using a vortex generator

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How about using a vortex generator for a cup on K’s head?

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I think it will be more fun to get that cup off the Mad Scientist’s head!

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  • Can an ordinary washing machine tube sing? With the science of air pressure, it can!

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  • Can any one challenge the Mad Scientist to blow a big airbag with just one breath?

MS 16com

 

  • Can you make 1 ping pong ball, then 2 float? These boys managed to do it.

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  • The kids learnt how to catch their own shadow

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  • As an an add on to the Mad Science Air Blast party, the Wonders of Dry-Ice give all of K’s classmates a chance to taste the Big Burp (sublimated carbon dioxide smoke), play with dry ice foam and get a Mad Science shower.

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  • And finally, the kids made their own goodie to take home, icky gooey slime and learnt the science behind making it

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My review of the Mad Science Party?

Mad Science will be the highlight of any birthday party for kids between 4-12 years old. The story telling method used to teach science concepts was easy to understand, fun and engaging. K’s classmates at the party participated in at least 3 interactive activities, so they were not just spectators who watched the experiments.

And the result of the Mad Science Party?

There was clear excitement in the air after the party ended. I think the best time to have a Mad Science Party is in the late afternoon, when the kids have had their naps (which was what we did).

Do be prepared for a room full of thrilled and chatty kids who will be admiring their gooey slime and smiley teachers at the end of the session :)

As for K’s verdict of his Mad Science Birthday Party?

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“My party is AWESOME! Mummy I want have Mad Science again for my next birthday party!”

To top off a fantastic Party, Mad Scientist presented K with his own Mad Science Goodie Bag.

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What was in there?

There were 7 toys in the Mad Science goodie bag that will stick, spin and fly

– Helix Flyer

– Spin Disc (mini frisbee with its wrist launcher)

– Flip Top (watch this spin)

– Polymer Putter (splatter it and let it get back to it’s original shape)

– Soak and Grow (this grows 6x after soaking in water overnight)

– Mad Science Large Sticker Sheet

– Mad Science Tattoos compilation

Screen Shot 2013 03 20 at 3 24 50 AM

Sounds good? This very same Mad Science Goodie Bag worth $12 each is up for grabs, 50 sets to giveaway for readers at catch-fortywinks.com. All you need to do is to pop over to Mad Science Facebook page @ https://www.facebook.com/madsciencesingapore and LIKE their page. The people at Mad Science will send you a private message through Facebook, if you are one of the winners of the goodie bag. Giveaway to close by 22 April 2013.

K had tremendous fun with the toys in the Mad Science Goodie Bag, I am sure your kids will too. So do pop over to the Mad Science Page now to participate in this giveaway!

For more information about having a Mad Science Birthday Party, visit their website on their party Information and FAQa.

 

Disclosure – K’s Mad Science Party was sponsored by Mad Science Singapore, but all opinions in this post are my own.

 

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A Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

There are plenty of heartbreaks, distractions, disappointments and challenges that often make their way into our lives every once in a while.

Life isn’t easy.

Some of us may have it a little easier than the rest, while others often have it really rough.

Often, bad things can happen anyone. We don’t have control of many of these things that happen to us, however, we have control over how we respond to our trial.

So when you look at this glass of water, do you see a glass that is half empty or half full?

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I sold my home in Sept 2011. At first hb and I though our family could be comfortable in a new place for some time before settling down longer term in another home. But to reduce household commitments, and allow the chance for me to give a shot at my ‘dreams’, we went on to stay with my mom for close to 7 months and finally settled down in a new place in the east. A new room to be accurate, as my family shares common areas with 2 other ladies who live under the same roof.

If I choose to see my life like a glass half empty, this is what I will see…

– An old, dim and dreary flight of stairs leading to the house that I have been staying in for the past 3 weeks. The flight of steps leading to the house always have puddles of what K thinks is cat urine.

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– Common areas in the house consisting of two sofas, which is covered with a mishmash of recycled printed bedsheets and cardboard box,

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– this rusty old deckchair (which I think belongs to a junkyard) is the only thing I can sit on if I want to sun myself or read a book in the balcony.

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– TV channels like TCS 5 and 8 are non-existent in the room that my family stays in, and what about cable? If we want cable TV channels, we need to fork out $2000.00 just to get a new antenna fixed for the house.

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– Bed for hb comes in the form of a mattress, which will be propped against the wall in the day when he goes to work.

This used to be the mattress that I slept in when we stayed at my mom’s house the last 7 months. So hb and I don’t share a bed, and we have an additional room mate who is the biggest and noisiest ‘lamp-post’ who sleeps in the same bed as I do. Can someone remind me what does the word intimacy means?

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– What we use daily is stored in this wardrobe with 3 doors. The greatest trial a reformed clothes-horse can experience is to have minimal space for her own clothes.

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– K has his personal space sandwiched between the bed we sleep on and his toys stored in wooden trolley/shelf. I only have my work space on the study table between 9am-5pm on weekdays, no other personal space in the room for all other hours in the day, except for my side of the queen sized bed.

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– Going the loo does make me a little nervous sometimes, especially when I forget to put down the lid for the toilet bowl, or when I discover that K has left some ‘skid marks’ in the toilet bowl or the sides of the bathtub, when he tries to climb over the bathtub to wash himself.

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–  After I take my bath, I will scan the bathroom thoroughly to make sure that I pick up every strand of hair that I can spot on the floor or in the bathtub. I drop hair like crazy, so i have to ensure that I don’t have strands of hair all over the sink / floor of the bathroom.

Has this new arrangement been stressful? Initially.

How long will my family have to live here? I have no idea. Maybe things will change in the next 5-6 years. Well, if it doesn’t, I will be sharing a room with my teenage son.

Pondering over this things from a real but negative perspective sure doesn’t make me too joyful about the present state of the arrangements at home.

But It is really isn’t all bad when I choose to see a different perspective to my present situation.

Living in a room reminds me of my carefree days in university, where I rented a room and had to live with 5 other people in the same house. The only difference is that I now have my hb and our 5 year old staying in the room together and my landlady who lives in the same house as we do, is hb’s auntie.

Auntie A is a wonderful person to stay with, she is kind, considerate, loving and adores K to bits. So K now has an additional ‘grandma’. K loves her company and has been staying up late (even on weekdays) to want to wait for Auntie A and chat with her before she sleeps :)

TnT 3

We have another house mate that stays in the same house, a china-born lady who has been staying with Auntie A for close to 6 months. She works really long hours, or when she is not at work, stays in the room most of the time and hardly ever eats (I hardly ever see her eat). She is not exactly the neatest person, so the little ‘rules’ that Auntie A puts in the bathroom, ensures that the common areas are kept clean and pleasant for everyone in the house.

Auntie A is a cat lover, and the cardboard and recycled bedsheets that are placed on the sofa is for Pat the cat, to ensure it doesn’t destroy the upholstery on the coach. Pat is my companion in the day when I work at home, so it does not get lonely in the day.

TnT 16

There is a part time cleaner that comes weekly to clean up the common areas in the house, so the only housework I regularly do is to wash and iron hb, k’s and my clothes, cook once in a while, and keep our room clean and tidy. So really not having a whole house of my own is actually a good thing, considering I have been having domestic help since I was 12, and I don’t like doing household chores.

Even though I don’t own a house, have to stay with 2 other people (not part of my family unit) and have my family squeeze in a little room together. I still call this place my home.

I am so thankful that the 3 of us have a proper roof over our head, pay 40% less rental than the market rate and our home is located in a very convenient area in the east. There are plenty of amenities opposite to the estate, which includes cafes, restaurants, clinics, coffee shops, a supermarket and a convenience store. And it is just a stone’s throw away from Katong and Joo Chiat areas, so we never have to worry about not knowing where to go on the weekends whenever we want to eat out.

Besides, we get sea breezes from our room’s window anytime of the day and even get to see the sun rise in the mornings.

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What does the future hold for my family? I really don’t know, and I probably can’t tell you when will I ever get a place that I will be able to call my own.

My family’s trial has given me plenty of opportunities to teach K, that it doesn’t matter that we don’t have our own house. We still have a home. What matters are that we are together as a family, will never stop supporting and loving one another, regardless of the circumstance.

Many of you may have experienced or are still experiencing various trials and tribulations that are likely be more dramatic, heartbreaking and challenging. How have these tnt changed or moulded you into the person you have become and what life lessons has it taught you along the way?

Do link up and share your TnT stories in your blog!

 



 

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