Shopaholic Takes Manhattan

Becky is not as financially troubled as she used to be because she managed to pay off all her debt and landed a job as a financial guru in the Morning Coffee TV show. At the show, she gives financial advices to callers who have various financial problems. It's a fulfilling job where she gets to help people. Becky is busy trying to pack her luggage as she will be going on a weekend trip with Luke to the country side. She is having trouble because she can't decide what to wear and she practically wants to bring her entire closet. Her best friend Suze came out with a good idea which is to pack clothes that is wearable at any occasion and Becky agreed but thought that she was missing a pair of shoes that would fit that category. So Becky remembered a pair of beautiful sandals from LK Bennett and she went out to buy it. Once she reached home she was still in a dilemma in packing and a courier guy came by to deliver a package to Suze. It gave Becky the idea to courier her clothes to the venue she's staying so that she can pack light and show Luke she can pack light.

After her show on Friday, Luke came to pick her up and slipped in that he would not have the whole weekend with her as he had a meeting set up there. Becky was upset because she thought they could enjoy themselves together and got out of the car and in the end she got persuaded by Luke to go on the trip still. Once they reached their destination which is Blakeley Hall, Becky was concerned about her delivery and it did not make it. She was in trouble as she did not have anything to wear the next day. Luckily for her the next day, Luke gave her back a CK T-shirt which she left at his place and she wore it as a dress with a headband as a belt that was found in her make up bag. While Luke had his meeting, Becky went to visit a cathedral St.Winifred to pass the time. Back from her trip, she went to the reception to look for her package but bumped into Alicia Billington. Alicia mentioned she popped in for an introductory meeting with the new associates which made Becky curious about the situation. Alicia continued saying there was new business to be established in New York which caught Becky by surprise but acted that she know about it to Alicia. Then she manage to escape from talking further when the reception called her name to collect her package.

Becky did not dare to ask Luke whether he will be leaving for New York since he kept it a secret from her. She also had no chance to ask since Luke flew to Zurich for business and it pondered her mind a lot.While she was browsing magazines at home, she saw in Tatler that Luke was featured and went on to read the article. In the interview, it was stated that Luke was single and it made Becky even more paranoid that he was going to leave her behind and forget about her. She desperately called him and asked about that interview and was told from Luke he wanted to keep his love life private and Becky then understand. Luke said he will talk to her more on Saturday where he was to attend Becky's neighbor wedding with her.

Saturday came and Becky went to her parents' home first and saw that many were preparing for Tom and Lucy's wedding reception at the garden of the Websters. She went in her house and was asked where Luke was because Becky's parents have yet to see him even though they had been dating for some time now. Even her neighbors was looking forward to see Luke as they think that Becky made Luke up for the reason that she couldn't get over Tom. When she went upstairs, Lucy's mom was doing her hair and reading the Tatler which shown that Luke was single. Angela thought that Becky was lying and delusional and asked where was this Luke. Becky told that he was going to show up as he was on his way back from Zurich today. After that awkward talk with Angela, Becky decided to sit near the back at the church ceremony and while the vicar was talking her phone rang and everyone thought Becky interrupted on purpose. She darted outside and the call was from a pre-recorded ad and turned off her phone. It was embarrassing to enter back, so she went to the Webster's garden to wait for the reception to start. When the party started, people were asking where Luke was and Becky lied that he was already there and they missed him. She mentioned he was at the dining table, then at the bar which no one seem to have spotted him at all.

It was time for picture taking and a group photo was requested. Becky was asked to join in with Luke and then everyone combined their stories to find found out that he was wasn't present. Lucy greatly accused that she made it all up and was very happy about it because she was triumphant over her. It made Becky sound like a lunatic and she couldn't hold up any longer and walked away quickly to the other end of the garden. She could hear from far that her parents were scolding the people there and left the wedding immediately. When Becky was far enough she sunk down to the grass and cried. It felt like she sat there for ages and everyone was enjoying themselves. She could faintly hear her name being called but was not convinced it was Luke and he showed up in front of her. She was happy and sad to see him as he was 4 hours late. Luke said that the bride Lucy was shocked till speechless when he congratulated them. It was clear to everyone that he exist and they were all whispering about it. Luke told her the big news that he was going to New York and asked her to come along with him.

Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella is another hilarious and fun journey into Becky Bloomwood's life. On to New York she will go, where she'll find that it's a shopping heaven of designer brands and all sorts.  Can Becky really hold her urge to shop in this new foreign land? Well I won't tell but I have greatly enjoyed every bit of the book. Some parts of the book I found it was not important but then it plays a part to get the story going. Of the people she met, I was really happy how the writer can cover a little bit of basis with them and yet made them relevant. I was shocked nearing the back chapters of the book as the climax was just so well thought of. I am really satisfied with this book as I love how it continued to make Becky's life interestingly messy yet it's not a doomed situation. It was a good ending for me and I look forward to the writers other books on Becky's colorful life as a shopaholic. But if you asked me to compare then I think the first book was the best as it is the first time we read about who Becky is and her life's challenge. This book just continues on with her story and a bit about how she grew as a person. Good read but the chances of me picking it up again will not be in this near future.

Bijoux cupcakes

Cupcakes has been a trend for quite some time replacing cakes for tea time and some other pastries. I think a few years ago I've reviewed this shop Cupcake Chic's cupcakes and I love it but it's not a store that can be found everywhere. I went to KLCC on Friday last week as I had some Kinokuniya vouchers to use and decided to try Bijoux. Bijoux is a store where beside cupcakes, there are cakes and cookies and also some light food sold. There is one that is very near my home but I've always been reluctant to try. Since I had a friend that day to try with me, I bought 7 cupcakes in total. The normal promotion that is on going in the store is buy 5 free 1. Another one that I bought was for charity, it's a purple day cupcake and all the proceeds of the cupcakes goes to NASOM (National Autism Society of Malaysia). Below are the pictures I've taken of the packaging and the cupcakes itself. Bijoux features quite a number of cupcakes but most are repeating flavors such as vanilla and chocolate. 

Regular cupcakes of the store

Purple Day cupcake : Chocolate frosting with chocolate cake

Top: Vanilla frosting with vanilla cake
Bottom: Cupcake of the month : Cookies and Cream

Top: Coffee frosting with coffee cake
Bottom : Cream cheese frosting with vanilla cake and raspberry filling

Top : Vanilla frosting with chocolate cake
Bottom: Red velvet cupcake

I love the designs of the cupcakes it looked so yummy sadly it's doesn't taste as fantastic as it looks. The frosting tasted really good where the it's creamy and true to the flavor. But unfortunately, the cake is dry and when you chewed it tasted slightly powdery because of the dryness. The price of the cupcakes are RM 6 each. The only thing acceptable is the frosting and the design is lovely. It's too bad the cake is dry and with that pricing I wouldn't try again for some time. Probably like a year's time with the hope that they will improve on their cake. 

Nail of the week - 2

I'm wearing Revlon's Gray Suede this week and it makes my hands look slightly darker than they are. I would describe this color as a pink that is mix with a gray color. I used Sally Hansen Hard as Nails as my base coat, then applied two coats of Gray Suede and ended with Sally Hansen Dries Instantly 30 second Top Coat. IF you look closer at the polish it has a light shimmery finish and I love it. This color is definitely suitable for fall as plants and flowers are starting to change it's color. Couldn't take better pictures with my room lighting. Will try to retake the pictures on the bottle.

Another color that is so so similar is Essie's Lady Like - http://www.essie.com/shop/lady-like-p-396.html which is in their Fall collection. The website describe this as an elegant soft mauve. This is the link where missglamorazzi who is a Youtube beauty guru wore the Essie one and you can tell the similarity.

Candylicious

Candy in different shapes, in different colors, in different flavors, love them all!! Candylicious is a large store that sells candy, yeah the name says it all, HAHA. I first came across this store in Singapore when I visited Resort World Sentosa. The decorations for the store is just adorable and makes you crave for candy so much. When you enter you'll just see rows and rows of candy all organized based on brands. There's M&M's in different colors and also merchandises. Below is a picture taken outside the store which was in Singapore since photography is not allowed inside. 

I really love the candy there but buying it in Singapore Dollar is kinda costly but all is not despair. Last Friday I went to KLCC and saw that it was opened at the old spot where Toys' R Us used to be located at. It's not as  big as Singapore but still big enough to carry the candy I love from this store. The decoration is not as fabulous but not lacking either. It's a cute candy store that you would not miss. So I went into the store and bought my favorite candy and the best part it was cheaper to purchase it here. Below are pictures of my haul.

The plastic bag with "Eat Happy" as their slogan

Rock Candy

Closer shot of the rock candy

Rock Candy and Lollipops

The two green rock candy is Sour Apple, red is cherry, pink is cotton candy,  blue is raspberry, clear is original flavor.  Lollipop left to right : Fizzymix sherbet (lemon), Americola Sherbet, Fizzymix sherbet (no idea what flavor), Fizzymix sherbet (cherry), Lemon Ice-ball

My favorite rock candy is cherry and sour apple. Some of the lollipop flavors are new so I'm excited to try them out. Have a happy sweet week!! I hope I won't spoil my teeth :P

The Rogue

It has only been a few short months since Lorkin is in Sanctuary but he has made a friend but still people looked at him differently and was usually amused by the Kyralian manners. As Lorkin hurries to the Care Room which is the city's version of hospice hopefully reaching on time. He fears the scolding from Speaker Kalia who is the head of the place and often kept him busy. Lorkin has been stationed to work in the Care Room after he reached Sanctuary and usually he was asked to do unpleasant and unnecessary things and not tasks which are important such as making cures. Putting him there was probably a way to test his resolve to not teach the Traitors how to Heal with magic as people were healed using cures only. Since winter is approaching people are getting sick easier.

Tonight was an exciting night as Lorkin's new friend Evar was going to show him the Stonemaker's Cave. Both of them went to the caves that night through the back ways. Inside there were many kinds of stones being made and Lorkin managed to ask more about the different type of stones there from Evar. They used the main way to leave the cave and when they were nearing the exit a woman named Chava appeared and ask why was Lorkin there. Even though there was no rule saying that Lorkin could not enter she would still report it since permission was not asked. Lorkin hoped that he hadn't gone too far to jeopardize the chance for him to go home or have the Traitors trade with the guild.

Meanwhile in the Kyralia Guild House in Sachaka, Dannyl was bored of having nothing to do. When he arrived he spent lots of time visiting important and powerful Sachakans but since returning from chasing Lorkin and his abductors, all visits had died down. He stood up and paced the Guild House and it somehow irritated the slaves. While Dannyl was recalling all that had happened a slave came to him and announced a carriage has arrived with two people in it. Dannyl went to the main entrance and saw a young Healer woman following the slave in and when he was going to welcome her he was surprised to see behind her was Tayend his former lover. Lady Merria was the replacement for Lorkin's job and Tayend arrived as Elyne's Ambassador to Sachaka. 

Sonea was still in charge with searching for the rogue Skellin in Imardin. The safest place to met Cery was in the northside storeroom of the hospice as it could be reached by a hidden door from the neighbouring house that Cery had bought. Cery had not heard any news about Skellin's whereabouts but he was still in operation as when Cery shut one brazier down another opens. Sonea could not gain any information from Skellin's captured mother Lorandra as she refused to speak at all. A soft sound came from behind the door and the handle was turned slowly. Sonea kept the door closed with magic to allowed Cery to leave unnoticed. After Cery left she allowed the door to be opened and a short thin man took a step forward. He was slightly afraid after seeing Sonea's robe colour but then he asked her for some roet and got all hysteria for it. Then he was seized by two Healers and they dragged him away. A third Healer remained and as she looked up she was surprised as it was Dorrien. Dorrien is Lord Rothen's son who moved to the country and got married there. Sonea and Dorrien had a friendship that could become a romance but she fell in love with Akkarin instead. He came back for a short visit to get advice on how to treat people with roet addiction.

Lilia was considered a lowie as she is a novice from the lower class origins. Her parents work as servants for Houses and she grew up as a servant girl too. Since she was discovered having magical abilities she was offered to learn in the Guild. Snootie was a slang term used by the lowie to call the novices that are from Houses. Lilia was sitting in the Foodhall eating and not bothering anything. She always prefer to listen to her friend's conversation than joining. As she gaze fell upon a novice named Naki who was one year ahead of her and also a snootie who was really popular among the Boys. Naki had shown no interest in any boys where perhaps she thought herself too good for them or choosy in friends. As Lilia watched Naki, Naki was sitting with a girl whose mouth was moving constantly and Naki merely gave a thinned smile. Suddenly Naki looked directly at Lilia and Lilia was embarassed till she forced herself to look away. Naki moved and then she was walking towards Lilia and sat at the empty space on the bench beside Lilia. Naki said she was bored and came over to see what Lilia was doing.

"The Rogue" by Trudi Canavan is truly a great second book for the Traitor Spy Trilogy. If I was asked to write a summary I think it would be really long because there were so many good parts in the book worth mentioning. Every line written is important in contributing in the movement of the story. Even though many characters are featured in different places, they are all covered  and you would not feel that when the focus is on one, the rest is left out. The timeline for all the characters are basically parallel and moving at the same pace. I really love how the writer can bring in new characters and made them important to the plots. After reading so many books regarding Sonea and other magicians, you would think that some new characters would not be necessarily but they all play a crucial part. As always character development is excellent for me whereby slowly you'll find out the attitudes of the characters, why they act that way and how they connect to the main story.

I also love that new places are introduced by the writer as with the illustrations of the lands, there are more places that can be explored. The way how plot after plot transitions are just wonderful. There isn't a moment where a chapter is only half important or half exciting to a reader. I absolutely enjoyed this book and was entertained by small climax within the chapters and hope that the book didn't end. I was even more excited after reading the last few chapters and the epilogue. I thought that this book ended really well and had so much room for readers to imagine themselves what is next in the third book. I'm sure I will be wowed by it as I don't know what to expect next. Trudi Canavan is a fantasy writer that keeps me on my toes as most of the book is unpredictable to me. I would definitely read again in a few years time to recall the wonderful journey with Sonea.

Forever 21 Haul

I have always like this brand when it first came into my country. The only one available 5-6 years ago was in One Utama shopping center. I remember my first clothing from it was a grey knitted sweater with a hood and the sweater is not a full body sized one and the sleeves were until my elbow. It was kinda expensive around 160 ringgit but looking at the knitted part I reckon it was around that price. It is a stylish sweater and I still have it in good condition in my cupboard. Overall Forever 21 has clothes that are the latest and trendiest styles around but sadly the price is not cheap. After looking at the US websites, I noticed that it was cheap in the states whereby t-shirt could be less than 10 USD and you could get bottoms such as skirts, jeans and pants less than 30 USD. Where else in KL, it cost a lot like I once bought a pair of skinny jeans for around 175 ringgit when it was around 30 USD. I'm quite sadden by the pricing here.

My friend Tracy was sent to Boston for work training and was kinda enough to help me bring back some items. So I took the opportunity to order from F21 and it's free shipping in the states if it's more than 50 USD. Hence I bought 2 skirts, 2 belts and 2 pieces of accessory. When she came back and handed me the items I was thrilled inside and looked forward to trying it.

Lace-Up Pencil Skirt (front)

The material for this is skirt a stretchy type of cloth and it hugs the body in a good way. The best part to me was it only cost 14.80 USD. I don't think you could find such cheap pricing here in KL at all which uses okay material. The quality is averagely good for a price like that.

Lace-Up Pencil Skirt (back)

I love the lace up part at the back it's so feminine.

Lace-Up Pencil Skirt (waist area)

Beaded Ballerina Skirt (Cream color)

Next this is a cream color skirt which I love a lot. There are a total of three layers where the most inner one is a lining. This skirt cost 22.80 USD which I feel is so worth it, so cheap. Great quality, latest trend of skirts now, I'm so happy to have picked it online and was able to fit it perfectly.

Buckled Elastic Belt (Brown), Woven Leatherette Belt (Brown), Caged Bird Necklace(Antic Gold), Birds in Flight Earrings (Peach/Gold)

I bought the necklace with a pair of earrings to match each other and I feel it's adorable. Those brown belts can match clothes easily and brown is a softer color than black which gives me the impression that it's more serious and brown is more casual. I would most likely match plain colored shirts with the ballerina skirt, not sure yet but maybe I can find some interesting shirts too. Looking forward to matching it to my style. I hope I will have other means of purchasing from the site as the style there are the latest and trendiest compared to those available for sale here in KL.

Nail of the week - 1

I've always thought that painting your nails is the girly thing to do and it's more feminine. So every week I will paint my nails in different colours or maybe try out some tutorial. This is the first time I'm posting this and I will be posting every week. I've painted my nails in a peach colour and thought it was somewhat plain and so I added some flower stickers to complete it.  So here it's how it looks, my end product.

I'll update the picture of the nail polish I've used when I have the time to snap some pictures. Hope everyone will have a peachy week coming :)

What I like about this Fall....

Whenever late September approaches I'm always excited as most American TV series are back on air. This is because there are quite a number of new series introduced by major TV networks which I look forward to this year. After viewing the trailers I usually decide which shows I want to pick up and follow. This year there's more interesting ones than last year in my opinion. Before I continue with which TV series and what I recommend I would also like to state other things that I love during Fall.

The changes in the weather is something I love, even though where I live does not have four seasons in a year there are some changes. When fall is here, it tends to rain more in the evening and leave the air feeling breezy, and it makes sleeping more comfortable. Even the sun comes out later than usual during this time of the year where else, when it is summer the sky is usually bright around 6:45am but now it's about 7-ish that it starts to get bright. Another thing that I love bout Fall is I get to wear long sleeves t-shirt without feeling hot or sweaty, blazer is still somewhat acceptable in an air-conditioned office but not outside on the streets. Wearing skirts with stockings are more comfortable too as it keeps your legs warmer and light sweaters are okay too. One thing that I find ridiculous to wear in the Fall from where I live is wearing boots. Ankle boots are okay but not knee high boots, because it's suppose to keep your feet and legs warm but not in this part of the world. It's just ridiculous when you see people wear knee high boots with shorts walking around in shopping malls. This style doesn't fit this country as it's a tropical country where most of the time it's just hot more than chilly. Another thing that I find acceptable is wearing scarves but it depends on your attire. But still it's a bit weird in this hot country.

Picture taken from Nine West

Picture taken from Nine West

Picture taken from Zara

Picture taken from Zara

So enough about fashion and back to my favourite past time, watching TV series. Firstly, the series that I'm looking forward for a new season is Fringe. Out of those that I watch, this was the only series that kept me on my toes, that made me want the new season badly. The way it ended was at a suspense that none expected and I was looking forward to how the writers will start season 4. Before watching the first episode I did watch some interviews regarding the new season, especially their Comic Con interview. Not much was revealed so I still have high hopes. I have watched 2 episodes and without the presence of a certain character it was not exciting as the season begins with how Agent Lee is brought into the team and introduced to Fringe division. I still look forward to the new season as I have heard that that someone will appear soon (fingers crossed).

Another series that I am really excited is How I Met Your Mother. Because it ended with Ted and Marshall attending their best friend's wedding and I keep anticipating it was Barney's and I was right. The lady whom he is marrying was never revealed. So the start of the season sort of indicated that Barney was thinking whether he picked the right one but then it ended there. Hopefully the season will end with revealing who that person is.

The new series that I've picked up are Ringer, New Girl, 2 Broke Girls, The Secret Circle, Up All Night and Terra Nova which all have been aired in the US for quite a few episodes. Coming soon in my list are Grimm, Once Upon a Time and maybe Person of Interest. Just gonna give some summary because I will have post on individual TV series. New Girl, 2 Broke Girls and Up all Night are 30 minute sitcoms. The rest are 1 hour long slots. I will give my personal rating after watching 5-6 episodes but not now as I'm kinda behind in most series currently. But most of it got my attention in the first 2 episodes itself. I'm really loving these series and I hope it will continue to be good to last more than a season.

Cocktails for Three

On the first of every month, the girls will meet up at their favourite bar, have cocktails while sharing gossip and secrets, and so the monthly cocktail club has been born. Candice arrived first at Manhattan bar and remembered it used to be a small quiet secretive place and now it's busy as ever. The first time they step into the bar they were desperate for drinks and the environment didn't matter. Since it was not popular it was a good place to meet up and have their secret chats. Candice herself have worked in The Londoner as a writer for  years. 

Maggie with two weeks time before due finds it annoying when people asks her when is the baby coming. As she gives her coat to the coat-check lady and she was given the look as why would a pregnant woman be in a bar and as expected the questions was ask. She gave her answer and hurried over to where Candice was sitting. She was holding lots of things given to her as it was her last day in office where her maternity leaves starts the next day. Being the editor of The Londoner is a great job, it was a success in career for Maggie.Everyone around her is excited about her giving birth but inside her she feels she is not ready for it and is afraid that she doesn't know what to do at all. Even though people say that motherhood comes naturally but she does not have that feeling at all.

Roxanne is a freelancer working for The Londoner and she loves her job. She looks at herself in the mirror and she is proud with how she looks at thirty-two. You could say she has it all but sadly not in the love section where she doesn't have a solid relationship. Roxanne's man is someone's husband which she never reveals to the girls and has to meet him secretly. Sometimes she spend long hours waiting for him to show up as promised but there is always an excuse whether it was work or his family. She loves him very much and can't give up the relationship even though it was wrong. When he is free and spend time with her they always go out of the country where they can to spend long hours together and she cherishes those moment.

Once everyone was at the table they ordered their cocktails and talked to Maggie. Roxanne gave Maggie a tiny blue box, and Maggie was asking whether it's a Tiffany's and it was a silver rattle. Candice gave Maggie a massage voucher and Maggie was really happy because everyone bought gifts for the baby and Candice was the only one who bought one for Maggie herself. Candice thought that she could get some relaxation massage after the baby is born as it was difficult carrying. A waitress came and served their drinks and Candice thought that the girl was familiar and remembered it was Heather Trelawney who was a few years junior from high school. 

Heather couldn't remember who Candice was until she heard her surname Brewin. This name triggered many bad memories as Heather's family was wrecked by Candice's father. It caused her family to be broke and then her parents divorced not long after. As she moves away after a small chat she could not keep her eyes of Candice looking at how great she is and happy at the same time. Thinking that she could have been like that if not for Candice's father.

Candice suddenly went silent after Heather left the table and the girls thought it was odd. Candice spilled out the whole story telling them her father was called Good Time Gordon as he seems like a friendly guy who got along with everyone. It wasn't until her father's funeral that she found out the truth about him. He borrowed money from many people and told them it was for investment. Many people showed up at the funeral and many whispered to each other how much they have lost to him. It was a long list and it was utterly embrassing for the family to only realised at this moment of time. Candice felt ashamed as she has enjoyed life well when she was young, going on holiday trips to getting presents occasionally that were costly. It was all other people's money that she was spending and not her dad's. She find out that the Trelawney's were victims of her father too and felt that meeting Heather means she can finally do something good to help out and also to get rid of the guilt.

As Maggie's husband Giles arrive to pick her up they say their goodbyes and told Maggie that she will be missed as she will be away in their out of town home to get ready. Roxanne was text to meet his man and so she departed too. Candice was about to leave and thought of a great idea to help Heather out, she suggested Heather to come to The Londoner office as there was an opening for assistant editor. She would try to convince Ralph the owner to give Heather an interview.  The next day, Candice went into Ralph's office and told him how great Heather was and so an interview was given. Since Heather was unprepared and Candice expected it she prepared a writing she had and told Heather to use it as example. Ralph was impressed and gave the job immediately to Heather. Heather expressed how happy she was and they went for lunch together where Candice found out that she lives at a dreadful area and invited her to live with her in her home since her roommate has moved out. Disaster was bound to happen as Candice does not realise that Heather knows what her father did to her family and so Heather has a chance to be up to no good.

Cocktails for Three by Madeleine Wickam, is about these three girls who are best friends. It talks about their lifes and how it will cause the friendship to wreck when a girl from Candice's past shows up and triggers a chain of events. In terms of character development I'd say it was well written for a book that has 301 pages with fonts that are fairly large like 12px. To me it's an okay book because it wasn't exciting as it was kinda predictable to me. Having to read about three people at the same time makes the book skip parts quick in a chapter. Usually in Sophie Kinsella's writing it is witty all the time but not this one it was more towards that these things can happen in real life. Woman who are not ready for motherhood, women who are involved in an affair and also women who are kind that is easily taken advantage of. It's not a book that I would read again as the writing style is just simple revolving among those three people. People who are involved with them do not have major roles as the book centers them only. After reading this book, I have some doubts whether I should purchase other Madeleine Wickam's books.