angeline jane

I've been having a couple of crazily busy few weeks. So many things to do with so little time. I feel mostly suffocated. So while I was at camp last week with my students, I managed to have some quiet time to think and reflect.

To count my blessings.

To not forget that while I whine, there are people in worse situations that I've never been in.

And after staring at my feet for a while, with my favourite colour staring back at me, life seemed a little more gay.

I think you'll look so delightful in one of these.





Because I can't think of anything cuter than a baby girl who's not wearing pink.

* vintage baby outfits from belle heir

4 year olds are proud to be big.

They will tell you to leave them alone because they can hold the lift door open for you and Marissa, press the floor button and close the lift door.

4 means staying up a little later on weekend nights to watch a movie or play Pet Society on Facebook.

4 will get you a couple more responsibilities around the house, like helping to wipe ass when Marissa poops.

4 is getting to school by yourself and enjoying it so much, you want to go back on weekends.

4 means you can be trusted to do things. You can make decisions that effect everyone else in the family.

4 is having some control over your own life, good or bad, and having a say in the order of the world.

4 is a force to be reckoned with. 



4 is big. 4 rocks. 


Eating the rainbow.




For Andrea’s 4th birthday, we had a rainbow themed party. Family and friends were asked to dress in a colour of the rainbow. It was such a colourful day!



I made a rainbow cake for her using my old marble cake recipe from yonks ago, except that I separated the batter to make the colours. It was pure happiness to make, watching the colours swirl. Even the dishes were happy. 



Secretly, I think cake can solve the world’s problems.

Do you wanna know what someone’s hands look like after they’ve made a rainbow cake? Well, it looks like I’ve just touched a rainbow!



Before she went to bed, Andrea's eyes were still sparkling. I'm not sure if it were joyous from the day's events or simply good ol' sugar rush. She rambled on and on "I am SO happy, SO many people came to my party, I got SO many presents and Andrea's cake have SO many colours!"

I don't know about you. But to me, happiness is truly seeing your child happy.

I have a confession to make. I have a love affair with hot air balloons. The first time I sat in one was when I was studying in Australia. They’re so dreamy!

There's something so ethereal about the idea of floating up into the clouds in a hot air balloon, where the world below looks so small and it's so silent you can almost hear your own thoughts. We all dream of this kind of escape sometimes.

Well, I guess till the next time I sit on one again, I’ll just have to make do with collecting these hot air balloon treasures…



Hot Air Balloon necklace, The BumblingBird's Shop



Vintage blouse (how sweet would this be tucked into a navy pencil skirt?!), Ampersans



Screen printed lined notebook, Wanderlust



Disc earrings, f1nneran



Hand dyed tank top for kids, littlepoppet

One of my students whom I taught for 2 terms came up to me this morning and said, “Hey, Ms Angie, you must come for our graduation.”

He took out his wallet and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. It was a hand drawn picture of a nurse with a syringe. The handwriting was familiar. It read “Always believe in yourself.” It was drawn by me. The handwriting was mine.

He said, “This course is tough shit. When it was rough, I always took out the paper and read the line to myself. Always believe in yourself. Always believe in yourself. Over and over again. I’m graduating! I’m almost a full fledged nurse. Your words were so important to me when I first came to ITE.”

I was so touched. I almost cried. Standing there with the crumpled piece of paper I drew 2 years ago. In moments like these, I remember why I chose to become a teacher.

If you have the good fortune to be at our house when Andrea takes a poop, she will make you and everyone else drop what they are doing and gather round the toilet in her bathroom and examine the shape and size of her poop.

And then, she beams as if she has done something truly outstanding, like found proof of the existence of God or cured cancer or something.

The other day, she said, "Look Mommy! It has a hook on the end!" and she was correct - there was a cute little hook on the end and so I said, "Wow Andrea! That looks like a cobra eating a salmon with a hook in his mouth. That is a great poop."

And I meant it. It was truly a great poop.

And Andrea gets proud and blushes as she ceremoniously salute it and flushes it off to sea.

It's a real mother-daughter moment. Not the kind they write about in parenting books, but a moment all the same, in the guise of defecation. We aren't fussy around here. No matter what's happening, we gather round the potty, reading the poop. As a family.

It's messed up, yes. But also nice in an odd sort of way.

Okay, so just when you thought you would never eat again...

I totally would. They are the most comfortable pair of shoes I’d ever owned!

Who ever said we had to get married in a pair of white towering high heels? My friend, YL, who is getting married this weekend is walking down the aisle in dark fuschia heels! Beautiful!

Said Carrie Bradshaw “Why are we willing to write our own vows, but not our own rules?”


pics via tomsshoes.com

I survived the first work week in January.

My daughter survived the first school week.

My baby survived the deafening silence in an empty house week.

Next week I need to survive the first work + school week. I’m a little nervous about going back to school. I logged onto my student portal to check which classrooms I would be in and it read "YOU ARE NOT ENROLLED IN ANY MODULES."

I freaked out. I mean, I paid my fees didn't I? Did my registration form get lost? Did the mail man faint? As you can see, I am having some anxiety attacks and pangs in my stomach every now and then.

Oh well, I guess for the time being, I’m just celebrating the end of the week with some comforting chocolate cake and a cup of tea.

TGIF, peeps.

pic via simply breakfast

December for me was spent shopping and wrapping, baking and cooking. I smelled like my kitchen. Or was it my oven? Either way, I smelled like food.

I tried out this apple strudel muffin recipe and it came out lovely. They’re a little spicy from the cinnamon and nutmeg, soft with apple filling and had a crunchy strudel topping. Heavenly.

I used the baking cups from Daiso. Aren’t they pretty? Love the scallop trimming on the top. And so cheap, all for $2.

If you want to try it out, just follow the recipe here. It wasn’t as sweet as I would have liked it though, so if you have a sweet tooth like me, top up the sugar content.

You can’t go wrong, it’s easy peasy.

It is the first day of school. There are a few kids around Andrea screaming, flailing arms and legs, tears running down their sad faces yelling “Don’t leave me here! I don’t want to go in.”

What does my daughter do? She tosses her head and announces to me “I won’t cry like them. I’m brave.” Then she shakes her head and says “Boys…” (because the kids that were crying were boys).

Andrea shoots them pitying glances then lets out a big BIG sigh.

Thank you to my family, friends, colleagues, who have stuck by me in 2009. Having you around makes life all the more worth living! Let's never take our most loved ones for granted and be grateful for small mercies.

Here's wishing you all the best that life has to offer for the new year!

Happy New Year to all of you!

How are you, my lovelies? I hope you had a festive holiday season too, filled with much love and laughter among family and friends. That's a photo of our homemade tiramisu log cake. It was yum.

In the last week of December, I tend to think about the year gone by. This year, I have much to be grateful for. The love of family, friends, colleagues, being accepted to pursue my Masters degree and above all, the newest addition to my family, my beautiful baby girl, Marissa. I want you to know that you have brought much joy into our lives.



My girls on Christmas day. Their usual monkeying around shot. Andrea looks like she's picking something from Marissa's back. And well, Marissa looks like she's pretty much enjoying it.

Happy Holidays, y'all! Have yourselves a Merry little Christmas!

Salt and pepper shakers, Anthropologie




Powder blue mesh dress, Mod Cloth




Tea mug, Shinzi Katoh Collection




Brass tacks serving set, Anthropologie




Organic stuffed duck-goose, Brook Farm General Store



Penguin book covers postcards, Rockstar




A-line water droplet dress for girls, J Crew


Ladybug Mary Janes, BabyGap

comes in the form of many things. For me it is waking this morning and realising Marissa slept through the night...for the ENTIRE MONTH!

Maybe it was all those long talks with her, telling her to feel free to sleep through the night, and that Mummy might throw herself under a bus if she didn't consider it soon. Whatever did the trick, I am ecstatic. I’m not the sort of mum who says, "I’m exhausted, my baby can go wake up with someone else today."

For the first time in a long time, I feel chirpy on rising. She is, settling quickly now at bedtime. Baby steps I guess. If she doesn’t I will get her sleeping through by Christmas even if it kills me! I don't want to be traipsing about the house at 2am. At least I know she can do it now.

Are you listening, Marissa?? You’re 8 months old! Isn’t it about time??

I'd own a bookshop cafe that looked like this.



Toys lining up the bookshelves that carried childrens' books. Colourful paperbacks and hardcovers.

A book cafe where people could sit, eat and read for hours on end. I'd serve pies, colourful muffins and loads of food that warm the soul. It would be a place where my girls could help out and hang out after school. The store would carry beautiful stationery and notepads. The place would be quaint, cozy and inviting, I'd burn a lavender scent with friendly art pieces hanging off the walls.

I enjoy leading a small life. Small but significant and meaningful to me.







Enough daydreamimg for today. I've to get down to Cold Storage to order my Christmas ham. Heaps of errands to run this week.

Andrea has learnt how to use a telephone. Dramatic music please! This means getting to my mobile and office number by speed dial. She calls me five times in the office on a work day.

Mummy, what are you doing?
Mummy, Marissa’s eating cereal.
Mummy, why you call me huh. I’m busy ok.
Mummy, I love you. Come home now.
Mummy, I love you. Buy me a lollipop.
Mummy, Marissa’s naked.
Mummy, I’m naked.

To which I reply, “Is there bathing involved? Is it bathtime?”
“Yes.”
“Well, carry on the nakedness then.”


I’m so glad I’m on leave from next week till next year. Then I can have this conversation with my child face to face. Preferably clothed.



I love this photo of my girls. Marissa looks like she's complaining about something. Check out the finger pointing!

Last evening, I took my girls to Gingersnaps at Raffles City to buy their Christmas dresses. Andrea now wants to wear everything that Marissa wears. She insisted for a good half hour that she wants the exact same dress as her sister for Christmas. I don’t really like to clothe my girls in similar dresses, I want them to have their own identity but who am I to begrudge my child of that?

Gingersnaps carry clothes for children that are comfortable and made of very soft fabric, I'm very particular about this because I remember having to wear organza lined dresses during festive seasons and I hated it! The last thing I want is for my girls to be scratching like monkeys at Christmas.

This was what I settled for.



Blue-purple eyelet dress with pleating at the front for both my girls.

And now I will show you what a vainpot my older one is when faced with a mirror.

Marissa's such a bundle to cuddle! If you're not into Christmas, you should really avoid my blog for the whole month of December. I catch some sort of Christmas sickness. I'm pretty much high on life for the whole month of December. What can I say? Tis' the season to be jolly. Just 2 more weeks to Christmas!

I wanna be your flower girl, mummy.

But I got married already, darling. I married daddy.

Oh. Mummy don’t want to get married again? Cannot get married so many times?

Well, that’s the hope, babe.