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Golden Globes 2007
this is pretty late, but i wanted to show the fashion of this year’s golden globes, with my personal favorites for best dressed to worst. so let’s go to my favorite picks:
my two favorite is reese witherspoon in nina ricci and cameron diaz in valentino. i know that many of the critics didn’t fancy cameron’s pick, but i loved its flirty shapes, esp. the one shoulder frill. I also loved how she called out the white by wearing bright red lipstick and dramatic black hair…that looks beautiful with her pale blue eyes…the dramatic contrast just accentuates her eyes more, plus, her coif matches the black bow on her dress. i thought it was great. it’s ironic how the two women who had recent break ups were the ones that looked the best that night.
let’s get to my worst dressed. oh dear lord were they bad!
selma and jennifer looked extremely busty, and somewhat out of the fashion trend of 2000. selma looks as if someone put blankets together and jennifer looks like a prom date gone wrong. i mean look at that skirt…it looks like a trash bag…admit it. but i’ve saved the worst three women below:
beyonce’s picture above isn’t the worst picture showcasing her dress. she was also pictured doing a distasteful pose, two of them that showed how ego-driven ego-bloated she presents herself. so much for humility. we’ve seen her in many dresses like the one above, what’s new? personally, i don’t see her as a fashion icon in the music genre…her fashion’s pretty tacky. then there’s the olsen twins, who i use to really appreciate before…i once thought they were fashion pioneers, but this picture just shows how far they’ve sunk. Both dresses look like they’ve been swallowed whole by bad dresses, esp. mary kate (left)…with the tacky fur and champage dress that matches her skin. and their make up and complexion looks reminiscent of the elizabethan period when women would cake up their faces in white, with bright red lipstick. gross…she looks sick and ghostly.
zem at 18 months
so i promised i’d blog about emma.
she’s 18months old now, and finished her vaccinations this week. everyone in the doctor’s office always comment on how big she’s gotten, and although on the skinny side, she’s developing well and healthy.
her favorite word to say is probably “uh-oh” which is not technically a word, but a phrase she uses often because she’s an uh-oh kind of girl. she’ll drop things to say uh-oh, drop things on top of dropped things for double uh-oh, and basically poop to say uh-oh…i’m exaggerating, but she does indeed love that phrase. ok, so my girl is into technology; she knows that our computer has her favorite shows, so when one of her recorded shows finish playing, she says “uh-oh” and waits a while for us to change the show, but sometimes, we can be out of the room, or moving at a slug’s pace so, she takes the remote and does it herself. Yes, she knows how to work a remote, how to turn the tv on, play her personal dvd player, AND operate my mom’s Roomba. For Christmas, we got my mom a roomba and well, emma’s curiosity led her to push a few buttons, so now, whenever we tell her to “press play” on the Roomba, she does, and voila- the room is clean.
during the holidays, she learned how to say “lolo.” But this is no ordinary word; she adds this ever so endearing inflection which makes everyone go “awe,” because it just sounds so longing and loving. Every other word she utters is more curt, direct, and choppy, like a jet lee or bruce lee fighting scene. Her lolo is more like the jackie chan movies…anways, her vocabulary is expanding quickly, with words understood rather than spoken, but she responds very well to what we say or request. She even knows how to differentiate between a kiss and a long kiss, and to sit or sit like a lady.
my daughter is also very fashion conscious. i’m liking this because sometimes she’s more like her dad in her hobbies, but fashion is one of mine. only with a year.5 under her belt, she can sometimes have the opinion of a teenage drama queen. for example, i like hats in the winter, so she has a number of hats, since she wears them every time we go out. having her normal Roots hat on, we went shopping one day, and happenstanced to see other hats to sale. So i took a few and brought her to the mirror so she can see what she looked like, instead of being coerced to just have hats thrown on her head. Every hat i put on her, she gave an unmerciful look and threw it off her head with a confident “no” head-shake. We did this for five hats. Finally, i put her original Roots hat back on, and what do you know…she looked at me through the mirror and gave me a sly smile, allowing me to keep it on her head.
these days, she’s learning her ABC’s and 123’s, not all of it, just those six for now. We want her to start knowing how to identity numbers and letters, and how to incorporate them in simple things like 3 grapes, or 2 monsters under the bed…stuff like that…practical things. Right now, she can count to 3, but the only words indentifiable are two and three…every time she jumps up, she counts to three, then gives it a go.
she’s also going to sleep easier. before, she use to be so adamant in setting her own sleeping schedules, but after some discipline and more understanding to what sleep is, she’s more accepting of curfews. most times, we can tell her to get into her bed, close her eyes, and go to sleep, and she’d usually comply. of course she’d pretend sleep for a short while, but she tires out. She IS dealing with a 27 year old who’s quite an expert with tricks like “the palo.”
but what i NEVER knew before, even though i LOVED kids even before having my own, is that babies can be so smart…really…honestly, they are so much smarter than people give them credit for. In just a year or so, they can start understanding language through phonetic patterns or body/facial language. They learn how to manuever their body and problem solve their way out of their crib, and even problem-make themselves by climbing onto the kitchen table. And the most amazing thing they pick up on, that you can’t verbally explain in one sitting, but only through time and experience, is LOVE. it’s remarkable how a baby can learn to love, how they show love through fedelity, affection, forgiveness, and company.
she’s getting bigger…soon, i’ll be blogging cuz she’s 2…but i’m thankful…i know how much the youth know how i dote on my daughter, but it’s true…i love being a mom…i think it’s the craziest role i’ve been given…and to be quite frank, i’m excited for another child; not that we’re expecting or trying, so don’t go spreading rumors…but when that stage of life comes, it’ll be exciting. i’m still young, and can complete my goals in life without having to rush. everything has its seasons, but i do love being a young mom…
world debating championship
please remind me to take Emma to a world debating competition in 15 years. thank you.
funny street hawkers
overheard: “New York Post 25 cents, three for a dollar.”
- Street Hawker, corner of 33rd & Seventh Ave, NYC
happy 2007!
we’re finally back home from a very long week of holidays and events. it’s good to be home as it is sad to leave sj. when we got home last night, we decided to just rest after all the packing and unpacking, and just minutes ago, i’ve finished unpacking and cleaning our place so i could feel sane and not so tense. emma was sweet enough to occupy herself while i went from room to room putting things away. it’s tough keeping your home clean, esp. if you have kids (husbands included). but one thing i learned prelabor is that i can’t be supermom, so sometimes i need to stop trying too hard to get everything done at once.
new year’s eve was nice. after church, we had youth bible study and learned more about Paul and his encrouagement to Timothy. it’s also proudly noted that the eagles won their division, won their sunday game against the falcons, and will be in the playoffs. they’re playing the giants this week, so i’m a bit hesitant to say we’ll win, but seeing as to what they’ve accomplished with Garcia, there’s a possibility to push forward. in the evening, we ended up going to the Labor’s house to celebrate a death anniversary bible service as well as celebrate new years. it ended up being really fun for our family since perze and i got to talk to some adults there, as well as the bation kids. AND emma found herself a playmate who was only 5 days older than her, so they really hit it off. they ran and chased each other all over the house the whole night, then chased all the older kids, screaming and smiling…so i was really glad emma got to play with other people, since sometimes she’s so shy in public.
before it turned 12am, we headed back home to spend the last few minutes with our family. so we turned on the tv to watch the ball drop, opened the sparklin cider, and joined the cacophony outside where people congregated to shout new year’s woooots and whathaveyous…even emma banged on a pan to contribute to the noise, screaming to the phone to call her lola who was at work, and just feeling the excitement of the night. it was great. man, 2007’s here…i’m looking forward to it…really…cuz i know what’s in store…they’re peeking flirtateously at me and i’m playing hard to get, but i kinda know some things to expect, and those that are unexpected?…well, hopefully i’m ready…
some pictures of new years. click to enlarge.
to see all our album
of our christmas/new years,
click here.
and a special new year’s treat:
woo woo
just recently, zem’s learned how to say lolo. before, it used to be lola, every time she’d talk on the phone. but now, she says, “woo woo” in a very endearing tone, as if she’s lonely for his company.
when we were at my parents’ house, she’d go to the foyer and shout “woo woo,” hoping that my dad can hear her from upstairs and come down to play with her.
2006 Christmas
it’s been a lot of eating…each year the number of presents gets bigger…but for some reason, upon being asked what one wants for christmas, the answer’s always, “don’t spend too much…” as you get older, it does feel better to give than to receive. this christmas, i was waiting for my family to open their gifts instead of wanting to open mine. after church and A*Bay, our family waited for our late lobster dinner. we have this weird tradition now of ordering live lobsters for our christmas dinner (thanks to my brother)…we also have this tradition of eating around 9pm-10pm so we can just enjoy company until 12am, which is when we open gifts. we’re so strict about it too…we can never open gifts before midnight…it might be just a sign of relentless tradition or a desperate cling to innocence and childhood…nevertheless, we opened gifts at midnight. even the babies were awake with us, playing with their presents while the fire played with the christmas music. this was also samsam’s first christmas, and emma’s first christmas with samsam….man, i love watching them interact with each other…as the months progress, they’re more aware of each other’s budding potential for friendship and company…they really made our christmas more joyful…and they don’t even know it…
so much happened this week…a good friend came home from moving to singapore, so it feels like old days, when the group would hang out…so last week, the YA’s came over to celebrate his return, Kristie/Wendell/Icho/Rog’s birthday. then we had A*Bay exchange gifts after the church service, which was indeed oddly interesting. i did manage to grin acceptingly while carrying my present that broke maybe half of the rules, courtesy of mr. singapore. the gifts given were a sweet gesture, so whoever is reading this…thanks greatly. even emma received surprise gifts from people in the church, and we were really humbled by their thoughtfulness.
christmas day, aside from the incredibly sweet victory the eagles had over the cowboys, a close friend came to visit. he drove all the way down just to give gifts and cake…and his company really got to me because he didn’t have to sacrifice any hours of his christmas to come and visit, but he did. it made me remember that acts of grace are still relevant in friendships…sometimes, people just give because they’ve been given…but some people, even with the absence of receiving, just keep giving. he reminded me that even if people never give back, no matter how much you try to give to them, you just need to keep giving a little to those who accept what little you can give. some people are naturally givers, natural helpers, and then sometimes, you’ve just got to try harder…some people think you just don’t give enough, and then there are those who forget to see how much they’ve been given…that’s why grace is so sweet…there are no measurements or keeping track, or guages or reciprocity…my friend that came over made me think of grace this season, even moreso since i’ve been reading yancey’s WSAAG…
christmas eve, before i went to bed, i read a passage from the old testament about moses. most people mistake moses being the speaker in behalf of God to the pharoah, but it was really Aaron. what struck me was that out of everything that moses had to stamp his faith on, he just could not get through his speaking disability. mountains of faith on God’s power to change water into blood, and part the sea, create disease, and yet still witheld to believe God can deliver His people through his speech. It’s a great reminder that when i cannot give to God’s equation, from the self perspective of a defective nature, the outcome still yields greatness. A toothpick can still be a vessel of God’s power…despite being called a toothpick.
nevertheless, the holidays aren’t over yet, and i’m waiting for things to normalize and present themselves for next year…*hmmmm…i already foresee changes for the next few months…it’s kinda tough saying goodbye to the holidays though, since you get used to the company of everyone…i already miss my sister, ksam, and samsam…they left today…
it’s a pensive christmas…but i’m growing to appreciate the quietness of the nativity scene rather than the pomp and announcement that the King was born…each year is different and i like that…
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