Buh-bye clothes

So fiancè and I participated in Fleawhere’s flea party at Lucky Plaza last sunday. I had ALOT of clothes to sell. My mum has been pestering me to clear the bags of clothes and I finally found the time to do so. I didn’t wanna donate away to my sisters coz I figured why not earn something from selling although, I know beforehand that I won’t earn much from selling at the flea. But better than nothing hor.

I brought 2 huuuuge jumbo bags and 1 big luggage. Luckily I had the foresight to swap the 3rd jumbo bag for a luggage! It was so hard (and heavy!) to carry all the bags between A and I. So thankfully, the luggage came in handy.

Initially I wanted to sell my clothes off for below $20 a piece. But after reading some blogs who shared their experiences selling at Lucky Plaza, I decided to go with 1 for $2, 3 for $5 for tops and dresses. Accessories are 50cents to $1 each. Bottoms at flat $5 each coz my friend told me that bottoms are sought after products. Lol

Since we planned to leave by 4pm, we had a rough plan about how to move on with the repricing. At about 2ishpm, we dropped our prices to 4 for $5. And then around 3ishpm, we dropped the prices to $1 each. When it dropped to $1, suddenly there was a surge of people surrounding our table. Like piranhas sia! At 4pm, we closed shop! We had about 1 luggage-ful of clothes left which we tak kuasa nak continue selling so we packed and left. We gave our booth to the next-door neighbour. She had been helpful to pick up our items on the floor when they saw it. We also did likewise. Anyway, I like how friendly she is, so her rezeki lor!

Fiancè was like a human loudhailer! He kept shouting the prices thoughout and I was worried for his health coz he wasn’t feeling too good. I reminded him time and again not to shout so much. We never left the booth to take a break. Not even once. How to sia? So hard to manage alone. Nevertheless, I was thankful for his efforts! He really worked so hard to help me clear my clothes so I treated him to Fish & Co. Thank u sayang once again!

At the end of the day, after deducting cab fare and rental of booth, we made about $200. Alhamdulillah. Not too shabby huh?

Power beb!

Yes, really power! Eh aper plak yang power ni? I’m referring to marriage preparation course Kasih Sejati! We attended the 20th and 21st February batch. A and I learnt so much from this course! My only regret is not signing up for it earlier coz there are things we learnt that would have affect our decision-making process. I blamed myself for this coz I was telling A not to go earlier pasal takot lupa what was taught. But seriously, no way I will forget coz A and I will definitely apply them in our marriage. Insya Allah.

I don’t have to yak on about how fun the course is! I kept laughing throughout sey. And I was awake throughout the entire thing except during Cik Suriati’s initial bit. I was fighting the Z monster so hard! I dunno why I felt so sleepy!

The 3 facilitators are definitely well versed in their field. They shared so much and I’m just like a sponge, eagerly soaking up everything. I wished the course was longer coz I felt like we could learn so much more.

The module that I benefited the most is conflict and resolution. I tend to do a lot of ‘mind reading’ with my fiancè. Mind reading meaning he has to understand why I’m reacting or behaving that way. And of course if he fails to mind read, I tend to give him the cold shoulder. But I learnt that to avoid conflict, just tell him what you are thinking. Don’t make him second guess. I also have to try to reign in my anger. Don’t let emotions overwhelm my thoughts. Insya Allah I will try to work on it!

We did alot of activities and we had to swap our books with our fiancè. So we read and wrote our feedback on our partner’s book. I took pleasure in writing over-the-top feedback for A. At the end of these activities, it’s interesting to know how similar yet different we are on different aspects. We will work hard to make it work right, love?

 

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus?

Serious aje!

Focus focus!

The participants for batch 20th & 21st February 2016!

Part ni I think everyone was so kecoh! We were split into teams of 2 or 3. And then each team have to come up and write things about the guys and vice versa. The ladies cheered every single time someone finished writing abt the guys. Hahaha My fiancè told me he was raring to go up and write one point abt the ladies.. or is it about me? HAHAHAHA Well I concur that I often do that to him.

My only feedback is that Encik Khair doesn’t really refer to the book often. He shared alot of his experiences and sometimes he goes off topic. Hey don’t get me wrong! I learnt alot from what he shared BUTTTT I just feel that he should at least refer back to the book more often so that I get the feeling that we are moving along the schedule. It’s just what I feel hor.

We conclude the final session with a love letter. That was the highlight of the day for me! A’s heartfelt words resonate with me and it brought tears to my eyes. :’)  I’m gonna try to be a good wife to you, a good daughter-in-law to your mak and insya Allah a better Muslimah. May He guides us onto His rightful path and blessed us both..

…. Untuk Kasih Sejati Kita Berdua!

 

HELP!

My fiancé is looking to hire the services of a driver with 40- seater bus to transport our families to the mosque for the solemnisation. I have looked around but most seem to be quoting ard the $200 range. Am wondering if anyone knows of a cheaper option?

Series of updates

I will be updating about a few things so this might end up being a loooong post. LOL

A few weeks back, the BTBs in the #btbsupportgroup were discussing about folic acid. That reminded me that I was suppose to start taking it. My colleague advised me to start taking folic acid 6 months before the wedding. A and I planned to have kids right after the wedding. May He ease my path insya Allah aamiin.

Hana advised us to buy the non-pretentious folic acid at Watson pharmacy which costs abt $8 for a month supply. She said that works just as well.  So I went to Guardian’s pharmacy last week and bought 2 packs coz it is cheap and the expiry date is a few years later.

Next up, wedding shoes! I have been on the hunt for wedding shoes since last year. But it hasn’t been easy coz I have broad feet and I want comfortable shoes. I really like Pazzion designs but they are not comfortable due to the narrow front. I had to literally squeezed my feet in! So no go! I’m also looking for covered shoes only. So that narrows the list alot. And then one day, colleague A told me that colleague B, who is working in a different shop, told her that her workplace is having special discount for staff. Colleague B is working in a department store. So I thought, why not just go and have a look. So colleague A and I rushed over after work. We spent some time walking around the shoes department. Finally I spotted something I like. I asked for size and tried it on. It is a slingback with pointed toes. The front is abit narrow so I asked for a size up. Thankfully that size is better and doesn’t pinch my toes. The heels is also not high so I will be walking around comfortably. I do not want to be tottering around like an acrobat. Lol

Moving on.. I have finally finished passing the bridesmaids’ kain to them. I have 4 BMs – 3 ladies and 1 guy. Initially I bought a different set of kain for them when I went to Bandung. But I wasn’t very satisfied. So I told them that I would buy something else. I went to Jakel with a BM. I trust her opinion when it comes to fashion. As I was pressured by time, I said to myself that I will have to buy the kain no matter what. I’m just worried that my BMs won’t be able to send in their kain in time for tailoring due to Hari Raya orders. So alhamdulillah I managed to get something I like. Even though the price is over my budget, I didn’t mind coz I really liked it. It’s a peach and magenta combo. I didn’t managed to take a picture of it though.

Lastly, I will be participating in the Flea Party at Lucky Plaza this coming sunday. I dunno if I will earn much out of it coz I heard from my colleagues that those maids will haggle till $1 lar. Pengsans! But the main thing is, I need to clear 4 jumbo bags of clothes. My mum has been nagging me to clear my things and I haven’t found the right time to do it. She told me to give away but I figured if i can get some cash out of it, why do I have to give away kan? I have been selling things on Carousell but it has been rather slow. I need a faster avenue so that’s why I decided to join the flea. I paid about $130 for the booth and A has volunteered to help me. Thanks love! I’m hoping business will be good bismillah!

Food & cake

Following up on my last post about the site recce that my fiancè and I did before the meetup with my caterer, we met up with the caterer 2 days later. I was glad that we had prepared what we wanted to show them coz it will just ease the discussion.

Mama and papa were supposed to be in attendance during the meetup but they disappeared to send my youngest sis and her children back home. My youngest sis and her children came to spend the CNY weekend with us but since my caterer was coming, she did not want her rowdy children to interfere with the discussion. Lol So it was just my fiancè, my younger sis and me and not forgetting the caterer and her husband. Oh my nenek was there too but she was just being an active listener.

My caterer wanted to finalise the food options but I told her that she would have to ask my mum coz I left the food decisions entirely up to my mum. I’m not fussy about food. So we moved the topic to the decor. My catering package is inclusive of decor. The decor will be done by her contact. I am not sure what’s the name of the decor company but looking at past pelamins that they had done, I am pretty satisfied.

Let me side track abit. Initially, I wanted to engage KAJ coz I love their drapes! Lawah kaoz! But it seems like they are no longer active. I waited for their decor package macam buah durian emas nak jatuh. Which is like.. never gonna happen! So I researched the other companies but Ya Allah the prices ar, *GULPS*. So I shelved the idea and just agreed to use my caterer’s contact. (If I decided not to engage them, my caterer will take $1k off the package price for reimbursement. Which I find is fair enough.) So from like 2014 till end 2015, I was having an internal war. Should I just take that $1k and use it to deposit for another decor vendor? Do I really wanna spend $x on decor alone? I almost gave in and engaged Bungasutra coz their price is really reasonable. But in the end, I decided that I rather use that $x on my honeymoon and that I shouldn’t waste more money on something like that. I had to console myself alot that I am doing the right thing.

Anyway, we told them about our chair and colour preferences and she told us to leave it to them how they will do up the mph. So I hope to be pleasantly surprised. But I don’t actually have high expectations. Yer lar dorang bukan SID ke Anggun ke dot dot dot ke.. Lol After we discussed, we went down to recce the mph and share with the caterer our layout plan. Alhamdulillah the caterer agreed to our plan and at the end of the day, semua orang happy. My mum go the mph she wanted. We compromised by rearranging the layout to fit everything. Syukur alhamdulillah.

My caterer also gave me a freebie! She told me to pick either a wedding cake or sireh dara. Originally, I picked wedding cake. Coz I reasoned that wedding cake is more expensive than a sireh dara kan? But of course, I changed my mind ever since I saw naked cakes! Lol

Pic credit: @tome____

Masya Allah lawahnyerrrr! Anyway, I think naked cakes are perfect for mph weddings. And naked cakes lent abit of a rustic feel donchathink? So I asked around and finally decided on a cake vendor! The price is reasonable, it includes delivery, setup and clean up. And I have personally gone down on my off day to buy several cakes and sampled them. Yummy lei! So alhamdulillah cake da settle!

My current jam

OMG! Why didn’t I discover them sooner? So loving the vintage vibe!!! Thanks to one of the BTBs that shared the ‘Bye Bye Bye’ version on Facebook.

 

This song holds a lot of memories for me.

Venue: Site recce

I had an issue with my current venue – space. My sister did her wedding at mph A (located beside our block) several years back and honestly, the space was very cramped. So obviously I was concerned. Initially, A and I planned to do it at a nearby CC but coz we faced strong objections from my mum especially, we gave in and settled on mph A.

There is a mph B about 5 mins walk away which I feel is perfect due to the layout. When I brought this up (before I book my venue), of course I received another round of objections. So I gave up convincing them and we proceeded to book the mph A.

I met up with my girlfriends and then we discussed about the venue. They too were concerned and encouraged me to talk to my mum and caterer to change the venue to mph B. But of course there was resistance from my mum and grandmother. I stood my ground and end the argument with, let’s just wait and see what the caterer will say. It was a sombre situation at home coz I felt everyone was against me. Like they are ganging up on me. Worst feeling ever. And I thought my grandmother at least would back me up. But no! She tried to psycho me to give in to my mum at every opportunity she gets. But the thing is, I just wanted to ensure that there will be ample space for everything. So how am I wrong for wanting that?

Anyway, so I talked to A and we agreed to recce mph A before the meeting. We decided to give mph A a chance. Furthermore, situation at home might escalate if I still insist on changing the venue to mph B. So on CNY eve, we met up and head to my place. We measured mph A. We went over several possible options. Where to put the food. Where to put pelamin. Where to put Sri Mahligai. At the end of it, we came up with a good layout. The only thing left is to share with the caterer and see what she have to say.

#ProjextDIY: Berkat

Since today was my off day, I figured I should start on my berkat before my mum starts nagging again. When I wanted to embark on this DIY journey, I had a lot of objections from my mum. She wanted everything to be fuss-free and tried very hard to dissuade me. But I’m the sort that the more you try to dissuade me, the more I wanna do. #itukepalaadabatubesartinggal HAHAHAHA

So since I already have everything on hand, I just started doing on my own. Initially, I folded a part of the top before gluing it down so that it doesn’t gape open. And I wanted them to be even height, so I took quite a bit of time to fold it down properly. But halfway through, I decided that it is too much work so I just fold half and glue it down. And then put some glue in the flap so that it doesn’t gape open. So I ended up with two height difference. I packed the shorter one deep into the storage box and hope that it’s not gonna see the light of day. Lol

Things I used:

Brown packaging (avail at SKP) – $5.90 for 100pcs/pack or you can go with the cost effective option which is $20.50 for 500pcs/pack

Doily paper, 4.5″ (avail at SKP) – $3.30 for 250pcs/pack

Glue gun & glue stick (already bought them when I DIY-ed my engagement items)

I’m still deciding if I wanna put a small bow on the front. But that is gonna take alooooooooooot of work. To cut ribbons into strips and fashioning them into a bow. 1200pcs of them. UGHH maybe not huh?