Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone out there!

Hope you all have a blessed and joyous celebration with your loved ones.

Relaxation Time

Finally have some down time to do some latest updates.

Yesterday was the 20 year anniversary of when we adopted M, and when he first came home to us. It's crazy how time flies. I was about 10 years old and so happy when we brought M to his forever home. I still remember none of us told dad about bringing a kitten home. Growing up, he didn't like to have pets at home (I guess Asian folks think having pets at home is unclean and stinky). Of course when he came home to a kitten walking around the house, he hit the roof.

It was almost like yesterday when that happened, being a little girl and feeling so overjoyed. 20 years later, it leaves an empty spot as he is no longer here with us. It's sad to think about it, and so I try to think of all the joyous times growing up with him. Sometimes it helps, and then the bad flashbacks happen. Those are the toughest to go through. It remains a constant battle.

I have been overwhelmed lately with great news (I guess who can complain right?). I'm very blessed and surprised that I was able to achieve my goals, considering I'm the type of person who can slack off pretty bad.

My abstract was selected to be part of the American national conference next year, where once again, I'll be able to do a presentation on my topic. North American conferences? Check. Shall we take this worldwide? Let's try this.

Today I also found out I passed my specialty certification exam. I jumped for joy because I'm usually terrible at exams, so this was a huge deal. I'm just glad I don't have to spend another few hundred bucks to rewrite it or having to study again for it. I'm thankful it's all over, thank God that the second time around, there was no technical difficulties. Although I did not need to write this exam (and chose to because I figured it would be best for my future), I'm just glad it's finally over.

As part of my celebration, I ended up getting a Moose Knuckle parka. Shopping again.

I had heard of them back in 2010 or 2011 but didn't know too much about them, aside from having ball sacks as their logo and being a bit expensive. Paying a premium to have ball sacks on your sleeve? I wasn't too into that back then. I thought it was nuts. No pun intended.

Years later, I figured it's time to get a warmer jacket. I had worn my TNA jacket since I was in university and unfortunately a douchebag spilled hot chocolate on my jacket and soaked the insides of my jacket (yes, it had GONE DOWN THE DAMN SLEEVE INSIDE!). It was also very cold that day, so imagine walking around with chocolate stained jacket both inside and outside, in freezing temperatures. Not fun. He owed me a dry cleaning session. Unfortunately the mother had no idea how to wash a TNA jacket because when I got it back, all the magnets in the jacket had fallen to the bottom. So there was no way I could bundle up properly without having the front flap against the wind.

Here I go, I buy another TNA jacket on sale. This time around, the magnets were much more durable at the front, but not so much on the sleeves. It would come undone and flap everywhere. The zipper was also a pain to zip up (the pulley would also angle into a weird position where it would be impossible to zip up or down). I also lost a zipper pull for some reason. The breast pocket zipper kept getting stuck in my seatbelt when I drive. It was pretty weird and I tried to minimalize that. However, it didn't help because eventually the zipper pull fell off, and my seatbelt remains damaged from being caught in my zipper.

Minor issues I guess when you think about it. It still kept me warm. As I age, I find that I get colder and colder each year. In -30C weather, I used to be able to wear a T-shirt and run outside the school yard without getting sick. I was burning up, never frozen. It was weird. Nowadays I can't even wear a T-shirt in the house without freezing up. I guess that's the part of getting old?

Anyways, I decided to try one of these jackets as I like long jackets, but not so long that I trip over them when I walk. I'm lazy and figured let's try to get something that's durable in rain (I have an umbrella but never use it...instead my head remains soaked from rain). Lo and behold, BALL SACKS. I always thought it was funny and dumb. But if it works to keep me warm, then sure why not.

I think these jackets run a size smaller. When I tried size S, it felt like my chest was being crushed (plus I had trouble moving my arms around), but the bottom part felt fine. I opted for a M as I was able to move my arms more, but the bottom portion was a bit more poofy. Supposedly they say if you don't plan on wearing any layers, opt for the smaller one, but if you are the type to wear layers underneath, go for the bigger size.

Considering I wear sweaters these days, the M would fit me better. Yet I'm not sure if the wind would go up from the bottom since there is more space now. DILEMMA! Still deciding what to do.

The policy is that you can exchange or refund within 30 days as long as the tags are still there and the item remains clean/unworn. They do have lifetime warranty, although it doesn't cover normal wear and tear. I guess that's not too bad.

I opted for a blue/black combination instead of the traditional black/white combo. Figured I might as well match my car. *Insert lame eye roll here*

LV Alma BB

Greetings again everyone! Just as I promised, this will be my latest shopping spree/reveal.

As said previously, I first saw this on Jodiday's Closet IG account and waited to see if it would be snatched up right away. Surprisingly it was still there. Aside from a small dent on the bottom of the bag, I didn't see anything else wrong with it. However, I was going to wait until after my exam to get it, but that sort of didn't happen.

I contacted Jodi to ask her about the bag and went in to see it in person. It was beautiful. Although I was still debating which version of the BB to get (blue/black, or damier ebene), the vernis was another option too. I already own the small coin purse in vernis, but mostly it is kept tucked away and never used.

After chatting and looking over the bag, I decided to get it. But that meant giving up something from my wardrobe that I didn't use often. I selected the Gucci Emily bag. I still remember when I first got it, that it was a spur of the moment (because I was looking into an alternative for the Chanel classic flap), and I bought it when I was still angry at someone. It was still tough to let go, but hopefully she will find a nice home.

Here are some pictures I took of her.

Here she is!

The key holder tag.

Still debating if I should leave it in there or not..

LV label, made in France.

Together with some pink things that I own.

A finale with my Charlotte Olympia kitty flats.

All the dimensions can be found via Louis Vuitton's website, as well as pricing. Let's just say that I saved about a grand when I went the consignment route. Considering the condition of the bag is pretty much in excellent condition, the price was a steal (and I didn't have to pay tax!). 

The colour is Rose Indian (i.e hot pink) in vernis leather. It does come with a shoulder strap that can be worn over the shoulder or cross body. There is one side pocket inside (for your phone...but I have tried fitting the iPhone 5 and it won't fit, so I doubt the 8 or X would fit inside), and then the big bag compartment that stores your wallet and all your other essentials. 

There are 4 feet at the bottom of the bag, which prevents the leather from touching the floor. 

I'm pretty happy with this purchase, as the size is great (you can fit quite a bit inside), and it is not super heavy like the Prada top handle in saffiano leather. This would be great for outings or a nice dinner/evening out. 

Hope you all enjoy this "reveal" and have a safe week!

December Update

Apologies for not posting as much as before. It's been nuts as usual lately.

First off, I am reminded that it's been just over 2 years since M's passing. It was a sad moment during that time. I was sad that I didn't have anymore dreams about him, or of him visiting in my dreams, but in a way I guess it's a sign that he's free from his sorrows. The memories came back and it was hard to function during those couple of days. He would've turned 20 this year. I should feel happy that he had lived quite a long life for a cat and that in those 18 years of him being with our family, he's been such a true blessing.

I was recently cramming for an exam that isn't mandatory to write as part of my job, but I decided to because I figured if I don't do it now, then I will never do it. *Nerd status ON!* I was scheduled to write last month. However, due to unforeseen circumstances of a worldwide system failure by the testing company, candidates were unable to write that day. And I was one of the "lucky" ones that couldn't write it.

I remember going into the exam centre and sitting to write the exam. The first sign that something seemed wrong was the amount of time it took for the test to load. The circle kept turning and turning and turning...but nothing was loading. Then after what seemed to be forever, a page of jibberish appeared. Yeahhhhhh...that wasn't suppose to happen.

I ended up notifying the clerk and he didn't know how to fix, so he contacted the main help desk at the testing centre. It was at that point that we realized they were having technical difficulties since the beginning of the day and were trying to fix it. I guess they were hoping to have it all fixed by the end of the day,  hence why they didn't notify the candidates. But as the time kept progressing, there was no end in sight to fix this issue. Then they told us to reschedule another exam date.

Ok great, so here I am trying to call the testing centre to reschedule the exam. And it's a national holiday (Remembrance Day), so of course they're closed. I (and who knows how many other candidates) are left having heart attacks for the next 2-3 days wondering what will happen because no one could get through the testing centre, and we only had until the 15th to write this exam, which by the way all the dates were booked up, and having this happen at the last moment it was impossible to reschedule around our work schedules.

Finally, we get a response from the association as well as the testing centre to apologize for all the delay etc etc. And thankfully they extended the exam dates to this month. We also got compensation for all the troubles (I mean hey, better than nothing).

So after all that craziness, I was finally able to write this month. I had already taken off enough days to study for this, and then now I didn't want to use up anymore vacation days for this exam. It was a tough exam, but just hoping for a pass. Fingers crossed.

Aside from that, I also did something unexpected. I found a purse. Again.

Except I went the consignment route. I saw it on IG a few weeks ago and kept an eye on it. I was surprised it hadn't sold so I inquired about it. I went to see it in person, and I said yup, I'm taking you home. I figured for that price and for that material, it was a good deal (so to speak). My next post will cover all the details about the recent addition to my collection.

With that in mind, I said goodbye to another handbag of mine, in exchange for this recent addition. I hope someone else out there will get better use out of it than I, as it just sits in my room. Stay tuned.