Instagram Snapshots ~*December 2014*~

I was too engrossed in catching up with Christmas 2014 posts that I almost forgot to share December's instasummary. It is just in time for a filler post too as I've yet to craft my next blog post.

Instagram videos on blog run in fast forwards, skips and jumps. They are better viewed on iamjolene Instagram page itself for sound and image quality, as well as full streaming and on smartphone Instagram app for emoji to display.





~1 December 2014~
What? It's already December? I've yet to get Christmas shopping done and there's a whole lot of cozy meet-ups lined up this December!




~5 December 2014~
Christmas started way early with the first group of frenz-- That Group That Shall Not Be Named. (Nothing to do with Voldemort. How it came about was plain lame.) 😂😂😂
The cover pic was edited by Vivi. We were attempting a "The Dog" style but somehow Vivi looked like those sinister cat, hence those cat ears. No doggie stickers for Ang Ang and Jo Jo who were conferred tiara and sunglasses instead. 👑👑👑😎😎😎
Downing lots of OLE without synthetic medicine to be well and good for this meet up was worth it! Really glad that we are meeting up more often. And when there are 2 bimbos in the group, there would be loads of laughter. Gosh, how we laughed at all the random topics! What a lovely evening with lovely company. xoxo 😘😘😘
View full 15-sec video here.



~6 December 2014~
The early Christmas gatherings continue... this time with my other family. Hey, we were spontaneously clad in red and black! Talk about telepathy!




~7 December 2014~
It makes my heart sing while working on these beautiful vintage images.
I thought I would do away with making Christmas cards this year as it requires weeks of free time to conceptualize, illustrate/colour and finally handwrite little notes in them. 🎄🎄🎄
This year to save time, I'm making something different yet still retaining my personal touch to the little gifts. I hadn't expected that it would take up this much effort and sleeping hours for such a little thing. 😭 T_T 😭 But you know what? Only people who give hand-made cards/gifts would know that they are giving people "the gift of time". 🎁🎉⌛😜😊
View full 15-sec video with music here.




~8 December 2014~
Too tired of doing work and decided that doodling is way more fun! ✏✏✏✏✏ Does anyone ever realize that the difference between doodling a seal, a hamster, a cat and a bunny or dog simply lies in the ears?




~9 December 2014~
Miniskirts + cold = fat legs
Said the Federal Housing Administration last year. 😱😱😱😱😱
The legs of young women respond quite rapidly to exposure to cold temperatures. The bodily response is a quick buildup of successive layers of fatty molecules under the skin areas of thighs, knees, calves and ankles of female legs. And once a leg that's left out in the cold gets that chubby look, it can be made trim again only by extraordinary exercises that most women find difficult to maintain. 😱😱😱😱😱
No wonder my legs are getting fatter over the years! I've been wearing dresses almost every day in an office that have gotten colder as time goes on. Along with the left injured ankle, my left calf has become significantly thicker and stumpier than the right as observed by a few people. 😭😭😭
Leg warmers can slim calves... right? 👯👯👯




~10 December 2014~
A sudden desire to drink hot chocolate now.




~11 December 2014~
I attended a course called Communicating towards Effective Relationships through Transactional Analysis by Dr Jessica Leong and it is the BEST course I've ever attended! I've picked out lots of skills for life and would try to internalize them. Throughout the course, I kept thinking that if everyone attended this course, the world would be a much happier place. Additional goodies include a Transactional Analysis 101 certificate and Dr Leong's creative name card which she calls it the stress card. For my public sector friends, this CSC course is really hot and I didn't know how difficult it is to snag a place until I spoke to some of the people there. Do check out the CSC website for details.




~13 December 2014~
Here at the Esplanade for Dim Sum Dollies The History of Singapore Part 2. I've always loved to watch satirical plays of my beloved country Singapore.




~14 December 2014~
So GPC can be "cured" with at least 7 hours of sleep consecutively for 2 days on top of no contact lens for days and weeks. 😎 No uncomfortable bumpy feeling when I blink today. Yay! 😝 This MUST continue till the festive season is over coz the bimbo in me wanna wear pretty grey lens! 👀




~17 December 2014~
Eagerly looking forward to the day when our department is to be declared GREEN ZONE with my iPhone 6 in chio chio gold!!! Disregard my past comments on how iPhone 6 without chamfered edges is ugly coz the chio gold outweighs everything.
❤
Now I'm on par with all my colleagues who have since bought their 6, S5, G3 and what nots and waiting together in bated anticipation for the GREEN light.
❤
Thank you to my father-in-law for enduring the 4-hour wait to help me get this and to settle all the procedures while I was at work!
❤




~18 December 2014~
We haven't done a bauble shot for years!!! And once we found the "perfect" reflective ones, we went trigger happy and happy and happy...

~19 December 2014~
Dear followers,
Thank you for all your love and support. 😘 I've got 178 fewer followers from about 3700 followers after the Instagram clean up of spam and fake accounts. I see some accounts having lesser followers by the hundreds, thousands, few ten and hundred thousands and even read news about famous accounts losing followers by the millions. With such a small percentage of decrease, I'm really happy that I've got so many true followers like all of you here!
I appreciate the likes and comments from every single one of you. For a platform like Instagram where everything is all instant, I particularly enjoy the 2-way exchanges all over the world with some of you who really seek to connect. I would also try to reply your comments, visit your pages and return likes/comments as and when during pockets of free time.
Thank you once more for following and have a gorgeous weekend ahead! ❤️ Jo

~20 December 2014~
I was packing some gifts when all of a sudden, the tiny "decorations" spilled across the floor. Argh!!! What a nifty little invention scotch tapes are!

~20 December 2014~
Had a snowman gingerbread cupcake for tea today!

~21 December 2014~
Sunday dinner at Prego coz Hubby was craving for authentic Italian pasta. Love the bread spread the most!

~24 December 2014~
2 Hello Kitties in the house! 🐱🐱 It's always nice working with you, Lynette, whether for work or for play! What a great department Christmas party coz of our lovely host with a lovely home and the lovely OEDian spirit and warmth, all of which liven up the Christmas spirit on Christmas Eve. Still waiting for the department wefie to post on Instagram! Hahaha.

~24 December 2014~
A department wefie with our gifts!

~24 December 2014~
Overdue DIY Christmas nails. Painted for days but only remembered to snap a pic now. First time using a real winter shade for the Christmas season topped with glitters. The hubz said that's the gun metal colour which he wants for a car. Ok so Essence "Luxury Secret" shade is actually "Gun Metal".

~25 December 2014~
tête-à-tête with the hubby just now.
❤️ Kh: Deardear, you know what's Pandora or not?
❤️ Jo: Of course la. That overhype charm bracelet that so many girls like but I don't... Once you get one, you're opening a Pandora's box of the evils of spending money on charms for every occasion... A simple one can easily cost $400... How can you not know what's Pandora? You're so lucky I'm not into it...
❤️ [I continued yakking away about how I'm not into the stupid Pandora craze and how I don't find their bracelets and charms to my liking.
Kh's expression changed from 😃😄😅 to 😁😳😐😕 as he heard me yak on.]
❤️ Kh: But if somebody gives you a Pandora, you will still wear it, right?
❤️ Then he took out a Pandora's paper bag and said, "Merry Christmas!"
❤️ My expression was 😶😶😶😶😶
❤️ So dear people who know me, I'm an unwilling Pandora girl now.
❤️ Disclaimer: This post isn't meant to offend any Pandora fan. 😁
View full 15-sec video here.




~25 December 2014~

Unwrapped all the Christmas presents thus far. 😍 This must be the first time I opened my presents during the wee hours of Christmas Day 🎄 rather than on Boxing Day 🎁. I cant afford to do so this Boxing Day this year coz there's work, another group of favorite people to meet and luggage to pack all on the same day. 

Top L and all R: 

Presents from work. I carried such a big bag home from work the previous day that my hubby asked, "Wow! What did you buy?" When I told him these are presents from my colleagues, he was shocked. "What??? Just from your colleagues... So big bag? So good..." 

Bottom L:

Presents from good frenz whom I've met up so far. I love them all-- frenz and gifts and notes.

~25 December 2014~
We went down to change the Pandora bracelet to the smallest size which affected how the charms looked so we changed some of the charms too to fit everything symmetrically and I feel that this bracelet is more like my style now. You made me an unwilling Pandora girl but it would slowly grow on me so thank you hubby! 😘 😘😘




~25 December 2014~
Christmas dinner at Alkaff Mansion Ristorante.




~26 December 2014~
Finally the F4 reunites as FOUR!!! It has been 1 year since it was the FOUR of us. And such telepathy to be dressed in shades of pink and red.




~27 December 2014~
Bye bye Singapore! Off to Vietnam, Hanoi!




~28 December 2014~
We are finally going to explore all the museums today! I reached Hanoi city yesterday with a bad bout of diarrhoea and nausea without even eating any Vietnamese food. After a whole day of sleeping, I hope everything is well and good! What a bad start to the trip.




~28 December 2014~
"Cha ca La Vong is listed as one of the top 100 things you gotta try before you die by many cuisine experts. It is exquisitely grilled fish served with bún, peanut, green onions, dills and shrimp paste." We are at the most authentic restaurant serving this dish. This dish isn't too bad but I think I could die without trying it. The perils when things are overrated.




~28 December 2014~
We saw at least 5 couples taking their wedding photoshoot at Ho Hoan Kiem Lake so we decided to photobomb one of the couple's pic with this.




~30 December 2014~
Latergram now while there's some reception. Beautiful sunset at Halong Bay yesterday evening.




~31 December 2014~
On a bamboo boat to visit a fishing village. Reception is intermittent in the Halong and Baitulong Bay areas. Happy NYE to all!





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[This is a scheduled post.]