1. Maneki Neko, 2. the outfits they were born to wear, 3. This is my desk., 4. Drunken dolly party

Hello there Sugarplums! How was this past week? Hope it was fabulous! If it was not -  well then let’s work together to make THIS week better & one not to forget ok?? … On to the ideas!

• Start saving up for something (really expensive) that you like -Start saving up a little each week (like $15 dollars or 1% of your weekly pay, if you want to save up a good amount of money fast!) & set a time frame (for example, saving up until Xmas day!) and in the end of the time period, blow the money over something extra expensive that you have been craving for!! Me?? I’d get something like a L.A.M.B watch or a really rare Tokidoki bag ! What would you guys get?
• Sing your heat out at a Karaoke bar - Karaoke bars are pure fun! Who wouldn’t enjoy rapping to their favourite song eh? Last time my workmates headed to one i couldn’t go (urgh. exams!!) and regretted it A few weeks ago i was thrilled to find an exclusive invite to check out LuckyVoice! I used the invite this weekend & oh gosh, it’s so much fun! It turned my pc into a professional & personal karaoke machine xD! They got all the famous songs & if they haven’t got your favourite, you can always request it!! Perfect for us people who love to sing but hate to do it infront of strangers eh?? Hmmmm this Luckyvoice’s is going to be a must in the next house party (or when feeling a bit down! Crank up the volume & SING baby!)
• Decorate your office desk- If you’re allowed … why not??!! Spice up your work cubicle with a super cute mousemat, a cute mascot near your monitor or tinsel it up! I’m still working on mine! I’ve sticked small strawberries on my TFT monitor, got my super cute lucky furball, hello kitty mousemat & hello kitty strawberry calendar! Cuteness please!
• Write a Haiku - Feeling inspired to write something? Was your day stressful? Was it really fun? Does your neighbour annoy you or is the DSL too slow today?? Write it in a Haiku ! You can check out some short tips here & here. Or else head off to the Haiku Generator & see what it gets at you ! here’s what i got from it:

  plum drizzles, fumbling
  dragonfly intoxicates
  ripple forgetting

The following are suggestions by the lovely Angelica

1. Make a three course dinner. Eat it alone or invite someone else for a fabulous dinner.
2. Bring a nice book and a picnic basket to your favourite park/beach/wherever.
3. Gather a couple of friends for a drink night. Everyone brings different kinds of alcohol and then you make all kinds of fancy drinks.

Got any suggestions of your own to be included for the next 4BW (same time, next week!)? I would love to hear from you!! Each idea of course will be credited! Send your brightest most glittering ideas through the usual contact form!
So, what are your super plans this week??

 Plugs:  Larissa, kei, krisel, Soph, afef, alex, Angelica, Panda, Laura, Natalie,

Are there any morning persons out there? i’d LOVE it if you’d share your mystical secret with all of us: just how do you do it!! I’ve been trying to become more of a morning person myself &, even though i’ve seen a HEAP LOAD of improvement, we’re still not there (i’ve even added it as a goal on my 43things account in order to motivate myself better hahahahaha!) … you REALLY don’t want to wake by my side in the morning, i’m such an ill nightmare lol i used to barely speak to anyone (or else just mumble totally incoherent stuff), rush and get ready, then head out screaming “BYE! See you later” at the door … such a routine spells nothing bad a bad mood in the morning

Here’s a little research i did for myself to help me get over my morning grouchiness get a bit better:

• Start taking a more positive approach, which is possibly, the hardest thing to do. Just try not to think negatively in the morning an instead of wailing “omg. it’s morning again noooo!” try and think “Hurray it’s morning! Wonder what the day has in store for me?”
• Try doing Morning Yoga - This video by Tara Stiles from IYogaLife (love the website!) shows some easy exercises that make help you kick start the day with more energy than ever!!
• Morning Sports - How about going jogging or for a brisk walk right before breakfast? Helps you wake up in a more fun and relaxing way!
• Waking up a bit more earlier - so as to take things in a much more slower pace even 15 mins make a huuuuge difference in the morning!
• Getting a good night’s sleep - Being well rested helps to boost energy better and makes mornings a bit easier, no?

Here are some other great articles and links that can further provide you guys with amazing tips!

• Morning Exercises from the ExerciseTV website
• The ‘Be a Morning Person‘ thread over at 43things - further tips and suggestions from the awesome members!
• The Ehow & the Wikihow websites show you stressed out students how to have a great morning routine before school!
• Want to wake up in the morning feeling more refreshed & energetic?? Dumb Little Man website to the rescue!!
• For hectic parents the Happiness-Project site might just have the answer to all your morning headaches for getting the kiddies up and ready!
• This Open Loops’s website article is also a goldmine for some really great morning tips!

So, wake up to a brighter morning, sleepy head!

 Plugs:  emilia, Cynthia, Wyther, Baohan, Pat, afef, Allison,

1. Rainbow in my closet, 2. Ice Cream Cones!, 3. Happy on the beach!, 4. Old photographs

Hello there Sugarplum! Hope last week was fabulous! If it wasn’t, let’s make a promise to make the most out of this week!!!! Here are some ideas on what you can do this week to make it special, blog worthy & one to remember!

• Dress up in rainbow fashion! - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Purple!! Kickstart your week wearing your favourite red accessories and go through one colour each day until arriving to brilliant purples on Sunday!!
• Take a week off work and spend it at the beach! - Summer = fun, sun & sea! (Make sure you protect yourself well from the sun!!). And if you don’t want to take a week off work, then you can always head to the beach after office hours!
• Eat 7 different Icecreams - Yumm!! Please pass me a scoop of Rum & Raisin! Ehehehe i feel a sugar rush coming over!
• Dig out Photo Albums - This is one of my favourite things to do Brings back so much nostalgia! And it’s always fun to see your our grandparents, parents, and family members were when they were (much ) younger! (don’t forget the occasional cringe at their fashion sense back then!! Teeheehee!)
• Blog everyday - If you don’t want to fill out your blog with your “thoughts and nonsense” you can always get a Livejournal for friends only! It’s always so refreshing to read old blogs a year from now I still have a copy of my very old blogs from 4 years ago! It’s so brilliant reading how much you’ve really grown and evolved as a person, don’t you think??

Anyone got any suggestions to be included for the next 4BW (same time, next week!)? I would love to hear from you!! Each idea of course will be credited! Send your brightest most glittering ideas through the usual contact form!

So, what are you doing this week to make it shine and sparkle??

 Plugs:  Baohan, Tuesday, afef, Justin, Blanca, Daniela, Lexie, Angelica, Wyther, tiniwini, RiN, Jennifer, Shaina, mina, Luana,

If you’ve got a very important occasion such as the school prom, wedding or another event that you want to look your best at, us girls always end up hunting high and low for the perfect dress, shoes and accessories to go with it. We want to look PERFECT & FABULOUS!

That’s why you got to love this website it’s called Rissy Roo’s & it’s got the cuuutest and most fabulous selection of prom dresses. EVER! Honestly, no matter what your taste (or size!) is - you’re bound to fall in love with one of their GORGEOUS dresses! I really got lost scrolling through their online catalogue. They have HUNDREDS of dresses!! I finally made up my mind who my favourite design style is -the Atelier Alyce collection! The designs are way too gorgeous! If i had a prom, i would DEFINATELY buy my dress from this amazingly talented designer

But the Rissy Roo’s website is not only useful for prom divas and queen-to-bee’s! The website’s also a real blessing for bride to be’s planning out their perfect wedding! The website offers a really vast selection of Bridesmaid dresses as well - now your dream of having everyone wearing the same colours can come true (& with making everyone happy! Or at least, your bridesmaid will be happy with her dress for sure!!)

Hey, don’t forget that after you pick up your dress, it’s a MUST to get great looking accessories like jewellery, bag and shoes!! Don’t know where to get them from?? Why, you can also get the perfect complimenting match on the Rissy Roo’s website of course!! Who would’ve thought that you could get the PERFECT outfit from the same website, huh?

 Plugs: 

Thankyou everyone for the mind blowing comments & emails you sent in about the new layout ! I’m super happy everyone liked it! I’ve had a few of you out there questioning me how i get my inspiration on making a new layout. So here I am today! Here are some quick points on how to make a faboulous personal layout for your blog, website, or myspace, my way!

Hope these super simple steps will make you guys out there open up your graphics software and whip up the most beautiful layouts ever! I would love to see the results!

Think about the colourscheme: This is always my starting point!! Think about what your favourite colours are. Which colours are you most comfortable with? … I find the Colour Lovers website absolutely super useful for this purpose! The colour templates there just immediately inspire me to create! Remember to keep in mind not to use super flashy colours that might cause an eyestrain to the users - so no bright neon green text on white backgrounds please! If you’re going for a quick easy layout or you’re in a hurry, then go for a two colour scheme. Black and White, Black and Red, Black and purple, White and Blue, White and Grey - you name it!!

Make Diagrams: Make a sketch on how everything will be positioned on your layout. Just visualise your layout already online - imagine how it will look on your browser. Clearly mark all the headings, where the search features will be, how much space will the main header take and where the menus will be situated … etc. It will really boost and reduce your coding time (which delights me, i think the coding is somewhat the most boring! Shhh!)!!

The Main Image header: The most fun part out of creating a new layout, for me, is most definitely the creation of the header!! I love to use either mind mapping software or head on to Wordle to make all my ideas visual & clear infront of me when i’m brainstorming! If you have no inspiration at all (how could you??!! ) on how this new header image can be, here’s a quick idea: open either the mind map software or wordle and think about yourself - then ask these questions:

1. What are your hobbies?
2. What do you associate yourself with?
3. What’s your favourite fashion genre?
4. What music do you like listening to?
5. What are your favourite shapes (hearts, stars etc)?
6. Do you like animals?
7. What do you inspire to be when you get older?
8. What makes you happy?

Write them off in your application (Wordle / mind map) & there you have it! Plenty of ideas on what to make your layout about!! Remember the colour scheme you chose in the beginning? Use those colours to help you sift through the images you’re going to be using!

Here’s what my Wordle brain storm would look like:

The Background: If you’re going for a super cluttered layout (my favourite!!) try and make your background a much more subtle. If on the other hand you have just one image in your header, then i suggest you make your background super decorated - but remember not to make the background stand out more than the actual main header image! It would look just wrong! Use the darkest or lightest colour in the original colour scheme chosen as your background for the best results!

What steps do you usually take to make a new website layout? Where or from who do you usually your inspiration from?

 Plugs:  Angelica, Ravencroft, Georgina, Amber, Leslie, Shaina, Larissa, afef, Claudia, Amarilys, Ocean, Euri, Wyther, Clint,

Remember that post named Upcoming Site Plans this Summer that i posted almost exactly 2 months ago? Well, finally i got off my procrastination and actually created a new layout! It was mighty quick to do as well … it took me less than 4 hours! Good thing i was home sick and my sister her a friend over - so as not to disturb them i stayed in the kitchen and played around in photoshop & … here it is!
Unfortunately, I have no clue what to name this layout. I just call it Graffiti. But it’s such a vague name & i quite frankly do not like it … Anyone can illuminate me on any good names??

The layout is still about 95% done. But i just COULDN’T wait to upload it!! Here’s what’s missing:

• The Similar Reads plugin on the comments page
• The Geo plugin on the comments page (you know, the one which shows the flag and the browser & os you guys use! i think that’s mighty cute!)
• Heck, a general beautification of the comments page
• Shrinking of the sidebar menu
• Useful shortcuts right under the main image
• New Sig under Posts
• A makeover for the affiliates listing (now everyone will be on the front page! i promiseee!!)
• A decent tag plugin … the other one i had just sucked and crashed my wordpress from time to time
• I DESPERATELY neeeeedddd to speed up my wordpress. It’s sooooo slowwwwww!!

hopefully all will be done really soon!! I also have a nice list of fresh plugins to install to make the site even better for us lazy people!!

& Btw that girl in the layout with the white tie … hehehehe. Yes … it’s me!! (here i thank my sister who wanted me to credit her for the time she took to photograph me on sunday morning while she was practically dying of sleep!! THANKYOU Robz!)

Sooo …. what do you all think of the new layout??

 Plugs:  kate, Marieke, Daniela, Jasmine, Amarilys, Larissa, Sylv, Ravencroft, afef, ale, Baohan, Chloe, Garu, Joan, Georgina, Dain, Liza, RiN, Hilde, Sese, Gillian, Linda, Faith, Jakki, Lisa, Trypp, Vickii, Mallory,