Confessions of a newlywed

Theres no better feeling than embarking on a adventure. Its exciting, nerve-wrecking and alot of anticipation.

What better than a 'love adventure'?

Just months before I got married, alot of people came to tell me about changing from a dating relationship to a marriage. Mind you, alot of the comments were harsh. It was scarey. They told me my husband is bound to change. They told me our relationship would change.

For sure I knew things would change. I dont expect stepping into a new phase of life, committing myself to another without any changes. But I seriously didnt think it would be that bad. I was told all these stories about bad behaving husbands and mistreated wives. ...Surely, logically speaking, ... it just cant simply happen overnight like that right?

Then I realised it was a obstacle. These people may have meant well for me, maybe they were looking out for me or simply maybe there were other reasons. But for me to live in that constant state of mind will just put my marriage in jeopardy. Why should I scare myself of things that may not come? I should have enough trust in the man I chose for this new journey. I should be confident in handling our relationship.

..So we got married. ..and boy am I glad to report that THINGS ARE GOOD! Its not scarey. Its not awful. Infact, once I got married, I recevied all these well wishes and people telling me marriage is wonderful! I dont know what the future holds, (and i really dont want to jinx myself) but I do know as long as both my husband and I have the heart to work things out, things cant go that bad.

So heres what us newlyweds do:

-We buy everything x 2. ie. two new tooth brushes, two lunch boxes

-We prepare everything x 2. ie. two breakfasts, two lunches, two drinks

-We have childish behaviour- we give each other funny names, play hide and seek, sing weird songs and laugh till we gasp for air.

-We jokingly fight for bedspace. What happened to having my own bed where I can literally swim and wave or kick in?

-We want to buy ear plugs so we dont hear each other snoring.

-And when we're not snoring, we cuddle. :)

-We love waking up and telling each other to go to the toilet first just so theres extra snooze time. [Now theres full reason to blame it on someone else. tee..hee...]

-We share alot more time together and talk more too.

See..all aint that bad right?

Someone make my face smooth!

Ahh..whats a girl without beauty and fashion? Its akin to guys and cars. They just naturally go together.

Over a year ago my hubby brought back some samples from a Singaporean skincare group specialising in problem skin. ..Sad to say, not only do I have to worry about wrinkles appearing, but I still get pimples too. Pimples, scars and wrinkles?..Not a good look.

Anyway, before I make this sound like a letter to a beauty editor, the point is...I got totally hooked to the Dr Brandt products and started looking for them online. ...And then there is Mecca! Oooh heaven. From Kiehls to Stila..all the lotions and potions. I spent hours on their site and obviously didnt leave empty handed.

I blame all of this on the husband though..I mean, he came back with the samples right?

Well, today I received a email from the husband again. The title said 'Your Mecca Catalogue'. Ooohh hubby, I do love you..seriously! lol.

Anyway...thought I'd share the catalogue with you all cos I find it resourceful. You can browse here or can download it from their website too. For all the ones living in Aust..theres beauty experts coming from New York & Hollywood for Nars, Stila and Prescriptives @ March & April. Even I'm thinking of booking myself in!

Building a House: Week 22

I've got ground!

For those who've been following me since my previous blog, you'll know that hubby and I are building a small cosy house. We started quite a few months ago, but have been held back terribly by bad weather.

Anyway..last week we finally had our floor cast!! By Saturday they were doing more site measurements for the columns and walls. Cool!

I stood there thinking where my couch will be, how my large doors will ventilate the room, how my study room will have all my craft things and how my kitchen should be suffice for all the pots and pans. Ahhh...

Then I thought about the toilets I have to clean and the shelves I have to wipe. Bleh..

Chocolate Milk Cupcakes

I've tried various recipes for chocolate cupcakes. Some have been too dry, some too hard and some just haven't got the right taste. I've FINALLY gotten a keeper. I adapted it from Australian Women's Weekly : Cupcakes, Cheesecakes & Cookies book. Divine!

I've already made it twice within one week 'cos it's been a huge hit. I did one batch with Belgian Chocolate and another with Milk Chocolates. Both were so addictive.

Chocolate Milk Cupcakes

(Makes approx. 14-16 Medium Sized cupcakes)

Ingredients

250g Softened Butter

1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar

160g Milk Cooking Chocolate OR Belgium Cooking Chocolate (Or Substitute Cooking Chocolate of your Choice)

1 Cup Milk

1 Cup Plain Flour

1 Teaspoon Sodium Bicarbonate

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Essence

2 Eggs

1. Heat fan forced oven at 150 celcius for fan-forced oven or 170 celcius for conventional oven.

2. In a small saucepan, melt butter, brown sugar and chocolate. Taking care it does not boil. Pour into medium sized bowl and leave to cool for 15 minutes.

3. Add one cup of milk into chocolate mixture.

4. Sift plain flour and sodium bicarbonate into the mixture and stir well.

5. Finally, add essence, eggs and beat well.

6. Place in oven and back for approximately 30 minutes.

Whilst waiting, you can also make the Chocolate Ganache. I made two variations, both turned out well, but with different textures. The Milk Chocolate Ganache had a thicker consistency whilst the Belgium Chocolate Ganache was slighty runny (Give this a go if you love some chocolate seeping through your cupcakes)

Milk Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

160g Milk Cooking Chocolate

120g thickened Cream

1. In a small pot, bring cream to boil.

2. Gently stir in broken milk cooking chocolates till smooth.

3. Transfer to medium size bowl and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

4. Use a electric beater and beat chocolate mixture to airy consistency.

5. Use spoon/piping bag and top cupcakes with chocolate ganache.

Belgium Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

160g Belgium Cooking Chocolate

1/2 Cup Fresh Milk

1. In a small pot, heat up milk and Belgium Chocolate until it has a smooth consistency and place into a medium size bowl.

2. Chill in refrigerator for 20 mins.

(You can also use steps 3-4 of the Milk Chocolate Ganache if you prefer a 'airy' ganache)

3. Use spoon to decorate cupcakes with ganache.

I have a confession..I couldnt wait for the cupcakes to cool and had a warm cupcake with runny chocolate sauce. It was SO good!

A Newlywed's Perspective

I've been married for one month now. In terms of duration, its really not much time at all. But things are finally starting to settle down: guests have all left, I'm back at work, learnt to share my bedspace and I'm starting to comprehend the mechanics of a marriage.

A friend told me, marriage is way better than dating 'cos you're always with your best friend. My sentiments exactly. Its nice waking up next to someone u love too. But it also takes work..

Actually my boss just gave me a copy of 'Men are from Mars & Women are from Venus' ..but I haven't gotten around to it- he told me marriage is work and commitment..and it's totally true.:) He also told me even he found the book resourceful- after several years of marriage.

We had our first [weddi-monthiversary]. -We have a tendancy to give funny names to things now. Part of newlywed novelty I guess.

If you read one of my previous blogs..you'll realise I have the urge for surprises. And since Valentines surprises didn't go that well, why not try again right.

So I packed him lunch (another wifey/newlywed thing I love at the moment:)) and placed a note in it. I wrapped it with plastic, crossed my fingers really hard and hoped he wont microwave the plastic and contaminate himself.

Then I used the same trick...the one where i laid things on the bed ..and he was clever enough to notice it this time!! I made a card, surrounded it with Hersheys kisses and some red-punched confetti-I didnt hide in the wardrobe anymore..just incase that caught too much of his attention. Instead I sat there and waited patiently like a kid waiting for Christmas.

I'm Craving...

I'm craving for the most unhealthy stuff right now...heres a bit of eye-candy so I can lure you in with me!

Some oily-non-healthy crispy on-the-outside and juicy on the inside fish and chips. [Think I've been craving it since my friend told me she's making it for dinner] Cicerellos anyone?

A bowl of hot, thick Taiwanese beef noodle soup with handmade noodles...

A plate of tasty eggs benedict served with warm hollandaise sauce..

Lets all get fat together!

* The above pictures and photos have been sourced respectively from:

Fish & Chips: Exclusively Food

Beef Noodle: Eat Drink & Be Merry

Eggs Benedict: Delia Online

..love these sites.

Life's Full of surprises.

..and mishaps!

I had it all planned.. I'd been lying to my husband the whole week. Everyday after work I escaped to my mum's telling him I was there to clean up and stuff. It worked...until the day before valentines.

..His sms read [ I know what you've been up to ]. I ignored it..and went along with my plans.

I made the card and some Belgium chocolates..thinking 'I bet you wouldnt figure this one out'

[1st anti-surprise]
On Valentines eve I careful placed the box of chocolates on the bed, shone the bed light on it [thinking 'you cant miss this one'] and hid in my wardrobe. My husband came in..and started looking for me. He searched high and low, behind the bed, below the bed, behind the curtains, then opened the wardrobe to find me standing inside. lol. He didnt notice the chocolate box till much later [grrr]



[2nd anti-surprise]
Nevermind I thought..I had hid a valentines card in his laptop so that he would see it first thing when he went to work. This one didnt work either. When he opened his laptop, his boss came into his room and he was more eager to hide the card than to be surprised. [he later accidentally left it in the office. more grrr. ]



[3rd anti-surprise]
Remember how i had a random thought and said that it was funny seeing all the guys fleeing to the florist? Well, hubby decided he'd confess he was one of them after reading my statement. Anyhow.. he woke up early the next morning to go to the florist only to find they forgot about his order. He then brought back a awkward looking bouquet which the florist had instantly put together by taking flowers out of other bouquets. [dun think he'll go to this florist anymore].

So the only surprise that did work was a card he left on the dressing table. I saw it first thing when I woke up. Sweet.


Its funny thinking about all the efforts we put into 'surprising' one another..and they all ...err...sucked. Guess its part of the novelty of being husband and wife..

Nevertheless, we had a wonderful weekend...and had a good laugh about everything. I love surprises!

Hello world.

Hi there. Welcome to Mocha Lattes.

I lead a loving simple life with a wonderful husband and a doting family. I love anything creative: from crafts to cooking. I use to blog in Pillow Talks..you can read more about me there.

I have fond memories of great friends sitting around, just talking about everything and anything in life. Fortunately, I still have those great friends..but we're all scattered in different parts of the world now. ...But thats what insipred this blog : friends sharing their lives, whether its mundane things or exciting moments.

..I've chosen to share with you and would love to hear from you too.