Okay, so this is the day to declare your undying love for each other. Swoon all you want but it’s gonna cost ya 
. Well, I’m past the roses and dinners. Valentine’s is strictly for the bees.
But here’s what I got! Raine drew this adorable little heart for me because she lurves her mama 
. Darling, ain’t it?
Happy Valentine’s Day, or unValentine’s Day depending on how you feel about this day. And to those who’ve been reading and commenting here, I love you guys 
!
I gotta tell you, I love, love, love Vans shoes. We have countless pairs of Vans and the girls love every single pair of them. The colors and designs are so upbeat they’ll brighten up your day. These are my personal heart-shaped favorites, so adorable on a girl’s feet on Valentine’s or indeed any day.
Star Heart Stripes Slip-On, Girls
Shop the I Heart Vans Collection and receive free shipping on orders of $100 or more
. Be sure to enter the coupon code – FREE100 – at checkout. Offer ends February 14, 2012.
Be&D Turnlock Flap Ipad Case – Canvas (Lemongrass)
Love, love, love this color and design.
Budd Leather Small Lizard Calf Cell Phone Wristlet
Very cute and practical. Perfect for the pink lover.
cinda b eTablet Cover (Roundabout Red)
Very striking colors.
Lodis Vegas SmartPhone Case (Vegas Lime)
This is my absolute favorite. Thinking of getting one for my new iPhone 4S.
Lodis Siren E-Reader Envelope (Siren Ruby)
Fits the Kindle, Kobo, nook, Sony Reader and select other e-readers and tablets. Doubles as a sleek envelope clutch too.
For a limited time only, save on cases for iPad, Kindle and Kindle Fire.
Like I always say, one can never have too many bags. Unless we were born with 8 arms, we simply cannot do without bags. The more, the merrier!
Make Love Not Trash Handbag Fly Away Tote (Natural)
Vaguely reminiscent of Anya Hindmarch’s “I’m Not a Plastic Bag” but this one says so much more.
Miquelrius Backpack Agatha Ruiz de la Prada Knapsack (Heart Heart Pin)
The one many tweens would be happy to have hanging off their backs.
Ashley M Handbag Marilyn Monroe Large Heart Bag with Chain Straps (Red)
For the vintage lover in all of us.
If you need more gift ideas for Valentine’s, check out this space.
From as far back as I can remember, the first day of Chinese New Year has always been a vegetarian day for us. The whole idea of going vegetarian is to start the new year by abstaining from killing/harming any living beings in accordance with the 5 Precepts of the Buddha’s teachings.
My grandmother would be up at the crack of dawn to prepare a big (and I mean, huge) bowl of a mixed vegetable and mushroom stirfry. This is the staple dish eaten over rice every single year, even now, and also a regular dish on other vegetarian days of the year.
My kids never really liked this dish. But they’ve been very good about it and have been eating it year in, year out without complaints. Until this year, that is.
Recently, I replicated Chili’s classic nachos at home and it was such a hit that my girls have been calling for an encore. So this year in lieu of that veggie stirfry my girls so dread, we had homemade nachos which are as colorful and glam as disney hotels?
The good thing about making these nachos at home is that we can have, like Skye happily announces, unlimited lettuce, salsa and sour cream unlike at the restaurant where we have to split hairs over the small portions of toppings. Their nacho slices are considerably larger than ours so we have to make a little go a long way.
For my nachos, I use cheddar and mozzarella but you can pretty much use any cheese you like. Bake till lightly golden, and top with sour cream, shredded lettuce and homemade salsa.
So so delicious and so so glamorous you barely even notice it’s vegetarian. I mean, look at this, there’s just no way!
Okay, so our reunion dinner is done for another year… and just in case you’re wondering what we ate, well, I’ll let the picture do the talking.
Scrumptiously moist roast turkey with brown gravy, roasted carrots and potatoes, a simple salad of lettuce and mandarins and red wine
Simple and refreshingly different. Our ancestors are no doubt frowning down on our bold deviation from tradition going, where the heck is the food with auspicious names y’all? With all due respect, somewhere along the line, someone must’ve been born with a non-conformist chromosome!
Long story short, my girls loved our Christmas turkey so much they got me to go out the week after Christmas to grab another frozen turkey for the reunion. Which is a very simple affair as there’s just us chickens at our dining table at home.
For the next 15 days, we’ll be avoiding Chinese restaurants like the plague, unless we get invited out and someone else is footing the bill. A girl friend of mine started this tradition and I must say it’s a darned good one. If you can have Chinese on any given day of the year, why pay double or triple to eat half the regular portion of the same, probably poorer quality food with souped-up auspicious names? Makes no sense.
On that note, here’s to good food, good health and a fantastic year of the water dragon .
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