You know, one of the things I enjoyed most about being a mother to two daughters is shopping for their clothes when they were little. In fact, I have to admit I loved it so much I would apply for a day off work to rush to the sales first thing in the morning. I would sometimes spend half a day just dallying over all the little girls’ clothes.

I would pick different designs and colors, mostly the ones I would wear myself, hehe! These designs below remind me of similar ones I have bought for my girls back then.

BG Beautiful Girls – Girls Sleeveless Jean Set – Love the one-sided ribbon on the sleeve, sash belt and tattered legs. Very funky lemon top!

Soup – Toddler Girls’ Sleeveless Skirt Set – Love the lacey skirt trimmings and graduated bright pink from top to bottom!

Flowers by Zoe – Girls’ Tiered Skirt – Love the shimmery tiers on this one!

Of course, I loved tying up their hair with matching accessories too. Not to mention that shopping has gotten a lot less brokeback, or is it, back-breaking since then and you can always go dig around Bargainchildrensclothing.com for great prices and nice designs like these.

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I’ve always found it easier to shop for boys’ clothing simply because there weren’t that many styles or colors to choose from. But not any more. It seems boys’ clothes have caught up somewhat and are now much more fancy than they used to be.

Extreme Boys’ Winter Jacket – $ 29.90
Retail Price: 60.00 You Save: 30.10

American Widgeon Boys’ Hooded Polar Fleece Lined Anorak Jacket – $ 29.90
Retail Price: 76.00 You Save: 46.10

Private Label Boys’ Hooded Winter Jacket – $ 29.90
Retail Price: 60.00 You Save: 30.10

Bargainchildrensclothing.com has lots of really nice children’s clothing at bargain prices. Just take a look at how much you save off regular prices. These will never go out of fashion so you can always hand them down to the younger ones.

Okay, so we have a wedding to go to this weekend. The girls and I have been through our closets and it’s official! We have “nothing to wear”!! Well, okay, we do have closets jammed with clothes but we can’t wear the same thing twice, can we now? I mean everyone’s seen it before !!

So we totally need some new dresses for the dinner reception.We’ve spent hours at the mall this past weekend, trying on stuff and trying on stuff. And finally when Raine found her criss-cross spaghetti top little black dress, we collectively let out a huge sigh of relief!

And then we were off again to help Skye pick out her little black dress! We were browsing at this store when I turned to Skye and asked, “See anything nice?” just as we happened to be passing by this door. Her response was “Yeah, nice font!”

If you need something nice and funky for baby and don’t want to spend a lot, be sure to check out the incredible $5 Baby Blowout Sale.

pink zany receiving blanket $20.00 – now only $5.00

There’s lots to choose from: kimono sets, hats, receiving blankets and more. What I really love about their stuff is their funky mismatched colors which will surely brighten up any day and bring a smile just to see the play of colors! Offer ends February 28, 2010.

If you read the December 2009 issue of the OPRAH Magazine, you’ll notice this Sondra Roberts Satin Flower Holiday Bag was featured in there. If you know me, you’ll know I love unusual handbags… what I wouldn’t do to get my hands on this one . Do you like it? What kind of bags do you like?

Click on picture for details about this bag.

You’d think that on weekends, I would be spared the annoying sound of my alarm clock. Well, I was… because I forgot to set it last night and I almost overslept this morning and woke up with a start.

Steev had to be at the driving school by 8:45am (yes, again!) but luckily I didn’t have to drive him to last week’s location. Raine had a movie date at the mall with her girl friends from school at 11:00am. Since everyone was going to be out, I thought Skye and I could hang out at the mall for lunch after seeing Raine off.

And of course, we just had to pick the last shopping weekend before Chinese New Year, to be at the mall. Well, I may be all done with my CNY shopping but apparently the rest of the world isn’t.

The basement parking was full within an hour of the mall opening and there must’ve been 100 other cars circling around like vultures trying to snag a spot. Admittedly I’m not a very good vulture so after half an hour, I decided it was time to call it quits, drop Raine off, pay a dollar’s parking for not parking and leave with my tail between my legs.

Skye and I then went to pick up some fast food before picking Steev up for lunch. He doesn’t quite relish eating at the dirty canteen near the driving school so he was going to have lunch at home and then have me drive him back out to finish the afternoon session of his driving course .

Now I’m home with a splitting headache from the mercilessly hot sun and trying to get a bit of work done on my computer before my cell phone starts ringing again for my taxi service. In an hour, I’ll be rushing out of here to pick up both Raine and Steev, and then go play vulture – again – at the grocery store.

Don’t you just envy my colorful Sunday? Please say you do.

In the continuing saga of our beach vacation in Penang, we would’ve stayed in all day at the Hard Rock Hotel if we didn’t have to go look for food. The hotel is really nice, the rooms are freakin’ expensive but the food is nowhere near 5-star standard .

So we pretty much had to drive 45 minutes into town every day in search of better food. Most of the beach restaurants are too touristy and aren’t open during the day anyways.

One day, we went to Gurney Plaza which is all decked up for the season but is sadly lacking shoppers unlike our malls here in the city which are so packed you can hardly walk 2 feet before bumping into a wall of people.

At any rate, we couldn’t stay for long because the air-conditioning was pitifully lacking and I was starting to develop a headache. Maybe that’s why it’s so empty – everyone’s going “not today, dear, I have a headache”!

I still prefer Queen’s Bay Mall which is so cool – in terms of air-conditioning and location. Right across from the mall is an esplanade with palm trees and a serene stretch of sea with a small island in full view. Simply breathtaking!

Such a shame we didn’t get to spend some time at the esplanade as it was a hot afternoon and if you know me, I’m always trying to run from the sun. No, I don’t want a tan, thanks!

Unlike most folks, we didn’t make a beeline for the local street food which Penang is famous for. I love street food, my kids don’t like it much, and we have a common dislike for yucky food places .

The thing I love most about Penang are the old, historical buildings and architectural styles. Glad we drove around and saw some of those sights. Wish we could’ve stayed longer. We definitely must go back soon .

Scroll down to previous 2 posts for more photos of Day 1 and Day 2 of our beach vacation.

I ran into an ex-co-worker at a wedding over the weekend. I hate to say it but she’s still carrying around that same beaten backpack since the day she adopted her daughter four years ago. That orange backpack has simply GOT to go! I don’t understand why she’d carry such a hideous bag with her dinner dress when there are so many prettier, trendier diaper bags out there.

Oioi Navy Moroccan Sand Hobo

This Moroccan tile print nylon canvas is a timeless classic and can be used as a regular tote or a sports bag even. It’s got lots of pockets for drinks, personal items, wet wipes, a large padded micro fiber change mat, and even an insulated bottle holder that keeps well for 2 hours.

JuJuBe WANNABE in Perky Perennials

For someone like her who likes backpacks, this convertible diaper bag has removable backpack straps that can be easily tucked away, and lots of roomy pockets and dividers to keep everything organized. Wait, there’s even a sand trap where you can simply open the zipper, shake the sand out without unloading the bag and zip it back up again. Easy! So don’t leave for the beach without this and your kids !

Oioi Dark Chocolate/Silver Metallic Eyelet Tote

Just the thing for slightly more formal functions. This poly canvas tote with faux silver leather trim and metal eyelet detail looks very presentable. No one would even notice it’s a diaper bag !