Going to the beach but frankly, who wants to be seen in last summer’s swimwear? Not when this cute little number is now so affordable.

Deux FM Lulu String Bikini $96 $68

With this bikini, you’re not only saving money, you’re saving the Earth. Made of recycled soy linen and an organic cotton blend with a small amount of spandex for fit, it’s cute, comfortable and durable for all summer outdoor activities. You get a free eco-friendly bikini pouch with your bikini purchase.

Azuri Ombre Organic Cotton Sarong $225 $49

This 100% organic cotton sarong is perfect for a day at the beach. You can tie it as the waist for the longer, more elegant look, or just under the armpits for a shorter, more sexy look. You can adapt this sarong any number of ways - wear it as a scarf, with a crop top or even use it as a blanket cover for the baby when you travel.

There’s 50 vivid colors to choose from, yes, and they’re all so pretty. Like Hip2bDad says, if you can’t decide, just take all the colors ! Definitely music to my ears! Now go visit Nimli’s Winter Final Sale for 70-75% discounts on a whole host of items for women, kids and babies, and also for your home before they’re all sold out.

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Steev went to the gym with me after we dropped off the girls at school this morning. Turned out to be another family milestone for us.

On the way out of the parking lot, I asked Steev if he would like to drive *startled look*. Okay, I guess we were both equally surprised I asked.

He turned 17 last year but we haven’t done a thing about enrolling him in driving school. Strangely he hasn’t ask and I didn’t push him either. Most of his friends could barely wait till they were 17 and made a dash for their drivers’ licenses the minute they came of age. Not Steev.

Anyhow back to this morning. There’s an empty parking lot at the club which is barely used unless there’s an event. It’s fairly big and shady and there are no cars parked there. So I decided to let Steev have a go. He’s already got quite a bit of experience driving a golf buggy which is pretty similar in that it has 2 pedals.

He says the golf buggy is more difficult to maneuver as it’s smaller, lighter and prone to flipping over. Mine is a 7-seater MPV (minivan) which makes it more stable and easier to steer because of the auto transmission. I didn’t have the heart to remind him, wait till you have to struggle with the stick shift which is what learner drivers will be tested on.

When I look across, I just can’t believe my baby is sitting there in the driver’s seat. I remember the day he was born and I looked at him for the first time, this big bouncy baby. I just had to lean across to the driver’s side and gave him a big hug and kiss!

Anyhow since he’s got like a month’s break, I thought he could use the time for some formal driving lessons. Now to go hunt down a good driving school and a reliable driving instructor.

It’s funny how when we go out shopping for something specific, we almost never seem to find it. Skye has been after a pair of stud earrings that she can keep on all the time.

A couple of years back, she got a pair of gold studs for her birthday. But gold jewelry, real or fake, is not allowed in school so that’s out. In fact, that’s good too. Times are bad, I’d rather be safe than pretty.

Thing is when we set out specifically to find a pair she likes, we always end up going home empty-handed. Very disappointing for her and very tiring for the rest of us !

Last weekend, just when we weren’t really looking, Raine chanced upon these as we girls were loitering (haha, sounds like we’re hoods or something!) around some small stalls at the mall waiting for the guys.

We ended up buying a pair of fishbones, dolphins and apples with blue cores. They’re really delicate and I had a hard time trying not to lose them as I was washing them before allowing the girls to put them on.

I’d say it was. Skye needed a uniform for her Choral Speaking competition… last minute ! I had to rush around trying to loan a uniform from someone, anyone. Thankfully I found a dad with a daughter in F5 who is Skye’s size (tall and thin). I’m baking chicken pies today as a thank-you gift to him for being so kind.

On Wednesday, Skye and her class rode a school bus to another school for the competition. They didn’t win but my baby had quite an adventure when she couldn’t find a seat and was left stumbling for a while as the bus pulled out.

Friday was Sports Day at the girls’ school. Raine spent the morning in the hot sun making fake Starbucks ice-blended coffee for sale. Anyone from Starbucks wants to hire her, she’s already well-trained, very polite and has the sweetest smile !

Saturday, Skye was invited back to her primary school’s prize-giving for her upsr results last year. We all went to cheer for her. The rest of the day was spent at Midvalley. I dropped Steev off to meet his friends and decided to wait for him instead of making 4 trips back and forth to pick him up later.

While waiting, I decided to have my lunch in s-l-o-w motion (since I had so much time to kill), then do my grocery shopping in s-l-o-w motion at Carrefour. Okay, so one minute I’m racing around like a cheetah in heat and the next I’m whiling away my afternoon at the mall like a lazy lioness !

Later I took a walk, in s-l-o-w motion, down the bridge leading to The Gardens. Picked up some avocadoes at Cold Storage! Oh, I also bought Steev’s favorite muruku from the little store at the entrance to the bridge. We arrived home in the evening with my groceries melting in the back of my car !

Sunday, I was off to Tesco bright and early for another round of grocery shopping. Shopping in slow motion on Saturday was hard. I think even my brain went into low gear and I missed a few items I need for this week!

It was raining heavily this morning as the kids were leaving for school. Steev, our macho-macho guy, usually doesn’t care for the hassle of umbrellas if the rain is light.

So happens the only umbrella Hip2bDad had in his car today was a pink one. Steev looked at it in disgust but what choice did he have but to use it to get to class? His classmates cracked up when they saw him.

Steev’s response: “Only real men carry pink umbrellas!!”

We went to the dentist today. I’ve spent the past few days biting my nails in anticipation of. I thought I’d gotten over my fear. Well, actually I have, by a whole lot since my last few visits there with my kids. I’ve had to put up a brave front and hold each of their hands in turn so that sorta took away some of my own fear.

This time, I didn’t need to hold their hands. Our dentist is the gentlest, most soft-spoken person in the whole world and we love her for that. I was in the room merely for moral support. I told them to just hang on to the arms of the chair and pray. They did well, all three of them while I sat in the corner counting down the minutes to my turn. Nyek!

We had our scaling done. Good word, scaling. That shrill scraping sound is enough to send anyone scaling the walls. I sat through it three times today and when it came my turn, I didn’t hear it any more. The throbbing in my head was louder. There was no pain but strangely my knuckles were white from practically ripping the arms out of that poor chair. Could it be a reflex sort of thing, you think ?

I never have any problems shopping with my girls. But then girls are girls. With Steev however, it’s a whole different ball game. He leaves me to pick out the clothes and line them up in front of him for his approval.

You like this? Um, okay.

How about this? No, not really.

Sometimes not even that. He just lets me decide. We buy it and it gets relegated to the back of the closet where it never sees the light of day!

The last time we went shopping, he agreed he was going to pick out his own clothes. Guess what? We go to the first store. He heads to the racks, gives them the once-over, grabs a few things left and right, and heads for the fitting room.

The cute thing is he always wants my opinion. So I hover patiently outside the fitting room waiting for him to try on each piece and show me. Don’t get me wrong. I love doing this. very. much. It makes a mom feel needed, ya know . And I try not to think of the day when his girlfriend will be the one hovering outside the door instead of me.

I’ve digressed. At any rate, this is apparently how men shop. They go to the store, find what they want and pay for it. If the item fits (or their mom thinks it looks cool), they just buy the whole range of colors, that’s it.

Or at least that’s how dh does it. My men friends attest to it too. When I go shopping with dh, if I can’t decide on the color, he just tells me to buy all the colors. Men, they don’t muck around, they don’t waste time… shopping ! Steev isn’t quite there yet but I’m sure he’ll get there soon enough.

Woo-hoo, my girls finally learnt to play their first song on the guitar. It’s been three months since they first started taking classes. Last night, when I heard them struggling to play Daniel Powter’s Next Plane Home, it was music to my ears !

Between the guitar teacher who mumbles, goes too fast and keeps disappearing during class hours and me constantly nagging the girls to practise, I’m thrilled we even got this far.

At one point, I was almost afraid they would lose interest. But those two are real troopers. They keep each other going even when it means sharing the practice!! See, they’re sitting arm over shoulder. Raine is strumming while Skye is pressing the chords !!