Longleat Retreat

About two weeks ago we went for a retreat at Longleat Safari and adventure park. This place is awsome especially for families with young kids. We got to see  animals from the  wild rhinos to girrafes to porcupine (sp?) to cute little lambs! There was also mazes, boat and train rides as well as kids play area, all included in the day ticket admission. We were lucky that it was bright and sunny throughout and Diya was able to wear shorts and sleeveless dress that day. The girls really enjoyed themselves that day :)

Location: Longleat Safari and Adventure Park
Diya is wearing: Sleveless babydoll top by Fatface (A birthday gift from dear friends Ahna, Ines and Zain), Denim shorts from Next, Green Gap hoodie, Pink Stephanie Hat, Hello Kitty Sunnies and Upsydaisy Wellies from Next.

Sugar and Spice

Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been busy lately and honestly, I've dont really have good pictures of Diya to show. This is no exclusion either. But I guess it will suffice. Bear with me people :) Anyways, Diya is wearing a lovely soft pink long sleeve shirt which I got from ebay for a quid! It was indeed a true bargain. I guess a was lucky since people are more interested to bid on short sleeves outfits now, since it has been quite warm lately. But I still love the shirt regardless - the colour, the tailoring, the collar - whats there not to like about it? :) Diya paired it with a floral skirt (also featured here), ballerina pumps and a grey bow headband to keep it sweet and simple. Her little sister's outfit matches too - Icha is sporting a grey dress and those devine red sequined shoes that she got from Abah. Doesn't the red shoes remind you of Dorothy in Wizard of Oz? :) 

 

Location: Canton and Masala Bazaar Cardiff
Diya is wearing: Soft pink long sleeve shirt by Zara Kids, Floral Skirt by Next, Red knee length socks, Ballerina pumps from GapKids and Grey bow headband

I am Rainbow

Don't you just love bright colours? We were feeling rather playful last Saturday and decided to try out a more cheerful look combination. Here Diya pairs a multi-colour stripes leggings with a yellow/white polka dot sleeveless. We kept the style simple and let the colours stand out by themselves. We also love the stripes and polkadot combination here, although it can be quite risky to pull off sometimes. Do you think Diya managed to pull it off?

Location: Burj-Al-Arab, Cardiff 
Diya is wearing: Polkadot sleeveless top by Ladybird, Multicoloured stripe leggings by GapKids, Pink bow Balerina shoes by GapKids
Accessories: Barbie watch and Hello Kitty headband

Diya on Minihipster!

Guess who was featured on minihipster lookbook today? We are very very excited!! Thank you minihipster (esp Melissa) who accepted our submissions. Will definitely submit more looks soon!

Diya's closet

Hi all, today's post is going to be about Diya's closet. Misty requested me to put up some pictures to show how I organise Diya's stuff. To be honest with you, I dont keep her stuff organised all the time, and because we dont have much space, I try to keep everything minimal. Fortunatey, I just stored away all the winter clothes and so what you will see is the less cluttered version - half of what it used to be. :)

So this is Diya's closet. Its super small, i know! Most of her stuff are in this tiny closet, can you believe it (not including school uniforms and heavy coats)? The trick is to hang several items on one hanger. I probably have 3-4 dresses on each one. It does help to save space.

 

Some folded clothes include t-shirts, skirts and shorts

As for accessories, both of us share a long "dressing table" (which is actually my low bookshelf!). I hang most of our accessories on this (broken) ikea mirror frame and its kinda cool because it looks decorative yet so functional.

These are some stuff in Diya's accesories box

So I guess that is all really. Sorry to dissapoint you Misty... as you can see, there is nothing much to shout about. I like to keep things simple and practical - but not necessarily organised all the time. I dont think you can (even for a working-from-home-mom like me). Nonetheless, I hope you have better luck decorating and organising you daughter's stuff. :)

Bohemian Rhapsody

I love, love, love maxi dresses! It was such a trend last summer and I think it will be a big hit again this time around. I love how it swishes while you walk (okay, maybe sweeping the floor is a better term :p) and the simplicity of the look. Its actually quite hard to find a "sweep-floor-length" maxi dress for kids, and the one Diya is wearing is actually meant for an 8 year old! We had to alter the size so it would fit her frame (no thanks to me who can't sew!) Thankfully I have a mom who is excellent at it - she used to sew her own curtains! Anyway, we paired the dress with a cute sling bag and tied her hair in braids,  just to keep it in line with the bohemian look. So what do you think?

 

Location: John Lewis and Queen Street Cardiff

Diya is wearing: Tie Dye maxi dress from Next, Denim Waistcoat from Mothercare, Shoe from H&M (We  sooo have to find new shoes already!) Accessorised by Red White Stripe Bow Headband from Zara Kids, Snow white watch and Brown sling bag by Next (a present from aunty Jabeth)

The Sun and The Rain

This is the other Monsoon dress that my dad got for Diya. Its a beautifully constructed tiered chiffon dress in deep red rose colour which my dad picked himself (my dad does know fashion doesn't he?) Diya paired this beautiful number with a pair of wellies (because it was raining earlier that day) and a body vest. No tights  or heavy coats today because it was actually warm enough in Cardiff to go out without one! Spring is finally here!

 

 

Location: Asda and Starbucks Cardiff Bay
Diya is Wearing: Tiered Chiffon Dress by Monsoon Kids, Upsidaisy Wellies by Next, Floral body vest by Girl2Girl Primark
Accessories: Barbie pink watch (a gift from my mom in malaysia) and a mini green hair clip.

Wordless Wednesday

Diya's art: Three Princesses and their Pet Rabbits. Autographed by the artist. :p

February Favorite Outfit

Hi all,
I decided to put up a poll for all of you lovely readers. Its a way for us to say thank you for your support and get some feedbacks on diya's styles. Do vote for your favorite outfit of the month located below ;-) thanks again for your support!

Recap of February Styles:

PINK ATTITUDE

SCOOTER RIDE

CASUAL SATURDAY

WALDORF B INSTITUTE

Which is your Favorite February Looks?

Little Sister and Little Garden Bench

Don't you just love mini furnitures? They make the little ones feel belonged in the "grown up world". Look at Diya and Icha with their wide puppy eyes begging dad for this cute little garden bench. What a perfect picture moment I thought to myself. Diya and (introducing) her little sister Icha sitting on a little garden bench. :)

I

Location: What! Cardiff

Diya is wearing: My First Hard Rock Cafe ROME Novelty Tee, Skinny Jeans by Zara Kids, Military Jacket by Gap, pink sunglasses print Stephanie cap, black socks and H&M Ballerina Shoes.

Icha is wearing: Indigo jeans by Mothercare, Orange long sleeve tee by Benetton, Red coat by George, White trainers by Fila

Leaving on a Jet Plane

My dad is going home today. It is a sad day and Diya decided to wear black. One might think that after numerous of visits for the past three and a half years that we are used to saying goodbyes. But the truth is our house has never felt so empty, and it does get worse everytime. My dad said, "cepat-cepatlah balik, kesian tengok budak-budak". Hopefully soon insyallah. Doa-doakan lah.

 

Location: Cardiff Coach Station

Diya is wearing: Label T Shirt from Zara Kids, Harem Pants from United Colors of Benetton, Military Jacket from Gap, Multicoloured Cable Knit Scarf from H&M, Stripey socks and Ballerina Shoes from H&M

60's glam

London was great. The weather was not. I guess we were not lucky this time around. It was quite dissapointing not being able to take pictures (sans coat) and not able to really enjoy the beautiful  landmarks that the big city has to offer. Luckily weather was better when we got back to Cardiff. We went on a trip to Clarks Village on Saturday and Diya bagged herself  two new Monsoon dresses (thanks to my Dad).  Monsoon has an outlet there and they offer really good prices for the dresses, at least half the price from the store.  I have been eyeing on this tassel dress since they first came out last season but the price tag was too much for me and therefore was so happy that it was only selling at one third of the retail (not that i'm paying). As for Diya, she was just over the moon with this beautiful piece that she couldnt resist putting them on the next day when we went out to town! Thank you Abah for the wonderful dresses!

ps: Icha got one herself and a pair of red sequined shoes to match!   

 

Location: Debenhams, St. Davids Cardiff
Diya is wearing: Pink Tassel dress from Monsoon, Polkadot tights from Mothercare, brown waterfall cardigan from Zara Kids, Shoes from H&M

Acessories: Transparent Disney Princess Tote (again, thanks to Dad), A white toy kitty from Malaysia named Fluffy, A new snow white watch (thanks to my Mom) and pearl bead necklace

Favorite looks

You could probably tell that both Diya and I love clothings from Zara Kids. I dont think any other label makes kids clothes so fashionable, and chic, yet so young and fresh, like they do. They just launched their spring/summer collection and you can visit the lookbook on their website to view the latest trend. Thanks to my sister who noticed it first and put it up on her blog!

I have to admit that I love the fall/winter collection more, because of the understatement pieces and use of colours that are timeless. These are some of my favorite looks from their previous collection

Arent they all just adorable? My favorite look would be the one with cable knit sweater with oversized knit scarf! Athough i have to admit that heavy and warm materials can be too much for Malaysia's hot climate!

I am in love with this equestrian blazer and the patch elbows!

This girl almost look like Diya no?

Zara skinny jeans are simply fabulous.
Diya probably owns 7 pairs in total since she was 2 years old!

 The boys collection is also very smart indeed! I am clueless when it comes to dressing boys but I think I can rely on Zara for guidance!

One of my sister's friend *waving to Fatin* suggested this look for Diya.
Thank you for your suggestion, I'll see what i can do :)

ps: i also like the fact that Zara is constantly featuring asian models in their campaigns :)

packing time!

We are heading to london tomorrow. We are joining my dad who is here for a short visit to go sight seeing (and maybe a little bit of shopping?) :-P Since we will be staying there for a few nights i dont think we will be able to update diya's looks anytime soon. But I'm sure that there will be a series of updates coming up after we are back on friday. :-) I just finished packing and choosing the girls' outfits. We will only be bringing one large bag with us so there is a lot of mix matching for the outfits, to keep our luggage minimum.  My usual practise when packing is that I would lay several outfits on the bed and play around with different looks before deciding which to pack. I am not going to show you the clothes i packed for Diya but i will give you a sneak peak at what Icha will be wearing. I hope the weather would be nice and warm enough to take the coat off for picture taking purposes. Weather forecast said that it will be sunny but temperature can be as low as 0 degrees. Lets keep our fingers crossed!

Outfits from left to right:
Outfit 1: Long sleeve pink top by Girl2Girl Primark (Gift from aunty Sabb), Khaki jacket by Hallmark (a newborn gift from aunty Bee for Diya, now has been passed down to Icha), Houndstooth black and gold skirt by Baby K Collection, Mothercare and multicoloured-stripy tights from Mothercare

Outfit 2: Sleeveless babydoll top from Gap, Green knit cardigan from Mothercare, Indigo jeans by Zara Kids and tights by Mothercare

Outfit 3: Stripy pink and black long sleeve top from Girl2Girl Primark (also a git from Aunty Sabb), Brown dress by Zara Kids and Pink heart tights by Monsoon Kids.

Waldorf B Institute

Blair Waldorf is probably my favorite character from the Gossip Girl series. I like her fresh Preppy look, her choices for handbags and shoes, not to mention men. *drool on Chuck Bass* . Its amazing how she can pull off an oversize bow headband (and set the worldwide trend for hair accessories) without looking childish. Diya loves wearing dresses that are very feminine in style and the bow detailing on this dress keeps it young, when paired with houndstooth pattern fabric. I love the neckline of this dress and the pearl-bead necklace that sits at the perfect length. We decided to pair the outfit with a butterfly sequined bag (which I got for only 3quids!) for the finishing touch to the look. And guess what she got in her bag? Purple Fruit Shoot of course! 

 

Location: Hollister Co. Store in St Davids 2 Cardiff

Diya is wearing: Black and Grey Houndstooth dress by Zara Kids, Grey Crop Cardigan by Grirl2Girl Primark, Mothercare Stripy Tights and Flowery ballerina shoes by H&M.
Accessories: Butterfly Bag by Monsoon Kids, Pearl-bead necklace and matching bow hairband.