Selamat Hari Raya

Saya takut mungkin lepas ni tk sempat lagi nk update blog sampai lah menjelang raya nnt. Jadi saya ingin mengucapkan Selamat Hari Raya dan Maaf Zahir Batin kepada semua. Semoga kite akan bertemu banyak lagi Ramadhan di masa hadapan. Insyallah. Maafkan saya sekiranya apa yg saya tulis dan cerita di blog ini ada menguris hati sesiapa. Apa yg saya cerita dan tulis disini semuanya adalah tentang diri saya dan perniagaan saya tiada niat utk menyakitkan hati sesiapa pon kalau lah ada ye. Harap-harap tak ada.

Pandu kereta berhati-hati dan kalau mengantuk berhentilah tidur dulu. I dgn husband selalu balik malam hari dan mengantuk. Kiteorg selalu tidur di R&R area. Kalau tk ngantuk I akan ganti husband drive kereta.

Maaf lah tk sempat nk buat kad raya khas utk Mr & Mrs Imran. So, jadinya saya guna kad raya digital Nilam Boutique lah ye. Sama jer sbb dari org yg sama.

Semoga bergembira di hari raya!

Nostalgia Raya

Dulu masa kecik-kecik, hidup I dgn family mcm biasa-biasa jer lah. Bukan la miskin. Tapi my parents jenis yang takkan berbelanja lebih utk benda2 lain selain dari makanan dan pelajaran. Kalau nk beli buku-buku yg mahal bertimbun-timbun confirm dapat. Mintak jer la nk buku tebal mana pon. Makanan pon lah, tapi kalau benda2 lain haaa mmg susah nk dpt, kadang-kadang dapat kadang-kadang bolayan. Huhu.

So, masa I kecik-kecik dulu masa orang dah ramai pakai dapur gas and oven canggih2 sket, my mom still using dapur minyak tanah ni dan oven cap butterfly warna hitam ni sampai reput ok.

Mak I guna oven tu sampai tapak bawah dia tertanggal dek berkarat dan reput. Haaa sampai mcm tu sekali. Huhu. Lepas tu setiap kali nk raya my mom buat biskut raya, sorang kene gentel, sorang kene jaga biskut dalam oven tu. Mmg banyak biskut hangit dari yg tk hangit. Hahah. Mmg susah siot nk guna oven tu sbb nk kene agak-agak. Dia bukan ada timer tau. Yg kt depan tu rasanya temperature oven. Itu pon I ingat benda tu dh rosak dah tk berfungsi. Ni oven yg bakar guna api kt bawah la I rasa, I pon dh lupa mechanism dia. Lepas tu kene duduk depan oven, standby dgn plier sbb nnt nk tarik tudung periuk yg my mom jadikan as a tray utk letak cookies. Berpeluh2 ketiak dan berminyak2 muka duduk depan oven tu. Huhuh.

Yg dapur minyak tanah ni plak, kene masukkan minyak dulu baru leh pasang api. Bau minyak tu mak oiiiii pening! Kalau org pregnant sure tkleh tahan pakai dapur ni. Sbb bau minyak tu menusuk bulu hidung. Tapi masa my mom pregnant dulu dia tabah jer pakai dapur ni walaupon mmg azab. Dapur ni kalau nk adjust2 api dia tu kene hati-hati sbb dia senang jer nk terpadam sbb dia punye dial pemusing warna merah tu mcm susah nk control. Dia cam boleh terus api besar and terus padam jer. Hahaha.

I pernah ingat mak I try buat kuih kapit kot, guna dapur ni , tapi kuih tk jadi sbb mcm senang hangit ker apa tah problem. Tak ingat. Tapi I dok perati jer la mak I buat masa tu, sbb tgh standby tepi nk makan kuih kapit. Hihi. Jangan tatau I suka kuih kapit. Huhu.

Ni antara nostalgia masa I kecik-kecik dulu lah. Sekarang mak I dah canggih, oven ada 2 . Satu oven automatic satu oven bapak besar utk kek lapis sarawak. Lepas tu mesin nk putar bancuhan kek atau biskut dah pakai Kitchen Aid yg harga dekat 3k satu. Mmg dah jauh meninggalkan kenangan zaman dulu tapi rindu ok. Walaupon hidup tk senang compare to sekarang, tapi kenangan tu sangat manis dan seronok. I love my childhood days…

So, apa nostalgia raya korang plak?

Me on Bella NTV7

Update : Hey I just managed to watch the show tadi and I tell you what, it was not bad at alllllll. Ramai org kata my suara is dengar tk dengar. But bila I tengok, mmg thats me! I mmg cakap mcm tu in my real life! Haha. Truth is I mmg pelat tk kisah bahasa apa pon I cakap including bahasa melayu, mmg saya pelat and cakap mcm tersekat2 mcm tu. Huhu. Hihi am actually happy now Korang sajer buat haku suspen. Kalau dh mmg normal I mcm gitu, mmg tk dpt den nk nolong. Cuba compare dgn myself in Safiyya, lebih kurang jer kepelatan, kesengetan mulut, ketajaman hidunggggggg and double chin. I should sit in the middle. Ok lesson learned!

Me with Elaine Daly and Calvin Thoo on Bella set

Hehe. How do I start eh? Actually it happened pretty fast. Producer of Bella NTV7 contacted me and invited me to participate in Bella. It’s a live show, so I wasn’t sure whether I can do it or not. So, I was a bit hesitate and since it was also a pretty short notice. Sbb, she contacted me 3 days ago and the show is actually yesterday morning. Haaa cepat kan?

My husband laughed at me when I told him I was kinda regret accepting the invitation (but later I was kinda enjoying it). Hahaha. The interview was about dilemma of tailors and designers in finishing raya orders. Even though my raya order not as many as the other famous designer Calvin Thoo who also joined the show, but still panicking tau. Haha. I ada 3 lagi baju dekat tailor, satu tunggu manik, satu tunggu alter and satu tunggu nk siap jahit. Haha.

It was my first appearance on tv – LIVE! Nervous sudah pasti, but I think I was less nervous than my first tv shoot utk Safiyya dulu . Maybe sbb host Bella Elaine Daly yg sangat tinggi dan cantik itu, very friendly and she conducted the interview session like a lepak-lepak discussion session. But thing is nervous is nervous and I was sitting on a set with spotlight and 2 famous person. How do you cope with that? Hihi. Jadinya suara mcm keluar tanak keluar. Hahah. Ok la malas la banyak cakap. Sila makan hati tengok gambar I dengan Elaine Daly and Calvin Thoo. Hihi.

Me, Elaine Daly and Calvin Thoo

Many friends complain that they missed the show (including my parents..ehe) because I didn’t tell them. Well, thing is I don’t like people that I know watching me on tv. Hihi. Mcm tah hapa-hapa kan? What’s the point muncul di tv pon I tatau. Oklah chow!

p/s: Setelah bersahur dengan Usana shake setiap hari dan work out di gym selama seminggu, I lose 1.5kg already! Wohooo. Oh btw, to those yg pernah consume Usana Nutrimeal and Fibergy , just nk inform yg fibergy baru very thick because it contains a lot of fibers compare to the old fibergy. So, I sahur Usana sampai ke berbuka pon tk lapar. Love Usana!

Nilam Boutique updates

You know what….having 3 blogs to be update and maintain ain’t easy and that’s what happening to me now. Huhuh. Sakai betul ok. My other websites still belum siap sepenuhnya, there are still a lots of things need to be done, dah boleh guna, but ada few areas I belum letak infos and etc. As I said earlier on, it ain’t easy and part nk mengarang2 info tu buat I lemas. Tapi lemas tk lemas kene buat jugak.

Dah lama tk update pasal Lonia and Nilam. Ok tkper, kali ni I update utk Nilam dulu lah. Last weekend I did a photoshoot session with Isma and her fren name Ainul (nk tersama dah dgn nama I heee, rasa pelik nk panggil dia Ainul). She ordered a pair of tailored made Kurung Pahang together with fabric sekali lah. Then she requested for a photoshoot, and since it has been quite a while I didn’t do any shoot, so I pon riang gembira jerlah nk shoot kan. Nak nak plak for raya shoot, I pon suka jer lah. She didn’t specify that she wanted a raya/ramadhan theme shoot, but I came out with the idea since she’s gonna wear the kurung pahang and we are now in holy Ramadhan month, so why not kan?

Here are some photos that I could share with you guys utk kasi Raya feel sket. Huhu. Lighting was a major problem sbb shoot malam and since am lack of photography gadget, jadinya this is the best that I could capture. There are few more, but haven’t got time to browse through and select the good pictures. To all Nilam customers, yang pernah order or nak order/tempah anything, you are automatically entitle for free photoshoot. Make up pon ada, but make up ada charge sikit lah yer. Dulu we do make up for free , but promo tu dah habis Dah alang-alang buat baju lawa, amik lah gambar sekali kan? Berbaloi buat baju mcm tu, and since it’s free you must be kidding me if you say no to it. Huhu.

Ok next story is about a very classic and vintage kurung moden that I made for my friend. She appointed me few months back to commission this piece for her. Well I was kinda suspen jugak masa tu, because she wanted the baju for raya and I need to scout for fabrics too. She gave me a list of few colors that she likes and the best thing about my friend ni, she’s not that fussy at all and she trusted me to get the fabrics for her.

I love customers yang kasi I ruang utk berkarya (cewah), ok let me elaborate a bit, bila customer tak cerewet and dia percaya kepada designer utk bermain dengan design yg bersesuaian it’s really mean a lot u know…Sbb kalau terlalu cerewet and terlalu banyak restriction this and that, ended up we might not be able to come out with a good design or any element of surprise sbb designer sebenar baju tu adalah customer tu sendiri. Huhu. So dah tkder surprise kan? Where’s the fun then? So, kalau I buat baju utk my customer I prefer to have “my” element or trademark lah, tk kisah la if the baju was inspired from other baju yg similar design, but fabric chosen and cara aplikasi fabric ke atas baju tu sedikit lain dari baju contoh asal pon dah cukup utk beri kelainan dan kejutan.

So enjoy some of the pics of the royal green polkadot kurung moden with lace patches. If nk tengok more pictures of this kurung moden, boleh tengok dan baca dekat blog Nilam Boutique. Jangan lupa bookmark and follow that blog too ok RSS link, facebook blog network link and segala jadah link pon ada. Hehe.

Ok membebel panjang tk guna. Sbb haku dh ngantuk and dh nk masuk subuh ni. Lepas pray nk tido lah. Oh ada satu lagi cerita, I dah start gym dah 3 hari. Utk 3 hari ni I just do mild exercise , just to get myself familiar with the equipment and facilities. Start esok I buat work out betul lah. I need to at least burn about 600kg/hr in a day to lose weight. Lebih kurang mcm nk kene lari atas threadmill dgn sgt laju for about 1hr. Wahahahaha. Pengsannn. And satu lagi cerita, finally I managed to cut my hair and rebonding! Yippie, now kepala sgt ringan and rambut sangat sihat! Loving my rambut raya. Yabedabedu.

Seminggu sekali

Dah macam rutin plak, update blog seminggu sekali jer. Huhu. I think I macam dah tk berapa nk hog all pcs in the house and internet like I used to. Well, when one gets older…one start to slow down. It’s true coz now sehari tak on laptop pon I don’t mind or perhaps because I have an iphone? That could be true also, since iphone is good enough for me to check my emails, facebook, twitter and blog. That’s all I need. So maybe because of that, that made me kinda slowing down? Hmmm…

Lets try hide my iphone and laptop, lets see whether not I survive (huhu I don’t think so..)

Ok since update blog seminggu sekali, ladiesss..please take a deep breath this gonna be a bit long lah coz am trying to squeeze a week worth of stories in one entry . Hehe. Not to worry am not so generous with words, coz time is luxury to me, so am gonna skip all the merapu merepek be straight to the point lah. Lagi pon puasa-puasa ni tk larat nk baca banyak-banyak kan? So enjoy the pictures and caption ala kadar. Hehe. Esok I’ll start exercise at the gym , wish me luck ok. Hope can shed about 5kg before raya. Boleh tak agak-agaknya? Adakah mission impossible?

Here are photos taken during iftar with my uni/dorm mate. We kinda meet up once a year only during iftar. Huhu. Beautiful Ramadhan isn’t it? Kami semua yg sangat susah nk jumpa utk lepak-lepak , but sehari dalam bulan Ramadhan we make it happen Actually tk berapa cukup korum, Ida yg selalu join kiterorg baru bersalin, so I insisted to drag another good fren to join, if not mcm tk ramai tk best. So, tahun ni ada Kartini! Yayyy. Kartini yg pakai tudung bawal purple Kiterorg break fast at Fullhouse Sunway Pyramid tahun ni, last year Thai-Thai dekat Sunway jugak. Pictures credit to Mimi and Tj.

I was wearing Nilam satin wide pants in Fuchsia and Roman Toga blouse. Am kinda a sucker of color block, hence the fuchsia pants and black blouse. Kalau matching color sangat mcm bosan dah. Huhu.

Cute cab and cute ladies. Especially yg berkoordinat row sebelah kanan tengah. Hihi. (statement nk kene makan kasut huhu)

Nice royal purple couch, how I wish I can bring it home. Ichiro just don’t care. Dia sibuk dengan botol dia.

Ok habis cerita iftar, ni cerita I made a suppose-to-be-a-hamper/gift for my mother in law, she wants to give it to her boss. Notice I mentioned “suppose to be”? Welllll…mmg sepatutnya I buat ramadhan hamper, but since my mom insisted on using pewter tray yg macam org selalu guna utk dulang hantaran so automatic the whole thing doesn’t look like a hamper/gift basket anymore. Huhu. But, am cool, I don’t mind as long as I can do something to satisfy my hunger for crafting, am fine. If my mother in law want a hamper that look like a hantaran…so be it. Heheh. Ok here comes…picturessssss.

Initially I thought to put in some flowers in this cute little bottle for decoration, but then my MIL who seemed to love this bottle so much suggested to fill it with zam-zam water since we have a lot of zam-zam water at home. Dan lagipon ini hadiah sempena Ramadhan, so zam-zam water just nice. My mother wants to buy more bottle utk isi sos cili. Haha. Excuse my jawi handwriting on the bottle. Heeee. Tk lawa kan?

I love daisy! I think my favourite flower is daisy. But too bad dekat rumah kampung takder daisy. My mom tried to plant so many daisy but none of it survived. Poor daisy. But now ada banyak artificial flower yang look like a real flower like the one that I used for this Ramadhan hamper/hantaran. Of course it quite expensive but I’d fallen in love with it, I just can’t tolerate with fake flowers that looks like a real fake flower anymore (but sometimes I have to for low budget hantaran) Even if they are lot cheaper. I bought daisy in purple shade plus 1 stalk of other type of flower.

The hamper/hantaran (i hate to type the slash so many time) consists of kekacang and dried stuff like peach, berries, dates and few more which I don’t really register the name. But ada sunflower seed yg sangat sedap. Huhu. Makan cepat jer habis sbb dah siap kopek punya. Then ada telekung juga. Initially my mom just nk kasi kacang2 tu jer, but then I suggested letak tasbih or buku agama ker I didn’t suggest the telekung since telekung kan mahal, but my mom beli telekung sbb the person is so dear to her, so money is not an issue. More pictures here http://www.nilamboutique.com/wedding/30-ramadhan-hantaran.html

Hmmm ok at first I thought nk squeeze a week of stories in 1 entry, but at this point I think better don’t. Haha. Banyak sangat gambar nnt lambat u guys nk load this entry. And secondly tadi I tulis “caption ala kadar” , sorry I think I get too carried away masa tulis caption, jadinya dah terjadi macam entry. Hehe. Oklah, it’s raining heavily outside, kalau tidur sedap, but I am not sleepy and in about an hour time I need to prepare food for sahur. So I guess I’ll just do my work dulu. To those yang nk kahwin and looking for hantaran maker, contact me ok, insyallah I can do the hantaran for you