Gimme A Break

There’s something about walking into an office and being attended to by staff dressed in very casual outfits, more casual than what I’m wearing in some cases. I mean, for a work at home mom like me, it’s okay to go casual. But if you’re working for a big organization where you have to deal with customers on a face-to-face basis, I definitely think you have to look professional.

For the guys, there’s always the mens dress shirts that are both presentable and comfortable, and if you buy them at Blair.com, there’s lots of choices and they’re all quite affordable. Well, for a start, I think companies should have a dress code for customer service staff. Those who work in the back office, well, those guys can go casual if they like because they don’t come into direct contact with the customer.

But for the front-desk staff, they should dress professionally to project a  good image of the company. I like the colors of Blair men’s shirts. In peaches and pinks, they’re very lively and upbeat and it’s not like men must wear dark colors all the time like they did in our parents’ time. That’s rather old school. Color is definitely in and men aren’t limiting themselves to the darker tones any more, thanks to people like David Beckham who created the metrosexual look.

In fact, adding  a bit of color will certainly brighten up the office and make it much more welcoming to the customer. Whenever I go shopping with DH, I would pick out pastels and distinctive colors for him. The weather is very hot and dark colors absorb heat so they’re not very comfortable to wear outdoors. But light colors not only look cheery but they are cooler and more comfortable to wear for long hours.

• is your home office office-like?
• feel-good football wear
• empty-handed
• brown
• different strokes

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I confess, I’ve been trawling the malls. There’s just too many mid-year sales tempting me… and you know what, about every fifth woman I bump into at the mall seems to be wearing a tube…

… so I’m guessing (just a wild guess ) that tubes must be in this season. This is a really classic tube dress that I found at iThreads where they offer free shipping on designer brands so you can save some money there.

Go check them out if you have some event coming up or even if you just want to deck your spring closet with a few trendy in-season pieces. I love the shimmery grape color of this dress, don’t you?

• great timing for a watch
• save additional 10% off already discounted printer supplies
• brown
• last in, first out
• fancy dress contest

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We found a great way to cool off last weekend. Seeing there’s been no let-up in the hot sunny temperatures, we’re trying to head to the malls whenever we can. Like I mentioned before, we didn’t air-condition our entire house so unless we want to hide in our bedrooms all day, we’re off to the mall.

Guess what, last weekend the annual fashion shows were on. What a treat! We got to sit in air-conditioned comfort with nary a drop of perspiration dripping down our brows and first-class seating on wooden benches to watch anorexic model after anorexi model strut down the runway . Now this IS the life!

• back to basics?
• much ado about movies
• crazy ’bout lions
• dummied out
• sauna au naturale

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I just bought a black handbag. All my handbags are black. It’s a color coordination thing I developed from the time I was working in Corporate Tower.

All my handbags and shoes were black. I would not buy any other color because I didn’t want to crack my head trying to match my handbag to my shoes everyday.

Black goes with everything, right? So I could wear a different pair of black shoes with the same handbag and vice versa and I’d still be right.

• the eccentric in me
• shoes vanished!
• the search is over
• my handy travel tips
• good-for-nothing sandals

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I walked past the bead shop yesterday and was reminded of this short-lived beading hobby of mine. I was so crazy about it at the time that I went hunting all over town for the tools and supplies.

Night after night, I would struggle to stay awake just to finish up one more accessory. Eventually I made so many earrings and necklaces I started giving them away to my friends.

Soon I started getting orders from them. Not big orders, just a few here and there, enough to make me happy that there was a demand for my creations.

But this little small business opportunity didn’t last long. Pretty soon, some ladies were asking for small favors. They asked me to modify the designs after they got bored with one design after a few wears. Others came to me with broken jewelry to be repaired and redesigned.

Soon I got stuck redoing and repairing stuff for free late into the night. When I couldn’t deliver on time for some event they wanted to wear the jewelry to, these witches (I would swap the “w” with a capital ‘B’ but I’ll be nice this time) gave me hell and set me deadlines!!

Hey, I was just doing them a favor. And for free, darn it!!! What ungracious creatures!! Finally it became such a pain I just gave up beading altogether.

• maybe next time
• contemporary gold
• stretch your creativity with Aqua Dots
• trying to keep awake all night
• bedtime

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My cousin tells me that maternity clothes aren’t what they used to be any more. The days of the tents are over, it seems. Yes, and I remember how I used to dread wearing them. They made me look like a sack of potatoes.

These days, preggies are proud to show off their growing tummies and choose maternity wear that expose the midriff. I’ve seen pictures of celebs wearing these modern maternity styles. But I find them quite gross actually.

Much as I hate tents, as many women do too, I’m sure, I don’t know about strutting around town with a barrel protruding out for all to see . What do you think?

• parachute or potato
• where did all the cameras go?
• gotta have those camo cargo shorts
• jewelry to match
• camos and cardigans I don’t understand

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I can be such a dodo bird sometimes. You know, I’ve come across many shops selling pearls, yes, only pearls, in places like Hong Kong but I never gave them so much as a second look.

Why? Because I’m not a really, really big fan of pearls, reason being that I always think of them all as being white, bland and boring. After all, life in a clammy old oyster can’t be all that exciting, can it now ?

Silly me, where have I been? I didn’t know cultured and freshwater pearls come in such vibrant colors and that they don’t necessarily have to be white and lifeless. Maybe it’s time I came out of my oyster shell.

• digital kitchen scales
• fly away, little bird
• Caesars Palace
• finally a holiday we can afford
• Disney on water

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My son left his eyeglasses on the back seat of my car when I picked him up from college the other day, and someone accidentally flung a bag of stuff on it. The glasses broke into two.

I wish he would be a little more careful with his glasses. He’s broken them more times than I’d care to count and each time, we’ve either had to replace the lens or the frame.

His next pair is going to be cheap eyeglasses, that’s for sure. It’s getting too expensive maintaining his glasses, so that next pair is going to come out of his allowance. Hopefully he’ll learn to treat them better.

• oops, I did it again!
• keep right on dancing
• good-for-nothing sandals
• golfing in the rain
• stuff sitter

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