notes for december

• My navy cardigan. I never stop loving this colour but when the December rains come and almost everyday is wet and grey, the richness of the colour feels just right.
  
• All-butter shortbread from Marks and Spencer. One of these days I'm going to get down to baking some but for now, instant gratification from M&S is just what I need.
• Nescafe Alta Rice instant coffee - I decided to cut my flat white habit (saving me about $100 a month, a flat white or latte goes for about S$5 here) and went back to storing instant coffee at my desk. This stuff from Nescafe smells so good that people in my office are constantly badgering me for some.
  
• 汤圆, or glutinous rice balls. My family is big on 冬至, or the Winter Solstice, even though it's not really celebrated in Singapore in as a big a way as it is in China or Taiwan. It's basically a time for families to reunite as everyone hunkers down for winter, and rice balls are traditionally eaten. We glazed the rice balls with powdered peanuts mixed with crushed black sesame seeds and melted brown sugar. So comforting.
• Jet's "Get Born" album. Reliving old times.
  
• My white Gram high-top sneakers. I don't usually wear them more than once a month but I'm really on a roll with them this month. I bought them in Berlin in 2007 and they marked the end of my sneaker era - I graduated and began working and sneakers were no longer suitable every day. More reliving of old times.
  

This time of the year makes me nostalgic and wistful, but also eager for the coming year. I'm taking a break from posting until the new year, but I'll still be reading blogs as usual, and I already have posts planned for 2012 that I can't wait to share.

I still can't quite believe that people read this blog, and to those who have commented and shared their thoughts here, you've made this space more interesting, more fun, and less self-absorbed.

Happy holidays and see you all in 2012!