I grounded myself this week, in a bid to save money and “catch up on work” (i.e. finally watch Vicky Cristina Barcelona and work my way through season 2 of The Good Wife…among other things). These ideas always sound good in theory, but they kinda bum me out because the weather will be gorgeous and there are streets to roam and things to buy, and all that good stuff.
It started on Monday. I slept in, probably because my subconscious was rebelling against being placed under house arrest, and it got worse when I woke up bleary-eyed to an empty house. This usually makes me sad and want to crawl back into bed. This time though, I was greeted by a sweet little note my dad left me before leaving for a meeting. We are a family of note-leavers and list-makers, and seeing messages and post-its around the house always puts a smile right on my face. I got out my camera, determined to snap a photo of every note and other cute thing around. Right now, there’s a snarly cynical voice in my head calling this a Photo Expedition for the Bored, but I’m telling you — looking out for cute things around the house? Easiest, best monday morning pick-me-up ever.
The note that started it all. My little sister uses this easel for studying, and for writing out menus for sunday lunch whenever my mother decides to cook a fancier meal. The smaller whiteboard has a chore list that my parents couldn’t bear to erase after coming home from their weekend getaway. Lauren did the driving, I did the cooking, and this chore list was a last-minute scramble effort of ours to get everything else organised. Check out Alexandra’s nifty little grid at the bottom to show chore allocation — J L A are our initials!
Alexandra is a little environmentalist, and when my condominium estate finally got some recycling bins set up, she immediately started a recycling system at home, and stuck this public announcement on the bathroom door. I was on exchange when she put this up, and Lauren whatsapped me a snap of it then, but it’s still there now… and it’s July!
The welcome-home post it note from Alexandra, when I came back from Hong Kong & China, and assorted random stickers and crap that my sister has stuck on this drawer set over the years. The little orange dinosaur was a freebie from a Photojojo order and has travelled all over the U.S. with me! See if you can spot: a postcard from Elias with a William & Kate stamp on it that amuses me to no end, my K2 PAP name tag, jewelry supplies, a handmade silk flower, a huge embossed, wooden ‘J’.
Framed art — a flamingo drawing Lauren did in her kindergarten days.
My mother’s little corner menagerie of souvenirs from her travels — “Mukherjee” the elephant from Chennai, an Egyptian camel, a random turtle and a Balinese croaking frog.
This little dude permanently hangs out on the arms of a dining room chair. Somehow I’d never quite noticed him before, so when I got down to his level to take this picture, I was really tickled. I’ll take this monkey over the crazy food-stealing bukit timah monkeys any day!!
Other family news: both my parents are now following me on twitter. yay?
retrospectif: a notebook 
very interesting post :) love the turtle,the monkey and the notes :)
i LOLed my way through this.
in a good way.
i like the croaking frog.
I must say, this is one of my favorite posts of yours. Is that weird? I love random notes and pictures of everyday little things, the things we often overlook. Well I say the little things are important too. :) Hoho and I’m a bit of a chronic list maker. :P
Hi! I stumbled across your blog whilst looking for ‘littered with bks’ and it’s great! Keep up the great work!!
hi there, thanks for your sweet note! visit again soon (: