the happy list #6: my week

#1 Getting crafty: Figured out my way around pliers and played with an accumulated stash of gold & brass pieces to create some minimal, graceful gold things for my fingers and wrists. also visited my favourite local designer, Pris of Ong Shunmugam, for some scheming with lace and fabric swatches, and to learn the ropes behind…

#2 …assisting with the Ong Shunmugam booth at the Blueprint trade show. My shopgirl dreams come true! Instead of regular customers, we were there to present her new collection – a lush array of batik, brocades and prints woven into reworked Asian silhouettes and dresses – to retail buyers, bloggers, magazine editors and writers, and it was a great glimpse into the industry. The business of fashion and style is cut-throat for sure, but it was inspiring to be amongst entrepreneurs and witness how true talent and genuine personalities can outshine the advantages of money and marketing any day.

#3 The constant joy of friends, old and new: we are little girls in blue pinafores in one instant, and in a flash we are freshly minted graduates, still the best of friends. And then there is Sam, whose hands fit mine perfectly, who always knows what to say to lift me out of a dark place. There have also been impromptu dinners and suppers by the water, with a friend who i’ve come to regard as my rock & listening ear, and another who is one of the freest souls i know. On wednesday we were going down the long stretch of yishun avenue 1, and then finally found ourselves on a narrow strip of road straddled by rocks and water, and ate our sandwiches and wraps by the light of street lamps, private jets and industrial flame. Friday saw us at west coast, legs stretched out under the moonlight with the night breeze in our hair. Friends make life easy, and make us whole.