A Festive Month: My 37th Birthday

Good day, Lovely Friends!

 

May is my birthday month. Last year, I made a week long celebration for Hubby's birthday in Orctober (read the post here) because I wanted to comfort him after the death of his two aunts only two weeks from each other. This year, my birthday fell on Monday, and Michael was ill, so we didn't do anything special dor the day. Still, I got a surprise at work. Once I reached my desk, there were no one to be seen, and I was wondering "Where's everybody?"; when my coworkers and team showed up from the pantry singing a cheerful "Happy birthday!" Turned out that they cooperated with Reception, so they knew exactly the moment I stepped from the parking lot to the elevator to reach my floor. Thank you! It was such a nice surprise!

 

 

 

I received lots and lots of birthday presents. Here were some of them. My coworkers know that I love anything Hello Kitty, so most of the birthday gifts were Hello Kittythemed. I might have turned 37, but I'm still a little girl at heart, and Hello Kitty always puts a smile on my face. Thank you! Ow, even my sister in law gave me something Hello Kitty, though she was ten years younger than me. Haha! I also got some cute accessories, beauty products, decorative pieces from my favorite store, and several high-quality leather purses that my Mom got from her Italy trip to Milan. I am so blessed!

 

 

Unlike last year, I didn't invite my team to lunch this time (read the post of last year's birthday week here), because Michael was ill. Everyday during my birthday week, I went home to check on him during lunch time, and I also left the office at five o-clock on the dot, so there was no way I could spare some time for birthday lunch or dinner with my team. That's a pity, but Michael holds a higher priority than any birthday celebration!

 

May is also the birthday month of my mom in law, as well as Hubby's younger brother's girlfriend, Maria. Hubby had an idea to combine all the three birthdays together and invited his family for early dinner and watch the sunset at Bandar Jakarta. Bandar Jakarta is a seaside restaurant by the Jakarta Bay that serves fresh seafood and it's one of our favorite place (read the post about watching sunset by the sea at Bandar Jakarta here). Michael has never seen the beach so we want to give him the experience. Unfortunately, Hubby's sister could not make it on the supposed Saturday, so we canceled the event and instead, Hubby proposed that we have sort of afternoon tea on Sunday by inviting them to our home to celebrate. Have you ever had combined birthday party like this when there are more than one birthday girl? How do you like it? Do you plan to do it again?

 

For the afternoon tea party, we ordered  a picnic roll with ham, cheese and egg as savory treat. My mom in law will bring Gateau Africa - an old fashioned chocolate cream cake, which is the only cake that I like - as the sweet treat. We also provide salty and chocolate kind of crackers for nibblings, as well as fried vermicelli - replacing noodles that signifies long life - so we got plenty to eat!

 

This is the neighborhood place where we ordered picnic roll. I'm not a fan of cake nor sweet treats - unless it's chocolate -, but I couldn't resist taking pictures of all these gorgeous cakes. They are real work of arts! And what's better, you can eat this work of art. Haha!

 

 

 

I got this cart as a parcel gift container several years ago, and over the years it has been serving us well. It was used as a babywalker, toy selling cart toy or train by my son, and several times used as a drink and snack station in numerous events as shown here. I saw an exact piece just liket his, sold at Informa - a big furniture chain store - for thirty bucks, and here it is came to my home for absolutely free!

 

 

This is the delicious picnic roll. I also ordered this for my birthday last year, because it's super delicious! Unfortunately, I was so busy being hostess as well as looking out for Michael that I didn't snap any pictures of the lovely birthday cake nor the happy festivities! *sigh* The event lasted from 2 pm to 5 pm and everybody had such a good time. Again, I have been entertaining people at my home since I was in college in a small apartment, and I have learned that number one rule for being a hostess is no stress. Entertaining needs not to be perfect. Guests would feel awkward being fussed, or if the hostess looked stressed out. They don't care that the table setting is not perfect, they won't mind the mismatched diningware, or that the room is not 100% spick and span. The most important thing is that the hostess enjoys herself, because she sets the whole atmosphere and mood for the party. As long as the hostess can chill and relax and enjoy the party, everyone will enjoy the party.

 

 

I got this festive holiday diningware, consist of two plates and one bowl, for a fraction of the price last year during after Christmas sale. Why two plates and one bowl? Because they were the only ones left, everybody had bought the rest of them! I decided to get them because they are festive yet not Christmasy, hence I can use them all year round for birthdays, auspicious Chinese New Year, Christmas, Valentine's Day, or any other events deemed appropriate for celebrating. In less than a year, they have proven to be good investment, out of the kitchen cupboard multiple times to cheer up our table setting!

 

I don't drink, but Hubby is a wine lover who appreciate great wine, while his family - well, he likes to joke that they would drink any alcoholic beverages and would comment it's either "Good" or "Very good". They are not heavy drinker or anything, mind you, they just drink on special events. So Hubby got three bottles of white wine to chill before the party. Why white wine? Well, because we were supposed to eat seafood at a seaside restaurant, before the change of plan!

 

 

For my birthday present, Hubby wanted to buy me a new Coach bag we saw at the boutique that I really like, but to his surprise, I refused. I told him that I have had enough purses already, especially since Mom just got me some new ones from Milan. What I want this year is not stuff, but experience. I am a Broadway shows and opera lover, I used to watch Broadway shows during my years living in the US. For years, Hubby had promised to take me to watch Broadway show at the Esplanade Theater in Singapore, because in the past, Broadway never came to Indonesia. The closest they had ever been to was Singapore. The promise never materialized because there have been no shows that I cared to watch just yet.

 

To my greatest delight, Ciputra - a very wealthy businessman and art lover - had built a theater with international standard here in Jakarta, and he had successfully invited Broadway New York to finally visit and perform in Indonesia during their world tour! No need to go to Singapore! And the show is Beauty and The Beast! AND I had been longing to watch Beauty and The Beast on stage live performance! So, naturally I told Hubby that for my birthday, all I wanted was two tickets - or even one ticket, if he didn't care to go with me - for that particular show.

 

He did get me two, and we went to watch the show together last weekend. The performance was great and magical and I had such a good time. It was a maginificent birthday present. Thank you, Hubby!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week in Recap: Everyday (Trying) Being A Good Wife

Happy Monday, Friends!

Every week I chronicle my life in this little pink blog. Every week I pick a theme, and this week's theme is about loving your husband (if you happen to be married) even when he is being... well, un-love-able. 

Here is the highlight of my life from last week...

On Family

On Saturday, Hubby's cousin held a sanjit lunch. What is sanjit? On easier term, it's like an engagement ceremony, but actually it's a little bit different. In Chinese tradition (I'm Indonesian Chinese), a man doesn't just propose to a woman to get married. Oh, no! First, of course, he asks the woman. After that, it's all family affairs until the day of the wedding. Wedding here is not about the bride and groom, but more about family. Practically the only thing I decided for my wedding was my dress. The rest of the affair went according to the wishes of my mom and mother-in-law. You might think the wedding day is the bride's day so she should have the kind of wedding that she wants. Her dream wedding. Well, I think about it this way: after the wedding, both the son and daughter of the families will leave the nest and fly on their own. The wedding is the last time the parents can make decisions about their children's life, so why not make them happy and comply to their wishes? After all, after the wedding, Hubby and I still have the rest of our lives to make decisions on our own, without our parents' interference. 

In Chinese tradition, there are two ceremonies that take place between the two families before the wedding. One is sanjit. The other is the proposal. Sanjit is basically a ceremony where the groom's family comes and pays respect to the bride's parents, bearing gifts of sweets, money, food, clothes, and many other symbolic items to say: "Thank you for rearing your daughter so well so that now she has grown into a woman who will make an excellent wife." On the proposal ceremony, the groom's parents comes and asks permission from the bride's parents if they may join the two families by seeking the daughter to marry their son. We still pretty much carry the tradition, though it's more as ceremonial events. It's not like an arranged marriage or anything like that. I personally appreciate this kind of auspicious event, because it gives opportunities for both side of the families and distant relatives to gather, mingle, sit down and eat together.

As you can see from the pictures, sanjit and proposal in Chinese tradition are symbolized by wearing red or reddish colors. I wore fuschia batik cheongsam, and Hubby wore burgundy red batik. Unfortunately, I had my hands full with Michael so I didn't get a chance to take many pictures, but here are some of the ones I managed to capture with my iPhone. Unfortunately my mother-in-law wasn't feeling well on that day, so she couldn't come.

See? I couldn't even stand when this picture was taken, for Michael refused to move an inch! He also wore a new striped red shirt with jeans and new pair of black suede shoes. Too bad he wouldn't let me take his picture because he constantly moving and would not stay still!

Sunday was Father's Day! We don't celebrate Father's Day here in Indonesia. Well, we should, because we do have Mother's Day on December 22 every year. However, I created this little collage for Hubby. Isn't it cute!

On Marriage

"She brings him good, and NOT evil, all the days of her life." 

(Proverbs 31:12)

For further discussion about this verse, please click here.

ALL the days of my life. ALL. Now, this is difficult. How can I be loving when he is being difficult and un-love-able? Let's just say Hubby had a rather rough time last week, and let's say his words to me were not the sweetest. It was very tempting to snarl back smartly at him, but I realized it wouldn't do good for anyone but satisfying my own ego and emotions. I did some mishaps here and there, being just a normal human being.

Hubby always says how he loves having an intelligent, smart wife. He loves having conversation about business, finance, politics, that kind of "serious" topics with me. You think when he comes home he just want to relax and forget about work and the world outside and enjoy the safe haven that we called home? Oh no... His idea of winding down is playing a bit with our son, then after tucking Michael in, he will talk to me all about his day, his work, his thoughts, his ideas, his plans for our future, our investment, our business, etc. He didn't care much to talk about baby food and child rearing methods. After all, he is a man, and that's what girlfriends with children are for, for this kind of domestic discussions! He always praises me of being logical, pragmatic and sensible, just like a man. Well, well, well. I should know that despite all those praises, he married me, a woman, and from time to time he will need me just to be a woman! A wife who listens. Just listen. Without giving any logical or smart opinion! He just needs me to listen and that's all. He doesn't need me giving any advise or solutions. That, and some hugs and kisses will be nice, too! ^__^

By the way, notice the phrase "ALL the days of her life"? Yes, it means it, folks. It means everyday in our lives until we day, to love and bring good, NOT evil to our husbands. Not just when we are in a good mood. Not when we feel like it. Not just when he is being lovable. Or successful. Not just on anniversary. It means everyday. When we are happy. When we have had a hard day. When we are feeling a bit sick. When he forgets to pick up dinner though you have told him to. When he refused to help you with the dishes because he was "tired" but then he was not so tired to go out with his friends to watch football. When he makes the same mistake, again. When he (unfairly) snaps at you, again. 

Everyday, ALL days of my life, until the day I die. That's how long the Lord said I shall love and bring good to my husband. I wrote about my contemplation on this particular verse here in this post. 

I posted this picture on social media and tagged him at work. People might think it was just another narcissistic selfie picture, but actually my earring said it all: LOVE. I just wanted to give him a little reminder that his wife loves him, no matter what.

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Hubby also received a lot of love from our little son!

On Work and Friendship

God is kind and good. He doesn't give trials more than one can handle to grow. While Hubby was having problem, my situation at work improved significantly. It's still a work in progress, but things are getting better and I have a much better mood and positive energy to tackle things in the workplace. Automatically, it also translates to me coming home with a positive outlook and bounce in my steps, instead of annoyance and frustration. Therefore, I had more patience, wholesomeness and sweetness to welcome Hubby home. Last week he showed me uncomparable support. This week, it was my turn to be the supportive spouse.

I did write that one my responsibilites is managing the penthouse. It's like a homemaker's work, but the home is the office! I ordered some of these magnificent orchid in vases for the penthouse lounge. They are gorgeous, don't you think! A thing of beauty is a joy forever, Mary Poppins said.

My other responsibility is managing apartment project, and I have the most amazing team. We went out to lunch together, on a vendor's treat, at Duck King, and here is a picture of me and the girls. Well, the boys sat at the front of the car and in another car, so they don't show up in this picture.

There were many times when I was reminded again and again that happiness can be something very simple. As simple as trying out a new neighborhood restaurant for lunch with wonderful coworkers who also happen to be good friends. Last week, the three of us, me, Fitri and Fani went to try this just-opened Chinese restaurant near the office, called Golden Pigeon, whose specialty is, of coures, deep fried pigeon. It was Friday, we were feeling trying out something new, and it was a splurge, so despite the rather expensive price, we decided to jump in. Well, it's not ludicrously expensive nor extravagant, but let's say we spent a little bit more than what we usually spent on lunches.

Hubby and I don't bring lunch to work, though we do bring breakfast that I packed for both of us. I have a very strict and busy schedule, I don't have time to cook except for weekends and occasional dinner, including our once-a-week meatless dinner. I choose to spend my cooking priority to make my son's food from scratch everyday, so he will always have fresh food on a daily basis. Things might change later on, but at this point, we almost always eat out for lunch and dinner.

Back to this particular lunch, my coworkers and I have established a list of favorite restaurants around the office for lunch, but occassionally we try out new venues. Some turned out to be a failure, some turned out to be a success. This one we considered a success, though because of the price, we may not go back there again too often. However, I was thinking to invite Hubby to eat dinner there one of these days.

I couldn't resist to take this picture, the color combination is so pretty!

The lunch menu was totally out of our comfort zone: deep fried pigeons, some steamed pokchoy with garlic, tofu with vegetable in delicious broth, crispy Sechuan style fried chicken. The dishes were tasty and different and unique, and we decided that the lunch was a good experience afterall. See? Happiness can be as simple as having good time with good food and good company on Friday. We are so blessed to be able to afford this kind of simple yet abundant lifestyle that is sprinkled with the Lord's bountiful extras on top. We are not in no way rich people, but we have roof over our head, a nice home, a job that we enjoy, a good husband, children, family, friends, and enough money to splurge on relatively lavish lunch - and occassionally on nice purse - once in a while!  ^__^



The interior of the restaurant is also an eye candy in itself. It's simple but cute.

Last week's to do list:

• Read Chapter 9 of Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle".
• Read and contemplate on the Book of Proverbs Chapter 3 Part 1: Confidence in God Leads to Prosperity.
• Return original legal papers to the bank's safe deposit box.
• Renovation permit.
• Tidy up my writing table.
• Appointment with my dermatologist.
• Find suitable flowers for our prayer corner table.
• Renew my husband's life insurance.
• Editing my accessory collection.

This week's to do list:

• Read Chapter 11 of Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle": Slow Food Nations.
• Read and contemplate on the Book of Proverbs Chapter 3 Part 1: Confidence in God Leads to Prosperity.
• Biweekly grocery shopping.
• Meatless Tuesday dinner menu: mixed salad (romaine lettuce, spinach, boiled eggs, sliced apples, tomatoes, shallots) with some grilled potatoes.
• Starting once-a-week weekend oatmeal breakfast in addition to once-a-week meatless dinner.
• Looking up oatmeal recipes online: sweet recipes for Hubby, savory recipes for Michael and me.
• Introducing new fruit and new oatmeal recipe snack for Michael.
• Paying monthly bills.
• Organize and file Michael's pictures from Hubby's DSLR camera.
• Organize and file family financial records.
• Organize and file family legal records online.
• Taking pictures for post about my morning fruit and veggie smoothie routine.

I'm linking up to these wonderful Ladies:

Monday

• Taming Rapunzel: Hair Style Monday
• DC in Style: Monday Bloom
• Not Dead Yet Style: Visible Monday
• Mom's The Word: Make Your Home Sing Monday
• Happy Wives Club: Marriage Mondays
• The Better Mom: The Better Mom Mondays
• What Joy Is Mine: Monday Musings
• Color Blind: Thrifer Anonymous
• The Modest Mom
• Create With Joy: Inspire Me Monday
• The Beauty in His Grip: Sharing His Beauty Mondays
• A Pinch Of Joy: Busy Monday
• Tell Me A Story
• Still Being Molly: YOLO Monday
• Very Busy Mama: Real Mom Style
• Momma In Flip Flops: Real Mom Style
• Thrifty Chic Mom: Real Mom Style
• I Am Priiincess: Monday Madness
• Basic Training – Corporate Style: Fashionably Employed Link Up
• Glamamom: Mode Monday
• Bon Bon Rose Girls: Monday Mingle
• Mom Trend: Monday Mingle
• More Pieces of Me: Manic Monday
• On the Daily Express: Manic Monday
• Whitney Nic James: Personal Style Monday
• Fizz And Frosting: Mix It Monday
• The Style Record: Monday Must Haves
• A Proverbs 31 Wife: Matrimonial Monday Linkup
• I Should Be Mopping The Floor: Inspiration Monday
• Splashin Glory: Momma Notes
• Missional Call: M M and M Monday Linkup
• Chronicles of Grace: Unforced Rhythms
• The Wellspring: Playdates with God
• Rich Faith Rising: Unite
• Finding Heaven: Soli Deo Gloria
• Growing Home: Growing Homemaker
• Teaching What Is God: Women Helping Women
• Join The Gossip: Monday Morning Gossip
• Life of Meg: Mingle Monday

Tuesday

• Life’s a Party Dress Like it: Stylish Tuesday
• The Fashion Canvas: Trend Spin Linkup
• Corner Stone Confessions: Titus 2 Tuesday
• Time Warp Wife: Titus 2 Tuesday
• Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
• Keeping Life Simple: The Gathering Spot
• Sugar Bee Crafts: Take A Look Tuesday
• Style Elixir: Style Sessions Fashion Link Up
• Growing Home Blog: Teach Me Tuesday
• 100lb Countdown: Turn It Up Tuesday
• Greater Than Rubies: Remix, Rewear, Restyle
• Walking In Memphis In High Heels: Trend Spin Link Up
• Myriad Musings: Style Swap Tuesdays

Wednesday

• Transatlantic Blonde: What I Wore Wednesday
• Because Shanna Said So: Random Wednesday
• My Girlish Whims: My Whims Wednesday
• Juana Mikels: Wednesday's Prayer Girls
• Kimba Likes: Wardrobe Wednesday
• The Pleated Poppy: What I Wore Wednesday
• Messy Marriage: Wedded Wednesday
• Elizabeth & Co.: Be Inspired
• My Daily Walk In His Grace: Winsome Wednesday
• A Creative Princess
• Get Your Pretty On: I Feel Pretty
• A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
• Cute And Little: Color Brigade
• Redcliffe Style: 30 Plus Style and Beauty Linkup
• Adorned From Above
• Woman to Woman Ministries: Word Filled Wednesday
• Little R & R: Wednesday Link Party
• We Are That Family: Works For Me Wednesday
• Jennifer Dukes Lee: Tell His Story
• Fitness Blondie: The Hump Day Blog Hop

Thursday

• CLK Fashions: Fashion Boutique Favorites
• The Tiny Heart: Look What I Got
• Penniless Socialite: Look What I Got
• Rebecca Lately: Look What I Got
• Vodka-Infused Lemonade: Tres-Chic Thursday
• Mix and Match Fashion: What I Wore to Work
• 3-D Lessons For Life: Thought Provoking Thursday
• Katherines Corner: Thursday Favorite Blog Hop
• A Glimpse Inside: Catch A Glimpse Party
• Serving Joyfully: Thriving Thursday
• Glitz And Gold: All Things Thursday
• Maybe I Will: Be.You.Tiful
• Chic California: Be.You.Tiful
• The Happy Gal: Be.You.Tiful
• Fry Sauce And Grits: Be.You.Tiful
• Raising Mighty Arrows: Proverbs 31 Thursday
• All Things With Purpose: All Things Thursday
• Children Are A Blessing: Growing In Grace Link Up
• White Coat Wardrobe and Perfectly Coutured : Three Fer Thursday
• Simply Just Lovely: Working Girl With Style

Friday

• Mummy's Got Style: Fashion Friday
• Penniless Socialite and Delusions of Grandeur: Favorite Fashion Friday Link Up
• Two Thirty Five Designs: Casual Friday Link Up
• Serenity Now: Weekend Bloggy Reading Link Up
• Simply Lulu Style: What I’m Loving Fridays
• Style Elixir: Friday’s Fab Favorites
• Musings of a Housewife: Fashion Friday
• Rags to Stitches: Coffee Date Friday
• Womanhood With Purpose: Friday's Link Up
• Missional Women: Faith Filled Friday
• Spiritual Sundays
• Essential Thing Devotions: Essential Fridays
• Rachel The Hat: Passion For Fashion
• Simple Sequins: Fashion Item Friday
• Chantilly Songs: The Totally Awesome Blog Hop
• Christian Mommy Blogger: Fellowship Friday
• The Jenny Evolution: Friday Flash Blog
• Soul Survival: Faithful Friday Linkup
• Bacon Time With The Hungry Hypo: Anything Goes Linky Party
• Midwest Style Bloggers: Friday Favorites
• Lena B Actually: Passion For Fashion
• Blissful And Domestic: Feature Friday Link Up
• Sabby Style: Friday Frills

Saturday

• How Sweet The Sound: Pink Saturday
• Six Sisters' Stuff: Strut Your Stuff Saturday Linky Party
• Renewed Daily: Recommendation Saturday
• Fashionista Momma: Stylish Saturday
• Sincerely Paula: No Rules Weekend Blog Party
• Amanda's Books And More: Make My Saturday Sweet
• The Baby Shopaholic: Mamanista Friday

Sunday

• Macdonald's Playland: Mommy Moments Blog Hop
• Watch Out For the Woestman: Watch What I'm Wearing
• All The Things, Etc. : Sunday Edition
• Let It Be Beautiful: Sunday Edition
• I Would So Rock This

Flat Challenge

First of all, happy Thanksgiving to all my American and Canadian Friends! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend with your femilies and loved ones. Anyone want to send me a Thanksgiving turkey? ^_^

Today I'd like to share a piece of good news with you all, Friends. We're pregnant! Yayyyy!!

Actually, I'm seven months pregnant now, going on eighth month. The baby is due sometime at the end of January next year. I didn't share this with you all earlier, since in Indonesia there's this belief that you should not make too big deal out of your pregnancy until you passed the seventh month, when there is almost a 100% assurance that the pregnancy and the baby is OK. My parents also warned us, me and Hubby, not to buy anything for the baby until we passed seventh month.

These pictures were taken when I just passed the first trimester. As you can see, I began to avoid heels and started wearing only low and kitten heels. After a while I abandoned heels altogether and went with all flats, for the baby's sake. I suffered a major bleeding on the fourth month, and was confined to strict bedrest for about three weeks. After that we did all precautions and be extra careful, including avoiding taking bumpy rides on the car, driving, and sadly - high heels.

Now, I turned into a slob during the first trimester of my pregnancy. I didn't feel like dressing up at all! I was so tired and sleepy all the time. I still looked presentable and OK, I guess, since most people said so. But some close friends and my dear husband noted that I look "a little bit worse than usual." Ouch!

During bedrest, I tried to motivate myself by checking on other fashion blogs and maternity fashion blogs, as well as watching YouTube beauty videos. In short, I tried to give myself a maximum dose of motivation to keeping up appearances! I don't want to fall into the sloppy habit, and I don't want my husband to feel that the woman he fell in love and married to 'deteriorating' and becomes a lazy slob!

Sadly, I'm still tired most of the time and therefore don't have enough energy to do things I used to enjoy, alone or with friends or with my husband: decorating the house for seasonal festivities like Thanksgiving and even Christmas, hanging out with my friends, out of town getaway weekends with my husband, or even grocery shopping. I used to enjoy grocery shopping, but my doctor has warned me not to take a long walk, going up and down the stairs, nor to do any heavy lifting whatsoever. Basically I'm not allowed to do anything that might trigger a contraction (that's what caused the bleeding). And since I need napping now after work (I never napped before), and my husband needs full attention when he gets home, then I get sleepy again at only nine o'clock in the evening, I have less and less me-time, and less and less time for this blog. So, if I post less frequently now, and do not respond to comments as much as I used to, please understand. ^_^ (Also, thank God for scheduled post!)

Now, I guess it's obvious what my husband and I are most thankful for this Thanksgiving. We're basically thankful for everything, especially for finding each other and the marriage, but most of all, for this very very special gift of the baby that will be coming next year! And we're soooooo thankful that we have survived at least seven out of nine months of the pregnancy, even with all the glitches involved.

Thank you, Lord!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His kindness endures forever."

(The Historical Books, 1 Chronicles 16:34)

Sandals: Symbolize. Skirt: refashioned from Mom's old skirt. Purse: Hana. Pink T-shirt: Old Navy. Taupe jacket: DKNY. Accessories: Naughty. Skinny belt: unbranded.

Linking up to:

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