Hi, my name is Min and I think I am slightly obsessed with food. 

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved food. My closer circle of friends know that nothing excites me more than thinking and planning my next meals. Please don’t judge me or my life goals. You see, my grumpiness and grouchiness often stems from the fact that I have yet to have my basic needs met. I hate it when I am either starving or sleepy. I won't hide the fact that I once drove my colleagues up the wall when I did a juice cleanse. They hatched a plan to replace all my green juice bottles with fries, chips and rice in hopes of getting rid of the hangry - hungry and angry - monster in me. 
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I often wonder what will become of me if I lose the ability to eat or lose all access to food. Jia can testify that I used to carry a small container of Honey Stars cereal in my bag. I need a backup plan cause being hungry is never, ever part of the plan. And just to make sure that we are clear on food insecurities, I have a head of fresh broccoli in my bag as I write this post… Well, it brings much needed comfort to know that I have free access to food whenever I need it. Yes, I am obsessed with food and this is why November's favourite pins are dedicated to food. Because, why not? Food makes the world go round! Pun intended. 

Onsen Tamago with Rice

Min: Oh, what I would give to indulge in a bowl of rice right now. I often say I can easily eat several bowls of rice. And now, I am ashamed to admit that I am not sure I can actually eat it without allowing the guilt to get to me before the fat rolls grows on me. What did rice do to deserve so much hate from the world of strict diets? Surely a bowl of rice can’t cause that much harm right? My dad loves rice and he often pairs white rice with a drizzle of dark soy sauce and top off the salty goodness with a perfectly fried egg. Yum! So, as a huge fan of rice, I say we eat rice for every meal. After all, rice is life. 

Sunday Stickies is a column where we reflect on the past week and pen those thoughts down on sticky pads. Expect notes to ourselves and others, advice, reminders for the week ahead, quotes, and anything random actually.

Patience is a virtue and patience is one of the fruits of the spirit. Patience is also something that we are severely lacking. With a thousand and one things to do before December, it is only normal that we are caught in a mad race against time right? And it is obvious that idle waiting is a waste of time. No one likes to wait but all week long, we have been tasked to wait instead of checking off our long list of things with super efficiency.

Almost nothing went according to our plans and we were rejected at every turn. We even had to wait a good 20 minutes at a drive-thru for just one cup of Ribena chill because the machine broke down. We were seriously delirious by then and channelled all frustrations into crazy bouts of laughter in the car. Well, at the very least we were rewarded with a good tasting cup of icy drink and a free packet of freshly fried fries for being good patient customers. Oh, the irony the life.

While we struggle to come to terms with waiting, we have learned that waiting is not all that bad when coupled with a good friend, some positive attitude and a whole lot of humour. So, in all things and in situations, always look on the bright side of life! 

Min: It has been an odd week. While Jia was rushing to finish up as much as she can before her trip, I was clearly in a daze. We drove around a lot and since I was in a daze most of the time, I ended up making many wrong turns and missing every other exit. I was terribly irritated with myself because I couldn't seem to concentrate at all. I'm thankful for the people around me, including Jia, for being so patient with me. Slowly but surely, my mood lifted and we ended up laughing to anything and everything. So it's true. Positivity and a little cheer can make life so much better. 

Jia: Hello from Jeju, South Korea! I have been here for 2 days, feeling pretty chilly and eating a ton. The cold brings out the gluttons in my family. On the first day alone, we ate 5 meals and bought way too much junk food for our apartment's tiny kitchen. I'm still in a work zone though, with work thoughts in my head ever so often. I guess that's the life of a business owner, yeah? But still, I have more days to go and I hope I'll have an absolute blast with my family ❤️ cheers to bonding time!

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Did you have a good week? :)

With Love, Min+Jia.

'Tis the season to be shopping! For others, I mean. Yes yes yes, it is that time of the year where we brave the crowd and dive into the malls to find gifts for our loved ones. 

Year after year, we have been guilty of late Christmas shopping so this year, we aim to start early. And what better way to start than to get organised? In true honey&gazelle obsessive fashion, we created yet another list to help us get organised. Hey, we just love our paper and lists, ok? 

If you are like us and need lists in your life as a way to stay on track, this Christmas shopping list is for you too! For a bit of festive flavour, we have replaced the usual boring checkboxes with Christmas trees. Now, you can check off your list with some ho-ho-ho jolly spirit! 

As seen in the preview above, we have laid out four shopping lists side by side in an A4-sized document. You can either use all four lists or share them with your family and friends!

To download, simply click the image above or go to the Downloads section where you can find all our free downloads and printables. Following that, all you need is a printer, paper, and a pair of scissors or a pen-knife. Just cut along the dotted lines after you have printed it out and there you have it, your Christmas shopping list to conquer the malls with! 

Look out for our upcoming 4-parter Christmas Curate Special series where we find some great gift ideas for everyone in your life! 

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Do you enjoy Christmas shopping?

<3 Jia.
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(The printable above is for personal use only and may not be sold, reproduced, or used in any commercial exchange. The printable is permitted for use on blogs and social media, but must be attributed and re-directed to honey&gazelle Design Studio – www.honeyandgazelle.com. All copyrights of the design is retained by honey&gazelle Design Studio.)

Sunday Stickies is a column where we reflect on the past week and pen those thoughts down on sticky pads. Expect notes to ourselves and others, advice, reminders for the week ahead, quotes, and anything random actually.

We have a lot of work to finish in a short amount of time before Jia leaves for South Korea. And it doesn't help that the current state of our studio is starting to look like a war zone, with boxes of freshly printed art prints, Christmas cards and calendars everywhere.

​All week long, Jia has been frantically clearing customised design orders while Min tries to pack every single new item at light speed - on top of juggling our usual routines of maintaining our blog, social media and web-store accounts, packing and sending out orders and consignment products, attending meetings and finalising corporate projects AND sorting out Min's wedding preparations. 

Woah, it's quite amazing how we have managed to stay alive while keeping tons of happiness and peace in the midst of life's chaos.

Jia: ​This was the week of incredible food. Min and I found ourselves happily indulging in (mainly) awesome Japanese food throughout the week. We stuffed ourselves silly with fresh sashimi, sushi, and heartwarming hot pots, and we ate and we ate and we ate. You know what this means? We are stressed. We are stress-eaters and with the upcoming wedding approaching fast and swiftly, work piling up, Christmas season, and our individual vacations, we are unintentionally seeking out the yummy. I have just 5 days to my family trip and I have yet to pack, yet to check things off the wedding to-do list, and also yet to complete all the work I have on hand. It’s gonna be a crazy week ahead before I fly off on Friday night. Let’s pray for the best!

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How was your week been?

With Love, Min+Jia.