2012 in review: Thank You, From the Depths of My Stiletto-Crazy Heart

Darling Stiletto-itas! We received a delightful surprise in our Inbox today. Something enthralling, gratifying and, ultimately, humbling.

Before sharing the “deets”, please allow me to just say that I wish I could gather each one of you up in my arms – yes, including you, who’s sitting there right now in your robe & jammies in front of your computer, drinking your coffee in your corner of the world – and give y’all a great, big group HUG! Yes, that’s how I feel right now, right down to the depths of my stiletto-crazy heart.

Since I can’t hug all of you (obvz!), I’ll just have to settle for posting this below for all of you gorgeous duckies out there:

THANK YOU!!!!!

So, quelle surprise??? The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys have prepared a 2012 annual report for The Bamboo Stiletto. Check out the fascinating “deets” below!

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 10,000 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 17 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

A New Year of Fierce Fabulousity for Us All!

It’s been a while, my darling Stiletto-istas, but yes, NEWS FLASH! Although on life support for the past couple months as the madness of the festive season and life in general just threatened to completely engulf us, The Bamboo Stiletto is still alive, kicking up her heels and has not forgotten YOU.

We’re determined to start 2013 fabulously right with a wish for y’all…from my heart & home in Canton, China to yours, my warmest greetings for a Happy & Prosperous New Year, filled with skedaddles of success and style, shoes and smiles and everything pure and good that your hearts desire.

Our recent travels here & there coupled with the festive season – and the curious fact that our work-at-home situation seemed to have racheted up a notch recently – kept us from blogging, peeps, but we made an effort to keep up the holiday spirit in our very own Casa Stiletto with a few little touches that, thankfully, managed not to break the bank. Taking a page from The Thrifty Decor Chick (love her blog!), here’s the results of our decorating efforts at Casa Stiletto (please excuse the poor quality of the photos, which were Instagrammed hurriedly and not really edited properly):

Let’s kick off with a simple Christmas welcome wreath I hung on the front door, as well as a couple of lovely poinsettia plants I picked up for RMB 20 (approx. USD 3) each at a local market…

Our home’s entry foyer has a floor to ceiling window looking out onto our small balcony, where I hung twin red “parols” (traditional Philippine Christmas lanterns), which I made my brother handcarry to Hong Kong. Aren’t they super-kyoooooot?

Speaking of the balcony, I also picked up tiny twin poinsettias while at the local market, then plonked ’em into the backs of our balcony giraffes (right-hand side). Now, Herr Hubby swears these are not giraffes but reindeer…it’s an ongoing debate in Casa Stiletto.

Herr Hubby & I are traditionalists in that we both adore having an Advent wreath at home for Christmas…an easy thing to acquire if you live in a Western or international city…not the case in Canton Town, a bit of a no man’s land when it comes to Christmas decorations. What’s a girl to do? DIY, darlings! Plonked in a Shanghai Tang candle holder with tea light in the centre! Ta-Da!

It’s always good to have sweets lying around the house during the holiday season since people are always dropping by…so I created a little dining room vignette, with a bowl of sweets & choccies which I just top up regularly.

Each of our bedroom (and my home office) doors had a Christmas stocking…as I discovered the miracle known as Blue Tac!

In the hallway corner outside our bedrooms, I created a cozy Christmas vignette with a tiny tree flanked by modern angel lamps and our resident polar bear, Knut. Tree & angels by Ikea.

For the life of me, I’ve never figured myself as a DIY chick or a craft-sy kind of girl, but for some reason this season, the homemade candle bug bit us. Ordered a candle-making kit from Australia, sourced festive jars in China and presto! we were on a roll with our Christmas gifts…

…and here’s the gifts waiting under the Christmas tree. We searched the local market high & low for this tree & while she may look a little scraggly (and decorated hastily), as you can see, she’s potted…so we’re keeping her, take care of her so she stays healthy all year round on our balcony and her beauty will grace our home again next Christmas!

How did YOU decorate your home this season, duckies??? We’d love to know! Do email me at bamboostiletto@gmail.com, I’d love to hear from you! Till then, STAY GOLD!