Around 6 am everybody in our house wakes up. My husband is taking a shower and will soon be heading off for his work, and my almost 2 year old son Lode is making some noise from his bedroom so I go in and check how he is doing. A big smile welcomes me, but I have to be careful; he can be very cranky in the mornings… (I guess he takes after his mom). After giving him his morning milk, I sit down behind my Apple and do a quick scan through my emails, visit my favorite blogs and start thinking about what I want to write about today on my two blogs. I hardly ever prepare anything in advance, and like to post about any topic or design that catches my interest during the day or comes to mind daydreaming, drinking my first self-made latte (low fat milk…)…

An hour later, Lode and I are sitting outside on our balcony. Having the sun in our face almost every morning is the biggest treat for me every day. I’m a person who functions much better with sunlight…we always start with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Lode’s babysitter is also here which allows me to work in my studio in the apartment (actually my studio is what was originally supposed to be the master bedroom but I think it is much better as a studio… not sure my husband agrees though… but our bedroom is nice and cozy and who needs a big bedroom anyway?…). Our babysitter is such a lovely girl; she and Lode are really great together and I consider myself very lucky that we found her. It is great to be able to be a “working mom” at home and have my baby son still close to me and looked after. He comes running in and out the studio and sometimes sits with a book next to me or pretends to work on the computer as well… it’s a funny and touching thing to see how kids copy their parents…

Since June last year we have lived in this apartment building in Kuala Lumpur. It is a wonderful place; we were used to living in very small apartments in the heart of the city, so living in a “big one” like this located just outside the city center feels very luxurious… and it is so silent and serene. I never thought I could get used to just hearing nothing (or only the birds) being used to traffic and city sounds, but I must say this is just marvelous. There is a common swimming pool where I often go with my son during the afternoons, just to cool down and unwind. Very relaxing…

Around 8 am: I officially start my new working day. I truly love what I do, writing on Bloesem and BloesemKids gives me great pleasure and it is a big part of who I am, although sometimes I do miss not having enough time to create more myself. My head is always full of ideas and people who know me well know that I always want to try and “make” new things. I think it must be in my genes. My father owned a shoe trading business most of his professional life and many designs he designed himself just by hand on a piece of paper (kids shoes mainly). His business always fascinated me-- traveling to Asia to find manufacturers, visiting international shoe fairs… I joined him on many of his trips and the sense of adventure visiting remote areas of China is really addictive. So here I am running my own modest operation out of my new found home in Asia… can it be a coincidence? And Malaysia is also my father’s favorite country… Anyway enough about that… I started doing graphic design work when I was living in New York. I bought some software, books and tutorial and just started. Surprisingly it went pretty well and I think it just evolved in starting my design blogs.

Sometimes I still like to do freelance projects like these two birth announcements I did in December last year.

Around noon: my son is going to bed for a little nap and I’m going out to have a quick lunch with my husband. He works in the city very close to the KLCC Twin-towers.

12.45: We either eat something at one of the Hawker stalls outside or we go to my favorite bookstore Kinokuniya and grab a sandwich there. At Kinokuniya I always find so much inspiration.

When I’m back home around 2.30 my son is already awake and I am longing to spend some time with him. Today we’re not going for a swim, but we’re trying to paint something together. It’s his first time and he really likes it, especially playing with the water and making a big mess.

Around 4: I’m going back to my studio to finish some posts; preparing a wonderful new feature on BloesemKids, which will be shown on Friday. Search the internet for the latest in design, this always takes up more time than I expect and finally I try to answer as many emails as possible.

Around 6: my son is getting ready for his dinner and my husband comes home very early (normally he only gets back around 7.30) to finish decorating our walls with some new prints I bought on Etsy. I wish I could paint our walls, but I can’t as we rent the apartment… the walls have this crème color and I love my walls to be very white... After our dinner I’m back behind my Apple, responding to new emails and cleaning my desk for tomorrow…

When the evening starts around 9 pm I open up one of my knitting drawers to see what I want to do tonight…knitting or doing embroidery for me is like yoga especially when watching a nice movie. We always go to bed early when we’re not going out for dinner with friends. So tonight is a ‘normal’ night and around 10.30 we’re off to bed. Sleep well!

Dear Erin, thank you so much for inviting me as your guest on your beautiful blog!
[Editor's note: No... thank YOU, Irene. You are a PLEASURE!!!!]

p.s. Thanks for the shout out, Apartment Therapy--- you're next on the daily list, so beware!!!