getting organized

my company didn't publish its annual company desk calendar as it has in previous years, so i made my way to kinokuniya and picked up this little guy. while we have access to calendars in many formats - in our email systems, on bloomberg, and on my big red 2015 standard diary, there's still something cute and convenient about at a visual monthly calendar, especially when it comes to planning fun things.

so this is my desk layout under my second monitor (second of six). aside from the utilitarian scotch tape dispenser and swingline stapler, this is where i keep some of my favorite things. leftmost is my new s'well bottle, a 9 oz birthday gift from rose! save some trees, guys! then my clinique moisture spray for those dry winter afternoons, my new calendar, and on the far right, my valentine's day present from jess a few years ago. it's my all-time favorite mug :)

i can't show the rest of my desk because it's embarassingly messy with some piles almost covering the monitors ...

on another note, we finally got our backsplash installed! to stay consistent with the minimal look and feel, we chose a white back-painted glass backsplash with four vertical seams. unfortunately i chose this subcontractor myself and kevin and i gave the final product a 6.5 out of 10.

while the glass itself looks great, the difficult part is in the details, which could be better, to say the least. now i'm going to have to go to my contractor and beg him to help fix it so it's on-par with the quality with the other 99% of the renovation.

the good news is that kevin recalled my parm reggiano craving from a few days ago (i complained about wanting to eat an entire wheel of parm for a few consecutive days) and surprised me with two new murray's goudas:

ewphoria (lol, yes, that's what it's called)
and another nutty one whose name i can't recall right now.

delish! and to think, i didn't even like cheese a few years ago!

live-edge

busy quiet tuesday at work. 2hr lunch downtown at client's office where i got to nibble on 1/10th of my turkey club. busy afternoon - S&P is not letting up with the index changes!

dinner menu

short-grain rice with booster

roasted wild alaskan salmon with lemon herbs

tomato and eggs

sauteed kale with garlic

bottarga paired with daikon

after researching and mulling over hundreds of dining table options and wood slabs along the east and west coasts, we finally bit the bullet and ordered our chilton 84" walnut live-edge dining table from room & board! it is built from a solid slab of walnut braced with butterfly joints so each table is one-of-a-kind. below is a photo of the exact top we chose. i love the richness of the color and the fibrous smooth grains, and the imperfections in the wood texture.

can't wait for it to arrive next week so hotpot season can begin!!!!

best: mikhail at artlookglass reached out to let us know that the backsplash is finished and ready for installation! woohoo. it took about 8 business days to be completed - what great turnaround time.

worst: skipping lunch and having a bag of doritos in the afternoon. gross. it was cold and rainy out though and i did not want to venture out there again.

smile: kev made a HUGE batch of bolognese sauce last night while i was browsing wool blanket sites haha. i have recently been obsessed with woolrich, pendleton, and faribault woolen mills and blanket designs. they're lovely! looking forward to some warm woolen blankets and easy pasta dinners!

the little things

best: both of us making it home before 6pm and having a homemade dinner together! we had a huge serving of 烏魚子 with our meal, as well as the second half of the sour cream apple walnut pie. the little things in life which make me smile. also didn't hurt that the time warner dvr installation guy and backsplash subcontractor both stopped by in the evening.

worst: realizing that i forgot my cell phone after we swiped into the subway station this morning. NERD! my cell phone feels like my lifeline these days.

smile: the time warner dvr installation guy, aleksander, was a cheerful, polite russian guy. interacting with him was one of the highlights of my day and i gave him all 9+ (on a scale of 1-9) on the tw appointment survey.

a lil shady

why do they make beds sooo comfortable if we have to get up in the mornings for work? (>.<) seriously ... i think the month of october was a humbling experience in terms of living out of a suitcase in someone else's bed! i will never take my much needed sleep and firm mattress for granted again.

and a little update from the loft ~~ we got our roller shades installed! that's right - solar shades in the living room and blackout + room darkening shades in the bedrooms. it's going to feel like a coffin tonight :) i can't wait ~~~~~

but back to the comfy bed issue, these blackout shades will not make it any easier to get out of bed in the morning (>.<)

best: starting to feel more comfortable in my kitchen and finding myself reaching into cabinets and the pantry for items without thinking about it first. finally ...

worst: re-considering backsplash materials! eek! we had pretty much decided to go with large panels of back-painted glass, but now im reconsidering tiling the walls to achieve a more matte and transitional look. still loving the sea green crackle porcelain ann sacks tiles. and marble ... it's like the love affair that will never happen but man so beautiful and tempting.

smile: my in-laws are freaking hilarious. we have a chain of emails going around where my MIL is joking about being an undercover agent, my SIL is telling stories about all the awesome footage from her childhood where my FIL is giving flu shots and cutting frenulums (of the tongue) at home, meanwhile my MIL is making dirty jokes on the side.

random thought: if in families with multiple children, say three, the eldest, middle, and youngest tend to exhibit stereotypical qualities of the eldest, middle, and youngest child, respectively, has anyone ever tried to raise them carefully in different ways? for instance, raise the first without giving him/her as much attention and as high expectations as most people give their first; raise the second with ultra care and lots more attention than the first; and holding the youngest to the highest bar with the strictest of expectations?

happy thot: the hubby returns tomorrow night!!!!!

too many whites

monday again and today was BEAUTIFUL out.

even after a blueberry muffin for breakfast, i felt hungry by 11am and RAVENOUS by 12:45pm when dais and i went to buy lunch. therefore, i treated myself to a large market lunch at diginn, a yakimochi, and a box of sesame biscuits from cafe zaiya. i was quite stuffed afterwards :)

the work day flew by and before i knew it, it was time to head out for my weekly meeting with the contractors. the meeting was quick and it sounds like they are working to finish by 12noon this friday, october 31st (one week earlier than their original projected timeline), in time for our move-in. how sweet! i have had a wonderful experience with russ, mike, and grant, and all their subs at fulton landing and would definitely recommend them to friends and family based on our experience.

then off to home depot to pick out materials and order window treatments - done! and back to the office for some late S&P announcements and a quick dinner at tappo (their margherita is awesome!), before returning to the apartment to ... yes, MOVE MORE BOXES.

apparently we didn't move enough out of the master bedroom on saturday so the painters couldn't finish the ceilings. it might sound a bit wierd, but it's fun to get involved in the remodel, even if it is just moving boxes. and it's a little empowering to accomplish something as a couple (boxes moved - check!). maybe a little like nailing the first dance at your wedding?

backsplash colors and materials - we decided to go with glass because we like to cook a LOT and i didn't want to have to deal with stained grout lines, which you can get with tiles. although i LOVE marble herringbone backsplashes! i think they're probably more pretty than practical. now for glass, our options were acid etched or back-painted glass? acid etched gives a soft milky look, but again, i think oil and cooking particles can get easily caught in there, so back-painted glass it is. now colors ... cool white, polar white, chantilly lace, matte white, lace white, wedding white, on and on ...  i think we chose the one in the middle ("matte white").

and finally our pendant lamps are up :) though their heights will need a little fine-tuning.

best: relishing the fact that i have amazing supportive girlfriends! i mentioned the possibility of a france trip over the holidays to them over email this afternoon and i was floored with the quick and comprehensive responses with regards to accommodations, places to eat and visit, and other suggestions based on their recent trips. love you guys, dais, rose, & han!

worst: eating too many sweets! im not putting in our usual mileage these last two weeks so probably need to tone it down with the treats ... 

smile: osmin at home depot shades dept was amazing to work with! she was friendly and efficient, and very thoughtful when answering my questions about the differences in shade materials. i have had a very good experience with HD's shade dept and would highly recommend them in the future.

little moments

today was cold and raining cats-and-dogs! a series of little moments throughout the day brightened my mood though :)

started off the morning with a little love: an 8 oz white moustache homemade yogurt in the kiss with orange blossom honey & walnuts. at first i was a little confused because when i mixed the yogurt, i didn't see any honey or walnuts, but when i put the first spoonful to my lips, i tasted the subtle flavors of a orange blossoms with little morsels of walnuts. it was heavenly!!! also a greek yogurt, the consistency of the white moustache was much creamier and luxurious than siggi's, fage, or chobani. and it tasted extremely fresh, similar to the yogurt my mom makes at home with homegrown bacteria cultures (but hers is watery, which i don't care for much). despite the 8 oz size, i finished the entire serving without a hitch and as a little bonus, i was left with a cute glass jar which i can't wait to repurpose!

the only thing that makes me wonder is what are the nutritional facts for this product? as i researched the product online, i learned that it's a small father-and-daughter business based in brooklyn, but no nutritional facts on their company website either. what makes this thing so creamy and delicious?

the white moustache homemade yogurt: kiss

at the apartment, today the stone guy and the backsplash guy came! here is a photo of our waterfall island and kitchen countertops. one of my favorite details is the mitered joint where the vertical and horizontal stone pieces meet. so pretty.

i'm still deciding between backsplash colors (eggshell white, lace white, or polar white? reminds me of american psycho hahaha) and the leadtime is 5-10 days so that will take a bit longer. i am getting excited for hotpot gatherings in the winter!

waterfall island

then i was off to dinner with monica and sonam at toro! in the pouring rain, i managed to bus one block, train one stop, and walk one block. lol. thank goodness for the unlimited metro card! saw that a sorel shop is opening on w14th st by ninth ave. yay! they make the best boots for the winter! i love my sorel joan of arcs - they totally saved me through the rain, snow, ice, and slush of last winter.

also found these adorable rice bowls at anthropologie that i want to get. check out the colors and designs! i want like 10 of each :/ but that is not practical ..

sorel on w14th st

anthropologie finds

dinner at toro was lovely! this is how it looked when i arrived ... it was completely packed and every table was full by the time we left three hours later! for monica and sonam, i think it was rare to get a night off so it was nice to get out with them. it's the first time we've managed to get out without the husbands and boy is the conversation different. food-wise, almost everything we ordered was delicious! we had the pan con tomate, tortilla espanola, and pimientos del padron for starters. and then we ventured into some of the slightly larger tapa dishes, including sausage with chickpeas, galician octopus, patatas bravas, hamburguesas (dry aged), and grilled corn with aioli. it was all superbly done - especially the three pinchos. my one complaint was the grilled corn, basically mexican corn, had waaaay too much butter and mayo on it. oh and for dessert, we had a chocolate ganache cake with crushed peanuts and sea salt with a side of olive oil ice cream. a great way to end the night before stepping back out into the unforgiving rain.

toro

best: spontaneous walk with my gf, daisy, to our go-to-spot, diginn, on 40th and madison for a spicy meatball lunch. it was the only time of the day where it wasn't raining and it's always nice to catch up after the weekend. it's become a weekly ritual!

worst: not wearing tights or pantyhose today. it was so cold and the rain was coming down sideways today. really looking forward to having all our stuff again after we move in next friday, though not looking forward to unpacking after 1.5 months. who can remember what's in those boxes at this point ...

smile: monica made me smile big time over dinner with her stories about her boys. her 10 and 15 yr old boys dislike getting shots at the doctor's office and have broken down at appointments begging not to have to take the shots. after the appointment, andrei, the younger one, bragged to me that he got 4 shots and his older brother, sasha, only got 2! shots apparently give you bragging rights - they crack me up. shots are inevitable. i don't look forward to getting shots, but their inevitable so i just look away and wince ... luckily it's usually over in 5-10 seconds or so.