bike racks & pork larb

kevin and i have five bikes in total. thankfully, two of them, the beater bikes, are currently residing in my parents' garage in holmdel. that leaves us with three bikes, two his and one mine, which we have been shuffling between the office, guest room, and living room.

after moving our beloved 85" r&b reese out of its little nook in the office, we decided that the wall opposite of the door would be a good spot to hang the bikes. i was drooling for the designer knife+saw bike shelf in walnut, but i could not ignore a similar one at cb2 (for 1/6th the price). after a bit of measuring and math, we finally got them up! there's something so empowering about being able to do small home projects together! kevin's bike is above and mine is below.

the third one, a tri bike, is still hanging out in the dining area attached to its trainer. lol. not enough wall space!

for dinner, i wanted to try a dish that my friend, daisy, had raved about making quite regularly on weeknights: pork larb. pork larb is a type of laotian salad which uses ground meat, fish sauce, shallots, and lots of fragrant herbs. i found a few recipes online, and then followed the one which suggested the highest fish sauce+lime juice+herbs ratio to meat. it was quite easy and healthy, as just the shallots are fried and ground pork is cooked through. the other ingredients (cilantro, thai basil, mint, scallions, like juice, fish sauce, and thai chilies), are mixed in by hand afterwards. we wrapped them in butter lettuce leaves, complemented with short-grains white rice. super yummy! thanks dais for the suggestion!

85" reese sofa for sale

after 3-4 years, we are selling our 85" r&b reese sofa. it has served us well, and kevin especially well, as his most coveted napping spot at nights and on the weekends. before we got married and were living in our separate apartments, i quickly learned that when he went silent from SMS or email, it was safe to assume he'd assumed nap mode on the reese. every single time!

so if anyone is in the market for the 85" r&b reese sofa, it has pretty much no signs of wear and we are listing it for a steal of $850 (original price: $1499+tax).

i just had to have one last photo together on the reese!

kansas chairs

welcome home!

after eight months of window shopping and a couple month hiatus from decorating, we have finally selected and accepted delivery for new dining table chairs. prior, we had been using four room & board soren chairs with a charcoal stain, which i purchased to go with my saarinen-inspired marble tulip table in our last apartment, but we both agreed that the new dining table needed something new.

the chairs we decided on are the kansas chairs in american walnut and brown belt leather seats from organic modernism. visually, they make the dining area feel a bit more spacious as they tuck in nicely under the table. i like the soft leather seating, a cushion for your toosh, and the little moose impression on each chair back.

slowly, but surely, getting there ...

el quinto pino

lately it seems like all i've been writing about is food and lofts. well, this entry is no different ...

jessica may have started her monday night with a glass of champagne, but the rest of us joined in with a pitcher of sangria at el quinto pino.

el quinto pino is a neighborhood restaurant that we have passed dozens of times on our way to the west side highway, and finally tried tonight for the first time. the menu is spanish tapas style, and the restaurant space is rustic, yet modern. the windows are high above eye level, and so you can walk by this restaurant on the sidewalk without ever realizing it exists.

we shared everything, starting with the neustras bravas, serrano ham croquettes, tortilla espanola, gambas al ajillo, fried chickpeas, and queso fundido (not on their menu online, but it was one of my favorites). and i couldn't forget the torreznos (aka "bag of bacon"), pork sandwich, and eggplant <~~ yum! for dessert, we shared the dark chocolate with catalan olive oil and sea salt on toast.

i love that the restaurant was on the smaller side and with a very private feeling! and best of all, no raving reviews on social media sites or large parties. i guess i'm getting older and a little over the group scenes.

after dinner, we got a tour of their renovated loft and met suki, their adorable yorkshire terrier, for the first time. i was floored by the transformation! 

what was once a piecemeal living room and kitchen, constructed with the sporadic additions of cabinetry, soffits, and walls by its previous owner, was now a seamlessly finished open loft with soft recessed lighting, a beautiful repositioned grey kitchen, and two lovely bedrooms. above all, the closets and the laundry room (!!).

suki was enjoying the new space too, as demonstrated by her mini laps around the living room furniture :) can't wait for the housewarming and kris's kansas city ribs!

a loft transformed

another morning, another run! my MIL suggested for us to check out weowna park, a wooded forest with soft trails for walking, running, and hiking, just west of lake sammamish. after passing the kelsey creek blueberry farm driving on 148th ave and a really nice paved (and shaded!! :D) path along the north side of southeast 16th street, we parked the car at a trailhead around 168th ave southeast and southeast 19th street.

the "run" was really fun and almost entirely (99.999%) shaded! it was hot and humid out, but at least we were shaded and protected by cooler temperatures of the forest. the hills were humbling in the first half of the run, and miserably cruel in the second half, but to get a peek of lake sammamish was totally worth it! when we reached the northmost point of the run, we realized that the car key was missing, and retraced our steps (ahhhhh) in search of the key.  to no luck.

luckily, a quick call to the family 911 line and my MIL and nephew were at the park in no time, with an extra set of keys for us. i think this is the third time we've had some sort of car issue in the seattle area in the last four years, and second time we needed to call kevin's parents for help. yes, for some reason i keep track of random stats like that :p

in the afternoon, we piled into doughzone for a seriously delicious taiwanese breakfast, and stopped by the loft to see how the work was going. mike and his guys had prepped, primed, and started painting the south side of the loft, and the north side was being prepped. just a fresh coat of white primer resulted in such a transformation in the loft! i hope one day we can do a full renovation of the place!

it was a beautiful day and we wanted to get to know our area a little bit better, so we walked around occidental ave and first ave to scope out some of the restaurants, bars, and shops we've been reading about online. here are the must try's in pioneer square: 

• bar sajor
• salumi
• the london plane
• dry goods designs
• damn the weather
• kraken congee
• intrigue chocolate
• pizza gabbiano
• good bar
• elm coffee roasters

finally, liam bid us farewell with this adorable line-up. these are all the legos "he built all by himself with uncle kevin, auntie jen, mom, and ah-gong" this weekend :)

ohayou, seattle!

today was the first day of our three day trip to seattle! and it was also the second time for us to visit the new loft in the historical pioneer square. 

first things first in the city where american coffee culture was born: we stopped by elm coffee roasters, the recently opened roastery and coffee shop in the neighborhood, and visited the loft! all the furniture was cleared out, including the grand piano (doh), but the walls were still warm shades of wine, mustard, and evergreen. what were these people thinking??

we spent a little time taking inventory of the apartment's condition and fixtures, figured out how to access the parking garage (secret batmobile like entrance along the railroad tracks, check!), and made a little to do list. later in the afternoon, mike, the handyman, visited the loft with us and estimated it would take 3-4 days to prime and paint the place. exciting! below are a couple photos of the current walls (yuck), and us choosing between a couple different shades of white. we went with the one behind kevin, which is a creamier white, which will hopefully complement the original brick walls. 

love love love the brick walls and open views and neighborhood, even if it is shady. i already want to live here !!!!!!

and on this fine day, we found the yummiest taiwanese cafe in the international district of downtown seattle: hard wok cafe. even though we were at least double the age of all the other patrons, we had an unforgettable dining experience! i don't think i've ever seen 蚵仔煎 (oyster omelette), 擔仔麵 (danzai noodles), 大腸包小腸 ("big sausage wrapped around small sausage"), or 台南米糕 (tainan bucket rice) on a menu in the US and this place had them all, and more! my favorites were the 肉燥 (braised diced pork belly over rice) and 割包 (gua bao)! definitely one of our best finds (thanks to my MIL) in the PNW yet.

more food to come: jen, kevin, and i managed to get away for a nice evening out in capitol hill, with dinner at the korean bbq-inspired restaurant, trove, and mudpie parfaits from the food truck out front. the weather was really nice,  in the high 60s with the sun setting over the city, and the conversation was intimate.

when we got home, uncle kevin made more legos with liam :)

framing

happy hump day!

rather than hopping off the desk multiple times to accept deliveries, i took the day off today to take care of a few things around the apartment and accept delivery for our new credenza from bludot, dip-dyed stools from serena & lily, and planters from terrain. 

for the last few months, we've been making weekly trips to the goodwill to donate clothes and shoes, and to the strand to donate books, and slowly accumulating furniture and plants. with the exception of dining table chairs which we still haven't decided on, i think we are finally done with furniture for the living space. in fact, after visiting our neighbors in 11BC the other night, i think we have far more pieces than them, and need to be careful about keeping the space open.

now, onto the walls! :)

we have three pieces which i want to get framed. the first is a print called "festival on south street 1930" by kuo hsueh-hu (郭雪湖). it is a colorful depiction of taipei’s famous dihua street (迪化街) during the lunar new year festival on south street (南街殷賑). i found the piece in a fun hakka blue shop on dihua street in march and kevin and i both fell in love with it instantly.

the other two pieces were paintings by my currently 95-year old grandmother. a few years ago, my grandmother sustained a few injuries in a series and as a result was feeling feeble and sad, and beginning to pull away from her painting, dancing, and mahjong activities. in an attempt to motivate her to resume those activities and regain confidence in her own health, i asked her to paint me two paintings that i could hang up in my home. she seemed reluctant at first, but upon my next visit to taiwan (kevin and my first trip back together) in december 2012, she proudly presented me with three gorgeous paintings! i will describe them and their significance in a separate post.

so i spent this afternoon looking at frames and mattes, and speaking with custom framing specialists at michaels on 22nd street and aifriedman on 18th st. i have framed just two pieces before, and basically just picked a simple frame and dropped them off at a framing shop in the west village years ago. it was amazing to speak with the custom framing specialist, lionel, at aifriendman. previously, lionel had worked at different galleries in the city, and still works to set up shows for friends and artists. his knowledge about the different mounting techniques and frames was extensive, and i respected the advice he offered and his aesthetic abilities.

in the end, i am thinking of going with a thicker white beveled-edge matte with a thin walnut frame and uv protection glass for the kuo piece, and a light taupe silk matte with a wooden frame with gold detailing made in france for the pieces by my grandmother. the kuo piece will go above the new credenza in the living room, which is flooded with southern light throughout the day, so without the uv protective coated glass, the print would inevitably fade. the other two pieces will go in our bedroom, which has northern light and blackout shades, so it shouldn't need the uv glass in this apartment.

price tag? ridiculous, but hey, you only do it once right?

smorgasburg

another gorgeous cool day without a cloud in the sky, and like clockwork, i was up before 7am this morning. i don't know why this happens to me on the weekends in the spring and summer, because as soon as the weekdays roll around, i have serious problems waking up for work!

as soon as kevin left for his run, simon woke up and nursed his hangover after a late night of partying, and i spent the morning baking a new batch of granola (with pistachios and blueberries!) and prepping some of the ingredients for dinner that night. for the last few months, i've felt sluggish, sick, and jetlagged, but finally, this weekend i felt more like myself again.

as we waited for simon to get ready, i took a short walk to the floral district and brought home some new succulent critters!

around 1pm, we made our way over to smorgasburg in brooklyn heights. having eaten just a half cup's worth of rice porridge that morning, i was ready to buckle over from hunger, so we got maine style lobster rolls from luke's, the very first booth we saw. hahaha ... it was so so tasty! don't think i've had lobster since last may in maine. we also had deep fried anchovies from bonchovi, cookies n cream organic from ice cream from blue marble ice cream, chicken parm sliders from sunday gravy, and my FAVORITE, maple lemonade and butternut squash sugar donut from rockville market farm.

and after what seems like a week of eating out, finally an easy dinner for two :)

a day of potting

it was 42F out and cloudy - perfect for running weather! we ran to the FDR and back, for a total of 5.2 miles this morning. out of shape and a few pounds happier, i mean, heavier, i was winded by mile 3. uuf.

after the run, i took my princess time getting ready - la di da - i love long baths and showers on the weekends, and we headed to chinatown for lunch at nyonya. i let kevin run with the ordering and we had roti canai, prawn mee, bean sprouts, and half a hainan chicken & rice order. i tend to eat too much at nyonya and make myself sick, so i nibbled a little here and there.

then we made the long-awaited trip to the sill together! i chatted with eliza and andrea for a while about their plant recommendations based on location, lighting, and level of care needed. we have so far managed to keep healthy all the plants in the loft: a 4 ft fiddle leaf fig tree, a few snake plants, and a handful of succulents, so i'd say we have a non-black thumb. yellowish-greenish even perhaps.

we decided on a few additions to add to our small collection and a couple of custom-made stoneware clay pots and saucers. from the top right (clockwise), they are: vining philodendron, marble queen pothos, neon pothos, and dwarf zz plant. they are supposed to be relatively drama-free and easy to care for. 

i spent the afternoon repotting them and placed them around the apartment. it feels much livelier around here already :)

had a spontaneous roundabout with daisy at the new harbs around the corner (yay finally!). we shared the sakura tea, yuzu sencha tea, strawberry tarte, and rare cheesecake. the cakes were very light, fluffy, and tasty, and the teas, not too sweet, were a nice complement. we were wondering - what exactly is "rare cheesecake"? as it turns out, it's the japanese way of saying it's a non-baked cheesecake. LOL. im pretty sure that's the way cheesecake is traditionally made in the US as well. it was a fun, relaxing way to spend chilly sunday afternoon.

oh and HARBS. what exactly does it mean? the explanation is almost as classic as the "rare cheesecake" logic. harbs is derived from the word herbs, which are tasty and lovely to the taste. funny :)

and below are my potted friends! welcome home.

reset

best: a random night to myself to reset: catch up on emails, reading, and a little cleaning. i think i'm learning that i feel more motivated to be productive when kevin is not around for some reason.

worst: kevin's dinner at ravagh and poker night lasted until half past one (am). hahaha. it's been a while since i've been up that late, and a long time since my eyelids have actually felt heavy and droopy before bed.

smile: while reading my latest purchase, shawn's comics, i found these cute dedications to his family members on the first page of each booklet. the drawings really capture the essence and mannerisms of his family members, which is especially endearing. shawn and yuka and their family are some of my favorite people - they are individuals, artists, and parents, prioritizing all three equally. i am always learning from them, and laughing when around them!

spring is nearly here

:) :) :)

the days are getting longer and the sidewalk ice is starting to melt. temperatures in nyc reached highs of 60F today, though it was still a bit too brisk to go jacket-less. and i wore my birkenstock gizeh sandals for the first time this year, signaling the start of the running season again.

we scored a walk-in table for four at basta pasta this evening and enjoyed a high-carb dinner with kris and jessica. construction on their loft began on monday and we were overdue a get together. we literally feasted at dinner. lol. for appetizers, we shared the hamachi crudo, spaghetti with tobiko, and spaghetti with proscuitto and parmigiano. for dinner, kevin and i doubled up on pastas - fusilli with chicken ragu and linguine with uni, while kris and jess indulged in the chicken and duck breast. for dessert, we had the almond flan, which tastes a bit like chinese almond tofu, but a little richer, and the parmigiano reggiano cheesecake! it was my first time trying the latter and it was surprisingly light, and oh-so-tasty!

(that reminds me, i still have to check out harbs when we get back from taiwan.)

best: received the latest comics from shawn cheng in the mail! the drawings are so intricate and detailed, and each comic has a dedication to one of his family members.

worst: leaving my coat at home today. haha. it's definitely not warm enough for birkenstocks + skirt weather yet.

smile: lorelai poured her heart out singing "i will always love you" at karaoke to luke and logan asked lorelai for rory's hand in marriage!!! gilmore girls is coming to a close very soon, and hopefully i will find something a bit more intellectually stimulating to do with my time afterwards. or something outdoors - the weather is on the up and up!

pioneer square

kevin went out early to do some hill repeats this morning while i caught up on my latest book, robert capa: a biography. after visiting the magnum photos exhibition and trying to visit fondation hcb in paris, i felt compelled to learn more about this photographer who led a famed, yet tumultuous life, which ended at just the age of 40. i was hoping to finish the book during this trip, but it seems like i've only gotten a third of the way through.

today we visited two more lofts in the pioneer square - downtown seattle area. i think kevin and i both felt an immediate connection with this one (top floor). this photo is taken from the building's batcave-like parking garage, which is parallel to a set of train tracks. there's something industrial, tangible, and historical we both love about trains. maybe it was because we loved watching the men who built america a few years back and learning about cornelius "commodore" vanderbilt's railroad empire. with a mess of unfinished walls, outdated kitchen and baths, and hundreds of feet of commercial electrical wiring, i'm not sure if this one will be our next project, but we did both individually love it.

in the afternoon, we walked around the u-dub (university of washington) campus where kevin's father did his residency +35 years ago. it was the start of spring and the sakura's were starting to bloom, making the cherry blossom quad a spectacle with hundreds of students and visitors picnicking, tossing frisbee and football (i so wanted to join in), posing for photo shoots (LOL!!), and more. 

i was enjoying the sight, but secretly thinking back to last march when we visited the quad on an early sunday morning and had the sakura to ourselves. it was towards the end of the blossom during our last visit, and the sakura petals covered the quad paths, creating quite a magical setting.

here is a photo of kevin and his mom in front of a magnolia tree. i think it's called a saucer magnolia or tulip tree, which is a hybrid between the lily magnolia and yulan magnolia. i generally see them in shades of white with a little pink, but these were magenta.

hello, pnw!

we started our weekend off with a 4-miler at nearby mercer slough. there is one hill on the east side (around mile 2) which i remember used to hurt quite a bit, but i think we are stronger mentally so we took it nice and easy and it was no obstacle. woohoo! it was 37F out, a bit cooler than we were expecting, but it kept us from overheating.

after a coffee and lemon glazed old-fashioned from top pot, we headed down to pioneer square to meet with a redfin agent, jimi lou steambarge (that's not a joke), to check out a loft on south jackson. the views were gorgeous and the unit had great bones, but would take a bit of work. maybe a fun project in the future?

explored occidental ave a little, visiting drygoods design, london plane, and zeitgeist coffee. dreamed a little about living in seattle and taking sewing classes at drygoods. took in the beautiful ranunculus and local artisan work at london plane. i was excited to learn that little shirley vases are made in seattle! they are carried by lots of home furnishing retailers these days, such as room and board and dwell. when we get our guest room set up a bit more, i hope to pick up a few. probably won't be having the chai latte from zeitgeist again as it's mostly spice, and not enough sweetness.

i think it was the first spring-like weekend for seattle-ites, as well as us new yorkers! the sun was shining brightly out and there was not a cloud in the sky. we finished off the afternoon with a walk through the botanical gardens, where liam showed us his favorite suspension bridge. here's a photo which i think pretty much sums up our afternoon:

the little things

happy friday!

i was a little slow this morning getting out of bed, so kevin heading off to the train without me. we usually take the 1 train together to 42nd street, but every once in a while, we'll get separated in our morning commutes. 

this morning, however, i was pleasantly surprised with my mini toppot stainless steel insulated mug filled with kevin's pour-over coffee. black. hot. just the way i like it. and it left me bouncing off the walls for the next 16 hours as well.

in the evening, we met at the apartment around 6 and kevin had picked up some yummy cheese at the grand central murray's. what a cool work place, where one can access irving coffee, shake shack, junior's cheesecake, and murray's cheese all in one building. we had our favorite aged gouda, and tried two new ones as well.

yep, it's the little things we do for each other, uhm, that he does for me :p

at quarter after six, the doorbell rang and we met with kristofer ghady, our homepolish interior designer, for the first time. while we have picked up most of the furniture for the loft, i think we're reaching the point where we are looking for someone with a good eye and modeling capabilities to give us  ideas and renderings for the master bedroom, and to help us pick out the finishing touches which will make each room feel cohesive. kris was super easy going and we enjoyed our consultation with him. we'll speak with a decorilla designer this weekend as well, and make a decision from there.

yay, the weekend is here!

feels like home

a loft is not easy to furnish, especially when we moved from a space approximately 1/3 of the size and 2/3 of the height. i think one of the hardest parts is not having walls/boundaries between the different areas - it requires you to do a whole lot more measuring and imagining. 

when we moved in on october 31, 2014, we had +80 boxes of our belongings, but no furniture for the living room. even though we have heaps of boxes in every room, the space felt massively empty. after a few months of unpacking, donating, and scrupulously shopping at the rate of one piece per month (we are slow lol), we've finally acquired a few pieces which make the loft feel like home.

most recently we picked up this black walnut and rosewood sideboard and placed it behind our living room sectional. it feels like an anchor piece, and has helped to separate the living and dining space so our furniture doesn't look like it's just floating around anymore. then kevin spent THREE evenings this week polishing it, as well as every other piece of walnut furniture in the apartment, with orange-glo. i grew up with a father who was very involved in the daily household chores, and i was lucky to marry a man who helps out too :) the wood looks really nice after it's been polished, the colors are richer, and a little bonus is that everything smells like oranges afterwards!

kevin and i both grew up in the suburbs: me in holmdel new jersey surrounded by small, local farms, and kevin in stockton california in the heart of the central valley agriculture. we both love the outdoors and miss the greenery, so we are trying to bring some of the outdoors indoors. i repotted our snake plant aka sansevieria trifasciata (also known as the "mother-in-law's tongue"), but i'm not sure if this exact location will be his home quite yet. we'll see how the light works out.

well, my friend liz asked to see a recent photo of the place, so here it is! it's the only one i can show you because there are boxes everywhere else still. and because i am the queen of collecting knick knacks and magazine hoarding, this is probably the least cluttered you will ever see our place. bookshelves are expected to arrive in march, and hopefully we'll get our bikes mounted up on the walls as well. yay!

best: korean body scrubs on a chilly evening after a long day at work.

worst: how walking by dirty water dog street vendors at a brisk pace for even a quick minute makes your hair smell like smoke and grease for the rest of the day. bleh :p

smile: the title of this post is coincidentally the title of the chantal kreviazuk song that we danced to at our wedding at the boathouse :) it's one of my favorite songs from "how to lose a guy in ten days".

another chelsea loft gem

it started to drizzle after lawrence and catherine left, and we were both a bit sore from saturday's workout, so kevin and i lounged around the apartment all afternoon on the MLK holiday. i occupied the chaise with my travel & leisure, real simple, and american sniper on kindle, while kevin programmed at the island.

haha. just kidding, kev. he always corrects me when i comment on his "programming". well, to the amateur, when someone opens up the black msdos prompt window and starts typing in commands to navigate a linux or windows machine, it looks, smells, feels, and is programming! haha ... but just kidding :)

at some point, we joined forces and posted a couple things under kevin's account on ebay. after unpacking his boxes of jackets and being forced to admit that he has uhm +15 patagonia/mountainhardware/northface/arcteryx rain/soft/midweight/hard-shell jackets, kevin's successfully posted and sold two pre-owned jackets on ebay! i decided to give it a whirl with my similarly fabulous collection of dresses compulsively acquired mostly through gilt and ruelala from 2009-2012 (some still with tags on!). 

i realized that, however, without the professional photo of the dress on a model, regardless of the lighting, clothing on a hanger is not very appealing to consumers. i wouldn't buy it! oh wells - good thing goodwill is one block away!

for dinner, we met with some friends in the neighborhood for chips & guac, ceviche, and soft tacos at cafe el presidente. although we've only hung out a couple times since meeting through rose & dustin, i think the experiences that we share through our respective loft remodels have forged a bond between us, kris & jessica. for example, we are all in cook-at-home mode after our savings accounts have been pillaged through the confusing, yet extensive manhattan design and construction process. haha.

we dropped by their new pad after dinner and saw the beauty. i think i may have surprised everyone with my smiles and excitement. the place was a wreck. the previous owner had taken liberties that no one should ever have. she had handfuls of cables and commercial-size outlets running throughout the loft, extra cabinets haphazardly installed above original kitchen cabinetry, and a surprise with every closet opened. it was a sheer wreck, but the bones WERE SO GOOD.

even the littlest amount of work would yield vast improvements and increase the market value of this unit. they have hired an architect and both have a background in design/art, i think, so i am excited to see the transformation of their space! really glad to have new friends in the neighborhood :) 

and when the place is done, i might even get to run my fingers across their steinway & sons ivories OMG!!

bookshelves

we finally ordered book shelves for the apt! yahoo ~~ three of them! they are simple, white high-lacquered engineered-wood shelves from cb2 which mount against the wall, each two and a half feet wide and eight feet high. the bookshelves are backordered until the end of feb so it will be a while before we can unpack those boxes of books, but glad to make some progress!

i also ordered these liora aqua blue carpet squares for the dining area. i've never used carpet squares before, but they seem neat, simple, and i love the dash of color! im hoping to interchange some of the blue squares with the goldfish squares to keep things light and playful. kevin seemed okay with the idea :)

today was a long day at work. we invited an index analyst candidate to come in for a day of interviews with team members and a lunch, and it did not go well. she was clearly nervous, but it was more than that. i don't think she is going to be a good fit on our desk. we also had clients in town from the west coast in the office later in the afternoon.

the highlight of my day was coming home to leftovers after a long day of work. zoned out with borscht and quinoa while catching up on downton abbey and gilmore girls. dug out some old piano music and jammed for a little while to old jay chou tunes. a nice quiet evening for a cold wintry night ...

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!!!!!

columbus day

today was columbus day so fixed income markets (aka kevin and all his bond buddies) had the day off - so nice! 

not so nice for us equity folks, but i scheduled my FINRA continuing ed exams for this afternoon so it was only a half-day in the office for me, plus a few torturous hours in a silent room answering questions about communicating around IPOs, private placements, and reg D offerings with only keyboards clacking away. oh right and there was the full body cavity search upon entering the exam room too.

after the exam, i was able to squeeze in a short run with kev on the west side highway, our weekly meeting with the contractors (2.5 weeks till move-in!), and  a DELICIOUS dinner at phosure. i was craving the pork chop with fried egg over rice and kevin, the pho :) miss living a block away from that spot for sure!

here are some recent pics from the apt remodel:

office closet being prepared and installed

discovered a leak in the pipes leading to the radiator

master bath tiling 75% complete

ah, and finally uploaded my steps from the weekend long run and am in first place again for my office walkertracker challenge! for the moment anyways ... no more long runs in the horizon until november 2!

best: jess and ben's offer for an apartment in the south end of boston was accepted! very excited for them! :) and the unit looks really nice - 700 sf one bedroom with open southern exposures (across a wide street from a lovely church) in an elevator building right along a major bus route. and can't believe how quickly they'll be able to close - as soon as thanksgiving possibly! exciting :)

worst: despite being one of the costliest parts of our apartment remodel, and being on the surface what seemed the most professional and long-standing vendor to work with, poggenpohl has in the end been the weakest link in our project. while the cabinetry products themselves appear to be of high quality, the installation and customer service has been shoddy once the cabinets arrived. two thumbs down so far for contracting out a poor installation job, providing poor customer service around the installation, and for trying to get away with installing our pantry cabinet hinges on the wrong side and not installing all the necessary filler pieces. boo!

smile: kevin surprised me with two fresh dan-tah (蛋撻) from taipan bakery because i had absent-mindedly left the ones i picked up over the weekend in the fridge. :) his timing was perfect because i didn't have a chance to have lunch and was super hungry after our recovery run. {HE} true love {HE}