moving never ends

hi, we are the chengs, and the moving NEVER ends with us. haha. but seriously, today we ran the nyrr ted corbitt 15k race at butt freaking cold temps (35F) in the am and then drove down to my parents place for what was supposed to be the final trip moving a few of the items we missed last time like kev's mattress, desk, and a couple boxes to the apt.

we'd forgotten there were also two street-use / beater bikes, and my old refrigerator and washing machine from tokyo which i wanted to bring back to the city and craigslist or donate. basically just want to get it out of my parents house so they can have some of their basement/garage back! guess there will be another trip sometime in the future :)

anyways, my mom came into the city earlier in the morning to take care of some stuff at the taiwan embassy, and we finally got to give her a tour of the apt since its renovation! since they are also doing a pretty significant remodel of their master bath (combining their existing master bath and a separate jacuzzi area, and reconfiguring the locations of all the new fixtures), it was fun to talk about the stone and fixture selection process.

then we walked over to the uhaul place on 23rd street and my mom and i squeeze into the front passenger seat, secured by the passenger seat belt. hahaha ... it was a tight fit :) had a quick lunch at our go-to spot for breakfast, lunch, or dinner: shanghai bun. actually its the go-to spot for basically every asian in a 20 mile radius! tasty and cheap :)

the move itself was alright - kevin and i are pretty good now when it comes to moving (lots of practice ha) and can move somewhat swiftly. i think if i were about 5 inches taller and 50 lbs heavier and stronger, i could be more helpful, but oh well.

finished the night off with some tappo thin crust pizza around the corner and i started to clean and set up the guest room.

hubby is back!

today was a long long day.

checked out of the sheraton toronto at 6am and boarded an 8:15am flight back to nyc. nyc was gloomy, cold, and rainy! ride to the apartment took as long as the flight (1.5 hrs) and i wasn't feeling well - tired and with a headache. stepping into the apartment felt pretty amazing ... mike and one of his subs were there, working away quietly on installing the bathroom vanities and working on punchlist items. i'm going to miss seeing and interacting with these guys! they have been my right arm and leg for the last three months.

napped for 15 min before heading into the office before noon, fully aware of the fact that i would have to work late into the evening for a big msci index rebalance announcement. worked till 7, trained back, but kevin wasn't back from drinks yet. met at 7:30 for a quick bite at chipotle up the street. not the most romantic reunion, but sometimes that's how we have to roll.

not a terrible day, but a lone one. good to have my husband back :)

best: uber from laguardia rocks! no waiting, clean car, professional driver.

worst: work for two! i need an analyst ... quick. hopefully the search is winding down.

smile: for the past +3 months, i've spent so much time interacting with our contractors, it feels like mike, our foreman, is a part of the family, or at least a fixture in the apartment. since we moved in, he has been extremely respectful of our space and personal belongings, and making sure he leaves no tracks when he works each day. there's almost no evidence of him coming through the apartment, except for improvements and new fixtures being added on a daily basis! i guess what i'm trying to say is that he's earned our trust and i hope he will stick around as a friend of the family even after our project is over.

ps. bathroom vanities have been installed :)

pamper principle

mondays are usually the worst! 

but post-race mondays aren't that bad because im a firm believer of the post-race pamper principle. this started with a baller lunch with my colleague and fellow-runner, amanda. we had a mini post-race recap on our walk to cafe zaiya and i picked up tuna avocado rolls, gyoza, yakimochi, and a large size container of sesame biscuits. my garmin told me that i had about 3100 calories to make up for from the previous day :)

towards the end of the day, i hurried back to the apartment to meet with our architect and try to catch mike, our foreman, on his way out. missed him, but caught up with the super on a few electrical issues that we had over the weekend (all fixed yay) and with the AV guys. caught up with one of my closest childhood gf's, allyson, over the phone for what felt like a while, but still not long enough :(... and then met with rose for our body scrub appointment! :)

after steaming, scrubbing, and massaging, we had a super relaxing and tasty dinner at daruma-ya, which opened in place of the old greenwich st grill. the ambience was very nice, the food was delicious (!!!), though our soba's took a little while to come out and we were falling asleep at the table. maybe that's bc we had gotten pampered just before though ... we had the handmade tofu with ikura & uni, kaiso salad, chicken rice, grilled saba, nameko oroshi hot soba, and shrimp & vegetable tempura soba. the hot soba broth was a wonderful way to finish off the meal and put us to sleep zzz ... the menu is plentiful and i'm looking forward to coming back with kevin to try some more of the small plates! my favorite dishes were the tofu and chicken rice.

best: picking up a copy the nytimes at the newsstand by our apt. it's a completely different world in there, and it's quite interesting. i feel like you could have a reality tv show set inside one of those with all the characters that walk in.

worst: realizing that we had miscommunicated and only made one appointment for the body scrub :( rose volunteered for a massage instead. #firstworldproblems

smile: one of our AV guys, shannon, is the nicest guy in the world! super friendly and excited about his work, he has done an amazing job designing our AV system, installing our ghost speakers, and wiring up the apartment. he and his wife recently celebrated their 10 year wedding anniversary by renewing their vows and their only guests were their 19 month old baby girl and 4 yr old boy. life is sweet.

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.

one week till move-in!

we are one week away from moving back into manhattan! 

it's been a really fun four weeks living in williamsburg, and i don't think either kevin or i can say that we are tired of the commute or neighborhood, and ready to move back to manhattan right this instant. some conveniences we will definitely appreciate, like proximity to central park, a central location in manhattan, elevators (!!), the rest of our clothes, and our bikes! 

but we have also really enjoyed exploring williamsburg, all the coffee shops, restaurants (there are SO MANY!!!!), and especially the new running routes. i love the neighborhood vibe around here - there are families up and down every street, and you can see them getting together on the sidewalk, hanging out on the stoops, and to be honest, it's more down to earth than chelsea. folks are relaxed and easy going, and it's so nice to be able to see the beautiful blue sky every morning above the low-rise homes. they do need a maison kayser out here though ...

oh man, we are so excited that the apartment remodel to finally coming to an end, but there's also the realization that we will have to unpack those boxes. oh boy ... living in lizzie & mike's nice home has been a bit magical i guess. a five-week long vacation coming to its end ...

anyways, reality started sinking in on saturday morning as we spent a couple hours at the apt moving boxes and furniture from one room to the other, so the painters could access the ceiling for a couple coats of paint. we followed the hard labor with gahm mi oak sul long tang yummm. what's better than a stone pot of bone broth, tender beef, noodles, and UNLIMITED daikon and napa kimchi. the hostess spoke to us in korean for the first few minutes, until we clarified with her that we are not korean ...

check out this awesome coffee mug. if something looks wierd, it's because the mug is actually three feet wide. you can sort of tell by the relative size to the coffee beans!

hard work deserves reward and so we treated ourselves to saltie's balmy sandwich and olive oil cake, since i'm sort of on an olive oil cake kick these days. saltie's is a delicious hole-in-the-wall with minimal seating inside, more of an order to go sort of place, next door to momofuku milk bar on metropolitan ave aka dangerously close to our place.

the balmy was vietnamese banh mi inspired, although its list of ingredients was quite long: chicken liver pate, ham, jalapenos, pickled veggies, cilantro, and mayo all on a homemade focaccia. a lot of flavors going on in there, though VERY tasty. the olive oil cake was very nice! it was a little drier than i'd expected, but some of the pluses were the flavorful bursts of kosher salt in the cake and the crunchy toppings.

finally, a late dinner back in the city at ravagh persian grill with some close college friends. it was great to catch up with grace, even if she was only in town for less than 36 hours! and ravagh ... PHENOMENAL. we will be coming back! faves: babaganoosh with naan, chicken kebab, green hot sauce, burnt-bottom-of-the-pot basmati rice, and albaloo polo (sour cherries mixed with basmati rice). eating with saied is KEY :)

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} 

architecture and oysters!

saturday was rainy and cold in the morning, just like last weekend! i'm not a fan of too many rainy weekends ... it makes getting around the city totally not fun - difficult to walk and impossible to bike, so everyone's just crammed with their wet jackets and umbrellas into subways. bleghh.

we started off this past saturday just as lazily as last. kevin went out to get coffee while i putzed around the apt :D then when i finally made peace with the fact that the rain was not ending anytime soon and we wouldn't be able to get a morning run in, i put on my size XS compression tights (oooh they feel great on sore calf muscles) and endive-colored raincoat and we headed to soho for the dwell on design exhibit at 82 mercer!

although the exhibits were not as compelling as i'd hoped, the talk we attended was very interesting: "preservation nation". three leading nyc architects (sherida paulsen of pksb, morris adjmi, and alex gil of spacecutter) discuss the challenges and their experiences in converting historic landmark buildings to modern structures. many of the buildings presented were ones we've seen in the city so we felt closer to the subject. in the end, it seemed like while the architects would often run into difficulties and obstacles with preserving the historic landmark buildings, they welcomed the challenge to design spaces given certain requirements.

i thought for a few minutes (somewhat seriously) - what would life have been like if i had pursued a degree in architecture?

then after some window shopping in soho and a quick lunch in chinatown, we stopped by the chelsea apartment to check on the remodel. the island countertop has been cut and set, the hood partly installed (yay, it's going to be an external blower - no more internal circulation), and the radiators installed. looking forward to the next two weeks when we will hopefully see the rest of the counters, medicine cabinets, bathroom fixtures, and lights installed, as well as floor finished and sealed. here are a couple photos:

our stove with a hood w/external blower - my nyc dream :)

simple radiators!

after running a few errands at home depot (roller shade materials and colors selected!) and around union square, we headed back to williamsburg for an afternoon of 30 rock. love tina fey! :)

in the evening, we had a last minute gathering of friends for dinner at maison premiere! and the biggest shocker of all ... they all came sans kids! (thus all arriving 15-20 minutes early). we were seated at two petite tables in the garden which is really magical feeling! dimly lit, strung with small lights, and under a tent, the garden would be totally perfect for a bridal or baby shower of some sort. definitely keeping that place in mind for future gf's bridal showers :D 

the oyster menu was very extensive, with over 30 types of oysters available from all up and down the east and west coast! we tried 8 oysters each, choosing mostly ones from new brunswick, nova scotia, washington, and british columbia. though i have always been a bigger fan of west coast oysters like kumamotos, i was surprised that i love love love the east coast ones at MP!!!!! we also ordered the warm olives, sea scallops chilled on ice, mussels, and butternut squash soup. ALL excellent ... for dessert, the cheesecake made with creme fraiche, and topped with marcona almonds and hot chocolate ganache is not to be missed!!!

we will definitely be going back! i think we all felt it was a pretty darn magical and relaxing evening ...

best thing: spotting the most beautiful wooden table at a store in soho, and kevin pointing it out that he loved it as well! :) i love it that we have such similar taste in home furnishings.

worst thing: my girlfriend, elyse, was feeling sick today so she wasn't able to make it out for smorgasburg or dinner with us in williamsburg. she has a lot on her plate right now with a busy job, a 2 yr old child, an entrepreneur husband who has been traveling internationally for work for the last few weeks, and a big move coming up. oh, and she's 8 months pregnant! my thoughts are with her and hope she's feeling better soon.

smile: on the L-train back to williamsburg, while i was totally engrossed in the lately crate and barrel fall catalog, a young woman sitting across from me on the train started talking to me! she was intrigued by what the black thing on my shoe was ... hahaha ... i was a little surprised at first that someone would randomly interrupt me with such a random question, but i guess she really wanted to know. lol. i explained to her the pebble+ step counter and my office challenge.

monday fundays

mondays are my new favorite day of the week. why? because i have 4:00pm meetings on site with the contractors and can get to the pool by 5:30pm or so afterwards! no more monday blues for this gal :)

here are a few photos from the reno - specifically, unforeseen conditions that we will consider applying change orders for.

office - full of surprises when we opened up the ceiling

living room is ready for paint and radiators

master bath tiling in process

master bath tub area tiling is almost complete

best thing that happened to me today: three los tacos no 1 beef and pork soft tacos at chelsea market for dinner after our swim. and best of all .. NO LINE! woot woot for monday nights!

los tacos no 1

worst thing that happened to me today: started the swim later than expected so we didn't get our recovery run in. thus, only 11,204 steps counted by my pebble+ and after spending a few fine hours in third place, back down to fifth. :p

someone who made me smile: as i was walking across 23rd street to the piers, an elderly hispanic woman stopped me on the sidewalk and grabbed my arm - "hablas espanol?" i looked around wondering who she could POSSIBLY be speaking to ... realizing, she was looking into my eyes! time to brush up on my spanish!

mujere: "hablas epanol?"
yo: "un poquito"
mujere: "donde esta la edificio veriiiiizoooon?"
yo: (after 15 secs of processing) "esta cerca!"

she handed me a piece of paper with the address and i looked it up on my iphone - it was about 100m ahead of us. i think she may not have been able to read because i had to walk her up to the storefront doorway before she recognized it was the verizon store. she gave me a huge smile, hug, and "THANK YOUUUU" and i was on my way. i was expecting to finish my lesson with a "gracias" instead ha.