Category Archives: life

this week’s happy things

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This weekend we finally finished moving out of our apartment. YAY! It’s so nice not to be shuttling back and forth. Too bad tons of our stuff is still in boxes, we have butcher paper covering some of our windows (LOL), and we don’t have a dining table yet (we’ve been eating standing up on our kitchen island or on moving boxes in front of the TV — CLASSY!). Rob also strained his achilles last week (probably from moving — we’re not entirely sure) so painting and planning the landscaping for our yard is behind schedule. Seriously, it’s only been 2 weeks and already home ownership is tiring.

Haven’t done a 5 Happy Things in awhile so it’s about time…

1. Getting asked to be a Matron of Honor in my best friend’s wedding.
SQUEEEEEEEEEEE. I’m incredibly excited to be a part of what is sure to be an amazing wedding!

2. Going to Comic-Con next week.
Rob and I have FOUR DAY passes. AWESOME. Programming was just released so I’m currently scouring through everything to figure out what I want to try and see (hopefully White Collar and The Vampire Diaries). After the craziness of moving, I’m really looking forward to some time away.

3. The Kindle price drop.
I’ve been wavering back and forth (and back and forth) about getting a Kindle. I never thought I’d want one — I love the feel of books. But lately I’ve been reading much more and now with the price drop, it is VERY tempting. Maybe I’ll treat myself for my birthday. Or get one of the refurbished ones. Only $110!

4. The release of the new Harry Potters and the Deathly Hallows trailer.


CHILLS. Seriously.

5. Craig’s list.
Last week I posted our old coffee table in the free section and after just a few hours, I received 80+ email inquiries. Gotta love it.

BONUS!
6. White Collar and Psych premiere this week!
Summer TV is awesome.

I swear I will finish the TV meme. Someday. 😀

diesel’s new domain

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WE CLOSED ON OUR HOUSE AND PICKED UP OUR KEYS TODAY.

!!!!!!!!!!



This exterior photo is actually from a few weeks ago before our final walk-through. See how Diesel is showing you his new house? 🙂



The view of the great room from the entryway. Look at the hardwood! OMG. So in love. We covered it right back up, though, because we’re going to spend the entire weekend painting before we move in.



We brought a few small things over and Diesel quickly got settled. I think he loves his new house.



Except he’s not too excited about having dirt in the yard. We have to get some grass and plants in there soon.

SO AWESOME.

and so it begins…

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THE PACKING.

We’re supposed to close on our house in about 2 weeks (OMGOMGOMG) and we plan to move a week after that so Rob and I have sloooowly started to pack up things we don’t use frequently. Our apartment is a total DISASTER ZONE. Yikes.

So… anyone need desks, side cabinets, or a coffee table? We’re giving ours away. 😀

Trip Report: Vancouver, Part 2

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Saturday, April 24.

Woke up to rain. 🙁 But we made the best of it!

After breakfast, we headed to North Vancouver to visit Grouse Mountain.



Crossing Lions Gate Bridge from downtown.



The Skyride that goes up the mountain to the Chalet. LOVED the ride. It’s exhilarating to see the world at your feet.



At the top (not to be confused with the peak – you have to take another chairlift up there, which we didn’t). Unfortunately the visibility was TERRIBLE so we decided just to take a short hike to see the 2 orphaned bears that live on the mountain.



We were walking and I didn’t realize how deep the snow was and I… TOTALLY FELL DOWN. How embarrassing.



After getting lost on the way, we found the bears!



Heading back down the mountain.



It was still raining but we decided to go to the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge anyway. (There’s another suspension bridge in North Vancouver that’s supposed to be higher and longer — Capilano — but they charge admission there and we’re cheap!).



So exciting! The bridge is a little narrow but I actually liked being able to just glance to the side and see the creek down below.

We headed back downtown (where it wasn’t raining – go figure!) and set out to see more of the sights, like…



Gastown steam clock.



Love the street lamps here.



A closer view of Canada Place.



The Olympics cauldron! Too bad we had to see it in this state. They’re making it a permanent fixture in this plaza and it was still under construction.

After all that walking, we got settled back at the hotel, watched the Lakers lose to the Thunder (grrr!) and treated ourselves to yummy Indian food from Rangoli.

Sunday, April 25.

Our last day. 🙁

Didn’t have anything planned except for brunch at Cafe Medina. We arrived just before opening so we were seated right away. Thank goodness because seats were filled quickly and a long line formed outside (in the rain!).



Blurry pic of the inside.



Brunch was AH-MAY-ZING. We ordered these mini waffles as appetizers and they were SO. GOOD. For entrees, we tried the fricassé (fried eggs with short ribs, potatoes, arugula) and the cassoulet (fried eggs, baked beans, bacon, and andouille sausage).

Seriously, GO HERE. I swear it’s yummers.

And so ends a fantastic trip.

More pics on the Flickr here.

We don’t have any other trips planned this year except for a local trip down to San Diego in July for Comic-Con! Rob and I have passes for all 4 days and YES, I’ve already arranged for the time off. Can’t wait.

it’s getting there

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May House Update.

Our closing date got pushed back a week and a half… so we’re looking at late June again. How cruel.

Oh, well.

We decided to take a look at the progress over the weekend and found that…



The exterior stucco has been painted.



And the interior is really getting underway. The crown molding, kitchen cabinets, island and countertops have been installed. Along with the white subway tile backsplash we picked out! It’s so shiny. The hardwood floors are also hiding underneath the butcher paper.

*happy*

Trip Report: Vancouver, Part 1

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It’s been over a week since we got back from Vancouver and I still have the vacation blues… so yes, to prolong the memories, here’s the start to yet another vacation trip report. (I’m also going to finish the Australia one if it kills me). 😀

Thursday, April 22.

It was an early morning. I think I woke up around 6 am. I DON’T WAKE UP THIS EARLY ON WEEKDAYS.

When we arrived at LAX, we found out our 9:30 am United flight was delayed. Typical, I thought. Our last 4 United flights were all delayed so what’s new. Luckily it was only delayed about 15 minutes. That’s nothing compared to our past delays! Maybe United likes me again.

After a quick 3 hour flight, we arrived in Vancouver! We picked up our rental car, got lost on the way to the freeway, but still managed to get to our hotel downtown within half an hour.



It was a gorgeous day so we decided to walk through Yaletown towards False Creek and take the Aquabus to…



…Granville Island where we checked out the Public Market, indulged in a nutella crepe, did some window shopping and found these little guys…



The Vancouver Olympics mascots. I love them! My favorite is Mukmuk on the very left. Isn’t he cute?

We headed back across the creek for a walk along the seawall and I was so excited to see…



BC Place! Home of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.



The Olympic Village! Which housed the athletes. YAY. I’m such an Olympics junkie.

Aaaannnndddd… that’s pretty much it for our first day. LOL. Except for watching the Lakers lose to OKC in game 3 but let’s not think about that.

Friday, April 23.

We woke up to a dark, overcast day. But it wasn’t raining (yet)! So after picking up coffee and donut holes (breakfast of champions!) from the Tim Hortons next door, we drove to Stanley Park to…



… rent bikes and bike along the seawall (I think it’s around 5 miles?)!



The start of our bike ride.



I was treated to my first and only sight of blooming cherry blossoms while in Vancouver. LOVE.



There was some sort of filming going on at the Vancouver Rowing Club (couldn’t help but hear the director barking out “Action!”). But we didn’t stick around long enough to figure out what it was.



The view of downtown Vancouver across Coal Harbour.



Totem poles.



Canada Place! The main press/broadcast center for the Olympics.



Lions Gate Bridge — connecting downtown with North Vancouver across the Burrard Inlet.



A beautiful garden area.



And finally, Lost Lagoon marked the end of our bike ride. SO FUN!

We finished just in time for lunch (mmm, Japanese ramen) and after freshening up at our hotel, we decided to spend the rest of our afternoon walking around downtown along Georgia and Robson Streets. In the rain!

Just a few blocks away from our hotel was the Vancouver Art Gallery.



We didn’t go inside but instead admired the beautiful hand-painted mural by Michael Lin hanging on the exterior facade.

I was also excited to see that the…



Olympics Countdown Clock was still there!

We headed down Robson Street for shopping (Roots!) and also to find the Japadog stand. 😀 You see, when I was planning our trip, I happened to watch the episode of No Reservations where Anthony Bourdain is in Vancouver and he has a Japadog. So I wanted one too. Of course.



The menu. It’s basically different types of hot dogs (beef, bratwurst, etc) that are topped with various Japanese toppings. I ordered the basic Terimayo dog, which had Japanese mayo, seaweed, onions, and teriyaki sauce. I know, I know. It sounds totally weird but it’s YUMMERS! Really.



Luckily there was no line. Awesome! We ran back to our hotel to enjoy our Japadogs, rest our tired feet, and get out of the rain.

We ended the day with even MORE Japanese food for dinner at Guu with Garlic, an izakaya in the West End. SO GOOD!

UGH. I WANT TO GO BACK.

confessions

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HAPPY MAY.

Confessions.

I have been too busy indulging in the following guilty pleasures to blog…

1. Listening to Justin Bieber. Gah. I hated this guy on principle when I first heard him sing the opening notes of the We Are the World remake. BUT THEN. He hooked me with that song Baby. Damn Ludacris. Yes, I know. I’m like a freaking 16-year old stuck in a 30-year old’s body.

2. Reading Lisa Kleypas romance novels. I’ve always enjoyed a romance novel here and there but rarely read books consistently in the genre. Mostly because there are SO MANY books to choose from and it’s hard to wade through all of the titles to figure out what’s good and what’s a bust. Thanks to the influence of Sarah and Ceci, I found Lisa Kleypas and totally devoured her 3 contemporaries in the past week. It’s times like these when I wish I had an e-reader so I could just download another book to read instead of ordering them online or going to the bookstore. But I love the feeling of a real book in my hands. So torn.

ANYWAY.

Rob and I went to Vancouver last weekend and had SO MUCH FUN. Also ATE TOO MUCH.

Quick pic…



Can I be an honorary Canadian? More later.

less than 60 days

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April House Update.

OMG. They’re building our house so fast that we’re within 60 days of closing now. We thought the house would be finished in early July but now it’s looking like mid June. WTF.



The exterior is scratch coated (next steps are the brown coat and finish coat) and the drywall and windows are installed inside. We actually did a pre-drywall tour a few weeks ago and got the chance to walk around. The progress amazes me.

happy things again

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This week’s 5 Happy Things include…

1. Raiding a friend’s bookcase
I love to read but buying books adds up. What can I say? I’m cheap. And these days it takes me forever to finish a regular length book. So having friends who have their own personal libraries is awesome. I don’t need to worry about overdue library fees. Hee.

2. Saturday trip to Disneyland with my cousin and a celebrity sighting!
My cousin came to visit a few weekends ago so we could go to Disneyland (yes, again :P). We used to go every summer together when we were growing up so it brought back lots of silly memories. Good times.



And we saw Jason Lee! For a split second. No picture though. We were in line for Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters when we noticed a group of 6 boarding the ride with empty cars in front and behind them. I thought that was odd. Then I noticed they had their own Disney cast member with them (you can tell because they wear a plaid outfit) so I knew right away there was a celebrity in the group. Then I spotted him! So cool. Celebrities. They’re just like us. They go to Disneyland too!

3. Instant streaming on Netflix
I can be a little impatient (fine, A LOT) so being able to watch movies or TV shows instantly is the BEST. This is how Rob and I caught up with Numb3rs and Leverage. Once the current TV season is over, we also plan to marathon Dexter. And possibly The Tudors too. Ok, that last one’s just for me because I love JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS.

4. Lemon scents
I love love LOVE (almost) anything lemon scented and lemon flavored (mmm, lemon skittles and starbursts). So I get excited when summertime rolls around and lemon scents find their way back into stores. The Body Shop has their new Sweet Lemon collection and Bath and Body Works recently released Lemon Vanilla. Mmmm. I have to check these out.

5. Getting our tax refund
YAYAYAY. It’s going straight to our savings to use when we have to buy a refrigerator, washer/dryer, and all that other good stuff for the house. 😀

Now I just have to get through Wednesday and then I’m off for 5 days! WOOT.

Trip Report: Part 9 (Uluru)

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Saturday, August 15.

Today we headed to Uluru (aka Ayers Rock) in Central Australia. They’re a half hour behind the East Coast — isn’t that a random time difference?

As we took off, we could see Cairns and the Green Island below.



Beautiful sight.



First glimpse of Uluru from the plane!

The Ayers Rock Airport is TINY. I think Qantas is the only airline that flies to/from Uluru. It made everything SO easy, though. Our bags came out quickly and the transfer bus was already waiting to take all the passengers to the resort. Options are limited here — one company, Voyages, owns the entire resort and there’s only a handful of hotel options to fit various budgets. This means that prices are SKY HIGH even at the “budget” accommodations because there’s no other choices.



We stayed at the Lost Camel Hotel which is (supposedly) one of the mid-range hotels but it was still $400+ per night. For a tiny room. !!! And that’s actually a winter rate because we were there during the off season. Can you imagine the summer rates?!

After we checked in, it was about 3pm and we were hungry. We decided to check out the town centre and look for food. Sadly, the restaurants and deli were already closed so we went to the market and picked up bottled water (it’s the desert so it’s HOT and dry), snacks, and cup of noodles for lunch. LOL.



They don’t have paper or plastic bags at the market — instead they have boxes! Like Costco.



Eating our lunch. The room was so small there was no seating area with a table. We had to use the counter above the bed. Heh.

Our first activity during our stay here was the Sounds of Silence Dinner. Reviews on various travel forums are pretty mixed (probably because it’s not particularly inexpensive) but we had a GREAT time. Definitely a highlight of our trip.



We were picked up and taken to a sunset viewing area with a fantastic view of both Uluru and Kata Tjuta.



We had drinks and appetizers as we listened to live didgeridoo music and waited for the sun to set.



After sunset, we walked down a trail to the dinner site. Seating was assigned as we arrived and we were placed with 3 other young couples from the US (NY), Britain, and Italy. We were all at various stages of our vacations so we got the chance to talk about and give each other advice on our travels so far. By the time everyone was seated, it was PITCH BLACK. The only light came from the candles on our tables and the torches surrounding the site. Eating dinner would be interesting!



Dinner was buffet style and it was really tasty. There were some exotic dishes like crocodile (tastes like chicken) and kangaroo filets (tastes like beef — I really enjoyed it) as well as standard fare like chicken, lamb, and barramundi. I tried to take pictures but they didn’t come out at all because it was so dark.

So you can see just how dark it was that night, here’s a pic of the pathway leading up the hill to the bathrooms…



I made Rob accompany me because there was NO WAY I was going up there by myself. LOL.

Following dessert (brownies! bread pudding! wattleseed crumble!), all the lights were turned off and we were treated to a tour of the night sky by a startalker. OMG. I have NEVER seen the sky so clear and beautiful. I seriously had no idea there were so many stars in the sky! The startalker pointed out the Milky Way, Jupiter!!!, and many constellations (Southern Cross, Libra, Scorpio). This was an INCREDIBLE experience and I’m glad we didn’t miss it.

More pictures on the Flickr:
Uluru, Day 1

Up next: Uluru, Day 2!