Home, Louisiana style

This lovely Louisiana-style home was built in the 1940s and renovated and expanded for the current owners who are, lucky for you and me, selling it.  The interior bedrooms and bathrooms are all splendid but nothing too amazing or outrageous.  Personally, I would buy this home based upon the kitchen and the backyard alone.  Maybe it's the spring weather that has me pining for outdoor living space but this house really nails it with all the balconies and patio spaces.  And do you like the kitchen nook?  I know a lot of modern homes have the high ceilings and shared kitchen / family room space but the fact that the kitchen is this pocket of goodness in the house is really darling to me.  It's cozy and homey and the way that I think a kitchen should be.

The home's unassuming facade belies the fact that this home is in one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in Houston and is selling for a cool $3.7 million.  So should I ask them if I can buy only the outdoor area and the kitchen?

Recent reads: March 2012

I do apologize as I have been delinquent as far as posting books that I have been reading this year and enjoying.  To be quite honest, I haven't really found any books that have really snagged me, gotten a hold of my eyes and glued them to the pages until I'm finished.  I had a lot of hope for I am Half-Sick of Shadows and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet.  Flavia de Luce is such a precocious character that has such promise for development.  David Mitchell is also one of my favourite authors (particularly because of Cloud Atlas) but this novel didn't really quite meet my expectations.  I thought that some of the side stories would be able to carry more weight and could have been concluded better.

It is quite odd considering how much extra time I've gained that I haven't been able to discover more authors and books.  Luckily, one of my friends who just finished her round-the-world trip has recommended some books that she discovered from all of the different countries she visited.  I'll be sure to share the noteworthy ones after I've given them a gander.

Have you all read anything more obscure lately that you feel like deserves more recognition?  One series in particular that is more obscure but I really enjoyed was the Mapp and Lucia series by E.F. Benson.  If you like snarky and hilarious British women, you will love it.

I'm going to be in a wedding!

I mentioned previously that my friends got engaged but haven't told you all that Frenchie and I have both been invited to be in the wedding.  I am really ecstatic about being involved in this wedding and feel honored that we were asked to share in this special celebration with the couple.  Today the bride-to-be showed me some prospective bridesmaid dresses that she's been scoping out.  The dresses are going to be a "spiced wine" colour and below are some of the suggestions.  We are also going to get traditional Vietnamese dresses made so that's going to be a unique part of the wedding as well.

What do you think about the dresses and which is your favourite cut?

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Browsing for some bookends

I think what this guy turns bookends into is pretty darn amazing.  I've only included a sampling below - check out the rest of the etsy page for more fantastical creations.

All images via KnobCreekMetalArts

Another reason why my parents are awesome

Frenchie and I went back to visit my parents and my sister this weekend and man, spring is POPPIN' in Texas.  There are bluebonnets spread out in every direction and pollen is blowing up everybody's noses and scritching at everyone's eyeballs.  Such is spring in Texas.

Anyway... my parents have been extremely supportive, but silently, while I undertake this nonprofit venture.  My dad subtly asks me if I need assistance with any of my technology issues and my mom just sends me back bags and bags of food to make sure both Frenchie and I are fed throughout the week.  It reminds me that to them, we'll always only be children.  My mother bought my sister a huge 60s flower balloon for her birthday, which my sister takes with her everywhere inside the house.  She even clips it to her dining chair so it always feels like we're at a birthday breakfast / lunch / dinner.

My dad sent me home this time with a 27 inch monitor.  I don't even know where I am going to put a monstrosity like that but he wants me to use it so I don't damage my eyesight.  And my mother made us this lovely lunch before we left.

The chicken caesar club sandwich from the Barefoot Contessa.  Recently, my mom has expanded her recipe repertoire to include French food.  Isn't she genius and aren't we lucky taste testers?  Home is always where my heart will be.

An engagement (not mine) & macarons

Two of my very closest friends got engaged to each other last week in Central Park. It's pretty awesome, as Frenchie and I were there to witness the beginning of the relationship and have seen both of them grow closer. Their wedding is scheduled for 2013 and I can't wait to help with the planning! And as a testament to how awesome of friends they are, they even thought of us during their engagement celebration and picked up fresh macarons for us from La Duree! Aren't we lucky? Special delivery from Paris, by way of New York, to Texas. They look lovely and quite season appropriate in their spring tones.  I'm not going to ever see macarons again without thinking of the lucky couple and their special day.

So tell me, lovely bloggers, is it pronounced "mac-a-rons" or "mac-a-roons"? What do they say in France?

Waking up to Alcatraz

The San Francisco living room I crashed in had three picture windows and the view that you're seeing below is what I woke up to every morning.  Isn't it brilliant?  Now, the sky didn't look like this every day but the day that it did, whew!  It took my breath away.  In the first picture, you can see Alcatraz.  The second picture is Coit Tower.  In the third picture, if you look closely, you can see a cruise ship docked.  It was spectacular to see them at night, with their lights twinkling and the white hull glowing like a giant seabird on the pier.

Amazingly, this is also the second story of the apartment building.  My friend lives on Russian Hill and it was so steep that only one side of the building had a first floor.  I felt an overwhelming sense of vertigo every morning that I stepped out of the building on to the street.  Oh and instead of a sidewalk, there were stairs, which made for a good workout every day.

I was going to stay in a hotel on the fringe of the Tenderloin (really glad I didn't end up doing that) but there is no way I would have ended up with a view like this.  It was relaxing just sitting in the living room, watching the ships crawl through the bay.

Birthday blog post

My sister, source of all my athletic apparel and shoes, creative cog, ultimate procrastinator and my original tag-along.  It's hard to believe that you are 24 today and a grown adult with a grown-up job.  You will always be a small little munchkin with a bowl haircut in my mind.  I'm so proud of you and everything you've accomplished.  I'm proud of how well you handled snowboarding two weeks ago and what a trooper you've become.  You used to cry at EVERYTHING until you got your way and now I can't even remember the last time I saw you cry or even whine.  I'm proud of you for helping to watch after mom & dad and for being such a respectful and responsible daughter.  I'm looking forward to celebrating your birthday with you this weekend with tons of cake and many laughs.

Country house in the city

I believe a lot of you, like myself, are a big fan of non-cookie cutter homes.  This one makes it seem as though one has been transported to a calm spring afternoon at a farm house in England but it's quite deceptive.  Still, one can move the countryside into the city with a home like this.  The ivy covered facade and staggered stone steps create such a charming entrance to the house.  In the summer time, the sunlight is muted and fades into some very muted and cool interiors.  Plus who could resist lounging around in the pool and and hosting an outdoor dinner party at the fully stocked outdoor kitchen.

One unique feature about this home is that it also has a basement, which is uncommon in Houston where there are hurricanes and constant flooding.  I wish the real estate agent had posted pictures of it; I'm curious now.

On waiting in line

I'm going to be heading back to Texas tomorrow from the Bay Area.  I've had a really fantastic time here and the people I have met have been great hosts.

HOWEVER... I have noticed that practically everywhere we went to eat in San Francisco had a wait.  Like a stand in line outside the restaurant wait.  For some people with patience, waiting is not a problem and is a time to catch up with friends and chat before the meal.  For me, it's terrible.  I get hangry (hungry-angry) and am no fun to talk to*.  I also feel like waiting in line diminishes the food experience and the deliciousness of the meal.  Which is strange because for most people, the longer the line means the better the food.  I would rather eat average food and not wait than have a fantastic meal but have the actual meal time be shorter than the wait time.

In San Francisco, I've eaten at Saigon Sandwiches, Sotto Mare, Delfina Pizza, Golden Boy Pizza, Sol Food, Kabuto Sushi, Creations, The Grove and Chotto.  I've been to countless coffee shops.  Most of my time here has been spent eating / drinking coffee / working.  If you are planning on eating at a popular place in SF, make sure you either get a reservation or go there 30 minutes before you get hungry.  Or else, be prepared to wait in line, hangry.

Do you mind waiting in line and do you think it's worth it?  Or do you get impatient like me and want food when you're hungry?

*Note: This does not apply if the restaurant has a prolific bar.  Getting tipsy before food can make the time fly by.  But then I'll get full off of liquids.  Sigh, there's no winning.

Barrel tasting weekend

via here

Yesterday I went with a group of 15 to Sonoma for barrel tasting.  It was my first time going wine tasting and it was so fun!  We went to around a dozen wineries and tried the barrels that they will bottle next year.  If you like the wines that you try, you can order a "future" and they'll ship it to you in a year's time.  Each of the vineyards had a different feel with different food offerings to pair with the wines - the best that I had was the lavender shortbread cookies paired with some champagne at Kenwood Vineyards.  It was so utterly delicious; I don't think I have had quite as good of a dessert as that in a very long time.  Saturday was also the first day that it did not rain in the Bay Area since I arrived in San Francisco and wine country was dappled in sunlight.  Still freezing cold but sunny.

It definitely merits a return trip and I think I'm going to try and convince Frenchie to join me in the summer.  It would be lovely if it was just a tad bit warmer but the scenery is just gorgeous.  And you can go horseback riding through the vineyards as well - bonus!

What the...

What is going on over at Shopbop?  Please explain the reverse shirt mullet to me.  I don't see how it's a fashion or a functional statement.

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Alcohol dependency

Typically I wouldn't post about a topic like this but yesterday, it kind of smacked me in the face and is hard to ignore now.  On my flight yesterday, I sat next to an overweight woman in her 60s named Cathy.  Cathy had just had knee surgery on both her knees last year and had a hard time with mobility on the plane.  She had a bag full of prescription medication and she was growing increasingly frustrated looking through the bag for a specific bottle, cussing and sweating while she did it.  I volunteered to hold her bag on my lap while she dug through it and as she looked, Cathy told me about how she was a Christian, grandmother to 6 and was flying to a wedding on the West Coast.  She started tearing up and silently sobbing as she told me about how she had been to prison because of multiple DUIs and was kicked off the last flight she was on because she had been causing a scene and disturbing the other passengers.  While Cathy talked, she also kept ringing the service bell and asking me when the beverage cart was going to come by, saying that she needed a drink in the worst way.  The stewardesses refused to serve her alcohol during the flight, which was probably a smart move on their part, but by the end of the flight, Cathy was visibly shaking and started having a minor panic attack.

Prior to this, I had never met anyone who had such an obvious dependency on alcohol and the entire flight was really sad.  I thought about her young grandchildren, who probably wonder why grandma acts "funny."  And though I was able to be someone to talk to on the flight, it made me feel incredibly helpless too to know that there were plenty of other passengers who were trying to ignore the crazy lady on the flight or that the airline kick her off the plane because of her disruptive behavior.  I don't know what the solution is to a problem like this, even for just one individual like Cathy, and it's much too complex to be addressed on a blog post.  But I do know that sometimes being kind and patient will make a big difference in someone else's day, as they may be struggling with multiple invisible demons.

The Windup Girl

I've found that one of the best ways to pass time on an international flight is to listen to an audio book.  I began this trend with Percy Jackson and the Olympians on a flight to Spain a few years ago and was hooked - not only the the story (even though it's YA, or especially because it was YA) but on audio books.  For the trip to France, I randomly selected The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, partly because it was supposed to be a bit steampunk in nature.

The novel takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where plagues and blights have killed off the natural food supply, all plants for consumption are genetically engineered and people have exhausted the planet of its oil.  The story is set in Thailand where the unstable government, foreign agriculturalists and displaced Japanese and Chinese people clash together.  It is written from different viewpoints and hearing this through an audio version made the different stories more impactful.  One of the criticisms of the book is that, because of the Thai setting, that the names and some of the words are indecipherable, but, again, I didn't find that to be the case with the audio version.  The narrator rattled off Thai, Japanese and Chinese names with ease.

If you haven't been initiated in the world of audio books, I recommend this story as one to start your journey.  The price (around $25) is more steep than a book but you also realize that it is almost 19 hours of storytelling.  There's something relaxing too about having someone do something as simple as tell you a story.

via here

There's never enough time, is there?

One of the things I thought I would be getting more of when I quit my job to start working at this nonprofit was time.  But I'm finding it's almost slipping away faster than I imagined.  It's Monday and I haven't gone grocery shopping or cleaned the house.  I still need to pack for SF and there is a slew of work to be done tomorrow.  So maybe it was all in my imagination that extra hours would pop up out of nowhere.  Also, getting the flu last week put me off my schedule as well.  Luckily for me, Frenchie has been supportive, buying me juice and medicine while I've been ill and trying to be flexible with my off-kilter work schedule now.

It seems as though time management is still evading me, no matter what I do.  And I'm not even spending time doing stuff that I really DREAM of doing - I haven't spent any time at the barn since Januaryish.  Folks, what's the secret?  Or is there even a secret of getting everything done AND being able to relax and enjoy yourself?

And just so this blog post isn't just me complaining and ranting, what do you guys think about these tops?  To sheer or not to sheer?  I'm tempted to go for it, just because I know how hot and sticky the summers are going to get here.

If you're going to San Francisco...

via here

Then maybe I'll see you there!  I'm off to the Bay Area this week for work.  It has been a long time since I've visited and I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm looking for some tips on the best places to shop and eat.  I plan on hitting up the Pirate Store at 826 Valencia and All Saints.  Other than that though, no other Bay Area destinations in mind.  Let me know what your favourite places to go are!

The rest of this weekend was spent getting the apartment in working order - we finally unpacked every box! And we went to Ikea and bought a white basic bookshelf for all of my books.  We also hung up a good majority of the prints.  It feels good to finally have the place looking like we live here instead of having just moved in.

I probably should have rested up more because I'm still feeling not myself from the bug.  I'm going to power through the rest of the week and hopefully be better by the time I have to jump on a plane.

11 Questions

Shalini over at Reading and Chickens asked me to address her 11 Questions meme.  And when Shalini asks, I deliver.  I mean, who wouldn't?  The instructions of the game are as follows:

Post a picture of yourself, tell us 11 things we might not know about you, answer the 11 questions asked of you, then write 11 new questions and tag some friends to play along.  I probably won't do the last part.  But I'll gladly comply with the first three requests.

Me & Frenchie in San Diego

1) I don't feel like I'm learning or growing as a person unless I'm scared of what I'm doing

2) I'm allergic to pretty much every insect bite a person can get.  My limbs will blow up like a balloon and swell to twice their original size, which is so very attractive.  I've had a fire ant bite travel up a vein.  Sick.

3) I don't like asparagus.  It tastes like poison and I'd rather throw up than eat it

4) I think throwing up is one of the worst thing that can happen to a person

5) When reading for pleasure, I skim / scan instead of reading every word.  Oftentimes, I forget the name of the main characters and only remember the first letter of their respective names

6) I only wear makeup for special occasions.  My daily facial maintenance consists of putting on SPF Boscia facial moisturizer.  And that's it...

7) I want to shave part of my head but am afraid of how it'll grow back as well as the professional ramifications.  Can someone allay my fears?

8) I don't like roller coasters.  I know they're safe.  I just don't like the falling feeling in your stomach (see #4)

9) I feel more Texan than Asian.  Is that a weird type of comment to make?  I like my Tex Mex more than Asian food and I associate with Texans more than Chinese people

10) I grew up playing piano, going to math, Chinese and art lessons, taking gymnastics, jazz, ballet and riding horses.  Consequently, I have no focus as an adult and no skills either

11) I am addicted to The Big Bang Theory and Swamp People.  And more ammunition on how weird I am...

Now to answer the 11 questions posed to me by Shalini

1) If your life were a book, what would it be?

A manual, on How to Train your Dragon

2) What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Blue Bell cookies and cream (because I'm a Southern gal)

3) Do you floss or just pretend to floss and lie to the dentist?

Okay, this is a tough one because I have honestly tried to be better about flossing.  But it hurts so DAMN MUCH and then my mouth is all bloody.  So it's kind of half and half

4) What are the qualities of your ideal mate?

Respectful and confident - Those would not have been the qualities that I would have chosen in high school FYI

5) What did you want to be when you grew up when you were a child?

A writer

6) If you see a penny on the sidewalk, do you pick it up or walk by it?

Walk by it.  Germs.  No, it's really because I'm too lazy to bend over and pick it up.  Plus who knows what could happen while you're bent over

7) City, suburbs or country? Why?

Well, when I'm filthy rich, I will have a city AND country home.  And the country home will house all of my horses.  Yup

8 ) If money weren’t ever an issue again, what would you do with your life?

Write and ride horses all the day long.  Yes, I'm pretty much a 7 year-old girl at heart

9) How do you feel about adults who wear overalls?

I'm from Texas so it's kind of the uniform here.  Not really, but I can see the appeal of a one piece outfit

10) If you had to pick one (non-evil) Harry Potter character to murder, who would you pick and why?

Ginny Weasley.  Everyone knows that Harry should have ended up with Hermione

11) Is the world going to end in 2012?

Yep, and on my birthday too.  We're going to go out with a bang!

And now, voila, I change into different pyjamas

Thanks to all the well-wishers (is that the correct way to use this term?).  This flu thing really has me buggered.  It was fever and chills all yesterday and now I can't breathe through my nose.  I sound like Darth Vader when I try and talk.  It takes a lot of willpower to drag myself out of bed and take a shower (I know, I'm disgusting).  And then I put on another pair of pjs.  Because I have enough self awareness to know that throwing on the clothes you had on previous to the shower just negates everything the shower did.  So here I sit in another set of pjs for the day.

You may find me lounging around the house in one of the below sets.

Nah, let's be honest.  You'll find me hanging about in a ratty tee and some billowing pants from middle school.  But my pretend-better-self would be decked out in the below for no one to admire except for herself.  And the UPS guy when he comes by around 5:30 to drop off packages.  Because girlfriend was a hot mess when I opened the door for him yesterday. But seriously, who sleeps in all white?  Princesses do, I guess...

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