After going through Taiwan photos the other night, I saw the pictures we took when we went to the San Jose Rose Garden shortly before the Taiwan trip. I felt so happy and refreshed just looking at pictures of the flowers so I figured I should post them online to get ourselves out of the days-are-getting-shorter slumps. Getting home in the dark gets to me sometimes and I could use a punch of colors from pretty flowers.
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Around a month ago, David heard the news that his grandmother had suddenly passed away in Taiwan. Right after we learned the date of the memorial service, we booked our tickets and requested for vacation/bereavement days. It was a whirlwind trip for me. We left so suddenly and we were back before we knew it. Along the way were God's blessings that I want to remember. Since our flights were booked so last minute, David and I couldn't sit together on both legs of the trip. What's worse was, when we got to the airport we noticed that our electronic confirmation says that we need to present the credit card with which we purchased the ticket to prevent fraud. We both panicked. We had used my CC for this flight and in an effort to travel with less, I didn't bring it. Even though we were at the airport 2-3 hours before our flight, we really didn't have time to go back and get it. I just prayed when we got up to the counter - hoping we'd make it through somehow. Thankfully, the agent didn't mention it at all! He just asked for our passports! Since we were at the counter anyway, I asked the agent if there is anyway we can sit together. The plane is configured in a 2-4-2 seating configuration and he said the only way we can sit together is if he offers 2 middle seats in the 4-seat configuration. We were ecstatic! We were in middle seats separately anyway, middle seats together would be great! Everything is going so well! We didn't have to go home and get the CC and we somehow ended up sitting together, too! When we boarded the flight somehow the people who were sitting on either side of us are father & son. I think they chose their seats because they thought no one will be in the middle. So if our seats were ABCD, they were AD and we were BC. They found out we were husband & wife and they offered to let us have CD and they took AB! Yay! We somehow got to sit on the aisle! So we went from middle seats on separate rows to middle seats on the same row to aisle seats on the same row! And the same thing sort of happened on our return trip as well! Originally we were in middle seats on separate rows, but somehow we got 2 seats together all by ourselves (we were assigned to the 2-seat configuration this time). So we got aisle & window seats! Really amazing and I'm so thankful to God! And as a cherry on top for me - I slept at least 8 hours on each flight. I've never flown this well on an international trip, even when I flew business with the company. I'd nap for 3-4 hours, but never 8 hours. I didn't even have time to watch the movies I wanted to see. :) As for the purpose of the trip itself. I'm not sure what all the behind the scenes was like, but I felt like everything went peacefully and well. I think being a Christian is really wonderful - death is not the end all. It's sad but not hopeless. So it's more like just saying goodbye knowing you'll meet again later. I didn't really know David's grandma at all actually. I only met her once last time we were back in Taiwan and by then she was bedridden with tubes going down her throat. I remember feeling sad for her for living in such a state and I've never known her in any other way. So in a way, I feel happy for her -- that she can finally leave her failing earthly shell and put down her earthly burdens. Anyway, I did take some pictures when we were in Taiwan. Interestingly, I didn't take any of the cremation or the memorial itself. It just didn't feel right, I suppose. Those moments seem so solemn that I didn't even remember to flip out my camera. So apologies - no photos of the actual event here. ![]() On Saturday morning we took a bus to Taipei since the memorial service is on Sunday. David had an infection on his middle finger of his right hand since the beginning of the trip because he pulled out a hang nail and then proceeded to wash dirty dishes with it. It got so infected that the finger was twice its original size and filled with pus. After a church brother who is a doctor saw it on Saturday, he told us to go to the ER right away and so we did.
The memorial service was on Sunday and we flew home on Sunday evening arriving back at home on Sunday afternoon PST. All in all it was a peaceful trip and it probably went as well as it could possibly have given the circumstances.
You thought you heard the last of the Anthropologie urchin test knobs when I wrote this post a month ago. Well, check this out. I know! I am just as shocked as you are! Well okay maybe you already forgot all about these knobs, but not me! So here's the story of how I ended up with 6 of the seafoam knobs and 3 of the linen knobs to complete the bathroom. Right after I got the cancellation notice from Anthropologie, they sent me another email saying that 1 knob has been shipped. I was a bit confused - weren't they cancelled? Why is 1 now shipped? Then I noticed that I had ordered 6 knobs and 5 of them were cancelled and so they shipped the remaining knob to me. I immediately replied to the email saying it's no use for me to receive 1 knob and can they just cancel the order? Unfortunately, they said it has already left the warehouse and I can return it to the store. I was a bit annoyed by this since I had to pay the shipping. But oh well, the shipping for this one knob was $1 and I can swallow the cost. The lone knob came in a few days later and I must say I was smitten. It was this gorgeous blue/green color. So thus began my quest to acquire more. So I immediately went on anthropologie.com and I was able to order 3 more on the website. I think it was the last 3 because I couldn't order any more. I immediately placed the order thinking that I can still do with 4 total knobs and I can do a little mixing and matching of different knobs in the bathroom and make it work. Immediately after the order there was a shipping confirmation for 2 of the 3 knobs. Hooray! So these 2 knobs in addition to the one I received already would mean I would at least have 3 knobs. I was really crossing my fingers that the final one will come too so I can get 4 knobs at the end. Later I went to anthropologie.com again hoping that somehow I can order more. And I was pleasantly surprised that I could order 1 more knob (I tried adding more to the cart but the most they'll let me add was 1). Just in case the knob from the previous order was cancelled, I decided to suck it up and ordered this 1 remaining knob. Since I was placing the order, I figured it made more sense to order 9 of the same knobs in linen since it's one flat rate shipping cost. I figured they're the same shape and since I had to mix and match anyway they would do the job. At this point I also sent an email to anthropologie to complain that I had to make this order 3 separate times and pay for the additional shipping because they kept cancelling a part of my order. To their credit, they refunded me one of the shipping costs. So for the next 2 weeks or so I was sitting on the edge of my seat to see which knobs would make it and which ones would be cancelled. To add to the drama, a couple of the linen knobs were cancelled immediately after I placed the 3rd order, which didn't make me feel too good about getting at least 1 of the 2 seafoam knobs on order. And then I got the email. One seafoam knob has been shipped! Hooray! I was probably a bit too happy when this happened. I would have at least 4 seafoam knobs after all! Then sometime in between all this, I received a call from Becky. She told me that she was at an Anthropologie store and they said that even though their store showed inventory for these knobs, they were nowhere to be found. But the good news was another store in the LA area shows that they have some in inventory as well and they can request to have the knobs shipped over. Even as Becky told me this, she gave me enough deflators so I won't get my hopes up. And indeed, I think at the end it didn't work out. Then my good friend came to visit me in October and since we were in Palo Alto for lunch, I asked if she would mind dropping in Anthropologie with me to look for these knobs. (I had to tell her my crazy story so she would understand why I'm making so much effort for this). Unfortunately, the store didn't have any in stock. I did see some pretty glass knobs that were also $2.95 each and I picked them up as a consolation prize. Those glass knobs have since replaced our ugly gold/black knobs we used to have. I like the change even though it's pretty subtle and it doesn't show up properly in the picture. But believe me, much better than gold + black. And I'm forgetting the details of what happened next, but somehow later Becky learned that a store in Dallas (or Texas somewhere) have a few more of these knobs in inventory. At this point I was kind of unstirred by the news. There have been too many cancellations and false hopes that I was not investing anymore emotions into these knobs. But I was very grateful to her for going through all this hassle for me. And somehow at the end, she managed to get 3 knobs shipped for free to her from Texas! And shortly after this news, I got another email telling me that 1 more of the seafoam knobs had shipped! So with 5 knobs shipped to me + 3 from Becky, I ended up with 8 of these seafoam test knobs at the end! Of course I was only able to use 6 knobs since I would've needed 9 total knobs to complete the bathroom. But that's okay because 1 knob was chipped and another one was a deeper green than the others. So it worked out well at the end! I also had like 5 linen ones at the end so I picked 3 prettiest ones to use. And that's how I ended up decking out the bathroom with proper hardware. It's really nice, too! No more prying open the drawers or cabinets with finger tips. Phew, that was way too many words for a post about cabinet knobs but there you have it! We will now have this story at our fingertips should anyone need a story about perseverance. Aren't you glad you read this blog? :) It's making you a better person. Epilogue:
And for those of you thinking about the Home Furnishings budget moratorium -- well, sorry this just didn't count. I sort of view this as part of the pre-moratorium since I had ordered them before it was in effect. But to make you (and myself) feel better, I did sell a lamp on CL for $20 so that can cover the cost. So I'm feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness about Thanksgiving. Probably more excitement than nerves though! I'm loving the fact that I'm having some great people over for Thanksgiving and I realize how much I love having people over! I am kind of nervous about the food part. I get these weird panic attacks when I suddenly think to myself, "Should I get another tray of zucchinis from Trader Joe's?" or "I wonder if people will want mixed nuts. I should probably get some mixed nuts." My mother's daughter is having a case of self-inflicted paranoia. But emotions aside, I think we've done a decent job at breaking down things on our to-do list and doing them in a semi-relaxing manner. On Monday night, I went to Trader Joe's and Costco to get all the remaining groceries. I was expecting to be stuck in the Costco line for an hour, but happily the line was shorter than usual! Last night, we cleaned house -- which was just clearing off tables and wiping them down. David vacuumed the house and even organized the garage! We also washed the guest room sheets, blankets & pillow cases. It sounds like we did a lot, but our house is actually pretty clean to begin with so it wasn't that much work. Tonight I just need to go to Whole Foods to pick up the turkey dinner and drop by Safeway to get some ice cubes. And maybe some flowers. :) Tonight's also the night to make the sides that can be reheated easily or eaten at room temperature. And...we should be good to go tomorrow! At least I'm crossing my fingers that we would be... Oh! And I finished the Thanksgiving mantle! I was hoping to take a better picture but it's always pitch dark by the time we get home so this may be the best I can conjure with my camera skills. I filled the apothecary jar with four 3D balls/ornaments on the left. I think it's a nice balance to the branch + ornaments on the right. I forgot to mention we got some mini-gourds/pumpkin at Trader Joe's (69 cents each!). They're in the center of the mantle, some propped up by vases. And I also wrapped 3 jars in burlap + string. They give off a pretty glow when the candles are lit inside. And of course, I'm hoping to have a fire roaring in the fireplace tomorrow. :) Ah, hopefully it'll feel nice and homey for everyone. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
I've been having inconsistent and problems with sleep since we came back from Taiwan last Sunday afternoon. Here's my sleep diary for the last week.
1. Sunday: We got home at around 2pm. We both felt so tired. The plan was to force ourselves to stay up until at least 9pm so we'd konk out and wake up early the next morning. What ended up happening was David went down for a nap at 4pm and I ended up crawling in, too. He woke up at 8pm. Me? I woke up at midnight. Of course, I couldn't fall back asleep until 4am. But I did manage to get up around 8ish to go to work. 2. Monday: In an effort to stay awake, we played a computer game and lost track of time and ended up sleeping at midnight. For some reason, I could not fall asleep until 4am and I did not wake up until 10am the next morning. 3. Tuesday: Same problem, except I managed to sleep at 3am. 4. Wednesday & Thursday: I can't remember what happened these two days now. Probably similar to Monday & Tuesday. 5. Friday: I tossed a little and eventually fell asleep but could not wake up in the morning to go to church. I did feel a little bit onset of sickness, but nothing severe. I ended up getting out of bed at 1pm and listened to 2 sermons online. *sigh. 6. Saturday & Sunday: I finally felt a little sleepy when I closed my eyelids at midnight! Really thank God and I got two relatively normal nights of sleep even though I'd still fight to get out of bed at a reasonable hour. As you can see, I had a crazy & abnormal sleep pattern this past week. But I feel like there's more to the abnormality than jet lag alone can explain. Even before the trip, I'd resist going to sleep until at least after 11pm. I really don't know why. I think I just have no self control. Hopefully in confessing this, I'll be more motivated to control my sleep & wake times better. So after seeing this garland on Pinterest, I decided to update the Autumn Garland I made a few weeks ago. I love everything about it. The double-strands, the large, satin bows on either side, and the white letters. So simple yet sophisticated. Here's a reminder of what mantle versions 0 and 1.0 look like. Like with Version 1.0, I didn't really do it the right way with 2.0. I freehanded the letters using white paint instead of printing out letters and cutting them out to create a stencil (which would obviously make the letters look prettier). It's pretty scandalous since I don't have pretty handwriting, but oh well. I'll live. And since I used isosceles triangles before, I opted to cut a few more out instead of converting to squares. Anyway, here's the mantle now. If you squint a little, you'll see the ornaments + branches on the right of the mantle. Instead of buying or scavenging for branches, I just cut a few from a tree in our backyard. I simply washed them with water and dried them with paper towels. It's a bit smaller than what I was imagining, but I think it turned out pretty cute. :) Here's a close up. I'm liking the updated mantle! I think it looks much nicer than the previous version.
So continuing with Fall/Thanksgiving mantle decor, I came across this nifty little thing the other day (via Pinterest, of course). I love things like this! Does this remind anyone else (except David) of the Boron Buckyball? Too awesome. I immediately knew that I wanted to make some of these in orange, yellow & brown. And I also made two in white. :)
I've been gathering ideas on decorating for Autumn. I'm feeling a little more motivated recently since Thanksgiving is next week (yikes!) and we're having people over (double yikes!). A few days ago, I came across this photo via Pinterest. I really liked the branches in cylinder vase idea. Extra nice since I already have the said cylinder vase. However, the whole image was way too Winter Wonderlandy for me and I was wondering how I can borrow the idea for Thanksgiving. Enter this image from Pinterest. Brilliant! Aren't these super cute? I've always loved ornaments, but since we don't celebrate Christmas there's really no need to buy any. But I thought I could put a nice spin on these and make them for Thanksgiving/Autumn. I followed the tutorial to a tee (except I used construction paper) and made 12 of them. They're super easy to make and just as adorable in real life. :) They are currently hanging out in the office until I find some branches.
So I got an email yesterday informing me the annual 40% off the entire Banana Republic Factory Store is upon us! Everything in the store is 40% off including clearance. This sale starts today and will last until 11/27! If you are in the Bay Area, there's a BR Factory Store at Great Mall in Milpitas and one at Gilroy.
I've been thinking about life, specifically about growing older. I'm turning the big 3-0 next year and when I look back on the last few years, I realize that they've been the happiest ones I've had so far. And I want to understand why.
When I was a teenager and even into my early 20s, life was just awkward and frustrating. I didn't feel comfortable in my own skin. Nothing I did was good enough or right. There was a level of complexity and confusion I had about existing in general, and I just couldn't figure out how to be happy and at ease with who I am with the people and situation around me. I'm not sure what has changed in these ~5 years, but life feels simpler. Maybe it's just the passing of puberty and the drama that comes with it. I feel my relationships have simplified. I really enjoy my friendships right now and I really get so much joy from them. And for relationships that are less than ideal, I no longer seek for them idealistically. Maybe I'm just more accepting and comfortable with leaving things as they are now. I seek less to please. Instead, I enjoy being on equal footing with others and I'm starting to feel that it's healthier this way. And oddly, I feel like people feel more comfortable and respect people who are not out to please. Oh, the irony of life. I also started to ponder that the climate of a relationship is created by all parties involved and there is a "normal" or "equilibrium setting" associated with it. And that setting is based on the efforts and care of the people involved. For example, people who keep in touch once a year and stay on the surface will naturally have a casual relationship. People who make the effort to keep in touch weekly or have deeper conversations will have a much closer relationship. So different relationships have different norms. It's not something to force on anyone and not something anyone can force on you. Closeness is simply a norm proportional to the behavior of both parties to the relationship. Or maybe life is simpler now because I got through the uncertain years of my early 20s. At that age, everything is in flux. It's exciting because of the endless possibilities. But it's also terrifying because of the endless possibilities. I had no idea where I would be and who I would become and who I have to live with. But now that I'm employed and married and much of my life has settled down to a familiar rhythm and place, perhaps I find life to be simpler. Or maybe all this is simply a marker of growing older. Earlier this year, I had a conversation with a sister who is over 80 years old. She told me how much she enjoys being 80. She says at her age she is completely comfortable with who she is. I remember smiling when I hear her say so. And I feel like maybe I'm beginning to see a little bit of that in my own life. |
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