On How to Bake Something Pretty into Something Horrifying

Let's start with something pretty to look at, shall we? (No, I'm not talking about me. But thanks anyway)

I have been browsing to find any baking recipes to get into the holiday spirit. Or to be precise, since I have bought 3 cookie jars, I'd better start filling them up or they will be collecting dust. Out of these, I was planning to make the Raspberry-Almond Linzer, the Red Velvet Cookies with Cream Cheese Swirl, the Butter Cookie Sandwich with Chestnut Cream, the Chocolate Souffle, and the Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies (Please match the title with its picture yourself).

I thought the universe was on my side when I saw the deal on KitchenAid Standing Mixer from Kohl's on Cyber Monday. Kohl's had 20% off everything online. That made the price of the mixer down to $280 from $350. On top of that, there was a $50 mail-in rebate. So right now we're at $230. On top of the top of that (Yes, I like to make up my own words), I got $75 Kohl's cash. So I bought it.

It was hard to choose between Empire Red color or Aqua Sky. But I thought the red will pop in our white/gray kitchen. The day it got delivered was probably the greatest day of my amateur baking days. Then it went downhill from there.

Last Sunday, I made the Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies. It all can be concluded in 4 points:
1. They became a hit in my household.
2. My current household consists of my husband and me.
3. I don't like mint (with some exceptions). I hated the smell of the pure mint I used/
4. Thus only my husband ate the cookies. (36 cookies in one week). Probably that does not make me a good wife.
5. However, I didn't use the mixer because I used Betty Crocker sugar cookies mix and I want to be careful to pick the recipe that my lovely mixer will experience for the first time.

After some consideration, I picked the Red Velvet Cookies with Cream Cheese Swirl because I like red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese filling/icing, so I though Why not? But let me tell you. They didn't turn out as good as I'd like it to be. And trust me, I already lowered the standard. It all can be concluded in 10 points:
1. I forgot to mix in the brown sugar. Duh!
2. Mine looks like poop.
3. Some food coloring did not mix well.
4. Thus making it look like poop with hemorrhoid.
5. I'm sad.
6. Though I can't wait until my husband gets back and we can laugh together at it.
8. But I do not give up. (Listen to that, kids!)
9. I am preparing the next recipe already. Wish me luck!
10. I feel bad for my mixer

You can't clearly tell the unmixed red food coloring from the picture. But I hope you get the idea......
Don't they just look so poopy-ish?????!!! GOSH!!


Love,


Your angry-but-not-giving-up-yet-because-I-have-to-set-a-good-example-for-my-kids baker

On His Profile Through My Eyes

One Saturday evening, a lady came to us and said, "You two make a cute couple." I laughed and said thank you, while he kept his cool and gave a cute crooked smile. Among many other things, his smile is one thing that will make my heart melt every time I see or think about. 

Since I don't want to take anything for granted, including that smile, I am writing a few things down about him 

♥ When he eats ice cream, he always wants a glass of milk to go with it. (I thought it's dairy overload)

♥ Every time we shake hands during Sign of Peace, he will try to tickle my palm with his index finger.
Every. Single. Time.

♥ He'll call me, Babydoll!! to let me know he's home after work everyday.

♥ Or just when he calls me Babydoll

♥ When he eats bigger portion of dinner, then I know that he likes the food I make (my Shepherd Pie does this)

♥ If we watch something really weird on TV, I'll look at him and he'll look at me with our eyebrows raised.
No words needed.

♥ When he can't ever seem to find his tools, I'll find it for him and ask rhetorically, What would you do without me.. He'll say, I don't know, baby...I don't know..

♥ He's into some TV shows that I think are crappy and strongly feels that they are good.

♥ Sometimes he'll say to Lucky (our yellow lab), Yeah, mommy loves you today. Well, it's actually annoying at the moment. What does he mean by today? I love her every day!

♥ When he snores at night.

♥ Okay, maybe scratch that last one.

♥ Just for being a really good husband. 

♥ But hey, ask me again 25 years from now, right?! ;)

Love,

Nautical Living Room

We have another living room on the first floor that we don't use (yet). Right now, we are using our second floor living room that looks like a standard living room. Couch and love seat in espresso faux leather material, espresso coffee and side table, and boring throw pillows (they came with the couch). Not to mention a bunch of speakers and electronic stuffs. We are planning on buying/making a long floating cabinet that will hide store all of those stuffs. But, that is the least of our priorities. Meanwhile, we're working on our kitchen, door and window trim, and throwing junks that we both accumulated throughout the years. Oh! And of course to prep for the coming of our own little monkey. Thus, in order to keep me sane, I have been dreaming about that first floor living room.

I have compiled several ideas of what I want to have. Obviously I focus too much on tables (I have the glass coffee table, the garden stool functioning as side table, and ship wheel side table). My husband and I for sure want a cowhide rug. I want accent chairs, for sure (wingback is preferred). But who knows when we will eventually get around to do this.

I guess it's time. Back to "work"

On What I'm Reading

I am having a reader's block. I don't remember when it started or how I got it. For me, this is bad because I love to read. However, I don't have the desire to do so for this past few months. God knows why. I can't get into any books. I usually lose it after the first paragraph. I am also guilty because I have been preferring to read a real book than to read e-book (My husband gave me the kindle and I don't want him to think that I don't like it anymore).

However, if there's an author that might save me, it is Malcolm Gladwell. My brother introduced Blink to me a long time ago and it got me hooked. I then proceeded to read his other works. Last month, he had a new book out, David and Goliath, and I was super-pumped. So I bought it. Now it's sitting on my table along with two other books. I may skipped the other two and start reading this one first. 

My in-progress reading materials are:

1. 7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child

I already know bilingualism can be achieved for children in general, mostly because I've seen many of my high school friends speak Chinese fluently with their parents at home, in addition to being fluent in Indonesian (fist language) and learning English as well. While I am super positive about this, my husband is not so sure how it's done. So I need this book to convince him and to actually know how people usually do it. Of course the child's first language will be English, but I can start bright and early, but slowly, to introduce him to Indonesian. The great thing was that all of his concerns (i.e., he'll be confused, he'll not be good in English, he'll not be as smart, etc) are tackled as myths right away at the beginning of the book.

2. Little Bee - Chris Cleave

Before I finished reading #1, I found this book in the bargain section at Barnes and Nobles. This is an older book which received good reviews. Although I feel a little too late to read this, but it's better than never. However, my bookmark has not passed the first chapter yet.

3. David and Goliath - Malcolm Gladwell

I went to B&N on Oct. 1st, thinking that they would have it because it was the launch date, also thinking that it would be displayed up front, I left the store empty-handed. I went back again the next week and asked if they had it(I didn't ask the first time, just because...) It's in the best seller location, let me show you, she said. It was is the left corner of the store instead of by the door or in the middle. Why would you call that bestseller location? But, I found out that it's still cheaper at Amazon (obviously). So I just got it yesterday. I really hope this book will bring me back to life!

Master Bathroom Update #1

If anybody compares me and my husband, it is clear that he is more hard-working. (I don't say that I'm lazy). So when it comes to my ideas for a house project, he's usually down with it, as long as:

1. It adds values to the house

2. It's not too crazy

To say the least, my great idea of secret bookcase entrance was rejected. Not sure why. But several of my ideas, such as chevron pattern on foyer wall (this should have been a blog post), pot filler in the kitchen (we had to frame another wall before the drywall work could be done), the yellow side garage door, to have accent wall instead of backsplash in our master bathroom were accepted. Sometimes he even becomes more obsessed with it that I am. I guess somebody needs to do it (him) and not just to talk about it (me). 

The tiles that we picked out are the same styles as our floor tiles (Daltile San Michele - Dorato). We bought them when we bought the materials for finishing the first floor, which was in April. But, we didn't finish tiling the first floor until July, I'd say. Thus, we started with this project last month and we finished it in 3 days! That's a record!

He started by measuring up the wall and the tiles. Counting how many rows and columns we needed. We also knew that we wanted to have the cut piece at the bottom, not at the top, because eyes are usually drawn to the top. He then attached a piece of wood as our guide. The starting point as well as to make sure that they were level. He applied a thin set of mortar and started putting the tile. Since the tile size came in about 12 in x 12 in (1/8" spacing), we also taped the joint between the tiles.

It took us about three hours to complete the part above the wood. That also includes the cutting time. We then waited a day to make sure they were hardened until we unscrewed the wood and continued on with the bottom part.

The next step is to fill in the grout. We matched the grout color of this wall with our floor tiles. Grouting was not hard, but took time because he needed to step up and down the ladder. I then followed him with wrung out sponge to wipe the excess after 10-20 minutes.

 The last thing to do was to come back the next day and wipe out the haze caused by the grout sand. And here are before and after pictures:

I personally think it looks amazing (of course I have to stand by my ideas :p) But I do feel a spa like master bath. For bathrooms, we use Bianco Romano granite countertop and a dark maple cabinets.We obviously still need to find a vanity light and two small wall mirrors for each sink (and to put trims around the window!). But I am really happy with the way it turns out so far. 

Alright, I'm gonna go and think about his my next project!

DIY Friday: Nautical Glass Coaster

A while back, my mother-in-law passed this link along to me: http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/good_day_wi/thrifty-thursday-rope-crafts. The project seems to be pretty easy and God knows I can only do easy DIY projects. Also, I really would like to add more nautical touches to the house. I pretend that our lake house is a beach house, minus the beach. 

It took me a week to get the materials I didn't have: the rope and the cork coasters. I went to Farm and Fleet and Hobby Lobby to get the materials, respectively. Then, it took me another week to start it. I'm blaming my baby, again. I become this really lazy person, which is weird because he is very active inside. So, as you may guess it, it took me another week to finish four of them. Ha! 

My mother-in-law also texted me that my father-in-law picked up a lamp that was thrown out that would be perfect for this project. Do I dare to imagine how long it will take me to do the lamp? 

At the beginning, I hot glued the rope before I placed it on the coaster. But it was a stupid idea. I realized that I could hot glue the coaster instead and wrap the rope on it. Much faster.

The nice thing about this coasters is that they are durable. I can use them outside, which hopefully will do fine under Wisconsin's summer season.

Go Badgers!

Throwback Thursday: Eight Years Later

Eight years later in 2013...Just me trying to be cuddly with Lucky who's not having it. 

Let's rewind.

"Pick you up at Memorial Union." - A. A. G.

I am skipping my story how I got here and the trips we took to Niagara Falls and Miami. I am leaving those to my memoir ;)

MY mother, aunt, uncle, grandfather, and I flew to Chicago from JFK and took the Val Galder bus to Memorial Union, Madison where my brother was supposed to pick us up. We arrived in Madison on August 15th, 2005. Moving day. Bad bad choice. My brother's uhaul had broke down earlier which delayed him a little bit.

 Fast forward later that day

We got to the 2-bedroom apartment I'd be sharing with him. He then went to return the uhaul truck with my uncle. My mom and my aunt started organizing stuffs and then about 5 pm they asked me to go buy food at this Korean place. By this time, my mom had been to Madison several times. But, noooo, they wanted me, the girl who just got here, didn't know anybody or anything, and who just figured out the money bills to go by HERSELF? Yes, just because I spoke English. Important note: At that time, I barely spoke English. Not to mention knowing the culture.

Off I went to point A to point B as shown in figure below. They gave direction: "Just walk straight until you find it. Here's what you need to order." It's 2 blocks away. Easy peasy. 

My Checklists:

1. Arrive safely at the restaurant ü

2. Order Beef Bokum ü

3. Pay correctly ü

4. Have a conversation with a Korean for the first time ü

5. Don't mess up no. 4 û

6. Get home quickly û

When I did no. 4. Basically it was me answering Yes/No to whatever the waiter asked. He was interested in asking me question because obviously I looked new in town. 

Well, he asked me if I was new, in which I said Yes. 

He asked if I was Korean, I said No. 

He asked me where I was from. "Indonesia." 

He asked me if I was studying in college, in which I said Yes. 

Now, he should have stopped. But he then asked me again if I was an undergraduate or a graduate student (I think, I was not sure what he asked). In which, I said, "Graduate." Too funny. Remember the Important note above?

I blamed the universe for not giving me the opportunities to dive into the American culture beforehand. At that time, I still didn't know I made a mistake by saying that. Getting to point no 6, on the way back I kept thinking if I answered something wrong. I kept on walking and for sure I missed the apartment building. I kept walking for 4 or 5 more blocks until I thought, "Hm...It was not that far...Where am I??!!" I walked my way back and guessed the building since there was this one with an open door.

Now.....The thing is.....I didn't bring any keys with me......Thankfully, it was moving day, where people tend to prop the main entrance door open to move stuffs easier. Otherwise...............I don't know. Sitting outside and crying? I didn't even know the door was locked automatically. 

Nevertheless, my brother laughed so hard when I told him about my "graduate" answer. It was his joke for quite some times.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures in 2005. I used Friendster instead of Facebook. So all pictures are gone now. Even the one from high school. This 2005 picture was taken in September. We were about to have a surprise birthday at Union South.

Another milestone in Madison was my 21st birthday. The picture was taken at Capitol Centre Market. My first legal alcohol. Not happy about winter birthday though.

Cheers to more and more exciting stories,

On Having A Yellow Door

To set the mood, I am also currently listening to Tie a yellow ribbon - Tony Orlando song on replay. Oh tie the yellow ribbon 'round the old oak tree. It's been three long years, do you still want me..

But, I think that I am actually someone who's afraid of colors. Of bright colors, specifically. I mean, I prefer cloudy/ partly cloudy, remember?

So when we are painting our side garage door (it's on the side, basically nobody will see it except for the neighbor next door), it was weird that I came up with the idea to paint it color! It was just white otherwise. I could see sparks on my husband's eyes when I mentioned it (meaning he liked the idea). But when I said royal/ navy blue color, the sparks were gone (remember how I prefer not so bright color?). I wanted the sparks back badly, also because it means I have a final say on something, so I quickly said, "YELLOW!" and the sparks were back!

He then tried to send me to go get this yellow paint color by myself (because we took the doors of the hinges, so no lock), I had a panic attack. I said I couldn't do it, because I was cursed with choosing a color. I pretended I was crying out loud (or maybe it's because of the baby? Can't tell), so we decided on a range of color, between a screwdriver and a box of marigold seed. The screwdriver was a brighter yellow, while the marigold seed box was a yellow with a hint of orange. We like the color of the box better. I believe this is the fastest time we ever reached a decision together.

So I was off to Home Depot to get the Behr paint. I tried to pick the closest yellow paint, but I couldn't find it! (Cursed) so I asked the guy to color match it with the marigold seed box. I knew that my husband will not agree with that decision. But in my head, I just didn't want to screw it up. Actually, if I put the box right next to the door, the color matches!!

So here it is, a yellow door. We call it the marigold color :)

Flashback: Like, had-no-morning-sickness-at-all good

Yes, yes, and yes! What's the point of having a blog if I don't write. But, to be honest, since April until June, my mother was here. It sucked all of my time creative juices and energy. I had ideas here and there what to write about, but then I got lazy.

So, to start things all over again, I'd like to just post this picture of what I had been doing all this time. I may or may not go through each picture one by one because to tell you the truth, I'd rather take a nap right now (for a reason that will be clear soon).

Starting from top center going CW

My brother's civil ceremony. We drove to Minneapolis (did not forget to stop by Norske Nook who had the best pie!) for a weekend. It was short and sweet. But the food was delicious! Now, if you think that that was it, you are certainly wrong. Next year, we are going to party it up celebrate it again. September 2014, my husband, my good friend, and I are planning to go back home (Indonesia, fyi) because they are going to have the church ceremony and reception in Jakarta as well as in Medan (Sophie's hometwon) a week before. Now, that's what I call wedding celebration.

I took -"Tootsie" the hyena- sign in Weyauwega (I still don' know how to pronounce it) Zoo. I visited my good friend (the same good friend from story above) annual camping trip in Fremont, WI (We stayed in a cabin. I would no more stay in a tent. The quick back story: Went to FL with an ex. Stayed in a tent on a beach camping ground. I had never camped before. I did not know what to bring. I brought none of the necessary sleeping-in-a-tent stuffs. Had a fight with the ex. Ended up sleeping on a blanket with a jacket all night long, he slept in a sleeping bag on a mattress. Call me high maintenance, whatever). 

The cake! Oh the cake from Craig's Cake Shop! It was our 1st wedding anniversary on June 16th. One year! It was the same day as Father's Day 2013, so we kind of stole a little moment during our family gathering. We then eat a slice from our top wedding cake that we froze from last year. (We wrapped the cake in aluminium foil, put it in a gallon-size ziploc bag, tried to make it as tight as possible, put it back in the box, then wrapped the box in a plastic bag). It was vanilla cake with raspberry mousse. Delicious! But not the optimum flavor or texture, obviously. I'd rather eat it last year. But not bad, it still tasted pretty good. Cheers to another year, babe!

Oh! Just a picture of my husband looking handsome, with Lucky, our dog, who looked somewhat irritated. It might have been a hot day and she would not have it when anyone tried to cuddle her. Attitude, attitude, attitude...

The next two photos are of Fourth of July weekend. Boating and s'morsing. And a little bit more s'morsing. We had fire going, trying to burn some of woods leftover from our house reno. Actually, my Fourth of July weekend was filled with working around the house, which leads me to the next picture.

Ta-da! We finished our railing job! We really did pour sweat and blood into this deck. We finished the framing job maybe a month before. We primed those babies and we primed some more. Then we finished it with semi-gloss white paint (probably he put 3 coats of it). We continued on by drilling 11 holes on each post and then put the cable railing in! It sounds easy, but noooo, it was not. (I guess maybe because we re somewhat perfectionist in doing this house). The bistro chair set is courtesy of my parents-in-law. A heart balloon was tied to the chair, a gift for our wedding anniversary......Sit outside all day and enjoy the lake?

Or maybe not yet. Because I tend to prefer sleeping than any other thing. The center photo is my our baby's ultrasound from the trimester screen in June. We found out we were pregnant in early May, I think. We were happy! (So yeah, it turned out to be I was pregnant when I went to my brother's commencement). I am currently almost 4.5 month along. But no baby bump yet (Argh!). This photo always makes me smile. Look at those cute legs. I will write another post about this pregnancy. Like a pregnancy diary without the 'dear diary' thing. But so far so good. Like, had-no-morning-sickness-at-all good. :)

Till then,

Dear Mrs. Housewife: Cleaning Tips

The following letter has been wildly interpreted and paraphrased from the original question. It was something about cleaning the pots/pans or electric stove coil or the bottom of the stove or maybe none of them. I don't remember exactly. But to tackle everything is too much work. 

Dear Mrs. Housewife,

How do I clean the burnt/grease pans?

Rose Garden*

Dear Rose Garden,

I don't currently own a stove, I use my slow cooker and mini oven toaster. I line aluminium foil on my baking pan to avoid the mess. So I am absolutely not qualified for this question. Except, if a Master's in engineering counts. But, I will give my engineering insight anyway. Sometimes I need to be practical as an engineer. For example, "Ah, I will assume that the wind field across the lake with a size of Lake Mendota is homogeneous. It will save my model compute time." If you're not sure where this is going, I will tell you my numero uno suggestion. You should buy new pots/pans. Very practical, it will save you some scrubbing time. I can give you myy 20% coupon for one item at Bed Bath and Beyond. Or, I can shop for you at Goodwill this coming weekend. Seriously, can I?

But, if you are like my mother, who will think that buying-new-stuff-while-the-old-stuff-works-just-fine is b.s., hold on! I have other suggestions.

I browsed around for some home remedies. I found the second suggestion from "Household Remedies" pins on Pinterest (Pictured below, marked "1"). Some people re-pinned this a lot. So, I thought it worked. It uses:

1/4 cup of baking soda

Enough hydrogen peroxide to make the mix paste-y. Then you can start to RUB it!

However, I found a link with a picture, which is marked "2" below, that says the recipe did not work as "magical" as advertised (It's not going to be the first time it happens. Right, Kaboom?)

You can try it anyway, though. 

Since I am trying to look creative, I found another method. Just for you, Rose Garden. 

I guess this third suggestion works nicer with pots since you will need to boil it on your stove. 

Apartment Therapy posted this recipe:

1 cup of vinegar

2 tablespoons of baking soda

About 1 cup of water

Directions:

1. Pour the water

2. Add the vinegar

3. Bring it to a boil

4. Remove pan from the heat.

5. Empty the pan.

6. Add the baking soda

7. Start scrubbing

8. Leave some baking soda with drops of water on tough spot for 10 mins. 

9. Step 7. 

Let me know if anything works. If all fails, contact me. I will give you my mother's phone number who will be happy to clean the pots/pans for you. She is not a clean freak, but a clean fairy. 

A long time ago, she made a comment about how my estranged aunt's pots/pans are black at the bottom. She prided herself on keeping hers clean. Little did she know, a few years later she would find my pots/pans of my college life in the same condition. She said, "I was quick to judge. Didn't know that my own daughter's pots look like this," while scrubbing away. I quickly gave her a shoulder rub and told her I loved her. 

My charm always works on her. ;)

Love,

Tired-housewife-who-just-finished-painting-the-ceiling.

* name has been modified for anonymity. 

On what I'm reading

1. Where'd You Go, Bernadette? - Maria Semple
I really enjoy reading this book. At first I thought it's going to be similar to Gone Girl, which I've read before, but it's not. I have to maybe say Gone Girl has a better how-to-be-a-missing-person plot better, but I actually like this book better. Maybe because I did not like how Gone Girl ended.

2. Tell the Wolves I'm Home - Carol Rifka Brunt
I just finished reading this book. I think this is a good book. A little excitement at the end, but the overall book was not boring. I don't know why I waited this long to read it. (I guess because the title was not clear to me....Am I judging a book by its title? Is this allowed?)

3. History of a Pleasure Seeker - Richard Mason
I read the summary of the book, but yet was not sure of what it was about. I enjoy a book in the shorter side. It gets to the point without going around and around. Also, it gave me a glimpse of being in Amsterdam back in the turn of the century. But, it may be too much sex scene. I like it better with more character building.

4. The Round House - Louise Erdrich
The book won an award. I like the story. I also like that it touched on the subject of Indian Reservation, because I am not familiar with that at all. But, I feel that this is one of the book that can be cut shorter. What I'm trying to say is that I really really love The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, and The Sense of an Ending.

5. Will Grayson Will Grayson - John Green + David Levithan
John Green is one of favorite writers. The stories are uniquely told. I don't know how real it is in life, because obviously I did not attend HS in the US.

6. The Paris Wife - Paula McLain
It's a novel which has the facts straight. So, I'm not sure why it can't be just a biography. I'm sure some are exaggerated, but then I found out about Hadley Richardson's life story while married to Ernest Hemingway faster in the internet. Still, I do love me some biography related materials.

7. The Light between Oceans - M. L. Stedman
An OK heartbreaking story for me, but I wouldn't mind reading another of her novels.

8. A discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness
I did not finish reading this book. I did not pick up the meaning of the title when I started reading it. It's about witches, vampire, and daemon in love. I could not finish it. I can not reading a harlequin type of love story too much.

On to some non-fictions, please....

"Like it's meant to be......."

Hi, my name is Adeline and I'm addicted to thrift stores.

Before we begin, I confess that:

1. I am not the kind of person who says if it's meant to be then so and so will such and such. I always think that what I do or do not do will determine the outcomes. Sure, opportunities may come and go, but nobody will get married if nobody says hi to begin with (Well, except for arranged marriages).

2. I had never gone to a thrift store up until last year. Shame on me. 

Short back story:

- I went to St. Vincent de Paul in Odana Rd. 

- I fell in love with a copper vase/pitcher thing. 

- It was a little too much. Did not buy it.

- Couldn't stop thinking about it.

- Went back to buy it about 4 weeks later 

- It's gone. (4 weeks, duh!)

Yesterday, I went to SVDP, the one on Willy St. I was looking for an end table to be placed right next to the toilet in our master bath. I found this cute circular table that had the french provincial legs (Insert GASP! here). I looked further around. but then I got distracted because I saw not one, but TWO (A set! A pair!) rectangular table with those provincial legs (I started to cry by now). Nightstands! I did not buy them, though. Got to talk to the hubby yet. 

So today I went there again. I texted the picture to him........and then I saw it. There it was. A price reduction. It's now $7.50 a piece. HO HO HO. Easter bunny must have come earlier. Then, a text came, It looks good. Sale and Seal of approval? I tried so hard not to dance right there. Could it get any better? Yes. I spotted a copper vase/pitcher. (Insert another GASP!) Not the same. Not as weathered. But I grabbed it anyway. 

A worker helped me loading them in my car. He put it upside down and they fit just perfect on the back.  Then he said it,

Wow, like it's meant to be.

On the drive back, Like it's meant to be haunted me (not in a spooky way). How I found a pair of tables.  How I found another copper vase. How they juuuuust fit. Meant to be?

I don't know. But, what he said eased my mind a little bit. I have a lot of things in my mind right now. But, maybe if it's meant to be, then it's meant to be?

Spring, please come!

On finalizing our kitchen plan: what I'm obsessed with

Side note: I let my coffee sit too long enough, I got this great 'iced' coffee (as I poured the coffee from the mug to a glass)

I have been am currently trying to finalize our kitchen plan for 3 months. We are in a state of agreement, which is good considering I have to face Mr. I'm-going-to-criticize-your-plan. It's going to be an L-shaped with an island. The L-shaped cabinets will be in white, while the island cabinets will be in gray (I was going to go for red island, quickly turned down). All cabinets are shaker style door with slab drawers. The kitchen plan is shown in the picture below, the base cabinets are drawn with solid black lines and the wall cabinets are shown with dotted red lines (can't really see it). About 3 feet to the right of the fridge will be the pantry.

We ordered bathroom cabinets from Menards-Schrock, but we switched to Home Depot-Kraftmaid for our master bath, laundry, and 2nd floor wet bar. We personally think that the qualities are comparable. So, we'll see who has a better deal when we're ready to move on with the kitchen. Note: We need to build the soffit around the wall yet. 

One good idea (that will not happen because I did not see the picture until outside studs were built, which was waaaay back in Sep '12) was to have picture windows installed in between countertop and wall cabinets (the standard 18" gap), so that more lights could come in. Oh well. 

But, I'm obsessing with these now:

Let's discuss from top left corner, clockwise:

1. Pot filler. 

I gasped when I first saw it above the range in a kitchen design. What is this, I asked. To fill your pots with water when cooking, he said. Since then, I couldn't take my mind off of it. He though it was cool too (No good until I got the seal of approval. My ideas are mostly crazy according to him. Umm..creative, you mean?) So, he called up his plumber (J.J. Below - Madison Plumbing - Oregon, WI. Awesome and affordable, highly recommended) and asked for some thought as the plumbing will be on the outside wall. Problem solved! We need to rock that outside wall and build another fake wall (3 in forward) in front of it, so the plumbing will be safe from freezing. Hooray! I'll get my pot filler (Price to pay: I lost 3" of a cabinet)

2. Pendant lighting. 

For the kitchen island, 2 mini pendants. Nautical feel. Reached an agreement.

3. KitchenAid Stand Mixer.

Not urgent, especially if I count how many times I have baked in my life. In red (the accent color of our white kitchen). Red accent will be on the window roman shade, maybe on the stool cushion too.

4. Range hood

This is what my husband wants. Industrial look for the hood. So he'll get that.

5. Bar pull

If it's possible to have the cabinet pull extends as long as the cabinet, I'll love that. If not, I'll just order whatever the longest (cheap from pullsdirect.com). Second floor wet bar will have this look too.

6. White subway tile backsplash

We like the clean feeling. But, we don't know is if it's going to be porcelain or of glass tile. We  I don't know if it's going to be placed horizontally or vertically. I gravitate toward the vertical because it matches with our vertically staggered bathroom tiles. But, in doing so, it doesn't go along the longest span as it does with horizontal placement.

7. Sharp microwave drawer

We were not looking for anything fancy. Microwave is a microwave. The problem that surfaced originally was where to put the microwave. Placing it on the wall cabinet or base cabinet? If I placed it on the wall, the cabinet would stick out further and might be a challenge to work on the counter space. I browsed around to see my options and I saw this Sharp. We went to Brothers Main to check it out. It's super cool. It's a drawer instead of a door opening which is good since we're putting the wave in the base cabinet. This thing excited me the most, until I stumbled upon the pot filler.

8. High kitchen faucet.

This one is courtesy of my husband. He liked the look, again commercial and industrial look. No argument.

9. Wolf rangetop

We don't know if we have the money to get one. But we are obsessed. I, again, looked at a kitchen design with a front-knob rangetop (I really should stop looking around). Then he saw this Wolf rangetop, he couldn't stop admiring it. We even watched a video how to install this kind of rangetop. Maybe, we won't get a fancy fridge (I had my eyes on the Samsung fridge previously) and get this instead. It's easier to swap out the fridge later than swapping out the rangetop. Is it just our wishful thinking? Oh! Did I mention my kitchen accent color is red....and the Wolf knobs are red......Hmmm.....Meant to be?

10. Center pic - Apron Sink

This was my original obsession, before the Sharp microwave, pot filler, or the Wolf range. Undermount, of course (hihihi) I think it matches well with the industrial look that my husband is going for.

Once again, not urgent, not nagging, and not demanding. Just obsessing.

Cheers

On being 25: Princess cake, Nicolaus Copernicus, and Lost&Found

February 19th. I used to hate my birthday date. 02/19. Number 19 is just not proportional to number 2, I thought. But I have learned not to care about that, but to care about the meaning. Yesterday, I put on The Beatles - 1 CD. It reminded me of my 17th birthday, it was a gift from my mom.

Back story: Growing up, I got birthday gifts until I was 6 or so. Mostly toys. But, the tradition changed. My parents would give me money in the red envelope (Chinese's red envelope). They said, This is for you, but let's save it for your college fund. I am grateful for that. So, presents on birthday are not a big deal for me. But when I was 17, it was different. I saw something wrapped for me from my mom. The Beatles - 1 CD. Ah, she knows I like The Beatles. This would be the last year before I went to the US for college. The last year I celebrated birthday in a warm weather. Since then, it's been 8 birthdays I celebrated without them.

From Monday until today, it was reaffirmed what I looked for on a birthday. Monday was my dear husband's birthday. One day before me. I made him a strawberry cake. I tried to re-create our wedding cake, but it did not come close. Cake was OK, but the frosting was surprisingly delish! It felt warm and fuzzy as we watched The Bachelorette (Ha!). The following day was my birthday. He got back from work and I asked for my birthday dance :) Some spins and dips later, I was smiling from ear to ear. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings! Tuesday's Wings Night! I could not wait for my ice cream cake! At home, he brought it up and there it was! My Disney Princess Birthday Cake. I laughed, as I though he did a good joke! No, I'm not a fan of Disney Princess, but I'm a fan of Hello Kitty. But he genuinely thought I was a fan of the princesses, so I laughed even harder. How I love my husband. He put 2 candles on left side and 5 candles on the right, dimmed the light, and sang happy birthday to me. Too cute.

What I did for the first time after a long time today was to re-connect with my friend by actually using facebook properly. I replied each message one by one and asked about them too. Some have been replying back and it's wonderful. This is a true meaning of birthday, for me at least. So thank you dear family and friends.

And you know what the best part is - I share the same birthday as Nicolaus Copernicus. 'Nuff said!

Lost&Found - St. Anthony of Padua
I have been a fan of St. Anthony of Padua. If someone asks me who my favorite saint is, it would be him!  (Second will be St. Christopher - for another time) Fransiscans are my fav. too.

Back story: I have been praying to him since 3rd grade. I lost my Winnie The Pooh wallet. Somebody stole it! (Not sure though). My mom told me that I should pray to him, He's the patron saint of lost stuffs. I still did not find my Pooh wallet until this day. But, it does not deter my beliefs. Anyway, in high school, I expanded my prayers to St. Anthony not only for lost things, but also for everything else. I mean, each year my parents and I attended the big St. Anthony of Padua's novena in July-August for 9 Tuesdays in a row. Each time after school, still wearing my uniform. Each time, we got there 30 min earlier. Each time, it was crazily packed. Each time, it was super hot. Each time, I fell asleep. The people's intention part last about 30 min itself. It's like 2 pages long, single-spaced intentions. For example (not in order), 350 prayers for world peace, Lord hear our prayer. 589 prayers for reaching our dreams, Lord hear our prayer, 234 prayers to be able to travel out of the country, Lord hear...wait what? I do no remember if any of my prayers came true, but I remember my devotions (while falling asleep) and others' as well.

So, it was only natural that I prayed to him when my dear husband lost his wedding ring. It was December, when we were moving stuffs from the storage back to the house. Where's my ring?! We looked for it in the house, in his Jeep, and outside. We went back to the storage with flashlight. Nothing. St. Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of lost thing, please help us find the wedding ring.....................Please, please, please, please, please. (I definitely need to learn how to pray). But, again we did not find it. We gave up....

Until.......about 2 weeks ago. Someone knocked on the door. The mailman. He had his palm out. Is this yours? There it was! The lost wedding ring, which was now found (Amazing Grace is playing in the background...I once was lost but now am found......oh! and Hallelujah too) I was screaming OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! How did you find this?! Well, he said that he was feeling lucky that week, he found his lost car key in the middle of the road and now he found this ring too. The ring has an engraving 'AAG' inside. So he tried to figure out who had that initial. Bingo! It was followed by me saying Thank you for 1000x Thanks, Mr. Mailman. I should have invited you for a hot cocoa inside and tried to convince you to go to Vegas that week.

I decided not to inform my husband about this great afternoon (I informed my mother-in-law, who was also surprised) I waited for his birthday and have it as his gift (Smart cookie!) On Monday, he just could not believe it when he opened it. It was awesome. But of course, it was followed by It's been run by cars, I think stuff (Mr. critique).

I'm spreading the good news of St. Anthony of Padua. My favorite saint. Like probably would have fallen in love with him if I had lived 800 years ago......

What a loooooong post!