This and That

Narrowing down places to visit for 2012

2012-01-03T18:42:00.000-08:00

Usually, I'm not a beach/water person, but if I'm able to swim here:

I may make an exception ...

Palau is going to be a top contender for 2012.

Hello 2012

2012-01-01T15:55:00.000-08:00

Adorable Pillow Cases

2011-12-29T10:36:00.000-08:00

Doing a little of my new favorite hobby... online window shopping. I totally want these. They are too cute!

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-24T10:32:00.000-08:00

Cookie cutter felted mittens

2011-12-16T13:55:00.000-08:00

How to instructions at Mega*Crafty:

Our first Christmas Tree!

2011-12-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

Well, it's not really our first. We both had Christmas trees when we were kids and living at home, but this is our first "together" tree.

In the past, we never thought of even putting up decorations probably because we always traveled in December and partly because we didn't own any. I moved all the way from Montreal to San Francisco and all I brought was a giant luggage.

After we got married, I started collecting random ornaments here and there during our travels, I also started making some during my holiday "crafting" phases - but still no tree. Hubby and I couldn't agree on whether to buy a real tree each year or buy an artificial one and be done with it.

Well, this year - after 11 years together, we finally picked up one from Home Depot. I wanted a tree and I wanted one where I didn't have to deal with all the pine needles falling all over.

The trees are really "advanced" now. The last tree I put up was when I was 15 - haha. I had to stick each branch in individually. Now....wow... they just open "down" like an umbrella. And the needles look real to me :)

I didn't realize how fun it would be to have a tree. I think I have forgotten all about it since it's been over 20 years. Now that it's finally up, I'm so happy. We actually have two trees, I have a little one that I put next to my sister's urn, she loved Christmas and we started the tradition of exchanging ornaments each year until she passed away.

Our tree all lit up at night. I'm still missing a topper but I can't seem to find the right one.

A shot of my home made tree skirt :

And here are some of my favorite ornaments:

I made a series of these stuffies in 2009 and now I finally get to put them up!

This didn't start out as an ornament, it was just an experimentation in felting but it ended up looking cute on the new tree.

My new purchase of 2011 from Macy's. They were having a 60% off sale. I love myself a good deal.

This is one of my favorite and oldest ornaments.

And last but not least, my favorite ornament my sister <3 gave me, it was also the last one. She knew about my love for crafting.

Our little angel :

Our Lego snow globe :

My "Happy Holidays" garland that I got at a steal from Anthropologie. I look forward all year to putting this up just because it looks so crafty.

Up close :

A fresh holiday arrangement from our local flower shop that I picked up today :

Christmas decorating was so fun! I think I'm obsessed now.

I made my own tree skirt!

2011-12-14T10:09:00.000-08:00

I just couldn't wait for Anthropologie's tree skirt to go on sale. I need one now :)

I decided I will just make my own, so of course yesterday I went to discount fabrics to pick up all the supplies. I decided to keep it simple and picked up some brown felt and matching trim.

Some extra sparkly trim to add some ooompf.

I added some buttons and loops to keep the skirt closed.

And voila, my finished product. I'm a happy camper now.

Now I have to clean up the big mess in my craft room before attempting my other Christmas crafts ...

Pretty holiday related items

2011-12-12T18:48:00.000-08:00

Finally... we have a tree, after 11 years of living in San Francisco. Now I just need a tree skirt.

I'm really loving the one from Anthropologie.

Another top contender is from www.sundancecatalog.com

Why are tree skirts so darn expensive ???!!!

Another trip to Flora Grubb, plants, plants and more plants!

2011-12-11T08:52:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's that time again - where I start feeling the itch to buy more plants :) Maybe because it's the holidays and I just feel like shopping or maybe because it's getting grey and I just want more greenery in our home.

As I have mentioned before I never fail to leave this store without buying something. I just absolutely love all their vases and planters and so far I have been having good luck with all the plants I bring home (knock on wood). The plants I usually bring home from Half Moon Bay nursery usually develop some form of icky bug infestation within a couple of weeks and I just don't know how to deal with them other than throwing them in the garbage. With the plants from Flora Grubb, I haven't had that problem yet.

I ended up buying a Gold Child Ivy paired with an off center grey eliptical planter. I love how they look together.

My new Ivy added to my growing cluster of houseplants.

I bought a spike moss. I'm a little worried about this one. It requires a lot of humidity so this to me means "high maintenance". The last plant I had that required this much humidity was the "corkscrew" and he barely survived after our vacation. I hope this one fares much better.

I also ended up buying a succulent - the spikey Hawthornia. I was never a big fan of this plant but I guess seeing it in so many "terrarium" arrangements, I'm starting to warm up to it. I'm going to replant this in a low charcoal square planter and keep it in our bathroom - this plant is super hardy, can survive in low light and infrequent waterings.

Besides going to Flora Grubb just to buy supplies, I love just going there to see what fun ideas they have. This year, they came up with succulent "Christmas" ornaments. I LOVE IT! Not only do they look cool but after Christmas, you can plant it in your garden. I love the idea of living gifts.

Cute Plant update:

Last year I got teeny tiny clipping of another succulent - string of pearls. I had no idea how to propagate so I just stuck it in bowl of water and now it has grown almost 3 inches. I moved it into a cute little ceramic egg holder. It's still in water. I wonder how long it can last like this.

Elephant Farm

2011-11-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

As much as I love going on vacation, I always need a vacation to recover from my vacation. I'm so jet lagged right now, I can barely function. My home is a mess, I walk around like a zombie and right now I'm not motivated to do anything :)

I also can't download and organize all my pictures because hubby says my laptop doesn't have enough space. The last time this happened, he had to increase the size of my hard drive but the side effect was that my laptop started making crazy jet engine noises. It also over heated easily and ran SLOWLY. I hope he will come up with a better solution ;)

We took a crazy amount of photos this time. Partly because we brought along 2 cameras and partly because the places we visited were so beautiful.

We started in Cambodia visiting Angkor in Siem Reap then took a little break in Kuala Lumpur & Melaka in Malaysia. Then we spent a day in Bangkok, we would have stayed longer but the timing was bad - they had floods all over the city and the news coverage scared us, stating there was no fresh water etc, etc. It turned out that it was greatly exaggerated because everything was fine when we went. We were able to visit the Grand Royal Palace and spend some time at the giant MBK mall. Then we flew off to Bhutan, the most magical place, still untouched by the outside world. We ended our trip in Chiang Mai, Thailand where we spent a couple of days wandering the city, enjoying the food and the night markets. We also spent a wonderful day at the Patara Elephant Farm.

I think the elephant farm was a highlight for my husband. I loved it but I was super nervous about being around such giant creatures and their giant POOP - haha. We were each matched with an elephant and then we spent the day learning how to be an elephant owner.

We were trained how to approach an elephant, to check it's temperament and health, to brush them and bathe them, to feed them, to communicate with them and then finally to ride on it's neck - what an unforgettable experience.

My elephant was named "Prowl". I'm definitely spelling it wrong - haha, but that's how the name sounded like. It's supposed to mean precious gem. She was 14 years old.

7 month old baby elephant roaming around the grounds

Feeding my girl :)

Part of the health check included checking the elephant's feet and looking for sweat. Healthy elephants sweat by their nails

Brushing off all the dirt and rocks off before bathing my girl.

Another health check which I couldn't bring myself to do. We had to squeeze the poop to make sure water drips out . Dry poop equals an unhealthy elephant.

Hubby's elephant was named Mei and she had a little baby.

Bathing and brushing my elephant

Elephants started playing and being naughty by spraying us !

Learning how to sit correctly on the elephant

Taking the elephants on a walk, can you see the little baby in between the two big elephants ?

Bhutan Day 8: Goodbye Bhutan ! Hope to visit you again soon

2011-11-20T12:03:00.000-08:00

Today also happened to be my birthday and I was able to spend it in Bhutan with my wonderful husband. Sonam and Phub brought us to their oldest temple Kichu Lhakang where they presented us with a "Tashi Khadhar". I'm not really sure exactly what it is, but in their culture, it is something sacred & special. It's a blessed ceremonial white scarf that is supposed to bring you good luck, good health, safe travels and happiness.

Bhutan Day 7 : Tiger's Nest

2011-11-19T11:56:00.000-08:00

Tiger's Nest, the whole reason I wanted to do this trip.

I think the picture speaks for itself... the 2 hour hike up there was worth it. I cried when I saw it.

Picture from my iPhone

More random photos from the hike :

It's going to be a long hike ...

We are not even half way there yet ...

Mid way point.

Lichen growing on trees found on the way up to Tiger's Nest (also known as Old Man's Beard)

Bhutan Day 6 : Returning back to Paro via Dochula Pass

2011-11-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

We were definitely lucky on the way back... the clouds starting lifting treating us to some nice views of the Himalayas.

Once in Paro, we visited Rinpung Dzong.

Before calling it a night, we spent the afternoon visiting Paro's museum and then shopping for souvenirs in Paro's downtown. Needless to say, I bought more fabric. I keep hoarding it - thinking I will come up with some amazing craft for it later on :)

Paro Museum

At one of the local convenience stores, I found the most hilarious product for men. A whitening cream to make them "more handsome". I can't believe people actually buy this.

Bhutan Day 5: Phobjikha Valley

2011-11-17T11:22:00.000-08:00

Random pictures from our visit to Phobijikha Valley

The roads there were treacherous. My palms were sweaty the entire time. The car was super close to the edge of the cliff and there were on guard rails. This picture was taken from the car.

It also didn't help that when we turned the corner, we saw this.

As usual we visited the local monastery. This one was really old, nothing spectacular like some of the ones we have already come across. The monks must have been "cleaning" the place up because this one was on "rat" duty.

We came across some more cute kids. This time they were learning to wash themselves. The little one was super cute.

When we finally arrived at Phobijikha Valley, we were treated to some amazing views.

It was actually really cold here. Cold enough that it snowed. We had to pack for all weather on this trip from Cambodia's 32C to Bhutan's 0C.

Interesting thing we learned, in Bhutan plural marriage is accepted. The 4th King has 4 wives. And they are all sisters... hmmmm...not sure that is a good idea ;)

Bhutan Day 4 : Punakha

2011-11-16T10:58:00.000-08:00

Visiting Khamsen Yulley Namgyal Choten

Punakha Valley ( Khamsen Yulley Namgyal Chorten is on the left side of the clift). When I saw how far (and high up) it was, I was already thinking how exhausted I was going to be hiking there ;)

View from the hike up. I felt like we were always surrounded by clouds.

Yay! I made it all the way up.

View of the surrounding valley at Khamsen Yulley Namgyal Chorten.

Visiting the Green School of Bhutan:

Visiting Talo
This was one of my favorite villages in Punakha. It's literally a "castle" in a sky. It's located high on the hills above Punakha at an altitude of 2800m. We pass through clouds before reaching the village. And from the Talo Dzong (Monastery), we get the most amazing views.

We are above the clouds !!

Bhutan Day 3: Punakha

2011-11-15T10:08:00.000-08:00

Driving out of Thimphu, we were able to see Buddha Point from afar. I actually like this point of vue much better.

We stopped off at Dochula Pass hoping for a clear view of the Himalayas but it was super cloudy. It didn't matter because we knew that on the way back, we would have a second chance to see it. The fog actually made for interesting photos.

Dochula Pass:

At the Pass, there was another temple to visit, it was only a short flight of stairs but at this altitude - I was huffing and puffing still...

We took a short break on the roadside for some roasted corn snack,

before arriving to the breath taking Punakha Valley.

At Punakha we visited Bhutan's most beautiful Dzong - Punakha Dzong. This actually served as Bhutan's capital until 1955, now it just serves as a winter residence for monks.

Entering the Dzong via the attached walking bridge...

Insided the Dzong...

After visiting the Dzong, we went into Punakha's downtown area. Yep, this is it.

It was actually around 4pm by that time and all the children were finishing school and running to local stores to buy their after school snacks. I bumped into quite a few of them.

When the day was done, we finally checked into our hotel. If you are curious, here are a couple of pictures of what a standard hotel room looks like. When I saw the bucket by the toilet - I wanted to cry, I thought I was going to have to manually flush ;)

In photos the place looked fine but in reality - I couldn't capture all the leaks, dampness and musty smell. The bathroom floor was always wet and there was nothing we could do about it. The shower, the sink and the toilet leaked non-stop onto the floor. It was pretty "uncomfortable". Good thing we were only here for 2 nights.

Thimpu, Kingdom of Bhutan - Day 2

2011-11-14T17:49:00.000-08:00

We spent day 2 exploring more of Thimpu.

In the morning we spent time visiting National Institute of Zorig Chusum. It is a school that specializes in teaching students Bhutanese traditional arts like wood working,

sculpture,

embroidery,

and my favorite - weaving.

I love the gorgeous fabric that they end up with. I couldn't really afford to buy any of the big pieces so I settled for a small strip and several belts.

After visiting the Arts & Crafts school, we were lucky enough to catch an Archery tournament. It's Bhutan's national sport. I learned that every time you hit the target, you get a piece of fabric to attach to your goh, I'm guessing this guy has good aim :)

Everybody was fascinated, watching quietly... including the husband.

After our archery tournament, we made a quick stop at Bhudda Point.

Then off we went to the National Memorial Chorten.

We then ended our sight seeing with a visit to Changangkha Lhakhang Monastery. This place was beautiful.

I saw this adorable monk from peeking out at me while I was in the courtyard. I waved at him and...

he came down to say "Hi" to me :)

We had a very productive Day2. After all the sight seeing, we just strolled around Thimphu after dinner visiting local stores.

And off we go to Bhutan...Day 1

2011-11-13T08:30:00.000-08:00

Bhutan has got to be one of the most expensive trips we have ever taken. Tourism is tightly controlled by the government, so you have no choice but to pay a set fee and to plan everything via travel agents registered with the Tourism Council of Bhutan. There is really no control over what hotel you stay at. You have 2 choices - standard which is included in the set fee and luxury which is the set fee + the price of the hotel (usually over 500$USD/day).

The fee per day per person during high season is 250$USD as of 2011. And if you are in a group smaller than 3, you have to pay an extra surcharge of $30/day.

The fee includes hotel, 3 meals per day, a tour guide, a driver and a car - it sounds good but OMG, that's 530$/day x how many days you want to visit Bhutan.

You have to wire all the money one month before your trip to be able to apply for the visa. I was really scared wiring all that $ to some stranger on the internet but it all worked out.

Druk Air is the only airline that flies into Paro, Bhutan. You can fly via Bangkok, which is what we did. And round trip airfare runs close to 900$/person. It takes around 4 hours to fly from Bangkok to Paro and they do feed you on flight. That was definitely one of the pluses with all the airlines we used in this vacation. It doesn't matter if the flight is only 1 hour, they still feed you a wonderful meal unlike the airlines in North America.

We got an amazing view of the Himalayas on the way into Bhutan. I'm not sure what peaks those are though...

When we landed, we looked out the window and saw this:

We thought "OMG, they are rolling out the red carpet for us" HAHA. It turns out that the prime minister of Bhutan was on our flight. After he walked the carpet, they rolled it right back up before the tourists got off.

Our tour guide Sonam and our driver Phub was waiting for us outside airport, all ready for our Day 1 itinerary which was mainly our drive from Paro into Thimpu. We made a quick stop here to take some photos and to cross the bridge.

I was definitely thinking "Is this bridge safe ???"

When we arrived in Thimpu, we spent a couple of hours in town. Thimpu is supposed to be Bhutan's biggest & busiest city.

We shopped at the weekend market before stopping off at their local dress maker. I really wanted to buy the Kira for myself and the Goh for my hubby.

A day in Bangkok

2011-11-12T10:39:00.000-08:00

After quickly checking in our hotel we hired a taxi (for about 36$USD) and quickly went about visiting as much as Bangkok as we could.

We saw the Grand Palace :

We saw the many golden statues including Wat Pho - the Reclining Bhudda:

We saw the cutest lil boy bathing near the temples:

We spent some time in MBK -Mah Boon Krong Mall:

Had fun perusing souvenirs and useless phone goodies:

Before having a quick dinner at Mc Donald's. YES... McDonalds.

Sa Wat Dee Krup Sa Wat Dee Ka

And that was our day in Bangkok before our next stop... Bhutan!

A quick stop in Malaysia

2011-11-11T09:10:00.000-08:00

Malaysia was probably my least favorite stop on this years vacation. It was a really last minute add on since our original itinerary had us spending 4 days in Bangkok but then the unpredictable floods happened. The travel advisory stated that only absolutely necessary travel to Bangkok was allowed.

Luckily Bangkok Airways refunded our tickets from Siemp Reap to Bangkok. We were also able to cancel the hotel with no penalty. I was definitely bummed because I had planned to see all the temples in the city, do some major shopping but most importantly visit Ayutthaya National Park. I really wanted to see this :

We ended up flying from Siem Reap to Kuala Lumpur for 3 days before heading out back to Bangkok for 1 day. No matter what, we had to fly to Bangkok because our flight to Bhutan left from there.

Hubby and I are what you called big time planners :) Our South East Asia was planned 6 months in advance. We were panicking and only had 2 days to reconfigure our itinerary without adding too much cost. Malaysia was the cheapest destination.

We didn't really know what to expect, except that it was a big city and the major thing to do there was eat & shop.

When we arrived, the first thing we noticed was that it was DAMN hot. It was around 36C but luckily without the humidity we experienced in Siem Reap. It made it somewhat more bearable.

We figured okay, let's go visit the famous twin towers. Our hotel was a 5 minute walk from there. The first thing we see is that the Petronas Towers are going to be closed until 2012. Are you kidding me ???

Haha. Oh well, at least we got to see the outside. It was stunning both during the daytime and the night.

Attached to the towers is a pretty nice shopping mall. It allowed me to get my fix on Asian cosmetics. It's not anywhere comparable to Takashimaya in Tokyo (cosmetics heaven for me) but it allowed me to pick up a refill on one of my favorite foundations by RMK and try SkinFood BB Cream. (BB or Blemish Balm is all the rage in Asia. It's a combination skincare, sunscreen, and foundation formula. However it only comes in two shades. Super white and light. HAHAHA. The sales lady convinced me that it will match my skin but when I put it on back at home, the cream casted such a grey tone on me - I felt I looked like a zombie;))

Skin Food : Their motto is " Urban food for the Urban sweety"

We also took a quick day trip to Melaka. Everyone we telling us how amazing Jonker Street was. I think we got there way to early in the morning. The shops were open but Jonker Street was more famous for their street vendors that show up only after 5pm. Ooops...

It wasn't all that bad though, we had the best lunch there. We had the local Hainanese Chicken Rice. This was definitely a highlight for the husband.

The restaurant didn't look like much, in fact it looked like a dump. But the food was TASTY! No menus were required because they only served one item :)

We definitely picked the most popular joint for lunch because by the time we left, there was a huge line.

We know also finally have some art for our empty walls at home. We found the cutest wood cut block printing art shop in Melaka - Hueman Studio. We ended up buying 4 prints and had them shipped back to San Francisco. That will be one of our new years resolution tasks, to put up our prints.

The shop owner, Hueman recommended that we try their famous local dessert Cendol. I'm not the adventurous type (nor am I a big fan of Asian desserts) so I just let my hubby try it. He gave it two thumbs up.

So that's it, our little recap of our mini adventure in Malaysia.

Siem Reap, Part II

2011-11-09T17:53:00.000-08:00

Instead of just spending all our time in Angkor's National park looking at wats & ruins, we decided to take a day doing something different.

We rented ATV Quads and drove around the country side.

I was definitely nervous since I don't even know how to drive a car, but it all worked out. The husband said I was putz'ing around but I beg to differ, I was definitely "Speedy Gonzalez" :)

It was raining on and off that day in Siem Reap and this was the rain gear we were provided :)

Amazing balance...

Lotus flower growing amongst the rice fields.

There must have been at least 50 chickens on that motorbike.

A lesser known monastery in the countryside.

Siem Reap, Cambodia - part I

2011-11-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

Our first stop for this years vacation was Siem Reap to visit Angkor Archeological Park.

I actually always thought Angkor was one of the seven man made wonders of the world but I just googled it and found out it wasn't. It should be though. The ruins/wats were impressive.

We spent two and half days visiting the ruins with a tour guide I found on TripAdvisor. I'm on the fence about having hired a guide. On one hand it made everything really easy - air conditioned car (it was a big plus - it being 32C with 90% humidity) with a very personable guide but on the other hand it was expensive. I'm not such a history buff that I needed to know all about the ruins. Half the time I wasn't even listening to our guide ;) I was just taking pictures.

I guess what I'm thinking is if you are on a budget and just want to roam around freely, you can definitely do it for much cheaper. Most hotels include complimentary all day Tuk-Tuk services for their guests. It would have been less comfortable but free :) All we would have had to pay for would have been the 3 day park pass which was $40 USD.

Here are some of our favorite shots from Siem Reap:

Angkor Wat at sunrise

Ta Prohm

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T23:15:00.000-07:00

Sarina excited by her stash of candy :)

Link from Legend of Zelda Twilight - my costume for Halloween

2011-10-29T16:38:00.000-07:00

The Lone Wanderer

2011-10-29T16:35:00.000-07:00

We were headed out to a Halloween party so my husband and I decided to take some pictures of the completed Fallout costume :)

Link went out to play today...

2011-10-28T00:53:00.000-07:00

An outing with the Princess

2011-10-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

Check out Sarina's cute outfit, she chose it herself ;)

A "poser" already at age 4

Fallout Vault 101's costume complete

2011-10-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

Progress on Hubby's Fallout Vaultsuit

2011-10-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

Again, using craft foam for the shoulder piece and the vault suit belt - I turned the foam from this:

to this :

Added some more touches to the suit - I call it "Dirty-fying" :)

Flowers for Kimberly

2011-10-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

Kimberly's Birthday...

2011-10-17T23:25:00.000-07:00

It's October 18 in Montreal... it would have been Kimberly's 36th birthday. If she was still here with us, I would have called her and wished her a Happy Birthday at midnight and then tell her her present is on the way. She would say "ya ya, hang up. I have to go to work in the morning...loser."

Usually I would come up with some elaborate theme and spend a month crafting a gift for her. I always sent her "theme" gifts. One year it was all about "Traveling". Another year it was all "Scrabble".

Now I can just buy flowers in her memory, I can just donate in her memory.

This was the last picture I took of her before she was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. She was not feeling well already, but she toughed it out and went to cake decorating class anyhow. She didn't participate, but she just sat there next to me. She was having a hard time breathing and she was in pain. She kept telling me that her bones hurt and she thought she had pneumonia. 3 days later she was admitted to the hospital.

I look at this picture and can't believe this will be the last picture I have of her looking like her. This is the Kimberly that I want to remember, but every time I close my eyes, I just see her in the hospital bed so tired, so thirsty and so hungry. I see her suffering. I see her swollen. I see her getting weaker. I see her chemotherapy failing.

I really miss my sister. I really wish she was still here to celebrate her what would have been her 36th Birthday.

Kimberly, I think about you everyday. You will always be in my heart.

What I have been working on all weekend - the Fallout 3 Vault 101 jumpsuit

2011-10-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

All I can say was this thing was hard to make. It was extremely hard to get the sizing right and had lots of little time consuming details.

Another Link Legend of Zelda Costume post...

2011-10-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to converting a my white turtle neck to Link's white tunic by slitting it down the middle, hemming it and adding the criss-cross rope detail.

I really hope the last week of October is going to be FREEZING COLD because if it's not I'm going to be sweating buckets wearing the turtle neck, the knitted chain maille, the green tunic, white tights, knee high boots and carrying the shield and sword.

And here is my Master Sword and Hylian Shield in all it's glory!! I'm debating on whether or not I should make the scabbard for my sword. Do I have time ?? I have so many other in queue projects that must be completed by the end of next week...

Link's Master Sword - Complete!

2011-10-15T09:47:00.000-07:00

It's complete... and slightly crooked. ARGH.

Major Progress on Pipboy 3000 and Link's Legend of Zelda Master Sword.

2011-10-14T14:53:00.000-07:00

I finished 50% of my husband's Pipboy 3000. I'm really pleased with how it came out. Can you believe this entire thing is just made out of kid's craft foam and painted with acrylic paint ?

I am also almost finished with Link's Master Sword too. All I'm missing is the Tri Force symbol.

And this is how my craft room looks now after all my "crafting". I can't stand it, I have to clean it up before I can continue on with making the Vault 101 jumpsuit.

Fallout's Pipboy 3000

2011-10-12T23:01:00.000-07:00

I started on a new project today. I'm working on my hubby's Halloween costume. Ever since he saw this at Comic Con - he has been wanting the Vault 101 jump suit.

I started off by making the Pipboy today - the Pipboy version 3000. N wanted me to buy one of Amazon. I think he was a little worried that if I made one, it would look like this Ebay version:

I promised him it wouldn't. I spent all day working on it and have this to show :
(I think it looks way better :))
I still have a long way to go but I'm confident it will work out.

A little more progress on Link's Master Sword

2011-10-12T22:48:00.000-07:00

Master Sword for Link Costume

2011-10-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

After a small hiatus from costume making due to traveling, I'm back to finishing my Link Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess costume. I'm working on the Master Sword. I carved a sword shape out of two pieces of balsa wood, glued them together and then painted it. I still had lots of acrylic silver paint left over (from making the Hylian Shield) so I decided not to by the chrome spray paint. It's not going to look as nice but I do not feel like spending more money than I already did on this costume .

Huge Spider

2011-10-10T16:14:00.000-07:00

I was walking down the stairs in my backyard today and saw this...

HUGE SPIDER

My cousins Big Fat Greek Wedding - October 8, 2011

2011-10-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

Tea Time in Montreal

2011-10-06T16:02:00.000-07:00

Hylian Shield 99% finished.

2011-09-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

You can still see the glue drying...

I'll put the finishing touches when I get back and then my next project will be the Master Sword.

Dry paint...DRY!

2011-09-28T18:42:00.000-07:00

I want to finish my Hylian Shield before I go to Montreal. It's almost 7pm... maybe I will stay up until midnight. I still have to pack ...

Dry paint...DRY!!!!

Progress!!!

2011-09-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

My Hylian Shield is finally looking like a ... shield :)

It took me forever to find the metal grip and with the help of my wonderful husband tonight, the back is complete. YAY!

Hylian Shield

2011-09-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

I have now been working on my (or Link's) Hylian Shield for about a week. The process is pain stakingly SLOW. I have to cut out all the details on foam, mold the 3-D pieces and and then paint each piece. Then I have to wait for all these pieces to dry so I can paint a 2nd coat and all the edges. 90% of my time is spent waiting for paint to dry.

And while things are drying, I get to look at the wonderful mess crafting leaves behind.

Oh Hylian shield.... why dost thou have so many pieces to paint ?????

If I'm not waiting for paint to dry, I'm waiting for glue to dry. I have already used 3 bottles of Aileene's Tacky glue. Good thing I live close to a "walkable" hardware store that sells it or I would have to postpone making this shield until my husband can drive me to Michael's Craft store.

As you may have guessed, right now I'm waiting for these pieces to dry. That's why I have so much time to take pictures and update my blog. I should do something more productive, like watch TV..haha

Lots of progress on my Link Legend of Zelda costume

2011-09-18T19:01:00.000-07:00

Link's Arm Guards

I decided to go with a navy blue color just to add some interest to the costume. I was little tired of all that green. I got this amazing stretchy suede from the discount fabric store for 4$.

Link's Arm Bracer

I made this out of craft foam sheets that I bought at a craft store. The coolest thing about this is that you can heat up the foam sheet with a hair dryer and curve it so it holds a particular shape. I traced the pattern on a 2nd sheet of foam, cut it out and glued it on top for a raised pattern effect and then painted the entire thing with acrylic brown and antique gold.

Link's Belt Pouches

I made this from some imitation leather (vinyl) and then embroided the edges with a gold trim and painted the designs with antique gold acrylic paint.

Link's Boots

I found the most helpful tutorial online that went through step by step instructions on how to make boot covers. I did make a minor change. Instead of using two pieces of fabric to make the body of the boot, I just cut one piece, turned it into a cylinder before sewing a zipper on the back. I didn't want to have visible stitching in the front of the boot.

Link's Chain Maille

I thought about using fabric printed with a chain maille pattern, like the one on spoonflower.com but felt 18$/yard was just way too much.

Mesh fabric was also an option but it didn't look enough like chain maille.

But then I found this amazing crochet pattern from an online blog called Betty Croctchitt. What really makes it look like chain maille is the yarn from Vanna's Glamour in the color "Platinum". It's a greyish yarn with metallic silver intertwined in it. I was supposed to use a very large crochet needle which I didn't have but it still turned out ( good enough for me)

Final Link Legend of Zelda Twighlight Princess Tunic & Hat

2011-09-13T16:18:00.000-07:00

I worked all weekend on this and now have the final tunic & hat. It photographs well, but on me, it looks weird. I don't feel like it looks like Link at all. Maybe I just need the right hair and "ears".
I'm off to the fabric store to pick up imitation leather or suede so I can work on the belt, pouches, harness for the sword and boot covers. Maybe with that completed, the costume will look better.

Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick

2011-09-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

I need to visit the Maritimes. Canada is so beautiful.

Happy Anniversary to us!

2011-09-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

What do old married couples like us do on our wedding anniversary ? We spend the entire day in our hobby rooms (hubby is busy building his Lego Vic Viper while I'm still obsessing over my Link costume). We both *almost* forgot what day it was until we opened up an anniversary card from pop-in-law :P Next year we promised each other we will do something special :)

Link Legend of Zelda Costume progress

2011-09-08T20:26:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty happy with my progress today. I worked 4 hours on it and now have a completed tunic prototype. In my final version, I'm going to have to make more adjustments on the size, it's still slightly too big. I will also have to use much lighter weight fabric so the tunic will drape nicely. Right now I'm using some stretchy twill that is almost a denim weight. It's way too stiff. I'm also going to have to buy matching rope & felt for all the detailing on Link's tunic.

Hopefully when I'm done it will look like this :

Pretty flowers

2011-09-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

I was watering all my plants today and thought they looked so pretty in the kitchen, I decided to take a picture.

I bought these at the flower market last week, I have no idea what they are called but I do find them so pretty. It's been a week and they are still looking great.

Link Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess Costume

2011-09-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

I have been obsessed lately about making a Link costume for Halloween that I can use in future nerdy conventions. I rushed to the fabric store and bought all the supplies yesterday and today I'm done with my pattern. The tunic is slightly big but I will make adjustments when I'm making the prototype.

Congratulations Marquisha & Dave!

2011-09-04T18:30:00.000-07:00

THE HAPPY COUPLE!

The ceremony and reception site all set up.

2011-09-04T17:00:00.000-07:00

YES!! Everything is already!

Part II of Operation Infinite Bliss

2011-09-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

I woke up at 6:30am today to get an early start. Based on how long it took us to make the reception arrangements, I was worried about getting all the bouquets and ceremony decor done by 12pm in order to have time to get changed, put on makeup, load the car, deliver the flowers and set up the Empress of Sausalito.

I wired 60 mini white cymbidiums orchids and 15 large green ones to make the bridal bouquet. Making it wasn't hard, it was just time consuming. I ran out of small gauge flower wires, so I had to use larger stiffer ones for the last 15 cymbidiums. Although orchids are hearty and can last several days without water, the stem themselves are fragile. They break easily at the point where the wire enters, even if I wrap it well with floral tape. I was stressed out the entire day of the wedding watching the green cymbidiums fall out when people knock the bride's bouquet by accident.

Wiring the orchids

Bridesmaids bouquets. The bride wanted lilac Cala Lilies.

Packaging the corsages & boutonnieres.

Packaging the arrangements for both the reception and ceremony.

I should have taken a photo of the state of our garage/make-shift floral workshop area right before leaving. It was definitely a disaster with broken flowers, leaves, floral buckets, scissors, wires, tape - you name it, it was scattered all over the place. But of course, we were already running late. I just left everything as is and ran out the door.

Part I of operation "Infinite Bliss" as Dave ( the groom) likes to call it

2011-09-03T17:00:00.000-07:00

It was fun, but a lot more work than we anticipated. We took two trips to the San Francisco flower market trying to find the right flowers, we scoured the web trying to find cheap vases (we finally found 2$ ones at Ikea) and many nights stressing over how the flowers will turn out. Tomorrow is the big day for Marquisha & Dave and it will be part II of operation Infinite Bliss for Deanna and I. We will have to make the bridal bouquets, the corsages, the boutonnieres and all the ceremony arrangments. Then we will have 1 hour to set up the Empress of Sausalito.... yes, I hope everything turns out well. The bride & groom are counting on us.

I LOVE XKCD!

2011-09-01T23:15:00.000-07:00

These people consistently crack me up !

Needle felting a little owl

2011-08-31T18:20:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to opening up the wool buddy kit I bought at Comic Con. My little owl took a little over 30 minutes to make. I did discover that I had to keep my eye on the needle at all times . Watching "InuYasha" + felting a little owl = lots of ouchies.

I didn't like the brown ring around the eyes, so I decided to change it to blue.

I can see lots of possibilities with the felting. I think the owl will make a great tree ornament.

Finished knitting the Jayne Hats!

2011-08-28T19:29:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend knitting Jayne Hats so now we are ready for any upcoming nerdy events ;) (pattern can be found here)

More container gardening

2011-08-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

Propagating more succulents... grow little babies, grow :)

Finally got around to repotting my window box. This is like the seventh time I have had to replace the plants - this time I got ones that can withstand "full sun".

Can't Stop The Serenity 2011

2011-08-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

Another craft project to put in my queue. I need to make two "Jayne Hats" for next years geeky events ;)

Marquisha's test bouquet

2011-08-20T15:47:00.000-07:00

In two weeks, I'm going to be doing the flowers for a friends wedding. M wants a bouquet of orchids, my first trial was a big disaster. Here is attempt #2. I had to wire about 24 mini orchids.

Or course, I'm still making tons of errors. The wires I purchased were slightly too large so every time I inserted them into the orchids, the head would snap off. Argh. At least I will know to purchase thinner wires for the actual day off.

I actually had a hard time placing all the flowers in just the right position. Every time I added a new stem, the rest would slide out of place.

It took me a good 40 minutes to get the shape M wanted for her bouquet. I'm pleased with the final result :) I know the bouquet is a little small and I will have to use double the amount of orchids for the day off. I just hope I can repeat what I did yesterday in two weeks. Yikes!

Found some pretty sunflower fields today

2011-08-20T15:22:00.000-07:00

A very BIG Dahlia

2011-08-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

I found the biggest Dahlia today in Half Moon Bay.

Doctor Who Experience

2011-08-20T15:09:00.000-07:00

What a happy coincidence, when I discovered that T.A.R.D.I.S had landed on Hammersmith Road, while I was in London :)

I got to meet the cutest mini version of the 11th doctor.

I discovered that the T.A.R.D.I.S was really bigger on the inside ;)

I got a crash course on how to make an emergency landing.

I had Cybermen trying to "Delete" me.

I had Daleks trying to "Exterminate" me.

The only thing the Doctor Who Experience was missing was a Weeping Angel. I sure would have liked a close up on that ;)

London, England

2011-08-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

Enjoying our double deck bus tour.

The iconic red telephone boxes are getting harder to find. Luckily I found four by Hyde Park.

Portobello Market in Notting Hill.

Big Ben, London Bridge, London Eye

Paddington is everywhere!

2011-08-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

Avebury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK

2011-08-19T09:28:00.000-07:00

Adelle & Deanna's Excellent Countryside Adventure

2011-08-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

Good thing we had a Sat Nav! (That's what they call the GPS system in the UK)

Interesting tid bit, we heard that Dr.Doolittle was filmed in Castle Combe.

So there you go, that was our little adventure driving to Castle Combe.

Castell Caerdydd

2011-08-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

Cardiff, UK - Cardiff Castle

Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK

2011-08-18T20:03:00.000-07:00

My visit to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

2011-08-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

King's Cross Station - London, England Oxford's Cathedral Dining Hall

Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester, UK

A Quidditch player and a wizard in the grounds of Oxford Cathedral

Maker's Emporium in Bath, UK

2011-08-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

I accidentally came upon this shop in Bath. It was in one of their tiny alleyways. How lovely is this?

I love how they displayed all their ribbons and trimmings.

It was too bad that the exchange rate was $1.82 for each £1 or I would have bought everything in that store.

Bristol + Bath = Brilliant!

2011-08-18T18:16:00.000-07:00

Bristol

St.Mary's Redcliff - Clifton Suspension Bridge - Bristol Cathedral

Bath

Bath Cathedral - Roman Bath Spa - Bath's cute shops

Brilliant

I just got back from an awesome trip to the UK. My friend Deanna had some business in Bristol and invited me along. Woo Hoo! A couple of days of free lodging and quality time with a good friend makes a fun holiday. I was there for only 8 days but I planned a jam packed itinerary. I was able to see Bristol, Bath, Oxford, Cardiff, Castle Combe and London! To top it all off, I was lucky enough to be in London when the Doctor Who Experience was still ongoing.

Thanks for inviting me Deanna !

San Diego Comic Con 2011

2011-08-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

This year the San Diego Comic Con was definitely not crowded ;)

We were so happy that Erik and Joel joined us this time. As usual on our first day we did the customary Segway Tour.

However this year, we were lucky and got a very special tour guide - FLASH. As you can imagine, it was really hard keeping up with him.

We saw lots of fun costumes.

Nick met R2D2.

I met a super tall Storm Trooper.

Wait.. maybe he wasn't that tall ;)

We also saw lots of cute backpacks.

We took lots of silly photos.

Joel is awesome. Look at his expression -lol

Erik and I hung out with Ron Perlman... not.

Nick, Erik and Joel thought that the T-850 would be able to help with directions.

We had an awesome BBQ dinner. The wait was really not that bad.

The highlight of our convention had to be when we both met ...
GEORGE R.R. MARTIN!!! Woo Hoo !!!

Yes, we love Comic Con. See you next year San Diego.

Boston Yummies

2011-08-18T15:54:00.000-07:00

On July 16, 2011...

2011-08-18T15:28:00.000-07:00

On July 16, 2011 my cousin Lisa Ann Chow...

married a super hero !!

Congratulations Lisa Ann & Jeff !

It has been one year...

2011-08-18T15:23:00.000-07:00

In July we went back to Boston for my cousin's wedding and my grandfather's 90th birthday. I was stressed out over the entire trip since it would be the first time I would see my entire family together without Kimberly.

It was uncomfortable and it was sad. My sister should have been there.

I finally had the charm filled with my sister's ashes attached to my bracelet. I wear it everyday to keep her close to me.

I miss you Kimberly.

My plants are happy!

2011-07-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

Even my airplant is preggers :)

My orange sponge

2011-06-05T13:50:00.000-07:00

Went pass Daiso in Serramonte last week with Deanna and I picked up these cute little sponges for $1.50. If I have to clean my kitchen everyday, I might as well clean it with this.

My poor orchid

2011-06-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

I have no idea what's going on with this Orchid. I've had it for a little over a month, and last week - it just started wilting. I water it every 10 days or so. I can't be over watering it...right ?

What used to look like this :

Now looks like this:

I still can't throw it away. I was hoping that it would miraculously recover if I gave it more light...haha.

Anyhow, I passed by Urban Flowers to buy a replacement. I decided to go with brighter flowers this time:

I hope this one lasts longer than a month. Please, please do better than the first one I bought.

My planters from Anthropologie arrived and I love them. They are just as pretty in person as online. I'm so proud of myself, I waited patiently until they went on sale :) Now I just have to figure out what to plant in them. They don't have drainage holes, I'm not sure how that is going to work. I may have to use them just as cachepots.

Memorial Day long weekend

2011-06-01T16:31:00.000-07:00

The long weekend was all about food... we finally tried out Mission Chinese Food - which I thought was fabulous. I especially loved the Westlake Rice Porridge, which consisted of oxtail, dungeness crab, poached egg and cilantro. Drool. I can eat that everyday. Hubby ordered "Thrice Cooked Bacon" - greasy x 3, not my cup of tea. Good thing we went that weekend since they are going to be on vacation for the entire month of June.

We also got the chance to try out Locanda. I think it's the sister restaurant to Delfina that specializes in Roman Cuisine. Overall we really enjoyed our meal. The pasta was fabulous and their focaccia bread was delziosa ( I could have eaten just that ;)

My succulents are flowering

2011-05-30T14:03:00.000-07:00

New plants from Flora Grubb

2011-05-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

Flora Grubb is having a 20% off all plants sale this memorial day weekend. Of course, I couldn't resist and had to go. I can never walk out there without spending - there is no such thing as "window" shopping there. They always have the cutest planters.

I picked up a new air plant, a giant one... and I stuck it in my robot vase from Argentina. It's like his hair grew overnight.

I picked up a cool looking one called Juncus Spiralis - looks like spirals and grass at the same time. Luckily I talked to Trinity that day and she told me it was a plant that requires tons of moisture - so now I know I need to have it sitting in water. It would have died otherwise since I usually just water plants once a week (I'm constantly afraid of over watering and having icky little gnats growing in moist soil).

I picked up a new tiny philodendron, I already have one that is variegated and growing from a hanging planter, but I wanted one that is plain green. I love philodendrons, they are easy to take care of :)

And of course, I picked up 2 new ceramic pots for my new plants. They look so pretty!!!

I also bought two outdoor plants. At the moment, I have no more window boxes to put them in. I tried stopping at Lowes before going home, but they only had plastic ones. I guess I'm going to have to stop by Sloat or order one online. Why do redwood window boxes have to cost $$$ so much. It's just 4 slabs of wood ??!!
Anyhow, I think these will look awesome once planted.

The weekend wouldn't be complete if I didn't stop by Urban Flowers. I picked up some baby yellow roses for my sister.

An afternoon with the princess

2011-05-30T12:59:00.000-07:00

Victoria & Vuk

2011-05-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

Cute window display at Thorough Bread

2011-05-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

I'm guessing these cute things are made with either marzipan or fondant ? Either way, they are super adorable.

More flowers for the house

2011-04-30T17:19:00.000-07:00

New orchids

2011-04-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

Pretty planters from Anthropologie

2011-04-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

I WANT THEM!!

I'm from "Land of the Giants"

2011-03-28T15:51:00.000-07:00

And I'm not even standing up straight.

Pretty purchases of the week

2011-03-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

I finally cut them and brought them in

2011-03-24T19:47:00.000-07:00

Repurposed planters

2011-03-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

I love these re-purposed planter ideas from ReNest & PoeticHome.

2011-03-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy obsessing over my freesias flowering -

that I didn't even notice that one of my airplants is also flowering. I can't wait to see what the flowers look like.

2011-03-20T10:59:00.000-07:00

2011-03-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

I'm obsessed now. The first thing I do every morning is check on my garden. My freesia is going to flower any moment now :)

I cut my one tulip and brought it inside

2011-03-15T15:22:00.000-07:00

A little shopping at the local flower shop

2011-03-12T15:51:00.000-08:00

Some potted orchids

and some cut anemones

Only one ?

2011-03-11T14:07:00.000-08:00

I planted so many tulip bulbs in 2010. The naughty squirrel ate a couple. I thought that maybe I will still get at least 10, but come on...only one ?

The Freesia's are doing well. Every bulb I planted is growing :)