Walk-Through

We had our walk-through (a.k.a home orientation) today in our soon-to-be-first-house!! Our tourguide to our own house is a guy who calls himself Ant, short for Anthony. He gave us a crash course in how to take care of a house: learned that the new green air con system requires monthly filter change up in the attic (that'll be hubby's job), learned that the sprinklers must be pre-set according to season (it's got cool things like "drip irrigation" and "rain sensor"), learned that the foundation of a house in Texas must be watered religiously (yes, like every Sunday) or it can shrink up to 8 inches, learned that I shall not wear pointy heels on our hard wood floor because it exerts 1000lb of pressure in one small spot and will dent. . .also learned Good Housekeeping seal-worthy tidbits like lemon and ice cubes down the trash disposer is a good way to keep it clean. . . there's so much more (why didn't I take notes?!)

At the end of it all, Ant said "maintaining your home is a like a part-time job." Ha ha, I could've laughed and cried, I was thinking to myself, "but I don't want another part-time job, how many part-time jobs outside of full-time jobs can a person have?" But it's too late, it looks like we just about bought ourselves a house. And, I didn't even mention the whole lawn care business, our holly bushes, our Indian hawthornes, knockout roses, and four cute baby trees. . .they look innocent now but wait. . .

Here's an artist rendition of our house.

Dallas

There's only 2 things to do in Dallas, eat and shop. . .that is why I'm fat and broke.

The Answer to All My Problems. . .

. . .Ta Daaaa



An elliptical machine. . . yeah, okay, not ALL my problems but a fair amount of them, I hope!:) It's a Sole E55 2009 model. This ginourmous thing arrives in 1 to 2 weeks.

Boudoir

I have many dreams for my house one day. One of which, as I declared to hubby tonight, is to have my very own "girly room." As it turns out, there's a name for it, the "boudoir." No, I'm not talking about a genre of photography but a type of room! Leave it to the French to know my thoughts and all things feminine! Per Merriam Webster, a "boudoir" is a a woman's dressing room, bedroom, or private sitting room. I envision my boudoir to be a place where my teddy bears can hang out in midst of my clothes, shoes and of course fabulously fun accessories. I want the walls to be some shade of pink and adorned with all things cute. It'll be a place for me to retreat and do my girly things. At first I thought it might just be an over-sized walk-in closet with a generous mirror, but I think I'll have a corner for gift wrapping, and maybe knitting or sewing, too if I ever take these hobbies up. Here are some pics for my future boudoir inspiration.

Dressing room of Carolina Herrera Jr.

The "Princess Room" of Xiaxue.

Girls' Trip

Here's our very first Girls' Only Trip this year which took place in sunny California. That means, no husbands, boyfriends, babies/children, dogs or pagers. This was our first but I hope not last reunion.

Our "reunion" memorialized in sand, which was soon erased by the ocean wave.

At the Santa Cruz beach. As Laurel said, the ocean waves and vista make one contemplative.

I can't help but dream of living in California one day, but hubby never fails to remind me of the inconvenient threats that come with paradise: earthquakes, forest fires, and tsunamis.

Shadow picture, Shoreh's idea.

With Laurel at Firshermen's Wharf. That's an eyeball flower to the left of me!

The awesome foursome, R to L: Joyce, Shoreh, Laurel, and Linda. We've known each other for 16 years!! My oldest and bestest friends.

Obamamania

"Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King Jr could march, Martin marched so Obama could run."

Hazards of Having a Dog

In his short life, Hiro has already chewed up and thereby destroyed 5 pairs of our shoes. Something about me is that I love my shoes dearly. Luckily, the shoes that Hiro have preyed upon and killed have been ones I was only half-heartedly attached to, the ones I truly cherish are hidden in safe high spots. Here's my sequential thought process when I discover the useless carcass of a plaything that was once a shoe: 1. "Oh my gosh, I hope Hiro didn't swallow something bad and having internal bleeding." 2. "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to buy more shoes." 3. "Ohhhh, he's so cute, I have to forgive him."

However, it was different when Hiro broke a key off of my laptop! My precious laptop! Let's just say he was in one of his super-charged hopping mad episode (pun intended)... he jumped then landed hard on my laptop which he mistook for my lap since the said item was on my lap. The letter "K" flew off my keyboard like a mini UFO. Luckily, what's left of the key still works, and luckily, the letter "K" is not a often used key (never mind the fact that I just typed it 6 times!). Aggg, he's too cute, I forgive.

Anyone knows how to repair a broken key off of the keyboard?

Inspired to Clean

This was a very uncharacteristic day in which I came home from work early at 10am due to a scheduling mishap. As if to continue the uncharacteristic theme, I spent the whole day cleaning our home! After getting rid of loads of junk mail and other paper rubbish, dusting off the TV and furnitures, wiping clean the microwave and kitchen counter, washing trash cans (yes, I washed them), organizing my desk and vanity corner, etc., I found myself still with work left and utterly exhausted but wholly satisfied.

If only my hard work will last. . .I'm soo hiring a maid one day when I have more money. Like I said, it's very uncharacteristic for me to get inspired for cleaning.

My Day Off

The good thing about having weekdays off is that when you visit places like the park or store, it's not overcrowded. The downside is of course going to work on weekends, :( Here's our recent picnic and frolic at White Rock Lake. Yeah, we always go to the same spot.

"Too much sun in my face!"

Car ride home, "I'm pooped". . .

. . .Maybe not.

Once Upon A Wardrobe

On a whim, I decided to create a new blog dedicated to my inner fashionista and shopoholic tendencies. So from here on out, I will post my wardrobe thrills/experiments at www.onceuponawardrobe.blogspot.com. Unfortunately, "Inside My Closet" as a blog name was taken already, so I came up with a new name.

Actually, I haven't been shopping in a while ( a month or so) since starting my CCU month, but I've got enough fodder in my closet to keep me experimenting for a while. Lovin' the fall weather!