Learn 2 Play

In My Life

2012-02-14T22:52:00.000-08:00

But of all these friends and lovers, there is no one compares to you. In my life, I love you more. It's hard to believe that it's been almost 14 years since we first met. It seems like it was just yesterday that I opened the door to the most piercing blue eyes I'd ever seen. And that was it.

Lucyvision

2012-02-12T10:22:00.000-08:00

We bought a bird feeder a few days ago. Lucy has rarely left the windowsill (although she's fallen off it a few times in her excitement).

For What It's Worth

2012-02-08T21:54:00.000-08:00

Not that we buy LEGO as an investment - that would involve us actually selling it at one point. Maybe when we're 70 somethings but I predict I'll still hear the boy yelling in the background, "Don't sell my LEGO!" But for a toy, it sure does seem to hold its value. Take for instance, the Ultimate Collectors Series Imperial Star Destroyer. This thing is huuuge - that's a 4 person table it's

After These Short Commercial Messages

2012-02-06T13:47:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the lack of posts this last week. I haven't had the heart to do/blog much. Even LEGOs have taken a back seat for a while. I've been sadder than I thought I would be, trying to adjust to life without a happy white cat following me around. But I'll start posting again in a day or so. On a more positive note, I just saw one of the best commercials in a long time. Even more amazing is

Goodbye Cowkitty

2012-01-27T20:37:00.000-08:00

Even when you know and you try to prepare, it's still surprising how sad and awful it is. TJ was with James for over 18 years - his little, white shadow. And he's been my favorite furry friend for more than a decade. The best of cats. Friendly, smart, curious and patient. He came when you called him, was always gentle and kind and so very loving and affectionate. I love this photo - taken years

Displaying LEGO

2012-01-25T12:29:00.000-08:00

With all this LEGO, you'd think we'd have it on every available surface. Well, during the sorting/organizing process, we do. Mostly on our dining room table which is still covered but for the rest of the house, we generally only display sets that have some artistic or sculptural merit. Or ones that we just plain love. I very much doubt that we will ever have Atlantis or Alien Conquest sets on

Cat's Outta The Bag

2012-01-23T19:46:00.000-08:00

Errr. Or not. This is Lucy's favorite toy - a blue cloth grocery bag. The first few times I saw it move slowly across the kitchen floor, it freaked me out. Now, I'm kind of used to it. Well, not really. But... look at that face!

The Feminine Myst--- Holy Crap! Look At That Blender!

2012-01-22T20:38:00.000-08:00

I don't care what Friedan and Steinem would say. This is without a doubt my absolute favorite thing I have EVER EVER built from Lego. Now to buy a few more sets and build a proper kitchen, with an island and more counterspace. And a real 10 person table and chairs... I'm in love. Forgive the horrible photo - taken at night on my iPhone. But look at that blender!!!

The Importance of Manuals

2012-01-22T13:09:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest selling points of LEGO is that it's only limited by one's imagination. So, why then would you keep the manuals that come with the sets after you've built it a few times? Especially if they're available in PDF form on-line? A few reasons: 1. The PDFs blow. It's virtually impossible to differentiate the black bricks, even in the best scanned PDF docs. They're hard enough to

Function Over Form

2012-01-16T15:05:00.000-08:00

I gave in. As much as I wanted to keep the LEGO room looking like an actual room with furniture and hidden storage, it just didn't work. Until recently, we were able to hide away our loose LEGO in the closet. We bought a free standing metal shelf and packed everything away out of sight. But it was a pain, sliding those doors back and forth, and it was highly inefficient. Anything in the middle

Yes, I'm Reviewing Bins

2012-01-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

In the world of LEGO collectors, the storage of your LEGO is a hotly debated topic. Well, not really. But there are a lot of different approaches and methodologies and it depends mostly on how you interact with your LEGO - as collector, a MOC builder etc. For the most part, we just build the official sets or from instructions on line. So, for the sets we know we're going to rebuild, we package

Lucy In A Bag

2012-01-14T23:28:00.000-08:00

I haven't done a "Lucy in a..." post in a while. Which isn't to say that I stopped putting her in things. I haven't. But this one is a little different. She put herself in the bag. These cloth grocery bags provide endless hours of fun. And when she gets tired, she just hangs out. I'm a cat, in a bag. Move along.

Babble Fish

2012-01-12T21:33:00.000-08:00

지연아 잘있어? A few problems with exchanging emails with your parents is 1) you can't write Korean and 2) they can't write English. This is where internet translating tools kick in. I've written about this before but I think the technology is actually getting worse. My mother wrote me an email today. Babel Fish spit this masterpiece out: Oh there is delay well???? Sees. Now works, is not busy?

Full Disclosure

2012-01-08T18:43:00.000-08:00

[ed: I'll return with more updates about Nicole's store and the rebuilding process.] I get a lot of questions about my LEGO room - "what furniture did we buy, how do I keep it so neat and organized". Umm. Maybe it was that way for a minute back in the summer but in the spirit of full disclosure, my "neat and organized" LEGO room that started out like this... Now looks like this - after we

From The Ashes

2012-01-06T19:45:00.000-08:00

Photo by Shannon L. Cheesman, KATU.com Producer/Reporter This is what's left. You can read about the fire and see more photos at KATU news. Nicole's husband, Ethan, spoke to Fox 12 news about the fire - there's a video clip here. They asked Nicole, but she just couldn't bring herself to talk about what happened. I can't blame her. And that penny countertop

Perspective

2012-01-03T17:16:00.000-08:00

Monday morning, my friend Nicole called me. Her beautiful store, the source of income for her family, had burned down. Luckily no one was hurt. But absolutely nothing could be salvaged. This is what it looked like in September 2011, her grand opening at the new location. I don't have the heart to look at what it is now. But over the next few hours, I saw her move from shock and despair to

Goodbye 2011

2011-12-31T19:47:00.000-08:00

It was an amazing, challenging, life-changing year. After working for a non profit for several years, I started the year on a sabbatical...trying to figure out what I wanted to do, where I wanted to go. And then James got the opportunity to telecommute and work from home. Side by side 24/7? Is there a thing as too much togetherness? Apparently not because we loved it! And we decided to

A Very LEGO Christmas

2011-12-30T19:16:00.000-08:00

I take a snapshot of our presents every year. It's a great visual reminder of what was going on in our lives (the good and bad - like 2007 when we were both between jobs for Christmas) and what we were interested in. The one thing that's remained constant over the years is LEGO. So that's what we decided to get each other for Christmas. There are 62 sets under the tree which means that if we

One LEGO To Rule Them All

2011-12-16T21:25:00.000-08:00

We've been talking about this off and on since 5:45 am. Summer 2012 can't get here fast enough. Actually, I take that back. We need to save. Hang tight, my precious.

Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays!

2011-12-11T19:08:00.001-08:00

Lucy was a wonderful little model. She just lay on the chair for about 20 minutes, patient and quietly tolerant while I fussed with aperture and a bokeh lens hood. And now, I have to return to the birthday extravaganza with James, involving The Empire Strikes Back and lots and lots of Star Wars LEGO. It's a perfect holiday evening.

Santa Claws

2011-12-10T16:02:00.001-08:00

I saw this outfit in Petsmart and couldn't resist. And then TJ wandered by and wanted to get in the action. But for some reason, they wouldn't sit upright and kept falling over. James commented, "they look like Christmas roadkill." Have you ever seen such a patient and tolerant little kitten?! "Why Mommy, why?"

Full Moon

2011-12-10T10:09:00.001-08:00

The day before a total lunar eclipse. We set our alarms for 5 am and jumped (okay, crawled) out of bed. And were promptly met with a wall of fog. Thanks Portland! We drove around trying to see if the fog was better in other places with no luck. After James had to answer my question "Is that the moon?" with "No, that's a street light", we called it and went back to bed. Bummed. This photo was

I'm With ----->

2011-12-08T22:23:00.001-08:00

Every Christmas, the "Whoville" house goes all out for the Holidays. ALL. OUT. But it's only my second favorite this year. Keeping up with the Joneses has taken on a whole new meaning.

A Girl And Her Cat

2011-12-06T19:35:00.001-08:00

It's funny that with all the cameras I have at my disposal, I grab my crappy, 4 year old phone to snap this photo. Although the lights came out looking cool, I wish it wasn't so blurry or noisy. This is Lucy with her mommy and the Christmas tree.

Not A Partridge

2011-12-05T18:33:00.000-08:00

This is her first Christmas and she adores the tree. Every once in a while, I'll hear a bunch of rustling in the living room. And then I find this staring back at me.

Lucy, Weeping Angel

2011-12-04T20:49:00.001-08:00

The Blink episode of Dr. Who scared the crap out of me. It featured these aliens/monsters, Weeping Angels. They freeze in place (as stone statues) when they're being observed, but if you blink or look away, they quickly and silently move... towards you. o.O There's even a Minecraft mod featuring them. I had a REALLY hard time watching this Yogscast video. I think Lucy is part Weeping Angel.

Lucy's Mani/Pedi

2011-12-04T14:17:00.001-08:00

Look at how much she's grown. This is where I sigh nostalgically and think about how tiny she was when we first brought her home. That was over 3 lbs ago. She's more than doubled in size now. She also likes to scratch, scratch, scratch. We've been using soft paws for a month now with mixed results. One application is apparently supposed to last for 4-6 weeks. Yeah, right. We have yet to go more

Gingerbread House

2011-12-01T23:10:00.001-08:00

Every Christmas, I promise myself that I'll make a Gingerbread house. And every year, I get so busy with a million other things that I never get around to it. Solution. LEGO. Thanks to Chris McVeigh, who is a genius, I finally have my Gingerbread house. I saw his rendition this afternoon and raced home to make my own. No time for fancy photo setups since I've been up since 5 am and I'm dead on

James and The Bus

2011-11-29T19:29:00.001-08:00

This is for Ian, who seems to think this blog is dedicated to waxing poetic about my husband. I just wanted to point out what the true purpose is... Remember the kilt? Keep this in the back of your mind as we walk down memory lane. And remember the time he signed up for Zumba before he knew what Zumba was? I think this is my single biggest regret in life - that I wasn't there to watch or

Black Friday

2011-11-25T20:37:00.001-08:00

In the past, we always slept in on Black Friday. The savings never justified the chaos, lines and general insanity; it wasn't worth it. This year, however, we braved the madding crowd and went out in search of LEGO. We researched which places had the best sales and luckily for us, it wasn't a high traffic store like Best Buy or Walmart. So, we had no problems finding parking and virtually no

Lucy Zoom

2011-11-21T22:07:00.001-08:00

Lucy can be a little wary around me at times - I think it's because I can't resist picking her up and smooching her silly. And she's currently in this "you can hold me but only on my terms" phase. Depending on her mood, she'll cuddle and purr for hours or be completely standoffish. Luckily, my camera has a 60x digital zoom. So, I can get right up to her eyeball. As I was zooming back out, I

The LEGO Store: Washington Square

2011-11-18T18:06:00.001-08:00

We are lucky enough to live within driving distance to a LEGO store (well, maybe not so lucky on our credit card) so we end up visiting at least once a week. Yes, there are other places you can buy LEGO, like Toy's R Us (but they markup their LEGO so be aware of that when they go on "sale"), Target, Amazon etc... but the customer service at the LEGO store is fantastic.

Ikea Hack: The Conclusion

2011-11-13T22:11:00.001-08:00

In a previous post, I documented how we created a penny countertop. But that was only one phase of the entire Ikea hack cabinet project! We actually started out with an Akurum base cabinet from Ikea. These cabinets are inexpensive and easy to install but the cool white wasn't going to work with the new earthy decor. Enter Pinterest to the rescue again! The same place that gave us the inspiration

The LEGO Room

2011-11-06T14:53:00.000-08:00

[Note: Here's a how-to-guide on how to build the Lego Minifigure Display case.] I decided a while back to turn my crafting studio into a LEGO room. I never used it so I packed up my scrapbooking supplies and sold them on Craigslist. I did however, keep all the furniture since it was ideal for storage and building models and MOCs. Here's the view from the door. Most LEGO builders have their work

For Henry

2011-11-03T14:55:00.000-07:00

A while ago, I had a little chat with a Lego obsessed little boy (no, not my husband) and he was unimpressed with my Stormtrooper knowledge. Or lack thereof. After some research, I realized just how woefully ignorant I was of the many, many flavors of Trooper goodness. Here's a small sampling: First Row (left to right): Clonetrooper, Clone Pilot (Ep. 3), Clone Wars Pilot, Commander Cody, ARF

LEGO Minifigure Display Cases

2011-10-31T12:09:00.000-07:00

[Jan. 18, 2012: Updated to show a few more pictures and to include measurements.] Sometimes I get a wild hair and I have to do something. It always bothered me that we collected these adorable LEGO minifigures and then stored them in plastic containers, out of sight. At first, I thought about having them out on a large base plate but they'd collect a lot of dust. We needed something that was

Bend

2011-10-27T09:33:00.001-07:00

Road trip! I don't think we could have picked a better fall day for a drive to Bend. This also marked the longest amount of time I've spent with small children in the last 20 years. Not as bad as I thought it would be! "Losing" car keys. No diapers. A state trooper following us for half a mile! Good times.

I Heart

2011-10-03T21:41:00.000-07:00

I <3 these two.

Craigslist: A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Misspelled Words

2011-09-24T21:14:00.000-07:00

I've written past tutorials on Craigslist and the art of selling successfully in my 101 and 101 Part 2 write ups. This last week, I conducted a little experiment to see if my tips really made a difference. I saw yet another ad for bulk LEGO using the Craigslist photo uploading service and it looked something like this. There were 3 more frustratingly small and unhelpful photos attached. But

That Feather Is Doomed

2011-09-23T19:07:00.000-07:00

My kitten has gained 6 ounces in the last 3 weeks. She's a beast now. And she can jump! I think James and I are used to the much slower reaction time of our senior cats so we were a bit taken aback by Lucy's enthusiastic and spastic responses.

Arrrgh Matey: Craigslist Bounty Continued

2011-09-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

Today is International talk like a Pirate day. Not sure why we need a day like this but I'm pretty good at it. I just try to speak Elizabethan and out comes pirate gibberish instead. Of course, this disgusts my Renaissance Faire connoisseur husband. Anyways, last weekend we stumbled across an amazing Lego find on Craigslist. I shared some photos of the washing, drying and sorting process. In

Epic LEGO Win

2011-09-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE. The stats: 8 ft long. 180 lbs. 43,000 LEGO pieces @ an estimated $10-12,000. 3.5 months to build. The designer is working with engineers to create a guide/instruction book. We've started saving NOW. Venator Class Star Destoyer.

Lucy In Burberry

2011-09-14T13:34:00.001-07:00

The second in the series. Luckily, Lucy is a very tolerant little kitty and she matches my Burberry perfectly.

Craigslist Bounty

2011-09-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, we'll find some LEGO on Craigslist. Apparently, it's useful for buying other items such as furniture etc but James and I have only ever used it to buy LEGO. I woke up Saturday morning and decided to see if there was anything interesting. 30 minutes later, we were en route to Vancouver, WA. A somewhat annoyed father was selling off his son's collection. "I've spent thousands of

Point And Shoot

2011-09-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

Once you go DSLR, you never go back. Right? Not quite. Although truthfully, when I first got my Canon Rebel, I was so amazed by the range of features that I wanted to throw my Point and Shoot in the garbage. But I didn't because it was super small and therefore portable and it had video. Terrible video, but still.I'm eventually going to upgrade to a Canon 7D but James won't let me until I take

Lucy In A ...

2011-09-06T15:05:00.001-07:00

In addition to the billion videos of Lucy, I've decided on a new series called "Lucy in a..." It's pretty self-explanatory. I'll be putting Lucy in things until she is too big or gets impatient, whichever comes first.I present, Lucy in a Hat.

DIY: Penny Countertop

2011-09-06T14:14:00.000-07:00

[Update: January 6, 2012. We built the penny countertop for my friend's store, Shop Adorn. On January 2, 2012, an electrical fire burned everything inside. Read about it here.] My friend, Nicole, is expanding her Portland boutique and decided to go with an eco-industrial decor for the new location. We've both been scouring Pinterest for ideas and she fell in love with the penny countertops and

Lucy V2

2011-09-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

She's a completely different kitty now. Much more comfortable in her surroundings and so very, very affectionate. Her favorite thing so far is just to lie in our laps and nudge us for petting. And now that she's less scared and nervous, she's started to play and explore which has eased the boy's mind. She's trained us well - that little tilt of her head means "more head petting, please!"

Lucy In The Sky

2011-09-01T16:05:00.001-07:00

**update: She tucked into my lap and finally, finally purred. Music to my ears. ** With diamonds. After much debate, we brought home a tiny furball to love. It's been a sad few years watching our home go from three kitties to just one - TJ has been rather lonely. And I've had kittens on the brain for months and months. We went over the many, many cons of bringing in such a young cat at this

LEGO Storage: Work In Progress

2011-08-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

We've been working on creating a system for organizing and storing our LEGO for quite some time. Apparently, we can't keep them on our dining room table forever. We've gone through several iterations of storage techniques including using large plastic bags to house the different sets. Although James was perfectly content with the plastic bag option, I was not. They were difficult to stack in

Insert Bad Peel Pun

2011-08-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

A few times a year, I get a light AHA peel (Alpha Hydroxy Acid) which removes dead cells on the surface of the skin, smoothing and rejuvenating the skin. It can also minimize fine lines and even out sun spots. However mild it is, it's not something that should be done on a whim. Especially if you have events or functions the next day. Normally, it takes between 3-5 days to completely heal from

Lego Winter Village Expands!

2011-08-07T10:47:00.001-07:00

10222 Winter Village Post Office"Continuing the winter scene series, the Winter Village Post Office is the perfect snow-covered setting. In the cozy post office, the worker is hard at work sorting all the mail into containers and sacks, while upstairs, there’s just time for the postman to take a break before setting off in the traditional post car with all the letters and gifts. From the pavilion

40

2011-08-02T23:11:00.001-07:00

James asked me what I wanted to do for my 40th.A quiet evening in with my favorite boy and that's all.So, we watched a bunch of classic TV shows and spent the day laughing. And then we went for a drive in my present.A perfect day. Was there cake?I forget.I'm getting old. *sigh*

Yum

2011-06-15T18:30:00.001-07:00

Do you remember this post about the Infiniti G37 Coupe? It was just wishful thinking at the time but yesterday it became happy reality - an early 40th birthday present from my wonderful husband.We ended up getting the all-wheel drive. Not strictly necessary here but when it does snow, I'd prefer not to leave my car in the snow...again. Also, not in the graphite shadow but you can't go wrong with

I Love

2011-05-19T20:56:00.000-07:00

That after 11 years of marriage, we are still deeply and truly in love.That he can still surprise me and make me laugh until I cry.That he is my best friend and supports me in every crazy, whackadoodle thing I do (well almost, he does have his limits).I love how happy we are together.

84 Days

2011-05-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

84 days ago, the boy and I decided to change our lives. We'd been playing online games for years (well, a decade, actually), eating fast food/take out and living fairly sedentary lives. We behaved like kids whose parents were on vacation and it showed.So, we woke up one morning in late February and threw out all the crap in the house and decided to start working out - hard. And things snowballed

My Boy

2011-04-25T20:24:00.001-07:00

James at 17.

Triple Falls

2011-04-17T20:10:00.000-07:00

Another day, another waterfall. I'm not a huge fan of trails with sharp drops down a gorge but this one was worth the 1.5 hours of steady climbing. Just when I started getting seriously cranky, we came around a corner and saw this:Can you believe this is just 40 minutes from Portland? Lovely, sunny day - a complete change of pace from yesterday's soggy outing. We camped out on the rocky ledge

Silver Falls = Wet Pants

2011-04-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

It only took 11 years of living in Oregon but we've finally realized there's a wealth of natural beauty to explore. So, we turned off the TV, hung up our MMO hats and headed outside (part of our eating clean and P90X plan - more on that in another post).So, every weekend, rain or shine, we've been hitting the trails and exploring what's possibly the greenest, "waterfalliest" (yes, that's a new

For My Mom

2011-03-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

For the first 24 years of my life, I grew up eating the most amazing Korean food. And then I moved out and got my own place. Shamefully, without ever having learned a single recipe. I'm not sure why. It seemed too complicated and time consuming, not to mention the smell that kimchee left in your fridge. Plus, I don't cook.Fast forward 15 years later. You marry a boy who loves Korean food and one

Project: Dining Room

2011-02-23T10:02:00.000-08:00

This is arguably the least used room in our house. And for many years, it looked exactly like this (when we first moved in).Right about the time that I first got the mad itch to paint the entire house a creamy yellow, I watched too many shows featuring red dining rooms and this is what happened.The dining room set pictured is actually the boy's old kitchen furniture from his single days. It's

The Good, The Bad, And The Kilty

2011-02-13T11:55:00.000-08:00

The boy recently received a long-lost photo album. A veritable treasure trove of memories and poor fashion choices.Were we ever this young?In hindsight, he thought maybe the scarf, the hat and the tie were a bit overkill. You think?!

Project: Master Bedroom

2011-02-08T13:20:00.000-08:00

It's a bit startling to see how much your tastes change over the years.We used to love four poster beds; they were romantic and dramatic. This was our bedroom shortly after we moved into our home a little over 9 years ago. In all fairness, this "before before" photo is terrible - I had a simple point and shoot camera and my attempt at a wide angle splice just made the picture seem distorted.At

I'm Not Touching That

2011-02-06T09:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, while waiting in the self-checkout line at Ikea, I turned to James and said "Ugh, that's disgusting." "What?", he asked. "That little kid sitting in the cart was picking his nose and then his mother handed him the hand scanner. Now he's back to nose diving." James made a face, "Gross."Naturally, that was the station we ended up getting. Naturally.We looked around desperately to see if

KODO: One Earth Tour

2011-01-31T10:39:00.000-08:00

Fifteen years ago, I went to see a concert featuring a drumming group from Japan. "What? Really? We're going to watch some people bonging on drums? Why is that fun?" I knew nothing about this group and had no idea what I was in for. And then the KODO Drummers from Saido, Japan walked out onto the stage.Holy. Sheee-it.It's amazing that I waited so long to see them again but with all the moving I

Project: Lego

2011-01-17T13:33:00.000-08:00

No resolutions. Just projects, remember? This one - Lego organization - is the boy's pet project and he's done an amazing job so far. We get asked quite frequently about our Lego storage system. And here's a caveat: adult fanatic Lego organization is VERY DIFFERENT from small children Lego storage (which apparently is right under wherever your foot happens to be).James bought several types of

Class Of 1986

2011-01-13T13:03:00.001-08:00

The class of '86 is turning 40 this year. Mind boggling.I still remember some of these people with a startling clarity. Perhaps because it was the best 3 years of school. Ever.I'm in the middle of cleaning and organizing the fiasco that is our office. Among a mountain of paperwork, bills, checks and health cards (oh that's where they were!), I found this photo.

Not Your Father's Lego

2011-01-03T15:37:00.000-08:00

Holy moses on a stick. Shockingly, this outperforms my BMW in the snow.And "who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters!"

2011: The Year Of Projects

2011-01-01T16:59:00.001-08:00

Funny how just one day can make a world of difference. Why am I more motivated to clean today than yesterday? For that matter, why does organizing my linen closet and kitchen cupboards suddenly sounds so appealing? Probably the same reason why I find infomercials so fascinating - I'm a sucker for consumer marketing. And I've completely bought into that whole "New Year, clean slate" business.This

2010 Recap!

2010-12-31T13:00:00.000-08:00

Time moves far too quickly these days. It's probably a combination of getting older (joy!) and having a wonderful time with my boy. There were so many funny, weird, amazing moments but some in particular:1. James trying to cook. It didn't go well. In fact, he almost killed me so there's a lesson to be learned here.2. The Olympics. National pride got a little mixed up but it was still entertaining

Lego, Burberry And Prada, Oh My!

2010-12-25T13:43:00.001-08:00

It doesn't require a rocket scientist to figure out which gifts belong to whom. James is very easy to please - Lego, Lego and more Lego. Me? I have a slight interest in handbags.My sister went a little overboard on the Cadbury chocolates...insanity runs in our family.

Christmas Crazy

2010-12-16T16:14:00.001-08:00

I mentioned earlier that this year's theme is "Green and White". Now, I should include "a little bit of crazy". As a change of pace from the usual wrapping scheme (colorful paper and lots of bows) I wanted to try something different. Enter psycho Martha Stewart."Hey, how come it takes 45 minutes to wrap a single present?" James asked last night."Shut up."This is just the tip of the crazy iceberg.

Pattycake

2010-12-03T21:03:00.000-08:00

I think I've watched this video about 100 times. No sign of getting bored yet.

Details

2010-11-27T19:08:00.001-08:00

For Megan.The glowing ball of fabulousness are these decorative light balls. I think I got them at Target a few years ago but you can find something similar at any big box store. I have 3 all together in various sizes. They're just amazing when they're lit.The tall cream/white tree shaped thing is actually a candle! I either got this at Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn. I've had it for years and

Have Yourself A Very Lego Christmas

2010-11-26T18:31:00.000-08:00

I know Thanksgiving was yesterday but for weeks now, it's been Christmas in our house. I started putting up the decorations a few weeks ago - probably the earliest start yet. This year, I went with white, green and Lego. A fairly traditional Christmas combination, don't you think? The tree resides in our living room - a room we don't spend much time in but it has vaulted ceilings. Sharp-eyed

Bridge For Sale!

2010-11-19T11:15:00.001-08:00

A friend of mine was recently the target of an on-line fishing attempt. Most normal people just delete these emails without a further thought. But not him. This type of stuff is grist for the mill. Here is the verbatim correspondence between the two geniuses:My Friend: [Someone has hijacked my cousin's email and is trying to scam money. I had the following email exchange with the person who

The Real Housewives Of Facebook

2010-11-12T22:25:00.000-08:00

I found this little commentary on "The Real Housewives of Facebook" a year ago and found it hilarious.And surprisingly, my stay-at-home mom friends found it even more amusing and they passed it around on ... Facebook. An extra fantastic bonus are the spam comments to the post. They tried so hard to make it seem like a legitimate response. Especially this little number that goes like so:"Hello ..

After All These Years

2010-11-10T10:20:00.001-08:00

The best of both worlds. Lovely fall day and my favorite eye candy. Usually I use this blog as a forum to "throw him under the bus" as he is wont to complain. But I don't think he's done anything ridiculous lately.So, I'll just sit and admire.

A Perfect Autumn Day

2010-11-09T11:59:00.001-08:00

The sun came out this weekend, just long enough to grace us with a beautiful, autumn day. We went for a drive, soaked up all the gorgeous colors and then went and bought a bunch of Christmas decorations.

Just For Me

2010-11-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

[What I found in my email a few weeks ago from my favorite person]I love...The little songs you sing when you’re happy.Your creativity.Your super-huge love goggles.The way that our life goals are in sync.That you’re letting me get a Mini Cooper.When you talk into a cup or put things on your head.The way you surprise me by doing the unexpected (even after all these years!).

Spiced Pear Cake

2010-11-02T11:50:00.000-07:00

It's November. Which means I can legitimately start preparing for Christmas. Which means things like decorating, carols 24/7 and baking. All of which I started last night, including baking a Spiced Pear cake at 9 pm. That's why the photo looks less than ideal - canned kitchen lighting doesn't make for appetizing photos but you get the drift.The boy and I have completely different tastes when it

Kitchens Sell

2010-10-11T12:27:00.001-07:00

In real estate, kitchens sell. The same goes for Lego as well. I wasn't so keen on the Lego Fire Brigade for some reason and passed on it. Luckily, the boy scooped it up and brought it home. And in the making, discovered one of the cutest little kitchens I've ever seen.This puts all of my Barbie Dream House fantasies to shame (I've never owned one and always coveted but no more!). That stove

The Lego-Dining Room

2010-10-09T19:55:00.001-07:00

Who needs a dining room? This makes much more sense in our house. This is a small fraction of what we own. We're going to completely overhaul the shelving and organization of our lego in the next few weeks. Will post photos!

Look At Yourself

2010-10-09T12:01:00.000-07:00

Too amazing for words.

One Bag To Rule Them All

2010-10-07T14:49:00.000-07:00

Remember when I complained about all the bags I carried to work (4 in total)?And stumbled upon this solution... which worked for a while. But I soon outgrew that as well and it wasn't quite professional enough.But I think I finally, finally found an all-in-one laptop tote that handles everything. Here she is in all her glory. There's not much I can't jam into this bag. But it doesn't look that

Best Show On Earth

2010-09-17T17:12:00.000-07:00

I've seen a lot of concerts, musicals and circus-y type shows. And this is without a doubt the BEST SHOW I'VE EVER SEEN. Nothing even comes close.They're coming back to the States in January. Tickets bought. Oh yeah, James, I bought tickets. We're going.

Fickle, Thy Name

2010-09-13T09:40:00.001-07:00

I confess...I cheated. I was wooed by the strong, graceful lines, the strength and power beneath the surface, by the sleek and sexy facade. I cheated this weekend...on the vehicular love of my life and dallied with the Infiniti G37 Coupe. Oh Lord, you had me at 330 horsepower.Comparable to the BMW 335, the G37 is priced a good deal lower. It took us a while before we actually drove the car

Danny And Annie

2010-09-12T09:14:00.000-07:00

*sigh*Danny & Annie from StoryCorps on Vimeo.Danny Perasa and his wife, Annie, came to StoryCorps to recount their twenty-seven-year romance. As they remember their life together from their first date to Danny’s final days with terminal cancer, these remarkable Brooklynites personify the eloquence, grace, and poetry that can be found in the voices of everyday people when we take the time to

In Memoriam

2010-09-11T12:45:00.000-07:00

L'Ove L'Occitane

2010-09-10T10:28:00.000-07:00

I have a confession. I am one of those people who likes to collect tiny bottles of shampoo and conditioner in hotels. For one thing, they're small and I am a lover of small and cute things. It's the Asian gene - not my fault.You may recall that James and I stayed at a wonderful Oceanside resort a few months ago. And that's where I hit the mother lode of tiny, cute toiletries. The hotel offered

Why I Hate Miller Paint

2010-09-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

Started my morning butting heads with a Miller Paint jockey. I’m painting my office (again) and the gallon paint I had purchased didn’t match the paint in the quart tester. Some words were exchanged. However, in the interest of fairness (ha!), I’m going to argue both sides of the issue.Issue #1: The paint doesn’t match.Miller Paint Jockey PoV: Different paint sheen alter a paint color. This is

The Kitchen: Then And Now

2010-08-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

The construction details and design of our house is fairly traditional. Something we didn't mind when we purchased the house back in 2001. I think we were more overwhelmed at the idea of taking on such a colossal expense and didn't consider how our aesthetic would change over the years.At the time, I was more impressed with the spaciousness of the kitchen. Over the years, I developed a deep and

Bye Bye Brass

2010-08-17T12:48:00.000-07:00

I hate brass. Unfortunately, there's a lot of it in my house. I've been on a slow (like 9 years slow) campaign to remove it entirely. I started with the easy stuff like the god awful door handles and cabinet fixtures. I still have some lights and faucets left but all in good time.Meanwhile, I tackled the brass bars on the fireplace. I went through all the effort of taping the area off and making

"Ahhhhhh"

2010-08-16T16:35:00.000-07:00

That's the sound I make when I walk into this room.For some reason, we got up absurdly early on a Sunday... at least for us. And spent the rest of the morning cleaning and tidying up.I love how the afternoon light streams into the sparkling kitchen and family room.This burst of productivity didn't stop there... I spent today painting our bedroom one shade of taupe to another shade of taupe,

Cute vs. Happy vs. Douche

2010-08-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks, we've been test-driving cars in earnest, trying to figure out what to get. Actually, trying to figure out who gets to decide this time around. The Fates finally smiled on the boy.You see, we usually get one that borders on prosaic and then a flashy one. The last two fun choices were mine (an A4 and a 325). So, I suppose in all fairness, James was due.Which I regret now because

Stormtrooper Envy

2010-08-03T21:23:00.001-07:00

iPad + Stormtroopers = Perfection.

39 And Ridiculously Happy

2010-08-02T20:19:00.001-07:00

Lucky enough to be blessed with wonderful friends and family...both near and far. And of course, with my best friend and fellow Stormtrooper in crime. It just keeps getting better. Trooper Love, originally uploaded by Balakov. p.s. this Balakov guy is a genius with Lego photos.Genius.

My Loves: Nicole (and Lillie)

2010-07-27T15:51:00.001-07:00

Last year I had the hmmm.... "luck" to meet the most demanding young woman. Ten years my junior, she reminds me of ... well.... me at her age. Which means that she's just amazing. Of course.In addition to running multiple businesses, she's also mother to two adorable children, one of which is my proxy daughter, LillieHere's a few things you should know about Nicole: don't ever deprive her from

All Your Wiis R Belong To Me

2010-07-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

Someone is really f@*cking slow sending presents. I mean really, REALLY SLOW. In fact, someone only just got around to sending me a birthday and Christmas present from LAST YEAR. And someone still has yet to send James's present even though it's been ready to go for months...So, with my birthday coming up in August, I've decided to play hardball.Someone wants my wii that I'm not using. It's all

My Loves: Charlotte

2010-07-16T22:44:00.001-07:00

I always enjoy telling the story of how Charlotte and I met.Upon moving to the Pacific NW, I joined a Yahoo group for Portland Couples. I'm not sure if I made the initial post or Charl's husband but either way, Josh and I started chatting, thought we might be compatible and arranged to meet for dinner.The rest is history.And not as titillating as I make it sound. First, the yahoo group in