Feeling Golden

It was a gold kind of weekend. Woke up ridiculously early on Saturday morning and caught a bit of the sunrise from our front yard. It was very pretty and the birds were just chirping hello to the morning light.

Please use the Italian Cypress as a reference point of where the image overlaps. I did a quick search for image stitching software but got lazy. Y'all will just have to fire up the ol' imagination synapses.

Bringing the BLING:

Earrings are from a yard sale a few weekends ago; Rings from another yard sale just last weekend. The sweet little swallow charm is from Sergio! He purchased it from a jewelry shop in town when we were last in Sutri. It dangles from two different chains I connected to make one long one, both gifted to me by my mom from years past. I was extremely tempted to tap into my inner Mr. T by wearing both rings at once. But I ain't tough enough.

Check out this nugget of shortbus awesomeness:

I wanted to put it into my pocket and take it home for Micio to drive. If only she weren't such a spaz.

Here she is bathing in sunlight, sitting dignified as Dr. Jekyll one second and then twisting like crazy Ms. Hyde quite literally, the next. Why are you so spazzy Micio? Spaz.


We are lucky to call the owner of this golden voice our neighbor and frequent visitor:

I did manage to stitch 3 videos here -- all recorded while Sergio was working on the credenza I had mentioned in my recent Living Room post. I'm saving those pics for my next post.

We ended the weekend with Avatar. Don't my moms and I look hott in our golden 3D glasses?

Myfa's Wine Tasting Party, workout optional

You know, when Myfa is pouring at his own wine-tasting party, the event can quickly go from this:



To this:



That's right, the exercise equipment gets dragged out to the front room. Time to work off all those wine-sodden calories.

Here, Myfa is explaining how his fancy weight set works. His mom seems a bit mystified.



We end the night with a trip to the nearest hardware store, which, conveniently enough, seems to be in Myfa's garage.



Thanks for a great party Myfa!! And grazie mille for opening up that delicious Gainey Chardonnay for us. You are an incredible host.

Living Room - almost there

Not sure if you all remember the tour of our old living room. It was super cozy and our favorite room in house. Thought it was about time to show off our current living room. Luckily, we didn't have to do much work to the room before jumping into the fun of furnishing and decorating.

BEFORE:



NOW:

Yes, our walls are still ALL white and it's fine, for now. It's not quite finished yet...maybe it never will be judging by the furniture/decor near-frenzy we've been on lately. (Did I mention that including the one in use now, we own a total of four coffee tables? Yes, it's a sickness. We plan to sell them...) We intentionally stuck with a stark black and white base and are slowly picking out shots of color. Plus, I need to unpack some of the family photos. And I need to unearth a few of the many little ... tchotchke treasures I've got squirreled away.

Still, we're pretty proud of what we've done so far. Mostly secondhand pieces and if not, then on sale or from a pretty affordable store.

• Couch: Craigslist (thank you AT Scavenger!)
• Chairs: Reupholstered roadside purchases ;Fabric from Home Fabrics in Downtown LA (see the chairs before at right)
  
• Lamps: Estate Sale in the Valley
• Coffeetable: Secondhand from Revival Furniture
• End tables: Estate Sale in Pasadena
  
• Green Ceramic Garden Stool: Marshall's!
• Ginko Leaf Sculpture: Pot-ted on sale
• Blue Boston Map Screenprint (Target frame): Ork Posters
• Manhattan city map poster waiting to be framed: IKEA
• "Macdowell" painting, small blue, wood frame: Gift from Nora Kersch, painter
• Blue curtains: Home Fabrics in Downtown L.A.
• White curtains: IKEA
• Pillows, black w/white stitching: IKEA

There is one last piece we've been aching to switch out -- the TV stand. In the photo, we are using an IKEA table we purchased from a family who was moving to Sweden, oh, about 7 years ago. egads. 7!!! Jesus Heh-soos. We met the family to purchase our beloved teak dining set -- the husband threw in the IKEA table for a small additional fee.

Anyway, we picked up another Craigslist find Sunday afternoon! It's a cabinet that I will henceforth refer to as the TV credenza because it sounds fancy. It's a bit beat up but it was cheap and the kindly Silver Lake girly who sold it to us also delivered it for free! Super super nice.

We plan to sand and stain it this weekend. Hopefully I remember to take a few "before" photos of it before we do. Hmm...maybe I will also finally paint the shoe bench in the entryway, henceforth referred to as the vestibule because it sounds fancy. :)

Elodie

Elodie came to visit! I believe she is the first baby to visit our house. She brought Helene and Kini too. :)

We had a nice brunch and chat, then Kini dispensed his sage advice on whether we would be able to build a deck off our back door ourselves. He built a series of decks that climbs up their backyard hillside, by himself. It's pretty amazing. So, Kini, Master Deck Builder, thinks we can do our easy-peasy single-level deck ourselves. Hm. I'm flattered. I have mad skills in many areas of life. Honestly though, I seriously doubt my deck building skills. But, Sergio does have building experience so it should be, er, fun.

...I'm getting a premonition....it's a bit foggy...but...I see Sergio...and he's building the deck! Wait...where am I? Where am I? I don't seem to be in attendance....(tee hee!)

While Sergio and Kini were checking out the backyard, us ladies sat at the couch and I had a mini-photo session with Elodie. She had this really cute little smile--but she immediately wiped it off as soon as the camera came up. I think she wants to maintain a stoic public image.

(almost got that smile. almost.)

Don't you just want to eat that cuteness all up?

Duck Tacos!!

Cacao Mexicatessen

When the weekend comes along, as it inevitably does, there is also, inevitably, the juncture in time where we sit in the car, hungrily asking each other, "Where do you want to go?" "I dunno, what do you feel like having?" "Not sure, how about you?" "Um....dunno..." It's pathetic and it can go on for-ever. We always end up at the Coffeetable or some noodle place.

But then...lightbulb!

I remembered the LA Weekly review on Cacao Mexicatessen that Helene sent us during the week. We parked and as we walked up , I spied an adorable little baby face peeking over a shoulder. Hmm... I thought: That looks like Elodie. That would be crazy if Helene and Kini were here too. Then I saw Helene! And then Kini and then Bridget who was holding Elodie close. Hilarious! I guess we all had the same idea after reading the review. They were just leaving so after a quick chat, we got to grab their primo patio spot.



Sergio only wanted a couple of duck tacos a la carte. I ordered one and also the soup of the day: Chicken Albondigas. I tell ya, it is soo hard for me to resist a good soup. Of course, when the soup came, it was the size of a salad bowl. No joke. So, I took a single bite of the DELICIOSO duck taco and gave the rest to Sergio. I honestly don't know how I resisted taking another bite. Well, probably because the soup was so damned good too. The chicken was so light and fluffy. I squeezed in all the lime on the table, tossed in the cilantro/onion mix and oh-so-good. So good. The pic up top is of my Hibiscus Agua Fresca. The lady said it was Jicama but it was clearly not. No matter. It was perfect. Not too sweet. We give the place an A+! Fortunately we took Helene and Bridget's advice, managing to avoid any too spicy items. Our meal was so fresh and light. I heard a satisfied eater remark as he walked out, "This is the best I've ever felt walking out of a Mexican restaurant." And pretty true for us on this occasion. I saw that they serve menudo on the weekends. Next time...


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The previous week's storms left a picturesque snowy mountain view behind. Nevermind that truck-stop vibe in the bottom half of the photo. We were in an industrial area checking out a vendor for rocky wall facing. Sergio has a great project in mind for the backyard.

Jeff & Erin's EPIC Wedding Trailer

I don't know these people, but I kind of wish I did:

(make sure you have your sound on -- the narration is pitch perfect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTqLyCTESjg

Remake Clutch MINE!

I came home today (after a very lovely jewelery party with a bunch of lovely ladies btw) and lookie what treasure was waiting for me! Sergio had called me at work to tell me but I had forgotten already.


I had posted about Clare Vivier during the summer. I've been lusting after her bags for quite some time. I still hadn't actually purchased anything, probably because I haven't actually seen the bags in person yet. Online shopping is fab and all...but there is something about actually touching and feeling something before buying. But then, her Remake clutch was in Target's Red Hot Shop! Actually, I saw the first version right when it was posted and was too slow. So, lucky lucky, Target re-ordered and she was able to deliver. And then I found a Target giftcard in my wallet. And...it was free shipping. So...ordered, and a few days later...in my hot little hands.




I feel a bit badly that the bag was produced in Echo Park, just a nabe or two over from mine, shipped to Minnesota (Target), and then it shipped back here, to me. Not sure what to do about that. ugh. Maybe, I just need to go to one the stores that carry the items and check out her wares in person.

Argh. Just checked our her blog to snag some of the URLs for the links above and saw that she is adding a new bag to the line, tomorrow. And I like it. I really do. I've been wanting a snazzy bag to sling across my shoulder. For reals. I should just give up trying to resist.

To paraphrase a Lior-ism: I just need to find that big bag of money already.

elauinc Spotlight: Behind the Seams

Back in August 2009, I posted about Pia Jane Bijkerk. Hope you enjoyed your visit with her. I'm thinking of adding blog spotlights as a regular elauinc occurrence. We'll see how "regular" I manage to keep them...but I'll try.
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In addition to home design blogs, I do also foster a healthy obsession with fashion blogs. Behind the Seams is one I discovered recently. Not sure where I was -- floating around online somewhere -- when I stumbled upon Trang Huyen's blog, just as she was about to win Stylelist.com's America's Most Stylish Blogger contest. You can see all her entries here.

Love her style and DIY-ness. I am envious of her talent and beautiful-ness.

Does she really live her life looking so pretty every day? Like every single day? sigh. Even if it's only 50% of her days...that's still pretty amazing.

Here she is in her v-day inspired outfit. love.

Tornado Watch?

Atwater Village (Matt to L.A.Times)
Photo courtesy of L.A. Times.

Latest Headlines

Storms moves ashore as officials brace for mudslides, coastal flooding

Orange County Tornado: Strong Storm, Rare Twister Strike Los Angeles, California

Tornado warning in California as storm hits

Tornado warning in Los Angeles and Orange counties

What the heck is going on? The photo is of the L.A. River with rushing water. A rare sight! Atwater is only a few miles away from us -- I know that bridge well. Inevitably every season, someone gets the bright idea to test the river when it's at its strongest. Hopefully not this time.

But don't worry, our cats are safe and warm. :)

L.A. engulfed by Monsoon!

Ok. Not really. But the 7-day weather forecast I watched on TV this past Sunday had clouds and raindrops dotted across the entire screen. They said it's going to be 3-4 storms hitting one right after the other. Every weather person on all local newscasts enjoyed way more airtime than usual so they could give the natives sufficient warning about the falling water -- lest some of us melt I suppose. And, the forecast was right! I guess it's hard to miss when there's a giant cloud/storm formation, rolling toward town, viewable via satellite. The rain has been nearly non-stop since Sunday afternoon. Weird. I know, it's only like a day. But still, it doesn't happen often. Hey, in fact, even Disneyland closed early today due to the rain.

In all seriousness though, it is kind of a big deal when the rain is this heavy. You see, we have what we refer to as fire season. Fire season is bad not only because it is dangerous to people, animals and homes, it burns up a bunch of hillside brush/trees. That means that after the fires are put out, there are no more plants whose roots help hold in the soil. That then equates to mudslide danger when there is finally some rain. This past fire season was especially bad which could mean potentially massive mudslides. As a precaution, there have been mandatory evacuations in the burn areas. Thankfully though, other than a few power outtages and fender benders it's been pretty quiet.

Anyway, rain always puts me in a soup mood. Actually, I'm always in a soup mood. Hm. Well, in honor of the rain, here are pics and a video from a soup and dumpling meal at my parent's house, from just before Christmas 2009. You can see both M & D working the stove. Dad made the a-ma-zing broth while Mom made the dumplings --which are more like little gnocchi. They are all dough, no filling. It has a slightly more gummy texture, kind of like soft bits of cheese in soup. But not cheesy. I don't remember what kind of dough though. I'll have to find out. She had never made these before. I think they are a type of dumpling from the region of China that her brother in law is from. I don't know where that is. She called up my aunt to ask for the recipe and technique. Then, they decided to make it the same night! How funny and sweet. One sister in LA, the other sister in NY, both making the same meal.

It was so yummy. Chinese people love carbs, let me tell you. We can eat carby dumplings, noodles, rice -- all at the same meal for daaaays!

mmmm....yummy. carbs. in soup. perfection.

Shiny, sharp, metal things

I stopped in at EQ3 during my lunch on Friday and saw that they were having a killer floor model sale. I actually think they're closing the store. There was this air of...sad desperation. The sales people were friendly but really, didn't seem that into it. It's a modern furniture store hailing from our international neighbors just north. I suppose the merchandise is considered stylish. I can't say I loved much of anything there -- mostly had issue with the quality of materials -- but I did see that their rugs were way cheap, less than at IKEA?!? So, the next day, I dragged Sergio to it with hopes of leaving with a rug for the living room or bedroom. Of course, he didn't like any of them. When he said that if I really, really liked one of them, we should get it, I realized I didn't love any of them either. It was the price I was into. Then Sergio became minorly obsessed with their version of the arc lamp, also for the price. 65% off! But it was broken. The sales guy said he'd knock off a few more % and Sergio said he knew how to fix it...but still. It was broken and the telescoping pole seemed wonky. It's a little big for our space anyway. We decided to walk away and maybe return to check it out again if we really wanted it. (Less than stellar customer service at the register turned us off completely so there will be no returning.) However, we did leave with some new flatware! They are long and elegant and made in Portugal. I had recently finished collecting a fancy flatware design from Anthro too. I couldn't afford to purchase them all at once so I had been buying a couple sets at a time. The new EQ3 ones were marked 75% off. And, I did sorta love these. Actually, we both really do love these. So, SCORE! Now, added to the other set, we have full service for 16! Not that I can fit 16 around my table. I don't even have that many chairs. But still. One can never be too prepared.

The little dessert spoon is so darling! (I apologize for the bad quality of images. We've been meaning to put a higher wattage bulb in dining room overhead.)




I can't wait to use them!