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hooray for chicago

Hi everyone! My trip to Chicago was so much fun. Mostly spent eating and checking out shops I've loved from afar, it was a perfect trip. I visited a bunch of the recommendations given by readers which were so right on and incredibly helpful. Here are some small snippets from the trip...and, I'll be posting later today about one of my new favorite shops in Chicago...

Chicagophotos_3

{left to right, top to bottom: sun salad from Crust (amazing), wall from Vosges(gorgeous), Maude the pug at Paper Doll, a home in the Bucktown (I think) area, hotdog from Hot Doug's (super cheap and delicious), flat bread pizza from Crust, and another lovely home in Bucktown.}

chicago recommendations?

You guys are the best when I'm looking for some suggestions. I'll be heading to Chicago in a couple weekends from now to visit a dear friend and wondering if you windy city dwellers out have any tips on some home design shops & clothing shops you love? My main priority is to catch up with an old friend, but good food and good shopping are always a great way to spend a weekend with friends...

{ a HUGE thank you to everyone who posted suggestions...I am overwhelmed and thrilled. I've tried to email most everyone back, but a big thank you regardless if I have not gotten to you yet!}

Chicago

I'm back...

...super tan from Maui, relaxed, and ready to go after a whirlwind of events...including three wedding ceremonies & a fantastic honeymoon. Thanks so much for all your kind thoughts, wishes and blessings both before and after our wedding. I've read each and every comment (even if I can't reply to all of them) and truly appreciate all the support and kind words! For those of who asked to see more wedding photos...I'll share more soon. All of our photos were shot in medium format film, so it'll be a little longer before I have any of the fancy professional pics to share. In the meantime, I'll be sharing other various tidbits and details from the wedding via digital casual photos in the weeks to come...

Maui2

{left to right: flowers, Black Pearl dessert with passionfruit & chocolate mousse from Mama's Fish House, the view from our hotel room at the Four Seasons Maui; Old Lahaina Luau; sunset at the Four Seasons, and a bunny from the Maui County Fair.}

Maui-bound...

Have any of you been to Maui recently? I'll be there is less than two weeks for our honeymoon and a much needed vacation...yay! We're planning to wing it and figure out stuff when we get there. But, if any of you have any recommendations for restaurants, things to see, a good guide book I should buy, etc...I'd love to hear.... {thanks!}

Mauiyay

Hello 2006!

Well, it's officially 2006 and my first year living back in Philadelphia has come and gone. My days in New York are starting to seem further & further away. As I look forward to this new year, here are a few planned adventures for 2006....

Definite & Guaranteed Adventures:
~ take 5-week letterpress class
~ continue planning wedding
~ get married three times (aka...1 Thai ceremony + 1 Korean cermony + 1 American ceremony)
~ honeymoon on a private island
~ embark on first year of marriage

Possible & Maybe Adventures:
~ trip to Thailand to visit family
~ start long-awaited business

Very Hopeful (but Less Than Likely) Adventures:
~ winning that one million dollars I've been working on

Looking back on my first year in Philly

Before proceeding with plans & thoughts for 2006, here's a recap of Philly living in 2005 and the people (and pets) that shared in my many adventures here....

Adventures05_2

Good fortune to come?

On Thanksgiving, while sorting through some of my old artwork in my parents' basement, I looked inside a bag of trash they had set aside and saw an envelope with my name on it. I figured they had thrown away an old birthday card, but I wanted to take a look and feel that bit of nostalgia. So, I opened it and saw a Happy Sweet 16 card from a friend in high school. AND what do I find but fifteen dollars inside! This made me really happy. I have never "found" money in my entire life, and the money I do find actually belongs to me from 10 years ago!

This made me think that had I not been curious enough to see what was thrown away in that trash bag, the fifteen dollars would have been thrown away and lost forever. It was only fifteen dollars, but still...hello, symbolism? I wondered how much money really does get thrown away in the this world. The superstitious part of me thought (and hopes) that maybe this means good fortune is coming my way. I've had a slow couple months and I could really use some good fortune right about now. I was thinking I'd use the money to buy lottery tickets or something...and maybe it would launch an upward spiral, some life-changing event.

BUT in a moment of desperation last night, it was used to pay for pizza. There goes my good fortune...

I Heart Cool Mail (part II)

The other day, I received this cool little note from my friend Pomme. She typed this on a vintage typewriter while staying at the W in New York. She was right...even though I can hardly read it, I do love the look of this! Thanks Pomme!

Wletter

Happy Friday...

Wishing you delectable & yummy brunches this weekend!

Brunch

{This is a plate of eggs benedict that Bob and I made a couple weekends ago for Jane & Jim. Photo credit goes to Jane.}

"I Love Beth" and other such phrases...

For those of you who have a site meter, you know how funny it can be to see what searches people have typed in that inherently lead them to your blog or website. For me, many times it's been various designers I've talked about...like Funktion and Draugsvold, or some topic, like Toggle Coats or an Anthropologie Tea Set. I've even come up in a search for "I Love Potatoes" but that really is my fault as I did a post with basically that same name. But, the best by far was a search I discovered today for "I Love Beth" which resulted in a glance at my blog. And I can tell you for sure, that Beth will just LOVE that!

To those of you to do come across this blog of mine through your random search for something else, I do appreciate you stopping by! So, continue to search away!

Weekend Recap

So, it turned out to be much colder up in the Catskills than we had anticipated. There was snow on the ground...so the farmers markets were all closed. Most of the weekend was spent in our toasty, warm chalet, by the fire, sipping on hot rum apple cider. A couple highlights of the weekend include a trip to a local antique barn and trip to the farm. Beth wanted to take one of those sweet piglets home, but the farm lady said no way.

Weekend3

gone fishing...

I'm off to the Catskills for a weekend of R&R with the girls. There may be some apple picking, horse riding...and most importantly some fun flea market adventures...

Gonefishing

Cool Discovery of the Week (part II)

Sometimes, I really can't limit my weekly discoveries to just ONE. Design Sponge is a fabulous blog I just recently stumbled upon. Already well-established and well-known among design lovers, Design Sponge covers a plethora of visually cool things. Though I feel quite behind in my stumbling, I was very happy to make this discovery!

Also, thanks to d*s for listing some of my postings here and here on her fab site!

Plans for the Weekend

1 ~ Buy vintage bicycle
2 ~ Dress shopping on vintage bicycle
3 ~ Flower shopping on vintage bicycle
4 ~ Take long nap after all the shopping & riding on vintage bicycle

Weekend2

You're a florist? No, I'm a floorist.

I have to admit...I'm a bit floorist. Since moving into my first high-rise apartment building, I have noticed I have this problem. And I feel very bad about it.

To be floorist means that when others come in the elevator with you, you judge them based on what floor they are getting off at. Typically, the higher the better. The young professionals that are my age typically live on the lower numbered floors--and the empty nesters live on the higher floors. I am a young professional but happened to get lucky and score an apartment on one of the higher floors. It is an odd occurance. The people on my floor often look at me and probably wonder..."Shouldn't you be on one of the single-digit floors?"

And then, on a whole new level, there is also a syndrome called being "sidest". Yes, your apartment number (odd or even) tells everyone which side of the building you are on. Even numbers mean you've got the fancy view, odd numbers means you have the European view of the town houses and brown stones. Nice, but it's not the fancy view of the city. I am not sidest, since I live on the less fancy side.

This was never an issue back in my Brooklyn walk-up. The higher you were, the worse it was because that meant more walking. The side didn't really matter...although facing the street was always better than facing another building.

Living the big-city, high-rise life has really gotten to my head.

Cherry Coke does not belong in chocolate chip cookies

This weekend, I had a craving for some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Bob offered to make me some, only we didn't have baking soda...or chocolate chips. AND there was a flood-like monsoon outside, so there was no way we were leaving the apartment. So, Bob puts on his resoucefulness cap and manages to get chocolate from a combo of leftover chocolate from Valentine's Day and from the vending machine in the lobby. I told him I heard that you can use actual drinking soda (like seltzer) for recipes if you're missing baking soda...something with the carbonation? We have no seltzer, so (under my advisement) he adds some of my leftover Cherry Coke to the mixture.

The cookies come out tasting like butt. They were more like scones, but not as good. The chocolate was old, and Cherry Coke does not work like baking soda. Whoever told me about the soda thing lied.

Next day, we go to an actual grocery store and buy baking soda and Ghiradelli chocolate chips. The cookies were amazing. I have eaten 12 cookies in less than 24 hours.

LESSON LEARNED: Being resourceful sometimes works. But sometimes it doesn't.

Plans for the Weekend

~ Eat noodles on the floor
~ Drink wine in cool wine glasses
~ Make Pear & Roquefort Salad
~ Work on 2005 Cupcake Tour

Weekend

Today I have 3 eyelids.

Yup! Three on EACH eye, so that's six in total. Normally, I only have one on each eye--which is rare to begin with for an Asian girl. But today is just one of those days when it's decided to multiply and fluff up into three.

Tapas-style date! Brilliant!

Last night, Jeff the chef came over and made us dinner to congratulate us on our engagement. It was lovely...salad with bacon-wrapped dates & apple/onion confit; lamb chops with couscous, spinach, & an olive tapenade, and for desert a godiva chocolate cake/brownie with ice cream...yum!

But last night, I also learned about the tapas-style date. I haven't dated in so long that I was delighted to hear about HIS dating adventures. A tapas-style date does not involve going out to eat tapas...it involves going to a few different restaurants all in one evening...all as part of ONE date. So, you might start off at an actual tapas place and have a couple small plates, move on to the next place for their house cipriani, on to the next place for the house margarita, and then to the last for sushi and champagne. Sounds lovely! This makes ME want to date Jeff! (Just kidding, Babe!)

Window Washing 101

Today, the windows of my building are being washed. It is much appreciated so that I can actually SEE the view outside my window instead of being distracted by a thick film of dirt and dust. However, due to the fact that I work from home, I am ducking for cover from these window washers. I am torn - I want to see the outside and the sunshine while I work, but I also do not want them to see me in my pajamas. So, here I am opening and closing the shades as I hear them and see their ropes move up and down. I accidentally left one of the shades slightly open, then I saw a window washer man quickly approaching...so I hid under my desk until he passed.

A more patient person would close the shades, work in less light, and wait until they are done.

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