January Mood Board

I'm joining Karin A again with my January mood board and the finds in my garden. The first few weeks of January were very cold and lots of my plants froze. But then it rained and now it's warm. With the strange weather, I'm amazed to find some color.

I made three arrangements with the flowers. I love the little green vase that I found for $1 at an estate sale.

I also meant to do a mood board last month, but never got around to posting. In fact, the arrangement I made with those finds are still sitting on the dining room table. I'm very behind in my housecleaning. Don't even ask about the Christmas decorations.

365 + 1, Week four, I'm sore!

A week of sweat poured over bikes and roads along with Ikea drawers has left me quite sore. I cooked a lot more this week, which was my goal, so pat on the back for that. But I'm still eating enough for 6, and even with the workouts, I'm still putting too much junk in my mouth. Maybe if I took a photo of EVERYTHING I ate, well, that would be interesting.

Blogger stats

I always find it interesting to see where my audience is coming from, since I have such a huuuuuuge following. Blogger stats tell you some fun facts.

I've had a blog account since May 2009. Only took me about 2 1/2 years to get it going. And 939 page views, of which about 930 are from my computer.

My Coast with the Most has been the most popular post. Let's boast! And have a toast!

Almost 10% of my visitors come from Russia. привет и добро пожаловать! 

This, I don't get. Penisextenderpro???? WTF?? (I hate using these abbreviations, but I hate the fact that my blog is appearing on a penis extender website even more.)

Anyhow, just some randomness here today.

Chinese New Year

Yesterday was the official start of the Chinese New Year. It's the year of the Dragon. According to my mother, this is a good year for me. Although, just for kicks, I went online and found this Chinese astrology site. You enter in your birthday and some other info, and your birth chart is created.

White chicken, huh?

Sweet! My social life will increase!

I guess my "Lucky Element" is Fire. Uh oh. Bad luck.

This I found interesting. Basically my middle-age years will be pretty crappy. Looking forward to my 50s and 60s!! Can't wait to turn 92! I'll be one happening old momma.

Anyhow, to bring in the new year, the family got together for a lovely feast.

Lotus root signify abundance

Fish should be served whole for good fortune

Red for good luck

Cheers to family

365 + 1, Week three, oh gee!

Little late on posting the third week of my 366. I did a lot of takeout in the food department, so the goal this week is to make a few more home cooked meals. Then I didn't do too much in terms of aerobic activity, although I was still very active. I think lifting shelves 30 times should count as something!

The art studio (latest name) is coming along, as you can see from the photos. I've let it take over my life, but I'm hopeful to have a lot of it done over the next two weeks! Yippee!!

Four fortunes

So these past few days, I haven't been much for cooking. Long days at work plus the cold weather pretty much just pushed me straight for take out. Last night, I headed to my favorite Burmese-Chinese restaurant. The curry was gone in a hurry as I inhaled most of the dishes. But I still had room for two fortune cookies. For lunch and dinner today, I had the leftovers along with the two last cookies. It made me wonder if the restaurant put in four cookies because they figured the food was enough for four? I guess I ate it over three meals, so I'm not a total pig.

I have to say, I'm happy I didn't have to share because I like my four fortunes!

365 + 1, Week two is through!

Another week, another 14 photos! Activity this week involved lots of jobs around the house, which definitely made my arms and shoulders sore as heck. Food included a few nights out, sampling dishes at an innovative Indian restaurant as well as one of my favorite Peruvian restaurants in SF.

Craft Room Inspirations

Hooray! I'm making progress on my craft room. (What I'm not making progress on is a name for this room. "Craft room" seems rather uninspiring. Creativity space? Art studio? Still racking my brain on this one.)

Anyhow, the peachy keen walls are now painted a soothing gray. The gross dog-soiled carpet has been torn out. I've even painted a mural on one of the walls.

Before

Enjoying the carpet one last time

(I haven't had a chance to take some photos today, but soon.)

Next up, scouring Craigslist to see if I can find some bookshelves and painting the floor. In the meantime, I've been revisiting my pinterest board to keep me inspired.

I love open shelving, because if I don't see it, I forget I have it.

Source: kimklassencafe.com

Source: rachelwhiting.co.uk

Although being the OCD type when it comes to organization, having things packaged neatly in baskets and binders puts me in a calmer state of mind.

Source: bhg.com

Source: marthastewart.com

I'm thinking about stenciling the floor...

Source: m.designsponge.com

Or maybe a simpler design...

Source: maisonboheme.blogspot.com

Looking at my pinterest board, it looks like I'm leaning towards a soft industrial vintage look.

Source: stylizimo.com

I definitely have a thing for drawers...

Source: houzz.com

Source: leah-theinsidestory.blogspot.com

Source: batixa.tumblr.com

About 3 weeks left for me to finish the space. Let's see what I can come up with!

Tradition

Last week, I made a comment on Shutter Sisters about my one word, cherish. I wrote that while cherish was my one word, there were other words that spoke to me, and in turn, these were words that I would cherish this year.

Strength

Beauty

Life

Love

Joy

Memories

The Present

Tradition

That day, I was cherishing tradition, and I shared a collage of Christmas with my grandpa, where he taught me how to make his famous (at least in our household!) bread.

This weekend, I decided it was time to bring this tradition into my home. I took his 8-page recipe, shrunk it down, and spent an evening making Grandpa's bread. The smell that filled my house as the loaves were baking was just heavenly. 

Unfortunately, I realized one of the reasons I don't make bread is because I'm a bread-aholic. I won't even tell you how long it took me to finish a loaf. (It was more than one day but less than two.)

I will have to post the recipe soon but I winged some of it, so I need to make the bread again and take better notes. And if I am going to continue to make this bread, I will have to give it away ASAP before my hips and thighs start turning into marshmallows. 

Creating bliss

Bliss [blɪs]: perfect happiness; serene joy

Ah yes, this too is a lovely word. Today, over at Shutter Sisters, Chris asked how do you find your bliss. For me, there are so many ways. From sitting in my garden enjoying the flowers to having a cup of coffee with a homemade cookie...

Or watching the ocean waves to hiking amongst the redwoods.

Floating on water and sleeping in hammocks bring bliss too!

But sometimes, I just want to sit in my house and create things. Using my hands brings me bliss. However, I haven't really had a good space to do this in. My project in November was to redecorate the office space and create a craft room. I dropped the ball on that one! (Don't even ask about the dining room.)

But I'm back on it again, and visions of my creativity space are coming closer to fruition. Closer in that I actually emptied out the room and stuffed everything into the guest room. Now I just have to tear out the carpet, paint the walls, install shelving, and so much more... all in one month. (I have a friend visiting me in February and unless she wants to sleep on the floor, I need to get that guest room cleared out!) Can I do it? Let's go!

An empty slate