Sunday, March 31, 2013


 Guess which city I was at during the last week? By looking at the Subaru outback I think you can pretty much guess that I was in Portland. I have no idea what was up with that, but while I was there, it seemed that everyone drove a Subaru outback.  I admit that it's a good looking car, maybe one day I will move to Portland, live in a apartment and drive a Subaru outback!









This was my first trip to Portland. I've heard so much good things about the city, and I have to say that it really doesn't disappoint.

We got quite a lot out of the trip even though my husband and I both had to do some work while we were there. We visited the Chinese garden in China town, attended the wine and beer festival, saw a Jazz performance, and checked out some great restaurants and coffee shops. Perhaps more on that on a follow up post!

Friday, March 22, 2013

Monday, March 18, 2013




I'm kind of a sucker for colored pens.


I found these craft paper at Michaels and couldn't part with them:) I've been thinking about doing some scrap-booking lately, maybe next month when I have more time!


Ahhhh, morning coffee, how I love thee. 

Friday, March 15, 2013


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Brought Fie Fie first thing in the morning to get his catheter removed. He was running into walls with the cone on, and after 24 hours of wearing this thing, he was a little sad too.   All his tests came back normal, the vet gave him some pills to take, now I just have to remember to give them to him every night after dinner.  

Here's a little tip to feed pills to your dog. Put the pill in a little cube of butter, they will gladly gobble the whole thing down!


Thursday, March 14, 2013


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Playing with polyvore is fun! I've decided that the city bag is my next dream bag:)



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We got Fie Fie back from the vet early in the morning because he seemed to be doing fine without more vomiting over night. Soon as he got home he drank some water, since he was wearing a cone ( still got his catheter on in case we need to take him back for IV fluid again in the next day or so) I held little bit of water in my palm and let him drank it. I also gave him tiny bites of chicken and he gladly ate them. I felt a huge relief as I don't know what else to do if he still doesn't get any better.  

I'm going to cook some more rice porridge with chicken and feed him through out the day to replenish some nutrition. Now that I got my pup back, I can do anything in the world:)

Wednesday, March 13, 2013


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Fie Fie did not get better today, as soon as the vet opened in the morning, I made an appointment to bring him in. We saw the vet at 12pm. They suggest I leave him there for a day for IV fluids and some other medication. They also ran a few tests to see if everything is normal. The X ray says he didn't inject anything he shouldn't, but we are still waiting to see the blood test results. In the mean while he's being hydrated because anything he eats or drinks right now just goes right back up. At least that's what I could describe to the best of my English abilities.

It has been a very stressful day because I don't like it when my pet gets sick and I can't pin my fingers on what exactly is wrong. Somehow I always run into some person or another that's crying at the lobby of the pet hospital. While a middle aged man was chatting with me saying that if his dog dies, it would kill him, the loud speaker was playing Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, as if being at the vet wasn't stressful enough, they had to play an opera in which the main characters kill themselves at the end.

It was a day that I walked in the vet office with Fie Fie and came out empty handed with nothing but a collar and leash. Other than that, it's just another one of my normal days. Without one of my pup, I realize that I kind of depend on them to keep me occupied during the day. I stay home alone and when I work, I work alone. Sometimes the whole day goes by without me saying much of anything simply because there was no one there, and today this lonely existence suddenly seemed more intolerable than usual, mixing in with my anxiety of worrying about Fie Fie, it suddenly felt like I was trapped in a very lonely city life. 

Tuesday, March 12, 2013


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My little Fie Fie hasn't been feeling well today. He didn't eat very much food today, he even refused turkey breast that I offered. So I cooked his favorite food, a mixture of chicken with veggie cooked in a high pressure cooker. Kelly and Uggie gobbled down their plate, but Fie Fie was looking left and right, fuzzing over his food. I hand fed him a few bit of chicken but I think he threw up in the backyard the few pieces of chicken I gave him. I'm worried:(  

Monday, March 11, 2013


Other than two pretty Hawaiian dresses, I brought back home with me other little treasures from Hawaii.


You can find plumeria flower hair pins and earrings very reasonably priced at pretty much every touristy shops in Hawaii.  I really love them, only wish I had a ton more!  The deep green glass pendant was a find at a flea market. Some local resident there make these himself! The green seashell bracelet was found at a booth in Kona after my husband and I had a couple of cocktails at Don the Beach Comber. The little rice pearl bracelet costed me $3. The green earring with butterflies was from a coffee plantation. The mother of the owner made them and sold them at the gift shop along with local coffee.  I can't bring back the Hawaiian sunset and the ocean wave, but these little pieces of treasures will stay with me along with my memories:)

Lavender in my garden is getting so big! The flower(?) is bursting with fragrance:)

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My husband got these shoes for me last year while we were at the Repetto store in Paris. I've just started to wear them regularly recently.  Somehow I like to tug new things away for a while before wearing them so that they feel more like "my" things. 

Saturday, March 9, 2013


I've been really hooked into watching Paranormal Witness. It's kind of like the ultimate nerd suspense tv show. Here is a reenactment of "ghost witnessing." Spooky right?

Reality: I was holding a squeaky toy ready for the doggies to catch!

Back to the grind again.  Catching up with work emails, running errands, stocking up on home necessities, cleaning up the doggies, cleaning up the house... endless chores, BUT! It was super good to see my babies:)



Thursday, March 7, 2013



After a tiresome over night flight, we finally arrived home around 6 am. My garden and fairy gardens are looking great. The cherry blossom tree, which a little over a week ago was looking like a dried stick, is now blooming!


We picked up our doggies as soon as the boarding place opened up. It's so good to get my doggies back, I missed them so much!

Wednesday, March 6, 2013


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When we first arrived in Hawaii last week, it seemed that there was not much going on except this single mountain road that never seem to end. After a few times up and down the highway, our eyes were slowly getting used to the dense vegetation and started to notice things. There were plenty of things to do and places to go, the key was to spot that little sign and that narrow road leading you up to them. Everyday we drove on Mamalahoa highway, I always saw this little black dog playing in the front yard of this house. There were lush trees surrounding it, and the owner apparently love the little puppy very much. They built a dog house, and a doggy sized "porch" for him to chill with many food bowls laying around. Some times I caught him jumping around, other times he was just laying on his "porch"resting. It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen!

Whenever I got a chance, I talked to the locals. It seemed that most people who moved here bought themselves a one way ticket and never looked back. I can see why! If I were surrounded by lush trees and the ocean, I'd be a happier person too!  I'm savoring my last days here at the big island. At night I don't want to sleep because the time here is precious! When I get back home, it will be a while until I could enjoy the beautiful sunset and sound of ocean wave at night again!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013


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If you are in the Kona area in Hawaii, it's definitely worth the effort to make it to super J's. You can't get a more mom and pop, hole on the wall restaurant than this. After exploring town for half a day, my husband and I were ready to get some lunch. 

Inside the restaurant, there were two plastic folding tables for diners and rows of family photos, and pretty much everything else here was set up for practical purpose only, which made it so much more curious why they had a shiny plasma tv in the dining area. They served one thing mainly, and they were called "laulaus." When my husband asked what was a "laulau," the lady in the picture smiled proudly and said we may watch tv for two minutes. She turned on the tv for us while we stepped away from the cash register to watch the video.  Apparently some tv crew did a short 2 minute episode about the restaurant featuring this lady and their food, and described laulau as a type of marinade pork wrapped in a inner layer of taro leaf and a outer layer of tea leaf, slow cooked for hours. It is one of the local foods here in Hawaii. 

We were charmed instantly and ordered two plates of food with coke. While we dived into our food, the lady chatted with us. She told us that back in the old days, whenever they were short on cash, they used to make laulaus and went from door to door selling them.  She inherited this restaurant from her father, whose dream was to open a restaurant on this spot. Unfortunately, he didn't live long enough to see it finished.  Today, the family lives where the restaurant is because they work here 20 hours a day. The laulaus must be prepared the night before and cooked slowly all night long. One bite, you will taste the slow cooked goodie in all its glory:) And the reason that they chose to make laulaus? "Because that's all people wanted!" They have been making one thing for the past twenty years, so I'm betting money that they are the town's laulau experts! 

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I'm really missing my puppies now, but we are heading home soon:)

Monday, March 4, 2013


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We are still here in Hawaii enjoying our vacation.  It's been a lot of fun running around in Hawaiian print dresses and enjoying the nice weather. I love the pink dress in the second picture, it has white orchids printed on, how appropriate for being in Hawaii:)


Aloha:)

Saturday, March 2, 2013


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Yesterday we saw whale from the patio of our house. Today I tried snorkel for the first time ever, the ocean was powerful and exciting at the same time, I did pretty good for someone who can't swim.  My hubby and I have been going to Don the Beach Comber for drinks, my hair was covered with cocktail umbrellas by the end of night! There was a bird coming up to the rocks right by us catching his dinner. For two evenings in a row we saw him swallow the fresh catch of the day in front of our eyes!

New Year Preparation

I always like to do a bit of preparation at the end of each year to welcome the new year, although this year things were very challenging, I...