Wednesday, November 30, 2016



There are so many favorite moments in Mad Men, but after years this scene just stuck in my mind.  As a child growing up, everything I knew about life were always read in books or watched on tv  before experiencing them first hand in real life.  Sometimes you never know if those feelings were genuine or just an obligation to confirm to those learned ideals.




Tuesday, November 29, 2016


I'm terrible at thrifting because I simply just don't have the eye for it, but I have a friend that's great at it!  Today she and I went thrifting together and with a little help from her I actually found some amazing deals.  This brand new 30 inch Christmas tree came with lights and a whole bag of ornament costed me a grand $6!!

I didn't want to be bothered too much with Christmas stuff but this was too good of a deal to pass up! I mean, for the price of a cup of latte, my little office is decorated!



I also found some small vintage glass ornaments that looked so amazing when the Christmas tree light shone through them, for another $2!  These ornaments were made of some kind of heavy glass, when hung they looked like frosted light bulbs and have a beautiful soft glow.  I cannot rave enough about them!




Saturday, November 26, 2016


I had been working for weeks without a break and I was utterly exhausted.  Today I got a break and it happen to be raining heavily and I was in heaven!

I took Fie Fie to the dog park and after I dropped him off at home I went to explore new shops and areas, something I haven't done in a long time!  I finally found a knitting group that I think I will enjoy and checked out some holiday decorations and put up my Christmas tree.  I also ate ramen at Mitsuwa and walked around in the bookstore.  I have so many knitting books and projects that were gathering dust, now that I found a knitting group I feel like they are coming back to life.

My conclusion at end of day was that a human being needs rest, and that's all I have to say about that!


At night I cooked dinner for the pups,  and Kelly after having had her warm meal on a cold day was particularly happy.  Whenever she's in a super good mood she picks up a fluffy bear, and squeaks and show me that she's got a bear.  It's very special because Kelly usually has no interest in games or toys, so I always thinks it's super funny when she brings one to the sofa or her bed.


With New Year approaching, I inevitably begin to think about wish lists and resolutions.  Learning how to play the cello has always been a dream of mine.

I attended a music and art school in Beijing when I was a teenager. There were a group of students with different instruments, some played traditional Chinese instrument, and some played Western instruments, and there was only one student that played the cello.  One evening we just happened to have a discussion about a quartet, and I remember him demonstrating different interpretations of a passage and I was thinking to myself that the sound of cello was quite amazing. That was about the first time the thought of studying cello ever entered my mind.

Two years later I came to the States and soon after I attended a private school in Santa Monica, one of the international student was an excellent cellist and we quickly became best friends.  She had a obsession with Jacqueline de Pre and we spent a lot of time after school watching her performance. Thinking back, these were quite unusual experiences to grow up in, as now I realized that this was not the typical teenager activity and we were all a bunch of serious nerds.

Now I'm an adult, I often think about the importance of music and art in a person's life.  It's really not about accomplishments anymore but more about personal fulfillment, and music can certainly bring a level of satisfaction that no money or career success can substitute.

 While piano can have such brilliance, I find it lack the kind of intimacy that a cello could bring.  Like this cello suite by Bach, it's almost like a quiet monologue among oneself in solitude.

After many years of wishful thinking, I think this might finally be the year that I pull myself together and rent a cello and get myself a few lessons.




Friday, November 25, 2016



Found this little tree ornament and thought he looked a lot like Fie Fie...



I think the similarity is definitely there!

For the past several years, I almost always made homemade cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving.  It's so easy and the taste is amazing, even if I'm attending Thanksgiving party elsewhere I always offer to bring cranberry sauce.


There are a lot of good recipes on the internet so I make small adjustment from year to year, the leftovers last me quite a while.



This year I skipped the big cooking production and ate at a friends' house.  Non the less I made cranberry sauce and packed into a lunch box and brought it to the party.  It's more or less become a tradition.  For some people there is a lack of tradition in their life so a few years back I was determined to make my own.  Cranberry sauce is one of them, Christmas tree is another, I am really enjoying these little treasures in my life.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016


I took my little guy out for a drive and showed him off at work.  I recently got him this little stripy sweater and it looked so good on him, I literally think he's the dog version of a hipster.

Sunday, November 20, 2016





I have a not so mild obsession with stars, this headband would be the perfect piece for new year's eve!

Friday, November 18, 2016




I love grandmas, and any stories about grandmas are great!  I recently discovered this grandma and her cooking show on youtube and I have been watching it and trying to replicate the recipes on her show.  When I was growing up, my grandma cooked amazing meals and sew full sets of outfits for her grandkids every change of season.  I used to have a piano teacher that was a wonderful grandma too in her 80s and she always fed me cake and tea before my lesson started.  I also love any kind of stories about grandmas, I mean, who doesn't love Jessica Fletcher and Miss Marple?


Thursday, November 17, 2016





Honestly, I have no idea what the deal is with Uggie.  I mean, he could be cleaned up pretty nice after a decent hair cut and a bath, he could even pass off as some respectable civilized designer dog who at one point came from a pet store and got carried around in someone's diamond stud purse... but when he eats, he just seems to go in a deep trance.  Like, when a bowl of food is placed in front of him, his mind just drifts into outer space, every cell in his body tremors with blissful excitement over a bowl of dog food,  and it takes some serious celestial effort to call him back.

Fie Fie and Kelly would inspect the food, but while they were inspecting and sniffling, Uggie had already finished his bowl in the blink of an eye and patiently waiting to see if there's any left overs from the other dogs.  If I don't keep an eye out, he would finish his fair share, eat Kelly's left over, Fie Fie's entire portion because unlike Uggie, Fie Fie thinks his food would be right where he left it.  And then, Uggie would explode into many pieces from having OD on food, until 4 hours later, in the middle of the night, when I hear someone, perhaps a burglar, frantically trying to lick the shit out of an empty bowl in the kitchen because by god I swear the food MIGHT just happened to show up in his mouth after licking really hard into an EMPTY bowl.








Tuesday, November 15, 2016




I've been listening to U2 while driving these days, and the lyric is quite beautiful!  Their video is not so great but it doesn't take away from the music.

You got a face not spoiled by beauty
I have some scars from where I've been
You've got eyes that can see right through me
You're not afraid of anything they've seen
I was told that I would feel nothing the first time
I don't know how these cuts heal
But in you I found a rhyme
If there is a light
You can't always see
And there is a world
We can't always be
If there is a dark
Now we shouldn't doubt
And there is a light
Don't let it go out
And this is a song
A song for someone
This is a song
A song for someone
You let me into a conversation
A conversation only we could make
You break and enter my imagination
Whatever's in there
It's yours to take
I was told I'd feel nothing the first time
You were slow to heal
But this could be the night
If there is a light
You can't always see
And there is a world
We can't always be
If there is a dark
Within and without
And there is a light
Don't let it go out
And this is a song
A song for someone
This is a song
This is a song for someone
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
And I'm a long way
From your hill of Calvary
And I'm a long way
From where I was, where I need to be
If there is a light
You can't always see
And there is a world
We can't always be
If there is a kiss
I stole from your mouth
And there is a light
Don't let it go out
Written by Adam Clayton, Dave Evans, Larry Mullen, Paul David Hewson • Copyright © Universal Music Publishing Group





Ulla Johnson really caught my eye this season.  The design is feminine and wearable, seems like interesting fashion is still out there if you are willing to pay a bit more.

Sunday, November 13, 2016



There is so much tension in the world out there right now, so I'm resorting back to my fantasy land.

Saturday, November 5, 2016


I got this little vintage doily as a gift, it's the prettiest one I've seen so far!

Friday, November 4, 2016



While it's still pretty warm during the day, the nights are getting cold, so I get to cuddle with Kelly more often than the summer time.  No matter how busy, I'm still cooking fresh meals for my pups everyday and I do my best to take them out on a good long walk at least once a day. On some days it's definitely more challenging than others but I gotta take care of my girl!







Tuesday, November 1, 2016




Halloween is huge in my neighborhood and I never miss it!  There is usually food at my house and once the sun goes down and the kids started to show up, the party just started to happen naturally.  This year several neighbors stopped by for a drink and between friends, neighbors and the kids, we had quite a nice little crowd.  

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...