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 still couldn't help but feeling thankful that all my puppies are with me and we've gone through another holiday season all together.  There seems to always be some hardship around the holidays that make it hard to get into the celebration mode for the last couple years, but I'm determined to actually celebrate holiday season for 2023. 

To prep for the new year, I let go a lot of things around the house.  I went through every area going through drawers and cabinets to see what things can be donate or disposed of.  Things like dishes I don't use, clothes that no longer fit me or shoes I don't wear anymore all found new homes.  It was such a good feeling to let go of things and remove clutter from my home. 

I also dropped off a massive tray of custom jewelry as my vintage days are very much behind me.  Lately I really don't want to be weight down by material things anymore, and I am ready to part ways with a lot of things that I no longer wish to be responsible for.  It felt so good to reclaim my space again and just have a peaceful and organized home. 

Other things that got the boot are several orchids and books that I don't read anymore that are just taking up precious space.  Some area of the home actually required more than one time decluttering, it turned out to be a far bigger project than I anticipated and I'm still not finished, but I've got enough to give me a fresh start for the new year. 

One last thing that I always do for myself before the New Year is buying a brand new journal.  I always love writing down my goals and inspirations and there's nothing that quite like starting a brand new journal that signify putting the old year behind and start the new year fresh.  There is so much trauma from the past year it made me want to not think about it altogether, I'm looking forward to write down some better experiences for this year. 

Home Improvement Plans for the New Year

 

I stopped by Michael's a week ago and although I swore not to buy anymore planners,  I couldn't resist such a cute cover.  As usual I really enjoy making plans around this time of the year.  Particularly I've been really looking at the kitchen and baths in my house and wondering when I can finally get these areas done.  I'm using this cute little planner for home improvements and it would be good to keep track of expense and timelines somewhere. 

Here's the current set up of my bathroom, I'm embarrassed to say that not a single thing has changed since I moved here eleven years ago.  It's got the early 2000's Tuscany feel and very boxy design because of all the "built ins."  Also since my house was built in the 1920s, I'm looking forward to bringing some 1920's bath flair into the next upgrade.

Here's an inspiration of my bath renovation.  I really love the look of the shower ring and I think it could work well for protecting the windows. 

I'm already super smitten on this vintage style tub, my current tub is in front of two windows and I would like to keep the tub in the same location if possible.  

The more ambitious move is to get rid of the stand alone shower, considering that I have not used it in the past five years, it's function is pretty obsolete in my house.  I'm the one weirdo who much prefer bath over a shower, and the bulky shower took almost half of my tiny bathroom space.  Having a shower and bath combo would open up the space tremendously, as well as allowing me to move the location of the toilet and sink. 

The one thing that bothered me the most about my master bathroom is the door opening to the view of a toilet, with an oddly placed cabinet above it.  Without the shower bulking up the space, it would allow me to move the toilet over and place an elegant pedestal sink over it. 

Currently I'm obsessed with the console sink from FiredEarth, I think it would absolutely be amazing for this space.  

For the area that currently holds the cabinet and sink, I would love to convert it into a sit down vanity area with storage cabinets on both side.  This article has so many great ideas.  Mine would likely be smaller with french panel doors due to the space constrains, but me being a soaking-bath girl and a make-up girl, I would really love to turn this bathroom into a luxurious space for myself. 

Here's an inspo photo I found, I think my tub area will end up looking quite similar! 

Finally, when I think of 1920s bathrooms, I'm always reminded of intricate tile work. This site seems to have some fun design. 

I'm really loving all the tile detail of this bathroom featured on here.  There are vintage style tile makers in LA such as BW tiles that I will have to make a trip over some time soon.  

All in all here is my vision for the master bath, I think it will suit my 1920s home very well and I really can't wait to make it happen! 

Master bedroom progress

Last year I refinished the bedroom floor in the master bedroom and gave away the old furniture set to my gardener because he had commented on how much he liked it.  It literally took me a whole year to get working on it again because I didn't sleep in there and simply didn't have the time. 

Back in late August I suffered a very bad medical incident that literally threw my life upside down and took me away from being able to live a normal life for months.  It made me realize what an awful and dangerous world we truly live in and there are some medical professionals who could care less about me as a human being and my life meant nothing to them.

While struggling to survive and repairing the damage done by others, I put my focus on home improvement projects again because it's something that I'm passionate about and it always guarantee to brighten up my day.  I finally ordered a new bed, this time I upgraded to a king size low profile bed because I had wanted my pups to be able to jump on the bed with ease and also have plenty of leg room for all of us.  It took me a while to bring in the mattress because the one I had wanted was quite pricy.  I ended up going with a luxurious Beautyrest mattress that has a plush pillow top.  I took Kelly to the mattress store and she helped me negotiate a great bargain.

Yesterday the mattress got delivered after a two week long wait, I immediately went to HomeGoods and picked a new set of quilt and sham and also order a water proof mattress cover online.  In the evening when I got home, I slowly worked on the bed and made dinner for me and the pups, it was such an amazing feeling to focus on something happy.  I'm already loving the natural wood color of the new bed and the mattress feels like soft cloud.  

Our first night trying out the new bed was amazing.  Bella was a bit confused at first as she likes to head upstairs when she's ready for bed so I had to lure her downstairs with a treat.  I slept so well on my new bed and I couldn't even put in words how good it felt to finally get a new bed!

The remaining things that needed to be done include installing new baseboard, fixing the window that Uggie chewed up again!) and making new custom cushions for the window seat.  After that I just need to declutter and organize my closet and also switch out my current IKEA dresser with a new one.  I also want to install some new window covering and I already found some new lace curtain that I really like.  I'm also contemplating painting the room again... but I do still love the current wall color!  So, that's the plan for now.  I can't believe it has taken me this long to get to it but I'm really loving how it's turning out!

A little tlc for the home

The past month and half has been extraordinarily stressful with one traumatic event after another, as a result a lot of things at home were neglected.  I decided to hole up at home this past weekend and work around the house a bit, and also just take some time off for myself so I could heal and recover from all the stress.  It's very hard to make future plans when life is overwhelming, a short break was much needed for me to just recharge and recover. 

All of my orchids had been quite neglected, I spent a lot of time giving them some love, potting several orchids that badly needed a refresh and cleaned up a good deal of them and giving all the orchids a thorough soak in water.  

I also gave some extra love to my puppies as well,  everyone got a hair cut at the groomers and I made delicious meals for everyone just because I had the time.  It was very hard to make plans when life is full of stress, when I'm a bit rested I can finally think about future plans and have a positive outlook on life. 

I also made some more home improvement plans.  It seems that home improvement is just never ending, even if nothing is "improved," a lot of things still needed up keep.  For one, all the flowers pretty much died on the front porch.  It's badly in need of a sprucing up, I bought some new flowers but also made plans to make a new miniature garden.  I also need to purchase a new bed for my master bedroom since I gave my old set away to my gardener as well as finishing painting the master bedroom.  There are also repairs that needed to be done but I never got around to finding the right person to do them.  I've made some plans to take a bit of time off work, perhaps a week or two to focus on myself and my home.  Sometimes I'm so busy making a living that I forgot how to live and once in a while it's good to remind myself of that. 

Food I've been enjoying lately

My food choices have improved quite a bit and I'm trying a lot of delicious and healthy foods that I normally don't touch.  One of the morning drink I've been enjoying is powdered wheatgrass juice.  The taste is not as strong as fresh wheatgrass and I mixed it with two shots of ginger lemon shot from Trader Joe's.  I find it quite refreshing and I keep a set at home as well as in my office!  

Another new food I'm trying is black tahini and blackstrap molasses, not sure if it's just old wive's tale but I've heard that both are great for hair health, so everyday in the evening I mixed one tbsp of blackstrap molasses with two tbsp black tahini as a dessert.  

I've also started using the Chinese tea maker that I bought earlier in the year.  It's designed to brew Chinese herbal tea that has medicinal qualities.  The little machine came with a recipe book so I've been slowly going through the it learning how to make delicious porridge or tea.

Other things that I have been working on that's helpful to improve my energy level include exercising 2-3 times a week and eating healthy food.  I've been incorporating at least one salad into my meal every day, it's a small change but I can feel a difference already!  Every 3 days or so I pick up a couple bags of mixed green so they stay fresh when I make the salad, and I like to throw in all kinds of ingredients for depth of flavor.  It's a great way to increase my fiber intake and I'm already feeling the benefit from eating healthy food.  I'm overall less anxious and stressed and my energy level is good throughout the day!

When I want to improve my nutrition, I tend to grab a supplement or a pill as a quick fix and always ignoring the simplest thing right in front of me and that's the food I eat every single day.  With healthy food choices, very little to no alcohol intake and a few times exercise a week, I'm slowly improving my overall wellbeing and my weight has started to come down.  It's been a really interesting and rewarding journey and I'm looking forward to see what changes will come in another month's time. 

90 Day Glow Up (Part II)

It's been nearly a month of my 90 Day Glow Up plan and it's time for a small update!  Although I haven't lost much weight, I've drastically improved my way of eating and it's showing up in my skin, my energy level, as well as in my mood.

Since I love dining out, the hardest part is figuring out how to eat better and not going to restaurants so much.  One of the things that has helped me is having easy to grab foods available at home, in the morning I always pack a few things to work and so I won't be tempted to order take out food when I'm hungry.

I like to pack a handful of mixed nuts, one or two eggs along with an avocado and a piece of fruit, these can be healthy breakfast or a delicious afternoon snack.  I also always have some single pack oatmeal at my office in case I want some warm breakfast.  I often end up bringing so much food that I have no need to eat out at least for breakfast and lunch. 

My nutritional goal also includes more fiber intake and I'm starting to pack a salad for lunch a few days a week.  I'm slowly getting used to eating healthy food again and the process of pursuing better health is actually quite a positive and enjoyable journey.

Major throw back

 

This photo popped up recently of Kelly and Bobby sleeping on their Ikea kid bed, this was 11 years ago.  It was such a solid good quality bed and they felt so special when I brought it home for them.  I also got a mattress and cute blanket with it, it's the cutest thing in the world.  I still miss Bobby so much, it's incredible how much time was robbed of both of us and life just isn't fair sometimes. 

Small steps and enjoying the process

I found this photo of myself couple years ago.  Before I got sick last year I had pretty decent hair, but I've had to chop off much of it hoping that healthy hair would grow.  

So far this year I haven't been able to grow my hair the way it used to be and the struggle is pretty real.  My goal right now is to focus on my health and be able to feel like myself again.  Personally, I believe being happy is the best medicine, nothing beats being in a good mood, so I do my best to always keep a positive attitude, but other than that, I'm putting in a lot of effort to work on myself everyday. 

The thing about making positive changes is that, it may be difficult at the beginning, but once I get things going, it becomes very rewarding to improve myself.  Small efforts add up over time, things like getting a fresh juice whenever I have a few minutes to stop by a juice bar, it may not be everyday, but let's say getting a fresh carrot juice 3 times a week still add up to a healthy dose of fresh vitamins!

About once a month I also book an acupuncture treatment at my local clinic and I usually like to get cupping as well.  I always feel so relaxed after my treatment and good sleep is guaranteed!

There are a few things I don't do before and after my acupuncture session, I avoid heavy massage,  drinking alcohol, and I also avoid showering right after acupuncture.  Usually I book my session close to evening time so I could just go home and rest after treatment.  I do like to make a delicious veggie mushroom soup as a light dinner after my treatment.  A simple recipe is making a soup stock using Dashi packet (can be purchased from Amazon) and throw in daikon radish, various kind of mushrooms, and add in a bit of tomato and tofu and viola, a delicious and healthy vegetarian soup for a calming and filling dinner.

This past few weeks, I try to make a least one or two meals at home.  Sometimes it's hard to cut out dining out entirely because I do love having dinner with friends, but just by spending a bit of effort preparing breakfast and lunch is already giving me more energy!  I'm enjoying the moment and learning new things and trying simple recipes, and excited whenever I see small positive changes in my health! 

Relaxing Sunday

Every week I try to have at least one day where I'm doing nothing but fun activities that I enjoy.  Sunday morning I got up early and went to the supermarket and got some more supplements, fruits and veggies for the week and also got a fresh juice on the go.  I also went through things in the fridge and made some meal plans for the coming week. 

I find that when I do a bit of planning, I actually save money and eat way better food.  This week I'm incorporating some vegan and vegetarian dishes and also bought several bottles of spring water as a bonus!

Besides eating healthy, I'm adding in cod liver oil and fish oil to my supplements hoping it will be good for joint and heart health but also improve my hair quality.  

I also looked at my skin care products and realized that it's badly in need of a refresh since I've ran out on several items and a few products no longer worked well for me.  I stopped by Sephora and picked up a new shampoo and conditioner along with a few skincare items, I'm really excited and looking forward to trying them out.  

While I was walking around I found a super cute white woven leather purse at Club Monaco, it was the only one in the shop and it was so perfect for summer so I had to bring it home with me.  I hardly buy any clothes these day since nothing fit right so I was so excited to find something that I actually liked!

Overall it was just a blissful rest day and definitely helped me to stay energized and focused for the coming week!

90 Day Glow Up (Part I)

Around my birthday I made the plan of doing a 90 day glow up, I figured it's something fun to do and will help me overcome the fitness struggles I've been having over the past year and continue on my healing journey. How's it going?  Well it's definitely an interesting experience!  As with everything, the beginning is always the hardest! I kept a wall calendar next to my bed, it has an amazing effect of helping me staying focused.  Every night before bedtime I wrote down my fitness or self care activities I had done for the day, and take a few minutes to plan out for the next day depending on what workout class is available.  It's amazing how little gets done without me realizing it, but writing down my activities both encourages me to do more and gives me a quick snapshot of what's actually been done.  

I've been consistently exercising for a couple of weeks now at the gym, I've been going about 3 days a week and had to constantly over come the fear of being in public and crowds.  It seems that I just can't handle more exercise at the moment as I need quite a bit of downtime to recover, but I considered it progress!  Working out is a bit like playing the piano, when you exercise, even though it doesn't seem like a lot has changed, I can definitely feel the subtle improvements and I'm really happy about it.  I read somewhere that exercising doesn't really help you lose weight, but non the less, the increase in physical stamina and mental clarity is so important for me. 

Self care wise, I booked the first facial in over two years, although it's not on top of my list as regular exercise is, I'm definitely looking forward to more pampering time from now on.  

All in all there's no drastic change but I'm doing my best to make healthy lifestyle a habit, I've learned that no matter what, it's important to be thankful for my health everyday!  I'm looking forward to more progress in another couple of weeks!  

Turning a new page, and some new plans!

I've got a 40th birthday coming up and it's such a major milestone in a person's life and I spent quite a lot of time thinking about it.  The health set back last year was possibly one of the most humbling experience I've ever had, and it really made me appreciate having my normal life back.  Basic things like being able to drink coffee, taking a walk or standing up for more than an hour a day, things that I used to take for granted and made possible by having reasonably good health, for about six months I didn't have that.  Being able to live normally is encouraging and exciting enough for me at the moment and I have a lot of appreciation for the small things in life. 

Moving forward for the rest of year, I've got quite a few plans and can't wait to get things started.  I spent the first half of this year doing my best to get my business back on track, which is no small feat in of itself!  While I did well work wise, I haven't quite achieved my health goal.  Working too much was the reason I got sick in the first place, so it was hard to believe that I got sucked into over working and over stressing again, but I'm doing my best to find some work/life balance!

One of the super fun goal I gave myself is to do a 90 day glow up challenge.  I've been struggling with weight gain for the past year and its soul crushing to suddenly gain so much weight in a short time span and not being able to wear any article of clothing in my wardrobe.  Dressing up is a big part of what brings me joy everyday, imagine giving it up because I've literally got nothing to wear unless I want to buy a whole new wardrobe.

The idea of feeling like myself again and being able to dress up everyday is super exciting to me!  I've been keeping a fitness journal and making some activity plans and can't wait to see some results.  I will have to do a whole separate post for that. 

Another goal of mine is to read more!  There are quite a few books lying around the house that I've been wanting to read.  Things like polishing up my grammar, as a foreigner I always feel that I could improve my English.  Or topics on investing, which I pretty much knows nothing of.  My whole life I constantly get into new hobbies or new interests, some don't last around for too long, but others have turned into a whole new career path and taking me on a completely new direction in life.  I find that having a bit of curiosity never hurts in life, and I'm a strong believer that anyone can learn a new skill at any time!  

When I don't find people in my immediate circle to be hugely inspiring, reading is a great way to get inside the minds of people that's done a lot with their lives.  I also find it very healthy to never stop being curious and never stop learning.  Particularly I'm realizing from my own self that getting older doesn't automatically make me smarter, which makes me even more interested in improving myself. 

Lastly, I want to take better care of my pets, my home, and myself.  In the past, every day I wake up in the morning other people immediately become my top priority.  I always put clients' and work demands ahead of myself, from now on I'm going to put myself first and make sure I get what I need first everyday before delaying my health and life goals for the sake of work.  I'm truly looking forward to continued healing, better health and an amazing rest of the year!