I've been working on Spring cleaning for the past few days, I had several months of running myself rugged over work so it was a much needed change of pace.  I took out bags and bags of clothes, shoes that don't fit right and purses I never wore and gave them away to Goodwill.  It feels like I still got a long way to go but it sure feels nice to unload.  My goal is to clean out one bag of stuff a day, and sometimes I get really into it I would do more.  There is something about focusing on what I own rather than how I live that simply don't sit well with me anymore.  I feel like the less things I have the simpler and better I can live, so hopefully purging extra clutter is going to help me live more purposefully!

A few weeks ago I found a super nice dog bed for very cheap, the quality was amazing so I got it for my doggies, dog beds are actually something that's in constant demand at my house, they just wear out after a year or so and I usually keep one or two beds in almost every room of my house to keep my pups comfortable. But as soon as I walked out of the shop I saw this homeless guy with his dog ready to spend the night outside in the cold.  He had a large black plastic bag filled with either blanket or clothing and that became the makeshift bed for the pup while he just sat on concrete himself.  The pup had a leash on and actually looked well cared for.  I just couldn't watch it so I ripped off the tag and gave the brand new bed to that little dog.  The doggie jumped in immediately, it was a really cold night and hopefully having a real bed helped him to keep warm.  

Summer is coming to an end, although living in Southern California you would never know it!

Flow blue china can be quite expensive and hard to find, luckily I recently spotted this one at a antique mall for a great price.  It's a smaller sized water jug but I thought it could dub as a flower vase, the result is rather charming!

Dim sum for breakfast and Christmas tree shopping afterwards. Since Christmas tree is an American tradition and I didn't grow up with it, it was such a novelty for me when I first came to live here. Putting up a Christmas tree in my very own home has been a dream for years, it's a dream come true, in a trivial kind of way. For me this is happiness, so I'm going to enjoy this moment:)

I thought for a long time what to do with this wall space in the tv room, finally decided to put a little writing desk there. It really is a vanity table because it has a gorgeous three fold mirror, but since I'm superstitious about Feng Shui and it's no good to place mirror facing the window, I talked to myself into believing that I didn't like the mirrors there.  Anyhow, I think a little lamp can be called for on top of it, and it's the perfect space for writing if I don't want to head upstairs for my blue room. ( And please excuse the messy pictures scattered around.)

In my house, drinking coffee is serious business!

It's the season for peonies again. I always buy some whenever I see them in store. I have been cutting and trimming roses, planting little flowers here and there, loosening up the soil and mixing in mulch, spraying oil on infected plants, feeding plant food, and during the process discovered a pair of mocking birds living in a climbing rose bush in my backyard. They were high up but screamed when I pulled some fern off the rose bush, that's when I looked inside the bush and discovered a little nest! This morning I had my fiance stuffed some cotton balls around the rose tree, hopefully the birds will use them for their home. I always hoped for some birds to nest in my backyard and it happened!

Also, sailor is here!

Since I moved to our new house, I became the person with a lot of time to scavenge for household furniture while my fiance worked and worked and worked. I was very proud to find this folding shelve from Pier 1, it was the perfect size for the little bit of wall space between window in the family room and the kitchen. It holds part of my cook book collection and a vintage jaguar drawing. In my opinion, a home is not a home without a massive library, I still haven't figure out just where I could fit in such a thing, in the meanwhile, it's nice to at least have a handy little book shelve and cookbooks near by the kitchen.

Jeff decided that Bobby's full name should be Bobinsky, like the crazy blue man in Coraline, I think that's an excellent idea!

I'm still slowly getting stuff for the house, prioritizing is very important, I am fully aware of that, even though I bought the third set of outdoor table and chairs that never get used when I don't have my own desk around the house yet.

Wait, is that a Knoll chair? In my music room? Hmmm, maybe I have just totally lost it. But hey, when I picked up this sucker from Greyhound, it was totally heavy and awesome. Now the question is where I'm going to put it. It can't go in the living room, because if I am not conned by some antique salesman from Holland, I will have some French chair coming in a few weeks from now. And it can't go in the kitchen, or the family room, or the bedroom. So, perhaps when I want to sit alone in the dusty scary basement and think about stuff, I will sit on it. So maybe it will go in the basement, um, ok.

Our sofa arrived today. After seeing the room empty for a while, my eyes are having a hard time adjusting to its largeness.  It's got a strong new leather smell and the little bits of wrapper are still sticking to the leather, but here's a picture of it.  I think I like it!

Happy Easter everyone! These bunnies are not Easter decorations, I just have a bunny themed backyard:)

So how did the painting job go? I think I'm happy with it. The bedroom used to have red window sills, they used to look like this

we took out the red, painted the wall in white and added a accent wall color in mint green.  

It's not done yet, I still need to re-upholster the cushion, put in a real bed and night stands and replace that ugly old ceiling fan. The painter is almost done with the other rooms, so more pictures to come. Stay tuned!

Our house is getting ready for a fresh coat of paint. The workers were waiting outside our house at 6:50 this morning all dressed in uniforms and knocked on our door at 7 am sharp. That to me was impressive. I had never dealt with construction or paint companies before, never event tempted to paint my room once in my life, so a lot of learning involved as we go. I got up early this morning for the workers and had a cup of coffee with my fiance in the kitchen, and when we stepped out to take a look, our living room became like this

All in the matter of a few minutes, so, yeah, somethings you just gotta leave them to the professionals! Fingers crossed that everything will turn out great!

Finally have my piano moved to the new house today. If you have a grand piano, the best way to move them is to hire professional piano movers, yes, you heard me, moving companies that move only pianos. It took three guys carefully maneuver the monster into my house. I got a piece of vintage lace table cloth as a cover to protect it from the sun, the huge fabric is about 112 inches and turned out to be a tad too small, sigh! Maybe window treatment should be called for?

My project today was to hang the crystals on the Chandelier in the dining room. I think Chandeliers have such a old world charm!

Outside was cold and windy, inside was cozy and warm, I'm really beginning to fall in love with my new house.

I think the vintage stove is too cool for words.

A little sneak preview of the house. It's impossible to take nice pictures now with all the boxes stuffed up to the ceiling, and the mess just seems to be growing every day. We are nervously getting some estimates on repainting some places in the house and do a few minor repairs. Fingers crossed that it won't get too expensive! I can't wait til I have my piano here with me so I can start practicing again and get back to normal, will I ever get my "normal" back again?

Kelly and Bobby each got a hair cut today, I love the way they look right after a clean cut! Don't they look adorable? Bobby look like a real sturdy little boy, pets are the best!

I have been looking at rugs at Anthropologie lately and I kind of like the idea of hanging a beautiful rug on the wall.  I like all these, especially the lobster!

Several months ago I was shopping with a friend in Pasadena and found this sofa on display in Restoration.  I instantly fell in love with it, it was so soft and roomy that we sat down for a long time and started chatting and didn't want to get up. It's now officially on my to buy list of things when I have a house of my own :)