I've been working on a living room/dining room refresh but it's been painfully slow.  I wanted to paint the living room pink but it's a bit nerve recking trying such an unusual color, I really had to take the time making sure this would be the right decision.  At this point, there's very little white wall left as every space is covered in samples!  

Bella is really over it, she's mostly interested in trying different chairs in the room and figuring out which one is the most comfortable one!

So far I've picked out the pink paint that I wanted to use, and ordered a new light fixture for the dining room.  I wanted to mix a little bit of modern elements into the the living room/dining room space and take away some of the ornate and heavy elements.  I also have some cheap sheer curtains that I bought from HomeGoods that needed to be made into custom curtains that fit my window exactly, it's a project all on its own!

 The plan for the living room is 

1. Paint new wall color.

2. Fitting new curtains.

3. Adding a record player and speaker, plus new pillows for the sofa!

4. Adding a table lamp for the piano

5. Find a stand for my guitar.

6. Weed out some items that I haven't used for a while.

My living room is really also serving as a music room since it's where I practice the piano.  I'm looking forward to finally get it finished and perhaps even inviting some friends for a visit!

It's amazing how my energy level returned over the course of a few months, while I focus on healing and recovery, I find that my enthusiasm for a lot of things simply returned, it's such a huge thing to able to enjoy the small things everyday and I'm really excited and looking forward to finishing up this project. 

Orchid show and a few purchases

I wanted to work on Sunday but instead got tempted to visit an orchid show in San Diego.  It was a last minute day trip which always turn out to be the best kind.  

There were so many stunning orchids at the exhibit, they just all look like they've been given the perfect amount of sunlight and never missed a single watering.  It was such an amazing display of knowledge, patience, discipline and loving care.  Looking at the thriving orchids gave me so much inspiration. 

There were many beautiful orchids but for some reason I'm particularly taken with this large cluster of blooms.  It's so stunning in person, but unfortunately they didn't have a seedling available for sale at the show.  Non the less it was a pleasure seeing it in person!

I didn't leave the show empty handed.  I purchased a phal Schilleriana, a unique purple cattleya orchid with spots and a green and pink orchid that reminds me of Kirmit the frog!  They are all very young seedling orchids but I'm looking forward to some pretty bloom soon.

 

I grabbed some delicious lobster roll at a restaurant nearby before heading back home.  It was such a delicious meal and a fun day trip!

After I came home my interest in orchids is renewed again.  I gave all my orchids a thorough watering and checked out the tags and took inventory of what I have.  I have quite a few of amazing orchids in my collection but they are very small so it will take some time for them to bloom, it gives me something to look forward to and it's such a healthy and rewarding hobby!

Kelly's Recovery

It's hard to believe yesterday was the first day post surgery for Kelly.  She didn't eat very well and was crying a bit, I tried many different ways but I found using a dropper to give her water and puree some cooked chicken breast was a really good way to feed her food and get her hydrated.  

By the evening she's perked up quite a bit, the pain medication helped a lot and the wound seem to be healing.  I broke the no junk food rule and gave her a few small bites of all beef hot dog and she gladly gobbled them up, it was a bit salty so I only wanted to entice her to start eating, she finished the rest of the chicken puree which I added a little bit of butter to make it extra tasty and she finished all of it while the other dogs also got some tasting as well, they were starring hungrily at Kelly's special food and was very jealous!

In the evening I went to my acupuncturist again just to relax and destress, it was a good couple hours spent and I'm just felt so refreshed this morning after my treatment and a very restful sleep.  

This morning I got up early and cooked a whole chicken soup for Kelly and the pups to share, and also caught up some chores and started working while the chicken soup was simmering.  The chicken drumstick with some chicken broth is always Kelly's number one favorite and she ate two of these small servings which made me very happy.  

Overall this has been a eventful and productive week, it was hard but overall well worth the effort!

Another big surgery

I had been planning to have a mastcell tumor removed on Kelly for about two months.  It was a little bump that showed up several years ago and increased to about 3/4 of an inch over the last several years.  Two different vets had done a fine needle aspirate and told me that it should come out.  Still it was not easy as she's getting older and has a low level heart murmur.  It took some time to run all the necessary tests and get the surgery scheduled, but also I was a nervous wreck anticipating the surgery.  

Yesterday I had to drop her off at the vet early in the morning around 7:30am.  The vet tech that took Kelly in was very knowledgable and made me feel fairly good, I had seen the vet that was performing the surgery three times prior and communicated everything in advance.  Having done all my homework I felt somewhat prepared although it was still very scary for me.  Luckily Kelly was scheduled to be the first one for the surgery and she got hers done in the morning.  It was a relief to simply get it over with. 

I got her back fairly quick around 2pm along with her medication.  I can't describe how happy I was to pick her up and know that the surgery was all over.  It was just one of those days where everyone was calling me non stop at work and a client called super late in the evening with some petty problems that kept me on the phone for an hour while I accidentally burned Kelly's chicken.  I wasn't super happy about it but I remade her some chicken legs and she ate and drank quite a bit of water and went potty.  Besides an insane week I got up around 4am again to make her some food so she could take some pain medication as she wasn't very comfortable and I took her out to potty again.  By this morning she seemed to have perked up quite a bit.  My cleaning lady came by to help me with house work that has been piling up around the house and I'm just so thankful for that. 

She perked up quite a bit today and I took her to the office with me so I could keep an eye on her and give her medications.  Luckily I have a small private office so I could close the door and she just hang out with me while I worked.  We also took a nap on my sofa because I was completely exhausted from the hectic past week.  All in all we did it and although it was hard, I was really happy that we got it done!

More home improvement plans..

 

After a disastrous start on my first home improvement project several months back, I had not had the energy to start another project as I just felt so defeated dealing with the awful contractors.  Coupled with work being super busy, I sort of dropped whatever plans I had in mind for the house.  Several small projects got started but then stalled, including getting the living room painted and downstair bedroom re-decorated.  I've been living with paint patches on the wall for months but it was hard to get interested on the house. 

This weekend I had another handyman changed out the kitchen faucet and the toilet in the second floor bathroom, he went to the store to pick up the materials and everything went so smoothly.  A couple hours later him and his helper got the job done, it was so easy I almost cried.  He helped me with the measurements on my second floor bathroom so that I know exactly how much material to buy.  Since it's the first free day I had in a while I decided to check out some bathroom tiles at the store and brought home some samples.  It got me thinking that perhaps I want to pick up where I left off and make some effort to at least make my house look nice by the summer.

I found some light fixtures from Pottery Barn that I liked and I think it should fit well in my tiny attic bathroom.  I've been following home decor trends and it seems that a lot of the trends today don't fit with my personal style.  My goal is to not follow trends but make my home a place unique to me!

Building good habits and getting well

 

Last week I went to see my acupuncturist to relieve some awful back pain, she did massage, acupuncture along with cupping all during one long session, while talked to me about a couple of simple things I could do to improve my diet and health.  It was such a healing experience, I came away from the session feeling so much better!  An unexpected effect of my session was that I started sleeping well throughout the night without waking up at odd hours unable to get back to sleep.  It really helped me to feel refreshed and energized the next morning and I couldn't thank her enough.  She recommended that I get on a regular weekly schedule to see her so she could help me address a few issues and also help me with weight loss, I'm super excited to see what results I will get in the next few weeks!

One of the really good tip I got was not to eat heavy dinner at night, especially after 6pm.  Adjusting dinner habits certainly takes some getting used to, but just talking to someone about it helped me putting it in action.  I try my best to have a small salad or some bone broth when I'm hungry in the evening and try to reserve the bigger meals for dinner and breakfast. 

At the same time, I'm switching out most of the cold drinks to warm herbal tea.  One of my favorite tea for the evening is this Korean brand barley tea.  I picked up a box at my local supermarket, but it's also easily found on amazon.  It's conveniently packaged into single serving packet so I just throw one packet into the electric kettle and let it boil and then steep for a few more minutes before drinking it.  It's a very calming and relaxing drink especially on cold nights.  

I recently splurged on a few accessories pieces, since I'm trying to get back in shape, I didn't really want to buy clothes that I don't want to wear for the long term.  I have been dressing up daily for work, slowly my enthusiasm for style returned.  Reflecting back on only one month ago, it's a marked difference on my energy level as I can work full days and still feeling energetic enough when I get home in the evening to take care of my puppies.  Having energy is everything, it allows me to actually live a productive and happy life.  

I'm not quite where I want to be yet physically, but I'm very thankful for the progress I've made so far.  Sometimes it's all about baby steps and being patient, and I'm ok with that. 

Self Care and Finding Balances..

Somehow on the weekend I just want to be a couch potato and do nothing because I'm mentally exhausted from busy working week.  It's nice to be a homebody and hangout with my pups and order some delivery food and do nothing at all and enjoy some much needed rest.  

It's been quite a few weeks of me back at work and I've made really good progress but it's the same old issue of finding work life balance which somehow is so hard for me.  Either I have the time or energy to work or take care of myself but I don't seem to do both well enough at the same time. 

Every weekend I write up an assessment on what I did well and what I didn't do well and try to find some balance on area that's lacking and adjust my plan accordingly.

Things I've done really well the past couple weeks are things like skin care, work, and taking care of Kelly and getting her to all the vet appointments, and things that got set to the back burner are exercise and house keeping, which I intend to improve in the coming week!

My Evening Skin Care Routine

I've been sticking to a super simple skin care routine for the past few weeks and it's done wonders for my skin.  First of all, because it's so easy and quick, I didn't have to put in a whole lot of effort and that made it very easy to follow through.  Every night after washing my face, I use the Dennis Gross led mask for a few minutes.  It's suppose to help with reducing wrinkles and acne and I find it quite relaxing.  After three minutes on the mask, I apply castor oil on my face as well as massage the eye area.  I've heard that castor oil does wonders for eye brow and eye lashes.  Mainly I find that when I use castor oil with my retinol cream, I don't get any flaky dry skin the next day.  It seems to moisturize my skin very well and if I have extra time, I mix one part castor oil with two part jojoba oil and massage my hair, scalp as well, and it always help me get a better night sleep.  After I apply the castor oil to my face, I follow with a tiny bit of retinol and call it a night.

My morning routine is a bit more involved.  I like to drink a glass of warm water first thing when I wake up and then jump in the shower.  Once my face is clean I like to use the Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Daily Peel.  They come in individual packaging and don't feel too abrasive on the skin.  I then follow with a sheet mask for 15 minutes.  I have a stash of cheap Korean face mask that I picked up from HomeGoods and they are so amazing.  My favorite brand is called Esfolio, they can be purchased online but I find random boxes of masks when I go to HomeGoods and they mostly cost less than $8 for a whole box of sheet masks.  My skin feels so amazing after 15 minutes and I can get other things done like making a cup of coffee or fix some breakfast for the pups while I wait for the mask to be done.  And then a bit of Vitamin C serum, moisture and sun screen, and I'm all ready for the day. 

I even keep a box of these masks in my office, when the days get particularly dry I would close the door and put on a mask and relax a bit while I work!  It's hilarious and I haven't scared my coworkers yet!

Another simple and affordable way I do to improve my skin health is keeping proper moisture in the room.  I keep a humidifier in the bedroom as well as my office.  It's a very small thing but such a huge life saver.  As it turned out, improving one's health takes time and effort but I'm pretty proud of myself for slowly making improvements and taking good care of ME.

New Outfit Ideas

Lately I spent quite a bit of time thinking about how I want to live the new year, and one small priority is actually getting back to self care and dressing up a bit.  With me finally coming back to work, I suddenly became motivated to dress appropriately.  I know that business apparel is very much out during the pandemic, but it still serve a purpose to look polished.  Dressing up also makes the day more special and enjoyable, and I simply can't live in sweatpants anymore.  After so long of not dressing up, I couldn't even remember where my "nice" clothes were stored and I had to think a bit to figure out what would be a stylish outfit... something that I used to do naturally everyday before the whole pandemic started, but after months and months of living in yoga pants and sweatshirts, the task is no longer so easy.

Look 1

I went on my phone and played around putting a few outfits together, it was actually quite fun.  I have some old items but a lot of my essential wardrobe pieces beg for an update and refresh.  

With the lack of social function and events, out went the fancy formal dresses and stiletto heels, in with comfort wear.  I don't think business apparel has completely died but it's definitely been tuned down significantly.  I hardly purchased any piece of clothing over the past year, a rather shocking thing for someone like me, so I've pretty much lost touch with what's happening.

What I do really love at the moment are loose fitting jeans, booties with an elongated or pointy toe, puffy sleeves dress or top ( talk about 80s come back!) and large leather tote like the pipe tote by Proenza Schouler.  I'm always looking for work totes that lets me haul around all my work stuff!

Look 2

Living in Southern California, t's super practical to throw on a summer dress and comfortable heels, plus a light trench coat that provide some extra warmth for mornings and evenings.  I like this trench coat from Lattelier, it has a belt and seems very light weight!  I'm also looking forward to Staud's new bucket bag, it's an updated bag from their old ones from a few seasons ago, which I still love so much. 

Look 3

Look 4

These two outfits are pretty similar, I love the puffy sleeves shirt from Scotch and Soda.  They used to make super fun leather jackets and carries both men and women clothing.  Unfortunately I haven't seen any fun jackets for a while.  That's all the outfits I put together for now, it's a fun way to get myself back into the game and I'm looking forward to have a bit more stylish year than the last! 

New Year and a Fresh Start

 

I finally made my way back to the gym after a hiatus due to my vaccine status.  It seems that what was already sparse attendance at the gym is further watered down now.  

Being able to start off with some light workout and sit in sauna for a good 15- 20 minutes helped me tremendously for stress relief, it took some effort to get over the fear of being in the public again but I figured that exercising is an essential activity and should be treated with precaution as any other essential activity that one must do. 

I also started a new fitness journal in time for the new year.  I use it to write down my workout, nutrition and supplement for the day.  Besides that I put down my fitness goals for each week and each month, as well as health food recipes that I collect along the way and some meal planning.  

Since I recovered from being awfully sick, I seem to turn a page and have been looking forward to getting healthy and making some positive changes in my life.  Much needs to be worked on as the past year I spent almost half the time either being sick or recovering from some ailment, I really want this coming year to be healthier and happier. 

I would like the new year to be a good year for the pups as well.  I've got some positive changes planned for them.  Particularly, I would like to crank up their dental hygiene routine.  I want to get everyone a dental cleaning for the new year and then maintain it with daily brushing.  Oh dear, I would have to figure out how much time it takes to brush teeth for four dogs everyday!

Unfortunately, the last few months I've really lagged on walking my pups, honestly, that was the same for my workout as well.  On a lot of days, I simply didn't feel well and I barely had enough energy to get through the day, much less taking the dogs on a walk.  I'd like to get a regular routine set up so that we can all get our walks in!

As far as nutrition goes, the pups already eat quite well as I cooke a fresh meal for them everyday with one type of protein plus vegetable.  If I'm making one change, that would be adding a spoonful of whole fat yogurt, as well as making bone broth for them a few times a month.  

I'm counting my blessings to have all my four pups with me on this new year, it's the most amazing feeling when my fur babies are doing well.  2021 was good and bad and I'm ready to leave it behind.  

Possibly the gloomiest Christmas

Well, I wouldn't call it the worst Christmas ever, but for one reason or another, the holidays always throw some curve balls at me.  This year I had to skip out the celebrations that I had planned to attend at a friend's house because I had a bad reaction to the antibiotics prescribed for my dental work, on Christmas Eve I was covered in hives from head to toe, so out goes all the festivities.  I went to my local Urgent Care to get a prescription and got a solid reality check on where we are on the pandemic... the place was packed with people looking for Covid testing and testing kits were out of stock both at the Urgent Care facility as well as the pharmacy that I went to pick up my medication.  It more or less felt like a punch in the gut after two years of quarantine and not living a normal life, only to find out that we are in no better shape than when we started. 

Heavy on medication I did nothing besides a lot of sleep but when I woke up in the evening there was a pile of gifts at the door coming from the neighbors.  To say I have the best neighbors is an understatement.  It did wonders to brighten my mood and made me feel like I still participated in the holiday somehow.

I finally came back to my senses on Sunday, while still needing quite a lot of downtime, I felt very lucky that I had the luxury of being able to rest in peace and quiet, which is such a luxury for a grown up.  I've been suffering from a huge work burnout towards the end of the year and it was very hard to recover from.  It seems that everything sort of caved in once I stopped working because I held out for as long as I could and once I stopped work, I simply had no more energy left for anything else.  

Well, rest up I shall so that come the new year I will have renewed energy to face life's challenges.  It seems that I could use a better attitude towards the new year and a new focus on different aspects of life. 

 

New flowers and life's messes

With my recent orchid fever, I ventured out of my comfort zone and made an online orchid purchase.  Today a couple of baby orchids arrived in a cardboard box delicately packaged and they are in perfect condition.  I've never ordered orchids online before so this was quite a novel experience.  After trying to resuscitate a few orchids in bad shape myself, I've really come to appreciate the amount of work it takes for orchids to even grow to a baby size.  The vanda orchid will have delicate blooms like cherry blossoms, and the cattleya orchid will have tall branches and flower shape similar to the one I'm trying to revive.  Flowers and plants are such a delightful thing amid a couple of really crappy years, I really appreciate the joy and inspiration that they provide me.  

Bella is not all too amused about my orchid hobby, she feels that I should spend more time giving her kisses and treats and less time messing with plants.  

In life's update, this week I scheduled my vaccine shot because I finally felt like I was well enough to deal with whatever side effect that might come my way.  I ended up not only feeling the side effects of the vaccine but also slammed with a massive tooth ache from a cavity that gave me a terrible migraine.  It took me a couple of days to figure out that I could request an emergency dental visit with the receptionist at my dental office so I waited a couple of days in excruciating pain for pretty much nothing.  And while I was at it, I had to deal with some emergency plumbing issues at the house, courtesy of the shitty contractor that messed up the plumbing while he was at it.  I panicked and almost called an overnight emergency plumbing service but decided to wait til the morning because my regular plumber could make it first thing in the am.  So, all in all, a week packed with vaccine shot, dentist visit, eye exam, plumbing repair plus whatever else I got going on was a bit more than what I bargained for in a week.  My only saving grace was the fact that I ponied up the funds to upgrade the HVAC for the house a couple years back so that in the dead cold of winter I had functioning heating system, and therefore I did not freeze to death like the previous years.  

Days like these make me feel extraordinarily thankful that I have not been tasked with real responsibilities of humanity like many other women do, such as world peace, fighting the pandemic, social injustice, or raising another generation of humans, or any real responsibilities of some kind.  I just have to be responsible for my small lot and I'm barely keeping it all together!