One Year!

One Year Today!

Wow, I can't believe that a year ago, we received the keys to this house, closed escrow and were delighted and scared to jump into this humongous project.

This was us a year ago ONE YEAR AGO!! How quickly time flies and here we are in the same spot, and not much has changed in our house (lol).  Maybe got some curtains up in the windows, we have a grassy lawn, the kitchen, powder room, master bathroom, master bedroom are done (ish). Everything is semi, and needs touch up. The pantry, brown room and the yellow room are in works right now.....along with everything else, like the foundation and the rest of the house. Not to mention a mess of a backyard we have......

It's a long road ahead of us....

(My cutie, little P is just the same. He's slow down quite a bit and his growth
has gotten bigger these few months, but he's still his chipper self)

Wondering when renovations will end,
The Lady

Surprise Me LA

LA surprise me all the time. 

And that's a good thing. Beautiful little pockets of culture, history, architecture. This is what makes LA so beautiful and one of my favorite cities.

A long long time ago, my dad took our family to the Lotus Festival in Echo Park. Years ago. Echo Park shut down for over 2 years, I believe, for a beautiful make-over. And here we are. Emerged once again, is this gorgeous park with a huge fountain and lake. They've put nice benches along the perimeter of the lake, made a nice walking pathway, cleaned up. Yes, there are still homeless. But I guess that's the charm of this park (not really). Who knew that you can get a gorgeous view of the Downtown skyline from here?! 

Another beautiful piece of architecture, sitting smack dab in the middle of Downtown. Who knew!? I mean I knew, but I never thought it was this amazing. I need to get around more. We attended a lecture by Ron Finley (the "Gangsta Gardener") at the LA Public Library on Flower & 5th. The lecture was a tad boring and not what I had imagined, so we skipped out a little early to explore the area. Boy, were we glad to! What an amazing area!! We live near DTLA, visited a ton of times and have never come to this library!! What the heck!

(Gorgeous tower of the Library. Dead ends at Hope St)

(Inside atrium of the library. High ceilings and interesting chandeliers)

(Bunker Hill. These steps are so pretty!! Right next to the US Bank building)

I think the Man and I are going to make it a thing to discover and explore LA a bit more this summer. We love discovering all of its nooks and crannies. Maybe we'll explore Grand St next. Who knew that The Standard was also right behind the Library?!

Learn something new everyday,
The Lady

Family Fun & Some Clean Up

Late post - Family's in town.

Early July, my aunt came to LA to take my grandma home to Japan. I am deeply sad to see my grandma go back home, and of course, it's always depressing. But I know I will see her again soon and I hope she stays well. I'm glad I was able to bring her to LA during my trip to Japan in April. She's a strong lady, funny as anything with the best sense of humor an 84 year old can have. She's the best grandma ever. 

(Wine tasting at San Antonio Winery. I was the chauffeur)

(Every time my family comes from Japan, we have to have lobster. It's like a tradition.
This time it was BBQ lobster and it was delicious! My mom and aunt look funny, it
was so dang hot!)

(Fourth of July, watching fireworks at a nearby school)

(This kid never let's me down. He's so funny, sleeping sideways. My little baby P)

(Look at all these red tomatoes!)

(This was a big, but SO satisfying job!! Finally got tired of the dirty hallway, so decided
to mop up and clean the floor and lay out the runners! Boy does it make a difference! I
LOVE the huge mirror from Ikea too!! Makes a world of a difference in this dingy
hallway!)

(Can't wait to get the walls and the ceiling done in the hallway too. Love the runners!
Now I can walk barefoot upstairs!)

(Another HUGE undertaking of mine. Cleaned up the yellow room!! Wow, it was nasty
and dirty, and dusty and messy!! Took all of the Man's tools downstairs and emptied
out this room. I must've mop this floor at least a good 10 times because it was filthy!)

(But now we have a whole other room which will be my study! The vanity should've been
demo'd, but maybe later. The make-shift curtain is temporary as well. We've gotten
blinds from Ikea, just haven't put them up! Can't wait to get my projects started in
this room!)

(This Guy......my love)

Missing my family,
The Lady

Pantry Progress & Succulent Fever

I have been late on my post lately!! WOW! Sorry for the delay folks, life's been crazy. Work's been nuts, family coming in and out of town, barely got time for myself or to eat!! I started this a while back and never finished this post. Here's the latest on the pantry.

(Oh boy was the paint hard to get off these frame faces)

(Literally years and years of paint caked onto these cabinets)

(The Man has big plans for that large opening! Hopefully it turns out like he imagined
because it's taking a long time!)

(So the Man has gotten me into yet another thing, succulents. Succulents, I thought, were
boring cactus like plants who don't need water. Turns out, they are quite exquisite,
strong and very hip!)

(Went on a West Side Home tour and saw succulents being displayed in every house. Popular thing.....)

(So here's my design! Succulents!!)

(The pretty bowls are from Target)

(Our tomatoes have been flourishing! Can't keep up with them!)

(Who's this little creeper!! It's Stalker Puna!! This photo makes me laugh so hard)

(I think the Man wants a dog.....and we would love one!)

Summer's passing me by,
The Lady