Summer Time and the Living's Easy....Or Not!

Well, this has been somewhat of a rough month and trying summer. Our first summer here in this new house and we have learned a lot. First time home owners, there's a learning curve. And we make mistakes. I guess that's part of learning and growing up.

Part of being married and growing up together is finding how to work and compromise. We have had our rough patches throughout this summer over the house but we somehow always come to an understanding and work it out. I guess that's what love and marriage is. It certainly isn't rosy all the time. We learn new things about each other and learn to adapt to it, I think that in turn makes us a stronger force.

The bumps in the road this summer have been:

- The house and the status of it (nothing really has changed since Nov 2014)

- The foundation (that's a big load to swallow and has tore us several times). We just need to eat it and get on with it. Construction to start again this fall. Oh boy, what a joy!! Our house is literally getting a new foundation and support, which in the long run will be good because we need a safe house!

- The bugs and insects. This has been a NIGHTMARE for me. A true living HELL! It may be worse than the disagreements we have about the foundation. Fleas, maggots, fleas, flea!! Yuck!!!!!!! There's nothing more than tiny insects I hate more in this world!! Last week was literally a week from hell. We have a flea infestation from the damn feral cats that wander into our yard and the fleas cling onto our clothes and get into the house. Subsequently, I am getting eaten alive. And I have been a paranoid freak checking, cleaning, spraying everything. Kill, kill, kill!! I spray the living crap out of our yard with all sorts of chemicals and yet I am still finding fleas!! GROSS!! Then towards the end of last week, we found maggots just squirming around in our kitchen. Maggots. I literally fainted. Yes, these nasty, squirmy white bugs. All over our kitchen tile. Apparently, they'd crawl out of our trash bin from some trash! I had a meltdown, almost threw up, almost fainted, then forced the Man to clean it up as fast as possible so I wouldn't have a heart attack. Best week EVER!! Not! Lesson learned, when summer comes, be ready for bugs. Spray the yard with appropriate chemicals and don't leave trash in the bin for very long.

- Because of these freaking microscopic insects, which jump and cling onto you the moment you step foot outside (we literally pick them off our legs, pants, arms, body......ohhhhhh gag!!!), I have not been able to tend to the yard or my veggie garden. The tomatoes are about done and I need to start removing the roots and plants and clean that place up. Not to mention the monster fig tree we have. Disgusting thing drops rotten fruit onto the ground, which then leads to animals and insects eating them. We've had squirrels, possums, huge beetles around the fig tree because it's bearing so much fruit.

- Lastly, my final gripe (probably not really final) is the heat. Damn summer heat. There have been unbearable heat waves hitting LA all summer long and they are miserable!! Thank goodness the Man bought a portable AC unit, otherwise we would be toast. It is so hot, humid, muggy, stuffy and just downright uncomfortable upstairs. Mix that with parasite fleas and my gosh, it's a damn party!

(I am so proud of the Man. And the Man is so proud of this lawn!
Look at the difference!! Night and day! Curb appeal!)

(Tomato tart that I manage to make out of tomatoes not eaten by insects. Was pretty
tasty and definitely tart tasting after oven baked)

(Ok, for the Miyazaki Hayao fans out there. Doesn't this look like the cloud from
" Laputa"?! Driving home I noticed how similar it look to Tenkuno Shiro Laputa
天空の城ラピュタ and couldn't believe it!One of my favorite childhood
animations. Let's all dream alittle!)

(I don't write or show enough of Fat P, mostly because he's hidden all the time but
when he does grace us with his presence, he's a pretty cute and funny guy)

The joys of summer have been:

- Long day light (like until 8:30pm)

- Hollywood bowl shows. Boy do I love the Hollywood Bowl. It's so much fun and such a nice activity to do in the summer for a fairly inexpensive price.

- BBQs. I love anything grilled, I love the smoky, charcoaly flavor on my veggies and meats. One can only BBQ in the summer. It literally is summer tradition.

- Picnics. I mean what is more perfect than a picnic on a summer night with nice fruit, maybe some drinks and easy finger food? Nothing. It's perfect and so summery.

- Cool mornings before the sun starts beating down on you. Nice time go to jogging, for example, at the Silverlake Reservoir, which we have been doing recently.

- Abundance of fruit. We are so blessed in LA to have so much fruit any time of the year but especially in the summer, fruit is so delicious! We have had a load of strawberries, blueberries, cherries, watermelon, honeydrew, grapefruit, peaches, nectarines, pears, oranges and so on!! And for so cheap too!! It's the best summer time snack!

(Hollywood Bowl with some of the Man's co-workers)

(The Bugs Bunny show was playing that night. Very entertaining!! Fun watching cartoons to live music from an
orchestra)

(Grilling and kabobing at it's best!)

(Yum! Shrimp skewers and our homegrown tomatoes)

(The Man looks so happy grilling and I love spending time like this together.
Such a "weekend dad" look)

(Wish we could grill everyday! Love the mesquite taste)

Rolling with the ups and downs of summer,
The Lady

My Birthday!

Wow, summer is almost over and here we are again, my birthday! I can't believe it's my 32nd birthday. Where has time gone? And I say this every year by the way, according to the Man.

This year, the Man decided to surprise me and made reservation to several places. Yamashiro in Hollywood was the winner. What a gorgeous restaurant with an amazing view on the hilltops of Hollwood! The "mountain palace" (rough translation) was designed impeccably, beautiful details, a nice indoor garden and a beautiful Japanese garden and pool. I can see why people like this restaurant, its views of Hollywood are stunning and the palace is in pristine shape.

(Yamashiro for my 32nd birthday)

(Yuzu avocado scallop & shrimp with orzo. Orzo was delicious!)

(Asian BBQ ribs, sweet and spicy!)

(Being a Japanese restaurant, their sushi selection was not that great. The salmon was good, this was their fusion
lobster roll, which was tasty but not mind-blowing)

(Courtyard garden with surrounding seating. Very pretty)

(Exterior photo of the palace at night all lite up)

I am blessed with all  kinds of gifts and messages from family and friends.

(HS girlfriend sent me flowers and a goodies basket!! What a lovely surprise!)

(Three kinds of cakes from Porto's and one of my favorite flowers, the hydrangeas. Love the pale pink color)

(The Man spoils me!! And black is so sleek as wrapping paper! I got the Spiralizer!
Thank you honey!)

(I think this is Little P wishing me happy birthday)

So grateful,
The Lady

My worst nightmare has come to life....

So this happened this week. Flea infestation. [insert gag and cringe]

Worst nightmare ever? Yup.

Phobia of microscopic bugs? Yup.

Anxiety, stress, frustration? Yup.

Getting bitten EVERYWHERE? YUP!!!!

Going crazy trying everything to get rid of them? Yup.

Vacuumed like a mad woman, washed clothes in super hot water, sprayed bug spray, bought flea lamps and left them out for these damn fleas. Yup.

Frantically looking at my body and clothes for any fleas clinging on!! (Disgusting!!!) Yup.

This has been a week of punishment. This is truly a living hell, nothing could be worst than my biggest phobia coming to life. We think it's from the feral cats that wander through our yard but who knows. I will win this war.

Eaten alive,
The Lady

Convenience

I miss convenience. I loved all the convenience that Glendale had to offer. I have taken all of that for granted. Now, we have no convenience. Everything is so far away, honestly it's annoying and super inconvenient.

I cannot believe that I used to think things were far away living in Glendale. Man, I was spoiled. I miss chains. I miss variety. I miss having a lot of choices. Just in Glendale we practically had 2 Targets, 2 Chipotles, Forever 21, H&M, multiple Ralph's, Smart and Final, Trader Joes, Costco, Best Buy, multiple Payless shoes, tons of eating places including 2 In N Outs, Rubios, Habit, multiple Panda Express, a freaking Whole Foods. 

Wow, as I compile this list I am realizing how spoiled we were. How good we had it in Glendale. Damn. Buyers regret? Yup. Man #1 rule of real estate. LOCATION. We had it good, we had it good (insert emoji of shaking my head). Why did we ever move!?

Now I am bitter and annoyed that I have to spend more time driving around LA like a circus freak finding places that are somewhat closer to me when I had it all! It sucks to be me right now!! (Nacho Libre reference). More time, less options = not convenient = annoyed Lady.

City Planners, please build me a mall in DTLA or closer Ktown where there are all these stores so I can stop running around like a chicken without a head!

Ranting,
The Lady

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

Photo Dump

Lately, lots of things have been going on and it's hard to have the time to blog! Nonetheless keep up with daily activities, work, work on the house and still have time to sleep. How do my friends with children do this?!

Being lazy, here's a photo dump of photos from our lives lately. Not a particular topic but lots of topics in one blog entry!

(A particularly well taken picture of my grandma and I. We have similar eyes)

(It's been a month today since we've discovered his "growth" and he is healthy as a horse!! Thank goodness!!
I love this little guy to pieces, my sweet pea)

(Well, the second round of lettuce has sure been doing better than the first round)

(Same with the basil, looking good and healthy! Can't wait for caprese salad all summer)

(Speaking of caprese salad, our tomatoes have finally started turning red and ripening!)

(We've enjoyed our peas in many dishes already. Really sweet)

(Our baby niece Aly, she's so darling. We had a chance to babysit her for a few hours
and boy was she lots of fun!! And so adorable too! Full of energy this one)

(She loved looking at the colorful fish at the pet store, the Man holding onto this cutie.
She's actually quite heavy, I got tired of holding her after 10-15 minutes! What a
workout!)

(Of course we had to take her to see the Punas or Robo hamsters!! It's the Puna's uncles!
They were so cute and she was fascinated with them!)

(We took a little time out from the house work and checked out a music festival in Pasadena. We stopped on the
Suicide Bridge/Colorado Street Bridge for a photo op and to enjoy the view)

(Google's fun. It put together this gif of us taking selfies at Vista Hermosa park in DTLA.
We took a Sustainable Landscape tour this past weekend and checked out this gorgeous
park! It was amazing to find such a gem in the middle of busy DT!

June Gloom Go Away,
The Lady