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

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

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

Little P and The Garden

My little P....thank goodness he is a fighter too. What a strong boy he is. It's been about 1.5 since we discovered his growth and took him to the vet. The incision made by the lousy vet is now healing up nicely, but the growth is still very prominent. He's been refusing his antibiotics too. In the beginning, he used to take it quietly without protest, but lately he's been fidgety and frantic. I guess he is "genki" again (which means well in Japanese). He has about the same amount of energy, jumps around everywhere, eats normally, drinks normally, sleeps well. He just has that weird growth on him, which I'm hoping doesn't affect him too much. I love him the way he is, and I hope he stays with us for a while.

In other news, the Garden has been thriving beautifully!!! I'm so happy to see so many green tomatoes!! And for the first time, we have PEAS!! Yay for our little veggie garden! We have 2 small pods of peas right now. I hope they continue growing. Cilantro's doing well except there's small white flowers growing on them and the squash is still growing, no flowers yet.

(small pod of peas)

(so excited to see this!! Yes peas!)

(gorgeous cluster of cherry tomatoes)

Feeling Happy,
The Lady

Hitting too close to my heart

I am so behind with my blogs. Still got stuff to post from Japan and then from Mother's Day, but this week, I was overtaken by the sadness and worry for Little P. 

My little affectionate baby, Little P was playing around last Friday evening in his little tube playground when I noticed a little bump and a blood spot on his side. I immediately freaked out and the Man and I examined him a little closer. Sure enough, like the picture below, he had a growth and had probably been chewing on it. My poor little baby. I cried so much that night. 

Unfortunately, we took him to the wrong kind of vet who had horrible bed side manners and made an incision in his growth, which is now still healing. The second image below shows how swollen and black/purple his growth is because of the vet's carelessness. We regret having him go through that, I'm sure it was traumatizing. We found out basically that it was a growth (not sure if it's cancerous) but it definitely was not a cyst or a pool of pus.

It's been a week now since I discovered the growth on him. He has been in such good spirits. My little boy is such a fighter, his scab is starting to heal better (first day was terrible, it looked so swollen) and he is still running around full of energy. We decided not to go through with his surgery and let him live the rest of his life full of energy as himself. I didn't want him to be weak and in pain after the surgery and who knows if he would have lived through it.

I'm so glad he is still himself and eats, drinks, sleeps and plays around just the same. He lets me pet him as well, which is nice. The Man has been giving him his antibiotics so the cut doesn't get infected. However, his growth is not getting smaller, it's about the same size. It's always so hard to prepare for death. It's inevitable but still, so hard when you get attached and your pet becomes family. I remember when our first hamster, Hamilton, had to be put down. It was such a heartbreaking and devestating thing for us to do. I hope that Little P lives a good, painless rest of his life and just goes in his sleep peacefully. He has brought me so much joy and love in my life, something I will never forget. 

For now, thanks for sticking by us Little P and being a part of our family. We love you so dearly.

Distressed and saddened,
The Lady

The Man in Germany, Lady in LA

So the Man's been gone on a business trip to Germany all week, but comes home today! Yay! A week long trip for work in Frankfurt, Germany. I admit, I am a little jealous. I love travelling and any excuse to do so, I'm game! Wish I could've joined him but he was mostly working the whole time.

As for the Lady back in LA, it was pretty uneventful. My veggie garden has been growing tremendously, making great strides! So lame but this is super exciting for me. Who knew gardening could be such joy! This must be how people feel playing Farmville, except with real life Farmville, you get to eat your veggies once they grow!!

(Peas!)

(Peas!)

(Butter lettuce)

(Cilantro, was worried about these guys because they were late boomers, but
they've finally sprouted!)

(Kale)

(Can't wait... Basil! Pesto all summer!)

(First bud on the tomato plant!)

(The Lady's humble garden)

(This little guy's been keeping me company all week. Little P actually let me pet him this week).

Excited the Man is back,
The Lady