What time is it?

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I wore a Winnie the Pooh watch for years. Pretty much all of high school, possibly before and maybe even Freshman year of college. It had a leather band with embossed bees on it. And I vaguely remember that the second hand had a bee on it as well. This thing was resilient. I lost count of the number of times it went through the wash and a full cycle in the wash. It finally kicked the bucket after one too many runs through the dryer. I'm sure all my friend were thanking God at the time. Man, I sure loved that thing. 

I was pretty sad to see it go, but I needed to grow up. I also needed a new watch. I'm one of those people that is lost without a watch (my cell phone has since replaced that dependency). Luckily, I had received one for high school graduation from my God parents. I wore it daily for the rest of my college career and until it's death in 2008. Technically, it could still work, but I didn't want to glue a cracked and scratched [plastic] cover back on it. Plus it gave me a good excuse to upgrade to fancier watch. 

Sorry for the crappy photo! Guess Watch from 1999?

The first watch I ever bought myself was a Citizen Eco-Drive watch. Eco-drive so that I would NEVER have to deal with replacing batteries for the rest of my life. It never crossed my mind that a) it wouldn't last forever or b) that I would tire of it. Turns out that having a real job and a disposable income can change a person. 

EW8140-54E
(Source)

Fast forward to 2012. I became bored with my watch, not to mention I hated the holes left behind by stones that had fallen out, and casually began looking for a replacement. Jake secretly purchased a watch that I had pinned on Pinterest for my birthday. Good job husband!

Georgia Three Hand Leather in Smoke and Rose
Fossil

3 months later, I just couldn't pass up a great deal on Ideeli and picked up a La Mer wrap-around watch just as the style was trending. 

Mine looks very similar but has fewer chains and a single strand of turquoise crystals.
(La Mer)

It was only 2 months later that I broke down and purchased my beloved Michael Kors watch. I had tried my damnedest to not be sucked into the big-name-oversized-face-ceramic trend. But the force was too strong (especially when you don't have to pay full retail). You can just call me a lemming.

MK5469
(Source)

Now that I have a pretty good collection going, I realize there is a gap. I don't have a [yellow] gold watch. I've looked high and low for something different. The standard Michael Kors watch is nice, but it would look just like the one I have. I fell in love with a unique band. Surprisingly, the GIANT face worked very well on my petite wrist. However, the face is very thick. The weight from the face was too much and I was constantly adjusting it, so back to the store it went =(

Chain Bracelet, Chronograph
(Nordstrom)

Fast forward to earlier this week. I came across this photo by Kelly over at Alterations Needed and became smitten. I've spent the week obsessed with trying to find it. And I did, but who wants to pay full price for something that was released 2 years ago? Then yesterday, I saw a coworker wearing the watch! She found it a Nordstrom Rack just recently.

Metro
(Kate Spade)

After work, I was on a mission. Sadly, I struck out at 2 of the local places. Instead of trekking out of my way, I called up the remaining three in the state. No dice. On a whim, I called Nordy's Rack by my parents (yeup, all the way in Oregon), the same one that I had purchased my lovely MK watch from. Well, wouldn't you know it. They had not one, but two of them. And the nice sales rep knew exactly what I was looking for when I described it to her. SCORE! The gold leather band looks funky to me, but I'm going to copy Kelly and just replace it. 

Now I just have to wait...patiently.

Just finish it already

The count downs to Christmas have started in my Instagram feed. But I'm not thinking about Christmas. Can you believe that it's mid-November already? Do you know what that means? Holy shit, 2013 is almost over! I have so many things on my to-do list that I wanted to finish this year. It's not looking very promising. Let's take a look shall we?

• 5 months ago, I started a quilt project for a very special little girl. It hasn't been touched in 3 months! I had hoped to finish it by the end of the month. Finishing it by the end of the year is going to be a stretch...

• 4 months ago, cut out all the pieces for my Anna Maria Horner Art Student Tote. I managed to sew the inside of the bag together before life got in the way. It has since been "hiding" under my sofa. Somehow it survived the move, now if only I can find some motivation to finish it.

• 2 months ago, I attended the Riley Blake FabricFest and learned how to make the Janey Jumper Dress by The Cottage Mama. I'm this close -->||<-- to finishing it up. All I need to do is top stitch and add a button. Miss M's bday is next week so it's on the list for this weekend.

That's just my sewing projects. My list of blogging, crafting, house decor/design, and other projects seems to be growing exponentially.

• Finish blogging about my European adventures. I still have one more post to do about Giverny and Paris, oops. 
• It's almost been a year since my trip to India, and I have yet to share my photos.
• We've been married for 2+ years and we still haven't picked photos for our photo albumb. Hopefully, our photographer will still let us.
• Fix the kitchen backsplash.
• Sew curtains.
• Purchase/install faux wooden blinds.
• Set up craft/guest room.
• Seal marble table tops (we purchased these but they come untreated).
• Shelving for basement.
• Organize basement.
• Find a full length mirror for the hallway.
• Make a trip to Ikea for picture ledges (and a whole ton of crap we don't need).
• Decorate the house.
• Look into custom closet solutions (aka California Closets or The Container Store's Elfa systems).
• Refinish/paint guest room night stand.

48 days. Wish me luck.

Source

October 1

October 1 and I have an interesting relationship. It seams that I do a lot of heavy traveling and/or have life changing experiences that begin on this date.

October 1, 2006 12:05am (or something really close)
My one way flight from Portland, OR landed at Boston Logan just after midnight. The flight attendant came over the intercom and announced our arrival, ending with "Welcome to Boston" and "Welcome Home!" I had to fight back the tears that were starting to well up in my eyes. With this one single cross country flight, I had left my life behind in Oregon to start a new on in Massachusetts. Happy anniversary to me!

October 1, 2010
Jake and I boarded a plan bound for Rochester, NY. We were on our way to a friend's fabulous wedding weekend.

October 1, 2012
After a crazy and slightly hectic experience, I made my flight and was headed off to London for a week with my BFF J.

October 3, 2013 
OK, so it's not October 1. But had things gone smoothly (apparently they never do), we would have closed on our house and been homeowners on 9/30-10/1. Instead, we will be signing the thick stack of papers this afternoon (I hope). Keep you fingers crossed for us. We are totally ready to be done with the home buying/building process and ready to move on to enjoying our home.

Our crazy home buying/building timeline

Ready? Set. Go!

• April 29, 2013 - I got a RedFin account and started browsing for homes nonchalantly. (Jake has had one for years because he likes real estate porn.)
• May through June - We saw about a dozen homes. The search started to become discouraging, so we took a step back. 
• July 9 - A new listing popped up on RedFin, without reading the full listing, we scheduled a showing for the following morning. In my defense, the listing had photos of a similarly finished home. I mistook these to mean that the house was finished.
• July 10 - First showing of our house to be. At the time frame was up, siding on, windows in, roof on, but no doors. 

Photo taken a couple of weeks after being under contract.

• July 12 - We put in an offer (and our list of customizations).
• July 13 - Seller countered.
• July 14 - We countered.
• July 15 - Seller countered.
• July 17 - Meet with builder and discuss list of customizations. We countered. And redesign of the kitchen begins.
• July 18 - Seller countered, we accept. Crazy paperwork and monies are exchanged.
• July 24-28 - FIASCO with our check (not our fault), while it all got cleared up in the end, it did make for a very stressful couple of days.
• July 31 - Kitchen redesign finalized. At this point, I thought designing a kitchen in a matter of days was the most stressful thing ever. I had so much more to learn...
• August 2 - Finalize kitchen cabinet colors while 3,000 miles away! I freaked out and until I found a retailer that carried my cabinets in PDX. They were really nice and helpful and was able to show me color swatches so that I could stop second guessing myself. (Thank you Ferguson!) In the end, I went with my gut and it was the right choice.
• August 5 - Finalized bathroom vanity colors. So much easier to do when you are in the same state as your cabinet guy!
• August 18 - Visited 2 granite wharehouses with samples of my cabinets in tow. Tip: ALWAYS bring samples and your camera. You won't remember what it looks like after you leave!

Cabinets and granite.

• August 27 - Finalized tile choices for kitchen backsplash, bathroom floors, master bath shower, and mudroom. (We gots a mudroom!!! This was a complete surprise to us.)
• August 29 - Met with The Paint Whisperer for paint color consultation. (It was the best $50 I have ever spent. I was a little wary of the colors, but I'm glad I trusted him.) 
• August 29 - Finalized the countertops.
• August 31 - Bought some wood (chair rail) and some stain to decide on our floor stain.

Instagram

• September 12 - The search for kitchen hardware begins.
• September 13 - Finally decided on the range and dishwasher and gave the OK for the builder to purchase them. Lordy, I went over budget on those items.
• September 17 - Had to switch floor stains because the floor installer and painter informed me that Varathane was not a good brand. Luckily, the replacement they recommended was the other color I had chosen to test out. Too bad that it was so long ago that I didn't remember so I freaked out and ran to Home Depot to run a second test. At the end of the day, our floors look AMAZING!!
• September 25 - Finalize cabinet hardware. Apparently our builder never got the email that I sent to him weeks before, so we are settling. It doesn't look bad, but it's not my favorite.
• September 27 - Freaked the eff out because our lender had the wrong date for closing. We were able to file for an extension, but the scheduling is a little tight. 
• September 27 - Frantic text messaging between the builder and I regarding the missing microwave and how he needed the dimensions so that the tiler could do the backsplash. UGH! So I left work early, bought the microwave I had been eyeing and dropped it off at the house. 
• September 27 - Met with our broker for a walk through, but there was so much going on with the house that it really wasn't ideal.

They're scrambling for the finish line. Sneak peak of our kitchen.

It's been a crazy couple of months. I can't wait to be done with this part of the process. Of course, once the house is finally ours, we still have a lot of work to do on it, like ordering the last of our appliances, putting in closet rods and window treatments. They say home improvements never end, even with a brand new house.

More things

Still trying to get rid of items. I should just make these first two items FREE, but let's see if I can get anything for them first. 

Bookshelf from my college days. SOLD!

Glass-top end tables from my college days. I inherited these from a roommate and never got rid of them!
SOLD!

Practically brand new dishes Jake purchased before we moved in together.
Click on photo for listing.

Looking to expand your DVD collection?

Finally put our very random DVD collection on Craigslist. Let us know if you see anything you like (we will gladly give them away, too).

Random movies, some still shrink wrapped!
Scrubs Seasons 1 and 2
Lost Seasons 3 and 4
Heroes Season 1
Grey's Anatomy Season 1
The 4400 Season 1 and 2
InuYasha Seasons 1 and 2
Naruto Uncut
Family Guy Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story
DragonBallZ

We are so backwards

Normal people have to buy more furniture when upgrading from an apartment to a home, we have to get rid of our furniture. (Yes, we bought a house! More on this later). Our new house is about 500 square feet bigger than our current digs. But we don't need 2 sofas or 3 dining sets! 

The funniest part of all this is that the most recent couch and dining table and chairs are only about a year old. 

I was able to sell my old dining set almost immediately after posting it on Craigslist. I should have sold it years since it did nothing but collect dust in our bedroom. Yes, I put a dinette set in the master bedroom. Hey, it's a huge room! Plus it was a great place to put junk. 

My dinette from Target.

If you know of folks that need furniture, send them my way, please!

Jake's old college table and chairs. SOLD!

Jake's childhood bookcase. We've been using it to display our DVDs for the last 4 years.
It's solid, but we have SO MANY bookcases. SOLD!

We don't need two sofas... SOLD!

Or the matching recliner. SOLD!

I still have some items from my college days that I need to photograph and post, but that'll have to wait until tomorrow. I'm spent. Until then, I do have a great freebie! Brand new, never been worn. Linea Paolo pumps. Size 7.5. 4" stacked heel. Padded foot bed (ball and heel). Leather (I'm pretty sure), brown with a hint of red/burgundy. Yours for the taking. 

Sad face. I love these shoes. I bought these YEARS ago, but I bought them too big. Far too big.

2 years ago

2 years ago, we threw a pretty epic party. 2 years later, we are still as crazy as ever. Happy anniversary to us!

Btdubs, Kim Kardashian, our party was better than yours. *neener-neener*

Boston Wedding Films

(Click on the image and you will be redirected to our wedding video. The password is BWF.)


*Previously blogged about here

A day in pictures: 5.15.2013

Union Square Donuts in Somerville, MA - Go there, it's totally worth the hype.

• Maple. Bacon. Donut.

Gather Here in Somerville, MA - fabric shopping for a custom quilt I'm making for a little girl. It's been a blast working with the mom on the design and picking out fabrics.

Lunch at Flour Bakery + Cafe in Cambridge, MA

• Roasted chicken, mashed avocado, and jicama sandwich (not pictured)
• Chocolate chip macaroon (not pictured)

I couldn't resist from immediately cuttin into the fabrics as soon as I got home.

How sweet is this print (Kokka, double gauze in Red Ribbon Kitty)? You should feel it, it SUPER soft.

Celebrations - Ended the night by celebrating with friends and delicious port wine they had brought back with them from their recent trip to Portugal.

Just like the last time I drank with these peeps, I went to the gym hungover the next day. 

I am quilter

A year ago, on this day, I bought my sewing machine, Bessy. It's crazy to look back and see how much I've learned and expanded. The number of quilting tutorials available online is ridiculous. I have never taken a class in person. Everything I have done has been through reading/following tutorials and trial and error.

My first quilt: After seeing a Downy commercial, I was inspired to help Quilts for Kids. This was made using a quilt kit (pre-selected and pre-cut fabric). It was a lot of fun, but I wouldn't suggest using the using the quilt kit as your first project.

My second quilt: Quilt top made from a baby quilt kit from Bijou Lovely and quilted following Holly's awesome tutorial. The binding is completely machine bound!

A photo posted by Celia Hung (@_celiamhung) on Nov 11, 2012 at 6:26am PST

A photo posted by Celia Hung (@_celiamhung) on Nov 11, 2012 at 6:36am PST

This was technically #3, but it took me forever to finish it. This is the first quilt in which I selected the fabric. The colors are much more vivid in person (yay winter phone photography). Truthfully, I'm not a fan of the colors, but a friend saw it and loved it. Quilted in a circular pattern after seeing Munchkin Quilts do it. I made the mistake of pulling at the fabric too much in the corners so the quilt doesn't lay flat, oops!

A photo posted by Celia Hung (@_celiamhung) on Mar 9, 2013 at 2:59pm PST

Quilt for Kids #4! I went with a simple design that I made up and pulled the colors from the backing.

A photo posted by Celia Hung (@_celiamhung) on Jan 26, 2013 at 1:09pm PST

#5! I discovered fabric bundles. Someone else picks coordinating fabrics and I just buy them as a set. The mitered corners on this on were nearly perfect.

A photo posted by Celia Hung (@_celiamhung) on Jun 2, 2013 at 10:11am PDT

In between the quilts I tried my hand at various things:

Baby blocks.

A photo posted by Celia Hung (@_celiamhung) on Aug 18, 2012 at 4:25pm PDT

A jewelry roll in which I completely made up (no pattern)!

A photo posted by Celia Hung (@_celiamhung) on Sep 8, 2012 at 6:03am PDT

Then I sold a quilt!

I tackled a pile of old skirts from college and upcycled them into toddler skirts for my friend's little girl. Which then led me to open up an Etsy shop.

I'm still too intimidated to tackle the large pile of clothes that need alterations, but hopefully that'll change in the near future. 

Like a real quilter, I can now say that I have a fabric stash (that I keeps growing, I may have a slight fabric problem) and a pile of WIPs (works-in-progress). I think there are like 4 finished quilt tops and a shower curtain in the pile.

Next on the horizon is Fabric Fest! I can't wait to see my friends from The Makerie 2012 (some photos posted here.) and learn new skills.

Riley Blake Fabric Fest 2013

*photos taken either with dSLR or Instagram.

A day in pictures: 5.18.2013

Diesel Cafe in Davis Square, Somerville - Quick pit stop after dropping off a cupcake delivery to grab sustenance before taking on a couple of house tours.

• Soy latte and a gluten/dairy-free lemon square.

BBQ Festival in Lexington, MA -

• Pulled pork and brisket sliders from Squeels on Wheels
• Lobstah Killah Imperial Red Ale (me) and My Better Half Imperial Cream Ale (Jake) from Slumbrew
• Deep fried Oreo's from New England BBQ Society

deCordova Sculpture Park in Lincoln, MA - Revisted our wedding venue for the first time in almost 2 years to take advantage of the last of the daylight and warm weather.

*All photos taken via Instagram. 

#firstworldproblems

I'm just having one of those days.


I lost my Michael Kors watch. I am so pissed and disappointed at myself, it's not even funny.  Update, watch has been found! I'm a moron and left it at a friend's house. #firstworldproblem

Taken with HTC Droid, right after I had it sized. Ugh, not even a year ago.

My stupid finger hurts like a biatch. But that's my own damn fault for not taking my medication regularly. #firstworldproblem

I'm discouraged and fed up with house hunting. Granted we just started a month ago, but finding out what your money can't get you out here blows donkey nads. I wished that I didn't have an eye for quality construction. #firstworldproblem

I ate 2 of my lemon cupcakes yesterday and was disappointed that I a) sold them to a client and b) fed them to friends. They were neither lemony nor light fluffy. Ugh. The cake was dense and dry, and that's one of my pet peeves about commercial cupcakes! #firstworldproblem


Sorry this is such a negative post; I just needed to vent. Sigh. I wish that I was home catching up on past seasons of Arrested Development.

A day in pictures: 5.11.2013

While Jake was away at a bachelor party this particular weekend, I spent some QT with my friend N. We really hadn't hung out since we returned from India 4 months ago! 

International Steampunk Festival in Waltham, MA - I choose to leave my dSLR at home this time since I grabbed pictures last year. 

The Paris Creperie in Brookline, MA - The beginning of an improptu food crawl. It was completely organic. 

• Chicken torilla soup (gluten-free)
• Lemon and sugar crepe (not pictured)

The Gourmet Dumpling House in Boston, MA - 

• Xioa lung bao - The wrapper was a too thick, but they were pretty good hot. Once they started to cool, the wrapper became stiff.
• Pickled jelly fish (this was not what thought it was going to be)

Bon Chon Chicken in Allston, MA - If you have't been, drop everything and go!

• Soy ginger chicken wings and drum sticks

*All photos taken via Instagram.

A day in pictures: 5.7.2013

This is the first of a new series I'm calling "a day in pictures". If you are an Instagram friend, feel free to stop reading as this will be a repost of images you have already seen. 

May 7, 2013, the original plan - take the day off and celebrate me. I was planning to start with a trip to the spa; get my facial on, full body massage, and maybe throw in a mani and a pedi. 

May 7, 2013, the reality - the Commonwealth of Massachusetts had other plans. They scheduled me for a court hearing in the middle of the effing day. Seriously? WTF?! You are probably wondering what the hearing was for. It was to contest the insurance hike due to my car accident. MA automatically faults the driver in a single car accident. 

Thanks for nothing, MA. I won the case. Pretty sure that I have no control over the weather.

Court took a whole 5 minutes (It took me 45 minutes to find the stupid place!) so I decided to enjoy the rest of the afternoon in Boston. I parked under the Common...

Found my way to City Hall Plaza on a mission to find the Mei Mei food truck...

Ordered too much food, but it was so good!

Left: The Double Awesome - scallion pancake sandwich with poached egg, pesto, and Vermont cheddar.
Right: Beef Dumplings and friend rice.

After wandering around Faneuil Hall for a bit, I texted a friend to ask her about the bar she recommended. Unfortunately, I got there 20 minutes before it opened. So I grabbed a soy latte at Barrington Coffee next door.

Coffee lovers, go here!

Drink - The Bohemian. I think it contained St. Germain, gin, grapefruit juice, and bitters.
Great cocktails, highly recommend this joint.

Since I was already in Boston and didn't have a real agenda (other than walking around and eating/drinking), I made my way to the Apple Store to purchase Jake's birthday present. (His friends thought it was hilarious that a) I bought his bday present on my birthday, and b) gave it to him the same day.) I meandered slowly back towards the Common to meet up with him for "dinner."

Public Garden. It was just a gorgeous day!

Bugatti! Just happened to walk past this beauty. If only it had been gifted to me...

"Dinner" - Boston Cream Pie. I was still full from all the noshing throughout the day that I just grab a sweet treat from Thinking Cup. 

My random, organic walk. Almost 5.5 miles!!! (Click on photo to enlarge)

I probably should have worn sneakers, but my feet were good until the very end. (Sandals blogged here).

Happy Birthday to me! Not a shabby day after all.

*All photos taken via Instagram