Houston- we have a problem!

So we are in 2 weeks into our month long kitchen renovation. We've been pretty lucky so far. A few holes here and there in the ceiling and walls, but not big surprises. Today, they started installing the cabinets and we noticed that they switched 2 of the cabinets. The issue is that it puts the sink not centered with the window. We're hoping that it can be corrected without too many issues. It looks like it should be a relatively easy fix, but you never know with these things. The kitchen is beginning to look like a kitchen again. The cabinets look good and we're still trying to decide on a color to paint the walls. We're about half-way into the remodel and so far things have been pretty smooth.

Updated photos- Can you see the difference between the placement of these cabinets?

Let There Be Light!

This week there's been a lot of activity in the house. We decided to also have recessed lighting installed in the living room since they were going to do it in the kitchen. It has made a world of difference. It used to be so dark in the living room because all we had for lighting was the torch lamp in the corner and a little night table lamp. You can see that old lamp and the holes for the new recessed lights in the picture below.

This past weekend, it rained a lot. We were able to find a faucet for our sink and we ordered the knobs and pulls for the cabinets. They started laying down the tile floors, so it's starting to look like a kitchen again. We can't wait until it's done.

Edwin also went to Tahoe this weekend, so I hung out with Show-Lan and went shopping. We also watched a movie called The Lookout. It was actually very entertaining. I would recommend it. We also both got colds this weekend, so we're trying to take it easy.

What a Zoo!

Things have been pretty busy here lately. Laura, Alex, Hannah, and Timothy came to visit for a week from 2/8-2/14. Alex had a conference in SJ, so he brought the family to visit. I took a day off of work to hang out with Laura, Hannah, and Timothy. I originally wanted to take them to the Exploratorium, but unfortunately, it is closed on Mondays. So we ended up going to the Oakland Zoo instead.

Fengs Visit Alameda

We have officially begun the kitchen remodel. They started and finished the demolition on 2/13. It's amazing how fast they removed all the cabinets, flooring, etc. in literally a day. Again, I'll start posting pics once I can find the cable. Right now, we have our microwave set up in the guest bedroom and most of the contents of the kitchen in the dining room. On Friday and Saturday, they moved some of the pipes and changed them to copper and installed the backer board on the floor for the tiling. Today, they started putting in the recessed lighting. It's actually happening very fast. The only thing that is in the kitchen right now is the refrigerator. So far, eating out hasn't been too bad.

This past weekend (hooray for Presidents Day!), we stayed up in Napa with the Banerjees and the Schneiders. It was a very relaxing time. Jamie's sister Jenny is engaged to one of the owners of Dutch Henry Winery and they let us stay in the house that is part of the winery. This is the second time we've stayed in Napa and it was just as relaxing as the last time when we went up with Priyanka and Matt. We did a little wine tasting at Whitehall Lane and also walked around St. Helena and Calistoga. It was just what we needed. It's been pretty stressful trying to find things for the kitchen and not being able to find things that used to be in the kitchen. We are still looking for a sink, fixtures, and knobs/pulls. I'm happy that the renovation has started, but it also means that we need to make some decisions and find things quickly. We're also discovering things that we never knew could cost so much in a kitchen remodel like lighting or knobs.

We have heard that you should be prepared to find things when you open up the walls. So far, we've been pretty lucky in that there haven't been any surprises so far. We suspect that the worst is over because they have openned up most of the walls and already boarded up the floors. Still, we'll keep our fingers crossed. Hopefully, by the end of this week, we'll have new floors installed. We were even able to save a few of the cabinets to put up in the garage. I wonder how long those cabinets will be sitting in our backyard...

Happy belated valentines to everyone. Now, Edwin and I have never really been into celebrating this "holiday," but this is how we spent our valentines day. We didn't get each other any gifts. I tried to buy him a card, but gave up because I couldn't find parking in the city on my way to pick him up for dinner. We had a quick dinner of pho because we had to hurry to make it in time for the real highlight of the evening- our romantic stroll through.... Home Depot (closes at 9!) to shop for some grout for the floors. Yes, that's right, we bought a 25lb. of grout in Pewter for the floor tiles. Some women get flowers, chocolate, a romantic dinner. I get grout. For all you ladies who are still unmarried, please make the most of your valentines dates because this could happen to you.

Happy belated bday, Jamie! Glad that we were still able to celebrate with half a cake!

I Made You Breakfast in Bed

In preparation for Valentines Day, this is a shout out to all my guy friends that I hope their Romeo skills are a little better than this:

http://www.imadeyoubreakfastinbed.com/

Ladies, please chime in if this sparks any favorite Valentine memories. :)

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Happy Chinese New Year. We went out and celebrated by having dinner with some friends.

Here are some cool things that I got via email this year.

Swimming fishes: Click on the link, click your cursor on the center design to open the door. Move the mouse around the card; the fishes will swim following your mouse.
http://www.etnet.com.hk/LunarCard/2007/ecard_etnet.html

Chinese New Year Quiz: 1 I got 8/10 correct, but I missed one because I hit the wrong button.

For Crying Out Loud!

So this past weekend on Friday, we saw a great movie called Juno with Michelle and Mike. If you haven't already seen it, I highly recommend it. It was such a funny and witty movie. There are a bunch of famous people in it, but mom played by Alison Janney (CJ from the West Wing) was my favorite. She plays the step-mom who is really into dogs. She's just so good at playing these quirky characters. The movie is about a teenage girl who gets pregnant. I was laughing out loud and I would definitely watch it again. Probably will be one of my favorite movies of the year. I generally don't like to pay money to watch dramas or comedies in the theatre (usually action films merit the theatre experience), but I thought that this movie was worth the money. I guess that's what it really comes down to- how many times have you seen a movie in the theatre and you walk out disappointed and saying to yourself, "Why did I just spend $10 and 2 hours of my time watching that movie?"

On Saturday, we attended a wedding in San Jose. It was a surprise wedding because we didn't even know that Joe was dating someone until he sent out the engagement email in December. It was all in Vietnamese which was cool. They had a banquet very similar to the Chinese wedding banquet with a few different entrees. There was the squab which was like a small game bird- very tasty. This banquet also had shaking beef. There were only 7 of us seated at our table for 10 and 3 of the 7 were vegetarians, so we ate more than our fair share! The live band was OK, but we would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't so loud. It didn't really matter if you knew the people at your table or not because you couldn't talk to them anyways. We felt like we were at a concert. Maybe I'm just getting old.

Joe & Helena's Wedding

Did anyone else watch the Super Bowl on Sunday? We went over to Jamie and Kaori's to watch the game. It was probably one of the most boring games ever during the first 3 quarters. I'm glad that we missed the first 1.5 hours. I didn't even know who was playing until that morning. I didn't have an affinity to either team, so I didn't really have a vested interest in the game- though most people said that the NY Giants were the underdog and that the Patriots were favored to win. It's hard for me to imagine any NY team being the underdog. Isn't that kind of an oxymoron? I didn't even find the advertising amusing. I really only remember 2 of the ads. The one with the talking baby for e-Trade, the dancing lizards for some flavored water drink, and the Coke commercial in the Macy's Parade. I definitely think that ads from years past were much more memorable and amusing.

Forgot to give Timothy my nephew a shoutout for his second bday. He turned 2 last Wednesday. Given that he can't read yet or has any real concept of time, I think he'll forgive me.