John took me to Lawry’s in Beverly Hills for our anniversary dinner. I’ve never been to Lawry’s but have always heard how delicious their prime rib is. John made the reservations to surprise me but of course, he can never keep it from me. He caved in eventually after my constant pleas and begging.
The service was outstanding and the prime rib was excellent! We will definitely re-visit for special occasions.
We are three years into our blissful marriage! :o)
My previous post may have been a little misleading. I talked about how much I worked my husband, but I failed to mention how much my husband worked me. =P
On his birthday night, I made him roast chicken, some grilled peppers & zucchini. It was a simple and quick dinner but surprisingly, it turned out pretty well. John loved it! I mean, I know he loves whatever I make (ehemmmm.. I do take credit for that) but he did really like the chicken. Maybe he was too hungry after having to move the book shelf, so whatever he put in his mouth tasted extra delicious!
I’m sorry, my food almost never looks appetizing. I never know how to dress them up pretty for pictures.
I also got him a nice cake from the local bakery here. His Issey Miyake cologne is almost out. I got him a new bottle so he can continue to smell good for me! I am addicted to Issey’s scent!
Happy 33rd Birthday, Hun!
So it’s my husband birthday. Not only did I not take him out to dinner, I made him move some furniture for me. I know. Such a good wife I am. I found this book shelf from craigslist, used. It was an awesome deal that I couldn’t pass nor wait. So I told the seller I would pick it up today. I told my loving husband my plan for him tonight on his birthday night, is for him to pick up the bookshelf for me after he gets off work. Sure, he teased me for having him move furniture on his birthday but other than that he didn’t oppose to it. :) I know I have the best husband in the world!
Happy Birthday hun!
p/s: I hope he doesn’t do that to me on my birthday! Karma is a bitch.
We are back on our home improvement saga. After about a month of taking a break, we are back on track. Well, I should say John is back on track :)
I have been searching for a used patio table on craigslist and couldn’t find anything we like.We were at Target the other day and stumbled upon a clearance patio table. It was $124 and marked down to about $76. We got another 10% off due to some scratches under the table. Sweet. You can’t really notice the scratches anyway. It is located under the table and so insignificant. We jumped at the offer and took this big guy home the next day.
John set it up right away once we got home. My mother-in-law gifted us a patio umbrella that she no longer uses. We put it up to use right away. The previous owner left behind an umbrella stand and 4 chairs, which works perfect with the table.
Here’s the 4 green chairs we inherited. The color doesn’t match our table, so John spray painted them. Here he is prepping them for a new face lift.
The closest color he got from Lowes. He used 3 cans for these 4 chairs and an umbrella stand.
The umbrella stand getting ready for a facelift too.
All done! The color is as close as we can get. Now I can’t wait to spend time at our new space.
And oh ya! Here’s how the umbrella looks like. It’s a little wrinkly. It hasn’t been used for years by my parents in law and finally we can put them to good use! We are lucky that we are able to inherit the chairs, umbrella and umbrella stand. The one thing we really needed to buy was just the table! Sweet! 
Ethan has now become the big brother. He too, loves Star Wars. He is the most good looking 7 year old boy out there (not that I am biased or anything! :o)). He learned that money does not come easy. He does chores around the house to get wages. He saves his money away for future needs. His mommy told him he can buy ice cream with the $5 he earned from washing his dad’s car. He declined and put the money into his piggy bank. A very responsible 7 year old boy I must say. Most kids would spend it instantly on toys, candies, ice creams... etc.
He said his favorite person is his mommy and me! hee hee.. he sure knows how to win my heart! ;)
We also planned a trip to Singapore to visit my brother and his family. We stayed at his new casa, which is absolutely beautiful. The house was tastefully renovated and designed. Definitely a very modern and minimalistic design.
We also got to met my other nephew for the first time. He is almost 2 now. I know, shame on me. I haven’t been back since March 2008. He was born around our wedding in June 2008, which is why my brother couldn’t make it to our wedding. I know, bad timing. I blamed it on him! hehe…
Ewan is the smartest 2 year old kid out there (not that I am biased or anything! :P). At less than 2, he is chatting away like a storm. He listens to conversations and amazes people around him with his ability to understand things around him and talks. He loves Star Wars and is constantly humming star wars imperial march song. He is also not shy from asking for help. He is always asking for help from people around him. In this picture, he wanted to take over the driver seat. I am telling you, this little guy is ahead of the kids around his age!
We went back to Malaysia for 2 weeks in May (hence the lack of posts). We met our new nephew for the first time. He is now 8 months old. Did I mention he is the most adorable 8 month old baby out there, not that I am biased or anything :o). There are so many cute pictures of him that it is so hard for me to pick one!
He laughs a lot and is constantly giggling. He laughs at the tiniest little thing. I am telling you, this kid just loves to laugh! I wonder where did he get that from?! I am pretty sure that giggly, smiley trait is definitely not from my sister. Anyone who knows my sister knows that my sister is a cranky, grumpy, and most stuck up person in the world. Hehehe…. I kid I kid. It’s ok, she doesn’t know my blog exists. hehe…. This little guy also loves his bath time and TV! Everything in his world sits still when his tv show is on. Boy, do I miss this guy!
Last weekend, we went to Big Sur with Janet & Jimmy. The view is absolutely gorgeous! No wonder the campgrounds book up fast. We had the campsite booked back in November of last year! Absolutely worth it! 
It is hard for us to get a complete family photo. My brother moved out when I was little. So we never had a complete family photo when I grew up. Then my brother moved closer and I moved away. So we try to get a family photo when the opportunity arises.
A photo like this is precious to me. The last time we had a family photo was in 2007.
May 2010
January 2007, Singapore.
We have obviously acquired more family members! :o)
After the bathroom project was done, he’s off to another drywall project. We have wanted to take the funky little sectional out even before we moved in. That sectional is oddly placed, and we’re not sure for what purpose. After placing a tv stand below, the tv has to stay on top of that wall, which looks odd. So we decided to just take it out altogether. Lots of prep while doing this project. All the curtains were taken down, furniture moved into the front room, while this room goes into construction.
John doing the demo, slowly tearing it down.
And then, replaced it with drywall.
While this was going on, we had a tarp separating the room from the rest of the house so we can keep the dust and sand from the rest of the house.
After patching up and some texture work, the wall is ready for paint again. Thankfully, there was leftover paint from the previous owner for the existing paint color. Or else, it would be difficult for us to find the paint match for this wall. He primed the wall before painting the wall.
Ta da! Finished job! We thought there might be some discoloration since the paint was bought a few years ago. But no, the paint looked exactly the same! Lucky us! I am thinking about painting the room a different color, but that’s going to be a whole other project. Because I really wanted to paint the baseboard white. I know many people said it’s a sin to paint over perfectly fine oak baseboards, but I just hate it. It makes the house look dated… at least in my opinion. So now I am waiting for my beloved husband to get back on house projects. :) We are taking a break since we just got back from our Malaysia visit last week.
For now, this works. It looks a lot better without the section in the middle. Now, we just need to find the right entertainment center, because our old tv stand is too small for this space.
This project actually was completed a lot faster than the bathroom project. After the first experience working with drywall for the bathroom, John is now an expert! :) And oh, while he’s at it, he wired the family room for surround sound system too. Yes, I know. He’s a genius. Why do you think he marry me then… :P
Another delayed house update. When we moved in, the second bathroom was in need of work. When we did our home inspection, we noticed the black spots right above the shower. These are not mold by any means, they were just rust due to the shower liner nails not being rust proof. It was a minor fix, so it didn’t stop us from purchasing our home.
John cut out the drywall where the “moldy” looking spots were, but then decided to cut all the way across to give a more consistent look. Here’s the step by step on how he replaced the drywall.
And then it was ready to paint! I picked out the color “Sigh” from Valspar. It is a very light blue color. After the first coat, I realized that the color is too light. You can barely notice the blue at all. See below picture after the first coat. It has a slight hint of blue… too light to notice.
Then, I told John I wanted to paint a different color. So we went out shopping for a different color, and we both agreed to get “venus teal” from Behr. This time, the color is a little too dark to my liking. I casually suggested that we get another color, guess how well that went with John? The idea quickly got shot down. The bathroom project has taken weeks to complete and he would absolute refuse to repaint the bathroom for the 3rd time just because my “buyer’s remorse” disease attacked. ;p The color isn’t too bad, it is just different and probably I need some time to get used to it. It is definitely bold. Anyway, here’s our completed bathroom for now. Eventually, we would like to replace the pedestal sink with something more versatile.
