101 Degrees Outside

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Last weekend was atrocious. It got as high as 101 degrees in LA. The evenings dipped slightly to 85 degrees. I felt like I was in the desert. It was awful, unbearable weekend. We couldn't turn on our air conditioning for several reasons. All the thermostats are disconnected and there is so much dust and junk it wouldn't have been smart.

Here are a few photo updates on the house:

The first phase - took out one main wall and two smaller walls surrounding the fireplace.




We also added a new window to bring more light into the space. We will be adding wood beams (as you can see the sample on the ceiling), canned lighting and ceiling fans.



The second phase - ripped out the existing tile flooring and pulled off the dry wall to prep for new doors and windows.






Third phase - begin prepping to remove the soffit (lowered ceiling above the kitchen) to follow the vaulted ceiling from the dining room.


And today, they removed most of the insulation and two upper cabinets. We already approved the design and layout of our new kitchen so the cabinets are being made as we speak. I hope this goes smoothly...because I only have 8 weeks until my estimated delivery date.


On Saturday, we spent most of the time in the air conditioned car running errands in Orange County. We decided to visit the Long Beach Aquarium to get out of the heat...along with several hundreds of families. It was so packed the place hardly felt air conditioned. I had never been there before. It's a nice aquarium. Isabella's a little young still, but she enjoyed looking at all the "fishies" and seeing the sea lions. She liked see the little sting rays until daddy reached out and touched one. That freaked her out a little.






On Sunday, Isabella was battling a little fever from the heat. Poor thing was just out of it. Christine came over and we spent the afternoon on 3rd Street in Santa Monica to enjoy the cooler temperature. Of course, I forgot to take pictures.

Father's Day

Isabella and I took Ed out on Father's Day in his style. We took him to see "Concours d'Elegance" - a vintage car show on Rodeo Drive. He drooled over all the cars.



After we had brunch at Barney Greengrass, which was just okay. I really didn't see what all the fuss was about. Aside from the fact that its situated on the fifth floor of Barney's in Beverly Hills and the occasional celebrity siting, the food was mediocre and the service was awful. Yes, it was Father's Day, but that's no excuse. The day comes every year and they should anticipate expect a rise in clientele.

Old photos

Friday, June 06, 2008

I found some photos from my trip to China in April.

Hong Kong was amazing. It's such an international affair with many, many high-end shopping plazas that run underground. In fact, it was so humid outside that all you needed to do was step inside a mall and walk underground to get to your destination.

I wasn't prepared for how humid and warm it was. Almost no point in doing the hair. I, sadly, killed my hair straightener while trying to plug it into my converter. A no-no and I should know better.

What I loved most about Hong Kong was the mixture of sophistication and culture. It reminded me much of New York city. It's a cramped city full of local businesses, bustling streets, high-end stores, high rises, hotels, financial institutions surrounded by water and beautiful landscapes. At night the buildings lite up the muggy air. Every night they offered a "light show". The buildings lights lite up coordinated to music with laser beams off the top. We went to Hong Kong Island to explore and ended up going for a hike. It was very serene.

I was only in Shanghai for two days so it didn't allow for much exploration. The weather was much cooler, which was a relief. There were a few great hot spots, but they all seemed far away from each other. The city is much bigger and spreads out. I didn't take too many pictures in Shanghai. There were several malls and street businesses selling counterfeit. I found counterfeit Burberry, Prada, LV, Chanel, Oakley, Apple (not sure if how that works), Bluetooth products, Seven jeans...everything. Absolutely crazy. I couldn't bring myself to buy anything fake for myself. One, I have no idea how to tell the difference and two, I just didn't want to contribute to it. We did find this neat shopping plaza.

I would definitely go back to Hong Kong for leisure. The food was great, but boy was I anxious to get back home. After the 10 day business trip I didn't want to eat Chinese food for a while...well for at least a week. Lol.

Video: Animal Sounds and Body Parts

I took this video of Isabella on May 8th. I still haven't found my battery charger, but there was just enough to take what was off the camera.

She does say "oh da..." a lot. "Oh da shoes," "Oh da chair," or "Oh da baby." Ed told me the funniest thing the other night. Before putting her to bed, Isabella pulled down her pants, took off her diaper and sat on her little potty and said "poop." She got up immediately and said "no!" and then sat back down. I think she's getting closer and closer to potty training.

A few nights ago I see her with her baby in the corner of the room. She took a diaper and was trying to change the baby's diaper and was getting frustrated because she couldn't do it. She turns to me and says, "help." We've been working on that one so she knows how to ask for help instead of getting so frustrated. So I taught her how to put on a diaper and now that's all she wants to do. I'll be in the kitchen and check on her in her room with 10 diapers all over the floor. Now, she talks to her baby and says "baby. sleep. shh. quiet. lay down. sit." It's hysterical.