carmel-by-the-sea

it's been two years since we've been to carmel and i thought it would be nice to take emma and dexter.  dexter has never been, and he had a great time.  my family came too and lianne and pierce loved the beach.  we tried putting up this canopy, but it didn't stay up because it was too windy.  we later found out that we had the canopy inside out.  duh.  as we were all getting ready to leave, my car wouldn't start.  thank goodness for AAA and they came out within 15 minutes.  my goal for the summer is to take emma and dexter to the beach once a month - maybe more if we're not too lazy.  :)

i love carmel

pooped puppies - they slept the moment we got in the car

cleaning house

remember aunt lil's house in bolinas that we helped cleaned up?  well, she has another house in san francisco that she hasn't lived in for over 25 years.  we found a lot of antique collectible stuff - dinnerware, dressers, table, chairs, etc.  i staked claim on two red bookshelves, which we will pick up at a later date.  and i also found over 20 collectible mason jars.  i'm not exactly sure what i will do with them yet, but it was fun when i found them - it's like treasure hunting.  we also found 3 roseville pottery, which are also collectibles.  we looked them up on ebay and found two out of the three items - they are worth about $100 each.  maybe the piece that i found will be worth thousands.  :)  wouldn't that be nice? 

the liquidators are coming any day now to clear out the house and then it'll be put on the market.  it's so sad that someone can live like that.  i'm superstitous, so i'm praying that aunt lil will not get upset that we went through her stuff and start haunting us. 

front of the house

view from the deck

this is what you see when you first walk in

the loft

aunt lil's bedroom - there is a whole on the ceiling

this is where aunt lil slept because the other bedroom had a hole on the ceiling

jackpot!  one of the rosevill pottery that aaron found.  it was underneath piles of things in her bedroom.  aaron was about to step on it too to get to the other side of the bed.

kitchen - i don't think i stepped on the floor - there was just too much junk, so i just walked on it.

view from the kitchen

porch in the back

we found out that there was an attic and the entrance to it was on the loft

the attic was filled with stuff too - mattresses, chairs, a coffee table

trash view from the loft

yard work project #2

we had a row of lavendar bush right next to the house and ever since we had the house tented, the lavendar plant was pushed out and it blocked our pathway to the house.  and we didn't want any bushes against our house, so aaron took them out.  i was going to plant some perennials or annuals, but that mean that i would need to water and trust me, i do not have a green thumb.  we decided to put rocks instead since it does not require any watering.   i think it turned out great - good job aaron!  :)

before

after

gus and shawn

shawn and gus paid emma and dexter a visit last night.  left: shawn, right: gus

such a cute picture of shawn

love birds

look what i found in our backyard making a nest on top of our ladder - doves!  since we needed the ladder, we moved the nest in this bird house that i had laying around and the doves have not come back yet.  i am hoping that they will come back soon.  it's neat to look out in the backyard and see love birds. 

see the twig in the bird's mouth?  at first i thought it was a bone, hehe. 

so cute

i put their nest in the bird house, but aaron thinks that since we touched it, they are not going to come back.  i hope they will.

congratulations ami!

my sister's friend ami graduated from SJSU and we celebrated at ami's parents place.  i've known ami since she was a tiny little thing.  now she's all grown up and ready to go out in the world and make it a better place.  :)  she just got a paid internship offer at tivo - woo-hoo!  congratulations ami!

thanhha, ami, moi

lianne, pierce, thanhha

you like my new tattoo?  just kidding.  the tattoo belong to ami and yes, it's real!  the tattoo represents her parents family crest. 

bird house treasure

look what i found at tj maxx and sharon got it for me.  :)  thank you sharon.  i love yellow and i love bird houses - so of course, it had to go home with me.  i might put a little green plant in there, but haven't found one that i love yet. 

isn't it adorable?  it's actually a jewelry holder - see the hooks on the outside?

backyard project #1

this one area in our backyard where our trash cans go had bark on it and each time when we would roll out the cans, the bark would go everywhere.  aaron was thinking of putting stepping stones instead of bark, but when he read what how much work was involved on how to get the stepping stones even, we decided to put little rocks instead.  :)  no more bark mess!

before

after

soccer game

every friday we take emma and dexter on a field trip after dinner.  we took them to las palmas park in sunnyvale and the last time we were there was right before we moved.  emma went crazy - she was like the ball in the pinball machine - couldn't decide where to go first, so she went everywhere all at once!  that's why i had dexter because he's the calm one.  :)

emma stopped chasing the birds to watch a soccer game

sectional

we got our couch!  i didn't think it was going to come until the end of june because they said it would take 4-5 weeks.  i think it only took them 3-1/2 weeks.  the material we got is microfiber, which i read is easiest to clean if you have pets.  i got bench seating style cushions because i saw it in a magazine and thought it was a great idea.   

when they delivered the couch, i was "holy crap, it's huge!"  i think it was because i was so used to our other couch.  i love how we all could sit on the couch together.  :)  only thing is it has the new smell, which is not too bad when i have the windows open.  hopefully the smell will go away soon. 

before

i think the table looks great with the couch :)

mr. dex

mr. dex is what we call him - i love how his leg hangs on the chair :)

favorite thing to do

one of their favorite things to do - enjoying the sunshine in the backyard.

french cottage guest bedroom

i didn't mean to make the theme in the guest bedroom a french one, but everything just came together and one of my friend called it a french cottage room, so why not?  i like the name of it and i love the colors in the room. 

the paris map is actually gift wrapping paper and i found the frame at ikea and it fits perfectly!

built-in bookshelves

i saw this picture of the built-in bookshelves and i thought it would look great in our living room.  only problem is how do i build them?  i am not handy and neither is my hubby.  never fear, i found a solution at ikea.  billy bookshelves!  i am planning to put a row of bookshelves in the back of the living room and put the couch in front of it.  this will give the room a focal point and some architectural appeal.  i can't wait to get started on this and see the finished product.  i am calling the living room our "library / game room."

no, this is not our living room.  i wish!  this is what i would like it eventually to look like, or at least somewhat close to it.

the billy bookshelves at ikea.  not built-in, but hey, i still think it will look nice  :)

fruity dogs

emma and dexter love eating apples, pears, and watermelon.  here they are waiting for aaron to give them some apple slices.