more this & that

i haven't quite found a blogging rhythm these days.  i'm still trying to unpack (yes, a little embarrassing) and get organized at the hotel, get more sleep and work on stuff for the new house.  my parents finally returned from their 3-week vaca yesterday and i was looking forward to some free time but alas, my mama caught a cold so no contact with the baby allowed.  bleh.

one of the architectural renderings - hand sketched and colored!

anywho, we had our second meeting with the architect on monday and it was so exciting!  based on our wish list and discussions from our first meeting, they presented us with three different house schemes.  we reviewed each one and chose elements that we liked and made major decisions regarding placement of the cottage for my parents, garage, areas with vaulted ceilings, what sections would be two-story, etc.  we have our third meeting on monday and will be another step closer to the final design of our new home.  this process is soooo exciting and fun!   

left - cooking the arborio rice in the seafood broth/garlic/onion mixture
right - the finished product garnished with fresh parm and parsley

one of my favorite italian dishes is authentic risotto!  tonight, i made seafood risotto and sadly, i was the only one who enjoyed it.  the hubs went to the basketball game and the tiramisu only wanted to eat green apples and oranges.  she's drooling like crazy and my guess is that her last two molars are cutting in.  poor thing but she's such a trooper.  she's always handled teething very well.  we are so lucky!

have a great weekend!

this & that

it's so surreal that the creation of our new house is finally coming to fruition.  this is our design team... one designer and two architects.  our first meeting went great! we spent 1-1/2 hours discussing all the basics of the house (size, style, layout, etc) and creating a realistic construction budget based on our wish list.  the funds are tight and we've already had to compromise but i'm confident that we can build something that we will love...or at least i hope so.  hah.

here i am getting new nubbies put on my teeth.
this is the curing step of the nub process...each nubbie is cured so it doesn't fall off!

in other news, i'm back on invisalign.  omg.  turns out that my little refinement is not so little.  i have 15 new trays on the top and bottom...and a gazillion nubbies on my teeth...to make my chompers as perfectly positioned as possible.  these new trays are super tight and are pulling and rotating my teeth in sooooo many directions.  i feel like my teeth are going to fall out whenever i remove the trays to eat.  i don't remember ever having this feeling during my first and second course of aligning.  i guess their new teeth rotating technology works!

and lastly, i bought a new little refer for the hotel today to be used as a second refrigerator for produce.  i went to sears before lunch and was told that the refer was $569.99 less 5% discount plus $84.99 for delivery.  after thinking about it, i went back tonight at 8:45 pm to purchase the refer because i wanted it now now now and to my surprise, the tag now said the price was $509.99!  what the?!  i guess there's a sale that's starting on friday morning so they changed all the tags early and were willing to honor the price...and give me either a 10% discount or $15 delivery!  whooo-hooo.  i took the $15 delivery to save the hubby from having a cow about picking up the refer (and it was a bigger savings than the 10%).  

enough blabbing.  time to go to sleep.  btw - i'm not doing so well with my resolution to sleep earlier.

wussup?!

we're only 10 days into the new year and it's already kicking my arse.  pardon the blog absence but i've got a crazy mixed plate to deal with at the moment and it includes things like...

practicing safe lunch...by using condiments.  what a funny sign.

finally got our christmas...i mean holiday...i mean new year cards in the mail.  due to a few technical issues, i just couldn't get the cards out by the end of 2011.  using the glass is half full approach, at least we got to wish everyone a happy chinese new year, too.   

since the cards went out, i finally took down the flocked up christmas tree tonight and the hubby wheeled it away for disposal.  it was kinda sad because the tree was still healthy and smelled terrific but it seemed like it was time to move on, especially with the limited space we have here at the hotel.

and lastly, the IRS sent us this lovely letter that we owe owe owe.  uh-huh.  this is going to be a fun one to iron out.

we have our first meeting with the architect this afternoon for our new house! yippppy!

it's finally starting!

in an effort to go to sleep earlier, this post is going to be short short short.  

just wanted to let my five loyal readers know that we've officially started the construction of our new home!  the final decision on the architect was made today, contract is in the mail and our first meeting is next week to start the design process. i've got a wish list that is 5 pages long and will be turning it over to the architect tomorrow.  soooo excited!  

happy new year!

it may not show but the dog really is thrilled about welcoming in the new year ;)  she was quite pleased by the decreased number of loud booms (especially the crazy homemade bombs that were so prevalent in years past) this year.  it's so bizarre how some dogs are totally immune to the noise while others go into a fear frenzy.  my dog belongs to the latter category, unfortunately.   

we don't go out of our way to see fireworks but this year, we had THE most awesome view of the aloha tower light show from the hotel.  there aren't many things i'm gonna miss about this place, but this will be one of them!

anywho, is it just me or does time seem to pass faster as we get older?!  my mom always says that life moves at the speed of our age...so 35 mph for me.  which brings me to my next statement...this year, i will be closer to FORTY YEARS OLD than 30. holy $#(!  nuff said.  

i'm not a big resolution maker but this year, i thought that i would list some of my goals on this blog so i can refer back to them and hopefully be more accountable!  i numbered them for the sake of organizing my thoughts but the numbering isn't necessarily my order of importance.  here goes.  ***i'm seconds away from clicking "publish post" but have realized how lengthy this blog post has become so you may want to just end reading here.***

1.  lose 30 lbs...or gain 30 lbs...or lose 30 lbs and then gain 30 lbs -- my metabolism as an almost 40 year old is not the same as being 21 and it sucks.  for the last two years, i never really saw myself in a full-length mirror since we didn't have any at our old house.  however, the hotel has mirrors everywhere -- in the elevators, bathrooms, closet doors, etc. -- and now i know that losing 30 lbs is an emergency!  but the question is, if i'm planning to put another bun in the oven (the biological clock is ticking triple time), do i lose 30 lbs and then get preggy and gain 30 lbs?  or say $#(! it and get preggy, gain the 30 lbs required to grow a baby in an enormous uterus, and lose 30 + 30 lbs (which is effectively 60 lbs) afterwards?  and how in the world does one even lose 30 lbs without resorting to eating ice cubes and air?  

2.  eat out less / cook more -- sometimes it's just easier to eat out but it's no secret that eating out isn't the best thing for our bodies!  but if i cook, the hubby does the dishes.  the only problem is he hates doing the dishes so he gets annoyed if i use too many pots/pans/plates/etc.  but he wants me to cook more.  yes, it's kinda like being stuck between a rock and a hard place.  and no, i will not offer to do the dishes.

3.  take weekly baths -- oh, you didn't know that i only shower a few times a month? kidding.  i'm talking about taking "baths" vs "showers."  i looooove taking baths but only do so when we're staying in hotels.  we had the hugest double jacuzzi at our old house and never used it because i didn't want to clean it.  yes, super lame.  the hotel has a decently sized jacuzzi in the master bathroom and i'm making it a priority to start taking some bubble baths :)

4.  fall in love with the dishwasher -- when we renovated the kitchens in the last two houses that we owned, we always put in a dishwasher but never used it other than as a dish rack.  yes, another super lame fact.  in 99% of cases, machines are better than humans but for some reason, i can't get myself to understand how a dishwasher can scrub a pot better than the hubs can.  haha.  but there are so many people who swear by dishwashers and i wanna be in that group (especially since they say that you save more water running the machine...really?!)!  loving and using a dishwasher will justify the price tag for the one we're putting into our new house as it will no longer be just a glorified dish rack.

5.  make better use of my time -- i think i'm going back to closing my facebook account.  that thing is such a time sucker.  i don't even need to read through all the posts but i do.  hah.  

6.  make our new house a top priority -- i have a master plan in place for our new house but it's not going to happen if i'm not on top of things.  the contract for the architect will be signed this week and permit drawings should be in hand by the middle of march if we are all on it.  i cannot wait.

7.  go to sleep earlier -- i like working at night when it's dark outside and the house is quiet.  but it also means that i end up staying up until 2 or 3 am or even 4 am when i have to wake up at 8 am.  it's 120 am right now and i'm up blogging.  hah.

8.  start traveling again -- 2010 BC (before children), the hubs and i traveled like crazy...two trips a year and always one international trip.  sadly, we haven't gone anywhere since the baby was born.  she is my world and i'm pretty content with just being with her, even if it's just at home, but i think it's time we learn how to travel with a child and burn up allllllll the miles i've been accumulating in anticipation of taking her to europe!  

ummmm...

i think 8 goals are enough for now.  i can go on and on but in honoring goal #7, i must turn this computer off and go to sleep!  but not before i get comfy under the covers and check instagram and then close my eyes for the night.  maybe a mandatory disconnect/unplug time should be goal #9? hah.