Travel | Eat Right in Taiwan

2011.04.15 - 2011.04.23 Taipei + Miaoli, Taiwan

本趟旅行是幾乎等於是查理斯第一次體會"出國"旅遊的樂趣, 雖然對我而言是回娘家, 可是陪著他跑遍大台北也屬難得, 恰巧碰上花博, 所以特地回頭記錄下來, 絕不遺忘各式小吃; 以下是特地為查理斯安排的簡單一週遊程:

Paint the Town Red

Hooray!! I finally get some “red” photos uploaded!!

這個周末 living room 有著重大的進度突破, 注意到其中一邊牆特別明亮嗎? 那是查理斯裝好一邊的 Cove lighting (隱蔽照明)!! 真不可思議, 一條不到一公分寬的 LED 燈鏈, 一邊就可散發出三顆半一百瓦的燈泡的亮度, 卻只使用40~50瓦的電力, 相當於節省八倍的電; 等查理斯兩邊都裝好後, 整個客廳就會燈火通明了!

Travel | Starbucks Mugs Collection

開始收集 Starbucks Mugs 是發生在2012年年初, 與和友人飛往西雅圖拜訪一位朋友, 再車兩個小時去了一趟溫哥華; 在溫哥華的一家星巴克借借暖, 沒有想喝咖啡, 不知道買什麼好, 查理斯看上了它的大口杯, 便開啟了我們定點旅遊蒐集的戰利品...

2011.12.31 - 2012.01.02 Seattle, Washington, United States

西雅圖必訪之地: 星巴克的發跡點, 首家門市店

位於市中心著名的 Pike Place Market (派克市場)

西雅圖地標: Space Needle (太空針塔), 頂樓是個昂貴的旋轉餐廳

在一家小巧可愛的海鮮小館, 享受現撈現吃的新鮮生蠔

遠處眺望的西雅圖夜景

2012.01.02 - 2012.01.04 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 

總算是"出國"一趟, 抵達加拿大溫哥華

從我們居住的公寓旅館望去的溫哥華夜景, 不遜於西雅圖

有別於一般商用旅館, 這是由屋主直接對外出租的度假形公寓, 如同居家公寓一般設備齊全, 挑高樓層可望去一整片溫哥華, 查理斯夢想著哪天退休住上個一年半載... 翻找照片時居然發現屋主也有我們想要的小紅椅!!

Door or No Door

No, the living room is not done yet. I think we most likely won’t be able to meet our “deadline” to finish the touch up, including clean up before the end of February... (sigh) Charles doesn’t want to show how messy the living room is now so I can only be patient to show some better pictures later... (another sigh)

Anyways, we have the answer for “door-or-no-door.” See Charles complete the door frame here...

 

Remember the four different ideas about that entry way between the living room and family room: 
 
1. French doors
2. No doors at all
3. Curtain divider
4. Pocket doors

Both of us think no-doors is the optimal way to go because it would make the room seem bigger. However, we also think it is necessary to have a door because the living room will also be a home theater. We want it to be a complete private room that can get away with the noise from the other side. Plus, we still want to be able to control each room’s temperature when it gets too cold or too hot. The door we had before seemed to help a lot.

So, we are going to combine all the above in one solution. How?

Here’s a hint:

Another one:

We're going for a pair of french doors. oh wait... but the frame is for pocket doors?!?!
  

That’s right, a pair of french doors in pockets! We can push the doors all the way so it looks just like an open area with no doors. When the doors are shut, it looks like:

The doors are in white now. This is what we want it to be:

Via Pinterest

Completely unrelated, take a look of what we found in HomeGoods!! 
It's THE chair that I long for!

Learn to Be Patient

We are making progress in our living room, slowly though. We only get a few hours before bedtime during the weekday. Four weekends a month seem so limited. I know Charles has done A LOT already, especially the majority of the work is done by himself. I just can’t wait to see a brand new living room!

Ever since we started this project, I couldn't help pinterest-ing tons of decoration ideas for a Red and White Living room:

• Ikea LAPPLJUNG curtains
• NATUZZI swivel club chair
• Safavieh Florida Shag Cream Rug 8’ x 10’
• Surya Flatweave Rug Venetian Red/Oatmeal
• Chevron cushion

I spent a lot of time imaging what kind of new rug, new curtains or new chairs that could fit this new place and eagerly wanted to collect them all. There was always a sound in my head saying “If you don’t get it now, the deal may be over soon!” After days and hours of waste, I learned to be patient and returned all the new purchases (just to clarify, I didn't buy all the above!) The facts are, the room has not done yet, the budget has not been clear, and ideas change all the time. More essentially, decoration takes time. I don't want to buy a cushion so early that I can’t return and then try to match everything for that cushion. I should wait patiently until every single detail is done and enjoy the room for a few weeks to see what is missing and what can make this room better. I decided to try out our own furniture first and take my time to pick the right accessory.