It was only a month ago that I posted the beautiful Fall color pictures, and now, Nature gave us a little change of scenery - Ice! Even though we didn't get hit as bad as the one in 2002, it still affected many homes in the area. I hope that if we're going to get any precipitation for the rest of the winter, please let it be snow!
No matter how many times I've experienced the beauty of the fall season each year, I'm still amazed by the vivid range of colors that nature brings us. Just like many wonderful things, these moments only last for a short time. I have to remind myself to appreciate the moment. Soak it in. Better yet, snap a few digital pics and post them on the blog so others could experience it, too.
Yesterday we had our annual pumpkin carving party at Tom and Mark's. Although I didn't win the best pumpkin, I think my creation was pretty original. Mine was inspired by the new Sprint Center in Downtown Kansas City. It looks fabulous when lit because you can see lights from all 360 degrees. It creates a very nice pattern around it!
It seems like six weeks had passed at a blink since I posted the last entry. The warm weather is finally changing and so are the leafs. It went up to about 80 today despite the fact that it'll be Halloween in a week!
Here are some pictures of our living and dining room of our house, which is not so new now since we've already moved in for 2 months.
Things happen for a reason. I was rather disappointed after the Central Project went away and decided to start exploring other options. We looked at a some lots and some other houses. After having our mind set for such a long time on building and totally customize everything in our house, it's difficult to find any existing that suits our needs, and in an ideal location, that is within our budget. Then we found this mid-century modern home, built by the original owner, who was an architect. We knew as we walked in that it has our names written all over it. Fast forward to today: I sold my home bought this house, and had moved into it for 3 weeks already. Now when I looked back, it just went by so quickly that it's all a blur, but within it was a ton of stress selling and closing on my house, working on loans and buying the house, and packing and moving and unpacking...all in 60 days! So, here the destination that we ended up which we don't even know it existed when we started the journey of building our dream home. Even though this house was not built by us, it's certainly a dream come true because it reflects our design sensibility. The best of it, at this moment, we're already living in it and enjoying it!
Today is like 1984, the year Macintosh was introduced. Just like the Mac has revolutionized desktop computers, the iPhone has revolutionized mobile phones; not only mobile phones, but touch-screen technology! I was totally fascinated by the user interface and how natural and tactile the touch screen experience, I didn't even pay too much attention to the feature of the phone. I remember when Steve Job first showed the "pinching" gesture to zoom and out of a page, I was floored. That was a "Minority Report" moment and I had been waiting to try it with my own fingers since then and I have to say, I am absolutely impressed! My good friend Cello and his wife each bought one today. I longingly looked at the bag in their hands, and wished I have that kind of a disposable income to drop $500 for a super-cool phone just like that. One thing I'm afraid of is that the a year from now, Apple will come out with an even cooler model! When is it going to end? I did feel a little embarrassed calling with my Motorola PEBL, which seems really cool when I first got it. Now my PEBL is more like a fossil.
By the way, this photo was taken at the Apple Store using PhotoBooth on one of the iMacs and e-mailed to myself. How fun!
Eric, Suba and I went to the Great American Barbecue out in Kansas City Kansas today. Right before the torrential rain, we manage to experience the close up look at the hot air balloon display at the event. The spectators were all like kids again, fascinated by these gigantic colorful balloons, glowing in the twilight.
I just want to post this beautiful Peony that I took near my house a few days ago for my mom. She absolutely adores flowers and it's hard not to hear her gasp in my head whenever I see beautiful flowers in the spring. Happy Mother's Day, mom!
The party must go on! Despite the little mishap, I went to the annual DIIFFA - Dining by Design charity event which many of my peers were the designers for the tables. This years tables were extremely beautiful. And Suba got a Herman Miller Eames Rocker from the silent auction for a great deal. Will came back to Kansas City for this event, and we all had a great time. Here are some of my favorites. I particularly liked HNTB's table designed by my friend Wes. It was the minimal yet well designed. The table was a big light box and there were cutout circles for the wine glasses, plates and vases, so everything was under lit. There were also projectors hidden under the table that projected images onto the ceiling panels and there were two walls on each end of the table and both projected images onto the other side. And of cause, the table was sexier thanks to the beautiful Philippe Starck's Hudson Chairs. Bravo to all the designers. A bunch of us at at Kevin and Jonathan's bird theme table and the reported from the Kansas City Star loved it and took a few photos of us at the table for the People's section. First the SPACES magazine and now the Star. We're going to be over exposed!
I had a little mishap today on my way to the pre-DIFFA party. It was a extremely beautiful spring day and I was all dressed up and ready for tonight's big event. I was singing Dreamgirls. Totally relax and not in a hurry. I stopped at a stop sign, let one car pass, and then started to cross the street, and there was a car right behind the other one that just passed which must be at an angle that was totally hidden from my POV. I didn't even realize it was there until it was in front of me and I didn't even have time to react to it. The passenger side headlight hit the other car's side door. We both stopped and came down to check our car, and luckily no one was injured, and the driver was very nice and polite. We exchanged insurance information and went to the nearest police station to make a report.
The home tours during the CABOOM show were fantastic. It is fascinating to take a closer look at the beautiful houses that you typically only get to see in magazines or books. Also, it is exciting to learn about the architects' creative ideas and choices of certain materials. I would certainly go back again next year.
Suba and I just came back from a long weekend in Santa Monica. We went there for the CABOOM Show, and that I'll write about it in the near future because it was a fantastic experience. We stayed at the Viceroy and it was a fabulous hotel designed by Kelly Weartler. It's located on Ocean Avenue, and a few steps away is the beautiful sandy beach. Unlike the beaches that I'm familiar with growing up, the sun could be shining yet the breeze is a little chilly. Nevertheless, there were many brave souls swimming in it! Here are some of my favorite photos taken while we were taking a little walk by the beautiful beach of Santa Monica.
I just came back from the Preview Party of Spaces spring issue at the new restaurant called Trezo Mare. The food there was fabulous but who cares about the food. We're on page 152! Typically the entertainment section is not a very big, but this issue, we got a whopping nine pages spread (not counting the ads.) The article is filled with 25 colorful pictures from Kevin's sushi party, double the amount of pictures on the featured home on this issue's cover. Since it is a Spring issue, the editor requested something fresh and colorful, and between Kevin's home decor and the sushi we made, the pages are bursting with a kaleidoscope of spring colors.
This interesting image caught my eye as I was sitting in my living room today. The direct sunlight and reflected lights from various surfaces casted very fascinating shadows on the wall.
Eric is directing a play called The Shape of Things which opens this weekend. His stage design calls for a large scale mural in an art gallery. Nicole and I agreed to paint it for him last weekend. We had a fun time putting it together. I first "Photoshoped" the pictures to get the graphic look I wanted, and then the images are projected onto the wall and traced. Then it was pretty much like paint by number filling in the paint. We spent a total of 5 hours on Saturday and just me alone another 4 hours on Sunday. I think it turned out rather stunning. I hope the director is as pleased as the artists.
