Montreal Part 2

When the sun finally decided to come out, the first thing we did was get on a bikes. Bixi is the coolest bike sharing system ever. $5/day gets you access to as many bikes as you need to get around. You can pick up a bike at one station and drop it off at another. I wish NY had a system like this, but I don't think our residents are responsible enough to maintain it. 

I'm so Asian. I actually hate having photos taken of me, and the peace sign is a nervous twitch that makes awkward photo ops even more awkward. 

Cruising along the canal.

Montreal Part 1

I've always enjoyed off-season travel. Because I live in New York, the thought of going on a crowded vacation gives me flashbacks to all the times I've foolishly ventured into Trader Joe's on a Sunday morning. (Literally lines out the door.) Vic and I decided to visit Montreal in May figuring the weather would be nice and the crowds would be smaller.

When I landed in Montreal (only a 1.5 hour flight from NYC!), my first thought was, "Where the heck is everyone?" Never have I seen such a clean, empty airport. With an hour to kill before Vic's flight came in, I roamed around and captured the unprecedented  stillness.

My second thought was, "Wow, it's really French here." For some reason I was under the impression that half of the population spoke mostly English but when we arrived, almost all conversations were carried in French.  I read somewhere that 85% of Montrealers speak French at home, yet almost everyone we met spoke English fluently as well. I was blown away by the flawless bilingualism so now I must learn French. Willing to barter design services for French lessons. Email me :)

Coney Island Mermaid Parade.

When I was younger I thought I was too cool to dress up for Halloween. Now that I'm old, I jump at any opportunity to put on a costume. And by "costume" I mean shiny things stuck onto my face. Andrea and I went to the Mermaid Parade to support our friend Peter who was showcasing his snake-worm float.  We squeezed our way to the front and sat on the floor with all the little kids so I was able to get some pretty nice shots. Watching a bunch of half naked hippies prancing around in home-made costumes always reminds me of San Francisco. <3

Q Train, represent!

We called Andrea's look "Poseidon's Mistress" (meets Sailor Moon)

My Parent's Kitchen.

As a part of our massive family home overhaul, my parents completely gutted the kitchen and moved it to another spot in the house. This was the first kitchen I designed, and I wanted it to be perfect because my mom has tolerated our small, sad kitchen for the last 17 years. We knew we wanted something light and timeless, so I began by collecting images of beautiful white kitchens, and sketched out some rough plans on IKEA's software to play with different layouts. I am obsessed space planning, so I considered every possible configuration to ensure that it was as functional and practical as possible. I then took those plans to a kitchen designer at Home Depot and she worked with me for hours to hash out every miniscule detail from cabinet dimensions,to appliance specifications, to drawer pulls and handles.


This is where we planned to build the new kitchen. The door goes into the new garage, and the window looks onto our side yard.


As a last minute decision, we decided against white cabinets because we thought they might be a little too ordinary. The cabinets are Thomasville in a color called Dover. It's a soft, warm, pale gray.


Ezekile and Diego painstakingly installed them with surgical precision.




Drumroll please.........................


Brand new cabinets! Brand new appliances! Brand new everything!