I’ve Lost My Voice
My blogging voice, I mean. It has been so long since I regularly blogged, I’ve forgotten how to write.
Ever since Hubs and I moved from the boondocks, Outer Sunset district in SF, to the hip ‘n happenin’ SOMA district, I’ve had less of an urge to sit in front of my computer and write. I find myself wandering the streets, people watching, taking pictures, and simply enjoying the wonders of city living. While SF is no NY, it is just right for me. Big enough to explore, yet too small to get lost in, it’s a perfect match for a wannabe-city-girl-but-deep-down-inside-suburb-girl.
So, it’s Thanksgiving tomorrow, the most appropriate time to take note of what I’m thankful for. Although I’ve felt thankful for so much in 2009, I’m specifically grateful for a healthy family, friends with whom I can be myself with (warts and all), and a home to call our own. Oh yes, and a husband who constantly thinks of our well-being together over his own immediate gratification. I wish I could say the same for myself sometimes. 
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Before I sign off, I’ll share two teasers from some stuff I’ve been working on:
Cheryl & Hai’s wedding in Burlingame
Baby Derek & family’s photo shoot
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Stampin’ Up Holiday Extravaganza Sale
Hello folks! Long time no blog! I haven’t had a chance to breathe lately, let alone stamp, but I wanted to pass along the info for a Stampin’ Up holiday sale going on right now through November 30th. The sale includes stamping bundles from 30-50% off with some really cute stuff. Some pretty good deals to be had! The item numbers are listed below in case you want to look them up, but everything is posted on the shopping portal. Just click here to shop (select “shop now” in the top right corner). Now if only I could get the husband to study in the kitchen instead of my craft room…
| Item | Description | Regular Price | Discounted Price |
| 120280 | Framed with Love Bundle
|
$43.90 | $21.95 |
| 120281 | Thank You Kindly Bundle
|
$29.90 | $14.95 |
| 120976 | Thank You Kindly Bundle (French)
|
$29.90 | $14.95 |
| 120282 | Animal Crackers Bundle
|
$25.90 | $12.95 |
| 120283 | Corduroy Button Bundle
|
$49.75 | $24.88 |
| 120284 | Game Night Bundle
|
$40.90 | $20.45 |
| 120285 | Four Square Bundle
|
$30.90 | $15.45 |
| 120286 | Heart to Heart Bundle
|
$49.85 | $24.93 |
| 120310 | Heart to Heart Bundle (Spanish)
|
$49.85 | $24.93 |
| 120311 | Heart to Heart Bundle (French)
|
$49.85 | $24.93 |
| 120287 | Chipboard Letter Bundle
|
$25.90 | $12.95 |
| 120288 | Double-Stitched Ribbon Bundle
|
$17.90 | $10.74 |
| 120289 | Ultimate Stampers’ Starter Bundle*
|
$127.70 | $76.62 |
| 120290 | Build-A-Brad Bundle
|
$40.85 | $24.51 |
| 120291 | Enjoy Every Moment Bundle
|
$43.85 | $26.31 |
| 120312 | Enjoy Every Moment Bundle (French)
|
$43.85 | $26.31 |
| 120292 | Cheep Talk Bundle
|
$42.85 | $25.71 |
| 120293 | Sock Monkey Bundle
|
$58.85 | $35.31 |
| 120313 | Sock Monkey Bundle (French)
|
$58.85 | $35.31 |
| 120294 | Alphabet Bundle
|
$87.90 | $52.74 |
| 120295 | Simply Said Bundle
|
$52.85 | $31.71 |
| 120314 | Simply Said Bundle (French)
|
$52.85 | $31.71 |
| 120296 | On Board Bundle
|
$42.85 | $25.71 |
| 120927 | Christmas Décor Bundle #1
|
$74.85 | $44.91 |
| 120298 | Christmas Décor Bundle #2
|
$74.85 | $44.91 |
| 120299 | Christmas Décor Bundle #3
|
$74.85 | $44.91 |
| 120300 | For All You Do Bundle
|
$36.90 | $25.83 |
| 120315 | For All You Do Bundle (French)
|
$36.90 | $25.83 |
| 120316 | For All You Do Bundle (Spanish)
|
$36.90 | $25.83 |
| 120301 | Striped Ribbon Bundle
|
$47.73 | $33.41 |
| 120302 | Bling Bundle
|
$43.80 | $30.66 |
| 120303 | Fresh-Cut Bundle
|
$37.85 | $26.50 |
| 120317 | Fresh-Cut Bundle (French)
|
$37.85 | $26.50 |
| 120304 | Pendant Note Bundle
|
$39.85 | $27.90 |
| 120318 | Pendant Note Bundle (French)
|
$39.85 | $27.90 |
| 120319 | Pendant Note Bundle (Spanish)
|
$39.85 | $27.90 |
| 120305 | Sporting Bundle #1
|
$67.90 | $47.54 |
| 120306 | Sporting Bundle #2
|
$67.90 | $47.54 |
| 120307 | Sporting Bundle #3
|
$67.90 | $47.54 |
| 114864 | Ginormous Flowers I Décor Elements | $39.95 | $27.97 |
| 114863 | Ginormous Flowers II Décor Elements | $39.95 | $27.97 |
| 112534 | 5/16″ Neutrals Jumbo brads | $7.95 | $5.57 |
| 112533 | 5/8″ Neutrals Jumbo brads | $6.95 | $4.87 |
| 112081 | Scallop Square punch | $15.95 | $11.17 |
| 113693 | Full Heart punch | $15.95 | $11.17 |
| 113694 | Heart to Heart punch | $15.95 | $11.17 |
| 112091 | Scallop Edge punch | $15.95 | $11.17 |
| 112571 | Circle Designer brads | $5.95 | $4.17 |
| 112579 | Flower Designer brads | $5.95 | $4.17 |
| 112572 | Star Designer brads | $5.95 | $4.17 |
| 114785 | Small Wonderful Flowers Décor Elements | $39.95 | $27.97 |
| 114786 | Medium Wonderful Flowers Décor Elements | $69.95 | $48.97 |
| 114791 | Small Wonderful Leaves Décor Elements | $39.95 | $27.97 |
| 114792 | Medium Wonderful Leaves Décor Elements | $64.95 | $45.47 |
525,600 x 2
… Minutes, that is, since we’ve been married. What’s changed in the last two years? Regular readers probably know this stuff, but to recap:
1. We bought our first home! Thanks to Obama and Schwarzenegger, we were able to take advantage of some first time home buyer tax credits to purchase a 2BR/2BA condo in downtown SF. Never mind that we are too broke to furnish it. Ignore our ghetto “drapes,” a.k.a. the faded bed sheet we attached to our window with painters’ tape. We have double sinks! Know what that means? I can ignore the nasty, hairy shaver “sand” around Hubs’ sink! And I’m finally near public transportation so I have an excuse to leave work early; “Sorry guys, gotta go catch my ferry!”
Hubs looks terrified during a walk through of our condo. His expression is likely due to discovering my wish list of new furniture.
2. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Hubs decided to pursue higher education. So, along with a full time job, he is going to school part time at night. The transition has been both difficult and easy. Difficult because we don’t spend quality time together anymore, our budget is extra tight (tuition is expensive!), and worst of all, Hubs transformed my craft room into his man-study, complete with a talking Transformers figure. The horror! On the flip side, we appreciate every last minute we are together. Oh, and I now only have to cook two nights a week!
3. I’ve discovered a passion. Thanks to wedding planning, I’ve become enamored with gorgeous photos and I’ve taken up photography as a serious hobby/potential future business endeavor. Hubs bought me my first DSLR for my birthday last year, and it’s been attached to me ever since. After shooting my first wedding in May, I’ve learned that it’s tough work! But, I adore it. Although I’m not quitting my day job, I’m concentrating on becoming the best photographer I can be, without the pressure of building a business.
And after two years, some things never change:
1. We still bicker about money and chores. I spend too much money, he does too little chores (I have a feeling this argument is here to stay).
2. We’re still a good team. We went through a lot during our second year of marriage: family illnesses, family deaths, house buying, moving… but we did it as a team. Sure, I lifted more heavy boxes than Hubs. He read more contracts than me. We aren’t perfect, but somehow, we fill in each others’ gaps and make it work.
3. Marriage is still 149,265,109,298 times better than the wedding. The wedding was fabu, but being married is indescribable. There’s something life changing when another person thinks you’re beautiful on your bad days, when you’re five pounds bloated with no make-up and haven’t shaved/showered in a week. I the daily ups and down of marriage. I love how real the moments are; like when Hubs always makes me laugh the very instant I’m trying to be pissed at him. I love that we can fight for hours–days, even–yet I ultimately know that we will make up and our differences can never outweigh our affection. Weddings are fabulous, but marriage is incredible.
Happy anniversary, honey! Here’s to the memories and many more to come.
Wedding photos by the awesome Apertura Photography.
Cupcake Wars
A few weeks ago, Little Bro and I had a paper craft boot camp to assemble the invitations for his upcoming wedding. Christina (who I will get to call my sister-in-law soon, which is so much easier than calling her my brother’s fiancee) and I both brought cupcakes to help ease the invitation making pain. I picked up some yummy delights from Kara’s Cupcakes in Palo Alto and Christina brought some tasty Sprinkles cakes over.
Of course, this meant a taste test was in order.
In the packaging department, Sprinkles took the cake. 
The box was sturdier and seemed to fit the cupcakes better than the container used to house Kara’s Cupcakes.
Flavors from Sprinkes: Red velvet, vanilla with coconut topping, chocolate, and ____ (forgot the last flavor).
Flavors from Kara’s: Meyer lemon, fleur de sel (salted caramel), chocolate velvet, and sweet vanilla
Kara’s Fleur de Sel cupcake. Mmmmm. Very tasty. Also very rich.
Kara’s Meyer Lemon. My favorite in the box.
I wish I had a close-ups of the Sprinkles cupcakes, but I must’ve ate them all before I clicked the shutter. It’s no wonder my bridesmaid dress doesn’t zip up all the way.
The consensus? Kara’s cupcakes were softer and more moist than Sprinkles, but some of the cupcakes (especially the chocolate flavored cakes) were over-the-top sweet. Sprinkles cakes were definitely drier, but less sweet (frosting included), making them easier to consume. My favorite picks were Sprinkles’ red velvet and Kara’s Meyer lemon.
In conclusion, give me any cupcake from either of these two stores and I’m not complainin’ one bit!
Another Year Older, But Not Wiser
Whoa, has it been over a month since I last posted? EEP. Where has the time gone? I don’t know, because I feel like I haven’t completed much in the last month! Our house is still a complete mess. Boxes everywhere, shoes everywhere, clothes everywhere. It’s a shame that such a nice condo is now such a huge mess.
I have, however, accomplished the following over the last 30 days:
- Moved! What a hassle. I hope we don’t move for another 10 years. I seriously dislike moving with a passion.
- Designed little bro’s wedding invitations and helped him print them on the Gocco machine he bought me. Unfortunately, there were spelling mistakes and he had to reprint some. Did I mention there were five+ spelling mistakes and he had to reprint the ards more than once? Whoops. Auto spell check at work has sucked the intelligence outta me.
- Photographed two weddings. Learned a lot while doing so. Like, how I need a good wide angle, a nice zoom lens, and some serious lighting gear. And how my favorite hobby is going to make me broke, unless I get seriously good enough to make some money from it. Photography, why must you be so expensive?
- Turned another year older. Today, actually. Yikes! Thought I’d be a little more settled at this age. Perhaps a little wiser and more mature. Apparently not!
Birthdays are wretched things, aren’t they? I think they should be banned after age 29. Turning thirty is traumatizing. And 31, well, let’s just pretend that didn’t happen, shall we?
Lately, I’ve been madly obsessed with paint colors. I’m painting our new place this weekend–hooray! Our stark white walls need some life. Who knew that the seemingly simple task of picking paint colors would be such a headache? Did you know there are about a billion shades of gray and they all look completely different? There are , blue grays, warm pink grays, and everything in between. For my living room, I’ve been looking for a very pale true gray with maybe just a tiny touch of blue. Not too much. I don’t want my walls to slant blue in the light. I’m having the darnedest time choosing a color. Hubs has ordered me to stop buying test cans, but I can’t stop. I took a picture of some of the sample swatches I’ve painted over the last few weeks. These were painted on poster board because I didn’t have the guts to slap the paint on my walls yet.
Below (from left to right, all Benjamin Moore colors): Stonington Gray (too drab), Ice Cubed Silver (too light), Bunny Gray (too blue), Iceberg (too blue), Silvery Blue (too muddy), Pale Oak (our pick for the bathroom), Summer Shower (our pick for the bedroom and craft room), and Sterling (too dark). And I’ve got about a dozen more swatches not pictured. 
Those two little squares of fabric are some samples that I got for our curtains.
Anyway, it’s off to bed I go. I will make it my birthday resolution to blog more often than once a month. Now that Hubs officially started his MBA program, I’ll have much more time.
The Sunset House Relocates
Exciting news in the Sunset House… We are moving! Yup, two weeks ago, we (finally) closed on our first home, a spiffy SF condo. The unit is brand new and since we will be living downtown, my commute will be shorter by almost an hour a day. Hooray! More time for crafting. Our condo is super modern with sleek lines, granite countertops, and floor to ceiling windows—totally Hubs’ style and not really my taste, since I prefer old Victorian flats with crown molding and chair rails. But of course, I still love it and am beyond excited. The escrow process was definitely trying on our patience and nerves, especially with the recent stricter lending guidelines. I must document the experience soon because it is something that I always want to remember… and never want to experience again.
Along with buying a new house, Hubs’ Yeh Yeh (grandfather on his father’s side) passed away last week on Thursday. He was extremely ill with cancer so we all knew this day was coming. But the expectation did not ease the pain any. Yeh Yeh’s funeral will be our third funeral that we will be attending during the last two-month period, the other two being my Poa Poa (grandmother) and my very close uncle. These past two months have taught me more about loss and family than the last thirty years of my life.
2009 has turned out to be quite a roller coaster. This year, I: attended four weddings as a guest, photographed my first wedding, signed up to shoot two more weddings, attended two funerals, will attend another one this weekend, closed escrow on our first house, supported Hubs as he applied for and got accepted into an awesome MBA program, got promoted, and took my first photography class… gosh, this year has been more eventful than our wedding year. And it hasn’t even ended yet!
Anyway, now that I’ve explained my absence and lack of posts, I’ll share some photos of our new place. The pictures with furniture are of model unit, which has exactly the same finishes and layout as our unit, but much nicer furniture than we will ever own.
The living room has HUGE floor to ceiling windows, which I love. It stays bright into the evening.
The only difference between the model and our unit is the kitchen counter. Our unit is one complete slab of granite (no white) and we have dark zebra wood instead of light.
The bathrooms come standard with these European sinks. Hubs and I each get our own sink! You can’t imagine how exciting this is, since we’re constantly pushing each other out of the way in the mornings.
Another view of the living room model. Not our hippos.
That’s my pops. He really liked the unit when he first saw it, so I’m happy that it got his stamp of approval. BTW, anyone know what kind of window coverings would work best on that corner window?
View into the hallway.
And finally, a photo of our actual unit. I cannot wait to get my hands on that Viking cook top. I’ve been dying to cook with a wok but haven’t had a stove with a hot enough flame. And that French door, bottom mount fridge? I never knew I could love an appliance so much.
The Sunset House will always have a special place in my heart as our first home. Lots of happy memories happened inside those four walls. I know some say that the first years of marriage are the most difficult. Hubs and I have been blessed because our first years have been pretty blissful, outside of the occasional blow up, typically instigated monthly by my hormonal cycle or any discussion that involves the word “budget.” I like to think that we earned our peaceful household since we had a rough engagement period where we worked out many of our kinks (a.k.a. argued constantly, mostly about money). Moving out of the sunset district will be both bittersweet and exciting. Even though the Hubs and I are moving, this blog will always and forever remain The Sunset House. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Now, I’m off to chip away at the never ending packing we have to do. See you all soon!
Retiring Stamps
I haven’t had much time to stamp lately, but I’m still sad to see the list of SU’s retiring stamps. They must go to make room for the new ones in the catalog release on July 1st! I’m excited to see what’s in the upcoming catty because the new “in-colors” will be released along with a ton of new products. SU is also moving to a single catalog per year instead of two, so stamps will be hanging around for a little longer. Yay!
Here is a link to the list of retiring stamps from the Spring/Summer catty (stamps available through June 30th): Going, going, gone
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