New headboard project

Ok, ok... it's been a while, but our computer has been on a continuos downward spiral, getting slower and slower, for the past month. So, finally after Galen's intensive research on many apple forums and blogs, we figured out the problem! Yay! I have my old friend back and running at it's full potential. 

Here's what's been going on in our lives:

- We've narrowed down our Boston apartment potentials and plan on touring them in February when Galen has time off.

- I've slowly been cleaning out areas in our house to prepare for the move. It's amazing how much STUFF we've accumulated.

- I picked up a new Zumba class, so now teaching 3 days in a row.

- Kevin's coming back for Christmas.

- We made a headboard this weekend!

I've been looking on line at tufted headboards, similar to this one:

Similar headboards online cost $300+, more than I wanted to spend, so we went the DIY route. I love the rich cornflower blue and velvet texture of this one, but couldn't find a similar fabric anywhere in town, and online dealers were charging around $30/yard!

We used to have an Ikea hand-me-down from a friend who moved and was looking to get rid of some stuff. Don't mind the lime green wall. I had, um... unique taste as a 19 year-old moving into that room.

Anyhow, Galen was a huge help with this project, and I couldn't have done it with out him and his patience.  

Step 1: making the buttons. My fingers were THROBBING from pinching these together, but then Galen handed me some vice pliers, and then it was easy-breezy from there.

Travelogue: York 2013

Looks like life has gotten in the way of blogging again, but here's part 4/5 from photos from this summer's trip. After the wedding we drove to York, which I suppose is sort of a tourist town for for British and was recommended to us by my cousin. We stayed in a rental house about a 10 minute walk from the city center. It was so nice staying in rental houses, having space to spread out, and having a kitchen to cook breakfast in the mornings. Aren't these little milk containers cute?

I think one of the coolest things about York is that it's still surrounded by the old wall that used to protect the city center. The first day we arrived, we walked the perimeter of the city atop the wall.

These people live outside the wall:

 These people live inside the wall:

 A watch tower with a narrow little window for shooting arrows out of.

 Cute moss balls that grow all over the wall's old stone bricks

My Uncle Lui, Auntie Monica, and cousins, Nathaniel and Christabella, also spent the day with us. Our first stop was lunch before exploring the city center.

 Cornish pasties for lunch. I think I had a chicken and mushroom one.

 They advertised air conditioning in their upstairs seating area, but it must not have been turned on.

This old warehouse was for sale. How cool would it be to convert this into lofts right on the river?

A perfect little cluster of wild mushrooms.

One unique area of York was The Shambles, a narrow street of various shops, but they were all in original overhanging buildings dating back to the fourteenth century. Each story of the buildings were built progressively further out than the floor below to maximize space but also so the inhabitants could throw their dirty water and waste out the windows without it splashing into the windows below. It was basically a real-life Diagon Alley. 

Then all of sudden, we turned a corner and there was the massive minster.

That night was a traditional Sunday English roast for dinner at a pub, complete with Yorkshire pudding and black currant cordial.

The next day we went to the York Museum with what's left of the Castle of York outside in the front lawn.

These signs seem vague but were actually quite helpful.

The museum showed life in York throughout the centuries and was really interesting, must be why I didn't take any photos there ;)

By the time we were done, we had time for an early dinner before the whole city shut down for the night... at 5:00PM! I have no idea why everything closed so early there.

On the walk home we sampled some macarons, which are hugely popular there as they are here in the States. My favorite was the strawberry and rose flavored one.

I could definitely see myself living along the river in one of these apartments.

 A lovely church garden on the opposite side of the river

 The entrance to the city through the old wall.

York was definitely worth visiting, very old-world England and charming. Next stop - London! 

Old Liu family photos

Yesterday I was cleaning out our bookshelf and came across some old photos from my grandfather's house, so I thought I'd share them. When I first got these, I was meaning to scan them, but then they just got forgotten in the clutter.

Another cool thing I found is a family tree written by my grandfather before he passed away. The only name I recognize on there though is my own, and through some deduction I can figure out a few people around me. Maybe someone can help with the translation?

No need for instagram filters...these pictures are truly vintage!

My fashionable Dad outside their Flushing Meadows, NY house

Cute Momma

My aunt Helen aka "Goo Goo", Dad's younger sister

It was the era of feathered hair and bellbottoms

                   

Grandmother ("Ma Ma"), Grandfather "Yeh Yeh"), Dad, Goo Goo - Princeton, New Jersey

Notice my Yeh Yeh holding the purse :)

Auntie Siu and Uncle Kan

Look at all that hair!

Yeh Yeh and Ma Ma

Mustachioed 

 

Ma Ma and me, the pumpkin headed baby

Judging by the outfits, I'm guessing this is from sometime in the 80s

First family portrait, 06/28/1986, me at 12 days old

Outside the Flushing Meadows house

Bowl cut!

Uncle Kan's, Dad's older brother, wedding. Kevin was such a cute little bald buddah baby!

Uncle Lui's wedding. Far right is my great-grandmother

Ma Ma and Yeh Yeh's wedding photo. Such a timeless wedding dress.

One of my favorite pictures. Dad looks the same then as now.

Here's what was written on the back of my Dad's school photo. It is just SO him to have written this.

PLUS, I'm pretty proud of how organized and dust-free my shelves are now. :)

*Cube shelves are the EXPEDIT shelving unit from Ikea