Journal

New thing today, going to finish a journal. See, I have this thing about journals and writing. I always buy journals, but they stay empty or started randomly and never finished. This will be one of those, except new thing, I'm going to finish it. That's the goal. I plan to write my thoughts as well as things I eat and how I feel, because I've been having weird health things and I want to see if there's a pattern or anythings connected. Anyway so that's the new thing. Reflecting and journaling has always been good for me and it's something I've neglected but am going to reconnect to.

Also I've been on vacation without much internet access. I'm just going to start posting new things from today and not try to catch up from the days I missed. Oh well. But you may see posts about my trip anyway. Welcome back :)

Big Bus Tour and VPL - Vancouver Public Library

New things today, travel and reading.

We took the Hop On Hop Off Big Bus Tour in Vancouver. I highly recommend this mode of tour/transportation in Vancouver and it was a fantastic experience we will repeat if we get a chance. It's a great way to learn about a city as a tourist, and to get around to major highlights when you aren't from an area and you don't know your way around. Loved the break from walking, and loved the convenience of learning about a place while getting around.

Anyway one of the stops was the Vancouver Public Library. On the Big Bus tour they talked about the origins of the architecture and layout of the library. It was a very cool building and as iconic as it is, looked familiar like a few movie scenes were shot around it. We relaxed, read and wandered around. The inside atrium was awesome. My favorite part was the automatic book/media return conveyor belt. As you return items, it scans them and automatically sorts them to the right sections. You can see this as you walk into the main entrance next to the gift shop. This was my favorite part!

Anyway here are some photos from the library :)

JAPADOG

New thing today, tried JAPADOG! These are Japanese style hot dogs with the crazy kooky tones and flavors of Japan. I was fascinated and wanted to try it. I wasn't sure what to order, so I got one of the popular dogs - #3 Okonomi. I got a combo with Canada Dry and Ketchup Lays - also both new things. I loved the Canada Dry and Ketchup Lays. I was disappointed with the Okonomi dog. I'm still curious about the dogs, so I will try the #1 Terimayo dog next time as I heard that was good. I am very curious about the other hot dogs. Overall a fun new experience. 

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Vancouver

New thing today, experienced the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Vancouver BC.

The Good - Today we biked the Seawall at Stanley Park. We wanted to explore more of beautiful Stanley Park so rented some bikes and decided to bike around. Originally the plan was to go inside around the trees, but we ended up just doing the bike loop around the perimeter bordering the ocean. It was really scenic and beautiful. Guides say it takes about an hour to bike, but we took about 2 with maybe 6 stops for rests. Gorgeous and enjoyable. Tiring but good.

Some shots of the seawall bike path from the internet.

The Bad and the Ugly - We decided to explore Chinatown and try to have dinner there. We were craving good Chinese food and we figured Chinatown would have good food. We decided to take a bus over to that area at about 7pm, walk around and enjoy some shops, then find a good place to eat and have dinner. Whoa were we surprised. It was a holiday today, so most of the shops were closed. Then we ended up on Hastings street which had a large amount of homeless and crazy people condensed and walking around. As tourists we were a bit lost not knowing where to go or where we should go or even how to get out of that area or get back on some public transportation. Finally we decided to just take a bus back to a familiar area and eat somewhere "safe".

More Good - We were waiting at the Main Street bus stop and then we saw our savior - the New Town Bakery and Restaurant. It was like a little jewel in the middle of some a wasteland. This place was awesome. It is an award winning bakery and had good Chinese food. Unfortunately we were there a little late and they were closing in the middle of our meal. But the food and service were excellent, and they helped us get directions and advice on getting around in Chinatown.

No photos of the place or food because I forgot, but we got pork dumplings (shumai), shrimp dumplings (hargow), bbq duck, yang chow fried rice and fresh squid with spicy salt. Some friends had also previously brought my relatives the pork siopao buns, which we had tried earlier and we liked those as well.  Food and Service were excellent! A jewel of Chinatown! Photos of their food are on their menu and website, and you can probably find some on the internet as well.

So our friendly waitress told us that - Apparently Chinatown pretty much shuts down after 6pm, and Hastings street is notoriously bad so we should avoid it. They helped us find the GasTown which is a hip downtown eating and shopping area. From there we walked through Waterfront Station area and Coal Harbor. A ton of walking and sightseeing in the evening, but an interesting way to see the city.

Good stuff overall. Glad we made it!

Hello Vancouver

New thing today, traveled to the West End of Vancouver BC. We have some family visiting Vancouver BC and decided to be tourists with them for awhile, so we are staying together in a hotel in the West End of BC. There are a few firsts in here with this.

First time voluntarily choosing to travel minimalist/light with one roll-on carry-on for a 2 week trip. Decided to pack light and be mobile. This was a goal, but ended up being a real treat because of our next few firsts.

First time taking the SkyTrain and Bus un-escorted through new territory in Vancouver. At the airport we had the option of taking the public transportation or a taxi to our final destination. If we had taken a taxi, it would have been more expensive, more sure and simpler time traveling. Since we had packed light and were feeling adventurous, decided to try for public transportation. It was a good experience. I was a bit worried because I didn't know if we would be targeted for theft or hustled due to our carry-on luggage. I put on my city girl attitude, and asked help from very nice locals, and we were able to find our hotel easily and cheaply! Amazing and fabulous and surprised how well it went. Unfortunately we didn't know we had to only use coins on the bus, and we were short a bit, but our bus driver was nice and covered it for us. Awesome!

First time roughing it in the living room of a hotel vacation condo. The relatives got a teeny tiny little one bedroom unit in the area, as it was the most economical. I am guessing it's about 500 square feet for a bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and such. This is where the minimal packing really helped as we don't have much room at all.

First time at one part of Stanley Park. Stanley Park is HUGE. We ended up walking through a new bit of it and we expect to discover more as we go.

Anyway traveling always brings about a ton of new firsts, so yes, more to come :) Hello Vancouver!

Royals vs Roar Mashup - Lorde & Katy Perry

New thing today, discovered a new mashup which was pretty awesome. It popped up on YouTube when I was looking up another song, and wanted to try it. It's a mashup of Royals vs Roar Mashup - Lorde & Katy Perry. Pretty fab! earlvin14 was the creator, and I am dying to listen to some of his other mashups!

So here it is for your enjoyment - but also check it out, and his other stuff - for yourself!

Also earlvin14 - and other artists out there - keep mashing up those songs! It's something the husband and I love listening to - so keep mixing and remixing and making great music!

And Audience - go support!

Sirloin steaks on the griddle!

New thing, cooking sirloin steaks on the WHOLE griddle. Mmmmmm. Red. Meat. Tasty! 

Upgrade on Holland America

New thing today, got an UPGRADE on our cruise. We booked awhile back, and I guess they were just booking people up, but I guess we got UPGRADED!!!! Woooot! Feels good, and fancy!

Thanks Holland America! Much appreciated!

Give Your Heart a Wrecking Love Song by earlvin14

New thing today, another mashup I loved. Give Your Heart a Wrecking Love Song by earlvin14! Try it and enjoy. It's a ton, it's a lot in one song, but it works. Impressive!

Udon Me Spicy - Noodle Nation Food Truck

New thing today, tried the Noodle Nation Food Truck and had an Udon Me Spicy - mild, with Tofu and vegetables. Super super tasty! It was all udon. I thought there would be soup, but there was none. Very good heat to it, and very flavorful. Excellent dish overall and I would get it again :) A few people got the spaghetti and enjoyed that as well. Also the little bowl and lid it came in was really cute! Try it!

Custom Melt - Tuna and Cuban

New thing today, had Custom Melt Moorpark deliciousness again! It was a bit of a rough Monday, so we had dinner out. They had run out of the Irish Melt, so decided to get a Tuna sandwich instead. Unfortunately they brought me a Cuban instead of my order, but it looked amazing anyway. Here's a photo.

The Tuna was AMAZING DELICIOUS! Oh so good! Wow! It had some heat/spice to it which was really nice.

And of course, the chips and cheese dip. Fresh chips are incredible!

Oh and the Pinot Noir is excellent as well.

A nice dinner to end a not so nice Monday. Cheers all!

Thank You Mother Universe!

New thing today, acknowledging lucky circumstances and thanking the universe for them :) Thank you! Two really cool things happened this weekend.

1 - Saw an important live event by logging on at just the right time. There was this huge window of when I could have/should have logged on, but I didn't until about a minute before "it" happened. We had no idea when it would be, so the fact that I logged on and caught it at just the right time was - Incredible! So cool!

2 - We needed to get into a locked/closed office, and couldn't, but someone happened to be leaving at just the time we showed up, so we were able to get in and get what we needed. It was incredibly lucky, as I've done this before, and it's turned out worst. So incredible timing once again.

Thank you Mother Universe :) Happy Mother's Day!

Din Tai Fung - Americana Glendale

New thing today, tried Din Tai Fung at the Americana at Glendale. Din Tai Fung are Taiwanese dumplings filled with soup. My sister raved and loved it, so we had to try it and took mom out for Mother's day celebration there. 

The husband likes ordering these better than dim sum ordering - as you have a menu sheet and choose - sort of like for Japanese sushi. Then you get 8-10 pieces per order so it's larger for sharing. 

We got the pork dumplings here. 

There's a special way to eat them. As the soup is hot and may burn your tongue, they recommend breaking the dumpling into a soup spoon, drinking the soup first, then eating it. We did this for some dumplings, but I found that if you wait awhile, and let the dumplings cool off, it's worth it to just bite it whole and get the mouth full of juicy warm soup into your bite of dumpling.

These are the shrimp and pork shumai dumplings filled with soup, which a few of us thought were tastier than the regular pork ones. The fuzzy in the photo is the steam :) I liked these dipped into soy sauce and a bit of vinegar, than chomped whole once it has cooled - if you can fit in your mouth :) Good stuff.

Bak Choi - plain and not great. Sort of a waste, but at least it was healthy.

We also got wonton soup and pork friend rice. I have no photos of that, but it was average. I prefer regular dim sum wonton soup and I wasn't loving the fried rice.

Below are the to-go containers. I like how they bagged it up for you, and mom took the goodies home.

Overall I was a bit underwhelmed. We waited an hour for our table, but they at least had the tech to get my phone number and send a text when our table was almost ready, so we could enjoy ourselves around the Americana and just come back once our table was almost ready. That was awesome. Service was EXCELLENT overall! It was a packed night but everyone was fantastic. At the entrance you can watch them make the dumplings, so that was really neat. Overall just a fun experience.

The food itself wasn't that great. I felt like I wasn't loving the flavors. But it was rather a fun experience and a very very new one for us all. It was more fun than flavorful. Others at my table liked the food better and I would gladly go back. I thought it was good, just not great. Also my heart still belongs to regular dim sum! 

Try it! There are a ton of fans and it really appeals to quite a few people :) 

Blanc de Blancs - Sophia Coppola wine

New thing today, tried Sophia wine from Coppola - Blanc de Blancs. Eh. I wasn't really liking it much. Beautiful wrapping, label and bottle though. I was low class and added some sugar free raspberry syrup. Liked it much better after that. I think I prefer the Pinot Noirs and Grigios. BUT I am enjoying the buzz and the Friday afternoon. LOVING IT! Cheers and Happy Friday folks!

Irena Sendler

New thing today, learned about Irena Sendler through Pinterest? Who knew? Saw this post and wow. We need to learn more about people like this!

Maybe I will start trying to find more stories like this - of people who are inspiring and who really are worth looking up to. There's a lot of flash around, and not a whole lot of substance sometimes in our heroes. Here's to spreading the word.

Irena Sendler Project
Irena Sendler - Wikipedia Link
Irena Sendler - Snopes

Chilled Snap Peas with Creamy Tarragon Dressing

New thing today, tried a new recipe - Chilled Snap Peas (and green beans) with Creamy Tarragon Dressing. It was delicious! SO very very good. It was half mayonnaise, half yogurt, tarragon and veggies - snap peas and green beans. So simple yet so good! Who knew? I was pleasantly surprised and will add this to our favorite way to prepare veggies.

Spring Cleaning - My New Minimalist Closet

New thing today, cleaned out my closet in attempt to go minimalist with my clothes. Like my shoes post, I'm not ready to live off of a severely pared down wardrobe, but some spring cleaning and minimalist inspiration to help me slowly get to reducing how much stuff I keep and use. I set aside about 3 hours to do this, but it took 6 hours, but it was super super productive. 

This is a first cut, but I'm really proud of myself for what I was able to weed out. 

My clothes before. Everything was stuffed.

My closet - sometimes with multiple shirts or sweaters on one hanger.

My extra clothes I stuck in a bookshelf thing. Mainly I kept pants, skirts and some sweaters in here.

And another dresser, stuffed with underwear's, shirts, pants, scarves and some winter wear. 

So one of the things I learned while researching, is that it's easier to take everything out and add what you want back in, rather than trying to take stuff out of your existing collection. So I did that. I started by taking out everything. I sorted them into "what they were" piles, such as bottoms, tops, sweaters/jackets, scarves, dresses, underwear stuff, etc. They ended up in giant piles on the bed. 

Then out of these, I slowly started adding stuff back into my closet. I was trying to add back as little as possible, and choosing multi-purpose stuff. Sometimes it was easy to pick out the good stuff, and the definite "get rid" of pile. Other times there were a ton of "maybes" and a lot of analysis over what I should keep.

It was a fascinating experiment and I learned a lot about myself.

1 - I have a ton of shirts and sweaters/jackets.

2 - A lot of my clothes are very casual/party clothes that aren't really work appropriate. One thing I learned is finding a balance and getting clothes that fit your lifestyle. I'm at work 5/7 days a week, and so it is hard finding work appropriate clothes because I either have formal blazers, or party clothes, so there's not a good mix of business/business casual.

3 - I love most/all of my dresses, so that was tough weeding through. I realized that even though some of the dresses went to the "keep" pile, they were only really appropriate for parties, and not for work/casual, so I had to put them in the "get rid of" pile, because they weren't as versatile as other dresses.

Anyway so after all that. This is what I ended up with.

Personal items - underwears, bras and socks
Started - a lot... possibly 80-90 pieces/pairs.
Ended - 30 pieces/pairs

Started
Scarves - 23
Gloves - 7
Beanies - 3

Ended
Scarves - 5
Gloves - 1
Beanie - 1

Dresses
Started with 35

Ended with 15

*At this point I started getting really tired, and well, I came to the bigger tougher piles.

Shirts/Tops
Started - A lot... estimating based on how much I started with, probably 150 shirts/tops
Ended - 50.... still a lot but considerably less.

Pants/Skirts/Tights/Shorts - Bottoms
Started - a lot... estimating 50
Ended - 25

Sweaters/Jackets
Started - a lot.... estimating 90
Ended - 40

****INSANITY****

How could I even wear that much clothing ever? What I ended up with was still probably a lot for minimalists, but I'm working on it. I know that my shirts, jackets and bottoms still need weeding, but this is a really great first start considering what I did have. It's like losing the first few pounds in Weight Watchers. You just learn and keep going and figure out what works.

Also - I'm not sure I have the "right combo" of things, as maybe I got rid of something that would work better than something I kept, so I put all the "get rid stuff" into black trash bags, but I'm keeping them hidden away, in case I need to exchange/retrieve something, or want to reconsider an item. Also if I ever feel like shopping for new clothes, I can go in there and look at all the stuff I already had, and maybe dig something out - MAYBE?

Anyway the "get rid of" pile is in limbo for now. I got rid of a LOT of "good" stuff, but it just wasn't going to work as a multi-use, timeless classic functional piece of clothing. I'm going to really think about my clothes now, try out the reduced stuff/choices/options of clothes, and see if it works for me. I hope so. I was really proud of myself and loving the extra space.

NOW - My fabulous closet! Everything fits! I have more than enough clothes for a month, with a new thing to wear every day. So that works :) Also every piece has one hanger, and I had leftover hangers!



I got rid of the bookcase full of clothes that were stuffed in there. The dresser is now filled with items, but not filled to the brim. There's plenty of extra space in each drawer between all my stuff.



So ya! I have enough clothing for awhile, and in-between when we do laundry. I definitely want to keep getting rid of more items, but it's all about quality and choosing the right things. You don't want to end up with fewer terrible options. I want to come to the point where I have very very few choices in my clothes, but they're all fabulous! Also, I want to get more "classic" styles. I LOVE the idea of classic fashion and pieces that just last, and are wonderfully timeless. I think that's why minimalism appeals to me too. Anyway - I am learning by doing, and seeing what items work and what don't. If I don't use an item in awhile, I might get rid of it. Also, if I get a new clothes item, it has to replace 2 or 3 items I already have - so I can continue to reduce. I already see where there are gaps in my fashion closet, as to what is functional and fashionable :) So ya, working on it.

I don't know how far I'll go or what will work for me in the long-term, but I'll enjoy finding out :)

Slowly but surely. New Minimalist Closet!!!

Dog under Couch

New thing today, our dog flat under the couch. Who knew she could fit in there? So cute. Happy Monday folks.

Pacific Rim Year Zero Graphic Novel

New thing today, read Pacific Rim - Year Zero graphic novel. Husband got this for me as he knows I'm a fan of the movie! I love the story and world, so this was a neat read. It was short, as I find all the graphic novels are short, and I wish there were more. Overall it was neat. There wasn't as much Kaiju story as I thought there would be. Mainly it was centered around the humans at the time when they were first being attacked by the monsters. Some of it was neat, as there was the origins of the Jaeger program, but ya I wanted more, and it was alright, not wow. 

Support the storytellers! Buy this! Hopefully they will make a full series, or write more about this world as I would follow it :) 

Spring Cleaning - Minimize - Shoes

New thing today, did some spring cleaning and decided to get rid of some shoes. I've been researching and reading up on minimalism and living that way. I'm not ready to live off of 33 pieces of clothing yet or only own 150 things total, but I'm fighting that primal packrat instinct genetically gifted to me by my ancestors.

So, decided to start with shoes. I'm not a shoe-holic and I'm fairly practical with this, so it was relatively easy to start with. On one YouTube video by Love Raw Vegan, she explains very well how and what she does in choosing and living minimally with shoes in her video - Fashion - Shoe Minimalism + Fashion Tips. Anyway supposedly women on average own 27 pairs of shoes. That's what I decided to keep, but I did get rid of quite a bit - which is good for me.

One tip I followed is to "get rid of everything" and only bring back in what you wanted to use. It had to be functional and fashionable - meaning it makes you feel fabulous.

So I started with 39 pairs. It was a ton after looking at them all.




Supposedly we only really wear 5 pairs on average. I rotate more with the shoes that are accessible and visible, so I will work on that, and see what else I can cut out.

In total I got rid of 12 pairs (30%)! That's a good start. I got rid of 2 extra pairs of tennis shoes, extra hiking boots, some shoes that were really worn out or that I hardly ever wore, or that were really uncomfortable but cute, or really comfortable but ugly. There were some really good pairs in there, but following some minimalist principles and all.

The - out the door - pile.




This is the pared down overall keep pile - with possibly a few extras in the photo that I didn't get rid of just yet. I ended up keeping 27. I wrote down the categories to see if I could eliminate duplicates or extras later on. I'm not ready to do it yet, but it's in progress.

8 black shoes
3 flip flops (these are in the maybe/get rid of pile - for the next cut)
4 brown boots (assorted styles)
12 other - mainly nudes, sandals or assorted styles.

I also arranged them so I could visually see them better. This is the first round. I want to learn to be as minimal as possible for me and my lifestyle. It can be quite exhausting emotionally and mentally if you're not prepared. It's similar to weight loss. You won't lose all 50 lbs in a few weeks. You have to do it slowly, and find out what fits, what works, and what is worth keeping. That way, everything that remains, is truly essential. Plus learning to let go, and get rid of things that do not enhance, but just weigh you down.

Here's the final photos of the keepers, for now. I know I can cut down more. I want to get better at it as time goes on. I may actually have to learn to end up buying shoes that replace multiple pairs and are more versatile and using and keeping those. Some of the shoes I kept are place holders for that. Work in progress :) I was pretty proud.

Men in Black 3 (2012)

New thing today, watched Men in Black 3 (2012). I enjoyed it! It's sci-fi comedy and overall something fluffy and enjoyable. I love the alternate world, aliens and such. I wasn't a huge fan of the 2nd movie, but it's alright. This one is neat. The first one was really good and I may need to rematch it. Nice way to end the week. Wooo!