A Fresh New Day

I guess it's not all bad. This is a pretty decent view from my bedroom, don't you think?

So Close...

This picture pretty much sums up my life right now. Complete and utter frustration.

All in all, I am this close to being done with the remodel. J and I eat and sleep here; we have clean clothes; we get mail; we have plumbing, hot water, electricity, and internet--by all accounts we should feel right at home, right?

Oh so wrong. If it's not one thing, it's another. Today the contractors noticed another fun little surprise that is going to set them back until the end of the week. I'm guessing that actually means they're going to take until next week. And while they're still working, I can't take the tape and plastic off my floors, I can't finish painting, I can't unpack any large items, and I can't clean the floors or live in a dust-free environment. I also have to flee my own home whenever they turn on their power tools. My sinuses and my brain weep for me. I just want to clean up, I really really do!

End vent. I hope everyone else had a better day than I did.


*image courtesy of art.com

Area Rugs

More house shopping. I can't wait until the major decision in my everyday life is what to eat for dinner. But for now, area rugs! J vetoed traditional/Oriental/Persian rugs, so we've taken the hunt in a completely different direction. It's just as well, these are really fun.

I like this one a lot. It reminds of of Marimekko or Orla Kiely, which both design textiles in bold patterns and colors.  The aesthetic is like an updated retro, I think. I'm planning for this to sit under a dining table in a sage green room. Now I need to pick a runner for the hallway adjacent to the dining room. I would like the look of beige, but I'm afraid it will get really dingy because that's a high traffic area. Maybe green or a darker beige/brown? It probably needs to un-patterned and just very lightly textured if it's going to sit close to such a busy rug!

This rug I'm not as enamored of, but I think it will work in our living room, which is painted a very pale, barely-there shade of blue gray. I plan to bring more blues into the room with cushions and curtains, so a light gray rug covering almost half the room seems like a safe bet. The design is bold but not too busy for a large exposed area, and the last light gray rug we had stood up pretty well to foot traffic.

Pei's Furniture Fix-It Shop

Today I turned my living room into a furniture repair center. I brought a few pieces of old furniture that I liked up from the basement, and realized once they were in bright light that they need a lot more cleaning and fixing than I'd originally imagined. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I borrowed some tools and got to work.

The veneer on this drop-leaf table is popping off in several spots, so I'm clamping about six inches a day until I get almost all the way around the front. I'm halfway done already, and the parts I've glued are staying together pretty well. I could work more quickly if I had more clamps, but oh well. Slow and steady wins the race when dealing with furniture older than me and J combined.

I actually like the table better when it's folded up. It's more understated this way, and fits nicely in a corner or on a small wall. It doesn't have a permanent home yet, but I love the carved woodwork and curved drawer. I hope the wood glue continues to be a success.

What's Old is New

I have a desk is in my bedroom! It's very exciting; I don't think I've owned a proper desk since college. Thanks to our helpful and resourceful manager, I now have an almost-antique desk to call my own. Pardon the glare from my still-to-be-properly-covered windows. 

The desk was made by the Charles R. Sligh Company of Holland, Minnesota, and it was abandoned and stored in our basement for years. In return for my taking it so he can organize the storage room, our manager showed me how to oil it and get it looking nice again. I don't have an age on the desk, but chances are it's from the 30s-40s so it'll be an antique in a few decades.

The desk has a leather inlaid top, brass pulls, and really lovely drawer fronts. The drawers need some fabric laid down on the insides and some waxing around the edges, but otherwise it's in beautiful condition! And yes, that's fresh paint on the walls and a corner of our finished floors. So you see, we'll be civilized enough in short order.

Purple Rug?

As you can imagine, it's been busy busy busy around here. We're really entering the home stretch on our remodel! Not to jinx anything, but I hope to be fewer than five posts away from a big reveal. In the meantime, how do people feel about traditional rugs? Remember, our apartment harkens from the 1920s, even if we've tried to update its interior. Then again, I do admit an affinity for purple so maybe I'm distracted by the fact that I found a relatively lovely, very well-priced rug that has purple in it. Vote away! I have to keep packing.

Here are some pictures of traditional rugs in modern rooms:

sample one
sample two
sample three

I'm not saying I'm in love with any of those interiors, but I think in concept a traditional rug and a simple Crate and Barrel style sofa can work together. Yes/no?

Also, shout out to my peeps in DC! Hang in there, there's snowhere to go but up! And if you're still stuck indoors, remember there's snowhere like home.

Bylaws and Leaseholds

Look what I got today! My own little piece of San Francisco history. My building manager dug this out of his files; it's the lease agreement from the very first time my apartment unit was sold in 1927! He says it sold for $2,500, which was a very pretty penny back then. Let's just say J and I paid more than that. Actually, we ran it through an inflation calculator, and we paid more than the $30,000 that that should be equivalent to in today's money. I guess real estate has really changed, eh?

I love this little extra piece of information about my place, and I also wonder what type of person bought it. I know it was a woman who was addressed as missus, so I'm wondering if the apartment was a pied-à-terre purchased by a doting husband, a small city dwelling for a lonely widow, or just the purchase of a rich and independent lady of means?

The book is filled with beautiful signatures from an era when people cared about penmanship, along with meticulous notes and corrections from the purchase negotiations, and fancy embossed notary seals. For a nerd, this is all pretty exciting. Also exciting: my floors were sanded today, and they might be polished by week's end! Things are really moving along.

Remodel Update

We reached a real milestone this week! We have finally passed all our rough inspections, and all our cabinets, appliances, and fixtures have been delivered. So next week will be a turning point of sorts: no more tearing things apart, a lot more putting things back together!

One shiny object I haven't yet posted about is our GE Monogram 18" dishwasher. It's a sleek little machine, but plenty big for the dirty dishes of just two people.

I really like the clean front of the dishwasher: all the controls and displays are invisible when the unit is closed.

See? It holds a lot of dishes despite its tiny size. I'm really looking forward to less time spent standing at the sink!

*photos courtesy of GE

WC Sink

Tada! Another purchase made. This is as far as I'll delve into the details of my bat...er, Wash Closet on a food blog, but here's hoping a sink does not offend anyone's delicate sensibilities.

This is a Barclay Stanford 550 pedestal sink. Our space is severely limited, so we had to really hunt around for a decent looking sink that wasn't too big. We both wanted one with a sharper look or clipped corners, but alas it was not meant to be. This one is just the right size (knock on wood) and has the added benefit of a small built in back wall. That's always nice to have, to prevent water from dripping off the sides or back of the fixture. It's not my favorite purchase, but I'm very content with it and glad that we got to go with a Barclay.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Best wishes for a happy, healthy new year, everyone! And here's a bit of San Francisco fun: look what I found on the corner of 19th and Guerrero during my last run of 2009!

Yup, A Saturday in the Park With Friends, by Georges Seurat--but not! I could not find a signature, but this is a San Francisco artist's take on the famous Seurat, using Dolores Park as the backdrop and populated with modern San Francisco characters--hipsters with boomboxes, modern strollers, people of color, an obese American, the churches of the Mission and Downtown San Francisco in the background, etc. I thought it was really fantastic! He/she managed to create an amazing level of detail on the side of the building, to the point that I wasn't the only one repeatedly walking towards and away from it to appreciate the effect of the pointilism.

Here's the original, for comparison's sake, courtesy of kmkz.com. Pretty cool, huh?

Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation

DONATION COUNTER: $ 215.00
LAST YEAR'S TOTAL: $ 631.00

Remember how I said NYOF is really great about keeping in touch with its donors? Well, after posting last week about starting this year's charity drive, I got this lovely letter in my e-mail from Janis Olson, NYOF's U.S. Executive Director. C'mon, everyone, even $5 helps!

Dear Pei - Thank you so very much for choosing to support NYOF again this year. We love your invitation to your friends to join you in your fundraising efforts.

We are truly proud of the recognition we have received for our good governance from Charity Navigator. Only 12% of all nonprofits are efficient enough to receive three consecutive four star ratings.

We really appreciate your efforts on NYOF's behalf. Thank you again. Our best wishes to you for a lovely holiday season.

Fondly, Janis.

Janis Olson
Executive Director U.S.
Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation
"Changing the world . . . one child at a time."

Remodel Update

Happy New Year, Everyone!

In addition to trying to raise money for NYOF, I'm trying to find some really cool tiles for the bathroom. I thought going into the remodel that with so many tiles out there, I'd quickly find something I liked. The more I looked, however, the more everything looked boring and uninspired. That is, until I found these!

Not only is this a fabulous combination, each piece is really cool. The dark gray floor tile is streaked with varying shades of lighter gray, the clean white tiles are oversized interlocking subway tiles, and the tiny mosaic tiles? Well, let's just say they are perfection. They are stained glass with varying shades of blue, purple, green, and gray depending what angle you look at them from. They have a pearly sheen to them, and they're just absolutely mesmerizing. I'm really hoping to make this combination work!

Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation

DONATION COUNTER: $ 215.00
LAST YEAR'S TOTAL: $ 631.00

edit: I've decided to leave this post at the top of the blog so everyone can see our progress. I'm going to set a tentative deadline of January 1, 2010, but donations are never turned down even if they're tardy!

Merry Christmas, everyone! And in the spirit of the season, I want to announce that my partner in charity fundraising and I have decided once again to organize a new year's fundraising drive to support the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation (NYOF). We were drawn to NYOF last year because we knew they had a great track record and that an extremely high percentage of their donations go directly into the hands of the children they serve (as opposed to administrative costs.)

NYOF has a lot of programs, but we were especially moved by their efforts to free girls from indentured servitude (click here for an article.) In a nutshell, many Nepalese families are so poor that they rent their daughters out as manual labor in order to feed the rest of the family. NYOF offers families a piglet or a goat, which they can raise for income, in return for a promise not to indenture their daughters. Allowing the girls to go to school on NYOF's dime is also part of the deal.

In the year following our first donation, NYOF has diligently kept me posted on their progress, through e-mails, newsletters, and even the occasional handwritten note. For the holidays, they sent this little gift package with crafts made by the kids. Despite the terrible economy and the massive spending we've been doing lately, I feel it's important to give at least once a year, and I think NYOF's message is one we can all get behind.

Last year we received individual donations ranging from $5 to $150, so this is something everyone can participate in! Even if you can only afford to give a little, you can be a part of the big picture. In total, we raised over $600--almost enough to free two girls from indentured servitude and support their high school education! These girls often go on to run small businesses in their village, or join NYOF to help girls in the situations they escaped. It's a cycle of giving that really works, and of which I'm proud to support

To learn how to help, e-mail me at chezpeiatgmail.com

Happy Holidays!

Kitchen Faucets

Ack, there is such a thing as having too many choices. Anyone care to weigh in on which faucet looks best? I know it depends on our kitchen, but we have no photo so far. Let's just say it's a smallish, contemporary kitchen. Espresso flat-front cabinets with an off white Caesarstone countertop, stainless steel appliances, and a touch of the retro with a white apron front sink.

Remodel Update

Phew, what a week. The remodel is charging full speed ahead, the bills keep coming in, and every day is a struggle to keep this monster within budget. I'm happy to report that so far we're doing okay (not great, just okay), and that we've selected shower fixtures.

Ah, Grohe, the king of bath and kitchen fixtures. I picked my shower fixtures in a hurry, but the more I think about how fantastic it's going to be to have contemporary yet Victorian-inspired fixtures with a full-sized rain shower, the happier I am with my choice. Here's the matching showerhead:

And oh, what the heck, here is the matching tub faucet with diverter top. I know, so exciting.

10 Days Til Christmas!

Just 10 more days until Christmas, and SF is in full holiday swing.

Here's the Macy's Christmas tree a few weeks ago when it first went up and had been lit but not yet decorated.
And here's our very own building's tree, which I get to see every time I go check on our remodel. So far so good! Happy Holidays everyone.

Caesarstone

Okay, someone wanted to know so I'm posting this sooner than I wanted. No, it's not my finished bathroom (mon dieu, I wish it were), but check out the Caesarstone countertop:

The current debate over the "best" countertop material currently is a Caesarstone vs. granite debate. It's up for grabs which is really superior, but I decided on Caesarstone for several reasons:

Stain repelling ability: Caesarstone is much denser than granite, meaning fewer stains and less upkeep over time. Granite is a porous, natural rock, meaning it needs to be re-sealed every year or it will get dull over time and absorb stains.

Durability: Caesarstone performs better overall in high impact tests, though the highest quality granite probably fares better. Caesarstone also tends to have a better warranty. They are both fairly heat resistant, though you should never put a hot pot directly on either. That's just common sense

Overall appearance: since Caesarstone is tiny bits of quartz stone mixed with resins and other manmade materials, its appearance is much more uniform than that of granite. Of course, some people love the variations in granite. However, my space is too small to show beautiful variations over a large piece of stone. It would just look like my granite was uneven.

Cost: the costs are about the same. Caesarstone is about $60-100 per square foot, installed. Granite is $50-150 depending on the quality of the natural rock.

Green factor: some people deplore the mining of granite, others deplore the manufacturing of Caesarstone. I'm too poor to buy countertops made of recycled glass and concrete (can you believe they are twice to three times as expensive as Caesarstone?), and I don't think cheap countertops are green at all because you have to throw them away in a few years. So I'm going with a relatively green product that uses at least 20% recycled materials in addition to quartz, which is more plentiful than granite. And I hope to not have to replace my countertops for years to come.

*photo courtesy of caesarstoneusa

Fagor Fridge

More appliance lust fulfilled.

Today I'm posting about our future fridge, the counter-depth Fagor from Spain. No, it's not actually double-wide, that's two fridges placed side by side. This fridge was the only appliance that was sort of forced on us: it's very narrow and very tall, which allows us to have a reasonable amount of storage on a very small footprint. Compared to other fridges with a similar shape, I liked the Fagor because its freezer is much smaller than its fridge. That just makes more sense for the way we eat. But for others who are looking for tall, narrow fridges, LG, Summit, and Conserv make similar models.

Some of Fagor's more nifty features include an open door alarm, a holiday setting which keeps the freezer on but keeps the fridge at a higher temperature to save energy, and my favorite: FastCool and SuperFreeze features that give the fridge a power boost when you put in large quantities of food. They also claim to use better lighting and unbreakable glass shelves. So exciting!

One Medical

Well, this is sort of about food, and it's definitely about health and wellness. As J says, "Leave it to an SF doctor's office to pass out schwag."

J and I see physicians who belong to a boutique practice in San Francisco. There is a small membership fee per year, in exchange for stellar service. The group is called One Medical, and they have a few offices downtown and one in Noe Valley. They are a small, expanding group that employs general practitioners, ob-gyns, chiropractors, acupuncturists, nutritionists, and an array of other kinds of health experts.

We're not at the age where we need a huge variety of specialists, but since we've decided to settle in SF we thought it was important to have doctors who know us by name and are familiar with our medical history. It's long-term planning, you know? So far, it's great. The doctors are friendly, they don't rush us, they're good about following up with us or being reached by e-mail, and the times I've gotten a referral for a specialist my GP has been good about coordinating and sharing information back and forth. They are good about arranging things so that I don't have to do much legwork, which I really appreciate. And just to point out one of the little things that count, they always fax my prescriptions ahead of me so that by the time I reach Walgreen's, my meds are ready for pickup.

What Food Will Come?

Okay folks, here's another installment of HGChezPei (just the home, I've got no garden). We knew when we bought our place that we'd have to get pretty creative if we wanted to basically take a 1927 space and fit all the standard appliances of today. So we decided that a tiny dishwasher and a very modest refrigerator were fine for our needs, but that there was no way we were going to settle for anything smaller than a standard 30" range.

Furthermore, since our building only allows electric appliances, I had my heart set on an induction cook top. Enter the Samsung induction range, boasting 4 burners, an extra large oven (thanks to a very shallow cooktop), and a warming tray below the oven.

Why induction, you ask? for those of you who don't know, induction cooking uses electricity, but not to warm up heating coils. Instead, the electricity powers a magnet under each burner. The magnetic current travels into the bottom of a metal pot, the current heats up the pot, and the pot in turn heats up whatever food is in it. Crazy, right? The downside to induction cooking is that it is not yet mainstream on the U.S. residential market, so it's expensive. But its benefits are many:

• heating capacity: an induction cooktop blows electric ranges out of the water and rivals most residential gas cooktops.
• temperature control: induction ranges are supposed to be very consistent at low temperatures, meaning you can maintain a low simmer. Electric coils don't have a very low setting, and at low heat gas flames sometimes get blown out.
• safety: induction cooktops don't create flames or fumes. Gas flames eat up a lot of oxygen. They can also leak imperceptible amounts of gas. It's no big deal in a big open kitchen, but I have a tiny kitchen with no direct window access. Also, since induction cooktops create no flames, there's very little chance of setting anything on fire.
• cleanliness: because they never get hot, induction cooktops never create a burnt-on mess. I've even heard you can lay down a sheet of newspaper and cook on top of the newspaper if you know you're going to splatter. Then when you're done, you just crumple up the paper!
• timer function: I haven't researched this carefully, but I believe you can set a burner to turn off. That's great for me, because I cook rice on the stove and sometimes forget to check on it after 20 minutes.
• cool factor: no one else has one yet! I am going to be one very special gal. Induction ovens are popular in Japan and in commercial kitchens in the U.S., so I think I'm making a good choice.
  

*photos courtesy of samsung.com

Remodel Update

Well, folks, I now own nothing but the kitchen sink. That's right, out of all the purchases we have to make, J and I ended up buying the kitchen sink first. It sounds bizarre, but the size and style of the sink is one of the first things you have to commit to before you can finish designing a kitchen.

Because I love how they look, we went with a fireclay apron front sink (happy dance). I love clean white sinks--they are a classic. And fireclay is supposed to be more durable and scratch-resistant than ceramic or porcelain, so here's hoping!

*image courtesy of amazon.com

I'm Back!

Thank you, Cyber Monday! Actually, it's more like Cyber Monday + Great Recession + Going to Best Buy to shop for a range = the stars aligning to get me a great deal on a new camera.

I've promised myself for years that my next point and click camera would be a Canon Powershot. My Nikon Coolpix has been a faithful companion for many years. The quality is decent and it's certainly been durable and reliable, but the image optimization of years ago just isn't what it is these days, and I've often been envious of the crisp shots my Canon-owning friends get of night landscapes and dimly lit spaces. I'm hoping my Powershot will not disappoint. Stay tunes for my return to food photography! And thanks for tuning in during this period of blurry Blackberry photos.

The Canon, like so many other small cameras, now comes in an array of fun colors. Guess which one I picked?

*photo courtesy of Canon

Hat, Hat, and Hat

The holiday season is finally upon us! The Christmas tree and ice rink are up on Union Square, holiday sales and decorations are flooding the stores, and in less than a week we'll all hopefully be stuffing our faces with turkey and gravy (mmm....gravy. Excuse me while I daydream...)

Another sign of the season is the sudden turn in the weather here. It's been positively chilly with a couple of moderate showers thrown in. In anticipation of the cold I knit three hats in one week. Impressive, huh? We knitters call sudden bursts of productivity "stash busting," as in you finally break out your embarrassingly large stash of un-worked yarn and actually make something of all the money you sank into it. Well, it's my year to be frugal, so I'm proud to say all three of these hats were made with leftover yarn from other projects. They're not perfect, but they're really not bad for what was essentially garbage.

The brown one is a slouchy beret/beanie, the color blocked one is a fitted beanie, and the striped beanie is actually a little small for my head. Maybe my little cousin will adopt it for me. Otherwise, anyone know a small child with a cold head?

Home Sweet Home!

It's not food, but I hope it will be the source of many great meals very very soon.

That's right, J and I finally bit the bullet and bought our very first apartment! It's a cute little one bedroom in a Roaring 20s high rise--our own little piece of San Francisco history, if you'll pardon the sentimentality. No photos of the inside until after we can do a proper before vs. after, but exciting things are a'coming!

Filler Post

eally really busy these days, as you guys know. I also gave my camera away, so it'll be boring posts and terrible Blackberry photos for you and busy days and practically vegan (read: money saving) meals for me. But my project is coming along! I think I'll be ready for a big reveal in a week or two. Meanwhile, thanks for hanging in there!

Zagat, You Fail

I've never picked up a copy of Zagat because let's face it, you can get all that info on-line. But my bank was giving out free copies of 2009 Zagats for a bunch of different cities, so I brought some home for leisure reading. Now, my brain is bleeding because Zagat, you suck.

If you hate people who make air quotes and love the English language, do not read Zagat. If you are not furiously clicking away from this page yet, I will make you regret staying by inserting their review of Fresca, a really great restaurant group with three locations in SF.

"Creative" ceviche, "succulent" seafood, and "savory grilled" meats are complimented by "flavorful, colorful" cocktails (including the "best" pisco sour) at this "reasonably priced" Peruvian trio where the "festive atmosphere" matches the "lively" decor. Some critics complain that "service can be slow" , but fans are undeterred, insisting the "payoff is on the plate."

I can't even be mad at their use of "compliments" and ill-placed commas, because the quotation marks have blinded me. How can a restaurant guide that writes entire books like this be taken seriously?

Happy House

I saw this house on a jog to the Mission today to buy groceries. It was a really cloudy day and my ears and nose were freezing, but I couldn't look at this house and not feel happy. I probably would not have the patience or desire to paint my house so many colors, but it's fun to run by one of these SF gems once in awhile.

And in food news: I bought enough food to make dinner for three days for $15! I love the Mission.

Martinez, CA

J and I took an unprecedented road trip way out into the East Bay today. Our end point was Martinez, CA. Specifically, we found ourselves in Martinez's very cute downtown neighborhood. It reminded us both of Claremont, where we went to college.

We had breakfast at Victoria's Cafe, a no frills neighborhood diner that looks like it's been there for fifty years. It's popular with the locals, from old retired ladies to police officers on a break. J made the winning choice of the meal with his linguica and eggs. This was one fo the best linguicas I've ever tasted: very smokey, not too salty, with just a touch of sweetness to it so the sausage charred nicely.

I had the chicken fried steak because I can never resist chicken fried steak. This was a fine rendition, as were the hash browns and eggs over easy. Solid, all-American breakfast food at a decent price. Sometimes it's fun to get out of the city.

Right across the street was Gateau Elegant, pretty much the opposite of down home cheap eats. I had a slice of princess cake, which had some of the better princess cake custard I've tasted to date. However, I found the marzipan a little thick, though it gets points for not being hard or grainy.

I wandered around a little afterwards and fell in love with Martinez's antique shops. I've been in a lot of (insert "crappy") antique shops in my day, but the ones in Martinez are exactly what you see on television when they tell you chic vintage gems can be yours for the having if you know where to look. There were a ton of amazing things in every shop, in great condition for decent prices. I even found a Wedgeworth stove, which is one of those nostalgia items every avid home cook dreams about refurbishing one day. Look how cute it is! It was priced a little under $500 but had "make offer" stickers all over it. If only.

Vintage Wedgeworths have a cult following because of their adorable exterior design, because they're built out of solid materials, and because they have two stoves and two broilers. The writing inside the door is a cute touch from the past. It tells clueless new cooks how long to cook common dishes at what temperatures! Precious.

I'd never seen this stove before, but I liked the colors. The compartments are all kooky. It reminds me of a cartoon stove. If I ever find an apartment to buy, I'm so going back to Martinez to accessorize. The stores were literally teeming with vintage Pyrex, English china, copper and tin baking pans in fun shapes, and cute little pieces of furniture.

CB2

New plates! It's always exciting to add things to the kitchen. The CB2 off Union Square has a lot of cute things, but I finally found something I wanted-slash-needed.

8" square dinner plates, with a circular indentation instead of a square one! I'm really neither for nor against the indentation being a circle, but it's nice that the plate has a little depth so slightly saucy dishes don't spill. And I've been looking for a square plate to match the rest of my collection, which includes tiny plates and giant plates.

What does it say about our nation's diet that what's considered a dinner plate is too big for my every day use, but these so-called salad plates look like they're going to be just right?

Flowers, Flowers, and some more Flowers

"Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself."

I did feel a little like a proper English lady this morning, flitting about Union Square selecting an armload of flowers for an upcoming tea party.

Never fear though, the flower buying did not lead to Virgina Woolf inspired inner angst and turmoil. T here was little on my mind beyond how beautiful dahlias are in the summer.

The florist said this year has been an exceptional one for dahlias, my favorite flower. I love the rich colors and funky shapes they come in. There's a dahlia out there for everyone!

I also got some mixed bouquets to round out the selection. I love an excuse to have a pot full of flowers in the house.