2012 project...

ever since we bought our house (no more renting thank goodness) back in 2001, i never felt that i should decorate or make my space my own. maybe because i was young back then and decorating was not a priority??? the only decoration that i can admit of ever doing was painting the door frame blood red. why red? let me explain…

when we moved in, everyone decided to take the upper floors. i on the other hand fell in love with the basement. it has two bedrooms (each with small closets), a full bath, a kitchen, and a small living room. my only problem was that it was all white. i get the all white idea since basement tends to be darker but white walls and white tiles for flooring, it was just too much. i needed to add color, hence the red door frame.

10 years later, it still looks the same way the day we moved in. i feel like i needed to do something. i am not concerned about my room since i want that to be my last project. i want to start where everyone tends to hangout out. i know you are thinking the kitchen but you are wrong. i like the kitchen and i am not touching anything there one bit. i was more thinking of the living room. yes, even though it’s a small space, i need to make it inviting. and in order for me to do that, i need to get a good sleeper sofa. why sleeper sofa? although there is an extra bedroom, a sleeper sofa would be very useful if there is more than one guest. you just don’t know when relatives would come for a visit. everything will revolve around the sleeper sofa (i.e. side table/ottoman/lamps, etc). question now is where to get a good, not expensive, yet durable sleeper sofa. here are my options:

sofa bed from Target. Cost about $180

sleeper sofa - Umber from Target. cost about $700

henry sleeper from West Elm. cost from $800-$1,200

out of the three, i like the 2nd one. it is small but it is practical especially with the limited space i have. someone suggested ikea to me before but i rejected it. don't get me wrong, i love shopping at ikea but when it comes to furniture, it tends to last only for a year or so.

i need another vacation...

the following pictures basically sums up my most recent vacation experience.

my nephew nicky enjoying the water park at the resort.

vacation nowadays is more about what the kids wants to do. would they enjoy going to a zoo? to the park? or would they just enjoy staying at the pool all day long? although i do not have a kids (yet), i always make sure that i reserve a week where i can take my nieces and nephews on vacation (or anywhere they want to go). this year, the family decided to go to Orlando, FL. most people would assume we would go to Disney or Universal but sorry to say, my nieces and nephews are not a big fan. they just want to stay in the pool and swim all day/night long. we did took sides trips to Clearwater, FL to visit my siblings friends. but since it was close to the beach, the kids didn’t complain (more swimming). when the pools were closed for the night, we went to this amusement park nearby. they love bumper cars. they were not afraid to bump anyone head-on (must be fun for them since i got sick in the end for getting too much hit).

when we got stranded in Atlanta, Georgia (i’ll explain later), the main requirement for the hotel where we’re going to stay is that it must have a swimming pool. stayed there for two nights at two different hotels (and yes, both have swimming pools). we also went to the Georgia aquarium (again, water, water, water). at a certain point, i got tired of being close to the water.

my nieces jo and em at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta international airport, Georgia

due to hurricane irene, our connecting flight from Georgia to New York got cancelled. the closest we can get a flight back to NY was in 7 days. all flights were fully booked within NYC and surrounding areas. train was an option but they were also booked. driving was suggested but 15 hrs of solo driving can be very exhausting (I was already exhausted from the vacation itself). and renting a car will cost me a lot of money – close to what i spent on the vacation itself. don’t even think about taking a bus, done it once and never again. my brother and his family decided to do the 19 hrs road trip – they have two drivers so that was convenient for them.

on the 2nd day of being stranded, we stopped by the airport to check if there was any chance of us getting out. no such luck. but i noticed on the departure screen that they fly to Buffalo, NY. there were spaces for the next day flight and we took it. Buffalo is not close to NYC by any means. it’s approximately 7-8 hrs drive. But that’s better than 15 hrs drive. and since I went to buffalo for college, i am familiar with the road way. oopss…i just remembered driving interstate 90 during a winter storm. scary.

anyway, we were originally supposed to be back nyc on saturday night. but due to the unexpected side trips that we took because of the hurricane, we arrived NYC in the wee hours of tuesday morning.

oh what a trip.