The Senakams | Corgi + 3

Happy Christmas to us!

Happy Christmas! Does the last month of the year always seem to go by faster for you too? The month between Thanksgiving and X'mas feels almost non-existent. Between holiday prepping, getting work wrapped up, and other miscellaneous things you've meant to do all year but never got a chance to (should I clean out the 2000+ junk mail or make a mad dash to the mall to use up that expiring gift card...). Thus the month-long hiatus from the blog. *sigh*

But now I'm back, I can tell you all about our holiday. As picture says a thousand words, here's the mostly-pictoral account of our month:

An instant-gratification sewing project- the modified sandwich wrap! I thought I was pretty smart making my own pattern tracing the cracker-wich and adding the "wings" for wrapping. But I forgot that the finished cracker-wich is 3-D, and thus the wrap was a tad too small... oops, lots of crumbs in the lunch bag. It still works and is still cute, right?

Riding at the Tilden antique merry go round- it's one of those old-school, low-tech childhood things that I miss. And this is the first year where Eva's actually into it, so it was pretty fun. Not so much into the Santa at the back though. The idea of Santa- great; the actual big fat guy in a red suit- eh, no thanks.

Look, mama, I'm painting! Look, mama, look! LOOK! (repeated excitedly x 10)

Yes, I broke down and bought her a huge thing of art supplies... and thus begins our adventures laundering washable paints out of clothing, socks, hair, etc... (yes, it's washable, but you still gotta wash it). I have to admit though, it's been fun watching her wield that big paint brush with abandon (that's Chorizo portrait, by the way). And it was kinda cool making gift wraps this year that we can use. It'll be even more fun if we can train Bryson to be part of the clean-up crew...

And ever since we got this Olivia book ("snow! presents! stocking!") that we've read probably 100+ times, I knew I have to make Eva and Bryson stockings this year. I was all bleary-eyed when I put them together 2 nights before X'mas, and of course one stocking has upside-down birds, and the other one has a hole somewhere (hope you can't see it...)

And on X'mas morning, after a power breakfast (thanks, dada, for the yummy mini pancakes!)...


It's time to open... presents!

Beep Beep! Stroller and baby coming through (she is in the playing-mommy phase).

Oh, wait, are we forgetting a certain someone? (Looking grumpy here...)


No worries, his sister wouldn't let him miss any of the fun!

Do you know what tops all the fun this holiday though? Look (below), look... LOOK! (borrowing from Eva).

A significant milestone! A first success! If you don't know what you're looking at, it's probably TMI anyway. And if you do, this needs no further explanation.

Feel free to check out our flickr album for more "juicy" pictures of our holiday.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas as well (and not necessarily involving celebration over above yellow fluid...).

We'll probably see you again in 2012. Happy holiday!

P.S. Thanks for all of you who are cheering for my friend mentioned in the last post. She's still in the hospital, but steadily getting better. Keep the positive thoughts coming!

Thank you, Whoever is Watching over the ICU

It's always shocking when you learn that someone you're close to is dying. Now imagine one minute being someone's "just in case" contact for a routine surgery, and the next standing alone in the Intensive Care Unit, shaken to your core while trying to make life and death decisions, praying to whoever will listen that you are doing the right thing, and the stars will somehow align and yank this soul back from the cliff...

And listened did he, she, it or they. It almost seems trite to say thank you, but there, it's Thanksgiving, and that's what I'm thankful for (plus everyone around me who's helping take care of me so I can take care of her).

All those days and nights hovering by the beeping machines and getting entangled in endless tubes and cords, trying to eavesdrop on conversations among the hoards of faceless doctors filing in and out when I'm not stalking them, watching the EKG and mean arterial pressure (above 65, please, just 65... you can do it)... and the rollercoaster ride of emotions, highs when the first word is uttered after extubation, lows when the fog of ICU delirium roll over and I became a menacing stranger... 

All these are worth it when what I hear these days are "thanks, and did you find my nail file?" and "wow, this 7-up tastes so good". You know life is back when you can once again appreciate the simple joys of living.

I'm not a superstitious person, but I do believe that good karma has a way of perpetuating itself in this universe. 

And on a lighter note, we're so psyched that we're able to resume our tradition of volunteering to deliver Thanksgiving meals for the Salvation Army this year (we stopped since Eva was born, it's just hard imagine schlepping an infant in and out of the car through the city). 

Since both Hubby and I didn't grow up here, "traditional" Thanksgiving traditions are kinda lost on us. What I really hope to impart on Eva on this hoilday is the importance to be thankful for what we have. I guess she's a little too young to appreciate it, but I hope that by seeing how little some others have, that she'll know how lucky we are.

Oh and to deliver meals in style, I made her a little turkey handpuppet (I saw the tutorial online a while back and can't find it now...).

I traced her hand on felt, cut out two pieces and glue-gunned them together, then fashioned some feathers with different color felt, a beak and a waddle. Glue those on, and voila! Gobble gobble!

Hi! I'm Eva Senakarn, reporting to meal delivery duties (notice Gobble Gobble on her hand).







And yeah, it was raining, but even better as she loves wearing the strawberries rainboots PoPo got for her in Hong Kong... It was pretty funny that the seniors are so delighted to see Eva, they often came after us and stuffed our hands with all kinds of sweets (Russian ladies gave us chocolate, Chinese ladies gave us oranges...)

An evening with friends celebrating with a semi-traditional dinner (ham, yam, lettuce wrap, seafood stew, pumpkin pie and cupcakes, yummm...) with screaming kids running around, banging their heads on things and each others, and Thanksgiving is complete. 

Sewing Red Riding Hood and "Grandma"

To be completely honest, I've been dreading Halloween all summer... how could I ever top the Pharoah and the Sphinx? *sigh*

I almost made them hippies (inspired by some of our neighbors, which would have been a bit unfortunate...), when I came across this super adorable fabric at Stonemountain one day and thought, hey, that kinda look like Bryson...

And a couple of yards of flannel and lace, a pair of thrift-store reading glasses, and a few hours of quality time with my sewing machine later...

Voila! Red Riding Hood and Big Bad Wolf aka Grandma materialized:

Nothing will ever top the pharaoh and the sphinx, but I have to say I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. 

Bryson's "outfit" is basically a lacy-shower-cap-type-thing, plus a coat with more lace (he has to channel "grandma"). I used the same flannel as the inside of Eva's cape, and based it loosely on a few shower cap tutes I found online.

For the best Big Bad Wolf Posing as Grandma look, you want the ears to show. I contemplated making a bigger cap and cut holes for the years, but I wasn't sure if I had enough lace, so I made a smaller one that sit between the ears.

For this effect, you wanna eyeball the amount of real estate between your doggy's ears, and cut out a piece of round fabric a few inches bigger (for the rim and puff-factor). Then cut out a piece of lace (the more grandma-sy the better) and pin it all around the flannel:

Sew the lace on near the inside edge, then another line about 1/2" on the outside. Then, I was supposed to have 2 pieces of elastic, one threaded through the 2 lines of stitches to cinch it, and another that'll go around his chin to secure it. I was lazy and just used one continuous piece, and I didn't even bother sewing them in place... they were all safety-pinned (shh...). Oh well, it's a pile of lace on top of a dog head. It's good enough.

Oh, and for optimal puffiness, stuff it with tissue:

And for Eva's cape, I looked and looked and found mentions of a couple of patterns in a 2 sewing books. I looked through the reviews, I compared the projects, I debated which one's better...

I broke down and bought both.

I can't help it, look how adorable they both are!

First is the Oliver + s book by Liesl Gibson. You may be familiar with their super adorable kid's clothing pattern. I love the retro twist. Sooo cute...

Then I got the Growing Up Sew Liberated book by Meg McElwee. So many beautiful and practical projects for babies and kids. 

See, both capes are on the covers! I browsed through both, and based on the time I have (not much) and how much the cape I think will be used (not much), I opted for the easier one from the sew liberated book. 

As you can see, it's basically a semi-circular piece (or 2 if you want it lined) of fabric with a hood attached to it. This is my first time making anything with a hood. One trick I found out is that if you use thicker fabrics (like I did, I used 2 layers of flannel, I imagine fleece or velvet would be the same), see how thick the seams get? Make sure you clip the curves really well, and I clipped the seams a little too to make it less bulky.  

Another trick to up the cute-factor? Find a really gorgeous button! It's really front and center in this outfit, so make sure you choose well. For the sweet fairy-tale look, I chose a really big and woodsy button. 

Oh, and one more thing I've observed from this pattern. The hood is really pointy. I've rounded it off just a litte, but it's still gnome-ish. If that's what you want, that's great. I'll probably use a round plate to round it off some more next time (if there's one).

So there. Another Halloween! Now that my sewing brain is tickled, I'm really looking for more time to whip up a few more things this holiday... We shall see.

Can I be Amish?

I think our experience living in sensory-overload China has driven me over the edge for a moment.

When I visited my uncle and aunt in Pennsylvania last month and saw how the good Amish folks lived, a part of me think maybe I should try out the Amish lifestyle as a form of spiritual detox. 

And why not? They grow and make their own delicious, organic food. Here I'm getting my full-fat, homemade vanilla milkshake made with milk that probably came from the same cows we were smelling in the air, though foul, strangely enriches the experience:

And if you're a sew-ist and have seen the racks and racks of absolutely stunning hand-sewn quilts I did, I think you might be tempted to "convert" too... 

This is my aunt, not Amish (duh), but sews beautiful quilts nonetheless. I'm amazed and inspired by all the hand-quilting she does, and even she said she's in awe with the Amish quilts...

But I snapped myself out of it as quickly as I downed that yummy milkshake, after seeing how they get around (or not) with their one-horse-power ride (aka horse & buggies) and their hardworking way of life (you should see the calluses on these women's hands). 

Oh well, there goes my Amish dream. But I tell myself I will try to do my best to enjoy the simple things that happen around here. For one, I've taken my sewing machine back out from storage, dusted it off and have started sewing again :)

Here's a little preview of the Halloween costume I'm making for the duo, can you guess what Bryson is? (Hint: Eva's character wears a red cape and has an elderly relative who got eaten by a predator)

Ha ha, isn't he such a good poser! Good Big Bad Wolf Bryson...

And we took full advantage of the nice fall weather around here, and took a couple of short weekend trips for some simple R&R: 2 hrs north to Pointe Reyes/ Nicasio for a romp in the pumpkin patch, and 2 hrs south to Monterey/ Carmel for the beaches and a trip down memory lane (we were married in Carmel 7 years ago...). 

Here are some highlights of the trips, and for the full albums, see here for Pointe Reyes/ Nicasio, and here for Monterey/ Carmel. Enjoy!

See the beautiful waterfall tumbling into the beach? It's the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, about 45 min. south of Carmel. Totally worth a visit. 

This is Mission Ranch, Carmel, the meadow behind Eva is where we got married, and the honeymoon cottage below is where we stayed our first night as newly-weds (little did we know... 7 years later, one little monkey...)

The end.

Life | Post-China

My apologies if we’ve left you wondering if we’ve made it home safely from China over a month ago. No, we didn’t take a steam boat, but it has been a long journey re-embracing life back home post-China. And it didn’t help that 3 weeks after we got back, I went on another 2-week work/ family trip that took me across Boston, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Canada (whew!).

But before I tell you all about the craziness being full-time American again, I’m sure you’ve been wondering... What was the first thing we did when we came home?

Well, you can probably guess... Group hug for B-R-Y-S-O-N!!!!

Yay! Bry Bry!! It’s us! It’s YOU! Yes, we’re baaaack!!! You won’t believe the tears when I caught the first glimpse of that little, wet, black nose poking out when we cracked our front door open. He's doing just fine, considering the fact that he almost died just about a month ago... He's lost 5 lbs (and according to the doctor quite a bit of muscle mass), I never thought we'll ever say this, but there will be some fattening to do around this house :)

We don’t have pictures of our reunion moment, darn it, it was 12 a.m. and we were delirious with joy and jetlag. But here’s one taken the following day when we our little family celebrated our reunion with a romp at Point Isabel, our fav dog park by the bay.

Boy, oh boy, I almost forgot how great it is to fill your lungs with cool, salty air that doesn’t burn your nose, feel the crunchiness of sticks and gravel instead of asphalt under your feet, and hear Bryson’s collar jingle, jingle, jangle as his sister screams and laughs while trying to ride Bryson (yes, that’s her new thing now, it doens’t help that Bryson’s at just the right height, and I think he secretly likes it, even though we are mortified for his back health).

There are parts of me that really miss all those exciting adventures in China, but these are the simple moments of joy that reminds me how much I appreciate my home and my family.

Speaking of family, it was such a treat to experience the hospitality of hubby’s family in Thailand, where we got to spend a precious few (too few) vacation days before we headed home from China.

Thanks to them, we saw so much more than the standard tourist fare. We even visited the apartment hubby grew up in in the heart of Bangkok (that story will have to be told by hubby another day). I just got around to uploading some of our Thailand adventures’ pictures, enjoy a sampling below, full album here:

And I know I haven’t finished the “What are the things you miss most about China” post, but there’s another question I’ve been asked quite a bit lately, that you may be interested in too, i.e. “how are you adjusting to life back home?”

Well, I sometimes feel like I’ve gone time-travelling. Everyone and everything here stayed pretty much the same, but I’ve come back a changed person with experiences no one can understand or quite relate to.

And one thing that surprised me a bit (maybe it shouldn’t have, in hindsight) is how hubby and I have actually had a completely different experience in China. How did that happen, you ask, when we seem to be travelling together the whole time? Well, for one, he didn’t speak a lick of Chinese, and I do. In a city where most people don’t speak English, it’s much more of a foreign and challenging experience for him than for me. Also, I was working in an office every day, surrounded by locals and absorbing anything and everything Chinese, when hubby’s day mostly consisted of talking to a 2 year-old and being isolated in a bubble.

Whenever we have a spare moment, we’re talking about which brand of milk is safe for Eva, which city should we visit next, which size sippy cup it's OK to take on a Chinese plane (it's different from home, and seems also somewhat random depends on which airport you're at)... It wasn’t until the very end that I realized that we’ve spent a few months traveling in parallel, instead of traveling together. I wish I was smarter and could have anticipated that. And it’s not that we didn’t have fun in China, I would never trade all the awesome experiences we’ve had together for anything, it just feels like we’ve talked about a lot of stuff, and haven’t talked to each others for a while.

To be completely honest, that’s what we’ve been busy trying to do since we came back. We have to fill each others in on “what happened to you in China?” That and to establish a new routine for Eva (she’s just started part-time daycare), thinking and talking about our priorities, making some decisions about “what’s next?”... And, of course, taking care of Bryson, our high-maintenance boy... well, let’s just say there’re a lot of nurturing to do, doctor’s appointments to make, and doggie massages to give :)

Oh, and thanks again to all of you who voted for Bryson for the 2012 Corgis (with Blogs) Calendar over at Gibson’s! Here he is as Mr. December (don’t you love that “hmm, do I have bacon in my stocking?” look?). Proceeds of the calendar go to corgi rescue as usual (thanks, Kelly!).

In the mean time, stay tuned. I promise I’ll return with part 2 of “What I miss about China”, hopefully soon :)