day 139: goody, goody, gum(balls)

02.28.10 - i guess i'm feeling a bit nostalgic this weekend. first the rubber duckie picture and now this picture i snapped today of gumball machines. i guess with all the terrible things that have been happening inthe world lately, i can't help but think of a time when my life was simpler.

day 138: rubber duckie, you're the one!

02.27.10 (posted on 02.28.10) - it was a pretty uneventful day. it was late and i realized i hadn't taken a picture yet. then i remembered a great tip from a fellow 365 photographer. when feeling uninspired and unmotivated, take a picture of something silly. voilà! here it is. sing along with me now and channel your best ernie voice... rubber duckie, you're the one. you make bathtime lots of fun. rubber duckie, i'm awfully fond of you. woo woo be doo.

day 137: i live in a snow globe

02.26.10 - that's it folks. i am officially sick of winter. 

nyc has been plummeted storm after storm. first came, snowpocalyse (snow + apocalypse). then, snowmageddon (snow + armageddon). now, it's snowicane (snow + hurricane). yes... the names are pretty silly. not to mention all the "lesser" snow storms that produced less than 5 inches of snow and heavy rain we had. 

i guess i wouldn't mind so much if i along with thousands of other new yorkers didn't have to brave the elements on a daily basis. living in this city, you are simply just exposed to everything. i don't have a car so i depend on public transportation and walking. it's become exhausting just traveling back and forth  through all the snow piles, huge puddles, frigid rain, and wind. here's a picture i snapped at a busy intersection in my neighborhood.

ah, what can i do but dream of the warmer weather that awaits us in the next few weeks (or so i hope). oh, please mother nature, tell old man winter to skidaddle. he's no longer welcome to stay pass march.

day 136: travel buddies

a good companion shortens the longest road

~ turkish proverb

02.25.10 (posted 02.26.10) - it was a wet morning... ok, not just wet but dripping. we had the first signs of the latest blizzard to come through the northeast. weather men and women have dubbed it "snowicane" (snow + hurricane) for the snow, heavy rains, and strong gusts.

my 11 block walk to the subway was a slippery one. the mix of snow and rain made it feel like i was inside a 7-11 slushy drink. oy... thankfully, i got to the train in one piece without falling. yes, albeit, i was soaking wet and my umbrella didn't do much help... but i got there. whew!

i sat across this endearing couple on the train. despite the dismal weather, they were smiling and laughing from ear to ear. it's nice to see that on a morning like this one. because i was sitting close to one of the train car window's, i could see the man's reflection in it. it made for an interesting capture and he looked like a ghostly apparition watching her. 

day 135: out of the box

02.24.10 - three years ago, my hubby and i finally decided to tie the knot after 10 years. we had a nice quiet dinner at home after both having very long days at our jobs. simple and sweet... just how i like it. happy anniversary, t!

my photo of the day is of the red cube by isamu noguchi. i captured it as i walking from the subway stop back to work. the public art piece is located in helmsley plaza in manhattan's financial district. i thought it was fitting that i was able to take a photo of it today since noguchi is one of my and hubby's favorite artists. his breathe of work as a sculpture, landscape architect, and furniture designer is astounding.

noguchi also lived and had his studio in long island city, queens -- very close to our apartment. the first time i went to the noguchi museum i was instantly overcome with a sense of tranquility. this is in spite of the fact that it is located amidst large warehouses and commercial buildings. it's a peaceful get-away for both residents and tourists alike.

day 134: i get lost in your eyes

02.23.10 (posted on 02.24.10) - one of my all time favorite shows is lost. it's the last season of the show and while i am happy that many questions will be resolved it is coming to an end. boohoo. nearly every tuesday, hubby and i have a lost viewing get-together with our best buds. we have many discussions over dinner about the latest theories and such. perhaps the best line of tonight's episode came from hugo reyes aka hurley... "dude, i just lied to a samurai." ah, i love show!

day 133: just one more

each time i tell myself it's the last time, but then i get a whiff of her hot chocolat.

~ luc clairmont in the movie, chocolat

02.22.10 (posted on 02.23.10) - i have several boxes of chocolates and a bag of truffles sitting in my kitchen. so much for trying (emphasis on trying) to eat healthier this year.

how did i end up with so many? let's just say between souvenirs from my hawai'i trip earlier this month (i.e., chocolate covered macadamia nuts), a gift from my in-laws (milk chocolate truffles), and a thank you present from my cousin and her fiancé for hosting them while in nyc (assorted chocolates), the chocolates just kept piling up. 

i realized this evening that i better stop gorging and giving into my sweet tooth. i looked down at the box of assorted chocolates and saw that i single handedly ate 4 in a row. ooohhhh... sugar high... 

day 132: every doorway, every intersection has a story

02.21.10 - i came down with a bad stomach after my outing last night and haven't been feeling well. when i finally got the energy to leave the apartment, i realized that i hadn't taken a picture all day. i snapped this picture at a nearby intersection. i never noticed the bright red fire box until now and thought the punch of color was a nice touch.

day 131: lights, camera, action

02.20.10 (posted 02.21.10) - this evening i attended the inaugural soho international film festival. in its first year, the 4-day film festival included seminars about filmmaking with local and international films from the philippines, indonesia, italy, sweden, and new zealand. here's a picture i snapped of the actors, jacky woo and lovi poe of the movie, walang hanngang paalam (never ending farewell).

day 130: in need of a little comic relief

02.19.10 (posted 02.21.10) - oh friday, how i've been waiting for you to come all week... i'm so relieved the weekend is finally here. i can't wait to catch up on sleep. hubby on the other hand can't wait to curl up and read his graphic novel, the walking dead. it's a compendium that collects issues 1 to 48 of the zombie hit.

day 129: a tree grows in...

02.18.10 (posted on 02.21.10) - i had facilitated a training this afternoon at one chase manhattan plaza.  the training room had fantastic views of the downtown manhattan skyline. the building is 60 floors tall making it the 11th tallest building in nyc and the 40th tallest in the u.s. in the courtyard is a sculpture by artist, jean dubuffet titled group of four trees. it was commissioned in 1969 by david rockefeller and chase manhattan bank. the piece's organic form is an interesting contrast between the angular buildings and vast architectural canyons of the financial district.

day 128: fast food

02.17.10 - it was a day of running around from one meeting to another today. i noticed this adorable little girl while on my way back to the office. she was happily enjoying nibbling on her snack without a care in the world. oh, life's simple pleasures.

day 127: confessions of a caffeine junkie

02.16.10 (posted on 02.17.10) - grrrrrrr. i was really off today. although i got a decent amount of sleep the night before, i didn't sleep soundly. i was dragging my feet to work. perhaps i subconsciously knew that a ton of work awaited me in the office. the long weekend was nice but it's back to reality. ugh... where's my coffee? heck make it a double!

day 126: it's tool time

02.15.10 (posted 02.17.10) - ahhhhh... i love long weekends. this one was particularly special with valentine's day, lunar new year, and president's day all rolled in one. today was pretty low key. hubby and i spent most of the day winding down from the weekend and running errands.

among the many projects that we completed was cutting out a table top. we had found the table base for 'tulip table' a few years ago but it was missing a top. we have no idea if it is an authentic saarinen table but we love it just the same. right now, it's not within our price point to buy the table top so we figured that we would create our own. besides we think we are pretty handy and love do-it-yourself projects. here's a picture i snapped of the hubster carefully using the jigsaw to cut out the piece.

day 125: all you need is love

all you need is love.

all you need is love. 

all you need is love, love.

love is all you need. 

~ the beatles

02.14.10 - happy valentine's day! hubby and i had a nice lunch at momofuku noodle bar this afternoon. the place was crowded. thankfully, we only waited about 10 minutes to get a seat. by the time we left, we were stuffed to the gills. 

there were lots of other couples celebrating with us. however, i was most struck my this boy who treated his grandma out for a valentine's day meal. aahhhh, i was tickled pink just hearing him carefully explain the menu, make suggestions on dishes, and tell her that she could order anything she wanted. soooooo sweeeeeet! i can only hope that if i ever have a son he can be as gentle and thoughtful as this kid was to his grandmother. 

after lunch, we headed to soho to hang out. it looks like someone or several people were in a "loving" mood because there were painted pink hearts on sidewalks and buildings all throughout broadway. hope you spent your day surrounded by those that you love. 

day 124: putting on the battle gear

02.13.10 (posted on 02.14.10) - it's been less than a week since hubby and i returned from hawai'i and california. once we touched new york city soil, it was back to grind. in true fashion, the city we love welcomed us back big... as in a BIG blizzard. the past few days has been a progression from snow boots to rain boots to leather boots. here's a picture i snapped of some of the ones we wore this week. the feeling of sand on our feet and wearing flip flops is but a distant memory... is spring really a little over a month away?

day 123: she's got legs... she knows how to use them

02.12.10 - i walked around and shopped in soho after work today. the area was packed as usual. i bought a new rug and some linens for the apartment. here's a couple of pictures i snapped of legs (insert wolf whistle sound). the first shot is of the red mannequins in the window display at prada. the second is an "action shot" of some guy quickly walking past me. he was moving so fast that the iphone only captured one of his legs. kinda creepy.

day 122: i'm melting...

02.11.10 (posted 02.12.10) - the day after a snowstorm in nyc turns beautiful, fluffy snow to one big danger zone full of rock hard ice patches, brown slush, and ginormous mounds. luckily, the sanitation crews, homeowners, and businesses were on it. combine that with a super sunny day and most of the streets had been cleared by thursday afternoon.

here's a picture i snapped on my way home. the wind had been blowing so hard during the blizzard that snow stuck to the trees!

day 121: cloudy with a chance of snow

02.10.10 - today a blizzard (aka snowmageddon) came barreling through the northeast. schools were closed down for the day and my company gave us the option of telecommuting from home. hooray! i love snow days. according to weather.com,  the nyc area by tomorrow morning will have between 10-15 inches of snow and wind gusts over 40 mph. the first thing i did was bundle up and made my way to the grocery store to stock up on food and supplies. here's a picture i snapped of the buried cars in front of my building. 

day 120: she's got a lot of baggage

02.09.10 (posted on 02.10.10) - we're back in nyc today. thankfully, the flight was smooth and we had very little turbulence. the highlight of our trip was sitting one row behind jimmy smits. i was too chicken to even go up to him and figured he wanted to be left alone. then right before we landed, one of the flight attendants who was pretty smitten with him decided to strike up a conversation. jimmy wasn't having it and looked a bit annoyed. i don't know if it was because he didn't want to attract attention or if it was because we were about to start the descend. who knows?

i guess it's a good thing we flew out today. a noreaster is about to hit the tri-state area later tonight. they are calling it "snowmageddon". ha! as much as i wish we were back in warm weather, i don't think i can handle flight delays and being stranded. here's to being back to the grind.

i snapped this pic at the baggage claim while we were waiting for our luggage.

day 119: nothing like mama's home cooking

02.08.10 (posted on 02.10.10) - there's really nothing like a home cooked meal... especially one prepared by your mother. i'm spending the day hanging out with my family. hubby and i got to my parents' home around 11:00 am. being her typical self, the first thing my mom asks is,"are you hungry?"

here are pictures i took of mom's zucchini mini frittatas. they were light, fluffy, and of course tasty. 

day 118: baby, baby, baby... i got so much love in me

02.07.10 (posted 02.10.10) - we are staying at my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house in los angeles this weekend. today is my nearly 4-month-old nephew's baptism and hubby was chosen as one of his godfathers.

little d.t. has grown a bunch since i last saw him two weeks after he was born. he has a lot of adorable quirks (and i'm not just saying that because i'm his auntie). d.t. wakes up smiling, his eyes intently follow anyone with a camera (yes, kiddo knows how to pose already), he is often seen clasping or cupping his hands together like he is praying or in deep thought, and he has lots of folds from his chubs that his arms and legs look like sausages. right now d.t. is learning how to roll over on his side. so far, all that he has been able to master is a lot of wiggling on the floor. i couldn't stop laughing because it looks like he is dancing when he does it. maybe next time i see this kiddo he'll be walking!

day 117: back to life, back to reality

02.06.10 (posted 02.10.10) - we bid farewell to the big island today and took an early afternoon flight to los angeles. hubby and i are making a quick stop over to visit family before we head back to nyc. it's been a wonderful and much needed break from our hectic work schedules. i'm already thinking about where to go for our next vacation. any suggestions?

day 116: thar she blows!

all men live enveloped in whale-lines. all are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, ever present perils of life.

~ moby dick written by herman melville 

02.05.10 (posted 02.10.10) - today is my last full day in hawai'i. in the morning, hubby and i checked out two historic sites, st. benedict's painted church in captain cook and pu'uhonau o honaunau (or the place of refuge) on honaunau. both sites were beautiful and it was evident that they are sacred and have special meaning for the residents of hawai'i. 

afterwards, we made our way back north on route 11 to route 19 with the intent of getting to hapuna beach. we hadn't anticipated to encounter so much traffic and our hopes of getting to hapuna beach were fleeting. it was around lunch time when we decided that we needed to stop and grab something to eat before we grew crankier. i thumbed through our guide book and found out that makalawena beach was about 7 minutes away from where we were eating. the only catch was we had to walk about 15-20 minutes from the parking spaces because only 4 wheel drives could get through the terrain. we had rented a dinky economy car.

maybe i was being overly ambitious but figured it was better than making the 50 minute drive to hapuna. we were on our way and completely missed our turn. we ended up driving a couple of markers past where we were supposed to go and happen to come upon the entrance to the four seasons resort. we only intended on asking for directions to get to makalawena but after the advice from the security guard we decided against it since it would be a longer trek than we had imagined. i asked him if he could recommend a beach near by and he suggested we check out their beach - kikaua point beach.

i'm so happy we took him up on his offer. it was a nice, semi-secluded beach with a small lagoon. the biggest highlight of the day was seeing several pods of whales playing near the shore (it's whale season right now in hawai'i). we were kind of bummed that we weren't able to get tickets for a whale watching boat tour but this more than made up for it. we saw a calf playing next to a bigger whale and another whale breached a couple of times. it was a great way to end our hawaiian adventures.

day 115: just another day in paradise

02.04.10 (posted 02.07.10) - after a very long of hitting the road yesterday, hubby and i decided to take it easy and stick around near our hotel. we woke up right before sunrise and enjoyed a light breakfast of coffee and an ensaymada (that we picked up at the hilo farmers market the day before). 

there is a small beach in front of the hotel that faces kamakahonu bay. we spent a good part of the morning laying out and swimming there. the beach is right next to the pier. the waves are low, the swimming area shallow, but still teaming with plenty of marine life. it also faces one of the most historic sites in all of hawai'i. king kamehameha the great established his royal residence adjacent to the current site of his namesake hotel. during his reign he rebuilt ahu'ena heiau, a temple dedicated to lono who was the hawaiian god of peace, agriculture, and prosperity. here kamehameha the great lived and conducted matters of government, until his passing on may 8, 1819.

afterwards, we had a nice lunch at original thai restaurant and took a walk along ali'i drive to check out the shops, sights, and eateries along the way. here's a few pictures i snapped of our day.  

day 114: the road less traveled

02.03.10 (posted 02.04.10) - i'm exhausted! hubby and i set out a road trip from kona to make our way to hilo and volcanoes national park. the tour books weren't kidding when they said the weather is like night and day between the two west and east parts of the big island. kona was hot and sunny. hilo cloudy, cold, and drizzly. the long route there took us through most of the island. it was beautiful and the geography was extremely diverse -- from ocean views, arid lava paths, winding hills full of lush tropical plants, to rolling hills and steep mountains. we passed by many quaint, sleepy towns to over-developed cities.

we got to hilo around lunch time and checked out the famous hilo farmer's market. there were a ton of interesting vendors that sold fruits, vegetables, aloha wear and accessories, and local and ethnic eats. there was even a seamstress that set up shop with her vintage singer machine and all. afterwards, we stopped by the two ladies kitchen to pick up some mochi for the road.

after hilo, we went on our way in to check out the volcanoes. unfortunately, we never made it there to witness pele's fiery creations up close. the weather turned for the worse and there was a ton of rain. additionally, kilauea is erupting and according to residents here it is causing a lot of vog (volcano induced fog). we were really bummed but it'll just be another excuse to come back here. 

we continued on our way back to our new hotel in kailua-kona. we took a quick pit stop at punalu'u black sand beach. O.M.G. it was amazing! we were greeted by a sleeping hawaiian green sea turtle. we also saw a couple of whales. total score! definitely made up for the disappointment of not seeing the volcanoes.

we got to kailua-kona around 8:00 pm and ended our night chowing down on killer tacos. ahhhh... kalua pork taste so good in any dish.

day 113: you're never too young

02.02.10 (posted 02.03.10) - this afternoon we caught the dolphin show at the resort. definitely something for young and old. there were plenty of ooohhhs and ahhhhs! guests had an opportunity to speak with the trainers and learn more after the show. i snapped this picture of this cute little girl that was seated near us.

day 112: prometheus unbound

02.01.10 (posted 02.03.10) - today was my first full day on the big island. i'm staying at the hilton waikoloa to attend a 2-day strategic planning meeting. this place is HUGE! 62 acres along the oceanfront. simply amazing! after an intense few hours hard at work, i met up with hubby at buddha point to watch the sunset and to see the runner lighting all the tiki torches on the grounds. 

day 111: hang loose, brah

01.31.10 (posted 02.01.10) - after a grueling 11+ hour flight, my hubby and i arrived in kona airport on the big island of hawai'i. we had to walk down a flight of stairs from the plane. how very old school! the weather was great. a bit humid but a welcome break from the cold front hitting the east coast. it was in the late evening when we landed and we couldn't see much of how the area looked like. a few observations we noticed is there are no street lights on the highway. it was pitch black. we later learned that it's because the part of the island we are on is mostly comprised of lava rock.

we got to the resort and we were starving at that point. most of the restaurants on site were already closed. we had no choice but to order room service which always costs an arm and leg. oh well. what are you going to do?

our room is nice and spacious. no view unless you consider looking out to a golf course as opposed to the ocean. meh... not great but it could be worse. we could be looking out onto a parking lot. additionally, our side of the resort happens to be facing onto a bird garden. charming at first but the chirping can be deafening when all the birds are up. after a long flight from nyc, frenetic bird chirping are the last thing we wanted to hear. i can take sirens, loud party goers, but birds... that's a whole other beast literally.

i guess i can't complain. we are in paradise and hey, how many times can you say that you were sent to hawai'i for work? aloha!

day 110: no place like home

01.30.10 (posted 02.01.10) - i back in nyc for about 30 hours. ahhhhh.... there's a lot to do before my next business trip/vacation. i have to clean the house, do laundry, pack, and finish up some do-it-yourself projects before my flight sunday morning at 11:00 am. between my last business trip in dc this past week and the fact that my cousin and her fiancé  are coming to nyc right after i get back, the window to do everything is quite small.

i'll be in the big island of hawai'i to attend a strategy session for 2 days and then i'll be spending the rest of my time discovering all the sights the beautiful island has to offer with my hubby. it seems like i am always down to the wire when it comes to these trips. i always underestimate all the things i need to finish before heading out. thank goodness i'll be going to a place where things are at a slower pace. it'll be a nice reprieve from the stress of the city.

here's a picture i took at home depot, the mega home improvement and construction store, to buy some shelving and supplies for our art studio/office and bedroom.