6 posts tagged “home”

Every time I've moved into a new apartment it's been ready and decorated in, oh, a month. Tops. I've collected furniture and art from all sorts of neat places and am always anxious to get everything set up in a new place so it feels like home. But, not so much this time. I've gone minimalist... this place is empty and white compared with my other apartments, which were full of my red and colorful furniture. I've actually gone months without anything on the walls, in part because there just hasn't been the time to decorate, but also because for the first time in my life I've sort of enjoyed the lack of stuff.

Well, now that I've said that, there are a couple of new additions to the place. I finally had my SF streetcar posters framed (colors! yay!) and managed to mooch a cool bamboo chair off a friend who's leaving town. My goal is to make the place homey enough for a Halloween housewarming party. Yeah, right.

Show us what the weekend has in store for you.

Last weekend I got all the kitchen appliances: blender, food processor, toaster and convection oven. Ovens aren't standard in Chinese apartments, but I can't live without one so sacrificing the counter space is worth it. Now I'm mustering up the energy to hit Ikea for mixing bowls and the like. Let me tell you, you have to be a dedicated cook to brave Ikea. It's a favorite after

work and weekend hangout for locals. It's especially fun for those fresh from the countryside (some of whom have never seen a foreigner close up, which makes yours truly more interesting than whatever doodad they're holding and trying to guess what it's used for). The place is PACKED. ALL. THE. TIME.  Folks meander, ooh, ahh, fondle every item in the store, konk out on the sofas and rehash their life stories with old friends in the living room showrooms...and then leave empty-handed. Unfortunately, it's pretty much the best place to get western cooking utensils, so I will sharpen my elbows and fortify myself with an enormous cup of caffeine to prepare for pushing wading through the mass of humanity that is Ikea in Beijing.

Afterwards (if I survive), I'll put together this fun little thing I picked up at the MOMA, which will grace the coffee table.

Dad sent me pictures of my lovely begonia.