Bad Mixes...Easter and China...

Thoughts?
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/24/china.easter.crackdown/index.html?iref=allsearch

Sick Husband

     My poor husband has been so sick this week :( It seems like he has either viral Bronchitis or a mild case of viral Pneumonia. He went to the Pharmacy and got a round of antibiotics hoping it was bacterial, but no such luck. He hates being sick for so many reasons...

1. He can't go to work (This one I personally do not understand)
2. He has to stay home alone all day
3. He was never sick when we lived in the US.

     Add that all together and you can imagine how he feels after 3 days at home sick. I was with him all day on Thursday, but today I had to go back to work. It was a pretty day, in the morning, and he looked so sad to be stuck inside sick and alone all day. My heart broke a little leaving him. Apparently though some people, with previously impenetrable immune systems, get sick all the time in Beijing. From the start Will and I decided that we would give Beijing a year and re-access the situation at that point. I have to say that if this pattern continues, it could weight heavily in the negative column.

New Entrance Table

New Curtains

     In other news, our furniture arrived. The entry way table looks great and I like the coffee table...Hubby on the other hand does not like it...so that might be getting exchanged. The curtains arrived too! Next on the list:

1. Covering the couches
2. The living room needs a table/ storage center
3. A rug for the living room and bedroom
4. Finish up the bedroom with a coat of paint on the bed and the IKEA closet
5. Plus a new dresser
6. Then the office desk and whatever else he wants done in there (not my domain)

     Then we can relax and enjoy our finished apartment. What will we possibly do with our time when we aren't always needing to buy things you ask? Save money! The reason we moved to China in the first place! Yay!

     So I have two more interesting Beijing things that I found interesting and wanted to share. First, “to punish and enslave”...where did I see this? It is the slogan on Beijing police cars. Not joking. Second, I found a church that hubby and I might check out soon and at the bottom of the website there is this disclaimer “Due to local government regulations, the Fellowship is open to foreign ID holders only. Thanks for your cooperation.” This makes me sad. 

This weekend

     I have mixed reviews about this past weekend. Saturday was great. First we ventured out on a beautiful Spring day to the Paris Baguette across the street and both had a yummy treat (mine I probably should not have eaten because it was most definitely NOT gluten free).

Me at Paris Baguette 

Spring time and pretty flowering trees!

Yang Guang Shang Dong aka Upper East Side...our building

Husband at Paris Baguette

Another view of our complex...it is HUGE!

     Then we headed out to this furniture market called Chaowei that I had found online. Besides the fact that the cab driver said he knew where it was and yet in the end didn't thus meaning we had to finish the journey on the subway/ walking for 20 minutes...it was worth it when he arrived (FINALLY) at the market. Our friend Timo joined us which was great because he is a cool guy, but also because he speaks Mandarin. We ended up wandering around for about 2.5 hours and left having bought a wood/marble coffee table and a black carved entry way table. They are both antique Chinese style, and I will post pictures of them tomorrow when they arrive. 

     Sunday started off great, but ended not so well. First we went to SanYuanLi and got a TON of fruits and veggies, then we headed to the Lido Hotel where I got my hair cut and Will went bowling. That was great. But...then we had terrible Thai food, followed by ice cream that we ate in one of the famous Beijing dust storms outside where no cabs would pick us up. Then we went home and slept for 5 hours...in the middle of the day. Now its Monday night and both of us feel sick AGAIN. We're not. I'm sure its allergies but still...I felt like I needed an espresso IV drip just to stay awake at work today. No worries though...

THIS WILL BE A GREAT WEEK!

7 Quick Takes

FYI, I stole this "7 Quick Takes" idea from Scarbrough Fair and she stole it from someone else, but it is a really good idea. Today is Friday and I just got home from work, rejoice!

1. Today was the longest day ever until 2pm. I do not handle boredom at work well. I need to have several tasks so that when I get burned out on one, I can switch gears. Today until 2pm I had one task...and I was bored. I had several scheduled calls and 1 out of 5 people answered! Then my boss gave me a bunch to do and the day flew by! Now its the weekend!

2. This weekend, hubby and I are going to Chaoyang Park, a HUGE park in Beijing. It is right down the street and we haven't been yet. Now that it is warm and the trees and flowers are blooming, we are going to check it out. Pictures to come...

3. My friend from work just got me hooked on this website called My Fitness Pal. I am not dieting, but now I'm obsessed with tracking what I eat and how much I exercise. For those other Type A personalities out there like me who are looking for a new time wasting tool...you are welcome.

4. We have no food in the house and now I have to make dinner...ugh!

5. My friend from work did have a good idea the other day about issue #4. She buys all of her vegetables on Sunday, and then cleans them and puts them in plastic baggies/ Tupperware for the week. That way she doesn't have to worry about it for the whole week. I might take that one step further and do the meat too. We'll see what hubby thinks!

6. I am looking for a new show to love. Any suggestions?

7. I am watching a CNN special right now about Human Trafficking. This is a subject I feel very strongly about not only because it is so disturbing, but after working at a battered women's shelter, it really makes you think about issues like this. Please visit DNA Foundation and buy one of their T-shirts or follow the other steps on how to help. It is a great cause!

Happy Weekend!

Chinese Acrobatics Show

     Saturday night I went out with two friends and saw a Chinese acrobatics show. I got a few good pictures, but mostly videos of the early show. Right when stuff started to get really cool my camera died. I was angry at the camera of course for not spontaneously charging itself. I'll post the clearer videos here and the two pictures. After the camera died out came the hamster wheel tricks. One long pole/pendulum with two hamster wheels on each side. The guys ran in the wheels faster and faster until the were jumping to keep up and then one was on the outside and then they were both on the outside. Then one had a bag over his head and was pretending to fall, and the other one was juggling. It was really amazing stuff. The whole show was very entertaining, but I would still advise anyone who asked that if you see one acrobat show in your life, see Cirque de Soleil. I saw that show with my mom, a friend of hers and my sister when I was 12/13 in New Zealand and it was wonderful. Everything was perfectly timed and looked borderline impossible. Well worth the money.

     Anyway, after the show we went to Matsuko, the same restaurant I went to for my birthday celebration, and sat around and chatted for hours. I taught them a few English slang words, skiddish and one other...can't remember, and they promised the next time I will learn a few Russian words (they are both from the Siberian part of Russian). All I know now is how to say yes, no and goodbye. Hello and the numbers 1-10 would be a great place to start! Anyway now I'm typing this in a cab on my way to work...took me 35 minutes behind 7 people to catch a cab this morning...Monday :)

Decorating updates and more

     The fabric lady, Brenda, just left! The original number she quoted us was craziness but thankfully she came down 1000 kuai ($150). Even so, we decided to do our living room makeover in stages. The living room curtains and sheers today, the living room seating next time. I can NOT wait until I can post pictures of the finished product! The curtains are not the dark blue I posted before, they are a lighter blue with light brown and some grey...sounds gloomy but its beautiful. Then we are going to pair that with stripes in the same colors for the smaller seating and light brown on the big couch. It is finally going to tie in the huge grey bookshelf with light blue drawers that lurks behind our bright orange couches...wtf landlord. Anyway, I am so excited!

     In other news, I thought it would be entertaining to tell you about the new funny China thing that has gotten my attention. A little background first...I am a Starbucks addict. Every morning before work I go into Starbucks and get an iced (even when its freezing outside) soy latte. I can't eat any of their pastries anymore because of my allergies, but I still gaze longingly at the croissants I used to get all the time. The assortment of breakfast goodies is what entertains me recently. Nestled in between the beloved croissants and the cheese danishes rests the chicken curry puff pastry. For breakfast. Cereal and sweet things are not breakfast food here. They like meat on a stick and chicken curry...aka lunch food all the time.

     Today is Saturday and I have a fun/relaxing weekend planned. Tonight I am going with a Russian friend of mine to a Chinese acrobat show. I am really excited. I went to Cirque de Soleil when I was younger and loved it. I am always so impressed by acrobats...I can barely touch my toes. Tomorrow I am planning on relaxing and maybe shopping. I very badly need new clothes now that it is getting warmer. I brought a bunch of winter clothes with my because that was all I had space for. So now that my 1 t-shirt won't work anymore....time to shop. Wish me luck...its either expensive or cheaply made or both here, so it takes time and patience.

Halloween right before the move to China... just for fun!

Newness

     New Curtains for the bedroom! They are pretty and silky and two tones of green. We (mostly I) have decided that the bedroom is going to be monochromatic green. I read somewhere (probably on The Nest) that monochromatic bedrooms are more relaxing because they don't over stimulate you...and hubby and I both love green bedrooms because they look spa like and relaxing. Thus...monochromatic green it is!

     In other curtain news, this is the pattern I picked out for the living room. It is silky and Oriental and I love it. I figure where better to have an Oriental theme than in Beijing! I am hoping that once I get these made I will feel inspired to pick out a rug, coffee table and end tables. 

Oxygen infusion

     Oxygen infusion...ahhhh...it sounds like a luxurious and inevitably expensive spa treatment. Unfortunately, that is not what this post is about. It is about the 6 new plants that we bought yesterday. We went to Lai Tai, aka Lady Street flower market yesterday afternoon and spend 1000 kuai on plants. It sounds like a lot of money, and it is, but we got 6 huge plants for our apartment including nice big pots and delivery to our door, for $150. I would drop dead from shock if someone in the States or Europe found a deal like this. Yesterday was the first time that hubby had been to Lai Tai and he loved it, just like I knew he would. This place is the size of an American super market and filled 70% with every plant or flower you could ever want and 30% with a wide array of home decor. Chinese furniture, antique screens, pretty Oriental jewelry boxes, tapestries, hand blown glass art, candles, vases and more! It's wonderful!

Scent Diffuser 

Three in the Living Room

Just to illustrate the size

     I don't think I mentioned that this is a three day weekend (for me its a three and a half day weekend...half day on Saturday). Yeah Saturday! Tombs Sweeping holiday is Tuesday so we get Monday and Tuesday off work...but that means we had to work Saturday. Thankfully boss didn't want to be there either so we got a half day. Anyway, tomorrow I think we are going to continue our mini holiday and go furniture shopping. There is supposed to be a big furniture store about 20 minutes from here and we want to check that one out before we make the trek across town to the one that is known to be great. Supposedly they have a great selection for a great price and you can get custom furniture for just a little more money. We'll see!