Completely and utterly RANDOM

This post is. Its a total hodge podge of random things. I'm still feeling a little bit like crap, but I went to the doc today and apparently its 一般的感冒！Just a regular old cold! But, ugh.. feel like poo. Hopefully the cough syrup drowsy stuff he gave me will help me sleep tonight!

So, anyway we moved into our place and I thought it was so cool because they had flowers on the table, and a tray of fruit, and fresh orchids in the bathrooms... just little things like that make it feel more like home!



Ok this made me totally happy because its a built-in jewelry box! How sweet is that?!! I didn't bring anything like that and was wondering where I'd put my stuff. Problem solved! yay.


And this? We are on the the 29th floor and this is one of those cool things I've only ever seen in the movies... its an intercom-I-can-see-your-face-buzzer-upper-thingie! Sweet!


And trying to do laundry with a Chinese washer! Sure some are totally easy, especially if I know the characters... but, the one with the hand? That I THINK is for hand-washing? The characters mean WOOL. I think you hand-wash wool... right?! I mean, there IS a hand... washing.. so it should be hand-washing. I hope.



So for this next picture...
A little Chinese cultural tidbit - what number is missing here?

....4! In the U.S. our bad luck number is 13, so we often won't have a floor number 13 or room numbers at hotels with the number 13... in China, the bad luck number is the number 4, because in Chinese it is pronounced "SI" which also is the way the Chinese word for death is pronounced.


And skipping around again.. before I moved to China I ate WHATEVER I wanted because I knew I wouldn't be able to in China and would probably lose weight. Yes. I have lost about 6lbs already! I need to get eating STAT! Its just that I eat so much more delicious veggies here, and less meat for some reason... look at these veggies, they are SO delicious, soaked in garlic... oh yum...


And another word on the food... I ordered a normal wonton soup and my husband ordered a soup with "beef balls" in it. We assumed there would be beef in the wontons.. apparently not. After taking a few bites, my husband said... "Do you think this is actually... beef... BALLS?" And looking at the texture and shape... um, they looked like they COULD be! He kept on eating it (I would not have been able to! LOL), while I googled and found that Asian meatballs are just really different in texture than how we make them in the U.S. - they are sort of bouncy and chewy... lol.


And lastly, my husband went to a market the other day and picked me up some of these pretty bangles... they were dirt cheap but I love them! pretty. They are called Jingtailan and are made with a unique combination of sculpture, painting, porcelain making and copper-smithing that is said to have originated in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty.


I started language school this week, and I love it, its a great refresher! But funny because we are in the intermediate books and our level is definitely way higher... which is ALSO funny because the school I originally went to focuses so much on higher level stuff (for example, I can listen and understand to dialogues or speeches or tv shows about the economy and the political situation and opinions...) .... but throw us in a restaurant and we are honestly somewhat lost! There are so many different names for dishes, and just other colloquial words and sayings that we don't know... so this school is perfect for learning those everyday things & right now refreshing what we already do know!

Alright, off to take my medicine that will make me drowsy and enable me to hopefully sleep through the entire night, and also let me wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed (yes I just said that) for class tomorrow!

Steph
XOXO

We found an apartment!!

We did, we did! I love it and I think its perfect. Its actually neither of the two we were considering yesterday that I had mentioned in my previous post. We went back to those two places today, the first one had possible construction going on next door at some point in the next year, and the second one had no closets! I am so glad I went back and checked. After a year in Monterey with no storage space and barely any closets, I will never do that again! My clothes will NO longer take up the spare bedroom, haphazardly strewn across the bed.

We checked out another apartment building in the business district of the city, and we loved it. We also really like the business district, it has a nice feel to it, lots of restaurants and shopping but not quite as crazy as the other area we were looking at. We will have a quick subway ride (5 stops) to our language school, but its no big deal, like I said before its really easy because its one subway line and we don't have to switch... you just get on and get off 5 stops later, easy! Anyway it will be good for me!! I don't love public transportation... at all... so it will be good to broaden my horizons!

This area of the city also gives you the feeling of real city living. The tallest building in Beijing is next door to our building, and the buildings down there are all really tall like a usual downtown area would be. I think our building is something like 37 stories high. For the first month we will live on the 29th floor, and then switch to the 15th floor... I'm sort of scared of heights... hah... so we will switch later on, though 15 is still fairly high and gives you a great view of the city! Our apartment is also just down the street from a really cool park called Ritan Park - 日坛公园。Once we move in I will be sure to take pictures of the park and surrounding areas, I thought that would be a cool post to give you the chance to see what I see everyday.

Anyway here are some pictures of our place! Its 2B/2B which is perfect for us since its just us. I love the decor! and the place has a huge swimming pool, a fabulous gym, free pilates.... what more could I ask for? Breakfast is also included everyday! as well as wi-fi (yay!), weekly cleaning, and international channels including HBO! Its furnished so what you are seeing is exactly what we get. We will make it our own with pictures and stuff like that.

Living room


Master bedroom


Master bathroom - look thats a TV! hah


Second bedroom (we are switching to a queen bed)


Kitchen - it has a dishwasher! Our place in CA didn't and I will never do that again! hah. Its interesting because in China, the kitchens are really closed off to the rest of the house. Its really different from the U.S. in that respect! Our real estate agent told us Chinese like small closed off kitchens because they cook with the wok and a lot of smoke/steam occurs.


And this is one of the surrounding buildings. I think this is the one the gym is in.


We also went to a local park today - this is not Ritan Park that I mentioned above, this is a random park in an area my friends are choosing an apartment.

It took these guys on this cart, with a horse, longer than us to get down the street. It was really funny but the horse had a mind of its own and did not want to cooperate with them.







We are going to The Forbidden City tomorrow, and also to Beihai Park - so lots of fun pictures tomorrow!

Thanks for looking!

Steph

Confession: I'm getting nervous

I am! What can I say? I'm only human! I just can't seem to get psyched for the 14 hour flight. Not mention, the thought of eating Chinese food for a year straight.... anyway, I'm a nervous flier in general, though I just adore traveling... so, flying is a necessary evil! One way I try to relax and mentally prepare for the flight is to make sure I have everything I'll need for an enjoyable flight - or, an enjoyable as possible flight. Let's see...


1. Big fluffy blanket from mom's house.... CHECK!
2. Two comfy travel pillows.... CHECK!
3. US Weekly, People, and Instyle.... CHECK!
4. Two good books: The Tea Rose, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.... CHECK!
5. Cards! Plain old playing cards, and Monopoly Deal.... CHECK!
6. Lotion, eye drops, hand sanitizer, and my travel must-have, spray water.... CHECK!
7. A bag of homemade cookies from Mom.... CHECK!

I already checked the in-flight movies and Invictus is playing, which I've wanted to see for some time now!

When you fly long distances, what is your favorite thing to 1. keep busy and 2. stay relaxed (especially if you are a nervous flier)?

Any tricks?! I'm sure I probably do them already, but, its nice to talk about it to A. get mentally prepared and B. maybe I'll learn something new!

DO SHARE!

Thanks for all the safe travel wishes in the last post! Don't feel like you need to repeat yourself here! You don't. :)I'm just interested to see what your tips and tricks are.

Steph

....next time I make a post, Blonde in Beijing will actually BE IN Beijing! We leave tomorrow mid-afternoon (wish it was a night flight, oh well!) and arrive Beijing time the following day, 2:30pm or so.

Anthropologie's Ipanema Dress

I don't know what it is about this dress (I actually think it has a lot to do with the photograph!) ... but to me, its just stunning. I love it.

It reminds me of travel... of jetting off to a tropical island, a foreign land, the sound of an exotic language I don't understand, sunny days spent poolside, lush tropical rain forests, browsing boutiques amidst palm trees lined streets, and enjoying hot, sultry nights with the warm ocean breeze blowing by. I can feel that when I look at this dress. I love the sunny color, the airy gauze, the lace detail, the coiled appliques on the neck.

And so, although I should be packing (movers come on WEDNESDAY!) ... I am going to procrastinate and head to Anthropologie to try this on.

The hardest part of the move is this part - separating what clothes I want to come with me for the next 2 months, and which clothes have to go in the boxes that will be shipped straight to China, unavailable to me for the next 2 months! That is a hard decision, I am sure you guys can imagine! I hate packing for trips, and this is even more difficult!

But hopefully I'll have some reviews for you later & maybe some new stuff to share!

UPDATE: And... it actually looks like I won't be trying this dress on today. It doesn't come out for another couple weeks. I'm still headed to Macy's though!

Steph

Stocking Up for China

You might be wondering what someone's house would look like if they were planning to move to China really, really soon. Well, I can tell you, the answer is... somewhat of a disaster. It sort of looks like a tornado blew through my house. As if this house wasn't small enough already, we also have a ton of stuff we are collecting & stocking up on so we can bring it to China with us. As a person who is really particular about my products, you can bet I've been stocking up on certain things! My husband keeps reminding me that we are not moving to Mars.... but, I have friends in China whose Sephora orders have been returned and who have found it to be really expensive to buy anything that is foreign and makeup related. I'm not taking any chances.

The closets in this place are way too small. Let this be a warning - when moving into a new place, don't just look at square feet - look at closet space! I apparently wasn't thinking when we moved into this place... our condo in San Diego was smaller than this place, but with much better storage space and walk-in closets. Since we've moved here, the second bedroom has doubled as my closet. Now, its our moving-to-China storage room.

So what's on my must-bring-to-China-with-me packing list?


Apparently - 300 pounds of tampons and other feminine products. LOL. We are also bringing some snacks - Cliff Bars, Zone Bars, Power Bars, granola bars... if you know me, you know I am a monster when I am hungry. To spare my husband and anyone else we travel with, we decided it would be a good idea to have some of these bars on us at all times, just in case!

You might also spy a Kerastase bag and an Aveda bag - which means, yep, you guessed it, I am bringing some of my coveted shampoo & conditioner with me! Can you blame me?! With dyed blonde hair, quality shampoo & conditioner is key! Friends have also told me that these foreign brands of hair products are also extremely expensive there. There are also a lot of limitations on shipping liquids into the country, so I am going to bring as much as I can with me during our move.


BTW I haven't actually tried the Kerastase green line yet, but comes highly recommend by some Fashion & Beauty Nesties, and I can't wait to try it! I also bought an item from the pink line - Chroma Thermique - its supposed to be really great for color treated hair, very nourishing, and also gives amazing shine.


In this you see my Mac sheer pressed powder, Makeup Forever HD Foundation, various DDF cleansers that I love to use, my La Roche Posay daily moisturizer that I've already blogged about, and my go-to dry shampoo by Oscar Blandi. To sidetrack a little bit - I love this Oscar Blandi dry shampoo. This small container is only 11 dollars, and I've had it since December and have used it about 3 times a week since then. I still have over half left. This not only takes away oiliness, but it also adds volume for that just-washed look. I love this stuff!

And finally, the really fun stuff...


Various over the counter medicines, primarily including, as you can see, medicine for GI discomfort! I hear while in China, Immodium is your friend, at least for the first few weeks.... haha。。。免得措手不及！

I know once I am there, I may look back at all this and laugh... but, maybe not!

I have some really great MAC products to RAVE about really soon!

Thanks for reading -

Steph

China, here we come!

So, I've been putting off writing my first post because I'm not exactly sure how to do this blogging thing! I mean, about a year or so ago I used to have a food blog, but it was short-lived, mainly because I was just way too busy to even cook, let alone blog. For the past 15 months I have been learning Mandarin Chinese. Monday through Friday for the past year plus, I have been in class from 8:00 in the morning to 3:00 in the afternoon. That doesn't include the time I spent at home, a total hermit, on the couch with my husband, memorizing new vocab words, reviewing old ones, and listening to Chinese. It has been INTENSE (and socially alienating)! But the rewarding part of learning a foreign language definitely outweighs all the hard work that you have to put into it.

I think learning Chinese is the coolest thing I have ever done. Really. Just the fact that I can listen to something in Chinese, something that just 15 months ago sounded like a bunch of noise, totally foreign, totally incomprehensible - in just 15 months it has transformed into something I (most of the time, lol) can actually understand! How cool is that?! I'll tell you - it is one of the coolest things ever.

So where does Beijing come in? As part of my incentive for this ridiculously long period of studying, studying, studying, I always knew that at the end of this schooling would come the best part about it all - MOVING TO BEIJING! Yes, readers, I am moving to Beijing, China and will live in China for one year. My husband and I are so, so looking forward to this! We LOVE to travel. I've never been to Asia. I can't wait. We want to see every province and many of the border countries.

I also know there will be plenty of challenges.

1. I may be one of the girliest girls you will ever meet
2. I don't like getting dirty
3. I don't like being uncomfortable
4. I'm soooort of a picky eater
5. I can't use chopsticks... something about a lack of coordination... (but I will damn well learn!)
6. I don't really like big crowds (that will be a problem in a country with a population of 1.3 billion people)
7. I don't particularly love public transportation, which is how we will get around China
8. I make everyone in my class use purell
9. And I've spent at least a few hours scouring the internet for sandals that are good for traveling but still fashionable (it seems those two things can't go together, but, I am determined to make it happen)

Trust me, everyone who knows me is watching to see how this will play out! My goal while I am in China is to try (almost) everything at least once; embrace the food, the culture, the language, the people, the history - and with a country with as rich a history as China's and as quickly developing as China is - this is going to be a really amazing journey and I think its a really great time to be IN China experiencing all the changes first hand.

So with our passports and visas ready to go and our plane ticket booked - China, here we come! We will be leaving May 9th for Beijing, with no house waiting for us on the other side of the ocean, alone & unafraid as my hubby would say. :)

This blog will be all about my experience in China, my travels, the food, the people, the culture, as well as the fashion! (Can't leave out fashion!)

So you might be wondering where this amazingly creative & original blog name come from. I think its an interesting perspective as I am pretty sure I am going to stick out in a crowd over there.

Anyway I'll be posting some fashion/beauty related things in the next few days (hey you need to shop before you go!), and some posts about getting ready for a move like this. Stay tuned!

And so this post wasn't a total bore, my cute little JIWAWA I'll have to leave with my mom in the U.S.