Chinese Zodiac

The Japanese have incorporated the Chinese Zodiac into their history and culture so not that I really believe in signs, but I am always intrigued by the truths that are foretold.  Probably because I grew up hearing the old wive's tales from my mom...

We used to chant together: "Ne-Ushi-Tora-Uuu-Tatsu-Mi-Uma-Hitsuji-Saru-Tori-Inu-Iii"

(Those are the 12 animals of the zodiac in order of how they won the Jade Emperor's great race...)

My mother was born in the year of the dog.  My father in the year of the boar.  My sister was born in the year of the mouse and I in the year of the horse.  According to my mother, we all have classic traits bestowed upon us by our animal counterparts.  Before she passed away, I distinctly remember her asking me what animal the then boyfriend, now husband was, and when I told her 'tiger', she seemed pleased.  "Hmmm, that is a good match.  It makes sense because his traits are very much in line with the tiger."  Whatever...  I'm sure if I had said monkey, she would have said, "Hmmm, yes, that is a good match.  I can see why he looks and acts like a monkey."  Or something totally predictable like that.

Oh, Mom.  I miss her voice, her prophasizing and story telling.

In any case, I was organizing digital files today and randomly came across these photos from a LACMA trip we took last fall (2011) to see the Tim Burton exhibit.  These sculptures (Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads) by Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei are unfortunately no longer on display at LACMA, but they got me to thinking...

This year (2012), being the year of the Dragon, will our son have all the traits of a classic dragon?

My sister the little mouse

My husband the tiger

Me, the horse

Our little baby boy to be - classic dragon?

Men's Fashion 2012

I am not a fashionista.  I haven't the slightest inkling on what the latest and greatest for women's fashion is, let alone men's fashion this season or the past umpteen seasons for that matter.  Unless I am religious about keeping up with my fashionable friend's blogs, which I am guiltily not, I don't think I even know what the IT color was for fall/winter 2011/2012.
It's spring 2012 already and I just don't know how people keep up.  The last time I looked through a fashion magazine was the last time I got my nails done which was about a month ago and the magazine was a couple months old...  And all I remember reading about was how to de-frizz frizzy hair and the newly discovered "superfood".  I didn't retain a single mental image of the glossy pictures of the then, latest runway styles.  (Note to self: Get a mani/pedi pronto.  Your cuticles look horrendous)
Home design is different from fashion.  There are certain classics that stand the test of time.  It is less fleeting in my opinion.  Yes, there are hot new trends, but I find these trends last slightly longer than the hot new trends in clothing.
Interestingly though, lately with the influx of fashion designers running lines of home goods within their ateliers', home fashion is trying to keep up with the ever evolving seasonal clothing trends.  Designers are using patterns and inspirations from their clothing lines as upholstery patterns for "dressing" furniture and they are definitely taking into consideration the season's colors to create a pretty exciting buzz in the interiors world.
I've noticed when I read all my interior magazines each month, how often clothing designers are featured in their stylish homes wearing their latest creations, no doubt wearing their signature scent, sitting on their new line of club chairs and surrounded by their new line of tchotchkes, knickknacks and baubles.  Maybe the lines are getting blurred between the two worlds and all I have to do is keep up with the interiors trends and I will not be too far behind on fashion trends...  Think the Jean-Paul Gaultier + Roche Bobois collaboration.

Limited edition interiors line from Basso & Brooke

But I digress.  (Wow, that was a tangent I wasn't planning on going down...)

So anyway, I will not even pretend that the contents of my own closet is worth describing (so I won't), but I was folding laundry last night and looking at the husband's clothes and was like, "W T F..."  I actually said the words, not the letters out loud.
I never really "looked" at my husband's wardrobe.  Obviously I see him wearing clothes on a daily basis, but I have never really taken a mental inventory or pondered his personal style.  When it comes to the husband's clothes, I simply wash them, fold them and put them away.  (This is my life after being married for 5 years and being with the same man for over 15...  Kinda pathetic, but at the same time, it shows I love what is on the inside and not his clothes...right?)
I don't know what prompted me to suddenly stop and actually look at what I was folding.  Maybe it was the fact that I had just created a stack of 6 (count six) Libiano Construction t-shirts and stacked each one on top of the other and realized that means that 6 out of 7 days last week, my husband wore the SAME frickin' t-shirt everyday.  And this scenario is on perpetual repeat, week after week after week.  (sad...)

Also within the pile on the bed were:
a faded polo shirt (at least 5 years old)
a zip-up hoodie sweatshirt from his Alma Mater
a huge stack of gym clothes
there was a hole in the heels of 4 out of 9 pairs of socks  (double sad...)
khaki pants, khaki shorts, khaki cargo pants, more khaki shorts... snore... what?  huh?

My poor hubby.  I know he so does not care about his clothes, how old and tattered they are, or how bla- and boring they appear, as long as they are comfortable on him.  But I felt like I wanted a major over-haul/makeover for him and I went to bed feeling bad about the state of his un-fashionable closet, made worse when I hugged him goodnight and my fingernail got caught in a hole in his t-shirt.
Seriously?  I do not have holes in my clothes unless they were put there on purpose.  Not that I like being wasteful, but when there is a hole that is past mend-ability it's not even worth packing up for Goodwill.  Throw that shit away!  That goes for the socks with holes too!  I would understand if it was a $400 wool sweater that a moth ate a hole in.  That would be a bummer, but it's a t-shirt and socks.  Go get new ones!   Am I a bad wife?  Why did I just ignore this state of affairs until now?
So, I got up this morning and was still feeling guilty and very curious about men's fashion these days since I know nothing about it, so I typed 'Men's Fashion 2012' in Google Images and was kind of shocked.  Yes, there were some nice things but most of it was along the lines of:

Amish pants

Preppy, preppy prep-school.
Remember boys, socks are a 'No-no.'
A Kilt around the neck, loose ties + pocket squares are a 'Yes.'

More prep with structured man purse.  BTW, nice legs.

There's that kilt wrapped around the guy's neck again!
Except this guy is ready for a hike in the Alps.

Hey... I have that sweater in Navy!
Wait, and that strip-y tank top and those pants...

And my FAVORITE...

???

I can't stop chuckling.  I mean, REALLY?  Who wears that shit?  I mean COME ON with the Emilio Cavallini Men Stockings.  The closest thing the husband has to those are his Patagonia thermals that he wears under his snowboarding pants.  Sans the 'striking' skull pattern of course.
I get that if you are 21 and your physique is all washboard abs and Euro-skinny, chiseled cheekbone model guy, you could wear a potato sack with the potatoes still in it and look like a million.  It's the same with female models.  When you are a living, breathing hanger, everything looks uber-fabulous.
But let's be realistic and look at the subject here.  My husband is in his late 30's, 6'-4", +225 lbs. and built like the former football player that he was.  If he even tried to squeeze himself into any of the outfits above, he would look like a total jack-hole.
Is there nice, comfortable 'fashion' for a beefy 'guys-guy' like mine?  Is he resigned to wearing XXL Polo shirts, University zip-up hoodies and Libiano Construction T-shirts forever?  Is there an ensemble that looks classy and does not scream douche-bag trying to look younger/hipper than he is?  Just something that reflects his personality and does not look like he is trying to be something that he is not...  And when are skinny jeans for dudes going to fade out of existence?

Home Stretch

Just wanted to share some construction photos from the Palisades house that I did interiors for...  It's coming along!  The home stretch is always so exciting but hard to be patient.  I know that the clients want to move in already!

View from street

Entrance Foyer

Front door is in!

Stone in Guest Shower

Waterfall of bubble tiles.

Amoeba Sink

Master Shower

Patio Stone Pattern

View from corner kitchen window

Kitchen Cabinets installed and covered

The Nursery

Have not posted in a while.  Mainly because we are expecting our first child in June!  It's an exciting times for the husband and I.  Though I was not so excited about making our shoebox of a house even smaller when we started discussing a nursery.  We only have so much space in the house and there are basically only two rooms...  That meant taking the "bedroom" and erecting a wall which bisects the room, making it even smaller.  But hey, we had to work with what we've got.

I was not deluded into thinking we would get any kind of sound barrier between the two spaces so I decided to use two closet doors and some rolling, wall mounted hardware to create a larger opening rather than just a regular 3'-0" door opening.  The baby's room is long and narrow.  Kind of like a bowling alley, but it does have one window for some natural light.  I am not really into gender specific nursery colors so I opted for a gray pallet.  Bengie Moore's Portland Gray for the main wall color in both the existing bedroom and the nursery.  Somehow, with the light that comes into that space, the walls look lavender at times.  Oops.  I guess I could have had it repainted, but in the end, I just didn't really feel like inhaling paint fumes for two more days so I opted to live with what we got.  The trim in the bedroom is Elephant Gray and the trim in the nursery is Habanero Pepper.  I also painted a little mural where the crib is supposed to live to match the Dwell Studio bedding that I chose.  The wall opposite the crib wall has bold, 15" Habanero Pepper stripes to add a little life to the space.  All in all, the one week project turned out quite nice considering neither the ceiling nor the floor were level.  Of course the baby is not going to care what his room looks like.  It's basically all just to please my eyes, but since we decided on doing some renovations to the house, I figured it might as well look the way I want it to, right?  Next up, doing a little rewiring of light fixtures, then on to the bathroom and kitchen remodel.  Admittedly, we have not done much of anything in terms of renovation to this house because it has always been in the back of our minds that it is "just a tear-down."  Well, 8+ years later and the ups and down in the economy, times and circumstances have changed.  We still think it's a "tear-down" but it looks like we will be here for another 1 1/2 to 2 years, so might as well spend a little money and make it livable with a kid.  More to come...

Framing and header for the 6'-0" opening.

Drywall up.

Wiring for new light switches and outlets.

Angel putting in the insulation.

The tiny bowling alley.

Other side where the crib will be...

Angel measuring out my stripes.

Frog Tape is a must if you don't paint to bleed!

Yeay!  Stripes!

My tools for the mural wall.

Blank Canvas.

Painting the first few buildings.

Finished!