Houston for a Week

 That’s just part of what I did back in Houston.  Yup.  My parents bought a house last year and built a new one from the ground up, and we finally moved in last week. 

Usually they both go online at work.  Dad loves the tech blogs and on my walks home from work, we’d discuss what I’d read on Gizmodo and he on Yahoo! Tech News.  Mom loves reading the gossip blogs in Chinese for Chinese immigrants and emails me cute links, pictures and recipes.  But finally, we have DSL at home (thank god!).  Of course setting it up was a huge pain in the *%#, and we didn’t have time to tackle it until close to end of week.

I arrived Saturday afternoon.  In addition to the Starbucks ground coffee for mom and Ghiradelli chocolate for dad, I brought the scrapbook that been in the works for a year.  Undoubtedly, I thought they would have noticed the missing pictures and two photo albums.  They didn’t.  The surprise on their faces was well worth the effort and my friend teasing me about buying scrap paper from Kozo Arts.

Sunday, we bought my bed, matress and matching bedside table.  For most of the week, we just moved boxes and boxes.  The two houses are only about a minute drive from each other, so we took trips in the SUV.  I thought I had a lot of stuff.  Just the cooking supplies took two trips, that’s like 12 boxes!

.

This is where I usually paste tons of pictures, and here it is:

This is my bedroom with along with my new bed.  At first I thought it was just black, which makes my room look so basic (black and white).  But there’s actually nice accents of red fades throughout the wood paint/varnish thing.  My mom and I still need to pick out a book shelf and maybe a print for the wall.

Our living room from the second floor.  At this point, it’s still all bare, but I love the gray marble and the real fire place.  (Now there’s a place for Santa to visit!)  All those huge cards in the corner are Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and birthday cards I’ve sent them, since I’m almost never home for those occasions.  Most of the pictures on the mantle are of me- I’m an only child.

This is our dinning room.  The furniture delivery guys and I hit our heads so many times on the chandelier putting together the table.  My dad and I helped cuz… well… we like building stuff together.  Apparently, the rug under the table costs more than the whole dining room set.  Something about handmade… blah blah blah.  Personally, I never understood rugs.  I love hardwood floors, tile, marble and hard, tactile surfaces.

This is the kitchen and my favorite room in the house.  I love the different lighting fixtures from ceiling lights to cabinet lights to the two low hanging bulbs over the range, and all the different variations.  There’s also a huge pantry that’s not much smaller than my dorm room in college (okay, like 1/5 the size but still huge).

What I said before about the kitchen… nix that.  THIS is my favorite room in the house: the master bathroom, equipped with a full walk-in closet that really IS the same size as my dorm room and this full size jacuzzi.  After my dad and I finished moving boxes on Monday and helping put all the furniture together, I actually fell asleep in the tub.  It fits me like a glove both facing forward with my elbows on the ridge and in the fetal position.  There’s perfect room for candles and reading a book (The Yiddish Policemen’s Union), while enjoying the full jet blasts.

My mom didn’t want me to show the picture of the unmade bed, but the headboard is just too beautiful not to show.  The two matching bedside tables, which are basically mini-chests are matching and magnificent.  The whole structure reminds me of a boat drifting peacefully among the waves.

.

One of my next posts will explore all the bathroom features.   There are four, and most of them still need decor.