Proud

On Wednesday I went to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit during the Industry Preview. I go just about every year for work and it is always fun to check out the cars, but this year I was really excited. Over the last several years I've been leading the development a new system which is launching for the first time on the 2013 Toyota RAV4. This is what I have spent my work days (and many nights) doing, what I've stressed over, what I moved to Japan for. 

As soon as I entered the Auto Show I headed toward the Toyota booth. As I approached the video display screens above the vehicles were displaying images of the RAV4 and my heart swelled a bit.

It was so cool seeing the car. Of course I've worked on it during evaluations and seen the car being built at our plant, but seeing it for the first time out in public watching people looking at it and taking pictures of it was really awesome. Being the dork I am of course I asked someone to take a photo of me with the car. 

There is really something special about taking something that is a concept to some diagrams on paper to prototypes and finally to production parts on a vehicle. I struggled through obstacles, came up with creative solutions, pushed through despite a demanding schedule and in the end launched something that I will admit I am very proud of.

I really debated about writing this post. Often times it is hard for me to admit to being proud of accomplishments and I think it is pretty common for other women to struggle with this as well. Many times I've seen one of my girlfriends do something amazing and then just shrug it off saying it is no big deal. There seems to be an unspoken pressure for women to minimize achievements for fear of looking like bragging but we should really encourage each other to give ourselves permission to feel proud of a job well done.

So now that I've given up the goods on myself, tell me, what are you proud of? It can be anything from something creative that you do, a work accomplishment, an obstacle you've overcome, a personal achievement or anything else that you have done that makes you smile when you think of it. Don't be shy! You deserve to be proud!

Picture of the Day: Hanging Lanterns in Hoi An

Hoi An, Vietnam
8.10.2011 

Master Bedroom: Then & Now

Today I thought I would share part of my house that I haven't shared before, my master bedroom. When I bought my house it had six bedrooms. It sounds great but they were all tiny rooms and the layout was really awkward. In the back of the upstairs I reconfigured a 10'x10' room, a small bathroom and an awkward space to make a large master bathroom and a 13'x13' room which I now use as a craft room. In the front of the upstairs I decided to combine two small bedrooms to create my master bedroom. I was happy to lose a bedroom and turn my home into a five bedroom house if it meant I would have a decent size bedroom.

The two small bedrooms were a hot mess: holes in the walls, no insulation, no electrical outlets (?!?) and the light switches for the lights were outside the rooms in the hall for some odd reason. On top of that the rooms were absolutely filthy and the room with carpet had a bunch of disgusting stains. Here are a few pictures of the rooms back when I bought my house.

All the walls had to be gutted to the studs in order to add insulation and electrical because besides needing to bring the house up to code I like to be warm and plug things in. I started reconfiguring the floor plan by removing the wall between the rooms. To open things up the old ceilings were removed to expose the old attic area and I had the resulting vaulted ceiling finished and had beams added to keep the house from spreading. The space above the bathroom was then turned into a loft space overlooking the master bedroom. To bring the house up to code, I had to replace one of the windows with a larger window that met egress in case of a fire. To say it was a challenge to get it approved my the historic district committee is an understatement.

I also readjusted the closet situation. Because the house is over a hundred years old none of the rooms originally had closets so they were just oddly added in at a later date. In one of the rooms a closet had been built out over the stairway. Not only was it super awkward, but it also was not up to code since it reduced the headroom on the stairs to less than the state minimum.  Because of this the closet had to go but I saved the old five panel hardwood door, of course. 

The other closet in the upstairs was off of a room that I think may have been a kitchen, that I turned into my master bathroom. Since the second bedroom door was eliminated (again, I kept the old door) I had room to expand the closet. I then added another door to the closet so that I could enter it from my master bedroom as well as my bathroom. It makes for a nice little pass through.

Here is how my master bedroom looks today. There are a lot of things that I still would like to do and I am not sure that I am sold on the way I have the furniture arranged but I like having a lot of space. 

Over my bed is a three panel hand carved wood plaque that I brought back from Thailand. I love the detail on it. My bedspread is from Target and the pillows are from a variety of places but the brown one with the teal is special to me since it is hand appliquéd and I purchased it at the Night Market in Luang Prabang, Laos. 

Both of my dressers are from my great-grandmother's bedroom set that I inherited. I think they were built in the 1930s and they definitely need some TLC but I love having a little part of her in my room.

Over the tall dresser I have hung a reproduction poster that I bought in Sevilla, Spain and I have some Japanese glass fishing floats, an antique Japanese abacus and a glass jar full of sea glass from Panama sitting on top.

In the corner I have my TV which Frank finds incredibly embarrassing since it is so old. It is about as deep as it is wide and is a TV/VCR combo. I bought it used back in grad school and it seems fine to me! I bought the little cabinet that the TV sits on at a flea market in Kyoto when I was living in Japan.

The poster between the doors is from a play in college where I was the lighting designer. I also have a desk sitting on the back wall that I bought at the Ann Arbor ReUse Center awhile back for $20. I need to refinish it but haven't had a chance yet. The lamp is another item from my great grand mother and used to sit on her desk.

My favorite part about my room is the vaulted ceiling and my ceiling fan. I searched around a lot for just the right fan. Since my house is old a modern fan would look strange so I really wanted something that looked period and had four blades like early ceiling fans did. I looked high and low and then found this fan that is a reproduction of the original Westinghouse ceiling fan design. I love it! 

So there you have it, my master bedroom as it stands right now. There are so many more things that I want to do in there but I just need to remind myself that these things take time...

Picture of the Day: Seagulls at Sunset

Treasure Island, Florida
12.30.2012 

Picture of the Day: Amsterdam Rooflines

Amsterdam, The Netherlands
6.04.2006

Picture of the Day: Snow Along the Banks of Lake Shikotsu

Lake Shikotsu
Hokkaido, Japan
2.27.2009 

Good Eats Around Treasure Island

When Frank and I headed to Florida for the Outback Bowl we only had two days to relax which we spent on Treasure Island. After our hectic drive down we were in the mood to sleep in and then lounge on the beach. Although we weren't very active over those two days we did leave our beach chairs to eat some great food. I thought I would share a few of our favorite places that we would recommend if you find yourself in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area.

Lisa's Cafe
13331 Gulf Boulevard, Madeira Beach, Florida

First up is Lisa's Cafe where we went to breakfast. Located in a small, unassuming green building the food was fantastic and the owner, Lisa, was a wonderfully friendly hostess. I also can't help but think that she has an awesome name.

I decided to order the bananas foster French toast which was out of this world. The pictures don't do it justice, but the slices of bread were almost as big as my head. The bananas foster topping was delicious and it was like eating dessert for breakfast. 

Frank had corned beef hash with scrambled eggs and grits. The portion of the hash wasn't the biggest but it was almost all corned beef and delicious.

We also couldn't resist splitting an order of biscuits and gravy and I am so glad that we did because it was one of the best sausage gravies that we ever ate. The gravy had sage in it which leant it a little bit of sweetness to offset the savory sausage. When we commented on how much we loved the gravy it turned out that Lisa herself made it. Delicious!

We had a wonderful breakfast at Lisa's Cafe and would definitely recommend it. They also serve lunch and dinner and the menus for those meals looked delicious even though we didn't have a chance to try it. Hopefully we can on some other trip!

Ted Peter's Famous Smoked Fish
1350 Pasadena Avenue South, South Pasadena, Florida

Frank and I stopped at Ted Peter's Famous Smoked Fish for a late lunch/early dinner one day. Opened in 1951, the roadside restaurant has a wonderful vintage vibe. We ate at shaded picnic tables, enjoying the warm weather with the wonderful smell of the nearby smoker in the air. 

We were starving so we decided to start with a smoked fish spread dish with saltines. It was awesome and we agreed that if we lived in the are we would be bringing home take out containers of the fish spread every week.

Frank also tried the Manhattan chowder which was homemade and delicious.

With so much food, I decided to get a smoked mullet luncheon platter that didn't have any sides. Mullet has a lot of bones, but I have a lot of practice deboning fish from living in Japan so that didn't deter me. It was worth the small extra effort as the mullet had a wonderful flavor.

Frank ordered the mackerel smoked fish dinner which included cole slaw and German potato salad as sides. The mackerel was fantastic and so were the sides, especially the potato salad. Amazing! 

We loved Ted Peter's and if we lived in the area we know we would be regulars. There are two things to note if you head over there. First, they only take cash so be prepared to have some on you before you go. Secondly, they close at 7:30 pm so if you want to grab dinner there, make sure to go early. You won't be disappointed!

The Floridian
230 107th Avenue, Treasure Island, Florida

Being in Florida Frank and I had to grab Cuban sandwiches for lunch one day so we decided to try out the Floridian, located in a bright, cheerful building. The restaurant was bustling at lunch but after ordering at the register it didn't take too long to for our food to arrive at our table.

I got a combo with half a Cuban sandwich and a bowl of Floridian bean soup. My sandwich was loaded with meat and the bread was great. I also really enjoyed the soup which was tasty and hearty.

Frank got a spiced pork sandwich and a bag of plantanos chips. Delicious!

We also couldn't resist sharing a side of rice and beans (awesome!) and a "Tampa style" devil crab, deep fried dough roll with blue crab inside. The devil crab was tasty and reminded me a little bit of a Brazillian coxinha, but with crab instead of chicken.

The food was great at the Floridian making for a wonderful lunch. It's no wonder that the St. Petersburg Times rated it as having Tampa Bay's best Cuban sandwich!

Picture of the Day: Hutong Along an Alleyway in Beijing

Beijing, China
11.2008 

Craft Room Cleanup Giveaway: Travel Supplies

My craft room is still a big hot mess but I am slowly (very slowly!) making a little bit of progress on getting things in order. If I am really honest about things I have to admit that it doesn't look too much better than when I last showed pictures of my craft room.

One thing that I did manage to do during my holiday break was to organize the 12x12 scrapbook paper that I am planning on keeping into a paper rack. I got the rack for $50 from a woman at work who got it from a closing scrapbook store but ended up not using it herself. It is almost as tall as me and holds a ton of paper so I thought it was a great deal.   

Anyway, back to the purpose of this post, as I have mentioned before my hoarding problem is your gain because as I sort through all of my craft supplies and figure out what I don't really need I am giving them away.

This particular giveaway box is loaded up with travel goodies perfect for a vacation album or making Bon Voyage cards. I've got lots of papers (over 100 sheets) for scrapbooking or card making as well as a bunch of embellishments like ribbons, stickers, chipboard shapes, etc. I have some items that are specifically travel related as well as some non themed items that fit with the colors of the rest of the box. Below is a sampling of some of what is included.

All you have to do to enter is comment on this post telling me a favorite travel memory or someplace you would like to vacation.

You can submit additional entries with separate posts doing one of the following:
- Like my page on Facebook (Post what name you liked me under)
- Follow me on Pinterest (Post what name you followed me under)
- Pin one of my posts to Pinterest (Post a link to your pin)

Only posts on my blog (not on facebook) will count as entries and you can have a maximum of five total entries.

Some Rules:
- To be eligible you must be 18 years of age or older and have a shipping address in the US  (sorry, international shipping for such a heavy box is really pricey)
- Entries will close on Saturday January 12, 2013 at 12:00 Noon EST
- The winner will be chosen by a random number generator based on the posts
- I will notify the winner by email and they will have 72 hours to confirm with a valid US address  
- This prize is being provided by Home and Away With Lisa from my craft room stash and I am not being compensated in any way for this giveaway

Updated to Add: The winner for the giveaway is Mel H. Thank you all so much for sharing your favorite travels and dream vacation destinations with me. I loved reading them all! 

Picture of the Day: Pediment Over the Entrance at Castle of Good Hope

Castle of Good Hope
Cape Town, South Africa
8.05.2004