sugar pond

Moving..

2010-07-01T14:44:00.001-07:00

to a new site, Wanderlust

It's Oh So Quiet..

2010-05-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

My grand rounds is done and I'm almost done wrapping up all my cases in the outpatient setting. I'll be graduating soon and moving onto fellowship in a few weeks. In the meantime, we'll be celebrating my graduation & our anniversary in Europe for two weeks. Highlights of our trip to be featured once I return back.

And a few of my latest photos:

An adorable pair of yellow flats by Steve Madden.

My peonies bloomed 12 flowers this year.

Roses plucked from the garden.

Where the Wild Tulips Grow...

2010-04-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

Nick Cave should be singing about where the black tulips grow. :) Here's my first bunch of black tulips this year..

I'll be featuring my black parrot tulips once they bloom...

Merde Il Pleut

2010-03-02T17:39:00.000-08:00

(source: Snippet & Ink)

I absolutely hate rain and I'm always searching for the perfect umbrella.. I think I found it! :)

First Sewing Project..

2010-02-28T11:33:00.001-08:00

...since Home Economics class in 7th grade! A little wobbly with the stitching but the results turned out pretty good.

A Maintenance-Free Life (Keeping Fingers Crossed)

2010-02-28T04:48:00.000-08:00

I remember how Julie from the movie "Julie and Julia" had a total meltdown in her apartment about her place, when the kitchen sink was not working properly and she had to plunge it out. That was our apartment a few years back in Chicago, and we continue to live in the same conditions after 5 years of being together.

How much more can we take this? :)

So I suggested this weekend to my husband a change in our life. A new place. Not just a new environment that is actually an apartment that has been around since the 1960's, a brand new place that doesn't have the worries of a leaking ceiling, a clogged kitchen sink or a heater that functions more like an air condition system.

We have two more years in the Philadelphia area and I'd like those years to be stress-free. I found a pretty nice place that's in between our working locations.

One of my favorite kitchen areas, I love the construction and the lighting.

Here's another model with a corner kitchen.

A view of the office/living room area. The windows are perhaps one of my favorite features of the loft.

The hallway view.

The second level bedroom.

If everything works out, we'll move in around June this year. They are building new lofts and they will be available around the time of our move. Hopefully we can get a space kind of like this first kitchen model, I love the high ceilings and the sunroof.

As far as our move, it may have some difficulties. We're wondering if we can transport our IKEA furniture, it may not be a possibility since deconstructing/reconstructing the IKEA furniture gives wobbly results. Does anyone have experience moving an IKEA bedroom set, TV console, bookshelves?

The move will be exciting, and I'll feature some of the ideas that we have for the new place.

I Heart Anthropologie..

2010-02-10T17:54:00.000-08:00

Three lovely dresses from Anthropologie..

Currently I'm loving these dresses in the spring collection:

Decorating Plastic

2010-02-10T17:18:00.000-08:00

Before: Your average plastic chair mat.

Add a little color with the help of IKEA.

I applied an adhesive to both surface and combined them together. The final results look pretty good.

After: A very stylish chair mat.

A view of the chair on the mat along with my desk.

Another view of the mat from above.

My Latest Obsession..

2009-09-06T17:52:00.001-07:00

I love shoes, and recently I updated my wardrobe with these pretty discoveries:

Shoes from Me Too.

These are my current favorites, I only paid $19 for this pair at ALDO!

A pair by Mudd.

These cute mary janes were a spontaneous buy when I needed comfortable shoes on-call. I found them at Target for less than $20.

Another pair from Target. I love the burgundy and black details.

A small splurge I made at Anthropologie, this pair was found on the sale floor for about $50.

Two pairs of cherry red shoes from Steve Madden.

Love the details, by Report.

These are kind of worn down, but they are perhaps my favorite pair. I found these at Nordstrom for a little over $100, it's really worth the cost for the quality of these shoes. They're great with suits and dresses.

Another pair of Steve Maddens and a lovely pair on the right by Max Studio.

A pair by BCBG, I love the gold insert design.

Steve Madden again, I love the twisted design which goes well with tulip skirts.

Revamping the Lamp

2009-07-12T18:44:00.000-07:00

With so little money to spend on my office, I'm trying to come up with creative ideas..

Before: Target "Back to School/College" Lamp for $16.99

After: A little bit of stylish paper wrapped around the shade makes a pretty lamp!

A close-up shot of the lamp shade.

April Showers...

2009-04-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a preview of our garden this year.

My Creative Madness..

2009-01-01T19:23:00.000-08:00

I don't know what drove me to create this on New Year's Eve.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-29T12:29:00.001-07:00

skeleton cupcakes, originally uploaded by sugarpond.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Off to the motherland..

2008-10-23T19:48:00.001-07:00

A Bridge To..., originally uploaded by thoth037.

I'll be visiting Korea for the next two weeks, this will be my first trip there and I'm quite excited. I'll definitely post photos when I get back.

Little Chinatown

2008-09-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

Inspirational Videos

2008-09-02T20:23:00.001-07:00

I'm thinking about buying a digital camcorder for our future travels,
in the meantime I'll be featuring inspirational videos from Vimeo.

Iceland Furry from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

Blurb Books: Wanderlust

2008-08-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

Wanderlust is my latest Blurb photography book creation. I featured photos from our recent travels to Paris, Madeira and New Hope, Pennsylvania.

I love this introduction page which features the definition of wanderlust.

Photos from our honeymoon in Paris.

Photos from a more tropical region in Funchal, Madeira.

New Hope, Pennsylvania.

The back cover design of the book.

It's 8x10 in size and the design is the new hardcover Imagewrap style. In comparison to the hardcover design, the imagewrap design is more sleek, professional and durable. Check out my book at the Blurb bookstore :

Terrain at Styer's

2008-08-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

I was heading to Longwood Gardens and made a little detour to a wonderful find (Terrain at Styer's) launched by the owners of Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters.

Click here to see the entire set of photos.

Shhhh...

2008-07-16T20:10:00.001-07:00

FED HBW, originally uploaded by besimo.

Don't tell A but I bought a new camera, this time it's this russian Fed 5B camera. Keep this a secret, please. :)

Metamorphosis

2008-06-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

MTV HD Crow from mate on Vimeo.

psyop_guinness from Afonso Poyart on Vimeo.

More videos by Psyop.

VOLKSWAGEN TIGUAN from shin_matsuda on Vimeo.

Volkswagen Tiguan Commercial, Director: Andrew Hardaway

Metro de Madrid: “Transparente” from shin_matsuda on Vimeo.

Transparente, Director: Gabriel Ibañez

Summer

2008-06-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

The new HP Touchsmart commercial is quite brilliant, will this product succeed or not? I'm kind of curious to see how it works.

Game.

2008-06-16T15:31:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the cutest movie we've seen this year, Love me if you Dare.

You can see the entire film here~ *

Gurskification

2008-06-04T06:48:00.000-07:00

German photographer Andreas Gursky has a way of making the mudane look quite interesting:

Modern Inspiration

2008-06-04T06:35:00.000-07:00

My husband and I are both residents and currently our living situation is so temporary, in a few years we're hoping to settle down in a house. In the meantime, I'll share a few inspirational ideas that I'd like for our future home. Depending on the design of our new place, I'll go with either a modern, minimalistic take or a french rustic style.

Hiking in Madeira

2008-05-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

I love the higher definition quality of the Vimeo videos, I searched around and discovered this awesome video created by a couple traveling through Madeira. I have yet to share our adventures on this beautiful island, in the meantime check this out:

Hiking in Madeira from Jan Raposa on Vimeo.

Viva La Vida

2008-05-30T15:34:00.001-07:00

Currently loving this new song by Coldplay:

 from laurari on Vimeo.

From Philadelphia to Chicago

2008-05-26T18:42:00.000-07:00

My peonies bloomed! :)

It's about time! I was worried that the shade would prevent them from blooming this year, but in fact it saved the flowers from wilting in the heat.

My mom keeps in touch with me quite often, lately she has been sharing photos of her garden in Chicago. Her garden is far more impressive than my garden secondary to her many years of experience. She bought a digital camera a few months ago and she's already a pro!

A lovely macro shot of one of her irises.

Photos of her peony tree:

Strange and Beautiful

2008-05-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

Featuring some of the tulips from my garden this year.

Unique Containers in my Garden

2008-05-20T06:25:00.000-07:00

My strawberry pot filled with herbs and topped with flowers.

Holga! Holga!

2008-05-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

I love this little toy camera, I took a few photos back in early spring and here's how the roll turned out:

Cherry blossoms!

I did a double exposure for this photo. The trees in the background look so beautiful and haunting.

An image of an interesting blue house near the neighborhood park.

Succulent Terrariums

2008-04-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

I became fascinated with terrariums and decided to make one using one of my apothecary glass jars. It wasn't the easiest container to work with considering the opening is quite narrow. I was able to fit one succulent plant in the center and planted the other inside my owl vase. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll survive. :)

Ranunculus: Love Spirals Downward

2008-04-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

My pink ranunculus has fully bloomed and it looks so gorgeous.

I love all the delicate textures and the spiral effects of the petals.

I also have some rasbperry ranunculus growing in our garden, slowly starting to bloom and unravel its beauty.

Beautiful Blooms

2008-03-27T10:20:00.001-07:00

ranunculus , originally uploaded by sugarpond.

The first sign of spring in our garden! :)

Fear of Fours

2008-03-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

I brought out a few of my CDs and found one of my favorite artists, Lamb.

Vase with a View

2008-03-08T19:46:00.001-08:00

a vase with a view, originally uploaded by sugarpond.

Our living from the viewpoint of a vase.

Paper Table

2008-02-24T05:56:00.002-08:00

I found the place mats at a local boutique in the Philadelphia area, they're great for everyday use.

Starting a Food Blog: Five Spice Duck

2008-02-05T20:16:00.000-08:00

I decided to dedicate this website mostly for design related stuff and created a new blog called Five Spice Duck. It will include my adventures in learning how to cook and my experiences dining in the Philadelphia area.

Spending the Holidays in the Windy City

2008-01-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

This year I spent the holidays with my parents in Chicago! We didn't do much but I really enjoyed spending time with my mom and taking a look at her latest craft projects.

Jeweled Snowflakes my mom created using random beads she found from old necklaces/bracelets.

Along with the snowflakes she hung ornaments near our window bay.

A Dried Bouquet with my wedding hydrangeas. The flowers are all shriveled up but they still look so cute with her arrangement.

A few teacups from my mother's collection. She collects A LOT of cute stuff and she gets most of them from local consignment shops for less than a buck . Here are some of my favorite cups:

All are true antiques and I love all the details, especially the ones that are handpainted inside the cups.

We didn't spend much time in Chicago but we still got a chance to check out Macy's (formerly Marshall Fields) Walnut Room on State Street. The tree was designed by Martha Stewart and I love how the lights and ornaments shimmer in the center of the room. So pretty, happy holidays everyone!

Our Honeymoon In Paris: My Blurb Book Experience

2008-01-01T20:20:00.000-08:00

On our honeymoon in Paris I took a ton of photos during our sightseeing adventures into the city of love. We wanted to create a large hardcover photo album of all the memories we captured during our honeymoon, so I created one through Blurb Books. They have an excellent holiday promotion going on, I got $10 off my very first book design!

The book looks so cute! I used one of our favorite photos of the Louvre. We arrived there just as the museum opened up, I love how serene the Louvre looks without the crowds of tourists. I designed the cover using Adobe Photoshop and added my own whimsical font to match the style of the photo album.

The book cost a little under $50 with shipping and I included about 160 pages of photos.

Flipping through the book, the pages are pretty good in quality. I kind of wish the pages were thicker so that book will last for a longer time. If you plan to create a large book that includes more than 100 pages, the hardcover version might be a better option than the softcover because the binding will be stronger and you'll have less chances of the pages falling out.

Korean Cinnamon Ginger Tea

2007-12-31T17:52:00.000-08:00

This is perhaps my first attempt to make anything korean. During the holidays my mom served me this aromatic tea for dessert along with persimmons. It's very easy to make!

Ingredients:
I didn't use any measurements so roughly about 4-5 cups of water, 5 thin slices of fresh ginger, about 3/4 cup of sugar and a cinnamon stick. Combine all in a sauce pan and cook until the tea becomes a nice dark orange-red color, almost the same color as the persimmons.

Now for the dried persimmons....

You can either stack a few in the glass jar.

Then pour the slightly cooled tea over the persimmons. Place in the fridge for several days so that the persimmons can soak up with tea.

An alternative for adding the persimmons is to create persimmon rolls with walnuts in the center.

First remove the centers of each persimmon and cut each into two equal pieces.

Carefully open up each segment and smooth out the center. Each segment will flatten into a rectangle. Place a walnut piece at one end and tightly roll the persimmon around. You'll maybe have some excess flesh coming out after rolling each piece. You can easily remove the excess so that it doesn't get too messy. Refridgerate the pieces so that the "logs" are easier to slice cleanly into 1/2 inch segments.

I actually prefer the whole persimmon version the most, submerge each with the cooled cinnamon-ginger tea. Add a few pinenuts to top of the dessert.

Creative Ideas: My DIY Poinsettia Wreath

2007-11-25T07:02:00.000-08:00

After all the wedding planning, I thought I would never step into a craft store anymore, I was so DIY'ed out! A few months later I noticed my hands were becoming more restless and my mind was racing with creative ideas. Now that we are in the post-wedding phase, I figured that it would be nice to create stuff that would be more practical for our place, such as a poinsettia wreath.

I found this kit at Michael's under the Martha Stewart's collection. I initially hesitated to buy the kit because it was more than I would like to pay, but the lessons I learned from this kit were truly valuable. Here's the final result:

The entire wreath, I loved the darker flowers mixed in with the lighter ones:

Here's a photos that's unedited in our foyer/entrance area.

Roasted Acorn Squash and Gorgonzola Pizza

2007-11-09T19:17:00.000-08:00

Roasted Acorn Squash and Gorgonzola Pizza
(recipe by Giada De Laurentiis)

1 (1- pound) acorn squash
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1/4 teaspoon
1 pound pizza dough
1 cup shredded whole milk mozzarella
1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola
1 cup arugula

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Slice the squash in half from top to bottom. Scoop out the seeds. Slice the squash into 1/2 to 3/4-inch wide half moons and place in a medium bowl. Toss the squash with the syrup, olive oil, red pepper flakes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place the squash on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake the squash until tender and golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Keep the temperature on the oven at 375 degrees F. Roll out the pizza dough on a flour dusted piece of parchment paper to a 13-inch diameter. Place the pizza and the parchment paper on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese and the Gorgonzola on the pizza dough. Bake in the oven until golden and cooked through, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Peel the skins off the squash. Top the cooked pizza with the cooked squash. Top with arugula and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Slice and serve.

Gocco Love

2007-11-05T08:17:00.000-08:00

My first Gocco experiment, turned out pretty nicely!

Experimenting with Adobe Photoshop

2007-10-25T23:02:00.001-07:00

Grabbing some inspiration by Jesh De.Rox, I experimented on a few photos from our trip to Paris.

Spice Crusted Rack of Lamb

2007-10-03T20:12:00.000-07:00

I'm testing out my new Canon SLR and it looks pretty good.

Our Next Destination: The Floating Garden

2007-09-30T16:08:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I had my last call for the month and I'm just so exhausted. I told Mr. BP that I really need something to look forward to so I can keep truckin' along for the rest of the year. I did a bit of research online for the entire month and I think I found the perfect cure for my intern blues:

" Madeira is the ideal place to relax and restore the balance of mind and body that you need to face the stress of daily life."

Madeira is a small island situated in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal and Africa. "A Floating Garden" best describes the island, it's abundant with exotic flowers and there are numerous botanical gardens all over the city of Funchal.

There is a tropical feel to the island yet being close to Portugal, the city of Funchal is very european and has a lot of historic sites to check out.

I love fresh fruits and vegetables, so I can't wait to check out the fruit markets in the center of Funchal.

Madeira is also famous for it’s levadas, man-made water channels created all over the island to bring water from the highlands to the fertile lower regions. If you love to hike, the levadas might be of your interest.

There's a lot of beautiful hotel spas around Funchal, here's one of my favorite:

I like the hotel and spa packages, the cons for this hotel is that it is located outside of the main city Funchal. I'm leaning more towards finding a hotel near the coast, there's a bunch lining the coast and they most offer pretty good rates.

Here's my 2nd favorite: this hotel's location is perfect and tripadvisor has pretty good reviews about the services and rooms. The rooms don't have a modern style compared the first hotel.

Here's a hotel tying in place with the 2nd one. It's also in an ideal location, close to the coast and the city. The cons about this hotel is that the rooms and the hotel in general has a very sterile appearance, perhaps not as romantic as I would like. Although the pool are does look impressive!

It's so difficult to decide just based on what I see online! I wish I could check out the rooms before we make our final decision! Anyways, I think I'll decide on a hotel by the end of this week. In the meantime, tell me what you think looks best out of the three hotels I featured. Thanks!

Ganache Chocolate Cupcakes!

2007-09-28T19:52:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I didn't do the best job frosting these cupcakes. The ganache frosting tastes so decadent and chocolatey! I ate a few of these cupcakes before giving them to my coworkers, so yummy!

A Plain White Frame and Some Inspiration

2007-09-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

Some Inspiration = From the latest issue of Blueprint Magazine.

+ A Plain White Frame = I found four white frames from Bed Bath and Beyond for about $5, what a steal. A few had scratches and needed some clean

+ Color = To cover up these scatches I bought a buttercream spray paint from the local craft store along with a gloss finishing spray.

+ Artwork= On our honeymoon trip in Paris, we bought several postcards from the local streetside vendors. Most postcards are pretty affordable, about $1-3 and they feature famous paintings by local artists, major historic landmarks, and various vintage inspired drawings and photos.

The End Result = Putting it all together was pretty easy, I really liked changing the color of the frames to add a warm color to our stark white kitchen walls.

Total cost to create all 4 of these frames = $20 (frames) $4 (postcards) = $24.

The project was quite simple and I preferred using the spray paint over regular paint from the store. It's much quicker and smoother when it coats the frame. To preserve the condition, add a clear finishing gloss over the frames to ensure less damage from scratches or general wear and tear.

J Crew : My Latest Purchase

2007-09-23T23:20:00.000-07:00

J Crew's new fall collection has more interesting colors and styles than their usual collections. I bought this spotted cat cardigan today.

Saucey Ginko Leaf Dish

2007-09-23T17:48:00.001-07:00

I lose things all the time and my husband has told me that I should get a ring holder in addition to our orbs for each room of our condo, heh! :) I went shopping at Crate and Barrel a few weeks back and found this cute bronze ginko leaf dish for $5.95. It's supposed to be used for sauces and as a chopstick rest, but you can also use this as a dish to secure your rings while you're cooking, showering, etc. I went back to the store to get more today and they were all out! They are still available on Crate and Barrel's website.