Moon

With the recent clear skies, we actually saw the moon and a few stars. It was beautiful. I think the lack of moon viewing is due to pollution and the visual interference of the mountains and large buildings.

Pool Time

Finally, it has stopped raining. The weather has been beautiful the past few days with temperatures in the mid to high 80s and relatively low humidity. It has been unusually clear. One bad aspect of Hong Kong is the terrible air pollution. Most of the time, there is a haze covering the city, and you can not see the blue sky, clouds, moon, or stars. This weekend was an exception, and we thoroughly enjoyed the weather by going to the pool. The pool at our apartment is very nice, but I still miss the beach.

New Jewelry

Now that my home jewelry studio is 98% operational, I have started making new pieces. Here are the black onyx earrings I made for Pinky's birthday.

Cards

As if I don't have enough creative business ideas, I think a greeting card business in Hong Kong would be successful. There are not very many shops that sell cards, and the ones that do, such as Papyrus, are very expensive: ~US$10/card. I made my first cards for Father's Day, because I couldn't find any that were acceptable. I didn't photograph those, but I think they came out nice. Below are pictures of the cards I made for The Fab Miss B (Bon Voyage) and for Erik's birthday. I just finished the book Craft, Inc., a how to guide for turning your hobby into business. While the book didn't provide too many new insights, it did get me excited and motivated to work on jewelry sales and drive my other business ideas.

Happy Birthday Erik

We celebrated Erik’s birthday in the same way we celebrated mine, over a nice dinner, just the two of us. Erik chose an up-scale, hip Chinese restaurant which was very good. I wanted to ask the server to take a picture of us, but I felt it was a little inappropriate in the sophisticated atmosphere. On the way home, we stopped at Ben & Jerry’s for birthday ice cream. Here we are eating our ice cream on the street (I am holding the camera). I am always happy when Erik’s birthday arrives, because then he can stop reminding me that I am older than he is. I like when we are the same age.

Happy Father’s Day to both our Dads. We love you and miss you.

Favorite Blogs

I need to expand my blog repertoire, meaning the blogs I visit frequently. The Fab Miss B agreed to start a blog tag game with me. The object of the game is to list your favorite, most inspirational blogs and tag fellow bloggers to do the same. Here is Becky's list. For those of you who are new to the blog world and possibly only read my blog, you should know there are tons of people who earn a substantial salary from the advertising on their blogs. Blogging is not just a pastime, its a career.

These are my favorite blogs:

Dooce http://www.dooce.com/ She is one of the pioneers of blogging and is super famous, so many of you are already aware of the site. Dooce is so witty and humorous, and I enjoy her daily style guide. Warning: she uses profanity and sometimes talks about taboo subjects.

Cakespy http://www.cakespy.com/ I love the illustrations and creativity of this site. It takes imagination to write a few times a week about only one subject: dessert. The artist also has a shop on Etsy.

The Pioneer Woman http://thepioneerwoman.com/ Her photography is outstanding, especially her food pictures. Have you tried taking pictures of your food? You quickly realize why food stylists earn a large salary. I enjoy the Pioneer Woman’s mix of food, family, and life style.

I tag the following bloggers to share their favorite blogs:

Fenwick Mama

We Live Like This

Please feel free to list your favorites in the comments.

Two Thumbs Up Weekend

The weekend was great, because I had a lot of time without many commitments. My normal Saturday schedule: jewelry class from 10:00-1:00 and Chinese lesson from 1:30-3:00. I get up early to study my Chinese, and with commuting time, I am committed from 9:00-3:30, so it feels almost like another work day. My time seems so limited when Sunday is my only free day of the week. Saturday, we were awoken early by terrible thunderstorms. A black thunderstorm warning was issued, meaning flooding was likely. When the black warning is in effect, people are supposed to stay home, and as a result, my classes were canceled. It was a lovely surprise. I was very productive making jewelry and going to the gym.

On Sunday, I worked more on my jewelry, cooked, and accomplished some errands. Erik flew to Germany Sunday night, so we skipped the Dragon Boat races. Monday was a holiday in honor of the Tuen Ng (Dragon Boat) Festival. I went to Shenzhen, China to visit my friend The Fab Miss B for the last time since she and her husband are leaving China next week. We had a glorious time talking, shopping, and going to the spa. Our spa treatment was a super deluxe facial that lasted almost three hours and included a back, head, and face massage, as well as, hot stone therapy and of course, a facial. The best part, it cost less than $30!

Living in a foreign country causes you reach out to people and make friends more readily than you would in your defined world at “home”. You instantly make friends with anyone you meet whom you share a shred of commonality. Just being an expat is often enough of a common thread. Also, people who are willing to move across the globe usually have an interesting story. I enjoy having a variety of friends of different nationalities and ages. Additionally, I find my friendships with some of my US friends have deepened with email correspondence. Writing is often more thoughtful than speaking. While I am thrilled to have established many friends in Hong Kong, I am especially grateful to have clicked with Becky (The Fab Miss B). Possibly, we knew each other in another life, because we have conversations as if we have known each other for years. I am certain we will remain friends for a long time.

I am still glowing from the blissful, relaxing weekend.

Don't Even Think About It

Waiting in line for the ATM, I witnessed the process of filling the machine with new money. It wouldn't be too easy to rob these guys with shotguns at the ready.

Rain v. Humidity

The weather has been rather gross recently. Summer is definitely here with temperatures in the low to mid 80s. The humidity has been quite bad, and we finally broke down and bought a dehumidifier after mold started growing around the air conditioner. Now that we are in love with the dehumidifier, we want to get another one for the living room. At the moment, it is spending one day in the bedroom and the next in the living room. It makes a huge difference.

In addition to the humidity, there has been a lot of rain. All last week, and all this week, rain is predicted every day. One minute it is raining and thunder storming and the next the sun is shining to create a lovely steam bath. The clouds made for an interesting view on Monday.

This past weekend, was the first in a long time that we had zero commitments. Recently, our social calendar has been full, so it was nice to catch up on chores, hobbies, and sleep. I planted some herbs on the balcony--please live little herbs. Also pictured are the two new plants we purchased about a month ago. Both are chest high--one inside and one outside.