Good-bye to a special little cat

My family's younger cat MeiMei passed away unexpectedly a few days ago. She was only 8 years old. The bonds that can form between humans and animals truly are some of the most mysterious, precious and wonderful relationships. MeiMei gave me unconditional love and affection during a very hard time in my life; she was a constant through all the ups and downs. I miss her and I'm not sure when I'll get used to talking about her in the past tense, or knowing that she won't be there the next time I go back to California.

For more on why I called MeiMei my angel cat, please read my tribute to her on my other blog.

Alice in Wonderland, a 1903 silent film

I love "Alice in Wonderland." I love silent films. Therefore, I adore this movie! I swear, I might have had a dream like this once.

Ron and I are having a banquet in celebration of our wedding for our Taiwan relatives and friends on Saturday, so I'm skipping my Legumes of the Week this week. My parents flew in yesterday and brought my wedding qipao (the traditional Chinese dress with the high-necked collar that everyone wishes made them look like Maggie Cheung in "In the Mood for Love") over. I'm wearing that first, and then changing into a 1950s navy blue silk satin dress for the rest of the banquet. It's gorgeous, and I can't wait to show it off -- as long as the photos turn out well! As "Episode Ugly Brown Fabric" on season 5 of Project Runway showed, satin doesn't always photograph well, no matter what the dress looks like. Keep your fingers crossed for me (and my photo album)!

11.17.2009 Heart to Heart

Wood-grain headband: Accessorize, jumper with heart weave and heart buttons: random store on lower Broadway in Soho, NYC, turtleneck: Gongguan night market （公館夜市), Taipei, boots: Sogo Fuxing

Today I was thinking about how my wardrobe has "cute-i-fied" since moving to Taipei. I'm no afraid of hearts, ruffles, lace and other girly flourishes. When I pulled this jumper out of my closet this morning, I thought, "boy, is my wardrobe Taiwan-ish now!" Then I realized I didn't buy the jumper in Taipei -- I bought it in NYC! I got it after I went to Taipei to visit Ron in December 2007; I guess I missed the style I'd seen in the city's stores and night markets on that trip. My style has definitely become a lot more "feminine" in the last two years. There is definitely a culture of cute in Taiwan (as there is in much of east Asia) and grown women can get away with wearing things like this dress without looking too precious (not that there is anything wrong with looking precious!).

I paired it with an American Apparel unisex cardigan and my red Cambridge Satchel Company bag for the short walk to my cabinet.

My favorite part of the jumper is the black and white heart weave of the fabric and the two shiny red heart-shaped buttons.

I think Taroko George approves, too, because he couldn't stop sniffing around me when I took these photos! Oh, and I got my hair cut after four or five months! Thank goodness, I feel human again! My war with my bangs has come to a temporary ceasefire. Phew!

Happy Tuesday, everyone!