Ready, Set, Let the Games Begin! - Link to new PTR/TR!

[TifffanyD]

Love the pot, Alison! I was thinking along the same line.... we might need to get a microwaveable container for the rice and I was going to check out Walmart or Target when I was in the US.


The food at 1900 looks fantastic. That strawberry soup is something that I want to try someday! I suspect that I'm going to have to make it myself at home.






So sorry about your mom.

Do you need a certain kind of rice? If not then you can get minute rice or boil in the bag rice...

 

[PrincessInOz]

Do you need a certain kind of rice? If not then you can get minute rice or boil in the bag rice...

I'm not sure how these would work out for fried rice. Some of them end up releasing more starch or being really gluggy when fried.

 

[franandaj]

Cab will probably be the best way for that late at night! I'm wishing we had cabbed it when we were at Narcoossee's this 4th of July but thats because parking at GF can be a nightmare, especially on a holiday.

Because it's so late, that's the reason I'm really thinking towards cab. It will be almost midnight and I think we'll be in a food coma.

If you share your recipe I'll share mine...

Is this your recipe?



I'll have to go find the cookbook where I got it from and post it.

Let me tag onto Alison's response. Try to go into V&A with an open mind and try things you think you don't like. You may surprise yourself with actually liking something you thought you hated! I decided on my first trip that I would try anything because I know that V&A would cook it correctly and if I still didn't like it after that, I was free to hate it forever. There are some dishes I've loved more than others but I've never had anything I hated...there is plenty of food over the course of dinner so you won't starve.

Just my 2 cents.

Jill in CO

Same thing with Napa Rose. Chef Sutton always says, "If you want to try something, let us cook it for you. That way you know it will be cooked properly and then if you don't like it, it wasn't because you had it improperly prepared."

Love the pot, Alison! I was thinking along the same line.... we might need to get a microwaveable container for the rice and I was going to check out Walmart or Target when I was in the US.


The food at 1900 looks fantastic. That strawberry soup is something that I want to try someday! I suspect that I'm going to have to make it myself at home.

I will probably have a suitable bowl in the Villa. They have at least three sizes of mixing bowls and a non metal serving bowl. With some plastic wrap we could probably do it just fine.

First of all I am so thrilled MFP is working for you

Second sending pixie dust for the hearing as well, it sounds very unobtrusive!

Third...mnnnm! Strawberry soup! I'm with Fran on that one.

You day sounds fabulous no matter how the afternoon unfolds. I do vote for a cab both ways, V&A is such a special experience why stress about waiting for the boat and the transfer. It can be quite fast but it also can be slow.

Last...love the pot and it is definitely worth an update! Those things are important.

Well the last two days haven't been so good on MFP...

I love the strawberry soup too!

Especially due to the time, I'm thinking cab, but I just related this whole conversation to Fran and she said, "I'm cheap, so I would probably choose the free transportation."

Do you need a certain kind of rice? If not then you can get minute rice or boil in the bag rice...

I can't speak for PIO, but American Long Grain rices behave differently than most Asian short grain rices. I have at least four to five kinds of rice in my pantry for Asian cooking, risotto, just plain rice to go under a sauce, Basmati rice for Indian food, and I guess that's it for now. I have a ton of CalRose Botan Rice which all my friends from Asia recommended that I use. I can bring some of that as I already plan on bringing a bag of rice for my first night's dinner. No point in buying a giant bag of rice for one stir fry dish. The bag I have is 5lbs and still more than half full.

 

[TifffanyD]

hahah maybe - I'll have to check and see

Oh I use Basmati or Jasmine rice but I thought for a fried rice dish a simple minute rice, chilled, and refried could do alright. I didn't want to have her deal with buying cookware....

 

[PrincessInOz]

hahah maybe - I'll have to check and see

Oh I use Basmati or Jasmine rice but I thought for a fried rice dish a simple minute rice, chilled, and refried could do alright. I didn't want to have her deal with buying cookware....

Some of the microwave containers are a couple of dollars here. I would expect that they would be cheaper in the US.

 

[lisaviolet]

Lisa,

You snuck in while I was writing the responses. We'll have to see how tipsy we are after the wine pairings, the boat would be nice and I don't think it will be cold yet, it's still September.

V&A's really is fine dining, at least for a lot of Florida. I'm sure that Toronto, New York, LA, San Francisco and Las Vegas have restaurants that could blow it out of the water, but it is a very nice place with very elegant food. Chef Hunnel does a great job to find unique ingredients and build interesting flavors.

Some day, I'll make you dinner Lisa!

Thanks for the good wishes on the house! I really hope it works out. We've been looking at places to buy and there is just nothing suitable for us. We need this house to work out!

On the bold - you know I would love that Alison.

Oh and since I can't seem to write a coherent sentence on here! Well I meant that ALTHOUGH it's fine dining at V&As - a la I know it is - I really need to start proof reading my rambling. Or maybe I'm not even following you at all. Could be.

Wow, lovely experience.

Ganga was not on my terrace. Hysterical party girl two doors down. She goes, "bedtime boys!" around 4 am or so and they go "nice meeting you". Hysterical neighbourhood I live in. Sexual comments that one needs to google were compliments of the joys of being single and the online world - right here on the good ol' DIS. Who knew there could be such joy? Music was the nice part - down at the harbourfront - which I can walk to - joys of downtown living.

So sorry about your mom.

Thank you so much. It is awful - one just has to learn to love a new mom. And try sometimes not to miss the other too much. Try. It's been years now since I've talked to *my mom* - your brain starts to forget. But this mom has looser boundaries and honestly - that's one lovely part as *my mom* was all about what should and shouldn't be said in life as in societal rules of how she should act. So there is some lovely. At Vero Beach - about four years ago - she said "I want to go down the slide". I nearly fainted. My mom is/was the kind of woman who never put her head, and her beautiful hair, under water - bathing cap - SLIDES? No way in he!!. And she went down that huge slide and was heard laughing at every turn. So some lovely.

And thank you Alison as I know you and Fran know well. Oh, she's at home still - I don't know how but she is - we're all trying to keep her out of a home but for how much longer I'm unsure but we're trying. My father is the biggest worry in the equation.

 

[lisaviolet]

I'm thinking cab, but I just related this whole conversation to Fran and she said, "I'm cheap, so I would probably choose the free transportation."



.

Priceless Fran!

Is she aware she's going to V&As?

 

[jedijill]

Priceless Fran!

Is she aware she's going to V&As?

Don't let Fran see the check!!!!

Jill in CO

 

[franandaj]

hahah maybe - I'll have to check and see

Oh I use Basmati or Jasmine rice but I thought for a fried rice dish a simple minute rice, chilled, and refried could do alright. I didn't want to have her deal with buying cookware....

Rice is complicated! I started to get into Asian cooking back in the 80s in college when I couldn't afford take out. My Wok cookbook advised on how to make sticky rice was to buy short grain rice. There were a lot of Asian folks who came to my college to study music and they clued me into the best Asian restaurants and rice to purchase to make my own.

To this day I still go back to this one noodle house in Northridge, even though it has changed locations they make the BEST Family noodle soup with handmade Chinese noodles, and their dumplings and scallion pancakes are to die for!

I never realized how different rice was until I started to cook the various cuisines. You need Arborio rice to make proper risotto, it just doesn't cook right, same thing for fried rice, you need the sticky quality of the short grain rice. Long grain rice is very different and minute rice, well that's a whole nother story!

Some of the microwave containers are a couple of dollars here. I would expect that they would be cheaper in the US.

I haven't looked at the dollar tree (my favorite dollar store), but I'm sure one of them will have one. I will look out next time I am in one. Fran loves them (as she has stated she is thrifty)

On the bold - you know I would love that Alison.

Oh and since I can't seem to write a coherent sentence on here! Well I meant that ALTHOUGH it's fine dining at V&As - a la I know it is - I really need to start proof reading my rambling. Or maybe I'm not even following you at all. Could be.

Wow, lovely experience.

Ganga was not on my terrace. Hysterical party girl two doors down. She goes, "bedtime boys!" around 4 am or so and they go "nice meeting you". Hysterical neighbourhood I live in. Sexual comments that one needs to google were compliments of the joys of being single and the online world - right here on the good ol' DIS. Who knew there could be such joy? Music was the nice part - down at the harbourfront - which I can walk to - joys of downtown living.

Sounds like you have quite the colorful living just near your house.

Thank you so much. It is awful - one just has to learn to love a new mom. And try sometimes not to miss the other too much. Try. It's been years now since I've talked to *my mom* - your brain starts to forget. But this mom has looser boundaries and honestly - that's one lovely part as *my mom* was all about what should and shouldn't be said in life as in societal rules of how she should act. So there is some lovely. At Vero Beach - about four years ago - she said "I want to go down the slide". I nearly fainted. My mom is/was the kind of woman who never put her head, and her beautiful hair, under water - bathing cap - SLIDES? No way in he!!. And she went down that huge slide and was heard laughing at every turn. So some lovely.

And thank you Alison as I know you and Fran know well. Oh, she's at home still - I don't know how but she is - we're all trying to keep her out of a home but for how much longer I'm unsure but we're trying. My father is the biggest worry in the equation.

Sounds like she has a different form of dementia, she must be reverting back to childhood and losing inhibitions. Fran's parents both became paranoid that everyone was out to get them, but they never wanted to have fun so there was no way they would revert to that state even in dementia. We couldn't keep her mom out of places, she kept falling, dropping blood sugar, if she didn't have broken bones, her blood sugar slipped below 20 and she was back in the hospital.

Priceless Fran!

Is she aware she's going to V&As?

Yes, but that's how she says she can afford it, by taking the cheap way to get there! If I ask nicely we can take a cab home.

Don't let Fran see the check!!!!

Jill in CO

She pays all the checks and overtips nicely. She understands the value of the server. For all she is cheap she also over tips and knows the value.

 

[franandaj]

So I have good news! I rented the last apartment at the La Pasada building today! So for now we are all rented! We do have another apartment that needs rehab, but it is no where near being ready. If our rehab on 1st street is approved we would rather move ahead with that than work on #4. But as far as things go this is the reality.

So Jenny you asked for it, I’ll give you the whole before and after!

So this is the apartment that I rented today, but four years ago. These first pictures were taken to document why we weren’t giving the full refund on the deposit.

We’ll start off with the progression of the kitchen. This was the almost original stove.



A view of the kitchen (and filthy dirty floor)



I believe that I took this picture to show Fran (who could not climb stairs at the time), how the stove and refrigerator was patched with bubble gum. Her father had a habit of doing everything the “quick fix” way. We took over the building from him when he came down with dementia and couldn’t remember where he was driving.



This is a view into the dining area of the kitchen.



The dishwasher when we took over managing



Here is the kitchen a few months later, notice the new stove and dishwasher (which we bought with our Amex miles that we turned into Home Depot Gift Cards).





We also installed this Microwave/Vent fan over the stove. Amex points=Home Depot card



The apartment remained rented from October 2009 until around March of this year. By this time we had a great contractor and enough capital to really fix the place up. Here is the kitchen as I rented it today.







And here is the dining area in the kitchen.



OK back to 2009, here are the living room and the bedrooms. I only have a couple pictures before we fixed the place up in 2009. Notice the carpeting in the second bedroom.



This is the living room, pre remodel.



Again with our HD gift cards, we used Home Depot carpet service to recarpet the place. This is the living room with new carpet. We also painted the place, but we still didn’t have a good painter yet. He did a lousy job.



Here is a picture of the bedroom post carpeting.



Now the real reveal, this is the apartment that I rented today. The Living Room.



The first bedroom.



The second bedroom



This is, I think my favorite upgrade. Here is the original pink bathroom from the 1950s.





We replaced the linoleum in the bathroom (again with HD cards).



Here is the bathroom that I rented today.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

So I have good news! I rented the last apartment at the La Pasada building today! So for now we are all rented! We do have another apartment that needs rehab, but it is no where near being ready. If our rehab on 1st street is approved we would rather move ahead with that than work on #4. But as far as things go this is the reality.

So Jenny you asked for it, I’ll give you the whole before and after!

So this is the apartment that I rented today, but four years ago. These first pictures were taken to document why we weren’t giving the full refund on the deposit.

We’ll start off with the progression of the kitchen. This was the almost original stove.

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/be.jpg.html

A view of the kitchen (and filthy dirty floor)

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/ba.jpg.html

I believe that I took this picture to show Fran (who could not climb stairs at the time), how the stove and refrigerator was patched with bubble gum. Her father had a habit of doing everything the “quick fix” way. We took over the building from him when he came down with dementia and couldn’t remember where he was driving.

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/bi.jpg.html

This is a view into the dining area of the kitchen.

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/bj.jpg.html

The dishwasher when we took over managing

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/bde.jpg.html

Here is the kitchen a few months later, notice the new stove and dishwasher (which we bought with our Amex miles that we turned into Home Depot Gift Cards).

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/IMG_1361.jpg.html

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/IMG_1384.jpg.html

We also installed this Microwave/Vent fan over the stove. Amex points=Home Depot card

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/IMG_1393.jpg.html

The apartment remained rented from October 2009 until around March of this year. By this time we had a great contractor and enough capital to really fix the place up. Here is the kitchen as I rented it today.

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/DSC03435.jpg.html

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/DSC03437.jpg.html

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/DSC03436.jpg.html

And here is the dining area in the kitchen.

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/DSC03438.jpg.html

OK back to 2009, here are the living room and the bedrooms. I only have a couple pictures before we fixed the place up in 2009. Notice the carpeting in the second bedroom.

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/fa.jpg.html

This is the living room, pre remodel.

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/cc.jpg.html

Again with our HD gift cards, we used Home Depot carpet service to recarpet the place. This is the living room with new carpet. We also painted the place, but we still didn’t have a good painter yet. He did a lousy job.

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/IMG_1345.jpg.html

Here is a picture of the bedroom post carpeting.

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/IMG_1348.jpg.html

Now the real reveal, this is the apartment that I rented today. The Living Room.

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/DSC03440.jpg.html

The first bedroom.

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/DSC03444.jpg.html

The second bedroom

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/DSC03443.jpg.html

This is, I think my favorite upgrade. Here is the original pink bathroom from the 1950s.

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/da.jpg.html

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/db.jpg.html

We replaced the linoleum in the bathroom (again with HD cards).

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/IMG_1342.jpg.html

Here is the bathroom that I rented today.

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/DSC03442.jpg.html

http://s915.photobucket.com/user/franandaj/media/2013/June/DSC03441.jpg.html

Congrats on re ting out the last apartment! I am still lucky enough to be reading my way through this thread as I only just joined ( people pay good money on amazon for kindle books that aren't as good as this thread! ) but I am blown away by the before and after pics. Go girls! You inspire me! It looks amazing.

 

[PrincessInOz]

The before and afters are fantastic!! Great job on the refurbs and congrats on renting out the last apartment.

 

[TifffanyD]

The place looks fantastic - you guys did a great job!

I actually didn't mind some things before... but I am easy like that. The pink bathrooms looks alot like how my blue bathroom in my house was before they redid it. Only the sink and walls were blue too!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Omg love this thread. Alison what happened re renting your apartment to the lady that had some credit issues that had a bad ex hubby and you wanted to give a chance? Did you get Fran to buy in to your idea? I didn't see conclusion sorry if you did post and I missed it. Hanging in suspense here!

 

[Luvchefmic]

and congratulations on renting it ! The pre-redo living room carpet is exactly what I have been living with since 2008 with dogs I LIVE with a vacuum in hand the AFTER floor is exactly what I want You did a beautiful job !

 

[dgbg100106]

Alison those upgrades look fabulous!

 

[dolphingirl47]

I can understand being scared by V&A's but they are very good about not serving you anything you don't like. They take a complete list of what you will and won't eat and cater your menu. Graham would be offered a completely different menu that yours. It's a nicer than Palo, but very similar in class and elegance.

I just fear that the list would be rather long. Graham is much easier to cater for when it comes to food. I am getting more adventurous though. The next time we come to Disneyland, I will move heaven and earth to get us a reservation for the chef counter at Napa Rose. He read about this somewhere and was intrigued. Having seen how much he enjoyed Club 33, I really want to do this for him.

The apartment looks stunning. You did a great job with this.

Corinna

 

[Pinkocto]

Firstly, good luck today!

Congratulations on the rental!

The remodel looks beautiful.

You're having me think about V & As. I didn't know they would tailor the meal to your tastes.

 

[jedijill]

The renovations look amazing! Good luck at the hearing tonight.

Jill in CO

 

[rentayenta]

Good luck tonight Alison.


The renovations look UNREAL! We had a bathroom similar to the pink one in our first home which was also built in the late 40's. Ours was like a baby poop green with a big cast iron tub. You hired well and the rehab looks so great, no wonder everything rented so quickly. I love pics so thank you posting them. I like to see what we're all talking about.