There are some things out there that you absolutely lust over, but at the time you didn’t have the money or you didn’t have sufficient reasons for getting one. A big obsession of mine is the L450 flat loudspeaker, TG 60 reel-to-reel tape recorder and TS 45 control unit designed by Dieter Rams for Braun (1962-64).

There was one on eBay a couple of weeks ago for around $1400.

Reasons why I didn’t get it:

1) Juli said so.

2) The week before I tried to buy a $6 sandwich and my debit card was declined.

3) Purposes of use would be limited to the radio, since I don’t own anything reel to reel.

4) I don’t want to turn into an hi fi hoarder like the audio repair store up the street.

5) People might start disliking me due to jealousy.

These reasons are valid enough, but that’s not going to keep me from obsessing and sharing some beautiful interior shots with you.

Above: A graphic designers home in Helsinki

via Flickr.

Habita hotel. We sell those georgeous A110 black and brass pendant lights designed by Alvar Aalto. You would actually be surprised how affordable they are!

via plastolux

That’s me in my bedroom.

I would love to have a quick cup of coffee with Dieter Rams. We could talk about sports.

Looks like this is the week of good eats! Last night we went with our fellow Japanophiles Aprile and Jory to Guu Izakaya (398 Church St). I know there’s been a lot of buzz since they opened but *LOVE*. The style is Tokyo pub, beer and appetizers with communal tables and a boisterous hum. At first the yelling is distracting but it quickly becomes charming a few sips of Sapporo in. Every person that comes or goes from the restaurant is greeted with big smiles that are genuinely endearing.

It was really hard to decide on what to eat – everything looked so good – so we just ordered with reckless abandon.

The large glass of beer dwarfs Jory. Aprile ordered some crazy marble pop. John had warm sake and I had a small Sapporo (designated driver!).

The parade of food begins (I am fully guessing at the descriptions)…deep fried octopus balls, I think.

Calamari

hmm…grilled ribs?

Udon noodles with roe – tasted like salmon a bit, John said it was cod?

Aprile and I got the butakimchi bibimbap.

Jellyfish something or other (sorry, not helpful!).

John ordered fried chicken accidentally, but it was delicious and not greasy. Of course there is the obligatory edamame.

Grilled pork.

I feel like we had even more food than this but it appears this is it.

The girls. Really casual, warm atmosphere.

With really nice architectural features like these little windows.

The boys. Jory is thinking really hard about what he wants to order next.

Birthday noms. Everyone sings Happy Birthday like they do at family restaurants, minus the awkward silence before and after. It was sweet, because everyone in the restaurant is having a good time.

Tempura banana with coconut ice cream. Amazing, we wish we ordered more!

The most modern bowl of ice cream ever. I mean, charcoal? It’s sesame flavored – weird but actually pretty good.

The prices are really great which makes you order like it’s the last supper. The sheer length of our bill was pretty ridiculous, but we had such a good time it was worth it! At the bottom of the receipt it says “Be Careful!! Guuing is addictive.” and we’d have to agree. If it wasn’t for the 2 hour maximum we would have stayed all night. We’re praying that they open another location in the west end (it is after all a Vancouver-based “chain”), but we’ll make the trek again and again if we have to.

ps. this place is still mad busy, so show up early or expect a wait! Also, best to go in a group!

The old kitchen counter tops were a source of grief in the kitka kitchen. I (John) love to cook, and I just couldn’t go on with the fake granite particle board counters anymore. I needed a nice surface to work on, and since my cooking was already being compromised by an electric stove, I needed my wooden counter.

We first used plywood as counters at the cottage and were very happy with the result both aesthetically and financially. We even had some left over plywood from the flooring downstairs so the only material costs were the ceramic sink ($99.99) and faucet ($149.99) from IKEA.

The magisso kitchen cloth holder

A new item we’ve recently added to the mjolk shop, a cast iron grill pan designed by Sori Yanagi. I made some pork chops last week and the grill marks made all the difference.

We love our Kristian Vedel bird, and “mine and your” cups.

I applied three coats of left over Bona Traffic water based finish that we used on the floors downstairs. Each coat needs about 4 hours to dry and a light sand.

The birch counters added some much needed brightness, since our kitchen has no natural light. All we need to do now is rip up the floors and paint them white and we’ll have a pretty decent kitchen!