My excuse for this post being 3 months after we moved into our apartment is a simple one. I am a perfectionist. I still don’t feel our apartment is “perfect” but I guess that’s life so enjoy a picture tour of our space provided below.

Also, family and friends this means I am working on posting wedding pictures (I know, I know so very late but in my defense there are over 1,500 to go through) and most importantly I am working on “Thank you” virtual/cards. Yes, I am a very bad respondent forgive me for as much as I want to be perfect I am most flawed.

Enjoy the apartment in the mean time!

Hotel de Carlin.

Through the front door you are deposited into our entry/dining room/kitchen and into our living room/office. WELCOME!

Above the windows you will notice our air con. Each room has an individual air con and all the lights are built out of the ceiling/wall which I assume is for easy access when there are problems. Your guess is as good as mine though. The couch, chairs and kitchen table came with the place. I am not a red couch in this structure kind of girl but that’s a first world problem. [SHOUT OUT to Brandi Hyde for the Korea pillow that helps personalize our space. I love this pillow so very much, THANK YOU!]

BOOM! You are in our living room and well look at that you are also simultaneously in our office.

With your back to our patio you can see our kitchen stocked with a slightly larger dorm size fridge, one induction burner, a microwave, sink and a drying rack IN the sink. Ta-dah! Compact to say the least.

[SHOUT OUT to the Parkers and my Madre’s side of the family back in Texas for the funds to stock our fridge and pantry (the small shelf above our entire kitchen) when we first made it to Thailand. We can stock our fridge/pantry for a week on $50 or less so we were good for a few weeks. You guys are so sweet and I am throwing many thanks your way. Also thank you to G-ma for the hand stitched dish towels. You know my style well!]

One day we will get an oven that will bake cookies, cakes, muffins, cupcakes and all that nutritional stuff we seem to be missing. The front door is BOOM right there and if we turn left now we can go to the guest room and bath. If we turn right we can go to the master bedroom and adjoining bath. We are going right first.

I would like to say this is awkward BUT being that our master bedroom is right off the living room/office/entry/dining room/kitchen the awkward has worn off.

The striped black and white goodness that graces our walls came with the place along with the bed and duvet. I haven’t quite decided if I am for or against the stripes. They are permanent so I am working with them, deals-isy.

[SHOUT OUT to my sweet sister Am for the help in buying sheets and mama Debbie for the pillow that seems to go with me  everywhere. Jay is pretty laid pack about the floral as long as I promise to incorporate more manly patterns. Yay, compromise!]

BOOM the master bathroom.

If you look by the toilet you will see a hose hanging on the wall. In Thailand it is not as common to use tissue paper but rather water. I have not adapted to this Thai style yet hence the t.p. on the back of the comode because tissue paper holders are also not a normal installment. If you look to the far right in the shower each shower has it’s own water heater. I believe this is also true in many parts of Europe and it makes so much more sense in my mind then one large one as we have back in the States. Fun times getting clean in the BKK.

[SHOUT OUT to the Mickelson’s back in Texas for the money for towels. We found IKEA to our best friend in this department. Also to the Beavers back in Texas also who provided for my hair dryer needs. The shorter hair let me wait on this purchase but it is nice to have. THANK YOU ALL!]

On a side note…

Level change!

From the bathroom to the master bedroom level change!

What you did not notice when you entered our apartment is the slight step up. Who can blame you though?! It is hard to see when I am the one forcing you to see a certain way. Well, as you step into either of our bathrooms you are transported back to the hallway level. THEN as you step into the shower you are transported to a level slightly below the hallway. This leveling is due in part to how Thai style cleaning goes…water-ful. A restroom and a bathroom are translated to “water room” in Thai which makes bathing and cleaning water-ful activities. Hence, the leveling so you don’t spill out into your apartment and flood the place. So, that water being splashed out of the tub by kiddos is not such a big deal Mom and Dad, geez. Be more Thai parentals!

As we exit the master bedroom and bath area (Watch your step!)  here is another view of our “airy” living space.

Can you tell who’s side is who’s in the desk space? The guest bath is straight onward and our Thai broom acts as a functional piece of art. As much as I make fun of how all our living spaces are in fact one living space I do love how the area is designed. I love the combination of wood and tile. I do not mind the monochromatic color scheme so much as I can be brighter in other ways. It’s a fun first space for Jay and I. The best part of all is that it is BANGKOK so I shouldn’t really complain.

Another view of the combo space. If you read my getting crafty blog post then this map looks familiar. It really has helped make this space more personal.

Now, as we turn right we will enter the guest room/Jay’s studio space. Jay being the laid back gentleman he is lets me give the space a thorough cleaning before guests arrive and rearrange the space. So, if you are a future guest viewing this picture the room will be a surprise when you come…a good surprise I promise.

The guest room/studio space.

So, it is not in a bad shape but it is setup for daily usage. It serves it’s studio function well as far as I understand. It gives Jay his creative space and us a guest space. Hotel de Carlin is open and taking reservations so feel free to make them.

For those who are curious, this is how we do our laundry.

Laundry day.

We are so green or made to be, wasteful Amurricans. On the main floor of our building is a laundry area with four washers and one dryer. I rather like this setup and find that in the Thailand heat (I move the drying rack to our patio once it’s all done up) all the clothes dry in about 2 hours or less. The ones already on hangers can go immediately into the closets and the ones on the rack are simply folded and put away. I do put our sheets and towels in the dryer though. I like the fluff the dryer provides the Amurrican that I am.

Well, now you are caught up on our living space here in the BKK. Feel free to creep and scroll back up and look again. They are here for your viewing pleasure and to give me more time to get all the wedding photos together along with “Thank you” cards : / I do not count my “SHOUT OUT” as a proper “Thank You” so don’t worry peeps. Proper thanks will be sent out accordingly. It is just a matter of time.

I am fighting the urge to sleep. About 3 different medicines are coursing through my veins telling my eyes to close, heart to drop to a slow rhythmic pace and my body to feel mmm, mmm good. I have an ear infection.

In memory, this is the first ear infection I have ever had (am I right Dad and Mom?). As an adult I know it is definitely the first, as the body crippling pain is hard to forget. “So, this is why babies scream at the top of their lungs!” is the message the resounding pain that forced my body to convulse and tears to stream delivers to my brain.

I am not one to want to voluntarily go to a doctor. My parents had to drag me and now my sweet Husband has to drag me. Today was different though. As soon as my amazing husband walked through the door after work I was begging to go the doctors. The gentleman that he is he obliged without a word of the horrible, no good, very bad day that he had (until I winkled it out of him later). My Jay takes good care of me.

There were no taxi’s when we got down to our soi so we started walking to the next major street. My ear throbbing and of little use I didn’t hear the Sung Tao approach but luckily we were on it right behind the frail looking old Thai man who had hailed it (notice I say “frail looking” because the old are tough here in Thailand).

Sixteen baht later Jay and I were crossing the busy street to the hospital where I was checked in without a problem, weighed and found wanting…of aid. This whole process was SO SIMPLE compared to the paper work you have to fill out in the States. They asked for my passport (done!), they wanted my address (done!) and they wanted my phone number (done!). Amurrica we have some problems. At any rate, the doctor called me in. He asked if I spoke Thai and I said, “nit-noy” meaning “a little.” He responded by telling me he spoke a little English and I told him “Well, then this will be fun.” Some pantomimes of body crippling pain and pointing to my ear allowed him to get the jist enough to grab his handy-dandy ear looker thingy and take a gander. I didn’t need to speak Thai to understand that this man saw the festering hollows of my ear canal and he went to work (in accent-less English) to prescribe antibiotics, eardrops, pain medicine for my ear, cough and the decongestant I had been found wanting. Oh, glory hallelujah! Jay and I cashed out ($40 TOTAL as in med.’s, doctor visit and nurse all in an ER setting…Amurrica we definitely have some problems) and headed home being passed by two cabs and finally catching the third.

Once home I created my medicine time sheet (my Mama’s taught me well) and began the journey to feel better land where the grass is greener, of course.

Ear drops (done!), cough no more drug (done! Coughing with an ear infection SUCKS!), nose clearing goodness (done!), pain reliever that is medically prescribe (Oh yeah, DONE!) and last but not least my antibiotic to kill off the ear infections gods (because ear infections are pagans, duh).

Please allow me introduce you to my antibiotic.

Antibiotic meet People. People meet Antibiotic. Mr. Pen is here to show the good People how big you really are Antibiotic. Please, don’t mind him.

That is a normal size writing utensil good People. This guy is HUGE! One whole gram of fighting ear infection power! BAM!

My husband hates taking pills but I on the other hand would rather a pill over a shot, liquid medicine or even chewable. Pills are my forte and I swallowed Mr. Antibiotic without a problem until I looked at his weight again.

One gram even for a pill lover seemed like a lot. I questioned him and did a quick google search of what was written on his outer wrapping. I did all this after swallowing him, of course. Well, for future notice to all a “dispersible tablet” means you are supposed to dissolve it in water and then engulf it. Oops, did I do that? No, I did not. I chugged two glasses of water, started burping some bubbles, heard a grumbling in my tumbly but was/am fine.

So, a bit was lost in translation but overall I made it through my first go round with the Thai doctors and feel like the Carlin’s in Bangkok are a bit more self-sufficient for it. YAY us! YAY med.’s! YAY bed that is calling my name! I can’t fight this feeling any longer (good ol’ 80’s jams). Take this blog peeps and use it for the next time a baby cries with an ear infection to understand that you should cry with them because it is a miserable state to be in. Poor babies with ear infections they deserve our empathy.