In a bakery in Little Tokyo...

Mmmm..wiener pan...




In real life, I personally think this dog is really ugly, but it is cute in tart form. :)



woof woof!

My godson!

Introducing Ichiro, a Shiba Inu pup.

I'm a godmother and auntie to a new baby!

Friday work and play!

In preps for my best friend Mo's baby shower, I consulted my talented florist friend Euri for her expert advice regarding centerpieces. She was so sweet to let me tag along with her and Kendra to the Downtown Flower Mart. This was at 6am, and I really suffered to drag my ass out of bed. It was a fun trip though, and I saw Euri and Kendra negotiate their way through their transactions with their vendor. I even managed to get some awesome deals just for being Korean. Haha. After some recommendations by Euri, I decided to do Peony centerpieces in Mason jars.



We went to lunch at Marston's in Pasadena where we met up with our dear friend Theresa. Then we headed back to the Fleuretica headquarters to get some work done. We measured, snipped, tied, and tossed! Kendra came up with a creative way to tie knots with leather string on the Mason jars. The six centerpieces came out beautifully! Thank you to Euri, Kendra, and Theresa for helping me! <3

All this work deserved some play right? I mean, it was Friday after all.

Well, we heard it was someone's birthday at the Wilshire Grand. Don't ask me who. But I think Euri knows someone who knows someone whose birthday it was.

Anyway, we went (crashed) and sometime during the night we all decided to act like fobs. Tokyo Iced Teas are hazardous to your health. Don't mess around with them kiddies.

Daily Tarot: "Opportunities"

This card indicates that faith in yourself and your own abilities are lacking at present and this is bringing about your fear and/or lack of hope. This card brings news that opportunities are close at hand, a bright light which will lead you to a higher path and helps lead you out of this feeling. It is important to remember that these opportunities are not guaranteed to arrive and you must stay committed to your desires and the opportunities will arise. Not all opportunities may appear to be immediately beneficial, however all the opportunities you are about to receive are sent to guide your course through this life.

Eco-paints

There are many paint brands that are virtually free of nasty, fume-producing volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Conventional paints release low-level toxic and headache-inducing emissions for years after application.


Devine Color
~start at about $30/gallon

Devine is a small line of richly colored paints, with a thick texture like yogurt (so that fewer coats are needed).
This paint is so easy to work with, and it really does go on like rich yogurt! The coverage is fantastic, and the paint wipes easily off brushes. It has a beautiful, subtle sheen and the color changes with the light of the day. I used it in my San Diego house, and I've convinced my mom to use it in her house in LA too. My parents love the color! This is my favorite eco-friendly paint so far.



Tried and true colors: Devine Delicate Wall Finish in Olive




Benjamin Moore Eco-Spec
~ $34/gallon
An awesome all-around paint. The sweetish-smelling semigloss and eggshell finishes provide a highly durable, washable surface, ideal for the bathroom or a kid's room. The only drawback: no dark, saturated tints (which have a higher VOC content).


Yolo Colorhouse
~$35/gallon
Has an excellent consistency, pleasant finger-paint-like odor and zero VOCs. If you're looking for a nice selection of off-white colors, look no further! The Air series has lovely pastel shades of white that you apply on top of hospital-y white walls to warm up but still brighten any room.

Yolo only comes in only 40 colors, but all of them are earthy and gorgeous, and the company offers poster size color swatches ($4.99 each).

Tried and true colors: YOLO Colorhouse® Inside Palette in Air.02

My favorite Taiwanese dish?

Pork chop rice of course.



Liang's Kitchen in San Gabriel

What's hiding in your make-up bag?

I finally tossed out a bunch of old make-up that's just been sitting around in my bathroom and vanity. God knows how old it really is or what's growing in there. I really don't want to know.

I've watched segments on this topic on the Tyra Show and the Dan Ho Show. Girls have weird attachments to their make-up. Many consider a precious collection of some sort. I am guilty of this too. I always thought "I might need this color one day" instead of "How old is this? This might give me pink eye or acne". Anyway, I decided to part ways with much of my old make-up and make it a point to buy new cosmetics only when I run out of something. So far so good.

The Tyra Show had a good suggestion on keeping track of when to toss out make-up. Put little stickers with expiration dates on the bottom of cosmetics using the following guidelines.

When it's time to toss them...

Blush: 2-3 years
Liquid Eyeliner: 3 months
Eyeliner Pencil: Can be kept until you've whittled it down to the stub, as long as you sharpen regularly.
Lipstick: 1-2 years
Foundation: 6 months - 1 year
Mascara: 4 months
Make-up sponges: Wash weekly. Toss after 2-4 weeks
Make-up brushes: Clean every 2 weeks with gentle shampoo and water.
Moisturizer: 1 year
Self-tanner: 2 years
Sunscreen: 1 year
Tweezers & Eyelash curlers: Swab with alcohol after each use.

New luxuries.

Fresh sheets
A clean desk
An entire day where I have nothing to do.
Beautiful luggage to globe trot with
Weeds that look like flowers.
Beauty products that actually work
An old-school Leica film camera
Not being in a rush
Things made by hand
A vintage Rolex
Having fewer items instead of tons of junk.
People and places that haven't been discovered yet.
Swimming in the ocean (but not anywhere along our coastline!)
Having cupboards filled with pretty china and glass.
Humor - not taking stuff too seriously
A cleaned-out closet.
Good coffee
A Lee Industries sofa.
Being more instead of having more
Caring less about what others think and more just what makes us happy.

Pre-Mother's Day Luncheon @ Huntington Gardens

Mother dearest and I spent a lovely day at the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena. We had high tea at the Rose Garden Tea Room and walked around the beautiful grounds.

There was something terribly wrong with the camera I was using. There is tons of noise in the photos. I lost the charger to my trusty Fuji Finepix so I had to bring along an older camera.

Of course we had to stop and smell the roses.

Confession

For now, I found a balance, one that works for me, and I work hard every day to keep it that way. To keep things simple. I write about life, about relationships, about love, about creating and creating some more, about the good in my world. A world that is all about family, friends, and faith, one where I can create and by myself. What more could a girl need?

Hearts.

Once you learn how to draw a heart, you just want to keep doing it. There's something calming and satisfying about drawing them. Maybe it has to do with symmetry, and the curves.

Unique Los Angeles

I'm very suspicious about compliments. I don't like it when people sugarcoat things for me. You know, I'm honestly the best judge of my own work. It really rings insincere to me when people are too complimentary. There's a lot of empty flattery in this society. You have to keep a really level head about when you're good and when you're not.

Inner Vision

Western Civilization has this mantra of “I’ll believe it when I see it.” So we need empirical proof before we believe anything. Unfortunately it really really holds us back. The old ancient civilizations, not just in the East, but around the globe. They believed to see. And it’s amazing if you ever do research on the indigenous peoples of the world, it’s how much more powerful they were from a standpoint of controlling their energy and controlling how their world went. Because they focused their energy on what they wanted and knew it was going to happen. That’s the law of attraction. They knew it. Thousands and thousands of years ago. It’s kind of interesting that modern science is proving what these people knew. So, what that tells us is two things: if you believe to see, you’re going to have a much better chance of seeing what you want.

Remember that huge Tsunami a few years ago in Indonesia? Thousands of people got killed. The interesting thing about that is that the only people who died were the modern people. All the indigenous tribes and wild animals got to higher ground. None of the natives were killed. Why? They knew it was coming before it hit. How? They are so attuned to that sixth sense that they are one with the world, the earth, the universe. That’s what inner vision is about.

It’s uncanny how these tribesmen got up to higher ground. They didn’t lose one person. They have a sixth sense that we don’t have. They can feel the depth of the water by the way their paddle sounds on the ocean even the water is hundreds of thousands feet one. They just have an intuitive notion. The truth of the matter is we have that same sense, but we’ve lost it because we don’t use it. Why don’t we listen? Because they think we should do this. They think we should do that. Or I’m supposed to because someone wants me to. So there’s lots of ways we can get battered around. But when you start making choices by practicing your sixth sense, listening from within, you can’t go wrong.

Have you ever said, “I knew I shouldn’t have done that! I knew I shouldn’t have said that!” What happened? Inner vision spoke to you and you didn’t listen.

Special Events Show

Kelley, Theresa, and Euri came to San Diego for the Special Event Show! And I showed them some good eats, including one of my faves, Extraordinary Desserts in Downtown SD, breakfast at The Mission in North Park, and cooking authentic Asian hotpot at my house.

Gotta love girl time!

WHOOOOOOOOAARRREEEYOUUUU????

Hookah anyone?

Snakes like me.

I am one of the very few of my friends who happens to like snakes. As long as they're not poisonous (or have been de-poisoned), I find them quite endearing. Here I am with my friend's
roommate's Ball Python named "Aloo", which I found actually means "vegetable" in Hindi. I don't know if my friend knows that. Anyway, Aloo is a stumpy little fellow because he's only a baby but he will grow quite insanely large and become unmaneageable one day, and that's when my friend will probably donate him to a zoo.

Notice how in the right picture, there is a book called "Parrot Problem Solver" behind my head. That is because my friend just got a baby green-winged Macaw named Beegee. Although in a way, the snake could be a "parrot problem solver".

Yeah yeah that's f*cked up.

If I had a snake I would name him "Hungry"