Hanami

Spring is finally here!

Around this time of year, I always notice how much the sun affects me. I don't really understand Daylight Savings Time (why do we think we can literally change time when the rest of the world carries on like normal?) but when we have to "spring forward", I will absolutely take every hour of daylight I can get! This last weekend was warm in LA and all I wanted to do was be outside. After Jackie and I got some practical things out of the way, we finally revamped the garden with baby kale, thai basil, and beets. Nothing beats fresh veggies but in addition to that, I really do love spending time digging in the dirt - is that weird?

During her visit last weekend, Erin and I talked a lot about ignoring what we think we're "supposed" to do. Sometimes when the weather is so nice and I have a weekend totally free, I stress out because I want to make the best use of my time.  I want to see everyone, spend time by myself, go to the far corners of LA, try new restaurants, go to every flea market, do a yoga class, hike, make smoothies...(the list goes on!) and then I get so bogged down with choices, that I ended up disappointed when I couldn't do it all. This weekend, I tried to leave that mentality behind, and go with whatever my heart desired at the moment, which resulted in tan lines from reading the first Girl With the Dragon Tattoo book outside and going for a long run as the sun set over Santa Monica. Bliss!

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Sidenote: It's Hanami season and I want to teleport myself to Japan to walk through the beautiful  sakura and ume (cherry & plum blossoms) in person! For now, I will resort to Flickr.

Photo Credit: AdrianG

Quote from E.M. Forster

Illustration by the ever so talented Lisa Congdon as part of her inspirational 365 days of Hand Lettering Project.

Starting a Garden

Here I go adding to my list of old-people leisure activities....

Before beginning our veggie garden, we went to the farmer's market to talk to a seasoned farmer about the best ways to begin. As we suspected, he told us that we need to prep our soil before even thinking about what we want to grow. He suggested getting a few bags of EB Stone Planting Compost (no chemicals, no sir!) and mixing it into the soil so that's exactly what we did. Thankfully, the people who had this raised bed before us cleared everything out...just leaving behind a few grape tomatoes.


We got on our hands and knees and cleared out as many roots and leaves that we could!
We were told to water the soil and give it a few days to let all the nutrients seep in...hopefully this will set a good home for our veggies. Now we wait...I can already tell that this whole process will be a long lesson in patience!

In a few days, we'll probably head back to the market to get some veggie starters. Instead of starting with seeds, this will give us a few months head start. Maybe one day we'll start from seeds, but I don't mind a little cheating here and there to keep my confidence levels high.

I got a little crazy in Photoshop and I doubt that this will all fit, but here's what we'd like to do:


If anyone has any tips, I'd love to hear them! More later!

Look Around

Since our little nest will never be "done", I decided to suck it up and take some photos of a few little things that make me smile around the home: smart bike storage, extended golden hours in the kitchen (and a plant that I successfully started from a sprig of another indoor plant, wahoo!), cat toys found in my shoes, our record player, a patriotic memento, and two metal birds that we picked up in the parking lot of our old apartment in Malibu and have carted around ever since!

Five Things I'm Grateful For

It's been a while since I've done a post like this...here we go....in no particular order:

1. Friends for Life - You know those people in your life who you've known for ages and no matter how much time has passed, you can pick up from where you left off? Tatsuro's one of those friends and was in town for a quick trip last weekend. It was so fun to chow down on Thai food at Jitlada with him!

2. Podcasts - I tweaked a muscle in my back this week so I've been trying Epsom salt baths. Since it's really difficult for me to just sit still, I distracted myself with a few episodes of Strangers. These two episodes made me laugh: The Waxing Virgin & The American Mormon-International Mr. Leather

3. Electricity - I can't ignore Hurricane Sandy and the massive destruction that swept over the East Coast this week. It's heartwarming to hear stories of communities and neighbors helping each other out and it makes me thank my lucky stars for electricity (!) and a refrigerator that keeps my groceries from spoiling.

4. Red Cups, the paper kind - I walked into work this morning and my co-worker was sipping from a red Starbucks holiday cup...tis the season! I'm already scouting out new Thanksgiving recipes.

5. Athlete's Shepard's Pie (with buffalo) - a delicious "Paleo" twist on one of my favorite comfort foods. Instead of potatoes, use sweet potatoes...and use coconut oil instead of butter! Check out the recipe here!

What are you grateful for today?

(Related posts: Happy // 5 Things That Make Me Smile // 5 Things I'm Grateful For)

Photo Credit: 500px via Pinterest

Simple Truths About Summer

"The cure for anything is salt water. Sweat, tears, or the sea." 

- Isak Dinesen

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Isak Dinesen must have lived by the sea because she sure knew what she was talking about. 

Another beautiful summer has come and gone. I'm thankful for all the days spent on the hot sand and in the waves. We only live a few blocks from the beach so almost every weekend, we'd walk west for a few minutes, down through the bluffs and end up in paradise! Coconut waters, veggies and hummas, an entertaining podcast, soduku and soft waves. That's what I've been doing instead of blogging! Oh, and plenty of sweating too. Now that it's almost October, I'm close to reaching my 1 year anniversary of actively and intentionally exercising and eating relatively clean! As for tears? There hasn't been too much of that - maybe a few during this summer's SYTYCD (ah hem, this gooorgeous routine).

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Side-note: Investing in art is my new favorite indulgence. Luckily, there are so many websites dedicated to bringing inspirational pieces to homes without breaking the bank. Jen Bekman's 20x200 is a great place to start but I found this calming print on Society 6 and I'm so tempted to make it mine. It is pay day after all! 

25

25 things that surprised me about being 25.

1. I like arugula.
2. I swallow three large vitamins in the morning.
3. I don't like sleeping in on the weekends.
4. I eat mushrooms.
5. I don't mind spending money on things like cat litter.
6. Half of my closet consists of luon and spandex.
7. I actually wear out running shoes.
8. I don't eat rice or noodles often.
9. I prefer music over TV. Sometimes.
10. I'm not too sentimental.
11. I'm very particular about lotions.
12. I love a clean car.
13. I use special shampoo and conditioner imported from Japan.
14. The words "Mid-Century Modern" are my weakness.
15. I will always try to DIY even if it's not the best idea.
16. I'm very particular about smoothies.
17. I actually like the idea of spending time in the garden.
18. Bikram Yoga? Sure!
19. I always wear my helmet even though it's nerdy. 
20. I have purchased 5 pounds of protein powder in the last month.
21. I choose gold jewelry over silver.
22. I eat breakfast every day.
23. I floss every night.
24. I like wearing my glasses when I get home.
25. I can have coffee without sugar.

Is this what becoming an adult is all about?

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image credit: kelsey hannah

New Goal: Pincha Mayurasana

Time: Last Sunday, 10:30am
Place: Power Yoga, East Studio

Instead of focusing on my breathing and being "in my own space", my gaze was set on watching the girl behind me pop up to forearm stand from dolphin pose. She did it so easily! So much control and openness in her shoulders. Thus, the new goal: get to Pincha Mayurasana by the the end of 2012. Want to try? TGF-Youtube tutorials!

...I should probably add "stop looking at other people in yoga classes" to that goal list as well...:)

Photo Credit: kasuma.yoga on flickr

Every Morning.

1 Sambazon Açai smoothie pack
1 cup of cold almond milk
3 sliced strawberries
1/2 banana
Your favorite crunchy granola

Breakfast of champions! This is what gets me out of bed in the morning. This and coffee.

The Art of Making

If you have three and a half minutes to spare, watch this beautiful short on how a guitar is made...you will be inspired, I promise!

Happy.

5 Things That I'm Grateful For, in no particular order:

1. Moby - the extra furry one who wakes me up in the morning with purrs and kisses. I don't even need an alarm clock, he is that consistent.

2. Netflix & RedBox - as a girl on a budget, I appreciate having a library of movies available at my fingertips at home instead of going out to the theaters.

3. Arizona Ave - Running outside would be much less appealing without Arizona Ave, my straight shot (and flat!) route to the beach.

4. Quiet Neighbors - it hasn't always been this way, but our apartment building is finally quiet and peaceful. It no longer feels like I'm living in a post-college dorm! Wahoo!

5. Family nearby - my sister lives only a few minutes away and I appreciate having a  home away from home. Sometimes you just want to wear your PJ's somewhere else, right?

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This list is brought to you by a documentary called Happy. Last weekend, Jackie, Nats and I couldn't decide on a Sunday night movie (too many options! See #2) and decided to watch this documentary that explores what causes human happiness. One of the things that I learned is that 50% of what causes our happiness is in our DNA (our general disposition), and our surrounding circumstances only account for 10%! The remaining 40% is up to you; essentially, we have the power to determine our own happiness.

I don't know about you, but I'm often always thinking about whatever's next for me. What's my next apartment going to be like? Is my job turning into my career? Do I want it to? What city will I explore next? My favorite part of Happy was when the producers visited Okinawa, Japan and they interviewed a woman who farmed all her life. She had a huge smile on her face and found her happiness in being outside, growing her own food and feeding her community on her chemical-free produce. She seemed to have no worries about a 401K, debt, or "needing" _______ (you fill in the blank). Another woman was 106 years old and she looked fantastic! Her secret? Lots of sleep and a cup of sake every night! If I remember correctly, she lived on Okinawa her entire life and she was content because she had found a community and support system in her neighborhood, family and friends. Society today tells us that we have to make "this much" money to be happy. We have to have "this many" friends. We have to accomplish "this cool thing" to feel fulfilled. But that's not necessarily true...sometimes I feel like we have it all wrong.

There are so many more take-aways from this documentary, but for the purpose of this post I will focus on one. Do this Daily: List out 5 things that you are grateful for, or 5 things that make you happy, and it can have a profound effect on your overall happiness. Seems easy enough!

(If you made it this far...WOW...congrats!)

So...what makes you happy today?

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Photo credit: "Daydreamer" by Tvir on Flickr

Invite a little bit of chaos in...

An interview between 2 very creative & musical ladies.

"Ugliness is confrontational in a way that's really kind of satisfying. Once you get past it...at first you may say 'eugh this is sour I don't like the taste of this ... oh SH** I want more!' there's something about it. I'm not sure. Invite a little bit of that chaos in...it's powerful!" - Annie Clark (on the right, the one who isn't an Erin Cooley doppelganger)

You Did It!

High five!

You made it through Monday...it's all downhill from here!

Hot Lava Monster!

Neko on an island.

New Music Video From Josh Ritter

Wow. Stop-motion with construction paper. What next?! Whenever I see this kind of thing, I am just in awe and wonder of how these artists (apparently a team of 20) didn't tear their hair out throughout this whole process. I can't imagine the level of patience it would take to pull off these intricate cut-outs.

Apparently it took 12,000 pieces of construction paper and there were no extra effects applied in post. Insane.

Whaddaday

++ via pinterest ++

Thank you, Mr. President, for a day off.

Instead of being stuck in the office my day was:

• 3 parts fun with Nats - discovering a new lunch spot in my neighborhood (who knew?!)** // window shopping & coming home with a dress very similar to the one above // Smoothies

• 3 parts productivity - clean laundry (!!) //  depositing checks // power fusion class at the gym

• 3 parts failure - losing the parking ticket at the mall // locking myself out of the apartment // feeling just over-all kind of gross

• 2 parts HALLELUJAH - the parking attendant let us go without paying the $21 fee!!! // the window-locking mechanism on our front windows work!

Lessons learned? If you get impatient in a busy undercover mall parking lot and shake fists at fellow drivers, karma may just kick you in the butt and make your parking ticket disappear. If you acknowledge that you were wrong and apologize to the universe, a nice parking man might just say "adios" and let you leave without paying a fine. Whoo! Oh, and don't lock yourself out of your own apartment. 

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**Attention Santa Monica residents: Interim Cafe is a little hidden gem! With no sign on the outside, you must have a little faith when finding parking around 6th and Wilshire. Do not give up! The chicken quesadilla will not disappoint. I was also eye-ing their acai granola bowls and extensive smoothie menu...next time. Dad, as a warning, you will think this place is "earthy".

I'm still kind of floored that Nats was able to introduce me to a new restaurant in the area! I thought I had my 'hood figured out by now.  

D E E R L O V E

Jeana recently shared these photos and I thought they were just so fitting on Valentines day. This love is so classic, isn't it?

++ Audrey Hepburn and her deer - from Jeana Sohn ++

Personal Milestone.

I'd hate to post about work in my personal blog space, but I'm actually really proud of this. I just finished up my third NAMM show (which is why I ignored this here blog!) and it was our best year yet. We were able to showcase our new ad campaign and I proudly passed out our new catalogs.

This catalog is my baby. It was a labor of love from day one...from mapping out the pagination, to putting together the lifestyle and product photoshoots, to proof-reading and writing copy, to color correction and finally visiting the print shops to proof check. I certainly can't take all the credit, but it was a mighty rewarding experience to manage the entire project and see it from start to finish.

Pass it around, send to your friends and buy some guitars, will ya? Bragging time is over! Back to pretty creature comforts of the blogosphere...

New Beginnings

I finally had the chance to go through some of my photos from the holidays this weekend and I came across these gems. Don't I have the most photogenic family?

Also this weekend, I'm starting fresh with a new look for the blog and some fixed features (the comment link is back)! So now you can all tell me how wonderful these photos are.

TX.

I can't say that Texas has ever been one of my top destinations, but after watching the most recent episode of Top Chef and seeing this blog post by From Me To You, I may just have to head in that direction one day.

TC highlighted The Salt Lick in Driftwood, TX - apparently one of the best places in the world for BBQ. An hour episode of watching people happily devour plates of slow-cooked and grilled short-ribs and brisket? That's more than enough to convince this girl to head on down south. In fact, I'm getting a little hungry just thinking of it right now.


Don't these images of Cibolo Creek Ranch in Marfa, TX seem like a nice, warm and quiet getaway? As an added bonus, there is limited internet and cell phone access. Now that's a real vacation. How far is Marfa from Driftwood? 7 hours drive? Hmm.

To browse more images, visit From Me to You.