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

The Taj Mahal

My lucky little brother posted this photo on Facebook this morning and it made my heart hurt just a little bit. He's living the college dream, backpacking through Europe last year and now he's in India. Ahh wanderlust and jealousy, be gone!

I've seen many photos of the Taj Mahal, but for some reason the grey, cloudy fog in this backdrop really makes the little details pop. Not to mention that little child in the pink shirt (far left) - I love all the vibrant clothing sprinkled throughout! Nice work, bro (err Instagram).

I guess I will be turning up the Bollywood music today, pretending to be somewhere else...

Smoothie Crimes

 

I can't believe I even have to write these simple rules down, but apparently all of the smoothie-makers of Santa Monica need a reminder that:

1. Smoothies should ALWAYS be cold. (Crime committed by Rainbow Acres and Whole Foods)
2. Smoothies should be thick, but you shouldn't have to scoop it into your mouth with a spoon (Crime committed by Rainbow Acres)
3. No one wants to drink 4 bananas in one sitting! (Crime committed by the Co-Op on Broadway)
4. Kale is not the same thing as spinach (Crime committed by Whole Foods)

Sigh...sometimes it's just easier to make it yourself.

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Kale Spinach and Pear Smoothie by Joy the Baker

Spotify Me.

First: an unrelated photo of one of my favorite Thai treats -- I was there last year! Sad. Had to get that out of the way...

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Music ADD (self diagnosed, of course) keeps me on my toes, always looking for new stuff to listen to. That's when I discovered a new Spotify app called Moodagent. It is similar to iTunes' Genius feature but it extends your playlist options to new music instead of limiting it to your own personal music library. All you have to do pick a track that you're into at the moment and it'll generate a playlist for you! It'll factor in "moods" like sensual, tender, happy, angry and even tempo. I haven't played around with it too much, but I'm going to venture to say that it is smarter than Pandora radio (which always gives me Jack Johnson songs no matter what I type in - NO THANKS!)

Here's a good mix based off of a Cold War Kids song, Hospital Beds:

1. Hospital Beds - Cold War Kids
2. SWM - Tapes n' Tapes
3. Details of the War - Clap your Hands and Say Yeah
4. Red Elephant - Born Ruffians
5. The Drawing Board - The Features
6. Suspended in Gaffa - Ra Ra Riot
7. Icky Thump - The White Stripes
8. 1 4 U & U 4 Me - The Decemberists
9. Rocking Horse - The Dead Weather
10. Fighting in a Sack - The Shins
11. Driver, Surprise Me - The National
12. So He Won't Break - The Black Keys
13. Red Paint - Matt & Kim
14. People C'mon - Delta Spirit
15. Joy - Islands
16. Trying Your Luck - The Strokes
17. The Immortals - Kings of Leon
18. I Only Wear Blue - Dr. Dog
19. Drops in the River - Fleet Foxes
20. Flash's Theme - Louis XIV
21. Camera Talk - Local Natives
22. Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl - Broken Social Scene
23. Eyes - Peter Bjorn and John

Getting back into it.

I have been in such a creative rut. The projects at work have become creatively demanding lately (not complaining!) but I find that at the end of the day, I haven't had much energy left for anything except maybe a few hours of TV or some time with a book. The fact that I've totally gotten sucked into the Hunger Games series probably doesn't help either. Oh, and that pesky cold that won't go away.

All sewing endeavors have been on a huuuuuge hold. I don't think I've made something since December - yikes - and I have to admit, I've had the same skirt 3/4 of the way done on my mannequin for much too long. When it comes down to it, I'm a little intimidated to get back into sewing clothes again. I have huge expectations for myself. I want everything to be perfect but I don't have the patience to figure it out on my own. Whine whine complain complain. I just need to get back into it. SO when I saw Wiksten posted some downloadable patterns, I was inspired to give one a go.


I downloaded her tank top pattern and read through the instructions. Everything seems easy peasy. No zippers or button holes. The perfect little tank that'll hopefully ease me back into the sewing world. As an added bonus, it has the same shape as a top that I talked myself out of purchasing yesterday. I'm over the exposed zipper anyway - and $50? Yeah right Urban.

Wish me luck!

Speaking of Destinations

Right after posting that last entry about Texas, I saw this:

by Klara Harden

-Shot on Canon 550D with

-Tamron 10-24mm f3.5-4.5

-Nikorr 35mm f2

Maybe Texas can wait after all...I have my eyes set on Iceland.

Happy November!

It's finally starting to feel like fall in my neck of the woods. Pumpkin-flavored everything, lots of hot caramel, spiced soups and ciders. Stores are stocked with cable-knit sweaters and warm fall colors...so cozy.

I'm loving the new gourd-tastic Anthropologie window displays. Whoever thought of hanging gourds from hand-dyed and wrapped/bound ropes is genius. Could you imagine having the time to just think about how to creatively display gourds? Talk about dream job!

Lessons Learned.

Last Monday I was hit by a car on my bike.

I'll spare you the details of how it all went down, but most importantly (and surprisingly), I'm okay. No broken bones, concussions or major injuries. As you can tell, my poor bike took most of impact and thank goodness I was wearing a helmet!

Since this doesn't happen everyday, I have a few take-aways that I thought compelled to share (other than wear your helmet people!) --

- There's nothing like bouncing off a car to remind you how crucial it is to never get too comfortable in your morning routine. When I first starting riding my bike around town, I was super paranoid. All of my senses were on high alert and I made sure to abide by all traffic rules. As I got more comfortable, I gained confidence and riding my bike soon became easier than driving. No matter how many times you may take the same commute, all it takes is one instant for something to go wrong.

- Adrenaline is real and it's confusing. I distinctly remember thinking to myself "Oooooooh wow, I just got hit by a car" as I was flying through the air. After I landed and the cars were stopped, I had a split second to look around and assess what had happened. I saw my poor bike, 2 parking lot attendants looking at me and a nice old lady coming up to give me a hug. I immediately stood up and was shocked to realize that I felt fine. I felt like an idiot when I exclaimed "I didn't even rip my jeans!" Your body has an amazing way of numbing the areas where it needs the most attention and it was fun interesting to discover those areas as the day went on. Pay attention to your body and even though you may feel like an invincible super hero, you're not!

- If you're gonna get hit by a car, get hit by a masseuse. I could not have got hit by a nicer dude. Immediately after the accident, he was sensitive to my traumatic experience. He could have yelled at me or blamed me for damaging his car. He could have driven off. Instead, he told me who he was and explained that even though I felt okay at the time, I should probably call him to get any potential injuries or misalignment assessed. That evening, he spent 2 hours making sure that the muscles in my neck were feeling loose, he iced my bruises and followed up on how I was feeling the next day.

All in all, I'm thankful that I don't have thousands of dollars and months of physical therapy ahead of me! Bike is in repairs and I'll be back on the roads in no time. Ride your bike and stay safe!

A Little Nostalgia Never Hurt Anyone

The independent coffee shop across the street from my office prides itself in its fancy European espressos. Since it's the kind of coffee shop that doesn't offer drip coffee (!) and charges $5 a drink, the snooty atmosphere normally trumps convenience. It wasn't until last week that I discovered their awesome baguette sandwiches, reminiscent of a typical German lunch when I was studying there years ago. Prosciutto, red pepper, a little lettuce...NOM (also, no wonder I got a little pudgy that year). Normally I pile any and every ingredient in my sandwiches, but the simplicity of these ones really allow you to taste the yumminess of the baguette.

Cue nostalgia. Cue wanderlust. Didn't I just go on vacation? After studying abroad in Europe for a year, I thought that I may be "done" with that corner of the world for a while, especially since there's so much more of the globe to explore. Yet something about that baguette changed my mind...I can't stop thinking about those cobblestone streets. Jordan Ferney's recent post on the Parisian Vélib bike-rental system didn't help either. 

Since that first baguette sandwich last week, I've had it again two more times (sidenote: there are so many European-style cafes along the Santa Monica promenade. Who knew?)

Get me to Europe! I'd do so well here...

Image credits: Baguette via Pinterest // Vélib via Jordan Ferney | Oh Happy Day // Photo taken by me in Amsterdam

September Sunsets & Sweat

If we ever move away from Santa Monica, I'm gonna miss breaking a sweat to this kind of sunset.

Age

I turned 24 last week and I have to say 24 feels just right. I'm far enough from 21 to make me feel like a real, functioning adult and yet I'm still on the younger half of my twenties. I'm old enough to feel the pressure of big life decisions and I still have time to fix any mistakes I happen to make along the way. 

I used to journal a lot throughout middle school and high school and dream about the person I would be right about now. I fantasized about having my own apartment, a job and doing  everything "my way". Now that I've reached the golden "24", is it weird to say that it's just as good as I thought it would be?! 23 will go down in history has a huge year for me. It wasn't the easiest, but here I am going into 24. Content, happy and excited for the year ahead. 

Starting off my year on the right foot, I spent last weekend with my BFF. Erin flew down from Seattle to celebrate my bday and to get in one last trip before she signs her social life away to med school. We spent the entire weekend doing whatever we wanted. We played card games, slept in, got sparkle nails, went hiking, biked down to the farmer's market, slurped down oysters and baked a cake. Pure bliss! Ahhhhh 24!! I'm a fan. 

Paris.

(a little tune to set the mood)

You playing that song? Okay good. My too-cool-for-school little brother has spent the last few days wandering the streets of Paris. He's been blogging about his baguette-filled new lifestyle and was kind enough to post this photo of his hostel room's view for us all to gawk and stare:

Thanks for the reminder that I'm not in Paris right now, Jord!

Instead of being bitter about it, I made matters worse and saw the new Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris. Talk about eye-candy. And I'm not talking about Owen Wilson (who, I'll admit is charming in a silly and aloof kind of way). The movie opens with a long montage of famous Parisian sights, but I'm a sucker for costume design and couldn't help but drool over the beautiful dresses that appeared throughout the movie. I couldn't help but think about how fun it would be to be paid to dress up and pretend to live in the height of the jazzy 1920's.

Ahhh...the life of Marion Cotillard.

Growing Old.

(She swears she's not a cat lady, but I beg to differ.)

We can't believe our little sister (I'm including J and B into this post) moved out this weekend. She's on her own! I feel like Anna Paquin in Fly Away Home when she lets her little clan of geese fly away and start their own adventures. 

We already miss our "fountain of youth"...thank goodness she's only 2 miles away and can still come over for pizza nights. 

Seattle on the Mind

Posting a little something so that you know that I really didn't die. Absence of posts are due to a mix of a lot going on and laziness...I'll be back into the swing of things sooner than later.

Being back in Seattle for a split second inspired me to ride my bike again. With the exception of today, I have ridden my bike to work for the last two weeks (even in the rain - boom shakalaka!)  My Seattle weekend has also gotten me listening to KEXP again, hence this video from an in-studio session with Seattle-band, Lemolo. I've been doing some research on video styles for an on-going project at work, and I really dig this look/feel. If you see any other good music video-esque acoustic sessions on the internets, send them my way!

On another note, happy friday! My sister officially graduates this weekend and she's celebrating by jumping out of a plane with my dad on Sunday. This weekend is going to be fun!

Left My Heart in Bali

Cheesy title, I know - but this time, it's true. It's been over a week since we got back and every morning I still wake up thinking about our time at our last stop, Bali. Bali was the one place that Jackie hadn't already been and it was fun for us to discover it together. With a whole new language and exchange rate to get used to (it was 8,800 Rupiah to $1 -- we were RICH!), Indonesia was such an adventure.

When I think of first impressions, my mind immediately goes to the smell of the first taxi that we took from the airport to Ubud. I still don't know what I was smelling - I think it may have been the flowers in the canang sari (offerings made of small baskets with fresh flowers and rice) that the taxi driver had on his dash.

Before we  left, we had planned out a mini-itinerary for our stay in Bali. We read about Ubud, the artisan center of the island and knew that we had to spend at least a few days there. Pemuteran was our second stop. It's a secluded spot that is not quite on your typical tourist map...the north western coast of Bali with access to Menjangan Island, which is known for its popularity with divers and snorkelers. 

The whole thing was everything I expected and more. The weather couldn't have been better, the people nicer, or the culture rich. Looking back on the whole trip, what I appreciated most from our stay in Bali was the exposure to an entire new culture...in Bali, people still give offerings three times a day to the Gods out of gratitude and not fear. Men and women wear the traditional saris and they can fit a family of four on a motorbike with out worrying about dropping the 10 month old baby. The people just seemed more gentle...

I could go on forever about our time wandering through the rice paddies, eating like royalty, private snorkel trips in warm beautiful oceanic waters (private resort stay, actually!), monkey spotting, Balinese massages and facials and looting up in the Ubud market (I walked away with Cost Plus World Market in my arms)...but I won't. All I can say is that I highly recommend a trip to Bali. Just get up and go already!!

This world is far too interesting not to explore. Already planning our next overseas adventure...

Fancy Schmancy Singapore

I will admit, I didn't want to leave Bangkok. Our arrival to Singapore represented our trip's halfway mark and I wasn't happy about it! A few weeks before we left, I had been emailing with Cordoba's Singaporean distributor -- he offered to pick us up from the airport and show us around town. Terry was a true Singaporean. He was bursting with hospitality and pride for his city.

Especially when compared to Bangkok, Singapore was SO clean. As clean as you would expect it to be. The roads were heavily regulated, the tolls and parking lots were all electronic and all the architecture seemed new. There were no homeless people and I felt like I had found preppy Asian paradise! In my opinion, all this was much less "interesting"...we weren't going to run into any kathoey's here, that was for sure! We stayed at the Rendezvous Hotel - it was the cheapest one that we could find in the middle of town. Because of the good rate, we weren't expecting much, but we were blown away with all of the accommodations. This was much different than our European backpacking days. Two words: Toto and Waterfall. I was stoked to find the Toto Washlet in our room - ever since someone showed me the website (it has changed since I last saw it...darn!), I have been nervous/excited to try one. Not to go on a major tangent but this toilet has a heated seat, a butt spray and a blow dryer!!!! Bah!! Secondly, there was a waterfall shower. Ahh yes.  Mmhmm.

Throughout the entire trip, this was the only place where we had access to a TV...good timing too. A couple days before getting to Singapore, the major Japan earthquake/tsunami happened. We kept a close eye on the news and couldn't believe the footage that we were seeing. Luckily there was no threat to Indonesia and Singapore...but we wanted to be sure.

Highlights from the trip (other than our awesome hotel) included catching up with Jackie's friend Chris *he took us to a place that had fresh handmade noodles...had I died and gone to heaven?*, Indian food on a banana leaf with Terry, the botanical gardens, wandering around the harbor looking for dessert, trying the chicken & rice dish, and last but not least, finding the "best laksa in town". For those of you who haven't tried laksa, it's awesome. It's a spicy local curry noodle dish that is traditionally served up with cockles. YUM. Yum yum yum.

Enjoy these photos and click any of them to see more!

Last stop...Bali.

Bangkok: I Wanted Heat & I Got Heat.

I have to start this post off with a thousand thank-yous to Akiko for hooking us up with a wonderfully air-conditioned place to stay. Jackie and I have been talking about going to Bangkok since my freshman year at Pepperdine. She was born in Thailand and returned to BKK for the latter half of her highschool years. One of my favorite memories from Freshman year was hearing her crazy Bangkok stories late one night in the cafeteria and I have been inspired to visit ever since. Now that I have been myself, there's no doubt that I will be going back sooner than later.

First BKK impressions? Humidity and heat. Both things are hard to ignore the second you step out of the plane. Bangkok also has so many malls. I guess in that heat, all you would crave is AC (or as they would say over there "air-con" - watch out for those rogue drips!). The third thing that stood out was the traffic. Everyone makes fun of Asian drivers, but those Thai taxi drivers are probably the best around. With people driving in the shoulder, non-existent lane lines and only speed "suggestions", I kept expecting accidents, but didn't see one! Incredible. Fourth, it's hard to ignore all the billboards with the King and Queen. King Bhumibol Adulyadej was everywhere...in the water taxis on the Chao Phraya river, statues & billboards. He is also the longest reigning monarch in Thai history.

Amongst all of the mall-hopping and eating, we fit in a few touristy things such as the reclining Buddha, the Temple of Dawn, a Thai monastery and a long sweaty walk around the Grand Palace. We didn't end up actually going into the Grand Palace...but we walked around the entire place! That counts, right? Another highlight of the trip was finding all of the Elizabeth Gilbert wannabe's -- there were so many women on their own "Eat Pray Love" trips. Our favorite was a blonde woman who was spotted on Khao Sarn road. She was getting her long blonde hair dreaded, her arms were lined with bangles, her nose was pierced with a hoop, and she was reading an English version of EPL...I wish I had taken a picture.

Other trip highlights included meeting all of Jackie's friends from ISB, eating moo bing and sticky rice from a street vendor (LIFE CHANGING!), learning a few Thai words, soi puppies on the beaches of Koh Samet, dinner in the dark at the Pullman hotel, digging through MBK, finally trying Food Loft and loving every moment of it, many many watermelon shakes, and a great meal on the river with new friends (2 grilled whole fish, wing-bean salad, tofu panang curry, the list goes on...we feasted).

Enjoy these pics and click on any of them to see more!