Perfect Day

A recent trip up to Huntington Beach to walk the pier...
It was a moody gray day... these images make me want to curl up on a couch, sip a piping hot cup of coffee (Americano with cream please) and listen to some Coldplay. Or wear an Eeyore costume. 
C'mon, you know you want to too.
Actually, I really did listen to this song by Coldplay on repeat while going through these photos! Can you tell?


Have a great Monday everyone~

What I do...

..when it's finals week?
oh, blog of course.


A little peek into a recent date with Tim...


Breakfast at the Filling Station Cafe in Orange, a visit to LACMA and a quick stop at MILK....unfortunately, I had a random case of food poisoning (?) and was literally throwing up at the end of our date (my husband is one lucky guy).
But you know what? I still had a lot of fun just being out with Tim and snapping away on my camera! 

A little Andy Warhol...

(Tim making a phone call to make sure our girls hadn't terrorized the sitters too much.)

Thankful to Stella, Annie and Michele who watched the kids for us!

Can't wait for our next excursion~

(And to all those students studying away, you can do it!)

Garden of Eden

A recent weekend visit to the UC Irvine Farmer's Market.
It was a blustery gray day in Irvine, but everyone was still out buying their fruits and veggies.
Bought some freshly popped kettle corn and strawberries for the girls (ok, it was mostly for us) and took a nice leisurely walk through the stalls. 


Loved all the yummy fresh samples, live music, and the hustle and bustle of a Saturday morning.

Lest you think we are healthy eaters who only buy fresh organic food, I will let you know that after this walk, we promptly drove to an In-N-Out and ordered "cheeseburgers- animal-style-easy-on-the-spread please."

{the JOY of LOVE} : Day 28 (final)

Today's theme: Future


“Listen to the mustn'ts, child.
Listen to the don'ts.
Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. 
Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... 
Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
- Shel Silverstein


One of my favorite poets when I was growing up....I hope Naomi will enjoy reading him as much as I did!

{From our trip to the aquarium today.}

Thanks friends for joining me on Willette's Joy Of Love project this whole month~

I've learned so much from Willette, the enormous talent that is out there, and most importantly, capturing the JOY of everyday moments!

Hope to keep on capturing the precious ordinary on this blog :)

Check out everybody else's photos on the Joy Of Love Flickr Stream!

Click here to see all of my JOL photos from February~

My Free Spirit

Recently, I've been exhausted by the demands of my little girls.
I love them to death but exhausted nonetheless from the constant cleaning, negotiating, disciplining, cooking, playing and all the little details that equal motherhood. 


My littlest one, Noelle, has been especially shriek-y and difficult ...leading me to pray hard as never before, "God, please give me grace for today" and simultaneously rant to my husband about how the "terrible two's" must've come early.


Well, yesterday, I spent a refreshing day at an inspiring photography workshop (more on this later!) and then lunch with friends while Tim watched the girls.  


When I came home, little Noelle ran as fast as her little chubby legs could carry her, shrieked like a banshee and gave me a big hug.


My heart melted into a thousand puddles.


She is my little free spirit.
How I love her, tantrums and all.

[photos taken at The Huntington Library]

The Village at Pomona

 A glimpse through my lens


Favorite eye candy - blue birdcages and Valentine day decorations!

Kid Friendly in Glendale

I love to go out as a family.
As a parent of two little ones, here's my list of criteria when deciding where to go:
1. Fun for kids under age of 5 and kid friendly 
2. Not expensive
3. Fun for the parents
4. Not crazily crowded
5. Not too far away
6. Affordable food nearby
7. Fun for the parents 


Is this too much to ask?
There are days when if I have to go the Brea Mall one more time, I will pull my hair out. Sometimes old stomping grounds get...well... OLD.


So, I was delighted to find a new place: 
Gigi's Farmer's Market held every Saturday morning from 10 AM - 12 PM in the Americana in Glendale.


They have a petting zoo ($4 and you get a cup of feed) and pony ride ($5).
Live music, free samples of food and drinks, fresh produce, a playground, fountain, and shopping. 


We would've stayed longer but accidentally left our baby bag (no diapers, no milk, no snacks) plus Noelle's shoes at home. This is the parental equivalent of holding a time bomb in your hand. I do not recommend.


Otherwise, a fun family outing ~ If you and your family haven't visited the Americana yet or it's been a while, check it out~ a treat for all your senses!

Meerkats and Maps

So last week, we went to the Zoo.


Alas, my photo-taking skills were at an all time low this day...
Maybe it was the early morning drive dragging two kids out of bed or the amount of walking we did that day, in any case, I came home with a lot of blurry pictures of animals and kids.


But here are my two favorites.
The first one pretty much sums up how we spent one hour of our time there.
With Zoo map in hand and Totally Lost.
In case you live in a cave and didn't know, the San Diego Zoo is G I N O R M O U S.
We managed to navigate our way around but not before losing 10 pounds.

The second is of the little Meerkat family.
Although I'm not a fan of rodent-like animals (is there really anyone that is??), these little guys are alright.
Maybe it's because they have a cute name.
Or because they remind me of Timone from Lion King.


Anyways, I read that they are also called "sun angels" in some parts of Africa.
I guess they are serious about their sunbathing!

Loved our trip there and capped it off with some delicious Mexican food...enough reason for us to make another drive down!
Can't wait~

Oh the Apple Farm

Spent the day at Riley's at Los Rios Rancho - fresh cider, roasted corn, great barbeque, wagon rides, petting zoo, cute country store, and of course, apple picking! 

We felt refreshed and recharged... being in nature fills our tanks (can't take the PNW out of us!), so planning on doing more outings like this in the future. 

Enjoy~

\

Naomi especially enjoyed the live music - started dancing all by herself right in front of the musicians while the crowd watched. If I had a dollar for every time she does this, I would be able to buy a new lens in no time ;) 

Thanks for stopping by~

See you soon!