It Was Meant to Be

Today, I had the privilege of being part of such a joyous and memorable occasion. My brother proposed to his girlfriend of 6 years. Deciding to propose was well thought-out. However, when it was to be done was another story. On the morning of May 14, my brother decides he will surprise Leizel at her apartment as she arrives home from work after 3pm. A rather spontaneous decision. You see, my family, including my brother, lives in Los Angeles. His girlfriend (now fiancee) lives in San Diego. He needed to move fast if he wanted his surprise to take place.

We leave LA a little before 1:00pm and hit some pretty bad traffic throughout pockets of the Los Angeles and Orange Counties. My brother is of course in a state of panic and anxiety over not being able to make it to the apartment before Leizel gets there. At 3:00pm, while still stuck in traffic, and 45 minutes away from Leizel's apartment, thinking that all is lost at this point, my brother receives a phone call. It is Leizel, calling to say she is off of work. And as if fate was on my brother's side, Leizel decides to go shopping and eat dinner before heading home. We arrive at her apartment around 4pm. My mother and I help my brother set-up and then we wait. At 6pm, Leizel arrives and the rest is history.

After all was said and done, all I could tell my brother was it was truly meant to be.


Path of petals from the front door, leading to the my brother and the ring


Ring is hidden under the hat

So Good...

I haven't been to many tea rooms, but so far, there is one place I love; The Chado Tea Room . The quaint setting, their vast selections of tea, and the tomato cream soup are some of the reasons why I keep coming back. However, the magnetic pull for me is their baked to order scones served with fresh cream and strawberries and a side of jam.

Birthdays and Mother's Day

The weekend was filled with multiple celebrations; Two birthdays and of course, Mother's Day. Our friends David and Eu Nee threw a birthday party for their 1 year old daughter, Annabelle, at a lovely park in South Pasadena. After that we headed over to my mother-in-law's house to celebrate an early Mother's Day and my sister-in-law, Claire's birthday. A Get together with my husband's family always guarantees lots of good food and yummy desserts. For this particular occasion, cakes, and I mean 4 of them, were the main attractions. Who cares that I indulged in some delicious cookies yesterday. These cakes demanded my attention. I couldn't help but surrender...




My camera phone don't do these cakes justice.



Flowers made out of mangoes. This one was the winner for me.


Some pictures from Annabelle's birthday party:

The birthday girl and her spring get-up.

Words of the Day: "Aesthetically-Intriguing"

My husband, who I simply adore, sometimes can be a little too observant. Sure, this may not be a bad thing, but at times his observations really surprise me. In March, while perusing the Rose Bowl Flea market with one of my very good friends, Jocelyn, he seemed to have made a discovery. His theory? Almost everyone at the flea market (ladies in particular), overly used the word "cute" to describe items. I can't say I am surprised by this observation, but for some reason I felt a little more guilty than I should about inherently using "cute" to describe everything I picked up at the flea market that day (or every time I see something "cute" in general).

Last Sunday , while at another flea market with Jocelyn, I received a text message from my dear hubby saying the word of the day was "cute."

The challenge was on...

As I roamed the flea market I came across some of these aesthetically-intriguing items:



Beautifully-Embellished Necklace



Kaleidoscope of Buttons



Quaint Kitchen and Cooking-ware




Delicate Baby Pearl Necklace



Plethora of Colorful Wardrobe

Preparation

I finally decided to open an Etsy store comprising mostly of Vintage clothing and jewelry. This idea has been floating in my thoughts for years. Initially it was to sell handmade jewelry. It all started after a trip to the Philippines. I bought strings of fresh water pearls for myself and a friend of mine. My plan was to wear the pearls at special occasions. I never saw how the pearls would fit with my "everyday" wear. But my friend had a brilliant idea. Being the dedicated learner that she is, she taught herself how to make a modern and chic long necklace out of the pearls. She was inspired by a beautiful necklace Mandy Moore wore on a cover of Lucky Magazine. This awesome friend of mine was kind and patient enough to teach me how to make the necklace. After careful observation on my part, I picked up the task and made my own. The success of making the necklaces gave us an idea of producing more and selling them on Etsy. This idea came to us, hmm...let's see...almost 5 years ago? Yes, that long ago. Needless to say, the plan never came into fruition. Not because we didn't want it to, but making the necklaces are labor intensive. We were both in grad school when we came up the idea.Eventually, we both became newlyweds and were establishing ourselves in our professional roles. It seemed the "dream" was moving further away.

The Necklace:


But the idea of joining the Etsy community has always been a goal I've wanted to reach. And just a few months ago I decided to make it finally happen. But this time with different merchandise; Vintage clothing. For many years, I've collected some vintage clothing and accessories. And I've always enjoyed rummaging through thrift stores, my mom's old boxes of clothing, and flea markets. The search for these items is still a labor, no doubt. But it is one that I consider less intense than making jewelry and perhaps even a labor that is more out of love. The preparation process has been in a way, therapeutic for me. It's been such a creative experience for me to plan out certain details like the name and the logo. Starting the store is thrilling for me due to the balance it's bringing to my day to day activities. I am undoubtedly excited.

I plan to "launch" before the end of May. At the latest June.

Memory of an Elephant

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/visbeek/

I've never been one to keep my thoughts on paper. I tend to store important occurrences in what I like to consider my strong selective memory. The last time I kept any physical record of life events, thoughts, or encounters was in graduate school. For my line of work it is practically a must to do reflections or journals. It is a tool us Counselors like to encourage. Prior to this, it was my Sanrio "My Melody" diary, bought when I was eight years old. Where this is now I can only guess. Perhaps buried in my parents' storage somewhere. Whoever gets a hold of it will surely get their share of school girl crush stories spanning over 5 years (yes, I wrote in that My Melody diary up until I was 13). It lasted that long because I would write in spurts. Usually during my most emotional times or when something important happened like losing a tooth. But I also do remember times that others may consider uneventful such as taking a walk with my grandmother on a Saturday afternoon as a child in Echo Park to buy a lottery ticket. Or the time I bought my first cassette single.

As these memories flood me, I can't help but want them to stay. I realize there are many more to come.

There is a saying that elephants have a good memory because they never forget. I intend to do the same. And so here I am starting a blog for the very first time, not just to muse about events in my life, for the sake of remembering, but to share future ventures, questions, thoughts, and anything else I feel like.