slateblu

9

We didn't have a birthday party for Jason's 9th birthday - but we had a birthday lunch at Olive Garden (his favorite place) and a Disneyland trip.  The kids had fun and had fun hanging out with their cousins.  Disneyland was very crowded as I'm sure everyone went there for spring break.

 The kids enjoying pineapple ice cream.

The beach boardwalk at California Adventures...

This is the first time I didn't drag my SLR to Disneyland.  It was a lighter load walking around.  The ice cream and boardwalk pictures were taken with my phone.

Bought the boardwalk tote on sale at the store before the trip. I love the size.  I can even hold in my hand and it won't touch the floor. It's usually a problem when you're short =)

Resting today to recuperate from the trip as Disneyland is not quite relaxing.  Not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow.

ava

I took off two days last week to take care of this little girl. It entailed going to the doctor's office one day, a follow-up the next, and then a trip to children's ER just because the equipment in the hospital could do a bit more. Ava's back to almost healthy again.  It's hard when your child gets sick.  I'm glad she's doing fine now.

We went to Japantown last Sunday to pick up mochi and to stop by Paper Source.  We also went to la boulange (bay bread) to pick up almond croissants, chocolate croissants, meringues, and bread.

Ava in Japantown at the Peace Plaza (feeling much better).  The day we went was the one year anniversary of the tsunami in Japan. There were some events during the day.  We stayed a little to watch the large scale calligraphy performance.

handmade gifts

from Caitlyn of "Knitter in the Kitchen".

The kids and I received a lovely package from Caitlyn just yesterday.  

I love the door knob organizer she made me.  It really comes in handy when you know where everything is and just need to grab and go.

Phone and keys...easy to find...

Coloring sets for the kids... paper and crayons...neatly organized and easy to grab and go when you're out somewhere and they need an activity to keep them occupied.

Thanks so much Caitlyn!

happy new year and other random things...

Happy New Year!  How quickly the holidays came and went.

This picture was taken on New Year's Day before going to a family party.  They can be sweet to each other but as my mom would say, they can fight like a cat and dog.

If you're in San Francisco and looking for a yummy dessert, head on to Japantown to eat honey toast at Juban.  It's very very good...

Here's my photo before we devoured it:

It's a sweet toast -topped with honey and ice cream... It's a must try!

Here's a San Francisco view...driving on California Street on my way to work from an appointment.  I usually take public transportation but it was easier to drive the car that day.  I wanted to take a picture on Nob Hill but this was the best I could do at the moment and with my phone camera.

the cartier gift wrap

I ripped out this Cartier ad in a magazine a few months ago because I loved the gift wrapping.

 
Then for a birthday gift, my cousin gave me this:

 
Inside is a beautiful writing instrument.  I love the packaging as much as I love the pen.

 
About their wrapping here.

There is no tape, just detailed pleats and a ribbon to hold it in place.

So, I took the pen out, and re-wrapped the box:

 
I may just start wrapping my gifts like this...

birthday celebration in vegas

I've reached another decade in my life...so what do I do?  Celebrate in Vegas with my sister, sister-in-law, and dear cousins.  We spent 48 hours in Vegas.  It was fun and tiring and I haven't pulled an all-nighter in a long time.  I couldn't believe how tired I was when I got home.

We flew out the day of my birthday from the newly opened T2.  My sister's friend works at The Cosmopolitan so we got good room rates. We arrived in the afternoon and were famished.  It was 4:30 and we had reservations at Bouchon at 7:30 so we opted to just eat french fries at Holsteins to hold us over.

 
 
 
::The lobby and a couple of bathroom shots at The Cosmopolitan:: The wallpaper, I loved. I wish I took a close up of it.  The white parts are images of a woman in a dress that make up the design.

 
This was my "salade de betteraves" - heirloom beets, marinated baby fennel, navel orange & Oregon hazelnuts with petite frisee.  Very tasty and refreshing for the warm weather.

 
::Cocktail::

After dinner, we went back to our room for a little break and watched the Bellagio Water Show from our hotel room.

 

 
My birthday cake pops.  These were the first time I tasted cake pops that weren't too sweet.  They were red velvet and were made by my cousin-in-law's sister-in-law, who lives in Vegas.

After our little break, and a little roulette, we went to the Marquee, then turned in.

The next 24 hours were spent at the pool, walking around and window shopping, having a frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity, taking a 20 minute nap, eating dinner at Sushi Roku, playing more roulette at New York, New York, going to the Haze nightclub at the Aria, and then eating our last meal and breakfast at The Henry.  I couldn't believe the sun was up before we turned into our room...In a few hours, we would be boading an airplane back to SFO.  Fun but very tiring indeed. 

flower ribbon...

Sometimes when I can't sleep I turn on the tv and see if there's anything good on.  When there's not, I see what's "on demand" and see what Martha has crafting. She was making bows look like flowers one night.  In the video she used pink ribbon to resemble peonies. Here's is what I learned late night from Martha:

Take two bows (usually one is smaller than the other but I have two that are the same size in this example) as shown here:

Cut the loops diagonally left and right:

Do the same with the other bow:

Peel off the backing of one of the bows:

...and place on top of the other one:

Your completed flower ribbon:

Place on top of your gift:

Et voila...you're done:

See Martha's picture here. You can get creative with using two or three colors and in various sizes.

fragrances...

Back in college I wore a victoria's secret perfume that was bottled in a gold and blue box.  This was way before they changed their image to "pink", etc. and created a new look for themselves.  It was a light sweet fragrance and I did get lots of complements on it.  I first smelled it on a paralegal at a law firm I worked for part-time during college.  I was intimidated to ask about her perfume but an aunt of mine was wearing the same thing one day and she told me where she got it.  For a few years, I would get that bottle of perfume from my aunt during birthdays and Christmas.  Then they stopped making it and I wanted a different scent.  I went with my cousin one year to buy her mom a limited edition (at that time) Chanel fragrance:  Gardenia.  The scent was really pretty so we both decided to buy one for ourselves as well.  It's a little stronger and it does have staying power I think.  It's a very sweet scent.

It was this trip that I learned about Bulgari's green tea scent.  We went to the store and the lady at the counter mentioned that it's very light and also noted that nurses like the scent because it's allergy-free.  You can apply and apply and the scent won't be over-powering at all.  This is the one I wear all the time now...

 
My collection of used bottles...makes for a nice display but I think I do need to start recylcling...

The other day, I went to Bloomingdales to pick up another bottle since I ran out and next to the counter was a Hanae Mori rep.  They sold me on the No. 2 scent.  It's also light though I think a bit stronger than my green tea scent.  I love the graphics on the bottle.

 
 
Bulgari's Green Tea is my all time favorite though.  I do prefer the cologne to the perfume.  There is a difference between the two when you compare them.

Do you have a favorite fragrance?

 

spools of ribbon...

 
 
 
 
 
 
Purchased this ribbon during the holidays from Sundance.  I figure I would do a little photoshoot with them since they're so colorful.

valentines

 
 
 instructions
 
Hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day!

Top to bottom: Jason's finished valentine cards for his classmates:Ava's lollipop cards:Origami Heart Crane cards for Jason's teachers:Cupcake from Bouchon