This past trip to Cali was one of the best vacations I've had in a long time! It felt incredibly refreshing to be back in the lovely California air (hello sun! long time!!!) and also to visit friends & family. Most of all, it felt awesome to be back in our old church and feel that people have missed us. And to hear that they want us to move back. What sweetness it is to be missed!

Also, there have been so many changes in my family. We're a very Americanized family but for some reason, we never fail to do seh-beh every year. I heard I missed out on a great New Years Day because the "real kids" got to bow to us and our parents! My cousins' joint bday party was a bit...rowdier than usual.... but it was funny and interesting! What a difference children makes!!


All the more I realize that my family is awesome. We always take care of each other and for some reason, we all get along really well with each other which I realize is a huge blessing! There's nothing like true, blood relative unconditional love.

Also, one of my fondest childhood memories is my mom always feeding me tons of home made Korean food. She's not the BEST cook in the world, but she always always makes me and everyone eat as soon as we walk in the door! She LOVES fat faces and is always saying things like "you're too skinny! eat more!" Uncommon for Korean moms, right? Hearing her shift around in the kitchen are one of those comfort noises I can recall from my childhood. I think she thinks I enjoy learning how to cook, and although I'd rather just sit and eat, I did enjoy making mandoo with Daniel! I had no idea he was such an expert mandoo maker!

Just look how pretty:






One of the best surprises was hearing that my dearest friend Angela had her baby on the same day I arrived!! Oh man, it feels really weird to hold a newborn baby in your hands... I thank them for letting me hold a little baby in my arms. It was so awesome spending time with baby Noelle Olivia! And of course, my girls H and A!


Angela is probably the most maternal person I know, so I knew without a doubt that she'd make an excellent mother. I jokingly tell her that she can raise my kids! It was so sweet to see all these people dropping by with clothes, food, diapers and excitement. I'm sure a supportive community makes all the difference to new parents.

We just lounged, ate snacks and watched Sleeping Beauty together. T'was great! I never need anything more than the comfort of being with close girlfriends to be happy.


Here we are bowling at Oak Tree lanes.... it was so fun hanging out with people and eating late again! I ate really bad (but ate GOOD FOOD bad) but it was all worth it!


Till next time, Cali!!! XOXO

This past weekend was busy and packed with Christmas events, late nights talking with old friends and cuddling with the kitty. NOW I finally feel like it's very much like Christmas! I only wish it would snow...
First off, we got the cutest lil tree! Daniel brought it home as a surprise... sooo happy!




Then I had some visitors: Nari & Sally, AKA my elementary school best friends! Amazing that after so long, we just picked up right where we left off.



At brunch @ Resto, one of my favorite breakfast places!


Then we had to go see the Macy's window displays. They're so crazy about it here! Feels like a little part of the old school New York...




Then Nari somehow got plugged into this crowd demonstration thing...






Then we had Paul & Lily over for a much belated birthday dinner. Blim cooked us a treat!!! I don't even know what this is called, but it's pork & it's yummy:




and we played a LOT with the kitty, Brita!



She's quite entertained with Queen Latifah movies!





 

It has been unbelievably HOT. Luckily we have 2 small air conditioners and a small fan which is getting the job done. here's a recap:

Saturday: laid out at the Park. It was surprisingly not very crowded! I think most people are spending time at the Hamptons.

There was some writing in the sky... and everyone looked up for about 10 full minutes... Instead of a romantic proposal, it said: "GEICO: MORE THAN CAR INSURANCE." Lovely :)

A guy just chillin by a tree...

This part was sort of cool... We were at the very first train car, so I was able to get a few snapshots of the direction the train was heading towards. Felt like a ride!!

Arriving at Coney Island:

...which is the last stop :)

There's a Mermaid parade but we didn't go. Sounds interesting though!

There were SO MANY people at Coney Island, I literally thought they were being squeezed off of this bridge. But no... they were jumping into the water :)

We walked through the carnival part just to see what was going on...

Well at least the kiddies were having fun!

Random paintballing sort of game... I barely noticed there was a person standing there!

I was starving and couldn't wait to eat Nathan's hot dogs! This is where the famous Hot Dog eating contest takes place every year. The Japanese guy got arrested (?) so he didn't win. The guy who won ate 68 or (58?) hot dogs in 10 minutes!!! That is soo gross. Especially because it's pretty much expected that they just throw it all up afterwards. Anyways, I thought the hot dogs were yummy! (Although I really miss Pinks back in LA).

Random writing...

Finally going home... with some AC and a television. 

I was really worried about my camera being too hot so I decided to keep it home for the remainder of the weekend. But all we did for the rest of the weekend was go shopping and check out a friend's coffee shop. Then movies and dinner. A chill weekend =)