COUPON: [gap | friends & family | aug 4-7 2011]

Hi my Lovelies,

I just received this F&F coupon from a friend and wanted to share it with you guys...

From August 4th through the 7th GAP is having their Friends & Family event! That's 30% off your entire purchase at any GAP, GAP Kids, GAP Body, and GAP Maternity! Or 35% off if you purchase everything with your GAP card.

This year is a little different...
Gap wanted to make this just a Gap event. Be sure to click on the coupon below to enlarge and print it out to use it in-store and/or at gap.com.



enjoy!

xx
j

PERSONAL: [dylan's | 1st bday | party]

A little over a year ago, very good friends of ours had an adorable baby boy who they named Dylan. Being that Dylan is half Korean (half Chinese), it's in the Korean culture to throw a huge "wedding-like" 1st birthday party called Doljabi. In the past, there were high death rates in Korea and it was a milestone for the babies who were able to make it to their 1st birthdays. So when a baby made it to 12 month the whole town would come together to celebrate and that tradition is carried on to this day.

But with a baby who's already running around (yes, running!) before he turned 1, my friend Mina had her work cut out for her. As you can only imagine it was hard for her to get everything done by herself with an active baby around. So I was more than happy when she took me up on my offer to help out. I love to plan parties, it's so much fun!... minus the cost of everything. lol

The party planning process started out with picking the theme and Mina decided to have a vintage circus theme. Which I think was super cute and genius. It was kid-like but yet still for the adults as well. She then purchased some cute DIY vintage circus printables & invitations by The Candy Tree. From there I was able to create, manipulate and edit the files to work perfectly for the party. As well as any additional graphic that we needed to tie everything together.

As for the venue, they chose the beautiful South Coast Botanical Gardens with a huge open grass area which was perfect are for the kids to run around and play. I didn't think we'd even use the whole area but the kids took full advantage of the space.

I don't know about you but when I think of a circus, one of the first things I think of are those red and white tents. And what would a circus themed party be without those tents, right?! It would just be another party with balloon and food. One of my biggest suggestions for the party was to somehow pulling off the look of red and white tenting on a budget. Luckily, the South Coast Botanical Gardens area that they had picked out already had a wooden awning that we were able to hang things from. From there we did our research on how we could pull this look off without blowing their whole budget on just the tenting and Mina came up with the great idea of using the table covers that come in rolls... genius! With the tent, 30" balloons, signage and all the other little details a wonderful vintage circus 1st birthday party for Dylan was made.

Most of the planning was Mina and I just gave her my suggestions and ideas that were based off her original ideas. So great job, Mina! I think we made a great team along with the help of all of our friends and pulled off an amazing party for her son, Dylan's 1st birthday. It was so rewarding when we were all setting up for the party and people were coming by asking if we were event planners because it looked so nice and professional. Maybe Mina and I have a new career path in our future. ha ha!





To see more photo and vendors Mina used go to Krista Mason Photography's blog.

PS. the Balloon Twister: David Nguyen is absolutely life of the party and the best Balloon Twister i've ever seen. He's so creative and comes up with this you'd never think you'd be able to make from balloons. Well worth the money! My husband wants to hire him for no special occasion just for David to make him balloons. ha!

xx
j

PERSONAL: [internship | nyc | part 2]

Less than two weeks for me left here in NYC. My how time flies... can you believe its almost been 3 months already?! my goodness. Time here has been surreal, fun, exciting, and a great experience. There's so much i still want to do and experience while I'm out here... like check out all the vintage stores, NYC library (the one Carrie Bradshaw was going to get married at >_<), visit Ground Zero, check out the Central Park Zoo and so much more.

But with Fashion Week about to kick off this week and with all of our preparation kicking in for the fashion show, i don't think I'll have time to do even half of them. The design house I'm working for shows on Monday, February 15th. Which i have decided to be my last day interning for them. With my sublet let being up on the 19th, i felt that having my last day be the day of the show would be unfortunate but perfect so that i have a day or so to tie up loose ends and try to explore the city one last time before i have to head back to LA LA LAND.

This week we're finishing stuffing/sending out invites, casting for the models, and i can't wait for all of it. This was my goal, to be able to get behind the scene and see how its all goes down and even tho we're not showing in the "Tents" (which a lot of the designers aren't) it's still a well known brand from the 70s that has a new Creative Director, which everyone can't wait to see what he's done for his break out line for the company. I can't wait to see them myself, every things getting shipped from the UK. It's getting exciting!!

As most of you know, i headed out her with one of my closest friends. With a mission to find a internship and learn and experience the fashion industry here in NYC. She is very much an inspiration to all. When we first came out here we both had a hand full of interviews lined up with a list of which ones we wanted the most and which ones we would take for the last resort. For her it came to a point in time where almost all of them wanted her and she had to choose. She ended up narrowing her list down to a company that fit her design style to the T and a high-end, well know designer that was at the bottom of her original list. Even though her heart wanted to stay within her comforts of her style and aesthetic she decided to challenge herself and forced herself to break out of her shell and learn and experience something more. Plus with that Designers name on her resume along with the wealth of knowledge she learned, i believe has helped her get a JOB. Yes people i said it.. she got a JOB!! I'm so proud of her and i know that she's going to do/be great! We're going to run LA! lol

xoxo
j

PERSONAL: [my ninja clothing | photo shoot]

if you haven't heard about My Ninja Clothing before, you should definitely check it out. It's a t-shirt line my friend Peter Hong created a couple of years ago and it's taking off.

Last Saturday he shot his new line for his Fall 2009 lookbook. Which he kindly asked me to help style along with Layne. We started at Noon and i had to jam around 6:15pm and they were still going strong after i left. it was a long day but so much fun and such an amazing group of people... everyone was great. I also got my girl Jane, who does AMAZING hair to jump on board too. Peter has an amazing/talented group of people helping him make his vision on true. i can't wait until you guys get to see the lookbook.

but for now, enjoy some behind the scenes images...





thanks for letting me help out Peter.. you ROCK! lets work together again soon
xoxo

PERSONAL: [mina's bday | scavenger hunt]

i had never really heard of a bday scavenger hunt before. So when i heard about Mina's, my initial thought/reaction was "this could either be super fun or really awful!" But to honest, it was SO much FUN!!!

they broke us up into groups. they separate the couples into different groups, which i think was smart (i think i had more fun not being on the hubby's team ha). then they gave us a list of things we have to do, get, photograph and/or video tape. (i.e. get a stranger to pump your gas, human pyramid in front of the Mc Donald's arches, find a 1979 coin, 42¢ stamp, get an application at a hostess bar, down a beer with a stranger, take 4 shots, take a photo on a firetruck (extra points if with a fire fighter), slide down the fire station pole...) each item was given a point of how much it's worth and at the end of the hunt everyone's items were tallied up based of the points and not the number of items your group completed.

my team consist of me, kelsey, morgan, jay & steve. unfortunately we came in second to the hubby's team. but in the end we all had fun time... we even wanted to try and extend the scavenger hunt.

all in all what a great idea. i highly recommend this to everyone. here's some of the photos of the tasks we accomplished...


oh yeah and while doing these tasks we had to wear masks. heehee

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MINA!!
hope you had a fun filled birthday.

xoxo

PERSONAL: [gun range | lax]

as some of you know, i grew up being a tomboy. i've always wanted to go shot guns at the range but when i was growing up my grandfather wouldn't let me go with him and the "boys" because i was a "girl". go figure right?! so when our friend steve was asking everyone if they were interested, of course i jumped at the chance (daren, not so much ha).

when i was younger i grew up with a bb gun and i got the chance to shoot a shot gun once... but thats it, nothing as serious as the glock 9 & colt 45 we were shooting with on Saturday. i was a little nerves and excited but quickly got over my nerves.

for 5 out of 8 of us, this was our first time at a shooting range. so for safety we decided to only get 2 lanes and we just switched turns so that the experience shooters could show/watch the rest of us. but if you ask me all us ladies turned out to be the "naturals"! don't mess with us, you don't want none of this! hahah jk

but all in all, it was a great fun experience and i'm so proud of mina for facing her fears of guns and for taking charge. good job! thanks steve, luke & morgan. had a blast. i can't wait to go again!!




if you'd like to see all the images i took at the range click here.

PERSONAL: [question | car]

Would you buy the same exact car as your friend/someone you know? (Color/model/year)

why the question you might ask?!

I had a pretty heated argument with a friend. she had stated that I'm a snobby/selfish person for wanting to drive a different car than everyone else I know. I like individuality, does that make me a snob?

She said that if she liked/wanted the same exact car that her friend drove she would just get it. And yes maybe it is selfish of me to think the way I do, but if that's the case wouldn't it also be selfish of the person for just buying something because they wanted it and not consider the other persons feelings on the matter too? (In no way do I or am I looking down @ people who do or have, I'm just trying to defend my character and playing devils advocate, you know?!)

Maybe its just me, but I grew up in a place where your car was an extension of ones self, not in a status kind of way(I can care less about that) but in a way where its another way of identifying a person. (i.e. "Hey there goes so & so")

In no way am I saying that no one I know can have the same car or that its wrong of a friend to have the same car as me. But I myself, just personally try NOT to get cars that other people I KNOW. Do I wish everyone thought the same way.. Yea! Do I expect them too... Of course NOT! Its personal opinions and people can do what they want. Would I ever tell a friend they can't get the same car?! Of course not. Would I prefer them to get a different color, yea but would I de-friend, hate or be mad at them if they didn't get a different color?! No!

Its just personal preference. No ones right or wrong. I dunno like I said, maybe its just me? so tell me, what are your personal thoughts on the topic? (don't worry, no judgments here)

Xoxo
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WEDDING: [stanely & michelle su]

last weekend i flew up to Sacramento and was honored to be able to attend Stanley & Michelle's Chinese Wedding reception at Happy Garden.

CONGRATULATIONS
STANLEY & MICHELLE!!

xoxo

PERSONAL: [weekend | low down]

Its been a little while since I've actually taken time to blog on here. Normally my weekends don't consist of anything interesting so I don't see the need to share with you guys about me being a lazy couch potato. Lol but recently its been a tad busy & entertaining.

APRIL 24 WEEKEND:_____________________

A few weeks ago Annie & Ben came to visit me (well kinda ha) for the weekend (yay!). They arrived Friday night and right away I wanted to take them to some of my favorite eateries. First stop, Furaibo & Pinkberry. Both were a success... Yay!

Annie had a class trip (on Sat) to LA's fashion district to pick out fabulous fabrics for the line they have to create for this semester's project and invited me to join. We started off the day super early, 7:45am. We headed to go get annie her morning coffee and then met up with her teachers & classmates at their hotel, the Farmer's Daughter and then we were off to Downtown LA!

We walked around the garment district from 9:30am-3:30pm and found some amazing fabrics. I even ended up buying some and I don't event know how to sew YET! Lol. But they were too cute to not buy. Ha! After we walked around for 6 hours we headed over to Annie's Grandma's place to say hi and eat a little. Unfortunately we had dinner plans already, it was SO hard to leave there after tasting some of the homemade chinese food... OMG it was delicious!! I didn't want Korean BBQ after that. Sigh! Just thinking about the food again is making my mouth water. But off to Tahoe Gabli we went for some good 'ol Korean BBQ. I was so busy, wasn't thinking and completely forgot to make reservations. So we ended up waiting a good 1.5 hours for a table.

That Sunday before they left to drive back to Sac I had to take them to King's Hawaiian for some yummie Breakfast and of course sense I got her hooked on their cakes, they picked up tons of pastries and a whole doughbosh (sp?) Cake to take back home with them. Heehee. Their trip seemed so short. I wish they could've stayed longer so that I could take them to all the other great places I love to eat at. Oh well hopefully next time!

LAST WEEKEND:________________________

I worked late Fri & Sat. So unfortunately I had to miss out on all the weekend activities like Korean BBQ @ Road to Soul on Friday night with my Tatum Jones friends before they jetted off to do a show in Seattle. And on Saturday night I missed the Fabulous Bev's Bday party.

Luckily I didn't have work on Sunday, so I headed down to Torrance to go get my car washed (finally!) And then Mina & I went tanning & got me a gym membership @ La Fitness. (Which you'd be happy to know I used on tuesday, I would've gone Wed (haircut w/Jane) & Thrus (dinner @ Kristaldo's lol) but had plans already.. Yay!) Oh and then we had KBBQ @ Futosato's with the boys.

THIS WEEKEND:________________________

After work I headed over to Mina's to do card making & baking with her & Stacy. (Thanks Stacy for letting us use your scrap booking/craft stuff) Mina & I got off to a very slow and rusty start but we later got the hang of it. Ha! I don't normally like to do things on Fridays after work because I don't have much energy after working all day. So you can imagine how slow my brain was functioning that night lol.

On Saturday I did get up until 2:30pm (ha I told you I'm not use to doing things on a fri). Once I forced myself out of bed I plopped myself onto the couch (couch potato remember?! Ha) to watch my TV shows that were recorded on our DVR from the few nights before. I was on the couch until about 7pm, which is when I had to get ready to go ROLLERSKATING!!

Saturday night was Tiff's Bday Party @ the Moonlight Rollerway in Glendale. I didn't think the hubby could make it because of work, so I asked Mina if she's join me. Let me just tell you, I hadn't roller skated since probably Jr. High. So I was Super excited & scared and the same time.

Once we got there we got our skates, strapped in and were ready to roll (pun intended ha!). By the time we were ready to go it was "beginner/intermidate roller skating backwards" time on the floor. You can imagine how scared we were being so rusty AND having to try skating Backwards right off the bat. But we were troopers and headed on out the rink anyway. Oh boy were we rusty haha. I think I almost fell a handful of times and I didn't look graceful doing it heehee. Mina on the other hand looked calm and collected out there. If only we had video haha!

After about 5 mins going backwards it was the "advance backwards skater". Man did they make us look like fools lol. I remember being almost (not really haha) that good. Next it was finally the forward skating time on the rink. At first I was super rusty, but I got the hang of it by the end of the night. I still almost tumbled all thru out the night but I'm glad to report they were all false alarms. YAY!

I forgot how much of a work out roller skating was. Man were we sweating up a storm but we had SO much fun! i'll have to remember to wear a tank top & shorts next time. lol It brought us back to our good 'ol childhood. Thanks for inviting me Tiff & thanks for joining me Mina, I had a blast! Hope you enjoyed your bday as much as wee did Tiff!!

[i stole these photos from tiff. =p]

Sunday was Mother's day (happy mom's day to all you moms). Since my mom is in Sacramento and Daren's Mom was in Vegas we decided to just hang out and spend the day together. We started the day off by watching the laker's & rocket's game on tv. Then we headed to the Bridge to go watch X-men Wolverine (don't forget to watch for an extra scene after the credits) & Star Trek back to back. Both were entertaining but personally I think Star trek was better.

After the movies we headed to the super market to pick up food & drink and then the hubby made us dinner, hambger helper lol. Can't complain right?! At least he made dinner heehee.

Next week.. i'm off to Sacramento!!

Hope you all have a fun filled weekend and a Happy Mother's day!

Xoxo
PS: i really need to start using a camera again, so i can post some photos. >_<>

MUSIC: [tatum jones | the mint la]

have you guys heard of my friends TATUM JONES formally known as At Last, from the first season of America's got talent. Either way if you're in LA tomorrow night and love old school R&B you should come check them out.

they're worth seeing!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009
10:00pm - 11:00pm
@ The Mint 6010 Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
$10 @ the door

TRAVELS: [mammoth lake | snowboarding]

this weekend i headed up to Mammoth lake mountain with Corey, Saki, Taryn and Andy.



we got hooked up this trip. Corey found a friends family cabin that they let us rent for cheap and Taryn, the craigslist master, got use a discount on our tickets. the whole weekend gas, cabin, food, tickets etc. cost a whopping $130. best trip ever!!!!

thanks guys!

PERSONAL: [weekend | recap]

I had a fab weekend up in Sacramento. Yes! You guessed it, my monthly trip back to Sac was this weekend.

I was debating on if I wanted to go to tahoe to go snowboarding or to stay in sac and visit with friends & family. But since I opted to go to tahoe the last trip I wasn't able to see many people. So I decided to just hang out in Sac... Yes! Even though it just dumped in tahoe, I know! Lol

But to be perfectly honest I made the right choice. My schedule was jam packed but it was all worth it! I got to see family & friends whom I haven't seen in a while. So it was great!

Here's a break down:
Friday:
• 945pm arrived in Sac
• 1030pm hung out with the parentals
• 1045pm eat moms jook.. Yum!
• 1130pm bed time... I know I'm an old lady!

Saturday:
• 10am wake up & got ready
• 1130pm drive to meet annie
• 12pm had lunch with my parents & annie at this yummie Vietnamese spot off Stockton blvd.
• 2pm head to a.judi & u.pk's to see nic & my nephew drew, geof & candace and the rest of the fam.

[me & my nephew drew!]
• 6pm had dinner with michelle. Thanks for coming up. Miss you! I had tons of fun just like the good ol days.
• 11pm headed to Hanger 17 for Candace's bday! HAPPY BDAY tomorrow!
• 1am headed to geof & candace's place. • 3pm went to bed. I haven't stayed out that late in a LONG time! Lol

Sunday:
• 10am woke up & got ready
• 1130pm went to arden mall w/kellie to shop and visit Kento at work.
• 230pm went to kellie parents house to hang out with my nephew brodie.

[my nephew brodie @ 7months holding his own bottle with one hand.. talented! lol]
• 445pm headed to the airport
• 605pm flight took off
• 735pm Back in La la land!!
• 8pm watch the movie taken

One of these trips back I MUST find the time to make it out to SF. I haven't been back in 3 years... Yes 3 YEARS!! I miss it dearly. SF use to be my second home. I use to go there almost every weekend. You'd think with me going up to Sac every month I'd be able to find the time but unfortunately that's not the case. Most of the time I have family things to do while other I NEED to see/hang out with my friends in Sac because I miss them a ton. So whenever they can fit me into their busy schedule I take it.

Hope you guys had a great weekend as well.

Xoxo


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