Penelope Blue

thoughts on returning to work

2012-02-10T16:20:00.000-08:00

In June of 2011, I started working again for the first time since having Brooke. Prior to that, I was tutoring a student-- very short hours (think 1-2 hours a week). When I started working, my mom had just retired and I transitioned myself by working about 5-6 hours a week. Then I took another job, working about 10 hours a week. I started my new job in the beginning of January and am up to about 17 hours a week, which translates to approximately 20 hours a week including travel time.

I have to be honest. When I frst gave birth, I couldn't imagine leaving my precious little one with another human being. She was mine and I soaked up every single minute with her. People would tell me as she got older, "you can find a job now! She's getting older and you'll probably want some space..." I would nod and smile, but really just couldn't picture it.

Then I started feeling the *itch*. The itch that said I had a college degree-- nope, wait, two college degrees-- and yet I was staying at home with my daughter, who wasn't really a baby anymore. The itch that said I missed real adult company in which conversations didn't revolve around what your kid can do and what I should be working on with Brooke. The itch that told me Vance and I could be living a heck of a lot more comfortable if only we had two incomes instead of one.

Of course I shushed those feelings and instead felt guilty as heck for thinking those thoughts. Wasn't I lucky to be able to watch my babe grow? Shouldn't I be counting my lucky stars I had this opportunity to be with her?

Of course. But now that I have returned to work (part-time), I must say that I feel ... satisfied. I enjoy going to work, knowing that my girl is learning to be independent from me for a little while. Knowing that she will need these skills to start preschool. I enjoy talking to adults about work-related topics. And I ENJOY knowing that our bank account is not depleting because I am staying at home. Knowing that we have a teeny tiny more of a cushion so I won't feel awful treating myself to Starbucks or McDonald's iced coffee every day. (Teehee)

So being on both sides of the fence, here's my conclusion: do what is right for your family. Your situation. I loved being at home with Brooke while I was. I loved taking her to the park everyday, enrolling her in Tiny Tots, fully experiencing being a stay at home mom. I was able to exclusively nurse her for the first year of her life. I loved that she was comforted by, cared for and loved by me all day and night. And what's funny is that now that I'm working... she is STILL comforted by, cared for and loved by me all day and night. And what's funny, is that she doesn't even miss me when I'm gone! ♥

So you had a bad day...

2012-02-06T17:38:00.001-08:00

So... I am currently having an awful day. It's just one of "those days" where nothing, and I mean, nothing is going right. It's not one of those tragic-awful days like someone passing away, or something TERRIBLE happens ... let me explain, shall I? Please take this as a blog-rant, or whatever but I refuse to pretend like all of my days in Hawaii are bright and sunny.

-Brooke drops her thermos/bottle of milk onto her toe, actually causing it to break skin and bleed. Inconsolable tears for about 15 minutes

- The E light on the car turns on just as I'm picking my mom up

- At the gas station filling up gas, I step on something sticky and liquidy. As I look down on my flip flops (slippers), I realize that what I have stepped on is NOT gum, but rather appears to be vomit

- Arriving home to our new townhouse, I realize that our dogs have yet again escaped from the backyard and are greeting my car. Like yesterday, Buddy's fur is caked & matted with chunks of mud, sticks and grass

- Upon letting B into the house, the dogs run in on our new (!) carpet

-Spent (more like waasted) half an hour bathing the dogs who received a bath yesterday!

As you can tell, I'm kind of a negative nelly at this point. But in an effort to see the good in every day, here are some good things that happened:

- It was my day off

- I was able to eat a rushed lunch with my parents on my dad's birthday :)

-I got to spend a little time in the morning cuddling with my girl

-Was able to go shopping with my mom, and B who took it upon herself to try some makeup on in Sephora:

Seashell Jewelry

2012-02-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

One trend that I am loving in Hawaii is the plethora of seashell jewelry! My mom and my sister in-law bought me seashell bangles for Christmas, and they are my favorite pieces to wear.

Thought I'd share a few shops that sell seashell jewelry so that you can have your own little piece of the beach while you're in the cold winter :)

Found here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/76501914/black

Found here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/86407674/two-cone-shell-cuff-bracelet-sterling

Found: http://cottagehawaii.com/tidepool-jewelry/waialua-mix-bangle

The "before's"

2012-01-31T21:06:00.000-08:00

Welp, we're in! We got the keys to our place on Friday:

... & we've been crazy at work re-doing the house. I keep telling Vance, if we EVER move again, we are moving into a "move-in ready" house. I feel like our life is in constant chaos because we are ALWAYS doing house projects. Luckily my husband is a plumber and my dad and brother are rather handy (my dad built their extension and helped my grandpa build a house while my older bro worked maintenance for a huge hotel while he was in college way back when)... so far the floors are done (laminate), the wall of mirrors have been removed, the gross staircase coverings have been removed, the upper kitchen cabinet is being removed as I type this and the house is 75% painted. Unfortunately the bathrooms still need to be completely gutted and renovated and we need to add some type of grass outside for the dogs AND we have tentative plans to re-carpet upstairs.

Anyhoot, here are the "before" pictures:

Dining Room

Hallway-- check out the mirrors on the kitchen cabinet (?)

More mirrors in the kitchen:

Living room (carpet was ripped a few hours after I took this and laminate wood floors are in!)

Downstairs bathrooms-- yep, that's TILE ON THE WALL. Those have been removed, but the bathroom is in shambles.

Wall of mirrors in the living room:

View of dining room from living room (& my mom cleaning the floors-- she's obsessed with cleaning the floors!)

Outside patio:

That's it for now! I don't have Internet access at home anymore, so it makes it quite hard to blog and add pictures, but I'll be sure to update with some of the "after" pictures :)

Almost February...

2012-01-24T17:00:00.000-08:00

Yowza! I can't believe how fast this month has flown by. We're finalizing the purchase of our townhouse and Vance can't wait to get started on re-modeling, which is what we'll be doing for the next couple of weeks. I am ... less enthused. I would much purchase a move-in ready house, but unfortunately the one we purchased was just such a great price!

Anyyyyway, we've been busy working and occupying our weekends with lots of family time. I realized today that so far almost everything the psychic I went to last year came true. It's the strangest thing EVER ... and a little creepy. I'll write more if the last thing comes true :)

This past weekend we attended our wonderful friend's son's 1st birthday party. B had the most amazing time playing in the bouncey house, stopping for a little lunch bite, then running back to play.

I'll be sure to post before-and-after pictures of our little house!

my friend got married!

2012-01-14T16:39:00.000-08:00

One of my best friend's from high school was married this past weekend and so v,b & i made the trek to the other side of the island where we were able to join in their beautiful and peaceful ceremony.

little b had a great time climbing trees before the ceremony

how beautiful is the view?!

she just looks so gorgeous, and so, so happy

Where the ceremony was held:

♥

too bright!

I am so extremely happy for my wonderful and amazing friend. I can only wish a lifetime of happiness and love for the both of them!

ridiculousness

2012-01-09T17:18:00.000-08:00

One of my very best friends from high school came home for a bit and brought B a Christmas present-- LeBron James hot pink shoes! How freaking adorable are they?

guess the hot pink makes her want to dance!

My in-laws took all 3 of us to dinner to celebrate my new job... so sweet, right?

Speaking of my new job and life-- I am currently adjusting to everything new. I had a mini (well, I call it mini, but it really wasn't so mini) breakdown in the car with B the other day with everything going on. Little one may be dropping her nap, and was in the middle of a huge tantrum and I just ... lost it. Not my proudest moment and I felt like a huge jerk after I was done. Basically I threw a two year old tantrum in front of my two year old. I win the awesome mom of the year award.

friendship

2012-01-06T17:43:00.000-08:00

What's crazy to me is that the second I started dating Vance, I gained a new set of friends (his). One friendship in particular, has grown over the years and we've gone from a bunch of of college students getting drunk in bars, throwing darts and staying out till the wee hours of the morning ... to taking our kid(s) [they have TWO now!] to Chuck E Cheese. Haha.

Way early on ... Staci was pregnant with her first, who is now FOUR! He'll be five this year!

Again, Staci pregnant with her first. . . she gave birth a few days after this picture was taken, I think

Celebrating Kayden's first birthday party

Brooke and Kayden at Chuck E Cheese

♥

New year, new EVERYTHING!

2012-01-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012! As promised, I'm about to life update everyone with what feels like an entirely new life. First things first, I got a new job! I graduated with my MA in Counseling back in 2009 (5 days before I gave birth with Brooke) and haven't been able to find a counseling job since then. Instead, I took a marketing job which I am NOT quitting, but keeping as a part-time job since my new job is as a half-time counselor at a small elementary school. I thought my mouth was going to burst from smiling when I was hired.

Next, we bought a (town)house! We are so extremely excited to own a little place in Hawaii that we can completely re-do. It's an older townhouse and really outdated, but in good condition. I am sad to be leaving the gorgeous house we rent-- B took her first steps here and I watched her grow from a little lump on a log to a running, jumping and talking little girl-- but at the same time so very excited for this new chapter in our life.

Here it is! These are old pictures but being the noob I am, I didn't take pictures at the house inspection...

Entrance:

Living room. There are mirrors EVERYWHERE in this house! It's borderline creepy. We plan to remove these mirrors, change the floors and paint the walls

Dining area/stairs.. we plan to take that hideous white ... thing off of the stairs and change the floors.

Kitchen .. not bad. Will change the floors, but the rest can wait for later. So excited to finally have a dishwasher!

Master bedroom.. totally in love with the fact that we'll have a balcony!

And that's it! (For now) Can't wait to see what else 2012 has in store for us...

happy new year!

2011-12-31T16:39:00.000-08:00

yes ... i definitely have :) hope everyone is having an amazing new year celebration and i'm so ready for 2012 to kick some major booty! cheers!

Farewell, 2011

2011-12-28T16:20:00.000-08:00

Dear 2011,

Well, we're nearing the end of a very turbulent relationship, filled with as many ups and downs as a roller coaster. It seems as though I was constantly battling something this year-- between Vance, ear infections, sinus infections (which I battled all through Christmas week and am finally getting over it), croup.. needless to say, you weren't my favorite year. Yes, I struggled. A lot. Only now that I look back on the year, it seems as though I had just stopped, my year MIGHT have been totally different. Stopped trying to change Vance, stopped expecting things to happen, things to change, stopped feeling sorry for myself. (It's pretty ironic that the girl who has "Let It Be" tattooed on her wrist was the very one who could not do so)

Frankly, it is a scary and depressing thought that we ultimately choose the outcome of our year-- that it all comes down to a choice, a responsibility for our own misery or happiness. I'm not sorry at all to see 2011 go, and I haven't decided on any concrete resolutions for 2012 like "I'm going to lose 10 pounds this year," so I think for now I'll just decide to choose happiness in 2012.

I already know that 2012 is going to be amazing. I know it will be filled with changes-- big changes-- and I'm excited and ready and ecstatic to see what else is in store. (I promise I will post soon that isn't so cryptic)

What's funny is that in January 2011 I did something extremely unlike "me" and went to see a psychic. I needed insight and have always wanted to see one, so I jumped at the chance when Jess recommended one that she had gone to and liked. Here's what she told me: do not divorce your husband. I was shocked that she had said that and it was one of the first things she said when I sat down. She said the hubs was a good person, a good man who loved me a lot. Then she told me I was mean to him (half true at the time). She said we would have another baby sometime next year -- a boy! -- and she mentioned something about a house. Some parts were really creepy, some were generic and some were totally off. But you take what you can get with a psychic, I guess. She kept saying that she wasn't 'worried' about me, that I had a clean heart, a good heart and that I should continue going to church. What an experience.

And so, 2011 even though I hated you a majority of the time, you weren't all bad. In fact, you were filled with a ton of happy experiences too. Disneyland, beach days, birthday parties and a lot of life lessons that will shape me for the future...

January
enjoyed backyard fun with my short, dirty-blonde haired girl. miss that hair color already!

February
the sweetest little Valentine

March
first time at the beach

April
a visit from one of my besties and her girls

May
little sassy pants turns 2

June
a trip to the bon dance

July
zoo trips with tiny tots

August
beach baby

September
garage tea parties

October
Disneyland trip

November
celebrating two and a half!

December
Christmas Eve

Christmas-time

2011-12-25T17:17:00.000-08:00

Vance and I decided it would be best to give B her Power Wheels on Christmas Eve, in hopes that the novelty would wear off by Christmas morning so she'd still want to open other presents. Here she is, sitting with Frosty the Snowman

We spent Christmas Eve lunch with Vance's cousin and their family. Kaya and Brooke are sure to become the best of friends ... at least I hope they will. By the way, have you checked out Christine's photography site? She's UBER talented and we have a little photoshoot in the works. . . if I can get my family to agree :)

After we got home to nap, little lady crawled into her bed butt-naked, grabbed my glasses and my Nook and said "I'm going back to sleep." This may be my favorite picture of ALL.TIME.

Spent Christmas Eve dinner with my in-laws, playing games, eating, enjoying life and the eve of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ! What could be better than that...

Woke up bright and early and had both families over for breakfast. Thank goodness my mother in law made breakfast for everyone (because I'm a really awful hostess!). B was actually a tad overwhelmed with the opening and the amount of STUFF she got but here's her enormous loot!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

take 2

2011-12-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

We went to check out MORE lights, per B's request. First we stopped at this house, which was featured on the news-- the lights are synchronized with music and are supposedly powered by solar power.

in love

2011-12-20T17:09:00.001-08:00

have you ever seen a couple more in love? it's just adorable how he looks at her ♥

Christmas Lights take 3

2011-12-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

Every year since B was born we've gone to a street in the city we live in which 2 blocks light up their houses for Christmas. Here we are in 2009:

V is SO chubby in this picture! He has lost so much weight in the past 2 years.

2010 with Grandpa and Grandma:

Check out B's hair progression

B has a black eye... not sure from what?

2011:

Little girl wanted to take a picture with EVERYTHING. It was adorable. Mommy fail when my camera battery died and our backup, crappy camera stopped working. We'll definitely be back this week with Grandpa & Grandma + hot chocolate so stay tuned for that :)

Wishlist: for my little

2011-12-16T17:09:00.003-08:00

My little girl is CRAZY. She loves to look at toys in Walmart and Target, but rarely asks to bring things home. We have a lot of hand-me-down toys, so this list doesn't have too many toys except for the La La Loopsy and Fijit. I know for sure that my cousin bought B the La La Loopsy and Fijit... well, she just gets stuck looking at it when we're at the store. We've asked her what she wants Santa to bring her, and she's answered, "a cat" so that's where the Blabla doll comes in. I love how squishy and soft they are!

Wishlist: for my little by penelopeblue featuring flat canvas shoes

Bensimon flat canvas shoes, $57
Hello kitty shoes, $50
Fijit Friends Interactive Toy - Willa - Mattel - Toys "R" Us, $43
Mini-Perchance the Cat, $38
Gap Stripe N' Sparkle Cardigan, $33
Gap Scalloped Eyelet Jean Shorts, $30
Denim Bermudas, $20
Lalaloopsy Doll - Sunny Side Up - FAO Schwarz®, $25
Amazon.com: Disney Princess dress up shoes boutique.: Toys & Games, $18

wishlist: for him

2011-12-14T21:00:00.001-08:00

it's pretty easy to shop for vance. he makes it clear what he wants (grill, tv stand) and his taste in clothes rarely changes (except he's made a comment about some crooks & castles brand that i've never heard of). typically he sticks to brands like obey, and whatever random t-shirts i find at old navy, target and urban outfitters. here's a wishlist i created for him and i'll edit as he chimes in to correct me :)

wishlist for him by penelopeblue featuring cap hats

Cap hat, $40
Junk Food 'Indianapolis Colts' Regular Fit Crewneck T-Shirt, $38
Sperry Cup, $90
Nike 20XI-X Tour Golf Balls - 12 pack at Golf Galaxy
Target:Room Essentials® TV Stand with Sliding Door -..., $70
XBOX 360 250GB Kinect Bundle : Xbox 360 Consoles - Future Shop, $400
Reef Stuyak, $25

christmas wishlist: for me

2011-12-11T20:41:00.001-08:00

it's getting close to Christmas, but here's a little wishlist full of goodies that I wouldn't mind receiving .. nope, wouldn't mind receiving any of these items at all!

christmas wishlist by penelopeblue featuring 14k jewelry

Pullover sweater, $100
Beaded tank, $98
Kate spade, $28
Minnetonka suede shoes, $40
Jack Rogers leather shoes, $105
Longchamp tote bag, $125
Deena Ozzy zipper bag, $68
Dogeared 14k jewelry, $118
Antique silver jewelry, £55
Leopard watch, £75
Jingled Hoops, $38
Glitter iPhone case, $25

holiday photo phone dump

2011-12-07T18:28:00.000-08:00

gingerbread house built by brooke and her grandpa

Santa inflatable love in our yard

Christmas tree, which B helped to decorate

my sleeping angel.. i would say this is when she's the quietest, but she talks a lot in her sleep and occasionally yells at her daddy while she's dreaming :)

the many faces of potty training

2011-12-04T10:29:00.000-08:00

potty training ... is a very difficult thing to do. i've heard many variations of how to get a little to actually go on the potty, from running water while they sit on the toilet, to letting them run around naked for 2 days straight, to sticker charts, to candy bribes, to just waiting until they're ready, which might not happen for another 6 months. We've been sitting B on the toilet before she bathes for quite some time now and she hasn't done anything on it for about 5 straight months.

Until I decided it was time for some action! We let her run around half naked and on the first day, waited two and a half hours until she had to go, which was rather ridiculous. And she went! And like we promised her, once she went on the toilet, we bought her a fish. Yes, a real live fish. We're now up to about 10 fish now (2 of them have passed away, RIP). She only goes about 1-2 times a day but for right now, that's enough for us.

Little monkey

2011-12-01T16:09:00.000-08:00

As a extremely uncoordinated klutz, I am constantly amazed at how coordinated B is at two and a half. (She definitely inherited it from Vance) I know that a bicycle with training wheels is essentially a tricycle upgrade, and she's been peddling on a tricycle for quite some time now, but I am still impressed that she manages to ride a "bike" at such a young age!

whatta ham!

2011-11-27T16:20:00.000-08:00

See these pictures? I miss this little girl. Currently my girl is sick. She's got a stuffy/runny nose, sore tummy and is just not feeling up to par. I miss the craziness, the inability to stay still, the CONSTANT talking ... I'm sure I'll regret saying that, but oh well :)

We bought and decorated our tree and are ready for Christmas! I've got a few more people to buy presents for but we're almost done. I'm loving all of these sales online-- I always look and want to buy, but never pull the trigger. I get major anxiety spending money, especially on myself. And I'm a chronic buy-then-return consumer. I'm sure most retail stores hate my guts.

Anyway, hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!

happy thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T10:15:00.000-08:00

happy thanksgiving all! right now we're watching the parade on TV, eating eggs and turkey bacon and just r e l a x i n g until we need to eat, eat,eat! I have to say that I am looking forward to my mom's pumpkin crunch! Wish she would make it year round ;)

So thankful for the Lord who has blessed me with a loving husband, the sweetest furbabies, the most amazing family (and in-laws) and the greatest gift, my little lady! i think it's about time we start practicing this 'attitude of gratitude' every single day of the year.

train fail

2011-11-22T16:14:00.000-08:00

there's a train that runs through a mall every holiday season. last year we knew my girl wouldn't do well on it because she's rather clingy and you need to ride the train alone (adults can follow behind it). this year, we weren't sure. we decided to try, so we bought a ticket...

did some photo opps while waiting..

here's the train!

see sassy pants? it's looking good so far!

well, as you can tell, she got on the train. and it started to move. And she was fine. And theeeen, the train stopped (for who knows what reason). And the worker (see above photo) kept talking to b and touching her and b does NOT like to be touched or talked to if she doesn't know you. [she's a strange one, haha] And so ... she insisted on being taken off the train and that was that. oh well. at least we made some progress, right?

Currently: B has some sort of tummy issue and she had a fever last night. I started a massive sore throat last night and didn't get much sleep as the little girl kept waking up crying. It's a rough week thus far.

Here are some pics of the furbabes:

and the infamous long-arm:

Hope everyone is having a great thanksgiving week so far!

peek into our life as of late

2011-11-18T17:18:00.000-08:00

well we've been going to tiny tots, work, trying to do some Christmas shopping (but am hesitant because i haven't seen many sales recently!)

vance and i were both off and were able to take our little to tiny tots

think she'll take after her daddy and go into construction?

zoning out on her tricycle ... she loves to pedal all around the room

see jonah on the top of the hill? he was so afraid to walk down..

vance and brooke had to go up and save him!

walking around target...

playing in nordies ... buying presents for two of brooke's friends ;)

2.5

2011-11-15T16:26:00.000-08:00

Dear Brooke,

Today you turn two and a half.

It's so hard to believe that two and a half years ago we welcomed a beautiful, grey-eyed, bald little girl into the world.

Every day you continue to amaze and inspire daddy and I to be better people. You are so full of light and energy that we are often ready to sleep before you are!

Here are a two things we hope you never, ever change: (1)we never want you to stop being curious about life. Right now you are in the stage of testing boundaries, stretching limits and though we sometimes scold for you for your own safety (and occasionally for your behavior), I hope that you are ALWAYS asking questions, trying to find new adventures, finding fun everywhere you go.

(2)We hope you continue to let go of anger and disappointment quickly. You are the type of kid that throws a massive tantrum -- for 3 minutes -- and is laughing hysterically about something the next second. Please continue to be this resilient when someone breaks your heart, or you are rejected from a job, or anything, really. Life is too short and most people carry their around their anger and bitterness for too long.

All in all, we just love you more than we ever imagined we could. In the past two and half years I've never slept so little, laughed so hard, cried so much, hugged so tightly and dreamed that my heart would be able to hold my love for you. Happy second (and a half) birthday my little love, my monkey ♥

being a mom

2011-11-09T17:05:00.000-08:00

on motherhood

2011-11-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

this is from enjoying the small things -- pretty much my favorite blog ever. love the way she makes everything look like they are having the most fantastic time AND her way with words.

and it dawned on me...all these times we look forward to before we're mothers. the moments we think we'll feel like a mom--like park dates or proudly 'showing off' that wrapped little bundle, birthday parties and art projects...yes, they all define motherhood. and while i feel every bit of mamahood during those happy days, it's the not-so-right times that truly pull out of me the primal mama within. checking temperatures half-awake holding a warm head close. sweeping back tendrils of wispy hair from a hot cheek and kissing sad, heavy eyelids. feeling that painful pull on my heart when the ultrasound tech takes a second look at a questionable area. kissing her tiny helpless body under blue lights in the hospital. comforting her sickness. being needed. sacrificing anything and everything to make them both okay...these are the moments i feel my soul has been matched with its calling. where i know i'm doing exactly what i'm supposed to be doing. for a doctor, it might be the day they are published in the new england journal of medicine. a struggling politician, perhaps the moment they celebrate their election to office. but for me...my 'this is it' moments...they are witnessed by none and felt in the dark...when we're rocking quietly together and our souls are synched. in the middle of the day when everyone's at work, but i am happily glued to the couch, intertwined with my feverish girl. when i don't have all the answers and i don't know what to do...but i sure know how to love. that's when i feel it most. this mom thing. i don't know why or how or when...but i know so deeply how to be a mom because my soul was carved to be one and these littles fit in the hollow of those carved grooves...right in the place of my being that says 'mama.'
the rest, we'll figure out.

thoughts

2011-11-02T18:47:00.000-07:00

this article is so beautiful, and so, so sad.

the whole kardashian 72 day wedding then divorce has really changed my view. . . while i love the drama and their show, it makes me sad to think of all the little girls watching "kim's fairy tale wedding" that resulted in a 72 day marriage. what kind of message does that send? have a fairy tale wedding, then a tumultuous divorce? sad. then i read this article and idk, don't think much of them now. (oh and sue me, i love celebrity gossip and perez hilton)

love this picture and caption

oh, and just a picture of my girl. you know, just because :)

how to: make a spam musubi

2011-11-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

this is kind of a weird post since (1) most people i know from the mainland think spam is disgusting and (2) everyone in hawaii knows how to make a spam musubi, haha. but i thought i'd share just in case someone not from hawaii would look and say, "hey! spam might taste pretty good with rice and seaweed" ;) anyway, before you knock it, you should definitely TRY IT. it's a major staple in hawaii for pot lucks, bbqs, and little kids! You never know, your kids might like it...

What You'll Need:
-White Rice
-Nori Sheets (Seaweed, like the ones to wrap sushi in)
-Shoyu
-Sugar
Spam
-Furikake, if you can find it

Heat up equal parts of shoyu & sugar in a large pan and once hot, let the spam soak in it

Lay the sushi seaweed wrap down. This little rectangular contraption is actually created to make spam musubis, but I'd imagine you can just use your hands.

Pour some rice onto the sheet

Press it down firmly (with your hands if you've got to) so it's nice and compact

If you've got furikake, add it to the rice now

Put the spam onto the rice

Roll it up like a sushi (wet one end of the sheet so that it will stay closed!)

Tada! Super fast, super simple <-- the only kind of thing I'll attempt at making ;) Will you be trying to make this for your kids or is spam still absolutely disgusting??

pumpkin patch 2011

2011-10-30T17:06:00.000-07:00

even though brooke is (almost) 2.5 years old, we've never taken her to the pumpkin patch in hawaii. so when my wonderful in-laws invited us to go, we jumped at the chance although little miss wasn't feeling 100%. pumpkin patches in oahu are DIRTY (literally) and DUSTY and HOT. No cool autumn air, but there was a lot of tradewinds which just created more dirt.

anyone up for a tractor ride?

i guess we waited too long to go because most of the pumpkins were gross, exploded (or imploded, i guess) or eaten by worms. check out the one on the bottom left corner!

3 of them on a mission for the perfect pumpkin

lots o' dirt

more dirt

bad idea to wear slippers to the pumpkin patch. next time i will come prepared. note: no white tees and no slippers!

lil' pumpkin

we're 27 right?

last one

2011-10-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

Tips for Surviving Disney with an (almost) 2.5 year old:
1. Be prepared to spend money. I know this seems like common sense. Everyone warned us how expensive Disney was, but we were still a little flabbergasted at the price of food in Disney. It was like we were eating Ruby Tuesday's or Chili's every night and only getting McDonald or Burger King quality food. Additionally, at one character dining experience, the waitress got our bill wrong and handed us a bill for 2 adults, 2 kids (once over 3, you have to pay for your child's meals) and it was over $100! For breakfast!
2. There are LOADS of things for toddlers to do at Disney (rides, character experiences, Disney Junior shows, parades, fireworks, Toon Town, etc) but it really depends on your little's personality. Had Brooke been afraid of rides and characters, it wouldn't have been a hugely enjoyable time. If she was the type to get overstimulated and overwhelmed easily, again, not so much fun. But she was totally fearless, rididng the Haunted Mansion with only minimal "I'm scared Mommy" and every other ride we must've gone on at least twice (with the exception of Little Mermaid, It's A Small World and Dumbo, which we rode <5 times.)
3. Be prepared to wait in line. A lot. We went in an "off season" so the lines were very tame, about 45 minutes at most. However, that is a loooooong wait for a toddler.
4. Bring your own water bottle. We purchased those with the water filters on the top and it saved it tons of money that we would've spent on bottled water. I've seen people bring in their own food to eat for lunch and snacks, but as an out-of-stater, this was hard for us.
5. We chose to stay a longer time so that we could see and do everything that we wanted to (no way in heck were we paying so much money to get to CA and only stay for 3-4 days and see half of what Disney had to offer!). Staying a longer time also allowed us to go back to the hotel for long naps without feeling rushed.

mickey's halloween party...

2011-10-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

how to spend $70 on a stuffed animal

2011-10-25T17:03:00.000-07:00

just in case you're wondering, my subject title DOES in fact include instructions on how to spend an obscene amount of money on a stuffed animal, which will be thrown in brooke's room when she gets home. and it will probably not be played with very often.

but for the post's sake, let's start from the beginning, in which we had a character breakfast at our hotel

headed to d-land, where it looks like i am racing to get to some ride

oops, have to stop for a photo opp first

ahh, made it to small world. no lines. perfecto.

lots o' waiting in lines

more waiting

and here's what we waited for. no tinkerbell, but a fairy by the name of VIDIA, of whom we had never heard of before.

fun at toon town

ran into pluto-boy (what brooke lovingly calls him)

aaand onto the good part. it is customary (in Japan-- and Hawaii, I suppose) to give money to those going on a trip. a lot of relatives gave brooke money and specified that she spend it on something for herself. so we let her pick what she wanted to buy and it boiled down to spending $25 on a pluto-boy animal, or build-a-bear. here are the instructions:

step 1: let child pick build-a-bear to create their amazing stuffed animal

step 2: allow child to spent FOREVER picking the "right" animal

step 3: select heart to 'stuff' into animal

step 4: dress animal in whatever the child picks-- in our case, ridiculous sparkly sneakers AND rollerskates

step 5: see child's grin when they present you with 'lulu' -- the amazing $70 stuffed dog, complete with mickey mouse ears, sparkly shoes and roller skates

step 6: child leaves lulu with parents while wandering off to play on something else

step 7: tadaaaaaa!

Are you ready for the mad load of pictures?

2011-10-23T19:40:00.000-07:00

We're back! (said in the most unexcited, unenthusiastic tone ever) Are you ready for the mad load of pictures from our Disney trip? I hope so! I've tried to narrow the pictures down a bit, but Vance was the photographer for a majority of the time this trip and he took a LOT of pictures! We had the most amazing time ... went on a trillion rides, watched the parades and shows and met a lot of characters. I'll try to break it down day by day and apologize if I bore you!

Our flight was at 8 in the morning, which means we had to wake up at 4am. Not fun. We enjoyed a big cup of iced white mocha (oh and I get it nonfat but with whip and the workers always look at me like I'm crazy. Is it comparable to eating whoppers at Burger King but ordering a Diet Coke? Because I do that too...)

Bmonster wanted a sip of Starbucks too :(

We're in LA! When in LA, dress like a celebrity

Love his eyes

The amazing view from our room of California Adventures

Downtown Disney dress up!

Up and at em for day 2! I love these water bottles with the filters at the top-- saved us so much money!

Photo op at Grand Californian

Disney Junior Live on Stage!

Monsters Inc.

Little Mermaid Ride-- we went on this at least 8 times. My goodness.

Riding the Caterpillar Train in A Bug's Land

Ran into this mouse

Waiting in line ... they say that October is the "off" season, man, I'd hate to think of what is the "on" season. Lines must be crazy!

♥

Yeah churro!

After watching the parade, we first rode the circus train..

Ran into this guy in ToonTown

How sassy is she?!

Pinocchio's Journey

We're here!

2011-10-16T14:38:00.000-07:00

Source: fathobbit.ca via Jessica on Pinterest

We made it! After a five hour flight, 2 major meltdowns on the plane & a 1 hour shuttle, we arrived. Needless to say, Brooke was exhausted but ready to go. Last night we went to Downtown Disney and had the harsh reality of Disney on a Saturday night. After hitting up ALL the restaurants and either (1) being told they were only accepting reservations or (2) waiting 1.5 hours for a table, we ate some cardboard-like pizza and squeezed our way through crowds to walk around. People at Disney are crazy. They certainly only look out for themselves. We have been pushed, bumped into and banged into without even a "sorry" or "scuse me." Guess we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

Today we walked around Downtown Disney, watched Disney Junior live on stage, rode rides and are finally taking a little rest. It is so exciting to be able to take my girl to meet Mickey and Minnie while she really and truly believes they are real. It is so magical to see things through her eyes ... Makes me feel like a kid again. Anyway, I'll be blogging from the iPad (so really limited) C ya real soon! (couldn't help myself)

Source: finance.varolmak.com via Lori on Pinterest

While we are gone, could you keep voting for us?

surprise, surprise

2011-10-13T17:54:00.000-07:00

my in-laws turned the big 5-0 this year and my sister in law and husband decided to throw them a surprise birthday party. unfortunately, the ONE DAY we picked rained-- pretty hard -- and so while it was a gloomy day, it was still a lot of fun.

we asked guests to bring their favorite bottle of wine to share since my in laws love their wine :)

b partook in the fun by drinking her juice in a wine cup

thank goodness we put up a tent!

a la pinterest

haha

handsome hubby drinking his beer out of a mason jar

not entirely sure what's going on here, but it looks like a group hug!

seriously?! can you believe the guests at the party actually FINISHED this bottle of wine?

shop hawaii

2011-10-11T21:51:00.001-07:00

i've lived in hawaii practically my entire life and thought i'd showcase a few pieces from here. i've noticed that tourists go cuckoo for coco puffs for all hawaii things, but typically are rather tacky, tourist-y items that they spend way too much money on. here are a few shops/jewelry/items that are from hawaii, but that either i'd spend money on, or are popular with locals here.

the first is the jewelry by ginger 13. they are sold in boutiques all over hawaii and every time i see their bracelets, i covet one. of course, i haven't pulled the trigger to actually BUY one but aren't they gorgeous? here's the website: ginger13

also, if you could spare a second and vote for us, that would be super awesomesauce. i'm way down :(

aulani

2011-10-10T17:43:00.000-07:00

a few months ago a disney hotel opened up on hawaii and we used my birthday as a reason to go there and experience a character breakfast. part of the reason why we chose a character breakfast was to see how brooke reacted to the characters as a precursor of our disneyland vacay. the hotel is beautiful, but not extremely "disney themed." there are huge pools and water slides but no rides or anything like that.

the entrance

can you spot mickey from afar?

lazy river running through the hotel grounds

waiting in line with grandma to meet mickey!

little girl kept asking mickey, "mickey, where's minnie?"

27

2011-10-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

this past thursday i turned 27 and had a great day with my little family. i awoke to a few presents from v & b, along with a singing card that b loved. here's a picture of one of my presents, free bird is one of my favorite songs ever. (thoughtful of vance, no? he claims that brooke chose it)

my mom and i went to eat lunch at cpk after tiny tots and headed to farrell's for ice cream.

b loved all of the crazy hats they had

when v got home we went out to eat at outback. toasting to a great year

vote?

2011-10-05T18:14:00.000-07:00

hey all,

could you do me a favor and vote for us on top baby blogs? with your help i'd love to be on the first page :) one vote every 24 hours. muchas gracias! (just click the banner below and then click the left owl)

(obsessed) FNL

2011-10-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

Can we stop with the baby pitures/daily life blog posts and talk about crushes. I haven't had a celebrity crush in a.long.time. I've been a big Johnny Depp fan and most recently, a David Beckham fan, but no one, NO ONE gets me like Taylor Kitsch. If you don't know who he is, he plays Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights. I am borderline obsessed with the show and way beyond obsessed with Mr. Riggins. Holy moly. Enjoy the eye candy.

You're very welcome. Who's your latest celebrity crush?

October..

2011-10-02T10:39:00.000-07:00

.. is going to be a good month. I can feel it in my bones. This is really dorky, but I was actually counting down September days, waiting for October. Why is October going to be so freaking amazing?

Wellll, since you asked..

-My birthday is on October 6th. I read somewhere that October 5th is the most popular birthday because it means your parents conceived on New Years. Aaaand I almost vomitted when I read that haha. Any kind of alluding to my parents doing anything sex related makes me want to hurl.
-We leave for our FIRST TRIP OF THE YEAR this month!
-As I previously mentioned, I think I'm throwing my sissy-in-laws gender party
-HALLOWEEN! I love Halloween and I love.love.love autumn. I spent one perfect semester during autumn in a tiny town called Chico, CA on a college exchange. I didn't know anyone and I'd never even heard of Chico before I flew there, haha. And yet it was the perfect semester of college. I will ALWAYS look at that time of my life fondly. 99% of the reason why it was so fun was that my roommates were amazing, loving people. One of whom continues to be one of my best friends, even though she's still there and I'm ... here. Her blogs is one of my favorite ... she and her husband are so adventurous and outgoing ... I love it.
(On another plug, could you please check out my friend's photography site? I think she is so freaking talented and her gift needs to be spread around the internet!)

Aside from all the things I just listed, I am just looking forward to the festive feling of October, the cooler weather (hopefully! It's been so hot here recently) and time with my sweet little family.

Gender Reveal Party

2011-10-01T16:05:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, my sister in law is expecting and I offered to throw a gender reveal party for her. I was expecting to throw it when she was around 20 weeks (she's 11 or 12 right now), but I just got word that she might be able to find out the gender at fifteen weeks. Whaaaat?! So, my plans have to be pushed up a bit. Here are some inspiration pictures I've been looking at. Got anymore to show me? :) I plan to write the baby's name on cupcakes for guests to have, and that way we can "introduce" the baby's name at the same party (she's quite the planner and already got her names!)

Little man

2011-09-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

When I was really, really early in my pregnancy with Brooke, I wished for a little boy. There's just something about little boys that I've always loved. And as soon as I started wishing for a little guy, something inside of me knew (I kid you not) that I was having a little girl. And I get it. I get why everyone loves little girls, I love the dresses and the ruffles and the fact that I get to paint my girl's toenails every week without getting any flack from my husband. She wears stick-on earrings. And her princess skirt and shoes to get frozen yogurt. She carries her Cinderella doll to Walmart and Target and throws tantrums if she can't wear what she wants to. She is in every sense of the term, a mama's girl.

But my sister-in-law, which is the closest to a sister I'll ever get, is PREGNANT. And we don't know what she's having yet. Which means ... she might have a boy. Which means ... I might have a nephew. Which makes me really, really excited.

I mean, who wouldn't be after looking at these pictures?! (if you need links, check out my pinterest, which is where I got all of the pictures.)

4 books

2011-09-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

1) Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

I actually really enjoyed this book. It was full of Chinese culture and heritage. . . some of which were a little uncomfortable to read. Ultimately, it was a story about the love and relationship of two sisters. I even picked up the sequel to this one, Dreams of Joy.Recommend

2. Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger.

This book was okay. Okay. It was a great story to pass time. A light read, something that was enjoyable while I was reading it, but nothing that stayed with me after I finished it.

3. Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner

This book was good. Not amazing, but worth reading the sample, at least. A story about 3 (4?) moms in different stages of motherhood. I would compare it to Babyville by Jane Green, but I preferred that one to this. Recommend at least checking it out.

4. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

So this is another trilogy (trilogies seem to be very in now, huh?) Interesting concept, about how everyone goes through an "ugly" phase (where you live and study in a segregated area), then undergo massive plastic surgery to be transformed into a "pretty," where you live with all the other pretty people, partying and truly enjoying life. Of course, the main character's best friend rebels and leads the main character on a crazy journey. Liked, but didn't pick up the second book. Thought about it though..

Now, I need YOUR help. I am searching for my next book to read and I have no idea where to turn. My favorite types of books to read are chick lit (Jane Green, Sophie Kinsella, etc), BUT I really will give everything a chance. My favorite books include: Tuesdays with Morrie, Kite Runner, A Dog's Purpose, The Art of Racing in the Rain, among others. Any suggestions?

first day of autumm

2011-09-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day of autumn, which is my absolute favorite season of the year. At least while I lived on the mainland, that is. Let me tell you what autumn is like in Hawaii: hot and tropical. As usual. :( Occasionally during "winter" we experience a lot of rain, which is I guess the Hawaiian equivalent to snow? Whatev. It does get cooler during these months and for people like me who were born and raised in Hawaii, we DO use jackets and jeans, haha. When I say "cooler," I mean it gets to the 60s and high 50s (if that). Go ahead and laugh. I'm chuckling a little to myself at how ridiculous I sound.

Aaaaanyway, on the first day of autumn we treated ourselves to a brand spankin' new point and shoot! Not quite advanced enough for a DSLR like all of you wonderful bloggers, but oh well. Here the 3 of us waiting for Best Buy to open. Last picture taken with my old camera. Rest in peace, camera.

Pictures with my new camera! In ~~Toys~~ Tantrums R Us

Then we stopped for lunch at Ichiben ... wonderful ramen goodness.

Hubs ordered fried rice. The little plate on the side is filled with garlic chips. Oh yes.

Went home, took a nap and headed right back out for fro-yo (bet you haven't heard that term in awhile!) Sassy pants insisted on wearing her "princess" skirt

Eat the Street

2011-09-20T17:35:00.000-07:00

Our town held a Eat the Street event, where tons of food trucks lined up for everyone to eat, eat, eat. Unfortunately, it was held at the teeny tiniest little lot, and everyone was so incredibly excited to have such a great event that it was packed. So packed, in fact that we walked around for an hour and a half, bought 3 things and went home to eat McDonalds. That's how we roll.

There was also a flash mob ... which really would have been cool if all the parents of the people performing didn't stand around 10 minutes prior, holding up their video cameras, just waiting for people to start dancing

Oh well. Maybe next time, right?

dear brooke (28 months)

2011-09-18T23:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Brooke,

Last week you turned 28 months. I'm sorry, but whaaaaat?! Did you know that last week we also called to sign you up on a wait list for preschool? I think my heart broke a little bit doing that. Sometimes Daddy and I look at you and we STILL can't believe that we created you. Maybe every parent thinks this, but we look at you and think that you are the most beautiful, amazing person to ever walk the planet.

Maybe you'll look back on this letter and think it's cheesy and mushy, but here's what I know about you at 2 years and 4 months. You are amazingly bright. You pick up things so quickly, it's frightening. You already know your shapes, colors, alphabet and can recognize a majority of the letters. We can hold a conversation with you. You love all furry animals but are terrified of lizards and roaches, which mommy and daddy use to their full advantage (when you don't want to do something, we shout out, "LOOK OUT FOR THE LIZARD!" it's pretty evil, but a little comical nonetheless). You are stubborn. Hard headed. Strong willed. I am 99% sure this makes for tough teenage years, but what I truly hope is that it will also make for ambition and never settling for anything less than what you really want and deserve. You refuse to be pushed into doing something you don't want to do. Everything is on YOUR time, when YOU'RE ready. Please remember that when you start dating :) You'll save daddy a lot of grey hair if you do.

You are shy. Only those closest to you get to see your crazy, vibrant personality, as though it's a secret you want to keep with those you love. You love to snack on junk food, but willingly eat raw broccoli, carrots and fruits. You get bored easily and constantly need to be stimulated by playing outside, going to the playground, playing with blocks. No, you are definitely not one of those toddlers who can quietly play by themselves in their room. You love to run and jump and climb ... to be quite honest, is exhausting, but I'm sure I will appreciate it when we approach your sports playing years. You are your mama's girl through and through, but no one, no one makes you laugh harder than your daddy does. One last thing girly ... in about 7 months you are about to be a big cousin :) We love you little monkey.

For daddies with daughters

2011-09-16T22:06:00.001-07:00

Read this

Garage tea party

2011-09-14T16:13:00.000-07:00

The other day my gal and I had a little tea party. It was supposed to be a picnic, but it was rainy and windy so we turned it into a little garage tea party (a little ghetto). Before you go ahead and say that she would make a great big sister, I should mention that her baby doll was face down on the ground for a good ten minutes until I asked her,"where's baby??" Also... do you like baby's 'high chair?' told you it was ghetto :) One day in the (far) future I will bust out the most adorable Alice In Wonderland tea set I was gifted.

Birthday Wishlist

2011-09-07T17:41:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! So our computer is STILL not fixed and I am struggling to blog on the iPad. I hate that something is wrong with our computer still... Basically I can't comment on anyone's blog (everything shows up except the post comment button) and I can download flash either, which means I couldn't watch church videos or easily read Matchbook Mag (their iPad readability sucks! Turning pages was SO hard)

Anyway, so my birthday is in less than a month (!!) and I thought I'd post a little wishlist a la The Secret, in hopes that by throwing it out into the universe, it might find it's way into my grubby little hands. ;)

I am really into bracelets and have been on the hunt for a cute one for a long time. I really like the idea of Vance (*cough*cough*) buying me something sentimental, something as a good luck charm, or something special from him and Brooke.

The first bracelet is by Jennifer Meyer and it's really pricey, but so cute, right?

I'm also totally in love with these shell bangles, which are really popular in Hawaii. Too bad the strong ones (since the bangle is so dang thin, it has to be really strong or else it will bend easily) are PRICEY-- like, $100 for one! And I think I would want at least 2 so it wouldn't look so incomplete. From this etsy shop

Since I carry such an enormous tote all over (seriously, it fits Vance's ipad, my wallet, phone, Brooke's diapers, water/milk thermos, toys and MORE), I am on the hunt for either a little wristlet to shove into my tote and take out for quick errands or a tiny cross body bag to fit my essentials.

The first two are from Coach

Orrr, like this one

This is from infusion etsy

Also think these totes are so adorable, from Fabric & Handle

Or some small cross-body similar to this from Jcrew

Also totally in love with my Toms and would love them in red ;)

And of course, a gift card to Nordies, Target, Barnes & Noble & Starbucks would be amazeballs :)

Labor Day weekend 2011

2011-09-04T18:31:00.000-07:00

this weekend, for most people is a LONG, relaxing weekend. unfortunately, for our family it wasn't very relaxing nor was it very long! luckily we made the most of it. on friday, vance worked all day so brooke and i waited for him so we could treat ourselves to dinner at outback garden.

calling her daddy

these enormous guys hang out on our rocks and just live outside of our house. brooke is terrified of them!

lava flows from outback steakhouse are amazeballs.

the boy loves his beer though. no fruity cocktails for him.

my sweet, sweet love.

on saturday, daddy worked again so we spent the day at target with grandma and headed over to ichiriki for shabu shabu lunch again.

hot pot goodness!

later that evening, we headed over to ko'olina, where my in-laws and vance's relatives were staying. it was beautiful. i didn't even know that such a gorgeous hotel existed on hawaii! (besides ihilani and possibly the new aulani hotel)

my girl was so very excited to go swimming at night!

the boy and i relaxed on the 'beach/pool' and shared a coors light.

nice & clean, ready to head home. i love her hair down, but it's at that awkward stage where it's constantly in her eyes and it doesn't help that she is so SWEATY all the time!

bye bye beautiful resort!

tomorrow i'll be at work and that's the end of our weekend! hope you all had a wonderful and longer vacation than we had!

It's September?!

2011-09-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

Say whaaaat?! How in the world is it already September? And if it really and truly is the first of September, then WHY is it so freaking hot & humid today in Hawaii? It is miserable. Someone needs to send the hawaiian islands a little notice about something called autumn. That would be amazeballs, thanks.

Anyhoot, we braved the heat to play for about 10 minutes outside.

Little lady got a new pair of kicks for our upcoming trip.

We met up with a bunch of friends at the aquarium the other weekend. I really wish I were a better photographer ... or at least that I wasn't so mindless & scatter-brained and would remember to charge my battery. Got these two pictures and then battery committed camera suicide on me.

As if we needed another reason how lucky we are to live in paradise, snuck these two pictures from our shopping center last week

Snuck one of my cute sassy girl too :)

Lastly, my aunty and uncle bought a new puppy. I'm the biggest animal lover and every time we go to a pet store or the humane society I look at Vance with big round eyes hoping that he'll give into another dog. He always looks at me and says with a very stern voice, "NO." Haha. Anyway, she was nameless for awhile. I kept suggesting different names -- my favorite being Roxanne, nickname Roxy. I also suggested Sadie, Lily, Snookie (Vance's favorite), Petunia and Bailey. All shut down. Finally my aunt decided on Samantha, nickname Sammi. So I'll call her Sammi Sweetheart, for all you Jersey Shore fans ;)

blah

2011-08-30T17:33:00.000-07:00

My computer is still nice and messed up. My amazing blog designer Brooke helped fix my blog. Thank you Brooke! Blog entries are getting shorter and shorter. Hopefully this will stop once it's fixed!

Just thought I'd share where we're headed in about a month and a half or so ... it's our first trip of the year and I couldn't be more EXCITED! Squee!

Re-post

2011-08-28T23:25:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

So I just finished writing this post and when I posted it, it went back to when I first started working on it. Here's the link of my 'newest old' post ;)

Click here

Quickly..

2011-08-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

...trying to blog. Our computer was unknowingly filled with viruses, so we had my dad wipe it out and start over again. Well, even after we started over, certain pages are not loading and it is much slower than before. It is in need of some serious TLC.

Just wanted to share this image from pinterest .. I have been thinking about it a lot recently.

this weekend

2011-08-21T17:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend was quite the Brooke-weekend ... everything we did was toddler friendly and fun. She was one lucky girl!

Started it off by having dinner at Brooke's friends house, Jonah. His mom made shabu shabu for everyone and it was ah-mazing. Oh my goodness!

Then we headed to the mall so sassy pants could play at 808 bounce, a store filled with bouncy houses. It wasn't open when we got there, so we had to wait quite a bit. Here she is cheesin' for the camera, ~~patiently~~ waiting for it to open

Finally opened! What the heck is Vance doing in there?! Haha, he looks like a little kid.

Headed to Toys R Us to look at toys ... any other moms think that Toys R Us should be re-named "Tantrums R Us?"

Then yesterday our town shopping center held an anniversary celebration. This lion dance, which was meant for good luck (or good fortune?) scared the BEEJEEZUS out of my sassy pants. She was literally shaking while Vance was carrying her!

One of the best parts of the celebration? Free shave ice!

Yummmmm. (If you're ever in Oahu, check out Matsumoto's, Aoki's, Waiola's or Aiea Ice Garden for amazing shave ice. And get it with ice cream, mochi balls and snow cap!)

Sassy girl's first taste of shave ice

Balloon twisters ... how insanely elaborate is this Mickey Mouse?!

dear me,

2011-08-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

a letter to myself, PB (pre-Brooke or pre-baby)

Dear Me,

Boy oh boy you are in for a wild ride. Your little girl (who was nameless for 9 months because you INSISTED on continuing to look for a name even though Vance had been dead set stuck on Brooke for about 4 months straight) is going to arrive and totally rock your world. In the absolute best way possible of course.

You will get fat. You will take your pregnancy as a chance to eat everything and anything in sight and you will feel fat and unattractive for 9 months. You will hate how pregnancy makes you look and feel because let's be honest, you've never gained 40 pounds in 9 months before. People will tell you that it's 'healthy' for the baby, and while you know that cognitively, you will have a hard time adjusting to your new body. In fact, the more you gain, the more depressed you feel and the more you eat. Now you finally understand the vicious cycle that many people battle in their lifetime.

When she does arrive, you will look at her and realize that yes, she has been a Brooke the entire time and that Vance was right. You will stare at the first real newborn you have ever held, the first diaper you have ever changed, the first baby bath you've ever given and you will think I can't believe you are finally here and so it was you all along. You will endure sleepless nights and feel like a zombie for 2 months straight. You and Vance will move your bedroom downstairs into the living room because Brooke has her days and nights mixed up and you don't want to wake up the neighbors in a townhouse. Every night you will both set your phone alarms and look at each other and say, "see you in 3 hours" and crash on the mattress next to each other. You will realize two years later that those were some of the most peaceful and sweet moments.

Your marriage will take a hit. Not at first right away, but you will take time adjusting to being a threesome instead of a couple and it will be hard. You will spend countless hours awake at night thinking did I marry the wrong person? Perhaps I would be happier with _____ or better yet, perhaps I would be happier single. And this is a mistake. You are going to see that couples really DO fight over changing the diaper genie and washing the dishes, but that those fights aren't really about trivial things like that but rather about needs that are unmet, disappointments and different expectations. It will take you months to realize that God does not make mistakes. That he makes ALL things beautiful in HIS time. And instead of feeling sorry for yourself and finding faults with your husband, perhaps you should take the time to pray for patience, to pray for the man sleeping next to you.

You will realize that marriage is just a piece of paper between two people, that the vows you took can easily be broken with the dreaded "d" word (divorce) and you will think selfish, selfish thoughts. You will look at celebrities who are divorced and found love the second time around and think that could be me. You will forget about the bond you once shared, the early days of laying awake all night together, talking and dreaming about your future.

It will take you time to come to terms with the fact that this is exactly right where you need to be. The right person, the right time, the right circumstances. That the Lord is teaching you a lesson in every situation. Not enough money this month? Maybe he is saying appreciate what you already have. Vance is angry again? Have patience. I am sculpting him to be the husband & father he needs to be. Maybe these hardships of marriage will only forge a closer bond, for we have both disappointed each other far more than we ever thought we would (or could) and chose to stay together.

Your friendships will change. How could they not? You have nothing in common with these girls anymore -- what with them going out every night, just starting a new career, a new relationship. They simply don't understand the importance of a routine in a baby's life, or how valuable a NAP is or why your toddler can't sit still in a high chair for longer than 10 minutes. Why, just a few short months before, YOU didn't understand any of that either.

But, you are extremely blessed. Your friends may not understand you and your new life, but it turns out it doesn't really matter. That some of them love your child like it's their own. That they don't judge you and are actually willing to listen to you talk about things that they just don't get, like the pains of nursing or co-sleeping with your baby.

The really important ones will make the time to see you, to talk to you. They will ask what's going on with Brooke and really listen for the answer. They'll boast to their families about how smart Brooke is partly because they've never been around another 2 year old, but also just because they're honestly proud. And one day in the future I will be able to look at their tired faces, the dark circles under their eyes and say possibly the best two words to say to a friend: I understand.

And what's even greater is that your friends will start expanding their families. You will get to love on their kids like they're your own. Even though you will still be incredibly awkward around kids after having your own it doesn't matter.

You'll make new friends, too. Friends that have babies and that DO understand what it's like to stay up all night with a sick baby and have to function the next day. You'll see that playdates aren't as bad as they sound and they can actually be a lot of fun once you see your kid love your friends' kids.

Oh, and by the way your aunty was totally and completely right when she asked you, "are you going back to work after you have a baby?" and you IMMEDIATELY answered "yes, I can't imagine anything worse than being a stay at home mom." She looked at you for a little bit and said, "wait until your baby is born. You might change your mind." She was right.

Now you can't imagine being away from your girl. You can't imagine anyone better to raise her, nurture her and be there for her to kiss away the tears when she's hurt. You can't see someone else witnessing your baby's first steps, her first words, the first time she uses the potty all by herself (which hasn't happened yet!)

What still surprises you to this day is how right everything feels at this moment. Maybe this life wasn't what you had in your "life plan," but God knows exactly what He is doing. Now you finally truly get the importance of being a FAMILY. Now you finally understand that babies-- every baby, from virtually every circumstance-- is a BLESSING. And now, more than ever, you are determined to make sure that your girl does not come from a broken home.

You will change drastically in the next two years. The main lessons you've learned? Love the people in your life. Be grateful and thankful for every moment, experience, person.

Be happy for this moment; this moment is your life
-Omar Khayyman

randomness on a wednesday

2011-08-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

first of all, let me say that i have been waiting for season 5 dexter to come out on dvd for a long, long time. well, it feels like a long time at least. one of my best friend's bought vance & i season 1 of dexter for christmas when it first came out and it took me forever to get into the show. i thought it was dark and creepy and not at all my stye. until i sat down to watch it one day and i was hooked. it's on in the background as i type this and i am so very happy! (except the introduction to the show still gives me the creeps a little bit) oh and side note here, but i love the name dexter and the nickname dex :)

another dexter is going to be in the movie one day. i read the book recently and honestly, thought it was o-k. not the greatest in my opinion. very choppy and i felt a little incomplete, but i do think they could make a good movie out of it.

the hubs and i went to see the help a few nights ago. i am a little bit obsessed with the way the characters were dressed. and the cast was spot-on. hilly holbrook and celia rae foote?! amazeballs. the entire movie was great. they changed a little bit, but i guess that was expected.

vance's aunty makes the best cupcakes. they are chocolate cupcakes (soooo moist) with peanut butter frosting ... YUM!

my little girl showing off her dimples

for my mother-in-law's birthday we had diy pizza. it was absolutely amazeballs. vance said his aunty said the secret was to get good pizza sauce.

my loves.

from pinterest, i think this is totally hilarious & true.

We went back to the beach ...

2011-08-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

for my sister-in-law's 25th birthday party. It was a beautiful day, but quite windy which caused 2 tents to break. Other than that, it was a lot of fun!

How lucky we are to live here:

Sassy girl loved playing in the sand.

& she actually went in the water today (multiple times!)

taking a juice break

eating edamame

blowing bubbles

boys playing portugese horseshoe

the birthday girl and her brother

happy quarter of a century to my wonderful, fabulous sister in law!

Happy birthdayyyyy!

2011-08-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

My mother-in-law's birthday was on Monday and I captured this birthday message from my lil' gal :)

Flashback dinner

2011-08-08T16:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I left Vance and Brooke at home and scurried off to join my friends at our high school, where they had a food & drink event. Tickets sell out quickly and we were lucky to have bought them early enough to get a seat! The food was okay -- would have been a lot more enjoyable if I liked fish, as most of the chefs chose to make fish dishes or raw fish things, but the wine & the cupcake/desserts were delicioso!

It was so very nice to get out at night with my girls. As we walked around the campus for one of the first times since I graduated high school, I realized how lucky we were to have attended there! So beautiful ...

Because it's summer ...

2011-08-06T17:12:00.000-07:00

I am enjoying this summer immensely and I hope you all are too! My mom is retired, I have a small break before work and my girl is her silly, sweet self. Here are some pinterest images that I am loving as well as some pictures from our summer:

This made me think of a quote from one of my favorite books, The Help: "Because ain't that white people for you, wondering if they are happy enough" While the book is about race and the difference (or lack thereof) between the races, it made me think that it could easily be applicable to our society today ... people walking around asking if they are happy enough, do they have enough, what more can they attain so that they will FINALLY be happy.

I love this quote. I sincerely wish our pastor would have read this aloud at our wedding ceremony.

Brooke & I have started praying before we fall asleep. I hope to memorize and teach this one to her (trying to find easy prayers for her to memorize)

& this is my absolute favorite. I want to print this and hand it to Brooke when she's in her moody teenage years ;)

Other summer endeavors include bright orange nail polish on chubby feet:

Long, sleepy eyelashes

Hot afternoons at the park

Juice drinking to cool down...

OOTD: Baby style

2011-08-03T16:57:00.000-07:00

I've seen a lot of OOTD posts and while I'm not quite ready to do a post like that (still feel like a huge noob in front of the camera), I thought I'd show what the sassy girl is wearing these days.

Top: Baby Gap
Shorts: Children's Place
Shoes: SF Chinatown

my heart

2011-07-31T16:16:00.000-07:00

... is overwhelmed with love right now. As my mom and I came home from lunch today, Brooke fell asleep in the car as she always does and Vance scooped her up to put her in bed for her nap and I just felt ... overwhelmed. She is so, so big now. A ~~walking~~ running, jumping, sentence-talking, alphabet singing (kind of), stair climbing, counting to 20 (minus 14-16 .. more on that later) TODDLER. A little person.

Btw, look how amazingly tall my girl is! Clearly she does not get it from me.

I remember when our ~~nights~~ days (they would have been nights if sassy pants hadn't had her days and nights mixed up) were like this:

Now they look something more like this:

Little girl can pedal her on her own now! Amazeballs.

She used to look like this:

Then this:

Then this:

And now she looks like this:

She would eat soft things with no taste that melted in her mouth

Now she eats everything under the sun (except during breakfast/lunch/dinner, in which case she is Picky McPickerstein and only wants to eat noodles or rice)

I am just struck today by how incredibly BLESSED I am to have this little person in my life. This little girl who enriches me, challenges me and fills my with a love I didn't even know existed. I never, EVER want to be one of those parents who treat their children as though they are an inconvenience, or those that only show their affection in the privacy of their own home. I am so proud that she is my own. Oh, and it's an extra bonus to have this guy too:

Can you tell how much weight Vance has lost?!

Little lady,
Please don't grow up too quickly. You are easily the most amazing thing that I have ever -- or will ever do-- in my life and I can only thank the Lord above that you were given to us. ♥

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!

2011-07-28T17:40:00.000-07:00

Today's Tiny Tots adventures took us to the zoo. Vance, Brooke and I are unfortunately NOT zoo people-- Brooke and Vance are always hot and sweaty, unless it's air conditioned and cold to everyone else's standards. So to place the two of them in the zoo in the middle of the July ... it was rather crazy to say the least.

The first animal that caught our eyes were the monkeys. I've always thought monkeys were cute little animals that said, "ooh ah ah!" but these guys were literally SCREAMING at each other.

here's Brooke's reaction:

Then we spotted a playground and it was all over

Then headed into the Keiki Zone, where we saw Llama, Llama, Red Pajama:

Billy goats

Some big fish

Peacocks (so beautiful! These guys are just wandering freely around the zoo. Vance and I spotted two little boys chasing one around and I wanted to yell at them so badly. Grrrr)

Giraffes

Good thing Daddy came with us because I couldn't lug Sassy Pants around the zoo anymore for longer than 5 minutes!

My family ♥

Then we left to eat lunch in a comfortable AC, covered room. We chose to try a new restaurant (well, new to us at least)

Loco Moco

Mac-Attack

Sassy pants!

HAHA me half-bite and Brooke cheering about something

Then she tried out some funky chairs outside. I didn't realize how disgustingly dirty they were until I uploaded my pictures. YUCK!

a few thoughts on the media

2011-07-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

crystal harris, you are pure EVIL. You have somehow made sweet old hugh hefner (who admittedly, is not an angel of any kind) look like a poor old heartbroken man and yet you are STILL taking stabs at him and talking about your sex life! have you no morals AT ALL?!

jesse james & kat von d split whaaaaaaat?! i really thought they were going to have a fairy tale wedding and live happily ever after! pfffft.

not new news of any sort, but still so very sad that amy winehouse has passed away. true, she may have had alcohol and drug problems in the past, but that does not take away from the fact at how truly talented she was as an artist. and from what celebrities are reporting (since i didn't personally know her, i have to go off of what others say), she was a very sweet and kind person, which seems very rare in hollywood.

j.lo & marc anthony split. . . the only thing i have to ask is: which hollywood couples are still married? what kind of role models where there be for our children and their marriages? i know, i know, the best example to set is the one of our own marriage, but when youngsters look elsewhere, it seems that marriage is just a fleeting relationship.

i'm pretty sure that kim kardashian suing old navy is just proving to the public that she is famous ... for absolutely no reason. i don't even understand the lawsuit and i lost a little respect for kim kardashian when i read the news.

what do you all think about the media lately?

the weekend

2011-07-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

First things first, today is the boy's birthday. He turns the ripe young age of 27. And now we can officially sing the Happy Birthday song to someone on their birthday. Sassy pants is obsessed with the song and as a family, we've sang to Buddy, Zoe, the pillows, the car, the road and to our house. And every time she sings it she asks, "birthday cake? Umm, candles?" Haha!

Anyway, happy birthday to the only boy in my life. Thanks for giving our family a reason to sing the happy birthday song with candles and a cake :)

The weekend was long and filled with food and fun. I am officially exhausted.

Sassy pants hidden amongst tons of pillows in Costco

Riding the choo choo train with grandma at the mall

She took her job of waving to people very seriously

Lunch ♥

Playing with daddy's new toy

I finally got a haircut on Saturday and it feels so nice and clean :) We walked around the mall and at lunch at one of my favorite places, Nordstrom Cafe.

Sassy pants not looking too happy

& today while Daddy is out golfing, grandma, little lady and I went to see Sesame Street live. Brooke was so very excited in the beginning and I seriously almost cried tears of joy seeing her so happy!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Wishlist: Hub's version

2011-07-21T17:07:00.000-07:00

Vance will turn 27 on Sunday & I thought it'd be pretty fun to do a little wishlist on his behalf. I didn't consult with him on this wishlist (ha!) so this is what *I* think the boy would enjoy.

1. A new watch. This is a big maybe because he already owns, like 3 watches, and he never wears them. But he loves himself some Nixon watches and even gave them away as groomsmen gifts for our wedding.

2. An Ipad cover for his new toy. Lucky boy, right? I know that he wants this particular cover, but it is coming up much cheaper on my amazon searches than when I went into the apple store to price it.

3. A gift card to apple so he can buy apps on his new toy.

4. New sunglasses. Again, not sure if he would want this exact one, but he is notorious for wearing Von Zipper glasses. All.the.time. And he claims his eyes "hurt" if he's out in the sun w/o sunglasses. Drama queen?

4. Ocean cologne from Bath & Body Works. His newest scent that he loves.

Previous scent

5. New clothes. The boy has been dropping weight and a lot of his clothes are too big. He loves t-shirts by the brand Obey & most Urban Outfitters shirts.

6. A new leather belt

7. Anything golf related

8. Anything Colts related. He loves his TWO t-shirts that he owns & likes getting Colts memorabilia.

9. MONEY for our upcoming trip, work on his tattoo ... etc, etc

And who said boys were hard to buy for? ;)

Nerd-ville

2011-07-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

Did you all get a chance to see the last Harry Potter? Vance and I watched it the other night (the first movie we've been to in about TWO YEARS and may i just say ... why are movies so effing expensive?! Dinner [nachos & a hot dog], popcorn, drinks and tickets for $40?! I don't think so! Anyway, I can't believe it's all over. I've been reading HP since I was in high school and I'm a huge Potter-head, and you can call me a nerd and I won't even care. :)

Anywho, these images are all from my pinterest, if you need the information. Everytime I try to embed the images, it messes up the layout.

Not against Twilight at all, but I have to admit that I laughed at this!

May need this in my house

Adding this to my wishlist...

&hearts;

happy

2011-07-17T16:58:00.000-07:00

Even though my little girl has been a little ... temperamental, to say the least, it seems to be subsiding. She haas been quite the good girl recently and I am enjoying it and crossing my fingers that it lasts. Sassy pants turned 2 years and 2 months on friday and we had a great day at the Discovery Center with our friends Aunty Melissa and baby Adrian.

I hope the two of them grow up to be great friends so Melissa & I can have lots more playdates in the future ;)

Peekaboo!

Then we went to City Mill to buy things to hang a new swing for the little girl. She enjoyed her lollipop and talked to the "Old Man" (the cashier). Pretty embarrassing ... she actually looked at him, then looked at me and asked, "what's the old man doing?"

These puppy eyes are DANGEROUS!

Little lady loves her new swing. She is so happy in these pictures, they are by far my favorite pictures of her this year.

I know, blurry, but I love how tiny she looks!

Date Night

2011-07-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

The other night the hubs and I dropped Brooke off at my mom & dad's and went out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a belated anniversary celebration and it was so nice to not have a little toddler fussing during dinner or throwing a tantrum.

While we were waiting for a table, the hostess told me that if we didn't mind, we could sit at the high top tables (near the bar) and it was first come, first serve. Vance and I waited on one side of the entrance near the bar and a family of 4 came behind us, directly looked at us acknowledging that we were waiting for a table (FIRST!), then proceeded to go around the other entrance and steal a table before us! I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT.

One of my weaknesses is that I often let people walk all over me, that I don't speak up for myself and complain about it later, but seriously, what good would it have done to tell those people off? Anyway, I'm just curious how you folks react in situations like those: when you get cut in front of in line, when someone steals something from right under you, when you have poor customer service in a store or restaurant ...

Other than that incident, it was an enjoyable night

Hubs is totally sunburnt. Boy doesn't know the meaning of sunscreen. Can't wait until someone introduces him to the idea.

BBQ Chicken Salad

Pasta Da Vinci

SUPER random!

2011-07-13T17:33:00.000-07:00

I feel like it's been awhile since I last blogged, but I'm kind of going through a blogger lull. Not sure why, but I'm hoping it passes soon. I titled this one SUPER random! because that's what sassy girl has taken up to saying. Everything out of the little girl's mouth nowdays is "SUPER yeah! Super yes! Super no! Super cool! Super awesome!" It's pretty cute and I think we can thank Ni Hao Kai Lan for the latest vocab.

Sassy pants and I sporting our new shoes

Loving this from Pinterest

Have you heard of the book Battle Hymn Of the Tiger Mother? Well, her daughter started a blog and she's extremely eloquent and it's an interesting blog. Sad to think bout the flack that she and her sister have to take for their mother's book.

Recently been totally in love with country songs... I listen to it all throughout the day. Here are some that I'm loving with really old pics of Vance and I (since most of them are love songs)

All those things that you used to do, that made me fall in love with you .. remind me
Carrie Underwood & Brad Paisley: Remind Me

If you'll be my soft and sweet
I'll be your strong and steady
You'll be my glass of wine
I'll be your shot of whiskey
You'll be my sunny day
I'll be your shade tree
You'll be my honeysuckle
I'll be your honey bee
Blake Shelton- Honey Bee

Well it's a winding road when you're in the lost and found. You're a lover, I'm a runner ...we go 'round 'n 'round and I love you but I leave you, I don't want you but I need you. You know it's you who calls me back here
Zac Brown Band: Colder Weather [Oh, how I love you Zac Brown Band]

Terrible Two's

2011-07-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

I really, really hate that saying. Just because it sounds, well, TERRIBLE! It sounds awful to say and that's not at all what I think about my little girl. But her behavior recently? Not the greatest. Yesterday was overwhelming, tantrums after tantrums over the tiniest little details and while some parents might "let it go" and just "let the kid do what she wants to", they were basic things like changing clothes, brushing hair, brushing teeth that ended up in the meltdown central of 2011. And I'm sorry, but I strongly feel that if I set a precedent of allowing Brooke to "do what she wants to do," then it will kick me in the rear end the next time I need her to do it.

So we changed clothes. Tantrum. We brushed hair. Tantrum. We brushed teeth. Tantrum. And we sighed and started the morning over again.

So here's my question for you: does the terrible two's last the ENTIRE YEAR while they are two? And what did you do to help your kid through this rough stage of life? I know it's not enjoyable for her either, what with all the crying and screaming involved. My goodness. Vance and I want to raise a healthy, independent, kind and well-behaved little girl and we need advice (help) on how to do this. No, we don't expect her to behave in ALL circumstances and in every situation, but for the most part, yes, we do expect her to behave. It is important to us that she learns now that she can't do everything she wants to do (when she wants to do it), and she can't have everything she wants to have and it is not acceptable to have a screaming fit because of this fact.

I read a bunch of blogs and either (1) no one is admitting that their child is going through this stage, or (2) you all have angel children who never throw tantrums. And it would make me really sad if the overwhelming answer is number 2.

Book Reviews

2011-07-08T17:24:00.000-07:00

Vance always tells me how crazy I am because I finish books in 1-2 days. Then I pick up the next book and I read. And read. And if it's good enough, I don't take breaks and I don't want to do anything but finish the book. Here are two books that I recently read and fell in love with.

1. The Glass Castle. It's a memoir by Jeannette Walls, but is so absolutely ridiculous that I had to check twice to see if it was a true story. It's gripping (I've always wanted to use that word in a book review!), intriguing and just overall, a good story. If you are looking for a good read that is NOT chick lit in any way, shape or form, please check this book out!

2. Same Kind Of Different As Me. This is an amazing book about faith and what the power of faith and the Lord can do in one's life. I purchased this ebook because it was on the 'steals and deals' section, but I am so glad I did. It's not specifically a book about faith, or the type of book that tell you how to live and what you can do in order to change your life around. Rather, it's a story about a couple believed and trusted in the Lord and chose to serve others ... and it made me rethink everything I do, made me rethink how I interact with those I encounter, made me appreciate all that I have. amazing book.

Today

2011-07-07T17:42:00.000-07:00

My mom, my girl and I ate here:

It's a Japanese restaurant where you cook everything in a broth that is located on your table. It's known as "shabu shabu" and it is absolutely delicious. It was my first time trying this kind of food and I loved it.

The entrance of the restaurant -- the tables are located in little cubicle-like seating

One table

Sassy pants exploring

The 'stove' where you cook your own food

Broth (my mom's on the upper part of the bowl) and mine on the lower part [mines was a little spicy]

The food -- vegetables, chicken, mushroom and ground pork/chicken-- you dump all of this ito the boiling broth and it cooks on its own. Deeeelicious!

Cooking

Oh, absolutely amazing. I can't wait to go back and take Vance to try it!

You did WHAT to the dog?!

2011-07-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I went shopping with my mom and Brooke and left Vance at home. He had plans to get his haircut and that was all. Driving home I received a picture of hair and a message that said, "Uh oh I got carried away cutting Buddy's hair!"

You guys. My husband.cut.a.mohawk.on.the.dog's.hair. I canNOT believe he did this. I'll just let the pictures speak for themself. And I will say this: if looks could kill, Vance would have been dead and buried the moment I spotted Buddy.

FOR SALE!

2011-07-04T23:10:00.000-07:00

Hey there! Vance and I are currently in purging mode around our house in an effort to live more simply. I have already sold a few handbags and I have realized that really, I can only use ONE handbag at a time. Therefore, I have decided to sell my Marc by Marc Jacobs Classic Q Little Ukita. It was purchased in January from Nordstrom and is in "like new" condition. There are no scratches or marks on the exterior of the bag, it comes with two straps (one shoulder strap and a detachable messenger strap that is also adjustable)

It is a gorgeous bag, it just doesn't fit what I need at the moment (diapers, wipes, wallet, toys, sippy cup, etc, etc) and so it just sits in my closet sadly.

It retails for $398.00 at Nordstrom (which is what I paid for it), and I'm selling it for $300.00. Let me know if you're interested, or email me at lori.eiko@gmail.com . Here is the link to the Nordstrom reviews of the purse

4th of July weekend

2011-07-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th everyone! I'm loving this long weekend and it's been quite eventful and yet at the same time, relaxing! Last night we had a luau at Grandpa Ron's house, isn't his view beautiful?

Meet Navajo and Saks ... Brooke loved them. They are so well-behaved but Navajo (the black one) is still a little intimidating for me!

Modeling her new shoes

Little lady's new shoes (Native brand from Nordstrom)

another dinner at Grandpa Ron's

The fam and I ventured over to Winward Mall to change up our scenery and spotted hairless guinea pigs at the pet store ... first off, they are the ugliest little things I have ever spotted (and yet manage to be somewhat loveable) and do you see the man parts on this guy?! Yowzas!

While we were at Winward Mall, we were randomly seated near Jess and her family. Brooke and Rowan were instant friends. Cute, right?

Yesterday . . .

2011-07-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

. . . was one of those days. One of those days where NOTHING goes right and just when you think all of the bad things that can happen in a day have passed, another bad thing happens. Please don't get me wrong, it wasn't a tragic, heartbreaking day and nothing awful happened, but rather a sequence of a bunch of small things that added up to one long day.

First off? Took sassy girl to the park so she could "weeeee!" All was going well, playing with some other kids, chasing each other around the playground when this little boy starts chasing Brooke and she takes off like a cheetah. And she didn't stop. Not even when her mommy started calling her to STOP and her mommy started walking towards her, her voice getting a little more stern and let's keep it real, pissed off. What didn't help was that this little boy kept chasing her and his mommy was laughing and Brooke kept running and I was shooting daggers at his mommy, like "do you not hear me trying to get my kid to stop running?!" It wasn't until they were both about 100 yards (I kid you not) from the playground that the little boy stopped and I was able to catch up to Brooke and give her a very stern scolding and we went straight home because little girls who do not listen to their mommy do NOT get to continue playing on the playground.

Then we got home and one of these monkeys below vomitted in our storage room, which is where they hang out when we're out. Wonderful. Cleaned the vomit, resumed the day.

Next, as we're eating lunch (it was a chicken mcnugget day because by then I was frazzled and irritated and in no mood to make something), little lady spits up quite a bit of milk. It wasn't enough to qualify as a vomit, but it was definitely more than I normally see. One stuffed animal in the trash, change of clothes. Toddler is not happy.

Picture is deceivng right?

Sassy girl goes down for her nap and wakes up an 1.5 hours later and starts drinking her juice and coveniently spills 1/3 of her cup on our beige carpet. FRUIT PUNCH ON THE BEIGE CARPET. Meanwhile she's telling me, "it's okay Mommy," which is what she does when she's done something wrong and doesn't want to be scolded for it.

Theeeeen, I catch sassy girl spraying her water bottle (which grandma gave her to play with-- it was good fun up until this point) at the TV in the back room. I have no words.

In conclusion? It was a long day. But I woke up today to a smiley, cheerful toddler. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the dogs aren't vomitting (yet). And if they do, Vance is home to clean it (ha!) It's a new day. New beginning. Happy July :)

Also, if you've got a second, d'you think you could vote for us? We've dropped 5 spots in the past few days. Also, I'm shameless. The end.

In my purse: toddler must-have's

2011-07-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

Hey all! I thought it'd be interesting to share what's in my purse that's toddler friendly. Currently I'm using my Kate Spade tote I posted awhile back and I love it. I love how it's so roomy and cleans up nicely and doesn't look anything like a baby bag but fits everything I need. In fact, I love it so much I've gone a little loco for totes. There are some really cute ones on sale right now at Kate Spade in fact.

For what it's worth, here are some links of totes that I'm loving:
Anya Hindmarch (too cute, right?)
M Z Wallace
Jonathan Adler totes (they are ALL so cute)
LAMB

Anyyyyway, in my enormous tote I typically carry:

1. Wet Ones to clean up sassy girl's face & hands after lunch since she refuses to wear a bib

2. BabyGanics Alcohol Free Foaming hand sanitizer. I love that it's alcohol free. I admit that I do use the Bath & Body Works hand sanitizer too (which has alcohol), but this is my first pick.

3. Thermos Funtainer. We have about 3 of these, I think. In fact, most of Brooke's friends at Tiny Tots have variatios of these thermos containers.. they do the best job of keeping milk & juice cool while we're playing at the park or walking around somewhere.

4. Sassygirl loves these Yo drops I picked up from Babies R Us. They're like freeze-dried little yogurt bites and she loved them! We'll have to get some soon.

Please, please share what are your toddler must-haves that are easily portable? It's summer and I don't want to stay home too much so please share! :)

Bon Dance

2011-06-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

One of our good friend's invited us to meet them at a Bon Dance the other weekend and since we had never taken Brooke, of course we agreed. If you've never heard of a bon dance, here is some information.

This is the set-up

How amazing is the sky in this picture?

One of the main reasons Vance & I like to go to festivals and whatnot is the food. Andagi are Okinawan donuts ... most people in Hawaii love 'em, but I'd much prefer a glazed donut, thank you very much.

Here's what they look like:

Little girl played on the ropes and poles while her mommy and daddy scoured the different food ... we ended up with andagi and freshly pounded mochi yummmm!

She did score a little soda can lantern with an LED light inside... these pictures just look like a soda can attached to a stick (which it essentially is), but when it's dark and the 'lantern' is lit up, it's really cute

The great thing about bon dances is that you can jump in and follow along with the little old Japanese women dressed to the nines in their beautiful kimonos. Here we are watching, waiting to join ...

Book review: What Alice Forgot

2011-06-28T16:16:00.001-07:00

I just finished reading this book and I really, really enjoyed it. It was an easy read, not as light-hearted as Jane Green or Sophie Kinsella, but still falls under "chick lit" in my Nook Color.

The plot (from amazon): "Alice Love is twenty-nine years old, madly in love with her husband, and pregnant with their first child. So imagine her surprise when, after a fall, she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! she HATES the gym!) and discovers that she's actually thirty-nine, has three children, and is in the midst of an acrimonious divorce.

A knock on the head has misplaced ten years of her life, and Alice isn't sure she likes who she's become. It turns out, though, that forgetting might be the most memorable thing that has ever happened to Alice."

I'd actually read a similar book to this recently, but this one was written much better and the characters were better developed.

My favorite quote from the book: That was like comparing sparkling mineral water to French champagne. Early love is exciting and exhilarating. It's light and bubbly. Anyone can love like that. But love after three children, after a separation and a near-divorce, after you've hurt each other and forgiven each other, bored each other and surprised each other, after you've seen the worst and the best-- well, that sort of love is ineffable. It deserves its own word"

Overall: Recommend. At least check out the "sample" :)

pool day

2011-06-26T23:26:00.000-07:00

This past week at Tiny Tots was a park day (tuesday) and a pool day (thursday). Vance was thankfully off of work so he was able to partake in the "fun" that I typically get to experience. The weather was really overcast when we got there and the little lady was a bit apprehensive about going into the water...

But she had a blast when she got in there!

It turned out to be an absolutely miserable rainy day. See my two crazy family members in the baby pool?

Fortunately the rain never lasts very long in Hawaii and the weather cleared up towards the end

Um, it scares me a little bit how much these two are TWINS!

Jonah ♥ Brooke

Can't wait until our next pool day :)