My Fairy Blogmother

I'm back from a long weekend in the SF Bay Area and Sacramento. I visited my in-laws, my parents, my grandmother, my cat, and attended the red egg and ginger party of my adorable newborn nephews. Before I left, I got a pretty exciting surprise in the mail. 

Do you remember this travesty?

 Yeah I know, let's not look at it for too long. It hurts, doesn't it?

My blog friends, women I have never met but only know in this wonderful and sometimes crazy world of the Internet, continue to amaze me with their generosity and kindness. I want to thank you all for the comments on my post about my bag. I carried it every day, and also wouldn't have bought it originally had I not found it on sale for 50% off...hence, the sad, sad day of the suntan lotion massacre of summer 2011.

So, what was the surprise package? And who sent it?

This gorgeous yellow version of the same bag (!!!!!!), sent by, none other than, my fairy blogmother--Abbie!

[Tano Boogie Bucket in lemon line, a present from my blogger friend, Abbie of A Glimpse of the Girl Next Door.]

As you can see, I've already started carrying it. We're going steady. I think it's gonna ask me to the prom and pick a corsage that matches my dress.

Abbie, I promise I will take good care of it and will not leave it teetering on a bathroom hook at Starbucks only to see it fall to a devastating death. I'm going to hug it just like in the photo above. Forever. Or until it falls apart.

Have you ever had a fairy blogmother or acted as one?

An Elephant and Embroidery Love

[Check out my blog buddy, elephantislove, and her etsy store here]

A couple weeks ago, I won a great giveaway from the lovely elephantislove for a beautiful notecard set from Sarah of Sometimes I Swirl! Thank you to both for hosting the giveaway, and for introducing me to a beautiful Etsy store. I've been admiring Sarah's embroidery work. Here are some of my favorites:

[Three Colorful Flowers from Sometimes I Swirl]

 [Embroidery Flower Garden from Sometimes I Swirl]

[Purple flower from Sometimes I Swirl]

Dreamy, no? I have never tried embroidery, but these are so lovely I'm curious to try now.

Playing With My Camera - San Diego Zoo

I bought a new toy for my camera--a telephoto zoom lens! After the power outage on Thursday (more on that later),  I spent some time enjoying the fresh air and lack of crowds at the zoo. I wanted to see how close I could zoom-in to the animals. Turns out, pretty close!

Here are some of my favorites:

I just bought a membership, so I hope to visit my zoo friends more often for regular portrait sessions. :)

StoryCorps: The Voices of 9/11

[From StoryCorps' 9/11 Animated Shorts Series, She Was the One]

Groggy from cold medicine and cloaked in a Cal sweatshirt, I woke up the morning of 9/11/2001 to my phone ringing. (A real cordless phone, because I didn't even have a cell phone yet.) It was my first month in the dorms, and I was still getting used to being on my own and learning about the world around me. I had just met my roommate, who became a lifelong friend, and I didn't even know the boy. He was probably sleeping in a dorm room a half mile away.

"Hello?" I said with my eyes still closed.
"Are you up?" It was my sister.
"No, we're both sick, we were sleeping. Why are you calling so early? What's wrong?"
"Go find a common room with a TV. Is there one on your floor? Go watch the TV."

With my sister still on the phone, I shuffled out of bed and to our dorm's common room, where I found a group of people already glued to watching the news. The rest is a little foggy to me.

She Was the One brought tears to my eyes and makes me want to hold onto the boy and never let go.

Take care of your loved ones and community, blog world.

With love,

When Bad Things Happen To Good Fashion

 [Mo+purse during happier times]

My Tano Boogie Bucket suffered a horrible fate on Sunday, thanks to a can of suntan lotion and my trust in a wobbly hook in the Starbucks bathroom.

"I'll be fast," I told the boy. Little did I know what torture I'd inflict on one of my favorite fashion pieces by choosing to pee at that time, in that place, and with that bag slung over my shoulder. I shut the door, and put my bag up on the hook. It wobbled. But I didn't want to waste any time, so I didn't think anything of it and just left it there to teeter over the thing piece of metal. And then, before I could even turn around, I heard this huge *POP!* like a firecracker or toy gun, and I turned my head (slow motion like in an action movie right before something epic is about to happen,) and saw an exploded can of suntan lotion and my red bag limp on the ground. Patches of the leather slowly turned a darker shade of red as the oil seeped over it.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Everything inside--my wallet, the cards in the wallet, my iPhone, my keys, my glasses--were all soaked and still smell like suntan lotion. I came out with my hands filled with oily wallet, bag and phone, which the boy greeted with a "what happened??"

Neutrogena attacked my bag, that's what happened.

Here are snapshots of the damage.

Do you think there is anything I can do to save my bag? Because the boy is already planning its funeral.

The Weekend Recap: L.A. and The Getty Villa

Sunday night, or in this case Monday night, is like the worst night of the week. I'm filled with the dread of the weekend being over and my work-week responsibilities flooding my head. While I can relish these last moments away from my work email, here's a recap of our weekend!

The boy and I went exploring in L.A. Our main stop was the Getty Villa, which was lusciously grandiose and had me in love with Corinthian columns and rosettes. There were so many details at the villa, from painstakingly made mosaics in the garden, to precisely carved flowers on the ceilings. There was a lot for the eye to see among the gardens and architecture, not to mention the entire collection of Roman, Greek, and Etruscan work the place holds. One of the more memorable things we saw in the collection was a mummy. You can see a video of the mummification process on the Getty Museum channel here.

Prior to the Getty Villa we had some trendy dim sum at Bao. This was definitely not our parents' kind of dim sum (ie, it was really clean, there's a cocktail bar, and they were playing Sufjan Stevens) but the food was good and the experience worthwhile. Still, I think next time around we'll be going back to Monterey Park for our dim sum.

We also had a coffee tasting at Balconi Coffee Company.

The boy has a siphon coffee maker, and a chat with the incredibly knowledgeable and friendly owner has motivated him to learn more about his siphon and its capabilities. I know squat about coffee, but enjoyed the ride. My cup tasted like blueberries!

We ended the day with a good burger with our friends, and a stroll around the beautiful Venice Canals before I downed even more caffeine for that late-night drive back south.

Thank you to miss t. for the recommendation!!

Every time we drive to L.A., we have the "where do you want to live" discussion. Ultimately, higher powers are going to determine where we live in four years after San Diego, but we still play this game as if we can decide ourselves. When I lived in Northern California I would have never thought of living in L.A. (I think it has something to do with the Norcal vs. Socal ideology,) but it's really grown on me the more we go there. Sure, it might take 40 minutes to drive 6 miles, and that guy on the road, well, he sure does like to use his horn, but L.A.--it's slowly charming me.

How did you spend your Labor Day weekend?

30 Day Photo Challenge - Days 12, 17, and 20

[Day 12 - Sun Flare]

[Day 17 - Bokeh]

[Day 20 - Water (this is from inside the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego--the square is a window and the area around it is tinted glass!)]

I'm having a lazy Labor Day weekend, enjoying the slightly cooler weather here in San Diego. We're planning a trip to L.A. tomorrow which should be art and food filled. Can't wait. :)

Happy weekend everyone!