Table landscape!

I love watching Heidi, my mother-in-law put together the table. So effortless yet so elegant.

Cast iron pan with wooden handle... Looks perfect sitting directly on our rustic dining table.

We use a small weck jar for our table salt. Pink salt is from Mediterranean... a souvenir from Heidi and Michael's recent trip.

Boiled potato & fresh cherry tomatoes for a table beautifully presented in the white dishes.

We thought it would be fun if we took a picture of everyone's plate as they showed so much of each person's personalities... This was Heidi's plate. (she has a small appetite)

... and this was my plate. (I have a big appetite... since this was only my "first" plate)

Burning Man prep!

It has been fun to see our big backyard slowly turning into the home base of Burning Man trip!

Hubby and his dad are heading out to the desert city in a few days.

My father-in-law is 73 years old and lived through the peak of hippie era. So naturally the moment we showed him our pics from last year, he became fixated to get himself there this year. From our experience, we knew it's not the place we should send him alone unprepared... so we decided to give him the ticket to this year's Burning Man as the Christmas gift with the promise that hubby and he would go together.

It's so cute to see a 73 years old man getting so excited about the trip! He is truly a kid in his heart... Every since he arrived at our house on Wednesday, he has been waking up really early in the morning to spend hours reading up on art installations, fixing bicycles, testing his video camera and figuring out the shade structure.

He inspires me to always stay curious and get excited about the adventure that lies ahead...

p.s. it was nice to read what i wrote last year... wow... time flies.

Let me present...

Isn't it nice to use a beautiful plate to present special food?

My friend Angie brought me a homemade cheese cake with her and it is tasty and some! It looks quite pretty on this breakfast plate too. Makes it look even yummier. Me and my German family are enjoying the last 1/8 of the whole today and tomorrow!

Yum:)

Thank you so much Angie!

I would use this breakfast plate for anything that can be consumed on a flat surface. Stay tuned! Breakfast plates in different style are coming to the shop soon!

Bits of Germaneness at home

My German in-laws have arrived on late Wednesday. To me having his parents at home feels like bringing a whole candy store to my own house.

I was little worried about the new dynamic with little roo in hand... but they are so sweet and thoughtful... everything has been a very smooth sail so far.

Here are some snapshots around the house!

my father-in-law already claimed a little corner in our backyard. so glad to see our big (but empty) yard is getting some use as a part of the big Burning Man trip preparation!

They brought us the "real" hot chocolate. I can easily drink a cup of sweet hot chocolate for summer breakfast.

Of course... a loaf of German bread made it through the security check.

my mother-in-law really wanted to help us clean the windows so she brought her own trusted tools to work with! Made in German "non-plastic" squeegee and an industrial strength solution.

some of the new items for baum-kuchen shop have arrived here too!

antique spice jars. they are tiny and oh so pretty!

my mother-in-law is making dolls for our little roo... especially love the face hand dyed with tea and vintage fabric. they are pretty, aren't they?

August 25th: today... 3 years ago

Today... three years ago, we exchanged our wedding bow.

Between the preparation for in-laws arrival tonight and the play time with little roo, I am tracing our sweet memory from three years ago... hour by hour.

Three years feels like such a short time for all the things we have shared as a husband and a wife.

We traveled through multiple continents witnessing a beautiful tree that has seen centuries of history and breathed misty air in the Lost City of Incas. We celebrated his second degree from Art Center and supported each other to continue crafting meaningful careers. We searched for the dream home between our weekly "hi" and "good bye" at airport... which happily ended with the news of our first baby and intensive renovation that was done in "Germanese" style.

Now after 3 years, we are a household of 3!

My greatest insight through all these experiences has been the sense of discovery that pops everyday. Because we are both constantly evolving... even after three years... I feel like I am still getting to know him. Getting to know "today's him". It has become so much more evident after having our little roo. He is a great husband but also a great father.

Through time, I am also learning about myself. Sometimes my own reaction to new thing surprises me... and I am thankful that he gives me a lot of space to figure out who I want to be and always welcome me with an open arm to accept who I am today.

Cheers to us:)

all pics photographed by Erin Hearts Court

August 23rd: letting the idea float

This week... I am back to work as a consultant... just for a few days to help out the team.

It was so interesting to feel the trend researcher part of my brain activated. Little bit like drinking a glass of champagne after 9 months of not having any alcohol in the system... if you know what I mean.

I enjoyed it. I enjoyed twisting my brain with creative ideas, visualizing my thoughts on paper (and on the screen), sharing the possibility with the team...

But more than anything I enjoyed coming back to my little family. Seeing little roo smile at me when I got back to her... followed by a big cuddle session...

Priceless.

telling a story

Little roo is so lucky to have so many lovely aunties who shower her with beautiful gifts. My friend Susan is in town and look what little roo received from her!

This is only one of many gifts from Susan and I fell in love with the way she wrapped the book Go Dog Go, Susan's favorite book to read when she is with little ones.

Isn't it cute? I loved the way that the gift wrap hinted what was inside... expanding the anticipation and excitement of what I was about to open. Brown craft paper is my favorite material to play with. The humble tactility, flexibility to be sweet or bitter, and the feeling of easy going(ness).

My friend knows me little too well. I am saving this wrap for little roo's scrap book.

(I know the gift was not for me...of course...it was for my little roo. I just like opening gifts "for her". One of many privileges of motherhood:)

August 21st: LIVE deliberately

Something I heard today that I want to remember...

"Don't try to live..., just live.

Don't try to love... just love.

Find what you love doing because mileage can take us a long way...

... and most importantly LIVE deliberately..."

extracted from the speech by Josh at Art Center College of Design Summer 2010 graduation ceremony.

August 19th: "the first"

moments from today...
- imagining how awesome it would be to design something that is so iconic... that people remember the first time using it.

Aren't these adidas shoes cute? They will definitely be the "first adidas shoes" for our little roo... and they will always be special.

pace but not postpone

As you probably already know, I became a mama of our little roo about two months ago.

Taking this very important new role has changed EVERYTHING I had known of.

It feels as if I have turned my knowledge bucket upside down to throw out all my old assumptions and habits to start collecting new ways of doing things from scratch... especially with the concept of time, work and productivity.

Thinking back... there was time when I worked from 4am in the morning till 10pm in the evening and still had time to do other non-work stuff. (hello! my design research consulting era) Starting my day at 4am was great especially working with my partner in a different time zone!

Then there was time when I worked bunch of hours on the airplane and lived in two places so that I could be a part of the design office 1000 miles away from home during the week. (hello! my Seattle-LA commute era)

When I wasn't working on the "work" stuff, I was making things out of scrap materials, arranging friends' wedding... and of course blogging and photographing, etc. etc.

I think I have always been a border line workaholic in a very passionate way. I love to work... to be creative and produce things that matter to me.

Fast forward to May 2010, I checked out of the professional design work completely (call it a maternity leave without pay) to focus on caring for our little roo. It was also a part of our plan to open up some time so that I could create an online home dedicated to capture/share everyday inspiration (which is this blog:) along with a boutique online shop which curates objects to inspire everyday life.

So now that I have my little roo...how does the new bucket of time/work/productivity look like?

Well... I really really don't believe in the idea of "when I have {abc}, i can accomplish {xyz}...". If I don't get things done because something doesn't align perfectly, I know I will never get them done even when everything is aligned.

Dreams are not meant to be postponed that way.

So I knew I wasn't going to tell myself, "when the little roo is {3 months old/ready to take scheduled naps/sleep through the night...}, I will start acting on my little dream".

Of course making things happen while caring for a newborn is different (definitely), challenging (sometimes) and it moves in a turtle speed (because I have limited time in my hand). However... most importantly I am laser sharp focused when I work today (because I want to make every moment of my limited time count:).

So I am making one snail step at a time to prepare my shop for an official launch. My goal is to make the big milestone happen within the month of September (probably toward the end of September). It will be an interesting month since I will be back consulting from next week as well as my teaching job from mid-September.

But I know... dreams are meant to be paced but NEVER to be postponed!

Cheers:)
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p.s. these pics are some of the new houseware products which will be featured in the shop soon. I will be lining up other beautiful objects from stationary to bags... but for now I love the way these crisp white goodies look together!

p.s. x2 one of our friend commented how "white" the inside of our kitchen cupboard looks because we like collecting white dishes... can you imagine how our cupboard looks like looking at these pics? Yeah... pretty much just like these but with slightly different dishes.

breakfast excursion!

We're loving our weekly breakfast excursion!

So many places to try out... and I read it somewhere that the money spent on experience is more fulfilling than money spent on buying stuff. It's so true.

Our friend Penelope introduced us to a beautiful cafe, Juliane in South Pasadena. It felt like we were back in Europe... Loved it!

(and of course... chocolate chip waffle with strawberry... yum;)

August 16th: hot summer and artichoke

moments from today...
- love love love the process which involves in eating artichoke!

August 15th: quietness before the picnic fun

We had picnic in our backyard with friends and their little ones. Priceless:)

August 14th: picnic

moments from the day...
- yummy breakfast date
- enjoying the sun with three of us

August 13th: growth

moments from the day...
- when little roo goes over a new hurdle, we all grow up...

August 12th

moments from today...
- loving the color of the season.
- taking all the healthy food in.

August 11th: pretty day

moments from today...
- quiet day with roo
- trip to farmer's market
- watching iron chef in my own kitchen

you inspire me, little roo!

Our little roo has turned 2 months yesterday.

One of our good friends told us that we would explode with creativity when a baby comes along because she would inspire us so much... everyday. After spending the two whole months with our little roo, I can't agree more with him.

I would be honest. Caring for a tiny baby has not always been as dreamy as I had imagined. There are times when I didn't know what to do with her high pitch cry... I was physically drained from not getting enough sleep... I couldn't communicate my feelings well to my hubby... or all of above... all at the same time.

But then... when I got beyond some of these obvious (almost cliche like) challenges, I have found so much love and care for her which simply pours out of me... endlessly.

Today reflecting on my thoughts and feeling is like looking into a very deep well... so much deeper than the way it used to be. I can feel that we are growing to be more empathetic and patient individuals... and everything we learn from being with little roo bring a whole new set of insights to life.

Seeing her change everyday makes me believe that we are so capable of growing and learning new things in every moment of our lives... and it is almost impossible not to get inspired... inspired to create more... not in quantity but in quality.

Happy 2 months, little roo. You inspire me everday.

August 10th: day with family

moments from today...
- being spoiled by my little sister = bliss
- relaxing and enjoying the company of family
- breathing fresh air close to the water
- seeing my parents go "goo goo gaa gaa" over my little roo
- being proud of little roo taking it all in... different noise, sound, people...

August 9th

moment from the day...
- enjoying pretty afternoon light...

spontaneous happiness

This post is a sequel from the last one...

It turns out that the simple life opens up time for more spontaneous happiness.

On Sunday as we were bathing the sun under the tree, our friend who was entertaining the day of daddy day care decided to join us with his little boy, Oliver. It was a fun spontaneous get together. No calling ahead to make a plan, no scheduling the exact time to see each other... we just chatted little bit over the phone while we were waiting for our food at the breakfast place and they simply joined us little later.

When I was traveling Paris a few years ago, I came across a lot of young Parisian gathering around cafe with their friends after work... some drinking cappuccino while others sipping wine. They were enjoying the in-between time of afternoon and evening to catch up from the day of adventure. They made it look so effortless. I enjoyed watching them... wishing that we too could have some rituals with friends like that.

Somehow life in LA doesn't allow us for casual get togethers. Maybe because we have to drive to everywhere or maybe because we are too busy driving to get somewhere.

Seeing them on Sunday at the park reminded me of the lingering thought I had at the cafe in Paris. Maybe what we needed to do was to weed out some unnecessary agenda of the day and see what happens. We had fun:) Sat around the picnic blanket to chat and got Oliver excited enough to do some quick photo shoot with his dad. Aren't they a cute duo?

We'll be outing again next weekend (most likely on Saturday morning). If you would like to join us, let us know. Maybe we can hang out at the park:)

August 8th

moment from the day...
- morning bath with my favorite magazine with a cup of coffee...

simple life

After 8 weeks with our little roo, we are slowly transforming our life to accommodate the new family dynamic. Though everyday is different, we are starting to establish some daily/weekly rituals to count on...

I love how simple our life is now. Since we can't overwork the little roo, we enjoy spending time at home... and if we do go out, it's only one special thing a day.

On Sundays we go out for breakfast then hang out at a park. Warm sun is out and we can smell the relaxed air. We enjoy our little breakfast treat (as long as satchi allows us...), stroll a cute neighborhood to get to the park and lay down on our picnic blanket.

It's very different from the way we used to spend our Sundays... overbooking our calendar just to find ourselves being completely exhausted by the end of weekend. We enjoyed accomplishing a lot of things in a day but sometimes it felt like we were chasing an illusion of endless to-do list...

Today our little roo sets the tone for our day. A day that is simpler and richer. We spend a lot more time together as a family and our clock moves slower.

We are so lucky to have her in our life.