Baby in the City

Over the Spring Break, I met my nephew for the first time. Just a quick flight to New York, and there I was in Auntie-ville. Can't tell you how many times I cried in such a short period of time. Just how emotional can one person be for crying-out-loud.... literally. With an face like this, who can blame me?

Also flying into town, the notorious K-I-R-A. My darling and quite hilarious cousin now hailing from North Carolina. I swear, every time we get together I dang near pee my pants. (Please don't make me recount our adventures at Clothes Time when I had to walk up the hill in wet shorts). When I was little, I used to pack an extra pair of underwear when I spent the night my cousins' house.

We shared diaper-changing duty, bath fun, and passing him back and fourth like a hot-potato for fussy-time right before a nap. Our hearts grew to the size of giant sequoias in an instant just looking at our little fella. He's quite the charmer.

Kira & Annie on the HighLINE

Kira and I ventured to the High Line, a old raised train track turned into a park and promenade. We ate fab food over in the Upper-something side of Manhattan, and dove into Chelsea's Market just hoping for a look into the Food Network Headquarters.

Over the weekend, we got a chance to kidnap momma Lindsey (OMG my sister is a mother! I just realized that means she can officially celebrate Mother's Day). We went to the MET and even ran into a celebrity while we were there. Adam Savage from Myth Busters. For those who watch the show, but don't know which guy he is... he's the one without the handlebar mustache. For Easter we practiced the family tradition of stuffing plastic eggs with candy while Brian, Lindsey's husband, hid them for us inside their Queen's apartment. Normally we do this in a backyard somewhere, but it we'll take an egg hung any way we can get one. And yes... we're still hunting for Easter Eggs in our 30s. Despite the fact that we ate dim sum that morning, we still had room for excessive amounts of chocolate and jellybeans.

Just writing this is making me tear up again with all the pics and missing my 'Sweet Nugget' nephew. Wishing I could somehow fly to Queens just to give him a kiss goodnight. It's all good... big sista momma's coming to San Diego in August. I'm counting down the days. Only 4 months, 1 week, and 2 days left to go.

Two years O'Bloggin

Today marks the second year anniversary of this blog. I didn't realize it until now... almost 11pm. Better late than never. The glasses are currently perched neatly in front of my sweet little made-in-China and distributed by Target - Buddha fountain. Did I put them there, or did my friend, Star, who came to see me this afternoon? Ah the mystery.

It helped remind me about today. I fully realized it when I wrote the date in my journal I was about to write 2007 for the year. Must be uber tired.

I wish I had something impressive to say about my reflections on these two years. There have been so many changes, and new babies and marriages and the like. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a bit slow in that department. And yet here I am, 30 years old, living a simple life that I'm proud of. No fancy house, or career ~ just the necessities and the beauty that it brings.

Thought of all the things I used to wish for and thought I may well have at age 30: a mansion, an office in a high-rise, a dog and a cat, a husband, maybe a baby on the way.

Being here - I live in a studio, my office is a playground, I'll pet-sit, a date is great, and kids are a distant thought. And I love the now ~ Who woulda thunk it??? Who knows about the future because ' now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness to just be happy.' ~Guillaume Apollinaire

Peace to DC and Beyond! ~ With the link ;)

Hello friends,

Sorry for not including the link before ~ here you go! http://www.stayclassy.org/fundraise?fcid=183052
I cannot tell you how much asking for $$$ scares me, and yet... I'm always fundraising. I think in life it's a good think to face fears head on, or at least look through the peephole first before opening the door.

This entry is dedicated to another person I've never met. Her name is Sierra ~ very similar to Sarah. She's a young girl selected by Kids for Peace to be sponsored to go to Washington DC on the Peace Pledge Tour. I'm helping her personally by setting up a page where people can donate or simply spread the link on their facebook. Simple as that.

Breaking it down ~ If 50 of my friends donated only $10, then we would make the goal and Sierra experience spreading peace in a way that will shape her future and perhaps the future of many others.  

What is the Peace Pledge?
I pledge to use my words to speak in a kind way.
I pledge to help others as I go throughout my day.
I pledge to care for our earth with my healing heart and hands.
I pledge to respect people in each and every land.
I pledge to join together as we unite the big and small.
I pledge to do my part to create peace for one and all.


What is the tour about?
Kids for Peace members from all over the United States will unite to present our Peace Pledge to Congress as well as other important sites throughout DC. The children will present at all the major Memorials, the US Holocaust Museum, the Kenyan Embassy, the Institute of Peace, a homeless shelter and The White House.  An inspirational documentary will be created about the DC Peace Pledge Tour and shared world-wide.


Thank you for spreading the peace!

Annie

The Way of Tea & How to Get a Koi Kiss

So here's my friend, the golden koi in the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park ~ through Sarah's fancy sunglasses. This isn't the first time I've blogged about this Garden. Last time, I was watching a Tea Ceremony... this year I'm learning how to do one, and I'm totally geeking out over it!

Yes my friends, I am taking a class on how to serve tea. It's actually called 'The Way of Tea'. There are 4 classes total each one is an hour. So far, we've learned how to fold a 'fukusa' or napkin (that only took a half hour and I still don't have it down). I can also bow, receive a cup of tea, and eat a sweet. Don't ask me how to make the tea... I just know there's whisking involved and somehow you use a very thin bamboo rod that looks like a miniature hokey stick in order to transfer your high-grade matcha green tea powder into a ceramic cup without spilling a gram.

Anywho... after the class I got to feed the fishies with a new friend and fellow tea geek. The way of feeding the koi isn't as ceremonial, but I'm sure you could come up with one. Place pellets in hand and close hand. Submerse in water. Let fish approach and suck it out of hand, slowly releasing the food. Fishy kisses :)

The garden is on its way to completing an expansion that will nearly triple area they currently occupy. More paths to meander, more rocks to ponder, and plenty of grafted cherry trees (because we don't have winters cool enough for their liking). So the trunks are actually apple, only the branches are the cherry part. That reminds me of a grafting experiment that my Grandpa did in his backyard. He put together a variety of branches and called it a fruit salad. I'm amazed it worked.

Domo arigato gazaimasu ~

The Doughnuts are Gone!

Since I'm riding off my parent's wi-fi ... I figured now would be a good time to get in a few posts (and since granny is taking a nap). Today for my free-time I got in a pedicure, savored a beautiful salmon and caper crepe with creme fraiche (aka creme muy deliciouso) at a sweet little french cafe less than a block away from where I treated my feet. I sat and read a Parisian Patisserie book complete with color pictures of the heavenly morsels and the specialty cafes where you can purchase such decadence. The pastry counter looked like jewelry cases. Each bon bon and tarte exquisitely displayed like the sparkling gem that it is.

I thought that might be the topic for my next blog: French Pastries Dissected. Alas, who gives a crap how to make these things when you can simply buy and enjoy them in the heat of passionate instant gratification!? Am I right? Anywho... yesterdays jaunt to the yoga studio gave me renewed energy ~ enough to brave post-holiday shopping at Target to buy myself a miniature Buddha tabletop fountain. I had just been reading about Feng Shui and how a fountain is an excellent addition to a well-balanced space. That and removing all family, friends, or former-lover photos (napes there) from the bedroom. This will make room for a relationship and thus not intimidate your 'guest' in such quarters. Uh-oh! I knew there had been something I'd been doing wrong!

So to prove Feng Shui to be as powerful as it claims... I moved the photos yesterday and just this afternoon I was asked out to lunch on Friday. Sha-Boinga!!!!! Sorry mi familia, you're faces are in the hallway and that is where you shall stay.

Back in the homestead, Grams and I have been doing well. We've only argued a few times... all pertaining to the number of doughnuts or cookies left. She thinks I'm stealing her stash. All this time forgetting how many she herself has consumed. I only ate one, so how come there's only one left when I KNOW there was four to begin with. If I even start to go over it, she'll cut me off at the pass. You just can't win!

Well folks... Granny woke up, and is talking about cleaning a spot on the carpet that's been there for over a month. So I offer some wine and turned on Anderson Cooper. Since the doughnuts are gone, I'm gonna have to find another diversion. Wish me luck!

Say Listen

So the parents are off to New York visiting my nephew. In case you didn't hear the champagne pop from across the park, my sister gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on November 13th. His name is Neil, and in this picture he's sporting a Sumi-Onesie by Auntie Annie. 

It's been a little over a month and 'the dust is finally starting to settle' (direct quote from my mom's hilarious Christmas letter), and I'm hanging with grandma for the week.She doesn't like being alone for very long. That's a little difficult with my current lifestyle since I like to be on the move and free in the evenings. So not gonna work. We had an argument over me going over to the neighbors' house last night for 20min. No, that's not how long we argued for, but it may as well have been. When I got to Ron and Carlo's I scarfed down a beautifully presented poached pear a-la-mode and a glass of port before reporting back to the homestead and watching the end of Pride & Prejudice ~ A&E version (aka the one with Collin Firth) 

This morning, I attempted to race out the door at 9:00 so that I could enjoy my free time while her caretaker is here. Can't race a 92-year-old. Say listen... is the way she begins just about every sentence which always stops me dead in my tracks just as I'm departing her bedroom. Translation: I want you to do something for me or listen to something that has absolutely nothing to do with the present moment.

So I listened, and told I would be running errands about 5-6 times with increasing volume because she wasn't hearing me. I left without my cell phone (oh crap!!!!) and ran back inside hoping to dodge her before she could 'Say listen' me into hanging out for another minute. 

And what did I do with my glorious 4 hours of freedom? I went back to my studio, kissed the carpet, meditated for a good hour (praying to get through this week with calmness and ease), did the dishes, took a walk around the neighborhood, and mailed her Medi-Cal renewal thingy. Tonight I'm making dinner at about 4:30 (5:00 if I can get away with it) and writing her Christmas cards (better late than never and because I refused to do it on my birthday). And so the adventures with grandma have begun ~ 

Say listen.. I wish you merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a joyful New Year.

Teaching My First Writing Class

Over the summer, I had the joyous experience of teaching my first writing class. There were five girls ages 6-10. We wrote poems, advertisements, stories, and scripts. I shared the story of this blog introduced the class to Sarah and her magical sunglasses.

On the final day of class, they heard Sarah's voice. AJ had loaned me an interview that was recorded on February 23, 2009 while Sarah was in hospice. Her father and step-mother came to visit, and it was a discussion with the 3 of them. The date struck me ~ the very date I started my blog, only one year later.

We heard Sarah's amazing voice read  'If I Could Live to Be 100'. So powerful from the author herself ~ just the day before I had shared it with them.

The girls immediately responded to Sarah and the idea of the blog. 'So... you take pictures through the glasses.' Honestly, I hadn't really thought of it. I must have looked pretty sheepish when I told them that I never had. No worries! They were all over it. Discussion over... it was time to get to work. They took the glasses and I gave them my phone camera. Outside, on the field, they took pictures through the glasses, of the glasses, and while wearing the glasses but looking outwards. From every different perspective you could think. Looking up, down, out, and beyond my semi-narcissistic approach of me wearing them.

Afterwards, we came inside and they wrote their own individual reflections on life and nature, heaven and earth. They were so deep and introspective. Their words were beyond their years and I just swelled with pride and awe at these 5 young authors. I hope they continue to write and enjoy the written word. I hope that they will take this experience and start their own adventure. I hope that you will too.