Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Joy stands for...

Jumping for Joy!
Oh, how we all love Wednesdays, the middle of the week hump we need to leap over to bring us closer to the weekend. Stress and anxiety has been lurking around me lately and times like these remind us to take time to "smell the roses"-aka find joy in the little things each day, no matter how absurd or ridiculous they may seem.

My top destressors:

1. Prayer
2. Cooking/baking
3. Photography
4. Eye candy blogs (food, fashion, fotography)
5. Being around loved ones

Visual smiles-

Colors galore!
French macarons from an extra-sweet friend (Colleen). The pretty pink packaging is delightful.

My best attempt.
Getting "feet" when making macarons.

Simply vanilla.
Flavor: Plain vanilla with a sorbet texture- my first attempt at making ice-cream.

Sel de Guerande
Gray salt from France gets me excited.

Pretty in Pink.
The Hubby, pretty in pink!

Pretty Princesses
These two always make me smile.


Actually having my NAME personalized on a piece of jewelry (my name is NEVER pre-made).

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Reuniting with old high school friends.

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Dark chocolate anything.

My Mommy.
At Pacifica Beach with Mom & Dad (camera man)

Cool art by Zadok Ben David
Contemporary art that actually looks cool- Zadok Ben David and his 12,000 metal laser-cut plants that were hand painted on one side, black on the other. Go see it at the Bergamot Station in Santa Monica!


Photo taken from Ryan (I think he was referring to his gf "Joy")- either way, I found the angel and the photo itself funny.

The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference. -Audre Lorde

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

France J'etaime


One of my students wanted this stamp from Paris, but sadly they were sold out by the time I got there (Photo courtesy of flickr.com)

Being back in California for the past two weeks makes me crave France again. It seems as though little things bring me back to Paris, the "City of Loooove." I met a nice lady who is in a couple of my grad courses and it turns out she's from France! The chances of that happening shortly after my trip is a happy coincidence. Another strange thing that happened to Mike and I on Sunday was "Mr. Baguette," a small Vietnamese/French baguette shop across the street from my uncle's church. Inside were wall-sized photos of the Eiffel Tower, Arch du Triumph, Brasseries and street signs such as "Champs-Elysees." They even sold croissants, raisin buns, French coffee and so forth. Such bittersweet experiences.


Mike drinking coffee by the Seine? Not quite.

Some of my favorite shots from France:


















Au revoir, France. Till we meet again.