i’ve always liked to draw although for some reason, either due to lack of time or lack of drive, i never do it. anyways, now that i have a lot more time on my hands, together with seeing good friends who are artists producing beautiful work, i’ve been inspired to be more intentional with being creative, because it always brings me a lot of joy. i’ve been drawing with just a black ball point pen on paper in a little notebook, and i was honestly quite surprised at how well my first few drawings turned out. i’ll do my best to keep this up and occasionally post more drawings.

a portrait of my mom as a little girl (pen on paper, june 2009)

family room window (pen on paper, june 2009)

i was pleasantly surprised to come home last week to a thriving vegetable garden in our church backyard. let’s be clear though, i didn’t do any of the hard work… which was done by our friends the stefanuts, and in particular, their amazing romanian grandmother. lucky for us, we get to help eat. it really feels good eating homegrown organic lettuce with no pesticides… and we’re not the only ones. i bumped into a little bunny rabbit who somehow found our garden in the middle of hyde park. he’s in the top picture too… if you look really hard right in the middle. definitely competing for the lettuce, but at least he’s cute and hopefully not a lover of tomatoes and green beans.

after the wedding, we had one day to spend in LA for sightseeing. we left the house at lake elsinore and took the scenic route over the hills and by the beach (avoiding rush hour on the big highways).

during the entire trip, we had been looking for an opportunity to try eating at “IN-N-OUT” and see what all the hoopla was about, since all my california friends would rave about it. we were starting to give up when we stumbled upon one right around lunch time. yay! we had cheeseburgers animal style. it was pretty good, especially for the price (i think it was $1.89).

onwards to santa monica. drove down the boulevard humming that sheryl crow song (“until the sun comes up over santa monica boulevard…”). we found parking and walked a bit along the beach and the promenade.

coconut and passionfruit swirl yogurt at pinkberry. very tasty. the guy was proud to let us know that britney spears and the jonas brothers eat there too.

then we drove our friend christina to LAX and checked into our hotel before driving to our next stop in the venice beach area, minus the beach. we looked around some funky stores and decided we weren’t really in the mood for a crowded and touristy beach scene.

a tip from the guy working at the steven alan store led us to find a hole in the wall mexican place that made really yummy fish tacos. dinner! it actually looked like a really fun area to shop and walk around… we’ll have to remember it for next time.

the LA experience wouldn’t be complete without a visit to hollywood. unfortunately it was too dark to see the famous sign, but we saw a bit of nightlife, street performers, and found the michael jackson star.

finally we made our way back to LAX. after 600 miles of driving (all by helen) we said goodbye to our little red kia, and happily went to the hotel to sleep.

the wedding day was on july 12th, at Hidden Oaks, Rancho Cucamonga. we began the day at a friend’s home for hair and makeup.

the big arrival at hidden oaks.

getting ready.

it was a perfect spot for the wedding, from the big trees shading us from the sun, the cute gazebo decorated with a simple but beautiful and fragrant garland, and the sound of water from a nearby fountain.

bridesmaid randa and maid of honour helen.

jonathan watching gina walk down the aisle.

gina and her parents.

exchanging vows. jonathan’s father officiated the wedding.

i loved how the wedding really reflected the personalities and values of the bride and groom. for example, the generous wedding favour was a stainless steel water container, the proceeds of which went towards funding freshwater well projects (click here for more info). the flowers were done by the local botanical gardens, featuring plants and flowers indigenous to california.

after the wedding was picture-taking time.

sisters.

it was great to also see and spend time with angela and david, who now live in san jose.

loved the flowers.

the reception dinner was (incredibly) cooked by jonathan’s family. a big endeavour, but it turned out really well.

the new mr. and mrs…. congratulations!! note the lovely wedding shawl, made by sherrin.

one last cup of tea.

i’m back from Los Angeles, Riverside area to be more exact, where I attended Gina and Jonathan’s wedding over the weekend. helen was the maid of honour, and we arrived a few days earlier. we were very lucky to stay at a retreat center at Lake Elsinore, which is around 45 minutes south of Riverside.

the deck outside our bedroom:

we organized a high tea for gina and her out-of-town girlfriends, and found a wonderful tea house in rancho cucamonga where we were served more food and tea than we could eat and drink. we tried the raspberry-vanilla-almond, lady grey with vanilla, peaches-and-cream, black currant, chocolate-?-chai… there were so many, i can’t remember all the flavours anymore.

barbara, helen, me, gina, christina, and sherrin:

delicious!

we presented gina with a journal containing letters from many of her friends who couldn’t make it to california for the wedding. she loved it!

the rest of the day was spent shopping and preparing some spa treament for gina in her apartment… candles, massage, aromatherapy, and soothing music. very relaxing.

a beautiful sunset seen from riverside:

i always love visiting the chens. matia is now three and still super cute. it was fun taking turns playing doctor, although matia had to instruct me on how to put on a stethoscope. thanks for my shot dr. boo!

on canada day i went to visit jp and louisa… who surprised me with a belated birthday party. yay! we may be over 30, but you can never be too old for hawaiian leis and yellow bday balloons. pre-dinner activities involved eating gummy bears and making a pooh bear.

we made bbq pizza from scratch which was delicious!

mmmm….

thanks louisa, my BFF, for a very chocolatey vegetarian birthday cake. i had a really great time!