Rainy Days


It's been rainy here all week, so I got inspired to make some rainy day plushies! Introducing...Mr. Cloud and Little Miss Rain Drop.

Sake the Sock Monkey


Have you seen this Kia commercial featuring a giant sock monkey and his buddies? I saw it last night while watching the Olympic women's free-skate program and I thought of my sock monkey Sake. Ten years ago, I took him with me on my semester long study abroad program in Hanoi, Vietnam and he ended up in most of my photos (kind of like that garden gnome in the movie Amelie).  So I dug through my photo albums and scanned in a couple of my favorites. Left photo: Sake in the northern town of Sapa. Right photo: Sake with his friend Gorpy, the duck in Mai Chau.

Oh Liberty!


Um, hello?! Liberty of London is doing a line with Target. Debuting March 14! Cannot wait.

James Castle


Last week, over on A Fine Little Day, I  read about self-taught artist, James Castle. I was immediately fascinated by his work, reminiscent of Henry Darger. (Rance got me this book for V-Day.) A quick search on Google resulted in a visit to the Berkeley Art Museum on Friday night (lucky me!). James Castle: A Retrospective is on exhibit there until April 25th.

A Valentine's Day Hike in Woodside




On Sunday, Rance and I rented a zip car and drove down to Woodside for a Valentine's Day hike. The morning started off foggy and overcast, but as soon as we got to Huddart County Park, the sky was bright blue with the lots of sunshine. We chose the Dean/Crystal Springs trail, an easy 4.5 mile hike. The trail was a bit muddy from all the rain last week, but it also made the redwood forest seem extra lush. Among all the flora, we also spotted Mr. Banana Slug and also a young deer (but she ran off before I snapped a photo).  Afterward, we grabbed lunch at In-n-Out, a perfect ending to the afternoon!

My New Friend Orly...


A belated birthday package came in the mail from Lisa on Friday. In it was this cute little thing named Orly. Here he is sitting amongst his other owl friends on my mantle. What are those cute little accessories stuck on Orly you ask? Why, Owlette Accessories or course! Check it out on Lisa's blog here. PS: If you've noticed the difference in quality of this photo, it's because I shot it with my brand new Canon G-11.

Yah, it's Friday!


I am so happy its Friday for so many reasons. 1. It's President's Day weekend and I have Monday off! 2. Lunar New Years and Valentine's Day is Sunday so I will get to spend plenty of time with my family and Rance. And 3. Just found out today that one of my most favorite musicians, Erlend Øye will be in San Francisco this April,  touring with one of his bands The Whitest Boy Alive. Bought tickets today...wish it were April now! P.S The video above is from their first album Dreams. Illustrations and animation by the talented Geoff McFetridge. Happy Friday!

Comedic Genius


I get to see Dave Chapelle live tonight at The New Parish in Oakland! Yippee!! Photo via The NY Press.

Give Me A Break


A few months ago, there was a story on PRI about all the different Kit Kat varieties available in Japan. Flavors range from green tea, to soy sauce, to edamame! I posted the link on my Facebook page, and my friend Virginia told me they were also available in Hong Kong, where she currently lives. She promised to send me some and sure enough, in my mailbox yesterday, were 4 boxes of each of the above flavors. Yum! I just tried the royal milk tea Kit Kat and it really tastes like a cup of English Breakfast tea with cream and lots of sugar. Thanks Virginia!