A bucket List for Your 30s

We are officially old. John and I are now both 30 years old. A house, 2 kids, and a career path… we are grown ups. Doesn't really feel like it, but there is no denying that we are all grown up now. Instead of settling into a life of monotony, I've come up with a list of 30 things I'd like to do over the next 10 year. TRAVEL

1. Travel to Italy. 
2. Visit Asia. I'd love to go to Japan or China, but it is more realistic that I will fulfill this goal by visiting South Korea again. Still counts in my book and this time I'll get to experience SK with my daughters.
3. Attend the Taping of a Show. Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show would be nice. I'd also settle for SNL - maybe when Justin Timberlake was on. Please and thank you very much.
4. Visit Africa. Any country within the continent will do.
5. Go on a Safari in Africa. Number 4 & 5 can be knocked out in one trip if I'm lucky.
6. Visit the Grand Canyon. More specifically, I would really like to cross over the skywalk! Now, that would be one incredible view of the Grand Canyon.
7. Visit the Sequoia National Forest. And stand at the base of the amazing redwood trees.
8. Fly in a Hot Air Balloon. Silly, but it's something that I've always wanted to do. It would be an awfully romantic date, but I'll have to find a friend to fly with me because there is no way John will do this.
9. Go Surfing. I don't really want to 'learn' to surf, just want to try it out. Double points if it's somewhere fun like Hawaii.
10. Visit the Galapagos Islands. I don't think this one needs any explanation.

LEARN

1. Learn another Language. In my case, Korean. I have been putting it off for way too long. It's time to really learn the Korean language, so I can actually have a conversation with my in-laws.
2. Take a Photography Class. 
3. Learn to Solve a Rubik's Cube. I'm a big puzzle lover and I've actually solved a Rubik's cube before, but I had the help of the internet so it doesn't really count.
4. Learn about Wine. I'm a little embarrassed to say out loud that I normally pick my wines by how cute the label looks. I know, I know - don't judge a book by it's cover. I'd really like to learn how to pick out a nice glass of wine without resorting to looks.
5. Learn How to Garden. Successfully. I do not have a green thumb, sadly. I can't even grow a chia pet. Someday, I'd love to actually grow something.
6. Take a Cooking Class. Future date night?
7. Learn to Sew. And actually sew something worthy of gifting. I have a sewing machine, but I am horrible at sewing (can't sew a straight line).
8. Drive a Motorcycle. I have always had a fascination with Harley Davidsons. I don't want to own one, just take it for a spin.
9. Learn to do my own Makeup. I'm 30. I should know how to do makeup by now, right?
10. Learn to Reupholster. Lame, but very useful. Plus, I have a ton of really comfy furniture that just needs a little updating in the fabric department. Doing the reupholstering myself would save much dinero!

OTHER THINGS

1. Run. I've done two half-marathons, but I think it would be absolutely amazing if I could check marathon off my list in my thirties.
2. Eat something out of my comfort zone. I'm a picky eater married to a man who will eat anything. He would love it if I adventured out a little, so we could share more foods at restaurants… I'm not thrilled about this one, but it's all about pushing boundaries and living without regrets.
3. Build a Habitat for Humanity Home. Always wanted to, always had an excuse to delay signing up. In the next ten years, I'd really like to do this.
4. Find my Style. As one of three girls and a stylish mom, I've mostly relied on hand-me-downs to bulk up my wardrobe. FREE= awesome sauce, am I right? Except, I am wearing a mix of everyone else's style and have yet to discover what looks best on me.
5. Be Completely out of Debt. I'm talking no house payment, no car payment, no student loans… I'm realistic so I know this is a tall order, but I'm also an optimist.
6. Leave a Significant Tip. We've all heard those stories of someone leaving a $100 tip on a $20 bill. Well, I'd like to be that someone. Maybe more than once if we have the money to spare.
7. Find a Job I Love. Isn't this everyone's career goal?
8. Pay for the car behind me. You know those chains of pay-it-forward backwards? You are in the drive through at Starbucks and pay for the car behind you - that car pays for the car behind it - and so on and so on until the chain is broken. Yeah, I'd like to start one of those.
9. Throw a Surprise Party. And make sure the guest of honor is completely surprised!
10. Go Vegan. Just for a month, maybe.

What about you? Do you have anything you would especially like to do in your thirties?

A Thought on Sisters

Sisters are mean. I have two sisters who I love dearly - now. However, we butted heads more often than not in our younger years. I was on both sides of bullying, stealing, name-calling, tattling, sabotage. Sisterhood is a funny thing. We hate each other with great love. And then we grow up. 

Suddenly, you realize that your fights growing up were hilarious and made for an amazing, story filled childhood. Stories like:

• That time my sister told me that my grandfather's medicine was bubble gum. Of course, she wanted me to try it first… I spent the rest of the day hugging the toilet.
• Me: I want to come visit your high school to see what it will be like next year :)  My Older Sister: [Runs off crying]  Me: What? What'd I say… (And then she decided to switch high schools the next year. I am sure it wasn't because I was going to attend her previous high school. )
• Middle School - High School my older sister would lock her door when she left the house so I couldn't borrow any of her clothes. :(
• She also accused me of stretching out her clothes that I found a way to steal borrow. How rude!
• Remember land lines? Do people still have those? Well, my older sister used to answer and pretend she was me when my friends called. So mean.
• Speaking of mean - My friends and older classmates at my school were deathly afraid of my older sister. I didn't get it, but I kind of loved that I could just say "I'm Malone's little sister" and people would leave me be.

These are all stories of my older sister, Malone. It's her birthday today :) There are about a million more stories I could tell about our torturous reign one my little sister, but that's a post for another day. 

Happy Birthday, Malone!

Anybody have any interesting older sibling stories or were you the bullying big sis?

Winnie the Pooh | Birthday Party Inspiration

It's hard to believe, but I'm here again. My baby is going to turn ONE in 2 short months. I simply cannot understand how we are here already. I already feel way behind on planning.
If you're unaware, the 1st birthday is a big BIG deal in Korean culture. Read more about my (almost) 3 year old's 1st birthday here (and here on Apartment Therapy).
So far, I have accomplished very little, so I put together a little inspiration board to help me get things started.

1. Red Velvet Cake  2. Vintage Lace Tablecloths  3. A Rustic Venue 4. The Bee Mighty Organization  5. Winnie the Pooh  6. Honeycomb Decor
It will be a Winnie the Pooh + Vintage + Rustic themed party. Now comes the hours of DIY and list making… I'll fill you in on all of the homemade projects as soon as I dust off the burlap shreds and climb out of the craft closet.

Just Another Birthday + A Giveaway

It's my birthday! Woot! Woot! 

I turn the big 3-0 today, but my little ones aren't giving me the day off. I'm enjoying a nice spa day by myself in my head. In reality, I'm trying to keep a toddler from stealing the baby's toys while wearing a mud mask. Don't judge… I'm multitasking + it's Halloween week, so it's perfectly acceptable to walk around in the middle of the day wearing a green mask. Don't worry. I have no plans to actually leave my house today. Maybe I'll go crazy later and let the toddler paint my nails while the baby pulls all my hair out does my hair.
To celebrate 30, I'm having a little giveaway! 3 lucky bloggers will win a new blog design. 
I've been designing for friends and family for a while and I absolutely love it. It seems like the trendy thing to do right now in blogland is to go into the graphic design business, but I have no plans to start charging people money for design services anytime soon. Instead, I'll be having these little giveaways every once in a while. 
So, help me celebrate my 30th by letting me take over you blog design. :) Also, stay tuned - big things are planned for November! a Rafflecopter giveaway

We've been FEATURED!

I am super excited that Ellington's sweet (but crazy) 1st birthday party was featured on Apartment Therapy - Family yesterday!!  It brings back so many memories to look back at this post. I cannot believe how fast time has flown by - now we have another little one with an equally crazy 1st birthday to plan. I better get started on the planing right away. After all, I only have a little over 10 months to plan another elaborate Korean Dol Party!!

While I start preparing for Winsley's celebration, go check out the cliff notes of Ellington's 1st birthday celebration on Apartment Therapy - Family!

Signed Sealed & Delivered

We had a little newborn photoshoot (with me as the very amateur photographer) and finally sent out birth announcements. I love how it turned out. We used the same photo as above, but a different template from cardstore.com. I seriously love that website!  They do everything for you.

Below are a few other photos from the shoot that I love (WARNING: Lots of photo goodness about to happen). Big sister Ellington would have preferred the photoshoot be all about her, but she let me get some great shots of Winsley by herself as well.  

Winsley's (Late) Arrival

The newest addition to our family joined us just one week ago.  She was born one week and 3 days past her due date and I never actually went into labor.  I was holding out hope that Winsley would decide to enter this world on her own and I got really excited when I started to have contractions on Tuesday night.  Unfortunately, we showed up to the hospital for my scheduled c-section on Wednesday morning and my now painful contractions were doing nothing to make this birth happen.  Rather than go through labor pains and tiring myself out (possibly resulting in another c-section anyway), I made the decision to go through with the c-section.

My only concern going into surgery (other than a little fear of the needle they were putting into my back) was a big fear of the recovery!  With Ellington, recovery was awful.  I was in pain for weeks and it didn't help that nursing was horribly painful for the first 2 weeks.  Everyone that I had asked and all of the blogs that I had read said that recovery from a planned c-section was easy peasy.  And you know what?  They were 100% correct!

Recovery this go round was ten thousand times better than last time.  If it weren't for the powerful drugs that numbed my legs for half a day, I would have been walking around like nothing happened.  Seriously, my 2 birth experiences were like night and day.  Even now (one week postpartum), I have to keep reminding myself that venturing out or planning activities is not a good idea when I have to bring along a still-adjusting one week old.  Ellington was much older when I felt like I would be okay outside of the comfort of my own home.

Speaking of Ellington, she has made this transition to a family of four incredibly easy.  She visited me and the her new baby sister less than an hour after I was out of the operating room and acted as if she was never an only child.  I was never worried about Ellington and the new addition, but I am glad to see that Winsley has become such a joy in her little life.  She constantly asks, "Where baby go?" if Winsley is not in her sight and "What happened?" if Winsley makes the slightest little peep.  It's also adorable to see her try to comfort the baby if she's crying and I am not immediately available.  She'll run up to her and give her a big kiss then sing to her until I swoop in to soothe Winsley and, of course, thank a wonderful big sister for helping out.

While I was in the hospital, Ellington spent lots and LOTS of time with my mom.  I seriously don't know what we would have done without my mom's help.  It was such a relief to know that Ellington was getting tons of attention from Mommo while John and I were bonding with baby Winsley.  I highly recommend a week long visit from grandma when a second child enters the picture!  Thanks MOM!!

Ellington's Birthday Weekend

Last weekend, my sisters and mom were supposed to come celebrate Ellington's 2nd birthday.  A train themed day at Pullen Park was planned and Ellington was super excited to ride on the train as many times as her little heart desired.  Unfortunately, my older sister couldn't make it at the last minute because a friend had a greater need for her presence.  No problem.  We'll just push it back a week (to this past weekend) or so I thought.

With 60 degree weather all week, it looked like the weekend would be just as pretty.  Nope.  64 degrees on Friday and then snow was the forecast for Saturday... ummm, what?!  Well, it did in fact snow on Saturday.  The plan to ride the train at the park was a goner, but we made a back-up plan to meet at Marbles Kids Museum and have some fun indoors.  Once we arrived at the museum, we realized that every other parent in the area had the same idea to entertain their kiddos on this yucky day.  An hour waiting in line meant only an hour of crowded playtime at the museum before heading to lunch, so this plan was also scrapped.

The celebration didn't quite turn out as planned, but I know Ellington still had lots of fun hanging out with her aunts and grandma.  Of course, the opening of gifts and cupcakes for breakfast didn't hurt.

She even got to see a real train because my older sister rode the train in from Charlotte.  So, I guess we sort of accomplished a train themed birthday weekend.  The good news is that I can save this party idea for next year!  I already have to start planning Ellington's sister's Dol (Korean 1st birthday), so a pre-planned and relatively easy park party will be the perfect birthday celebration for Ellington next year.  And the back up plan for next year?  A short ride on the real train and back to Durham for cake.

My Sweet 2 Year Old

At this very moment two years ago, I was hanging out in a hospital bed just waiting for the arrival of a certain little beauty.  I still remember the thrill of knowing that I was finally going to see the sweet little face that I was having a difficult time imagining and, at the same time, the fear of not knowing what would come next.  At several moments during this day, I remember turning to John and telling him that I wouldn't mind if Ellington wanted to wait another month or two until I thought I would be truly ready for her debut.  Thankfully, life (or I guess you could say, birth) doesn't work that way and she finally made her way into this world around dinner time on this day two years ago.

Life without this little one in our lives just wouldn't be as fun.  She makes us laugh daily and gives us plenty of reason to be thankful!  Words cannot describe how much she is loved by everyone in our family.  In recent weeks, she has also shown how kind her own heart is towards others...

...a few days ago, she was watching a show and became very upset that the cartoon dog on the show was taken away to the shelter.  She was very worried that the dog's neck was hurting and that the dog was not with his family.

...that same day (we are watching lots of shows while we attempt to potty train), she turned to warn me that Curious George was letting all of the sheep out of their fence.  I had to assure her that everything would be okay and George would make sure they were all safe again.

...then the sweetest moment happened when John was having some back trouble and told Ellington that he had to sleep on the floor because he had an 'ouchee' on his back.  Ellington started crying and ran over to hug him, repeatedly saying ' I love you! I love you!'  We had to have another little talk to try to explain to her that everything would be okay and Daddy just had a little boo-boo.

I love how her little personality is always surprising us.  I just can't get enough of this little girl!

Happy Happy Birthday, Ellington!!

Just a Small Attic Sale, a Birthday, & a Baby Shower

This weekend was crazy busy and I am still exhausted from Saturday's little attic sale at my mom's house. After 40+ years of junk accumulating in the attic (and most of it really was junk) and many former attempts to purge the collections, my mom finally decided that it was just time to get rid of it all.  So all of us girls unloaded the contents of the attic to the front lawn and had ourselves a little attic sale.

Some of the goodies included about 70 old bottles of Coca-Cola, at least a hundred books / magazines / cookbooks, cassette tapes (including Hanson... it's alright if you're a little jealous), 2 8-track tapes, and 6 old dented storage trunks. The weather was perfect and we sold lots of stuff.  Unfortunately, we had lots of stuff junk still leftover at the end of the attic sale.

Carney sent out a Craigslist add for free curbside junk and within minutes people started showing up to haul it away.  We didn't even have to carry most of it to the curb.  People just showed up and carried the junk straight to their cars.

On Sunday morning, this was all that was left of the attic sale rejects - a cardboard box and a coat hanger. It was absolutely crazy how fast the Craigslist people came and collected all of the leftover junk!

In addition to the attic sale, we were also in Charlotte to celebrate Halmoni's birthday.  We started the celebration off with with great Italian food from Buca di Beppo.  We had lots of leftover that I didn't mind bringing home to finish off.  Then, we finished with ice cream cake & it was straight to bed from there.

Sunday was a bit less productive and hectic, but we still had to make it back in Durham in time for the surprise baby shower of one of my favorite photographers, Melissa of Haven Love Photography.  It was the perfect baby shower (thrown by one of Melissa's dear friends and subject of her latest photography session) with yummy desserts from Foster's Market and lots of friends.

I even got to design the above baby shower game and actually won a prize for getting the most answers correct.  Sadly, I did not win the prize for the nursery rhyme game above... it was for a game involving matching celebrities to their chosen baby names.  Sigh. Maybe I need to cut back on TMZ and gossip magazines.

Almost forgot to mention this amazing rainbow circling the sun that appeared during the attic sale.  Absolutely gorgeous!  All in all, it was a very exhausting - productive - family filled weekend.

Ramble On Little Lady

This week, Ellington received an invitation to attend one of her favorite friend's 2nd birthday party.  After I read the invitation to her and explained in my best toddle language whose party it was, she insisted on reading it herself.  Luckily, I had my camera handy and captured her adorable ramblings on video.

Enjoy!

Ellington's 1st Birthday, Round 1

Ellington had a fantastic 1st birthday in Charlotte!  We finally got all the pictures back and are so grateful for all of you who came out to help celebrate the 1st year of our little girl's life.  We are also incredibly grateful for those of you that helped blow up 200 or so balloons and put this whole party together.

I thought we were in for a long (& cranky) night when Ellington refused to smile for her first round of birthday pics.  Fortunately, this did not set the mood for the night.  She must have known that this birthday celebration was serious business... she would be choosing her life's path later in the evening after all. :)

Can we just take a moment to be impressed by the incredible work my mom did on Ellington's Dol towers!  The bunny is my favorite.  It's just so stink'n cute.  Dol towers are a Korean tradition.  The bunny represents Ellington birth in the 'Year of the Rabbit', the Korean writing on the left says 'Happy Birthday', and the writing on the right is her Korean name - Yi JiMin.

After a mini-photoshoot, Ellington needed an apple and a little time with Grandmama & Grandma to recharge before the party started.

This photo is one of my favorites.  The guests were asked to show their love for Ellington by making heart shapes.  The adorable couple showing their love for E here is my sister-in-law and her boyfriend.  We had a mini-sermon, some singing, and a few speeches too.  I won't bore you with the details.

I'll just get straight to the good stuff... it was finally time for Ellington to choose her destiny.  Well, almost.  Elli changed into her Korean Hanbok and was given a gold coin (from my mom) and a gold ring (from Mrs. Yi).  She then turned around and tried to swallow the gold ring, so we had to put it away for obvious reasons.

She was so serious about 'choosing her destiny'.  I think that she knew how important this part of the party was to her Halmoni and Harabojee.  She had to choose between a ball of yarn (longevity), money (wealth), a microphone (entertainment), a pencil (education), a ball (sports), and a stethoscope (medicine). I thought she was definitely going to choose the money because she loves to play with paper, but she chose...

The microphone!  I secretly think that Mrs. Yi has been training her to choose the microphone because she wants Ellington to be the Korean Oprah.  Maybe she will be now that her destiny is to be in the entertainment business. :)

We ended the night with cake!  Delicious!  I think that Ellington was certainly impressed with her first taste of cake.  What a wonderful night!

Another Birthday Sneak Peek :)

Just 400 or so balloons to blow up by Saturday.  I think we may skip Ellington's 2nd and 3rd birthday...

Birthday Planning Sneak Peek

Ellington's big birthday party is coming up fast and we are deep in the planning and prepping stages of the celebration.  My mom has taken on the challenge of making all of Elli's Dol towers.  She has done an amazing job and I wanted to share a little picture of the progress.  After many many hours of gluing tiny candies, the Dol towers are nearly complete. Thanks Mom!

Vintage Tea Party - Bridal Shower

My older sister is getting married this year and we have been busy with party planning for the past month or so.  A week ago, we finally had the party and it was so much fun!  I won't bore you with too many details, but I do want to mention some fun things that we added to make the shower a little more personal.

The hat displays are actually made from hats that were from my grandmother's and great-grandmother's collection.  This was totally my mom's creation and everyone loved them!  Many of them are really cute and hats are coming back in fashion thanks to a certain royal wedding last year.  Unfortunately, my head is far to big to fit into any of these beautiful hats.  The tablecloths are also my great-grandmother's.

This is my favorite detail!  My mom found this picture from my sister's 4th birthday.  Malone was a bride and I was a bridesmaid (Carney was still in my mom's belly).  Isn't it funny what kids think up for their birthday parties. :)

Lastly, one of Malone's friends turned what was left of her bridal shower cake into a 'Happy 30th Birthday' cake for later on that evening.

This was one exhausting weekend, but I had lots of fun and I hope everyone else did too!

Halmoni is Home

Halmoni got back from Korea a few weeks ago and Ellington could not be happier.  As she was unloading all of the goodies she brought Elli from Korea, Ellington was keeping herself busy by climbing in and out of the suitcases.

Halmoni did bring one thing back from Korea that distracted Elli long enough to put away the suitcases... a hanbok for her first birthday!

Ugh.  I guess this means that we need to start the planning process for Ellington's party.  And it will be a big process.  The Koreans do first birthdays in a BIG way.  Can someone else please take over so I can go on a vacation to recover from the holidays?