Santa Monica Pier

We're still recovering from our travels to Los Angeles with two small children, but we had a blast and can't wait to go back (maybe without the kids or when they are a little older). Traveling on a plane with little ladies who are not fond of sitting still is rough, y'all!

Traveling to a different timezone is rough too. Jet lag + long car drives (hello! LA traffic) meant my girls took many naps in the car. Completely acceptable when it gives momma a chance to relax in the parking lot while the little ones sleep.

This trip was all about the wedding (my sister-in-law got married to a great man that my oldest daughter just adores), but we still had plenty of time to explore the city and eat lots of great food. Seriously, LA has some super delicious restaurants. You might have to search for the good ones (I think there are more restaurants than there are people), but Esther from Adventures with Esther & Jacob has a fantastic list to start you out.

I'll give details about our eating adventures in California next week. Esther's list definitely came in handy and one of the restaurants we dined in was unexpectedly featured in Food Network Magazine this month. We're so on trend. Lol.

Before stuffing our bellies with that trendy restaurant, we drove to the beach… which I could have lived without. This was our second time to the Santa Monica pier. The first time was a couple years ago, in the fall. The summer season brought lots of tourist, as expected, but also lots of trash on the beach. I was not a fan.

Neither was little bit. Ellington, on the other hand, had a blast. We only coaxed her to leave the beach by offering up a trip to the amusement park on the pier. She had a blast riding rides as well. As we stood in line for the ferris wheel, I had a brief second where I thought we just might be crazy for taking our 1 year old and 3 year old on a rusty old ferris wheel. Once we all jumped in an saw the amazing views, I knew it was worth it. Winsley didn't really appreciate the awesomeness (we later discovered that she had been sick the entire weekend… oops), but Ellington requested 5 more rides on the ferris wheel. She is definitely my little adventure seeker.

You were good to us, LA. We will surely be back to enjoy all that Los Angeles has to offer and continue eating our way through California. Any suggestions for food or fun around LA are welcomed and encouraged!

a letter to my 25 year old self

Dear Quinn,

It might be hard for you to wrap your head around, but in 5 short years you’ll be a full time stay at home mom with a 3 year old and a 1 year old. Those two little ladies will bring you more joy and more worries than you ever thought possible. It sounds great, doesn’t it? You don’t have to go to work everyday! No more workplace drama and meaningless customer complaints. Just relaxing and playing with your kids everyday. Oh, man. I wish you knew…

Yes, watching your children learn and grow each day is incredible, but it is also a lot of work. Work that has no 15 minute coffee breaks or end of the day cocktail hours with coworkers. This will just be a different stage in your life, no better or worse than before, just different.

While I’m sure you are having a blast down in Alabama and your stubborn tendancies will not likely take any of this advice easily, I wish you knew...

Shopping is one of our favorite things to do. Finding that adorable new dress or perfect pair of trendy shoes brings us joy, but I wouldn’t waste your money on fancy things. Pretty soon, you’ll be comfortable reveling in the moment wearing one of your 4 or 5 go-to mommy uniforms. Something that isn’t necessarily trendy, but fits you and your style + is comfortable throughout the day and makes you look pulled together when you feel like a hot mess.

While we’re on the subject of wasting your money, lets talk a little bit about how much money you’re spending eating out. Birmingham surprisingly has some amazing cuisine, it’s true, but there is simply no need to eat out every single night. Trade that in for cooking at home the majority of the time. That condo kitchen may be tiny, but spend a little time in there and learn how to cook a few recipes until you are a master chef (or at least have a handful of recipes memorized). You’ll thank me in a few years when you suddenly realize that it 4 o’clock and you have yet to plan dinner. You will easily be able to pull from your catalog of tested recipes instead of reaching for that store bought pizza at the back of the freezer.

You're not going to want to hear this one, but I strongly encourage you to take a look at your bank account. You are making a lot of money (compared to the zero you’ll be making as a stay at home mom) and it doesn’t look like you’re saving much, if any. Why not skip the bars this weekend? The amount of money you’re spending on alcohol will shock you in 5 years! (Also, in 5 years you’ll get drunk off of just 2 glasses of wine and suffer a horrible hangover after 3.) You are probably thinking that you’ll have plenty of time to build up that nest egg and you’d rather have fun now, I wish you knew...

Here’s a thought. If you insist on wasting your money, waste it on something good. All of the money you’ve wasted on clothes + restaurants + bars in your early 20s could have paid for many trips off your bucket list. Waste your money on experiences now as those experiences will be much different when you have kids to consider. Then, when you look back on the days as a newlywed, you’ll think less of the wasted money and more about the experiences you shared with your new husband.

Money will not bring you happiness, but having a little cushion of it will bring you much comfort when you are not the only one you need to support. I know it’s hard to look towards the future now, during your first real moment of independence. I’ve been there, I know. I also know how stubborn you are and that you’ll probably decline this advice with a bit of know-it-all attitude, but I just wanted you to know.

In the end, it will all turn out alright. You and your husband will work through the hard bits and live a comfortable life (even if you’ll still be paying those student loans off until eternity!). In five years, everything will be different. Not better or worse, just different and you’ll love every bit of the journey (even the hard bits). Trust me, I know.

Sincerely,

Your 30 year old self

Waiting on the snow...

I'm taking a snow day today. We are expecting at least an inch or snow in NC. May not sound like much to my northern friends, but it is a massive amount here in the South.
Seriously, the whole city usually shuts down for a few flurries. An inch? An inch could mean closings for days! I'm clearly exaggerating, but not really.
In my blogging absence, I'll leave you with cute baby picture. 

On the left is Ellington's first snow (February 2012). On the right is Winsley's first snow just last week (January 2014).
I rarely compare my two girls because they are so different, but I just couldn't resist this cute side-by-side of their first snow experiences. Adorableness.

He's a Keeper, For Sure

My husband can be sneaky sometimes. Normally, he gives away all of his secrets because he's just so excited. Then there are times like this where I suspect nothing and he surprises me out of the blue.
The mailman happened to be abnormally late on Tuesday, so he was home when I went to retrieve our mail. Funny thing happened - there was a package for my husband, but I glanced down to see it was from Fifth & Mae.

Now, Why would my husband be ordering something from a jewelry store? How did he even know about Fifth & Mae? Turns out he was snoop'n around on my blog. Remember when I wrote about my little wish list here. Yeah, he read it too. He ended up purchasing everything on my wish list (except the ring because it's sold out).
Not a belated Christmas gift. Not an early Valentine's Day gift. Just because. Getting all mushy mushy and sweet. :-)
I guess I'll keep him. 

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?

Looking Back

I never go back and read old posts from my blog. I'm usually working on the next post and taking care of work or home stuff that it never crosses my mind to read old posts. Well, I was having a little writers block today. I had planned to write a mini-update on home decor, but the pictures weren't taken and the project ultimately was not 100% complete. Having nothing else planned out to write, I decided to see what I had written about in Januarys past. This is what I came across: 

MONDAY, JANUARY 10, 2011 

What will she look like? 

As soon as I found out about this little human inside me, I started daydreaming about her future.  I didn't even think twice about what she would actually look like... the little girl in my dreams looked like a mini me. Then reality hit me that she may look nothing like me at all. John's Korean genes may be so dominant that it will look like I adopted a little Korean girl. :( I fear the day that someone asks me where I adopted my baby. What do you say? I'm the one carrying her around for months... why can't she look more like me than John? 

My mom did point out an upside to her possibly dominant Korean traits. If she acts up in public, I can pretend like I am just the babysitter. :) 

Fortunately, we got a good look at her in a recent ultrasound and it looks like she may have my nose and pouty lips. If she has my lips, John is in big trouble. One look at him with those pouty lips and sad eyes and she will have him wrapped around her little finger. 

We are just going to have to wait until next month to find out what she will really look like. Can you believe that we only have 4 short weeks until she arrives?!

Back then, just 3 short years ago, my pregnant belly was about to burst along with my heart. It seems silly now to be so worried about the appearance of my little girl.

She certainly didn't look like me when she was born, but she could be my slightly exotic looking twin these days… especially with her mannerisms. And I just recently got the "Are you their nanny?" question this past summer. You know what, it didn't bother me at all.

It really doesn't matter at all if my girls look nothing like me, they're my babies and I love them with all of my being. Maybe I'll look back at my past post more often now, just to see how things have changed and put my worries back into perspective.

Crazy Like A Banana

Y'all, I want to introduce you to somebody incredible! She's my momma.

My girls call her Mommo and love her to pieces. I know, I know. Everybody thinks their mom is incredible and they're usually right. Moms in general are incredible. Not that Dads aren't also great, it's just that Moms tend to do things that far too often go unnoticed. After a while, you just kind of expect your mom to be there and do what she does.
Mommo is always there. Always. She is always the first to comment or 'like' one of my blog posts on Facebook. She was one of my first big Etsy orders and she would buy up a million tshirts if she thought it would help me succeed in my new job. And although I could fill up 10,000 post with ways my mom is an incredible mother + daughter + sister + grandmother, I'm not here to tell you that.
You see, she finally decided to do something a little crazy for herself. Right about now, she's on her way up to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. Say WHAT?! Yes, you read that right. My mom, grandmother of 2 (4 if you count dog children), is hiking up the side of one of the highest and most famous mountains in the world. I get chills just thinking about it. 
I shouldn't be surprised by her adventurous attitude. She's always been a pretty incredible lady. 
Say a little prayer for this incredible woman and I'll try to talk her into guest posting about her African adventure when she gets back.
Oh, the title of this post? It's just a little something that Tanzanians say to answer the question "How are you?" Very fitting for Mommo. Here's a little freebie if you are loving this Swahili phrase too.

Download Images: Computer Screen | iPhone 

We've Lost Our Marbles

No, we haven't gone crazy… or maybe we have. Kids tend to make you go crazy no matter how hard you try to hold on to your sanity, but it's all worth it! Some of my favorite people are crazy. Hi, Mom! :) Just kidding. My mom is actually the normal one of the family. We decided to brave the weekend crowds and head to our local children's museum this weekend, aptly named Marble (I wrote about our first visit to this museum here). But first, we headed to a favorite Charlotte lunch spot that has made it's way to Raleigh! 

Love the food! Love the atmosphere! Love the name: Cowfish! I can't get enough of this place and Ellington certainly enjoys the delicious food. After eating, we headed to the museum where Ellington acted like a kid in a candy store museum made just for kids. We practically had to pry her fingers off of the walls to get her to leave.

Winsley, however, was not very impressed by the place.

How was your weekend?

Decorating for the Holiday Season

The weather has been dreary all week with rain and now cooler temperatures, so I feel like winter is well on it's way. It sort of feels like we skipped right over fall, but that's probably me just being dramatic. To go along with the chilly weather, I got the itch to do a little decorating around the blog.  

It's still a work in progress and I'm not in love with certain little parts (like the social media buttons), so don't get too use to this look.  Suddenly today, I got this burst of energy to create and redesign.  First, it was my living room. You know, completely normal redesigning… like trying to arrange the furniture to accommodate a nonexistent Christmas tree, in October. 

I love the holidays, but I am not one to rush through fall to get to Christmas. I normally cringe when I see Christmas commercials come on so early or hear 'Jingle Bells' anytime before December. However, this year feels different. I'm ready to skip fall and dive right into winter. 

As I'm typing this, I realize that my desire to skip fall this year might be my subconscious wanting to ignore my fall birthday (the big 3-0). Whatever the reason, I'm ready. Ready for the snow (even if it's only a dusting) + ready for boots + ready for scarfs and lots of layers + ready to celebrate lots of winter holidays with our family of 4.
Are you ready for winter already?

Doggonit

So, I know it's been a while since I've posted anything… life has gotten in the way once again. For the past month, my 6 month old seems to think that she should wake up every hour to play and practice standing. If it weren't for the gloriousness of a good cup of coffee (or five) and Winsley's late night giggles as she amazes herself with her new skills, I might have puled all of my hair out already. Winsley is a big trickster - It's hard to get frustrated with a little girl who smiles and giggles so much. Anywho, I'm back! Lots of updates to come, but for now I'll leave you with some cuteness from this past weekend.

We were dog sitting for my little sister and Ellington loved every minute of it. After the first few hours, she acted as if Birdie (the dog) had always lived with us. 

Winsley didn't really notice that Birdie was there most of the weekend. Whenever she did catch Birdie in her eyesight, she giggled and smiled like crazy.

Birdie was rescued from the local animal shelter and I don't think my sister could have found a better dog. She is the sweetest! And she could not have been more gentle around my girls. We spent lots of time outside and I just let her roam around with out a leash on most of the time… well, she didn't really roam. Birdie is the type of dog that would rather stay glued to your side than run off to explore.

Such a blessing to have this sweet little lady join our family for the weekend. I cannot image why anybody would have abandoned her at the shelter, but I'm glad that they did and she found a home with my sister. :)

Top Ten Tuesday | Happiness

Monday night was a rough one. An overtired toddler and a fully awake baby made for a tear-filled bedtime. Y'all, I'll be real. Monday was just one of those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days! Although I'm dreading the day ahead for fear of another awful day, I'm trying hard to be positive and start off on the right foot. So, I'm looking for the happy spots in my day. 

Happiness (to me) is. . . 

1. a good cup of coffee. One of those elusive cups of coffee that I get to enjoy in it's entirety without warming it back up in the microwave is especially nice. 
2. a toddler running down the hallway and yelling "It's wake up time, Mommy!" I would welcome an extra 5 minutes of sleep, but I do love her enthusiasm for the morning and I hope this means that I won't have to drag her out of bed when she starts school in the future. 
3. chubby baby faces. Who doesn't love fat babies (besides Lyle Lovett)?
4. coloring. My daughter much prefers taking the paper off of her crayons and then breaking them all to coloring in her coloring books, so I relax and use broken crayons to color while she's busy making a mess. 
5. taking a walk outside. With the distractions of today's technology, a nice walk through our neighborhood usually means peace and quiet. Bonus points for seeing our neighbors and starting a friendly conversation. 
6. the convenience of a digital camera. Sometimes, I hate technology. Then, the digital camera makes me fall in love with all of the simple advances we've made. Instant gratification at it's finest. 
7. having a dance party in the middle of the day. This tradition will continue until my daughters are aware that my dance skills should be an embarrassment. Until that day, I'll continue to rock out to the 90's greatest pop hits. 
8. seeing my girls bond as sisters. Having 2 sisters of my own, I know all about the instant friendship you gain with a sister. My girls love each other deeply already and my heart smile each time Ellington runs to comfort her crying sister or Winsley laughs hysterically at her big sister. 
9. seeing life's everyday miracles through the eyes of a child + learning something new each day. It's been a long time since I've stopped to think about the amazement of a plane flying in the sky or the simple task cooking dinner. My toddler is constantly questioning 'Why?' - which can be annoying until I pause and think. . . I don't know 'why'. 
10. hugs and kisses from two adorable little ladies all day long.

What brings you happiness everyday?

Linking up with Emily from Manhattan Emily for Top Ten Tuesdays today. 

More on Toddler Photoshoots

First of all, a big thank you to all of the comments + tweets + facebook messages on yesterday's post. I almost didn't post it for fear that I would be crowned worst mom of the year for photoshopping my kids. I'm so thankful that this little blogging community is so supportive.

Yesterday's post really got me thinking about my own childhood photos. I have 2 sisters and my mom didn't have the luxury of a digital camera when we were small. This meant that she had one chance to get the shot and had to wait weeks for the rest of the film roll to fill up before sending the film off to get developed. Pure torture! I don't know how she got any decent shots of us.

In honor of all the mommarazzi out there before the convenience of the digital camera, here are just a few of the great photos my mom captured of our childhood:

That big ol' Michelin baby is me with my older sister, Malone. 

Yep, I'm the weirdo in the purple unicorn costume for Halloween. I sure did love that thing :)

That's me in the blue swimsuit. I absolutely adore this photo!

I'm in the middle with my older sister (Malone) to the left and my younger sister (Carney) to the right.

Also, Bonnie from A Compass Rose has a great post on her blog today about Family Portraits. Run over there to get some great tips and professional insight on how to capture your little family.

Our Weekend

Because I'm being a little lazy today and I'm working on a little side project at the moment, I'll let you see a few glimpses from our weekend. We celebrated the 4th of July with my in-laws and we, of course, had a mainly Korean meal with a few American additions (not pictured).

This spread is typical of most of the holidays I spend with my in-laws. It was a little strange to me at first (like the time my mother-in-law brought a rice cooker to a cookout), but I have gotten use to it.

Winsley spent a good bit of time traveling in style on the back of her Halmoni. This is the way that my mother-in-law carried her kids around when they were babies.

Meanwhile, I got to relax and enjoy a meal not cooked by me. This is Bibimbap served in a hot stone bowl. A great introduction into Korean food if you have never tried it.

And we had the most amazing few days with my grandmother. Her mind is not what it use to be and she is often confused by the present. This visit, however, she was exceptionally lucid and I loved every minute of her normal craziness.

Someday, I'll tell you all about my grandmother and her crazy comments - like when she told Ellington that she is lucky that she is so pretty because 'Pretty can get smart, but smart can't get pretty'. I could probably fill a book with funny comments like this, but that is a post for another day.

Hope everybody had a fantastic weekend with family or friends and took a little time to relax!

Weekend Recap

1. Lots of block building was included in our weekend happenings. This masterpiece was created when I had to run upstairs to change the baby. I came back down to find an incredibly tall block tower and an incredibly proud little architect. 

2. Another moment in mommyhood where I was focusing on the baby and the toddler took the moment to sneak away. When I finally found the key to unlock the toddler locked door, I found one mischievous little lady who was covered head to toe in aquaphor (if you have no idea what that is, think vaseline). It took THREE shampoos + TWO shampoos with dish soap to get all of that greasy stuff our of her hair. 

3. I had to do it. I caved into the trend of 'cupping'. And I'm not sorry in the least bit. I'm not guaranteeing that this will be the last 'baby cupping' you will see in my instagram (@kimchisweettea) feed. 

4. Exciting happenings in the neighborhood! We were apart of our very first block party in our new neighborhood. It was glorious! Plenty of kids for my girls to play with and we met all of our neighbors.  Ellington was so worn out that she passed out right in the stroller. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me -  knowing that there will be many many more of these community events in our sweet little neighborhood. 

5. Unfortunately, our weekend ended + our week has started with rain. Lightning, flooding, and more rain to come. 

How was your weekend? I hope all of my East Coast friends had some fun before the rain came and all of my West Coast friends found some way to beat the heat.

Linking up with Sami and Rachel today. 

We are the 15%

Something incredibly exciting happened to my little family over the weekend. If you follow me on twitter or Facebook, you can maybe guess what happened by the title of this post. If you don't, why the heck not?

Anywho. Somehow the hubs discovered an amazing website that a sweet couple put together after the backlash from the Cheerios commercial (read more about that here). The website is www.WeAreThe15Percent.com . The creators wanted to show everyone just how diverse American families truly are. The 15% part comes from a statistic from the 2008 census stating that 15% of new marriages are interracial. Of course, I am sure that number has significantly gone up since the 2008 census. One thing led to another and WeAreThe15Percent was featured on the Huffington Post AND the picture that you see above was also in the article. I feel semi-famous even if nobody else in the world noticed our picture. Just like the time you saw the back of my head for a millisecond in Will Ferrell's movie 'Talladega Nights'. :)

This little project got me thinking about my marriage. If this were 70 years back, our marriage would be illegal in most states. Although most Asian-caucasian relationships were tolerated, many couples still had to hide their love for each other for fear of prosecution or worse. It's just crazy to think about things like this.

You want to know something even crazier?? A form of this marriage racism still exists today in the Asian culture. A Korean woman once told me that even if she fell in love with someone outside of her race, she would never marry that person. She would only marry a Korean man to please her parents. There is also an Asian hierarchy of sorts - one Asian being superior to another and it is frowned upon to date someone from the lower tier of the Asian hierarchy.

I just hope that my girls fall in love with whoever they regardless of race or gender. I would hate to be the reason that my child suffers or doesn't marry the love of their life. I hope that they will come to know that their father and I are happiest when they are happy.

Love is love, people!

A Wedding Anniversary

It feels like John and I have been together for decades and we kind of have, well, one decade. This year will mark 12 years since we started dating. But, today we will be celebrating 4 years since we said 'I do'. 

I'm still crazy in love with that boy that I fell in love with in high school and absolutely adore the man he has become. Here's to many many more years of wedded chaos!

Korean 100 Day Ceebration

We not only celebrated Father's Day this weekend, but we got together to celebrate Winsley's 100th day. It sounds funny to celebrate less than 4 months here on earth, but it was a big deal back in the day in South Korea. You see, back in the day, the survival rate for children was very low and mothers would keep their newborns indoors to prevent any illnesses and increase the baby's chance of survival. On the 100th day after the child's birth, the mother would finally take her child outdoors and finally meet the neighbors, friends, and relatives. 

Traditionally, rice cake would be served to 100 people - a little superstition thought to help protect the child's life. We celebrated with rice cake, but we certainly didn't share it with 100 people. Hmmm. Maybe that's why Winsley is starting to catch a cold that I was sure was out of everyone's system last week. Back to the rice cake - I'm not a fan. It's literally cake. . . made out of rice. Rice flour, sugar, and salt. That's it. Where's the icing?! And I am certain that there is only a dash of sugar. My husband claims it is sweet, but I just taste bland rice. On the other hand, all of our Korean relatives aren't big fans of American desserts - they think they are too sweet. :)

Weekend Recap

Starting with the top row, from right to left, our past week in pictures during our visit to Charlotte. 

1 I spent more time than I wanted to in this gem. I actually learned to drive in this bus of a car. . . 15 YEARS ago! It's still running, but barely. No a/c. No Power Steering. Blinkers don't work. This car has about had it. 

2 + 3 Ellington found a tutu and the rest of the week was dedicated to the ballerina. She demanded that everyone play ballerina with her (including Winsley). Did I say everyone? I meant everyone but me. Apparently, I didn't make the ballerina cut. 

4 + 5 + 6 Before all of the rain and all of the heat, we spent a little time on the playground at my mom's work (she's a preschool director). Love this place!

7 The beginning of a wonderful sibling friendship. 

8 Winsley slept. In the crib! If you knew what we have had to deal with in the sleep department with Ellington, you will understand how happy / excited / relieved I am that Winsley likes the crib. 

9 Monkey grass is the devil! Fortunately, all of the monkey grass that you see in that picture is GONE now. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

A Week at the Beach, Part 4 of 4

Okay, people. This is the last of the pictures from our beach trip. I was hoping to get a family photo on this trip (it's on my summer bucket list), so we headed to the beach for a short photo session and enjoy the feeling of sand between our toes for the last time.

I cannot believe how much our annual beach trip has changed over the past 3 years. Ellington was so little the first time we headed to the beach with the same awesome couples that joined us again this year. The second time (here and here) at the beach, Ellington was still an amateur beach goer and a little weary of getting her hands covered in sand. This year (here, here, and here), she was a true professional. I even had to bribe her a few times to get her off of the beach.

Next year's beach trip will be even more fun! I just know it. We started out with 3 couples and a baby. Now we have 3 couples and 4 babies. I foresee many more crazy times at the beach!