How to Save Your Child

I was driving to Target with my daughters yesterday to buy gifts before heading to my co-worker's son's birthday party. As we stopped on the red light, I noticed this man driving in the car next to mine, probably in his late 30's looking at my car. I looked again and I saw him looking at my daughter Ju Ju. I didn't think too much at first, then the light turned green. I started driving again and he, too, started driving. I looked at him again, he's still looking at Ju Ju while he's driving (ok, that's dangerous!) Then we stopped again for another red light. I looked again, now he looked back and looking at her again. I looked the back seat and saw my daughter resting her both hands by the window and looking outside, midning her own business. She didn't know the guy was looking at her.

Now as a mother I thought about two things:

1. This guy simply thinks my daughter is adorable.

2. This guy is creepy and must be a pedophile

Okay girls, I don't deny that I often get stopped by strangers at a supermarket or a restaurant or a boutique and being told how cute my daughters are. Even past weekend, while we're waiting our turn at the deli for cold cuts, this gentleman before me told me, "I just want to say that your daughters are adorable.." - I was flattered and thanked him. And there's nothing wrong with it.

What tremendously bothered me about this guy in the car was, he never once acknowledged me. We stopped side by side at the red lights twice. He never even once looked at me and smiled or nodded; the gestures that I would consider him being polite and telling me that he knew I was her mother. As I was approaching another traffic light to make left turn onto Target, the guy slowly, but surely changing lanes towards the opposite lane to make right turn.

I was watching at my daughter through the rear view mirror when she finally noticed the guy looking at her. She waved him and I immediately looked at the man. He smiled and waved her and disappeared as he made right turn onto the opposite street. Ju Ju said, "Mama, the guy was smiling at me, so I waved..." My heart was racing fast....It was my gut feeling. Something was terribly wrong. I could feel it.

No, he didn't follow us. And yes, it could be totally innocent thing where he honestly thought she was cute and wondered what my daughter was thjnking as she looked outside of the car window. But really, if I was he, I would look at her mom and at least smile.

So that night, I talked to my husband who's in NJ about what happened. He was really, really bothered by my story because he couldn't do anything about it. He was also frustrated with my action where I didn't do anything to control the situation. He told me I should have honked at the guy when I felt something was wrong and letting him know that I knew he was looking at our daughter. JT told me I am the only one who can save our daughters from any harm while he's away and he is right.

I don't want to be cynical, but we're living in the time where we can't trust strangers. It's really sad, but true. Strangers do great things to help other people in need, but there are also crazy sick people who want to hurt children. So, I have to protect my daughters from anyone who wants to hurt them and I feel like I didn't do a good job of doing that. I truly hope the guy was not some sick man who loves little kid. That thought only makes me wanna vomit.

So, what would you do if you were me?

I'm Happy For You, Ricky!!!

I was listening to the radio on the way back home from work when DJ announced, "Let's celebrate, Ricky Martin just came out!"

I'm sure many people had already speculated and (sorta) knew that he was gay, but when it's finally confirmed, I was a bit surprised. Yes, it wasn't like "Oh my goodness!!" - but "Oh, he finally did it" kinda way...

You can't deny the fact that many young women including myself found themselves daydreaming about him at least once and thought how gorgeous he was. Come on everybody, remember "Viva La Vida Loca"? He was definitely one of the heartthrobs. It's unfortunate that we still live in the world where people feel they can't be true to themselves. They are so afraid of being rejected by society.

My hairstylis is gay and he's SO proud of being who he is. Yes, he's not a Hollywood star, so the situation might be a little different, but still, he's happy and he's at peace. There is no secret. He's so free in many different ways and I know that's how it should be.

Years ago, my brother in law (my sister's husband) had the opportunity to to have a conversation with Ricky while Ricky was vacationing in Hawaii. My BIL said he couldn't believe how kind and gracious Ricky was - even when he was a mega star at the time, he was so humble and laid back. And I can totally believe that.

I hope Ricky finds happiness and what he's been looking for without any reservation. He's a free man now - he can breathe and be who he is without worrying about other people. He deserves that at least... Congrats Ricky - you did it!!!

Broken Heart... Heart vol1.

The salon where I work get many bridal party appointments, especially on weekends. It's always nice to see soon-to-be brides being so happy and anxious for the big day. And I must say I love weddings!

About a month ago, a woman called in to make an appointment for her and her bridesmaids. "I'm getting married the next day," she said with delight. I congratulated her and told her she must be very excited. "Yes, I am very excited! I'm still nervous because there are many things I need to get done, but I'm very very excited."

How wonderful is that? The feelings of being in love and walking down on the aisle to meet her future husband. It's one of the lifetime moments where you feel tremendous love and happiness surrounded by your loved ones. It's just so special.. So, I was all gigglie and felt warmth in my heart when I made the appointment for the girl.

But then, the beginning of last week, the girl's mother called the salon saying that her daughter made an appointment for her wedding. The mom said, "Well, I need to cancel the appointment for her because.... well, you know, the groom called off the wedding.." I was speechless. I didn't know what to say except, "Oh no.. I'm so sorry. That's no problem. So sorry again."

What a shocker. I was stunned. I felt really really terrible for the bride. It happened a week before their wedding when the groom just decided he didn't want to get married. Really? Seriously? Of course it's for the best for the long run, I'm sure. It's brutal honesty on the groom's part. But I couldn't stop thinking about her. Her dream of becoming a wife of her dream and it was totally shuttered a week before the wedding. I'm 100% positive she's broken hearted.

A few days later her wedding planner came in and she told me and my boss what happened. She said the groom called his fiance/bride and told her he doesn't want to get married. The planner said, "She didn't see it coming, so she's quite devastated actually..." Yeah, really? I woul be! I don't know about you, but I think weddings are kind of a big deal. You can't just say "let's get married!" and the next day, "let's not get married!" - you really have to know what you're doing.

I'm sure most of you have gone through many breakups and makeups in your life. You often wonder how many breakups do you need to go through before you find "THE ONE" that won't break your heart. When you find a prince charming and he asks your hand to marry him on his knee, don't you believe right there and then that he'll never break your heart? I guess in reality, sometimes that's not always the case. It's really sad, but true. But I also know that marriage sometimes hands you lemons and limes. And it takes two to make good lemonades and delicious margaritas.

I just hope the bride finds joy and happiness in her life and the real prince charming very soon...


xoxo

P.S. Did you have a nice weekend, my loves?

Have A Lovely Weekend!!

Hello my sweethearts - what are your plans for the weekend? Are you planning anything fun and sweets? I am going to lay by the pool with my daughters and friends tomorrow. We're finally getting the nice weather. Then I will be going out to an art show in town with my co-workers tomorrow evening. I'm very excited!

Me, BFF K & A and A's friend

There is nothing more exciting than having a girls night out with the people I love (and of course spending my days with my daughters make me the happiest, but you know what I mean). Whatever you do, please stay safe and have a lovely weekend!!!!

xoxo

My Love For Photography...

This is actually a repost (which I've never done before!) from my business blog which I started three months ago and now closed (I decided to combine two blog: business and personal a few weeks ago). Since this was one of my very first posts and not many people had seen it, so I thought what a hey - it wouldn't hurt, right?

Anyways, I constantly try to find the ideas for my paintings and artwork. I grew up surrounded by two professional photographers; my grandpa and my dad. So, watching them taking beautiful pictures had shaped who I am. Yes, I love photography.

A photo can tell a million stories. And it's so magical.

I've seen so many beautiful photography throughout my life and there are many amazing photographers for whom I adore. One of my favorite photographers is Anne Leibovitz. She is so popular that I'm sure most of you've seen her work at least once somewhere in the magazines.

I'm an Anne Leibovitz fan because she's taken the world of photography to the limit and created a world of her own that many of us had never seen before. I always grab the issue of Vanity Fair when it features Hollywood stars that are shot by Anne.

Her photography is a total creation of both art and fantasy - it's just amazingly beautiful. I wonder what it's like to be in front of her camera...

I don't know why I picked this photo of Je Lo & MA - funny, huh?

{All Photography By Anne Leibovitz}

And another photographer I adomire is Herb Ritts (1952 - 2002), a fashion photographer who had shot so many Hollywood celebrities including Madonna. He shot iconic photographs in black and white - his work was simple and yet powerful. I love his photography and totally miss seeing his work.




{All Photography By Herb Ritts}

One of my all tme favorite music videos is Janet Jackson's "Love Will Never Do" directed by Herb Ritts. He was truly a talented artist. I'm sure you've seen it before. It's the best and the sexiest video ever. Beautiful song = Beautiful video. BTW, Antonio Sabato Jr. was freaking HOT!

Pretty Eggs

My daughters JuJu and Soapy are all pumped up about Easter - they LOOOOOVE to dye eggs. We were standing in line to check out at our local grocery store Publixthe other day when I spotted a new issue of Marth Stewart's Living. It was Easter Egg edition and it features cute egg photos and lots of how to's... The oldest JuJu has been flipping through the same pages over and over and asking me when can she dye her eggs.

We do make cute eggs every year, but nothing like these ones in the photos (all photos from Living mags) - I think I want to try making some cute eggs that I've never made before this year since the girls a bit bigger... Aren't they adorable and pretty????

So, my darling, Got Eggs?

I See You Daddy.....

Many of you know that my husband has been away since February to work in NJ. I can't believe it's been almost two months. I'm a big girl, so I'm okay most of the times - trying to be strong and do all I can for our daughters. Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do to keep it going, you know?

Our daughters are the same way - they have adjusted their lives without their daddy: Thank god for their grandpa (they have three of them, but one lives very close) and their uncle who live in FL - they have played huge roles as a father figure to them. But sometimes, my oldest JuJu gets really sad that her daddy is not here. She sometimes cries that she misses him.

One night, JT called us and asked the girls if they could see the moon - we ran outside and saw a big full moon. He told the girls he's looking at the same moon - it was like a magic. They had this big "WOW" on their faces and instantly they felt this closeness to their daddy like he's right there with them. So, now, they look at the moon or the brightest star when he calls - I always hear them say, "I see you Daddy.." They miss him less, I think...

But we got Thunderstorms in the afternoon and it's been a bit cloudy tonight, so they didn't get to see the moon. JuJu was a bit sad and said, "Mommy, no moon tonight...." - So I decided to show their baby pictures with daddy. And oh my, they were little! JuJu and Soapy were all gigglie - they couldn't believe their eyes. Yep, they are still small, but they were really tiny then!

Here are some of my favorite picutures of my family. JT had no idea I was taking the pictures - He was watching TV and I didn't use flush light :) Soapy was only one month old - JuJu was 2. Oh they grow so fast..

So my darlings, did you have a nice weekend????

At Disney World for JuJu's 6th birthday - Christmas Party with Mickey!

A Piece of My Dreams

I've been painting since I was a little girl. It's one of those things where I can be who I am and use my imagination take its own course. It's very relaxing, too... My daughters JuJu and Soapy love it when a new painting is placed on my chair in the morning - they get so excited and give me a feedback and they're pretty acurate.

For some of my new readers : Five years ago, I gave one of my paitning to my brother in law as a Christmas gift. People who saw it loved my work and several friends asked me to paint something for them. That's when I started thinking about turning my passion into a profession. Last year December after carefully designing and organizing for eight months, I launched my own business: It's called "Barefoot Chic Design" and you can click on my logo on the right sidebar if you would like to check out the website...

I still have my part time job, but I am slowly, but surely heading towards my goal which is to have my business as my full time job. I would really love to be a stay at home mom again (I was a house wife for six years until the fall of 2008) and do what I love the best - Painting.

The photo above is my new creation "Hope" that I painted for a giveaway that's going on right now over at my dear friend Dionne's blog. Please head over there and enter if you would like.

With all of the things going on in my life and around the world, I tend to cling on the word, "Hope" - I think it's such a beautiful word, don't you agree? I always look up in the sky and hope....

Hope you're having a lovely day!

The Price of Beauty

This is how I look (my body) minus the face.


I just finished watching Jessica Simpson's "The Price of Beauty" on Vh1. She travels around the world to see what is considered "beautiful" in different cultures. I'm not a big fan of Jessica Simpson, but I also feel horrible about the way she was treated by media about her weight a while back - and I think she's trying to prove the world that beautiy comes from the inside and not on the outside...

So what is beauty? What do you consider "beautiful"? Some people may call me crazy (including my husband), but I have struggled with my own body image for the longest time. I've always been thin and that has been part of my insecurities since I moved to the U.S. I hate my arms and my friends say I'm thin like a tooth pick - I hate it. I want to have a curvy body - but no matter how hard I work out, I will never get those curvy body :( If anything my body totally resembles of Posh Spice/VB's body. You know how people talk about her - how skinny she is or she must not eat any food or looks like anorexic... I agree, if you see her pic of years and years ago, she does look like she has some weight on her compare to now. If you look at my high school pictures, I have a bit more round face (meat on my cheek) - but the whole body frame hasn't changed a lot. My trainer at the gym is build like me - very slender and you wouldn't think she's a trainer. She's told me many many times before that I need to embrace my body frame because it won't change no matter what I did.. I do love certain parts of my body though, especailly my butt.

With that said, I love the bodies of these three actresses. They are not curvy like Scarlett Johansson or Penelope Cruz, but their bodies are beautiful! I go to gym and work out hoping to achieve healthy looking body like theirs..

Cameron Diaz



Jennifer Aniston

Kate Beckinsale

So, what defines "beauty" in your dictionary???

My Love for Soccer

This is one of my favorite photo of David - oh that smile...

Every country has their favorite sports that they grow up watching and playing with. In the U.S., people go crazy over football and bascketball and baseball. In Japan, we go goo goo gaga over soccer and baseball. I gew up watching and going to see so many soccer and baseball games and I must admit soccer is one of my favorite sports of all time. I remember standing in the cold winter day - cheering and screaming for Europe's two best teams playing at the National Stadium in Tokyo. Or I cheered for Japan for their first attempt to appear at the World Cup in 1994 only to lose at the qualification final game - us Japanese people call it "The Agony of Doha - Doha no higeki-" We were zombies the next day in despair..

Thankfully, Japan has been apearing the World Cup for the past three games as well as this year's World Cup in South Africa. I'm very very excited about this year's World Cup - except, I just found out that my idol David Beckham ruptured his Achilles tendon and he will miss his last World Cup appearance - I'm devastated.

I've been a huge fan of David long before he came to U.S. to play for LA Gallaxy or long before he became Posh Spice's husband. He was just a young and awesome soccer player. I'm a bit sad about his status nowadays he is more of a Hollywood star than a true soccer player, but I know in his heart, his true passion is to chase the ball....

I would have loved to see him play for the last time at the World Cup - he's still young, but not young enough to play at his national team in four years. There are plenty young breed waiting to play in the big stage. I'm really really disappointed and sad about this.

But I will cheer for Japan and JT's favorite team Italy.

I took this photo while watching the World Cup 4 years ago on TV at home - Beckham was about to come out to the field and I grabbed my camera and took this picture. The look on his face is something people don't get to see if you're not a soccer fan.

Aw that tattoo covered arms. So sexy.

People made fun of this ad and I could understand why. LOL.

He says he is a lucky man to have his wife - I say Posh Spice is damn lucky to have him as a husband.

So, are you a soccer fan???