Beach, Frozen Yogurt & Rainbow...

{Image By Soapy}

Well, it's already Wednesday, but I hope you all had a great Lobor Day weekend! Did you guys do anything special - or did you go any place special???


My weekend with the girls was just laid back - nothing crazy, but really good one. Thank you very much. I took the girls to our favorite Lido Beach and also we celebrated the Grand Opening of our favorite yogurt joint "White Berry" that came really close to our home. The original store is in downtown which is about 20 minutes drive and the new store is a lot closer and it takes less than 10 minutes:)


While the store guy R prepares the yummy yogurt for us, Soapy looks up like a little girl - she looks like a big girl, but I think she looks like a two year old from looking at this photo. So cute. She couldn't wait for him to make her yogurt:)



I got the Original flavor with Kiwi and Ju Ju and Soapy got their favorite Green Tea flovor with Mochi and Chocolate Chip. Seriously, they are yummy.

Somehow, Soapy in this picture is ready to snort yogurt out of spoon. Funny. This was just a random picture and I didn't set her up to this.

Now that looks better Soapy!

Julia and Soapy love these canisters full of Fruit Loops & Trix.

{Image By Ju Ju}

I must admit, my girls are really cute!

The same day afternoon before yogurt, I took the girls to our favorite Lido beach. It was a perfect beach day because the beach was not crowded and it was really quiet. I hate when there are too many people and no parking. I was a bit surprised becausse it was Labor Day weekend afterall, but I guess we just picked the right day because my friend who went to the same beach the next day told me the beach was packed Zoo. Thank goodness, it wouldn't be as fun if we're there on Sunday instead of Saturday..

I feel tremendous happiness when I'm at the beach - it doesn't matter where or which one, I just feel at home. Maybe because I grew up in Hawaii surrounded by the ocean, but I can't think of my life without beach.....

It's surreal to know that the BP oil spill has stopped. Yes, the cleanup effort still continues and it will stay that way for many years to come, and I get nervous when I think of the effect of the spill, but I think we cleared the first obstacle to contain the oil. I was really nervous at first that we'd lose our beautiful beach. I'm so glad that we don't need to see tar-balls washing ashore, but I wonder if all the marine lives and eco-system will ever be the same. I just don't know..

Often times when I look at my girls, as much as hard to grasp the thoughts, I realize that my life is not my life anymore. My life is for my daughters - I live my life for them. I need to think of their life first before I think of mine. It's not an easy tast at times because I consider myself a free sprited individual who has done many selfish things. But we all need to grow up sometimes, right? And when I look at their smiles, it's all worth it.

By the way, I ran to "white berry" again during a lunch break yesterday. I got Green Tea with Blackberries. It was soo declious - I can honestly have this frozen yogurt every single day.

After I finished working, I went to pick up my daughters at their grandparents house. My boss and his wife are in Seattle for a mini vacay, so I had to close the salon which was my first experience. I got to be the boss for the day which was not bad, but three more weeks, and I'm free!

On the way home from my in laws, I spotted a rainbown - We get ton of afternoon-evening thunderstorms and this happened right before the storm. Can you see the blue sky and the rain clouds next to each other? I had to stop and take pictures because it's so unusual to see a rainbow. It was really pretty!

I often dream of walking over a rainbow - how fun and beautiful experience would that be???

A Night Like This....

{Image By Me}

I finally did it, everyone! I gave the notice to my boss that I am leaving my job at the end of this month! Oh my goodness, you have no idea how hard it was for me to do this... My last day of work will be exactly two years from the day I started two years ago. It's been an interestig journey. I talked about my very first day at the job here and here.

I think I've learned a lot from my receptionist job. We have over 3600 clients in our system, of which 2500 are active. I can honestly say we're the busiest salon in our town. I was fortunate enough to meet many different clients and I befriended with several of them personally. I also have encountered numerous "Are you fricking kidding me??" incidents which have taught me how not to behave... Seriously, there are many crazy people out there, my friends!

Anyway, I had thought about quittig since the winter of last year. Both of my girls had complained that I was never home or didn't do stuff together. I was working five days a week including Friday and Saturday. When JT left to work in NJ, I was able to change my shifts to only in the morning, so that I could pick up my daughter from school. But the truth is, I was exhausted. I know there are mothers who are working for a lot more complicated job, but dealing with demanding clients and boss ad hearing them yapping pretty much drained all my energy. I really was exhausted.

JT and I had talked about it for a long time and one of the options was to keep the job and to see if I could keep working the two days shift only on Mondays and Tuesdays. But the reality is our salon gets ridiculously busy during fall/winter and spring, they need two receptionists on Fridays ad Saturdays, which I can't work any longer, espcially JT's being gone. Also, we don't get any special days off except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, which totally sucks. So my mind was totally set for leaving the job.

But it had taken almost five months for me to tell my boss that I want to quit. Seriously, it was like my boss could read my mind. I go to work every morning thinking, "Today is the day I'm going to tell him.." - but as soon as I open the door, my boss greets me with smile and he acts so kind towards me. If he was an a-hole, then it would be so much easier to quit, you know? Anyway, the other day, he had a last minute cancelation and he was eating lunch in the break room. JT was telling me that I had to give him a notice, so that he could find a replacement before the season starts. I went to the break room and walked in and tried to find the right timing, but I could't say it, so I left. Then 10 minutes later, I did the same thing. Again, I couldn't pull myself to say it to his face. Now the third time, he looked up. I knew, that was it. I had to tell him.

I told him I had to tell him something. When he looked my face, he thought something terrible happened to me. He was all worried and told me to have seat. I explained to him how I loved working for him and his wife, but I wouldn't be able to give my hours to schedule that the salon needs. I told him, "It's from my heaviest heart that I need to quit...." Oh boy, he was in shock. Seriously, he didn't see it coming. He was very understading and he said, "That's okay. I'm a business owner, so I know people come and go.." But he was totally in shock. He wasn't angry or anything, just disappointed. Then I had to tell his wife, but forget it. She just said, "Don't say that..." and wouldn't listen to me.

After giving him the notice, we had another client who has MS. Her condition is getting worse every time we see her. I help my boss with her chair and stuff, and while I was helping, my boss, said, "Oh my god Maki, what am I going to do????" and he had tears in his eyes. "It's so hard to find a decent girl who is willing to do all the work for me..." I felt horrible about it. But there's nothing I can do.

My spirits have been really good. My heavy weight is off my shoulder. My girls are so ecstatic as well. I get to drive them to school or pick them up, and I can take them to park and play with them - all the things I haven't been able to do because of my current job, I will be able to do it soon..

I took the pictures above while walking around the lake with my girls this evening. The view from my condo - sunset always beautiful and I felt such peace withing myself today. I think I can start a new life doing all the things I love - painting ad being a mother to my girls.

Have a lovely weekend my sweetness... xoxoxo

A New Kind Of Freedom

Monday was my daughters JuJu and Soapy's first day of school. JuJu was promoted to the 1st grade and it was Soapy's very first day as a pre-kindergartner. As most of you know, I've been working for the past two years part time, but my work schedule has gone down to two days a week. I worked Monday and Tuesday, so even when my girls were at school, I didn't get to enjoy the luxury of spending time alone. But today was different.

I was going to head to the gym after I dropped the girls to their schools, but it's been raining non-stop in FL that I decided to go home and..... SLEEP! Oh my goodness, what a great joy of crawling back to bed and taking a nap - listening to the sound of rain made it even better. The house was really quiet and honestly I didn't know what to do. No matter what, I really didn't have the time to enjoy my time alone for the past six years. I'm not complaining, that's what it is to be a mother - give everything you have to your children.

I can't say that I couldn't wait for my youngest Soapy to go to school. Yes, I was excited for her because she gets to make her own friends, not JuJu's friends. Soapy is my little baby, and somehow I really wanted her to stay as a baby. Well, that's impossible, but it's a bittersweet to see her all growing up.

The thing is Soapy has been having tough time adjusting to the new routine. The first day was kind of easy because she was thrilled with the idea of having a teacher and classmates. Now, she is afraid that she's not making any friends and today, she even cried the minute she woke up until we left the house. "I don't want to go to school, Mommy!!!!!" - Oh my god, I was freaking out. I know why she says the things she says and why she's scared of going to school, so if I could, I would have said, "Okay, Soapy, you don't have to go to school. Stay with Mommy and play with me." But I know I can't say that. I have to tell her she's going to be okay and the school is fun. It's tough because in her tiny little head and mind, she's still timid and nervous. Thank goodness for her older sister JuJu - her school starts at 8:30am, so we drove her to school while Soapy was crying in the car. We walked her to her class in the ferocious rain and looking at all the kids going to school, like her big sister, I think Soapy realized that she wasn't the only one going to school.... She finally calmed down. By the time I drove Soapy to her school at 9am, she was okay. Kinda.

Anyway, I was able to enjoy the very first day of freedom with no serious incident. And I hope I'll get used to my new kind of routine......

So, what was it like for you, when you went to school for the first time? Were you like, "Bye Bye Mommy!" and run to the school or were you the one who's holding onto your mama's legs?


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My New Photographer...

Hello my sweet friends! Hope you had a lovely weekend! As you know, I've been totally slacking on this blogging thing, but I think I'm getting my mojo back. I feel like I want to post and share many good things again...

First of all, I've found a new photographer who can take my picture. I tend to shy away when it comes to taking self-portrait. I can't take my own pictures unless it's 100% necessary because iI feel like I'm being self-important. I can smile at the camera as long as there's someone on the other side, telling me to smile....

Anyway, my oldest Ju Ju was playing with my phone the other day and called my name. "Mommy!" - I looked and there she was taking pictures of me. She took about 5 of them and one came out pretty good. So, I declared Ju Ju as my new photographer!!!! And she loves it. Maybe she can take my pictures of dress up. LOL.


Also, I have two Starbucks I frequent - one has a drive through. A good friend of mine works there and when I picked up my iced-latte, I realized she put a smiley face on the lid. She does this type of trick all the time, but I thought I'd snap a pic and share it.... It definitely put a smile on my face...

I took these pictures of my daughters last week after Ju Ju had the Back to School Night. Ju Ju is going to be the 1st grader tomorrow and Soapy is going to be a pre-K. This will be Soapy's first school. That means, I'm going to have handful of free time for the first time in six years! I can't believe it. I'm excited, but kind of sad at the same time.

I only work two days a week and I've been trying to find the timing to tell my boss that I'm quitting in a few weeks. I know I need to give them 2 week notice which gives me only a week left to give them the news. I'm so dreaded about that, but I want to focus my energy on my paintings and my kids, so that's what I have to do....

So how was your weekend? What's been going on with your life?????

Midnight Magic ~ Daddy comes home ~

My husband is flying back home tonight from NJ and will be landing at midnight here in FL. Our daughters Ju Ju and Soapy think that they will pick their daddy up at the airport tomorrow morning (Thursday), and they have no idea that he's planning to crawl into their beds...

The girls are bathed, watching TV right now. We ususally Skype with Daddy every night, but he told them he is busy with work, so he'll see them tomorrow. The girls are so excited and ready to go to bed because you know, they just can't wait the morning to come.

My mother in law is coming over to watch the girls, so I can drive to pick JT up while the girls sleep. Wait until Daddy comes home and "Twinkle" - The girls will be so surprised in the morning. It's like magic! I can't wait to see their face, how big their eyes get. :)

So have sweet dreams my babies, let the magical day begin!

{Shhhhhhh}

Have A Lovely Weekend!!!!

Hello my darlings, what are you up to this Mother's Day weekend?

Did you buy niceties for your Mom yet?

My Mama lives far, far away from where I am, and actually I haven't bought anything for her (Thanks to the water damage) - however, I'm making her an album of her granddaughters...

I miss her terribly and more I spend a day without seeing her each day, my love for her grows even more...

I'm so blessed to have this little Munchckin - It's funny the hibiscus is almost bigger than her face...

And this little princess of mine... She just takes my breath away...

I'm such a lucky mom to have them in my life!!!!

Have a sweet weekend with your mom and the people you love...

xoxo

After the Disaster...

Hello everyone!!! Things are finally getting back to normal since that horrible disaster ten days ago. We're still displaced from our own home to my in-law's and the restoration hasn't started yet, but everything should be repaired and replaced with no problem. We're hoping to move back to our own place within two - three weeks. Thank you so much for all of your kind and warm well-wishes. I'm so graterful of your support and love. We're finally allowed to go back in to our condo by our county, so I immediately grabbed my laptop. I think I'm finally back to the my regular broadcasting:)

Due to the water damage and all the craziness that's been going on in my life and the household, I haven't been able to download all the photos that we'd taken while my husband was home. He left yesterday morning again, but I'm so glad he was here while we almost lost everything in our home! The girls and I miss him already... Today, I decided to show some of my new artwork I did for my friends as well as some of my girls' newest photo....

Adriahna


Kate

Ju Ju lost her tooth a few weeks ago when we took this photo, then lost another top tooth last week. Now she's a toothless girl..

But they are very happy and cute...

This is one of our cat Ki Ki - Ju Ju took this photo and I thought this picture is beautiful..

I can't wait to catch up with all of you and your blog.

I've miss you guys!

xoxo

Mission Makeover : Inspiration for Girls Room

For the past several months, I've been wanting to repaint and redesign my daughters' room. They've had the purple wall for the past two years and I've used yellow before too.

Right now I'm in love with pink wall with me doing some murial just like the one picture above. I think it would look adorable to have a room like that.

My oldest daughter loves the idea of having canopy over her bed and she's been flipping through catalogs and magazines for her favorite looks.


I love this room for the simplicity in colors - really adorable...

The colors of pink and drape surrounding the bed kind of reminds me of my room when I was little.

The poka dot - cute isn't it?

I think this would be a wonderful idea if you have more than three girls..

I think I love this for my room. LOL.

I don't have a son, but the stripe wall is something I've thought about doing.

My girls need a cute book shelf like this one - they really do!

The sunlight makes the room so much brighter and prettier...

I love this rug...

{All Images from weheartit.com and photobucket.com}

*This is a scene from one of my favorite movies "The Holiday" - I really wanted to re-create the room for my daughters when I saw this (fast foward to 5:57). So adorable and dreamy!

So what's your favorite room???

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?

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?