Beauty from Ashes

As we all know, the northern area of Japan was hit by a major earthquake+tsunami back in April of this year. The world watched with sadness and horror as destruction and chaos erupted throughout that part of the country. How can we forget images like these~

People sprung into action-monies were collected, supplies sent, teams of people flew to Japan to help the country in one of its greatest times of need. 

Our own church conference sent multiple teams throughout the summer to help in Japan. Many of my youth purchased products like wristbands and t-shirts that supported the relief effort as well. 

Last night I was having a lovely dinner with Pap and Big Fun and they both mentioned that they'd seen this article in the LA Times last week on Japan. Here's a smidgen:

I remember when I was in Middle School the LA Riots broke out and we got to stay home from school for a week. People went crazy and were stealing things from stores, fighting for no reason...basically our city became a hot mess full of insane people.

And here we see Japan, a country that has way more of a reason to be a "hot mess" than us Angelenos did and look what they do with it. $78 million salvaged from the wreckage that has been returned to the police! And not only that, but the majority of the people who return the money have waived their right to claim it...even if it never gets claimed. It's stunning, heart-warming and incredible all at the same time.

Big Fun mentioned a good point last night-she said that it was sad that the value and honesty of a Buddhist nation like Japan was above and beyond the moral value and honesty of a Christian nation such as America is. I encountered a similar thought when I traveled to Indonesia after college. Indonesia is majority Muslim by religion. The people whom I encountered were so devout about their faith-they knew the Koran, they prayed five times a day without fault, they gave great value to their mosques and places of worship. I remember thinking that we as Christians would be better to take some lessons from the Muslims in Indonesia in how well they own their faith. 

So, a lesson from Japan today. Yes, the country has many dark areas, but in this one they shine. 

Be honest, more selfless, and giving and less narcissistic, greedy and self-absorbed.

I know I will try to be ;)

Aim

StampStampStampStamp

This may sound geeky but I am SO excited for the launch of the 2012 USPS Stamp Collections! It's kinda common knowledge in wedding world that you MUST find an appropriate stamp to coordinate with your wedding invitations, thank you's, etc. As you all well know, that was a major coordination FAIL for me (Hello Mr. President!) but for those 2012 brides, there are some WINNERS to choose from! I will be getting myself a slew of these next beauties to use in 2012 and beyond...

And the drumroll please!!!

I. Love. This. Stamp.

The typography rocks in this one and I love that they made the font look like ribbons! I will be putting this stamp on everything from thank you's to bills to just whatever cards and so forth. This is the clear standout for me! :)

These guys are very geographical and "landscape-y" in nature and I love the colors and the fact that you have to really look at them to see what each one is depicting. They look cool and would rock on a square envelope!

These two are in honor of my Dad who loves all things history. Stamps depicting the Civil War and the the War of 1812? Why yes, Dad will take two please :).

I think this one is just plain pretty. I love that it's an art piece and not an actual picture. William H. Johnson is recognized as one of our country's foremost African American artists and the actual painting of this stamp hangs in the Smithsonian! Talk about legit.

For all of you Hawaii-loving people out there, here's a new postcard stamp for you. (Thank goodness. I was getting tired of the polar bears, no offense guys)

This one's for Bub and all her thank you cards that she will write in 2012. Apparently, Dragons are the new oranges. ;)

And finally, this gorgeous gal. It's actually two stamps that they've made into a panorama of the Tidal Basin in our nation's capital. Those pink shrubs are cherry blossoms and it is made to honor the relation between the United States and Japan. I've never been to D.C. to see the cherry blossoms in action, but I've heard that they are just beautiful come springtime. I love that there are two little girls in kimonos walking with their umbrellas on the left stamp too. The detailing rocks in this one.

So there you have it-my pics for "Best of Stamp" in 2012. Of course there are a few more that I did not speak of. If you want to see them, then you can look here. 

I can't wait to get mail in 2012! :)

Postmark Love,

Aim

FFBTR, Day Two

While Day One was jam-packed full of fun and new experiences, Day Two was the perfect counterbalance. We started the day with a glorious sleep! I think being able to sleep in is one of the top 10 luxuries in life, most definitely! 

Once we finally got ourselves out of bed, we made our way to the nearest caffeine station, a definite must for any "morning." ;)

Here we are closing the "door" of our Venice pad. 

The place came with two beach cruisers so we wanted to give them a go. The problem was that there were four of us and only two of them. Hence the following hilariousness:

Quid and I attempted many ways at writing tandem. She's so little that she fits just about anywhere...

Bub was on the other cruiser and Pap was on her rollerblades. The girl can still work a self-portrait though. Incredible!

On to coffee we were...which ended up being just down the block. Haha! I don't think we would've made it that much farther though so good thing it was :)

Groundwork Coffee Company is a Venice Beach hippie's paradise. There were so many characters in there! I think the four of us stood out like sore thumbs :). The coffee was strong and good and they serve breakfast until 1pm on weekends-the breakfast burrito was delish!

Later that night the girls had a special potluck dinner planned back at the Venice pad. 

 Pap and her mad kitchen skills created thyme butter and salt/pepper salmon as well as a peppery lemon chicken, both of which she cooked fresh on the grill outside!

 The girls brought yummies such as honey fried chicken wings, tofu salad, chinese chicken salad, spinach salad, chicken tortilla soup and of course, rice which made up the rest of the spread. There was so much food! Here is the table with everyone getting their grub on!

As a special surprise, the girls had a masseuse come in house for the evening and everyone got a massage! One of the lovely ladies from our conference, Kaoru, is an amazing masseuse and she came with her table and gave each one of us a wonderful massage during the evening. There were also a few presents that I had to open that shall remain in their boxes. Sorry! Not for blog-eyes to see ;)

 Also on the agenda that night was a "movie under the stars" outside on our private patio. We watched the movie "Bridesmaids" and laughed our heads off at this sometimes crude, but also incredible hilarious movie. Perfect timing too because it just came out on DVD in time for this evening!

 Here's the gang at the end of the evening. It was also Kaoru's birthday the next day so we stuck some candles into the cake and sang to her too. Great fun with all the ladies! I am thankful for each one <3

To Pap, DD, Quid and Bub~THANK YOU for the best-for-me Bachelorette that a girl could have asked for. You know me so well! I enjoyed so much all that we did, but most of all, I enjoyed just being with the four of you. Thanks for finding the cool Venice pad, for organizing an incredible dinner with friends, for fun times in Malibu and for the late night talks too! 

Here's to the bridesmaids of the century! <3

Aim

God is SO good

So happy and excited for you! <3

XOXO,

Aim

Final Fling Before the Ring, Day One

This past weekend my lovely bridesmaids treated me to a "Final Fling Before the Ring" as the Evite suggested. My sister found a cute little guesthouse to rent out in Venice and we holed up there for a few days. We did many things, but overall the weekend was relaxing, fun, restful (kind of :), and full of many fun and new experiences with my nearest and dearest group of girlfriends.

Day One began with brunch at the Huckleberry Cafe in Santa Monica. We thought we would be unassuming customers but lo and behold we ended up being filmed for The Cooking Channel who were there that day featuring the restaurant for their show, Unique Sweets. Look for us on television sometime in December! 

We filmed for about an hour so you can imagine how many bites of pastry that each of us had to take! I don't know that any of us will ever want to eat another Huckleberry pastry again, but it was a super-fun experience! Here I am exclaiming how delicious my Huckleberry Cornbread is to Ilene and the Unique Sweets crew. Each of us had to eat our pastry and talk about its texture and taste, one at a time. 

The real star of the day though was Pap who stole the show! She talked the longest and we all awarded her the Academy Award for best on camera. It's funny because we often joke that Pap should have her own show on the Food Network because she loves to cook and be creative in the kitchen. Here was her big moment! She was flawless in front of the mic-as if she does it everyday.

We were so full from eating all the "camera sweets" that we hardly touched our main meals which were delicious, by the way. I highly recommend this place for breakfast. It's kinda chic-chic but the quality of ingredients are really good and it's a cute little place on Wilshire Blvd. Check it out sometime! 

Next it was off to beautify our toes! Yipppeeeee :D I was so excited because my toes haven't been touched in awhile and they were in dire need of some lovin'. Especially because we're coming off of summer and I have gross summer-heels! Ewww. I disgust myself! 

A pedicure was just what the doctor ordered.

Then it was off to Malibu for some shopping and food-buying. The Malibu Country Mart has a really chic J.Crew that carries all of their Collection line so it's always fun to stop in there and touch/see all of their more expensive stuff that we can't afford. Here Dawn and I are trying on some of their sale necklaces just for fun. We also hit up our gal Tory and came away with a special surprise for someone's upcoming 30th birthday. (but we'll leave the details for a later post ;)

We also tasted some delicious chocolate balls and truffles at a fancy chocolate shop, saw and purchased my rehearsal dinner dress (check!), tried on some really cool rings, bought food for dinner and pretended we belonged in the swank of Malibu. Good times, good times!

Then we were off to a glorious little spot high in the Malibu mountains for a grown-up picnic dinner. It was so nice! Here we all are at our picnic table. Mad props to Pap for her amazing self-portrait skillz!

The grounds were really pretty and we enjoyed taking some photos in the last few minutes before sunset.

Once nightfall hit, the lights were turned on and the music began...they had a full big band and it was amazing! Dawn attempted to teach me to swing dance in the back while lots of other guests joined the band in the front for dancing. It was so chill and nice and people were having a great time. It was the perfect evening. 

Day One-check! We got back to the Venice house and sacked out-tired, full and happy. It was so wonderful to be able to spend one-on-one time with my bridal party without any "wedding to-do's" lingering over our heads. When you get married, don't forget to take the time to just be with your girls-it's so important! A wedding is only one day, but good friendships last a lifetime. 

I'd say Day One was a huge success :D wouldn't you?

More to come tomorrow~

Aim