this will pass

all too often i let others ruin my mood.. actually my entire day. 

but sometimes it's just too difficult to just brush off.

but it will pass.

it always does.

burnt cake, lumpy frosting but still a cheerful birthday celebration: happiest 34th to the one i love

i've been screwing up preparing for yangkyu's birthday for a couple of years now. so this year, i vowed to throw him something decent. but things didn't go exactly as planned {i mean.. do they ever?}

i wasn't feeling in the best mood, which put a damper on things while planning. i started blowing up balloons late and had trouble tying the ends into knots. yangkyu came home and oy.. he ended up tying the knots and well.. ultimately decorating his own birthday celebration. 

the cake.. well.. thanks to trader joe's, it was the yummies tasting cake, but it did come at the price of cake batter oozing all over the oven and one burnt layer which had to be thrown out. {oops} i didn't sift the cocoa powder and confectionary sugar so there were lumps in the cake frosting. {double oops}

we ended the celebration early because i wasn't feeling too well, but we did manage to get in a few smiles and laughters here and there. 

i got him a pair of red {his favorite color} adidas kicks. he loved them. and loved telling me a folklore. apparently there is a saying in korean that if you get your partner shoes as a gift, they will wear them and run away. where do they come up with these things? 

thank you everyone for wishing yangkyu the happiest of birthdays. it's truly a special feeling to have the kind of love and support through the community here in the blogging world. 

hope you all enjoyed your weekend! it's official summer! huzzah!

there is a special day in june

and that special day is yangkyu's birthday. 

it's today.

he turns 34.

to the one who makes me laugh, to my forever love, my best friend:  

i love you i love you i love you.

you make me feel like i can accomplish anything, fear nothing {except cockroaches because you're scared of them too} and remind me to smile at the end of the day.

i couldn't be happier. i want to run to the top of the mountain and yell "yahoo, i love you, yangkyu!"

i've managed to screw up your birthday celebration for two years in a row, but this year, me and piri have something special planned. and i'm attempting to bake a cake. i'll try not to burn it. {but i may not be able to guarantee that} 

happy happy happy birthday. 

xoxo, 

jane & piri

there is a splendid "little mountain" in virginia and it's called monticello

on saturday we took a two hour drive to see monticello (it means little mountain in italian!) - home of thomas jefferson - in charlottesville, va.

we toured the grounds first before the guided tour inside monticello. i'm not into guided tours, but our guide was great and was so glad we were in her group. she just oozed knowledge and you could tell she loved what she was doing.

visiting monticello was always on our list of things to do but we kept putting it off. we were almost going to put it off again, but i'm glad we went. {i truly madly envy the vegetable garden there. i wanted to pluck the big head of lettuce just because i thought the feeling of pulling it out would feel so gratifying.} 

there is one jeffersonian era tree on the grounds. there are two stumps from the area (cut down because it was struck by lightening). there are some books from the era as well in the library which was uber neat to see. the architecture, design and layout of monticello is really something to see. 

happy father's day!

happy father's day!

we love papa yoo and papa chung for their endless love.

they were super heroes to us as kids and even as adults.

even though i never got to meet yangkyu's dad, i think he's a wonderful man.

and i think he would've gotten along with my pops real swell.

today is their day. and we're filling it with lots of love.

life lately, according to my iphone

what the camera didn't, the phone did. 

xoxo, 

jane

now playing: sometimes my playlist is stuck in the nineties

i remember recording some of these songs on cassette tape while listening to the radio. 

my first cd was phish's hoist. my brother picked it up for me as a gift.

i remember i had wanted to go to my first concert - gin blossoms who were playing at a local community college but my mom said no. 

i remember wearing my skater jeans and graphic tee to college in 1997 with green streaks in my hair and people thought i was a little kid visiting her older sister in college. ouch.

nonetheless, these songs remind me so much of when i really loved music. 

01 // 2000 light years away - green day
02 // 1979 - smashing pumpkins
03 // feed the tree - belly
04 // cannonball - the breeders
05 // fake plastic trees - radiohead
06 // santa monica - everclear
07 // down with disease - phish
08 // buddy holly - weezer

my little family is plastered all over my iphone

this is my second case with casetagram.

have you heard of them? 

they turn your instagram photos and make beautiful cases for your iphone (and others -- see which cases are available to customize here)

i absolutely love them.

and now i get to take them with me anywhere i go.

{smile}

ozzie the cockapoo showers piri with kisses and other weekends things

^^^did i ever mention that peonies are my favorite? well, they are. and one of the reasons i love june (aside from it being yangkyu's birthday month) is that peonies are in bloom.^^^

^^^our vinyl collection is growing. we picked up the beatles and some broadway tunes.^^^

^^^piri didn't enjoy his saturday much. he went to get groomed. he always looks so sad and terrified at the groomers.^^^

^^^but he met the coolest little cockapoo named ozzie! he showered piri with kisses all over his face as soon as he strutted into affectionate pet care! we loved this dude.^^^

^^^we went to one of my favorite burger joints, five guys. and piri got to use me as a human cushion and people watch from the car window.^^^

^^^yangkyu and i went for an evening bike ride.^^^

^^^helmet heads^^^

^^^at night we saw the celebrate fairfax fireworks from our apartment complex. it was magical {and ear popping loud...}^^^

^^^we showed piri what fireworks were. he was amused!^^^

i love magical weekends.

hope you enjoyed yours.

xoxo, 

jane

i bought a chunky sweater in 80 degree weather

i saw it on 1919 vintage and it's the chunky sweater i've been looking for, 

for like forever. and i love it.

i usually don't say this, but i kinda look forward to winter when i can wear this around.

{but dear winter, you don't have to rush!}

let me tell you a little something about our cocker spaniel, piri

 ^^^often times he gives me the cold shoulder and looks back to see if i still have a camera in my hand. isn't that look priceless? it makes me laugh just looking at it. he looks so annoyed!^^^

^^^he will out do you in zumba any day. this cocker butt can wiggle its way to anything. even a spot on the bed, right smack in the middle between me and yangkyu.^^^

^^^cocker kisses. well he actually doesn't like to give kisses so we kinda have to force our way to give him one. the only time he attempts to give us a kiss is when he's checking and smelling to see if we ate something good behind his back.^^^

^^^the few times he does look at the camera, he flashes one of this trademark smiles. it lights up our world.^^^

happy friday!

happy weekend.

hope it's dry where you are.

xoxo, 

jane