ten little randoms

1. sometimes i wish the reparo harry potter spell really worked. or maybe just calling the repair people to fix our bathroom doorknob would do the trick... 

2. there is nothing better than chobani to start my mornings. period. 

3. ok maybe coffee, too. {ha!}

4. vintage jackson 5. i love.

5. if i ever have a daughter, i want to do this 

6. and this. {how cute!}

7. i am finally sitting down and reading. a book. a whole entire book. one after another. and it feels good.

8. georgetown flea market. i'll be visiting soon. 

9. august is "get ready for kindergarden month", "happiness happens month" and the month yangkyu and i celebrate our wedding anniversary. {smiley face}

10. this "25 things dc people say but don't really mean" had me laughing for a good while 

we tended to a sick dog for 2 hours and when it was over it was only 7 am..

i don't like when out of the blue piri gets sick. 

i don't like that he can't tell me he's not feeling good. 

and i also don't like that this face of his is breaking my heart to pieces. 

feel better little dude.

we professed our love to each other on top of the ferris wheel...

and screamed louder than the little kids while riding the woodstock express at planet snoopy inside king's dominion. yes. planet snoopy where all the kiddie rides are. i'm terrified of roller coaster rides and so i don't go on them. but the woodstock express looked do-able. boy was i fooled. that first drop had me screaming and clutching on to my dear life.

afterwards we floated along the lazy river in duo water tubes and shared a big chocolate and vanilla swirl ice cream cone. 

the entire day smelled like sunscreen lotion and funnel cake. and i would totally do it again. 

have a wonderful weekend

we love shadow playing. but i still can't seem to make a dog face with my hands. it all looks so crooked and weird. 

hope you have a wonderful weekend with many a playful moments with the people {and animals} you love. we have a living social deal to a theme park that is expiring over the weekend, so we're headin on over there. can't wait to be a kid for a day.

xoxo, 

jane

for the love of a dog - some good wisdom right here

{from uncommon goods} 

i was flipping through the latest catalog from uncommon goods that came in the mail yesterday and fell in love with these tumblers. aren't they the cutest? 

i love uncommon goods. it's usually my go to online store to give gifts for friends for their special occasions {like these adorable mugs we got for our friends who were going to become new parents}. and i always have a special spot in my heart for businesses that have missions and practices that reflect positive impact in the workplace and the world.

but back to the tumblers.. and here i go sounding like a crazy dog lady, but really, i think some of the most important practices in life, i've learned from piri. he is forgiving, loving, loyal, makes me laugh and never judges. how are they this awesome? me and yangkyu always say this, but we think we may belong to the greatest dog on earth. {smile}

just as i am needing a bit of life coaching, it was a delight to come across these wise words from bad dog. it couldn't come at a better time. 

do you belong to an awesome dog? or cat? or other pets? 

any wise wisdom to share? 

xoxo, 

jane 

piri - there is a micro english bull dog charging your way at 1'o clock. 1'o clock.

this past weekend, we took piri to a dog run in oakton, va. we felt so bad he hadn't been to one since october of last year. but we felt even more bad when we found out there were no other dogs when we got there. 

but then came isabella the micro english bulldog. she was an awesome bundle of energy. not only did she want to run and play, but also tackle and body slam. but it was all so cute and funny in that bulldog kind of way. boy do we hope to meet her again. we're smitten!

i love dog runs. oh. and i'm sure piri does, too!

^^^one day piri. one day.. we'll have a big back yard to frolic.^^^

^^^the "in your face" isabella. piri didn't know what to do. his face in the last picture is down right comical and animated!^^^

^^^doggy secrets. oh they're so clever.^^^

 ^^^smitten. really. aren't you?^^^

^^^this is what i saw from my camera lens. isabella charging at me. as soon as i took the picture, she rammed into me and was all smiles with a face expression like "i did a good job, right??"^^^

^^^"piri... isabella coming at you. 1'o clock. 1'o clock.^^^

life lately, according to my iphone

what the camera didn't, the phone did. 

xoxo, 

jane

have a wonderful weekend

hope you got something fun/relaxing/memorable planned.

yahoo!

xoxo, 

jane

"celebrate" with stickygram - happy 2nd birthday!

remembered when i was so stoked to get our second batch of stickygrams? 

well we just ordered some more.

they have a special promo because it's their second birthday. 

wow. i still remember my first order back in september of 2011. it's been 2 years already? 

happy birthday stickygram! here's to many more! {i'm so glad you're around}

use "CELEBRATE" to get 3 sets of stickygrams for the price of 2 until july 21. 

i also received a code to share with friends -- use FRIEND0O9P -- and get $2 off your first order with stickygram! 

hope you get to enjoy them as much as our little family! they are great to have! 

happy -- a documentary.

yangkyu and i just upgraded our netflix account so that we can enjoy unlimited streaming video {i know! how did we survive on just 2 hours of streaming video a month?!}. i'm so glad we did. because now we get to crash on the bed or our futon {yep. we're in our mid thirties and still didn't upgrade this to an adult piece of furniture people like to call sofa or couch} and watch endless documentaries.

a couple of nights ago, we sat through a delightful little documentary called "happy." have you heard of it? it's a documentary that explores what really makes people happy and features the lives of people from different walks of life. the biggest argument that "happy" makes is that once basic necessities are provided for, economic factors have relatively little to do with overall satisfaction. people are happy because of non material things in life. like the rickshaw driver in india who said in the documentary.. there is nothing that makes him more happy than coming home after work {despite sometimes it being tough days with rude and difficult customers} and seeing his son smile and greet him. that scene made my eyes swell up with tears. 

i've definitely struggled to stay positive especially when i feel like i have an overwhelming amount of stress or when i just come across really difficult and rude people, but there are definitely days when it just dawns on me that life is really good. and beautiful. and i look at yangkyu and piri and our little home, the all our pictures on our walls and our friends and family and think. wow. we might as well declare ourselves the richest family in the entire world. that is.. rich in happiness and love.

there is seriously nothing cuter than doggy blueberry facials

yangkyu loves groupon. and when he came across a deal for a self-bathing session at bark 'n bubbles for your dog and a doggy facial to boot, he bought it right away for our cocker spaniel, piri. and boy was it worth it. 

not only is this place literally right near where we live, but the atmosphere is so clean and friendly. we have done self bathing stations before, but this experience seems to have been the best one yet. and yangkyu really liked the dryer. it wasn't a regular blow dryer we've used in other places. and these self-bathing stations are so convenient than using our own tub. thank goodness for these! 

and seriously, there is nothing cuter than doggy blueberry facials. oh my heart! i love this little guy's face expressions! 

if you're ever in dc, go to acqua al 2

when our friends, karen and roger, and their little one harrison, visited us from new york over the fourth of july break, they took us to acqua al 2 in washington d.c. {yes, you read that right. they visited us and took us out to a dc eatery. ha.}

but, there is a story to this. 

when they were on their honeymoon, they came across the most finest tasting dining experience in florence, acqua al 2. they loved it so much and were delighted to find out that they a restaurant in washington d.c. (the other international opening is in san diego, california). they wanted us to taste the magic and so off we went. 

we had their samplers of salads, pasta and steaks and it was *so* unbelievably good. everything was so savory and just our style. and another great part to acqua al 2? it's located right in eastern market, one of our favorite places in dc. 

so if you're ever around the area, you might want to consider dining here for a little florentine experience. 

random little letters

dear rain, 

go away and come again another day? preferably after summer? 

dear neighborhood chihuahua, 

can you stop peeing in the middle of the low bushes? piri is awfully competitive and has the urge to out do you at that spot. it sucks for me because he ends up getting pee all over his face and body. 

hi treadmill... 

it's been a while, eh? i've been bad.

dear self timer app, 

too bad we didn't get to meet earlier... but i think you'll see a lot of me in the coming days. weeks. ok.. months.

dear new york, 

i wish i was there to see manhattanhenge. perhaps in the future. 

well well well.. math, 

will you ever stop being relevant in my life? didn't you torture me enough all throughout high school?

dear paranormal activity 4, 

thanks for scaring the living daylights out of me last night.

dear macbook power cord, 

where in the world did you go? i keep having to steal yangkyu's lap top to freak myself out by watching things like paranormal activity. 

dear tomatoes in my container garden, 

you're doing a great job. please don't die like the lettuce did. 

hello friday, 

i am so glad you're here.

xoxo, 

jane

i missed new york so much i ate a piece of it

this is called the queens. 

and it can be found at bagel buddies in fairfax, va.

they have bagel sandwiches with names of all five boroughs. 

i chose queens cos it used to be our home. 

we lived in a studio the size of a shoe box next to lirr rail tracks, with oversized furniture from ikea and air conditioning that didn't work properly. but we loved it. especially the taco shop on 63rd avenue owned by chinese american immigrants. oh and also lucky, toby and toby's sister {omg i can't remember her name!}. they were neighborhood cocker spaniel buddies of piri. every time we saw lucky, his mama would say  "look lucky, there's your brother!" {they really looked alike}

yangkyu and i talked about which borough {except manhattan, cos you know, everyone wants to live in manhattan} we would like to live in next if we ever had the chance to move back to new york.  

i said brooklyn.

he said new jersey.

well, let's just say our conversation on this topic didn't last too long.

but i'd go to jersey. after all, that's where i grew up! 

:)

we are kinda obsessed...

with the self timer app.

we kept picking piri up to take a little family picture. 

but piri was more interested in what yangkyu ate for lunch.

j-y-p: a letter each for jane, yangkyu & piri

i've been meaning to hang letters above our bed for some time now. if only you'd seen the joy on my face when i came across this diy on the creative index blog. it was epic. 

i got all my supplies from jo-ann fabric and followed along to these simple instructions. after they completely dried, i taped my letters {moving and storage tape} on to the wall {they haven't fallen yet. knock on wood.}

what do you think? 
thanks, jessica + creative index! 

a special date with a special family

over the fourth of july break, we had precious friends from new york visit us here in virginia/dc. i've missed them so much i could've almost cried! 

and to make it even more special, i was seeing my friend {for 16 years now!} as a first time mama to a beautiful, spunky, playful, melt-your-heart adorable baby boy, harrison. remember that baby shower i was so stoked about? it was all for this little guy {now already 4 months! i cannot believe how time flies!} there are jaw dropping monuments and museums here in the area, but all our attention was focused on harrison {literally every coo, drool, kick, smile and laugh}. 

i can't believe he was just in my friend's tummy a few months back. so seriously surreal seeing him stare back at you and smile! and it's so great to see one of my best friends as a mom. it's such a loving and beautiful sight. i'm over the moon happy for her and her husband. <3

already missing this little family. until next time! xoxo -jane.