My mom taught me how to knit about four years ago while I was sick during Christmas. My mom is always working on some knitting project. I haven’t knitted for many, many months, but with her here visiting, I got inspired to do a little knitting again. I know if I ever drop a stitch or get stuck, mom can lend a hand!
Today’s piece is a little knitted bag that I learned how to do a few years ago in a class. It was my first venture into decreasing and increasing and is a great standby for when I want to have a finished product in a relatively short amount of time. I still need to finish up the i-cord and the little leaf detail, but I’ll do that tomorrow. Felt good to be working with yarn and needles again. Maybe my next project will be the felted dog collar pattern from the teacher I took my other classes from. I think Emmett would like that.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a cause that has hit close to home. I’ve lost an aunt to this disease while my mom, another aunt, one of my cousins and my sister-in-law are all survivors. Fortunately, these strong ladies are all doing well.
I was excited to find out that the 29 Gifts cause of the month is to support breast cancer survivor Elysia Skye. Elysia was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer soon after her 24th birthday. Throughout this ordeal, Elysia shows her strength and humor. One of her mantras is “Die From Laughing. Not From Cancer,” which she has emblazoned on t-shirts for sale to benefit her cause.
She needs to raise a total of $30,000 for a necessary surgery. Please join me in donating to Elysia’s surgery fund at elysiaskye.org. Checks can also be mailed to: Elysia Skye Breast Cancer Organization * PO Box 4573 * Valley Village, CA 91617.
Thank you to Cami and 29 Gifts for letting us know about Elysia’s story. If you haven’t started the 29 Day Giving Challenge yet, please consider doing so. With the tough times we’re facing in our world right now, it’s movements like this that can help sustain and promote hope and goodwill. Also, Cami recently landed a book deal and is looking for story submissions. What a great opportunity to spread the giving love.
Below, I’ve posted a few photos from the three Breast Cancer 3-Day walks I’ve done over the years.
Brian and I walked together in honor of my mom in 2002. Each walk was truly an amazing and inspiring experience. If you’d like to take steps in the fight against breast cancer, check out the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer or the Breast Cancer 3-Day benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure to find a fundraising walk near you.
What causes are close to your heart? How do you show your support? I’d love to hear your story.
I’ve been so behind with posting about my 29-day giving challenge. There’s been lots of stuff going on – mostly good and some bad/frustrating. I noticed that after getting in my car accident on lucky number Day 13 (see below), I was feeling a little stuck with the giving. I think that I’m in a better place now and I believe being committed to keep on giving even in the smallest of ways that has helped me move on.
Here’s a recap of the past week:
Day 13: Gave emotional support to a woman I got in a fender bender with in the city. I got rear ended and she was sandwiched between me and the third car that hit her. No one was injured, so that was good. Her car was totaled, though, and she was very distraught. We’ve exchanged a few e-mails since then and she was very grateful for the concern and help I provided her. We’ve since found out the the driver who caused the accident (and the car’s owner are both not insured, so it’s been a bit frustrating dealing with the extra hassle). I’ve had to also practice not going into blame mode and instead to try to forgive and show compassion. This “crash course” in giving has definitely been one of the more powerful gives so far!
Day 14: Gave resources/book recommendations to a wedding photographer friend of Brian’s who just moved to the area.
Day 15: A client from the city came over for an in-person Right-Brain Business Plan session and since she doesn’t own a car, I picked her up and took her back to the BART station.
Day 16: Brian’s neck was bothering him so I heated up my neck wrap and lent it to him.
Day 17: Walked with Sonja, Sandy and the crew of dogs. She thanked me for the cookies from last week and said she very much enjoyed them.
Day 18: Invited my friend Anne to join me as a guest at our Oakland Ladies Who Launch member meeting and drove her to and from.
Day 19: Called my cousin Karen to wish her happy birthday, had a wonderful conversation with my friend Katie and brainstormed ideas for a possible business concept she has (very exciting!) and donated several bags of stuff to Goodwill.
Day 20: Wrote thank you cards to Laura for lending her Creative Action Center space for our Ladies Who Launch meeting and to Reese for being our fantastic guest speaker on Thursday.
Day 21: Spent half the day with the SF Coaches Board visioning what we want our organization to be this year and beyond. Was fun to dream up big ideas for the impact we want to make on the profession and in the world at large! I also brought my iPod and some speakers so we could have some lively and inspiring music on our breaks. That’s us below!
My husband, Brian Ng, is an amazing wedding photographer. He recently re-launched his photo blog and has some really cool pics of a recent wedding at AT&T Park in the city. He also posted images from a photojournalism intensive workshop that he attended in Texas. If you’re a dog lover, take a peek! He was assigned to shoot dog agility classes and he captured several cute pups in action.
Just when I thought I was done with my travels, I found out last week that my dad was in the hospital with pneumonia. So last weekend, I took a quick trip down to L.A. to visit the family. It was unsettling to see him weak and out of breath. What a relief to watch him perk up when my nephews popped by. Fortunately, he’s doing much better now and is finally back at home resting and recovering.
Being in my hometown brought back some fond memories of my Japanese/Chinese-American heritage. On Saturday night, my sister-in-law’s mom cooked a Chinese New Year dinner at my brother’s house. I delighted in eating one of my favorite childhood treats, almond jello, for dessert. I do miss the days when I would receive those little red envelopes from my grandmother on my dad’s side. We didn’t really celebrate a traditional Chinese New Year, but as a kid, you bet I was willing to say “Gung Hay Fat Choy” in exchange for a bit of pocket money ;).
The next day, after visiting my dad in the hospital, my mom took me to Little Tokyo for lunch. I had a delicious warm bowl of udon. I remember going to J-Town do shows in a performing arts group called Inochi and taking part in the Cherry Blossom Festival. Next time I’m down there, I want to see the Japanese American National Museum since I haven’t been to its newer, larger space.
Being home and spending time with family reconnected me to my roots. For someone who’s typically thinking about the future, it was refreshing to be reminded of where I’ve been and where I came from. How do you reconnect with your history and heritage? What traditions do you honor in your life?
Artist and creative blogger Leah Piken Kolidas has rallied the creative community once again with her new challenge, Creative Every Day 2008. I got so much out of participating in her November Art Every Day challenge that I’ve decided to say yes to a whole new year of conscious creativity.
One of my big lessons from AEDM 07 was being reminded that creativity is so much more than artmaking. That we are creative in everything we do – from how we dress, how we live, how we work, how we relate to ourselves and others, and so much more. I like to think that, in the grandest sense, we are the artists of our own lives.
So, my creative act for today was spending quality time with my husband co-creating a shared vision for our relationship. We’ve been together for about 14 years, married for more than six. And through the years we’ve learned so much about ourselves and each other – we’re so different yet very much the same. I feel so fortunate to have him in my life and love that we are committing to consciously co-creating our shared vision together.
It’s hard to believe that there’s just two more days until Christmas. This year just flew by! I’m looking forward to celebrating the holidays with my family.
Every year since we adopted our dog Emmett, Brian and I have made holiday cards featuring our favorite pooch. We think it’s adorable. We’re not too sure what Emmett thinks of all these antics!
If you’d like to catch up on our annual Emmett holiday card you can get your fill of the last five years… 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, and 2002.
When I was little, I got so excited when my mom would ask me to be in charge of setting the table for special occasions. My budding inner-Martha had a field day thinking up what I would create. I loved folding the napkins just so – sometimes in the shape of flowers or fancy triangles. And I often times got to make the centerpiece. Sometimes I drew pictures to display (including pilgrims and turkeys for Thanksgiving, Noah’s ark for my twin nephews’ baby shower and even Voltron for my cousin’s birthday party!). Other times I simply arranged decorative objects like I did for today.
During our big Thanksgiving gatherings with my cousins we would go around the kids’ table and say what we were grateful for. Those were fun days. This morning I reflected on the many things I am thankful for in my life right now – Brian, my friends and family, my home, living in the beautiful Bay Area, my dog, my health, my work, my creativity, nature, connection with myself and the world and so much more (oh and I’m very thankful for the new nearby Whole Foods for preparing the majority of our feast!). 😉
[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month, Thanksgiving[/tags]
My mom and I share the same birthday. I guess you can say I was her birthday present! This past Sunday, my mom celebrated her 70th. We threw her a party at my brother’s house in Southern California with 40 of her closest friends and family. Some of her girlfriends are from back in her Junior High days and it’s always fun to see them together laughing and having a good time.
While we got things cookin’ in the kitchen, my mom relaxed and knitted a sweater she’s working on. Since it was my day, as well, I made sure to take a break from all the prep to do something nice for myself (as us Ladies Who Launchers would say). My brother has a nice swimming pool in the backyard, so in the afternoon I went for a quick dip to cool off. It was fantastic and just what I needed! And earlier that morning, my dad took my mom and I out to brunch at a yummy place called Dish.
My nephews are so cute! Matthew donned chef’s attire and served his specially concocted appetizers of “mini sandwiches” while dapper Austin greeted guests at the front door and took their coats. Matthew is very artistic and Austin is very athletic. It’s fun to see how different they are. Matthew, being the artist that he is, drew a handmade card for my mom. It was so darling and included a picture of a “grandma” knitting on the front, similar to the photo I took above!
For my gift, I had each guest write a special message on a little card to place in a handmade blessings box for my mom. She was touched by all the wonderful sentiments that people shared.
I hope that when I’m 70 that I am still as creative and active as my mom. And that like her, I am surrounded by so many people who love and care about me, too.
