Humility

“True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” - Rick Warren

It's always humbling to be removed from a place and explore a place that's bigger and unknown. This Christmas season, I really didn't want to be in Vegas, but visiting The Valley of Fire State Park reminded me that no matter where I am, Christ's love never leaves or will leave me. We only got to explore a small portion of the park, but I was excited to feel a sense of adventure, wonder and joy again. I'm thankful to be celebrating this holiday season with parents who love me so much. So much it's overwhelming at times.....but nonetheless, I've come to realize it's His love through my parents, friends and family that's always pursuing me and I need to constantly remind myself to turn to Him in surrender and receive it. Continue to open up my heart Lord to your will and your way. Help me not think less of myself, but think of myself less.

On another note - The Valley of Fire State Park is an awesome park to visit when you're in Vegas and have a car. It's only an hour drive north of the strip and a $10/car fee. I've never seen so much red rock before. And 250 million years ago, this area was a sea! Crazy.... people compare this valley to Mars...I've never been to Mars, but sure, it looks different! Ha! I'd definitely come back again and spend at least a half day here. We spent too much time outlet shopping that we only caught the last 1.5 of the park being open before we had to leave. Nonetheless, a great place to get outdoors and explore and be reminded of His true beauty and wonder!

Yasukochi’s Sweet Stop

My friend Christine brought me to Yasukochi's Sweet Shop to try the Coffee Crunch Cake. I learned it's been open for 40+ years by Moses and Hatsy (pictured to the right) Yasukochi. Read more about the sweet shop here. Or better yet, just head over to Yasukochi's yourself to try the cake and meet the owners yourself!

Yasukochi's Sweet Shop
1790 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94115

Chicago Still Life

Snapshots of my time in Evanston, Chicago during the fall.

Experienced blue skies and seeing leaves starting to change colors.

Ate frozen custard at Andy's.

Walked and ran along Lake Michigan.

Enjoyed delicious homemade breakfasts.

Philippians 2:13

13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Cake

It's almost my 28th birthday and this photo sums up how I'll be entering into a new year. Of course - the Hello Kitty on the right eating the cake.

Lo Family Photo 2014 - Happy Holidays!

The animated gif is here!

Work Field Trip: Ai WeiWei Art Exhibit on Alcatraz

It was nice to get out of the office and go on a little field trip for work today.  Instead of heading to the office, a few of us from the Marketing Team went to Alcatraz to check out Ai WeiWei's art exhibit to get some inspiration and a fresh breath of air.  It was cool to see an art exhibit within a former state penitentiary and I appreciated the meaning behind each art installment.  I think it's definitely worth it to take a visit to Alcatraz to see, hear, and read the artwork for yourself.  My favorite pieces were With Wind and Stay Tuned.  The art exhibit runs till April 2015.

Read all about Ai WeiWei and his art exhibit here.

Good morning San Francisco!  We took the 11am boat out to the Rock.

With WindT

Trace

View from the upper level.

Refraction.

Stay Tuned.

Yours Truly. They gave us the opportunity to communicate directly with individual prisoners.  

I randomly chose a prisoner in Vietnam.

Blossom.

Till next time!

RECIPE: Gai Pad Grapaow

Who doesn't like a meal with fried egg on top?  A quick weeknight meal to make.  I added some fresh green beans and replaced the red chili peppers with 1 dried pepper.  Also, the store didn't have any thai basil so I just used regular American basil.  The recipe makes enough for 2 complete meals. 

[RECIPE from Ponytail Journal]

Vietnam Photos Up!

I'm slowly backtracking and finally had time to work on my photos from Vietnam when I visited back in April.  I went to Hanoi and Nha Trang.  It wasn't the most efficiently planned trip per say, ha, we spent 5 days in the country, but 3 of the 5 were spent traveling.  :P  Nonetheless, it was so much fun.  Vietnam is one of my favorite countries to visit.  Click here for the photos.

RECIPE: Korean Short Ribs

Here's a showstopper dish to make that's super easy.  Just blend the marinade in a blender and put it in a crock pot for 9-11 hours. Then wha-la, you have dinner when you come home!  

[RECIPE from Nomnompaleo]

RECIPE: (Paleo) Chocolate Muffins

I know, paleo chocolate muffins may sound gross to some people.  But these muffins are really good.  They taste like chocolate cake from the good ole' Pilsbury box mix - chocolate and fluffy.  I'm not sure if how I make these muffins make them paleo since I replaced the Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips with Guittard Dark Chocolate Chips, but nonethless, these are pretty healthy chocolate chip muffins.  Great for breakfast or a pre/post-workout snack!

[RECIPE from PaleOMG]

Germany Photos Uploaded!

Yes!  Almost 3 months after returning from Germany, I've uploaded my photos to share with friends and family.  Check them out now and let me know what you think!  I loved Germany - it's one of my favorite places in the world.

Happy Friday!

Super busy week - here's what my day looked like today:

• 5:30am - wake up
• 6:00am-7:30am - swim practice with Albany Masters
• 8:30am - breakfast
• 9:00am - photoshoot with NutHouse Granola in Berkeley
• 10:30am - meeting with Michelle Tam from Nomnompaleo in San Mateo
• 11:30pm - quick lunch at Whole Foods Market San Mateo (sushi + kombucha)
• 12:30pm - 5:00pm - photoshoot for Whole Foods Market Nike Women's Half Marathon sponsorship
• 5:00pm-6:00pm - stuck in SF traffic!  woot!
• 7:00pm - Christine's Catholic wedding rehearsal
• 8:00pm - home at last with dinner and cheesecake!

One highlight from today - meeting Teddy, a 6 year old Pomeranian dog with his owner.  Him and his owner walk to Golden Gate Park everyday to people watch.

Golden Gate Park - a man with his 6 year old dog named Teddy.  He comes to the park everyday to people watch.

Some other snapshots from my day:

Seattle

My new favorite summer travel destination!  This past weekend was my first time in Seattle and it was awesome!  Such a green and beautiful place with lots of hiking trails!  I went up to celebrate my good friend, Christine's bachelorette party and our time in Seattle made it a memorable experience for all of us!  I'm backlogged in uploading my photos, but here's a few photo highlights from my trip. 

Lake Serene Hike - the hardest and best hike I've done in a while.

Lake Serene hike pit stop at Bridal Veil Falls.

Doing the touristy thing - Pike's Place.

Cute and delicious brunch - The Fat Hen.

Baron's Baking

A fun little last minute photo shoot for work at Baron's Baking at Berkeley Kitchens.  Meeting local vendors like Dan gives me a better appreciation for all the hard work and dedication that's put behind local foods.  

Photos from the shoot here.

Berkeley's Little Gems - Morell's Bread & Jered's Pottery

Today for work we went out to Berkeley to check out some local vendors.  To my surprise, there were so many local foodmakers and artisans just a few blocks of where I live!  We first visited The Berkeley Kitchens, which is a food hub for food artisan makers.  The Berkeleyside wrote an article about it and you can check it out here.  Within The Berkeley Kitchens, we met the makers of Baron's Baking, Muffin Revolution, Living Hypothecary, Ruby Roast Coffee, Nuthouse Granola, Morell's Bread and Shrub & Co.  As always, it was a neat experience being able to meet the people behind all the amazing food that is being produced here in the Bay Area.  Besides tasting all the delicious food, here were some cool history facts I learned about each of the vendors:

• Baron's Baking - Tom, the owner, started the company about 2 years ago. He was a expediter in the restaurant business and personally loved baking so he decided to start his own company. He works really hard - 12 hour days, 7 days a week.

• Muffin Revolution - I'm not paleo, but Marirose and Christy, the founders, create amazing and delicious palo muffins and soon to come granola. They started their business after a local climbing gym, Ironworks, asked them to sell their muffins there. I can't wait for these muffins to be sold at Whole Foods. I can see myself eating them on the go after swim practice.

• Living Hypothecary - The owner started this company while she was a waitress (and still is) with another co-worker at the restaurant who was a mixologist. She creates great juices, kefirs and vegan milks. She's launching a turmeric almond milk which is soo good.

• Ruby Roast Coffee - A coffee roastery owned by 2 sweet ladies. They started their business through their pure love of coffee.

• Nuthouse Granola - These guys started their business after being in the hotel industry. The owner wanted to have a side business and when the hotel requested his granola, he started his company to sell to hotels and other retailers. He has a Orange and Fennel granola which is really unique and delicious!

• Morell's Bread - Eduardo is a self-taught baker who makes bread from whole grains. He had a Master's in Filmmaking and he always cooked to make money. He hopes to start a read subscription service and I'd sign up!

• Shrub & Co. - Their ginger shrub is the best shrub I've tried. A deep ginger flavor without any sugary aftertaste. The founders have background in the beverage and farming industry and are a power team!

Eduardo from Morell's Bread.

Eduardo explaining his breads.

Standard Fare - They make a delicious meyer lemon marmalade! Seriously, it's good.

Bread, cheese, and marmelade sampling.

One of the best local bread I've tasted.

Morell's bread with Standard Fare's Meyer Lemon Marmalade.

I love their logo!

After the visit at The Berkeley Kitchens, we walked a few blocks up to San Pablo to Jered's Pottery.  I've driven by this place soo many times and didn't realize it's kind of a famous place.  It's like a Heath Ceramics, but a different version and in the East Bay.  They use local California Clay to make their pottery and all the pieces were lovely in this place!  You should check out Jered's profile for his history - it's pretty cool.  Plus, his wife Sarah is the poet laureate of Emeryville!  One day I dream of having an entire dining set of Jered's Pottery!  

Italy Travelogue Complete!

Finally!  After a month returning from Italy, I've finally uploaded my photos.  Check them out here!  Now onto Germany photos, then Vietnam and Hong Kong.  Stay tuned!

Foram & Atit's Wedding - June 21, 2014

I had the honor of celebrating Foram and Atit's wedding in SoCal.  It was such a beautiful and colorful day!  I am so happy for Foram and Atit.  I knew Foram at UCLA and we would study and walk to class together.  And she also introduced me to my first Bollywood film when we were back in the dorms.  Foram is an inspiration to me in that she stays dedicated to her studies and family!  I only wish Foram and Atit a happy and wonderful life together!  Cheers!  

P.S. - Thank you Foram for inviting me to my first Indian wedding. :)