A lovely lavendar baby shower

Kyu and I hosted Sam + Kyoung-hee's baby shower yesterday. Here are some of the paper goods I made for the party. I also made some cupcake toppers. I'll post them later with the other decorations. I was running around all day, so I didn't get a chance to take too many pictures during the party. Hopefully, some other people did and can give me some of their photos! I added 'Thank You' tags for the game prizes and the Rice Krispy Treat goodie bags. I made paper "flowers" and put them in white Ikea vases to flank the mini diaper cake. The paper flower ornaments I made were taken from the How About Orange blog. It was such a clever idea, and they were a super quick and easy project to make!

Halloween cookies

I was catching up on my Google Reader and saw the most creative Halloween cookies on Bakerella's blog. I just had to show you guys! She took on a challenge to create a Halloween treat using cereal. Can you guess what cereal she used? You get a better look in the 2nd picture.
Do you give up? She used green and orange Trix for the spiders! They are Double Chocolate Chunk cookies with chocolate and vanilla frosting spider webs. They look so fun! I wanna try to make them. Gosh, I want to host a Halloween party just so I can show off my 'One Charming Party' Halloween banner and make fun treats and decorations! Haha.

I'm a blog giveaway winner!

I'm so excited! I've never won a giveaway prize before. Brittany from A Charming Party was giving away one of her lovely banners. I've been eyeing those since I found her blog over the summer. I can't wait to see it in person! Thanks, Brittany!

Holy smokes, it's October!

(image via roadtripamerica.com)The cool, brisk days of autumn are definitely here to stay. The rain is pitter pattering on my windows, and the ground is covered by a nice layer of leaves. We had one last glorious summer weather day this past Sunday. Kyu and I went to Michigan City with his large, extended family, and we were able to enjoy the weather outdoors at the beach and the golf course. Goodbye, Summer. Hello, Fall.

Eating our way around LA (Part IV)

After walking around Hollywood Blvd, we cooled off with a bowl of naeng myun at Chil Bo Myun Ok. It was my favorite naeng myun ever! The noodles were different. The broth was well-seasoned. I added a squirt of mustard, and it was DELICIOUS! (It probably didn't even need the mustard either.) Mmm...I loooved all the pear in there. That's usually my favorite part of the dish. I always take Kyu's. Hehe. This time, there was a piece of pear in every bite. I was in food heaven.
Afterwards, we went to Crumbs Bake Shop to satiate our sweet tooth. I really liked how their cupcakes were so huge, and they were very nicely decorated. But, I think I still like Swirlz better. Actually, my all-time favorite Red Velvet cupcake was at Flo+Gerry's wedding. They taste-tested a bunch of cupcake shops and found their favorite at Sweet Honeybee Bakery. I haven't had a chance to stop yet, but I really must go soon. (Happy Birthday to me! Yay, I'm 25 (again).)
Of course, I had to check out Beverly Hills and the famous Rodeo Drive. I was kind of unimpressed by how small it felt. Michigan Ave is 100x more impressive with all the skyscrapers. Eh... We did see a very impressive dog riding a motorcycle. The man obviously liked the attention b/c he kept riding around the block. Interesting...We went to ChoSun Galbee for some Korean BBQ. Mmm...what can I say? LA does have some good Korean food. The kalbi was extremely tender. Practically melted in my mouth.

Thanks for taking us around, Lisa & Judy!

Color problems

Hmm...I just noticed that my pictures appear a lot less vibrant in my blog than when I'm just viewing the photos on my computer. Anybody know what I'm doing wrong??

Eating our way around LA (Part III)

As we were driving around looking for Grauman's Chinese Theater, we came across a farmer's market. So we decided make a stop and walk around a bit. The tents just went on and on. The Hollywood Farmers' Market was amazing. I really wished we could've bought some vegetables and more fruit. Everything looked so fresh! We bought some super sweet strawberries and a bottle of the most delicious, fresh squeezed OJ. Mmmm... Although we just had breakfast, I couldn't resist getting a Nutella crepe with strawberries. Ohh my...

know what this is?
We finally made our way to the Grauman's Chinese Theater. Boy, was it HOT and sunny that day. There were so many tourists and people dressed up in costumes. The gladiator just plopped a helmet on my head, so we had to take a pic and gave him a couple bucks. How tricky. We avoided the rest of them. Isn't Frank Sinatra's signature pretty?

I <3 dogs

Meet Coco, Kyu's uncle's supposedly pure bred cocker spaniel. Hmm...she looks more like a golden retriever to me. Don't you think? She's a sweetie though.

Eating our way around LA (Part II)

Our 2nd day began with breakfast at Café Crepe on 3rd St Promenade. I originally ordered a savory crepe with prosciutto, basil, egg, and brie, (doesn't that sound delicious??) but it was ridiculously salty. So I got the same dish as Kyu instead—sugar + butter crepe with eggs and sausage.

Afterwards, we made our way to the Santa Monica beach. I had no idea the waterfront was so far away until we got to this bridge. The beach was huge! It was surprisingly empty for a late Saturday afternoon.
We relaxed at the beach for a little bit and headed out to Irvine for some authentic Taiwanese food. I was REALLY excited to go to A&J's to eat their spicy beef noodle soup. I heard a lot of good things about it. Kyu absolutely LOVED the soup, but I, on the other hand, was slightly disappointed. I thought it was a bit on the bland side. I did love their noodles and the beef was super tender. We also ordered the thousand layer pancake (which was pretty good) and the za jiang mien (or jajung myun in Korean). I think the only Chinese version of za jiang mien I've ever had is my dad's. He likes to mix things up a bit though, so I guess it's different from the traditional version..? The noodles we ordered tasted a bit off to me. Sadly, A&J's didn't meet my high expectations.
Of course, there's a fro-yo place in the strip mall! So we had to stop by. I like how Yogurtland is self-serve, and they have a ton of yogurt flavors and toppings. You can mix anything you want! Pinkberry is still my favorite though. :) Pinkberry, why haven't you made your way to Chicago?

Hello Hanna

I found these awesome placemats on Kim Vallee's blog. Hello Hanna has 3 interactive placemat sets that include customizable stickers. You can use them for a cute, themed birthday party, a play date, or at home. Isn't this a clever product for kids? I love the adorable characters!