Mom's Birthday

It has become a recent tradition for my parents to visit and stay with us during the summer. (It is always a dream come true to have them here in our house and I love the hustle and bustle of the full house.) And the best part has been that my mom's birthday has fallen during their time here with us. 

(This entry is going to have a ton of pictures. Don't say I didn't warn you.) 

This past weekend was full of celebrating Mama Bear, starting with a weekend BBQ with old family friends, a lot of reminiscing, a plethora of cupcakes and three birthday cakes! 

cake number one - tart filled with fruity goodness

cake number two - a fluffy, delicious blueberry cake. cake number three (not pictured) was a yummy green tea cake! 

the birthday girl 

cake-cutting ceremony: they're the cutest

Monday was a jam-packed day spent gallivanting in the city - exploring nooks and crannies and ending the night with a bang watching "Wicked". (It was such a great show we've been talking about it nonstop since.) 

9/11 ground zero memorial

St. Paul's Cathedral: unity 

Trinity Church

took my parents to one of our favorite places to explore: chelsea market

lunch was numpang for mommy & hubby, and mokbar ramen for daddy and me

(p.s. hubby is being paparazzi)

i learn my ways from my parents - mandatory coffee break 

inside the elevator up to the high line

Wicked! 

Selfie with hubby! 

Tuesday was my mom's actual birthday. We went snooping around in a local TJ Maxx, one of my mom's favorites. We followed that up with each of us (mom, dad, me) taking delicious naps and when the brother and husband returned from work, we feasted at a local Colombian restaurant. It was a beautiful dinner. I declared during dinner that it may just be my new favorite restaurant. It's a no frills, no fuss, just good food (period) restaurant. We talked about the monstrous proportions and the homey environment. And the husband suggested we play a "how well do you know mama kim?" game. It was a good time. 

Happy Birthday, Mommy! We love you! 

Friday Favorites

I have been relishing my time with my family. (Hence last week's Friday Favorites entry is MIA). Though it's hard living so far apart from my parents, in some ways, it's a blessing in disguise: when we do get together, I get to spend every waking moment with them. 

This weekend's plans are: going on a search throughout the town for garage sales with mom, dinner at a yakitori restaurant, church, BBQ with family friends. 

Happy weekend!

What are your weekend plans? 

My sweet little cousin in Korea wrote me notes and made me origami boats. She gave them to my parents to bring to me. 

Kimbap my mother-in-law made for us during our visit to Virginia. Colorful mosaic. 

Pickles my mom made herself and brought from Korea. That's a mom's love. Food for the soul. 

My dad says he craves black olives and cheese when he's in Korea. A platter I made for dad and brother. 

This precious pup. 

#TBT with Tim

Confession: I have never posted a #tbt #throwbackthursday on any form of social media. 

But today is a special occasion. So let's all cheer!!! 

I have only one sibling and he's a special one. His name is Tim. His name is Tim Kim. 

In recent times, he has definitely boosted my "cool factor" with my middle school students and has helped me connect with particularly the boys by teaching me things about Air Jordans (I still dream of owning my own pair of "Breds" thanks to my brother introducing me to them), the NBA, using hashtags in conversations, social media (he always finds and shows me the funniest, quirkiest, most inspirational videos - more on that in another post). He patiently tries to explain jargon that "the kids use these days" and exposes me to music that they refer to. 

When we were younger, we had our share of differences. We would bicker, argue, fight about almost anything: what fast-food restaurant to go to, what channel to watch on tv, who got to use the computer. He used to practice his WWF moves on me. He even once miraculously got a remote-control car knotted in my hair (my mom had to cut a few strands off). I would have to drive him around to practices, Kumon or hakwon and somehow, miraculously he would always always fall asleep. Without fail. It didn't matter if it was a 10 minute ride or a 40 minute ride. 

But to be fair, I used him as my little sidekick. I would boss him around and make him retrieve things from the farthest points in the house, I would convince him that "This piece of candy is the better one, you should have it" while I would eat real tastier one. 

And yet over the years, I've become his sidekick. Because he's definitely the cooler, smarter, wittier, funnier, more creative, far more talented one. He keeps me in check. He's not afraid to tell me when I'm being ridiculous. He has taught me to be a bit more spontaneous and to not be so afraid to take risks in life. 

He inspires me. 

After graduating from college, he went back to school to pursue his dreams in music. He received a degree in Audio Engineering, worked an internship, made connections and now has started his own business! (All before he was 25!) Not only is it amazing witnessing him out his dreams, but it's doubly amazing seeing him help others realize their dreams through music. 

It has been an exciting journey to share with him. While I was working on launching this blog, he was working on his website and the other day was his website, TimKimMusic.com's soft-launch and I couldn't be more proud. (He even has a blog portion of his website! Love that he and I are now blogging buddies so go check it out from time to time and enjoy!)

So there's my shameless plug for my brother, his website, his business. Because I'm his number one fan. 

Lavender Farm in Morganville

One day I was feeling quite wanderlust(ful). And I asked my mom a question I like to ask others: "If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?" And my mom thoughtfully replied, "Provence". She said she would love to visit the lavender fields there. I started dreaming of endless fields of fragrant lavender and what I would imagine to be quaint villages. I shared this with Y, hoping that one day, we could travel to the South of France with my parents. 

Though we were not able to make that happen this summer, we looked into the next best thing: a lavender farm nearby. And I was thrilled to find out that there was a lavender field within an hour's drive. So last Saturday, my parents, the husband and I made a trip to Pleasant Valley Lavender.

To be completely honest, when we first got to "New Jersey's Only Lavender Farm", we all thought, "Oh... this is it?" I felt a bit disappointed that we had driven an hour. But once we met the people there (it's family-owned) it ended up being a lovely experience. They showed us the different fields of lavender: English and French. We learned about the differences between the two and they taught us how to cut our own lavender to take home! 

After cutting and making our lavender bouquet, my parents enjoyed relaxing under the shade in the hammock while Y and I scoped out some of their handmade products. I ended up picking up a lavender eye mask and lavender linen spray. Y picked his very own lavender plant (and he planted it in front of our house as soon as we got home! Maybe one day we'll have our own little lavender farm.) 

a photo break for Y & me (while mamabear busily cuts lavender) 

On our back up from the lavender farm, we got to explore the neighboring towns, stopped by a few garage sales in the area (my mom scored a bunch of toys for her sandplay therapy) and enjoyed some pizza. So all in all, it was a quite a productive day! And I'm glad I got to check off my summer to-do list that I visited a lavender field! 

Car Rides, Crabs, Caverns, Oh my! Part 3

After Luray, we headed to our nation's capital. I had been before but it was a new experience going with my family and especially because it was my brother's first time in D.C. 

It was a gorgeous day to walk around and take in the sights and pay tribute at the capital's various memorials and monuments. 

I had been to most of the monuments and memorials. However, strangely I had never been to the Korean War Veterans Memorial. It was sobering seeing all the plaques of nations that sent their men and women to serve in the Korean War, seeing the individual faces of soldiers etched in stone. 

My mind couldn't help but think about how my life would be very different had those people not served in Korea. 

Thank you for your service.