park in bloom {central park}

A quick uptown and run {106th and 5th Ave to be exact} and it's almost like you are not in NYC anymore~ There are these beautiful gardens in Central Park - and right now there are endless tulips, lilacs, azalea bushes and much more in bloom. My mom tells me that it's healthy for your eyes and mental state to see lots of natural greens...I think I'm all set ;) Here are some photos I took...{Although the flowers are amazing, we can't forget about the gardeners - whose presence you see in the bottom photo - who take care of it all~} Have a great weekend!

strawberry macarons

This is from last week but someone brought home the best macarons I've ever had...fresh strawberries {top of the list!}, chocolate and vanilla...bites of pure happiness.

april 2010 {tota press}

You mention April to me...and what comes to my mind are sakura cherry blossoms. The mix of pinks - from really light shades where they are barely pink to a more rich plum pink - is something that can only be seen in the beginning of spring. And although last month's cards were created in the midst of late season snowfall {and rain and rain and rain}, we are now definitely getting a stronger promise that we can say goodbye to winter~ And with that, I bring to you this design of line-art cherry blossoms for this month's cards.

Right now I am visiting the city of San Francisco. Walking around the Nob Hill area, there is a little park that had a few but beautiful cherry blossom trees that are JUST starting to bloom. This reminded me of a few springs seasons ago, when I went to Kyoto with my parents and experienced the real deal in terms of cherry blossoms. We went to many of the old temples that had carefully curated gardens with willowing sakura trees over a pond and sakura trees lined up by a pathway. When we walked around the city, there were also grand sakura trees in the gardens of homes that made me wonder how long these trees have been standing there. In Japan, everything {the schoolyear, new hires for work...} begins in April - it is the equivalent of Septemeber here in the US. So when the cherry blossoms emerge in April, it is not only a welcoming of a new season, but also a symbol of new beginnings. And I love that something so simple and pretty can have such a strong sense of seasonality.

Personally for me, there just happens to be some new beginngings. One of the things is that I'm becoming an aunt for the very first time. So for happy times for our family and happy times for all with a warmer season, I bring to you some cherry blossoms on this month's cards in varying shades of pink, just how they are.


Many much more photos on our Facebook page - April 2010 album »


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tegu blocks

Been away from here a bit too long!

My sister just had a baby girl {hello Sophie~} and my attention is going to kids things! Here are some fun toys from Tegu {that actually my sister first introduced to me}. This is their story...the founder of the company wanted to create something fun that inspires children's creativity while doing some humanitarian good. A company based in Honduras, Tegu is "a creative business founded to address unemployment, under-utilized natural and human resources and the need for entrepreneurship in Honduras..." Look at all the fun things you can create - all with a positive social impact too. Love these toys that is built on the notion of inspiration and will hopefully inspire us all~



{Photos courtesy of tegu}