SmelL.A.

Yikes, need to play catch up with my posts. Let's see...work work work during the week. By Friday, I was quite irritated with myself for getting so obsessed with work (since that's definitely something I don't want to get obsessed with) so I took a long lunch and went to a new yoga studio in the area. The website for this studio described the style as "heated" yoga but there was no mention of Bikram. Ok, that means mildly heated right? Um, no. As soon as I walked into the sauna like practice room, I knew I was in for trouble. I could barely breathe! Within 10 minutes, every pore on my body was gushing sweat. On top of that, I forgot my towel so I couldn't even wipe any of it up. Pool of sweat = constant slippage = pissed off and unfocused session. Not enjoyable. At least they had a mirror which my usual studio does not, so I could check out my alignment. That night, Ryan and I ordered Thai from the neighborhood restaurant and watched more playoffs. Stupid Lakers beat the Rockets. I really hate Kobe. He's literally the world's biggest tool. I could go on and on about this but I will spare you.

On Saturday, we woke up and drove to LA to see my mom for Mother's Day. The drive was uneventful. As soon as we got there, my mom feed us some stir fried noodles and then we checked out her garden. Here are some of her fruit trees. I'm so jealous!

Mulberry bush (very sweet, tastes like strawberries):


Blueberries:


Kumquat:


Fig tree with about 10 nicely sized figs:


Mini Japanese peaches:


Two geranium plants that I will probably take cuttings from next time I visit:



One of many interesting plants she had around the garden:


In the afternoon, I cut my mom's hair giving her the usual cute bob. Turned out pretty good, though far from professional. Hopefully no one will notice the uneven spots :). Last minute, I decided to give her heavy bangs (living vicariously through her hair adventures). After a few nervous snips, I was convinced that things had taken a turn for the worst, but I persevered and the bangs actually came out very cute! Quite pleased with the result. In fact, my mom called me today after she went to church to tell me how much everyone loved her hair and thought she looked 10 years younger. Whoo hoo.



Afterwards, we went to my cousin Jeff's house to see his new baby Jaden and then off to grocery shop. The rest of the evening was a flurry of cooking and eating. With my sous chef Ryan, I made spinach enchiladas, rice, and beans, paired with some sour cream and salsa verde. For dessert I made an apple cobbler which we ate with gobs of vanilla ice cream. I completely forgot to take pictures since we were so busy eating, talking, and drinking red wine.

Included in the conversation was a rehash of my mom and Uncle Jamie's childhoods. Very interesting stuff. My mom was telling us how her family grew up on a farm in Taiwan and how they were so poor they ate sweet potatoes instead of rice. Apparently only rich people ate rice! In junior high, she used to be so embarrassed about her lunch that she'd hide it from the other kids so no one would know how poor they were. So sad. Anyway, it really put a lot of things into perspective. Most people I know, myself included, are so lucky to have what we have and yet we're always bitching about wanting this or that or stressing about stuff that just doesn't matter in the bigger picture of things. It was a nice reminder to focus on what really matters: the people you love and the relationships you have with them.

Today we drove to West Hollywood to visit Ryan's grandma at the caring home. Grandma has not been doing very well so we knew it was important to see her. Luckily, Ivy and Mike also stopped by and I think she did enjoy our company even if she couldn't show it much. Afterwards, Ryan and I stopped by the farmer's market for some paninis and then we picked up a coconut cream pie for Ryan's parents (and a chocolate donut for ourselves hehe).

This post is getting long so I'll wrap it up here. After lunch, we drove home to SD and relaxed in afternoon. I got a chance to garden a bit although I didn't have time to plant the black corinth (champagne grape) plant that my mom gave me. For dinner, the family went out to PF Changs to celebrate mothers day. As usual, completely over ate and am now laying on the couch. Good night.