California

 

Hello!  I'm writing this from California, I've been here for the past 4 days!  Jay and I switched off where last week he was gone to HI for a friend's wedding while I watched the kids and this week, it was my turn to go to California for my cousin's wedding while Jay is watching the kids.  Even though I miss Jay and the kids(a lot more than last time when I went to NY for some reason), it has been really nice spending time with my family here.  My parents and all my siblings came from all over the states and with 4 siblings, that doesn't happen as often as I'd like.  And being 7 months pregnant and just relaxing and not having to chase around two little kids is really nice too, I must admit. :)  I don't think anything else can beat having a me-time as a mom than taking a relaxing vacation without the kids! 

 

When I'm not on vacation, I find some me-time as a mom by just winding down at night and watching t.v sometimes.  I was asked by Lifetime to watch the first episode of their new show Pretty Wicked Moms and I was happy to do so because I watch The Real Housewives of BH and OC, and those shows always cracks me up.  The moms in Pretty Wicked Moms lives seem so different than mine, and it's interesting watching other moms and how they go about their day and all their dramas they have.  It makes me glad that I don't have any drama in my life right now! (knock on wood ;)  You can watch the preview of their show here:

 

 

Tune in to watch parenting like you've never seen before with the first episode of Pretty Wicked Moms on Tuesday, June 4, at 10:00 pm ET/PT on Lifetime "

 

 

What are some of your favorite t.v shows that you love to watch?  



*This post is sponsored by Lifetime. I was compensated to introduce Pretty Wicked Moms. Thank you for supporting this blog!

What I wore when I was expecting

*This post is sponsored by ShoeDazzle.  The writings and opinions are my own.

dress: asos | cap-sleeve shirt: downeast | wedges: target 

photographs by Jessica Peterson

This non-maternity dress has an elastic all around the waist, making it wearable while I'm pregnant.  It's not a floor length maxi so it stops right above the ankle, a perfect length when you want to cover your legs but still want to show off your shoes!  Wedges are my favorite shoes to wear whether I'm pregnant or not, because it is as comfortable as a flat, but offers the extra height as the high heels.  I recently found out about ShoeDazzle and they offer an awesome selection of wedges, at a price of $40.  I picked my favorites pictured below, but you can take a style quiz and get a personal stylist experience curated by their design team, as well as get styling tips from Rachel Zoe, ShoeDazzle's chief stylist.

p.s. take the personal style quiz and get 25% off your first order.

On another note, I received some honest feedback from my 5 year old daughter last night. She offered a family prayer before bedtime and she said in her prayer, "Heavenly Father, please help that mommy will stop being so boring and play with us more..."

After the prayer, I asked her, "Adi, am I really that boring?"  She said, "Yes, you are super boring ever since you got a baby in your belly.  All you do is sleep and watch us play."

These darn kids.  When kids give you a feedback, you know there's no way of disputing it because it's always true. :)

Mother's Day without my husband

Jay was in Hawaii the past 5 days for his best friend's wedding, which happened to fall right on Mother's Day weekend, so we celebrated without him.  Jay felt really bad(but not bad enough to stop him from sending me pictures of him happily devouring all the delicious food he ate!), but I always thought of Mother's Day as a day of celebrating my mother, and I was happy Jay got to spend it with his mother since it's been about 10 years since he celebrated it with his mom! My mother and I live within 5 miles of each other, so I was able to celebrate it with her and we had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend.  My parents and my girls and I went out to eat on Saturday and on Sunday I received these gifts from my girls.

With the help of daddy, they made adorable cards for me as well.  So this was what they were working on the night before Jay left and they turned on the music out loud and wouldn't let me go near the living room for an hour!

❤Card from Ana:❤

♡ how do you know mom loves you?  

❤ she kisses me even when she's mad

♡ how are you and mom different?  

❤ short and long hair.  other than that, we are the same.  we go potty at the same time a lot.

♡ how are you and mom the same? 

❤ we both like butterflies

♡ where is mom's favorite place to go? 

❤ fun center with me

♡ what do you and mom do together?  

❤ go to classic fun center

♡ what is your favorite food that mom cooks? 

❤ toast with white powdered sugah

♡ what cartoon character would mom be?  

❤ a music one cause she sings good

♡ what does mom do for work? 

❤ hard stuff

♡ what is mom's favorite food? 

❤ any dessert!

♡ what makes you proud of mom? 

❤ she is my favorite mommy

♡ something mom always says to you?  

❤ don't whine or cry

♡ what makes mom happy? 

❤ if I stop whining and crying

♡ what makes mom sad?  

❤ when I be mean to Adi

♡ how tall is mom? 

❤ just a little medium

♡ how old is mom?  

❤ 16

♡ what is mom's favorite thing to do?  

❤ nap

♡ what does mom do when you're not around?  

❤ look for me

♡ how does mom make you laugh?  

❤ farts and tickles me

♡ what is mom really good at?  

❤ she's good at making baby in her belly

❤Card from Adi:❤

♡ something mom always says to you? 

❤ to listen when she tells me one time

♡ what is your mom's favorite thing to do? 

❤ nap

♡ what does mom do when you're not around? 

❤ look on boring computer and boring phone

♡ how old is mom? 

❤ 11

♡ how does mom make you laugh? 

❤ tickle my neck

♡ what makes mom happy? 

❤ if we listen to her 

♡ what makes mom sad?  

❤ when we don't listen, she gets strange and stuff

♡ what does mom do for work?  

❤ clean the whole house and cook and nap a lot

♡ how tall is mom? 

❤ medium, just little taller than me

♡ what do you and mom do together?  

❤ hug, kiss, cuddle, take pictures and watch movies

♡ what cartoon character would mom be?  

❤ Rapunzel cause she's my favorite and mom's my favorite

♡ what makes you proud of mom? 

❤ I just love her

♡ what is mom's favorite food?  

❤ saimin cause she always eats if and even when I wake up in the morning, I find saimin bowls

♡ what is mom's favorite place to go? 

❤ new york

♡ how are you and mom the same?  

❤ we both have black hair and I fit her clothes since we're same size

♡ how do you know mom loves you? 

❤ she gives me choke hugs and kisses and even if she doesn't say it, I know!

♡ what is your favorite food that mom cooks?  

❤ spaghetti, and when she lets me drink juice

♡ how are you and mom different?  

❤ she cooks and I don't.  and I have shorter hair and she has bigger boobs.

After reading the card out loud with the girls and laughing, I said to them, "Do you know what else I want for Mother's Day?  Choke hugs and kisses(choke=hawaiian for many)!!!"  And Adi exclaimed excitedly, "THAT'S WHAT I LOVE!!!"  as both of them piled on me to give me many hugs and kisses.  I love spending my life with these girls.  They make me so incredibly happy.

The perfect Mother's Day gift

photo by Jessica Peterson

Growing up, I always wished I had more money around Mother's Day so I could buy my mom fancy gifts and things she really loved instead of my lame homemade card or a small, simple gift.  I felt a little foolish for only being able to give something so little to my mother who's done everything for me and thought, "Oh how she would love to receive a fancy new dress instead of this journal I got for her!  Or an expensive handbag!  One day when I get older and have more money, I will be sure to spoil her with all those things and give her what she would really want for Mother's Day..."  

Now that I have my own children and I'm older & do spoil my mother with things, I realize how wrong I was!  The perfect Mother's Day gift is a homemade card or a small, simple gift.  That is all I ever want for any occasion of mine whether it's a birthday, Valentine's day, Mother's Day, or an anniversary.  Spending money is easy and doesn't require much time, but a thoughtful Mother's Day card or a small thoughtful present(homemade is the best and my personal favorite from my husband- a poem!) telling me how much they love and appreciate me?  No money could ever buy the happiness, satisfaction, and pride I feel from receiving those gifts.

Both of my daughters made me something in Preschool and while their teachers told them it was to be a surprise, my youngest couldn't contain her excitement so she already let me get a sneak peek and I am so excited to receive it on Mother's Day!  It's a peacock she painted using her hand print on a white tile and in the back she wrote why she loves her mommy.  It's the perfect gift and I can't think anything else I'd rather have.  Well, besides plethora of kisses and hugs I would love to receive on Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my mother and my mother in law, and happy Mother's Day to all the women in the world!  I believe this holiday is not just for women with children, but for every single woman because we are all mothers in some way, always nurturing, teaching, and helping someone outside of ourselves.  May you have a beautiful Mother's Day. 

Achilles's new cuddle buddy

What I wore when expecting w/ Pink Blush + giveaway

outfit 1: sunglasses: chicnova c/o | dress: PinkBlush | necklace: hm | wedges: target

outfit 2: sunglasses: asos | dress: PinkBlush | bag: brahmin


Photographs by Jessica Peterson.

Today we have a giveaway for you by PinkBlush Maternity, a site offering many cute maternity clothing for  expecting mothers.  If I had to pick one type of dress to wear during pregnancy, it would be a maxi dress because the long length drapes over the baby bump beautifully and it also hides the swollen legs and ankles I have during my late pregnancy.  PinkBlush Maternity offers many types of beautiful maxi dresses as you can see here, and at such affordable prices too!  Both of the maxi dresses I'm wearing is made of very light fabric with a lot of stretch to make sure it moves with me comfortably, and it's a perfect thing to throw on over my head when I'm getting ready and want to get out the door without spending much time deciding what to wear on top and bottom.  And my favorite part?  I can wear these dresses post pregnancy.  Just put on a belt and I'm good to go!

PinkBlush Maternity is offering one lucky reader a $50 giftcard to their store and the giveaway is open to everyone.  To enter the giveaway, please visit their store and comment below with your favorite item from the store.  This giveaway will run until Friday, May 17th.

For extra entries:

-"Pin" a favorite item from PinkBlush Maternity onto Pinterest and tell us the link.

-"Like" PinkBlush Maternity on Facebook.

-Tell us which expecting mother you're entering for!

-Follow Life is Beautiful via email or GFC.

-"Like" S.T Collection on Facebook.

Best luck!

May 5th

May 5th is a holiday in Korea called Children's Day. Children's Day is a day of showing respect and celebrating their happiness and it was one of my favorite holidays while growing up in Korea. School is closed for the day, many restaurants are free for the kids, and they have many fun contests/games for the kids to participate in.  So now, we celebrate Children's Day in my own family.

Since May 5th fell on a Sunday, we celebrated the holiday the day before on Saturday.  The day started with going to cheer Jay at his half marathon.

the girls wanted to wear their metals just like dad and Adi also grabbed a cone 

to use as a speaker phone so she could cheer for her daddy.

there he is!

and there he goes!  then we drove and went to the finish line to wait for him there.

he did it!  he placed 42nd place in his age division which is not too shabby
 especially for his first half marathon! I am so proud of him!

Then we went to go watch The Croods, and after the movie we went shopping where every member of our family got to pick out something from the store.  Jay got a pair of pants, I got a maxi dress, Adi got a pair of shorts and a dress(to share with Ana too), and Ana got a pair of "mint sparkly slippers" as she calls it.  

Then we finished the day by going to eat at Sizzler's.  We love their parmesan toasted bread!  If you've been to Sizzler's, you know that place is dominated by all the cute senior citizens.  And every time we go there, Jay and I talk about how we're going to be one of them one day, going there every week with our senior citizen discounts. ;)

Happy Children's Day!