Hi friends!

I’m finally managing to resurface from the depths of motherhood and every day life (honestly, typing on a keyboard seems foreign right now) to share a little snippet from our mid-winter trip to Jackson Hole we took a few weeks back.

Excuse the hiatus, but it’s been a whirlwind mix of exciting things while also continuing to keep the ship running - think planning holiday activities, school events, general self care and that one question we seem to ask ourselves every… single... day: “what am I making for dinner tonight?”.

Between prepping meals and making sure we’re not living under a mountain of dirty laundry, a lot of my time has been dedicated to helping promote American Tiger, my other half’s debut novel. It was released in December so we had a real push to market that took up any and all of my spare time for a good few months.

The novel has been getting some incredible reviews from both notable writers (it’s been compared to early Steinbeck!) and the general public, and if you haven’t read or listened to it, please do - it really is a fantastic piece of storytelling that Adam poured so much of his heart into, which makes it such a soul enriching experience to read. If you have read it, thank you. If you loved it, please feel free to leave a review - every single one helps!

Subscribe now

Okay, onto our trip to Jackson… after a short digression, which is relevant, I promise.

At the end of 2025, I had made floating walnut shell candles as gifts for Zuma’s class. Enclosed in a cotton drawstring bag, I included three candles with a little sheet of instructions ensuring that wicks were trimmed and candles were floated in a bowl of water upon lighting, and that a wish was made once all three were lit.

Obviously I couldn’t not make a set for Zuma, and when it was time for him to make his wish, his words were: “I wish it snowed here.”

Fast forward nine weeks and well, it didn’t quite snow in Los Angeles, but we did make a trip out to Wyoming with the hopes of making our little guy’s wish partly come true. Why Jackson, you ask?

Back in February 2018, Adam and I took a winter road trip to Jackson Hole in our 2014 Subaru Crosstrek. We began in L.A., stayed in south Big Sur for a couple of nights to see the elephant seal rookery in San Simeon, continued to the Bay Area, then east towards Reno and Elko, Nevada where I was diagnosed with a chest infection. That’s where we ate lunch at a dingy Chinese diner and Adam unsuccessfully bribed the local CVS to fast track the slowest prescription ever… “Um, we don’t do that, sir.”

We still laugh about that day in Elko.

After finally picking up my antibiotics, we headed north through Idaho before navigating through a literal snowstorm over the pass into Jackson Hole, while also narrowly dodging a four-car pile up. Mind you, we also didn’t get a tire inspection done before the trip… you couldn’t make this shit up.

Rolling into town well after dark and in a state of comatose, I don’t think I left our hotel room for three days after that. The blizzard continued and when I came into enough consciousness to step outside, it was like I walked onto another planet.

We ended up booking a ride on a snow coach into Yellowstone National Park (the only way with this much snowfall) and spent four nights at the Old Faithful Lodge. I was finally feeling healthier, and we snowshoed and cross country skied in the park while both being awestruck the entire time.

So yeah, Jackson came to mind because it was the most amount of snow either of us had ever experienced before and although we didn’t get as much snowfall compared to our last visit (it was actually a pretty dry winter this year), we were still blessed with a couple of days of 2-4 inches, which when you live in Southern California, was more than a wish come true for a 5 year old.

And his final verdict?

“I want to go to Jackson every year!”

Me too, Zuma. Me too.

Where to stay

We opted to stay in town as opposed to the Teton Village as we are not a family of skiers/snowboarders. The staff at Hotel Jackson were warm and attentive. The rooms were very comfortable, there was care taken in the attention to detail, and the rooftop hot tub that you can reserve by the hour was a treat in the afternoons after a day out in the cold.

Where to play

I got up on the mountain at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort the day after we arrived for some snowboarding, and while it was fun to be out there, I found myself missing my boys and also extremely exhausted. I’m not sure if I was still acclimating, or because it had been more than a decade since I last snowboarded, but I was beat after half a day!

On another day, we took the aerial gondola up on Snow King - the ski mountain closest to town. Lift tickets are about half the price of JHMR and there were fewer people. There is also tubing at Snow King which costs $60 per person for two hours.

Our absolute favorite place on this trip was R Park - a 40-acre park where we had the best time sledding. I wanted to spend some time here every day of our trip because we essentially had the entire park to ourselves and it was where we really all got to play together in the snow. We built snowmen, threw snowballs, tumbled down the hill on our sled and shared so many moments of laughter and joy.

There is even a Thomas Dambo troll at the park - Mama Mimi, which was a wonderful surprise!

Where to spot wildlife

We took a wildlife tour with Jackson Hole Eco Tours during our stay, and our knowledgable guide and great human being, Tyler showed us more wildlife than we could have hoped for - herds of elk and big horn sheep and a reclusive mountain lion in the National Elk Refuge, and moose, coyotes and a lone wolf in Grand Teton National Park. Zuma has a passion for wildlife and was asking so many great questions that Tyler was happy to answer.

Notable restaurants and stores

A few places that I would recommend:

• Kampai - a Japanese restaurant that was our favorite meal of the trip. We liked it so much the first night, we made another booking for our last night

• MADE and Workshop - two charming stores featuring handmade items and locally sourced goods

• Valley Bookstore - I love checking out bookstores in small towns and this one is particularly cute and cozy

• Pearl Street Market - a local grocery store with a sandwich and soup bar for a quick and easy lunch

How has it already been five years?

Five years since I was in the maternity ward during the pandemic unknowing what was to come. Five years since my physical body completely changed, never to return to what it was again. Five years since my heart leapt out of my chest and became something I could see and feel more intensely than ever.

It’s hard to understand where the time has gone. Early on, some days seemed like they lasted an eternity. The bleary-eyed nights spent nursing every few hours, googling symptoms of mastitis. The diaper changes in the back of the car. The preparation of blueberries to make sure they weren’t a choking hazard.

So eager to reach the next milestone and so easily forgetting to soak up the current. But looking back, I see that it’s all happened really fast. Too fast. It feels like time is a thief, but then I really start to think about all the wonderful things we’ve witnessed and experienced as a family of three, and they begin to add up.

My baby turns five real soon, and we threw a birthday party last week to celebrate, because there really is so much to celebrate, but I’m also doing my best to savor these last few days of four.

Here’s how we celebrated Zuma’s 5th birthday with friends!

Renting a food truck

One of Zuma’s favorite meals is rice and beans so this year, I opted to rent a taco truck from Border Grill for his birthday party and it was the best decision I made. Yes, with operation fees, staff rates and gratuity it was pricier than ordering catering, but the staff who came and worked the event were beyond helpful - not only did they prepare and serve up a delicious feast, they also set-up a bar, bussed tables, cut cake and helped package up any leftovers we had. And, there was little to no kitchen clean up to do afterwards!

I initially thought to position the truck in our driveway so that it was closer to where everyone was hanging out, but after trying to fit it in, it was clear that it was too wide and ended up parking on the street. This change was a positive one as not only did it help move foot traffic around, but with the truck needing to have its gas on the whole time, was better positioned away from the action. Often times the universe just knows!

An entire day spent baking

When I asked Zuma what kind of cake he wanted this year, he asked for the strawberry cake he had on his third birthday. I pureed and reduced almost 2lbs of Albion strawberries from Tamai Family Farms which made the entire house smell delectable. It was like we were living in an abundant strawberry patch for a day.

I had extra puree that the cake didn’t need, so I froze them into popsicle molds and had some atop of pancakes for breakfast!

The cake was decorated with a strawberry frosting made with Miyoko’s plant based butter, powdered sugar and ground up freeze dried strawberries (making it a gorgeous shade of pink) and topped with additional strawberries, blackberries and chamomile flowers. A forkful of cake with a chamomile flower was the most perfect, magical bite.

As the food truck was taking care of the main meal and that was off my plate, I wanted to make sure there were other desserts to sample. In addition to the cake, I assembled a fruit board with seasonal fruit from the farmers market and made vegan chocolate cupcakes topped with dried edible flowers and a tray of vegan chocolate chip pistachio cookies. I take desserts very seriously.

Tambourines as party favors

As the party was rock & roll music themed, I put together a little station for each child to find their tambourine then personalize it with a some colored ribbons, much like Stevie Nicks over here with her half moon tambourine:

I precut the ribbons and had them laid out onto a table for children to pick through. The tambourines were a hit and enjoyed on the day when our friend JP came along to play some live music!

What’s for lunch

The Border Grill truck menu that I decided with included:

• Ensenada beer battered fish tacos with avocado crema, cabbage slaw, salsa fresca and aji amarillo

• Sweet potato and black bean tacos with chipotle salsa, grilled corn relish and pickled onions

• Cauliflower ciudad tacos - cooked in a coconut cilantro sauce, with arugula and pickled tomato salsa

• Rice and beans

• Tortilla chips, guacamole and salsa macha

Everything was on point and I highly recommend their restaurant Socalo if you’re ever in the westside area of L.A.!

Live music

We had our friend and one of Zuma’s teachers, JP come and play live music at the party and the kids had such a blast! I think for kids, there’s a certain novelty and excitement about seeing someone who you normally see at school, in a different setting - especially your home!

JP is a talented musician part of Origami Ghosts, and recently released a new record that is available for streaming on Spotify:

What a whirlwind of a few weeks it’s been! We recently returned from a family trip to Alaska which was the furthest north Adam, Zuma and I have traveled. The days were long and light-filled up ‘til about midnight, and spending just a week there was nowhere near enough time, but we managed to really make the most of the extended days we had.

Alaska was more wild, vast and spectacular than I ever could have imagined, and while there, we already knew that we would return.

After spending the initial couple of days in Anchorage with our friends, we were off on a day trip to Katmai National Park - home to the iconic Brooks Falls, where grizzly bears converge to feast upon salmon and prepare for the winter.

To get to Katmai, we took an hour-long flight to King Salmon, then proceeded onto a float plane which landed on the beach right outside the lodge at the national park. Upon arrival, we stored our food/drinks/insect repellent in the cache, before being ushered into Bear School where we were briefed on bear behavior and what to do/not do if a bear crosses your path. This particularly came in handy when a bear passed 20-30ft ahead of us on our walk back to the lodge!

Since we couldn’t bring any food with us onto the trails, we ate an early lunch to allow us the bulk of the afternoon to bear watch, before having to travel back to Anchorage. Here’s a clip of a grizzly fishing in the river, that I captured at Brooks Falls:

The following day, we drove 4 hours to Homer with one of our friends, Lia and her 8-year old daughter, Mako, before hopping on a boat ride to MacDonald Spit. We had booked cabins at Between Beaches, where we would be spending the next few nights.

During our stay, we picked wild salmonberries, fished, drew and painted, strummed a bit of guitar, cooked (we had to bring provisions as there is no restaurant on site), beach-combed and watched the resident bald eagles swoop up salmon heads from the shoreline.

Keep on reading below for more from our trip, through the five senses.

Things I saw/read

The wildlife sightings in Alaska were insane! While we didn’t encounter a single moose (or any other hoofed creature for that matter), we did see several grizzlies (all in Katmai), bald eagles, jellyfish on the shoreline, sea otters and both horned and tufted puffins!

With so much life, Alaska is a wildlife photographer’s paradise and I had such a blast being out in the field behind the lens again.

A somewhat ambitious act, I brought a few books with me to Alaska and thanks to the extended hours of daylight, finished reading both Dolly Alderton’s Good Material and Practicing Peace by Pema Chodron, which was gifted to me by my friend, Janna. Pema highlights how we should all be learning to soften our hearts in order to cultivate peace.

Things I smelled

This might not be for everyone, but I found it extremely fascinating.

On one of the beaches of the MacDonald Spit laid a decaying, beached humpback whale. I’m not sure how long it had been there, but most of its outer skin seemed to have disintegrated and its blubber appeared to be melting. I could smell it as I approached it, but the stench soon began to fade the longer I lingered.

The first tale that Zuma tells people from our trip is the one of the beached whale. I mean, we’ve swam in the Pacific Ocean alongside fleeting humpback whales, but how often do you get to sit eye-to-eye with a 40ft creature who spent its life in the sea?

As I sat, I wondered in which warm waters it was born, its journeys it took with its mother to and from Alaska’s rich feeding grounds, who and what it encountered and how it eventually wound up beached on a spit.

Things I picked/made/found

Before Alaska, I didn’t know salmon berries existed. They’re a berry that resemble salmon roe (hence the name), are native to the Pacific Northwest and are closely related to blackberries and raspberries.

We picked bushels of them while at Between Beaches, and used them in oatmeal, pancakes and even old-fashioneds that Lia made in place of cherries!

On my beach walks, I collected shells, a sand dollar, one piece of sea glass and a mermaid purse. We even found some bald eagle feathers on the shoreline.

Outside of our cabin overlooking the Katsitsna Bay, I began sketching and painting my journal pages to commemorate our trip. I didn’t get to complete it until after we arrived home, when one afternoon, Zuma and I sat side by side and painted together.

Things I tasted

There was something gratifying about having to work with limited supplies and equipment in the kitchen, and extra satisfying when it was a shared experience, enjoyed outdoors in the company of others.

Two standout meals we made with very local, fresh and wild ingredients were the halibut tacos and salmon berry pancakes.

One afternoon, Lia reeled in a halibut from a paddle board, then cleaned and filleted it, before passing it along to Adam to grill. I prepared one pot cilantro rice and beans, guacamole and mango pico de gallo with Wong Farm mangoes grown in Mecca, CA I brought all the way from the Santa Monica farmers market!

For breakfast one morning, I made pancakes with salmon berries, topped with a salmon berry compote Lia made. The kids were asking for seconds and thirds!

Things I heard

The high pitched calls of the bald eagles were something we were listening out for each day. There would be multiple eagles calling, communicating with each other and sometimes they would be perched up in a spruce tree right above our cabins. It was an enchanting call, a call of the wild.

It was another one of those jam packed weeks with lots of time spent with friends and community. We had a lovely beach day with old and new friends from school, and it was so nice to submerge myself into some saltwater again after many months away from the ocean post Palisades fire.

One of the most joyous moments of my week was running in and out of shin deep water with Zuma and one of his friend’s. Giggles and shrieks filled the airwaves as they both smiled big grins, saying “again, again!” time after time.

As I was picking out some flowers from the farmers market, these lush fuchsia-colored foxtail amaranth caught my eye. I wasn’t sure how I was going to style them but they were so different to what I would normally choose that I was excited to try!

Zuma had another wonderful week at summer camp and on Friday, brought home the sweetest fairy house that he created that week. He was so proud and excited to put it up on our nature table.

Things I saw/read

Our monarch caterpillars that we have in our mesh enclosures have all transformed into their chrysalis stage, and we have a total count of 16.

I could have sworn that I counted at least 20 caterpillars at one stage and I was aware that monarchs can exhibit cannibalistic behavior and will eat other monarch eggs that are in their path, but I did not know that they will also eat each other in caterpillar form until my friend, May told me over the weekend! Nature is beautiful but sure can be brutal too.

Out on the milkweed plants in our garden, we have been spotting dozens of monarch eggs and an abundance of tiny, little caterpillars smaller than your pinky fingernail in their first and second instar phases. As each monarch caterpillar grows over 2000% in its life, the caterpillar life cycle phase is divided into five stages, called instars.

I have been nose deep into Outlawed by Anna North and have just 60+ pages to go! It’s a novel set in the U.S. during the late 19th century and follows the path of a young woman who hasn’t been able to bear children and is therefore forced to leave everything she knows behind in order to survive. She joins up with a gang of outlaws mostly made up of “barren” women, who have a plan to create a new kind of future for them all.

The subject matter isn’t exactly light and there are some eerie similarities with the state of the world today, but it’s been a page turner to say the least!

Things I smelled

As I was arranging the amaranth, tickseed and chamomile from the market into a few vases around the house, I couldn’t help but really soak in the sweet scent of the chamomile flowers. Just one deep inhale immediately relaxed me!

Things I made

Last week’s main craft was working on Zuma’s birthday crown. His birthday isn’t for another month, but we have a few busy weeks ahead of us so I wanted to make sure I got to this early.

To make the crown I used two sheets of wool felt and this template from Bella Luna Toys to cut out the crown pieces, then used wool roving to needle felt the details onto one wool sheet. Needle felting is a craft that uses a barbed needle to poke wool roving fibers, interlocking them in the process. You’d be surprised at how therapeutic it is!

Zuma requested one Les Paul guitar and one Martin guitar on this year’s crown, and the number 5 in his favorite color: brown.

Once I was happy with my needle felted design, all that was left to do was attach some ribbon to each side with a needle and thread, and whip stitch the other sheet of felt onto the back side, sandwiching the ribbon in between the layers.

Also on the topic of wool, my friend Brenna kindly taught me how to card wool (the process of aligning and preparing raw wool fibers) and spin it into yarn last weekend. Our school had a sweet booth at the Main St. farmers market on Sunday where I volunteered to help with creating wool butterflies for children who were interested!

Things I tasted

Last Tuesday evening, Adam and I went on a date night dinner to Providence, who was recently awarded three Michelin stars - the first time any restaurant in L.A. has achieved this. The overall experience was superb and each dish was a masterpiece with the most exquisite details, but oh man, with the 10-course prix fixe menu, there was so much food. I felt like someone was going to have to roll me out of the restaurant!

Later in the week, I made a dinner consisting of a variety of crudos served with sushi rice and Flamingo Estate’s furikake from their latest seasonal box. The fish was a filet of sea bass that our friend Josh had left us last week, dressed three different ways:

1. Served with black beauty avocado, spring onions, cilantro and a citrus soy dressing made from cara cara orange juice, tamari, mirin, evoo, sesame oil and chili flakes

2. Served with a dashi made from kombu, tamari, yuzu juice, and mamaki and ulu tea leaves. Cherry tomatoes from our garden were soaked in the dashi and served on the dish alongside some ugo seaweed that I rehydrated in water

3. Served with Regier family farms peach, shallots and lime, and a dressing made with seared peach, sherry vinegar, evoo and chili flakes, with a squeeze of seared lime

For Zuma, I boiled a batch of edamame topped with his favorite (not kidding) Maldon sea salt flakes.

One of my favorite things to do (if time allows) is coming home from the farmers market on Wednesdays and making a lunch with the produce I had just gathered.

I was able to do this last week and made a zucchini blossom, anchovy and almond ricotta puff pastry tart, served with a side of grapes from JJ’s Lone Daughter with Bonny melon and Persian mulberries from Weiser Family Farms - topped with plum chili salt from K&K Ranch.

Things I heard

I’ve been revisiting some of the songs I have been learning on guitar and was mostly practicing Peace Like A River by Elizabeth Mitchell and This Land Is Your Land (Bob Dylan’s version, which is well worth a listen) last week. It’s been fun to be able to pick up a guitar and just start playing a (relatively easy) song, which is honestly something I never thought I would be able to do!

One of the many wonderful things about having a child is the nostalgia that is felt in moments of experience and growth.

There have been a number of occasions where a totally unconscious memory is triggered by something Zuma does or says and for a split second, I find myself temporarily transported to something that occurred decades ago during my own childhood; something that hasn’t crossed my mind in many years.

One of those memories was spending time at the library during my school years. Last week, I recalled going to my high school library to study and kill time during free periods, and also had flashbacks of searching for books for school projects in the library of my elementary school. Even the minute details of the camel-colored brick and how the entrance of the building looked came to my consciousness. I also remember it being a cooler part of the school, making it a nice refuge on those sweltering days. The brain works in mysterious ways.

All of these memories that resurfaced was a result of my visit to the library in our neighborhood a few days ago. I haven’t spent much time at libraries in my adult years since school, and signed up for a card a few years ago in search of new children’s books after going a little insane reading the same ones over and over again. Oh the repetition of the toddler years.

For a period of time, it was an outing Zuma and I would take on a weekly basis. We’d walk to our local branch, read a few books, pick some to check out, and then take a slow stroll back home.

In rekindling my love for public libraries, I have realized that they are a place where everyone is welcome and it asks nothing of you - which nowadays in our capitalist economy, seems extremely rare. They’re a place where trust is built within the community to look after shared resources - a great lesson for children and adults alike. They’re a place where you can seek refuge away from the noise and dive nose first into a book, escaping into some fictional world.

Nowadays, I find myself checking the library’s portal to see if a book I want to read is available to borrow before going to purchase it. It’s just as exciting as going to a bookstore.

A mild heatwave struck L.A. last week and it was finally hot enough for us to set up the splash pad in the backyard. With the warmth of the sun touching his skin, Zuma had such a blast playing with boats in the cold water while I enjoyed an icy beverage on the grass while watching him. It was a perfect, quintessential summer afternoon.

Things I saw/read/watched

We now have approximately 20 monarch caterpillars and chrysalises in total, and 6 of those pupated into their chrysalises over the last week!

We spent some time observing them over the weekend and were able to catch a glimpse of a couple amidst their transformation, shedding their exoskeletons before entering their pupa stage. No matter how many times I see this, it never ceases to blow my mind. I’m so excited to see them complete their metamorphosis over the next week and become butterflies.

Amongst last week’s library haul, I picked up the Gjelina cookbook, Just Kids by Patti Smith and Outlawed by Anna North which is a Margaret Atwood meets Cormac McCarthy kinda novel I am currently enjoying.

Adam and I just finished watching the latest season of The Bear on Hulu. While we found the season a little disappointing, we both thought that Ayo Edebiri who plays Sydney was the standout performance of the season. Chef!

Things I smelled

Is there anything better and homey than the smell of freshly baked cookies wafting through the house?

I made a batch of my favorite vegan chocolate chip cookies by Nora Cooks and added some chopped pistachios from the farmers market. Between giving some to our summer camp teachers and visiting house guests, they were gobbled up within a day!

Things I made

A few mom friends and I gathered for a night at a pottery studio before heading out to dinner. We had an hour long session at Still Life Studio and learned how to cone up and down, pull and shape to make our own bowl. The studio is going to fire and glaze them for us so I’ll share a photo of the final result when it’s ready!

I always love doing something for the first time, and it was such a fun hands-on experience that I can see being a therapeutic practice and I think something that would be beneficial for anybody, even if craft isn’t your thing!

I purchased this You Can Learn boat making kit to work on with Zuma over the summer and made it over the weekend. He helped with sanding the boat with the included bits of sandpaper, but I stitched the sails for him as he soon lost interest and wanted to play with the boat sans sails instead.

Things I tasted

Our friend Josh who lives in Tahiti and Ahe in French Polynesia was in town and stayed with us for a few nights last week. Josh is a first-class waterman who excels in surfing and spearfishing, and runs a pearl farm for his family’s brand, Kamoka on Ahe, an atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago.

During the week, Josh went spearfishing 120 miles off the coast of San Diego and came back with a full cooler of fresh caught yellowtail. He filleted one into crudo and sashimi, and with Adam’s help, used the rest to make into a hearty, collagen-rich fish soup.

I’m going to make this another time, but here is the ‘recipe’ as told to me by Adam as he made this on my mom’s night out!

Josh and Adam’s fish soup

• Fish carcass (whatever wasn’t filleted)

• Diced onions

• Chopped carrots

• Shiitake mushrooms

• Chopped celery

• Dried oregano

• Filtered water

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Juice of half a lime and one lemon

1. Add all ingredients except lime and lemon to a large dutch oven/pot, bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

2. Add lemon and lime juice, then continue simmering for another half hour.

3. Add a generous amount of black pepper to taste.

4. Best enjoyed the following day when the flavors really meld (as most soups are)!

Things I heard

I’m currently working on a playlist for Zuma’s 5th birthday party next month. It’s going to be a rock and roll music themed party and so far we have songs by his favorite artists, including The Clash, Nirvana, Neil Young, Queen, David Bowie and George Harrison just to name a few!

It was a three-day weekend here in the U.S. and in those three days, I left the house just one time, which was nice and nourishing but admittedly, a little crazy making on a few occasions. Amusing because it wasn’t that long ago when we lived through the pandemic cooped up in our homes for days, if not weeks months at a time. It’s all kind of a blur now…

Anyways, it was one of those weekends where I felt like I did nothing but looking back, we did a lot.

There was a lot of time spent outside in our backyard - we drew pictures and made collages, counted 14 monarch caterpillars on our milkweed, rode our bicycles in the driveway and street, played with play dough, searched for past bloomed magnolia stamens that Zuma calls artichokes for his “garden soup”, sang songs on guitar and harvested a huge amount of cherry tomatoes from our garden.

All things that filled each of our cups with creativity, love and togetherness.

A post that caught my eye on my IG feed last week by Rich Roll interviewing leading American cognitive scientist and professor of psychology at Yale University, Dr. Laurie Santos really struck me and resonated.

Doing things for others has always been something I have enjoyed but I never looked into any scientific reasoning as to why. In the post, Dr. Santos points out a study that was done on people who were given $20 to either treat themselves or someone else. At the end of that day, the people who chose to treat someone else scored much happier than those who didn’t.

I’m a believer that we all need to take care of ourselves, but maybe doing a little something for others from time to time is also a way of filling our cup in a different way.

So with that, I had this idea to make a kids size fruit stand out of a big cardboard box and assembled fruit cups filled with farmers market fruit to give away to passing neighbors. We spent a couple of hours posted up out front of our house on the 4th and Zuma was shouting out ‘get your free fruit cups!’ to anyone who walked by. We may have sampled some of the fruit cups that we had made (I mean, they were really good), but we did manage to give 8 away!

Each person who passed thought that we had something to sell and were pleasantly surprised by the thought of spreading joy and giving something away. This was the definite highlight of Zuma’s 4th of July and he got an absolute kick out of chatting to new people and doing something kind and thoughtful for others.

Things I saw/read/watched

One of the most exciting things that occurred over the weekend was the influx of visits we had from monarch butterflies! There were a few visits a day from both males and females (the males have the dots on the lower wings), and we even saw them dancing through the air together before the female found her way to the milkweed to lay her eggs.

This monarch season, I am trying to capture photographs of the species in each stage of its cycle and I am feeling particularly giddy about the shot I got of the female laying her egg!

I have been reading Fox & I by Catherine Raven which is a memoir about the author living emotionally and physically isolated in a tiny cottage on a plot of land in rural Montana who develops a friendship with a wild fox. Any sort of real-life Snow White story is right up my alley.

Adam and I also managed to watch the Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown. Yes, a movie! It’s rare for me to watch a movie these days, so it’s kind of a big deal, okay? And yes, we technically watched it over two nights but it still counts… right? We felt like the film could’ve touched more on the history of folk music and why the community felt so strongly about wanting Bob to stick with his folky roots but overall, it was an enjoyable film with a lot of very well-performed music scenes.

Things I smelled

I picked up another natural perfume, this time Chamomile Flowers by local brand Ojai Wild. It’s more potent and longer lasting than my all-time favorite scent, Pause by Abel but the fragrance profile of Pause to me, is second to none!

Things I made

The main project of last week was turning a cardboard box into a fruit stand. The hero of the project was an Exacto knife. I’m convinced this took minutes, if not hours off the project time and saved my hands from the ache of trying cut thick cardboard with a regular old pair of scissors.

I cut out a round window on one side, turned the opposite side into doors to get in and out, and cut three sides of a panel on the front which I trimmed and folded down to be the little counter space for the fruit cups. I anchored the panel with extra bits of cardboard and hot glue to give it more stability, and used jute string to help prevent it from folding back up.

The roof was made out of kraft paper which I painted stripes on with white acrylic paint. We added a sign and a menu, and voila!

I’ve been continuing to gradually make my way through more of the ALP guided sketchbook - last week was spent free doodling and experimenting with different kids of lines: straight, diagonal, dotted, curved, wavy, etc. Next up I’ll be playing around with shapes!

I purchased one of these kids art frames to be able both hang up art that Zuma has created and store them. This genius invention has storage space in the frame for up to 100 artworks! We have this up in Zuma’s playroom and it’s currently showcasing this collage that we worked on together over the weekend. He art directed the project, I was merely the pair of scissors helping cut out!

I have also begun to plan out Zuma’s birthday crown that I will be making sometime over the next month! This year he’s asked for a crown with an acoustic and an electric guitar on it and of course, the number 5.

Things I tasted

The cherry tomatoes have been abundant in our garden, so I used them to make a pasta with caramelized shallots, garlic and zucchini blossoms. I topped it off with fresh wild arugula and a few leaves of basil, also homegrown, and we enjoyed it with a glass of wine/tinto de verano al fresco one warm evening.

That same night we made s’mores on the stove. My favorite kind of chocolate to use is a sea salt dark chocolate. Not as fun as over a campfire, but still pretty good!

Things I heard

In seeing A Complete Unknown, I was inspired by the story of folk legend Woody Guthrie to learn This Land Is Your Land on the guitar. Crazy how a song written in the 1940s is still so poignant today.

Last week was filled with lots of warm air and sunshine, good food and plenty of time outside - I’m pretty sure we had dinner in our garden every night but one, which was something I wanted to do as often as possible this summer. After dinner, a couple of birds would come by and search under the table for fallen crumbs and were usually rewarded for their bravery.

Over the weekend, we went on a really sweet family outing to DTLA where we visited the Grammy Museum, followed by lunch at one of our long-time favorite restaurants, Pine and Crane.

Each of us had a blast at the museum’s interactive Sonic Playground exhibit - an entire floor dedicated to an immersive, hands-on experience with real instruments and creative music tools. Zuma especially loved having a go on the drum kits, bass guitar and singing into a real microphone, as well as also seeing iconic photographs of his musical idols by pop culture documentary photographer, Jay Blakesberg.

Pine and Crane is one of Adam and I’s go-to restaurants on any rare occasion we make it to the east side of L.A. They serve authentic and the most delicious Taiwanese food, and have so many vegan options that we over order every single time. We love the wood ear mushroom salad, dan dan noodles, three cup mushroom and mapo tofu, and we’d often go for an early dinner at their Silverlake location before heading to Dodger Stadium for a ball game.

Adam and I also dined out at RVR on Abbot Kinney earlier in the week. RVR was opened by founding Gjelina chef, Travis Lett (who I bumped into at the farmers market the next morning and complimented) and offer an incredibly tasty, creative spin on Japanese izakaya food, California-style. Everything we tried was excellent, and the house made vanilla sorbet with strawberry granita is a must for dessert.

Sight

I had this inkling to check for caterpillars on our milkweed after sunset one evening and instantly spied this little guy crawling on the underside of a leaf!

Zuma and I visited our local park that we haven’t been to in many months, and were treated with eight little ducklings swimming in the pond with their mother.

Smell

There’s something about the waft of fermented grapes after you crack open a bottle of red wine. I am usually more partial to a white or rose in the summer months, but after discovering Tinto de Verano, meaning red wine of summer, things are different. The drink originated in the Andalusian region of Spain, is a lighter and more refreshing option to sangria, and takes just a few minutes to make.

Tinto de Verano

• Red wine

• Sparkling water (I used pamplemousse LaCroix)

• Vermouth

• Ice

• Citrus to garnish

1. Add a generous handful of ice to your glass

2. Pour equal parts red wine and sparkling water

3. Add a splash of vermouth

4. Garnish with a slice of citrus (I used dried blood orange)

Touch

The sun was really beating down one afternoon, so Zuma and I decided to make sun prints with cyanotype paper and got creative using his hands and feet, a feather and a few deteriorating flowers I pruned from the garden.

I have also been enjoying my Art Life Practice guided sketchbook and did some blind contour drawing in our garden. Blind contour drawing is the process of looking at your subject and drawing without looking at your paper or taking your pencil off the paper. It’s a fun one to do with a friend/partner where you take turns drawing each other, then have a good laugh at the results!

Taste

Melons were abundant at Weiser Family Farms last week and I got so melon-happy, I brought home an Arava, Cavaillon and Piel del Sapo. Their farm is located a couple of hours outside L.A. in Tehachapi which sits at over 4,000 ft in elevation. This is especially good for growing potatoes (it’s no secret in Southern California that Weiser potatoes are the best), but whatever else they are doing shows in all their produce as it is without fail, always at the highest quality.

The Arava is most similar to a honeydew and with a sprinkle of K&K Ranch’s plum chili salt from last summer is a flavor bomb that is hard to resist. The Cavaillon is a very sweet, personal sized cantaloupe and is just perfect on its own. We’re yet to cut into the Piel del Sapo but from what I remember from last season, is also sweet and aromatic, but is on the more crunchy side for a melon.

I also brought home some Bing cherries from Weiser last week and made a true clafoutis based on my previous recipe I shared. This has been my go-to cake so far in the summer, simply because it allows the fruits of summer be the star of the show!

As I used aquafaba (the liquid in canned chickpeas) in the clafoutis, I made a hummus with the chickpeas which has been an nutritious, healthy snack I have been enjoying out in the garden with some fresh veggies and crackers.

Hear

Guitar learning has still been going strong and I have been having so much fun learning these few songs in the last week:

• Blowin’ in the Wind by Bob Dylan

• Heart of Gold by Neil Young

• Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For A Sunbeam by The Vaselines as covered by Nirvana

Happy belated solstice! I hope you all stayed out a little later that day and enjoyed the lightest day of the year.

We kicked off the summer last week with a visit to Underwood Family Farms to go strawberry picking. The fields were lush and the fruit plentiful, and despite it being in the 90s out there, Zuma and I had a sweaty, joyous adventure. We fed goats, sifted for gemstones, went on a hayride and walked amongst fields of towering sunflowers larger than our heads!

We arrived at the farm at 10:00 (I would suggest getting there even earlier in the summer to avoid peak heat - they open at 9:00) and prioritized a visit to the strawberry fields as this was what Zuma and I were most excited for. In addition to strawberries, a wide variety of fruits and vegetables were available to pick - there were oranges, onions, raspberries, zucchinis and wildflowers. A seasonal updated list can be found on their website.

After filling our clamshell, we took a midday break to eat our packed lunch I had brought from home then headed back into the farm to feed the goats and have some playtime on the whimsical wooden train they have on their grounds. It was a perfect summer day out.

Subscribe now

Things I saw

We had some friends over for dinner in our garden on Solstice, and while we were hanging out in the yard, a monarch butterfly paid a visit to our milkweed. It was such a magical little moment as we watched her lay eggs and drink nectar before continuing her migration.

Things I smelled

Melons are officially in season at the farmers market, and not just any melons - Weiser melons. You’ll see ‘Weiser melons’ on the menu at any farm-to-table kinda restaurant here in L.A. and they are so renowned that The New York Times covered them last year (yes, I am one of the said parents ‘dragging an elaborate wagon through the sun’).

What is so interesting about Weiser melons is that the varieties that the farm grows are not commonly known. There’s the Sugar Cube, a personal-sized variety of cantaloupe that was available last week. My personal favorite, the Bonny which somehow blends the perfect mix of sweet and sour, and is delectable with a drizzle of grassy olive oil or a sprinkle of plum chili salt. Or maybe both.

When selecting a melon, you’ll want to use your sense of smell - the stronger the scent of the melon, the more ripe and ready it will be.

Things I made

You’ll never buy play dough again after making this very simple and easy homemade version. I infused butterfly pea flowers into water to create a light lavender color and mixed in dried flowers at the end for a sprinkle of natural confetti.

Homemade all-natural play dough

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup salt

• 1 Tbsp cream of tartar

• 2 tsp avocado oil

• 1/2 cup warm water (plain or infuse with a natural dye if you wish)

• Dried flowers

1. Mix flour, salt and cream of tartar in a bowl

2. Add warm water and stir until combined

3. Add oil and knead until smooth

4. Add in dried flowers and begin to play!

If stored in an air tight container and in the fridge, I have found that this play dough can be good for a few months!

I updated our nature table last week to reflect the height of summer. I incorporated lots of yellow and oranges in the form of calendula, strawflowers and citrine to represent the sun, and was inspired by a page in Revenant Rhythm and made a Solar cross out of cornflower stalks I picked up at the farmers market.

To make the Solar cross, I braided the stalks, tied them together with jute string to create a circle, then threaded additional stalks in the middle to create a cross. It represents the sun, the four seasons, the solstices and the equinoxes - the cyclical nature of time and life.

Things I tasted

For our solstice garden dinner, I baked deconstructed lasagna-like enchiladas from Hetty Lui McKinnon’s Tenderheart. The recipe uses tortillas in place of lasagna sheets and I layered it with black beans, chard, corn, green onions and Miyoko’s plant-based mozzarella with a cumin/coriander tomato sauce.

For sides, I made a cilantro and onion infused rice, guacamole and a peacho-de-gallo with tomatoes from our garden.

Would 10/10 make this again.

Peacho-de-gallo

• Handful of cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

• 3 Tbsp diced onion or shallots

• Handful of diced cilantro

• Yellow peach, diced

• Squeeze of lime

• Salt and pepper

Mix tomatoes, onion/shallot, cilantro and peach into a bowl. Add a good squeeze of lime and season with salt and pepper.

Things I heard

I am continuing to have a really fun time learning how to play guitar, and the latest song that I have been learning with Adam is Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi.

This is one of the songs, if not the first, that I recall hearing from my childhood. Singing class was one of the things we did in elementary school in Australia and I remember sitting on the floor in the assembly hall singing along to it with everyone else in my grade!

Share Ordinary Magic ✨

Firstly, I am grateful for the outpour of love and support I received in response to my post on my personal experience with forced family separation. I was feeling pretty numb the weekend the protests began in L.A. and wasn’t really able to address how I was feeling - probably because it was triggering my past trauma, so I took most part of a day to sit and began to write. Minutes into this process, I found myself sobbing in front of my computer at the resurfacing pain I had once experienced, but also knowing that others are going through the same kind of heartache and suffering during this tumultuous time.

Yes, it seems trivial to be writing a post about what I baked and crafted over the last week, but as a mother of a young child, there is someone who needs me to show up day after day, regardless of what is going on in the world.

In these moments, I have found solace in creativity, good food and getting lost in making memories with my loved ones. I have felt that it has been my duty to shield my son away from as much of this real world drama as possible, and continue to discover the beauty, joy and magic in everyday life.

Subscribe now

Things I read

I recently purchased The New York Times Short & Sweet Mini Crosswords book that I have found to be a great distraction - it has gotten me off my phone and stimulating my brain in a different way. Instead of mindlessly scrolling, I’ll turn to a crossword and try to figure out a five letter word for a gardener’s trimming tool… way more fun!

Things I smelled

I discovered a digestive tea several months ago and decided to make my own blend consisting of coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds - an aromatic Ayurvedic blend that has helped tremendously with bloating and indigestion. I brew a pot after dinner every evening for Adam and I, and it’s best consumed after your largest meal.

Ayurvedic digestive tea

• 1 tsp whole coriander seeds

• 1 tsp whole cumin seeds

• 1 tsp fennel seeds

• 4-5 cups of boiling water

Add all ingredients into a teapot and steep for 10 minutes. Strain the seeds and enjoy!

Things I made

For Father’s day, Zuma and I got creative and made a card and gift for Adam. I used watercolor pencils and paints for the card and the idea came from Zuma as one day he decided that he himself was jam, I was peanut butter and Adam was bread!

We picked up a wooden scalloped frame from Michael’s and painted it with matte acrylic paint before hot-gluing on seashells that I had collected while beach combing on previous trips. The photo I chose for this frame was one of Adam and Zuma in the ocean from our time in Greece last year, as being in saltwater is one of Adam’s most favorite things.

I also painted a couple of canvases last week. The next step I’ll take on these is drawing with oil pastels. Stay tuned!

Things I tasted

June gloom was hitting hard and with that, the urge to bake. I had just brought home some apriums (an apricot-dominant plum hybrid) from the farmers market and was inspired by one of my favorite Substacks, The Green Spoon’s post on baking an apricot clafoutis.

The clafoutis (klah-foo-tee) is a French dessert and is traditionally made with cherries, so I technically did not make a clafoutis but a flaugnarde. For the version I baked, I deployed a vegan secret ingredient: aquafaba, the viscous liquid found in canned chickpeas that can be used to replace eggs, and despite turning out a little crispy on the edges, can confirm that it was a hit with all three of us - we gobbled up the whole thing for afternoon tea and dessert in a single day!

Vegan aprium flaugnarde

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour

• 1/4 cup almond flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 cup cane sugar

• 1/2 cup aquafaba (liquid in canned chickpeas)

• 3 Tbsp plant-based milk (I used organic soy)

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 4 Tbsp plant-based butter (my go-to is Miyoko’s)

• 7-8 apricots/apriums (more or less, depending on the size)

1. Preheat oven to 400F (adjusted from 450F which I used). Grease a 9-inch cake pan with butter and set aside.

2. Whisk together flour, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl.

3. Add aquafaba, milk, vanilla extract and melted butter. Whisk well and let the batter stand for at least 10 minutes. While waiting, wash and halve your apricots/apriums, removing the pits.

4. After 10 minutes, add the batter into your greased cake pan, then gently press fruit on top with the insides facing up.

5. Bake for 25-30 mins, until a toothpick comes out clean and before the edges burn - I did not check until 30 mins!

6. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring it onto a cooling rack to allow it to cool completely before serving.

Things I heard

The school year came to a close last Wednesday, and all the parents of our class were invited to the end of year puppet show that day. As the show concluded, the teachers began singing a song called Sing Your Way Home, which immediately made several of us (myself included) shed some tears. It had already been an emotional week, and the bittersweetness of another school year ending was like the icing on the cake that sent me over the edge.

Throughout the course of history, song has been used in times of hardship that helped inspire courage and unity in the face of adversity. These were words timed so well, not just for the close of the school year but for the times we’re living in.

Share Ordinary Magic ✨

I was 16 years old on the night they came to take my father away. There was a very loud knock on our front door, as if someone was trying to pound it in, and it had startled my mother and I who were still downstairs in our side-by-side duplex in the suburbs of Sydney.

“Immigration is here!”, my mom yelled towards the stairwell hoping my Dad would hear. Probably not the best thing to have done, but how could you know exactly what to do in such a confrontation?

“Immigration? What do you mean?”, I say without a clue to what was about to happen.

Subscribe now

You see, when the Australian Border Force came that night, I had no idea that my parents were undocumented immigrants. It was something that they had never told me - I think hoping to shield me from any worry or shame. It was the 1990s/early 2000s, when anti-Asian racism seemed to be the norm in Australia. Right-wing politician, Pauline Hanson established and led the One Nation party, which helped normalize racism and xenophobia. I grew up hearing the same old “ching-chong” slurs at school and was made fun of for how my eyes looked. It would be surprising if you didn’t hear some kind of racist comment being an Asian kid growing up in Australia during this time.

Minutes passed and the knocking and shouting from outside became more aggressive. My dad came downstairs and without knowing his rights, opened the door. Twenty-one years on, a lot of the details of this incident are a blur to me now, as I believe I consciously and unconsciously suppressed these memories for self-preservation, but I do clearly remember seeing my dad get handcuffed and taken away. They let my mom stay with me as I was still a minor.

I am not even sure how I got to sleep that night. Looking back, there was so much for my 16-year old self to process, I must have just passed out from mental and emotional exhaustion. I don’t have many clear memories from the morning after on, but I remember my mom and I would visit my dad at the detention center where he was held while waiting for deportation. We would have to go through a security screening with other visiting families on our way in, and we’d bring home cooked meals with us to eat with my dad during our visits.

Some months passed and my mom and I moved to a smaller place, as we couldn’t afford to pay rent without my dad being around and working. I felt isolated and disassociated from everything and everyone. My life had been completely turned upside down and I felt like I didn’t have anyone to turn to - because my parents hadn’t told anyone. It just seemed like my mom and I had to figure out our new normal, and try to move forward with our lives one day at a time.

Growing up, tennis was a big part of my life. After trying out dance and gymnastics as a child and not particularly liking either, my parents enrolled me in tennis lessons at age 7. It was one of those things that just clicked, and I enjoyed it from the moment I hit my first forehand. Lessons and practice became more frequent as I got older, and I started competing in state and national level tennis tournaments from age 10.

My mom, dad and I would take road trips in our old Mazda 929 to different towns and cities across the east coast of Australia to compete in these tournaments, usually over weekends or during the school holidays. I’d be sitting in the backseat with my headphones on listening to mixtapes I had made from recordings off the radio, and eventually, as I got into my teenage years, I was encouraged by coaches to travel internationally to play in junior competitions.

Looking back, I had sometimes wondered why we never traveled abroad from Australia. I remember asking my parents if we could go to Fiji or Vanuatu after friends of ours had been, and they always said that we couldn’t afford it. I didn’t know that traveling overseas as an undocumented immigrant was complicated, because I simply didn’t know.

When it was time for my parents to decide if I would apply for a passport to be able to compete in international tennis tournaments, they gambled and let me do it. The application for a minor’s passport asked for the citizenship status of said minor’s parents and well, I guess when my application was processed, it raised a red flag in the Australian Border Force’s system. The application was basically an invitation for them to come to our house.

My dad was eventually deported to Malaysia, where he was born and needless to say, I gave up playing tennis as my mom and I were already struggling to pay for our basic needs let alone tennis lessons. It took some time for my dad to get back on his feet as it had been 20+ years since he had left his life in Kuala Lumpur, so it was up to me to start working part-time to help pay the bills. One of my jobs was taking calls and bookings at the local tennis center after school - I’d try to cram in homework during any downtime I had there. Another gig I had was waking up at 6am on weekends to work at a school friend’s family cafe, making eggs, sandwiches and coffee.

Long distance calls were expensive to make at the time - this was pre-Whatsapp, and my mom and I used those international calling cards to talk to my dad every so often, but our relationship had just naturally drifted apart.

The stress and anxiety that had built up started to take a toll on both my mom and I, and at 18, I could no longer handle the pressure and ended up dropping out of my final year of high school. I moved in with my boyfriend at the time, and my mom decided to leave Australia to reunite with my dad in Malaysia. But it wasn’t the love story you hoped for - my dad had been seeing another woman and selfishly did not tell my mom until she had touched down.

I ended up getting my Australian passport and traveled to Malaysia when I was 20. I was confronted with seeing my parents apart for the first time, and the visit left me with so much internal rage and resentment that I have never returned, and vowed to myself to move forward with my own life. I’m now 37 years old and haven’t seen or spoken to my father since.

What happened to my family and I wasn’t just a one-night incident. There were consequences that changed the course of my entire life - not necessarily for the worse - I have a kind, loving, supportive husband and our beautiful son, Zuma who wouldn’t exist if things were different. I am strong, capable and independent from having to take care of myself and my mom from a young age. But for a long time, pain lingered in my body, mind and spirit, and I asked myself over and over, “why did this have to happen to us?”.

It’s not fair. I’ve told this to myself so many times. All my parents wanted was an opportunity to live a better life than they had, and to give their child that chance. Why should one person be able to have that over another?

The consequences also extend to future generations: there is also a whole side to Zuma’s family that he doesn’t know because of my fractured family history. Yes, I am willing to do the work to help him understand when he’s older and curious, and he even met my mom for the first time when we visited Australia in 2023 (she later returned “legally”). But not fully understanding or having the answers to his future questions will probably trigger some pain.

My heart aches for the people that will have to go through the pain that I went through. For the mothers who have to care and provide for their children on their own. For the children that have to sacrifice their childhood to not live in poverty. For the families that get torn apart without knowing when they’ll see each other again.

Share Ordinary Magic ✨

Subscribe now

I cannot believe there are just a few days left of our school year. Where has time gone!? I’ve been wrapping up Zuma’s class yearbook over the last week, organizing cards and end-of-year gifts for our teachers and also had to figure out what to get Adam for our 7th wedding anniversary that was on Saturday.

The theme for the year was copper or wool and I really struggled here because I am the kind of person who feels that gifts need to be somewhat practical. So, despite it being just a couple of weeks from official summer, I opted for a cashmere sweater because a) Adam will wear it (I think?), b) it was really, really nice and c) I could not for the life of me think of anything else. I hope he likes it.

Last week was also filled with lots of summery activities - we went to see the Dodgers play the Yankees on a very warm Sunday afternoon, snacked on alpine strawberries from our garden, made giant bubbles and spotted some wildlife in our yard - a dark-eyed junco nest (no babies or eggs yet) and the cutest nymph praying mantis!

Things I saw

Did any of you catch the World Series last year? Well, if not - the Dodgers played the Yankees and it was glorious if, like us, you were rooting for the Dodgers. We were in New York traveling home from Greece in October when the series started, and jet lagged AF. I was waaaay too tired to stay up to watch the games but Adam somehow mustered the energy (and adrenaline) to, and was rewarded with Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam in game one.

While we didn’t get to see our home team win in person last week, it was still a blast to be at the ballpark with Zuma. The sun was blitzing our section and it was hot, so I opted to buy one of those spray bottle fans they were slinging for $20 at the gift shop - that and a Minute Maid frozen lemonade were our saviors.

A couple of tips for bringing a young child to the ballpark:

• Take a walk when it’s too hot in your seat. We tried to stay put in our seats in the early innings, but I eventually decided it was best to get out of the heat and take Zuma on a walk around the park as he was feeling uncomfortably warm. We browsed through cheesy gift shops, rode long escalators and had a great time just soaking up the atmosphere!

• Bring food/snacks - Dodger Stadium allows for food to be brought in, as long as it’s not in a glass container or thermos (best to check each venue’s policy). I packed a container of fruit and veggies along with packs of popcorn and freeze dried strawberries. I also strategically gave Zuma a larger, later lunch that day so that the snacks could tide him over for the rest of the evening.

We found our way back to our seats after the sun had set behind the stadium, and Zuma had an enjoyable time dancing along to all the walk up songs!

One afternoon, I was out in the garden looking for a nest in the ivy as I had spotted a bird climb in there a few days prior through the window. I found the nest and it seemed like it belonged to a dark-eyed junco pair as they were alarmingly chirping at me while I was taking a peek. On my way back, I spotted a tiny nymph mantis sitting on a leaf, no larger than an inch. A reminder that Mother Nature’s magic can be found close as your own backyard.

Things I smelled

We brought dinner over to our friends’ last week who have a very fruitful nectarine tree in their front yard. They were so kind to let us pick some to take home, and I decided to make nectarine preserves with them.

I ended up with 3 1/2 cups of chopped fruit, added 1 1/4 cups of sugar, a squeeze of Meyer lemon and a teaspoon of New York Shuk’s Kafe Hawaij blend, which consists of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and cloves. The company is owned by a friend of a another friend, and was the same mix I used in my loquat preserves I made a month or so ago.

I simmered all these ingredients in a saucepan for 30 minutes, which made the entire house smell so deliciously aromatic, then used an immersion blender to chop up some of the fruit but left some chunky bits in there. There was enough to fill two small mason jars and we gave one back to our friends with the nectarine tree.

Things I made

For our anniversary, I wanted to draw and paint my own card for Adam with watercolor pencils. My favorites are by Caran d’Ache - they are so incredibly smooth, versatile and vibrant. I drew this simple, cute pod of peas that represent Adam, Zuma and I. I showed Zuma in secret before our anniversary and he adored it!

Things I tasted

Breakfast in our house on most days of the week is oatmeal made by Adam (he is the best oatmeal chef!), but there is a request for pancakes every now and then, which is where I come in.

I crafted this recipe to bulk up the nutrition in pancakes as I was often left feeling insatiable and hungry again just a couple of hours later. The almond flour and hemp seeds add a little more substance, plus they give it a subtle nutty flavor.

We topped the pancakes with some of the nectarine preserves I had made, along with fresh farmers market fruit!

My go-to pancake recipe (makes 6-8 pancakes):

• 1 cup all purpose flour OR

• 1/2 cup spelt flour and 1/2 cup all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup almond flour

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• 1 Tbsp baking powder

• 1 Tbsp sugar

• 1 1/4 cup non-dairy milk

• 2 Tbsp avocado oil

• 2 Tbsp hemp seeds

• Coconut oil for cooking

1. Preheat pan or griddle on medium heat. I like doing this first so the pan is hot when you’re ready!

2. Whisk together flours, salt, baking powder and sugar.

3. Pour milk and avocado oil into dry ingredients, mix until just combined. Add hemp seeds and stir a little more.

4. Add a tsp of coconut oil to pan/griddle and 1/3 cup of batter. Cook for 1 min 10 sec on each side - this seems to be my sweet spot for my pan and stove, so it may vary on yours.

5. Repeat with the remainder of pancake batter and remember to add more coconut oil too, it will give the pancakes a nice crispy texture!

Things I heard

It’s been week two of learning guitar and I got my own little Martin Junior last week! I took Zuma to our local guitar store on Monday to get a button put on his guitar so that we could put a strap on it, and while we were waiting, we browsed and played, and well, brought home another guitar.

I’m still practicing Knockin’ On Heavens Door and currently learning how to play the gospel song, Peace Like A River as covered by one of our favorite children’s musicians, Elizabeth Mitchell. Her music is fun, musical and not overstimulating, which for me, is key in keeping my sanity!

Share Ordinary Magic ✨

Subscribe now

Last week started off with hosting a small party in our backyard. We threw it vegetarian/vegan potluck style and everyone who came contributed to a tasty assortment of summery salads, pastas, dips, fresh berries and fruit pies.

I arranged for pizzas to be delivered from Pizzana, a pizzeria with several locations in L.A. co-owned by the founders of Sprinkles Cupcakes (remember them?), and run by chef Daniele Uditi who rumor has it, brought his grandmother’s sourdough starter with him from Naples to the United States in 2010.

For dessert, I served up my homemade vegan dark chocolate gelato with additional ice cream and waffle cones from my favorite ice cream store, Sweet Rose Creamery.

It was the most relaxed I’ve been leading up to hosting and I think that’s probably from doing it enough times - I feel like I’ve now got a system in place for getting set up and organized. Plus, ordering pizzas and having everyone bring something also cut down a lot of work!

During the Memorial day sales, I purchased a set of Stapelstein’s versatile blocks/stones/bowls (I’m not sure what to call them) and we’ve been having fun playing stepping stones with them outside. They included a digital booklet with many different ideas and games to play that I have yet to look at, but I think it’ll come in handy over the summer!

One of the things on my ‘summer list’ is to dine alfresco as much as possible, and we managed to do that a few times last week - either at the table on our deck or on a picnic blanket on the grass. After dinner one warm evening, Zuma and I watered the garden then picked blueberries off the shrub for dessert. That moment warmed my heart and soul so much, I paused and thought to myself: this is what it means to live.

Things I read

I picked up a copy of the guided sketchbook from Art Life Practice after it was advertised to me on Instagram - yep, they get me too! It’s a workbook with prompts to get a consistent creative practice going and also has tidbits about art history throughout. I am a sucker for a workbook and excited to get started!

Things I smelled

I have been using a magnesium oil lavender spray on my feet and lower back before bed and I feel like I’m waking up feeling more rested. My acupuncturist told me that most of us are magnesium deficient because of the depletion of minerals from our soil, and that applying it topically is absorbed more effectively by our bodies than if we were to take oral supplements.

I made my own spray after reading about it in an issue of Botanical Anthology a couple of years back, and it was surprisingly simple.

Sweet Dreams Magnesium Spray

• 1/2 cup magnesium chloride flakes

• 1/2 cup boiling filtered water

• 15 drops lavender essential oil

• 4-6 oz spray bottle

1. Measure out magnesium flakes in a heat proof measuring cup.

2. Add boiling water and stir until the flakes have dissolved.

3. Add essential oil, let cool then pour into your spray bottle.

Things I made

Over the last week, most of my free time has been spent on compiling Zuma’s class yearbook. It’s been a really fun experience going through the year’s seasons and festivals, and also seeing how much the children have grown since the beginning of the school year. It’s been some time since I’ve sat at my desk for hours, and as enjoyable this has been, I can tell you that I definitely do not miss working in front of my computer for hours each day!

I also started taking note of the things I want to do this summer, then wrote them down into my sketchbook. I suspect we’ll do some of these things more than once, and add others as more ideas come to mind.

For those who cannot read my handwriting/more elaboration:

• Dine alfresco as many nights as possible

• Make s’mores

• Giant bubbles

• Make popsicles

• Cycle to summer camp

• Take a pottery class

• Visit LACMA

• Look for caterpillars in the milkweed

• Bake a cherry pie

• Beach days

• Go to a Dodger game

• Visit the Grammy museum

• Go berry picking (that isn’t in our yard)

• Make chalk paint and paint the driveway

• Ride a carousel

• Make gelato

• Play in the sprinkler

• Make dried flower play dough

• Set up an outdoor concert for Zuma

• Go camping

Things I tasted

I picked out some mini zucchinis with blossoms from Milliken Farms at last week’s market, after a friend had told me to try putting them in a tart with anchovies and cheese - she raved about this treat that her Italian mother-in-law makes.

She helped me source this recipe and I modified it by using a sheet of phyllo dough and almond ricotta instead of cheese, and baked it for 15 minutes at 425F. I had no idea what to expect of this flavor combination, but it blew both Adam and I’s tastebuds away and will definitely be something I’ll be making again!

I also brought home some Arvin Glenn cherries from Murray Family Farms and saved them all for a cherry pie. Murray Family Farms is located off the 5 in the Grapevine of Southern California - on our drives on the 5 to and from the Bay area and L.A., we’d see orchards and fields on either side that go on for miles. Murray’s is just one of these that is closer to L.A. and they offer a variety of events throughout the year (currently berry picking season!).

My go-to vegan pie crust recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen’s Vegan for Everybody and it is flaky, tender yet crisp. I’ve used this same recipe for years and it hits every time - I’ll share it below because it’s just too good that it needs to be shared.

For the filling, I kept it very simple and pitted the cherries, added them to a saucepan and brought it to a bubble. I added a 1/2 cup of sugar, a squeeze of lemon juice and four tablespoons of cornstarch before mixing to combine and simmered to thicken for 5 minutes.

We brought the pie over to our friend’s and it was shared amongst both grown ups and children - after all, cherry pie is better when shared.

Things I heard

As we are in this very musical stage of life right now - Zuma is very passionate about music: right now it’s guitars, Chuck Berry, Guns N’ Roses (definitely not my choice) and Bob Dylan - Adam taught me how to play a few chords on the acoustic guitar.

A few Valentine’s days ago I organized guitar lessons for Adam as it was something that he expressed he wanted to learn. He’s still taking lessons and now he’s teaching me my first song: Knockin’ on Heavens Door, which was one of the first songs he also learned.

My fingertips are sore and numb at the same time, but while I was practicing on Thursday, Zuma told me that I was playing Knockin’ on Heavens Door, so that’s progress I will take!

Share Ordinary Magic ✨

Subscribe now

We’ve finally hit a point in the year where it’s been constantly warm enough for me to put on my first summer dress of the year! From the vintage rose tinted yarrow and purple sage blooming in our garden to the sunset hues of peaches, nectarines and apricots at the farmers market, the world around me has been bursting with color which has inspired me to wear more color too!

As temperatures rose last week, it was time for our backyard shade structure to be set up. More of our time has been spent outside - picking berries in the garden, playing hide and seek and jump rope after dinner, laying out a blanket and basking in the mid-morning sun. We’re not far off from dining alfresco every night, and I’m so looking forward to that. Definitely one of the things I’m jotting down on my ‘summer 2025 list’ that I’ll share in next week’s stack.

Things I read

Over the past week, I’ve been reading doses of Thich Nhat Hanh’s The Miracle of Mindfulness before bed each evening. I had first picked up his book You Are Here from our local library and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to get into another one of his works.

Like many others, I have found that my head is often filled with a few different thoughts at once (especially after having a child - the mental to-do lists seem endless) and there are moments where I end up forgetting what I had set out to do in the first place. The teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh have been really helpful in keeping me connected with the present moment, and focused on doing one thing at a time and remembering to savor that moment.

Things I smelled

When Zuma was two years old, we went to parent-child classes and our teacher would offer a spritz of rose water mist at the end of the session. It was a sweet moment to pause and take a deep, relaxing inhale. I keep a spray bottle of rose water by his bathroom sink and we’ve continued that calming little ritual where I offer a little mist to him (and me) most days of the week.

Things I made

I picked up a bunch of bright and cheerful cosmos from the farmers market last week and placed a handful into my flower press as I love having a selection of dried pressed flowers on hand for arts and crafts.

I also managed to sit down and finally paint the pages I had sketched out while in Santa Fe. The spread is a little nod to Georgia O’Keeffe and lists a few favorites and memories from our visit.

There’s only a couple weeks left of school and as one of the parent reps for Zuma’s class, I volunteered to compile the class year book. I find the process so fun and enjoyable, and so sweet to be able to relive some of the moments that were made throughout the year.

Things I tasted

The farmers market on Wednesday is such a visual feast and is one of the highlights of my week. I have loved getting to know the growers, what they’ve got going on their farm, when to expect a particular harvest and sampling fresh fruit on the spot. It’s a ritual that connects me to community but also gets me more attuned to the seasons.

Highlights from last week’s bounty are:

• Pakistan mulberries and black beauty avocados from JJ Lone’s Daughter - I could devour endless punnets of these mulberries

• Pink blueberries from JG Berries

• Peacotums (peach-apricot-plum hybrid) from Murray Family Farms which is basically a bright, candy-like explosion in your mouth

Last week, I made chocolate zucchini bread after Zuma asked me if I thought vegetable cake would taste good. I had baked zucchini chocolate chip muffins some time ago, so I told him about chocolate zucchini cake and he was eager to try it. Needless to say, it went down very well with my “brown dessert” loving child - something that Zuma used to call it when he was three.

Speaking of chocolate, we’re hosting some families for lunch one day over the long weekend and I wanted to make a pint of vegan chocolate gelato as a treat. I used this recipe which I’ve made before and according to Adam, it is honestly the best chocolate ice cream he’s had in his life - vegan or not.

Things I heard

For our gathering, I curated a playlist that I’ve been listening to over the last week. It’s an eclectic mix of various genres and all a really fun listen on a warm, sunny day.

Share Ordinary Magic ✨

Subscribe now

Just when I thought we were out of the woods with illnesses this school year, we were hit with another bug that wiped Zuma out for a good part of the week. Most of my creative output was in the kitchen trying to come up with options that seemed appetizing to him, but I was also drawn to baking because of its therapeutic qualities during the time of my monthly cycle.

Yes, I have no chill, especially when my hormones are trying to regulate, but baking is meditative to me and offers me some stress relief. And sometimes a girl just needs something sweet.

Things I read

To celebrate my birthday this year, we traveled to Santa Fe over spring break in April (yes, I’m April born in April). It was my first visit and definitely won’t be my last. The people were amongst some of the most patient and hospitable I’ve encountered - I mean, there were therapy dogs and a live band playing at Albuquerque airport, and TSA - yes, TSA - had stickers to hand out to children.

Artfully constructed adobe homes are nestled all across the landscape, and in town, there’s an abundance of cute galleries, artisan stores and small businesses to endlessly browse. Plus, the food - if like me and you like spice, there’s no shortage of chiles in New Mexico!

One of the reasons I chose Santa Fe as my birthday destination was to visit the Georgia O’Keeffe museum. It was the perfect sized museum for us with a 4 year old and so thoughtfully curated with not only original artwork by O’Keeffe, but also a glimpse into her life through some of her objects, clothing, materials and supplies. I picked up a copy of O’Keeffe - a Taschen published book from the gift shop, and finished reading it this week. It offers plenty of inspiration - both creatively but also philosophically, a glimpse into the artist’s life and work, and just enough art history for me to comprehend without feeling overwhelmed.

I am inspired by O’Keeffe’s approach to really looking at things - whether that’s a rock, a flower or the sky - and observing the details that often get overlooked. Here is a quote I pulled from the book by Romantic poet, William Wordsworth that really resonates with me and is a reminder to look deeper:

To every natural form, rock, fruit or flower,
Even the loose stones that cover the highway,
I gave a moral life, I saw them feel,
Or link’d them to some feeling.

Things I smelled

My in-laws are here this weekend and I baked a batch of lavender lemon donuts for their arrival. While in Santa Fe, I picked up a jar of culinary lavender from Los Poblanos Farm Shop which is probably the most fragrant I have yet to encounter. Their lavender lemonade is also out of this world.

Things I made

With Zuma being sick for the first part of the week, I didn’t have a chance to get to my matte acrylics I have been eager to try out. Instead, I pulled out this floral watercolor workbook and found myself painting on the floor of the playroom. It’s the perfect kind of activity for me while Zuma and I are together because it doesn’t take too much focus. I am also less attached to what the outcome is, so when I have to start and stop a million times, it’s less frustrating yet I can still be doing something creative.

I had a session of acupuncture and cupping this week and it was a reset my body desperately needed, especially during my monthly cycle. My energy felt so depleted these past few days and falling asleep face down with needles in my body helped recharge those batteries back up!

Things I tasted

This week, most of my creativity was channeled in the kitchen. Adam pointed out that when it’s “that time of month”, the oven gets a heavier workout and the result is tray loads of baked goods! I mean, he’s right: this week I baked chocolate chip cookies, blueberry scones, chocolate-coconut banana bread, sun bread and donuts.

Sun bread was requested by Zuma after reading the book by Elisa Kleven. She is hands-down my favorite children’s book author/illustrator and we have several of her books in our library (we love The Lion and the Little Red Bird, The Puddle Pail and of course, Sun Bread). The recipe was adapted from NYT Cooking and I used Just Egg (as per Elisa’s recommendation) for the egg replacer, and non-dairy milk and butter to make it vegan.

On my visit to the farmers market this week, I picked up some peaches from Regier Family Farms. It was their first week back for the season but the peaches did not disappoint. I cut one of the yellow ones into a salad that I like to call Summer in a Salad because simply put, if summer could taste like a salad, this would be it.

Summer in a Salad

• little gem lettuce

• persian cucumbers

• black beauty avocado

• yellow peaches

• marinated artichoke hearts - I like Jeff’s Garden

• hemp seeds

• a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Zuma’s appetite was pretty low this week due to his illness. None of the things he usually likes to eat seemed appetizing to him at all, except the baked orange cauliflower I made for dinner one evening. This is a family staple that is in the rotation every 1-2 weeks that I like to make in conjunction with a braised tofu and vegetable dish, served with jasmine rice.

Baked Orange Cauliflower

Ingredients:

• 1 small-medium head of cauliflower, cut into bite sized florets

• 1 cup of all-purpose flour

• 1 cup of non-dairy milk

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tsp onion powder

• panko breadcrumbs

Orange sauce:

• 1.5 cups of freshly squeezed orange juice

• 1/3 cup toasted sesame oil

• 1/3 cup maple syrup

• 1/3 cup low sodium tamari

• 1.5 Tbsp minced/grated ginger

• 1 clove minced garlic

• Zest of one orange

• 2 Tbsp cornstarch

1. Preheat oven to 450F

2. Combine flour, milk, garlic powder and onion powder to form a batter

3. Coat cauliflower florets with wet batter, then transfer to panko breadcrumbs coating evenly

4. Place breaded florets onto a lined baking sheet and bake at 450F for 20 minutes

5. While cauliflower is baking, make the orange sauce by combining all the ingredients into a small saucepan and stir on medium heat for 5-10 minutes. You will see it start to reduce and thicken

6. Coat the baked cauliflower florets in orange sauce - I dunk them into the sauce one by one using chopsticks - and place back on the baking tray to bake for an additional 7-10 minutes, until they are slightly crispy

7. Drizzle any remaining sauce on the cauliflower and top with sesame seeds and green onions!

Things I heard

A murder of crows has been going at it outside my window for the past 15 minutes while I’ve been writing, and I suspect that they are not happy with the resident great horned owls that live in the pine trees lining our street.

These owls have been there for some time and we hear them hooting almost every night or morning. We’ve spied them before and often find feathers of theirs floating in our yard - in fact, here is a little one I caught on Thursday:

Share Ordinary Magic ✨

Subscribe now

I’m finally winding down from a rather fun yet hectic week. My friend Kristina and her two children (4.5 and 1.5) stayed with us for a week, and there was so much joy and laughter with three kids running through the house. Between friends staying and prepping for Teachers Appreciation Week, I had little time downtime to create but managed to squeeze a couple of things in!

Mother’s day weekend is here and I enjoyed a couple of hours of extra, much needed sleep yesterday morning. We had brunch plans for Sunday but unfortunately had to cancel as Zuma came down with a fever and cough on Friday night. Yes I was really looking forward to it, but a mother’s work is never done. In a way, it’s kind of a gentle reminder that I should just take a moment to pause after this whirlwind of a period, and take a deep

e x h a l e.

Zuma brought home a lovely Mother’s day surprise on Friday: a sweet treasure box and card that he helped make at school. He worked with his teacher on creating the felt flower and painted the card with watercolors - they work with watercolors every Monday. Arts and crafts are not favored activities of his at home - on most occasions when I set up painting, he makes it seem like a chore but when we do get around to it every couple of months, it is such a treat to see his skills being refined over the time and practice he’s had in kindergarten.

The week ahead is currently looking nice and open for me to have some space to get some consistent exercise in again, and to also get my hands into some matte acrylic paints I have been eager to try. Stepping into some more unknown territory with this, but excited to experiment!

Things I saw/read

While out in the garden this week admiring the abundant birds, bees and butterflies, I spied our very first cherry tomatoes growing! The garden is in full bloom and it’s been such a thrill for Zuma to pick the ripened blueberries and strawberries that we planted a few years ago. He loves to pick them off the shrubs and pop the sun-warmed berries right in his mouth!

For any parent looking to start a children’s garden, I would highly recommend planting blueberries, strawberries and cherry tomatoes. They are perfect for little hands to pick and gets them working in the garden and learning about how food is grown.

I could not muster the energy to read any books this week before going to bed - I had to fight falling asleep right after Zuma went down, but I did flick through the latest issue of Sunset magazine one evening. The special issue focuses on the fires that took place in January and features a few pieces of reporting that Adam contributed.

Leafing through the glossy pages of a magazine while in bed is so soothing to me - not having to focus on one thing, but just letting the eyes skim and wander across the pages and land on whatever catches my gaze. It’s also so nostalgic and reminds me of my teenage years when I would be alone in my room with my Walkman/mp3 player plugged into my ears while looking through Teen Vogue.

Things I smelled

I have been wearing a floral but earthy scent by all-natural perfumery, Abel called Pause. I stopped wearing any fragrances after I found out I was pregnant in 2020 and picked this one up a few months ago after discovering that they were 100% natural. It’s gotten so many compliments while I’ve been out and about, and the brand even offers small sample sizes for purchase before committing to a larger bottle.

Things I made

This week’s main project was to create gratitude cards for Zuma’s teachers. My friend who was visiting’s almost 5 year old daughter also got involved and helped Zuma wet-on-wet watercolor paint the cards. After drying, I glued some of our pressed violas from the garden onto them with Mod Podge and drew them into a simple bouquet. To write the card, I prompted Zuma by asking him what he liked about each of his teachers and he ended up really contemplating what they were.

One afternoon, Zuma wanted to create “potions” after learning about them from a friend from school. We set up some jars of baking soda and cornstarch mixed with biodegradable glitter, white vinegar (creating a fizz when mixed with baking soda) and butterfly pea flowers next to his “cauldron” and he went to town… for about a minute.

The fizz didn’t last as long as I had hoped for - he dumped every single ingredient into the pot within a minute, but what really got him wondering was trying to figure out what he needed to add to the potion to make a flying broomstick appear. He gathered feathers, bark, flowers and was trying to say different “spells” to see if it would work!

Things I tasted

This week’s farmers market bounty included early season stone fruits! It’s so exciting to see apricots, peaches and nectarines at the market after eating mostly apples and berries over the past few months (I know we are lucky to have those too, but my palate is ready for a change!). With these stone fruits, I created a fruit board for the breakfast spread that parents had organized for Teachers Appreciation Week and added some some pink strawberry blossoms from Schaner Farms, which I have never seen before - I thought that they were always white!

Things I heard

We have been listening to a lot of Nirvana Unplugged and the Red Hot Chili Peppers live at Slane Castle this week. About a year ago, Zuma discovered rock & roll and developed a love for certain bands and a passion for guitars. He resonates with Kurt Cobain and John Frusciante, and will rock out with his little guitar and “microphone on a stand” (his stick horse). He is truly in his element when he’s doing this and it’s such a joy for me to not only see, but to also get to listen to music that I enjoyed (and still do) as a kid. We had the RHCP Live at Slane Castle DVD when I was 15 and I would play that disc over and over again. I wish I had held onto that because streaming it on YouTube is just not the same, but it’s still pretty cool that I get to share that love with Zuma.

Share Ordinary Magic ✨

Subscribe now

What a week it’s been! During the week, Adam and I were having a discussion and the term ‘ordinary magic’ came up. “Now that is a great name”, he says. I did a quick search to see if the subdomain/handle were available and found that it had been already taken. Disappointed and in a hurry to get out the door for school pick up, Adam encouraged me to get in touch with the person to see if they were willing to part ways with it, as it was an inactive account that was created ten months ago. I sent a quick message before getting in the car and a few minutes later, a reply had landed in my inbox.

“…I don’t plan to use it, so for sure!” was the response.

It turned out that the account holder had created it for a project that was way over the scope of a few blog posts, and that they were willing to transfer it over. I offered to buy them a gift card for a restaurant in their town, but was politely declined and told: “I don’t remember who it was, but somebody used this phrase to describe a situation that had no reason to go well but did regardless. If you want, just pay it forward when the opportunity arises”. I definitely did not expect for this to work out at all, let alone so swiftly, so it almost feels like it was meant to be. A little bit of ordinary magic, you could say, which is what I’m trying to create everyday.

In addition to the name change, the week has been quite hectic. We’ve had multiple friends from out of town stay with us, and the festivities of May Day/Beltane over the past few days. Here’s a closer look in more detail, through the five senses.

Things I read

I have been reading When you are Engulfed in Flames by one of my favorite and I think, one of the funniest writers ever, David Sedaris. I’ve read several of his books and they never fail to make me laugh out loud, or get back into reading after a dry spell. Some years back, Adam and I saw him live in Tucson and it was the most hysterical show we had ever seen - the kind of uncontrollable laughter that made our tummies hurt over and over again.

Things I smelled

As we’ve had multiple house guests stay this week, I’ve been using a lavender linen spray on the beds after washing, drying and changing the sheets. That and lüften-ing the room really freshens everything up nicely.

Things I made

I worked on a new logo after the very early rebrand and will revisit it again when I have more downtime, but it was, as always, so soothing to put brush to paper.

Remember that raffia basket I started last week? Well, I finished, but it didn’t really turn out like what the kit had suggested. I loosely followed the instructions and kinda free flowed with it as I was stitching it together, and I love the end result. I found the process really meditative - from forming the single 7 yard braid to coiling and stitching it altogether - it’s something that I really want to do more of.

With the celebration of May Pole on Saturday, I braided a few raffia flower crowns (it was a real raffia week!) for Zuma and our friends who were visiting. I made Zuma’s at school during a community crown making event and was inserting the flowers into a complete braid which took well over an hour. For the next two which I made at home, I braided the flowers in as I went and the process was much faster and the flowers more secure. Definitely making this note for next year’s crown making!

It’s Teacher Appreciation Week next week so in anticipation for a craft I have planned for Zuma, I placed some violas from our garden in my flower press. We will be creating gratitude cards with watercolor painting and pressed flowers. More on that next week!

Things I tasted

It is officially cherry season in Southern California and the early season cherries from Murray Family Farms were tasty!

To celebrate May Day on the 1st, I baked a cake with a May Pole on it. To start, I cut and dyed the ribbons with butterfly pea flower (blue), turmeric (yellow), frozen blueberries (magenta), dried hibiscus flowers (red), red cabbage (lilac) and mixed some to create green and orange. I chose to bake a vegan vanilla cake, and spread Harry’s Berries strawberry preserves and vanilla frosting between the layers before frosting the outside. The inspiration for this cake was found in Reverent Rhythm by Ashley Moore/Mother Hestia which lives on my nightstand and has been a year-round go-to.

Things I heard

My dear friend Kristina gifted me a mason bee house for my birthday and I set it up this week. Bee larvae were included and when I opened the canister to release them into the house, some buzzed right by and flew off to their new surroundings! The garden is in full bloom right now and there are bees everywhere.

Also, with good friends visiting, the sound of children laughing and chatting has been filling up the house and is one of the most delightful things to listen to.

Share Ordinary Magic ✨

Subscribe now

Hi! I’m April. I’m a mom to my four-and-a-half year old son, Zuma, living in Santa Monica, California. I love creating in all aspects, and after encouragement from my friend, Janna, here I am, creating a Substack.

I’m no stranger to publishing online. I got such a kick from personalizing my MySpace page back in the early aughts, and maintained a fashion/lifestyle blog for many years after that. I eventually shut all of that down and well, life caught hold of me and I fell out of being online.

The birth of Ordinary Magic comes out of a passion for creativity. I don’t have a desire for having an “online presence”; think of it as more of an outlet to log my creative output and sharing it with whoever wants to read along - a creative journal. My goal is to share one update per week which highlights what I’ve created/consumed the previous week, through each of the five senses. And maybe a few other bits and bobs in between. I hope you’ll follow along!

Things I read

I just finished reading Small Stories of Great Artists by Laurence Anholt, which is a Taschen published picture book for children. It contains several captivating short stories about artists including Vincent Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo and Pablo Picasso accompanied by whimsical illustrations and interesting facts that blew my mind (like, did you know that Picasso had 23 middle names?). I feel like Zuma is a little young for it at the moment, but I can’t wait to share it with him in the future.

Things I smelled

Lilacs have been in season at the farmers market. Last week, I bought a bunch from Weiser Family Farms and distributed them into vases in each of our bathrooms, as well as our nature table. The scent is really like no other and to me, a sign that Spring has truly arrived.

Things I made

Edit on April 30th: My Substack was first named Heart Made, but it has since been changed to Ordinary Magic.

After brainstorming with Janna on Wednesday night, I started painting what would be the logo/profile pic for Heart Made - at least for now. Perfectionism has dominated my life from my upbringing and on this day, it took me a few hours to mentally get over trying to make it “perfect”, but I finally was just able to let it go and let it be what it was.

I also just started braiding some raffia for a basket from a kit by Flax & Twine. This is my first attempt at basket making, so I’m curious to see how it’ll turn out! I’ll share progress in the coming weeks.

Things I tasted

Last Sunday I hosted a spring brunch and egg hunt for a few other families (a total of 12 people) in our backyard. I love hosting and feel like food is one of my love languages however, don’t get me wrong, I desperately needed to be horizontal and in bed by 8pm that night. But it was all worth it.

A big thank you to my friend Isla for capturing some photos on the day - it is honestly an impossible task for me to host, be present and take pictures.

The all-vegan menu I had prepared was:

• Lemon blueberry cake

• Baked cinnamon donuts with chocolate glaze and edible dried flowers

• Just Egg quiche cups with red bell pepper and baby spinach

• Mixed green salad with roasted zucchini and broccoli, avocado and orzo, dressed with a lemon olive oil basil vinaigrette

• Granola and coconut yogurt

• Farmers market fruit and vegan cheese platter

• Farmers market crudités with hummus (dressed up with extra olive oil and everything bagel seasoning)

• Mimosas with blood orange and cara cara orange juice ice cubes

• Pink lemonade

The kids also had such a great time playing for hours, and were getting creative on their own making a “soup” from garden pickings, which looked absolutely beautiful:

A few days later, I made loquat preserves out of a basket of loquats that Janna and her daughter had picked from their yard. I added cane sugar, lemon juice and a spice mix of cloves, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, and it has been a real hit around the house. There is something so special about preserving a harvest and really savoring it over an extended period of time.

Things I heard

After a long hiatus, I started meditating in January after the fires in Los Angeles. My screen time and anxiety had gone way up from constantly checking Watch Duty, air quality apps and the news, that I really needed something to just calm myself down. Adam (my husband) suggested meditating, so I signed up for Calm and have been really enjoying the guided meditations by Tamara Levitt. I’m currently on day five of the 7 Days of Happiness series.

The week ahead

Things that I plan on working on over the next week are continuing with the raffia basket and a flower crown as we will be celebrating Maypole/Beltane!

Share Ordinary Magic ✨