Christmas in Japantown

This year to keep with our Christmas tradition we got out-of-town and stayed at yet another beautiful Joie de Vivre boutique hotel.  The modern anime themed Hotel Tomo located in Japantown, San Francisco looked like something the boys would get a kick out of.  We drove in Christmas day, explored Japantown, dined on udon, tempura and sushi and then went back to the hotel to build Noah’s (purely coincidental) Ninjago Lego’s.

How fun is this disposable camera?  Jenn picked this up for my birthday and I know, I know, we weren’t in Chinatown but still…fun right?  Some of the fortunes were just too perfect! 



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Monday @ 2

What does your Monday at 2pm look like? That was the idea of our photo project for this week. We enlisted the help of family and friends across the globe and armed with camera phones and canons, this is what we came up with….

Photos in order of timezone:

Extensive hours on the beach leads to the mastering of the handstand. Surfers Paradise as a back drop is merely a coincidence. But never the less, a nice touch.
-Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia, Vanessa Petays
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Enjoying my last full day of sun before heading back to Bankok…then back to Canada.
Ko Phi Phi Island,Thailand, Erica Petays
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Enjoying an hour of quiet time while Dre naps…candy, people.com and maybe even some facebook creep time.
-White Plains, New York, USA, Jenn Petays-Tschetter
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Today was about enjoying the beautiful sunshine + being outdoors, I just got home from a fun shoot of my niece + nephew and took my Mom’s pup for a run down by our pond.   The ice has been melting on with this incredibly mild winter weather.
 -Tribune, Saskatchewan, Canada, Jenelle Quigley
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 Winter
 I wake with intent walk farther gather what falls carry it folded in the hollow of my hand—like garbage—like hope I can’t remember the smallest promises.
-Bowker Creek Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Brenda Petays
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Monday’s errands.  And there is a lot of them.   Library, bank, post office, gas station, Walgreens and Walmart, with a 4-year-old in tow.  All before picking up Noah from school in 45min?  Yeh, not gonna happen!
-Yuba City, California, USA, Melissa Petays-Cooke

We plan to do this project again…so let us know if you’d like to participate!

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Are you RAVENOUS?

Imagine a restaurant where you get treated like family.  This is the vision of Wade Sawaya, Proprietor and Sommelier of Ravenous Cafe in Sacramento.  What he has achieved is fine dining with an elegant but inviting atmosphere.  Dishes that look like a work of art, that if it wasn’t for the aroma, you’d be happy just looking at it.  What a mouth-watering experience to come in and photograph this establishment and be treated like one of the family.  

If you weren’t hungry before, I bet you are now!

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What makes us smile – west coast winter edition

Nothing beats the fresh winter fruit in Northern California.  I don’t even know what you call that stuff I ate while growing up in Saskatchewan?!  This household loves our fruit, so what’s better than picking it straight from the tree?

My latest obsession is the chocolate, caramel, sea salt and coffee combo and it doesn’t have to be in that specific order!   Ahhhh…all is ok in my world when I have a Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha in my hand or a helping of Talenti Sea Salt Caramel Gelato or nibble on some Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels or…maybe you have one that I haven’t tried?  I am VERY open to suggestions!

So I’m going to be honest.  I don’t always smile at the idea of school breaks.  Come on, cut me some slack.  I’m a stay at home mom of some pretty intense boys.   But I recently read that a baby smiles between fifty and seventy times a day, and a toddler approximately six hundred times.   And the question was asked “What has robbed us of our smile?”  And with that I decided I was going to work hard each day at bringing smiles to the faces of my boys and in return I was going to LOVE this Christmas break.

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What makes us smile – east coast winter edition

Just when you thought baby clothes couldn’t get any cuter….Harajuku mini at Target has arrived…cutest baby clothes ever! I am loving the mishmash of textures, prints and colors.

Heading to the gym has never been my favorite pastime…but now 45 minutes of uninterrupted “ME” time is high on the list of things that make me smile! Nothing like a spin class to clear your mind, get motivated and lose those last 5 pounds.

I love waking up to a foggy foggy morning in New York. Some mornings it is so thick you could eat it with a spoon. Mornings like this I love to sit by the window with my morning coffee…but that lasts about 5 minutes before ‘someone’ needs my attention.  This morning I was able to run out and snap a few pictures just before the fog began to lift. 

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