the 'burbs in illinois

A few weekends ago, Johnny and I flew out to Illinois to join in the wedding festivities for Johnny's cousin, Daniel. I've only seen Johnny's cousins several times, but every time I hang out with them, they welcome me with open arms; truly feel like I am part of the family.

It was great to hang out with them til the wee hours of the night, laughing and talking. We also got to play with the 3 nephews again. And man, they've grown big time!

Here are some pictures taken by Taesam, a fellow Californian we met that weekend.

 

We spent a day in the city after the wedding weekend. I'll have to blog about that tomorrow.

is it summer yet?

This has been a really odd school year. I love my job. I love my kids. I love my coworkers... But I'm totally ready for summer!

One of my students was celebrating his birthday a few weeks ago. He was super excited all week and kept on telling me that he had a surprise for me. I was confused but whatever, first graders say crazy things all the time. His actual birthday rolls around and as I'm dismissing, he says "Surprise, Mrs. Park! Gary's here!" Yup. He brought Gary Payton to school.  Strange year, I tell you.

It totes doesn't help that I work with some crazy people!

 

But seriously, I love my coworkers! We are quite an ODD bunch, don't you think! Har. Har.

STAR testing is done! There's only 10 more days of school! What does that mean?! It means we jump for joy! We love to jump! :)

13.1

Yup. John and I did it! We ran the OC half marathon AND finished it!  It took us over 2.5 hours but we finished! Praise the Lord!

My family (including the bff's family) was cheering us on as John and I crossed the finish line hand in hand. I'm pretty sure my sisters doubted that I could finish and man, that sure did make me run harder!

I don't know if I'll ever run another one; the bff wants to run the Long Beach half together and I don't know if I can do it again. My poor lil knees are still achey!

I didn't even think about putting running a half marathon on my bucket list, but I guess now I'll just add it then cross it right off!

Happy Mommy Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommas out there! We had a busy weekend celebrating the moms in our lives. First stop, was our visit to the MIL in the mountains, and then dinner to celebrate my mom AND my sis!



My sis is celebrating her first Mother's Day with bebe Carrier coming sometime in July. I can't wait to sMOTHER another baby!
 

My MIL and my mom are best friends and I grew up with John's mom always around. I loved her like a 2nd mom even before she became my MIL. My mom's other bff is also very important to John and me. She is the wisest woman ever and John and I love her like a 3rd mom. On Saturday, we were able to see all 3 lovely ladies. Twas a busy but fun day. 

To all the moms - Y'all have the hardest job in the entire world. Cheers to you.

spectacular sunday

John signed us up for a half marathon. Worst idea ever. EVER. Running is not fun and my feet and knees hate me. Big time. But I did hit a huge milestone this Sunday.  I ran 8 miles! YES! 8! By far the most I have ever run in my entire life.

 

Our "long" runs are on the weekends and after every long run, we go and get the most refreshing drink ever - Lemonade's watermelon lemonade.  But on Sunday, we got back from our run and as I was stretching, we caught the tail end of Anthony Bourdain's new show on CNN. He was in Koreatown and he was having soon tofu and we had to have Korean food! I'd take salty, spicy Korean food over a refreshing lemonade any day!

2 more weeks left.  I'm scurred!

3 years

Last week, John and I celebrated 3 years of being married.  Our 2nd anniversary feels like it was just last month! But at the same time, I can't believe it has only been 3 years. It seriously feels like 30. It has been a rough year of marriage, but hallelujah we have not strangled each other (yet).

We celebrated with a great weekend and dinner on Wednesday at Pizzeria Mozza.

 
I swear, I think John was going to cry as he ate the bone marrow. I thought it was tasty too, but not THAT tasty!  I think this place is kind of pricey for pizza but it was nice to leave our South Bay bubble and head out to celebrate 3 years of not killing each other.

Cheers!

for sale - dr. martens

I'm selling these Doc's!  I bought them almost 13 years ago so I guess they aren't quite vintage yet, but close enough!  In all the years I've had them, I've probably only worn them about 4 or 5 times.  These durable boots are just too heavy for my wimpy legs.

I think they'd be super cute with some cute denim shorts and a loose top, or with skinny jeans. Whatever your fashion heart desires.  I love seeing the way Brandy and Melville styles them on their instagram. So funky and fun!

They are brown leather and in great condition.  Size 6. I'm selling them for $75 obo.