Packing For a Long Trip

First, I want to say a big thank you to my brother and Marcia who have moved in to stay at our house when we're on vacation to take care the house and our puppies.
We're very excited for our trip to Paris, Provence, France and to Portland, and Seattle. The kids are excited too! I can't wait to show them Paris, Provence and of course Seattle. It's their first time to visit these cities. This will be a long trip (almost a month) and I should be ready for a lot of energy to travel and take care of my kids at the same time. Light packing for four people is not easy. We always pack clothing that can mix and match. Usually, we don't like to travel with much luggage.

Here are a few dressy clothes for my kids. I also packed along some comfy, casual and cute clothes for the them.

And here is my dressy clothing. The same for me, I packed along some comfy, casual yet chic clothes.

Christopher Ross frog and Merlin cat buckle-belts come along with me.

Merlin cat buckle is so adorable. I especially love his blue eyes.

Four pairs of shoes and one pair of tennis shoes. Alaia ankle boots, Alexander Wang leopard wedges, Balenciaga sandals, and doub studded clog by Jeffrey Campbell. These clogs are 4" high, 2" platform. They're super comfy and light and available now at Freepeople.com . I plan to wear these clogs a lot on this trip. Alaia boots are very comfy too, but I don't want to wear them out. Oh! forgot..need to have one pair of flats. See! it's always a good idea to pack your stuff in advance to avoid forgetting things at home.

Hopefully, I'll have time to update my blog during our vacation. Thank you everyone for visiting and comments!

I hope you've enjoyed your summer so far. Before you know it, fall will be here. Have a nice day! Kisses...Hanh ;-)

THE DISCIPLES

At the confluence of the Muskoka River with the top of Mary Lake lies the sprawling grounds of the Muskoka Bible Centre, the largest conference retreat in Canada. When my boys visited some relatives here we found these inuksuit being battered by the wind and waves, remaining steadfast like the disciples when faced with persecution.

OUR JOCE

It bekame a running joce with us after we kamped at the KOA klose to Gravenhurst, where we stayed for a kouple of days. We rented a kanoe and pakcing my kamera, we explored the lace and waterways akross from the kampground. The cids tooc turns paddling, often out of kontrol, while I tooc turns ceeping kalm and the kanoe on kourse.

More DIY Projects

I went to vintage shop the other day and saw a French lace full skirt but its size was too big for me. I really love the lace of the skirt. So, I brought it home, gave it a new-cut (copied the cut of my pajama shorts), and made it into shorts.
I truly love this DiY lace shorts. I can see styling it with my leopard Junya Watanabe top and Christopher Ross cheetah belt buckle. I'll probably share this look later.

Here is the DiY black lace shorts.

I also bought some white lace fabric to make a pair of gloves.
This is the Christopher Ross hummingbird belt buckle which I purchased at Crimson In The City online vintage store. The bird is just so cute. I wore Cosabella white lace corset, was about 9 or 10 years old (I had the black one too, remember?). Over the corset is white mesh bodysuit from Urban Outfitters.
In this look, there's a lot of lace. I wanted it different and sweet, delicate and feminine, just like a hummingbird.
Dolce & Gabbana Inspiration.

In this fall season, I love every ensemble of Dolce & Gabbana on the runway. It's my inspiration of this fall. I can see that I could pair many pieces in my closet to get the Dolce & Gabbana fall look. Yes, go wild in your outfit with contrasting animal patterns is a major must-have of this fall. Pairing my DIY polka dot skirt with leopard Junya Watanabe top and Christopher Ross cheetah belt buckle. The skirt still need a final touch. I can't wait to share this look. It will be a hot outfit :)
Thank you everyone for visiting and comments!

Wishing you all a fabulous day!! Kisses...Hanh ;-)

WATER WORLD

My boys ready to wade out and tackle the Water Park adjacent to Clevelands House. We started with the closest structures, the gyro, trampolines and small icebergs, then graduated to deeper water to Walk the Plank and fly off the Katapult before finally attempting the tallest iceberg, where Stirling was the only one to reach its summit.

DIY Draped Top

Here is a quick post about my DIY draped vest/top.

For my size, I used 3 and 1/2 yards of soft, light fabric which it gives a nice draping look. Fold the fabric into half, then mark it in the middle. I also leave the fabric edge raw. Now, wear it over your neck as a scarf. The middle mark has to be right in the middle of your neck. Then, you hold the two corners of the fabric like in the picture.

Now, connect the two corners of the fabric like in the picture.

After that, you connect that to the middle of your scarf like in the picture below. Make sure the connection is at the top edge to give a strong holding of the rest of the fabric. Ensure this connection by sewing or a pin. If you use a pin, you could undo the pin. So, you can use this fabric like a scarf later on.
Now, this is how it looks in the front with a belt.
The draping of the side. Sorry for the blury picture.
In the back.
You could wear it without a belt. This is how it looks.
This DiY top is easy to do and very versatile. You could style it with shorts, leggings, jeans, skirt or dress.

Thank you everyone for visiting and comments!

Have a nice day! Hugs...Hanh ;-)

THE BOYS OF SUMMER

With the school year and summer camp commitments finished, I was able to bring my boys Stirling and Alistair up for several days for the first time this summer. We visited this new sign and posed with the letters of our names and I hoped that, like the famous tagline, once they discover more of Muskoka they'll always remember these times.

Random

I've seen this Bliss Lau bracelet on Alicia Keys sometime ago in some magazine, and I love its interesting design. Then, when I saw it again at Vintage Marini with such a great deal compared with its original price, I was so happy to bring it home. But, to my husband I looked like a mental patient who just got out of the hospital :(

Beetle buckle belt was purchased from Judy.
My old Balenciaga handbag.
7 jeans and Alexander Wang mesh top.
Alexander Wang mesh top, Isabel Marant mesh jacket and cropped jeans.
Vintage necklace from Dolly Python Vintage store.
Styled with Rodarte ankle boots.
In this outfit, I had on F21 black tank top, Yohji Yamamoto corset/waist-band, Zero+Maria Cornejo pants.
I bought this Erickson Beamon necklace long time ago. The tiny elephant necklace from The Woods.

Thank you everyone for visiting and your comments!

Wishing you all a lovely weekend with your family, friends!!! Big hugs...Hanh ;-)

THE MUSKOKA NOVELS

This afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting and listening to Gabriele Wills, author of "The Muskoka Novels" and fellow blogger, who was at The Rosseau conducting a presentation describing her experiences researching the history of the area and era that are detailed so vividly in her two novels, with a third one in the works.
[Visit her website about her novels and blog for her other writing.]

Vintage Valentino Necklace

I really love this 70s vintage Valentino necklace and I've goten so many compliments on it. Don't you love the face of the pendant? It reminds me of a Hawaiian mask or something like that.
Theory shirt and Rochas shoes. They both were 75% off.
Alexander Wang shorts. I like the youthfullness and free-spiritedness of the shorts. Yet, they are flirtatious. As I said in the previous post, I don't feel comfy to wear this kind of shorts to go out alone or go out with my girlfriends because it can give the wrong message. But, I do feel comfy to wear them whenever I'm with my husband. When I shared this thinking with him, he's just so pleased and happy to hear it. Sweet!
These shoes are super comfy, one of my favorite shoes to run around in.
Thank you everyone for visiting and your comments!
Wishing you all a wonderful day!! Kisses...Hanh ;-)

MY FAVORITE THINGS

My version based on the song from The Sound of Music:
Sunrises at morning and sunsets at night;
Beautiful beaches and trails that delight;
Call of the loons and trilliums in spring;
These are a few of my favorite things.

Koyasan, Japan: be a Buddhist Monk's life

It's was about ten years ago when we got the idea of how we could live the Buddhist life. We decided to go to Koyasan (Mount Koya), Japan, which is one of the best places to experience an overnight stay and get a taste of what it must be like to be a monk. There are many temples here that offer this service to both pilgrims and visitors. Yes, we did that for a couple of nights. One of the great parts of this trip was eating vegetarian monk's cuisine. I have to say that the tofu at the Okunoin temple was delicious. The tofu is silky and naturally sweet and the recipe is thousands of years old. You also have to participate in morning prayers which start at 6:00 am. This means you have to wake up around 5:00 am. It was not easy for me because it was winter time and it's extremely cold. There's no central heating in the building. Prayer last for about 45 minutes and is followed by breakfast around 7:00am. Lunch, dinner, tea time, bath, and bed time are also according to strict schedules. During our stay we also viewed the temple's cultural treasures, hall and garden. A temple typically offers private, traditional rooms with tatami floors, sliding doors, and shared toilets and sink. Bedding is provided in the form of futons that are spread on tatami floors during the night. As I say, it has no central heating in the building. Therefore, during winter nights, a heated table is set in the middle of the futons bedding to provide warmth.

This is our bed; the two blue/white pillows; two white/red printed flowers blanket; and the heated table in the middle. My husband was ready for breakfast.
Me, 10 years ago.
Morning view from our room.
Slightly snowy on the bridge. Okunoin is one of the most sacred places in Japan and a popular pilgrimage spot.
Across the bridge starts Okunoin's cemetery, the largest in Japan, with over 200,000 tombstones lining almost two kilometers.

It was an amazing experience. After few days there, we felt light and our mind were clear and calm. It's a great feeling.

I hope you don't think it's an odd post. It's just something to share one of our experiences in our life.

Wishing you all a wonderful day! Big hugs...Hanh ;-)