Happy New Year!

Hi all!

I hope you all have had and are continuing to have a wonderful holiday!

I have been a little M.I.A., since I've been on my honeymoon, sharing my first Christmas with my hubby! :) We went to Thailand, and had an unreal time there. It was the honeymoon I'd always dreamed of having, and then some! And now we're in Kyoto, getting ready to ring in the New Year!

I'm so glad you liked the Crafty present ideas. I thought I'd share a few that I made. They're not very well sewn, but I still think they're very "special" in their own way.

a bewildered tissue holder

a cozy fleeze bunny scarf for a friend's baby (baby not pictured)

another tissue holder that says "friend" in Kanji

and "friend" in Korean

A few new year's resolutions:

1. Meditate more regularly
2. Drink less alcohol!
3. Of course, the yearly same ol' "be more on time" (pff!)
4. Appreciate what I have more

A few goals for 2011:

1. New monthly video blogs. It's gonna happen... starting this January! I have no idea what they're going to be about... hopefully it'll be atleast 15% interesting.

2. Keep writing, and recording, and hopefully play a lot of shows to promote my new album (which I believe is due to come out in May!)

I know I have more goals than that... but those are the two that popped into my brain first that were relatively interesting.

I wish you all a Happy New Year filled with love and laughs, and some kind of new experience that involves a Wooly Willy.
love, love, love,
p. ahn

Gift Ideas

Hi!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I was home for the holidays, and ate waaaaaay too much delicious Korean and Thanksgiving food. And I even got to see a little snow falling on Thanksgiving day.

Now I'm in Detroit with my hubby where he's working. I checked out this really cool website that has city guides in it to look for fun things to do while I'm here, and stumbled across their super cute and very unique gift guide. And luckily for me, it's an affordable one! All the gift ideas are $25 and under. I highly recommend checking it out for ideas: http://www.designspongeonline.com/

I think I'll be making a lot of presents this year. I bought some "Aranzi Aronzo" books while I was in England. They're books on how to make cute crafts. And you know how much I love cute things! In fact, the title of one of the books is "Cute Stuff".


I also got the book called "Baby Stuff" since so many friends have had, or are having babies. Also, at Design Sponge there are tons of DIY projects that could make really unique and special gifts.

Anyway, I have a bit of a cold now, so I'm gonna stay in bed and get back to my sewing.

I hope you all are healthy and warm...

love,
p. ahn

Playing House

So the album is officially finished! I'm sorry for not posting anything sooner. I flew home to L.A. and 2 days later, flew to Baltimore where my Mike was working, and once we came back home together I focused on 'playing house' for the short amount of time we had together.

But yes, the record is finished, and I am so proud of it!!! There are some songs that really groove on it, and have a lot of vibe. And of course some mellow tunes as well. We recorded live to tape for the most part. And tape always captures a little 'sumthin sumthin' extra special. Sort of like film for photographs or movies. There is definitely something special to me about this album. I can't wait for you all to hear it! We're looking at a Spring release... I'll give you all a heads up though when it's getting close!

Playing house this past week has been about trying to make our L.A. Fall, feel like an east coast Fall. We did have some cooler days in there which helped make it sort of cozy. I've been making tons of soups, and a dessert where I had to make my own caramel! I literally said out loud to myself as I was whisking the caramel, "I'm making this right now. I'm making caramel!"

Baking is obviously a new thing for me. ;)

I want to share one recipe with you that is super duper easy, and perfect for the holidays, and will really impress your family and friends (especially if you're someone like me who doesn't cook a lot).

Hot Mulled Apple Cider
(based off the Barefoot Contessa)

Ingredients:
16 cups pure apple juice or fresh apple cider (basically one of those big, heavy jugs of it. I used 'Mrs. Gooch's Natural Apple Juice')
4 (2 inch) cinnamon sticks
2 oranges, peels and juice
8 whole cloves
6 star anise

Directions:
Combine it all in a big pot. Once it starts boiling, lower the heat and bring to a simmer for 5 - 10 minutes. Pour into mugs and serve!

*And if you want to add an extra touch, you can mix together cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar in a shallow dish. Wet the rim of your mug with water and then put the rim in the dish with sugar and spices, twisting til the rim has a nice coating of the spices. Then pour in the mulled cider and serve.

** If you want to get super duper extra fancy, you can make your own whip cream and put on top! I never got that far!

Lots o' love,
p. ahn

Richmond

In our 2nd week of recording in London, we had to change studios, and this is how I discovered Richmond.

We tracked a few songs here, and overdubbed some vibes, and also had a string quartet come in and play on 2 songs!


And one day on lunch break I stumbled across 2 places that really made me happy! First was the Richmond Hill Bakery.

lots of fresh flowers for sale by the doorway


Lots of delicious pastries!!!


Cozy blankets and handmade jewelry

a shelf full of old-school toys and games

And then across the street was their deli called "A Cena On The Hill".

Out front they have fresh fruits and vegetables and potted herbs.

I had the best olive of my life here!

Very cozy interior, with fresh salads, and freshly baked goods, and meat pies, et al...

Anyway, I hope I didn't bore you too much! Only 4 more days left of recording!!! My buddy Gus, from L.A. is out here putting last minute "magicalness" to the tracks. I'm pretty excited about how it's all sounding! It's starting to get super cold out here... I have just enough socks to keep my feet warm and get me home!

Thanks for stopping by!

love
p. ahn

sigh... Fall

The last time I walked around in true Fall weather was.... hmm... 2 years ago? It was a gorgeous day in Bath today.

I also stumbled across this at the supermarket...

...looks like we're not the only ones who have "freedom" food. ;p

Yesterday I went shopping (or rather browsing since everything was mucho expensivo!) at Liberty's in London.

And I found the cutest pincusions...
...the cutest wooden tape dispenser...
and spotted the very cute and alluring fashion blogger, Susie Bubble!
And oddly enough, I saw her again a couple hours later at the Acne store on Dover St. Super adorable, and super duper tall! In all, I had a very cute and Autumn-y weekend. :)

I hope you all had a great one too!

love,
p. ahn

Week 2: London

First of all, thank you to everyone for your great UK tips as well as the L.A. ones. Once I get settled back home, I will definitely have to check some of these new places out! And finally share some of my favorite ones with you too! Unfortunately, I have had very little time here in London to do a lot of venturing out, simply because we've really been hitting it hard in the studio, which ultimately is a good thing. :) I'm writing them all down though for future use, because I know I'll be back here soon!

Also, just to clear up any possible confusion, I have 2 more weeks to go in finishing the record. But it probably won't be released until Spring 2011. :/

Here is a video I put together of our first week recording in London. It's very poorly edited, and only gives you tiny tiny snippets of songs... but I sort of did that on purpose because the songs weren't finished by this point, and I want you to still be surprised when you hear the record when it's done! :D I have to say though, I'm pretty excited about it!

lots of love,
p. ahn

one week down on LP 2

Hi everyone!

Well, one week done, 4 more to go! It's going great so far! We started at Ethan's studio just outside of Bath, out in the beautiful country side, where in the field next door there are horses, sheep, chickens, geese and ducks. We've already tracked 5 songs! They're not completely finished... but we head to London tomorrow to do some live tracking with a band.

Here's the little log cabin (as I like to call it) where I've been tracking guitar and vocals this past week.


I love it. It feels like I'm demoing at home... but I'm not.

This is my little spot where I sing and play.

My very own woodstove to keep me cozy while I'm tracking.

The potted vegetable garden outside the tracking room.

Lots of BIG hydrangea bushes all around to brighten the grey days.

Now I have to go to bed. Another big day tomorrow, and I haven't been getting enough sleep!

Lots of love,
p. ahn

new record & new projects

So, it's official. I'll be working in England with the wonderful producer Ethan Johns. I had definite reservations about making a record anywhere but L.A., because it's my home, and my friends, and my hubby, and... well, i'm a home-body! But I think that this will be a wonderful opportunity to make my 2nd record, and have the experience be something completely different, and totally outside my comfort zone. The official start date is September 20th. (!!!) Just a mere 3-ish weeks away!

And so, before I go, I've set a few personal goals:

- I want to see more of L.A. I have a few boutique shops that I really like, but I've driven by strips of places, where it looks like there are tons of adorable stores tucked away in areas that one doesn't necessarily venture around. Not to say the neighborhood is bad. It's just that L.A. is not a very walker-friendly city. Yes, there are some areas that are really walker-friendly, but for the most part, it can be a pretty boring commute, if you're trying to get from A to B on foot. So maybe what I have to do, is drive to a random neighborhood, park my car, and just start walking. I think I would stumble on a few cool finds that, hopefully, I can share with you!

- I need to finish my "thank you" cards! They're almost done. I need to send those out before I leave, or I'll feel really unsatisfied!

- I want to start brushing up on my Japanese and Korean again, in hopes that I'll be working over there again soon. :)

- And... I'll be looking up cool places to hang and eat at in London. Maybe some of you who live in or have been there can give me some sweet tips!

Goodnight for now...

love,
p. ahn

Hotel Cafe Show Disclaimer*

Hi everyone!

So, I'm playing a show Sunday night (8/29) at the Hotel Cafe here in L.A. at 8pm. This is my disclaimer because...

- Similar to the last show I did at the Hotel Cafe, I'm playing only new songs to get some perspective for the new record.
- I may have played a few of them last show... but a lot of them will be new ones again.
- Half of them will probably never make the record.

That being said, I think it's still gonna be a lot of fun and I hope you can come! :)

love,
p. ahn

I love my mini postcard set!

Found this in the little gift shop connected to Aroma Cafe in Studio City. Tiny postcards with their own adorable envelopes, bundled up in twine to put you just over the edge in its cuteness.


Perfect for "thank you" notes, or last minute birthday cards.

And it wouldn't be fair to gloat over my new purchase if I couldn't tell you where you could buy one of your own. Also available in an "Italy" motif.

Hope you're having a lovely August. Today is a hot one!

love,
p. ahn

I love Lullatone

I can't stop listening to Lullatone. You can listen to the whole album here: http://lullatone.bandcamp.com/album/songs-that-spin-in-circles

or, if you want more fun, just check out their website: www.lullatone.com

There's a free Dropophone iphone App that looks like this:


And a really fun Raindrop game that you can play on their website. I really love their album "Songs That Spin In Circles". I've been listening to the album atleast once a day!

I hope you all are enjoying your Summer.... or I guess in other parts of the world, Winter! I've been trying to get to the beach as much as I can, and going on hikes with friends. :)

Love,
p. ahn

some photos & projects

Hi everyone!

It's definitely turned into Summer here in L.A. really fast! And my house has no AC, so I'm really feeling the heat. So I find myself being really lethargic lately. I realize that my days "off" are quickly dwindling, because I think I'm about to go into the studio to make Album #2 really soon, so I need to make the most of these empty days as much as I can.

So yesterday, I've decided to start 2 new projects.

Project #1: Dahlias

I stopped by one of my favorite flower shops and just couldn't resist one of their many beautiful dahlia plants. From what I can tell, they require a little maintenance. So this is my fun new project #1! I've named my plant "Penelope".

Project #2: Thank You cards


Since I didn't get a chance to make any wedding invites as I had originally planned, I'm moving on to the "thank you" cards.

And I finally uploaded some more pictures from the past month. Here are a few I like:

My broken Totoro cup

A very proud mom at the Gay Pride Parade

Sparkly car in the Gay Pride Parade

And sparklers

I hope you're having a wonderful July. Stay cool!

love love
p. ahn

p.s. Today I've been listening to: El Perro Del Mar & The High Llamas' "Hawaii"

the aftermath

Thank you all for your beautiful and supportive comments! I read thru them with my husband (a new word I'm starting to get used to!) and we really felt the love. Thank you so much!

And sorry... I've decided to not post any wedding photos, simply because of how many other random people can see them. I would love to share the photos with all of my blog readers, but as far as I know, there's no real way to control who could see them on the web. It never really dawned on me until one day my name popped up on google images, and I saw that random photos that I would put on myspace or facebook or on my blog would show up there. Something I didn't realize was a consequence of posting any pictures, anywhere on the web. Sorry to let some of you down! I really would love for you to see them!

And since being married, life has been a whirlwind. Seems like we used up all of our good luck in making the wedding happen, and came back home to a list of bad luck, hehe. So we've had our hands full trying to deal with everything, one day at a time, and on top of that, trying to celebrate with friends and family here and there. And then I was without internet for a week (Screw you AT&T). I finally canceled AT&T and am with someone else, and I am soooooooooo happy!

Been writing with friends, and still on the hunt for a producer for album #2 which is long over due!!! I'm very excited about the new songs though!

And so, I leave you with this music video that is super "kawaii". I know, it's random. But it made me smile. :)



love,
p. ahn

I'm Married! :)

I've finally been able to upload all my polaroids from my crazy Kaua'i vacation that ended in my very own, and very unforeseen, wedding. I've told the story of our vacation/wedding so many times, and yet not enough! There are still some of my friends who I haven't had the chance to tell yet. However, I've really felt the need to write a blog about it.... and today's my day.

Let's see.... let me break it down as basically as I can (this could be madly boring for some, and amusing for those of you who are actually in the midst of planning your own wedding).

DAY 1:

Mike and I wake up early, and go on the most amazing helicopter ride we've ever been on. Immediately after, we started looking at houses to rent, for the wedding we were planning for September of 2011.


DAY 2:

We wake up early and go on a beautiful hike to the Hanakapi'ai Falls. 4 miles in, where the falls are, is one of the most beautiful places I'd ever been. Afterwards, we tried food from a possible caterer.


DAY 3:

We see more houses and a wedding cottage that sits on a bluff, that gave us the chills. Visit a possible florist for the wedding in 2011. Then something makes us pull over to the side of the road, and say, "I don't give a crap about any of this stuff. I just want to be married to you,". We'd been engaged for a year and a half already, and it felt a little silly to have to wait another year and a half to get married just because of scheduling. Lame, right? So now we're actually contemplating this crazy new decision!

DAY 4:

We are excited about this new idea, yet tortured by it. We can't stop thinking about it. Weighing the pros and cons, going back and forth, never on the same page about it. When he wanted to do it now, I wasn't ready to make the leap yet. Then when I was ready, he wasn't all of a sudden. In the meantime, we are seeing more houses, and watching the Celtics game at a hotel pool bar. We have another road side pow wow at dusk, and finally we both come to the same decision: Let's do it now. Let's have our next door neighbor in L.A. marry us. Let's invite our nearest and dearest friends who we know might be crazy enough to fly down at a day's notice. :-O

DAY 5:

We completely forget that we have scheduled a 4 hour horse-back ride this morning and it's too late to cancel! We do a ton of trotting and cantering and some galloping on a muddy trail with steep drops to our right and left, and almost die a couple times. In the end it was the perfect beginning to our wedding planning! It was exhilarating! Afterwards, we immediately drove to the marriage license agent, and caught him in the nick of time before he left his office and all the offices closed up for Memorial Weekend. Now we are booking friend's flights, and the houses we all stay in. Luck was on our side, because somehow, on a major holiday weekend, the two houses we wanted, were available (one of which was the wedding cottage on the bluff that gave us chills, and as a result, the spot where we got married). I order flowers from the the one florist I met.


DAY 6:

Mike buys a linen suit at Macy's. I can't find anything that looks sort of like a wedding dress, but isn't cheesy. We pick up our neighbor from the airport. Stop off for some lunch and happen to find a tall parasol/umbrella with hearts and bells hanging off of it. The perfect thing for us to get married under! We drop our neighbor off at house 1, and wait as more friends come in. My neighbor's wife, who couldn't come with, broke into our house to get me a proper dress (that I bought from Top Shop!) and handed it off to one of my girlfriend's who was flying out the next day. My girlfriend and I found a bunch of pretty candles and lights for the table and pool. Everything's starting to come together!!!

DAY 7:

I forgot about a wedding cake! I call the best place I could find, and luckily she had a cancellation and could make us a proper 2-tier wedding cake for tomorrow (this is the day before the wedding!). We buy wedding rings at Kay Jewelers for really cheap, but the bands are sort of perfect! More friends fly in. They brought my dress, and a video camera that had no battery! And the guy from this amazing rental car company lent us his own personal one!!! We have a "rehearsal dinner" and drinks afterwards where one of my girlfriends dressed me up in a tiara-veil, a "bride" t-shirt, a "bachelorette" sash, and a huge plastic ring that glowed all different colors. (the funny thing is, I had bought my first Bridal magazine for the airplane ride to Kaua'i, and they of course had a month-by-month checklist. Here we were checking it all off from hour to hour!)

DAY 8:

WEDDING DAY. The morning begins with a rainbow. And Mike and all the boys have ordered the girls massages. :) The cake arrives. The flowers arrive. My bouquet is not what I wanted though! Ahh!!! My friends run to the market and grab more flowers, and I get to rearrange my own bouquet, which is what I always wanted to do anyway! The girls dress me up and do my hair. We all have gardenias in our hair. We drive over to the wedding site, which is a bluff that overlooks the ocean and the mountains. The boys have set up the parasol and a circle of bougainvillea petals in which we all stand, perfectly. And I start the long walk to my friends, and my soon-to-be-Husband.
After the wedding, a friend of ours made the most delicious hors d'oeuvres and dinner!!! We had lots of champagne, lots of wine, lots of food, lots of cake, and lots of love.


I am so lucky to have such a beautiful family of friends. And now I am a married woman! And the wedding is done!!! No more intense wedding website emails, no more waiting, no more stressing over guest lists. It's done! Some people say marriage isn't a big deal, it's just a piece of paper. But I have to say, for myself, and for Mike, as soon as we were "Man & Wife" we both felt an immediate, and wonderful change. It's subtle, and sort of hard to explain...but it's just the best feeling.



And so, for now and forever, I wish you all love love love

p. ahn