OCC

November 11, 2013 by Jamie Lam

It’s Operation Christmas Child time!

Many kids around the world do not get gifts during the holiday season. It’s a sad but very true fact of life. Samaritan’s Purse has a program where people can pack shoeboxes filled with gifts to children all over the world. Ultimately, the boxes are opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Every year my church hosts their annual OCC boxing event. The congregation eats lunch together, we sprawl out on the floor, and pack our boxes together. The church provides some of the sanitary/school items (combs, toothbrushes, soap, crayons, pencils, and pens), and it’s up to each individual to buy their toys.

Walking into the toy aisle always reminds me of when I was a little kid – aisle upon aisle of dolls, stuffed animals, legos, and games. To this day, it’s still fun to shop for toys! MG and I decided to put together 4 boxes this year but to personalize each box by writing a letter to our kids and sending a a Lam family picture. It’s always nice to get a gift with a personal touch. For those who want to make kids feel merry this season, they can also try giving spectacular gifts such as a handcrafted wooden playhouse for sale.

We made these cards at home with some stuff lying around the house (construction paper, twine, glitter, dollies, and cotton balls). These cards are perfect for little kiddies to make.

I’m really proud of the snowflake one, so here’s how I did it!

See the swirly design in the middle of the dollie? Basically trace the pattern with glue and sprinkle glitter!

So easy, and such a fun way to use items around your house.

Here are all the toys we purchased for our boxes! We got some jump ropes, a baby doll, a stuffed bunny, and some sidewalk chalk for 2-4 year old girls. For the 5-9 year old boys we purchased marbles, trucks, zombie figures, and putty.

MG packing his boys’ boxes. I chose girls!

All done and filled to the brim! Enjoy little ones!

My favorite thing about OCC is watching kids pack boxes. For them to give up toys for other children in need is a profound understanding of love, a sacrificial love that Jesus has for all of us.

Sweet, sweet Kayla and Kelsey

Adorable Abby

Very handsome Niko (maybe this guy got some help with his boxes)

I encourage you to pack a box for a child in need. For under $20, you are able to provide so much joy for a child that may have never received a gift before. Plus, it’s great entertainment for you to go toy shopping. There is more information on OCC and how to pack a box here.

Have you participated in OCC before? What is your favorite part of packing the box? If you haven’t done this before, is this something you may consider?

In His Name,
Jay

Tea Ceremony & Shopping Trip

October 7, 2013 by Jamie Lam

Weekends seem to go by so fast. Dinner on Friday. Run a few errands, and it’s already Saturday night. Go to church and take a nap, it’s Sunday evening and you’re prepping for Monday already. Don’t you feel the same?

Friday night was date night. MG and I went to Cheesecake Factory, and I totally forgot how delicious this place is. First off, that dark brown bread is YUM. I’m pretty sure I had two full loaves, oops? Then I reunited with the White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake, and we found ourselves in love again. So maybe date night wasn’t actually with MG, it was with Cheesecake!

My church was hosting a women’s event on Saturday. I had breakfast with a few girlfriends, and afterwards we headed over to Hakone Estate & Gardens in Saratoga for a tea ceremony. This garden has quite a view!

The tea ceremony is a traditional Japanese event, usually a casual time for the family to serve guests. The Japanese culture is extremely detailed, a very big contrast to American traditions. I always feel like I’m on the go all the time and things move so fast. But the Japanese culture is very particular, and I am impressed at how they appreciate the little things. For instance, before you drink the cup, raise it because it shows appreciation to everyone who has prepared the tea. Also, the tea cup has a front and a back. The front should be facing you in the beginning. When you are about to drink, rotate your cup 180° so that the guests are now looking at the front. When done, rotate it again so that the front is facing you. This is so that you can appreciate the artwork on the cup. Now that’s meticulous.

The powdered tea is shipped from Japan. You whisk the powder into hot water until it foams. In those three sips of tea, there are 3 oranges worth of calcium. Pretty cool right?

Of course no weekend is complete without shopping! Especially since it’s October that means 1) I need to start prepping for the Fall (yay dark jeans, boots, jackets, and scarves!) and 2) summer sales! As you might have been aware, I am a JCPenney shopaholic (my love also described here). Look at my awesome goodies. You’ll definitely be jealous when you see how much I paid for things!

White tee for $3. Levi’s shorts for $5. Cute pencil skirt for $5. This pencil skirt is perfect for dressing up with a fancy shirt or dressing down with a t-shirt.

Peephole dress for $14. Adoring the print and color of this dress.

Vegan faux leather jacket by Joe Fresh for $49.

I’ve been trying to find a leather jacket for this Fall season, but I can’t justify spending $300-$500 on a jacket. I simply can’t though I really wish I could. This jacket from JCP is the perfect find for me. Great cost and a great looking jacket. I’m excited to put the dress and the jacket together with some cute boots. Now… where to find those boots?

Don’t forget that if you shop at JCP, there are coupons every weekend. MG also bought some things, and we spent over $100, which means I also get a $20 discount. Have I enticed you to check out JCP yet? Are you also craving cheesecake now?

What did you do this weekend?
Jay
—–
Joe Fresh Vegan Leather Jacket

It’s All In The Details

September 30, 2013 by Jamie Lam

I love going to weddings! As a lover-of-crafts, I immensely enjoy looking at all the details. Most of the time, these things just get overlooked. Not I. I look for the tiniest details because I know that the bride actually thought about these things (yes, from experience).

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of going to my friend Joe and Rachel’s wedding in Fairfax, California. It was an outdoors ceremony and reception, all held at Deer Park Villa. I’m definitely a fan of outdoor weddings – I had one myself! I love the fresh air, the shrubbery, and I especially love to see how the bride and groom put the garden theme together.

Ready for the wedding! I never get dolled up anymore, therefore a selfie was a must. Plus, I usually suck at putting on eyelashes, but I did it right this time, so I’m showing them off!

This is the ceremony and reception site – Redwood Grove. Beautiful!

This is the backdrop for the bride and groom. I love the romantic feel. I also adore those white buckets that hold the aisle flowers.

Close-up of the backdrop. So pretty!

I really like the candle holders that we scattered around the venue.

An SF favorite! This was actually my first time having an It’s-It (ice cream sandwiched between two oatmeal cookies then dipped in dark chocolate) How come I haven’t had this amazingness before?

The centerpieces were lovely. I noticed that some of the flowers were even sprayed with gold!

I think that glassware, with candlelight during nighttime is stunning. Am I the only one?

In addition to the wedding cake, there were make your own smores. It was getting a bit chilly at night so this was perfect.

And of course, MG and I utilized the photo booth.

On another note: I’m cat-sitting my sister-in-law’s cats! 3 cats in one household is definitely a cat lady’s dream! Look at these cuties. Products such as a cat dryer would also make these furry companions look good and clean.

You obviously know the first one. It’s Chubs! Then meet Lily (she’s sitting so pretty). Finally, meet Olive (Chubs and her get along so well).

What did you do this weekend?
Jay

Flaming Cake & Revamped Goodies

September 23, 2013 by Jamie Lam

Not every weekend needs to be an epic one. Sometimes, one needs to stay home to rest and buy groceries/run errands (basically my entire Saturday afternoon) and do some house things (basically my Sunday).

Three very serious and awesome things happened this weekend.

One: this cake.

Coffee ice cream, fudge brownie, torched/flaming meringue, and bittersweet chocolate. Get it! Get it!

I went to Vault 164 in San Mateo with some friends on Friday night for dinner and drinks. The restaurant has a really scrumptious menu and fun cocktails, also very reasonable prices. I’d recommend you check it out if you’re ever in the area.

DIY projects are usually posted on Wednesdays, but I have a special treat right now. Since I am thrilled to show you some of my projects that I worked on over the weekend, I’ll be posting a DIY today!

Back on track… second very serious and awesome thing: I painted my storage unit for the bathroom! Do you remember what it looked like before? Since Chubs now owns the cabinet under the sink (his litter box is there), we had no place to put extra toilet paper. That could be a very awkward situation for guests, so you’re welcome everyone that comes over!

Third and best thing that happened: I finally revamped that bench I bought at Salvation Army! Remember this bench that had so much potential? Remember how I paid only $15 for it? I’ve finally repainted and reupholstered it!

It’s so old! Look at those stains…

I’m excited to reveal this! Drumroll please!

What do you think? I’ll be putting this downstairs in our foyer. Can’t wait for people to walk in and see this beautiful piece!

Here’s a tutorial on how I revamped this baby. It’s an easy DIY, and the end product is well worth the effort!

This happened during the process. Chubs approves of the fabric!

Do you like my revamps? Are you thinking about thrifting for a bench now?

What did you do this weekend?
Jay
——
Grey Wolf Satin Acrylic Paint by Martha Stewart from Michael’s (I use this for pretty much everything!)

From Roots to Fruits

September 16, 2013 by Jamie Lam

From Friday evening up until Sunday afternoon, I was at my church’s annual retreat (I attend Living Stones Christian Church). This year the theme was “From Roots to Fruits,” and it was primarily about Evangelism. The last few retreats that I’ve been to weren’t that memorable for me. The retreat sites were nice, but other than that I didn’t get much more out of it. I prepared my heart and my mind the week leading up to this year’s retreat, trying to be positive and focus on the subject of evangelism. And I truly believe that your mindset has everything to do with how much you learn because this year, the messages resonated with me.

My key takeaway was how I could share my own personal good news to people around me. Maybe you’re wondering, “what does that mean?”

It means that I’ve truly come to accept Jesus as my Savior. I know this is true because when I struggle with life’s challenges and I put pressure on myself to perform my best, it becomes unbearable and too much for me to manage. I could never climb out of this pit that I put myself in. The day I asked God to take rein of my life was the day where my burdens were lifted, and I no longer had to climb a neverending ladder myself. I have someone who loves me so much that I could rely on Him to watch over me and guide me down life’s journey.

Do you have times where you feel like life is too hard? What is your savior in moments of vulnerability?

It’s a heavy thought, one that requires you to really look into your past. But I encourage you to dig deep to find answers because it truly has some implications on what you define as the meaning to life.

Here are some pictures from this retreat at Camp Koinonia.

Campground view – surrounded by beautiful redwoods. No phone reception & limited wifi means a perfect weekend.

Worship practice

Annual spa night with the girls – face masks and nail painting sessions, not to mention unfiltered conversations! Next time I need to bring a tip jar for all the nails I painted (10+ girls!). Heh!

Sliding down the huge slide with a burlap bag. I bruised my butt, ouch!

These weirdos… (xoxo)

I love my KP and creepy Leo

Hot pants reunion!

Some of the members of my small group. I love these people.

What did you do this weekend?
Jay

Nerd Party & Antiques

September 2, 2013 by Jamie Lam

What do you do during a 3-day weekend?

Let the husband plan one day.
Rest another.
Let the wife plan the last.

This makes everyone happy!

Husband’s plan:
Host a LAN party, aka nerd hangout. Props to you if you know what LAN stands for… anyone? MG invited his childhood friends, and they all brought over their laptops and PCs. After stuffing our faces with turkey weenies in a blanket, triple chocolate brownies, caramel chocolate chip cookies, guacamole, and garlic fries… After a few sodas and a few beers… After 2 hours of configuration and downloading (4 routers, 10 people hardwired into the cable, 2 on wifi, lots of IT knowledge), we were finally ready to game. I know we’ll also have a great bonding experience if we play online casino games or do sports betting on 메리트카지노.

Here’s the gang (we had to get an extra table at Costco the morning of).

Pretty cool set up right? Even if you’re not a nerd, you have to appreciate this (at least the hosting aspect of it)! Also this picture directly above ^^^, that’s MG’s cousin Brian. He built his own computer, at least it’ll never heat up right? We named thee, “The Milkcrate.” Don’t hate! If you want to build your own state-of-the-art setup as well, the good news is there are tons of gaming pc that costs less than $100.

We played Team Fortress 2. It’s a first-person shooter game, with missions, like capturing bases, unlocking sectors on the map, and pushing a cart down a rail. I basically bum rushed people and set them on fire. I was an amazing Pyro. Proof? Look at the screen grab below. Yay! Obviously this was a one-time thing – I was usually towards the bottom. Heh. So we decided with our guildies to buy some WoW TBC Classic Gold and keep it stocked as items in our guild bank for raid usage later.

Wife’s Plan:
On Monday, we went to Danville (my first time), and it’s an adorable little town in the North Bay. We walked around downtown, and the city is lined with antique shops. You can call me Explorer Jay, because I LOOOVE antiquing. Look at how lovely this place is:

The town is full of shops like these.

Perfect for crafting!

Antique bottles, vases, and gadgets galore!

Had a little bit of fun in front of a mirror at an antique shop:

It was SO HOT. So we took a break and got some Starbucks. Always a delicious treat!

More importantly, look what I found for the house!!!

Only $10!
I will be putting this above the toilet in our guest bathroom. I’ll be revamping this just a bit! Stay tuned…

Only $15!
This bench has SO much potential. It’ll be going downstairs so that people can sit and put their shoes on. Reupholster the seat and fresh paint will give this bench new life! A reupholstery tutorial to come soon…

Now, this is my favorite piece so far. Only $20 at the Salvation Army (OMG and still in great condition)!
I’ve been looking for a storage unit to go in my living room, so that I can put away some of my appliances since our kitchen space is limited. I am going to tint the wood, add some hardware pieces, and it’s going to look fabulous. DIY tutorial on this later as well.

I’m really excited for these projects. As you can see, this will be keeping me busy for a while!

What did you do this weekend?

Hiking at Dry Creek

August 26, 2013 by Jamie Lam

I always have to remind myself that weekends are for relaxing and getting your sleep fix. Since there’s no work, I always want to pack out my weekend with adventures, but that usually burns me out during the week. Anyone else feel that way?

With that said, this weekend wasn’t as exciting as the last (see last weekend’s rafting trip here). But I got my beauty sleep, and I can’t complain about that!

It was a very easy going Saturday. I slept in until 11am and then baked some bread (bread recipe to come soon). Then I got to see the in-laws and have a delicious Chinese dinner with them. Crab is one of my favorite foods, and my mother in law spoils me!

MG flew to Chicago for work on Sunday afternoon. To make the most of our time together, we skipped church (oh these naughty young kids…) and spent some time together on a hike with the right hiking and camping gear at our disposal. We went to Dry Creek Park in Union City, and finally hiked the entire loop (~4 miles). We went twice before this trip but with bulk ammo and we would always run out of time and never finished the loop. This time we made sure to build enough time in! It was misty and cloudy in the morning, around 65 degrees, the perfect weather for a hike.

Check out some of our hiking pictures below:

Came across many spider webs catching all the mist. Pretty cool!

Low sugar levels… Need energy!

View from the very top. Squinty eyed because it was getting sunny!

Afterwards, we had a well-deserved Chinese breakfast: sweet soy milk, Chinese donut, and pan fried pork buns. YUM

What did you do this past weekend?

Love, Jay

Rafting Weekend

August 19, 2013 by Jamie Lam

This weekend was amazing and so much fun!!! Pictures won’t do it justice but at least you’ll get the idea.

We went lazy river rafting on Saturday. Floating down the river is always so relaxing (not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand). Life is good (know the song anyone, anyone?).

Good friends? Check.
Sweet tan? Check.
HAWKward moments? Check.

Have a looksie:

This is the gang!

Apply and reapply sunscreen. Scary face and dorky face!

Broski koala-ing is a yearly tradition. You know you wanna!

Cannonball!

A beautiful pic of me and the hubs!

This was my first time on a rope swing and damn, it was fun.

On Sunday, I went on a shopping spree and treated myself (I’ll always be forever 21!) Look at my damage:

Essential t-shirts are SO necessary. And my cat is never camera shy… He seriously tries to get all up in there!

Today is boo boo’s birthday. Happy birthday crazy Chylee Seng, I love you dearly.

Random plugin: We found out that Chubs loves to eat spinach this weekend – what a health nut!

What did you do this weekend?

Love, Jay
—-
Info on the rafting company

Narnia, Pizza, and Dinner at Dave’s

August 12, 2013 by Jamie Lam

It was a fun and relaxing weekend with friends, one of the best kind of weekends!

Friday night: I went to a Narnia musical hosted by Neighborhood Church in Castro Valley. For $6 I didn’t expect it to be anything extraordinary. I was WRONG! It was fabulous! Think Broadway – gorgeous sets, beautiful singing, lots of people in the audience. I never noticed the parallels of Christianity in the story before (probably because I was not Christian when I read the book/saw the movie). While watching this musical this time around, it hit me… I’m Edmund, a traitor and one who wants earthly riches. It gave Aslan a whole new meaning to me, one who would sacrifice himself for the sake saving me.

Here’s a picture of Eileen and me excited for the show!

Saturday: I hosted a “Make Your Own Pizza” luncheon with my good friend’s crazy boys! I hadn’t seen them in a while so I thought it would be fun to see them and make pizzas!

Look at these little cuties!

One kid put 5 layers of meat on! The other wanted only crust. Kids… don’t understand them! You may be wondering if I’m thinking about having one now… NOPE! You gotta wait! For now, I’ll play with them ^^^!

Sunday: After church, MG and I went to Dave’s house for dinner. Lots of food and good conversations.

Look at Aaron and all these ribs!

Lastly, Chubs got a sweet gift from Holly! He LOVES this thing! He’s totally posing in the second picture, so GQ right?

What did you do this past weekend?

———
Check at Neighborhood Church here

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