Here's a little video of the designing process....
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Kid in a Candy Store
Just wanted to jot down a couple thoughts that I had this morning while at work...
1. Going in to our company warehouse is a HUGE tease for me. The candy is sitting there, waiting for me to eat it.... taunting me...!
2. I need to become more ambitious and find ways to help out more either with design related work projects or my own work at home.
3. I need to stop eating candy and trail mix while at work. I can feel the sugar sticking to my insides!
4. Anyone ever seen Kid in a Candy Store on Food Network?!?
Yeah, that's me EVERYDAY at work
5. And finally, the greatest gif i've come across today:
1. Going in to our company warehouse is a HUGE tease for me. The candy is sitting there, waiting for me to eat it.... taunting me...!
2. I need to become more ambitious and find ways to help out more either with design related work projects or my own work at home.
3. I need to stop eating candy and trail mix while at work. I can feel the sugar sticking to my insides!
4. Anyone ever seen Kid in a Candy Store on Food Network?!?
 | |
| Adam Gertler |
Yeah, that's me EVERYDAY at work
5. And finally, the greatest gif i've come across today:
Kustom Kicks
Hi everyone!
My brother Jeff has a blossoming business called Kustom Kicks where he takes people's ideas and designs and transforms them into wearable pieces of art. So far, he has done numerous custom vans as well as a couple hats and backpacks. His website is Kustom Kicks and you can check out his past projects or even order your own pair!
Seeing his success has really fueled my desire to help him and grow his business.
Here is my first attempt at some shoes for Kustom Kicks! Let me know what you think! KOI SHOES
My brother Jeff has a blossoming business called Kustom Kicks where he takes people's ideas and designs and transforms them into wearable pieces of art. So far, he has done numerous custom vans as well as a couple hats and backpacks. His website is Kustom Kicks and you can check out his past projects or even order your own pair!
Seeing his success has really fueled my desire to help him and grow his business.
Here is my first attempt at some shoes for Kustom Kicks! Let me know what you think! KOI SHOES
 |
| Koi/Lotus Flower Shoes |
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Ode to the Beach BBQ
We used to beach bbq all the time during my first year in Santa Barbara, but for some reason it's been almost a year since our last feast at the beach. I have been very stressed with work and school, so this bbq was a perfect stress reliever. Here are some pics from a wonderful Saturday beach bbq on the Mesa!
Cute grillmaster.
How lucky am I to live here?
Yumminess. Burgers handcrafted by Casey with spinach, avocado, and whole wheat buns, grilled asparagus, cherries and grapes.
This asparagus was REALLY good!
Very happy with the delicious meal :-)
We tried grilling corn for the first time, and it was fabulous!
S'mores - how can we ever resist?
What a great way to enjoy a Santa Barbara Saturday!
Cute grillmaster.
How lucky am I to live here?
Yumminess. Burgers handcrafted by Casey with spinach, avocado, and whole wheat buns, grilled asparagus, cherries and grapes.
This asparagus was REALLY good!
Very happy with the delicious meal :-)
We tried grilling corn for the first time, and it was fabulous!
S'mores - how can we ever resist?
What a great way to enjoy a Santa Barbara Saturday!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Heating UP
OH Man... LA is sure getting hot. Even though I no longer get an 'official' summer anymore, there was no mistaking that summer had officially arrived based on the TRIPLE digit temperatures last week and this past weekend. Here at the Bryan & Casey apt, we neglect to use our air conditioning in an attempt to save a little cash (and cuz we're asian) but, last week, as we sat, melting on the couch, there was no other choice but to create a little breeze. I mean... 5 days straight of 98+ degree days is no fun. I was so drained and lazy by the time I go home from work that I would skip the gym and trick myself into thinking that I was losing weight by just sweating in my room!
Luckily, this week, temperatures are cooling down and by next weekend, I'll be BBQing on the beaches in Santa Barbara, probably wearing a sweatshirt!
However, let me share some events that occurred over the past few HOT days.
On Saturday, Jenna and I were rudely awake at 7am by the scorching LA heat and the blinding light shining through my window shades. I swear, most times, its like my blinds aren't even there.... I WILL be buying a large sheet/blanket to cover the window.
Since we were already up and couldn't possibly fall back asleep, we decided to head to the beach. We had already planned on going but not as early as 9am! Good thing we did go early because by 10am, Manhatten Beach was already packed with rainbow colored umbrellas and pasty-skinned people looking to get their first taste of the sun.
We haven't been to many LA beaches yet, but Manhatten is by far, one of the nicest. I'm very very jealous of the people who get to live in those beachside apartments. One day we will own one! (......)
Jenna mostly stayed on the sand and tanned her already bronzed body. Meanwhile, I took every opportunity possible to body surf in the cool ocean water! If you've never tried body surfing, it is the most fun/cheap thing to do at the beach. There is no gear necessary and you just gotta know how to swim. My brother and I will do this for hours on end when we're on vacation in Hawaii with our family. Of course, this time, I was body surfing all by myself but no worries: I'm good at keeping myself entertained. haha.
Another reason I spent so much time in the water was that I couldn't bear listening to the stupid conversation of the people around us! There was this group of blond girls and guys sitting near us that coulda really been the real life version of the hills! As they were applying their sunscreen, we overheard their intelligent conversation about reapplication times.
Dude: "How often are you supposed to reapply sunscreen?"
Blond Girl #1: "Ummm... I heard that depending on what number is on the bottle is how often you're supposed to reapply. So since we have SPF 70, you have to put it on every 70 minutes."
Blond Girl #2: "Actually i think that you're supposed to times that number by 10 and thats how many hours youre supposed to wait to reapply again. So 70 times 10 is...."
.........long pause........
Still, no one from the group of TEN!! has responded.....
Dude #2: "So...every 700 hours?"
Blond Girl #2: "No, that can't be right. It must be 700 minutes..."
And with that... I could no longer take it and had to run into the water! hahhaah.
After working up an appetite, Jenna and I yelped the nearest/highest rated sandwich shop around. We found Sandos Sub Shop only a mile down from the pier where we were swimming. It was just a tiny hole-in-the-wall spot where you pretty much have to always eat TO GO because there's no room inside. The joint has been featured in the Los Angeles magazine as one of the top sandwich spots to visit in all of LA.
I forget the name of Jenna's sandwich but it was an amazing blend of chicken, bacon, avocado and other stuff. Oh, and up above that picture, are the homemade potato chips that Sandos is pretty famous for. They were thick but not too crispy and a really great side for our sandwiches.
I got the Turkey Rosecransberry sandwich which was turkey with sprouts and cheese and cranberry sauce! Also very gooooood. We decided to eat on a bench near the beach and got many stares from passerbys. One couple even stopped to ask us where we got the sandwiches because they thought they looked THAT good. Unfortunately, Jenna and I couldn't remember the name OR the street on which it was on. haha. We just pointed in the general direction.
The reason why we opted for sandwiches for lunch was because we knew we were gonna be splurging for dinner. My friends Cindy, Shar and Cynthia were coming down to LA for the weekend and would be staying at the 4 Seasons in Beverly Hills. We decided to all eat at the 4 Seasons hotel restaurant because Shar, who works for 4 Seasons in the Bay Area, got us 50% off of our bill! ONE MORE THING....
The room that the 3 of them were staying in was priced at $1050 a night!?!?!?! And they were paying NOTHING! haha Dam Shar, you sure have awesome job perks! I mean.... who can afford to pay $1050/night for a hotel room?! That's almost an entire month and a half of rent in Jenna's one bedroom apartment! I may get free jellybeans but I'd trade for a free suite in Hawaii at a 4 star hotel anyday!
Here is the lobby of the 4 seasons and their beautiful display of flowers in vases filled with lemons. I really felt obliged to steal one of these vases just because they were charging so much money for people to stay there! They shoulda been complementary! Alas, I settled for a couple small apples that were in little dishes around the lobby.
For dinner, I had the Pork done 3 Ways. For a fancy restaurant and a dish at a regular price of $34, the portions were pretty generous and my belly was fully satisfied. I guess we also did get some scrumptious bread as well as macaroons for dessert! To go with my pork, I had a glass of the merlot which was very dry but tasted excellent with my meat.
Jenna had this GIANT hunk of salmon that was perfectly cooked and combined it with a glass of white wine. Both dinners were great selections.
After dinner, we decided to go to Busby's and get our groove on. Little did we know that it was apparently Asian night at Busbys and that we'd have to fight for space on the dance floor for the whole time! I think the only dance move you could have performed would be a box out like in basketball! Craziness mixed with a whole lotta drunk people and a lot of sweat. ugh.
All in all, a great event filled weekend that seemed way to short. I'm looking forward to a cooler weathered work week as well as a relaxing uneventful next weekend with Jenna in SB!
Luckily, this week, temperatures are cooling down and by next weekend, I'll be BBQing on the beaches in Santa Barbara, probably wearing a sweatshirt!
However, let me share some events that occurred over the past few HOT days.
On Saturday, Jenna and I were rudely awake at 7am by the scorching LA heat and the blinding light shining through my window shades. I swear, most times, its like my blinds aren't even there.... I WILL be buying a large sheet/blanket to cover the window.
Since we were already up and couldn't possibly fall back asleep, we decided to head to the beach. We had already planned on going but not as early as 9am! Good thing we did go early because by 10am, Manhatten Beach was already packed with rainbow colored umbrellas and pasty-skinned people looking to get their first taste of the sun.
We haven't been to many LA beaches yet, but Manhatten is by far, one of the nicest. I'm very very jealous of the people who get to live in those beachside apartments. One day we will own one! (......)
Jenna mostly stayed on the sand and tanned her already bronzed body. Meanwhile, I took every opportunity possible to body surf in the cool ocean water! If you've never tried body surfing, it is the most fun/cheap thing to do at the beach. There is no gear necessary and you just gotta know how to swim. My brother and I will do this for hours on end when we're on vacation in Hawaii with our family. Of course, this time, I was body surfing all by myself but no worries: I'm good at keeping myself entertained. haha.
Another reason I spent so much time in the water was that I couldn't bear listening to the stupid conversation of the people around us! There was this group of blond girls and guys sitting near us that coulda really been the real life version of the hills! As they were applying their sunscreen, we overheard their intelligent conversation about reapplication times.
Dude: "How often are you supposed to reapply sunscreen?"
Blond Girl #1: "Ummm... I heard that depending on what number is on the bottle is how often you're supposed to reapply. So since we have SPF 70, you have to put it on every 70 minutes."
Blond Girl #2: "Actually i think that you're supposed to times that number by 10 and thats how many hours youre supposed to wait to reapply again. So 70 times 10 is...."
.........long pause........
Still, no one from the group of TEN!! has responded.....
Dude #2: "So...every 700 hours?"
Blond Girl #2: "No, that can't be right. It must be 700 minutes..."
And with that... I could no longer take it and had to run into the water! hahhaah.
After working up an appetite, Jenna and I yelped the nearest/highest rated sandwich shop around. We found Sandos Sub Shop only a mile down from the pier where we were swimming. It was just a tiny hole-in-the-wall spot where you pretty much have to always eat TO GO because there's no room inside. The joint has been featured in the Los Angeles magazine as one of the top sandwich spots to visit in all of LA.
I forget the name of Jenna's sandwich but it was an amazing blend of chicken, bacon, avocado and other stuff. Oh, and up above that picture, are the homemade potato chips that Sandos is pretty famous for. They were thick but not too crispy and a really great side for our sandwiches.
I got the Turkey Rosecransberry sandwich which was turkey with sprouts and cheese and cranberry sauce! Also very gooooood. We decided to eat on a bench near the beach and got many stares from passerbys. One couple even stopped to ask us where we got the sandwiches because they thought they looked THAT good. Unfortunately, Jenna and I couldn't remember the name OR the street on which it was on. haha. We just pointed in the general direction.
The reason why we opted for sandwiches for lunch was because we knew we were gonna be splurging for dinner. My friends Cindy, Shar and Cynthia were coming down to LA for the weekend and would be staying at the 4 Seasons in Beverly Hills. We decided to all eat at the 4 Seasons hotel restaurant because Shar, who works for 4 Seasons in the Bay Area, got us 50% off of our bill! ONE MORE THING....
The room that the 3 of them were staying in was priced at $1050 a night!?!?!?! And they were paying NOTHING! haha Dam Shar, you sure have awesome job perks! I mean.... who can afford to pay $1050/night for a hotel room?! That's almost an entire month and a half of rent in Jenna's one bedroom apartment! I may get free jellybeans but I'd trade for a free suite in Hawaii at a 4 star hotel anyday!
Here is the lobby of the 4 seasons and their beautiful display of flowers in vases filled with lemons. I really felt obliged to steal one of these vases just because they were charging so much money for people to stay there! They shoulda been complementary! Alas, I settled for a couple small apples that were in little dishes around the lobby.
For dinner, I had the Pork done 3 Ways. For a fancy restaurant and a dish at a regular price of $34, the portions were pretty generous and my belly was fully satisfied. I guess we also did get some scrumptious bread as well as macaroons for dessert! To go with my pork, I had a glass of the merlot which was very dry but tasted excellent with my meat.
Jenna had this GIANT hunk of salmon that was perfectly cooked and combined it with a glass of white wine. Both dinners were great selections.
After dinner, we decided to go to Busby's and get our groove on. Little did we know that it was apparently Asian night at Busbys and that we'd have to fight for space on the dance floor for the whole time! I think the only dance move you could have performed would be a box out like in basketball! Craziness mixed with a whole lotta drunk people and a lot of sweat. ugh.
All in all, a great event filled weekend that seemed way to short. I'm looking forward to a cooler weathered work week as well as a relaxing uneventful next weekend with Jenna in SB!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Ouch!
Today I was working on a Trail Mix package for Jamba Juice.
Generally, I find that using the colors from the logo in your design is the most sure-fire way of creating something nice. Well, Jamba's logo is very colorful and almost rainbow-like. Naturally, I went with some sort of rainbowy effect on my bag.... Sorta!
My boss comes down and takes one look at my screen and asks, "Hey, is that design for Gay Pride??"
haha.... Sure.
I'll show you the design later.
Generally, I find that using the colors from the logo in your design is the most sure-fire way of creating something nice. Well, Jamba's logo is very colorful and almost rainbow-like. Naturally, I went with some sort of rainbowy effect on my bag.... Sorta!
My boss comes down and takes one look at my screen and asks, "Hey, is that design for Gay Pride??"
haha.... Sure.
I'll show you the design later.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Representin' Our China Roots
Haha. This weekend Jenna came to LA for the weekend (actually she came on Thursday night for the LA Art Walk!). It is awesome having her here for an extra day because it means more US time!
Thursday night, we went to the Art Walk (after intently watching Lebron James and 'The Decision'!!!!) and it was pretty fun! We walked around various galleries and ended up hanging out in the food truck area (thanks to Bryan and Jane's suggestions). I didn't really take many pictures but there was some great artwork.
The next day, I, unfortunately, had work but Jenna was nice enough to come and bring me LUNCH! She brought our favorite vietnamese sandwiches from HERE. If you have not ever been there, it is a must visit! We enjoyed our lunch outside in the sunshine at a little table next to the Subway near my work. It was a very nice change from the other days where I eat my lunch in my car... :( I had to go back to work but Jenna nicely stuck around and did work at the nearby Starbucks. We drove home together after work and decided to go for some Chinese food!
Here's the weird thing: Jenna and I have been together for 7 years and 3 months, yet we NEVER go to eat Chinese food. Don't get me wrong, we love Chinese food but always seem to go for the more 'exotic' asian foods such as Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese and Thai. Jenna thinks maybe it's because Chinese food is kinda easy to make and if we're gonna spend money on food, it should be something cool and unique that we can't make ourselves! Anyways, after a quick search on Yelp, we decided on Tasty Garden in Alhambra. They have great reviews on Yelp and we wanted a piece of the action.
We knew we wanted vegetables but also had to have something tasty (ya know, cuz we were at the Tasty Garden). Here is our Beef Chow Fun with mixed vegetables. Man, I haven't had Chow Fun in a long time and forgot how incredible it is! I remember how back in the day my family and I would go to Chinatown in Oakland and have chow fun with our grandma and cousins at King Wa... Oh, how I miss those days.
This dish of Chow fun was excellent and definitely enough for more than 2 people to share.
We also ordered Szechuan Eggplant Hotpot which had a chili next to it meaning it was supposed to be spicy... it was not. Not.At.All. It couldn't have been any LESS spicy. haha, no worries, the garlicy deliciousness of the actual dish was SUPER worth it. It was SO good, that the old man next to Jenna keep STARING at it (and us) our entire meal! What a creeper...
Darn, i shoulda got the old man in the picture with Jenna... Also, sorry for not telling you that you were going to be in this shot. :)
Today, Saturday, we decided to go for a hike at my favorite hiking spot up in Altadena. However, on our drive up there, I remembered that there was this other hike where it leads you to a giant waterfall. I had always been a little hesitant to go by myself, but now that Jenna was here, we could check it out! The hike was super nice and not hard at all. In fact, there were dozens of other people hiking up to the water fall because of the great weather today and the fact that the climb was not too laborious. About an hour into the hike we did indeed end up at a 50ft waterfall! It was super neat and a couple people were swimming around in the pools with all their clothes on. And of course there was this cute little baby/boy that was walking around naked which I happily took pictures of! hehe. Jenna and I watched this little kid for a long time trying to figure out if he was a year old or maybe a year and a half. As the kid left with his dad, we overheard that the little boy was actually 2.5 yrs old and would be 3 in December! Jenna said he was extremely small for his age and it was weird that he refused to say any words. But, as they were leaving, we heard him mutter, "bye bye waterrrfall."
Cute.
We worked up quite the appetite from our hike and decided to get Dumplings because I always seem to have a hankerin' for some dumplings! a.k.a. Xiao Long Baos!! YUMMY! We went to the famous Din Tai Fung in San Gabriel. Apparently, this dumpling house is one of the best in LA or maybe even all of the US according to the people on yelp.
Here are the XLB's and a little side dish of Mustard Greens. The Dumplings were very flavorful and had a great amount of juice in them! It was even nice that the juice inside wasn't boiling hot so we didn't scold our mouths when we popped the dumplings in!
Here's our other order of dumplings which were filled with Pork and Shrimp. They were not quite as juicy but were very tasty. Also, we kept the steamer lid on which helped keep them moist and hot! YUM. I already wanna go back and have more XLB!
Anyways, Jenna is taking a nap right now and I decided to share our weekend of Chinese delights. OH WAIT!... After dumplings, we went to this bakery across the center from Din Tai Fung and got some buns. We picked out one Red Bean bun and one Red Bean/Mochi bun. The Red Bean/Mochi bun was craziness! It had globs of red bean inside (my fav!) and then a copious amount of mochi stuffed in there too. It was weird biting in and having long gooey strands of mochi come flowing out. Yum again!
Off to Despicable Me later tonight!
Thursday night, we went to the Art Walk (after intently watching Lebron James and 'The Decision'!!!!) and it was pretty fun! We walked around various galleries and ended up hanging out in the food truck area (thanks to Bryan and Jane's suggestions). I didn't really take many pictures but there was some great artwork.
The next day, I, unfortunately, had work but Jenna was nice enough to come and bring me LUNCH! She brought our favorite vietnamese sandwiches from HERE. If you have not ever been there, it is a must visit! We enjoyed our lunch outside in the sunshine at a little table next to the Subway near my work. It was a very nice change from the other days where I eat my lunch in my car... :( I had to go back to work but Jenna nicely stuck around and did work at the nearby Starbucks. We drove home together after work and decided to go for some Chinese food!
Here's the weird thing: Jenna and I have been together for 7 years and 3 months, yet we NEVER go to eat Chinese food. Don't get me wrong, we love Chinese food but always seem to go for the more 'exotic' asian foods such as Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese and Thai. Jenna thinks maybe it's because Chinese food is kinda easy to make and if we're gonna spend money on food, it should be something cool and unique that we can't make ourselves! Anyways, after a quick search on Yelp, we decided on Tasty Garden in Alhambra. They have great reviews on Yelp and we wanted a piece of the action.
We knew we wanted vegetables but also had to have something tasty (ya know, cuz we were at the Tasty Garden). Here is our Beef Chow Fun with mixed vegetables. Man, I haven't had Chow Fun in a long time and forgot how incredible it is! I remember how back in the day my family and I would go to Chinatown in Oakland and have chow fun with our grandma and cousins at King Wa... Oh, how I miss those days.
This dish of Chow fun was excellent and definitely enough for more than 2 people to share.
We also ordered Szechuan Eggplant Hotpot which had a chili next to it meaning it was supposed to be spicy... it was not. Not.At.All. It couldn't have been any LESS spicy. haha, no worries, the garlicy deliciousness of the actual dish was SUPER worth it. It was SO good, that the old man next to Jenna keep STARING at it (and us) our entire meal! What a creeper...
Darn, i shoulda got the old man in the picture with Jenna... Also, sorry for not telling you that you were going to be in this shot. :)
Today, Saturday, we decided to go for a hike at my favorite hiking spot up in Altadena. However, on our drive up there, I remembered that there was this other hike where it leads you to a giant waterfall. I had always been a little hesitant to go by myself, but now that Jenna was here, we could check it out! The hike was super nice and not hard at all. In fact, there were dozens of other people hiking up to the water fall because of the great weather today and the fact that the climb was not too laborious. About an hour into the hike we did indeed end up at a 50ft waterfall! It was super neat and a couple people were swimming around in the pools with all their clothes on. And of course there was this cute little baby/boy that was walking around naked which I happily took pictures of! hehe. Jenna and I watched this little kid for a long time trying to figure out if he was a year old or maybe a year and a half. As the kid left with his dad, we overheard that the little boy was actually 2.5 yrs old and would be 3 in December! Jenna said he was extremely small for his age and it was weird that he refused to say any words. But, as they were leaving, we heard him mutter, "bye bye waterrrfall."
Cute.
We worked up quite the appetite from our hike and decided to get Dumplings because I always seem to have a hankerin' for some dumplings! a.k.a. Xiao Long Baos!! YUMMY! We went to the famous Din Tai Fung in San Gabriel. Apparently, this dumpling house is one of the best in LA or maybe even all of the US according to the people on yelp.
Here are the XLB's and a little side dish of Mustard Greens. The Dumplings were very flavorful and had a great amount of juice in them! It was even nice that the juice inside wasn't boiling hot so we didn't scold our mouths when we popped the dumplings in!
Here's our other order of dumplings which were filled with Pork and Shrimp. They were not quite as juicy but were very tasty. Also, we kept the steamer lid on which helped keep them moist and hot! YUM. I already wanna go back and have more XLB!
Anyways, Jenna is taking a nap right now and I decided to share our weekend of Chinese delights. OH WAIT!... After dumplings, we went to this bakery across the center from Din Tai Fung and got some buns. We picked out one Red Bean bun and one Red Bean/Mochi bun. The Red Bean/Mochi bun was craziness! It had globs of red bean inside (my fav!) and then a copious amount of mochi stuffed in there too. It was weird biting in and having long gooey strands of mochi come flowing out. Yum again!
Off to Despicable Me later tonight!
Monday, July 5, 2010
4th of July
Yesterday was 4th of July and I happily spent the holiday with Jenna in Santa Barbara. It was a perfect weekend spent lounging on the beach and concluded with late night fireworks over the water! The only negative was that I had to drive all the way back to LA after the fireworks AND I think I'm getting sick.
Here's a pic from last night's fireworks. Santa Barbara's fireworks were crazy good and especially memorable because we were literally sitting on the beach at the water's edge! We simply laid out our blanket, plopped ourselves down and looked up into the dark sky. The area where they were launching the fireworks was so close to us that we could see as each 'work went off! And talk about a stunning finale! There must have been about 40 fireoworks all going off at the same time. There is no better way than to experience 4th of July fireworks than on the beach and directly under them!
Here's a pic from last night's fireworks. Santa Barbara's fireworks were crazy good and especially memorable because we were literally sitting on the beach at the water's edge! We simply laid out our blanket, plopped ourselves down and looked up into the dark sky. The area where they were launching the fireworks was so close to us that we could see as each 'work went off! And talk about a stunning finale! There must have been about 40 fireoworks all going off at the same time. There is no better way than to experience 4th of July fireworks than on the beach and directly under them!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
