I love having paint dates, which basically entail picking a location, bringing our watercolor kits, and painting for a couple hours. It’s a lovely break from the work day and a nice reminder to set aside time for painting just for fun. I began these with my friend Pamela who’s actually a professional watercolor illustrator,…
July was a month well spent with family and friends. Since we attended my cousin’s wedding in Vancouver in the middle of the month, I had my mom, aunt, and cousin in town for part of the month as well. And of course I filled in the rest of the time with plenty of mini…
After my cousin’s wedding in Vancouver, some of us hopped on a ferry and headed to my aunt’s house in Victoria. It’s the capital of British Columbia and located on Vancouver Island, so the only ways to access it are by boat or by plane. I, for one, love this ferry ride! I managed…
I headed to Vancouver with my mom and other family members in order to attend my cousin Teh’s wedding. In fact, this was the first time I’ve ever been the family at a wedding, not the photographer or a friend. It was a quick couple of days in Vancouver, and since I’ve already visited a…
Wow, June feels like so long ago, and I crammed so many Bay Area Gems into that month! If you missed it, there have already been three posts on my June adventures: Lavender Festival at Araceli Farms, History Adventures in the Bay, and A Boat Tour & A Train Tour. Now for the rest of the fun! First,…
A boat and a train ride! Two more fun adventures from my Bay Area Gems in June. We kick it off with a free harbor tour of the Port of Oakland. They offer these twice a month in the summer, but you have to jump right on the tickets when they go on sale the…
June was filled with so many adventures that I’m splitting it up into a handful of posts. Today, I’m sharing three of the history-related sites I got to visit as part of my 100 Bay Area Gems: Mission San Jose, Bale Grist Mill, and History Park San Jose. Here are the paintings I painted of…
This was such a fun little outing with my friend Tiffany. We heard about a lavender festival up in Dixon and decided to check it out together. This was the first year Araceli Farms has held the festival, so we tried to keep our expectations very low, but tickets were only $8 for the both…
Memorial Day Weekend was wonderfully spent celebrating my friend Paul’s birthday over at Lake Tahoe. But actually, I had to work both Saturday and Sunday morning, so I joined everyone else a day late and decided to solo staycation for an extra day afterwards too. Tahoe is really so lovely in the summer. See a…
Let’s take a look back at May! I scouted a bunch more locations for my “100 Bay Area Gems” project, gathered with friends, and went to the Asian Art Museum three times in one week. Here we go! Office of Accountability getting wild as we gathered at my studio to share our goals for the…
My friend Connie and I headed to Sayulita, Mexico for a few days, just for kicks. She’s on summer break from law school, and I’m just always down to travel. Plus, this was my first time in Mexico! It was a fun adventure mixed with a good bit of misadventure too. Our big mistake was…
April was another month jam-packed with adventures around the Bay. I just passed the halfway mark of my 100 day project, “100 Bay Area Gems,” in which I illustrate and share some of my favorite finds from around the Bay. Part of this project means I also spend a lot of time scouting for more…