Hello West Coast California!

Hello West Coast California!

Long time no see on blogger since I moved to Los Angeles.

I’ve been so busy with life but didn’t stop hanging out with my dolls. I’ve always been in love with the sceneries of the west coast. Personally I think it’s more attractive than Florida (where I moved from) because of its diversity. What else in Florida besides beach anyway? Here I see not only beach, but also mountains, hills, oceans, deserts, and snow and more species of plants, especially tons of flowers in the spring-summer season. They beauty of west coast is the best backdrop when shooting dolly photos out of the door. 

I always post my photo on Instagram due to my tight schedule. So if we are INS friends you may have seen the following pictures that I am going to post here today. But who doesn’t like to see more of the beauty of nature? 

I miss chatting with you all on blogger. So if you just happen to see the post, please stop by and comment. You may just say hi so I will know that you are still active on blogger. Lots of love!

02/07/2016 @Huntington Library

02/07/2016

02/13/2016

02/15/2016

02/21/2016

03/07/2016

03/27/2016 @The Flower Fields

03/28/2016 @La Jolla Cove, Ca

06/26/2016 @Santa Monica Beach

Happy Lunar New Year!

Happy Lunar New Year! This year is...Monkey!

Have you heard of Chinese animal zodiac for the year? There are 12 of them. Year 2016 is the Monkey year. I heard that American super bowl on last Sunday mentioned about it. Last year was Sheep, so sheep is my daughter's zodiac.  My personal zodiac is Dragon which is the only unrealistic "animal". But maybe it's real but no one has seen one, who knows? lol.

Anyway, thank you for being my blogger friends last year. May you and your family have a great Monkey year! May your good wishes come true! May you feel happier and healthier! May your life is full of joy and love!

A little scene for the new year:

Didee wants the perfect bonsai for the new year. o((>ω< ))o

In fact, I've never tried bonsai in real life. Have you tried one?

The New Ikea Huset Dollhouse

Merry Christmas! ♥♥♥

Hello friends on Blogger! How are you doing? I bet you are busy with life too in this holiday season. It has been a long time since I posted something. Year 2015 is incredible for me:

- 2nd year in my marriage
- 1st time Mom
- 1st time to meet my baby Lillian in June
- did my first surgery (not the delivery of my child, it's the ACL reconstruction on my right knee)
- will move to LA (Los Angeles) after Christmas.

Wow!

So talking about the moving… Honestly I didn’t have a good first impression on the city LA when I spent a couple days there with my college friends. I like peaceful rural towns instead of a busy city with crazy traffic. But overall I feel happy about the moving because I love seeing the different scenery along west coast. I miss the trips to Oregon and California. I miss the sea, mountain covered by snow, dessert and forest. I miss the good food there. I miss the feeling of starting a new journey again. I expect that life will be different, challenging but still good.

Who has some New Year Wishes? Hands up! Here's mine:

- the best for family and friends
- speed recovery from the knee surgery
- moving will go smoothly
- will be happily adapted to new life in LA
- enjoy being a mother in every way
- have more time to play my hobby and post here

Are you excited about the holiday? Anything new happened in your life this year? Any 2016 New Year Wishes?Thank you so much for hanging around on blogger with me for almost 2 years. I am here sending love and hugs to all of you. 

Wish you a happiest Christmas and new year!

Hallmark Christmas House this year:

Packed all my toys and collection to move with us! :)

My dear Lillian when she was one month old:

around Halloween time when she was four months old:

Now she is a 6-month-old strong baby who already can stand up! Where does the time go?

Lillian's 100-Day Party and More

How are you doing? I am happy to see many of you joined in Instagram. Instagram is one more place to share our hobby and life. But I still feel Blogger is the "home" where we can talk.  

I saw at Costco’s they already started selling Christmas stuff. The holiday season comes again. Love it! This year I feel so different. We have a new life to celebrate the holiday with us. We just had a 100-day party for our daughter several weeks ago. In China it's popular to celebrate babies' 100 day so we did it too. Time flies, kid grows. For more than a couple of times I had been told by friendly strangers that she will ask me for a car key tomorrow when we were out and greeted. Yes, today she is 115 days old but I understand that. Now as she becomes good at pushing up on her tummy and grabbing the toys, I can picture that she will soon be running around the house. And after many long days but short years, (my friend Andy’s words: days are long but years are short that you feel when you have kids), she will leave the house and live her own life. It’s a complicated feeling for every parent I think. There is a famous poem called “Children” written by Kahlil Gibran that I really like. You may also know it. I first read it in Chinese and found the English version online.

“ Your children are not your children.
   They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
   They come through you but not from you,
   And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
   You may give them your love but not your thoughts. 

   For they have their own thoughts.
   You may house their bodies but not their souls.
   For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
   You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
   For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
   You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
   The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His  arrows may go swift and far.
   Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
   For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.”

 

My kid has a lot to grow. So do I...BTW, in last three month I usually picked one day to place the dolls and toys, and made a scene to take photos. I posted them on INS first and would post here when I found time to write something. I think I will keep recording the hobby like this. I still read your blogs. Miss you all.

 

 

 

How are you？

How are you my Blogger friends?

My Blythe doll family update:

New girl Didee is from Germany. She is customized by artist Kati. Didee was a long-hair doll but I asked Kati to cut it short. Here are some photos taken by Kati:

A quick update:

Our daughter was born on June.4th. She hits 6 week today! I had a very smooth pregnancy and delivery so we didn’t expect being a mother was hard. Plus my mom always told me how easy when I was a new born -she said I slept through the night after the first month! I am not that lucky. Although my daughter is very cute and adorable, and I want to hold her as much as I can, still I need at least couple hours of sleep each day. She needed to be held all the time for the first couple of weeks until we bought a fisher price snuggle swing. The swing saved my arms (my life!). And this week her acid-reflux condition seems getting better. Maybe she outgrows it fast.

Do I enjoy being a mom? Yes very much! 

Do I miss my old days? Yes very much! I miss Mr.Sleep the most! 

I wish I could have more time to blog. I miss you guys very much! I hope you are doing well. I still read your posts on the phone. We'll catch up soon. 

Recent Photos of Doll in the Dollhouse

Hi friends! Long time no see? Here's a little update about me: I didn't stop playing with miniature and dolls and I still took photos of them from time to time. It distracts me from the stress of my body. My due date is on May 22 so it begins the countdown (~last 50 days). Honestly I am scared...yes I am excited but still scared as a first-time mom. Luckily I have a very easy pregnancy. My baby girl never gave me any hard time so I hope I can have the luck on the day of labor and delivery...

Here I'd like to share some recent photos that I took for the dolls and diorama display. And I've bought some new mini furniture to make different scene.

The Barbie cupboard and vintage Sindy desk are my two new buys. They are both used toys and I found them on eBay. I like the design of both. It's easy to store and display miniature in them.

- “I don't like doing homework but I have to.”

- "I am going to share these cakes with my dear animal friends..."

Re-ment Elegant Sweets #5:

Re-ment wardrobe in a cozy small room:

- "I think I don't have enough outfit to wear..."

- I hear you baby...

The girls actually have so many things to choose and I store them in my own closet...

Big VS. Small: Ikea POÄNG chair (another eBay find)

Well, I wish I could describe more details but there's really nothing more to say. If you have questions leave them in the comment and I will be happy to answer. Time flies. I can't believe three months have already passed in 2015. I hope you are all doing well, enjoying life and enjoying hobby. =) =) =)

Oh another photo I took couple weeks ago. Happy Easter!

Re-ment Washitsu Display & Doll Festival

The following information is from Wikipedia. Click the sub-title to see more.

Washitsu

meaning "Japanese-style room", is a Japanese term used as an antonym for the term yōshitsu, meaning "Western-style room".

A distinguishing feature of washitsu is their tatami flooring. Washitsu also usually has sliding doors (fusuma), rather than hinged doors between rooms.

In the past, almost all Japanese rooms were washitsu, and Japanese people slept on futons laid on the tatami and sat directly on the tatami or on zabutons set on the tatami. Nowadays, many Japanese houses have only one washitsu, which is sometimes used for entertaining guests, and most rooms are Western-style. Many new construction Japanese apartments do not have washitsu at all, instead using linoleum or hardwood floors.

Hinamatsuri 

also called Doll's Day or Girls' Day, is a special day in Japan. Hinamatsuri is celebrated each year on March 3.Platforms covered with a red carpet are used to display a set of ornamental dolls representing the Emperor, Empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court dress of the Heian period.

The custom of displaying dolls began during the Heian period. Formerly, people believed the dolls possessed the power to contain bad spirits. Hinamatsuri traces its origins to an ancient Japanese custom called hina-nagashi, in which straw hina dolls are set afloat on a boat and sent down a river to the sea, supposedly taking troubles or bad spirits with them. Families generally start to display the dolls in February and take them down immediately after the festival. Superstition says that leaving the dolls past March 4 will result in a late marriage for the daughter.

Washitsu may not look exactly like the display I have set up using Re-ment miniature but I tried the best. I always love collecting miniatures relating to Asian culture (Japan, China, Tai...) and use them for Asian-style diorama. Although I was born in late 80's when my hometown was already pretty modern and westernized, I still always had feelings for traditional Asian sundries. Whenever I found an Asian-style thing in people's yard sale here, especially if it was made in Japan, I would be so happy to get it. 

Thank you for reading this post and the previous one introducing Re-ment Retro Home Appliance. I hope it's a fun Asian traditional room tour for you. =)

Click here to see details of Re-ment Hinamatsuri Set.

Re-ment Vintage Home Appliances 7-10 + SP (2st Part)

Last week I posted the first part of this wonderful Re-ment retro home appliance set. I posted the photos here and also on other social media where I share my miniature hobby. Lots of friends left positive feedbacks to this set and some of them had experience of owning the real things relate to the miniature toys in the photos in the past. I personally have little memory of using the real things in my life because I was little when we possibly had the retro-style water bottle or that TV. But I still like them so much. Vintage things make me feel peaceful and dependable.

Click here to see Re-ment Vintage Home Appliances 1-6.

Now let's go on enjoying the rest of the retro home tour.

7. Sewing Machine + Sewing Storing Box

Comparison of the sewing machine in this set and the one in Re-ment French Sundries.

8. Iron + Board

9. Heater + "Hot Water Bag"

10. Pay Phone

My friend said she saw a real one looking exactly like this when she traveled to Japan.

SP. Rice Cooker + Rice Barrel

You may not see a real rice barrel like this in life. But we did have one when I was little. The buttons you saw on it were used for regulating the rice outpouring.

The SP rice cooker is a different color version. It's the same style as the white one in this set.

Thanks for reading. ｡:.ﾟヽ(｡◕‿◕｡)ﾉﾟ.:｡+ﾟ
Now you saw all the things in this set. How do you feel? I hope you enjoy the photos and have a wonderful weekend.