Boston's Japan Festival

This Sunday is the second annual Japan Festival in Boston. We participated last year and had a really fun time. The weather is suppose to be gorgeous this weekend too so I'm very excited. Here's a glimpse of some of the photos I will be selling. Hope to see you there! :)

Great Start

We had an amazing turnout for opening day this year. It was a great way to start the open market season. I want to thank my wonderful friends for coming out and always being so supportive of my little business. Thank you to all who stopped by as well :)

I'm so happy that many of these cuties found new loving homes! I love the display frame that my brother built for me. I'm lucky to have such a talented family! Don't know what I would do without their support ♥

SoWa Opening Day this Sunday!

Time really flies! We're entering our 3rd season at SoWa Open Market this Sunday and I can't wait! I am so excited to debut these cute throw pillows that mom and I have been making for the past few months. I've shared pictures of them in this post before but since then we've made three more adorable animals - bears, monkeys, and pigs - and also mini versions too! Don't you want to take one home with you? :)

These handmade miniature guitar pins/brooches will also be available for purchase. These are handmade by my uncle in the Netherlands (see more of his work here). They are extremely intricate. (Look at the guitar strings!) I am so proud to be able to share his amazing work. Btw, I think these pins would be such a cool alternative for a boutonniere for a guitar-loving groom-to-be!

These wired headbands are also new for the season. Mom and I made these too! They are pretty and fun to wear. I was inspired to make them after seeing them in Asia and finding out that they are hard to find here.

As always, my photos will be available for purchase. Hope to see you at opening day! :)

Lovely Couple

I had a really fun time taking photos of my friends this past weekend. 

They are one of the sweetest couples that I know. I bought new lenses for my camera and they were nice enough to be my test subjects :) This is one of my favorite photos from the session. It's hard not to get a good photo of these two. They're so lovely together ♥

 

Dinner Date

Can never say no to their tasty bread with hummus and whipped butter spreads :)

James and I celebrated our dating anniversary this past weekend. Time passes by so quickly. We've been together for 14 years already! Crazy, huh? We went to Mistral, one of our favorite restaurants, for dinner. The food is always delicious. We had a great time talking and enjoying our wonderful meal together. Not much can be better than good food and good company :)

Amazing thin crust pizza with beef tenderloin, mashed potato & white truffle oil

(left) My handsome date; (right) James' entrée: Grilled tenderloin of beef, bordelaise style, olive oil roasted asparagus & horseradish whipped potato

My absolute favorite: Maine crab ravioli with rock crab, thyme, and tomato broth. (We went here last year too but I had a better camera with me this time :)

SoWa's Opening Day

This past Sunday was SoWa's Opening Day! I can't believe this is already my second year as a vendor at this awesome open market. I remember how nervous I was at last year's opening day. Now, James and I are super fast and efficient at setting up the tent and displays :) As always, we had a fun day hanging out, chatting with our customers, and eating yummy foods from the food trucks. Looking forward to the rest of the season!

James caught me by surprise as I was setting up lol

A look at the whole setup

Downtime pic: We both wore our Chucks :)

Spring Festival

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Japan's gift of 3,000 cherry blossom trees to Washington, DC. Boston is having its own celebration on April 29th to honor this event and I am so happy to announce that I am selected to be there as a vendor. I will have wonderful photos of Japan and of cherry blossoms available for sale and 20% of all sales will be donated to the Japanese Disaster Relief Fund Boston for the continued tsunami relief efforts. Click here for more information about this event. I'm so excited!

♥ Thank you Carrie for letting me know about this fun celebration ♥

Must Be Spring

These beautiful flowers are blooming everywhere around Boston. I love seeing them every springtime. Btw, does anyone know what they're called? :)

Flour Bakery

All the goodies that greet you in the morning. It always smells so wonderful!

I want to talk to you about Flour Bakery today. I crossed path with Flour a few years ago after I left my full-time job to pursue something more creative and fulfilling. I've always wanted to open my own bakery but had never worked in one before. I figured it would be a good learning experience and it was.

Joanne's famous sticky buns! They beat out Bobby Flay's in the Sticky Bun Throwdown and yes, they are incredible :)

Left: The bakery is just so comforting and inviting; Right: Special Valentine's Day cupcakes...so decadent!

I loved working at Flour. The staff was so wonderful. Working there, I had a greater appreciation for all of the baked goods and food that Flour offers. There is so much love that goes into making every single item!

Dreamy fresh fruit tart. The fruits always change depending on what's fresh and in season. I can never go back to eating glazed fruit tarts after working at Flour. It really takes the freshness away.

Another beautiful fruit tart

Mini tartlettes are perfect when you just want a little treat. They're about the size of a half-dollar coin and are oh so cute! From left to right: caramel nut, chocolate ganache, fresh fruit, milky way

To me, it's the perfect bakery. There's really something for everyone. It was always hard for me to recommend my favorites because there were so many! There is also a delicious lunch menu in addition to all of these amazing sweets.

Left: Coconut Macaroons; Right: Chocolate Cupcakes

I learned so much by working there. It was one of the best working experiences I've ever had. It was rewarding to be a part of such a great place where you truly believe in what you are offering to your customers. I loved Flour before I worked there and I love it even more after I've worked there. That's not something that can be said often.

Flour has such a nice comfortable vibe to it. Don't forget to eat lunch there. The food is delicious.

Me and Joanne at Flour's holiday party. I admire her so much. She's so inspirational with her love and vision for Flour. Plus, she's a great boss :)

So, you must go to Flour if you are ever in Boston (here is little sweet guide that I wrote for Cakespy if you do visit). If you don't ever intend to visit (which would make me sad), you're still in luck. Joanne's cookbook came out last year and there's a recipe for everything that you see here and much more! I love the book so much and have tried many recipes from it. Come back tomorrow where I'll share the recipe for Cornmeal Lime cookies (one of my favorite at Flour)!

P.S. Sorry if I made your sweet tooth act up after seeing all of these goodies (I know mine is!).