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It’s Our 5 Year Wedding Anniversary!

Today at 4:30 pm we’ll be married for 5 years. OMG! 5 years!? I can’t believe it. How is that even possible?

I was telling one of my best friends how Facebook has been helping me reminisce leading up to today with their “Memories.” To be honest that’s all I really go on FB for nowadays. That and cute dog videos 🙂

Our life was so different 5 years ago and it just feels like yesterday. Our house was busting at the seams with roommates, we had 1 dog and 2 doggie mates, and we were one of the first in our group of friends to get married. I remember 1.5 years of wedding planning, lots of late nights trying to get wedding stuff done after our day jobs, and closing down Ninong’s for the weekend. October 7-9 was the only weekend in the 8 years Ninong’s has been in business that we closed down. And that was because every single person that worked at Ninong’s at the time was invited to the wedding.

The day was everything I dreamed it would be. It was so incredibly magical. I woke up at 5 am because I couldn’t sleep.  Typical, since I used to wake up that early the week of all my prior clients’ weddings due to the excitement. The sun was rising and we were staying at Surf and Sand Hotel in Laguna Beach. Some of the girls, my mom, and I were getting our hair and make up done. After our first look my dad drove me in my 2002 WRX to our wedding ceremony at Heritage Park in Dana Point in front of a beautiful view. After that we celebrated the night away at [seven-degrees] in Laguna beach. 


Carissa + Charlie | Same Day Edit from Loyd Calomay on Vimeo.


I was on a love high from the entire weekend that lasted way past the wedding day. We were surrounded by so much love that day, I had never experienced anything like it before in my life. 


To my husband,

Thank you for all you do for me and our family. You are the most amazing man and I’m proud and fortunate to be your wife. Thank you for choosing me, for sticking by me, and for loving me for who I am not for who you want me to be. I never knew I could love someone the way I love you, and it grows with each passing day. Looking back and reminiscing about our last 5 years together, I can’t help but smile. My heart is filled with love because of all the laughs, the fun, and romantic moments. The Lord put you in my life to be my rock for when times got rough, He knew you would protect me and be there for me. And I will be forever grateful for that. 

I will thank the Lord every day for giving you to me. And I no matter what life may throw at us, I know that we can conquer anything as along as we do it together. I love you.

With all my heart,

Kissa

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Top 5 Kitchen Must Haves – Stuff we Eat

Happy Friday buddies! I am almost on vacay mode but before we head to Oceanside for the weekend I thought I’d post a #foodiefriday post about the 5 things we always have in our kitchen.

  1. Minced garlic: Charlie and I use garlic in almost everything we eat. To make it easier to cook with we buy the peeled garlic from the store and then run it through our food processor to mince it really quick. Put that in a tupperware with olive oil and it’ll last for over a month in the fridge. Piece of advice: NEVER go with the jarred stuff. That is preserved in citric acid and has very little flavor.
  2. Cast iron skillet: I love cooking on our cast iron skillet. It keeps heat longer unlike most pans that cool down almost instantly when you add ingredients to it. It’s great for frying chicken, making burgers, and getting a nice sear on a steak. Another great thing, you can go from stove top cooking and straight into the oven.
  3. Non-stick pan: I try not to use non-stick pans because of the supposed health risks of teflon but let’s be real here. When you’re making an over easy egg you gotta go non-stick. 
  4. Sea Salt: Salt is arguably the most important ingredient in cooking. It heightens and accentuates flavors in most dishes and can also draw out excess water from vegetables like mushrooms. I don’t like using regular table salt, it’s mostly just a personal preference.
  5. Sesame Oil: Charlie and I love the flavor of sesame oil. Since we cook a lot of Asian inspired dishes at home we have it readily available. We use it to give vinaigrettes and other salad dressings a different depth of flavor, when we have beef we have it as a dip with sea salt and pepper (Korean style), we use it in our poke recipe, and I even use it when I pop popcorn. It has a higher heating and smoke point than most oils (410 degrees compared to canola oil’s 400 degrees). 
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Encouragement Cards 2016 Release – Stuff we Make

This past January, my mom passed away from cancer. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and then it moved to her brain. She passed away in my childhood home with her family by her side and full of love. My mom was the strongest person I knew. Even in her weakest moments she was the one that stayed strong for all of us. These last 3 years of my life have been some of the hardest times I have ever had to endure. From trying to accept my mom’s sickness, to family problems, to financial issues, to business transitions, to changing jobs, to being in denial, to keeping a smile on my face even though I was hurting inside, to trying to catch up with the fast pace of every day life…it was hard. I guess it’s just like they say. When it rains it pours. And for us, from 2013 until 2016 it poured. It was one hurdle after another.

Kissa and Mom - Photo by Ja Tecson
Kissa and Mom – Photo by Ja Tecson

Not only did I lose my mom to cancer but I lost one of my best friends in 2012. He had leukemia. He would have been 30 this past January. We lost him so young and until the very end he remained so strong and positive.

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There were so many times that I wish it were me instead of them in the hospital bed – just so that they wouldn’t have to endure all the pain and suffering. Seeing someone you love have to fight a sickness is one of the hardest things ever. Because you can’t do anything about it. You want nothing but to take this sickness away from them. But you can’t. And for someone like me that’s really tough to do.

Needless to say cancer is a really big deal to me. It’s so important to me to be there for those that are suffering and having to endure treatments of any kind. I noticed that more I’ve meet more and more people that have or had cancer. Either that or have a loved one that is battling it. And it breaks my heart. When I hear stories, it doesn’t matter whether I know them or not I can’t help but shed a tear for them and their family. It’s almost like I know them. It feels like a really sucky club of some kind. The Sucky Cancer Fighters Club.

So I decided to create a line of encouragement cards for those fighting for their lives.

All of these designs are available in our shop and wholesale. I hope these cards give someone a little bit of hope and a smile when they need it most.

xoxo,

Kissa