Los Angeles

Megumi & Daniel’s Wedding Weekend

June 3, 2015 By Misono in Family and Friends, Videos Tags: Ali, All of Me, bridal party, bridesmaid, ceremony, dan, Daniel, flower girl, Glendale, Granville, John Legend, kimono, LA, Los Angeles, Megumi, Mio, Mirei, reception, rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, Sam, Southern California, Vertigo, video, wedding

After spending a week in Northern California, we drove down on Friday, May 22nd for the much-anticipated wedding of our dear friends Megumi & Daniel! The rehearsal dinner was on Friday evening, and the wedding was on Sunday, and we were honored that Megumi and Daniel had asked Mio and I to part of their bridal party — I was so touched that Megumi had asked me to a bridesmaid, and Mio a flower girl in what was to us the wedding of the year! We wereÂ all so excited to see them and our mutual friends again since it’s been so long since we were last together, but it was truly extra special to be there by their side as they tied the knot.

We drove down on Friday and got to Glendale in the afternoon, in time for the rehearsal at Vertigo, where the ceremony and reception would be on Sunday. The rehearsal went well, full of heartwarming moments and hugs with friends we had missed so much!

Megumi & Daniel's ceremony rehearsal — After the wedding rehearsal on Friday

After the ceremony rehearsal, everyone was invited to Daniel’s parents’ beautiful home in Alhambra, where a taco truck catered a delicious rehearsal dinner, along with lots of amazing sides and desserts cooked up by Megumi and her family and friends.

Mirei and Kanoa at the rehearsal dinner — We got to meet Ali and Tim’s adorable son Kanoa for the first time! He’s only a few months older than Mirei, so it was cute watching them play together.

Leila taking selfies on my phone — I loved meeting Megumi’s adorable niece and nephew! Here’s sweet Leila-chan.

Kaminaga kids' selfies — The Kaminaga kids! Leila and Julian. 🙂

They loved taking selfies with my camera, so I took a bunch of videos of the adorable kiddos.

On Saturday evening, we had dinner at Granville in downtown Glendale with some of the other bridesmaids and friends from San Francisco/Nakayoshi who were in town for the wedding. So glad we got to spend some extra time with them. 🙂

"Mama, take a picture of panda!" — “Mama, take a picture of panda!” Mio feeding a sprig of rosemary to the panda doll that accompanied our travels.

Sunday started bright & early for the bridesmaids, as we got breakfast together at the hotel and gathered in Megumi’s suite for makeup and hair.

Getting my hair done as a bridesmaid on the wedding day.

Sam enjoying some In-N-Out during bridal party prep! — Sam enjoying some In-N-Out during prep! The bridal party’s got to eat, and these were some pretty satisfying provisions! 😀

Gorgeous bride in her wedding dress — The gorgeous bride in her wedding dress.

The stunning bride! — Isn’t she just breathtaking? *sigh* Megumi was truly stunning!

Selfie with the bride! I don’t recognize myself with all the heavy makeup. lol

With lovely MOH Sam! — With the lovely Maid of Honor, Sam!

Room for the ceremony. Those hanging white flowers were made out of coffee filters and pipe cleaners, and many hours of hard work by the bride and the other bridesmaids (I only helped a little at the end when I came into town). They turned out gorgeous!

Even the bathrooms were gorgeous! — The venue Megumi & Daniel chose was so glamorous. Even the bathrooms were gorgeous, with these huge, ceiling-high leaning mirrors!

Daniel & Megumi's first look — First look between the bride and groom. â™¥

Of course, I had to get it on video, too.

Love my flower girl! — Mio getting ready as the flower girl!

Can't believe Megumi sewed the flower girl dresses! — Can’t believe Megumi sewed the flower girl dresses! The inspiration was Carrie Bradshaw.

Mio with MOH Sam — Shy Mio with beautiful Sam.

The happy couple with the kids in the bridal party. The cutest flower girls and ringbearers 🙂

pre-wedding libations — The bride & groom enjoying some pre-ceremony libations

Lovely wedding cake! — The wedding cake was gorgeous, with gold ombre and beautiful details. Everything was perfection — not a surprise, considering that it was Megumi’s wedding!

Mio being silly with the photobooth props

Mirei with Daddy — Dan arriving with Mirei. He was on babysitting duty during the ceremony, since Mio and I were in the bridal party.

Because I was in the ceremony, and Dan was busy wrangling a cranky Mirei, we unfortunately don’t have any photos from the actual ceremony, but it was beautiful and tearjerking, and so fitting for Megumi & Daniel!

Afterwards, we had fun mingling with friends, and Mio had a ball playing with the photobooth props.

Megumi changed into a gorgeous purple kimono for the reception. It went perfectly with her wedding color scheme, and she looked absolutely beautiful in it!

Daniel & Megumi in kimono — The bride & groom looking amazing in their kimonos

The bride with her proud parents — Megumi surprised her parents with the kimono! So sweet â™¥

Mr. & Mrs. Xavier making their way to the reception — The kimono was gorgeous, even from the back. Look at that obi!

With the bride in kimono! — With the stunning bride in her kimono.

Table numbers made by Dan — Dan made the table numbers for the wedding. The centerpieces came out gorgeous!

During the reception, Megumi surprised Daniel by serenading him with John Legend’s “All of Me” during the slideshow. It was so romantic, and Megumi has such a beautiful voice. 🙂

Megumi and Daniel cakecutting — Cakecutting time! Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Xavier!

Megumi's bouquet toss — Megumi’s bouquet toss!

Flower girl Mio — Mio caught a small part of the bouquet… a single rose head. 🙂

Alas, we couldn’t stay too late into the wedding, as we had to catch a plane very early Monday morning, so we had to say our goodbyes and return to our hotel to pack and get a couple hours of sleep before we had to depart the following morning.

Saying goodbye to Ali and Sam — Saying goodbye to aunties Ali and Sam

Polaroid with fellow bridesmaids Ali and Sam — One last photo with fellow bridesmaids Ali and Sam

Congratulations Daniel & Megumi! We were so happy we could be there for your big day. Thank you for letting us be a part of it! â™¥

Surprise Package from Megumi!

January 14, 2015 By Misono in Family and Friends Tags: bridesmaid, California, Daniel, flower girl, Los Angeles, mail, Megumi, Mio, misono, package, surprise, wedding

We got some beautiful surprise packages in the mail this week from our dear friend Megumi! There was one small package for Mio, and a larger one addressed to me. We were so excited to open them!

Beautiful surprise package from Megumi! — Mio’s package contained an adorable little purple penguin (handmade by My Dear Darling!) and a card with a question…

We loved all the amazing gifts in the package, and can’t wait until Megumi & Daniel’s big day! Looks like our family is definitely headed to Los Angeles in May for the wedding of the year! 🙂

Los Angeles 2013: Day 1

March 12, 2013 By Misono in Family and Friends, Local Gems, Wanderlust Tags: Alhambra, beach, Brent, Daniel, Estella, Fluff Ice, Gardena, LA, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Megumi, ramen, Shinsengumi, SoCal, Southern California, spam musubi

We spent the past week visiting our family and friends on the West Coast! We first arrived in Los Angeles the first weekend of March, before flying up to the Bay Area to spend the rest of the time with Dan’s parents before we flew back to Virginia this past weekend. We really wanted to make the stop in Los Angeles while we were in California, because some of our closest friends that we’d made in Bay Area had relocated to Southern California in recent years, and we couldn’t imagine making the trip out West without seeing them! Our dear friends Megumi and Daniel graciously opened up their beautiful home in Alhambra for us to stay in, and we have Estella and Brent to thank for picking us up at LAX and shuttling us around everywhere the first day in their spacious car. It’s not easy to host and take care of a family of three (especially when one is a jetlagged toddler), and we can’t express how grateful we were for all their thoughtful preparation and warm hospitality!

As usual, we took so many pictures throughout the trip, that I’m going to break our trip up into separate posts. Enjoy our snapshots from Day 1, below…

Taking the shuttle to our terminal. — At Dulles: waiting to take the shuttle to our terminal.

She only fell asleep for the last 5 minutes of the flight. Of course. — Mio only fell asleep for the last 5 minutes of the flight. Of course.

Eating lunch together at Shinsengumi — After getting picked up at LAX by Brent and Estella, we met up with Megumi and Daniel for lunch at Shinsengumi Hakata Ramen.

Shinsengumi! My favorite â¤ — My friend Mariko had first taken me to Shinsengumi a few years ago, and it’s since become one of my favorite ramen places in SoCal! So delicious. 🙂

spam musubi! — I got a side of spam musubi to go with my ramen. I was so full afterwards!

After lunch, we headed over to spend the afternoon at Manhattan Beach… while it had been 28 degrees when we left DC, it got up to 85 degrees in LA that day! Life is not fair… made us wonder why we didn’t just move down to SoCal instead of to Northern Virginia! 😛

Princess status. — Mio was asleep in the stroller, and we couldn’t take the stroller through the sand, so the guys carried her out onto the beach. Princess status!

Megumi at Manhattan Beach — Megumi is glowing! A true California girl â™¥

Mio sleeping on the beach. — Mio sleeping peacefully on the beach.

Mio is awake! — Mio woke up, but was not in the best mood… I think we discovered that she is not a fan of sand. She would cry every time her feet touched it!

Reunited and it feels so good! We missed them so much.

Mio looks cranky... — A family picture at Manhattan Beach â™¥

Everyone waving at Mio — Everyone trying to cheer Mio up. 🙂

For dinner, Estella and Brent took us to an awesome Taiwanese place called Kang Kang Food Court for dinner. They’d introduced us to delicious soup dumplings before up in NorCal, but this time they took us to eat crispy soup dumplings! So good!!!

Such delicious crispy soup dumplings! — Pan-fried soup dumplings!

The gang at dinner! — Dinner with our favorite people!

Our family at dinner — Our family of three at dinner!

After dinner, Megumi suggested we go get dessert at Fluff Ice, which serves fluffly Taiwanese style shaved ice! True to its name, it was so fluffy soft and light, and we loved it! 😀

Green tea flavored fluff ice with red bean and mochi — I got green tea flavored fluff ice with red bean and mochi!

Fluff Ice with Megumi — Special thanks to Megumi for the picture!

Mio was jetlagged and exhausted, but was such a trooper! — Mio was jetlagged and exhausted, but was such a trooper and in good spirits, staying up until about 9pm Pacific Time!

When we got back to Megumi & Daniel’s we put Mio to bed, and stayed up playing board games together while munching on delicious desserts that Megumi had prepared! You can see the rest of our stay in Los Angeles in Day 2, which happened to land on Hinamatsuri!

A Rude Awakening

January 15, 2011 By Misono in News and Updates Tags: car, car accident, collision, damage, Honda Fit, LA, Los Angeles

I’m home alone this weekend while Dan goes down to LA to take care of some business. He left early this morning at dark o’clock, only to return a couple hours later with a big fat dent in the left side of my Fit! Apparently a woman rear-ended him while he was enroute to picking up his brother. 🙁 Thankfully no one was hurt.

Here’s the damage…

My poor little Fit… I only got her a few months ago, too! Â Oh well… at least no one was injured and the accident wasn’t Dan’s fault so we won’t have to pay for any of the repairs.

Dan headed back out a few hours ago, and this time they are taking his brother’s car. Hopefully they will have a safe trip there and back. Be careful, hubby!

Weekend in SoCal (Part I)

March 29, 2010 By Misono in Family and Friends, Foodie Love, Wanderlust Tags: BCD Tofu House, beach, bulgogi, college, friends, froyo, frozen yogurt, Irvine, Korean, LA, Le Pain Quotidien, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Mariko, Pinkberry, Shun, SoCal, Southern California, tofu house, Yogurtland

Dan and I were both in Southern California this weekend, although we arrived separately and were in different parts of SoCal and didn’t see each other for much of the time. Dan and his film buddies were in Pasadena to shoot a short, and they drove down on Friday night, whereas I flew down on Friday morning and stayed in Irvine and Torrance to spend time with my friends from college — our plans just happened to fall on the same weekend, so we ended up both being down there but ironically separated until it came time for us to drive back up to the Bay Area.

Dan may blog about his shoot a little later, but this post will be all about my adventures this past weekend. 😛

My good friend Mariko lives in Irvine, and I hadn’t seen her since last June, so I was really happy to have a chance to go spend some time with her this time. Our friend Shun from Virginia Tech is moving back to Japan, and he was stopping by SoCal for the weekend before flying to the other side of the world, so it was a good chance to see him as well, before he left the U.S.

We spent most of Friday in the Los Angeles area and Saturday in San Diego. Here are some photos from Day One in Manhattan Beach and Irvine….

prosciutto mozarella tartine — Prosciutto & Mozzarella di Bufala tartine with sun-dried tomatoes & basil pesto from Le Pain Quotidien at Manhattan Beach. Delicieux!

lunch with Mariko at Le Pain Quotidien — Mari had a warm organic turkey and cheddar tartine. Also very yum.

after lunch in Manhattan Beach — Outside Le Pain Quotidien. We were pretty stuffed at this point. Thank you for the lunch, Mari!

me at Manhattan Beach — We decided to walk it off with a stroll along Manhattan Beach.

Mariko on the beach — Mariko being her usual adorable self.

Mariko and Misono — Mari and Misono on Manhattan Beach!

goofing off — It was such a gorgeous day to be at the beach!

Mariko in the distance — Amazing sky, sand, and sea... stretching far into the distance.

me in the distance — We started getting a little giddy with the gorgeous beach and the lovely weather and started taking some silly photos.

my turn to take a photo with tiny Mariko — What are we doing? I'm not quite sure myself... but they are amusing, no?

the promised land! — We hit up Pinkberry, the original tart frozen yogurt.

Mariko and I at Pinkberry — I love froyo, and it was my first time having Pinkberry. I liked it! 🙂

original froyo with mango and mochi toppings — Original tart with mango and mochi toppings.

Mariko and Shun — After we picked up Shun from the LAX, we drove to Irvine to have some late dinner at BCD Tofu House.

dinner at BCD Tofu House in Irvine — Quite a feast!

bulgogi! — I don't like tofu, so instead of soon dubu, I had some of this bulgogi goodness. I hadn't had bulgogi in a few years! I used to have it all the time when I lived in NoVa.

Shun having his first taste of froyo — Shun-chan eating froyo for the first time! Must capture moment...

At Yogurtland, having our 2nd froyo of the day! — Mari and I at Yogurtland, having froyo for the second time in six hours...

Looking at the photos, it looks like all we did was eat, scamper around the beach, and go eat some more… and more… and more…. which I suppose is essentially the gist of what happened. There’s just so much good food in the area, I end up wanting to eat everything I see. It was really nice to spend time with college friends and reminisce on our days back at Tech — sometimes I wish I could just go back and experience it all over again. (I believe I suffer from a bit of Peter Pan Complex.) But it’s comforting to see that your close friends from those days have never really changed that much, and that you can always pick up right where you left off with them. It really makes me grateful for the friendships I made and have been able to carry with me.

Stay tuned for Part II, in which we encounter giant sea creatures and scale treacherous rock cliffs. (Sounds so epic!)

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