July Noteworthies

This month was an exciting month for me because my brother got married!  I was both a guest and a coordinator for their beautiful wedding at Calamigos Ranch in Malibu.  I had no idea that they had an entire resort area there that's dog friendly!  I am definitely going to check it out one of these days when a staycation is required!

 

Yay for family shot!

 It was really great to see extended family

 LOL, my grandma in these photobooth photos

I have always been a huge lover of live music, especially if it's a cover band.  During my walks with Echo, I have hard my neighbors playing in their garage and found out they were playing a show at a nearby restaurant.  Of course I went!  It was so much fun eating Argentinian food while watching these guys jam.  

I always hear these guys jamming when I walk Echo. So awesome to see them play tonight @thepeppertreegrill #madatoms #livemusic

A photo posted by Sherly Lam (@trulyblessedssl) on Jul 23, 2016 at 9:55pm PDT

I also rode the Santa Fe Dam trail for the first time and let me tell you, it was so much fun!  It felt like a much needed escape for an hour or two, the road was wide, and the path was fairly flat.  It was perfect for a beginner rider.

A photo posted by Sherly Lam (@trulyblessedssl) on Jul 16, 2016 at 9:14am PDT

Other noteworthies that I didn't take photos of was that my girlfriend and I went down to Palm Springs for a full day of shopping for her birthday, we celebrated my sister's and brother in law's birthday (yay!), and went to the 626 night market for the first time (it was just meh).

As far my book review is concerned, I ashamedly admit that I am only halfway through July's book because I forgot about my goal, hence got a late start!  But I will catch up and will review my book once I've finished it!

Hollywood Half Marathon

My friend and I had been training for the Hollywood Half Marathon for the past 6 weeks.  Every weekend, we dreaded the long runs....7 miles, 8 miles, all the way up to 12 miles the weekend before.  On the day of the event, adrenaline was pumping and we were ready.  My goal was to finish under 10/mi.  Not only did I reach my goal, but I crushed it!  I felt amazing the entire race and finished in 2:01 hrs @ 9:17/mi!

 Yes, it is still dark!  We got up at 3:30AM to take the train into Hollywood for a 6AM start time!

 Here we are halfway through the race, still feeling awesome!

A video posted by @trulyblessedssl on Apr 9, 2016 at 10:20am PDT

Here we are coming in at the finish line!  The best part of this video is overhearing a man say "That's what I'm talking about!  That's victory right there!"

We finished right before the rain started!  What a wonderful experience and a wonderful race!  And yes, we did decide to twin it!

Pumpkin Themed Baby Shower

My sister and brother-in-law are having a baby and I am going to have a new nephew in December!  I started thinking about ideas a few months ago and spent this past week preparing for their shower. Here are some photos from their special day!

 Gift table

 Closer look at the diaper cake

 Light appetizers: turkey meatballs from Trader Joe's, garlic hummus dip for veggies and chex mix scrambled with autumn mix sweets

 Interactive station: guess the celebrity baby, baby well wishes, and guest sign in

 I was in such a hurry that I didn't notice the well wishes card printed with black spots on the banner - argh!  I chose a guest sign-in that was more personalized, allowing guests to write a sweet message to baby boy and the final product can be used as decoration in his nursery

 Here's the final product of the guest sign-in!

 Dessert table: sweets from Trader Joe's, cheesecake from Portos and lots of pumpkin flavored candies

 Decorate a pumpkin contest!

 Group photo!

 With the proud parents to be!

Santa Barbara Wedding

We spent this past weekend in Santa Barbara celebrating the marriage of one of my oldest friends.  It is truly a blessing to remain so close to someone you met over two decades ago and be a part of such a pivotal moment in their life.

The chandelier gave such a classy and elegant feel

 With the beautiful bride

Baby Sprinkle

This past weekend, I threw a surprise baby sprinkle for one of my girlfriends who is having a baby girl!  The reason why it was a surprise is because this girl would never want to trouble anyone into doing anything for her, so if she knew, she would definitely have discouraged me from it.  She is always thinking of others and putting others before herself that it was great to make her feel as loved as she makes all of us feel.  It was a priceless moment as she walked in and was immediately overwhelmed by all the love surrounding her that it made all of us tear up alongside her!

 Crafts table with "Well wishes for baby" cards and a headband making station

 The theme I was trying to aim for was a girly Anthropologie pink/gold tea party

 I rented vintage tea cups, saucers, plates, kettles and books from an amazing rental place called Etablir. For favors, I bought 2x3 muslin bags and filled them with tea bags with a cute label that read "A Baby Is Brewing..."

 We had a lot of yummy treats from Trader Joe's and homemade chocolate covered strawberries that were delicious!  J helped tremendously with making the sandwiches (PB&J, cucumber, and egg salad).

 Here she is on her way in!

Doggy Dash

We participated in the 10K Doggy Dash benefiting pet cancer research this past weekend in Santa Monica.  There were so many adorable dogs there who did the walk/run with their humans, although we didn't bring our little guy because 10K would have been too much for his little legs.  Next time we'll do a 5k so that he can participate!

Finishing strong!

 Here I am (almost 15 mins later, LOL)

Mission accomplished!  On to the next race!

Robot Themed Baby Shower

This past weekend, I along with five other girls threw our gal pal a robot themed baby shower.  Everyone did an amazing job in welcoming her baby boy.  I was very pleased with how uniformly and seamlessly everything came together even though we all had our own tasks and worked independently of each other.  

 Welcome baby boy Lee!

 Drink bar with fresh fruity water and lemonade

 Fun party favors

Amazing dessert bar!

Planning crew plus the Momma to be (and someone's kid?)

With J - I have so many wrinkles now! :(

Merrell Down & Dirty Mud Run

J and I have been attending a fitcamp in Burbank over the past year in an attempt to get in shape, build endurance, stay healthy, and most importantly, it's a lot of fun!  The team just completed their first organized race - the Merrell Down & Dirty Mud Run.  I was too intimidated to run this year, but after seeing how much fun everyone had, I may just conjure up enough courage to run it next time!  Luckily, there were professional photographers at every obstacle to capture the day!

J #788 starting his 10K alongside our coach

Carrying a sandbag uphill for their first obstacle

Balancing skills at work

The final stretch, crawling through mud - eew!

Congratulations!

The proud finishers!

Before the race when J was still nice and clean