Baby Ethan has arrived!

Just wanted to spread our family's good news...Baby Ethan is here! Born on Tuesday, February 24, 2009. He's healthy and happy. Congratulations to my brother Brad and Michelle. Yayyyy!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to All!

Just wanted to share some of my Valentine's day lovelies from my hubby Jimmy. Love the South American pink roses and the red heart shaped box of chocolates. Jimmy couldn't wait for me to open the chocolates and share with him! They were delish.

Penguin Spotted in Waikiki

At the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki, Jimmy spotted this cute little penguin snoozing on the job standing up.

Close To My Heart Acrylic Stamps...create Super Cute Baby Shower Invite

joy joy joy

My little brother Brad and his wife Michelle are expecting their first child Late February. He will be the first bundle of Joy for the Suzuki family. My mom and dad are super SUPER HaPpY as are we all. I volunteered to do the baby shower invites. Sorry, the pics are not the greatest. Just wanted to share the card creating process. I thought they came out pretty sweet and innocent looking. Not my normal style so I was pretty pleased.

I used my trusty acrylic stamps from Close To My Heart. Yes, I’m a CTMH Consultant and love their paper and stamp designs. I use my CTMH acrylic stamps and paper a lot to create my packaging for my jewelry. I LoVe creating tags and little Thank You cards which I send along with my jewelry to my customers.

Take care,

Stacy

UPDATE on June 19, 2009: BUY THESE STAMPS NOW---I have the Baby Impressions acrylic stamps for sale in my Lilikoi Cottage shop...I have one unused set Left.

Remembering the Departed in this New Year 2009

Buddhist temple grounds

inside one portion of the temple


a bucket of matches to light the incense


the incense which we light
to honor the departed spirits


beautiful placards for the departed spirits


the beautiful red pillars in front of the temple

a lovely little pond with lotus plants


wishing you all peace, serenity, love, joy, and hope
in this new year

Each culture has its own special traditions and rituals that they honor and continue.

In Hawaii, the Chinese Americans who are Buddhist visit temples such as this one in Nuuanu to bring flowers, food offerings--usually the departed person's favorite fruits or sweets, and say prayers while lighting incense to their dearly departed. In the temple, there are hundreds of wooden placards with each loved ones name written in Chinese. Many of these placards have both the husband and wife's names on them.

Jimmy and his famiy visit their mom at this temple...instead of going to her gravesite. Here we light incense, bow our heads, and speak to her.

This is a similar tradition that people do when they visit their loved ones gravesite.

I've always found this temple to be so beautiful and peaceful. Such a lovely place to visit and honor Jimmy's mom. We'll be visiting her there soon to celebrate Chinese New Year with her.

Our Vaca in Waikiki...Local Tourists

Diamond Head at its Best

A view from our Hilton Hawaiian Village view

A typical New Year's Day in Waikiki
Oahu, Hawaii


Waikiki at Night


this is what happens when you try to take your own photo


Happy New Year!

Considering visiting Hawaii? Are you freezing your buns off? Are you wondering what the sun feels like? Tired of sneezing coughing hacking shivering? Come on over to Hawaii. This is the best time to visit us.

We decided to play the tourist this past week to celebrate the New Year. Staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, we got an excellent corner room with a view of Aloha Tower to view the fireworks at midnite and the rest of Waikiki which includes the view of Diamond Head. Wow! What a 180 degree view. I loved looking at the city lights at night. Fabulous!

On New Year's Eve, we popped some Italian bubbly, Prosecco, and watched the fireworks at Aloha Tower, Kaimuki, and off the shores of Waikiki. Talk about a celebration.

We ended the evening watching the Entourage marathon on HBO. Yayyyy!

Happy New Year....Hauoli Makahiki Hou...from Hawaii.

Hauoli Makahiki Hou---Happy New Year---from Hawaii!

January 1, 2009

Oahu, Hawaii
Waikiki

Wanted to share a view of the fireworks at Aloha Tower on January 1st 2009 midnite. This is a view from our awesome hotel room at the Hilton room 2926...the corner room! What a perfect way to spend the new year with my hubbie.