Terumi Pong

A few last photos from May and I’m not sure I’m ready for this next month. Maybe that’s one reason we’ve just been on the go since January this year. It’s the guys’ final bit of school at their K-8 and it’s starting to really hit us all. This is also likely the last time they go to school together and they’ve been such a pair their whole lives. I know it’s good for them, and for me too, but it doesn’t make it feel any easier. Usually this time of year I’m so done with making lunches and driving to all the things but this year it’s feeling just all that more sentimental. It’s hard to believe that time passes so quickly but it really does. Are you on summer holidays already or do you still have a bit to go too?

Really feels like a New York minute and I think our feet are thankful we’re heading home today.

We’re heading out on another adventure soon so I’ve been frantically deleting photos off my phone to make room so here are a few Arizona photos I don’t want to forget. And to explain the falcon picture: we were coming out of our hotel room on the way to coffee and were unexpectedly greeted by this beautiful bird. How many times has that ever happened? And the fry bread place is one we’ve stopped at every time we’re in the area since the kids were small- it’s absolutely delicious.

Letting out a bit of sad this morning because it fits today and it’s been percolating for a little while now. I’m reading a book by Jodi Picoult and I’m only about a chapter in but it starts with a quote “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards” (Søren Kierkegaard) and I can’t get this quote out of my head. It reminds me of when I visited my jichan at the beginning of last year when he was still living in his house on his own and it didn’t feel like there was a hint or whisper that his health would drastically fail a few weeks later. My husband and I were having tea with him at his kitchen table and then he disappeared around the corner for long enough that I went to check on him. I found him fiddling with a frame from his wall that was full of old pictures from my childhood -a frame that had been on his wall as long as I can remember. My husband offered to help him put it back up. But my jichan gave it to me. Why are you giving me this? And he wouldn’t put it back on his wall. Why are you giving me this? And I cried all the way home. Now the frame is on my wall and there will be no more new photos or memories and tomorrow it will be a year since my jichan left this earth. And I can feel the giant hole in my heart that I try my best to ignore most days. I don’t know if it will ever go away. I worry sometimes that over the years it will be more like a black hole in the universe that will eventually swallow up everything in its path. But I’m hoping it becomes more like that pottery art where you fill broken ceramics with gold to make them more resilient and imperfectly beautiful. It gives me a little peace to see the happy faces in the photographs. surrounding me as a little kid. And I still feel like that little kid on so many days. Maybe even in his 90s my jichan did too. I don’t know if we ever feel old enough, ready enough, wise enough… But maybe somehow he knew I’d need these memories more than anything. Maybe we do figure things out a bit more as we age. I hope so. I miss you jichan. ❤️ I still can’t believe you’re gone.

**GIVEAWAY closed congrats @mollywanderstheworld ** Does your neighborhood store have Bingo?! I am partnering with @pccmarkets this year to share happenings at the Ballard store near where I live. I recently popped in to pick up a few plants to spruce up my garden as well as get some local snacks to share with a friend when I noticed a sign that says there is Bingo here every first Thursday of the month from 4-6pm in the Cove area where my guys and I had the most delicious chowder a few weeks ago. Any guesses where I’ll be on one of these upcoming Thursdays soon? Do you love Bingo? Or even just shopping for plants too? I also have a $50 gift card to giveaway to one of you! To enter: 💐make sure you are following @helloterumi and @pccmarkets 💐like and save this post 💐comment below about the last time you played Bingo👇 or if you know what kind of plant I’m holding in the cover picture. 💐tag a friend for a bonus entry This giveaway closes 5/24/2023 at 11:59 pm PT and the winner will be chosen randomly and contacted through Instagram DM. Do not share personal details with other accounts. This giveaway is not affiliated with Instagram. Good luck!✨✨✨

Feels like we got a bonus summer night or maybe a preview, the kind of lazy evening with pretty light and pizza outside and no fixed plans where we all feel like we’re almost 12 again✨✨✨ (and then we watched Ted Lasso and that show is simply perfect too. Are you watching it too?) happy weekend ❤️

I headed to @traveltacoma today to hang out with @msrachelteodoro and check out the new @utopian.garden exhibit put on by @tacomaartslive ✨✨✨ and here’s a little peek. Also make sure to stop in @luv.a.latte.espresso if you’re in the area. It’s such a cute coffee shop and I tried a pink drink there (it’s in my stories) made with white coffee (I had never heard of this type of coffee before but it has to do with how the beans are roasted) and it was delicious. I wish I had time to stop at the @museumofglass today as well but I was in a bit of a rush to get home so I’ll have to come back again soon. (I think it might even be reciprocal and free with some levels of the @mohaiseattle membership I’ll have to check)As I drove back to Seattle after the exhibit I was reminded how art inspires our minds in ways we don’t always realize, especially when we’re invited to immerse ourselves in it and play and take our time with it and I don’t think we always value experiences like this enough. And don’t you feel a bit more creative after seeing a bit of art too? #tacoma #utopiangarden #tacomaart #tacomaartist #immersiveart

Sometimes even just a short walk changes the day ✨when Scout strikes a pose in an attempt for treats and makes us laugh ✨and we see that the lupines are almost blooming ✨we notice the sky feels too much like fire season tonight. Is it just me or did you smell smoke too? ✨and I never noticed that buttercups aren’t all the same or maybe these are a different type of flower? ✨And where did this boat come from and where will it go? How many hundreds of journeys and stories does it have? We pass so many things in our day without really noticing. And suddenly it’s not just a regular evening, but one we might remember for a little while longer. 💕

**all free coffee drinks have been claimed. Thank you for stopping by one of my favorite Seattle coffee shops** This week I’m visiting some local coffee shops for Small Business Month with #toyota and the new #bZ4X battery electric vehicle (it’s a fun ride but I do have to give this one back) and tomorrow if you’re in Seattle I might have a coffee for you too. I’ve partnered with @toyotausa to support one of my favorite local shops @theflorabakehouse (if you’ve been following for a bit you may have heard me talk about them before). The energy and positivity this place puts into our Seattle community is admirable-I have seen them give back so much to local schools, I love following along with their instagram feed and their rose cardamom latte is pretty delicious too-so today (May 16) I’ve left a gift card there for a free coffee drink on me (and Toyota) until it runs out (maybe the first 50ish customers or so after @theflorabakehouse opens at 7am) Have you been to this local ☕️shop before and did you know Toyota has a battery electric SUV? #sponsored (PS I’m also really proud that I figured out how to connect my phone to the car to setup my maps and listening books all on my own and how cool is it that cars can do this? The first car I ever drove had cassette tapes-we’ve come a long way! And don’t get me started on how incredible it is that this vehicle gets its energy from a plug…)

Thank goodness we had a soccer bye, this weekend of all weekends. ✨✨✨

Happy Friday!! Did this one come way too quickly for you too? Apparently it’s supposed to get Arizona hot in Seattle this weekend and I have no idea what to think about that-I’m still unpacking from a few days away in actual Arizona so maybe we brought the weather home in our suitcases? I’m really thankful my husband helped me do this conference safely and less lonely (my immune system is still wiped out from my infusion treatments so I have to be so careful even not to get a cold) and convinced me I could even do a little bit of the Camelback mountain hike so we could catch some views. I also really appreciated him waking me up for 5:30 am swims-I’m really not a morning person but haven’t swam in way too long. At 5:30am the pool was empty. And it felt glorious. (Morning people really have it good.) Happy weekend!! (ps. If you have fun plans let me know 👇I’d love to follow along. 💕)

#ad My guys humored me the other night @thelandinginrenton with a picture I’m going to frame for my own Mother’s Day gift and isn’t it sometimes the simplest things that become the most precious?? Also if you’re local @thelandinginrenton is having a fun giveaway where you get a chance to tell why your mom is special to you ( I’ve posted the link )👆and I think this would make the sweetest gift too. We went for dinner and it was tough to choose between places like @doughzoneusa @papayavietnamese @therockwoodfiredpizza and @bigchickenshaq but the guys decided we haven’t had @redrobinburgers in way too long and they were craving the mud pie. I’m always amazed how they can make a giant dessert like that disappear in seconds. And it was just a really nice evening hanging out together- I love how spontaneous nights like this, especially on golden weather days, become unexpected memories. (Like does Mother’s Day need to be celebrated on the exact day or can we have it on another day or even stretch it out over a few days to make it more of a celebration month too?)

I used to be so scared of flying. I’m not sure if it was being so high up in the air or claustrophobia or a combination of both. But after not being able to fly at all in 2020, I’ve noticed that all I’ve felt when I look out the window in an airplane lately is just awe. It is pretty incredible that we can buy a ticket, settle ourselves in a chair in this bird-like vehicle and suddenly we’re in the air, so far above our everyday life. How much more magical could anything be? Maybe not being able to travel at all has now become the scarier thing than the fears I used to have. And maybe sometimes this is what it takes to appreciate something we’ve taken for granted. I’m so thankful we can fly again. (Also do you prefer the window or the aisle seat? )

When you meet some of your nephew’s heroes. ✨✨✨ Thank you so much @blippi and @theofficialmeekah this was the sweetest! @alizinna wish you guys were here IRL for this. 💕 #mom2summit #blippi #meeka #auntieteethatsme