Last weekend my husband and I drove out to Palos Verdes to attend a wedding reception for a church friend. On the way there we stopped by a bakery that I had been wanting to visit for almost years at this point that was in Torrance: Patisserie Chantilly. It was located in an average looking, small Japanese plaza but the quality of what that bakery had to offer was nothing short of amazing. Chadsen & I are huge on finding little fine foods, especially when it comes to dessert and this place, Patisserie Chantilly surpassed our expectations. There I ate perhaps the most delicious cake I've ever tasted. It was like a delicacy. 

I ordered Gateau Fraise, which was a chiffon cake with strawberries and their special cream. It tasted pretty good. What blew us away was what Chadsen ordered though. He ordered a cake named Lyon, which according to the description was "Lemon-infused white chocolate mousse with banana cream." When he took the first bite Chadsen put down his hands away from the cake, closed his eyes, looked down as if in silent prayer, thanking the wonderful creator from above for blessing us with this cake and quietly said to me, "Nothing else exists right now" as he  floated into bliss. Without me. When it came my turn to taste Lyon, I completely understood what he meant. The combination and delicate mixture of the various flavors - banana, white chocolate, a little bit of lemon & the whatever-it-was crunch at the bottom was seriously made to perfection. If I weren't so sweets-satisfied I would have went up to the counter to order my own cake. In the end, not knowing when we would exactly be back we couldn't help but order one more item to finish our stay there- their popular black sesame cream puff. That too did not disappoint. Not too sweet!
I cannot wait to return to Patisserie Chantilly. :) 

This cake is it. The cake masterpiece.

Chadsen asked me to take a photo of it mid-eaten so he can remember what it looked like. So silly.

The black sesame cream puff.

M Kat

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This past weekend I got to tag along with Stephen Clint Photography to photograph a married couple who is expecting their first child: a baby boy. What an exciting time in life. That shoot being my first time doing a maternity photo shoot, feelings of nervousness and excitement filled me that day. The couple was so warm and sweet and Stephen, let me just say that anyone who gets to work with him is lucky. I had a great time with them. It was a great day :).
The photos will tell you how I felt about the sweet couple's anticipatory occasion.

Soon.

Masumi

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Hi again, it's been a while yet again, hasn't it? Last month's Project Ten Challenge was Nostalgia. When this theme was given I knew exactly what I wanted to portray. It just took some time to get the photos and time to finish this project. One day late from the due date, but it's done :)

Google defines Nostalgia as "a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations." Many look back at the past and think "The good ol' days.", "Wouldn't it be nice to be a kid again." Although many may truly smile when they look back at their good memories of the past, with this project I challenge the idea of nostalgia and bring to light the notion that nostalgia perhaps does not apply to many individuals that you and I interact with everyday. I believe that though we may not think about it often, people may not have any memories in the past to feel nostalgic about. Having stated that, I wanted to portray a few individuals and have you, the audience look beyond what you see and ask, "Nostalgic, or maybe not?" Can you ask yourselves, "How did this individual grow up?" "What was their life like before they got to this point?" I did not personally ask these individuals about their background so I cannot even tell you if they have a nostalgic past. We'll just have to wonder together.

Regardless of whether one's past can be one of nostalgia or not I believe the path that has led one to be who they are today... 

is beautiful. 

A special thank you to the classmates from my dance class from my summer course for doing such a great job at modeling for me for this project. 

Sidenote: Expect more photos soon. :) You'll be seeing more soon.

M Kat

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