happy holidays!

Happy Holidays, friends! Whatever holiday you celebrate, I hope it's a wonderful time of love and merriment for you and your family. As we bow out for the year, I wanted to share a couple photos (and some outtakes) from our family holiday card, shot by Max Wanger and Our Labor of Love. Since this was our first holiday card photo, we decided to do something fun and festive! Ruby was hungry and cranky at the beginning of our session, but as soon as this silver tinsel came out...bam, she was loving it and could have played in it for hours (well, maybe 20 minutes)!

Oh, and I had to share this recent video of Ruby walking down the street after we took our family photos. This last month has been so fun as we've watched her turn into this tiny mobile person. This little girl is, indeed, my favorite Christmas present yet!

Have an amazing holiday and New Year's everyone! Thanks so much for following along over here this year, and I look forward to sharing more with you in 2013. I'll be taking a blog break next week, so I'll see you back here on January 2!

P.S. If you're looking for any last-minute holiday inspiration, see how I create A Colorful Christmas tree, try my new favorite holiday cookie recipe or make some sweet pop-up placecards for the dinner table.

{Photos by by Max Wanger and Our Labor of Love. My dress is by Tracy Reese, belt is vintage, shoes are from a past season at Anthropologie, and hair pouf is by Ban.do; Bob's tie is by J.Crew and denim blazer from Mr. Porter; Ruby's dress is Jason Wu for Target and pink tights from Gap.}

a-door-able...

I've been totally in love with doors lately, and the idea of turning a door into a statement piece. Whether it's your front door or one inside your home (or even cabinet doors), doors are pretty fun elements to play with. I covered my studio door in rose-gold polka dots and would love to do something whimsical like that to our front door when we own a house. Here are a few of my favorite doors I've found on the web recently (and here are a few more I've collected over on my "A-door-able" Pinterest board).

{Image credits: Halfsies door via Design*Sponge, rainbow cabinet doors photographed by Magnus Anesund, and neon door via Tretoen.}

hers & mine...

Oftentimes we end up matching, whether I plan it or not...

top | Hers: silver mocs from Freshly Picked. Mine: Clare Vivier messenger bag from Roztayger.

middle | Hers: MaS hooded jacket (similar). Mine: Kate Spade jacket (from a few years ago).

bottom | Hers: Bunny from Walnut Animal Society. Mine: CrewCuts oxfords.
(Yep, kids' shoes fit grown-ups if you're a size 7 or below!)

Do you guys ever find yourself matching your loves ones by accident?

{Photos by Oh Joy. Rug by Nuloom.}

Make Someone Happy - No. 04: Party on the Go

This month's Make Someone Happy video is all about taking the party wherever you go and spreading cheer—not only for the holidays, but year-round. There's nothing like a little confetti to help make anyone feel a bit more cheerful this season. I hope you enjoy it—and that it inspires you to fill every day we have with a little spark of happiness.

P.S. Thanks to the girls of Ban.do for being my special guests! The materials used in the video include: clear ornaments in plastic or glass (we sprayed the tops with neon spray paint), metallic sparkle confetti, large tissue confetti, art tissue confetti, gold pleather, washi tape, neon pink twine, and glitter horns (used to fill the ornaments).

{Video by Modshift. Music: "Living Life" by David Swensen, licensed from With Etiquette. My outfit: dress by Tracy Reese, Coat by Crewcuts (or adult size here), and hair accessory by Ban.do}

currently snacking on...

While candy canes are still in season, I've been trying to use them as an accent to some of my favorite snacks. So, I used the leftover candy canes I had from these cookies to sprinkle them on dark chocolate ice cream. For some extra texture, I blended up sugar cones into an ice cream cone dust. Yum! The combo is pretty magical...

{Photo by Oh Joy}

feeling like a little meal...

It's been so fun watching Ruby's little palate develop over the last several months. Now that she eats whatever we do, I love being able to nurture her exploration of food through tasting different things, reading about different foods, and making meal time fun in general. Here are a few of my favorite ways to instill a love of eating in the littles..

{01. Skip Hop plate and mat, 02. Brita water bottle for kids, 03. French Bull plate set, 04. Hola! Jalapeno and Yum Yum Dim Sum books,  05. Baguette sandwich toy from Land of Nod, 06. Skip Hop bento box, 07. Prince Lionheart seat (so great for places that don't have high chairs!), 08. Lollacup.}

*This post was brought to you in partnership with Brita Bottle for Kids. Help teach your kids to learn to love water. Learn more right here. All content, ideas, and words are my own. Thanks for supporting these sponsors that allow me to create special content like this for Oh Joy.

happy friday + the mixed family...

With December being such a family-focused time of year, what with the holidays, I've been thinking a lot about family and traditions, and how much our world is becoming a bigger and bigger melting pot. While Ruby is Asian, she's a mix of two Asian cultures (I'm Thai, and Bob is Korean). She'll hear her grandparents speak in two different languages, she'll learn about two different ethnic traditions, and she'll become familiar with two different kinds of foods—all on top of the American culture we're raising her in and everything else we expose her to.

Since our friends are so multicultural, Ruby's friends are mostly children of mixed race or mixed ethnicity, too. It's funny to think that we rarely meet kids who are 100% of any one background these days. It's amazing and beautiful, and I feel like our generation is the first in which it's becoming more common and more accepted to see such a rainbow of faces. After I posted about Ruby's Dol, a reader recently asked if I would share what we do (or hope to do) in both our marriage and as parents to continue to incorporate our mix of cultures in her life. And, because I'm still figuring out a lot of this myself, I'm always up for being inspired by others. So, I also asked some friends how they mix in their various cultures into their own family. Here's what they, with some of my own thoughts as well...

practice makes...

For the last couple nights I've been watching the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Have you guys seen it? I originally thought it was going to be mostly beautiful images of one of my favorite foods—and though I walked away craving sushi like no one's business, I was even more inspired by Jiro's process and way of thinking. The 85-year-old Michelin-awarded sushi chef and his sons talk about how important it is to spend time learning your craft, and how skills are developed over time. They emphasize that there's no fast and easy path to being successful or rich, but that with hard work and dedication, you can become really good at something you're passionate about.

The documentary also features the vendors that Jiro works with (the rice dealer, the shrimp dealer, the tuna dealer), all of whom know their specialties to a tee—but all of whom also strive to improve and learn more every day. With our world being so fast and focused on instant gratification, I love the reminder that sometimes the best things and the best rewards in life do take time and love to grow and mature...

{Movie stills via Magnolia Pictures}

feeling like objets d'art...

Both beautiful and functional, here are a few things I'm loving that are pretty easy on the eyes. They'd also make sweet last minute gifts for your dear friend, sister, mom, or another special lady in your life...

01. sculpted knot from Leif, 02. Artecnica mobile, 03. Caitlin McGauley tray, 04. tassel bracelet from Leif, 05. copper graters from Poketo, 06. clutch by Kindah.

a daily essentials {giveaway}...

You know those few must-have items that you grab right before you head out the door? Well, today we have a special giveaway featuring three of my current favorite essentials right now. For our last giveaway of 2012, I've partnered with Of a Kind to give away these three limited-edition pieces to one lucky reader: a Clare Vivier cheetah suede cross-body bag, an Otaat embossed leather card holder, and a Shipley & Halmos dot scarf (a $376 total retail value).

To enter, simply sign up for Of a Kind's mailing list, then visit the Of a Kind website and leave a comment below telling us another item from the site that you're loving. Entries must be posted by this Friday, December 14th at 8 a.m. PST, and one winner will be chosen at random*. Good luck!

Also, as a special bonus, Of a Kind is offering 20% off anything in their shop. Use code OFAKINDLOVESOHJOY through December 19th.

Update: Congrats to Anne H. M. for being our winner this time!

*Sorry, limited to U.S. readers only. Please do not leave your email or web address in the body of the comment, only in the allotted boxes. $376 USD total value. Winner will be contacted by email once comments close, and announced at the bottom of this post soon after.