a spring bag wardrobe {giveaway}...

Thanks to all your amazing comments on my handbag post with Fossil on Monday, Fossil has kindly offered to give away a very big gift to one lucky reader...a $1000 gift card to go towards a spring bag wardrobe from Fossil!

To enter, simply visit Fossil's website, and then leave a comment here telling me which bag is your favorite from the new spring collection (here are some of my favorites!). Entries must be posted by this Monday, February 4th at 8 p.m. PST, and one winner will be chosen at random*. Good luck!

UPDATE: Congrats to Megan B. from Cambridge, MA for being our winner this time! Also, thanks to amazing response to this giveaway, Fossil is choosing 10 additional winners to receive their favorite handbag! 

*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. $1000 USD total value. The gift card can be spent on anything on Fossil's website and not limited to just bags. Winner will be contacted by email once comments close, and announced at the bottom of this post soon after.

**This post is brought to you in collaboration with Fossil. All content, ideas, and words are my own. Thanks for supporting these sponsors that allow me to create new and special content like this for Oh Joy. See my Q&A on Fossil's blog.

{Photos above by Bonnie Tsang at the LACMA.}

{oh joy eats} half & half tea house...

You know might know that I love a good boba tea. Since I'm not a big coffee drinker, I love milk teas as a little midday pick-me-up, and Half & Half Tea House in Rowland Heights has become my new favorite spot.

With drink options like sesame black milk tea, lavender green milk tea, milk tea with caramel, pudding, and honey boba, plus a million other flavors, these teas are serious treats if you're up for some fun, exotic flavors. And Half & Half Tea House's tasty concoctions come in the most giant cups I've ever seen. They don't even fit in the cup holders in my car and they make me look like I have tiny hands! It's probably a good thing this place isn't too close to where I live because I'd be here every single day.

Half & Half Tea House | 17575 Colima Road, Ste. C | Rowland Heights, CA 91748 | 626.810.8778

{Photos by Bonnie Tsang. I'm wearing headphones by Frends, Madewell dotty leggings,  Milly jacket from a past season, eyeglasses by Rivet & Sway, hoodie from past season of J.Crew (similar), and boots c/o Loeffler Randall.}

a few things i'm loving...

Whenever I start a big new design project, I flood myself with as much inspiration as possible to get my creative juices flowing and make myself start thinking outside my norm. For this new project, I even started drawing on paper again! It's been so long since I've done that—I usually go straight to the computer to design. As I was doing research for my project, here are just a few things I came across online that I had to share with you...

{Top to bottom: 1. Vrindavan by Katrin Korfmann,2. Oh My Deer X Pennyweight print, 3. floor-to-wall tiled bathroom by Studio Too Good,  4. Powder photos by Marcel Christ, 5. Typographical moss by Hayli Alyce.}

you can't just have one...

Bob always asks me why I need so many handbags. He'll say, "Why can't you have just one?"

I mean, does he even know me? Or know women at all? 

As we women know, different bags serve different purposes—therefore, we need at least a few to cover various occasions, as well as complement the outfits we wear. So today I've partnered with Fossil to share some of my favorite bag styles for different moods, needs, or situations—and show you what I carry in each.

One piece I've recently added to my bag collection: an iPad case/carrier. Especially when taking it to meetings, I love making sure my iPad is protected, and this case also holds my business basics, too (a notebook and pencils, business cards, my phone, and a cute leave-behind).

When I'm out with Ruby, I always carry a roomy tote bag. I rarely use a traditional diaper bag anymore since she doesn't need quite as much stuff now that she's a toddler. But I'll still bring a few essential baby musts in a tote, including a zip pouch to hold diapers and wipes, snacks, a multi-purpose ointment, and a small pouch that holds my own daily essentials so I can quickly find my money, keys, and phone in a bag full of baby stuff.

happy friday + little moments of joy...

The other day—while at a friend's house—Ruby had an absolute ball hiding inside and behind these curtains. I can't remember the last time that anything that simple made me so happy. It was seriously amazing to watch. I hope you all have a weekend full of pure joy from the simple things...

P.S. You can now get Oh Joy posts straight to your email! Sign up for it right here.

{Photos by Bob Cho}

feeling bundled up in blue...

Blue is one of my favorite colors (after green) because of the range in shades it offers. From hot to cool and from soft to brazen, it's a color full of personality...

{01. Oasap coat, 02. Kate Spade earmuffs, 03. Land of Nod baby blanket, 04. hat by Annie Larson, 05. Kate Spade flats, 06. Loeffler Randall for Bird tennis shoes, 07. Falconwright camera strap.}

Make Someone Happy - No. 05: A Little Letter

The first four videos from my "Make Someone Happy" series have involved making something—an actual object or surprise—to bring joy to another's day. For the next couple, it's all about bringing that joy to someone by telling them how you really feel about them...which is sometimes the hardest thing to do!

And if you need a little help, feel free to use my handy fill-in-the-blank letter to get you started...

{Video by Modshift. Music: "Love Me, Love You" by Trimountaine, licensed from With Etiquette.}

{how i'd wear} a head-to-toe etsy outfit...

When Etsy first began back in 2005, it was heavily craft-based and made up of a mix of folks making stationery, knitted booties, and any kind of crafty thing imaginable. To my delight, it's grown into a place where you can find indie designers and vintage clothing—but still a ton of handmade goodness, too. So I thought it would be fun to put together a head-to-toe Etsy outfit with pieces from some my favorite Etsy shops and searches as of late...

1. Faux fur hat, 2. A Quiet Curiosity necklace, 3. Leah Goren tank, 4. vintage green jacket, 5. Patkas handbag, 6. Three Little Ducks pants, 7. vintage ankle boots from Thrift Shark.

{illustrations by Jennifer Vallez for Oh Joy}

currently snacking on...

Nothing's more comforting than a grilled cheese sandwich. My favorite combination is Gruyère on sourdough, slathered in butter and grilled on the stovetop till crispy. And I just recently starting putting a little extra something in my grilled cheese: Spinach dip! It adds a slight tang and a creamy texture...and, of course, a little nutrition thanks to the spinach!

P.S. My other favorite recipe to make using spinach dip...

{Photo by Oh Joy}

a little sprucing up...

Hope you all had a great weekend! You might notice a little update over here today. I'm constantly looking for ways to improve my site, and today you'll see a few new features I've been wanting to implement since the redesign last fall. There are a few visual improvements as well as some functional ones.

My two favorite new features: You can now roll over any image to "pin it" on Pinterest, and I've finally added the option to read Oh Joy via email! Simply sign up by using the box in the right column, or click here and daily posts will come straight to your inbox. {If you're already signed up for the general Oh Joy mailing list, you'll have to sign up for this separately, as this is new and for the blog only}.

{Envelopes by Lox Savvy}