Jessica Liu's Blog

Baby steps on building our baby’s room

2008-02-10T20:58:00.000-08:00

We couldn’t be happier, our little miracle is 17 weeks and growing in my womb. Not sure if we are too early working on our baby’s new room, but Scott has been busy with getting it ready. First off, he scraped all of the popcorn off the ceiling and painted two coats of the primer on the ceiling. He was so sweet he said “I don’t want this poison stuff to fall on my baby.” We went to Home Depot and picked up some paints and chair rails for the baby room. We decided to do two tones for the baby room. Scott thought it would make very nice touch if we install chair rails. Finally we chose the beautiful mountain haze green and amazing sky blue. Scott is doing all of the painting work at home now, he won’t allow me to get close to breath the paint fumes. After all the painting wegot a super cute curtain rod with cute sailboat finials from Pottery Barn Kids. It was so much fun to see the room came together little by little!

I didn’t know being pregnant could enjoy so many privileges! Almost feels like I live like I’m a Queen! I have been doing very little at home now, and whatever I wish to eat, Scott will get it for me. I enjoy this pregnant experience. I hope this little miracle will grow up happy and healthy.

Little Miracle

2008-02-03T22:51:00.000-08:00

January 16, 2007 was a big milestone for us; we made it to the 14 weeks! Now we can finally tell the world we are expecting a little one!

My mom, Scott and I went to see Dr. Liu at Mountain View together; Dr. Liu performed the Nuchal Translucency Scan, also known as NT using ultrasound. He put a little gel on my tummy and pretty soon we saw our baby on the big Plasma TV. We were so excited and amazed to see our little miracle moving around actively; it was like the baby was posing for us. We even saw the baby was socking its little thumb clearly. I could have sworn that was the cutest thing I have ever seen! We also heard baby’s heart beats for the first time; I was touched and had little happy tears in my eyes.

Thank Goodness Dr. Liu told us everything seems normal and healthy. We were just trilled and couldn’t wait for our next visit.

"Sky is not the limit. The ground is!"

2007-09-25T00:49:00.000-07:00

For the longest time, I have been wanting to go skydiving. This year for my birthday, I finally decided to go for it; it was absolutely amazing!

The hardest part was approaching the exit before jumping out of the airplane and watching my fellow jumpers vanished into the air so quickly then knowing I was the next one to go. However after I jumped with a somersault into the open air it was just absolutely sensational! I love the gorgeous view of the Monterey Bay and sensation of floating. I was feeling like I was flying! I will never forget this experiencing.

My instructor Scotty was 26 year old, he had been skydiving for 8 years. He was full of energy and tons of fun. Scotty was goofing around in the background when I was interviewed, very funny guy. Scotty madeeverything look so easy, I felt very safe flying with him. Thank you, Scotty!

The trip couldn't be more memorable without my dear husband Scott, myfriends Winnie, Tim, Jessie and Dat. We had such a blast. They made the 4 hours wait seems a little big shorter. What a great way to celebrate a milestone, it was my most unforgettablebirthday. I can't wait to do it again in the future.

"Sky is not the limit. The ground is!"

Here is Scott's video:

An email from Australia Makes My Day

2007-07-20T22:49:00.000-07:00

Today I received an email from Troy in Australia which makes my day.

What happened was Troy ordered a copy of my book Joy of Wushu, however, the $5 shipping fee was for within US only. After exchanged couple emails, I decided go ahead sending him a copy without charge the international shipping. A week later, I have received this nicest email from Troy which reminds me “People are Basically Good.” If you treat people nicely, people will do the same to you.

Greetings Jessica,
I have recieved the book, and it is exceptional. The visual flare of wushu will never cease to sparkle in my eyes and that which you have capture is unquestionably dazzling. Due to the kindness you have shown me in sending the book out minus the shipping cost as I did not have a pay pal account, I noticed that on your website you don't have any stock base in Australia. I thought how could I repay your kindness, and it came to me... I drove about an hour out too see a friend of mine who is a wushu pioneer within Australia based in Sydney, he owns one of Australia's longest lasting martial art stores himself and he loves martial material, especially wushu as he is a renowned teacher of the chinese external and internal arts. Fong Lee is his name and 'Martial arts World' is his store. I took the book out too him and showed him in person and asked perhaps it would be a good idea too email the joy of wushu team and see if they would like too have their book in your store, as he is considered a pioneer of wushu in Australia this would be a great advantage for you in terms of recieving more orders. He told me he would love too stock your book and I have told him to email info@joyofwushu.com, and this email address as well.

kind regards and all the best for your career and future projects.
Troy

Day 7 at our new nest

2007-07-01T00:26:00.001-07:00

It has been 7 days seems Scott and I moved into a new single family house. Finally we have a backyard, a lot of windows, a big garage, walking closets, drive way… (oh, I can just go on and on about this forever.) The new place also cut down Scott’s commute time by half, which means he can spend more quality time at home than driving in the traffic.

I just love the new place more and more each day, even though these 7 days has been very tiring; we have done lot of cleaning, unpacking, fixing things. I know no matter how hard that is, it will be worthy. I am very excited about what the future lies ahead of us, all of the wonderful time and memories we are going to have at this new house. I just can’t wait how this house will turn out. I am so excited!

eBay Annual Reports

2007-05-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

Finally the eBay Annual Report is published and available on eBay site! I am proudly to say that I designed this report.

It was a wild ride for me, but super fun. From the design concept, model casting, photo shoot to final production was done in 3 weeks with my regular workload. After I finished the project, I was lucky enough to present my work to our eBay CEO Meg Whitman with my VP David Knight.

This project not gave me a opportunity to showcase my skills, but also it was a great learning experience for me. Previous years, eBay Annual reports have been focus on eBay Community, this year I turned the angle around, featuring the eBay internal community- our employees. I also wanted to capture eBay’s divers culture, young and happy spirit. I am happy with the turnout, if you have a chance, please check it out!

Thailand Temple

2006-10-31T01:26:00.000-08:00

We visited a dazzling temple in Phuket, Wat Chalong, is the biggest pagoda in Phuket. I love the vibrant gold colors and artistic shape of the temple. It was just magnificent.

Soak in the sun at Phuket Island, Thailand

2006-10-31T01:23:00.000-08:00

2006-10-31T01:21:00.000-08:00

Water Lilies in the rain

2006-10-31T01:01:00.000-08:00

Even it rained a little during our trip in Thailand, but the water didn’t reduce any fun factors at all. Look at how beautiful the water Lilies was in the rain! I love how the rain drops from the leafs and created beautiful rings at the pond. The rain only showered for 5-10 minutes, soon came with sunshine and crisp fresh air after the rain.

Under the sea

2006-10-31T00:58:00.000-08:00

Elephant Ride

2006-10-22T17:24:00.000-07:00

What could a trip to Thailand without riding an elephant? It couldn’t. I was dreaming about riding an elephant before the trip. This year trip to Thailand was inspired by an elephant picture frame I purchased last Christmas. I really wanted it to have a picture of me riding an elephant in this picture frame. I know it sounds very silly, but I have to tell you it was a wonderful feeling when you made your dream came true! On the day 3 of the Thailand trip, we finally went on an elephant ride in the nice surrounding out in the jungle. The view up on the elephant was completely cool. I especially love being in the ultra slow motion on this ride. You could really slow down enjoy the surrounding of this amazing jungle has to offer; the trees, the sun light and air and the people around you. The ride not only makes me feel like a royalty, but also let me understand what “take easy” means in the Thai culture.

Elephant Ride II

2006-10-22T17:21:00.000-07:00

My dear parents

Good bye, Phuket Island.

2006-10-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

On the quiet and clear evening, we had to say “good bye” to our magical trip in Phuket Island. We brought all of the fantastic memories with us to the airplane, watching Phuket Island getting smaller and smaller until it disappeared in the clouds. I said to myself, I will be back in the other time.

Moon watching on the Moon Festival

2006-10-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

Moon watching on the Moon Festival was a beautiful thing. Everything was so quite and peaceful in the air. You can hear nothing but the sound from the airplane engine and your own thoughts. The Moon was perfectly bright and round in the beautiful gradient of blue and purple sky. I couldn’t thing of more perfect way to conclude my wonderful Thailand trip.

Graffiti Art in San Francisco

2006-08-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

Love this graffiti. Love San Francisco.

Book Signing event

2006-08-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

July 30, 2006 was the big date for me, I had my first book, Joy of Wushu book signing event at Border, Santana Row in San Jose. It was a lot of fun!

The event kicked off by Lily’s speech, she was telling the stories about how she got inspired by a Chinese Wushu demonstrations and why it was such a joy to work on this project. I also said few words on how Wushu changes my perspectives on my own culture. Afterward, many of people from the book demonstrated Wushu and kung fu, and it was a big hit!! Check out some of the pictures, see with you own eyes! (Pictures from the event)

Nice seeing so many people who featured in the book came to the event and perform, like Jack Tu, Tiffany Ryes, Collin Lee and so forth. They were fantastic! I especially excited that Cheri and Jennifer Haight from Cirque du Soleil signed my KA program. They both are so sweet. If you go to Vegas, you have to see the show, it was beyond amazing!

I was very touched by my father-in-law, Ron. He flew all the way from LA to attend this event. Also so many my friends came to the event as well, seriously it means a lot to me. Thank you guys!

I am glad I worked on this book project; this project has giving me this wonderful opportunity to showcase one of the most important aspect of Asian Culture. I hope this project will raise the awareness of Chinese marital arts in the America, it makes this project worth while.

Julia’s Kitchen

2006-07-11T00:26:00.000-07:00

Julia’s Kitchen is named after the master chef, Julia Child. After I watched Bravo’s TV show “Top Chef” last season, I told myself, I had to eat there. The restaurant serves California-French cuisine. My husband Scott had Chef’s tasting menu and I had Sauteed Scallops. The foods were very tasty, but didn’t blow me away. I love the pastry there; all three dessert items were so good, very rich and flavorful. The service was good, the place was very enjoyable.

Sautéed Dayboat Scallops

2006-07-11T00:24:00.000-07:00

These scallops were so delicious! Just cooked perfectly!

The Edible Garden

2006-07-11T00:11:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this Edible Garden; the place is small, but very interesting. Most of plants are edible! Even though it was very hot in the afternoon, but I had so much fun at the garden tour I saw and tasted so many different herbs, fruits and edible flowers during the tour! What impressed me the most was this little green leafs called “Stevia,” it tastes very sweet, just like candy!

Beautiful Sunflowers at Copia

2006-07-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

Floating cloud

2006-07-10T23:47:00.000-07:00

Hot air balloon ride was so unique and unforgettable. I enjoyed looking down and watching the trees, vineyards, orchards, and lakes. Feels like everything was in slow motion, feel like I was the floating cloud!

Good time was always too short. After one hour and thirty minutes of flying, our pilot Frank landed at the vineyard. The trip ended with champagne brunch. Not sure what happened, I was tipsy by 10 o’clock morning. I don’t know because of I had too much Mimosa, or because this amazing view… Probably both. :)

Get carried away by the Balloon

2006-07-10T23:22:00.000-07:00

Waking up at crack of Dawn was not easy for me, however, July 9 Sunday morning; I got up at 4:30 A.M. and could hardly wait for my first hot air balloon ride at Napa Valley.

When we arrived at the departure site, the balloons were getting inflating with a powerful fan. When those colorful balloons get bigger, more excited I got. After the balloons got enough air, the crew blasted the propone burner flame into the balloons, so that the balloons can life off the ground. Finally, we could get into the basket. It was such a magical moment when the balloon took off the ground, the spectacular bird view of the wine country appeared little by little, beautiful sunrise shines on my eyes. Feel like I was in Heaven!

Joy of Wushu book

2006-07-05T22:44:00.000-07:00

After 3 years of hard work, the book Joy of Wushu is finally published. All of our hard work (Lily, Melody and I) finally paid off. It’s quite amazing feeling when I hold this book in my hands, it may sounds kind of cliché, but I have to say it feels like holding your own baby. The book is beautiful! Definitely the work was like a journey, but it’s worthy!

The book now is available at Borders at Santana Rows, San Jose. If you are interested reading more information about it, please visit our website.

Anniversary

2006-07-05T22:19:00.000-07:00

Today is our wedding anniversary. Can you believe that we have been married for 3 years? Wow… Scott suggested that we watched our wedding DVD together, so we did. It was great watching the DVD together, it gave us a chance to relive the wonderful experience, reminded us how much we are loved. Most importantly, reflected our 3 years together.

4th of July

2006-07-05T01:16:00.000-07:00

Scott and I went to San Jose Downtown for fireworks. It was fun! We went early to secure a good spot. Felt like the whole town was there! Normally, you won’t see so many people at San Jose Downtown, but today, everyone came to the park, lying on the grass, listen to the live music, enjoy the beautiful weather. We waited for a while time, but it was so worthy. The fireworks look so close and it was amazing! Next time, we have to invite more people to join us for this fun event.