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11/07/10

12 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 12 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 12 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 12 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 12 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 12 Months!

What an amazing 12 months it has been. Just a year ago, our little girl was born. She was so little when she came out and although she’s not that tiny now, she will always be our little baby. Luna has developed 4 teeth now and mostly refuses being fed by a spoon. She would rather feed herself finger food which for Peter and I, means major cleaning up after every meal. Luna traveled for the first time with us to Mexico, and she surprised us by being such a great little traveler (she slept for most of the 5.5 hour flight and happily waved and smiled at people around her).

At 12 months, she’s finally crawling and loves exploring the house. She finds going through our bookshelf and ripping pages from magazines and notebooks to be more enjoyable then playing with her toys. We’ve also realized just recently, that Luna fancies birds. When we were in Mexico, Peter would take Luna out and point out the birds flying in the sky. Surprisingly, she remembered that experience and gets excited whenever she sees any type of birds whether real or not.

Luna also enjoyed her first birthday party. She was so excited all day and was happy to play with her baby friends. It was as if she knew that it was her special day. We are also surprised to see by how many words she understands now. Like: “hi”, “bye”, “balloons”, “clap your hands”, “don’t eat it”, “birdie”, “eat”, “play the music”, “shake it”, “brush your teeth”…

It’s been a fun first year and we are looking forward to more growth and adventures in year two!


Domestic 2.0 / Kids / Luna's Monthly Photos6 comments — Posted by: Nerissa
10/24/10

Happy 1st Birthday Luna!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy 1st Birthday Luna!

We celebrated Luna’s birthday this weekend at home with family, friends and a whole lot of balloons hanging from the ceiling. We filled our dining table with food and treats for everyone to enjoy. It was a sweet little homey celebration and seeing Luna so happy playing with all her baby friends and being surrounded by so many balloons makes for a perfect 1st birthday.

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy 1st Birthday Luna!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy 1st Birthday Luna!

On the dessert buffet menu: Chocolate mousse in little cups, marshmallow swirls in sticks, cupcake, yoghurt raisins, old fashioned lollipops, brownies, m&m cookies, strawberry wafer sticks, vanilla birthday cake and an assortment of little round mousses. I was happy to see it almost wiped out by the end of the party.

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy 1st Birthday Luna!

For the goody bags, I used little brown lunch bags and filled them all with a package of yoghurt raisins and sweet berries. I always have a lot of great little fabrics lying around my studio so I cut up two different fabrics using pinking shears to cut the edges. Pinking shears create a saw-tooth pattern that’s graphic and fun. Then I printed thank you notes on thick watercolour paper using my epson printer and cut the edges with pinking shears as well. Mini red & blue clothes pins were used to hold the thank you note and fabric in place. To finish it off, I wrapped bakers twine around the bag and tied it up like you would a ribbon.

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy 1st Birthday Luna!

It was so fun making these goody bags and the best thing about it is that it’s cheap and really easy to put together. There’s also a folky but modern feel to them which I really love. The little packages of yoghurt raisins and sugar berries were individually wrapped with paper I already had at home. For the yoghurt berries, I used these newsprint zine magazines we bought awhile back from WeWorkForThem. The sugar berries are wrapped with picnic cloth patterned paper that I’ve been waiting to use for a special occasion.

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy 1st Birthday Luna!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy 1st Birthday Luna!

Below is the balloon-themed e-card invite we sent out. We hung up balloons on the ceiling of each room which created a sculptural mobile ceilingscape. It’s so fun and festive were keeping them up until they all deflate or fall down on their own.

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy 1st Birthday Luna!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy 1st Birthday Luna!

Using inkjet sticker paper, I also created customized water bottles and cups. Each water bottle was a solid block of color with a celebratory word on it like “HIP”, “HOORAY”, “JOY” & “LOVE”

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy 1st Birthday Luna!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy 1st Birthday Luna!



Art / Design / DIY / Make / Food / Kids16 comments — Posted by: Nerissa
10/19/10

A Little Present

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A Little Present

If you haven’t noticed yet, I have an obsession with wrapping and packaging things. I will make all the effort to wrap a loaf of homemade bread, fresh cookies, herbs etc… to give to friends. I also love the feel of paper and fabric together. I guess it’s the smoothness of the paper and the raw texture of a fabric that always seems to work together nicely.

This little present was a wooden alphabet ‘A’ train for little Avenir. The fabric and paper gives a homey feel while bakers twine wraps the preciousness inside and seals it with love.


Art / Design / DIY / Make / KidsNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa
10/14/10

We Love Mexico

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : We Love Mexico

We just came back from a fantastic first family vacation to Mexico. We spent a week in the Mayan Riviera and was absolutely spoiled by the white sandy beaches Mexico has to offer. We spent our days having long afternoon siestas by the pool or morning walks and swims at the beach. Mexico, we miss you and we will be back!


Domestic 2.0 / Kids / Places5 comments — Posted by: Nerissa
09/29/10

Ghana Bolga Toy Basket

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Ghana Bolga Toy Basket

Luna is starting to amass quite the collection of toys. In addition to the playroom where we keep most of her toys, we have satellite collections of toys in the den, kitchen and her room – the places where she spends a lot of time in. To keep things neat and tidy, we’ve been storing her toys in baskets and felt boxes we’ve collected. Today, we found a new basket at, our favourite garden store, the Prickly Pear. They have a collection of handwoven baskets from Ghana. They’re bright, colourful, all one-of-a-kind and have a raw earthiness to them. It’s the perfect size for storing a small treasure trove of toys while doing double-duty as a decorative curio.

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Ghana Bolga Toy Basket


Domestic 2.0 / Kids / Toys1 comment — Posted by: Peter
09/27/10

Luna & Avenir

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Luna & Avenir

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Luna & Avenir

My afternoon was spent with Chloe and her little Avenir. It’s so nice to have these simple mommy’s day where stories are shared about life, home, family, food…  as we sip coffee and nibble on snacks and Chloe’s yummy grilled cheese basil sandwich.

Chloe lives in a beautiful two bedroom apartment in Downtown with her husband Julian. They have done a great job incorporating Avenir’s toys and play space within their home. It’s always nice to see people live the way they’ve always lived but made minor adjustments to blend baby necessities into their space and not making their home look like the toy section of a department store. I think that’s always a challenge that people have – how do you blend in your baby’s play space and still keep your home look like it belongs to the family and not solely to the baby.

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Luna & Avenir

In Chloe’s case, Avenir’s toys are all stuffed in this awesome apple pattern bag in the living room. It’s a simple idea and totally works. I’m always thinking of different ways to store Luna’s toys and I think this is brilliant. For a ‘small’ play space, she’s got this sheep skin rug in the living room where Avenir and Luna spent most of their time playing. It’s funny how they kind of just stayed within that area. Throws were also stacked neatly on a vintage chair on the corner of the room for anyone to use.

It’s a comfortable space to be in where Chloe and Julian still have their space to be adults but yet Avenir has his own space to play and grow.

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Luna & Avenir

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Luna & Avenir


Domestic 2.0 / Interior / KidsNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa
09/15/10

Jamie O

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Jamie O

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Jamie O

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Jamie O

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Jamie O

It’s never too early to be a Jamie Oliver fan. What’s for dinner Luna?


Kids1 comment — Posted by: Nerissa
09/14/10

Handmade-Bunting

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Handmade Bunting

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Handmade Bunting

I’ve been wanting to make this simple bunting project for quite sometime now and finally had a chance to work on it yesterday. We changed our internet and cable tv provider so I was stuck at home yesterday waiting for the new carrier to hook us up and get it working again. Without internet, I couldn’t help feeling like I had nothing to do. But I shook that idea off my mind and decided to to take full advantage of my day at home and went back to the simplest pleasures of life – back to the sewing machine! So I sewed all day and finally made this simple bunting project that’s been lingering in my mind.

Ariana, from Crow Rooster Crow inspired me to make this gorgeous bunting. Hers are made from vintage cocktail napkins but I thought it might be easier for me to source fabric instead of searching for vintage napkins. So off I went to the fabric store over the weekend and went straight to the clearance bin where I found these scraps of fabric that seemed like they were just waiting for me to take home and bring them to life.

To make the bunting, I cut my fabric to about 7″w x 9″h. Repeat this until you have enough. The seams I just eyeballed which I think are about 1/4″. Once you’re done sewing the seams on all your fabric, evenly space them along the bias binding tape (I spaced them out about 2″ apart), folding the shortest edge over, and pin in place. Then sew the flags with a straight stitch and voila, you’ve got your own handmade bunting!

I love having them hung up in our dining/kitchen area. It brings a lot of colour to the space and I also love how the light from outside shines through the fabric. When I first hung it up, Luna kept on reaching up wanting to touch them all. She also couldn’t stop admiring all the different colours as she ate her dinner last night. So I couldn’t resist and made a smaller version for her room and hung it up by her window. I think it’ll be a nice sight for her to wake up to every morning with the sun shining through all the different coloured fabric.

This is a simple project that anyone can do. Happy sewing!


DIY / Make / Domestic 2.0 / Interior / Kids3 comments — Posted by: Nerissa
08/08/10

A DIY Birthday Party

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A DIY Birthday Party

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A DIY Birthday Party

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A DIY Birthday Party

Recently, we went to my friend Janice’s birthday party for her little boy Kai who turned 1. The party was filled with little packages of popcorn for everyone to help themselves with, party favours in blue packages filled with their favourite teas, water bottles with custom labels, cupcakes and other yummy treats. I like how everything was cute and on-theme. It was lovely how it all came together. With a little imagination, it’s not really that hard to do. It’s mostly finding readymade packaging and re-imagining it by dressing it up with some ink jet stickers and nice simple designs. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Janice is a professional graphic designer (we both worked together at Kevin Louis Design before we went on mat leave). Kids birthday parties are a fun way to make and experiment with DIY projects. And, it’s also an excuse to treat yourself with all the sweets you wished you could eat everyday. Happy Birthday Kai! Thank your mom for a lovely party.

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A DIY Birthday Party

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A DIY Birthday Party

Photographs taken by Jason & Lena from Jaylena Photography.


Art / Design / DIY / Make / KidsNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa
07/29/10

A New Favourite

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A New Favourite

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A New Favourite

Aside from jumping at home in her jolly jumper, Luna has found a new favourite activity – swinging! I take her to the park on our daily walks to give her a little play time. She loves being pushed quickly and giggles every time the swing comes close to me. Then, she’ll put her feet up and just hang out. This is what summer is all about in Luna’s world.


Domestic 2.0 / Kids1 comment — Posted by: Nerissa
07/12/10

Beach Day

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Beach Day

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Beach Day

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Beach Day

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Beach Day

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Beach Day

We spent a full day at the beach yesterday as it’s been scorching hot! I really love summer. The days are longer, the smell of bbq surrounds the air, birds chirping away, ice cream everyday and long days at the beach. It always feels like I’m a kid again. Hope everyone is having a great summer too and not melting from the heat.


Domestic 2.0 / Kids / Places1 comment — Posted by: Nerissa
07/06/10

Luna & Cohen

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Luna & Cohen

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Luna & Cohen

Back at Little Nest today for a nice summery lunch with Stacy and her little guy Cohen. Luna and Cohen are only 2 days apart. Though, they still don’t know how to play together yet but hopefully soon they will. Summer is finally here and it is hot outside! A nice lunch at Little Nest and wandering around Commercial Drive made for a perfect day. Hello sunshine – we’ve missed you!


Kids / PlacesNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa