Present Joys Featured Guest: Ye Rin Mok

This week we welcome photographer and all-around wonderful human being, Ye Rin Mok, to share her present joys with us.

This week we welcome Ye Rin Mok, a truly one-of-a-kind photographer and friend. Ye Rin has a fantastic eye, a wonderful way about her, and an impressive slew of hobbies—her curiosity knows no bounds. We’re so grateful to share her joys with you today. Read on to discover what’s been bringing her joy!

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surfskate

I picked up surf skating last year, and it’s been a joy learning with the help of surfskatemom.losangeles. I especially love skating with a group of women around my age, encouraging each other, laughing, falling, and having fun while getting a great workout.

ocean view farms

I got a garden plot at Ocean View Farms more than 10 years ago, and it has been my happy place ever since. Just like its name, it actually has an ocean view. It feels like a little sanctuary tucked within the busy city, a special place where you can feel the changing of season and experience a feeling of calmness when you enter. I also love the sense of community—sharing crops and connecting with and learning from neighboring gardeners.

post dinner walk

When I got a Fitbit, I started going on walks after dinner whenever I realized I hadn’t hit my steps for the day, dragging my boyfriend along. I eventually returned the Fitbit because I was getting a bit obsessive and didn’t love having a device on me all the time, but the walks stuck, and now they’re one of my favorite parts of the day. I like that we have time away from our screens to talk about our day, sharing what’s on our minds or just walking in silence.

4-7-8 breathing exercise

I used to have trouble falling asleep or getting back to sleep after waking in the middle of the night. This year, I’ve been more consistent with the 4-7-8 breathing method: breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 7, and breathe out for 8, repeating for 3–5 rounds. My body relaxes, and I fall asleep almost instantly — it feels like a little magic trick.

east fork

I love their colorful bowls and plates. The design is simple and utilitarian, with core colors and a few limited releases throughout the year. I’ve been adding to my collection little by little during their sales, and it’s fun mixing and matching the different colors. It’s a small joy every time I open the cupboard and eat out of one of these bowls.

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A few more joys from Michelle and Joyce…

Mayura We recently made the trek to Culver City to try Mayura and the joy this meal sparked was wonderful! We tried the samosa chaat, ghee roasted dosa, appam, lamb korma, palak paneer. Everything was delicious!

Vintage Gifting I’m a soon-to-be godmother and when I was searching for a nice gift for my godchildren, I kept coming up short. I knew I wanted to get them some sort of Guardian Angel motif as that was always a really comforting prayer and visual when I was growing up, but everything I found looked mass-produced and poorly made. I turned to Etsy to see if I could find something more endearing, even vintage and I came upon a wonderful French vintage reseller of religious goods. Putting this gift together reminded me that not everything we gift has to be new. It might even be more meaningful if a gift has a history of its own.

Pink+Red for Valentines My mom is so great at dressing very classily for holiday occasions—never gauche, just perfectly festive. I’ve always admired her for this sensibility and over Valentines took a stab at it myself. It felt meaningful to connect in this way to my mom whilst celebrating.

Abuelita’s Health The biggest joy, for me, will always be the joy of being healthy and of seeing the loved ones in my life healthy as well. My grandmother took a turn earlier this month and at 93 years old, we all thought that might be it, but it wasn’t! She’s a fighter and she is slowly making a full recovery which feels like a real miracle. I know she won’t be around forever, none of us will, but for as long as she can have her health, I will be joyful for it.

Dungness Crab Dinner We hosted our friend Char and her family for a decadent Valentine’s Day dinner at our place. Char and I have bonded over the fact that Dungeness crab is “last meal” tier for us. I cherish my time with Char so much so it was a real treat to share it while breaking bread and cracking claws.

Watercolor Class I went to my first class of an 8-week watercolor course and while it’s so much harder than I expected, I’m really looking forward to these Sunday mornings. I can already tell it’s frustrating to some of my classmates, but I love that our teacher shrouds his instruction in aphorisms. “Expand your way of seeing–there is tonality and dimension within the shadows”(!)

Chimichurri Van and I went to separate dinners this past weekend with respective jars of a chimichurri that I made a couple weeks ago. He to serve with steak at his friend Marcus’s, me to drizzle over roasted squash for dinner at Sophia’s. Happy to report they were enjoyed by both parties. My “recipe” involves tossing the following ingredients in a food processor: herbs (I usually use some mix of parsley, cilantro, and carrot tops), generous glugs of olive oil, a couple bulbs of garlic, and sherry vinegar and salt to taste. A true all-purpose sauce in our household.

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