things i love thursday

three weeks of thursdays.

april 30


.flavored tootsie rolls.
.being home from vacation.
.a nice tan.
.my bed.
.the smell of clean laundry (cheer).
.getting things done.
.1 hour photo that takes 15 minutes.
.wearing hot pink socks.
.cool and sunny weather.



april 23


.sleeping 11 hours straight.
.reading poolside.
.cheap fruit smoothies.
.skirts in hot weather.
.snorkeling.
.hawaiian pizza.
.cashew chicken.
.finding THE book in a used bookstore.
.double beds.



april 16


.city wide water fights.
.cute thai kids.
.strawberry smoothies.
.cheap airplane tickets.
.elephants.
.putt putt golf.
.flip flops.
.eating half a watermelon with a spoon.
.jeweled thai temples.

to do in oh nine: april

monthly inventory.

☆2008 leftovers☆

1 1-stop biting my nails
i did really really well (hello manicures!!) for a full 20 days. my nails looked great. and then i went to thailand and they got ruined. part of it was all the water, part of it was me biting them all off. i'll try and be good now that i'm back in tokyo. at least until mt. fuji, where i know it'll be impossible to keep them looking nice.

2 11-take a trip by myself
thailand.

6 32-read more - read one book a month (4/12)
in terms of counting for this one, i compromised at two. i didn't read anything in march and then i read four books in april. i don't know if my original intent was to read 12 books or to read consistently. probably a little of both, i think, so i'm counting myself as good up through april, but not rolling over my extra books to count for may and june. plus, i've got books on the "want to read list," so it shouldn't be too hard.

8 49-get a massage (or two!)
shame on me for not getting one in thailand. next time...


☆habits☆

1 stick with a face skin care routine
skin care routine and backpacking (or, travel, in general) don't mix.

3 make a japanese study schedule and stick to it
it's made. and the official start date is tomorrow. yikes.

4 hoop (or do some kind of exercise) three times a week, even for just 10 minutes
i didn't hoop, but i walked miles and miles when my parents were here and even more in thailand.

☆one time deals☆

6 go to a new foreign country
THAILAND :)


☆multiple time deals☆

2 make 6 things on my sewing machine (2.5/6)
project in progress 1: my charm quilt was on the back burner until today; i quilted 9 stars tonight and have only about 7 more to go before i can start on the binding!
project in progress 2: my friend had a baby a month ago so i've got a patchwork square with her son's initial on it but not sure what to make it into yet. drawstring bag? tote bag? pillow? still brainstorming/pondering.
future project: when my mom and her friends were here, i offered to make them something if they bought the fabric. so, they each bought 2 tenugui and i've gotta figure out what to make them. any ideas, all you crafty people out there?

5 call home once a month (1/12)
home came to me this month. :)

this is home.

i was just looking through a facebook photo album that a friend (a girl i went to college with who is two years younger than me) made after she recently went back to visit campus for the weekend.

while i was a little jealous that she's got all these photos of her and her friends all smiling and professing her love for the school with photos of the (albeit very) beautiful campus, i realized this: i love japan more than i loved college.

and, while it's kind of sad that i don't have that same feeling toward my college years (that's not to say that i don't have good memories from college, because i definitely do) it's more of a bittersweet sadness. i should be so blessed as to always be moving to places in my life that are better than the previous ones.

kind of an odd "back from thailand" post, but i'm back. vacation was relaxing and wonderful and all that good stuff. but really, it's so good to be home.

macro monday

tokyo
february 28, 2009
7:20pm

macro monday

tokyo
march 15, 2009
11:11am

thailand for two weeks

i have no idea if i have what i need.

i might have a whole bag of stuff i don't need.

i don't even actually know where i'll be in 3 days.

i have a reservation for the first two nights in bangkok

but after that, it's to where ever my little heart desires.

i have the must-haves:

my passport, money, my camera and a spare pair of contacts.

and i leave in about 30 minutes.

i'm excited and ready for adventure!!



but, shhh, i'm kind of scared too.

macro monday

disney sea, chiba
march 30, 2009
5:24pm

だって、なんでもこれからっ！

date: 2009年04月12日
time: 12:27
subject: だって、なんでもこれからっ！


１０日間、どこに行っても桜がきれいに咲いてて、青空の毎日も過ごしました。

春の良さ、あらためて分かりました。

でも、やっぱり、寒い冬を乗り越え来たからこそ理解できる。

いろんな意味で寒い冬。

でも、もう、春だからさ〜！

ゆっくり歩く時もあるけれども、

ときどき走っていこう〜

things i love thursday

on a saturday, for the last two thursdays.


april 9


.hotel buffet breakfasts.
.cherry blossoms - in full bloom EVERYWHERE.
.brick oven baked pizza.
.sunny days.
.ume shu.
.earplugs.
.new socks.
.showing my parents my life here in japan.
.my landlady bringing me dinner the day they left.



april 2


.jelly beans.
.good hugs.
.fushimi inari taisha.
.miyajima at hide tide.
.dinner with friends.
.hotel comforters.
.riding the shinkansen.
.holding hands with my dad.
.waking up early.

seeing stars

it was love at first sight. and my dad said he'd buy it for me.


it makes me smile.

slow motion

i left the airport in a (teary) haze. it felt like everyone around me was moving twice as fast as me. i took the not-local but not skyliner train home and slept for a solid 40 minutes. i'm exhausted. but more than that, i'm sad because my parents are gone. it was so nice to have them here. sure i had to herd seven adults all across japan, but it was still so nice to spend time with my parents. the weather was beautiful, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom everywhere and everyone took all the photos (and more) that i would have taken. my mom will send cds of everyone's photos once they all get home, i can't wait. i have to get out of this little funk though because i've got a couple loads of laundry and my apartment is (surprise) a mess again. there are the boxes from bringing all my work stuff home and bags of presents i got when i quit and now more bags of souvenirs and other things i bought in nikko, around tokyo, kyoto, hiroshima and miyajima. it smells funny too; all those beautiful bouquets of flowers i got are no longer beautiful and they have got to go out in the trash tomorrow. plus i've got two lectures that i'm going to listen to this weekend and i leave for thailand on monday. i still feel like i'm stuck in slow motion, but life is non stop.

macro monday

tokyo
november 26, 2008
8:32pm

digging a bloggy hole

i'm only digging myself deeper and deeper into the blogging hole. and it's not going to end anytime soon.

i went to disney sea on monday. it was amazing. it was an experience like nothing i expected. a course lunch (on the school's bill), several shows (big band beat, the dream goes on, under the sea) with hardly any waiting, a ride on the only ride i wanted to ride (journey to the center of the earth, with minimal wait), photographing mickey up close and personal and a shot with pluto, a bit of souvenir shopping, another course meal for dinner with a price tag that would make your jaw drop (thank you again, school!) and smiles all around.

then yesterday i went to ueno koen with Cheer around 5pm. we were later joined by her sister and two guy friends who i haven't seen since last year's matsuri party in july. we stayed past lights out (the red lanterns strung around ueno koen go off at 8pm) and sat around talking until nearly 11pm. it was so perfect. in so many ways. even the bike ride home was perfect. i got some great photos, but they're still on my camera.

today my parents (and five of their friends...yes, FIVE) come to japan. ten days guaranteed to be full of stories and photos that i'll inevitably want to blog about. and i'd like to say that after they leave, i'd blog about the graduations, and end of the year parties, and disney sea and all the hanami that's been going on, plus the ten days of traveling around japan. but you know, i won't. why? because two days after they leave, i'm flying to thailand! for two weeks. so maybe in may. but i said the same thing about my summer on mt fuji last summer and we never saw that post materialize. so...don't hold your breath.

i'm leaving for the airport in about an hour and a half. let the madness begin.


p.s. i can't wait to see my parents.

quote of the day

"the bigger the risk, the bigger the jackpot.

the bigger the dream, the more time it takes.

the bigger the love, the more painful the heartbreak.

but it makes you strong."


-she's 17.