twenty five for twenty ten: may

1 exercise
i am convinced that work is almost as good as any exercise i would willingly make myself do.

2 wardrobe purge
i went through my rack of hanging things and got rid of a few items. next, the drawers in my oshiire.

4 sell something i made
i'm working on building up some inventory...

5 keep track of finances
check.

21 read a book once a month
i finished the fifth book in the seven book Sookie Stackhouse box set (looking up the link discovered there are more than seven!).

23 call home at least once a month
i called my mom for mother's day and then i saw my parents and brothers and extended family in phoenix the last weekend in may.

25 keep nails looking nice in an effort to quit biting my nails
still gel nail-ed. maybe in june i'll try to go au naturel and see if i've weaned myself yet...?

time and distance

it seems so long ago
and yet almost impossible
that only hours ago
i was hugging
and saying goodbye
to my parents
at the airport.

already
i am so far
away.

for Chelsea

thanks narita duty free...

she'll be thrilled! :)

things i love thursday

.yaki-purin.
.peas.
.anniversary dinners.
.surprise visitors.
.cheap but tasty yaki-niku.
.ほっとレモン served hot from concentrate.
.decent paychecks.
.having the next five days off work.
.seeing my dad (today!) and family (tomorrow!).

phoenix, arizona forecast

Thursday
May 27
99°/72°

Friday
May 28
98°/70°


Saturday
May 29

94°/70°

Sunday
May 30
97°/72°

guess i don't need anything that even looks warm...

fruit

this is what Ro bought for me at design festa a couple weekends ago:

it's by izumi hashiguchi and you can see other works here. (the japanese turns into nonsense/wingding characters for me, but maybe you can read it?  if nothing else, you can look at the pretty pictures.)

it was one of the first booths we stopped at and i really liked the colors (they are much brighter than this picture suggests) and her designs.  but, i'm an indecisive shopper so i took a business card but didn't buy anything.  after walking through hundreds of booths, i hadn't made any purchases (despite seeing a lot of things i liked) and i still had this booth on my mind.  we went back so i could look at her paintings again and when i finally decided to get this one, titled "fruit," Ro said he'd buy it for me.  :) 

they included a mini easel stand with it, so now i just have to find a place to display it.

yaki-purin

i'm exhausted...
(and i'm not sure if it's physical or mental,
which makes me think it's probably both)

it's not that i had a bad day.
just a long day.

a long day in which i made lots of mistakes 
and fixed some of those mistakes,
only to find them not actually fixed.

i had to deal with a sort of unfriendly coworker.
at least another coworker made up for it by really helping me out.
(see aforementioned fixed-but-not-actually-fixed mistakes)

and then i got bogged down in customer follow-up
and unfriendly coworker was antsy and stressing me out
to get done and leave as soon as possible.
(i ended up bringing it home to take with me
to the other office to do from there tomorrow.)

AND i forgot my yaki-purin dessert,
which i was saving for after work, in the office fridge.
i won't be back in until tuesday,
and by then it'll be too late to enjoy.  :(



p.s. DARS chocolate still tastes alright
after it melts and you re-harden it in the fridge,
but it totally loses its melt-in-your-mouth quality.
so, yeah, you have now been forewarned.

actually

i've been sewing up a storm over here.
trying out designs, working with ruffles,
figuring out zippers and ribbon labels,
and of course making my favorite, kinchaku.
there are probably a dozen other things
i should be doing (the dishes being first)
but i love spending my days off sewing
with the breeze coming through my apartment
and not a worry in the world... *happy sigh*

i have my eyes set on november 6&7th.

also, it's been 11 months <3

greyson chance performs lady gaga

have you seen this video?



it has over 18million views in just 3 weeks...
for obvious reasons.  wow, impressive.

oh, and check out the ellen interview too.
ahaha, ellen is so funny.

jellycats

back in february, i went to canada.
an hour+ north of toronto, to be exact.
but i managed to get into the city for some shopping.
among other things (clothes and more clothes)
i bought two stuffed animals.

this is one of them:

the other one is pictured here.
(it's the whole bashful bunny family.
i have the medium one...)

my mom has often given jellycat stuffed animals as gifts.
they are just so soft and i couldn't resist buying them.

(i will admit i envision giving them to my future children
as their first stuffed animal.  and maybe they will love them
like i loved that long-limbed pink rabbit i got when i was born.)

then, i was browsing the online store looking for pictures and links
and the cordy roy series and this fuzzy wooly mammoth
are just too cute.



you know, for some day.

some. day.

things i love thursday

.new (summer!) shoes.
.someone nearby practicing the matsuri flute.
.leftover curry.
.egg mcmuffins.
.oreo crunch cookies.
.crafty inspiration at design festa.
.that just-washed clean-face feeling.
.leaving love notes.
.having thursdays off.

summer 2010

click here for

item details.

キラキラ take three

i got my nails done yesterday:

basically the baby blue version of the nails i got last time: a blue base with glitter that changes between green, yellow, orange and purple.

i discovered this time just how thin my nails are.  i don't know if that's a result of the gel nails, or just that having really hard nails makes it all that more obvious how thin and flimsy my real ones are.  

while i love the look of these nails, they're not actually something i want to continue for the long term.  i'm trying to break my habit of biting and picking at my nails and cuticles.  gel nails keep me from biting my nails short, actually allowing them to grow.  while they are only as long as my own nails, since they are a bit thicker, it makes it harder to pick at things.  hopefully after a couple more months i'll be able to "uncover" my own nails, paint them myself and keep from touching them.

things i love thursday

.mike and ike's.
.colorful zippers.
.yellow starburst.
.children laughing.
.toasted pb&j sandwiches (still).
.waking up next to Ro.
.a beer after a long day at work.
.getting a raise at work.
.those pigeon cookies from kamakura.

train ninjas

"you can buy drinks as fast as you go through the ticket gate."

you know, for all those train-riding suica-carrying thirsty ninjas...

things i learned from my mom

 (insert photo of me and my mom from when i was little)

☆ life isn't fair. and the sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be. it sucks when things don't work out to your advantage, though sometimes they will. but when things aren't fair, it does no good to sit and whine about it. accept it and move on. you'll save yourself a lot of frustration and energy.

☆ the joy of giving presents. my mom loves to buy and give presents to others. she buys something if it reminds her of someone, or knows a friend would love it, even if it's months in advance.  then revels in wrapping and watching the receiver open and be excited about getting a present.

☆ a girl can never have too many bags. she just can't.

☆ jewelry doesn't need to be expensive, but the expensive stuff is nice too. my mom has so much jewelry she has a mini chest of drawers to house it all. most of it is what she calls "disposable jewelry" that doesn't break the bank but looks cute and lasts long enough to get your money's worth. but she also has several really nice pieces that have been handed down or that my dad bought (at her selection) for a special occasion.

☆ how to sew.  now, i can't imagine not knowing how.

☆ you can do anything for a year. whenever making big life decisions, my mom always reminds me that if things don't work out, you can always quit/move/find a new (fill in the blank). nothing is going to be smooth sailing all the time. stick it out for at least a year and then reassess the situation.

☆ 20% of the people do 80% of the work.

☆ if your children are happy, you are happy. of course i don't have kids yet, but my mom has always allowed me to do the things i want, and supported my decisions, even if it means moving far away from home and seeing each other less than we'd like.



i went through several years filled with teenage angst and resentment toward my mom, but, when all is said and done, i love her so much.

happy mother's day mom. <3

it's just allergies...right?

summer 2007

was the pollen bad today?  or is it just me?  because i felt great all of golden week and then today, after just one day back at work, i'm feeling stuffed up, with a minor sore throat and headache.  i hardly left my house in the last 3 days, so maybe it's just the elements?  lack of sleep? (damn crows at 4:30 and 5:30 this morning)  allergies?  first-day-back-to-work-after-long-vacation-tiredness?  something other than a cold from all the kiddy germs floating around at work?  ...please?

speaking of work, things worked out finding someone to cover for me, and i came straight home this afternoon and bought my ticket to arizona.  it's way more than i would spend for 3 days, but my mom emailed me and said how touched dad was that i was even considering coming so far for the memorial service.  he even offered to pay when he realized i was serious about making the trip.  so, i will see my family for what i know will be a much too short 3 day trip.  but it shouldn't be as hard if i keep in mind that i'll see them again when i go home in the summer.

and hopefully dad will let me cut the grass just like the last summer i was home.  because that tractor mower is way more fun than it looks!

tick tock

sometimes i wish i had an office job.  a job where no one directly depends on you being there.  where there is work to be done, and when you're there, you do it, and when you're not there, it will wait for you.  a job where you can call in and say, i'm taking this day off.  unfortunately, i don't have a job like that right now.

i am trying to take 2 days off work so i can fly to arizona for my grandpa's memorial service at the end of this month.  i have to have someone to cover for me on those two days.  if i don't have anyone to cover for me, my boss won't "authorize" my vacation days.  (if i went anyway, would i get fired?  i wonder...)  i've emailed 3 people and, while watching the clock tick, am still waiting for responses.

the united.com website tells me this is the last day to purchase the ticket i want at this [still expensive but the cheapest i could find] price.  as it nears midnight EST time, i wonder if by some stroke of luck, the website has it's own time zone?  or it knows i'm in japan and i have until midnight tonight...?

 ...sigh...

things i love thursday

.パインサワーwith pieces of pineapple.
.staying in pajamas all day.
.phone calls from Chelsea.
.pepsi and popcorn.
.toasted pb&j sandwiches.
.taking walks with Ro.
.getting lost in sewing.
.my new "trendy" tights.
.skirt weather!!.

golden week

thursday, i started the "week" off right with NO alarm clock.  in the afternoon, i met up with Ro and went up to omiya, in saitama.  we met up with some of my old coworkers for my old school's annual orchestra concert, and drinks afterward.

friday Ro and i walked around ueno, had dinner at a yakitori place in ameyoko and then i went to shinjuku to meet up with some old college friends.  one of the guys moved to osaka last year, so it was a mini reunion of sorts.  i came home on the last train and crashed into my bed, just perfectly tipsy.

then, on saturday, i made a handful of kinchaku.

then Ro and two of his friends and i went to the races on sunday.

i bet 100yen on 5 different races and actually won once!  but i forgot to cash in my ticket!  it was only about 160-190yen, because it was a favored horse, but i can't believe i forgot.  apparently i can cash it in somewhere in asakusa.  may have to look into it...

and the rest of the "week"?

i did a lot of eating/sleeping/lounging around/walking the neighborhood with Ro on monday, tuesday and wednesday.

we went to bed around 12midnight every night, and woke up around 10am, sometimes not actually getting out of bed until noon!  now that's what i call vacation.  not to mention, the weather was fabulous.  ALL WEEK.

also, in just 4 days, we ate yakitori, ramen, yakiniku, indian curry, and tsukemen.  i didn't get pictures most times, but here's my ramen from kimihan:

we also ate at an indian curry place on monday night and about 30 minutes later, both of us were thankful for the public restrooms scattered throughout nakamise in asakusa.  > <  the curry was really good and i would definitely go back, but we agreed that we didn't want to get caught anywhere without a toilet after eating there!  haha.  in the end, the raspberry and lemon gelato (also in nakamise) helped soothe our stomachs and we left for home happy campers.

i also made breakfast on monday (fried eggs/sausage/toast/yogurt), tuesday (french toast/yogurt/apple juice) and wednesday (vegetable scrambled eggs/toast/grape juice) mornings.  spoiled boy.  :P


we did do a lot of eating, but we walked everywhere (not to the racetrack or to omiya, of course!) and isn't vacation made for eating, sleeping, and playing each other in othello on your iPhones until you both fall asleep?



...yeah, that's what i thought.  :)

may first music

when i make playlists, i rarely give them cool names like "party mix" or "chill mix" or even "break ups and boys suck mix" (that being said, i do have a playlist titled "ofuro"). instead i just date them. it's boring, sure, but years later, it's interesting to see what i was listening to at the time. i put whatever songs or artists i've been listening to into a playlist then throw the date on it.

lately, instead of listening to a few artists on repeat, i've been listening to my iTunes library on random. the whole library. it has turned out some songs i forgot i had (some i don't even like, some i was excited to rediscover). i've had my iTunes playing all day today (while sewing) and i decided to make a playlist of my favorites from the songs that played today:

1. Intuition - Natalie Imbruglia
2. Tokyo - Bob Schneider (menu→Lonelyland→playlist→Tokyo)
3. Hunter - Dido
4. Breathe - John Reuben
5. Affirmation - Savage Garden
6. Vegas - Sara Bareilles
7. I Need You - Alicia Keys
8. Breathe - Tristan Prettyman (click the middle album→Breathe)
9. Scar - Missy Higgins (actual video, yay!)
10. Buffalo Heart - Beth McIntosh
11. Winding Road - Bonnie Sommerville
12. Fresh Off The Boat - Nelly Furtado
13. Pixie - Ani DiFranco
14. Miami - Counting Crows



happy may.