post fuji daze

was only a post or two behind and then mt fuji happened. things are kind of a blur. i went out to a friend's for drinks on saturday and was a bit out of it, and work yesterday was like i was in a fog. i mean, doing what i needed to do and getting things done, but i felt like i was only half "there." weird.

my whole body is sore (day two soreness is turning out worse in some ways than day one soreness.) and my feet and ankles are so swollen they don't even look like my feet! my shins are acting up too.

i have a ridiculous sunburn on the back of my legs that looks like i'm wearing pink socks. will be wearing tights for another week or so. note to self: put sunscreen on ANY piece of skin that is exposed - the mt fuji sun WILL find it.

i was extremely jealous of the girls working at the top this year. they all seemed really cool and i wished so much that i still had a summer vacation and could still work at the top.

late last night i realized i have a whole summer of photos that have never been published anywhere. i had big dreams for those pictures. maybe it's time to do something with them again...

things i love thursday

.bbq!!!!!!!.
.perfect summer pasta salad.
.skirts, skirts, skirts.
.the smell of citronella.
.tomato babies.
.french braids.
.new clothes (on SALE, double yay).
.tristan prettyman's new single (my oh my).
.local restaurant owner gives me freebies.

4.

hair


it's funny, for awhile i was always in front of the computer and never blogged.

now i'm filling my calendar so full that i hardly think to blog or

it's a last thought when i am actually already wanting to head to bed.


got my hair done today then went out for turkish food with May.

wow, i don't know that i've used her name on here in years.

we talk about everything from boys and drama and gossip to

facebook and social pressure and artistic expression...


she called me "kawaii" and took a couple pictures of me.

i'm so uncomfortable in front of cameras like that.

even with freshly cut and dyed hair.

i'm wanting to change something, but summer

is too hot for anything other than UP. maybe come fall?

go short(er)? or add a fun color underneath?

hair is like rearranging furniture;

the urge doesn't go away, it only gets stronger or weaker.

the grill

the grill
i bought
this past week
is probably
the best
thing i have
purchased
since my
christmas tree.

it makes me seriously happy. :)

28.

cup

the other day i went to rise, in futagotamagawa. it was my first time there and i did some serious damage to my wallet. a dress and shirt at H&M, a rug for my genkan, some air plants and some citronella candles. i don't know that i've ever seen citronella candles in japan except at costco, so i stood there for at least 5 minutes debating which ones to get.  they even had the outdoor torch style, which i wanted to get, but the burning time was the shortest, so i couldn't justify the splurge. instead i got three of these little guys:

"cup type"

p.s. my mini grill came today!! it's awesome and i can't wait to use it tomorrow for burgers on the grill! :)

things i love thursday

.shopping alone.
.air plants(!!!).
.the smell of tomato plants.
.lunch dates with girl friends.
.forgetting what day it is (all day last friday).
.cold ginger ale.
.boys who can sing (and play guitar).
.skittles.
.bbq food and mini grill arrive tomorrow!!!!!.

1.

(e)mail

three months ago, we started using (and subsequently tweaking) a new customer database system at work. it's custom made, so we've been working with a system engineer to fix the [inevitable] bugs and also add more functions as the need arises. for our location (there are a couple locations but all under the same company) i knew the old system pretty well, so it was natural that i would become the person to get to know the new system and be the "go-to" person when people had questions, etc. that means i'm also the person who emails the system engineer when we have questions or problems. thus, my "business email japanese" has gotten (hopefully?) much better. why, hello new skill set. :)

so tonight, when i got an email from the seller i bought my grill from saying they ran out of stock, and since they wouldn't be getting any more until march 2013, they were going to have to cancel my order.

first thing i think? you may have rained on my barbeque a little bit, but i'm definitely writing a nasty email to complain about this one, including lines like, "why, if there were none in stock, was i able to make the purchase online?" and "why did it take 5 days for you to realize you didn't have any more in stock?" and "if i had known, i would have gone ahead and purchased the grill from another store so i could have it by the time i need it" and "i don't plan on purchasing from you again, but perhaps you should make it so that you can't order it if there are none in stock" and a little "非常に困ります" for good measure.

i may be a push over in person, and even though there's really nothing they can do, at least i can send a great complaint email.

quote of the day

i have this monthly calendar that has 31 sayings only numbered so you can reuse it every month. i've had it forever and have some favorite quotes, but usually i re-discover a couple each time through.

after a spontaneous [yes-i-know-i-said-i-was-going-to-say-no-next-time-but-i-was-bored] dinner with SoCal last night, today's seems appropriate:

「わかってくれ」と
人に言うな
自分の評価は
自分でしかできない

though probably much less eloquent, my translation:

don't say to people,
"understand me"
the only one that determines your worth
is you

26.

sunshine

from the station

8.

lunch

five cherry tomatoes

and one cucumber

with

olive oil

balsamic vinaigrette

and fresh basil

(from my garden)

dressing:

5.

on the floor

my genkan finally has a rug. :)

29.

last thing you bought

bring on the burgers, i just bought a smokey joe!!

the estimated delivery is july 20-24th. 
i need it on the 21st, so am hoping that's a very
"japanese" estimation and it arrives next friday.



edited to add: before i bought it, i read several reviews, etc.
but later, i made the mistake of googling it (post-purchase).
$29.99 at target, walmart and lowe's in the US...sigh. oh japan.

things i love thursday

.concrete mt. fuji plans.
.one last mint brownie.
.ni-chome with cute boys.
.cold tomato soup from family mart.
.spontaneous dinners with my best friend from h.s.
.free refills (esp. when it's flavored lemonade!).
.sprawling out on a queen size bed (aaahhh).
.cool(ish) evenings with all the windows open.
.skirts and sneakers.

23.

something you're listening to

7.

garden

in tokyo, anything goes

sometime between the hours of 1am and 4am, a couple malibu pineapples,
some pole dancing and lots of overly fashionable cute boys in shinjuku ni-chome,
there was a man blowing bubbles, dragging his pet along behind him.

his pet corn on the cob.
yes indeed, there was.

the boys of 2012

(i tried to find a "post a day" theme that i could work this into.  there wasn't one even remotely close!)

i just spent about 15 minutes looking through my archives to see if i ever wrote about the boy i ran into last night, M. i think i hinted at him in some things i love thursday posts and here, but he never got much more than that. SoCal came along then too. at the time i was still talking to S, who made this comment about the M and SoCal predicament. and when both of those flat-lined, baseballBoy asked me out. and i'm sure you're already confused.  which boy is which?!

so...
there was S.
then the guy i ran into last night, M.
and then SoCal.
and then baseballBoy.

recap and update:
 
S: made a very untimely (but in a lot of ways, a very much needed) entrance here and was in japan for 2 months (december to early february). we hung out a lot in january. he's a really nice guy and was really understanding when i was going through a really messy breakup. a lot of our conversations helped me process a lot of the mess. now he's back in the states and we still talk about everything and anything. we skype every week or so. it's not always pg-13. (ha)
 
M: an old high school friend that resurfaced late last year at a friend's wedding and other get togethers after that. i flirted as best i could for a couple months (february, march and early april). there were several gatherings and parties with high school friends and i set myself up perfectly for him to invite me out but he would always just reply, "yeah, let's all go out together blahblahblah." mid april, SoCal showed up and i sort of gave up on M and his lack of initiation. then i ran into him last night at a club in shibuya!  i was out clubbing for the first time in over 6 months and i run into him?! i had seen him across the room but he hardly registered until he walked by and made obvious eye contact and said my name as a question. he assumed i go clubbing all the time (ugh, so far from the truth). a little while later, the two guys i went with were 1. MIA and 2. sleeping on a chair in the corner, so i hung out with M and his friend and some other people i had met through my two guy friends earlier in the night. it was nice to see him, and i wanted to take it as "now timing is right" or a sign or something, but something in my gut tells me he's just not that interested. he's a self-proclaimed "rolled cabbage guy," which in my mind means if he *was* interested, i would know by now. (is that what he was trying to tell me?) in the morning when everyone parted ways, we were on the same train line for a couple stops and then we said goodbye. and that was it. booooring. haha.

SoCal: also most recently referred to as f*cking SoCal. we went on some dates, and some other nonblogged things happened, but then after the [first paragraph] incident here, we haven't talked, except for a couple sudden invites from him to get drinks. one i couldn't make (had a date with baseballBoy! haha) and the other he backed out of ("crazy phone call at work, can't get out now, sorry! my bad!!!!") but i suspect he just got a better offer from some other girl. am still trying to think of a witty way to decline his next invite, if it ever comes.

baseballBoy: coming in looking like a perfect gentleman after SoCal, we went on a date or two, and date three was a "late night tv date" (read: trains will have stopped, sleep over date) at his place (in which nothing major actually happened, but enough happened to spur on the "actually i just like you as a friend" conversation) we are...well, just friends. he still "Likes" more than half my status updates and photos on facebook though, and wants to come over for a me-cooked dinner sometime.  confusing as all get out.  over it a bit, actually, but he is a nice guy and we probably will just be friends. totally grandma/grandpa-esque friends who get excited about growing vegetables. ;)


with that, i'm taking a break.
they can call if they want,
but i'm calling all my girl friends.

up for the next month: play date with friend and her 2 kids, mt. fuji, local music matsuri/bbq party at my house, beach with new friend (the girl i met through SoCal, probably needs a nickname, we hang out a lot)...and some work somewhere in there too!  ;)

things i love thursday

hi friday.



.newly paved roads.
.my plants blooming.
.pizza and wine.
.making neighborhood acquaintances.
.productive work days.
.mint brownies.
.daily crunches = a less sore back.
.leaving early and sitting outside for 10 minutes before work.
.mt fuji is open for climbing!!!.

12.

a corner of your home

this is my bedroom [before i moved in, obviously]. 

should probably completely unpack someday...
and then take "after" photos to go with this
and all the other "before" photos i took.

6.

your neighborhood

i moved to the area in february.  not exactly heartbroken, but mending an exhausted heart.  i knew nothing of the area, and moved on blind faith.  i hoped that, like every place i had moved to before, i would grow to love it.

one day, there was a sign for a new "italian" restaurant opening along the road i walk each day to and from the station. i have passed it every day since it opened mid-may.

tonight i was feeling a little lonely, but figured a glass of wine and a 一人外食 evening might not be so bad afterall.  (long story short: date with baseballBoy on friday was not actually a "date" and i left feeling slightly, though my own daydreaming at fault, rejected. tonight on my way home, i checked facebook and he was heading to tokyo and asking if anyone wanted to get dinner. i refrained from replying. sigh...)

in passing the bright blue door everyday, i have imagined becoming a regular, making friends with the waitstaff but never walked in until tonight on my way home.

i was the only customer and the chef's son (4) was sitting in the corner along the wall bench completely enthralled in his ipad game.  the chef apologized for his kid being there, but he was quiet and hardly looked up, even when his dad spoke to him (hail the power of the ipad!).

i ordered an appetizer that was cold marinated chicken with orange compote (could have used more orange compote though),  the chef's pizza that changes regularly (currently BLT pizza) and a glass of white wine.  delicious. but it was so much, i could hardly finish.

the owner cleared his son's pizza plate, only half eaten and brought out two cups of tiramisu. he brought it over and said, "良かったら食べてください." definitely not one to turn down dessert! we talked a bit about having just moved here (they did too) and where i was from, etc (aka: the standard when people find out this blond haired whitey can speak japanese).

as i was finishing, a young woman walked in and i thought, "oh she doesn't realize they already had last order..." but when she walked in, she said, "いらっしゃいませ" and i realized, she's the wife of the chef.  she disappeared to the back, only to reappear when she heard me speaking to her husband in japanese.  they stood and talked to me for probably 15-20 minutes. they remind me a bit of a young couple starting a restaurant in my home town that i worked for back in college. i hope they are just as successful.

as i left, the chef offered me candy from a bucket full of dumdum suckers. i commented how i used to eat them all the time when i was a kid.  and then i remembered seeing some article online about the mystery flavor being the "flavor" that resulted when they changed the flavor on the non-stop machine, so all the "mystery flavors" are actually a combination of 2 flavors. they didn't know, but apparently had actually had customers ask what flavor the question mark ones were (japanese white lie?).

i left with a huge smile on my face. well worth my 2,200yen.

2.

younger you

apparently i went through a stage

during which my dad asked my mom,

"is she going to wear anything other than pink?"

i don't remember that stage. 

in my memory, i was always like this,

hair a mess, snotty and smiling:

a post a day

i took july's list (from fatmumslim, thank you!) and then subtracted and added my favorites from other months' photo a day lists, but i am just going to make it a "post a day" challenge. 

it may be a photo, or it may be something totally different altogether, but i'm gonna try because i miss how much i used to post (see those archives where i had 200+ posts in 2008 and 2009? whoa). i also might jump around and pick and choose in no order. i might post more than once a day, too. because i can.  ;)

basically my goal is to have 31 posts by july 31st. start your engines!!

1. mail
2. younger you
3. best part of your day
4. hair
5. on the floor
6. your neighborhood
7. garden
8. lunch
9. big
10. your favorite color
11. letter
12. a corner of your home
13. open
14. building
15. finger
16. sign
17. something you wore
18. key
19. handwriting
20. eyes
21. 9 o'clock
22. upside down
23. something you're listening to
24. in your bag
25. water
26. sunshine
27. on the road
28. cup
29. last thing you bought
30. something old
31. toothbrush

quote of the day

"It's not how much one gets paid, but how much they give, that makes them rich.

And when I say "give," I mean "offer," "provide," "perform," "donate," "sell," or otherwise be of service to others.

And when I say "rich," I'm not just talking about the warm fuzzies, but ultimately possessing whatever you dream of... from confidence to cupcakes to bullion."

-the Universe