Oregon?

Hey everybody! It's nice to be back. Well, if you're a friend of mine, (or acquaintance, that works too and is more probable than 'friend') you may or may not know that I went to Portland, Oregon this summer! I got back yesterday, and now I'm totally sick. Just like last year. Don't know how that happened, but it did. Maybe I'm allergic to planes? It's a possibility. Anyway, I had a great time with my family and all that; I guess I should go over some highlights from that trip. Well, first off (and what actually has nothing to do with Portland, really) I am now a huge Sherlock fan! If you guys haven't watched Sherlock yet, I highly recommend it. The third season comes out soon, and I can't wait! Okay, getting over the fangirl-ness, I did a lot of fun stuff. I got to go to Neskowin (which I believe should be renamed Nesquick) that is absolutely gorgeous! Proposal Rock, which is basically just a huge rock with trees on it, is really cool. If my future husband is reading this, you should definitely propose to me there. It is so so so pretty, and really interesting. We also saw a sea otter, which was awesome, and we grilled some sardines. I also rode a tandem bike for the first time. So, for Neskowin, thank you to the Paesler people, who let us co-inhabit their beach house for a couple days. Oh right! Also, there is this place called Tea Chai Te, which has the most AMAZING bubble tea ever! It's absolutely incredible, especially the Lavender, which is super delicious. I also made a little magazine with my cousins, which was fun. So yeah. I don't really recall anything else that's super important...yeah, nothing else is coming to mind. But anyway, it's great to be back, and I'm so happy to have been there.  

Inspirations: Japan

Sorry for being away for so long, everyone! This is a post I wrote a while ago, but I'll let you read it anyway. Should I just jump right in? Okay. Oh. My. God. I just love Japan. I love Japanese culture, I love its anime, I love its fashion, I love everything about it. It is fun and funky, and just really, really cool. Kooan Kosuke comes from Japan, and he is super awesome. My favorite manga, Yotsuba (よつば), and anime, Spirited Away (神隠し) come from Japan, and it is the source of a lot of great books that I encourage you to check out (Twin Spica, Fruits Basket, Azumanga Daioh, and so many more). Japan is such a great inspiration to me! So I have gathered together all my Japanese stuff together and made a little shrine to Japan. I have my Happy Noodle bento box, my sushi and sashimi earbuds, my Iwako erasers...everything from Japan and/or about Japan is down in the photo below!! The picture is of Totoro and the concept version of the little girl, the original Satsuki / Mei. For those of you who do not know who Totoro is, I strongly encourage you to watch My Neighbor Totoro by Hayao Miyazaki. It is the cutest movie ever; and funnily enough, perfect for everyone and anyone. I challenge anyone not to watch Totoro and not think that it is the most adorable thing they have ever seen. Anyway, the book with the little green-haired girl on the cover is Yotsuba&! #3 by Kiyohiko Azuma. Yotsuba is a manga must that should be on anybody's bookshelf. And then, to the right, the cultural Japan (Kyoto); Lord Buddha is a popular cultural figure, as well as the geisha/maiko and maneki neko, the lucky cat. The book in the back is a tokaido, a book of prints and poetry. There is a lot of things from Japan, especially food items, that I love; in particular, mochi, onigiri, udon, sushi rolls (which I included a picture of anyway). I love Japanese food!!! Sushi is literally the best thing ever. The picture below of sushi was handmade by my dad, everything but the soy sauce. Thank you, Dad (and Japan for making sushi in the first place)! Anyway, I love Japan, so this is just a kind of tribute post.

 

Thanks for the fanbase everybody! Hope you're all having such a great summer and hopefully I will be posting more.