Staycation....Part 1

Ten had some time off of work that he needed to use this month, and we had decided to go to Washington D.C. We were going to go to the zoo, try some new restaurants, and check out the museums. However....the more we got to thinking about it, the more realized that we could really do all of those things here in New York....and not have to waste time on a train...or bus...or plane...or whatever...So, staycation was born.

Friday started off as any Friday. Me and Mia went to her Japanese class. She had such a great time....so much so she screamed in another little girl's face...and made her cry...I won't lie...it was kind of funny.

When the teacher asked if I wanted to take pictures of Mia as the princess for Hina Matsuri, I was like of course!! Unfortunately  I only had my phone with me...which doesn't take the greatest of pics.

Princess Mia

She loved it, but of course...would not smile for the camera.

On Saturday, we woke up and had breakfast before swim class...I so wanted to take pictures, but I got to chatting with nice Brazilian mom again....have to try harder next time. Anyway, I wanted to mention our breakfast because I was lucky enough to capture this picture.

Mia was dropping strawberries on the floor, and Ten was picking them up. Well, she had decided to chew up part of a strawberry and then shove it in Ten's mouth....hahaha....He seriously looks so disturbed in this picture, and she looks like what she just did was hilarious...which it was....haha

Finally, no true vacation (or staycation) would be complete without some shopping thrown in. After we rested from swim class, we went and bought Mia some new clothes. I even picked up a pair of jeans for myself.

The prices for everything were cheaper than what we usually buy at Target, so I was in heaven.

All ready for her first baseball game this summer!

Had to get Jeter since it is Ten's all time favorite player.

We also ran over to Michael's (LOVE this store), and bought a few things for Easter and even St. Paddy's Day. Here are a few things that we chose.

Pretty Easter wreath and bouquet of flowers for the dining table.

Lots of Easter eggs since they were on sale. Now, we will have plenty for next year. After all, you never know what country we may end up in.

For the front door...not a great pic...but really pretty...can't wait to hang it next year.

On Sunday, Ten went grocery shopping, and we just kind of hung out as usual. It was a pretty great weekend! Stay tuned for the rest of our staycation... :)

Our Weekend

This is seriously a blog post that is overloaded with pictures, but I'm sure both my mom and grandma will love it, so here we go.

Saturday morning started out as any other Saturday. We woke up and had pancakes for breakfast before heading out to Mia's swim lesson. She had a great time as usual, and I had planned on taking some pics. However, I got to chatting with a nice lady from Brazil about the horrors of having a baby in the U.S....I won't even go into that topic...but needless to say I couldn't get any pictures.

After coming home and having leftovers for lunch, we headed down to Time Square. We first popped in to Kinokuniya to look around. We actually ended up buying a hiragana poster for her Easter basket (I know...someone stop me!!) and this book about brushing your teeth. She loves this series, and we were hoping that it would make brushing seem like more fun since she has been fighting us on it recently...and you know what...it worked!! She thought the sounds were funny and liked to play along...thank you genius creator of this book!

Our next stop was the library. We wanted to take a quick peak since this place is quite famous. We ended up hitting the jackpot of English AND Japanese picture books. Yay!

We then popped over to Sunrise Mart and bought our necessities...you know...rice, soy sauce, curry, kimuchi, miso, etc. By this time, we were completely starving. So, we grabbed two bento and sat there and at them....They were really good as usual.

One BBQ Chicken and one Fried Chicken with Milk Coffee and Mugicha 

Ten reading a book to Mia at the cafe, so I could eat my food in peace.

 On our way back to the station, we took a little stroll through Bryant Park. I love this place...I feel like I say I love everything, but I really do love Bryant Park. It is such a nice place to relax right in the middle of it all.

This also the home of Le Carrousel, so we thought we would have some fun and let Mia take her first carrousel ride.

Ten said she had a lot of fun and especially liked the mirrors...she even let out a little scream...of joy I hope...haha

By this time, it was getting pretty late...but we decided to head over to Toys R Us to check out the ferris wheel. We also let Mia test out some little bikes....haha. She looked so cute on them, but those pics are on my phone.

Sunday, we did a quick clean of the apartment and then Ten went grocery shopping...and he brought home a Little People Disney Princess set of 7 princesses...they are so cute, and she loves them. My picture turned out really bad, but this one from the Target website is exactly the same....we are seriously hopeless....haha

 Once he got back, we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go to the park. Wow, Mia had a great time.

She went down the slide COUNTLESS times. Ten said it was making him dizzy...haha.

 They also played on the swings, and seriously...I have never seen a baby laugh so hard while swinging...OMG....she had so much fun.

Laughing so hard she couldn't even sit up straight

We had a ton of fun this weekend, and actually I am pretty wiped out from it. We may have to plan a lazy day indoors soon!

First Real Day Out With Mia -- Farewell to Tokyo

Ten is off at the gym right now for one of his final personal training sessions, and I am trying to get Mia to sleep for the night (she isn't having it might I add), so I figure it is a good time to type up what we did over the weekend. 

First, the weekend started and ended with gifts! Yay! It is always so much fun to get unexpected gifts...not going to lie.

On Friday we got a package from Australia, and we opened it to find a pair of little red Uggs. Really cute...did you know Uggs were invented in Australia? Well that's what we were told. These were from Ten's coworker for Mia for the New York winters. How thoughtful!... especially since we have never even met him! Also, the necklace below was given to Ten on Sunday night as a gift for me. This came from the most unexpected person....our dry cleaner as a gift for having Mia. Really sweet of her. Once she found out that I could speak English (odd story in itself there), we started having small talk when I went to pick up Ten's clothes. Must get a thank you note for her!

On Saturday, Ten made us lunch reservations at Gonpachi in Azabu. It is an American/Japanese fusion restaurant...and famous for being the inspiration for a huge fight scene in Kill Bill.

Lots of famous people have eaten here like George Bush and Stevie Wonder...and best of all...

...Johnny Depp...my sister's celebrity obsession...though I will admit he is mighty fine!

Anyway, we chose this restaurant because I had never been...and didn't want to miss out before we left...Also, we called beforehand and were told that it was baby friendly and was non-smoking throughout. When we arrived, the staff actually carried our stroller up all of the steps for us...so I definitely agree...baby friendly in that sense.

Here is a pic of me and Mia...and that pink thing hanging off of me is my super hero cape (aka nursing cover).

We had a lot of really nice food. I ordered the lunch course and Ten had the oyakodon set plus he ordered some yakitori. 

Starting with a salad...tasted better than the picture looks.

Sweet and sour and spicy shrimp dumpling...I loved this thing...and the best part is they accidentally brought Ten one too...and when we told them that we didn't order it...they told us to keep it...so I ate two of them...I know...bad since the top part is all fried...but couldn't help it.

Cold tofu with baby anchovies...I just can't stomach the baby fish looking at me...so I had to pass this one over to Ten.

Ten's food. He has been on a strict diet...like really strict...so he devoured this...plus some yakitori...

We also had more yakitori, grilled fish, and tempura with sea salt (I am a convert to tempura with salt). I thought I took pics but I guess not....and finally dessert...vanilla ice cream with brown sugar.

And finally, a few pics of the restaurant...very empty since we got there right when it opened to avoid a crowd.

And Mia...she did really well. She was all smiles when we walked in and was checking everything out...So it has definitely boosted our confidence for more outings. 

Out and About

So last Saturday we were B-U-S-Y (which may be the reason why I've been bedridden with a nasty bug).


Anywho, sometimes you do want to forget the fact that you are living in Japan (or abroad) and do things that are completely "Western." Sounds so weird to use that word.


Saturday kind of turned into one of those days for me. We woke up bright and early and got the housework out of the way and marched over to 7-11 (unshowered might I add, so I'm sure we were a sight). We there guarded the machine where you can buy tickets to different events for the next 20 minutes or so....The reason being that at exactly 11:00 tickets would go on sale for the opening game of the Mariners vs. the A's at Tokyo Dome...we don't particularly like these teams....but we do love baseball!! So...when the clock hit 11...we frantically started hitting buttons to get the tickets....we were so extremely lucky as we got two in the outfield!! When we paid for the tickets we decided to check what seats were left....nothing....we were smiling like idiots because it was like winning the lottery for us....haha.

After that we sold yet another book at Book Off and went to our dentist appointment (where upon arrival we discovered that our dentist had moved to Australia and sold her practice....new dentist was terrible...a heads up would have been nice!)


Anyway after terrible dentist appointment, we decided to go to Ikebukuro....where we ate a glorious meal at Burger King. I totally don't expect those of you living in the U.S. to get how exciting this is....haha.


















Finally we headed over to Babies R Us.







We were so happy to see tons more foreign products here compared to Akachan Honopo (a Japanese store we visited). I think Ten had the most fun there playing with toys and pushing around strollers. He is already such an involved dad... :)


Anyway, so it was like a day out back home (minus the fact that I couldn't read or communicate...haha), and we had such a good time!


P.S. I do believe I have fallen in love with this stroller. It is indeed a Japanese brand....but so much nicer and lighter than anything else we have seen...not in this color though.

Christmas Come Early

Christmas in Japan can be quite....well...I guess you could say disappointing. You have to kind of go hunting for the Christmas spirit. It just isn't in the air here like it is back home. So, we have to do the best with what we have.

Today, Kahori came over to watch some Christmas DVDs that she had sent over from Canada.

Do you remember these movies?...classics

We actually didn't watch the movies, but they did make for good background noise while we caught up and planned for our trip to Disney....haha.

We also ate a ton of food...oh the doctor will not be happy at my next weigh in...but that is a story for another day.

Jalapeno pizza and a cheeseball that I made...recipe will follow at the end.

  

Also, I told Kahori that I needed a human pic for the blog...hahaha...I didn't want it to be myself...because well...did I mention the weight gain...It's not like I've gained 100 pounds or anything crazy...it's just that I'm not used to it yet....haha

And of course a gift exchange...I "accidentally" saw through the bottom of the plastic....so I think I know what it is....but I'll wait to open it....oops. (but dear Kahori...I love it!! Thanks!)

A nice way to start the Christmas weekend.... :)

Anyway, for anyone interested in making this super easy cheeseball....here is the recipe:

Ingredients

1 package of cream cheese

Shredded cheddar cheese (amount that you like)

2 pineapple rings (cut up into small pieces)

1/4-1/2 of a small onion (chopped)

a dash of salt

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Crushed walnuts

Directions

Let the cream cheese sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Add all of the ingredients (minus the walnuts) in a bowl and mix/fold well.

Refrigerate over night.

About 30 minutes before serving. Mold the cheese into balls. I made two, but you could do one big one or bite-sized ones. Then simply roll the balls in the walnuts until coated. Serve with crackers.

Really easy...and usually people love these things.

Happy December 1st!!

December is here...and in case the calendar didn't remind us of that...the weather sure did....brr.... today was such a fun day though!! I started off with some online shopping for Christmas...can't tell you who it was for though....not yet.... ;)

Then off to the station to meet Kahori...and took some pics of all of the Christmas decorations that are springing up.

Okay...so I didn't take a picture of this last one, but Ten sent it to me from his office.

So, we got back to the apartment, and chowed down on some Indian curry...It was soooo good. I haven't had Indian curry in such a long time....and now I may never be able to stop eating it....I may dream about butter chicken.

Kahori then made my day by asking....so, who are the Duggars...hahaha...Yes, we watched an episode together...and she said that they were kind of sweet in an old fashioned way...thank you, yes they are.

This was followed by some impromptu wrapping practice. It was pretty fun trying to remember how to do it all. 

When I whipped out the camera...she started laughing....hahaha....funny.

So, I read a quote today that said that This is the time of year when we get to be together. How true is that. I hope to spend every day this month trying to build stronger relationships with those who are important to me, and I'm happy that I was able to do that today while soaking up some Christmas vibes. Now, I can't wait until Ten comes home so we can snuggle up on the couch and indulge in some chocolate croissants compliments of Kahori.... :)