Amigos – Page 4 – Kaori Square Feet

The Goodbye to Chicago

American breakfasts are so awesome. I can only eat a third of it…but still awesome!

I insisted I don’t eat breakfast but C and T took me out anyways before heading to the airport. Also, T gave me the breakfast-is-the-most-important-meal-of-the-day-Kaori speech. He never changes.

My stay in Chicago was really short but I’m so glad I came. xx

O’hare airport is so quirky.

Good-bye Chicago…I’ll be back. x

Michigan is where I called home for nine years growing up and I feel lucky that I still get the chance to go back. This town (technically it’s a village!) is tucked in a cozy corner of Michigan where downtown is one street and you bump into people you know all the time. It’s the town that teenagers can’t wait to get out of and the town parents dream of once they have a family.

One of the greatest things about Michigan is that it has all four seasons. And fall is quite glorious here. Unfortunately I brought the rainy weather with me from DC and it was like that my whole stay here. But the leaves were just starting to change color and I thought it was beautiful anyway. I even brought back a few, pressed between my book! 😀

My other best friend from grade school currently lives here with her family and I was really excited to see her. We got our girl time together to catch up and I also got to hang out with her husband and adorable girls (she has three!). I sometimes still can’t believe she’s a mom but she’s an amazing one and I loved seeing her in her element.

On my first morning there, I also got to see one of my old friends. D and I went to school and church together when we were younger and and I hadn’t seen her in years. But (thanks to facebook) we’d kept in touch here and there over the years and I finally got to see her over breakfast!

To tell you the truth, I was nervous. I always am when I’m meet someone I haven’t seen in a while. Am I the only one? I think, what if there’s nothing to talk about and we end up having awkward pauses? What if we’re on a different page and don’t like each other anymore? What if she can’t understand my English? So many awful possibilities.

I really had nothing to worry about though. Breakfast with D was great! It certainly was kind of odd, in the sense that the last time I’d seen her we were both nine years old, and here we were catching up as adults, talking about family, work, and men. Very surreal. But we had tons of laughs and hush-hush talks. It was great.

Reconnecting with old friends always puts a smile on my face and I was beyond happy to see D during my short stay in Michigan. Can’t wait until the next time! xx

Would you believe this gigantic omelette was the “half omelette“ on the menu?

The only selfie photo, after a few dozen, that included both our faces in the shot! 😀

Oh Michigan, you are truly beautiful and will always be home to me.

The Other Day in Chicago

Back in the city of Chicago.

Something about this city just makes me want to go shopping. It’s weird. Maybe it’s associated with all the shopping I did here when I was younger, or all the shopping I did just last year?

Either way, the minute I got back, I went straight to Starbucks to grab a drink (with my name on it!!!) and then ran over to my favorite store, Anthropologie. I literally want to live in this store, it’s so great. They have everything from kitchenware to shoes to books and I love them all. It’s probably a good thing for me that they don’t have this store in Tokyo. Ha.

After my short shopping spree, I met up with my friends T and C and we went shopping for dinner at the local grocery store. It’s sort of become a tradition to buy all the junk food I can’t get in Japan and eat in at their place. It’s the very best because we can talk and talk and talk, all the while petting Remy, their beautiful dog.

I always have so much fun with these two because they feel like family. The kind of family you really wished lived right down the street from you. x

Here are some pictures from that night:

My very first Starbucks cup with my name on it…chocolate chai is amazing!

Some of the buildings in Chicago are massive.

Remy has the cutest curly tail.

I’ve realized that walking the dog is also a great way to see the city!

Everyone takes a picture in front of this spot…as did we.

My aim is so bad when taking selfies but this is us playing tourists!

I love the pretty lights of The Chicago Theatre.

Having fun with Chicago street art.

How pretty is this skyline?

Did you know the name “L” train comes from the fact that it is “elevated?”

Chicago has a bike sharing system called Divvy, just like Amsterdam and New York!

My decadent carrot cake cupcake that I devoured.

So many types of cheese at the grocery store, it made me jealous.

The time flew by while we talked and Remy kept my feet warm by sitting on me. x

The Afternoon in Chicago

Chicago is my city.

It was the nearest large city for me growing up. We would take school trips here to visit museums. My family would camp along Lake Michigan and go to Six Flags Great America every summer. It’s just a city full of old memories for me. And now that I’m older I get to see it from a different point of view and I love it even more.

I get pretty excited about the fact that I know my way around Chicago a little more each time I’m there. I took the metro to my friend’s apartment, then found my way over to where he works all by myself. It felt so good (even though I did have my handy sidekick Google Map) that I almost wished someone would stop me on the street and say “Wow, you seem to know your way around this city!” Kind of crazy…but that’s how proud I was of myself. Haha.

Anyways, my friend T took me out to lunch that afternoon at the Water Tower Place. This is where my girl friends and I would beg our parents to take us in grade school and also where I first saw the classic movie Clueless (remember that one?) in sixth grade. I hadn’t been inside in years but it brought back memories.

We went to Mity Nice and I ordered their amazing veggie burger that is made from a blend of portobello, spinach, pumpkin seeds, parmesan cheese and covered in panko. It was hands down the best veggie burger I’ve ever eaten. Especially with the sweet potato fries on the side. So so good.

We spent our lunch catching up and talking about anything and everything. T and I stepped into kindergarten together and we’ve known each other ever since. He’s like the big brother I never had and has always watched out for me. I still feel like that hasn’t changed, even though we live hundreds of miles apart, and I really love that. xx

Mity Nice

Water Tower Place

835 N. Michigan Ave.

Chicago, Illinois 60611 U.S.A.

312-335-4745

Hours:

Sun: 12:00pm-8:00pm

Mon-Thu: 11:30am-9:00pm

Fri-Sat: 11:30am-9:30pm

This was taken on T’s iphone but I loved it so much, I’m posting it here.

It was a rainy day but it didn’t dampen my day at all.

Architecture in Chicago is one of it’s charms.

The John B. Murphy Memorial Auditorium I ran past on my way back…isn’t it pretty?

The Surprise Birthday Party

I love parties.

Especially when it’s not all on you and you have a great organizer like my friend E. There’s really nothing worse than hosting a party by yourself and your ideas become too elaborate and you’re short on time and you end up crying from fatigue when the time finally comes (this was my thanksgiving dinner last year…haha!).

So when E mentioned that they were throwing her sister-in-law a surprise birthday party during my stay in DC, I was excited. E always has the best party ideas and is a magician in the kitchen. Her husband Y is an artist and can make pretty much anything into a masterpiece. I get to take pictures and also help out here and there, all while humming a little tune. It’s really great.

While her brother took the birthday girl out for coffee, we snuck into their house and started decorating and preparing food. Did I mention that E made a chocolate cake with chocolate cheese cream frosting? YUM! Their friends started coming over and we put them to work, too. We all gathered in the living room when we got the text message saying they were coming back and kept quiet enough to surprise the birthday girl with a big “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

It was a really fun party and because I was the unofficial photographer, I will warn you in advance…there are a lot of pictures.

Here they are:

We decorated the table with fall items like mums, pumpkins, and acorns.

Presents for the birthday girl 😀

Fall apples are so delicious.

Aren’t the mums pretty?

I thought the table looked really pretty with all the flowers and food.

The fabulous birthday cake! (The banner and number of candles may confuse you…haha)

E and Y doing their thing in the kitchen. They are a great team 😀

The surprised birthday girl! 😀

The kids mingling.

I ate every last bite of this cake…it was so so good! 😀

K was trying to get cousin Walter (aka the cat) to come join the party.

We ate and chat and even played this game.

Group picture before we left so the kids could go wild without us older people ;D

I think she liked her birthday party…love these two. x

The Trip to Washington DC

There is nothing like this view above the clouds to get me excited for a trip ahead!

Especially when the trip starts in Washington DC. My five days there with my grade school bff’s family were filled with lots of laughs, good food, and seeing old friends. And when my favorite two year old welcomes me with an excited high-pitched “Auntie Kaoriiiiiiiiiiiiiii” at the door, it really doesn’t get any better than that.

I can’t believe how fast this little girl is growing. The last time I saw her, we had her first birthday party and she wasn’t talking yet. Just a word here or there. But now she’s chattering away and it completely blew me away! Every time we would get in the car, she would remind me, “Auntie Kaori, seat belt!” Yes, ma’am! Oh, and her prayers before her bedtime? So stinkin’ precious, I melt every time.

Every time I come to DC it feels more like home because of this family. I love getting to visit and spend time with them. And you know I’m already looking forward to the next time! xx

Here are some pictures:

Graffiti art on a wall in Bethesda

Our Mexican dinner was delicious and we were all stuffed by the end of our meal.

K loves the horses…even after one almost bit her. She said, “horse eat my hand!”

K making a handmade birthday present for her her tia (aunt in spanish).

We threw a surprise birthday party for E’s sister-in-law (blog post to follow!).

Our mutual grade school friend, who lives in the DC area, came over for brunch! 😀

Had fun at the local park on a sunny morning. This girl is fearless.

Spent the afternoon chatting with an old friend (who both E and I babysat! crazy!).

It was fall in DC and some of the leaves were such pretty colors.

Loved seeing this girl and her fabulous family! xx

Had such a great time in DC…now heading to Chicago from this lovely airport. x

The Picnic at Shinjuku Gyoen

Ever since I got my hands on this fabulous picnic blanket, I’ve been a picnic addict!

So last Saturday, my bff and I had a picnic at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. The great thing is that she just moved into my neighborhood (whoop whoop!) so we just met up at the corner of the street and walked to the park together. I love that we can do that now!

We stopped by Freshness Burger to grab lunch for our picnic. Have you tried their vegetable burgers? They are so good. They have a bean burger and a mushroom burger and I am SO happy they are back on the menu. I think they are popular among non-vegetarians, too. This time I went with the mushroom burger set.

We spent the whole afternoon just laying around and relaxing. There were a lot of families with children also doing the same thing and we ended up chatting with a few of the little people. So cute. All in all it was a great afternoon, especially since the typhoon came and it was all rain the following two days.

Do you have a favorite picnic spot? x

The 30th Anniversary at Disneyland

Did you know that it’s Tokyo Disneyland’s 30th anniversary this year?

Tokyo Disneyland (which is technically in the neighboring prefecture of Chiba) opened on April 15th, 1983. I had no idea but it was apparently the first Disney park outside of the United States. And what a fabulous park it is. Despite the long lines and more long lines (and did I mention the long lines?), it’s still one of my favorite places to go to and have fun!

We had the after-5pm passport, which is plenty of time to enjoy the magical land of Disney. We went on rides like Pirates of the Caribbean, Castle Carrousel, Pooh’s Honey Hunt, and Space Mountain. We also ate various flavors of popcorn and even pizza while waiting in line. Which we did a lot of. But it’s fun when you’re with your bff because if you always end up in a cafe and chatting your heads off, why not just do it at Disneyland while waiting in line? 😀

Our time there was the perfect mix of Disney magic, fun rides, and girl talk. And of course, it’s always fun to scream my head off non-stop on Space Mountain. It’s not that I’m scared, but I just like to scream on rides no matter what. I mean, where else can you scream at the top of your lungs? x

Here are some photos:

I love all the popcorn flavors! My favorites are curry, honey, and now soy sauce & butter!

The other flavors are salt, caramel, and corn potage this season.

Happy Anniversary Tokyo Disneyland! We’ll be back soon! x

The Afternoon with the Kiddos

My heart is still melting!

My former boss had baby L just a day after the Royal baby was born and is currently on parental leave. So last weekend a couple of us finally went to visit and spent the afternoon with the new big brother status R and baby L! My coworker also brought her 3rd grade twins so it was quite a lively affair!

Baby L was so tiny. It’s amazing how newborns are so small at first. She would make these big eyes while drinking milk that had all of us cracking up. What a sweetheart.

Big brother R was such a smart kid and fun to play with. He’s started talking so he would show us all his toys and what color they were. He’d run around screaming like kids his age do. He requested that my friend read him the Nemo book and when she finished, he turned to her and said Moh ikkai! which means Again! 😀

Spending time with these kiddos was so much fun. I loved every minute of it!

The Starlight Cinema 2013

I completely forgot about the outdoor movie I saw last month.

Ebisu Garden Place always hosts the Starlight Cinema during the summer weekends. They shows one movie a night outside on the large 300-inch screen. They always have a great selection of movies.

My friend M and I saw Mamma Mia last year and had a great time so we decided to make this a tradition. This year we went to see Nankyoku Ryorinin (南極料理人). The english title is The Chef of South Polar. It’s a hilarious story following a chef who is suddenly stationed at a south polar research expedition. I don’t know how to explain it but it’s such a Japanese movie, I loved it and was laughing my head off the entire time! Have you seen it?

Here are some pictures: