Y'all. Fall is killing me. It's absolutely KILLING me. Since it first made its most welcomed appearance, we've been bombarded with more days of rain than not.
It's much cooler outside, true, and on those rare days of sun or cloudy skies we drink up our time outdoors. It's simply intoxicating. Apparently Fall thinks this sort of intoxication is bad for ones health, unfortunately, and has turned Tokyo into the Seattle of the Far East.
It's crazy, y'all.
Throw into the mix a scallywag with a 24 hour something-or-other that involved projectile vomit and yours truly suffering from some sort of lingering cold/allergy and you'll have an idea of where I've been this past week.
Out. Of. Commission.
We've been forced indoors for so many days now due to the incessant rain, it's becoming very tiresome. The children are climbing the walls, I'm starting to really despise clouds, and I really, really, really miss having a car.
All of these little things have forced me to do something I've never done before. Something I thought I'd never have to do, but feel is necessary.
I've had to write a letter to Fall to express myself. To let the season know how things are going for us. Please, go ahead and call me mad~that's all right. After the number of days I've been stuck indoors feeling unwell, I'm pretty sure I passed mad two days ago.
I'm beyond it now. I'm writing a letter to a season, aren't I?
In any case...
"Dearest Fall,
I'm afraid I'm confused. Did I offend you in some way or leave the wrong impression in my musings and thoughts? If I did, my apologies. If not...then I, along with all those who have been looking forward to your arrival, are very much in the dark.
What is the deal?
I was singing your ever loving praises while waiting for you. As in every other post I reverently mentioned your name. Desirously, gloriously, anxiously awaiting your return and speaking oh-so-highly of you.
When you did deign to show up, however, you began acting like the most hostile, obnoxious house guest known to man. Even with the ever present decline of Western civilization, in this day and age who does that?
If you were five years old, okay. I'd understand having to wait for little sister Summer to get over herself and move on-but please! You've been around for-how long now?-centuries? Grow up, stop throwing a tantrum, and get your act together or I'm going to be forced to ask you to leave, and invite your bigger, much cooler sibling, Winter, to come over.
Fall, don't completely misunderstand. Despite my very apparent frustrations with you, this all comes from a place that holds deep affection for you. Unbelievable affection. It's such a great place, it can hold all this disappointment within it.
After all, you have been, and will always be, my favorite season.
Because of you, leaves change into the most amazing colors. Skies darken earlier, the air is crisp, yet inviting, apples taste so much more delicious. Boots can be worn with everything, sweaters re-emerge like butterflies from cashmere cocoons, and there's something extra special about those Starbucks drinks.
Pumpkin patches beckon us, hayrides and football games send our spirits soaring.
You refresh us, Fall. You take the burden and the heat of sister Summer from our shoulders and put vigour back into our steps. We breathe better, we smile more, we experience an inexplicable lightness inside of our beings that no other season can bring. Sister Spring comes pretty darn close, but let's be frank-she also brings wicked allergies along for the ride.
We don't care for that.
What we do care for is you. And we hope-I hope-after you read this letter you can pause in your laborious task of throwing multitudes of rainstorms and take a moment. Know how much we appreciate you; how much we anticipate your arrival every September, and how we hate to see you go each Winter.
In short, Fall, you are loved. You've disappointed me with your antics of late, but I can forgive and forget. We've simply hit a rough patch and started this season on the wrong foot. We can move on, can't we?
Let's do this together! I will continue to be inspired by your magical presence, and you will continue to inspire all those who love you. It seems pretty simple to me, so let's do this!
You have many wonderful things in store for us in these next few months Fall, and I, for one, cannot wait to enjoy them all...starting tomorrow.
Warmest Regards Always,
Your Southern Lady"
As usual there are many things running around in my head! Thus the series: "A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That." This is where I'll put all of the little, random things happening in our lives. It's too little to write about individually, but altogether makes a good bit of light reading.
It's a wonder anything has gotten done the past few days (though much has). It's all about prioritizing and making sure those who are most important never take a back seat to the errands and chores of the day.
Some days I do better than on others, but overall, I don't tend loose any sleep at the end of day...at least due to a nagging conscience. That falls all on the shoulders of our little scallywag!
~I thank God every day for happy, healthy children. They're terrific people. We hit our rough spots every now and then-it kind of comes with the territory when raising both a toddler and a young lady. But more often than not, we have truly fantastic days.
~Eldest has had a banner week. Swimming is going well, so are her Japanese classes. She's doing beautifully in her other areas of study, and this week was able to wear an ASIJ Mustangs shirt to honor the high school football team's first game of the season.
~Don't be fooled by the colors on her shirt, but the colors for the Mustangs are actually black and gold. Hmmm...I wondery why we have huge love for our football team?
~I love that Husband and Eldest have their special time set aside for one another evrey week. Every Sunday they head to their favorite lunch spot, Pepper Lunch, for a bite to eat. They spend some great quality time together, talk, enjoy some good local food, and keep their bond strong by maintaining this "date". All relationships take work, friends.
~I'm watching season two of "The Vampire Diaries" and it's such a delicious vice.
~A not-so-delicious vice, college football. Our Rebels are not having a good season. Every Sunday I wake up to hear how poorly the team is playing and it is so disappointing. Husband's pretty annoyed, I can only imagine how Daddy is reacting, and Eldest, she's just stumped. I love my Rebels, though. They may not be a spectacular team, but they're a good bunch of people. I have faith they'll pull it together. Hotty Toddy!!!
~Fall is most definitely creeping in. Every day is cooler, every evening the sun goes down a bit earlier. And every day, more of these pop up at the local markets:
I had to get some to brighten up our living room.
~I may have been inspired by reading through this lovely woman's book. Her section on Fall and Winter really had me yearning for home. Who doesn't love Paula Deen?
~Every day we spend more and more time at the local playground. The children love it!
Eldest gets a chance to unwind, and the wee one wears himself out a bit more before dinner. I just thank my lucky stars that I get to watch them laugh, run, and play without a care in the world. Win, win, win!! And yes, further evidence of Fall making her debut: long shirts and pants with cute little mallards on them. Little boy critter pants are the best!
~The Japanese love a good party, they adore dressing up. Is it any wonder they're already preparing for Halloween? Family costume choices are being made this week. Stay tuned!
~Husband has the day off tomorrow, declaring it a boys day. Most of my day is wide open-a real rarity. I'll miss my baby boy and being with hubby, but I'm looking forward to eating lunch at Cafe-Creperie Le Bretagne and walking the streets of Omotesando at a more leisurely pace.
Until then, I'm going to enjoy a little bit of Heaven on Earth: tiramisu in a cup!
Here's hoping each of you find a little piece of Heaven on Earth today!
Since our usual weekdays have Husband running out the door to work, and Eldest to school, I find weekends especially precious. Meals where we can all sit down together, outings out and about in Tokyo as a family, they're all the more important since we know how busy our Mondays to Fridays can be.
Breakfast has to be our favorite meal around here!
We used to have cinnamon roll Sundays when we lived in Charlotte, and when Eldest was younger she and her Daddy had IHOP every Sunday together. There are still times we enjoy preparing breakfast for dinner simply because it's a great excuse to make cheese grits, bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, and all the fruit or baked tomatoes and asparagus we can eat!
Sometimes, though, we want instant gratification. A light meal that doesn't require actual cooking. Something sweet and warm from our favorite bakery, Mont Thabor.
The wee one's choice of early morning meal on such days? The pumpkin and milk bun. As you can see it's made with real pumpkin~perfect for our pre-fall days! Healthy, filled with flavor, but sweet all at the same time.
Eldest loves her milky scroll, I enjoy the chocolate croissant, and Husband? He's happy with whatever we surprise him with. They're all delicious!
Here's hoping each of you you have a delicious start to your weekend~just like we will with ours.
Cheers!
Hello all! We've been home from South Korea almost two weeks, and mercy am I glad that visa drama is over.
We had such a great time in Seoul. We saw many wonderful places and things. But you know how the saying goes: "There's no place like home."
In the interest of keeping your attention and because there are so many pictures, I'm going to break up our trip into two entries. A "Day One" and "Day Two" retrospective, if you will.
We're very fortunate that one of Husband's oldest friends has lived in South Korea for a few years. He even met his beautiful wife there! We were only going to be in Seoul for the weekend, so he was the perfect person to guide us through our two day stay.
Thank you, J.R.! You gave us the perfect amount of places to go and see despite our limited time. We had a blast!
Our trip to Seoul began before even the roosters were awake,
but there was a sense of anticipation in the air. The prospect of going to another country always stirs up excitement!
We made our journey from home, to taxi, to the train with our baggage,
and arrived at the airport with enough time to secure ourselves on the plane and allow the wee one to get comfy.
He and Bugs look pretty relaxed, wouldn't you say?
After a very short flight, we arrived at Incheon Airport in Seoul. Our little guy was completely wiped out.
He even slept all the way through our lunch at Kraze Burgers.
It was a seriously delicious burger dive right near the exit. The fare, which included chili cheese fries, was so reminiscent of home we joked that we'd be happy staying right there for the next two days.
We didn't, of course, but did it ever remind us of all the greasy and delicious food back home.
It's the little things, right?
Our family stayed at the Westin, and it couldn't have been a more perfect setting. One, the hotel was incredibly beautiful and the rooms very comfortable. Two, it was centrally located in Seoul, making it ideal for our sight-seeing.
We were only going to be there for about 48 hours so we dropped our bags off, freshened up, and headed out. It was a little past one so we decided to stay close to the hotel. The destinations? Shinsegea Department Store and Namdaemun Market.
One was a center that focused on only the most high-end of items, the other a street market that went on for miles in numerous directions.
Sounds like fun right?
We took a few pictures along the way-all courtesy of Husband-and this, friends, is a breathtaking fountain with Seoul, South Korea's Post Office in the background.
That is a post office.
And these are pigeons-also know around here as rats with wings.
My hubby thought it would be hilarious to see my reaction when scanning through his pictures. Those nasty little buggers terrify me, and apparently he thought my suffering a mild heart attack would be real kick in the pants.
Thanks, babe. Incredible!
More incredible? The fact that we completely bypassed the ritzy and super posh Shinsegae and went straight for Namdaemun.
I guess we figured you've seen one department store you've seen them all, but local street markets?
That is where you're going to see unique items.
Foods, clothes, jewelry and other things found and made locally.
This is where your real treasure hunt with your family can begin!
Like most street markets, there were some seriously bad knock-offs and clothes that were major throw-backs to another decade.
But if you looked beyond those booths, you'd see the mini-culinary feasts.
You'd find sketchy looking alleyways that held numerous well-crafted and one-of-a- kind items.
You might see something that made you laugh and later wish you'd bought it,
find a clever sales person that will make you laugh even harder,
and you may get caught while sorting through a fabulous assortment of shirts-two for $5.00.
Oh, yes. I was completely and utterly busted.
I also walked away with some really pretty nifty items!
We could have walked the alleys for hours-which we actually did-and still not see everything.
We felt like we'd checked off a "must-see", though, so there were no complaints. The fact that we were all exhausted also lured us back to the comfort of our rooms for the night.
Day two was beckoning, and with it came donuts, Starbucks, and wandering the time-worn grounds of an ancient Palace.
Come back later this week for more of "It's All About Seoul". I can't wait to wrap our our fabulous little trip!
I always find it funny when people say that this place isn't really interesting, or there's nothing much to see at that place. Maybe I'm very short on excitement in my life, but I'm a culture nerd. Any chance I get to explore my surroundings I'll take it~especially as we're currently living abroad.
We're surrounded by great opportunities and festivities, it would be silly to not take as many in as possible.
This weekend the children and I went to enjoy a Sri Lankan festival.
True, there was an overload on tchotchkes, but there were also intriguing sights and sounds we'd never seen before. We'd never tasted their cuisine and wandered among some of their people. The dances, the music, the traditional sari's~they were stunning and bright.
It was a unique experience, and though we left hot and tired, we were happy we went.
I'll touch more upon the actual festival later this week. For now I'd like to show you the pretty batik I picked up for the wee scallywag's bedroom.
As I mentioned, there were many tents selling traditional Sri Lankan wares: scarves, linens, foods, jewelry. There was only one art tent, though. I couldn't help but be drawn to it.
It was near the edge of the festival, almost near an exit. Maybe it wasn't what tourists or the locals were looking for, but for whatever reason, it wasn't near the more widely walked areas.
Ah well. Their loss, our gain.
When we arrived at the tent, my eyes lit almost immediately on a beautiful batik with birds.
The colors were warm and rich. Vivid. Right away I knew where it had to go-the scallywag's room.
Bargaining was done, payment made, and before I knew it, the batik was ours! It's so neat to think about the pieces we're collecting-what they mean to us, why we decided to get them. Their provenance.
All that aside, it was also very cool looking and reminded me of my little guy: wild, colorful, beautiful.
And there are two sides!
I'm pretty sure I want to have the batik-wrinkled fabric and all-in an easily assembled frame so I can switch the sides around every now and then.
A seasonal switcheroo, if you will. His art will change just as much as he will-which I suppose is very fitting.
Well friends, I'm off to grab a cup of coffee, take in a little quiet time, and this evening, work on my Seoul posts a bit more.
Take care and have a lovely day!
I'm sitting here, online, periodically checking up on my Ole Miss Rebels while they play Tulane, and I'm eating pizza. Cold pepperoni pizza. And I never order pepperoni pizza for myself.
I enjoy the vegetarian.
But Husband is out of the country in Hong Kong and he does order pepperoni pizza. So because I miss him, I ordered his pizza, and am now enjoying its cold leftovers 12 hours later.
It's really, really good.
While I'm sitting here, eating pizza, checking up on my boys in red and blue, the scallywag is sleeping, and eldest is playing.
We're heading out to Yoyogi Park for a Sri Lankan festival this afternoon. Filled with dancing, art, and culinary delights it should be tons of fun! The fact that we'll be with friends makes it that much better.
After an exciting week of a huge typhoon,
spooky crows,
Ikea shopping,
haircuts, and pizza ordering, a nice festival seems to be in order.
Not to mention completely different.
Stay tuned for our Seoul trip, the festival, and other fun snippets from our days around Tokyo.
Have a lovely Sunday with your friends and family!
