Finally a My Looks Post

Inspiration finally! It's day four of my eleven day vacation and I have been exploring my new city, taking pictures and of course, thrifting! I have been re-inspired after reading The Teen Vogue Handbook. For the first time in a long time, I had a chance to take some my looks photos and play around with my new tripod!

I have been having some difficulty in the past year with my personal style. After being exposed to Japanese style for so long, I am stuck. Do I adapt or do I continue to stubbornly muddle along. I had a break through the other day. I found a recycle shop that had some vintage dresses! Just like in Vancouver I bought it and managed to find a seamstress and communicate what I wanted and voila a new dress was made! Easier said than done. Being so far away from Tokyo, I have definitely noticed a difference in the level of English here. In Numazu, mostly everyone could use a little bit or tried. Here, it seems more difficult and everyone just speaks more Japanese at you and faster than the first time. Nevertheless, I have survived a year and will continue on for another six months!

The first set of photos were taken on a biking adventure. I found a cool grafiti wall and thought it would be fun to take photos in front of. IT WAS SOOOOO COLD!! The second set of photos were taken in the dorm I am living in now. As an Emergency Teacher, I will live in Okayama in the dorm and then when there is a problem, the company will send me out to that school. Because it's Christmas, there is no one else in the dorm now (creepy at night) so I took a bunch of photos in the stair well and hall ways. As you can see the hallway is in the open air and the kitchen is downstairs...therefore, to go to the kitchen, you have to go outside. JOY. Nevertheless it's not so bad. Okayama is a great city. I am happy to be here it's just going to be a little bit of adjusting. Tonight is New Years HURRAHH! COUNTDOWN HERE WE COME!!

EEK! The sleeves, the lenght!

Voila! New and improved.
Resolution. When I return I am going to
take a sewing class!

New shoes!
The sales are fabulous right now and
will be even better in the New Year.
Stores will feature 10 gift goody bags for a set price.
You won't know what you get until you buy one!

Graffiti wall.

Kaos?

New bob. Back to Cleopatra!

The open air hallway brrrrr....

Gah !! Is there someone behind me?

BRRRR!!!

Hawaii Part One

Here are a few of the first images I took in Hawaii. It was bright and sunny the entire trip and full of fun excitement and adventures! Thanks to my family for meeting me and making it a wonderful vacation away from Japan :)

Waikiki from the shuttle bus.

According to the guide this is not the cleanest water. EW!

The view from our hotel. Ocean view and across from the beach.

Another hotel view. We spent a lot of time at that beach below!

The beach (Waikiki)

Margaritas at Cheesecake Factory. YUM!
(They do not make these in Japan!)

Small beach we discovered on the other end of the beach.
The hotel featured three dollar mai tais in the afternoons!
Diamond Head is straight ahead.

Three dollar mai tais!

With pineapple of course!

Lykke Li

Just discovered Lykke Li. I had some trouble finding videos for her but here are a few of my favorites! Enjoy !

Blubird Boxing Day Sale!

Okayama

I have returned from Hawaii and am gearing up to get back to work for another seven months in Japan. I am currently living in Okayama City and really enjoying it! There is so much to see and do here. Unfortunately I won't have internet for the next while and have to come to a cafe to write but it gets me out of the apartment and is great exercise too!

I am going to be doing a few posts on Hawaii over the next week or so. It was fantastic and definitely worth visiting. It was great to escape the cold for a while, although it's really hard coming back! Seeing as I will be living in the South now, I am going to do some sightseeing and hopefully some travel posts.

Here are a few photos I took in the backstreets of Okayama. I will have to take a few more as these make it look small. It is actually quite a big city. These are from the Nakamise area. Every city in Japan has a Nakamise. It's similar to a large covered shopping street or a mall.

Okayama is also where I started off in Japan. I did my first week of training here. You can see older posts here and here.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday :)

An interesting alley.

A small back street.

New Madonna for Dolce and Gabbana

The latest Dolce and Gabbana ads via New York Mag
shot by Steven Klein.
Madonna supposedly at her "truest self" according
to Stefano Gabbana. New York Mag questions whether
Madge is really at her truest self at home, in the kitchen!
Click on the link to read the full article.
Thoughts?

Nicole Richie Goes Brunette

Nicole Richie at a House of Harlow Event!
Brunette? Like it ?
(Image via people.com)

Holiday Sale at Parts By Heather

December 12-23rd
Designed by Heather Mandin
www.partsbyheather.com

A Kimono Adventure

Wow I cannot believe that I took part in this Kimono dressing demonstration back in October! The last few months have flown by at a pace almost impossible to keep up with but I survived!!

Kawaguchi Sensei, a famous Kimono dresser in Fuji, invited us to be models in her Kimono show. We didn't really have any clue what we would be expected to do..of course as someone once told us..if someone asks you to do something in Japan..just say yes! Of course, it is always true. No matter what, you always have a great time and a very memorable experience.

Prior to the show, we visited Kawaguchi Sensei's house and tried on our kimonos. She also showed us her impressive Kimono room that must contain hundreds of robes! We had tea and snacks and chatted with her in what little Japanese we have. She told us not to wear any make up on the day of the show and to arrive early in the morning for preparations. We were interested to see what would come of the day.

We arrived early on the day of the show to discover that not only would she be doing our make up, she would also be doing our hair! She gave us extra hair pieces to add volume and covered our faces in white make up and bright lipstick and eyeshadow. This was definitely not a great look on either of us but it is the tradition and it was fun!

I did not realize how complex the art of Kimono dressing is! It involves layers and layers of fabric and cotton to create the shape. The obi (belt with bow) is also very complicated. Kimono dressing is a skill, an art, something that takes years of practice to learn. The show involved the Sensei teaching women how to correctly tie obis at the community center. We stood in front of a crowd of women as she tied our obis and asked a multitude of questions to be translated for the audience. They were very interested in what we thought of the Kimono tradition and if we had a similar tradition in North America. Of course, we don't.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience. It was a privilege to be able to wear a Kimono that costs thousands of dollars and to discuss Kimonos and work with Kawaguchi Sensei. We also met many members of the community and participated in a short tea ceremony after the show. Another great day adventure in Japan.

The setting.

Mannequins

Hair Time!

Time to get dressed!

Leah's Fabric (left) from Kyoto
mine from Okinawa.

Teaching.

The audience.

Finished!

With Kawaguchi Sensei!

What a day!

On to the Next Adventure

What an adventure the last year has been! I have seen and experienced so much, it is impossible to write about it all. My apologies for the lack of posts in the last few weeks. I finished moving out of my apartment in Numazu and completed my contract. I am taking a short break to take a vacation to Hawaii! I will then return to Okayama, where I will complete a seven month contract as an Emergency Teacher. I will work at the head office and be shipped out whenever there is an emergency. It could be anywhere in Japan. I will not have regular internet so I will attempt to blog as much as possible whenever time and location allow it.

I hope everyone has a spectacular holiday and enjoys their time with friends and family. Of course we all know how important family is but it is when we are separated by oceans and continents that we realize how fortunate we really are. All the best to everyone and here's to a New Year full of exciting adventures and memories !!