Summer

Happy summer! How has your summer been so far? Mine has been fantastic. I'm sorry I haven't written in so long- yet again. I wrote a post via my iPhone but I guess I forgot to save it because it was gone :( Anyway, the summer here has been beautiful.Granted it's pretty gorgeous year-round but with a very dry spring the fields of upcountry Maui were looking a bit brown.

Thankfully June brought some rain and therefore greener fields and all the fruits and flowers. My grandparents were visiting Kauai and I went for a few days. It was mostly rainy/cloudy but when it was sunny it was spectacular. I definately recommend a visit to the Northshore of Kauai. Some of my pictures include Kauai.

I had hoped to be in London by now but unfortunately my plans fell through and I'm still here on Maui. I've been to Europe in every other season and was excited to spend the summer in London during the Olympics etc.. Seems like it's been a rainy summer for London so far but nevertheless I wanted to enjoy the various markets, plethora of food and all the beauty it has to offer.

Since London didn't work I had to kind of readjust my mindset (I'm still very set on living in Europe, London specifically, in the near future)so that I'd be able to eventually move to Europe for a longer period of time. Therefore I've made a bit decision to move to New York City! I'm so excited. I also haven't been on the East Coast for the summer. The not being in other places during the summer is probably because I was usually in Japan.

I have many good friends living in NYC and since I want to get back into working the fashion industry it just made sense. Plus it's a short flight away from Europe:) I'm job searching at the moment and once that's set I'll figure out my living situation and such. I can't wait to be back in a big city. Maui is amazing and beautiful but it's still an island and there's nowhere to run to for excitement. And I'm kind of over having to drive everywhere. I'm a big fan of public transportation and walking.

Other than these big life changes I'm enjoying my work with a wedding photographer. The hours are flexible and work environment pleasant- definately less drama. The Makawao Rodeo was this past weekend and I saw a little of that which was fun. I have a friend moving back to Washington so I hung out with her and am trying to spend as much time with my friends, my mom and dog. So that's it for me.

Enjoy the pictures!

Capturing my heart

Summer has arrived! Well semi-offically. Most people probably think that it's always summer here in Hawaii but I would say we have two-three seasons: humid and warm, wet and cool and something in the middle that occurs during fall and spring. The weather isn't too humid yet and rain falls occasionally making it a beautiful time to be on Maui. Schools are out for the summer and that means children frolicking everywhere. Hopefully businesses become busier with another high season of tourism arriving. This time of year is probably my favorite because the jacaranda are in full bloom. If you've never heard of a jacaranda look it up on Google images. They're absolutely gorgeous! Of all the flowers that bloom here in Hawaii it is one of my favorites. Something about the light purple blossoms, large climb-worthy trees and fragrant smell puts me over the moon. When I was growing up the highway that you drive on the way to my house is full of jacaranda trees and when they bloom painters will park on the side and paint pictures of the beautiful trees in front of a background of open fields. Things like this really make me appreciate living up here where the weather is cooler and the views are stunning. Living down on the South shore for about two months was a lot of fun with places to go (mostly beaches), people to see and lots to eat but I'm so glad to be back at my mother's house because the weather was getting too warm for me. Imagine that! Most people love the weather there-retirees, tourists etc... It doesn't really rain and sun all the time is nice but it gets hot. The one perk was that my laundry would dry quickly! Anyway, I've been horrible about writing as I've become busier lately. I started another job as a personal assistant to a photographer which I enjoy. It isn't challenging necessarily but it's in a relaxed atmosphere and the people that I work with are very upbeat and positive. It's nice to have variety in the things you do which is probably why I can't stick to one specific thing and love to dabble in different projects and tasks. I'm still keeping positive about getting to Europe. I've never been there during the summer and just have to be there. Alright, that's all for now. Will try harder to update more. I'll post more pictures from my iPhone next time. Taking pictures is the only thing I can consistenly do. Makes sense that I work for a photographer right? Hope you're all well. Take care and aloha! 皆様お元気ですか？本当に長い間ブログに書いてなくってすみません！最近忙しくなってきましたのでなかなか書く時間がなかったです。 こちらはもう夏ですよー！学校も夏休みに入りました。ハワイのお天気も夏に近いです。ハワイは一年中夏と思ってるかもしれないけど、実は季節は２－３個あります。まず夏は少し蒸し暑くって太陽もいっぱいです。冬は雨が多く降り、たまに台風も来ます。雨が降らない日はすごく良いお天気です。こちらの春秋は夏と冬の間の天気でちょうどういい気温です。雨も少なくって蒸し暑くないです。 今の時期が一番好きかもしれません。なぜかとゆうと今はジャカランダの木が満開です。ジャカランダの木をご存知じゃない人は是非Googleで検索してみてください。とってもきれいなつぼみです。木は大きく、花は紫、そして花の香りも甘い。本当に大好きです。私のお家に来る道にいっぱい木があり、昔からの思い出はジャカランダが満開の時にいろんな絵描きが絵を描いてます。 最近仕事が一個ふえてました。写真集のパーソナルアシスタントをやってます。とくに難しい仕事じゃないけど、楽な環境で働く事がいいです。それと周りに働いている人たちが明いです。 いちようこの夏ヨーロッパに行く予定です。仕事はまだですけどそのうちあります。夏のヨーロッパは過ごした事がないので、ポジティブに考えて絶対いきます！ ではここまでです。次がiPhoneから写真を乗せます。また見てください！ じゃね！アロハー！

This year so far (in pictures)

Thought I saved a post but didn't:( as promised here are pictures from this year. A couple are from when I visited Kona( a few shots from the airplane) and the rest are of Maui.

Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm sorry it's been so long. Even though I have the Blogger application on my iPhone I haven't really gotten much use out of it.

Anyway, a lot has gone on since I last wrote. Mostly I'm just busy with working part-time at a coffee shop which is fun because it's located right in a cute, surfer town on the North Shore of Maui. In addition to that I'm working with a makeup artist helping with marketing and social media for her business. It's pretty interesting and for Hawaii it's a little closer to the fashion industry than other work. Recently another opportunity has presented itself so I want to challenge it while I'm here. It's also PR work so I'm excited.

My more important focus now is to find a job in Europe in fashion PR. But with visa issues it is easier said than done. That won't deter me from my dream to live there because I know if I don't try I'll always regret it.

On days off I go to the beach and enjoy the wonderful weather we've been having. Generally winters in Hawaii are rainy and wet but we've been having fantastic weather! It was recently my birthday and I was just so glad that the weather was beautiful. When I was young it was always about wishing it wouldn't rain on my birthday so I'm ever grateful.

I've been here at home longer than I anticipated but I don't regret it at all.


Hope all of you had, or are having a great Valentine's Day. It's never really been particularly special to me but I still hope it's a day of memories for you all.

Will write again soon and include pictures. Until then:)

Merry Christmas

Or "Mele Kalikimaka" as they say here in Hawaii. Christmas festivities began last night with a couple Christmas Eve dinners. I swear I ate so much food! But I guess that's just part of the holiday season. The night sky was clear with an infinite number of stars. Accompied by wonderful people and delicious food it was a fun night.

That being said I went to bed late and couldn't sleep past 7am so this post is really the last thing before I get to bed. I wasn't able to nap like the rest of the household so I'm pretty exhausted.

After waking, I made coffee and waited for the others to wake up. We ended opening stockings and gifts around 9am. I felt like it was the latest Christmas morning ever! Anyway, I didn't get anything super exciting. My gift was already given to me as I am so happy and grateful to be home for te holidays. I've never been so happy to be on Maui than I am now. Strange what distance does to your feelings. I did like some comfy, soft socks I got. My feet I always cold and it doesn't bother me but I know it isn't a good thing:/

After that we had breakfast. Later we tried to go to the beach but it was fairly windy and beaches are crowded here on Christmas. Surprising as I haven't been around on Christmas foe awhile. But the weather was gorgeous so why not? So I didn't get to dip in te ocean but it was nice being out and about.

Gave up on the beach so we got food and goodies and came home. Enjoyed a drink and relaxed here. In the evening I made eggnog and a simple dinner. The day wasn't fancy or particularly exciting but I was so happy:)

Alright, I'm off to bed. Hope you all had a very merry Christmas!!!

Beauty of this island

Gosh I'm so bad at updating! I kept thinking to myself "I need to update my blog" but would procrastinate with excuses like not having enough pictures. Now I do.

I'm so happy to be here for the holidays. I haven't taken many Christmasy photos but I will.

For now I just wanted to share the beauty of this island Maui. The weather has been more rainy which makes for gorgeous rainbows and lush greenery. The ocean is so blue as is the sky when it isn't raining.

Enjoy:)

ブログをぜんぜんupdateしてなくってすみません！最近少し忙しくなって来たのでブログに書こうと思ってもなかなか行動には出ません(>_<) 後写真をもっと取りたくって、何日か前にやっとなんまえかいいのが取れたら"やった！やっとブログに乗せる事が出来る"。

マウイ島の美しいさを皆さんに伝えたくって写真をのせます。冬のハワイは雨も多くふり、そのおかげで自然はもっと緑色になり、虹も毎日のように見れます。良いでしょ？雨が降らない日は太陽と青い海が気持ちがいい！

皆さんはハワイに来た事がありますか？無ければ、是非来て下さい！！ぜったいすばらしい旅になります(^-^)

では写真をエンジョイして下さい。

Maui mornings

Recently I've been in the habit of waking up fairly early. Some days like today I'm up before its light out. On these days I like to capture the very early light. I've always loved mornings, even cold winter mornings in Upstate NY where you really don't want to get out of bed but once you do it isn't bad. I liked getting up early enough before classes where I could finish assignments/reading, check the hourly weather(vital to preparing for a winter day), check email, browse the news, get ready and eat breakfast. I figured if I was up long enough before classes I would have be more attentive and focused.

Although I no longer had or have classes, I kept this routine as much as possible while I lived in Japan. Ideally it'd be best when included with some exercise. Something I managed on occasion last summer when temperatures were too hot that the only manageable time to walk was in the early morning. Then I would go through my morning routine and take the morning slow. When you wake up early the morning goes by slowly and I seem to get a lot more accomplished.

Recently I started a job where I have to wakeup quite early. I've done it in the past and like when you start early and finish early and still have most of the day to enjoy.

Anyway, mornings on Maui are simply gorgeous. I've taken some pictures and wanted to share them. Here they are!

Back from Japan

So sorry that I didn't post again while I was there. Between staying with friends and getting thins done I didn't have much downtime.

Also, as bad as it is I didn't take very many more pictures.

I'm thinking about writing my blog in Japanese and English starting from my next entry. This way I can share my upcoming adventures with more people. These adventures will likely be on Maui ( possibly other islands) because I have to stay put for some time to work and save for my next bug step- a plan that hasn't become clear yet.

Just a few more pictures! Including: an apartment up in smoke ( something like the 22nd floor); a cute Italian place and the lunch I had; beautiful Kobe sunset; my favorite coffee chain when I'm in Japan: Tully's; and my last meal before my flight- kitsune udon:)