London

Spent three weeks in London recently. London is another favorite city of mine but really it's hard to play favorites when each city has its own appeal, charm, energy and beauty

Nevertheless London was where I had intended to move to from Maui but it proved to be a difficult feat and everything was pointing to NYC. I don't regret for a single moment in my decision to move here to NYC. I absolutely love it here and there's always more to appreciate and admire. Okay back to London.

This trip wasn't for leisure but a trip to lay down the groundwork for a future project. I'm really excited about it. When the time comes I'll definately share! 

Now for some London pics:)

Note: Meant to post this a couple weeks ago and it remained as a draft. Oops!! 

Was there for July 4th and got this cupcake from Hummingbird Bakery!

Spring in NYC

Yikes! Months since I wrote last. Technically it was last year:( 

I've never been happier (except for when I'm traveling) than in the eight months I've  been living here in New York City. Often I pinch myself to make sure I'm not in a dream. And now with spring here the city is gorgeous and full of even more life!!

I won't write much but wanted to share a few pictures. I lost my phone and unfortunately a lot of pictures about a month ago so these are just what I've take since.

December

I apologize for significant lack of posts. I have the Blogger app on my iPhone and still can't seem to get it together. Maybe I feel more comfortable on my laptop? But then all the photos I take are on my iPhone... Anyhow, my laptop is now 7 years old and is still managing to provide whatever I need to use it for which is mostly for browsing the web lol. As soon as I'm able to I'm thinking of getting the Macbook Pro :)So..fall is almost finished. My favorite season but since the weather has been so erratic I was only able to have a few fall-like days in terms of outfits/clothes. This may also be because compared to the general populous of NYC I'm relatively underdressed when it comes to cooler temperatures. Winters in Japan were pretty cold. Mostly because of the humidity. And in Upstate NY there was the lake effect which makes things almost twice as cold. Like I've mentioned before I'm not as fond of humid and hot which makes me, born in Hawaii and all, more resilient to the cold. I just always figure it'll be colder so why dress so warm when it's still in the 30s? People will look like the boy from 'Christmas Story' by the time the temps dip below zero at the rate they're dressing. Now it's the holiday season. The tree at Rockefellar Center was lit up last week and stores and streets are decorated for the Christmas season. Since I haven't been in NYC during this time of year before I find it so pretty to see. But Japan made me a little Grinch-like because it's such an event there and Christmas seemed very artificial and materialistic (which it can be everywhere) but there wasn't any cozy, loving warmth like the holidays in the States. In high school I would start writing Xmas cards as soon as Thanksgiving finish and be so eager to send them out. I would decorate and get so excited for Christmas! I'm trying to change my mentality and get into the Christmas spirit (at least in terms of decorating, buying gifts etc...) but I guess I'm lazy. I want to keep baking cookies like I did at Thanksgiving but without a full time job yet I'm limited on a budget to buy gifts. Guess it's a good thing I have a small family lol! People keep asking me what my plans are for Christmas but I have no clue. I didn't know what I was doing for Thanksgiving till the day of. My family is far away so maybe it doesn't seem as important for me. I'll likely make fun plans with friends and enjoy that they're off work or something lol. I made Xmas dinner in Japan which was a bit of work and not sure I'll do that but I'm looking forward to making egg nog which I made for the first time ever two years ago. Yummm! Holiday parties will be fun to attend too.Other than this rambling I'm still in the process of looking for a job. Have a part-time job in retail and I volunteer at a school which has been incredibly meaningful and fun. I'm really enjoying my life here in NYC and can't believe that it's been almost three months since I moved here. Where'd the time go?!!Okay, that's all for now. Will post pictures from my iPhone asap.Hope you're all well!

In NYC!!!

Hi all! Gosh it's been sooo long since I last wrote. I can't even remember what my last post was about. Anyway, BIG change for me. About a month ago I moved to New York City!! I'm so happy to be living here. Maui is great but since I wanted to work in fashion again and my plans to get to London this summer didn't work out I figured NYC was the place to go. Plus I haven't a bunch of girlfriends who are here. I really can't believe a month has gone by. It literally FLEW by! I arrived right before fashion week which was perfect timing. I've been reconnecting with friends and college classmates as well as meeting lots of new and wonderful people.I will be posting pictures asap so stay tuned! Hope you're all well and sorry that this update is so late :/

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!