another august birthday.

happy birthday to my ojiichan!  still a stud after all of these years.

love you,

j

and another happy birthday.

i told you. august is FULL of birthdays for me! a very happy birthday to my obaachan. still as beautiful as ever. [please ignore the reflection in the first picture...]

stay you.

j

two very happy birthdays.

august is full of birthdays for me. over the weekend, we celebrated my dad's 57th birthday. or as he likes to say, his 26th birthday, as he has been counting backwards for years. as predicted, we went to dinner at my dad's favorite sushi restaurant. needless to say, we ate a lot of food.

ALSO

today, it is my good friend go's birthday. お誕生日おめでとう！sorry i can't be there to celebrate with you!

hope you all have a wonderful start to the week!


j

a job.

i knew that when i moved back to the states, that my biggest challenge would be would be finding a job. is there such thing as a perfect job out there? i have been doing human resources related work and was looking for a great opportunity to expand on my experiences. i knew that coming back from being in japan for three years, it would not be particularly easy to find the next job.  i met with recruiters, scoured the internet and used my networks. i may not have given it my all 100% of the time, but honestly, i was getting restless. to the point that i didn't think it was going to happen for me. i realized that you can't always have it all- i had to prioritize the most important things to me. i had hard limits- things that i would not budge on, and then i had things that i would be willing to compromise on. i expanded my search, got a little down on myself, i went on several interviews, entertained ideas that i wouldn't normally entertain, and ultimately, i was beginning to become desperate.

...but i found it. i have officially accepted my offer this afternoon for an exciting opportunity- one that is in line with exactly what i want to be doing. i start in less than three weeks. don't give up. great things come to those who deserve it, and work for it.

it has been one heck of a ride, but boy, does it feel good to be employed again!


j

new memories.

this past weekend, i made the trek out from new york city back out to the hamptons. there was a family in town from japan, and i was asked to show them around a little bit. i was a little nervous about what to do as the daughter, an adorable ten year old, might get bored doing something too "adult." the family actually had asked to go to the local carnival- something that does not exist in japan. it was exciting to see her face in awe of the flashing lights, the crowds and the fun rides.

talk about a flashback to childhood.

just a few of my new memories:

 hope you all had a great weekend. onto the new week!


j

an icon.

wandering through the streets of the west village, i stumbled upon this little gem.  it is really amazing that there are so many people and places to accidentally run into, even if you aren't looking for them. 

recognize it? 

hint: i had the 90s sitcom theme song stuck in my head for the remainder of the day.


as always, have a fabulous weekend!


j

the little things.

there are little things in daily life that help keep my mind off of other big things going on. though i need to start focusing more on getting organized and finding a good job, its still the little things that keep me going.

hand-picked, homemade lobster salad

local long island corn 

mexican for dinner 

little bit of nature in the concrete jungle 

new goodies in the mail!

don't worry. be happy.


j


ps. can you even believe it is august!?