lifestyle diaries #001

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Instead of eating any kind of Mexican food, we had Italian and ramen. I think we're doing it wrong, haha.

Sitting here blogging on the couch next to my bf while he watches baseball. Yay, go Braves! I'm not a sports person, but I guess that's what I'm supposed to say.

I was thinking of starting a "lifestyle diaries" series. And by that I mean, I am entirely too lazy and uncreative to think of a witty title for each entry so this is easier.

Anyway.

Finally got my springtime takoyaki! I definitely have my moments where I miss Japan, but I feel like I miss it the most in spring. Especially hanami, beer, and takoyaki. Not necessarily in that order. I used to run to Kanda River from my old apartment in Ikebukuro and just look at the blossoms, but my favorite was definitely that yatai stall food + beer combo. Unfortunately, I don't know if there's anywhere in Atlanta that I can see hanami and have beer. Or Japanese food for that matter.

So instead we went to Shoya, a pretty reasonably priced and unfancy Japanese izakaya here. In order: tonpei-yaki, our spread incl. unagi, yaki-onigiri, and pork belly, squid legs, and my beloved, beloved takoyaki. I think this was...last Saturday.

......

I've been craving cream sauce pasta lately so last night we went to Saba close to Emory. I got the fettucine alfredo with mixed veggies and grilled chicken. The interior is small, but the vibe was really good and I loved their Cinco de Mayo decor.

......

Today was a good day.

Had a nice lazy morning, ordered a strapless bra and tried to figure out what I want to buy between Marine Layer and Reformation, cleaned a bit.

After lunch we decided to walk around Virginia Highlands, saw a $1.25 million dollar house that was not worth that much, and got our nice 1.5 hour stroll in. Our neighborhood coffee shop closes at 4pm on Saturday so we went a little further to Clarkston to check out Refuge Coffee.

So glad we went here! I love what they're doing so I have to talk about it.

Clarkston has a pretty big refugee population and Refuge Coffee was created as a place to foster community and give refugees opportunities to learn about the coffee business.

I'm horrible at explaining things, so here's a blurb:

Refuge Coffee Co., a 501c3 non-profit business, exists to serve the global community in Clarkston through coffee-related job creation, job training, social networking, and commerce.
We dream of a more vibrant Clarkston, one where refugees have opportunities to thrive. Where they from survival in their first days here to building a life. Where people from greater Atlanta and beyond discover the multi-textured beauty of a global culture right here in our own backyard.

Not only was the coffee pretty damn good, but I can really get behind what they're doing.

You're a good little, big city Atlanta.

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thumbs up

Feels kinda weird to just sit down and write a blog with no rhyme or reason. Sunday night I was really feeling like, "Man, I want to write! I have things to write!" And now it's Wednesday and I'm like, what did I want to write about again?

Sunday we went to Thumbs Up Diner in downtown Decatur for brunch and then to Zentea afterwards. It was super rainy and blah all day, but I still managed to do blogilates. Sunday Bunday ya'll! Can't skip that. We also braved the Farmer's Market which is kind of a nightmare before 8pm on the weekend. 😭

What else, oh I watched Vanderpump Rules Monday night. It's my Monday thing.

Stassi Tea GIF from Stassi GIFs

I'm kind of a Stassi fan this season, not gonna lie. She's pretty funny.

Honestly, I had this intent to write my thoughts on the episode, but we're nearing the end of the season so this episode felt kind of filler. Can you have filler in a reality show?

Tbh, lately I'm looking more forward to Southern Charm. Makes me want to go to Charleston every.damn.time.

Oh, and yesterday I finally attempted the 100 Burpee Burnout and finished it! I still can't do a one-legged burpee and literally fell over when I attempted the one-arm version, but at least I tried. I really have such weak upper body strength, haha.


Random, but lately I want to buy almost everything from Reformation. Currently trying to narrow down my wishlist, but I still have to scroll through my favorites for way too long. Sigh.


Hmm, I felt like I had more to write, but I guess not. All for now, I guess!

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oh hey.

Listening to Migos' Culture II and drinking new beer from the growler place by our house. Oh, and finally getting back to this blog again.

Was inspired by mynameisdish's latest blog post. I'm just tired of overthinking what I'm going to write/waiting for my blog to be "just right" before I start updating again. 

From here on out, this is going to be Livejournal 2.0. Yoroshiku. 

. . . 

Today was the first truly lazy day I have had in probably about, 2 months. I moved into my bf's house about a month ago and leading up to that I was so busy with packing up my apartment and then painting and rearranging rooms here that I didn't have much time to sit down and be lazy. 

And by lazy, I mean I still sat down for my weekly Bravo addictions (Mondays are for Vanderpumping, Thursdays are for Southern Charming), but I didn't have time to sit down and really dedicate a good 2-3 hours to Sims or mindless internet browsing. 

Sometimes I feel like I might be this really extreme form of homebody because, after a week of work or an event of any extended length, I need my "defrag time". (This is something my brother says and I've completely co-opted it.) If I do something one night on the weekend, I literally do not want to leave the house the whole other day. I just need that time to myself. 

Anyway. 

I chopped off my hair! Again. This is probably the shortest I've been in a loooong time.

Nowadays, I wear about 1/8th of the makeup I wore in Japan, but I still like to play with Camera 360's ridiculous filters. 

I was actually inspired by Ariana's hair from VPR. Looove her hair in this shot. Somehow mine never has that much body. 🤷🏻‍♀️Oh, I've also been seeing Samantha for my last 3 cuts. She's over at mariemarie salon in Candler Park now so go visit her! 😉

What else. Let's see what pictures I have from the past week. 

Look at this freaking beagle. 

Last weekend on our way out for a walk, our neighbor two doors down was showing our across-the-street neighbors this beagle puppy he had gotten for his mother. Before I knew it, he'd put the puppy in my arms and this little munchkin just lays his little beagle head on my shoulder. Aaaah I can't, he was so sweet! The second picture is him playing withe the neighbor's equally sweet doberman. 

PUPPIES. 

Also damn. I am really enjoying Migos' album, and I did not expect to like this at all. Nice. 

Speaking of which, music-wise I have been really into SZA and Kehlani lately. Probably listen to SweetSexySavage at least once a day. 

Moving on!

In my quest for a capsule wardrobe, I gradually started getting into more ethical fashion. My capsule wardrobe didn't start out that way, but the more I looked and the more I read, the more I wanted to try (if I could) to buy from somewhere that either produces ethically/sustainably, gives back to the environment in some way, or empowers women around the world.

Aaand if I can buy something second-hand, then I don't have to buy anything new at all. The above 3 pieces I found at a thrift shop called Finder's Keepers close to Emory. I just dropped them off at the dry cleaners today and can't wait to get them back. Also dammit, I finally caved and got a cold shoulder top, haha. 

Oh, latte is from Cacao Cafe in Virginia Highland. We had stopped off a couple doors down to get once of my jewelry pieces fixed and decided to try it out. Cute vibe. A little expensive, but cute. Brownie was pretty damn good, too. 

What else, what else...

Oh, the other day I finally bought the shorts and yoga mat I've been eyeing from Popflex. I had been following blogilates/popilates on and off since I was in Japan (maybe around 2013) or so but I've only been doing it diligently for the past year. 

Happy to support a brand/program that I genuinely enjoy doing! Also somehow I feel kinda pumped when I wear these, haha. 

Lastly, here is the chili dog I ate for dinner after doing all five videos for on my workout calendar for the day. I may have undone all my work, but that's fine.

It was a pretty legit chili dog, after all.

Okay, I'm tired. Somehow pretty inspired to keep blogging about the little things, though. 

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amelia island 2015

So, I've been pondering for the past couple days how I should post about the past two years. Trips mostly, but the quandary is: to go backwards or post chronologically?

Riveting, I know. 

Aaaaand because I knowmy OCD will nag at me later, I'll start with the very first trip of 2015. And yes. These are literally all photos from my Instagram. I am now realizing that about 90% of my photos are taken on the square setting (T_T)

Welcome to 2015!

For the past couple of years, whenever I came back from Japan for winter break, my family and I have been visiting a beach somewhere in the south. It's a nice little family trip and I also like visiting new places, especially ones within driving distance.

This time we went to Amelia Island,  just south of Cumberland Island and north of Jacksonville, Florida. If I remember correctly we went just before New Years.

Our first stop was Fort Clinch State Park, just north of the condo we stayed in. I really love old brick and wooden structures and the slightly cold temps and wind made for a pretty cool atmosphere. I wish I had written this sooner so I could remember more, though!

We also took a drive a bit further south to visit St. Augustine. We visited Castillo de San Marcos, which initially, I was way too excited for due to it being featured on one of my guilty pleasure Ghost Adventures, but sadly it was way too crowded. Also stopped for coffee (probably the last time I ever drank a sweet coffee at this point) and visited Flagler College, formerly the Ponce de Leon Hotel. Gorgeous campus! Wish there hadn't been so much construction going on so we could have seen more.

We also explored St. Augustine beach after checking out the city. Bit chilly since it was, you know January, but I'm pretty much always have to be by the water. You can also drive on this beach! 

For our last day, we explored the beaches on Amelia Island. I don't quite remember how we got here. This wasn't a crowded beach, kinda like...well, I remember parking towards the side of a bridge (one in the last photo) and walking down through some grass to an almost inlet-like beach. It was very secluded, quiet and peaceful. We were intially looking for those craggy-looking beach trees up there and ended up finding panther tracks instead.

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Now that I think about it, this was pretty much right before we got our pomeranian Finn! I was actually just wondering, "What did we do with the dog, then?"

I still have plenty more to post, (oh god, so much more), but I guess it's a start? These will probably be more picture heavy since...it's been a while and now I can't remember all the little details, haha.


♡ jennifer

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