R.I.P. houseplants

I tried, but they died. June 27, 2010.

Bed

Spent a lot of time here today. When you're single and you live alone, there's really no rush to become un-jetlagged. June 26, 2010.

The Force was with me

I wore a weird-ish outfit, but sometimes weird-ish outfits make me feel really confident. Then, halfway through the day, I looked in the mirror and realized I looked a little like a Jedi in a pencil skirt. June 25, 2010.

Young, single, and out there

June 24, 2010.

Downtown Rising

City Creek development, Salt Lake City. June 23, 2010.

The PAC-10

As seen from my office window.  June 22, 2010.

The longest day of the year...

... started very early due to jet lagged weird sleeping schedule.  But it's FINE!  June 21, 2010.

Sister's kittens

June 20, 2010.

Sexy grill marks, eh?

I live in a beautiful place

And the weather forecast for the weekend is looking good! June 18, 2010.

Have I ever told you?

that I have a super cute sofa? June 17, 2010.

back home

And back to US timezones. June 16, 2010.

Rice paddies

From the train between Osaka and Tokyo. June 16, 2010.

Rediscovered the greatness of arcade games

If only I could hold my own against the Japanese teenagers. Osaka, Japan. June 15, 2010.

Koya-San cemetery

The final resting place of thousands of buddhists. June 14, 2010.

Last building standing from August 6, 1945

June 13, 2010. Hiroshima, Japan.

Japanese fashion is the cutest

June 12, 2010. Kyoto.

Pagoda

June 11, 2010. Kyoto.

Sushi from the Tsukiji Fish Market

I don't think you can get fresher than this. June 10, 2010. Tokyo.

Tokyo's food courts can beat up your food courts

The bottom level of department stores is all food. It's heavenly.
Nothing like Sbarros, this is gourmet. But can anyone explain to me
why a melon costs like $150? June 9, 2010, from where I'm standing.

Tokyo, yo!

June 7th - USA, June 8th - Japan. 15 hour time difference.

Getting ready to go, Part I

June 6, 2010. Leaving for Japan tomorrow.

Summer is here!

June 5, 2010

Seester's wedding

June 4, 2010. My 40-year-old sister got married, for the first time. It was exciting! Her 15-year-old walked her down the aisle, then he sat by the empty chair for my dad, then I cried, they danced their first song to Kelly Clarkson, and so then we danced around all night like 22-year-olds.

Had I known you'd be stopping by...

June 3, 2010. Window office.

A funny thing happened, after the not funny thing

Our original plan was to spread his ashes, but we haven't yet felt quite ready to actually do that. Instead, my siblings and I have passed it around. We're not creepy urn people, I swear. But, there was that one time I brought Dad on a plane in my carry-on. I mean, you can't leave your dad to the baggage handlers, so what else do you do.

I walked through security sheepishly as my backpack, concealing the urn to the naked eye, slid into the x-ray. I watched the TSA people anticipating a reaction.

"Whose backpack is this?"

"It's mine... um, I can explain."

"Is it what I think it is?"

"Yes." Grimace face.

And they let me go. And everyone around me wondered what was in my bag. And I wondered what it looked like under x-rays.

June 2, 2010. My dad died three years ago. Miss you Dad.

Knife Skilled

June 1, 2010. Day 1 of the rest of my life. Just like every other day, really.

But today I took a knife skills class. There in Sur la Table, I was as smiley as a 6-year-old in FAO Schwarz. But, as most adults deal with extreme emotion, I had to work to squelch any sign of excitement lest the instructor think I was laughing at him.

Shouldn't we always strive to find our own FAO Schwarz, pray tell?