TOKYO: Part I

I feel like all I have done for the past week of my life is edit Tokyo pictures lol. 

ANYWAY. Long story short: J lived in Japan for 2 years while serving a church mission. He became fluent in Japanese. He didn't have unlimited free time while on his mission. He always wanted to go back. I am obsessed with traveling and want to go everywhere. We found cheap tickets out of JFK. I said we could not go back without his parents (it's a parent thing to see where your kid served their mission I think). We asked them if they wanted to come. They said yes. The rest is history!

It was SUCH good trip! I feel like we packed so much in and hit all the things we wanted to. 10/10 for sure! Special thanks to my in-laws for making this trip amazing!

So, we flew out of JFK at 6:00 am. For some reason we were thinking we had to leave at 3:30 am. But let me break it down for you: 1 hour drive to the parking garage, arrive 30 minutes early, 30 minute shuttle to the airport.

Basically at 1:30 am I started freaking out and was like, "WAIT!!! WE NEED TO LEAVE IN 15 MINUTES!!" We were already packed so it wasn't life or death, but it did put a panicky start to the whole thing!

Anyway, we finally got on our plane and headed on our merry way. I slept for maybe an hour the whole time. I watched allll the movies. Seriously I think I watched like 9 movies there and back. But I thinking not sleeping on the plane was a good decision and helped me to not be tired when we got there.

J had a canker sore and was smiling like this hahahaha. I am obsessed.

We got into Tokyo as the sun was setting and it was so pretty! I, of course, did not take any photos until the sun was set. We crossed over Rainbow Bridge, which you can't see super well, but it was orange, yellow, and green! S'cute!

THIS WAS THE VIEW FROM OUR HOTEL ROOM. BYE.

We checked into our hotel and then got shabu shabu. It's basically like this pot of hot water that you cook your own meat and vegetables in. It wasn't my fave, but everyone else liked it! It was a fun dinner to do on our first night. J was also reunited with his beloved wheat tea.

Our last stop of the night was a 7/11 to get some melon pon. My sister-in-law also served her church mission in Japan (Sapporo, though) and LOVED this stuff. So we tried some on her behalf!

Then we went back to our hotel and slept! It was so beautiful and modern omg.

How cute is this little box of amenities omg.

Obsessed with these button lights. How cool is that? Also am I able to install these in my future home or...

We woke up the next morning and headed to breakfast! We got to see all the Christmas decorations in their true glory. Is it weird to anyone else that Japan has Christmas decorations? I thought they didn't celebrate?

This was our little walkway to the train station! HOW CUTE.

Ok so everything in Japan is really clean and organized. Look how beautiful their train station is! This was the Shinagawa station.

SO. Earlier in the morning, I was Yelping coffee shops in case J's parents wanted to sleep. GUESS WHAT THEY HAD. A FREAKING CITY BAKERY. IN TOKYO. 

I was dying omg. I have confessed my love for pretzel croissants many times, and you better believe they were just as good in Tokyo as they are in New York City.  

We also tried the chocolate chip scone and it was devine. 

Their mint soda is basically just carbonated water and mint leaves, but it was strangely refreshing!

Ok, so also I have been a vegetarian for like 6 years, but on this trip I ate meat. My main reasoning for doing this was to survive, since I am very picky with foreign foods. So the ham below was consumed by me and OMG I FORGOT HOW GOOD HAM IS. It will be missed!

How cute is this little Japanese man lol. 

In Tokyo, people line up to get on the subway. Take note, New York. 

We took a little stroll to find the LDS Tokyo Temple, since it was Sunday.

I was telling J all frantically, "You have to ask someone to take our photo because they don't speak English!!" The first person he asked? American.

This nativity is so pretty!

K obsessed with greyhounds. How weird are they? I can't handle it.

We walked around the park right nearby, Memorial Park, for a bit. 

There were all these cute Japanese people doing art haha. They were scattered throughout the park and kept holding up their thumbs to the scenery and then sketching. 

I know I already posted this to Instagram, but I want it here as well! It was seriously so pretty. Can you imagine living super close to somewhere like this? It was be amazing.

We took a stroll back to the train station to get lunch. I didn't realize we were on a hill but it was cool to see the city from a bit higher up.

HOW CUTE IS THIS OLD COUPLE BOTH READING NEWSPAPERS.

For lunch we went to this place called Tonkatsu Maisen, which was like fried pork with rice and sauce. It was actually really good!

We stopped for a sec at Shibuya crossing. If you go to the Starbuck's on the second floor you can get cool views. They were still so organized even when crossing the road in chaos lol. 

Obligatory Japanese bulldog pic for J. 

We went to see the Meiji Shrine and BARELY made it before they closed. 

The park was so pretty!! Look how tall those trees are!

One of you guys will probably know what this is, but it was like a wish type thing where you could write something and it would be blessed later? I'm actually not completely sure, but I thought this was a good quote someone wrote.

There was a wedding while we were there. Can you imagine getting married there?!

On our way back to the train station we finally found hot chocolate at one of the many drink vending machines they have in Tokyo. It was actually pretty good, but also very small lol. 

I love riding in crowded subway trains.

Once again, New York, take inspiration from this image of Japanese people very calmly and orderly finding their way to the trains.

The restaurant we wanted to go to for dinner didn't exist anymore (sorry!), so we went to Ippudo Ramen instead. YOU GUYS. BEST MEAL OF THE TRIP. The noodles are straight and kind of like spaghetti, but a little hard on the inside. It's hard to explain but it's NOT AT ALL like Top Ramen. Like Japanese ramen is to Top Ramen as Ruth's Chris steak is to the steak in a Taco Bell burrito. Ya feel? Anyway, HIGHLY RECOMMEND. 

We stopped to meet this cute dog Hachiko. There is this story that he waited every day at the train station for his owner to get home from work. Then his owner died and the dog waited at the train station until he did. CAN YOU EVEN HANDLE THAT?! Dogs are too good for us I swear. (Well, if it's true lol.)

After ramen we went home and pretty much passed out. It was a good first day in Tokyo! This night was the only night that it was actually cold, and even then only in this weird ally we were in. We were so surprised at how nice all the weather was! The Tokyo gods were helping us out for sure.

Stayed tuned for part II!

XOXO

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E

A Happy List: 147

Figuring out that fructose is what has been making me sick after like a year of seemingly random issues.

J putting his hands all the way through the train hand holders, like he was in jail.

The feeling of the layer of bubbles in a bath from underneath.

J said he has been planning on getting us a dog this summer!

When a guy's backpack got stuck in a closing train door lol.

Getting back into working out and starting BBG again ugh.

Recreating Olive Garden's salad soooo well.

The heated toilet seat at our hotel in Japan.

Eating a lil' hamburger from McDonald's.

Seeing the sunrise from our hotel room.

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J telling me about the bidet: "I remember the first few times I did it, I felt violated."

J still telling me about bidets: "Wiping is so last year."

Me when it was time to check in for our flights: "I checked you in cuz baby."

J: "You checked me in?! Wait! You need to teach me how to do these things so I can be independent if you die."

J: "Do you see that baby right there? Same."

(Me and J always fake die. He did it while driving but kept his eyes open.)

Me: "Were you dead?!?!"

J: "I was sems dead."

J ranting about 2 lane freeways. "What are they, trying to preserve the bridge? Um, make the bridge bigger?"

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Movies I watched this week. (This is A LOT because of our flights to and from Tokyo lol.)

Tarzan: It was ok, but not what I was expecting. That guy is freaking RIPPED though. Can I be him ya know?

Ghost Busters: I loved this. I thought it was very feminist in a non-obvious way. J didn't even notice that they were all women and no men, which I feel like is a good sign that they did it well.

Nerve: I thought this was so good! Also made me LOL because Staten Island hahahaha.

Anthropoid: This was good. I wasn't giving it my full attention and also it was weird to see The Scarecrow as someone else. But it was very good and inspiring!

The Intervention: I thought this would be dumb but I actually loved it in a weird way. There were some good one liners and some good indie characters. I also liked the underlying moral about not being in other people's business, because you've most likely got similar issues haha.

Ben Hur: My mom LOVES Ben Hur so I gave this a shot. I am not the biggest fan on movies that take place in an older time, so that might have lost me. But also just like WTF is going on in this whole movie? He tries to prove the other guy wrong by racing horses? Idk maybe that's wrong? Also Ancient Greece was just BRUTAL gosh. I hate when people talk about how bad the world is today, because HELLO! GLADIATORS USED TO BE A REAL THING.

The BFG: I read this book as a kid and had high hopes. I was really disappointed. I felt like it was every child's worst nightmare? Weird guy takes you from home and won't return you at your request? HELLO LET'S NOT. And then they become friends and all the (SPOILER ALERT) the bad giants get exiled to some crappy island? Like it just seemed mean and to be teaching children bad principles haha. I will not let my kids watch it. 

I.T.: I get what they were doing with this, but it just didn't turn out very well.

Don't Breathe: I actually wasn't expecting anything from this, because I had run out of movies to watch on the plane. It turned out to be SO GOOD!!!

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Sorry I missed last week! I freaking HATE missing weeks for my happy lists, but I was traveling and the time difference was 14 hours (or something) and it was just a weird time. So, please forgive me.

I've got lots of Tokyo posts coming up!

XOXO

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E

Cutiesssss

I don't think I said it on here, but J got me a new computer!! It is so fast and Photoshop works SO WELL. It has been soooo nice because my old computer was SO SLOW. I played around with my Wacom tablet today and made a lil' collage, because I can now!! #celebrate

Ugh I really wish I was doing photography again. It was nice side cash, but I haven't gotten much business since moving to Connecticut. Granted, I haven't been trying super hard to market or anything lol. Maybe I just have to try a little bit harder here! Time will tell lol. But I miss making a little bit of money off of photography, because that is what I used to use to buy clothes. We RARELY spend our own money on clothes haha. We might have to get over that, though!

1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Anyway, with school starting soon I am getting SO EXCITED to get ready and be seen by people again lol. Spending all day in pajamas is fun like once in a while, but I am so over it by now. I just want a place to go! 

Hopefully I will be finding out where my field placement is soon!! And hopefully it's somewhere good! I'm so nervous ahhhhhh. I guess the bright side is if it is bad I won't have it for too long, but still I am nervous. Wish me luck!

XOXO

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E

THE BEST GINGERBREAD COOKIE RECIPE YOU'LL EVER FIND

So for anyone living in Utah, this is Kneader's gingerbread cookie recipe. If you haven't had a Kneader's gingerbread cookie, STOP EVERYTHING AND GO GET ONE RIGHT NOW. 

For anyone living outside of Utah, this is the softest gingerbread recipe! And if you store them in an airtight container they stay soft for days. I literally make so many of these every year because I am OBSESSED.

I also made a gingerbread house of it that I will post tomorrow. The clothes are drawn on with melted white chocolate. My favorite way to make these is to cover the whole front in milk chocolate, and then draw on the details with white chocolate, but I wanted to try something different for these photos. 

If you guys try these, let me know! :)

XOXO

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E