Silver earrings

Silver shooting star earrings


Water drop hoop earrings with pacific opal swarovsky


Crystal dew drop earrings

Yamagata

I went to another onsen, this time to Tsuruoka in Yamagata prefecture. It was a great relaxing trip, my friend and I did nothing but eat, bathe, sleep and chat the entire time.
また温泉へ行ってきました。今回は東北の山形へ。本当にゆっくりできて、いっぱい食べて、温泉に入って、ゴロゴロ寝ておしゃべり満載の旅でした。


First, we stopped by for sushi and enjoyed some sake before checking in.
宿へチェック・インする前にお寿司をランチにつまんで山形の日本酒を２種類堪能。

Appetizers..



YUDONO-AN is the place we stayed.
宿泊は湯どの庵


Outside garden is covered with snow.


Small but cozy room.


The onsen! There were 2 different onsens, this one is Ishi (stone) bath with outside bath and the other onsen is Hinoki (wood) bath. The hotspring was so nice! I love onsen!
誰もいなかったので温泉の写真を撮っちゃいました！２種類あって、これが露天付きの石風呂。もう一つがひのき風呂。お湯もとっても良かった〜　温泉だいすき！


Just when dinner started, my camera ran out of battery so this appetizer is the last real photo I got to take on my trip... The food following this was all really great, I just wish I had my camera working!
ちょうど宿での夕食を始めるころカメラの充電が切れてしまいました。。。この前菜が最後の写真 となってしまいましたが、この後に続く食事はどれもとてもおいしかったです。ただ記録がなくて残念！

After spending a relaxing time at the onsen, the next day after we checked out of the hotel we stopped by this Japanese restaurant called Chikeiken for lunch.　
温泉でゆっくり過ごし、翌日のランチには知憩軒で農村の食を楽しみました。
ここは携帯のカメラで記録。Photos taken with my cell phone....






Way back to Tokyo on Shinkansen.
東京行きの新幹線、ゆったりグリーン車で。


外は雪景色

More new earrings

I'm having so much fun making these earrings!

Chandelier earrings made in jet black swarovsky crystal beads


More hoop earrings


Matt gold bow earrings

Oden

I went to a farewell dinner to OTAKO at Nihonbashi for the first time. This restaurant has been opened since 1926 so I'm guessing it's one of the oldest oden restaurants!
送別会でおでんの老舗、日本橋のお多幸へ行ってきました。寒い冬に熱々のおでん、おいしかったです。

Coffee and Cake

A sweet treat after lunch at the Hotel Okura. Yum.

Hoop Earrings

Lately I'm into making a variety of these hoops...
最近こういうのいっぱい作ってます。。


14k gold filled hoops with pink grapefruit Swarovsky crystals.


Opaque baby blue Swarovsky crystals in silver hoops.

And a few more waiting to be photographed.

Japanese sake tasting

Well... I regret.
I was too busy enjoying the sake tasting night with my friend over this beautiful appetizer plate (and so much more!), I completely forgot to take pictures of the several kinds of great sake I had. Really, what a shame! Oh-well. Next time I attend the tasting event, I will be sure and remember to take more photos. But isn't this platter just so beautifully arranged?!



今回で２度目のきき酒の会、残念ながら美味しすぎて、楽しすぎて、肝心の日本酒の写真を撮りそびれてしまいました。次回の会では忘れずに記録を撮っておきます！　でも、この盛りつけステキよね！春の味覚、先取り〜♪

At Wabisuke, Nogizaka, a Kyoto style restaurant.
One of my usual and favorite places to have Udon/Japanese noodles for lunch. And of course, they have a nice selection of Japanese sake and Kyoto food for dinner.

Snow Tokyo

It hardly ever snows in Tokyo but it did from the middle of the night.
I'm not a big fan of the cold season but this is an exception. I love it when it snows late at night and the city covered in white is quieter than ever.

Happy February

Boy, time just flies! It's already February... and a year has passed by since I started this blog honestly I didn't think I would keep up this long at first. But looking back I guess it's been a blog- worthy year. I traveled to some new places, saw new things, spent great quality times with friends and I even started a little web shop. I'm really happy to have people from all over the world to check out my handmade and it's been a true pleasure to make people happy with what I make. Thank you so much for your support!
I feel this year will continue to be blog worthy as I foresee some big change in my life. We'll see how that all goes!

早いものでもう２月になってしまいました！そしてこのブログを始めてからやっと１年。３日坊主になるかと思ったけれど、続けてきたのを振り返ってみる新しい場所へ行ったり、たくさん友達と楽しい時間をすごして、さらに小さいけれど念願のウェブショップを始めたりと、とても盛りだくさんな１年でした。世界中の人に私のハンドメイドを喜んでもらえて、本当にうれしくて感謝してます！
これから大きなライフチェンジが待ち構えているので、きっと引き続きブログしていきます。どうなるかはお楽しみに！


Illustration by Jean Philippe Delhomme
Have I ever mentioned? I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE ELEPHANTS.