Category Archives: Family / Friends

Royal/T + Momiji Dolls (Los Angeles, CA)

Posted on by under Family / Friends, Los Angeles

Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays! I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus lately, busy with work and the holidays (you know how it is!), but we (Mas included) have also been busy working on creatively putting the puzzle pieces together for issho-ni. What does this entail you ask? Well a completely new re-design of the blog (thanks Mas!), which will also carry over to my Etsy shop (Japanese Yen Bracelets coming soon!). Don’t worry, I’ll give you a bit of a sneak peak in the coming days. I will also need to brush up on my html/css so that I can implement the new design, truly a team effort…isshoni!

While we were down in LA this past weekend we visited a very unique, curated Asian art gallery + tea station with our friends Joey and Yumi called Royal/t. It wasn’t like any gallery / store that I’ve ever been to. The art was encased behind clear plastic walls and had everything from wall art to installation pieces. I’d have to say the porta potty with a disco ball inside was quite clever, if you don’t believe me check out the images on Yelp and their website!

The store section of Royal/t was so cute! They had a Christmas tree and the area was completely decked out for the holidays. I was introduced to Momiji dolls and the fact that they had Hello Kitty ones I was hypnotized and headed straight to the cashier. Momiji dolls are not only adorable figurine dolls, but they carry a special gift, that of a message, hope or dream created by you! There is a small piece of paper (much like a fortune cookie) at the base of the doll, take it out, unfold the paper and write your message, you then place it back in and work towards it for it to come true! The Momiji story is available on their website as well.

Mas’ “Surprise” Birthday Dinner

Posted on by under Family / Friends

Yes, I tried but was unsuccessful at surprising Mas with a dinner for his birthday. As I was planning the surprise, he was inviting the same people to the same place at the same time haha. We made a quick trip down to SoCal to celebrate with friends from our previous job and their significant others. We ate at Din Tai Fung in Arcadia, a delicious dim sum restaurant. After we walked next door to a bowling alley and bowled a few games.

 

We also spent some quality time with Mas’ mom and his two twin nephews!

Japan Friends

Posted on by under Family / Friends, Japanese, Nom Nom, Walnut Creek

It was so refreshing to see our Japan friends! The trip was much to short but was great to see Taka and Chris. We showed them around Walnut Creek and drove into the city to hang out at the Japanese Tea House. I had a crazy migraine and had to go try and sleep it off in the car. The guys drove me back home and went out to enjoy a hookah lounge close to the tenderloin district. Scary! Haha.

Let me tell you about the surprises they brought!
Taka surprised me with candy! Lots of it! And a Hello Kitty charm! The candy was beautifully packaged and one set came in a box. This candy was stunning! Decorative and detailed, I’m still scared to eat it. Looks to pretty to eat.

Chris brought me back the cutest cat shirt!

Next trip we have to for sure go visit them!

Indian Rock Park (Berkeley, CA)

Posted on by under Berkeley, Family / Friends

We took an unexpected adventure to a place called Indian Rock Park in Berkeley, CA. This was on the list of cool things to see, provided by Taka. The views were incredible, photos couldn’t do it justice. We sat and watched the hues of the sky fade into the night. As the sun set the fog rolled right in. Families, friends and couples gathered on top of this very large rock with a variety of food and beverages to enjoy the landscapes. Mas and I couldn’t believe where we were, just a very calming place with breathtaking views.

Home Sweet Home

Posted on by under Family / Friends, Home Sweet Home, Walnut Creek

Well we spent the weekend in Walnut Creek to catch up on some much needed sleep from last weekend and to go couch shopping! After almost a month of couch looking we finally decided to go with a style at Ikea, this wasn’t an easy process, couches now of days are made so pourly that we had such a hard time finding a sectional that we actually liked. We headed out to Ikea Saturday with the idea of buying that couch and be on our way buuut, of course once we were there we decided to do a run through of all of the other couches just to make sure. Then we came across the heaven of all couches, the Hovas. We couldn’t fight the comfort of this couch. We chose an off-white corduroy fabric/cover that is washable. Woo!

For those who haven’t purchased an Ikea couch, yes you have to put it together, but honestly this was a plus to see how the couch was actually made. It took us longer to put the covers on than to put the couch together. I have to say, I’m impressed, the top pillows have a thick layer of hard foam in the middle, surrounded by loose cotton(?) that make the backs of the couch amazingly comfortable. Together we had to put (4) pieces together. Yup! That’s it. UPDATE: I didn’t originally mention that the delivery was only $59 (we’re about 16 miles away from the store)!

My Grandma/Grandpa, Aunt/Uncle/Cousin also surprised us with a very cute patio set after visiting and seeing that we needed one! So excited to have dinner outside now on the warm Walnut Creek nights!

It takes muscles to handle this couch…NOT haha

Cushions!

Wow, we’re done already!

Switch sides of the sectional

And….he’s out haha!

Patio Set!

Weekend in SoCal

Posted on by under Family / Friends

We had a great time vising SoCal this past weekend!

We drove down late Friday night and headed out to Riverside for Stacy’s graduation party on Saturday . It was so great to see her and her family! Congrats Stace!

Saturday night, Mas’ brother brought over his nephews to visit and play. We all ate dinner together, nice Tsujimoto family time.

Sunday morning (Father’s Day) I surprised my Dad with a visit. We had coffee together and Adam made me some eggs for breakfast.

Afterwards, I headed over to Patty and Bob’s to see them and the boys. Can’t believe Tiffy is all graduated and…18! Time flies.

It was great seeing everyone!