sweetest christmas present

oh, it's been a while since the last post. i have been feeling sick again. but this time it was different. i had the same kind of sickness when i was stressed out or really nervous. so, i thought it's strange. because i couldn't think of anything that makes me feel like that. my friend adviced me. and i found out.... that i am pregnant. first time in my life. Kp and i have waited for almost a year. my doctor had told me that i am not producing ova probably. so i was worried. so worried for months. thought about sterility. but on Dec 2nd, i went to see my doctor and was told that i am 8 weeks pregnant. Kp and i could see our baby's heartbeat. amazing. he/she was only 15mm. from head to bottom. i was wondered how big his/her heart is... amazing. amazing that we could see. Kp was looking at me with a smile after we got out from the room. and asked me if i have noticed something by looking at the picture we just got from our doctor. i had no idea. Our little one looks like a cute tiny worm or something in the picture. and cannot tell much. hmmm... then, Kp told me. that the time when we were looking at our first baby as our first time was at 9:27 am. which is Kp's birthday, 9 th month(September) 27th. hehehe. Kp knew at the time moment when we were looking at the monitor. this made me happy even more.

i still have morning sickness but i will live. i know our baby is telling me he/she is there. sweet sweet present i have received this year. thank you so much, Mr. Santa Claus. thank you! and Merry Christmas, everyone!! have a wonderful christmas.

glass work and nabe party

on Nov 8th, i went to make a glass vase with my friend. my hometown is famous for pottry(China) and glass. it was an interesting and fun experience. i will go and get the vase next week, so i am looking forward to see how it turned out. and then, in the afternoon, i invited some of my friends to my apartment. one girl friend we ran accross in our hometown couple of weeks ago. 3 of my girl friends came. and one friend is a mother now and she brought two of her daughters. it was a fun night. the little girls were so curious at my apartment and Kp was worried about that he was going to be the only guy. but the two little girls loved Kp. and they were around him all the time. usually girls come to me, so it was surprising thing for Kp, too. he was all busy! hehehe. we had curry nabe. nabe is common food for winter. we boil many different vegetables in a big pot. we put tofu in and some pork or chicken if we like. we just boil them and have them with rice. healthy and makes our body warm, so it is great for winter. after we are done with vegetables, we put more rice in it and boiled for a few minutes with cheese. and we made risotto. it was great. there are many different taste nabe soup here in japan. one of my favorite easy winter food:) we enjoyed chatting and had a great time.

the picture above is also a glass work. but a bit different. it is my aunt-in-law's work. she is an artist. i didn't know until a month ago. can you tell how small they are????

here's another picture. can you tell?

amazing work she does. so cute. they are for doll house. she makes them mostly with glass. she was introduced on TV once, too. it looks so real... i don't know how she does that. i am going to put them in my shop to introduce her work in the near future.

good to be back

good to be back. great to be back. i was going to write a new blog and attach this pic with it 3 months ago. M-chan was waiting and everyone was waiting for me. thank you thank you thank you so much. for all. who've been thinking about me. i want to think and talk about happy good things on my blog, so please excuse me about not writing anything about the three months. i am feeling much much better and great to be back. tons of books helped me. i read and read and read. everyday. do you like reading?



typhoon came couple of weeks ago. a huge one. trains stopped and some people were injured. i was okay. stayed at home. but i heard the sound of a paper carrier that morning. it was so windy and rainig so hard. paper carriers deliver newspapers every day, i know that but i wasn't aware that they deliver in any weather. 4 in the morning. super early. no matter what happends to the weather. they try to deliver.to all the houses.



oh, i went to see a popular fortune teller with my girl friend on the other day. long line up. waited for hours. kind of crazy. but we both had great time. we chatted for hours on the way there and the way home. we were surprised how well the teller read about us. i don't believe strongly but i felt like going there once in my life to see how it's like to be read by a teller. have you ever done that? is it japanese thing? i wonder.



it's funny that girls talks about blood type or constellation a lot. and when i was in canada studying abroad, my friends told me they don't know what their blood types are... and i was so surprised to hear that. fortunetelling is also a big topic here. every morning, at the end of a news show, they always introduce today's fortunetelling by blood type, the month of birthday or constellation. they are on magazines, too. have you ever surprised to see or hear about anything in other coutries?? what about japan? i am curious.


my mother is having a cold. hoping it's not influenza. it is a big issue over here. workers at the post offices are wearing masks. and alcoholsntiseptic solution is everywhere at shops. wash hands and gargle, that i do whenever i get home. i hope none of you are suffering from flu.

from a hospital

in a hospital for a week now. not fun at all but good time to think. feeling a bit better today. and i had a chance to use the internet so i am writing here. i don't have much time. and so sorry that i cannot write back the comments i get for now. but i am thinking about you all. i announced in my shop but didn't have time to write on my blog until now. thinking about lots of things in bed. hopefully i can get out here soon and have a normal life again. it seems things are all white or black. day time i see white and at night i see black. hope to see colors again. soon. soon. will see you soon.

in the evening

in the evening. i went for a walk with M-chan. i went back to my parents house. and went for a walk. it is rainy season here in japan. but today was sunny and hot. it was about 6pm. it is still bright. M-chan loves her red dice toy. she has to take it with her whenever she goes for a walk. she wants to play with it. play catch with me. that is why she went to look for her dice when i called her to come with me for a walk. when she found it, she ran towards me. letting me know she is ready to go for a walk now.


the first picture is my elementary school. its ground is smaller now. because of the new houses area. no long slide which i played with a lot. no swings. no pond. no hill. so sad. but i still i like looking at my school. thinking about the time back then. ages from 6 to 12. i thini it was the best years. made seacret house with my friends. chat with girl friends about who likes who. school brings me such good memories. i wish i could go back then for a little while...

weekend 07 :: colors of this season (+ shop news)

it's tsuyu season in japan. lots of rain. more and more. personally i don't like it. but one thing i like about tsuyu. which is ajisai. these flowers. snails are playing hide and seek. lots and lots of small flowers makes one big ajisai flower. pink, purple, blue, white.... it depends on which kind and colors are depending on the land. or i should say sand.

T-chan took me to a temple today. it took an hour and a half. such cute little flowers. took many pictures. there were so many different kinds of them. they are like bouquet. so many bouquet with beacutiful green leaves. relaxing and refleshing.




it didn't rain when we were at the temple. so that is good. it started raining in the evening today. it was raining on wednesday and thursday. it will be raining tomorrow. it's tsuyu. so much rain. i like sunny days. i cannot put futon out to sterilize and make it soft by the sunshine. that is the most stressful thing. we hang our laundry out but we cannot do that often. but i shall find something fun and good to do during this rainy season.

this morning, lovely petit rose is opened. she has two little sisters. they are about to bloom.

when i bought this rose, lighter pink roses were out. so i was surprised to see this dark pink color today. and she made me smile.

oh dear, it is tsuyu. raining again now. and now it is oto-san's ( father's) day. Kp and i went to give presents last night to my father-in-low. it's a great time to give a petit thank you to all of you, too. i would like to give you 10% off of items from my shop, if you write the code : oto-san's day in the message to the box of Etsy. just for you who is reading my blog. i hope you enjoy your father's day. i will have the sale from now until tuesday 8:00 am in japan.

weekend 06

we went out for dinner. for ramen noodles. have you ever tried it? oh, it's one of my favorites. one of Kp's. and one of my dad's and my sister's. popular food over here. the restaurant was japanese style. i liked it. retro posters are on the walls. and japanese style slide doors. and the tables are hori gotatsu. my favorite. we took off our shoes at the entrance and sit down at the table. there are big hole under the table and you put your legs in it. the floor will be your chair. they put zabuton. and we sit on them. relaxing style for japanese. oh, i am onaka suita (hungry)!

and at night, we stopped by at my parents house. everyone was there and my mom asked us to go for a cup of coffee. my mom was so happy and excited to see us stop by like a surprise, i guess. we went to one of my family's favorite cafe. my mom, sister and i chatted as always. Kp enjoyed reading magazines there, too. my mom had a cold greentea. it was great. i wanted to take a good photo to introduce but i couldn't. too bad...

it is the father's day this weekend. Kp and i were talking about it since Sunday. haven't decided what to do yet. but today i heard one of the department store is having an interesting present for father's day. they will print top page of old newspapers. on the date of dad's birthday. whenever is okay that i heard. the real news will be on it. it will be interesting. to have all family members birthdays newspapers and maybe my dad and mom's wedding day. yes, it will be great! it was on news today. i will talk to Kp tonight. soon. he will be home. supper is ready. just waiting for him to ring the door bell. yes, i will say "okaeri".

shop news :: 400th item

this time, for the lucky customer who purchase 400th item from my shop, i would like to give away a piece of fabric as a suprise:) who is the lucky person!? could be you!?

my favorite time : with my best and oba-chan

on Monday, i went to see my best friend. she has a adorable daughter. i went there just for couple hours. to talk. and to chat. i was little tired, i guess. and i always get something from her way of thinking. naturally, my little stress will go out from my body. and chatting and hanging out with her is one of my favorite time.

and on Tuesday, i went to see my grandparents for couple hours. my mom's side of grandparents. they live 40 minutes away from my house. where the pottery is famous for. same city as i used to live and where my parents lives now. but different direction. more inaka (the country side). for my age, we didn't have much sewing classes when we were students.

my oba-chan(grandma) is my teacher of sewing. my new project is to make a dress, not a fancy one, for myself. she sews and knits all the time. and she graduated from a sewing school, so she can create patterns for herself and for anyone. amazing. i wish i could.

chatting with my grandma is one of my favorite time, too. she gives me an interesting ideas for living. and to be healthy and to thank for what we have are usually her main subjects:)

she does volunteer work at a day care senter for people who needs help for living. she've helped there for over 12 years. since she has retired. and she was on a local news paper. she is proud that she could keep doing it for that long and thanks for her guardian angel. cute little grandma.

also, because my grandpa's brother is a Buddhist priest, my grand parents are into Buddhism. not too too much but more than my family is. and really interesting for me. cultualy, i am, too but not so much. it is really interesting that most Japanese are cultualy Buddhist. but we don't have much knowledge about it or don't know much about it, i think.

so, it is always interesting for me. she sometimes transcribe a sutra and goes to her main temple to help clearn. and she goes to a study meeting once a week with my grandpa. she tells me that she writes sutra to calm herself and thank her ancestors. and thank what she has now.

she recommended me to try. she told me i don't have to do it for taking it to the temple to ask them read it for your ancestors because it will cost you everytime. but i can just try it to do it for ourselves. it's like writing Japanese calligraphy. actually, tracing. to relax, calm, breathe deep and concentrate on one thing is good for our mind and body that i hear. maybe i will. anyone can try. and it is interesting. and i will think about my dad's side of oba-chan(grandma) who have passed away when i was little. and thank what i have...

this afternoon

i bought the magazine and read it through. i've been thinking about getting one for myself. the magazine had a nice one made with lether. i decided to make one for myself with linen fabric. i didn't use the pattern and i changed it a little. i stamped my handmade stamp on it. i finished it really easy way. i know it is not a well done finished one but i like it rough and natural.

then i finished sewing our new futon cover today. heew. i've never sew something as big as futon cover. so i am happy that i am done with it and we can sleep tight:)

then, i had yuzu tea to relax for an hour. i love it so much. citron(yuzu) with honey. not like an english tea. it's different kind of tea. and i love it.

i love drinking with this cup. it's one of my favorite. love how it makes the shape of a heart. i am from a city where is famous for pottery/china. and i have a small collection of cups and plates. i bought them when the city had a once-a-year matsuri (festival). many shops and artists get together on the street and open their shops. it's like a big market. i will go to the matsuri, too. hopefully, it will be sunny and i will be able to take some pictures to introduce to you.

japanese custom/culture :: tadaima

i heard a little neighbor girl says "tadaima" in the afternoon. and i realized how good feeling i get by hearing the word and her mom answers to her daughter "okaeri". it is one of my favorite words.

when Kp comes home, the first word i say is "okaeri" always. and he replies "tadaima". yes, we are saying "i'm home." and "welcome home". or it's kind of same as saying "how was your day?"??

also, in the morning or whenever someone leaves houses? Kp(who is leaving) says "ittekimasu" when he leaves for work or wherever. and i (who is staying home) say "itterasshai". i find these words sweet, too. love saying them. so much. feels good and naturally they make me smile. my favorite words. kind of saying, "i'm gonna go now" "have a good day".

and when we got married, i didn't feel i was his family at first. but by having these convasations made me realized little by little that i am his family. i made the name plate for house with cray. it reminded me that i am takemura now. everytime i sew it for a year. now, i finally feels natural to be called takemura-san at hospitals or anywhere. finally:)

speaking of smile, these little smiling dolls are from our entrance of our apartment. we got them from Okinawa(an island at the very south of japan) where the beautiful beaches are. they are called "shi-sa-" and they protect houses from evils. and brings smile. real ones looks more like a lion or a dog. more scarly tough looking. these are cute little ones which a young artist made. they welcome us whenever we come home:) now the shi-sa- and i wait for Kp to open the door and say "tadaima".

japanese culture :: obentou

everymorning, i make obentou for Kp. this one was this morning's. to take it with him to work. to take healthy food for lunch. and to save our money. if he buys something or eat out, it will cost lots. at least 500 yen for obentou from convenience store. we don't know the vegetables are none agricultural chemical or not. and meat or fish are safe or not. we heard that there were something bad for health found from those ready made food on TV. there are frozen food to put in obento. easy and fast. but they are also not so safe neither. should be okay and i do use them when i need to save time. but try not to use them as much as i can. and i love seeing men eating their wives obentou with suit and tie during lunch break. makes me smile and happy. feel a bit of love there. and hopefully, Kp is eating by now with thinking... yummy!

i found this cute obento box at a zakka shop near my house. such cute one. yes, i love zakka. just window shopping there is fun, too. some cute stuff at zakka shops. different kinds of boxes there and i bought this one for my friend. for her son. and when we buy obentou boxes, we need to buy something else together. do you know what it is??? something to eat with... yes, chopsticks and a case. there are chopsticks to take with obentou. or for little people, there are spoon, fork and chopsticks set, too. so cute. love them.

by the way, bento is more casual way of saying obentou. but in japanese, we put o in front of words and make it polite way or girls' way of saying the word. if you would like to buy and looking for one, i might be able to find one for you...!? i just love cute little obentou boxes. there are boxes for sandwiches, too! you can take it for hiking or picnic, too. oh, it's such beautiful weather today! wanna go out and eat outside... i should make one for my self, too!

weekend 05

on saturday, we went shopping in the morning. and on the way home, we stopped to check a new opened car dealer. yes, we went to see MINI. one of my dream cars. the other one is NEW BEATLE. i love these two. so much. so much. we had fun looking at cars and listing to the salesman there. Kp tested MINI COOPER S. it was fun. and tonight, he was reading the catalog, and i joined him... someday. someday. someday...


and tonight, i cooked curry and rice. Kp's favorite. i love spicy food and so does he.
it's easy to cook. lots of onions, carrots and potatoes. cut them, fly them, and boil them until they are cooked. and add curry roux. if you boil longer, it tastes better.



popular menu for children, too. and one of my favorite, too. i added flied eggplant and asparagus, too. before we eat, we say itadakimasu. it means we thank for the food. and for the people who made the vegetables and others. and we say gochisousama after we finish eating. it is more for the person who cooked the dishes. we say it together. but once Kp said to me that i should say osomatsusama. kind of saying, thank you for eating. or oh it's nothing special but thank you. i love seeing moms teaching their children say itadakimasu and gochisousama. we say that with everyone in a class at kindergarten, elementary, and junior high school, too. yes, it is our culture. and it is what i love.

shop news :: 300th item

for the customer who have bought 300th item, i would like to give you this fabric as a gift.

thank you all your support:) i will keep trying to introduce as much as great fabric i find here in Japan!

Happy Birthday :: 10% off sale

today 25th and 29th are two of my best friends' birthday.

they are both moms. they both have daughters. adorable daughters.

lucky them:) i've known them since elementary school or junior high school. i am lucky.

May is special month to me. my best friends' birthday and mine. also, my parents' adorable doggy, M-chan's birthday is same as mine. birthday month.

i decided today that i will have a birthday sale only for you. from tomorrow, 26th 0:00am in japan until 28th midnight in japan, before R's birthday.

please type the code : happy birthday O and R

in the message to the seller box when you make a purchase. then i will give you 10% off of items(except for books) before shipping cost. i will refund you after i get paid.

i hope they have wonderful birthdays. happy birthday O and R!

and oh dear! my friend had just announced that he has a daughter now. and she was born on 25th. wow, my mom's due date was 25th of may, too. well, i was planning on coming to this world on 25th but i came earlier. hehehe 25th of may.... it is a special special day to me! maybe more than my birthday, the first... happy happy birthday everyone!!!

what i love :: cafe

a cup of tea makes a day special sometimes. going to cafes is one of my favorite time. cafes are so popular these days. more and more cafes opening here in Japan. japanese style cafe, modern style cafe, dog cafe or cat cafe where you can take your pets to cafes and let them meet others, inaka (the country side) cafe where you cannot find it easy but it has a great view and so quiet and relaxing place for people who lives in the city, organic food cafe, and more.... sometimes you can find some great treasure at cafes, too. some cafes sell zakka, their handmade cookies, zakka, and more. it is like a tresure hunt for your seacret hiding place.

and this is my favorite inaka cafe so far. love their cakes so much! often sold out quickly. their lunch is great, too. i love japanese cakes. they are not so sweet. not much sugar. looks great. and taste delicious! my mom found this inaka cafe from her friend. and my sister also found this from a popular magazine for cafes. i love the atomosphere there. the workers. and a mini market of handmade wooden zakka and some plants. the view is nice, too. it's a great place to relax and refresh. so many people live on a small land, that makes the city side so busy and stressful sometimes. i love inaka. just love it. if you have any chance to come to japan, kyoto is traditional and wonderful. and tokyo is fun and modern. but where ever you go, i recommend and hope you will have time to go to have a cup of coffee at cafe, too.

shop news :: update

i've updated some fabric that i found. and i love. in my shop.
hopefully you will find something you love, too.

last night :: time flies

time flies. so fast. feels like too fast sometimes. and wondered if we are flying as fast as it is.

we were thinking about our past and future last night. i received my be lated birthday present. and we were thinking about our age. in two years from now, it will be 10 years since the fast time we met at our university. doesn't seem that long. but we have been together for 8 years and couple months now. time flies so so fast.

seemed like our wedding was couple months ago and just an big event for us. but any other moment we'd spent was not touching so deep as this moment. i gave Kp surprise presents. and he cried even more. i've never seen him crying before. just on the day we got married was the only day he let me see his tears. happy tears.

i said good-bye to my last name. and became his. we slowly started our new life. just two of us. as a family. but when we looked up, there were many people sitting there looking at us. just for us. so thankful. and happy. we will remember the day and will never forget. and will keep walking slowly and slowly. arigato to all of them who we have met... and excited to meet someone new like you! just cannot believe it's been over a year now. oh, time flies!

weekend 04

this weekend, we had lots to do. Kp was tired from last week. working straight for 5 days. which is not normal for him. he get's week days off sometimes and his holidays are irregular. but this month, his holidays are on weekends. as to say thank you for working hard, i bought sashimi(raw fish) for dinner. we drink miso soup for dinner or breakfast. at my parents' house, we had miso soup and rice everyday, traditional japanese style. Kp had toast for breakfast, western style. after we got married, because it is healthier to eat rice and miso soup, we decided to have them as our family style. we both love sushi and sashimi(raw fish). they were delicious. we had maguro(tuna) and buri(yellowtail). so oishii(yummy)!




then our new bed arrived to our apartment. and Kp put them together. i helped. but mostly, it was his job.


we were sleeping on futon on the floor. it is a japanese style. you might wonder why we can sleep on such none soft soft soft place like beds. i don't know how to explain. it is just because we are japanese.


about a month ago, we found this tatami bed. so we can put futon on and sleep at night. and during the day, we can fold futon and we can use the bed as a tatami floored space. with the tatami bed, there are two drawers under it. which is great. we get two extra space to put away our stuff. oh, the wood smells so good and so does tatami. we were so excited. we organized so many other things, too. and Kp had a new idea for my work space. he draw pictures and made a stand for our computer. it was first time he made me something. and i was so happy. and it looks great. and it feels so good to sleep on. we enjoyed our first tatami bed last night.

shop news :: win 200

thank you so much for the customers who have shopped at my little shop and who have been checking my little shop. i'd like to giveaway one unit of this japanese cotton plaid fabric to a customer who bought 200th item from my shop. thank you so much for all of you who have been checking my shop. i will try to find more great fabric from shops in Japan! Arigato(thank you) :)