my son

Less than a month to go before I meet my nephew, or as I like to call him, my son.
i can't wait to hold him in my arms and to give him all my auntie love. I just know were going to have a special friendship for all our lives. I already feel so close to him and I didn't even grow him inside me or anything! It's because I'm so close to his mommy...I'm getting so excited and I know for a while after he is born he will be one of the main focal points of all our lives. Grandma and Grandpa too.
Our lives are all changing. Maiko's most of all. I'm so happy for her and excited for her too.

spirit nails

My friend Karen took me to a place called Spirit Nails for a mani-pedi. Her treat! I've never done this before so I'm a little bit excited but also anxious as I am when any strangers are going to get up close and personal with my body parts. We walk in, and several Vietnamese ladies start saying to us, "pick a colour". So I do,and I am told to sit in this chair with a footbath and massage capabilities. The water is scalding hot so I kind of make this noise as I dip my virgin feet into it. I ask the woman, "can you make a bit colder? It's really hot". She doesn't quite understand me. Then she puts her hand in the boiling hot water. "Oh! Sorry" she says and giggles and adds cold water. Once the temperature is right my feet get plunked in there and I am wondering who else has had their feet in that water? I try not to think about it. My massage chair is working it's way down my back and it's heated too. The nice Vietnamese woman gets started on my feet. It's starts out feeling good, but then she takes this cheese grater thing out and starts shaving away my dead skin and it's flying everywhere and I'm thinking...gross. She loves the colour I've chosen and tells me so very enthusiastically. "Nice colour!" she smiles at me. Then, a woman who I can only describe as a Vietnamese Dolly Parton comes over. She has big hair and blue eyeshadow and a shirt in the shape of a butterfly on. Her name is Mary. She is very sweet and beautiful and she can do a french manicure with no tape! While these ladies are frantically working on my hands and feet I look around the room. I notice the pictures on the walls. They are soooo eighties and they are of hands with sexy long nails grabbing cash and cell phones. It's hilarious. I don't know if I'll go back to Spirit Nails. I kind of felt like a car going through the car wash. And it felt a little strange all the Vietnamese ladies working on caucasian downtown ladies. But I totally appreciate the experience and feel for the poor woman who had to grate my dead skin off my feet.
Thanks Spirit Nails!

zara make me pretty

just came back from fabulous night of shopping with my beautiful sister Maiko. shopping is like a drug to me sometimes. I actually worry about myself when i get all hazy-eyed - gotta have that sweater, gotta have those shoes....
it's just so lovely to get a new item that makes you feel pretty on the outside.
metropolis is just full of pretty things that take all your money away.
we are celebrating another birthday together and i must say, even more than the shopping, i just enjoyed hanging out with my twin. Do you know what it feels like to feel so completely comfortable with someone? So completely at home in that person's company? It's almost like you're by yourself? gosh, i sure hope you do.
maiko just gets more and more lovely every year. she gets funnier, smarter, deeper with every passing minute. she's really taking a bite out of life now and i feel proud to just watch her truck along.
happy birthday to my lovely little maiko chans. i love you more than words can say.
xoxo
s.

momo the six clawed cat

Momo is the sweetest, cutest, softest six clawed cat you ever did see.
Momo means peach in Japanese.

mom & dad

I just got back from visiting the parental units. They were in their usual positions - mom standing over the sink washing dinner dishes and dad in his workshop or "koya" as we like to call it. Mom has a bad cold. Dad's hair is getting super long and crazy. It's full of sawdust as he planes down one of the legs that will hold up the Japanese rice paper lamp he is working on. My parents are just getting cooler with age, really. I realize that I like them more now. I can have conversations with them about every day life. My dad listens attentively and laughs at all my jokes. My mom tries to show as much interest as possible in me while feeling miserable and coughing. I guess I just feel grateful right now to have those two in my life. Don't get me wrong, they are not perfect parents/people. But they're so damn cute. They're older and need a bit more looking after and can't deal with certain things they probably should be able to deal with but they are still my touchstones. I guess I'm proud of them. Despite all the hysterics of my childhood, and the fact that they don't have any idea how to use the fax machine, or the vcr and wouldn't know the first thing about a computer, I'm proud of them. Huh...life's funny.

bbq heaven

We bought this new barbeque. I never wanted a barbeque before but somehow this summer it just felt so right. It's so comforting. Like we've joined the rest of the world in their endeavor to cook the perfect steak. We've joined the grilling masses. This huge club of people who like to cook meat and stuff outside whilst sipping a cold one. I feel like we should buy a lawnmower next. Or a lawn - even better. This barbeque is changing my life - it's changing the way we socialize and everything. "Come on over for a barbeque." We grill while socializing with our friends. It's not hard for things to taste real good. This barbeque is a life-changer. Hell, it's a life-starter. Who knew that life could be like this?

our friend derek

Today we'll celebrate D's birthday. Derek LOVES jazz, or the "idea" of jazz. He's almost obsessed with it. He's a good egg, just getting better with age really. He likes to be the host with the most or as I like to call it, a "control freak". I felt bad for a few moments because I bought him a double xl shirt but I think it's going to fit. Don't get me wrong, he's not fat. But he's round in the middle and quite tall. He's been a good friend for most of my life so I toast his birthday and tolerate his obsession with JAZZ....
Right now my sister's favorite albums are Veda Hille - Return of the Killdeer and BECK - guero.
Our friend Auto is staying with us and he likes to lie in the sink (he's a cat...).
cya!
s.

my double's in london

the phone don't ring....my sister's off again on another adventure. i'm excited for her but the phone don't ring and i miss my twin.
you always feel like a dork when you're the misser, not the missee.