Happy Fall Y'all!

Happy Fall Friends!  

It is *finally* starting to feel like fall around here!   Jeans and boots, here I come.  Here are a few things making me happy these days ...

The North East Girl ...

My friend, Mrs. S., introduced me to this blog and my bank account hasn't recovered since!  I find it hard to add new pieces into my wardrobe each season since I don't live anywhere near a mall to peruse and I'm not exactly surrounded by a city full of fashionistas.  Thank you, North East Girl, for helping me add some key pieces to my wardrobe this fall!

This puffy vest ...

Excursion Quilted Vest

If you know me in real life, you know I live in a puffy vest all winter long.  I added this slimmer version to my wardrobe last week when J. Crew was having a sale.  I cannot wait until it gets a little bit cooler!

This Japanese antique I found at the Yamato Shrine Sale a few weekends ago ...

It only set me back 5,000 yen ... roughly $50.00!

Arashi ... a restaurant that changed my life.  You order from a vending machine, it costs $5.00 and makes a great dinner.  I've been three times in the past week.

YUM.

Lunch at a restaurant that had been on my bucket list for ages:

We even got to sit outside!

A ride on the rhino bus:

Another check off the Bucket List!

The Machida Shrine Sale:

On the 1st of every month, vendors gather at the Machida Temmangu Shrine for the Machida Shrine Sale.  It resembles a flea market and is full of good finds.  I love picking up treasures that will remind me of my time abroad for years to come.

and ...

An upcoming trip to see my hubs!

I hope your fall is starting as well as mine!

Happy October!

I used to be a lover of summer, but now I find that there is something so wonderful about the gorgeous first days of fall ...

Hiking in Japan (December 2012)

We haven't done as much hiking here in Japan as we would like to, but J. found a trail that is nearby and dog friendly.  We headed out there one crisp December day with our neighbor and his dog, Angus.

Our first glimpse of the view

J., me + Lucy ... she was SO happy to get back out on the trail!

You could see all the way to Tokyo and Yokohama

Mr. H. and Angus ... he and Lucy are besties!

J. and I with the dogs

One happy little pup

Which way?!

One last view ...

Hopefully we will be able to get some more hiking in when J. returns from deployment!

Miyagase Tree Lighting (December 2012)

Last December, J. and I took a base tour to Lake Miyagase for their annual Christmas tree lighting.  The small town is covered in lights and the highlight of the evening is lighting the main tree.  The Japanese people might not celebrate Christmas, but they sure know how to decorate for it!  

One of the shops in the small town

Standing in line for mochi

Mochi

Happy Merry Christmas!

The view before sunset

Me + J. before all the lights were turned on

Start of the Tunnel of Lights

The beautiful Christmas Tree!

The lighted path leading up to the pedestrian bridge ...

With our friends and neighbors!

The tree with the lighted pedestrian bridge

J. + Me

If you are in the area, I highly recommend going to this event.  It was a great way to kick off the Christmas season and get into the Christmas spirit!

An American Sunday: Baseball, Beers + BBQ

We love a good American afternoon!

We started our afternoon at the Yokohama Stadium ...

cheering on our Japanese home team ... the DENA Baystars 

and having a beer!

And we finished our evening with delicious BBQ and locally brewed beer at Bashamichi Taproom.

Yokohama Date Night

While J. was on deployment, I was excited to find our favorite Thai restaurant hidden in Shinjuku Train Station.  And then I was even more excited when I learned there was also one near the Yokohama Train Station, which is much closer to us than Shinjuku.  It was on my "must-do" list for J.'s summer deployment break, so we headed over to Yokohama for date night.  After a delicious dinner at the Mango Tree, we headed over to CosmoWorld to ride the giant ferris wheel:

Cosmo Clock 21

When it opened it was the tallest ferris wheel in the world!  Sadly, it is no longer the tallest, but it is still the world's largest clock.  It takes 15 minutes to make one full rotation around the wheel!

Looking down at CosmoWorld

Yokohama

Yokohama

Me + J.

Afterwards, we realized we were close to a beer bar that had been recommended to J. by one of his co-workers.  We had to go looking for it!

World Beer Museum

Beer Pyramid!

World Beer Museum opened this summer and is like the Epcot of bars.  It's a bar and restaurant, but the bar area is divided up into several different sections.  Each section is a different country around the world!  We sat in the United Kingdom section, but there was also Belgium, Czech, U.S. and Germany. I think it's a great concept for a bar and we had a fun night!