Happy.

Fast one.

I know you (or me in this case) don't need a man to be happy, but daymn it sure helps.

Feeling pretty happy right now.

That's all.

Poice and happiness.

wasted days and wasted nights...

Actually, I just liked the way that song sounded in my head, the days and nights weren't actually wasted!.

A few random thoughts and happenings to go with a collection of pics from the summer that was..as is still to be.

• Why isn't sleeping naked as comfortable as it should be, or as it's made out to be? I can never get comfy when i'm nakey. Seriously.
• Is it me or does all perfume sample page things in magazines smell that same?
• Getting up before 8am sucks. My short summer vacation has ruined me.What you mean I can't start at 10am and finish at lunch time?
• The beach is good for the soul.
• Dispite a potentially shitty week last week (all mindset yo!) feeling pretty good. Understanding that I can't control what others say, do, think, feel etc. but I can control how I feel, say, do, think and react. I am the master of my own happiness.
• Some friendships are worth more then others. Some are worth fighting for and others not so much.
• You can only give people so many chances before you cut your losses, and move the hell on.
• Getting my heart ready to be open.

Thought coulds.



Moscow Mules



Saijo Station Toes





batchroom/laundry mornings





Maori Ninja



Vacation nails



Pixie Shrimp - WANT



Tan lines, green pare'u, muscle.



Inspiration book



this happens when i'm stuck in the house sick for a week



Troy and Abed



soul searching at Karuga



reflections of my mind



Heart.

Oh, and I am completly addicted to fruit ninja.

Love. Heart. Peaceful. Mind.

back to what you know...

It's been a while. sorry. kinda.

I've hit a road block I think? I've been meaning to write, post, share and all that jazz but haven't actually done it. I think I may be overwhelmed with so much info and pictures that I just have no idea of how to organise it and present it on the blog in a way that I would be happy with. That's my OCD side coming out, which doesn't happen too often. Don't believe me? Neither do I....

This is what's been happening in my life for the last month-ish...

• Said goodbye to some friends who are off back to their respective home countries and said hello to all the new arrivals, fresh (well actually very sweaty) faced and eager to start their Japanese adventures.
• Watched movies with friends while eating pizza, paella and other various treats and alcoholic beverages.
• Watched fireworks with friends but not actually seeing much of the fireworks because we sat in the wrong place.

Kissing Shadows

• Drank beer and umeshu with teachers at a beer garden and unexpectedly had a really, really good time.
• Haven't been to the gym at all.
• Performed for two days in Osaka and had the best fun with the whanau, especially with Master at the New Zealand bar.
• Got sick with a fever and a summer cold upon arrival home from Osaka - a mixture of air con/no air con/air con/no air con, singing my heart out and all my recent travels catching up with me, and pretty much staying in bed and in my house for 1 week. Talk about cabin fever.
• Beaching, swimming, tanning, drinking Hawaiian beer and eating locomoco, playing in the park after eating ice cream, going on a joy ride up a mountain only to turn around almost at the top because it was getting scary and we saw an inoshishi (wild boar) just hanging out in front of the car on the road and the clouds were rolling down the mountain. yeah.
• Having a ladies night with some teachers drinking umeshu, eating shabushabu and talking about the single male teachers in our office...
• Making tiramisu.
• Playing Ninja Maori in Iwakuni and loving it.
• Eating Mexican food, drinking a pitcher of margaritas and having my car locked in the parking area for the night, waiting for the bus that would never come only to be rescued (unexpectedly) by the the nosed crusader and his gangster banging sounds.
• Got my hair did - new colour, dyed eyebrows and my bangs straight permed.
• And in between all of that, kind of working (well sitting in the board of education doing nothing), taking 3 hour long lunch breaks - eating sushi, playing taiko, taking purikura pictures, hanging out in hip hop shops and playing hanging with friends on my iphone with Mr. New York come Australian.

So, where am I going with all of this? Not sure actually.

Well, I will be taking a big long break from my life. I really need to chill out, calm down, not feel like I need to be doing something, or seeing someone all the time and just enjoy spending time out at home by myself. If I do too much and don't give myself any downtime, or time to recover, rejuvenate and relax then I am just going to get sick again, and be stressed out. And who am I kidding, I'll get angry beaver. For reals.

Some things I want to try and do (more like I feel like I need to do them)..

- get off the technology buzz...put down my iphone and read a book. I've noticed of late that I can't just sit still and focus, I'm always on the computer or watching TV while playing around on my phone - even though there is really nothing to do on my phone. I haven't read a book in ages, and I LOVE reading. Something is clearly wrong with that picture. Remedy is for at home - only use my iphone for calls and texts (and photos) - no games or Internet.
- go to the gym at least three times per week. I haven't been because I have been sick, but now that I am better I will be going back!
- take a moment out of everyday to acknowledge one (or more) thing(s) that I am grateful for. Remember to appreciate everything in life, the small things and the big things and that all of these things add up to who I am or who I want to be.
- start on my inspiration book again. It feels like forever since I worked on it, and I love making it. So it makes me happy and it's letting my get in touch with my creative side so I'm doing it.
- make more of an effort with my fashion and attempt to post some outfits up on the blog!
- stop drinking (read relying on) redbull (to get me through) everyday.

Dayyyymmm that's quite a list. So much for a quick post. Little bit going on in the noggin, so all of this is better out then in, and it gives me a bit more space to breathe.

Oh yeah and I went on a mini online shopping spree while quietly freaking out about my wardrobe.

Quietly (actually not so quiet, pretty damned excited and loud - hysterical almost) excited about the 3rd.

relax. caaaalm it down. and chill the hell out.

poice.

aloooooooha Tokyo

Yes. another Tokyo weekend (well four days to be exact).

Performed at a Polynesian festival. The festival had such a great vibe and the atmosphere was awesome. Great day and weekend chilling out with the whanau, eating, eating and more eating with a bit of singing and shopping blended into the mix.



Te roopu kapa haka o nga hau e wha



hana hands & Maile leis

Hawaiian kisses

kakariki...midori...oma'oma'o

Learnings from the week/end...

• eating curry while wearing a white top quadruples your chance of spilling said curry down the front of said white top.
• believe in yourself, and remember this and remember to praise yourself when you feel you've done good.
• that not trying so hard is usually what works.
• don't be shy or afraid to speak up and say what you want or think. Opportunities come to those who knock, call out and then enter!
• make time for yourself, even if it's only an hour or so. Enjoy that time - it's important for a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
• don't be so hard on yourself...get over it...assess the situation, make a realistic action plan and stick to it.
• that music and exercise are fuel for the soul.
• I possess infinite possibilities and potential.

Things I am doing this week....

Making a finance action plan and sticking to it

Unpacking my bag from my weekend Tokyo trip

Cleaning my house (seriously how often is this on my list?!)

Cleaning my car - ok this has been on my list for some time now... I will do it this week

Turning off the computer earlier and going to bed at a semi reasonable hour to read (one of the million magazines i have) or write or sleep!

Detoxing! After a weekend of indulgence my body and mind need a detox...more details on that to follow!

Going to the gym at least 3 times this week...

A beautiful hula to a beautiful Maori song. Sums up my weekend perfectly.

Poice, mahalos and alohas.

chick, chick, chick...BOOM.

Whereabouts and whatsabouts.

Long weekend in Osaka and Kyoto.

Ate delicious food, drank wine, soy vanilla frappaccinos and too many red bulls, shopped at H&M and saw and did lots. Loved some, day dreamed some about things that could be, laughed lots and enjoyed all of it.



ferris wheel where daydreams are made.

Things I'm doing this week..

Unpacking my bag from my long Osaka weekend, washing my smoke smelling clothes (smoking room at the hotel - booking mistake & it the hotel was fully booked..urgh), detoxing my skin from over air conditioned aforementioned smokey hotel room and then repacking it all for weekend in Tokyo.

Going to the gym and getting butterflies and hugs. Hey boo..

Watching Americas Next Top Model season 14 - in New Zealand.

Trying on outfits for my big Tokyo weekend, beach, shopping and practicing.

Practicing for our performance in 3 weeks.

Trying to be more relaxed and honest to myself, thinking about my actions and reactions and how they affect me and those around me and remembering to do what makes me happy.

Shapeshifter & Ladi 6. When I return.

daydreams and pieces of me.

tide rolls out, tide rolls in...

Let your love inside begin to grow.

Sunday at the beach.

Slip, slop, slap and wrapped (until wore my sunglasses in the ocean and lost them) like nobodies business.

No sunburn, just brown, all day. 34 degrees yo. Hot.

Accidentally wore a great new beach outfit, but there are no pics, next time. Promise.

Karugahama

Lips and earrings

Legs and feet

eyes. and lips. and earrings.

beach.sun.clouds.summer.



home time sunsets from the car.

No plans are usually the best plans. Sunday was supposed to be get out of bed and clean your house, but got a call saying come to the beach we're picking you in in 20...so to the beach I went. Vitamin D is good for the soul.

beach, peach, peace.

すきじゃ...

Random points of things about things.

Cold tea is delicious and fun. I don't mean tea that has gone cold, coz you made a cup and it's been sitting there forgotten and it got cold, I mean tea that is supposed to be brewed with cold water. Say wha'? So this is news to me, a teacher gave me some cold tea bags (citrus flavor) and they were good, so when I went to Muji to buy some pouches of curry for the pies I was making for dinner, I saw a whole display of these teabags...a whole display dedicated to cold teabags. Of course I brought some...in the apple & rosehip variety. There were other flavors like jasmine and earl grey, but they were expensive yo...next time I need curry.

Stickers are like totes the best fun. So as an incentive for my students I've been giving away stickers..this isn't news, but my older students are starting to get into it, which has prompted me to buy more and I'm remembering how much I used to love stickers! I had a little sticker album and I remember begging my dad to buy me "just one" packet of stickers, and how excited I was to go home and carefully transfer them to my album. Even just going though and looking at them was excited, there were furrys, and puffy ones, smelly ones and holograms..gosh so many! Stickers have gotten so much better, granted this is Japan, but I have had so much fun looking for stickers and using them on letters, in my diary and giving them to my students makes me realise that I still get enjoyment from them, so I won't be giving it up again any time soon! I will be looking for my sticker album when I go home at Christmas.

Remembering how much fun it was to mix vanilla ice cream with anything in the cupboard to give it flavor! Me and my cousins always did this, whoever did the shopping always got vanilla - kids don't like vanilla! We wanted chocolate, or neopolitan or hokey pokey, so we would mix the vanilla with coffee, milo, bornvita, milkshake flavor mix, cocoa...anything and it was fun trying to mix it in smooth- putting it in the microwave for 10 seconds if we couldn't wait for it to get soft on its own! What's the point you ask? I made plum cake earlier in the week, and well chocolate ice cream doesn't really go with plum cake, so I brought some vanilla ice cream to eat with it, there was a bit left over and no more plum cake (bad planning on my part) so I thought huuumm what can I mix with this (yeah I still don't like plain vanilla!)? Mixed it up with some coffee granules and I was away!

My desktop background is now a picture of Shibuya. That's how excited I am to go back to Tokyo.

Listening to Marsha Ambrosius's album is music for my soul. I feel like it's just for me.

I need to go to the gym this weekend.

I'm wearing a proper bra (and not my soft with company sleeping bra) for the first time in 4 days. My sunburn is finally healing and I can lift my arms above my head with out any pain. SUNSCREEN!

California pizza for dinner tonight.

California...king bed. If the guy in this video was in my Japanese single bed I'd be content.

poice.