January via Instagram (Starting from the top: L-R)
1. Snowed in, Wedgwood photog adventure.
2. Rang in 2012 with roomie Priya.
3. Started the Instagram Photo-A-Day Challenge, my Longchamp Le Pliage.
4. New coffee mug from UO.
5. Love text messages from Priya.
6. Chinese New Year after party at The Garage.
7. Sunny days.
8. Decisions, decisions.
9. Good morning 2012, first sunrise of the year in HI.

Home. I was fortunate enough to go home for New Years. It was under sad circumstances, but nonetheless I was happy and grateful to be home with family and friends. I also orchestrated the most awesome surprise ever. I managed to keep my trip home a secret from roomie Priya. All day I kept texting her telling her to call me when she was done with dinner so we could talk. But she didn't call me, so I decided to just stop by the Citron House and try to see if she was home. Luckily the front door was open and she was home. My dad says he could hear her scream from the street. Mission accomplished.
New Years Eve was spent with family, doing our Kawachi traditions, eating our Kawachi style New Years foods. I met up with Priya, Leanne, Kat, and Amy at The Edition, oh ahem excuse me, the Modern. And danced, danced, danced the night away, with bottle service, it was nice. Not wanting the party to end, we went to go watch the first sunrise of the new year at Christmas Tree park in Kaimuki. It was AMAZING. I got to visit the Bong, watch the Cowboys-Giants game at Kanpai, hang with Matty and paddleboard, watch the sunset at Magic Island, eat at I-Naba, Highway Inn, Paina Cafe, AND foodland poke. It was good to be home.
I'm not sure if it was because I haven't been away that long, it felt like I never left. I fell right back into EXACTLY what I was doing before I left. It was nice but it realized why I moved. I love my life in Hawaii and the people who make it amazing. But Seattle has challenged me to open up to new people and a different lifestyle, to become more independent, and to grow up a little. I know one day I'll be back, but I'm not so sure when, the adventure is really just beginning.
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I've been in a writers block lately. Here's what's been goin on in the 206:
-Fun times with Seattle friends. Dinners, finding new bars, restaurants, etc.
-Work, work, work. And looking for more work.
-Snowmageddon (pictures to come)
-Chris Evans marathon and finally watched Bridesmaids. Seriously love both, Chris Evans and Bridesmaids.
-Finally watched the much anticipated documentary: Beats, Rhymes, and Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest. AMAZE-BALLS.
-Watched Tom Brady and my Pats reach the Superbowl.
-Watched Tom Brady and my Pats get their ass handed to them by Eli and the Giants. Damn you Eli.

 

 

 

My December in 9 photos via Instagram. Sadly thanks to the awesomeness of my iPhone 4S, my poor DSLR and point'n'shoot cameras do not get used as often. Add that to my 2012 resolutions: use camera more and stop eating after I get off of work.
I can't believe the holidays came and went that fast. My birthday was spent on the slopes of Stevens Pass, snowboarding with Makoto and Wayne. That's right MAKOTO! He came to visit and took us snowboarding. Now I'm going to be honest I was very scared about snowboarding. I last went over a year and half ago, and I absolutely SUCKED. I called my sister and watched some youtube vids for some tips. Luckily we started on the bunny hill, and I got to ride the magic carpet (something which my sister wouldn't let me do because she said it was embarassing). After my first run down the bunny hill, all of 50 feet, I got my snowboarding swag back! That was until I decided to take the ski lift and do the beginner run. The ski lift, my mortal enemy, I know I was overthinking the dismount, and I landed right on my tailbone. And I landed harrrrrrd, so hard I was hurting for the next week. Birthday dinner was spent at Spaghetti Factory with Ryan, May, and Wayne, we had great conversation over great food and wine. One of my best berfdays ever despite missing my girls.
The rest of December was pretty busy, breakfasts, lunches, and dinners with Chelsea and her bf; the Deloitte Christmas party in Bellvue, thank you May and Ryan for taking us; hanging with Grant, Michelle, and the girls in Maple Valley; and working ridiculously hard. But thankfully my hard work paid off and I was kept on board as a regular (best Christmas gift ever... well for this year).
Christmas eve was spent watching Jonas Brothers on Netflix with Wayne. The next morning we woke, put on some Christmas music and opened our presents. Wayne got a Keurig coffee machine, my favorite gift came from Priya, a little hand towel with embroidery that read "Citron Kid"... loved it. After we spent the afternoon feeding the homeless at City Hall Park downtown. It was freezing cold but it was an amazing experience. People were so grateful to get some food, clothes, and bedding, truly blessed to be apart of that. We headed to Bremerton for dinner with the Higa's. It was such a great day, one of the best Christmases EVER!
I spent New Years in HAWAII, but I'll leave that for another post! I'm currently in the middle of a Dawson's Creek marathon, even better the Pacey-Joey years, reliving senior year of high school-freshman year of college. Oh brother, what have I re-gotten myself into.

2012 Resolutions/Goals

1, Live it up in Seattle.
2, Visit Anna in CA and Ross in TX.
3, Eat healthier.
4, Find a second job.
5, Go to Disneyland and ride Star Tours like 5 times.
6, East coast trip with Wendy.
7, Eat at a Michelin star rated restaurant.
8, More giving, less taking.
9, Snowboard, snowboard, snowboard!
10, And like every year... Control my shopping!

Happy New Year!

This is Gas Works Park, and I fell in love with it the moment I laid eyes on it. Right on Lake Union, old coal gasification plants (which reminds me of Howl's Moving Castle, or some sort of foreign land found in Hayao Miyazaki's films), beautiful landscaping designed by architect Richard Haag, the view of downtown Seattle across the water is amazing. I love the zigzag pathways, green grass, and the benches. I could probably spend all day here, taking photos. So glad my mom and I decided to make a pit stop here. If I had a car, I'd be visiting here weekly (probably after the Fremont Flea Market). Just beware of the dog poop, it seemed to be everywhere! Seriously dog owners, don't be lazy.

On another note, only 11 days til Christmas! It's my favorite holiday, I wish I could last all year round. I just watched the Glee Christmas episode, and it hit me as I watched Rory and Sam talk about being away from their families, that this will be my first Christmas away from home. SURE I've pretty much worked EVERY Christmas since 2003 (thank you Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, Honolulu Advertiser and Billabong Waikiki), but I always came home to a hot meal and my family, and I'd at least used to be able to spend the morning opening presents with them. Except one year I remember working Christmas Eve night (probably at the newspaper) and then opening Christmas morning at the Bong, opening presents at the Citron house with Priya. Last year I came home to lobster and steak cooked by my sister, and was watching Return of the Jedi. What will I do this year with Wayne? We have been invited to spend it with my cousin Chiemi, Odessa, and Oveena and their families in Bremerton. But after watching glee, I thought it would be nice volunteering at a food bank or somewhere where they provide meals for the homeless or less fortunate. I've googled a few places, but I can't seem to find any open on Christmas. I'm gonna keep searching... wish me luck.

On Mom's last Sunday here, we visited the Fremont Sunday Market. It was filled with a ton of vintage finds, great street food, and locally made products. I found a great mirrored tray for my jewelry for only $5. There was a lot of old furniture there, real antiquey pieces that I wished I had found before I buying my entire room from iKea. If you do go, I highly recommend eating the naan bread. It is made fresh to order, and it is amazing. You can order it with Indian food, but since I don't Indian, I just wanted the naan.

Ala Moana Center, Christmas 2010, with my favorite ladies

Saw this on Tiera's blog and being a Christmas lover, I decided to give it a whirl.

1, Egg nog or hot chocolate? Apple Cider! I do love that Starbs start selling the salted caramel hot chocolate tho.

2, Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapped, and sometimes you can tell when he got lazy and just put in a gift bag.

3, Colored or white lights on the tree/house? My family does colored, and sometimes my dad uses the moving kind, oh we fancy, huh.  Our little tree has white, we went with a red and silver theme.

4, Do you hang mistletoe? I ALWAYS hang mistletoe, and I keep it up ALL year long, you never know when it comes in handy. I find it quite charming. 

5, When do you put up your decorations? Right after Thanksgiving. Currently missing the Citron house decorations (our stockings lined over the bar, the wreath the Anna stole from somewhere, the singing snowman, the homemade ornaments, Priya's tinsel).

6, What is your favorite holiday dish? My grandma's candied yams! Then all of our traditional New Years decorations.

7, Favorite holiday memory as a child? We used to always do the same thing for years... wake up, wash up (my parents make us get ready before opening presents, lame right), present opening, go to grammsy's house for breakfast and have her and gramps open their gifts (while listening to either Na Leo or Yanni Christmas Albums), come back home watch Star Wars (it usually was on during the holidays), then head over to my Aunty Dee-Dee's house for Christmas dinner. We haven't done this in a good 8 years sadly.

8, When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I'm a smart girl, I kinda figured it out, especially when my parents suggest we leave out beef jerky, instead of cookies.

9, Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? NO WAY, my family is totally against opening gifts early.

10, How do you decorate your Christmas tree? My mom is a Hallmark ornament collector, we put our favorites and new ones that we bought this season (we're putting up an awesome Harry Potter one this year, I have my The Office ornaments too!). The Citron tree was always covered with an assortment of handmade and store bought ornaments Priya and my mom would donate, I also would buy Hello Kitty or Sanrio ornaments. Here in Seattle, I bought cute little ornaments from iKea and Target, our centerpiece ornament is a glee ornament I found at Target. 

11, Snow! Love it or dread it? I have mixed feelings, I'm sure I'll hate it the day it screws me over as I try to get to work ON TIME.

12, Can you ice skate? Heck yes, Ice Palace whaaaat.

13, Do you remember your favorite gift? My iPod touch was pretty sweet, I'd been wanting one for a long long time. Also seeing my skateboard under the tree in high school. 

14, What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Family and friends.

15, What is your favorite holiday dessert. Anything my sister makes, also lately my cousin Keola has been bringing Otto Cake to our family functions, how can you not love some Otto Cake.

16, What is your favorite holiday tradition? Driving up the street or through downtown to look at lights on houses.

17, What tops your tree? An Angel.

18, Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? I love giving gifts!!!!!! I love love love shopping for people.

19, Cande canes: Yum or yuck? I love candy canes.

20, Favorite Christmas show? Hands down: A Charlie Brown Christmas Special.

21, Saddest Christmas song? Please Come Home for Christmas - The Eagles. Oh and Christmases When You Were Mine by Taylor Swift (song was on repeat last year hard core).

22, Favorite Christmas song? See list below:

1. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays - 'N Sync (ok really the whole 'N Sync Christmas album)
2. All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah
3. This Christmas - Chris Breezy
4. Merry Christmas Baby - Otis Redding
5. Last Christmas - Glee Version
6. Christmastime in Hollis - Run DMC
7. The Chipmunk Song - Alvin and the Chipmunks
8. And So This Is Christmas - John Lennon
9. Christmastime is Here - The Vince Guaraldi Trio
10. Mele Kalikimaka - Reel Big Fish
11. I Wont Be Home for Christmas - Blink-182
12. My Only Wish (This Year) - Britney Spears
13. Hey Santa - Wilson Phillips
14. It Must've Been Ol' Santa Claus - Harry Connick Jr.