"SCHLETZGETMARRIED" - PART II/II

After the Schletz wedding Friday night, we all woke up Saturday morning and headed into the city!! The one downside was, the weekend we were there happened to also be Lalapalooza, a huge music event that happens right in downtown Chicago every summer...so we were a bit worried about crowds. It ended up not being too bad and we grabbed the 9:00am train with ease. 

Brainstorming our plan for the day! 

Anna, Nattysue and Liana! What babes!! 

Nothing like running through a city with your favorite people :) 

Downtown Chicago is really a charming place with the riverwalk and all the boats cruising by...and the weather happened to be perfect this day!! 

For breakfast we hit up BEATRIX which ended up being a funny story...so the bride and groom (Anneke and Jeremy) stayed in downtown Friday night after the wedding and then had Saturday morning free before they flew out to their honeymoon! So, Anneke being the amazing human and friend that she is, said she wanted to meet up with everyone and spend time with us since we all flew in for her wedding! haha. I loved how it wasn't awkward! And she told us to meet her and Jeremy at BEATRIX. So we plugged it in to our phones, walked to the restaurant, and managed to get a table for 11 even though it was jam packed!! BUT (there's always a BUT to any good story) WHO KNEW THERE WERE 3+ BEATRIX RESTAURANT IN DOWNTOWN?!!? UHHH NOT US!! So we were all at one, and Anneke and Jeremy were at the other. FAIL! We were already sitting down so we just ordered, ate quick (food was amazing. Waffles, and cauliflower grits) and then jammed out to meet the newlyweds! haha. 

We finally met up with them and walked over to Navy Pier. On the way we stopped by Molly's cupcakes, which is famous for being on cupcake wars and everything. We all shared four cupcakes (thanks Jeremy!). The birthday cake cookie dough (blue one) was amaaazinggggg!!! 

Navy pier with my roomies!! From L-R...Natty Sue is a nurse living in Napa, Liana is working at Point Loma in San Diego, Becky works at a lab and lives in Milwaukee, Anna is getting her masters in applied math and lives near Seattle, and Anneke worked for Young Life and is now looking for a new job. We are just missing Nati, Katelyn and Megan! I love these ladies so much. 

Hugs as we sent off Anneke to her honeymoon!! 

have fun in Italy lovebirds!! 

Last stop in the city...CLOUD GATE aka the bean...and this extremely patriotic man! 

We didnt stay in the city too long...for one, the trains run a bit sporadically like only once an hour (come on Chicago!!) and we also didn't want to get stuck in the lalapalooza crowds...so half of us headed back to Wheaton around 3 ish and the others stayed a bit longer.  

Natijane and Marty stayed back in Wheaton all day with baby Judah so we met back up with them to get a late lunch! How beautiful is this child. love her.

We hit up Gino's East, recommended by Anneke and it was so yummy!!! The crust was much more cornbready than the others and the breadsticks were amazing!! I also ordered a rootbeer (doesn't exist in Japan) and I was in mid-west-American HEAVEN! After lunch we all headed back to the house Nati and Marty were staying at and hung out all night. 

ok THIRD round of pizza for the weekend! HAHA...at 10pm or so, Eddie ordered Giordanos pizza for us to all share and I have to admit...THIS WAS THE BEST DEEP DISH OF THE WEEKEND. Ok, take that back. The CHEESE AND SAUCE were the best of the weekend. I still like Lou Malnatis (aka illuminatis) was the best crust! But this sauce was really bomb. Thank you, Chicago. 

We hung out all night playing silly games, drinking the champagne Anneke and Jeremy gave us from their hotel room HAHA, and catching up on life with each other. gosh...it was so good for the soul.

These people are like family to me and time with them is a pure gift. By the grace of God, we all became friends, we all stayed in touch, we all have witnessed each other date, get engaged, get married, have babies, move, get new jobs...and when I sit and think about these people, all I see is the eyes of God graciously looking down on us and saying, "I know you. And I've blessed you." Indeed He has!! 

can't wait to reunite with these friends again...and one day have reunions with all our husbands and kids together in some fun city all cozy in a house together...YAY!!! 

"SCHLETZGETMARRIED" PART I/II

What better way to reunite with friends than in Chicago celebrating the Schletz wedding!??

When I was a freshman in college, I signed up to take the basketball P.E class having no idea what to expect. Well, besides getting to shoot around the gym and get that 1 unit P.E credit I needed, I also happened to befriend a very tall, bubbly girl from the mid-west named Anneke. We hit it off instantly and spent the next four years of college studying together, doing leadership events together, and eventually rooming together senior year. A few years post college, when she called me to tell me about meeting this guy named Jeremy, I could tell she was smitten by his intelligence, intentionality, and golden heart! I could not be happier for her, and flying from Tokyo to Chicago to witness her become a Schletz was the easiest decision to make :) 

Our house senior year was called The Nest...so what better book to read on the plane on my way to see all my nesters!! 

Also, in the spirit of summer vacation and weddings, I treated myself to a ridiculous over-the-top Japanese manicure because...why not!?? It is a bit excessive, but it's fun and I figure, when else in my life can I do something this weird and get away with it?! 

So I flew out of Narita on a Thursday night and landed in Chicago on that same Thursday night! Luckily for me, my dear friend Anna had already landed at Ohare, got our rental car, and picked me up so we could eat dinner and wait for the others! 

We started our Chicago food weekend with Portillos...which was funny because as I was biting into my hotdog my dad called me and said, "oh did you order the famous roast beef sandwich?" REGRETS!! haha. But it was good and I would definitely go there again to try everything else on the menu! While waiting for Liana and Zach to fly in, Anna and I grabbed some good ol'fashion icecream from Oberweis that was soooo creamy and so good!! 

So we picked Zach and Liana up late Thursday night and all headed to our cozy Airbnb in Wheaton. It was an amazing place!!! So glad we did that instead of a hotel. We woke up Friday morning (day of the wedding) and first thing we knew we had to do...BRUNCH.

We drove 3min to downtown Wheaton where we ate brunch at Egg Harbor cafe...GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! It was a bit of reverse culture shock for me..the breakfast plates, endless coffee, chatty waiters (love small talk), and buzz in the atmosphere from all the conversations happening. I was in brunch heaven!! 

We had all day to explore (before the wedding at 5:30) so we decided to check out the #1 most popular place in Wheaton...Cantigny Park! 

The park was beautiful! So peaceful, full of beautiful flowers and a cool history (family who created the Chicago Tribune). 

My hosuemates for the weekend, Anna, Liana and Zach. Love these people! 

For snack we hit up TRADER JOES!!!!! 

We had to get the corn salsa, regular salsa, chips, and some trendy healthy drinks aka CHIA juice and KOMBUCHA! haha.

Also, we knew we had time before going to the wedding and eating dinner so we decided to live it up and order our first deep dish pizza of the weekend! Our Airbnb host recommended Lou Malnatis (which we all kept calling "illuminatis" HAHA) so I ordered it online and it came in 40 minutes. I just ordered the OG pizza which came with literally a layer of sausage! HAHA... the sausage part was not my fav, but it still tasted amazing. Really good pizzza right here. 

OK....so after a fun day it was time to PARTYYYYYY at the SCHLETZ WEDDING!!! EEK!!!!!! The venue was this beautiful victorian style house with a banquet room next to it. 

OK how STUNNING does Anneke look?? When I saw her after the ceremony she literally picked me up off the ground and swung me around! We were both so happy to see eachother that we kind of just screamed! And I also was reunited with my bestie Natijane and her (almost one year old) baby girl Judah!!!! My heart...so full!! 

The nesters :) Liana, Natty sue, Anneke, me, Anna, Natijane...what a gift it is to be friends with these women!!! We danced the night away and took plenty of photos for memories sake. We all headed home tired, but excited to wake up Saturday and spend the day together in the city!! 

THE NEST

5 years ago, when I was a senior in college, I lived in a house with 8 incredible women! It was the blessing of a lifetime and their friendship has been one of life's greatest joys! One night back in college, a few of us were at the drive in movie theater in Claremont. We were all huddled in the back of Nati's car, with blankets, snacks and a perfect view of the screen. We were so cozy and decided then and there that the comfy, warm, relaxed atmosphere represented us so well and that our friendship created a kind of...nest!  Well, this weekend I am going to be reunited with almost all (missing you Kate and Meg!) of my beautiful nesters for the 6th Nest wedding!! Can you believe that?? 6th!!! 

What a GIFT friendship is. Going to college, I never could have imagined meeting such a solid group of women like this. They're all so individually gifted...we got a marathon running math wiz, a horse back riding researcher, a Colorado admissions counselor, a comedian nurse, and surfing mama, a Resident Director at APU, a Point Loma working non-coffee drinker, a teacher in Japan, and a Chicago bride-to-be!! HAHA....and even though we are all so different, the bond we share is fused together by our common love for the Lord and has given us a sisterhood. Thank you Lord!

So, I'm about to pack up and board a plane to see all these beautiful women of God and celebrate Annekes and Jeremy's wedding....YAY!!!!

柏祭り KASHIWA MATSURI 2017

This past weekend was the 40th Kashiwa Matsuri. After teaching my Saturday class, I headed to the Matsuri with one of the ladies in my class and we made it just in time to see the Kashiwa Odori. This series of photos may look a bit different than usual and that's because I went with a super old school film edit on all of these (KODAK-PORTRA100T++).

I went with a film edit for two reasons...
1) Matsuris are old school events that deserve this super grainy film look
2) My camera died 20 minutes into the festival so I literally only took about 30 frames which made me really feel like I really used a film camera! 

Everyone brought their Yukatas out! 

About 10 teams participated in the Kashiwa Odori (dance) and the group you see down there in red are the Torrance kids who were here on a three week exchange! They did a great job doing this dance along side some professionals. 

My friend Mina, her husband and Miss Guam 2016 haha! Kashiwa is sister cities with a city in Guam so we have a lot of connections with them...and apparently those connections led to Miss Guam coming and joining the festival. 

This was the last pic I took before my camera suddenly died...but I kind of like that I only took a few photos that day because it gives these photos a chance to speak for themselves more. 

After watching the Kashiwa Odori, Mina, her husband and I cruised around the busy streets lined with food stalls that were selling everything from beer, to hot dogs, to shaved ice, to yakisoba, to friend chicken...yummmm! There was such a buzz in the air from all the activity, and on top of that there was the thick Japanese humidity! Combine the crazy weather, with the delicious smell of food, with the yukatas everywhere, and the sounds of getas (wooden sandals) clicking on the road...and I felt 100% immersed in my Japanese culture. I loved it! I even ran into a few students wandering the streets with their friends...and I went home that night so thankful to call this little corner of Japan my hometown.

KICHIJOJI : ft. Poiema and her scooter

I had another summer day off this week which meant exploring Tokyo with my good friend Nathalie and her tiny daughter, Poiema! We decided to spend our day in Kichijoji, a cool area right outside the main Tokyo area that is most famous for being home to the Ghibli museum and the beautiful Inokashira park!

The cutest thing was that Poiema (pronounced poh-eee-mah) brought along her scooter and wore her helmet all day - HAHA. 

Stocking up on some body wipes to stay cool in the humidity. 

Life's too short to wear boring pants!! amiright?? I bought these bad boys at zara recently and I want to wear them everyday. 

We walked through Inokashira park and saw a group of elderly people painting..gahhhhh so cute!!! 

Inisde the park is a zoo! So we took Poiema there as a surprise. 

After the zoo we headed down the cute streets around kichijoji station to find some food!

Finally found a thai restaurant! By this time it was 2pm and we were exhausted from the humidity and heat...and super hungry! This chicken plate was so simple and so AMAZING. 

I LOVED the interior of this place.  Reminds me of when I was a highschooler and painted my room orange, maroon and turquoise! Thanks mom, for letting me do that ha! 

Thanks to instagram, I saw a pic of this place - HARA DONUTS - and knew we had to go check it out. I mean, how adorable is this store front!?? 

Strawberry white chocolate donut!!! so perfect. 

And Hara donuts happened to be right next door to Light Up Coffee, a trendy shop I've heard of before but never visited. 

Nathalie got this crazy "shakelato" or something like that, which to our surprise came in a martini glass HAHA. It was basically a super sweet latte (no alcohol in it)! And I got the iced coffee that was so strong and so good. 

Japanese store fronts are seriously ...GOALS. Somehow they keep things so simple, yet so eye-catching... and so photographable! 

We headed back to the station via these cozy alleyways. Japan has got to be one of the most charming nations in the world. I've lived here 2 years and still can't get over it. I don't think ever will!

Praise the Lord for days-off and vending machines on every corner to keep us hydrated in 90degree heat and 90% humidity!! YEWWW!