Goodbye Summer... {Super Harvest Moon}

{Image By Me}

Hello my loves!!!! I hope all of you're doing well and happy. This sounds like a broken record, but I've been CRAZY busy for the past two weeks, I barely sat in front of the computer.

Both of my daughters are in school now that I thought having all morning to myself would give me the freedom to blog all I want, but actually I have been busier than ever. Driving them to school, doing errands, picking them up and taking them to afterschool activities - oh my gosh I wish I could clone myself!!!!

My husband JT was home last week, so we're running around and doing all sorts of stuff together with the girls. Good news is that my husband will be able to commute between FL and NJ every two weeks now and he'll be going back and forth every weekend starting Christmas. We're very excited that he'll be part of our lives again very soon...

Today is the offical last day of Summer and the beginning of Fall. Also we're celebrating Super Harvest Moon. Apparently we don't get to see this beautiful phenomenon for years and years, so we all should go outside around 11pm and look at the moon. You can see Jupiter right below it. I did take a photo and can you see a tiny tiny dot - that's Jupiter...

I love space and looking at starts and moon. I talk about it time to time how looking at the sky makes me feel - it's like all the darkness and brights spots cleanse my body. There are so many possibilities out there in the space and I feel like I'm such a tiny existance... It totally amazes me.

Florida is still super HOT and I don't feel like Summer is fully gone, but I do feel the difference in the morning - air is cooler. I love summer and I'm a bit sad that Fall is arriving, but all the festivities are around the corner.... AND I have two more shifts left for my departure from work and my birthday soon. I'm very excited!!!

I can't wait to catch up with all of your blog!! xoxo

Beach, Frozen Yogurt & Rainbow...

{Image By Soapy}

Well, it's already Wednesday, but I hope you all had a great Lobor Day weekend! Did you guys do anything special - or did you go any place special???


My weekend with the girls was just laid back - nothing crazy, but really good one. Thank you very much. I took the girls to our favorite Lido Beach and also we celebrated the Grand Opening of our favorite yogurt joint "White Berry" that came really close to our home. The original store is in downtown which is about 20 minutes drive and the new store is a lot closer and it takes less than 10 minutes:)


While the store guy R prepares the yummy yogurt for us, Soapy looks up like a little girl - she looks like a big girl, but I think she looks like a two year old from looking at this photo. So cute. She couldn't wait for him to make her yogurt:)



I got the Original flavor with Kiwi and Ju Ju and Soapy got their favorite Green Tea flovor with Mochi and Chocolate Chip. Seriously, they are yummy.

Somehow, Soapy in this picture is ready to snort yogurt out of spoon. Funny. This was just a random picture and I didn't set her up to this.

Now that looks better Soapy!

Julia and Soapy love these canisters full of Fruit Loops & Trix.

{Image By Ju Ju}

I must admit, my girls are really cute!

The same day afternoon before yogurt, I took the girls to our favorite Lido beach. It was a perfect beach day because the beach was not crowded and it was really quiet. I hate when there are too many people and no parking. I was a bit surprised becausse it was Labor Day weekend afterall, but I guess we just picked the right day because my friend who went to the same beach the next day told me the beach was packed Zoo. Thank goodness, it wouldn't be as fun if we're there on Sunday instead of Saturday..

I feel tremendous happiness when I'm at the beach - it doesn't matter where or which one, I just feel at home. Maybe because I grew up in Hawaii surrounded by the ocean, but I can't think of my life without beach.....

It's surreal to know that the BP oil spill has stopped. Yes, the cleanup effort still continues and it will stay that way for many years to come, and I get nervous when I think of the effect of the spill, but I think we cleared the first obstacle to contain the oil. I was really nervous at first that we'd lose our beautiful beach. I'm so glad that we don't need to see tar-balls washing ashore, but I wonder if all the marine lives and eco-system will ever be the same. I just don't know..

Often times when I look at my girls, as much as hard to grasp the thoughts, I realize that my life is not my life anymore. My life is for my daughters - I live my life for them. I need to think of their life first before I think of mine. It's not an easy tast at times because I consider myself a free sprited individual who has done many selfish things. But we all need to grow up sometimes, right? And when I look at their smiles, it's all worth it.

By the way, I ran to "white berry" again during a lunch break yesterday. I got Green Tea with Blackberries. It was soo declious - I can honestly have this frozen yogurt every single day.

After I finished working, I went to pick up my daughters at their grandparents house. My boss and his wife are in Seattle for a mini vacay, so I had to close the salon which was my first experience. I got to be the boss for the day which was not bad, but three more weeks, and I'm free!

On the way home from my in laws, I spotted a rainbown - We get ton of afternoon-evening thunderstorms and this happened right before the storm. Can you see the blue sky and the rain clouds next to each other? I had to stop and take pictures because it's so unusual to see a rainbow. It was really pretty!

I often dream of walking over a rainbow - how fun and beautiful experience would that be???

A Night Like This....

{Image By Me}

I finally did it, everyone! I gave the notice to my boss that I am leaving my job at the end of this month! Oh my goodness, you have no idea how hard it was for me to do this... My last day of work will be exactly two years from the day I started two years ago. It's been an interestig journey. I talked about my very first day at the job here and here.

I think I've learned a lot from my receptionist job. We have over 3600 clients in our system, of which 2500 are active. I can honestly say we're the busiest salon in our town. I was fortunate enough to meet many different clients and I befriended with several of them personally. I also have encountered numerous "Are you fricking kidding me??" incidents which have taught me how not to behave... Seriously, there are many crazy people out there, my friends!

Anyway, I had thought about quittig since the winter of last year. Both of my girls had complained that I was never home or didn't do stuff together. I was working five days a week including Friday and Saturday. When JT left to work in NJ, I was able to change my shifts to only in the morning, so that I could pick up my daughter from school. But the truth is, I was exhausted. I know there are mothers who are working for a lot more complicated job, but dealing with demanding clients and boss ad hearing them yapping pretty much drained all my energy. I really was exhausted.

JT and I had talked about it for a long time and one of the options was to keep the job and to see if I could keep working the two days shift only on Mondays and Tuesdays. But the reality is our salon gets ridiculously busy during fall/winter and spring, they need two receptionists on Fridays ad Saturdays, which I can't work any longer, espcially JT's being gone. Also, we don't get any special days off except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, which totally sucks. So my mind was totally set for leaving the job.

But it had taken almost five months for me to tell my boss that I want to quit. Seriously, it was like my boss could read my mind. I go to work every morning thinking, "Today is the day I'm going to tell him.." - but as soon as I open the door, my boss greets me with smile and he acts so kind towards me. If he was an a-hole, then it would be so much easier to quit, you know? Anyway, the other day, he had a last minute cancelation and he was eating lunch in the break room. JT was telling me that I had to give him a notice, so that he could find a replacement before the season starts. I went to the break room and walked in and tried to find the right timing, but I could't say it, so I left. Then 10 minutes later, I did the same thing. Again, I couldn't pull myself to say it to his face. Now the third time, he looked up. I knew, that was it. I had to tell him.

I told him I had to tell him something. When he looked my face, he thought something terrible happened to me. He was all worried and told me to have seat. I explained to him how I loved working for him and his wife, but I wouldn't be able to give my hours to schedule that the salon needs. I told him, "It's from my heaviest heart that I need to quit...." Oh boy, he was in shock. Seriously, he didn't see it coming. He was very understading and he said, "That's okay. I'm a business owner, so I know people come and go.." But he was totally in shock. He wasn't angry or anything, just disappointed. Then I had to tell his wife, but forget it. She just said, "Don't say that..." and wouldn't listen to me.

After giving him the notice, we had another client who has MS. Her condition is getting worse every time we see her. I help my boss with her chair and stuff, and while I was helping, my boss, said, "Oh my god Maki, what am I going to do????" and he had tears in his eyes. "It's so hard to find a decent girl who is willing to do all the work for me..." I felt horrible about it. But there's nothing I can do.

My spirits have been really good. My heavy weight is off my shoulder. My girls are so ecstatic as well. I get to drive them to school or pick them up, and I can take them to park and play with them - all the things I haven't been able to do because of my current job, I will be able to do it soon..

I took the pictures above while walking around the lake with my girls this evening. The view from my condo - sunset always beautiful and I felt such peace withing myself today. I think I can start a new life doing all the things I love - painting ad being a mother to my girls.

Have a lovely weekend my sweetness... xoxoxo

Relax - Beach & Gelish...

{Image by Ju Ju}

Hello!! I hope you all had a lovely weekend and havig a great week! My weekend was filled with fun activities - one of them was to go to our favorite Lido beach with my girls and friends. As you can see, my new photographer Ju Ju snapped me while I was slaving myself, carrying all kinds of stuff to the beach. Funny thing is that we all smile for camera, yes?

You may not see it in this photo, but I was carrying a beach bag on my shoulder stuffed with towels, magazines and makeup bag as well as a cooler bag (green one that you see in the pic), two goza mats and a starbucks. Mom is strong when she has to carry stuff for her kids.

What I am truly grateful is that the BP oil spill is finally contained and we can now focus on clean up. It will take years and years, but our Gulf will be back. I know it.

{Image By Me}

Also, I work Monday and Tuesday every week (remember, I haven't given my boss two weeks notice!) Last week, my salon got this new Soak Off Gel called Gelish. It is a new type of polish for people who don't wear artificial nail. I have never worn artificial nail, thank goodness, the trait that I got from my mom's beautiful hands that my nails are thick and healthy and long.... The only problem that I had was that I use my hands so much that my color does't last three days even if I get a great manicure by my boss - it started to chip immediately. But this new Soak Off Gell is not acrylic, so it's easy on my nail bed just like I use regular polish, but it stays put like gel. If what they promise is true, this color is supposed to stay without chipping for two weeks. So, I can't wait to see if my color lasts longer than a week.

As much as I get depressed with my work, I can't stop staring at my nails every time my boss works on my hands. He's so great! I guess, getting free manicure is not bad after all!

Every Mom deserves a nice time like going to beach and getting pedicure/manicure:)

xoxo

A New Kind Of Freedom

Monday was my daughters JuJu and Soapy's first day of school. JuJu was promoted to the 1st grade and it was Soapy's very first day as a pre-kindergartner. As most of you know, I've been working for the past two years part time, but my work schedule has gone down to two days a week. I worked Monday and Tuesday, so even when my girls were at school, I didn't get to enjoy the luxury of spending time alone. But today was different.

I was going to head to the gym after I dropped the girls to their schools, but it's been raining non-stop in FL that I decided to go home and..... SLEEP! Oh my goodness, what a great joy of crawling back to bed and taking a nap - listening to the sound of rain made it even better. The house was really quiet and honestly I didn't know what to do. No matter what, I really didn't have the time to enjoy my time alone for the past six years. I'm not complaining, that's what it is to be a mother - give everything you have to your children.

I can't say that I couldn't wait for my youngest Soapy to go to school. Yes, I was excited for her because she gets to make her own friends, not JuJu's friends. Soapy is my little baby, and somehow I really wanted her to stay as a baby. Well, that's impossible, but it's a bittersweet to see her all growing up.

The thing is Soapy has been having tough time adjusting to the new routine. The first day was kind of easy because she was thrilled with the idea of having a teacher and classmates. Now, she is afraid that she's not making any friends and today, she even cried the minute she woke up until we left the house. "I don't want to go to school, Mommy!!!!!" - Oh my god, I was freaking out. I know why she says the things she says and why she's scared of going to school, so if I could, I would have said, "Okay, Soapy, you don't have to go to school. Stay with Mommy and play with me." But I know I can't say that. I have to tell her she's going to be okay and the school is fun. It's tough because in her tiny little head and mind, she's still timid and nervous. Thank goodness for her older sister JuJu - her school starts at 8:30am, so we drove her to school while Soapy was crying in the car. We walked her to her class in the ferocious rain and looking at all the kids going to school, like her big sister, I think Soapy realized that she wasn't the only one going to school.... She finally calmed down. By the time I drove Soapy to her school at 9am, she was okay. Kinda.

Anyway, I was able to enjoy the very first day of freedom with no serious incident. And I hope I'll get used to my new kind of routine......

So, what was it like for you, when you went to school for the first time? Were you like, "Bye Bye Mommy!" and run to the school or were you the one who's holding onto your mama's legs?


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My New Photographer...

Hello my sweet friends! Hope you had a lovely weekend! As you know, I've been totally slacking on this blogging thing, but I think I'm getting my mojo back. I feel like I want to post and share many good things again...

First of all, I've found a new photographer who can take my picture. I tend to shy away when it comes to taking self-portrait. I can't take my own pictures unless it's 100% necessary because iI feel like I'm being self-important. I can smile at the camera as long as there's someone on the other side, telling me to smile....

Anyway, my oldest Ju Ju was playing with my phone the other day and called my name. "Mommy!" - I looked and there she was taking pictures of me. She took about 5 of them and one came out pretty good. So, I declared Ju Ju as my new photographer!!!! And she loves it. Maybe she can take my pictures of dress up. LOL.


Also, I have two Starbucks I frequent - one has a drive through. A good friend of mine works there and when I picked up my iced-latte, I realized she put a smiley face on the lid. She does this type of trick all the time, but I thought I'd snap a pic and share it.... It definitely put a smile on my face...

I took these pictures of my daughters last week after Ju Ju had the Back to School Night. Ju Ju is going to be the 1st grader tomorrow and Soapy is going to be a pre-K. This will be Soapy's first school. That means, I'm going to have handful of free time for the first time in six years! I can't believe it. I'm excited, but kind of sad at the same time.

I only work two days a week and I've been trying to find the timing to tell my boss that I'm quitting in a few weeks. I know I need to give them 2 week notice which gives me only a week left to give them the news. I'm so dreaded about that, but I want to focus my energy on my paintings and my kids, so that's what I have to do....

So how was your weekend? What's been going on with your life?????

Inception...

I LOVED THIS MOVIE!!!!

Honestly, it was 20 times better than Matrix.

The story sounded so complicated, and yet it totally made sense!

The visual and sound effects were stunning and storyline was so clever.

It was unbelieveable!!

And seeing it in IMAX made the whole experience so much better, too.

I'm usually not a big fan of SciFi films, but this one, I give two thumbs up plus toes up!

BTW, I have tried to post an entry which I talked about my husband and Bachelorette, but it keeps giving me error, so I decided to write about this movie.

Oh man, I want to see it again!!!

Have you seen it?

Anyway, I know I have been pretty awful about posting - and I figured out why.

1. My husband being here made it difficult.

2. Kids are out of school = summer. I thought kids being home would make it easy for me to blog, but I was wrong. I think I feel bad about not paying attention to my girls and facing the computer all the time. But when I try to blog after the girls go to bed, I must say, I'm usually exhausted.

I sit down in front of my computer, but the idea of having to type, upload pics or vids and write a post kind of stress me out. I tell myself, I'll finish it tomorrow and 6 days go by. Not good.

3. Work - I only work twice a week now, but my work wouldn't let me go online, so I can never post while I'm there at the salon. Oh yes, I'm trying to quit and will need your advise on it, too.

Miss you all so much..

xoxo