★☆ Typing this as fast as possible! ☆★

[Currently watching "Dead Like Me" Season 1 Episode 3 - thank you Taylor (@SleeplessFish) for introducing this show to me :) xoxo ]

Hello and good morning everyone! It's been a couple of weeks since I updated, huh? Well, I have been extremely busy - celebrating my birthday all week with wonderful people, worrying about my case for my car accident (which will be written about in a separate post later on today), and spending some time with my wonderful @SleeplessFish :) I hope you all have been well and still enjoying your weekend :)

I'm going to be typing this as fast as possible since I woke up a little bit later than I hoped... Then again, it was good that I was able to sleep in a little bit; I guess I really needed the rest! :)

The main stuff I want to talk about will have to wait until a later post this evening, but for right now I wanted to share with you guys the following:

I bought more jewelry from DSK Jewelry as another birthday present to myself :) Well, what can I say? I'm a fan of Stephanie and her wonderful and creative works! Next month I will be launching filmings for my YouTube channel and this is going to be one of the first videos that I will do. I can't wait to show you guys my DSK hoard! I don't have the picture of the jewelry that I bought, but the day that the jewelry comes in the mail, I'll be filming as soon as possible :)

Speaking of wonderful and creative stuff, I want to share with you guys a really cute store that I discovered in the last week: ekiLove!

I've provided the link to the lovely Eki's online store - just click on the icon above :)

What is ekiLove? Eki, the creator of this kawaii store, makes purses, jewelry, and hair accessories that when worn, it turns a girl into a hime (Japanese word for princess!) ^_^ Just like Stephanie's work for her DSK Jewelry line, Eki's art is handmade - meaning made by her own two hands and with NO assistance from anyone else. What I admire about these girls' works is that they are one of a kind; you cannot find the same jewelry anywhere else - any other jewelry, purse, etc. that is not made by them is simply not DSK or ekiLove because these girls pour their heart, love and soul into each piece. That's what makes them so special and I've become a fan!

Here are some examples of stuff from Eki's store:

I absolutely love this Vintage Hime pouch! But right now I have to save my money, so I hope this purse will still be available by the time I'm able to get this ^-^

This is Eki, the creator of ekiLove - isn't she lovely with her handmade Hime hair bow? :)

This is my favorite necklace from her accessories collection - the Royal Love necklace. Again, I'd love to get this but right now I have to conserve my money :( Isn't it pretty though? And the crystal heart is a Swarovski crystal!

Eki is currently holding a contest at her online store until 9/18 - check out her store at the ekiLove love icon provided above and show her your love! :) For you lovely himes out there, it's worth a few minutes of your time to visit - I promise ^_^

Before I go, I wanted to share with you guys a show that I mentioned that I'm watching while typing this. It's called "Dead Like Me" :)

For a quick simple synopsis: 18-year old Georgia Lass was scheduled to die, and from that moment on, she became an "undead" - or rather, a grim reaper. As in, taking the souls of people, just like what happened to her during the time of her death. The series speaks for itself: A series of life after life. Taylor showed me the first episode from his collection last night and I've gotta say that I really enjoyed it! I'm currently watching the episodes on hulu.com - maybe I'll get my own collection of episodes myself, lol! :)

What really tickles me is that it took me a while to really realize that one of the characters in the series is Mandy Patinkin, the guy who is also in CBS's "Criminal Minds" as Gideon! Awesome!

For exciting news, I will finally be getting my own phone and phone line tomorrow morning: I'm getting the new iPhone 4! I've been using an old Nokia phone that my mom, dad, and I got in 2006 as a back-up phone since my Sony Ericsson phone broke into pieces last summer, so I'm very excited that my phone will be cool and updated! I will also be paying for my own phone bill, so Responsibility +1 for me; just a step at a time to independence :)

Oh so very excited! :)

All right guys and girls, it's time for me to get ready for a good day at work. I will be back tonight to share the rest of my news, especially the court report for my car accident back in March. I can't wait to share with you all :)

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone! xoxo

With love,

~Reiko xoxo

★☆ Late Night Special with Reiko :D ☆★

[Currently listening to "I Don't Care" by K-pop band 2NE1 - go check them out! :) ]

Hey everyone, I hope you're enjoying your weekend so far :) I certainly am; I'm getting a lot of things done and out of the way - I'm definitely accomplishing things! :D

By the way, I think my Internet connection is finally behaving... It's been acting a little weird in the last couple of days, which is why I have a bit of lack in Tweets and posts so... Sorry about that everyone :( I really don't know what the problem is with it, but what matters now is that it's fixed.

I bet you missed me. :)To make up for it, I'm not planning on going to bed for a while, so tonight I'm going to write a big post just for you! :) Yay~!

Lately I've been doing a lot of cleaning up here in my room. I have the tendency to want a lot of things, but since I currently keep my personal belongings in a very small bedroom (and living on a very limited budget), there's not much that I can really have. Part of the reason is that I hoard some things I don't really use much of anymore. I've already had a lot of things set aside to sell, but I haven't gotten around to them because I've been so busy working (and not to mention that I forget that they've been stored in boxes in the sunroom the last few months... =___= ) A couple of days ago, I've decided that it's about time I start getting a move on getting them out of here. It's fair deal: I can lighten my load and give my things to others out there who would be more than happy to have them. :)

Soon I will be opening up my garage sale blog here on Blogger; I've already got one set up, but I've yet to put posts of my stuff to sell. I'll announce it here on the main blog as well as Twitter and other social sites. For now, the site is here: xsimplyreikosstuffx.blogspot.com The stuff that I will be selling includes mostly manga, some music CDs, anime DVDs and a couple of iPods :)

In addition to selling some of my collectables, I decided that it's time I got rid of the textbooks that had been stacked up underneath my sewing machine table. Some of them are those I saved from when I was at my main college; some upperclassmen advised me that it would be a good idea to keep a few textbooks in relation to your major and/or minor so that you have something to reference from in the future (such as ideas for writing your thesis, etc.). Most of the texts I have/had are in relation to my Business major, and a couple of books for my Asian Studies minor. They are really good books, but I feel that they could be used for something or someone much better. And so in the last week, I went on various textbook sellback websites to find the best quotes for my books and I will be getting quite a bit back :) Yay for money!
Sadly I wasn't able to sell a few textbooks because they're outdated by a couple or so years, so instead of just throwing them away, I thought it would be a good idea to donate these books for a good cause. First thing Monday I will set out to find a place that could use these books - perhaps a local library or someplace like Goodwill or The Salvation Army. I like the idea because it's recycling and for a better purpose. I'm feeling so much better about this so it's a win-win situation :D

On the topic of school, let me get back to where I was in my last entry:

School has been bothering me for nearly a week now... As it turns out, I will have to change my major... Completely. As I said earlier, my current course of study is Business Administration with a minor in Asian Studies. I'm almost done... but as it turns out I won't be able to finish my major after all.

I needed to complete a couple of electives and an Accounting course in order to graduate, but my biggest problem is ACCOUNTING. Now I know some of you guys are going to laugh a little bit and say, "...Reiko, how can that be? You're ASIAN, and with glasses - aren't you supposed to be smart and good in math?" Admittedly I'm laughing a little bit on the inside too, but seriously guys - I'm very good in math (algebra, trigonometry, a bit of calculus - you get it!), but... I simply can't grasp accounting! It shows in my transcripts at my main college and at the community college that I'm attending and it's one of the biggest requirements for my Business major. I barely passed first level of accounting a couple of years ago, and I've slipped my grades in the last couple of semesters... It's very discouraging to say the least. =/

On Tuesday, I made an appointment to meet with the Dean of Students at the community college to figure out my options, and she suggested that it would be best for me to change my major. The idea of doing that floored me at first. I'm almost finished - I've come so far and I just needed a couple of classes to graduate. Now it's going to be further from my reach... What would my parents say to this? "4 years of going to your school and for what?" =___= At the same time, I thought that perhaps it really was time I considered changing my course of study. After all, while at my main college in Staunton, I never really did keep my options open other than being in Business Administration, and... I'm realizing more and more that I wasn't truly happy where I was. Yes, it is a practical degree to have especially with the current economy... but at the same time, this is not what I truly want.

After a few days and nights of thinking, I finally decided that it's time to pursue what I wanted most: Business Administration was not what I originally wanted to major but in Culinary Arts. This is where my passion is; it has stuck with me when I was younger and even while I was in my sophomore year in high school. I entered in a couple of culinary competitions back then, and in my spare time I love cooking and learning about food. It's been right in front of me all along - and now it's my time to take hold of it. My parents didn't want me to go to the college I wanted to go to - Johnson and Wales University in Charlotte, North Carolina - mainly because it was far from home with no one to rely on if something happened to me. That and they were worried that this course of study wasn't going to get me anywhere. I understood their concerns for me, but they need to understand that this is what I truly want.

I will speaking to the Dean of Students again very soon about this. I'm sure she will be able to help me with the process. By next year, I will be well on my way with that. =)

Just one step at a time...

I guess it will seem pretty corny saying this, but I felt inspired after watching Step Up 3D and Scott Pilgrim VS The World (which has been added to my movie replay list if I get a chance to watch it again!). If there is something that you really want, even if it seems like it is out of your reach, by all means GO AND FIGHT FOR IT. Don't let anyone or anything hold you back from achieving your dreams because they don't belong to anyone but YOU. You know yourself best and you know what you want - keep going. The only reason that you will feel as though you failed is if you don't do anything about it and let people walk onto you and your confidence. I'm sure there will be many hurdles along the way, but I'm still going to come right back up. =)


Now I'm wanting to watch Scott Pilgrim, lol! It's such a funny movie, so if you like funny movies and can relate to video games, music bands, and dreams, go see it! :D

Hmm...

...oh! My birthday's coming up in about a week! It's strange, but I don't feel as though I'm going to be turning 23. I'm still young, and I'm feeling it :) ...now that I think about it, when I turned 21, I was complaining that I'm getting old, lol! I still think that sometimes, but at the same time, I'm feeling very good about myself.

I have a day off next Saturday, and I'm planning a get-together with some friends and have an nice afternoon/evening on the shoreside :) I'll take my camera and record these wonderful memories to come. I just want a birthday that's not so crazy, but relaxing and enjoyable with a bunch a friends - catching up with each others' lives, laughing, being ourselves. =)

Speaking of my birthday... Remember I ordered another necklace from DSK Jewelry? :D It was waiting for me on the dinner table when I came home from swimming tonight!

The colors are so beautiful in person, I'm in love! I know this camera doesn't do much justice to show you guys how sparkly and beautiful it really is, but I'm sure you get the idea :) It looks so elegant in its beautiful black box!

Introducing... Strawberry Lemonade :)

They're so small and beautiful, and simple!

Aww, Steph put a cute little note for me! Thank you Steph! I have a little something for you too:

Speaking of DSK Jewelry, the contest will come to a close very soon... I'm anxious to know who the winner of the contest is, but whether I get this or not, I'm so happy and proud to have participated in this :) Again, I've never done anything like this before and this whole experience is something that I will never ever forget. It really brought out a lot of confidence and had so much fun. So Steph, thank you for giving me and the other 43 girls a chance to be a part of your contest and thank you for the wonderful jewelry creations! You've been an inspiration to me and to many girls and guys out there in the world and I can't wait to see more of your work! Keep it up!

So guys and girls, go visit Steph's website if you're interested in her jewelry as something for your own, for a birthday present or a gift for your girlfriend -- tell her Reiko/Jenni(fer) sent you! Visit here at:

http://dskjewelry.blogspot.com

I have another piece that's on my wishlist that I hope I will get one day. If you're a fan of Twilight, I'm sure you'd understand :) Now, I'm not a big fan of the movies (except Eclipse perhaps, which looked so much better than the first 2 movies... but that's just my opinion), but I like the books better. Anyway, I'm for team Jacob, and if you're familiar with the bracelet Bella gets from him as a gift... Well, this is the one I want, made by Steph herself!

One day perhaps... *sigh* :)

Okay, well, sleep calls and my hands are beginning to hurt, so... I guess I will wrap it up for tonight :) Have beautiful dreams everyone, and one other thing I want to say before I go:

I want you to go to your window and look up at the sky. If it's cloudy where you are right now, do this the following night, but look up at the clear sky and make a wish upon the first star you see. Whatever it is that you wished for, one day it will come true so long as you continue to believe in yourself. :) It may seem a little silly, but it's true. You are a shining star! :D

Sweet dreams everyone...


With love,
~Reiko xoxo

★☆ One Step at a Time ☆★

[Currently listening to "Golden" by Late Night Alumni - this is one of my most favorite songs from LNA :) ]

Good morning again everyone - can you believe it's already almost the weekend? I can't -- and I have a full day off tomorrow, so I'm really excited :) Not sure what I'll do just yet, but I do know that I do need to get some things together for myself first before doing anything else.

Just wanted to put a quick entry before I go to work today. Mainly because it's been a busy and stressful past couple of days, and I miss writing to you all... xoxo

School is what's been bothering me in the last couple of days... At the moment, I'm considering paving a new path in my plans and finally pursue my dream major: culinary arts. And I think I will. I'll explain more with you all later on tonight - there's much more that I want to say, but there's so little time for me to do so...

I went with my good co-worker and friend Justin to see Step Up 3D last night - it was very, very good! Perhaps I didn't mention it in my previous blogs, but I do like dancing! I may not be very good at it, but certainly do enjoy watching dance routines. Movies like Step Up and watching shows such as America's Best Dance Crew actually do excite me, and I'm always looking forward to watching new dance routines. One day I might actually try it out, who knows... But anyway! Step Up rocked -- go see it if you haven't yet!

Another thing that helped me keep mind off of things was looking at one of the games that had been collecting dust on my shelf. I had bought Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time - remember I wrote about this in an older entry? Well, I finally got to take a look at it last night and it's actually a really cute and fun game. :) I'll have to find a little more time to try and play it when I'm free. That's what I enjoy the most when playing fantasy games - it takes you to a kind of faraway place where you can not be "you" for a while, and slip into the shoes of another. The downside of this is that sometimes we are tempted to get sucked into the game that we're unaware of how much time is spent while we're in fantasy mode. However, it is nice to somehow get away from it all just for a little while right? :)
These distractions helped me to keep my mind off things for a little while, but at the same time gave me time to find myself. Slowly but surely I think I'm getting there.

It's just like what the lyrics from Jordin Sparks' "One Step at at Time" say:

One step at a time, there's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's supposed to happen
That we find the reasons why one step at a time

Time for me to get ready for work guys, but I can't wait to write to you all again tonight. :)

Have a beautiful day and even if there are times when there are things that will make you frown, turn it upside down because, in the end... everything will be okay. It sounds corny, true, but you know it's true :)

You hold the key to your happiness...


Keep smiling,
Reiko xoxo

★☆ Early Morning Chat with Reiko ☆★

[Currently listening to Best of KAT-TUN - yes, I'm a JE fan too! :D ]

Good morning everyone :) It's now 5:11am, and I've been up for nearly half an hour. I'm not entirely sure why I got up at this time, but I'm feeling wide awake writing to you all, lol! It certainly has been a while.

Since I'm up, I wanted to share with you guys my weekend - it did have it's ups and downs, but I learned a lot in just 2 days...

There are a lot of things going on at work that it's gotten me so busy in recent weeks - if you're new to reading my blog, I'm a bartender in a retirement home - it will seem bizarre to you, I know, but as I've said time and time again, I love my job! :) I've been working full-time hours now and I'm enjoying that, but at the same time it's physically exhausting. (Imagine running around serving food where you have to wear long sleeves with little air conditioning for about 8 hours - ooh, yeah, that's me! >_< ) I like to have a break every now and then, and to my surprise I was given a weekend - Saturday and Sunday - off! It's a very rare opportunity for me, so I figured it's time I took it to fully enjoy it :)

[Saturday]
I met with @SleeplessFish, aka Taylor , my beloved boyfriend (of 2 years now) after he got off work. We did have a rocky start over something that was small and stupid, but we eventually came around and had a good time. He showed me around the church where he works - it certainly is a beautiful place, and it's big too! :) I just wished I had taken some pictures to show you guys, but I guess I will have to do that the next time I visit there :) We headed over to my best friend, Nicki's, house for a party :) Our college friend, Jeincy, is moving to Washington state soon to work there for a year, so we had a party to celebrate her new job! It was an absolutely fun fun night - I got to see a lot of cool people whom I haven't seen in so long!

This is Jeincy! I met her in her freshman year in college, my sophomore year. She's one of the sweetest girls ever!

This is me with @babyroach, aka Nicki, my best friend of 17 years next month - I met her while we were in religion classes and altar serving at our old parish, and we went to the same middle school, high school, and even college! I'm convinced God brought us together for a reason - I'm so thankful to have her in my life!

...oh, right, I haven't posted a picture of Tay and me together yet, right? :D As proof that we were at the party together, lol!

It was too bad that I had to leave the party early, but I stuck around for Jeincy's cake cutting :) It was such a cute and delicious cake!

I had to take a picture of this before I left, but it's one of the yummiest things I've ever tried: it's a can of whipped cream... with alcohol in it. I kid you not - it's flavored with amaretto, and is 36 proof/18% alcohol! I'll have to get me one of these if I ever have a party or something. Have any of you guys ever tried this or seen this before? It was my very first time seeing this on this night and it was so yummy :) I'm curious to see if it comes in other flavors!

[Sunday]

I never thought I'd have a day where I could sleep in and just be lazy for a morning until yesterday - I had gotten up a couple of times to get onto the computer to see what was going on in the world, but shortly after that, I decided to have what I call a "power nap" - I wanted to really re-charge my batteries and I didn't get up again until around 1pm! It was a wonderful feeling :)

I didn't take many pictures yesterday, but I met with Tay again after he got off work at the church in the afternoon. In case you guys were wondering about his job, for right now he's a weekend sexton at his parish until the original sexton, currently stuck in Japan, comes back. ^-^; We had a huge dinner at The Silver Diner - we split a peppermint milkshake; I had a small Ceasar salad and had the Shrimp Scampi with gluten-free penne pasta, which was actually pretty yummy! Tay had a small summer salad with his Grilled Wasabi Salmon Sliders - his was very yummy too :D We topped it off with a slice of the Chocolate Cream Pie :) We were so full, but it was very well deserved meal!

Don't ask me why, but yes, I'm a very silly person when I'm eating out :p

We finished off the day with watching "The Other Guys" - it's one of the funniest movies I've seen this summer, especially with Will Farrell in it :) If you guys haven't seen it yet, I recommend it if you really like really ridiculously funny movies :) I still want to see Charlie St. Cloud and Salt too, and even Step-Up 3D since it just came out in theaters :)

Overall I had such a good weekend! I'm fully relaxed and recharged. I will have to go into a full day at work later on today, but I'll be ready for it when I get in :)

If there were a couple of things that I learned this weekend, it'd be these:

1. Looking back at my pictures from this past weekend made me realize that I should appreciate and embrace each moment more and more, like they were the last moments of my life. I may not see these people or do these activities very often, but I need to enjoy them to the fullest. After all, you only live life once, and you need to cherish and embrace each moment with all your heart.

2. In addition to that, remember I mentioned that Tay and I had a rough start when we first saw each other on Saturday? We love each other very much, but our love is not perfect - we fight, sometimes, mostly over the smallest and ridiculous things. It's normal in any relationship, and in most cases, good because each of us gets to see a side of each other that we may not know about each other; we have our differences, but these can be worked out somehow. Tay and I have our differences too, but we work them out together. I guess that's why he and I have gotten so close, and I'm thankful for that.

So a little message from me if you are lucky to be in a loving relationship or even if you're still waiting for that special person: Love him or her with your mind, heart, and soul. If this is the one that you want, don't let him or her slip away - embrace him or her with all your might.

Immature love says, "I love you because I need you."
Mature love says, "I need you because I love you."

I'm not sure where I learned this from, but I do know that is is true. :)

All right, time to get ready for the day...

...and I just realized that I didn't put up my pics from my cousin's wedding as I promised... I do promise, though, that I will do that tonight :)

Lastly, a pic that I took yesterday that I hope will make you smile too - featuring DSK Jewelry's Rocker Pink Necklace and Heart Love bracelet :) Makes me feel so pretty in pink xoxo

Have a beautiful day everyone :) See you tonight!

With love,
Reiko xoxo

☆Update in the Life of Reiko :) ☆

[Currently listening to "Deux Tigres (feat. Inguenue)" from The Shanghai Restoration Project's "Zodiac" album. ]

Hi, everyone :) I know, it's been almost 2 weeks since my last blog update - just so you all know, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth yet! I've been really busy with school, work and...

...believe it or not, I actually got sick this past week so I've also been busy trying to recover! :( The common cold is to blame... I don't think I'll ever really know how I caught this, but we're not perfect and can't always be too careful. The bad news is that right now, I'm on (assumingly) Day 5 of having the cold... and my nose is still stuffy... But on the bright side, I'm slowly on the road to recovery, and am actually feeling much better than a few days ago. I thank sleep, prayers, and my Ginger Chicken Noodle Soup! I should be completely over this cold soon! :D ☆

I've received some e-mails from some fellow readers, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your words of encouragement and wonderful ideas for this blog - this means a lot to me, and I really appreciate it!I know I've been meaning to update this blog sooner, but there's so much going on with me in real life. Rest assured, I'll be able to update my blog more often and bring you all more recipe tutorials, cool music finds, and talk about other cool things and places (and eventually, people!).


I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day/Chinese New Year yesterday - I know I did, even if I was still sick! I did my make-up inspired from the tiger from the Chinese zodiac; this is not a recent picture of the look, though... The picture that I'm showing you all for right now is my first trial of the tiger-eyes look (which I used to scare my brothers and, surprisingly, my dad). My boyfriend, Taylor, made these really yummy strawberry pastries - he knows how much I love strawberries! I wished I had my camera at the time so I could show you all how cute and yummy they were! The neatest thing about this was that not only were the paper towels stained in red and pink to make it look pretty, but also, Taylor shaped the strawberries into the shape of hearts! How cute is that?! :D

We had a late lunch and went to this cozy place called The Atlanta Bread Company. This was our first time here, and upon stepping inside, it had a very comforting vibe :) We took a look around, and saw that they also served these big portions of muffin tops and other pastries - the breads were the ones that really caught my eyes because I love freshly-baked breads :) Tay and I each enjoyed Italian Wedding Soup and Butternut Squash Soup in sourdough bowls. Both soups were very yummy and the bread...! I have tried butternut squash soup where I work, but the soup I had defintely topped it! It was rich and flavorful... I'd love to try making it sometime... Oh, but the best part? We got to sit at the table by the fire - how warm, comforting and romantic is that? :D

We finished off the day with watching When In Rome! We got the best seats in there, and if you go to movie theatres often, then you know where I'm talking about (and it's not on the front seats!). It was almost a full house, and I understood why - When In Rome is a very good romantic comedy! Since I'm crunching on time here, I will say that if you're up for some laughs, I think you'll like this movie, so go see it! :D

There is much more that I would have liked to have said in this entry, but I'm out of time for right now. I'll make an effort to make another entry tonight though, so be sure to look out for that!

Thank you everyone! Have a wonderful day and be well! :D I know I will be... soon! <3

Much love,
~Reiko ☆*.

☆Let It Snow! ☆

"Happy Snow Day 1/30/2010"
[Currently listening to Oceanlab’s “Sirens of the Sea” album, beginning with “On a Good Day”]

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend – mine was very busy but also very good for two reasons: I started off my weekend celebrating me and Taylor being together for a year and a half and we *finally* got some snow on the East Coast, where I am!

Since I haven’t been able to get on here all weekend, let me bring you all up to speed to how my weekend went down:

Friday: I got up very early to get the rest of my ingredients to my Chicken Noodle Soup tutorial (which I know you guys are DYING to see at this point!). Since I had already made plans to meet with Taylor, I had to work in haste – not only did I make the Chicken Noodle Soup but also tried a new recipe: Irish Cream Brownies. Both recipes are very easy to make, and in the next blog entry, I’ll add the tutorials and pictures to show you guys how it all turned out =)

Taylor and I went to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory; it was very nice because not only was the food (and cheesecake) good, but the time spent chatting and laughing away was just… priceless. It didn’t feel like we were there for a couple of hours, but it was still fun and relaxing nonetheless. By the way, if you like mushrooms and pasta, try the Pasta di Vinci (or if you don’t like mushrooms, like Taylor, just give them all to me!).
Afterwards, we got to watch Avatar! I know, we got to see it so late, but the waiting was worth it. Although it reminds me of a mix between Ferngully, Disney’s Pocahontas, and Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke, Avatar was actually a very interesting and entertaining movie. What really stood out to me the most were the vibrant colors in the world of Pandora – how cool is it to see the plants and other surroundings glowing brilliant colors at night?! Each night scene had me mesmerized… Why can’t our world be like that?! Anyway, I really enjoyed Avatar, so if you haven’t seen it yet, see it while it’s still out in your area!

Saturday: Woke up to SNOW. Finally, we got some snowfall for the first time in a long time. Tay and I said that we’d believe it when we see it… And we did! Thinking about it now, I think the last time we had good snowfall like this was when I was in middle school or beginning of high school… Luckily I didn’t have to go to work until later in the afternoon, and even though I don’t like being in the cold very much, it wasn’t a good snow day without pelting my family with snowballs and building a snowman in our yard. YES, IT WAS A REAL SNOWMAN - one of my co-workers thought that we just put a trashcan and covered it up with snow, when really the whole thing was completely made of snow!! T_T I have a lot of video footage that I need to transfer to my hard-drive, but I’ll come up with a compilation video in the next couple of days, assuming that I don’t get too busy then. Work was actually very good despite the limited amount of workers, including me, who could come in. The coolest part about the day was when my dad helped out my co-worker, Yolanda, by getting her car unstuck from the black ice that developed while she was working. Yeah, Dad was being awesome about taking me to work and back home since I was very reluctant to drive my baby Rav4 onto the developing ice.

Sunday: Busiest night on a day that wasn’t supposed to be! Again, we only had a limited amount of workers with us and so many people to take care of. I thought I was going to go berserk from the madness. Good news was that I kept my cool as much as I could before *almost* brain-farting the rest of the night. By the end of the night, I was so tired that while waiting for my mom to finish her shift, even waiting by working out at the gym made me even more exhausted! As exhausting as it was this weekend at work, it was worth coming in taking care of the elderly and chasing paper =)

So, did you all get some snow where you are? I think we got at least 4.5 inches altogether; how about you? Leave me a comment and let me know!

All right, I’m going to go ahead and get started on the next blog entry and you guessed right: the food tutorials! Read on and enjoy!

xoxo,
~Reiko ☆*.

☆Whoa, first post! :Dv ☆

Hi, everyone - Reiko here :D ☆

I can't believe I'm writing my first post! This is pretty exciting :D

Well, to begin, I'd like to take the time to introduce myself, why and how I came up with this blog, and conclude with my first... well, film review! Let's get started :)

Who's this cute girl in the picture above? ...oh, wait. That's me!

Let's see, currently I'm a college student and I'm...actually taking a little break from school to find myself. Although I'm majoring in Business Administration, my passion has always been linked to food. I've believed for a very long time that food is what brings people together - not only does food nourish the body, but it also nourishes the soul and the heart. There are so many recipes from many cultures and backgrounds, and once they are shared with many others... Simply put, I believe we're all connected by food! So not only do I like to make food as well as eating them, I'm passionate in talking about food. :)

...sadly no, I'm actually not studying Culinary Arts at the moment; I'm almost finished in my Business Administration major. I guess you could say that I opted for the Business major to please the expectations of my parents, but recently I've come to realize that I don't want to put my culinary dream to the backburner - I want to pursue it. I like to make new creations at home, and I'm willing to learn new recipes too. Yes, Food Network is one of my favorite television channels ("Good Eats" is my show!) In this blog, I'll also share some of my favorite recipes for you all to try in your own kitchens too! :) I do want to go to culinary school one day, and it will take a lot of work to get there. Until then, I'm going to do my best and work hard! :)

Aside from cooking, I have many hobbies too. I love crafting, especially when it comes to knitting and crocheting (I spend more time knitting though). Mom taught me the basics of knitting and crocheting, but just as she learned how to crochet advanced crafts by herself, I'm doing the same thing with knitting. I'm still new to it too, but when I come up with a pattern, I'd be more than happy to share them with you all too. :) I also like to listen to various genres of music: rock, pop, a little country here and there, and even some music from different countries such as Japan and Korea. I love to play video games, such as Dance Dance Revolution and Final Fantasy. (By the way, I have the same birthday as Squall Leonhart!) In addition to being a fan of video games, I like to watch anime and cosplay. :) ...well, I've only cosplayed a couple of times, but nevertheless, cosplaying is fun! And since I am a girl, I'm discovering and enjoying the art of make-up; I'm no expert, but I do enjoy experiments even if my face ends up looking like a clown. :)

And for a couple of extra notes, I also like going on to the computer browsing the web and... shopping! :) Especially for clothes and... food!

Okay, okay, enough about food, but anyway, I'm just a girl who lives life to the fullest, through good and bad days. Simply being me, simply... Reiko! :)v

I'll post more about myself in the future, but for right now, I'd like to briefly talk about how and why I came up with this blog:

For a long time, I've been a very shy person, and even now I'm slowly coming out of my shell. Recently I've come to realize how much I enjoying talking to people, and I wanted to explore and take things up to the next level. I enjoy going to YouTube daily for the latest videos, especially in the How-to and Style section. My favorite gurus are Michelle Phan and Bubbi (bubzbeauty); they are actually my inspirations to creating this blog - they are confident and beautiful young women who put themselves out there and their messages have reached out to other young women... and they eventually got to me too. Being able to express yourself builds confidence. If others can, why can't I? I'm not to the level of putting videos of my own just yet, but by starting this blog, I think this is a great start. I'll talk about food, crafts, cool finds, and even some advice dealing with life based on my experiences; I hope that by sharing pieces of me with you that you too can build and share your own confidence and happiness with others. :)

Finally, I want to share with you guys a quick review of a very interesting clip that I watched last night. Just for clarity, I'm not gonna be bashing the films I talk about or critique to the grainiest detail because... that's just not my style. I just want to briefly talk about it. Here's a preview from YouTube for Discovery Channel's documentary "Somali Pirate Takedown - The Real Story":

I came across this when a co-worker of mine mentioned that he saw this documentary recently. And the coolest part? Another co-worker of ours just so happens to be an actor who acted as one of the Somali pirates! How cool is that? :D ...but I'm not here to talk about my actor friend (who did a great job, by the way), rather the film. It's about the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama and what the crew did to save the captain and their ship. Watching this documentary last night was actually very interesting and thrilling, even sent a chill down my spine. I can't even imagine how frightening and exhausting this attack may have been, but unfortunately pirate attacks still occur; not just in the seas near Somalia, but in many various oceans in the world. I give props to the military branches who risk their lives in attacks like this, even if they help reduce pirating to some amount. Unfortunately, I'm crunching for time here, but the best thing I can say is to please check this documentary out (my actor friend lent me a copy of his DVD). If you do watch it, or if you already have watched it, let me know what you think in the comment section! :) Personally, I found it educating and I'm glad that there are documentary videos out there that take and show us to lots of things that we may not know about. (^ ^)

Well, that's all for right now. Stay tuned for more fun updates! Have a wonderful day, and whether you have a good or bad day, always remember that you are a wonderful, loved person and keep smiling!

xoxo,
~Reiko ☆*.