Beautiful evening

This evening was our Condo's annual Christmas party.
The patio area was all set to receive the diners.

The bar area was ready too.

So was the sushi bar.
Our wonderful head of maintenance saw to it that all was ready.
Hard to believe that a year has passed since we got to really see and talk to our neighbors.

Streaming Christmas music through the lobby helps to bring the feeling of the holiday.

Beautiful morning

Today, Janie invited me to her home to make a rosemary wreath to get into the Christmas holiday spirit.
What a luxury to be able to pick your own rosemary with your hands.

And..we even cut our own lauhala leaves.

Janie's lauhala tree is a variegated variety - softer with no spines and lovely multi colored green stripes.

She had everything ready so it was no problem to wrap the leaves around the wreath base after stripping off the center spines.

While listening to music and chatting the wreath was done in no time.

My hands smelled like rosemary.  Mmm.
Living in a condo, it's so easy to forget what it feels like to actually feel and play with living plants.

The finished wreath looking lovely on a weathered bench made by Isao many years ago.

And, more luxury!  Janie's own oranges grown on her tree to be made into squeezed fresh juice.

Beautiful fruit - thin skinned and juicy with hardly any seeds and very sweet.
What a joy to begin the Christmas season with rosemary and oranges and beautiful plants, and a thoughtful friend who shares the bounty of her garden with us.

Adele Simpson,Givenchy, Hale Koa

We found this interesting photo of Adele Simpson and Givenchy among Grandma's things.
Grandma had taken Ms Simpson shopping when she came to Tokyo and she brought some haori jackets back to her friend Givenchy.
She sent this photo to Grandma to show how tall Givenchy was and how tiny the haori looked on him.
****
Our yearly Çhristmas dinner at the Hale Koa with the Ohtake's.
Since their Koko at Kalia serves buffets, we switched to Biba's Courtyard Grill downstairs.

We're dressed in late afternoon sunlight at Bibas, waiting for it to open.

Tender filet mignon.

 There were cheerful decorations for children beyond the lobby area.

The main lobby, though, was quiet compared to past years  when there was a whole scene with a train and houses with the tree.  Then, more recently,  a simpler display of trees, one for each branch of the military. 

Magnolia Bakery, Pineapple Bar

A change of decor from the usual Hawaiian tropical cafes, Magnolia Bakery, known for it's cupcakes, has the feel of New York.

Metal ceilings give this small cafe a vintage feel.
We thought it was pretty noisy, with sounds of voices and cutlery and plates bouncing around the the little place.

Linda and I love breakfast, so this is a great place.
I opted for the Apple Dutch Baby, and Linda chose the Strawberry French Brioche Toast.

Cute metal chairs.

The Dutch Baby came in a very hot skillet and was piled over with apples.

The French Toast was Brioche.

Dutch Baby seemed heavy but it was lighter than it looked with a very light egg taste.

We had to walk a bit after breakfast  so we entered Bloomingdale's.
The Phalaenopsis orchid arrangement at the entrance was beautiful.
After the big Holidays and opening, the store seemed quite
empty. 

Alohas were everywhere.

To rest our weary legs, we stopped at the bar of Macy's Pineapple Room and had a glass of wine, and chatted.
Lots to talk about because we both were working in Washington, DC at the same time,  she at the House and I at the Library, although we never met.

When I got home Penny was so hungry.
Wow, she's pretty long.  She's off all canned dog food and kibbles, but will eat meat that I boil with broccoli.
With that big hound nose, she's very picky.

What I did for Thanksgiving

Penny played all day!

While the guys watched basketball and football, I cleaned and weeded out the dish cabinet.
It may look messy still, but to me it's neat (compared to before).

I also replaced two of the kitchen ceiling bulbs while watching James Bond reruns on tv.

Penny kept begging for food with her sad eyes and wasn't above sneaking around in the waste basket.

There are so many, many blessings to be thankful for and everyday I am grateful for them-  even the ability, on so many levels,  to do things like cleaning out the cabinets and changing bulbs.

We missed you M, especially Penny.
Happy Thanksgiving Day. 

Kristi Yamaguchi, lehua, and a heian lady

I was fortunate to have been in Bloomingdale's just when Kristi Yamaguchi was there for a promotion today.
She is so petite and attractive!  What resolve it must've taken to win a much deserved Gold Medal in an Olympics event and other figure skating championships.  

 

Just before entering Bloomingdale's I had enjoyed a chocolate cone at Pierre Marcolini, so I had to decline the promotion goodies of champagne and petite fours.
Hmm.  Now that I'm not as full,  they sound mighty good.

         Earlier today, on a walk with Penny around the block we    came across a big bush of Lehua blossoms.
         Maybe someone had picked a flower because it sure has been rainy lately.   (Legend says that Ohia, a handsome warrior, and Lehua, his love,  were put together so they could be united forever, so when someone plucks a lehua flower, it rains tears)

This morning I brought out a doll that we had put away carefully many years ago.  It was made by my cousin Evelyn when she was taking classes in washi dollmaking.
It is a 10th century Heian lady reading a letter.  Her many layered Junihitoe is beautifully made with green and purple hues.
Such talent- brought to mind today in both sports and handcrafting.

Singing lessons, Ewa Mall chocolatier, Magnolia Bakery, Little Sheep

   Today at our singing lessons at Shimizu Voice  we learned a new technique to augment our voice development.  It's great that we are exposed to these various methods;   and it is a challenge to try and apply them to our singing.  It is fun, though, and gradually we can see improvement (I hope!)
    
     After, we went to the Mall to see the new Ewa Wing.                                                                            

There is the new Bloomingdales as well as a number of new stores I was curious about.

There is a Pierre Marcolini,
a fine chocolate store.

Minimalist decor with expensive chocolates and cookies.

We tried the iced dark chocolate drinks.
Godiva has them too.
I remember in Tokyo, at the Wako Ginza Chocolate store, we used to love watching them make their hot chocolate drinks by melting chunks of chocolate, slowly stirring in the milk.  Great on a cold wintery day.

Of course, any bakery calls to me so we found Magnolia Bakery.  Luckily they have a little area where just cupcakes and dessert items for take out are sold.

The Bakery cafe is available for light meals all day.

Red Anthuriums!

     We decided to up our intake of vegetables and herbs by eating at the Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot at Ward's Center.

A variety of flavors to choose and mix for your dipping sauce.

And after boiling your ingredients in the herb broth - meats, veggies, tofu, seafood, mushrooms, you're left with a delicious and healthy soup which you can bring home.

Goji berries and red dates, ginseng and garlic come with the broth.

At home, we had our dessert - Magnolia bakery cupcakes.
Unfortunately, they weren't quite as moist and tasty as we expected, but the frosting was light and fluffy.
The apple turnover we'll have with breakfast tomorrow morning.