Birthday Girls

While I was home in CA, in addition to celebrating Christmas and New Years, I was also around to ring in my 26th birthday! I'll admit, it has been the first birthday thus far that made me feel, well...old-ish. 25 was a nice, neat number that conjured up the idea of youth, adventure and maturity all in one. But it seems at 26, people skip the next few years and leap to you being 30, which leads to real life questions...marriage, job, children. Ahhhh! I am not quite ready for that. For now, I am content being my mid-twenties self. 

Don't even try to tell me I'm late 20s...don't even think about it. 

My actual birthday began with some coffee and a few of my favorite homemade scones from Aunt Beth. I hung out with Lauren the rest of the day and we did all our favorite things, manicures, massages, In-n-Out and NCIS. The night ended with a few of my close friends gathered around my kitchen table, glasses of wine and some excellent conversation. 

A few days later, I had a joint birthday with my good friend from high school, Megan. Our party was complete with a few of our favorite people, excellent appetizers, balloons and 99 cent tiaras.

Mid-20, 

Kate

[The Latest]

Must Read: Mars One...anyone want to move to Mars? You have until 2023 to get packed.  

Google Search: Mezuzah

Tune: Everybody Talks By Neon Trees

Accomplishment: Working on my resume this morning.

Obsessions: Winter Dream tea from Coffee Bean.

2013

Happy New Year!

I apologize about the sudden blog hiatus. 

I headed home to sunny California with every intention of uploading a ridiculous amount of pictures of my friends, family, dog, and pretty much every meal we ate. But, when I got home I found that I was shockingly busy. With a few major holidays, multiple parties, a weekend trip to San Francisco, and more "let's meet up for dinner!" offers than I can count, it's safe to say that after 3 weeks in California I am well fed and well socialized. 

Surprisingly, one of the things I was looking forward to most while I was home was New Year's Eve. Normally, I think NYE is expensive and over-rated, but this year was different. I was determined to ring in the new year. I was eager for a fresh start. Eager to escape "the year my father passed away". I was intent on getting dressed up, going out, and raising a glass to a new start. 

And I did. 

With some of my favorite high school friends at a local bar in Venice Beach. 

It was hands down the best new years to date.

Here's to a fresh start!

2013,
Kate

[The Latest]

Must Read: Man poisoned after wining lottery...CNN. 

Google Search: CVS on PCH

Tune: It's Time By Imagine Dragons. obsessed...still.

Accomplishment: Getting quite a bit done after returning home yesterday.

Obsessions: Toasted everything bagel and cream cheese.

Hugs From Home

Arrived home in California safe and sound yesterday!

As my mom was at work, Charlie was the first one to give me great big welcome home hugs & kisses. 

It's good to be home. 

The Bohan Children,
Kate

P.S. Pam, thank you again for the early airport pick-up!

[The Latest]

Must Read: When Is Social-Media Use a Crime?...CNN. 

Google Search: Where to get additional passport pages

Tune: Accidentally In Love By Counting Crows.

Accomplishment: Staying awake for most of yesterday.

Obsessions: Chipotle.

California State of Mind

Last working day before vacation.
Bring on the mexican food, fro yo, sandals and walks by the beach.
See you soon CA.

West Coast, Best Coast, 

Kate

[The Latest]

Must Read: iPhone Now Has Google Maps...Thank God...The Stir. 

Google Search: Adam's apple in Japanese...translates to throat buddha, how cute is that?!

Tune: It's Time By Imagine Dragons.

Accomplishment: Four awesome Christmas lessons.

Obsessions: White chocolate from Hokkaido.

Country Of Origin

For the past few weeks, Mariko, my mom 2.0, has been in Japan visiting her mother and sister. Last Saturday we made plans to meet up in Tokyo's Ginza district. Essentially the Beverly Hills of Tokyo. Mariko and her sister, Reiko, met me at the Apple store and from there we proceeded to walk and talk. The ladies scoped out a few places where they used to hang out in high school, and pointed out their spots to meet up with friends, and the best places to buy shoes. 

Keito & Mariko.

Eventually, we made our way to a tea and cake shop where we took a break from busy Ginza to have some coffee and cake. Then we hit the streets for more window shopping and reminiscing until we found an awesome soba restaurant, 12 stories up, for dinner.

Keito & Reiko.

The lovely Mariko.

Sisters.

Station Sisters.

Ginza From Above.

When it was time for me to begin my journey home, the lovely sisters walked me to the train station. When we got inside they said they had a surprise for me. Prior to her arrival in Japan, Mariko had asked if I wanted anything from the states. I requested pretzels, but only if she had room in her suitcase. During the day she had said that she ended up not having room in her suitcase, and I assure her it was ok, I would live without my pretzels. But low and behold, Mariko and Reiko had gone to Costco in Chiba a few days before and purchased a massive tub of sourdough pretzels, AND bagels! They stored the goodies in a station locker along with a `sexy abercrombie bag` Marikos words, not mine, for me to use on the train.
Those two really did think of everything.

Keito & the Abercrombie 8 Pack.

It is always a special treat to see someone from my stateside life over here in my current Japanese life, but to have a visitor fluent in the language...well that was just extra special.

まりこさんとれいこさん,

 あえてよかった！ほんとうにありがとう！

またね,
ケイト


P.S. Meet Mariko's daughter here.

[The Latest]

Must Read: 50 Advance to National Spelling Bee...from SF Gate. Check out the faces on these little guys!

Google Search: Dodgeball.

Tune: Aint No Mountain High Enough By Marvin Gaye...came on in a store yesterday. I browsed a few extra minutes just to rock out.

Accomplishment: Finding an awesome neon outfit for Saturday.
Obsessions: Cold Stone. Special mid week treat yesterday.

Moms and Girls

Since we were in high school, a few of my best girl friends and our moms have gotten together about once a year for lovely afternoon of chit chat and conversation. As we've grown older, it's become increasingly difficult to get everyone together. Though when we finally do, it's always an evening to remember. We have discussed everything from where we would go to college, what we would study, future travel plans, who would get married first and the inevitable topic, usually spearheaded by my mom, "where will we all be in 5 years?"

"Now girls, where do you think you'll all be in 5 years?
Who wants to go first?!"
-My Mother

Tonight, no one was under 25, in my mind making us all "real people" and I realized how grown up we've all become (a real shocker since I still think I'm 18). Over an amazing orzo salad and flank steak we celebrated a birthday, a new apartment, a PhD program acceptance, an engagement, a new Aunt, another contracted year abroad, and a trip to China.

Maybe we are big girls?

Dinner.

The Girls, Minus Two.

[Moms and Girls]

Jenifer & Megan. 

Lauren & Mindy.

Eileen & Kate.

Kiana & Michelle.
Kiana was missing a mom, and Michelle was missing a daughter,
so tonight they were a pair.
Plus, they just look so much alike. 

Eileen's Daughter,
Kate

[The Latest]

Must Read: Better Than Words With Friends...from Slate.

Google Search: The Descendants.

Tune: Cha Cha Slide By DJ Casper.

Accomplishment: Getting my friends to use the Japanese phrase, dijoubu. Well done girls.
Obsessions: Megan's Tres Leche cake.

Mapped Out

When I was home last week resting my boil, by the end of the day I was getting kind of bored. I had done dishes, cleaned a bit, and logged quite a few hours of TV. I started looking around my house for things to do. I saw my scratch off travel map sitting in the corner, still in its packaging. I received it from a friend for Christmas and was clearly saving it for something special...not sure what, so I decided to break it out and enjoy it. I'm sucker for hands on things, or things where you can track your progress. I'm also in love with this map so I thought I would take a few pics and show you my latest activity.

The World...Pre-Scratch.

The World...Post-Scratch.

Yes, I'm from Los Angeles; No, I've never been to Mexico.
I've decided that one day at Papas and Beer in Ensenada, on my junior year Spring Break booze cruise, doesn't count. 

I chilled with Adele as I found and scratched the 11 countries I've visited. Disappointingly, I realized how small they all were. I hung my map up and instantly, mentally altered the next few countries I want to visit. Originally, Greece and Slovenia were next on my list. But they're small. Screw that, they just got bummed for Russia and Antarctica!

My wall needed more, so I found a set of frames I'd purchased at IKEA and added a few of my favorite postcards. Arranging them on my wall beneath my map.

I have to say, I'm thoroughly enjoying the little make over to my bedroom.

Mapped, 

Kate

[The Latest]

Must Read: Sincerely Hana Blog ...just click, it's an amazingly simple concept that makes for great photos.

Google Search: Nagano.

Tune: Turn Up The Music By Chris Brown.

Accomplishment: Reading rather than watching TV.
Obsessions: Green Beans. I have no idea why.

Clean Pots

This post is unlike most I have written before but I just had to tell you about my latest discovery!

You may have thought the title was some kind of nifty metaphor, when in fact, it is literally what I want to show you in this post. About a month ago I made homemade popcorn on the stove, burning it once, setting off the smoke detector twice and thoroughly pissing myself off. I vowed never to do it again. That vow took care of the popcorn and smoke detector problem, but what was I going to do about my pot? It was scalded, black, crisp and gross at the bottom. How was I going to make my ever famous pasta with butter and parm???

So I did what any person in 2012 does when they have problem. I Googled.

There were countless home remedies on how to clean a stainless steal pot. Many deeply involved with time and ingredients I didn't have over here in Japan. Though, there was one remedy that kept popping up and seemed simple enough to try, also figuring that even if it went south I couldn't ruin anything more than I had already.

People had swore that boiling laundry detergent in a scalded pot will clean off the gook at the bottom. I had nothing to lose. I reached for my Japanese powered laundry detergent and set to work. Google didn't give me too much detail so I ad libbed. Sprinkling just a bit to cover the bottom, adding about 2 inches of water to start. I turned on the heat and pulled up a chair.

Initially I put the lid on, but soon found, that resulted in the bubbles coming up too fast, potentially causing an overflow. I lifted the lid before it got that far, and upon further examination found that the lid, which also had a layer of film on it, was sparking!I wiped it down with a sponge and ran next door to show Kim. She too was amazed! She was only allowed 10 seconds to oooohhh and ahhhh as I had to get back to babysitting my pots. I walked back in to find the house smelling amazing. I watched now as the bubbles had become more vigorous, working like little sponges to take the grime off the sides of the pot. I was so excited for them to be done. I couldn't wait to see the end result.

After about 15 minutes I dumped the water and was literally blown away at how brand new they looked. Amazing!

Used and Abused.

A Sprinkle of Laundry Detergent.

Boiling.

Boiling Bubbles at Work.

Seconds After Dumping the Water.
The difference already is amazing!

Pain-free Scrub.
I wiped down the pots with a sponge to remove
any left over film from the detergent. 

I can't tell you how amazing it is to have something so dirty come back to life so quickly, and with such little effort! Feel free to email me or leave a comment if you have any questions. If you've been wishing for clean pots, hope this helps!

Sparkling, 

Kate

[The Latest]

Must Read: Did Early Christians Practice Birth Control?...from Slate. 

Google Search: Whitney Houston

Tune: I Will Always Love You By Whitney Houston

Accomplishment: Super clean pots!
Obsessions: Green Tabasco sauce and goldfish from the foreign goods store.