Hello:)

Oh, hi!  It's been a while.  Lets see... since we last spoke we sold our home in Virginia, Ava was diagnosed with Autism, we moved to a temporary home in Texas, we then purchased a home in Texas & moved again...  Are we all caught up?  Okay good:)  Phew!

It's been a busy last few months.  I'm still catching my breath and unpacking.  Finding the right neighborhood, house, school district, therapist, etc.  It's been exhausting.  Zach has also been traveling a lot for work.  I was recently able to travel with him to London, so I can't complain too much about that;) 

Been A Little Busy

I guess you could say we've had a lot going on...

Frying Pan Farm Park

This weekend we visited Frying Pan Farm Park in Herndon, VA.  It's a free park run by Fairfax County.  Ava had a blast watching all of the farm animals.  I read about it in my new book Kid Trips.  If you live in the NOVA area and have kids, it's a great book to have! 

Cute Kidwell Barn filled with baby animals.

Ava was especially fond of the chickens.  I was especially happy when she moved on with all of her fingers UNpecked... ;) 

Fancy Japanese Manicure

 

While in Japan I asked my friend Rie where I could get a fun Japanese style manicure.  I've read on a few fashion blogs that Japanese girls have the most fun and wild nail styles... so I knew I couldn't leave without that as a souvenir!!  She set up an appointment with her friend in the town Niiza outside of Tokyo where she grew up and still lives.

Rie's friend Mihoko runs her fun nail business Duca out of her home.  She told me she had a regular job for a while, then decided that designing nails was something she really wanted to do.  She trained for several years before she opened her own business.

She had the most adorable apartment.  Everywhere I looked was so cute and you can tell she put a lot of thought into each little vignette. 

It made the experience much more special because I felt like I was getting such a special manicure that not just anyone could get.  You had to know someone who knew her:)

She had so many cute designs to choose from, but I decided to go with her "Scandinavian Style" design.  I put my own stamp on it by getting a little kitty cat on my ring finger.

Kimono In Kyoto

Just back from an amazing journey to Japan to visit my BFF Rie.  We studied Interior Design together at LSU back in the day.  While there we went to Kyoto and had an extremely 'girlie' weekend during the first part of golden week:)  One of my favorite things was trying on an authentic kimono.

We went to Okamoto in Kyoto, Japan.... and we even made the blog, (everyone does...;) They had a room full of different options.  I had to choose the inside kimono, outside kimono, belt & rope tie.  After I choose these items downstairs, we went upstairs where we stood in front of a mirror while someone dressed us (very tightly FYI).  It cost about $50 to rent the kimono and we were able to wear it around all day.  Before we left they gave us a little bag to carry and shoes.

The best part?  You can leave your bags there and pick them up at the end of the day!