Where in Tokyo is Carmen Sandiego?

Remember those games that they had in magazines like the ones they have in doctors' waiting rooms or National Geographic for Kids (yes, I was a nerd) where you had to guess what the big picture was based on a seriously zoomed-in picture or one that was pixelated or something?  Remember?  Anyone?  Ok, well we're gonna play that game anyway. 

We've been super busy.   Since we've been keeping ourselves out of the tiny apartment as much as possible (it's not built for four) doing all sorts of fun stuff with Michael and Sara (Jeff's brother and sister) I haven't had the time to let you all (all seven of you) in on the fun.  Here is your chance though.

Below are a few photos that we've taken in the last few days.  Big prize for the first person to successfully identify all of them.  Or the person who comes the closest by the time I'm ready to tell you what they all are.  Ok, maybe not trip-to-Japan big, but it'll be worth it.  Promise.

Here they are in no particular order.

photo #1

photo #2

photo #3

Photo #4

Photo #5

photo #6

Bonus question: What do we have brewing for tomorrow?

We are off to another big day of soaking in the Japanese experience (that's a clue!) early tomorrow morning so it's off to bed.

Mata ne,

Melissa

empty orchestra

soooo OK.

We did karaoke today.  (kara = empty, oke = short for orchestra)

To those of you who have had some form of musical training or, I don't know, aren't totally tone deaf this might seem totally cool to you.  However.  I have had NO musical training and AM totally tone deaf.  Hence the problem with singing karaoke in front of someone who isn't my husband.

Fortunately, the people I was singing in front of were my husband's siblings, so they HAD to be nice.  Unfortunately, they know what they are doing while holding that microphone and can sing. Ok, everyone can sing. They can sing WELL.  

Best advice from my brother-in-law the consummate performer (see above):  Find one song and have that be my all-the-time karaoke song.

Quest: Find a perfect all-the-time karaoke song.

Amendment #1: Find a perfect all-the-time karaoke song that I don't sound like a dying cat while singing.

Suggestions??

Mata ne,
Melissa

The Dude Abides

We are having a wonderful time in Tokyo with Michael and Sara.  In fact, we've been having so much fun there is barely any time to open the computer and share with the the rest of the world.

Today I did open my computer to find this not-so-academic article my ABD husband shared with me.  Hope you all enjoy as well.


Dissertations on His Dudeness

Mata ne,
Melissa

no-sew curtain

You may have noticed in the last post a little project I've been working on.  In order to make our tiny little apartment feel more like a home we've been decorating and organizing up a storm.  The apartment came with hospital-grade ugly blue curtains.  Since we live just off the street, when the curtains are open you can look in and see all of the little space we have, but when they're closed they keep out most of the natural light offered by the big windows.  To spruce up the space a bit and to maintain privacy while still letting in some sunshine I decided to improvise a curtain of my own.  

After picking out some fun and cheap fabric at IKEA I grabbed the no-sew hemming tape normally used to shorten drapes.  That's right, no sewing machine was used in the making of this curtain. Following the simple directions on the hemming tape package, I folded over the part I was going to "hem" and ironed a good crease (being the perfectionist that I am, I measured carefully, pinned the hem, and then ironed).

Then I tucked the hemming tape into the crease and ironed again.

I did this for the bottom and sides, and then had to figure out how I was going to hang the curtain.   I bought clips that have hooks on the top for hooking into the existing curtain hanger things (that's a technical term) that are permanently installed.  Unfortunately, when clipped to the top of the fabric, there was an inch-wide gap between the top of the curtain and the top of the window.  Fortunately, I had a bit of extra fabric to work with to resolve the issue.

I folded over the top of the fabric, making the curtain the correct length for the window, and ironed in the hemming tape there.  Then using the extra length fabric I folded some back over, leaving about an inch gap between the top of the fabric to be hooked and the top of the curtain itself.  Maybe you need to reference the picture to understand this step?

After doing all of this folding and ironing, all I had to do was clip the hooks on to the shorter piece hidden behind and put it up!  Not a stitch was sewn. 

Here's the finished product - lighting up the place (literally and figuratively) in all it's handmade glory.

One note: I don't recommend this method if you want your curtain to last longer than the 8 months we expect ours to.

Not bad, huh?  It even coordinates with our green couch and green and blue comforters and green and white shlves.  When livingroom, bedroom, guestroom, and kitchen all share the same space, it's important to make it look like it all goes together.  Hopefully when we move back to America I'll have bigger projects to work on, though I doubt I'll be using a sewing machine then either.

Mata ne,
Melissa

happy new year!

It is already 2010 in Tokyo and for those of you who are behind, I can assure you it's going to be a good year.

Here we all are right before the clock strikes midnight.  Clearly, Jeff was reeeeaaaly excited.

The new family dipping our big American feet into a Japanese New Year's Eve tradition.  Where are we and what's going on?  Patience is a virtue, people.  Admittedly, not one I have mastered.  Procrastination on the other hand....

Mata ne,
Melissa