Colorado: Rocky Mountain National Park

Our 1st stop was COLORADO state.

Garfy's friend lives in Boulder, Colorado, so we decided to visit him :)

Denver Airport is basically a huge tent with tons of extremely artistic stuff. If you got a time at this airport, it would be fun to walk around the airport and appreciate the artistic stuff.

Some of them were too unique for me to understand of its own beauty.. haha

The next day,

We went to Rocky Mountain National Park!

I am not good at geography, but I remember learning about Rocky Mountain being in the US. So it was so cool to realize that I was at a place where I saw on the textbook when I was little. ha

Since Rocky Mountains are super long, we went to a tiny tiny part of them. It was such a beautiful day and we were able to hike to see three pretty lakes. However, I get car sick easily, so I was sick the entire time while we were driving. I had to miss cool views and an interesting hike.

Garfy and his friend went on a hike at a high elevation point. It was only 1 mile hike. But because of the limited amount of Oxygen, Garfy said it was so hard. Gosh!! I wanted to experience that :'( !!

There were a lot of chipmunks and moose ><

I had never seen neither of them!! Have you?

I also heard a moose making a noise like... ggggggg (kinda higher pitch)

So hard to describe moose's noise with letters. ahaha  

How many can you find?

I am gonna write more about my trip at Colorado state :D

Smile!

:)

Find me on Instagram

Hello, my lovely friends!

I could finally come to my blog! I missed you guys!
The US trip and my school life kept me busy nicely.
The US trip was awesome. We came home very safely and happily ^^
We did so much stuff over the trip, so I decided to take a time to write about them!

After coming back from the trip,
I realized that I forgot my phone at Boston International Airport (:_;)
I knew that I was gonna be busy since the school started.

So, I got a new phone!! It's nice, awesome, and smart.
With my friend's influence and advises, I started Instagram.
I update 1 photo per day :D You can see how new I am to Instagram. hehe

You can find and follow me...
http://instagram.com/smilewithvivian/

Talk to you very soon
Smile
:)

US Vacation in 2014

Hola, my friends, from PDX.
Garfy and I went to his family member's wedding in the morning and directly came to PDX.
Coming to PDX has been an adventure already.

My cup cake got smashed by a person at a station.
The bus was 35mins late, so we had to cancel it.
Then, we decided to drive up to PDX and almost got into an accident.

 BUT
We survived.
We arrived to PDX safely and thankfully.

 We got an instruction of how to use forks and knifes :D hahaaa

Then, we got a free slice of pizza (^^)(^^)

FINALLY,
Our US trip has began.. :D
soooooo excitinggggg!!! (I wanna scream lol)

Bye, Oregon
See you in 2 weeks

smile!

Hello, September 2014

Hello,

September is the last month of my Summer vacation.

I was looking forward to being in this month, but I wasn't looking forward to it at the same time.

Because
I have a huge trip this month, so I'm very excited~~!!
But I have to say "good bye" to the summer (only sunny season in Oregon).

I wanted to share with you about what I have done + what I really want to do in this Sep. :)

1. Wedding + Wedding = Two Weddings
   One of them already happened - HERE. I really appreciate lovely people who include me to celebrate their sweetest moments. Everybody shares love, passion, commitment, caring, happiness, and all the other positive things with each other. Miracle day!
2. Interview as a RA
   I have been working as a RA (RA: research assistant) with three professors. My job is basically interviewing people for 1-2 hours. It might sound boring to you, but it actually not. I love interviewing people and always get motivated by them! - Read more from HERE
3. Plan a US Trip
4. Book 'flights' & 'hotels'
   Garfy & I will be going on a 2-weeks-US-trip :D I am also going on small trips for attending Job Fairs! It'll be an expensive year of my entire life so far. 
5. Eat a Cup Cake in New York
6. Invite myself & Garfy to the Harry Potter world
7. Dye My Hair
8. Fix a Car
9. Start exercising
   It's always hard to start exercising as well as continuing exercising.. I know this is always something which I ALWAYS say (it's hard for me to continue..), but I am sure it's better nothing at all.

Although I say "Hello, September" as this title, it has been September for 11 days. Time flies very quickly. (What happened!?) So, 9 things to do for this month ! I hope I can find more things to do in October since I don't have much left in Salem, Oregon!

What is your favorite thing to do in September?

Talk to you later,

smile!
:)

Welcome Back My Cameria

I just had an emotional moment with my Camera this morning.
To tell this story, let's call my camera "Cameria" on this blog.

This story starts in back in 2012, Summer...
I met this girl, Cameria. She quickly became my best friend. We hung out all day long.
She gave me an opportunity called "photography" and showed me many different pictures and ideas of the world. We have been together ever since. She was such incredible and sensitive to the change of the world. However, I wasn't treating her nicely. I made her lose a thing to cover her eye. I made her hit on the ground, walls, and so on. Still, she was very patient with me and continued to show me the world.

In 2014, this horrible thing happened..
I was at a wedding with Cameria. We were spending a joyful time taking a lot of photos of my hermana's uncle and his wife at their wedding. However, Cameria got a little too tired to continue taking photos. Therefore, we decided to get some rest, and she got some energy charged!

As soon as she started feeling well, we got back to take some photos together without knowing she will never get food for next 9 months.

After couple days passed, Cameria started suffering hunger. Cameria had gotten weaker and weaker everyday. When we went to Canada together for our vacation, she finally passed away gradually.

Long Story Short,
I finally bought a charger and gave my Cameria a tons of food.

FINALLY,
This morning, I had an emotional meeting with my Cameria. (She got fully charged)

Did you cry? haha You may have realized that my photos' quality has been different past 9 months because of this incidence. I have been using my friends' camera & cell phone and Garfy's cell phone to take photos for Smile with Vivian. Therefore, it was hard for me to write blog as frequently as possible.
Now, I have my camera back! I will write more about my life in Oregon, United States. (Maybe I should write "Throw Back Thursday" posts to share photos in my Cameria) Also, I will be going on a trip with Saturday. I am very excited to take Cameria with me :D

I was pretty excited about getting my Cameria back, so I took some random photos today!

Not in New York yet...
- Pizza with my friend at Straight from New York -

Autumn is back

 - Salted Caramel Mocha from Starbucks -

Smile!

First Friday in Silverton

I went to First Friday events in Silverton with my friends. Silverton is one of the tiny and pretty towns in Oregon. Usually, the shops and restaurants close by 4pm. There are few people walking around whenever I visit the town. Last time I was there, a wild deer was walking around in the downtown. Can you believe that? (Well, in part of Nara prefecture in Japan, it is normal - read Nara blog post from HERE) Only one Asian shop represents a china town in Silverton. haha

Anyhow, the 1st Friday of every month is different. The shops open till 8pm. There are parades, car shows, and many more fun stuff going on. Many people hang around in Silverton. I wasn't used to see that much people in Silverton. haha

 My friend told me about a Barbie lady from Silverton. I don't know if you can see the barbies which she made in the photo below, but the lady makes barbies and sell them. Vampire barbies, Sorority barbies, Anorexic barbies, and so on. Her van is decorated with tons of barbie heads and sparkles. These barbie dolls are very unique, and I admire her creativity. But... they scare me whenever I take a look at her creation. If you decide to go to Silverton, Oregon, stop by! haha

Smile!
:)

Catholic Wedding L&C

I went to My 1st Catholic Wedding. This is my 4th wedding this year. You can read the 1st one from HERE, the 2nd one from HERE, and 3rd one... I am still editing and writing about the 3rd one.. so, please give me more time :p Tehe
This wedding was super different from others. The bride and gloom have been married 8 years (or 9 years), and they had a wedding 8 or 9 years ago. What? They had a wedding again? - yeah, I was super confused as well. The gloom's family is Catholic, but their wedding wasn't done in Catholic way. Because I couldn't understand well enough about what they missed during the 1st wedding, I can't tell you what they missed. haha There are some special things that Catholic people do. Therefore, on their 8th anniversary, they decided to do a part, which wasn't included in the 1st wedding, at a Catholic church.
I was the one who was taking a photo for them, so I couldn't take any pictures from the wedding to put on my blog. *sigh* It was a casual but happy & lovely ceremony!

Oh wait! I took photos of food at their reception. haha I always thought that I don't take photos of what I eat at weddings (this is why people ask me what I eat...?? - Read more from HERE). So this time, I only took photos of tasty foods. haha

They said that they "tied double knots"
I, personally, think this is a great idea because we can check how much we mean to each other again... and so many other reasons. haha I hope I can marry to a wonderful husband and spend a lovely marriage life with him like two of them!! (*^____^*)

Smile!

School Office at Night

 ....... (^U^)

 Oh Hello, there!

 I am at a professor's office right now. I have been working as a research assistant for three professors during the summer & interviewing people who graduated from this university and have a job. Although I screwed up a bit with computer related work few times, it really is a great learning experience! Every time I have an interview, I can't tell you how much I get to learn because it's so much. Every time I have a new task, I learn so much as well!

I just finished a phone interview with a participant! hehe
This is the place where I do the phone interviews (professor's office at my university).  

 Even though the participants can't see me during the phone interviews, I tie my hair up every time. When I am done with the interview, I let my hair down to feel relaxed. haha When I tie my hair up, I feel awake... pump it up... fire myself up... (I didn't know how to say 気合を入れる in English). Anyway, I feel more confident and "awake"! Why do I do it? I took a class to learn how to interview a person, have practiced interviews, and did few interviews, yet I feel very nervous. This is why I tie my hair up and I have a water right next to me. hehe Do you have something that you do to overcome your nervousness?

The interview is done .. like 2+ hours ago.. but I am still here at her office. It's because.. I am waiting for my ride. It is super dark outside (it wasn't dark when I took these photos). My friend told me yesterday that "some people say Todd hall is haunted." Waaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!
Todd hall is the building which this office is in = I am in the Todd hall.
Todd hall is surely one of the oldest buildings on this campus, but I didn't want the information YESTERDAY!! Although I really love old buildings, I have a extremely huge fear for ghosts. It's really weird and creepy to be in a place like here where nobody is in & where I am so used to see a lot of students hanging around. Do you know what I mean?

Wish me luck to get out from here safely when my ride arrives!!
I gotta wait one more hour!
Waaaahhhh.... (T^T):..

Smile!

The Body Shop : Tea Tree Face Mask

Recently, I have been using Tea Tree Face Mask from THE BODY SHOP.

Ever since I smelled and used the body shop's body butters, they got me. I am a huge fan.
So, when I found tea tree face mask from the body shop, I was exited.

Texture:
A bit thicker
Smell:
To be honest, I am not a huge fan of tea tree smell. It smells like grass, leaves, mints, ... it doesn't mean that it is a bad smell. Tea tree smell just doesn't suit me, I guess. BUT I enjoyed using this face mask.
How was it?:
Tea tree makes our skin to cool down instantly and lifts away impurities. It's great for our hot / warm skin during the summer. Our skin needs to cool down too!
But without knowing what tea tree does at the 1st time using tea tree product, I got scared. It's because my skin instantly started feeling super minty and I wasn't sure if my skin was feeling super hot or cold. (8_8") So, I read the package and did a little bit of research about tea tree. haha So, don't worry! If you thought the same way as I did, you are not alone. We're buddies. haha

How do I use it?

1. Wash your face
2. Dry your face with a clean towel
3. Take Tea Tree Face Mask a little by little

4. Apply Tea Tree Face Mask on your face
5. Avoid your eyes and around your eyes
I didn't do good job on this one. I touched my eye blow with the finger and realized I got a green dot on my eye blow. Because I didn't wanna take a pic of my face with a dot on my eye blow, I applied as closer as possible to the eye area. ha

6. Wait for 10 minutes (until it gets dry a little bit)
6.5. Enjoy your skin getting cool down rapidly yet gradually

(I totally look like an alien)

7. Wash off the face mask by cold water
It looks like some people just wipe it off by towels and stuff. Because I want my pores to get smaller and don't want them to keep the mask forever, I wash it off with cold water.
8. Follow your daily routine of beauty products

I use this product especially after having a lot of fun under the Sun.

Other than that, I am trying to use this twice a week at least.

Talk to you later
Smile
:)

Outfit : White Lacy Tops

Last night, I went out for Italian restaurant and a new bar (*'U<*)b

My favorite tops for my entire life!

< Lace Lace Lace Chiffon Chiffon Chiffon >

I wasn't confident enough to wear sleeve less clothes because I didn't wanna show my arms. Then, in recent years, I have only found cute clothes without sleeves. It was a huge problem at first, but I finally gave up and decided to give it a try. Since a lot of people support "all kinds of body shapes are beautiful" in the US (in Oregon), I think I was more comfortable to make this decision than if I were in Japan.

As I said, this was one of the "cute clothes without sleeves." I felt like I just found a hidden treasure when I found this tops in tons of other clothes... haha

Are you guys ready?

TADAAA !!

Tops - White Lacy Chiffon Top from T j maxx
Bottoms - Black Stretchy Pants from H&M
Shoes - Black High Heels from DEB 

Since the top was girlish, I wore a bit more casual and boyish stuff than the top for rest of my outfit this time
. Hm... not that bad. I think I am enjoying trying this on! Isn't it the most important thing? ; fashion is supposed to make you happy and help to enjoy the time, right? I guess I overcame my fear of showing my arms a little bit. haha

I love the balance of a little girly and a little boyish.
I also love the combination of black and white.
hehe

Here is the close up for my favorite part!!
Lacy Lacy Lacy
A lot of flowers around my neck too. (*-U-*)

Give at least 1 chance to your dream outfit!
&
Enjoy rocking it!!
I'm sure you look really great in it.

Smile
:)

Outdoor Wedding: L&C

I thought I just wrote about a wedding. "Am I reading a same post?" No no!! Hold on, there! I was super lucky enough to attend to a wedding of one of Garfy's best friend from a high school. But I forgot to post this blog page, so it's been more than a month since that day. LOL

Then I thought that "Seriously, none of weddings is the same". The wedding was outside at a bride's parents' place. I was amazed to see how they turned the backyard into a gorgeous wedding place. In Japan, I don't think it's common to see a hand made wedding. Well, at least, I have never seen or heard such things like this. When I think of wedding, people pick one of the locations such as: churches, temples, and shrines in Japan. Then, they hire people to prepare for their ideal wedding. But, this wedding was nothing like I expected. Almost all of them were hand made. Signs, Photo booth, Presents of jam, Decorations, Flowers, and many more!! All the dishes were antique / pretty dishes, and every dish was different.

It was another gorgeous wedding that I luckily attended to. Garfy and I couldn't stop talking about how perfect the wedding was for at least 2 weeks after the wedding day.

Congratulations to beautiful bride gloom!!
Cheers to their happiness!

Smile

:)