How to Enjoy a Fair without spending a lot of MONEY

Tadaaa!!

Look at this huge ice cream! H U G E ! !

om nom nom nom nomnomnom

Where did I get this?
At a county fair (*^U^*)

County fairs and State fair are usually one of the summer events in the US. Here in Oregon, it is one of the popular events through the year. So, many people come to enjoy the fair. Whenever I go to these events, I always think... "where did they come from?" (You can't really see so many people and cars in Oregon that often). This is my fifth year in Oregon, but this was my 1st time visiting a county fair.

1. Go to a fair during the time when the entrance fee is FREE.

If you aren't a huge fan of rides, animals, crowds, or fairs, but you still want to check it out.

If you don't want to spend money to get in, but you still want to check it out.

Don't worry. The last day, the last couple hours, you can get into the fair for FREE (at least for this fair). I strongly recommend you to check out the time.

2. Bring food and drinks.

Maybe some fairs disallow people to bring food and stuff. I haven't experienced that in Idaho and Oregon. I am aware of many tempting food and crazy food (deep fried oreo, frozen cheesecake, etc.). But you can also bring food. There are tables and chairs. Also, you can bring a blanket and have a picnic on the grass area :D

3. Go & Be friends with animals

 You can touch them!

4. Enjoy the live music & shows
Some local bands, dancers, and animals perform at the fair for everyone (^0^)!! Open for everyone!! woohoo

5, Take tons of photos and selfies

I took nothing but animals.. I mean I forgot to take other parts of the fair. But there are police cars, an ambulance, hand-made shops, food carts, rides, and so many other things that you can take a picture of/with. You can surely take pictures of/with performers as well! hehe

 See? This guy definitely knew how to look at a camera without blinking!

THIS COW!! When I think of milk or other dairy products, I think of this cow on its package. You do too?

 6. Learn local
There were a lot of booths where you can get to learn about small local businesses, army stuff, art works, and volunteer opportunities. You might just get bored and are busy with rides and food, but you should at least walk around the booths. To be honest, I am also the one who usually just pass the booth area and go straight to the rides and foods. But this time, I took a walk and saw what they had. Surprisingly, it was interesting. I got to know a bit more about Oregon (what people are interested in and what business Oregon has).

When I think of a fair, "fun" "fair food" and "spending money" always comes to my mind. The total of price that I spent was $2.50 for an ice cream for two people. Can you believe that? haha I expected to spend a lot more. I really just wanted to check out what a county fair was like. Although I didn't get on any rides, I was able to have a good time there! I learned that I don't need money to have a fun at the fair. I believe that What you need for having a good time at an event is "who you are going with" and "how you guys enjoy it together." Right?

FASHION

Tops : I forgot the name of the store, but it's from Shibuya 109 in Japan
Bottom : H&M
Shoes : Urban Outfitters (flats for "easy to walk around" !!)

smile!

:)

a creative way to celebrate anniversaries

This post is especially for these people who aren't good at surprising partners or are looking for cheesy ideas for celebrating anniversaries. (If you are not interested in reading cheesy blog post, you should read some other my blog posts. I write about almost everything that I experienced and almost everywhere I visit. I share my international student life in the US here!)

1. Dress up

You don't have to dress up with very expensive stuff. It's OK if you don't wanna dress up. Nicer clothes add a little spice to your night and help you feel a little special with nicer clothes even though you are doing something very simple. Garfy and I dressed up nicely and were super ready for our special night. I wasn't even looking at the camera.. haha

2. Make a special MENU

You can actually make MENU and show it to your partner. Or you can just keep it secret and surprise your partner. Garfy surprised me with a wonderful course.

MENU

Eggplant Lasagna

Israeli Couscous with Green Onion

Green Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Iced Tea for me

Beer for him

Cinnamon Cookies for dessert

3. Make your own dining room into a Nice Restaurant

The night, we went to Garfy's Special Restaurant. It's a local restaurant in the US. It's actually pretty close from our place. It is at our dining and kitchen. hehe Garfy cooked such a gorgeous dinner for us!

3. Light up Candles

He is actually a really good cook. Plus, the night was very special, so he made it very romantic with a lot of candles. The pictures might be too dark to see because we didn't use lights to light up the space. I love his presentation here!! Very simple, but very romantic.

Candles sure have a magic to make a normal place become a romantic place!!

5. Enjoy your Special time with your partner
The food was super tasty!!! I felt very special. I highly recommend you to do this for your girlfriend. Especially for those people who don't usually cook! Especially for those people whose partners love cheesy stuff! I know this is very cheesy, but I appreciate how much efforts he put into prepare for this dinner. To add to that, I am the girl who loves cheesy stuff so much. haha!

Happy 1 year Anniversary

To

Garfy

*** love (●´･ω･｀)(´･ω･｀●)love ***

Our 1st picture. It's from last year when we weren't really good at taking pictures of us at all. haha Look at our awkward faces. Well, we are still not good at taking our pictures by ourselves as you already saw on the beginning of this blog page. bahaha

This was a part of the presents from him, so I should say.. . To be continued. hehe

How do / did you celebrate with your partner? What is the most memorable anniversary to you?

I would love to read that (^^)

Smile!
:)

6 months

Who said Americans don't celebrate monthly anniversaries? Me? Maybe..

Many of my friends in the US do celebrate 6 months & after that.. yearly. Because I am such a dreamy girl, I do have a small dream = celebrating monthly anniversaries. ridiculous? Well, that's why I gave up on this dream once. BUT I believe it's very important to do something different together every once a while. ((*>u<*)) Especially in the short distance relationship like I have, I see my boyfriend everyday (which is awesome). Here is a question for you! What if seeing partners became just one of the dairy routines? JUST LIKE THIS PICTURE that I saw on facebook...

No feeling butterflies from just looking at each other? More disappointment? Missing the time when you just started dating?  it'd be hard to feel exciting and fresh feeling that make couples realize how meaningful the partners are to them.

NOOoooOOO!!

NO NEED to do something reeeally expensive. Just dress up nicely, do something different, and make your partner surprised!! (^^)(^^) You don't have any idea, time, & money? That's Okay! Here is what we did for 6 months anniversary!

1. Look around a dollar store
They sell some unique things that we can talk about or play with. haha

2. Go to picnic

Picnic at the park with Thai food from my favorite Thai restaurant :D

(we didn't have a time to make lunch box)

We ate a lot & became "food-pregnants" ヽ( 'H')人('H' )ノ

3. Take pictures

Funny pictures make us laugh together. Good pictures leave beautiful memories.

4. Join local events

We found and listened to a live jazz music together:)

+ we got our desserts (chocolate for me & beer for him) hehe

5. Walk around
We went to our memorable place together. You may find something new on the road like a piece of pizza..

6. Surprise your partner with a letter or a small gift
Who writes a letter? It's so old school! A small gift? So cheeeeesy
 ... NO!! Because not many people do such things like that, cheesy stuff becomes something very special!

I am glad my small dream, that I gave up once, came true. I am glad he is OK with celebrating anniversaries monthly. I am glad I met him. Happy 6 months!!

Hope all of you have wonderful anniversaries!

SMILE :)