St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day

To

You

source

Are you wearing green?

It's one of the big celebrations for people in the United States. People drink green colored beers, green colored mixed drinks, green colored soft drinks... eat green colored foods, green colored sweets... decorate their house, shops, and other places with green. YOU MUST WEAR GREEN. If you don't, people will pinch you. Yea, I actually got pinched two years ago for not wearing green... :'(
St. Patrick's day is an Irish holiday. I heard that People in US celebrate this holiday a lot bigger than people in Ireland do. I need to go to Ireland to find out if it's true or not. Well, if you are from Ireland or have been to Ireland, please let me know what you do on St. Patrick's day in the comment! :)

Since I have the last final exam in the veeeeery early morning tomorrow, I stayed home and studied for it.

Around the final week, it's especially stressful for international students. It's because if you fail, you go back to your country. Bye bye! So, this is me during the dead week. My professors kindly decided to move the final exams which happen during the final week to the dead week (a week early). Unfortunately, all the exams were on the same day, so I was studying so hard like I had never studied last Wednesday.

I was so sad and stressed out, so I posted this picture on facebook. (hahaha) and said that...
"Why??? ...4 final papers + 1 final exam + 1 quiz + 1 huge homework + more more final stuff for tomorrow! Still, I don't want to study. I wanna skip tomorrow!"

This picture was from today when we went out for a bit. Yup, we wore GREEN!

I was wearing

sun-glass - H&M

greenish blueish dress - Forever 21 (h81)

cardigan - Japan
dark green scarf - a local store in Bend, Oregon
hear accessory - Disney

How was your St. Patrick's Day?
Hope yours were amazing!

Talk to you later
smile
:)

International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day!

To all of my beautiful readers

(source) 

I was volunteering today for a Fair Trade store and celebrating International women's day. I didn't know that international women's day was even existed until 2 years ago. How unfortunate is that? right?
I found a flier from Because I am a Girl . ca and thought it's very worth sharing with you.

Because I am a girl

Because I am a girl
I watch my brothers go to school while I stay home
Because I am a girl
I eat if there's food left over when everyone is done
Because I am a girl
I am the poorest of the poor

And yet...

Because I am a girl
I will share what I know
Because I am a girl
I am the heart of my community
Because I am a girl
I will pull my family out of poverty if you give me the chance
Because I am a girl
I will take what you invest in me and uplift everyone around me
Because I am a girl
I can change the world

This picture is me 3 years ago. I didn't have any other photos of me wearing traditional formal Japanese dress, so ... it's old, but there you go! I'm celebrating "international women's day" with you :D hehe

How was your international women's day?

Talk to you later!

smile for gorgeous & strong women in the world

:)

Mother's Day : Presents

Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Bonaire, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Curacao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Ecuador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kurdistan, Latvia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Macao, Malaysia, Malta, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Singapore, Saint Maarten, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanganyika, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Vietnam, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How many countries are listed above? 92 countries?

whew.. :) I did a good job typing them!! hehe

There are at least 92 countries in this world that
 celebrate the Mother's day on second Sunday of May.

(Other countries celebrate it on different days)

Have you decided what to do for Mother's day?

I decided to get some presents and cards for my mothers and write a message to my mothers in the world here on my blog:)

Presents for my mother

had to be somethings that could be shipped. It couldn't be some accessories, beauty products, cooking products because she is not really interested in. I gave her bags, shoes, and skirts before. so her presents for this year are...

Clothes + A card

I just randomly went & luckily found this cutest T-shirt at aeropostale (US$24.50). Just so perfect!! My mother and I love blue color and lace. Since she was looking for a casual T-shirt, I got this one for her and myself. Our 1st matching clothes ★ (a cute idea, isn't it?) hehe I also got a summer casual dress from Kensie & a camisole from h.i.p. at Nordstrom that I forgot to take a picture of. sorry guys:'(
by the way, I found these pictures of the T-shirt on ebay.

It was only $9.99! bummer..

Presents for my boyfriend's mother and my Mexican mother

Soap nuts + cards

from One Fair World. There is a Japanese song about "Mother" (this is a title too). This kids' song sings that "Child : mom, you smell really good. Mom : it's a smell of laundry soap." So, I bought this one for moms (although they are not from Japan). Take 3-4 nuts and soak them in the hot water for couple minutes. Put them into the attached cotton small bag. Throw the bag in the laundry. So magical! It's a nut & it's a soap! It's a soap nut!! We can use the same nuts 3 - 4 times:) It's natural and great for sensitive skin.

Present for my current host mother

I think I will go to get a card + a bottle of wine from a local wine shop!

Lastly,

To my wonderful mothers in the world! I counted them. There are at least 13 host mothers and women who are like mothers to me. Unfortunately, it's super hard for me to keep in touch with every single one of moms + my international friends, so I have not been able to keep in touch with how they are doing. BUT I will never ever forget about such wonderful mothers. Even though I couldn't speak English at all, you gave me a great lesson instead of giving up on me. I learned how to accept who others are and where others come from, how to share who we are, how to be a daughter. You also showed me how to be strong, thoughtful, lovable, and many more important things that I needed to learn :) It was just very amazing to meet you! Those memories that I had with you are priceless. Please do not forget that you will always be n my heart and I will never forget about you. Thank you very much. I love you all! I hope all of you had a wonderful mother's day!!

with love and smile, Vivian