My father was in Japan for a week earlier this month visiting his family, who live in Hiroshima. On his way to Hiroshima, he stopped by Kyoto and took some photographs of the December foliage in the beautiful city that was formerly Japan’s imperial capital. He emailed us a bunch of the shots he took, and some were so gorgeous, I had to share…
I’m a little late in posting this, but I’m catching up on uploading pictures. My friend Catherine from Virginia Tech is now getting her Masters degree in Washington, so she decided to come visit San Francisco over Thanksgiving weekend. She stayed with our friend Sue, who has been settling into San Francisco quite nicely after moving here at the end of the summer. We spent a Saturday morning watching the Virginia Tech vs UVA game at The Bus Stop bar in San Francisco, stuffed ourselves with delicious dimsum at City View in the Financial District, indulged in some shopping, and then ended the day with manicures and pedicures in SOMA (compliments of Sue). Thank you Catherine for visiting (we expect many more visits!), and thank you Sue for treating us!
With Catherine and Sue... Hokies in the Pacific Northwest!
Sue enjoying her Prosecco while getting pampered...
Fast forward to this past weekend, we had a really fun time at the Nakayoshi holiday party, and seeing everyone from Nakayoshi again! There was so much good food that everyone brought for the potluck, the White Elephant gift exchange is always fun, and there was such good company. 🙂 Megumi even came all the way up from SoCal to surprise everybody — I was so happy to see her; I missed her so! Thanks to Dan for hosting and Sam for organizing the party!
White Elephant gift exchange!
Hubby got a beer pong pitcher... haha*
With some of the lovely ladies from Nakayoshi!
Yesterday was actually Dan’s birthday, but I wasn’t really able to do very much except muster up enough energy to bake him a German chocolate cake for his party with his boys on Sunday evening. I was feeling pretty crappy about not being able to do more for his birthday, but Dan surprised me with tulips when I got home from work last night to cheer me up! 🙂 It seems a bit backwards to get flowers from your husband on his birthday, but it was very sweet of Dan….
Lovely tulips from Dan
We went out to an Indo-Nepalese restaurant so that Dan could get some of his favorite lamb curry, and I surprised him with the Leatherman tool he’s been wanting for a while. 🙂 Happy birthday, Dan!
I’m so excited for my friend Pamela, who is a contestant on the upcoming TLC show Next Great Baker, which premieres this Monday, December 6. It’s going to a competition show where the contestants compete for the chance to work side-by-side with the “Cake Boss” himself, Buddy Valastro!
I’ve known Pammy since 2001, when I was a little college freshman at Virginia Tech and she was a junior, and I’ve always loved her fun, bubbly personality and have continually been inspired by her ambition and drive. Pammy works as a full-time electrical engineer in Washington, DC, but pursues her passion for cake on the side as the owner of PamCakes. I’ve been following her creations for the past couple years now, and her cakes are gorgeous, unique, and so creative! She’s truly an inspiration for all working women out there who work hard both in the workplace as well as at home for their loved ones and to pursue their dreams.
You can see some of Pammy’s amazing creations at her official blog, visit her Facebook Page, and see her profile and video on the TLC website. We don’t get TLC, so I’ll have to watch the show somehow online, but I can’t wait to see Pammy’s wonderful talent in action and I wish her nothing but the best of luck in the competition!
This morning, I learned that my friend Kayoko Ishizuka had passed away over the weekend. Kayoko, known affectionately, as “Kay” by her friends, had transferred to Virginia Tech my freshman year, and although we only spent one year together at the university, I can recall many fond memories with her. She had since gone on to pursue a doctorate degree at the Medical College of Wisconsin and was a postdoctoral student at USF College of Medicine. We had lost touch for years, but had recently reconnected on Facebook a few months ago. Kayo was one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever known, and I’ve always been certain that she was going to accomplish great things for not only herself but also for the world of science, for which she was so passionate.
Kayo was bicycling home from another late night of research at the USF laboratory in Tampa, when she fell victim to a fatal hit-and-run accident at 1:40am Saturday morning. The SUV that hit her was discovered abandoned over the weekend, but the driver is yet to be found and arrested. Kayo’s name was not made public until this morning, when one of our mutual friends who is now interning at USF happened to see her on the local morning news.
I found myself struggling to get a grasp on the whole tragedy today… and have been confronted with a host of emotions — of course, the sadness and heartbreak over Kayo’s death, as well as anger towards the hit-and-run driver — but initially, more than anything, I was stunned at how such a bright mind and spirit could be so quickly snuffed out from this world. I’ve faced a number of situations before in my life where I’ve lost loved ones suddenly and unexpectedly, but every time, it’s a shock that takes weeks and months to come to terms with. Every time, the pain and grief is fresh, raw, and leaves me feeling irreparable and helpless. Every time, I’m confronted by and reminded of the brevity of life, and I still have trouble accepting it.
For now, I want to celebrate Kayo’s life and all the ways she touched people’s lives, including my own. I want to remember her for her brilliant mind, her love of food and cooking, and her quirky, offbeat sense of humor. Reading her blog and her Twitter shows her colorful personality, her appetite for life, and her love of tinkering with and riding bicycles. In the end, I want to remember her for everything that made her uniquely her and how much of a gift it was to have her in our lives, rather than how she was taken away from us.
