aspir(al)ing

A Decade of Digital.

Posted by terri | Filed under digital life, geektech, natsukashii

It was over 10 years ago on December 25, 1998 that I got my first digital camera. It was a Fujifilm DX-7 camera that my parents had gotten for me for Christmas.

Read the rest of this entry…

The Cookie Baking Post.

Posted by terri | Filed under tabemono, tetsukuri

It is almost December 25th, and I’m afraid to say that I haven’t done the things that I had hoped to do for the holidays. Hunny and I took pictures for our Christmas Card but never got to put a card together. I’ve also gotten very little shopping down, which will probably result in me getting some last minutes gift cards…and online.

I did manage to get some baking done, though the only thing Christmasy about it was that it was for a Christmas Party for my day job. I think that it is quite an achievement since I hadn’t baked anything for a couple of years. Our house had gotten a new oven about 4 years ago, but I never got to use it for baking until Saturday night when I decided to make Rice Krispie Chocolate Chip Cookies. It took about 3 hours to get about 7 batches of cookies baked and ready. Though I had made them before, I was worried that they would turn out disastrous. I was afraid to even taste them, but thankfully Hunny gave me the thumbs up from the first bite. As with anything else I do, I took pictures!

Mixing it all up!

Fresh out of the oven!

Peanut Butter Chips for the last batch!

Thankfully, they were a hit rather than a miss at the Christmas picnic the following day. It has not inspired me to bake more or to try to make new desserts but it has encouraged me for this coming Christmas Day when I have to make Christmas turkey at my house along with some if not most of the fixings.

Happy Holidays!

At the top of the Wish List.

Posted by terri | Filed under kawaii

If someone were to ask me what I REALLY want for Christmas. I would respond with the following four words: “I want a kitty!”

I was fortunate to have grown up with several generations of cats in and near my household. Since I came back to Hawaii from Japan, I have been without a cat. Anytime I see a feral kitty, I would stop for a moment to look at it and admire its cuteness despite how mangy to the touch it might actually be. And of course, let’s not forget my countless trips to the Hawaiian Humane Society. I think my collection of HHS cats on my iPhoto could fill a warehouse.

So, what’s stopping me from getting a cat? Well, it used to be that I didn’t have the time or that I was barely home to take care of one. Seeing as I no longer go to school or work two jobs anymore, I can’t really say that anymore. What’s stopping me from getting a cat now is that my poor boyfriend is allergic, despite him being a big animal lover. And though we don’t live together right now, it’s most likely going to happen within the next year or so.

I joke with Hunny sometimes that him not being able to have a cat is the dealbreaker for our otherwise strong and happy union. As a response, he did give me a link to this website:

Allerca: Hypoallergenic Cats

Apparently, this company called Allerca has been genetically engineering hypoallergenic cats for over 2 years. According to their website, they breed cats that give off significantly less levels of a cat allergen that often give some people miserable symptoms such as watery eyes, congestion, runny notes and the like.

The cost? They start at $6950.

Methinks I’ll be making several more stops at the Hawaiian Humane Society to get my fill of fur.

De-Scrooged?

Posted by terri | Filed under heart, home, natsukashii, watashi

We are at last in December and with Thanksgiving done and gone, it is time for the Christmas spirit to come into full swing. For about 10 years or so now, December hasn’t filled me with any Christmas spirit for a variety of reasons. I am, however, hopeful that this year will be different.

Kicking off Christmas: Happy December 1st!

Without going into too much detail, I want to say that life this year has definitely been more settled as opposed to the past 10 years, and I think it’s finally time to embrace the Christmas spirit. I’ve been thinking of ways that I could “de-scrooge” myself as I have normally been “bah humbug” about the entire holiday season. I came up with a couple of things, some of which I probably WON’T go through with.

Christmas Tree: The last time I had a Christmas tree in my house was in 1996. Every Christmas tree we got years prior were awesome, though our decorations were a bit ghetto fabulous. It definitely brought a spirit of Christmas that not even the most tricked out gift could. As much as I would love to welcome that wonderful, nostalgic scent into my home, it certainly is not practical enough for me to get one. I won’t have much presents to put under the tree and the electricity bill at my house runs high enough as it is. I admit, I feel a bit of the “mommy pangs” when I think about Christmas trees, because I think I can only justify getting one if I had a child to enjoy it. Not gonna happen this year.

Christmas Baking: I definitely take joy in baking and creating stuff in the kitchen, but my success rate has never been good and so I find that I have not been doing it much lately. I think Christmas time is as good enough a time as ever to start again. I’m thinking of cookies and other desserts that I can try my hand at to give out at Christmas time. And if Hunny volunteers to do the dishes, I can be even further motivated!

Christmas Party: I mentioned back in July or so that I wanted to do some kind of housewarming party to celebrate the closing of the “sale” on the house. I’ve made the house a little more inviting with the removal of a lot of clutter and the addition of a new TV, but I have to admit that I am still a little shy about bringing people into my house as I still feel it’s a bit messy and dare I say it, perpetually 汚い? Well, we shall see… I won’t rule it for this holiday season…

Photo Christmas Card: This tops the “most likely to do” list. It was actually Hunny’s idea that we do one this year. We haven’t discussed execution, but we don’t anticipate it being a huge production as I have seen with other people I know. And I think being the  geeks that we are, we probably will do it with iPhoto.

So my hope is that I will at least do one or two things to for the holiday season. My iTunes library has been rechecked with Christmas songs, and so I’m ready to get this season started…

Aloha!

Hello from the island of O'ahu in the beautiful state of Hawaii. I am terri, a local girl who at 30 is trying to make sure that life doesn't entirely pass her by. I've recently become engaged and am enjoying living a great life in paradise.