Little greens

At the store we have edible greens. All the plants are actually edible. Herbs like basil and rosemary, parsley and shiso. Kumquat has green little fruits and will turn orange in December I think. There is another citrus that is getting close to harvest. That will be great on cooked fish. 

My favorite this year is the chives. It has appeared on our dinner table pretty often.  This is after we had cut them and used them in our cooking. It’s great that it grows so quickly and I just love the extra little something it adds to the dish. 

We add a little to our sashimi, this is red snapper, which is one of my favorites. We’ve had it with salmon and other fish. Bonito was very good too. Usually bonito is accompanied with grated ginger but chives will be great too. 

My other favorite is a simple carrot dish. The carrots are sliced and then tossed with salt so the flavor of the carrots are more concentrated. Then olive oil is added with chives. I like the texture of the thinly sliced carrots and the simple flavor. I could eat so much of it!

Thank you again Georges for these dishes~ the basil seem to want to be eaten soon! 

Making one of a kind rings

I love rings.
I think I enjoy making rings the most and also enjoy wearing them the most.

It's fun to be able to see it on your hand and change what you wear everyday like you would your clothes.

A recent ring I made is one of those bigger rings that will make an impression.

It is a ring from my Arabesque Trois Collection, a flower motif with swirl designs on the petal. This time I came across a nice labradorite as my center stone. A nice blue color depending on the light and is cut so that there is a nice big flat surface.

Before I set the stone. 

 The back of the ring

Ever since opening our store in Jingumae (which is between Shibuya and Harajuku) I've started making one of a kind rings. It is great because stones are always unique in color and shape, cut and size. To design a ring just for that stone has been a greasing learning experience. I often come up with other new designs and idea when I'm working on one ring. Can't wait to share them~!

The Manmade Forest

Meiji Shrine is one of the many tourist spots and also a very popular shrine to visit.
I have been learning so much more now that I pass by the Shrine everyday to get to the store, but there are so much I didn’t know about.


Recently I learned that the all the trees around the Meiji Shrine in Harajuku was planted 100 years ago, as a plan to grow a forest.
I watched a very interesting TV program about this and since then, changed how I look at the forest.

It turns out that 100 years ago, there was nothing there, just a hill with no trees. It was a big experiment, a project to plant trees that was true to the area and have them just grow on its own. No one was to take care of them, no one was to step into the forest, it was to survive on it's own, and that was the rule from one hundred years ago.

I go there sometimes to see if I can see the hawk, that now lives there, flying by or see any “tanuki” which is like a racoon, that might pass by.

This day I was only able to meet the spiders that live there, making webs and shuffling through the leaves.

It is just really nice to sit and look at the tall trees in the middle of your day in Tokyo. I like to find a place that takes you away from your normal surroundings, in any place that I live. In LA there was a spot looking out to the ocean right by the airport where I could watch the airplanes taking off. I think I found my spot in Harajuku when I need the trees and birds and the quiet. 

Rainbows

The other morning I saw a rainbow!! 

It was special because it was one of those rare moments I didn't go back to sleep, even though it was before I was planning to wake up. It was 4:30 am. and when I looked outside the sun was coming up and decided to really look at the morning skies. 

It was hard to notice at first because the colors were very close to the clouds surrounding it. But there it was. Arc of colors. 

I heard the day before people saw a double rainbow right before the sun set. It must be the moisture in the air?? 

Rainbows just makes you smile. I wonder if I'll see another sunrise rainbow?

Summer eatings

Ramen seems to be favorites among the Japanese and lately it seems it is popular in other parts of the world.

What is exciting to me is that in the summer time there are the cold noodles that they would serve only in the summer times.

This place close to our home has nice presentation. Well I just like it when they use ice to imply how "cold" the noodles are. And the slice of citrus fruit is a nice detail. 

Hiyashi chuka is what they are usually called. Chines yellow noodles and few types of toppings that are neatly places. The dish is usually open to interpretation and the style varies from restaurants to restaurant. Some places have twenty different toppings or some stick to the traditional. It really makes you want to try different cold noodles out there.  

And when you are in a hurry, you can get them at convenience stores. They say more people have them when the temperature outside is above 26 degrees. And yes lately that is all I want!!

The Blues and pinks and green edamame

Hydrangea are in full bloom, everywhere. 

You can see hydrangeas bloom almost at every corner in Tokyo. Seem to make the humid rainy season more enjoyable and something to look forward to. 

There are so many types and colors and sometimes the color is mixed pink to blue. The other day while driving by the tamagawajosui, which is a man made stream which was made to bring water to Tokyo back in the day, I discovered so many hydrangeas planted there! It was great to see the different colors along the long stretch.  I wouldn't have known if I didn't drive at this time. 

Around this time I get inspired by the vibrant colors and choose clothes that are the shades close to the hydrangeas. 

So this is my skirt, and a daifuku. 

Daifuku is rice cake, very soft and usually has red bean inside. They are one of the confectionary that is less sweet. This seasonal daifuku has edamame inside made to a paste with little chunks still remaining. A little sweet and I bit salty. So glad I am here to taste this because I do love edamame. So many things that are seasonal to enjoy by taste and also through scenery, I am still not bored with you Tokyo~!  

Tiny flowers

We are almost at the end of May. 

One of the things I enjoy about living in Tokyo are the seasons. I know there were seasonal changes even in California or Los Angeles. It was just not that apparent for me? Or it could easily be that I was not aware that plants and scenery could change so much. 

I did love the jacaranda trees in LA.  Everywhere I went there was that bright purple tree! And I remember it was was in May when it was graduation season for my school. 

Every year at this time, you can find these tiny flower that grow on the side of the streets. It inspired me to make my hanna collection which are gold tiny flowers you can wear as rings, necklaces and earrings. 

I found a spot right under my mailbox where it grows every year from a crack of the concrete. The flowers seem to cover more surface each year, something that I'll be looking forward to next year. 

The rainy season around the corner

May is about to end. 

I've been spitting these hydrangeas here and there. And that means in no time the rainy season is about to start. 

It's been a little over a year since we moved to this location in Harajuku. We've met so many people who loves jewelry and thank you for coming by and supporting us.  Can't believe how quickly a year had gone by. 

We have made some changes to the store. (Since my last post) We've added bigger windows to the door and made two of them. More edible plants. There's a light added above. 

Inside there are a few updates too and a lot more jewelry!  

We're open !

Yay~!

Our store is now open!!

Opening day we recieved so many flowers it was really amazing!

It is one of the customs in Japan when a new business opens to send flowers. This way people passing by know that the store is new. First time to be in a position to receive them though and I just love flowers~

Another custom is to give these flowers to the people who came to your store as to share the good luck. 

Interesting Japanese cuatoms!!

new door

It is getting a little warmer day by day and plum blossoms are in full bloom. Love it when I get a whiff of the scent.


We are at a new chapter for ileava. 
We are going to open our very own store!

This is the door that will greet me everyday and everyone who may be curious to see what is in this little store.

We found an antique door and fixed it up a little and gave it a fresh coat. Now it looks really warm and welcoming.



Can't wait for all this to come together. Although there is a lot to prepare still~

Ginkgo trees

It seems like some ginkgo trees turn yellow sooner than others. In Tokyo a lot of the trees turn color and feels very fall like in November.   

The other day, I remembered that there is a high school where the back entrance is lined with the ginkgo trees. I was lucky to see it just before the sun set. 

Love the yellow~! 

Dessert time

I start to feel at home in a new area when I find a restaurant or a cafe that I like.
So far in Tokyo there are few great places that I found.
It is nice when the people who work there or own it know you, and when the food is also great it really makes you feel at home.

This bar/ cafe that is close to where I live is one of my favorites. I feel lucky that my husband and I have found a place that is welcoming anytime we go.  We sometimes call and use it like an extension of our living room. A great place to end your day.

When I' m there I often order my usual. A dessert/ drink with vodka and coffee jello and kahlua.

The owner gave me an extra swirl of whip cream that day. Didn't quit fit in my photo.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if we didn't have this great bar~

Would we have found something else? Would we have found comfort at home? 

Cherry blossoms

April!

Spring is here, the warm weather came earlier this year and the cherry blossoms were at its full bloom already in March.

It seems that every year there is are few days when we almost go back to winter. It gets very cold, right after the cherry blossom blooms and then it rains a little and we hope that the blossoms still last through it all.

April is when new things starts in Japan. New school year. New employees start their jobs. Everything is so fresh.

I feel like I want to also have a fresh start to my English blog and write more!! And often!!

Here is a photo that I took from the train. It's a bit embarrassing but it worked out !!

the key

Sometimes I'm looking at the ground as I walk, just in case there are any diamonds that fell off a ring that no one has noticed.

Today I saw something that caught my eyes. It was right on the painted sign that says "stop" on the asphalt. 

I took a few steps back. Was it just the metal tab off of a can? Was it something gold? I tapped it with my feet so that I can pick it up.   

But no! This little key that was a pretty pink gold color was stuck. Mashed into the paint of the signage on the ground. It probably got run over so many times by cars that it can't be peeled off. 

A start of a little public collage....  

I could maybe add to it when I go there again.  

Either way I found a little story, at a place I go so often. It made me smile a bit~

I am doing a pop up shop in Tokyo~

Seibu Department Store 3/21~ 3/30

Tokyu Department Store Toyoko 4/4~4/11

the sea

I was going to the Tokyo International Exhibition Center, there was a jewelry show that I wanted to check out. As I got off the train, I could smell the salty air.

I forget how close the ocean is from where I live.

There are boats you can take across the bay so I think I'll look that up next time and try to enjoy the bay more.

from my mother

Recently I had a tradshow, in Tokyo, and was busy putting jewelry together and also, making up some new displays.

I decided that this time, I needed to take what is in my head and put it on paper so people can see.
There is a little world where I see my hug bear live, and that is the world where my jewelry comes from.

So, for this I used the traditional japanese calligraphy brushes and ink, and watercolor.
This is a set that I have had since I was about 5.  They used to have a face of a cat on each color. I remember it was a challenge when I was small to use enough water for them, but not to have the colors spill over to the next block.

Also, for larger surfaces I used another set of watercolors that used to belong to my mother. It must have been in elementary school when she started using them, because on the cloth bag that my grandmother sewed for her, my mothers name is stitched. 

Using my mother pallet with already mixed color was like a time capsule. I always thought that someone forgot to clean the pallet,  but the colors now could be used just by adding water. If you think about it, because I've never used this before, the last person who used it may be my mother.  I tried to use some of the remaining paint, some blues where used in the background and there was a good green I used in the forest.
Who knows when she used it last?

It was funny to know that things like color could be preserved.

Oh almost forgot. This is how it turned out. There is a total of 6 boxes that I made!

humidity is inevitable.....but...

So there is a rainy season in Japan (most part of Japan) 

It is usually in June, for Tokyo.

It rains most of the days and the humidity increases so it feels more sticky and hot.

There are few things you need to watch out for. The humidity will get some of your shoes, specially leather ones covered in mold, if you are not careful.

oh, and frogs!  If you live in areas with some greenery, like me.

But there are also flowers that blooms in this season too. Which is always nice to see.

I love this flower, "ajisai" in japanese, and in english "hydrangea"

It tells me that the rainy season is here when you spot them in full bloom.

There are so many different colors and they really give a great accent to the scene when it is all cloudy and rainy.

A few years ago, I didn't really considered this flower as a flower. But I changed my mind on that after I took a closer look at it.  

I didn't realize that hydrangea was a cluster of tiny four petal flowers.  The flowers were so cute, I knew one day that I would be making jewelry with it.

I later made my Bouquet Collection, and the flower shapes is inspired from the hydrangea.

It is my favorite piece to wear in this season.