I found the Osaka Aveda!

Friday we were in Osaka for the Leopard release party. See Mark's Blog for pics and a video of that.

The other thing that I wanted to do was find the Aveda. As most of you know, the other cosmetics company that I am addicted to besides MAC is Aveda. I found out that there are two Aveda Salons/Spas/Stores in Japan, one in Tokyo and one in Osaka. I tried to find the Osaka one last time we were there and couldn't. It is really hard to find new places in Japan because not all of their streets have names and the addresses are very weird.

So I figured I would try again this time to find Aveda while Mark was waiting in line at the Apple store. I walked around where someone told me it was, no luck. So I asked a lady in Daimaru (dept. store) if she knew. She called the Aveda and got directions in Japanese and then showed me on a map where it was. Score!...

I walked to where she put it on the map but it wasn't there and then I thought I was past it but again, Japanese maps are hard to read. So I'm standing there looking confused and this lady stopped and asked if I needed help. I told her that I was looking for the Aveda Store and showed her the map, she said she was going in that direction and took me there! Her name was Naomi (only in Japan they pronounce it 'Nowmee') and she was so nice!

Here it is!

Zorro, etc...

So I read two books in the last two weeks....

First, Zorro by Isabel Allende. I liked it a lot! It is the story of Zorro from the time he is a child until he becomes the legend. Isabel Allende is such a great storyteller! I really enjoyed this one!

Second, Water for Elephants. Wow! I read this one in 2 days it was so engrossing! It is about a young guy who joins up with a traveling circus in the 1930's. It got me all interested in old time circus stuff! The story is very intense with this one and it kept you reading to see what happened next.

I would definitely recommend both of these!

Latest book...

I just finished Never Let Me Go. It was pretty good. Although right now I am debating if I would recommend it or not... It was about a group of close friends who went to the same private school in England and realize as they grow up that they are "special" in a certain way (I don't want to say much more to give it away).

It kept me interested and it was an interesting topic, got me thinking...but I just don't know if it was that awesome.

Here is what the publisher had to say:

As a child, Kathy-now thirty-one years old-lived at Hailsham, a private school in the scenic English countryside where the children were sheltered from the outside world, brought up to believe that they were special and that their well-being was crucial not only for themselves but for the society they would eventually enter. Kathy had long ago put this idyllic past behind her, but when two of her Hailsham friends come back into her life, she stops resisting the pull of memory.

So now I just started Zorro by Isazbel Allende (thanks Lug!) and it is going great so far! Isabel Allende is one of my new favorites!

Fun in the park!

Last week a bunch of Nova teachers and staff got together in Akashi park for a little party. It was a good time, drinks and live music (courtesy of Willard, Trevor and Dean). Interestingly enough it was fun to sit on grass! There isn't much grass here in Japan, most parks are just dirt.

You will notice that I am actually wearing my hair down for this first time since mid July! It has been so incredibly, ungodly, horrendously hot and humid here (yes, even into early October!) that as soon as I got out of the shower I put my hair into a pony tail and never took it out. It has finally cooled down enough for me to not sweat buckets wearing my hair down. I didn't know what it was going to look like since it had been so long since I actually 'did' it! Luckily I still remembered how to do my hair so it worked out well!

Here's a pictures of all us girls: