A Whole New World

More than nine years ago we learned Big Cutie suffered a stroke in utero and had Cerebral Palsy as a result {you can read the full story here}.  About the same time, she started wearing her first DAFO leg brace and we believed she would wear one for the rest of her life.

And we’d all become pretty OK with that.

Until now.

Because its 2012 and in our very modern world with brilliant doctors and scientists and general smarty pants kind of people, there are really amazing things happening.

And this week, Our Girl had an appointment and didn’t get a leg brace, and instead received a Walk Aide.  Designed specifically for stroke patients, the device sends electric stimulation to specific muscles giving immediate feedback in her leg, essentially functioning as a leg brace but with a much smaller blueprint.

For about an hour, she walked back and forth with her device attached to a wireless unit, connected to a laptop.  The orthotist was able to read critical information about every step she took, and tweak the positioning of her leads to better move her foot into position.  I totally geeked out watching her foot move where it was supposed to each time the device “fired!”

Here is Big Cutie and Todd, our beloved Orthotist, who moved heaven and earth to make this all happen from a continent away for us!  We adore him and are very appreciative!

The Walk Aide will enable Big Cutie to have a LOT more flexibility in her movement and to sit more comfortably on the floor at school or while playing.

And in my 10-year-old daughter’s world, the grandest thing about the device is that it allows her to walk into a shoe store for the very first time in her entire life and simply choose a pair of shoes she liked and we bought them.

I shook handing the sales clerk my credit card, because as her Mom, I’d never done that either.  And for the second time in her life, I cried buying her shoes {the first time being the very first time I took her shoe shopping in a sweet little smocked dress with a matching hair bow and after three shoe stores, the only pair of shoes that fit over that first leg brace were pink and white leather Nike sneakers.  So not what I imagined}.

And just when I thought my day couldn’t get any better, Our Girl went and picked a pair of Toms.  It was a pretty lovely moment that her first pair of shoes she picked out meant someone, somewhere got a new pair of shoes, too.

Oh, happy day.

On the Road Again

I’ve been talking a lot lately about this trip across the Pacific we’re taking to head back to the States and it’s finally here!

We packed up our suitcases…

{in the interest of full disclosure, this was only about half of our bags when all was said and done.  We never claimed to be packing light!}

We made it to the airport with time to spare for silliness….

And for the first time, The Cuties asked if they could be each others’ “Airplane Buddies” instead of each pairing up with a grown up.  It was as pleasant as one could say a thirteen hour plane trip could be as they sat playing and entertaining each other and settled in to sleep, and I actually had a quiet conversation with my husband before bedtime!  I could get very used to this travel plan!

We have arrived safely, all the luggage made it, and we are seeing all of our very favorite people day after day.

Jet lag is dissipating and I have managed to shop both Lululemon and Lilly Pulitzer.

All is right in my world.

Date Night

Moving to Tokyo has been a great impetus to having Date Nights with greater regularity. We now go out 2-3 nights a month without The Cuties, and I really look forward to the time with my husband and the fact that I’m pretty sure we haven’t repeated a restaurant yet, in our ten months in Japan!

Back in March, we attended the Gala for The Cuties’ school and entered a fundraising game called Heads or Tails.  Prior to the start of dinner, all the guests purchased a hat for a nominal price and stood up at their seats, choosing whether to place the hat on their head or “tail.”   The Headmaster stood in the middle of the ballroom with a coin and flipped, calling heads and tails, and if you guessed right you could stay in the game.  When all was said and done, of the hundreds of people playing, I was the last one standing!

So it was with great excitement that I won a five-course meal at the New York Grill restaurant on the 52nd floor of the Park Hyatt Hotel.  In addition to being a terrific steakhouse, it is famous for both its views of Tokyo and being the restaurant and lounge featured in the movie “Lost in Translation.” {terrific movie, by the way, and Sofia Coppola got a lot of the nuances of Tokyo as seen by Westerners down in my opinion}.  It also happened to be one of the more famous restaurants in town that we had not yet been to ~ score!

We’d heard amazing things about the view.  Here’s what it looks like on their website.  We were very excited as the hostess walked us to our table and saw that we were being seated at the center table, right alongside the windows.

Except rainy season has begun in Japan, so this was our view, LOL.

 In addition to the dinner, the prize came with several hours of chauffeur service in a Rolls Royce Ghost.  I’m not really a “car person,” but I’ve got to admit, this thing was smokin ~ it even smelled great!

Here we are getting ready to start our night {albeit a bit fuzzy due to a school-aged photographer!}.

There were a lot of buttons to play around with inside the car.  Someone was really enjoying himself with all the gadgets!  Doesn’t he look like he could really get used to this kind of life?  Maybe we should rethink this whole no car in Japan thing ~ the driver did mention the car was for sale, LOL!

There happened to be a lot of traffic getting to the restaurant so we played around taking pictures.  This one is for the Cute Grandparents!

We had such a lovely evening: great food; amazing music {especially the bass player, who was incredible!}; and a great ride.

There was even really cool, funky art in the restaurant we liked.  And I’m certain this crooked picture was an attempt to get more of it in the frame.  Yes, quite certain.  Nothing to do with the wine.  Nothing at all.

In the Bag

The Cuties and I are getting ready to head to the States for the summer and are sorting through what we need to pack up.

On my long list of things to bring with us were bags for the girls to take their things to the pool each day and also some reusable shopping bags for the grocery store.  But packing space is at a premium so I decided to combine these two so they could do double duty.

I started by giving The Cuties blank canvas tote bags {these were bought at Michael’s in America and came in 3-packs} and had them sketch their designs in colored pencils first.

They then took paint pens and Sharpies and drew over their designs.

They each chose a theme they love and these are a great size to hold their Kindles, goggles, a snack, and anything else they want to carry around with them!

And because the bags came in a three-pack and I never let an opportunity to play with Sharpies and paint pens pass me by, I got in on the act, too!

Holla Challah!

Big Cutie’s last unit in Social Studies this year was the Middle East.  So for my last Mommy baking assignment for school, she asked me to make a super-sized challah to share with her class.  There’s nothing better than the smell of challah baking in an oven, and I am in the coveted position of actually having a full-sized Western-style oven, here in Tokyo, so I was more than willing.

{This is a recipe adapted from my daughter’s Solomon Schechter Preschool class’ weekly baking.  It’s extremely easy and kid-friendly if you wish to have baking assistants in your kitchen, especially young ones!}

First dissolve 1 package of yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar into a 1/2 cup of warm water.

Next combine 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a large bowl.  Add the yeast mixture and 1 cup of warm water.  Mix in 1/3 cup of vegetable oil and 2 eggs.  Beat until smooth.  Then slowly add 3-4 more cups of flour to the mixture until you’ve made soft dough {FYI – I needed almost the full 6 cups of flour here in Japan, where it’s quite humid, and usually used closer to 5 or 5 1/2 back in Connecticut).  Your dough will look like something like this ~

Knead until smooth and elastic on a floured board.  When finished, place in a large, greased bowl, cover with a towel and let it rise until it doubles in size {approximately an hour and a half}.

It should look like this ~

Then punch the dough down and lightly knead it.

Divide the dough into three pieces and let it rise about ten minutes more.  You can now do one of two things:  make three individual challahs with your separate pieces {challah freezes really well, and these are a perfect size for a family of four for dinner} or you can make one super-sized challah for a large group {which is what I did!}.

I rolled each piece into a long strand between the palms of my hands and pinched them together at the top and placed them on my largest baking sheet.  I braided them together and pinched the ends.  Again, cover with a kitchen towel to let rise until doubled, about an hour or so.

Once the dough has risen, brush with a mixture of 1 egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of milk.

Bake at 350 for approximately 35 – 40 minutes, until golden brown and sounds “hollow” when you tap the top of the bread with your knuckles.

Big Cutie’s class enjoyed it, but I was sad I didn’t have the forethought to make one for our family at the same time ~ it’s a wee bit cruel to have your family walk in to the smell of homemade bread and not get any!

Off to the Onsen

The Cuties might think Disney is a great way to while away the day, but I beg to differ now that we’ve been to an Onsen theme park!

We started our day by selecting our yukata and obis, which are cotton kimono worn after bathing, and sashes.  It was quite fun choosing which color combinations we thought would be most fetching!

We first walked through the warm foot baths.  The Cuties were much more adventurous in walking the wandering path where the rocks were close together where you stepped!

And then the whole family had to try the Doctor Fish!

We were all a little hesitant to dip our toes in the water with fish that eat dead skin off your feet, but I promise it wasn’t that bad!  Big Cutie and I agreed that the fish up against our feet vibrated more than anything else.

Evening was starting to fall so we headed back inside where The Cuties amused themselves at the arcade and we tried our hand at ninja star throwing!

The adults headed for massages and we all met back up and checked out the many food options and picked our dinners.  There were all sorts of delicious soba, tempura, sushi  and udon.

A good time was had by all!
And despite the yummiest homemade Chu-Hi, we managed  to follow all the rules!

Year One: Almost a Wrap

In three weeks, we head back to America for our summer leave, finishing up our first year, here in Tokyo.  While technically not quite a year, the time sure has flown by!  I can’t believe how much we’ve managed to squeeze into our first ten months in Japan, and am excited about what we’ve planned for the next year.

That being said, I’m just as thrilled to head back to the States and see many of our friends and family.  We miss them all very much.  And just as much as we miss being able to visit them in person, we miss the proximity of being on the same continent, which enables you to do little things like chat on the phone while taking a walk or after the kids go to bed, instead of having to carefully check a thirteen-hour time zone difference or worry about international roaming charges!

So I’m starting to get us organized and packed up for eight weeks away from Japan and in a couple of different locations in America {yes, that means lists upon lists ~ this is me, after all!}  Top on my To Do list in the past few weeks has been to gather up some special things from Japan to bring to those people we will get to see while home.

One of the many things I’ve adored about the Japanese is their love of beautiful wrapping.  It’s everywhere.  If you buy something in any store, it will never simply be put into a bag; at the very least it will be carefully wrapped in some pretty paper and then placed into a bag and sealed shut with a sticker or tape bearing the store’s logo.  But I’ve often watched women in stores debate the perfect ribbon to coordinate with a piece of paper to purchase to gift wrap a present, or stood and watched professional gift wrappers work their magic.  It’s truly an art form here, and I’m in heaven.

And I’ve been a busy gal, here in wrapping heaven!

 There are three styles of gift wrapping I’ve adopted since living in Tokyo and I wanted to share them with you.

The first isn’t terribly different from the gift bags we have in America.  However, I’ve been amazed at the sheer volume of cellophane bags available in Tokyo, and the ease with which one can find them.  There are entire stores filled with bags of every single dimension, along with bolts of ribbon and papers with which to line them, and you can also easily find bags at the Hyaku-en shoppu {sort of the Japanese equivalent of a Dollar Store}.  These bags are used for everything from awkward-sized gifts to individually packaging treats sent into school for birthdays.

 For items in boxes or easily wrapped up in a traditional manner, I used scraps of washi from craft projects I’ve done throughout the year.  I love these beautiful designed papers and figure I may as well use them as often as possible so I can rationalize buying more!  The colors are so rich, and the paper is crisp, thick and ideal for wrapping.  You may even recognize a few of the papers from the washi ball project here.

This one is my favorite paper that I just found on my paper-making trip to Ogawamachi and couldn’t wait to use!  I love the depth of the blues and the hint of gold in the design.

 The most traditional of all the wrapping styles I used is furoshiki which is a practice that has been around for hundreds of years.  There are many ways to wrap a furoshiki and tons of stores all over Japan sell these beautiful cloths in all sorts of gorgeous patterns.  Again, this is an ideal wrapping method for irregularly sized items, and many of the tying techniques allow you to also easily carry the package.

Here’s a basic how to for the smallest packages ~

I started with the gift and a small cloth

Centered the object on the cloth

Then I wrapped one end over the item and tucked it under and did the same with the other side.

Then you simply pick up each “tail” and tie in a square knot.

And here’s the finished product with a name sticker.  I especially like the contrasting print on the other side of the fabric peeking through the ties.   The best part, of course, is that this is entirely eco-friendly and re-usable over and over again!

The countdown to the airport has definitely begun!