crisp touch of fall

Fall is coming, fall is coming! No more humidity! That's what I like. :) It's gradually getting cooler and cooler. Today it's currently 73°F (22-ish°C), with a bit of a breeze. My toes are pretty chilly since I'm sitting right next to the open window. And I hear the ice-cream truck tune playing outside. When is that guy gonna' stop coming around? Jeez. October??

Anywho, things are a bit busier now as it turns out, these days. Ummm....jeez where did I leave off with all this job bullsh*t? Hard to keep track sometimes. The interview with Panera Bread was a no-go. Went in and ended being 10 minutes LATE because of traffic (yeah yeah the usual excuse), because a local firehouse had taken up a huge chunk of the main street to try to collect donations from cars. But my lateness went unnoticed anyway because when I arrived it was about 2pm, and the place was slammed with the lunch-rush. I ended waiting about 12 minutes for the manager to come out to speak to me. The usual questions were asked, yadda yadda and only $8 an hour for cashiering? Ehhhh..... And you'd like it if I could come in really early to work, at about 5am?..........wow. That's frickin' early.

I left after that and since then haven't received a call back. Whatever.

So it turns out that I'm going to do the dog-walking part-time job. The dog-lady (her name is Ellen but I call her that so Takeshi knows who I'm talking about lol) left me an email saying that I can probably start this next Monday. She said she'd be calling me today, but I have no idea when since she is evidently returning from vacation somewhere. This is a good thing.

But on top of that going through, I got an email earlier this week from a design agency in D.C. which I had sent my resume to, to set up a phone interview with me. The president of the agency ended being the one to call me yesterday (which is different), and we chatted for about 15 minutes about what I expected of a position, salary etc. So now I'm scheduled to go in for an in-person interview this next Thursday at 4:30pm.

I knew that once I got the dog-walking job, I wasn't going to STOP looking for a design job. No way. I just hoped that I wouldn't get into this very kind of situation, where I've committed to one person, but am having the opportunity to get a better job almost right away after starting the first job. Ellen is a very very nice lady, but I will drop this job, if I'm offered the graphic design job. I can only hope that it will be as non-uncomfortable as possible. Lol.

So mum and dad, people who are interested - we shall see won't we? I'll keep you posted.

In other (sudden) exciting news, we're probably going to NYC next weekend! Yaaayy. We'll probably leave AT THE CRACK OF DAWN tomorrow (Sat.) drive up to perhaps New Jersey, check in sometime, and then ride the subway into New York. The big motivator for going is that there are not really any hair salons that Takeshi fully trusts to do his hair the way he wants it. I guess this means giving him a haircut that guys like getting back home in Japan. There is a hair salon in NYC that he knows will do it right, and he's about due for a haircut. And also, I'll probably get a haircut myself. My old haircut has grown out, and it would be nice to get a new haircut for the interview as well!

We're also thinking of trying to get to Mitsuwa, a huge Asian/mainly Japanese grocery store/super store? in New Jersey. So that should be cool too. We'll drive back on Sunday at some point and be back in time for me to do the dog-walking the next day, on Monday. Should be a BITCH to wake up so early tomorrow though. Takeshi mentioned a time, something like 5am? Shit. I am not a morning person and he knows it. Lol. But I can suck it up when I need to.

I love New York City because it's so amazing of course, and also it holds many memories for us, since it's the place Takeshi took me to before we left to go live in Japan. It's the last place I saw before I left the U.S. (and at the time, didn't think I was going to be back for a while)

So to end, here are some photos again. The first few are some "home decor" things we bought at Ikea this past weekend of the apartment. And after are some photos from this past weekend also, when we went to an event in my home-state, the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Have a good weekend everyone.



Decorative "tree/bush" in pot

Wine rack! We need to buy some screws so that the thing doesn't brake off the wall from the weight of wine bottles lol, before we put the bottles on it

A mirror! The first mirror we've ever had, aside from the bathroom mirror - what are we vampires? And we need.....screws! to put it up finally

Oil painting still in the works since last. year.



Me in the center with my two friends who are working at the festival this year! They work there as original historical figures, wearing the traditional clothing of the time