Japanese Pedicures

So everyone enjoys a pedicure right? Me being the "thrifty" girl that I am, I did not have my first one done until 2012 (had never had a manicure either)! Not that being thrifty is bad, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing your own nails, especially if you are like me and have FIFTEEN different polish colors (not including the matching glitter to go with). Now I have had about three pedicures, and just experience my first one here in Okinawa. Let me tell you. It was magical....

Excited on the way to the salon



I went with two friends to a salon called Cocok (pronounced Coco's). It was located right on the coast above another building, you would not find it if you didn't know what you were looking for. You could see the water from your chair and, the door was left open so there was a nice breeze of fresh air through the entire experience. We had fresh tea to sip on while our feet and legs were soaked and then massaged with essential oils.

When you sit in the chair they hand you this rather LARGE book of nail designs to go through and pick what you want for your toes. I kid you not there is about one hundred and fifty to two hundred different designs and they are all gorgeous. Needless to say it took me at least forty-five minutes to decide. When all the wonderful soaking, rubbing, and moisturizing was over it was time to paint. I chose a bright floral pattern with several colors for my first Japanese pedicure, that way it would match a few outfits.

The girl painted my toes a happy bright blue, afterwards using a cotton ball to sponge on the yellow and red (never would have thought of doing that). Then she had the skinniest little brush, dipped it in some liquid black paint (I think it was acrylic paint) and proceeded to draw these tiny black flowers! The final touch was single pieces of glitter she placed in the center of the flower instead of a rhinestone with I loved! Rhinestones fall off so easily and the glitter is flat so it lasts much longer.

Sorry my feet aren't the cutest;) my brother says they look like pork chops haha



Needless to say I was extremely happy about how it turned out! I will definitely be going back (maybe for my birthday;) for special occasions. It is a wonderful experience and a good time to catch up with friends.

Sand and Shell Mirror

Well I did it! I completed my first project in Okinawa. I had seen a lot of beautiful mirrors on Pinterest and I was aching to spice up a mirror when I got here! Eventually I want to cover one completely in shells but for now I just went with mostly sand and a few shells and sea glass here and there. This is such a great way to beautify a boring mirror and create a focal piece in a room.

Nick and I were exploring a recycle (consignment) store near our house when we found a full length mirror for $12. I had seen others but I needed one with a wider frame for more surface area for shells. I still might add a shell here and there because I always see more potential in something, put for now I am really happy with how it turned out.

Supplies:

• Mirror with atleast a 1 inch flat frame
• bottle of regular Elmers glue
• cheap paint brush
• bowl of water
• painters tape and paper
• glue gun
• 3 cups of sand (varies for mirror size)
• shells or other beach treasures

 

Directions:

• Place painters tape around the inside of the mirror covering the reflective part to keep them sand and glue free. I put paper in the middle and taped around the edges to use less tape. Put paper or plastic under the mirror to keep the floor clean (this gets pretty messy! Good thing I did it in the kitchen). 
• Once the entire reflective glass surface is covered, squeeze glue onto section of the frame, I usually did 1 foot at a time. Spread the glue with your paintbrush to cover the frame, if glue is really thick, dip paintbrush in bowl of water to help spread the glue around, then let the glue air out for about 1-2 minutes (makes glue more tacky).   
• Then pour your sand over glue. When done pouring, use paper towel to press on sand into glue but be sure not to smear. Allow that section to dry for 30 minutes before shaking off excess sand. Continue all the way around till entire mirror frame is covered in sand (this is the part that takes a while, some areas might need a second coat of glue and sand).
• When your mirror frame is covered in sand and the glue has dried, shake off all the excess sand and clean up sand.
• Next plug in your glue gun. While heating up, take your beach treasures (I used shells, sea glass, and some dried coral) and place them in the desired pattern around the frame.
• Glue each shell or decoration down with the hot glue until your entire pattern is glued and dry.
• Hang your finished project and enjoy!

 

I really like how the mirror turned out. It was a perfect edition to our Charleston room to help beautify our boring base housing walls. Mirrors always help open up any room and make it feel bigger so I would definitely do this project again if the opportunity comes. 

My lovely Valentines

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentines and a good past two weeks! Sorry it's taken me so long to put up more posts, I can't really decide yet if blogging is for me or not. I enjoy looking at other peoples posts and such, but I seems to be extremely time consuming......so! We'll see if I can stick with it or not.

So Valentines in Okinawa is actually celebrated a lot like they do in the US. Flowers, candy, cards etc., except from what I gather the women are supposed to give gifts to the men more than the other way around. Sadly, this is where I fell short this year and I felt like such a bad wife. I had this awesome dinner planned out and went to the Japanese grocery for all the foods and supplies I needed for dessert but totally forgot to get a card (and I LOVE giving cards!!). And, as I should have guessed, my absolutely wonderful husband got me chocolate (my favorite), a cute card, and 30 beautiful red roses. Believe me I was feeling like quite a jerk when I didn't even write in a little card just to remind him how much I love him.

Thankfully he knows that I do love him, with my whole heart:) Even if I haven't done a very good job of showing it lately. We still had a delicious dinner with our friends Mackenzie and Jake. We grilled bacon wrapped filet minion, sautéed mushrooms, salad, spinach dip, roasted garlic and toast, and for dessert we had chocolate covered strawberries, truffles, and cake.  

 

 

 

 

This is the pic of my chocolate covered strawberry roses I made. I just melted some semisweet chocolate then dipped the strawberries while they were on the skewers and put them straight into the vase to dry. By the end of the night I'm pretty sure I was in a sugar coma but it was totally worth the extra time it took to make the strawberries.  

 

All in all, Valentines Day was amazing! I've never been one of those people who thinks it is just a hallmark holiday. I love any excuse I can find to get dressed up and make a nice dinner for my man. Next  year though it's my turn to try and surprise him:)

I hope everyone has a wonderful week, Happy Monday!

Oki Adventures

Nick and I have officially been in Okinawa for a month! I can't believe it has been that long already. I can safely say though, this has been the most productive month of my life!
So far we have:

• Moved to a new country
• got new phones and numbers
• took a new drivers exam (we have to drive on the left side!)
• purchased two cars and insurance
• moved into a new apt building
• bought new dinning room, den, and bedroom furniture
• almost decorated the entire place (aside from my personal projects in each room)
• Nick started his new job
• I am continuing the job search
• found time to do some island exploring with our friends

There was so much packed into the first week and a half on the island that it flew by! We purchase one of our vehicles from a previous owner off of  http://okinawa.bookoo.com/ where they have great prices (this one was $2,600), you just have to transfer the title and purchase insurance. My mini jeep "baby blue!"

 

As for our other vehicle, we purchased it from B.C. Used Cars. It was a little more expensive ($3,400....I know CHEAPPPP compared to cars back home) but it came with a 1 year warranty and the road tax and insurance are all taken care of at the dealership so it was extremely convenient. Meet "the shagging wagon2!"

 

 

In between getting cell phones, taking our driving test and getting cars we had a few firsts. Our first REAL Japanese sushi IN Japan. It was everything I imagined and more. The tastes and colors were simple and incredibly fresh. Just looking at this picture makes me want more.

 

 

This is American Village. It has American stores and restaraunts and it is very light up at night. A beautiful place but also very touristy.

 

My first Japanese drink from their vending machines.

 

 The vending machines have both hot and cold drinks.

 

For our first "date night" in Japan we decided to try their McDonald's. I know crazy right? It was actually so nice inside and the food was delicious! The presentation of our food very closely matched the menu pictures (unlike back in the U.S.) and the staff actually approached us to throw our trash away! I can't say I'll go back anytime soon as I prefer fresh sushi and Japanese food over fast food but it was quite a unique experience.

 

There is so much to say about what we have discovered in Okinawa, so more stories and adventures of our first month here are soon to come!

 

Chicken and Mushrooms in Garlic White Wine Sauce with Okinawan Sweet Potatoes

Ok so you know there is about a MILLION different ways you can cook chicken. And, depending on where you are located in the beautiful world, there are so many different sides to serve with your main chicken entre.

Now that I find myself in Okinawa, Japan, with so many new vegetables and meats typically only available in the USA at high end or whole foods groceries, I have decided to experiment with new combinations and recipes! So far this chicken and potato dish has been my favorite (a.k.a. Nick's favorite;). I found the recipe on http://www.skinnytaste.com/, a fabulous site with lower calorie recipes packed with great ingredients and delicious flavors. This recipe serves about 4 people but you can always double it.

Chicken & Mushrooms in Garlic White Wine Sauce

Ingredients:

• 8 chicken tenderloins, 16 oz total (I used 2 chicken breasts sliced into 4 strips)
• 2 tsp butter
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2-3 TBSP all purpose flour* (can also use coconut or almond flour)
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 12 oz sliced mushrooms (I used Shitake and Enoki mushrooms)
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/3 cup fat free chicken broth
• salt and fresh pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

 Enoki mushrooms
Directions:

Preheat oven to 200°. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Lightly dredge in flour.

Heat a large skillet/wok on medium heat; when hot add 1 tsp butter and 1 tsp olive oil. Add chicken to the skillet and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side, or until chicken is no longer pink. Set aside in a warm oven.

Add additional oil and butter to the skillet, then garlic and cook a few seconds; add mushrooms, salt and pepper stirring occasionally until golden, about 5 minutes.

Add wine, chicken broth, parsley; stir the pan with a wooden spoon breaking up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook a few more minutes or until the liquid reduces by half. Top the chicken with the mushroom sauce and serve.

Okinawan Mashed Sweet potatoes

Ingredients:

• 3-4 purple Okinawa Sweet potaoes
• 1/3 cup coconut milk
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1/3 tsp salt to taste
• Dash of pepper to taste
• 1 TBSP of margarine or butter to taste

Directions:

Peel potatoes and boil in water for about 45 minutes until soft (can tke longer than regular sweet potatoes). Drain the water and mash with coconut milk. Add more milk to reach desired consistency. Add garlic, salt, pepper, and butter to taste. Heat on medium low heat and stir occasionally for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.

Purple Potatoes!

Purple water

 

 

The Finished Meal! If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment. I really enjoyed this meal and I hope you do too!

Projects

My "Martha Stewart" of a Mother was kind enough to pass on to me her creative brain, green thumb, and love for all things crafty! I constantly have all of these ideas floating around in my head from art projects, to the transformation of ordinary household items. Tag along as I tackle each venture to make my home and the things around me a little more beautiful.

 

 

Food

Fun

Since I was young I have enjoyed drawing, and painting, and now I have a new hobby to throw in, capturing people and nature in photography. Some of these are from beautiful Charleston, SC! I can't wait to capture the beauty Okinawa has to offer.

 

 

Cooper River Bridge- Charleston, SC

 

Folly Beach, SC

 

Folly Beach, SC

 

 

St. Marteen

 

 

Seaside Mermaid- Okinawa, Japan

 

 

Rocky Cove- Okinawa, Japan

 

 

Okinawa, Japan

So there ya go!! Old and New! I hope to take a nice series of pictures to frame and mount in our den in our base housing (more pics of our home later;).