Thanksgiving in Sacramento

I'll be brief, not only because I'm about a month late on this post, but because I'm running out of time. Sometimes you just need weekend with your girls. I keep telling myself that I'm going to move out west to be closer to them, but life keeps getting in the way. But sometimes, life lets you remember what you're missing out on.

I flew to Sacramento on Thanksgiving day. I give thanks to all of my loved ones, including the ones that hosted me during my favorite holiday. There isn't much to document: a few laughs here, a could of stories there. But there is something about spending time with old friends that get you, that makes you realize how much you've been missing. 

Bunny book and Nana

Baggage claim, is hilarious in SMF

Bestie and me, and her dad in the background

Thanksgiving dinner

My contribution

Old high school girls! I miss them so much

My undoing

Hangover cure, blue dressing fries

Getting ready to go out again

90's cover band time

Back in the airplane

Familiar sight: O'Hare at Christmas

Thank you to all my lovelies to hosted me and took care of me during my unfortunate trip back to my younger years. I can never forgive myself. 

-Akemi

November December Randoms

These past few months have been difficult in our family. But family gets through things together. 2015 has gone by and a brand new year is upon us. Here are a few last moments of 2015.

Chamoyada 

Tights and tweet

Pure new garden

Inspired by Mad Men 

Packed lunch

Stop by the food truck for some morning energy

Pumpkin croissants

Pumpkin bread

Beautiful pastries from Mirabelle's

Tomato, basil, goat cheese salad with balsamic dressing

Yellow cauliflower

Newf babies

Chicken thigh, green beans and Swiss chard

Date night at Wedge. 10 tacos for two

Butternut squash soup

Office time

Winter outfit

Fall=Apple Picking

When I was younger, I used to imagine a Winter covered in snow, just like some modern day muggles imagine Hogwarts. It was foreign and mysterious. Basically a fantasy and imaginary world that soon turned into a harsh reality after a few years under my belt as a Mainlander. But Fall... Fall has very little downside in my book. 

Given that there is no Fall in Hawaii, you can probably imagine why this season still holds its novelty. The leaves, the cool air, the sweaters and boots, the hot apple cider and s'mores; Autumn just speaks to me like no other time of year.

When I look back on our time here in Champaign Urbana, there are few locations that excite me like Curtis Orchard and Pumpkin Patch. The sights, the smells, the small town feeling of isolation and no place feels more like Fall to me. So we packed up and met our friends for some family fun.

The trees are turning

Leaves everywhere

Look up

Apple cider donut

Apple picker 

Picking apples right off the tree

Corn maze

It was actually a pretty cold evening, so we went indoors to warm up with the hot apple cider. Apple butter and pumpkin pies fill the air of the indoor shop of the orchard. But my eyes are on the apple chipotle barbecue sauce. No visit to the orchard is complete without BBQ sauce. Pork chops will be in our future. But for now, my Fall appetite is satisfied with our annual visit to Curtis.

Happy Fall everyone!

-Akemi-chan

Roman Holiday: Day Four: Vatican City

I am not religious. I know almost nothing about Christianity and even less about the Vatican. I heard the Pope hangs out there occasionally. Haha. All kidding aside, the Vatican was closer to our rental than the city center of Rome, so why not? 

Fountains everywhere

The Pope makes appearances at St Peter's Basilica every Wednesday and Sunday. Since our last day was a Wednesday, we had no other options to visit the Vatican. By choice, we went after the Pope spoke. 

Beautiful day

I don't like crowds. Something about the unorganized chaos of pushy strangers makes me anxious. Not to mention that my new husband is about a foot taller than me, so if we got separated, he would have a hard time finding me in a crown. This especially proved to be true when we visited Tokyo. So we opted to visit in the afternoon, after the Pope spoke, in hopes that the crowd would have died down.

Little did we know that the crowd at the Vatican does not die down until about 4pm. Since there is no entrance fee for St Peter's Basilica, flocks of tourist come to visit the monument and the line seemed about a mile long. 

St Peter's Square is quite remarkable. the tall columns and ten foot tall statues of saints form an oval surrounding an obelisk and with the church as it's main focal point. Everything is proportionate, so everything looks smaller than it actually is. According to our handy little guidebook, many of the optical illusions in and surrounding the church are made to seem grand, but not intimidating. After all this is a place of worship, you want people to feel welcome.

So, in an effort to avoid the long queue, we went to some local eateries to grab a bite. More food to go and gelato never hurt anyone. 

Fish suppli from FaFaMi Loboratoio Gastronomio

Misto frito, kinda like tempura

Now, Rome is beautiful, the Vatican is opulent, but nothing compares to this. If I had to recommend one place to eat in all of Rome, it would be a little gelato shop called Hedera. I ordered a small cone with hazelnut and dark (and I mean DARK) chocolate. Hubby got persimmon and ricotta. I won. It was so good, that I almost forgot to take a picture, hence the picture of the half-eaten gelato. So rich and creamy and yet light. So satisfying, so decadent, so worth coming to Rome.

On the wall surrounding the Vatican

After our little nom nom detour, we went back to the long queue, which was only half as long at this point. A brisk 30 minutes later, we were through security and on our way to St Peter's.

Swiss Guard (extra small)

Nuns, so legit

Giant columns

Michelangelo's Pieta

U of I represent, haha

Sunset

In front of Castel Sant Angelo, former castle and fortress, now museum

Our last restaurant meal in Rome was at La Scala Trastevere, just a few blocks from our apartment. I'm not going to lie, I was dead tired at this time, so my appetite was not what it normally is. So we decided to opt out of wine, and just share three dishes. And no dessert, because how could we possibly top Hedera?

Bruschetta with black truffles

Carbonara

Veal saltimbocca

Our little corner of Rome

The rest of our time in Rome was spent sleeping, in transit or at the airport. Even the airport food tastes better. 

My last cappuccino in Rome

Business class champagne

Salad and salmon pancakes

Herb crusted fish, risotto and veggies

Ice cream with berries and nuts

Bose headphone time

Up in the clouds

After a stop in JFK and O'Hare, we finally made it back to Champaign and enjoyed a nice quiet weekend at home. Rome was everything I hoped it would be a more. The history, the culture, the food, the beautiful weather. It was exactly what we needed after a year of wedding planning. 

Thank you to all of our friends and family. It was your generosity that made this trip possible. We love you all and look forward to many more adventures as Mr. and Mrs.

-Akemi-chan