I think about you everyday.

On a Friday night...

not the dress she chose, but isn't she stunning.



another dress, but not the one. can't show the one until the wedding.




On a Friday night Mamiko, Hiroe, and Ayaka came over. We had cheese fondue. Mamiko's boyfriend came over and brought a case of beer. He watched as we danced. We tried our hand at core rhythm. It was something else...

Sunday was surely spent at the Nestle Cafe eating cookies and working at my grad school applications. If not trolling the vintage stores in search of bits of this and that. In fact... on my way to have some munchies in Chinatown I found a lovely little vintage store where I got a very cute purple velvet skirt.

After fla (hula) on Monday, Ayaka invited me to come with her and her mother and father to her dress fitting. It was at the place where she would be having her wedding. It was a lovely day. Very sunny and quite warm. I remember discussing music... specifically lovely, romantic songs appropriate for her wedding. I remember she liked The First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes, Beirut, and Sea of Love by Cat Power. I wrote them down for her and she kept the paper in her purse. I listened while she talked with her parents and sometime she translated... there was a story about a mishapped day with her parents, aunt, and uncle in Kyoto on a train with no windows that takes you out to see the wonderful fall leaves. We stopped at a large warehouse affiliate with her father's work (he works in illumination) and we ate big bowls of spicy ramen for lunch. They were filled with spicy hot kimuchi and it was delicious. On the side there were spring rolls and for dessert we ate fried balls of translucent looking rice dough covered in sesame seeds and filled with red bean paste. I learnt what they were called but I have since forgotten. We were early for the fitting so we dropped her dad and their dog at the park for a stroll and we went to a little outdoor foot bath next to a convenience store. There was a trullace covered with vines that shaded everyone as we sat on the benches around the steaming hot pool and dunked our feet in. It was just like stewing in a steaming hot pot of soup! All we needed were carrots and sprigs of thyme. It reminded me of the Three Little Pigs and how the big bad wolf ends up in that big black cauldron at the end, scalding his poor little bum off. Really, it was so hot. The women's legs were red as beets from the water line down, it was just like they were wearing thick red woolly socks. Everyone was much braver than I- I could only take in small doses and kept taking my feet out to cool off before plunging them back in. Anyways though, it was quite lovely. It would be beautiful if they had these kind of things in Canada, especially in the winter... it would be so nice to sit in the snow with your tootsies all warm like that.

The fitting was so much fun. We toured the different rooms and I saw the hall and garden where Ayako would have her wedding. I think it will be quite beautiful. The fitting room was magnificent! It was just like a dream.
There was a whole row of beautifully bustled and wonderfully meranguey dresses from end to end. And they were arranged by colour, from snow white to ivory and pale pink to reds and oranges, greens and blues and purples. It was marvelous! There were two big change rooms at either end of the room and little round tables to sit at and drink tea. It was like one big closet with a sitting room inside. It was great. Ayako had already really made up her mind as to what dress she wanted, but she wanted to try on some others for comparisons sake. But you know how it's hard to look at anything when you have something in mind already, so she had her mother and I pick some dresses for her. We combed the racks and picked a couple out and as her mom saw how deliriously happy I was at the sight of all this taffeta she asked the lady if I could try on a dress too! It was so exciting! My first wedding dress! I picked the puffiest, most adorned, sparkly, white dress of them all and it was so much fun. I got to go in the changing room and wear the special corset and bloomers and they lady helped me get into the dress and i looked like a cupcake! A felt like a cross between a meringue and a ballerina. We had so much fun and took a thousand zillion pictures and tried on tiaras and bows and all sorts of adornments. After dresses upon dresses the decision was reaffirmed and we went back to her poor dad and dog that had been sitting in the car all the while.

On the way home we stopped at toys 'r' us Japanese version to get a present for ayako's niece and i got steph a fun sushi maker toy where you can make sushi rolls that look like pigs and hearts and cats and bears and flowers and all this cool stuff. And that was that, the end.