egg salad.

its september 1st!? i don't believe it. the past few months flew by far too quickly & there's no way i'm even remotely prepared for the approaching fall season. the summer brought many monumental events to my life, including a visit from one of my favorite people ever--katie prater! she came during my summer holiday, so we had plenty of time to travel everywhere & destroy everything in our path. literally.

first stop: tokyo. i was a wreck waiting for her at the airport. we both cried when we saw each other (its because we're in love). as we were on the train headed to the hotel, there was an earthquake. a couple hours later, a typhoon hit japan. the next night, another earthquake: bigger & scarier. she's most certainly to blame for all these natural disasters. here are some photos from tokyo:

tokyo tower.

our ryokan (traditional japanese hotel)...the night before the scary earthquake.

shopping in shibuya. do you see katie?

(this is my favorite photo i've taken with my new camera!)

second stop: mt. fuji (my 4th time!). last may, katie's best friend, maura, past away due to cancer. maura loved to travel & her dream was to explore the world, so her mom ask katie to spread some of her ashes in japan. when katie asked me to consider where we could do this, i knew instantly that mt. fuji would be the appropriate place. i don't have any photos of fuji, because we used katie's camera. so, use your imagination. the day we set foot on fuji was a "lord of the rings" type day. the fog was thick, the ground was moist & the air was still. as we climbed, we perused our path for a place to release the ashes. a while into our hike, katie pointed out a quiet cliff, we both agreed it was an ideal spot. as we reached the cliff, the clouds suddenly parted, revealing a royal blue sky as well the breathtaking summit. at that exact moment, we knew maura was with us. as we released her ashes, we rejoiced over her beautiful life she led & thanked god for her presence. minutes later, the summit disappeared, clouds formed a blanket over us & fog surrounded us yet again. what a miraculous experience!

third stop: kyoto. we were crazed ladies, out to see everything this ancient city had to offer. & see everything--that's exactly what we did! here are only a few photos from kyoto:

we took a 'fune' down the hozu river into an old town in kyoto, called arashiyama.

it was so amazing!!

we saw the wonderful kyomizu dera.

& of course, nanzen ji.

fourth stop: okayama. one of my favorite things in the world is introducing my different friends to each other. in okayama, i got to introduce katie to my friends i've met in japan: makensie & anthea. we had an amazing time together, karaoke-ing & dancing the night away. it was one of the greatest nights ever!!

the four of us.

my new favorite breakfast place (because of the vegetarian quiche!).

...so, that was the basic outline our trip! as always, thanks for reading, i promise i'll write more this month! & share new pictures (once i figure out how to use my new camera correctly!). i love you all, very dearly.

katie--i miss you! when are you coming back??