Today is Presley’s 9th anniversary as an Adami-Hasegawa! (You can read all about it here.) 
We’ll be celebrating this afternoon with sunshine snoozes, a game of fetch, and a feast of tuna and (a tiny piece of) cheese.
Three cheers for Presley!
P.S. Presley got her own Instagram this year.
I’ve been heading to the theater on Thursday nights this month for the Silent Film Society of Chicago‘s Silent Summer Film Fest. The movies have been shown the past six weeks at the charmingly art deco Pickwick Theater in Park Ridge. 
The Pickwick is gorgeous. Much of it is still original, like the ticket window, the tiny concessions, and the lobby, but the seats have been updated so they are nice and big and cozy, and they even rock. (I hate sitting in uncomfortable movie theater seats!) We saw The Winning of Barbara Worth, Amarilly of Clothesline Lane, and Torrent. Of the three, I thought Amarilly of Clothesline Lane was the…oddest? It had a inexplicable fire and shooting incident. And the story line was disjointed. Barbara Worth was fun and had great (for the day) effects. And Torrent had a perfect ending and an incredible wardrobe. Oddly, all three had a love triangle of some sort. Oh, and the movies all have live accompaniment by an organist, so if there’s a slow moment in the movie, at least the music is entertaining.
Sadly, the Film Fest is over, but the Pickwick is going to start showing an older movie every month. The first one is North by Northwest and I’m so excited to see that one on the big screen!
If you ask me what the latest “mainstream” or “blockbuster” movie I saw was, the answer would be really lame. (Lincoln. And before Lincoln, it was Sex & the City…the first one.) But I’m really enjoying seeing some of these old films on the big screen. What can I say? I crave simpler times.
Last Saturday the Oak Park Post Office held a celebration to mark the 80th anniversary of the building. I have to admit I was a little nervous about the whole thing after our last advisory council meeting, but man, did they ever pull it off! It was really fun to see people smiling at the post office and to hear of people’s interest in the building. Because the newspaper didn’t help publicize the event (this was the only article I could find online), most people were confused about the snacks and the extra people milling around. Once we told them, they seemed really excited and thankful to have such a beautiful building in the community. Oak Parkers love their architecture!
The post office put out a lovely spread. There were donuts, cupcakes, cookies, and coffee and fresh fruit, mini sandwiches, meatballs, and chicken salad…I wasn’t expecting so much variety! Fellow council member, Dea, and I worked at the popcorn machine handing out freshly popped bags of popcorn to customers. We even made deliveries to the ever-growing passport line and those customers seemed excited to have a little something to eat during their waits.
The Postmaster, Phil Crawford, gave tours of the building, sharing the history of the building giving us a peek at the second floor offices and the sorting room. (I’ll share more about that soon.)
And, much to my delight, there was a special postmark!! Phil gave the council members a pre-stamped envelope with the postmark (shown above). I sent a dozen postcards out to some of my penpals and bought some fantastic new stamps. It was a great day at the Oak Park Post Office!
Nijō Castle is the last site we saw on our first day in Kyoto. By the time we got there, my feet were killing me and I was tired and hungry, but when you only have three days in Kyoto, you power through. I remembered Nijō from my first trip to Japan, but I wanted to see it again. They don’t allow photographs of the inside of the castle, which is a shame because there are amazing murals and details in there. 
When you go inside the castle, you are asked to take off your shoes. The first time I went it was winter and we were given little slippers to wear. This time, I was barefoot, which made walking on the old, wooden floors a little unnerving. (Splinters!) But the floors are the most interesting part of Nijō Castle. Known as “nightengale floors”, the floor boards chirp when you walk on them. You can hear a little sample of how they sound on this Wikipedia page. The nightengale floors were an old form of a security system because the noise alerted the shogun if someone was sneaking into the castle. It really noisy in the castle with all of the tourists walking around.
Like most castles and shrines in Japan, the Nijō Castle is surrounded by amazing gardens. They have a chart on their website that notes the flowering trees you can view during the year. I’m really sure that there’s not a time in Japan when things aren’t beautiful. 
While we were in Kyoto we stayed at the Sakura Terrace. It was super close to Kyoto Station (maybe a ten minute walk) so we were able to catch a train or a bus quite easily. There is also a Mister Donut in Kyoto Station, so we were able to continue our Misdo mornings while we were away from Tokyo! The rooms at Sakura Terrace were simple and lovely, but the best part was the free (one drink) happy hour every night after 6pm. 
We enjoyed sitting on the terrace, chatting, writing postcards, and toasting to a great vacation among the hydragea every night during our stay. It was a perfect way to recover from walking all around the city all day and to gear up for dinner. Naoto enjoyed a daily dip in the Japanese baths, which is probably why he booked this hotel in the first place.
A few more Japan posts to go…are you still hanging in there?
A quick reminder, if you live in the Oak Park, IL area and want to join in on the party for the Oak Park Post Office’s 80th Anniversary, it’s happening tomorrow, Saturday, August 29th, from 10am-2pm. There will be popcorn and giveaways and a tour of the gorgeous building and a special postmark…lots of postal fun. And regular postal business will be happening too, so buy some stamps, mail your packages, snag a passport or a money order. I’m furiously writing a stack of postcards to mail out tomorrow. Write, write, write!
Inoda Coffee is another classic coffee shop in Japan. My sister-in-law, Hisae, took us there and then Naoto and I stopped in later for a quick cup of coffee and a snack after a long day of craft shopping. 
Inoda has been around since the 1940s and when you visit, it feels like not much has changed since then. The shops feel very old-school and luxurious with comfy leather chairs, classic china, and impeccable service. The servers have omotenashi (Japanese hospitality) perfected with their polite, efficient service. There are no frappes, macchiatos, or mochas here. Though they do offer a latte and “coffee with ice cream”, most of the menu is devoted to different varieties of plain ol’ (but very delicious and strong!) coffee. 
Apparently, they will prepare your coffee with the perfect amount of cream and sugar. Back in the day the owner noticed that customers were lingering over their coffees, thinking or chatting with friends, and letting their coffee get cold before they had a chance to add the cream and sugar. Then the cream and sugar wouldn’t blend properly, making the coffee less enjoyable. So he decided that the staff should add the cream and sugar so the coffee could be enjoyed immediately without interrupting the customers’ thoughts and conversation. 
There are several branches of Inoda all over Kyoto and we visited two of them, but not the “honten” (main branch). Next time!
If you want to learn more about Kyoto’s coffee culture, this episode of Core Kyoto is really good! They talk about Inoda and a few other local favorites. And while you’re on the NHK World website, this episode of Great Gear is super hokey, but it’s about the International Washoku (Japanese Cuisine) Show and some of the new food technology is really fun! (Both episodes are only available until September 2.)
Yes, I am still posting about our three month old trip to Japan…
In between the Ramen Museum and the baseball game, Naoto and I took a bullet train to Kyoto. We’ve both traveled to Kyoto before–me for work in 2008 and him for a vacation in 1988–so we had done a lot of the touristy must-sees before. But we decided to do them all again, because, well, you can’t go to Kyoto and just eat and shop at the craft stores. (More on those later.) 
I really love Kyoto. It’s older, smaller, and much quieter than Tokyo. It felt like a nice break from the crushes of people and cars and trains in Tokyo. But, it was also a little bit weird. I felt like I was in a town of fellow tourists. I know that there are millions of tourists in Tokyo, but they must be drowned out by the sheer number of Japanese people living there. Or we don’t do enough touristy things in Tokyo? 
On our first day, we knocked out some major tourist attractions. We went to Gion, the “Geisha District” of Kyoto and saw the Yasaka Shrine. (See the top two pictures…not a lot to say because “you’ve seen one shrine, you’ve seen them all”.) The we started the long, uphill stroll to the Kiyomizu Temple, which offers amazing views of Kyoto. 
On the way up to the temple there are hundreds of little shops offering souvenirs and snacks (including cucumbers-on-a-stick!) and waving school children to keep you entertained. Oh, and tourists dressed in full kimono-wear are a common sighting all over Kyoto. For about $35 you can rent a kimono and have your hair and make-up done. (You couldn’t pay me $35 to walk around in a hot kimono and wooden flip flops.) 
Selfie sticks were everywhere in Kyoto and several times we wished we had one. So many cut-off heads in our Kyoto pictures! 
At the end of the walk down from the Temple there is the Otowa waterfall. According to legend, if you make a wish and sip the water, your wish will come true. I did this when I visited in 2008 and my wish did come true. I sort of regret not waiting in line to make a new wish with Naoto. 
On the way back, we stopped at a little stand and shared a melon kakigori (shave ice–a must-eat when you are in Japan in the summer!). It was so refreshing on such a hot day! 
As we were leaving the Temple, we happened upon a mobile post office!! (Now you know why I was so excited for the possibilities of a mobile post office here at home!) They were selling stamps and summer edition postcards and offering a special Kiyomizu Temple postmark! 
I had to write the postcards right then and there in order to get the fancy postmark, so I could only write a few since we were hot, tired, and hungry. But what wonderful serendipity to happen upon the Japan Post!
A few months ago on Twitter, I admitted that I was shopping for kaftans. I’ve been on a huge Three’s Company kick all summer, finding myself more interested in Mrs. Roper’s wardrobe than the storylines. If you’ve ever watched Three’s Company you know that every episode revolves around some sort of misunderstanding. But Mrs. Roper’s kaftans just keep getting better and better! The kaftans are so over-the-top fabulous and comfortable looking that I decided I needed one of my own. While I was deciding, we started chatting (on Twitter) about kaftans and Mrs. Roper and we all decided that we should get together and wear kaftans and lounge on the lanai. The Mrs. Roper Party was born.
I didn’t need to send invitations, but I had these fantastic Three’s Company theme song postcards from Zerobird Studio, so I sent them as little reminders about the party. 
I had so much fun looking through old cookbooks and Pinterest for late 70s/early 80s recipes. For appetizers, Katie made crab dip, served on a groovy platter and I made a cheese ball, (I cut this recipe in half and used pimentos instead of green chiles and chopped cashews instead of pecans.) served with classic Ritz crackers. 
And I made a Jello mold! It wasn’t beautiful (My peach slices didn’t stay put and ended up floating around instead of making a pretty ring…rookie mistake) but it was delicious. And it was my first time using my vintage Tupperware mold and worked like a charm! For dinner we ate pineapple chicken (I used this recipe, but substituted canned pineapple for fresh, because 1970s…) and store bought fried chicken.
As much as I wanted to stay on theme and make a Southern Comfort punch for the party, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I made a classic cocktail, the Sidecar. (Thanks, Kathy, for the photo above!) I was going to serve Brandy Alexanders with dessert, but we finished the brandy thanks to bartender Naoto keeping our glasses constantly filled. 
We had chocolate fondue for dessert. My parents gave me a vintage 1970s fondue pot and this was the first time I used it. (Fondue was so easy that I’m not sure why we don’t do it more often.)
The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for lanai lounging. My only regret is that we didn’t get a full-length picture of us all in our kaftans. Other than that, 1970s entertaining is easy living. Not only did I get to throw on a breezy kaftan, but I could have made most of the recipes out of my pantry. Normally I’m rushing around buying fresh produce and chopping fruits and vegetables for party recipes. This time, I opened cans and boxes–Jello, canned peached, canned pineapple, crackers…everything just got tossed together. 1970s hostessing is amazing!
Thanks to Katie, Donovan, and Kathy for being up for a kaftan party and to Naoto for taking care of all of us Saturday night.
Next up…sometime in the future…a Golden Girls party complete with cheesecakes!
It was such a great weekend around here! On Friday night, some friends and I went to FitzGerald’s to see Kings of the Keyboard, an event hosted by Chris Ligon and Heather McAdams, the same duo who put on the Everything But Country Calendar Show last year. 
Chris and Heather brought together a wide variety of amazing musicians: Daniel Souvigny, a fourteen year old piano genius, Chris Foreman, a famous organ player who plays at the Green Mill, Paul Lewis, pianist for the Joffrey Ballet, Charlie Pierce and Choctaw Wilfire, a honkey tonk band from Austin, Chris Ligon who played hilarious songs on the Baldwin Fun Machine, and Scott Ligon and the Letter 3 who are so much fun to listen to (and I promise I’m not biased as Scott is my friend’s husband). 
Each act played a few songs and in between, Heather played an amazing collection of 16mm films of old keyboard acts. It was a non-stop cornucopia of entertainment!
I feel so lucky to live so close to FitzGerald’s.
On Wednesday I attended our August meeting of the USPS Consumer Advisory Council. We spent most of the meeting recapping the Oak Park Farmers Market and planning for the 80th anniversary celebration next weekend.
The mobile post office made over $500 at the Farmers Market during its four hour stay! That was with the challenge of not being able to take credit cards (thanks to a broken generator and no access to power.) One of the concerns with the mobile post office was that it might hurt the business at the regular post office, but the main post office maintained its sales numbers. Because of this success, the USPS is planning to do more farmers markets and bring the mobile post office into the shopping areas of Oak Park, too. I suggested selling those stamped postcards and having a table for postcard writing near the mobile post office. It would be so great to see a mini letter social at the farmers market!
Plans are rolling along for the 80th anniversary celebration. Press releases were sent to the local newspapers, though none have been printed or posted online yet. I’ve posted it below. The event will be happening next Saturday, August 29th from 10AM-2PM. There will be tours of the post office, including the second floor and the sorting room. (The committee got a tour of the sorting room a few months ago and it was fascinating to see how the mail and packages are sorted.) And there will be a display of old pictures from the ground breaking to the finished building. And…there will be a special postmark!! Woohoo! (I’m hoping to have a stack of mail ready to go!) If you live in the area, please come! 
kimberly ah 