Mihoko on TV!!

WOW!! It was soooo much fun!! This TV shoot was for English as a foreign language program for Cambridge University Press ;D
So excited to be in a TV studio! Being surrounded by all the filming gears reminds me of my father. Shake hands with everyone. The energy is super cheerful and sparkly! Everyone is so sweeeeet and I am in heaven.

(from left back row: Beth, Dina, Dave, Mike; front row: Kerry and me in my recent favorite outfit :P)

First, Dina explains what Kerry going to ask me in the interview: regarding my background and experiences in the United States. Dave puts a microphone on my waist and I feel like I am an important person ;P The lights shine on my face and I get super hot, maybe because I am so excited! Bob Nesson, the cinematographer, takes tons of pictures of me. (He took this pic so too bad he is not in the picture!) I ask if I can take pictures of him. I take many pics. He has such a sweet smile surrounded by his puffy, fluffy, energy exploding hair. I cannot think of any other hairstyles for him! He is a photographer, director and environmentalist at his company Nesson Media :D

The gorgeous producer Beth Cloutier has such a positive pleasant personality and I already love her. She attended the same school with me, the School of Visual Arts in New York City! Now she is a producer and a cinematographer, has her own company, Acazia Studios, and travels all over the world! ;D What an ideal life!

Finally, Daniel (sadly not in this picture either!) places the film slate in front of the camera and... "Action!"

The film shoot was at this pink neon place, CCTV studio! ;))) They will let me know when this program is on TV:D After this fun acting gig, I came outside and felt the delicious breeze... then I realized it was already dark out! I looked up the sky and found the big orange full moon!! That's why it was such a perfect day!! Feeling the amazing full moon energy and I smiled ;D

Muscle Inspiration ;D

Went to see my super strong beautiful friends, Maria and Tom at NPC New England Championships 2010! Tom trained her for 5 years and this time she won the first place in Figure Overall category! ;D Woohooo!!

Here is Maria's super strong & sweet husband Tom on the right and his friend Robert on the left :) Thanks to Tom and Maria, we could be in the backstage and hanging out with muscle men & women!

And guess whom we saw! Mr. Olympia, Jay Cutler!!
Bought a gorgeous black & white picture of him for inspiration and asked for his autograph.

And then he gave us his precious book "CEO Muscle";D Jay Cutler is the guy with big muscles AND a big heart!! Now I should hit a gym~!! ;)))

Thai cooking class with Emilie Hardman!

I Love Green Papaya Salad. Whenever I go to a Thai restaurant, I order Green Papaya Salad and Pad Thai. That's my regular order ;D When I saw a posting about Boston Vegetarian Society inviting Emilie Hardman from Conscious Kitchen for Thai cooking class and one of the dishes was Green Papaya Salad, I was sold!!
Here is Emilie, who has such a warm personality and positive energy, holding a perfect "Green" Papaya! :D

Here is her recipe for "Som Tam" (Green Papaya Salad)!
It is essential to use a mortar and pestle to mash and grind the vegetables until papaya softened and its color turns more transparent. That is the key to make yummy Som Tam! Now I know many restaurants omit this part because most of the Green Papaya Salad I see doesn't have transparent color like this.

Me and my new friends: mortar and pestle ;D This requires a lots of energy and time! Now I have a new respect to Green Papaya Salad ;)))

Follow a bumble bee! :D

Saturday Field Trip for Ecology class ;) What a fun assignment: to follow insects around in the angelic Garden in the Woods!
Here is a beautiful hard-working bumble bee landing on Black Cohosh (Actaea Racemosa).

In this precious wildflower garden, Garden in the Woods, there are more than 1,000 native plants including rare and endangered species. This field trip was about pollination syndrome. I really enjoyed your class, the wonderful professor Mark Leighton and the awesome TA Jen Palacio! The best class happens outside, under the sun ;)

Nature makes amazingly gorgeous patterns...

Found a super natural green roof ;D

This could be a dazzling chandelier design, don't you think?!

Wow! Lucky me! "Tombo" (Dragonfly) landed on my assignment sheets!

Sweet frog baby!! This Japanese Tree Frog (Hyla Japonica), we call "Ama Gaeru = 雨蛙," in Japanese, which means Rain Frog :D
I used to play with these wet & smooth sweet frog babies in Japan ;)))

I looove Nature; Nature makes me happy! ;D

Eco Presentation @ Warren Prescott Elementary School ;)

The dynamite team Alisyn Johnson, founder of Quench, and Wayne Sentman, Oceanic Society Biologist & Naturalist, asked me to present something green and artistic to Warren Prescott Elementary School Green Team :D Since their teacher, Tina Champagne, is a science teacher, I decided to present something science related: a fun way to start growing vegetables at home (or classroom) ;D
(I have been thinking to upload this news and time just flew awayyy!!)

This is what I brought (all biodegradable):
- Organic Yellow Bell Pepper (You can take seeds out from a fresh one or use the dried ones you already took out; either one works!)
- Paper Pot Maker and 8.5 x 11 recycled paper (cut in half before using)
- Paper Egg Carton from Organic Eggs (You can either plant seeds in an egg carton or paper pots)
- Coir Pellets* or Soil
*coconuts husk fiber: excellent water retention, free from bacteria and fungus, saving the environment since they are usually are waste products!
- Hot/Warm Water

The fun part:
- You can enjoy watching your vegetable babies grow! Your appreciation for food goes up ;D
- When you have a fully grown plant, you don't have to buy vegetables from a supermarket = "super" local & organic produce at home (or in classroom)!
- This could be a fantastic gift with a personal message around the paper pot! (which I do sometimes ;D)

All the students had fun playing with coir pellets and watching them expand super fast in hot/warm water ;D They wrote their names and whatever they want to draw on the surface of the paper pots :) Some brought the paper pots home and some left them in the classroom :D
When those babies grow, the kids will smile ;D


Several days later, Alisyn, Wayne, Tina and the Green Team visited Harvard Community Garden ;D Brendan from Office for Sustainability and Tyler from Harvard Community Garden showed us around.

They have all the vegetables you can think of, even watermelon babies!! :D Watermelon plants need more care. They put plastic bottles to protect them from cold nights.
Below are super happy swiss chard and zucchini plants in the back. First time for me to see zucchini plants! They look very similar to cucumber plants but much bigger than cucumber plants!

Gorgeous Mesclun Lettuce Mix!! Bon Appetit~!! ;D

Thank YOU so much for this fun inspiring opportunity, Alisyn, Wayne and Tina! I really had fabulous time with you guys!! It was such a beautiful sunny day!!! :D

(from left to right: Chris, Wayne and Nolan)

About two weeks later, the organic yellow pepper babies stick their beautiful heads out!! ;D

Urban Homesteaders' League Market Stand Poster ;D

Designed the poster for Urban Homesteaders' League Market Stand!

Lisa, Thank YOU so much for your warm support and superb opportunity! Lisa Gross is the founder of Urban Homesteaders' League, and she continues inspiring local communities through sustainable activities :D

The poster hung on the wall at Crema Cafe in Harvard Square ;D

Lisa and me at the Union Square Market in Somerville :D

New York City Energy!

Yay! Thank YOU so much, Christina, for purchasing 5 sheets of "New York Energy Skyline (white)" stamp, and Jennifer, for purchasing 2 sheets of "New York Energy Skyline (black)" stamp! :D So happy to be found here! Hope you two are enjoying beautiful summer in New York City! I purchased "New York Energy Skyline (black)" stamp sheet for myself as well and loving it!