Joined Altpick!

New Member in Pink ;DOne of the prizes for the Altpick Awards second place was one year Altpick Membership! Woohooo!! So I just joined! ;D

My URL is http://altpick.com/mihoko , very easy to remember ;)))

Hopefully this will lead to many freelance jobs!!

Coooome to meee~! ;D

Won Altpick Award : New Media : Second Place!!!!

YAAAAAY!!! I am still jumping with joy, have lots of goose bumps!! Super fresh news I JUST received from the Altpick founder Maria Ragusa-Burfield; my Dubai Skyline illustration for Wassla Weekly won the Second Place in New Media category~!!! Since I Really LOVE this piece, I am SO HAPPY to receive such an honorable recognition!! Thank YOU again, Maria, for the creation of Altpick and your friendly communication, and the Juries for choosing my artwork~!!

You can see all the 2009 winners here! The artwork will be in *Altpick Awards booklet* early next year ;D

HUGE THANKS goes to Ari Kushimoto who designed this fabulous website and decorated beautifully around my art which makes the artwork look much better! and Nasrin Shah Abushakra, the founder of Wassla Weekly, who worked SO hard to make this happen and she successfully created such a beautiful & educational website for Dubai!!

And even more surprisingly, today is Nasrin's Birthday!! This is all meant to be!! Happy FANTAAASTIC Birthday to YOU, Nasriiiiin :D

I really appreciate your phone call, Nasrin! Wonderful talking with you~!! Celebrating this special day from Boston the city you love ;D

Please Vote for me - Harvard Credit Card Design Contest ;D

Now my Credit Card Design for Harvard University Employees Credit Union is up!

I chose my rainbow fireworks design to celebrate Harvard ;D

Pleeeease vote for me from this page or the link below :D The process won't take you more than 5 seconds! You can choose 4 favorite designs from those student credit card designs. The first prize is $500 and more than that, I would be SO Thrilled if people carry the credit card and feel good every time they see my art ;D

Mine is #13!

https://www.huecu.org/forms/vote2009.html

Huge THANK YOU to everyone~!! Crossing my fingers, hair and everything else!!

Welcome to Haaarvard~!

From September, I am back in school, this time to study Environmental Management in a graduate program at Harvard University Extension School ;D I am still not sure I can really survive a Harvard education but so far my first papers were 5/5 and 10/10! Whew!! Pleeease wish me luck!!

My creative partner Brandon Welti and I were luckily chosen to be photographed by Jeff Pike for the school website. Jeff took so many pictures and all the pictures look great, which made us want to keep all of them ;P Jeff chose his favorite and the above picture is the approved for the website~!! Woohoooo ;D

Super smile~! Yeeees, makes you smile, right? :D He is the fabulous photographer behind the Harvard University Extension School website, such a fun person to work with, which made us think we were just playing together for several hours ;D Love YOU, Jeff!!

Here are some of my favorites from the shooting :D

Young Professional Theme~!!

Jeff asked us to wear "young professional" clothes one morning. Do we look professional enough?! I love the shining soft-green trees and my hair swinging in the wind ;D

Skateboard + Bike Theme :D

This was done on the day when we met Jeff Pike for the first time!

I thought I will miss New York so much but I learned Harvard Square has a similar New York City feel. You see artists, musicians, homeless people, cute gay guys and crazy happy people with multi-colored hair on the streets ;P Plus New York City is just 4 hours away! :D

So far I am having a great experience here!! People are super sweet, they will stop their cars for you if you are crossing streets, which makes you feel like you are a king or queen crossing the street with a velvet carpet underneath you ;D

Come to Boston~!! Wishing all my friends will move here :D

Speechless Natural Beauty...

My super talented photographer friend Takami (check out her gorgeous poetic pictures!) came to Concord with a cool hat during the summer and we went canoeing in Sudbury River! Thanks to our sweet neighbour John, we rented his canoe and put on the top of our car! You see the gorgeous reflection here?

Just start paddling the canoe, Che jumped into the water!! She has already experienced taking a bath, riding a loud and busy New York Subway, swimming in the Walden Pond, cuddling with me in bed, so maybe this was her new challenge?! Probably her curiosity made her jump! We are not sure why she jumped, did she like water or she didn't like canoeing? Hmmm... either way, now she is happily sleeping in my arm :D

Beautiful graphic patterns on water... speechless...

Happy moment surrounded by nature... :D Yes, this is taken by Takami Shimura ;D Arigatooo as Always!!!

And the gorgeous sunset!!

Puppy sitting ;D

My friend Claudine needed a puppy sitting for 2 weeks. Of course, we say, "YES WE CAN!" with big smiles :D

You are right, I don't own a dog, I have never had a dog, this is the first time to do a puppy sitting! It is fun to have such a beautiful sweetest creature with you everyday, it is tough to wake up 6 AM every morning to go for a walk and wait for your dog to do pee and/or poop and the same goes to the night time! Like me, who sleeps and wakes up whenever I feel like, this puppy sitting experience made our life like the one of Buddhist monks! :P

This sweetest Bernese Mountain dog is just a 8 weeks old. Her name is Che, yes, she is a girl but Claudine named her Che, because of her passion for Cuba and Che Guevara. Che smells like a milky baby, super sweet, her stomach is soooo kissable and always smooth and warm. She will be a big dog so she has huge soft paws which I can't stop touching :P Her nose is so cute too, very soft and pink. You cannot get tired of just looking at her!

My super smart friend Roshan is right. A dog dreams! Che often dreams. She moves her legs and make noises, while she is sleeping. Amazing.

If you are single and looking for a partner or just want more new friends!!, I definitely recommend to own a dog ;P But the dog has to be cute and friendly and if possible a rare dog (better to avoid loud barking dogs like chiwawa etc) so people will talk to you! :D So many people stopped us when we went for a walk. It will take a way longer to just walk several blocks because everyone wants to talk to you and touch your dog ;P So be ready for that~!!

"Happy in my shadow" - Che loves a shade, she doesn't like hot weather at all. She is a master of finding a shade! When she gets tired of walking, she often sits in my shadow and gives me a happy smile like this :D

New friends at Kona Skatepark ;D

Had lots of fun at Kona Skatepark in Jacksonville, Florida, the oldest skatepark in the States! I wish I could have stayed many more days ;P .... the only thing I don't miss is the mosquito attack! Now I have 43 mosquitoes bites! Boooo!!

Flying history of skateboards!!
Sunbathing on Kona's concrete flower ;P