The day after I got back from Japan was my birthday!! I'm so grateful for all the experiences I had in Japan, and so grateful to have such a loving family and be in great company <3 Seeing all the birthday wishes from my friends and family was really heartwarming and a wonderful welcome back!! I'M FINALLY 21 YEARS OLD! I feel old. But it's the good kind of old. The kind of old where the bouncer will squint at me, nod, and let me through. (Not really. I still look like I'm 16 to the rest of the world.) 

I had my first ordered beer with my family for lunch, and then my first well drink with the boy later that night<3! I was happy to hear the happy birthday's coming from our waiter at the bar. I am an adult. 

THIS PIECE OF ART. I CAN'T EVEN. Boyfriend drew this for me as a birthday present and I was speechless!! I always wanted a drawing from him because I knew he liked to dabble in art. BUT MAN. I WASN'T EXPECTING THIS. It reminded me a lot of Nakamura-san's art; lots of love and lots of thought. Blown away by the creativity here \(  ` 0 ` )/ <333

The next few days were fun in the sun!! We went to the lake, nature trails, and stayed outside to enjoy the fall weather :) We even got to eat yummy food from my favorite (real) Japanese restaurant! 

SOME BIRTHDAY GIFTS FOR MYSELF. (as if Japan wasn't enough) I finally got my hands on Pokemon X !!! The game is unbelievable. I can't not even describe to you the experience I'm having with it without going off on a nerdy tangent. I haven't been this excited for a pokemon game since heartgold and soulsilver. I also got these really nice boots!! Winter is coming and all I have is flats 8") So this is a nice change to have and a necessity! 

Gifts from my friend Sarah and Aneki (big sis!! ) Deanna! The bracelets are from NYC! Aneki drew me such an amazing picture of Vexa, my OC <3 Along with some art and accessories from our favorite artist since we were kids; Lexi!!!! She also gave me Urban Decay's basic eye shadow pallet: Naked!! I can't wait to try this out omg. She knew I needed good quality <3 Her birthday blog post for me set at 8:30 earlier today was so so sweet, I wanted to cry ;//w//; We've been friends and big sis little sis for so many years <3 TIME FLIES WHEN WE'RE GETTING OLD.

A few more days of rest and fun and I'll be ready to take on the upcoming school week! I am about to launch two new projects before things get too hectic during school. STAY TUNED! 

Love, Mana <3