Dress: Thrift Shop  / Cardigan: Old Navy / Jeans: Aeropostale / Shoes: TOMS / Hijab: Indonesia

Life has been a little crazy for the past month and a half. I can’t believe I’ve been back in the states for that long, time flies! I was so ready to leave Japan and spend some quality time with my family at home last month, but now that I’ve had time to settle in here I get a little “homesick” for the little life I had there. I was only in Okayama for three months, but it felt like forever! I had gotten used to the sights, tastes and smells there. Everything was so different and new!

It sounds silly, but my biggest regret when I left Japan was that I didn’t get to say goodbye to the cashier at the Hallows near my apartment. I saw her almost every day and even though I couldn’t speak Japanese and she couldn’t speak English, she always tried to interact with me. On some days when I was really lonely, it was very comforting to me! Oddly enough, she wasn’t there right before I left. I wish I would have had the chance to tell her how much I appreciated her kindness.

The hubby surprised me by suggesting that we go out to dinner tonight. He has been so busy working full time and I jumped right into teaching when I got back, so we haven’t really had a chance to have much couple time. Between our jobs and visiting family after being overseas for so long, we definitely needed a date night to ourselves!

We went to our favorite Turkish restaurant in town, Anatolia. I absolutely love that place! I always order the same sujuk and eggplant pide. The hubby really likes their lamb shank and gets that every time too. In fact, we go there so often the waitress said “welcome back” to us when we came in!

I decided to switch it up a little and ordered babaganoush for an appetizer. It was pricy at $5 for a small plate, but babaganoush is something I can never make at home well! Bleh. It’s ok for a treat every once in awhile. Plus, it goes so nicely with Anatolia’s homemade bread and red lentil soup. Yum! I’m pretty much in love with Turkish food. It’s really good for my Dad too because he is such a picky eater, a real meat and potatoes kind of guy. He doesn’t really like experimenting with his food. We tried to get him to try Indian food once and it didn’t go down very well, haha. He loves this place though!

Hmm, hmm good. It never gets old. We had a nice dinner and then dashed out to the car afterwards since it had started raining. The weather has been so bipolar lately you never really know what is going to happen. I know I’m really looking forward to warmer weather!

Since I made an effort to dress up, I thought I would take a shot at posting my first outfit of the day. Feels strange! I think it turned out quite well for my first time. What do you think? I’m in love with the colors on my dress, I think they are beautiful. It definitely catches your eye in a good way. I found it at a thrift shop, and it is one of my favorite purchases.