Bloggers' brunch at Pure Cafe, Minami-Aoyama

Happy weekend! This morning, I met up with fellow blogger Yuka of Blossomlink for a healthy brunch at Pure Cafe in Minamiaoyama, a very quiet neighborhood in Tokyo. I hadn't seen her since we went to the Espirit Dior after party back in December, so had some catching up in business. I had the homemade granola with rice milk and a muffin on the side, and Yuka enjoyed the grains salad with the soup of the day. the granola was simple with some mixed nuts and banana - so delicious! What a great way to start the weekend and enjoy some down time with a fellow blogger! I will have an OOTD post from today soon :)

I also wanted to share the beautiful marble Macbook skin I received from UNIQFIND, an online shop that sells beautiful cases and covers for your tech devices. The Macbook skins are great for decoration, and it is easily removable and adjustable because they use the highest quality adhesives. The marble skins are available in black and white, and you can find out more about them here. 

今朝はブロガー友達のユカさんとピュアカフェでブランチをしました。彼女と会うのは、ディオールのアフターパーティー以来だったので、色々お話で盛り上がりました。ピュアカフェのモーニングはとてもヘルシーで美味しかったです！私は自家製プレーンのグラノーラにライスミルク、そしてマフィンをチョイス。ユカさんはグレインズサラダとスープを食べましたよ！

最近、UNIQFINDという、MacBookのケースやカバーを販売するお店からマーブルスキンを頂きました。とても高性能なので、はがしたりはり直すのも簡単！MacBookをちょっとお洒落にしたい、という方におすすめですよ！詳しくはこちらをご覧になって下さい！

study session with Pinterest Japan

I was invited to attend a study session conducted by the members of Pinterest Japan. I was actually really surprised when I received an invitation - although I do use Pinterest once in a while and have a widget on my blog, I don't consider myself the most avid user. But since it is a useful tool in social media and blogging, I decided to see what I could learn from this study session. The community managers for Pinterest Japan, Yuka Yamaguchi and Ami Matsuzawa, were so sweet, and I enjoyed the lecture presentation by Yuka. I had recently upgraded my Pinterest account to a business one, but hadn't really played around with it much since. She carefully explained the benefits of verifying your blog or website on your Pinterest account. Also, there is an analytics section on Pinterest, which might come in handy to check my page views and impressions. 

It was a small group of bloggers and Pinners, but I enjoyed meeting every single person there. I was (finally) able to meet fellow blogger & illustrator Akiko Hiramatsu from Kimonosnack. She is on my left in the photo in a DVF dress. She is the sweetest lady! You can follow her on Pinterest here.

Yuka is also a blogger - check out her blog, Blossom Link. She has a wide variety of boards on her Pinterest account. Follow her on Pinterest here.

Pinterest Japan was created just about a year ago, so it's not as popular in Japan yet. I hope more people in Japan learn about Pinterest - I've realized it's a useful tool for business, and in my case, for blogging. My goal is to learn how to use Pinterest well with what I learned today!

Follow me on Pinterest :)

Love,

Samantha Mariko

Letters Impromptu x That Girl E

What I'm wearing - Jacket: Uniqlo (similar here); top: Topshop; jeans: Le Ciel Bleu (similar here);

shoes: Vans; tote: Le Ciel Bleu (not for sale); sunglasses: (similar here))

What Ena's wearing - hat & boots: H&M; top: Wego; skirt: Forever 21; 

backpack: Guess (vintage)

Yesterday, I met up with fellow blogger Ena for lunch at Urth Caffe in Omotesando. She is the most bubbly and sweetest girl ever! Her older sister has done my makeup for several test shoots since I moved to Tokyo - she is also very sweet and down-to-earth. We enjoyed an organic Italian omelette and coffee pancakes (SO good), and even though it started raining, we were able to quickly snap some pictures. It was chillier than I excepted yesterday, so I threw on my faux leather jacket over a cropped long-sleeve shirt I recently found at Topshop. I dressed down even more with loose tapered denim from my work, Le Ciel Bleu. I just love anything that is comfortable and high quality, which is probably why I own 4 pairs of jeans (and counting) from my work... I guess it's true when they say you can never have too many pairs of jeans!

I loved Ena's outfit - she also wore a cropped long-sleeve top but with a full midi skirt. It was a well-balanced outfit with her hat and shoes. She said she got her Guess backpack for $6 at a vintage shop! Ena and I got to know each other when she found my blog a couple months ago, and started following me on Twitter. We finally planned to meet up in Tokyo before she moves back to the Philippines next year. She is a senior in high school aspiring to become a fashion stylist. She was telling me that she is currently trying to put her styling portfolio together. I can't wait to see her work! 

You can check out her blog at www.thatgirl-e.blogspot.jp, follow her on instagram @enacuizon, and follow her on Twitter @Enaterrestine. 

Thanks for all the comments only previous post! You all are awesome x

Love,

Samantha Mariko