I'm sure many of you have seen the coverage of Fukushima nuclear power plant explosion. Again, Hero Material and I live far away from Fukushima, and our area remains unaffected.

Please send good vibes, prayers, etc. to the people in Fukushima and everyone else affected. Thank you!

Hello everyone,

I really should've thought to update my blog, but totally spaced out yesterday.

Hero Material and I are safe. As of Saturday March 12th 12:30 p.m., my area remains unaffected — no aftershocks or tsunamis. We have power, running water and Internet service, though the mobile network is spotty. We feel very grateful and lucky, and yet feel saddened by what's happening to others who are less fortunate.

If you have loved ones in Japan and have not been able to get in touch with them yet, please do not panic. Many areas are without power, and many people cannot make or receive calls easily even within Japan. I think international calls are even more difficult to make at this point.

If you're in the path of the tsunamis, please stay safe.

Hero Material and I couldn't have our V-Day dinner on Feb 14 because I was sick. So we went today to a lovely French bistro owned by locals. Their desserts are to die for. I don't usually like chocolate mousse or cheese cake, but their stuff is just perfect: super rich without being heavy or overly sweet.

How did you celebrate V-Day?

Hero Material and I celebrated our first anniversary last week. We went to the restaurant where we had our wedding reception. It's one of the most expensive restaurants in the city, but the food is always marvelous and the service sublime.

Hero Material made the reservation, etc. Actually I was surprised that he pre-empted everything because I wasn't sure what to do about our wedding anniversary or anything else like that. (Let's just say that I was a little frazzled about the pregnancy and morning sickness in November and early December.)

Thankfully my morning sickness went away, and my tummy felt fine that day. Yay!

Here are the photos.

This is a view of the city from our table.

Table setting with a complimentary rose from the restaurant. You can see Hero Material's champagne and my OJ.

Us at the restaurant — we had a corner table with a lovely view. In Japan, the tables closest to the most windows are considered the best. I was in a black strappy dress, but since it was so cold, I also had the pink cashmere shawl around me. (If you've been following my blog, you probably remember that Hero Material bought me one on our honeymoon in Thailand.) It was soooo warm and soft against my bare shoulders, arms and back.

Food…! Everything was super delicious. I gobbled up everything. (Sorry about the fish picture…I took a big bite before taking the picture because I couldn't wait…!)

The manager told us that our meal was completely comped. We were very surprised, as we had expected to pay some portion of the cost. (The hotel where we had our ceremony had sent us a coupon we could use at the restaurant, but I was pretty sure the price of our meal would be more than the amount covered by the coupon.)

Anyway, there was a lot of bowing and thank-you's and congratulation's and so on. I'm not sure if we can go back next year for another leisurely meal with a small baby, but I sure hope so…! I totally love that restaurant!

I can't believe 2010 is over, and it's officially 2011. I've been super busy, mostly with holiday stuff, of course.

Christmas is not a big deal in Japan, but Hero Material and I celebrated on Christmas Eve at Mario's Bistro. Very yummy Italian dinner. Unfortunately the restaurant was a bit smokey from a lot of smokers, and we couldn't linger as much as we'd like because the cigarette stench gives me a major headache (which then makes me nauseous, which is not a good thing, especially for a pregnant woman!).

Then I tried to stay warm. I know it snowed a lot in America, and it was the same in Japan. Thankfully we didn't get any snow in our city, but it was freezing. Burrr…..

New Year's was lovely with home-cooked meal and so on. On the fourth, Hero Material and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. It was really romantic. I'll post some pictures soon, I promise!

The biggest goal for me this year is to stay healthy. This is more important than before since I'm pregnant. And the second biggest goal is figuring out how to do what I need to do (spending time with Hero Material and balancing work and writing) with the new responsibility called motherhood.

I hope everyone had wonderful holidays. Here's to another fantastic year.

Sorry for the late update! I've been less than glowy for a while. (I think the pregnancy glow is a myth!) But I'm finally okay now. :)

2010 has been a difficult year for many people. If I listed challenges and so on, I think I could probably end up with a novel. Instead of just thinking about difficulties, I wanted to think about good and positive things, so that I can end the year on the high note.

Because no matter how hard 2010 was, I have so many things to be grateful for.

• I'm grateful for my family and friends who are always there for me.
• I'm grateful that Hero Material and I have gainful employment and that we can provide for our first baby when s/he comes next June.
• I'm grateful for the support network of industry professionals and other writers and readers I have. They've been instrumental in keeping me sane.
• I'm very very grateful for my readers.
• I'm grateful that I'm in relatively good health.

What are you thankful for this holiday season?