Japanese Snacks and Candy

It's Friday already?!

I thought I could share a few snacks and candies that we have left from Japan since I shared the different karintos in past posts. (Original poop & Valentine poop. *Not really poop*) Hehe, I don't know if you can tell from the photo but there's more karinto in that clear plastic bag with the gold tie. I guess my relatives think I can't get enough. Which is true. ;) This is only a quarter of what was given to us... the rest is in our bellies. We're such piggies, lol.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Just Our Phamily Again

Brucie scratching his head while nursing

(02.16.11)

My hosting duties are over. My cousins are with my dad and Mama is with my mom and they'll all be flying back to Japan tomorrow. I'll miss them all dearly but I'm hoping to see them again soon (next year?) either in Japan or here in the States. :)

This month, I got a small taste of what it's like to be a single mother of three (Bruce and my non-English speaking cousins) and I have to give props to all mothers out there that take good care of their children on top of having other duties! At times I wanted to breakdown because everything was new to me and stress was building up. But in the end, it made me seriously appreciate everything my mom had done for me (and my sisters) and taught me since I was born. I love you, mom! :) I'm also thankful to have a helpful husband who does everything he can to lighten my load.

Bruce and I spent five days apart from Brandon and that was tough on all of us. I can't imagine all the families that do this often and for longer periods of time. He learned how to roll over like a champ, started giggling more, figured out a way to make a high pitched noise for attention and grew a lot more hair on his head. So you can imagine how Brandon felt when he saw Brucie after five days! He made me promise no more time apart if it can be avoided. He couldn't let go of Brucie for the rest of the night, until they both fell asleep. So cute, those two.

I gained a lot from this experience and hopefully became a stronger woman. But I'm hoping to relax the rest of this month and gain my energy back. ;) Bruce has gotten so heavy, my back has been acting up again. I also managed to hurt my right wrist and thumb. How? I have no idea. I have it in a brace for now and I'm hoping it'll get better by the end of the week. Ahh, I can't wait for the day Brandon gets back on his normal work schedule so we can have more family time! Not to mention, the growing Wait List for personalized plushies that I'd love to get a start on and my painting assignments too!

Handmade Paper Robot

I just wanted to pop in real quick to and post this awesomely sweet paper robot that my friend Tommy made for his wife, Erin, for Valentine's Day. :) The robot's head housed an anatomical heart necklace which has a significant meaning to her. He's so creative and thoughtful!

They also celebrated their two year wedding anniversary the day before. Congratulations to the lovebirds! ;)

Did your Valentine make something for you? Or did you make something special for your Valentine? :) I'd love to see what everyone made! Do please share!

Happy Valentine's Day

our favorite cards and notes to each other over the years

(except for one card that was from my best friend for our wedding)

Good morning! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! :)

The last two weeks have been quite crazy, having many guests over from Japan. Things will be quieting down by the end of this week so I'm looking forward for some down time. And maybe some crafting time? ;)

My sweet 'Mama' (my mom's best friend) gifted us a dinner out in the city on Saturday while she and my mom watched little Brucie. It was a nice to be in husband-&-wife mode for the first time since Bruce's birth. I think spending time as a couple is really important in a relationship with children. We were able to talk about our future plans and catch up on each other's lives since we spent five days apart and he's been so busy with work. It was our early Valentine's.

our little momento area of our home

(those empty frames need to be filled soon)

I hope you have a lovely day regardless of whether you have a special someone in your life or not! :)

Original Karinto

As promised in this post, I took pictures of the original karintos before they were all gone. :) See what I mean about them looking like poop? Lol. They aren't as colorful and smooth like the chocolate covered ones I shared. They taste like hard donuts covered with brown sugar. Sounds a little more appetizing than it looks. ;)

these have sesame seeds inside

packaging

Shout Out - bailey doesn't bark

I've been eyeing the Postcup (above) from bailey doesn't bark for the longest time since I came across it on a few of the blogs I follow. But I've fallen in love with these other mugs too!

Oh, decisions decisions. ;) Which mug or mugs would you choose?

shop: bailey doesn't bark
photos: Postcup, Teabag, Dotted

Darling Moments: Mini's New Friend

Mini with Mini Bird

added to my collection

Last month, I went on a binge and bought three vases from pretty random objects! I already had a medium bird vase but Mini wanted more friends... Okay, so I wanted them. ;) But aren't they darling? And now I have my eye on the bunny planter! Lol, don't tell my husband because he calls me crazy for having so many vases around the house. But how could you have "too many" vases, right?

Crayons Make Me Nauseous

It's Friday! This week went by super fast because I was busy busy busy. I've been writing my blog entries and working in the middle of the night (including this one) while everyone's asleep. It's my little reward after a long day, as I indulge in a wagashi snack. ;)

My painting ecourse started this week. I ordered paints, brushes and whatnot with excitement and got right into jotting down ideas and inspirations for our first assignment which is to paint something inspired by Gee's Bend Quilts. I used crayons in my sketchbook since I hadn't used them in a long time. Then, in the middle of coloring, I realized why I've been avoiding using crayons: They make me nauseous! Am I the only weirdo out there that feels like this? Lol, must be.

So after that night, I started using everything but crayons and I was nausea-free. Yay! I played around with the paints I have around the house yesterday and I'm hoping to have my assignment done by Saturday. I can't wait to get my new paints! I'm enjoying every bit of time I spend for this class and I'm more than happy I signed up, even through these busy times. :) I'll share my finished work when I get the chance.

Have a wonderful weekend! :D

Note: I feel like I'm exposing such an intimate part of myself when I post photos of my sketchbook. *blush*

Valentine Karinto

Ahhh, a little break in my hectic life...

My cousins from Japan are here and I've been taking them around Marin with Bruce in tow. Bruce and I have experienced many firsts in the past two days and I'm learning a lot about being a mother... But let's save that conversation for another post and focus on one of the many yummy gifts my cousins brought for us! :D

My Aunt asked me if there was anything specific I wanted from Japan so the first thing that came to mind was wagashi (traditional Japanese snacks). They sell some here in the States but they're mostly either expensive or not good. I was so delighted to receive so many that I was drooling as I was opening each giftbox. No joke. The box above is just one of the many snacks and I wanted to share because I don't think many people are familiar with them.

They're called karinto. You can read a short description here. These snacks make me giggle inside every time I eat them because it reminds me of the first time Brandon saw them. He had the most disgusted "what the eff is that?!" facial expression. The original versions don't look as good as these but basically, they look like poop. (I realized right now that they brought the originals too, so I'll have to take pictures of those before they're all gone.) He tells me to put it in a doggy bag and when guests come to visit, I should take it out and eat it to see their reactions. Hehe, yes, we're a bit immature. ;) But we never remember to do so.

Anyway, these are special Valentine karinto that come in chocolate, white chocolate, green tea, and ?? (cannot translate) flavor. I've never seen them come in such a variety of flavors and on top of that, such a nice package! Okay, now I must take photos of the originals because there's nothing to compare these to. Sorry! Hopefully, I'll have some time today to take pictures since my cousins are shopping around Union Square the whole day as Bruce and I take a break from the world. :)

What do they look like to you?

Shout Out - talkproof

Here's a load of cuteness from a fellow plush maker, Cassandra, of talkproof. All her adorable plushies will definitely make you smile. :D Love her photos too!

shop: talkproof
blog: You gave me rainbows, and butterflies.
photos: Kepler the Beaver, Torpedo the Giraffe

Darling Moments: Welcome Mr. Narwhal

"welcome to our phamily"

"thank you"

This cute handmade narwhal was a gift from Courtney. I love the blanket stitch detail and the fabric used.

Thank you, C! :D

January Roundup

As I was trying to find photos for this post, I noticed that I took very few photos of Bruce on my Nikon last month. Boo. I keep taking pictures with my iPhone or the smaller Sony camera. I'm going to try and get into the habit of taking more photos with the Nikon. For mothers out there: Do you find it that you take most of the photos versus your significant other? So in the end there's more photos of your SO and baby and not much of you and baby? I've found this to be the case as I was going through photos of Brucie and it makes me a little sad. Maybe I need to make better use of the timer setting. :P

Can you believe it's already February?

I feel like I began the new year off on a great start. So to celebrate, I put together a little recap of what went down in January.

*I explained why I've put personalized orders on hold

*Shared a few personalized darlings: favorites of 2010, Where the Wild Things Are, a pear for Mila

*And found Mini in action: with salmon sushi, surrounded by hearts

*Gave a couple Shout Outs to Hideminy and Kim Westad

*I crossed off a few things on my 101 in 1001 list: 1/3 of #2, #31, #32, #34 & #35, #42, #77, #84

*Created a section for shop reviews and made a few Valentine penguins

*Enrolled in an online painting course and possibly started a regular Friday post

Here's to hoping February will be just as productive! :D