But, I wish they had peppermint syrup in Japan!

So, the tree went up on November 2nd. Yep. We're awesome. But, being the family Christmas Geek, it is only fitting, don'tcha think? Anywho, we've gone with a Disney themed for our tree this year. we even hung some of our Sega World prizes up as ornaments. :)

It's so cute~~~

A few days ago the sunset was so freaking pretty. Lots of vibrant colours and I was just so entranced that I wanted a picture. BUT, my camera was at home. Hence, the crappy iPod photo. Sorry. Still looks lovely, though!

So, the new Arashi album 'LOVE' came out a week or two ago. Ai-sensei bought it for herself and she surprised me with a copy for me! I was so touched~ We're both pretty big Arashi geeks, so we talked about the album a lot these past few weeks. It's actually, not a bad album. I think I prefer Beautiful world more, but it's still pretty good.

On Wednesdays we have our Mommy and Me class~ One of the mum's was away a couple weeks ago and it turns out her family went to Guam! I was saying good morning to her little one, and she handed me a pack of chocolate covered macadamia nuts! Sweet~ They were pretty tasty! It was a nice little treat!

On Saturday, I went to pick David up from work. He was just working in Natori, but I had stayed home that day and wanted to go out for a bit. Now, on the weekends I tend to put a little more effort into my appearance. Since I wear jeans and a t-shirt all week at work, I like to wear skirts and pretty things in my off time. And even though we only went out to McD's for dinner, I still wanted to look nice... Except my hair wasn't co-operating! T___T I've taken to french braiding it and pinning it in either a side bun or wrapping it at the base of my skull. But, for the life of me, I couldn't get it to braid nicely. So, I just stuck it up in a bun. I wish I had've been able to do something nice with it. T~T

And then on Sunday, I went out for a lolita date with the girls. Kazue's birthday was a really bad time for us to have a party this year: She started her new job that day, I was working and Mika and Melissa both had work obligations, too. So, we never properly celebrated. However, we planned a little surprise date yesterday which was fun! Mika, Melissa and I ended up meeting up on the train. We had decided to go into Sendai early, because of the high winds. We didn't wanna risk being late. So, we popped into Loft while we were waiting to buy a card. And it was there that I stumbled upon the most amazing card ever. For those in the audience who knows what Red Pants means, you will understand my glee at seeing this card.

Hahaha. After we found a (different) card, we ended up at Starbucks, since we still had time. I ended up with a caramel white mocha, which wasn't bad. But, I wish they had peppermint syrup in Japan! I just totally wanted a peppermint mocha! Oh well~

We met up with Kazue and went off for lunch. Kazue had requested we go for Thai, so that's what we did. I have never really tried Thai before, but I was told to get the Green Curry. It was cheap and came with a salad and soup. Sadly, however, I wasn't a fan... The salad was obviously fine, but the soup tasty like soy sauce and I just wasn't a fan of the curry. But, no big deal. Melissa and Kazue took one for the team and ate mine for me. And Melissa paid for me, which was nice.

Kazue opened her gifts while we were there, too. She loved the card we got her and she got an Angry Birds hat and a Bratz doll. She was sooo happy~ It was cute how excited she got over the hatr. She really likes Angry Birds.

After lunch, we ended up going shopping. I was in the market for a new winter coat and the girls wanted to shop around. I ended up with 2 new coats! Both were 1500yen and one is for when I wear lolita or fancy dresses and the other is for everyday. It's a pretty cool coat, if I do say so myself. I'll have to take a photo of it later. But, I really like it. We also checked out Glass Forest and Hikari, the owner, was kind enough to take a group photo for us. And then I asked Melissa to take a quick outfit shot of just me.

At this point, we decided that going for tea would be a good idea, so we popped over to that fancy cake/tarte shop I keep posting pictures of. I ended up with Tiramisu tarte and earl grey tea. It was freaking delicious~~~ Tasted a lot like Bailey's though! Not that that's a bad thing. Hahaha. It was so yummy. And the place was all decorated for Christmas, which was nice~

On our way home, we popped by the SPAL Christmas tree thing. You go into the tree with a friend or lover and press your hand against the screen and then it takes a photo and adds goofy purikura things to random people. Mika and Melissa went first and they got a Masamune helmet thing. Kazue and I ended up with a Christmas cake! It was cute!

And then we all went home. It was a fun day! But, today wasn't so much fun. Work wasn't bad, but my voice has gone all wonky. I can't talk properly and I can't yell or whisper. If I talk for more than like 2 words I get all squeaky. So, at work I was pretty much just the moral support who wore a mask. I'm surprised my voice didn't desert me entirely, but I'm hoping it comes back tomorrow. Hahaha. Oh, I saw an Arashi billboard in the station on my way home. Yay~ And I won a Snow Miku plushie at the Game Station for 100yen. First try! Lucky!

They are freaking adorable and amazing and awesome and lots of other words!

So, it's been a bit of a quiet week. We've got a lot of new kids in preschool, so that's keeping me on my toes. Although, the new kids are turning out really nice! One of my new kids' mum speakings English, so she often chats with me after class. She's really sweet~

In class a few days ago, one of my students gave me a Canada flag! He went to a festival thing I guess and he got it and thought of me! So thoughtful for a 3 year old, eh? :) And it was funny~ I stuck it in my hair, like how we wear them on Canada Day and another of my students, H, came up and said, "Ashley! No! T's!" And then gave it back to T. Hahaha. They had a bit of a discussion about what was going on, then H brought it back and stuck it back in my hair with a laugh. It was cute.

And~~ My new Sherlock figures arrived this week! They are freaking adorable and amazing and awesome and lots of other words! I got them from a seller in China, but I found out about them through tumblr. They're actually pretty well made~ And they're quite heavy and durable. Which is awesome. Sherlock came with a skull, which I have sitting next to his chair right now. Lovelovelove!

SOOOO COOL~~~!!!

Anywho, that's actually about it. Like I said, it's been a quiet week, really. Payday is on Thursday, though, so hopefully we can get our plane tickets bought later this month. Keep your fingers crossed! >__<! And maybe, I can still afford to go to Disney for Halloween... Nooot likely, though. Oh well~

Russian tea is really neat!

It's been an exciting couple of weeks. Good times all around. And I finally got my camera wire to work, so I could upload my photos. Hurray!

So, to start off, Azusa moved away. Azusa was the barista at my local Starbucks who would chat with me most often. She's from Niigata I think? But, she's a sweetie. She drew on my cup one last time before saying goodbye. I brought her a little gift and she cried! I didn't mean to make her cry, but she was really happy.

Also, the Star Trek movie finally came lout over here in late August. I'm a total fan. But then again, I just adore Benedict Cumberbatch, so I suppose everyone saw that coming. You don't wanna know how many times we've gone to see that movie. The theatre we go to got a bit of a face lift in their lobby area. It's not got a nifty Studio Ghibli mural along the wall!

Work has been going well~ One of my students lives on a farm and his mum is always bringing in goodies for us. They brought us in another watermelon recently! Chiga brought me over a plate and said every slice on it was for me! I was so happy~~~ And it was really tasty, too! The same family also went to Disney Land recently and brought us back some cute omiyage. Mickey crackers! Yum yum~

In preschool recently, we had a rainy day and couldn't go to the park. So, some of the kids were cutting up old book club pamphlets and taping them to paper. Kinda like a collage~ One of the girls asked if I wanted one, so I asked her to cut out the Harry Potter set for me. Then she proceeded to tell me to stick it on my forehead. She was so amused that by clean up time, I had one on each cheek and on both sides of my neck. Hahaha.

In my kindergarten class, the kids recently decided to show off their artistic abilities on our whiteboard. One of the girls thought it would be cute to draw Canadian flags. I totally agreed. And another one of the girls made me a zoo with stickers. I thought it was so sweet~

 I also had a bought of nostalgia at school recently~ Angel used to have a backpack of William, the blue Egyptian hippo. And William walked into class one afternoon! One of my students got him as a gift from his mum, I think.

I've taken to cross stitching at work on my breaks. I finally finished one of my samplers and now I'm starting another~ I'll post pictures of the new one when I finish.

Mika and I met up recently in Sendai for an afternoon of frilling about. We ended up meeting some girls at the station who wore lolita, too. We all grabbed lunch and hung out together. It was just a fun afternoon~

On the subject of frilling out, I went to my first real lolita tea party last Saturday. Oh man~ It was so much fun! I got to sit with Mika, thank god. There were about 30 people I think. We all had to fill out profile cards to give to each other. And then Hikari asked us to give introductions. Oh. No. Actually, mine went pretty well. I was able to say what I wanted in Japanese and Mika helped me to make sure it was all correct before they gave me the mic. No one laughed and everyone politely applauded, so I guess I didn't screw up. I was shaking like a frigging leaf, though! I ordered Russian tea with strawberry jam and the chocolate waffles. Russian tea is really neat! You take a bit on jam and put it on your tongue, then let the tea wash over it. Nifty! I won an apron in BINGO. Lucky~~~!! It was a really fun afternoon! Oh, and before anyone asks, I know that my makeup wasn't done! I had a clinic appointment before the party and when I packed up my stuff to change in Sendai, I forgot to pack my makeup kit! T___T

Oh, Kazue and I also went to the Build a Bear shop recently. They were closing. Kazue wanted to go to say goodbye, so I went along with her. They were having a massive sale, so I made a dragon for David. Named Glorthlok. He was pretty happy. Hahaha. They had the Bunny mascot out and about, so we got a picture with her~ She shook my hand and gave me a hug. Awwww. <3

Last Sunday my work had an event in the morning. It was a massive Hide and Go Seek event type thing. The teachers were all assigned a colour and 5~6 kids and our job was to help the kids hide from the Hunters who would come and catch them. Naturally, I had the pink team. My team was AWESOME! We didn't win, but we did pretty well! Two people caught, but we had a get out of jail free pinecone, so only one person stayed in jail. I had a pair of siblings on my team. They are hilarious. The younger one got caught, and big brother made a big dramatic display over it. As little brother was being led away he shouted, "Nooooo!" and sank to his knees all dramatically, then landed face first on the ground. It was hilarious. Hahaha. It was a full hour of running and hiding and constant movement around the park. Good times~~~

Right after the event, I had to boot it to Sendai Station. I had a ticket to see the Sailor Moon musical that evening, so I had to catch a shinkansen to Tokyo. I barely made it to my train, but I managed to get to the theatre with plenty of time to spare. The musical was AMAZING. It totally made my life. And my favourite Sailor Moon character made her musical debut in this one~ Queen Serenity. Sailor Moon's mum. I adore her. She was flawless in the musical, too, I might add. So perfect. I cried when I saw her. Amazing. Oh, and Gackt sent flowers to the musical cast. I thought it was kinda sweet~

I ended up staying with my friend Sara while I was down. I went straight to her place after the musical and we got pizza and watched Cupcake Wars. Good times. It was nice just to chillax and chat. I miss her so much~

 The next day, we got together with her friend Andrea, and we went off to Harajuku. Sara had actually never been down Takeshita Dori, so I took her. We did some window shopping and just ventured around. At one point, we popped into La Foret and I got to try on a Triple Fortune bonnet! Oh. My. God. They are so pretty! Like, ridiculously good quality and gorgeous. But, reeeeeeeally expensive. But still~ The shop lady let me try one on and it looked so pretty~! Maybe someday~~~ I saw a reallt cute Duffy bear, too. Someone had it dressed up like Aiba Masaki from Arashi! Too cute! Oh, and check out my amazing photo skillz. I totally snapped a photo of us on camera walking into Takeshita Dori. I totally didn't even notice till just now!

After that, we just kinda wandered around. We ended up at Shibuya park. It's a reeeeally nice park! And it was a really nice day, so everyone was out and about. I think mum would probably really like it. There were so many people out for runs. I really kinda wanted to join them, but it's be difficult to run in wedge heels and a long skirt. Maybe next time~

After that, we just went back to Sara's place to have lunch and watch a movie. We ended up watching Resident Evil. Oh boy~ But, anywho, after that it was time for me to boogie off and meet Mika and Melissa for our bus. We took a highway bus back to Sendai and it was a surprisingly quick trip! We got in about 20minutes early, even! Good times. I watched Sherlock on the trip home. It was pretty awesome.

And that about sums up the last little while~ I've been off this week, so I got back to work on Monday. Woo~~