Koyama Shoten

I found a pretty good Japanese grocery store in Livonia called Koyama Shoten. It is near the corner of Six Mile and Newburgh roads. I got a really nice mug and several food items for bento and sushi. I was pretty excited since almost all of the other Asian grocery stores in the area are Chinese or Korean. They tend to have only some of the items that I am usually looking for. They have limited bento items, but I scouted it out nonetheless.

Yo Mama!

My sister and I went to see Yo-Yo Ma last night in concert and he was fantastic! We had nose-bleed seats, but he was still visible and the show was great. He even played some Shostakovich - my favorite!

The Recycling Nazi

Yup, that is what they call me at my house. I try to recycle as much as possible. I have been known to pick through the trash to pull out recyclables. I am excited today because I just read the paperwork from our new trash service and discovered that they take many more of the plastics than our old service. Now all of those yogurt, butter, and rice pudding tubs can be recycled too! It was killing me to throw those away and I even began to look for brands that packaged differently so I didn't have to throw so much away. Hooray for recycling #1-7!

Going the Moose Way Home

That is actually the title of a really good book that I read as a child, but it came to my mind as I was formulating this post. The other day on my way to work I found that the road was closed temporarily so I had to turn around and go another way. I noticed that this new way takes just a bit longer, but is infinitely more peaceful of a drive. I have decided to take this new route indefinitely since it avoids the highway, has very little traffic, and runs through a mostly rural area. I have been in a great mood upon arriving at work the last few days and I attribute it almost entirely to my new route. Silly huh?

Dollar Store Bento

I went to Dollar Tree to scope out the bentos that I had read about here and found some really cute ones left even though the selection was picked over. I got a few for me and a few for my sister who is easily influenced by my obsessions and is currently undergoing a bento renaissance. Her favorite color is green and they had mainly green ones left, so that also worked out well. Here are pics of my Hello Kitty dollar store bento finds:

I also found this cute soup container at the Dollar Tree that has a small compartment in the lid for a fold-up spoon (cute!) and some oyster crackers or something.

My Ship Came In

My Bento supplies from Japan finally arrived and I used them the other day. The results are mixed. I am still learning what packs well and what doesn't. I am also learning what I need to pack in order to have a filling lunch. I really like the pink boxes, but my trusty Lock & Locks have not been forgotten (especially for Sean).

We are heading to Saline this afternoon and I am planning to check out an Asian Market on the way for bento and cute snacks. I am also planning to check out the Dollar Tree this morning since I got word from another Bento blog that they have Hello Kitty bentos for back-to-school. We shall see...

Bento Overload

I am still really excited about Bento and I have been reading lots of sites to get ideas. One in particular is really cool, eventhough I can't understand anything they say... Enjoy.

Norm's Pool Party

We took Norman to the Dog Swim at Rolling Hills Park on Saturday and he had a blast! He ran around and sniffed almost every dog and most of the people. He didn't swim, but he waded around a bit, which is more than we thought he would do. Here are some pics of the doggy fun...

Bento - Round 2

I got slightly more creative (a trip to the Asian Market with my sister meant new snacks) for my second round of bento-making. I am very excited today because a few sets that I ordered from Japan just arrived and I can't wait to start using them. I now have lots of super cute accessories!

Life of Birds

This is a really good documentary. I am watching the last disc on Netflix right now and I like it alot!

First Bento

I had fun making my first bento this morning. I am still learning, but I think it turned out pretty well. Sean and I basically had the same lunch today, so that made it a bit easier. I am glad I picked up the mini cookie cutters at Meijer since I was able to make cute designs on our Babybel cheese. I am off to prep tomorrow's bentos. More pics to follow...

Weims

I haven't posted a pic of Norm here in a while, so here you go...

It Happened Again

I have gone forever without a new post. I think I will make this post about all of my new obsessions.

Here they are in no special order:
Bento - the Japanese art of lunch packing
Tiki - the drinks, the mugs, the leis - everything!
Gilmore Girls - more of a guilty pleasure, really

The bento thing is the most recent (within the last week). I have been reading this really cool blog about it and am going to begin packing them tomorrow.

The tiki thing has been a long time in the making. I went to this fantastic Polynesian restaurant (Kahiki) as a kid and it was love at first site. I have quite a collection of tiki mugs now and have become quite the mixologist. You can view my mug collection here.

The Gilmore Girls thing is pretty new too and I can't quite explain it. A few people have been espousing the merits, so I thought I would give it a try. It turns out that the show is pretty good, especially considering that the show has now ended and I can watch the episodes back to back with no commercials through Netflix. Horray for Netflix!

It is time for bed now, but I am intending to keep up better with this blog in the future.

Good night!

Welcome Back

What is it that makes one person ignore something, while another person cannot think of anything else? Is it priorities? Is it tolerance?

Example: I see a plant that visibly needs water and I can think of nothing else at that moment. I stop what I am doing and water the plant. Maybe what makes me feel an overwhelming urge to water the plant is the same thing that makes someone else able to walk away. Conscience? Maybe not...