New Blog & Spring Cleaning

I found a new blog that I like. It was linked on Unclutterer which I read daily now. It is called 43 Folders. It goes along with my new obsession with purging and organizing. I am determined to dig myself out of all my clutter! While working from home yesterday I made significant progress. I can always manage to fill a trash bag if I just walk around the house for about 30 minutes. I cleaned out two kitchen drawers and Sean's nightstand drawer as well as a few junk baskets around the house. I realize the the root of the problem is the fact that I have junk baskets, but I have to put my beloved Longaberger baskets somewhere... Speaking of Longaberger, I finally pitched all of the residual sales consultant material that I had been holding on to for years now. It felt really good to be free of all of it (1 bag full). Now I have some extra room to store the board games in the closet instead of on the floor in a pile. The other fun thing I did was cut that rubbery drawer-liner stuff to fit the two kitchen drawers I cleaned out - what a difference! Now the stuff doesn't just slide back and forth each time the drawer is opened and closed - hooray for small pleasures! Wait, maybe that is what my blog should be called...

Raptors in the Garden

I read this blog the other day and was inspired to make my own terrarium. It took me a while to gather all the things I needed, but in the process I found a neat little greenhouse in Plymouth where I bought all my plants. Sean helped me pick out the dinosaurs, and informed me of the killing methods they all used - lovely...

Possessed

I am determined to get our possessions under control after watching this video...


POSSESSED from Martin Hampton on Vimeo.

More Japanese Shopping

My sister and I went on a Japanese shopping spree right here in Southeastern Michigan last Saturday. We started out at Koyama Shoten up in Livonia. I had been there before, but Piper hadn't. It is a pretty good store with lots of confounding packaging. After Koyama, we headed up to Mirai and One World Market in Novi. The Novi stores were yet undiscovered by us, and we were pleasantly surprised. Mirai is full of magazines on topics that I could not begin to describe. Thankfully they sell things I can understand, and appreciate. Cell phone charms and Hello Kitty for example. I am sucker for cute cell phone charms. Just about everything small and electronic has a charm tied to it. It is beyond my husband's comprehension. I also love Japanese pens and pencils and those were in no short supply.

One World Market is essentially just a Japanese grocery store with limited housewares. I found a lovely tea mug. I also found sprouts! They come in a small square container with the roots still connected so they last longer than cut sprouts - fantastic!

I'm Wireless

Welcome to the 21st century! I am composing this post from my living room (where there are no Ethernet jack). I am so ridiculously excited to sit wherever I want to surf the web. I feel so free! I can now sit in my living room and use the internet while I watch TV. It is the ultimate in sensory overload and I love it! More on this later...

It Was Better Online...

I just bought Paolo Nutini's album and I love it! The funny thing is that I found a live performance of "Last Request" on YouTube.com that I like way better than the version on the CD. Go figure...

I've been Pouncing!

Ever since I read this post on Betz White's blog, I have been Pouncing away on Etsy. I found all kinds of cool stuff. I bought a really cool pop-art Weimaraner watercolor by the same artist that painted two other ones I already own. I also found a lady who makes funky custom dog collars, so one of those is on it's way as well. I will post a pic of Norm in his new collar once it comes. I might even post a pic of the watercolor once I find a good frame for it. I have to go - there are lots more uncovered treasures out there!

Seven Lucky Gods

I got a new charm for my cell phone, and just in time too since my old one just broke last week. My brother-in-law works for a Japanese company and he was given the charm as a gift from a visiting colleague. He isn't much for cell phone charms, but he knew I would like it. Yea!

Bonus Time!

I got my annual raise at work today and it was much above the average amount. That makes me very happy! On top of that I received a bonus, which also makes me very happy. I am feeling really good about moving to a new department at work - it has made such a difference in my happiness. I am not nearly as bored as I used to be. Hooray for bonus time (not just at Clinique)!

Laptop Lunches

I am posting to this Flickr group now. I have been making Laptop Lunches for a while now, but I finally got my act together and put the camera in the kitchen so I remember to take pics of them. I guess this demonstrates that I am still in to lunch packing. It turns out to not be such a transient obsession after all. Maybe I need to rethink the blog name.

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!