I can’t believe we are already into April… This past year has gone by so bloody quick, it’s just a shame that coronavirus is around at the moment really. π¦ As I’m writing this I am nearing the first week of isolation and working from home. It’s been nice to be honest… I like staying in sometimes to have time for me and Dane but I also miss friends who I am meant to see. π¦
I’ve found that during isolation I’ve been online shopping a little… I can’t help it, I’m bored and want lovely things if I can’t go out for meals, coffee dates and shopping trips with friends! π
I feel like this months wish list is boring, but this is all I could think of to be honest with you all… As I said, anything I am seeing and liking the look of, I’ve been ordering/buying!
I hope you guys enjoy this months wish list!
Tarte Cosmetics Sugar Rushβ’ Star Factor Cleansing Face Brush (link)
I noticed someone on Instagram using this face brush over and over again and it looks really good! I’ve used different face brushes in the past and whilst some were good and some where bad, I would like to try something again. Good ol’ fashioned hands is always great, but brush may help! This isn’t cheap at over Β£15 and especially the postage over Β£6! I was planning to buy it too but MONEY! This is an item I’m going to keep my eye on as I would definitely love to pick it up in the future.
I cannot express enough how much I WANT THIS COAT! As many of my readers will know by now, I love Persona 5 and have so much merchandise (inc clothing from Insert Coin) since it came out in 2017. I do have a parka, just like this one but I hardly wear it anymore as I just… Don’t? This Futaba coat looks really good and would be perfect to throw on throughout all the seasons! At the same time… I do wonder if it’s me. The one thing that really puts me off ordering it however, is the price. Β£99.99 is expensive for a coat in my opinion. I’ll wait for this to go down in price…
I have just written a blog post about the stationary items I picked up from Japan (which you can read about here) and here I am, wanting more! I saw this cute PomPomPurin pen from Artbox and it’s adorable! PomPomPurin is a little custard pudding, which I love to eat when I can get one! I don’t need anymore pens, but this is honestly adorable. I would love to pick up some more kawaii stationary soon.
I’ve actually pre-ordered this pin now, but I just needed to. It wasn’t cheap to be honest due to the shipping from America, but I don’t care. In May I should be receiving an Animal Crossing itabag I ordered, so I want to make sure to fill it with adorable Animal Crossing related pins! Isabelle is sat down in her New Horizons attire, whilst holding a glass of vacation juice. SO CUTE! Definitely needed a pin of Isabelle in her new uniform, she’s the best girl!
This game was recently announced during the Nintendo Direct Mini last week and since watching it I have wanted Good Job! on the Switch to play when I’m not playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Your dad owns the company and you need to work your way up the ladder to be next to him, it just looks so quirky and fun! I will pop the YouTube video above so you can watch the trailer. π
I was pretty excited for this new launch from Lime Crime. I love my lip products/colours and I also rather like Lime Crime (especially after they were sold to better people…) so I do try and keep up with what they have out. The new Lip Pops that they have brought out are satin finish lipsticks that you click to get more product to pop up and click to pop the product away. Probably makes ZERO SENSE the way I am describing it. π There are a couple of shades I like the look of, but Retrograde is one I am gravitating towards the most. It’s a sheer purple/blue shade which you can apply sheer, or build up for more colour. I haven’t seen these available in the UK yet, but I’ll be keeping eyes peeled for the future. With the lock down going on at the moment, there isn’t much point in getting any new lippies anytime soon.
Lisa Angel House of Disaster ‘Secret Garden’ Fox Jar (link)
Finally, we have a cute fox item on my wish list that I recently discovered through Instagram. I remember falling in love with Lisa Angel back in 2016 when I bought my house, fast forward almost 4 years later and I have found myself looking on their website again at the cute goods they have to offer! I really love this fox jar, it’s so kawaii and kitsch/vintage looking. I don’t know what I could keep in it though to be honest if I picked it up…
So, that is my wish list for April! I cannot believe we’re already into the fourth month of the year and we’re probably going to be stuck in the house for most of it…
What do you guys have on your wish lists this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below, as well as what you’re up to during lock down.
Until next time all, take care and stay safe. π
I can’t believe we are already into April… March went by pretty quickly and it was a mixture of a great and a surreal month. March is not only the month of Animal Crossing: New Horizons coming out, but also the month that we were put into isolation here in the UK due to the coronavirus. Due to that, March has been… Odd. Well, the end of March anyway. I’m currently working from home, so my week is busy with doing my usual job. However, in the evenings and over the weekends, I’m playing Animal Crossing, binging TV Shows and watching stuff on Disney+. It’s amazing to be honest with you, staying in, saving money and doing things I enjoy. OH and online shopping… π
This months favourites are a mixture of nothing special and kind of predictable due to the lock down so… Either way, I hope you enjoy! π
Imperial Leather Cosmic Unicorn Shower Gel.
I actually picked up this shower gel when me and Dane went for a “big” shop just before the lock down happened. I actually bought it for Dane but I’ve ended up using it myself. It’s got a unique scent and I can’t quite put my finger on what it smells like to be honest with you… It smells sweet but with a floral twist to give it an adult sort of smell… If you know what I mean? It lathers really nicely and makes me feel really soft. It was only a Β£1 too, so very good value for money.
The Body Shop Satsuma Hand Cream.
My best friend Gabriella (hey Gab!) bought this for me for Christmas and since being on lock down and working from home, I have been using this load recently. Alongside the strawberry scent from The Body Shop, the satsuma one also reminds me of my childhood, when my mom would buy me the shower gels as a treat. These hand creams are a hit and miss usually with my skin due to my eczema, but at the moment my skin is LOVING it! I especially love the smell of this, which perks me up whilst I’m working from home.
Being by Sanctuary Spa Cloudberry & Lychee Blossom Body Lotion.Β
This was part of a gift set I received at Christmas and it’s definitely something that was good to receive. I love a good gift set that is full of pampering type goodies, especially when they smell good. This scent is fruity, sweet and fresh! My feet have been really dry lately and in need of some major TLC! Seeing as I’m working from home, I’ve been making sure to wear plenty of body lotion on my feet with some socks on, with this body lotion being my choice of cream. This has really helped my feet improve in just a week and I am so grateful.
Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream.
This is my saviour right now and I know I only recently mentioned this on one of my favourite posts, but it deserves another mention to be honest. This is a thick butter that has a gorgeous tart lemon scent behind it. I use this all the time during work, so I wasn’t going to change that whilst working from home. The soles of my feet have been on and off dry lately, but using this alongside the body lotion above have really helped! Honestly, I love this stuff so much and as soon as I am coming towards the end of the tin, I will be buying a new one!
Original Dettol Liquid.
I know this is a random item for my favourites this month, but hear me out. Recently Estelle (over at Estellosaurus) mentioned on her Twitter about Dettol baths and it made me want one… So, when me and Dane went out for a shop a few weeks back, I made sure to pick one up. I love the smell of Dettol, it’s so clean and fresh and I know I’m going to be left feeling clean afterwards. I pop a cap and a half of this into the bath and it’s perfect! I don’t bother putting any bubble bath, or bath bombs in etc. You don’t need them when you have the liquid.
So now my beauty favourites are done, time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month!
This is a show I loved back in the day when it came out. I never watched season 1, but I began after season 2 came out. I was at university at the time and wanted the job that Betty had (although I don’t think I would now… :P) so this show was perfect for me. I loved fashion, but I was a nerd too so… I could relate to Betty. I was also mocked during my time at college and university and called “Ugly Betty” with someone once explaining why they called me that – “You’re so pretty deep down but you hide it under your ugly clothes, hair, glasses and no make up.” I was pretty insulted to say the least. I loved Betty, I could relate so much after that shit was said to me. Betty is a girl from Queens who joins a big fashion magazine to work as an assistant. There are 4 seasons and plenty of drama along the way. It’s on Amazon Prime right now, so if you fancy some nostalgia, or want to watch something new then make sure to give it a go!
Favourite Movie β Parasite.
I watched this film at the start of March and saying I really loved it is a huge understatement. This film is AMAZING to be honest with you and fresh to the film industry. It’s no surprise that it won so many awards. A family find themselves in the slums, with no money and rarely any work. The sons friend grants them an opportunity to get a decent job and some decent money along with it. I don’t want to say too much, but I would definitely recommend trying to watch it if you can!
Yeah. I didn’t read again this month… I know I said I would but to be honest with everything that has happened this past month and Animal Crossing: New Horizons coming out… I just haven’t had time.
Favourite Songβ Doja Cat, Tyga – “Juicy”.
Honestly couldn’t not mention this song this month considering I can’t stop listening to it! I can’t actually remember where I heard it… I have a feeling it was on social media somewhere. The song is literally about the singer having a big bum… Which isn’t a bad thing! I have a big arse so I can relate to this song. FYI, the music video above is raunchy, but whatever. π I just like how she sings about natural beauty, eating whatever she wants and cellulite. I know a lot of women out there will think the song is degrading, but when you naturally have a fat arse and have cellulite, you will relate to this. Plus, it’s a sexy song with a catchy tune! π
Me on my island!
Favourite Game β Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
I don’t know if I have enough time to talk about this game on this post, so I may need to have a separate post about it BUT, I LOVE ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS SO DAMN MUCH! I’ve had this almost 2 weeks now and honestly it has been really good for relaxing me, as well as taking my mind off of what is happening in the world right now. My Twitter has blown up and all I see these days now is talk of Animal Crossing, which is AMAZING! Both me and Dane got the game on the day it launched, we picked it up from Smyths and played it pretty much nonstop the day it was out. Since then I have played on and off each day, I’m building up my island, getting new villagers (one at the time of writing this post is Marshal… YAY!) and having fun playing with friends too. π Would you guys like to see me write a post about Animal Crossing: New Horizons?
So, there are my favourites from March! As I said at the start of the post, March flew by and I can’t believe it’s April already. I am planning to spend this month isolating as much as I can, celebrating Dane’s birthday and eating yummy Easter eggs in a couple of weeks. π
How are you all doing? How are you dealing with isolation? What are your favourite things from March? Make sure to tell me in the comments down below!
Until next time, take care all and stay safe. π
When you think of Japan, I’m sure the last thing you think of is stationary, right? I know some of you might, whilst others think of sushi, Geisha’s and sumo wrestlers.
Japan is CRAZY about stationary and for all the kawaii characters that you can find there, I’m not surprised why they are so mad about it. I know I had to take advantage of picking up some cute stationary whilst I was in Japan and I left with more than I intended to, to be honest with you! I’ve already spoken about the Pokemon related items on my Pokemon Haul (which you can read all about here), but I will be mentioning them here again, because why not. π
A part of me wishes I’d picked up more stationary items, especially from the Sanrio store, but hey ho. π I thought it would be nice to show you all my stationary items anyhoo, as I know a lot of my followers love stationary!
Washi Tape
I picked up quite a lot of wash tape on my trip, which took me by surprise considering I’d never bought washi tape until I ventured to Japan. I ended up picking up four different ones, which I will talking about below.
Tanuku & Kitsune Mounttain Theater Washi Tape – The washi tape that kick started off my mini addiction is this one from Tanuki & Kitsune and this tape is from the Mountain Theater collection. This was from a pop up shop in Character Street (Tokyo Station) which I regret not buying more items from to be honest before it left. The design on the tape matches what the image on the front shows, which is so adorable. You have Tanuki wearing a green cap, a dark brown cape and falling to sleep whilst it reads a script, whilst Kitsune is also reading a script as it wears a red cape. They’re adorable and clearly getting ready to act in their roles!
Studio Ghibli Kiki’s Delivery Duo Pack Washi Tape – After I went and picked up the Tanuki & Kitsune washi tape I decided to pick up this adorable washi tape double pack from the Studio Ghibli shop in Character Street (Tokyo Station). This is my favourite washi tape out of the four I’ve picked up as Jiji is absolutely adorable on both of the designs I got. There’s a pale blue design with daisies and blue flowers on, alongside Jiji sitting down and standing up. There’s also a dark blue design with Jiji’s face over daisy flowers. Honestly cannot wait to use these washi tape designs in my scrapbook!
Mofu Mofu Eevee Washi Tape – As I had already bought two washi tape designs anyway, I decided as Iβm working on a scrapbook soon about our trip to Japan and wanted to pick up more kawaii patterned washi tape to make the scrapbook look pretty inside. Of course I couldnβt not pick up this cute mofu mofu Eevee design, which is just loads of cute Eeveeβs running along the tape. I havenβt opened this yet and donβt plan to until it comes to me using it.
Nintendo Tokyo Animal Crossing Washi Tape – This is the final roll of washi tape I picked up on my trip to Japan. From memory there was this design and another one with the fruits on (Apples, Oranges, Peaches, Cherries and Pears). This washi tape design isn’t anything special and is pretty basic with the Animal Crossing design we all know and love! As well as the symbols we all know from Animal Crossing, there is also images of Isabelle and Digby too, which is what sold me to pick up the washi tape in the first place.
Mechanical Pencils, Pencil Lead and Pens
Ghibli Museum Mechanical Pencil – As I had bought my Eevee mechanical pencil by this point I didn’t actually need to buy another mechanical pencil… But considering it was from the Ghibli Museum, it was a souvenir I really wanted to pick up on my trip. This pencil is gorgeous and very minimal in comparison to some stationary you can buy in Japan. The pencil is a white design with silver metal, blue accent colours and of course an image of Totoro with his umbrella, raindrops and “Ghibi Museum Mitaka” underneath him. I really love this pencil and I currently use it for my D&D sessions.
Mofu Mofu Eevee Mechanical Pencil and PenΒ β The blue design is the pen, the red is the pencil. There were four designs/colours in total including the blue and red ones I own, as well as a brown (pencil) and green (pen I think). I didnβt really want anymore mechanical pencils as I have a pink one I really love (wellβ¦ loved until I bought my new ones in Japan :P) to use so I didnβt need another mechanical pencil. I picked up the pen, which is black ink and was happy. When I went back to the Pokemon Center, I ended up picking the pencil up too and I donβt regret it! The pencil writes really well and I much prefer it to my pink mechanical pencil to be honest with you! The designs on them both are gorgeous with the fluffy, happy Eevee designs all over.
Studio Ghibli Kiki’s Delivery Service Frixion Pen – This was actually the first bit of stationary I picked up and I have ZERO REGRETS! This is a red pen, with gold images of Jiji and his girlfiend Lily. The way you get the pen nib to retract is by the clear part on the pen. I love a nice pen to write with, especially when I want to jot down blog notes and sometimes for D&D too (although I used to use a pencil previous to buying all my Japan stationary). I used to use Frixion pens when I was an undergrad at university 10 years ago (God I feel old saying that) as well as in my old job so these rub out pens aren’t anything new for me to use. However, the pen itself is amazing and this is by far one of my favourite items on this list that I picked up. This pen actually comes with red ink, but I bought some black Frixion refills whilst I was in Japan for this so I can use black instead of just red. I don’t know about you guys but I was brought up to not write in red ink (unless for myself) as it’s seen as rude.
Nintendo Tokyo Animal Crossing Isabelle Pen – I’d had my eye on this pen since before I went to Japan for my trip, as I’d seen most of the Animal Crossing merchandise that was for sale in the Nintendo Tokyo store. I didn’t know if I was going to pick it up or not but to be honest, some of the Animal Crossing merchandise I wanted was sold out, which sucks (although I have it now, yay!) so I made up for it with stationary… π I picked up the Isabelle pen, as I love Isabelle and you can’t have enough pens, right?! This is a white pen with cream yellow accents, as well as some images of tulips along the grip area of the pen. At the top of the pen on one side is an image of Isabelle with some yellow tulips and on the other side it reads “DΕbutsu No mori” which is Animal Crossing in Japanese, as well as an image of Isabelle’s face and some yellow ears, which you also use to retract the black and red pens.
Sanrio Pompompurin Pen – This is the last piece of stationary I picked up on our trip. I bought it a few days before we left Japan and I actually regret not getting the Cinnamoroll version as well. This pen writes so smoothly, I love it! It’s definitely up there with my Kiki’s Delivery Service pen. This is a simple pen really, with mustard yellow colours and a Pompompurin mascot at the top of the pen (which is removable), as well as his cute little hamster friends all around the pen. I find myself using this pen a lot lately when I’m in my D&D sessions, as it’s such a smooth pen to write with.
Pikachu Mechanical Pencil Lead β Due to now owning a total of four mechanical pencils (aside from the two I bought in Japan I already have two back home that I use on and off), itβs always good to make sure to have plenty of pencil lead for these! I couldnβt get a mofu mofu Eevee design (they didnβt make oneβ¦) so instead I picked up a cute Pikachu design instead, which is kind of similar to the mofu mofu design. This came with quite a lot of 0.5 size led inside already, but as I owned some already from my first mechanical pencil, I decided to add them into this holder. Iβll never run out of led now!
Notebook and Pencil Case
Mofu Mofu Eevee NotebookΒ β I have too many notebooksβ¦ I needed this one though. Itβs adorable! I donβt quite know what Iβm going to use it for as of yetβ¦ Maybe blog related stuff whilst Iβm out and about? Dungeons & Dragons in the future? I donβt knowβ¦ π I just needed it! The designs on the front are adorable, with all the Eeveeβs doing different things such as sleeping on books, holding quills in their mouths and sitting in teacups. Cute! Thereβs designs in the book too, with the Eevee holding the quill in itβs mouth again.
Mofu Mofu Eevee Pen CaseΒ β I didnβt need a pen caseβ¦ But due to how much stationary I bought whilst I was on my holiday, I kind of had to! That and the pencil case I use currently for all my stationary items is from when I was studying my GCSEβs at schoolβ¦ Which was 15 years ago now! That pencil case is great, but I wanted something smaller and more refreshing! This one is a perfect signs for everything I bought on the trip, and I really enjoy taking it out with me. Itβs so cute to bring out of my bag when I want something to write with. The image of the Eeveeβs cuddling together on he one side is so kawaii!
Clear Files
Mofu Mofu Clear File β I bought quite a few clear files whilst I was in Japan, but this is my favourite one by far! I actually bought this to keep my files in for Dungeons & Dragons, but as of yet I havenβt had the chance to use it. The image on the front of the two Eeveeβs is so adorable, Iβd still like to frame it to be honest! π
Nintendo Tokyo Animal Crossing Clear Files – I can’t remember if I knew about these or not before I went to Japan, but I am so glad I picked them up, especially nowΒ Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out! You get two clear files in this set, one of which is a scene on both sides of the file of your town/island with various of the villagers homes and buildings such as Nook Cranny, the museum, town hall, Able Sisters, plenty of trees (including apple) and of course various villagers! The other file is simpler with it’s beige colour and on one side the same various villagers that are on the other file and on the other side the “DΕbutsu No mori” and Animal Crossing names.
Pokemon Cafe Clear Files – Me and my boyfriend knew we wanted to get some files for our trip in Japan, as a lot of places we ventured to (aka cafes) have the place mats that you fold/roll up and take home, so we wanted some files that we could do that with. We ordered these when we booked out seats at the Pokemon Cafe and we never actually got around to using them, or any of the other files that we bought for this purpose. Even so these files will be handy for D&D BUT, I have started to wonder if you could frame these and hang them up like prints! These would especially look great around the house and in the kitchen. I have to add, the first file is by far my favourite with the kawaii Pokemon Cafe mascots, although I am baffled about why Eevee isn’t there?! The other clear file in this double pack is meant to be a party style scene but with lots of different Pokemon eating and drinking items from the Pokemon Cafe menu, as well as the cute Pokemon Cafe staff. By the way, you can read all about the Pokemon Cafe here.
Fullmetal Alchemist Clear Files – These are actually some clear files that my boyfriend Dane picked up from the Fullmetal Alchemist Cafe that we visited during our trip (I plan to talk about it in the future!) and I’m really glad he picked them up as they’re so pretty. One of the files has an image of Edward and Alphonse Elric fighting together, this is definitely my favourite file of the two he bought. The metal arm and leg of Edward’s really do shine in the light, which was what appealed to me the most. The second clear file has the “good guys” on of Fullmetal Alchemist, which Dane had to have! I will honestly be surprised if we don’t end up framing these in the future and sticking them up in our office. π
So, that is all of the stationary that I picked up from Japan! I thought this would be a nice little haul to share with you this week, especially as we went into lock down here in the UK this week too (well, Monday). I’ve been working from home and on my breaks and after work I have still been doing my writing.
Although we are in lock down here, my blog stuff will not change, I will continue to get my blog posts up every week. π
So, which piece(s) of stationary that I picked up in Japan did you like? Also, what are you doing for the next couple of weeks during the lock down? Make sure to let me know in the comments!
Until next time all, take care, stay safe and I hope you’re having a lovely weekend. π
At the time of me writing this post, Animal Crossing: New Horizons still has another 4 days to go until it’s out and I honestly cannot wait anymore… BRING IT ON! I NO LONGER WANT A LIFE!
BUT when this post is live on my blog, Animal Crossing: New Horizons will have been out over 24 hours and all the Animal Crossing fans who are swamping Twitter will go quiet…er. π
P.S. I’ve written this post early because I want my Friday and all weekend to myself to play this game! When I said I no longer want a life, I meant it. π
I thought considering Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out yesterday, it would be appropriate for me to talk about some items and independent artists who have created some amazing pieces that are Animal Crossing inspired!
A lot of the items below may be from Etsy as personally if I don’t discover a new artist through a con or Instagram, it’ll be from there! π
So, I hope you enjoy this blog post today – whether you are playing Animal Crossing: New HorizonsΒ or self isolating at home due to the COVID-19. Don’t forget to stay safe guys. π
This is actually an enamel pin I made sure to pre-order when it came out last week on Illustrator Jake’s website. The Froggy Chair from Animal Crossing has become a HUGE meme and I honestly couldn’t tell you why haha! I thought the design was cute though so just had to order. This will go inside an Animal Crossing itabag I’ve ordered. π
I honestly love this print that I found on Etsy a while ago and would love to buy it to hang in the house somewhere. However, I wouldn’t have a clue where to put it in my house in all honesty. I just love all the details on the print from the glasses Tom Nook wears, to Resetti looking adorable and like a fan girl.
Who doesn’t love scented candles? So, when you cross scented candles and Animal Crossing what do you get? Home perfection! π I love the scented candles that NerdieNiftiesEU has on their store and I especially love the sound of this Isabelle berry muffin one. This would be ideal to burn on a summer evening whilst you relax and play Animal Crossing: New HorizonsΒ or whilst you have a relaxing bath.
I recently discovered Shop Azula through Instagram who has created some gorgeous Animal Crossing inspired enamel pins, but as I’ve already mentioned some enamel pins on this post I wanted to showcase something else, aka this pouch. You can never go wrong with having a nice pouch, whether it be for stationary, beauty, gaming related items and more. You can always keep this pouch in your handbag/backpack or keep around the house. The print on it is gorgeous with various characters such as Isabelle, Tom Nook, Celeste, Blathers, Katrina, Reece, Cyrus, K.K. Slider and more!
paolinamissio Lily and Marshall Onsen Holographic Sticker (link)
This sticker is so adorable and not only does it shout Animal Crossing to me, but it also personally reminds me of my holiday to Japan, due to the villagers bathing in the onsen. You can see Lily and Marshall bathing together in the tub with a wooden tub full of apples in between them. I especially love how the sticker is also holographic, which is cute! I’d love to set up an Animal Crossing style notebook, it would be full ofΒ Animal Crossing: New HorizonsΒ stuff!
I honestly love Samantha Whitten’s work and have wanted to buy some of her pieces for the longest time! She also owns Sugar Bunny Shop and has the adorable fox Doki, which is the pieces I have wanted to buy for agggges! But, the Animal Crossing prints she has designed and released are gorgeous and I would honestly love one to hang up in either our living room, or in our bedroom. I may have to invest in buying some new prints soon! π
Who doesn’t love a cute keychain, right? The one thing I like the most about this keychain is that it’s unisex and with the new Animal Crossing game coming out now, this would make an awesome gift for someone who just just bought the game, or will in the future! This is the kind of thing I would buy someone who is a huge Animal Crossing fan as a birthday or Christmas present. π
Finally we have this adorable Isabelle sticker where she is chilling in a pool float. She looks so damn happy! Again, this is a sticker I would put in/on an Animal Crossing notebook/journal. You can also get a floating Tom Nook and Daisy-Mae, who I know everyone has gone crazy for lately! These stickers just remind me of summer!
So, there we have it! Some independent Animal Crossing merchandise ideas for all you Animal Crossing fans out there!
UPDATE β Also make sure to use my discount code below onΒ Illustrator Jakeβs storeΒ to snag yourself a nice 10% discount! π
THEREMIGHTBECOFFEE10
With everything that is going on at the moment in the world with Coronavirus, it was really important for me to share independent artists more than anything. I know a lot of independent artists are struggling right now so I want to definitely showcase some of my favourites here. π
Are you guys playing Animal Crossing: New HorizonsΒ this weekend? If so, how are you finding it so far? Also, do you like any of the goodies I’ve spoken of in my post? Again, make sure to let me know in the comments.
Anyway guys, I’m getting back to Animal Crossing, I have an island to run! π
Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely weekend so far!
Pokemon Day was just over two weeks ago now (27th February) and as I’ve been back from Japan for a month now… Sad times…
As my first post about my trip to Japan was about the Pokemon Center’s in Tokyo and what I bought, I thought my second post should continue talking about Pokemon! Of course, I can’t not talk about the Pokemon Cafe in Tokyo and my experience there, as well as a haul of what both me and Dane bought from there.
Just a warning this post is going to be a long one… Purely because I want to try and go through as much as I can, including how to book as this is something we had a mini struggle with, as well as anything else that comes to mind in regards to the Pokemon Cafe.
Let’s not chatter anymore, let’s get on with the post!
I knew that if I was going to Japan, I was going to the Pokemon Cafe! There are currently only two in Japan, the newest one in Osaka and the one in Tokyo, which we went to. The Pokemon Cafe’s have only been open a couple of years so it’s still quite a new thing and VERY popular!
First of all, if you want to go to the Pokemon Cafe be ready for a few things:
It can be expensive… But this can depend. If you want to try as much as you can on the menu AND buy merchandise as well, this can add up. For both of us it came to 14,600.00 yen (just over Β£100) but that was for food, drinks AND merchandise and we bought a lot to be honest (as you’ll see in this post).
You NEED to book in advance. If you don’t, you probably won’t get in. I’ll be talking about this in this post. Booking isn’t hard but it’s something you’ll have to think about first out of everything.
If you aren’t keen on mascots “bothering” you then I don’t know if the Pokemon Cafe will be for you. There’s a performance for quite some time with Chef Pikachu and if you have anxiety, or just don’t like this sort of thing… Then Pokemon Cafe might be one to miss… Or at least just go for a quick drink to experience it. π
I didn’t have any issues and if anything, the Pokemon Cafe was one of my favourite things that me and Dane did during our trip to Japan! It was everything I had hoped it would be and more. I kind of wish we went again but at the same time, the one visit made it much more memorable.
The second thing I want to talk about is how you need to go about booking your place at the Pokemon Cafe.
Booking isn’t hard, but it can be tricky. First of all get onto the right website! You don’t need to go through any third parties in order to book the Pokemon Cafe, you can do this directly through them.
Okay… I decided whilst writing this post that I wasn’t going to type and explain to you all how to book the Pokemon Cafe… Instead I am going to link you all to the video that me and Dane watched when we were booking our reservation.
This video from AforAlyce may be from almost 2 years ago BUT IT IS STILL RELEVANT! We used this when booking ours and it was the best guide out there in all honesty.
Some issues we faced however (which wasn’t AforAlyce’s fault) are below:
Although Google Translate is handy, it seemed to confuse the website… Especially on the calendar, so make sure to be wary because of this. It also caused some issues in regards to trying to click certain things.
The maximum of people you can now book is 8! π
At one point you will need to fill in your contact details, you put your name in English AND Hiragana. You can Google your name in Hiragana but we found this a little tricky… Just try your best though!
Finally the reservations at the Pokemon Cafe GO QUICK as they are released a month in advance. So, make sure to book your reservation(s) when 9am hits in Japan (UK time 12am) or at least as soon as you can! We booked ours as soon as we could in the morning… Think it was about 6am!
MAKE SURE TO ORDER THE EXCLUSIVE GOODIES IF YOU WANT THEM! YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BUY THESE IN THE CAFE!!!!!
Thanks to the help of a friend (Hi Connor!) he suggested the best seat for us, which is the shared counter table and we were sat right in front of Pikachu, YAY! I was so thankful for Connor’s help with this, honestly this was the best seat in the Pokemon Cafe. π Just a little plug for Connor, but he runs his own blog all about Japan! π Make sure to go and check it out here!
You sit and wait to be taken to your table at the entrance of the Pokemon Cafe and once your time slot comes up, you are shown to the table/seats you booked! You walk through what feels like a heaven of a cafe… Well, at least if you’re a Pokemon fan! There are displays everywhere, including the plates, cups, bowls and cutlery you use and can buy from the cafe, plushies (some you can buy) and a MASSIVE Snorlax!
There are other displays too, which I knew of before going to the Pokemon Cafe myself, but I didn’t actually go and take a look at them until I was leaving the cafe. This was just due to how quiet the cafe was at this stage… PLUS I wanted to be sat down and start enjoying the cafe!
You’re sat down and you get an iPad to order your menu items from, including drinks. There was so much to choose from! You also have a themed place mat out in front of you, which you flip over to reveal which Pokemon you got!
If you ordered any merchandise whilst booking your place at the Pokemon Center this/these item will be in a brown Pokemon Cafe bag where you’re sitting. I loved this and inside you will find your goodies and even some brown bags for if these are gifts for people back home! I loved this so much and most of all, in the UK you would probably fret and worry if anything was missing due to theft… Not in Japan! I’ll show you what we picked up at the end of the post… π
So, when you are ready to order your drinks and food just tap on the iPad, select your desired language and you’re ready to go!
I’ll be honest, it was hard to choose what I wanted for a few reasons – First being price and second being that I didn’t want toΒ notΒ choose something and regret it later. I’m glad I splurged out and got everything that I wanted!
Drinks I went a bit crazy, but it was mostly because I really wanted to try them and I wanted the glass/mug they came in too. I went for the Pokemon Latte iced with glassΒ and the Gengar’s Okay Hikari Smoothie with glass.
Dane just went for the Pokemon Latte Hot with mug. He wasn’t as greedy as me in regards to drinks. π
The drinks were one of my favourite things from the Pokemon Cafe menu, with my favourite being the Gengar grape smoothie and of course I needed to take the glass home with me. This drink was a really thick slushie (not smoothie) in the classic grape flavour that Japan loves! If you love Grape Fanta, you will adore this and if anything, it’s better! Dane regretted not getting himself one. For a small glass this lasted ages too, it was the last thing we finished before resting our bellies and paying.
The lattes (both hot and cold) were really good! You get to choose from Pokemon No.001 to No.251. I went for Eevee on my iced latte and Dane went for Growlithe on his hot latte. The mug you get your hot latte in is much different from what you get to take home with you if you decided to buy the mug. The mug you get in the Pokemon Cafe is in the shape of a Pokeball, which was really cool! I’ll be showing you guys at the end of the post the mug we got. The glass I got with my cold latte is the same as the one I got to take home. This is honestly one of my favourite things I purchased during our trip to Japan! I love using it for my favourite cold drinks, it just puts a smile on my face at how cute the glass is.
When you order drinks you also get the chance to win some coasters too, one for each drink you order. So, we got the chance to win three! We won two Grookey coasters and (name). The duplicate Grookey sits in my plushie shelf, whereas the other two we won will be stuck in our Japan trip 2020 scrapbook. FYI – You will always win a coaster. π
When it came down to the food choices, we had LOADS of choice, as well as some limited edition dishes. I was only going to go for one dish, but decided to go for two after discussing it with Dane. I don’t regret this at all… Even when I was so stuffed I couldn’t move!
Food wise I went for the Kabigon’s Manpuku nap lunch plate for my main and the Messon’s berry berry fruit sandwich for my dessert.
Dane went for the Eevee well plate with Eevee plateΒ as his main and the Jigglypuff’s Musical Cheesecake for dessert.
I’m honestly so pleased with the main I ordered, which was the Snorlax nap lunch plate. Inside the Snorlax bowl (in his belly) you get rice with veg and prawns, I didn’t eat the prawns but the rice was AMAZING! It was flavoured really nicely and I enjoyed every bite. On the side you had a salad, some star shaped hash browns, pieces of pork (which were so soft and succulent!) and finally a sauce to dip your meat, hash browns, pour over your salad etc. The whole of the Snorlax nap lunch plate was perfect and honestly I couldn’t have been happier with my choice! I really struggled with what I wanted to pick for my main but I’m glad I chose this in the end.
Dane went for the Eevee plate and got to take a plate home, which we’ve now popped up on our fireplace! The plate was adorable in the sense of it was definitely kawaii and a little bit too good to eat… The first thing I noticed was the rice in the shape of Eevee’s head with edible rice paper for the ears and details of the face. I don’t think Dane minded eating Eevee’s face though… π You also get a salad, some spaghetti/noodles, hash browns, chicken, some sauce and something else that he can’t quite remember.
Whilst we were eating out food Chef Pikachu came around to greet us, which was adorable! This little show must have lasted about an hour max, but that’s with Chef Pikachu moving around the whole of the Pokemon Cafe. Basically, you get a little show from Chef Pikachu where he thanks you for coming to the cafe and you thank him for the food! The show was adorable and I filmed loads of it on my phone, which I’m sadly not going to share on my blog (this is more for personal).
Eventually when Pikachu had thanked us he moved to the next area of the Pokemon Cafe, which meant we could continue to eat our food. I’m not going to lie, it would have been hard (and kind of rude!) to carry on eating our food during the show. The show was at a perfect time though and we definitely had the best place in the cafe for it!
After we finished our mains we waited for our desserts to arrive, which didn’t take long to be honest with you! We were sat near the kitchen so we got our food and drinks pretty quick, which was great.
Originally the only dish I was going to order from the Pokemon Cafe was the Sobble dessert and whilst I loved the dessert I ordered, I’m still glad I ordered more! This is a limited edition dish which is actually finishing after this weekend, however, originally it was meant to end towards the end of January when we were due to come back home. They extended it, which is cool! This was such a lovely, light dessert and I enjoyed it so much! It’s a sponge sandwich type thing that is meant to be the shape of Sobble’s head, with cream and blueberries in the middle. Alongside this you had some more blueberries, a pot of blueberry cream and a little bottle of lemon juice. When your poured the lemon juice into the blueberry cream it turned it from a blue colour to purple! Very cool and I loved it so much, it definitely worked perfectly alongside the type of Pokemon Sobble is.
I have to say I love blueberries but due to how full I was from the main I just couldn’t handle it all, so Dane had to help me finish. I really struggled and that is not a bad thing! For how much you pay to sit and eat these amazing dishes in the Pokemon Cafe, you really do get your moneys worth.
Dane’s dessert looked so cute and seemed perfect to have after a big meal, as it also looked light. The Jigglypuff shape of the cheesecake was kawaii and he couldn’t have chosen anything better! This is sadly now discontinued, so I’m glad Dane picked it up before it was gone forever! It’s a berry cheesecake so had a pink tint for Jigglypuff, some biscuits in the shape of musical notes and some cream and berries. As I said, perfect and light after a big meal!
After we had finished eating and had relaxed our full bellies a little, it was time to head to the till and pay. However, before doing that we made sure to take advantage of the photo opportunities around the Pokemon Cafe and have a nose at the merchandise on offer.
There’s a bench you can sit on in the Pokemon Cafe with huge plushies of both Chef and Waitress Pikachu. This is a great place for all the photo opportunities, which we made sure to take advantage of!
We also took some photos around the Pokemon Cafe at all the displays we viewed briefly as we walked through to our table and there were some pretty cool ones in there such as LEGO version of the Snorlax and Mew that is outside of the Pokemon Cafe AND Pokemon Center Tokyo DX (which you can read about here) and various prints from artists, which are also signed. It’s very cool!
Finally we decided to have a nosey at the merchandises we contemplated picking up. The only I ended up picking up for myself was the Pokemon Cafe red takeaway mug. I’ve wanted it for years, so I knew I wanted to pick it up from the cafe.
When we went to pay we were given the goods we had bought when we ordered our drinks and dishes from the menu, these includes the two glasses (Gengar and iced latte), a Pikachu mug (hot latte) and the Eevee plate from Dane’s main.
I had to add here I was aΒ tadΒ gutted about the mug I received… As Eevee is one of my favourite Pokemon, that’s the one I wanted. However, the staff wouldn’t give me one and said it wasn’t available, so I can only assume it was sold out, which is a shame! There will always be chances to get hold of it from sellers though. π
The service was incredible at the Pokemon Cafe! The staff were all so bubbly and friendly to talk to and the majority of them spoke English too, even when you were trying to/were speaking Japanese, which was really nice.
Finally I want to show you guys all the goodies we came away with from the Pokemon Cafe, because I know you all love that sort of thing! π
First of all I’ll show the goodies we got when we made our reservations. Again, these are exclusive and can only be purchased when reserving your place at the Pokemon Cafe!
Now onto the items we bought when ordering our food, as well as after when we were paying for our meal/goods. I also want to mention how aside from the Eevee plate, everything we bought below was packaged in sturdy Pokemon Cafe boxes, so we didn’t have to worry too much about bringing everything back… Although I did wrap the glasses and mug up in newspaper just to be sure. π
Gengar Glass – I knew I needed this glass, it just looks really cool! BUT I didn’t quite know what to expect when I saw it out of the box and without the grape smoothie in! It’s a tinted purple glass, with the Gengar face we all know and lo… Are frightened of. π It also has the Pokemon Center logo at the bottom of the glass too. I haven’t used this glass since we got home and if anything we have decided to keep it safe in our cabinet, alongside some of the other goodies we picked up in Japan, including the Pikachu mug we picked up in the Pokemon Cafe too.
Pokemon Cafe Glass – This is one of the few kitchen related items I grabbed from the Pokemon Cafe that I ACTUALLY use. π I love my Pokemon Cafe glass and although I do get so anxious when I use it, I love it so much and it really does make me smile to use. It’s such a gorgeous design and I can’t really describe what the glass is like over than it shouts the Pokemon Cafe at you! On one side you have the Pokemon Cafe logo and a few various images of Chef Pikachu and Waitress Pikachu doing things in the cafe. π It’s perfect and just reminds me of the cafe whenever I look at it and use it.
Pikachu Mug – This was one of the things that Dane got and you could either choose between the Eevee or Pikachu mug. As I mentioned earlier, we wanted the Eevee mug but wasn’t available for us, so the Pikachu one came home with us and you know what? I actually really love the Pikachu mug! It’s so cute and well made to be honest with you. The handle is Pikachu’s tail, whilst the mug itself has a cute image of the happy Pikachu we have all grown up with over the years. It also has the Pokemon Center logo on the other side of the mug. It’s a lovely bright yellow colour which will really stand out in the cupboard where you keep your mugs!
Eevee Plate – This is the plate Dane got with his meal, of course he got a brand new plate, not the one he ate off of. π This is a sturdy plastic plate in the shape of Eevee’s head and of course has an image of Eevee’s face on the plate too! It’s incredibly cute and I really love it! We weren’t 100% sure what we were going to do with it when we got home and we toyed with many ideas, eventually we decided to display it on our fireplace with one of my Eeveelutions prints and some figures. I love it so much and it really does brighten up our fireplace a litte.
So, would I recommend going to the Pokemon Cafe? Excuse my language but FUCK YES! If you are going to Japan and happen to be in Tokyo or Osaka (or both places for that matter!) then I would highly recommend to book yourself a reservation to the Pokemon Cafe before you go! Of course if you aren’t a fan of Pokemon, this may not be for you but honestly if you are, or at least were as a kid this will definitely bring back some nostalgia for you.
It was up there as one of my favourite places to go, as well as eat at whilst we were in Japan and I already know as and when I venture to Japan again, I’ll definitely book a reservation for the Pokemon Cafe for a second time. It was worth every penny and I was so happy during my time there.
What do you guys think of the Pokemon Cafe? Would you love to go? Go over to the website and tell me what you would order from the menu! Have you been to the Pokemon Cafe before? Let me know in the comments with which one you visited and what you had to eat.
Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely weekend so far! π
It’s officially March and I already know I’m going to be skint this month… π
I’m also aware that I’ve broken my “every Saturday will be when posts go up” rule that I set after I got back from Japan. Like I said on my previous post for my February favourites post, I have always had certain days set for my monthly posts and I’m going to stick with these. So this week I will have two posts up! This one today and then one on Saturday.
This months wish list is full of game and anime related stuff, which isn’t a bad thing! π I’ve already mentioned in various posts about all the games that are coming out this month that I am excited for, so of course I need to mention them here!
I hope you enjoy this months wish list post, and it isn’t too Japanese gaming and anime related… π
Nintendo Switch Animal Crossing: New Horizons (link)
Of course I had to mention my favourite thing about March! Animal Crossing is finally coming to the Switch this month and I know I’m not the only one who is really excited for it. I’ve had it pre-ordered for months now and I am counting down the days now until it comes out. I’ve actually booked the day off work so that I can head out first thing in the morning, pick it up from Smyths (where I’ve pre-ordered from) and spend the whole day playing it as much as I can! Dane is also getting the game, so we can play it together the weekend it comes out, which I am beyond excited for. I’ll be talking loads about his game this month… Just warning you now. π
Nendoroid Mai Sakurajima (Requested through YY Kawaii)
As many of my readers know, both me and Dane collect Nendoroid figures and we made sure to pick up some that we really wanted when we went to Japan in January. HOWEVER I regretted not buying one in particular that I kept seeing, which is Mai Sakurajima from Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai,Β an anime that me and Dane watched together last year. We both fell in love with it and it’s one of those anime series now that I really love. We saw LOADS of merchandise in Japan for this anime and aside from Dane buying me one charm of Mai Sakurajima in her bunny girl outfit, I didn’t get anything else. I saw the Nendoroid figure loads and at decent prices too… But I just never bought it, as I planned to when I got back to the UK. HOWEVER, she’s either sold out or the release date has been pushed back months. She hasn’t been re-released… Just pushed back, which I find odd. So, I reached out to my favourite person for getting my Japanese goods, YY Kawaii to see if she could get Mai for me and she could AND FOR A GOOD PRICE! I’m so excited to receive her now and put her on display either in my Nendoroid cabinet or maybe on a shelf I’m getting next to my bed for some of my favourite things! I’ll see how I feel, but yes! I am excited for get her now.
Nintendo Switch Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX (link)
John Lewis & Partners Premium Faux Fur Throw in Soft Pink (link)
A couple of weeks ago me and Dane popped into town as I had to exchange some Vans I bought before Christmas. I wore them to Japan as they were perfect for walking around in BUT they ripped at the side! The store was amazing and exchanged them for me straightaway. They are by far my favourite shoes now… ANYWAY as we were in town we decided to have a nose around whilst we waited for the trains to quiet down from the rush hour. We went into John Lewis, as we love a good nose at household stuff and I saw this gorgeous pink throw, which is one of the softest things I’ve ever touched. I really wanted to buy it, but they didn’t have any in stock. When we found out how much it cost… We were put off a tad. I still want it though to stick on the end of my bed BUT the price… I’m going to say this for a rainy day when I fancy a BIG house related treat. FYI if you haven’t gone to have a nose at the price yet… It’s Β£95.00… Ouch.
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai Blu-ray Collectors Edition (link)
It was only from looking for the Mai Sakurajima Nendoroid that I decided to take a look into the anime she comes from, to see if there’s any DVD’s or Blu-ray’s out for it… WHICH THERE IS THIS MONTH! Me and Dane love this anime, so as soon as I found this on Amazon I shouted to Dane, “Hey Dane? Bunny girl senpai is out next month… Shall we buy it?” His simple answer was yes. π So this will be pre-ordered by one of us soon!
As a Persona 5 fan, I am beyond excited for Persona 5 Royal! It’s basically the same game but with loads more story and game play added… So an expensive DLC if you will, but I don’t mind as I love Persona 5 so much! There’s loads of stuff that has been added that I’m so glad to have heard and seen already. I won’t mention here, as whilst I didn’t mind spoilers, I know others may who have never played the original game, or who have and have wanted to stay away from the spoilers. I’m actually being sent this game from Gamersheek, who are an amazing company that I discovered back in 2017 and since then we have built upΒ great relationship! I worked with them for a time to advertise the Joker Nendoroid, which I loved! Since then, whenever Persona 5 related games have been released, Gamersheek have sent them to me! I will be writing all about Gamersheek at some point this month, so make sure to keep eyes peeled for that! π
Nintendo Switch Lite Carrying Case (Animal Crossing: New Horizons Edition) & Screen Protector (link)
Another Animal Crossing related item! Nintendo have announced some amazing Animal Crossing related merchandise that will be coming out at the same time asΒ Animal Crossing: New Horizons and this is one of the many items I would love to get! I don’t need a carrying case for my Switch Lite as I already have one, but this one is so cute! As I’ll be popping out the day this comes out, I might see if I can grab it whilst I’m out, instead of pre-ordering it. π
Honestly whilst writing this post I have just gone and ordered the Cookie one of this… OOPS! π I wanted to buy something to cheer me up, as I’m currently in bed with the flu and it sucks. I love cross stitching and doing kits and as I now have my plushie case (it’s a book case but I shoved all my Pokemon plushies in there!) I would love to decorate it a bit more with Animal Crossing related stuff! I’d like to do the cross stitch kits of my favourite Animal Crossing characters and hang them/place them inside the case somehow! I’m excited for the Cookie one to arrive now!
Anyhoo guys, that was my wish list for March 2020! It was very Japanese weeb heavy and I have zero fucks. π
What do you guys have on your wish lists this month? Are you excited for Animal Crossing too? Make sure to let me know in the comments!
Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a great week so far. π
I know I mentioned on my life lately post that I would only be uploading/posting on Saturday’s moving forward, but my monthly favourites have always gone up on the 1st of each month. This isn’t a tradition I’m letting go of anytime soon! PLUS I didn’t see the point in having a post up on the 29th February and then one on the 1st March. It just seemed really pointless at the time…
I know February is a short month anyway, but damn did it fly by! Although to be fair, waiting for payday to come around felt like forever… π
February was a bit like a roller coaster with lots of ups and downs, but overall it was okay… I ended up having flu towards the end of the month, which sucked. I’ve come out the other side into March though, so it’s all good!
I’m so damn excited for this month. There are three games coming out that I’m excited for AND of all my favourite game franchises too! Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Persona 5 Royal. So yeah I think March will be a busy one for me. π
After coming back from Japan I’ve felt a little down with some post holiday blues, but I’ve tried to get back into the norm again and I’m okay… π Until I go on another holiday! π Speaking of Japan, I know since I’ve come back I’ve only done one post but I’m trying to pace them out nicely. I don’t want to flood you guys with Japanese content and as I would like to write more about Japan on my blog in the future, this isn’t exactly a bad thing!
Anyhoo, enough of me waffling away… On with my favourites from the month!
Original Source Tropical Coconut & Shea Butter Shower Gel.
Okay I’ll be honest with you guys… I originally had a different product here for my favourite this month but that has been removed, scraped and GONE! Why? Because I learnt how shit the product actually was! The shower gel in question was Treacle Moon Gentle Powder Love Bath & Shower Gel. This shower gel smelt great, wasn’t cheap and ended up leaving my skin sore, dry and flakey… Which sucked! I had lovely soft skin during my trip to Japan, so the fact I came back and my skin had dried out, I put it down to a mixture of the products in Japan being better and the cold weather in the UK. Alas, this wasn’t the case. It turned out that the Treacle Moon shower gel is just… SHIT. I picked up this Original Source shower gel as to be honest, their products are always good. Not even a week into using the product and my skin has already improved, which I am so happy and relieved about. I get bouts of eczema and I started to panic this was one of them. This shower gel is amazing, not just for it’s ability to bring my skin back to life… It smells of creamy coconuts, which in turn always remind me of Fuerteventura and sunshine, but it’s cheap! This bottle cost us a Β£1, whilst the Treacle Moon cost me Β£3! I think I’m going to write a complaint as I’m annoyed at what it did to my skin. Sorry for the ramble by the way… π
Sand & Sky Australian Pink Clay Porefining Face Mask.
I picked this face mask up on the plane home from Japan. I’ve wanted to try this face mask for a while now, but just never got round to picking one up. I didn’t realise how expensive it was until I checked out how much it retails for… Β£40 and up! Shocking price to be honest with you… So when I saw this for sale on the plane for Β£35, I thought I would treat myself. I’ve used it a couple of times now and I really love this! I find if I’ve broken out and I used this face mask, it really does help my spots to calm down and go away! I use this once a week/fortnight due to using other products, or my skin not needing a face mask. However, due to the price, I don’t know if I will repurchase… π¦
Etude House Dear Darling Water Gel Tint in shade PK003 Sweet Potato Red.
After picking up the Etude House Dear Darling tint in Japan, I knew I had to get another one. I’ve had the sweet potato red shade on my wish list for quite some time now, so I found one on eBay and ordered! I am so glad I picked up this shade for so many reasons. The shade itself is gorgeous and reminds me of a colour I could call “my lip colour but better” if that makes sense? Also this is the newer packaging and product formula for this tint and this is SO MUCH BETTER! You don’t get loads of product on the applicator, it’s not as watery and it’s just great. I’ll definitely be reviewing these tints very soon!
The Body Shop Peppermint Reviving Pumice Foot Scrub.
I picked a new one of these foot scrubs up from The Body Shop as I was in DIRE need of one! I’m going to put it down to that bloody Treacle Moon shower gel again, as my feet were so soft and smooth during my trip to Japan… My feet needed some major TLC this month so this foot scrub has been really good to use on my feet a couple of times a week, just to give them a good scrub over! I like to use this in the shower as the last thing I do before I get out and then before I put my socks on I’ll slather my feet in my favourite lotion. My go to at the moment is the Childs Farm Baby Moisturiser with Shea & Cocoa Butter – which you can read about on one of my previous favourites posts here.
Maui Moisture Smooth and Revive Vanilla Bean Shampoo.
I picked this shampoo up just before I went to Japan and I have no regrets! I was after a shampoo that would lather easily, smell amazing, give my hair all the benefits we seek from a shampoo AND not contain any sulphates. This shampoo ticks all of the boxes and I couldn’t wait to talk about it on my blog this month. This shampoo goes a long way and you only need a little because of how thick it is, which is perfect for me. I hate shampoos where you needs loads in order to get a decent lather behind it. This smells so creamy and to be honest with you, I wish Maui would create a shower gel that smells just like this! I would be in heaven. π This shampoo is for smoothing and reviving your hair… I don’t know if IΒ needΒ these benefits for my hair, but even so I really love this shampoo. It isn’t cheap at Β£5.99 BUT when you can buy Head & Shoulders for a Β£1 less… FYI Head & shoulder is one of the WORST shampoos out there that you can buy!
So now my beauty favourites are done, time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month!
Favourite TV Show – O Maidens in Your Savage Season.
This is an anime me and Dane binge watched not long after we got back from Japan. Dane is great at finding new anime series to watch together and this is one I fell in love with. It’s about a group of girls in a literature club who are going through puberty. You see the view from both the girls and the guys and how they’re all impacting each others sexual feelings… And awakenings if you will. It just reminded me of being a teenager and it’s a typical coming of age anime, which I LOVE.
Favourite Movie – 1917.
I loved this film so much. I was intrigued by it, but not fussed about watching it in the cinema… However, after someone I work with went to watch it and told me how amazing it was, I soon changed my mind. That and everything I had heard about it, I knew I had to see it for myself. Me and Dane booked it in the week after work and we’re so glad we did. We fell in love with this film for so many reasons. The way it is filmed, the editing, the acting, the story, just everything about it. I ended up crying at the end too… If you haven’t been to watch it yet, I recommend you do so as soon as possible before showings stop.
Guys I’m sorry. February was a bizarre month of being hella busy after Japan (both social and work related), as well as me being poorly with flu/chest infection… It sucked and reading was the last thing I wanted to do. It sucks because I said to myself that once I returned from Japan I would catch up on my manga so far as well as read new manga series. This hasn’t happened and I’m annoyed. π¦
Favourite Album – Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
I decided this year that I wanted to listen to more music. I find I listen to the same stuff all the time and there are a lot of artists out there I would like to discover more of. Billie Eilish is an artist that blew up and I admit, I do like a couple of her singles (“Bad Guy” and “Lovely”) so, why not listen to her album? I didn’t fall head over heels in love with it, but I did enjoy listening to it whilst driving to and from work, as well as whilst I was at work. I especially love the song “Bury a Friend” which I haven’t been able to stop listening to since I first heard it! I definitely recommend giving this album a listen. It reminds me of a new genre of “depressing pop” and I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing…
Okay… Hear me out. Since before Christmas I have wanted to play on my old Neopets account. Sometimes I just want to play something simple, but I couldn’t get into my account due to email and password issues. I reached out to Neopets for months for help, but I didn’t receive any. After some digging around I finally managed to get into my account and since then I’ve been playing it for a few hours everyday! I forgot how shit, but addictive the games are, how you can grab a free slice of omelette and jelly daily and basically how the website hasn’t changed since I last went on in about 2016/2017… This being said it has really cheered me up to play after work when I’ve been feeling blue. It especially kept me entertained when I was poorly with my flu too, which isn’t a bad thing. Next month I will be super busy with games, so Neopets won’t have as much attention… π
Towards the end of the month I was really poorly (still am NGL!) and had to have some days sick at home. Due to the boredom of not being able to do much (apart from binge watch episodes and clips from Would I Lie to You? I decided to pick up Pokemon Shield again and try to finish the game, as well as complete my Pokedex. Well, this has now become an addition for myself AND Dane, who said he wouldn’t pick Pokemon back up until June when Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra are released. We are both working together now to complete our Pokedex’s and we’ve really been enjoying it!
There you have it guys, those are my favourites from February! Again, I honestly cannot believe how quick this month went by. I am so fucking hyped up for March for so many reasons! All the games, being able to go to Birmingham Comic Con, a blog related event I’ll be attending and more! π
What were your favourites from February? Do you have any exciting things coming up in March? Make sure to let me know in the comments!
Until next time all, take care and I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend so far. π
Guys it is officially the first post of my Japan trip and I am so excited to share it with you today!
I decided to kick start this post with two things I love, hauls and Pokemon. YES I will be sharing with you guys not only the goods I picked up from the Pokemon Center, but a quick glimpse of the Pokemon Center’s I ventured to as well as some random Pokemon bits and pieces too.
As a lot of you know, I am a massive fan of Pokemon and have been since the young age of 9 (I lose track of how old I was but I think I was roughly this age?). I’ve never looked back and it’s still a massive love of mine 21 years later.
Of course when I went to Japan I HAD to go to the Pokemon Center… More than one to be fair. π I ventured to the Tokyo DX, Tokyo Station and Shibuya (Parco). Me and Dane did try to go to Mega Tokyo in Sunshine City, but this was closed. They’re currently refurbishing it for renewal, which will reopen in Spring this year! Sad that we missed out on that store… They did have the Pokemon Go Lab, which is a Pokemon Center… But full of Pokemon Go merch! We walked past and had a glace,but we weren’t bothered about going in to be honest with you… We don’t play Pokemon Go as much as we used to… Although we may get back into it for some fitness.
Years ago I discovered the Pokemon Center existed in Japan back in around 2011 when I finished university. I had loads of time on my hands and found out LOADS about it! I wanted to go, be there and experience it myself. I’d search for YouTube videos, just so I could see what it was like and imagine I was there. I never thought I’d get to go to the Pokemon Center myself, so being able to go with Dane was something magical for me and I was so excited.
The first one we went to was the Tokyo Station one, which is tiny! I was fascinated by all the plushies they had in there and wanted to buy so many. They also had a limited coin machine you could get a printed brass/copper coin from too for just 200 yen. I didn’t get one on my first trip. I went back and picked one up.
Just an FYI with this post, I won’t be including prices, as most stuff I honestly don’t remember… I just remember buying lots of stuff I wanted and paying a lot of money… π
I bought a few plushies from the Tokyo Station Pokemon Center including a Cyndaquil plushie and a Poke Doll Mew plushie. Surprising, Cyndaquil is one of my favourite Pokemon and out of all the games, it’s also my favourite starter to choose from too.
Later that day we ventured over to the Tokyo DX Pokemon Center, as we had the Pokemon Cafe booked (which I will be talking about on another post soon!) for the evening and Tokyo DX is right next door!
Just entering the building that takes you up to the Pokemon Centre and Cafe is amazing. There are four pictures that line the sides of the room which are COVERED in loads of different Pokemon and a lift in the middle. You have to take the left up to the 5th floor in order to get to both the Pokemon Center and Cafe. The doors open behind you when you reach the 5th floor and you’re met with a massive Snorlax, Mew and Pikachu statue in front of you with the Pokemon Cafe on the left and the Pokemon Center on the right of it. I was in awe and felt like a little kid. I was FINALLY at a Pokemon Center and I knew then that I was going to enjoy this moment the best I could. I took as much in as possible.
We had plenty of time to look around the Pokemon Center before our slot at the Pokemon Cafe was due, so we made sure to spend as much time shopping, taking photos and admiring the store as we could.
When you enter the Tokyo DX store they have a history wall to showcase and celebrate all of the Pokemon games that have come out, so from Red, Blue and Yellow back in 1996 to where we are now with Sword and Shield! It was amazing.
As well as that, outside where the area is for the statue (which separates the Pokemon Cafe and Center) there are little silhouettes of all Pokemon to date that cover the wall around the area. This was pretty cool to have a look at and we made sure to glance over as many of the silhouettes as we could! They have so much space leftover too to add anymore Pokemon, which is really cool. They clearly thought the idea through before doing it, which is amazing!
One thing I took advantage of at the Pokemon Center is the birthday discount you can get. If you visited the Pokemon Center (apart from the Tokyo Station, the other two I mentioned above did this!) on the month of your birthday you could get a birthday card, a crown AND 5% off that day in the Pokemon Center, amazing eh?! I made sure to take advantage of this. I just needed to show my passport as proof and I was okay. You get to write down what name you would like in your card (I did this twice I did one with Nat and the other with Natalee) and they get a crown for you too. On the back of the birthday card is the discount, which you MUST use that day (and I assume only in that store too?), which I made sure to do!
I don’t think I grabbed the discount when I visited the Tokyo DX store for a second time, which I was a tad annoyed about as I bought more than I intended to… OOPS!
I’ll talk about each store for now and of course, mention what I bought from there too.
First of all I’ll share what I picked up from the Tokyo Station store.
Mew Poke Doll Plush – I LOVE the Poke Doll plushies from the Pokemon Center and as I already own four of the Eeveelution Poke Dolls already, I know I wanted to get this Mew to add to my collection. Mew is one of my favourite Pokemon’s and when I saw and looked at this cute little Mew, I knew I had to pick it up. It’s eyes are huge, so kawaii!
Cyndaquil Poke Plush – Cyndaquil is actually my favourite starter Pokemon and has been since I first played Pokemon Silver in 2001. I knew that during our Japan trip I would pick up a Cyndaquil plushie at some point. I ended up getting two in the end (the second one was from a second hand store, so won’t be included on this post) which I wasn’t shocked by. At first I picked up one of the Pokemon Fit plushies but when I saw a bigger plush for just 100 yen more, I decided to pick this one up. It’s flame back is so damn fluffy and bushy! I couldn’t have asked for a better Cyndaquil plushie to be honest with you.
Dratini Plush Keychain – This was something I had been eyeing up loads during the whole holiday, as I had seen it through YY Kawaii when the campaign it came from first came out. I put off buying it until the last couple of days we were there. I wanted it, so I decided to pick it up! It’s a cute little Dratini plush keychain that has found its home on my Kanken backpack. If the weathers rubbish (which, let’s face it, has been awful lately!) I’ll take it off and pop it into my backpack until the weather improves. In Japan a lot of people (both men and women of all ages!) had plush mascot keychains on their bags, which I loved seeing! I’ve hardly seen it since getting back to the UK and it makes me sad. I like to think someone will see my backpack and my Dratini will make them smile. π
As I mentioned previously in the post, I ventured to the Pokemon Center in Shibuya, but to be honest with you I only bought one thing (which is why I’m showing this Pokemon Center next)! The Pokemon Center itself was incredibly impressive with the Mewtwo in the glass tank, as well as some of the exclusive Shibuya goods. However, as we had previously ventured to the Tokyo DX Pokemon Center, this was incredibly underwhelming… Size wise anyway and the sort of items on offer.
Eevee Roll Cookie Tin – I had looked for this cookie tin in the Tokyo DX store, but all of the Eevee ones had gone, with only the Pikachu ones left. I like Pikachu… But not as much as Eevee! These have been opened by me and Dane and eaten some of the yummy treats! The roll cookies come in chocolate and honey flavours and they’re gorgeous! You didn’t get the chocolate ones in the Pikachu tin. I don’t know what I’ll be doing with the tin after all the goodies are eaten. π
So, I have saved the best until last… In terms of Pokemon Center’s… I found that Tokyo DX was my favourite out of the three I went to as it was the biggest and hence had more variety! It also had loads of artwork to take photos with. OH and the Pokemon Cafe was next door. π I visited this Pokemon Center twice, as I just felt the need to go again to spend my monies. π
I’ve been so excited to share with you guys all the goodies I bought and what better item to start off with, than with an adorable plushie! π
Mew Sekiguchi Plush – I have wanted this plushie for about 4 years, so when I saw it in the Pokemon Center I knew I had to grab it! It wasn’t cheap, but I knew I was expecting to spend a lot of money in the Pokemon Center anyway so… Yeah. π I think this was 2,900 yen, which in pounds works out around Β£20. This is so fuzzy and squishy which is amazing! It’s definitely something that stands out in my plushie case (it’s a book case full of plushies :P) which I love. I honestly regret not picking up the Eevee, Umbreon and Espeon Sekiguchi plushies too. π¦
Pokeball Random Mini Plush (Eevee) – This was a spontaneous item I picked up from the Pokemon Center and it was purely because me and Dane thought it would be fun to have a go and see which Pokemon we get! We could have gotten two different Pikachu’s, Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Vulpix, Gengar, Snorlax, Mew, or Eevee, which is the Pokemon we got! It’s adorable and I couldn’t have asked for a better Pokemon to have inside the Pokeball. π The Pokeball clips into itself so it’s easy enough to open and close. I hate it open on my plushie case with the Eevee inside.
Eeveelution PuzzleΒ – Me and Dane love doing puzzles together so when we spotted this Eeveelution one, we knew that we had to pick it up! It’s not a massive one, but it’s one we will make up and hang up in the house somewhere. π
Mofu Mofu Eevee Mirror – I didn’t really need a new pocket mirror for my backpack, but I fell in love with the Mofu Mofu Eevee collection and whatever I found with the Mofu Mofu design on, I wanted. I started using this mirror when I got back to the UK and sadly, my first outing with this and using it, my perfume bottle leaked and it’s ruined some of the pattern on the front. π¦ This being said, it’s still kawaii!
Mofu Mofu Eevee Bento Lunch Pouch – I wanted so much more from the Mofu Mofu collection, especially the lunch related goods. I knew I couldn’t buy them all however, so I just picked up the lunch pouch, which I’ve been using for work to take my lunch in… Obviously. π It’s so damn cute, it makes me happy to take my lunch to work in.
Eevee Cookie Tin – If there was one thing that the Pokemon Center has loads of, it was cookie tins! If anything, I regret not buying more. π I picked up this Eevee cookie tin, as I’ve seen it around for years and knew I wanted to pick it up. The cookies inside are chocolate, with white chocolate in the middle. This is really nice, but to be honest they do leave a funny aftertaste in your mouth.
Camera Strap – July last year I treated myself to a new camera, a mirrorless one at that both for my holiday to Japan, as well as in general. As much as I love my digital SLR, it can be quite a chunk to carry around. Anyhoo, the camera strap that came with my new Sony camera is horrible and would cut into my neck… Not good! I noticed this Pokemon camera strap for sale and decided to get it! It has some of the more popular Pokemon on the strap itself, as well as a handy lens cap holder too! This was great to have whilst we were travelling around Japan and just wanted to keep taking photos, without the worry of losing the lens cap. I love this strap so much, its one of my favourite purchases during the holiday
Just an FYI – I bought a LOT of stationary related stuff from the Pokemon Center! I’ve been using it a lot for my Dungeons & Dragons sessions, as we as writing down notes here and there for my blog. π I love stationary and have always wanted stationary from the Pokemon Center, so it was just something I knew I was going to buy a lot of. π
Mofu Mofu Eevee Notebook – I have too many notebooks… I needed this one though. It’s adorable! I don’t quite know what I’m going to use it for as of yet… Maybe blog related stuff whilst I’m out and about? Dungeons & Dragons in the future? I don’t know… π I just needed it! The designs on the front are adorable, with all the Eevee’s doing different things such as sleeping on books, holding quills in their mouths and sitting in teacups. Cute! There’s designs in the book too, with the Eevee holding the quill in it’s mouth again.
Mofu Mofu Clear File – I bought quite a few clear files whilst I was in Japan, but this is my favourite one by far! I actually bought this to keep my files in for Dungeons & Dragons, but as of yet I haven’t had the chance to use it. The image on the front of the two Eevee’s is so adorable, I’d frame it to be honest! π
Mofu Mofu Eevee Pen Case – I didn’t need a pen case… But due to how much stationary I bought whilst I was on my holiday, I kind of had to! That and the pencil case I use currently for all my stationary items is from when I was studying my GCSE’s at school… Which was 15 years ago now! That pencil case is great, but I wanted something smaller and more refreshing! This one is a perfect signs for everything I bought on the trip, and I really enjoy taking it out with me. It’s so cute to bring out of my bag when I want something to write with. The image of the Eevee’s cuddling together on he one side is so kawaii!
Mofu Mofu Eevee Mechanical Pencil and Pen – The blue design is the pen, the red is the pencil. There were four designs/colours in total including the blue and red ones I own, as well as a brown (pencil) and green (pen I think). I didn’t really want anymore mechanical pencils as I have a pink one I really love (well… loved until I bought my new ones in Japan :P) to use so I didn’t need another mechanical pencil. I picked up the pen, which is black ink and was happy. When I went back to the Pokemon Center, I ended up picking the pencil up too and I don’t regret it! The pencil writes really well and I much prefer it to my pink mechanical pencil to be honest with you! The designs on them both are gorgeous with the fluffy, happy Eevee designs all over.
Mofu Mofu Eevee Washi Tape – I decided whilst I was in Japan that I would become a washi tape collector… Purely because I’m working on a scrapbook soon about our trip to Japan and wanted to use cute patterned washi tape to make the scrapbook look pretty inside. Of course I couldn’t not pick up the mofu mofu design, which is just loads of cute Eevee’s running along the tape. I haven’t opened this yet and don’t plan to until it comes to me using it.
Pikachu Mechanical Pencil Lead – Due to now owning a total of four mechanical pencils, it’s always good to make sure to have plenty of pencil lead for these! I couldn’t get a mofu mofu Eevee design (they didn’t make one…) so instead I picked up a cute Pikachu design instead, which is kind of similar to the mofu mofu design. This came with quite a lot of 0.5 size led inside already, but as I owned some already from my first mechanical pencil, I decided to add them into this holder. I’ll never run out of led now!
Eevee, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Dragonite and Mew B-Side Label Stickers – Finally we have some stickers from the Pokemon Center. I’d heard about the B-Side label stickers from YY Kawaii and had always wanted to buy some… But never did. However, when I was in the Pokemon Center, I went overboard! I bought three when I went for the first time and then another three when I went the second time! There were cheap at 350 yen (Β£2.43) but the more you picked up, the more the price wound up! I picked up the Eevee, Dragonite and Mew stickers as these are my three favourite Pokemon. So, when I visited the Pokemon Center again, I knew I had to pick up the rest of the original Eeveelutions from Gen 1 as they were at the till I was being served at. I have zero regrets, I just don’t know where to stick them now. π
Overall, that is my haul from the Pokemon Center’s in Tokyo! I did buy more Pokemon goodies which were official from other stores, secondhand, or from kuji’s both me and Dane played on. I’ll be talking about those in another post in the future.
What did you guys think of the Pokemon Center’s I ventured to? As well as the goodies I picked up? What would you pick up from the Pokemon Center if you had the chance to go? Make sure to let me know in the comments!
Until next time all, take care and I hope you’re having a lovely weekend so far, I’m poorly at the moment… Which sucks. π¦
Guys I have been so excited to write and share this amazing little company with you today. You honestly don’t know how happy I am that this post is finally out there for you guys to read.
When I fall in love with something, I really do fall hard. Whenever I fall in love with a new company, I just want to shout about them to everyone in every way possible. It’s one thing I love the most about my blog – even if one person reads the post, at least one person has discovered the thing in question.
Today I will be sharing with you an independent company I discovered in 2019 and wanted to share going into a New Year!
I discovered Quirkory in August 2019 through their Kickstarter campaign A profusion of Eeveelutions & Lunar Spookies. Lots of enamel pin designers who I follow over on Instagram had posted about the campaign on their Instragram stories and Twitter and I couldn’t help but take a look myself over on Kickstarter myself.
I fell in love with the unique kawaii designs and I knew I had to back the campaign. The Eeveelutions are some of my favourite Pokemon to choose for my team in Pokemon games.
The campaign is basically a cross between the Eeveelutions and Greek Gods – which I thought was a really cool crossover. Growing up I loved learning about Greek mythology and I wish I’d taken it further with my studying of it in school.
The choice was so hard to make and I ended up settling on backing one design and in my brain (as I didn’t yet need to pick) opted for the Eevee Hera design. However, a few days later I ended up upping my campaign to three pins because I couldn’t just have one. I regret not backing all nine of the Eeveelution Greek God designs… π¦
So, as I mentioned I opted for three enamel pins, which I am excited to show you today! I’ll also be showing you guys the free Eevee pin I received for backing three or more enamel pins AND an additional enamel pin Eevee Greek God design I was sent by Quirkory as a thank you for sharing them on my blog Instagram stories and supporting them just that little extra. As well as that, I will also be showing you their Galar Ponyta design, which I had on my backpack whilst out and about in Japan!
Disclaimer — Although not gifted for my blog, I will put an * next to the pin I was gifted by Quirkory, so you guys know I didn’t pay for it. π
The three designs I opted for were the Leafeon – Artemis, Eevee – Hera and Umbreon – Hades, with the one I was sent from Quirkory being the Flareon – Hephaestus*.
All of the designs are perfect and so cute! I’m going to talk about each one, as I feel like they all deserve their own spotlight on my blog.
I love how in any order you make with Quirkory, they sent a cute little thank you note! Some stores out there do do this, but I just found this little note to be super cute! Especially the Inari and Mosted mascots for Quirkory at the bottom. SO KAWAII!
Speaking of Inari and Mosted, for both my Kickstarter awards and when I ordered my Galar Ponyta enamel pin, I got some cute little stickers of both the characters in my order. It makes me so happy to see the little mascots and I cannot wait to stick the stickers in or on one of my notebooks!
First of all I want to mention that although I love all of these pins I’m torn between the Umbreon and and Eevee pins as being my favourite. I love them both for completely different reasons to be honest with you! I think the whole, cute and light and cute and dark works so well and URGH I love.
Why this God for Leafeon? “Leafeon usually lives in lush forests. It has both animal-like appearance and features that make it look like a plants, thanks to its cellular structure which allows it to perform photosynthesis and purify the air! So it’s the right mix of flora and fauna and perfectly embodies Artemis, the Greek Goddess of hunt, forest, harvest, wild animals and female initiations. Personification of the crescent moon, she’s the daughter of Zeus and Latona. She lived in the woods with his reliable hunting dogs, always armed with a bow and golden arrows.”
Leafeon – Artemis – (link) – This is on a rose gold enamel with a twin back. This is actually the first pin I saw from the collection, so really it was my reason for falling in love with the campaign in the first place! It was also the pins I was toying with picking if I had stuck with backing just one of the designs. Colour wise, this has to be my favourite out of the four Eeveelution Gods enamel pins I own. The pink background and yellow and green of Leafeon work so well together and it’s definitely attractive. I can imagine when I wear this enamel pin in particular on my clothing or backpack that it will fetch a lot of comments from people. One final think I love it the Leafeon’s mouth design. It’s very plain, but it looks so cute all the same! I love it!
Why this God for Eevee? “As Goddess of the family, women and protectress of marriage, she was the Queen Olympus and one of the most important deities. she was as jealous as revengeful and to her “misfortune” she married Zeus (who certainly wasn’t the ambassador of monogamy!) since she was jealous of her husband, she hated his favourite son Hercules… Whose human nature consequently led Hero to hate the entire humanity as well. Her symbols are the diadem, the peacock, the sceptre, the lotus and the pomegranate. Eevee is not vindictive for sure, and it loves indiscriminately anyone who gives some affection… That’s why it can be perfect queen and protectress of the family, The Eeveelutions Family!”
Eevee – Hera – (link) – This is on gold enamel with a twin back. This is such a cute design and shouts Eevee to me! I love the little :3 smile that they decided to go with for the Eevee, it’s adorable!!! I love the level of detail that is put into the Eevee design and out of the four I have, this one has a “proper” crown on, which is due to the Greek God she is supposed to be. The little braces around it’s front legs are also really cute. This is definite up there with the Umbreon design as one of my favourites! It’s just so chubby, fluffy and cute! As Eevee is one of my favourite Pokemon, this one definitely has a soft spot. π
Why this God for Umbreon? “In the ancient Greek mythology he’s the God of the dead, King of the Netherworld and the shadows; he strongly masters the death with his faithful Cerberus, reigning undisturbed the underworld! He never cares about the earthbound and rarely gets out of his own world. ~ Just like our little Umbreon! Dark, mysterious and tenebrous, it hides in the darkness while waiting for its opponents, but he’s a lonely soul that never gets involved in matters that doesn’t belong to him.”
Umbreon – Hades – (link TBA) – This is on black enamel with a twin back. I LOVE that this is on black enamel, as it works so well for the darkness of the Umbreon design. I obviously can’t speak for the other designs, but out of all the enamel pins I have this is the biggest one. As I mentioned, the design is very dark all around with lots of black, navy and blue colours. The only “brighter” colours used are the yellow for the eyes and crown and pink for cheeks and mouth. I think the reason I fell in love with this design of Umbreon is due to the grumpy look on his face and his open mouth with a little snaggle tooth on show. It’s just perfect at showing how Hades is the God of the underworld, all whilst showing an adorable side to him as well.
Why this God for Flareon? “He was majorly known as the God of fire, but he also was the God of craftsmen, sculptors, metallurgy and volcanoes. As a smithing God, Hephaestus was the workman of the immortals: he made all weapons, furnishings and dwellings of the Gods in Olympus. Exiled from Olympus and confined in a volcano from birth, he never gave up and he had to devise clever stratagems to go back in! His main symbols are a smith’s hammer, anvil and fire. His forge was located under a volcano! Flareon has the same fiery temper! If it gets angry for an important reason, it can be a real hot-head and explosive! But it is also obedient and a very good “worker”. It can totally dominate fire and flames, since it can literally produce it thanks to its flame save inside its body.”
Flareon – Hephaestus* – (link TBA) – This is on gold enamel with a twin back. This is the design that Quirkory were kind enough to send me! I was able to pick it, by the way, it wasn’t randomly chosen (which was even nicer of Quirkory!). The Flareon pin is perfect, it really does show off everything about both the Pokemon and the Greek God! The eyes show that Flareon is mad/grumpy (if you will…) and with a flame in the background and his smith’s hammer, this is just perfect! I honestly love how grumpy the Flareon’s face it and I especially love how the mouth is covered by the floof of his chest, it makes him look even grumpier!
Eeveeloop Enamel Pin – (link) – This is on gold enamel with a twin back. This was actually free with the Kickstarter campaign as I backed more than pins. This is so cute with the two little Eevee’s in the loop design. I thought that one of the Eevee’s was a normal colour and the other was shiny, but this doesn’t seem to be the case at all. Either way, the design is simple but adorable and perfect for any Eevee fan out there. One touch I really love on this pin (as it’s the first one I’m writing about) is how on the back of the enamel pin Quirkory have their name printed, but underneath is states, “Eeveeloop”. I’ve never seen this on an enamel pin to date and I think it’s really unique!
Eeveeloop Sticker (link) – The enamel pin design above is exactly the same as the sticker. This was included in the Kickstarter campaign too if you backed anything, which is a lovely little thank you really. This is available to buy on their Etsy store now, which I have linked above. If you fancy bagging yourself a cute little sticker, then go and grab one now! The stickers from Quirkory are adorable.
Eevee Greek God’s Stickers (link) – As I backed three enamel pins I was able to pick two stickers to add to my order… However Quirkory being the beauts that they are sent me four! I picked the Glaceon – Atherra and Flareon – Hephaestus designs to have as stickers, so Quirkory sent me the Leafeon – Artemis and Umbreon – Hades designs too. I feel so lucky to have received so many goodies from Quirkory. They’ve definitely left me feeling loved with this parcel. :’)
All the stickers are of a matte texture and so cute! They’re a decent size and as I mentioned, would be great to stick on or in a notebook/diary, or maybe even on a phone case to customise it to whatever you see fit!
Lilac Galar Ponyta (link) – The Galar Ponyta pins is by far one of my favourite enamel pins in my collection… Seriously! I have never seen an enamel pin printed on a different colour enamel until I bought this. This is on lilac enamel, which really makes the pastel colours of the Ponyta’s mane and tail. These colours are pink, blue and yellow, with the other sections of Ponyta being white and lilac from the metal. If this is in the gold enamel, these parts of course wouldn’t be lilac. I honestly love this pin so much that it even came with me to Japan on my backpack! π Sadly, I didn’t get any comments on it. π¦
The one thing I want to comment on here with Quirkory’s enamel pins and in turn which is one of my favourite things is the quality. They feel and look amazing, which is perfect. I feel like I’m only really starting to understand good quality enamel pins, even though I’ve been collecting for two years now. These feel smooth to run your finger across.
At the time of writing this blog post, the Eeveelution pins (or any on the Kickstarter for that matter) aren’t available to buy at the moment. Quirkory are aiming for all of the Kickstarter pins to be shipped out first before they decide to sell any via their Etsy store. They are aiming for the second half of February for the pins to be up on Etsy! So make sure to keep eyes peeled on their Instagram page, Etsy store and even my blog! I will be linking back to them all as soon as they hit the store.
I’m already planning to pick up the other five Eeveelution Greek God designs as and when they go for sale on their store.
In case you’re curious the other Eeveelution designs are below:
Halfway through working on this review for Quirkory, I decided to have a mini internet with them about their brand and what they hope for the future! So I will include any exciting things coming this year for them!
During this year, Quirkory would like to vary and expand their range of products, starting with the launch of plushies, bags/ita bags, plaids and mugs (for the latter they have special plans in mind).
Inari & Mosted (who they are created more stickers of AND a webtoon/comic strip, which I am so excited for!), The Witcher (which is something they really love!), original creations and contents which are base on animals and nature (which is their biggest love!)
A project they particularly care about will be titled “Wrongies”, which is inspired by everyday life and by the movie Ugly Dolls. They have already designed some pins with the purpose of pushing people to love and accept themselves more, as well as the things we own, because lately everyone is increasingly focusing on defects and flaws way too much. This sounds amazing and I’m so interested in how these will look in the future!
They will not discontinue from making fan-arts in the future!!! Which is great news, because they’re so amazing at doing them. π
Finally, Animal Crossing! I have shown a sneak peak of what they are showing on their Instagram of one of the first sneak peaks of Animal Crossing. IF you love the style that Quirkory go for and would like to see them design and certain Animal Crossing character, then make sure to head over to their Instagram page and TELL THEM WHO YOU WANT TO SEE! π I really want to see Isabelle, Bea, Cookie, Goldie and Lucky. I love my doggies in Animal Crossing. π
Quirkory opened their Patreon about a year ago, but at the moment it’s quiet… Before they announce the launch of it, they are working hard to still prepare for everything and perfect it ready for when it launches. Quirkory want their Patreon to be different, special and yet affordable for everything – so not just a pin club, which I love! It shows that they’re really thinking about their customers. π
So that is it for my review of Quirkory! I have tried to include as much information as I can think of, as well as snippets from the mini interview I conducted with Quirkory! I will also of course link below to their store and social media platforms:
What do you guys think of Quirkory? Their designs are cute, right? Would you look into buying from them in the future? If so, what would you pick up? Make sure to let me know in the comments!
Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely weekend so far.
Guys I have not written a life lately post since June 2019 – how crazy is that?! I’ve clearly been living too busy a life to even update you guys with anything, haha!
However, for February I thought one was necessary on my blog because for pretty much all of January (and hence 2020 so far) I’ve been pretty quiet, which many of you will know the reasons for.
I was in Japan! I didn’t state exactly when I was going, but from the 12th January until the 26th January I was in Tokyo, Japan for a very much overdue trip with Dane.
Since we got together in 2013 we have dreamed of going to Japan and finally that dream became a reality. I don’t want to talkΒ too much about that here as I would like to talk about it over various posts on my blog. I will go into some minor details here though.
It was amazing and although we watch anime/read manga and know quite a bit about Japanese culture, we definitely weren’t prepared for what a culture shock we were in for. We LOVED Japan and we honestly cannot wait to plan our next trip there (probably 2022 now…).
We travelled to various places around Tokyo including Shinjuku (which is where we stayed), Shibuya, Harajuku, Hakone (which is an hour outside of Shinjuku), Ikebukuro, Akihabara, Chiyoda City, Toshima City, Nakano City and more!
My favourite place to go to was a mixture of Shinjuku, Shibuya and Akihabara for various reasons.
Akihabara was FULL of otaku, kawaii, geeky goods – which were right up our street. We loved it so much there that we went again for a second trip!
Shinjuku (as I mentioned) was where we stayed for our trip and it was definitely the best place to pick! Just a short 5-10 minute walk away was everything you could want and more, including places to eat, shop, play games and even catch trains from that went everywhere we wanted to go. It was perfect and I’ll definitely stay there again in the future.
Shibuya was the best for shopping, as well as walking around. It’s home to the famous Shibuya crossing, as well as the Hachi statue that sits right by the train station. Shopping there was incredible and I regret not going back for a second visit.
One place in particular was good, but also disappointing at the same time, which was Harajuku. I imagined it to be this lively, colourful eating and shopping haven that I would lap up! Sadly at the start of the day in Harajuku I was really poorly and ended up being sick. I quickly recovered and me and Dane were able to get on with what we set out to do for the day, which was mostly visiting animal cafes! Harajuku (to me anyway) wasn’t full of the lively and colourful places I’d imagined. Eating there was amazing and I regret not being able to eat more, but shopping was a bit of a let down. It seemed to be a mixture of copy and paste of Wego and (what seemed like) colourful fashion you could buy on eBay.
The only reason I would venture there again is to go back to the Pompompurin Cafe, which was one of my favourite places to eat at during our time in Japan! I’ll be talking about this on a separate blog post, so keep eyes peeled for that! π
The food in Japan was amazing and I miss it already. 7-eleven was so convenient for food, especially breakfast and the range of choice was incredible! The hot food was probably the best for me and I wish I’d eaten a lot more of it.
As a savoury eater, I ate so much sweet stuff because it was EVERYWHERE and it was amazing. I miss it so badly… I just wish we could at least have crepes here that are as good as the ones in Japan.
Enough of Japan for now – I’ll save all the in depth information for the blog post(s) about it.
I wanted to touch base on some other things here, including my blog and personal life.
Some news I want to share, which I am SUPER EXCITED FOR is that I am going to see My Chemical Romance in June!!! π Booking tickets to go and see them was a nightmare and I haven’t felt so anxious about buying something since we booked our holiday to Japan.
I tried to book both the Saturday and Sunday show whilst out in Japan and due to the crap pocket WiFi we had, this just wasn’t doable. I sat in a cafe for an hour trying to book the Saturday show with zero luck. Then as we were walking around Tokyo I attempted to book the Sunday show, with less luck than before. I was gutted. Absolutely gutted. I got over it however by the time we got back to the UK.
THEN my friend Claire (Claire Likes To Doodle – who you can read about here) told me about a third show they had announced for Thursday. I knew I had to get on that as soon as I could. I saved the booking section on Ticketmaster on my phone and made sure to be ready to book. The morning came and a stressful 30 minutes later, tickets were booked and paid for and I WAS IN! YES, YES, YESSSSS!
I am beyond excited to see My Chemical Romance again after almost 10 years (I last saw them in 2011) and I already know loads of memories will come back to that show and the previous show I saw them at (Black Parade UK tour back in 2007).
I’ll be going with my boyfriend, who isn’t actually a massive My Chemical Romance fan, but is coming with so I’m not going alone. I don’t have any friends who can come in the week, or at all (due to also not being fans), so he’s doing me a favour. π I’m paying for his ticket, which is fine with me… Because he’ll be buying our dinner haha!
So yes, I am will be listening to loads of My Chemical Romance in the run up to the show in June and maybe bringing back my emo self from back in the day… π
At the start of January and just before my holiday I turned 30… Yes I am old and I don’t care! I had a lovely day with Dane, who took me out to an animal park and in the evening we went out for a meal with my parents. Japan was the biggest celebration in a way. π
Dane bought me my blue Pandora ring for my 30th, which I love so much!
I didn’t do my yearly “what I got for my birthday” post and the reason for this is because I didn’t really want to… I just wasn’t feeling it. I’m more than happy to share what I received on this post but other than that… I just didn’t want to.
This leads onto my next point about life lately for me, which includes a massive thing about There Might Be Coffee. I know I posted a while ago how I wanted to just stick to posting on my blog once a week. Sometimes it might be more, especially if I’ve been inspired to write and want to get something out there. However, I have recently felt like my blog isn’t as “big a deal” to me as it used to be years before and it’s Dane who has made me think why.
When I started my blog I was out of work and bored. I loved my blog as a place to talk and be myself. Then I got my job and since then until 2017 I was unhappy in work. I used my blog as a place to escape and talk about things I love and share these things with people. These days I’m pretty content in my life. I’ve got a job I love, Dane, my lovely home, I’ve just been to Japan and my mental health is the best it has ever been in 20 years! Life is pretty good right now and to be able to type that is amazing. If someone had of told me 4 years ago that I would be in this position now, I wouldn’t believe them.
Don’t worry guys. This isn’t the end of my blog – far from it! It’s just the beginning of me being able to realise what I want to do and how I want to do it. I want to venture more and more into topics I am mad about, especially Japan and now I’ve been I can talk about it more than ever before.
I also want to talk about more things I know and love and I STILL want to bring you guys enamel pin posts, as well as Nendoroid figures collecting and geeky home decor.
I would also love to venture into IGTV over on my blog Instagram account (theremightbecoffeeblog) as I have always wanted to do YouTube, but I don’t want to deal with editing and arsehole trolls. IGTV I feel would be a little bit more manageable.
So, my blog will be going through some “changes” but nothing too drastic. Just less posts a week, more Japan/kawaii/otaku content and less gifted content.
I noticed last year that at one point my blog was COVERED in gifted *** posts and although I loved it at the time (because companies wanted to work with me) I look back and shake my head. That isn’t me. It especially wasn’t me to work with so many different people.
This has taught me a few things. I LOVE working with food companies. I love food and I love talking and sharing good food places, so when I get to work with places I want to shout about, it makes me happy. What I don’t love however is working with loads of people and constantly having gifted posts, instead of posts I want to get up about geeky stuff.
So, I have decided to distance myself away from that. I just don’t want it anymore. I want to work with more independent artists whose work I love and want to shout out about! If I can work with the artists, amazing. If I can’t then whatever – I’ll still shout about their work! An example of this will be an independent company I’ll be reviewing this month called Quirkory. I discovered them back in August last year and since then I have been hooked on them and their designs… Make sure to keep eyes peeled for that post!
I’m also toying with what to do with my newsletter now we’re into 2020. I had 3 newsletters out (September-November) and I honestly feel like it was a massive flop. Hardly anyone subscribed to it and hence hardly anyone read it. Which is actually saddening. I’d decided to have the newsletter talk about what was due to come to my blog throughout the month, as well as a general chit chatter that I don’t really bring to my blog as much.
I’m thinking of doing something four times a year on the first day of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. I’d possibly look to trying to work with companies to bring competitions too but even so… I don’t know if my heart is in it for my newsletter anymore. Any thoughts on this would be great. I know some of the readers/subscribers of my newsletter have been so lovely! But if your heart isn’t in it… You know?
Other than that, I can’t think of anything else to share really! 2020 is the year that I start to live my life and do things I wouldn’t have thought to before. I already have the itch to go back to Japan and plan to get our 2021/22 trip planned this year.
I also want to go to Amsterdam for mine and Dane’s 7 year anniversary. Only for a weekend, but it’s a place I have always wanted to go. As soon as I feel comfortable and ready, I’m going to book it for us both! Maybe as a surprise trip for Dane? π We shall see.
Do you guys have anything to share from your lives lately? If so please let me know in the comments below! π I love hearing about how things are going for people, good and bad. I’m always happy to listen if any of my readers who needs help and support. You can always reach out to me via a DM on Twitter (maybeecoffee) or Instagram (theremightbecoffeeblog).
Until next time guys, I hope you’re having a lovely weekend so far and enjoyed my ranty blog post. π
There Might Be Coffee 