August Favourites ’22

How quickly did August go? Too bloody quickly if you ask me! I can’t believe it’s almost September already, as well as August bank holiday. I’ve started my long weekend doing sweet FA, aside from writing this blog post. 😛

This month was an up and down month, with some positives and negatives, so I am semi looking forward to September for many reasons. For a start, it’s my favourite time of year with autumn starting, but we also have some stuff booked too, which we’re excited for! I’m also hopeful that the month will cool down so I can meet up with some online friends for coffee, shopping and maybe yummy Asian food too!

With that, let’s get into my favourites from August!

Beauty – Fenty Skin Cherry Treat Lip Conditioning Oil.

I can’t tell you guys how long it took me to get this bloody lip oil! I’d heard about it through Instagram and then when watching reviews I was hooked on snagging it myself! I mentioned on my August wish list post how I’d ordered it after it came into stock. Not only was I checking the listing on the Boots website daily for it to come back into stock, but also which stores nearby had it in stock too! On a day out with my dad to Stratford-upon-Avon we popped into a Boots store that stated it was in stock, only for there to be none left, BOO! Finally the lip oil did come back into stock so I ordered one. Since it arrived, I’ve been using is almost daily. It smells like sour cherry sweets, is easy to apply and the conditioning feel lasts for hours! I find it use it at work mostly, as well as when I’m out and about. I’ve definitely become a lip oil fan and plan to try more in the future! ALSO please excuse the dust on the shelf in the photo, it’s cleaning day tomorrow. 😛

Gif taken from Giphy

TV Show – Adventure Time.

Recently I’ve decided I wanted to binge watch Adventure Time again, well, at least the first two seasons as this is how far I got originally. To get the Blu-ray it would have cost me a lot more than I was willing to pay at the time, so instead we decided to get a NOW TV subscription, so now I have until the end of the year/a year to watch all of Adventure Time! I’m currently on season five at the time of writing this post and I’m discovering more about Finn, Jake and the Land of Ooo, which I’m really enjoying! I find myself binge watching it whenever I want something to relax to and watch, including cross stitch, writing for my blog, whilst I work from home, and cooking. If you love animation like I do, and, are yet to watch Adventure Time, please give it a go! My favourite character is Lumpy Space Princess, hence the gif. 😛

Music – Beyoncé “BREAK MY SOUL”.

I heard the new Beyoncé song a couple of weeks ago thanks to Instagram and I’ve really fallen in love with it since! Sometimes it comes on whilst I drove home from work and I can really relate to it some days. 😛 I just really enjoy it as a song, some of the lyrics, but especially the beat. It’s so good! 😀

Book – Lore Olympus.

Lore Olympus is a web comic series I was into back in 2018 when it first came out, but I stopped reading it after a while due to one reason or another. A couple of weekends ago I found out that Lore Olympus had released omnibus comics of the series! I decided to order it last week in order to read over the weekend and so far I’ve really been loving it! I ordered volumes one and two, with three on pre-order. I’ve read volume one so far, and I’m yet to start reading two. I’m hoping to over the bank holiday weekend as the series is addictive! Lore Olympus is a romance comic of a modernised Greek mythology retelling of the relationship between Persephone and Hades. It definitely has some adult themes, but I honestly love it! I’ve linked the web comic, so if you fancy a read definitely go and check it out! 😀

Game – LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.

I decided to pick up the latest LEGO Star Wars game as I had a £10 voucher for Amazon and had had my eye on this since it came out in April. Since buying this me and Dane have been playing it on and off since and it’s been something lovely to play together during weekends off, as well as in the evenings after work. My only gripe with it is how buggy it plays sometimes, which on the first day of playing really pissed us off! Thankfully since then we haven’t noticed it as much, which in turn has made it a lot more fun to play! If you play the original LEGO Star Wars games, then you should definitely get this one! It’s better than ever now and it’s so much fun too, as you get to spend blue bricks and money on upgrading your characters, which is something new to me for LEGO games.

Just a few of my favourite things…

OkieDoodleStitches Pokemon Eevee cross stitch is COMPLETED!

Last month I told you all about my latest cross stitch project, which was Eevee by OkieDoodleStitches. Well, last weekend I finally finished it and it looks so damn cute, as I’m sure you’ll agree from the above photo! This took me a couple of months to complete, but it was so worth it! I found myself getting lost whilst working on this, as well as binge watching a variety of shows (Adventure Time, Inventing Anna, and The Dog Rescuers to name a few!), which in turn has been really helpful for my mental health. I’m planning to pop this in a frame at some point to put up in the house at some point. I’ve already started my next cross stitch project, but I won’t be showing that on my blog for quite some time, as it’s a Christmas present. 🙂

Yuena Art haul.

I decided to place a cheeky enamel pin order with Yuena Art recently as I noticed one of the pins I really wanted was looking to sell out soon, and I didn’t want to worry I’d regret not getting it. The pin design I was after was mainly Yui the Kitsune, but I did love the look of Shino and Diana too! These are all either b-grade or seconds pins, but you wouldn’t know it as the quality of them all is really good! I’m yet to give them a home, but I definitely need to sort through my enamel pin collection(s) again!

Image taken from My Figure Collection

Image taken from My Figure Collection

Exciting figure pre-orders!

August was definitely a month of ordering figures, Nendoroid but also Hobby Max figures for the first time too! I wanted to show off a few I’m really excited about. I don’t feel like I talk about figures and our collecting of them enough on my blog, but it’s something I’d like to do more! First of all, I decided to pre-order the Hobby Max Nana Osaki and Komatsu figures. Nana is probably my favourite manga/anime series so I couldn’t really pass up not ordering these, even though they weren’t cheap, but worth it 100% as they’ll make me so happy to display in our house. Second of all I ordered Marin from My Dress Up Darling, an anime and manga series I’ve really fallen in love with this year! I’m so excited for this Nendoroid to be released! She’ll be going somewhere special as me and Dane love the series together!

So there we have it guys, my favourites from August! I still can’t believe it’s September soon, and before we know it, it’ll be Christmas. :O

What were your favourite things about August? Anything you can relate to from my favourites? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, have an amazing rest of your August bank holiday and as always, take care!

Amazon Japan Kawaii Haul

This isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned Amazon Japan on my blog, and I very much doubt it’ll be the last! At the end of July I decided to splurge and place my biggest Amazon Japan order to date, which I was so excited to have arrive.

I decided to grab some items I’ve been after for a long time, as well as some newer items on my radar that I found were a bargain from Amazon Japan. I placed my order on July 23rd and my goodies arrived on July 29th, amazing time frames when you think about it coming all the way from Japan! I was honestly counting down the hours the day everything arrived. I did film a reel over on my Instagram page literally hours after my goods turned up too, which you can watch here.

I’ll briefly share my experience with Amazon Japan before I go into the goodies I’ve bought. As I mentioned before, this is the biggest order I’ve placed through Amazon Japan to date and is also my third order. Goodies are packaged quite quickly after your order is placed and as mentioned, I received my goods just under a week after I placed the order, which is fantastic! My parcel arrived via DHL and cost £17.76 which I personally felt was worth it for how much I ordered. Due to this I find with Amazon Japan the bigger the order, the more you’ll get for the price you pay for shipping too. I don’t think they’ve ever offered any other form of shipping, which is fair enough.

Right enough of that, on with the haul!

Bandai Hobby Pokemon Mew Model Kit – (link)

I can’t tell you how long I have been after this model kit, but it feels well over a year for sure. One of my favourite Pokemon is Mew, so whenever I see any form of merchandise I like the look of with it on, I just can’t help myself from picking it up. I’ve never done a model kit and loved the appeal of giving one a go. The reason I’ve not purchased this until now though however is unfortunately due to how much people sell these Pokemon model kits for, especially this one it seems. I paid under £4 for my model kit, but to be honest people sell these for almost £20, which is such a jump. I understand import charges and delivery that people may face getting these model kits to the UK, but yeah. With the price of the item and splitting the overall shipping costs, this would cost me under £10. Of course you can shop with who you wish to, but personally I don’t want to feel “ripped off” by anyone, so would rather purchase directly from Japan. I haven’t made this figure up yet, as I’m sure you can see from the photos, but I’ll definitely do it at some point before the end of the month!

Animal Crossing Kicks Amiibo Figure – (link)

This is another item I’ve been after for quite some time but it appears to be a rarer find in the UK and due to that isn’t exactly cheap! This was the last Animal Crossing amiibo figure I needed, so when I found this one on Amazon Japan for less than £8, I knew I had to buy it! Aside from the Super Smash Bros. Animal Crossing amiibo, I definitely have them all now, which makes me so happy! I only really started to collect them last year, with the majority of them being second hand.

Sanrio Cinnamoroll Smartphone Stand – (link)

This was one of the items I wanted the most from this Amazon Japan order, as I’ve been after a phone stand for my desk for a while, I just never found one I liked the look of. I discovered that this item existed through someone I follow on Instagram, but wasn’t aware that it was available on Amazon Japan until I had a good look around for it. This phone stand is probably my favourite thing from this haul as it’s really changed how I keep my phone on my desk. If I was to be on a FaceTime call with my mom, I’d try and lean my phone on the desk somewhere, and laid flat whenever it was charging whilst on a call with her. At least with the phone stand now I don’t have to do that anymore, all whilst it looks super cute in the Cinnamoroll shape! 😀

Sanrio Cinnamoroll Stainless Steel Mug with Lid – (link)

Finally we have a Cinnamoroll travel mug I bought, which I’d had my eye on for a while from a UK kawaii store. I only have one takeaway cup I use for work during the week but I wanted another so I wasn’t just constantly using the same one. This one has a handle as you can see, which is really good for if I fancy a mug to drink from when in the office instead of a hot drink flask. The one great thing about this too is how long it keeps your hot drinks hot for too, plus it’s cute. 😛

So there we have it guys, my haul from Amazon Japan!

Which item(s) did you like from what I ordered? Are there any items you’d like to get from Amazon Japan? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time guys, have a lovely rest of your weekend, stay cool and hydrated!

August Wish List ’22

We’re already a week into August, I can’t believe it! This weekend for me has been really nice and I’m quite grateful, I’ve needed something to cheer me up after how shite July felt. August is full of lots of time off for me and Dane which will be really nice, even if we don’t do much, just having time to relax together will be nice.

For example, Friday I went out with my dad for the day and yesterday me and Dane spent pretty much all day playing LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which is so much fun! After my blog post is live, we’re planning to play this all day again and cook a yummy dinner.

Anyhoo, I’ve ordered some of the bits on my monthly wish list, which I’ll mention when it comes to talking about the item(s) in question. Some of the items I’m waiting to go down in price, and more, but as always I’ll talk about it on each item.

I hope everyone else has had a good start to August! On with this months wish list post!

• Fearless Illustration Molly Smock Dress – (link)

This is a dress I’ve been after for what feels like forever. I’m waiting for it to go down in price, or appear on Depop/Vinted before I buy. I own on smock dress from Fearless Illustration which is incredibly comfortable! I really do love wearing my smock dresses these days as they’re incredibly comfortable for all seasons and if anything, I’ve been wearing them more and more for work lately. If I was to pick this dress up, I’d wear it for work as well as in general as the design is really simple with the large hearts.

• Noodoll Ricespud Super Giant Plush – (link)

This is a plush I’ve been after a while, in its smaller form, but when I saw they brought out the giant version I had to share it with you all today! I don’t think I’d buy the giant version, not going to lie as I don’t have the room, but look how adorable it is! This looks like an amazing plush for snuggling into after a long day. I’d still love the smaller version though. 😛

• YuenaShop Enamel Pins Yui the Kitsune, Shino, and Mythical Witch Diana – (link), (link), and (link)

These are some Animal Crossing fan design enamel pins I’ve ordered, as Yui the Kitsune is one that has been on my wish list on Etsy for as long as I can remember. It was due to sell out from what I could see, so I decided to place an order in case I missed out, but as YuenaShop is based in the United States I wanted to make the shipping costs worth it. I decided to order three enamel pins, Yui, Shino and Diana. Yui is an original character that is inspired by a Kitsune, Shino the deer villager whose outfit reminds me of Demon Slayer and then Diana who is dressed up as a witch! I’m really excited to get them by the end of the month now to display on one of my pin flags!

• Fenty Skin Cherry Treat Lip Conditioning Oil – (link)

This is something I’ve ordered earlier today and I’m so excited for it! I’ve been on the hunt for it for a while now, but Boots hasn’t had it in stock. I ventured to a Boots store on Friday to see if they had it still (stated online the store had it in stock) and they’d sold out! Thankfully this morning when I had a nose online they have some back, so I used my Advantage Points to get one! I’m really excited for this to arrive! I find some days I don’t want to wear lip products, but I know if I throw this in my bag on office days I’ll make sure to wear it. 🙂 It’s said to smell really delicious and leave a nice pink tint behind.

• Truly Heartful Nana Osaki Plush – (link)

Finally we have another plush to mention this month, but this is one of Nana Osaki, one of my favourite manga/anime characters! So, to see someone has created a plush of her has made me so happy! I don’t know if/when I’ll buy this, as it isn’t exactly cheap, but it’s definitely an item I’ll keep eyes peeled on in the future to potentially get. 🙂 I honestly love Nana, so to own a plush of her would be amazing.

So, there we have it, my wish list for August! I like to think there’s been a good variety of goodies mentioned this month! What do you like the look of from my wish list, as well as what’s on your own wish lists? Make sure to let me know in the comments below!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you have a lovely rest of your weekend!

April Favourites ’22

I can’t quite believe it’s the end of another month already! I mean, one more day and…

Gif taken from Giphy

Sorry, not sorry. 😛 But yes, it’s going to be May tomorrow and I can’t quite believe we are a month away from being halfway through 2022.

Not going to lie, I’m a mixture of excited and nervous for May for a few reasons. It’s going to be nice to have another long bank holiday weekend this weekend, but in a couple of weeks I’ll be going to see My Chemical Romance! Regular readers and friends will know I have been waiting for two years to see them now due to Covid, so I’m glad the time is finally coming up! I printed off my tickets recently so I’m almost ready to go. I’m so excited, but sort of nervous too for many reasons. I haven’t been to a gig since 2017 when I saw cKy, which was a longgg time ago now! I’m also feeling anxious about Covid too. It would suck for both me and Dane to leave the gig with Covid… That being said, it’ll be worth it at this point as I’ve been waiting long enough to go and see MCR! I’m going to try and save up some monies towards merchandise, as I can see me buying a lot of it… Especially t-shirts and hoodies. 😛

Alongside going to see MCR, I’m also planning to go and visit Emily (link to blog) whilst we’re in Milton Keynes! We did try and meet up before/during the cKy gig but it didn’t happen sadly. I’m so excited to meet her! We’ve been blogging friends for as long as I can remember now (over six years I feel!) so it’ll be lovely to see her, and her furry companions too. Go and check her blog out by the way, I have linked it for you all. 🙂

Alongside that, I don’t know what other plans me and Dane have for May, maybe plan something in for our anniversary in June, as well as planning/seeing friends too? We shall see!

One final thing I want to mention is how excited I am for this months content! I have some cute posts coming up in the next couple of weeks and I cannot wait to share them all with you. I know April was a bit of a quieter month but I was so busy over Easter, I didn’t really get much time for myself, let alone sitting down to write.

For now however, lets get on with this months favourites!

Favourite Beauty Product – Peripera – Ink Mood Drop Tint – Bubble Berry and Berry Vibe.

With my March pay I decided to treat myself to some new lip products from YesStyle. I really love wearing lipstick, but as the years have passed, I’ve worn it less and less. I used to live for my MAC satin lipsticks, then liquid lipsticks and now I’m more about my lip stains/tints and glosses. I’ve always found Korean brands lip tints are the best all rounder for lip products, they hydrate, leave gorgeous colour and are affordable. I’ve tried Peripera in the past and really do rate their products highly, so I decided to order myself a couple of lip tints from their ink mood drop range. Bubble Berry and Berry Vibe are both pink lip tints, one being darker than the other. Bubble Berry is described as, “cool berry pink” and Berry Vibe is described as, “bright berry plum”. Alongside the colours being gorgeous and wearable for any occasion, the product itself isn’t sticky, easy to apply and lasts for hours! It’s perfect and I’m so glad to finally have some pink lip tints in my collection.

Favourite Film – Jackass Forever.

As a massive Jackass fan, I have a lot to say about the latest movie. First of all, I have been a fan since I was ten years old in 2000. I adore all the TV show and the movies and if anything they got me through my dissertation for my BA studies at university, as well as some darker times. I’m also a fan of the cKy movies and Viva La Bam. With this being said, Ryan Dunn and Bam Margera not being part of the fourth movie broke my heart a little and I knew from the start that it wouldn’t feel like Jackass to me when I watched it. I finally saw the fourth instalment in April and I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it. There were stunts that had clearly been done before by others and in my opinion, there were clearly stunts that had been written by Bam (I don’t know if anyone else thought this too?). The new cast were great, I have to say, they appeared to be up for anything (and judging by some of their tattoos, had been Jackass fans from a young age like me) and I feel like stunts they did now, were stunts that the Jackass crew back in the day wouldn’t have done. If you don’t know, this is Johnny Knoxville’s last Jackass film… Or so he says, so for his final film I just felt like it was lacking so much and that in itself made me sad. I’m intrigued to see if they do another TV show for the new cast, or another film. I feel like the films should have been left at three, after watching this one. Again, as I said, I didn’t love or hate it, but sadly I think Jackass should be done now, or at least just leave the new cast to do their own thing and retire the old? I don’t know. Let me know what you think! Please excuse the word vomit here by the way, I have so many thoughts about it haha.

Favourite TV Show/Anime – SPY x FAMILY.

With new season anime, comes a new anime show to share with you all! SPY x FAMILY is new for this season and is one me and Dane have been watching for the past couple of weeks since it began. I know this was a manga first of all and one quite a few people I know read and love. I wasn’t massively fussed about watching the anime when it was announced, but seeing as Dane put it on, I thought, “Why not!” and now I really enjoy it! As the name suggests, it’s about a spy family, but with a twist. I don’t want to say too much in case of spoilers, but Twilight, a spy, has to create a family in order to complete one of his missions. The girl he adopts has telepathy and the woman he marries is an assassin. Due to her telepathy the girl knows what her adoptive parents true lives are, but the parents don’t know each others. So far it’s a mixture of funny and keeps you on the edge of your seat. I adore all of the characters so far and Anya (the girl) reminds me of a diclonius from Elfen Lied due to her pink hair and the strange black hair bun covers she wears (which remind of the diclonius horns). I definitely recommend you checking it out and personally, I much prefer the sub to dub, it just works better.

Favourite Music – Saliva – Back Into Your System.

Over the Easter bank holiday me and Dane decided to deep clean our kitchen. It had been long overdue and with family coming over for Dane’s birthday and Easter, we decided to finally do it. During our time cleaning, we decided to put on nu metal from the early noughties, which is a genre of rock music that we both love. At one point Saliva came on and it reminded me of their third album Back Into Your System that I LOVED back in the day and listened to religiously. I remember exactly how I discovered it, through looking for clips from Elfen Lied the song “Weight Of The World” plays against the top of it, which I fell in love instantly. It’s still one of my favourite songs and I’ve honestly missed listening to this album.

Image taken from Wikipedia

Favourite Game – Raft.

This is a game Dane bought for me a while ago so we could play together. Before and during Easter we played it quite a bit, as it’s a really nice, relaxing game to sit and play after a busy day of work. We’ve recently stopped playing it as much as we’ve found it’s getting a little repetitive, but I’m pretty sure we’ll pick it up again some day. The premise of the game is you need to survive and built your raft up. You do occasionally float by islands, which you can stop at to gather more resources, you pretty much live on your raft though. We didn’t realise at first, but there is a story to this game! Our understanding of this is that you play as siblings who need to find their family through radio messages and more. I don’t think we’ve done a lot with the story yet, the idea of the surviving is fun to us! I highly recommend this, but more so if you can play with friends, as it’s just a bunch easier!

Just a few of my favourite things…

Loungefly Cinnamoroll backpack.

To give you all a sneak peak of one of the posts coming up in May on my blog, I wanted to briefly share my latest Loungefly addition, and boy, do I love it! Easter I decided to finally pick up the Cinnamoroll Loungefly backpack, after debating it for months. I’ve been using it since it arrived last weekend and I really love it. It’s comfortable to wear, cute and fits everything quite nicely. It does kind of feel on the small side, but that’s probably because I carry around too much stuff. I think my only worry with this bag is the obvious one, it’s white, so I worry it’ll be stained and dirty easily. That being said, life is too short for regret. I wanted this bag for a while and now I finally have it, I’m going to use it! I snagged it for a bargain of £45 from Pop Figures. They’re Midlands based so this arrived in a couple of days after ordering. I’ll be talking about this bag on a blog post in the next couple of weeks!

Mini Egg nails.

As we all know, Easter was a couple of weeks ago and just before it I was due a new set of gel nails. I decided to go for Mini Egg inspired nails, as not only are they my favourite chocolate, but since 2019 (when I started getting gel manicures) I’ve always wanted to do these nails. So, FINALLY I’ve been able to do it! They’re getting redone this weekend and I’m feeling an emo theme, ready for when I go to see My Chemical Romance. I’m actually really sad to see these go, but I can always get them done again soon. 😀

Animal Crossing Timmy & Tommy amiibo.

On Dane’s birthday we decided to go out and do some geeky shopping and I FINALLY snagged the Timmy & Tommy amiibo figure I was after! This wasn’t cheap at £18, but a lot of places sell it for £20 and up, so I can’t complain too much. Plus Dane bought it for me as he knew how much I’ve wanted it. It’s such a cute figure and in amazing condition. I gave it a good clean when I came home and it’s now in place with all the other Animal Crossing amiibo figures. Now I only have Kicks left to get and potentially Smash Bros Isabelle. The shop I picked it up from is an independent vintage game shop in Birmingham called Vintage Gamer. If you’re in Birmingham like me, or fancy a day trip, I HIGHLY recommend! There’s so many vintage games and consoles, you could spend hours there. Plus the staff are really lovely to chat to, which is always good.

Pokemon Vulpix Flocked POP! vinyl.

This is a new addition to my very small POP! vinyl collection, but one I just couldn’t resist when I saw people talking about it on Instagram. I do love some of the Pokemon POP! vinyl figures as they look adorable, and Vulpix is always one I’ve had on my list to get as and when, so when I saw Smyths had the flocked version, I pre ordered and collected it later that day! It’s still sat in the box, as I’m unsure if I ever want to worry the flocking on it gets dusty/dirty and ruined! It’s such a cute little figure and I’m so glad I picked it up now. 🙂

Lazy Oaf Rainbow Sally t-shirt dress.

Finally I want to share with you one of my recent finds on Vinted! The image isn’t mine, but it is from the listing I bought the dress off of, so it’s fine. 😛 I haven’t yet taken a photo of the dress, nor worn it as I’ve been so busy, but I’m sure I’ll wear soon and post all about it! Anyway, this Lazy Oaf rainbow sally dress has been on my Lazy Oaf grail list for as long as I can remember. Every time I’ve found this dress for sale on second hand websites it would go for silly prices well over £60, and I just don’t have time for spending money that much on pre loved items, no matter what brand. So, when I saw this pop up on Vinted in my size for £25, I knew I had to snap it up! A couple of days later it arrived, was washed and is now waiting in my wardrobe to be worn! I’m so excited to wear it, it’s so comfy to wear and with some tights, and maybe my heart buckle belt, I’ll look adorable and ready for the summer!!!

So, there we have it guys, my favourites from April! I honestly can’t believe we’re already into May tomorrow, this month has flown and it’s been quiet nice to say the least, which I’m thankful for.

As we’re in another bank holiday weekend this weekend, what are you plans for it? Plus, what items are in your favourites list this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time, take care and have a lovely weekend.

April Wish List ’22

I know I say it every month, but how are we already into April? Especially the first proper week of April too! Before we know it, it’ll be May and I’ll be repeating myself all over again. 😛

I’m not going to lie, I really did struggle with my wish list this month due to just not feeling like there’s a fat lot I want to buy? I’m still trying to be really good with money and with Dane’s birthday next week, I’ve been focusing on spending any monies I have like that, on him. That being said, I did manage to get some items to talk about this month with a mixture of pre-orders, items I hope to buy at the end of the month, as well as a special item I’d really love and will speak about at the end… 😛

Anyhoo, no time like the present, let’s get on with the wish list!

• Totally Emily Designs Stickers – (link) and (link)

The first item I’d like to talk about on my wish list is my friend Emily’s sticker store, Totally Emily Designs. Currently she’s only stocking glossy stickers and sticker sheets, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she has more ideas for the future! This being said, I definitely have some stickers from her I’d love to get to decorate my water bottle, but especially Magikarp at the moment! It’s such a cute design and would work perfectly on my water bottle for sure! 😀 Also to add here, Emily isn’t just a friend but she’s also a blogger like me! Make sure to go and check out her blog Totally Emily.

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons Friend Doll Vol.3 – (link)

First and foremost, I pre-ordered these back at the end of November 2021 and the past four months since then have really flown! You know when you order something you find yourself saying, “Urgh that’s going to take an age to wait for!” and then before you know it, the item is due! 😛 Edit, that being said literally 24 hours before this post was due to go live, I was told these won’t be out until May now… 😦 Anyhoo, I’m super excited for volume 3 of the Animal Crossing friend dolls to arrive, especially as they’re the cutest volume yet! However, I’m not looking forward to finding out how much it’s going to cost to ship the cuties to me! If you weren’t aware, currently Japan has suspended Airmail due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, which is fair. This being said, surface mail is still available, which is the cheapest but also the worst! You’ll be waiting up to three months for your goodies to arrive. Thankfully there is the DHL/FedEx option, so I’ll definitely be going for this and this is where my original however came in. I’m just hopeful it isn’t going to cost me a bomb! This being said, I’m so bloody excited for these to arrive! Goldie and Judy are definitely my favourites.

• My Dress-Up Darling Vol 5 Manga – (link)

As regular readers will know, My Dress-Up Darling has really grown on me (you can read how and why here) and I really adore it as both a manga and anime. I pre-ordered volumes five and six a month ago and according to where I pre-ordered, volume five is due out at the end of the month, which I’m really excited for! I feel like I can’t get enough of this since the anime’s first season concluded at the end of March. I’m waiting for all the dubbed episode to release so I can binge watch them all. xD Sad? Yes? Do I care? Not really.

• Nooks Needles Co Animal Crossing Vesta T-Shirt – (link)

This is something I’m planning to treat myself to as soon as April payday comes around at the end of the month. I own one piece by Nooks Needles Co already, my Cookie sweater and I adore it! I own an Animal Crossing stitched t-shirt by another designer and wear it to work often as it isn’t obvious it’s Animal Crossing. Due to this, I’d love to get another! This time, I’d like to get a navy t-shirt with Vesta the sheep villager on the left hand side. Vesta is one of my favourite villagers, even though I don’t shout about it! She was the first sheep villager I met and personally I love her. I never invited her to my New Horizons island as Dane had her on his, so instead, Eunice (also a sheep villager) came to live on my island instead. This all said, I really wanted to pick up the t-shirt sooner, but I’d rather spend that monies on Dane. I can wait. 🙂

• Nintendo Switch Sports – (link)

Okay, raise your hand if you loved Wii Sports… Most of you probably did, didn’t you? I know I did, especially the bowling game. I was obsessed with it growing up and when I met Dane and found out his family owned a Wii, I was ecstatic! Years have passed since I last played it (not going to lie haha) and finally we’re getting the same game (pretty much…) for the Switch! I’m going to pre-order it soon ready for the end of the month when it launches. My dad always loved the bowling game too, and only over Christmas did he ask if we could put it on to play. Now we can easily with it being on the Switch, which in itself makes me happy.

• Pokemon Center Mareep Poké Plush – 45 In. – (link)

Okay, so this is the item I said I would save for the end to speak about! I would really love the life-size Mareep from the Pokemon Center, and now we have the UK one to buy from, I’ve got even more chance than ever to make this dream come true! However, it is over £400… Which is a lot of money! I’ve decided that I’m going to save up for it over the next couple of months and get it at some point in the near future. In all fariness, I may save up for it, only to change my mind later on, but at least I’ll have some extra savings, I guess?

So, there we have it guys, my wish list for this month! I know it wasn’t anything special and if anything, it was probably incredibly underwhelming, but it is what it is and I enjoyed writing the post.

What do you guys have on your wish lists this month? Anything nice you’ve treated yourself to this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time all, take care and I hope you’re having a lovely weekend!

January Favourites ’22

Can you believe it’s almost the end of January already?! 2022 is already flying by and I don’t like it. 😛 I know I always say this every month, but I know I’m not the only one!

January for me was crap to say the least as both me and Dane were really sick for the first week of it with chest infections (thankfully not Covid!) and without going into too much detail, my mental health has been really bad. I’m hoping it’ll improve moving forward…

I think another thing that sucked was due to us being sick on my birthday, I didn’t exactly have the best day. Memorable, yes, but crap. 😛 I know we’ll be making up for that at some point soon, which I’m really excited about. What though, I don’t know.

That being said January wasn’t all bad! Money wise I did pretty good considering how long people wait for payday in office jobs (six whole weeks!). I came into 2022 with the attitude of, “Spend less and sell more!” after doing really well with selling old stuff I no longer want on Vinted. If you’re interested in what I’m selling please ask for my store link, I won’t post it publicly on my blog. I’m finally going to clear out a lot of my old clothes from my old room, which is WELL overdue seeing as I moved out almost six years ago. xD

I’m hoping for February to be a better month, mainly health wise but also money wise too. Me and Dane have set a lot of home improvement goals for 2022 and I hope to get started on a lot of them this month, including a LOT of spring cleaning!

I don’t know why but I’m incredibly excited for spring this year. Maybe because of nicer weather and baby animals? 😛

Are you looking forward to anything in February? Make sure to let me know.

Anyhoo, on with the monthly favourites!!!

Favourite Beauty Product – Happy Place Cosmetics Bougie Body Scrub.

If there is one product I cannot live without in my bath/shower it’s the Happy Place Cosmetics body scrubs. They are the best I have ever used and smell amazing to boot! Black Friday they brought out some amazing deals, including body scrubs being on offer, so I bought a bunch of them to keep me going for a while, including Bougie. Bougie is a dupe of Lush Yog Nog, which is one of my favourite scents, from both brands! The HPC body scrubs foam up when you add a little bit of water, so not only do you feel nice and scrubbed after use, but clean too! I especially love to give my whole body a good scrub once to twice a week, depending. Mostly however I love using my body scrub on my legs before shaving. My legs were getting really dry at one point and even with a good moisture, they just seemed dry and itchy. Since using the scrub on them before shaving that dry and itchy feeling has gone and I’m so relieved. I need to do a review of HPC in the future, as not only do they create amazing things for your bath and shower, but for your home too with the wax tarts!

Favourite Film – Ron’s Gone Wrong.

Unfortunately I don’t have any “massive” films to shout about watching. Me and Dane are too anxious to go to the cinema so we’ve not been able to watch anything new lately. However, over Christmas we did binge watch a lot of films on Disney+ and Ron’s Gone Wrong was one of them. I’d been itching to watch this film for a while as not only had I seen it spoken about online, but I’d watched the trailer with Dane and found it adorable, which is exactly what it was. Ron’s Gone Wrong is about a new robot (B-bot) that children are using to find friends they’ll have in common and more. It’s basically a phone but disguised as a toy robot for kids. Barney is the only kid in school without a B-bot and it shows how much it affects him and even when Barney does get one, there’s something wrong with it. I won’t talk too much about the plot in case of spoilers, but I highly recommend checking it out, it’s got a really good message to it for younger and even older people about how much technology can affect us forget about what’s actually around us. I had a little cry at the end too. :’)

Favourite TV Show/Anime – Attack on Titan Final Season.

I’ve really been itching to talk about this this month and before I do, do not worry! There won’t be any spoilers shared here. A massive one came up on the latest episode (23/01) and DAMN I’m so glad we watched it. I’d have hated to see spoilers the next day. Anyhoo… Attack on Titan means a lot to me for various reasons and due to that I’m really sad to see it coming to an end to be honest. It’s one of the first (if not the first) anime me and Dane really got into together. We discovered Attack on Titan back in June 2014 when we went to Bristol for our first anniversary. Dane had heard loads about it and decided to buy some of the manga volumes in Forbidden Planet, as well as find the first episode online for us to watch. Dane fell in love with it, as did I and before we knew it, he’d bought all the manga there was on offer at the time and we found the first season to watch online too. I still remember getting to the last episode of season one and saying to Dane, “Next episode!” with him replying, “That’s it, we need to wit for the next season now.” This was almost ten years ago… How crazy is that? It’s amazing and sad at the same time that we’re now on the final season! It’s kind of the end of an era for a lot of people, including me and Dane. So far though, the final season is amazing! I’m still leaving each episode screaming at the screen saying, “WHAT? What’s happening?”. xD

Favourite Music – PVRIS Shuffle and Bring Me The Horizon – Kingslayer (feat. BABYMETAL).

I don’t know why (well I do, because I love them) but lately I’ve been listening to PVRIS so much. I think it’s because when I’ve been in the office for work, or been working on my own stuff at home, I’ve found that they’re my go to choice when I just need to concentrate and get on with things. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before on my blog, but PVRIS are actually doing a tour in the UK in May which I REALLY want to go to, but I don’t know if I can justify it with Covid and such? Purely because I’m seeing My Chemical Romance a week or two after and I’d be gutted if I came out of the PVRIS gig with Covid and couldn’t then see MCR… So yeah. That sucks at the moment! I’m still not writing it out because you never know, but yeah…

I also wanted to share with you a song I discovered around Christmas/New Year that Dane showed me. It’s by Bring Me The Horizon but features BABYMETAL, it’s amazing and I fucking love it! It’s really catchy, can be danced to as well as sang along to as well as it has a mixture of screaming and singing. I’m not a massive Bring Me The Horizon fan (not so much the music…) but I do love BABYMETAL. It’s just a perfect song to me and you should give it a listen.

Image taken from Amazon

Favourite Book – The Sad Ghost Club Volume Two.

Guys I actually did some reading in January! Can you believe it? 😛 I LOVE The Sad Ghost Club and as soon as I heard that the second book was coming out, I knew I had to get it. I pre-ordered as soon as it could be and it arrived on my birthday. As I mentioned at the start of the post, both me and Dane were really sick at the start of January, which sucked. This also meant I didn’t get to do anything for my birthday, apart from cuddle up on the sofa and cuddle with Dane. This being said, I did also read The Sad Ghost Club Volume 2 and I really loved it. I won’t say too much so it doesn’t ruin it for other people, but it really did touch upon people’s anxieties even more, which I loved. I could relate to Socks and it really tore on my heart strings. If you love The Sad Ghost Club on Instagram or any other social media, then you need to pick up the books to read. They’re so wholesome and make me smile when I feel down. I can’t wait for the next instalment!

Image taken from PokeCommunity Daily

Favourite Game – Pokemon Shining Pearl.

I was actually going to mention Pokemon: Legend Arceus today BUT it only came out yesterday so seems a bit premature to mention it so quickly. I’ve found myself picking up Shining Pearl quite a bit over January. Mainly because I REALLY wanted to try and get the main bulk of the story completed before Legend Arceus came out. I did in fact do this, but now I’ve opened the national dex and need to bloody complete that! 😛 This being said, Shining Pearl has been so nice and relaxing to play, especially when I wasn’t feeling very well and had the energy to do something more than binge watch Netflix and TV shows on Channel 4. I forgot how long the gen four games are, but I’m not complaining as it’s much better when you compare to Sword and Shield. I did mention it in November when the gen four remakes came out, BUT I did in fact buy Shining Pearl and Brilliant Diamond, as I expected Dane to play with me. As he isn’t doing such a thing and I’d like to 100% complete Shining Pearl, I will eventually play Brilliant Diamond on his switch so I can swap exclusives and such. Is that sad? Yeah, but whatever. 😛

Another thing I wanted to mention here that’s game related is, I’ve decided to create a games completion thread over on my Twitter, which you can find here! My friend Connor did this in 2021 and he really inspired me to do it myself. At the moment I only really have one game on there, but I’m sure that list will grow! I really want to work my way through some of my games this year. I’m sick of buying new when I have half completed ones gathering dust.

Just a few of my favourite things…

Pingki Buddy plush.

I don’t want to talk tooooo much about this plush as in April I’ll be talking in depth about all of the penguin friends that Pingki has created. However, I couldn’t not talk about my Buddy plush today as it’s so bloody cute! If you haven’t already recognised Buddy, he’s heavily inspired by a certain jock penguin from Animal Crossing… 😛 I pre-ordered this cutie from Pingki back in September 2021 and eagerly waited almost four months for him to arrive! It’s such an adorable plush, a nice size for cuddling and especially perfect for taking lots of photos of, as you can see above. 😛 Just an FYI, Buddy is currently sold out and I’m unsure when he’ll be back up for pre-order since the April pre-orders are all booked up!

In the December pre-orders I also pre-ordered the rest of the penguin gang and I’m already counting down the months until April when they’re due to start being shipped to their new homes! We have Baby, Bestie, Slushie and Brainfreeze. I wasn’t planning on getting them all due to lack of space, but I’ve decided to keep them on the back of our sofa as they’ll look really cute and like they’re watching TV with us… Which any Animal Crossing fan wants, right?

Loungefly Sanrio kawaii wallet.

At the start of January I snagged one of my Loungefly grails and for a fucking bargain too! If you don’t know what I mean when I say a grail, it means an item that you’re after that’s hard to find and rare, expensive or both. I feel like this wallet came out between 2020 and 2021, but don’t quote me on that. I just remember it coming out and really wanting the wallet, as well as the matching backpack too (which is also on my grail list!). I found this wallet on Vinted for a steal and decided to treat myself to it straight away. A couple of days later it arrived and I adore it! It was brand new with tags and under £25. I feel like the person who sold it to me knew the value and didn’t want to be a twat about selling it for a stupidly high price? I do have one flaw with this wallet though and that’s it made me feel a little anxious about keeping my bank card and ID in the usual places, so they’re elsewhere. I thought I’d mention this as I know this wallet style is a popular one that Loungefly make, so if you’re looking to buy this style of wallet from them, please bear this in mind! In the future I’m semi hoping to snag the backpack for a bargain too! 😛

Baking – Salted caramel and salted caramel shortbread.

As me and Dane had some stuff to use up in the house, as well as friends to see I decided to not only make salted caramel, but also to make salted caramel shortbread too! Both were a success and it’s made me realise just how much I do love baking! I mean, I know I love baking but you know what I mean. 😛

I’ve made the caramel shortbread before and don’t recall it being a bit hit with everyone, but this time when I made it, Dane and our friends loved it! It made me so happy to hear everyone’s praise and it’s just made me want to bake more and more! Maybe 2022 will be the year I do lots of baking? Watch this space. I absolutely adore baking, it’s a big passion of mine but at the same time I hate it because then I have to find people to eat it all, or me and Dane scoff all the yummy goods. 😛

I’m going to pop the videos about of the recipes I used as they’re really simple, easy to follow and highly recommended!

Fluffy cardigan.

One of my birthday presents from my mom this year was a fluffy cardigan and I fucking love it. So much so I wore it everyday for a week before washing… Grim yes but true. For Christmas my mom bought me and Dane loads of winter warmers such as a fluffy hot water bottle, teddy bear bedding and a gorgeous cream fluffy throw. Her gifts have really been appreciated to say the least, especially when we were poorly. Due to all these warm goodies and the gas prices going up, I suggested to Dane that we make the most of her gifts and turn the heating off in the day, which he agreed. Since then those winter warmers have been getting some use!

My mom had seen this fluffy cardigan on QVC and decided to order us both one and she gave it to me a couple of weeks ago. It’s so soft and fluffy, baggy, has a MASSIVE hood and is just perfect to throw on when you’re feeling chilly or want something comforting. I’ve practically lived in it! Dane jokily wore it the once whilst I was cooking dinner so I snapped a photo on my phone and sent it to my mom. To my surprise she ordered another one, so me and Dane could have one each! That’s my mom all over, bless her.

I am rather excited for us to get another so I can rotate wear them and always have one to live in when it’s chilly!

Image take from GIPHY

Being sick, boo.

Finally I’m going to talk a bit more about what a shit start to the year I had, and Dane for that matter! Right at the end of 2021 me and Dane started to feel under the weather and we put it down to being a cold, but that soon turned out to be a chest infection, which was evidently worse for me than it was for Dane. I came into 2022 with conjunctivitis in both eyes, a horrible cough and sore throat and no to mention no fucking sleep due to the previous two illnesses. It was vile and no matter what me and Dane did to try and shift it, nothing would. It seemed at one point like it was getting worse! Most of our days in the first week of January were spent on our sofa binge watching anything and everything we could on Netflix and All 4.

Of course I can hear you asking, “It wasn’t Covid then?” Nope, thankfully, but trying to find out if it was or not was a fucking pain in the arse! We’d both booked PCR tests on the Monday to find out if we had it, only for them to arrive on the Thursday. Post was very delayed due to the weird bank holidays we’d had at the start of the year, as well as both the Royal Mail and NHS struggling due to rising Covid rates. We’d tried to book to go to a test centre but had no luck, however, one sleepless night we were awake around 3am and managed to book drive thru tests in on the Wednesday. Thursday morning, we found out we were Covid free, as well as see our PCR tests arrive. They’ve been kept somewhere safe for potential future use.

Alongside all that with us being sick, not only did I not get to do fuck all for my own birthday, but I didn’t get to do anything for mom’s either and it really broke my heart. We didn’t get to do anything last year due to Covid and this year I was sick. My mom’s birthday is the day after mine so we do always try and go for a meal, whether it be her day or mine. We’ll go and do something in February no doubt, but it just felt really shit this year and it’s definitely not put me in the best of moods this month due to that.

During me being sick I lost my voice, which was incredibly uncomfortable and annoying. My voice still breaks every now and then and I’m worried whatever was wrong with me is still present in my system. I’m definitely hopeful that February will not contain any sicknesses of any kind. 😛

So, there we have it guys my January favourites! I really missed not writing this style of post since December when I wrote about my November favourites, but it’s definitely good to be back!

What were some of your favourites from January? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time guys, take care and have a lovely and safe weekend!

Tomodachi Store – Review and Haul

Wow, two review and haul posts in a row? I’m spoiling you guys this month, aren’t I? 😛

At the end of 2021 I was inspired to write so many review and haul posts, it’s crazy! If there’s anything I discovered in 2020 through Covid and lockdowns, it’s how much I really fell in love with supporting independent stores and artists and sharing them on here for others to discover and fall in love with too.

If there’s one store I’ve been meaning to talk about for well over a year now, it’s Tomodachi Store. I’ve mentioned them briefly on my blog in the past but since making my first purchase late 2020, I’ve always meant to write about them.

Fast forward another year and another purchase and it’s FINALLY time to talk about Tomodachi and why you should check them out, especially if you’re a Pokemon and/or Animal Crossing fan.

Tomodachi is an enamel pin and mascot designer from Mexico, who loves the colour pink, yummy food and everything cute, which you can tell through their work. Their designs are so cute and adorable, I honestly can’t get enough of them, which is why I now own all of their cereal enamel pin designs. Now, I know you’re saying, “Cereal designs? Why would you want cereal themed enamel pins?” Well, that’s why I’m sharing all of them with you today!

Image taken from Reddit.

The cereal designs in question are Pokemon inspired. Back in 2000 Pokemon had truly taken over, not just over the pond but in the UK too. I fondly remember my hype of it as a kid, especially one day whilst walking through Sainsbury’s. Pokemon cereal had started to be stocked on the shelves of various supermarkets and I remember begging my mom to let me have a box. It never happened and from my mom’s point of view, for a good reason. “You won’t eat them!” and looking back, she was probably right. I’m a fussy eater in general, but cereal is one where one minute I love it and the next I hate it. So yeah, ten year old Nat never go to have Pokemon cereal.

The cereal was basically oat hoops with marshmallow pieces in the shape of Pokemon Pikachu, Poliwhirl, Oddish, and Ditto. They definitely remind me of Lucky Charms but better… Obviously because it’s Pokemon. 😛

Years later Tomodachi would feel inspired by the marshmallow pieces in the Pokemon cereal to recreate them as enamel pins!

At the time of writing this post there are three volumes for Pokemon cereal enamel pins, as well as one volume for Animal Crossing. I own all of them… Because. 😛

I’ll be going through the Animal Crossing volume one collection and then each of the Pokemon volumes too, as well as some of the shiny pins I own too.

Please also bear in mind at the time of writing this post, some of the enamel pins are sold out.

I will also be mentioning the grade of each pin as they vary between A and B. I go a little more into how Tomodachi grades their enamel pins shortly.

The first enamel pins I ordered from Tomodachi were the Animal Crossing volume one cereal collection, as well as Ditto and Gengar, but I’ll talk about them a little later.

Full Set Animal Crossing Cereal Volume 1 – (link) A Grade – $35.00 / B Grade – $30.00.

Individual Animal Crossing Cereal Volume 1 – (link) A Grade $6.00 each.

The Animal Crossing cereal pins are adorable and although not how I discovered Tomodachi originally, but the Animal Crossing collection definitely caught my eye. In volume one there are seven pins in total; Tom Nook, Isabelle, K.K. Slider, Celeste, Marshal, Fossil and Leaf. Originally I was only going to order Isabelle, but decided to just go for the whole set! I ordered the B grade. It’s obvious on some more than others, but this being said as I display these in my home anyway, it doesn’t bother me much. 🙂

One thing I love about all of Tomodachi’s pins is that the backs match the coloured enamel of the design, which you can see with the Animal Crossing pins too. I always love when enamel pin artists do this, it just adds a little more to the designs, and it’s aesthetically pleasing. 😛

My favourite out of the pins is definitely Isabelle and the fossil. I just love them both so much! Whenever I’ve shown this enamel pin set to people they always love Celeste too.

For anyone new to enamel pins, some sellers grade them. In Tomodachi’s store they have a pin grading policy, which I’ll pop a link to here. Always bear pin grading when buying from enamel pin artists, not all will grade the same either. In Tomodachi’s case, I think their grading system is fair and really good.

For my second and more recent order with Tomodachi, I made a HUGE order and went full out Pokemon Cereal mode! Bar one (Ditto) I ordered all the missing pins I needed to complete volume one, as well as volumes two and three. I was so hyped when all my goodies arrived.

Full Set Pokemon Cereal Volume 1 – (link) A Grade – $40.00.

Individual Pokemon Cereal Volume 1 – (link) A Grade – $6.00 each / B Grade – $5.00 each.

As previously mentioned, I already owned Ditto (B grade) and as the full set of volume one was sold out, I opted to just snag all the pins I needed instead. It worked out well either way!

Volume one contains eight pins in total; Pikachu, Poliwhirl, Oddish, Ditto, Pichu, Wobbuffet, Celebi and Cleffa. However, there are also some shiny variants for sale too, including Ditto, Wobbuffet and Celebi, which I’m planning to buy in the future!

The original volume one enamel pins are so adorable and are heavily influenced by the Pokemon cereal from 2000 that I mentioned earlier, as four of the Pokemon from the cereal are in this collection.

The one thing I want to comment on first of all is the packaging that Tomodachi uses for their enamel pins. Not only is the backing card adorable with the oat cereal in the background, but you’ll either receive a backing card that states, “Thanks!” or, “Arigato!” which is Japanese for thank you. It’s such a lovely touch and one I really like. It’s also one that has been commented on by friends over on my Instagram!

The pins I ordered are mostly A grade with Pikachu being B grade. It’s not too obvious (in my opinion) which is awesome. I have to say my favourite design in volume one has to be Pikachu and I think this is mostly down to reminding me of how much I love Pikachu back in the day when Pokemon first came out.

Alongside the eight original pin designs for volume one, as mentioned before, there is also shiny variants too with a blue Ditto, purple Wobbuffet and pink Celebi, which I’m hoping to pick up in the future!

Full Set Pokemon Cereal Volume 2 – (link) A Grade – $40.00.

Individual Pokemon Cereal Volume 2 – (link) A Grade $6.00 each.

In my second order from Tomodachi I not only bought most of the volume one pins I was missing, but also all of the volume two and three pins as well! For volume two I picked up the A grade enamel pins.

Volume two contains eight pins in total; Slowpoke, Gengar, Psyduck, Magikarp, Skitty, Shuppet, Makuhita and Plusle/Minun. However, there are also some shiny variants for sale too, including Margikarp, Psyduck, as well as Rainbow Gengar, with the latter two being ones I’d love to buy in the future.

The first thing I want to say here is how gutted I am that I couldn’t get Minun as you either get Plusle or Minun, so I’ll make sure to get the blue electric mouse next time I place an order!

That aside, this enamel pin set is so adorable and has some of my fondest Pokemon in from the anime, especially Gengar which is one of my favourite enamel pin designs from Tomodachi! I bought a Gengar on my first order with Tomodachi, but with getting one in the volume two set, I decided to sell my first one to my friend Sarah (Raiin Monkey) who loves Pokemon too!

As I bought the whole volume two set, Tomodachi also sent me a shiny Magikarp, which looks amazing! 😀 I’m definitely planning to snag the rest of the shiny Pokemon in this volume, as well as the rainbow Gengar too, which looks so amazing!

Full Set Pokemon Cereal Volume 3 – (link) A Grade – $40.00.

Individual Pokemon Cereal Volume 3 – (link) A Grade – $6.00 each / B Grade – $5.00 each.

As I mentioned about in my second order from Tomodachi I bought both volume two and volume three! I picked up B grade enamel pins for volume three too. I have to be honest, out of all the volumes I actually think volume three is my favourite so far!

Volume three contains eight pins in total; Jigglypuff, Shellder, Wooper, Applin, Mew, Litwick, Mantyke and Duosion. However, there are also some shiny variants for sale too, including Wooper, Shellder and Mew, with the latter two being planned to be purchased in the future, especially Mew!

One of the reasons this is my favourite volume is due to Mew being part of it, which is one of my favourite Pokemon. The Mew design is one I fell in love with back in early 2021 and I knew I needed it. It took a little longer than I hoped to finally add to my collection, but better late than never!

One of the other things I love in volume three is the colour palette, which is mostly pastel themed with pinks, purples, blues, as well as green and red which I also love. It’s not that the other volumes colour palettes don’t work, but this one is just aesthetically pleasing to my mind, as well as fashion styles at the moment. 😛

As mentioned before, I did pick up the B grade for the volume whilst most of the pins look great, there are a couple (Jigglypuff and Applin) where there are a few specks on them, but this being said I don’t mind. I’m always happy to have B grade pins. 😀

Like with volume two, Tomodachi also sent me a free shiny pin with my volume three set, which is a shiny Wooper! It’s so cute with the pink colour, I love it.

Alongside the normal and shiny Pokemon cereal enamel pins, Tomodachi does also sell Pokemon Golden Kanto Pins, as well as Pokemon Cereal Sticker Sheets.

In the near future I’m planning to make a pin hoop dedicated to Tomodachi’s cereal pins. There’s so many of them, they deserve their own hoop now. As there are a variety of colours too, I’m planning to pop the pins on my future pin hoop in rainbow colours… Because why not! 😀 Plus, with a Pokemon volume four on the way (tomorrow from what Tomodachi revealed on this weekend!), I’m going to need to make room for some more amazing Pokemon cereal designs… 😛

From previews I’ve seen of volume four on Tomodachi’s social media we appear to have Caterpie and Haunter… I’m excited already to see who else we may get! I’d love to see Eevee and Dragonite next. 😛

Overall you can really see a lot of love and passion has gone into these enamel pin designs from Tomodachi Store. The cereal enamel pins are so cute and reminiscent to when we were all kids. The colours and designs of each cereal piece is perfect too. I honestly love them!

What do you guys think of Tomodachi Store and their amazing and adorable Pokemon and Animal Crossing cereal enamel pins? Do you own any, or have any on your wish list? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time guys, have a lovely weekend and I’ll see you next week!

January Wish List ’22

Hello 2022! I can safely say it’s already been pretty crazy/crap for me and I can only hope it gets better from here! For the first couple of weeks of the year, both me and Dane have been really poorly (no, it wasn’t Covid, thankfully!). Not only have we had colds, but also a chest infection, which has really sucked. I’m still suffering with a loss of voice and cough, but I’m hopeful this will be gone by the end of this week.

Alongside that, 2022 is already flying by what with my birthday being almost a week ago already, as well as payday and Chinese New Year only a couple of weeks away too!

It wouldn’t be January though without one of my monthly posts, with the first official post of 2022 (not including my Happy New Year post…) being my wish list for January. I’m not going to lie guys, I’m seriously trying to be good this month, what with a longer wait until payday, as well as being spoilt over Christmas and birthday last week. However, there are some cute buts and pieces I’d love, but also have pre-ordered that are due out this month.

So, sit back and grab a hot drink as I show off and talk about my wish list for January 2022.

• Dr Martens Devon Heart Leather Platform Boots – (link)

I don’t need a new pair of Docs, but I’d like a new pair… Why? I don’t actually know. I’m going to blame all the fashionistas on Instagram inspiring me. In 2021 I really started to think about fashion and more about how I wanted to start dressing again. However, Covid and lockdowns have prevented me from really getting out there with my new pieces. This being said, it doesn’t stop me updating. 😛 I love the couple of pairs of Docs I own, but a simple zip/buckle up pair would be really nice to own! Docs can be a little cumbersome to do up at the best of times and sometimes I can’t be arsed for that. These would look great with dresses, skirts and some trousers too! This won’t be a purchase I make anytime soon, but definitely a nice one to have on the list.

• Hamtaro Nendoroid – (link)

This is a pre order I’ve had with Gamersheek since about April 2021 and it’s crazy how quickly time flies, isn’t it?! I seriously can’t wait for my Hamtaro Nendoroid to arrive. I was never able to watch the show as a kid, but I spent many IT classes and lunchbreaks at school on the internet looking at the Hamtaro website. It was all in Japanese and I didn’t understand a word, but I found colouring pages I would print off to colour at home and more. I loved it and I wish I had found the show it watch when I was younger. This being said, it’s never too late and this year I’m planning to try and find the show to binge watch!

• Nintendo Tokyo Animal Crossing Gloves – (link)

I discovered these gloves around Christmas and was dead set on ordering myself a pair, as the UK is pretty damn cold at the moment… However, I’m going to wait until payday at the end of January to order these! As many readers will know, I love Animal Crossing and I especially love being warm, so a cute as fuck pair of gloves like this, is a definite must. These are Nintendo Tokyo store exclusive too, so I’d especially love to get hold of them if I can for sure. I’ll be picking them up from Meccha Japan, which is a Japanese store I recently discovered. I’ll be writing a review about them VERY soon so make sure to keep eyes peeled for that!

• Monki Cloud Faux Fur Jacket – (link)

This is an item I added to my wish list and semi regret for a few reasons. First reason, it’s actually out of stock now and not like to be back IN stock, so it feels sort of pointless. Second reason, I really did fall in love with this jacket and wanted, but since looking back I think the COMPLETE opposite now. It’s bloody expensive for what it is at £75, but I don’t think it’s my style… When I was in Japan in 2020, I saw a fluffy jacket similar to this one (baby pink, dark purple, black, white and red) and I really fell in love with it, but never bought due to how much it cost and again, not my style. I do love soft things like this and the idea of having one as a jacket would be great, but at the same time, I have a dressing gown at home to snuggle in and it was half the price. 😛

• Stitchtothepast Animal Crossing Stargazing Celeste Cross Stitch Kit – (link)

If there is one thing I have really been craving to do lately, it’s cross stitching. It’s also an old childhood hobby I picked back up towards the start of 2021 and didn’t continue with into the latter of last year. 2022 is going to be different and I really want to try and do as much cross stitch as I possibly can! My best friend (hey Gab!) bought me an Animal Crossing Shino cross stitch kit for Christmas, which I’ve been enjoying doing so far! I’ve also seen a cross stitch pattern I want to make into a project and buy to do and hang up by our front door. I’ve also seen this cross stitch kit that I would also love to do and hang in the house somewhere. Unfortunately the kit is currently sold out, so I’m hoping it comes back into stock soon so I can give it a go! When I’m paid at the end of the month, I’m planning to go to Hobbycraft to grab some goodies so I can start my project!

• Nintendo Switch Pokemon Legends Arceus – (link)

Finally I have saved one of the best for last and it’s the new Pokemon game Legends Arceus! I’ve had this pre ordered for both me and Dane for quite some time now from Gamersheek and I’m hella excited to chill with Dane the weekend its out and play as much as possible! As Cyndaquil is the fire starter and my favourite starter ever, this will be my Pokemon of choice! I can’t speak for Dane which one he’ll pick. I decided in 2022 to start making my way through current games I own and make a list of them on a completion thread I’ve created on Twitter. I’ve linked it for you all here to keep tabs on, but I wanted to say again a massive thank you to my friend Connor for inspiring me to do this! Connor did this in 2021 and it was so inspiring to see him progress through his games collection.

So, there we have it guys, my wish list for January! What do you guys thinks? Any items you’ve spotted that you’d love to? Or maybe you already own them or have them pre-ordered too? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time guys, take care and I hope you’re having a great week so far!

Shop Small UK Guide – Christmas 2021

We are officially less than two weeks away from Christmas now and DAMN it’s starting to feel real! I’m just about finished now with most of my Christmas presents in the run up to the big day, but in some cases I’ve been and still am in need of some inspiration. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve really struggling this year to find the perfect gifts for Dane, my friends and especially my mom! My dad has been the easiest person to buy for this year, which makes a change. 😛

Alongside my Christmas present woes, I always enjoy writing and sharing gift guides with you all and this year is no exception. Last year I wrote about independent businesses in the UK that you should buy from and I wanted to do that again this year. The past twenty-one months has been hard for everyone, especially independent businesses, whether or not they existed before or after COVID began. This doesn’t just apply to the UK, but I’ve seen a lot of small businesses struggle lately, and in worse cases close down due to not being able to make enough sales to keep going.

I really want to continue to do my bit in helping these businesses as much as I can. Not only do I hope it helps you gain some new gift ideas, but I also hope it introduces you to some businesses you may not have heard of before and decide to shop with going into the New Year!

I still love a lot of the small businesses I mentioned last year, so I will link that post here! I won’t be mentioning businesses again that I spoke of last year, just so it’s fair on other businesses mentioned here.

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this blog post today! I’ll be mentioning stores last dates to order for Christmas too.

Image taken from SplashJaguarCo

SplashJaguarCo – Kawaii home and stationary items inspired by Animal Crossing. Rugs handmade in West Midlands, UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – 2nd Class 18th December and 1st Class 21st December. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

If there is one thing people have been really loving towards the end of the year, it’s been Animal Crossing! With the new update and Happy Home Paradise launching at the start of November, Animal Crossing fans have gone mad even more than ever. If you know someone who loves Animal Crossing, as well as stationary you should definitely check out SplashJaguarCo! Not going to lie the Cookie washi tape pictured above is on my Christmas list and I really hope I get it this year. I plan to use it to decorate my diary for 2022 and more. There are various characters to choose from to have on washi tape including Maple, Marshal, Tangy, Roald, Stitches and more! A roll or two of these cute little washi tapes would make perfect gifts for any Animal Crossing fan of any age or gender, whether it be for Secret Santa, a stocking filler and more.

Image taken from BeaconCandlesUK

BeaconCandlesUK – Scented candles for Gamers, Readers and Film Fanatics handmade in Manchester, UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – The store will be closing on Sunday 19th December. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

BeaconCandlesUK is a brand I’ve known about for as long as I can remember now and have always wanted to order from. I can’t remember how but I discovered them through their Lavender Town candle that is clearly inspired by the town in Pokemon. Not only does it sound amazing, but it looks really cool with the Cubone skull and bone on the top of the candle too. Alongside Pokemon candles you can also get some inspired by Final Fantasy, Animal Crossing, Lord of the Rings and more! The scents sound delicious and I’m sure these would make great gifts for any candle lovers out there! I’m contemplating buying some of these for friends this year for Christmas. I feel like candles make amazing gifts for people and it’s one of those where even if you aren’t sure what smells someone will like, if you bought a Pokemon fan one of the Pokemon candles, they would be so thankful!

Image taken from PokieMinx

PokieMinx – Terrariums and vanity desk gifts inspired by Pokémon & The Moomins. Handmade in South Yorkshire, UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – Unfortunately orders for Christmas have now ended. This being said the store IS still open with items being sent 1st Class tracked and signed so they arrived within 1-2 business day. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

I couldn’t not share PokieMinx and her adorable creations! These would make perfect gifts for any Pokemon or The Moomins fan out there, especially if they’re like myself and have started to work from home part time. A terrarium with their favourite Pokemon inside sitting on their desk could really brighten their day. Or maybe a mirror? The Cubone one shown about is gorgeous and I can’t stop looking at it whenever I venture over to PokieMinx’s website whenever I take a look at it. Anything from PokieMinx’s store would make amazing and personal gifts for any Pokemon or The Moomins fans, especially as everything is handmade by Kimmy! There are also enamel pin/earring stands too so if you know someone who has started to get into collecting pins or earrings, these would make amazing gifts too.

Image taken from ARTBOX

ARTBOX – Cute character goods from Japan and Korea. Based in Covent Garden London, UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – Not known at the time of writing this blog post. If you’re based in or around London, the Covent Garden store will be open on Christmas Eve from 11am until 4pm. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

I wanted to mention ARTBOX here as whilst it isn’t as independent as some Etsy sellers and independent stores might be online, it’s a great place to buy Japan and Korea based items, whether it be online or from their store in London. I’m yet to come to the day where I actually order something from them, which might be later today! 😛 ARTBOX would be a great place to get items for your friends and family who love Sanrio, Pusheen, Rilakkuma and BT21. There are all sorts of different items to buy from and at all price ranges so it’s perfect for anything and everything. Personally I’m toying with treating myself to the PomPomPurin plush shown above, which you can pose and dress up! How cute is that?!

Image taken from Stitchtothepast

Stitchtothepast -Video Games Cross Stitch, Patterns & Kits! Based in the UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – Not known at the time of writing this blog post. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

The final store I wanted to mention on today’s post is about Stitchtothepast, which is a store I discovered in the summer. If you’re a newbie to cross stitch, or a “pro” like me there is loads of choose from. Personally for gifts the cross stitch kits from their store would make great gifts for anyone, especially if they’re into Nintendo video games series such as Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Zelda, Kirby and more. I personally really love the look of the Animal Crossing Celeste cross stitch kit where she’s stargazing. It’s such a gorgeous design and one I would love to do and display in my house in the future. The kits are really good and come with a cross stitch guide, a wooden hoop, thread and a thread organiser, pattern, a needle and more. If you know someone who would like to get into cross stitch in 2022, one of the kits might make a great gift for them!

So, there we have it, my 2021 guide to small shops you should buy your Christmas gifts from this year! All UK based of course. 🙂

What do you guys think? I didn’t cover off as many stores and themes as I did last year, but I felt like last years post was so detailed, I couldn’t really improve on it as good this year. Please do check out last years guide too, those stores are still around and amazing to boot!

Honestly guys, I hope you enjoyed this post today as much as I enjoyed writing it. I watched Christmas movies whilst writing, as well as chilling with Dane in our office. It’s made a lovely change sitting at my desk to do blog work.

Are there any small shops in the UK that you feel I should know about? Make sure to let me know and I’ll take a look for next time and promote on my Instagram page before the big day. 🙂

Until next time, take care all and I hope you had a lovely weekend. 😀

December/Christmas Wish List ’21

It is officially three weeks until Christmas… How crazy is that?! It only feels like this time last year I was saying something very similar when talking about my Christmas wish list!

Long time readers of my blog will know I usually tend to write my December/Christmas wish list on Christmas Eve, but this time I decided to change it up and do it the same time as my wish lists usually are. It means come Christmas Eve, I can wish you all a Merry Christmas as well as other things. 🙂

I’m rather excited for the type of content that I have planned for the rest of December, as well as Christmas as a whole. Me and Dane are spending it together again this year and I cannot wait! I’m also hoping to host a German Market themed weekend at mine too, with yummy food, hot mulled cider, Christmas movies, games and more. I’m really excited for that!

Alongside that, Christmas shopping is in full swing with most of mine being done now. I just have a couple of friends to buy for, as well as my dad and maybe a few more bits and pieces for Dane too.

However, I don’t want to ramble too much in regards to Christmas presents as I’ll be talking about that sort of topic next week on my blog and independent UK businesses you should buy from!

Until then however, please enjoy seeing what items are on my wish list for December… But mostly Christmas. 😛

Cheeky disclaimer to any friends who are looking for ideas, Dane may have bought me some of these things, so if you see something you’d like to buy, drop him a message first. 😛

• Pingki Buddy Penguin Plush Pals – (link)

First of all this is a pre-order I placed months ago and unfortunately at the moment, none of the penguin pals plushies are available to pre-order. This being said, Pingki is constantly posting updates in regards on their Twitter page. Buddy (Roald… :P) is a plush I just had to add to my collection and as he’s due in December or January, I had to add him to this months wish list! I’m not a massive Roald fan, but when I do look at him he reminds me of my best friend (Hi Gab!), she has him on her island and I always go search for him whenever I visit. The penguin pals plushies look so well made and with more characters coming soon, a part of me feels like getting together a little penguin army myself… 😛

• Converse x Pokémon First Partners Chuck Taylor All Star – (link to collection)

When I was fourteen I was bought my first pair of Converse as a birthday present. I went for the classic Chuck Taylors in red and I wore and loved them for two years, until I couldn’t wear them anymore. If you had told fourteen year old Nat that almost twenty years later Converse would FINALLY bring out Pokemon ones, she’d be counting down every year until the time came out. The collection looks pretty cool to be honest and although I would love to pick them up next week, I don’t think I will… Converse are shoes I loved growing up but realistically they’re not the best shoes for the price tag. Vans and Dr Martens in my opinion are a lot better. This being said, the clothes look cool too so I may snag some of those if I feel up to it. 🙂 I mostly wanted to share these for any Pokemon fans who would love some footwear!

• Smoko Vibrating Boo Pillow – (link)

Long time readers will know by now that I am a MASSIVE Smoko fan! If I can get my home filled with cute Smoko goodies, I bloody well will! For the past couple of Christmases and birthdays now, Dane has bought me Smoko themed items that he’s purchased from Firebox, which has always been appreciated! I own four of the lights (ramen cup, bao dumpling, boba tea and couch potato) as well as a handwarmer in the shape of toast (which I really need to dig out and start using now it’s chilly outside!). Surely I don’t need to add more to my Smoko collection? Yes, yes I do. 😛 I’d found this vibrating boba tea pillow ages ago on the Smoko website BUT when I saw Urban Outfitters UK were stocking it, it was literally the first item to be added to my list of ideas for Dane. I have terrible posture and often hunch over my laptop when sat in bed and rarely sit up. I’d like to think with a pillow like this it could help support my back a little and encourage me to sit back, plus with the vibrating function it should also be really relaxing too? It’s so bloody cute! I’m a sucker for Smoko items. I wish we could get more of them here in the UK to be honest.

• Manga – Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon (Vol 8-10) Maid, Kanna’s Daily Life (Vol 5-8) and Elma’s Office Lady Diary (Vol 3 and 4).

If there’s one thing I’ve hardly done since moving to my current job it’s reading. I was always reading in my previous roles as I’d either go to my car for lunch and read, or get to the office really early and read. Recently I decided to take a couple of my Kobayashi volumes with me to the bath and read as I had a soak. I honestly forgot how much I love reading manga, as well as this series so I’d love the ones I’m missing for Christmas. There’s quite a few from both the main series, as well as the spin off series about Kanna and Elma. I’ve added all the ones I need to my list, if I don’t get them for Christmas I’m going to order them for myself. These manga series seem to fly as soon as they’re stocked.

• Animal Crossing Friend Dolls Volume 1 – (link)

The Animal Crossing friend dolls are absolutely adorable! I never saw the appeal of them at first, but after a while they really grew on me and now I have the third volume pre-ordered and keeping fingers crossed for the first volume… Maybe even the second too. 😛 The first volume is available to buy from Amazon at the moment but I haven’t found the second volume anywhere where all the characters are available together. I’ll pop links as to where you can purchase these in the UK, as well as where I’ve pre-ordered volume three.

• Smoko Astro Tayto Night Light – (link)

As mentioned above, I do love my Smoko goodies! This is one of the night lights I’ve had my eye on for a while, but only recently did it hit the UK/the Firebox website. I have the normal tayto night light but I’d love the astro one too. I mean, look at how cute he is! Not only have Firebox stocked the astro tayto, but they also have some more astro tayto goods including the moon light and USB reading light, BUT they also have an adorable tayto coach potato sofa light too! If I end up getting all of these Smoko lights for Christmas, I’ll have to find a place for them all! 😛

• DIY Crossing Cross Stitch Kit – (link)

Finally we have the DIY Crossing cross stitch kits, that I adore! I stopped buying them a while ago due to Christmas coming up, so I’m hoping I may find one of two of these in my stocking… 😛 As I’m a Patreon of DIY Crossing I always request the dog villagers, as I’m hoping to stitch them all in the future. If there’s one pattern I really want to pick up in the New Year though, it’s Shino. Shino has fast become one of my favourite villagers as she’s so adorable and shouts Japan to me! I requested her cross stitch design last month, which I saw earlier this week. It’s gorgeous and I NEED to stitch it soon!

So, there we have it guys, my December/Christmas wish list! I feel like it’s nothing special, but it’s lots of kawaii and geeky goods I love and hope to receive some of them this year… Mostly from Dane. 😛

What do you all have on your wish lists for December, as well as any gifts you’d like to receive for Christmas? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

After Christmas, would you guys like to see what I received for Christmas? Make sure to let me know in the comments too.

Until next time, take care all and I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend so far. 🙂