7 Things I’m Looking Forward to Doing Once Lockdown Eases

As many of you may know (especially if you live in the UK) we are starting to ease lockdown again this month and whilst I’m not fussed 100% about it all right now, it will be nice to have some “normality” to the world again soon.

So far this month I’ve been really stumped for ideas of content to write, probably due to lockdown three really kicking my arse mentally! Due to this, I reached out to my friends and followers on Twitter to see if there was anything you as friends and readers would love to see and read on my blog. My amazing friend Connor suggested I share some things I’m looking forward to doing when lockdown eases, so go and thank him for today’s post! 😀

Want to also pop a little plug here for Connor. He has an AMAZING blog himself and it’s all about Japan, so if you love and especially loved my Japan content from last year, I know you’ll love what Connor has to offer! His blog is called KumaGaijin’s Japan Guide, so just click the name of it and it’ll take you straight there! 😀

I’m actually really excited to share some of the things I’ll be hoping to do once lockdown lifts. I haven’t got a holiday booked, nor do I have a lot of other things set up, but little things we have all taken for granted will be mentioned here. I really hope you enjoy it! 🙂

Image taken from Drive Time Drag’s Twitter

Image taken from Klub Kids

Drive Time Drag and Drag Fest UK.

If there is something I was able to do before I went to Japan in 2020 and COVID really took hold of the world was go to a drag show. It was Miss Vanjie and it was amazing! I was hungry for more and had already planned who else I’d love to go and see with my friends, but yeah… COVID happened. After discussion with one of my friends we’re going to Drive Time Drag in April and we’re contemplating going to Drag Fest UK in August as well!

I would love to go, see and most importantly of all support queens who I’ve discovered from RuPaul’s Drag Race who I adore. I’m hoping to see The Vivienne, Baga Chipz, Tayce, Ellie Diamond and my favourite, Lawrence Chaney. I’m so excited to be able to have a drink and a laugh with one or more of my friends who love Drace Race the same as me!

If you’d like to know more about either of these drag shows I’ve popped links below the images! 😀

Image taken from GIPHY

Summer BBQ, games and drinks with groups of friends.

If there is something I’ve missed it’s spending warm summer days with my friends and their children. We might have a BBQ with some, takeaway with others. Play games, both board and video, chill with the kids and watch Disney films and more. Overall it’s just amazing to spend time with our friends, especially the ones we treat like family. One group in particular we haven’t seen since what feels like summer 2019. We had organised to see them but then we fell poorly, then the next time they fell poorly and then COVID happened, so us all spending time together is well overdue. Not only are we excited to see and spend time with them again, but both them and their children are too.

I’m so excited, I can’t wait for when we can all be together again. 🙂

Image taken from GIPHY

Going out for food and drinks.

If there is one thing I really took for granted this past year since COVID hit… It’s how much I love Asian food. I’ve especially missed sushi, bubble tea and Asian breads. Basically, the Chinese Quarter in Birmingham town centre, as well as YO! Sushi. I have been able to have a taste for sushi when it was mine and Dane’s anniversary last June, as well as bubble tea when we bought a kit to make ourselves (which was really nice by the way!), as well as when I went into town in August 2020 and bought bubble tea home for me and Dane.

Some other foods I miss are Chinese buffet foods, Nando’s (I know I’ve made it at home but it isn’t the same!), yummy coffees (vanilla flat white) and anywhere else that ever took our fancy to eat and drink at really. Hey maybe go out for some alcoholic drinks too, whether it be a pub or a cocktail bar! As I said, I’ve really taken this for granted and I can’t wait for the day that going for a meal, whether it be friends, during a trip out, with family and even a date night is doable and “normal” again.

Image taken from GIPHY

Spending time with friends.

If there is something I’ve missed, it’s seeing my friends, especially my best and closest friends. I haven’t even exchanged birthday and Christmas presents with my one friend that, so that’s very much overdue! I was planning on sending her gifts, but I’m actually still waiting for her Christmas present to arrive. That being said, I would love for us to be able to meet up in the summer, whether I go see her or she comes to me will be decided, but it would be lovely to just spend the day together, catch up, go for coffee and maybe something to eat too. 🙂 I’ve spoken to her quite a lot throughout the lockdowns and more and that’s been lovely. 🙂

Another one of my best friends I really miss. I’m so proud of her achievements already in 2021 and I’m sad we weren’t able to go out and celebrate these achievements! When things are starting to lift, we’re planning to go out for drinks in town. Lots of cocktails, giggles and probably some chips on the way home. Alongside this, we’re planning to grab a hot chocolate/coffee and a picnic and go to a park near my home so we can spend time together. We’ve also thought about going away for a weekend together somewhere nice, which I’m excited to do! It’ll be something to look forward to.

Alongside these two friends, I miss my closest friends who I met up with regularly for coffee dates and gossip, as well as shopping trips, sushi, playing board games and more! I also want to meet up with friends I’ve met online1 I have a few people in mind I’d love to see and have coffee dates with and go geeky/kawaii shopping. I can’t wait to slowly bring all this back, but due to how my mental health has been thrown around with COVID and the lockdowns, it’s going to take a while for me to feel comfortable again with going into town centres and travel on public transport (aka trains) as and when need be. I have a car and can drive, so maybe I’ll finally kick my anxieties in the butt with travelling far from my home. We shall see. 🙂

Image taken from GIPHY

Spontaneous shopping trips.

I miss being able to turn to Dane, friends and even my parents, “Fancy going shopping?”. Even last year when stuff started to lift it was still weird to think about. Me and Dane went out once for “non essential” shopping and even then that was because we needed stuff for the house. We only ventured to Homesense and it was amazing. I think it’s one of the few times I felt “normal” and “safe” during a shopping trip. As I mentioned before, me and a friend went into Birmingham town centre in August 2020 and it was horrible. No one was social distancing, following rules and it was very busy. I was anxious the whole time and for the two weeks after that trip, I was scared I’d have COVID. As well as that, me and that same friend ventured into town a few weekends before lockdown happened and we were anxious the whole time and constantly slathering our hands with hand sanitizer.

Granted all the guidelines we are currently doing are going to be around for years to come, which is fine. I genuinely miss the spontaneous nature of going into town shopping because you’ve been paid and fancy treating yourself to something. Whether it be some new clothes, some manga, anime, cute kawaii goods and more. I miss going to the geeky/kawaii shops in Birmingham, including Worlds Apart and Forbidden Planet. I think I’m too anxious to venture into Birmingham town centre when lockdown lifts and shops begin to open after what happened previously. If there is anyone I’ll venture into town with it’ll either be Dane or one of my friends.

One place I really want to go to at the moment are various gardening centres around my area. 2021 is the year of me getting my garden how I want it to be and this is somewhere I plan to go to in April. I want to buy my mom some plants as a belated Mothers Day present, as well as myself for the garden, including lavender and an iris.

Image taken from Ticketmaster UK

My Chemical Romance.

I’ve definitely spoken about this on my blog before and damn is it a show I’m still fucking excited for! I have a back story for this I just HAVE to share with you all. 😛

So, whilst I was in Japan in January 2020 it was announced that My Chemical Romance would be coming to the UK for a ONE DATE SHOW. I knew I needed to go. Then I found out that tickets would go for sale whilst I was in Japan. I set an alarm in my phone (UK time 9am, Japan time 6pm) ready for when tickets would go live in the UK and we planned to pop to a cafe whilst we were out and about so I could snag my tickets. However, due to the pocket WiFi we’d obtained being a bit “naff” I sadly missed out on my chance to snag the one date show AND the second date that has been announced too. I was gutted and I almost let it ruin my evening.

Not even a week after returning home to the UK and a third date was announced! I KNEW this time I would get tickets. I would be at work when the tickets went on sale but stepped away from my desk for a while to get my tickets bought. They weren’t cheap, but so worth it to be able to see one of my favourite bands again! This will be the third time I’ll be seeing My Chemical Romance live and this time I’ll be with Dane, which is something I’m excited for too!

I just pray it doesn’t get rescheduled again… Or worse, cancelled! I’m so bloody excited and looking forward to dressing up for the evening. I’m going to get some black and red nails done, as well as dress up semi emo for some nostalgia! Alongside that, if things are semi back to normal, I’d like to go for a meal with Dane before the show so we can make a date evening out of it. 🙂

Image taken from GIPHY

Seeing and spending time with my parents.

If there is one thing I’ve really missed throughout lockdown two and three it’s spending time with my parents. I know I’m not the only person to feel this way. It’s good that in this day and age we have technology such as FaceTime, WhatsApp and Skype so that we can video call our loved ones but… It just isn’t the same. I do get to see my parents at the end of my drive too, but again it isn’t the same as being able to sit in a house together with a hot drink and the chance to offer to cook a Sunday roast and more.

I’m really excited for the end of March to go round to see my parents in the garden and vice versa. 2021 is the year of getting my garden finished and to a level that I’m finally happy with it. My mom has offered and already given me a hand with getting my garden to a nice and colourful place, so in the future I would love to have my parents over for drinks and a BBQ. I could go pick them up and bring them round so they could enjoy themselves to the max.

I just can’t wait to be able to actually sit with my parents again. After my aunt passed away in September, COVID and lockdown has really taught me how much time I’m losing with my loved ones and I want that time back again as soon as I can.

So, there we have it guys, 7 things I’m looking forward to doing once lockdown eases. To be honest with you, If I feel certain things I’ve mentioned don’t feel safe to do, I won’t do them (apart from My Chemical Romance because I REALLY want to go!) because it really isn’t worth putting my loved ones in any harm due to everything going on in the world right now. I’d rather stay at home and just call them via a video call or message online.

Now I’ve shared my plans, what do you guys plan to do with lockdown eases here in the UK? Please let me know, I’m  always so intrigued and happy to read what everyone has planned. I just want some form of “normality” back now as I do really miss being able to do things that we could before COVID.

Most of all I really do miss Japan. I’m craving to go again soon and there’s not much point in planning much right now because we don’t 100% know when we can go back due to COVID. My memories from my Japan trip in January 2020 really have kept me going the past year since I started working from home and the first lockdown hit the UK.

Honestly though guys, we can get through this! We’ve been doing this for a year and we’ll continue to support and keep each other going until we can have some sort of normality back in the UK.

So please, do share with me what your plans are when lockdown eases here in the UK. 🙂

Until next time guys, stay safe and take care!

Christmas 2020 Wish List

Can you believe it’s Christmas Eve already? We all say it don’t we? “This time next year we’ll be doing it all over again!” and here we are. 😛

Christmas this year is a strange one for all of us. Last year I wasn’t really in the right frame of mind for Christmas, but that was due to the mixture of excitement and nerves about going to Japan in January. My head was just in a space of preparing for the trip. This year at the time of writing this post (a few days prior to Christmas Eve) I’m not feeling festive… Not even with everyone’s (and my own) Christmas presents wrapped up in front of me, ready to be delivered to their homes. It’s obviously due to COVID but I’m hoping come Christmas Day both me and Dane will be feeling festive and merry as we cook our dinner together, drink as much as we feel in the mood for and just enjoy the day together… Which will be a first.

Christmas to me is about showing your loved ones how much they mean to you, and I don’t just mean with gifts. Christmas is a time of celebration and being together as a family, no matter how big or small. This year is different as some people may be on their own at home or with their small family and cannot be with bigger families this year. I’m sad not to see my parents this year, especially my mom after what a rubbish few months we have had. However, we have a plan and we know it’ll work. We’re just going to Facetime each other when we’re due to open each others gifts and have a drink, etc etc. It’ll be good. I’ve already spoken to my mom this evening (I’m not writing this on Christmas Eve!) and we’re happy enough with what we plan to do.

I have to say, my mom has sent two MASSIVE boxes… I wonder what she’s bought me… 😛

I want to add my yearly reminder here about taking care of yourself over Christmas. It’s really hard for people this year with COVID, but I’ve been there at Christmas where my mind is in a dark place and I’ve needed someone to talk to. You are not alone. I’m going to pop some contacts below for the UK of who you can reach out to this time of year. Please use them if you need to, they’re there to help. Plus, my DM’s are always open on Twitter (maybeecoffee) and Instagram (theremightbecoffeeblog) if you need someone to talk to.

Samaritans – 116 123 / samaritans.org

NHS Non-Emergency – 111 / 111.nhs.uk

Papyrus – 0800 068 41 41 / papyrus-uk.org

National Domestic Abuse Helpline – 0808 2000 247 / nationaldahelpline.org.uk

Mind – 0300 123 3393 or text 86463 / mind.org.uk

The Mix – www.themix.org.uk/get-support

Anyhoo – onto the wish list for this year! I want to add here, whether I received the items mentioned or not, I am always grateful for whatever I do receive. 🙂

• Yotsubato! Danbo Nendoroid (link)

Since our second Christmas together me and Dane have always bought each other Nendoroid’s for Christmas, which has ranged from just one, to four as the years have gone by. This year isn’t any exception BUT we know what character we’ve bought one another. However, I don’t know if Dane has bought me a surprise one… Which could be Danbo! This is a Nendoroid I was going to buy this when we were in Japan in January but I ended up leaving it. It’s from a manga that I haven’t read but have always meant to. Danbo is a cute cardboard box, but his eyes light up! Very cute and one I would love in my collection. 🙂

• Firebox/Smoko Tayto the Couch Potato Rechargeable Night Light (link)

Last Christmas and birthday Dane bought me some of the night lights from Smoko/Firebox, a dumpling and a bubble tea. They’re amazing pieces for our bedroom and are really bright. I often pop them on in the evenings when I want to relax and chill out. Plus they’re hella cute! So, when I saw that Firebox had the couch potato variant in stock, I knew I had to ask for it for Christmas this year! This is rechargeable too, whilst the ones he bought me last year need batteries, which is even better! 😀 I’m hoping he’s bought it me so I can add to my growing collection of kawaii night lights. 😛

• Pandora Japanese Akita Inu Dog Charm (link)

I usually ask for Pandora around Christmas and if I don’t ask, I usually get anyway… Usually from my parents. 🙂 I was asked if I wanted any jewellery this year and this is one of the first things that came to mind as it reminded of our mine and Dane’s trip to Japan this year in January. It’s hard to be gifted jewellery this year because, let’s face it… I’ve become a hermit in 2020 due to COVID and jewellery just isn’t something I’ve really worn for most of this year. 😦 This charm is really cute though!

• Pikachu Resin Mold (link)

As I’ve mentioned briefly on my blog this year, both me and Dane got into working and making resin pieces this year. Something Dane asked me if I wanted as gifts were resin molds, as at the moment I don’t really have many and would love more to experiment and play with! I’ve been after the Pikachu resin mold for a while and it’s one that I definitely added to my Christmas list! I have so many ideas of keyrings I could make and that does include the standard yellow Pikachu we all know and love. 😛

• Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid The Complete Series Blu-ray (link)

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is one of my favourite manga and anime series and it’s thanks to Dane that I actually discovered it when I did. I was having a nose around Amazon and noticed that you can buy the series on Blu-Ray now! :O I know season 2 of the show has been delayed due to what happened to Kyoto Animation in 2019. I would love to receive this for Christmas to binge watch over the festive period, as well as for my birthday less than a week after New Year. I do love receiving anime Blu-Ray for Christmas. 😛

• PunfunStudio Eeveelution Heart Shaker Resin Mold Set (link)

The final item I want to mention on my wish list for Christmas time and it’s another resin mold, however this is a set and it’s actually something that arrived today and Dane has given to me early. I sent him the link for this resin mold set that contains all nine of the Eeveelutions (Eevee, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, Glaceon and Sylveon) holding a heart. These are shaker resin molds though! So when you work on them you can pop some glitter, beads etc inside and then pop oil in, cover with a plastic film to seal everything in place and hey presto! You have a shaker keyring/charm. However, I think I’ll be making dry shaker charms to start off with, just to get used to how they work and such. 🙂

So, that is everything that I added to my Christmas wish list this year! That list would have just been something I gave to Dane to give him ideas for Christmas. I don’t tend to do this for my family, his parents etc. They tend to get me surprises, or ideas Dane has given them.

Whilst I may always show you guys my wish lists for Christmas every year, I always get excited to give my gifts to Dane, my parents and loved ones/friends. I’m excited to see their faces when the get their gifts and tomorrow will be no exception, especially with Dane… Who has been bloody spoilt this year. 😛

What do you guys have on your wish lists this year for Christmas? Realistic and non realistic. Unicorns can be included. 😉

I just want to finish off this blog post by saying – MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you all have a lovely day, even with the circumstances and get to see your loved ones online if not in person. 🙂

Until next time all, again Merry Christmas! 🙂

Christmas Tag 2020

Image taken from GIPHY

Christmas is now less than a week away and you know what? I have zero festive spirit behind me and it kinda sucks. SO, I thought I would have a go at being festive in the run up to Christmas and found this Christmas tag online! I’m going to nominate everyone who reads this post to give this tag a go themselves!

I think I’m not feeling festive due to a mixture of COVID, age and especially due to the loss I experienced in September. So, I would really love to get into the festive spirit now… Especially with Christmas just around the corner. I really hope you guys enjoy the tag and take part in it too!

Image taken from GIPHY

What’s your favourite Christmas movie?

This is quite an easy one and it’s hands down Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. I just fell in love with the film more so than the original one… But I do love Home Alone just the same! I just found it to be the perfect Christmas film growing up, but I also loved watching it throughout the year too. It’s usually the first Christmas film I stick on in the year and this year it was kind of different to the other times I’ve watched it. I found myself questioning a lot of what happened and it made me laugh! A couple of runner ups here are Jingle All The Way and The Grinch (the one with Jim Carrey).

Have you ever had a white Christmas?

I don’t remember to be perfectly honest with you… I know in 2017 we had snow just before Christmas which was amazing! I literally had to Google when we last had a white Christmas in Birmingham and apparently it was 2010… But I cannot remember that for the life of me. 😛

Where do you usually spend your holiday?

Mostly at home now, but me and Dane tend to change it up each year and go to each others families together Christmas Day. However I think after this year we’ll be staying at home all day. I like to be able to cook our Christmas dinner together but then we tend to have to “rush” and then go out not long after eating. It’ll be nice not to have to rush around this year.

What’s your favourite Christmas song?

Paul McCartney – “Wonderful Christmastime” and Slade – “Merry Christmas Everybody” are two that always come to mind. I do like “Last Christmas” as well BUT I overheard it so much one year that I can’t stand when I hear it now. This year, as of yet I haven’t listened to ANY Christmas songs yet and I’m happy with that… 😛

Do you open any presents on Christmas Eve?

Not really to be honest with you, we like to wait until the big day to open our gifts for one another. We get breakfast, snuggle up in bed and exchange gifts. I’m quite excited for Dane to have his presents this year as I’ve really spoilt him. 🙂

Image taken from Sugar Bunny Shop – You can pre-order the Santa’s Reindeer Wood Ornament Garland now!

Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Comic Blitzen, Rudolph (of course) and Vixie? I know there’s more but I can’t think of them… *Googles* Prancer, Dancer, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Dasher, Vixen, Blitzen, and Rudolph! I got five out of nine so I didn’t do toooooo badly! 😛

What holiday traditions are you looking forward to this year?

We don’t really have any to be perfectly honest with you… I think one we’ve really gotten now is the whole, breakfast in bed and opening presents together. 🙂

Is your Christmas tree real or fake?

It’s fake. I’d buy a real one but our living room isn’t big enough for it… Although I have always wanted a tiny one to keep on the table OR by the front door over December. Maybe next year. 🙂

What’s your favourite holiday food/treat/sweet?

I’m a sucker for the dinner to be honest with you. I love sweet ham over Christmas with pigs in blankets, massive Yorkshire puddings, my mom’s gravy (mines good but it will never beat hers!) and crispy AF roast potatoes. 😀 I’m cooking lamb this year. The first Christmas we did at home (2018) the meat I cooked wasn’t good and it was such a shame, so I’m giving it another go this year in the hopes it’s really yummy! 🙂

Be honest. Do you prefer giving or receiving gifts?

Giving gifts. I love being able to buy gifts for people who either won’t buy the item in question for themselves, or surprise them with something I know they would love and appreciate but don’t actually know about and such. Plus it’s always nice to buy a gift and see someone’s face light up. 🙂 I especially love when I see Dane open his gifts, as well as my mom.

Christmas 2018 – Olivia Burton fox snow globe watch from my mom.

Christmas 2013 – Cinnamon the German Market fox from Dane.

What’s the best Christmas present you’ve ever received?

One that comes to mind is my Olivia Burton fox snow globe watch. My mom bought this for me in 2018 and I still love it so much. As the little crystals move around inside it’s one I always stare at during meetings at work and when I’m out and about… However, I haven’t worn it much this year due to lockdown but before COVID existed I was wearing this all the time! She even got my name etched on the band too, which is a really nice touch. I may try and get a replacement band at some point soon as the one I have at the moment is looking tired.

Alongside that there is also one of the presents I received from Dane when we had our first Christmas together – this little fox plushie. I don’t think we’ve been to another Birmingham German Market together since 2013, but whilst we were there we walked past a stand that sold plushies. I saw this cute little fox and Dane bought it for me straight away. I still own this plush to this day and it’s now in my plushie cupboard, where he belongs! It just always reminds me of Dane and how excited I was for Christmas with him. For a very long time I’d hated Christmas, but when he came into my life he really made me feel better about this time of year. P.S. We called my little fox Cinnamon. 🙂

What’s your dream place to visit for the holiday season?

Japan, for sure! I would love to go to see how festive it would be, have a KFC for Christmas dinner and if possible stay somewhere like a private onsen where we could spend the evening in and out of the hot bath, eat yummy food and just relax together and exchange presents. It might be something I suggest to Dane in the future for sure. 🙂 I’d only want to go for a week, maybe ten days at a push so we can enjoy the festive period together.

Are you a pro present wrapper or do you fail miserably?

I’m in-between. Before I met Dane I used to fail miserably as I never really concentrated or had as much to wrap as previous. I feel especially since we moved in together I spend a bit more time on my wrapping and whilst I’m not a pro, I’m definitely better! I’ve watched how my dad and one of my friends wrap their presents and they’re definite pros! They take their time, make lots of folds and more and their gifts look to good to open. 🙂

1995 – My parents bought me the Pocahontas Braided Beauty doll for Christmas when I was five. Image taken from Amazon.

What’s your most memorable Christmas memory?

Mmm… I don’t know to be perfectly honest. There’s a couple that stand out but I always love to share this one…

When I was five Pocahontas came out and I fell in love with that film (still one of my favourites!) and my parents made sure to buy me plenty of Pocahontas presents that Christmas. I received a cute red jumper/sweater with Pocahontas on, that I LIVED in for as long as I can remember. They also bought me the Pocahontas braided beauty doll which I LOVED! It came with Pocahontas doll as well a a braiding tool that looked like Meeko. I loved Meeko and my parents knew that, but I imagine there weren’t any specific Meeko toys and this was close enough. PLUS I had long hair growing up, that my mom would braid for me, so I imagine she saw this when shopping in Toys R Us and bought it because it was all the things I loved. 🙂 It was clearly a thought out gift for me as a kid. 🙂

What made you realise the truth about Christmas?

I remember I had written a letter for Father Christmas as a kid, as well as drew some pictures of Rudolph and Father Christmas. I knew it was my dad when I woke up the next day to read, “Well done!”, “Great picture!” and “Merry Christmas” on each picture and the letter I wrote. I know my dad’s writing and it was the same. It was from then on I knew who was really delivering my Christmas presents and who they were from. I’d had my suspicions for a while and I’m pretty sure the year before I’d seen my dad putting presents in my room as I turned in my sleep and was half awake.

What makes the holidays special for you?

Being with people I love and making them smile. Obviously yummy food and being merry is always good too, BUT it is definitely about making people happy and being around the people who make you happy. I’m sad that I can’t see my parents properly over Christmas. They’ll be driving over to my house next week to drop off gifts and have a chat from the front door to their car at the end of the drive. This year has been hard for my family due to our loss in September and I especially feel for my mom this year. I just wish I could give her a hug and a kiss when exchanging gifts and more. I know the time will come where we can ALL make up for lost time… But it’s just really hard this year.

So, there we have it! The Christmas Tag! It’s kind of started getting me into the Christmas spirit this afternoon whilst answering the tag questions and to be honest with you guys, I hope I get more and more festive as the time goes on.

This evening I’m actually going to host a mini “German Market at home” for me and Dane. I’m making hot dogs (not the nasty shit in the jars!), fries and instead of hot chocolate, I’m going to serve chocolate cake with Bailey’s!

I’m super excited for it and I just hope it goes down well. 🙂

How are you all feeling about Christmas this year? Especially with COVID. Me and Dane will be staying at home throughout the festive period, including New Year to stay safe at home. I hope my readers will be doing the same…

Please let me know what you are most excited about this year in the comments. 🙂

Until next time guys, please stay safe during these times and see you soon.

HUGE Shop Small UK Guide – Christmas 2020

Can you believe there is only 18 days until Christmas? Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet? I’m awful this year and I’m not done. I usually have all my gifts bought by now, but alas I still have my parents to buy for.

This year I wanted to do a gift guide, but not my usual one aimed at the geeks, otaku and kawaii fans, beauty, fashion etc etc. I wanted to instead focus on small companies/independent artists/businesses who need our support more than ever due to COVID and it’s affects from lockdowns here in the UK.

First of all, I’m only speaking about the UK as with a Twitter poll a couple of weeks ago, it’s what you as the readers voted for. However at the end of the post I will mention who you can shop small with all over the world too.

I’m going to add all sorts of categories here, not just geek, kawaii, otaku related. I’ll be talking about beauty, home, geek, Japan related, food and more! I want to try and talk about as much as I can, so when you need ideas for Christmas gifts you have lots of choice. I will also mention the last date to order for Christmas too if you’re in the UK. Please bear in mind with the COVID situation and Christmas on the horizon, Royal Main is struggling a little, so if you want to order, order as soon as possible!

Let’s get started! I really hope you guys enjoy this post. 🙂

Image taken from GIPHY

Geeky/Kawaii

Image taken from Jennifairy Illustration

Jennifairy Illustration – Creating cuties to make you smile. Enamel pins, stickers and keychains, all inspired by cute animals, video game characters and more.

Last date to order for Christmas – 14th December. However, if order after this date it could still get there but that can’t be promised. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

Jennifairy Illustration is an independent artist/store I have spoken about on my blog since 2017 and I knew they were one of the first places I wanted to speak about today! Jennifairy has a range of products – enamel pins, stickers and keychains. Her style is incredibly cute and kawaii and the designs make me smile whenever I see them, both on her store and in my home. If you know someone who loves cute animals and certain characters from popular video games, then they will love to open a cute design from Jennifairy. Christmas wise you can pick up some gingerbread friends or even a Christmas Pikachu, with a Santa’s hat and a cup of coffee. There are loads of different designs to choose from, there is something for everyone.

Image taken from Littlest Spook Shop

Littlest Spook Shop – We put the Oo in spooky! Cute spooky ghost prints, mugs and other items to choose from!

Last date to order for Christmas – Currently Littlest Spook Shop is looking to close 9th December.

Halloween isn’t just once a year with Littlest Spook Shop. I discovered them around Halloween this year and I love their spooky ghost designs. They’re so damn cute and spoopy and I’m down for that. I regret not ordering some of their Christmas cards this year to be honest, but there’s always next year. If you know someone who celebrates Halloween all year around then a print (or two!) from Littlest Spook Shop may just be for them! Not only do they sell prints but they also sell mugs, tote bags, enamel pins and patches so that spooky friend or family member can show off their love of ghosts and all things spooky all year around! The Always Cosy Club spooky print shouts out to me so much. During the colder months I’m like that little ghosty.

Image taken from FoxLeap

FoxLeap – Kawaii designs inspired by Disney and Japanese characters from films and video games.

Last date to order for Christmas – Not known at time of writing post.

FoxLeap is an independent artist/store I love buying enamel pins from. They’re adorable and there is always something in the store I want to pick up, including the Jiji enamel pin which I may need to order myself as a treat for writing this post. 😛 There is something for everyone when it comes down to FoxLeap including designs inspired by Disney (especially The Lion King series!), Pokemon, Studio Ghibli, Wolf’s Rain, Okami and more. Anyone who loves enamel pins will really love to receive a FoxLeap design and honestly they probably already know of FoxLeap’s existence. Not only do they make and sell enamel pins but they also sell prints, t-shirts, stickers, enamel pin flags, tote bags and more so there is plenty to choose from!

Image taken from NaomiLordArt

NaomiLordArt – A freelance artist who creates adorable prints inspired by animals, magical creatures, witches, Goddesses, Critical Role and more!

Last date to order for Christmas – Orders will be shipped until the shop closes for Christmas on 20th December. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

Guys you know me I love kawaii animals, especially foxes and that is something NaomiLordArt does so bloody well! I mean, look at them cute seasonal fox designs! I feel anyone of any age will love a little stocking filler that involves one of the many designs that NaomiLordArt has on offer. Plus if you and your friends are fans of Critical Role, she’s drawn all of the gang and put it onto a print, which you can find here. I feel NaomiLordArt would be perfect as items to gift children, teenagers and anyone who loves prints and stickers. I’ve gifted my best friend goodies from there before that were surrounding Star Wars and Harry Potter. There are also RPG class animal stickers and prints too, so if you play in a D&D group and are taking part in a D&D themed Secret Santa, these would make perfect gifts alongside some dice.

Image taken from GIPHY

Japanese Snacks

Image taken from Something Japanese

Something Japanese – UK based online shop that sells the best things from Japan! Chocolate, Candy, Collectables, Otaku Goodies and much much more.

Last date to order for Christmas – December 21st. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

Something Japanese is a store I have bought from for about five years now and they are really good! I especially love to pick up the Japanese snack boxes from them as they’re always an amazing price for how many Japanese sweets and treats you get. I ordered the Halloween one and it was amazing and I’ve ordered the Christmas Japanese Candy Box too. This might make for an amazing gift to someone who loves Japanese sweets and treats and who may also miss Japan or want to visit Japan. COVID has prevented travelling to Japan for a lot of people and I know a lot of my friends who missed out on their trips this year. This would make for a nice treat to open Christmas Day. Something Japanese does sell other items too and separate sweet treats so make sure to check that out too.

Image taken from Tofu Cute

Tofu Cute – A UK kawaii shop that sells all sorts of cute and unique Japanese snacks, plushies, accessories, stationery and other goodies.

Last date to order for Christmas – Not known at time of writing post.

Tofu Cute is a store me and my boyfriend often order our Japanese sweets from as they’re great prices and they always seem to have the goods that Japan get at the same time. Not only do they stock sweets but also drinks as well! We’ve bought many bottles of ramune and Pokemon fizzy drinks from Tofu Cute and they’ve all been enjoyed! Think my favourite thing I’ve ever bought from Tofu Cute are the Melty Kiss chocolates. They’re to die for and would make an amazing gift for someone’s stocking this Christmas. 🙂

Image taken from GIPHY

Home

Image taken from Cushty Co Twitter page

Cushty Co – Handmade home fragrance. Scented soy wax melts beautifully crafted with sprinkles of glitter and careful colouring. Vegan friendly.

Last date to order for Christmas – Monday 14th December – Store will close at 5pm. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

Cushty Co are my go to for wax melts and I’ve ended up buying so many this year! Their autumn/Halloween collection being my favourite to date. If you know someone who loves burning candles and wax tarts like me, Cushty Co are a great place to check out. They do LOADS of different scent varieties and three different sizes of wax so the choices are huge. They currently have their Christmas/winter scents in stock and I have all of them! They’re absolutely amazing and if you know someone who loves Christmas and wishes it could be everyday, then some of the Christmas/winter scents will be right up their street. Not only do Cushty Co sell wax tarts, but they also sell room sprays too, which I’m yet to try. If you know someone who loves Lush then they’ll love Unicorn Dreams which smells exactly like Snow Fairy and Nightfall which smells exactly like Twlight.

Image taken from Bubble Baskets UK/Books Baths and Beauty

Bubble Baskets UK/Books Baths and Beauty – Lovingly Custom made 3D printed Bubble Baskets.

Last date to order for Christmas – 17th December if ordering a pink, black or ombré bubble basket. 14th December if ordering a custom colour. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

I recently decided to buy myself a bubble basket from Books Baths and Beauty as I’ve wanted one for over a year now and as my bathroom was redone in the summer, I’ve finally been indulging in bath products and having bath cocktails more. It arrived over the weekend I’ve used it a few times since. It’s really good and if you’re like me and use bubble bars, shower gels and more to create bubbles, then this is for you! They’re made with a 3D printer and are sturdy and amazing! 😀 If you know someone who loves taking baths and using the same products as I do, this will be perfect for helping them create lots of bubbles! Teenagers will love this, as well as mermaids.

Image taken from GIPHY

Beauty

Image taken from The Bath Bae

The Bath Bae  –  Handmade bath treats to make you glow inside and out. Vegan and cruelty free!

Last date to order for Christmas – Monday 21 December at 3pm Royal Mail Tracked 48 or Tuesday 22 December at 3pm Royal Mail Tracked 24. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

I recently made my first order with The Bath Bae and honestly – I have zero regrets. They focus on bath bomb products in various different varieties and scents so there is plenty to choose from! So far I’ve only tried the bath cubes and they are amazing, perfect for anyone of any age. You can pick up bath sparkle, sparkle rocks, bath cubes and bath soak. These would make great stocking fillers for teenagers and anyone who loves a good soak in the bath. My favourite scent from them so far is Oh So Slushie, which reminds me of Tango Ice Blast slushies from the cinema.

Image taken from Happy Melon

Happy Melon – Handmade beauty products made in small batches and packed with cuteness, colour and yummy fragrance. Cruelty free!

Last date to order for Christmas – Restock this Sunday (13/12/2020) and as items sell out quickly, there isn’t really a last date to order for Christmas.

Happy Melon is a brand I discovered this year and bought from during their last restock. If you know someone who loves their beauty and bath products and for them to be as colourful as possible, Happy Melon is a good indie brand for this! They have a wide variety of products including bubble bath, lip sugar, perfume oil, bath soak (snuggle soak), sugar scrub and more! One of the bubble baths I own is a Lush Snow Fairy dupe (Sabrina bubble bath) and it’s one of my favourite products to use after a long day. Plus a little goes a long way and this stuff lasts AGES! One of the products I am excited to try soon is the Pop Kei Snuggle Soak, which smells just like Tango Ice Blast slushies! It would work so well with the slushie bath cubes from The Bath Bae. Again this is a great brand for teenagers due to how colourful everything is and maybe even children too due to how colourful and sparkly the bubble baths are.

Image taken from Hex Bomb

Hex Bomb – Divine handmade gothic beauty products for dark sweets hearts. Creator of the first black bath bomb! Cruelty free and vegan!

Last date to order for Christmas – 21st December. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

Hex Bomb is a brand I have always wanted to try since the Black As Your Soul bath bomb came out. I’m yet to try it still and plan to buy it in the near future! I’ve mentioned some colourful and kawaii beauty indie brands so far, so I wanted to through a gothic, dark brand in there for good measure. I love me a dark bath, it reflects who I am inside and this brand would be perfect for any goth friend or relative out there! Not only do they make bath bombs but Hex Bomb also sell shower gel, soap, scrub, lip balm, perfume oil AND even wax melts for your home. If you aren’t sure what to buy that gothic beauty in your life (because Hex Bomb have a lot of variety!) you could always pick up one of their gift boxes which contains a variety of products. If you want to see a review (or two) of Hex Bomb make sure to go and check out my great blogger friend Raiin Monkey’s blog posts here.

Image taken from GIPHY

Honourable Mentions

Geek/Kawaii – Quirkory – Due to being based in Italy, they didn’t qualify for this shop small post. However, I couldn’t not mention them! They sell enamel pins, stickers and prints inspired by Japanese video games and cute animals.

Geek/Kawaii – Claire Likes To Doodle – The reason I didn’t mention my friend Claire and her store is because she got a post allllll to herself recently! Which I am going to link here. 🙂

Geek/Kawaii – 1 In 100/One In Hundred – A local Brummy like myself, Alex over at 1 In 100 has some amazing designs on her store and you can buy items from clothing, badges, keyrings, stickers, prints, stationary and more. I keep meaning to pick up some of her Japan inspired prints. Check them out here and here.

Geek/Kawaii – Chibi Shibby – May have bought a Christmas present from one of my favourite artists… 😉 Shibby recently reopened her store and has filled it was gorgeous kawaii goodies! There’s also some Christmas related goods in there too.

Geek/Kawaii – Lunaticgumis – Due to being based in Gran Canaria, they didn’t quality for this shop small post. However, I am planning to write about them on my blog very very soon! 😀 They sell stickers as well as amigurumis (Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small, stuffed yarn creatures). They stock Bee and Puppycat designs WHICH I LOVE!

Geek/Kawaii – Taiyakiblue – This store is joint owned by tattooists senseoftheterrific and tubbybeartattoo. They stock clothing, prints and even some keyrings and pins made out of resin. They’re both inspired by geeky/kawaii themes such as D&D, Studio Ghibli, Dragonball Z, Moomins, Adventure Time and more. I’ve purchased a Christmas present from them and plan to buy prints in the future! I love their style so much.

Bath – Bath Bake Love – No restock until after Christmas where there will be lots of enchanted teasers for the New Year Wonderland and plenty of goodies in January!

AND THERE WE HAVE IT! My HUGE shop small Christmas shopping guide for the UK!

What do you guys think? I wanted to try and cover as much as I could and I like to think I’ve done that quite well. In the future I may pop up with some of these after Christmas, just as good shopping guides throughout the year for birthday’s and more!

Honestly guys, I hope you enjoyed this post today as much as I enjoyed writing it. I’m off work for the week and the first thing I knew I wanted to do was to write this post.

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!

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

Shop Small – Claire Likes To Doodle*

Can you believe Christmas is now less than a month away? With Christmas comes Christmas present shopping, have you started yours yet? I have and I’m almost finished! I know some people who wait until the last minute to buy their presents and some who buy them throughout the year.

I like to get my shopping done early and always have done so that I have more money for Christmas parties and trips to the German Market throughout December… None of those are happening this year due to COVID… 😛

However this year I have decided to shop small and mostly buy Christmas presents through small and independent artists. Some own their own stores online and host on websites like Etsy. I’ll be writing and sharing more stores with you in the coming weeks.

Today I want to talk about my good friend Claire, who owns Claire Likes To Doodle. I spoke about Claire and her commission work last summer (which you can read here) and we have decided to work together again, but this time to talk about her online store!

Claire opened her store again around July this year and since then she has filled it with loads of amazing goodies – especially her original character Bernard.

Since working together last year Claire wanted to share an update in regards to how her work has changed since then, as well as how Claire Likes To Doodle will be in 2021!

The last time I was featured on Nat’s blog, it was primarily for my chibi work. That was my main focus for commissions and merch too. I’m still a commission artist, I do watercolour pieces and portraits, MTG alters and tokens. My personal work has changed up a fair bit though!

The great (and sometimes frustrating) thing about being an artist is that you’re constantly evolving and changing up your work and style until you settle into what you love creating best. I found that when I was doing Inktober 2019 and I introduced a little monster called a Bernard. Since then I’ve been creating more and more work around Bernards and their world, and people have fell in love with them! I now have an active shop with Bernard goodies, original art and other oddities.

I’ve got big Bernard plans for 2021, watch this space… Once again, thank you Natalee for featuring me and letting me introduce Bernard to your lovely readers!

I really love when independent stores/artists I work with have an input in my posts to tell me all about them and how they got started, their store and plans for the future.

I have been friends with Claire since 2006 and our friendship has grown more and more as the years have gone by. I’m so proud of Claire for how far she has come and I have a feeling 2021 will be her year!

Inside this package there was a lovely note from Claire that really made me smile. As someone who has anxiety and depression this note is very much appreciated. Whenever people write down words like this, whether it be on a letter or a text I keep them and read them back when I feel down. I’ll be doing the same with this note too. 🙂

Claire kindly gifted me all the items in this post (apart from one item which I bought with my own money) for reviewing purposes. Apart from the quote above from Claire, all words are my own and items that are gifted will be marked with an *.

Claire has a variety of goodies on her store to buy from stickers, badges, original work, paintings, stationary and more. I was sent a little bit of everything to show to you today!

First things first – if you are UK based like Claire is – she offers Free UK shipping on certain items. If she does offer this, it will state it on the item in question e.g. stickers and badges. I felt this was an important note to add as I know a lot of people in the UK may be looking for small gift and stocking ideas for Christmas and throughout the year.

The cut off point for ordering in time for Christmas is Monday 14th December 2020. Commissions are now closed until January 2021.

Finally before I start to share the goodies share sent me – Claire Likes To Doodle is having a Black Friday sale! When you use the code “YOULLBEBACK” at checkout you will snag a cheeky 20% discount on everything in her shop. This is valid between Friday 27th November 12am GMT – Sunday 29th November 12am GMT. So, if you like the look of anything here, make sure to go and grab a bargain.

Oh… I also have an exclusive 10% discount code for Claire Likes To Doodle’s store, which will be on the right hand side of my blog moving forward. I have added it here though too for readers who my see some good below and want to make an order. 🙂

Finally… I’ll share with you the amazing goodies that Claire sent me! 😀

• Autumn Bernard – Square Sticker (link)*
• Autumn Bernard – 38mm Square Badge (link)*

A square sticker/badge with a cozy autumnal Bernard, enjoying her favourite pumpkin spice beverage and wrapped up warm. Take a bit of autumn with you wherever you go with this unique sticker.

As regular readers will know, I love enamel pins, badges and stickers! Badges remind me of my emo kid self back in the day, I would stick badges all over my bags and jackets to try and show off who I was as much as possible. This autumn Bernard is so perfect to me purely because I love autumn. It’s my favourite time of the year and Claire has captured that perfectly with her autumn Bernard design. My favourite colour is purple so I love that Bernard is wrapped up in purple accessories and is holding a warm drink. I also love the little pink flushed cheeks, just showing how cold it is where Bernard is. You can show really off your love of autumn all year around with both the badge and the sticker, as well as show off and support Claire’s original character.

• Chill AF Bernard – 32mm Badge (link)*

Need a little calm in your life? I get it. So does Bernard. May this 32mm button badge be a reminder to take a step back every now and again.

This chill AF Bernard is a reminder for everyone right now to take a deep breath and relax whenever you can. With the way the world is at the moment I think everyone could do with this badge as a reminder to step back and take a few minutes for yourself. It can also help with anxiety too to remind people to take care of themselves. I really love this badge and I think I’ll be sticking him on my work laptop bag to remind me to relax for five during the busy work day and grab a drink and maybe a casual chat with colleagues. 🙂 To add as well by the way that both of the badges I received from Claire are amazing quality. They feel really well made and sturdy!

• Flower Crown Bernard – Sticker (link)*

Original design – take this summer-themed Bernard wherever you want to go!

This Bernard reminds me of the summer, drinking with friends in beer gardens, going to festivals and basically summer vibes and activities with friends and loved ones before COVID. This is a sticker that reminds me that we need to be patient, because when COVID is gone – we can all have fun with our loved ones again and make some amazing new memories. The flower crown Bernard is so precious and I love how colourful the crown is! I wish my garden could look more like this. 😛

• Halloween Holographic Stickers (Halloween exclusive piece – not available to buy)*

Sadly these stickers aren’t available anymore, but Claire sent them me so I wanted to show them off to you guys! These were exclusive for Halloween and only stuck around the shop for a short period of time. There were two designs released with a baby Bernard inside of a pumpkin and a Bernard flying on a broom. They’re both so adorable and the fact they’re holographic too makes them feel even more spooky and seasonal for Halloween. The quality of these stickers is thicker than the other two stickers Claire sent me which is really cool! I might not stick these anywhere and actually use them as decorations for the Halloween season and stick them on my kitchen window! 😀 In the future keep your eyes peeled on Claire’s store for more store exclusives!

• Round Cat Painting (Twitch stream piece – not available to buy)

This is a painting I purchased on one of Claire’s streams in the summer during lockdown and sold pieces she painted on stream. Due to to COVID I’ve only recently received it due to not being able to meet up and such. I paid £10 of my own money for this print and have been so excited to add it to my little growing collection by Claire. It’s a little round cat that looks like a Siamese breed. It’s so derpy and cute that I just had to buy it! I’m not a cat person to be perfectly honest with you but the derpy look in this cats eyes just had me! It feels so… Expensive(?) if you will due to the special art paper Claire has used. It was so relaxing watching Claire paint this piece, it’s cool to now have it in person. 🙂

• Artgust – Original A6 Watercolour Paintings – Electric (link)*

Through the month of August 2020, I did a painting every day based on a prompt list put together by myself and my wonderful Discord community. A mix of funny pieces, sad pieces, portraits and Bernards done over 31 days! Each piece is A6 size, painted in watercolour.

The final piece I want to talk about that Claire sent me I was taken back by. I didn’t quite expect her to send me one of her watercolour paintings but I’m not going to complain, especially considering she sent me a Pokemon themed print! Back in August Claire took part in Artgust where you draw/paint something everyday of the month. This was day 28 of August and it’s titled “Pikachu”. As you can see it’s Claire’s original character Bernard who is surrounded by hearts and has a Pikachu on his head. It’s so bloody cute and I love it! This is going to go on my plushie cabinet alongside my other prints. I’ll be keeping it in the cellophane packet it came in to keep it safe. For an A6 print size it packs a punch and not only looks amazing, the quality of the piece itself feels high quality too and expensive.

Claire still has quite a few prints left from the Artgust challenge, as well as one she took part in in October called Annarack October that are all looking for homes! The prints created during October are all Bernard themed too, so if you like the look of Claire’s original character and would like to pick up something with them on, definitely go and check those prints out!

They’re all A6 size and cost £15 each. They’re also unique one of a kind pieces, no reprints here. Once they’re sold, they’re gone. For example if you go onto the website the Electric print is sold out, because of course I own it now.

I’ve had my eye on one for a while now and definitely contemplating buying it soon! It’s the Black design from Artgust. I’ve always loved the look of it and if there’s one style of art Claire does really well it’s the blackout style. She did it for a time on her Instagram page and it’s one I always find myself gravitating towards. Who knows, I may end up buying it after this post is live… 😉

Something else I may pick up soon for when I return to the office for work is the ‘Distanced’ A4 Year Planner 2021. Not only is it handy but also really nice to stick on the sides of my desk for a bit of artwork… Nothing wrong with livening your desk up, eh? 😀

So there you go guys, the first of many independent artists I’ll be talking about during shop small in December! I’m so happy that Claire Likes To Doodle could be the first one I talk about.

Store

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Twitch

What do you guys think of Claire’s designs and store? Will you be adopting a Bernard of your own in the form of a sticker, badge or print? 🙂 Make sure to let me know in the comments below!

Until next time, take care guys and stay safe. 🙂

Life Lately – Past, Present and Future

I really love this photo! Shall I add it to my “about me” section? P.S. I love Instagram filters! 😛

For my post this week I thought I would do a life lately post and have a catch up about stuff that’s been happening since my last life lately in July (which you can read here). So, go and grab yourself a hot drink because this post is going to be lonnnnng!

I’m going to get this out there straight away and say that since September life has been a bit shit… But thankfully it hasn’t affected me too badly…

September is my favourite month of the year as many know, but this year it was one of the worst. My aunt unexpectedly passed away and I’m still torn about it. October was her funeral and as I’ve been so busy with work throughout October and this month I’ve not really had time to think about it all… Which isn’t a bad thing but I’ve just been so busy.

Due to everything happening one after the other, I am mentally drained. I had a day off work yesterday and it was much needed. I spent the morning doing nothing and catching up on Twitch streams, cleaned my bathroom in the afternoon and ordered a takeaway in the evening. It was a very good day and I loved it so much.

I was bloody knackered this day… Busy work day!

Anyhoo, I don’t want to talk about how shit the past three months has been too much here, but I did want to be honest. I just want to continue to be there for my mom and try and look forward to Christmas as it’ll definitely be a hard year for me, but especially for my mom. I want to try and spoil her as much as possible, especially when her birthday comes around after mine in January too.

Alongside that we’ve also had a second lockdown in the UK, which is set to finish in less than two weeks. To be honest the second lockdown hasn’t affected me. I’m still working from home so I’ve been fine workwise and as miserable as it sounds, second lockdown has been an excuse for me to stay at home and not have to worry about having energy after a busy day to socialise.

COVID and lockdowns has fucked with my head however. I’m happy to stay at home and not hang out with people and be social. I like staying in my house and when both me and Dane have a week off work in December, we intend to do that for pretty much all of it. We’re going to be working on the house and doing things we’ve meant to do the past four years of owning our home.

COVID and lockdown may have fucked with my head, but it has made me realise how much I love my home, but also how much work we still need to do. We’ve neglected it because of being social bunnies since 2016 and I’m done with it. I have certain friends I really fucking miss and can’t wait to see when things go back to “normal” but that’s about it.

I don’t give a fuck if I’m miserable. 😛 Has anyone else had the same happen to them that has happened to me? Aka turning into a hermit. 😛

One of the many pretty baths I’ve taken lately. This one was so damn pretty due to the purple and blue swirling into one another.

I’m getting into the festive spirit a little now in the run up to December. I’m halfway through my Christmas shopping and I’ve already pre-ordered my Christmas food ready for the big day. I won’t be putting my tree up until the 1st December, I can’t stand putting it up early as I find it takes the magic of Christmas away. It comes down just before New Years Eve so we don’t have to worry about putting it down and away before we return to work for a New Year. A lot of people think this is miserable… I think due to being in a home that didn’t really put a tree up this is just something that has passed onto me somewhat.

Speaking of Christmas and the New Year I have so many exciting things I want to talk and share in regards to my blog! 😀

I decided almost a month ago that I would do a MASSIVE post at the start of December about shopping small in the UK. I’ve never done this before in the sense of all stores to be mentioned will be small so I’m REALLY excited for it! With 2020 and lockdown due to COVID, I feel I have shopped smaller more than ever and I love being able to share them with others on my Instagram (theremightbecoffeeblog) so I want to do the same here on my blog too.

I asked you on Twitter what you wanted to see, UK, USA, Europe or everywhere. You mostly voted for me to focus on shopping small in the UK, so that’s what I’ll be doing. I’ll have categories such as beauty, home, kawaii/geek, enamel pins, etc. Are there any categories you would like to see in particular that I haven’t mentioned?

I’ll be looking to research for this MASSIVE post very soon (maybe even after this post is live!) so I can get it out for (drumroll?) 5th December, which is in a couple of weeks! If you also know of any UK stores I should mention, please let me know!

I quickly want to interrupt what I’m talking about to show you these AMAZING Black Milk Clothing x Pokemon leggings I found for a total bargain on Depop! Someone sold them brand new with tags for £40. I snapped them up and I have zero regrets. I’m going to wear these religiously during my week off work. 😛

Alongside that blog post idea for Christmas, I have also decided in 2021 to make a slight change to my blog… and when I say change I mean my monthly posts in particular. I have toyed with this thought the past few months and after reaching out to you guys again on Twitter you all had the same thought as me.

With my monthly favourites posts I am going to move away from mentioning my five favourite beauty items and just mention one or two. I’m planning to share TV shows, movies, music and games I have loved that month, but I’ll only talk about books if I’ve actually read any. I love reading manga, but I’ve not ready any for a while. I’m going to change that in 2021 but I don’t see the point in having books on my monthly favourites if I’m not reading any each month… It’s just pointless.

I’ll be adding some new categories such as – favourite piece of clothing, favourite candle/scent and anything else that comes to mind to be honest with you! It will be random each month me thinks depending on how that month has been like etc.

I didn’t know whether to lump  my monthly favourites and my wish list together so I have more room for content each month but I don’t know… I worry a post will be far too long then, so I am swaying towards keeping them separated. What do you guys think? I do love my monthly wish list posts! 😀

Please take another amazing bath photo! If there is a brand I have fallen in love with this year it’s Bake Bath Love. They’ll be getting a mention in my Christmas Shop Small UK post.

In 2020 I haven’t work with as many people as I usually do with gifted posts, but at the same time we obviously know why this is the case! However, I am hoping in 2021 to work with more people, but we shall see! I’m not fussed if I don’t of course. 🙂

One more thing I want to share with you today is something that I ordered at the start of November as a payday treat for myself. As many know, I love Bee & Puppycat and have done since I discovered it back in 2013 but 2020 has been the year I’m finally buying some merchandise (fan made mostly) from the show.

I finally decided to treat myself to an amigurumi (Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small, stuffed yarn creatures) of Puppycat, as well as some stickers. He’s by Lunaticgumis and I love him so much! He arrived today and he’s been very much loved already. He’s now on my plushie shelf next to the Puppycat polymer clay keyring that I commissioned from MelonDesignsByEllen. However, I think I will be doing a massive talk about these on a separate post in December. 🙂

That’s basically everything I wanted to catch up with here though… I have some exciting posts coming up in December, which may even end up going through to January too including:

Black Milk Clothing x Animal Crossing – I am beyond excited for all this stuff to arrive… I say all, it’s just three items. It’ll be similar to the one I wrote about the Pokemon goodies, which you can read here for the time being.

Pikarar – This is going to be a huge haul and one I need to share with you all! It’ll include Pokemon and shiba inu clothing! 😀

I’m sure there will be more but those two stand out for me at the moment so I wanted to get them mentioned here. 🙂

Told you I loved them Instagram filters… 😉

I’m not going to ramble anymore guys! What do you think of the small adjustments I’m thinking of doing to my blog in 2021? Make sure to let me know what you think in the comments.

Is there anything else you would like to see more or less of on here? I’d like to hear what you think. In 2021 I want to mostly continue what I’ve done this year, aka one post a week and write about what the hell I want to! 😀

Aside from letting me know what you think, how have you all been doing? How are you dealing with COVID? Are you loving lockdown hating lockdown? Let me know everything. 🙂

Until next time though guys, stay safe, take care and I’ll see you soon!

October Wish List ’20

Can you believe it’s already the second week of October, because I can’t!

So far for me October hasn’t been the best of months for me and I can’t see it getting much better. I mentioned in my September favourites how I’d recently experienced loss and had been grieving.

I’m also mentally and physically tired all the time lately and I really need to have a break from everything. I’ve got myself some holiday coming up in November and December which I’m looking forward to.

As well as that, I’m also rather looking forward to Halloween at the end of the month. I don’t feel like I’ve ever been so excited for it previously and I’m not sure why… Last year we played D&D and dressed up as our characters, but this year I think I’m going to cook a yummy dinner, snuggle on the sofa with Dane and either play some scary games, or watch some horror movies/tv shows we’ve never watched before.

For now, I am here today with my wish list and I’m not going to lie… I really struggled. It took me some proper digging to come across the items this month. There’s even one Christmas item and items that I’ve already added onto my Christmas ideas list for Dane.

Did I just say the C word? Yep… 😛

• Sugarbones Nooks Cranny Shopping Tote – (link)

Sugarbones always creates such lovely designs and this is one of them! As regular readers of my blog will know, I LOVE Animal Crossing and since March any Animal Crossing fan merchandise that comes out makes me so happy. I especially love this Nooks Cranny shopping tote as it’s adorable and would definitely be eye catching if I was to buy and use it out and about. The size of the bag looks HUGE as well so this would be perfect to take for shopping trips, whether it be for geeky goods, clothes or food. I missed out on buying this when it was launched a week or so. I’ve added it to my Christmas and birthday ideas list for Dane. 😛

• Sugar Bunny Shop Doki Fox Chick Pile Sweatshirt – (link)

I LOVE Sugar Bunny Shop but in the seven plus years I’ve loved the brand I’ve only ever owned one thing, which is Doki Fox stickers… Which Dane bought me for our second Christmas together in 2014. Since then I have eyed up loads of cute Doki Fox goodies from the store but just never bought, usually due to charges to ship to the UK and the fear of customs charges too. However, I feel this sweatshirt would be worth it. Regular readers will know how much I love foxes, so this is a must for me! Doki Fox covered in the little chicks is adorable! I could imagine wearing this with leggings or mom jeans for a comfy weekend look. I would love for Dane to buy me this for Christmas… But if he doesn’t I’ll definitely end up buying it for myself! 😀

• MelonDesignByEllen Halloween Ghost and Pumpkin Keyrings – (link) and (link)

I’ve actually ordered these since writing this blog post as they’re so bloody adorable and I couldn’t resist! I think these will be going on my car keys as I know they won’t get bashed around as much as my house keys will. Or maybe even one of my bags as a little charm? These are cute little Halloween ghost and pumpkin keyrings that are handmade by Ellen over at MelonDesign on Etsy. These were £10 each which I feel is such a great price when they’re made by hand! I honestly can’t wait for them to arrive and hope to show them to you at the end of the month… 😀

• Mermazing Baths Advent Calendar – (link)

I know December is less than two months away BUT it’s good to be prepared when it comes down to advent calendars. As soon as they come out in the shops, me and Dane usually pick a chocolate one up for ourselves (each of course!) as they soon sell out, so we never want to miss out on getting something good. The same can be said for beauty advent calendars for me. In 2018 I owned so many it was crazy, but last year I only owned one. I’ve really gotten back into my bath and shower beauty and have discovered so many indie brands, including Mermazing Baths. They have an advent calendar out, which I’m definitely going to pre-order when I get paid at the end of the month.

• CraftyWitch Craft Shop Ghost Tray Mould – (link)

If any of my readers follow me on Instagram and Twitter you may have seen that I’ve started to experiment with resin again. I had played with it back in March/April just after lockdown started but I stopped not long after. I recently bought some more moulds and Dane did too so we’ve both been having a play! I’ve really gotten into it and would love to make more in the future. However, I would also really love some more moulds to play with and potentially sell too! I’d love the ghost one shown as it would so much fun to play with and even have some in my house! I’d make some for me to keep things on, sell to friends and gift.

• Teddy Fresh Color Block Hoodie – (link)

Finally we have an item on here that I really do want at the moment and that is one of the colour block hoodies from Teddy Fresh. If you haven’t heard of Teddy Fresh they are a brand by Hila Klein, who is also a co host on H3 Podcast on YouTube. This colour block hoodie has been spoken about loads lately due to H3 Podcast accusing someone of copying their hoodie… Which I agree with. Due to this I have been seeing the hoodie more and more lately and now I want it! The colour scheme is really cool and not like anything I own. It would be cool to have something like this in my wardrobe to wear around the house, as well as out and about. I have lived in hoodies throughout 2020 and this is no exception. It’s not a cheap hoodie to buy and ship to the UK… So this has definitely gone onto my Christmas/birthday list. I’m keeping my eye on a European store for this hoodie colour scheme to come back in stock, as well as places like eBay and Depop too. 🙂

So there you have it guys, those are my wish list items for October! I can’t see me buying from it now aside from the advent calendar. 🙂

What items do you guys have on your wish lists? Anything similar to myself? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time guys, I hope you all have a lovely weekend and take care. 🙂

June Favourites ’20

I feel like I say this every month… BUT how is it July already?! June flew by and I’m sad to see it gone in a way. However, I am excited for July and what it brings with it.

The start of July me and Dane are getting a new bathroom fitted and we cannot wait! It’s been something we have planned to do since we bought the house four years ago, so it’s great to get it done, finally! We sadly had some water damage back in May and it upset us both a lot. Thankfully this is getting sorted, alongside the bathroom itself.

I’m nervous but excited for all the work to be done and cannot wait for a fresh start to the bathroom! Hopefully I’ll be able to show you guys some before and after photos of the bathroom.

Majority of June I relaxed and eased off playing certain games to play others. It was a strange month to be honest but one I really liked as I loved just relaxing and not doing all that much. I’m hoping July will be more productive… But a little lazy still too. 😛

Image taken from The Latest Kate

As always I like to share a positive photo here from The Latest Kate as I find her images are really sweet and the message behind them meaningful.

Here’s to new things in July! I’m excited for what the month holds. 🙂

• Aveeno Daily Moisturising Lotion.

I recently did a MASSIVE spring clean of the belongings in our bedroom as well as the bathroom and I threw so much stuff away! Loads of old nail polishes, body products and more. I also discovered that I owned this Aveeno lotion too and I’ve started using it daily on my hands whilst working. I can’t have too many lotions at the moment for my hands and feet as I was to try and keep the eczema away as much as I can. Thankfully what I’m doing is working, which is good. I have to be honest though, as much as I love the Aveeno lotion I own, I won’t be buying it again. I’ve paid less for better in all honesty. I would however like to try more Aveeno products in the future.

• Barry M All in One Nail Paint.

This is the only all in one top and base coat that I’ll use and have used for years now. Lately I’ve found I haven’t been wearing much nail polish and instead I’ve just been wearing this clear nail paint instead. I like to have something on my nails and as this is also a nail hardener too, I find it really does help my nails strength wise and they grow quicker than they would without this on. I was hoping for my nail technician to be open again at the start of July, but alas beauty and nail bars won’t be opening… Sooooo I’ll be continuing to look after and paint my nails for a while longer. I definitely recommend this all in one nail paint if you’re on a budget but want something that will work!

• Peripera Sugar Glow Tint in shade Cherry Pie Filling.

I bought this lip tint recently from Depop. I’ve never bought a lip product second hand before so I was a little dubious. However, I haven’t encountered any issues which is great and in all honesty I’m glad I bought this lip tint as it’s amazing! I’ve worn it almost daily since around the start of June and I really like it. It’s a gorgeous dark pink shade, which you can put a little or a lot on to build up the colour. However, this doesn’t tint and stain the lips, which is a shame but even so it’s a lovely colour.

• Simple Kind to Eyes Soothing Eye Balm.

With a mixture of hot weather and my hayfever being on an all time high in June, this eye balm was very much needed and really did help to soothe my sore eyes. Whether that was down to the heat, hayfever making them sore and especially lack of sleep due to some nights where I couldn’t sleep well due to the warmth. I’ve used this eye balm on and off for years and it’s something I always go back to.

• L’Oreal Paris Smooth Sugars Clear Scrub (review here)

This is a face scrub if I need to finish using soon so I can buy myself a brand new one! I love this face scrub and it honestly lasts ages as a little bit goes a long way, so much so I’ve owned it for over two years now… A lot of people would have thrown it away by now, but for me it’s done me nothing but good. This is an easy face scrub to use and one that I thoroughly enjoy using due to that. You use it on dry skin and it not only feels gently and effective, but has a lovely warm feeling too. Then you rub a little bit of water into your skin to melt the scrubby sugars away. I always feel really clean and fresh after I use this scrub and still highly recommend it to this day!

So now my beauty favourites are done, time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month!

Image taken from Pinterest

Favourite TV Show – Shameless.

First of all, can we just remember that a young James McAvoy played Steve in Shameless and how gorgeous and amazing he was in it (may I add – still is!)??? ANYWAY! I don’t know why, but I felt the need to binge watch this recently as it’s now on Netflix, which means no annoying adverts to contend with on All 4. I got to about season 8/9 before and turned it off as I got bored and turned to something else. I’m going to ride it through to season 11 and FINALLY finish binge watching it. Shameless has been a show I’ve loved since it came out in 2004 and I’ve watched it when it was on the TV back in the day, on DVD’s and of course streamed on All 4. I refuse to watch the American version by the way, so don’t recommend. 😛 I recommend the UK and ORIGINAL version if you fancy something new to watch!

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Movie – The Rescuers/The Rescuers Down Under.

That gif is so accurate for The Rescuers, I swear to God! Amongst the few Disney films that make me cry my eyes out this is one of them, alongside Dumbo! Penny in the first film breaks my fucking heart and I always sob at the scene where people chose a red headed girl over her and she’s praying to get away from the boat, the prison she has been kept in. I decided to binge watch these one evening as I wasn’t feeling great, but wanted something to keep me busy. Both The Rescuers films remind me of my childhood as I adored The Rescuers Down Under when it came out. I have fond memories of it and even photos of me holding the video and book my mom bought me with a massive smile on my face. If you haven’t watched it, GET ON IT! They’re lovely films.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – Meh…

I haven’t been reading this month… End of. I did buy the new volume of Snot Girl but in all honesty I just haven’t gotten around to reading it for many reasons. I’m terrible with reading lately and I really need to improve that. 😦

Favourite Music – “Let Me Hear” – Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas and “Tequila” – Jax Jones, Martin Solveig & RAYE.

These are two songs I’ve found myself replaying over and over again lately on Spotify and in turn it makes me laugh how they’re completely different genres. The first song “Let Me Hear” I discovered through an anime called Parasyte which I watched in June (and recommend!) that this song features on the opening credits. I love it and whenever it comes up on my shuffle I sing loudly to it. I’ve also added “Tequila” which is a song I discovered months ago through a Spotify advert. I only really gave it a proper listen recently and instantly fell in love with the beat of it.

Image taken from Nintendo

Favourite Game – Pokemon Cafe Mix.

This is one of the newer game releases from Pokemon, a free to play game on both phones and the Nintendo Switch. I’ve downloaded it on both, but I’ve mostly been playing it on my phone. Animal Crossing has definitely taken a back burner the last week of June and I think it’s just due to be wanting to play other games. Pokemon Cafe Mix is so much fun and it really does remind me of the Pokemon Cafe in Japan (which you can read about here). As this game is free definitely give it a go!

So those are my favourites from June! June was a good but odd month. Again, I’m just so excited to get my new bathroom installed now and have my bathroom back again. I may write about it in the future as to what happened with my bathroom and how we dealt with it all.

What were your favourite things throughout June? How as June for you guys too? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time, stay safe and take care all!

Japan Trip – Pokemon Cafe

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:

1. 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 £100) but that was for food, drinks AND merchandise and we bought a lot to be honest (as you’ll see in this post).
2. 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.
3. 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. 🙂

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! 😀
• 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. 🙂 Just a little plug for Connor, but he runs his own blog all about Japan! 😀 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… 😛

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 to not 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 glass 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. 😛

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. 😉

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 plate 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… 😛 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 a tad 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. 🙂

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! 😛

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!

Pokémon Cafe Mascot Chef Pikachu – This little plush keychain plus is adorable and it really is a special item for me and Dane. Of course it is Chef Pikachu, the same one (well obvs not EXACTLY the same) that comes around in the cafe and greets you all. This is a mascot plush, so one you would typically keep on your bag and such, but instead we have popped this little guy in our plushie cabinet/case in our bedroom.

Pokémon Mascot Cafe Eevee – Honestly I love this Eevee so much! As many of you MUST know by now, I love Eevee, so when I first saw this little waitress/waiter Eevee I knew we had to order one! I wish this plush was in a bigger size in all honesty. It has the little red cap that the staff wear in the Pokemon Cafe. Like Chef Pikachu, this one is also in our plushie cabinet/case.

Pokémon Cafe Clear File 3 Piece Set (Reservation Bonus 2) – We 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 never actually used these, 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! The mascots from the Pokemon Cafe are adorable. 🙂

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. 🙂

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. 😛 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. 😛 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. 🙂 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. 😛 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.

Pokémon Cafe Red Logo Mug – Ever since the Pokemon Cafe opened in 2018 I have been eyeing up this red travel mug… I’ve nearly bought it from sellers on a couple of occasions but left it because I kept saying to myself, “Nat, you’ll be going yourself soon enough to get one yourself.” Two years later and I went and got! I’m so glad I picked this up as the quality is amazing! The lid feels really secure when you pop it on the top and not only can you drink hot drinks from this, but there’s space for a straw in the top too for cold drinks! I use this all the time for work if I fancy a coffee on my way, as well as if I want to grab a coffee as I’m heading to my desk for the day. I always get lovely compliments on it too. The pattern on the mug is similar to the one on the Pokemon Cafe glass I bought, with the Pokemon Cafe logo and some words.

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! 🙂

30th Birthday Wish List

It is officially my birthday in 2 days time and I will be turning the the big three-O… Which semi depresses me and it sort of doesn’t at the same time. Ageing is going to happen and that’s just something I need to deal with now, as well as in the future.

I thought it would be worth sharing with you guys (as I always do) what I have on my wish list this month, which happens to include what I would like for my birthday… But if I don’t – I would probably just buy it myself. 🙂

• Pandora Blue Sparkling Crown Solitaire Ring (link)

A few Christmas/birthday’s ago my mom bought me a gorgeous Pandora ring – the one with the red heart (you can see it here) and I still love it to this day! I wear it pretty much all the time and it makes me think of my mom all the time. I have since spied a few other Pandora rings I like the look of, but never enough to take the plunge to ask for them as gifts or buy them myself… Until now! I saw this ring before Halloween whilst out shopping with a friends and I fell in love! It’s a gorgeous blue stone and it really stands out. I’m hoping to get to wear alongside my red heart ring, either above or below, whichever way looks best! I have a feeling Dane has bought me this… But we shall see! 😛

• Nintendo Tokyo Animal Crossing Smart Phone Ring (no link)

When I first bought my iPhone XR I bought a PopSocket to use when holding the phone. For the short time that I used it, it really did benefit me but at the same time it taught me that I should be holding my phone better. Since then I have missed having something on the back of my phone to hold onto, especially if I’m out and about and have my hands full. I saw these kawaii smart phone rings for sale in the Nintendo Tokyo store and I just have to have them! I plan to pick up both when I visit the store in Japan (as well as so much more Animal Crossing merch!) so that I can use them both on different cases. I find the backing doesn’t stick very well with things like this, so I may need to get the superglue out…

• Hell Bunny Ricci Dress in Black or Red (link)

I actually saw these dresses in EMP’s catalogue that I was given by Dane’s parents on Boxing Day to take home with me… They’ve clearly bought me something from EMP for my birthday… ANYWAY! I love dresses of this style as they shout out to me so much and I especially love to wear them with a thick warm coat in the winter and my Dr Martens boots. In the summer, with a cardigan and my flats. I think I love the red one most as it’s one of my favourite colours to wear. I would have loved to pick this up for my birthday, but I think at this point (my birthday is in 2 days) it’s a little too late now, unless I find it in store somewhere before then.

• Smoko Pearl Boba Tea Light (link)

Dane bought me the Little Bao Dumpling Light from Firebox/Smoko for Christmas and I LOVE it so much! For a battery operated light, it’s really bright and turns itself off after a certain amount of time. I love the Boba Tea Light as I’m a massive bubble tea drinker so would love to add this one to my collection as well. The thing I love about this the most is the fact when you move the light around, the boba in the bottom of the light move around. How cool is that? 😀

• Nintendo Tokyo Animal Crossing Pencil Case (link)

I love Animal Crossing so damn much and when I saw this for sale on the Something Japanese website, I really wanted to order it! That being said, I know I can just wait until my trip to Japan to pick this up myself if I still want it. I don’t NEED a new pencil case as I still have the one I owned back when I was at school and it’s still doing it’s job today of keeping my pens safe.

So (as boring as they were…) that is my 30th birthday wish list post! Wow it’s crazy to think that in 2 days time I’ll be turning 30… I’ll now have to say I’m in my early thirties when talking to people and tick the 30-35 box when signing up for things. 😛 If I still get ID’d though, I’ll be very happy!

Next week I plan to share with you guys what I received for my 30th birthday! I know I didn’t do this for Christmas 2019 but this was due to personal reasons. 🙂

What do you guys have on your wish lists for this month? Make sure to let me know down in the comments!

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