Post Christmas Natter (Plus What I received…)

It’s almost a week since Christmas Day was here and I can’t quite believe how quickly it’s flown by! I had a lovely Christmas even though I was working both Christmas Eve and Boxing Day (WAH FML!) but it’s come and gone now. Plus I have New Years Eve and Day off, woohoo!

So I decided to do a little catch up post about my Christmas and share what lovely gifts I received from Dane, my parents and everyone else. 🙂

Christmas Eve I didn’t finish work until late (6pm to be exact) and due to being tired and lazy we decided to get a takeaway and spend the evening watching movies. One movie we watching in particular was Sausage Party, which came out this year. Not exactly a Christmas movie, but one we both enjoyed watching, although at the end it got very weird and we sat in shock with hands over mouths, awkwardly laughing.

We got an early night as we were both shattered! This being said I had an awful nights sleep. I kept waking up throughout the night as the wind was waking me up. So we both woke up early Christmas Day and popped on a Christmas movie whilst we opened our presents. I spoilt Dane rotten this year and he loved all of his gifts. He spoilt me just as much too and every gift he gave me I loved. We both asked each other what our favourite gifts were out of the bunch. Dane’s was Vol. 1-9 of One Punch Man and mine was a tough one. I’ll show off what gifts he gave me before I tell you which were my favourites… I can’t pick one!

We decided to do stockings this year, as a new tradition and we filled them both full of yummy treats, well Dane filled mine full of Japanese sweets, mostly Kit Kats! My friend Sophi (heyyy!) picked up some of these stockings for us which was lovely of her! She of course got an N for me and a D for Dane.

As you can see Dane bought me LOADS of Kit Kats, Japanese ones to be exact! As well as a few other Japanese treats, which are mostly matcha flavoured… My favourite. 😛 He bought me a little geisha pouch full of different flavoured Kit Kats, which I loved as it looked adorable! It came with a piece of paper inside telling you about all the flavours which I was pleased about, as you never know what you could be trying. For example there is a wasabi flavoured Kit Kat in there!

Onto the main gifts from Dane and I was well and truly spoilt this year… But so was he. 😛 All of my gifts from him were thoughtful and I can’t really say I prefer one to the other, but I will of course say my favourite 3 or something. 😛

One of my favourite gifts from what Dane bought me were these two sleeping Pokemon plushies from the Pokemon Centre in Japan. As you can see he gave me a Pikachu and Jolteon which I love, especially Jolteon’s cute little bum and feet. 😛 I knew I was going to get one of these but I didn’t have a clue which and these were both a lovely surprise to get. They’re now in my Pokemon cabinet in the living room.

Another one of my favourite presents from Dane was these South Park figures from the new game coming out in 2017, The Fracture But Whole. I already have a couple of the figures from the first game (Princess Kenny and Cartman as a wizard) and I love them so much, but not as much as these. I have Butters, Kenny and Cartman all as their super villain and hero alter egos. They’re now in my cupboard and look amazing. It’s a shame they didn’t bring anymore of the characters out, but I guess these three are the main ones.

I keep saying this is my favourite present from Dane even though I knew I was having it, but it’s my new jacket… A Pokemon jacket! This is by a brand I have grown to love since August when I bought my first pieces by her, the brand being Ohayou! Clothing. She’s a designer in Bristol and most of her designs are Pokemon related and anything Japanese and kawaii. As you can see from the pictures it’s a varsity style jacket with an adorable picture of Eevee on the back! I love it and since Christmas Day I’ve pretty much lived in it! I can’t wait to write a post about Ohayou! Clothing in the new year!

Everyone who knows me knows that I LOVE foxes and I think every Christmas we have shared since being together, Dane has always bought me a fox related present. This year he of course had to keep up the tradition and bought me this beautiful tote bag with a fox and wolf on it. I’ve viewed this seller on Etsy before and if you love foxes then you will love her work! He also bought one of her illustrated books about foxes, which I really enjoyed reading in bed on Christmas Day morning.

Yay for manga! I’m in need of some new books to read after finally finishing Nana (and my heart broke!) and of course Dane knew I wanted some new material to read including Nichijou. As of yet I haven’t started to read it but I intend to start very soon. It’s like Azumanga Daioh so it is based around a school and the lives of the students there. I can’t wait to read it!

MORE KIT KATS! I told you he bought me loads! These are sake flavoured and we tried one on Christmas Day. I LOVE them! They’re very strong smelling and tasting of sake, which I thought I would hate but really enjoyed. I would definitely buy these again… But I have a feeling they aren’t cheap.

Finally we have a few little stocking fillers Dane gifted me, one not being in this picture as I forgot to take it! That item is the Bee & Puppycat cooking book. I thought it would be all jokey cooking recipes but they’re actually legit and ones that both the workers of the comic have submitted, as well as fans of the comic book too. Both me and Dane had a flick through it on Christmas Day and have already decided on some recipes that we want to bake and cook very soon.

Speaking of food he also got me a Pikachu sushi mold which I am SO EXCITED to use! I love making Japanese food and the next thing I want to learn how to make is sushi. I’ve already discussed with Dane that we make onigiri (rice ball with fish, chicken, veg inside… Basically like a sandwich to us but with rice instead of bread) with the mold. I can’t wait!

I knew I was getting these for Christmas (even though when it came to opening them I FORGOT ALL ABOUT THEM!) but Dane bought me some Victoria’s Secret body sprays. One is a minty scent and the other more vanilla and sugary. I love things like this and the VS body sprays are the best I’ve ever tried.

The final thing Dane bought me was a new calendar which as you can see is Pusheen.

This was meant to be one of my Christmas presents but Dane gave it to me about a week before Christmas and I love it so much! It’s a little glass bottle with a little soot sprite inside from the film Spirited Away. That’s one of my favourite films so I love anything to do with it. He’s now in my cabinet in the living room.

We spent Christmas at my parents house and then Boxing Day at Dane’s parents. We both had a lovely time at both houses and I wouldn’t change anything! Sadly my mom was working but me and Dane played games and watched movies with my dad and my brother, which was really fun! We practically did the same with Dane’s family too and we had a right laugh. We played Joking Hazard with my family and The Game of Life with Dane’s. We had lots of laughs and giggles!

I’m not showing off all my presents in  this post, mostly just Dane’s to be honest but I thought I would show off my favourite gifts from my family and Dane’s.

This was one of my favourite presents this year and it’s from my parents. It’s a Thomas Sabo charm bracelet with a martini glass charm. She kind of hinting to me getting something like this but I wasn’t 100% sure what it would be. I love it though, so much more than my Pandora bracelet and I’ve already eyed up what other additions I can add to it. I’ve found so far that it’s just so much lighter than Pandora to wear and therefore easier to wear.

My mom bought me and Dane a couple of other things too, some of which are on the way apparently in the post. But one of my other favourite items from her is this giraffe dressing gown (which I have on at the moment!). The hood on it is huge and had a giraffe face on which I think is cute. It’s also a great length too which is ideal as one of my old ones would drag on the ground as I walk up the stairs and trip me up. I’ve pretty much lived in this since Christmas Day!

Like the presents my parents bought me I won’t talk about everything, but more so my favourites. Dane’s parents bought me these lovely pajamas which I knew I was going to get due to asking for them, but they were still a lovely surprise and as soon as we got home Boxing Day I put them on. They’re burgundy with woodland animal print on. Right up my street! They also bought me a Lush gift set (Snow Fairy one!) and some stuff for the house.

Finally we have one of the gifts that Dane’s brother and girlfriend bought for us. They bought us a huge box full of Japanese candy but sadly I never managed to get a picture of it. However I did manage to get a picture of the candle they bought us. It’s a WoodWick candle, a brand we both love just as much as Yankee Candle. This one is in the scent Black Cherry and it’s HUGE! When you burn these it makes a crackling sound like a fire and when we lit this for the first time it was nice to see the flame move over from the right to the left side of the wick. It’s a lovely present, especially for the house.

So those were my presents from Christmas this year. As well as these presents I did of course get more from work friends, my friends, family and more. I just wanted to show some that I had managed to snap pictures of.

I had a lovely Christmas this year even though it did come and go in the blink of an eye! I don’t have a clue when to take my Christmas tree down. Probably tomorrow after work as it’ll soon be 2017 and our tree wont need to be up anymore, sadly. I’ll miss our cute little tree. 😦

What lovely presents did you get for Christmas and did you have a lovely time over the Christmas period? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

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

London Haul

Wow what a long week it has been since returning from London! Of course I do apologise for how quiet I have been the past two weeks, but as I said on my Twitter account, I have been way too busy with the house to think or have time to do anything with my blog. Sorry about this, but I know that my regular readers understand, and for this I love you all and thank you as much as I can!

I have just got back from London after visiting my good friend Sophi, and I had an amazing time! I ended up spending more than I intended to as we went shopping around London, as well as in Stratford shopping centre. So I thought why not show all my lovelies what I bought down in the smoke!

I said from the start of my trip to London that I wouldn’t buy any clothing, as I don’t need any, but I found that was the majority of what I bought. Oops! I picked up three t-shirts, and a coat.

The first t-shirt I picked up was this Rugrats Reptar one from the Nickelodeon shop in London. It wasn’t cheap to be honest at £20, but I thought it would make a nice treat and was a real throwback to my childhood as I loved watching Rugrats growing up. So much so that I still watch it to this day if I fancy a bit of a nostalgia trip. As you can see it’s a purple t-shirt, with Reptar on, as well as his name in metallic pink writing. You can pick this up online here.

The second and third t-shirts that I bought were both from HMV, not usually a place you would think sold clothing. They do sell t-shirts though, usually relating to bands, TV shows, movies, and games, etc. You get the point! These two t-shirts were both £12.99 each, however HMV have an offer where you can buy two for £20, which is a bargain really! So of course I took them up on that offer, because it would have been rude not to.

The Harley Quinn one is to coincide with The Suicide Squad, as it’s meant to be the same as the t-shirt she wears in the movie (which FYI I am excited to see when it comes out!). I just love the design of it, it’ll be something nice to rock in the summer with shorts… Like Harley Quinn really! A girl I work with (Hi Rhi! ^_^) has this t-shirt too, and I heard about it from her before my trip to London. As you can probably gather this is a woman’s t-shirt. Sadly any men out there who want it won’t find it in HMV. I would have linked back to this for people to look into buying from HMV, but it isn’t on the website sadly.

I also picked up a Deadpool t-shirt from HMV. It had to be done, as I LOVE Deadpool and I knew whilst I was in London I wanted to pick up some Deadpool goodies, or at least one. This was the only thing I actually managed to pick up, and I don’t regret it. This is a pretty straight forward tee with just a picture of Deadpool with his arms folded, nothing spectacular or special. I don’t mind that to be perfectly honest. This is a mans tee, sorry ladies they don’t have any specifically for us! I don’t mind this though as I picked up a smaller size so it would fit snug on me. You can find this on the website, and I have linked it here for you.

As well as the two t-shirts I picked up from HMV I also bought myself a few other things, not clothing related. I picked up these Kurt Cobain pin badges for my backpack, as during my trip to London I decided that I would start to use it again more often. I love Nirvana and Kurt so I though it would be cool to get some badges with his face on them. These were a steal at £3.99 and I can’t wait to pop a few on my backpack. I also picked up a DVD copy of Forrest Gump after visiting Bubba Gump Shrimp. It’s a film I’ve been meaning to buy and add to my collection for some time now, as it’s one of my favourite films. I put it on for me and Dane to watch when I got back from London, and I cried so many times that I ended up losing count. Oh dear. 😦 It was another bargain at only £2.99!

My favourite purchase of my trip to London was definitely my new coat, a yellow raincoat! I have been after one of Topshop’s raincoats for years now, and every time I saw one I liked the look of it seemed to sell out really quickly, if not straight away. I saw this one in the Oxford Street store and decided to grab it with both hands before I was never able to buy one again! I’ve bought it two sizes too big for me so it didn’t feel snug, but instead was more roomy and baggy. Reason being so that in autumn and winter I can layer up and not feel uncomfortable. I found from wearing it around London for a couple of days that this coat is incredibly warm, and will be perfect for rainy days! The hood is huge which I’m really pleased about, as I love any jacket, coat, or hoodie was a hood that swamps my whole face. I can’t wait to wear these with my Jake Dr Martens boots (you can read about them here) as they’re both yellow and will look amazing! With all this rain we’ve been having they’ll work perfectly together. Yay! You can fine this raincoat on Topshop’s website here.

I mentioned before that I went to Bubba Gump Shrimp whilst in London and shortly after having a meal there with Sophi, I decided I wanted to get some goodies from the gift shop. Before heading down the restaurant gave us our blue flashing glasses that we’d had drinks in. As Sophi already had a blue glass already, she kindly gave me hers so that me and Dane could have one each in the house. I love that she does things like that! I also bought two pint glasses from the gift shop, which were meant to be two for £10, but the guy only charged me £5.98 for two. I didn’t say anything and accepted how cheap they were! One is going to be for my dad whenever he comes to visit me at the house, and the other for myself and Dane to use whenever. They’re just bog standard pint glasses, which will come in handy for pop, beer, etc. By the way I do apologise for the pint glasses still being wrapped up. I don’t want to open them until me and Dane have moved into the house. But you all know what a pint glass looks like anyway! 😛

Of course I couldn’t go down to London and not pop into the Lush on Oxford Street. That would just be out of order, and it was one of the last shops me and Sophi popped into on my first day in London. I had promised Dane (and myself) that I wouldn’t buy anything… But I caved in and ended up buying two things. DOH! I took in five empty black pots and bagged myself a free pot of The Prince of Darkness face mask, which I was super happy about! I haven’t used it yet, but I hope to soon.

The two products I bought were Supertramp bubble bar, which is an exclusive to Oxford Street, and their newest bath bomb Lava Lamp (link here), which Oxford Street did release when they first opened last year, but discontinued it shortly after. I imagine to work on a better formula and scent for it… Who knows! Either way I thought I was going to go crazy and want to buy more, but alas I only really wanted to get my favourite exclusive, that being Supertramp, and I’ve always wanted to try Lava Lamp. I’ll be giving them a go soon enough and reviewing them. Woop!

The majority of the rest of things I bought were food and drinks related, either Japanese or American. I said that I would be coming back with loads of Japanese snacks, but I didn’t really think about bringing this much back! Boy do I have a lot to show…

All my Japanese goodies are mostly from Japan Centre, but I also grabbed some stuff from an independent Japanese supermarket too. I bought two types of Pocky, banana and matcha (green tea), my two favourites! They cost less than a £1 each so I bought two of each, because why not! I also bought some random goodies too such as Pokemon wafers, a panda wafer, as well as three bottles of ramune soda! One is missing however due to me and Dane drinking it… Oops!

I also bought plenty of American sweets, mostly blue raspberry flavoured as they have always been my favourite. Just loads of random things. These were mostly from Gobstoppers in Stratford shopping centre, and I’m just going to say that I will never go there again. I will try the one in Birmingham to see what it’s like, but I judged the Stratford one so hard. They were selling out of date stock from over a year ago, AT FULL PRICE, the staff were rude, and they charged ridiculous prices for things you can buy in Asda for 99p. A complete joke, and I won’t be going there again…

Another sweet related place I bought stuff from was the legendary Choccywoccydoodah, which I had never heard about until my friend Sophi told me about it. We ventured into the cafe there, which was amazing, and to be honest (for me) the best part about it. The shop itself was lovely, with some beautiful creations, but at the same time I do feel like it was really tacky… Sorry (I’m not sorry…)! I ended up buying some chocolate, one little slab of dark (which you can buy here), and a larger slab of chocolate with green tea flavour (which you can buy here). I’m excited to try these, as the dark chocolate we had in the cafe was gorgeous! It was ridiculously overpriced to be honest, and I doubt I’ll ever buy anything from there again. I feel bitchy saying that, but it just seems a rip off for what you’re getting, especially when I’m not a huge chocolate lover anyway.

Apart from the goodies that I also picked up for Dane (a Fallout 4 Dogmeat Pop Vinyl!, a book, and some sweeties) that is all I bought! My friend Sophi gave me and Dane one of the nicest moving in presents we have received so far, with it being matching Disney mugs! Lady and The Tramp for me, and Stitch for Dane. We love them, and will be using them lots when we move into the house. She also gave me a medium Pink Sands Yankee Candle that she didn’t want, as well as a Charity Pot lotion from Lush that she didn’t want either. All the goodies! I intend to give her something very soon as a thank you for having me stay at hers whilst we were in London. That and it’s her birthday soon!

So that was all the stuff I bought whilst in London! I wish I could have ventured to more places that sold Japanese related things, but that will be for next time.

What have you bought nice for yourself lately? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

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

July/Hyper Japan Wish List 2015

Due to London taking up most of my money this month, I don’t have much of a wish list this month either. This will mostly be stuff I’ll be trying to buy whilst I’m in London at Hyper Japan, as well as from places around London that me and my boyfriend hope to be going to when we get a chance.

I’ve already made a separate wish list for Lush, which will be live on my blog Wednesday.

• Pokemon Center Pokemon Time Eievui Vaporeon Plush Keychain.

I recently showed you guys a haul of some purchases from Japan, this is part of that collection and something I regret not asking for! But I’ll be keeping my eye out for it when I go to Hyper Japan for sure! It’s a cute little Vaporeon plushie keychain which is just pulling on my heartstrings… Not good, not good at all! There is of course a full collection of these in all the Eeveelutions but this one is my favourite for sure.

• Nana Manga Volumes 10-15.

I LOVE this manga and even though I’ve been reading it for a couple of years now, I’m still up to volume 9. Why? Because this manga is proving hard to find! My boyfriend was amazing and bought me 8 and 9 for Christmas, but they didn’t last me long whilst we were on holiday. I want to try and finish this manga this year so I can focus on reading another (Attack on Titan maybe?) and whilst I could be naughty and read it online for free, I love this manga enough that I want to own it. I love the anime and the manga continues on for longer than the anime does. I’m hoping I can pick these five volumes up from Hyper Japan, or maybe even a Japanese or geeky book shop in London.

• My Neighbour Totoro Backpack.

I don’t exactly NEED a new backpack, but I would like one. I love my current one, but I fancy something new and something that will work with both my fashion needs and practical needs. I saw a gorgeous Totoro backpack when I went to Comic Con in November, but it wasn’t this one. I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for a gorgeous new Totoro bag, whether it’s a backpack, or a shoulder bag. You can’t go wrong with Totoro!

• Kit Kat in Green Tea Matcha.

I LOVE matcha Kit Kat’s! I could eat them all day but I also hate them. They cost so much money to buy, but oh so worth it! I plan on investing in these and buying as many as humanly possible. You can pick them up for decent prices on eBay, Amazon, and other websites online, but if I can pick some up from Hyper Japan, then I’m good with this. If you’ve never tried any of the random yet amazing flavours that Kit Kat’s that Japan have to offer, then you really are losing out! Websites like Sushi Noms and Tofu Cute sell these at decent prices.

• Pokemon Center Pikazard Plushie.

Who can say no to this cutie? I’ve wanted the Pikazard plushie since it came out and although it isn’t a must, if Sushi Noms is selling it (like I think they might be!) then I may have to look into it. I’m sure there will be hundreds of fakes of these flying around Hyper Japan, but I’ll only buy from sellers I KNOW go to Japan to buy legits. These are incredibly cute though. Who could resist?

• Pocky in flavours Peach, Banana, and Matcha.

I LOVE Pocky. Like Kit Kat’s really, the Japanese do these treats well and what’s best is they’re not too many calories. So I don’t have to feel too guilty whilst I snack on them. Once again, I love matcha flavouring so I can hardly resist the matcha Pocky. I bought loads of Pocky when I attended Comic Con and I loved them all. The only problem with Pocky sellers is they often rack the prices up, whilst Asian supermarkets sell these dirt cheap! I may stock up on these if I can get them for reasonable prices, like the Kit Kat’s. I mostly want banana and matcha flavours. Nom, nom, nom!

• Nendoroid – Sword Art Online Kirito.

This isn’t just a rare Nendoroid, but it’s also very bloody expensive due to it! This is something I have been after for quite some time now, not for myself, but for my boyfriend. He loves his Nendoroid’s like myself, if not more and most of his collection have been bought by myself as presents. I’ve bought him a majority of the Attack on Titan series with only two left to get (Colossal Titan and Cleaning Levi) which I am also on the hunt for at Hyper Japan. However, if I can find a real version of Kirito, then I’ll probably buy it, or give him some money towards this as I know how much he’s after it. He’s a gorgeous little character and who wouldn’t want him in their collection, eh?

So that’s my wish list for July and for Hyper Japan!

Are you attending Hyper Japan this summer? If so, let me know!

Until next time all, take care and have a great weekend.