November Wish List ’22

First of all apologies for the silence from me for two weeks! As I mentioned in my last blog post (October Favourites ’22) both me and Dane were due to have some time off work together, and we pretty much chilled all the week, and went for a chilled holiday the weekend. It was a much deserved and needed break for us both and we were sort of gutted to be back at work.

We just spent a lot of time together, which was also very overdue. We live together, so we are always just a room away from each others company, but sometimes we might be doing our own thing, whether that be online with friends, or solo. I’ve been spending a lot of time on my cross stitch projects lately, whereas Dane has been playing a lot of games, so it was nice to come together to do things we both love… Which was playing games. 😛 Then over the weekend we went to North Wales to stay at a shepherds hut, have a go at clay throwing, and of course explore some parts of the area. I’m going to talk more about our trip soon, so keep eyes peeled for it at the end of the month on my November favourites. 😉

I’ve realised whilst putting this wish list together that not only is it very clothing and plushie heavy, but it’s also very Pokemon heavy as well! Not that there’s anything wrong with any of those things, but if you aren’t a massive Pokemon fan… This months favourites may not be for you. 😛

So, sit back, grab a hot drink and let’s get into this months wish list post! I hope you enjoy it. 🙂

• Pokemon Center Vulpix & Alolan Vulpix Snowflake Knit Sweater – (link)

Christmas is just around the corner and with that, the Pokemon Center here in the UK and more have launched their Pokemon Christmas goods! Last year I purchased a Pokemon Christmas jumper, and I didn’t plan to again this year. However, when I saw this Vulpix snowflake sweater appear on the website, I just knew I had to get it. At this moment in time I haven’t ordered it, but, I do potentially plan to when I’m paid at the end of the month. I intend to wear the shit out of my Eevee Christmas jumper this year, but I love the look of this one for winter overall, as it doesn’t exactly shout “Christmas” at you, does it? It’s not cheap at £39.99, and the size I planned to get is currently sold out, so we’ll see what happens. 🙂 I remember last year a lot of people bought the Christmas jumpers and quickly sold them online in January.

• Lumichee 100% Cotton Batbat Hoodie – (link)

Lumichee is an independent store/brand I’ve been in love with for a while now, especially since my own goodies from the brand arrived last month that I ordered! I picked up a plush, and a hoodie and on this wish list I have the same types of items wished after all over again. The Lumichee hoodies are SO COMFORTABLE and by far my favourites in my wardrobe alongside my Pokemon Center UK 2019 one. They’re really baggy too, which is ideal for me as I love an oversized hoodie. I love Lumichee’s Batbat design, so the fact they have released one makes me happy. This probably won’t be something I purchase for myself until after Christmas, for obvious reasons. 😛

• Pokemon Center Plush Flareon Pokémon Fuwa Fuwa Daki – (link)

This is up the top of my wish list right now! Recently the Pokemon Center announced three new fuwa fuwa daki plushies would be available to buy, Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon. These haven’t hit the UK Pokemon Center yet, which I’m hoping they do for a few reasons… The first one (and main one at that) being the cost for shipping is very high… £30 plus in fact, which is more than the plush itself. The second reason being I could maybe ask for one as a Christmas/birthday present then. I’m wary only Dane would order from Japan, but even then I don’t think it’s something he wants to do at the moment. Whilst I’d love all three of these cute fluffy babies, the one plush I want the most is the Flareon. It’s cute little surprised face is adorable, and my favourite out of the three. We’ll see if I get this cutie in the future or not. 😛

• Lumichee “Monochrome” Mini Batbat Plush Series 4 – (link)

The other Lumichee item, and another plushie to boot. 😛 The Batbat plush is one I’ve wanted for about two years now, as I do love bats. 🙂 I recently received my sakura inspired Mousemoth, which I do adore, but I still want a Batbat… This monochrome version is really cute and it’s mini too, so it won’t take over my plushie collection too much! 😛 Like the Batbat hoodie, I do plan on ordering that and the plush for myself after Christmas!

• Pokémon Scarlet & Violet – Dual Pack Steelbook Edition – (link)

The new Pokemon game is out in less than a week now and I am SO EXCITED! I’ve had the dual pack pre-ordered since June and I’m ready for it now. I’ve watched all the trailers, and in all honesty I’ve also seen all the spoilers. I’m sick of seeing other people play it, I want to have my turn now! I ordered the dual pack as Dane will play Scarlet, and I’ll play Violet. We have Friday off work to play this all day together, as well as over the weekend, which I am beyond ready for! If you haven’t watched any of the trailers for the new games, go and do it! I know I’ve linked the dual pack, but I’m wary that a lot of places have sold out of this now, so keep eyes peeled for where you can grab your copy/copies. 🙂

• Pokemon Gastly Winter Coat – (link)

Finally we have the item I’m probably most after on this list, which is a Pokemon themed winter coat, and of course if you didn’t gather by the name, it’s inspired by Gastly! This is from EMP, an alternative fashion website I frequent to every now and then, more so at Christmas for gifts for Dane. I saw a Twitter account share this coat, and some other Pokemon fashion items from this EMP Gastly range and fell in love straight away! If it wasn’t for the fact I’ve had so much stuff to pay for lately, as well as Christmas looming, I think I’d have bought this coat for myself by now! I’m semi hopeful I can pick it up for myself after Christmas as it would be a nice addition to my wardrobe. I love how long it hangs at the back, as well as the hood. Plus, it’s a duffle coat style, which is one of my favourites! I currently own and wear a red duffle coat during the colder months, which I don’t really want to replace.

So, there we have it guys, my wish list for November! Realistically from this point until after Christmas, I probably won’t be buying myself a lot of stuff, as that’s what Christmas is kind of for, as well as my birthday in January.

What items do you have on your wish list? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and have a good weekend!

Collective Japan Haul

I have been so excited to write this haul post for you guys this week, you can’t believe! I don’t know what it was, but at the end of June I decided to place a massive order from Meccha Japan, as well as a smaller one from Amazon Japan as I was after some goodies in particular. I can’t wait to share them with you all today! My Meccha Japan haul only arrived a few days ago, so I’ve been eagerly waiting to finish off this post, take photos of all the kawaii goods and show them off to you all.

For those of you who aren’t regular readers of my blog, I have written about Meccha Japan before, which was after my first order with them back at the end of 2021, which you can read all about here. As this was my second order with Meccha Japan, I want to share some newer experiences with them, including shipping, combining orders, as well as a slight issue I had with one of my plushies.

I placed both Amazon Japan  and Meccha Japan orders on 24th June, with Amazon arriving less than a week later on 29th June, however my Meccha Japan order didn’t arrive until 14th July, which was due to one of my items being a pre-order, as well as me having to change my shipping type.

This was my second order from Amazon Japan and it went as smoothly as always. I’m actually tempted to play another order soon for some cute bits and pieces for my desk at home, but I may need to wait until payday in a few weeks to do this. I’ve eyed up a Cinnamoroll takeaway mug, Cinnamoroll phone stand, Sirotan hand fan and more.

I always highly recommend people to use Amazon Japan if they’re after some goods in particular, as they’re decently priced and whilst the shipping is on the higher level, you can always ship yourself a massive box of goodies to make the shipping worth it later. Also, for the shipping costs your goods do arrive fairly quickly, which is something we all want when buying stuff from Japan.

From Amazon Japan I ordered two of the six Cinnamoroll 20th Anniversary plushies I wanted, including Cinnamoroll himself and Mocha.

Cinnamoroll 20th Anniversary Cinnamoroll Plush – (link)

I mean, who can refuse picking up Cinnamoroll considering the whole collection is based off of him and his 20th Anniversary! I already have a Cinnamoroll plushie, bit I couldn’t resist picking up another one. It’s soft and fluffy and perfect size for adding to plushie cabinets. Of course Cinnamoroll’s little cinnamon roll tail. I’ve always loved Cinnamoroll as alongside Pompompurin, Cinnamoroll was one of the first Sanrio characters I got into, as he released around the time when I got my home computer as a kid. To add here for all of the Cinnamoroll plushies, they all have the tag around their neck that states they’re part of the 20th Anniversary line, which is a nice touch! I debated whether or not to take these off and I’m still unsure. If anything I might take them off, keep them in a zip-lock bag and keep them somewhere safe! Another thing to add here is the tags that are on all the 20th Anniversary plushies. They’re all pretty much the same but inside each plush has their design within, which I think is a really nice touch! I’ll be showing them all on each character when talking about them.

Cinnamoroll 20th Anniversary Mocha Plush – (link)

I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Mocha growing up as she’s a gorgeous coffee brown colour and mochas were actually my first introduction to coffee, which I now adore, love and start my days drinking! I especially love the little pink flowers that Mocha wears in her fur, and by her ears. Mocha is the leader of the Cinnamoangels and I feel for Mocha too as she really likes Cinnamoroll but I don’t think his feelings are the same for her. This is actually the hardest to find out of the all the 20th Anniversary plushies, so I’m glad I was able to find her for a great price.

Next we have a LOT of goodies to talk about and share from Meccha Japan, which I’ve been so excited to have arrive. They arrived a day earlier than planned, which I was so grateful for as I’d not been having the best day and my mental health was in a really bad place. As soon as I had a moment to calm myself down, I opened my plushies and was met with fluffy, kawaii goodness that gave me the serotonin boost I needed!

To add here, I’d seen the Cinnamoroll 20th Anniversary plushies and was toying with whether to buy them all or not, and at the time I’d gone with the latter. However, when Pokemon Center Japan announced they were adding a Phanpy to the Saiko Soda line, I KNEW I had to order that, as well as the Cinnamoroll 20th Anniversary plushies. So, I ordered the rest of the Cinnamoroll 20th Anniversary plushies I needed, which was four in total. Thanks to Phanpy I now have them all. 😛

I’d like to semi address something here to make anyone else aware of when ordering from Meccha Japan. Phanpy was a pre-order so my items didn’t ship until that has been purchased and added to the order, which is fair enough and Meccha Japan always state when the item is due to be in stock on the item listing, which is always handy to know.

I’m going to sound like I’m having a dig now with my next couple of sentences, so I apologise, but I don’t because yah’ll know I like to be honest here! I had a few gripes with my second order with Meccha Japan, one of them being that airmail is currently available to select as a shipping option, when in actual fact airmail is still unavailable due to what is happening between Russia and Ukraine. So, when I placed my second order I selected airmail as I thought it had now become available again and I’d been hidden under a rock! Shortly after placing the order I realised it wasn’t available and went to the “contact us” section of the website to see if I could change my shipping to DHL. It took me three attempts to get the contact us form to work, which was a massive ball ache! I eventually was able to change to DHL but not until my Phanpy plush had been purchased and my order was ready to be sent.

I do not understand why Meccha Japan have left airmail on and haven’t warned people at the time about how long they may have to wait for their goods to ship. Plus, if they have a lot of customers selecting airmail, surely they’re going to run out of room in their warehouse eventually? Or even face a LOT of backlog when airmail is back? Maybe even some price changes to airmail shipping? It doesn’t make sense to me to leave this option on.

The second thing that bugged me is I wanted to add an item to my pre-existing order, which I had paid for and I was just waiting to pay the extra invoice for the DHL shipping upgrade. They don’t combine orders, so I was told no. I understand this, but if you’re happy to quote and invoice your customers via PayPal so they can change their airmail shipping to DHL shipping, why can’t you do this for another item? I don’t own a business so I’m sure there will be other factors behind it, but I don’t get it… Either way it doesn’t matter too much now as I have that item I wanted ordered and on route, along with an item for Sarah (Raiin Monkey), which I won’t mention here as I’m sure she’ll want to talk about it on her blog! 😀

I wanted to raise these two points on my post so anyone who is new to Meccha Japan knows of these things now and not later like I found out.

Anyhoo, enough of me moaning, on with the kawaii goods!

Pokemon Saiko Soda Phanpy Plush – (link)

As mentioned previously, this is the reason why I made the Meccha Japan order in the first place! This has quickly turned into one of my favourite plushies in my collection. Phanpy is one of my favourite Pokemon from gen two (Gold and Silver) and I’ve always wanted a plush of it to add to my collection! I was close to buying the Pokemon Fit plush of it recently, but glad I held off as the Saiko Soda plush is much cuter. The one thing I love especially about this plush is the little shocked sort of expression of it’s mouth. It’s a gorgeous plush and I’m so happy to have it as part of my collection now.

Cinnamoroll 20th Anniversary Espresso Plush – (link)

Espresso is a gorgeous cream plush with curly ears and a cute little face! This plush was a little worse for wear when he arrived as one of his ears thread has come a little undone. I think I’ve fixed it now by tightening the string but I’m toying with emailing Meccha Japan about it. It’s a bit of a let down in all honesty but it’s fine. I’ve just got to be extra careful with Espresso! I have to find, I find it so bizarre that he’s called Espresso and is a cream colour, when we all know espresso is dark brown. Unless the colour is from the crema you get when you brew coffee… Who knows! 😛

Cinnamoroll 20th Anniversary Cappuccino Plush – (link)

In Cinnamoroll: The Movie Cappuccino is one of my favourites as he’s a sleepy boy with a massive appetite and some days I can definitely relate to that! Cappuccino is a caramel brown colour with a white mouth, so he clearly resembles a Cappuccino coffee! As he’s represented as being a sleepy he is often drawn and shown with sleepy eyes, so I’m a little torn with how his eyes are on this plush? I like that they’re open as he looks adorable, but at the same time if they’d been closed I may have preferred it a little more? Just to give a bit of diversity amongst the plushies.

Cinnamoroll 20th Anniversary Chiffon Plush – (link)

Chiffon is such a cute plushie and is one my favourite characters too as she’s a tomboy, something I definitely was growing up! Chiffon is also part of the Cinnamoangels with Mocha. Not going to lie, Chiffon threw me a little when I took her out of her packaging! Her brown ears and and brown tail are a completely different material to her cream body and feel rough and old/worn, if that makes sense? Thankfully they aren’t the latter and were designed that way to give a curly sort of look. It does work, but they don’t feel very nice so I feel like they may have flawed this plushie in that regard? This being said, I do love her, she’s gorgeous!

Cinnamoroll 20th Anniversary Milk Plush – (link)

Finally we have Milk, the baby of the gang and an absolute cutie! I don’t know why but I always thought Milk was a baby of Cinnamoroll’s and one of the Cinnamoangels, but alas this isn’t the case. Milk is labelled as a life size version, so when put next to the other plushies, Milk is actually a little smaller, which is a nice touch. He’s absolutely adorable with his blue dummy, brown curl on his head and again, the size difference isn’t out there but it is a cute touch. With the brown curl on his head, it does make me wonder if he will have a brown mohawk or something when he’s older?

To add here, for those wondering what the item was that I wanted to add to my order, it’s the alolan Vulpix AirPods Pro case that I mentioned on my previous blog post about my July wish list (which you can read here).

So there we have it guys, my collection Japan haul! I know it was pretty much Sanrio/Cinnamoroll goods with one Pokemon item thrown in for good measure. 😛 Although I did have a moan about Meccha Japan, don’t let this put you off. They’re an amazing company and I do really love shopping with them. I placed my third order with them on Monday and it shipped on Thursday! It’s due to arrive in the next couple of days so I’m excited to change up my AirPod Pro case, as well as sent Sarah her goodies!

What did you guys like the look of the most and who is your favourite Pokemon, Sanrio character and Cinnamoroll friend? Any items from Amazon Japan/Meccha Japan you’d like to get? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care and stay safe next week with the warmer days hitting the UK!

July Wish List ’22

How are we already into the first week of July? This month is already flying by, it’s crazy. The past week has flown by for me and it has been a mixture of ups and downs, mostly the latter unfortunately. I’m hopeful that things will turn around soon however, as I’d like to try and spend days less mopey and more cheerly, especially as we get some nicer weather too.

June was an expensive month for me with our trip away to Manchester and other things we did, and with me trying to be better than money, I told myself I’d be good in July. Alas, so far I have not been good at all and I’m now banning myself from buying anything else until payday at the end of the month. This month I decided to get back into cross stitch, which wasn’t exactly cheap as I had to buy a lot of thread and some patterns. This being said it’s definitely been worth it as I’m really enjoying doing the pattern I bought and it’s a big one, so it’ll keep me going for quite some time! Plus, as I’m part of diyCrossing’s Patreon, I get access to lots of Animal Crossing themed patterns, so I can always do some of those too!

So, this months wish list will be items I’ve pre-ordered, need to get as staples, and items I’ll be saving to pick up in the future as a monthly treat. I really do need to be good now, I made a lot of big purchases this month. Spending ban has to come back! That being said, I really hope you enjoy this months wish list, the colour palette for it is so pretty!

• Pokemon Center Alolan Vulpix AirPods Pro Case – (link)

At the time of writing this post (day before it’s due to go live!), I have literally just discovered this AirPods pro case and I really do want/need it in my life! My AirPods currently have a cheaper ghost case on them, which I do love but it would be nice to mix it up, especially if I can get an official Pokemon one. The Alolan Vulpix and Ninetales designs for this collection is adorable, and it’s actually been quite a while now since a Pokemon collection has come out where I’ve really liked at least one item from it! As there is a little hook on the side of the case too, I’d look to try and find a special keychain/bracelet to wear when I use them to go walking.

• Sugary Carousel Puppermint Plush – (link)

This is an item I have preordered from Sugary Carousel as whilst I don’t need anymore plushies, I fell in love with their Puppermint design! I love dogs and as a kid I always loved mint chocolate chip ice cream, so this just felt like a must have purchase for me. I didn’t quite realise how big this plushie is either, but it’s approximately ten to eleven inches tall, which is huge! This won’t ship until December, which I don’t mind, as I’ll class it as an early Christmas/birthday present for me. 😛 Not going to lie, the shipping for this item was so expensive, but it’ll be worth it! The quality of the plush looks really nice and soft.

• Shirayukinikki Jiji & Lily’s Bakery 16 oz Glass Tumbler – (link)
  

I discovered Shirayukinikki recently on Instagram and since then I’ve really fallen in love with their pieces, especially their glass tumblers, with the Kiki’s Delivery Service themed one grabbing my attention the most! I’d love to pick this up in the future, but as Shirayukinikki is an American based small businesses, I’m wary the shipping costs will be a lot. This being said, it would make such a cute addition to my home, especially as recently I’ve started to make my own iced coffee, and plan to start having a go at making my own matcha bubble tea!

• Soap & Glory The Real Zing Body Wash and Body Sorbet – (link) and (link)

I kind of forgot how much I like the Soap & Glory range as I was using up the Sugar Crush body buttercream recently. Their stuff smells divine and it’s especially perfect for summer due to that. I’ve decided when I’ve used up The Body Shop goods I have currently, I’ll be picking up some stuff from The Real Zing collection, including the body wash and the body sorbet. I gave them a sniff during my short stay in Manchester and really liked how fresh and summery they smelt! Plus, I can imagine them giving me an extra wake up during and after my morning showers before I start the work day in the week. These are currently on offer too, so I may take advantage of them sooner, rather than later.

• Pokemon TCG Vulpix Seasons Playmat – (link)

We started this months wish list with Pokemon and we’re going to finish it with Pokemon too, and to boot they’re both Vulpix themed items too, which I find funny! I love how the Pokemon Center UK website is updating daily pretty much, and I especially love that we’re slowly seeing items land to the UK store that the Japan and American store have had for years! When the Vulpix Seasons collection launched in Japan in 2017 I purchased a few items from it, but regretted not ordering more. Now we can get the playmat in the UK, I’m definitely planning on picking it up in the future for my desk! I love my Eeveelutions one, but it would be nice to change it up every now and then for fun!

So, there you have it guys, the absolutely adorable items from my wish list this month! As I said, I am pretty much on a spending ban the rest of this month now, so any items on this list that I’d like to get eventually will need to wait for payday treats, or even Christmas and birthday, considering they’ll be here before we know it! :O

What do you guys have on your wish lists? Have you discovered some new items through mine? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time, take care guys and have an amazing weekend!

April Wish List ’22

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Nintendo Switch Sports – (link)

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

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

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

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

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

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

March Wish List ’22

It’s well and truly March already and I can’t believe it! 2022 is flying and I’m not ready to be a quarter of the way through the year so soon.

I feel like I said the same last month, but I’m rather excited for March, purely for a new month after how crap the last one was. Don’t get me wrong, February wasn’t as bad as January for being really poorly and skint after Christmas, but with everything that’s happening in the world right now, I think a few of us can agree that February was shite… Especially towards the end.

This being said, we can’t bad mouth the end of February too much and if you’re a Pokemon fan, you’ll know exactly why! We had the Pokemon Presents for the 26th Anniversary and DAMN the ending was amazing and something some of us didn’t see coming. The announcement of Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet, generation nine in the franchise was announced, with some sneak peaks of the game as well as the three new starters. The generation nine games will launch later this year, which I’m so excited for! I’ll definitely be booking some time off work to play it like what I did for Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield as well as Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Anyhoo, let’s get on with this wish list! I’ve really struggled with it this month as at the start of 2022 I said to myself I’d be better with money and so far, it’s going pretty well, which I’m really proud of! I’ve got to a point however where I go to buy things and instead sit and think, “Do I REALLY need this?” and “What could that items cost get me instead/be used towards?” which has really helped. I recommend it for anyone who is trying to save monies. 🙂

• Pokemon Center Eevee Greatest Hits T-Shirt – (link)

Since the UK Pokemon Center opened online, I’ve kept my eyes peeled every other day for what new items they may add to the website (I have grails I’m hoping to get eventually!), and a few weeks ago I noticed this Eevee t-shirt landed on the website. I love the Eevee design, it’s so adorable and the “Quick Attack” text above it just reminds me of whenever I play with Eevee in my team. This isn’t exactly cheap at almost £25, but it’s definitely cute and official Pokemon gear is always great as well. I don’t know if I’ll pick this up anytime soon, but I would love to snag it eventually.

• Ocean In Space/Ocean Club Patreon Club Spirited Away Print – (link)

This is a print I’ve already ordered technically, as I signed up for the Patreon at the end of February. Ocean In Space‘s designs are so beautiful and really are works of art and I adore them all. However, when they announced they would be doing a Spirited Away design with Chihiro, I knew I had to get it! I waited until February payday and made sure to back their Patreon and snag it as soon as I could. I’m honestly so excited for this to arrive already! I already own the Nana print from Patreon at some point last year (which I also wrote about and you can read here) which I adore, I just need to get a frame big enough for it. 😛 I semi regret not backing for the washi tape and stickers now, but meh… I wanted to save money and just get things I’d make use of. I think I’ll look at having this print up in my office by my desk, the same as my plans for the Nana one too.

• Sol de Janeiro Bum Bum Jet Set and Sol de Janeiro Coco Cabana Jet Set – (link) and (link)

If there is one thing I’ve really missed having in my shower the past fortnight, it’s a yummy scented shower gel. My bottle of Snow Fairy finally ran out at the end of February and I’ve been after something nice to replace it since. I thought about getting something else from Lush but their shower gels are shockingly priced for what they are, plus, I didn’t like the look of anything. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Sol de Janeiro and their bum bum cream (especially its scent!), so I thought I’d have a look to see if they do shower gel, which they do! 😀 The scent of this sounds divine, as it’s described as being caramel-pistachio. HOLY SHIT GET IN MY SHOWER! I was too busy trying to be good that I missed out over last weekend when offers were flowing. However, as Mother’s Day is coming up and I know my mom wants to try Sol de Janeiro, I decided to grab a couple of the jet set gift bags for us, one each of the Bum Bum and Coco Cabana, making each set less than £20 with the discount codes I had. I’m so excited for these to arrive and I really hope me and my mom love our goodies. I’ve really been meaning to keep on top of my beauty regime now, my body has been struggling and felt really tight and dry. I’ve been slathering body cream on more than ever this week and my body is already appreciating it. 🙂

I’m going to pop my Look Fantastic referral code here. You’ll get £10 off your order if you use the code, but bear in mind you must spend a minimum of £30. Click the link and the discount will auto apply at checkout. 🙂

• Disney Store Turning Red Mei Plush – (link)

My friend Sacha on Instagram brought my attention to the fact the Disney Store had released Turning Red merchandise, as well as a HUGE Mei plush! I’ve been so excited for Turning Red coming out, that I vowed to buy one or two pieces of merch when it launched in shops. This plush is large and is something I knew I had to add to my collection. My only worry at the time was, “Where is it going to go?!” I’ve had it a few days now (at the time of writing this post I’d just ordered it…) at the point of this post going live and I adore it. I’ve also found it a home, my office chair. When I’m working on stuff at my desk (work and personal), as well a playing games I can have a snuggle of it to relax me. So far, it’s really helped my anxiety and kept me calm. Ironic really considering what Turning Red is all about, eh? 😛

So there we have it, my wish list for March. I know it’s a little bare this month, but I really am trying to be better with my monies. Some of the items in this post have been ordered/arrived but this makes a nice change, as usually I add stuff to my wish lists and either wait months to purchase and sometimes don’t buy at all!

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

Until next time guys, take care and have an amazing weekend!

February Favourites ’22

I know February is a short month anyway, but 2022 is flying past and I don’t know how I feel about that. I’m glad, because I want spring to come for light nights and slightly warmer days/better weather, but at the same time, I don’t want time to go too quickly as before we know it, we’ll be back at Christmas all over again!

I was recently speaking to someone about the idea of going to Japan again in 2023 and was met with, “Wait, you only went last year?” I went to Japan two years ago… Proof that as you get older, the years fly by quicker!

Alongside that, since turning 32 in January, February has been a month of me going, “Jeez I’m really getting old now, aren’t I?” and that’s kind of made me feel weird. It’s crazy how quick time flies after you turn a certain age (want to say 21). I do sometimes wish I’d spent more time enjoying my twenties, but that being said I don’t have any regrets.

ANYWAY today’s post isn’t about that stuff and is of course my monthly favourites! February was a strange one as whilst I definitely have things to share with you all, I don’t feel like I have a lot of general stuff to share?

As always, I hope you enjoy reading about things I loved throughout February.

Favourite Beauty Product – SBC Cotton Sensitive Body Wash.

I’ve been so excited to share this body wash with you all today as since receiving it around the start of February, it’s really improved my skin, which in turn makes me happy! My mom is the person who got me into SBC and their skin care, especially their body washes which seem to live in our bathroom for at least half of the year! This SBC body wash smells just like fresh washing and leaves my skin feeling baby soft, which is something I don’t achieve often! I’m shite for looking after my skin with body lotions and potions, not going to lie! A couple of pumps of this on my new silicone shower sponge and I’m guaranteed to be left a cotton scented lather and soft skin after I get out of the shower. This body wash is dermatologically tested which is great for me and my eczema, which recently flared up on my legs. This body wash did really help with it though, with no discomfort or stinging during use. I highly recommend this if you want something fancy in your shower, but have sensitive skin like me.

Favourite TV Show – The Legend of Vox Machina.

The Legend of Vox Machina is a new animated series on Amazon Prime that Dane has been looking forward to since March 2019 when the Kickstarter launched, which he backed. So, when the show finally launched in February, he was all over it for us to watch, which of course I was down for. Vox Machina is based off of the first Critical Role campaign/series, which if you didn’t know is a Dungeons & Dragons campaign written by Matt Mercer and played by a group of voice actors (Marisha Ray, Sam Reigel, Travis Willingham, Liam O’Brien, Laura Baily, Taliesin Jaffe and Ashley Johnson). It’s really popular and has recently gone into it’s third campaign/series! Dane is all caught up on the campaigns and loves Critical Role, I’m not an avid watcher of their campaigns but if Dane has it on, I will watch it on and off. Although the show is based off of D&D (and the Critical Role campaign) Vox Machina can be enjoyed by anyone, even if you’ve never watched the campaign it’s based off like me, or even if you aren’t a fan of D&D! It’s got some amazing adult comedy, bit of singing, lots of fighting and action and all around amazing show!

Favourite Music – Spiritbox – Eternal Blue.

Spiritbox are a band that Dane introduced me to a while ago now and for some reason I thought I’d mentioned them on my blog previously, which doesn’t seem to be the case! The song that caused me to really get into this band is the one I’ve added above called, “Secret Garden”, which is such a nice, mellow rock song to enjoy. I’ve especially been listening to their first album Eternal Blue when I’ve gone into the office to work, as well as when driving to and from places. Eternal Blue came out towards the end of 2021, so it’s a fairly new album, which I didn’t realise until I was writing this post. The band themselves are described as metal (progressive, alternative, etc) so if you like this genre of rock, make sure to check them out!

Image taken from Nintendo Life/Nintendo.

Favourite Game – Pokemon: Legends Arceus.

How could I not mention Legends Arceus this month? It came out at the end of January and every other weekend me and Dane have stayed in the house the whole time playing it. During the weekends where we’ve played it, we’ve snuggled up on the sofa under blankets and with hot drinks as we play this together! I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t 100% sure about the game when I first started playing it and felt a bit nervous of all sorts of aspects, mainly because it wasn’t the same as I was used to, due to the RPG gameplay. However, the more I’ve played it, the more I’ve started to relax and enjoy it, especially with Dane. I’m yet to finish the games story and in all honesty it’s not one I’ve been hooked on/about. In typical Japanese RPG fashion, the talking goes on and on and whilst I’m happy with it in Persona 5/Persona 5 Royal, it’s something I don’t like for Pokemon. Due to this, I’ve mostly skimmed the story, which in itself is a shame. This being said I really do enjoy and love the game, bugs aside too! I’ve recommend it to so many people, it’s definitely one to play as a Pokemon fan, especially if you love RPG.

Just a few of my favourite things…

Pokemon Center Vulpix Plush.

I was so happy to get my hands on this Pokemon plushie at the end of January. It’s been on my plushie grail list for as long as I can remember and after January payday, I decided to finally order one! This cost me less than £20 with shipping from Japan and I’m so glad I finally decided to get it! It’s from the Chiku Chiku Sewing collection from 2015 and I didn’t realise when buying it that it was new with tags, which is even better. I had some people online query if it was a fake plush, which was a tad annoying, but alas it’s very much real.

Image taken from Black Milk Clothing. Unfortunately I don’t have any decent pictures of me wearing this yet… 😦

Black Milk Clothing Ghost Foxes Bishop Longline Dress.

This is a dress I decided to get to replace the Ghost Foxes Mini Strappy Dress, (which I have since sold) I bought back in July 2021. Although I’d removed the tags and washed it, I’ve never actually worn it and seeing the bishop dress style come out, I knew I had to get it. I LOVE the bishop style and already own three dresses in this cut, this one making it four. I’m planning to wear this dress for both work as well as in general. With it being white, it may be more the latter and especially for days out where I’m not eating or drinking anything that could stain and ruin this dress considering it’s white. I also picked up the longline so that it’s longer on me. The normal bishop cuts are okay on me, but if I can have a dress longer, I’ll always go for it! The length of this is amazing, it felt a little bit too long at first to me as I’m not quite used to it, but it’ll be perfect for work especially! The print is beautiful too with the ghost foxes on it. Foxes are my favourite animal, so I’m always a sucker for pieces with them on.

Cute outfits/clothes.

This is something I’m going to talk about in more detail in a couple of weeks on a post but I swear, getting myself some new staple pieces has been a big thing for me in 2022 so far. I don’t know what it is but I decided this year that I would love to do more with my style and change it up a bit. I’ve spent a lot of the past two years wearing the same baggy joggers, t-shirts and hoodies due to Covid and I want to change that. I want to dress up for the sake of it and feel cute whilst doing so, plus I think it would really do my mental health some good. I feel like a lot of pastel and cute prints have come into my wardrobe and I’m so excited to wear them all for work, as well as in general. If you want to see some of the stuff I picked up during February, make sure to keep eyes peeled for that post in a few weeks! For the time being, I’ve popped some of the items I’ll be talking about soon above, including Tallulah’s Threads, Disturbia and The Sad Ghost Club.

New enamel pins.

I ordered a couple of new enamel pins recently which was nice! I don’t know why but I feel like enamel pin purchasing has definitely slowed down a little, which is always good as quite frankly, I’m running out of space!

The sausage dog pin from MossFrogPress has been on my favourites list on Etsy for as long as I can remember. I made some monies from selling some pins at the end of 2021 so I decided to use the money I made to pick up this pin. As it was coming from America, the shipping was more expensive than the item itself, so this wasn’t a cheap pin in that aspect. Definitely worth it now! It’s such a cute pin I get to look at everyday when I get ready.

I finally decided to back FoxLeap’s enamel pin club on Patreon at the end of January so I could snag the Patreon exclusive Lady puppy pin that Sophie had made. Not only did I get my Lady pin (as this was a freebie), I also got a The Cat Returns pin too (which I chose), some prints and even a freebie Alolan Ninetales pin and mini pin! Sophie is one of the kindest and most generous people I know and definitely an enamel pin artist you should check out. Her Patreon is all about you picking what you would like that month, from a list of choices. No one else (as far as I’m aware…) offers this type of pin club.

Finally this is an enamel pin from Depop that I snagged second hand. This enamel pin is by Sugarbones, a Canadian artist I adore! I love her Studio Ghibli and Animal Crossing designs, but she decided in 2021 that she would move away from fan themed pieces, so whenever I see one I missed out on previously, I’m going to try and snag! Haku is my favourite Studio Ghibli character, so any gorgeous pins I see with him on, I have to buy! 😀

Kawaii AF Kickstarter campaigns!

Finally I’m here to share some adorable Kickstarter campaigns I’ve joined or at least had my eye on joining. They’re all so cute! I told myself in 2022 I wouldn’t back as many Kickstarter campaigns to try and save money, but some are just too adorable not to.

Image taken from Kickstarter.

Toast the Raccoon Cute Plushie Toys + Keychains – link (ends April 8th 2022).

This campaign is adorable and straight away as soon as it launched I backed it! It’s by Yencat and is based off of her popular and original character Toast, who as you can see is a raccoon. I LOVE raccoons, they’re my spirit animal due to their love of food and being chubby, I can relate to both of those. 😛 Yencat decided to create a plushie Toast, as well as an enamel pin and plushie keychain. I’ve backed for all of them and already counting down the days until it arrives! The Kickstarter ends in April, so if you like the look of this campaign, you have plenty of time to check it out and back it yourself.

Image taken from Kickstarter.

Delicows ~ enamel pins & more – link (ends March 19th 2022).

I’m pretty sure I mentioned this briefly on my post about Quirkory and their Patreon pin club (you can read all about it here) but if I didn’t, I’m mentioning it again as earlier this week Quirkory released a new Kickstarter campaign, all about cows! Delicows is a mixture between delicious (food and drinks) and cows. Hence, Delicow! There are loads of different types of designs to choose from and I’ve backed for five of the designs in question, Cowpuccino (ideally one with Shugarlump), Moocha Latte, Cowreo, Peppermint Moocha Latte and maybe Darcowness. It feels like there’s a design for everyone in this collection and considering there are 24 plus designs to unlock there’s plenty of choice for everyone!

Images taken from Kickstarter.

Cute Animal Knitted Sweaters and Enamel Pins – link (ends March 3rd 2022).

This is a Kickstarter campaign by Dogzsquadarts I really like the look of at the moment and one I’m tempted to back before it ends in a couple of days! I am trying to be better with my money in 2022 and so far, it’s been going really well! I’ve already bought a shit ton of clothes and I don’t know if I want to buy anymore due to this fact. This being said, two of the pieces from this campaign are adorable and I do feel like I’d love at least one of them in my wardrobe! There’s the Shiba Inu sweater, as well as the Golden Retriever cardigan that I would love to get, but… I don’t know if I can justify it? I’m going to see how I feel about it, they’d both be adorable to get but unfortunately they aren’t pieces I could wear to work, otherwise that would probably spur me on more.

So there we have it guys, my favourites from February! What did you guys love throughout February? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time all, take care and have an amazing weekend!

Meccha Japan – Review and Haul

Guys I cannot tell you how excited I have been to write this review and haul! I have literally had the items I’m going to be talking about with you sat in the box they arrived in in anticipation! 😛

In 2021 I decided that I wanted to explore my options when it comes down to buying kawaii goodies from Japan, such as the Pokemon center, Nintendo Tokyo, Nendoroid figures and more. I’d heard about Meccha Japan for quite some time, but never really thought about buying from them before as I always get anxious when shopping with new places based in Japan. I decided to go for it though last month and ordered myself some Pokemon plushies, as well as some of my favourite Japanese candy. All items are soda themed by the way, which I thinks pretty cool. 😛

I wanted to write a review all about Meccha Japan, as when I searched online for reviews via blogs and YouTube, I couldn’t find anything! No one I knew at the time of making my purchase had ordered from Meccha Japan either, but as they had great Trustpilot reviews and you could pay via PayPal (always important for me!) I decided to go for it. Spoilers, my experience was pretty good. 😛

So, sit back and grab a hot drink and maybe one of your favourite plushies to cuddle as I share with you my thoughts on Meccha Japan, as well as the soda themed goodies I bought.

For those of you who may be asking who Meccha Japan are a Japanese online shop who sell exclusive items that only come from Japan, which range from Pokemon, Sanrio, Studio Ghibli, Nendoroid figures and even Japanese food! All items are ready and available on the website, so now requesting items or trying to purchase through third parties.

I discovered Meccha Japan in 2020 when I came home from Japan and was after some items from the Pokemon Mofu Mofu Eievui collection. I found Meccha Japan through Google searches and had them bookmarked since.

Recently the Pokemon Center in Japan announced they would be adding more plushies to their Saiko Soda Refresh line, including Psyduck, Mew, Marill and Chikorita. I fell in love with the Mew plush especially but Marill’s cute little face definitely caught my eye too! I couldn’t decide between which to order, so I really went for it and ordered both, calling it an early Christmas present to myself. 😛

One thing I wanted to mention and show here is how well packaged I found everything to be! The box wasn’t too big for the goodies I ordered, as well as a fair cost for airmail, which arrived a week after it being sent. The cost for all my goods to be shipped was £11.54 which I found really good considering. A lot of people may feel this is a lot, but considering it arrives in a week, I’m not complaining!

Plush Mew Pokémon Saiko Soda- (link)

The Mew plush is a gorgeous Barbie pink colour, with huge cobalt blue eyes and the CUTEST tag design I’ve seen since the Eeveelution Poke Dolls. This is a really nice sized plush for a collector, especially if you love Mew and the colour pink as well. At the time of purchase this cost me £11.32, which is a complete bargain! I couldn’t not pick up Mew, considering it’s one of my favourite Pokemon. I’ve really loved the Saiko Soda Refresh collection, but just never really “loved” anything from the collection enough to buy, until now. This Mew plush was my reason for finally taking the plunge for making my first order with Meccha Japan.

Plush Marill Pokémon Saiko Soda – (link)

This is the first (and probably only) Marill plush to come to my Pokemon plushie collection and it’s so BLOODY CUTE! Literally, “It’s so fluffy I’m going to die!” feelings came when this arrived! I ummed and ahhed a little bit about buying this plush, but due to the price at the time (same as Mew at £11.32) I thought it would be rude not to buy it and I’m so glad I did, as since then the price has increased. I only assume this is due to these plushies selling out and being harder to get? I especially love it’s confused and surprised looking face, which is so cute! Everything about the Marill Saiko Soda Refresh plush works and I don’t think they could have picked a better Pokemon for it. I especially love Marill’s tail too, which is really springy and cute, definitely something different for my collection. Like Mew, the artwork on the tag is so adorable!

Alongside the Pokemon plushies, I also ordered myself some of my favourite Japanese candy, Bourbon Fettuccine Gummies in soda flavour!

Bourbon Fettuccine Gummi Soda Gummy Candy – (link)

I discovered these ramune flavoured sweets in Japan in 2020 and fell in love, so when I found these on Meccha Japan, I made sure to order a decent amount… Aka five packets. I had ten in my basket originally, not going to lie. 😛 These are chewy strips that are a aqua blue colour with a sugar coating and taste of ramune, my favourite! These are stupidly cheap at just 96p a packet (at the time of ordering)! Some stockists in the UK are selling these over £3.00 which is a joke. I’ll definitely order some more of these on my next order from Meccha Japan, it would be rude not to.

Overall I was really happy with the service from Meccha Japan! Their costs are extremely fair, the delivery costs were too and overall I was just happy with how everything arrived too.

I’m already planning to order from them again in the near future and have some goodies bookmarked for next time, including, Pokemon Mew Cookie Roll Tin and Pokemon Fit Phanpy Plush.

Have you ever purchased from Meccha Japan? If so, how was your experience and what did you buy? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time all, have a great weekend and see you next week. 🙂

Pokemon Center UK – We Finally Have One!

Image taken from Pokemon Center UK

UK fans, it’s finally here, the moment we have all been waiting for, a Pokemon Center in the UK! Back in 2019 a Pokemon Center opened in London for a brief period of time to promote Pokemon Sword and Shield coming out. I for one was super excited for it and went with Dane, which you can read all about here.

The hype around that Pokemon Center brought people from all over the UK to queue for hours just to go in and buy limited edition and regular merchandise. I think even people from Europe travelled for it too! Due to the hype around it, a lot of Pokemon fans cried out for an official Pokemon Center to be opened in the UK, or at least an online store.

In November 2020 Canada got an online Pokemon Center and I remember UK and Europe fans being annoyed about the fact. Little did we know, just over a year later the UK would get an online site of our own!

It came very suddenly last week and I was so excited about it. I saw my friend Emily mention it on Instagram and I quickly headed to Google to search for the website. I’m honestly surprised I didn’t order stuff there and then. It took nearly a week for me to create and place an order.

As a massive Pokemon fan, it would have been wrong of me NOT to talk about the Pokemon Center coming to the UK (as well as make a cheeky order…). I know I stated before I wanted to purely have December for Christmas content, but let’s be honest here, the Pokemon Center getting a UK store is kind of like Christmas Day to me and many other Pokemon fans. 😛

This won’t be a terribly long post, as I’ll be mostly sharing my experience of ordering from Pokemon Center UK, sharing what items are on my wish list, as well as sharing items I hope come from the Pokemon Center US website! Grab yourself a hot drink in your best mug (Pokemon preferred… :P) on this chilly day and have a good read!

First of all I have popped the link to the Pokemon Center UK website above at the start of the post, but I’m going to pop it here for you too.

If you’ve ever ventured onto the US website, you’ll see that the UK version is practically the same, so the website is fairly recognisable and easy to navigate around. At the time of writing this post (Thursday evening), the website is currently in beta, so due to this some bugs can be found at times. Some examples of this being you might go onto a page and get a Pikachu telling you the page hasn’t been found. A simple refresh of the page soon fixes this however.

Something I’ve found daily from refreshing the website is they seem to be updating and adding new products daily, sometimes in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon. They do state on the website that they’re trying to add new products often, which is showing and is good!

If you want to place orders items can only be delivered to addresses in the UK and have a flat rate of £5. Expensive yes, but worth it for how quickly items arrive. I’ll go into this a little more later. Overall the website is really good to navigate around so far, which is always good!

As mentioned, the range of products on the website is changing daily with lots of new items being added, for example lots of Pokemon Fit/Sitting Cuties plushies are popping up daily. We’re yet to see some more home items added, but it is early days.

Finally one more thing I want to add is you CAN pay by PayPal! I know for myself and others this is important when shopping online, it’s my go for payment method. Alas, Pokemon Center UK has it which made me really happy!

Oh and apologies in advance, the photos aren’t the best for todays blog post but this is mainly due to being short on time this weekend to take proper photos. I’ll do this another time and do a mini Christmas photoshoot with Dane. 😛

Enough of the “boring” bits about the website, how did my first order go? Well, really good to be honest with you! I decided to stop eyeing up the item I was after and instead just take the plunge to order it, which is the Eevee Holiday Lights Knit Sweater. A perfect sweater for Christmas and not going to lie, all year around if I really want to!

I was unsure what size to order, a lot of people online had said they’d ordered a size up so it could be nice and baggy. The size chart is good and I should have really gone off of that. I wear a lot of Gildan sweaters and usually go for a unisex L which fits perfect with lots of bagginess. Due to the recommendation of sizing up, I went for an XL with my Eevee sweater. I semi regret this.

I placed my order on Tuesday morning and just 48 hours later I received an email from Royal Mail Thursday telling me it would arrive that morning. I was really surprised but happy all the same. I can only assume this is why the shipping is so high, but I won’t complain with that kind of turn around! I wasn’t expecting my sweater to arrive until at least the weekend, maybe even a week later, but since it arrived in good time I started to plan all the days I could wear it in the run up to Christmas Day!

Back to the sizing. Ordering the XL was a bit of a regret as when I tried it on the sizing was HUGE and the sweater fast turned into a jumper/sweater dress. The sleeves are really long, as is the body. This being said, it’s incredibly soft and snuggly and I’m already planning on rocking my Eevee sweater with a nice pair of leggings and my checkerboard Vans trainers.

So, size wise I would order the size you usually would for a sweater or hoodie (Gildan is popular so go by them if you own any of their stuff!), or just measure yourself if you’re unsure.

The quality of the Eevee sweater is really good! Not stupidly thick but thick enough for me that I know it will keep me toasty warm. I think it being oversized makes it feel a bit thicker, if that makes sense? The inside is lovely and soft, the kind of sweater where it feels like you’re wearing a big hug or a marshmallow. I was gutted to take it off to put it into the washing machine to be honest with you! 😛

Can we talk about the print though and how bloody cute it is?! As you can see it’s an Eevee holding some fairy lights, which are wrapped all around it. One thing I didn’t realise/notice from the images on the website is how on the back of the sweater, the fairy lights are trailing along the back too! I love this little detailing so much! The fairy lights themselves and the cable they’re attached to is a sparkly yarn which really stands out when you see the sweater in person, which again is something I didn’t notice when looking at the sweater on the website.

Overall the sweaters colour scheme is typical Christmas with the red, green and white, which I always adore. I especially love the festive patterns along the top and bottom with the Pokeball against them. Everyone knows how much I love Pokemon so this Christmas themed sweater has been a long time coming! I have a Deadpool one too from a few years ago that I’m sure I’ll wear soon, but this Eevee one has definitely stolen my heart!

I could have ordered so much more, but with Christmas looming I thought I’d be good and just get one item. Not going to lie though, the Pokemon Center opening a UK store is seriously going to be the death of me… 😛

However, I wanted to show you guys what’s on my wish list and why, just in case it shows you some stuff you’d like too. 🙂 There’s only a couple of items, but I hope you guys like to see regardless.

Image taken from Pokemon Centre UK

Cinccino Comfy Friends Plush – £30.99 (link)

I’ve had my eyes on this fluffy Cinccino plush since it first released in Japan a couple of months ago. I contemplated ordering one but left it as I wanted to save money. Now it’s available on the UK store, this is more affordable than ever! I was tempted to buy one of these when I ordered my sweater but left it. I don’t actually know what this cutie would go due to how busy my plushie cabinet is! This being said, I’d soon find it a home if I decided to take the plunge and order. 😛

Image taken from Pokemon Centre UK

Gengar Themed French Terry Zip-Up Hoodie – £49.99 (link)

I also have a hoodie on my wish list. The first thing I checked out when the UK website opened was the clothes side of it. I’m always happy to buy new Pokemon garments, especially now they’re easier to come by more than ever. I love my Pokemon Center London hoodie I bought in 2019 and have lived it most of the past 2 years since buying it, especially during lockdown and working from home. I’d love to pick up another one and so far the Gengar themed hoodie is one I like. I honestly can’t see myself buying this, as I would like to see an Eeveelution themed one come up eventually, maybe even Dragonite!

Now I’ve shown you my wish list from the UK store, I want to show you items I’d love to see come from the US store to UK! 😀 I won’t go into too much detail on each, but I’ll pop a collage below! All links next to item names will link to the US website.

Phanpy Sitting Cuties Plush – (link)

Believe it or not, Phanpy is one of my favourite Pokemon from gen 2! I remember seeing the little elephant inspired Pokemon and falling in love with it! I kept one and refused to let it evolve due to that fact! I did look to buy one when I went to Japan in 2020 but when I looked I could never see one, which was a shame. Eventually I’d love to pick one up to add to my plushie shelf.

Sleeping Umbreon Poké Plush – (link)

I regret not ordering one of the sleeping Eeveelution plushies when they came out years ago! They weren’t too badly priced at the time but I didn’t really have the money to splurge and I didn’t think I had room either. Fast forward and I regret not snagging one now… They’re hard to get and when you DO find the Umbreon one, it goes for hundreds! I recently saw one for sale over £200… Ouch! Currently on the UK store they have Jolteon, Flareon and Glaceon for sale and for under £40 too.

Pokémon Center × RockLove: Pikachu & Mew Admiration Pendant Necklace – (link)

If there’s one thing I’ve always wanted, it’s Pokemon jewellery. The RockLove Pokemon pieces are so gorgeous and I’d love so many of them. However, they are just based in the US right now, with the option of shipping to the UK direct from their website. Of course, if RockLove did hit the Pokemon Center UK, I’d snag something pretty for myself and it would definitely be something Mew or Eevee themed.

Furret Poké Plush – (link)

Finally we have a long boi and one I would seriously purchase! This Furret plush is a massive 71 inches long and as the picture shows, he biiig! I know loads of people on Twitter who would love one of these too and have been tweeting Pokemon about it. If they don’t bring these back AND to the UK then they’ll be missing out on some serious orders, if you ask me. 😛 I’d have this guy in the bed to cuddle up to when Dane doesn’t wish to. 😛

So, there we have it guys… It’s official we now have a Pokemon Center in the UK and just before Christmas too! I’m already excited for what other Pokemon goods we have to look forward to seeing on the website in the future.

Have you already placed an order, or hoping to in the future? Let me know in the comments. Also, don’t forget to let me know what you hope to see in the future too!

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

August Favourites ’21

I cannot believe it’s September now, my favourite month of the year. September is a month I’m really excited for, but also very anxious and a little sad about too.

August is a month I couldn’t wait to see the back of as it wasn’t exactly great, especially for my mental health, but at the same time I had a really lovey time running up to the end of it. Me and my best friend went out for one of the days over bank holiday and it was so lovely. I’ll be talking about it more later on in the favourites.

September though… It’s always been my favourite month of the year due to feeling of a fresh start (due to education), as well as my favourite season of autumn starting. However, since last year September also carries some sadness I don’t want to discuss on my blog, as well as some big anxieties in the weeks leading up.

This all being said, me and Dane will be off holiday from work together and we’re planning to just chill out together and have lots of cuddles and chilled days. I honestly cannot wait for some time off of work to just do nothing and relax.

I’m sorry to start off this months favourites with a bit of a miserable topic, but I just wanted to be honest here. I’m incredibly worn out, even after bank holiday. xD

Favourite Beauty Product  – Boots Extracts Marshmallow & Peppermint Body Butter.

Not going to lie, this is actually an old product from many years ago that I only recently opened. I’d bought it as part of a gift set I bought back in 2016 and decided to finally crack open the body butter to use as a hand and foot butter. On my hands this just did not agree with my dermatitis due to the scent and ingredients, however, used as a foot butter it’s been a dream to use. I put a very generous amount on before socks in the morning which results in my feet looking and feeling lovely and smooth by the end of the day. It also has a gorgeous creamy peppermint scent too, which I adore. I’ll be honest, I don’t know if you’re supposed to use products past their sell by date… I think with beauty products it’s from when they’re opened you have the use by date. Of course, if you aren’t sure it might always be best to throw the product away.

Favourite Film – Us.

This is a film I’ve been wanting to watch since it came out in 2019, but we just never managed to. We planned to go to the cinema to watch it but never did and I’m really glad we didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the film but without saying too much, I guessed the twist of the film around thirty minutes in, which was a little disappointing. That being said, the overall plot of the film is really good and you’re definitely on the edge of your seat wondering what’s going to happen next.

Favourite TV Show – Centaurworld.

This is a new Netflix series that came out to the UK at the end of July. Dane thought it looked batshit crazy so he decided to pop it on for us to watch. We LOVED it and binge watched it in a few days. We follow Horse as she finds herself transported to Centaurworld during a battle with her owner. Horse discovers a group of centaur friends, who soon help Horse to try and find her way home. There’s singing involved too, as this is a musical show. It reminds me of Adventure Time crossed with Disney films. Give it a watch if you haven’t done so already!

Favourite Music – Unprocessed – “Candyland”

Unprocessed are a progressive metal band that Dane introduced me to recently with “Deadrose”. As I really love this song, Dane played me one of their newer songs to see what I thought of it. “Candyland” has fast turned into one of my favourite songs to listen to lately. Their music style seems to have changed a little when you hear “Deadrose” before or after “Candyland”. I really love them and I’m going to be checking out more of their stuff in September!

Image taken from Waterstones.

Favourite Book – The Sad Ghost Club.

Yes guys, I read a book this month! Don’t act too shocked, please. 😛 I bought The Sad Ghost Club back in January this year and I thought I’d read it, instead I placed it in our office and… Never touched it. As I found out a second book is due to come out in January 2022 (I’ve already pre ordered it too…) I decided it was time to finally dig the book out and give it a read! It’s actually a comic more so than a book, where we follow Sad Ghost and their struggles with their mental health, including social anxiety, worries about education and even going to a party. The comic itself is really sad at times, but at the same time makes you feel less alone. My mental health hasn’t been very good the past couple of months and reading The Sad Ghost Club really did help me feel less lonely.

Image taken from Tenor.

Favourite Game – State of Decay 2.

Recently Dane has really gotten back into State of Decay 2 again and as some of friends have also wanted to play it, I thought I’d jump on and play it too. State of Decay 2 is a zombie game where you need to build up your base, all whilst gathering resources, getting people to come and join your base, as well as killing zombies. It’s a really simple game to play and really nice and chilled to play with friends! I highly recommend it, I really do love it and the zombies don’t come across as too scary either, which is always good! 🙂

Just a few of my favourite things…

Loungefly bags, old and new!

I didn’t quite realise I received two new Loungefly bags in August, as well as decided to finally cut the tags off of one I bought at the start of 2021! The Pikachu wallet chain bag and the Baymax backpack are my new bags, whilst Meeko is one I bought via a Facebook group (and now one of my Instagram friends!) in January.

I was after a new shoulder bag so decided to pick up the Pikachu bag, however the images that Loungefly have out there are so fucking misleading and make the bag look bigger than it actually is. This being said, it’s the perfect bag for quickly going out to run errands as well as nights out. I’ve used it quite a few times throughout August and it’s a really good bag for if you don’t need to carry much, but still do need a bag.

Alongside that I also decided to purchase the Baymax backpack very last minute. The day the Baymax cosplay backpack and wallet went on sale on the Funko Europe website, I just fell in love with it and had to buy it. I didn’t need it, but I have ZERO REGRETS. I used it over the bank holiday and it’s such an adorable bag! I felt so cute using it around town during mine and my best friends mini bar/pub crawl and I honestly cannot wait to start using it more. I regret not getting the matching wallet for it, so I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled on trying to get it at a decent price in the future.

Finally my Meeko backpack. This is a bag I was after for MONTHS before I finally snagged it via a Loungefly Facebook group. I also got the matching purse, but this is something I’m yet to use. Little story behind how I “missed out” on this bag. I was told by a Forbidden Planet store when the bag was due to come out that they would take my details and pop a bag to one side for me. They didn’t want any money for the bag to be put down as a pre order just in case they never got the bag in stock. This being said, they assured me they WERE going to get the bag in stock. Alas they never and they didn’t even bother to reach out to me to let me know. It was kind of obvious I wouldn’t be getting it and I was gutted. This being said, I have it now and I do really love it! I used it for the first time whilst out for my best friends 30th birthday and it is so comfortable and cute! It feels soft and isn’t a sturdy bag due to this, but this being said, I really love this aspect of the backpack.

I’m hoping to write a post all about my Loungefly collection in the future. If this is something you’re interested in, please let me know! I’d also love to do a YouTube video showing off my collection too, but I’m so anxious about doing YouTube… :’)

Some of my favourite gel nails.

As many of my readers will know, I do love getting my nails done and it’s actually been a really positive change in my life in regards to my anxiety. Before I started getting my nails done I would cute them so short they would bleed. They’re not incredibly healthy, grow quickly, don’t break and it’s stopped me from cutting them short, as well as chewing them when nervous.

My reason for especially posting my nails this month as this set has been one of my favourites to date. The colour shares its name with my gran and is such a beautiful colour to boot. I’m actually getting my gels redone tomorrow and I’m a little sad as I honestly love this set. They’ve lasted so well and they just make me happy to look at. I don’t have a bloody clue what new set I’m going to get yet. xD

Dog sitting again.

Me and Dane dog sat Eddie again for a couple of days and we loved it. If you read my favourites from July, you will have seen that me and Dane had Eddie at ours for a week and we loved every moment of it! We didn’t have him for as long but it was nice to have him around for cuddles, fuss, playtime and walks were lovely to do with him too. I wanted to share this adorable photo of him that I took during my lunch break. He was having a lovely snooze and I felt so guilty when I had to return back to my desk and wake him up.

Claire Likes To Doodle‘s Bernard takes over Birmingham Cass Art!

First of all I want to say how fucking proud I am of Claire, she has come so far in such a short period of time with her art and it’s just growing more and more as the years go by. Over the bank holiday (Saturday) Claire posted on her Instagram page how she was doing something exciting in the Cass Art in Birmingham city centre. I kept my eye on her Instagram stories and she revealed she was actually drawing one of her Bernard’s on the window of Cass Art! I watched the process of it throughout the morning and as me and my best friend would be in town that day, we made sure to take a diversion over to Cass Art to go and take a look, as well as take some photos!

I wanted to show this off and share with you guys, as well as say if you’re in Birmingham and see Claire’s Bernard in the window of Cass Art, make sure to take a photo, post on your Instagram stories and tag Claire’s Instagram page (linked above under the photo) as I know for a fact she would love that! 😀

There we have it then guys, those are my favourites from August! August was a very strange month for me and I feel like September is going to be a nice month, but a very anxious one too.

What were your favourites from August? Also, what are you looking forward to about September? Make sure to let me know in the comments below.

Until next time guys, I hope you’ve had a great start to September and here’s to spooky season finally beginning! 😛

From Japan Pokemon Eeveelutions Haul

Almost a couple of months ago now, I decided to write about From Japan on my blog with a review of the proxy service, as well as showing you guys my haul from my second order. You can read all about that here.

I’m here again with yet another haul! This time it’s from my first order I made with From Japan in April, as well as my third order I made in June.

I know you guys loved when I spoke about From Japan before, so I knew when my first and third orders arrived I wanted to share what goodies I bought with you all!

I really hope you enjoy this post today, it’s such a hot weekend so grab a cold drink (or even better an ice cream!) and get in front of the fan as you read this post. 🙂

I mentioned on my From Japan review previously that I’d made my first order with them back in April and I was still waiting for my goodies to arrive! I’d decided to ship via surface mail, which is notorious for taking MONTHS. Alas, my order took almost 3 months to arrive, but better late than never and it was definitely worth it!

First things first, if you’re happy to wait ages for your goods to arrive, surface mail with tracking is fab… But I definitely prefer airmail! Your goods come within a week and they always usually have tracking too.

Anyhoo, the first item I want to talk about on my haul post is the Pokemon TCG playmat from the Eevee Sweet Choices collection. It’s so cute and it’s actually from me ordering this that I decided to get my own desk in our front room/office.

The packaging it came in was great and it even arrived in its original packaging! The playmat is in perfect condition and has now found it’s place on my desk, which I adore so much! It only arrived on Thursday but in the short time I’ve owned it, it looks great on my desk and I’m so glad I finally made the jump at not only ordering it, but using From Japan to get it.

As far as I’m aware this playmat was a Pokemon Center USA exclusive, so I can only imagine the person who owned it in Japan before me must have imported it. It’s been a longgggg way! 😛

Shortly after my second order arrived, I started to order items for my third order. I’ve been after the Eeveelutions Pokemon Dolls from 2017 for quite some time now. I bought Flareon back when they released, then Espeon and Umbreon a year or so later and finally Vapreon shortly after that through a Facebook group.

I was still missing most of the Eeveelutions and had been keeping my eyes peeled on Facebook groups, eBay and stores similar. When I was in Japan in January 2020 I looked in stores too, the only Eeveelution Pokemon Doll we came across was the Vaporeon one, which I already owned.

I’d already starting searching for the remaining Eeveelutions I was after on From Japan, with some showing loads of results, others showing very few and one not at all! It was definitely a challenge and I wanted to share with you some of the struggles I faced this time. FYI none of these struggles are any fault of From Japan!

To try and find the Pokemon Dolls I was after, I searched for just that both in English and Japanese. As I mentioned on the previous post about From Japan, you can use Google Translate to help you with getting the rough translation. This result showed not only plushies, but figures too. This took some time when trying to just locate certain Eeveelutions, but it made for something chilled to do whilst watching something on TV.

Whenever I found the Eeveelutions I was after, I would add to my watch list/favourites and order when the time was right! Sadly, some orders were cancelled and fell through. This could either be due to someone ordering the item(s) before me, or just because of proxy seller issues.

The Eeveelutions I needed to complete my collection were, Eevee, Jolteon, Glaceon, Leafeon and Sylveon.

Eevee was the easiest and cheapest out of the five to get hold of! Before shipping I only paid 800 yen for this, which in pounds is £5.36. Complete bargain!

Jolteon was the hardest to get hold of. I’d actually found someone selling the American version (tag was different) for £45! I was close to buying it, just because I was beginning to see no light at the end of the tunnel, but glad I didn’t. I was refusing to ship all of the Pokemon Dolls I’d bought to me until I’d found this one. You get 45 days to ship your goods to you, something I was starting to get closer and closer to. Alas one day I was randomly having a search around From Japan for this Pokemon Doll and low and behold… I found it! I didn’t hesitate to order and worried a few days after that it may get cancelled for reasons. Thankfully this didn’t happen and as soon as it arrived at the From Japan warehouse, I shipped my goods to me! This Pokemon Doll only cost me 2,200 yen, which in pounds is £14.72.

Glaceon wasn’t straight forward and if anything was kind of stressful. The person who had listed the cheap Eevee Pokemon Doll also listed a Glaceon for roughly the same price. However, the order got cancelled as someone else had snagged the bargain ice Pokemon quicker than I had. I quickly ordered a back up I had in my watch list/favourites, which was painful considering how much more it was. I paid 2,700 yen which in pounds is £18.15. It was worth it though!

Leafeon was one of the easiest I ordered alongside with Eevee as it never got cancelled and it seemed to be a popular Eeveelution Pokemon Doll for sale too, making it really easy to find. It’s such a cute Pokemon Doll, it’s one my friend Sarah (Raiin Monkey) owns so whenever I see it, I always think of her. I paid 2,600 yen which in pounds is £17.40.

Sylveon was fairly easy to get hold of, but it was also the most expensive! It appears whilst people love Sylveon, they also don’t seem to love it as much considering how many of them were listed on From Japan. The prices seemed to rise every time a new listing was made for it too, which is crazy! I paid 3,851 which is pounds is £25.77, quite the price jump from the previous Eeveelution Pokemon Dolls, but totally worth it!

These arrived a week after I paid for airmail shipping and they arrived in a bubble wrap style package. I expected a box to be honest with you, but due to them being plushies it worked out fine! Some of the plushies (as you’ll see from the photos above) had tags, which I didn’t expect from some of them!

As always, I’m really happy with all the goodies I bought from From Japan and they’ve all arrived in perfect condition.

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A post shared by Nat – Kawaii Nerd Blogger (@theremightbecoffeeblog)

I posted a reel on my Instagram page all about buying these and it has done SO WELL, which has really made me smile. I’ll pop it above so you can see it. 😉

A lot of people have already asked when I’ll be making a fourth order with From Japan… But I don’t know the answer to that question yet. I’m trying to be good with money since I bought my car. I am planning to use From Japan more in the future to buy my Pokemon goodies (old and new) as well as more! In the future, would you guys like to see a post of my From Japan wish list? 🙂

What do you guys think of the goodies I ordered and had arrive From Japan? What’s your favourite? Who is your favourite Eeveelution too? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

I know the UK is not only a very warm place right now, but a bit scary too with restrictions being lifted from tomorrow. So, until next time please take care all and feel free to drop me a DM on Twitter/Instagram if you ever need someone to talk to. ❤