Black Friday...

Did any of you catch any good Black Friday Deals? I did. I placed a small order of DVDs on Amazon.com/USA. Both Branden and Noah love the original Kingsman movie. They've seen it at least 10 times. It's on cable TV a lot. I too, love the original Kingsman movie. It's so funny. They came out with a 2nd Kingsman movie. And both my boys have been dying to see this movie. I made sure to have this DVD in my cart, the week before Black Friday. And then as soon as Black Friday hit and all the good deals and free shipping etc happened. I placed my order immediately. 

I also purchased this DVD for the entire family. But especially for my kids because they loved the new IT movie. I too loved, It. And this is something, I can see us watching a lot. It won't be released until January, but I already pre-ordered us a DVD. I also purchased 2 more movies. So 4 in total. But It... of course won't be coming until January. But the other 3 will be coming here before Christmas. I know my kids will love unwrapping the Kingsman 2. Because I know they really *really* wanted to see it. : )

Also, I placed an order on Sephora.com also on Black Friday too. I had picked out some Sephora travel brushes. And a travel bag for toiletries. And also an eye shadow palette from Tarte. It's not the newest one... because I personally don't care for the new colors on the new palette the whole middle row is pure orangey-brown which I dislike a lot on me personally. I instead picked a palette that I have been wanting for quite some time and it's just basic nude brown shades. But I am really happy because those are the eye shadow colors that I prefer and tend to use.

My Sephora order has already been shipped. And the Amazon order hasn't shipped yet but, they will be shipping soon. I think the 3 movies haven't shipped yet, because they're gonna wait until the Kingsman 2 is released December 12th. Good thing I picked the fast shipping. : )  Anyways, we're not done with our Christmas shopping by a long shot. But, we have started though.

Bits and pieces.

                                          This is just a silly video, of Noboru and Branden. : )

After we got back from Denver. Although we were badly jet lagged....... for us, life kept going on here at the house. The boys both had school, they both swim twice a week. Anyway, here's a little update on what we've been up to. There's more stuff too, but that will be in another post. : ) One thing, I did after we got home, was I baked these cupcakes with Noah one afternoon.  Branden had homework but he hung out with us in the kitchen while Noah and I baked these. Noah read all the instructions and directions and pulled out, all the measuring cups, out of the dish cabinet.

Cocoa Puffs muffins and Reese's Puffs muffins. They were both good, but our family favorite of the two were the Reese's muffins. : )  

What else, oh yes we have been to Costco, like 3 times, since we've been back from Denver. This was the 1st of the 3 trips, pictured here. We went to the town festival earlier that morning for about 45 minutes and then we hit Costco afterwards. We did have lunch there. 

Chips were for the leftover turkey sandwiches for after Thanksgiving, yep we were preparing for that. : ) 

Hi Noah! : )

My lunch. : )

Christmas wrapping paper, waffles, shoyu, chicken for supper that night, we had those quick tacos made from the rotisserie chicken. Dinner rolls, gyoza, potatoes, tortillas, I like these tortillas. : )

Lotion for the whole family, we're all so dry in winter. And kids shampoo.

We went to Joyful Honda after Costco and bought 1kg of fries (they last a long time, few months), a gallon or whatever of Biore body wash, and face wash for Noboru, pictured bottom left hand corner. Just daily living type stuff. Nothing too major.

We also bought these at Costco, 4 Christmas hanging baskets for the front porch. I will show pics on another post. 

We said goodbye to the Fall wreath and...

Made the switcheroo, to Mr and Mrs. Claus. Oh yes and can't forget you either, snowman. : )

Bought 2 chocolate advents calendars at Kaldi, like I do every year. : ) 

The boys loved putting the stickers on different spots then the other one did.  And they have been enjoying 1 small chocolate, each evening before shower and bath time. : ) Bones spoiler in the next 2 pics, so, if you're worried, skip the rest of this post. : ) 

They finally got married. : ) Her dad walked her down the aisle. Aww. : )

Just really nice. : ) 

Yes, I did do some light shopping on Black Friday. Old Navy had 50% on many many things.

I ordered these black and gold ballet flats for 50% off. 

I ordered this too.

First time ever ordering from Walmart online before, but since they do ship to Guam, I placed the tiniest order. I ordered this black and white polka dot fleece sleep shirt for $7.96 US. 

I am a Gap and Old Navy shopper, I have never owned any clothing from Walmart before, except for pjs. But these were being advertised and, they're jeggings. What got me was the reviews from customers. People saying they were the best skinny jeans, they have ever owned. I was like....from Walmart? Really? : ) But you know, I'm open minded....so after I read page after page of the reviews. This lady/girl from Australia, left a review, saying she bought a pair or two of these pants when she was on vacation in the states and she's now back home... anyway she wished she had bought more of the pants. So she has been ordering them online, her friends and family are now ordering them online too. How did she order them? I don't know. : ) Meaning do they ship internationally? Or is she using a mail forwarding service? Again, I don't know. However, I did pause and think...hmm, seems everyone loves these pants, for $13.44 US, you know, maybe....I should try them. And so I ordered 2 pair, had them shipped to my dad's condo along with the black and white polka dot sleep T. 

I can't wait to try them. Also I think they'll go well with Uggs or boots in winter, too. Or my black low top converse sneakers. Anyway we'll see. The boys also got a nice little Amazon order for Black Friday also. 

A new flavor Fanta, yay! We love this one! : )

The boys play outside literally, every single chance they get! : ) I think you can see Noah's legs and his green jump rope. He and the neighbor boy were playing jump rope, while the others were huddled up with R/C cars. : )  90% of the time though, they're off playing soccer at the park, 50 seconds away from our house. 

I have not started my New Year's cleaning yet, too early still.... but I am sort of doing the prep for it already though. One afternoon, I took everything out of my food pantry wiped down all my shelves. Yes, I know my sponge has bit the dust here! : ) And yes I have a replacement already waiting in the wings. : )  I also dried each shelf and unrolled plastic liners bought from Ikea a few months ago. 

Checked dates on everything, anything outdated went to the trash. So the food pantry done and complete. I will recheck it and wipe things down again though for the.... before New year's big clean up. But this way, at least my job will be a little easier now. 

Yogurt, story of our life! : ) Yogurt and bread are probably the 2 things we run out of, most in this house. This time, I bought chocolate strawberry. 

Two packs of chocolate chip stick breads on the left. 2 packs of bananas (2 packs for 89 yen that day) 1 bag of super sweet mikan and 2 packs of snacks for when the boys play outside. Their friends usually bring their own snacks and so this way my kids, will also have a snack or two, if need be. 

One bunch of bananas has 3 and the other bunch has 4, but that's okay, 7 bananas for 89 yen, isn't so bad. And they go quickly in our house, with 2 growing boys. : )

Made gratin last week. Chicken, mushrooms, broccoli and pasta. 

At the dentist! Branden and Noah had their dental check up, cleaning and their last sealants put on. Zero cavities yet again and the dentist said everything looked pretty great! We took them on December 6th for that. We went from school to the dentist right away that day. Also, the week we got back from Denver, the boys both had their final and second flu shot. So dental cleaning and check up, done....last flu shot also complete...so glad to be done! Right on.. for getting both those things knocked off the list! : )

One white T for each of the boys. Goes perfectly under a sweatshirt. : )

Scarf from Old Navy, for me.

Third and final bling sweatshirt. This one is so pretty and probably my favorite. Though I like them all. : )

I was talking with one of my friends in Japan, who just started blogging a couple months back. Anyway she was asking me about stats and if I pay attention to that stuff (my answer is/was no). So this is more so for her really, to get a visual. Anyway, like I said, I rarely read my stats that type of stuff ...it just doesn't interest me at all, again everyone's different but...for me personally, if I have time to blog, great, but have extra attention to pay attention to stats, nope no time and not interested anyway. But, I did look for her and here's some info on what I found and again I hope this helps. The average post I write, gets about 2074 views.  Branden and Noah's undokai this year for example, got about 3,000 views.  Umm, what else, when we go on vacation, those type posts get about 3,000 -3,500 views as well. But the average just basic...nothing really important or major to say type of post does, usually get about 2000-2100 views. The posts when I shop and share pics, like "stuff brought back from Guam or Hawaii or Denver...ykwim, those usually get around 3,500-4000 views. : ) So, like I was saying on skype..it does vary for me. 

Now for the lowest for me.....a low, for a post is 980. That's pretty low for me... for views for a single post. But....consider I don't advertise my blog at all, those numbers are actually pretty decent. So low for me is 980-1000 views per post. And average for me, is the 2,000 views mark and then the vacation posts or undokai posts can go higher and usually do. : ) Anyway, hope that answered your question my friend : ) And really, like I said, don't be concerned about that stuff. No worries now. : )  Hope this helps. : )  

December 6th after the dentist we went to Costco, to get a chicken for obento for the next day and cookies. December 7th was the school marathon. I made those rotisserie chicken wraps with white rice and mozzarella cheese and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. They also took grapes and a few other things. : ) The Father's Club made soup for the kids as well. : ) 

Noboru picked up these 2 big cans of clam chowder also from Costco that night. We had pizza from Costco for supper that night. : )

And niku jaga, I made this 2 nights ago. It was pretty good. Anyway that's just a hodge podge of things that we've been up to recently. Dental cleaning, last flu shot. Making dinner, baking muffins, you know just regular life type stuff. : )  

Black Friday

Last Friday, was a holiday for us in Japan.  Labor Day type of holiday for Japan.  Meanwhile, our town has an event every Japanese Labor Day. So since my dad is usually here celebrating Thanksgiving with us, the five of us going to the town bazaar is something we usually enjoy all together. Last year was a nice crisp Fall day, but the sun was shining. This year however, was cold and drizzly type rain.  It's held at the plaza parking lot.

Sanma/samma/.....fish and also on the plate was radish. Noboru loved eating this.

Noboru loves ozoni, so he had this also.

I had asked Noah to hold my caramel machiatto so I could get my camera out and he had a sip. My family never let me have coffee while growing up, something about stunting your growth. Yada yada. Again, not sure if it's true or not.... but just to be sure.... I really don't let the boys drink coffee. So this sneaky sip surprised me. Hahaha. : )

The coffee vendor/seller/maker....had his own grinder and was making specialty coffees he had all sorts of flavors. My dad (pictured) and I had a hot caramel machiatto each. It was so good!

I had a hot coffee and this choco banana. These are the only 2 things I had while there. But to be fair I just wasn't hungry plus I was waiting for lunch and dinner at home (Thanksgiving leftovers)

Branden and Noah went and had french fries. My dad got into line with them to make sure they were alright. They were of course, but my dad's just always cautious and protective of his grandsons. Plus he loves talking with them so much. : )

You could choose flavorings like curry etc. but they chose just regular salt. The boys seemed to really like them. Also Branden had some mochi, same as he got last year too.

Most of the folks from our town were there off and on all day. We saw many people we knew. Noah's classmates, Branden's classmates. My recycle fellow mom pals/friends. Mom's from the 5th grade class and 1st grade class.  The 5 of us had a really great time.

Yep, we seem to buy the handmade sewing projects and pottery every single year here and this year we did also. My dad bought some and brought them back to Guam for gifts. And these are what I got. 1 leaf plate (200 yen) and 1 crab plate (100 yen). And 1 tissue cover hand sewn for 50 yen.  All made by the school kids here so for a really good cause....the local school. : )

Back to the title of this post......meanwhile being American, I grew up with Black Friday.  Black Friday was always just something you did. If you wanted the best prices on something for Christmas this was *the* day to buy it!  With living in Japan, I have only had the chance to do this once, when Branden was about age 2 or 3. One day I'll go back and do this for real with the family. But this year same as most years what I do is take advantage of the Black Friday deals to be had on Amazon.com. What I did was, I had a small list of DVD's/games the boys had mentioned since Summer that they'd like to have. If they mention something a few times, I'd write it down.  And so 2 weeks ago, I sat online with a cup of coffee after the boys went to school and I went through the list. And put whatever I knew they'd really love getting as a Christmas gift in my Amazon shopping basket/bag. And I let it sit there for the 2 weeks. And then I waited for Black Friday to come into effect and then I took advantage of the Black Friday deals to be had. I did not get these movies up above but if you see the movie in the middle was indeed 96 cents/under a US dollar. About 85 yen or so give or take the exchange rate. The newer Mission Impossible on the left $4.95 US. Again this is the day to get the best deals.  Especially if you have a region free DVD player or an American DVD player.

The Amityvillle remake again 96 cents.  I didn't buy more then what was on my list. I stuck to my list. And no I didn't buy the Amityville remake. : )

The Lorax DVD was just $3.99 US so about 370 yen or so? 380 yen or so. The new Sherlock Holmes movie again $3.99 US.  I did buy the Lorax but then it was on my list. My dad also bought the boys a little order from Amazon also. And the boys also got stuff from Old Navy again taking advantage of the Black Friday deals. The Cyber Monday deals we got, I'll post about on the Cyber Monday post coming up. : )

Soft delicious bread, thick sliced provolone cheese, fresh crisp lettuce and turkey with a sprinkling of salt and pepper.

My lunch last Friday. Everyone had sandwiches last Friday for lunch and we had basically Thanksgiving dinner all over again on Friday night also. Mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing and the whole bit again. Right down to the pumpkin pie.  Meanwhile the deals online we got, we were all like....right on!!!!! So yeah, Black Friday/Japanese Labor Day was pretty cool! And also weather wise it was pretty cool too. lol.  The boys have zero idea what they got online and again when Black Friday took effect and the prices were all cut in half or even less. I checked out! Pressed the order button. Got my fantastic superly cheap deals. When the boys were in the shower, my dad got online and he had an idea too and thrown a few things in his Amazon basket prior too. Because we talked about Black Friday way before he got here. So his basket was pretty much set. When the boys went to shower, he pushed...the order button and everything was done.  So yeah we were all really happy we all got everything at the best and cheapest prices possible. The dollar and yen can really stretch on Black Friday. Making the most of our money and purchases so yeah we were really happy with the deals we got.

Goodies my dad brought to Japan for us. Swiss cheese for the sandwiches. String cheese for the boys. My dad always wants to make sure they get enough calcium hahaha. And then a sliced cheese pack with 4 types of cheese, Swiss, Colby jack, Monterrey jack and cheddar.

Frozen burritos. Yumm.

Homestyle popcorn.

Unfrosted Pop Tarts. Blueberry and strawberry.  These are so good.

Over 2 lbs, 2 lbs 8 ounces to be exact. Of.....

Reese's peanut butter cups! These will last us a year I think! But wow, movie nights with popcorn and also some of these will go down pretty great! Can't wait for family movie night this weekend! : )

My dad also brought us 2 extra boxes of Cap N Crunch Peanut Butter cereal and an extra box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Now we have 3 boxes of peanut butter cereal. We are well stocked in the cereal department now. : )

And he also brought the boys some extra cans of mini ravioli. If they're rushing from school to Kumon, they can share a quick can of this. Enough to fill their tummy's until Kumon is done and they can have supper.

These are a few sneak peeks of the other Black Friday deals we got. You know, I got pjs growing up as one of my Christmas presents always...every year. So the boys have always gotten new pjs for Christmas too. I was debating between the flannel or the fleece pj bottoms until some kind woman/mom left a comment on Old Navy's website and said the flannel wasn't even really flannel material and that she was totally disappointed. That helpful comment helped me, because I didn't buy the flannel pjs then at all. I went for the fleece pjs instead. So, I did ask the boys earlier in the week what pattern they liked best. I said pick 2 patterns. Branden picked these skulls. So Branden got this pair of skull fleece pj bottoms.

Branden also liked this snowboard pair so he got this pair as well. And they are fleece. Noah liked this pair also, so he also got this pair in his size.

And Noah liked this polar bear Christmas type fleece. So he got this pair too. I did pick basic plain long sleeve tops to go with their bottoms. Such as navy blue top long sleeves to go with the snowboard pair. Black long sleeve to go with the skull pair and a red long sleeve to go with this pair.

Plus you already know about this Christmas type Noah got a few weeks back. These pjs will be wrapped. This pair I'll wrap soon. and the other stuff is already at my dad's condo as we speak. Can't believe it shipped already and arrived already (yesterday)

This lamb sweater is so cool. I ordered this on Black Friday. And I will wear this with skinny jeans, my Ugg black boots I got for Christmas last year and a black puffy vest or my fleece peacoat.  Super straight hair (flat iron) length now right at my shoulders currently.

And I liked the boys Old Navy fleece tops so much, that I ordered this in black for myself and it's at my dad's house already too. Wow, less then 1 week to get to my dad's. Unbelievable. We were shocked when my dad got home and my cute lamb sweater and black ON fleece and Branden and Noah's pjs were there the following day is when the package arrived. They arrived Wednesday/yesterday.