Valentine's Day 2018...

I hope you all had a really nice Valentine's Day this year. Ours was low key as always. But really nice. In January as soon as Valentine's chocolates were for sale in my nearest small city... nearest the town I live in. I bought my 3 guys their Valentine's stuff right away. I bought these for Branden and Noah this year. The Tirol golden variety box, I bought 2 years or so ago, my kids love them and so when I saw the same big golden box, I bought both Bran and Noah each a box of those. Those were only like 348 yen a box each. And the Mary's chocolates this particular type was chocolate nut crunch. They were 3 packs for 900 yen, so I bought Noboru a bag and one for each of the boys too. I didn't take a pic of Noboru's chocolates... but they were exactly the same Mary's chocolates as the kids received. I also took Noboru to Starbucks on Valentine's Day and we each got a coffee and a slice of cake too. My small little treat for *my* Valentine. Noah was with us too... because his class was closed due to the flu. So it was a Valentine date with the 3 of us, instead of just the 2 of us. LOL.  It was okay...it just couldn't be helped because the class was closed. And so we were all fine. And besides after this many years of marriage... we're practical yes and also parents... so we were fine with a Valentine's date of 3. : ) And he took me/us for lunch before our Starbucks run. So we each in a small way celebrated each other that day. I'm glad that happened to be his day off. : )  

The woman I bought the chocolates from at the mall... gave me gift bags and decorative stickers and stuff and Valentine's morning, I wrapped every one's small gift. Yes in our family we celebrate Valentine's Day... the American way meaning we give gifts to each other on 1 day.... versus the Japanese way of the boys giving gifts on White Day instead. In our house we don't celebrate White Day, we get it out in 1 fell swoop. : )

What did I get for Valentine's Day? Noboru always asks me what I want for Valentine's Day? I honestly don't think you should shell out boo-koo bucks for Valentine's Day. I prefer my husband and I keep it under 1000 yen for a gift for V-day. And sure if we want to go get some lunch or coffee that we could both enjoy together? Awesome. But nope you will see no... big fancy expensive gifts here for V-day. After Noboru always asks me what I want. I always just say...the same chocolates as last year is fine. I love those. They're practical. They're what...700 yen. No need to do more, in my opinion. So, I received my fave Ferrero Rocher. I also received gifts from both my sons this year too. First time ever for me. As it wasn't suggested by a teacher. It was done 100% completely on their own with no prompting for any outside force. 2 weeks beforehand, my boys asked me...."mom what would you like for Valentine's Day from us? I was super surprised. Pleasantly so. : ) I told my kids. "Seriously do not spend more than 300 yen on me, okay? I don't need it. But thank you though." That's $3 US for you Americans. : ) Noah bought me this box of chocolate covered almonds. I love these. They were affordable, so I didn't feel guilty about my kids spending money on me. And they felt so good about giving me a gift too. Branden asked me too. He said exactly this..."mom my school is near a Kiehl's and a Body Shop" What do you want for Valentine's Day? I told Branden...buy me one of those delicious clear teas. And that's enough for me, kiddo. I too told him...please no more than 300 yen. 

Branden came home Valentine's Day after school with this in hand for me. A fancy bar of chocolate and a clear tea. I felt so happy this Valentin'e Day. What 3 sweethearts, I have. I'm truly so lucky!!! 

Branden has a legit girlfriend. Almost 1 year they've been dating. A blonde American cutie by the way. But anyways...that did not deter Bran from getting a ton of Valentine's Day goodies. Hafu girls/classmates. Or other 100% foreign classmates. Or Japanese. But he has quite a bunch of girls that like him... like him...meaning that wish to be his girlfriend. 6 gifts from his classmates. Which means...I will be baking for White Day. Again this year. @_@ Holy goodness. 

Also the 11th grade grade peeps got back from their trip to California. And 2 girls gave Branden some American treats. That was more so... friendship candy/tomo choco.

Branden received homemade brownies, and so many homemade variety of cookies. But these I thought were so pretty...the butterfly cookies. Makes me want to find a butterfly cookie cutter now. Hahaha. Bran gave me a small taste of these and they were delicious. He also gave Noah a bite too. : )

I'm wondering what kind of Valentine's Day, my kids and I will have next year in the states. Hmm. It'll be interesting. : ) And new and exciting. : ) 

Valentine's Day 2017...

Did everyone have a nice Valentine's Day? We did. It of course was typically very low key. But then again... ya'll know that's so *us* and our style anyway. : ) This is going to be a super short post. This bag held Noboru's Valentine's Day gift from me. Yes it came from the Loft. 

The thing I love about Japan... is they have free gift wrapping and wrapped it up and everything in under like 3 minutes. I even got to pick up the blue color of the gift bag and the label. : ) They had different color gift bags and different styled labels too all for free... since I purchased the cup there. : ) 

We don't go super fancy here at our house. We go for practical and more of...it's the thought that counts. : )  I knew...Noboru definitely needed a new coffee mug for here at home. His is like 15 years old. It's been chipped twice because of him dropping it on accident twice in 14-15 years. So he definitely needed a replacement. However...I wanted one that reminded me of Noboru. One that when you saw it... you thought instantly...wow that's *so* Noboru. Do you know what I mean? Does that make sense? So, I have been quietly looking for a coffee cup for Noboru since the beginning of January. I checked 2 Starbucks. I would have loved a Starbucks one myself. But...it didn't seem to say or remind me of....Noboru at all. I looked high...I looked low. I looked everywhere. I checked malls in Inzai. Malls in Ibaraki. Remember when I went to the closing sale of Old Navy and didn't buy anything? Yep...I even checked way back then for a coffee cup. I was talking to a girl friend of mine 2 weeks ago... who lives in Ibaraki. And she suggested I check Loft. And so...we were going to the mall anyways....and so I checked in there. And sure enough. This is *so* Noboru. And when I see this cup at home...I know this isn't any one's in this houses cup but HIS. And I knew he would love it. I put...so much thought and effort looking for the perfect coffee cup for him and I knew instantly as soon as I saw this...yes he would love it. It only cost 1200 yen. About $11 US. And that shouldn't and...it doesn't matter. What matters is...I knew he would love it. And when he unwrapped it Valentine's morning. He instantly smiled and he totally loves it. So that made me happy. Finding my sweetie pie... something he needed and would love. And it's a simple gift too. : ) 

My 2 sons! My kiddos. I never forget them. And I never go all out. It's just...I like to buy them a little something something. You know what I mean. Just a little something to brighten their V-Day and let them know..."mom loves you! And she always has your back!" : )  The Little Fujiya heart is like a Mr. Goodbar. And the gold box has a good little variety and assortment of little chocolates. And they were really happy to not have been forgotten by me. And nope...they weren't! : ) 

What did Noboru get me for Valentine's Day this year? He bought me a box of my favorite chocolates in the world...they're available in Japan but he bought them at Costco in Japan. I love these so much. We all thought of each other. We all kept things super low key as always. And we all really enjoyed Valentine's Day at our house. I made a really good dinner. And we just relaxed and watched good TV after dinner. Anyway...I hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day too.  : ) 

Valentine's Day 2016...

I hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day, yesterday. We had a nice and quiet one over here. : ) I picked up both Branden and Noah's V-day gifts, about 3 weeks ago. As soon as they started selling them/put them out, is when I went and picked something for the boys. The lady wrapped them...put them into gift bags for me for free, which was awesome. 

These were really cute and had a ton of little chocolates in there. And kids here, love this chocolate, so I figured it would be a cute idea. : ) 

So many chocolates, so the boys were scratched off the list. And for Noboru, I usually bake him cupcakes every year... however last week, he said, "honey I really don't need anything sweet, if you wanted to make me super happy... seriously a big bag of squid would, be the best gift for me." My thoughts? A little unusual, but...most Japanese guys love that stuff and my husband especially loves it! So, done and done, while I was at my regular grocery store last week... I picked up a big honkin' bag of it and with a pack of red bows bought from Daiso, I decorated his big bag of yummy nummy's for him. : ) So it was really an easy V-day for me this year. Not bad, not bad! : ) 

What did I get for Valentine's Day? Last week, we ordered a new bottle of Vitamin C serum for me for $14 dollars and free shipping to Japan from Wishtrend. And he also bought me this box of my favorite chocolates too. So, I was really happy. And the Vitamin C serum didn't get here yet...but eh...I'm fine with it...it will get here, when it gets here. : ) 

Valentine's Day dinner for a family of 4. We ordered some Pizza Hut, 2 large pepperoni and mushroom pan pizzas and a large baked fries. And the closest pizza place to us, is all the way in Narita City, so we went and picked it up...all of us in our sweatpants and me in my yoga pants and sweatshirt. Not a stitch of makeup on. We came home and feasted and watched good TV for the evening. : ) A perfect...very low key Valentine's Day. : ) 

Valentine's Day

I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day. : ) We had a nice and quiet one here at the house. I did pick 3 chocolate haystacks from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, at Narita mall, while we were buying Branden's shoes on...... was it Tuesday? I think it was Tuesday. 

Noboru had been asking me to pick some chocolates for weeks and I said, if I see something, I'd let him know. These are my most favorite and since we were there anyway. I picked these. : )  Just 3 because I have a ningen dokku (big medical exam) at the end of March.

I also was running low on my face wash and green apple peel/exfoliator and so Noboru picked me up these too, while we were at Aeon. : ) Sorry, I just prefer practical gifts. : )

Eye glass cloth to clean your lenses, you know what I mean. : ) Again, practical. Sorry. :  ) I loved them, I picked the colored pencil and jelly beans. Branden was digging mine big time, so I convinced Noboru to get Branden, the colored pencil one as well. :  )  These were found and bought from Aeon. : )

I got an okay eye glass case with my glasses. But, I did wish for something a little more....hmmm. Stylish. And I found something and the price was pretty affordable.

They are a steel eye glass case, they are lined, they open with a flip top and were just 1300 yen each. I was going to pick just black, but Noboru said, if we ordered 2, we could get free shipping. And given the cost of shipping it was just wiser to pick 2. I have the jelly bean cloth folded inside the silver case, and the colored pencil cloth folded in the black case. I am using the black case right now.  And that's it for me. Very practical Valentine's gifts, but gifts, I will really use and love. :  )

Meanwhile, Thursday at swimming school Branden received this haul of Valentine's gifts from some of the girls there. 1 or 2 is friendship chocolate (tomo choco) from some girls. But most of it is starting to become, "I like you" or "I think you're cute" chocolate. @.@

Her name has been erased by me, just for her privacy, not that any of you would know her anyway. But you can read this. Also, I think this will be the last letter of Branden's I share, because he's getting older and I need to keep his letters private from now on, so last one. Basically, she says she really likes Branden. She is sorry she couldn't come to swim school that day. I want to hold your hand. And she loves Branden. Yep, that's the gist of the letter. She is a 5th grade girl and goes to our same elementary school. He also got a couple little notes similar in other treat bags. 

Inside one of his presents. 

Anyway, Saturday Feb 15th was to be a huge meeting for us yakuin ( leaders) of the kodomokai, however us, 3 heads, pres, and us 2 VP, had a meeting on the 14th before the rest of us met on the 15th. It was okay, because it was at the plaza, 20 minutes before the kids got out of school. So we could talk "important" stuff before the kids let out. So, since I do weekly menus....I knew I was going to be making my 3 guys delicious chicken parmesan and pasta for our Valentine s dinner. So, I breaded and prepped it up until this point in the day time of Feb 14th. 

I also baked Noboru and Branden and Noah some chocolate coconut cupcakes. Yumm. I just added a little coconut essence into the batter. And the frosting was coconut flavored anyway. Best frosting ever, by the way. 2 thumbs up on this frosting. So anyway, I baked the cupcakes in the daytime, breaded and cooked the chicken paremesan, did 2 loads of laundry, washed and tumbled dried our laundry. Vacuumed, and cleaned toilets. Not in that order. Then I slapped on some clothes, put my hair in a pony tail. Some concealer and powder foundation and lip balm, that's it, I was ready for my pre meeting...meeting. @.@ Hahaha. Dance...Footloose...notes, notes notes. And next thing we knew, the kids were all arriving down the hill to the plaza, so the meeting ended. Phew! What a day. : )

Branden brought home 2 more Valentine's Day treats. He also asked Noah immediately..."I heard your teacher confiscated all V-Day treats in your class? The whole school was talking about it!!!" Meanwhile I'm like... What? What's up Noah? ......

Luckily for Noah, he arrived early and a girl got to give him this before the ,majority of the class came in and the teacher came in and he put it/tucked it away in his randoseru. Apparently...a girl told a few kids, I am going to give treats and she brought them. But one fell out of her locker, right near the class. The sensei saw and was annoyed....she said "no Valentine's treats allowed for anyone...whoever has them, bring them to my desk you can't have them, if you want to give V-day gifts give them after school at their houses." So most every one's treats were confiscated, not sure if they were returned at the end of the day or not, I don't think so. Noah and the girl who gave them to him, said nothing and he just kept his hidden in his bag. According to Branden, the whole school heard about what happened in Noah's class. Noah was supposed to get another little gift from another little girl but it was confiscated. : (  Did the teacher eat it, throw it away? or I am not sure really. : ( Also, Noah's treats are "friendship" chocolate though, even though they are from girls. : ) Last year we had a different ichinensei teacher and she didn't mind V-Day gifts, but this sensei doesn't care for it.  The girls who did bring gifts were not carrying the bags back with them down the hill and the boys who were receiving the gifts didn't get them either. I somehow think the teacher kept them or threw them. @.@ 

I was about to add some very pretty sprinkles on my choco coconut cupcakes when Branden said..."mommy, can I say something....those silver ball ones hurt my teeth." @.@ I had no idea! Noah said, "yeah me too." @.@ I asked Noboru who was also standing in the kitchen. I said, sprinkles or no sprinkles, the 3 of them all said, "no sprinkles please." Wow...I had no idea. @.@ So...it was for them anyway, so, I didn't add any. : ) 

Sprinkles or no sprinkles....  they were seriously.... so good! : ) 

What a bad cupcake picture and chicken paremsan pic, sorry about that guys. :  ) But, anyway, in a nut shell. Valentine's Day was special because we were all together, dinner was delicious and so was dessert.... it was snowing and raining and back and forth all day, the weather was bitterly cold outside. We were glad the weekend was starting. Just a quiet little V-day here at home with the fam. : )

Valentine's Day

Sorry, as usual I am about 4 posts behind. hahaha. : ) Anyway, I did want to talk about Valentine's just a teeny tiny bit. Noboru asked me in January what I would like for Valentine's day. I told him, I'd like 1 book, 1 DVD and maybe a small box of chocolates or maybe a camera case. He said, get the chocolates *and* the camera case, I'll get you those no problem. He said just throw what you want into the Amazon cart and he'll take care of the rest. Bless this man! Such an awesome husband! So totally thoughtful always. And no, I don't mind in the least picking out what I'd like for Valentine's day. It saves my husband having to rack his brain. And plus he's not a psychic. I know some households might want the element of surprise and that's fine, if that's how you do it, but that's not how we roll here at our house. So, I don't mind throwing what I'd like in the cart at all. Not at all. I often do the same in return because that way no disappointments for V-day, birthdays or the like. I also kept what I would pick to about 5,000 yen to 6,000 yen most. The book and DVD, came from Amazon.com. They were both what I had been wanting and they were both affordable. The chocolates, we both threw into the cart while we were shopping together one afternoon. He said, "oh I know you love these.", I said, "I do, I do." And they were only about 450 yen. So, again, something I really liked and loved without it costing an arm and a leg. And the book and DVD got here fairly fast. And we did order those in January. So, smart to order ahead of time. I was not disappointed come Valentine's day. : )

I found my camera case from Amazon.jp

My old camera case was orange cost only about 800 yen and I liked it a lot but I used it to death. And I really mean pieces of the orange color material had ripped off and it looked horrible. So I needed a new one. I fell in love with this one. It's so cool. It's in a lovely caramel/camel color and it was only 1,600 yen. About $17 US. The comments on amazon.jp said it looks so much pricier then it really is. And I agree. It really is gorgeous in real life. I did show Noboru online and asked him what he thought. He said, he loved it so much if he had a camera he'd pick this case too! : ) So, I know I made the right choice. Also, it must be a gray day when I took this picture because it's lighter and prettier then this color. It is the color of the pic down below.

A close up. The strap is nice and long and has 3 adjustments. I was actually worried the strap would be too short and like strangle me type short. But it is actually really long and can be shortened. I am so happy with the length of this strap. I used this Friday on my trip to Guam. I had a flight attendant and the waitress at Denny's mention how cute my camera case was. So 2 compliments on the case and I have only used it since last Friday. And again it was nice and affordable. And I love it. And I also like that I can walk hands free and still carry my camera with me. Okay, okay, I'll cool it about my camera case already! : ) But, I do like it. I like it a lot. Probably one of the coolest things to have received for Valentine's day.

And inside my chocolate box was this heart. Don't laugh at me or anything, but I am so lucky to be married to my best friend in the whole world.

Branden brought home these Valentine' day treats from 2 girls from elementary school. The one on the left is from M-chan (best 5th grade swimmer girl) and the one on the right are from A-chan, the prettiest girl and most popular girl in the 5th grade class. @_@ Hahaha.

They both went very detailed this year. with heart dangle as part of their tie and the whole shebang. Oh dear, now I better start to think about White Day. Hahaha. : )

A-chan went all out with her homemade choco lollipops. And chocolate dipped heart marshmallow. And she only gave treats to 2 boys. Branden being 1 of the 2.

They also brought home a V-day surprise from yet another at Kumon. Gah! yeah, I better start thinking, White day. @_@

I bought Branden and Noah these. One Piece V-day chocolates. I had bought these end of January as soon as they started displaying V-day stuff is when I jumped on these.

Again nothing hugely expensive or fancy. I just spent 120 yen each however they loved getting these from me. And they had pirate loot inside to boot! : ) I will never forget my 2 boys on Valentine' day. Even if it's something small like how I did on Setsubun by buying those oni cream pans. : )

And no, I didn't forget Noboru. I bought him a special box of chocolates. And I also made him a pan of brownies.  He loved the brownies and he loved the chocolates. : ) Plus we're going to our special Valentine's family get away this coming week, all 4 of us. And we'll be soaking in that chocolate bath. And the other baths too. And get to stay the night at the hotel and just enjoy ourselves as a family. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed Valentine's day with your loved ones. : )