Last week's Costco cart pic. Some new movies from Amazon.com. And The Gong Show reboot...

Last Friday, June 23rd Noboru and I made a Costco Chiba New Town run. And also a Besia (regular grocery store run) and also we hit the meat store in Inzai/Chiba New Town too, which is of course Joyful Honda. But only this pic from Costco is what I am sharing today. No other cart pics from that day. : ) What's in my Costco cart from last Friday? Let's see. 3 big jars of Ragu pasta sauce. 4 Kirkland frozen cheese pizzas. Tortilla chips (nachos are coming up for us, this coming Thursday night according to the weekly menu that I make) 2 types of grated cheese (mozzarella and a blend they call a Mexican blend.) Tortillas, dinner rolls and a rotisserie chicken that we had a delicious quick dinner from last Friday night. So an easy dinner last Friday was very nice. : ) 

We did stop and have lunch before we left Costco and went on our way to a few other grocery stores that morning. : )

My Amazon.com order arrived too. 

Split...we watched it yesterday and it's really good. We also enjoyed Get Out. This movie was *so* excellent. And it's funny because... one of the guys who was in Hawaii for the couple years of training when we were there. He's a good friend of Noboru's. Anyways he was telling Noboru...he had seen Get Out and he loved it and he told Noboru. "You have got to see that movie" That it was so good. And 2 days after his friend told him that. My fellow American friend in Yokohama emailed me and she's so super nice. Anyways we were emailing about fun stuff. You know movies and food and good stuff like that. : ) Anyways...she told me...."Gina, you should totally watch Get Out." I told my husband..."now my friend, also told me to see the same movie your friend mentioned too." @_@. So, I went and checked the trailer on YouTube and was like...wow this looks so good. So, I ordered it. And I won't spoil anything for any of you, except to say...everyone is totally right!!! This movie is so good! No wonder there is a buzz about Get Out. Because it's totally a good movie. I am so glad I have this... because I will be watching it again...probably this week. Beauty and the Beast. I remember being in middle school and watching an old black and white version of Beauty and the Beast all in French in my French class. Thank gawd for subtitles. LOL. And yep...wish I woulda took Spanish instead. But anyways. The story though...I fell in love with the story of this. And I have loved Beauty and the Beast since my French class in middle school. I guess I love the story of the Beast... how he was tested and turned that old poor beggar woman away... when she was seeking a place to stay for the night. And no wonder he was cursed because she was not truly an old beggar woman at all. As we all know. I think it just makes me always think...don't judge a book by it's cover. And...always be kind. Kindness *always* wins. And perhaps the Beast should have been kinder in the beginning. No wonder he was cursed! And then the Disney cartoon version came and I loved that one too. And I frankly know some folks like this new version and some don't. But...I know for me personally...the story I love. And I wanted this in my collection. I'll let ya'll know how I liked it. And the other movie...looks like Groundhogs Day but modern. And I have not seen it yet...but I have seen the previews and I will let you know how I like it. But...we are saving that for this coming weekend, same for Beauty and the Beast for...family movie night. : )  And as for Star Wars...we are the biggest Star Wars loving family and same with Terminator. You guys know that. One DVD is not shipping to my house until first weak of August, it's still too new and not released yet. : )  

Is it just me or is *everything* being rebooted. The TV show Roseanne is being rebooted too. With Roseanne Barr and the whole cast. Anyways...anyone remember the original Gong Show??? It was a popular American TV show in America. It ran from 1976-1980. I was like too little for preschool, then preschool aged... then kindergarten aged when this show ran. I might have even gotten to the first grade or 2nd grade during the run of this show. I was a little kid when this was on. But I do remember how popular this show was. If you performed good, you finished your act. If you were horrible they would gong you!!! I remember when I was little...Kids would ask other kids..."hey did you see the Gong Show last night?" Everyone did! It was just that popular. Anyway it's been rebooted and it just started in America again. I decided to catch the first show. And I read online that in America they're once again saying it's going to be the funnest thing all summer. So, I did make sure to tune in. And it's hilarious. I watched it Friday evening with my family. We were laughing so hard. This lady here. Dressed like Little Bo Peep. She had a tarantula. And put it into her mouth. Grossed out the audience. The host. Grossed us out over here too. @_@

They had 3 famous/actors as guest judges. 2 were from The Hangover. Ken Jeong the funny guy who played Mr. Chow. He's so sharp and so funny.

Putting it in her mouth. Bleh! Yikes. @_@

Yep the audience was totally grossed out. By the way...sorry the spider just reminded me.. speaking of rebooting shows. Fear Factor was also rebooted on MTV. Ludacris is the host. And my kids love Fear Factor!!! Bran and Noah watch every single week. And I watch with them. And Noboru watches it with us too when he's home and not working.

And of course went a warning on the screen. Please do not put spiders in your mouth. Ummm duh! : )

More audience members too. Again everyone was totally grossed out with the whole spider in the mouth thing. Us too.

Will Arnett.

Zach Galifianakas. He's always so funny. My whole family really likes him. Same for Ken Jeong, my kids crack up whenever they see Mr. Chow. : )

Anyway, Noboru did get his vacation days off. So we will be going on vacation at the end of July for sure 100%.  We can't wait!!! I'll give more details a bit later. : ) But...if my blog does go a bit quiet, between now and then. It's just because...I'm starting to watch a bunch of YouTube videos lately. You guys know...I always get caught up with everything new in the U.S. before I get there. I'd like to know...what's new. What's good. And so...I have started a small list so far. And just...you know slowly getting a list gathered up of what I'd like to bring back to Japan with me. : ) So if my blog doesn't get updated in 4 days. I am either just enjoying my family time. Or watching many makeup...what's new at Sephora or what's new at the drugstore videos. But, I am here. Anything else to add? : )

Noah has observation day July 4th at school. Holy smokes....didn't Noah just have observation day...not too long ago too? I could swear he *just* had observation day about 3 weeks ago...pretty recently/not too long ago. Hmm.

I'd like to get my hair straightened again. Before Japanese summer and humidity hits. I'm thinking either this week or next. Maybe this week. Hmm. Decisions decisions. : )

How has the weather been? Outside it's been warm to almost hot in the days and cooler at night still, but the humidity is really starting to rise outside though. Last week it started to get really humid. It's quite dry in our home, so we don't feel or notice a change inside our home. Thank goodness for central air conditioning. But it's really noticeable the second you leave the house.

My last 2 Amazon.com orders arrived with my DVDs. And some TV talk, good stuff I've been watching lately...

Okay where did I leave off? This was the last Amazon order I received that I mentioned on here already, so this pic you've seen before. The nearest weekend to when we received this batch. We popped popcorn, bought chocolate bars and treats from the grocery store in town. And we 4 watched Rogue One. Granted we 4 went to see it at the movie theater when it first came out, but this was so awesome to see this at home. After we all finished dinner and took showers and were in our comfy PJ's and stuff we enjoyed watching Rogue One. It is such an excellent movie. We love Rogue One. This past Sunday, the kids and I watched Fools Rush In, while Noboru was at work. I enjoyed this when it first came out and the kids enjoyed it too. We watched with movie with some homemade pizza I made. My book, I still have not started on it yet, but I will, however I am half finished with the Barry Manilow story right now that's in my magazine and as soon as I finish that.. I will start this book. : ) 

Fifty Shades Darker. I watched this by myself in the daytime. Kids at school, husband at work. And I bought a chocomint ice-cream and sat in the living room and watched this. My thoughts? I *really* enjoyed this movie a lot. Sometimes part 2's suck, if ykwim. But this didn't suck at all. Many good mini stories all happening in this 1 movie. I enjoyed this one movie very much. Think Noboru and I will have to watch this one together... when we have time this week. 

A Dog's Purpose. I heard this movie was good. And they're so right, it's excellent. My kids LOVED this movie. Noah cried and I cried too. Noboru really liked this too. I loved it too. We 4 also watched the movie Silence together. And Noboru straight up *loved* this movie... so much that he talked about it for 2 days straight!!! Our whole family enjoyed Silence. Very deep. Makes you think. And a true story. So educational too. 

Downward Dog is a new TV show on the ABC channel. The dog is narrating this show and it's so funny. This show is truly so well written. It's light funny not heavy or deep at all, but perfect for unwinding from a busy day!

The Blacklist is as good as always. Some serious stuff went down last week. 

Don't read ahead...possible spoiler. Although it ended last week and we still know absolutely nothing. But just in case... if you're worried... don't read any further. The one thing I love about this show is...this show is like a set of those Russian nesting dolls. With one doll inside the other doll and another inside that one. This show is about this lady she wants and needs to know many secrets. About who she is. Who her parents are. Yadayadayada, And each season you *think* you will finally find out who she is. And who her parents are/were. And *every* time you think..."ahh well we solved that mystery" You find out...there's more secrets and more lies inside. And we are back at square one and don't know jack squat! That happened again last week. Last season we thought she was Russian and had Russian spy parents? @_@ Or does she? Dundundun!!! And last week. Her boss took a DNA. Of Raymond and her and he said Raymond is her dad. @_@ And this pic shows she is all happy...she is hugging him warmly. Saying..."I don't mind if you are my dad, I'm just relieved knowing." And we think...yet again...well gee mystery solved. #notevenclose

And then the last scene is this one...where Raymond is talking with his #1 right hand man and he says..."Elizabeth *thinks* she's my daughter." @_@ Ummm....so was that just another lie on top of a lie on top of another lie? To infinity? I think so!!! Sounds like he's not her pops at all!!! That's why this show is so wildly popular. It's well written. It keeps you on the edge of your seat. You always wind..... right back at square 1..yet we really don't mind starting from square 1 every week. That's just how enjoyable this show is. Who is she? We still don't know. Who are her parents? Yep, we don't know that answer either! Again...I didn't give anything away... because even I don't know. They will probably string us along for a few more seasons and we'll enjoy every second of it. : ) Love this show! : ) 

Anyways...anything new to add? I am baking homemade peanut butter cookies today from scratch. I made the mixture about an hour ago and put it in the fridge for baking a bit later today. As soon as I came home from dropping off Noah from school, is when I made my cookie dough. Bran was dropped off much earlier. I had yogurt for breakfast (cherry flavor) I'm thinking about having an amazing filling salad for lunch today. And we had karaage for dinner last night. So I'm thinking of making baked ravioli for supper tonight. And we have those Costco dinner rolls, so I'll probably make some garlic rolls from those. Yummo! Alrighty, I have a walk to take. A house to clean. And a load of laundry ready to be tossed into my dryer. Talk to ya'll later. : ) 

My birthday...

March is my birthday month. March 22nd is my actual birthday date. I'm an Aries. I'm not into horoscopes at all... whatsoever... but in case someone's wondering, there ya go. LOL. Since it was my birthday month anyway...I just made sure I had a proper pampering a bit here and there all through the month of March. I had known Sephora.com (USA) ships to Japan for ages. However I have yet to place an order since I usually shop their actual store... when I'm in the states. But...ehh with it being my birthday month. I thought why not! I deserve it! : ) 

Just eyebrow products. Anastasia Beverly Hills products. And a pack of blotting papers. Dipbrow, a Brow Wiz and a brow pencil. And a brush with spoolie for using the brow pomade with. 

This isn't available in Japan and it wasn't even sold at the Singapore Sephora, not that we made it there anyway, but I did check though. So, I was happy to have placed my order. I received my order before Branden's JHS graduation. I say that... because I used some of these brow products on myself for his graduation on March 9th. 

Everyone seems to love the Brow Wiz and the brow pomade. I really don't ever hear talk about the brow pencil. And I have been using it since I received it and I love it. It's not waxy *at all* and it glides on and the color is a dead on match for my hair color. I have yet to try the Brow Wiz yet. 

Medium brown. The perfect ashy brown color that matches my hair color. 

Brow pomade in medium brown too. 

These smell like peppermint. And I will save these for summer. Japanese summers are very hot and I think this will be fantastic when summer hits : )

Love the brush and love the spoolie. Her (Anastasia's) spoolies are actually trademarked by the way. Like cult like status... her spoolies are! Hmm that sounded very Yoda-y didn't it? LOL.

What else did I get for my birthday? A new cell phone. Let me start off by saying. My cell phone I was using before this phone. Was so old. Like we're talking dinosaur status. Like way of the dodo type cell phone! So old...many of my apps wouldn't even work or run! LOL. This drove my husband and kids crazy! It drove them so nuts! For years...my husband said. Your phone is too old, let me buy you a phone! I was like..."nope, no thank you. As long as my phone can make calls. That's all I need." This drove everyone in my family absolutely bonkers. To be fair to me, I hate change. I start cooking dinner everyday at around the same time. I clean my house usually on the same days. Same day to clean Noah's room each week for example that sort of thing. Same day to clean the shower room twice weekly. I like and thrive on routine. That way...I stay very organized. It doesn't mean I don't have fun or anything though. But...I just like order and routine. So the thought of changing my phone and having all sorts of new buttons (okay not real buttons but ykwim) and apps. Hmm. Not exactly too appealing. But yep...I finally did it. And fwiw...the ONLY reason I changed phones is because my old phone was slowly dying and it got to the point that if I left my home and my phone was 100% charged and if I drove to pick up the kids from school it would be 10% charged by the time I'd get home. Considering it's a 5 minute drive form my house...ummm. The battery was dying... the phone was near death. So that's the only reason I finally changed phones. I have extended family who change their phones once a year.. just because they want the new model. And well...that's just not me. I keep my phone so long, too long. Like forever. : )

I bought a gold phone, I always knew if I were to ever get a new phone it would be gold. I bought an Android because I prefer Androids. And I bought one specifically with a super long lasting battery. Could be because I'm still recovering from the trauma of my last cell phone and it's short battery life, lol.

This battery lasts days and days and days on 1 charge. It even can power up other phones...which I wouldn't...but this battery is insane. And that's why I picked this one. I also didn't want to pick an expensive phone. Some phones now days are like 60,000 yen. Umm, no way am I spending US$600 bucks on a phone. I wanted to spend only 20,000 yen. And this was like a little over that but close to it. So, I was happy. It was affordable. The color I wanted they had and with a long battery. 

Noboru also purchased me a screen protector and a clear bendy case which I love. 

I love how my phone looks. But how do I like my new phone? Ummm...honestly? I love the new battery. But...it's too new for me still. I have so many apps and things that were not on my old phone. I guess...I'm still getting the hang of it. It will take me a long time to get used to this new phone. So, I like it...but I'm not used to it yet. Put it this way...on my old phone Noboru would LINE message me and I could pick up my old phone with 1 hand and message and reply within 30 seconds. Because the familiarity with my old phone was there. With this new phone? Noboru messaged me a few days ago and it took me a solid 5 minutes to reply. Because well for starters these new phones have ...fingerprint scans to unlock your phone so no one else can see your phone or read your messages but you. So, by the time I unlocked my phone with my index finger...and found the LINE app and clicked that...5 minutes had passed already. @_@  So umm, not quite second nature status yet. But I'm trying. 

So my main gift from Noboru this year for my birthday was a new phone. 

From my dad, I received electronic gift cards from Amazon.com (USA) and Old Navy.com and Gap (USA). And I will show you now what I picked. Also, many of the DVDs are too new and not able to ship but as soon as they can ship they will. I ordered the movie Fifty Shades Darker. 

I picked the movie A Dog's Purpose. This will flat out make you cry. And I can't wait until my copy gets to me. I'm so excited to get this.

Silence. A movie about missionaries who come to Japan and go missing. And I wanted to go and see this at the movies. However, it's 3 hours or so long? And nobody wanted to sit in the movies for 3 long hours. This drove me crazy...because this movie looks so good. And I really wanted to see it. It was available in English in the little city nearest me. However...nobody wanted to sit for a 3 hour movie. So...I was glad to order the DVD...that way I can see this at home. And pause it if anyone wants to go to the restroom or whatnot. : ) 

I like watching movies that show interracial relationships. I especially have huge respect for the couples from the olden days especially. Because it must have been super hard back in those days. I do own the DVD, Dragon the Bruce Lee Story that talks about Linda ( a white woman) marrying Bruce Lee. It's such a good story. And when I saw this commercial for this movie...I was like...wow. Stunned because it looked like a story needing to be shared. They were literally arrested for being in love. Interracial  marriage was flat out illegal in the old days. And this movie will be showing one couple and their story. I can't wait to get this DVD. 

I Am Sam, this movie is not new. But it's awesome. Sean Penn was brilliant in this. And I really wanted to have this in my collection. I also love the soundtrack to this. If I recall the whole soundtrack was Beatles songs. But by different artists though. 

Warmer weather is almost upon us. It's still frankly too cold for shorts weather and short sleeve weather in my part of Japan right now. But...I figured... might as well order a few pieces that will be appreciated and well loved this coming summer. I loved this cheeky black tee. And think it will go great with a pair of skinny bermuda length jean shorts and some low top black converse or flip flops.

These capri pants with draw string waist. The material is so light and will be so perfect once summer hits. And will be perfect in Japan since we dress a little more conservative and respectful in Japan. Meaning you rarely see folks in tank tops or booty shorts here. And if I were to take a flight, I could wear the Pardon my French top and these light weight capris and a distressed jean jacket and some flip flops or low top black converse and I'd be ready to go! : )

A navy blue top with cute ocean waves and I do love the beach, so I love this. And like the girl is wearing jean shorts I will probably wear mine with jean shorts or the navy shorts down below. 

Navy colored shorts. I own the black pair and tan pair of these exact same shorts already. I love these and I love the length... perfect for Japan. Can't wait to get these in preppy navy!

This black shirt is so cute. I also picked this tee in a color called berry smoothie. The bottom of the top is rounded. 

I also picked up the same capri drawstring pants in that airy material in army green. I got these pants on sale for $14 a pair. And a lot of my tops were on sale for US $8. 

Aha this is the top in berry smoothie. See the rounded bottom. It's super cute and having it in black and also this color will be great to wear with jean shorts this summer. The rounded bottom looks super feminine. : )

I also loved this green tee too. And with a pair of denim bermuda length roll up shorts this will be so cute. 

This top had so many likes and good comments. Everyone who ordered this... loved it so much. I too...am a very preppy dresser and with a pair of denim shorts and a pair of low top black converse...sorry if I'm sounding like a broken record here but...yeah this is going to be so cute. So yeah...I have 2 pair of denim shorts from last year and a pair of black shorts and tan shorts from last year that are still like brand new, so I will be wearing those plus adding these new pieces in too. : ) Slowly but surely. Warmer clothing ready...I'm getting there. Also the kids have been getting new summer stuff too, but their stuff will not be on this post...since this is just my birthday post. : )

Why did we fly back to Japan so early Tuesday morning? When we could have flown back Tuesday evening instead? Well because...Noboru was set to work on my birthday March 22nd. But...he had off March 21st, which is the day we flew back to Japan. So we had a family plan to go out for my birthday dinner Tuesday night versus Wednesday night. Which is more than fine. And because he had so many days to take off this month (Bran's JHS graduation, Noah's observation day, etc etc, I told him, not to take off for my birthday because the kids events were more important) Where did I pick to go for my birthday dinner? Jolly Pasta of course. : ) We started off with some appetizers of garlic bread. 

We each had a mini pizza that came with our pastas. We also each had a drink bar too.

We all ordered pastas. And we 4 talked and talked. Branden told us stories of karaaoke and we were laughing hearing so many funny stories. And we told him our Guam stories too. We ate. We talked. We laughed. And then we drove the 1 hour drive back to our town. This is called...living in *real* rural Japan. When everything delicious or good is hours away from where you live! Hahaha. : )

It was a day early but...we all had birthday cake. And my family sang so loud for me! I was laughing...that's how loud they sang! They're silly, they're funny and they always make me laugh. Ice-cream flavors..I almost forgot. Maple walnut and banana was the second flavor on my ice-cream cake. So anyway...that's the long and short of my birthday! It was wonderful! : )

Oh....I also went to the hair salon yesterday. I got 30% off since it is my birthday month, they sent me a postcard with the 30% off last month, for the month of March. That's why it is being mentioned in my birthday post. As you know my hair stylist is taking a 1 year absence due to her being pregnant. So, I am now just seeing any stylist who is available. I had a reservation yesterday morning at 9am. To get a Japanese thermal hair straightening. And a hair cut. My hair coloring, I am doing at home now and so far so good. I had a guy stylist yesterday. How do I like my hair? I love it. My hair is so super straight, so shiny and glossy and sleek. And my hair is all one length to my shoulders. I am so glad I got 30% off. Plus I needed to get my hair done before Bran's entrance ceremony. So now...my hair is all ready. : )