My 2 most recent trips to Costco. Bits and pieces on the Eiken, some TV talk and a few other things mixed in there for good measure...

Another one of my bits and pieces posts. Just a round up of things going on around here since we have been back from Denver. I had mentioned before that we bought a brand new hard shell suitcase while in Denver. But we are slowly going to be replacing our 4 with 4 new ones. So we had bought 1 in Denver. And we then saw this one, at Costco Japan. The price was fantastic for a Samsonite hard shell suitcase. Choice in color was like a maroon or wine red or basic black. We went for a basic black.

Now we have 2 new suitcases and 2 old suitcases. : ) Slowly and surely wins the race. So...we'll get there... regarding the suitcases. : ) The bright side is we now have 2 brand new suitcases. 

Quaker Oats the Costco size... means my Fall and Winter baking is slowly getting into gear. Homemade from scratch apple crisp, oatmeal raisin cookies. Just so so many things can be baked with these oats. Can't wait. : ) 

You can see the suitcase underneath. This is what we bought. The day we bought our Samsonite. This was taken September 2nd. A pack of chicken breasts (there's 8 in there, make sure you don't buy a pack with 7, I always check, lol). A 4 pack of Kirkland cheese pizzas. This cheesecake is to die for! It's so good! My kids LOVE this cheesecake. Ham for sandwiches, for school lunches. 

Underneath the cheesecake is that delicious fresh pasta, a huge Costco amount of tortillas and mozzarella cheese for baked chicken parmesan and homemade pizza night.

A week later these pics were taken September 8th. OshKosh tee shirts. Boys sizes 7-12. Noah wears a 12! And for only 597 yen! The week before... these were full price so I skipped them. But considering the 597yen price tag! I had to get some. 

There were 4 different colors. I immediately loved the navy blue with bright neon green wording. I dug through and found 2 size 12's. Only 2 size 12's left. I grabbed 1 and threw it into my cart. I didn't like the lighter blue color AT ALL, so didn't even check for Noah's size. I next wanted the cream colored one. But as you can see... in this picture they had very few cream colored shirts left and zero size 12's. Only size 7's. So, I thought about just getting one? But then thought nope..for that cheap price, considering Noah wears regular clothes to school every day at school, I better get the gray one. And lucky for me they had 1 gray size 12 and I found it! I snapped it up and put it in my cart. 

This is my cart pic taken from September 8th. 2 packs of chicken breasts, so 16 breasts total. Because I had Branden's undokai coming and made karaage and I always use 6 breasts for my karaage for the 4 of us... considering I have one always hungry teenager and a skinny as a toothpick 11 year old who loves mommy's karaage so much  and same for Noboru, so always 6 breasts considering the ages of the kids today. Also bought shredded cheese and tortilla chips, we had nachos. A new black pepper, finely milled. You see the 2 OshKosh shirts for Noah. Pretzel bread (rolls) I have never bought something so disliked before. : ( Noah had one and said he doesn't like this. Branden had one and said..."it isn't horrible but he doesn't want to eat anymore" @_@ Noboru said it's not his taste at all. Boy did I feel bad I bought something so disliked. 85% of this pretzel bread went uneaten. We threw it out and I will not be buying the pretzel bread anymore. Oh well...live and learn right? : ) My family disliked it..check and check. : ) What else is in this cart? A huge honkin' bag of all purpose flour. It's 3 or 4 KG worth? I forget and I could go check in the kitchen, but won't. : ) I am gearing up for baking season and so the... all purpose flour, was a necessary purchase. 

Ahhh, how nice. A better angle. And a rotisserie chicken. There is just SO much you can do with these rotisserie chickens. Make a quick fettuccine alfredo. Taquitos. Nachos. Rotisserie chicken sandwiches. Soft tacos. You can do so so many things with these rotisserie chickens. So, I usually will buy them. That's all for that trip. I'm happy that I can zip to my nearest Costco once a week or at the very least ...every other week. That way... I can get my hands on cheaper baking goods. Or buy tastes from "home" So yeah...I'm really happy I can drive and also can zip there often. : ) 

If you've ever read my old posts. You will remember that from like age 17 to like...hmm...Noah was already born. So for how long? I'm not sure how long exactly but maybe about for 15 years at least I always bought Basis face wash. Like seriously on my old blog posts, like when the kids were toddlers, and I'd share pics of what I brought back from Honolulu. I'd share like a pic of 6 Basis face cleansers. Because...it's honestly just always what I used. It was so easy to find it at Long's Drugstore on Oahu. And when I'd go back to Denver, I always would bring back 5 or 6 from Walgreens. It has never been hard to find. Well then...why did you stop using it? I stopped using it because my face all of a sudden got hella dry. Like super hella dry. And so...I started floating around trying different cleansers. I have floated from Dove face foam in Japan. And then I went on that Korea skincare kick hardcore about...3 years ago. LOL, remember that? I still love and use like 2 products from Korea that I order online. But...I've mostly gotten that all out of my system. Isn't it funny...how we grow and change and feel differently about stuff. And I love that on blogs it's all on there still. : ) Anyway...I have been using super gentle face cleansers all this summer. And long story short. I wash my face every morning with a gentle cleanser and by 10am my face feels so greasy. Like a coating of lard. So, I would go and wash my face around lunch time. I don't wear makeup if I am just home for the day. Washing my face twice a day...totally normal morning and before bed. But...washing 3 times a day? @_@ Super too much. Maybe I need a stronger cleanser. Not to strip my face and deplete it of moisture. But...I definitely think my face cleanser before was making my face a greaseball. So..while in Denver...I decided to return to an old favorite. Basis. However...I could not find it anywhere! Like not at Walgreens. Nor Target or Walmart. However...I know of iherb. A ton of my foreign mama friends here in Japan order from them and have been telling me for years how much they love ordering from their website. And I just decided when I got back to Japan to order the Basis cleanser from iherb. 

This has the best scent ever. And I'm really sensitive to scents. It doesn't feel stripped. It feels clean and I now only wash every morning and every night before bed. Granted...hope my face doesn't feel too dry this December with using this. But for now...I feel like... an old friend has returned. LOL. It's so nice using a cleanser that I used for 15 years. And it's super cheap ordering it from iherb. 

When the kids are in school. I spend a solid 2 hours each day on the house. Whether it be laundry or house cleaning and most of the time, 99.99% of the time.... it's both. I also spend an hour on my dinner prep. I go for walks for exercise or use my treadmill if it's too hot outside or raining. Talk to my friends on Skype or LINE or family. Or zip to the bakery or zip to Costco...you know what I mean. This morning as soon as the kids went to school. I turned on the jams and listened to some music. hence the cords from my speakers on the window sil. And I grabbed my 98 yen bleach spray. And got to bleaching my kitchen counters and sink. Dishwasher. Mopping the kitchen floors. Hanging the kitchen mats outside to dry. 

Nothing quite like a nicely bleached kitchen. I have not yet switched the summer blankets in our bedrooms... to winter blankets yet. Because well... the weather is still too hot to make that switch yet. It's still shorts weather here in our part of Japan. So, the towelkets are still on the beds. And on the couch for nighttime TV watching and cuddling. If I were to drag out the winter fleece blankets we'd all melt to death still. : ) So...I can feel the Fall in the air. Because it does feel cooler yes. But not *cold* The rice behind our house was cut down last week. I saw a red dragon fly... flying around during Branden's undokai. So there are small signs Fall is here or...almost here. So that is why I am stocking up now....on things like Quaker oats or flour. For when Fall is 100% all here...I can be prepared with all that delicious Fall baking. : )

We're almost at the end. What else have we been up to? Besides slowly getting ourselves and our household Fall ready? We have been prepping for the Eiken. Branden is taking the level 1. This is the best level you can take. This is the LAST Eiken test to take. He and I have been studying for it. And Noah is going to take his first Eiken ever and he will start with level 3. Honestly. It's **way** too easy for Noah. He will pass this super easy. And I should have started him at level 2 like how Branden started. However...I think Noah crushing the Eiken level 3 will give him tons of confidence and he'll be eager and pumped to take the pre-2, unless the next one Noah takes is the level 2. So that's what we have been doing. Noah and I study an hour each day with this Eiken 3 book. We go through this super quickly and we cover 2 days each 1 day. And then we will go back and review the following day. I want him comfortable and to have *zero* worries about it. He will have an interview but speaking is not even an issue for us here at our house. Branden's Eiken 1 booklet we have been studying this for 2 hours every other day. Because to pass the Eiken 1, you must write 3 paragraphs it must be "around" 200 words and it must cover 3 bullet points of 5-6 that they give you. And I have been training him to write said 3 paragraphs. I want him to be able to write that in under 10 minutes. Right now he's writing it in about 15 minutes. And these topics are like...."Please give us the pros and cons of an arranged marriage." @_@...another topic for example is..."are we overloaded with information" and again you child needs to write 3 paragraphs on the subject and they must include...points like...it gives you 6 bullet points and your child must pick 3 #1 The internet and news media...Advertisements...Freedom of the press...The "spread of cultures" is another bullet point for information overload and there are more topics but the topic is still "info overload." And...the child will have zero idea WHAT the question will be asked to write down... until the day of the Eiken...the important thing is...you need to be able to write about anything and everything. Write it in a timely matter. And does it make sense? I will share more pics and posts about the Eiken later this week. You also have to know the meaning of a whole lot of vocabulary. Like 300 or so vocabulary. Like can your child please explain what "incongruous" means. How about can your child please explain what...dissonance means. Or an easier one...how about petulant. So there is just so much vocabulary we have to go through. Plus the practice for writing the 3 paragraphs with the bullet points. And we're training for time and is he hitting those bullet points or not. Luckily Branden's writing is good. His cursive is beautiful. And it's just the study stuff we're going through and tightening up some things. Branden's Eiken study takes longer...it's just harder. So that's why we only do it every other day.

Right now we're only focusing on taking and passing the written for both the boys. However at the back of my mind...I am already looking ahead on the verbal interview part for both the kids. Noah's will be easy and it's not really a concern. Because he fluently speaks English and it's only the Eiken 3. Branden also fluently speaks English obviously... but Branden's will be harder...since it's the Eiken 1. The pre-1 interview was super easy.  After looking online. We found this message board about the Eiken 1. And there is a Japanese woman in the Kanto area. She passed the Eiken 1 written no problem. And so she wrote that she had tons of confidence taking the verbal/speaking interview in Tokyo. It's at an English school fwiw. You will NOT know the topic ahead of time. And they will ask you and you then have 2 or 3 minutes to give a speech or speak about whatever topic they tell you. Just right on the spot type stuff. The question she got was..."please give us your thoughts about the use of  "loan words" ...on that message board, she told us...she sat there dead silent. And she said she didn't know what they were talking about and she could not answer. She failed the interview. And she went home and searched about loan words. Do I know what loan words are? Yes, I do. But I honestly wouldn't know that phrase... if I didn't live in Japan. How many words do the Japanese borrow from the English language. Cabbage. the Japanese use that. They use Coffee sounds more like cohee, but it's definitely coffee and a loan word. Loan words. So...while I am not trying to concentrate on the interview part just yet. Meaning don't want to count our chickens before they're hatched, if ykwim. Meaning...he needs to pass the written... before we can concentrate on the interview. However...I have a notebook and I have been finding other peoples questions online, so many are shared on that message board... that they were given during the Eiken 1 interview. And I have been practicing with those questions to sort of prepare Branden for that. We have lightly gone through the question of..."what do YOU think of loan words Branden?" And much thanks to that lady...he knows how to answer that. And so while we are working on the Eiken 1 written. I have been collecting other folks interview questions in a notebook and we will work with that, if he can pass the written. And prepare ourselves.

Branden did have his sports day. And those posts are just so hard to get ready to post because I have to white out... everyone's school name and logo on their shirts. And stuff like that. So...I will get that post up eventually. But I'm just not in a rush to do it. And Noah's undokai is next Saturday. So that is just some of the things that have been happening here at our house.

This is a 3 day weekend. The kids do not have school this coming Monday and they don't have school on Thursday either. So the kids only have school 3 days this coming week. : ) Which is super nice. : ) 

What have I been watching on TV lately? Little Women LA and Atlanta. I love those 2 shows so much! I've also been enjoying Teen Mom. I am getting excited for the Fall shows to start. Lucifer the new season starts September 19th. And a brand new show starts September 23rd on FOX and it's called The Exorcist. It seems like a series and it looks interesting and worth a shot. Another new TV show is coming out with Kristen Bell and the show is called..."The Good Place"  it's a comedy and she apparently died...and by watching the commercials...she can't curse in heaven and if you try to curse a funny word will come out instead. And Kristen Bell's character must be trying to curse because all sorts of funny things come out, instead of curse words. It looks like a fun show. I can't wait. I hope, I like this show. : )

Throwback Thursday...

Today's TBT, takes us back to September 2009! Noah's yochien grape picking/cutting and sweet potato dig with his school and us parents! It was a weekend field trip/meet up and all us parents and siblings were also invited! Each child came with his or her own family. There wasn't like a school bus that took us or anything. We all met there. Noah got to pick his own pack of grapes and cut them down. And we let Branden cut down his own bag too. Each family pays for whatever they cut down. The sweet potato dig was free though and of course we could bring the sweet potatoes home with us. : )

Noboru helping Noah cut the grapes down that Noah picked out. He did a very good job at cutting his bunch of grapes. And you can see a pair of pruning sheers in Bran's hand and he was about to cut a bunch of grapes too! The kids both loved spending the day here. Branden did this too, when he was in yochien and Noah did this too when he was in yochien too. : ) 

Each child got to have whatever potatoes were between the 2 white chalk lines. Branden helped dig with Noah! That way they both could join in the fun!

They both dug and dug and harvested so many sweet potatoes! We made so many steamed sweet potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes. And also yummy daigaku-imo  (like a deep fried sweet potato with a sweet sauce.) We had sweet potatoes every way you can have them! : ) We clearly love sweet potatoes around here. : )

After everyone was finished cutting their grapes and digging their sweet potatoes, we all went and enjoyed some fresh steamed sweet potatoes and a cup of super sweet grapes. They kept bringing out more cups of grapes for everyone to enjoy and kept bringing out more and more sweet potatoes too.

Every September after the kids started back to school after the summer break...when the kids were in yochien...we always went here for our weekend afternoon grape and sweet potato harvest. These are definitely fond fun memories for us all! : )

Last bits and pieces from our summer, like our BBQ of ribs and getting another JHS uniform for Branden and a whole bunch of other things mixed in there too...

Hi you guys! I am *so* happy to have finished the Denver posts! Phew! That was a load off my mind to get that done. I do have this post. It's the last of the summer 2016 summer posts, I promise! It's just...boy, we had a whole heck of a lot that we were doing in August. And I just never had the chance to post everything. There just wasn't enough time for it. However the silver lining is...that it can be totally wrapped up...consolidated in this 1 post. That way we can move forward. And close the chapter of summer 2016 officially as soon as I post this one. Branden was offered in the beginning of June from Noboru that if he wanted to make some extra pocket money over the summer, he could mow our lawn when it needed it. For mowing the front and backyard he would earn 1,000 yen (US$10 dollars) Branden thought that was a fantastic deal. And so all summer long whenever the grass looked like it needed a mowing, Branden would get out there and mow the lawn. He earned a good chunk of cash by the end of summer. Good kid, good kid! : )  

Chili's were too genki beyond words! They grew like the dickens! We harvested this amount pictured here every single week! @_@ Roasting them, was a real pain in the butt, but it was worth it.

The Olympics happened this summer too! And of course we watched the opening ceremony! I love seeing all the different countries come out and share and bond over sports! And I cheered so loudly when the United States came out. I swear my neighbors must think I suffer from tourettes every 4 years! Hahaha. I am quiet the other times. But...when watching the American team walk out into the stadium I go nuts! USA...USA...USA! I think it's no big secret... how much I love my country. And our American outfits this year? Absolutely gorgeous and stunning! Our household watched swimming. I have 2 boy swimmers here at the house as you know... so they love watching swimming and they cheer so loudly for the USA! And we always watch gymnastics too. America did so well this Olympics. Sadly...Ryan Lochte and the whole...destroying the gas station. Lying about the robbery thing? Totally disappointed to hear that!  As of right now for this season...he's on Dancing with the Stars. And apparently 2 guys wearing anti- Lochte shirts booed and called him a liar after his first dance! @_@ People still seem pretty upset about the whole thing. @_@ But yep, team USA did wonderful as a whole this summer at the Olympics. 

Also in August, I had to replace my liquid eyeliner because mine ran out. I am now using this one. I used this of course during my whole trip in Denver and on days here in Japan when I have to wear makeup. I really like this one. It's better than the Dolly Wink one that I was using before this one and it is rated #1 by looking at this sticker on the package. Great liquid eyeliner. 

What else happened this summer? Oh yes, that's right. Have you heard in the news about Samsung tablets exploding? It's been all over the news recently. Noah had a Samsung tablet which he got for his 2015 birthday. Luckily it wasn't the type that explodes. @_@ However it too... had a funky weird glitch or defect. And the screen would turn yellow then back to a normal white screen then go to a funky yellow and back and forth. At the end of June we got a hold of Expansy's which is who we bought it from. And they turned out to be a very good company! First they asked us to send Noah's tablet back, which we did. And they were so honest. They told us it had a much more serious problem. Even though we were still under warranty. They gave us every last dollar/yen back. So Noah got a completely 100% full refund. I thought that was such an honorable thing for that company to do. So...Noah ended up getting a tablet from Amazon Japan. The same tablet Branden has exactly. Because after all July 2016 of us researching a new tablet for Noah, this was the one with the best reviews. So pictured here is Noah's new tablet, screen protector and case. All paid for by the refund Expansy's gave us. That was very nice and lucky the way things turned out. 

Same model Branden has. Now they both have twin tablets. Good thing Noah got his new tablet before we left to Denver. 

We had a nice backyard BBQ pretty much right before we left to Denver. We had ribs, pulled pork and baked potatoes (grilled potatoes)...

Bush's baked beans too...

Just a random picture from our family BBQ that night. Again we BBQ all the time in summer, so it's impossible to share pics from each BBQ. But yep, we enjoyed our ribs that night. : )

Cart pics with the 3 ribs stacked on top of each other on the left. Tissues and laundry soap. This pic was taken August 12th.

Also from August 12th. Our 2nd cart. Kirkland cheese pizzas. Again with it being summer the kids had lunch at home all summer. So things like frozen pizzas etc... needed to be here at the house for the boys. Chicken breasts, jaga butter these are just steamed potatoes with butter and again...a quick thing for the kids to get if they are hungry during summer lunches here at home. : ) Dinner rolls and a rotisserie chicken, we had rotisserie chicken sandwiches that night. And pasta sauce. Perfect to have on hand for a quick spaghetti and meatball dinner or chicken parmesan. : ) Just so many random little moments happened here. That were nice or fun. And this post just helps give a better idea of our summer. And this post will at least help finish up summer 2016, like I said. : ) 

JHS uniform... take 2! : )

A new blazer. And now we don't have to wonder if Branden will burst out of his old one...like the Hulk. : ) And you can see a glimpse/tiny smidgen of his new school pants on the left of this picture. 

180cm. And he's not plus size, otherwise it would say 180B. He's a 180A...a regular size. On the bright side. And there is always a bright side of everything, I think. The bright side is...Noah will end up with 3 blazers! Which is unheard of considering the cost of these. But 2 will be from his brother. But...nice to have extras, right. : ) He will also get 3 pair of JHS pants from his big brother too. Lucky Noah! So yes there is always a bright side to everything. : )

Omiyage (a souvenir from the Boy Next Door's family) Rice crackers! Such nice neighbors! Alrighty, I think this pretty much wraps up summer 2016. We did as you know go to the beach this summer, wave pool place too, and 1 summer festival plus, we had many backyard BBQ's and we went and enjoyed kakigori (shave ice) too. Plus the Denver trip, so all in all a pretty fantastic summer was had here, in our little neck of the woods. : )

The goodies we brought back from Denver this time...

I usually take a kitchen table pic because it just helps give a much better idea of things that went into our suitcases. However, this time I forgot to. It was on the table yes, but somehow I forgot to take that picture. Sorry. : )  These are what we brought our neighbors for watching our house for us when we were in Denver. The wife is a stay at home mom/wife so she is on high alert 24/7. And the dad said after the typhoon he walked around our house to make sure the house looked okay and stuff and he LINED Noboru to tell him all looked fine. So we had a very relaxing trip not having to worry. Is our house okay? You know what I mean, I hope. So, we did need to bring them back something. I would have loved to bring them back something pumpkin-y or peanut buttery. However they might not have liked it or been disappointed. And we know Japanese people do really appreciate Godiva chocolates because they are delicious and they are for sale in Japan but super expensive. So we picked these. While at Walmart... Noboru even checked online and found these exact ones available at Amazon Japan for 1900 yen a pack. So pricey in Japan yes... but only $3-4 each pack in the US. So super reasonable. Which is why we brought them back 2. The wife said she and her daughter A-chan who is in high school right now...loved these! : ) Which made us very happy. : ) 

The cheese popcorn was a free snack on the airplane. I brought home an extra one/pack... since they kept telling passengers in first class... please take some more! : ) And the chili cheese Fritos, these were mine for the flight back to snack on during the flight home. However I didn't eat them. I have since eaten them. Noah had Cheetos for the flight a "grab bag" size. And Branden brought a chili cheese Fritos too but both of the kids ate theirs on the flight. : ) 

Walmart brand of Pop Tarts. That Chocolate Fudge, I'm telling ya, like a slice of cake. And the kids have been loving the S'mores ones. 

We will not be opening these until October! Can't wait! : ) Limited edition Pumpkin Spice Cheerios and limited edition Life Pumpkin Spice cereal.

Same for these, we will wait until October to enjoy these limited edition Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts and Pumpkin Spice hot oatmeal.!

We use 2 packs for every 1 time...that we make a pot roast, so for now we will be having pot roast 6 times. Plus I think I have 2 packets left from when Noboru went to Atlanta. I'm 98% sure on that one. Plus on top of that... ya'll know I go to Guam every Fall like clock work. And yes I will be going. So I can get extra pot roast stuff and whatever else we will be needing for Fall. Imagine if you lived overseas. What sort of things would YOU need to bring for Fall and winter. : ) Good question though, right? Or if you are living in Japan, what sort of things do you bring back? I am always curious to read what others bring back too. : ) I love a nice pot roast on a cool Fall evening. Mashed potatoes, brown gravy and green beans. Yumm. : ) American comfort food totally.

Rice a Roni. 10 of them. So 5 times we can have this...5 meals worth.And hey...that's fine. : )

Again as kids get bigger. And 1 is a teenager. We need to eat 2 Rice a Roni's versus just 1 like when they were small. And even this...I bought 2 of the Kraft Mac and Cheese but the Value size boxes. Which is perfect for 2 growing boys. A nice Saturday lunch at home or something. : )

Japan really doesn't have great Mexican food restaurants (sorry Japan) and I have been to many. And in my part of Japan we have zip. However, coming from Denver where there are tons of Mexican restaurants...yes it's a food I miss. This is my favorite brand of enchilada sauce. And this is in hot. In Guam they only have medium. And medium is fine. Heck...I'm just fortunate they sell it there period. So can't really complain. But...when I can...I will buy the hot variety. I now have 3 cans of enchilada sauce in my pantry. Stocking up for Fall. : ) Little by little, bit by bit. : )

Canned jalapenos. Walmart brand. When I can...I try to buy the store version...because it's cheaper.

I don't use this as a side dish..we use this as a main dish. And when we use this we need 3 of these with the growing boys we have. So we can have this, just twice. However the lucky thing is...this is available in Guam too.

Grab bag on the far left, which I already shared a pic of... but I needed that bag to size comparison the other 2 bags. A regular size of Chili Cheese Fritos and Jalapeno Cheetos. We like spicy around here! : )

30 count each. 60 corn torillas. Tostadas, rotisserie chicken taquito night. Enchilada night. 60 gives me a good safe number. With Fall cooking. These are all nicely in my freezer now.

I love making my kids lunch every single day. We also love turkey sandwiches after Thanksgiving day. So we have a Miracle Whip in the fridge 3/4 full. And we have an unopened regular sized one in the pantry and this bigger sized one... we brought back from Denver. Again stocking up little by little for Fall.

Frankly speaking it would have been cheaper to buy the 20pound bag of beans. And yes I would have used every dot of those. However...weight of luggage is such an issue and worry for us. That considering that...it was safer for us to just buy 12 pounds of beans even though it cost more money buying 12 pounds of beans than buying the cheaper 20 pound bag. However...weight of the luggage is major. And the fact I can buy beans in Guam was a huge reassurance. 12 pounds of beans hiding in my food pantry...total peace of mind! : )

Spices...

If you're American I'm sure you love the Olive Garden. If you're not American maybe you're thinking? What is that? : )  The Olive Garden is a really good Italian restaurant chain in the mainland US, not in Hawaii sadly. : (  They have all you can eat breadsticks and all you can eat salad and their salad dressing people love it! And for good reason...it's good! They sell it at Costco US, and also Walmart. And anywhere else? I'm not sure. But...I brought back 2 big bottles of it. I will crack open the first bottle for Thanksgiving. Costco Japan if you're listening...please start selling this!

Snickers Peanut Butter Squared. These are way better than regular original Snickers and we like original Snickers too. : )

Cinnamom cream coffee creamer. Not sure if you can see the little cinnamon roll on this but this coffee creamer is SO good. Like seriously it's so good. I go through 1 of these a month. So, I know I have enough for 11 months. Getting ready for Fall and winter. Most definitely. Such a cozy and delicious coffee to have in the mornings.

Gain is a laundry soap in America. My parents generation always used Tide that was their #1 for that era. And my generation use Gain. To me Gain smells the best. Hands down so good. So, I buy the house spray and spray my house before we get company and currently 1 of these car scents is in Olive, my 100% electric car. And the other in unopened and in her glove box for when the first one is finished. 

Gum for the kids. 

2 magazines. I love reading the tabloids. 

Reese and her husband are living separate lives? That's sad.

Deodorant. Noboru is using Fiji. It's a 2 pack. I love and have been using Denali for a year. So, I picked up a 2 pack for stocking up. Branden has 2 sticks at home and wanted to get a new one to stock up...but he was unsure of scent so he picked just 1 in Denali to try. And if he likes it fine and if not...well he can try another scent, no worries. : )

2 packs.

Growing up in Denver, King Soopers stores... always sold the largest size of pumpkin pie spice. Other name brands always sold them in teeny tiny sizes. But Kroger which is called King Soopers in Colorado. Sells a huge size of it. Great for all the pumpkin pie making I will be doing. And again I most certainly do not mind store brand at all. In fact it saves money. : )

A big tube of toothpaste. Nice to throw it in our toothpaste stock pile.

These things in this picture were bought the night we arrived in Denver and went to Target. Sure we could use those free Thumblelina sizes of shampoo they give you at hotels. But we'd need many each day, for the four of us. So it's just easier for us to buy our own stuff and use it while on vacation. Target brand (Up and Up) coconut water body wash. Aveda knock offs...Suave Rosemary Mint (this smells so good)...Another cinnamon toothpaste we used during our trip. Neutrogena face wash and hair gel for the boys. The body wash is what we are currently using in our shower right now. And the shampoo and conditioner is in there right now too. The toothpaste is being used now too. So we do bring the stuff back with us and they will get used up and finished. 

Eye drops that expire a bazillion years from now. 

These eye drops were just 97 cents! Each bottle. And sure I could have bought a bigger bottle for a dollar more. However...with eye products after you use them...you want to throw them out within 6-12 months if it is already opened. Considering that. Contamination and all that. I always buy smaller size eye drops and buy 2. That way after 1 year using one bottle...we can just throw it out...and open eye drops bottle #2.  Say what you will about Walmart! However...Walmart has the best prices! Therefore...I shop there! This is the Walmart brand knock off for Visine. : )

Two bottles of Pantene shampoo and 1 bottle of conditioner. Given the fact, Noboru, Bran and I use this, we seem to go through the shampoo twice as fast as I go through the conditioner alone. Obviously, because 3 use the shampoo and only 1 uses the conditioner. : )

Fall time nails happening already! I have the one on the right on my toes right now. I painted them this Friday, 1 day before Branden's undokai. Toe nails were on fleek when I was kicking it relaxing.. on the leisure sheet with my socks and shoes off. 

Micellar waters have been huge for the past year or two. Ever since everyone on YouTube started talking about that Bioderma one. They sell it at Costco Japan btw in a 2 pack. Anyways...I double cleanse, I always have (for 20 years at least). First cleansing oils, now cleansing balms. However...after seeing that Garnier commercial on TV about 5 trillion times, I finally surrendered. And was like...alright. I give up. I will try it.  American drugstores sell 2 kinds. Simple and Garnier. Garnier makes different variety ones though. So, I made sure to pick up 2 bottles of it and try it. That way I could see what the whole fuss is about. Also the Simple one was... for sale everywhere is a smaller bottle and a bumpy/patterned bottle. One of the Targets I was in had a huge 400ml size...which is the same size as the Garnier one and the bottle is cuter...smooth and very modern looking, so that's the one I brought back. Much better then the smaller bottles I saw at most stores. What do I think of micellar waters? Honestly? I really like them! I have not tried the Simple one yet...I will use the Garnier one first. But...I really like it. I know I have said this before..I hate the feeling of makeup on my face. However being a girl...I have to wear it sometimes. But when I get home...I don't always have the time to do a 2 step face cleaning. I might have to zip back and pick up another kiddo at the plaza. I might have to get crackin' on supper. I might have to do many other things too. However I get 1 cotton round, I saturate my cotton round with the micellar water and I wipe all my makeup off with it and the micellar water takes it off really nicely. My face doesn't feel greasy...doesn't feel sticky. Just feels clean. Still want to wash my face with my face cleanser later at night. Granted. However...I can cook, have dinner without feeling like I have a layer of makeup sitting on my face...and for that...I love using micellar water. I love it. And makes my evening routine easier. Also keeps my 100% cotton wash clothes...tons cleaner by wiping off the excess makeup on a cotton round. Will I repurchase? Yeah I think I will. Granted these are huge bottles and should last me a year. However if I do run out before I go back to the US...I would not hesitate to buy the Bioderma ones at Costco Japan. 

Olay foaming face wash. Not the cream cleanser. I like a nice gentle foam (cream cleansers usually break me out). I have never tried this before...I will use it in November or December when my skin is at it's driest. : )

Medium brown. And yep you see the word...brow. : )

Loreal Pro glow, everyone's talking about it. Loving it. I wanted to try. I usually dislike Loreal foundations. Loreal makes great foundation formulas. But I find their colors to always be leaning pink. Even the true match that supposedly has a yellow toned range...I still find it leaning pink. My thoughts on the pro glow? It looks beautiful. Again...beautiful formula. Makes my skin look flawless. I think Jeffrey Star said this gave him mannequin skin. And he's right, it gives a flawless look to your skin. Except it leans too pink for me to ever repurchase this. And at this point. I won't be buying Loreal foundations anymore. I just can't! I hope I remember this in the future when they come out with a new foundation and it has me wanting it. I hope I can remember...they lean pink. Maybelline Fit Me Smooth and Dewy. This one is for dry skin. And again it's beautiful on my skin. Pores look tinier. Skin looks so refined. It's just....it too leans pink. I wish more drugstore foundations leaned yellow or olive toned. Anyway 2 fantastic foundations if you are pink toned at all. And 3 brow mascaras in medium brown.I really love this Rimmel London brow mascara. Brows make such a difference. Even if I wear no makeup that day and plan to run to the 1 and only grocery store in town...I still need to do my brows.

I have been using Tweezerman tweezers for ages. For ions and forever. Tweezerman are the gold standard for tweezers. But they do get dull over time. I think in the US we can get them resharpened? Then when Kathleen Lights said she uses Revlon ones? I was like...say what? My tweezers are duller than...I don't even know what. But dull as a butter knife...let's put it that way. Useless. And they're Tweezerman. Bought at Sephora. When she said she uses Revlon ones and considering they're like twice cheaper could be 3 times cheaper honestly. I was like...worth a try! These are the pro ones, the ones she uses too. 

Combs for part making while I was in Denver...they just happened to come in a 2 pack. 

Sephora purchase was the MUFE Ultra HD foundation. Color is spot on! In fact...when I used it... the first time...I thought...this is crap! It's not covering a dang thing! My left side of my face looks exactly like my right side of my face. Is this foundation doing nothing or what? Then I got closer to the mirror and was gobsmacked! My left side *was* covered...flawlessly covered btw. It's just...I have never had a foundation match me 10000% before. It was my first time ever in my life. It literally was shocking. It's very yellow and maybe a dot of green. So if you're olive at all.  This is a dead on match to my face. 

It's shade Y (yellow) 245. It's super yellow. Perfect best match ever! Australian beauty Vlogger Karima suggested this color for a MAC NC25. And she says to everyone how yellow toned and also green (olive) toned she is. And after Kathleen Lights recommendation was absurdly too dark back in February this year for this foundation, still adore her...but will use caution when using her foundation recommendations in the future. I was hesitant to try this foundation again, but I did like the formula. #1 I never heard of Karima until 2 months ago and I really like her channel on YouTube. I found her by searching for my shade in this MUFE. And she kept saying...she's yellow toned but does also have green tones to her skin. And at first that scared me. I mean she doesn't look green to me at all. She looks very normal and beautiful. And then I started looking at *my* neck. And yeah...I can see a greenish white tint to my neck too. Maybe Karima is right. Maybe I'm yellow toned too with a slight green tint too. @_@ Unnoticeable to regular people but noticeable if you are color matching a foundation and looking for undertone to your skin.  She uses this shade in MUFE. And she also uses the same exact MAC shade as me too. And I think her color choice was worth a shot. And it turns out after being at Sephora myself in Denver. Checking with my own eyes. And also the Sephora Makeup artist too said...this was the best match for me. I'm so thankful to Karima for suggesting this color/shade. And now...Karima has got me wondering...and thinking...If I too have a green/olive tint to my yellow colored skin, I actually now sort of think I do. Anyway I am very happy to have found Karima's channel. : ) And happy as a clam to have the perfect color match in this foundation. Like I said...the best color match I have ever had in my life. : ) 

The makeup artist gave me a sample of this Bobbi Brown primer, she said she is a fellow dry skin girl and loves this. And the Origins eye cream was free with my points. : ) 

I bore easily when it comes to makeup, so if I repurchase something...then it is truly THAT good. This face powder is a repurchase. If you are over 35 years old. Or if you have dry skin in general. This face powder doesn't look dry and powdery. It looks amazing. It is the best face powder ever ever. Mac Mineralize Skin Finish face powder. It's that good. 

This is a repurchase. I love this serum. I was hoping to find this serum at Costco, but they had 2 other Olay serums there instead. Hmm. We picked this up at Target. It's fragrance free and I use this at night before I use my night cream. 

My night cream. In that silver circle on this package is says it is their best seller, yes it is and for good reason. I have gone through quite a few of these Olay Regenerist jars of night cream. I love this. Each jar lasts a long time. So happy to have found these at Costco. After I wash my face at night, I use the serum first then put on the night cream on top. My skin always looks amazing every morning.

This daily face moisturizer is my ride or die! This is my holy grail. Can't ever be without it...product! I love this. I heart this daily moisturizer so much! Yes it's THAT good. : ) 

Fragrance free, which I love. 7 in 1 anti aging. This really does what it says. And buying it at Costco in the US, is the best deal/price.

Yep it does all this. And in the dead of winter when my face is dry and sensitive this makes my skin feel so moisturized and nice. And the bottle is so pretty.

I also have an unopened Olay night cream upstairs that I will use first before opening this 2 pack of night cream. But again...just peace of mind knowing...I don't have to worry about running out of face stuff for a good long while. And I don't have to think about it. It's like a non-issue. So stocking up for me...helps me out a great deal.

Denver Broncos stickers on the left. And Colorado stickers on the right! Yes, there is a proud Coloradoan in the house! : ) 

Colorado tee shirts for the entire household! And a key chain that says...I love Colorado. Yes, I do. : ) 

22 pair of underwear for me. They were on sale at Target and hey, if you're not going back to the US for a year...best to make sure you have enough underwear to last you. : )  

Denver Broncos for me. Yay! : ) 

A backsack...

From Target, jeans for Noah.

These are so soft and yes, feel like sweatpants. Looks like jeans but feels like wearing your favorite pair of sweats.

Levi's brand, are the comfy sweatpants pair.

Cat & Jack skinny jeans size 12. Perfect for my 11 year old skinny as a toothpick Noah-chan.

These 2 came from Target.

Another pair from The Children's Place.

Size 12 skinny jeans.

So 2 from Target, and 1 from The Children's Place.

4th pair is from Gap and also a slim fit.

These say a cross between denim and fleece. These feel like sweatapants too but look like jeans. So 2 regular jeans and 2 comfy jeans for Noah. Not a bad start on Fall pants so far. : )

4 pair for Noah so far.

The 511 Slim fit Levi's for Bran.

I was going to get Bran 2 jean colored pair but he insisted he needs a black pair. Not a problem. Given the fact he wears a JHS uniform 5 days a week. 2 pair is one heck of a good start for Bran. 

The 541 athletic fit for Noboru. 

He found the color he totally loves and bought 2 identical twin pairs of those. That was smart! : )

Gap outlet.

Two Gap sweatshirts for Branden. He's wearing a large men's size now. 

Gap sweat-shorts for Bran for next summer. These were originally US $30 but we got them for US$9 at the Gap outlet!!! Such a great deal and so cute and preppy.

Being a skinny 11 year old is a tough size to buy clothes for because they sell size 10 and size 12. We found this sweatshirt in a size 10 and 12 had Noah try both on. The 10 fit now...however it was obviously it would be outgrown by December 2016, so yes in a few months time... it would be way too tiny for Noah to wear. However yes it fit for right now. Meanwhile...the size 12 looks a tad too big. And of course there is no such thing as a size 11 at Gap. So...we went for the size 12. May be a tad baggy for now. But he'll be able to wear it until March or April for sures and most likely be able to wear next Fall too. 

Anyway, if you made it this far...please give yourself a gold star, you deserve it! You're amazing! This is everything we brought back from Denver, Colorado this trip. : )