In My Mailbox, Part 2

Best Mail Week Ever!!!
On Saturday morning, guess what got dropped off at my apartment 5 days after I ordered it from fabric.com in the U.S.?

My first "toy". Each tax return year, we pick one "toy" after paying down debts. Somehow, so far, all of our "toys" have been video game consoles. Huh? I finally put my foot down and purchased this sewing machine after polling all of my friends and making sure its voltage wouldn't blow our Asian fuses. This is the sewing machine my SIL Amber has, and we do our shopping research in this family, right?
It is super computerized and has a ton of stitches, but to be honest, I really just wanted it because it can do twin-needle sewing, to look like this:

Twin needles are so crazy! I am excited!
I also got this cute hedgehog fabric, which Coco immediately said was hers:

And this fun sofa sorbet fabric, because I plan on making couch cushions with...couch fabric!


I am so so happy right now! Hubby is less than thrilled, because apparently sewing=spousal neglect. He works until 10 or 11 most nights, though, so after bedtime will be my sewing time. Maybe.

In My Mailbox...

This was a good mail week for me! Mail makes me so so happy, because it is very rare that I can understand anything that shows up in my mailbox. Usually it is flyers and bills in Japanese. So, here is what I got in the mailbox this week--


A lovely order of soy wax tarts from TenDigitCreations. Oh, I'm so excited for these! Japan has very weird trash laws. You can only take your burnable trash out on Mondays and Thursdays at 8 a.m. Your nonburnable trash goes out twice a month on Wednesday mornings, and your recyclables have to be taken to the grocery store. With all this, it seems like we always have some random bags of trash waiting to be taken out. Don't worry--we keep them behind closed doors in our drying room! Still, our house still smells funky sometimes. These little wax babies are making my apartment smell less like trash and more like Butt Naked and Vampire Venom (uh, yeah, those are the scents I ordered--what, they smell so good!). I don't have an electric warmer, so I just break the wax up and put it in my little ceramic diffuser, which works great.


A Dictionary of Japanese Food, by Richard Hosking. I don't know what I did without this dictionary. Oh, wait, yes I do--I bought potato starch thinking it was powdered sugar! This dictionary has lists of pretty much everything you'll find in a Japanese grocery store, along with the kanji, so you can read what you are buying. Wonderful!


The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. This book has been on my to-read list for a long time, and Amazon Japan had it much cheaper than Amazon US. Since I already read the only novel I brought with me (oops), I needed something to read, and I love this book already! It was recommended to me by a few people, and it is a big, fat 700-page fantasy novel that got amazing reviews. So, this one should last me a while. If you don't think you are a fantasy novel reader, come on...you've probably read Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and Twilight. You are!


So, I am super happy this week! Cash also got some wonderful birthday cards in the mail, so thank you to those who sent them!

Oh--and it's strawberry season in Japan right now, which means you can get lots of yummy strawberry treats. This week, I treated myself to a Japanese snack sandwich--crustless white bread filled with strawberries, mochi, and whip cream. Yummy!

Monkey Majik!

One awesome thing about Japan is that all of the pop music has random English phrases. In fact, a lot of the songs have English titles like "Take it Easy" or "Baby I Love You"--and then the songs are all in Japanese except for a few key lines. Fox and I get such a kick out of this, because we're pretty sure most of the songs have nothing to do with the randomly inserted English phrase.

Well, we recently discovered a band that uses a lot more than just a few English phrases--Monkey Majik!! The singers are Canadian (one of them was teaching English here and became a popstar!), and the musicians are Japanese. So, the songs are a really good blend of both languages. We are obsessed with this song, but it doesn't have a good video. So, here is our second favorite:



Do you love it? If so, here is the English translation of the whole song. Embrace the pop-i-ness!

Healing Soup

Last week, being cold constantly finally caught up with me, and I caught a cold. On Wednesday, I was so achey with a sore throat. So, I fixed up a bowl of Healing Cabbage Soup, which I made often the last time we lived in Japan. I love this soup, but I never make it in the U.S. because cabbage is so dang expensive! Here, cabbage is super cheap, and it is always stocked in my fridge for so many uses--yakisoba, okonomiyaki, etc.

Anyways, after 2 big bowls of healing soup made late at night, I went to bed. In the morning, I felt 100% better! It really is healing! I made some for our boss, who was getting an eye infection, and the next morning, her eyes were completely cleared up. Maybe it's just the garlic, but this soup is amazing and yummy, too!


Healing Cabbage Soup (adapted from Allrecipes)
3 Tbsp. oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
8 or 9 cups water
4 tsps chicken bouillon (or veggie bouillon)
1 tsp. salt
1 carrot, shredded
1/4 to 1/2 cup rice
1/2 head cabbage, cored and coarsely chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp. sugar
Pepper to taste

Saute onion and garlic in oil in large pot until softened. Add water and turn heat to high. When boil, dissolve bouillon in water. Turn heat to med-high and add cabbage, carrot, and salt. Cook for 10 mins. Add in rice, tomatoes, and sugar. Cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes. You may need to add more water and bouillon if the soup is getting too thick. Eat and be healthy!

Any other good recipes for cabbage?

Loving

The moving stress has vanished! We are now safely settled in Japan, land of no insulation, in the middle of winter. I am getting serious ab muscles from shivering constantly :)
But it's all good--because Japan has many wonderful things to make up for their intense seasons.

Loving:

Daiso--Japan's most popular dollar store. This place sells wool yarn, button covers, fabric, felt, and so many cooking goodies, like nori seaweed heart punches! Also, pillows, slippers, plants. It's amazing.

France sticks--Japan has so many baked goods, just a huge section of pastries in every store. Yummy! Last time I was here, I was a big fan of Nice sticks, but I have since discovered France sticks. Just a big long piece of sugary white bread filled with caramel cream or almond cream. Under $1. Yes! I won't say how many of these I have had for lunch!


Japanese bathrooms--No, I'm not talking about the squatter toilets or even the nicely heated toilet seats. Sadly, we didn't get a cool toilet seat this time. I am talking about pretty much unlimited hot water and deep soaking tubs. There is a reason why Japanese people take daily baths. Another cool and random thing: Our toilet has a sink built into it, so when you flush, the sink runs with the clean, refilling water. Saves space and water. I think it's pretty neat. Also love that the toilets have a "little" flush option and a "big" flush option.


Dream--Our new city has a Dream, my favorite store for craft supplies and fabric. All the fun Japanese fabric I have been wanting is here! In America, it's $16 a yard, whereas here it's about $6. It's probably a good thing that I didn't bring my sewing machine.


Food--of course! My kids have been eating miso soup and udon, which warms my heart! I have been using Japanese mayo on pretty much everything--it is so yummy! And the 50 cent blocks of grilled tofu and pineapples for $1 are really nice!

So I am cold but happy! We can still get American TV on our computer, so I have been watching "I Used to Be Fat", which also makes me happy--such an uplifting show. Fun to watch while eating France sticks :)

A Few Things

I am packing up my whole life this week to move to Japan, and needless to say, I am kind of stressed out. I have a lot of anxiety, which makes it hard for me to eat, sleep, relax, etc. I needed to remind myself of little things that make me happy, so here is my happy list. Yes, it is probably super random, but these things bring me great joy!

1.) Maybelline The Falsies Mascara. If you are a girl, you know that a good mascara makes all the difference. I have tried probably 15 brands of mascara, and this one is by far the best! I really love that $5 can buy bright eyes :)

2.) Poetry 180 is the Library of Congress' website featuring a poem a day for high schoolers. The poems on this site are really inspiring, and I especially love The Summer Day. It calms me down every time I read it.

3.) This lunchbag sewing project is so cute and fun!

4.) Sufjan Stevens is my love right now. His music makes me really giddy and also puts me to sleep at the same time. Come On, Feel the Illinoise! is my happy CD. It is bizarrely beautiful.

5.) Tangled! We saw this in the theater last week, and I loved it. It was really sweet, and the music was great. I have a thing for Zachary Levi, the guy from Chuck who voices the main male character, so I was super thrilled that he sings in it. The songs are really catchy.

6.) My kids and I have watched Dramatic Chipmunk and Dramatic Eagle probably 80 times. Gets funnier every time!


Aww..I feel so much happier now! Off to take a stress nap!

The Waldorf Doll

       
Finally finished--after over a year! Granted that was not a year of complete work. There was a lot of handsewing with this one, so I needed to set her down a few months at a time, before I got the gumption to keep going with her. I really hate satin stich--the stitch used for embroidered eyes. It takes me a very very long time to get up the courage to go for it, and then I always end up picking out the stitches at least 4 times before I'm happy with it.
Anyways, I think I am addicted. I have been wanting to make one of these forever (remember this post?). I used a kit from Joy's Waldorf Dolls, which has since moved on to selling other things, but there are a lot of kits and materials to buy online. Despite all the handsewing, the final product is just so cute! I gave this doll to Coco for an early birthday present, and I definitely like it more than she does. Maybe one day she will get attached to it and name it. For now, she just tucks it into a doll bed and makes it sleep all day. That's fine with me...I think I want to make one for myself now!