Monday, December 22, 2008

The journey begins

Well, my decluttering rampage over the weekend was somewhat successful. I still have a ways to go, but I think I made a dent! Better than nothing, right? :-)

I am now at Narita Airport. I was supposed to have left four hours ago to go home to the US, but my flight was cancelled because of bad weather on the west coast. After a run-around with the Northwest Airlines customer service number (who told me I had to contact my travel agent to find another flight) and a frustrating call to the travel agent (who told me only Northwest Airlines could help me!) I finally got excellent help from three wonderful Northwest coutner agents who took an hour and a half to try to find an alternate flight for me. I will definitely be sending NWA a customer comment card about how helpful those three were!

In the end I can leave today, but I have to spend 14 hours in Honolulu and then another 11 hours in Seattle! 14 hours in Honolulu normally wouldn't be bad at all, but considering that I am dressed for ultimate winter weather and wearing ankle boots, I wish it were under different circumstances! Oh well. I also called a friend in Seattle, and it sounds like she might be able to come meet me at the airport! So this little unexpected trip might not be so bad after all.

I have a long journey ahead of me, so I bought two extra shirts at the Uniqlo in Narita. Too bad i won't be able to shower for more than 48 hours!

Any tips for things I can do in Honolulu in 14 hours wearing ankle boots and a turtleneck while suffering from jet lag?????

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!!!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Decluttering madness!!!!

Our apartment is definitely not tidy. It isn't dirty, but it is very cluttered. Part of it is because it is too small (like 99% of the apartments in this country, so I can't use that as an excuse), and part of it is because we both have too much stuff.

With the new year coming up, I am going to try to do something about this! I won't get the whole apartment done today, but I am determined to make a dent. I found this great list at the flylady.net site:

Things to ask yourself as you get rid of your clutter:
- Do I love this item?
- Have I used it in the past year?
- Is it really garbage?
- Do I have another one that is better?
- Should I really keep two?
- Does it have sentimental value that causes me to love it?
- Or does it give me guilt and make me sad when I see this item?

Wish me luck!!!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Favorite websites

Hope everyone had a great Tuesday!

I was thinking last night about the websites I usually visit and how I tend to have a few that are my favorites. There is so much out on the internet that sometimes it can be overwhelming, but here are my favorite sites that I check regularly!

- http://www.flickr.com/
I am wayyyyyyyyy behind with uploading photos, but I love Flickr! It's so much fun to share photos with family and friends this way.

- http://www.amazon.co.jp/ and http://www.amazon.com/
I use Amazon.co.jp for books as much as possible to save on shipping costs, and I have been able to sell quite a few used books on there, too! For everything else, though, I look at Amazon.com. These two sites get way too much of my money...

- http://www.facebook.com/
I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook....there is so much cyberdrama that happens on there. But it is a great way to keep in touch.

- http://www.makeupalley.com/
I check this site before I buy any new makeup products to see what people are saying about them! I love the product reviews, and I have written quite a few myself. Great site!

- www.dogeared.com
I love to "window shop" (ha ha) at this site because their jewelry is so adorable! Very creative designs. My friend has the wishbone necklace and it is so sweet!!! Perfect place to daydream.

Hmmm...that is my list of the top of my head. What are your favorite sites?

Thursday, December 11, 2008

The two posts below

The two posts below are two designs I made for a digital camcorder that I want. Which design do you like? The photo I took on the beach at Phuket or the photo of my favorite dog in the world (my mom's dog). You can click on the photos to see bigger sizes...though then you will also see the price, which is definitely not cheap...

Flip Mino Camcorder

Flip Mino Camcorder with Personalized Design - Available only at www.theflip.com. Check out this unique Flip Mino design. The Flip Mino camcorder combines remarkable video quality in a pocket-sized package. Now personalizable - create yours

Flip Mino Camcorder

Flip Mino Camcorder with Personalized Design - Available only at www.theflip.com. Check out this unique Flip Mino design. The Flip Mino camcorder combines remarkable video quality in a pocket-sized package. Now personalizable - create yours

The experiment has already failed

So far my experiment has already failed seeing as I didn't write a post yesterday - oops! But I have an excuse...I was at the office until 8pm and I had an awful migraine, so I just came home and crashed.

And tonight it is unfortunately already past my bedtime so I think it is time for me to turn off the computer.

In other news, has anyone read any good books lately? I read Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman, and I really liked it. Apparently it is now a film with Helen Hunt and Better Midler...wonder when it will come out in Japan?!

Monday, December 08, 2008

December

Unfortunately this blog has become somewhat of a monthly update since I am so bad at updating! So I have a new strategy for today...I have lots of things to update on, but I am going to do only one at a time in the hopes that I will come back tomorrow and update again! We'll see if it works.


Guam




Guam in November was AWESOME! Really, truly great. I can't believe I didn't go sooner. American stores, American prices, and best of all, American sizes!! All just three and a half hours away. R and I had a great time shopping, snorkeling, and eating, and just enjoying the beautiful weather.

Thanks to Gina's blog, I had a list of places I wanted to go, and we were able to hit nearly all of them! Micronesia Mall was GREAT! Thank you, Gina!

Our hotel was the Guam Plaza, which was by no means luxurious. But we were barely at the hotel anyway, and it was in a fabulous location for first-timers to Guam. And because the hotel wasn't luxurious, we were able to score a really cheap package plan through HIS! So no complaints at all!

We will definitely go back. Even R, who claims to hate shopping, had a great time at the stores and of course on the beach. Can't wait to go again!

P.S. To any fellow Shu Uemura addicts out there....the price of Shu Uemura cleansing oil at the DFS Galleria in Guam is HALF the price you pay in Japan! Definitely cheaper than anywhere else.

 
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