mod cloth order and halloween costume dilemma solved

I had placed an order with Mod Cloth about 2 weeks ago and their website said that it would take about 7 days for packages to Canada to arrive. Every day, for the past 2 weeks, I would expect the package to be there when I got home, but it never was. I would always envision a package, sitting on my desk while I would run to it, with huge and excited eyes, before ripping the package to shreds, revealing all the gloriousness that is my order.

It arrived when I least expected it. It arrived on a Wednesday, along with a package from a friend from Japan. My mom actually called and asked me if she could open the package from my friend and I gave her my consent. She didn't mention the Mod Cloth box at all.

That night, my brother and I finished kickboxing about 15 minutes later than usual (our instructor got carried away making people spar in the ring). My brother tells me at we were packing up our stuff that my parents were picking us up that night since my dad was doing overtime. My locker was a 5-10 minute walk away from the gym so I rushed there and back, adding more sweat to my already soaking self (paints such an attractive picture).

When I had arrived home, I was tired and was looking forward to a glorious and epic shower. I walked into my room and what do I see? A glowing light shining on a package from Mod Cloth! Forgetting all about how sweaty and disgusting I was, I ripped open the package and admired my long awaited goodies.

Amazingness from Mod Cloth.
I wanted to get this cute bat bag since Mod Cloth first put it up for sale but it sold out really fast. I was also a little hesitant about getting it since it was tiny (and I love big bags, I carry everything in them) but there are days when I don't feel like carrying a huge bag, only my wallet, keys and phone. When I got the notice that this bag was back in stock, I didn't hesitate adding it to my cart.

The official name is Baby Got Bat Bag, cute isn't it?

As I mentioned, it's a pretty small bag but it's the perfect size for just putting your wallet, keys and maybe even your phone in. The feel is faux leather and the stitching seems pretty resilient. I'm looking forward to using it!

This will give you a better idea of it's size.

Cheer-io Up Lunch Bag by Shinzi Katoh.
I've wanted this bag the moment I saw it on Mod Cloth, unfortunately, I don't check Mod Cloth on a regular basis and it was sold out when I found it. This was back in July. I was anxiously waiting for it to come back in stock since and I had been harassing everyone I knew to ask Mod Cloth to restock it (they have a function where you can ask them to, and they do restocks based on demand). After waiting for MONTHS, it finally came back in stock and I ordered it without wasting any time.

Cute tag.
I'm extremely thrilled with this lunch bag. It's the perfect size for carrying your lunch around. One of the reasons that I wanted to get this bag is because it'll keep your food cold or warm. I've been looking for a lunch bag like that for a while but all the ones that I've seen weren't cute. Also, I love how the artist, Shinzi Katoh drew Paddington Bear. This lunch bag's perfect. I'm going to the envy of of the office (whenever I take out my lunch, hahahahahahahaha!).

Inside.

Not only is the front super cute, Shinzi Katoh did a great job of designing the back of the bag as well.

Size of my vintage Tuxedo Sam plush.
To give you a better idea of the size of the lunch bag, I'm going to put on my plushes inside it. I used my vintage Tuxedo Sam plush that I won on eBay about two months ago. As you can see, it's pretty big.

Tuxedo Sam all nice and snug in my new lunch bag.
But it manages to fit into my lunch bag. Although, I can't zip it up, it went into without any problems. I didn't have to push it in or anything, it just fell in, smooth as butter.

You can buy these two adorable bags, as well as a whole slew of other awesome goodies, at Mod Cloth.

On a unrelated note, remember that post I made where I was agonizing over what to dress up as Halloween? Well, after much more agonizing and whining, I finally decided what to dress up as!

My Venetian mask.
I decided that I'm going to go as a masquerader. I love these masks too much not to use them so last Monday, Alex and I went to a party store and I basically tried on so many different masks. The ones where you have to hold them are really nice but I didn't want to hold on my mask all night so I opted for the ones where you tie behind your head.

I love this one, especially the swan that's over your left eye. There was two other ones that have the same design but instead of the black glitter, one was silver and the other was gold. I loved the silver one too but it didn't have the rose attached to the feathers and it looked really cheap, especially since you could see their crappy glue work.

Close up.
I also received two super cute Halloween bows from my friend Cathy about a month ago. She makes beautiful bows and I couldn't resist these two. I think they're both called the Spooky Bow but they're anything but spooky! They're totally cute and the fabric is of excellent material.

Orange and Purple Spooky Bows with my Halloween White-san.

Aren't they adorable? I fell in love with the fabric design when I first saw it on her Instagram. I had no idea that she bought them for her bows. Obviously, when I found out, I had to place an order from her :). Her shipping was really fast and she included all these awesome goodies!

I'd have to say I like the purple one better. Love how the little ghost is right in the middle. But the orange one is more noticeable and it has more adorable ghosts all around.

You can buy adorable bows at Cathy's shop, Lunabowtique.

Happy Halloween from me and White-san!
Last but not least, Happy Halloween everybody! I hope that you'll have an awesome one, with loads of chocolates (omg, yum!). Unfortunately, I'll be stuck doing my assignment for my CMA program. I'd rather be kickboxing tonight but because of my bag time management (it's so hard to get back to doing homework after a nice long break >_<), I'm stuck analyzing the cost of alternatives for a company T_T. What are you Halloween plans?

Hope you get a lot of these!!

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solar/sora bear

I aboslutely adore this character designed by Japanese artist, Shinzi Katoh. It's called Solar Bear or Sora Bear as the Japanese call it.

Sora & Bea.
Although the characters are supremely cute, the story behind Solar Bear is very sad. It's about two polar bears, an older brother and a younger brother and here's their story.

"Far away at the North Pole live two polar bear brothers. The　Older one is named Bea, the younger one, Sora.　Bea and Sora are crying. The two brothers got separated　from their mother after the temperature of the Earth's surface rose, causing ice cap at the North Pole to melt and gaps to open up in the ice. They are determined to find their mother one day, so that they can live together as a family again. Bea and Sora are the main characters in a children's book about global warming. They are the creation on worldrenowned Japanese designer Shinzi Katoh. "
Taken from Sorabea FB Group.
IS THAT NOT SUPREMELY SAD!? I've always been conscientious about the environment even as a kid. I tried hard not to waste anything and even berated my family for wasting electricity and water. I also go around the house turning off the lights when there's no one in a room (to my mom's annoyance since she always claims that she just left for a second to get something). I turn off the water when I'm putting shampoo/conditioner/soap/cleanser etc and only turn it back on when I need to rinse. I'm also an Olympic showerer, I finish my shampooing, conditioning and..soaping(?) in less than 5 mins.

It really angers me when people don't care about the environment and don't even try to protect it. It's not hard to throw something in the garbage instead of just throwing it wherever you feel like it because you're a fat lazy stupid ignorant dick. Even worse when it's someone you know. I know someone, who will remain anonymous, who is a champion waster and although it's not my place to lecture him about it, it urks me every time I hear the water running uninterrupted for minutes on end or when I see a lot of uneaten food left of his plate. If you can't finish it, don't take so much, or pack it up as leftovers instead of throwing it in the trash!

People like that make me....

Anyway, rant over, back to Solar Bear. To increase awareness about the environmental problems that we are facing and to encourage the future generation to prevent environmental issues from escalating, The Sorabea Foundation was created. The foundation adopted the polar bears as their mascot and it encourages children to think about their impact on the environment and to help put a stop to global warming.

:(
The Solar Bear also has a line of products, although most of them are mostly used for the home, or zakka. Products include teapots and towels. According to the fb group, all Solar Bear products are subject to the 6% royalty of which 10% is donated to　environmental conservation efforts. In Japan, the donations go to the Sorabea Foudation.

Cute Little Mug.
So not only do you get these super kawaii items, but you'll be helping the environment and Sora and Bea find their mother and conserve their home! I found out about these two poor babies sometime last year when a friend of mine were selling the plushes, I bought two of them and I've been on the lookout for more Solar Bear items ever since. I'll upload a picture of it later since I'm not at home right now.

I'd love this card holder.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like there are that many Solar Bear products out there. The ones that are available are pretty expensive, at least to ship it to me. I saw this really beautiful iPhone 4s case that I really wanted, but it would cost be over $45 to have it shipped to me. I'll try my luck when I'm in Japan this summer, hopefully, it'll be cheaper.

Sora & Bea iPhone 4s Case. This is going on my super wishlist.

I should've bought this when I had the chance.

I'd love this deco tape but I can't bring myself to pay $8 for one.
Not only do they have super kawaii products for these two bears, but they also have a statue of them at Aqua City Odaiba in Tokyo.

Their tears light up.
I will be sure to pay these two a visit when I'm in Tokyo, hopefully, I'll be able to find Solar Bear products for much cheaper there too. But since Japan is expensive anyway, it's entirely possible that the prices won't be too different from what I'd have to pay right now.

Help Them Find Their Mommy!
Good luck finding your mom, little babies. Hopefully, you'll be able to find her soon.

[edit] I just saw this video and it made me T______________________T. It wouldn't let me embed unfortunately but you have to watch it. Help those poor babies find their mom! And omg, those little seals!

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toronto goodies

My trip to Toronto was a lot of fun! My family and I (minus my sister who had too much homework) left at around 8 AM and we arrived at around 1:30 PM. We had a delicious lunch at a restaurant that we usually go to called, "Congee Wong." After lunch, we went shopping and I went on a mini shopping spree.

Goodies purchased from TO.
Here is a picture of all the goodies that I purchased from Toronto. Although they had a lot of stores that sold kawaii, I was disappointed with the selection since a lot of it were fakes. There were tons of fake rilakkuma, totoro and other kawaii character items. Worst of all, they weren't even good fakes, I could tell right away that they weren't the real deal.

But a lot of new shops opened up in the mall that we usually go to and we haven't been to Toronto in a long time so I still managed to spend a good 3 or 4 hours shopping. A lot of Asian makeup stores has opened up, my sister would've loved it. I, on the other hand, am too lazy to learn to apply makeup well so it didn't mean much to me unless it's creams or cleansers.

Kitty/Doggy Hand Cream
So it's not unusual that I bought this! The packaging obviously caught my eye so I went into the store to inquire more information about it and there was a tester and it passed! It didn't leave any stickiness behind. I hate it when creams leave a sticky residue. I bought a Korean brand hand cream and it feels disgusting after you put it on. Plus, it doesn't even work!

There isn't much but you don't need to slather a lot on her hands for it to work either.

Birthday Teddy Bear
This one my parents actually bought me and it was funny because I was planning on buying it and I kind of ruined my own surprise. The store that was selling it had a huge display of these cute little bears. I thought it was super cute and although I'm normally not a fan of these birthday toys, I couldn't resist this cute little bear. But to my dismay, April 27th was all gone! They had a whole bunch of other birthdays still available but mine had been all snatched! I asked one of the saleswoman who worked there and asked if she had anymore of April 27th, she said that she'd go check in the back.

I also happened to run into my dad about 5 seconds later (we had split up) and he asked what I was looking for. I told him the teddy bear, then he asked which date and I told him my birthday. He gave me a look and said,"Already bought it for you." and proceeds to take it out of his shopping bag and gave it me.

So soft too!

There was a store that sold a lot of Shinzi Katoh goods and other unusual items. I was surprised that they had a shop like that since the majority of the mall sold fake kawaii goods, car parts, copied DVDs, and Asian makeup. They had so much Shinzi Katoh! They were reasonably priced too (as far as Shinzi Katoh items go for anyway).

Ugly Duckling Tin Pencil Case
I thought this was really cute but Alex told me that it's super depressing. My brother agreed. They said that every time I need to get my pencil/pen, I have to look at the sad ugly duckling I don't think he's ugly at all!). I told them that it'll remind me to not judge things by their covers. They still insisted that it was depressing.

Inside.

Bottom.

Sheep Earrings.
I also bought a pair of sheep earrings from the same store. I normally get an allergic reaction to the cheaper earrings because of the metal or paint that they use, but I asked the girl and she said that they're titanium so they won't give an allergic reaction. I hope she's right.

Kapibara-san Gashapon
There used to be a lot of gashapon shops in the mall but I guess they weren't doing really well since there was only one left. It was a small one and they toys were ugly! I couldn't even remember what they were but they did have a kapibarasan one :)

Kapibarasan Screen Cleaner.
I usually don't buy collectors' toys or figurines but this one is cute! The figurines are sheep and I had previously bought one of these (but a different collection, I forgot what it was) when I was in Hong Kong 5 years ago.

They're dream sheep. The text on the box didn't make any sense but I'm guessing it's sheep that grant your dreams' wishes or something.

Possible Toys.
This series is the horoscope collection. I like the Taurus and Virgo ones the most. You have a 7:8 chance of getting a white sheep, which are the ones with pictures and a 1:8 chance of getting a black sheep, which are the question marks.

What's Inside?

OMG I GOT THE TAURUS ONE!!!!!!
DJFKAJFKLDAJFKDSJFKDSJDFLJSAFF IT'S THE TAURUS ONE!!!!! WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?! THE STARS MUST BE ALIGNED WITH THE PLANET NEPTUNE AND IT MUST BE THE RIGHT TIME TO BUY THESE DREAM SHEEP!!!!!

In case you didn't know, Taurus is MY sign and it's the one I wanted! I can't believe this! On my first (and only) try too!

MY ACTUAL BIRTH DATE TOO!?
And that's not all, my actual birth day is printed on the bottom of the sheep. WHAT IS THIS?! THIS IS DESTINY! THE SHEEP AND I ARE MEANT FOR EACH OTHER!

Apparently, it's a game and it came with this paper. I'm not going to use it but here it is just to show you guys. OMG THAT SHEEP AND I ARE SOUL MATES! I DON'T NEED THIS SILLY PAPER GAME TO TELL ME!

Instructions that I'll never use because WE CHOSE EACH OTHER!
Last but not least is Alex's birthday present for me! At the Shinzi Katoh store, I was debating on whether I should buy this adorable tote (since I have a lot of bags, I'm a plush and handbag addict). I left the store without it and decided to think about it. Within an hour, I decided to get it, life is too short! It was then the cherry on top of an awesome day when Alex offered to get it for my birthday (even though it was over our budget, we had decided to get each other small gifts of $10 so that we can get amazing gifts for each other in Asia). He said that he didn't mind going over the budget as long as it made me happy (awwww!).

Shinzi Katoh Doggy Tote.

Front/back.

Bottom.

Yummy curry fish and beef balls.
At some point during the day, my brother got hungry so we went to buy some delicious fish and beef balls. Every time we come to Toronto, my brother feasts on these. I wanted to get escargots too but they ran out. We had ordered much more but Alex and my brother were like vultures and ate a lot of them before I got a chance to take a picture.

Baby Polar Bear.
I didn't buy this little guy in Toronto but he was purchased a few days before we went. I found him in an outlet candy store and there was three of them lined up together. Although all 3 were cute, my eyes were immediately drawn to him. After little deliberation, I decided he was coming home with me. Alex, on the other hand, bought some chocolate almonds.

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