Here it’s snowing with high winds and sub-zero temperatures so staying in is the better bet.

I sent and received some Valentine’s packages this year. I feel lucky to have such good friends even if they live so far off. Even if I can only see them once every couple of years it’s easy to stay in touch these days especially compared to only 6~7 years ago! I remember 1 of the main reasons I had a blackberry in ‘08 was because it was the only phone that would allow me to email Japanese phones directly. Now everything is so much easier.

Mike got me roses this year with a french mason jar. Mostly in his eyes he got me the mason jar, haha, I like it a lot though! It says “jardin” on it.

Today I also got my hair cut very short again, so here is a photo from before that when my hair is fluffier and longer! I’ll take a new one soon since the cut I got was the same from August and I really liked that style. Lately, even the extra few inches, made it too difficult to “wash ‘n go” in the mornings. It’s winter… getting out of bed is tough enough let alone spending 70% of my morning trying to get my hair to look decent.

The latest issue of Lee is really pretty. I have a subscription to this magazine and also just ordered a subscription to Mart magazine. I went without a magazine subscription for a while after I quite Sweet magazine.

And yesterday I got this huge birthday package from Anna filled with things she picked up on her recent trip to Japan. So many of these are my favorite things. Especially loving the yuzu essential oil for my aroma diffuser. It’s smells perfectly like yuzu!

A few things from Mike including Mermaid Shampoo and the “Flowers in Her Hair” Lippmann polish.

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes on IG & Tumblr!

The Petal Pusher Oil is fantastic! Everything about this feels nostalgic. The preserved rose buds, the fact it’s a roll-on, and overall fragrance of the oil. Reminds me of a rose soap scent. Very light and very clean.

The Mermaid Perfume has notes of orange blossom and the overall fragrance reminds me of honeysuckle. It’s very light and airy.

These 2 new perfumes plus the Oceane I bought in February are new for me. I usually like to stick with fragrances I know. I’m sensitive to some notes and can get headaches easily with the wrong perfume (Chloe even causes me nausea even though I think the fragrance is very nice.) The bottom 4 are my “usuals.” The Living Grace is only a little new to me as I bought it last summer because of Supernatural. I’d consider Bvlgari’s au the vert my signature scent. If I could only own 1 it would be that forever & ever.

I’m excited to have more variety for the summer :)

I had been looking for new rings to wear while waiting to get my wedding band resized. I have a few that fit but they have heavy settings and they get in the way with work. I sometimes find rings annoying and suffocating too. So when I saw Catbird’s knuckle rings I was really interested in trying the memory ring or midi ring style out. I actually told Mike I ordered these midi rings off Etsy instead because I felt guilty about spending the extra at Catbird without a “good reason.”

The Catbird rings fit great. They don’t get in the way or feel annoying like full size rings can. They feel so light and delicate but are seem sturdy enough to keep their shape after wearing them all weekend. Their simple style will match any of my other rings too. I might start wearing my old rings again thanks to these. They’re all family heirlooms or rings Mike has given me. I tend to talk myself out of buying nice rings and opt for costume jewelry quality instead. That’s a really strange realization I just had about the rings I own. Though I did pick out my simple white gold wedding band so I’ll say that counts as buying it for myself lol.

So the roses Mike ordered and scheduled for delivery on Valentine’s Day didn’t show up due to the snowstorms. No big deal. He called ProFlowers just to see when they would arrive and to ask if they could refund the extra “delivery on Valentine’s Day” shipping fee. The roses showed up the next day but then another set showed up today courtesy of ProFlowers for all the trouble!

Double the roses :)

I’ve always loved Valentine’s Day. As a kid my parents would get me candies and balloons. Then as a student I’d exchange fun gifts with close friends. Being forever alone never bothered me on Valentine’s Day hahaha! And I also don’t like doing “gift-gifts” on this day. If I got diamond earrings but no flowers or balloons or chocolates I’d be really pissed. But everyone has their own way of celebrating it (or not celebrating it) and this just has always been my way. :) So HAPPY BELATED VALENTINE’S DAY!

The cookies are a mix bag of vanilla chocolate chip and the pumpkin tart. Country Ma’am cookies are one of my all time favorite cookie brands. The vanilla is one of their staples but this was the first time I got to try the pumpkin. Quite good. Extra sweet and a bit rich. I heated them up for a few seconds so they seemed especially creamy.

The pumpkin pudding kit-kats were good as well. More mild in taste than the Country Ma’am pumpkin tart. These had a light sweet flavor.

I haven’t tried the lavender tea latte stick yet. It’s supposed to have a lavender and bergamot taste. I like a lot of bergamot flavored things so I have high hopes here!

Tokyo Skytree on the Japan Post bag. They’ve always had a little cityscape but now it has the new addition :)
Also I really like these bags Japan Post offers. The US doesn’t have an equivalent to this unfortunately.

• owl print eco bag
• rose scented hand wash and sanitizer
• rose scented bath ball

From a friend, there’s a “bag tax” here and I always need good, sturdy eco bags. The cloth ones don’t hold up for very long actually, maybe a year? So I want to invest in more like this. Durable, washable, etc.

• Moomin tea
• jam
• marimekko bag
• biscuits

From Anna at hotpotcat!! Marimekko prints are so full of energy, this is my first marimekko item actually! It’s such a great size to use as a regular purse + shopper. I also already enjoyed the biscuits (biscotti) with coffee and the Moomin teas which are really good and have names like “Sweetheart” and “Moomin Mama’s Magic Potion.”

• “tea” spoon
• GREAT BRITISH TEA
• Too Faced Boudoir Eyes

From Anupa! [tiny pill message, how even possible!?] I haven’t had the teas yet (likely tomorrow morning!) but I wore the Too Faced palette today and it’s so nice. All the colors are gorgeous and work for both day and night. Plus I love when major base shades are larger than accent colors. :) I really want to play with the black shade. I’m actually… getting back… into black liner/mascara… just a little bit like half the week I wear black again & not brown. WHO AM I ANYMORE, I KNOW!

She is out to convert me to SUQQU!!!

This is the Himesango palette. I used it for the first time today and what can I say… it’s amazing. It goes on like butter; perfect blending and very forgiving. It’s subtle but brilliant all at once.

Blend Color Eyeshadow
An elegant four-in-one eyeshadow palette that contains innovative silicon-coated powders and amino acid-coated pigments developed to promote healthy skin and for long-lasting finish. It spreads smoothly, giving depth and beautiful gradation onto the lids to bring out your eyes.

It’s one of the best “office appropriate” sparkly shadows I’ve ever used. And I’m not surprised. The brand gives off a vibe of classic meets contemporary.

I absolutely love the makeup in that second banner. :)

Also all the cases to these items (Armani lipstick, Guerlain lipstick, SUQQU shadow) leave me giddy. The Armani liptsick is magnetized and snaps shut. The Guerlain opens and slides out with a move of the dial. And the SUQQU comes in a velvet pouch and the case is sleep like a new iPhone.

I was thinking about which pieces in my closet to switch out now that it’s March and I want to start making some small spring changes. It’s still pretty cold out though. Not drastically different from mid-February.

When I look at this Reefur shopper tote I really feel excited about spring and want to build around this pretty shade of pink (and the bag.) I think I’ll be gravitating towards a lot of sky blue soon. Hmmmm, I’m still thinking about it before going through the trouble of packing away things.

A sign that Spring is actually coming; decent bouquets are available again. :)

I’ve been knitting a snood/circle scarf this week. I’m nearly done actually! I haven’t knitted in months & months but recently I went through my knitting supplies and really wanted to do something with this 1 ball of nice thick and cozy black wool yarn.

My throat is killing me from talking so much today :drops:

Special edition afternoon desserts, ginger, and salty vanilla ice cream. :deco9:

I’ll post about Fran Maman soon actually…
:P

The barrette is so, so pretty and large enough to use for a half-up arrangement. It’s from Lattice. I visited this brand shop before. You can really lose track of time looking at all their accessories. :ok:

I’ve been really busy this week :drops:

A gift from a friend on my last day in Japan. She was sweet enough to meet me at the hotel the morning of my flight and handed me this. :deco3:

• Strawberry Macaron Bath Fizz
• Antique Rose Bath Salt
• Peach & Rose Fairy Tale Tea
• Merci in China Character Tea

The peach and rose tea was absolutely fantastic. One of the best teas I’ve ever had.

The bath bomb was especially fragrant as well. And the other two items also wonderful.

I don’t know where she manages to find these things but I love them! :deco2: