Sneakers Crave

It's been exactly 50 days since I've started this 6 months no-buy clothes ban, and I can officially feel that the hardship had begun. What seemed last month like fun lil test that I'll finish with flying colours now seem like a slew of never-ending end of term exams.

It almost feels like a curse that in Japan, every major train station is filled with super posh stores. For example, in Omiya where I'm close to, there is Nano Universe, United Arrows Beauty & Youth, and Kate Spade all within 10 metres proximity of eachother. Yet, I can't buy anything at all. Instead of wearing anything interesting, I'm wearing the same clothes day in and out. I feel like a hungry dog walking in a field of juicy meaty meat sticks, but somehow have horrible jaw-dislocation and can't bite anything, so I'm forced to drink the same nutrition smoothie everyday. Oh and, I forgot to mention that everyone in the station is very stylish and posh, sporting the latest garments from possibly the above mentioned stores.   Everyone be enjoying their juicy meat sticks while I'm drooling in my dislocated jaw, looking at them with eyes of wanton.

These days, it seems that all the gal's got a pair of sneakers, especially popular are the running shoes kind like the ones my imaginary self is sporting in the above illustration. Hey, I can't have a real meat stick, I can at least dream, right?

Buying Useless Things

. Confessions time. This week, I broke the no-buy rule.

But, it's for work for work! As part of an activity for a school camp, I am to prepare for a costume (how fun right?).  The character is Daisy Duck. So as preparation for these "work" clothes, I went and bought a pink headband, a pair of orange tights, and then some...

When I was browsing the tights section at the Daily Soxer, I told myself: socks are kind of "necessities", and for 6 months it'll be too much to walk around with holes in your sock and showing your big toe to everyone, so I let myself off a hook a little: can buy socks, tights or underwear (yeah!! Gave self a little high five!)

As I spent a day shopping, I realized that somehow my bags got heavier and heavier, and my wallet got lighter and lighter. And before I know it, I've created a disaster. 

I bought: orange tights (for Daisy), yellow leggings (to change into since the camp is 3 days long), pink headband (for Daisy), pink leggings to match this light grey skirt, which has nothing to do with Daisy (ok so this is where I went wrong!), white leggings (also for the skirt), a pair of yellow socks, a pair of orange socks,  a pair of purples undies, and another pair of purple undies in a similar but less purply shade of purple. Not in that order in particular. It sounds like a lot now, but when I bought them, I failed to notice it at all. It was all stuff you wear on the inside. I didn't even buy any "real" clothes. Then, what gives? Why did my wallet mysteriously get so light?

To make sense of things, I made this chart. I've coloured coded the things that I need vs don't need.

Huh... so that's what happened. Now I'm not sure if I should have made this chart. Do better next time, OK!

In another note, I visited the 2013 VOCA exhibitions (which was awesome, btw!) my favourite was the painting Reflection of a Closet by Sato Midori. It's so rich. I feel like she's saying, you could have so much clothes, but in reflection, it's just a blur that mean nothing.  

easy financial management

Today's craving:
easy jeans.

It seems just so cute and comfy, and well, easy!

Boy I wish financial management can also be that easy.

Uniqlo is making their own brand of stretch jeans, there's this suberb cute commercial on TV now, and that temptation isn't helping this shopaholic control her addiction. What gives? It's like a fat person going on a diet and all there is on TV is frenchfries and hamburgers.



So I roped my boyfriend into reminding me not to buy anything.

For every reasonable/logical reminder, such as "You already have so many, why do you think you need one more" I swiftly shot back with a comeback, like
"You know, just to have. Like you know how some days you just wanna wear an orange shirt."
"Okay but I already have an orange shirt, and you have jeans."
"Yeah but do you have an 'easy' orange shirt?"

These jeans are a basic, so that means it can be kept forever, right? I mean, just the fact that it is a "basic" means it can be used over and over, right? It's not like I'm throwing my money into a rainbow-coloured skirt made of candies.  These pants seem to be saying "hey, you're gonna buy us and you're gonna wear us for years"
I do believe that style is wearing something consistently, in different ways, rather than buying and tossing things out all the time. Right now, I find myself feeling more comfortable in skirts most of the time, but when I see everyone else wearing skinny jeans, I think "Hey, why can't I wear them too?" The question is, are those jeans really for me or not?

In 6 months, I'll see.

aloha

Hello ladies and gentlemen, sorry about the long absence.

In spite of having a fairly well-payed job for a year and a half, I managed to save almost next to nothing.

It is one thing to just be poor, but it's another story when you have a good job and you still end up broke! Actually, that's when you can tell this person's got real money problems. It's like, if you got only one sausage for breakfast, and you ate it all, it's not really your fault 'cause you're just hungry. But if you got like, five sausages and you still eat them all, girl you got a problem.

Technically speaking, I am not exactly broke, I did manage to save a meager amount, the equivalent of half a sausage. Which I rejoiced in small moments of celebration for the flashes of self control, the reality is that it is almost next to nonexistence in the grand scheme of things. So, I have decided to take up the challenge again, and this time, take it to the next level. I am not going to buy anything for the next six months.

I actually started this challenge last month on Valentine's Day. I took a little trip recently to Hawaii, so I broke the challenge for three days. I bought three things in Hawaii.

- A kind of sort of Hawaiian shirt. $18. Actually discovered by my boyfriend. It was made in the sixties, I like that the fabric still retained its' vibrant colours and the print is so cute.

- Marble necklace from the sixties. $12. from the same vintage store as the shirt. Found in Chinatown, Honolulu.

- Skeleton Jesus necklace. $10. I'm not sure what I'll wear that with or if I am going to wear it at all, but I liked it so much not to get. (maybe a waste)

- the shell necklace was a give-away (gotta love them free stuff)




If you ever go to Honolulu, I highly recommend China Town, not exactly a luxurious place with beaches and palm trees and beautiful people, but the buildings are filled with history and wonder, and in the midst of all the ghetto, it's a gathering place for a lot of great artists and has a lively music scene.Not to mention, a few wonderful thrift stores.



I've also decided to make an illustration of the things that I am lusting after. I want to update at a weekly basis, so, I will do my best : ). you can expect some illustrations in the next post.

a post from the long forgotten

Hello dears!
Welcome back after about one and a half years. Wow, it's been a long time since I've been not posting hasn't it?
I'm glad you're still here paying a visit! That means a lot to me.

Some may have wondered where I had disappeared to. I mean, writing a blog is pretty easy. It's actually one of the easiest things in the world. You're using very minimal amounts of muscles. You can do it even lying on your bed, like I'm doing now. You can break your leg or have an episode of stomach flu, or both at the same time, and still be able to update a blog. Not updating for 1 month, 2 months, even 3 months can be deemed as reasonable, maybe you cracked your hand while playing baseball, but a whole year? Some may think you've either died, or had lost your arm altogether.

Please let me explain. The reasons for my lack of updates were not medical. It was that I've been working for a job that was a lot more busy than the pace I was used to or anticipated, and that I've been an absolute bum on my time off and had gotten into a rather lazy pattern after that.

On the financial side of things, I've been having the good and bads. Last year, it was bad, real bad. Part of the reason to why I never made a post, may be due to that my spending was so bad, I was too ashamed to even talk about it! Since my job pays me well, I was spending close to $200 dollars on a weekly basis. In a short time of staying in Japan, I've accumulated so much clothes, you'd think I've lived here for at least 5 years.

Something inside me lit a light bulb after August, I think I was either too sick of shopping or really realized the value of money. But anyways, I can proudly say now, that I'm on a good wagon (do people say this?), and since September 1st, 2012 to now, I've not spent a single penny on anything unnecessary.

Tomorrow will be the last day of the 100 days! How great is this? By tomorrow morning, I can proudly say, I've completed the 100 day no-buy challenge. But strangely, I don't feel all that different, I should be jumping up and down and throwing confetti, but I'm just thinking about what to eat for dinner. Not-buying is not so hard after-all, as long as you're busy being occupied doing other things. I'm a little wary of what comes next, since I've already browsed shop sites many times and added items to my imaginary shopping cart. Okay God of Money please help me out a bit! Let's see how it goes this time around.

hmm, God you're funny

 Today's clothes cravings:

cute trousers very suitable for work~
I'm really in need of buying some work clothes.
and luckily, Zara is going on Summer Sale!! Oh yes you read that right. This is finally happening. I feel like this time Lady Luck is really giving me a break 'cause why else does she have to put summer sale at the same time I need work clothes, right? 
Without shame I must admit, there's only two times of the year when I could afford to buy stuff from them, that being Christmas and Summer Sales. Normally, I would browse an infinite amount of time every-time I go to Zara (making boyfriend want to shoot himself in the foot), flipping madly through all the racks in hopes to find a lucky break somewhere, bring a bunch of stuff to try on stuff just for kicks, and come out holding an imaginary shopping bag.
But NOW, it's finally that glorious time of the year!! I can finally go there and come out with not air, but actual stuff!! I'm so excited I serious feel like there should be a holiday for this, I want to throw confetti all over my room.
Okay~ haha, maybe that's too extreme. But you get what I mean, right? If you feel similar, I hope to see you there, let's have fun at the sale together soon!

On a less lucky note however, today I found out I might be teaching senior high-school kids (boo).

It's great that God decided to let me go to Japan and I have ever so grateful about that. But, sometimes it seems like he likes to play a bit of a game. You see, when I ask him for something, he gives me the furthest possible thing from it.
First I told him I wanted to be in Kansai, because the temperature is much warmer! you can wear all the cute clothes, and also I wanted to listen to people speak Kansai dialect. I thought that was not much of a request 'cause honestly Kansai is such a huge part of Japan, it's so big, that God could've just randomly waved his hand around that area and I would've ended up there. But lo and behold, he put me in Kanto, where it's cold and the exact opposite direction.

Then I told him I wanted to teach elementary school kids. I have the most experience with them, and you have to admit, although they can be annoying as hell, they are most times cute and innocent, with hissy-fits that don't even last more than ten minutes then it's back to all smiles. Besides, it is a lot lighter in terms of workload to teach elementary school 'cause you have a textbook to go by (that means more time to browse the shops and have fun!) But maybe God thinks that's not fun, 'cause he decided to make me teach senior high-school instead, something that I have no experience with, and the kids are not even anywhere close to elementary kids age.

Now, I want to wish for an all-girl school, 'cause girls are so much more obedient and easy to teach. And that's honestly not too bad of a request, 'cause Japanese schools are often either all-boy or all-girl, and even if I get in a mixed-school that's not so bad either. But now I'm afraid he's just gonna go ahead and put me in an all-boy school, which would be my worst nightmare! Thinking of all their loud voices and shit thrown all over the classroom is making me have a headache.

so, maybe I should just wish for an all-boy school, so I can get the opposite? I'm gonna behave extra good so hopefully Lady luck can be on my side again!

packing doom

Hi dears, sorry I've been neglecting this blog. I've encountered some major life changes in the past month. I said a few blog posts before that I was going to work in Toronto, but long story short, it turns out that I'm going to go work in Japan (for a year) in the upcoming fall. I've always wanted to go work in Japan so I'm super excited, but even I have to admit it will take some time to mentally adjust to it so I'm going through this over and over in my head.

On a lighter note, here's today's clothes craving:

i love one-pieces, they're great for summer and you can just forget about matching skirts or tops, just throw on the OP and you're set. perfect for lazy people like me. but sadly, it is already sold out on w closet 's website. I've been eyeing and drooling at a lot of stuff on site for a while lately, but stupid Canada Post has to be unreliable and go on strike. Anyway, I hope I can find a similar one in Japan.

When people go live in a different place, the first thing they think about is how to get there in one piece without loosing any body parts, and the next thing is what they are going to bring. Packing hasn't started since I still don't know what province I'm going to yet. I'm allowed to bring two suitcases totalling 40 kg in weight. Looking at my closet and roomful of stuff, a realization sneakily came to my mind: this may very well possibly be the hardest thing I'd ever have to do in my life.
I have vowed to bring as little stuff as possible. But oh God why me t_t. almost 30 pairs of shoes, has to somehow be cut down to 10, or maybe even less. I truly hope that when the time comes, the God of prioritization and willpower will be on my side!