Rainy Days and Sundays...

...Always get me down...

So what do I do but go out for dinner? Hubby hated what I wore, so I just had to share LOL xD No makeup either.

- Hat: JCrew

- Short sleeve turtleneck: Alloy

- Camisole: Aeropostale

- Jacket: Express

- Bottom: Express

- Ankle leggings: Uniqlo

- Bag: Nine West

- Shoes: Nine West

Tsumori Chisato 20th Anniversary 2010-11 Autumn & Winter Mook

This Tsumori Chisato 20th Anniversary 2010-11 Autumn & Winter Mook was a b*tch to get a hold of due to its popularity. It was sold out everywhere! I guess I wasn't the only person who found the glittery gold dots and bows print on the freebie tote adorable :P

Non-no April 2011 (Picture Heavy!)

Non-no April 2011 is yet another fantastic issue with a nice freebie Dip Drops makeup/toiletry case and loads of fun content!

Liniere April 2011

Liniere April 2011 came with a cute polka dots Bulle de Savon bag, even though I found the magazine content consistently boring, I bought this issue after my friend N. came to visit me carrying the bag and it looked even better in real life ^.^

Mini April 2011 (Picture Heavy!)

Mini April 2011 is another really fun issue to look at, not to mention it comes with a MilkFed flannel tote in a black and white buffalo check print!

Jill Stuart We Love Jill Mook

I finally got around to some of last year's mooks, one of which is the popular Jill Stuart We Love Jill Mook that came with a super nice makeup/toiletry case. That said, I'm just going to be brief with my description since there have been tons of blog posts on this particular mook already.

Gai Pad Prik Pao (Thai Chicken in Chili Paste)

Gai Pad Prik Pao is hubby's favorite dish and he likes it so much I make it pretty much every other week ^.^ It's a really simple but delicious Thai dish that doesn't involve an array of exotic seasoning ingredients. Usually, when I make this dish, I a whole big pot so we can pack bentos and still have some left over for brunch the next day. What, Thai food for brunch? Oh hell yes, a small portion of rice top with this stuff and a sunny side up egg is a damn good (and filling) brunch!

This was dinner though :)

Arisan Taiwanese Restaurant

Arisan Taiwanese Restaurant is rather well tucked away in an alley outside of Sakuragicho Station's back entrance, the one that leads away from downtown Minato Mirai. Hubby and I didn't find this place ourselves. A classmate of hubby lives near the area and told us about it.

We promptly went to give the place a try and it surprised us with Chinese dishes that are more on the American side than the Japanese. And yes there is a difference between American Chinese dishes and Japanese Chinese dishes, the most immediately noticeable of which is the over-use of sesame oil in the Japanese Chinese dishes. I guess I'm just so used to eating American Chinese food, but my impression of Chinese food in Japan is to take a Chinese-y dish and douse it with sesame oil and wah-lah, you've got Japanese Chinese food. That's not to say they aren't any good, some of them can be quite yummy if you can ignore the overpowering sesame oil :P

This water spinach sauteed with garlic (left) totally impressed us, but the cold spicy cucumber was only okay.

Merging Blogs

Hi gals! I've finished moving all the posts from my other blog, Soul Searching in Tokyo, to this blog, Of Toys and Tokyo. I found maintaining 2 blogs to be a chore, and hobbies aren't meant to be chores.

Thank you for reading my other blog thus far. Going forward everything will be in one place ^.^ Haa...so much easier that way, no?

Cheers,

D.

Makeup Brushes

Okay this post is going to be such a joke for a lot of people, but yes, I'm totally green to makeup brushes. I completely understand why some people spend a boat load of money on makeup brushes, but for years I've been a minimal brush person. Meaning I use makeup brushes minimally for things I can't apply with my (freshly washed and very clean) fingertips, like powder, blushes, and eye liner. Even then, I didn't really have a decent brush for powder and blush until recently, and as for lining my eyes, pretty much anything will work. Other than that, it was (and a lot of time, still is) all my hands, you know, for the greatest control :P

Japonesque Touch Up Tube Set in Silver

From left to right: Powder brush, Foundation brush, Lip brush, Eye Shadow brush, and Eye Detail brush.

***Picture from Japonesque.

InRed March 2011 (Picture Heavy!)

The Paul & Joe multi-case from InRed March 2011 issue really is what the Jill Stuart multi-case from Como March 2011 should have been. Not to mention this InRed issue has lots of good stuff in it too! Now I really regret getting the Como issue :(

Twist & Pout Lip Balm SPF20

I got this Twist & Pout Lip Balm SPF20 as a goodbye gift from my manager (and friend) S. back in Jersey. She knew I was a lip product junkie, thanks to the gazillion of balms, glosses, and lipsticks on my desk and thought this would add well to my collection. She was right, and this nifty little thing is a most welcomed addition to my lip balm collection! These balms are freakin' awesome!

S. got my this trio set, which came in an innocuous looking red box makes you think they're just ordinary lip balms. Just you wait.

The other side of the box gives just the hint of the surprises coming your way.

Lancome Renergie Cream

It never occurred to me that this Lancome Renergie Cream looks and feels very similar to the Clinique All About Eyes Rich I just reviewed!

***Picture from Lancome USA.

Clinique All About Eyes Rich

I can't believe it took me since January to almost finish this tiny little GWP 0.17 oz (5 mL) of Clinique All About Eyes Rich! I started using it because my eye area were so dry it started peeling!

***Picture from Clinique USA.

Sweet March 2011

Sweet March 2011 issue comes with a red plaid Kitson tote and matching pouch set.

SkinFood Fruits Air Fit Loose Powder

When these SkinFood Fruits Air Fit Loose Powder first came out, I was super excited to try them. That is, until I take a closer look at their packaging and realize how impractical it is to store loose powder in a test tube, complete with a twist cap closure.

I wonder how SkinFood expected people to use this powder. Perhaps it was marketed as a refill for some loose powder container that was sold separately. Either way, it's been discontinued, perhaps SkinFood has come to realization impractical (at least packaging-challenged) products don't sell?

Anyhoo, there are 6 different choices for this loose powder: #10 Bright Rice, #20 Shimmer Grape, #30 Moist Watermelon, #40 Matte Lemon, #21 Skinny Chestnut, #23 Natural Almond.

***Picture from this website.

Steady March 2011 (Picture Heavy!)

Steady March 2011 issue is one of the best issues I've seen so far among all the magazines I've collected. I guess it's spring time, and all the new clothes, shoes, hair, new everything is out! And of course, the freebie this time being a 3-set Peanuts pouches featuring super cute Snoopy prints doesn't hurt either!

Como March 2011

Ack, it's May and I'm behind on both March and April :(

This is the March 2011 issue of Como, which came with a Jill Stuart multi-case, which I'm using right now ^.^

This is going to sound harsh, but this has got to be the crappiest and most uninspiring magazine cover I've ever seen! I know Como has its target audience, but it shouldn't matter because any woman can be fashionable and inspiring. It's not like I was expecting a Victoria's Secret catalogue cover, but the magazine's previous covers were really decent, so I wonder what happened there.

Sonia Rykiel Beauty Official Book 2010

I'm not really into Sonia Rykiel, but her Beauty Official Book 2010 came with a cool canvas tote so I grabbed it. And yes, this is one of those 2010 mooks I never got around to posting until now.

Lavshuca Face Powder

Lavshuca Face Powder is one of the only 3 (counting that mini Clinique Blended Face Powder I don't really like) loose powders I've used so far, the other being its previous, long discontinued, incarnation Lavshuca Loose Powder Foundation.

I really like this Lavshuca Face Powder a lot, I'm happy to report. Unfortunately, this too has also been discontinued, replaced by the current incarnation Lavshuca Finish Powder. Apparently this newest Lavshuca Finish Powder isn't nearly as good as the Face Powder, so now I'm totally disappointed. Why do they always discontinue the good stuff and go for some crappy replacement?

Clinique Blended Face Powder

Got a really cute (and itty bitty) paper jar of Clinique Blended Face Powder in Invisible Blend as a GWP so I kept it in my drawer at work for touch ups.

The paper jar is seriously cute with its cotton-ball sized (and feel) puff and mini pastel green bow ^.^

Philosophy Miracle Worker

Philosophy Miracle Worker is unfortunately not quite miraculous for me. Good thing it was only deluxe travel size 0.4 oz and even then, I ended up using it as hand cream.

L'Occitane Shea Butter Ultra Rich Face Cream

I had a deluxe 0.5 oz. travel size jar of this L'Occitane Shea Butter Ultra Rich Face Cream and had been using it on and off since the winter, until just recently when the weather was getting more humid. In the beginning I thought this stuff would be way too rich, but then again my skin was really bugging me with all the dry patches and peeling during the cold months so I had to resort to one of the richest night creams I have.

The full size 1.7 oz. is $39, so if it wasn't for the deluxe travel size jar I would have never buy this cream. Even then, it took me so long (and many dry patches and much peeling later) did I finally use my travel size jar.

***Picture from L'Occitane USA.

Wiener Tacos anyone?

Woh it's May!!!

In late April I decided it was too much work to have to manage 2 different blogs so I am merging my other Japan blog with this one ^.^ That's why I changed the blog name, because the blog content is expanding yet again. I wanted to change the blog URL too, but that would totally mess up all the linkings I've done in my posts (and yours too!) and that's just too much to fix...So yeah, you're going to start seeing food and cooking contents as well as travel pictures and randomness from my other blog xD