Great cute food cookbook, terrific ideas and all made for bento.

I adore this cookbook, plus it’s spiral so it lays flat. You can literally make anything with a piece of cheese and ham or turkey!

This is part two and I cannot wait for it to get here!

This is a great book that talks about charaben and has some of the finest examples I’ve seen.

This book may not have the best photos but it does have tons of ideas and recipes. You will be making bento in a snap.

Another new book, I will update you once I go through it.

Also new and looking forward to getting it.

Nothing cuter than Hello Kitty pocky!

Dig these Panda cookies!

Gorgeous chick bento – this kills me!

Awesome wild rice pilaf bear.

Super kawaii ice cream cone lunch.

Kitty cat sun rice ball – yummy – love the colors!

Bunny sammie – yum!

Yikes, too kawaii – could not eat!

Bunny rice balls = super kawaii!

First and foremost is the new HELLO KITTY cosmetics line at Sephora. I was surprised to see a line because I thought the licensing was more lucrative for Sanrio. At this point thought, since kitty isn’t quite what she used to be and has capitalized on the adult market more than anything now (which to me has kind of ruined it), I guess Sanrio is taking every opportunity to make money with her.

Here are some of the cute things they offer:

This is sweet, just like a pencil tin that would be in the Hello Kitty line. It’s $28 which is a good value for the pencils, though they are not full-size. Unfortunately they are not the gel liner pencils that are so popular in every line now (even Cover Girl has them!)

This is a great palette in super cute Memoirs of a Kitty  cherry blossoms print. There are four eyeshadows and two blushes. $35 is a bit rich for what are most likely not the highest quality cosmetics but it’s still pretty darn cute.

Now we are getting pricey with the Glittercute Collection made with Swarovski Elements. You get the glittercute eyeliners and the brush set in a crystal container. This is really special and it comes with a ridiculous price – $495. That is not a mistake.

The Glitter Dipped Handheld Mirror also has crystals and a similar price tag of absurdity – $350. These are sweet and kawaii but unless you are Mariah Carey (who would get everything for free anyway) I don’t see anyone getting these items.

Finally there is a Hello Kitty fragrance. It’s inexpensive in this rollerball version only $18. Here is more about it.

Hello Kitty Fragrance Rollergirl Rollerball

You’re sure to feel sweet and fancy with this pretty perfume. Made with some
of Hello Kitty’s favorite things, its notes of green apple and Japanese fruits
will make you smile inside. As the fragrance’s heart comes forward, you’ll smell
rich floral accords and a wink of warm vanilla. A little hint of musk is present
in the base notes, adding a touch of glamour to a twinkling fragrance created
especially for the young-at-heart.

Notes:
Cassis Sorbet, Italian Mandarin, Apple, Magnolia Blossom, Freesia, Orange Flower, Tonka Bean,
Vanilla, Musk.

Style:
Sweet. Sparkling. Pretty.

I’ve been a huge Tarina Tarantino fan for well over a decade (remember she used to make those adorable little bejeweled barrettes?), purchasing her jewelry (lots of fun Hello Kitty stuff) and accessories. I was thrilled to see that she’s come out with a new cosmetics line exclusively for SEPHORA. Well done!

I haven’t gotten my products yet but I can tell you what I am most excited about:

Sparklicity Shimmer Dust  $39 – this sprays on to give a sheen of glittery goodness to your skin and hair. I just love the bottle and truly cannot get enough glitter in my life.

Kapinki: Face Brush $38 - I have a thing for kabuki brushes.  I have five of them. Maybe more. But a HOT PINK one? Oh my heavens – this is a must have. The kabuki brush is my go-to brush. I have ones that I use for blush, for powder, for pearlessence, for minerals. You can always use another.

Pearl Glow Primer $32 - I am as into pearlessence as I am to glitter and shimmer. That this is a primer is even better because it will give a subtle glow. I use a good primer from Smashbox that has a pearly glow to it but it is a little overpowering so I hope this works.

Sparklicity Luminizer $19 - Hey who doesn’t want to be illuminated? Or luminized? Whatever – if it means I will be glowy, I am there. Unlike most “refractive” powder finishes this is supposed to give glow but not glitter. We shall see!

Once everything comes in, I will road test and let you know how they work out.

One teeny-tiny grumble, I expected a little more from the packaging – a bit more sparkle. Also the price points are really high for a debut cosmetic line. And for a SEPHORA exclusive as well considering that SEPHORA’s own brands (and I am sure they are making Tarina Tarnatino’s too) are priced very reasonably.

From CyberAgent in Japan comes a new Facebook application (game) called Ameba Pico (or Pico for short). You can play outside of Facebook too but the real fun is to play within Facebook so you can get all your kawaii loving friends to play with you.

The game was originally called Ameba Pigg in Japan and racked up a couple million users in less than a year. You know how much they love all that is cute and childlike in Japan so I imagine the populairty is due to location and that it appealed to young women in the tween and up age range.

What is most fascinating about this essential glorified chat space (with adorable twee little characters that you can dress-up and play with) is that it is truly an International social actvity. Most people playing the game are Japanese but other countries I have seen represented include the Phillipines, Macau, China, Chile, Spain, France, the UK, Singapore, New Zealand, Russia and of course the USA.

You meet people by giving them “props” and then earn “gummies” for this which you can use to buy things. The more robust form of currency however is Ameba Gold which you can purchase for real money or complete offers (joining a book club, getting your credit report, taking surveys and many others) to earn Ameba Gold.

You have your own room and can hold parties in it to earn “stars” (which give you more gummies) and you can decorate it with the limited items available around the virtual world (which is basically a NYC street, the Statue of Liberty, a couple of parks, a high school and a Stone age location with a volcano) as well as shop for clothes and expression (smiling, laughing, dancing) that you can purchase from various vendors.

It takes a whole lot of giving and getting props to generate gummies and the only way to get “tokens”(which can be used in place of Ameba Gold) is to play Gatcha which gives you a random prize out of an animated vending robot (essentially gashopon). I’ve played it quite a bit and all I get are filing cabinets, food and balloons. No tokens yet.

There are only two games to play (a memory card game and reversi) and the specific themed chat rooms don’t seem very active. You can have private chats (called whisper) and send each other letters within the system, plus send each other gifts and share food. Other than that there is no much to explore and not much to do except give props, go to your “buddies” rooms (you may friends within the world and they become your buddies), visit different locales, shop (though this is limited) and change your clothes. The chatting is very minimal since there are many languages spoken. Many Japanese speak no English whatsoever and they tell you right on their character profile.

I’ve been enjoying the game however because it is super kawaii and love meeting all the Japanese people. There are quite a few who do speak some English and would love to practice it with you which is seriously fun.

The people are VERY YOUNG however, though it seems to vary at times. Later at night I run into many people from the US in their teens and twenties. I have only runa cross a few people my age (old as the hills in the world of Kawaii) but that is to be expected. I think it would be a fun hang-out for girls in their teens and twenties if they are Japanophiles and love to talk about similar things.

I am on usually as “girliewhirlie”. Please come find me! I will give you props, I promise!

Here are a few fun things you can do:

My closet still calls to me but I haven’t even thought about cleaning it out more in months. I haven’t been “adding to” (my Mom always says “Don’t add to; take away.” but I just cannot face all the stuff sitting in boxes in the closet and actually organizing it.

I gave up organizing my Re-ment (definitely a case where I “added to”) and still have 7 boxes of tiny little baggies of Re-ment that need to be put into the photo boxes I purchased at Amazon expressly for this purpose. I was so motivated then! Not so motivated now. That’s what being overwhelmed does to you.

Once I get a teeny, tiny break maybe I will indulge myself with some kawaii-ness. Meanwhile I hope your Valentine’s Day was plesant and super kawaii!

Love this totebag for grocery shopping. Now if only I could remember to actually USE it!

Sweet little mini-baguette purse in pink and green. Very PREPPY combination.

Adorable memo pad with hard to find Hello Kitty dressed as a geisha.

Sweet pink Hello Kitty geisha charm. I go crazy for these, I must have about twenty or more.

Hello Kitty chopsticks with towel wrap. Oh if only I had dishes to match!

Best wishes for 2010. I hope you had a terrific holiday season and have a wonderful New Year. I rang in the New Year the same way i have since I was about five years old – watching Dick Clark! Although I don’t know many of the performers these days (tonight it was Jennifer Lopez and Chris Daughtry in Times Square which I was thrilled to see since I actually KNEW them!)but I still enjoy the festivities. It amazes me how fast they clean up Times Square.

I love to see Dick Clark. It must be a great honor for Ryan Seacrest to co-host the show with him. I adore Ryan Seacrest. I think he is a gracious person. Dick Clark still looks great too and I love to see him kiss his wife at midnight as I have for the last 36 years.

Happy New Year to my family and my kitty Lucy!

Keep it kawaii!

Sigh. Re-ment is not what it used to be. I used to really enjoy all the series they came out with, nearly purchasing every series they made. However this year the series have been a bit naff, as the Brits would say. I do like the Hello Kitty stuff, so far there have been three series of minis but that is nothing compared to the 12 or so Disney minis and furniture that Re-ment has released in 2009.

This was my slowest Re-ment year of all time and since Megahouse is no longer making minis I’m a bit down about collecting right now. For certain if I collected Disney stuff (especially Mickey Mouse) I would be thrilled to no end how Re-ment has tackled that merchandising. How they keep coming up with new Disney series is mind-boggling.

This was a stocking stuffer for me, a great set of STILA mini lip glazes. These are so sweet and portable and have yummy flavors too. My faves are the pearly and sparkly colors.

This great beauty kit is from POPBeauty and is much more vibrant than it looks in this photo. This is a treasure trove of festive colors ready made for parties and the winter months. You get five eye shadow/liners, two shades of bronzer, two shades of face powder, a multi-hued shimmer palette and eight lip colors, all in a velvet covered box.  It is called Cabaret Bouquet and was on sale at ULTA.

Another great make-up kit this one is from Pixi Beauty. I mean it has a little twee fairy on the box! All the colors are shimmery and sweet. You can get this right in Target and it was on sale to boot. You can also get it online at pixibeauty.com.

My sister-in-law was kind enough to get me this adorable Bare Minerals Sweet Obsession mineral powder eye kit. The smaller size jars come in a little foil candy cups. Arrragghhh – cute overload! So yummy I want to eat them!

Since I get cold tootsies in the winter (yes, even in Florida, what can I say, I am a big baby!) I looked for a pair of faux fur lined boots online and came up with these which were sent overnight from endless.com and arrived on my doorstep on the 24th. I’ve barely taken them off since. Except to put on these:

These are called Chastity Sweater Slippers and were $18 at Target. They are completely faux fur lined and delicious on cold toesies.

Hope your Christmas was loaded with kawaii goodies and joyful happiness. Remember to hit all the After Christmas sales too!

I’ve been away from the kawaii a bit so I have lots to catch up on. You’ll be seeing me more regular-like from now on.

Happy Kawaii New Year!