Hello Kitty Maternity Ward

As you may have gathered, we all love Hello Kitty around here and it was pretty fun to read in the news that the first ever Hello Kitty maternity ward was opened in Hau Sheng hospital in Taiwan!

Now, who wouldn't want to be welcomed into the world wrapped in those adorable blankets!

Thankfully they make pillows and blankets like that in toddler and adult sizes!

(Photo courtesy of AP)

Gearing up for Back to School

One of my most fond childhood memories was walking up to the elementary school with my sisters to check for class assignments and copying down our school supply lists that were posted on the school window.

I used to *love* back to school shopping (heck, I still get a thrill walking down the office supply aisle)! There's something about buying new No. 2 pencils, pens, crayons, notebook paper, folders, compass (which now that I think about it, I don't recall ever using!) that was just so exciting!

Part of the excitement was finding a way to show your unique personality through your supplies that would set yourself apart from your peers. Who would have the coolest lunch box, folder or new backpack on the first day of school? What to WEAR on the first day of school?? Kids these days have even more options than I did "back in the day." Lucky!

For Sanrio lovers, there is some GREAT stuff right now. I did a little reminiscing and put together my dream back to school list (pictured above) today. Here is a list of my "Must Haves":

• Backpack: I found a cute, versatile Hello Kitty backpack. I was really surprised at how functional it was too. It has a bunch of pockets, well-padded shoulder straps and very sturdy material. There are different styles to choose from too (messenger bags, traditional two shoulder bags, one shoulder cross-the-chest bags) and just about every Sanrio character. These bags are in the $20-30 price range, which is right on par if not a little less than non-character backpacks.
• Lunch Bag: Cute, cute cute! Made of sturdy padded backpack material and has two separate compartments-- one smaller one up top that would be good for snacks or a small ice pack to keep lunch cool and the larger main compartment which comes with a sandwich size matching plastic container.
• Pencils: No. 2 with my favorite Sanrio characters or mechanical.
• Pens: Gotta have the 7 color pen to write notes to your friends with!
• Pencil Case: Two zipper compartments with deep gussets. Perfect for pencils, pens and crayons and that compass that you need to buy but may never use!
• Giant Eraser: Just because it's 6" tall and 2.5" thick and equals AWESOME.
• Notebook Paper: Wide ruled notebook paper with Batz Maru (or another character) is perfect for writing notes, taking notes or doodling. May not be a teacher's choice for turning in assignments, but it's too cute to pass up!

So those are my must haves for back to school. I can't wait for my 19-month-old to be old enough for school so we can load up on cool back to school gear!

おいしい!

My daughter is three years old.  Thankfully she's not a fussy eater, but she is still three so even a favorite such as perfectly salted edamame might tempt her tastes buds for one meal but may not the next.  She goes to preschool part of the week, and I have to pack a lunch for her.  Sometimes she comes home with an emptied lunch box, and sometimes you would have thought that I was feeding the child dirt.  What I have learned is that lunch preparation for a three year old is all in the presentation.  Oh, how times have changed.  In my day, my parents would have told me to eat what was in my rice bowl and waste not lest thunder strike me down, or better yet if I left any rice grains in my bowl, I'd have pock marks on my face when I was older.  Not these budding gourmands. Children are foodies from an early age.

Bento boxes are a god-send.

If you're not on the up-and-up, you're thinking probably bento boxes?  Isn't that an option on Japanese restaurant menus?

My daughter has several Hello Kitty lunch boxes that I pack as if I were making a bento box option at a Japanese restaurant.  Today, she got a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread cut into a heart shape with a cookie cutter.  I placed the sandwich in the middle of the bento box, surrounded with grapes.  I put string cheese along the bottom of the box.  In her My Melody food container, I packed seedless watermelon cubes which she eats with her Kitty fork (though the three year old insists that she have the matching spoon in her lunch bag as well even if the spoon isn't used).  Just because the food was simply arranged in an "artistic" manner, I can bank on Miss Priss finishing her lunch at school without nary a prompt from the teacher to eat.

My daughter hasn't seen this new bento box yet at the store, but no doubt the next time that she is there, she'll probably "ask" her grandmother for one (and yet another set of matching forks and spoons).  *sigh* At least she's eating.

Waxing philosophy with girly curmudgeons

From its internet debut in 1998, I have been a fan of Lela Lee's Angry Little Girls comic strip for its cantankerous life view that in spite of its "bite" is shockingly funny, poignant, and sometimes depressive.

I stumbled upon this comic strip shortly before graduating from college. Initially the artwork itself caught my attention. How could you possibly resist Kim, the little girl on this mug. As an Asian-American 20 something year old at the time, I had never seen a comic strip with an Asian girl, with multiracial friends, who speaks English. Lela Lee's characters are not the typical anime characters with big eyes, spindly legs, who wear Japanese school uniforms. Her characters have Nietzche-esque conversations that you could digest as fast as one's Twitter.

This stainless steel mug speaks for itself.  

Angry Little Girls is one of the newer additions to Sanrio's product lines to debut for "Back to School 2008." To quote the character Deb when you see the merchandise, "What if I get laugh wrinkles?"