The Goods

I am fully aware that pretty much nobody wants to see our vacation photos. You want to know (a) did anything weird/dangerous/funny happen or (b) what cool stuff we bought or (c) on rare occasion something appallingly cute that Carlos did... but this only in extreme circumstances.

I was expecting to buy all of this Japanese art and beautiful textiles, but they are so far out of our price range it is ridiculous. So, I have made my shopping-self happy by buying a lot of really cool crap. There are dollar stores that have EVERYTHING for 100 yen (which is really only 80 cents, so you can buy 20% more than you really should)

Exhibit A: Gallina

Gallina (spanish for hen) is a chicken puppet that makes a cockle-doodle-do sound when you move her little beak together. Gallina and Carlos are good friends and the four dollars we spent on her were well worth the money. She may look simple, but she is a complex and feeling hen with so much to give.








Exhibit B: Great Kids Clothes

The kids clothes here are amazing and ridiculously cheap. Look at these skull and crossbones shoes. How cute are those? We have clothes for Carlos til he is like 20 and won't even want to wear a shirt that says "Bored Person Get on Bus: Destination to Smile".















Exhibit C: Nacho Cheese Recipe/Makeup Case
Love this. Needs no explanation. Cost 80 cents. The recipe is on the other side.








Exhibit D: Cool Japanese Toys

Toys R Us is AMAZING. I could buy everything in there and not share a single thing with my child. David too. They have mounds of crazy Japanese robots and cutsie clothes and shoes and everything fun... all for super cheap.

These are for Mommy... not Carlos... for Mommy.









The voice changing microphone for 8 dollars. Watch til the end... very funny.


Exhibit E: Random flea market finds

I have no idea why this photo is flipped... but it is a cool Japanese wooden doll. Also, 80 cents.









So, fear not that the fact that we can't give our house away and have been income-challenged since Katrina is stopping us from doing decent shopping. Lots of Japanese tchotchkes and nonsense Engrish t-shirts will be making it back to the states with us.