Wow, I've been having a great day today. What a nice change! The beginning of this year (ever since we got back from Australia) has been a little lacklustre. I wasn't feeling it at all and being sick twice certainly didn't help. The spring weather has made me so much happier!
I got up early this morning so that I could work out at the gym longer than usual. Going in my lunch break means that I really only have 25 minutes which is just not enough. I started a new program and it was really challenging. It has made me feel good. Then Darin tells me my new bag which I ordered from Demano arrived at the house and that a torrent I have been wanting to download has finally succeeded. It was the finale of the Biggest Loser - S2. I am completely addicted to the Biggest Loser series and cry in nearly every episode. It is so encouraging and positive. The transformations are amazing. I love that a show promoting exercise and a reasonable diet is proving a big hit both in the US and Australia.
And now that I exercise in the morning, I can enjoy some SPECIAL time (as Darin calls it) during lunch. Today I had a lovely lunch with a work friend and then we wandered around the cherry blossoms at the Aoyama Cemetary which are in full bloom - right now. Here's a pic of the cherry blossoms in Inokashira Park - I took this photo with my camera on the way to work this morning.
It tops off a great week actually. On the weekend we went to Keirin with some buddies and that was an interesting experience. I'll post my photos in Flickr later, but in the meantime you can read Darin's post about the Keirin. My only advice is that I wouldn't really recommend soing to Keirin for a date - it kind of smells of stale smoke and is FULL of old men. I ended up playing a game called 'Spot the Female' - it was hard. The only bonus was there was no line at the ladies toilets. We had one wager, guess what colour racer I bet on?
Here's a great polaroid shot of Darin taken at Keirin.
My favourite thing about Keirin was the old man food stall selling soba/udon/curry and onigiri - that's it. Oh and the free rokucha and water machine.
And on the way home, I spotted an awesome looking thrift store that is only open between 1:30pm and 5pm on Sundays - it was 4pm on Sunday. Guess what we found! Not one but TWO Print Goccos and a whole case of inks. They were originally priced at 250 yen and 300 yen respectively, but they were on sale for half price. Meaning that we walked out of there with all of that for much less than $10.
I also scored a cute vintage Japanese dress with the tags still on it for 200 yen, which I am now calling my wimbledon dress.
BUT I have been saving the best news for last. This happy spring post is dedicated to Anna Di-Iorio Reyes - the new, new daughter of our good friends, Angie and Sam. She was born on Sunday March 26th at 1:59am. Man, I am so happy for you guys and I want to come and meet Anna soon.
What a fun post! You are so lucky to find those goccos and the cute dress! I must check out local thrift shops more often (though I'd be willing to bet the Tokyo selection is just a bit better). Thanks to you, I'm still in a TV coma but will post about knitting and get out of the house sometime soon. :)
Posted by: molly | March 29, 2006 at 10:10 PM
you lucky girl - what a fantastic day! (gocco - SNIFF!) will you show us the demano bag?
Posted by: jess | March 29, 2006 at 11:53 PM
That dress is SUPER cute. Sounds like fun!
Posted by: Carrie | March 30, 2006 at 12:28 AM
great score on the goccos AND the dress!!
Posted by: gleek | March 30, 2006 at 01:02 AM
That dress is soooo cute on you.
Posted by: Andrea | March 30, 2006 at 01:22 AM
cute dress!!!!
Posted by: nicky | March 30, 2006 at 10:39 AM
Hi, I'm sorry to comment on something completely unrelated...I ended up here because I was searching for a grapefruit perfume that I smelled at Ranking Ranqueen in December 2005. You mention it in an April 2005 entry. Do you happen to know its name? A friend is going to Tokyo and will try to pick it up for me. Thanks so much for your help!!! And nice dress!
Posted by: Mimi | March 31, 2006 at 06:31 AM
Long time no see Kat! Couldn't make it to the last SNB...
You make me sigh after Print Goccos and pretty dresses..!
Posted by: steff | April 01, 2006 at 01:02 AM
Cute dress! Green looks good on you :D
Posted by: empress | April 01, 2006 at 01:46 PM
Very cool dress!
Posted by: Gina | April 03, 2006 at 05:11 AM
That dress is Awesome! I love the color. Love it.
Posted by: Julia | April 04, 2006 at 09:13 AM
oooh yay! Girl baby knits! :)
That dress is almost TOO adorable on you! I can't look! ;)
Posted by: frecklegirl jess | April 04, 2006 at 03:35 PM
that dress is to die for. oh, kelly green, how i heart thee. . .
oh, and congrats on the newest addition to the Reyes family!
Posted by: Sandra | April 06, 2006 at 10:41 AM
Two gocco machines?! For ten bucks?! You are the luckiest girl. For real. :)
Posted by: Leslie | April 25, 2006 at 04:32 PM