A Belated OOTD, and Five More Awesome Things

     Yet another hot, humid week, and yet another without any interesting outfits to report, though I do have one from a few weeks ago, when it was actually kinda cool for summer. Like most of you, I'm sure, I'm dreaming of fall weather and, more importantly, the fall fashions that have stormed the store shelves and displays (despite the fact that this week the temperature has soared as high as 41C/105F). Though I suppose I shouldn't complain too much, since until August summer has been remarkably bearable, and even now the sun is pretty weak or shrouded by clouds most days. Still, I'm longing for the days when I can dress like this once again...

Skirt (Zara), cowl-neck top (Mango)

I seriously cannot believe that it was cool enough to wear this in July!

     I was thrilled that I was able to wear one of my favorite tops ever on a non-fall/winter day. The top has a more chain-mail appearance in real life than in the photo, though sadly the somewhat delicate weave is staring to snag and pill in places. If I hadn't been overseas on vacation (and therefore on limited funds) I would've snatched up two of these beauties. Ah, well, can't change that now!

     I decided that I liked last week's "Five Things" post (see below) enough to do another installment, and I'm thinking that you all find it interesting enough, since some of the items relate to expat life in crazy ol' Japan. So without further ado, here are five random things that rocked my world this past week:

     1. Summer nails! I always do my nails myself, though I'm looking forward to getting them occasionally done by somebody more skilled than I in Canada. I usually play it pretty safe when it comes to colors, but recently I felt like wearing some super-bright summery pink (which I like to call Barbie pink), at least on my toenails. I came across Mavala's Toulouse, a creme formula that is amazingly easy to put on. One my fingernails I played it a bit more safe with Rosee, my favorite Mavala shade.

I apologize for the frightening close-up of my toes (yes, I have five, the little one is just hiding!)

     2. Summer jam! Oh, my fiancee both loves and loathes me for finding this catchy Nicki Minaj song and playing it every five seconds on YouTube. I've never been a big fan of her music, though I appreciated her somewhat unique style (kinda Gaga/Katy Perry-esque, but still), and she does originally hail from my mater land of Trinidad and Tobago. But then I stumbled across this song, which is fast becoming my guilty pleasure pop anthem of the summer.

     3. Summer vegetables! Thanks to my super health-conscious fiancee (seriously sometimes I cannot believe that I'm marrying this uncanny mix of my father AND my mother) I have eaten foods that I previously shunned before coming to Japan. Especially vegetables... now thanks to him I crave things like eggplants, cauliflower, asparagus, and most recently, zucchini. A summer vegetable here in Japan, good quality ones can be a bit pricey, but today I managed to find some gorgeous specimens for 198 yen ($2.58), on sale from the their usual price of 298 yen. My fiancee just grills them in a mostly dry pan with a bit of olive oil, and then they're ready to eat. Yum!

Still can't believe it was that cheap. According to the label,  this one was grown up in Akita prefecture by the dude in the picture.

     4. Summer "only-in-Japan" moments! So, a bit of backstory: Japan has been gearing up for a few years to change all household TV signals/antennas to digital rather than analog, which requires all people still using old CRT TVs to buck up and actually get a decent TV (they're not expensive over here, and many reailers offered some crazy discounts when the deadline loomed). But in Japan, such a momentous occasion could never go without some official PR character mascot. Thus was born "Chidejika" ("chideji" aka digital terrestrial televison + "shika/jika" aka deer), a little deer sporting digital antennas instead of antlers. Now I love me some deer, and I love me some Japanese craziness, so I wondered if there was some way to get my hands on some Chidejika merch. And this being Japan, of course there was! The changeover came and went in July, but Chidejika is here to stay, at least on my phone.

In Japan everyone, young and old, male and female, decorates their phones with charm straps. All three of mine were gifts from Mr. So So Good. The Starbucks strap commemorates the fact that we both love coffee and all of our early dates were at the Starbucks near our office. In the middle is the Chidejika, with headphones on, for some reason. And lastly is a pink rabbit meant to resemble a famous traditional Japanese sweet (I hate the sweet, but I love rabbits). 

     5. Summer TV! Usually sucks, but a few weeks ago the fourth season of AMC's Breaking Bad premiered, and damn, is that show perfection. Teeth-grindingly tense perfection, so this is definitely not a show I watch before falling asleep. AMC is home to two of my favorite shows, Breaking Bad and Mad Men, and while both shows' staff seem to take FOREVER to write and film between seasons, if they can maintain the superb quality, then I suppose the long wait is worth it.