fluffy_kururu

05:23 pm: I'll Let The Stats Speak For Themselves.
Population of the state of Delaware: Approximately 875,000
Official Unemployment Rate: 8.3%
Total Estimated number of Unemployed People: 73,000

Population of the state of Michigan: approximately 10 million
Official Unemployment Rate: 15.3%
Total Estimated number of Unemployed People: 1,530,000 (nearly twice the entire state population of Delaware, employed or not)


Ratio of Unemployed People in Michigan to Unemployed People in Delaware: 21:1


Primary Industry of Michigan: Auto Manufacturing
Number of Major Companies: 3
% of the Work Force That These Companies Supported: Between 10-20%
Number of These Companies Still In Operation In Michigan: 1

Fate of The Other Two Companies: One was bought out by Fiat. The other, GM, now belongs to the United States government.

Current Status of GM: The government just opened a new GM plant, ostensibly "to put people back to work."

Location of the New Plant: DELAWARE.


Home State of the Vice President of the United States: Delaware.

05:06 pm: http://www.animalrescuesite.com

This is a neat site. You just click on the big purple button once, and then for every unique user who clicks during the course of a day, the site's sponsors donate half a bowl of food per click to animal shelters. It takes ten seconds and it's completely free. I have a soft spot for dogs and cats, so I come here every day.

It's a sister site of hungersite.com. Definitely check it out. :)

11:41 pm: RPG Maker
I just realized that I'm probably the only person I know who's used all five English versions of Enterbrain's "RPG Maker" software. So I thought I'd review them here.

For those who don't know: RPG Maker allows you to create your own console RPG on your Playstation, Playstation 2, or on Windows. I've tried making my own games at home, but let me tell you-- if you give ANY of these a try, you quickly gain appreciation for how much work goes into a console RPG.

Note that I give a "learning curve time" for each title. This is only an expression of how long it takes to get used to the system. Actual completion of a full RPG is similar in scope to fixing up an old car-- it takes a lot of time and concerted effort, but it makes a fun long-term hobby project. :)

( Reviews Under The Cut! )

02:47 pm: Japanese Language FAQ
Where I come from, many people are scared of taking foreign language classes. They're afraid that they'll be humiliated if they make mistakes, or they're afraid they won't be able to handle it and they'll fail. So when they have to fulfill college requirements for foreign language study, they do what I call "language-shopping"-- they ask their friends who have studied foreign languages about which ones they should study. And sometimes, they ask me. They want to know, "Is Japanese language study for me?"

I've compiled the questions I'm most commonly asked and made it into an FAQ. If you're thinking about studying Japanese, or if you just want a look at what it's like to study it, have a look. ^_^

( FAQ under the cut )

10:42 pm: Note to self: From now on, check the "sell by" date on the box before buying ice cream.

I bought some from this party store not far from my house yesterday. I looked at the "sell-by" date after I got home... it said "sell by 12/2008." When ice cream goes past the "sell by" date, it tastes like freezer burn. I took it back to the store and asked for a refund, and they were nice about it, and a guy went straight to the frozen food section to check whether there was any more bad ice cream back there, but still. Buying bad ice cream is a royal let-down. :P After that little episode, I think I'll stick to soft-serve at Carvel's or Dairy Queen instead of buying it from a carton for a while.

01:38 pm: BOO-YAH!
I just took my last final exam as an undergrad about an hour ago.

I have unofficially graduated from college. All that's missing is the piece of paper. They're giving that to me next week.

All I've wanted to do all day is stand out in the middle of my lawn, throw my head back, and scream at the top of my lungs, "HEY WORLD! I'M A COLLEGE GRADUATE!!!"

I sold a year's worth of textbooks back to the bookstore today and got twenty bucks for it... It was mostly Japanese literature from last summer and winter. I kept my copy of Genji and my anthology of classical literature, and sold all the modern stuff. Goodbye, collected works of Yukio Mishima, you may now stop cluttering my room. ^_^

Half of me is looking ahead to culinary school; the other half is just reveling in the now. I don't feel like I won the lottery or anything, but this feels pretty darned good, and I'm gonna enjoy it. ^_^

I feel like I'm standing on the edge of a new beginning and I'm free to just get on with it, at long last. :)

I mean, heck... when I started college, I didn't think I'd ever be able to speak Japanese or talk knowledgeably about Japanese literature and history. So even though it seems so impossible that I could ever sculpt chocolate or bake a wedding cake... heck, I might just get there. ^_^

03:36 pm: Thoughts for Today 4/12/09
I want to be a good writer.

I realize that this is probably impossible, but I still want to try.

Maybe if I keep trying, eventually it will get good. And maybe I can even publish something... I don't care if I'm ever rich or famous, but I want to write something that will move people and make them happy.

This summer, when I'm not busy with my culinary classes, I'm going to work on that. ^_^

I think I'm going to need some good concrit, though, because I don't know what's good and what needs work.

...First, though, I need to get through final exams... ^^;

07:52 pm: A Letter
Dear Mr. President,

The class of 2009 at Notre Dame worked very, very hard to earn their college degrees. Their graduation day is a day that they have been waiting on and dreaming of for four years (or longer). They deserve to have a special day to celebrate their accomplishments.

If they do not want you on their campus, you should not go. If you come to their campus despite the fact that you are not welcome there, you will be compelling many of the graduates to skip THEIR graduation (NOT YOURS) so that they don't have to show tacit support for your pro-choice policies.

If you go to a college to give a commencement address, it should be to honor the graduates and their achievements, not to bask in the spotlight yourself. They have asked you not to come. If you have any respect for them or their beliefs at all, don't go.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

fluffy_kururu

06:54 pm: I made cookies today! Chocolate chocolate chip cookies.

And they're good!

I actually made GOOD COOKIES!

I didn't burn them or anything!

(*faints*)

03:04 pm: Slight Vocaloid Rant
I can't get over my disappointment with Megurine Luka. It's a real shame-- I really like her voice actress from other material, but I don't really like Luka, herself. She sounds almost identical to Kagamine Len, and the voice sample they got apparently wasn't that clear because I haven't heard a Luka song yet that sounds remotely like a real person singing. And her character design is too trampy-- apparently Yamaha decided that Meiko wasn't enough to satisfy the fanboys with. And totally missed the memo that they prefer Miku anyway. XP

So now I'm already anxious for the next Vocaloid to come down the pike and make up for Luka. I hope it'll be a guy next time... I think I'd die and go to fangirl Heaven if they made a Vocaloid from voice samples from, say, Morita Masakazu, Taniyama Kishou, or Matsumoto Yasunori. ^_^

I really think Japan undervalues its fangirl contingent... why do fanboys get all the presents? We've got Kaito and that's it. ...Not that I want to downplay Kaito. He's wonderful. I love Kaito. But the fanboys have Meiko AND Miku (and Luka, if they insist) to listen to and fanboy over, and we only have Kaito.

IT'S NOT FAIR!!!

(*huff, puff*)

(*trudges off to go listen to some UTAU instead*)

10:12 pm: ...I just had a thought.

...If we're all in agreement that cigarettes are bad, why do people want to legalize marajuana, when that's worse? At least smoking cigarettes doesn't make you do stupid things while you're driving...

03:06 pm: WLC no Team Japan ni "Yoku Dekimashita Yo!"
A belated congratulations to Team Japan for successfully defending their title as champions of the World Baseball Classic! Omedetou gozaimasu! Yoku dekimashita yo!" (Congratulations! Very well done!) ^_^

That game was sooooo exciting! It was a tight game the whole way, the lead changed hands several times, and the game had to go into extra innings before it was over. Ichiro was the big hero, delivering a clutch 2-run base hit in the 10th that ended up being the margin of victory. He rocks! ^_^ And South Korea was an extremely forbidable opponent. Clearly, they have some of the best baseball players in the world. I predict that American talent scouts will be booking quite a few flights to Korea from here on out... :)

My sister and I stayed up late into the night to watch the whole game. It was so fun! More fun than watching the World Series most years (mostly because our home team, the Detroit Tigers, are almost never in the playoffs). And the atmosphere at the game looked so electric-- tens of thousands of fans in the stands, dressed up in samurai costume, waving thunder sticks, cheering for their teams, screaming into megaphones...

...I can't wait until the next World Baseball Classic. ^_^

12:31 am: Thoughts for Today
So the World Baseball Classic championship game is tonight. Japan vs South Korea. ^_^

I was getting really sick of hearing people make excuses for Team USA, who only did a little better this time than the last tournament three years ago. The sports commentators were saying things like, "Well, they can't get hurt here in this tournament-- they have to stay fit for the regular season. They have the World Series to think of in October."

And I couldn't help but think, "Why do we call that the 'World Series' when it's only a national championship? The best players in the world aren't from the US-- they're from Japan and Korea. They proved it three years ago, they proved it again at the Olympics, and they're proving it again now. These guys could kick the butts off any team in the MLB. Why do Americans think that a national championship is so much more important than, you know, beating the best baseball players on the planet?"

I'm getting sick of my country's self-supremacist attitude. XP

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Anyway, moving on into other topics... Four more weeks until graduation! Woo-hoo! ^_^ For those who don't already know, I'm treating myself to something special to celebrate. I've enrolled for the summer in the culinary program at my old junior college. They have the best culinary school in the region; their students have won national competitions. Since my big long-term goal is to have a successful marriage, I thought it'd be fun to enroll and learn how to cook from the best of the best. Future Hubby ought to love that! XD And I can't believe how inexpensive it is, considering the quality of the program-- tuition, my tool kit, and my uniform all together only added up to about $450.

I had to mail-order my tool kit. It came a couple of days ago. Some of the knives in it are SCARY big. Meat cleavers and boning knives. o_O I've never handled anything bigger than a steak knife before, so... yeah. I think just the sheer size of these things will remind me to be ULTRA-careful. And, of course, I'll remember what happened the time I got careless with an exacto-knife in art class back in high school... ouch.

I hope I learn to make good things this summer... I promised my mom and sister that anything I learned to make in class, I'd make at home for them to try. XD There's so many things I want to learn to make... I hope I do a good job...

The head of the department has already promised that the teachers are going to be tough and give "more criticism than you actually want." That's good. I want to learn to do this RIGHT. And I've got rubber skin from my years as a high school musician-- I can take the heat. XD

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Aside from going to culinary school, the thing I'm looking the most forward to this summer is having time to write... Ever since I started really getting serious about my education, every time I sat down to write just for myself, I'd think, "I really should be doing my homework..." It'll be nice to have my brain to myself again for a while. ^_^

The problem is that my writing isn't all that great... I'm beginning to think I should join a writing prompt group here on LJ and see if I can get some concrit that way. I could use it. Does anybody belong to a good group? I've been looking around for a good one and I've got my eye on one or two, but I'm kinda scared to jump in... you know? Maybe I should just keep polishing my writing and wait to show it to people until later...

It's funny how, if I go into writing something expecting for someone else to read it, I freeze up and hypercriticise every word I put down. So maybe a writing group wouldn't help me. I don't know. I'm kind of just evaluating options.

...In the meantime, there's still homework to do and baseball to watch. ^_^

05:38 pm: So who's heard about President Obama's joke about the Special Olympics last night?

What a jerk.

...No, I'll be blunt. What a jackass. What an offensive thing to say. How dare he blast an innocent target like that?

And what the heck was he doing on the Tonight Show in the first place? Shouldn't he have been in the White House, running the country? How does he keep managing to make time to go on TV, go to basketball games, show off his basketball championship bracket on ESPN, and all that, when he has all this work to do?

Oh, that's right. He has time to goof off on TV because he's not DOING any work. He's just standing back and making an ass of himself in front of the whole world while the economy gets worse and worse.

(*fumes*)

Is it 2012 yet? Can I get my ballot early, so I can vote for the guy who'll be running against him?



Edit:The LEAST he could do would be to fire Geithner. Who ever heard of a Treasury Secretary who doesn't pay his taxes? (*seethes*)

12:09 am: Rant on Languages
Foreign culture majors have to deal with two stigmas. First, people in other major fields insist on thinking of us as masochists. When I tell people that I study Japanese, all too often the reaction is a horrified stare and a wail of "Why do you DO that to yourself!?"

The other stigma is the perception that people think we ought to be focusing our studies on something more "useful." People who say that, of course, forget that you can make a very satisfying career out of teaching a foreign language. And some of my friends have found jobs teaching English in Japan.

But the people who put the second stigma on us always like to pick apart our choice in what language we study. Every cultural scholar is always asked, "Why did you decide to study that language?"

And American students of Japanese are often hit with the question of why we chose to study that when it'd be "more practical" to learn Spanish or Chinese.

And when we're by ourselves, discussing our experiences with explaining ourselves to others, we find ourselves going into debate about which cultures and languages are really the most worth studying. Of course, we all root for the one we're in.

But it got me wondering... which language really is the most practical and best one to learn?

( Here's what I think... )

05:32 pm: So the federal budget just came out today.

...Is anybody besides me worried about the fact that Obama's allocating $640 billion toward implementing universal health care?

I mean, I agree, we ought to have some kind of system in place so that people aren't turned away from hospitals because they're uninsured and can't afford care. But what with the economy being so bad, more and more people are losing their jobs, and their insurance wih it. And you can't buy insurance if you don't have money to pay for it-- and you get money by working. So shouldn't Obama work on fixing the economy first, and THEN do universal health care?

It's just... I don't know, I just think that it'd be better to wait for major social reform until AFTER we have all this straightened out with the economy...

06:03 pm: Yinwei wo shi wo, suoyi wo bu dong...
GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH.

Brain... hurts... guuuuuuuuuh.

I went to Chinese class today and only one other person showed up. We had a sub, and we were all wondering where everybody else was, but she went ahead and taught the two of us. The TWO of us. For the whole class period. And she was tough, too-- it was intimidating, but, strangely, I kind of enjoyed myself in spite of it. I felt like I learned more in that hour and forty-five minutes than I'd learned all semester long.

But now my brain hurts after getting that kind of workout... guuuhhhh.

I went home and found an e-mail message from my usual professor saying, "Class is cancelled this week." Clearly, there's been some kind of misunderstanding, so I tried to e-mail my professor to let her know... and I got an auto-reply of "I'm away from my e-mail until after mid-winter break, sorry for any inconvenience."

I don't know what to do now but hope the sub calls my professor and asks why only two students bothered to show up today... and prepare for quiz the sub's giving us on Thursday, unless she's told not to.

(*shakes head and cracks the books*)

02:14 pm: A Dream
Once when I was wandering around LJ before I started my account here, I came across a journal entry where someone described a dream they had. It was a really interesting dream, and I thought, "Gee, wouldn't it be great if I actually had a dream that was interesting enough to write about?"

Last night, I had such a dream. Here's how it went...



I was in a massive bus station with my mother and sister. We were standing about twenty feet from a deli counter. All of a sudden, a horrible fight broke out behind the counter between a bunch of teenaged and twenty-something boys in t-shirts and baggy pants.

It really looked like someone would be killed before it was over. I started to move toward them, wanting to try to stop it, but I held back because I realized, "No, stupid, they're all thugs. They'll beat the heck out of you if you get involved in that."

So instead of getting involved, I pointed out the fight to my mother and sister, and we ran like heck. I warned other people as I sprinted past them, and they ran, too. Soon the whole bus station knew, and everybody was sprinting to the ticket stations to get out of there before this got out of control. Maybe they knew something about the situation that I didn't.

My sister and mother ran far faster than I did, and I was promptly separated from them in the chaos. I turned a corner and they were gone. I couldn't find them, and I didn't know where to go or what to do. I passed a stretch of wall where the gaps between several columns were blocked off by netting, to prevent people from running that way, probably into danger. One of the nets was coming off, and a girl, maybe about 15, was standing there in front of the net with her arms and legs spread out, acting like a barrier. She smiled at me in this unearthily peaceful way and nodded, as if to say, "Go on, it'll be all right." I ran, but I felt bad after a moment and ran back to find her and tell her to come with me. But by the time I got back, she was already gone. I realized that station security must have gotten to her and scuttled her out.

It was a long walk to the ticket counters. I talked to a friendly boy, probably fifteen or sixteen years old, on the way there. He was smiling and keeping an upbeat attitude about the whole thing. He figured that station security was taking care of the fight and it would all be okay. I think he could tell that I was scared and he was trying to help me lighten up.

Finally, I made it to a ticket counter where a massive crowd-- there must have been thousands of people-- had already gathered. Surprisingly, for a place so crowded, everything was quiet and orderly. The boy I had been with before was gone; I was alone. I waited in line to get a ticket-- I think it was to Spokane. When I got to the counter, there was a group of teenagers standing there talking to the clerk, and one of them was saying that if he had been in the same situation as the brawlers I'd seen, he would have done exactly the same thing as they did-- be in there trying to kill the other guys. I stared at him, pointed out the thousands of other people waiting in line to buy a ticket, and said, "You'd still do that and endanger and frighten all these people?"

He looked at me, confused, and like I was crazy, and he said, "Yeah, I would."

I stared at him, and then I just said, "I feel sorry for you," and I turned and walked away with my ticket. As I was leaving, I heard the clerk say in a tone of distaste, "What nerve. What nerve. 'I feel sorry for you.'" But as he was saying it, his tone changed from anger to admiration. When I looked back at him, he had this envious expression on his face, like he wished he'd thought of saying that himself.

It finally occurred to me to try to call my mother on her cellphone and find out if we were all even going to the same place. I grabbed my cellphone and tried to reach her on speed-dial, but for some reason the phone wasn't working right. I was crying, and I was saying into the phone, "Mom, where are you? Pick up," even though I knew she couldn't hear me. While I was walking along, trying to figure out how to make my phone work, I realized someone was walking alongside me. I looked, and it was one of the guys fighting behind the deli counter before. He didn't seem to notice me, even though we were shoulder-to-shoulder. Here was this person who had made me so afraid, and he was just walking along like nothing was wrong.

I punched him full in the face. Now, ordinarily, when I punch somebody in a dream, my fist strikes and absolutely nothing happens, and it feels like I punched a clay wall. Nothing gives, there's a dull smack, and the person is just enraged that I dared to hit them, and then they proceed to try to beat the snot out of me. But that wasn't what happened this time. I punched this guy, and he flew through the air backwards for over a hundred feet before he vanished between two columns. Then I heard him crash into a wall. Hard. Then I heard bricks break loose from the wall and rain down on top of him.

I smiled, shook my hand a little to air it out, and went back to trying to call my mom. As I was walking along trying to make my phone work, I approached this really beautiful showroom floor for a furniture store. All of the sudden I stopped in my tracks and thought, "What's a furniture store doing in a bus station?"

And then I woke up.

11:09 pm: Chinese Troubles
KUUUUUUUURGH! Somebody please explain to me why my Chinese textbook has ZERO useful vocabulary in it!!! We've been covering vocabulary words about studying and school life for FOUR WHOLE WEEKS!

Like that's going to help me if I ever get lost in Beijing and need to find a hospital or a bus station. If I fall down a flight of stairs, break my leg, and need to call an ambulance, I can just call on my cellphone and say: "Pardon me, but I did very well on my Chinese test last week because Xiao Gao helped me study!" XP

(*kicks textbook*)

Reminds me of high school Spanish. I didn't learn any useful vocabulary then, either. All I can remember from then is "Tengo doce lapices en mi mochila" (I have twelve pencils in my backpack) and "Que tiempo hace hoy?" (What's the weather like today?). Neither of which would help me if I broke my leg in Mexico. :P

Guhhh. I need the credits, so I'll weather through, but it's going to be a very boring 11 more weeks... I just wish the college would use a different textbook. This one stinks. I'll have to remember to put that on the class evaluation sheet at the end of the semester.

In the meantime, I have ANOTHER vocabulary quiz to study for... the teacher tests us three times per four class sessions. No joke.

(*Heaves a sigh and trudges off to study some more*)

06:24 pm: Had to take a Chinese test yesterday. I'm glad I studied as hard for it as I did-- it would have killed me otherwise. But as it was, I think I did all right on it.

Three weeks down, twelve to go before graduation ^_^

I wanted to do something special this weekend, and I don't have any classes on Fridays, so I went to the mall today... :) Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi. Fun fun fun. One of my favorite places on the great green earth.

The funny thing is that when I was a teenager, I honestly thought the mall was just for the cliquey girls who just go to shop at the GAP. I didn't know what would be there to interest a tomboy like me. Then I discovered they have Gamestop there. Then I found out they had a Haagen Daas. Then I found out there was a bookstore. One thing led to another, and now Mom has to tell me to behave and not spend too much XD

Today I think I must have done three or four laps around the whole mall because I kept getting lost on my way to the shops I wanted to visit. I got my exercise for this week, that's for sure. ^_^


My shopping itinerary looked like this:

1) Walden's Books-- I bought Issues 3 and 9 of Kiniro no Corda. I love the art in these books, even though the series itself is mostly plotless fluff (the games are far more eventful than this, I swear). But there's a HUGE revelation right at the end of Issue 9 that just about made my eyes pop out of my head. A little tidbit about Ryotaro's past that I absolutely did not see coming. And yet, duuuuude, I should have. There were hints all over the place in the previous issues. I just... wow. Still can't believe it.

2) Food Court-- Over to Quizno's for a Prime Rib & Peppercorn sandwich, no onions. Mmmmmmmmmm XD I luuuuuuurve Quizno's... And I had a lemonade from this tropic juices place nearby (I forget the name of it, but they decorate the place with bananas to make it look authentically tropical and stuff). The lemonade's rather tart and a bit on the sour side. I used to think it was too sour, but I've gotten to really love it. It was so nice to eat my lunch and read my new manga ^_^

3) EB Games-- Nothing all that interesting. The new big game releases for 2009 aren't going to start coming out in force until next month, and I've already bought everything from 2008 I'm going to want.

4) Gamestop-- ...Which didn't stop me from going over to Gamestop just to be sure I didn't miss anything. Turns out I didn't. Oh, well.

5) Bath & Bodyworks-- I spent quite a bit of time in here! :) I ended up buying a container of hand soap and a jar of body butter, both of them scented Warm Vanilla Sugar. I looooove that smell :) The soap feels nice to use-- it's grainy and smooth, and it lathers wonderfully, and it makes my hands feel so soft ^_^

6) Teavana-- They're a tea supply shop. I don't drink tea, but sometimes they have some really nice Chinese statuaries there based on real pieces of Buddhist art, so I love this place. They didn't have anything much today, though. I left without buying anything.

7) Ruehl-- I didn't buy anything, but they have this really intriguing entryway-- an ebony framework on the walls around the door, about fifteen feet to each side. I looked in, and there was all this dramatic lighting, and criss-crossing hallways all over the place and nice music playing. I almost didn't go in because I thought, "Oh, I can't afford anything in there." And then I thought, "Well, the worst they can do is yell at me to get out. I'll just pop in and take a look." It's like a maze in there-- so many dark corridors and rooms. Beautiful room in the back with a couch and all these throwpillows on it. I wandered around for a couple of minutes and was just going "Oooooh" at the pretty decor. There wasn't anything in there I wanted, but I loved the layout. Just walking around and exploring it was so fun-- it was like being in a maze. And the guy at the door was real nice-- he smiled and said "Good afternoon" as I came in and "Have a nice day" as I left. So don't be scared to go into a Ruehl if you get the chance, people. ^_^

8) Yankee Candle Co.-- I collect scented candles. I never actually light them, though-- they're too expensive to use up! I looked around, and it smelled so nice in there, but I didn't find anything I just had to have, so I left without buying anything.

9) Illuminations-- This is a lovely little candle boutique. The girl working here is really nice and always takes good care of me. They were clearing out leftover unsold candles from their Christmas sale, which were half-price. I got an $18 cookie-scented candle for $9. While she was ringing me up, I saw this beautiful candle holder-- it looks like the Princess Birdcage in Animal Crossing: City Folk. I saw it, fell in love, and thought, "Oh, that's got to be sixty or seventy dollars. It's so pretty." And she told me, "That's on sale. It's $10." Needless to say, I bought it ^_^ After she packed up my purchases and handed me my bag, she said, "You saved $40." Since the original price of the candle was $18 and I saved $9 there, the other $31 had to come from the candle case, so the case's original price was $41. I got a $41 candle case for $10. :) It's in my room right now, with my new cookie candle in it XD

10) Payless Shoes-- Ordinarily, for me, shopping for shoes is a chore. I'm not really into shoes. Ordinarily, I just go in to buy a new pair of white sneakers every time my previous pair wears down. ^_^; But today they had these beautiful white Airwalkers with gold trim on them that I just fell in love with right away, and they fit on my feet like they were made for me :) I think I must have tried on six or seven pairs of shoes-- an all-time high for me. I ended up buying the Airwalkers, a pair of moccasins, and a pair of white slip-ons. When I brought three boxes of shoes to my mom and said, "Can I get these?", her eyes just about popped out of her head, because I never get more than one pair in a trip ^_^; But I love my new shoes.



Places I Passed But Didn't Go In:

1) Nestle Tollhouse. I'm on a low-fat diet. And my sister makes better cookies at home than the ones they sell there, anyway. No sense in taking in fat grams that aren't even all that good.

2) For Love 21. I had to stop and gawk at the exerior decor. They have these huge glass columns on either side of the door that are stuffed full of pink roses. I imagine the roses aren't real, but that must have taken a LONG time to arrange. Every single flower had the petals facing the glass. It's really pretty to look at. The shop didn't look like it had anything in it I wanted, though, so I kept walking.

3) Godiva. Again, I'm on a diet. But I love this place so much.

4) JB Robinson, along with several other diamond boutiques. I wanted to take a closer look at what they had, but I knew that I couldn't afford anything at those places, and I was kind of intimidated by the thought of bothering the salesclerks. They were so dressed up! I kinda figured, this is the kind of place you don't go into unless you're planning on buying something.

5) Haagen Daas. Again, I'm on a diet.

6) Apple. It looked packed, like it always does. I like that place, but I figured I could shop for software another day.


And now I'm home, quite tired but very happy. (*curls up contentedly in her favorite chair to read Kiniro no Corda*) Ahhhhh. :)