和風 Giveaway winner!

As promised, I am announcing my 2nd giveaway winner!


I tallied all the winners....

Put them into random.org 's generator....

Pressed "Generate" and received number 35!

And the winner is...........

みか☆ちゃん from ☆GLAMOROUS SKY☆!

THANK YOU! to everyone who entered!

I'm planning my next giveaway, which if all my finances pan out will be sooner rather than later. (for some hints and chances to voice your opinion on what you want, follow my twitter account!)

Now time for -your- thoughts! What do you want to see next on Hello Nippon? I have 体育祭 Pt. 2, Earthquake Early Warning system info++app reviews, and more exchange related posts planned. Any ideas? Let me know!

As always, I hope this post finds you smiling and happy, wherever you may be♥! 

the 和風 giveaway!!!!!

久しぶり！(long time, no see!) My laptop charger recently died after we experienced a blackout after lightning struck a pole near my house! But, I had it looked at and after confirming it was only the charger, I have a new charger and my laptop is back~!

I was so bored during this past week that I actually hand-wrote a couple blog posts. Yes, my life is that boring! hahaha~ I also took a bunch of pictures that you will see in upcoming posts. I've decided that I'm going to start including more of my personal life because I know that once I move I'll have a much more interesting life笑



I've had this planned out for awhile and I was going to hold off, but the weather has been so nice recently, summer is just around the corner and I'm just feeling so great about life that I want to share it all with you guys! That's why I'm announcing my next giveaway!

the 和風 giveaway

The theme of this giveaway is 和風 or Japanese style! I chose this theme because I love all things traditional Japan and I'm sure someone else does, too! haha

the prizes:

- a hand-painted uchiwa from Asakusa, Tokyo!

- a 和柄 (traditional Japanese pattern) flower cell phone strap!

- Bath & Body Works Signature Collection fragrance mist and shower gel in Japanese Cherry Blossom! (my favorite fragrance!)

- a matcha green tea flavored Nestle Kit Kat bar! (comes in a cute box too!)

the rules:

- open internationally

- must be a follower (GFC, bloglovin', bloggers, RSS feeds, anything works!)

how to enter:

- comment with your name and a valid email address.

for extra entries:

[+1] in your comment, state your favorite part of Japanese culture. For example, you could mention Sadou (Japanese tea ceremony), sushi, sumo, maiko, geisha, ikebana, anime, jpop, jrock, kabuki, noh, the possibilities are endless!!

[+1] in your comment, say what you would like to see more of on hello nippon!!. For example, "Things I Learned in Japanese", advice on living in Japan, personal posts, Japanese language lesson posts, reviews of products from Japan, travel posts, etc.

[+1] Retweet my original tweet on twitter or link to this blog post and tag me [@stacywahh] in your tweet. Post the link to your tweet in a separate comment.

[+2] Make a post on tumblr linking back to this blog post. Post the link to your post in a separate comment.

[+2] Make a blog post linking to this blog post. Post the link to your blog post in a separate comment.

each person may have up to 8 entries for this giveaway!

also, feel free to use the picture below to promote the giveaway!

the deadline for this giveaway is Wednesday, May 25th 2011 at 11:59 PM EST! After the entries have been tallied, the winner will be selected by random.org again, and then the winner will be emailed. If the winner has not responded to my email in three days after being selected, I will choose a new winner.

Thank you all for your support and I wish everyone lots of luck!!

A day of packages and Valentine's Day

Last Friday, on February 11th, I had the day off and decided to laze around until I got the urge to clean. Around noon-time, I noticed a yellow package slip from the post office on my entertainment stand. So I asked my brother's girlfriend about it. She said, "I don't know what it's for. We're not expecting anything." Out of our curiosity, we decided to take a walk over to the post office.

When we reached the post office, they were just about to go on break when we caught the lady. She asked what we needed and I said, "we have packages waiting!"


When she pulled out three packages, we were surprised - but even more surprised when she said they were all for me!! Two from Japan, one from England!!

In November, I won Lou(glamourberry)'s contest. Unfortunately, due to postage regulations, I was unable to receive it until now. However, it was well worth the wait! I absolutely love the Tsubasa socks♥♥♥♥!!!

Thank you so much, Lou!!!! I just love it all so much!!! The nail polish colors are lovely, and the lipgloss is very thick and long lasting! and the rilakkuma snacks were so yummy!!





Sami and I decided to trade sweets that were from our countries respectively. She received mine mid-December and I was even late sending out mine so when I didn't receive hers, I figured it had gotten lost in the mail. Apparently there was some mistake with the zip code? But they fixed it in Philly.

 

An added surprise was a very cute letter and a bag from W♥C!!! I'm trying to eat (sort-of)healthy for my trip to Japan so I've been taking it slow on devouring the yummy things inside, but it all looks delish!



And last but not least, a sales package from Sara Mari!
She had posted in early January about the tutuHA and GLAD NEWS fukubukuro that she purchased. She said that she was going to sell the maxi one-piece pictured below because she was too tall for it. Seeing that, I knew instantly I wanted it. I emailed her ASAP, she told me about her (very) reasonable price, and the rest is history.

I cannot wait to coordinate this item!!! I'm very inspired by this scan from popsister. Ami is one of my favorite models from Popsister. I love her style and make-up soooo much!! I take a lot of inspiration from her.

And last but not least, Valentine's Day!!
The day before Valentine's Day, I closed in place of someone else. I came home to a very special surprise.

How did you spend your V-day? Did you spend it with family, friends, or maybe with your own special someone?

and the winner is.....

Hello, hello~


Long time no see, huh?


I'm here to announce the lovely winner of my first ever giveaway - The "Sweet Things giveaway".

the list is made.........

drumroll please.....

Congratulations to Sara!

I will be mailing out your package soon :] (as in, as soon as I get my butt to the post office!)


I wanted to say thank you to everyone who entered, and I invite you all back for my next giveaway, that will be announced soon.
Here's a little sneak peak at the prizes!

Can you guess the theme??






And now for a little update on life.....
I counted all the change I had collected for a couple weeks. I've become one of those people who crazily collects all the change I can find and relieves stress by rolling it all, haha!

this was BEFORE I added this weeks tips to it!!

 I finished tolling it all today, and I had $59 in change, with $10 in pennies alone!!!! That means I had 1000 pennies!!!! Insane!!

yes, I spent 10 minutes trying to arrange it into the perfect pyramid.

I still have change leftover to roll next week!! hahaha.


This all is going into the bank to save for my trip to Japan. Ideally, I'd like to have at least $1000 in spending money, for train fair, eating out, and the most important thing - shopping!!!(hahaha)


I have only about a month left for my trip, so wish my luck!

(if all goes according to plan, I'll have another post for tomorrow!)

introducing: "hello nippon" and giveaway updates!

I made a new header and officially named my blog~!
this blog, from henceforth(unless I decide to change it again, huhu~) will be known as "hello nippon"!
I decided on this name because I was searching for something nifty with a hint of Japan in it (since this has become a Japan-related blog). Lots of people had ideas, which were all great, but I decided to go with "hello nippon" after everyone I knew said it was a nifty name.


In case you don't know, "Nippon" is a way to read the characters for Japan [日本]. There are actually two ways to read it, "nihon" or "nippon". "Nippon" is generally a more formal reading, but I thought it sounded better with "hello".


The scan is from the February issue of PopSister.




And now onto more important things~~~!
Giveaway updates!!!


Today I went online to fit Bellaire's shop and purchased some more things for the giveaway I am hosting!


Here are the new prizes!

Baby Mamegoma folder

Happy Sweets Ice Cream Cone letter set [12 Paper, 6 Envelope, 1 Sticker Sheet + Paper]

A Japanese style uchiwa - I bought the one on the right, with the butterfly and pink flowers.

Petit Amour chopsticks with case

Honoka long bentou box (I got the one in pink)

as long with these other prizes~~

Please check this post to see how to enter!!!
The deadline is January 31st at 11:00PM EST! 

I will update again if I buy any more items (which knowing me, I will~ hahaha!) 

Sweet Things Giveaway!!!

Hello everyone!
This is a quick blog to announce my first ever giveaway!!!

I just want to say THANK YOU to all of my readers and followers. Every single one of you are very special to me, and all of your nice emails and comments make keeping this blog so worthwhile!


So, to show a little love for the now over 60 followers I have, I'm having my first giveaway!

 The only rule to enter is that you must be a follower of my blog, through Google Friend Connect, Bloglovin', RSS Feeds, stalking the link to my blog, whatever!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 entry - comment with your name, email, and how you follow my blog (I'm really curious!)

and, of course, for extra entries....
+2 entries - write a blog linking back to this entry. Please feel free to include the image above advertising this giveaway as well! Comment with the link to your post.
+1 entry - mention this blog post on twitter! please use "@stacywahh" and comment back with the link.(feel free to retweet my original tweet mentioning this post) Comment with the link to your tweet.
+1 entry - if you post this giveaway on tumblr! Again, fee free to use the image above) I don't use tumblr, so please make it so I can see it! Comment with the link to your post.

So, you can have a total of five entries to this giveaway!

the deadline is January 31st at 11:00PM EST.


Here are some of the prizes!

The prizes included here are listed on the above image. But, I'm waiting on an order to go through so I can have even more goodies.
Some of these items are leftovers from Japan, but all are new and unopened and waiting for someone to love them!


I will update with another post detailing all of the prizes as soon as they are received.

The winner will be decided by random.org so even if I know you, you will receive no biases, haha!

Thank you all so much for following my blog. I hope at least one person will enter so I can feel like I accomplished something! Hahaha.


**next post: Christmas Haul, then a post in the "Things I Learned About Japan" series!

Outfits, giveaways, and thanks - oh my!

Hello, hello~
I hope everyone gets the  "lions, tigers, and bears - oh my!" ref. >_<


I just want to greet all of my new followers and thank them for following my blog!
I'm so happy that more people are finding an interest in my blog. I hope I can continue to grow and improve and reach more people! ポジティブ気分で！
          
If I reach 50 followers before Christmas, I want to do a Christmas-themed giveaway. So if you can get more people to follow, it may happen sooner :]

Speaking of giveaways, here are a few you should check out:

Sara Mari's fur trend giveaway - She's definitely one of my favorite bloggers and always has such cool giveaways! If you're into the new fur trend, please join! It's a small giveaway, but worthwhile!!! Also, please check out and support Sara Mari's blog, because she is an amazingly sweet girl and works hard at blogging!


Hana's (Finding Tokyo) New Year Giveaway - A secret-themed giveaway from the wonderful Miss Hana ♥ I love her and her blog, so I'm excited to see what her giveaway has in store for everyone~! I suggest her giveaway because she's fabulous so of course she'll have fabulous prizes :]

Mitsu's favorite things giveaway - all I need to say is: DIAMOND LASH. I've recently become obsessed with lashes and I'm really craving Diamond lashes~! Also, that Alpaca is just toooooo cute. My 4yo niece would probably steal it from me though, hahaha! Please enter and follow Mitsu. She's a wonderful gal and a huge inspiration.


and last, but not least,....


Momo's first giveaway!! - Momo was actually one of my first followers, so I will always love her♥ She's having a giveaway to celebrate reaching 50 followers!! It has many AWESOME things, such as: usamimi, hello kitty stuff (I am OBSESSED!!), candy, stickers, and awesome keystraps~~!!! Please follow and support her, and of course enter the giveaway!!




Now onto some outfits! (Note: My boots have become my favorite shoes, hands down. Maybe I wear them too much, hahaha!)

11/20 - Harry Potter and visiting my bestie!!

I went to visit my friend JoAnna and, as per tradition, we went and saw Harry Potter together!!! We've seen every movie together so far. But, because the movie wasn't until 9 PM, we play Just Dance 2 on the Wii for awhile.


I bought it due to Jenny(sushi-cat)'s recommending it and the awesome commercials I saw.

I tend to make awesome faces while dancing XDDD






















At the theater:

didn't INTEND for my eyes to be closed... haha^^

JoAnna's sister Carley in her HP gear. If it had been opening night, I definitely would have dressed up too!

The three of us! The closest thing to sister's I've had all my life ♥

Black sweater: Old Navy (like four years ago ><)

White t-shirt: Charlotte Rusee

Tan lace cami: Charlotte Russe

Lace ruffle skirt: BODY LINE

Black sheer tights: Jusco!

Black thigh highs: some store in Ginza XDD

Boots: unknown - I lost the bag x_x

11/22 - Dinner with my parents
I ate dinner at my parent's house, with my brother, his girlfriend, and my nieces. It was cold, but not TOO cold, so I decided to wear shorts :]

Hat: Gal Fit

Sweater: Old Navy

Shorts: l.e.i.

White tights: some store in ginza, again, hahaha

Trouser socks: Sears

This outfit was very comfy and cute, I think. I felt like I was

almost channeling Ayumi Hamasaki in her "Days" Pv. haha

 11/25 - Thanksgiving

My make shot for Thanksgiving!
My hair looks soo much blonder in photos than it really is. I want that color irllll :[

Denim skirt: Charlotte Russe

Sweater, tights, socks, and boots previously mentioned.

11/27 - Harry Potter again! :D
I went and saw Harry Potter AGAIN last night. Only this time, I went with my two older brothers and my brother's girlfriend. It was even better the 2nd time. It's reigniting my inner Anglophile~ aaahhh, I want to go to England SO BAD.

 Notice how frizzy my hair gets between JUST putting on my glasses. fmlllll.

Checked fuzzy jacket: Jusco
Black lace one-piece: GLACIER
Black socks: some accessory shop in the Kashima Cheerio^^


Hat, white t-shirt, tights, boots mentioned previously.




The pictures don't show the dress very well, but it's very cute and very dressy. I toned it down with the t-shirt, hate, and boots.


This cord made me feel like, if Sakurina and Kanako had a love child, this is something I could see them wearing, hahaha!


I love the comfy(found in the sweater, boots, hat) and subtle classiness(dress) of this cord. I would wear it a lot more if I could!






so, what do you want to see next from me? a "Things I learned in Japan" post, a Daily Blog post ("perfect first date"), more about my school experiences or a travel-related post? YOU tell me!! :]

I can't make any guarantees, but your comments and opinions will help!






Thanks so much!!! Have a good day/night, wherever this blog finds you♥