Okay I’ll start by apologizing for the crappy phone pictures, I wasn’t taking photos for a blog at the time and I don’t have some of the clothing items shown anymore. Before Andrew met up with me in Japan (his school started at a much different date and because of visa reasons, couldn’t come until a month and a half after me) I had to keep myself busy otherwise I’d miss him terribly! So one night after we were done Skyping, I decided to go out on my first mall shopping trip alone. At the time I was staying in a Sakura House sharehouse, 35 min walk from my school in Minato-ku. I looked up some malls and decided on Odaiba (not realizing Ikebukuro or Harajuku were more popular, but I think I was saving Harajuku for Andrew). Odaiba ended up being breath taking for a Minnesotan like me. Surrounded by a bay area, a beachy area, malls and a theme park, it was just incredible for someone new to Japan to see. (Really I haven’t even been outside of Minnesota) I walked around inside the mall, I don’t remember which one, and realized I was totally petrified of going inside one! It was just so new and I couldn’t speak a lick of Japanese even after taking a class and self studying for awhile. I never thought to spend awhile studying handy phrases instead of grammar and vocab because I didn’t want to be that foreigner sticking to a phrase book instead of learning the grammar behind it. Well, I felt pretty stupid when I finally went in to Axes Femme, lured by the cute clothes I’d been wanting forever, and not understanding anything the adorable shop keeps were saying. Before that, I hadn’t really had to answer too many questions in Japanese. At the conbini I could at least guess what they were asking but these girls tried really hard to rephrase things and kept asking. They were really nice though and said “Kawaii” a couple times, to which I’d sheepishly smile, not knowing a proper response.

This skirt and top set is really cute and honestly the first skirt I’ve ever bought that was so long. I did love it but I felt so…so modest in it and didn’t wear it often, so I left it behind.

The yellow shirt I still wear quite often! It’s suuper cutesy for Minneapolis, Minnesota, where sleek modern, hippie, and vintage fashions are very in but I get a lot of compliments on it.

Mackerel and iced tea by the water; just breath taking. This part of Odaiba is facing Tokyo, not the ocean but this is a bay area, or whatever you call it. I brought Andrew to that restaurant (sorry, name forgotten but it’s on the strip outside of the mall) but they were closed by the time I was done with my shopping. Oops! 🙂 Here are some pictures I took when I was there and again when I brought Andrew (where we stayed at Hotel Nikko, a beautiful hotel worth every penny that made the night all the more magical <3)

じゃ　：）

～カリ