My Lucky Day!

I miss Japan. A lot. One way that I try and stay connected to life there is through my blog friend Kat's blog, Our Adventures in Japan. At the end of January she had a giveaway because she got over 500 followers, and guess who won? Me!!

Needless to say, I was extremely excited, and even more excited when this package showed up on my doorstep - love the Hello Kitty stamps, especially Hello Kitty with the origami cranes (far right stamp).

The anticipation!

And the bounty! Oh my gosh, I was blown away by all of the goodies packed into this box, it was unbelievable!! And Kat sweetly labeled anything that I might have wondered about, which was great, since I haven't tried to read any Japanese in months!

Here are some close-ups of what was in the box - a variety of chocolates and other sweet treats and Hello Kitty band-aids.

Chocolates with mochi, strawberry covered sticks, green tea chocolates, a Hello Kitty towel and Puccho soda candy (blue package). I'm trying to pace myself, so the Puccho soda candy is the only item I've tested so far. Each piece is subtly blue and white striped, and the chewy candy has both little blue gel bits and little white fizzy bits in it, so every bite is a taste and texture sensation. Yum!

Gadgets for making cute bentos, chocolate covered peanuts, a Hello Kitty amulet with Ramune candy, a handkerchief (extra fitting as it is the year of the rabbit!), and a Starbucks "Japan 2011" travel mug. I don't think I ever blogged about it during my time in Japan, but Mike and I collected Starbucks travel mugs from major cities that we visited (each city had their own unique design that captured the highlights of the city). So this is an awesome addition to our collection. Thank you ever so much Kat, what a fabulous giveaway!!