The Season of Giving

Merry Christmas, everyone!! Just some photos to share. One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is wrapping presents and seeing them underneath the tree so today's post will be just some wrapped gifts ^^ I hope you all have glorious living room messes with wrapping paper and bows everywhere :)

Christmas wrapping paper in Japan is absolutely adorable!! 

Just about to start making goodie bags for my JHS teachers :) Each bag had:

Two pouches of hot cocoa 

Two packages of arare

One of these brown sugar snacks

And another pack of arare :D

No candy sleighs this year because I couldn't find any large candy canes so these will have to do!

The holidays can always be a difficult time for those who aren't with their loved ones and while I won't be spending Christmas with my family again this year, I was still able to skype with them for a few hours which is probably one of the best gifts for me :) I hope you all have a happy and wonderful Christmas with your family and friends! 

Europe in Japan: Christmas Market

Christmas is quickly approaching so I really wanted to share these pictures with you all :) When I went to Osaka to hang out with friend from college, we stumbled upon this cute Christmas market right outside of Umeda Sky Building. I've never been to a Christmas market before and while this is definitely not like the ones in Europe, I still thought it was a fun way to get everyone excited for Christmas :)

Roasting turkeys/chickens for all to see =]

One of the many vendors who were selling Christmas goods :)

Mini train-ride for the kiddies!

If I were in the Hansel and Gretel story, this is the house I would go to :D You could smell the sweet aroma of candied nuts and cookies before you even saw the shop! 

Inside the magical gingerbread house...

So tempted to buy the candles just for their color! 

If you thought the gingerbread house looked nice before, then you'll think it looked absolutely amazing with the Christmas lights on!

I don't drink, but I was impressed with the all the German wine that was being sold!

Adorable and festive decorations and ornaments

Really wanted to go on the merry-go-round, but the only people in line were elementary children...

Thank you so much for reading! I hope this put you in a festive mood! Maybe someday I'll be able to experience a Christmas market in Europe....Have a wonderful week! 

Christmas is Coming

Happy Thursday everyone! :)

Can you believe that Christmas will be here in a week? It's coming way too fast, but I'm milking it for all I can--nonstop holiday music, decoration galore and all those festivities ^^ Since it's definitely the most wonderful time of the year, I thought I'd share some pictures of various holiday decor that I've seen while traveling :) I hope you enjoy!

This cutie is located in Mosaic, next to Umie and I can't help but think of colorful gifts when I see the various metal boxes :]

I've seen quite a few large Christmas trees, but this one in the middle of Kyoto station is pretty high up there :) 

If you're ever in Kyoto station, then stop by the cafe on the opposite end of the gigantic Christmas tree and you'll see this beautiful one. They also have a Christmas buffet around this time! 

This one just screams "Frozen" doesn't it? Although you can't deny how beautiful it is :)

Complete with miniature lit up trees, people, fences and buildings, I love looking at this holiday decoration in Umie :)

While walking towards the Luminarie, my friends and I passed this church which was coveredwith twinkling lights and a gorgeous Christmas tree as well.

Heading towards the Port Island Railway in Sannomiya, you can walk past these festive lights as well and if you look at it from the opposite side...

It literally looks like a fairy garden :)

Dreaming of a white Christmas :) 

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful week ^^

Merry Christmas!!

Happy Wednesday everyone and Merry Christmas from Japan!!

This is my first time spending Christmas away from my family and while it can be pretty hard and lonely, I think it makes so many smaller things that we might take for granted, matter that much more. Emails make me absolutely giddy, letters make my entire day and skype sessions leave me happy for days. 

Last Christmas, I saw gift ideas on Pinterest and made candy sleighs for my friends. This year, I wanted to make the sleighs again, but for my teachers :) It took awhile to make and required multiple trips to school to bring them all, but it was well worth it when I was able to see their expressions when they saw the sleighs sitting on their desks :)

Thank goodness my town has a Costco nearby! 

Several hours later :D 

 I think the green granola bar added a nice touch of festivity to the candy cane :)

My little space to decorate at school! :) I had so much fun making Christmas decorations ^^

I hope you are all keeping yourselves warm and filled with yummy food! Don't forget to leave cookies and milk for Santa (he works hard to give presents to all the children in the world on time ^^) and soak in the excitement and anticipation for tomorrow. Enjoy the company of your loved ones and may your living rooms be littered with piles of Christmas wrappings and ribbons :) Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!! 

'Tis the Season to Give: Kobe JET Charity Bake Sale Event

Happy Tuesday everyone! Can you believe Christmas is already next week?? It's coming so fast! I hope you all are almost finished with your Christmas shopping and whatnot :) I know I'll be broke after Christmas, but it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy knowing that I spent the money on my family and friends ^^

Christmas is always a season for giving so a couple weekends ago, a bunch of Kobe JETs and some high school and college students came together for a charity bake sale! Most of the goodies that we sold were handmade and a few were bought from the store. However, all the money that we made was donated to a children's orphanage and after two days, we ended up donating over $1,000! Shout out to Sandy for planning and organizing the whole thing :) It was a wonderful feeling to give to those who are not as lucky as others and it was an incredibly humbling experience as well.

Deck the pillars :)

One of the many goodies that we sold! 

Also made Sausage Sizzles! Australia's version of the American hot dog :) So yummy!

The mastermind behind the entire event :)

Gotta advertise! 

Befriended some genki kids who kept coming back ^^

Gotta give it to these lovely singers- they sang Christmas carols for the entire day! 

Thank you so much for reading :) I hope you all have a wonderful week and finish wrapping presents and decorating your houses! Does anyone have any suggestions for Christmas songs? :)