Girls' Day Out

A certain girl named Audra Mae was having her 3rd birthday very soon, and so we decided to have a Girls' Day Out to check out possible birthday gifts for her.

 

 We went to Takeshita Dori (Street), a famous teen hangout.  It's a walk-only street with trendy shops, several crepe stands (CREPES!!), a huge 100 yen store, and--what we were coming for--an official Sanrio store.

Takeshita Dori is a favorite hangout for the Japanese teens because they will "cosplay" (costume play) here.  They will dress up like favorite anime characters, punk musicians, etc.  We saw a few costumes, but not many.  The main time to dress up is on Sunday, and we were here on Friday afternoon.  There is a store on Takeshita Dori where you can buy your costume, or you can get it together at home and come all dressed up.

 Our plan was to hit the 100 yen store and then head over to the Sanrio store....but we got distracted by shoes.  Yes, we girls are now a little obsessed about shoes.  These made us laugh--but they are creative, no?

We wandered into the shop, and asked an attendant what the sale was--buy one get the second 1/2 off.  

 The prices ranged from 4000-30000 yen....but they did have a clearance rack.  We happily tried on shoes for almost an hour.  Audra danced to the music being played in the store for most of it, so she was entertained while us older girls made our feet happy.  Some shoes were hilarious, others adorable.

 Tayla loved these wedges, and they were on the clearance rack!  She ended up getting them.

These seemed very "Lucille Ball" to us.  Caitlin found some cute black suede boots, but they were a little tight.  She took them off before we got a picture.

While we were trying on shoes, there was an attendant watching us the entire time.  It is an interesting experience to be the "minority" in a country.  Gaijins (foreigners) are not trusted for being honest in Japan, and the attendants watched us closely to make sure we didn't steal any shoes.  Being watched closely happens almost all of the time for us while shopping--it's part of being the minority.

Audra finally got sick of dancing, and so we went over to the 100 yen store.  I had been complaining about the 100 yen store that is near our home to a lady while at church, and she told me that I needed to go to the REAL 100 yen store--Daiso.  It is four floors of 100 yen goodness!  Lots of good stuff in here, and the girls got a lot of souvenirs such as paper lanterns, fans, dishes, and a Japanese doll in a kimono.  Tayla also found some erasers in the shape of sushi (she collects erasers).

 And, we found this gem!  It's an adhesive cover for the toilet seat, lest it be cold....

...and comes in a variety of colors and patterns!

 Finally, Audra's moment had come.  We found the Sanrio store!!  The Tokyo-based Sanrio company created Hello Kitty in 1974; since coming to Japan, Audra has become obsessed with Hello Kitty.  Inside an official Sanrio store, Audra was in her element.

 Her face as a Hello Kitty character.

They have these cute little shopping baskets that were just the right size for a little girl.  We gave one to Audra and she went nuts.  She filled that thing up with everything--purses, cookies, socks, keychains, a compact, and of course, several Hello Kitty stuffed animals.  We helped her decide on one stuffed animal for her birthday and put everything else back.  She was very smitten with a Hello Kitty compact, however.  It even had a little comb inside.  We let her get that as well, since she was more in love with that than her Hello Kitty stuffed animal.  We also got a Hello Kitty stuffed animal for Kirstina for her first birthday in a few months. 

Since there was a beautiful crepe stand on almost every corner, we couldn't resist and got two crepes to share between the four of us and blissfully devoured them before catching the Stupid Metro back home.

 Our feet hurt by the time we made it home, but we all had a very fun girls' day!  The girls were excited to show the boys what souvenirs they had obtained, and I was excited about my new red ankle boots.  Nathan had to try them on and model them....he can sure work it!