The first thing...

Before I get into my main post, here's the link for my photos from Saturday at the Aki Matsuri: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=155728&l=72c2f&id=655150561

So I (re-) learned today that when shopping for clothing, the first thing you should always do is check/ask for the price. For some reason, I decided this weekend that I was definitely going to buy another yukata. (I suspect part of it was the desire to not be seen wearing the same yukata twice in one weekend--albeit at different festivals.) Of course yukatas are summer clothing, so most stores no longer have them on display. I actually saw yukatas still on sale at the Jusco in Shichinohe last weekend, but I didn't want to drive out there just for that, so I decided to go to the place I bought my first yukata from: a store called Tasei.

They didn't have any on display, but I asked about yukatas so they went into the store room and brought out a selection for me. The first batch they brought out were all 1000 yen, but they were also all pink. I'm not a pink person, so even though the price was tempting, when they asked how I felt about seeing some slightly more expensive ones, I responded favourably.

In the next batch they brought out, they had a really cute red one with a rabbit and moon pattern. I liked it immediately, especially since it had yellow/gold in it, so it would match the obi I already had. Then I tried it on and I liked it even more.

So, without even asking the price, I was like "I'll take this one!" Well, when I got to the register I saw the price tag and had a bit of a shock. Luckily there was a 30% discount, but even then, it was a lot more than I had budgeted for in my mind. I'm embarrased to say how much exactly it cost (although, I like it enough that I still feel it was worth it), but suffice to say it cost more than twice as much as I paid last year for the yukata, obi, himo (things to tie it with), and waist thing (so the obi doesn't get bunched up) combined. ^^;;

Definitely should've asked the price before allowing myself to think that I really liked it and wanted it!! Ah well. I'm cheap on food and I don't go out that much, so I guess it's OK to splurge on something like this every once in a while.

Next summer, though, I'm definitely going to start looking at yukatas earlier! (Assuming that I'm going to want another new one next year too...)

Anyway, other than buying a yukata (forgot to mention, I'm going to wear it tomorrow at the Kirita area festival), I also spent a lot of time today making hamburgers, cheeseburgers and chickenburgers out of newspaper and coloured paper. I also made apple pies and am planning on making "colas," orange juice and shakes. The ichinensei at Kirita are going to be doing the burger shop dialogue on Tuesday, so I figured I'd do the burger shop role play activity with them for jishu gakushu. (I'll post pictures of all the stuff tomorrow, once I've finished making everything.) I'm really looking forward to the lesson, and I hope the students will have fun with it too!

At 4pm I went to a BBQ at Nori's farm. (Nori is Andy's brother-in-law.) I was the first person to arrive--people trickled in between one and two hours after me!--so I had a lot of time to eat and eat and eat. ^^;; I probably ate more meat tonight than I would eat in one or two months (not counting school lunches, but just my own cooking or meals eaten out)!

It was very relaxed and fun, which is not how I'd usually describe drinking parties. I guess a lot of that was because it was a small gathering at someone's home, rather than a huge event in a public place. Then too, given the nature of the party and the type of people there, I didn't have to feel responsible for anyone's behaviour.

After comparing the various types of drinking parties I've attended this month, I think I'm probably going to become more of a hermit this year and stay away from the big drinking events. I'm not a very social/out-going person, so large events aren't my thing to begin with, and then too I'm starting to get tired of being the non-drinker surrounded by drunkenness. I don't mind when everyone's just happy drunk, but when people get out of control, it starts to tire/stress me out. (That darn over-developed sense of responsibility to/for others at work again!)