Must resist...

I first learned about Shinzi Katoh in the spring of my first year in Japan. My parents, Brenda & Ceci were spending a couple of days in Tokyo and there happened to be a mini Shinzi Katoh fair going on in the Ginza Mitsukoshi.

There was so much stuff that I wanted, but I limited myself to a bag, an aluminum water bottle, and two "clear" files:

My friend lives next door. A boy has a black rabbit. A girl has a white rabbit.

 

I went shopping with my neighbor.

We bought black&white rabbits, a big-eared monkey and three pigs.

I got a hairstyle like a mouton when I went to the hair salon today.

I've also seen a variety of Shinzi Katoh mugs, teapots, etc. in various stores but have always managed to resist the temptation to purchase any for myself...

But then recently I had the urge to check out the Shinzi Katoh Collection Online Shop (there's also an English site). Probably not the smartest idea since Christmas is around the corner and I have ZERO presents purchased so far, but now all I can think about is how much I want to get a mug for myself (or two or three or...) !!

The only thing saving me from spending a ridiculous amount of money ironically is that there's such a huge selection available that I can't decide what to buy! =P I know that I want a cafe mug (it has a small dish for candy, etc. that stacks on top), but there are three different types to choose from--"upside down" "ボミ(bomi)" and "ワイド(wide)"--not to mention the "ダンダンマグ(Dan Dan Mug)" which is pretty much the same thing except the dish stacks on the bottom rather than the top. And of course within each category of mug there's a variety of designs to choose from as well.

The "upside down" mug seems the most practical, since it has a small cup that can be used as either a cup or a candy, etc. dish.

 

In particular, I like the "murmur" design.

But the "bomi" style has a really cute set of  bunny characters - "Oui."

 

But the "wide" style has some fairy tale themed mugs which of course call to the book lover in me. I particularly like the "Snow White(白雪姫) - poison apple" one.

In terms of overall cuteness, though, the Dan Dan mugs really call to me with their bright colours and super cute animals. I love the giraffe and monkey and pig and...

Apart from the cafe mugs, there are also a bunch of different mugs with lids. It'd be perfect to use during the summer at Kirita when tons of flies are around... There's the basic "ノンラップ(non-wrap)" type with the plastic(?) snap on lid, and the slightly funkier "Facile" style.

Then too there's the Paint Club Mug Set which is just a regular set of mugs, but has really cute characters and gives you 5 mugs for the price of ~3 of any of the other ones I've mentioned so far...

And finally there's the "Tea for Two" series which is a stackable set of two mugs plus a teapot! Again, super super cute!! I like the "ソラベア (Sora Bear)" one--and I also happen to have ordered the picture book (illustrated by Shinzi Katoh, of course!) recently, so...

Wah! Too many choices and not enough money!! Oh well. I'm definitely not going to order anything (for myself at any rate) until the new year because, as I said earlier, Christmas is coming up and I need to "save" my money for buying presents!