Ages ago I put up a poll asking about cat carriers because my back was hating the big chunky plastic one that we were using to cart our cat, Frodo. I went with the crowd on this one and picked up a SturdiBag Small Pet Carrier. I thought I would put a little review of it for other pet owners in case you are considering a new carrier.

First, the considerations for myself. Frodo is a fairly average sized cat. He's not huge like a Maine Coon and although he is stocky he is no Garfield. He is a nervous traveller so I always feel bad when I have to take him on the Underground, trains, or buses. Therefore the bag shouldn't shift too much if he moved around and shouldn't be too heavy so that I can concentrate on catching the train and not my breath. I also wanted a bag that would be allowed on planes since Phil and I are an international couple, it is realistic to think we might not spend the rest of Frodo's life in the UK.

The reason I didn't go for a SturdiBag straight away was the price. Even on sale the L size was £75, although annoyingly it is cheaper than that now. But with a trip to Phil's parental home looming I decided to go for one and save my back for Christmas.

Am I glad that I did. The bag is basically a fancy duffle bag. There is a foam-core base board that you slide into a padded cover that goes in the bottom. Flexible rods fit into the inside to give it the domed shape. It isn't super easy to fit the rods in, so I do not collapse the bag when not it use. I leave it in the corner of the room and as you can see from the photo, Frodz likes to crawl in there for a nap so scores well on comfort. Airlines require that pet carriers have flexible sides if you want to take them into the cabin with you so that is a check for me there. The negative is that the soft sides wouldn't protect your pet if something fell on top of the carrier, but I feel like it does a pretty good job housing kitty safely when we're on the move. 

 The bag is incredibly light. Sans my feline friend I can pick up the bag with my pinky finger. With him inside I have the choice of carrying him with a pair of handles that can be velcroed together or using a shoulder harness. I like to use the shoulder harness with one hand holding the handles in case Frodo gets freaked out and starts circling. I can use my hand to stabilise the carrier while the weight is across my shoulders.

The front, back and top all have both solid and mesh panels which can be zipped up or down depending on how much of a view you want to give kitty. I zip up the front and back panels and open up the top panel so that Frodo can't see other people, traffic, etc. when we travel. All he can do is look up and see me, so his only view is someone familiar. There is also a hook inside the bag so that I can put a harness on him and hook him to the inside of the bag so that I can zip open the top panel and actually stroke him while we're on the move. I wouldn't recommend this unless you can pay attention to kitty because even hooked into the bag Frodo managed to crawl out during one of my experiments in our apartment and was dragging the bag behind him. However, walking through Liverpool train station it was hilarious having him pop his head out of the bag to have a look around, get freaked out and stick his head back in, get curious and have another peek and then get scared again.

There is a zipped up compartment that you could store a few tins of food, some cat snacks and a leash, but that is about it. All of the openings have clasps on the zippers so it would be pretty difficult for your pet to nudge their way through any of the openings. With all of the different handles I also found it pretty easy to secure using a seatbelt when we go for a ride in the car.

Only a few small negatives. The price...while I love the bag it was painful to drop so much dough on a glorified duffle bag. Then there is the fact that it looks so much like a duffle bag. I ended up getting the black, but after the fact I thought it might have been a good idea to get a brighter colour. When I'm travelling I am a bit paranoid that someone will thing the carrier is just a piece of luggage and try to throw a suitcase on top of it. If you have a bigger pet, you'd need to get the XL size and then your carrier wouldn't be carry-on airport friendly, so owners of big cats would only use this for non-air transport. And the last little niggle is there isn't a food/water dish. If you wanted to feed and water your pet you'd have to stick your own dishes inside and there wouldn't be any way to secure them so high chance of food and water everywhere. Still there aren't many cat carriers that are good with food and water dishes so that is a small niggle.

So there you go animal lovers! My thoughts on the SturdiBag!

Hey hey everyone! Have been M.I.A. on Kaboodle but have a great reason. I'm going to be a homeowner soon! Have been flat hunting for awhile and recently had our offer accepted so hopefully things will go smoothly and we'll be moving in this spring!

It is hard not to fantasize how we are going to decorate the place, but the plan is to not buy anything until we actually have the keys so instead I'm making a Kaboodle list so that I can find the things I like the most and perhaps find a theme running through all of my choices so that when it comes time to buy I can find the style I like most at the best price.

Hope everyone is doing great out there in Kaboodle Land!

Hey hey! It has been awhile because I've had my parents over from the states visiting. It was really great to see them and they had an amazing time travelling all over England, Scotland and Wales. They also inspired the foodie in me by bringing over my well loved cast iron pan (seasoned to perfection but also a good fifth of one suitcases weight allowance) and loads of New Mexican seasonings! I love my mom and dad!

Phil's mum also has inspired me by buying me a copy of Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals. All of the recipes rely on food processors to get the 30 minute time which made me think, "I've been fantasizing about having a fab food processor for ages. Why haven't I just gone out and bought one?"

Which is where you all come in...I would love some food processor advice! I'm one that is willing to spend on quality so I'd rather spend a bit more on something that will last me a decade. I want to hear your experiences with food processors. Why you'd avoid a particular one or why you'd never give up your trusty brand. I want my processor to slice and dice of course, grate, and preferably liquidize. Fab add-ons would be juicers and the ability to handle dough but not necessary.

Anyways, I look forward to hearing from you! And if you don't have a processor, well keep it tuned. When I finally buy one I'll hopefully be raving about how wonderful it is!

 

Here in England, we have just celebrated Mother's Day. Which is a pain for me because that means I have to remember to call my mom back in the States without help from advertisements or a calendar since all the British calendars tell me that the day falls before Easter. Somehow I will survive (said incredibly melodramatically).

We spent the weekend with Phil's parents and his younger sister. They came over on Friday night where I made dinner Asian style. I was so full at the end. I made mackerel with a miso sauce and mabo dofou which is a spicy meat and tofu mix, almost like a stew. Both of those recipes are from the Everyday Harumi Cookbook. I also cooked some green beans in a sweet and spicy sauce and served it all up with some white rice. We had some devil's food cake for dessert. Super yummy! In the morning we woke up and had a full English breakfast and then headed out to the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington. 

The V&A is an amazing place with collections ranging from modern to thousands of years ago. The middle pic is of the Dale Chihuly glass chandelier specifically made for the site. The other two pics are from the courtyard. I love that most British museums are free with only special exhibitions charging entry fees. I missed whole sections of this place so I definitely need to go back. I spent most of my time in the glass, ironworks, Japan, jewelry and furniture sections. Next time I will get into the sculpture areas and some of the other countries.

After that we met Phil's cousin and went to see the musical Blood Brothers. Great musical set in Liverpool about twins growing up in different households. Phil hates musicals and he actually said he enjoyed it, but made the caveat that it was mostly because it had such a strong story. We swung by a lovely Italian restaurant after that and had a nice cup of tea before they all set off to stay the night at Phil's younger sister's flat.

Overall a lovely weekend.

What I'm Wearing:
Make-up: Clinique Eye Shadow Duo in Think Mink, Clinique Curling Mascara, Dr. Hauschka liquid eyeliner
Silver earrings - traded at a university jewelry sale so I got them for free, but think they were priced between $15-20
Silver necklace - a present from Phil when he went on holiday without me
Watch - Armani £100
Rings - vintage rings from my grannies
 Dress - charity shop find but I don't know the make because somebody has cut the tag out £8
Boots - Born Taro boots, I think I spent about $90 on these, but I love them and wear them so much! They've already gone through 3 winters!
 

So a couple of weeks ago I was doing a spring clean and I realized I have a RIDICULOUS amount of clothes. I have more than enough clothes to dress myself for weeks possibly months without wearing the same thing. I also was thinking that since moving to the UK I haven't done any volunteering or any charity work, so I made a plan.

From now on any unnecessary clothes shopping must be matched with an equal donation to charity. So exempt will be things I NEED like the new work trousers that I'm desperately in need of and the light cardigan I picked up last week so that I don't freeze or overheat in the British spring/summer. Also exempt will be things like underpants, socks and running shoes. Not exempt will be any heels (I have loads already and wouldn't really need any), jeans, tops, etc. Also not exempt are some of my recent purchases like the pictured Anthropologie pink ruffle top I got when introducing my friend to the store or the Max Studio over-the-knee boots that I ordered the other night. I ordered the boots online on my USA credit card along with a really cute dress so that is roughly $80 that I need to donate, had a £34 shopping spree on Regent Street where I bought the Anthro top (it was on sale! it is super cute! I'm weak!) and then I spent another £24 on some spring/summer dresses while wandering Oxford Street. So it is curbing my spending only slightly, but at least a good cause will benefit.

Why am I posting this? To gloat? No, actually I'm posting it to keep me honest. I'm hoping that by telling me friends, family and net friends that I won't duck out and say, "Oh yeah, I'll donate it later." or "That one doesn't count, I'll start on my next shop." 

Now I just need to choose which charities I want to bequeath my shopping spends to...
United Way - I used to volunteer for a daycare for homeless children that they run. They do many good things.
The Red Cross - I might donate my £££s to the British Red Cross because I'm not as familiar with UK charities plus the Red Cross has done some great work for tsunami relief in Japan and in so many other places which is close to my heart.
Greenpeace - my boyfriend is a fish fanatic so we watch loads of documentaries about shark fishing and illegal fishing practices and Greenpeace does a lot to help those fishies that don't get as much love as adorable pandas and polar bears.

Still trying to decide but hopefully you all will pester me in a few weeks to find out where I donated the money so that I don't forget to do it! Oh and I'm gloating a little bit because that top was originally almost £70 and those boots are over $200 at Nordstroms. Yay for on sale!

Hi all. At this point I'm sure everyone has heard quite a bit about the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan. Some Kaboodlers will know that my mother's side of the family is from Iwate, one of the hardest hit prefectures and that my partner and I met while teaching English there. Luckily, my family all live inland and have only had to worry about power outages, scarcity of gasoline and other minor problems. Anyways, I just wanted to make this blog post to tell you all a bit about this special place and if that inspires you to make a donation, well then I have a list with a few ideas. I've only added things where 100% of the money goes to charity. However, I will say I'm a big fan of simply donating to the Red Cross because if they raise more money than they need it will be spent on helping other people in need.

Anyways, the first photo is a few of my friends and myself in the port of Ofunato. Phil spent his first year in Japan in this little town which is famous for its seafood. On the right is an image of the same town, showing just how much damage the tsunami caused. At its peak the tsunami was said to have reached over 70 feet high. The quake was quite far away from Tokyo. From where I lived in Iwate it was almost a three hour shinkansen (bullet train) ride. Sendai, the biggest city near the quake is over two hours away from Tokyo. We lived in the Japanese countryside. The real countryside. I remember driving over 40 minutes through mountains to go to one of my elementary schools to teach less than 15 kids. And like a lot of country folk these people are tough and kind. It shows the best in humanity when communities band together during a disaster instead of trying to tear each other apart and share what they have instead of trying to steal what they don't. I wish that the government had a better plan for helping people in the immediate aftermath though. Airlifting clean water, food, medical supplies and basic necessities would have made a big difference in the initial confusion, but I digress.

Like any small town, if you come from the outside you stick out majorly. But all of us who lived in Iwate have stories of people in our communities doing their best to make us feel welcome. My friend Heather remembers getting little cakes and sweets from the parents of one of her students and I remember getting a giant bag of apples from one of the ladies who worked in city hall. Sometimes you would feel like you lived under a microscope, but it was great to hear children from the tiniest of towns talk about how they'd like to travel the world or discover new cultures because a foreigner decided to come and live in their hometown.

What Iwate lacks in nightlife it makes up for in natural beauty. In the summer we'd hit the beach, which that far north is actually still a bit chilly, but if you get cold in the water you soon warm up on the hot sand. In the distance you would see mountains completely covered in green. Come autumn there would be an absolute riot of colors in the leaves. In the winter I was a snowboarding fiend. Sometimes I would go four times in a week. And even though I hated digging my car out from under the snow, it did make everything look ghostly and mysterious. And of course no discussion about Japan would be complete without talking about the famous cherry blossoms. It is hard to imagine the sheer amount of cherry trees in Japan but in the spring it sometimes appears that it is snowing because of falling cherry blossoms.

I know this is a bit of a rambling post, but I hope that in the coming months as other news pushes the people of Iwate out of the daily news that you can take a second and send happy thoughts to the people that have to rebuild their lives, sometimes without the most important people in it. I am so thankful that my family is safe but my heart is definitely with any friends and the people who were simply in my everyday life who have had their lives ripped away from them.