Bad deed of the day

This morning I was getting tea at a roach coach and the guy in front of me dropped a coin on the ground and went, "bah." I guess it was too cold to deal with (it was seriously zero degrees today with the wind chill) so then after he left, I picked it up and put it in my pocket. Was that wrong? (Actually I was kind of bummed because I thought it was a quarter but it turned out to be a nickel.)

p.s. Countdown to Obama: 4 days!

Guess I was good this year

Scott still won't tell me how he "got" my shiny, new bike but it was quite a surprise. We've both been missing our simple and efficient Japanese bikes that we had to leave behind so I was genuinely excited and happy to get such a cool set of wheels. Thanks Scottie! I took it for a test run down the street and it is smoooth. It also has 3 gears, but they're inner gears so you can't see it changing on the wheel. Crazy stuff. The K on the front was also welded by my welder man. Aww. The seat is super cozy too, which is not always the case. In short, I love it. All I need now is a little bell.

p.s. Totally unrelated: 11 more days til Obama! I'm loving the straight talk so far. Help me, help you people!

Have a holly jolly...

Many thanks to buddy/bandmate Kaz Iwai for the photography and photo art!

Smilefaucet presents

So Scott and I were honored to be part of Masa & Maggie's Smilefaucet film this year. Masa just posted the video so check it out. The theme this year was "chance" and Maggie did a fantastic job directing and coming up with the concept for the video. It was pretty hilarious trying to get all the moving parts to work, but gosh darnit we did. Masa did a great job covering up all the strings and pullies and their buddy Erik was a terrific help as well.

The party was fun and we also got to be part of the little title videos by playing musical chairs. It has been quite some time since I've played that game and let me tell you, it is just as wonderfully entertaining as I remember. But... much more painful when you lose than I remember. I guess there's a longer way to fall when you're taller and heavier. Good times! Kudos to Kaz and Yui for pulling it all together for the party and DVD. Go to the Smilefaucet site to purchase!

Thank you Arthlings!

Just a shout out to all my dear friends that have visited me at the hat shop and been so generous with their purchases. Thank you so much! It's always the best part of my day when a buddy drops by and it's fun to force, er, suggest hats for everyone.



I must say, my friends can pull off a mean hat. Hot, people... hot! I think a hat really does give people happiness and sometimes even confidence. Something so simple as a hat... who would've thought.


So thank you again my good friends and feel free to visit me anytime at the shop. No purchase necessary!

*Caitlin is rocking an olive Mr. Green handmade fedora, Sean, a soft fedora made in Japan by Arth, Kumiko, an amazing handmade original by New York designer Tracy Watts. I wouldn't be a good salesgirl if I didn't mention that, eh?

Special shout out to Danny for being my first friend to visit and purchase! And Linna and her fam for the largest purchase... 8 hats!

"Hey, what's your dream job?"

Is it sad that I can't think of a "dream job" anymore besides being comfortably retired and possibly doing volunteer work with children or animals? I remember a kind boss of mine once asking (as promotion time was coming around), "Well... what is your dream job?" I believe I foolishly answered, "Rock star." What an idiot.

Now my dream is to grow old gracefully and to become one of those old couples that hold hands and still have something to say to each other. Simple times people, simple times.

A Grand Slam

Ah, I miss my tiny Japanese pastries that were both enjoyable and plentifully filling. So adorable and tasty, as you can see from the photo. But has anyone noticed the crazy commercials for restaurants lately? Due to our ailing economy, it seems that take-out places and chain restaurants are attempting to reach out to us by pointing out their bargain prices and ample portions. God Bless America, indeed. One of the best ones I've seen is for Denny's. This is the commercial intro word for word, I swear to you:
"It's one thing to bail out Wall Street, but who's going to bail YOU out? DENNY'S!"

The other one I saw was for Pizza Hut trying to pitch their new line of pastas offering THREE POUNDS of pasta. This is supposed to be appealing. I believe it's three pounds for three bucks or something catchy like that. Who knows, maybe I'll be eating my words if things get worse.