March 2017 Favorites: Sakura Koi and Sad Robots

4 / 15 / 17

Happy Easter! I hope you’re having a wonderful, chocolate-filled weekend if you celebrate. March was a relatively quiet but busy month for me, full of trying to juggle thesis work with playing all the hot new video game releases while also remembering to take some time away from electronics to decompress. Blasphemous, I know, but I’ve been finding it really helpful to my overall mood! Read on to learn about a few of my favorite things from this past month!

Holika Holika Gudetama Lazy & Easy Skin Peeling Gel [Amazon] – I’ve really started diving into the world of Korean skin care, and I’m loving all the affordable yet good quality options there are! I fully admit I bought this peeling gel due to the amazing Gudetama packaging (it looks like an actual egg!), but it does a great job removing dead skin and leaves my face feeling super fresh. You just need to use a small dollop once a week, so it’s sure to last a while, too. And it’s only $13! This is the second item I’ve purchased in the Holika Holika Gudetama range, and I’m itching to buy more.

Sakura Koi 24 Watercolor Field Sketch Set [Amazon] – In February I started using watercolors in my Hobonichi Techo, so I decided to upgrade from my dirt cheap set to something that would give me more vibrant colors for a reasonable price. I’d heard amazing things about the Sakura watercolor sets, so I sprung for the $14 24 color set on Amazon, and as I’ve gotten to use it more, I’ve found it totally lives up to the praise! It’s technically a travel set, so it’s super compact and easy to put away when I’m done, which I really appreciate since I only bring my paints out about once a week. The brush can be filled with water, too, so you don’t even need a separate water dish! Talk about convenient!

NieR Automata [Amazon] – As I’m sure you’re aware, March was a downright killer month for video game releases! With plenty of other things to play on my plate, I thought I would be able to wait to play NieR Automata until later in the year, but after seeing people start to talk about the game, I knew I had to experience it myself as soon as possible (and hopefully avoid any big spoilers!). So far, I’m utterly loving it, from the music to the questions it raises pretty much from the get-go regarding what it means to be human and more. Look for a review and spoiler-filled discussion of my final thoughts when I finish!

What were some of your personal highlights from this past March? Let me know in the comments!

February Favorites: Pokemon Stickers and Folding Clothes

3 / 14 / 17

I love how my February Favorites roundup is at two extremes: on one end, I purchased a sticker book that is meant for children, and on the other, I’m perfecting the very boring yet adult art of organizing my clothes. At least I keep things interesting! This month’s post will be shorter than previous Favorites, but you may be surprised to read what I have to say about each one of my picks!

January 2017 Favorites: Hobonichi and Ys

2 / 23 / 174 / 27 / 17

Well look at that! It’s nearly the end of February, but here I am posting about my January favorites. When I took on the (self-imposed) task of posting a 4-part guide to blogging every week for the month of February, I may have underestimated how much time would be involved… But I wouldn’t want to miss out on sharing my favorite things from last month! This month’s favorites will be short and sweet since my February favorites will go up in two weeks, but there’s still a lot to be excited about!

October 2016 Favorites: Gudetama and a Good Boy

11 / 4 / 16

After missing a month due to a mini-break at the beginning of October, the Chic Pixel monthly favorites feature is back! For October, I’ll be including anything noteworthy from September that I didn’t get a chance to cover already, so this month should be extra packed. Plus, it was Halloween, one of my favorite holidays! It goes without saying that I got my spook on… Well, mostly through my attempts to collect the festive skins in Overwatch.

August 2016 Favorites: Sanrio Danshi and Stickers

9 / 12 / 169 / 17 / 16

Gosh, where did the winter go?! Unlike the majority of you that live in the Northern hemisphere, here in Australia the months of June to August is for warm soups and cozy slippers… My favorite time of the year! As we say goodbye to August and hello to September and the upcoming blistering heat, here are a few of my favorite things from the past month!

July 2016 Favorites: Donuts and Planning

8 / 5 / 168 / 9 / 16

Welcome my newest monthly feature, Chic Pixel Favorites! I’ve seen a lot of bloggers and video creators do monthly roundup posts/videos of their favorite things, and it’s always really appealed to me as a great way to concisely share what’s tickling your fancy at any given time. But I’ve never actually gotten around to trying it myself… Until now!

Since I’m entering the absolute worst crunch time for my thesis (review in October! Ack!), there have been a lot of things lately that I’m enjoying that I just don’t have time to devote full posts to that I still would like to share. I like you enjoy it – since this is the start of a brand new series, your feedback would be greatly appreciated! Well, without further ado, here goes my very first Chic Pixel Favorites!

Celebrating 5 Years of StreetPass Brisbane

6 / 13 / 16

When I first moved to Australia five and a half years ago, I was pretty isolated. Not only was I in a completely new country, but my husband and I moved to a city where we didn’t know anyone, much less fellow nerds! That’s why, when StreetPass groups started popping up around the world for folks outside Japan to have more chances to obtain those precious StreetPass hits, I immediately set out to create my own.

Five years later, I’ve organized StreetPass meetups in Brisbane nearly every month. Not only have I been able to complete many, many StreetPass puzzles, but I’ve also been able to bring other Nintendo fans together to enjoy a hobby they love in a welcoming environment. Let me tell you, it’s been a whole lot of fun!