Saturday, July 4, 2009

I'm moving on up...

I'm working this weekend on a new "home" for my blog:

http://www.thesublurbs.com/

I'm feeling rather scatterbrained these days, with tons of different projects rolling around in my consciousness, begging for attention. It's not only bento that's intriguing me -- it's also a jedi costume I'm making for a friend's son; it's also the possibility of having to go gluten free; it's also my long-neglected garden; it's also a new idea for a book that I'm researching.

In order to impose some order onto the chaos, I've decided to make the switch to WordPress and have been playing around and getting things ported over and cleaned up.

So... come over to the new blog and see what is going on in my life.

Hope to see you there!
Eileen

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Recent bento finds

My son and I went shopping yesterday and today and kept our eyes out for items that aren't **specifically** bento tools, but would work great nonetheless.

The first thing we saw was an ice cream scoop (they also had cookie scoops) that would work to make rice balls -- they had a silicon bottom that would help to push out the rice ball once formed:


Not sure I'd spend the money, but it was interesting to think about.

Today's Target finds in the dollar section were:

Sandwich cutters for making dino shapes and butterfly shapes.

Paper punchers for decorations.

A drink bottle and sandwich keeper in camo print.

I saw more of the small snack boxes with a sports and a flower theme (but don't have a picture.) All of the Sesame Street boxes were long gone!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The good and the bad in one shipment!!

Such a bittersweet moment -- seeing my last shipment from Ichiban Kan sitting on my porch today. **sigh**

First things first, the shipment included some new Hakoya boxes that came in with their last container -- they were understated and fairly large and had the added (and most vital) benefit that they are listed as being both microwaveable and dishwasher safe (except for the inner lids.)

Here they are in the original packaging:


...and removed from their boxes and "exploded" so you can see the innerds:



Next up were two boxes that have the cool factor necessary to a middle school boy!


A nice feature of the Skater "Urban Style" boxes is the ice packs that fit into the included thermal bags (which perfectly fit the box and ice packs.) They also have a special container in the lids for chopsticks.

This is the 2-tier box, which also includes one divider. I like how the lockable lid captures both tiers!


This is the larger single box:




I also picked up a few odds and ends, including a green snack container (which I like for a side salad) of the Natural Lunch collection. I already have the tan and pink snack containers to complete my sets, but needed the green to go with my 2-tier green bento box. Additionally, I picked up a four-pack of tiny containers -- perfect for dressing or dip or hummus. The Picnic Mini Twin will be great for when we do car trips!



I was a little surprised that they included a gift as well:



At first, I thought they'd switched something in my order, but everything I ordered was there. When I looked more closely at the tong package, I noticed they had written "gift" on the back card -- what a nice thing to do!

I haven't even had a chance to make a bento lately because I've been too swamped with other responsibilities (one of which includes making a Jedi costume for my BFFs son. Oy, the things we do for love!)