African Print Skirt and Anpanman Museum

As much as I love African prints, I do not own a single thing in an African print. Well, that is not really true. I do own some Summer Abbaya and Caftan in African prints, plus some authentic Ethiopian scarves and Congolese dresses gifted from my Dad. However, I do not really see myself wearing them in Japan. Being big and black, and walking around with two adorable kids, I am obvious enough. I do not want to add more attention to myself.
Nevertheless, I still have this craving for African prints. I have this big plan of going back home and meeting some great tailors because I have some pieces I want to design like a voluminous maxi skirt, a maxi dress..among others. But for now, I am satisfied with the stuff my mother sent me for my business. I am selling African artifacts, and some clothes I designed for Summer. I designed a wrap around skirt and my mother made a fabulous job of even picking the same fabric I wanted. Anyway, since I could not sell the wrap around skirt, I decided to wear it today, secretly hoping that some lady would ask me where I got it and I would tell her that I sell it...Well, no one asked me about the skirt, but I still enjoyed wearing it

Beige scarf - Night market in Langkawi, Malaysia
Brown tank - Daiso
White tee - Forever 21
Wrap around skirt - my own design
Leggings - Dots or Ross (can't remember)
Shoes - H&M
Bag - gift from my mother in law's friend
Necklace - Joa
Bangle - H&M
Sunglasses - Random shop from Cial Yokohama

Very easy breezy outfit under this heat

                                                      The print is essentially Cauri shells

Love the bangle, and its price too ( a set of two for 100Y)

This bag is so old that it is falling apart; I love it but it has a tendency to stain on my clothes

One of the first necklace I bought in Houston. It had a third layer but my baby tore it up. I managed to fix it into a two layer necklace

                                          I tried tucking the shirt in. It is nice but I am not really used to it


I am so happy about this outfit for another reason. When I finally received the skirt from my mother, I could not fit in it (maybe because I was trying to wear it above a dress, too lazy to properly try it on). So imagine how great I felt when it was easy to wear today. I have to admit that I have been dieting. I am still eating like crazy but I just cut back around diner time. The result is that I am so hungry at night, it is hard to sleep. But obviously it is worth it because I can wear this skirt barely a week after I thought I could not. I have to keep up with this diet. In my entire life, this is the first time I am so fat (not counting my pregnancies).  I have to do something about it. And do not worry, I am not only cutting back on food at night, I am also dancing via Youtube. Last week I did belly dance and yesterday I did Zumba. I sweated like a pig. And it was all in great fun. I hope I can keep it up. My goal, go back to the weight I had when I arrived in Japan last year (yep, it has been a year). We will see.
Ps: on other news, I went to the Anpanman museum with the kids today and had a blast, which was what I needed since the last couple of days were a downer. I guess what they say is true: "bad days really make good days better".
For more info about Anpanman, go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anpanman