Month: February 2019

My new black blazer ❤︎casual or dressed up❤︎

Hello 🌻

I bought a new black blazer from Banana republic!

I felt 🌟when I saw it on their website (they closed all their shops in UK 💦)

I got UK size 8 (I’m 167cm tall), and it fits perfectly.

What I love about this jacket :

  1. Perfect length, comes just about to my hipbone.
  2. Light wool fabric. Very soft and comfortable to wear.
  3. I can wear this pretty much all year around (summer in UK is not that hot compared to Japan)
  4. 2 buttons at the front. I find 3 too many & 1 not enough.
  5. Stripe fabric inside is cute.
  6. Nice collar shape.
  7. I can wear it either casual or formal.

I’m sure I’ll love it more once I start wearing it.

I’ve been wanted to get a simple black blazer for the past 2-3 years, but I’ve been debating whether to get one or not. My zen philosophy of not owing too many things😉

I’m so glad that I got this one 💖

I’m thinking of wearing it with a pair of jeans to start.

  1. wear a simple logo t-shirt inside to meet my girlfriends for lunch
  2. or with a soft satin blouse & a pair of nice heels for going out at night
  3. or with a simple rib vest & a cute necklace for picking up coffee

I can’t wait to wear it💫

Hinata

Black Leather Jacket – Chic Outfit

Hello 🌻

I love my black leather jacket! I got this from LK Bennett over 5 years ago, and I still get this spark feeling 💫every time I wear it.

I normally wear the jacket with a skirt. I like contrasting the hardness of a leather jacket with a feminine skirt look. But today, I felt like trying something a little different, so I wore it with a pair of black skinny jeans.

The cream colour & the shape of the loose turtle neck of the jumper soften the look of the whole outfit. I also like using a light coloured bag in winter to lift my mood😃

The outfit is so comfortable as well 💕

My happy samurai life in London ✨

Hinata


My very English husband🇬🇧

Hello🌻

My husband is English. Very English, I think.

I didn’t know any English guys until I met him. The images I had against English men were:

  1. They are gentlemen
  2. They like drinking tea
  3. They play tennis
  4. They like eating potatoes
  5. They speak like the queen
  6. They say “how do you do?” when they introduce themselves

or

  1. They are punks with spiky hairs and live in a scary area called Camden.

Not all these were true, and my husband isn’t (&wasn’t) a punk.

My husband is tactful when he speaks to people. In some ways, that is similar to how we are in Japan. But one thing really surprised me was that he was like that even to his family. They are so polite to each other. They never slag off one another or fight. They seem to try their best not to offend each other. He is quite often like that with me too.

When I was around 40, I thought I wanted to have a third child🍼 so I told my husband that.

He held my hand and said “Hinata, I’m so happy with how everything is… We don’t need to change anything 💕”

The next day, I told my non-English friends about this. One of them said “This is exactly how my English nanny speaks. Your husband doesn’t want a third child, but didn’t want to offend you.”

I went to my English friend to confirm this, and she said “What he means is –No WAY I want the third one! Are you crazy???– This is how we speak, Haven’t you learnt yet?”

The topic of having the third one never came up after that. I guess I wan’t that bothered. If I was, I would have tried to convince him.

Anyway, this is how he speaks. Very tactful.

I don’t know if all English guys are like that, but in general, they are all pretty nice 😉

My samurai life in London💫

Hinata

 

 

 

Orange winter coat that I love🧡

Hello🌻

It has been very cold in London☃️ Yes, definitely a winter coat weather!

I love this coat that I got from Jaeger this year. Most of my winter coats are black since the colour goes well with anything. But I wanted to get a bright colour one this year. I found a perfect one, and I absolutely love it!!

Why do I love this coat?

  1. The colour lifts my mood up. I get a very happy spark feeling inside✨
  2. The dark grey buttons give nice contrast to orange.
  3. The shape of the coat. It looks lovely with jeans.
  4. The feel of the fabric. I think Jaeger coats are very good quality for the price.
  5. The length of the coat. Not too short /long – perfect!
  6. The coat is not too heavy and keeps me warm.
  7. I get many compliments every time I wear this coat😃

I can go on and on….

This is the only coat I bought this year, and it definitely was the right choice!

I try to keep my wardrobe to a minimum. Try to be simple and zen about my belongings in general.

I can’t wait for the spring to come 🌸 but I also want to wear this coat for a bit longer.

My samurai life in London💫

Hinata

Introduction

Hello! After posting my first blog, I realised that I forgot to introduce myself 💦

My name is Hinata Kasuga. I have been living in London, UK, for 20+ years, but I’m originally from Japan (yes, born & grew up there🇯🇵)

I’m a mother of two children – one is a teenager & the other almost a teenager. I’m a full time mother.

In Japan, we categorise our age group to around 30, around 40, around 50etc. Not really sure why… this is a recent phenomenon.

Anyway, I’m in my late 40s so I fall into the around 50 category. I decided to put myself into this category from my last birthday & I actually like it❤️

Around 50 is a nice age group. My children are growing up, so I can start to think about where I want to take my life to from here. I still have fun with my kids when they are not grumpy, but I need to start planting seeds for my future as well🌸

I want to think about how to spark my life even more from now✨ I’m hoping to go back to work in another 2-3 years once my kids are just a bit older, but I wanted to start something new now. So I decided to start writing a blog😀

I write about motherhood, fashion, family, friends, travelling (especially to Japan!), sports, hobby etc. Anything to spark my life 🌟

Why am I ‘Samurai Hinata’? My father used to say to me & my bother “Your ancestors are Samurai, so be proud of yourselves!!”

Behind his back, we used to laugh and say “I bet they were just farmers. He is just lying!” I still don’t know the truth, but I decided to give myself Samurai name 😉

Have a lovely weekend!

Hinata

Please excuse any grammatical mistakes. English is not my first language😉