One Cool Cat

November 7, 2008Edward BowserI Heart Hello Kitty3

The ubiquitous Sanrio character Hello Kitty turned 34 on Saturday and if I wasn’t traveling this weekend I would have thrown her party. Seriously.

You might find it silly that a 27-year-old would be so excited about an animated character’s birthday, but I don’t care because in a way I feel as if I’ve grown up with this too cute kitty.

When I was a little girl, every time my mom got paid at her custodial job she would take me to a store called Sanrio Surprises and let me pick out one thing. These trips were always the highlight of my week and I just knew I had the world’s greatest mom.

During my pre-teen years Hello Kitty and her pals like Keroppi and Pochacco were all the rage among junior high schoolers. For girls there was this unspoken rule that to show you were cool you had to pick a favorite character and try to accumulate as many items bearing that character’s image as possible. (We sure are stupid when we’re kids, huh?) It was considered cliche to pick Ms. Kitty herself so I chose Keroppi. I had a Keroppi wallet, pencils and pens, notebooks, room decor and even socks and underwear. But Hello Kitty still held a piece of my heart.

Now I’m all grown up (allegedly) and so is Hello Kitty. The days of this fabulous feline being nothing but child’s play are long gone.

Hello Kitty’s big beautiful head now comes in the form of expensive jewelry like this $4,500 necklace by Kimora Lee.

Her image is stitched on designer bags like this one I’ve been drooling over for months.

Bank of America offers a Hello Kitty debit card, credit card and checks.

And you can even buy a Hello Kitty wedding dress (although not a cute one).

Until I can afford that bag I’ll be content with my Hello kitty, makeup bag, planner, calendar, clutch and Band-Aids.

I know I should be fussing about how it’s awful that Sanrio pushes my want button so badly. I should point out that once again I think accumulating Sanrio gear will make me happy. But I can’t help myself. That cat is so damn cute. I’m open to an intervention, though.