Reusable silicone bento accessories (food dividers and shaped food cups) are waste-free and heat-resistant. Full review here at Lunch in a Box.

These are real-life Valentine's Day bento lunches at my son's Japanese immersion preschool, made by other moms. I was reassured that although there were some Valentine-themed bentos, most looked like the regular speed bentos that I usually make. The full write-up with information about bento boxes at Disney Stores across the U.S. is here at Lunch in a Box.

1) Daiso discount store now has an online store for discounted bulk sales, and

2) A green Putifresh bento box set will be the prize for the winner of the February Bento of the Month Contest on the Lunch in a Box forum (prize donated by Lethargic). The theme is "My Valentine" and the deadline for entries is Monday, Feb. 23, 2009 -- come back to vote in the poll for the winner. Full details here on Lunch in a Box.

"Speed" will be the theme of the first Bento of the Month Contest on the Lunch in a Box packed lunch forum, and members will vote in a poll to determine the winner. There will be a Japanese cookbook prize for the most popular speed bento.

Also, Happy Japan has offered a 20% off coupon code for Lunch in a Box readers. Read the full post here on Lunch in a Box.

I'm giving away a complete Laptop Lunch set; enter with a comment by Monday, December 15, 2008. Details here at Lunch in a Box.

Lunch in a Box has moved to lunchinabox.net   Come join us over there for the full entries, and be sure to check out the Bento FAQ or the Top Tips page!

I came across an interesting new bento blog that gives step-by-step directions for creating decorative kyaraben food art lunches. Full details and info on a new Daiso store that opened in Cupertino, CA are here at Lunch in a Box.

Lunch in a Box has moved to lunchinabox.net   Come join us over there for the full entries, and be sure to check out the Bento FAQ or the Top Tips page!

Full post with bento shopping updates for San Francisco, a Facebook page for Lunch in a Box, new logo (thoughts?), and links to my TV appearances last week are here on Lunch in a Box.

Lunch in a Box has moved to lunchinabox.net   Come join us over there for the full entries, and be sure to check out the Bento FAQ or the Top Tips page!

A Lunch in a Box round-up of bento shopping inventory around the SF Bay Area:

1. Kawaii Corner: Selection of cute kids’ character boxes, plus an online store with international shipping (SF Richmond Dist.)
2. Kamei: Tiger thermal bento kits and Asvel bento boxes (SF Richmond Dist.)
3. Ichiban Kan: New branch of Japanese-style discount store to open March 2009 in Tanforan Mall (San Bruno)
4. Kukje: Tiger thermal bento kits, Asvel bento boxes, and Lock & Lock boxes (Daly City)
5. Katachi: Touristy sword & knife store in Japantown with Hakoya boxes (SF Japantown)
6. Nijiya: Some men’s Asvel boxes in stock (SF Japantown)
7. Sanko: Depleted bento stock, more due in December (SF Japantown)
8. Target: 5-packs of silicone baking cups for US$1 (U.S. nationwide)

Click for the full details about each store's bento inventory.

(Alert: Due to ongoing issues with my hosting provider, I’m going to be changing web hosts for Lunch in a Box over the next few days to reduce site downtime and speed up loading time. The transition *should* be seamless to readers, but some of the latest reader comments might appear to go temporarily missing in the transition. I’ll do my best to move any stray comments to the new server — rest assured that they’re important to me, and haven’t disappeared into the ether! -- Biggie)

Lunch in a Box has moved to lunchinabox.net   Come join us over there for the full entries, and be sure to check out the Bento FAQ page!

Get 20-40% off lunch gear from Reusable Bags and Michael's with coupons linked here at Lunch in a Box. Also, info on Bug's new pimped-out reusable bottle and some ultra-compact reusable bags I picked up.

Lunch in a Box has moved to lunchinabox.net   Come join us over there for the full entries, and be sure to check out the Bento FAQ page!

I’ve been doing a little work on the site lately, and revamped my About page to include comment guidelines and some additional sections at the bottom. It includes a link to the new Press and Awards page that highlights some of the more notable press and web mentions of Lunch in a Box. Recent mentions include articles in Cincinnati Weekly and the Daily Breeze, and posts on Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn and Ohdeedoh. Full details here at Lunch in a Box.

Shopping
I was interested to see that the large Rainbow Grocery natural foods co-op in San Francisco has started carrying bento boxes along with their other lunch-packing gear. Full details here at Lunch in a Box.