Now that we're finished with all of the fun sparkly introductions and such to new readers, I think it's time to show a little love to the older followers that ever so kindly made the move down to this blog. As older readers have known, I've had been doing a shit load of posts on tumblr and suddenly kind of went quiet after SacAnime, however if you follow my instagram you saw that I was updating a lot. What happened? I was out. A lot. All of February I was just never home. Every weekend was a huge outing project with friends and it felt nice. Usually I'm stuck here at home because I'm so far away from everyone else. I haven't been out so freaking often since high school. Despite the harsh realities of my personal life that take a toll on me, 2013 hit off on a tremendously good note and keeps looking better and better.
First trip? LA. I have actually in all my life of living in California since I was twelve years old, had never ever hit there. There were really close calls where I had almost went. But some super sweet friends of mine seriously made this shit happen. It was a blast. It was a super short trip.The ride down was super intense. We got our friend to beast the Grape Vine which had been closed off for hours due to snow/black ice and had JUST opened up and he literally gunned through it. I hadn't seen snow since I was back in Tennessee so that was pretty crazy to me. Didn't get to our hotel until three or so but it was super fun getting there.
I gal'd myself up in LA the next day and surprisingly provoked quite of a bit of attention that I honestly didn't expect because I thought I'd blend it fairly well. I blame the jean mini and long fur coat..LOL Yes hooker status I know right? Especially when I was the only girl on the trip. However Little Tokyo was a blast. It's a lot different from my little safe haven back in San Francisco's Japan Town. Younger generation here it seems and surprisingly a lot more otaku oriented. Two HUGE stores. A small lolita shop and supposedly there was more to see but like I said, it was a short trip. The adventure down to SoCal was just crazy. Fucking crazy. But each time we were in the car it was crazy fun. Lots of karaoking to m-flo, L'arc-en-Ciel, ect. in the car and such.
The food was SO GOOD. Holy shit. Half and Half is a must next time down. The ramen at Yamada-Ya was pretty freaking tasty. I did come to the conclusion after this trip though that I left my heart in San Francisco. LA is great and all but I love NorCal's pace more. I could never ever live in LA as glamorous and absolutely crazy as it looks. Definitely just heading down to chill, see friends, shop, and eat. Regardless, SoCal you were good to me.
NEXT WEEKEND was AOD 2013. Holy shit you guys, seriously? It was great. The kindness of some people... By the end of the fucking trip I had a neat little stack of gifts all lined up and such. First day I went as Sheryl Nome with Gabby as my super cute Ranka Lee. Got lost in SF via car because I only know the city through the public transit. Eventually we got there though! This was actually the first time Toxic Glitter was together as a group but we all had separate cosplays going on. However I did cosplay with both Trish and Gabby over that weekend. It was also a friend's first time cosplaying EVER and I thought it turned out pretty damn well! They got lots of attention and I was super freaking proud of them. I ran into a lot of lovely people who asked for pictures or came to say hello! I also attended the Animemyu concert to support some lovely friends who do super great things. It was so great seeing everyone. Unfortunately I was SUPER sick both days. Like..so crazy sick that I probably should have been in bed resting but beasted it and went out instead. Took PuriKura, fell on the floor of the mall, and I kind of just died there until I was scraped off the floor to go home.
Day two I was Luka from the Just be Friends PV with Trish as the forever-emo loving boyfriend. LOL But it was really great. Props to her for changing in and out costumes all weekend on spot. Changing genders and everything. Lots of adventures were in store for day two. Kidnapped another friend to head to SF, fell asleep in the car kind of because yeah..I was sick guys. And hit the piers for food. I didn't even exit the car, I was in the car and STILL got called a 'fucking fairy'. We all lol'd at that one. Heading to the con, trolled around said hello to people, trolled around until I was WAY too cold to even function and then got tea and lattes thanks to lovely Eric/Gigi and Trish. THEN off to Akiba Cafe for the first time ever. That was an experience in itself. The Honey Toast Box is great and the atmosphere is super great. Next time I want to take lovely people for ShabuShabu and Honey Toast!!! :o
By the end of that trip I was exhaustedly dead but THANK YOU ALL FOR A SUPER FUN AOD. <3
Third weekend I was and out and about in San Francisco again with a group of lovely people and new friends for the Chinese New Year Parade!! Those two days were so crazy. No sleep and I was off to the BART looking like a gyaru'd out 'Snow White' until I chucked my coat at people's hotel. Then I just was all decked out in BPN. Lots of fooding was involved in this trip. A LOT OF FOOD. I don't think you guys understand how much I eat. It's kind of ridiculous when in SF how I try to fit all the things I crave since forever into one weekend.
The parade itself was okay. I misjudged how crowded it would be. I've attended San Francisco parades down town before. PRIDE usually but Chinese New Year was just another beast. I took everyone down near China Town to watch it thinking that Union Square would be filled because well..it's a tourist attraction. We ended up climbing light poles and such to see But oh wells we eventually was up in front and decided soon after to get the hell out of there before all of downtown started to disperse because the parade ended. I thought it was the perfect time to outsmart the crowds that would head that way for the public transit and such.
WRONG. Transit was just down and blocked off and the line waiting for the 38 up to Japan Town where friends were staying was just insane. No fuck that, we were going to walk. I hadn't hit Powell to go to Japan Town in quite a while so I was a bit lost for a second but eventually figured out which way was up. Thankfully we got there safely. Udon was in store for dinner and the karaoke which I believe or not had never done before! Why? I always thought it was crazy pricey. I've sang out in crowds of thousands for Cherry Blossom Festival before but not in a small room before. Regardless, I'm pretty sure I made ears bleed. Left around midnight to head back the next day for round two of Japan Town because I stupidly left crap in the hotel. Got lots of noms and Puri'd the fuck out of PikaPika about six times if I had included the sets we took the day before. In all it was as usually CRAZY with this set of friends. SF is always crazy with them for some reason. Always spontaneous and full of crazies/craziness ect. Totally worth it tho.
Two weekends later was the NorCal cosplay gathering in San Jose. Went for the hell of it because it was something I had never done before. It was pretty freaking neat. The day before we spent the day hanging around Trish's hood in San Mateo. Had noodles with the guys and Trish was super loner with her sushi. Afterward got T-Pumps which is the drink of the GODS. Then hit the arcade near by to play around. friends are the worst Tekken trolls and I DON'T EVEN PLAY TEKKEN. Fuck ya'lls dance. Haha, I loved the Japanese style of the arcade and such. Unlimited time too. We for sure have to do that again.
The gathering was the next day. I crashed early the night before after the adventure we had. So I did a yukata Luka. It was the first time I had ever wore a yukata because I refuse to get one until I finally hit Tokyo up (whenever that is..;A; I REALLY want to save up and go one day) so I borrowed Trish's. I thought it was a different approach to Luka that nobody had seen before and with spring hitting it felt appropriate. A friend cosplayed Kotetsu from T&B which was SO COOL. Another friend a samurai of sorts which ironically kind of matched the stuff I was doing. Trish did Rin from ANE for the first time in awhile.
Before hitting the gathering got our friend an Oreo cake for his birthday because it just seemed nice to do. Dennis took me for Dim Sum which was suppper tasty. I can't wait to one day try that out again. Gathering wise it was okay. Ran into a lot of lovely and such and did a shoot or two. It was super chill. Eventually we kidnapped Charmie who had traveled down to visit and got to make even more new friends! We went to Kotetsu Ramen because it was just too befitting to bring a Kotetsu cosplayer there. Had a super lovely dinner and then hit mitsuwa for crepes which never happened. HOWEVER mochicream and Fantasia did happen and it was delicious!
After we headed back to our friends place to cut birthday cake and head on home in which daylight savings all fucked us over. I didn't get home until four in the morning and collapsed on my floor until the next evening.
In all? That was all what's been keeping me busy. In the middle of all of that I've been getting job offers and interviews so eventually I'll be employed again which is a super great feeling. There were so many firsts during all of these trips and each adventure was super special. I totally look forward to upcoming ones and for Fanime at this rate. Hopefully all the separate groups of friends I saw can all meet and be one massively huge army of epic derpness.
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