Summer 2014 (Fanime, Anime Expo, J-Pop Summit, SacAnime)

So as you all know, I've been kind of quiet lately. Especially with my personal life and what all I've been up to despite going  to a lot of events. I'll be honest, this has been the hardest summer I have ever endured. I've faced a lot of hard challenges and have currently been trying very hard to continue on and piece myself and my life back together after being knocked down a bit. I found it hard to blog to you guys and tell you guys to be confident and beautiful when I personally-did not feel like that at all. I didn't want to be a hypocrite. I will say though despite this being the roughest summer season I've endured so far-I've learned a lot about others and myself. I want to treat others a lot better or try to because nobody deserves to feel how I felt over this period of time. I want to try hard to be a better person and really get back to helping others feel beautiful and confident. I'll try again once I feel like I myself can be for you all. 

Anyway, I went to a couple of events and I don't really want to talk about them too much because a lot was on my mind but I'll tell you guys about the highlights.

I went to Fanime back in May and I was pretty excited about going. I met up with a lot of lovely people from out of town and because everyone was together was the whole reason I scrapped up the cash to go! haha bad choice but anyway, I had an okay experience. I didn't really hit the convention a lot but I did go on a lot of boba runs with lots of close friends. One being my best friend who always puts the effort into see me or pick up things for me knowing I dress like a hooker/I wear horrible shoes. haha thank you Isabel for always enduring me! You're the best friend anyone could ask for!!! <3

I ended up attending a gyaru meet up! It was really fun meeting girls who liked the same fashion as I do. A lot of girls had went in cute Liz Lisa/Hime Kaji there were a couple of ladies who went a different route but at the beginning of the meet up I felt like such a black sheep! I ended up dressing in ma*rs since I felt like I would be unique going that route and not to mention I really love agejo fashion and I feel like that style suits me best! I wish I owned more ma*rs!!! Back to the subject though, I had such a great time taking pictures with the girls there!! I really hope we have another one next year if I end up going to the convention.

(nicked a couple of pics because they were in a full group! I hope nobody minds!)

I did Sydney and Emma's make-up for their Panty and Stocking cosplay! It was the first time I had worked on anyone's face all out in a very long time!!! I loved how it turned out. They ended up getting Sugarpill loose eye shadows and I just...I fell in love. I really wish I could have some for myself. They're also wearing blinged out Sugarpill eyelashes! -in love- both are wearing NARS blush and mac lipsticks in 'Pink Nouveau' and 'Nikki II Viva Glam'. Panty's make-up was warmer and Stocking was cooler. I thought it kind of fit with their personalities. So SO proud of how their faces turned out. I couldn't get over it. Now I'm just direly wanting Sugarpill products to go crazy with and try other looks out!

Another highlight of the con was getting to go with a couple friends to a Homemade Kazoku concert! Haha~ It was pretty fun. I only knew one song and I think was from Bleach I'm pretty sure (I don't watch Bleach either LOL) go figure. It was a really fun concert because of how they all made their audience feel so included even if we had no idea who they were or followed their music. They mc'd through a lot of it and it was great that they spoke English!! I haven't been to a really fun concert in a long time so it was a fun experience. Their style of music makes me direly wish we could bring m-flo and a couple artist he collabs with over for a concert because it would probably be in the same style as Homemade Kazoku's!

After Fanime was Anime Expo!! Kyaa! It was my very first AX and I was pretty excited to get to return to LA again after awhile. I was going to see friends and see a couple of designers! Plus is was the huge Sailor Moon Crystal debut and I was pretty flipping excited about that! Pre-Day 1 I went to San Jose to chill out while I waited for a friend to get off of work. I re-lived Fanime without the crazy crowd and hung at the convention center for most of the evening. Beforehand I went to mitsuwa found the last issue of Egg ever..only a copy left and I just felt like it was meant to be so I did buy it (RIP EGG you are missed) and found a great deal on Dollywinks so I got No. 2s and 5s. I never tried bottom lashes before so I was really excited to try that out!

Day 1, I arrived in LA with literally two days of no fucking sleep. How I survived and looked okay, I truly have no fucking idea. I just applied my make-up as heavy as it would go and hoped to god I wouldn't die on the convention floor. It was a huge hassle all morning I'll admit. We changed hotel rooms, ran errands, saw the badge line from hell...with me barely having any sleep I was really irritable. I didn't even wait for the badge to get into dealers. I went in and just bought what I needed. I found it a little ridiculous to wait that long outside in the heat for a badge so I literally just got what I needed the day of in the last hour of the dealer's hall.

First stop was Ghost of Harlem! I found the dress I had been stalking online. They didn't have the purple colorway so I bought the black since it was neutral. I almost bought the fleur cuff but the designer specifically picked out the cross cuff for me and I was pretty convinced when she corrected it. LOL I was crazy flattered that she liked how I did my make-up because let's face it-she's got Sakurai Rina who is a hot bitch-as her face/cover model. I felt like I was given blessings to other than the fact I wore a wig out of time constraint and knew for a fact my wig looked a hot mess and that the heat and running the fuck around everywhere had definitely melted off my make-up a bit. D:

Second stop was Kokokim where my lovely friends Leslie and Olivia (you probably know her as LemonTree <3) were working at the booth!! I should have taken a picture with GoH's designer but i was SUPER intimidated (especially speaking in Japanese. every bit of grammar went out of the fucking window out of intimidation) to ask but I did get Kimura U's picture and shared the picture with Leslie because she was kind enough to be a translator for me and looked equally as cute. I ran into Sara (CharmieSweets) for a bit and we fawned over the Kokokim collection. The garter I wanted sold out quick (thank you errands and lack of badge) but they did have the Love Hospital dress I wanted and I was bribed by friends to get it. It was too cute to pass up and I really wanted to support the fact that two of my friends were working the booth and that Kimura U is so passionate about her brand. What isn't to love about that?!

I eventually got to our high class hooker hotel (you heard me right), showered, and passed the fuck out next to the bros. LOL I regret not buying snacks in Little Tokyo because I woke up the next day starving. I had only ate once the day before and probably burnt up all the energy going on no sleep. So I was extra cranky unfortunately. BUT I got to be reunited with not only darling Mimi and Thanh! First day they paired up in Sweet Lolita and Visual Kei and it's kind of like living the dream ne? A cute lolita and a rough a round the edges J-Rocker. They're such a cute fashionable couple! I got to bond with Mimi a lot and get to know Thanh better which was great! I rarely get to see either of them and they were a huge comfort during the trip.

That night was fourth of July. Dave took us all to a really badass K-BBQ place and Sara joined us! Their whole wall opened up to the outside and we got to watch fireworks while eating our food. It was so perfect and I was incredibly happy about it!

Next day I cosplayed as Sailor Neptune in honor of the Sailor Moon Crystal

debut. I cosplayed as Neptune at Fanime as well but I didn't have any pictures to show of it. Neptune is really hard to pull off but she's a favorite character of mine so I attempt to do her anyway. Mimi wore a lovely Sakizou inspired outfit she sewed/put together herself. It was really gorgeous I was so impressed! She wants to become a fashion designer I think and I am already a huge fan!!! All those ruffles! We ended off the night with Guppy Tea House and after that day the last was uneventful. Regardless LA was a blast. First AX was very fun.

A little after this event was J-Pop Summit in San Francisco! This is a really exciting event for me because I have attended it since the New People building first opened. I've seen BPN/DokiDoki/h.Naoto come and go as well as a couple of other brands. I've participated in the Black Peace Now and Liz Lisa contest in the past and this year was the Harajuku Kawaii coordinate contest where I wore Kokokim and debuted the Pop Gyaru concept that I was so determined to commit to. I was so nervous wearing pastels! Haha... Cute really isn't a forte for me and as I grow older it's harder and harder to pull off personally. I didn't win the contest but Leslie did and Kokokim was still repped because she wore that too!

As for the festival. It was crowded as fuck. Props to anyone who went and got through it. First day high lights other than the contest was arriving in J-Town and as soon as I hit the plaza darling Akira is doing her sound check. Now mind you it got stupid crowded later on when she ACTUALLY did her concert so I felt great being one of the few that got to watch her sing for a couple seconds live before the craziness enissued later on. Plus I was backstage for the actual concert! The concert was fun backstage though!! Seeing her up close as per usual was very intimidating. I kept running into her in the crowd ALL WEEKEND LONG. Haha but she was always in a rush so I didn't want to bother asking for a picture or an autograph really knowing how crazy her schedule would be. I'd be like 'who the hell is wearing as much make-up as I am?!' as I looked through the crowds to get through and bam realized it was her. I'll be forever amused.

Day two was a lot less crazy thank god. I wanted to participate in the Baby contest and I regret not doing so but I really felt like the coordinate I had planned wasn't on par honestly. Because Tomomi Nakamura, the designer of Alice and the Pirates as there as well as Akira-I felt like I needed to wear a coordinate I was confident in. It was VERY clear I needed to wear Ghost Town because I felt like it was well coordinated and finished. It was an outfit I was confident with. Later on the day I really lucked up and got to go to the meet and greet. I was super nervous and clumsy but I am super crazy honored that I got to meet two ladies that I really look up to. I've been a huge fan of Alice and the Pirates, personally I am an AatP's girl and Akira I've been following since high school. I always thought she was incredibly unique because of her style and used to really like Ouji/Kodona back when I was eighteen or so! She looks really cool in photoshoots and she really is gentlemanly/princely in real life but she's also incredibly personable too. I was so impressed how her demeanor was. Tomomi was such a princess (she's beautiful! she seriously could model her own designs...she's so cute and dainty!) and just so incredibly proper too. Goodness I really hope I gave her a good impression. I told them BOTH that they were gorgeous and that I was a huge fan of their 
work.

Other than those two lovelies, I also got to bring out my gal side. Unfortunately I was super committed to wearing Harajuku fashion all weekend long but Black Diamond was also present at this festival. Holy shit KuroGals front and center. I am more into gyaru fashion than lolita and I wish I could have worn a crazy outfit to show them gyaru ain't dead over here but I did show up for their ParaPara performance. It was a blast from the past! That and seeing CocoLulu and DIA clothes in person and well as colorful sujimori hair done up was really neat. Gyaru culture is dying but it was so neat to see this here. They ran into our group and called us 'kakkoi/cool'. I think they were talking about Ying and Toshi though! Haha! Regardless of the lack of coolness, I did interview for a Japanese TV show and JapanKuru when I picked up a couple of Canmake goodies so I was pretty happy that people liked the coordinate I chose for J-Pop! I wished the Kokokim outfit got that attention but it was kinda casual!





SacAnime was pretty chill. Yet again I all nighted because I didn't hit Sacramento until very very late. It felt weird being there. I haven't been since...April I think? I really missed it there. It's a city but a relaxing one. I finally got to do Rock Gyaru and sported the Ghost of Harlem dress I bought at AX. I was pretty please at how the coordinate turned out. It was hot all weekend but it was a crazy comfy dress.

Highlights were getting bento and sitting in a circle to eat. Felt like something out of an anime! I got to really get to know my kouhai Emma a lot better (I have a couple of super sweet kouhai-tachi) during the weekend. I let her scan through a couple of Ageha and EGG magazines knowing she would never get to experience a physical copy since she is just now wanting to get into gyaru fashion. I REALLY want to bring in a new generation of gyaru girls! A couple of the younger ladies I know in the teens/early twenties want to try it out so I hope I can see a whole new era grow and one that is accepting. I want the new girls to wear and get things that are attainable so the trend and inspiration can spread. The older generations always have brand things clothes/lashes wise so it would be great to have the new girls really implement reachable things so girls can relate to them without worrying about shopping services or busting a lot of bank online. Super excited to see Emma experience gyaru fashion! I know she's going to be great!

Other than that I got to see a lot of friends and reconnect. I got to know people a lot of better and a lot of people just wanted to sit and talk/hang which was really great. It was a crazy chill convention and it was so nice seeing everyone.

Anyway, this has been the summer I've kept quiet about. A lot of good things happened along the way and bad as well. Like I said a lot of self realization and a lot of change occurred... I'm still trying to process and recover a bit. So thank you all for sticking by me and being patient. I should have a couple fashion and make-up entries really soon!!