.Amani
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Mitsuwa Summer Festival 2012
Two weeks ago was that time again~
I look forward to the Mitsuwa summer festival because it's pretty much the only Japanese festival in the area that's not tainted with a bunch of pop-culture and anime crap. Sakura Matsuri's gone now... the NY street festivals are lame... but not Mitsuwa! They have the traditional festival games, taiko drums every hour, Japanese dance, bon-odori at the end of the night.. along with all the glorious food-- okonomiyaki, takoyaki, yakisoba, curry rice, gyoza, grilled seafood, the list goes on and on. I love it. It's the only thing I consider it the only thing worthy enough to travel to NJ to LOL
Outfit shot!
I shared the yukata I bought for it in my latest July post.. however I rather than wearing it alone, I decided to wear it LAYERED with another one of my yukatas... as weird as it seems, I liked how it came out altogether. Maybe one day I can get the undershirt with the mock-yukata to show through from underneath... luckily it wasn't all that hot that day.
I kind of wish I went all out like when I tested this outfit a month or so ago, but my makeup came out well in other pictures so I'm satisfied nonetheless xD Another reason why I wished I didn't cut my bangs? I would've had a bigger pompadour and my hairstyle would've looked more boss. Oh well!
I met up with Rio in the afternoon, so I missed my Ageha sales ; w; but that's okay. Next year...
We met at Port Authority and got to Mitsuwa around 3pm~
They hiked the price of the games up by another dollar, I was pretty tight. I didn't pay $3 per round to get my yoyo balloons like I usually do :c totally not worth it. We ran into NJ lolis and chatted for a bit, before going to get some grub. Okonomiyaki and yakisobaaaa. I wish I remembered to get pictures..
Rio~
We ate, ate and ate some more. I actually ate till my stomach hurt x__x it was pretty awesome haha. We got a lot of photo requests, and a lot of creepy men as well.. it was pretty annoying. It's one thing to compliment, a completely other thing to ask what area I live and what school I go to, etc. e_e
A picture of us with Yanise and Laura in their own yukata :3
But overall, it was pretty chill! We hung around a bit talking and everything, stayed till late to finally watch the bon-odori dance for the first time. Before I left I bought some creamyaki and the uh.. taiyaki that wasn't fish-shaped (it was named differently, I forgot what it was called xD)
Shot of Rio, myself, and my loli friend Nicole in Port Authority. You could see the tired on our faces xD
One of the creamyaki~
I enjoyed myself as always, and I hope it'll stay just as exciting in the years to come. ♥
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Meeting with Preston Bailey!
So~ I had finally gotten a follow-up appointment with Preston earlier in the month~♥♥♥ I was so excited! Finally the day has come that I would meet with Preston Bailey and be able to be inspired and just be able to die happy. My feelings = sdkabhsjs weuinhihjbs
So I dressed really nice~ wore my Yumetenbo dress with my white sunhat and my brown gladiator sandals. I wanted to wear this the first meeting but I was trying to be on my consecration back then, so I made sure to wear it this time.
I was so ready for this meeting, trying to think up questions and all that kind of stuff~ just to find out that he unexpectedly got called away out of the country and I only just got the reschedule e-mail when I got there xD
Must be cool to be randomly whisked away across the world.. and extremely exhausting as well. D:
So the staff were saying, "Don't worry, next week! We'll make sure he's there~ We'll strap him down if we have to!" Which made me laugh but I wasn't too bothered by the news. I had planned to go and look for materials in the nearby fabric district and stuff so it wasn't too much of an inconvenience.
Before I left, I took some pictures with some of his props~ apparently one of the worker's birthdays just happened so they had the show room set up a bit. Everything looked amazing, I was afraid to touch anything! All his work look so beautiful in person. Especially the tree above, which reminded me of a willow tree with the strands of pearl clusters and teardrop glass at the ends * w* Even the flowers at the base of it and at the top...
One of his deco swans~ I call it a deco swan xD It's embellished with silk flowers, pearls and other things. All the props were so beautiful, and the flowers~! I really need to look around that area more, because they get some faaaabulous silk flowers that I can't believe are not real. Just look at all this stuff.
When I left the office, I went across the street really quick to this one place that was selling what I think was mannequins and stuff * w* At first I thought they were a trimmings store but apparently they weren't. What caught my eye about this place were these ridiculous Rococo mannequins. I simply died.
Look at them... one pink, one blue, and one ivory-ish. And the detail was ridiculous. I wanted to snatch the costumes and run LOL. I was allowed to snap photos of them~ definitely using these as reference the next time I decide to get another comission done!
I went up to meet with my bby Nancy during her lunch break for some awesome patbingsoo~ which we topped with macarons like the bosses we are. I told myself that whenever I'm in the area I'd share some with someone, to get as much bingsoo as I possibly could before the season ended!
I keep forgetting the name of the place, but it's one of the cafes in along 32nd street that sells macarons and bingsoo. This particular one is the "fruits" bowl, with watermelon, kiwi, mango, and loads more, with strawberry syrup and strawberry ice cream on top ; w; and of course, macarons lol
Me and Nancy, like bawssessss
When I parted from her, I went to the fabric district for a good 2-3 hours looking for shorthair faux fur.. to no luck. The only place I saw with what I wanted wanted $22 per yd! I was like what the heck? But apparently that's normal for faux fur.. which is ridiculous :x I should just see if there's any cheaper stuff on Taobao lol....
Random face shott
~~~~~~~~~
Fast forward the next week, where the saying "Third time's the charm~" was really the case. xD I finally-finally-finally got to meet Preston.
I was running late... and I wish I didn't! Ugh I suck big time. But they still made time for me! I think even if I had an hour I wouldn't have enough time in the world. Immediately when I sat down at his desk he started asking me about myself, and I was trying so hard not to be star-struck that I kind of forgot the questions I wanted to ask of him. We were talking the whole time though! We got into the reason why I was looking into that field... the course... my insecurities... and he sharing his own experience and was telling me to 'just do it!' To do an event and sort of wing it and get the feel of it and not hold myself back. Apparently this is a popular quote towards me this year... xD
It was very motivating. We talked about the options I did have as far as pushing further and feeling the industry out more, and he told me that I was "just a baby" and that I had plenty of time, after I told him my age, haha. So I'm going to try! Well~ not try. Do. I guess my first event will probably be my friend Christine's wedding that's set for next year @ w@
He had a meeting right after me so we had to cut our conversation short, but he made me a bouquet ; w; and it's sooooo pretty. I was so surprised and I thought it was the nicest thing ever. I'm not sure if he does that with all this student visitors or if it was because of me always missing him but I treasured the mess out of that bouquet.
We took pictures in front of his Welcome board right outside his office, where they tagged my name ; w; ksdbnasj sdhbashejbshjd
Kinda wish I wore the dress and stuff that day buuuut I didn't want to feel weird, wearing the same outfit and having his staff seeing the same thing twice xD #girlproblems, etc.
It was such a nice experience... I couldn't contain the feels. I called up my pastor and left a voicemail with a bunch of excited garble about meeting him and getting the flowers. I was just going on and on and he had a good laugh when he got to it = w=
After work I met up with Nancy -again- for some bingsoo, which this time was more like celebratory bingsoo. It was funny because I carried my flowers around the whole day, and it just looked like every table I sat at was some special spot xD
Our bby Chris stopped by to sit with us while she was waiting for her follow-up interview with this workplace~ which they just called her in to tell her she got the job! So that day was dubbed "The Day of Many Epic Feels". Me and Chris later went to meet with my bff Laura and had even -more- food during her lunch break xD Then we went to Kinokuniya, looked around and sat and talked a bit, just to run into even MORE lolita friends. It was crazy. After we all finished hanging out and it was time to leave, I decided to meet with Pastor who just left out of work. That week there was a revival at the 'mother church' and my pastor was preaching, so I just rode with him and I told him about my day and he talked to me about motivation and stop being fearful and doubtful and other encouraging things.
I tried to make the flowers last as long as possible... they lasted for so long ; w; Like almost a week, even. A majority of the flowers I actually clipped and pressed them to put in my scrapbook later. At some point I 'dissected' the bouquet, taking note of every ribbon that was used, every pin and floral tape that helped put everything in place... I was just impressed. I never saw an actual professional bouquet in person and I took pictures of everything to learn off of it. Everything seemed so simple but it was amazing to me...
I have a lot to do and so little time. I think back to when I crammed and submitted almost all my work back in May for the planning course (a good 20-30 assignments, if I remember correctly) and that was physically painful for me to do. This course doesn't have nearly as much assignments, but they still require a lot of thinking and calculating about things I'm still not all that familiar with yet... but I can do is do my best and make the money spent worthwhile. I really want the internship! Hands-on stuff is so much better for me to learn than paper assignments... pray and wish for the best for me! Seriously gonna need it. = A=
Saturday, August 25, 2012
NYC Awkward Black Girl screening~ 8/9/12
Lately I've been using orange-toned matte eyeshadow as a blush and playing around with that look. Too bad it immediately melts into my skin, even if I use primer or a setting spray. I was tempted to buy the Illamasqua blush I've always wanted when I was shopping for my sis's wedding, but I tried wearing it once and it didn't last at all :c I need to play around with setting and finishing products before I get it.
Anyways, not long after Otakon was done, did I go to yet -another- event. Awkward Black Girl screening (#2?)
If you've seen my old post from the beginning of the year, I went to an ABG screening party for my birthday and got to meet Madison Shockley. When news broke about there being a second NYC screening and an afterparty, I knew I had to attend again. I brought my favorite hoe Rio as my +1 and we had a good time.
The line for the screening was ridiculously long, wrapping around the AMC Magic Johnson's 3 (or was it 4?) floors and then down 124th street. It was crazy ridiculous. Luckily I found a friend of mine near the beginning of the line and I hopped on right there e____e the screening room was pretty small too, I can't really imagine how many people were turned away.
Things were running late, as always, by maybe an hour or so, and there was an unwanted guest in the room scattering around which freaked most people out, but once everyone was situated, Issa Rae came out with Pharrell, which was a huge surprise. Issa we all expected-- but Pharrell? Everyone freaked. Seeing him the best I could in person (I was all the way in the back of the room though), I'm pretty sure he found the fountain of youth. And he needs to share some of that with me. There's no way that bro is almost 40.
You can see when they came out to greet us in this video was was uploaded to Pharrell's I Am Other youtube channel:
Soon enough, the screening started. I was honestly hoping that the screening would've been the entire Season 1 and so far of Season 2 but it was only the newest released episode. (You can watch it here.) The last screening they tried to play Season 1 but there were technical derps, and after the lateness and the wait this time I expected them to play all the episodes. But it was alright! It was enjoyable, even though the audio was flooded out by people's reactions.
After the screening there was a quick Q&A session, and I managed to get picked out by Issa, where I basically asked about future projects. She recently started a series called 'Rachetpiece Theatre' on her main youtube channel, where she makes reviews of terribad ratchet songs made by our favorite hoodboogers. Once everything ended there was a quick photo session outside with Issa Rae (by then Pharrell had already bounced, bloo), so me and Rio went ahead and got our photo taken with her.
She said in response, "ya'll making me feel all weird with your model posing and stuff~" Rio wanted to make a joke about us trying to be all 'kawaii niggas and shyt~' (her words, not mine!) but she held back xD
Issa was so nice in person, I'm so glad I finally got the chance to meet her. The actress that played her mother in the series was at the screening too! But I didn't try to get a photo with her. Kind of wish I did now D: Hopefully I'll get a chance to see them all again~
Once we had our picture taken we went across the street to the Aloft Hotel, where the afterparty was being thrown by Madison. It was a pretty nice lounge event, and I'm glad it was limited space compared to last time. The night ended up being very chill and relaxing.
I decided to get myself a drink (completely regretting the food at the movies, what food I could've gotten with that money!), and got this pomegranate margarita which tasted so good. It has the perfect tangy and sweet taste. I wish I was able to get another!
There were some guys playing pool in one of the corners of the lounge, and they taught me and Rio how to play the game. We both had the idea of how the game worked, we just never played it before! So we tag-teamed for a bit until we got the hang of it, and played a game or two by ourselves.
The both of us tuckered out and pretty much ready to go home, I went to greet Madison before we left, and to get a picture with him again.
When Rio was trying to snap a photo, some guy kind of tried to go around her and she made one of our usual derpy faces and me and Madison started cracking up. I was almost in tears. That's how you know it was time for me to go to sleep xD After we said goodnight, me and Rio made our way to the train...
Oily faces like woah. lol ughughugh
Overall, I had a blast. I thank Issa Rae, Madison and the other ABG & I Am Other crew for putting that day together. The screening was actually like a mini-reunion for me... I met people from middle school there, and high school... and friends of friends... it was pretty crazy. The Aloft Hotel was a pretty nice spot for the small afterparty, and I'm definitely going there again one day to feel around a bit more with friends!
Friday, August 24, 2012
July's Haul
Before I post any of my major updates from August, I want to share my haul for the month of July~
More stuff from Strawberry's. I primarily got these for my Michiko cosplay... The green earrings I got by mistake because I bought them and later realized that Michiko's outfit had purple earrings, not green... I wasn't able to return them so I just bought a second pair instead. Might give them in a random giveaway because I know I won't ever wear them! Meanwhile I'm wearing the purple ones regularly @ w@ The shades are nice, but for some reason they're really hard for me to wear. They keep sliding to the tip of my nose...
First off, I finally got my yukata from my friend's group order!
It was one of those 1980yen yukata/obi sets. It was a pretty good buy, but honestly it's cheap in quality compared to my yukata from Sweet Angel! If I had the choice to, I would've bought a similar one from there. But overall, this yukata is okay. I'm just glad that the print came out vibrant..
The gown I purchased for my sister's wedding. I just love the fabric itself, and the ruched details. It reminds me of a night sky..
When the wedding happened, this clutch was my accessory. Ashley Stewart! One of the sisters from my church actually bought this for me ; w; She said she was looking around and then she saw it, and all it's ruffly detail and said 'THAT'S so Amber!" and got it for me! I'm actually not too much of a bag person but it's so pretty, and I'm glad it went with my wedding outfit. I plan to put some winter coords together to match it, as well.
Betsey Johnson thigh highs~ they were only like, 7-9 dollars about? They have this dotted pattern that's really subtle and cute. I definitely plan to get most of the Betsey stuff left at Strawberry's >w>
I bought this bun off eBay (listing is here) because I just wanted to be lazy with my buns. I didn't want to stuff my hair with weave or tease my hair anymore so I got this. Man, does it work wonders. Seriously. I even use it to help fill out my hair when I have it in a ponytail style or something.
This dress I wore to the Shepherd Mother's birthday celebration~ I'm sure I posted about how much I -loathed- this dress at first... I whined to everyone how I don't like it, or it's boldness, or the general style... but now I wear it on a regular basis. I find it to be super cute now, and with my wigs and accessories I wear it very cutesy. Who would have thought.
My Ageha August issue. I was heavily tempted by the makeup bag that was included with it and man, I was not disappointed. I love it! It's actually a makeup bag from Liz Lisa, and it fits everything inside. All my makeup (believe it or not, I don't have that much!). Brushes, compacts, my perfume, lash case, my circle lens case and saline. EVERYTHING. and it still manages to have some space! I can't even..
More stuff from Strawberry's. I primarily got these for my Michiko cosplay... The green earrings I got by mistake because I bought them and later realized that Michiko's outfit had purple earrings, not green... I wasn't able to return them so I just bought a second pair instead. Might give them in a random giveaway because I know I won't ever wear them! Meanwhile I'm wearing the purple ones regularly @ w@ The shades are nice, but for some reason they're really hard for me to wear. They keep sliding to the tip of my nose...
My Otakon swag. Nothing but free stuff xD Posters from fellow vendors, doujins, postcards and Tiger and Bunny's KeithxIvan pins. Everything is sooo cute. Not too interested in the doujins though, so I'm planning to sell them at some point.
A closer look at the smaller items...
And last but not least, my long-awaited Max Pure greys from Kiwiberry1, that I didn't get in time for the con = w= I've been meaning to edit the video I made for them.. but I think I may redo it all over. These are probably the most uncomfortable EOS lenses I've ever had, which is pretty disappointing! But I'm giving them 2nd and 3rd chances before I determine if they're no good or not... they are cute, though.
That's pretty much it! I didn't get anything in the month of August, but I'm hoping to get some things from Taobao before I start preparing for my Guyana trip with my church. I'm waiting for the summer maxi dresses to go on clearance so I can have that wardrobe for my trip, without any hassle... let's hope that won't end up being too long of a wait.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Long Overdue Otakon Spam #2~ My Favorite Cosplays
This is a couple of my favorite cosplay from Otakon weekend~
There was a booth for Panty & Stocking... with an actual dancing pole and everything xD They were giving out free posters and I got myself two. There were different cosplayers doing Panty & Stocking's different outfits, and all of the ones I saw were good.
Angel costumes
Beach outfits
This oiran cosplayer stopped by our booth, or rather, I yelled after her from the other side of the path xD I was most fascinated by her kanzashi and stuff, which she got made herself. Hopefully she can help me get some lasercut ones as well :3
Hipster Ariel
I found one of the Princess Tiana cosplayers walking around..
Yaya Han in her Chun-Li cosplay
Zelda cosplays
There were so many Korra cosplayers.. it was a bit ridiculous xD So I only took this one shot of Mako and Amon.
Basically all of my childhood
And omg... this little girl. So many feels. I wanted to just snatch her up and take her home ; w;
lol my boo Alex. Gotta go fast
My bby Laura with her Sherlock cosplay. I may be a bit biased, but she was the best Irene out of everyone who showed up at the Sherlock group shoot. I let her borrow my Victoria's Secret bra and I think it definitely helped xD She was the only one who captured the character though.
Rococo dress~ because I'm crazy over Rococo. It makes me think to wear my own Rococo dress next time, when I don't have anything else going on cosplay-wise.
I dunno if this was an original design or not, but I was like fff dem wings
Mai cosplayer. I had to really question her because I swore she was all bare on her legs.. but nope, she said she was wearing pantyhose and a thong xD I need to find pantyhose that matches my skin well like that.
Then last but not least, all my favorite Final Fantasy cosplays that I ran into ; oooo;
This was the first and best Freya (FF9) that I've ever seen in person, hands down. I don't think anyone else can really compare.
Wakka and Tidus (FF10). I've seen this Wakka on tumblr before, so I was so excited to actually see him in person. So hottt
This guy is probably the only good looking, male Balthier (FF12) cosplayer on the East Coast. It's so hard to find a guy that looks close to the character, with a good costume...
I wish he'd come to NYCC or something, but apparently he only really goes to Anime Boston and stuff :c Maybe one day I'll make my way to Anime Boston for once. I'd really like to do a cosplay pairing if possible. Like I'm really aching for it.
And last but not least, these Shiva twin (FF13) cosplayers took my breath away. Too good. TOO GOOD. I seriously can't imagine the work that was put into all of that.
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