No post Sunday: Just random gibberish

I didn't write this week so I have nothing prepared so I'll just ramble about random stuff going on.

I've been put on a 1800 calorie diet by my new weight loss doctor. Although I think I'm eating far less when I think about it. I might want to try the soylent diet but I would need to talk to my Dietitian which is $40 just to see her. Maybe next month. I still have powder meal replacement to finish up anyway. I invested in regular store bought protein bars so I also have those to go through which will take a while since I'm only eating 1 a day. I have continued to lose weight though so thumbs up on that one.

Although I can be churning out dragons like a factory I haven't made a single one in at least a week. I want to sell these and get commissions but I've just been lazy.

I watched/caught up on Re: Zero - starting life from another world-. Seems like an interesting anime so far. I've got some others lined up: Guilty crown, Gurren Lagann, Hell Girl 1 + 2 + 3 (rewatch) and I'm trying to get boyfriend to watch Mushishi with me so I can finally see the second season. Boyfriend found something ridiculous on Crunchyroll called Bananya. Go watch it, it's great for learning beginners Japanese.

Mom just stopped by to visit. It's been a while since I've seen her. Life just gets so crazy all the time. We're planning a date sometime this month to hang out all day.

Still no definitive date other than September 30th for closing on the house. It's maddening. But I'll survive. Should start packing soon but we need the electrician to stop by and fix out ceiling fan in the living room. We're going to need to do some major clean up and repairs before we move and give them notice.

Not much more to say for today. Sorry no real content. I'll try to work on a chapter of my life this week so I can have it ready by next Sunday. Thanks for reading!

Reflection: Where have I been for the past 5 years?

I had lunch with a friend over the weekend and he said something that really stuck. Since he understands my struggle with bipolar he asked how I was doing and I gave the typical meh answer because I'm still not at perfect. Stable-ish, my boats only have small holes but my head is over water.

But then he something to the effect of, "...but look at you since 5 years ago..." and I back stored that for something to write on because there is so much that has happened since then. It took 5 years to get me basically where I dreamed of being all throughout college and in high school.

Memory doesn't serve me well but I will try to recount the changes. Looking back I wish I had stuck to my journaling so I could tell when exact;y pivot points happened but from what I can compile from the internet and memory is the following.

2011

I was going to Oakland University full time. Back at home.

In June for 2011 I went on an archaeological expedition in Israel. Probably one my life pivoting points. It was physically taxing but I showed myself I could climb the side of an ancient excavation site to the top rocks and throw my arms out to the wind on the edge.

In December I graduated with my Bachelor's in Anthropology with a concentration in Archaeology.

2012

I went back to school to get an associate's in Software Engineering. Back at home.

Loved hard.

2013

And lost hard. Dark times.

I started treatment right away. Therapy and pdoc appointments every other week. It was rough but having gone untreated for so long was worse. I finally had a voice and people were listening. I started meds and we played around until I started to feel human again.

Mid year I met my current boyfriend. We hit it off right away.
<3 at="" between.="" don="" even="" felt="" had="" happen="" have="" how="" i="" in="" it="" life="" like="" line="" looking="" love="" much="" my="" p="" possible="" quickly="" so="" t="" the="" time="" to="" understand="" was="" what="" with="" years="">
<3 at="" between.="" don="" even="" felt="" had="" happen="" have="" how="" i="" in="" it="" life="" like="" line="" looking="" love="" much="" my="" p="" possible="" quickly="" so="" t="" the="" time="" to="" understand="" was="" what="" with="" years="">I started working at my big girl job. I was so unsure in the beginning but I really had nothing to fear. I am a quick learner and I proved it.

2014

Beginning of the year I have no idea, my phone calendar doesn't go back much further.
<3 at="" between.="" don="" even="" felt="" had="" happen="" have="" how="" i="" in="" it="" life="" like="" line="" looking="" love="" much="" my="" p="" possible="" quickly="" so="" t="" the="" time="" to="" understand="" was="" what="" with="" years="">
<3 at="" between.="" don="" even="" felt="" had="" happen="" have="" how="" i="" in="" it="" life="" like="" line="" looking="" love="" much="" my="" p="" possible="" quickly="" so="" t="" the="" time="" to="" understand="" was="" what="" with="" years="">Fought Boyfriend tooth and nail to get away but he managed to convince me for the first year it was going to work.

November I got my tattoo covered up and refreshed to mean more to my current life state.

December I FINISH MY ASSOCIATE'S DEGREE in Software Engineering (I don't know how to code, how did that happen?)

2015

February Boyfriend and I moved in together into a small modest house. It look a long time to find and we were up against others but got chosen for the lease.

I switched my pdoc and dropped therapy for maintenance but I guess I wasn't at the right cocktail yet because I'm still with my pdoc, adjusting my meds to current time.

June 10th 2015 we got our 6 week old kittens. Zelda and Booties. I'd like to think I'm a good mama but they were just so darned little and adorable and I loved them so much. I also had some pretty back medical issues around this time but the babies were a comfort.

I remember throwing up at Ren Fest for the very first time. Not one of my best moments.

Big events were going to GenCon in August and Texas to visit my best friend in October. Also my first work conference out of state.

2016....

January: Happy new year! Scrapped my knees like the dickens and laughed about it. It was a good month. Houses.

February: Happy 3rd V-day Boyfriend! We went to see Kizumonogatari part 1 in theaters. Houses?

March: Work work work. Best friend gets older. Houses.

April: Cool adult stuff happens with work but not much to remember. House hunting still.

May: Not much happening to my memory, just looking for houses.

June: Boyfriend becomes an old man batting up to 29. Ready for your mid life crisis? Well that doesn't happened until you're 40 now. Many others I love get a year older. House hunting ensues.

July: The long road of looking for houses and just never finding one that had the needs with some wants anywhere near our price range. SGDQ 2016 happens.

August: A lot of good things happened in August. Some things I can't talk about but GenCon happened! And it was great and I loved every minute of it. But mainly we found the "one" house! Somewhat in our price range. I can't believe I am going to be a human being that "owns" a house/ The biggest investment of my life and all I can think about is what furniture we will need and where to hang all the art. Oh and I finally got my silver hair. Oh oh, and Boyfriend and I are together for 3 years.

September: Seemingly taking forever to come. We are going to be closing on our very first house. I'm so scared and excited at the same time.

Chapter of My Life: #GenCon 2016

Gen Con 2016

Wednesday: Are we sleeping in the car?!

I thought we were more prepared this year. We made it cheaper by bringing our own snacks and Ramen cup lunches. We basically ate off food trucks the whole time for dinner so that also saved us a few bucks. This year was not spectacular though. I made the mistake of over loading my Thursday with classes/events leaving little time for food or generally getting orientated. We got lucky on Wednesday. We were supposed to stay at a friend of a friend's place so we could register early (my first class was Thursday 9 am). Also you know, make new friends. But that plan fell through. We were SO lucky a friendly couple let us stay with them since their room mate wasn't going to be in their room (she got sick). And so we got to make some new friends!

Thursday: Class overload

As I mentioned I over loaded on classes. I ended up taking a book binding class which we ran out of time to finish our books (boo) it was fairly expensive too. I cancelled my second book binding class (a different technique) in lieu for a break and dinner. We did a little dealer's room but mostly wandered around until my next class which was geeky painting. There was no real direction to the class and nothing particularly geeky about it so I was a bit miffed I paid for the class. Technique was not taught, nothing to go off of. Just, I guess, a little time to relax and paint. The teacher had scrapbooking supplies up the wazoo that I should have taken more advantage of but whatever. We got 3 canvases of different sizes so I themed mine around dragons. I didn't get to finish 2 of the painting and haven't gotten around to them since I've been home.

Per usual we met with the "good" werewolf group that meets in the same place every year under the stairs and played a game. It was too big of a game to play more than one and Matt didn't feel like it so that was about it. We went to bed late that night.

Friday: Cosplay! Cards Against Humanity concert!

Since our Thur-Sat hotel was connected to the con; I got to cosplay this year! Although I didn't finish my Hilda/Ravio couples costumes I did finish my Beemo costume and had a stand Lolita one. Since costumes are so uncomfortable I thought it was great I could go back to the room whenever and swap out to normal clothes. I only ended up feeling good enough to do my Beemo cosplay on Friday (even though the cosplay parade was Saturday). The reason why I choose Friday was because it was the free-est day. We didn't have any classes or commitments. Pure dealer's room free reign. A lot of people did comment on my costume and I did get a few pictures which felt great. It's definitely a motivator to get more cosplays done for next year and/or any other cons we might be able to afford in the future.

Prior to the con I had found out that Cards Against Humanity was having a concert (what that meant exactly I'm not sure in terms of "concert"). I decided it was worth the price to go so I bought the tickets. Boyfriend was so reluctant to go mostly because we had no idea what it was going to be like. Earlier in the day I had did a little research and found out it sells out every year and is a big thing GenCons go to. Reviews saying it was worth the price.

We got there and got some silly pictures (I won't be sharing) representing the cards we like the most. But we're so awkward we just ended up doing dirty poses. We got a swag bag (pictured below) full of rando stuff and some (what i thought was) exclusive CAH card packs. Our seats were pretty good, it was easy to see the whole stage. It started late with a funny scrolling "what upset you the most about GenCn so far" text entry presentation screen. Some funny jokes were made.

The show consisted of the CAH panel talking about their favorite rejected cards followed by stand up comedy and song comedy by some well known people. I couldn't get over H. Jon Benjamin's voice thinking about Archer and Bob's Burgers.

Now I thought it was going from 8-10 pm. But I was very, very wrong. it went 8-past midnight. But in hindsight it was still very worth it. A fun side quest I wouldn't mind doing again next year with better seats. CAH Haul:

Saturday: True Dungeon!

Saturday was devoted to True Dungeon. We had time in the morning to wonder around but I think we got up late so we didn't have too much time because it started around 1 pm. I was a little sad I had to cancel the book binding class I actually wanted to attend but it saved us money and time. We had never done TD before but always heard it was worth the price tag and we were able to score the first and second (back-to-back) dungeon tickets.

We started on easy mode (no one dies) because we were first timers but the rest of the people with us (including kids, yuck) agreed it was fine. I played a Wizard my first Dungeon, boyfriend played a Cleric. The "things" we had to learn to use our powers were simple but seemed scary. I felt like a dork most of the time because I just kept pointing out irrelevant things in the rooms that our guide just had to be in character and be like "ignore that." I won't go into too much more detail but it was a lot of fun and the tokens you get you keep. So the second dungeon we were playing with generous well organized people. I was a Rouge this time, much more stressful and boyfriend played a Barbarian. We played normal mode which was a little harder but did it fine. Both times since we didn't die we got prize tokens but no ledgendaries. We can play with the same tokens next year which we plan to do.

Sunday

Sunday we were going to do our shopping and play some games in the dealer room but I just couldn't wake up. We had put all the stuff in the car when we checked out but I just kept stumbling around with my eyes half closed. I've been having a hard time waking up recently so I attribute it to that but I'm sad it cut our time short. Boyfriend basically understood and we headed out early (I wanna say noon). On the ride home I totally clunked out (which I can usually never sleep while traveling) for like an hour. Then the rest of the way home I was awake and able to keep him company.

Overall

Worth. So worth. Our haul this year is much smaller (I didn't do any tournaments and we didn't buy any games because of the whole house situation) but it has some quality stuff. Listed under picture:

1 baseball gen con tee
1 pikachu plush
1 seal in a shark costume plush
1 lamb plush
2 CAH expansion packs
Buttons galore
3 painting canvases
1 partly finished leather bound book
2 capsule dice for some game I have no idea (thought they were d6's)
1 set blue matching free gen con d6 of dice
Buttload of TD tokens
1 set rainbow dice
1 set synthetic large size opal dice
More buttons
Our TD character cards
1 misshapened thermo-plastic rupee
2 adorable fox posters from independent artist

Art: Making a Ploymer Clay Dragon

Recently I picked up a new hobby. There is this certain artists whose work I REALLY would love to get my hands on but her pieces sell for well over $400 a pop. Not the kind of money I have (or had due to house). So I figured, why not try to make my own and learn a new skill?

I only used the artist as a reference. I don't copy her art, I adapt some aspects to my own. Previous to finding a how by the artist I was just winging it so my dragons are clumsily made, not high quality. I want to get better so I keep practicing.

Here are the current ones I've made (earilest to latest):

Toots

Robert (keeps falling apart)

Annabelle

Ben

Whisper (has cracks on the back side of her tail)

Devilon

Shiba

Clover

Whisper was made after seeing the how to tutorial video. She didn't turn out right, her tail cracked. But I was able to gain the ability to make wings finally. Whisper is also considerably smaller than all the others. She only took about 1 block of base color for her whole body. limbs and such. A money saver. But she was considerably harder to keep smooth, add horns and keep limbs attached.

I started sketching out my dragons first then using that as a base and then using other artist's embellishment techniques to create my dragons. Here is the phase of a first gen dragon:

First I named the pose "Scared/Frightened." Then I sketched it out. And pick the colors.

Then I made the base entirely of clay (now I use tin foil as an base). This is a picture with the tail also added which was my second step. I have become considerably better at adding tails after viewing a tutorial that said so make an indent in the tail top and THEN attached it. Makes smoothing much easier.

Thirdly, after the base and tail I did my best to add the feet and contour the back with an arch. I'm not great at anatomy (I'd like to take some classes) I just used my cats as reference. The tail kept drooping so I had to add wire to get it to stay up. I was afraid to use it at first because I didn't know if it would crack but I did know the temperature you bake them at is low enough that nothing would happen to the actual metal.

Fourth step was to start deciding and adding embellishments. At first I tried to add them all except any jewels. This proved a bad idea on earlier dragons because the part became brittle and easily fell off with the brush of a cat's tail. So from the second dragon on I pretty much only added some parts that would be the most secure to the actual base and then baked horns etc separate and super glued them on after all cooled.

Here is the final picture. I do have 2-3 unique techniques I use with every dragon, The swirl horn at the tip of the nose, the leaf or diamond shaped tail end and most of the time the "scale" at the base of the biggest horn.

So far this has proven to be a very relaxing and accomplished feeling I have gotten out of anything in a while. It gets harder and harder as I try to mimic and incorporate more techniques but I think if I keep working at it, maybe when I've got my style down packed I can start selling these little dudes.

Which reminds me, I don't have a name for these yet! I might branch out into things other than dragons so I'm trying to think of a name that will encompass that expansion. Lil buds and Mini dragons were stupid names I was thinking of but I need to seriously consider the brand and com eup with something my own. If you have suggestions please leave them below!

Just made this week:

Joy

Chapter of My Life: My First #SGDQ 2016

THE PLAN

This year my SO got a speed run spot on SGDQ! I am so proud of him. All the nights we spent pretty much no time together while he streamed and practiced paid off. Also probably makes him happy because I've become accustomed to spending more time by myself.

So the story goes, my SO wanted to go the whole week. I dropped him off at the airport on Saturday all mopey because I knew he would be gone for a week. He's good at dropping off the face of the planet, and I was already having a rough time (medication swaps). But while I wiped away my single tear while I drove home I came up with this plan. If I could get Friday off, I could leave at 8 or 9 am and make it to Minneapolis by 7 or 8 ish pm if i drove. And I could surprise him and support him!

So then the plan spiraled. I found out I couldn't get a badge because badge purchase was closed weeks before and you couldn't buy any on site. I thought to myself, 'it doesn't matter, I don't need a badge; I just need to be there for support.' So at work I polled my team mates: Should I go or shouldn't I? I got 50/50 answers really so I decided to go forward. As soon as I found out I got Friday off I started planning my surprise. I had said I was going to drive but the problem with that was: I arrive Friday PM, stay up until 6 something AM Minneapolis time to watch, donate and support him. THEN have to drive home Saturday afternoon (he had volunteering to do Saturday night anyway) or at the very least be back in Michigan by 2 pm Sunday so I could pick him up from the airport. That being said, driving was thrown out and I turned to flights.

Random time, random date, random weekend. I only paid a little more than he did to fly out (I dropped my car in the airport lot) in the AM and would arrive to the hotel by 4 pm. Best part? My return flight was the SAME as his so we could just go from the airport home together. I had to do some recon and get the blessing of one of his roommates to stay in the hotel room on Friday and Saturday night. Constantly figuring out what he was doing, his volunteer schedule, his rooming situation and everything else I had to be sneaky about but it was hard. I eventually got all I needed.

I committed and bought my ticket with fear and excitement. Fear I would upset him, excitement to going to a new place and seeing him and supporting him and possibly getting a mini vacation.

THE SURPRISE

Well it was a let down mostly. When I finally arrived at the hotel, I hid myself off to the side. I was going to scheme with our friend from online, who I thought was back at her B&B sick. But since she was sick I was thinking of ways to surprise him while on the plane. I settled on the following course of texts:

"Man I could really use a hug and a kiss after that stressful meeting."
Expected response: "You'll see me on Sunday"
Actual response: "Sorry hun."

"Wouldn't it be funny if I was in the lobby right now ready for one?"
Expected response: *wanders into lobby, finds me, big hug*
Actual response: "Uh, sure. I guess that would be funny."

At this point I couldn't be sneaky anymore...
"Maybe you should check."
Expected response: *wanders into lobby, finds me, big hug*
Actual response: "No troll pls"

I was getting deflated at this point.
"Are you going to check?"
I expected nothing after this but this is what happened.

I got up from where I was sitting, walked a few steps toward the lobby door and instinctively turned around and looked up. Then I saw him and our friend standing there on the balcony. Big surprise ruined. They both eventually came down to meet me and I got a weak hearted hug. I was really bummed. He later told me he was stressed because he thought he needed to take care of me while I was there which just added to his other stress about the run.

THE EXPERIENCE

Friday night I did not sleep, there were 2 beds and 4 guys and none of them chivalrous enough to offer me a bed spot save my SO but I didn't want to be in bed with a stranger or anyone else for that matter. So I squished myself into a nook with a blanket and some pillows and hunkered down to stay up all night so I would be awake for my SO's speed run. His run went fine and I donated and watched on my laptop from the room since they would not make an exception to let me sit in on his run.

Saturday morning we had breakfast together and proceeded to wander around for a while. Then my SO and our friend really needed a nap, her being sick and him having tossed and turned all of the 5 hours he slept. So we went back to the room. They crawled into bed together and I did stuff on my laptop. I got tired of waiting for them to wake up so I went swimming (which turned out to be the worse idea I had. I ended up leaving my swim suit there which cost around $60 and I had JUST bought the top). They continued to sleep and I continued to do laptop stuff. Eventually they woke up and we got lunch. Rest of the day was a blur but since I couldn't do anything I left them to go have fun and headed back to the room.

Terrible mistake. I was running off no sleep and one of the roommates was still in the room. He took over the TV so I was forced to watch sports. But whatever right? That was just the beginning. I went out and got dinner, as did he and I came back to an empty room. I needed to go to bed early Saturday night to make up for lost time so I wanted to take my pills and be asleep by 8 or 9. It was around 6 ish after I finished eating that this dude showed back up with one of his friends. They had beers and started chatting but I had a bed all to myself so I sat there and put my headphones in and caught up on some Rick & Morty. Then another guy showed up. Then they started blasting Korean r & b. Then ANOTHER guy showed up. So I'm in this room of strangers, with no where to hide or go so I continued to try to watch my TV show on my laptop but I couldn't drown them out with the headphones I had at hand.

This lasted until only around 8 pm thankfully, they left somewhere, likely a bar. I was afraid to go to sleep with all the electronics just laying about so I had to wait until 9 when my SO got off volunteering so he could pick it all up and have it with him in the backpack. Eventually that happened, I closed the curtains and went to sleep. What transpired after that I have no idea because I was out cold. We got up the next morning and headed out for our plane.

WAS IT WORTH IT?

I'm still not sure. It was certainly NOT a vacation for me. It DID cost a pretty penny. But I did get to see SGDQ up close and personal. I got to personally and physically be in the vicinity to support my SO. Also I got to meet our friend in person. My SO never admitted to being happy I came, more than likely due to the money it cost over the stress he felt. So I'm not sure if it was worth it. But I did do it. And we can mark another city off the map of places WE have been to together.

2016 July/August Pusheen unboxing

 
 
Disclaimer: These are not my pictures. I can't find mine.

Pusheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen. Finally another box! So so excited.

My Pusheen Mermaid has some paint smudges. I was trying to contacting the Pusheen peeps but all they sent me was a "we will get back to you in two weeks" email. It's still cute and exclusive. Just holding them up to a high standard to the amount of money I'm paying for each box.

Sunglasssssssessss. They are the shape I like with the cool 80s cat vibe. Flat lenses don't make me feel car sick so I will definitely be using and eventually losing these somewhere.

So this ice cube tray. I'm wondering if I can also use it as a mold and make some personal items (not for sale) with all this polymer clay I have. I don't know how well these do in the oven at the low temp. Will have to look into it. But if nothing else I don't want to ruin the tray. Little Pusheens made of coffee in my coffee would make me mighty happy!

THE FLIP FLOPS FIT! I was so scared they were going to be too small since I always wear a size XL 11/12 in flip flops. They have the same 80s feel and are actually comfortable. Taking these babies with me to my trip to Jamaica in October.

The Iron On Patch is something I wish I had gotten sooner. There is this lightweight hoodie I'm so so in love with and not ready to let go so I tried to patch the holes with patches but they just keep coming back. This would have been a nice addition to the patches already on the shirt but I'll keep it for some other thing.

The Pusheen beach ball, although the cutest ever not something I can really use. We don't have a pool (we won't have a pool at the new house). I really don't know what I will do with this. Maybe try to trade it? Maybe just put it on a shelf in the new place? I really am not sure.

Pusheen travel tote has ALREADY been used! We used it for our GenCon trip to hold all our snacks. The cute 80s theme bag is a nice sized tote. Something I could use at the beach on my trip. :P

Well, well, well. The Pusheen mermaid cup with straw. I use these things ALL THE TIME. Now I can have a Pusheen themed one at work and show off my Pusheen pride. Yay!

Lastly the beach towel, I have left in tiny size intact so I can compact take it on my trip with me. I don't know how big it will be but hopefully enough for me to wrap around myself.

It's a cute overall theme. Nothing I really WANT to get rid of but just not sure about that beach ball. Who knows, we have more space at the house so it might fit somewhere.

8/8 KEEPERS

For things I want to get rid of I trade on some make up trading sites! Check them out below:

Swapidu account

eDivv

2016 YumeTwins July Unboxing

I know, I know. This is not July. I've got backed up unboxing posts and no chapter of my life posts finished at the moment. I will be switching back to unboxing Wednesdays and chapter Sundays soon.

YumeTwins this month is cute but most of the stuff is meh.

Let's get started.

The Hello Kitty Randoseru charm is just a little box to hold things with. I got the purple/pink one. I might post this one to trade because I don't think I can make use of it.

The Harajuku Kawaii Bracelet is too small for my wrist so I will probably be trading that too. I got the pink/yellow heart shaped one. It's kind of a shame because it is really cute.

Shinada Poodle Plushie as you can see I got the white one but I would have preferred the black one. I'm not sure if I was supposed to get a big AND small on or just random chance of getting a small or large in any of the colors. Either way it's been added to the plushie way of cute.

Hello Kitty or My Melody Memo Pad, unfortunately I got the My Melody pad which I'm far less interested in than the Hello Kitty one. But it's a tiny note pad. I'll find some use for it.

The Hello Kitty or My Melody Plush I lucked out on and got the Hello Kitty one. Although I'm a little disappointed, it's so small. My unique name is "Okane chan" which I'm pretty sure translates to Money chan.

Sanrio Socks! I would have preferred the Hello Kitty ones as you can see the theme here but I did get one of the better Little Twin Stars pair. Still I'm going to trade them out because They probably won't fit my huge feet.

The My Melody or Hello Kitty pouch...got My Melody. Just going to toss that one my swap sites, if nothing happens or interest over time I'm going to use it for make up whilst traveling I guess....

Lastly the Harajuku Princess Tiara. I have no clue what I'm going to use this for but I intent on keeping it. Might be good for a kawaii cosplay of some sort.

Rating: 3/8 keepers

For things I want to get rid of I trade on some make up trading sites! Check them out below:

Swapidu account

eDivv

Reflection: Trying to be a First Time Home Owner

House hunting.

I'm sure there are a billion forums I can read to get myself ready but I'm terribly unprepared to buy a house and that happens to be the big thing I'm trying to do in my life right now.

Why move with we have a perfectly good rental with a year option to renew in Fenuray? Well rent goes up again and would be able the same amount as a mortgage. Also I feel like I'm throwing my money away. Also, it's just too small. We need 4 bedrooms, not 2. Why 4? 1 bedroom, 1 guest room, his office and my office/studio. We could compromise on a 3 bed with an attached garage if I can just take over the garage. But there aren't many options in the area I want to stay in.

Today is the first day we're going to physically looking at houses. It's a lousy, drizzly afternoon but I have been waiting ALL week just for this. I don't care about my massage later, don't even care it's the weekend. Just that I'm going to be viewing houses.

A note on viewing houses though, don't wait until the weekend to do it. 2 of the houses I was VERY motivated about are already bid war and pending on. I'm so deflated about that. Now we're down to seeing 3 houses and none of them are the gems I really wanted to see. Further more I feel like we should have just lined up a butt load of houses so we can get our feet wet. Do we need to put in an offer today? Probably not unless we see a show stopper (which I'm not realizing a lot of the houses don't have dishwashers which I thought was just a given but kind of a must).

I'm anxious as we get ready to go but I will update when we get back!

The viewing.

So we saw the three houses. The first one was new construction and it had pretty much everything on my wish list and was very updated. The more I think about it, the more I want it but we need to see more houses.

The second house we saw was very small but absolutely the most adorable and visually appealing. Exposed beam, exposed brick. Fire place that goes in living room AND other side goes in bed room. Second house had 4 bedrooms but that were small and kind of weird. But is was VERY charming. Just not enough space. Plus the backyard was so deep it would take a long time to mow and a lot of maintenance with the fauna. Also no dishwasher.

The third house we saw was a dudder. Nothing particularly special, only 3 beds no attacked garage and although it was more spacious than the second house, it was still meh. The basement smelled weird and it was move in ready but just a big no for me. Too much to compromise on. Also no dishwasher.

So today was a good day to get our feet wet. We added central air as a must have to our list and I still pretty much want all the same things. If you wanna know my picky list see below. But I was happy to see a range of houses in only 3 and am looking forward to scheduling more viewings as soon as we can.

The list.

Must haves:
4 beds OR 3 beds and attached garage; possibly spacious basement would suffice
central air
appliances (prefer updated/newish)
specific areas
parking for friends to come over
garage/shed for outside stuff like lawn mower
newer furnace/water heater
dining room

Wants:
walk in closet
master bath (with shower/tub separate and double vanity
big rooms
spacious kitchen
gas stove

2016 DokiDoki July unboxing ~oops~

 
 
 
I accidentally didn't cancel my Doki Doki box for July (I'm on a strict budget 1 box per month 30$ or less) because I have 2 accounts. I'm kid of happy it came because I misjudged the box in the beginning and I really like some of the stuff I got. Ever the stuff I didn't get the version I wanted more is useful. This month's theme is Summer Festival.

Disney Japan Tsum Tsum "wink" blind box. I'm not much of a fan of blind boxes because I'm not a lucky person. I always seem to get my least favorite thing. So the one I got, was of course, the one I wanted least. I got the Lotso one, the villain from the 3rd movie. I didn't like the box to begin with but I would of been okay with one of the other options like Monsters Inc. or the alien dude from Toy Story. This is up for grabs on my trading site. Trading.

Paper Fan + Character Handkerchief set is really cute festival style. The fan is actually useful because it's so hot in the city right now and I can use it when I got out Pokemon hunting. The handkerchief I might just start using because it probably works better than the paper towels at work and I'd feel more environmentally conscious. KEEPER.

Gudetama Kitchen clips is a little misleading. Makes me think I was supposed to get more than one clip. Regardless I think I expressed I don't care much for the lazy egg dude. Apparently there are four variations of the clip but I didn't see the others so there is nothing to be disappointed about. But this is a clip and I can still use it around the kitchen. Keeper.

The Tenugui (Japanese towel for around the neck) is an excellent idea. I've secretly always wanted one of these when I'm working on cosplay. Tie it up on my head and FIGHT-O! |:O So I'll put it to good use. Learn more at blog.japancrate.com Keeeeperrr.

Doki Doki Exclusive Plushie IS AN ADORABLE GOLDFISH! Following the festival theme but it's so dumb looking it's adorable. It's Kingy to Remon set has 2 different ones I could have gotten. The Orange (Kiko) or Lemon (Wawa) style. I got the orange on includes a little bell and fin on the top of his head. Another little plushie for the wall of plushies (picture update to come soon). KEEPER.

The Omamori is an amulet with the Doki Doki characters on it. I put it instantly on my cell phone. The charm is a little awkward but I really like the look. Learn more about charms at blog.japancrate.com. Keeper.

I put my Omamori lucky item (frog) into my amulet pouch. The frog is supposed to made of wood but the one I received is plastic. Nevertheless it is supposed to symbolize the following: The word for Frog (KAERU) has the same pronunciation as the Japanese word "return, "change" or "go back". Thus FUKU KAERU (Fortune Frog) can also mean fortune is returned. Therefore we wear a small frog which made by wood and earth as a good-luck charm. Additionally we give a BUJI KAERU (safety frog) to a person who will go traveling and give a FUKU KAERU to a person who is sick, to get-well soon. Also we put a FUKU KAERU in a wallet or purse, because it is said that money you spend will bring you fortune in return. Keeper.

Bonus Gachapon: Ice cream keychain. I kind of hate these "keychains" that come with the metal snap in chain rather than a hook screwed into the item and a traditional chain with a hoop. They unhook and fall off much easier. Anyway it's a cute capsule item that I will likely be putting on my keychain soon. Keeper.

The Summer hair elastics is just a regular hair tie with a size-able piece of fruit attached to it. I got watermelon. Would have probably preferred they lemon but the watermelon is cute. I have some dresses I want to make work with this. Keeper, maybe.

Monthly Hoppe-Chan is cute beat the heat on the beach style. Keychain worthy but chain link suspicious. Need to buy a few real keyrings for these keychains. Keeper and collectible.

Rilakkuma Towel, ok so this one I AM disappointed. There were a few variations: Rilakkuma, Kirritori or Korilakkuma. I got the duck, would have preferred the bear so much more. It will make good around the house though. This size towel is good for a lot of things and you know, I like spilling things! Ha! Keeper.

Lastly, the tattoo stickers are great. There are a bunch of them and they are all different, I would prefer a way to turn these into real stickers so I'll do some experimenting. Keeper.

Only 1 out of all these items I feel compelled to trade out. Really good box! I wish I could afford to continue it and the YumeTwins box but they are both around $30 each. Ugh if only they cost a little less.

For things I want to get rid of I trade on some make up trading sites! Check them out below:

Swapidu account

eDivv

Reflection: How do we end up where we end up?

I'm so sorry I forgot to post this yesterday. I will make up with a post during the week..


Every post like this starts with, "When we were little we were told we could be anything. We could do anything," but that's a lie. All of us adults know it. There are a few we strive and succeed at becoming their dream, some of them without feeling after all they've accomplished. Most of us, I would think, end up somewhere else. Maybe not at the very bottom but not where we expected to belong.

I am one of those people. I never wanted to go to college to be honest. It was expected. Maybe a figment of my imagination but I felt the pressure. If I was going to get anywhere, I needed to go to college. The problem is that I was like any other college student. Completely unprepared and under-taught. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I jumped from Interior Design/Japanese, Fine Arts/Japanese, Japanese/Pre-Vet, Photography to finally, either Computer Science or Anthropology. I took a class that defined my passion and I choose Anthropology. Not the right choice for the market. But the right choice for my soul. I discovered so much during those brief years, I discovered my passion for learning. My sense of accomplishment. I felt like what I wrote mattered. I just needed to settle on a topic to go back to school for. However, that didn't happen. I needed a job. A non-dead-end job that I could feel something for. I decided to go back to school for software engineering. Something I was always interested in but never tested myself on.

How I passed? I don't know. I put in as much grit as I could but I don't feel like I learned a damn thing. I still can't code. I know how to do loops, I know the basic functions but when to use them? No clue. how to write software? No clue. I can make a pretty interface and I can make HTML sites if I try hard enough but backend, the thing I really wanted to learn, never clicked for me.

Then I ended up on an internship far too under-qualified. Apparently my employers liked my demeanor but my potential was never realized. I never learned python and I wasn't far along enough in coding or personal coding to know what I was doing. They threw me small bones and I couldn't chew on them. Unceremoniously I was let go. One of the biggest let-gos of my life. I really thought those people had my back. We had some serious moments. But it wasn't meant to be and I went along my way.

Eventually all my hard work, all those hours of searching lead to a pivot. I applied for an internship as a WordPress intern at my current company. I thought, 'hey I can easily learn WordPress, how hard could it be?' but found myself interviewing with a team and a job title I have never heard of before. It's like an in-betweener job. Something you don't have to be code heavy on but a lot of responsibility rests on your shoulders. I'm used to responsibility, talking to clients and organization. These are all desired soft skills. It's hard for me to believe there aren't more better suited candidates but so many people don't possess those skills.

So here I am, doing my IT related job, wishing i could go back to school. I never thought I would wish to go back to school. But there is so much more I want to learn. I want to know how to speak different languages, I want to learn the fundamentals of fine arts, I want to expand my knowledge and pick a thesis and write that journal about it. I want to continue academia. But I also want to grow and expend on my IT experience. I want coding to 'click' with me and I want to become the expert on many things.

I'm torn between worlds. Three of them actually. Art, Anthropology and Computer Science. I want to be great at all these things but I just feel mediocre at all of them. I don't create nearly as often as I should, weekly if not daily. I don't read journals of write opinions or follow up on new discoveries in Anthropology. Code STILL hasn't 'clicked' and I only am an expert on specific tools. Some that probably aren't even used elsewhere. Who knows?

The point is I'll be 30 soon enough and I won't feel accomplished. Something has to change. I have to want something enough to make it work. Personally I want all these things to work and I try to hone and improve my skills every second I have the energy to. Do I always read a scholarly journal when I get a free moment at work? No. Do I always start and finish a new art project when I get home? No. Do I strive to learn a new language for even a little bit of time a day? No. Do I try to code a new program whenever the chance arises? No. I don't do these things and I have no one to blame but myself. To make myself a well rounded person I need to force myself to see the reality and just DO these things regardless of where my heart or mind is. If I lead they should follow.

So in summary, I have not perfected an art skill but I will continue to strive to create. I have not written about my thesis but I will try to follow the articles that pop up on anthropology reddit because I can't go back to school, at least not right now. I will force myself to write small programs until it 'clicks' and I understand coding enough to start solving and automating processes that need to be automated.

I will make it. I just need to take it one day at a time, like my bipolar. Don't look back and pine. Don't worry too far in the future. Do what I can do right now and be happy with what I have accomplished and what I will accomplish regardless of the time it takes.

Attention actual readers and not bots: Changes!

Attention please.

Since I'm going to be posting more, I should have some soft of rhyme and reason to my scatter brained thoughts. I've decided to take LAGGG a little more seriously and in considerations I'm going to be posting in certain formats. I will also be switching over to my own website within the year (set high goals Heather!) crafted by myself probably in HTML5 but maybe also some PHP and/or Jquery, I don't know. I need to practice my coding.

Anyway back to the post thing. I will be posting at least once a week. I'm going to set the date as Sunday AM at the very least once a week. Then if I feel like I have more to say it will be blurbs every other day.

So posts. They are going to be:

• Personal: Mental Health Updates (title)
• Personal: Life and Adulting (title)
• (LAGGG) Chapter (#) on Gaming and Geeky stuff (title)
• Unboxings/possible hauls (including separate posts for figurines when I can start buying them again)

There may or may not be more types of posts, possible Reactions: blah blah blah, but generally I will be sticking with these four. Eventually I'll be phasing out Mental Heath Updates to a personal blog but for now I'll keep them here even if I just need to fill a once a week requirement I set for myself.

I actually found out most of my readers are bots! Yay. So I'm probably only talking to 2 people out there. No, that was sarcastic moobot.com. I do not like you boosting my ego making me think 20 people read my post. Just stop.

So I'm going to now tag line my posts because I want to hear from YOU. Yes you! So comment, like or whatever you feel so I know you're out there and I'm not just talking to myself. Not interested in the post? It's cool this is why I have long titles. But with the new posts you might have to read the second title to get the full sense of what I'm talking about. If you hated my post just say boo. If you want to react, go for it. If you want to discuss, please be my guest. If you totally agree SHARE with a friend. I want to help people out there if I can especially on the mental health stuff.

So with that, I fulfilled my Sunday requirement and will become more organized for weeks to come because I just found some gold nuggets that I have much, much, much to say about.

Thanks for reading!

2016 Gamer Girl Monthly June Unboxing ~Anniversary~ Final

Disappoint. This is my last box from GGM. I thought the anniversary box would be a bang but it seems more like a dud. It came in a smaller box than regular. I was hoping for a bang. For an extra item. Something more.

The bag is a pink color, not orange which was weird; you'd think it would be orange and black.

The pin is a pin. 'Nuff said.

The Tetris Scarf is a cute idea but it's way more boxy then most scarves. This one I will not be able to turn into an infinity scarf which I'm a big sad about because it's probably my favorite thing in the bog and I love infinity scarves.

Why oh why do I still have to get jewelry for things I don't care about? The DOTA Dragonclaw Earrings are completely irrelevant to me. An instant swap item.

The Resident Evil Umbrella Corp ring is cute and seems very sturdy but it's nearly impossible to pry open to make fit on my pinky. I tried a few times and gave up. I'm still debating whether or not I want to keep it once I finally do get it sized.

Lastly, the Lego Block Necklace is cute but cheap looking. The chain part is generic and it doesn't look like it will stand up to my not-taking-off jewelry-all-the-time style of wearing jewelry. So I don't know if I'll keep it and turn it until a bracelet instead or what but it will not be going around my neck. The chain is a standard length.

So over the period I subscribed to this box I was mostly disappointed. If, perhaps, the company will tailor boxes to customers I may try it again because there are a few items I did really like despite their short life span in some cases. They also have great customer service. I have 2 accounts and thought I cancelled before I would get the June box but they brought up the double box situation with me right away so I was able to cancel one without paying for another.


For things I want to get rid of I trade on some make up trading sites! Check them out below:

Swapidu account

eDivv

Mental health update: Ye Olde Rollercoaster (trigger)

Hey guys,

Checking in on the personal level. The hyopmania hydroplane is now like a rollercoaster with the broken wheel. Usually I'm up in the air and that keeps me going. Keeps the house clean, keeps chores done, keeps me eating, keeps me making 'lil buds*.

Then there just a smack in the face day. The one where you cry for no detectable reason and sleep the whole time. I had one of those days but it was my boyfriend's birthday. How do you survive a depressive day when I have to try your best to at least seem a little normal?

So far I've just been showing my true emotions. Needy, crying, sleeping and disinterest in doing anything. I'm actually shocked I felt like writing about it. But to recap the med situation, I changed meds almost 2 months ago and nothing has changed except this recent up down about once (a day total) every 1-2 weeks. A real killer when it's on the weekend. At least on a work week day I can pretend myself into a "normal" state and maintain when I get home and don't have much time to wallow. I just do some chores, crawl into bed. Eat and then watch something until I fall asleep early then go to work the next day slightly improved.

I feel someone should be telling me this is a bad habit because I'm sure it's contributing to my work-a-holic situation where I never feel like I'm done working. So I'm constantly on edge never feeling completely free to commit myself to anything because I might be needed to work at a moment's notice (which is what has been happening on my oncall weeks [weeks I'm expected to be available 24/7]). Matt says I need to learn to stop but how do you learn to stop? Especially when it's the crutch you lean so heavily on when the emotions are out of control? I've become very good at forging professional when I'm all torn up; never really that great at putting on my "normal" make up, so to speak.

Continuing on this story, Monday I dropped my phone and it finally broke. As I stared at the screen with tiny fractures and a purple splotch slowly consuming the screen, I panicked on the inside but laughed it off as much as I could on the outside. I've been on a spending bender from the hypomania so by no means do I have 600$ to drop on a brand new phone. And I don't have the time or worth the chances to get one off craigslist.

To make matters worse, I work evenings this week so I need my phone to remote into the network in order to work from home. Since my work starts at 11 pm there is no way I'm going into the office. I had to get a replacement THAT day. My coworkers assured me it would be no problem and I would be able to find a repair shop that could probably fix it on the spot for 100-150$.

Alas this was not even nearly the case. One shop I knew of needed 2-5 business days plus it was going to be 250$ + tax. The next nearest place was closed by time I got there. I went home defeated and gathered up all my old AT&T phones hoping I could unlock one. I pulled out the sim card on the AT&T phone and then pulled out my sim card for my galaxy I noticed the sizes were too different. But somehow I flipped the Verizon sim card into the nothingness of our couch. I searched frantically for about 30-40 minutes before I just completely lost it. I was a crying heap on the floor, unable to function anymore. My boyfriend eventually realized what was happening and tried to get me into bed and calm down but I just collapsed half way to the bedroom. I was utterly defeated. I felt stupid, I kept asking "What am I going to do? I can't find it..." between my sobs. Eventually I got into bed and cried for what seemed like 2 more hours as my boyfriend searched.

Then I realized ok maybe I can get a to go phone and new sim card from a Verizon store. So I found the closest one and pathetically asked my boyfriend to drive me there. My face was red and puffy from crying but we left right away to make sure we got there before they closed. On the outside it said phone repair so I was even more hopeful. When I got in, however he said it would take a few business days and he'd have to call for a quote. I felt defeated again and asked if he had a cheap to go smart phone and if I could get a new sim card. He said no to go phones available but told me to wait while he went into the back. He showed me a used galaxy s5. 175$ plus tax and I could take it home on the spot. I didn't even inspect it. I just disheartingly agreed and gave him my card. We left and then I realized this phone wasn't even wiped yet. Did I just ge myself in a shady situation? Who knows. But I have a phone. I plan to fix my s6 when the screen fixer guys come to my work next month (they visit monthly and fix cracked & broken galaxy phone for 139.99 plus tax. Probably how much I would have spent via insurance replacement). Now don't get me started on the insurance. I TRIED to get the insurance but that's another story.

This is probably the biggest trigger for me. I was already going down on Sunday and Monday my phone was destroyed and I needed a phone to work. I didn't eat at all on Monday from stress. Tuesday rolled up, my work night. Again, I didn't eat at all. I couldn't bare the thought of putting anything into my mouth. I knew I'd just throw it up from the stress. Eventually my boyfriend got me my comfort food. I had one small piece of pizza and felt like crap the rest of the night.

But now the tiniest things are triggering me. And I'm afraid to go back to work tomorrow because putting on a face is going to be a lot of work and work has been crazy. So much human interaction, I can't just immerse myself into my little world of sad songs and work on a project. I have to be on and happy.

I'm considering another extended doctor recommend work from home stay. I did it last year when I got severally depressed and was waiting for meds to kick in. But I'm afraid it will hurt me if I do it again. I'm afraid I'm not allowed. I'm afraid to lose my job. The meds I'm on now (recently with in the last month switched) are not working obviously. We will need to try another and I can't fight the depression and the pressure of work. I do not want to take short term leave because I've heard the horror stories of people being fired after taking one. Employers just find a way to fire you without really letting on it was that you were unstable for a short period of time.

So I'm at a loss. This depression begins to sink in more and more each day, I wake up a zombie, a little bit more of me last each day. It gets harder and harder to do normal things like laundry and typing this post. I burst out in sincere sobs randomly or triggered by the smallest thing. I'm like a time bomb. I remember feeling this way when I was untreated.

So that's my update on day 3 of my decline. Perhaps tomorrow won't be so bad but I'm not counting on it. I know my behavior will start reflecting at work as it gets harder and harder and maybe that will be enough to give me the courage to ask for another month or something of working from home so I don't have to be constantly on. I'll talk to my pdoc about it and see if it's a good idea. I'll talk to my team specialist to see if it's possible. I'll talk to my team leader to let him in on the loop but whatever happens, I hope for a speedy recovery.

Chronic insomnia

It's Monday. I need 10 hours of sleep. So calculating 1 hour to fall asleep on my pills, I need to take them at least by 9, 8:30 if I want to be really sleepy when I fall asleep. Sounds nice, eh?

It's Tuesday. I have to stay up from 11pm - ???. I got off work a little early but I can't nap. It will ruin my sleep cadence. What do I do? Work until I guestimate it will be over in an hour. Sometimes it works out, sometimes I'm left with being awake another hour after I finish work at 2 AM.

Having insomnia is not fun. On emergencies and weekends I can not take my sleeping meds but I will probably only get 3 hours of sleep, TOPS. My Bipolar revolves around the ability for me to get my optimal sleep, 10 hours. Yes, 10 hours is a lot and I can function on 8 but 10 is that sweet spot where when I wake up, I get right up, dressed and can be out the door in 10 minutes.

I have to be flexible for my job but how do I manage my sleep schedule? It's been crazy busy lately so I've also fallen back to using caffeine to ensure sharpness in my night time duties (usually I avoid all caffeine except those naturally occurring in some foods such as small amounts of chocolate but I don't drink soda or coffee or most teas).

There's been a few occasions where I was afraid to take my pills because I thought I might not wake up. Not because of mixing alcohol or recreational drugs (I don't do any of those) but because I had something weird happen before bed like prolonged heart palpitations, breathing issues, worry of taking care of another or sick animals etc.

On the weekends we sometimes have game nights and those tend to last until 1 AMish. That kind of throws me for a loop but I can usually get back in sync Sunday night. HOWEVER, lately, I just haven't been able to fall asleep. I try every natural path (melatonin, turning off all devices when lights out, trying to breathe steadily and calming my mind while lights out and getting into bed around the time I want to sleep) with aid of my night time meds but it just is taking longer and longer to fall asleep (I'm up to about 2 hours after pills). The only bright side is when I do go out, I go out out. Usually I'm a light sleeper but Ambien CR puts me out out. And I stay asleep which has always been a problem for me.

But the problem is if I take my pills at 7 and I only get sleepy at 9 there is still the possibility of the magical times when it only takes 1/2 hour to fall asleep. Then what? I sleep for more than 12 hours? I don't know the magical combination to get that 1/2 hour point so I can just take them at 9:30 so it's so inconsistent. And every month for 2 weeks it gets all messed up again due to work.

It's a frustrating cycle. Any advice would help! My PD is not particularly helpful in this department and isn't really open to prescribing a fall asleep pill with my stay asleep pill since it's supposed to take care of both.

So that's my little rant, not sure of the point I'm getting at with this post but maybe I can get advice or someone can relate.

2016 YumeTwins June Unboxing

 
 

I think I found the box. Yume twins was an impulse. Wonderful advertising by Facebook. I was a little disappointed in DokiDoki (another Japanese box) so I was a little reluctant to try another box (being on the expensive end box $30/month). Especially since I'd never heard a whisper of this box anywhere in the community. But I am glad I subscribed. I was pretty much down for everything in the box. Also got lucky and entered a contest. Not sure of my chances but if I win I will be even more pleased that can be said.

Ok I said I was happy with everything but that's kind of a lie. The Sanrio Gudetama coin purse is a little pointless for me at this point. I have several coin purses (but my main one is a very sturdy leather owl gifted to me a few years ago). Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about this lazy egg thing. I love Sanrio but it's popular right now and I'm just not bought in yet. So slightly disappointed this was the "Sanrio" thing in the box.

On that note the Anywhere Gudetama mascot was also a bit disappointing. Not just because of what it is but because it was a blind box and I didn't get the one I kind of cared about getting. I'm willing to TRADE these dudes with anyone who does that sort of thing!

The C'est bon Star Ring is kind of useless for me because it isn't adjustable and I don't have tiny fingers. HOWEVER, I am making little clay dragons (been calling them 'lil buds) so if I cut the round part of for the finger off I should be able to use it for one of those projects.

Camio: Mini Panda Memo, sooooooooooooo cute. I can't wait to start using this little note pad (I have a gazillion stationary bits and pieces). I might gift it to someone who loves pandas, not sure but I kind of don't want to let it go.

The Camio: Jacquard Mini Towel Ribbon I actually understand why it's in there now because apparently in Japan they don't have paper towels (smart move Japan). I might try doing that myself if I keep getting these or just use them for make up or everyday because I always spill stuff. ALWAYS SPILL STUFF.

So this weird Re-Ment: Funassyi Diorama & Stickers is all in Japanese so I'm not 100% sure how it's supposed to work. The Diorama part is space themed so I want to give if to my boyfriend and the stickers are spacey/astronaut-y but they are so kawaii I want to keep them for scrapbooking. Might have missed that boat though because we went to the planetarium few years ago and that scrapbook page is already set. Still cute however I decide to use them.

Ok so this Prism Paradise Heart Case, I have no idea what it's connected to honestly. An anime or just a magical girl thing, not sure. It's cute and it came with candy that tasted....weird. It's empty now so might become a earring holder or something.

Last but not least! The Sailor Moon Plushie! Ah! Finding out the selection that was possible to get my chances worked in my favor and I got my favorite scout! I would have been ok with Sailor Saturn too but Sailor Pluto is my favorite. There's a contest to take a photo with your scout and share it out on social media that the grand prize is Hello Kitty stuff (including a particularly adorable Hello Kitty Kimono plush!). I've got fingers crossed I get lucky again and win that grand prize.

Whatever the case, I'm still happy with this box. I'm really interested in the July box to come. More Sanrio was promised and apparently 2 adorable plushies are going to be included. 

Yay box! 8 items (and hidden little candy). 

Solid keepers 6/8.

For things I want to get rid of I trade on some make up trading sites! Check them out below:

Swapidu account

eDivv

Cosplay (so it begins for real) 2015

Hey guys,

So I'm officially a cosplayer but I've only gone public TWICE. In all my years of making stuff, sewing and tailoring I have only gone out in public twice (not counting ren fair) in something I've made for myself.

I'd love to say the cosplay community is loving and accepting but the truth is that their are still some really mean people out there and they are the loudest. I'm self body shaming which is probably why I never follow through on any of my cosplays.

Today I started working on one of my projects longed planned. Bemo from Adventure Time. All that's left is detail work. Any frills, additional separate pieces and most importantly the Bemo buttons (will be made from felt and just velcroed on because I want to be able to reuse this dress if needed. I'm thinking for adornments perhaps a Japanese school girl sailor flap and tie, sailor moon bow on the back and maybe some bow action at the bottom. I think I'm going to make some bloomers too so I don't have to worry about bending over. So I'd say 80-90% done.

I also have the wig for a lumpy space princess cosplay (even though I only kind of like her). I could reuse the Bemo costume design (with custom sizing done before cutting).

Thirdly, I need to get my Hilda and Matt's Ravio cosplays done. It's just daunting because I have to size him and all the props are going to be hard. And I bet he is going to be very scrutinizing on his costume so I'll have to get everything perfect (I have to make this weird half helmet thing at the very least). Maybe I should just start with his little fleece friend and then do his robe. IDK it's just hard to get started. Hilda is going to be a nightmare.

I was thinking maybe a fawn/deer kawaii costume would be very cool. Antlers and made of that fur fabric. Would require some lining to keep it from being itchy. IDK again.

I know it gets very hot, tiring and uncomfortable to cosplay but we have SUCH a close room this year, it's just really the best year to do it at GenCon. Plus I already bought the wigs. Ugh.

Any updates I will post below:

2016 DokiDoki June unboxing

Ok no photos for this one. I again, forgot about the unboxings. But this does show all the items I received.

Hatsune Miku Lanyard is super cute. It has all the characters on the strap part and is half black/half white. The bottom has a card slot with a special Miku sticker inside of it and a little pink music note accent. This instantly when on my car keys. I'm really bad at losing them so if I have a long lanyard on them it's east for me to either tie it to something or to noticed if they are gone.

TAKE (or) OMO Plush, the star of the box is these guys. Explained, "These two fashionistas are always looking for the newest trend and you might be their next inspiration!" There is a contest to use the template given  and to load it with cute things (which I am doing this month). More about the two, "Take is a crazy young pup that dreams of becoming the next decora fashion icon of Harajuku...Omo is Take's older sister...Omo refuses to dress her age..."

There is a typo in the book with the left bottom two having matching names so I will try to describe as best I can. The Pin (set or single, I got single) & Kawaii Hair Bands/Bracelets & Zipper Bracelet combo are mix and match for Harajuku style. I got a panda pin which is cute and will go on my pen ribbon. The hair tie with the little bunny ears is 80s style and really cute. It actually fits on my wrist which is a plus. I wish there were two of them but instead the other band I got is just a spiral plastic thing. I'm pretty sure you shouldn't use it on your hair. Lastly the zipper bracelet is not my style so I will certainly be putting it up on my swap accounts.

Mayo Puri Zipper Pull & Sticker Sheet feature an adorable Japanese mayo bottle. Japanese mayo is said to be America's Ketchup and it's much sweeter than our version. Either way it's still super cute. I put the zipper pull on my male cat's collar but he managed to destroy it in 3 days. I have to glue it back together and find a better use because I don't want to lose it. The stickers I haven't used yet but I'm looking forward to confusing people with them since unless you know what they are you will be like "what is this? It's cute but what?" Haha,

Chakkun Handkerchief has already been used once. Haha. I didn't know they didn't have paper towels in Japan! It's kind of weird looking but works like a hand towel.

Hoppe-Chan Plush is about the same size as Omo plush very adorable with chain to put on your bag. But I'm weary of putting key chain chains on bags after I lost Lamby-chan (plush from GenCon last year). I put it up with the Omo plush on display for now.

Eyeball Hair Bow is cute but weird at the same time. Not my style so I will probably be giving this to a friend I think will really like it. Or I hope she will.

Snoopy Qee Blind Box. I will be resealing this and swapping it on my swap sites. I am not a Snoopy fan and I think this would be better suited for some who cares. I won't reveal which one I go or the odds of getting it but it wasn't enough for me to just keep it.

Lastly the Monthly Hoppe-Chan key chain is adorbs. It's tiny but really cute. I'm going to make sure it makes it on my going out bag or try to convert to cell phone strap.

Wow 9 items in all!

7.5/9 keepers!

For things I want to get rid of I trade on some make up trading sites! Check them out below:

Swapidu account

eDivv

2016 DokiDoki May unboxing

DOKIDOKI

 




This is a Japan Crate kawaii box (https://www.japancrate.com/dokidoki) crafted for the Japanese/Weeb enthusiast. Sorry I didn't get many individual photos as I forgot I unbox these things and I was too excited when I finally received it. This box runs 30$/month on a month-by-month and that includes shipping. I found this as an ad on my facebook. But I'm kind of glad I clicked into it because I thought Japan Crate was just snacks. Snacks last for a short period of time. Kawaii things lay around your house until you find a place for them forever. Ha!

Mays box is Sweet Deco Doki Doki.

So I was enticed mostly because there was an unknown Sailor Moon items included in the box. Much to my dismay is was a Sailor Moon Crystal Desserts blind box. A little box with little tiny plastic dessert things like for dolls or something. I was so disappoint. Salt in the wound I got the Sailor Mercury set, my least favorite of the inner sailor scouts. Blind boxes are always a crap shoot for me and I usually lose.

Next we have the Petite Lapin Plushie. Mine was blue and super cute but super I have no idea what to do with it. In the booklet it explains, "...a fully original character i,imagined by the artists at Japan Create, and we hope you love him as much as we do!..is a Japanese rabbit who founds his love for everything French at his school's culture club. He was finally able to save up enough money to go to France last spring and enjoyed visiting....inspired by French ...macrons and eclairs..." Super cute but no where to attach a string to attach him to a bag or anything.

The Ice Cream Cone Pens were a mystery to my at first. I was like...this are dumb. You just attached them to a bag and they just sit there. I didn't read the booklet. Then I finally popped one open and there it was! A pen! ACTUALLY SO USEFUL! I attached one to my going out purse and now if I ever forget a pen when I'm shopping I can just unhook it and use that to cross out the items I've already got from the grocery. Yessssssssss. And there is 2 of them! Blue and yellow.

Hoppe Chan: Sweet Deco, the center piece of the box since it's named after this is a vert special key chain adorable kawaii dessert type thingy. There was a contest to create your own and submit to win some Sailor Moon stuff, that I totally missed but and how it's super cute. The "white icing" that is sited under everything but on top of the base is made of some rubber material but it's so enjoyed able to squish. I have no idea why. Everything is very securely in it's space. I'm still trying to find a place to put this little concoction.

Hoppe Chan Stickers. Adrobs. Need I say more?

Hello Kitty x Doraemoon coin purse. Unfortunately I already have enough coin purses but I was was pleasently surprised to see a Hello Kitty component to the box, It's plastic but I'm sure it holds up well and holds a lot of coins. I don't know if I will keep or put up on edivv and Swapidu.

Hello Kitty Strawberry Senbei. Okay so Senbei. It's kind of like rice crackers but with a suble frosting caked/baked on top. I actually picked up a bag of these in maple flavor in a regular bag somewhere like a week before I got this box and tried it out. I loved it. It's light and has enough sweet for my sweet tooth. So finding these in my box was like, I KNOW WHAT THESE ARE. YUM.

Iwako cake & Ice cream Erasers. I know these are soooooooooooo cute but I soooooooo don't want them because what the heck am I going to do with them? They don't make good art erasers and I'm not in school anymore so what to do? Also they are really too cute to use. I will likely list this on my swap sites sadly.

Sweet Bread Company Mirror went straight into my work bag. I can use this because I don't currently have one and I get so busy sometimes I can get to the bathroom to check myself out. I might also start wearing light make up to work so this would help a lot to prevent embarrassing smudges.

Lastly the Kawaii Animal Donut Charm. I found a home for this one right away. I just bought one of those hot new polaroid cameras everyone is going bananas about. There was a perfect spot to attach something cute like a cell phone strap so I went for it. Though I have yet to use the camera, when I do I know it will be decks out in cuteness.

Phew! So many things! This is why I think the box is worth the 30$. It ships from Japan and it has A LOT of stuff. I recently redid my budget and I am now on a 1 box no more than 30$ per month plan (not including Pusheen) so this is the box I chose to stick with for a little while as I am not seeing stuff I want to give up.

8/10 keepers!

For things I want to get rid of I trade on some make up trading sites! Check them out below:

Swapidu account

eDivv