Anime Expo 2013 (Image Heavy!)

So, I'm finally getting around to posting about Anime Expo 2013, lol~  I had a lot of fun this con; my hotel-mates were wonderful and lovely, I was really happy to do my first legit cosplay, and I got lots of great stuff!

I also got asked for photos a lot, and I was really surprised and flattered that I did, since there were SO many amazing cosplayers this year!  One of my favorite requesters was a group of Korean school kids that my friends and I ran into on the morning of Day One.  They were all so adorable and friendly!  They asked to take a picture with all of us (me and the 3 friends I was with that morning), and then one of the teachers even put himself in the picture, which was really funny.  XD

Anyway, the photos will tell the rest of the story better than me, so here you go!  Hover over the picture to see captions with my comments on what's going on in most of the photos.

Random Coordinates: Winter & Spring 2012

Hello all~ Today I wanted to share some coordinate photos I took randomly the past few seasons. Not so great photo quality, but I thought why not post them anyway?

New Years' Eve coordinate, 12-31-11. I had just bought the ruffled tank top and coral cardigan from Target as part of a Christmas gift. I paired them with dark denim skinny jeans and comfy dark brown mouton boots~

Some Things Lately & Weekend Coordinate

Hello-lo~ I just thought I'd do a quick post to make sure my blogging ball stays in some kind of motion.  This is a bit later than I'd planned, but hey! It's another post in the same month, right? Right.  (Nevermind that it's been two weeks since my last post) ^  ^

Anyway, last weekend, I met up with two of my besties for some shopping and yummy food!  I really didn't know what to wear, as I wanted to be cute and comfy for the day.  This is a modified version of what I ended up wearing:

Black shorts: Banana Republic
"Ethnic" print top: Agenda
Coral cardi: Mossimo Supply Co. (Target)
Shoes: Converse (Chuck Taylor All-Star hi-tops in red & black)
Bag: Liz Claiborne

I was originally wearing my Litas (more about them in another post!), and my hair down, but as they day went on, I switched shoes and put my hair up into the cute side bun. I'll probably do a variation of this coordinate at this point.  ^  ^;;

But that day, N came by my house to pick me up, and we ended up going to Rolling Sushi in Rancho Cucamonga for lunch, which was sooooooo delicious! I don't know of any other sushi restaurants in my area, but I'm always really happy with what I get at Rolling Sushi~

My spicy tuna rolls! One of my favorites~ But this time, the plating was a bit off or I took a bad shot.  XD

N's lunch set combo! It came with miso soup,  4 pieces of sushi, 4 pieces of sashimi, and  an 8-piece California roll~

I forgot to take a photo of my chicken teriyaki roll (yes, it's really good, I promise!), and the chef gave us these lovely extra, on-the-house chicken (or was it fish???) tempura sushi bits that were fried to perfection. DEFINITELY recommend Rolling Sushi if you love sushi and live in the area!

After lunch, we ran to Victoria Gardens and shopped around for jewelry in a few shops, including Claire's before we met up with our friend Ri, who is always fun to hang with.  N and I went to Coldstone Creamery to get ice cream and a milkshake for me~ Then we all sat down and talked... politics??!?  That was interesting for me, since I've never had an interest in politics before, but this year's Presidential race has finally roused my interest.

We wandered around a bit, and ended up in Windsor so Ri could try on some stuff. I saw a purse I REALLY liked there, since I've been on the hunt for a giant bag to take to work so I wouldn't have to carry two (sometimes more, oi -__-) bags to work anymore. But I didn't buy it.

Then the three of us ended the night with dinner at Cheesecake Factory! It was all kinds of yummy~ I got the Factory Nachos with spicy chicken (I was so happy because I'd been craving them for weeks), but sorry I forgot to take a photo of them, lol, what a bad blogger I am~ XD  I will instead spam you with a couple photos from when I went out to brunch with my siblings at the same Cheesecake Factory about a month ago in honor of my little sister's birthday:

My sister's cafe latte or something coffee drink. It was HUGE, and yes, that IS a pile of whipped cream on top~

I spotted these on the menu while browsing for what I wanted; definitely need to try these next time I'm out with the girls! Don't they sound delicious? :3

My wonderfully gorgeous and absolutely amazing French toast! It's on the brunch menu, and definitely worth a try!

But I also for sure recommend the Cheesecake Factory in Victoria Gardens too, because not only is the food really good, the service is always excellent!  For the birthday brunch, they were really considerate of the fact that my sister and I had with us three children aged ten years and under (one with a VERY picky & particular appetite), and they even brought the little sister a complimentary birthday ice cream, complete with sprinkles, a song, and a pink candle! Can't get much better than that~

I hope you have a lovely Sunday! Do something nice for yourself, and enjoy it! I'll be really busy today with school assignments and getting ready for work tomorrow, but I hope to have some time left to comment on my favorite blogs today... you've all been so inspirational to me lately, I've gotta show some love~

I have a few posts lined up, including a review or two, so let's see if I can keep the blog ball rolling, shall we?

Until next time~

Holiday Wishlist & A New Project

Hello again!  Happy December~  Have you got any Christmas shopping done?  I've been super busy these past few weeks with work, studying/worrying about the JLPT I took on Sunday, and with getting some very important paperwork in the mail that I really haven't found time to blog.

But now that I have the major stuff done, I'm happy to get back to posting!  And what better thing to post about than holiday wishes?  ^  ^  But first, random outfit shot from the end of October:

Navy cardigan from H&M, black skirt from Target, dragon pendant from Black Mineral Market; dark brown mouton boots, black belt, and black top are no brand.  Previously posted wig from eBay on my head.  ^  ^

Now, I've been seeing wishlist posts popping up on my Twitter and Blogger Dashboards, so I thought it would be fun to put one together for myself!  I'm always wanting (or needing) something, and it was a fun challenge to just focus on the things I really want to see under my tree this year.

Anyway, here it is:

Clockwise from bottom left: Patterned tote by Smoothie (YesStyle), Jeffrey Campbell Lita boots in black leather, Riley Tall Slouch boots by Lower East Side (Payless Shoe Source), Black Toggle Jacket (Torrid).

Nice and small, right? :D  Except for the Litas, all of these are reasonably affordable items that would be wonderfully useful and stylish to boot! Hopefully my Santas will be kind this year~

And there's something else I'm up to for the month:

I was inspired by Sara Mari and Mika-chan to do this project, since I thought it was a great and useful idea.  I always have a lot of things I need to do or want to do, so I'm hoping to use this as a way to get on track with some of those things and end this year on a productive note.  ^  ^  My list is as follows:

1) Recycle my old laptop

2) Clean out my Internet Explorer favorites

3) Donate uneeded/unwanted clothes, shoes, and toys to charity

4) Save money!

5) Start and finish "Project Calendar"

6) Finish at least 3 drawings from my Drawing To-Do list

7) Do my makeup Gal-styled more often

8) De-fuzz cardigans

9) Do embroidery for PSP case

10) Make more time to study Japanese regularly

11) Put together a Christmas wishlist collage

12) Get rid of unecessary paperwork/receipts/trash/clutter

I think I'll borrow Mika's idea and stick this in my sidebar, just so I can be reminded of it as much as possible.  And if you like the idea, you can head over to the original post at Hello, Friend, read about how the project was started, and learn how to get started yourself!

Also, please feel free to follow me on my Twitter!  I'm looking into starting a Formspring account next year, but in the mean time, you can leave me a comment with your questions, if you have any.  XD  Hopefully I'll be posting again soon, maybe with a fashion post; we'll see.  But in the meantime, stay warm and cheerful!

Until next time~