Obligatory "I'm back!" post
Starting "obligatory 'I'm back!'" + "minor catch up" post~
I missed Con-G for this??
The view from our ever lovely hotel room at Katsucon.
Let me backtrack a little bit. On the Saturday before Katsucon, solartempest and I celebrated Valentine's Day in style: at the nearby Pizza Hut. |D Tasty food, loverly company, how could that go wrong? ^^ Unfortunately, we were too pizza-ful to follow through with our original chocolate fondue dessert plan so that moved to Sunday. Kevin probably ate more fruits on that day alone than the entire year up to date. ._.
On Valentine's Day proper, I received the loveliest bouquet of flowers from anata!lelola. And, like always, I gave something chocolate-related to Kevin (though this was the first year I couldn't actually make something and had to buy it). We also went climbing that day instead of our usual Thursday. Ended up being a good call since the gym was pretty empty for once.
Katsucon!! Kevin was a dear and picked up hikari_light, supersarge, and I on Wednesday night. We stayed at his place before making the early drive to Buffalo on Thursday morning. The customs guy was a bit of a jerk. ...we also got to the airport really early. Ridonkulusly early, even. The flight itself also arrived early and super shuttle got us the rest of the way to the hotel.
Gaylord National. I don't even know where to begin. *_* It was soooooo amazingly beautiful! Aside from being really big and well laid out (easy to access every floor), there were comfy chairs almost everywhere, plush carpets (admittedly, maybe a bit too plush, considering they were ruined a bit), and there was no "elevator situation" at all (except for a short while on Sunday during check outs). I only used the stairs before I felt like it, not because I needed to. At night, the hotel periodically played music with the water fountains to match. Each session lasted for quite some time, too, and was a pleasure for the eyes and ears. Our hotel room was wonderful. A fridge? Double sinks? Separate shower and toilet? Full length mirror? A cosplayer's dream, lol. My roomies were also fantastic. ♥
As much as I enjoyed Katsucon '09 (still one of my favourite cons to date), this hotel was the biggest reason I wanted to go last year...until the weather thwarted us and cancelled our flight. D: Most of us hoped like crazy for awesome weather and it happened! Complete opposite of last year! We arrived to super nice weather, especially Friday's spring-like temperatures (though it got colder again after that day). After getting our room, we explored the hotel and surrounding areas for a bit (I was stupidly excited all day Thursday), picked up our pre-reg (met epiic there), Kevin scouted out some photo locations (throughout the weekend, the hotel staff was super awesome with us shooting though there was one person that stopped us who was less than thrilled--he was also part of the tripod = professional camp), and we chillaxed until amytheyu, writerz_bloc, and Nella arrived.
The con overall was very chill. I spent a lot of time wandering around, taking photos/exploring every part of the hotel, snapping photos of costumes I liked (I missed too many of them, actually ;_;), spending some time with friends (though I saw too little of lousyitachi, tokiyoh, amecandy, and picaa this time), meeting/hanging out a bit with new people (*waves to Ted and lockhart!*), being in/helping out with photoshoots (and making sure Kevin eats something during our scheduled shoots), and occasionally checking out what the con had to offer (anime playing on tvs at the front desk and in restaurants? pretty cool to see~). It's nice to say that, aside from food, I didn't spend a dime on anything (although I received the cutest set of cow magnets from Kevin; little mooooos~! X3). The dealer's room can't tempt me anymore unless they sold LEGO. I watched the masquerade with James and Graham (nicknamed "Battleship") and while it wasn't as good as the one from '09, I still enjoyed it.
Before I forget, James, the Pokemon skit from before? This:
Kevin and I tried to go to the dance. We lasted maybe 15 minutes. While the music wasn't bad, the venue was terrible. The acoustics were the worst and it just doesn't work in a room that size when the dance itself doesn't take up the whole room. I was amused that my most favourite rave and least favourite rave was at Katsucon, just different years. We ran into American!Chris on our way out and hung out with him and his friends in and outside of the sports bar (they closed at some point). Only other con-related thing I did was attend the Persona 4 photoshoot but it was terribly confusing and I was only there for a super short while.
On the costumes front, I ended up scrapping all my original costume ideas (given that they were not at all wearable) and just wore random lolita dress on Thursday, the black/white skirt I made plus random top and wig on Friday, Persona 4!Rise on Saturday, and random lolita dress x2 on Sunday. Since my costumes aren't that great, I spent a lot of time thinking of locations to use or poses but that was hard, too. @_@ A full weekend is a little exhausting. I had originally planned on entering the hall cosplay contest but couldn't when I realized I forgot Rise's neckerchief at home. DX Kevin convinced me to wear it anyway and, miracles upon miracles, Brenda had some yellow twill on her and I was able to fashion out a fake neckerchief on Friday.
Amanda's birthday began the trip and Brenda's ended it. Birthday cupcakes were had by both. ^^ We also ate at a lot of US-only restaurants, like Potbelly's (I think we went there everyday) and the Cheesecake Factory. The food at the latter was ridiculously delicious. Yet I think I liked my meal more than I liked their namesake dessert, surprisingly.
We were all really sad to leave on Monday. The sluggishness in leaving the room was likely due to that. It might be some time before I sort/post my photos but I hope they can be up soon. I was half-kidding about that Con-G comment. It's one of the best little cons out there and I was a little sad to miss it. If only they weren't on the same weekend. And so many people I wanted to see were there, too! >: That said, without a doubt, Katsucon still remains as one of my favourite conventions. I've always had an amazingly fun time there and always left it with many really happy memories. There's few cons where that happens these days. Katsucon love!! ♥♥
And, and, major thanks to solartempest, epiic, and lockhart for the photoshoots!
Suffering a little at the moment due to post-con-plague (thanks, Brenda :p) and missing the con and everyone so much (was spoiled a little by the fact that I could see Kevin almost whenever I wanted over the weekend). There's also the fact that I have to be up way earlier than usual for training all this week (there's no seats on the subway at this hour!) and I have to stay late since it's my turn to do the US fund on funds. Boo. Mum is also away for the next three weeks so I have to go to the office (she runs a travel agency) to take care of...too many things. Waaaay too many things. I have to drive her car on top of that. Considering how much I drive never, it feels like a daunting task. Not to mention that I'm terrible at parking, lol.
After seeing so many great costumes at Katsucon, my inspiration to sew is very high! But my body is so very, very exhausted. I still don't have my serger back yet since Kevin took it to the store. It'll cost about $100 to repair. I'm so super grateful to Lisa for lending me hers in the meantime.
Also got my RSP stuff done for this tax year. That made a nice dent in my bank account, ow. Have to go re-research TFSA stuff as well, since now I know I can actually use that to invest instead of sitting there making no money at all. And I'm getting worried about my CSC. Need to study!! I have less than half a year to do it and there's 2 tests! DX
How to distinguish between Green Lantern and Green Hornet. An amusing comparison chart.
Toronto could learn from this guy! A one-man metro maker. If only our governments (all levels!) had this kind of initiative. Could you imagine what we could have by now? There's no good reason we can't have nice things.
Concrete toboggans: scary stuff sometimes. Rick is a great sport. I hope tofu did better this year than last (they had an accident last year, most of the team were sent to the hospital).
I need to update more often so that I'm not posting these walls of texts no one would want to read. >_>
Edit: Oh! Before I forget!! AN pre-reg!!
I sent out the pre-reg info today. Below are the people in the group. Strikethrough means you've paid.Please do pay me back soon-ish? That RSP really did wallop my account hard. x_X
I missed Con-G for this??
The view from our ever lovely hotel room at Katsucon.
Let me backtrack a little bit. On the Saturday before Katsucon, solartempest and I celebrated Valentine's Day in style: at the nearby Pizza Hut. |D Tasty food, loverly company, how could that go wrong? ^^ Unfortunately, we were too pizza-ful to follow through with our original chocolate fondue dessert plan so that moved to Sunday. Kevin probably ate more fruits on that day alone than the entire year up to date. ._.
On Valentine's Day proper, I received the loveliest bouquet of flowers from anata!lelola. And, like always, I gave something chocolate-related to Kevin (though this was the first year I couldn't actually make something and had to buy it). We also went climbing that day instead of our usual Thursday. Ended up being a good call since the gym was pretty empty for once.
Katsucon!! Kevin was a dear and picked up hikari_light, supersarge, and I on Wednesday night. We stayed at his place before making the early drive to Buffalo on Thursday morning. The customs guy was a bit of a jerk. ...we also got to the airport really early. Ridonkulusly early, even. The flight itself also arrived early and super shuttle got us the rest of the way to the hotel.
Gaylord National. I don't even know where to begin. *_* It was soooooo amazingly beautiful! Aside from being really big and well laid out (easy to access every floor), there were comfy chairs almost everywhere, plush carpets (admittedly, maybe a bit too plush, considering they were ruined a bit), and there was no "elevator situation" at all (except for a short while on Sunday during check outs). I only used the stairs before I felt like it, not because I needed to. At night, the hotel periodically played music with the water fountains to match. Each session lasted for quite some time, too, and was a pleasure for the eyes and ears. Our hotel room was wonderful. A fridge? Double sinks? Separate shower and toilet? Full length mirror? A cosplayer's dream, lol. My roomies were also fantastic. ♥
As much as I enjoyed Katsucon '09 (still one of my favourite cons to date), this hotel was the biggest reason I wanted to go last year...until the weather thwarted us and cancelled our flight. D: Most of us hoped like crazy for awesome weather and it happened! Complete opposite of last year! We arrived to super nice weather, especially Friday's spring-like temperatures (though it got colder again after that day). After getting our room, we explored the hotel and surrounding areas for a bit (I was stupidly excited all day Thursday), picked up our pre-reg (met epiic there), Kevin scouted out some photo locations (throughout the weekend, the hotel staff was super awesome with us shooting though there was one person that stopped us who was less than thrilled--he was also part of the tripod = professional camp), and we chillaxed until amytheyu, writerz_bloc, and Nella arrived.
The con overall was very chill. I spent a lot of time wandering around, taking photos/exploring every part of the hotel, snapping photos of costumes I liked (I missed too many of them, actually ;_;), spending some time with friends (though I saw too little of lousyitachi, tokiyoh, amecandy, and picaa this time), meeting/hanging out a bit with new people (*waves to Ted and lockhart!*), being in/helping out with photoshoots (and making sure Kevin eats something during our scheduled shoots), and occasionally checking out what the con had to offer (anime playing on tvs at the front desk and in restaurants? pretty cool to see~). It's nice to say that, aside from food, I didn't spend a dime on anything (although I received the cutest set of cow magnets from Kevin; little mooooos~! X3). The dealer's room can't tempt me anymore unless they sold LEGO. I watched the masquerade with James and Graham (nicknamed "Battleship") and while it wasn't as good as the one from '09, I still enjoyed it.
Before I forget, James, the Pokemon skit from before? This:
Click to viewKevin and I tried to go to the dance. We lasted maybe 15 minutes. While the music wasn't bad, the venue was terrible. The acoustics were the worst and it just doesn't work in a room that size when the dance itself doesn't take up the whole room. I was amused that my most favourite rave and least favourite rave was at Katsucon, just different years. We ran into American!Chris on our way out and hung out with him and his friends in and outside of the sports bar (they closed at some point). Only other con-related thing I did was attend the Persona 4 photoshoot but it was terribly confusing and I was only there for a super short while.
On the costumes front, I ended up scrapping all my original costume ideas (given that they were not at all wearable) and just wore random lolita dress on Thursday, the black/white skirt I made plus random top and wig on Friday, Persona 4!Rise on Saturday, and random lolita dress x2 on Sunday. Since my costumes aren't that great, I spent a lot of time thinking of locations to use or poses but that was hard, too. @_@ A full weekend is a little exhausting. I had originally planned on entering the hall cosplay contest but couldn't when I realized I forgot Rise's neckerchief at home. DX Kevin convinced me to wear it anyway and, miracles upon miracles, Brenda had some yellow twill on her and I was able to fashion out a fake neckerchief on Friday.
Amanda's birthday began the trip and Brenda's ended it. Birthday cupcakes were had by both. ^^ We also ate at a lot of US-only restaurants, like Potbelly's (I think we went there everyday) and the Cheesecake Factory. The food at the latter was ridiculously delicious. Yet I think I liked my meal more than I liked their namesake dessert, surprisingly.
We were all really sad to leave on Monday. The sluggishness in leaving the room was likely due to that. It might be some time before I sort/post my photos but I hope they can be up soon. I was half-kidding about that Con-G comment. It's one of the best little cons out there and I was a little sad to miss it. If only they weren't on the same weekend. And so many people I wanted to see were there, too! >: That said, without a doubt, Katsucon still remains as one of my favourite conventions. I've always had an amazingly fun time there and always left it with many really happy memories. There's few cons where that happens these days. Katsucon love!! ♥♥
And, and, major thanks to solartempest, epiic, and lockhart for the photoshoots!
Suffering a little at the moment due to post-con-plague (thanks, Brenda :p) and missing the con and everyone so much (was spoiled a little by the fact that I could see Kevin almost whenever I wanted over the weekend). There's also the fact that I have to be up way earlier than usual for training all this week (there's no seats on the subway at this hour!) and I have to stay late since it's my turn to do the US fund on funds. Boo. Mum is also away for the next three weeks so I have to go to the office (she runs a travel agency) to take care of...too many things. Waaaay too many things. I have to drive her car on top of that. Considering how much I drive never, it feels like a daunting task. Not to mention that I'm terrible at parking, lol.
After seeing so many great costumes at Katsucon, my inspiration to sew is very high! But my body is so very, very exhausted. I still don't have my serger back yet since Kevin took it to the store. It'll cost about $100 to repair. I'm so super grateful to Lisa for lending me hers in the meantime.
Also got my RSP stuff done for this tax year. That made a nice dent in my bank account, ow. Have to go re-research TFSA stuff as well, since now I know I can actually use that to invest instead of sitting there making no money at all. And I'm getting worried about my CSC. Need to study!! I have less than half a year to do it and there's 2 tests! DX
How to distinguish between Green Lantern and Green Hornet. An amusing comparison chart.
Toronto could learn from this guy! A one-man metro maker. If only our governments (all levels!) had this kind of initiative. Could you imagine what we could have by now? There's no good reason we can't have nice things.
Concrete toboggans: scary stuff sometimes. Rick is a great sport. I hope tofu did better this year than last (they had an accident last year, most of the team were sent to the hospital).
I need to update more often so that I'm not posting these walls of texts no one would want to read. >_>
Edit: Oh! Before I forget!! AN pre-reg!!
I sent out the pre-reg info today. Below are the people in the group. Strikethrough means you've paid.Please do pay me back soon-ish? That RSP really did wallop my account hard. x_X