Last Minute Change!

Well. I'm not sure exactly WHY they decided to do so but now I don't have to work New Years Eve!! :D I'm so excited!! I don't have to worry about crazy drunks on the road and I can be somewhat rested after NewCon! ^-^

So that's a huge relief!

That also means, though, that I'll have two 4-day weekends in a row. Which honestly after having... I'm not really sure if I'll want to go back to work >_>;; Seriously. It's going to be really hard to do so.


In other news, speaking of NewCon. I picked out my outfits to wear in the lolita fashion show. I'm thinking that Fruits Parlour (mint) will be a good choice as most girls on the page are showing outfits that will be black and brown based. I know others will do pink as well since that's a very popular lolita color. But so much black? Come on :( there are so many cute dresses in OTHER colors!

Here are the ones I picked out. Not 100% sure about how Sugary Carnival is put together though...

I'm probably going to try out some cream colored socks in my stash to wear with Sugary. For fruits I'll wear light pink tights. I just don't want Sugary to be PINK PINK PINK.

Actually wait... Here we go. I like the cream color!! Now I can't choose what shoes though... light pink or black :(

Planning New Years

Was at work last night checking out the schedule for New Years to see if we were given any time off. And we do. But get this...
Seriously...
GET THIS...

They want me to work Monday, have Tuesday off, and come back for the rest of the week. Not a big deal, right? They're giving people the "hangover day" off so they don't have a bunch of people calling in sick and such. But what gets me is that they made no accommodation, or maybe gave no thought, to the people that work a totally different shift.

Sure, if you work a 9-5 job there's no big deal. Tuesday off? GREAT! But that's not how most of the worker's schedules are. For instance I start work at 6pm and get off at 2:30am. THE HOLIDAY WOULD ALREADY BE OVER. And, furthermore, The time I would be heading home has got to be one of the most dangerous times to be on the road! 2am is when bars close around where I live and there just so happens to be one RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM WORK.


So my coworker and I were discussing it and wrote up a note for HR together asking if we could have Monday off (because it's the actual freaking holiday) and come in to work on Tuesday. This way the work will still get to the other departments in time but won't royally screw over the people working a late shift.

I guess we'll have to wait and see what HR says about this.

After Christmas Cheer

The bulk of the holidays has come and gone. And, honestly, I could not be happier so. All we really have left is New Years and then we're in the clear for 2 months until Valentines Day jumps at us!

My Christmas was fairly fruitless this year. I bought presents for my whole family but didn't receive very much. This is OK though! I have enough "stuff" in my life (and honestly am trying to get rid of it) so when family asked what I wanted I told most of them "nothing".

Which is what I got! :D

I ended up with a really nice cooking knife from my brother & his wife; which was EXACTLY what I wanted! It's super sharp and cuts great. Oh! It's for cooking! The knives I use now are such crap :/ so now that I have at least one good one I'm happy :)
My brother also got me a stapler that looks like a piece of sake salmon ^_^ which is silly but awesome as I do own a staple gun, but not a regular stapler.

My mom got me a gift card and some chocolates. They're the Godiva salted caramel ones and they're super tasty!! The gift card is $50 for Target- which will be super useful as the one near where I live also now carries a small selection of produce so I can get some groceries from there.

My sister and I agreed to not give each other anything. But I ended up finding a really whacky looking keychain that made me think of her. I think it was supposed to be a dear? But it also looked like it had a mane like a horse does. But the main was curly like an afro... I don't know lol. The body was dark blue, the "mane" thing was green, and it had an orange and yellow flower on the side of it. Just something small. She really liked it though so I'm glad :)
She had ended up giving me this really interesting glass box with a bunny on it. It looks like it was hand made by someone in a craft class. Though not to say it's of poor quality since it's not! But it's very unique! I like it a lot. The glass is blue and it has a white rabbit on the top. I'm not sure what I'll use it for yet but I'll find something.

I don't think my Dad got me anything?... I'm not sure now really. I think he gave everyone else gift cards but, again, I remember telling him I didn't want anything. Maybe I should just tell him I want to spend more time together. That's all I want.


Of course the stars of the show were my young nieces (ages 8 and 6, respectively). They got a great deal of things considering they're the only kids in my immediate family.

But the way I see it... that's how it should be ^_^

Interrupting Cat Butt (Christmas Vlog Ramble)

I gave in (dream dress pt 2)

I WANT TO SCREAM RIGHT NOW.

I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THAT. I CAN'T BELIEVE I PAID FOR IT. WHATAMIDOINGSOMEONESTOPME SENDHELP!!

*deep breath*

I bought Sugary Carnival. I was able to talk the girl selling the dress down to remove over $100 off the price (which is fair IMO for tag removal and 3+ wears!) And I paid for it this morning.

I seriously feel crazy. IT'S GOING TO BE MINE.
It's just some stupid lolita dress but it's miinnneeee nooowww.


I also went through my closet and picked out at least 70% of what I own to get rid of. I don't wear a lot of the skirts I have nor do I think I will. So much to sell ~_~;; ugh.
Maybe I'll just pay a friend to do it. Let her keep like 15% of whatever is made just so I don't have to deal with the crazy buyers.

Regardless the dress is paid for. Though since holidays are nigh I have no idea when I'll get the dress (it's coming from Europe as well.)

Oooo man!! I'd be so happy if it came in time for International Lolita Day! :D

Augh! I need to update more!

I can't believe I haven't written anything in 6 months or so. I plan to go through and finish up a lot of entries to started and to also sort of "fill in the blanks" on all the other things that have happened. Maybe this won't net me many views or reads on those entries but I hope to at least keep a bit of a record for myself this way. I post so much more on Twitter and on Facebook than anything... but I miss blogging like I used to.

I used to update EVERY DAY after school. But now that my life is just working it doesn't happen so much. Things are still happening but why... why haven't I been adding anything? Maybe it's just as though I feel like I don't have the time to? Even though I often find myself thinking I need to find something to do. Maybe it's the thought that no one even reads these things *laugh* Which to me is a double-edge sword in a sense.

I want my privacy and to be left alone... and yet I want to be noticed and praised. I've got to find this happy medium in there- does it exist? Hmm... well... DUH ^^;;

Quick news is that I'm sick and slept pretty much all day Saturday. I only really got up to use the bathroom twice but I never ate. Not until nearly midnight. I know this isn't healthy in it's own sense but at the same time after all that sleep I do feel a bit better. I'm guessing I have strep due to my tonsils/throat being swollen and my voice sounding like I'm talking with my mouth full of food @_@

I hate being sick. I blame my co worker. He was coughing and hacking and not covering his freaking mouth! Ugh. I would blame public transit but I do my damnedest to not touch anything on the buses. I know how little those things actually get cleaned >_O (once a YEAR. Way to go TriMet)

Anyway I have a bunch more reviews to post. A lot of Bodyline things for shoes and even some wigs. I've noticed my post mentioning the Stocking wigs gets a lot of views due to the links/photos there. I have about 3 now from different stores that I'll be writing a review about so look forward to that :)

If you want to see any of the cosplay goodies I've been up to there's always Facebook and my DeviantArt.

I'll update more fairly soon... >_>;;

Deep thought (dream dress)

I was recently browsing the Livejournal lolita comm sales and saw a post that caught my eye. A lot. Quiet a bit. SO VERY MUCH.

My dream dress. My ~*DREAM*~ lolita dress is being sold. In amazing condition. And no one has said anything on the post. Mayhaps it's because the dress is generally so expensive (even second hand) but this one is in amazing condition. The girl bought it off of Mbok and it still had it's tags on it! Was never worn! It's the 2009 release as well.

Yep. Sugary Carnival JSK in black.

There it was: my dream dress on sale, in amazing condition, staring me in the face. I have the needed funds to purchase it but I'm not sure I want to drop so much on a DRESS. A stupid dress!! Pay nearly a month's worth of rent for a STUPID LOLITA DRESS.

I suppose girls are only willing to pay as much as they deem something worth. Is this dress really worth so much to me? I'm not really sure. I do love it so very much and would gladly purge 98% of my wardrobe for it (need to keep some blouses and shoes to wear with it after all!)

But seriously. I've got to give this some thought. I'm going to try and talk the girl down a bit in price as she -has- removed the tags and worn the dress a few times. I think that warrants at least a bit of a price reduction in my opinion >_>;;

right?


I guess we'll see... I've got a lot of thinking to do.

SRSLY?

I hate dealing with lolita sales comms, and the buyers on them, sometimes. I mean damn, I'm a pretty awesome buyer: I pay fast and communicate well. But I seriously had a girl ask for tracking for a pair of bodyline socks. They were like... $7. And she wanted tracking. But didn't want insurance which was maybe like $1 more. I mean if you -really- think I'm not going to send out $7 socks or you're worried they'll get lost then why not get insurance as well so you can get back your whole $7 you spent.

The messages seriously went on for more than a week about this.

I say, better yet, she order them next time she orders from Bodyline and then she won't have to pay extra for shipping since Bodyline has a flat-rate option. It's a win-win situation for her as she'll get them new and it's a win-win for me because I wouldn't have to deal with this annoying crap.

From now on anytime I buy socks from bodyline that I don't like the fit of I've going to give them to people- be it my friends or even my nieces. I'm not going to bother selling such things. I'll just gift them! Augh.


Yes I was -that- annoyed with this >_<

Facebook Cosplay Contests

Click on the picture to go to the entry
where you can vote for me! <3

I never do these. I never submit my photo to these things. In fact I hardly ever really participate in cosplay contest of any sort :/ "Why?" might you ask? Because of what it does to people. It can show favoritism among friends and insofar as the cosplay contest being on FACEBOOK... it becomes a popularity contest to get "likes". Which generally results in people with OK costumes "winning" over those who have amazing ones just because one person is more popular or maybe more well-known as others. Or maybe even just because they spammed the living hell out of the link to everyone and anyone.

Well... since I'm trying to change my ways and be a little lest modest about myself and my cosplay crafts I actually submitted my photo to one of these things!! Shortly thereafter it -DID- become a popularity contest! Honestly though the person winning at this moment (the Jack Sparrow) is pretty dang good! I like that he has all the little bits and bobs that fill out the details of the costume! My only problem with him is his make-up. Since is face is narrow just totally blacking around his eyes seems to accentuate that. It's also a very harsh line while I see Jack Sparrow's actually being more of a dirt/greasy smudge look. To widen his face it'd be better to not put any of the eye liner on inside of his eyes (near his nose) but that seems to be where it all is... But hey! It's make-up and I don't expect people to be great at it- especially not someone whom would probably be wearing it every day ;
I also thought that Nikki's Fiona was really cute! Especially the photo of her with a bubble gum bubble It makes me giggle because there is also a girl cosplay as Princess Bubblegum in the contest and it just seems so fitting ^-^
AND JOSH ENTERED HIS LORAX COSTUME?! HAHAHAHA OMG. I want HIM to win! <3!! XD hahahaha!!

I honestly don't think I'll win since I don't really force my face everywhere *laugh* And having gotten as many likes as I have already I am mega flattered!! I really can't even to begin to describe how happy it makes me Even if it is friends asking others to vote or it's honestly people liking my cosplay. The fact that I got ANY likes makes me happy! I suppose I find joy in the little things though haha.

Well. If you'd like to vote for me and check out the contest here is the link ; I would greatly appreciate it! And make sure to check out other people's cosplays too. There are some awesome people in this contest and it'd be nice for them all to get some exposure in this

<3
~Anza

I'm a clumsy idiot...

MY LAPTOP BROKE!! D:
I'm an idiot! I ruined my laptop T-T UGH. I'M SO STUPID!

I was getting ready to watch an anime and had a bowl of cereal sitting on my laptop. The laptop was on my desk all safe'n'sound but as I looked around to find the cord to plug in my speakers I tipped over the bowl of cereal! And it spilled all over my laptop keyboard! UGH!

I tried my best to drain and clean it out. When I tried to keyboard it would type whatever random characters it wanted to. I'm so... angry at myself :( It was a total accident- and an expensive one at that.

After taking it all apart and scrubbing out the inside the keyboard will still not work. I got a USB keyboard though and am going to try and access my files on there to see what's up. But so far the keyboard seems to be the only thing that's messed up; which is good!

But then I checked out how much a new keyboard was for it. And I nearly cried... $100! ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS. For ONLY the keyboard! What the heck!? Apparently the model/make I have was a limited run so they charge a lot more for the parts. If I go one model up or down from mine though the keyboards are no more than $30.

I'm totally bummed. Seriously. I loved this thing. And now I'm not sure what to do. The idea I'm sticking to so far is to wait it out a bit for the price of laptops to drop. Tablets are getting much much more popular so it shouldn't take too long. But to buy a new one is going to be such a pain :<

At least I have my crummy old desktop until I can figure out what to do *sigh* This thing is so horrid it has trouble playing Youtube videos!

Cosplay attention

I've been a bit of a creeper when it comes to the happenings in the cosplay community over the past few years. As a sociological circle to observe: It's interesting! In fact very interesting. And I've made a few observations as of late that I KNOW hold a good weight behind them now.

Facebook Fanpages

I had been mulling it over for a long LONG time now about making myself a "fan" page on Facebook.
I know that there are many a cosplayers out there whom have them that are much more well known than myself and somewhat felt that if I made one I'd come across as narcissistic and big-headed about my own hobby. I had actually thought about this for OVER A YEAR before making one and, eventually, I caved.

I've never been really good about promoting myself since I always felt odd doing so. Like I was acting too self-important and just... silly. But I suppose that's what cosplay has become, hasn't it? It really is a pony show haha. Full of drama and competition. I remember cosplay being more about fandom and when you would see someone dressed as the same character, or a character you liked, you could fangirl with them about the series and be all excited and stupid about it together. Construction didn't matter. Quality didn't really matter. Even if the person wearing the outfit wasn't "pretty"- it didn't matter! Because you both were fans! :D

But cosplay has changed a lot. Though there is still, thankfully, the fan side of things it has become more so about being a "model" of the character. It's about the package deal now and lookin' good in your cosplay is expected. So I gotta start trying harder! Learn the poses! Practice make-up! Don't be a full derp! Haha... oh man.

Well back to the topic at hand. I gave in and made a "fan" page. Though really I hope more so to use it as a hub for all my social sites and the like. I don't really ever expect the thing to reach 100 likes. Hell even reaching 50 HONESTLY surprised me! "Do people like my stuff -that- much?!" ran through my head with every new person liking it. And now it's gotten to the thoughts of "Am I really that good?" Haha. I suppose this is a bit of a boost to get myself more active with my projects. It's somewhat exciting and has breathed a small amount of new life into the hobby :) Maybe it really has always been for the attention?


Here's a link! :D
Anza's Cosplay Fanpage!

Extended Vacation! Eff yeah!

I don't always take vacations; but when I do I go places. Though not really that far honestly. Four hours north and I'm in the lovely ~ttle by the Sea~ In all honesty I used to hate coming to Seattle. So many bad memories and I find the city somewhat confusing. Come to think of it though a lot of the time I was pretty much "trapped" in Bellevue and only really got to hang out with people later on in the night as opposed to oh I don't know... getting some sunlight.

However though, now, I have met many of awesome people here! I can't even to begin to even tell you how much I am enjoying doing nothing for 4 days straight and hanging out with all of the awesome people! The only reason this is possible though is that my vacation time at work rolls over come March 1st- and it's one of those "use it or lose it" situations (which really sucks.)

My only complaint at the moment is that these few days have gone by far too fast for my liking! Although in reality I'm sure it doesn't help that I slept so much; but I was so very very tired.

Honestly I haven't taken any photos while being here since I've been a lump haha. However I do have a few more lolita write-ups to do as well as fashion and wig ones! I've come to find that I take a long time doing so though. But I feel as though it's very worth it :) I know that while searching for information on various sites I would like ti order from or even specific items I want to order it helps if someone else has already written a review. SO. Since I have pretty much caught up on any lost sleep I've had for the past month [it would seam] I will try just a wee bit harder to write such things.

But in the meantime it's nearly midnight and I am hungry. And Seattle has SO MANY great restaurants that are open so late! <3 Chinese food time go!!

[Lovely Shoes] Order #1: I really like boots

 I had heard about this site only a few times from various other sources (blogs and message boards) and was a bit weary on ordering from it since it's set up like every other generic "wholesale" fashion site. I've ordered from a few others before and have become somewhat jaded about the quality from such places. I will eventually review the others but for now I'm going to start with "Lovely Shoes" aka "Lovely Fashion".

[Bodyline] Order #1: A lot of skirts (pt 1?)

I've ordered from BodylineYokoso before for various random little things- never too much though since I know shipping quickly adds up. However during the past 2 months there has been a really awesome promo of $1 shipping for November and $5 shipping for December (oh no it's almost up!). I finally decided to take a dive and order some lolita clothes. I'm not totally new to the fashion since I've been admiring it since early 2003 but I'm totally new as to wearing it and actually OWNING it. I decided to order a few cute pieces off of Bodyline and mostly stuck with cheaper things; I'm not going to lie- I'm very frugal. I wanted to give it a shot and not invest too large of an amount into it just yet. On top of that I knew once I had something in my hands I would easily be able to make my own using that piece as a base. However I was a COMPLETE derp and only ended up ordering skirts and some shoes ~_~ Crap. I made another order fairly recently with a few blouses though and it's on it's way to my door now. I do hope to get it soon but I guess we'll see...

Onto a review of what I got!!

*IMAGE HEAVY*