week 2: makeup, booty, shopping, anime
Week 2 of January: I've been trying to get out of the house more and be more of a "yes" person when people have a gathering. I figure this will be the time to do it, before the semester starts and scheduling all my time gets gnarly.
Even though I feel pretty lazy about updating this journal, I've been trying to journal more and write down things that I do everyday in an attempt to remember... because I'm having a harder and harder time remembering the things I did even a month ago - I don't know if it's me having a senior moment, or all the lost sleep catching up to me and making holes in my brain! I'm a bit alarmed. Maybe this year of the rabbit is when I can start this as a new routine.
L'Oreal HIP in Electrified.
I know I'm joining the bandwagon late, but I'm finally getting into using Youtube to figure out how to do makeup techniques! now know who Kandee Johnson and Michelle Phan are, I've discovered MakeupAlley and Temptalia's blog. I've been talking with a friend Dawnielle and trying to suck up as much knowledge about how to use makeup properly, what types of brushes do what, etc. I never did this in high school or college, or even my first years of working, so it's kind of like a sudden renaissance. Although, I kind of wish I'd had someone to coach me through it when I was younger - because experimenting with color is actually really fun, much more than I'd thought it would be. I feel like it changes the way my whole face looks - in a way it feels empowering to be able to take control and shape how I look. I guess it's more interesting to me now because now I know people like iamchubbybunny and yume_ninja who I can use as examples who are doing looks and makeup that are way more fabulous than anything I'd seen in magazines when I was younger. Now that I am trying and putting things on, I can notice other things people are doing as well that I didn't see before - like whenever I see daitenshi_dream I'm always like: how'd you do that eyeliner swoosh?!? or when I see aimeekitty , I go: hey, what's that color you're wearing?
Last week CVS Pharmacy had a buy one, get one 50% off for L'Oreal Cosmetics, so I finally pounced on this which I had been stalking upon recommendations from various blogs. Including Citrine's Blog, Musicalhouses, as well as pretty great ratings on MakeupAlley. It's supposedly a dupe of another color from Bobbi Brown. TBH I was on the fence about it since I've already bought and been using a similar duo, L'Oreal's Wicked, but the champagne taupe in this set is seriously worth the $4 on the 50% off price. I'm really happy with it, and have been wearing it everywhere.
The other item that I got was the HIP ColorChrome eyeliner in Gold Charge. I wanted to get a cheaper alternative to that super pricey Illamasqua liquid gold eyeliner to do MissChievous's look for glasses, but the gold in this pencil is a bit too orangey yellow gold. Still, it glides on really softly and has staying power. However, it's not worth paying straight the strangely high priced $10 since you can get a dupe for just $6 from fellow drugstore brand Milani which makes a metallic gold pencil in nearly the same color and consistency!
pour_me_coffee shows me her "safety" bloomers and I obligingly tweak the ears, of course Eron catches me making a weird face for this photo
Went up to visit my Burbank crew, neku_niku , drclock , and lilusako for their BBQ party loaded down with maybe four pounds of Korean bbq meats. It was nice to see the downtown crew and talk a bit with the friends on the periphery. I was a little overwhelmed by super amounts of people, and also really hungry, so I mostly hung outside on the balcony and lurked next to the bbq grill, eating bits of sizzling hot grilled marinated pork right off the grill to avoid having to socialize in too many directions.
It was really nice to be able to talk a bit and hang with Austin and Megan who had come all the way from Atlanta - I had heard so many adventures from neku_niku from when she went over there that it was great to put a face to the name and the legend XD The two of them seem like mirror images of neku_niku and drclock ; two tall cute redheads with tall dark curly-faced men :D
iamchubbybunny explained that the bloomers are stretchy knit warm 'safety' bloomers that are sold in Japan for girls to wear under miniskirts when it's cold out and likely to be drafty. So utilitarian in the service of impracticality! That it exists to augment a practice purely born of trend (micro mini skirts in winter) reminds me of so many other very Japanese things, like the existence of socks glue (to keep super-floppy overlong socks neatly in place worn along the calf line) That said, I want a pair.
Baby Rib Pocket Frock $38 | Herringbone tights $25 | Matte Lame Legging $42
Three months ago, I bought some Groupons for American Apparel store for half off! Took a trip over to the Factory Store on 7th/Alameda with Greg, but it turns out you can't use the Groupon there since it counts as an outlet location. We changed gears and went over to the Little Tokyo store, which was thankfully open till 10pm, probably one of the few stores that open this late.
To my dismay, $50 Groupons don't get you that far at this store! I had two to spend, so, trying to stretch it as far as possible for things that I could wear as basics, I got the plainest things I could find. I got a rib-knit bracelet sleeve basic pocket dress, a pair of cream colored herringbone fishnets, and I finally was able to buy myself a pair of TRON style leggings, so I'm happy. The pocket dress only came in one size, for some weird reason, so it kind of drapes on me, although that is not necessarily a bad thing since nearly all my other jersey clothing, I wear them in a size that stretches, maybe too much. Greg got a spectacular pair of bright metallic gold leggings which amused me to no end (but I was actually secretly jealous, since I wasn't able to squeeze the other pair of silver metallic leggings into the remains of my Groupons).
If I calculate it all out, I got $128.41 worth of merch, but with the Groupon discount I spent with taxes $78.41 on four items, a bit more than but still comparable to what it would have cost at your everyday sweatshop chain e.g. Forever21. I count the extra overage as my middling way to support less-sketchy local vertically integrated manufacturing. Woot woot!
It was a bit late to head to the Edison to meet back with neku_niku , lilusako , drclock in the extended Tour of LA they were giving Megan and Austin, and frankly I was super partied out (especially with my embarrassing wipeout the nights before at Villains Tavern) but we ended up running into each other in the Little Tokyo Village by serendipity anyway! We chilled a bit and enjoyed a latenight visit to Four Leaf Tea & Crepes across the street. This is what I love about Los Angeles - there are at least a few places that are open after dark.
WaterBobble | Life Straw
Seeking something to use up the last bits of my $50 Groupon on, I grabbed a light blue one of these attractively designed water bottles that was also sitting on the counter check out display area. It's a very cute design, called Water Bobble, that incorporates a compact charcoal water filter right in the neck of the bottle. The entire body is made of a lightweight, flexible recycled PET plastic. At $12, it was a little pricey for a plastic water bottle, but it was such a cool concept that I didn't mind too much. I've been using my Kleen Kanteen exclusively for quite a while, and longed to have an alternative that was a little more lightweight, and for one thing - satisfyingly squeezable. Plus, this takes all the waiting-around time of my Brita filter out of the equation - you can dump tap water directly into this from wherever, on the go - like a less intense hipstery version of the LifeStraw.
Upon Googling I found out why I felt compelled for this bottle - I should have been able to tell by the shape, but it was designed by the king of industrial design himself, Karim Rashid, garnering mentions from both TheDieline AND TreeHugger. It's kind of satisfying to find out afterwards something that I picked is vetted by other sources that I trust (but then, it's only proof I need to read both more often)
TheDieline - Water Bobble
TreeHugger - Could This Be the Perfect Water Bobble?
Amazon - Water Bobble 13-oz is $9.38, as everything is cheaper on Amazon, dammit.
The Wakasaya front entrance is even more terrifying at nighttime, but trust me it'll be ok
We celebrated our spoils by heading over to Wakasaya, the restaurant in the Little Tokyo tiled-walking district with the frenetically-decorated exterior. In years past I was always frightened away by the overkill and my own confusion over what it all meant and wouldn't set foot inside, but once you get in, the interior is quite pleasantly neutral. The restaurant boasts a quite satisfying carb loading combo special for $13 - you get a medium sized broth noodle bowl choice plus a rice bowl choice and a choice of beverage (includes beer!) Not bad if you are starving and need a fix right away. So good, but the food carb coma post-feeding is also a doozy.
Crystal Spa in Koreatown is my new favorite jimjilbang.
I took my older sister to Crystal Spa, the new Korean-style bathhouse spa that opened up on the third floor of the City Center mall, and relaxed in their clean, travertine lined spa area. I love the interior design and feeling of luxury and quietness. They have some kind of arrangement or sponsorship with Aveda, so inside the wet spa bathing area, you have unlimited access to Aveda brand shampoo/conditioner/shower products!!! The price is a little extra as a result, so it's $30 for entry - but it's comparable with the $30 fee at Wii Spa, another jjimjilbang in the area, even if it is much smaller in size comparison.
The best thing about this place is that because it's adults-only, it's very calm and quiet inside. I like hanging out in their salt room, which is almost like being inside of a huge glowing salt crystal - they line the walls in slabs of pink and red striated crystalline salt and light them from behind, and you lay out on burlap mats on top of a floor of heated pink rock salt. It is incredibly soothing and the heat, normally would be a bit too much and too much dry hotness, seems like it is soothed by the presence of the salt in the air, so it's very comfortable to lie there. I saw some people bring in magazines and just hang out.
For an extra $5, you can sleep there overnight on the weekend. (Some people actually are accustomed to putting up relatives who they can't fit in their apartments at the spa overnight - great alternative to a hostel) Most people seem to choose to sleep in their common area, which has an incredible heated floor and intriguing crescent shaped reclining pillows, and after midnight they turn off the lights and the TVs for quiet. Unfortunately we were there with a ton of auntie and uncle older folks who would all uniformly wake up and cough and snort loudly as they did so around 4 or 5 am - just have to remember to bring ear plugs next time. There is also a closed-off darkened Bio room with terra cotta walls and heated floors as well, so we ended up moving there and sleeping the rest of the morning. In the end, we got out of there at around 10 am, our skin glowy from having sweated and bathed and scrubbed and polished to our hearts content, went down to the first floor to the bakery across from the supermarket and had a breakfast pastry and a cup of tea. This is the way I would want to spend every week's end!
All the same players are here: It's a re-do of my first lolita meetup, from 2006!
lilbluesakura was in town for a rare visit! I hadn't seen her in nearly two years...
kuramew and I gathered for a quick jaunt to the Tea Rose Garden to enjoy tea in lolita style. I knew I was going to be at another event later, so I was trying to dress as "anime" as possible - what is more anime than schoolgirl? I tried to channel a kind of school uniform look with some random separates. In the end, I'm not really sure how lolita it turned out though, but it was a good excuse to wear a lot of things I had never worn before and had hanging around my closet.
I feel really lucky that my first egl meetup was with these two girls. I remember driving up to Glendora to meet with them and being really happy to discover two chill cool friendly girls at the table. Linda was one of the first people to sell me something on egl back in the day - and I still have the blouse and yukata I bought from her all those years ago, and her open, perky cheerfulness is so welcome in a sea of apathetic too-cool-for you personalities I have met since then. Lauren is consistently one of the most together and level headed people I know, and she just keeps getting cuter every meetup! I am happy that this is what I discovered upon getting into lolita - the best of what meeting people from online can be.
The closing part of the show, when all the girls came back up on stage, and every photographer was swarming. Standing room only, it was so packed and heated there was not just slight risk of suffocation death in the room
In lieu of going to Anime LA, which I deemed too far and was too lazy to head to, I got my anime dose this weekend by heading with my buddy Del to downtown's Bordello Bar for the second of their themed burlesque cabaret events - Anime Babes Burlesque. It was an incredibly packed crowd; what was surprising was that the crowd seemed to be 50/50 men and women in attendance. I wonder how many were anime nerds? Were they ALL anime nerds coming from the end of AnimeLA? The show was high energy and laced with humor - but I think the performer who won for most authentic anime nerdery was the gothy one who performed as Lust from Full Metal Alchemist - while the other performers were just putting a costume on, this one definitely had watched the anime and knew the storyline, peppering her routine with some audio voice clips from the anime itself. Most humorous - probably the Speed Racer tribute performance in which the performer got in the car with her cardboard cutout of Speed Racer for an explosive er, finish