Smile For A Sweeter Day

Happy Winter Break

2011-12-10T02:36:00.000-08:00

Winter Break is here, yaaaay! I haven't actually been THAT busy with school or anything, so it's almost the same feeling as still being in school. One sewing class only keeps you so busy. I'm actually really proud of myself though. In August, I didn't even know how to work a sewing machine. Now I can do quite a bit! Look what I made (in one night!):

I've also learned how to make pajama pants, a pillow case, a skirt with fullness, and a weird looking napkin. I know how to use patterns and simply follow the directions, cut, work the sewing machine, various seam and stitch techniques, use a serger (I love those things x.x), and use different sewing tools.
My school uses Bernina 1008 model sewing machine. I love it so much and it's so easy to use, I bought one for myself.

I have learned enough to where I can start working on COSPLAY next. I was too late in enrolling in classes for next semester, so I may not be going to school in the spring... more time for sewing, I suppose (and to find a job...).
I'll be working on Momo Karuizawa cosplay from Project Justice!

I have wanted to cosplay as her since I was little, playing on the Dreamcast all day. Her character also made me really want to play tennis. When I got into high school, I joined the tennis team. I sucked so bad and didn't really enjoy it, so I quit. But Momo is still adorable, whatever! >w<

So far, what I have for Momo is (what I hope) all the materials I'll need.

I shall update as I go along in the process of making Momo Karuizawa cosplay. Pretty excited. :)

Two Dreams in one night: Zombie Pirate!

2011-11-27T13:31:00.001-08:00

A zombie outbreak came from nowhere. I kept living the same day over and over to be safe. I was in a city, walking down a street, zombies following me, people being bitten. I make my way to a one story building. after going up some steps, I break through the door, shut it behind me, and join a school assembly of sorts. The zombies get passed the door and bite a few ppl behind me. I rush home, lock my door, lock the windows and remain quiet. I do this every day. Some days, my dad gets bitten and we lock him in the garage. Some days my mom gets bitten. But after the day is over, everyone and everything goes back to normal and you get another chance to not get bitten. Like a level in a game.

Another:
In seemingly the same city as my zombie dream, I meet a rich white blonde kid somehow, I think after rushing in on a princess's wedding? I pretend I'm a part of the wedding party and have him escort me across the street cause I told him its an emergency that I get away. He is wearing what looks like pirate gear with a sword latched to his side for easy access. I tell him we need to go somewhere safe. He reluctantly leads me to his collection room. There's a bed in it with a bunch of old pirate suits and boots laid out everywhere and an assortment of swords propped up against the wall. There's also mirrored closet doors. He's a pirate otaku. He tells me stay put until its safe to leave. But really nothing is after me, it's just my paranoid mind left over from the zombie section of the dream. I have fun getting dressed up in one of the pirate outfits and pick out a very thin sword. I walk out to explore the rest of his house.
He has two different bedrooms. A blue carpeted messy one with a lot of gaming and video equipment, and one that looks more presentable with hardwood floors, a wall of windows looking out on the city (it looked like new York or something with a bakery across the street), a big bed near the windows, a dual sewing machine at the bottom of the bed. It has two sides that look the same, with needles and presser feet both on the right and left. Not sure why you would need this feature.
He had two big wooden roller shelves next to the door that looked like they came from a bakery, filled with different kinds of delicious cookie. I started eating one, and then another, and another until he told me to stop because his mom counts how many cookies disappear each day and he'd get in trouble if she thought he ate too many. I agreed I'd stop eating them, but pulled out a plastic bag and stuffed as many as I could into it and threw it in my purse. The rest is a blur.

Traveling to Russia...

2011-10-03T04:01:00.000-07:00

The trip to Russia was the very first time I had ever been outside of the United States or even on an airplane period. I completely HATED the plane ride there and back. I flew from L.A. to Paris, Paris to St Petersburg. Being on a plane for 10.5 hours straight gave me severe motion sickness. I even threw up as we were landing in Paris. I started to feel horrible after about 5 hours of being in the plane, and from there it felt like I was trapped. You simply have to endure the pain. What else can you do? When I got off the plane, whenever I stood still I felt like my body was still moving. This lasted for 2 days after getting off, there and back. Now that I know I get bad motion sickness, I won't be so willing to travel for more than 5 hours ever again... unless of course it's for Japan. (Like a LONG stay in Japan).

The reason I decided to visit St Petersburg was simply to visit my brother who lives there and meet his wife and newborn baby. I hadn't seen him for over 2 years, so I thought it would be nice for him as well to see some familiar faces. Hopefully next time I see him will be in America. :D

The very first thing I noticed when I arrived in Saint Petersburg was the driving. Everyone drives FAST. Not only do they drive fast, they also change lanes abruptly and often (cutting people off), tailgate, park in lanes that are meant for driving, park on the sidewalks, run red lights, almost run over pedestrians, and so much more that would scare the living daylight out of me in America. In one particular intersection near the Galeria mall, I saw one crazy tangled up traffic jam with cars going every which way in the intersection. There were so many cars that entered the intersection at a red light and got stuck there, and the cars with the green light still tried to weave in and out through the cars stuck in the middle. It wasn't a typical 4 way intersection either. It was a rounded one with more than 4 cross streets. If that had happened here in the U.S., I'm convinced there would have been accidents and people freaking out, getting out of their cars, not knowing what to do. Yet I didn't see one accident in the 2 weeks I was there.

Let me say how dead TIRED I was the whole 2 weeks from the enormous amount of walking that was done. Before I got to Russia, I was under the impression that my brother owned a car. He never told me that my sister and I would have to take the metro everywhere and walk. He also never told us that he lived about 15 miles away from where we were staying and that it takes about an hour and 15 min to travel that distance. Walking to the metro station, taking the metro, getting off and taking a 16 passenger van called a Marshrutka, and then walking to his apartment. Although the worst part of the walking was going up and down Nevsky Prospekt, and especially when we visited the Hermitage. I never thought my feet could hurt that bad. Every single step I took was a surprise to me. Mind over matter? I don't know, but it felt like the opposite because my mind was screaming, "STOP! ...NOW!... WHY AREN'T YOU STOPPING!?" x.x
Over time I was able to get a little bit used to all the walking. My feet didn't stop hurting, but they were used to walking and they were able to turn the screaming into "I'll just have to deal with this (-.-)". Luckily my sister and me had each other to take turns massaging our feet.
Now whenever I walk a lot and my feet start to hurt a little bit, I now know what 100x worse feels like. I can be grateful to that. I have NO idea how Russian girls walk around the city all day in HIGH HEELS. And they strut their stuff well, too! Mad respect to Russian women.

And now a series of pictures with captions:

Reads: Sex with Friends

Sailor boys.

Church of spilled blood. It's cool inside, but the outside is cooler.

Inception.

Two famous bridges on the NEVA river.

Me walking up St Isaac's Cathedral.

View from St Isaac's Cathedral

(Lots of construction going on in that area).

Me and my bro walking to the fountains at Peter the Great's summer palace.

At the fountains aka Summer Palace in Petergof (Peterhof).

In Russia, everyone has to get married at a government building, so couples like to get married and then take wedding photos at cool places of their choosing.

In front of the Hermitage (the Winter Palace), where millions of pieces of art work can be found.

I thought this guy was pretty cool.

In the Hermitage, hungry and dead tired of walking. We only had the energy to see a portion of the art. Of course you can't see all of it in one visit, but at this point the only the thing I wanted to see was food.

On one of the days that my sister and I weren't able to spend time with the bro, we decided to visit this amusement park. It was like a tiny knockoff Disneyland. But I had fun. :3

Posing as a statue at Peter the Great's summer home.

Peter and Paul Fortress, where the tsars' bodies are.

A jail room, where they kept political prisoners in Peter and Paul Fortress.

T.G.I. Fridays! I've never been a huge fan of TGI's, but I was so happy to eat there. <3

Russia Haul

2011-09-08T19:26:00.000-07:00

Before I start posting pictures of the goodies I obtained from my trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, I'd just like to say I am not good at taking pictures and I don't have a fancy camera, as you will see.

I had a great time shopping at the malls in Saint Petersburg. They have a lot of stores that I can't find at my local malls or shopping centers, my favorite being Koton (http://www.koton.com.tr/EN/). I don't see the United States on the map of stores on their site, so I assume there are none here. I thought maybe there might be in NYC, but apparently not! Without further ado..

This dress, three shirts, and scarf are all from Koton.

I'm really falling in love with you...

Super Girl Jam! I love purple and skateboarding(not the act, just like to watch).

A sailor-looking shirt with red bow on the shoulder. It really fits wonderfully.

This velvety blue dress I bought at a store called "be free" on Nevsky Prospkt (one of the main streets).

No idea what the store was called, but cool shirt.

Kitty <3

Reminds me of this graffiti I saw walking around the city.

As far as souvenirs go

Very cheap egg, but I had to have it.

That's it! I tried not to spend too much money. I really wanted a Bosco hoodie that said Russia on it, but they were like 4500 rubles, which is a little more than $150.