Sakura Matsuri 2014

Washington, DC


Next stop in the travelog! I honestly wish I traveled like this for a living instead of a passing thing. I've been dreaming of going to a Sakura Matsuri for soo long now. My friends would always rave about it and gyaru bloggers would go all super dressed up yet I never had the opportunity. I got so lucky that the offer came up.

                  

So I decided to fly out for the one day event. The huge deciding factor was the weather. New York had a very extended winter this year and we still had cold fronts way into April. The DMV had temps in the high 70s already. I needed that warmth! 

A lot of people flew out for the event too! The shuttle flight is usually very empty on normal days especially at 7am. But the flight was packed. 

                      

This was the first time I've seen DC packed (this is my second trip there within a year) and man did it get hot.
Sakura Matsuri literally means Cherry Blossom Festival. This festival is a reminder of US's diplomatic ties to Japan.  I have an obsession with Sakura flowers so it's was important for me to go and have a hanami. Hanami is a sakura viewing party usually enjoyed by having a picnic under the cherry blossoms.

                           

Spring #ootd 

Lace Crop Top and Textured Skater Skirt from Charlotte Russe. 

Being my first Sakura Matsuri, I didn't quite what to expect. I firstly was expecting sakura everywhere. Hardly the case, the long winter had delayed the blooms.  However the spirit had still stayed alive. Plenty of cosplayers, families, lolitas, and so many others had gather together to celebrate the festival. 

Lolitas <3 

                        

Girl cosplaying as Fairy Tail's Lucy 

                            

And I took pictures with strangers like a boss! 

                               

Her cosplay was the defination of dedication. 

And I met very talented musicians straight from Japan! 

Troll face selfie with the very cute Hideking Project. I swooned at how cute they are and extremely energic singers.  They did soo much despite the heat and their  garments. I fell in love. Especially the one with the glasses, omg he was so cute. If only he spoke more English, I was sooo going to chat him up like the crazy fan girl I am (lol don't tell my boyfriend :P)

I got an autograph and everything. Hopefully they will perform in New York soon.

                                     

Well next year hopefully I'll be able to get to go again. It's was wonderful and I'm very grateful that I had the opportunity to travel to DC for a second time.  Next year I will definitely wear a yukata, gyaru style and everything.

Press Tea Bloggers in Wonderland Event

So you know I am expert of draining my youth away. You know 2 jobs, school, and full time blogger. I had a professor who once told me "Well I had 3 jobs in College, no excuse for you." Bitch, I'm a Visual Merchandiser and a Blogger, your college years ain't got shit on my life. Albeit you can imagine that I dropped that class.

Surprisingly, I do manage to have to have a social life. I mean when my manager is not blowing up my phone and I'm not working open to close in a damn mall, I do get out! Have a drink or two with a few friends, catch up and hang out once every other week. 

But believe it or not, I never managed to hang out with other bloggers. I mean, I do live in Small Town America, but I'm not far from the city and I do occasionally get invites to events (SHOCKERS!). 

Well a friend of mine is an active reader of  Lace and Combat Boots who with partnership with Press Tea, was hosting a blogger's event. 

Press Tea is a little tea shop which is like the tea version of Starbucks. Like omg their menu is amazing with so many drinks and deserts made from tea. 

I was a little hesitate about going because I'm not quite a fashion blogger (I failed at that soo long ago), I consider myself a lifestyle blogger who has a flare for fashion (like who niche blogs anymore anyway). But luckily, I had enough courage to go. 

You can see my nappy head standing in the back. I was probably the youngest and the tallest. I kind of felt awkward speaking at times because my shyness I got the better of me but I can't help but feel I met some really interesting people who had interesting stories (way more interesting than mines) 

I felt so under prepared too. I lost most of my makeup that day, my outfit was slightly ill fitted, and I decided not to wear a bra and just flaunt a bandeau (worst idea ever). 

While we mingled and talked about ranging topic such as travels, love life ans of course tea! 

We were extremely lucky to able to drink samples of their menu. My mother kinda ruined tea for me early on but I still some polite sips of the Caramel Teacuchinno. It amazed me how good it tasted. 

Our amazing barista, Allison just kept the drinks coming! 

The funny thing was when multiple bloggers shouted "Wait don't drink yet, we gotta snap pictures" 

Inception! 

And of course we ended the event with the classic shoe photo.  

Such a good event and Melanie made promises to do more events soon so that'll be cool to look forward to. 

My schedule is kinda full with Sakura Matsuri, A makeup launch event, a fashion show, and a dance show so please forgive me but my blog posts will be backlogged.

Geo Nudy Blue Review

For some girls, falsies are the must wear thing. For others it might just be a bold eyeliner. For me, bright contact lenses are the must do of my look. 

Call it unhealthy, but I dont think I look good if I'm not wearing color contacts and tout them with pride almost all the time. 

As you know, I purchased a pair from Lensvillage last month and got a pair of lenses for free with my order. Its almost obligatory that I give you insights of my newest lenses in my collection. 

You see I'm no stranger to Geo nor am I a stranger to the Nudy Series. This is the 3rd lense I bought from Geo Medical and the second from their Nudy series. 

These lenses have a diameter of 14mm, 8.6 base curve, and a water content of 38%.

Here's my thing with these lenses. Ever since I got hooked to the Dueba Puffy 3-tones, I can't come to love these lenses but I can't hate em either. I hated Eos Natural 3-tones and the Geo Nudy Grays used to be my favorites. Its a complicated relationship.1

For starters, it gives very little enlargement. Which is good for girls with big eyes but not so good for girls like me who don't. 

Versuses---> 

Shes wearing Geo Nudy Browns but you get the gist of the argument. They are perfect on her. 

So in all fairness Enlargement gets a 3.5/5 

However in terms of color. Its really nice in natural way. Would I like it to be a tid more vibrant? Hell yes! But it works very well with what it does. 

However it only fairs so well in different light situations. This score is going to be a bit bias lol.

4/5 for Color 

As far as comfort go, I do believe that Geo Medical as a whole, their contacts are less comfortable than most major circle lenses company. However comfort is the most bias scoring because everyone is different.  My eyes don't get dried out easily  but as far these contacts go 6-7 hours at most without feeling them irritatingly drying out versus 8+ hours for most contacts. Way better than the Geo Angel Blue which could only fare for about 4 hours. Still dryness is always disappointing.

So 3.5/5 for comfort.
  

Overall, these lenses are a good staple lenses for everyday look. Its not as gorgeous as my Puffy 3-tones but it does the job. 

Travellog: Bahamas

So I've been neglecting this blog long enough and for good reason. I've been getting a surplus of event invites and I've been traveling.

Its been quite a while since I traveled anywhere by plane (around 10 years). I was quite anxious since the world has became such a different place since I traveled in the past. Its gotten to the point I gotta murmur a prayer every time I get on a bus or train during my daily commute. 

In the wake of Flight 370, it took all that was in me to get on the plane and not spaz out every five minute. Instead I spazzed out every time i felt turbulance and you feel all the turbulance possible when sitting on a Airbus. 

But we landed safely in Nassau, Bahamas with a lot of drunk Spring Breakers. 

And unlucky me, I had lost my ipod chord so no pictures our entire first day. 

Because of the last minute of our trip. (We were originally suppose to go to Tokyo for Tokyo Fashion Week), we had a hard time booking a place to stay. So we rented a house  through Airbnb. Our accomadation was cheaper than staying in a hotel and was conviently very spacious. 

I appologize that pictures dont truly capture how spacious it was nor how pretty cuz we kinda trashed it. It had 2 bedrooms one with a queen size bed and the other with a king size bed so the house easily accomodates 4 people. My only peeve was only the king size bedroom had a vanity mirror (and i obviously didnt get that room).

We were a bit far from the downtown area so we had to travel by jitney. Instead of huge commercial bussing like there is in most cities, Nassau only uses van sizes bussing. We were served by the 14s which never took the same exact route twice but it got us to and from downtown. The only downside was that bussing ended as soon as sundown. Taxis are fairly expensive even the shortest distance will cost you $20

Also another good thing was USD was used on the island and didnt have to be converted as well as have the same worth as Bahamian Dollar.

We didn't get to do much because the trip was actually a working-vacation. So the most we really did was go to the beach. 

On our last day, I was co-hosting beach party so I only have pictures from chilling on the beach during preparations.

In all honestly it was a very relaxing break from New York cold. However there isn't much you can do unless you are on a cruise or at Spring Break event. I also felt a little alienated by locals who were constantly staring at me and I couldn't find out for what the reason. No matter, I really do want to go again. It was a surprisingly safe place to be. 

Well to next time cheries, I have plenty of adventures to share.

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A Size 8 Model is Plus Size

 

Hello Lovelies, above is a bit of a sneak peek to a project I'm working on :). Lately I've done a few model gigs and I figured why not I really go into it seriously part time. Something to help pay college and learn how to take critism. I've signed on with a local agency and honestly I have a very long way to go before I can become anything. But I love it and it's such a cool experience so far. 

One thing that has been firmly placed as an obstacle however just happens to be my size. I have a gut, big boobs, and wide hips which all contribute to me being in between a Size 8 and Size 10. What I didn't know was it made me a plus size model.

At first I thought wow that's crazy because I mostly fit into mediums and even smalls but I didn't throw any contest to it. It's whatever. What really blew me over was that even in casting calls I often got rejected for being "too small". If I was to go to a straight size casting, I would be told I'm too big. Seriously?? (>__<)

There is no fair playing field in modeling, your either a size 4 or a 14. No one wants to see an Average Annie. 

Okay, cool, cool... maybe I should look at exotic modeling and club promotions. Like Crystal Renay, you know....

You got to have a big boobs, an even bigger butt, and an even flatter stomach. I no longer have a flat stomach, I have a bit of pudge and my ass is not that round. Honestly no type of workout could make me look like that^^. It all only comes down to either working out until I'm a size 6 or getting plastic surgery. Both things I'm not too ecstatic about and even question the possibility. I probably can't even get down to a size 6 because my hips are wide and bony.

Even Alternative Modeling is a tough one. I don't have enough tattoos or piercing for that -___-. Yea maybe I could dress a certain way for certain shoots but any model could do Alternative if it doesn't involve tattoos and piercing.

For now, I'm just keep hitting thy gym whenever there is space on my heavy schedule (I mean 2 jobs, college, and modeling- no biggie right). 

But you know what's really crazy?

 

A campaign like this. One the right is a size 4 model and on the left is a size 8. 

No, fashion is not created equal and it shouldn't be played off as if it is. There is no such thing as one size fits all. Instead of putting a regular size 8 they should  of a size 14 on the cover for some realism.

 I honestly don't vibe to this shoot and I wish they had done it properly.

Well that's all I had to say lovelies. 

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