On Friday, September 4th, I flew to Los Angeles, California, accompanied by my stepfather (who had told me he had a business meeting there, but actually ended up to be lying - he just wanted to spend the day with me!). The reason I was down in LA was for Pacific Media Expo - an anime and fashion convention at the Pasadena Convention Center.
Friday was a fun day. Michael and I walked around the 3rd Street Promenade, shopped, ate delicious burgers and shakes at Johnny Rocket's, then walked down to the giant beach, where we strolled in the sand and relaxed as the sun set lower in the sky.
After that, we ate a delicious meal consisting of ramen and hot sake. We picked up some flowers at a local store, a thank-you gift to my friend Lauren (and her husband) for allowing me to stay at their house and carpool to the convention the following morning. He dropped me off and flew back to the Bay Area.
That night I met Lauren and another good friend of mine, ChRi, in person for the first time! We'd only conversed online before that night. We stayed up late talking and packing for the convention.
The next morning, it was time to head over to PMX! Lauren, ChRi, and I welcomed Aini (a local Lolita) to our traveling crew and we all set off to Pasadena. Our hotel room wasn't quite ready, so we shopped around to get food for the convention, and ran into some pretty hilarious looking cupcakes at Whole Foods.
Soon after, ChRi and I waited in line at the convention center to be the first ones inside the fashion boutique. We hadn't changed into our outfits yet, and were still in T-shirts and sweat pants from the previous night. I felt a bit intimidated at the fact that many others were already dressed up! Regardless, we were the first two through the door, granting us access to see (and buy!) anything we wanted from the brands that were attending the convention, which were Baby, the Stars Shine Bright, Alice and the Pirates, Bling Up, Lorina Liddell, and R-series! I bought a few small things.
Later on, I finally changed into my convention outfit! I wore Innocent World's Astronomical Clock JSK.
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Jumperskirt: Innocent World
Headbow, purse, socks: Angelic Pretty
Shoes: Emily Temple Cute
Blouse: Amavel
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ChRi taught Senda, one of the owners of Lorina Liddell, how to pose Jojo-style, and I'm thankful that I snapped this hilarious photo in time!
The Japanese fashion swap meet was that evening. I met some wonderful new friends while waiting in line! I bought a new top and cardigan at the meet. Some of my friends had great luck with their sales! That night we went to bed fairly early after an exhausting day.
Sunday was the Chou no Enraku Tea Party, in downtown Pasadena, and I was very excited to attend! It was my first event tea party. Kira Imai, a famous Japanese artist that designed the popular Angelic Pretty dresses Cat's Tea Party, Perfume of Wonderland, and La Princesse Sucre was there. She looked so adorable! At the tea, many of our waiters were quite handsome, so the guests at my table (five of which happened to be members of my own SF community that I just hadn't met yet) decided to make up a wild dating sim game and decide what stereotypes our waiters would fall under. Towards the end of the party, always bold ChRi took a photo with all the waiters, asking them to do poses that reflected their stereotype.
There was a Bingo game at the tea party, and I won second place, which was a gorgeous Excentrique corset! I wore it for the rest of the day (after picking it up at the boutique later on).
As a few friends and I were on our way out of the tea party, waiting for a car to pick us up, some rude strangers harassed us due to our clothing, and after one particularly foul-mouthed man threatened ChRi, a new friend Alyssa and I instantly stood up - but Alyssa was more prepared, for she had pepper spray. After Alyssa made it clear that she wasn't afraid to use it, a security guard came over and the man finally left us alone. Shaking but feeling angry and invigorated, we all laughed the whole ride back to the convention center about the crazy thing that had just transpired. When we got back, we asked the valet to take an epic squad photo. Don't mess with us! We're tougher than we look.
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| From left: Alyssa, me, Ruby, ChRi, Lauren, Aini |
We all returned to the convention center for a private photo session with Imai Kira!
We had a fun afternoon and evening, walking around the convention center and attending the Lolita 201 panel. After that, we relaxed in our room for a bit, freshened up, and then Lauren and Aini took me to the convention's speed dating event! Lauren and Aini are both married, and I'm moving in two week so none of us were looking for anything at all but a good time. There were some very interesting characters there! All the women sat in a large U-shape at desks, while the men were told to walk past us and make quick attempts at impressing us with dances, silly walks, catch phrases, and more. Some of them seemed to just want to have fun, but some were quite awkward indeed! It was a "ladies' choice" event, so each man had a number on his arm, and at the end of each round the women would write down the numbers of the top five men she wished to speak with. I met many kinds of men, and had a lot of fun.
Upon returning to the room, ChRi and Sabien (a friend we'd met earlier at the tea party) welcomed us back. We all talked for a long time, and then ChRi and I walked Sabien back to her car. On the way back, we noticed Senda in the lobby, and decided to quickly say hello. He asked us if we liked the music he was planning on using for the fashion show the following day (or, by that point it was really later on *that* day, since it was past midnight) - and that seemingly quick request turned into two hours of talking! He wanted to find a new song to use for the fashion show as well, so I showed him a few of my favorites, including one of my favorite songs of all time, Verloren by Ninth Parallel. He was a huge fan! ChRi and I returned to the room to find Lauren and Aini fast asleep.
The next day was the final day of the convention. I wandered around the halls with Aini while ChRi and Lauren prepared for the fashion show (they were both models). Finally, the time for the fashion show came, and it was wonderful! And when Lorina Liddell's section came on, my heart soared as I heard Verloren play. Senda had chosen to use it! I was overjoyed.
After the fashion show, I went to the boutique one last time to see if there was any new merchandise. Sadly there was not, so I went out to dinner with some new friends, Tina, James, and Cody. It was my first real meal since breakfast on Saturday. It had been a very busy weekend.
Later on that evening, after we'd helped clean up the boutique, we headed back to Lauren's house for the night. I couldn't believe the convention was over - it had all flown by so quickly. The next morning, I bid a bittersweet farewell to my friends and flew back to San Francisco.
I can't wait until my next convention!
