9 posts tagged “friends”

Moonmallow (the adorable plushie above) and I hope you and your loved ones have some very happy hollydays this year. ^___^ I've been busy with buying pressies for my friends and family, wrapping the pressies, and sending out cards to people over the past few weeks. Everything seems like a blur-- but a very happy blur!

I'm sending many warm thoughts your way. <3

So much has happened since I left for BlytheCon. I'm not sure I can go through every single thing I've experienced, but I'm definitely going to try. To sum it up in a sentence: BlytheCon was amazing. I can't believe how busy I was over the past few days!

When I arrived at Rebecca's house in Indiana, everything seemed to fall into place. All my insecurities disappeared... She made me feel so welcome and I'm really thankful for that. As soon as Shawn and Ryan left, Rebecca and I got down to some serious dolly business. We talked for a long time as we got ready for our trip to Atlanta the next day. I helped her make a sign for her booth while she cut up some business cards, and I showed her all the dollies and toys I brought with me. I really felt like we had known each other for years.

Sherri arrived early the next morning. Like I told both her and Rebecca, I was so nervous about meeting Sherri. O__O She's been one of my idols ever since I started collecting Blythes; her saran and mohair reroots are incredible-- one of the absolute best rerooters in the world! I felt intimidated before Sherri arrived, but as soon as she arrived, my nerves settled down. She was so down-to-earth and so much like me... I immediately felt like I could relate to her, and that doesn't happen very often when I meet new people.

Our ride to Georgia was extremely long: about nine hours. Surprisingly, I didn't fall asleep once. Haha, Sherri, Rebecca and I talked the entire time-- about dollies, Pet Society, our lives, and so much more. In fact, we talked about so much, I'm almost afraid I'm going to forget some of the details. A long car ride was the perfect way to get to know Rebecca and Sherri even more.

We were able to settle into Rebecca's mom's house really quickly. I think it's because we were all so tired and hyped up for the next few days. For a while, we sat around exchanging dolly clothes and stories about our girls. I've never had the chance to talk for hours on end about dollies in my pajamas before... I wish I could do it more often. I felt almost spoiled for having such a great vacation so far. My sleep was wonderfully deep and comfortable.

Friday was the day dedicated to the Georgia Aquarium. Sherri, Rebecca, Rebecca's mom and I all went. We were all a little disappointed at how little there was to do at the aquarium, but everything that was there was really beautiful. My favorite part of our visit was definitely the tunnel that's underneath water. To be surrounded completely by water, fish and sharks was incredible. We all loved that part so much that we decided to walk through the tunnel a second time before we left.

One of my other favorite things about going to the aquarium was how interested people were in the Blythes we brought with us. Sherri brought Penny (her @Nai custom); Rebecca brought Tallulah (Betsy's crazy cross-eyed custom); and I brought Nami. We not only had visitors coming up to us to ask us about our dollies, but the aquarium's staff expressed even more interest. A security guard wanted to hold one of our dolls. A few of the staff members in charge of taking photos asked me a bunch of questions about where Blythes could be found. And the absolute best Blythe experience was at the end of our aquarium trip. As we were paying for our items in the gift shop, cashiers started piling up behind the registers to ask us all questions about Blythes. They couldn't get enough of our girls and left customers waiting in line and at registers so they could see the dolls! Rebecca, Sherri and I all took turns showing them our dollies. They loved changing the doll eyes. Rebecca and Sherri got a few photos of all the staff people (like seven or eight, I think) asking us questions.

Dinner that night was fun. The four of us went to a restaurant where we had some delicious meals. I had a shrimp and alfredo meal. *drool* It was so delicious and it was a relaxing experience to have before the busy day ahead of us.

Finally. Saturday was BlytheCon. All of us were so antsy before we left! We had packed most of our stuff up the night before so we got to the con on time. Because Rebecca was a vendor so we could get into the building before any of the other attendees (which I was happy about because I didn't want to be stuck outside in the cold). The girl she was supposed to share a table with was sick so Rebecca had the entire table for herself. I helped her set everything up and went back-and-forth between the convention room and outside, where more and more people were starting to arrive. I switched between taking my three girls out; a lot of people seemed to already know who they were, especially Pigeon! I had fun posing for photos with my dolls and everyone was incredibly nice. <3

The convention was so much fun, but it all seems like a blur now. Everything was so fast paced. I somehow lucked out and was one of the first people to register. Because of that, I got into the con fast enough to check out all the vendors and their items. I snatched up everything I was instantly attracted to-- oh gosh, my loot is all so cute! I keep looking at all the clothes and accessories I bought.

I was constantly meeting new people. A lot of the people are friends I've had online for a few years. I felt like crying a few times because I was so excited to actually meet some of them in person. After all these years... finally! Pigeon's customizer, Megan, was there. She was one of the main reasons I knew I had to attend BlytheCon. She was such a sweet person and I feel like I know Pigeon more because of meeting Megan. I feel bad about not remembering every person's face; so much was happening at the time so I knew it would be impossible to remember everything.

One of the most exciting parts of the day was the raffle. I only bought five tickets but THREE of my numbers happened to get picked. O____O Because one of the items I won was a double, I only got two of the prizes-- I didn't mind though. The big prize I won was a free mohair reroot for a Blythe. The second prize I won was a free Blythe application for an iPhone. Because I don't have an iPhone, I gave my prize to Rebecca. I was so excited (and surprised) that I was shaking the entire time after my numbers were called.

Needless to say, the entire event was more fun than I could have ever imagined. Like I told Rebecca and Sherri later on, the BlytheCon trip was the best vacation I've ever had. Getting to know both of them is probably what I love most from the experience. Unlike the friends I had in high school and college, I connected with Rebecca and Sherri. They didn't make me feel socially awkward and we shared so many interests. I think it would have been impossible to not love those two girls.

All of my photos can be viewed on my Facebook BlytheCon 2009 album and in my BlytheCon 2009 Vox Collection.

Many thanks to Shawn and Ryan who drove me all the way to Indiana. Many more thanks to both Sherri and Rebecca for being the sweetest friends ever. And a lot of other "thank yous" go to those of you who followed my adventure on Twitter!

I first started playing Pet Society on Facebook about four or five months ago. I was bored one night, and I remembered how Celena had urged me to start playing even months before then. So I hopped on Facebook, thinking that I would just check out the new game. After five minutes of playing around with designing my own pet, I was hooked.

A little while after that, my pet Tea Leaf was born. (Actually, it may have been a long while since I couldn't decide what I wanted my pet to look like.) Tea Leaf's resemblance to Yukimo and Fru, my past and present hamsters, was no mere coincidence. I wanted to have a virtual, pixelated representation of my love for white hammies online. Pet Society provided me with the perfect opportunity! ^___^ Everything about Tea Leaf reminds me of my hammies-- ahh, such love! I will admit that I went through an "adjustment period" where I kept changing the way Tea Leaf looked, but I eventually settled on the way she appears above.

Once I was happy with my pet, I moved onto other important business: designing my pet's house. I wanted to kick myself for not starting to play Pet Society a few months earlier, because I missed out on some great items. Thanks to some really close friends, I was gifted a lot of the kawaii items I now own. <3 These past couple of months have given me the chance to accumulate a ton of house items, as seen in the screen shots below.

My house currently has seven rooms, but these three rooms are the most developed ones at the moment. The first image displays Tea Leaf's main playroom-- hence, all the plushies! The second image shows Tea Leaf's bedroom (pink, of course). And the third image shows the kitchen. I'd still like to do a little more remodeling with the kitchen in the future, but I'm satisfied with its current appearance for now.

As I've mentioned on other online communities, I am very particular about how I do things on Pet Society. For example, while Tea Leaf's appearance changes from time to time, I'm extremely critical of what she wears. I usually don't like throwing together set items (since everyone else always does that; I like to stand out), so I like to coordinate items in different ways-- like according to color and/or theme. Also, I don't get every single new item that comes out. I mostly just buy things that appeal to me at first glance. Once I'm happy with more rooms, I may start buying items that will increase in value so I can start trading for rarer kawaii items. ^___^

All in all, I highly recommend playing Pet Society. It's available on both MySpace and Facebook, although I, myself, prefer using it on Facebook. It's a great way to socialize online; there are amazingly cute pets to make and play with; and there are new things (items, stores, etc.) released all the time.

In other Facebook news, I would like to introduce my new URL. Recently, Facebook allowed its users to create usernames for their accounts. I was going to go with my actual name, but after thinking about it, I realized that my name would be changing once I'm married. (Facebook isn't allowing people to change their URLs after the confirmation step.) Anyway, I went with the following URL:

facebook.com/happilycandied

There was a specific reason I chose this name, and I'll talk about that some other time! ^__~

I received an awesomely amazing package the other day, full of presents from a friend that I met through my Vox blog. It's pretty wonderful how blogging about my kawaii adventures has become not just a hobby, but a way of life for me. <3

I'm planning to go into more detail about the crazy-fun package that I received in an upcoming post, but I just had to share the first photos of the package's contents today. I don't want my happiness to go to waste! Tee hee.

The little sweetheart in this post is my very first nendoroid figure. She's sitting right next to me as I type up this post, and I can't seem to get enough of her cuteness. Like my friend told me in the letter he sent along with the package, I'm going to be starting up yet another very expensive hobby now, all thanks to him!

Note: My cubby shelves, which are full tons of my toys (including most of my Blythes), are peaking out in the background of one of my photos. ^^

I had some really great responses in my last post so I thought I'd do a follow-up post on how I've been spending my time since then. ^__^ Thanks to Virna's mention of Gaia Online, I decided to check out the site again. I had signed up for at least two accounts a few years ago, but I could never really get into the game concept. At the time, Gaia seemed more like an online community (something a bit slower than I was used to), rather than a game like Maple Story (which is more of an RPG).

Since my last rendezvous with Gaia Online, I've gained a little more experience with really studying sites. I have found that in order to really enjoy something online, I really have to jump into it-- full force. I signed up for a new account and before I knew it, I was in the deep end of Gaia's forums and avatar designing. That said, the character and concept of Momokii Heart was born. ^^

As noted above in my little story of Momokii Heart, I've gone into more depth with creating a background story for this virtual character of mine. Momokii Heart is extra special because her entire look reflects her background. I picked out a lot of rarer items to equip her with (which cost me a pretty penny), but they're all worth it. While Maple Story allows players to both design characters and then fight them to gain levels, Gaia immerses people in mostly the design aspects. I'm on a little hiatus from Maple Story and Gaia just feels right at the moment.

I have a few favorite things to do on Gaia. For one thing, visiting the towns is fun to no end. ^o^ Basically, I get to visit towns without having to download any type of programs or applications. (My computer is already equipped with Flash and JavaScript.) It's like visiting a chat room, only I get to speak with other people through Momokii Heart. In the towns, I get to visit other peoples' homes, and I get to take them back to my home if we want to just sit and chat one on one. I get to see time pass by as we talk by watching the lighting change. A gradience of light changes as it change from morning to night; it's fun seeing how time goes by in something virtual. 

While I like visiting the forums every now and then (which is one of the biggest social experiences on Gaia), I really don't like participating too much there. I get really tired of the petty drama that goes on online, and I can't really seem to escape it-- whether I'm on a doll forum, or something like Gaia or Maple Story. Stuff like that is just a given, I guess.

I do, however, like checking out all the events that Gaia hosts. Right now, Momokii Heart is entered in an avatar contest in the Avatar Arena. It seems like she's in the top 500 right now (yay!) and I'm really rooting for her. I thought up the little story at the beginning of this post specifically for the contest, but I feel like ths story really fits Momokii. <3 If she wins, or even gets in the top ten avatars this week, my account gets a couple thousand gold. (*__*)

Another thing that I'm really liking about the "game" (er, community) is the currency. I hear a lot of complaints about the system when skimming through the forums, but I like how it's all arranged. Basically, almost every item can be bought using forum gold (gained anywhere from simply navigating through the site to playing games or entering contests), or bought by using my own money (which I can pay through with PayPal). Gold can buy items like clothes, pets (which are virtual plushies), furniture for a home, new skin colors and other miscellaneous things. I probably spend more on virtual clothes than my own clothes. *shuffles feet* I prefer it this way!

If anyone who comes across this post of mine is interested in joining up, feel free to let me know so I can send you an invite! If you accept an invite to Gaia, you can get a nice chunk of gold to start off with. (I tested this out, and it looks like an invited person can get at least 850 gold right off the bat.) Just leave me a comment letting me know that you're interested and I'll get in contact with you through a private message. ^^ If you're someone who isn't into games like Maple Story because you're not fond of the fighting monster part of it, then Gaia might be a nice alternative. It has to do more with being part of a community and customizing a character by playing around with cute items. Gaia is completely free, unless you decide you want to put your own money forward for some of the Gaia Cash Shop items. It's pretty awesome

Over 143 posts have been made, 488 photos have been uploaded, and 360 neighbors have been added to Kawaii in the past year. And in all the chaos of blogging, a lot of love has formed! Today (August 3rd) marks the one year anniversary of my Kawaii blog here at Vox, and to help celebrate the occasion, I've planned another fun event that any Voxer can join. ^___^ The event will take place from August 3rd to August 10th, so while the contest is running, I will not be making any new posts to my blog. In order to be eligible for this event, please read all of the rules provided below.

How to Enter

This is a raffle that I have put my whole heart into, so keep in mind that there is no cost or penalty to enter this event whatsoever. The only real "rules" for this event are that 1) you must be a Vox member, and 2) you must follow the steps below:

1. Read the entire post over so you know exactly what's going on. ^^
2. If you decide to participate, leave a comment in this post with your email address, and tell me that you're joining. (You can scramble your address if you want, since I know people worry about receiving spam mail.)
3. Copy and paste this form and fill out the following information in an email to milkeyes@gmail.com
   
• Name (first and last):
• Vox URL:
• Are you in Kawaii's neighborhood?
4. A raffle number (or numbers) will be sent to you, so keep track of what number(s) you have.
5. Tell your friends about the raffle! (As more people enter the raffle, more prizes will be added to the first place winner's package.
6. Watch for the results on August 10th.

I'll be keeping a list of those who enter with the comments that are left. (Please leave the requested comment. I want to make sure I get everyone's email and make sure none get sent into my junk box. I can keep a running tally this way.)

Every member of Vox may enter this raffle, whether he/she is in my neighborhood or not. Those of you who are in my neighborhood will have the special bonus of getting two raffle numbers entered just by following the directions. Even if you aren't interested in the prize itself, there's bound to be a relative or friend who would appreciate these gifts.

You will not be charged with any shipping. The only people who should be aware of putting money into this are those of you who are not within the United States. I am not responsible for any shipping taxes that outside countries give to those who receive packages. I will be shipping the prize out by Priority mail (if you're within the states) or EMS (if you're outside of the country). If you're not comfortable with accepting a gift that may hold you responsible for taxes, simply don't enter. ^_^

*Keep in mind that I will not ask for every person's personal address. I will only be asking for the winner's address and will contact him/her through email once the raffle is over. I am a respected and honorable member of the Vox community and I will in no way hand out your personal information to any other sources. I would never jeopardize my friendships with those here at Vox. Again, if you don't feel comfortable with the possibility of giving out your address, please do not enter. If you want some kawaii fun though, please read on!

What the Winners Will Receive

Unlike my past Kawaii at Vox events, this event has multiple winners. So, not only do you have a chance at winning free kawaii prizes with free entry, but you have an even better chance of winning because of the high number of winners there will be!

Every single winner will automatically win a <3 Vox hemp bracelet (handmade by Shawn himself ^_^). I will be asking the five winners their wrist sizes so I can tell Shawn exactly how big to make each bracelet. (The <3 Vox bracelets shown in the photos were made specifically for examples.)

The first place winner will not only receive every prize listed in the list below, but he/she also has the opportunity to get several other special prizes as more raffle participants submit entries into the event. For example, once I note that 75 people have entered, the first place winner will receive a very rare prize: a Tokidoki fan signed by the artist himself, Simone Legno. That's why it's important that you enter, but it's also key that you tell your friends about Kawaii's very first Vox anniversary-- the more, the merrier! ^^

Here's everything each winner will receive:

First Place:

• Blythe Petite Doll: Spring Chocolat
• Froggy photo album
• Short Cake + Cookie stationary set
• Happy!! Candy stationary book
• Mimippi bunny "checkbook" (notepad)
• Boo Boo Brothers piggy notepad
• Kawaii Boy sticker pack
• Blythe postcard
• Brown Sugar: Cute Girls tin case with goodies inside
• 2 sheets of kawaii stickers
• Moo Stickers pack (NEW!)
• <3 Vox hemp bracelet

20 raffle entries made: 3 small photo prints of mine, all signed
50 raffle entries made: Unipo vinyl figure
75 raffle entries made: Signed Tokidoki fan

Second Place:

• Blythe Petite Doll: Perfect Bohemian Beat
• Hamster photo album
• Cute Animals multi-sticker pack
• Power Girls notepad
• Kawaii kitty notebook (with handles that make it look like a shopping bag!)
• Apple Town item
• <3 Vox hemp bracelet

Every winner will also receive a handwritten letter of congratulations (for winning) and thank you (for participating in) the event. ^__^

Third-Fifth Place:

• <3 Vox hemp bracelet

For a better look at all of the prizes, check out the special Kawaii Event collection I made. I will be turning off comments on the individual photo pages, so please leave all of your comments/questions in this post.

When the Raffle Ends

Once again, the raffle takes place from August 3rd to August 10th (which is one week). At midnight on August 10th, the last day to enter the raffle, I will be closing down the event. Any entries that come in after that time will not be counted.

At noon on August 11th, I will be announcing the winner of the Kawaii at Vox event in a new post at my blog. The five winners will each receive an email from me to notify him/her of her placement. They will be expected to reply within at least two days after receiving the notification email. If they choose not to respond, I will be drawing new winners. (No worries, no prize will be lost!)

Depending on how long it takes for me to wrap up all the packages and when I have the time to send everything out, the packages should be on their way to the winners within a week of the raffle's end.

Thankies to You!

I would like to thank everyone who has left me comments, written me messages, and let me have the chance to get to know them. I feel honored to know so many sweet and gifted Voxers. Seriously, you guys-- you rock!

Good luck, and have fun! *pumps fist in the air*

Update

For updates on what's going on with the Kawaii raffle, check out the comments I leave with "Updates!" at the beginning. For now, I'd just like to thank everyone that has already signed up for the event. You've helped promote the event so much that this post landed a spot on the Explore page. =D *dances*

I've learned my lesson. I already knew that I wasn't a person who loved to socialize in big groups, but for some reason, I sometimes try too hard to make other people happy... which leads me to do things I know I'm uncomfortable with.

Shawn and I have been dating for almost five years now, and he's sacrificed a lot for me, including time he could spend with other people. Because of this, I've been trying to balance our time alone and the time we spend with other people. We both easily get annoyed with most people (it's true), but he's trying really hard to fit in and do well at his internship-- so part of this means socializing with other interns. Unfortunately, the other interns are party people. They love to go out every night, whether it's a work night or a Friday night, and they love to come back absolutely smashed. Shawn and I just aren't into this scene. I think part of Shawn wants to be, only because he feels left out when the others go out and we stay in. I'm a very introverted person, so the idea of going out with a huge group of mostly drunk people just isn't appealing to me, however, making Shawn happy with his job and his friends means a lot to me. I want him to be happy and to feel comfortable around those he has to work with on a daily basis. Basically, for the past three weeks, I've been trying to sacrifice more of my time to give a little more to our relationship. Plus, that gives me more excuses to spend time with him, even if that means having other people around.

Week 1: There's a nice volleyball court right on campus, so the interns like to go out and play every now and then. I really love playing volleyball, and I know Shawn does, too, so we've joined them a couple of times. Since I hadn't played volleyball in a few years, and because I was no longer up against scrawny high school kids, I wasn't used to the amount of force that goes into hitting and bumping the ball. Before I knew it, my arms were sore, bruised, full of broken blood vessels, and almost unusable. I stayed there, playing, because I'm used to getting a little sore in sports. Sometimes it just takes a few bruises to have some fun, and I don't mind a little pain once in a while-- after all, I was getting exercise. My arms were like that for the rest of the week.

Week 2: I guess I didn't take the hint from the previous week. My arms had actually healed by the next Sunday, so Shawn, his roommate, Nick, and I went to do some simple practice bumps outside-- no harm done. This other guy decided to bust out of nowhere and ask if he could play with us. Because we had four people, we figured we would be able to play a small game instead of practicing. After about an hour of playing, I checked my arms to make sure they weren't too beaten up this time. That's when I noticed how something with my hand looked out of place. My knuckle and wrist areas on my right hand was completely swollen and a bone looked twisted in an unnatural way. I immediately called Mom to see what I should do. (Having both parents in the medical field is extremely helpful at times.) Within the next half hour, I was at the Emergency Room at the local hospital getting X-rays and getting a splint put onto my hand. The doctor said I hadn't dislocated or fractured my finger/hand, but it was probably sprained. I ended up taking two days off of work (since I couldn't type) to let my hand heal, and I felt bad about leaving my team with extra work, so I took off my splint two days early. It's healed pretty well since then!

Week 3: Even though Shawn and I had been out with his friends playing volleyball, he still felt a little left out when it came to the weekends-- when all of the interns head out to the bars. I told him I'd go along and hang out with them (since he's always done that for me when I'm with my friends in the past) when they went out on Saturday. I never go outside of what I feel comfortable with as far as alcohol goes, so I only had a little drink after we ate at a restaurant. The night pretty much included: waiting for over an hour for a taxi to pick us up, eating a dinner when I was already too full, going to a bar to watch the interns play drinking games, a boat ride on a polluted river, and then randomly stopping into a club. Finally, we were able to do what I wanted to do: go home and rest. About and hour after Shawn and I went to sleep, we found out we had food poisoning. We were sick for the rest of the night and morning. It was one of the worst nights I've ever had.

I've learned my lesson. As much as I like to make Shawn happy, I'll just let him do his own thing on his own time, and I can join him when I know we'll have fun in a type of way that I'm comfortable with. I've known for years that I'm not a party girl. I love my time spent inside, on the computer, reading a book, watching a movie, or just... relaxing. Going out for a bunch of drinks to the point where I won't remember what happened the previous night just isn't me. Even though I always stayed within my own personal limitations and tried to have fun in a more sociable way, I realized that I'm so much more content not doing any of that stuff at all. I love the quiet and the simple.

Since my three weeks of revelation, I've been taking every day as easy as possible. I fell back into playing Maple Story, which I've come to rely on yet again for relaxation. I've been buying new little outfits for Roonies, which you can see throughout this post. She also has a new friend-- her pet yeti! I've named him Meep (a word that I fell in love with because of my friend, Misty), and he's pretty awesome to have around to train. One night, after playing Maple Story, Beth and I were too awake to go to bed. We stayed up to six in the morning, talking about how we weren't happy with our living situation. The people (mostly students) in our apartment are too obnoxious, and we've been harassed with people ringing our doorbell while we sleep. We're tired of the immature people on campus, so we've decided to look for another building in the area instead. The location may not be as ideal, but we'll be happier in a quieter place with a little more room than this building provides us. We started our apartment hunting today, and we already have a person interested in subleasing the apartment we live in right now.

As if that didn't make life a little more complicated, I just found out that I'll be taking on more hours for work. My schedule will be changing, and I'm looking into going full-time for the rest of vacation. Even what I'll be doing for work will be changing in extreme ways, so I'm a little anxious to see how the next few weeks go with possibly moving and more work.

I feel like such an adult.

I'd also like to add-- as a little response to my last upsetting entry-- that Vox did cheer me up a bit. Kat informed me that Vox chose my video post, which is located a few entries down, to use on its homepage under the This Is Good section. It's great to know that I've reached a lot of Voxers with that one post, and I also realized how great my friends are here. So many people care about me and my life (even though we've never met, which to me, is amazing) and that really means everything to me.

People like you make people in the last entry disappear from my mind. I don't think I could live a happy life without knowing that. So... thank you to Kat and thank you to everyone who commented and added the TIG tag on my post. You're the awesomest of awesome. ^_~

(The video quality is rather grainy, especially when compared to my first one-- sorry about that. I wanted to take the video while I had what I wanted to say on my mind and that's the best shot I could get.)

So I thought it would be fun to make a short video "hello" to all of you who read my journal regularly. I know you know me through the photos I take and what I write... but I thought it would be even better if you got to know me through voice and action, too. (You should just be able to click the picture and have it play.) Excuse the nervousness. ^_~

I look completely ridiculous in that picture above, but if you watch the video, I don't think I look as silly, haha. And if you didn't notice right away, Plum is sitting to my left (your right). I was going to introduce her but I got too nervous and forgot to. Oopsie. Anyway... here's to you, Vox friends!