Annual Foods

 Cynthia kinda slacked on her blog again, and here we are. Weeks later with over a thousand photos to upload and much to talk about.

Um... life took a massive U-Turn for the worse last week. My head is still trying to make sense of it all. Forgive my sloppy rambling. Just pretend it's a sloppy joe and enjoy it. Or don't.

lol, I got a Disney pass.

 

how artsy is this photo? i'm proud of it. i don't often do artsy.

you see, i don't have a beard. so. 

I think like, a few weeks after I moved down here, a friend of mine was like LET'S GO TO DISNEYLAND and I was like I GUESS. It was the day right after I hung out with Oso, Nunu, and Chu. Like 2 entries ago. but my friend had this glorious (and expensive) idea! Instead of me getting a park-hopper for that day, why not just get the pass that day and put the money for the park-hopper towards the annual pass?
I thought... hey! that's not a bad idea! but thing is... I was still waiting to get paid the following friday, and was going to wait until then. So he was like nope, and put down $200 right then and there for the pass. I shat myself all kinds of wtf, and for the remainder of the day and the week, I couldn't live with myself. BUT, we had a lot of fun that day!

 you crazy, spontaneous bastard.

 Our first stop was California Adventure.

 for obvious reasons.

 California Adventure is nice. It had been a while since I'd been there, only because when I go there, I just visit Disneyland.

 YUP

 that kid was awesome. he's going places.

 i couldn't not make him go on this ride.

As much fun as we had, I was also pretty tired from the night before. we made it up until 6pm before I started dozing off in the middle of standing.
Over all, it was a really fun day. I hadn't been there a while and just getting out of the house and spending it with fun company was just nice after having just moved down here.

As far as the annual pass thing goes... well, i couldn't live with myself if I had let him pay that money up front for me. So i paid him back, lol. maybe if it was less, I could've let it go, but we butted heads for awhile about it. i couldn't just let someone put down that much money for me and just... act like it was nothing. how do women do that? i don't understand it. but yeah, i have an annual pass now, and i lost it, lol.
no worries! i have another one waiting for me. i just... haven't been back yet. because i don't know that many people with a pass, annnnnd scheduling it weird. and right now, i don't know if i could even go and legitimately enjoy myself.


let's move on, shall we?

Occasionally, I'd still drive up to Burbank to visit friends and my old store. Nothing planned out, just kind of on a whim.

One of those days in particular, a friend of mine was working and he hadn't eaten lunch yet. so I met him for lunch for his break. 

 He'd never been to Umami Burger. This is ridiculous to me.

And he didn't care much for the food.
I don't know how we still talk.

And shortly after that, my other homie from Burbank told me he was visiting Orange County and staying with his parents for a week.

 This only meant we had to go get ramen.

And like, a few days later we went to watch Zootopia and omg it's the cutest movie in the world.

Cynthia could not stop going out to eat with friends. It's become a real problem financially.


And then, I had the most awesome week and a half in March... when my mommy came to visit :)

 During her visit, she did a lot of cooking, lol. And lounging.
We did lots of little errands together, the way we used to when I lived back home. I kept wanting to take her out, but she insisted on cooking for almost all the nights she was here, lol.

 But I had to take her to the Bodies Exhibit. I knew she'd love it.

 Not gonna lie, having her cooking again was ... so incredible. I missed it.

I can make some of the stuff she prepares, but she makes it just ... soo... mom like. 

There's nothing like it in the world...

 We tried dragon fruit. They don't have this in Pennsylvania.

The verdict: It's a slightly blander kiwi

 I also had to take her to Little Tokyo. To have her first bowl of ramen.

 We'd been here the last time she visited, but didn't get ramen because she had already eaten before I came home.

 hey, it's us.

 I brought her to Daikokuya. The wait wasn't awful. She said it was worth it.

 I didn't think she'd be able to finish the whole thing but she scarfed it down!

 We left with happy, full bellies.

 She was happy. So I was happy.

But she had to be happier.
So I brought her here:

 

 Right in the front row, so she wouldn't miss any of it.

 She was smiling so much. I was in the clouds.

 Back in Pennsylvania, I think the closest one is in New Jersey? I'm not too sure.
But she didn't even know they did these events.
She loved it!

 And right after, we went to the torture museum!

Funny thing is, in Peru, we've already seen everything within the Santa Inquisicion. Google it.
So this was like, the baby sister of that.

 worst panties ever

 That last weekend she was here, I wanted her to see the stupid shit I'm into.
Okay, it's not stupid, but it's also not conventional.
Just so happens that that same weekend was when Wondercon was going on. I wanted to take her on Saturday, just for an hour or two so she could see what I dabble in.
Her daughter is a weirdo.
but... a sober and stable weirdo.

 Unfortunately, the traffic was so assbackwards insane that morning, that after circling for 45 minutes just to find parking around the Los Angeles Convention Center, I rage quit. I could tell she was getting kinda restless but didn't wanna say anything. I would've kept looking but... yeah. So, instead.. I brought us tooooo..

 The lovely Museum of Death

 She loves that shit.
I get it from my momma ;)

 And on her last day here before her flight that evening, we went to get one last bowl of ramen together.

 She said it wasn't as good as Daikokuya (i turned her into a ramen snob) but she enjoyed it just the same.

I miss her so much. There's... a lot I want to say about her right now, but.. I can't.
I just hope she knows that she's loved very, very, very much. And that she is the most wonderful mommy any girl could ever ask for, and that I miss her, and I hope she knows how much I love her. And the things I would do for her to be happy and to be okay... without hesitation. And that she is the strongest woman, and the type of woman I strive to be. She has gotten through so much heartbreak, and the most difficult times in life, and handled them like a badass. And I know that she's unstoppable. And I just hope, that she continues to have that spark in her, in this moment, as I'm typing this.. I am hoping that her spark shines the brightest it's ever been.



That night, after I dropped her off at the airport, something inside me felt like I just wanted to clear my head. So, I went to my favorite place to do that.

 Redondo.

 It was the earliest I've visited. Was around 10 at night on a Saturday.
There were still people walking around, and the ocean was quiet that evening.
I'm so used to seeing no one there, and being greeted by the waves and cold air.
nope. quiet, warm night. and people.

 was still nice to be there.
people probably thought i was weird for walking around there by myself.

 i love this place.

 I must go back. I have to.
there's so much on my mind...

 humans are ugly. see how they ruin the landscape?

Redondo is special to me.
I should stop being so attached though, and visit other beaches lol. Huntington is significantly closer.


The following Sunday, I was off to Wondercon. I told myself I'd go no matter what, and had purchased a ticket a few days prior to them selling out.

 I wiggled into my Poe cosplay, held in 562352354362 gallons of pee just to rush out of there early enough to find parking.
I conquered.

 It felt good walking around in a con.
It's like... getting health points back or something. i don't know.
I'm in my element.

 One of the first things I did was go to artist alley and look for my buddies.
One of them wasnt' there yet =\
PROBABLY COULDN'T FIND PARKING

 but Dan was! At the Zombie Tramp booth ^_^
ahhh, what a fun concept.

 I also found Dino and Rikki!

 Dey so cute and silly ^^

 I totally didn't make the lantern I wanted to. I'm scared of ruining it or cutting myself on fiber glass, lol.

 First Shy Guy cosplay I've seen! And funny thing is I've thought about cosplaying a shy guy in the past. Obviously never did, but this was really cool ^_^ She looked adorable!

 Hello, my love. We meet again.

 as I sat down to eat, I got a message from my LoZ bros, Jose and Carlos.

 They came to where I was eating and we hung out for the rest of the con in our cool little LoZ posse.

 She obviously.
OBVIOUSLY
played some LoZ songs for us :D

 Anthony and Chel :D

 We ran into more Links. And since it was Easter Sunday, they had bunny ears on xD

 Mr. Flower!

 Good times.
Around 3 or so, we were kinda hungry so we went for some foooooods

 One of the waiters recognized my cosplay and he was so excited!! ^_^
It made my day! haha
I had to get my picture with him

 I just got dessert lol

 by the time we were done, there was about an hour left before the floor closed.
there were two prints I saw that I wanted to get, but we couldn't find the booth. it was probably for the best, lol.

Even though this year, I only attended on Sunday, it was still really fun. I'm glad I got to see everyone I did and just was able to go, period.

I was ready to throw a shitfest in a rant about it being held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, but you know what? It's over. And never year it's going to be back in Anaheim, so my grudge is gone.
Maybe that's why I wasn't upset about not being able to show my mom on Saturday.

Honestly, fuck the LA convention center >_<

Oh, so.. the last thing I need is another food place to throw money at. But someone said there was an awesome Poke place near my house.

He wasn't wrong. 

Pokinometry. Is so.
beautiful.
oh my goodness I don't even know how to describe it.
Maybe because I'm new to it? I don't know. but raw fish and rice and avocado and spicy mayo are all... things that make me so happy
and they're sold. together.
in a cute little bowl
near my house
it's beautiful

okay.
calming down.

anywho. We're gonna stop this entry riiiiight here. It's long enough, don't ya think?

Look out for Pt. 2 ^_^