A Frilly Weekend: Pt 2. Annual Mega Meet 2015

Due to reservation limitations, the annual mega meet up ran from 10 am to 2 pm, and in spite of being relatively sleep deprived, I thought it was worth having to get up early because the meet was held indoors, allowing us to go all out without the fuss of the heat and rain (and the risk of getting brand grass stained! - the AMM have always been held outdoors as a picnic). Hailee had bought donuts last night to share and I made coffee. I don't know what's funnier: that I was making coffee that was from Helen's cabinet or that we were scrambling around the kitchen to find sugar. There was something oddly peaceful about slowly waking up to a gloomy Sunday morning with friends over coffee and donuts.

In spite of putting together a simple coordinate, I was the last one to get ready because I had been fighting with my blouse that got wrinkled in my luggage; fortunately, Helen had a steamer that she had let me borrow. And in spite of scrambling to pack, taking turns for the bathrooms, and sitting through in-bound traffic, we got there in good timing, just enough time to eat and mingle before our gracious hostesses began the games and raffle.



I should have taken a photo of the buffet table. It took up three tables and people were still coming in with more food to share; there was a lot left over as well, and it got me thinking that I won't bring any food next year. I think everyone had seriously stepped up their coordinate game this year; even the newbies looked presentable. It was lovely seeing people I haven't seen since Anime Midwest 2015 and 2014 and I definitely made some new friends during the meet.

Every annual mega meet, we play a game of lolita bingo which involves going around the room and finding people who happen to be wearing a certain motif or piece in their coordinate. I didn't win, but I've always liked playing this one because it's an excellent ice breaker.  Sometime after bingo, our hostesses began the raffle prizes were much nicer than they'd been in the past; if I recall correctly, there were two parasols, two petticoats, two barets from a Taobao brand whose name I can't remember, a couple of illustrations, an AP necklace, a mini alpaca plush, some beauty items, and I had donated a couple of tea tins.  I think I'd like to donate more to the raffle so that more people can get something or maybe get a couple of the crafty girls in my community to make gift bags for everyone.

After the raffle, we headed upstairs to a balcony for photos which we broke up by style before posing in a giant group photo, and then returned downstairs to clean up our space before parting ways. Saying goodbye have always been bittersweet, but I suppose all good things come to an end, and there will always be future meet ups.

Courtesy of Vincent Kan Photography. Check out his facebook page!

Speaking of style, here's a photo of my outfit which I coordinated with simple makeup and curled my short hair, and had totally forgot to take a picture of the day I wore it. Blouse - Angelic Pretty; Socks - eBay; Boots - Dry Goods, Skirt - Meta; Hat - F21; Strawberry earrings - Sweet Mildred 

Word went around that some people were going to go into Chinatown for lunch and shopping, and as much as we wanted to go home to beat traffic and relax, we thought it'd be best to take advantage of being in the city and to eat a proper meal first. Not too far away was Strings, an authentic Japanese ramen restaurant - so authentic that it was tiny. I couldn't imagine trying to squeeze more than ten lolitas in the space among the other restaurant patrons. Even though word went around about going out to lunch there, the Milwaukee lolitas changed their plans to visit a sweets shop in the shopping plaza and so it was just Helen, Hailee, Lauren, and I, and later joined by a few girls from the Quad Cities. I believe I had a "Shoyu ramen" bowl which was surprisingly heavy for being the vegetarian option (I don't even know why I ordered a boiled egg for added protein), As good as it was, I didn't realize it was going to be a heavy meal, and that the broth was going to be oily. I think next time, I'd like to take our group to Gyu-Kaku for happy hour.

After our meal, we walked across the street to the plaza to find the rest of the lolitas who were still out shopping, but instead found (another) knock-off anime toy and gift shop. I wish I could have taken photos of the weird things we came across - like a sad Hello Kitty with a red nose and long face, and a bunch of random household objects with some hilariously questionable Engrish, including this:

A contact lens case (with useless "tweezers").  It's not worth the $6.99, but it was cute and the Engrish accurately explains my feels.

We went back to Helen's house to return to comfortable muggle clothes, double check our bags, and finally head home.  I think that this year's annual meetup was a success and I can't wait to do it all over again.

Until next time...