Doll North 2016 Recap

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So, I wasn't initially going to attend Doll North this year, and ended up planning it super past-minute. Despite some of the hiccups that caused I'm really happy I went. I got to meet so many wonderful people and do a lot of fun things - including my first ever Doll North game, and second-ever Doll North panel. :D I've also learned that I really need to plan things out better and that I'm not the kind of person who can just wing stuff, as well as apparently being really bad at travelling on my own... but that's okay. :p

On to the recap!

Merrydollround Strawberry Mousse

I left really early on Friday morning, but ended up missing my first bus and then having to stop halfway because I was feeling really sick (woo fainting on public transport~), and didn't arrive until the afternoon. When I got to my hotel they informed me that I'd actually booked in their sister hotel a half hour away... super - border hotels with similar names are not so much the best. Thankfully some amazing people on DN staff were able to find me a place to stay (starsarerobots and bumblebeeena I adore you both), and the rest of the day went really well.

At the end of the day I went and helped out with the open crafting event where people could do sewing projects, make wigs, and do other crafting stuff. Met a bunch of new people (and got exactly 0 sewing done XD), and then went out to dinner with a bunch of friends, new and old. Next time I'll be sure to try out some of the other projects instead of getting distracted.




Saturday my roommates and I were up bright and early and just chatted until everyone else got up. They're all super wonderful and I couldn't have asked for a better group of ladies to share a room with. This was my first time attending Doll North as an attendee by myself. I've been before, but I was always either with someone and just stopping in, or selling, or entering a contest, and always had something very specific to do. So this year since I only had a DN ticket, and wasn't selling, or entering anything... I didn't really know what to do with myself. Kayteelizz asked me to get her a little Mousse from Merry Doll Round so that was first thing on the list. I got a chance to catch up with resinmuncher waiting in the line up, and spent a lot of time chatting with merrydollround, itsfansea, moretticircus, and elzamine afterwards and taking photos of the marketplace booths.

itsfansea's entry into project runway.
(I'm not actually sure who won?)

And then after that... I did the same thing again. XD Saturday was a very strange day if I'm being honest. BUT! I got to (very briefly ;-;) meet the ever lovely pettook!! It was really amazing to finally meet her in person even if only for a short time. Hopefully I can see her again someday. Eventually got my hands on a program though and was able to go to some events~

Picked up some lunch for people who couldn't leave their booths and got to take some photos of Project Runway (they're up on the Doll North facebook page if you'd like to take a look). That was interesting. :) The theme this year was Heroes vs. Villains and so the main supplies for Project Runway were comic book pages! Super cool entries. :D I also tried my hand at my first ever DN game BJD bingo... didn't win, but the game was really well constructed (webpage and everything! so fancy) and I had fun. Then was the Merry Doll Round Q&A panel! Despite the few technical glitches, I think it went really well. It was really interesting hearing the backstory behind the company and learning where Nuria finds her inspiration. I thought of a dozen more questions later on that I wish I'd asked at the time... but maybe I'll get another chance. :)

Little Kaye Wiggs Superman
for the Masquerade

Sunday was a bit of a whirlwind. I spent most of the morning immersed in the masquerade. The FFX Lulu entry won first prize in the 1/3 category, Princess Zelda took the 1/4, and little Alice took the Yo category. :) All well deserved! Then a bit more floating around for me before the masquerade was announced and the charity raffles were drawn (also didn't win, but eviltofu got the Lillycat girl I had my eyes on, so I'll just have to come visit her more ;p). After that I had to pack up and head out to catch my train home. I was really sad to leave this year and really miss everyone (starsarerobots and opalescent_raven I need to steal you next time for a proper dinner! And maybe I'll even be brave enough to get some photos with people ;) ). I know for sure now that I'll be going to DN again next year, but I don't know in what capacity. Regardless it should make planning and travelling easier now that I know the routes.

Once I got back home it was back to packing for our move. We've just got settled in to our new house so I'll have some time unpacking to think about what I want to do for next year. I hope to see everyone again in 2017 and maybe some new faces too! <3

Photos from Spain

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Realized today that apart from some Instagram snapshots, I'd never shared any photos from my trip to Spain back in April. I took Bella with me because her character is from Spain (mostly) so I was excited to get some photos of her there. :)

This was taken about 45ft from the ground on a little lookout.
The space to her right is just a straight wall down.

I picked up this little guitar in Segovia. Bella already had a guitar (originally bought for Mali before I realized she plays piano), but the tuning pegs are broken and I haven't managed to fix them yet, so when I saw this one in a shop window I just had to get it. :) Now Bella has a proper Spanish guitar. ;) I'll eventually switch the strings so that they look more like classical guitar strings, but they're fine for now.

One of my goals for this trip was to try forced perspective... I don't think I super got the hang of it (Bella wasn't very stable and I hadn't brought a stand, so I was being really cautious), but some of them are pretty close. :)

The Merida aqueducts are amazing. Beyond amazing. The town itself is so-so (except for this one restaurant I forgot to write down the name of DX), but man, they are worth a trip.

This is the first spot I really tried out the technique on purpose. It's... okay? lol I was very nervous because this is in a public park and there were so many people wandering around. The only place I could actually see the aqueducts was from the path, so the path it was. :p

An elderly man stop to chat with me about it all... Unfortunately he was talking in really fast Spanish so I only caught about every third word. :/ Oops.

I haven't edited many of the non-doll photos from the trip, but when I do, they might pop up in a new post. :) Hope everyone is doing well!

NYC and Big Ideas

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This past week I had the opportunity to visit New York City for the second time. Last time I was there was a whirlwind of fabric shoppes and meeting people - feeling totally overwhelmed by everything going on. Last week was far more low-key. Since I'd been to most of the stores last time, I just visited my favourites this time around - getting some fabrics and trims that are impossible to find where I live, and of course the obligatory Liberty of London print, I always feel the need to pick up (This time it was Eleonara).

One new location from this trip was the Fashion Institute of Technology. I was far too intimidated to stop by last time, but finally plucked up the courage on my second day there. As it turns out, I really had nothing to worry about because most of the campus is not open to the public. I did, however, manage to visit the FIT Museum which had a 'Capitals' exhibit showcasing work from designers in world capitals. Their geography was a little suspect at times, but walking through the gallery was really inspiring. I even went back a few days later to see everything again!

On the plane back home I ended up watching a documentary called 'Dior et moi' (which is apparently rated R for reasons I don't understand)

It got me thinking a bit about the differences between commission work, ready-to-wear, and haute couture, and the directions I'd like to take with my little brand.


The last few days I've been trying to dig up some of my old sketches to see if any of them are feasible for the near future as a trial for doing some OOAK works. One of my New Year's resolutions for 2015 was to work on a special project, but that has yet to actually happen - they're all still largely in the planning stages, though I have collected materials for some.

I doubt I'll be able to finish one before the end of the year - they're all MASSIVE - but starting something is the first step to finishing it!

Finally DONE! :D (Vacation and Temporary Shop Closure)

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Today, I handed in the last assignment of my undergrad career. It feels both freeing, and super scary. XD

I have to start looking for jobs soon, but first I'm taking a two week trip to Spain! Bella is coming with me (because I have a small fear she would come alive and murder me if I didn't...), but I'm leaving the rest of my dolls at home so I can concentrate on enjoying and unplugging a bit before I have to dive back in to responsibilities.

I'll be gone April 12-April 26, and when I get back I'll be concentrating my sewing efforts on Doll North stock. As I mentioned in my first DN update post, I'll be closing my shop for the entire month of May. Anything ordered before May 1st is available to be picked up at Doll North to save on shipping costs. ^^



When I come back after Doll North, I'll be posting anything that is left over for sale online. I'm not sure where yet, so if you have suggestions I'd love to hear. I hope to have some new designs available when I get back too so stay tuned! :)

I expect somewhat spotty internet while I'm in Spain, so don't anticipate perfectly fast answers to any emails.

Sorry for any inconveniences, but I hope that being done school will mean a lot more time to spend with my dolls and experiment with new designs. /soexcitedddd

Preparations

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I'm mixing it up right now working on stock for Anime North 2015 (definitely getting a table!), orders and a few personal projects.

As of right now, I have a bunch of MNF tops ready to go for Anime North as well as a few cardigans and dresses, but there is still quite a bit more I'd like to have available - I just don't quite know what. It can be very hard to guess what kinds of things people will want ahead of time. :) I think I'll cut out a few more cardigans and then dig through my patterns for ideas.

I'm going on a short vacation in mid-October and have decided to take Bella with me. Unfortunately, she has no appropriate clothes (or any clothes really, poor thing). I've made her one outfit so far.. and I'm kind of in love with it, so we'll see if she actually gets anything else. I don't want to take it off! XD

NYC

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We got back from NYC last night. It was a fun trip, but next time I think we'll try to have a weekend. It was pretty whirlwind-y. :)

Monday we got stuck in the airport for ~9 hours because NYC was having a snowstorm and our flights kept getting cancelled. We arrived in NYC around 9-9:30pm so didn't get much time that day.

Tuesday I was supposed to meet up with Goodbyeyouhellome, but messaging and timing didn't work out, so I just went shopping by myself instead. I got a bunch of stuff from B&J Fabrics. They had Liberty Tana Lawn there too, way more than Liberty has, which I thought was kind of funny.

Wednesday my boyfriend took the day off work so we could spend it together. We spent the morning at the Natural History Museum. It was pretty awesome, though it took me a while to get used to the taxidermied animals. They have the displays set up so nicely that it's hard not to take photos, no matter how squicky I find the whole thing. We were going to go to Central Park for a bit, but got caught up in wandering the museum. Maybe next time!


That night we went to see Wicked on Broadway and had a lot of fun. I'd seen it before in Toronto a few years ago, but it was very different with different people playing Glinda and Elphaba. This Glinda (I think it was Alli Mausey, but don't quote me on that) took a bit to get used to, she played a very over-the-top version of the character, but after the second scene or so, she was just HILARIOUS. XD So good.

This keeps coming out really light on the blog... :/
It looks better on Flickr

Thursday I was supposed to meet up with Layn (DoA) to go fabric shopping again. There are far too many stores to attempt them in one day! Since I didn't get to see GYHM on Tuesday, she decided to come meet up with the two of us on Thursday. :) We wandered some shops - mainly Mood Fabrics, which is ginormous - and I got a few things and then we went back to my hotel so that we could take some photos since I hadn't brought my dolls shopping with me (a lot of the stores are VERY crowded). Hopefully next time I go it will be warmer, then we can meet up in Central Park or something and take photos there. ^^


On the flight home, my doll bag got selected for extra screening.... again (really people... they're dolls, it's not THAT weird). They did a swab for explosives because apparently that's a thing?... and Bella came up positive. So... yay. Luckily I didn't and neither did Mali, so they let us leave, but they wouldn't tell me what exactly Bella came up positive for... I'm guessing either mold release or just resin oxidation? I guess she'll get a bath before I fly with her again. Hopefully that will work. It was not a super fun experience and I'd rather not repeat it.

Ripley's Aquarium Visit

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Yesterday my boyfriend and I made a trip to the newly opened Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto - sort of as a birthday outing, sort of not. :p

Anyway, it was INSANELY crowded. Never going on a weekend again. But it was still quite a good trip and I got a lot of photos. :)

When you first walk in, there's a large mural on the wall that makes it look you've just stepped onto a private island.

Next you go through an exhibit full of fish and such native to the area. They had all kinds of trout and cod and anemone and a tank full of lobster. On the ceiling here they had hung a bunch of lobster traps and netting. Not something generally considered beautiful, but I think they did quite a good job.

Looks a bit spooky. ;)

After the local fish section, you walk out facing a huge colourful tank filled with (fake) corals and (real) tropical fish. It was quite a surprise after the greyness of the Great Lakes exhibits. ^^;

The reefs exhibit sort of blends into their 'Dangerous Lagoon' tank which is the largest one in the aquarium. It's got a few types of sharks, some rays + sawfish and at least one green sea turtle. I bet there are at least two but I only saw one.

You go through on this sort of conveyor belt underneath/inside the tank so you can see all around. The sawfish liked to sit on top of the tunnel roof for some reason. It was pretty funny to see.

Finally, the last(-ish..) section was my absolute favourite --- JELLYFISH! :D

They had a few different kinds, but they three main attractions were the Sea Nettles, the Moon Jellies and the Australian Spotted Jellyfish - which are entirely adorable.

Sea Nettles

Sea Nettles

The Sea Nettles Tank was all lit up and on a rotating timer so that it changed colours every minute or so. Since the jellies are translucent but coloured, they turn all sorts of crazy colours in response to the light. Most aquariums just keep them on a light blue background, where they look bright orange, so it was neat to see all the different colours. 

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I may have found my new favourite jellyfish - Australian Spotted Jellyfish. :) I played around with my macro lens for these photos. Worked out pretty well I think. I tried with the baby moon jellies too, but they had them on a blue-lit tank (instead of the more common black) so they were basically invisible. :(

About pingpong ball sized in person

Golf ball sized.

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I think I'd like to go back again some time, but probably not in the very near future. If you want to visit, I'd strongly suggest going on a weekday during school hours and buying your tickets in advance. The line to buy tickets was crazy.

And now, back to sewing and class readings. ^^

Zoo De-Stress

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As I hinted at last post, I've been having a lot of trouble keeping up with school work this term, so yesterday, I went to the zoo with a few friends. I haven't been in a number of years, so it was really nice. It was threatening to rain as well (but it didn't - win!), so there weren't very many people there either, which was amazing since I'm not a fan of crowds. :)

It may seem a bit non-sensical to take a day off school work when there's so much to do, but I think it helped more to let me get over the 'HOLYCRAPSOMUCHTODOI'MGOINGTOEXPLODE @w@' feelings I've been having and come back refreshed and ready to work. There's still a tonne to do, but it doesn't seem as insurmountable now as it did on Friday. Odd how that works.

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Here are some of the photos I took. I think I got about 250 this time?

These are soft-shell turtles. I really like their noses. For some reason, while we were watching them, the big one kept smacking the smaller one every time it swam by. :/ Meanie.

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There are two Giant Pandas visiting right now, Da Mao (male ~5 years old) and Er Shun (female ~6 years old). Er Shun was 'sleeping' when we went - by which I mean rolling around and putting her paws over her eyes, but Da Mao was munching on bamboo. I got a few photos of him, but most have a bunch of bamboo in front of his face. :P

We didn't get to see two of my favourite animals - the Snow Leopards and the Red Pandas because they're completely redoing that area. Hopefully next time I go there will be some positive changes and I'll get to see my fuzzy buddies again.

Since I couldn't get photos of those animals, here's an Emerald Tree Boa chilling out on a branch. He's pretty cool too.

I probably could have stayed and taken snake photos all day, but since they don't move especially much, they weren't very interesting to my companions. Oh well.

Now to get back to readings and papers. Too bad I can't be a Polar Bear instead.

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There are a few more photos on my Flickr, along with these here. I'm still having trouble deciding what I should post where, so for now, there will be some overlap.

Home again, home again.

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Back! ^^

The trip to New Mexico and Colorado was excellent. There are definitely a few places I'd go back to in a heartbeat.

We started off in El Paso, Texas and then moved to Carlsbad for the caverns. They were pretty interesting and surprisingly large, but my favourite part was definitely the bats. It was raining when they came out of the cave so we only got a few of the really daring (or hungry?) ones, but it was still really awesome.

Next it was off to Alamogordo and White Sands National Monument. This was by far my favourite place we stopped, especially after I decided that I didn't need to wear my shoes.

I took a few photos of Tobi and Jonas - which you can find on my Flickr - and then we stayed to watch the sunset. It was pretty much magic.

Next we went to Santa Fe, where I had my first taste of JoAnn's... I must say, I am incredibly jealous of anyone who has one close! I restrained myself and only bought a few things, but believe me, if I hadn't needed to bring it all back to Canada with me, I would have bought so much more. XD

Taos Pueblo

We spent most of the time in Santa Fe exploring the art galleries on Canyon Road, but did get a chance to go to Taos Pueblo and the Three Rivers Petroglyph site, both of which were really neat. If you find yourself in New Mexico (and Taos in particular) make sure to try a blue corn fry bread. Delicious.

There were a lot of people around selling different art pieces, so we ended up buying two little clay quails. They're still wrapped up for now until we find a safe place for them in the new house, but I assure you they're very cute. :P

I don't know what it actually is, but it reminded me of the TARDIS

The petroglyph site was really interesting, but we got there in the heat of the day (I think it was 40ºC [104ºF]) so we didn't end up staying as long as we wanted, but we still saw a lot.

After Santa Fe we drove to Durango, Colorado. It is a really cool little mountain town with tonnes of FABULOUS restaurants. Tonnes and fabulous. On the way there we stopped in a little town called Aztec to visit their ruins. I got a few more photos of Tobi and Jonas, but not many.

I'm glad I got a few though because when we went to Mesa Verde the next day I barely managed to get one. There were far too many people and I really didn't feel comfortable being there myself let alone having my dolls out for pictures. Normally I'm okay with people staring and making comments... but not this time. :(

From Durango we went to Colorado Springs so we could go to Pike's Peak and Garden of the Gods. Sadly it was too cloudy for Pike's Peak, but we did get to Garden of the Gods and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo instead. :) Both were really great, I would highly recommend them both. The zoo is pretty small, but it's really well designed and maintained. Their giraffes are super friendly. XD

I also enjoyed driving through the suburbs, but the military presence in the city proper really put me on edge. I know it's pretty normal in the US to see uniformed military personnel around, but it was super weird and a bit scary for me, so I don't know if I could go back.

We ended the trip in Denver, mainly so that I could go to Denver Doll Emporium. Sadly, they'd dismantled their showroom a week or two before I got there, so I didn't get to look around. The woman in the front room was also really unwelcoming and basically ignored us the whole time, so we just left instead of bothering to look at the rest of the things I wanted to see. I'm trying to just put it down to stress from the downsizing and multiple events running at the same time, but I will admit it left a very bad taste in my mouth. Kind of glad I don't need layaway. :|

Last day we spent on Mount Evans, driving up and down. It was effectively a replacement for Pike's Peak, but was quite fun nonetheless. There were marmots and ravens all over the place. I even saw a pika, but we were driving too fast to get a picture. I will admit to getting a bit scared due to the cliffs and distinct lack of guardrails, but I survived. :P

It wasn't actually that cloudy, there just happened to be one behind the sign. :)

Very last thing was the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge where we saw mainly prairie dogs and deer, but also a coyote and some kind of furry black thing I couldn't identify. Then it was off to bed so we could get up early for the uneventful flight home. :)

I hope everyone's last two weeks were as enjoyable as mine!

Vacation!

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You've probably already seen the banner, but I'll be away from July 27th to August 10th. We're visiting cities in both New Mexico and Colorado. I've never been anywhere similar so I'm very excited. I'm bringing all three dolls so I can do a photoshoot at Mesa Verde. I haven't planned it exceptionally well so here's hoping I get some good shots. :)

I usually try to make a new prop or clothing item when I take my dolls on a trip, but I've been reading inspiring posts on Antique Lilac, and they've made me want to make whole new outfits. Since I only thought of this on Tuesday, there wasn't much chance of that happening for all three, but I did make an outfit for Jonas. :)

I'm quite pleased with her outfit, though I plan to eventually trade the shorts out for something else (and possibly embellish the neckline? Thoughts?). I think she looks ready for a week of exploring caves and ruins. :)

See you all when I get back!

After AN Wrap-up (2013)

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I think I've finally recovered enough from last weekend to sit down and write a coherent post. ^^;

Anime North 2013 turned out to be a lot of fun. This is quite good because I've really been struggling with enjoying myself in past years. (I'm not exceptionally good at socializing with people I don't know...). I've already started planning for next year. XD

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Friday:

Most of Friday was spent wandering Artist's Alley, Crafter's Corner and visiting the Doll North Marketplace. The market at DN actually had 4 time slots this year, so we went back 4 times, but only Friday and Sunday have interesting stories.

In Crafter's Corner there were a lot of interesting items this year and I ended up falling for an Amigurumi Cat from Atomic Ami. I've named him Patton. :)

During my Doll Market visit, we passed the BlueFairy booth and I found the perfect dress set for Jonas. It was made for the Sugar body which is quite a bit smaller than the Bisou Ai so I didn't know if it would fit. When I asked about it, the man at the booth basically grabbed her from my hands, opened a package and started trying it on. XD It took about 15 minutes (she was still wearing shoes and underclothes XD), but it fits like a dream and suits her new style flawlessly.

He was actually really surprised when I asked how much it was (I don't think he thought I was actually going to buy it?) and then spent another 15 minutes trying to fit the cardigan sleeves over Jonas's obnoxiously large hands. Definitely a super sweet way to start off the weekend.

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Saturday:

Saturday was just a huge ball of stress. I hadn't fully finished my entry for the doll masquerade, so I spent the whole morning working on it. I thought it turned out really well in the end, but sadly I didn't place. I didn't get any good photos at the contest (or all weekend really :/), so I'm hoping to take her outside in a few weeks to get some 'action' shots.

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My good friend Rosey (Tempurashrimp) snagged Fan Favourite for her Fran entry and won an adorable little Blufairy Shirley girl.

After the DN Masquerade we went over to the AN Masquerade where we waited in line for about 2 hours while they discovered they hadn't put enough chairs in the room. :| I was really hungry, tired and disappointed so I didn't really take that too well. Definitely glad my boyfriend doesn't have to deal with that anymore. -.-

There were A LOT of really spectacular entries, but again, no photos (both from laziness and not super-great seats). This was my favourite outfit of the bunch though so I've evilly stolen a photo from DeviantART to show you.

Extremely Ferocious Beast

Their little walk across the stage was so perfectly in character I can't even describe how wonderful it was. I wonder if AN releases their Masquerade video so you can all see?

We went out for a late snack with friends afterwards and then went back to the hotel and passed out from exhaustion. XD

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Sunday:

Sunday was the day I had my Doll North Marketplace slot, so we got up relatively early, packed and headed over. We did a quick circuit of the Dealer's Room since we didn't go on Friday, but there wasn't too much of interest.

After setting up my little table (I was super lucky and got one between Sadol and Bluefairy!) I had my first customer come by. She purchased a dress I had made for Mali last week as a stress reliever almost immediately after I set her down for display. ^^ Don't worry! Mali will be getting a replacement.

After that I had a few things go home with new owners, but not too many. I think I've learned for next time that I need a bit more diverse set of items and also need to make sure people know I've made everything myself, since most assumed they were from a company. I think that's flattering? ^^;

PukiFee and Bisou Ai Sizes

The absolute highlight of my weekend however, was when the representative from the Bluefairy table came over as I was packing to go home and bought two of my little dresses for his personal collection and complimented me on my work. ^^ He'd been walking past all day looking at something, but I could never figure out what, so it was a HUGE surprise when he turned around and said "2 please". ^////^

Not going to lie, I almost cried.

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All in all, I look back on the weekend favourably. I've learned a lot and have a tonne to do for next year! XD I'll be starting on stock concurrently with the Subtle Memory release this Saturday, but probably won't talk much about it until I decide what I'm actually bringing. I liked having a table on Sunday, but it's been suggested I get one on Friday next year, so we'll see what happens.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I loved getting to meet new people at Doll North, though I should have been more proactive asking for names. Next time! XD

Anime North Sneak Peek (of sorts)

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Okay, here's the deal.

Lots has been going on the last few months:

- Exams
- Finishing commissions
- Doll North Masquerade Entry
- Preparing for AN market
- Vacation
- Apartment-hunting

and a whole bunch of other little things thrown in there just to make it more difficult.

I'm still terrible at keeping up with blogging.

I'm still working on it.

We'll see what happens.

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I'll skip over most of that, but! you will get a sneak-update of what's in the works for Anime North 2013. I have a table during the Sunday slot (10AM-4PM). I will be there for much of it, but not the whole timeslot.

Subtle Memory will be debuting at Doll North 2013.

I will have some pieces for sale (mostly MNF) and some samples of other pieces. Possibly for pre-order. Possibly not.

After AN, anything left over will go up in the shop on June 1st (for sure this time :P). Other pieces will become available over the next 2 months.

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I am also bringing a (very) small set of items from my next collection. It will go up in the shop August 15th, both anything left from AN and new pieces as well. This one will likely be done partially by pre-order since I have to order more of the fabric if I don't have enough.

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Finally, I'm entering the Doll North Masquerade. I'm a bit behind on my entry, but I still think I'll get it done. My friend Rosey (Tempurashrimp) has been encouraging me non-stop and I owe her a lot for giving me confidence when I feel lost and enthusiasm when I feel defeated. <3

Make sure to check out her entry in the Masquerade too. We should be sitting together. ^^

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That's all for now. I'll have all three of my dolls with me, so please come say hi! Even if you're not interested in anything I have for sale I'd love to talk to you. :) <3

Well that was fun

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Classes have finally ended and we've packed up the apartment and arrived back in Canada.

I'm a bit sad to have left Ireland, but at the same time happy to be back home in Canada. We're visiting Vancouver for Christmas and then heading back to Ontario for New Years. I'm really looking forward to getting back to a stable routine once we get back to Ontario.

Unfortunately, I still have two papers to finish off for one of my classes before then so I can't fully enjoy being back in Canada yet... but my notes for both papers were in our checked bags... and our checked bags got lost (just delivered today), so I'm a bit behind on finishing them quickly.

Hrm.

There were a lot of families whose bags were also lost on the same flight, so I'm hoping ours were on the later end of the scale and they got theirs in a timely fashion.

Bye bye Dublin, we have our differences, but I'll miss you. <3

Reading Week in the UK - Part 4 - Glasgow

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Glasgow was a random choice because we wanted to go to Scotland. If we had looked at it more, we probably would have chosen to just go to Edinburgh, despite the cheap flight home from Glasgow.

That said, it does have some excellent points.

The main one being that Glasgow is a UNESCO City of Music, and also a very big art city. We managed to spend a decent chunk of time wandering the Gallery of Modern Art, which is surprising considering how small it is.

They had a film by some German (?) artists with chemical and kinetic reactions pushing random things around a warehouse. It was like a gigantic, complicated version of mousetrap, and as such, was amazing.

Then it was pointed out to me that there was an art store across the street... so of course we went there. It was really well stocked! Stuff for kids, jewellers, sewers, painters, drawers and everyone in between. Not the most extensive collection, they're not going to have those squirrel hair brushes you're looking for, but it was really fun to wander around. Dublin art stores are sadly lacking.

We stayed at the CitizenM hotel. Which is a new hotel chain trying to reinvent the hotel world or some such thing. It was actually really excellent. Comfy meeting areas, excellent Wi-fi (a joy after London, let me tell you!), modern decor, friendly staff and the oddest combination of space pod and dorm room I've ever seen.

Quirky is probably the best word.


They've got some in The Netherlands and soon New York and London, so we're definitely keeping them on the short list for hotels next time we travel.

Lanterns over the first floor stairwell.

We had a fancy dinner at The Ubiquitous Chip. It has a lot of fancy meat dishes (rabbit, duck, etc.) so, if your unadventurous or bunny-loving like me, it might not be the best place, but the food was excellent and the decor is really lovely. I should really have taken a photo.

If you go, however, make a reservation a few days in advance! We forgot and did it one day before and could only get a 10:00 slot, and there were only 2 other free tables.

Our very last stop was the Glasgow Necropolis. I wasn't really interested when we first headed out, but seeing it from afar with the tall obelisks, crypts and celtic crosses peeking out from behind the trees was just beautiful. I can't imagine how impressive it must look in the fall.

Despite not really thinking I would, I ended up quite enjoying Glasgow, it was a nice city to finish off the trip - not too busy, but not empty either - though I will admit the whole thing is a bit coloured by the fact that I managed to lose my cell phone on the very last day. :(

Now it's back to finishing up all the school work I should have been doing during the week! Wish me luck! DX

Reading Week in the UK - Part 3 - York

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As I mentioned, the real reason I wanted to go to York was for the Shambles, where they filmed Diagon Alley for (at least) the first Harry Potter film.

Part of it was just pure fan-ness... but I was also having a rather difficult time accepting that there was a real street somewhere out there with such tippy buildings!

The Shambles

I will say, it's a tad more impressive in the movies, what with the lighting and the people and the lack of construction scaffolding... but it was still pretty neat to see. I'm amazed some of the buildings are still standing.

We ended up wandering looking for some place to have dinner, and stumbled upon Betty's Cafe. I must say, it was a delightful experience. The staff is knowledgable, the food is delicious and they also have a no mobile phone policy, which is kind of neat (though less so if you use your phone for pictures).
We had a brown bread ice cream sundae for dessert, because brown bread ice cream... And despite being super confused, it turned out to be very good. Though between this and risotto in Cardiff, I've decided I don't like cherry breads.

They had a little bakery attached to the cafe, and I'm wishing we'd got something from it... but it had closed by the time we finished eating. :(

Bridge near Guild Hall

We made a quick stop the next day to the Merchant Adventurer's Guild Hall, which was interesting, but not really worth the tour in my opinion. It would be an amazing place to host an event though!

Clifford's Tower

We went up the stairs to Clifford's Tower, but didn't end up going in because we wanted to do a quick circuit of the old city walls. It was really awesome to see, I really love walled cities, but I was panicking a bit about falling off in some places. ^^;

Oh! I also found this guy* (and his two friends) hanging out with some European geese. Tad far from home I think.

Even though we only stayed for 2 half-days, I think York turned out to be my favourite place. It was so full of random little streets and random little shops, you never knew where you would end up once you turned the corner.

I don't think it's somewhere I could live though, just because there were not quite enough people (ironic after London!) and it could seem really dead at times.

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*Might be a female goose... I am not well versed in these matters.

Reading Week in the UK - Part 2 - London

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After Cardiff we were off on a (relatively) short train ride to London!

I think London is one of those cities that tends to be especially romanticized - alongside other big cities like Paris, Tokyo, Venice and Rome.

View across the Thames, showing the London Eye all lit up.

I know I had great expectations for the city and was looking forward to seeing London more than the others we had planned (I mean come on. It's LONDON), but I think it turned out to be my least favourite in the end. (Not by much, though)

Big Ben

Don't get me wrong, I loved everything we did (though I think I wore out my boyfriend constantly checking souvenir shops for things to send mendokusai. ^^;), and it was really beautiful, but London has a bit of 'big city syndrome'. Lots of people impatiently rushing, but not really going anywhere - and I'll just say now, I'm really not a fan of being smushed into subway walls or pushed on the street, just so someone can be 2 seconds earlier to wait for their train. :|

Interesting place to visit, couldn't live in the city centre.


Anyway! Our biggest attraction was definitely the British Museum, conveniently located a half block from our hotel, along with all the regular tourist-y things like Big Ben and the Thames.

We spent almost the entire first day wandering the museum before we had to leave for food, and since we weren't able to see everything we wanted, we had to go back again on the last day! XD

It was incredibly fascinating seeing all of the items I've seen in pictures during university classes actually existing (even if they were in plexiglass boxes ^^;).

The Royal Standard of Ur

At lulufae's recommendation, we made a stop at Liberty and Co. where I picked up a couple of new fabrics. Most of the designs in the current collection were rather lacklustre, but the two I found are quite nice. I think they'll end up as dresses for Jonas. I almost wish I hadn't gone though, because now I'm completely in love with their fabric. So soft and drape-y.... *mournfulsigh* It's very difficult to find though. I've only seen little squares of it online and never in person before.

We did a tour of the whole store just because the building was so interesting, but homg expensive! o____________o;

They were all lined up on the other side too.

We made (what we thought was going to be) a quick stop at Buckingham Palace the next day to take some photos. That's what you do in London isn't it? But ended up staying a while just because there were SO MANY (hundreds at least!) people we figured something must be going on...

They did a changing of the guard (I think?), which could have explained it... but there was also a huge big parade and band and army guy with dog... so I don't quite know what was up. The internet doesn't tell me anything special happened, but there were just so many people. O.o

If QI has taught me anything, the Queen was in. Maybe she was going out for lunch or something?

Anyway.

We finished off our London adventure with an attempted visit to the Tower of London, but it was just about to close and very expensive so we didn't go in.

Maybe next time.

Tower of London

We did, however, buy last minute tickets to Les Misérables at the Queen's Theatre. I know very little about the story, but everyone had been telling me how wonderful it is, so why not. I quite enjoyed it, though I have a feeling that the book is better. I didn't really like the actress playing Fantine, not sure why, but the music was excellent - I've had a mash of a few of the songs stuck in my head ever since! - and Jean Valjean was simply stunning. Can we say 'Holy vocal range Batman'?!

Definitely a great ending to the trip.

Reading Week in the UK - Part 1 - Cardiff

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Finally back from my 'whirlwind' UK trip last week! It was definitely a lot of fun and I can now officially say I've been to every UK country.

I have learned that 4 cities in 9 days is a bit much, however, since we were rather travelled out by the time we got to Glasgow and probably didn't end up enjoying it as much as we should have.

Looking back, I wish we'd gone to Edinburgh or Newcastle instead of Glasgow (though I did like it!) and spent less time in London and more time in York, but it was fun overall.

Our first stop was Cardiff!

The entrance to Cardiff Castle.

As you may or may not know, I was somewhat recently introduced to Dr. Who, and also the most recent BBC version of the Sherlock Holmes universe and have become quite a big fan of both.

Coincidentally*... they are both shot in Wales and Cardiff in particular, so it was pretty much a no brainer for our first stop.

A somewhat unconventional parking space.

The Dr. Who Experience recently opened in Cardiff Bay as well, so that was our first touristy thing. The experience portion was fun and rather cute (it's a bit geared towards children) and the exhibit was lovely for me since they had all the outfits for a large portion of the main characters and villains over the years, so I made sure to get photos of almost all the outfits.

I feel like there may have been something in the middle of the room that I forgot to photograph... but I just can't quite remember....

I picked up a few souvenirs for a friend of mine who is an even bigger fan than me - I'm hoping she likes them, even though she has to wait a few months to get them! - and tried to find a little Dalek for Tobi, but didn't have much luck, so I just picked up a little sonic screwdriver for me and a t-shirt for my boyfriend.

Maybe I'll be able to find one once I get back to Canada.

Then after that, we were off to Cardiff Castle, where we spent an hour or two lost in the walls and the keep (right) and then wandered in to the main 'house' to check out the fancily decorated rooms.

Most were done in a 'traditional' English-y style, but there was one room (creatively named the 'Arab Room') done in an incredibly detailed gold-leafed mosaic and a stunning library unfortunately filled with tomes of city council minutes and copies of Dickens novels. :/

Exciting.

The Old Library at Trinity is similarly designed (if a tad more impressive), though I don't think they would appreciate us sitting in there for long periods of time ruining it all for the tourists, but if I ever find one that is both similarly decorated and well stocked you may not hear from me for a while.

Maybe I should just buy a house and decorate the basement or something. That might be easier.

Gilding. Gilding everywhere!

I probably could have spent at least an hour staring at all the little details in that room, but there was about 2 square feet for you to stand in smushed at the corner of the room....

My camera was basically on the floor for me to get this shot. -_____-



As we were leaving, I noticed that there were actually stuffed parrots placed along a mantlepiece all around the room.

Definitely wishing I'd asked someone what that was all about.

I brought Tobi and Jonas along on the trip, but only ended up taking one photo of either of them...

Overall, I really loved Cardiff. I think 2 days was enough for the city centre, but I wouldn't mind going back and visiting Caerphilly Castle as well.

Maybe when the 12th Doctor appears and they add him (her? :O ) to the exhibit! :P

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*It's probably not coincidental, they're both written/directed/produced by the same people.