I love blurry photos of Momo because she looks even more monstrous

Good luck, Momo Quasar!

Kewpie mayonnaise (delectable)

Sparkling sake (not my cup of tea)

Sumi ink set and brushes

Ink and grinding stone

My attempt at a watercolor fish (painted on rice paper using Chinese watercolors) using this YouTube tutorial

I’m taking a break from my Haruki Murakami reading marathon to pick up something quite different: White Noise by Don Delillo. In stark contrast to The Wind Up Bird Chronicle (and other Murakami novels), White Noise is refreshingly crisp in its imagery and dry in its humor. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy Murakami – I do; however, I’d been feeling rather disconnected and I suspected it was his influence, so I chose to pick up something a little less surreal.

What are you reading for summer?

On Monday, my boyfriend and I ventured out to Santa Monica to visit the beach while we were out in California. It was a bit overcast, but compared to our muggy North Texas weather, the chilly seabreeze was certainly welcomed.

Last time we visited the Santa Monica Pier, we ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp, but this time, I was hoping for something a little less touristy and more importantly, something much cheaper. As per the recommendation of Urban Spoon, my boyfriend and I staked Wokcano, a pan-Asian restaurant chain, and were lucky enough to catch happy hour! My yellowtail sushi was incredibly fresh and our spicy crabmeat roll (for an insanely cheap $5) was delicious.

The decor was minimalist but inviting

My shrimp tempura roll and Kirin beer

Enjoying my Miso soup, blurry photo courtesy of my boyfriend

The restaurant has a two-story setup. A couple sitting below us had a pretty good-looking dish.

Mark

After we finished dinner, we visited the Third Street Promenade, which I found a bit underwhelming. Not only was it flooded with people, but I was disappointed to see that they no longer had a French connection. I did, however, enjoy looking at peoples’ pups! While I was away, I missed Momo so much!

I’m so glad to be back in Texas!

Upon arrival my boyfriend and I staked out the closest In-N-Out and had our first In-N-Out meal in 2 years. So incredibly satisfying.

Homoerotic Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Bowser

My “convention face” two days in: runny makeup, breakouts, and messy unbrushed hair

French-braided pigtails

Over the weekend, my sister and I celebrated with our family. We decided to make cake balls in lieu of an actually birthday cake. They were delicious, but way too rich! I think next year we might just stick with a cake!

Ours were a bit messier than Bakerella’s! They’re chocolate with bits of toffee.

Then, on our actual birthday night, we gathered at my apartment and hit the bars (after having to cancel the actual party due to plumbing problems). Sorry, no photos, though I did wear this dress.

And today, for the second time, I made Alyssa’s delicious pizza recipe, though I skipped the fresh basil and cheated with a store-bought crust. The ingredients are: pesto, fresh mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, and Parmesan. Delicious! My first attempt at it was much more successful; today it was a bit scant on cheese, and a little heavy on the tomatoes (fault of my boyfriend). Nonetheless, it was delicious!

Scallops

Embroidered Tulle

Drawings, Drawings!

Vacance de Monsieur Hulot

My twenty-second birthday is this Monday, and I look forward to celebrating it with my friends, family, and twin sister. I wish I knew what to ask for, but the Stella McCartney bodysuit I’ve been eyeing on Net-A-Porter sold out in my size already.

My boyfriend playing my parents’ out-of-tune piano. He plays keyboard in a local band

**

In a few months, I’m visiting Los Angeles to attend Anime Expo, the largest anime/manga convention on this side of the planet. Having attended three times already (and having enjoyed myself immensely), I’m stoked to go! Mentally I’m prepared, but as for my costume, I can safely say I’m cutting it close. As usual, I’m planning to cosplay Asuka from Evangelion, although this year, I’ve decided on a much more complex outfit of hers! This morning, my latex arrived, and with less than a month before I leave, I’m very nervous to finish it in time!

Unsanded, unpainted bolts made out of craft foam

5 yards of latex

Since I’ve never worked with latex before, I’m excited to try it out; however, I’m definitely preparing myself for failure, and I know this is going to be a valuable lesson in patience. Luckily, latex is made out of rubber, and therefore is very forgiving in terms of fit (with something like a 120% stretch ratio, I believe?), but rather than sewn, latex is glued, so I know that this is going to be interesting. Hopefully it turns out alright!

Finally, I’m back from my month-long sabbatical (I’m barely counting the last post since it was rushed)! Every week, my task list has included “Update See Creatures”, but one excuse after the other kept compelling me to push it onto the next week’s list. But I’m back, and updates should be much more regular now that it’s summer! Should, of course – I’m not really promising anything.

My friend Lindsay, a fibers major (textile studies), has the coolest job ever, I’m sure of it: she’s interning this summer at an alpaca farm. For the past month or so we’ve been working out a chance for me to accompany her there, and today presented itself as the perfect opportunity. So we drove about half an hour south of Denton into the beautiful farmland of Flowermound. That’s one thing I love about where I live: I’m less than an hour away from Dallas’ premiere shopping, and even closer to beautiful farmland.

When we arrived, the alpaca congregated and stared at us. Cutest welcoming committee ever! Their heads look extremely large, as they were recently sheared.

Two of the babies

These are the young boys of the Alpaca farm! I love how the non-castrated males are called “studs”! These, however, have been castrated – it preserves the softness of their fur!

Again, the ladies, standing around and watching. Alpaca are so curious – they were standing and staring the entire time we were at the farm!

One of the studs – I forget his name! He had his own fenced-in area to himself, since the non-castrated males tend to be more aggressive.

This is Marinara – the most outgoing alpaca of the bunch! (In one of the first pictures, you can see her eating out of Lindsay’s hand.) Like any other animal, alpaca all have very individualized personalities.

Two of the babies – I believe the one on the right is Marinara’s.

This boy (whose name also escapes me) is a “Suri” alpaca, meaning his hair grows in dreadlocks. I love the way his hang in his face – it makes him look cool and adolescent, haha.

After feeding and admiring the alpaca, Lindsay and I invested about 20-30 minutes into the tedious task of cleaning out the already-sheared alpaca fur. Lindsay explained to me how Alpaca fur is valued not only for its softness, but because it isn’t oily like sheep fur. The fur we cleaned out was ~3 inches long, sometimes even thicker, and so incredibly plush and soft. It’s also very expensive, so it might be a while before I can buy any alpaca yarn!

Hope everyone is doing well!