Hyper Japan 2014

This weekend has indeed been a busy one! I will start briefly with a friend of mine Jenna and her fiancé Mike. They opened up their own comic book shop and we went down at on Saturday. It is a really beautiful shop and it was rammed in there! I really hope they do amazing! They had some guest there too and I got my photo with a Dalek!

Then on Sunday we had tickets for Hyper Japan. We’ve never been before and talked about going last year but didn’t. This year however Matt has really gotten in to Japanese stuff and Manga and Anime, so we went. It was only £24 for 2 day tickets which I thought was pretty cheap. For all the other conventions I go to, I know to get there as early as possible as the queues can wrap around the building so we planned to get there for 8:30ish and the doors opened at 9:30.

I got up at 6am!! Which is a crazy time for a Sunday morning and got ready. We didn’t actually have to leave until 7:15 at the latest but I ended up being ready by about 6:30am oops. After being late for comic con I took no chances but I was ill then so I think they had a big part to play in my lateness.

We stopped of course at Clapham for our pretzel and got to the venue for 8:30am. The queue however was tiny!! I think next time we can get up a little later and get there for about 9:30-10am!

We got in pretty much bang on 9:30, they had a much better system than LFCC and it was much smoother. The hall was fab there were many stalls but there was tones of room to walk in-between them. The first thing I spotted upon entering was TOTORO! So I ran over like an excited school girl and got my photo taken with him!

We then ended up going to 3 talks in a row. The first was a little strange and was a Secret Ninja, the next was a pretty cool robot talk and then the third was a software called Vocaloid which meant they could make music with human voices with humans! They mixed this with a traditional puppet performance and previewed an exclusive 30minute film using it. I will admit I did not know what was going on but it was really cool!

We then literally ran for food as we were so hungry! We had NO IDEA what we were ordering and joined a queue that were selling noodles as we knew what noodles were! We picked noodles that came with dough ball things and prawns. I have to admit that the price was pretty steep for the amount you got £14 for two. Then it didn’t help that we did not like the noodles very much at all, but we were so hungry we ate it all!

Next we just went round and had a look at all the stalls. I have to say I was a little disappointed (although don’t take that as it made the day any less enjoyable!) there weren’t as many stalls as I thought and not that may manga stalls for Matt. I thought it would be a little more like comic con stalls. They had lots of individual sellers too but the stuff was very ‘cute’ and pink and a little too cute for my taste!

However I did have a great time, and the atmosphere was great and we stayed from 9:30 till 5pm and the time flew by!  I also got some pictures with other cute characters! No for a picture spam!!

Domo came out to say hi! and had a photo opportunity which of course I got excited over

This Panda was sooo cute and I wanted to take him home. 

You can see how excited I was by him haha!

I wore my space dress (it actually fits perfectly now) 

I got Matt to snap a picture of it!

Me and Matt waiting for the talks to start!

I had a great day out and I think will go again next year. I think MCM is going to be the bigger one for us this autumn for Matt to get his Manga stuff, but I would say it is definitely worth going to Hyper Japan! There were a lot of traditional culture bits than I thought and I really enjoyed that too! There were also some BEAUTIFUL cosplayers… less than I thought but there were some amazing dresses and wigs!

We were home by 6pm and got a Dominos on the way home which was a bargain (any size £6.99) and that was just delicious! Now much to my dismay it’s Monday and now I have a quiet August

Nothing much now until September/October!

27^th September is Euro Gamer 29^th September off to France 18^th October is LFCC Winter and 25^th October is MCM! So that is a busy month to look forward to!

Hope this week goes quickly so I can sleep all weekend as today I am KNACKERED!

Body Confidence my thoughts and myths and facts.

Every summer comes and I dread it. It comes and I know I will be battling through the summer sun in too many clothes because GOD FORBID I didn't not cover up. I would wear leggings and skirt and tops. For years I would have a hoody on and give in when it got too hot and wear a short sleeved one when it got too hot. Last year I braved wearing cardigans instead. I never really enjoyed the freedom that I wish I could enjoy in summer.

I thought that’s it next summer I will lose weight and I will be summer ready (took a few summers ahah). I will be bare legged and just in a t-shirt and it will be amazing. To a BIG surprise to me it didn't happen. I may of lost around 50lbs. I’m 2-3 clothes sizes smaller. I have clothes now that I want and more or less everything I want and the styles I like fit me now! But getting my arms and legs out wasn't an easy transaction as I thought it would be.

I decided I would never be ready to go bare legged and instead focused on my top half. I just started with t-shirts. That is a nice in-between I thought, nice and cool without having all the top of my arms out and the added bonus of not getting horrendously sun burnt again. I started off around the house and little trips like to my Grandma’s and to too the super market. It was harder than I thought and now looking back I don’t know what I was so hung up on it!

I eventually realised no one was looking or staring or poking fun at me, actually no one cared and I started to notice people outside in hoody’s in the heat far more than anyone just wearing a damn t-shirt! I had to wonder if they too were insecure.

Then when we went on holiday I longed to have the holiday feeling, not be cramped up in leggings and what not. So on the first day I braved on some skin coloured tights…. I went to Morrions and to my surprise the world didn't end, no one looked or stared and actually maybe I just had regular legs. SO I decided to have skin coloured legs all holiday. Unfortunately my tights ripped that night and could either do ripped tights or just go o’natural. I did however have some biker style shorts from ASOS and I put them on instead. Matt said there was little difference between them and tights so I went with it! I walked along the beach and it felt amazing! Again no one really looked and the world didn't end and I felt less stupid than when I was down at the seaside in my leggings!

Anyway as I was away and ‘free’ on holiday I was fine and I even found myself wishing for smaller legs but correcting myself into wishing for more confidence. I know that is something I can change, why would I focus on something that I cannot. When it came to doing on the way home and going through lakeside I quickly felt very uncomfortable and changed my mind alas. But it was a big step in the right direction!

So the last few weeks I've been debating how much I want to go bare legged for the summer, how much I loved it on holiday. I don’t really like the layered up effect of leggings and I just want to do it so much. The only thing in my way is in my head! But my head is a powerful thing that gets in the way and stops me doing something. I know that I’m not huge and I know that my legs are just legs and to be honest anyone that doesn't like my legs can go stick it! But it’s easier said than done to get over that.

Finally though yesterday I went to the cinema in my new shorts and today I’m at work with just skin coloured tights on. I’m not that fussed about doing it at work because to be honest I don’t really care what I wear but it’s been a big change in my brain. I think I just need to do these things and prove to myself that nothing bad happens and my brain is over reacting.

Rocking out with my legs out! So comfy when it's hot to go to the cinema in!

It is such a free feeling being happy and comfortable and feeling like I fit in with everyone else. I’m so fed up of planning what I wear based on how I can fit leggings and a cardigan into this outfit. Or thinking no I can’t wear that because it wouldn't work with this or that.

Instead I’ve been chucking on a t-shirt and a skirt and at the moment I seem to be sticking to tights they give me that little ‘safety’ feeling that I think I need.

I thought I would just love myself when I lost weight and in actual fact I needed to work on it and I still am but I’m getting there. These hang up I have had for years and just in the back of my mind being miserable because I bought clothes ‘I thought’ I could wear instead of what I wanted to wear is such an amazing feeling. I really am beginning to feel comfortable with myself and I’m just beaming inside! I feel very settled and not like I’m trying to constantly achieve something.

I don’t know if any of this makes sense it’s something that’s hard to express and something I don’t feel like I want to share with everyone as it is something quite personal. It also give me a lot of pride with the weight loss and also the mental changes I am making. It’s also great to not be focused on ‘when I lose weight I will be able to….’ Instead I’m just being me here and now and although I want to lose a little bit more it’s not the main goal and I realise that is not going to bring me the happiness and comfortable feeling that I have been searching for!

SO the myths of weight loss to me were when you do it, IT WILL BRING YOU HAPPINESS. The fact is that actually you need to work on you and how you see yourself! You need to realise that you are amazing and to be honest with you they are just arms and legs and EVERYONE has them! You can be happy you just have to let go of those insecurities! But again that isn’t something that disappears over night! Baby steps seem to be working well for me... one thing at a time. Now it all seems less terrifying. But through all the hard work it is sooo worth it in the end!

Buyers remorse. I have been bad at saving!

I’ve been naughty and been spending money! Which I shouldn't do because I am meant to be saving up! However some of it is a little justified. I thought I would get through summer and make do with my old clothes but when you have a new ‘you’ and clothes that don’t fit they don’t make you feel good about yourself and I just wanted some bits for summer that I would love!

I’ll start with my shorts! I gave it and bought shorts something I would of NEVER worn this time last year. They are one of the best things I own this summer. It has been sooo hot this weekend and these are actually a godsend. They are so comfy and cool and nice to just kick back in. They were from Debenhams and much to my dismay they went in the sale shortly after I bought them but I've already had a lot of wear out of them in the last week!

The next thing is H&M t-shirts. I have sort of given up on Primark now (other than tights and knickers) their clothes I find disappointing and although their t-shirts are a few pounds less than these H&M ones the H&M ones fit sooo much better and much prefer them! I bought a navy blue one in store and liked it so much I order 2 more in grey and purple.

While hunting for the t-shirts in store I happened upon a navy hoody. None of my hoody’s fit anymore except a massive bear one that is only any good in the depth of winter. I saw this and tried it on and just loved the way it fitted. It’s so soft and very thin too so it will be perfect for summer evenings or when autumn starts to come around. I’m not a hoody fan anymore but I still love having them for casual days or trips to the cinema! Alas I do not have a picture of that at the moment!

Next is this skirt. I did buy this in store and was unsure then it went in the sale and was £7 cheaper online so I returned my store bought one and ordered the cheaper one. I worked 2 minute walk away from Debenhams so that’s no hassle, I had to size up and this looks better on me on my hips and to be honest if I wore it round my waist you would see my bottom at the back! It’s a light weight denim and I miss my old denim skirt that now just falls off of my literally! So this should be really nice to wear in the summer and will go into autumn winter too as it will go with tights!

Another Debenhams purchase is these sandals. I saw them at the beginning of the season and they were £30… bit too much when I am saving money! But last night they were reduced to £15 but I was too lazy to get outta bed to find my card to order them. Lucky I didn’t really as this morning they were reduced again to £8 and I got a further 10% off so they were £7ish!! I felt like this was meant to be! I hope they fit well!

The last piece of clothing I bought was this Tee Turtle t-shirt. I got one at MCM back in May and I was really impressed with the quality and sizing and when I saw this, this morning I scream internally and it stole my heart. My love for penguins won again! Damn.

Find the T-shirt here at Tee Turtle

Last thing I got (oh I did bulk buy some tights in primark but that’s a bit boring!) was a portable phone charger. Whenever I go to London and conventions my phones dies in the afternoon. I have to go all day only using it when I have to and it still doesn’t last. I have 4 more conventions this year and I just thought it would be worth the money (it was only £13) So yeah I HOPE that comes before Saturday as that is when Hyper Japan is and it would be a bit pointless if it doesn't come!

So yeah, I've been really naughty! But I am all set for summer now, even though the shops are starting to bring in winter coats SAY WAAA??? It's just awful! But I will continue to enjoy the sun and I will end with my summer time nails I did..... with the ice cream theme!!

Hopefully I will have some snaps of my new clothes while I enjoy the sunshine and YAY HYPER JAPAN ON SUNDAY!

Comic Con 2014

So Comic Con is over again for another year…. *weep*

You may of guessed that this is going to be a COMIC CON THEMED POST WAHEY!

I’ll started with mentioning that I haven’t been online much at all of late as I have been rather unwell all week. Last Monday I felt like I had caught a nasty head cold a colleague had. No worries I thought it is only Monday. Tuesday felt a little worse and Wednesday I felt terrible and went home. Thursday I did feel a little better but very stuffed up but was still hopeful for the weekend. However Friday I was even worse and again went home from work. I slept in the afternoon and woke up and burst into tears as I just didn’t want to go at all.

However I went to bed at 9am and woke up at 6am and made myself get ready. It took me much longer to get ready and organised and we headed off. Got our pretzel for breakfast and I had a coffee and we were there by 8:30ish. I went on a mission of a walk to find a cash machine and then we were in around 9:30 (door opened at 9am)  I did however put my new Flamingo dress on and I got sooo many compliments on it!

We had a little look around stalls and my photo shoot was at 10:25. I wanted to get the morning one as I felt so rough I didn’t know what I would look like by the afternoon. Had that done and I was super pleased with the photo! I most likely stunk of olbas oil as I had been walking round sniffing a tissue covered in it.

I am really happy with the photo though. I was so excited to meet David Hewlett, I have always said he would be one of the ultimate people I would like to meet.

We then found the photo area with the Game of Thrones, throne and I had my photo taken on that! Again I was pretty pleased with the photo I thought it looked pretty cool, even though I look a little like a puppet in the picture. Ha ha!

We then attempted to go to the stalls to find a plastic folder to put my photos in and it was soo rammed. We did find one and then we went outside to cool down a bit although at this point the sun had come out and it was baking. We went to the shop round the corner to get some water and on the way there my nose suddenly cleared (it was a fairly gross event involved me swallowing it yuck!). I suddenly felt 100x better and all the pressure in my face was gone. I was so pleased I wanted to tell the people in the shop about it ahah! I had to take painkillers all day to get the headache and crappy feeling at bay, but it was far more bearable that feeling like your face might pop any moment now.

We then headed to the Sherlock talk. We queued for about an hour and tbh we were really disappointed. The speakers were awful and we couldn’t hear a word they said or any questions asked. It was a shame and I’m VERY glad I didn’t pay for that!

After we headed out for lunch and I had a delicious salad from subway. My tummy had stared aching from all the pain killers I had been taking but some Gaviscon helped that a lot. I would have the salad from Subway again though it was really nice.

Afterwards we went and did all the stalls. It was so crammed we could barely move of see. We didn’t get much, I got some badges (to replace old ones I lost) and a print and key ring. I also got Jon Snow Pop Funko and a GoT necklace which I loved and for £5 I thought was a bargain. Matt also got a book which I’m pleased about as he usually doesn’t get anything.

I then talked myself into have a autograph with David Hewlett. I usually wouldn’t do both but he is quite a special person for me to meet and he wasn’t doing a talk so Matt talked me into it! There was about an 30-60minute wait so we went an had an ice cream and went back. Luckily we planned it perfectly as we were the LAST people to get one done.

I’m so glad and excited I did it though. His voice was going but he was really friendly and seemed so pleased to be there and meet me. He asked if I had meet many other cool people and I said tbh I was just here to meet him and then I told him that A Dog’s Breakfast was one of my favourite movies and he said it was so much fun to make and he wanted to do a second one and I said he should and he said Yes I KNOW I SHOULD :D

It’s a big thing as usually I can’t ever think of anything to say and I always wish I could!

We then poked round the stalls as it was gone 5pm now and it was getting quieter and we could have a proper look and at 6 we joined the queue for the GoT screening.

The screening was a little disappointing. There was meant to be a ‘special guest’ but they did turn up. The seats were also so small that Matt ended up in agony he said it ruined the whole day that made me a little sad. I have to say I was a little disappointed but it didn’t ruin my day at all.

The cast were quite funny but the episode they picked didn’t have them in it much so they didn’t have that much to say alas.

We then headed off and had pizza express which was lovely and we were home about midnight! It was a long day up at 6am and back at midnight!

I have post con blues a bit at the moment. I am still a little out of it as on Sunday I felt pretty rough again. I thought it was because I over did it on Saturday but Sunday night my ears started to bleed a bit again and they were blocked and I was in a lot of pain. A trip to the doctors and I have ear infection in both ears and a sinus infection. I’m on antibiotics at the moment but I’m not completely with it at the moment. I can’t wait to feel better it has been over a week now alas!

We have a 'Secret Screening' at the cinema tonight so I am looking forward to that! Luckily I feel well enough I think to do that. Well I hope so anyway!

Not looking forward to when post con blues hit but I had another amazing Comic Con and I can't wait for October to do it all again now!