Monthly Archives: August 2015

Pour Some Sugar on Me! Sugar Rush Vanellope Cosplay

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It’s that time of year again! Youmacon 2015 is right around the corner and for us convention hopefuls it is preparation time to pull together the outfits that we will don for the occasion. This year I have decided to attend as the adorable spitfire Vanellope Von Schweetz from the Disney film Wreck-it Ralph.

My declaration to my con companions: I am not a seamstress, and this is not the year I become one.

Being against sewing my own outfit has posed an issue with achieving the Vanellope look. As a consumer, I am at the mercy of online merchants to have something that may resemble what I desire. Items that are in trend can be found in plenty. Specific styles of workable skirts? Not so much. Specific colors of hoodies? Keep looking pal. After hours of various keyword combinations, I finally decided on the following four items to be the base of my cosplay…

wighoodie ruffle_skirt striped_leggings

Once these items arrive, other more creative and fun details will be finalized such as hair accessories, shoes, and clothing modifications that will make the outfit so Vanellope. 😉

Reason behind my choice: Vanellope is an overcomer. She was constantly told that she was a “mistake” a “glitch” someone without a purpose or place to truly call home. Once she saw Ralph’s medal hanging from the tree branch, hope sprung anew in her chest and she believed in herself and got someone else to believe in her too – even if it was just to get the medal back.

In the grand scheme of things, learning to drive a race car took Vanellope a very short period of time but it was a pivotal moment in her development as she had to have the courage to believe, shut out the negative voices that were keeping her down, and try.

Can’t wait for the packages to arrive! x3

Thanks for reading!

-Anna San♥

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A Weekend at Sunflower Cottage

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Recently my family went up to the “grandparent’s” cottage for a weekend getaway. Nestled in the woods along the Titabawasee river in Alger, the cottage is frozen in time, a relic of a bygone era. No insulation, furnace or city water there! DSC_0544-1

We spent a bit of time tidying when we arrived, but afterwards I made memories by teaching my younger siblings how to play kings in the corner while four of us were crammed onto the bed above the cab of the camper with a fifth watching from the ladder. 🙂 In the evening we went out for a walk after 11pm and laid in the middle of the dirt road and gazed up at the starry sky. To my delight, I saw three shooting stars! 😀

The next day we sampled the local restaurants, perused the local antique shops and went to Tractor Supply for the first time. (I bought cowboy hat.) 🙂

That night the whole family enjoyed yummy s’mores and watching Iron Giant again; laughing uproariously at the toilet humor. “Landslide, its new.” 😉 Other activities were taking out the paddle boats, going on bike rides with the sibs, jogging, walking with various family members, swimming… etc. But my favorite was definitely the paddle boats. It’s a team effort to get anywhere in them and I had several buddies to help me out!

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Being out on the river was amazing, not only because it’s beautiful but because of the numerous photo ops it provided for my itchy shutter finger. 😀 I’m only a hobbiest, but there’s nothing quite like capturing that one picture that makes you go wow. I think I captured quite a few. 🙂

For the short amount of time we were there, we fit a lot in and had a blast while doing it!

Thanks for reading!

-Anna San♥

Skateland West

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Today Maru, Nina and I went to Skateland West roller rink in Westland. Over a decade has passed since I went to one last, so we thought it’d be a great sisters outing, and another ‘golden opportunity’😉

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Skateland Sign

When choosing a rink, we went based on proximity + availability and discovered that the closest is Skateland West who has convenient weekend hours.

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Entrance

Their pricing is reasonable, $7 per 3 hour session or $10 per day which includes free skate rental. They also boast 25 cent lockers and dollar+ drinks at the concessions. 🙂

The rink was cool with the universe theme, blacklights, live DJ and multiple disco balls. The floor itself was pretty smooth, just needed to watch for the occasional rough patch and for fallen little people. 😉

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…Gotta love perspective and ancient skates!

The rented skates did their job, however I would recommend bringing a personal pair for comfort …and aesthetics.

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Ready for skating!

Once laced up, I was ready to go! There were quite a few regulars flying by, so I was determined to give it my best and not fall flat on my face.

After stepping onto the rink floor I realized that skating is all about balance. I ended up using what I learned about balance and control from both skiing and skateboarding. In skateboarding you bend your legs, lean forward and use your upper body to direct the board. In skiing you bend your legs, lean backward and point your toes to direct your skis. With skating, if you lean too far forward, you’ll fall, so you need to lean back, but not too far back because you’ll fall. Lol! My solution: bend knees, lean back slightly keeping hips above ankles and use upper body for steering. I’m sure I looked a sight, but during the two hours there I didn’t fall once! 🙂

This outing has worn me out, but I am glad that I had the opportunity to spend this time with my sisters and learn something new. 🙂

Thanks for reading!

-Anna San♥

Golden Year Project: Complete!
Check out some of the nifty things I did down below!

  1. 2/14/2015: Oh Canada!
  2. 2/20/2015: Just do it! A Morning on the Slopes
  3. 2/28/2015: Facing the Rockwall
  4. 3/10-12/2015: The Amazing Chi-Town!
  5. 3/18/2015: On Target… or Not.
  6. 4/11/2015: The Tridge
  7. 4/17/2015: Play Me a Song
  8. 5/2/2015: Make a Run for It!
  9. 5/31/2015: Handy Dandy Eye Candy
  10. 7/2/2015: Tri-Harder
  11. 8/14/2015: Paddleboats Ahoy!
  12. 8/22/2015: Skateland West

Paddleboats Ahoy!

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While my family was vacationing at the grandparent’s cottage up north this weekend, we had the opportunity to go paddleboating – which I have never done before this trip. 

DSC_0195 Although one can technically use a paddleboat by oneself, its so much more fun to have a crew. 🙂 DSC_0249
(See? Siblings can be super useful. 🙂 I’m the one taking the pictures.)
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The Titawbawasee is a sizable river. See that speck in the middle of the pic? That’s what we looked like in comparison to our surroundings.

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My crewmates. 🙂DSC_0297

Quite a workout…DSC_0323

Sean did a great job with the steeringDSC_0377

Beholding the beauty of the river.DSC_0443

The views were breathtaking and I couldn’t stop hitting the shutter.DSC_0314

I can’t even say how many pictures I took… 😉DSC_0328

The neighbor’s paddleboat. They let us borrow it later. 🙂DSC_0353

We encountered many many lily pads.

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Epic.

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Water lily…DSC_0792

A mossy old stump that has become an island. DSC_0829

Victory!

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I would like to give a shout-out to all my paddle buddies this weekend – couldn’t have had this cool golden year experience without you!

Thanks for reading!

-Anna San♥

Golden Year Project: Complete!
Check out some of the nifty things I did down below!

  1. 2/14/2015: Oh Canada!
  2. 2/20/2015: Just do it! A Morning on the Slopes
  3. 2/28/2015: Facing the Rockwall
  4. 3/10-12/2015: The Amazing Chi-Town!
  5. 3/18/2015: On Target… or Not.
  6. 4/11/2015: The Tridge
  7. 4/17/2015: Play Me a Song
  8. 5/2/2015: Make a Run for It!
  9. 5/31/2015: Handy Dandy Eye Candy
  10. 7/2/2015: Tri-Harder
  11. 8/14/2015: Paddleboats Ahoy!