ComiConn 2014!

For my first comic convention, it was super fun! It was definitely overwhelming, though. So much to see! I didn't know anyone that was talking at the panels or performing except AKIRA, who put on an awesome show.

AKIRA is an electro-pop/EDM artist who just released his first single "Zero" in iTunes. I was so happy I got to see him perform! He did a cover of Gaga's "Venus" that was fitting for the venue; my favorite original song of his would have to be "Gravity" Check it out if you get a chance!

So I mostly walked around aimlessly with my friends and sister. We must have made at least four complete laps around the place and saw something new each time. The best part was taking pictures with fellow cosplayers ^_^

My sister went as Storm and it was boss. She made a belt and and rocked white hair and pleather and the whole bit. We found a Rogue.

 I basically flipped when I found a Leelo.

And Toph

And Bathrobe Gandalf.

AND FRICKEN MR.T

But what took the cake was this one right here. She cosplayed the cat from the Cat Returns!!! WHAT! We were the only Studio Ghibli cosplays. Her's was definitely a bit more obscure but it's my favorite film on the box set and she pulled it off so expertly! Definitely made my day.

As for my purchases, Sister and I bought my dad a Star Trek tie clip, and I got my big bro Deadpool and Wolverine shot glasses. I got myself a whole bunch of pins and a manga.

I am super stoked to go to my next comicon whenever that will be. Here's a baby Yoda caressing a live R2D2 to end this post.

TTFN!

Totoro Cosplay

Lately my outfits for halloween/cosplay have been furry creatures (Jake, Cheshire Cat, and now Totoro) and with all of them I turn regular outfits in their color into my costume. It typically involves thrift store finds, markers, sewing ears and a tail, and a little (or a lot) of makeup. Either way it's always fun. The best part is most of the costumes can be worn as part of a regular outfit!

For this particular one, I sewed a tail and ears, then pinned the tail to the back of my cardigan and used wire to attach the ears to the head band and hold them up. Add a few boomerangs to a cream colored tank top and BOOM! I became Totoro.

It was super great to connect with those who also were Miyazaki fans. And if they didn't understand who I was, they were all "nice cat costume!" and I promptly turned away as they did not deserve my attention. JK! I just said thanks; trying to describe who Totoro is was too much effort. More details on my first comicon to follow!

TTFN!

TOTORO Cupcakes! // Snickerdoodle recipe

As you may or may not know, I love to bake. Mostly cookies, but these cupcakes were the bombdiggity so I had to share! I've debated whether or not adding a food component to this blog and decided what the heck, it's bound to happen sooner or later.

For my Asian art history class, we had a project in which we had to pick something artistic and Japanese and do a presentation on it. I chose to do the film My Neighbor Totoro, focusing on O Totoro because he's just so loveable (and my professor's favorite *brownie points*). Since he is the inspiration for many culinary artists, I baked cupcakes to go along with my slide show. The presentation went great!

YOU WILL NEED

• 1 box of vanilla cake, and all it requires
• cinnamon ~ approx. 1tbsp
• nutmeg ~ approx 1 tsp
• cloves and/or allspice ~ approx 1 tsp
• optional: pumpkin or apple pie spice
• 1 tsp of almond extract
• for frosting: cream cheese, butter, confectioner's sugar, vanilla extract 
• chocolate frosting ~ approx 2 tbsp
• plastic baggies
• food coloring

INSTRUCTIONS

Follow the directions on the box for the cake. Add the almond extract and the seasonings while mixing to taste. I understand that snickerdoodle is a fancy way to say with cinnamon, but that's boring by itself! So i always accompany cinnamon with nutmeg and cloves (allspice if I don't have cloves). Cloves really brings the taste of fall. To be honest I'm not entirely sure just how much of each spice I put in, but the ratio is about right (3 parts cinnamon, 1 part each of every other spice) I tasted the batter (alot) as I went along. The almond extract is a great undertone to round out these flavors *yum.*

I used this recipe from allrecipes.com for the cream cheese frosting. It's super great as is but a bit too tangy for this cupcake, so I added an extra half cup of the confectioner's sugar. I also halved this recipe which was just enough for 20 cupcakes/1 box of cake.

FOR TOTORO: 

1. Assuming you mixed the frosting in a bowl, put half of the frosting in a baggie and set it aside.
2. For the frosting left in the bowl, add one drop of red, blue, and yellow each to achieve the grey depicted (i wish I made it darker, so maybe two drops each next time)
3. place that batch in a baggie. Get the chocolate frosting in a baggie too.
4. In the white and grey baggie, snip a larger corner to squeeze out of. For the chocolate baggie, snip a tiny corner (for the detail :3)
5. Start with the bellies. You want a semicircle that goes a little more than half way up the cupcake.
6. fill the rest of the space with grey.
7. Add the whites of the eyes!
8. with chocolate, add nose, pupils, whiskers, and the iconic arrows on the belly that make it Totoro.
9. ENJOY!

This was a super fun cupcake to make (and eat). If you don't want to go with Totoro for the cupcakes, I'd suggest the cream cheese frosting with a simple chocolate design like a swirl; the bit of chocolate with all the other flavors was perfect! I was glad I got to experience and research a bit of the magic that is Totoro :) I'll be sure to watch some more Miyazaki films over winter break!