Happy New Year! I hope everyone’s year has been good so far. I stayed home and played a lot of StarCraft, then went out yesterday for a little shopping, so I’d say it’s been pretty good for me.
Well, I got busy and neglected my blog again. I also moved again! Packing up a four bedroom house and moving out of state is a lot of work! Now my husband and I are crammed into a studio apartment with a mountain of boxes until we can find a new home, which unfortunately may not be until late this year, or even next year. This means I will have limited space to create new costumes this year. Maybe it’ll give me a chance to catch up on stuff like editing photos, working on my website…. and posting on my blog. Hah. I did a little better last year than the previous year in terms of keeping up with my blog. I’m slowly figuring out what kind of stuff I want to post here. I hope you guys find it interesting!
So I’m back in California, but this time in the San Diego area. Aside from Comic Con, I’ve never been to San Diego, so everything outside the downtown area is new to me. I didn’t realize San Diego was so hilly! My husband and I were exploring the area around Balboa Park, driving along when we suddenly came to a very steep downward slope! It was terrifying! My husband’s car actually bottomed out while we were going over the top. And then we came to another drop! I don’t think even the streets in San Francisco are that steep. I can’t imagine living on those slopes and having to park there. Phoenix is very flat, and the streets form a neat grid. The streets here don’t make any sense! I have to say though, when you’re driving up a hill and you suddenly come to the top and can see the whole city, it feels like you’re on top of the world for a moment. What a view!
Meanwhile, I am enjoying the food here! There are so many great Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese markets (and the milk tea is cheaper)! There’s a huge variety of Asian restaurants, too. I must’ve spent an entire day on Google looking up restaurants to try. I even found a Hawaiian shave ice place close to my husband’s work, so I’m looking forward to trying that once the weather warms up. Of course, I had to look up tea houses too, for Lolita tea party purposes! It turns out there’s one just a few miles down the street from where I currently live! Lucky! My husband and I tried it, and it was lovely. Next time we’ll have to dress up.
Of course, there are also plenty of shops for anime and comic fans in the San Diego area. There are so many comic book stores (I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, since San Diego is the home of Comic-Con International)! There’s Tokyo Central & Main, which is owned by Don Quijote, a big Japanese discount store chain. In addition to a grocery store, it has toys, anime goods, cosmetics, home goods, and more. There’s a toy shop inside Mitsuwa Market too. Near Mitsuwa, there’s a Book-Off, a Japanese used book store that not only sells books and magazines, but CDs, DVDs, video games, anime figures, and other things. There are plenty of small shops selling anime and other Japanese goods, and even some K-pop and K-beauty stores. There are also several Daisos, the popular Japanese thrift stores. My only disappointment is that there’s no Japanese bookstore to buy new Japanese fashion magazines. Book-Off has a few magazines, but the selection isn’t reliable. At least I live on the north side of San Diego, so Orange County (where there’s a Kinokuniya) is only a little over an hour away.
So far San Diego seems like a great city, and I’m really happy my husband’s job gave us the opportunity to move here. I have a lot of exploring to do, as well as house-hunting. I can’t wait to check out the gardens and beaches once the weather warms up! We’re also only a few hours from LA, making a day trip to the Fashion District or an event in LA possible. I think I’m going to like it here.
2016 is going to be another busy year! Stay healthy, everyone!
