Bibliotheca July: Vacation - Bay Area Kei goes south!

This month, a few members of the Bay Area Kei team went down to SoCal to attend Jardsale, a swap meet hosted by our friend Seams Witch (also the designer of Marchen Maiden). Our fearless leader, Halley, participated as a vendor and sold items from her own brand, The Black Ribbon, and also brought items from the many brands stocked by Flores Astorum, as well as Eat Me Ink Me.

Read on ahead for separate accounts of our vacations from Obsixwi, Halley, Mani, and Emma!

Obsixwi

Day One - Saturday

I flew down to Orange County after missing my first flight. Seams came to pick me up (she got her car deluxe washed for this because she is a treasure), and we went to buy delicious bread, and then headed to her home so we could work on tagging and documenting all of the clothes that Seams was going to bring to sell at the swap meet.

For full context, Seams is helping a friend sell off a large portion of their lolita wardrobe, and since they'd been in the fashion for so long, there was almost 200+ items to tag and document. It filled several Ikea bags. We called her section of the swap meet Toddler Armoire. We didn't finish until maybe 9 in the evening, at which point I headed back to our group Airbnb to meet up with the others.

I got to meet her cat, Dumpling

Day Two - Sunday

The swap meet was scheduled to open at 11 am for sellers to come in and set up, and then 12:30 pm for ticketed attendees. Once we were let in, we got to work on checking in sellers and showing them their assigned tables.

Originally, I'd been assigned to help with attendee check-in. However, due to issues such as anxiety, I switched over to dressing room duties, which just consisted of looking after items left with me while people tried on clothes.

I hadn't planned on buying anything at the swap meet. Unfortunately for me, I happened to walk past the Iris Garden booth 5 minutes before the end of the event and caught sight of a black JSK by Haenuli with a lace overskirt and jacquard bodice. Iris, being the excellent saleswoman that she is, informed me that the price would be increased after this event, and I had to run over to grab my bag (that I'd bought from her in May at Fanime) to throw money at her. I also didn't sell either of the dresses I'd brought to sell, so somehow ended up coming back from the event with more than I'd started with, which is just how it is sometimes.

✨ her ✨

After the end of the swap meet and clean-up, we took a short pitstop back at our Airbnb to change clothes and rest, and then headed over to a place that was introduced to me as "the k-pop mall" to meet up with some other of the Jardsale attendees. It's actually just a mall with lots of dining options, so that everyone could get something different to eat. I got a veggie bibimbap, and it was huge and delicious. After that, we walked around exploring the snack options and took group pictures, and then said our goodbyes and headed home.

Day Three - Monday

Day three was check-out, so the morning consisted mostly of making sure everything was properly packed and tidied up. The others had earlier flights than I did, and left for the airport immediately after check-out. My flight wasn't until the evening, and I hadn't made other plans for the day, so I headed over to meet up with Emma in her hotel room at Disneyland. I don't particularly care for Disneyland, so while she went out and had fun, I had a nice nap.

This is how they found me

Seams came over after she finished work with a pizza, and so I just spent the rest of the time before my flight chatting in the hotel room with friends. She then dropped me back off at the airport, and I flew back to SFO.

Conclusion

I wanted to make a blog post for the July Vacation theme, but I think what I've learned is that I'm not very good at vacations or relaxing. However, I still had a nice time seeing friends and meeting new people!

Halley

Day One - Saturday

Drove down and stopped at the Arby's in the middle of nowhere because they have the meats.

Unloaded the car and wanted dinner... and there was this place I'd been wanting to go back to for their japanese mabodofu but couldn't find on my last trip to LA, so Clarence went ALL through his google location history from 2020 (we last ate there in Jan. 2020) and located it (What's Up Men) so I could FINALLY scratch that itch.

I'd say their donburi is probably better than their ramen? But IDK since I ONLY get their donburi.

Day 2 - Sunday

In the morning we got up and went to this place called EGGSPRESSO because we'd been there the month before when we were on vacation, and knew it would be open early and had hearty big options so I could skip lunch during the actual J.ardsale.

For dinner we did what everyone was doing and went to The Source's food hall. I opted for a little sushi and a omurice and my husbear got jajangmyeon - pretty much all the carbs to recoup from a long day working and no lunch.

After we walked around for a bit we decided to pop into a VERY cute tea shop (Basilur Tea and Coffee) and ordered a matcha jiggly pancake and some drinks. We went back out much later for some additional bubble tea but I don't have a photo.

Day 3 - Monday

Then we literally planned our return route around going to egg slut on the way home. We picked the one in Glendale bc it's way less hectic than DTLA. Apparently it was full of influencers filming 😂 (husbear went in to order, I stayed and kept an eye on the car full of merchandise).

Aaaand that's my food trip to LA!

Mani tokkigo

Day One - Saturday

As soon as I arrived in Buena Park, I was whisked away for a front-row performance at Medieval Times, where I feasted on half a chicken and a boozy slushie. Huzzahs were had by all.

Royalty!

Afterward we stopped by a supermarket to acquire some munitions for the team (sparkling water, fruit, gluten free snacks, and alcohol basically).

Day Two - Sunday

I primarily assisted Halley with setting up the many items she had packed in her car and driven down. I worked up quite the sweat, but luckily we were prepared with a thoughtful Hydration Station™ complete with a darling mascot.

Also the inflatable tube person

I had already indicated as least one dress I wanted to buy from Seams, but so many people had so many well priced offerings that I very quickly amassed a sizable pile of purchases. I did sell one item, so it probably all balances out.

The category is: Financial Responsibility

After clearing out my wallet and the venue, we headed off to that k-pop mall for not only a bomb dinner (I had spicy kalbi kimbap and tteokbokki...and some bites of bibimbap), but so many dessert options!!! It was fun to wander around and check out everything.

Tasty cups of patbingsu!

Sometime after this I also had the opportunity to pet Seams's cat Dumpling. It was an honor.

Day Three - Monday

I started the day with a work meeting because I am one employed bitch. Not long afterward I was packed up and ready to head back home.

My suitcase seemed heavier, somehow

I hope to have more exciting journeys with the BAK crew and that they will include snacks and cats aplenty!

Emma / Nycticeivs

Day One - Saturday

I neglected spending time with my BAK peers this trip and mostly did my own thing. On Saturday morning I drove from SF to LA with my partner and friend. This particular drive tends to be mind numbingly dull, but at least I had an entire backseat to myself.

We made great time and arrived to LA in the early evening and stayed with another friend for the night. I would say it was "nothing special," but we watched laserdiscs of Evangelion and a compilation of rollercoasters from 1995.

Day Two - Sunday

Jardsale day! As with most events, I operated entirely off of auto-pilot mode and worked to ensure everything was as smooth as possible for attendees. Tragically I really didn't have time to look around and shop, mostly because I was (and still am) on a "no-buy." (However, at the very end as everyone was packing up, I was able to make one tiny little purchase as a treat.)

Obsixwi and Kurofrills repping some Ghostified Raspberry Mazohyst

I was excited to see Haenuli's new Winnie the Pooh dress in person! I pre-ordered the grey JSK earlier that month because I love Winnie the Pooh and I absolutely HAD to.

I left shortly after the event ended to head to the second half of my trip (and the reason my partner and friend joined me on this trip in the first place) - Disneyland!

Me, Spencer, and the Mouse that wants all of our money.

I'll expand on my trip to the park on my own blog later, but here's a quick bulleted summary of my trip:

• Compared to my last trip (August '21,) this time was incredibly different (in a bad way) in terms of rides actually being functional and crowds in general.

• I wore kuro EGA/a long Victorian Maiden JSK for the a little bit on Sunday evening, and it was a bad choice, y'all. Don't do it in July.

• It was SO hot and SO crowded. We really didn't get to ride anything because none of us felt like waiting more than 30 minutes in line for anything, and wanted to avoid people/inside areas as much as possible.

"It's so damn hot. Kuro was a bad choice"

• We stayed at Paradise Pier. My advice: While staying on the park can be expensive, it worth it if you split the cost with friends and want to have the option to take a break from the park if you need it. It was fine. Nothing special, but it was cheap.

• The Haunted Mansion is my favorite and holds a very special place in my heart. The 50th anniversary art exhibit was back so that was a pleasant surprise.

• We had a chance to check out the new Spiderman ride and visit the Marvel area. None of us are "Marvel people," but overall we thought it was still really well constructed, even though we still miss dear Heimlich.

• Pym's Test Kitchen is so fun and absolutely adorable. We had a MASSIVE pretzel. It was ok but the atmosphere and overall lab gimmick was worth it.

• I spent a few hours sitting around and eating Beignets with Obsixwi in the hotel room.

• We got to watch the Main Street Electrical Parade. The song is a banger.

• And this little guy that was the #1 highlight of my trip:

The cast members were really selling it by telling people to "watch out" as if it were a full size trolley

Overall I had a great time on this trip and was glad to spend time with the BAK+ gang, and help our friend with their event!