NYCC year 2

We went to the New York Comic Con yesterday for the trade show and a few hours of the public show -- and I'd say we liked it as much as last year if not better. We were able to meet up with several people and get some work-related stuff done, so that was good. And Emily had an awesome time, she was given cute stuff by people and dragged me over to see the BIG PIKACHU! (suspended over the Pokemon Center booth) about once an hour. We are skipping what I think will be the very overcrowded mash rush today although Evan is there on his own but we'll be going back tomorrow for more fun and hellos. It is a Big Show and not for everyone, but we had a good time.

Some highlights from yesterday:

- checking in with Funimation, who we may still be working for on Shin Chan officially fired our asses a few days later, and seeing the Shin suit making the rounds all day long, which entertained Emily a great deal Although when they took our photo with the suit she got really freaked out -- but then when they left she went "bye bye Shin-Chan! Bye bye!"

- making some plans for the monsters which I'm excited about.

- seeing old friends and meeting Vivien of Cute Salad in person for the first time, who is a crazy crafter and awesome designer, and having a nice long chat about sewing and fun clothes and shoes and things. Her husband snapped up the drawing of Lost Thomas and Emily got a little upset when she saw us handing "her Lost Thomas" away!

- picking up our New Year's Qees from the Toy2r booth and seeing all the other cool toys on display.

- on one trip back from seing BIG PIKACHU! I swung by Toy Tokyo's booth to get Emily a new Gloomy Bear. She picked out a red one she'd seen earlier and while I was paying for it they opened it up for her and she was hugging and kissing it - I noticed a guy watching her and smiling, and as we left the booth I saw that it was Mori Chack (the creator of Gloomy Bear) himself! Holy smokes! I'd have stopped to tell him how much we all love Gloomy here but he was accosted by some nut just that second who wanted to talk to him about selling Gloomy Bear here in the US. (Um, like, hello, you are right next to a booth selling a load of Gloomy Bears? They are sold here?)

- oh, and how can I forget? Emily was looking at the Julie Strain posters in the booth across from us and pointed out one in particular to me and said, "Oh, look. That mommy...that mommy is getting naked!" I actually burst out laughing. Thank god she didn't ask me why.

One downside is the astoundingly overpriced food (although they did have a funnel cake stand!), but since I had a 2 year old to feed I had stuff packed and didn't have to buy anything. And a friend of ours pointed out what may be a possibly major disaster on Saturday - the gaming area is at the far end of Artist's Alley, and both are in a separate space from the main hall. This space has a single escalator in. On Friday they were already stopping people from going up there, and while it sucks to wait forever to get to an artist you want to see, games are scheduled, and have big prize money. If people are trying to get to a game they're supposed to be in with a big prize and can't get up there...well, people have committed murders over a couple thousand dollars. I can't imagine the mayhem that will ensue if they aren't more organized today. And this will also keep people from getting to artist's alley. We'll see if he was right today, I guess. Well, Evan will I guess, since I'm here supervising a viewing of Totoro right now!

So my final show report: go! have fun, bring your own snacks, and avoid Saturday if you can.

(PS to Tenae - I did take some cute food, but no time to pack it cute! So no photos, sorry!)

mini meme

A meme for our current apron swap! Um...i didn't write these questions, so I'm actually having a little trouble answering them! I'll try, though.

1. What is your first food memory?
Mmmmm...this is rough. Two very early memories involving food are leaving cookies and milk for santa; and eating fried fish after my brother arrived.

2. What was your favorite dish/food as a child?
I probably had a different one every year! A big thing I remember - cold fried chicken and sandwiches at the beach. The little bit of grittiness only made them that much more special!

3. Name one of your mini's favorite foods:
Strawberries. Cherries. Tofu. Konnyaku. Mushrooms. (The konnyaku thing is funny because Evan doesn't like it at all, and I am just slightly more than neutral on it, but she's all "I want some konnyaku!")

4. What was your mini's first solid food? Did they love it or hate it?
First mushy foods were rice cereal and sweet potatoes; first actual solids were...I think cubes of silken tofu? And, see above, she eats it as a snack to this day.

5. What was something you were excited to make for your mini for the first time?
Probably our favorite cookies since she was able to start "helping" me in the kitchen!

6. What is your favorite food memory?
Another really rough one, I have so many memories that are pegged to food! We always talk about this amazing Japanese omakase kaiseki meal we had at the Kitano in Manhattan though. I'll always remember that night! The above mentioned food at the beach is probably fighting for first place though.

7. Your mini's birthday party : All out theme with perfect kid food ala Martha? or Quiet family home party with scrumptious cupcakes? Something in-between?
So far it's been small (albeit with the fancy cupcakes) but she's only 2...I suspect I will have to rein myself in from going over the top when she starts having real parties!

8. Name one thing you absolutely love to make and eat when you are feeling like a kid again:
Hmmm. I have no idea. Cookies or brownies?

9. Name something you ate as a kid that you now look back on and wonder "what were my childhood taste buds thinking??" :
Ha! Easy one - pickles and applesauce. Maybe it's great but I'm afraid to try. Even pregnant I didn't eat anything that insane!

10. Name 3 things your mini loves (doesn't have to be food related):
Totoro, books, animals. Her wooden toy ones AND "her" cats (poor beleaguered things)

Hey all bento-making girlfriends!! (or boyfriends)

This here bento:



Was made by my friend Tenae for her boyfriend this Monday. And Monday night...he proposed! Was it the heart-shaped apples? The mini-sandwiches? Or the cute little butterfly? Who knows? In any case...do you blame him? Who wouldn't snap up someone who makes you lunches like this to take to work. In any case, congrats, you guys! Check out more of Tenae's cute bentos on her blog, This Little Bento.

my favorite kitchen gadget...

...is emily! It's surprising how helpful she can actually be. She started out mostly washing things for me and smooshing cookies, but now she can add ingredients, stir, sort-of measure (if she's carefully directed - she levels the spoon and everything, which cracks me up!) and cut up mushrooms! Which works out well since we eat mushrooms quite a lot and she loves to do it. The only real problem? She eats about half of what she cuts! So I just give her lots extra and am grateful that mushrooms are pretty cheap.

hello, cute monsters!

Okay, I know I'm biased, but seriously, isn't this monster series Evan has been doing so cute? Emily is in love with them and is starting to make special requests. (Last night she was falling asleep and mumbled "lost thomas...so cute....") What we will do with them (if anything) we do not know, but they sure are bringing more fun into the house!

it's Groundhog's Day

And David Seah has a brilliant idea for celebrating it: in the spirit of the movie, make this your chance to get things right. Move your resolutions to today from Jan 1st! Go read his proposal, it makes perfect sense. In a nutshell - Jan 1st is the worst time of year to make resolutions; you're tired and worn out from the holidays (And I think January can be a pretty dank month). It's true, this year I was so wiped out I didn't even attempt to make resolutions. So make them on Feb 2nd, after you've had time to get your head back above water and think more about them. He then lays out a whole plan for reviewing your progress based on the idea that today is 2/2, so on each following month/day pairing (3/3, 4/4 etc) you will take some time to think about them. He did leave out the 3/3 Girls' Day (which we celebrate every year!) and 5/5 Boys' Day holidays, but I guess they're not that relevant.

Of course, the trick will still be to keep your resolution list short and realistic; and to approach them in a fashion that makes sense. But that's a whole different issue.

Okay, I'm off to think about making 3 resolutions for this year! What will yours be?