First ever Costume College: In the books!
Aug. 2nd, 2017 07:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
totchipandaWriting this out for myself. I so hate wanting to go back reread what I wrote about an event only to find out I wrote like nothing! The short version: despite the trials and tribulations leading up to and during the event, it was enjoyable.
Wednesday:
Had to get up WAY too damn early to get to the airport. Just as I was picking up Nicole, I realized I'd left my sunglasses at home. I debated leaving them, but then remembered that I was going to a hot place with intense sun, and sunglasses were really not optional. Getting them only set us back 10 minutes, and it was fine. Had no troubles on the road or in the airport, and we landed without incident.
A. had booked us a "luxury SUV" shuttle service, and our driver, Robert, arrived in a huge Cadillac to pick us up :D He was a delight, and from somewhere in the Carolinas, so he had a delightful accent. We got to the hotel, dropped our stuff off, and decided to find lunch. Cheesecake Factory wasn't too far away, so we trekked down the road on foot to find it (and we did), whereupon I got a light sunburn on the shoulder that faced the sun. #pastywhitegirlproblems
After lunch we explored the mall, where I bought some things at Hot Topic (woohoo sales!) and then we found Target. A. has many food allergies and wanted to get things she could eat without trying to find local eateries, and we were so tired that we couldn't focus on anything so we wandered the store many times over going "oh we need this. Oh and this! Oh and this! And this!" The sock section was particularly fun. We took an Uber back, and our driver was a lovely many also from the Carolinas who'd moved there to be an actor but also realized that he couldn't let acting take over his whole life, so he also did some other things including Uber driving. Then we had a bounce around the pool and met a couple of other Canadians, bringing our known total up to 8. And then we were DONE and it was bed time.
Thursday:
I had a 9am riding habit class and they didn't have anything, so they went to Universal for the day while I FREAKED THE FUCK OUT that I was going to my VERY FIRST CLASS AND IT WAS WITH THE JP RYAN OMG OMG OMG OMG. I debated getting into my skivvies before going down and maybe I should have, but I didn't, and I wasn't the only one (phew). The student coordinator was there with the sewing machine I rented ready and waiting (I asked her how much they were selling for at the end of the event, and she didn't know. I found out on Sunday they were $75, well after they were all spoken for. I so would have shipped that lovely machine home!)
Then the class started. Ms Ryan walked in and told us to put our machines away -- how can we sew when we haven't cut? She offered us to look at the habits her and her assistant, Feather, had made, and I was really glad I'd given up on the habit shirt because the ones they had were utterly lovely. Then she grouped me and 3 others into a little "pod" because she thought we'd need more assistance with the alterations than the rest of the group and it made more sense for all of us to be together for extra help.
She had us all get remeasured at back length because most of us had measured ourselves very short! (I thought I had it right, and I did it 3 times with Nicole and it was always the same, but I was off by 2.5") The patterns she gave us had a sheet of suggested alterations, and then she walked us through where to adjust the patterns.
I needed to add 3" for my waist, which I added all in the front. When she came to check on me, she started to correct me to distribute it all over, but I told her that my squish is all in the front, and she said that I knew my body and let it alone. Then I trucked along and got it all cut and sewn, tied myself into my stays and petticoat, and tried it on. She spent a few moments pinning me in. And you know what, i ended up with a perfectly fitted waistcoat. I was the first one done, and she asked to "show (me) off". (Me inside: OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG)
I spent the rest of the class making the little belt and fussing with the jacket pattern while she fitted the rest of the class. Some people needed many more adjustments. A couple people took their length out of the pattern even after she'd told them not to. One lady hadn't brought stays and thus could not be fitted at all. I did finally get the jacket cut out and together, and Feather fitted it on me over the rest of it. My CFs on it were more like 3/4"-1" rather than the patterned 5/8", but she told me to get the waistcoat made first before refitting, because depending on fabric for the waistcoat it may bulk out the jacket enough to not need further adjustment. She also told me to wait until I had the front of the jacket ready for fitting in the fashion fabric before cutting the lapels, in case I needed to adjust the curves of the edges.
After that, there were only limited classes going on and of course I knew *no one* who was wandering the halls, so I went back to the room to have lunch and work on the handsewing I needed to do still. I watched Forensic Files for hours while I stitched, making the cap back and band, discovering that I had left the cap ruffle at home somehow (GRRRR), trying on the curtain-along gown so I could hem it (the back length was fine with a bumroll but the front was still MUCH too long, and I did the world's worst hemming job on it, but it worked). By then it was almost 5pm, and I wanted to break one of the bills I'd gotten from the machine, plus see if I could get internet somewhere and see if my roomies were involved in a horrific ride accident at Universal or something since I hadn't seen them since 8:45? American slurpees are weird.. it's still bloody hot, and I still see no one I know. Back up to the room for a bit.
I went back down again around 6:30 to await 7pm registration and also people! I talked with a lovely lady from North Carolina named Tawny for a bit. I told her it was hot, and she gave me a Look and asked where I was from first, and agreed that it was hot for me lol. Meg arrived from Virgina with Leimomi and Christi and got the shirt she needed for the pool party, and Tawny and I went to pick up our badges.
After getting those, I went to the line to register "late" for limited classes. A. got on the fabric district tour but I forgot to do it, and I wanted to try. Just as I finished that VERY LONG AND SLOW MOVING line (whhyyyyy you could only register for one class at a time, why did it take so long!) and got the tour, my roomies found me! We could now check into our room, but D (the room booker) had shopped at Universal and forgotten about her daily credit limit and could no longer pay for the room, so she needed me to do it. No problem! Nicole got in line to register for the tour while D and I sorted out the hotel, and we rejoined her just in time to get the tour registered. Then we were STAAAAAAAAAARVING so we were going to evacuate A's room and get into ours, and then get food. I happened to seegildedgarb in her Star Trek skant in the lobby and that was our planned way to find each other, so obviously I had to get dressed first. D also wanted to get dressed, because she thought if we went for dinner and then came back up to change, she would not make it down again, and we wanted to at least take in SOME of the event even though it had already started by the time we left. We did a quick tour, I found my person, we caught up with Meg again, and then dinner.
When we got back we did another quick tour, didn't see either Meg or A, and they decided to go up while I waffled a moment on being social, and I did stay for a bit longer and had a nice conversation with Sara andmala_14 and Amy :D (So nice to meet you ladies!)
Friday:
I got up early to do my hair, which was kinda stressful because I couldn't get internet on my phone and certainly not in the room (we didn't find out that it was included until Saturday evening) so I was working off of memory of a tutorial I read like 3 years ago. It turned out ok, short hair and all. I got dressed in the Butterick dress I made 2 years ago and had never worn, which was kinda fun! I got quite a few compliments on it, and I felt very fluffy and adorable. Took in a few classes, and despite all the layers of clothes, I was quite comfortable.
One of the classes was about 18th C. accessories, things like tuckers and caps and aprons and such. Ugh I felt like such an impostor. I finished the cuffs and they were ready to be attached, and I had neckerchiefs and a cap and mitts, but things were missing and I was definitely going to get kicked out of Costumer Land (or something. OMG brainweasels are the worst.) But it was The Plan and therefore I was going ahead with The Plan. I did learn stuff, so that was good.
Mid-afternoon I was sitting in the lobby trying to internet on my 6 year old iPhone4 (hahaha) and A joined me for a bit. I noticed a couple people across the room kinda pointing and looking at me, and they said "sorry, we're just admiring!" and I said "I can come over and you can admire up close!" and I did! One of the admirers was Jennifer Rosbrugh o.o I'd seen her earlier and was trying to work up a way to approach and apologize for interupting (Canadian, hi) to pass on a message from my aunt, and we had a nice conversation too :D Then I did have to run off for another class, Nicole eventually found me and we took a few pictures of the dress' first excursion, and then after classes we decided to get dinner with D and then get to the social.
Urgh the social... the skant was my planned dress, and even though I'd worn it to the pool party (for the whole 5 minutes I was mingling), I wore it again. For one thing, it was comfy and I didn't have anything else planned. I did a tour of the room and then escaped to the hall. Nicole reportedly had one of the group ask where I was and was told "probably outside" cuz hahahaha omg that was kind of awful. I was still feeling ridiculously out of place and overwhelmed and a big room full of people socializing was just the worst. So I ended up with Sara and Amy again, chatting, and when we called it a night and went to the lobby, we sat and chatted with some other attendees there too for a time.
At some point in the day I'd been rearranging my suitcase and found the wayward ruffle! So I spent a little time in the evening attaching it to the cap. I needed to shower and put my hair in rags because Saturday was going to be Big Hair (tm) Day and I needed maximum poofage!
Saturday:
(oof running out of steam) My hair unragged and ratted into a giant ball quite nicely :D WHen I first put on the gown, it wouldn't close. Oops! Tighten those stays a bit... I once again felt very fluffy and adorable and very very put together (missing accessories aside). I do want to make an apron, because the skirt and dress blend together a little *too* well. And even though I was in like... a million layers (shift, stays, neckerchief, roll, 3 skirts, gown, cap, mitts and knee-high stockings) I was very comfortable. What an odd sensation for being so wrapped in fabric. Granted, I didn't go outside at all, but the inside was perfect. I ran intojenthompson in the afternoon (Yay!) and totally missed my curtainalong twin while we were both in the same fabric (I saw her later, at the gala).
The night before I'd had a flash of idea for trimming the duvet cover gown, and decided to look in the dealers hall for trim. Lo, I found exactly what I wanted! I'd already been planning to get out of the curtainalong dress for an hour or two before putting the duvet dress on, and now was the perfect time! I ran upstairs to start trimming. D was already there getting ready herself, and we had a lovely conversation while I stitched. I need to redo the neckline a little, I changed the way I attached it when I did the sleeves and while it was slower, it was much more secure. Though I am also worried about the velvet ribbon running, it rubbed off on my thumb as I sewed. Nicole came up as we dressed. I asked her to pull my shift sleeve down inside the outer sleeve, but I didn't explain it well and she was eager to help, so she grabbed my basted-in cuff and YANKED, ripping the stitching out. Had to reattach that damn quick... Then we booked it downstairs to meet withtheladyrebecca's group to head over to Maggiano's for dinner.
Dinner was lovely if loud (full Saturday night, the table behind us had a couple get engaged...) with some delightful people, and when we headed back to the gala, I ... hid in a corner people watching with A. Lord there was so much to see and everyone looked SO AMAZING. (I still felt like an impostor, but hey, no one kicked me out, so I guess it was ok...) As the lobby started clearing out a bit, Meg joined us and we chatted a bit before heading up to bed.
Sunday:
We didn't need to get up early but D and I did anyway. My hair was still impressively poofy and I managed to tame it into an acceptable 'do with only 4 pins. The day's outfit was the plain tea gown, a single petticoat over no corset. What an amaaaaaazing feeling. Friday's outfit was so cute but I had the drawers I made earlier this year on, and by the time I got it off, it was digging into my waist and was so very annoying. This was awesome, incredibly comfortable.
But I was cold! I had a cami and leggings on, but the bodice area was just the cami, a layer of mid-weight linen and light cotton. So cold! I went back upstairs for dinner, and retrieved my shawl to wear for the afternoon. Before that, I took a class in reverse applique, and it was so neat! I was worried for a time before that I was a talentless hack and what if this technique was ridiculously hard and what if my handsewing skillz weren't up to it! But it was fine, and it turned out fine. The hour and a half just FLEW by.
Oh, and in the morning D and I went shopping, and picked up some last things. I decided to get a spoon busk ($35, I would have paid at least that much in busk + shipping anywhere else) and some coutil and more millinery wire. Hopefully my next corset will be amazing! Still gotta finish that De Gracieuse one. I was trying to save money for the fabric district on Monday, so I wisely walked out of the room and stayed out for the rest of the day.
For dinner we got the Edmonton contingent + a Kiwi + an American together for dinner, which was lovely. I wanted to try Maggiano's again since now I wasn't compressed into a gown and could let my tummy expand. Our waiter was absolutely lovely and I thought it was a nice dinner, but A's food was awful :(
Nicole and I bounced around the pool for a bit again, and then stayed up a bit a later chatting on the patio with Meg and Christi. The sunset confuses me this time of year. Up here it's still setting closer to 10pm, but down there it's done by 9 at the latest. Like right now it's 9:14 and there's still plenty of light in the sky, but in California it would be dark. Geography!
Monday:
Oh wow where to begin. I decided to get some sunscreen and slather it on myself, but all the hotel had was SPF30. Maybe it would be ok... (It was. I didn't burn at all.) The bus was nice and it parked right outside the store that at least 7 people told me to shop at. It was like... so amazing... *,* I didn't think I got that much, but I definitely ended the day with a good 33 yards of fabric (oops), a tiny tricorn hat frame and 20 yards of bonnet straw :D So much stuff to see! That area of downtown is kinda super sketchy but oh, the architecture was just lovely! All these great art deco buildings.
When we got back, we decided to head out for one last dinner, and luckily the group, which was now nine people and the Canadians slightly outnumbered the Americans, thought Cheesecake Factory sounded lovely (it's really a treat for us, I only get it once a year if I'm lucky...) Plus it was national cheesecake day and cheesecake was half price. Yes. Please.
We had to buy another bag to bring home with most of our goodies in! And the airport adventure I already talked about. With a couple days distance, I had a really good time in LA and at CoCo, and next year I will be a lot more comfortable with the event and the people :) We've already got our FB group going to plan and keep each other on track XD
This morning I found my to-make list that I did on like, the 18th, and now I'm wondering where I can start sewing again! I think I might put the ruffle on the white petticoat first, its a nice easy project.
Wednesday:
Had to get up WAY too damn early to get to the airport. Just as I was picking up Nicole, I realized I'd left my sunglasses at home. I debated leaving them, but then remembered that I was going to a hot place with intense sun, and sunglasses were really not optional. Getting them only set us back 10 minutes, and it was fine. Had no troubles on the road or in the airport, and we landed without incident.
A. had booked us a "luxury SUV" shuttle service, and our driver, Robert, arrived in a huge Cadillac to pick us up :D He was a delight, and from somewhere in the Carolinas, so he had a delightful accent. We got to the hotel, dropped our stuff off, and decided to find lunch. Cheesecake Factory wasn't too far away, so we trekked down the road on foot to find it (and we did), whereupon I got a light sunburn on the shoulder that faced the sun. #pastywhitegirlproblems
After lunch we explored the mall, where I bought some things at Hot Topic (woohoo sales!) and then we found Target. A. has many food allergies and wanted to get things she could eat without trying to find local eateries, and we were so tired that we couldn't focus on anything so we wandered the store many times over going "oh we need this. Oh and this! Oh and this! And this!" The sock section was particularly fun. We took an Uber back, and our driver was a lovely many also from the Carolinas who'd moved there to be an actor but also realized that he couldn't let acting take over his whole life, so he also did some other things including Uber driving. Then we had a bounce around the pool and met a couple of other Canadians, bringing our known total up to 8. And then we were DONE and it was bed time.
Thursday:
I had a 9am riding habit class and they didn't have anything, so they went to Universal for the day while I FREAKED THE FUCK OUT that I was going to my VERY FIRST CLASS AND IT WAS WITH THE JP RYAN OMG OMG OMG OMG. I debated getting into my skivvies before going down and maybe I should have, but I didn't, and I wasn't the only one (phew). The student coordinator was there with the sewing machine I rented ready and waiting (I asked her how much they were selling for at the end of the event, and she didn't know. I found out on Sunday they were $75, well after they were all spoken for. I so would have shipped that lovely machine home!)
Then the class started. Ms Ryan walked in and told us to put our machines away -- how can we sew when we haven't cut? She offered us to look at the habits her and her assistant, Feather, had made, and I was really glad I'd given up on the habit shirt because the ones they had were utterly lovely. Then she grouped me and 3 others into a little "pod" because she thought we'd need more assistance with the alterations than the rest of the group and it made more sense for all of us to be together for extra help.
She had us all get remeasured at back length because most of us had measured ourselves very short! (I thought I had it right, and I did it 3 times with Nicole and it was always the same, but I was off by 2.5") The patterns she gave us had a sheet of suggested alterations, and then she walked us through where to adjust the patterns.
I needed to add 3" for my waist, which I added all in the front. When she came to check on me, she started to correct me to distribute it all over, but I told her that my squish is all in the front, and she said that I knew my body and let it alone. Then I trucked along and got it all cut and sewn, tied myself into my stays and petticoat, and tried it on. She spent a few moments pinning me in. And you know what, i ended up with a perfectly fitted waistcoat. I was the first one done, and she asked to "show (me) off". (Me inside: OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG)
I spent the rest of the class making the little belt and fussing with the jacket pattern while she fitted the rest of the class. Some people needed many more adjustments. A couple people took their length out of the pattern even after she'd told them not to. One lady hadn't brought stays and thus could not be fitted at all. I did finally get the jacket cut out and together, and Feather fitted it on me over the rest of it. My CFs on it were more like 3/4"-1" rather than the patterned 5/8", but she told me to get the waistcoat made first before refitting, because depending on fabric for the waistcoat it may bulk out the jacket enough to not need further adjustment. She also told me to wait until I had the front of the jacket ready for fitting in the fashion fabric before cutting the lapels, in case I needed to adjust the curves of the edges.
After that, there were only limited classes going on and of course I knew *no one* who was wandering the halls, so I went back to the room to have lunch and work on the handsewing I needed to do still. I watched Forensic Files for hours while I stitched, making the cap back and band, discovering that I had left the cap ruffle at home somehow (GRRRR), trying on the curtain-along gown so I could hem it (the back length was fine with a bumroll but the front was still MUCH too long, and I did the world's worst hemming job on it, but it worked). By then it was almost 5pm, and I wanted to break one of the bills I'd gotten from the machine, plus see if I could get internet somewhere and see if my roomies were involved in a horrific ride accident at Universal or something since I hadn't seen them since 8:45? American slurpees are weird.. it's still bloody hot, and I still see no one I know. Back up to the room for a bit.
I went back down again around 6:30 to await 7pm registration and also people! I talked with a lovely lady from North Carolina named Tawny for a bit. I told her it was hot, and she gave me a Look and asked where I was from first, and agreed that it was hot for me lol. Meg arrived from Virgina with Leimomi and Christi and got the shirt she needed for the pool party, and Tawny and I went to pick up our badges.
After getting those, I went to the line to register "late" for limited classes. A. got on the fabric district tour but I forgot to do it, and I wanted to try. Just as I finished that VERY LONG AND SLOW MOVING line (whhyyyyy you could only register for one class at a time, why did it take so long!) and got the tour, my roomies found me! We could now check into our room, but D (the room booker) had shopped at Universal and forgotten about her daily credit limit and could no longer pay for the room, so she needed me to do it. No problem! Nicole got in line to register for the tour while D and I sorted out the hotel, and we rejoined her just in time to get the tour registered. Then we were STAAAAAAAAAARVING so we were going to evacuate A's room and get into ours, and then get food. I happened to see
gildedgarb in her Star Trek skant in the lobby and that was our planned way to find each other, so obviously I had to get dressed first. D also wanted to get dressed, because she thought if we went for dinner and then came back up to change, she would not make it down again, and we wanted to at least take in SOME of the event even though it had already started by the time we left. We did a quick tour, I found my person, we caught up with Meg again, and then dinner. When we got back we did another quick tour, didn't see either Meg or A, and they decided to go up while I waffled a moment on being social, and I did stay for a bit longer and had a nice conversation with Sara and
mala_14 and Amy :D (So nice to meet you ladies!)Friday:
I got up early to do my hair, which was kinda stressful because I couldn't get internet on my phone and certainly not in the room (we didn't find out that it was included until Saturday evening) so I was working off of memory of a tutorial I read like 3 years ago. It turned out ok, short hair and all. I got dressed in the Butterick dress I made 2 years ago and had never worn, which was kinda fun! I got quite a few compliments on it, and I felt very fluffy and adorable. Took in a few classes, and despite all the layers of clothes, I was quite comfortable.
One of the classes was about 18th C. accessories, things like tuckers and caps and aprons and such. Ugh I felt like such an impostor. I finished the cuffs and they were ready to be attached, and I had neckerchiefs and a cap and mitts, but things were missing and I was definitely going to get kicked out of Costumer Land (or something. OMG brainweasels are the worst.) But it was The Plan and therefore I was going ahead with The Plan. I did learn stuff, so that was good.
Mid-afternoon I was sitting in the lobby trying to internet on my 6 year old iPhone4 (hahaha) and A joined me for a bit. I noticed a couple people across the room kinda pointing and looking at me, and they said "sorry, we're just admiring!" and I said "I can come over and you can admire up close!" and I did! One of the admirers was Jennifer Rosbrugh o.o I'd seen her earlier and was trying to work up a way to approach and apologize for interupting (Canadian, hi) to pass on a message from my aunt, and we had a nice conversation too :D Then I did have to run off for another class, Nicole eventually found me and we took a few pictures of the dress' first excursion, and then after classes we decided to get dinner with D and then get to the social.
Urgh the social... the skant was my planned dress, and even though I'd worn it to the pool party (for the whole 5 minutes I was mingling), I wore it again. For one thing, it was comfy and I didn't have anything else planned. I did a tour of the room and then escaped to the hall. Nicole reportedly had one of the group ask where I was and was told "probably outside" cuz hahahaha omg that was kind of awful. I was still feeling ridiculously out of place and overwhelmed and a big room full of people socializing was just the worst. So I ended up with Sara and Amy again, chatting, and when we called it a night and went to the lobby, we sat and chatted with some other attendees there too for a time.
At some point in the day I'd been rearranging my suitcase and found the wayward ruffle! So I spent a little time in the evening attaching it to the cap. I needed to shower and put my hair in rags because Saturday was going to be Big Hair (tm) Day and I needed maximum poofage!
Saturday:
(oof running out of steam) My hair unragged and ratted into a giant ball quite nicely :D WHen I first put on the gown, it wouldn't close. Oops! Tighten those stays a bit... I once again felt very fluffy and adorable and very very put together (missing accessories aside). I do want to make an apron, because the skirt and dress blend together a little *too* well. And even though I was in like... a million layers (shift, stays, neckerchief, roll, 3 skirts, gown, cap, mitts and knee-high stockings) I was very comfortable. What an odd sensation for being so wrapped in fabric. Granted, I didn't go outside at all, but the inside was perfect. I ran into
jenthompson in the afternoon (Yay!) and totally missed my curtainalong twin while we were both in the same fabric (I saw her later, at the gala). The night before I'd had a flash of idea for trimming the duvet cover gown, and decided to look in the dealers hall for trim. Lo, I found exactly what I wanted! I'd already been planning to get out of the curtainalong dress for an hour or two before putting the duvet dress on, and now was the perfect time! I ran upstairs to start trimming. D was already there getting ready herself, and we had a lovely conversation while I stitched. I need to redo the neckline a little, I changed the way I attached it when I did the sleeves and while it was slower, it was much more secure. Though I am also worried about the velvet ribbon running, it rubbed off on my thumb as I sewed. Nicole came up as we dressed. I asked her to pull my shift sleeve down inside the outer sleeve, but I didn't explain it well and she was eager to help, so she grabbed my basted-in cuff and YANKED, ripping the stitching out. Had to reattach that damn quick... Then we booked it downstairs to meet with
theladyrebecca's group to head over to Maggiano's for dinner. Dinner was lovely if loud (full Saturday night, the table behind us had a couple get engaged...) with some delightful people, and when we headed back to the gala, I ... hid in a corner people watching with A. Lord there was so much to see and everyone looked SO AMAZING. (I still felt like an impostor, but hey, no one kicked me out, so I guess it was ok...) As the lobby started clearing out a bit, Meg joined us and we chatted a bit before heading up to bed.
Sunday:
We didn't need to get up early but D and I did anyway. My hair was still impressively poofy and I managed to tame it into an acceptable 'do with only 4 pins. The day's outfit was the plain tea gown, a single petticoat over no corset. What an amaaaaaazing feeling. Friday's outfit was so cute but I had the drawers I made earlier this year on, and by the time I got it off, it was digging into my waist and was so very annoying. This was awesome, incredibly comfortable.
But I was cold! I had a cami and leggings on, but the bodice area was just the cami, a layer of mid-weight linen and light cotton. So cold! I went back upstairs for dinner, and retrieved my shawl to wear for the afternoon. Before that, I took a class in reverse applique, and it was so neat! I was worried for a time before that I was a talentless hack and what if this technique was ridiculously hard and what if my handsewing skillz weren't up to it! But it was fine, and it turned out fine. The hour and a half just FLEW by.
Oh, and in the morning D and I went shopping, and picked up some last things. I decided to get a spoon busk ($35, I would have paid at least that much in busk + shipping anywhere else) and some coutil and more millinery wire. Hopefully my next corset will be amazing! Still gotta finish that De Gracieuse one. I was trying to save money for the fabric district on Monday, so I wisely walked out of the room and stayed out for the rest of the day.
For dinner we got the Edmonton contingent + a Kiwi + an American together for dinner, which was lovely. I wanted to try Maggiano's again since now I wasn't compressed into a gown and could let my tummy expand. Our waiter was absolutely lovely and I thought it was a nice dinner, but A's food was awful :(
Nicole and I bounced around the pool for a bit again, and then stayed up a bit a later chatting on the patio with Meg and Christi. The sunset confuses me this time of year. Up here it's still setting closer to 10pm, but down there it's done by 9 at the latest. Like right now it's 9:14 and there's still plenty of light in the sky, but in California it would be dark. Geography!
Monday:
Oh wow where to begin. I decided to get some sunscreen and slather it on myself, but all the hotel had was SPF30. Maybe it would be ok... (It was. I didn't burn at all.) The bus was nice and it parked right outside the store that at least 7 people told me to shop at. It was like... so amazing... *,* I didn't think I got that much, but I definitely ended the day with a good 33 yards of fabric (oops), a tiny tricorn hat frame and 20 yards of bonnet straw :D So much stuff to see! That area of downtown is kinda super sketchy but oh, the architecture was just lovely! All these great art deco buildings.
When we got back, we decided to head out for one last dinner, and luckily the group, which was now nine people and the Canadians slightly outnumbered the Americans, thought Cheesecake Factory sounded lovely (it's really a treat for us, I only get it once a year if I'm lucky...) Plus it was national cheesecake day and cheesecake was half price. Yes. Please.
We had to buy another bag to bring home with most of our goodies in! And the airport adventure I already talked about. With a couple days distance, I had a really good time in LA and at CoCo, and next year I will be a lot more comfortable with the event and the people :) We've already got our FB group going to plan and keep each other on track XD
This morning I found my to-make list that I did on like, the 18th, and now I'm wondering where I can start sewing again! I think I might put the ruffle on the white petticoat first, its a nice easy project.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-04 08:35 pm (UTC)And where did you find the bonnet straw?
no subject
Date: 2017-08-05 01:35 am (UTC)California millinery:D ill grab you the card when i get home.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-05 05:38 pm (UTC)