They'll call it chance, or luck, or call it Fate

I find it a little hard to believe that I'm now twenty three. I realize that 23 is not that old in the grand scheme of things, but it's still interesting to realize that I've been alive for that long. Here's to hoping that 23 is a good year!

There were a few bumps in the road with Saturday night's birthday plans, but I still ended up having a fun weekend. Out of the friends that I invited out for Saturday night, only meepalicious and serria were free. Then, due to an unfortunate "passenger injury", the Yamanote-sen stopped running for a while and Leslie wasn't able to make it out to Shinjuku. Sadface. So, it was just me and Ali. We started our night by getting food and a couple drinks at a 270 yen izakaya and Ali generously agreed to pay for it as a birthday treat. Then, we went to Ni-chome and ended up at Adezakura, one of my favorite bars there. We got drinks and sat at the bar. We chatted a bit with one of the really cute bartenders and with the girl sitting next to me at the bar. She told us her name was Kou and she also spoke some English. Ali and I debated staying out all night, but she had work in the morning, so we decided not to. By the time we made our decision, I'd already missed my last train, so Ali let me spend the night at her place. Kou left the bar when we did and she was more than a little tipsy. I wasn't wearing my gloves, so she put one of her mittens on one of my hands and grabbed my other hand and stuffed it in her coat pocket. I wasn't really into her (though she seemed like she'd make a nice friend), but it was still a cute gesture. Then, Ali and I went back to her and Franki's apartment so we could get some sleep.

In the morning, I took the train back to my apartment so that I could change clothes and shower (I smelled smoky from the bar) before meeting up with Leslie in Ikebukuro. We started the afternoon with our usual browsing of Otome Road. We made it further than the main strip of Otome Road this time and went in all the different K-Books stores. Clearly we should be shopping there more frequently because their doujinshi store is better organized and more spacious than Mandarake. (It also contains all the Saiyuki doujinshi we were never able to find at the other doujin stores.) Their cosplay store is also pretty nice and even has fitting rooms to let you try on the cosplay.

Then, Leslie and I went to 80+1, a dansou cafe that we hadn't tried before. I think it's definitely going to become our replacement for B.lily-rose (because B.lily-rose closed down right after I left Japan last time). It was a little smaller than B.lily-rose, but it had a cozy atmosphere and the waiter(esse)s were cute and friendly. They seemed a bit nervous when we first arrived and chatted among themselves for a minute before coming over to our table. They were relieved after they learned that we spoke Japanese. Leslie and I ordered our food and we told them that it was my birthday because our waiter asked how old we were. While we were waiting for our food, I noticed that one of the waiters was talking with the waiter who was working in the kitchen and they kept looking over at us. I noticed that the waiter working the kitchen was pretty cute, but didn't think too much else of it. Leslie and I were pleasantly surprised when they brought us our food because the portions were pretty large. In my experience, the portions (especially dessert portions) at theme cafes usually aren't that big. The piece of chocolate cake that I had was about the size of a quarter of a smallish cake. This also happened:

( ケーキ )

On our way out of the cafe, the waiter who rang us up asked us where we were going next and we told her Otome Road. She asked us what anime and manga we liked. I started saying "Tiger and Bunny" and before I had even finished she got really excited, ran off, and returned to show me her Kotetsu and Barnaby keychains. We had a moment of squee together. She then walked us out the door and paused to ask me if I'd been in Shinjuku last night. I said that I had been and was a bit confused for a second. She then said that the girl working on the kitchen had recognized me and everything clicked. The cute waiter in the kitchen was the cute bartender from Adezakura! And she recognized me! Omg. The reason they had been looking at us at talking earlier wasn't because we were foreign (which I had assumed because that's the usual reason for people staring at me in Japan). It was because the kitchen girl recognized me from the gay bar. (XD) That's such a random coincidence, but it made my day. We're definitely planning on going back to 80+1. We want to become their gaijin regulars lol.

After that, Leslie and I browsed around Sunshine City for a bit and then we went to take purikura. I was pretty pleased with how cute these purikura were.

( ぷりくら )

Not everything turned out as planned, but all in all it was a good birthday. ^_^

The birthday weekend is off to a good start! I Skyped with my parents and stellawind like usual this morning. I was also able to briefly call DJ on Skype! Since leaving for Japan, we've only been communicating through Facebook messages because he doesn't have very good internet access right now. As a little present to myself, I bought a limited amount of minutes on Skype so that I can call his phone occasionally. He wasn't able to talk for very long this morning, but it was so good to actually hear his voice!  I'm hoping that I can talk to him again next weekend and get more of a detailed update about how he's doing (because he tends to brush aside those questions sometimes). I miss my bff.

This afternoon I briefly met up with Eri. She's too busy with her job searching to join my birthday celebrations this weekend, but she stopped by to wish me a happy birthday and give me a present! She gave me a fluffy brown blanket that has buttons at the corners, so it can also be worn as a poncho or bolero. It's quite cute. :)

Now, I'm looking forward to going out for drinks tonight!

My birthday was yesterday. It's hard for me to believe that it's already been a year since I turned 21. My birthday was a nice time. I feel kind of like a bitch for just calling it nice, but that's all it really was. The best part of the day was the dinner that I had with my friends at T.G.I Friday's. I love when my friends all get together. It wasn't as awesome as it could've been though because about half of my friends ended up not being able to go (which I understand because it is the weekend before finals, but is still a little bit of a letdown). After the dinner, Alie, immelmanturn and I tried going out to find dancing, but there wasn't really much going on on Kirkwood because (once again) it's the weekend before finals. So, we went back to immelmanturn's place and watched some Doctor Who, which I then ended up falling asleep during because I was tired. It wasn't a bad birthday, it just wasn't an especially great one. Although I might just be more disappointed because this year didn't live up to the great birthday celebration I had last year in Japan, which is probably a standard that I shouldn't hold birthdays in America to. :/

Now, it's time to get to work. I have one final each day on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. And two of them are gonna be a bitch to get through. I've got a bunch of studying that I need to get done. I get to go home on Thursday though, which I am definitely looking forward to. I am ready to be done with this semester.

Thank you to stellawind for the (slightly early) birthday present! She got me paid account time and more icons! <3

*runs off to upload lots of icons*

By this time tomorrow I will be 21. Woo! Not that it particularly matters until I get back to America. I'm actually pretty amused that I'm turning 21 in a country where I can already legally drink alcohol. I'm still going to party anyways though. After my last Japanese Politics class tomorrow, our professor is taking the class out for a nomihoudai, aka a drinking party. It should be a pretty good time. And hey, free drinks on my professor. Lauren even talked him into letting meepalicious come, even though she's not in our class!

Then, on Saturday I'm celebrating with meepalicious , Greta, and Nicole. We're spending part of the day in Ikebukuro and part of the day in Harajuku, my two favorite places in Japan. I'm looking forward to it and the birthday shopping that I will get to do! My parents gave me some money to buy myself a present while I'm here.

Now, if only I didn't have to write this paper for Japanese, or study for my stupid Politics final. Then, things would be awesome. I really just want to keep looking at the threads on /cm.

Today is my 20th birthday. The fact that I am no longer a teenager weirds me out and somewhat frightens me. I just need to get used to the idea, I guess.

My mother bought tickets for the two of us to go see Wicked while I'm home on break! I'm excited, because I've wanted to see it for ages! I've also gotten manga from Kristi, and a pair of Celtic earrings and one of the (gorgeous) Angel Sanctuary artbooks from stellawind.

Yesterday was fun! Kristi took  yangwarrior, trombonesonmars, Greta, and I shopping.  When we got back to the dorm, we gave each other massages and cuddlepiled on yangwarrior's bed. It was nice, and warm, and snuggly. Then we watched yangwarrior as she started playing Re:Chain of Memories (I can't wait until Christmas, when I'll get my own copy of it). She hasn't gotten to any good parts with Axel or the Organization yet though.

Allison and Alyssa brought me a cake a little while ago, so we're going to go eat it soon. It's a cookies and cream cake. Yum!

I am quite content at the moment. I'm home for break, curled up in my comfy pajamas, with my laptop, while it snows like crazy outside. I'm listening to my new alice nine CD, Alpha, which is all sorts of love. It was one of my presents from my parents, because my birthday was Tuesday (I'm 19 now, yay!). I think all I need now is some hot chocolate. *wanders off to go get some*

So, my birthday party was Saturday night. It was so fun! Most of my friends were there (aside from DJ whose stupid car had to break down on the way over). Lots of pictures inside the cut!

( Yay )

We spent the time just hanging out and having a good time. We spent a great part of the party dancing to Leyla's fun Turkish music. I also had "Happy Birthday" sung to me in five different languages (I love my multi-cultural friends). I got some awesome presents. I got a couple guides to the mythology in LotR and HP, some anime merchandise, drawings from Leyla & Ariel, the book Wicked, plastic silverware (an inside joke), and some money. Overall, this birthday party was probably the best one I've had in a few years.

Oh, also, I got your Christmas card a few days ago Padfoot! Thank you! I've sent yours out.