San Japan Haul and Recap

 

This is a SUPER LATE San Japan haul and recap, but I spent WAY too much to not show you guys.

Day 1 of the Convention Badge Progress

Day 3 Badge Progress

If you didn't know, San Japan is a local anime convention that occurs every year on Labor day weekend and is three days of fun, games, cosplay, concerts, and the greatest merch ever. This year I had plans to go with three friends (and Jonathan of course) but things fell apart so all my friends backed out. Luckily, one of them gave me her ticket and I was able to take one of my new friends local to the area. :)

My friend, Pilar, wasn't super well versed in anime so we took the previous weekend to watch some good movies and get her caught up. We started with Spirited Away, moved on to Ponyo, and watched a few episodes of Ghost Stories before we watched Kpop Demon Hunters because I had a feeling that would be huge this year at the convention.

The day of the convention, it was HECKING hot so we decided to just do our hair like Zoey and Mira from Kpop Demon Hunters in the most casual cosplay ever. 

A Cool KPDH keychain with a  pullout Rumi

The first day was a lot more relaxed since it was on a Friday and a lot of people only go for the Saturday and Sunday. We had a slightly late start, but we went to artist alley, ate some overpriced convention food, and I got to meet Miura Ayme from Obey Me! 

Not Obey Me but I think it's from another series he voiced

He was signing at a booth away from the usual signatures and it took forever to find him but I was able to find it with the help of Jonathan and my friend and we made some lovely friends with the girls next to us in line. Miura Ayme was sweet and I was super happy to meet him since I adore Obey Me!

That night, we went to the "Night Market" which was the adult's only section and I ran into my old tattoo artist, who was super sweet and gave me a discount on my next tattoo. She even took a photo since my tattoo was one of the ones she did when she was still apprenticing so it was a really cool moment!

A much needed sticker book for all my new stickers

Kyo and Tohru 4Ever

A whole DRESS I got

In the pocket, there's a message :)

Earrings inspired by Escape by Bang Chan and Hyunjin

I got the Sero print for free because of my Sero tattoo!

The RM stickers were such a cool find!

I may have indulged in a few....NSFW goodies at the market, but what's a girl to do when she's at a convention?

also came in a keychain form

sexy Cthulhu is too powerful

The next day, we continued exploring Artist Alley and the Dealer's room as well as the arcade machines and the video game museum. I ran into another coworker there and was able to talk to her and her partner, who were both cosplaying as Final Fantasy characters! 

The last day, we rushed around to try and soak up the last bit of convention goodness and luckily for us, we ended up scoring free food towards the end of the convention. We left and because we clearly did not spend enough money, we actually headed to a local kpop store and picked up a few albums and merchandise before coming home.

Overall, we had an absolute blast at the convention and as you can tell from the haul, I have to definitely be on a budget for the rest of the year 😅

That's all for now!

Always, Raineedayze

Happy Fall!

 

It's hard to believe it's already almost October in 2025.

I was thinking lately of how much my life has changed since I started this blog, and even in the last year. I started a new job (I'm almost 6 months in at this point!). I lost (and GAINED) friends. I've tried new places, gotten engaged. read amazing books, and overall have leaned into who I am as a person.

I don't feel thirty, really. I still feel like a little kid playing pretend, but when I look at my life, I realize, I'm a whole adult. Right know, with Jonathan still being out of work and maneuvering the disability system (which is hell on Earth), I've become the main breadwinner and our lives definitely changed.

I'm planning my wedding, I'm working full time at an actual office, where I have to wear corporate clothes, I have to carry a pill organizer now...it's a whole new ball game. But at the same time, I feel like I'm free to enjoy my interests more.

I have grown up funds to buy Kpop albums and anime figures. I have friends who go out with me and go to dinners or shopping with them (a lot). I'm able to experience new restaurants, new conventions, and new events because of my hard work (and the privilege of making a living wage and having a good place of employment).

Anyway, this past weekend, I went to a new dumpling restaurant and was absolutely STUFFED. I tried these yuzu chicken soup dumplings which may be my new addiction. I also tried a blue crab and pork soup dumpling which was pretty good! The place also had amazing drinks and I was able to get a kumquat green tea with strawberry boba and rainbow jellies. Kumquats are some of my favorite fruits so I was super stoked and it was tart and refreshing after a long week.

After that, Jonathan, myself, and my best friend Pilar came to our place and just girl-rotted, which included watching kpop music videos and yapping. It was lovely.

I know last time I updated, I was preparing for San Japan and I have a haul post coming up soon! So keep an eye out for that. 

As always, if you want daily updates, check out my Bluesky. I will also be uploading a lot more posts soon. So be excited!

Always, Raineedayze

It's a Brand New Day

 

Good morning friends. 

Right now, it's 6:13 in the morning and I decided to update you all on my life currently before work.

Firstly, I started a new job! I'm only a few weeks in but according to my trainers, I'm doing well. I still have a lot of jitters since it's a big change for me, not in terms of responsibilities but in terms of...location? I left my remote job of over two years that I ADORED because of the current economic struggles and the security in that field with the overwhelming number of AI taking over. SO I found a job that paid exponentially more and had very little risk of AI taking over, however I could no longer stay remote.

Although I definitely miss working remotely and wearing t-shirts and pajamas to do my job, I must say I really enjoy this job! There's a lot of cool people and the company is very tight-knit. Plus, they seem to like me and think I am good at what I do. 

In other news, my friends and I are planning a group trip to San Japan this year so I've been looking around for cosplay ideas. Keep in mind, the weather will be HOT since it's Texas August, so nothing too crazy I think. For now, I'm thinking of doing casual Yor from Spy x Family or a closet cosplay? I also have thought about doing Ginger Snap while my friend cosplays Orange Blossom from Strawberry Shortcake. I think that would be super cute!

I'm in the process of reorganizing my home office and home in general to reflect more of my interests. I have a LOT of anime posters all over my office walls but I am thinking of switching it up and putting some other fun prints and hobbies around. My love for Star Trek, literature, video games...I've been inspired lately since I've started rewatching TBBT and remembering how much I loved their apartment. My whole idea lately, especially since I started working outside the house, is to make my home a sanctuary for me to come to. Right now, it's definitely my happy place but I feel it needs a little more personality. 

Lastly, even though this isn't an official Captain's Log post, I still thought I should update you guys on what I've been up to! Like I said, I've been rewatching The Big Bang Theory with my mom. I've been having a blast reminiscing. When the show first came out, I was obsessed with it (I had way too many T-shirts) and when I met Jonathan, it was one of our favorite shows to watch over the phone since we were long-distance for the summer. So watching it now brings back so many fun memories. 

Aside from that, I've been loving Kirby Krackle's Madripoor album as well as some Jonathan Coulton and lo-fi video game and movie soundtracks during work. Definitely makes the day go by faster when you work to the Justice League and Stardew soundtracks.

That's all for now. If you'd like to see more daily musings, be sure to follow me on BlueSky  as well. See you in the next post!

Always,

Raineedayze

Captain's Log: We're SO Back

 

Another month (kind of), another Captain's log. It's been a hot minute. Let's see if I remember how to do this. ;) 

If you're new here, Captain's Logs are just a recap of my most recent month. Since it's already almost mid-March, I'm just going to use this one for the most recent few weeks and hopefully next month, we will be back on track. Hopefully. Maybe. 

This year, I really want to work on getting a lot of my backlog played. I'm sure that many of you guys can understand the feeling of having so many games in your library and not enough time to play them. It seems that when I have the time, I have been catching up on being an adult or sleeping so I really want to prioritize my hobbies going forward and play some of the games I've been excited to. 

Of course, in the meantime, I've been playing Stardew Valley as usual. I currently have three farms - one with my sister, one for myself, and one with Jon. I've been spending the most time with my sisters on our shared farm and exploring the updates. I have to say, this game is something so dear to my heart so playing it brings me a cozy sense of peace to my day.

My goal this month is to put some hours into my Steam deck and my Switch and get at least one new game to talk about next month. ^.^

Surprisingly, I've been in a movie-heavy mood lately. Recently I watched Mary Shelley on Kanopy, which is a streaming service provided by the local library. It was fascinating as a lover of classic literature and famous women, there was still a ton I didn't know about her life and Elle Fanning did amazing as Mary Shelley. 

I also have been binging the Godzilla movies. For those who didn't know, I am a huge fan of monster movies and I've been watching the older movies from the 60's and 70's. Something about those movies is so comforting and fun to me and as a lover of all things Godzilla, I'd love to own the entire kaiju collection. This last month we watched Godzilla vs Kong and Godzilla x Kong as well as rewatched the original Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again. 

Another fun fact is I love a good horror movie. I watched Longlegs and Late Night With the Devil. Longlegs was definitely interesting and gave me Silence of the Lambs vibes and Nicholas Cage was absolutely terrifying. However, Late Night With the Devil stole my heart as one of the best movies I've seen. I loved the style, the cinematography, the acting...it was creepy and cool and a total throwback to old school late night TV. 

Lastly, for short term watching, I've been rewatching SpongeBob because...who doesn't love SpongeBob. I still get nostalgic about this show as I think a lot of people in my generation do and it holds up surprisingly well. The episodes are hilarious and the voice cast is surprisingly rich. Jon and I have also been watching Harley Quinn and rewatching Batman the Animated Series. Kaley Cuoco is AMAZING as HQ and the whole show is so funny and makes me love her character even more. Of course, Batman TAS is great as ever. Something about older cartoons just hits different. The storytelling, the animation...it's a love letter to comics and the fans that love them.

As for books this year, I've been SLACKING on my reading. This year so far, I've read 9 books, which is a far cry from my usual by this time, but I have been itching to read more. Here's what I've read so far in March. 

 Most recently I read Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, which was an anthology of short stories translated from Korean. The stories were weird and wild and beautifully written, I was OBSESSED. 4/5 stars.

 I also finished Middle of the Night by Riley Sager which was a thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed. Riley Sager writes books that are very easy to sink into with plot twists to keep you captivated. I think this was one of my favorites of his books, and gave it 4/5 stars. 

The other book I finished in March was my most anticipated release of the year, Eric LaRocca's At Dark, I become Loathsome. I have to say, the writing was beautiful as expected from his work but...I was a tad disappointed. It didn't have the oomph I expected and was only mildly disturbing in my opinion. I gave this book 3.5/5 stars. 

Although this last book I technically finished in February, it's my family book club pick for the last month so I wanted to talk about it. That book is Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix. This book was graphic, sad, wild, beautiful, and at times, humorous. I sobbed, I laughed, and I have so many thoughts. Me and my sister were lucky enough to meet Grady at a book signing for this book and he was amazing and you could tell he put so much love into this book. This book is very graphic, specifically about pregnancy and childbirth, but it's raw, real, and so, so good. I gave this 5/5 stars. 

That's all for my month! I look forward to hearing all about your month and anything cool you have been up to. Here's hoping the rest of March is just as lovely!

Always, Raineedayze

Finally 30

 

I turned 30!

Birthday!

Well, since we last chatted, I celebrated my 30th birthday with some of my closest friends and it was a true fiesta for the ages. My awesome fiancé booked an all female mariachi group, my friends and family flew from across the country, and my nephew so generously let us use his home for the party! It was insane and lovely and so much goodness.

The crazy thing is, literally the day after I turned 30, my whole body ACHED. And every day since. Is this what 30 is? PAIN? Either way, I'm very happy and blessed to be hitting this age with people I love and adore. 

The whole family and friends

tipsy selfie with my loves

Gift from my sister to go with my Shane plush

Also since then, Valentine's Day came around! This was my first year celebrating as an engaged woman, which feels so weird to say still, and instead of going all out, we decided to chill out after the crazy few weeks leading up to my birthday. (plus, gifts in this economy....yikes).

Jon and I celebrated by having some coffee courtesy of a gift card from my mom, eating our favorite takeout, and watching Valentine episodes of Bob's Burgers together with Leo. But I did still have to dress for the occasion.

Anyway, I hope you all are doing well and I will see you at the next post. :) 

Love always, 

Raineedayze

Back to MY Bubble

 

Hi friends.

With the state of the world the way it is, I really have been dealing with this inner turmoil. Social media has been so great in connecting us with friends and family alike, creating bonds across cities, countries, and more. And I am forever grateful for that.

However, I can't just sit idly by and pretend everything is fine. My existence is political. Reading, music, entertainment...it's political. 

So, I'm off. I'm off Facebook and Twitter and Threads and TikTok and Instagram. As of right now, my instagram is still available for resources but I've deleted the app. 

It's not much. In the grand scheme of things, it's the least I can do. But I refuse to sit on a website for "fun" that is owned by people who willingly take our country by money. Who stand beside those who do nazi salutes. Who see and invoke hatred, injustice, and ignorancs.

I can't. 

So I'm here. And I'll be sharing my life here instead. 

🧡 Love always,

Raineedayze

LOL Hiatus?

 

Wow...

It's been a while huh?

Well, the last post was in June of 2020 and we are in 2022. So yeah.

Let's chat.

So I started a new job, went through a crazy bout of depression and anxiety, celebrated a new year with my boyfriend and cat and honestly, I missed blogging. And maybe it's the new year, new me talking but I really missed just chatting and making posts about my life and then having it to go back on. So here are some photos of my love and life since then.

Maybe I'll talk more about life when I'm not living in the midst of it. But til then, I'll act like this is normal

Christmas

Leo my son

holiday vibes

after my night routine