Jareth's 10th Party

I realize that I have been very lax in posting about my children's birthdays. And for a family that does incredibly random themes, I feel this is a major failure for me. With all the trouble that I have with finding things to fulfill themes my kids pick, I think I really need to share the ideas I come up with for these themes for others to use. I'll try to do better in the future.

This year my son decided he wanted to do a birthday centered around Miyazaki, the Japanese film maker that our family absolutely adores. So here is what we were able to come up for the party.

First off, my sister-in-law saved me by agreeing to do a cake at the last minute because I completely blanked on the that front as I got caught up in the fiasco that was the invites.
Cakes De La Vega came through for us and made an absolutely amazing strawberry cake that my son just loved!

In case you do not know, this is Calcifer from Howl's Moving Castle. It became a funny joke that Vega saved my bacon from burning.

For a game we played "Pin the face on NoFace." Unfortunately my son thinking rationally and used a trick to figure out where to put the face on the black figure, so he won darn near right off the bat. But still, it was fun and the kids were able to take the masks with them after it was over.

If you do not know, NoFace is from Spirited Away.

The goody bags were the easiest to manage as we simply put things that we enjoy in them. Including a pair of chopsticks, some pocky, Swedish fish, bookmarks, and glowstick bracelets. The bookmarks I made from red cardstock to look like the bath tokens from Spirited Away. I love them. I am keeping a few for myself!

This party was so much fun! Even though nearly none of the guests knew anything about the films we took our inspiration from, they enjoyed the things we did and had. And once more my son was thrilled with the whole thing. And after all, that is what matters to me most!

Pork Cutlet Bowls!

Recently I discovered the anime Yuri On Ice. It is the story of a male figure skater who in considering giving up after a particularly bad loss. But then in struts the man he has looked up to his whole career, offering to be his coach and take him to gold. What follows is an incredible story about a man finding his inner strength along with love.

The night Funimation streamed the season 1 finale, my son and I binge watched all 12 episodes. This was a bad parenting move since it kept him up past 11 on a school night and the show-hangover I had the next morning had me sleeping through my alarm and waking just in time to rush him to school right before first bell. But it was one of the best nights he and I have had since we accidentally binge watched all of the first season of Stranger Things last summer. We have a problem, we know, and we love it.

So what did that experience have to do with our family cooked meal? Pork Cutlet Bowls were a big part of the show (you have to watch it to fully understand) and it led to a sort of obsession. So guess what we made for dinner this past week?

We found the recipe right here. But since none of us like onions we did change them out for noddles, something we will leave out in the future. The only other change we made was making our own pork cutlets. My husband bought a pork loin which he cut into small cutlets that we breaded with panko. He says they were a little bland, but I enjoyed them none the less. Plus it was fun watching my kids coat the meat in the panko together.

We had so much fun talking about the show while we cooked up this dish! And it will definitely be something we have again in the future!

Please, if anyone knows where we can get some good Katsu bowls, let me know, because we would love to have these made by professionals as well! Meanwhile, we have found a Ramen place next to the HMart where went for the kombu (and party favors for the party I will posting about shortly) that we will be visiting at the end of the month! We loved our trip into Japanese cuisine!

Next month, my son wants to try piroshki! Another Yuri On Ice reference. You should really watch the show!

A-Kon Dallas: Random Nerdy Fun!

So friends of ours own this cool little comic shop, SuperVillain Comics, and they decided to set up a booth at A-Kon, one of the most awesome Anime Conventions, which was celebrating their 25th year. We decided to go see them and take the kids on their first nerdy adventure. The whole day turned into so much awesome it was hard to contain! We saw people from all our favorite animes as well as some other fandoms! Even my father, a nerd at heart but an old fashioned kind of one, had some great fun seeing the costumes and some characters he recognized. We also came away with some awesome goodies! Here is a look:

Right off the bat we got to see Spirit, Toad, and Mouse from Soul Eater! Right in front of our booth!

NoFace, from Spirited Away, was walking around with a handfull of gold just trying to make friends.

We found a cute little hat shop! Too bad these cutties were too small for the beautiful creations. Maybe next time!

We were very impressed with Maka and Soul from Soul Eater! She was very beautiful and very sweet. This was when we began to really see people and feel confident about asking for pictures.

The hubby was very happy to see Madara Uchiha from Naruto: Shippuden.

Other fandoms were welcomed too! The boys were terrified of this very awesome Dalek from Dr. Who!

Death the Kid! This Soul Eater character was very nicely done and impressed Jareth.

Natsu and Grey may fight a ton on Fairy Tale, but they were more than nice when it came time to take a picture with Happy and Jareth!

With Sailor Moon making a comeback next month, I was so excited to see this excellent costume! And love it when the people are as nice as the characters!

PawPaw, who was a bit out of his element, was all grins when he saw someone he recognized. The man dressed as Snake Blisskin was glad to take a picture with him!

PawPaw found more things to be excited about, although I thought he looked a bit sinister!

Another surprise! Legolas and Gimli really made Jareth smile, nerds all around!

Luffy from OnePiece was seen in a booth with some awesome items, but he stopped his looking long enough for a quick picture with a fan.

I think this Ash was a little suprised to find a Pokemon fan that was so young! But Jareth couldn't be more excited to get a picture with her and Pikachu!

A very impressive costume for this Halo soldier. He was spotted many times without a helmet, though, with it being so hot! But he was nice enough to put it back on for our picture!

Another very impressive costume from Silent Hill. He had a very large crowd just waiting for pictures in awe!

We were on our way out when we finally found a Kirito! With Sword Art Online coming out with a season 2 next month, Jareth was eagerly looking everywhere for this particular character. His day ended on a high note!

A bit of adorable advertising! Liv walked around with a SuperVillains Comics monkey in her hands! And she was not letting go!

While it may not look like it, Jareth was excited about his new Power Rangers shirt!

Our loot! I am thuroughly in love with my new Asuna (Sword Art Online) wallet! And our new book marks will come in handy as we take on the Summer Reading Program!

And of course we had to try something new. As lovers of Pocky, we could not pass up the green tea flavor, and it was amazing! These little sodas were a big hit since you have to push a glass marble down into the jar to open it. I think Ramune is our new favorite drink!

Over all we had such an amazing time walking around seeing everything! All the booths and people were so incredible! Definitely a great first experience in our geeky convention adventures! We can't wait until the next opportunity to show the kids around the nerdy world! Have you been to a convention? What was your experience like? To what geeky fandoms do you belong? Let us know so we can share fan tales! And have an awesome time at your next convention!