Event Report: j.ardsale

 

This past weekend was J.ardsale: SF edition! + Tea Party

Even though I got a tea party ticket I missed out on getting a swap meet spot originally. I was fortunate enough to have a friend who was willing to let me be at their spot in exchange for help setting up and use of my trusty IKEA clothing rack! Check-in was really smooth and we got wristbands to then go set up the table. I didn't actually have that much stuff to sell it turned out, mostly bulky items like shoes that are hard to ship! 

I was pleased to see that the space this time was one of the larger ballrooms and so there was so much space and STUFF. It was quite overwhelming in the best way and of course because of this I forgot to take pictures 😓  but here's a reel courtesy of the @bayareakei's Instagram: So Much Stuff! Lots of people came to shop too- there were tables that almost sold out of stuff! Sometimes it happens at a swap meet that people don't really want to buy- only sell and it ends up being not very swap-like. I think the ratio of more people just there to shop vs less sellers made it more likely to sell things!

I managed to not buy all the things partially because I didn't want to leave the table to look around too much and partially because I think I'm growing as a less impulsive shopper! Yay! I did end up buying one Jane Marple skirt though, of course with books on it I've already worn to work. Jane's Bookcase Skirt. I got a deal/discount because the blind hem was coming undone same as my other JM item's did but it was an easy repair for me to do (+ going all the way around the rest of the hem to re-enforce so it doesn't keep happening!). My friend also ended up gifting me some hairbows that matched one of the skirts she was selling which I also have the JSK of 💕 (which is also book themed...) totally unexpected but really grateful since I didn't have any matching hair accessories for that JSK yet.

After the swap portion of the event it was time to move to the tea party! We didn't quite finish taring down so we left our items to be guarded by some of the BAK volunteers and went to go get our seating assignments and a wristband if we got the extra alcoholic drink ticket. It was actually kind of fun having seating assignments as I ended up meeting several new people next to me and it prevented the awkward (for me) picking a table shuffle. 

The table was already laid with food and summer fun decorations (we all had a good bonding experience struggling with these flamingo straws)

We passed around plates and got sandwiches. Unfortunately at our table there wasn't quite enough of each sandwich for everyone to get one of each if they wanted though there was enough food to get the same number of sandwiches as there were more of some types than others? I liked all of the sandwich flavors though the bread for some of them was quite tall and made it a bit hard to eat.

They also brought out the cocktail that was available as an extra ticket price which was very delicious! Exactly what I like in a cocktail:

There was actually no tea at this tea party though I didn't really mind as we have been experiencing a heatwave, though some iced tea might have been a good addition. (I've since learned that this was a mistake on the hotels catering part that they didn't prepare tea for this event which is disappointing of the hotel event staff). We did get a milktea flavored jelly dessert though! The sauce on top was vaguely raspberry flavored and it was odd but not bad more like someone got enthusiastically creative and ended up being polarizing. 

There were quite a few games and activities throughout this part of the event! There were some fun conversation prompts in a bag on the table and crayons if you wanted to color in your J.ardsale post card. Two of the activities needed 3 volunteers from the audience: one was a match guessing game with one of the BAK staff, one was a very fun J.ardsale Jeremy flop-dance contest! These events had prizes from The Black Ribbon and buttons for participation.  

The last activity was really fun and everyone could participate! We wrote down our answers to a few j-fashion related questions and had to go around the room to find our close match or mostly opposite rival! This was a great way to inspire people to get up and circling and meeting new people as sometimes people at these sorts of events tend to stick to their seat once they sit down. (It's me, I'm people 😅). 

Overall I really liked attending this event put on by Bay Area Kei! Their events are always fun and I was able to see a lot of people I feel like I haven't seen in awhile, sell some stuff, and get a good deal! It's somewhat disappointing that the Kabuki Hotel staff/event coordinators keep mucking up their portion in weird ways as I really like it as a event space being aesthetically pretty and centrally located in SF. I hope BAK will put on another J.ardsale in the future though perhaps at a different venue if they can find one that will suit their needs better. 

Photo taken by nycticeivs

JSK: Circus Print Ribbon 

Blouse, Headbow, Socks, Shoes, Purse: BtSSB

Necklace, Ring: BB&B

Pin: MilkRibbon