This year Ursa Major turned into a whole con! With badges and everything😲 It was a really fun time overall! There were definitely some first-year-con hiccups but the issues I saw got resolved quickly. I of course am still a terrible documenter for pictures so pictures will be sparse but I'll show what I can!😅 I think I say this every time but I will endeavor to do better in the future!
Day 1:
The first day was Friday and I ended up going after work in my Jane Marple British Bookshelf JSK since I am able to wear that at work and I needed to navigate public transit that day. A part of me regrets not bringing with me a more full-on co-ord for that day to change into since so many people looked decked out already! There were enough others who were in more casual clothes or casual j-fashion I didn't feel too out of place though.
I was also able to meet up with some friends I haven't seen in ages to go to dinner at On The Bridge which I also haven't been to in ages! We also wandered around the mall for a bit and stopped by Kinokunia where I picked up the next volume of My Happy Marriage (highly recommend this series both manga and the anime on Netflix!)
Then it was off to badge pick-up which went very smoothly and attempting the mixer. I know Bay Area Kei has had issues with catering with the hotel in the past so this time there was a self serve dessert snack bar available. This seemed to work well for nibbles without the need for more involved catering. We arrived late so we didn't participate in the first breakout group activity but I did try the bingo game that was right after! We each got a Bingo Card with things like "wearing doughnuts" "oldest sibling" "first lolita event" "wearing a crown" etc. and we would go around exchanging bingo cards to write our names in which square pertained to us. Whenever we got a bingo (up to 3) we could go to one of the staff members and get a slip to write our name on and put it into a raffle for one of 4 prizes! I did not win any items but it was a fun way to walk around and talk with people <3
On Friday I attended what would end up being the only panel I ended up at the whole weekend o.o "Dress of the Year"! I really enjoy these audience participation type panels so I wanted to attend. The panel was a series of 'dress vs dress' hold up one color for right and a different color for left whichever you liked better. It ended up being quite long since there was SO MANY. I honestly wasn't aware of half of these releases since I don't follow too closely anymore! It went over and the panelist eventually just made a audience polled 'winners bracket' near the end since we were running out of time. Eventually Magical Milk Cats by Angelic Pretty won! After the panel though it was quite late and I had to make my way back home via bus and train so I was not able to attend any of the more late night activities.
Day 2:
I arrived quite early this day because I wanted to return to Jina Bakes in the Kinokunia Building before they sold out of their tasty desserts. I picked up a banoffee croissant which was super tasty but really hard to eat elegantly! Look at how massive it is lol
Thus fortified with pastries and coffee I headed over to the Kabuki Hotel to line up for the Gothic and Lolita Market shopping that started at noon for noon for non-VIP badge holders. Though it made for long lines I really liked the method of letting only a certain number of attendees in to shop at a time in both the GLM room and the vendor hall/artist alley. This made circulating the room quickly possible instead of having to wait for large groups to move on from some tables before seeing things. Attendees therefore found their preferred items, paid and left rather quickly which made the line move at actually quite a nice clip for both areas.
After GLM shopping I went to the Sweet Photo Gathering; at which I got a special ribbon with "On Wednesdays We Wear AP" which was very cute! Apparently ribbons are a thing at ALA and other anime cons but I've never seen them at anime cons, just the library conferences I've gone to! At the sweet meetup I ran into a friend and after some fun group pictures at the bar we headed to the Vendor Hall/Artist Alley now that the line had died down significantly.
Day 2 haul:
We also ended up checking out the mini art mart in the Kinokunya Building and gabbing some donburi and tea for dinner before the ball!
The table decor for the ball was very cute and featured bears and stars/space as the theme intended!
There were also dance cards for people to use but no one from our table I think ended up using theirs- no one had attended the dance lessons. While in theory I know how to do some basic waltz steps I'd rank my actual skill somewhere on the level of awkward racoon 😅 Also, like usual, once I got a seat I ended up pretty much staying there except to go up and get tea or snacks refills. Maybe one day I'll be a bit better about actually mingling without a prompt but unfortunately this time shyness got the better of me once again.
Everyone in the coord contest looked fantastic! It was really hard to choose. There was a bit of a struggle with voting but once the correct QR code was generated I was able to go up and take a picture to bring back to my table so we could all vote for our favorites for each category! Due to it being quite a long day I ended up leaving after the coord contest as I also had to drive back home.
Day 2 outfit:
Day 3:
Day 3 was a swap meet which I was invited last minute to table with a friend but I was really glad of it! I had found at the bottom of our closet a pile of my husbands' old things while packing for our London trip that I had forgotten about and so ended up not bringing them to the last swap meet! 😓 The other person at the table had a lot of Fairy Kei and vintage items so our table was more alt. J-fashion than lolita. I did however sell more than expected! Now all the stuff I have left can fit into a carryon suitcase rather than several bags+a suitcase worth of stuff <3 The check-in was smooth for me and I got a wristband for the beginning part for set-up then all that was left was to wait for the rush of lined up attendees!
I did manage only to buy one thing at the swap meet so I met my criteria of coming away with less items than I came with! Due to selling at the swap meet set up and take down I wasn't able to go to any panels or the closing ceremonies. So my last act of con was to go get UjiTime icecream with my tablemate and her sister to fortify me on the drive home 🍦
Day 3 outfit:
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