le sigh... (another day in the life of)

today was just filled with... well, crazy confusion/ disappointment/ anger/ holding back tears/ slight contentment/ delicious food and smells/ beating drums/ a bunch of other emotions that i really wasn't expecting to have this morning.

let's start with the crazy confusion (because sometimes i enjoy alliterations). my sister and my cousin and i were planning on going to downtown LA today for fashion district and little tokyo, so i could get some fabric and we can catch the end of nisei week there. i'll admit, i'm a terrible driver. i pretty much need step-by-step directions everywhere i go unless it's some place that at some point in my life i've driven to on an almost daily basis. so maybe me driving to LA wasn't the best idea, since i don't go there TOO often. but anyway, a lot of times, my sister can be VERY moody, to the point where she mocks/gets mad over pretty much everything i do. so when i politely ask for which freeway entrance is the closest to the bank, she literally yells at me. this is where that anger part comes in. i'm not gonna go into this too much, but let's just say that this was what half the drive there was like (a drive that is at least 20 minutes).

when we finally got there, i kinda had to drive around in circles because we wanted to find meter parking instead of the usual $5 garage parking we usually get because we didn't expect to stay a long time there. after spending a good 5 minutes trying to parallel park at a meter, we found out that the meter doesn't work, so we give up and try to find the $5 garage. while trying to find it, a pigeon comes out of nowhere and decides to just sit in the middle of the road. this is where the holding back tears part comes in. i slow down to try and give time for the pigeon to leave the middle of the street, but my sister and cousin insist i drive forward because there are cars behind me. so i continue driving, certain that the bird would at least see the tires and get out of the way. then, THUD THUD. i don't think it saw the tires... T-T

i try to cheer myself up by thinking about all the fabric that i'm gonna buy from my favorite fabric store, Michael Levine Loft. my plan was to stock up on a load of fabric so i can make some more clothes for fall semester. this is where the disappointment part comes in. guess what? it's closed on sundays, even though their business card says OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK. lamesauce. we end up just walking around all the random fabric stores around fashion district, looking for all the $1/yard places. guess what else? most of these places require you to buy 3 yards per fabric roll. the ones that don't require it are pretty much just selling crap. 3 yards is WAYY too much for me to buy of one single fabric that i only plan on making one thing with, so i try to be sensible with my spending and the whole time there i end up only buying 2 different fabrics, whereas in Michael Levine, i could have bought 2 AND A HALF LBS of fabric with the same amount of money i spent. le sigh...

we head out to little tokyo, which i have to say is where my day started turning up (maybe because i wasn't expecting much?). anywho, this is where the slight contentment part comes in. we go around the JACCC to see some of the japanese exhibits, including ones on painting, dolls, and some awesome bonsai trees (with tiny fruit! it was like someone had taken a piece of my dreams and placed it in a museum...). there were also japanese drum shows on a number of stages around the area, which was also pretty cool. the local stores had food and gift stands around, and we got a hold of some okonomiyaki and some mochi ice cream (:p). we also bought a takoyaki pan, which i expect to be eating a lot of in the near future :)

after the long drive home, we ended up going to the Puente Hills Mall, and i finally bought nice black leggings (because i've pretty much given up on tights... they rip too easily!!).

as for stuff i've been making, last week i knit a cable messenger bag, but i think i'll just post pics of that along with other stuff i make this week before school starts.

also, sorry this post was so long! i just had to tell SOMEONE about my day...