Meido for Charity!

As one of the maids for Cafe Delish, I had the pleasure of working for an event where the proceeds go towards charity. Since our home base is Anime North, our afternoon tea earnings go towards Sick Kids Hospital Foundation, since the convention is one of the fundraisers for the Foundation. 

We also had the pleasure of raising money for the Canadian Red Cross last year for Japan Relief after the devastating tsunami that hit Fukushima and other affected areas. For the last 3 years, maids have been designing limited edition pins to sell to earn more money for charity, and the money made from these sales are given to a charity of Bosu & Yumi's choice.

This year, our pin sales and extra money earned from Anime North and the smaller cafe event at Atomic Lollipop were donated to World Wildlife Fund. (*o*@)!!

World Wildlife Fund

For WWF, you adopt endangered animal plushes with charitable donations. Proceeds go towards conservation projects to ensure diversity and global effort to help endangered species and habitats. We earned enough this year for all the maids and staff to receive an animal! It was a great effort everyone, but definitely worth it!

At our wrap up party, we were all presented with our animals. Since I volunteered for two events this year, I was allowed to adopt another animal from our proceeds from Atomic Lollipop!

Let's meet my new adoptions!

Riku, a Jaguar!

Shamu, an Orca

All the maids ended up choosing a different animal each, and I chose one of the newly added animals on the adoption list, a Jaguar! He's really cute and cuddly, the plush fur they used is very soft. I named him Riku (^__^*)/

The second animal I adopted was an Orca, killer whale. It reminds me when I was younger going to SeaWorld and watching the shows there. So, I named her Shamu ♥!

I think the plushes are super adorable and are very good quality. It also helps to know that the money used to adopt them are going towards a great cause. 

Adoption papers!

Each animal comes with a booklet with information and facts of the adopted animal. There is also a personalized certificate of adoption and as a tribute for donating to WWF. A small trading card of the animal is included with the slogan to "Collect them all!"
The certificates have my name on them, so I opted to cover up my name with some of the pins designed this year for this charity, and to keep me anonymous (^__~)*!

The US site for WWF has a large and extensive amount of animals to adopt and collect, and I wish we could also have that selection as well! I know Keiko wants to collect them all!

So, cheers to another successful year for Cafe Delish!
Until next year and a new charity, perhaps?

♥

Atomic Lollipop 2012 Report!

Here we go again, the Meido don't stop! Atomic Lollipop is a small 2-day convention in it's 2nd year with a more laid back anime, fun, carnival atmosphere. This year it was on the weekend of July 14-15, 2012. We brought Cafe Delish to Atomic Lollipop this year after some persuasion from our friend, Kevin. It was in discussion for a bit and I actually didn't have too many details of the event until the week (and day before) it happened.

We were invited as guests to host a small 3 hour cafe seating serving drinks, cookies and cake on Saturday. Since it was a smaller event, only a few maids were needed for the cafe, so Yumi, Chiyou, Nana and I were there to represent! (*o*@)!

All Photo & Video Credits: Bosu

We also hosted a 萌え (Mo-e) Dance panel  and taught all the participants how to dance to Cafe Delish's version of Mune Mune Kyun. Initially, I wasn't sure how the panel was going to go and whether people would show up for it, but we had a good turn out and everyone learned the dance so quickly within an hour! They were all really amazing! Thanks to everyone who came to our panel (^__^)/*

Yumi and I sending some love to the rainbow cake!

We were serving complimentary lemonade and cookies from 2 - 5pm, but we also offered a 萌え package for $5 that included a slice of rainbow cake and iced tea. Whoever purchased that package got to play games with the maids and got a complimentary Cafe Delish pin badge. Bosu only bought 2 cakes thinking it wouldn't be that popular, but we ended up selling out of the cake! All the proceeds from the 萌え package went to the charity, World Wildlife Fund!

Serving tables

The cafe was more restaurant style since we would seat groups as they came and went. There wasn't a time limit, but everything seemed to move very smoothly. Since we were set up in the lobby (rather than outside in the blistering heat and super loud airplanes that would pass by), the chairs there served as a waiting area for other patrons. We only had 4 tables which sat around 3-4 people each, but in the picture above, we somehow managed to fit in 6 people plus their friend who came by to visit later on after I had served the cake and drinks!

Everything went along smoothly in my opinion! Our two volunteers were a great help and we were very grateful to have them (*o*♥)! We would perform some of our older maid dances to keep the energy up and play some random games with everyone.

Of course, after the cafe was done and we had packed everything away, it was time to eat! We all went to eat at Montana's next door in our maid outfits, which I thought was pretty amusing. We did stay behind to check out some of the panels and events happening at Atomic Lollipop. There was a Ferris wheel, bouncy castle, etc. set up in the second parking lot of the hotel. Sadly, we didn't stay behind for the fire show only because it was happening at midnight (>__<)"

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Here's the video from our dance panel! Everyone did so well! ♥

Overall, I had a great time and it was really fun. We made double the estimated amount for WWF and I'll do a post of the animals we've adopted for donating to WWF! Thanks for everyone for coming by to the cafe and for everyone's hard work to make it success!
 ♥

Anime North 2012 Report!

Better late than never! It's time to blog about Anime North! I'm definitely a month behind, and I've been trying to catch up on blogging. Thankfully it seems my computer is back and running to a normal degree, I just need to get some of my backed up files back on it. Luckily, in hindsight, I had decided to get a flickr subscription and I've been uploaded a lot of pictures to back them up, so I can still blog about a lot of things!

This year at Anime North I decided to opt out from getting a Crafters Corner table since it was a bit too hectic last year running around for the cafe and the table. I also forgot about the request date, so it wasn't going to happen anyways! (^__^);;

So this year ended up being devoted to Cafe Delish, the charity cafe that is organized by my friends and once again I was one of the maids for the event. 

Credit: SolarTempest

This year was going to be bigger and better than previous years since this would be the 5th year that the Cafe Delish has been an event at Anime North for charity! 

We did a really nice photo shoot with all the maids in April, and I think I was slowly freezing to death around the water front, but the pictures turned out amazing! There was a total of 14 maids this year for the cafe since we were also bringing in the extra PuriMeido event (Picture Maid). 

Back to the convention! We don't do much on Fridays at the con, but my sister was hosting a Dollfie Dream panel with PlasticFantastic at Doll North. And since I didn't have much to do that day and I forgot to bring my lolita dress to wear and walk around that day, I went to help her bring her dolls and take pictures at the panel. I've never attended a Doll North event since the activities are located at the Sheraton hotel which is further away from the Double Tree Hotel and Congress Center.

Credit: Archangeli

They hosted panels about Dollfie Dream dolls and info about the history and models of the dolls and also talked about going to a doll convention and how that functions.

Saturday was the big day for the cafe and it all went along quite smoothly in my opinion! My first shift was at the photo booth. The PuriMeido photo booth is styled to be similar to the picture booths in Japan, and Bosu created a special design for the picture print outs. His friends Selina and Edmond built it and it was really amazing! The picture sheets had 2 sets of photos on the sheet so you could go in with a friend and both would get a set of pictures.

Some of the maids trying to cram into the picture!

The idea of the photo booth was for guests who could not get tickets to the cafe seatings, but could still get a Cafe Delish experience by going to the photo booth. Each set of pictures cost $5 and it went to charity as well. The ideal amount of people for the booth is probably around 2-4 people since it's not too large, but that didn't stop us from trying to do the impossible!

My parents were at the hotel eating dim sum at the Chinese restaurant, Grand Chinese Cuisine, so I met up with them to eat lunch during my short break after the photobooth. All the servers and managers there didn't recognize me at all even though we go there quite often! I thought it was funny :)

Credit: Whitefrosty

After I went back to the Terrace room so I could start my remaining shifts at the cafe. It's nice to get into the rhythm of things and I thought it went really well! We brought a couple portable fans into the room this year since it was really stuffy last year and it was a life saver! It ended up being much cooler in our glass room than the outside hotel/hall area. Plus the atmosphere is quite different than the hustle and bustle from the convention. It's just a nice hour to relax and watch the maids dance, have some food and drinks and play some games. (^__^)*!

Alice decided to attend the cafe this year with her friend. She couldn't make it last year but was determined to come this year! She was at the table that I was serving so I got to talk to her for a bit and convince her to upload any pictures she took at the cafe for us! Too bad her memory space/battery was running low so she couldn't get a video of our dances. (>3<);;

Credit: Whitefrosty

Alice also got a pretty awesome picture of my nails and bling for the cafe! A few of us like to deco our nails and bring a little bit of Japan to the guests at the cafe. Although usually it's my sister, Yumi, Keiko and I who go above and beyond and have lots of kira-kira shiny jewelry. One of the ladies at a seating made a comment of my nails and I showed them to her and she was amazed I could serve in them. To be honest, so was I! (^__~*)!

After the cafe, we went out for dinner and had an after party in our hotel room! It was super fun and some hilarious moments!

The Sunday I spent mostly at the photo booth. I did wander the Dealers room a couple times but didn't buy much. Talked with some old friends to pass some time. I went to say bye to Jess and Alice in the Crafters Corner and to do one more walk through in the Dealer's room with Keiko. I find that I don't buy much stuff anymore at Anime North....possibly because I've bought a lot of things I've already wanted in Japan and partially because I didn't have a lot of money to spend!

Overall, Anime North was great this year. I think the costumes are getting much better, as I saw some really great ones while I was walking around. I hope one day I'll be able to cosplay again for fun. I'm not really sure what's stopping me....probably the commitment to the cafe, but I can always cosplay for another convention!

We also raised more money this year for Sick Kids Hospital Foundation, so that's a great accomplishment and success!

Credit: Chad Ordona

So until next year, 

see you again Anime North!

♥

Anime North 2011 Report!

It's that time of year again! Another year has gone by and another year at Anime North under my belt. I just realized I've been going to this convention for a long time. I've never missed out on it either, I still make it for a day or two of the weekend, or for the whole thing.

This year, my friends Whitefrosty and Pheleon and I managed to nab tables in the Crafter's Corner. We had about 18ft of table space all lined up, and it was pretty intense. However, since I has promised my friends who run the maid cafe, Cafe Delish that I would be a maid this year, I somehow managed to do both with the help of my amazing friend, Amanda. LOVE & THANKS ♥.

It was a pretty hectic weekend and I think I lost weight from the 1)starvation, 2) lack of sleep, 3) drunken craziness which also induced lack of sleep and starvation 4) and lots of running back and forth from the con center to the hotel.

Friday was pretty funny since I was trying to fit all the stuff into my car, along with all the overnight suitcases from my sister, Amanda's, Alice's and mine into the car! I had to upgrade and use the SUV instead of my usual hatchback that I have claimed as mine... lol. 

Somehow it all miraculously fit with a lot of smushing and I think Alice and her friend Kim were a bit uncomfortable in the back...but I guess it beats busing to the con?

Since my sister and I were staff this year, we didn't have to go through the line up to get our badges. It was a pretty long line! We also checked in for the hotel room and set up the stuff. I had agreed to help promote the cafe at the open ceremonies with a few fellow maids and our head maid, Yumi. But since registration opened for the CC at 3pm, and I had to meet them at 3pm...I was running around like crazy to bring in all my shelves and the merchandise. My sister and her boyfriend, along with my other friend Kevin helped set up the table display very well!! I was very impressed. Amanda showed up at some point was away from the table and at the ceremonies. 

A shot of Delilah with some of the merchandise while my friends and sister helped me set up my table while I was running around like a crazy person. 

The opening ceremonies was interesting to say the least. We danced to the old dance that we decided not to use this year at the cafe and the other girls were nervous about being on stage. Being a cosplay veteran and just used to it by now, I just told them it would be fine, You don't even see the people once the lights come on! After some initial delay we got on stage and did our thing. We were asked to stay around to help welcome the guests by bowing and stuff and to make sure the guests didn't fall off the stage LOL. 

 Open Ceremonies, Final Pose. Photo Credit: Derwin Mak.

The other girls came after to start the flyer run to promote the cafe, I walked back with them and went to my table to see it nicely set up :D

Pic: Courtesy of Alice, Whitefrosty

I called it the jail cell...cause it essentially made it look like some of my plushies were in jail. LOL Worked out well thought since I could monitor the plushies better and have a nice shop keeper opening in the center. It was very cosy...however I think my hearing was just getting steadily worse over the weekend. People would ask about the plushies or my BJDs and I swear I would just not hear the right thing. My apologies if I was a bit dazed and confused. As the weekend progressed, it just got more and more tired. There's only so much adrenaline I have to keep me going.

Friday was good though in terms of sales :) Well, the whole weekend was a pretty good success. Moving on to the rest of the report! After the CC closed, Kevin, Amanda and I went to go eat some dinner since we were starving. Hanh met up with us at Sushi Dragon where we sat and ate for a bit. We were there until midnight. . . I felt bad for being one of the last customers there but I am glad they let us come in and eat though. We were turned away at the other sushi restaurant across the street. 

When Saturday morning rolled around, I had to get up early and go to the CC area with Amanda to set up the table. After some milling about and her forgetting her pass, but with my godly Staff powers, I got her to come in with me to at least drop off the items we carried over, she ran back from the buildings to the hotel room to get her pass. Everything was set up before I left her and I ran back to the hotel to get dressed for the cafe. It was so bad cause once I walked into our room, Yumi came by and told me the other girls and her were going downstairs to practice a bit. I was like OMG, I'M NOT READY. LOL After some super sonic changing I managed to find them without being too late. I have the dances ingrained into my memory..but it's still nice to perfect it if we have time to and to get the timing right. Before I met up with them, I walked by the Terrace Room where the cafe would take place to ask my Overlord Boss some questions, and this rude lady thought she could talk her way into getting tickets earlier than the rest of the people in line! It says in the program book that the tickets go on sale at 11:30am. It was 10:30, and apparently she had somewhere else to be and she couldn't stay longer to get tickets for her daughters. 

Now, we can't change the rules and start selling a ticket to one person, because that means we would have to sell the rest to all the people out there and the room wasn't even set up yet! I don't understand people who think they have priority over everyone else when the rules are clearly stated. Unless it was a serious do-or-die circumstance, exceptions won't be made because it would be unfair to everyone else out there who have been waiting for a couple hours!

We don't make people line up for the cafe, it just happens because it's popular and is a ticketed event. That lady got so angry and started criticizing the cafe. I left before that since I had to meet up with the other girls, but she was pretty much told to get out if she has somewhere else to be.

Picture credit: Stephanie

The cafe went very well! I was more relaxed this year since I was a returning maid...no pre-event butterflies. Overall it's quite simple and you just have to remember to say the right drinks and food. And make sure you don't spill or drop said drinks and food. 

Here's me at the first seating serving some roll cakes. You can see my pin flair that we create for the guests. For the last two years we have been designing and selling pins to help raise some more funds for Sick Kids. This year however, all the pin donations were donated to Japanese Relief.

Picture credit: Stephanie

By the last seating, Hanh and I were getting very tired since our breaks were very late. I wanted to go back to check up on the table in the CC but we ended up just getting some cold drinks from the staff lounge and crashing in our hotel room. It was so nice and cold...I think we did a small power nap before we had to go back to the cafe. Behind the scenes at Cafe Delish! Power naps to Power Up!

By the end of the cafe, I was very tired and hungry, so after taking some pics with the girls at the end, I went over to con center and told Amanda to pack up and we were going to eat and stuff. I think she was quite relieved since she was there the whole day by herself. I felt bad...so I don't think I'll ask her to do this again unless I'm actually with her. She didn't come with us to our core-staff wrap up dinner at Moxie's so I just left her my hotel key card and let her do her own thing. I think she really wanted to shop LOL.

My friends. Adam, Hanh and I ended up doing the booze/beer run since the others didn't want to move their cars from their spots and I didn't care so long as the car was in the hotel parking lot and not getting trashed at the con center. So, we made a trip and got some stuff for the night party. It was amusing to walk back to our rooms with two bags filled with boozy things after dinner... lol

Then, it started getting Out of Control. LOL

Basically to make it short..and sort of sweet, the 3 of us who did the booze run were just being crazy the whole night during dinner and at our 'after party'. We were just making up scenarios of like gag cafe personas and it spiraled out of control cause once we got back and started drinking, everyone got really into it. It was really funny and after a lot of drinks and my friends trying on my lolita dress and accessories and some wig fun, I had to stop and sleep since we all had to wake up in the morning to check out.

And let's say, 4 of us woke up with bad hangovers.  I don't regret it cause it was fun, but I wish I could have gotten more sleep cause I don't think I would have felt as bad as I did in the morning if I could continue sleeping it off. 

Hanh and I had it the worst though...for some reason we just felt miserable. I had to ask my sister to go get me some greasy food to tame my head and my stomach..since grease seems to help with hangovers.

However, sitting at the CC table was alright on Sunday since it was more relaxed and there were a bunch of us to help me man the table. I finally went into the Dealer's room on Sunday, the first time in the whole weekend! The only things I purchased were two mangas...to continue my growing collection of Ouran High School Host Club. I'm missing the most recent two books...but that doesn't concern me too much..since it seems to be a trend that I'm just always two books behind in the series. I said hi to some old cosplay friends and chatted with them :)

I met quite a few BJD owners on Sunday and chatted with them about their dolls and companies. It's nice to see other dolls in person and meet other owners. My kids were having a good time chilling with Alice's thought for the weekend. Ventus and Mishka are BFFs. 

Photo shamelessly stolen from Alice. My camera has blackmail pics and I had used my sister's camera to take pictures. . .

Then the weekend came to an end. We packed up, did some car pooling and after a nice dinner the weekend came to an end. I was very happy to be home and to sleep for almost 12 hours. 

Overall, I had a great time this year at AN. The people that were around and just the fun that we create for ourselves, it really helps with the atmosphere. I noticed the cosplays were very good this year too! Sometimes I miss not cosplaying anymore..as I haven't done so at AN for a few years, but I just didn't have the time this year to make anything. 

Nice seeing old friend and making some new friends! I've sold some of my merchandise, ate some good food and didn't mess up my dancing at the cafe. We beat last year's mark for the donations for Sick Kids which is a great accomplishment for Cafe Delish. 

Now it's just time for me to clean up the house and to eat, sleep and relax a bit.

Cheers!

♥