Sakura Matsuri 2015

(I don't have my pictures with me right now, so check back later this week!)

This Saturday was the Cherry Blossom Street Festival down in DC. This is at least my fifth time going to it, if not more. I've lost count. I went down with two of my friends this year, which is I think the second-smallest group I've ever done, other than last year when it was just me and Chris. My dad's friend got us into the festival for free because he was staffing it, and I'm soooo grateful that he was willing to give me passes two years in a row. ♥

I didn't spend too much time in the festival itself this year. It's basically the same every year; even all the stalls are in the same locations. We left the festival pretty early because my friends wanted to find cheaper food, and then I asked to go see the cherry trees themselves while they were still in peak bloom. We did go back for the last hour of the festival, though. I didn't get any taiyaki before they all sold out, so I was disappointed :(

I came home with more stuff this year! Last time I just got a letter set and a Tuxedo Mask plushie. This time I got another letter set, two notebooks and an old Sailor Moon kid's novel. I also got taro-flavored bubble tea, which was kind of expensive, but which I think was worth it.

Unfortunately, I didn't really get to see any of my online friends at the festival :( Luck wasn't on my side this time. I did cross paths with someone I met at the Mekakucity Actors photoshoot at AUSA, but that was about it. Now I have to wait until Otakon to see them;; Meetups should be easier to plan at Otakon, though, and I'll have more time to see them then.

My friends and I sat underneath the cherry trees near the Washington Monument for probably close to an hour. It was really chill! There were a lot of people around, but we were in the shade and a little bit out of the way. There were a couple times that the wind blew and we were showered in petals :) It was cool.

Coming home was kind of a mess, though. We were stuck in the huge crowd leaving the festival and had to walk down to the Smithsonian station, which was only slightly better than Federal Triangle. I ended up making me and my parents late to dinner with my grandmother for her birthday;; My wig was driving me crazy, but I kept it on until we got home because I put my hair up when it was still wet and I didn't want to see what it looked like. (It was pretty terrible.) None of my family seemed to mind, though!

TL;DR this year's Sakura Matsuri wasn't the most interesting year yet, but I still had fun. It was good memories :)

Sakura Matsuri 2014

For a bunch of years now, I've gone to the street festival that's part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. It's changed since I first started going, including fencing the festival off and charging admission (and this year, doubling the price :| ), but it's still something I look forward to. It's at a good interval between Katsucon and Otakon and is around the time of year when I finally want to get out of the house. This year, I threw plans together very haphazardly, and they almost fell through. But we made it work.

I don't have any pictures actually in the street festival, but I made sure to vlog. (The playlist is here.)

We didn't get down to the street festival until sometime after noon;;

We also went to the Natural History Museum, which for me was my third time in three weeks;; I finally got to see the Dinosaur exhibit though, something I don't think I've ever done before! I'm really glad I got to see it before they closed it.

After the museum, Chris and I walked towards the Washington Monument in order to see the cherry blossoms. I hadn't actually seen the cherry blossoms themselves in a few years, so it was nice!

There were actually a few cosplayers having photoshoots underneath the cherry trees! I wonder what all the normal tourists thought...

I also got to see Jennifer, Alec, Carmen, and Deanna from DTP! I knew that Carmen and Deanna had been planning to go, but seeing Jennifer and Alec was a surprise! 

I got to have my taiyaki like I wanted, as well as teriyaki chicken that I bought as lunch for Chris (and he let me try). I also got to try daifuku for the first time, which was interesting! It was different than I was expecting, especially the black sesame one that came with the four-pack I bought. I also bought a stationery set and a plushie of Tuxedo Mask to hopefully bring with me whenever I cosplay Tsukino Usagi. So, despite the problems we had at first, I had a lot of fun!