Last Monday I went to see the Barbie movie with friends. It was a private party with a whole theater rented out! We all dressed up, I wanted to wear lolita but it's still way too hot and fussy for it, so I opted for something more casual. At least my socks are still Angelic Pretty! I felt incredibly blessed to not only be invited but to feel well enough to do so... all those little things like going to the movies, I really took for granted. During the movie I had buffalo cauliflower for dinner, a dish I always look forward to when I come to this particular theater!

Another pair of kitty shoes wore out the other day! I was sad to see them go, but I have a spare pair so I think I can at least make it until next year to buy new ones. These have been my daily shoes forever! I wear them until they have holes, then buy a new pair. Rinse and repeat. I walk a lot, so I buy a new pair maybe every year and a half. I've definitely worn out at least 6 pairs by now!

I bought some new boots at Target! They're in kid sizes but their size 5 fits perfect. The stock image doesn't show it much, but they have glitter!! I had a hard time deciding between the lace-up boots and the moto-style boots, but ultimately I decided on the ones on the left. Maybe if they're still in stock next paycheck I can get the other ones, we'll see!

I'm still so sad I can't have these rainboots, my calves are too big for them. They haunt me every time I pass by the shoe section in Target.

A couple of friends were kind enough to humor my obsession and watched Death Island with me! I really enjoyed it! The RE CGI movies aren't known for having a good story or anything like that, it's just fun to see your favorite characters in action for an hour and a half! Chris was so cute with his puppy-dog eyes... Leon's snarky quips always make me laugh and I loved seeing my favorite ladies pull through and save the day! The cast of this movie has made it kind of like "The Avengers of Resident Evil movies" which is hilarious.

I got a new sketchbook! Isn't the gold foil so pretty? I'm actually glad to be done with my old one because the paper was way too thin. I've attempted to draw in it a couple of times but I hated what I drew so I tore out both pages and don't consider it "started " yet. I'm going through such a bad art block this year! The difference is that I still have work to do, so I continue to draw even though I don't like anything I make lately, and haven't for months, except when it comes to Iris. I'd rather keep drawing than not though, I'd regret it even more if I stopped drawing entirely.

Sunday was International Decora Day, so I dressed up and went out to play games with some friends and even got to meet a lot of new people! We ended up doing karaoke as well at the spur of the moment and it was so much fun~ I guess you wouldn't be able to tell by my website, but most of my wardrobe is actually black, so it felt really nice to dress up so colorfully not once, but twice so close together! I'm glad I pushed myself to go, because I was really feeling lazy and almost stayed home. I also debuted my Chris ita bag and kept Travis close to me.

Afterwards, I picked up dinner with Bear. We've gotten a banh mi twice this month, and while I was down for round three, I could tell he wanted comfort food so he got some mac and cheese and I got the steak and veggies I had been craving for a while. While driving home we noticed a sign for this Captain Crunch smoothie... and morbid curiosity got the better of me. Honestly? It was pretty good!

I looked through the WonFes gallery, and there were some nice looking figures and prototypes, and a couple of surprising announcements but not much that struck my fancy... I am super happy to see Kirakishou though!! She is soooo beautiful, and a day one pre-order for me.

This Skull Knight also looks very cool but I can only imagine how expensive he's going to be! I think I'm ok with just looking, I don't know where I would put him anyway.

Not that I have been terribly active this month, but I might be taking a bit of a hiatus for August. I need to really buckle down and prep to at least try to make up for the time I lost when I was sick. It's not going to be fun, but hopefully the payoff will be worth it! Con cunch is so stressful.

Can you believe my bed? They multiply no matter how hard I try to keep my collection numbers down...

I'm almost completely symptom free now and I'm so glad because it really felt like I was going to be sick forever! I still have a follow up appointment in a week but I'm hoping I won't have to go at all, though it is reassuring to have it just in case something creeps back. I've busy working on commissions and other things I've owed the past few weeks when I'm not at work (I've been watching a lot of Emmymade while drawing, her personality is so wonderful and her videos always cheer me up) and now I'm in con crunch mode. My illness meant I couldn't make any new things at all, so I offered to split my table with a friend. I hope we do well so I can invest in an iPad, I know it seems overhyped but the prospect of being able to draw in bed and on the go is very alluring... I actually am going to prioritize it over a new computer. My old girl will be 10 next year and while I do really need to invest in a new computer, I think the portability will make it easier for me to produce more and make it easier to save for other big purchases.

Lately the luxury I've been buying is art commissions... I've been able to find more artists who also draw for yumes which is great because I'm usually too embarrassed to ask for it. I thought about all the art that was drawn just for me over the years, commissions and gifts alike. I could compile them in a gallery on my site, but I feel like it's too intimate and I want them to be for my eyes only!! Still, having them all compiled to one place online seems convenient so I'm a little conflicted over the idea.

I will share this one though!! My friend surprised me with this drawing of my assassin sona and Travis!!! She is so sweet and I can't wait to have the time to return the favor!!

I have to get ready for work in an hour. I hate working on Sunday the most!!

Unfortunately I am still having symptoms, but the good news is that I am receiving another round of treatment and I have another follow up appointment just in case I don't get well. I can really tell the difference in improvement now, I'm able to sleep soundly and only wake at the normal times I always do and I got my hunger cues back. It's been hard to eat lately... it feels like such a chore which is unusual for me, but I'll chalk that up to being sick. The hardest thing to deal with is the fatigue. It's fine when I'm at home and able to lay down anytime I need to, but at work it's always absolute misery around noon when I get a dip in energy. We'll see how I do tomorrow... but for more good news, my mom doesn't have cancer!! I'm so relieved. She is still scheduled to have a surgery done but it's not life threatening. I hope we both get well soon!

These past couple of days, I've felt well enough to go out for a couple of hours each. It's not much, but it's something! We went to our monthly comedy show and to the arcade again! We only filled our card with a little bit of credits but we came back with a mini haul! Now Rilakkuma has Korilakkuma by his side.

It feels like I'm at 92% now, and it's just nice to feel like myself again. There are still a couple of things I'm (irrationally) afraid of but I hope that soon I can simply look back on this like a bad dream. I've just been taking it one day at a time and slowly crossing off things on my art to-do list. I'm almost done with another sketchbook! This one is probably one of my worst yet, it honestly feels like I'm regressing art-wise, but the important thing about my sketchbooks is that they are for my ideas and serve their purpose. I want to get my passion back, especially for my site. I miss staying up late working on this place! It's not that I don't know what to work on, I still need to build my favorite artists page and my waifu/husbando shrines... The will to work on it just kind of fizzled out I suppose.

My mom got her MRI done and we're all waiting on my mom's results now. I'm nervous, but she's in good spirits. I want to spend more time with her and my sister so hopefully we can go out to dinner sometime soon.

This has been a challenging year to say the least... I think I am recovered for the most part. I don't know, I don't really want to think about it too hard anymore. I just want to take it one day at a time and forget the past 5 weeks ever happened because more bad news may be on the horizon. My mom is going to find out if she has cancer soon. Breast cancer runs in my family, both my grandmother and my aunt had it. Of course we all hope it's not, but all we can do is wait for her to have her tests and procedures done...

I haven't been up to much. I finally have been able to get back to drawing, slowly. It's a little sad I had to miss out on another Art Fight! I always wanted to join it, before my problem was that I didn't really have any solid OCs, and well... I still mostly have self-inserts, LOL. But now I have Iris!! Next year then, I'll try no matter what~

The other day I dusted off the ps2 in the living room and played DDR again for the first time in ages! I do like to play at arcades whenever I can find a machine, but nothing beats the comfort of being able to play at home for free and without time constraints. I also finally finished the story mode of Splatoon 3! It only took me a whole year, and now I'm really struggling with the secret kettle. I'm so bad at platforming! I can't even get to the first checkpoint because of all those tricky jumps. I'll keep trying though, I really want those bear ears! Oh, and tomorrow means Death Island comes out! I can't wait to see the all-star cast come toghether!!