Traveling Valentine has not been in any form of a cosplay contest since Winter Shoppingland. We normally do skits at smaller, one day events. Suffice to say, this was our first time ever doing masquerade at an event like Anime Los Angeles. This is also my first time wearing a full made garment (dress and accessories) on stage. For you Sex and the City people, the flower I have on my hair was originally worn by Sarah Jessica Parker in the show.

We all gathered in the restaurant. Tom and I were herded in with the rest of the people. I talked to Darcy of the Paradise Kiss group. Again, here's an example of how it doesn't hurt to talk to people at an anime convention. She gave me sound advice in the job seeking market. Thanks Darcy.

Some people gathered around to play with their DS. Youko, Jarod, Tom, and I just sat indoors at the table. Tom and I thought about grabbing a mojito at the bar before going on stage, but that option was out since we could only stay in the green room area.

It was time to perform on stage. I was rather happy with how our skit turned out. You can see our skit on youtube. Please leave any comments you may have.

Overall, masquerade was a smooth experience. Once judging commenced, we just relaxed in Jarod and Charli's room catching the tail end of Jarhead.

The night winded down very fast. Lesson number one: Even though your friends offer you free food, when you gotta eat, you gotta eat. Many of our friends planned to do dinner after masquerade. Masquerade was over at 11:30PM. By that point, I was feeling really tired and extemely out of it to continue on. We did go to Karisu's Lunar New Year party like last year, but only for a little bit. We briefly stopped by the pocky party in the con suite. Mmm...mochi ice cream...

Unfortunately, by the end of the night, I was too out of it to take pictures with my own camera of our Trapnest outfits. Here are some photos of us taken by our photographer friends, Mr. K (Consplayers) and Eurobeat King (Cosplay.com):

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