Today I finally managed to make good on my promise to take Hotaru to the opera. It was just perfect. We all know I love Mozart and the opera was based on the queen of the night aria and the magic flute among other lovely pieces, so it was heavenly. The play was very good. Adults, kids, boys, girls, snobs, goofballs… the plot had something for everyone to enjoy and no matter what your personality, there was probably at least one character you could identify with.
Hotaru was transfixed looking at the stage. She seemed to be in a trance listening to the singers and their impressive costumes. Whoever was behind that is a genius. No wonder it won the best performance award in 2013. It was a masterpiece. Honestly. The band was perfect, the singers amazing, the props really good and interesting looking. I was surprised (or rather dumb smacked) by how neat everything was. Like every tiny detail was taken care of very carefully. Every single piece of the opera fit snugly in place to create an everlasting impression on the audience.
The people sitting in front of us were loud, rude and stupid enough to bring three three year olds to the opera… like they’d sit and watch quietly! And the mothers were just as bad. I spent most of the show shushing them and fighting the urge to slap their heads (the mothers, obviously). There were a couple of babies too, which was incredibly stupid. But, mostly, the 6 to 10 year olds were all very civilized and well behaved. It wasn’t surprising considering just how good the show was, but it was still too complex for a toddler to get engaged.
It was a bit more expensive than I originally thought but it was worth every cent. I’d totally pay to watch it again. Hotaru loved the princess and I was stunned by the queen of the night’s delivery. That soprano’s voice was beyond words. The prince was great as well, but his parts weren’t as impressive, though I’m sure he would have been just as good if they had been more complex.
The performers stayed on stage after the show and signed autographs. Well, most of them anyway. The only one Hotaru wanted (the princess) was nowhere to be found because the girl did look like quite a diva to me on stage. It was sad that she didn’t get her autograph, but Hotaru is too well behaved to make a fuss over it. We just waited for a long time and when it was obvious she wouldn’t come she just accepted it and got the prince’s and the queen of the night’s autographs. They also allowed me to take their picture with her which was very kind of them.
There was a bouncing castle outside, so Hotaru obviously begged to get in. It was very cold and she had been sweating a bit inside the auditorium (which was very warm) so I only allowed her to be there for a few minutes. Wet socks and a cold wind aren’t the best of combos for an asthmatic girl. Still, she made the most of it and enjoyed it insanely. I loved the gleeful look on her face while bouncing in there with the other kids. She’s so cute ❤
Then we came home and I got to work on Michiru’s costume, as I took her measurements last night before she left. I started with the skirt which was a piece of cake until it got beeswax stains all over it because Dr. Tomoe is an idiot who can’t follow simple instructions and sometime about a year ago he put a hot wax pot on the iron board… yes, it’s been that long since I’ve used it LOL. I usually iron on my bed or the little table next to it because it’s faster than getting the thing out of the took shack outside and setting it up.
There wasn’t a perfect tartan for the Mugen uniform so I had to hand paint the tartan in all three yards of skirt, minding the plaits and everything else in the process. Did I ever mention that my fine motor skills are nonexistent? Well, that skirt proves it alright. But since Michiru only agreed to do it this one time, I didn’t think it would be worth spending a lot of money and time in making a pitch perfect cosplay for her.
I usually charge a lot of money for a costume like that, even a quickly made one, but this was my present to her (and to me too, to be honest). IF she ends up liking it and wants to keep doing it, then we can talk fabrics and try to get the perfect one to make both a new skirt for her and a new pair of pants for me so they match exactly (and probably another Mugen skirt for Hotaru ❤ since I’ve already bought enough of these fabrics to make the kid her own uniform… she’ll outgrow it in no time, so there’s no point in spending big bucks on that one either, Gods know how many Mugen uniforms she’ll wear in her life!)
Still, I know that Michiru agreeing to do this more than once would be a SUPER long shot. I mean, Hotaru begged and then she said I’d pay for it and I promised she wouldn’t have to buy me a birthday, Christmas or New Year present this year, this would be it.
I messed up in TONS of places while painting the tartan but since it was already wax stained (although I did my best to remove them and partially succeeded) and then the serger bit the fabric and I had to actually use GLUE (Gods forbid!) to fix it. It was a nightmare and at some point I turned off the machine and cried quietly for ten minutes before deciding I wouldn’t give up. It was the least professional work I had ever done but I would die before I quit.
In the end, the skirt looked good if you didn’t actually stick your head a foot from it to inspect it closely so I breathed again. When the little crisis was over, I got started on the top and couldn’t read my half-asleep scribble so I had to cut the pattern by memory. Luckily, Michiru has always caused such a strong impression on me I could draw her body by heart with my eyes closed. No kidding. ❤
Mom called to invite us over for pizza since Leo was cooking and his kids were coming over for a little family get-together. I didn’t feel like going because my blood pressure was over the floor and I still had the top to finish. I was really afraid I wouldn’t have enough time to finish it, but then again, skipping dinner wouldn’t do me any good and Hotaru insisted she wanted to go, so we went.
The pizza was delicious. Mom and Leo looked happy and my brother was fun as always. I love that little brat (who is now an adult and about a head taller than me but he’ll always be that little kid who looked just like young Anakin Skywalker). My sis was passive aggressive as always and offered me the most delicious fruit flavored tea I have ever had while barking at her boyfriend and later on, at Hotaru. Why? Well, Arturo (her boyfriend), Hotaru and I wanted to play Spaceteam while she took a shower after dinner, so she lent the kid her tablet for it. Thing is you only have two tries to enter the password correctly once it goes into sleep mode and Hotaru didn’t know the pass.
My sis was pissed at Hotaru and yelled at her because she had to use her work email account to unlock the tablet and the tablet to work until she goes back to the office. But if that was the case, she should have thought it through before lending something she works with to a five year old. OR she could have told her the password. Either way, it was her fault and throwing a tantrum over it like a child wasn’t something I appreciated. Still, she’s always like that so yeah… Mom intervened and scolded her and gave her one of her scary looks so she took it back saying it didn’t really matter and disappeared into her bedroom. Then party was over and Leo drove us home. Hotaru went straight to bed and it was back to work for me.
The top was easy. It went swiftly and I found myself enjoying the crafting quite a bit (I really suffered working on the skirt A LOT). I loved sewing the sleeves to the shoulders and the cuffs to the sleeves. I love sewing sleeves. Don’t know why. Anyway… Everything went peachy with it. The bow looked puffy and cute and perfect. I found an amazing sailor neckline pattern online that fitted the Mugen style like a glove and used that for the best fuku I have ever done. I mean, it could have been less messy in the little details but the overall appearance is impressive.
The star on the chest looks perfect and I hand painted it as well so who knows? Perhaps there is a way to get my fine motor skills to work properly! I just don’t know what it is.
There’s still a couple of things I need to finish before Michiru can wear it, but I kind of need her to put it on first so I can pin some things and tailor it to her actual body. Guess that’s why I asked her to come by earlier tomorrow. I just hope she doesn’t totally hate it (especially the skirt) or changes her mind at the last minute after I put so much effort into making this look well or even worse… what if I miscalculated something and it just doesn’t fit!? I mean, I worked until very late, it could have happened.
Well, I guess only time will tell. Wish me luck!
Bringing up FIREFLIES 