Kansas City trip :)

So, overall, our Kansas City trip was really fun. :) We didn't get to stay long enough in my opinion for all that we could've done; most of the trip felt like driving since we only stayed one full day @_@ Oh well, it was still really fun.

It was about a six hour drive there and back. We left Thursday afternoon and got there around eight PM that evening (the whole ride for me felt awful cause I had horrible car sickness). After settling into the hotel, we strolled around a little outlet/outdoor mall, sadly most of the stores were closed and we had a lot of the stores in OKC anyway. We came back, crashed at the hotel (falling asleep to a thunderstorm that sounded like it was gonna' blow through the hotel Dx) and got up for our full day Friday.

We got out early and hit up some really awesome vintage walk along shops in Kansas City (now, since there's two Kansas City's, it's hard to tell ya' which one we were in exactly; but this one was the KC in Kansas itself XD). There was one boutique with ADORABLE dresses and clothes, OH, Mattie and Cheryl I wish you could've been with me! D: However, they were vintage in the sense of "expensive vintage" and some of the dresses were $150+ D:!!! There were some ROCKING red, knee high suede boots I fell in love with, but they were too small TT.TT and then some adorable red ankle boots that were too small too, plus they were $84... D: Cute stuff, too pricey though.

The next store we went in was called Retro Vixen, and it lived up to it's name @.@. They had some cute dresses in there, but a lot of it was sort of "slutty" looking, a la, "vintage sexy" I guess. Like, weird stockings, pin up girl clothes/bras/dresses, etc... There was a super cute vintage swimsuit I loved, but yet again, too expensive. So that store failed, and we went on to the one next door.

This one was great! The stuff was a lot cheaper and there was more variety, they also had guy vintage clothes too which was really cool. As well as knickknacks and things, not just clothes, and the whole store actually felt vintage instead of just some boutique with vintage looking clothes. PLUS, the store owner had a dog, a beautiful one that had a mix of labrador in it and something else. She was super sweet though and kept my dad occupied while me and my mom looked around. XD I bought a super cute scarf there, but I wanted to save my money so I didn't get much else.

After THAT one, we went to an even better vintage store, called Boomerang. It's like goodwill, but more hip and way more retro feeling. Literally with stuff from the 40's to the 80's, it was all so cute and flashy and stylish! ;D They also had vintage toys and products, like cameras, LPS, magazines, etc... I bought two original Seventeen magazines, dated from the 1950's! It's soooo cute, I have to show you gals sometime. I also got some awesome sunglasses, and a cute red beret. I would've spent more, but we still had more shops to go to, so I held myself back, haha. The shopkeeper was really awesome (probably totally gay) but really cool none the less. When I was admiring the vintage camera they had I talked to him about how I was into photography and design and stuff, and he noticed me clutching the Seventeen magazines, and he said something like, "Ohh, fashion, photography, design you're into a great future ahead of you! When you're making oodles of money and famous, come back and sign something for me! Even if it's just this receipt!" He was so nice and encouraging about art/design it warmed my heart. <3

Our last shop of the day was a really amazing antique mall. Literally, a MALL. It was four stories high, EVERY FLOOR full of antiques, similar to the antique malls we have here, just .... MORE OF IT. The entire basement was nothing but books, like the book fair held every year, but a bit more expensive. The other floors just had a variety of displays of vintage things and antiques; I mainly bought retro Coca-Cola stuff for me and Lara's apartment kitchen since that's the theme we're going for. There was, however, a WHOLE section for just old cameras, of all kinds. I literally almost hyperventilated, they were all so beautiful ;_; Polaroids, old movie cameras and SLRs, that all still probably worked too if you could find the film for them.

I just about died, but didn't end up buying one; my dad sort of talked me out of it for now, cause he figured with school and stuff coming up I wouldn't have time to mess with an old camera, especially find film for it. I want to start collecting them though; especially Nikons since that's what I shoot with, and eventually try to use them. I find it fascinating to use old cameras to get that old film/photograph look without any computer editing needed. Raw photography at it's finest is a beautiful thing too :) I DID, however, buy an old, red film roll I'm going to use for decoration in my room. <3

After that we ate and got ready for the Red Sox vs. Kansas City Royals baseball game. THAT was a blast! The Red Sox won, seven to one, and we had GREAT seats. We were in the shade in the whole time and it was really peaceful but exciting. Sitting next to my dad, he taught me everything and educated me more about baseball so I'm finally understanding it now, and can watch the game and enjoy it instead of wonder what's going on. Baseball really is a fun sport to watch, a lot of people don't think so, but I really love it. It's all a mind game, really, and a sport that you definitely have to use smarts almost constantly. Even though the Red Sox won, all the Royals fans were good sports; after the game, they had a fireworks show which was really awesome to see from the stadium; they shut off all the lights, and played music. It definitely felt like an awesome summer moment. :)

Saturday, or today, is when we left; we actually went on a small detour through Joplin because my parents wanted to see the damage of the tornado since they're in healthcare/disaster management and what not. It was really, really eerie and haunting though once you get to the damaged areas... it was like Piedmont's damage, but times twenty. It completely wiped out a high school, and their entire medical/healthcare area of their town. Neighborhoods were totally destroyed and some business too. The trees were gnarled and eaten up in odd ways, and knowing 150+ people died in the storm made it even more haunting. People were still out cleaning up the damage and rebuilding; it's been two months but it still looks like it just happened yesterday... However, it was really awesome to see some things; like, one of the churches that was totally nailed, the giant, iron cross that was in front of it was left totally untouched. The hospital that got destroyed in Joplin, outside their entrance was a statue of two hands holding a cross... that was left untouched too. It just shows you that God is in everything, and is there through the storm, staying strong through the storm. Had I been a victim of those tornadoes, I would've seen that and been filled with hope.

After we viewed all of that, we were on a mission to find the VintageStocks in the area; someone had told me that a HUGE VintageStock was in Joplin, the size of three Edmond stores with a movie/game playing area and all this stuff... I was determined to find it and the headquarters, and I had this image in my mind of this glorious VintageStock and was super stoked...

However D: the one we ended up finding was even smaller than Edmond's, and the service was awful. They didn't have a very good selection of anything and I felt down that I was told wrong or tricked or something. Or that the other one was actually somewhere else in Missouri. It was the original VintageStock store, but it was still so small. And when we found the headquarters, it was even SMALLER, and sort of randomly placed and practically hidden. We were like, "seriously??" and I felt super bummed. I don't know why, but it bothered me and I was somewhat annoyed. HOWEVER, when we were eating I looked up the location, and there are two Vintage Stocks; one literally down the block from the one we did end up finding. Luckily I persuaded my parents enough and they took us there; and holy cow, that was no disappointment...

This VS was an anchor store to a huge mall; and walking inside I was greeted with tons of rushing AC, and this gigantic VS that surpassed my vision. It was A GINORMOUS STORE, like four Edmond stores combined honestly. They had a stage with live music playing, tons of things on the walls, endless movies and games, oodles of toys and they even had a whole book section, like used books, almost as big as a small bookstore. They did have a section with a theater sized TV and rows of couches where they had movies going on, and another section with a circle of big screen TVs and couches with games on that you could play and test out. Couches were near the books and everything! And even with all this stuff there was still so much space and it felt so open and welcoming. The service was great too. I felt in shock and awe and wanted to spend all day in there D: I was taking pictures like a nerd and trying to see everything and see how they do everything, and what they sold, had, etc...

However, my parents were ready to get on the road home so I was pulled away. D: I bought some souvenirs though, haha, some awesome rare Pokemon cards they had for a shwell deal, as well as a plushie and then a poster. I mainly looked for stuff we wouldn't generically have at our VS, so I think I did okay. I mainly was excited about seeing it and seeing just how big it was; I even saw it before my own manager, haha when I texted him he was both shocked and jealous. It was pretty fun, I wish I could've stayed there longer though; and walked through the whole mall, it looked so big and awesome and intriguing @_@

But now we're home, and it feels good. School starts on Monday but I've accepted; I'm almost ready for it, it'll give me something to do, somewhere to be, I'll be in my own apartment and living on my own again. I'm hoping this year will be full of new memories, projects, friends and fun. I love summer fun, but school has a lot of fun moments too; plus, fall and winter are both coming up, which means cooler weather and the holidays! I'm so excited ^^

OH, and I'm currently watching through an amazing anime right now, called "His and Her Circumstances" (IE: "Kare Kano") and it's super cute! You can tell it's an older anime too, probably in the 90's or early 2000's or so, but I love it. The story is cute and the characters are lovely. I'm trying to get through all my anime so I can finally buy new anime and keep up with my collection, haha. I'm determined! >:O

Well, I love you all, and thanks for reading this awfully long blog post! :'D