Today is officially "International Lolita Day", but since I have a wedding to attend today I celebrated yesterday. I decided to go all out, and wear my Chess Chocolate bustier Jsk.
I don't usually wear sweet, so it was kind of odd. xD I got comments like "You look just like Cinderella", and "Are you an Angel?" My uncle also asked "Are you selling Swiss Miss or something?" Haha.
It happened to be the perfect time to dress up anyway, because Hello Kitty's lead designer from Japan, Yuko Yamaguchi was holding a meet-and-greet at Alamoana Center!
I met Yamaguchi-san about a year and a half ago, when she held a similar event at Sephora. (Read about it here!) That event was so crowded, uncomfortable and had a long line. Yesterday's event at Sanrio was much more personal, comfortable and fun!
Basically, all you had to do was spend $30 in Sanrio, and you could meet Yuko for her autograph. That $30 went quickly, getting my friends early Christmas Presents, and a new planner for myself. Once you met the $30, you could also purchase an autograph board, and Yuko would draw you an original illustration.
Yuko was cute as always, and she was wearing an Emily Temple Cute Jsk, just like last time! She must really love Emikyu. ^o^ I was also really surprised to see that she remembered me, all the way from last April at Sephora!
My beautiful autograph, which I'll be framing next to my other one (wow, it sounds so snooty to say that, haha!)
After the autograph session there was still a lot to do in the store! You could create a Hello Kitty bento, and play games like making Hello Kitty's face on an onigiri. There were also manicurists on-site, who would paint Sanrio characters on your nails. It was so much more fun than the previous Sephora event!
On top of all this, I loved getting to talk with members of Sanrio who were at the store from the US and Japan. I ended up meeting one representative, who noticed my Spottie Dottie pins on my bag. He was so excited to see that I knew the character, and even more shocked to find out she is my favourite! Spottie Dottie has been basically fazed out over the years, with only an occasional appearance. But come to find out, she was the representative's favourite too, and he was so happy to find another fan! He took pictures of my pins and introduced me to the Vice President from Japan and several other people whose positions I forgot.
After, a female representative from Japan was introduced to me, and she gave me a Hello Kitty keitai strap. I was beaming, and the US rep chimed in, "Small gift, big smile!"
Though the event was much more intimate in the home boutique of Sanrio, they didn't cut all ties with Sephora. Since Sephora carries a line of Hello Kitty cosmetics, guests were given a free $5 Sephora gift card, good towards any Sanrio purchase, just for stopping by. (Limited to the first 50 guests).
I hope that this is a good sign for Hawaii, and that we keep bringing back guests from Japan!
xoxo, Cherie
