Undercover Sanrio Style

These days, I have been determined to keep out of the sun as much as possible. You can't really do that this season because the summer is upon us. 

For me, I have found a way to do that for about 95% of the time. My way? Not an average person would normally do, but this method benefits Sanrio. 

Sanrio is a company that sells kawaii products and one of them is sunwear accessories. UV protection merchandise like umbrellas, gloves, and scarves. All they are missing are UV protected sunglasses and visors.

While the sun is up and blazing down on us-- I will be one of the few that will be walking around Sanriofied. Or should it be called Sanrified? No? Sanrifyed?

Aside from above randomness, I would be covered in cute. Head to toe in Sanrio UV protected sunwear. Yes, a walking advertisement for the the company. 

Psst... Sanrio, why don't you send that check out asap? ;p

Scarf and gloves

I have seen a few people out there with umbrellas, but I think I will be the only one covered up and holding an umbrella during this hot weather. While it may seem too much to others, I'd like to think my skin is protected from harmful ultraviolet rays and keeps me from tanning to a darker shade. 

For those who are like me, there's a downside to the products. The uv protection on these sunwear products won't last long if you wash them. To be more specific, you can follow up here.

If you spot a Hello Kitty umbrella in Los Angeles, chances are that is me under there. Say hello to me. I won't bite. :)

California's First Hello Kitty Cafe

I haven't yet been to my first ever character themed restaurant, but it looks like I am going to have my first experience right here in Orange County, California.

Yes, you heard right. A Hello Kitty Cafe is opening sometime late this year in Southern California. There hasn't been an exact date or month announced for when this restaurant will open it's doors. Maybe it's still in the early stages of being built or constructed as we speak because I haven't seen any teasers. And, you know that if there was a single preview of the restaurant itself-- those pictures would be shared through social media around the world in a millisecond. Well, within the Sanrio community of course.

There has only been one Sanrio Cafe that has opened in USA and that was in Hawaii. The only difference between the cafe in Hawaii and the L.A. cafe are their names. One is called Sanrio and the other is Hello Kitty. Maybe Hello Kitty Cafe will be different and live up to people's expectations. 

Unfortunately, Sanrio Cafe didn't make any impact in Hawaii with just 3 stars on Yelp. Last year, it was 1 or 2 stars. From the reviews, it seemed like it was a fast-food type cafe on overpriced desserts that looks cute but taste "bland" or horrible. 

Theme cafes are all about their gimmicks. Why else would anyone consider opening one? Money, of course! And, we all know that Hello Kitty sells millions. It's up to the individual fan to part with his or her money for just a cute face. 

One can hope with the new cafe in California that it will be different in taste.  What can be learned about the new cafe is to not expect anything different from other Hello Kitty themed restaurants opened in Asia or Hawaii.  According to the LAist, the "main focus" is a cafe-style food that serves like salads, sandwiches, sliders and desserts. 

Picture by Daily Pilot

As for me, I am what Sanrio is counting me to be -- an obsessed fan. I will be there in line to buy those adorably cute foods to brag about through my social media apps. More likely, when the fanfare has died down. You won't catch me waiting hours in line at a themed cafe. For a Sanrio Convention, yes. For a cafe, no way. 

So FYI - the review for this cafe will be late. I'll be the one watching and reading other fans' excitement when it's officially open for business.

Keroppi Nails

With the Sanrio Festival or correctly known as-- Hello Kitty Festival or Supercute Friendship Festival coming to Los Angeles in about two weeks, I was ready to start preparations for the event. 

It is a special event that focuses on more than one Sanrio character other than Hello Kitty. It is a smaller scale version of Hello Kitty Con but with more characters featured. If you didn't read up about the North America tour, then you can get more information here.

"Hello Kitty is hitting the road with her first-ever live entertainment show and North American tour! Join the fun, friendship and festivities with multi-stage live performances, interactive entertainment, fashion, photo opportunities, and lots of special Sanrio surprises"

Planning Ahead...

First thing I did a month and a half ago was book an appointment with my favorite nail salon at Marie Nails. The day before my scheduled appointment, I had realized that I had procrastinated for way too long on my many projects, but never got around to finish. One being maintaining this site and finding a nail art design for my appointment.

Luckily, I had saved sample nail art designs that I found off the internet. With a color coordination in mind, I brought it to my favorite nail technician, Mika, who helped guided me to my final Keroppi nail art design.

First thing first--  I had to choose my second and third art other than a Keroppi 3D face on each hand. Below is a picture of where I borrowed my inspiration from...

Preview

I brought in my vintage ring watch for a visual example to help guide the nail technician. The result is that she made a lovelier version of Keroppi than I expected. In addition to the face, I requested the red bow, which turned out great. 

Finished nail art

In this Keroppi nail art design, I wanted to incorporate Keroppi's life background while maintaining that cute factor. Again, I went the simple route. Probably my next attempt with Keroppi and Hello Kitty, I'll go more elaborate in design. I chose a pond leaf that looked like a heart outline, but was really meant to represent the leaf pond that you always see in Keroppi designs. The last design is the red little sun art that is in my favorite Keroppi 90's series design of products. 

Lastly, the colors that I have chosen are the the colors that I feel best represents the lovable frog: green, white, and red.

This is the character that I have chosen to sport in the upcoming Sanrio event. As my third favorite character, I'll be there scouring all the Keroppi merchandise to bring home. Maybe this time, my Keroppi collection can grow.