Great news — I’ll be extending my stay in Tokyo for another travel TV shoot! I’ll let you know the details in a jiffy…

All good things must come to an end… The limited edition La Carmina and Basil Farrow t-shirt from my Akumu Ink collaboration will ONLY be available until the end of August — and then it’ll be gone forever. Last chance to get one here. And we’re going out with a bang by giving you a chance to WIN a black and white Carmina tee (pictured above) in your size! Keep reading to learn how to enter.

Rose and I had a wonderful time in Seattle overall; we wanted to stay longer! So many things to love:
- Daiso, the 100 yen “dollar store.” There are several locations!
- The free downtown public transportation. We easily took it from Pike Place Market to…
- Uwajimaya, the enormous Asian supermarket with groceries, gifts and delicious food stalls. Rose picked up rice candy in a disturbing package.

- Kinokuniya Bookstore, located in the Uwajimaya complex. We gushed over the kawaii stickers, plush toys, stationery, and Japanese fashion magazines such as Deco Alice (which comes with sewing patterns).

Look whose book is featured on the Kinokuniya cookbook display! Have you ordered a copy of Cute Yummy Time yet? 70 recipes for making food “so cute, you could just eat it.”

After, we went to Gameworks, the video arcade center. We had a bit too much fun playing the Hummer driving game, which shook us around as we zoomed through dangerous courses. And of course, we took purikura (sticker booth photos). The Spooky one in the middle is quite unusual, don’t you think?

Bonus outfit photos… this is Rose’s new custom-fitted Sweet Lolita dress, which she ordered online.

Dark purple cardigan: Muji
Skull shirt: I got this years ago…
Sequined black skirt: Theory, gifted from 365Hangers

How cute are Rose’s panda bear shorts, held up with suspenders? Her jacket is by Sex Pot Revenge, and her shirt is (obviously) Super Lovers.

Ready to win a Gothic Carmina x Scottish Fold black women’s t-shirt, printed to any size you desire (XS-XL)? To enter the contest, all you need to do is spread the word about the giveaway via a blog post, forum, Tweet, Facebook, etc… Then, leave a comment in this post with a link to your post/Tweet. The more ways you promote the contest, the more chances you have to win. Go to it and good luck!

Contest ends August 28th at midnight Pacific Time. Winner will be picked at random.

Goths in (somewhat) hot weather! The Adventure Team traipsed around the Hollywood Hills in pretty Carmina t-shirts. I’m wearing a Portrait tee — which features my very round and fluffy Scottish Fold. (Click on the links under the Gallery photos to buy.)

With Lemon and Ementhy. The shirts come in men’s and women’s sizes (XS-XXL), in V and U-necks.

Follow the White Rabbit…

K. is modelling the Wonderland design. Which t-shirt/hoodie print (and which boy!) is your favorite?

Gackt pose!

Lemon with… oranges?

Speaking of Visual Kei boys… Maru Music and Sword Records have teamed up to release albums and official merchandise from D’espairsRay, Vidoll, DuelJewel and more! Check out the J-rock label’s website for further info.

The Carmina t-shirts are limited edition releases, so get yours before they’re gone! Available for purchase online here. Prices are affordable, we have a large range of male and female sizes, and ship internationally. If you have any questions at all about purchasing, feel free to comment or drop me a line. Wholesalers, please email me for line sheets and prices.

Las Vegas is not exactly paradise for us alternative/spooky types. The nightclubs at the major hotels charge $30 entry — and for what? To see the girls you went to high school with in stilettos and mini-dresses, grinding with men best described as “homies”? Shudder, shudder.

Salvation is away from the Vegas Strip, in the old downtown illuminated by restored retro neon lights. Two years ago, I had a riotous time at Beauty Bar: 80s dance tracks and manicures, with a hilarious floor show by drag queen Toni. Next door is The Griffin, a dark and gargoyle-y bar with strong drinks and no cover. The Downtown Cocktail Room has a good selection of our beloved absinthe (we had Pernod and Mansinthe). To top it off, we won $15.50 from a slot machine — and screamed so loudly!

The previous night, we met Kynt at Double Down, a dive bar legendary for serving Ass Juice and the Bacon Martini. It was packed with types that one can only describe as weird, even by our standards. The psychotic murals and “videos so insane they once made Timothy Leary turn blue” added to the lurid atmosphere.

Everything’s out of order… but on Day 2 of MAGIC clothing expo, we met Kynt and Vyxsin at the Lip Service booth and snuck them into the press room for free food.

At the Akumu Ink booth, I showed off Basil Farrow’s blog and everyone went awww for my earless wahh wahh cat!

LA creative types tend to end up at Magic. I ran into Dienzo, the talented Gothic artist who did the vampire painting of La Carmina. What do you think the pink decorations in my hair are made from? (Answer: paper clips from Berlin. Random!)

Our pal Rony Alwin of Rony’s Photobooth had a photo exhibit at MAGIC. Do you recognize any of the creatures he’s photographed? Amanda Lepore and Jeffree Star are among them…

Let’s wrap up our Vegas days with photos of alt/Gothic clothes displayed at Magic. Yukiro and I went wild for Mariannas, lush and Gothic jewelry that you can customize.

Come check out the La Carmina x Akumu Ink clothing line we were promoting at the tradeshow. PETA also posted an interview with me about caring for animal friends (with a photo of me and my Scottish Fold).

What do you love and hate about Las Vegas? Do you have any favorite hangouts? Have you been to the downtown spots I mentioned?

Have you ever experienced Magic, one of the world’s largest apparel expos? As I wrote in my CNNGo report, “Everything in Las Vegas is glitzy and gargantuan, and February’s MAGIC clothing tradeshow was no exception. Thousands of exhibitors filled up two convention centers with clothes and accessories — and I was among the 100,000 over-stimulated attendees stumbling from booth to booth.”

Yukiro and I were there to promote my La Carmina x Akumu Ink collaboration of creepy-cute t-shirts and hoodies. Here we are with talented owner/designer Joey. (Please take a minute to check out our designs — we put our sweat and blood into them.)

Around the corner, in the Lip Service booth, were our pals Kynt and Vyxsin (the genki Goths you may recognize from The Amazing Race). Kynt tried on an Akumu Ink hoodie and gave it the V-fingers of approval. Believe me, they’re insanely snuggly.

We had media AND exhibitor passes, so we could access every part of the show. Naturally, Yukiro and I gravitated towards the Gothic and alternative designers.

We got to preview upcoming collections from Sourpuss, Tuk, Shrine, Tripp NYC, and rockabilly/retro labels such as Stop Staring. There wasn’t any Japanese Goth/Lolita at Magic, but I did interview Asian exhibitors for CNNGo.

Iron Fist’s skull boots were so yummy I had to eat them. (Two days ago, I bought silver boots and Lolita-like ankle boots from an LA vintage store… for a total of $9.72. Win!)

I’m wearing DIY holy tights and a poofy dark strawberry skirt from Harajuku’s AC/DC. My Carmina in Wonderland t-shirt can be ordered (and ships internationally) for only $21.99 — just click the links under the photos here. (If you have any questions about ordering, do leave me a comment or email me).

The Akina art book giveaway contest ends tomorrow — have you solved the riddle yet? Read this post for the instructions: good luck!

Cute photo of the day: Mia Farrow wearing a t-shirt from my Akumu Ink fashion collaboration! The activist and actress recently came back from Haiti — and received this tee from her daughter-in-law as a Valentine’s Day gift. My cat Basil Farrow grew up with Mia and Ronan, so it was a thrill for her to see our Scottish Fold kitty on a t-shirt!

(You can pick up a La Carmina x Akumu Ink shirt or hoodie online for about $20; just click on the links under the photos on this page to purchase.)

Thanks to Audrey Magazine featuring me in an article. The Asian-American lifestyle publication calls Basil “possibly one of the cutest kitties ever.”

Life with the Adventure Team is a continuous photoshoot. Between our various missions, we made a pit stop in the Laurel Canyon Trader Joes.

Is anyone else a raging fan of Trader Joes? The staff is kooky, the products are organic and delicious — and affordable! When I’m in LA, I don’t need to shop anywhere else.

Things got a little fruity… (Yup, Lemon is posing with a lemon.)

What are your favorite Trader Joe’s products? I love the cheap Napa wines, jalapeno yogurt cheese, lemon echinacea juice…

The boys are quite fond of the watermelon juice. Lemon also likes the pink lemonade. How about you? Which products should we pose with next?

Come back tomorrow for more photos and a blog giveaway! My NYC roving reporters also have photos and a report of the Tokyo Fashion Festa (Gothic Lolita Punk runway show) for you…

Song of the Day #309: Heisei Ishin – Ruru