If you're anything like me, your daily life is a hectic marathon-run to the weekend. Which then means it's time to start a crazed 48-hour cosplay rush. Instead of feeling constantly overwhelmed, I've since decided to take a page from my student days and dust off the old planner! I'll detail what type of planner is best for general planning, how to prep for future cosplays, and even plug some planning inspiration.

Spring Break in California typically amounts to a beach trip, a day or two in L.A, and relaxation. Since Raging Waters isn't exactly the most sane idea in 20° weather, I was lucky enough to take a two-day trip from Boston to New York City with some great company!

Day One // We took a bus for ~$60 round-trip each from Boston to New York City (it would have been much cheaper had we not ordered the tickets a mere four hours before the departure time). Driving past the forest-y scenery of Connecticut was something out of a foggy movie. Upon arrival we took the famous subway/transit system over to the New York Public Library and had a sleepy picnic in Bryant Park. After meeting up with our soon-to-be tour guide from the internet, we picked up some Evangelion blind boxes over at the Kinokuniya bookstore, to which we both unboxed Rei and promptly threw her in the trash (just kidding).

Midtown Comics was awesome- it had a unique big-city, Spiderman-feel to it up on it's second-story flat. Times Square was spectacular at night, but was riddled with dirty Elmo and Elsa mascot-type costumes which almost ruined the entire experience for me, had I never gone to Hollywood Blvd. before. We visited the nearby Nintendo Store (Nerd Tour 2015, I know), poked some Kirby plushies in their little bellies, and spent a good amount of time giggling at newbie ice-skaters at Rockefeller Plaza.

Times Square woah!

From here, we ventured over to Union Station, ate some delicious Korean fried chicken at KyoChon, and craned our necks to see the Empire State and Chrysler buildings. The nine-story Macy's building was just exhausting. Listen, I'm from suburbia- I can't even understand how a nine-story building even exists. Just thinking about it makes me want to stop in one of the multiple cafes throughout the store to recuperate. After walking by Muji, the New York Times HQ, Carlo's Bake Shop (from Cake Boss), and even Guy Fieri's restaurant, we crashed in the Queens burrow and played some PT before bed (which was honestly, the worst idea ever).

Midtown Comics

Day Two // Continuing NYC Nerd Tour '15, we dubbed the city of Flushing as 'the Kaiju Boneslums' of New York. We later left to visit the Natural History Museum (knocking off a long-time bucket list item of mine), explored the enormous Central Park, and even had a really sub-par hot dog from a street cart. The Highline outdoor garden was beautiful, and offered some of the best views of the city from the former above-ground railway. We even had a chance to visit the Forbidden Planet comic book store, The Strand bookstore, and Criftdogs (which apparently doubled as a speakeasy entrance) for some super yummy food. If you can't tell, I'm posting this much later than the trip actually happened, so my memory is getting the best of me.

In all, NYC Nerd Tour '15 was incredible, a truly unforgettable experience that I will look back on quite fondly. Having this opportunity was so awesome yet humbling; I felt so lucky to be able to spend this trip with some of the best people around. If you ever find yourself in this humongous city, be sure to take the cheap route- skip the tours and hit the sidewalk!

It's the perfect hybrid between the often-recommended houseplant and small pet to brighten up drab winters. However, with the college budget and disadvantage of having an extremely limited amount of luggage space when moving back home, I had to opt for an alternative. Thanks to tumblr, I found the perfect "pet"- a Marimo!

I'm all about cute, chubby, round things, so when I learned what a Marimo ball was, I decided to look into how this teenie little thing could be mine. Marimos, Japanese for "moss ball", are accumulations of algae that are common in the cold waters of northern Japan. The constant flow of water is what helps shape the Marimo into a cute, fuzzy orb. While they're adorable as pets, they are also used in aquariums to help reduce odors and keep the water nice and clean.

Marimos are extremely low maintenance and very affordable (I got mine at Petsmart for about $8.00). You don't have to feed them, but should replace their water and squeeze them a little to maintain their round shape. Here's a handy guide on additional care for your little friend.

I thought I'd keep it appropriate and named my Marimo ball Momoko, which means "peach tree" in Japanese. I say hello to her every morning, she's so cute and chubby just sitting in her little mason jar. I decorated her home buy cutting up some white satin ribbon and making it into a bow, and sticking it on the 'front' of the jar. To disguise the silver lid, I applied some white felt and cut out a light pink heart, which I glued to the white felt background. Simple and clean, just the way Momo likes it.

I absolutely love having this weird little ball of moss in my apartment. Do you have any apartment-friendly pets? Let me know!