I have been absolutely miserable for two weeks.

Not “a little under the weather” miserable. The kind where your body just refuses to cooperate on every front. Food poisoning that my autoimmune system turned into a several day ordeal, a bathroom that was mid-renovation from a neighbor’s water leak, a night spent on the floor of a vacant apartment unit with a pillow and a heating pad and nowhere better to be. It’s been a lot.

By this morning, I was still coughing and running on fumes, but by late afternoon I felt vaguely human for the first time in days. And I had a choice: couch, or outside. By all reasonable logic I should have spent today horizontal with my cats judging me from a distance.

But I had heard vague mentions online of an event happening. It was a small Japanese trinket themed festival at a garden I’ve been to a couple of times before, and I had been curious about it. My friends were all busy. I had trinkets and blind box dupes I’d been meaning to offload, and I’d heard there would be a trading station. By late afternoon, the medicine had done enough of its job that I made a decision.

I got completely dolled up, drove myself down to San Diego, and went alone.

Here’s the thing about feeling terrible: I refuse to also look terrible. Getting dressed up when I feel sick is one of my favorite coping mechanisms. There’s something about putting on a full face and an outfit I actually like that tricks my brain into thinking the day is worth showing up for. It usually works. Today it worked.

The garden is one of those places that’s so much bigger than it looks from the entrance. I’ve been here before and it still catches me off guard every time. I pulled in with my phone at 15% battery — truly a rookie mistake — paid my $5 entry, and was told the festival was actually deeper into the garden. Which meant a walk in.

I’m glad I took it slowly, because the walk in was honestly its own thing. I spotted a cat lounging on one of the rocks like he owned the place, completely unbothered, soaking up the afternoon. I snapped exactly one photo of him and put my phone away to conserve battery. There were cherry blossoms just starting to bloom and koi fish doing their koi fish thing, and for a few minutes I forgot I’d been sick for two weeks.

Then I found the festival, and I immediately knew I was in trouble.

The very first booth was entirely Japanese and cat themed. I don’t know who designed this event layout but they knew what they were doing putting that one at the entrance. I walked away from that first stall with a stack of car window stickers (going directly onto my gaming PC, obviously), a handful of acrylic keychains featuring cats dressed as various Japanese food and drinks, and a free mini tote bag and pencil pouch they threw in as a bonus for the damage I’d already done. I had to physically stop myself from getting more because I had an entire festival left to walk through.

I visited every booth. I came home with:

• A wooden cat pin that looks exactly like my cat Supra
• A Totoro windchime that I don’t know where I’m going to hang but I will figure it out
• Some Pucky and Bunny Pop Mart blind boxes
• Two Dimoos I traded for at the trading station (swapped two of my dupes — worth it)
• A mini Pompom Purin from a no-face trinket trade — he’s my favorite of the Hello Kitty and Friends lineup and I will not be explaining myself

By the time I got to the trading station it was late in the day and pretty picked over, but I found what I needed. I still had a couple of dupes left that didn’t find a home, which brings me to my favorite part of the day.

On my way out, I passed a big group of girls all trying to take photos of each other. I offered to take a group shot for them. One of them, completely unprompted, gifted me a Peach Riot keychain as a thank you. I gave her one of my sealed bag dupes in return, and she lit up. It was the best possible way to end the day — a stranger going home happy with something I would have just been carrying around indefinitely.

It made me think, not for the first time, about how much I want to organize a proper collector meetup. A picnic day. Everyone brings their dupes and their figures they’re ready to rehome. You trade, you meet people who understand why you have forty blind boxes and counting, you sit outside and be normal about it together. One day I’ll actually make it happen.

I still feel a little under the weather. But I got fresh air, a Totoro windchime, and a free keychain from a stranger. Honestly? Good day.

What did I get, exactly? Full haul post coming soon — with tags to all the creators whose booths I visited.