Alabama Cherry Blossom Meet 2016

I once again attended the cherry blossom festival at my local botanical gardens organized by the Japan America Society of Alabama. If you've followed me for a while, you'll know I've gone to the cherry blossom festival nearly every year since I've started wearing lolita and I posted about the experience in 2012, 2013, and 2015. 2014 was the one year I didn't attend, feeling pretty burned out from work that weekend though I did end up going to the gardens the week after to see the blossoms before they went away.

The festival was a colder and wetter than usual this year. It had been raining the night before, and the cold misting rain continued into the early morning. By noon, however, it festival began to warm up nicely making the afternoon much more pleasant. Sadly, most of the trees were not yet in bloom, having tiny little buds ready to burst into life within the next week or so.

Bodyline Squirrels hanging out with Meta Honey Picnic <3

Fortunately, our small band still managed to have a nice afternoon roaming around the gardens, viewing the few trees that had bloomed early and then eating at the Mellow Mushroom where I enjoyed a tempeh hoagie (not pictured, eaten too quickly). I went with a more casual coordinate as I knew I'd be walking around a lot that day so I wanted to wear my comfortable Mary Jane heels. Though this wasn't as good of a year as usual due to cooler and wetter weather than expected, I still had a fun time just hanging out with my comm.

Tea Party Season

The month of August has been a strange one for me in terms of blogging. My apartment complex has been undergoing construction which pretty much results in me losing internet for at least a few days when someone messes up and cuts a wire or leaves it unplugged. *sigh* My iPod Touch also decided to die early in the month with no way for me to revive the poor thing. So, until I finally sink down and get an iPhone, I'm stuck using my fiance's phone which, while having a great camera, is limited on cutesy apps as the Windows Phone marketplace is still underdeveloped. I will get back to a regular blogging schedule as soon as a I can, so bear with me while I make fewer original picture based posts and draft out some more text or research based ones.

Anyway, despite my deficient blogging habits, my comm has been busy during the month with meet ups. Early in the month, we visited a little local restaurant called The Chocolate Biscuit. The place has a down home, Southern feel and we managed to all comfortably pile into the further back dining room. The meal included chicken salad, a small spinach salad and 'strawberry fluff' along with options for good old Southern sweet tea. I ended up too full to buy the house's signature dessert which is, of course, a chocolate biscuit. We later went to a local outlet shopping mall for a bit of fun and ended out the meetup with eating at an Italian restaurant.

Before the summer season ended, I decided to wear my nautical Captain Mia jsk from Ista Mori which I did a short review on. I paired the jsk with my new custom blouse from The Floral Notebook, a cat bowler hat and a simple pair of black lace-up Oxford heels.

Jsk: Ista Mori
Blouse: The Floral Notebook
Earrings: Forever 21
Necklace: Rue 21
Shoes: Payless
Wig: l-email

An overhead shot that I really loved. 

My comm also had our typical yearly gathering at Townhouse Tea Shoppe. I love the cozy atmosphere at the shop, and, as my first meet up was actually at this place, the occasion marks about 3 years of me being in lolita now. ^^ We nibbled on pleasant pastries and sandwiches while sipping on tea with exciting names like Long Island Strawberry green tea and Sleepy Hollow Pumpkin. Earlier in the month, I managed to obtain one of my dream dresses: Angelic Pretty's Milky-chan the Fawn in brown! I had actually previously owned the necklace style jsk after finding it on mbok but was sad to discovery that the cut didn't fit my bust at all. Now, thanks to a friend, I own the ribbon jsk along with the headbow and the socks. I'm too overjoyed at getting to see the print in all of its finery and get to note the details like the piercing in Milky-chan's ear and the fawn shaped lace adorning the edges. I paired the set with the pink Bodyline bunny ear blouse and pink Bodyline rocking horse shoes.

Jsk, socks, headbow: Angelic Pretty Milky-chan the Fawn
Blouse, shoes: Bodyline l009, Bodyline SHOES262
Bracelets: Forever 21
Wig: l-email

Much more detailed shot of the socks and bottom of the print. 

Thank you for reading along with me today. I hope that your end of summer is going well too, and feel free to comment below and talk about end of summer meets your lolita comm has had.

Antique Mall And Karaoke Lolita Meetup

The past weekend, I got to experience an amazing meetup with my local girls. Skip through the cut below for some photos of the great finds and fun that we had. <3

Jsk: Bodyline l445
Blouse: Bodyline l009
Tote: Forever 21
Rosette: mossbadger
Earrings: Betsey Johnson
Hat: ebay
Boots: Rack Room Shoes

What's In My Lolita Closet, But I Haven't Worn Yet!

When I first got into lolita, I almost never had items that went unworn for more than a week or two. Now, I have several items sitting on the back burner, waiting for a good occasion! Below are the items which I'm waiting for the right time to wear them.~

Angelic Pretty Whipped Magic OP

I know that some people dislike the dress because of the lime green in the print, but I love the piece so incredibly much. I now own the piece in the above colorway, and I'm very satisfied with the way the piece fits me, so I'm just waiting now for a 'sweet' opportunity to wear it out. I had originally anticipated wearing the dress to a cherry blossom festival in my area, but alas, I was too worn out from being burned at work that week so I wasn't able to attend.

Ista Mori Captain Mia Jsk

The above dress, which arrived in the mail for me within the last week, is actually my first dress to buy from Taobao, and I'm so incredibly pleased with the quality of my find that I'll likely post a detailed review within the next few weeks. I'm going to wait until the days get somewhat hotter (which won't be long given that I live in Alabama), then I'll wear the dress likely with a boater hat that I have coming in the mail right now.

Okay, so this jsk technically isn't in my closet yet, but the dress will likely arrive within the next week. Even though I had recently ordered, I decided to also purchase the Chocoberry jsk in beige to hopefully wear to a berry picking meet up during the coming summer.

The above post idea was originally from F Yeah Lolita's original list, Lolita 52 Challenge. 

Wardrobe Blunders! Things I Bought That I Ended Up Regretting!

I've had a number of items that I haven't been completely pleased with like my Fanplusfriend blouse or my Bodyline wig which I ended up later selling. However, the number one item that I end up regretting purchasing? That would be my very first lolita purchases, Bodyline l231 along with a headdress I grabbed in the same order, gothic645.

;A;

Edgy desu.~

Yep, I had the brilliant idea of buying a wa lolita piece for my first lolita purchase. Don't get me wrong. I think wa lolita can be a lovely substyle. However, wa lolita is definitely not for beginners with the dearth of dresses available outside of Bodyline. The wide distracting sleeves can easily make a coordinate look overly costumey as they're hard to balance out. And for around $70, the dress definitely wasn't worth the price for which I could have bought dresses that I would have liked better and had a better resale value. However, the purchase wasn't entirely bad. I have managed to make use of the red skirt in more punk or gothic style looks. The headdress... well, um, the piece has a lot of sentimental value so that counts for something, right? 

The above post idea was originally from F Yeah Lolita's original list, Lolita 52 Challenge. 

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Mail Post: What I'm Waiting For Right Now, March 2014

As always, I'm eagerly waiting at my mailbox right now, so I'd like to share some of my current mail haul with you today!~

Etude House Lovely Cookie Blusher in Rose Sugar Macaron

Etude House is an amazingly cute makeup brand from Korea that I've been obsessed with obtaining products from lately. I finally took the plunge and ordered one of the Sugar Cookie blush sets from Amazon this week, so I'm excited to see how much I enjoy the end product. If nothing else, the packaging and little puff that comes with the set is adorable so I can be content with that if nothing else. 

Bodyline l009 in Pink and Beige

I'll admit something: I don't feel like I have a proper lolita blouse. Yes, I have a number of blouses that I've sort of crammed under jsk's as obligatory pieces and I have several cutsews that I love, but I can't say that I have a single blouse that I just love the look of on its own with how it fits the lolita aesthetic and my body. With the purchase of the Bodyline 'bunny ears' blosue, I hope to change that and maybe finally have a blouse that fits my bust well and that I just love the general look of. 

Mossbadger music critic cat rosette

For a Lolita Blog Carnival post at the beginning of the year, I mentioned mossbadger as brand whose rosettes I'd been admiring. Well, last night, I happened to be in front of my computer at the right time: mossbadger restocked the store full of rosettes after a long time of sitting empty, and I pounced on my favorite rosette of the bunch with no reservation. I love that I'll be getting a unique adorable piece, and the mischievous little guy punching through the tambourine seems just like what my cats would do if exposed to a percussion instrument. 

BtSSB Strawberry Cake Pouchette Bag

I'm also currently waiting on a bag I bought secondhand off of the Facebook lolita sales group this week to ship out. I own surprisingly few BtSSB items at all, so I'd like to compliment my Kumakumya-chan blanket with another sweet little item. 

Kera! Magazine May 2014

Finally, I'm waiting for the May 2014 issue of Kera to be released on March 15th then ship out from cdjapan. Then I'll moan while SAL shipping crawls the item into my hands. Hopefully, I'll get the item in time to post some relevant scans on my blog, so keep an eye out for that. 

That's all that I'm waiting for at the immediate moment, but it's quite a bit for me! That doesn't even mention how I still have to wait for the Winter Isabelle Nendoroid and the Sailor Moon compacts to release their second set. ;A; Anyway, what items are you waiting for in the mail? 

Angelic Pretty Dreamy Girl Unboxing And Coordinate

While most of my week was a wild ride of work stress and antibiotics, I had the pleasure of ordering my first dress from Angelic Pretty's international site at launch: Dreamy Girl. I'm in love with the soft feel of the print, so I'd like to go into some detail about receiving the high waisted jsk along with some worn photos of my coordinate from a museum meetup this weekend. <3

Sushi Lolita Meetup

This past Saturday, my lolita comm got together and had a little casual style meetup for which I was the organizer. Initially, I had thought for us to attend the local showing of the Romeo and Juliet ballet, but in the end most of our comm members were still tired from attending the anime convention from the week before (myself included), so we opted instead of a more casual style sushi meetup at a local restaurant.

Angelic Pretty Candy Sprinkle Salopette Lucky Pack + Baby, the Stars Shine Bright Kumakumya-Chan Blanket Mook

I've been fortunate enough to be able to indulge in several lolita purchases over the holiday season. For the first time, I was able to order directly from Angelic Pretty (well, Angelic Pretty USA at least). I was sad to see the Candy Sprinkle print escape me on the international site, so I pounced as soon as I knew it would go live on the Angelic Pretty USA site. I had a small kink in my order since the shipping address didn't match my billing address that I gave, but I was able to clear that up in an email chain with AP USA and get my item shipped to my fiance's house rather than our apartment which is generally more inconvenient in terms of mail delivery. Once I got the lucky pack, I was really pleased with the items especially the soft purse. The salopette was somewhat tight on me, so I'll be wanting to lose inches before I wear it for a long period again. I coordinated it to have a happy night of sushi and seeing the Evangelion 3.0 movie at the theater. 

The entirety of the lucky pack. I also got Style Savvy Trendsetters in the mail that day. ^_^

Winter In Lolita

The colder months of the year are always so much more active for me in lolita. I love being able to bring out the petticoats in Alabama without burning up.

For my lolita comm's Halloween meet up this year, we had a day at the botanical gardens. Initially, I had a completely different outfit planned, but I ended up planning my outfit around matching my seldom worn red 20's style flapper hat.

Skirt: Bodyline l325
Blouse: Bodyline
Hat: Claire's
Shoes, necklace: Forever 21
Jacket: thrifted
Purse: gift

Summer Time Joy

I've been busy over the past couple of months! The next big event I had during the summer was attending Sukoshicon Pokecon in July. I felt almost as if I was going on an odd pilgrimage as I mostly went to the convention to see the three Pikachu Volkswagen Beetles in person. I've dreamed of owning one of these cards since I was a kid, so when I got to see one in person, it was kind of overwhelming in a great way.

I really felt like I was about to cry here with joy

I had a great time at the con overall, and it was a real joy getting to listen to Eric Stuart and Stuart Zagnit speak about their feeling on the Pokemon craze all these years later.

Recap: Frill 2013

At the beginning of June, I had the pleasure of attending the lolita convention Frill, hosted by a group of the Atlanta lolitas under the banner of Affrilliation. I traveled there with my friend Kawaii Barbie with the driving help of my lovely fiance (seriously, we wouldn't have been able to get there without his great help). We arrived late Friday evening and attended the fun pool party at the hotel pool with so many lovely girls gathered at one place. We chatted each other up and just had a general good time playing with the mini Hello Kitty beach balls that one of my friends from my local comm brought. I wish I'd gotten pictures, but alas, I was tired from traveling and didn't really think to do so. 

The next day was game time, and the two of us hurried to get ready with enough time to eat breakfast before we hit the convention floor. 

Wearing my Bodyline squirrels!

Easter + Graduation + Ironman 3

For Easter this year, I wore a simple off brand coordinate to church. I was really happy to be able to put together such a simple outfit from so many off brand finds I've accumulated over time. I'm really thinking about organizing a post where I talk about creating lolita on a budget.

Shirt: JCPenney
Belt: Rue21
Skirt: Unknown etsy (bought secondhand)
Tights: Wal-mart
Shoes: Shoe Carnival

I've also graduated recently with my degree in computer science finally. I haven't actively started looking for jobs yet. I can't drive yet so that's kind of putting a damper on the search. My main goals for the summer are going to be learning how to drive within the next month or so then searching for a post-graduation job.

I didn't actually walk at the big ceremony at my university because I would have found it to be just too impersonal sitting there with so many people I didn't know. I did, however, attend the honors pre-graduation ceremony which my honors program hosted. It's a very small program which takes only 50 people per year, so I felt a lot of nostalgia and warmth attending the ceremony. 

Blouse, necklace: Forever 21
Dress: Bodyline l481
Bag: Innocent World
Shoes: Rackroom Shoes

Finally, just for fun, I'll include an outfit picture of me and my fiance before we went to see Ironman 3, a movie I did really enjoy. It was a very simple outfit, but I thought that it suited me. I liked adding the touch of my Union Jack headphones.

Cosplay Adventures + Cherry Blossom Meet Up

Long time no post! Sorry I haven't posted here in a while. I spent more of this year so far making posts on my deviantart, rainbowbidoof. I've gotten into cosplaying lately, so here are two pictures of the gijinka style cosplays I wore to Kamicon this year:

Audino! Don't kill me for the exp. x_x

Bowser! I loved wearing this! (/^o^)/

My wonderful fiancee cosplaying as Luigi

I intend to share more of the upcoming cosplays I'm working on here, though I do intend to keep the blog mostly lolita related. If you want to follow more of my cosplay shenanigans, be sure to watch me on my deviantart. I'm planning a Pignite gijinka, Rosa from Pokemon Black/White 2, and suit Saber from Fate/Zero at the moment.

My outfit (the right) rundown:
Parasol: ebay
Shirt: Tasty Peach Studios
Skirt: Candy Violet
Tights: Holley Team Time
Shoes: Bodyline

I was lucky to be the coordinator of the cherry blossom festival lolita meet up this year. I feel like I've really grown as a lolita, and I'm glad to have found a niche and friends in my local community. To the side is a photo of me with my friend Fairy Kei Heaven during the meet up. 

The only thing that made me sad about this meet up was the fact that the cherry blossoms weren't actually blooming during the course of the festival since it was still decently cold. ;A;

I don't have much more to post today. I have an outfit shot from my outfit for Easter this year, but I'll save that for another day. For all my readers who are going to the lolita convention Frill, I'm looking forward to seeing you there! I just finished booking my room and I bought my tickets a while ago. I'll be rooming and driving there with Fairy Kei Heaven to save costs, so that'll be my next major event that I hope to get some good pictures of to post here. I should also be finally graduating from college soon. So, until next time, ja mata! 

Big Outfit of the Day Post!

Happy belated Christmas and new year! The season of giving managed to keep me busier than I expect (worse than the school semester in some ways), so I didn't get much chance to write. Here are some of my most recent outfits though. ◕ ‿ ◕

Sweater: Forever21
Skirt: Bodyline
Socks: Target
Shoes: Bodyline
Bag: Delia's

My main complaint here is that the camera doesn't show the adorable heart detailing on the side of the socks. I can't remember a particular occasion for this outfit so... onward!

Dress: Bodyline
Tights: Holley Tea Time
Bag: Bodyline
Shoes: Bodyline

Argh, I wish I'd been able to get better lighting for this! I wore this to the showing in my area for the showing of the Madoka Magica movies, and in my hand I'm holding the free poster they were giving out. I was super happy to see those movies. I fell in love with the series last year as it was premiering week by week, and I feel guilty that I haven't kept up with the manga. (; Д ;)

Cutsew: Bodyline
Skirt: Candy Violet
Bag: Bodyline
Socks: Sock Dreams
Shoes: BodylineI 

I wore this on Christmas eve for church and Christmas festivities with my fiance. I was glad to have lost some weight to better fit the cutsew. I'm down to a 34 inch waist now, so I'm gradually edging closer into fitting properly into more items. <3 <3 <3

Skirt, Shoes, Top, Floral Bow: Rue21
Necklace and Bracelets: Forever21
Tights: Target

I've been totally obsessed with the idea of making an order from the gyaru brand DreamV lately though I inevitably chicken out when I see the shipping fees. So, I decided to craft my own DreamV-esque look domestically and I was really happy with the results. Plus, the best part? Each of the item was on sale at Rue21 for only $5 apiece with the exception of the headpiece at $2. So yes, that's a pair of boots, a skirt with a belt, and sparkly material top for only $17 before tax. Score! ヽ(⌒▽⌒)ノ My main complaint is that I want a blonde or red wig to go with this expanding part of my wardrobe for the future. 

That's it for now! I hope to keep going with more Lolita Blog Carnival posts, reviews and outfit in 2013. <3

Recent Outfits + Gothic Lolita Wigs Customer Showcase

I have just a few outfits to share today along with my feature on the Gothic Lolita Wigs customer showcase today. ~<3

OP: Angelic Pretty Dreaming of Macaron
Wig: Gothig Lolita Wigs
Tights: Holley Tea Time
Bag: Bodyline
Shoes: Bodyline
Accessories: Claire's, Bowkuma, Forever 21

I wore this outfit to class one day recently. I like wearing a more over the top coordinate like this on campus more than most places since I didn't get weird stares from people. It's a college campus, so I think people just assume that they'll see slightly not ordinary things.

Top: Rue 21
Hoodie: Walmart
Skirt: Bodyline
Shoes: Claire's
Accessories: Rue 21

This was just a simple outfit for visiting the museum one afternoon after class. I liked how the colors matched the fall weather. 

And above is my Gothic Lolita Wigs customer showcase! They've already sent me my $10 coupon. ^_^ The only thing I'm upset about it that they listed the shirt as offbrand when I told them it was Tasty Peach Studios. Oh well. 

Got My Gothic Lolita Wig!

I've been having a field day of getting items in the mail lately. The most exciting of my orders has been my purchase from Gothic Lolita Wigs. Below is the way the wig is pictured on their website:

Spiral Lolita Collection - Pinkie

While I don't think I nearly approached that level of awesome in the wig, I was very pleased with the results.

Wig: Gothic Lolita Wigs
Shirt: Tasty Peach Studios
Skirt: Justice
Tights: Sweetie Cakes
Shoes: Bodyline
Bag: Bodyline

I'm not really sure what to call the above outfit... I was inspired by fairy kei, but I also wanted to add in a number of the black bittersweet lolita elements in. The result is... dark fairy kei? Bittersweet fairy kei? I'm not sure. While I like pastels, I oftentimes yearn to add some black in with fairy kei to add contrast.

Fairy Kei Meetup!

I missed the last fairy kei meetup my local group hosted due to school, but I was able to attend one today! Below is my outfit:

Shirt: Tasty Peach Studios
Skirt: Handmade
Tights: Holley Tea Time
Shoes: Bodyline
Accessories: Kittywood Designs, Claire's, Darling Deers, Angelic Pretty, Offbrand and Handmade

I really liked my outfit for today. I felt like it was a mixture of fairy kei along with casual sweet lolita. I also took the opportunity while at the mall to get a mirror shot, something which lolita has oddly made me fall in love with.

I also got the opportunity to hang out with Kawaii Barbie again which was super fun. I really loved her handmade accessories along with her pastel galaxy skirt from meltydream. 

As a final note, if you hadn't noticed, this is the first post where I've used purikura elements. I successfully attained a smart phone recently which has made me super happy. ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆ In posts soon, I hope to give a better idea of what app I'm using and talk about my upcoming project to decoden my phone. 

And Those Long Summer Days

I haven't had much to write about the course of this summer. Living in the South with burning hot temperatures outside most of the day has put a serious damper on me wearing lolita most days. Luckily, the air is starting to have a slightly better chill to it, so I'm hoping to get back into the swing of dressing up again soon.

Bodyline, which has been a staple of my closet, didn't release many new prints this year during the summer also. Though with the announcement of Mr Yan's birthday party occurring in September and him wanting girls to pose in new pieces for him, I'm imagining a splurge of new releases will be coming soon.... The main piece I noted came out this summer was their L497 jsk.

While a kind of cute print with a theme of candy and donuts, I just don't see myself buying it for the list price of $80 when their better looking squirrels OP being sold for $47 and the Cinderella bunnies being sold at $60. 

I'd have to say the piece I currently have the biggest crush for is Innocent World's fawn jumper:

I've been warming up to more classic sweet style prints with frolicking forest animals on them. <3

Finally, is it just more, or has EGL Comm Sales gotten more sluggish with less activity / people buying things since the announce of the ban on replicas? I can recall that a number of girls in plus sized online comms I'm in mentioned that they would stop browsing there because of the vast lack of things that would fit them. What do you think?

Second Outfit for the Past Weekend

I was able to grace the wedding reception of two friends this past weekend. For the occasion, I of course decided to wear lolita.

Jsk: Bodyline
Socks: Secret Shop
Tote: Innocent World
Bolero: Worthington
Shoes: Limelight
Necklace: Forever 21
Bracelet: Rue 21

I went for a more sweet classic look after receiving my Bodyline Cinderella Bunny jsk in the mail. The dress surprised me by being more classic than I expected with nice thick off white lace. This is also my first time using my Innocent World Forest Animals tote! I bought this from a girl in my local community as soon as I saw her sales listing page. Even though I was initially somewhat concerned about the glitter print on the tote, my worries were quickly allied as I saw how well it was affixed to the item. I'm glad to finally own a piece of brand beyond just an Angelic Pretty mousepad and some random Angelic Pretty hair ties. As I continue to slowly slim down and save up money, I'm looking forward to acquiring an actual dress sometime in the future.