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.

Summer Yukata Meetup

Long time, no see! The end days of summer have been very busy for me as I'v been bolstering my exercise routine and working on some general self improvement. I may do another weight loss for lolita post, updating on the progress and maintenance practices since my last one. 

My lolita comm decided to host a small yukata meetup to wrap up the summer. We had a few months of planning and ordering our outfits, culminating in a pleasant visit to Emma's Tea Room. Rather than a hot tea, I went with getting a nice glass of iced oolong tea. I sadly can't remember the exact variety, but the flavor was pleasant and I wish my memory would let me remember so that I could add the tea to my collection at home. 

I chose to get the daily salad special which came with a small blueberry muffin and poppy seed dressing. The flavor was great, and the combination of plums and strawberries with the bed of mixed greens was so perfect. <3

Dessert consisted of a piece of lemon cake topped with mandarin oranges and whipped cream. The flavor was really nice, and I liked the arrangement of the components. 

What would a post about a yukata meetup be, though, without a photo of me actually in my yukata? I ordered an easy to wear rose yukata from DreamV which was a good idea since I've never owned or worn a yukata before. In keeping with the general taste of my wardrobe, I went with the dark colored version of the pattern. The shoes which came with the yukata itself were way too small for my American feet, though, and the site offered no option to size up for a bigger pair. I ended up finding a pair of simple heeled wooden shoes from the thrift store which actually matched the general feel of my coordinate. I even wonder if they were originally ordered from Japan since the size labeling read "24.5" rather than a US or European style sizing scheme. Overall, I was really happy with the way I looked in the yukata although it's not nearly as comfortable as lolita, and I can't see myself wanting to wear an outfit like this more than once a year for a special occasion. 

We were somewhat tired after the tea house, so we wound up just going to a local antique store before parting ways. This is the second time I've gone to a curated antique store with my comm, and I've had a great time on both occasions. I ended up buying the stuffed rabbit pictured above as I love his vintage feel, and he reminds me of the Mossbadger items I love so much. 

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.

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

Halloween Lolita Meet Up

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet up with my local lolita community this past weekend for a beautiful day at the botanical gardens.

My Outfit:

Skirt: Bodyline
Top: Crazy World
Necklace: Claire's
Hair piece: Rue 21
Shoes, tights: Random offbrand

This was an interesting outfit for me since it's much darker in tone than what I usually wear. I'm not sure if I like the general look, but I'm glad to have tried something different.

I was also glad to hang out with the wonderful ladies in my local lolita group. Hopefully, we'll be updating our Facebook page cover with photos from this event. <3

Fairy Kei Meetup

This past weekend I went to the a fairy kei meetup at my local mall. The only attendants were me and Kawaii Barbie but I still think we managed to have a great time.

My outfit:
Skirt- Bodyline PAN034
Top - Ebay
Tights - Holley Tea Time
Bracelet, earrings - Claire's

I personally thought Kawaii Barbie looked awesome, and I wish that I had gotten some detailed photos of her nails. I'm hoping to attend the next meet up for this fashion in my area.

30 Day Lolita Challenge, Day 24: A Picture of Me from a Lolita Meet

I wasn't sure if everyone would be okay with me posting a picture here, so I blurred faces. My boyfriend took this photo of the lolita meetup at the local cherry blossom festival. I had a great time at this meet with all of these well dressed ladies. <3