Snowstorm 2014

Note: The following post is not related to lolita, j-fashion, etc, but I felt like I wanted to express what I experience recently with the recent southeastern snowstorm.

Last week, Alabama and surrounding areas of the southeast were struck by a very rare occurrence: more than an inch worth of snow. I am not nearly eloquent or well informed enough to fully describe why such a situation proved to be a giant disaster that ended with a large number of car accidents and cars abandoned throughout the urban and suburban areas as people abandoned their vehicles that could drive no further on the ice slick roads.

To make a rather long winded story shorter, I ended up going to work on Tuesday morning. Once the snow began, my employer as well as many others in the area announced that we could go home for the day. A flood of traffic ensued. My fiance managed to pick me up through the full streets, but soon after we left my work, the car could not handle the ice on a very slight incline. We abandoned the vehicle to regroup at a nearby McDonald’s then we walked the extra mile to take shelter at a nearby hotel. We had a restless night in the hotel lobby sleeping since they were booked out of rooms by 2 PM but were kind enough to let the masses unable to secure a room loiter in their lobby areas. The hotel was very well stocked on food, happily, we able to eat dinner and breakfast the next day.

Thank goodness for coffee

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. ^_^

Lolita Blog Carnival: 2014 Trends You Predict

I always feel like I'm behind on what's trendy, but I'll make a good attempt at predicting what we'll see more of in lolita fashion during 2014.

• Rosettes: My friends and tumblr wall have all been starting to sport rosettes clipped to the front of their jsk's or appended to the brim of a hat. Angelic Pretty released several series featuring rosettes during the course of 2013. In their latest collection, Wonder Queen, they also feature a rosette I'd love to own, and Mossbadger has a large collection of rosettes I've been admiring recently. Heck, I even tried my hand at making one recently as you can see in the photo set above. I think we'll definitely be seeing more during 2014. 
• Salopettes: Salopettes have been increasingly popular throughout the course of 2013, and I think that the trend will continue to rage with more and more girls trying out salopettes during 2014. I've got the Candy Sprinkle salopette set in the mail right now, so I'm looking forward to indulging in this trend for the first time soon. 
• Chiffon and other extras to dresses: With the prevalence of replicas which it felt like brands began to acknowledge back in late 2012 with the banning of replicas from the egl-comm-sales site, I've noticed a great uptick in brands using fancier chiffon fabrics and detailing on their dresses. I expect to continue to see more chiffon and small detailing beyond just special lace in the coming year. 

Breiðholt * Lace Teapot * Sweet Indeed * Toothless Tigers * Crimson Reflections * Whimsical Adventures of Me * The Bloody Tea Party * LadyAtropa * GosuRori, à traverse la vitrail

Lolita Blog Carnival: New Years Resolutions for Lolita Fashion in 2014

2013 was a whirlwind year for me with lots of big life events like graduating from college, getting my first post graduation full time job, getting my driver’s license, and going to my first conventions out of state because I finally had enough money to travel outside of Alabama a bit. With life slowing down as I start to adjust to how my daily routine has changed, I have some lolita resolutions for the year tied in with my blogging and life in general for 2014..

-Organize my lolita closet. I’m able to keep up with my main wardrobe pieces pretty well, but my jewelry and shoe collection is a mess scattered across the apartment and walk-in closet right now. Having a cat that likes to pick up items and play with them doesn’t help the situation much, but I can’t take the disorder anymore. For the new year, I’m going to start looking into cat proof ways to store and find myself accessories more easily along with buying a bigger shoe organizer.

-Integrate more lolita items into my work wardrobe. I’ve already begun to shift my wardrobe to a more classical feel so that I can feel more comfortable wearing the items to work. Now, I actually need to take the plunge and start wearing the items to work even if I am feeling sluggish in the morning. Wearing the clothes that I enjoy so much lends more enjoyment to my work day, so I want to make time for that pleasure.

-Sell pieces of my wardrobe that I’m not going to wear again. I have some parts of my closet that don’t get any play at this point in my development as a lolita. I have a hard time forcing myself to actually sit down and sell them so I can afford more lolita pieces or at least put the money towards my marriage fund. I want to force myself to actually go through my wardrobe pieces while I’m reorganizing to determine what items I’ve even going to be wearing in the future.

-More exercise. Since beginning work, I’ve actually only gained about one pound. However, I’ve maintained weight through eating less not through continuing my exercise regime, so I’ve managed to gain back a couple of unwanted centimeters as I’ve become much less toned. Also, doing yoga keeps me mentally balanced in addition to building up basic strength in my body, so I want to get back to my routine of doing yoga at least three times a week and perhaps cut back on the World of Warcraft/Hearthstone binging.

-Monthly posts. Rather than dump a season’s worth of outfits at once, I could go back to giving more in depth posts on every event and actually rolling out at least a post per month. I also want to get back to putting out more directly useful content such as reviews on Bodyline items that I’ve tried out and smaller indie stores where I’ve bought items. Oh, and more Lolita Blog Carnival posts would be a good idea also.

I wish you a happy 2014, and may you have the strength to fulfill your resolutions in the new year.

The Cute Lifestyle * Papillon de Nuit * Her Lumpiness * Lace Teapot * Breiðholt * Mary Hazelbelle * Lolita Glamour * New Vogue Children * Whimsical Adventures of Me * Wearable Magic * Northern Star * Hello Batty * Ramble Rori * JESS COSMIC DELIGHT * GosuRori, à traverse la vitrail

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!