Introducing FrillSearch

I've been on a web development roll lately, and I'm happy to finally post about my extension FrillSearch! FrillSearch allows you to highlight text then click a menu item to directly search Lolibrary instead of having to first Google the keywords first then end up clicking through to Lolibrary anyway. I love the site so much, and I wanted to give back a little bit of cool functionality to somewhere that I love so much that will often be the only place to contain measurements or just interesting historical information about release years. Lolibrary was even so kind as to feature my extension on their Facebook page!

Just highlight the text, click the menu item...

...and voila!

Thank you for any downloads of the extension, and please comment below if you have feedback.

How To Get Alerts From The Fashion Brands You Love On Facebook

I've consistently seen complaints about Facebook's practice of excluding items from your feed even from brands you love so that if your'e not on top of constantly monitoring their page and Facebook isn't kind enough to actually show the latest posts, you end up missing out on the latest small release. Today, I just wanted to post a quick 'how to' to better help get the pieces that you love.

Just type in the name of the page you want to go to at the top to visit the page. At the top, click on the "Follow" button, pointed to in the picture above with the bright blue arrow. After clicking the follow button, you will now get notifications every time that the owners of the page post to the page. While you may end up with a few less than interesting posts, you now have a better chance of being able to keep up with indie releases for smaller companies like Automatic Honey and Cute Can Kill.

Recap: Anime Weekend Atlanta 2014

After being sad to see the lolita convention Frill was discontinued, I was overjoyed to find out that Anime Weekend Atlanta would have a full fashion track with Baby, the Stars Shine Bright as special guests. I packed a number of full coordinates for the weekend primarily centered around sweet consisting of AP's Whipped Magic, AP's Dream of Macaron, and BtSSB's Mary's Sweet Sheep. I also packed my Bodyline Squirrels as an additional option, but I never found a good chance to wear the print. 

I started off the con to a bit of a rough start initially. I didn't end up going to the lolita social like I planned but instead spent a good part of Friday evening spazzing out after I lost my badge. Sadly, I ended up not being able to locate my badge, and the con seems to have a policy of not re-issuing badges and forcing you to buy a new one instead. I completely understand having a policy like that to prevent fraud, but I was still disappointed to have to fork over another $55 to attend the events for the rest of the weekend especially if I didn't want the ticket I had already purchased for the tea party on Sunday at $75 to go to waste. 

The rest of the weekend picked up and went considerably better. The fashion show itself was amazing. I loved the indie designers, and the Baby portion of the fashion show consisted of amazing graphics being displayed on the large screens in the background then flashing to show the models walking down the runway in detail for those of us not in the front row to be able to see them well. I felt like I was in a surreal witch's labyrinth like in Madoka. Please excuse my poor cell phone camera pictures as I show a few of my personal favorite pictures. 

Masumi and Rin on the stage at the end!

After the show was over, I took some time to hang out in the dealer's room and take some pictures with friends and people cosplaying some of my favorite characters. 

Tharja throwing a hex on me. 

Coordinate rundown:
OP - AP's Whipped Magic
Heart Purse - DreamV
Shoe - Bodyline
Purse charm and socks: BtSSB

On Sunday, the main lolita event of the weekend happened: the BtSSB tea party! I had been planning my coordinate for months, and I actually had to purchase my first Baby pieces for the event. I was overall happy with the subdued sweet coordinate I put together, and I liked adding in a bit of old school feel the with the Paradise Rose head dress. 

Getting ready. <3

Coordinate rundown:
Blouse - The Floral Notebook
Shoes, socks - Bodyline
Skirt - BtSSB
Head dress - Paradise Rose Shop

The actual tea party itself was so lovely, but the venue itself unfortunately had poor lighting though, limiting the amount of beautiful pictures that I would get. With the help of a bit of filtering, I do have a decent picture of myself with the guest of honor Masumi Kano and the Harajuku shop manager Rin! Rin in particular made me smile right before the photo. She noticed that my necklace was turned the wrong way then turned it herself so that the white portion would be facing forward. /melt

I went home with a few memorable pieces from the tea party and the con in general. At the end of the tea party, the event organizers gave out BtSSB key necklaces in either silver or gold to all of the participants. While at the Baby booth in the dealer's room, I also picked up a Kuma Kumya-chan pouchette which I'm simply in love with for its cute detailing yet practicality for being able to carry essential items. 

I had an overall good time at AWA even in spite of having to pay twice to get into the event, so I'll definitely plan to attend again next year. 

Introducing FrillMark

The past month has been a whirlwind for me between starting a new job at a different software development firm and going to Anime Weekend Atlanta at the end of the last month, I'm just now starting to settle in and get a bit more time to breathe. I also have an iPhone 6, so I'll be able to readily take pictures again for the blog, and I've already been much more active on my instagram.

Anyway, I've been playing around with code again more in my spare time, and I decided to release my first Google Chrome extension, FrillMark. The extension is super simple, just being a neat image based dropdown for four of the main Japanese lolita brands: Angelic Pretty, Baby the Stars Shine Bright, Innocent World and Metamorphose Temps De Fille. If you find yourself visiting those sites often like me and would like an easy dropdown for them, you can check out the first version of FrillMark on the Chrome Webstore.

My Favorite Lolita Print

Oftentimes, a print comes up so high in demand and desirable that you don't even bother to add it to your mental wishlist. Why get your hopes when the lolita desire of your dreams seems nearly impossible to get? That's the case with me and Angelic Pretty's Cat Tea Party. The piece very seldom comes up for listing, and even then the prices can push up $1,000 which is out of my price range for a single dress at the moment.

The cats radiate a regal air just sitting at the table. Two of them gossip behind a fan while another looks on with intense interest from a seat away. The royal at the table sticks her tongue out in a sassy manner, secure enough in her position to act with complete composure and dignity without worry of the gossip. 

The Imai Kira art for the piece is lovely with two girls staring forward carrying cakes that match the color of the other one's dress. 

The cut of the dress itself is also amazing, of course. If getting just one more piece could make my lolita wardrobe complete, then Cat's Tea Party would be that piece for me. 

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

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.

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.