Hey! What happened to the Lolita challenge?!

Hey guys.

I know, I know. It's been a looooooooooong time since I posted. Given I'm not talking to myself, you're probably wondering why.

Well, I'm lazy.

Yep. Good old fashioned laziness caused my disappearance. It's really hard for me to keep myself wanting to do something.  It started with not feeling well, I might've missed a week, but it was prolonged by the fact I just didn't want to write the posts.

That and I occasionally forget my blog exists.

I might try the challenge again another time, but for now, I need to work on actually wanting to post/making myself make time for it. I'll continue to post random Lolita related content every now and again, like the three hundred year old French macaron recipe I found, as I feel up to it.

For now, how about y'all leave me some topic ideas? Or tips on formatting and stuff? You could even correct my grammar, should you feel so inclined. It'd help a lot. :D

I'm a TERRIBLE blogger

I have been experiencing LIFE, okay? So I haven't been posting, bah. I'll get around to it eventually.

Anyhow, this last week is where all the good stuff's been. :3

Not only did I get to spend it at my wonderful boyfriend's house, Tuesday afternoon I got to go to tea with some very lovely ladies. We went to a little shop called Lotus Dreams Tea down in Corpus Christi. They have wonderful hand blended teas and great prices. I'm itching to get my hands on their White Rabbit blend. Sadly, I have no money because I got fired. That, however, is trivial ridiculousness that I shan't post.

Wednesday, I went with Adrian to Geeks Who Drink at Cassidy's. I would've done pretty well-- if I had played. I didn't have a team, so I just kind of listened and chilled with friends.

And then came Saturday, and the most AMAZING birthday party I have EVER attended. We went to frigging Build a Bear Workshop. Dressed in Lolita. And we all got stuffed animals. I still don't know why making a build a bear is so fun, but I'm hooked.

Though, someone needs to teach the birthday girl that she gets stuff on her birthday, not that she needs to give stuff away. xD Not only did she buy everyone's bear, she gave me a beautiful dress and wig. <3

While I was gone, my new Wacom came in the mail. It's probably the shiniest thing I've ever owned! I need practice, but I'll get it.

Surgery this week, wish me luck!

FabuFrickingTastic

So. My insides are currently outsides, kay?

FIMALLY met with the surgeon in San Antonio. The good news is we can get them put back where they belong. The bad news is we have to come up with close to 10,000$ UPFRONT and it's TWO surgeries to completely fix it.

More good news is that once the money issue is taken care of, it'll fairly easy surgeries.

Anyone got 10k lying around?

I'm terrible, I know.

But I made chocolate covered bacon! Yes, those things go together. Quite well, too.

My mother and I threw a chocolate party this week. Specifically, we threw a chocolate party to demonstrate some of the ways to use DoTerra essential oils. We made cake, brownies, fondue, the bacon, and our becoming-famous bean truffles.

Yes, beans.

It sounds weird, but it actually makes the truffle less choking-on-sugar sweet, adds a smoother texture, is lower in fat, and is easier to flavor. We thought up the idea when my mom was asked to teach a class on using and storing beans a few years back. They've been popular in our area since. We flavor them with oils like cinnamon, peppermint, orange, or lemon. I like the peppermint best, but I'm dying to try making them with spearmint. It takes at least a whole day to make one batch though, so we try to save them for special occasions.

I did think about holding a tea party for the Corpus Christi Lolita Group and making some then, but I'm not sure when I'd do that. Or if anyone would come. We had a big turn out for our business event, but none of my friends came. Oh well, maybe next time.

For pictures, visit my mom over at http://mtoils.blogspot.com

Au Revoir <3

#Geekbowl

I just got back from one hell of a weekend up in Austin. Geeks Who Drink put on their 8th annual Geek Bowl, aka a gigantic room full of drunk people (not the Salt Lake team, of course) answering stupid questions about a plethora of subjects only fun people with no lives could get right, with hopes of taking home $6000. I apparently only qualify for the 'no life' part because I got like no questions right. I think my final score was 9 out of 80. Yep.

Anyway, GWD of course plans events for the whole weekend as well, and my honey and I attended the superflippingawesome pre-party: The Freak Bowl. I was so wrapped up in the awesomeness, I didn't get pictures taken. This, I much regret. All walks of Geekdom came together, jammed out to awesome bands, and chilled without any Star Wars vs. Star Trek fist fights breaking out, or at least none that I saw. Must've been quelled by the Doctor and Superman. Or they were too distracted by the hot circus performer chicks playing with fire.

Next year is gonna be in New Mexico. Jeeze. How am I supposed to afford that? Pshhh. I guess I gotta find an actual team to go with and actually compete or something.

And in case you're curious, you can go to GeeksWhoDrink.com and see when and where it is and all that crap, because I'm too lazy to look it up myself.

Breathe, Breathe in the Air!

Okay, maybe not the best reference for a bright, shiny, optimistic new year,but it's the best one I got.

Happy New Year, world! After a night of epic Jenga skills, oohs and ahhs over lolita dresses, The Walking Dead, and too many cherry Pepsis, my friend and I had an idea. We're tossing around the thought of starting our own lolita shop. I can make patterns and sew, she makes beautiful jewelry, and another friend of her's makes headpieces and hats. For my drawing practice today, I'm going to sketch up some possible prints and designs. I'm so excited!

I think I need a soundtrack to set the mood for the year. Something that'll remind me of this excited, dreamy-eyed feeling whenever I hear it. I've found that whatever I listen to the most really sets up how the days go. Last year's reoccurring album ended up being "The Wall" by Pink Floyd, and last year ended up sucking hardcore juice boxes. I started off the new year with D's "Rakuen", but I need a whole album, not just one song to really keep me going.

I finished my permanent To Do list. I've got to print and laminate it as soon as I'm done here. It looks pretty awesome in my personal opinion. I've just got to finish getting my room in order before I display it's glory.

I think that's all for now.

Au revoir!

Head Start! (Heaven Knows I Need One.)

I'm not good at goal setting, or resolutions, or much of anything. This year, I'm starting early. And I'm going to make myself keep them. My mother was given advice by a very successful acquaintance this year. She said not only write out the goal, but write why you want to accomplish it. For this new year, I want to finally achieve something other than make my parents angry.

I've seen these kind of lists be super long, concocted by over achievers who live to make people like me look like losers. I've seen goal lists be short, made by people who know exactly what they want and how they'll fit in with the overall plan. I'm just gonna write down the things I've been coming back to all year long, then I'll see about getting fancy with it.

Lady Velvet's 2014 Goals

#1. Keep Blogging-
I can't promise a daily blog post. Especially Saturdays. However, I will post at least once a week. Why? I not only need to define myself to myself, I want to draw an audience to myself.

#2. Gain 40 Pounds-
Yes, gain. After my recent illness, I've been skeletonized. I only weigh 6 pounds more than my youngest sister. Who's like 8. So, yeah. The challenge here is to do it quickly, but still eat healthy.

#3 Get a Life-
No more lurking in my house all day, every day. I need to hang out before I lose more friends, I need to get a new job ass soon as I'm cleared, and I need to redefine what my interests are.

#4 Write a Song and Preform It-
I love to sing, I love the attention, but I'm tired of doing covers and church songs. I want to show my creativity in the form of a finished song, in front of someone. I mean, it's not like I don't have millions of ideas.

#5 Finish a Story-
Last year, I spent 200$ on the One Year Adventure Novel program. I have yet to get past lesson 3. This year, I'm going to finish one and possibly start another so that my money wasn't wasted.

#6 Practice, Practice, Practice-
I'm losing my knowledge of Japanese, I can barely play my clarinet, I know next to nothing about FL Studio, my sketches look like crap anymore, and I want to sing on America's Got Talent next season (not the one about to start, I can't make the auditions). This year I'll spend 30mins daily practicing these things so I don't feel like a total loser.

#7 Be on America's Got Talent
Yeah, I mentioned it in the last one, but it's honestly a monumental task that needs to be a goal of its own. I'm not looking to win, just be good enough to draw some attention to myself. 3rd place would be great.

#8 Keep a To Do List-
This is pretty much the only way I'll accomplish anything. Without it, I would never remember what these goals are.

It's not much, but this concludes my list of things I want to accomplish in 2014. Did you know that, for the first time in 19 years, the New Year is being greeted by a new moon? That's special for me. If the moon and the year will both be fresh and new, then I can too. I think this year is going to be a good year for all kinds of new things; new attitudes, new opportunities, new ideas, and maybe some new clothes! x3

Au revoir!

Let's try to keep up, shall we?

Pretty much everyone I know has a blog. I can't even keep a journal, even though I need too. I honestly hate my writing, though. Doesn't help that NO ONE in my little universe knows how to help. I'm quite sick of "Oh. yeah, that's okay".

So here I am, trying this bloggy thing out. With any luck, I'll get decent critiques eventually. Maybe.

Today, I guess I'll explain something I get a lot of questions on: my name. For starters, no, Anna Marie Velvet is not my name. My real name is much less pretty. Why did I adopt a fake name? Because I share a name with both my grandmothers. It's not so bad, but like I said, a lot less pretty. I also want to explain what "Velvet Alchemy" means. I thought of it while I was turning a shirt into a bunny rabbit. I often take things and turn them into something else, in my mind, 'kind of like alchemy, or something'. That's the exact quote that ran through my head at the time.

I want to find some tag thing or something that'll give me a template for a proper likes and dislikes post, but that will have to wait.

Au revoir!