Lolita 52 challenge, week 2

I'm not going in order on these, I'm just picking whichever sounds the most appealing. Today, I pick "Why I wear Lolita". Bare with me though, I'm still in the hospital.

I've always wanted to be pretty, but I've always liked to wear what I like to wear. In seventh grade, I had what I thought was a cute pair of sweat pants. They had a little heart on one side with a Dalmatian on it. I loved them to bits and I'd wear them often. I thought I pulled them off well with cute tee shirts. I was happy with my fashion.

However, the other girls in my grade disliked how comfortable with myself I was. They ridiculed me, my sweat pants, and my waist length hair. That was the last year I went to school and it took years to get over it.

During my homeschool years, I started studying Japan, and I came across Lolita. I tried it out because at the time it was the popular thing with my online friends. Because of my new interest, I learned to sew, I learned to design, I learned to draft patterns, read metric, and even speak and read some Japanese. All this led to regaining my self confidence, and even becoming a more vibrant person. I wear Lolita now because I've developed a personal style that brings out my natural beauty, and shows the world that I'm not afraid to be myself.

I've Got a Plan! Lolita 52 challenge!

Before we begin this post, I need to update y'all. Prepare thyself for medical disgustingness and some shameful begging.

I was supposed to be done with surgery by now, but the radiologist screwed up and missed a fistula. I'm gonna leave it to your imagination how we figured it out, but it means I had to have an extra surgery, after the ileostomy was already taken down. Unfortunately, the fix isn't holding, so it's back to the ileostomy next week, another repair and two months of healing the fistula, then we take the bag down again. That's three extra surgeries, instead of the just one we would've done if someone had done his job.

Which brings me to the begging. To pay for this, my mother and I are offering gourmet cupcakes for sale. They're homemade down to the frosting, and we can do individual, or a couple dozen at a time. Price varies by flavour, and we do start discounting after the first half dozen. I'm also offering my artistic services by donation, or you could always be an awesome person and donate without incentive, so when this is all over, there'll be money left for my wedding. : D

Now back to the content.

I want to blog more about lolita, because that's something I have a lot of passion for. So, starting today, I'm going to undertake the Lolita 52 Challenge I found over on FYeah Lolita. Today's topic: 5 pieces that every Lolita wardrobe should have, regardless of style.

Now, I'm not telling anyone how to run their closet, but this is what works for me and I'd recommend to anyone starting out. If you have anything you disagree with, comment (nicely!) below. I'd love to hear opinions!

Let's get to it.

1. A plain white blouse
I don't mean bland, I just mean no prints, no other colors, and no GIANT frills. A nice and simple, button down blouse will go well with a lot of things. I prefer white, since it can span a range of styles and is also easier/cheaper to find. I do have a friend who can't stand white blouses though, and only buys black. That might work better for you, but  if you're only into gothy/dark lolita styles. White works with anything.

2. Tights
Rainbow unicorns and neon candy prints are unwelcome. I like to have a solid white pair, and a solid black pair. Whether you choose thigh high, knee high, or regular tights is up to you.

3. A Selection of Headbands
A wide headband makes for a quick and cute hair accessory. Try to keep a variety of the colors you wear most, a few natural colored ones, and, of course, a black one and a white one. In the very least, one black and one white. You can always velcro some coordinating flowers or ribbons to it to match your outfit.

4. Ballet Flats
My favorite pair of shoes is a pair of black velvet ballet flats I picked up for cheap. They're extremely comfortable, but still go with most of my outfits. This makes them the ideal meet-up shoe, since my comm often walks around the mall together.

5. The Petticoat
I'm pretty sure this is on every list, but it can make or break your outfit. It's very, very important to have poofs in your outfits. Almost any skirt can become lolita with the application of a little floof. Petticoats are the best way to achieve the perfect shape, and therefore the look.


Hopefully, this helps someone. :3 Or in the least, someone enjoys reading this.

Stay tuned for the next installment!

New Lolita Holidays!

My wonderful friend over at Petticoat Pedaler shared this week's Lolita Blog Carnival in our Facebook group, and those lovely bloggers decided to invent new holidays to celebrate Lolita. If you don't already know, we have International Lolita Day every first Saturday of June and December, but wouldn't it be fun to have more reasons to get together and dress up?

A lot of great ideas have already been put out, but there were a few I was surprised not to see. And since I've been slacking with my own blog, I decided to take this opportunity to enlighten you all with my special brand of quickly-typed, unedited, posted-before-I-could-change-my-mind writing.


Style Switch Day

Is your typical style so sweet, people get diabetes by looking at your coordniates? Or is your wardrobe blacker than Mana's favorite lipstick? Why not a day to mix it up? And if you have nice friends, you wouldn't even have to buy a new outfit (unless you want to). To make it even more fun, you could help plan each other's outfits, hair, makeup, etc.


Bloomers and Corsets Day

I am NOT suggesting we run around in our underthings in public, but perhaps get together at someone in our community's house for a home spa day. In our bloomers and corsets. This way, we're still frilly, but our nice dresses won't get mud mask and face cleansers on them.


That's all my ideas, but make sure ya'll follow those linkies and read everyone else's ideas. :3

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?

An Explanation for my New Lease on Life

You know that song "Imagine" by John Lennon? Every time I hear it, I think of a world falling apart. Imagining there's no heaven, it is easy to try. I've done it before. I imagined there was no hell, no consequences, no government, no religion, nothing to own, nothing to work for, no reason to fight. At first, I agreed. Maybe we don't need the things we thought we did. I thought maybe there was no point to clawing my way through life, because even if there was heaven, nothing from this world would go with me. And what if there was only darkness afterwards?

In that moment, however, I lay staring into the face of death. It was beautiful and terrifying in the same second. It was cold and yet so warmly inviting. I could feel its hands trying to grasp me. I could hear the whisper to meet my fate. It sang softly, lulling me out of mortal pain, coaxing me into the growing blackness.

My sight was fading, the only sound was my own rapid heartbeat. At first, I let myself slip a little at a time. Then, I began to panic about being right and wrong; about my place in the cosmos. Was I really going to fade into nonexistence? Would I feel myself decay? What would happen to my memory? I tried to sort it out with both religion and science, recalling as much as I had been taught about either.

Then it all became clear. Even if there was no God, no Kingdom beyond this life, the universe worked with purpose. Everything had cause and effect, up and down; physically, there was no way to exist without sending some sort of energy radiating through all of existence.

I reflected on my past. What kind of energy had I sent out? Not one of any positivity. For all of my two decades on the planet, I had only two memories that didn't cause pain. What, then, would resound back? Everything that had made me miserable in my life.

It was that thought, that fear of nothingness, of destruction, slamming back into everything, that gave me the will to change my world. It was that thought that lead to the unraveling of my sorrow.

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