Lolita Gift Swap meet 2013

On the 13th of January 2013 I attended the annual gift swap meet in Bilthoven, Utrecht. It was my first time this year. I had heard from people that attended in recent years that it was a lot of fun. Having seen pictures  I decided to go because it indeed looked like a lot of fun.

I doubted to go at first because it was organised by a girl that didn't like me and I thought that she may not have liked me coming.

A lot of my friends where attending there this year too so I took the chance and went any way.

You could compare the gift swap meet to a secret Santa event. Everyone received a random name of someone they had to give a gift to. With the name came a list of things this person likes and their hobbies. I remember having a lot of fun filling out my list and I wondered who had picked me.

I picked a girl named Juliette. She had a very interesting list. I brain-stormed for some time while browsing shops and internet shops. I wasn't really sure what to give her. I was quite late getting to it actually and ordered one week before the actual day. Luckily I chose a seller in the same country so that saved time and shipping fees.
I ordered from Lockshopwigs.com. It was the first time I ordered from there and was very surprised on how many lovely items they have. I decided on two lovely bat clips in pink and black. I thought I’d get one for myself too because they were so cute. It arrived in no time. About two days before the event I started constructing a jewelry box. I decided to give something home made as it’s a nice touch I always think. I spent quite a few hours sticking on the fabric, lace and decoration but it was worth every effort. A week before I also bought some more little things to go along with the bat clip. I bought a glow lamp bunny (whom I gave a cute bow tie), a cute bow hair clip, two cupcake magnets, a Lilo and Stitch purse bag and a Japanese style coin purse. The cute thing about the purse was that the zipper was its mouth. I just couldn't resist buying it ^^.

Cutness!

 When the day came I made sure to get up nice and early to get ready. Sadly it wasn't enough time, as expected. I woke up not feeling too well and was thrown out of my routine. So I ended up going back to bed for a little while. After a while I did start to feel a bit better and decided to wash and eat some breakfast, which went well enough. I still had half an hour before the bus to arrive so I quickly did my make-up and got dressed. I didn't need to worry about my hair as I curled my hair up the night before. I ended up having really cute curls on the meeting day.

I made it just in time for the bus, luckily. I made sure to take the gift before I forgot on the way out.

I met up with my friends Rowan and Dieuwke at the station so that we could travel together. It is very convenient and fun to have many other Lolita’s living in the same town as me.

On the way to Utrecht I bought a croissant as my appetite started to come back. It was a very tasty croissant by the way ;-)

Dieuwke, Rowan and me!

When we arrived at Utrecht we met up with all the other Lolita’s that had gathered at the station. I was funny to see people staring at us or asking what it was all about. I have to admit sometimes it can get a bit annoying when people ask. Especially when you’re in the middle of a conversation and they just interrupt.

I have to say that it was very cold that day. I was shivering the whole time and I wished that I had bought a hat. I really didn't think about it on the way out because I was in such a rush. Luckily I did take my scarf otherwise I would have died of frostbite =P.

Then it was time to take the bus to the community hall where the meet was going to take place. It was a fun ride but I started to feel very ill. I had made sure to keep healthy all week and on the actual day I got sick. But I didn't let this take me down.

After a short walk to the community hall we were welcomed by warmth and a cutely decorated room. It had a big table in the middle surrounded by a lot of chairs. It reminded me of a congress room only this one looked cuter because of the flower stickers all over the walls.

Me, Rowan and Dieuwke took a place right at the end of the table as half of it was already occupied.

As soon as I sat I was confronted by the hostess Danchelle who smiled at me and handed me a little gift. She let me know that it had nothing to do with the swap meet and before I could answer she was already heading to her seat. She had handed me a lovely card and a little bear key chain. The bear was really cute because it wore a bonnet and a pink dress. I turned the card around and read that she was glad that we could start over again. I looked up at her and smiled and she smiled back. It was such a lovely gift from her. I nearly wanted to cry because it was so sudden but I was glad that we were back on the same level with one another. It was already a perfect start of the meet.

I wore my new lavender princess OP (I love lavender). I loved my outfit so much. It was elegant and comfortable at the same time.

We had to wait a while for the rest of the group to arrive so I decided to some tea while I waited. A little while later they finally arrived and we could begin with the gift unwrapping.
It was a lot of fun to see everyone receive their gift. Everyone put so much effort and creativity into their gifts. One for one everyone received their gifts until it was finally my turn. I received my gift from my lovely friend Anne. She’s such a darling and we get along so well. She gave me a big package. It was cutely decorated and had a cute bunny sticker. I opened my package and beheld quite a few gifts. She wrote me a card, which I read aloud. She wrote that he had much fun choosing presents for me and that she hopes that I enjoy them. She kept to a strawberry and bunny theme, as she took inspiration to my wishlist favorite Cherry Berry Bunny.

I received a cute pair of knee socks in pink with strawberries on them. I've been wanting them for ages but never got around to buying them and now I finally had them. I've already got a cute outfit in mind. I also received a heart shaped mirror. It was such a lovely touch. I also really needed a mirror for my room. I received lovely paper themes for cards or frames. There are kitties and flower gardens on it. I will definitely put them into frames and hang them up. They look so vintage and remind me of Beatrix Potter’s illustrations, you know the ones about Peter rabbit?

Next I received a usage bunny head coin purse. This was the cutest item of the whole package. It was so small and adorable. I received a phone strap with Hello Kitty wearing a bonnet too^^. The wrapper it was in had a cute ladybug on it which I decided to keep. They bring luck you know and you never know when you’ll need it.

My gift from Anne!

Then it was my turn to give my present to Juliette. I was a little worried that she might have thought it was too cute. She happened to be the only one not dressed in Lolita. Regardless of looked she loved my gift. It was a lot of fun to see her unpack it. Damien made a good picture of me handing it to her too^^

Credits go to Damien7002 for taking this photo. Link can be found here

When everyone received the gifts we got up to take pictures and chat. We made group pictures of all the different styles and one big group picture. Some people were making funny pictures together too.  It was hilarious to watch.

All the sweet Lolita's.

Everyone!

After the meet a group of people were going to go out to dinner at this Chinese place not far from the hall but I didn't go because I felt too unwell but hoped to join next time. I wished them a lot of fun and made my way back home with Rowan and Dieuwke. We left with a group to the station. It was still really cold outside so we decided to go to Starbucks and have a hot chocolate. I’m really not a fan and I've never had coffee there either (coffee is yucky :p) but I really loved their hot chocolate with hazelnut syrup. Rowan had the hot Chocó with caramel and Dieuwke had the standard one. Mine tasted like liquid Nutella: P. Yum Yum.

Rowan and Dieuwke thought it was funny to change their names for the Starbucks staff ^-^

I was glad when I was finally home. I spent the next few days in bed though because I had the Influenza flu. L But it was still a wonderful day and I cannot wait until next year.
Thanks for reading and take care!

I'm a Lolita model :-D

Lolita fashion show.

On the 10^th of February there will be a Lolita fashion show at Tsunacon in Rotterdam and I will yet again be part of it. YAY I’m a Lolita model.

It’s so awesome that I’ll be in another fashion show. It will be organized by a Lolita shop called Fly away fashion. The shop’s owner, Katie, is such a talented and enthusiastic girl. You should really check out her online shop. She makes incredible things. Check her online shop here.

Katie organized a fashion show together with another alternative shop last year at the Nishicon event in Haarlem. I also modeled for her then. It was an incredible experience and I felt so beautiful parading on the catwalk. I had only dreamed of this ever happening in my life and was so happy I was able to help her out.

I used to admire Victoria Suzanne for her modeling opportunities and always wanted to do it too. I mean who doesn’t? It’s like a pink candy floss dream!
When Katie was searching for models I sent in my entry right away but was set as a reserve in case someone fell out. And someone did fall out and I was allowed to stand in and now I’m officially part of the model group. Who knows maybe my future lies in Lolita fashion modeling. It would definitely be really awesome.

I modeled a lovely mint coloured sweet Lolita dress with matching hair bow. Along with this I wore sax coloured shoes. Don’t worry it matched perfectly ;-)

I wore the puffiest petticoat ever! Everyone kept padding it commenting that it was so fluffy. I felt like a princess.

The show took place in the evening and I asked my friends, who were at the con, to come see me too. They were very impressed when I went to talk to them afterwards. ^^ghihi

Me and the lovely Anne(*)

 I really wonder what I’ll be wearing this time. I don’t really mind what I wear. All her dresses from last time were handmade and very beautiful. So I can expect the best from her this time too.

If you happen to be going to the con come and have a look. It will be a lot bigger this time and even more models will participate. My friend Rosalynn will also be part of it this time :-).

On the 3^rd of April is our practice day so I’m excited to see what we can brew up. Because Katie is alone we will all support her to make an amazing show.

Thanks for reading and take care!

I'm in a magazine!

Last year I was contacted by a magazine that wanted to write an article about Lolita fashion here in the Netherlands. I was asked if I was interested in participating in their project and of course I said yes.

I had never imagined that anything like this would come across my path. It makes me feel all giddy inside knowing that I’ve actually experienced this.

I was called and asked questions about my experiences in Lolita fashion for about an hour long. It was a lot of fun answering all the questions. I received a copy of the text about me a few days later for me to correct. I also attended a professional photo shoot for pictures in the magazine. It was all so exciting.

 I and two other Lolita girls were chosen for this project and we had a fun day posing in front of the camera. The photographer was really nice and very professional. I decided to wear a Gothic Lolita outfit that day because the other two were in sweet and I thought this would make a nice contrast.

This will be the second time I will be in a magazine. The first time I appeared in the English Marie Clair in an article about Lolita fashion at Hyper Japan last year February. It was a shame I couldn’t get my hands on it but I copied a picture scan from Pixie_late's blog instead. Link to the article here.

And now it’s just a matter of waiting until my own article gets published. For anyone interested in purchasing it, it’s a Dutch magazine called Intens. It will be published on the 29^th of January 2013. So if you want to get a copy do get one.  I will also share it here of course.

Thanks for reading and take care!

Snow!

Last night, while my boyfriend came to pick me up, it started to snow here in my town. It was so nice. I'm pretty sick so I wrapped myself up all warm in my jacket, scarf, gloves, and hat and it was a fun ride my my boyfriends house in the car.
When I woke this morning and looked out the window I was so surprised to see that everything was white. It looked so lovely to see. I really love snow. It was just a shame that I'm sick and cant really play around in it.
Well my boyfriend and I did decide to  go into town to get a few things and a copy of the Magazine Intens where I'm mentioned in this month about Lolita but more on that to come later this week along with some other posts I promise ;-).

Here some lovely pictures of the snow that I made today.

Thanks for reading and take care.

Dream dress arrived!

My new dress arrived! Well 2 days ago actually, but I didn't have time to take a picture and I have yet to try it on. OMG I'm so excited! Well I wont leave you waiting and show you which dress it is.

Honey Picnic OP by Metamorphose.

This has been a dream dress of mine for quite some time now but I never came across it anywhere. I was keen on either the lavender coloured one (I love lavender) or the mint one. When I came across it on the EGL sales comm I had to have it. And to my luck it was also a reasonable price and barely worn :D. Again, thank you Louise for adding this little piece to my life <3 .="." p="p">I've noticed that my collection of OP´s is starting to grow in my wardrobe. I have to say they're very comfortable. The straps from JSK´s always slip off my shoulders. Quite annoying.
I hope to post a worn picture soon. I have quite a few pieces that I can combine with this lovely dress ^^.

Thanks for reading and take care!

Special experience!

First off I like to mention that it´s my boyfriends birthday today. He´s finally all grown up ^.^ I bet you can guess how old he turned ^.-.

As a treat I gave him a wellness treatment at this place called Rufa Fish Spa. It opened only a month and a half ago here in my town. It´s basically little fishes that nibble at your feet and hands. It´s a great treatment which leaves your feet feeling silky smooth. Check out the website here (sorry it´s not in English).

The Rufa fish

We arrived there around 2 and were heatedly welcomed by the spa owner. Such a lovely and very dedicated person about his passion.
We received some drinks and I enjoyed my green and lemon tea and my boyfriend drank a cola. Firstly we had to soak our feet in warm water for hygiene reason and also to soften the feet for the fish. It was lovely sitting by the foot bath. It was so beautifully decorated. I felt so relaxed. We also received a lovely little dessert which I very much enjoyed. Very yummy. ^.^ After our feet were soaked my boyfriend was first to dip is feet in the fishy pool. He described it as a very interesting and funny feeling.
After my feet were dried I also dipped my feet in my own pool. I have to say it was the strangest feeling I've ever felt before. It´s a little hard to describe. It´s like there´re lots of bubbles around your feet. You can feel the little fish suck on your feet. It especially tickles when they nibble at your toes.
I laughed the first few minutes because as soon as I put in my feet they literally attacked my feet. It was pretty overwhelming.

We very much enjoyed ourselves and it was really fun and interesting talking to the owner and looking at the fishes in the pool. It was funny, every time I moved my feet the fish followed :-P.
We received a lovely glass of champagne and a little bite. It was such good service and everything came over so professional and the atmosphere was so nice.
After about 20 minutes our feet were dried and we received a lovely foot massage with this lovely organic foot balm. I have to say my favorite type of massage is probably a foot massage. It relaxes me so much that I fall asleep.

After the foot massage we dipped our hands in the foot to give our hands a treat. My boyfriend has eczema so this is really good for him. It can even cure it. So we´re definitively coming again.
After a little hand balm we were done and ready to go. We had such an amazing time and my boyfriend  very much enjoyed himself. He was so enthusiastic that we will definitively be going again. He was so happy with my gift to him. ^.^

We´re going to go out for dinner tonight at this oriental place. OH I can´t wait ^_^. My boyfriend is definitely being treated today on his special day <3 .="." p="p">

A new year full of many changes!

Well it's been a while since I went on a hiatus. I have to admit that it did me good. Of course I didn't forget about this place. I've had it on my mind quite a few times. Thinking about what I could do to improve this place and what would be interesting and fun to write about. I've definitely brewed up some inspiration and future plans. A new layout and blog banner is on its way too and will appear sometime soon I hope. I've been in contact with the writer of the Frillzone, who will be creating my lovely banner. Check out her blog here.

I hope to write about past events, seeing that I am eager to share, but it will have to wait till I've gotten all of my photos sorted. If you’re interested to read about my Lolita birthday then check out LolitaWonderland's blog here. She was an attendee.^^

As I was browsing through my blog list I noticed that a lot of people have been posting about their new year’s resolutions. As I like the thought of having goals for the year I thought I'd do some too. ^^ They are Lolita and non-Lolita related. So here we go.

1. Cut my hair (short)! I've wanted to do this for years but never did dare to chop off the tail. I have pretty long hair so cutting it really short is quite a step. But I thought if I'm already afraid to cut my hair then how on earth am I going to face the rest of the world.

2. Get back into shape! Because I've been through quite a lot of stress these past months and working a job that I don't really like, I've let myself go a bit. It’s my new goal to balance out my diet and do some more exercise.

3. Practice my face painting/make-up skills! Believe it or not but I'm pretty handy with this. I was just as surprised. I found my talent when I was still at school last year. I was make-up/costume manager for the production Nightmare before Christmas. And I did a very good job in making everyone up as well as my choice for costumes. I also got to practice my skills when I did an apprenticeship at the Amsterdam Dungeon. You know that creepy place where people scare you.

4. Blog more! I defiantly want to do more of this. I used to enjoy writing so much and used to be really good at it. I definitely want to improve again.

5. Travel to at least one place this year! I've been meaning to go traveling for ages and have just been setting it aside always making up new excuses to why I can't go. One of my biggest wants is to visit Japan. It's expensive unfortunately but it's definitely going to happen one day ^-^ Also want to go to Edinburgh and Paris.

6. Learn a new language! Language is a lifestyle for me. I was born into 2 and have increased my horizon of them ever since. But I'm looking for a new challenge and want to learn Japanese ^.^ Something completely different.

7. Find a job I love! It's a hard one because the jobs I've had in the past and now have been giving me the income to pay everything. Plus I have a lot of experience with this type of job so getting a job is much easier. But I'm determined to quit my current job and look for something new.

8. Wear more Lolita! Of course! <3 font="font">

9. Be a better pen pal! It's terrible really making my pen pal wait three months to receive my return letter. :-( I'm such a bad pen pal. But it's going to change. There is still hope! ^o^

10. Visit more International Lolita events! Think of the BSSTB and Angelic Pretty tea parties in Paris. Or Japan Expo and HyperJapan or Japan Tag and some various Lolita panels at anime conventions.

11. Make a wardrobe video! I've had inspiration for this but am so picky in making it perfect. It's taking too long so that’s going to happen this year ^_^. My inspiration comes from the lovely Peachie <3 font="font" heck="heck" her="her" nbsp="nbsp" out="out" video="video" wardrobe="wardrobe">here.

12. Visit some museums! I’m totally into history, culture, ancient runes you name it. I used to visit them a lot more. So I want to catch up on visiting seeing that I used to have so much fun.

13. Do a giveaway on my blog! Every Lolita’s aim so I’ve read xD. But regardless of that I want to do one too.

14. Organise my Halloween/birthday event! This has been a dream of mine for years. I have these wild dreams of what it would look like and what will happen. I have this image that appears in my head every time I think about it. An image of me in a Beetlejuice themed Lolita dress and mega teased hair. My eyes dark as coal and zombie like. There will be dance acts, theatre acts, scare acts, live music, creepy food, great costumes and make-up and did I mention it was all held in a castle or a huge circus tent. *dreams away*.

15. Do more photo shoots! I love doing them. And being a Lolita and all is a good reason to do so. New outfit, new photo shoot <3 font="font">

That’s quite a list but it will definitely keep me busy throughout this year. It’s good to be back and like my blog title says it’s a new year full of many changes. I still want to wish you all a lovely 2013 may your new year be healthy. If you have made any new year’s resolutions let me know. I’d love to read them.