Things I Love!

It's been a busy week! Although I went to the doctor and I have studying to do, I'm in a really good mood. I've been browsing different shopping sites, and I'm really quite inspired to add some accessories to my growing collection, and also to start making Faerie Kei coordinate outfits!

Before I touch upon my tremendous wish list, let me tell you a little bit about my Holley Tea Time order that I received just a few days ago. I ordered the Pastel Party Tights and the Kawaii Ice Cream T-Shirt. Here are some photos from the website that I borrowed until I can show a photo of me wearing the items....

As some of you may know, I'm a larger Lolita, about a size 12 by US standards, so buying items for Lolita (particularly brand clothing) can be an not-so-enjoyable experience. It makes me sad when I buy a dress that should be large and tall, but it's really still a small to medium American size (I'm not complaining, that is the way of overseas clothing orders from Asian countries). I'm so glad that there are unique indie brands like Holly Tea Time, that cater to more than just a extra-small and small!

Pastel Party Tights-

These are adorable! The print represented on the website is true to the print on the actual tights, which really made me happy. They will fit a variety of sizes, even larger than me, however, the more stretching you do to the material, the lighter (less vivid) the color of the print appears to be when worn, so keep that in mind. These are not your average flimsy tights, but are made of a durable but soft material that feels amazing against your skin! With care, these tights will last a long time!

Kawaii Ice Cream T-Shirt (Size Large)-

This shirt is true to it's size, but mind you it is definitely a men's large! I always tend to order women's shirts in large to fit a 38C. This shirt is larger than I expected, however I am capable with a sewing machine and I will shorten it and make it more fitted to my own size.

In the future, I hope to order the Happy Birthday Cake zipper bag and the Rainbow Unicorn necklace (see below for stock photos from Holly Tea Time).

You can browse and purchase from Holley Tea Time's official shop site at http://holleyteatime.com and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/HolleyTeaTime. Sometimes there are giveaways on the Facebook page! :)

Note: I was not paid to write any of these things! I purchased these items! :)

As promised, I will share with you some of my wishlist items, which I am sure many Lolitas wish for. These are my top five wanted Lolita dresses...

Metamorphose Gingham Cherry Shirring in pink.

Metamorphose Twinkle Journey Shirring in black.

Angelic Pretty Honey Cake in mint or ivory, with a preference for mint. (#1 Priority)

Angelic Pretty French Cafe in pink. (#2)

Angelic Pretty Memorial Cake in black. (#3)

Finally, here are some of my favorite accessories (that I do not yet possess)...

I sorely need a Lolita style purse to carry my belongings in, and also a parasol for outdoor photo shoots! At the same time, I am lacking in the hair accessories department, so I've really been looking for some hair accessories to coord with some of my current outfits. Finally, that red caplet is something that I want to go with my red dress. I hope to pull off a very Red Riding Hood style coord in the future. More on that later!

Let me know what you think! :)

Finals, Lolita Goods, and Cake. Mm.

Today I realized that college life is hard, and it's only going to get more difficult!

I took an accelerated composition course, and it really put me through the ringer! I felt like I was writing essays every day,  and I really did put a lot of effort into it. Still, I ended up with a B, and I'm quite glad that I put as much effort in as I did, because I couldn't imagine ending up with a C! I'm just too OCD for that.

My final was today. I needed a high score on it to get an A, but about halfway through, I realized that my scores were not saving to the server, despite the browser reporting just the opposite. I had to copy the answers one by one into a new browser to save them, and it cost me enough time that I didn't finish the last 5 questions on the exam. I wasted even more time trying to answer a question that required me to access a website. Since I couldn't access the website, I thought I was having more computer problems, and after tinkering around for a bit trying to resolve the issue, I discovered that the website was down entirely. Who requires you to access a website on an unstable server during your exam? ASU English department, that's who.

The bad news is I'm sure I didn't even get a B on that exam. The GOOD news is, since I put such tremendous effort into the class as a whole, I didn't even have to take the exam to get a B. Hooray for small victories!

The trouble of taking the exam rewarded me with an anxiety attack, so after a good, long nap, I got up, bought myself some things on the internet to cheer myself up, and started crafting. Also, I got some packages in the mail today, and one was from Holley Tea Time....

Sorry for the cruddy shot! Basically I bought a T-shirt with an ice-cream cone print, and some printed tights from Holley Tea Time this week. I got a penguin resin necklace, a button, and a piece of art the size of a postcard as my free gift. To the right there is two pairs of socks I bought to go with some newer Lolita dresses I bought.

Other interesting things that happened this week? I made a cake for a friend of mine's kid. :) The theme was Minnie Mouse, so I made a Minnie Mouse Playhouse cake (inspired by Micky Mouse's Play House). I wasn't sure about the colors of the party goods, so I just made it as colorful as I could.

So those were the highlights of this week, so far. After a full weekend of working at the bakery, I'm still pretty tired. Alas, I have school tomorrow and should be getting to bed. Perhaps I'll post a Lolita wardrobe post or something soon!

Thanks for reading! <3

How I Became a Lolita

Today I decided to browse through the Facebook pages of some of my favorite friends. I discovered that many of them have public blogs to share their musings with the world, so I thought, "Why not try blogging for myself?" And so began the blog of Ash.

I named this blog Lolita, Yall, because I have a deep interest in the Lolita fashion- I just love it all! I enjoy wearing frilly dresses, beautiful accessories, and colorful wigs to events all over the state of Georgia.

Why Lolita? The answer is simple! Between school and work and all other things hectic, my life fills up with stress and I find myself overwhelmed frequently, both physically and emotionally. Lolita began as a disconnect from the world of stress for me, a sort of fantasy to escape to, where I could wear beautiful clothing and be a princess and a sweetheart. Lolita quickly became very important to me, because through attending conventions, tea parties, and other events, I met numerous amazing people, and made many new friends. I find these new friends to be inspiring- they bring out the better parts of me. I've grown to love and respect my new friends, deeply.

I admired the Lolita style from afar for many years before I ever decided to become involved. After attending AWA 2011 and seeing the Frill Boutique, I discovered the Atlanta Lolita Community online, where I was pleased to discover a group of like-minded individuals. Sure, I was suspicious at first- I've not always been particularly good at making friends and being a social butterfly. Quite the contrary, actually- I spent a great deal of my childhood and adolescence feeling disconnected and cast out (though I later discovered that a lot of those feelings were brought on by my own inhibitions and fears). After some minimal socialization with a few of the members of the Atlanta community, I made a skirt and acquired some meager accessories, and worked up the courage to attend their yearly formal tea meet. Basically, I suited up in my ita armor and threw myself into the fray (that's an exaggeration). It was a fancy event, and everyone was so sweet to me! This was also when the Frill Convention was first announced, and I discovered that these fine ladies (and gentlemen) were deeply involved with the fashion and community. They wanted to build something larger. I started to feel that I wanted to be more a part of it.

Tea Hosted by the Atlanta Lolita Community

Flash forward! I attended Momocon, and further familiarized myself with other lolitas from the Atlanta community (it helped that I shared a hotel room with some of them). Being further exposed and excited by the fashion had an effect on my art- I started making Lolita inspired jewelry and accessories. I did constant shopping on sales communities specific to Lolita. I bought a ticket to the Frill Convention.

Everything was all happening so fast! I spent entire paychecks on Lolita clothing, when I'd been so frugal in the past. But building my wardrobe and making future plans to attend events thrilled me. It felt like a relationship that was getting too serious too quickly, but I didn't care because I was in love!

Attending the Frill Convention only deepened my desire to be more involved with the community and fashion. I got extremely creative with my outfits and accessories, I exchanged ideas with other Lolitas, and spent the entire weekend in some sort of fashion-induced high, and after the feedback panel, I went home feeling very fulfilled.

Now all I can think about is how I can participate and add to the community and future Frill convention. I know that this all sounds like some sappy love letter, but it's truth, and I feel very exposed emotionally for saying so. I wonder if anyone else feels the way I do about it?

Thank you, everyone who has been kind to me. Thank you, Atlanta Lolita Community, for inviting me to be a part of your events. Thank you, Frill Directors and volunteers, and everyone who showed up to add positively to the environment.

I've been filled with some kind of passion that makes me want to make magnificent cakes and cupcakes and fill the world with sweet stuff.

That's how I became a Lolita.

An earlier photo of me trying out Lolita for one of the first times.