2015

I really suck at keeping to resolutions, but somehow that doesn't stop me from making them every year.

• Get back in shape. I did nothing but gain weight last year, aside from losing maybe 2lbs after the gain but that was muscle loss. I would like to lose a few lbs, sure. But primarily I want to get fit and muscular again, and hopefully get my waist back! Currently doing one sit up, one push up, and one squat for every ten calories over goal per day, but I doubt I'll keep it up longer than a week, haha.
• Cut down on junk. Try to avoid junk food and alcohol.
• Get the damn tattoos, or stop thinking about them. There are things I've been wanting for ages, but I worry about how they will look with clothes, or with age. It's now or never.
• Tidy my life. I own far too much stuff, and as hard as getting rid of and selling stuff is, I just need to keep on keeping on.
• Start making life plans. I'm reluctant to leave my job as I don't hate it and I stopped feeling anxious there (after months and months of working there!), but I can't work there forever and need to find a job I won't feel uncomfortable in so I can finally move out.
• Conceal. Don't feel. Don't let it show Cut down online ranting. Usually when I do this I instantly break down, but I'm fed up of people making incorrect judgements about me and nobody cares anyway. Stop bothering Rob constantly as it must be annoying as hell.
• Go vegan for lent. This might not be possible due to family doucheosity, but I think it will be interesting to see if I have enough willpower. I definitely don't think it's something I could do for life as, while I don't eat meat, I'm not even a proper vegetarian. But I might surprise myself, I guess?
• Learn Japanese. I want to at least be at the stage I was after the semester of classes I took, maybe just focus on hiragana and katakana before all else.
• Blog more consistently! Try to do carnival posts more, as well as posts about things I like or things I have done.

That's all I got for now. Probably I will fail at all of these, but I'm more likely to work on them if I put it out there!

New Year's Resolutions 2014

So my resolutions for last year were of varying degree of success. I did get a lot more fit, and managed to lose about a stone! I didn't really get to walk though as I live in the middle of nowhere now. I also didn't get to give blood as I got more tattoos, and now I'm borderline too light to give blood -_-

So...what about this year?

• Keep fit! I want to stay around the weight I am now (108-110lbs), and get fitter again! I kinda slacked as my hips started hurting and now my second job takes up a lot of my time, but I need to get my buns of steel back.


• Get rid of stuff! I got rid of quite a lot of clothing back in Autumn, but I still don't have enough room in my closet for all my clothes.


• Get a better job! My job is badly paid and my supervisor is an idiot. I want a real job that actually uses a tiny bit of my brain!


• Work towards moving out. Living at home is awful, and it really hurts to see couples who have been together a month living together when I still can't live with my partner of over 7 years...


• Save money! I spend everything I have at the moment because when I feel down, I just want to try to cheer myself up. So I get stuck in a loop of shopping. Especially with Angelic Pretty releases, as I also get a major buzz from the excitement of waiting and refreshing a page. Must find healthier ways of trying to be happy.


• Make more effort with my appearance! And stop dossing around in pyjamas all the time.


• Lose toxic people. I just had to delete a bunch of exhousemates because they all misread something I tweeted and jumped on me, calling me a horrible person and generally bullying me for no reason instead of unfollowing me like sensible people. I'm going to go through Facebook etc and get rid of people from school who always hated me. Stuff like that. And I'm not going to let people walk over me so much. I have a tendency of forgiving people when they don't deserve it, and giving people way too many chances. I've had enough!

What are your goals this year?

Lolita Blog Carnival: Lolita New Year's Resolutions

This week's Lolita Blog Carnival post concerns new year resolutions within lolita fashion. I will post my non-lolita ones on new year's day.

• Wear lolita more often! I have barely worn it this year due to being too busy when still at uni, my mother being horrible about my clothes when I moved home, and we now have a kitten who attacks everything. I have to hope Coco grows out of destroying my clothing for this to work!


• Organise a meet. I have been into lolita for 4 years now, and yet have never organised a meet! I had wanted to do an ice-skating one, but then the local rink closed down. So I guess I'll have to get thinking! This is kinda more important now that I work on weekends as I won't be able to attend meets at all if I don't organise them!


• Get rid of 10 pieces of clothing. This will be difficult as I love every piece I own. But if I haven't worn it and never will, there isn't much point in keeping it. Hoping I can do this without breaking down! I bet I'll just get rid of Bodyline...


• Buy more practical items that I actually need. All my blouses are old and disgusting, I just hate to spend so much money on a blouse. But I am in desperate need of a new black one, and perhaps some coloured ones too (especially pink!).


• Get a loliable hat. I always love coords with berets and the like, so I probably ought to try it.


• Buy chunky black heels! I love my red ones from Bodyline but they don't go with much.


• Try to stop buying new Angelic Pretty releases! I waste so much money on new releases...


• Buy some plainer pieces for simpler coords. Top of the list for this is a plain black JSK!


• Keep in contact with lolita friends more. I'm not big on online chatting, but I need to get on it!


• Make more lolita friends!

Do you have any lolita resolutions? Links:

Asian Wannabe Girl ♥ Beyond Kawaii ♥ Breidholt ♥ Hello Batty ♥ Her Lumpiness ♥ Lace Teapot ♥ Lolita Glamour ♥ New Vogue Children ♥ Northern Star ♥ Papillon de Nuit ♥ Ramble Rori ♥ The Cute Lifestyle ♥ Wearable Magic

Christmas & New Year

Christmas was a bit naff this year due to exam and essay and presentation stress, but it was nice to take a bit of time off from that and see my family.

I made some awesome Christmas cakes...


I also got a whole bunch of CDs as gifts!


Only a couple of Hello Kitty items...(although I'm tempted to get Hello Kitty Vans in the sales)


And also a princess Cadence ♥


This year I guess I actually have new year's resolutions for once, off the back of what has been one of the crappiest years of my life. Looking back now it doesn't seem so bad though as all the crappy stuff feels like forever ago already! Here they are:

• Get fit! I used to go for a walk every day until the Summer, and I've only been once since I moved back here. I love walks, but I guess they've become associated with wanting to get out of the shithole I was living in. Plus the weather has been pants and it gets dark too early. But I'd like to walk lots again so I can get fit enough to run again.
• Give blood, even if it is only the once. I have to wait a while because of my tattoo though, so I guess I'll have to do it before the next one.
• Make fewer bad decisions, and hopefully better mistakes. Because everyone makes mistakes, right?
• Stop being so damn naive. I'll definitely be trying to not trust men, because every time I think I've made an awesome new friend they draw me in and then try take advantage, and when I turn them down they ditch me instantly. It blows and I really don't want to fall for it again.

To end on a lighter note, I did a little look around the sales and fell in love with this dress.


I'd seen the fabric before and loved it, but it was a long pleated dress which was a horrid style that wouldn't have suited me at all. They had a bunch of those, but this one was nestled in the middle. I tried it on thinking it wouldn't fit as their sizes generally run small and it was XS, but it fits like a glove. Hooray for growing sizes! It's all floaty and layered and lovely, the photo really doesn't do it justice.

Here's hoping I get through the rest of this month's stress!.

And hope everyone had a great end of year, of course!

Lucky Pack Palava & A Scandal in Belgravia

While lucky packs this year weren't as stressful an ordeal as last year, I still had my share of disappointments and confusion!

Firstly they popped up on an Angelic Pretty Japanese reserve page unexpectedly. The set I wanted was already sold out, and by the time I decided to request a different pack via a shopping service and they checked the site, the page was gone!

My next plan was to get one on the International site. However, there was no announcement and they were released at 12pm on New Year's Eve instead of the traditional 12am. I missed them completely, as they came out at 3am!


Thankfully a friend pointed me towards an in-store SS, who said she'd try to get one pack for me but couldn't get both. She scored a pink salopette set for me on New Year's Day. While I'm happy I got one, I only really wanted it in black and will be desperately trying to trade!

I figured I'd try on the USA site to try to get my first choice colour. I checked 12pm NYE just in case. Nothing. Checked at 12am. Nothing (wasn't very impressed at 8am haha). An announcement appears, saying they'd be released 12pm NYD. Get a LiveJournal message hours before that time saying that they'd released them early and were all sold out.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

The bastards!


As it happens, my SS was going pack hunting again on NYD and scored me the pink Happy Girl set I'd also wanted, but still. What the hell was up with the websites this year? They seem awfully biased against Europeans! Unless Paris *does* do them, but I've heard nothing at all ever on the subject.

I'll review them when they arrive. Dreading the overall cost since I feel I got kinda ripped off SS-wise. Heh.


In other news...the new episode of Sherlock aired last night! I'd been looking forward to it since watching the first series last year, and it didn't disappoint!

The conclusion to The Great Game wasn't what I was expecting, but I was surprised and laughed out loud! But I am so so happy about the rest of the episode, as there was a lot of speculation about the relationship between Sherlock and Irene, but they nailed it. The ending managed to surprise me for once (I usually predict everything), although it might just be because I have a bad cold and had a headache! The only aspect of the episode I didn't like was the violin-playing, because it was painfully obvious that Benedict isn't a violinist! He was doing it all wrong Dx

I think my bf had more fun watching me than watching the episode, laughing at me when I stopped drinking tea mid-sip when the sheet slipped!

If you haven't watched Sherlock, I urge you to watch it! There's much more I'd like to say, but I don't want spoilerate heehee. But here's a teaser for the episode ;]

End of 2011

1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?
I got my first brand new brand, tried my hand at programming and went to my first convention and music festival! I also started going 'out out'. Oh and started my pony collection ♥

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Didn't make any from what I can remember. For next year I intend to exercise more and try to eat less rubbish, with a view to lose 5lbs or so and lose my jiggly bottom (I want to fit into my purple jeans again!).

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My cousin did, but we aren't close since she started popping out sprogs.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Both of my cats and my Momo-ham.

5. What countries did you visit?
...England. Oh and Wales last month.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
A sense of purpose. I just feel like my life is going nowhere at the moment, and I'm clinging onto things I ought to have let go of a long time ago.

7. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
None spring to mind.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Not failing my Biology module! I thought it was a sure thing, but I scraped a passing grade. I also got my original dream print, Swan Lake!

9. What was your biggest failure?
Oh just about everything else haha.

10. Were you seriously ill during 2011?
Nope. I did have a two-week sore throat though which was pretty darned annoying.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
That's a hard one! Errrr probably Wonder Story.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
*shrug*

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
I'd rather not go into that, thanks.

14. Where did most of your money go?
LOLITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

15. What did you get excited about?
Hyper Japan, Reading Festival, seeing Frank Turner.

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?
Nothing in particular, but I guess that Life Goes On song by Noah and the Whale since everyone kept singing it all the time.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? A bit happier I suppose, I HAVE SOME FRIENDS *boogie*
ii. thinner or fatter? Fatter
iii. richer or poorer? Poorer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Studying. Even though I did tons, but it didn't bloody pay off and all the lazy sods got better grades than me.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Procrastinating.

20. How will you be spending/did you spend Christmas?
Same as usual, roast for lunch with Dad's family and over Nan's in the evening. Came home earlier though this year and didn't get drunk, just had a couple glasses of bucks fizz and a jagerbomb.

21. How many one night stands?
HAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAAH no. I would never have one coz I think it's gross =P And yeah, suffice to say that's not really my area.

22. Did you fall in love in 2011?
A little *shoots self*

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Um not really, but my contempt has grown.

24. What was your favourite TV programme?
Sherlock! Finally get season 2 tomorrow *me gusta*

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Frank Turner.

26. What was the best book you read?
I haven't read anything new that I can think of...Missin' maybe? Yeah I think I got that this year. It's by Novala Takemoto

27. Are you happy with your lot?
No. But I know I should be.

28. What did you want and get?
Clothes.

29. What did you want and NOT get?
Happiness. Respect.

30. What was your favourite film of this year?
Tangled.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I did sod all like every other year. I turned 20.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
To feel like I fit in. I love my friends, but I just feel like I don't belong there, as if I'm annoying them. I know it's just paranoia, but I can't shake it yet.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
Swinging between pink frills and casual clothes in teal, although I've moved towards richer colours now.

34. What kept you sane?
Food, probably!

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Frank Turner. He isn't the most handsome, but he has such a cute smile and crinkly eyes and just seems like a genuinely nice bloke.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The whole AV thing. It should have been passed, and only wasn't because the public are too stupid to bother trying to understand it. And whenever the Americans killed people and bragged about it...such poor taste.

37. Who did you miss?
My friends from school. Even though we stopped being friends like 5 years ago =[

38. Who were the best new people you met?
All the lolita-chans! I wouldn't want to list at risk of missing someone out, but you all know who you are. And Loulou, of course.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011:
To stand up for myself. I won't be walked over any more because I'm so fucking disgusted at what I've allowed people to do to me without my consent.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
So why are you sat at home?
You're not designed to be alone
You just got used to saying "no"
So get up and get down and get outside
Cos it's a lovely sunny day
But you hide yourself away
You've only got yourself to blame
Get up and get down and get outside