Mermaiding and Sweet Lolita Fashion!
I recently got some nail pens and have been going to town with them! Giving them a bit of a rest now as I hate chipped nails and as soon as a single chip appears, I rip the rest of it off, looking to get a peel-base here soon in order to be kinder to my nails.
I really enjoy doing my nails myself as I do martial arts and am a fairly athletic person, long nails just arenāt practical, b it having my nails done always just makes me feel 100% more productive.
I had a great time filming my last mermaid video, my swim spot was much shallower than expected but I still made it work! I used screenshots from the video and edited some pretty cool photos here. This is this tailās last swim since it had gone somewhat threadbare. Working on getting my next one!
Getting to take out screenshots of splashing was really fun! As normally I film underwater and well, underwater you canāt see any of the splashing.
I filled in the evening so I got a slight golden glow. Had I waited just a bit longer I think it could have been even greater. Next time I might see about using a golden hour calculators
I like this shot the most. Itās really too long sideways in composition to share on Instagram so I shared it here. There was a rock ubder the water I was able to balance on.
Finally got to a Lolita meetup! Itās been forever since Iāve been able to go to one due to my limited transportation, fortunately I lucked out and a car was available for me to go. One of my comm members and I realized it had literally been 2 years since weāve seen each other! We message on and off so neither one of us had fully realized that! We went out to a nice little brunch spot at 1pm. I suggested it wasnāt really brunch since it was past noon, but they stated we were still at the restaurants brunch time. I conceded my point after that. We celebrated on Sunday instead of Saturday since thatās when the most comm members were free.
My comm members all had very cute coords, without intending to one half of the table had black and white and the other was pink and red. I was on the pink and red side. I adore the casual vibe of Lolita meetups and how there is always something we can talk about due to having such a unique shared hobby. You can sit for an hour and still be noticing little details in other peopleās coords.
It was so great catching up with everyone. We all talked about how our jobs were going and what events we might want to try to attend together. There was some half-joking discussion of renting a passenger van for a road trip. Iām hoping to go to the Gilded Age in November and some comm members might be coming with me!
On the way home I stopped to take some pictures! On insta I got a compliment on how beautiful the location was but this was literally a rest stop off the interstate on the way home because I knew as soon as I was home I was going to be so over being in this whole get up.
I hope everyone had a great time celebrating in whatever way they could!
1.) Check the Weather
If you live in a temperate climate like myself, what the actual weather may be might be roulette. Checking the weather ahead of time will help keep you from being shivering cold, or boiling hot. My area can be anywhere from 35 to 70 degrees in what is traditionally thought of spring.
2.) Beware of Mud
Mud can be everywhere. Mud is deceptively hard to get out of things. Donāt fall in the mud. I lost an old dogi to that. I highly reccommend having a change of shoes. Tea parties are for inside this time of year.
3.) Lots of Layers
The weather mentioned in the first point??? Can change during the day if you have a climate like mine. Cute coordinated layers can be a life saver. I love cardigans this time of year.
4.) Experiment with different motifs! Think of ways to use other seasonal items
I have a lot of red for my winter wardrobe! Red works well with berries, berries are often thought of for summer coords, but I think they work equally well for spring. You can also use pieces from Christmas sets as smaller accessories if colors match and the print isnāt too obviously christmassy. I also enjoy adding florals in order to make Coords more āspringyā regardless of what is actually on the print.
5.) Rain Gear
I do not yet have this, but cute rain gear would be a great addition! Iāve seen waterproof parasolās before and one would be a perfect addition to protect your doors. Cute outerwear has become increasingly more accessible, so keeping an eye out for pieces that work with your wardrobe would be a good idea. (I need to take my own advice here)
I went to Burlington Anime fest this past weekend and had a great time! Itās a tiny con thatās only one day long and 20$ to attend. It was very well organized and I saw a few of my comm members there! I had intended to vlog, but had so much fun catching up with people I hadnāt seen in awhile that I didnāt get enough video for a YouTube video. I thought it would be cool to still use that video for a mixed media post so to speak!
I ended up mainly shopping there as I had some Venmo money a friend sent me from a shared vacation of ours I had completely forgotten about. So, I was able to purchase some presents for my husband and some things for myself. I think my favorite vendor was Adorkabows. The bows were not cheap, but every single one was unique! I ended up buying the black and pink āBratā bow that Iām hoping to use for a gyaru code.
The vendor was really nice!! I enjoyed chatting with her. She told me about a girl who is on a mission to buy all of her Sailor Mercury bows. If thatās you, good luck!
Hereās her store link
The next place I bought from was Snowbug Art! They made these really cute adorable earrings. I bought my husband Gengar earrings as those are his favorite pokemon. I got some Cheez it earrings myself. (Cheez its are my absolute favorite snack)
The shop keeps were once again, super nice! My friend and I had a great time buying from them.
Hereās their link!
The next place I bought from was called Leveling Up Designs! They had these amazing crochet plushies. I ended up buying the grim reaper plush for my hubby! She was super fun to talk to, and we hung out at her booth for awhile. I didnāt spring for any of the stickers, but those were adorable. Iām currently in a pokemon ttrpg with my friends, so I have a big soft spot for pokemon.
Hereās their link!
https://www.facebook.com/levelingupdesigns/
Last artist I bought from had these adorable bear ears with mushrooms and strawberries Iām hoping to incorporate into a coord sometime this summer! That shop was called 222.lumina.love.
Her link!
https://www.222lumina.love/shop
I had a great time walking around the con and hanging out with friends I hadnāt seen in awhile. The main event I participated in was anime Trivia which I rocked as long as the animeās were between 2005 – 2015, outside of that I really struggled. So, I didnāt win anything, but it was a super fun event.
I also got to meet Tiffany Grant! I didnāt think to take a photo with her but since there wasnāt a busy line, I had a lot of fun talking to her about her voice acting career, I let her know one of my best friends thinks sheās the best character in the show. She appreciate that. I also talked to her about my aspirations as a voice actress. I am currently in a Halo machinima but thatās my only project. I havenāt auditioned in a long time, but Iām feeling more motivated to. Hilariously, I actually met her in the lobby of the hotel as we had both parked on the wrong side of the building and had to walk aways to the con. I had no idea who she was by looking at her. When I came up to her booth she said āOh! Itās the tiny hat ladyā and said she had a feeling Iād be coming by. It was a really nice experience. I actually ended up buying a signed sweater of Asuka from her booth.
Overall, the con was super well organized, simple and sweet. If youāre in VT and want to do an affordable con, Iād reccommend going!
I recently got a butterfly cut! But I have very straight hair so you canāt normally see the layers all that well. I have also always been a big fan of heatless curls because I had a terrible curling iron for a very long time. When I do heat less curls I always have to let my hair dry like 90% of the way or it will still be wet in the morning.
I separate out my bangs so I can make a single pin curl with them, I find this works the best to give my curls volume.
Then I do 4 mini buns on each side of my head twisting away from my face. I like doing it this way since itās much faster than pin curling multiple layers and I get pretty similar results. All in all, it takes like 10 minutes.
Then you just pull the buns down and use your fingers to separate the curls. I split my bang curl in half.
After that I just brush them until they look ācorrectā
At first itās a little poofy but it falls down into smoother curls pretty quickly. This is the exact thing I did for the pictures in the pro-wrestling post.
This past winter I have been a sadly very landlocked mermaid. I, this past winter, for financial reasons ended up getting rid of my car. It had so many problems, however I miss having a vehicle so much. I live in a part of the country with extremely limited public transit and very few pools. So, I miss swimming so much. It is one of my favorite exercise and pretty much impossible to overdo it with, unlike when I try to play with my siblings on Easter and nearly give myself an asthma attack.
I have 5 younger siblings, and Iām 18 years older than the youngest one. The 3 I was playing with on Easter wanted to play tag and capture the flag which was awesome!! However, my 3 siblings are all elite hockey players for their age. We ran around outside in the cold for 2.5 hours. They werenāt even tired!!! I miss when I used to be able to do that, but even then I donāt think I ever had a lack of limit the way those 3 do. Swimming never does that to me, probably because Iām not breathing a lot of the time, and the motions you use to mermaid are slow big motions so they donāt put as much of a strain on me.
Iāve also had to recycle a lot of older swims for my mermaiding shorts to keep consistent on my YouTube channel at least on the shorts side of it. I feel bad for reusing the same content this much. People like it! Iāve had success with it, but for some reason it just bothers me as a creator.
Thanks for reading my grumbling. I hope you have a lovely day! Drink some water, eat good food, and get some rest. See you next time!
So, when I was really little, I loved watching wrestling with my dad. Until it got banned in the house because I told a little old lady at the store to āSuck itā because I saw it on TV. My mom was not happy. Iāve been seeking more glimmers in my life recently and apparently pro-wrestling is one of them. There is a video of me having ābeatenā my dad and standing on top of him giving my own āmic workā holding a plastic little WWE belt. Coming back to it I have been pleasantly surprised to see the diversity of people involved, promos given in multiple languages, and that women get almost equal screen time now. It feels even better to watch it now. (Probably because Vince McMahon was a crazy person, weāll see how his trial goes)
Wrestling is ridiculous, and I love it. Logan Paul is a character now?? Which feels surreal, and I find it hilarious. Heās just playing himself and getting scolded by older wrestlers and told repeatedly no one is there to see him. As an art form I love how much permission it gives itself to experiment and be silly. I find it inspiring. I want to make more ābad artā because of it. Some of the storylines are genuinely hilarious, or heartwarming. I also really admire the dedication these people have to an extremely specific craft.
I donāt think Iāve talked about this on my social media much, but martial arts have been an extremely important part of my life. When I was little I did Tae Kwon Do which seriously helped my family manage my adhd before I had access to medication for it. (I no longer take medication as I have largely grown out of the condition, but I definitely needed it for my adolescence and am so grateful that it exists) I remember having a birthday party with my friends I made at that dojo and my teacher having a little singing hamster that sand āEverybody was Kung Fu Fightingā Eventually after about I think 2 years, I started hockey and my parents no longer had the time or money for me to do both sports. However, at 11 I joined my current dojo that I have been going to on and off for 16 years! Had I been more consistent, my Shihan says I probably would be a black belt by now. I am currently working on preparing for my green belt. I am also considered an excellent fighter in my dojo, given my experience I have a good idea of what fighting looks like.
When I first started telling people I had gotten into wrestling a lot of peopleās reaction was āYou know it isnāt real, right?ā Which is very funny to me, because absolutely I can tell itās not real. But it makes it no less impressive, being able to safely choreograph fights with a scene partner is insanely challenging! Trying not to injure someone while fighting is much harder than you think. The pure athleticism and control, mixed with the campiness of the acting is so cool. I also love all of the theme songs.
Iām definitely thinking of trying to include more about my martial arts into my content going forward. In conclusion, I am so excited for Wrestlemania this weekend.
Drink some water, eat good food, and get some rest! Have a great day everyone. See you next time!
I canāt believe itās already April, itās been almost a month since I last posted and it feels like this past month just completely passed me by. Iāve had a good month though. I worked on continuing to finish my major declutter for this year. I am tonight working on disassembling a bureau Iāve had forever. I made a post on here about it. Iām keeping that beautiful mirror. But, I realized that the back wood of the drawers had started to degrade and rot. Itās time to let it go. Something about that feels weirdly personal for me. Iāve been getting rid of a lot of things Iāve had since I was little. Maybe, Iām just someone who sees symbolism in everything and romanticizes a lot, however it feels almost like permission to move on from the past in some ways. I donāt get into a lot of details on my socials typically because of internet safety, but there have been some challenging pieces of my life, especially in the early years. Somehow, this feels like actually letting go.
I inherited a habit to cling onto objects from my mom. She used to get upset when I didnāt hold onto something she had deemed important for me, so I think I learned to put a bit too much importance into physical things. However, people and relationships arenāt those physical things, and weāre allowed to design lives and spaces that fit us. Doing that doesnāt erase your feelings for people or make you āfakeā, like a lot of other alternative people I feel as if I had that fear of things being considered a āphaseā and if you ever grew out of it then that meant it was never real. I think real people canāt be static and thereās a lot of pressure for people to live in their pasts.
I donāt think thereās anything wrong with acknowledging that your past experiences have affected and shaped you, but I think we can overglorify the person we once were. I enjoy a lot of positive, warm, inspirational content, but I kind of resent the idea that āyou can go back to who you were before the world hurt youā I donāt think you can ever go back. I think thatās its own blessing, that we donāt appreciate enough, and I have just now learned to be grateful for. I wouldnāt have any of the absolutely wonderful people I have in my life now if I hadnāt learned to let some things go. And even though I have some practice now, itās still so hard. I donāt know how to let go of certain things still, but Iām proud of the work Iāve done so far.
To loop this back around to the topics this blog is usually about, I also donated a good chunk of my old Lolita wardrobe to a local thrift store recently. I kept some brand Iām planning on giving to my comm members. It felt like I was committing some sort of grievous Lolita fashion sin! I, then realized, that was kind of silly. I had been trying to sell these pieces on and off for awhile, and I just needed to move on from them. My husband greatly appreciates the extra space in the house. A surprising, but wonderful result of me doing this was finding that I love all of my outfits recently. I feel good in everything. I didnāt realize how many clothes I just kept because I had them, and that I didnāt feel good in them. Iām happy to be able to keep working on living my life a little better each day. Even though this is going way too fast.
I hope you all drink some water, eat good food, and get some rest. See you next time!
Hello, everybody I have just completed my annual Jan-March disappearance! Despite my birthday being in February, it is always a rough month for me. This year was especially rough, dealing with a death in the family. Today was a beautiful sunny spring day, the first we’ve had in such a long time. I absolutely adored it. I made sure to go on a walk during my break at work. I’ve also been working a lot on a TTRPG campaign for me and my friends. Studying socialist revolutions currently has been an interesting experience. I once heard it said that Ostara is a good time to plant seeds for the rest of the year. I’m thinking of some seeds I want to plant. The biggest one is finding a way to be consistent in multiple creative projects at once. When I focus on one thing it has a tendency to swallow everything else, to all of my other projects detriment. Biggest example recently is that I have been extremely neglecting studying japanese, or working on my social media because I have been hyperfocused on working out, karate and prepping to DM again soon.
The common advice I see is to narrow down what you’re working on, but I am stubborn and don’t want to do that. Plus, life’s short, I want to do and enjoy everything I can about this world while I’m still in it. I just need to continue developing systems to actually pull this off. I’m thinking that I might seriously end up wearing like 3 outfits a day to pull this off. One strategy I’m going to try is planning to wear my office wear to work, changing into Jfashion when I’m at home, and keeping gym clothes on me somehow. I also came up with a dice game for my freetime, which I can roll to determine what I’m going to do for a block of time to try to treat my projects a bit more equally. Actually resulted in me making some Youtube Shorts the other day that I hadn’t planned on. It was really fun, and I discovered that I am someone who might do well with some “forced” inspiration.
I’ll plan on updating as things go on this blog! Also, hopefully you all will see some results from there.
