Tuesday, July 27, 2010

My Maine Trip: Day Two

Day two was a relatively boring and gloomy day. It was raining and since it was Sunday, I was repetitively and melodramatically singing the song "Gloomy Sunday" all throughout the car ride to downtown Bangor. :P

We went to an indoor antique flea-market. It was a huuuuge building! The store had two floors, as well, one ground-level, and the other basement. I purchased a set of five handkerchiefs, a necklace made of white pearl beads splatter-painted with gold paint, a pink and white lace negligee, and a mint teacup that I later discovered is most likely from Japan in the 1930's- and worth more than triple what we payed for it!! ^^

Even though we didn't purchase much, we were in the store for such a long time!! TT^TT  A couple of hours at least!! But it was well worth it! Also there is a cafe inside of the store, they sell drinks and sandwiches, cookies and the like. We only ordered drinks, but all of their food looked very good!

Then we crossed the street and walked for a little, coming across a cute store called Bella Luna. It's a clothing store that we went inside and shopped for a while in. I tried on so many different clothes, because there were things that I wanted to try on, and also the things my grandmother wanted me to try on. In the end I got a crimson-red dress that is very flattering on me, and a black cardigan that had a very pretty pattern screen-printed onto it in white, and also a dragonfly pin to match the dress! ^^

For dinner we had steak, baked potatoes, and vegetables, along with which I learned I do not like steak. ><  Also we baked cookies!! They were delicious!

We were going to watch the movie Invictus, but my grandpa Russ accidentally returned that movie instead of returning the one we had watched the previous day. ><   SO instead, we decided to watch the first half of Pride and Prejudice.  I liked it a lot, but didn't get too into it the first day.

I didn't take any pictures or video that day, so I must take my leave now. ^^

Friday, July 23, 2010

Princessly Diets: Tips on fruit!

Hello everyone! Today I'd like to share a quick tip on how to get your daily allowance of fruits- easily and painlessly!

What I like to do is measure out a cup of your fruit of choice. ((Or your metric equivillent- I'm in the U.S. so I measure in cups.)) Today I chose blueberries. Wash them out and put them in a bowl with a little bit of a topping. You could use a tablespoon of sugar or honey, or something more flavorful like 2 teaspoons of chocolate chips. It doesn't even have to be sweet! In fact, my topping of choice is a few slices of sharp chedder cheese! ((Not too much, however, my dears- too much cheese can clog your arteries!!))

Then, with your bowl, go and do something mindless. Some examples are watching a movie or playing a simple video game like Mario or Tetris. ((Or, for more advanced gamers, Final Fantasy- Echos of Time. Seriously, mindless!!)) While doing this activity, you will likely mindlessly munch on your healthy snacks- thus giving you the nutrition, without having to incorporate fruits into main meals like dinner or lunch! I am currently watching the Korean movie 200 Pounds Beauty.

Most of us need only do this once a day, but some of you may require more than that. In order to find out the correct amount of fruit you need each day, please check out the Food Pyramid Website's chart.

That's all for now, my princesses! Eat well and stay healthy!!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

My Maine Trip: Day One

Hello everyone! Today I'd like to talk about Day One of my trip to Maine last week.

Day one was Saturday, June 10th, 2010. It involved getting up early, getting dressed up, curling my hair, and leaving the house in a rush. Before leaving the house, I had a little tussle with my mother. Later on, in the car, I expressed to her my feelings and how I felt she was being a little rude to me in the house. She exploded and pulled over and proceeded to scream at me for a while. I don't take well to ANY loud noises ((Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome)), especially yelling, so I was sobbing. I listened to the song "Pretty Girl" by Sugarcult and came to the conclusion that- it doesn't matter. My mother was just in a terrible mood and it had nothing to do with me. I came to this conclusion because of the lyrics of the song, particularly this line- "She's beautiful as usual, with bruises on her ego, and, her killer instinct tells her to, be aware of evil men."  Later on this was resolved.

I spent many of the hours of the car ride text-messaging my dear friend Miss Abbey, begining when we drove into New Hampshire, I opened my window, and noticed that the smell of cake was eminating. Everywhere. So the message I sent her ((and my best friend, Miss Courtney, but she was busy and never replied.)) was this: " 'WELCOME TO NEW HAMPSHIRE'... where everything smells like cake. <3" and the conversation flowed naturally after that.

My parents and I made it to Kennebunkport, our scheduled meeting place, about a half-hour early, even though we had been stuck in traffic for a while. So we stayed in the boiling-hot car for a bit, until that was just too much for us. But before we left the car, it began to POUR RAIN. It hadn't been raining at all on the drive, but as soon as we parked, rain! And there was thunder, LOUD thunder, and again, due to my PTSS, I began to hyperventilate a bit and clutched my huge teddy-bear, Momo, and my small plushie microbe, Penicillin, for comfort. Once the rain died down we walked up to the rest area and went inside to use the restroom, then waited on the deck area until my grandparents arrived with us. They went to the restroom, then returned, and we began to talk. As they were talking, I noticed two exited-looking girls had approached us and were openly and happily gawking at me. I looked one of them in the eyes and smiled, to which the conversation which followed was like this:

Girl One: "We really love your outfit!!"
Me: "Oh, thank you very much." ^^
My Mother: "Are you girls into this sort of stuff, too?" ((She couldn't call it what it IS? Lolita? Kidding!!!))
Girl One: "Yeah!!"
Girl Two: "But we've never seen anyone in real life..."
((General staring and smiling all around))
Me: "It really exiting when you see someone dressed like this in real life, isn't it?"
They looked SO wide-eyed here. <3
Girl One: "YES!!!"
Girl Two: "Where did you get it?"
Me: "Online."
My Mom: "On a site called Bodyline! It's a lot cheaper than some of the more expensive stuff..." ((that comment put me off a little, but oh well. <3))
Me: "Yes, it's a little more reasonable- since brand can be so expensive!!"
Girl One: "Oh my gosh, I knowwww!!"

And then we said our goodbyes and they walked off looking dazed. <3 I love encounters like this.

We made our way to The Maine Diner, where we were supposed to eat together, but the place was PACKED and my parents had a graduation party to go to, so they left while my grandparents and I stayed to eat lunch.
While waiting outside, an older gentleman told me, "You look very pretty!!" and I said thank you, and we had a short conversation about how that never happens in Massachusetts, ((Only once, in all the time I've worn Lolita...! Besides school, that is!)) and how Maine was defiantly different, to which one of the older ladies he was with replied "Oh, he is from Massachusetts!" eheheh I felt a little silly.

Anyway, we ordered Broccoli Cheddar Poppers as an appetizer, and I ordered a fruit salad, Potato Skins and tea. Everything was absolutely delicious! I really recommend this place if you're ever going by it. Also it was featured on a show I love, Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives with Guy Fieri. Along with that, it was nominated Maine's Best Diner 2010, and a few other years as well!

Also, while we were eating, the gentleman from earlier peeked his head over at us, and said to me "I really enjoyed seeing you, so thank you! Keep being pretty!!" It was so interesting to me that he enjoyed seeing me so much as to find me again, just to say goodbye.

After the long drive to Hampden, Maine, we dropped off my grandfather Russ at his office, where he had left his car, planning on meeting him at home, while my Grandmother Lee and I drove across the street to the local video rental place, where I chose The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and she chose Invictus, which she had wanted to rent for weeks. At the counter, there was a basket of candy, including saltwater taffy, which I had never eaten before, so Grammy Lee let me get two peices, I chose one pink and yellow and one blue. I had read saltwater taffy mentioned recently, as it was in Victoria Suzanne's July Style Tips. I absolutely loved it! So sweet!!

A blurry picture of the blue piece- hand-wrapped in wax paper!!
We ordered out for dinner, Chinese, and I had pork-fried-rice. We watched the movie I had picked out, and I must say, albeit the beautiful Valentina was a wonderful character, the movie itself was not very good! The plot progression was so. slow. So slow, in fact, that the actual plot was not revealed until, I'd say, about 3/4 way through the movie!!! After the plot was revealed, the movie was a lot better, but still not enough to be worth watching again. If I do watch it again, I'm skipping the first half.

Here is all the video footage I shot on Day One: It isn't much, only two clips, but I think it's a little funny! Also, the song used in the intro is "Santa Barbara" by my favorite band EVER, Meg & Dia. The lyrics express exactly how I felt about this trip. Enjoy!!



Monday, July 12, 2010

My manicure/pedicure, they are coral with little white daisies on each big toe and ring finger. <3 Good luck with marriage, appearently. Does the Asian lady who did then not realize that I am fourteen?! <3 Done this morning.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Maine!

As some of you know, I'm visiting my grandparents in Maine for a week! Thus, I ((almost positively)) will not have access to a computer and therefore will not be able to update. However, I will have my phone, so if any of you have my Facebook account or cell phone number, feel free to message me or text me! I might be updating with little pictures with captions that I take, depending on if I use my phone for pictures or not. <3 I wish you all the best of weeks!

Food for Thought: Itas and New Lolitas

Just a short post today, since I am in the midst of packing, but I've been reading an awful lot lately on ita girls and new lolitas not exactly "hitting the mark" on what is lolita and what is not. The large amounts of posts on this topic lately is vastly due to the fact that many conventions are taking place lately, since it's summer vacation! ((cheering ensues. teehee <3))

At any rate, I enjoy reading posts on the blog Ramble Rori, but one sentence of Christina, the authors, newest post, Conventions & Brand Power, just gets to me:


"I don't want to exclude people, but wearing an outfit that clearly isn' Lolita and calling it Lolita is incorrect. When something isn't blue, you're not going to call it blue, are you? "

Well, that honestly depends. If you lack the knowledge of what blue is, you would, indeed, call something blue that is instead, let's say, red. For instance, a very small child may know the word blue, but not know what the color blue looks like. Or, a foreigner could think that "blue" and "blew" are the same, although they are not. Finally, something could appear to be blue, but really be, let's say, purple. Such as blueberries. From a human eye, they appear to be blue, however, under a microscope, you can see that their color is truly in the purple section of the color spectrum.

What does all this mean, when applied to Lolita, or really, any fashion?

Well, basically, itas would not be itas if not for their lack of knowledge. Generally, people don't classify something as lolita just to get a rise out of us, because no one generally would say something to an ita's face that could be even remotely classified as a "rise". If someone were to teach them really what is lolita and what is not, they would not be calling certain cosplays lolita. Or, you could just wait. Sometimes ((many times.)), an ita will eventually come across something that will make them see the errors in their coordinates and they will slowly change from ita to lolita.

Now, I'm not promoting anyone to spend their time teaching itas what lolita really is. No. I am not suggesting that in the least. I'm simply trying to say that if they had the proper knowledge, they wouldn't be itas.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Back from my Unnofficial Hiatus!

I'm sorry, I've been gone so so long!! Honestly, I have no excuse except pure laziness. But now I am back, although with just a meager photo-post. Hopefully I'll be able to write a lot before I leave for Maine next weekend, on the 10th. I've decided to just not write about my New York trip, like I was going to, as THAT's what made me not update!! I just didn't want to write the posts I promised you all. So I'm not going to write those posts.

I'll have some actual meaningful posts later on, but for now, enjoy some photos, all from WeHeartIt.