Autumnal Lolitas

Not Dead Yet
(But This Flu Sure Is Trying)

I had such plans for the past weekend,
going to see the giant Buddha in Kamakura,
making deliciously New England-y deserts,
Lovely blog entries about personal style,
and all in the company of Husbot,
who had the weekend off.

Alas, the germs had other plans.
I haven't been this defeated by illness
since catching mono back in '07.

Husbot was grand though,
making me breakfast in bed and rushing out
for medicines and cough drops
and get-well-soon cards with robots on them.

I am infinitely better now,
though still a wee bit cough-y and unpleasant.
It's raining here in Japanland, the air is just
barely starting to smell like autumn and I find
myself missing the familiar crispness
of a cozy autumn in Vermont,
complete with cider, woodstove, and mum's beef stew.

Alas, I make my home here!
Today I'm trying my hand at my mother's
apple pie recipe for the first time, meh!
Also the chill does come here as well,
albeit much more slowly,
and I am beginning to dress accordingly!
I am much more suited to autumn,
putting together a summer wardrobe was confusing
and unfamiliar, I admit.
Now is the time of skirts and tights and sweaters
and dressing like a
Lo In The Library.
But more on that later!

People To Read!

~Mermaid In A Manhole~
Kim's posts are delightful, thoughtful,
and wonderfully inspired.

~Phoenix Rising~
Lorelle relaunched her blog some bit ago,
and I am finding it to be quite enjoyable!

~all this happiness~
I know, always promoting my friends ;)
but Kater is lovely, and so is her blawg :D
I do so envy your distinct personal style deary.

~Gala Darling~
As if you didn't read her already.
But truly, her blog brightens and colors my world!

~Fashiontoast~
I adore Rumi's style, even if I can't pull it off ;)
She's also my shoe-muse. I want ALL of her shoes.



And now for some actual
BOOKS
I think you should read ;)

Brought to my attention by Kim, this book is an absolute delight, one that I find myself reading in bits and pieces. While the title may sound elementary to most of you (indeed, Husbot saw the tome and proclaimed, perplexed, "But, you already are!"), this book is full of invaluable tips and tricks and style advice, all to guide you on your way to becoming a more eloquent, classy dame. If you aspire to have fun and enjoy your youth, while being a kind, courteous person who still says please, thank you, gets the good job and doesn't want her niece someday seeing her in a Girls Gone Wild ad, this is the lifestyle guide for you :D

While ill, I've beed rereading all of my Madeliene L'Engle books and oh my goodness, what a joyful thing that is. Her books transcend age, they really do, presenting the reader with complex concepts and theories, filtered through the minds and eyes of children and young adults. A Wind In The Door remains my all time favorite, and I prefer following the Murry/O'Keefe family, but they're all wonderful books. Grab A Wrinkle In Time during the next cold, rainy day, and find your heart transported.

Wardrobe Project!

As I said above, I'm a big fan of skirts, tights,
and thick socks in the chillier months.
And so I give you One Dress,
and a cornucopia of skirts!

Please forgive my disheveled tresses and half-dead
stare in most of these shots,
I was heavily medicated ;)

We start with
The Dress I Never Wear.
Bought for Christmas Eve two years ago,
it hangs in the closet, waiting, always slipping
my mind, alas!
I'm not sure why really.

It could be the length is just an iiiinch too long,
or because the overall cut is conservative,
yet the neckline plunges a bit too much
for more conservative settings,
and a cami just looks wrong under it.
Whatever the reason, having tried it on,
I've vowed to wear it more often, if only just shopping.

Print.

Color!
Socks & Skirt from Japanese mall,
Top: ...I forget.
Lace Cami: TJ Max
Flats: Payless
Necklace: Altered by moi.

This flannel kilt is ridiculously comfy.
I think it shall be my winter go-to, in fact.

Top: Old Navy
Skirt & Tights: Forever21

I'm still figuring out high waists!
Not sure this look works,
but it felt all kinds of prim and awesome!

Shirt: Japanese Mall
Skirt & Tights: Forever21
Shoes: Vintage, etsy.

How did I live without this pencil skirt?
I do not know.
I'm digging it, though.

Shirt: Maurice's, ages ago
Skirt & Tights: Forever21
Shoes: Gift from Kater :D

Tres' Mad Men, Non? :D


And finally, some sage advice:

That said, here I am in my halloween costume!

Alice Approves!

Images and their original links can be found
on my We Heart It account,
now that it's up and running again :)

Now I have an apartment to cleanse of tissues,
and a delicious pie to make.


'Til Next We Meet,
♥,
~ Amy

Summer Lovin' Happened So Fast...

Autumnal Frivolity

...Wait, there was no lovin' this summer!
Oh well, anyway...
This month has been a month of adventures!
To start it off, this thing came back in port...

Bringing along with it,
This fellow!
(and his iPod touch)
((note our new translucent bed curtains!))

Much love happened!
Along with yummy meals for Husbot,
D&D games, merry parties with friends,
rather sloshed Rock Band sessions,
and general lovetasticness,
as well as a couple shmultzy blog entries ;)

Happily, I shall bring us back to a
materialistic and somewhat shallow place!
BEHOLD!


Wardrobe Project!

Slowly, it becomes chillier in Japan.
Happily, I do not NEED any new jackets this year!
What with the return of the military jacket,
and the constant relevance of leather,
I am set for all occasions.
I will picture them all for you!

Brown Leather.
I scored this for 15$ at a Thrift Shop.
I still can't get over it.
The leather is like BUTTER.

Nothing trumps leather.

And for more demure days,
My dearly beloved cloak coat!
Old Navy two years ago,
still adorable, in my opinion.

Little Doom Riding Hood.

I call this my Chav Coat.
For days when I'm just in That Mood.
Tan corduroy, this jacket is actually
quite thick and deliriously warm.
But oh, so very Chav-tastic :D

Yes, it's lined with Pink Satin!
Don't worry, it was thrifted for only 5$!

FURRY!

A Favorite,
This Coat was bought from Delia's
two years ago, I believe as a Christmas Gift
from my awesome mother!
Wool, warm, but not bulky.

Side note, in case you were wondering!
Here I am in Lime Crime eyeshadow,
which I seem to have become a walking advert for.
I was asked three times today about it,
and that was just grocery shopping!
I'm wearing Pompadour here.

And finally, my trusty Black Leather.
I've had this baby since I was, wait for it, 14.
Which makes it nearly ten years old!
Still going strong, still supple,
still badass.
Why?
Because it's BLACK LEATHER.
Etc.

May it last ten years more!

Happily,
it's still not QUITE cool enough here
for Jacket Weather.
Summer is having a last hurrah,
with lovely cool breezes
and lingering, sweet-smelling flowers.

Ahhhhhhh.

Shall be getting back into regular
weekly blog entries of varied content,
Now that Husbot has returned to work,
and the creative brain cells have been stimulated.

'Til Next We Meet, My Loves,
♥,
~ Amy

June Makes These Excellent Sewing Machines...

Another Entry Of Love For You!

A lot has been going on here in Japanland.
The past two weeks have been about
Husbot returning home,
A family member passing away,
And strange delightful adventures.
A real entry of pictures and substance
shall follow this in the soontime,
but for now,
Some Love For You! :D

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."
-St. Augustine

"Think about your Dream all the time, no matter what else you're doing. Live your Dream in your imagination. Become obsessed by it. Love it. Be passionate about it."
~ Unknown

"Someone like you,
And all you know, And how you speak
Countless lovers under cover of the street
You know that I could use somebody
Someone like you..."
~ Kings Of Leon

"To Love is to receive a glimpse of Heaven."
~ Karen Sunde

Anyone can be passionate,
but it takes real lovers to be silly.
~Rose Franken
(always a favorite, I married a silly boy :D)

"Men always want to be a woman's first love,
That is their clumsy vanity.
We women have a more subtle instinct about things.
We want to be a man's last romance."
~ Oscar Wilde






'Til Next We Meet, My Loves,
♥,
~ Amy

"...As We All Are Part Of Each Other."

"With my intellect I see cause for nothing but pessimism and even despair. But I can't settle for what my intellect tells me. That's not all of it. There are still stars which move in ordered and beautiful rhythm. There are still people in this world who keep promises..."
~ A Wind In The Door,
by Madeleine L'Engle

Pardon me, whilst I meander.

It's a thing I've noticed lately, how far apart we all seem from each other. I do not mean physically, but in our souls, in our zeal for identity through defining ideals, in our desire to put our own convictions above anyone else's, we've all lost touch with our fellow man. It seems to me that society on the whole has been pushing harder and harder to make us not only disagree with anyone who's ideas are different than our own, but also to disdain them. It's not enough to dislike someone with right-wing ideals, they have to seem crazy. It's not enough to disagree with a tree-hugging hippy liberal, they must be demonized, else you will not feel safe. It's frankly quiet wearying, the whole lot of you.

Of course, we all fall victim to this thinking. But it is not how the world is supposed to be. Should you stand for something? Of course, everyone should, everyone should look in their heart, or to their God, and find who they are. Find what is important to them, what is worth standing up for, as it defines you yourself in the end. But ideas and convictions should never be more important than your fellow man. Your firm belief should never be one that gives you leave to dismiss a fellow human being. You can disagree with someone. You can have lively debate. But my Lord, the sea of hatred that boils back home in my own country...I get frustrated. And then I am just sad, really sad.

I will tell you a story.When I was a little girl, I attended a church that, from good intentions and innocent beginnings, became something Different. I won't go into the details, but suffice it to say, the change was slow and subtle, until it came to a point when, after some disagreements between Godly men, we were urged by our leader to "shun" a certain group who'd left the congregation. My parents of course had none of this drivel, and not too much later we left that community. But before they ever uttered a word in response to this "strong suggestion", my nine-year-old soul rebelled violently. They believed in the same Jesus I did. They believed in the same salvation I believed I had. I grew up believing in God. God is Love. God might tell me not to do certain things that may hurt me, but he'd never tell me to shun anyone, to harbor hate for anyone in my heart. I was only a child, but I KNEW then, and though I can be judgmental too, as all of us can be, I still know that it is poison straight to the heart.

Whether you believe in a deity, an afterlife, or you do not, we can all agree on one thing: When we go, we take only ourselves. Our material possessions will rot and decay, and all that will be left behind was how we treated our fellow man. Did you hide in a church all your life? Did you only surround yourself with people who thought and acted as you did? Did you disdain a church-goer, simply because you didn't believe in God and disliked what you believed religion did to society as a whole? Did you stop going to lunch with your co-worker when you found out she was a lesbian, because heaven forbid you be seen with THAT kind of person? Did you judge the girl who had an abortion? Did you curse out the protester outside the clinic?

All we have is each other. And while everyone should stand by their own convictions, to use your convictions as a license to hate, to avoid, to make snap judgments, is the surest way to aid in the decay of your own soul. Ideas will change and fall away. Countries will rise and fall and rise again. But the only way society will truly end, is when we are all too isolated to even speak to each other. Every single person, on their own little island, in their own little head telling themselves how right they are, and how wrong everyone else is.

Faith, Hope, & Love,
and of these,
The Greatest is Love.

I may be scarce in the days to come,
many loverly things will be going on here at home ;)

But I will try to keep things updated!
Expect a picture or five soon,
of my newly-blue hair.

Until then, I leave you in the good hands
of Heathcliff & Cathy :D




Til Next We Meet,
♥,
~ Amy