I wanted to post this entry way sooner, but… school happened. *sigh* Oh well, I will compensate with tons of pictures!
As I mentioned in my previous blog post, this year I spent my birthday in Paris! I have never done something so big and special on my actual birthday, so I am sure you can imagine I was quite excited! ♥ I had an amazing weekend and naturally I will tell you all about it!
I stayed over at my friend Marina’s place for two full days, from Friday night until Sunday night. Sadly, exactly in my birthday weekend, there were constructions on the train tracks, so I couldn’t take the train to Paris. Instead I went by bus, on my own. I was endlessly nervous, but the ride went pretty ok! Besides the heavy traffic, the horrible city of Brussels (sorry, I really dislike it there) and the crazy French drivers it went pretty well! I find buses to be quite relaxing. :3 Sadly our arrival time was a bit later than expected and initially Marina and I couldn’t find each other (super stressful!), but when we finally did and I had dropped off my stuff at Marina’s place and we had gone for dinner at one of my favourite restaurants, everything was ok again. ♥
And now onto the first day of my birthday weekend~! Saturday was my actual birthday and it was absolutely amazing! Marina and I had planned a full day of fun activities and I couldn’t wait to start! However, the day started out a bit differently… Prepare for a story! XD
We got up, chatted for a bit and had breakfast. We were just about to start getting dressed, when Marina’s boyfriend (who had just left) called her and said there was a strange smell in the hallway of the apartment building. He suggested Marina should check it out, since it smelled as if some kind of plastic was burning. Marina left for a short while and asked me to open the door again when she returned.
I waited for a bit until she came back and knocked on the door. I could tell something was wrong, since her knocks were hasty. As soon as I opened the door, I could smell it too: a strong, bad smell. Marina was very worried about it and asked me if I could come with her to the 4th floor (her apartment is on the 5th) to see if we could determine the source of the smell. In the meantime she was trying to contact the janitor, since no one seemed to be at home. I sniffed along the doors too (in my pyjamas, haha) and we came to the conclusion that the smell seemed to be coming from the apartment directly underneath Marina’s. Marina was pretty much freaking out by now since something so close to us might be on fire and the janitor was not responding, so she called the fire department! They arrived not long after; at least six men in heavy equipment, with suits and helmets and masks. It was quite a sight! Also, one of them was very handsome, hehe.
Marina explained to them where we thought the smell was coming from and they walked around for a bit. Although I couldn’t understand everything that was going on since everyone was speaking rapid French, I could tell the firemen weren’t too worried about the situation yet. They slammed on the door to the apartment underneath Marina’s several times, to see if someone was at home. They kicked the door several times to see if it could be jammed open in case they got permission to do so (causing the door to lose some flakes of paint ahem). I wasn’t very sure what was going on since no one was really doing anything, when suddenly three of the guys asked Marina to go into her apartment upstairs and followed her, talking about water. Or at least I thought so. I thought they were going to connect a hose to a water source or something, so I followed them (still in my pyjama by the way). Then suddenly, right in the middle of Marina’s living room, two of the guys started putting on a harness and one of them lay down on the floor! The other one climbed out of the window and went abseiling to the apartment downstairs to see if the window was open! It was honestly the strangest sight; the hot fireman on the ground, the second standing at the window giving instructions as to pull or loosen the rope and the third one gone through the window. I cannot even begin to tell you how strange this all was!
Suddenly, the two remaining guys got up and left again!? I actually have no idea what happened to the third one! XD I don’t think he came back… What the hell!?
In the meantime something had happened in the hallway, because when Marina and I returned to the 4th floor there was something going on in the apartment next to the one we suspected to be the source of the smell. Maybe the people who lived there had come home or had woken up, because the door was open and people were walking in and out. Suddenly, two of the firemen walked out of the house dragging a mattress along. It seemed fine, until we saw the backside: a big part of the upper right corner was completely charred black and so was a pillow!
Marina and I were so grateful the source of the smell and fire were detected. I don’t know whether Marina’s taking action saved lives, but it sure could have been bad! I do feel a bit bad for the people next door and their door though… Ahem, sorry? ^^’
Anyway, quite a story huh? It’s difficult to completely retell it, but I am sure you can imagine this was the strangest start of my birthday ever! I called my parents to tell them what happened, but had to wait until they were done singing ‘Happy birthday’ for me. XD I had almost forgotten it was my birthday, it had been such an exciting time! While I was talking to my mom I spotted the firemen outside taking the mattress away. It was quite a sight.
Finally, peace returned to the house. I took a shower, Marina took a shower and then it was presents time! Marina said, while handing me her gift, that she hoped I would like it. Which I think is so cute, because her gift to me was so beautiful I barely could find the words to describe how happy I was. ♥ She had made an artwork of me in my Angelic Pretty Tea Party outfit. You can admire it below. Isn’t it absolutely amazing? I love it so much! ;___;
Since it was Marina’s birthday only 11 days later I also gave her a gift and I am pretty sure she liked it a lot as well. XD
Then, we grabbed our things and went on our way! Finally, we left the house almost two hours later than expected! But finally, we were on our way.
We walked down to the metro, where I bought a ticket for the whole day. I got a brief anxiety attack (during the events of that morning I had been super calm, but now suddenly the gravity of the situation dawned on me or something), but luckily it didn’t last long.
Ah, before I forget; let me show you our outfits of the day! Actually, we took them super late because thanks to all the excitement we totally forgot! Let’s ignore the background for now and focus on what we are wearing ok? x) Marina looked super cute that day and I tried to look pastelly as well, so I want to share with you. ♥
Our first destination of the day was Angelic Pretty! I had been looking forward to going there for weeks. Not only because I love the brand and the shop, but mostly because I was going to pick up the birthday present my parents bought for me!
In October Angelic Pretty Paris announced a flash sale: several of their collections were on sale for 30% off if you bought a dress + head bow or dress + socks. One of the collections included was Milky Swan. I had been in love with this print series ever since it came out and I had been dreaming of it for a long time. When the flash sale was announced I mentioned it to my mom and when I said one of the prettiest dresses I had ever seen was included, she suddenly said ‘Well why don’t you ask it for your birthday?’ That thought hadn’t really occurred to me, but it seemed so perfect! I didn’t know anything else to ask and it was quickly decided! Angelic Pretty Paris agreed to keep the dress for me until I came to pick it up on my birthday and now that day was finally here! Six weeks my poor dress and head bow had waited for me, but now the wait was over! ♥
We arrived at the store around 1 pm and we took a whole bunch of pictures before entering. The store front is now painted pink, it looks so beautiful!
I was really happy to see the freshly painted pink. The shop stands out even more now, you can see it clearly from afar! There’s also ‘Angelic Pretty’ in big letters at the top now. The shop looks like a dream!
I really loved looking at and taking pictures of the shop window.
The window was filled with the typical Angelic Pretty stuffed toys they always use to decorate their shops with, including murderous pastel bunnies and derpy poodles. There were also some lovely bags and shoes on display. Especially the shoes looked really nice: every time the sun came through they started sparkling like stars! ☆
Behind the stuffed animals and Angelic Pretty goods stood a lovely pink Christmas tree. It was decorated with baubles in different kinds of blues, silver stars and a big tulle bow on top. If you looked more closely, you could see all the baubles had a blue Angelic Pretty ribbon on top! Such a cute detail.
On the tree’s left and right stood mannequins wearing the newest print: Chandelier Holic. As always with Lolita prints: this series looked so much nicer up close in real life! The light coming from the chandeliers was lovely and the lace was very beautiful.
the adorable Christmas tree in the middle.
We entered the store where we were immediately greeted by the shop girl. Apparently her name is Marine and she was incredibly nice! As soon as she spotted me she smiled and said she would immediately bring my dress. I was a bit overwhelmed almost, haha! She quickly returned and hung my beautiful new dress on a small hook next to the check out, where I could admire it. It looked so beautiful, oh my God! ♥ ;___;
I was allowed to take a picture of it, so here you have it: my beautiful new
Milky Swan dress!
At that moment I almost couldn’t believe I was taking this dress with me! I had loved this dress for such a long time! Initially I loved it in navy, but I switched after a while to mint and now it is 100% my favourite colourway! Despite my parents not being there I was, of course, very grateful. ♥
Marine asked if I wanted to try my dress on, but I declined and she started wrapping it up all neatly for me. I was hoping I would also get the new 2017 Angelic Pretty calendar that was announced the day before, but sadly since this purchase had been made earlier already I didn’t. Oh well. ^^
Marina and I then started to browse pretty every single item in the store. We could take as long as we wanted, since we both loved looking at all the details and we didn’t bother anyone with it. There were some absolutely lovely blouses and bags and I completely fell in love with two rose rings, one in pink and one in white. I decided to buy one for myself as a birthday gift, but it took a while before I decided which colour I wanted (because I am the worst chooser in the world, ahem). In the end I went with white, since the rhinestones in that one were holographic and prettier. ♥
After Marina and I had checked out every corner of the shop, we talked for a while with Marine. We looked at the pictures of the ridiculously big and expensive fashion show dresses that had just come out, which was really fun! In the meantime, a cute girl with her mom came in and she tried on the new Chocolate Rosette special set.
She looked so cute! *o*
Finally, it was time to leave Angelic Pretty and continue to our next destination. But first, of course, posing in front of the shop with my shopping bag.
Marina and I walked on to Junku, a Japanese book store not far away from Angelic Pretty. It really was only a few streets away and I enjoyed walking and talking with Marina. For a moment I thought back on my previous trip to Paris during the summer, when it had been hot and summery. Now it was pleasantly cold and sunny, which I much preferred.
We arrived at Junku around 1:40 pm.
We went inside and immediately walked on to the fashion magazines section. I was eager to buy the newest Gothic and Lolita Bible. Its colourful cover page was hard to overlook. Marina browsed through it while filmed for a bit and commented with her on the beautiful advertisements.
I doubted for a moment about buying the newest KERA as well, but I decided not to. We looked around in the basement part of the shop as well, but not for long. I went to pay and then we went on to our next destination: bakery Aki! For almost two years I had been saying that one day I wanted to visit this place with Marina, who has been there many times already of course, but somehow it never happened. Now was finally our chance! Aki wasn’t very far from Junku, so we just walked there.
Aki looked very nice from the outside. Inside it was quite crowded, but there was enough space for me to check out all the goods they were selling. There were not only pastries, but also sandwiches, onigiri and whole meals! But the pastries display looked the most attractive of course, with all the pretty colours and tasty food.
Since we were quite hungry, we quickly decided what to order. Marina and I both ordered a matcha latte, a salmon onigiri and a piece of cake. I went for the beautiful strawberry shortcake (which we called ‘the emoji cake’, since it looks so much like the cake on Whatsapp), while Marina went with a chocolate and raspberry cake. We took our orders down to the basement of the bakery, where some people were just leaving so we could sit in their places. I was eager to have some food, I was so hungry! But first, pictures. x)
But doesn’t this cake look amazing!?
I don’t know whether it was because I was hungry, or whether it was the quality of the food, but everything tasted so good! The beautiful bright green matcha latte was delicious, my cake was super sweet and birthday cake-like and my onigiri… Aaah, I think that was my favourite one. It was sooo good! ♥
I really recommend visiting Aki in Paris if you have time. I really want to try more of their pastries and sandwiches!
After we had finished our food we made a brief visit to the toilet (which was another floor deeper, this place just kept going). Then, we put on our coats and went on our way to the Vivienne Westwood store. Vivienne Westwood recently opened a brand new store in Paris and I was really excited to see it! I am not a huge Vivienne Westwood fan, but I got to know it by reading the manga Nana. Learning this jewelry and clothing really existed was so amazing to me! Plus, the rocking horse shoes are often seen in Lolita fashion and many of my friends are a fan of the brand. Passing up an opportunity to visit this store would be such a waste!
We entered the store and were immediately greeted by two staff members. Marina had apparently met the female staff member (who was wearing the most amazing blouse with a heart cut out just above her boobs andactual rocking horse shoes) and she was really nice. We talked for a bit and she showed us some items. I was really enchanted by the carpet, which was covered in the typical Vivienne Westwood planet-like orbs. I also really loved looking at the jewelry display. I thought Vivienne Westwood only carried really expensive items, but a lot of their jewelry is more affordable than I expected.
The kind shop girl then proposed to show us the rest of the shop. Marina had told me the shop is actually much bigger than what you see at first, so I was eager to find out! The shop girl walked us to a stairway down left of the check out and we followed her. Halfway down, a giant orb lamp illuminated the long stairway. I had no idea what to expect to find downstairs.
The downstairs part of the shop was so much bigger than I expected! I thought it would be a room comparable to the one upstairs but it was much, much larger! There was the same carpet as upstairs, but the room upstairs looked empty, modern and high fashion, whereas downstairs the walls were lined with clothing racks. Jackets, dresses, accessories and shoes were everywhere!
Marina and I almost drooled over a pair of rose gold-coloured rocking horse shoes, they were just so pretty! She also showed me some pairs of earrings she liked (her boyfriend actually gave her a beautiful pair for her birthday ♥). Next to the dressing rooms there were racks with really expensive dresses. I was almost afraid to even look at them! But there were also some amazing bags. I didn’t expect to like so many items!
We chatted for a bit with the kind shop girl (I really liked that she had the same kind of ears as I do, I know, I’m weird haha) and then we went back upstairs. There was actually another shop girl walking around in a bright red tartan suit and she looked so beautiful Marina and I wondered whether she was actually a model! *o*
We thanked the kind shop staff and then left the Vivienne Westwood store.
Then it was time for us to go to our next destination: the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright store. This shop was not at walking distance, so we took the metro this time. When we entered the station, we spotted big posters for the Japanese animated movie ‘Your Name’. It was just so cool!
We took the metro to Ledru-Rollin and arrived at the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright store at
4 pm.
There was a funny guy who posed in front of the shop when I wanted to take a picture of it, but I’ll spare you. x)
The shop looked lovely as usual, with an Alice and the Pirates dress on the left and two Baby, the Stars Shine Bright dresses on the right.
We entered the store and greeted the shop girl. I didn’t know her, but she was very nice. ♥
I am so happy pictures and videos are allowed in store! I really wish Angelic Pretty permitted this as well.
The shop looked as nice as usual. The racks with dresses and blouses looked neat and everyone was beautifully folded. I always love to walk around in the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright store. The style of the clothing is so different from angelic Pretty clothing. Even the colours are so different!
Marina and I started to just casually browse and show things to each other. This is one of my favourite things: just judging goods together. Most Lolita items are way more beautiful in real life, so it’s always very surprising. Marina and I were particularly enamoured by a beautiful pair of sheer OTKs.
I don’t know what kind of magical spell lingers around the shop, but every time I am at Baby, the Stars Shine Bright Pars I fall in love with a dress. Maybe it’s because many of Baby’s pictures don’t do justice to the dresses. So in this case I fell in love with a gorgeous, dusty pink, Marie-Antoinette-like dress. It was the Veronica Elisse jumperskirt and it’s to die for! I also really liked a light blue nightgown-like dress called Innocent Rosier. The sleeves were amazing!
the stunning Veronica Elisse jsk on the right. ♥
we were not the only ones in the store. There was a very nice girl trying on a beautiful Alice and the Pirates dress. When she walked out of the dressing room I literally gasped and blurted out something like: ‘Oh my God, you look SO amazing! That dress was made for you!’ It truly was, she looked so beautiful! I did however fix her waist tie bow, because that needed to be perfect too (and I have a bow obsession, ahem)! I am happy to say the girl ended up buying the dress! ♥ Later, it turned out she follows me on Instagram and watches my videos! Aaah, that made me so happy! *o*
I wasn’t the only one falling in love with pretty dresses. Marina and I were browsing through the dresses when we encountered an adorable pink one piece dress with a sailor collar. Apparently its name was Sister Maria’s Sailor Collar (oh my God, that name XD) and it was totally Marina’s style! Sooo… I might have convinced her to try it on… And, as with basically everything Marina puts on, it looked per-fect on her!
Naturally, trying on a dress like this was a bad idea, because Marina ended up really liking it. But the dress was quite expensive… Sorry I made you try it dear!
But you looked so cute… ♥
Finally, it was time to leave Baby, the Stars Shine Bright again. It had been a lot of fun, but we needed to go to our next destination.
Then we went on our way to Axes Femme. We took the metro to Saint Paul, where we walked through Le Marais to the shop. We actually passed Princess Crêpe! We had planned to go and have a crêpe there, but since it would soon by time for dinner we didn’t want to spoil our appetite. The shop was actually very crowded, so we were glad we didn’t decide to go there after all.
Le Marais is a very nice place and we passed several lovely shops, cafés and restaurants. We also passed a giant hall where they were having some kind of vintage market, very nice!
Finally, around 5:30 pm, we arrived at the Axes Femme shop.
We entered the store and I started browsing all the lovely clothes. I selected several things I wanted to try on. There were so many lovely clothes! Sadly some of the things I really loved didn’t come in my size. Oh well, better for my wallet I guess. ^^
I selected some cardigans and some gorgeous skirts. The cardigans all turned out to be too hot for me (I get hot so easily), but two of the skirts (same design, different colours) I liked very much. As I said, I am the worst chooser in the world, so I carried them around until I could make a decision.
Marina and I also browsed the downstairs part of the shop, where I spotted some adorable platform shoes. Actually, the cute girl at the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright shop had been wearing them and I really liked them on her, so I decided to try them on. Sadly, they didn’t fit me. It was then that an imaginary spotlight shone on a stunning pair of black, glittery heels that I immediately adored. I prayed they would fit me and surprisingly, they did! A little snug I have to admit, but I am sure this can be solved! The shoes, though gorgeous, were quite pricey. But well, I had saved up especially for my birthday, so I decided to take them. I chose the grey version of the two skirts and went to pay. Happy me! ♥
We had visited all our destinations for the day, so it was time for dinner! We had set up a meeting with Mila to have dinner somewhere close to Angelic Pretty, where a lot of Japanese restaurants are located, so we headed that way. Mila was actually supposed to either come to my birthday meeting at Ladurée the next day or meet us at the Angelic Pretty shop because she had to work, but both plans fell through due to circumstances. So I was really, really happy she wanted to meet us for dinner!
Marina and I headed back to the Opéra district, where we waited at the metro exit for Mila. She arrived not long after, looking cute as ever. ♥
We started walking towards the streets with all the restaurants while discussing what to eat. We decided on getting okonomiyaki, one of my favourite Japanese dishes. *o*
We soon arrived at a narrow restaurant. The kitchen was located on the ground floor, the seating area upstairs. While we passed the cooks, I could see okonomiyaki being prepared.
Upstairs, we got a nice seat in a corner and looked through the menu. We all ordered the same kind of okonomiyaki and just a bottle of water. It took quite a while for the food to arrive ( wonder whether they had forgotten about us), but it was so much fun to just chat. And naturally, we had to tell Mila the firemen story!
Finally our food arrived and it was so good. ;___;
Mila actually surprised me with a birthday gift! Even though she really didn’t have to do that, she went out of her way and got me a present. From Angelic Pretty! I nearly cried when she gave it to me. It was just so sweet! To my great surprise and happiness, she got me the matching to my Milky Swan dress. Such a perfect gift! ;___; Thank you again dear! ♥
I had a really good time just chatting with Marina and Mila. After all our shopping and walking, it was nice to just sit for a while.
Finally, it was time for us to go. We paid and then together walked to the Opéra. There we said goodbye to Mila. I am really so happy we got the chance to hang out!
It was around 9 pm by now, but the wasn’t over yet! The last thing on my bucket list was seeing the Christmas decorations! So Marina and I started walking in the direction of Galeries Lafayette, the warehouse that is famous for its Christmas windows displays. We soon arrived there and walked along the windows, which were indeed really amazing. This year’s theme was something along the lines of ‘lots of white, paper and polar bears’. The displays featured a high fashion brand and everything moved! It really was amazing!
It was very crowded on our side of the street. Not only were there people walking along the windows, there were also chestnut sellers and other guys selling… things. Toys for example, or they made letter art. A very interesting choice of goods, but since it was crowded it was probably a good place.
We reached the end of this side of the building and Marina suggested to try and see the other side of the building as well, but I suggested to go somewhere else: the Champ-Élysées, because my true dream was to see the Christmas lights there. And so we went on our way!
We took the metro to Charles de Gaulle-Étoile. It was really funny how I, a tourist, had to guide Marina, a true Parisienne, around, since she had never been there! XD
We went up the escalator that I’ve gone up so many times and there stood the amazing Arc de Triomphe. And the countless, beautiful, breathtaking Christmas lights along the
Champs-Élysées.
countless Christmas lights (taken a little down the street).
I was really overwhelmed by the beauty around me. Pictures nor videos do justice to the amazing lights on the Champs-Élysées. The lights all seemed to move in an upwards motion, creating a fairytale-like atmosphere. And it was not only that, many stores were decorated with lights or had projections shining upon them. The Cartier shop looked like a giant, red Christmas present and the Sephora looked very inviting!
After I had recovered from all the amazingness, Marina and I crossed the pedestrian crossing and stopped in the middle of the road, as many tourists do. In the middle of the road, small strips were created between the traffic lights for pedestrians to admire the Arc de Triomphe safely, since there were countless cars driving along. It was a little scary, but amazing as well! Aaah, I can’t tell you how beautiful everything looked. The ferris wheel down the road looked like a magical halo!
We stayed in the middle of the road for a while. Taking pictures there was quite hard, because of the passing traffic and the difficult light circumstances, but it’s the memories
that count!
Marina and I decided to walk down the street (on the sidewalk, don’t worry) until the next metro station, but the first one we encountered showed up sooner than expected, so we decided to walk on a bit more. However, it took a while until the next station appeared, haha! I didn’t mind personally at ll though. I really enchanted by all the beautiful lights. It was so pretty you guys! After a while, I even started crying and I hugged Marina (again, haha, I hugged her a lot that day). I was so grateful for this amazing day. It really had been so perfect!
We took the metro back to Marina’s apartment (I started crying again in the metro, haha). It was quite late already, so we chilled or a bit and then finally went to sleep.
It had been the most perfect birthday. ♥
If you made it all the way down here, props to you! I wrote so much, haha! But then again, there was a lot to write about! I hope you enjoyed my birthday post as much as I enjoyed my actual birthday! I also made a video of this amazing day! I am quite happy with it, so please take a look if you want! ♥
Thank you for reading! ~☆~