London ’17, Day 5 – Last Time Shopping and Going Home

Tuesday was our last day in London and since our plane would leave in the evening, we had plenty of time to do some last sightseeing and shopping.
We left our packed suitcases at the hotel and headed for our first destination: the M&M’s store.
We’ve been to this store before, but we liked it so much we decided to visit it again. The store smells of delicious chocolate, is very colourful and has numerous fun photo-worthy spots!

Taking pictures at and of items at the M&M’s store.
I really love walking around in this store, because it’s just so colourful. It’s like walking around in a rainbow! And they sell the most varying merchandise, like t-shirts and blankets, but also candy jars filled with M&M’s of course! Several floors are filled with amazing goods.
During our previous stay in London, my mom fell in love with this really colourful M&M’s shirt, but ended up not buying it. She regretted it ever since. That had been several years ago, so we didn’t expect the store to still sell this particular shirt. However, we ended up finding it after all! And this time, she did buy it!

My mom walking down the stairs to the basement floor.
We walked around the entire store and got some things we liked. I got myself a cute M&M’s case filled with red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple M&M’s, to use it to store rings in after I had eaten all the candies inside.

One of the many very colourful walls at the M&M’s store.
After we had seen everything, we went to the checkout register and paid for our things. My dad ended up getting an cute blanket on a discount, which was very nice. When we left, we walked into a huge blue M&M walking around! We couldn’t resist taking a picture with him, haha!

How often do you encounter a wild M&M roaming around!?
We left the M&M’s shop and walked on to Chinatown. Two people managed to convince me to participate in an interview for a YouTube video, which I did. I never looked up the video though. I lost like 40% of my English because I got so nervous. x)
We crossed through Chinatown and I got some very nice bubble tea at a cute Taiwanese place.

Posing with my bubble tea.
We walked on to Covent Garden, which is this really nice roofed place filled with shops and little cafés. There often people performing their art, like music or acrobatics. Today there was a lady singing opera pieces inside.

Arriving at Covent Garden.
We went inside and looked at some shops, after which we picked a cute café called ‘Sweetheart’ to have tea, coffee and cake at. I ended up with a huge piece of red velvet cake which was very delicious. I have to admit I was a bit scared when the waitress came to bring our food, because of the incident that happened the day before. Up until this day I’m always a bit anxious when hot food and drinks are being brought over.

Time for tea, coffee and cake!
While we were sitting, the opera lady left (my mom adored her and gave her money) and a new group came in: it was a string ensemble consisting of young musicians. They were really good and fun!
We then continued our way to Artbox: a shop that sells all kind of cute items from for example Japan! After a bit of roaming around we found the shop.

The supercute Artbox shop!
The shop was really cute inside and I didn’t know where to look: the walls were covered in shelving stands with plushies, bags and other goods. The shop wasn’t very big, but it made for a very cosy atmosphere which I liked very much!

Adorable and pastel items at Artbox.
My mom loved browsing the shop, but my dad stayed outside since he didn’t care that much (which is understandable. XD). I didn’t have any money left so I couldn’t buy anything, but my mom ended up offering me the cutest little notepad, which I very much adored!

Aren’t these notebooks sweet?
We left the shop again and my mom and I followed my dad to our next destination: the Animals in War memorial. When I went to London with my school when I was around 16 years old, I had spotted this amazing scenery from our bus. I had told my parents about it and my dad figured out where it was, so we decided to go see it.
The memorial was beautiful and very touching. My mom cried quite a bit.

The Animals in War memorial.
By now it was time to head back to the hotel to pick up our luggage, so we took the bus. We bought some drinks and two cute postcards at the station we stopped at and then went on to our hotel. From there, we took another bus and a train and arrived at the airport very much on time. We couldn’t even check in my suitcase! After a bit of waiting, we checked in and entered the airport. Unfortunately the airport was really small and frankly quite boring. We spent most of our time browsing on the internet and having dinner. I did eat an amazing sandwich though! Something with goat cheese and sweet peppers, so good!
Finally, after a long time it was head to our gate and get on the plane. The plane was quite small and there were so few passengers that we could just sit wherever we wanted! My parents sat on the right while I sat on the left. The plane took off and we waved goodbye at London.

Bye London!
The flight was quite short and within no time we arrived back in our own country. The sun was setting and turned the sky beautifully orange. It was good to be home again.

Back home after a short but great trip.
When we arrived home I was happy to see our dogs again. I had quite missed them! It had been a wonderful trip, but I was glad to be able to sleep in my own bed again.

Purchases of the day
Thank you for reading! ~☆~

London ’17, Day 4 – Shopping in Camden and Phantom of the Opera

Hi everyone! Do you still remember me? It’s Rosalynn, the writer of this blog! It’s been so long since I wrote a post… Life got in the way: I am on a path of self-recovery and that takes a lot of time and energy! However, I am not completely gone, so please look outt for upcoming posts as always!
Now, let’s continue with my London trip which took place… nearly a year ago, ahem…
Let’s hope I can still remember everything!

My Lolita events were over, but luckily I had two days left to spend in London with my parents! For Monday we had planned to go to Camden!
We took the bus that stopped right in front of our hotel and rode it all the way to Camden Town, which was really nice and relaxed. We were lucky to be able to sit upstairs at the front of the bus, so I felt like I was getting a bit of a city tour as well! I also spotted two fellow Lolitas, but they were walking around in normal clothes, haha.
After a while, we arrived in Camden and my mom and I followed my dad who had done some research on where to go. We walked for a bit and soon found ourselves in the most awesome of streets, with colourful and decorated shops!

A first look into Camden!
Although it was still quite warm, I was really excited to be there and so was my mom! The shops looked very promising, so we just started walking and entered places that looked interesting. Coincidentally, the week before we went to London one of the YouTubers I watched posted a video about Camden, so I recognized some of the places she visited.
We browsed some stalls at a tiny market that mainly seemed to sell cool t-shirts and mobile phone cases.

My dad looking at some really nice wooden phone cases.
We crossed the street and walked into a store that sold beautiful Eastern products, like lamps and blankets. My mom really wanted to return later on the day to get a blanket.
We walked past a shop that sold all kinds of lace clothing, called Lily.J. The clothing really reminded me of Larme style and my mom and I browsed the clothing with much glee. We asked whether pictures were allowed and the shop girl said yes, but when my mom took a picture she was reprimanded by another shop lady. It was very confusing! Have a picture anyway, haha.

Despite the confusing staff, we really liked this shop!
We planned to return later and continued our way. We also went into this amazing shop that sold really badass boots and coats. Other shops we didn’t enter, but just admired their facades.

More cool-looking shops!
At the end of the street I spotted a familiar sights that indicated our arrival at Camden Lock. I didn’t know much about Camden when we arrived, but I did recognize the Camden Lock road bridge. There was also a big building with a lock next to it, which was such a pretty sight! We took some pictures there.

Camden Lock.
Then I spotted a shop I really wanted to visit: Irregular Choice. If you’re unfamiliar with this brand: they sell the most amazing and outrageous shoes! I recommend looking some unboxing videos up on YouTube. I’m sure you’ll get hooked!
This shop was visited in the video I had mentioned earlier and I had noticed in the background stood my absolute dream shoes at the shop, the ones I was sure were out of sale. I was really hoping the shoes would still be there, so I entered the shop with much anticipation.
The shop was as magical as the façade suggested: both the floor and ceiling were covered in crazy prints and all along the walls there were shoes, each more more crazy than the other!

Some of the stunning shoes at Irregular Choice.
And indeed, there in a corner I spotted my dream shoes: the iridescent Lazy River heels! They honestly looked like they had just come out of a fairy-tale and if there is such a thing as falling head-over-heels (pun intended) in love with shoes I definitely experienced it!

Me, casually dying over my dream shoes.
Aren’t they amazing!?
I tried on the shoes and they were surprisingly comfortable! I walked around in them feeling like a princess and I couldn’t stop smiling! There was only one problem: I didn’t have enough money to buy them. Right at that moment my dad, who had gone outside for a bit, entered the store and told both my mom and me that he had gotten some money so we could buy ourselves something nice. My dad ended up paying more than half for my shoes! I was so happy and grateful!
My shoes were packed in a lovely box and an even lovelier bo and the shop girls kept calling me cute things like ‘love’ and ‘dear’. It was just such a nice experience! Thank you so much, Irregular Choice Camden! ♥

Happy with my incredible purchase!
We went to have some drinks and food at one of the first cafés we found, which was tiny and barely had any sitting room. The counter was completely covered in writing of previous customers. I even spotted a text saying ‘Lolitas with attitude’!
I don’t remember what we were having sadly. I believe I had a diet coke, but other than that I don’t know.

Waiting to order at the tiny café.
After we finished our drinks and food, we went on and arrived in a lovely stone street filled with cute shops. There were too many to mention, however I will say we went into an amazing shop that sold the most wonderful hats. My mom really loved this one top hat, but did not buy it (which she regrets up until this day), but my dad bought a very nice one!
The next shop we entered was one I really wanted to visit: the Collectif. This shop sells pin-up, vintage and alternative clothing and I freaking love them! The shop was absolutely amazing, including their staff. The ladies looked so beautiful, with the loveliest clothing and hairstyles!
My mom and I had a lot of fun looking around. There were two floors and one of them had a lot of items on sale! We found a lot of clothing we liked. My mom fell head over heels in love with a vintage-looking bag, which my dad held for her until we were done shopping. My mom and I tried some things on while he patiently waited for us.

My dad guarding my mom’s new bag while waiting for us, wearing his new hat.
I ended up getting the most beautiful dress and cardigan (which you can see at the end of this post) and my mom aforementioned bag and a cute cardigan as well.
We were both very happy with our new clothing!

Shopping at Collectif.
The next shop we entered was the Cyber Dog. I didn’t know much of this store, except that it was supposed to be a real interesting place to visit. The storefront was already very promising: the large doors were flanked by two huge silver robots and loud music was already coming our way. My dad decided to stay outside while my mom and I went in and I can tell you: it was surreal. It’s hard to describe this incredible shop, other than it was like stepping into a video game or a science-fiction movie. The walls were lined with robots, aliens and tubed with wires. Girls were dancing at high platforms in revealing outfits. It was incredible! And even better: an escalator went down to the basement of the shop, which was even bigger and insane. Everywhere we looked there were t-shirts and cyber clothing, illuminated by blacklight. A huge wall was covered in screens with a DJ platform in front of it. The most varying things were being sold, from CDs to clothing to make up, all to make your club outing memorable. I was especially intrigued by some amazing silver foam alien girl dresses. Everything was so cool!
My mom and I went upstairs and it was then that I spotted a pair of glasses I had been looking for everywhere: kaleidoscope glasses! I had seen some around in Camden, but not the design I liked. This pair was perfect! Unfortunately, they didn’t have the clear frame I wanted, but the very kind (and awesome-looking) shop girl suggested a pair with a silver frame, which was honestly even cooler. I was so happy to be able to take an item from this amazing store back home with me!

I really recommend visiting the Cyber Dog store if you have the chance!
We made a brief stop at the toilets and then followed my dad to a shop he had spotted earlier, where he bought a cute pug statue.
We then went on to an ice cream shop that I had seen some pictures of on Instagram: Chin Chin Labs. Their ice cream was supposed to be amazing and I was eager to try it out. The shop wasn’t very big and most of it was taken up by a freaking laboratory where the ice cream was being made in front of you. It was incredible! Apparently, the ice-cream is being made by freezing it with liquid nitrogen-generated steam, which caused quite the spectacle!
I don’t remember what my mom ordered, but I think I had a brownie cookie sandwich with salted caramel ice cream (or something). I can tell you: it was de-li-cious!

Chin Chin Labs: come for the ice cream, stay for the steamy spectacle!
Although my order was incredibly heavy, I could not stop eating. It was just so good!
It was then that my dad suggested to go back to the hotel. My mom could have walked around for hours in Camden, but I agreed with my father to go back, to have some rest. My mom did not know that my dad and I had a little secret…
My mom bought some things at the Lily.J shop and then we returned to the hotel, where we rested a bit. Then, my father suggested we go to Trafalgar Square and eat at this Italian restaurant he had looked up. My mom and I agreed and we went on our way.
After taking the bus and arriving at Trafalgar Square, we decided to take some pictures.

My parents looking sweet at Trafalgar Square.
My dad lead the way to the restaurant, while my mom and I followed him. My mom had no idea what was about to come: my dad had secretly booked us tickets to go see The Phantom of the Opera, which was a dream my mother had for years and years. My dad doesn’t really like musicals, but during a previous stay in London he had surprised her with tickets for The Lion King. However, he had always insisted that Phantom would be too much for him, but together with me he had booked tickets for that evening! Isn’t that so sweet of him!?
The restaurant was almost right next to the theater! When my mom saw that, she said: ‘Oh, it’s the theatre where Phantom plays!’ and stared longingly at it. She had no freaking clue!

A picture my mom took before knowing she was actually going to enter this theatre later!
We entered the restaurant and ordered, after which something terrible happened: a waiter accidentally dropped a whole tray of red wine and cola over my mom and me, completely ruining our clothes. I don’t want to talk about it too much, since it was a really terrible experience and I still have trouble talking about it or even think about it. Let’s just say we made the restaurant get us a cab so we could get changed at the hotel and return in time for the show.
So our surprise was ruined, but still my mom was over the moon when she heard we were going to see Phantom! She was so happy, aaah! We quickly had something to eat one street away and then hurried to the theatre, where we arrived perfectly on time.

The Phantom cast for that night.
I bought a programme with my last money and we went upstairs to find our seats on the first balcony. I had no idea what to expect, but our seats were amazing! We could see the stage perfectly and the orchestra pit as well, which I always love!

Our view upon the stage.
I quickly went to the toilet and walked into some Lolitas, after which I quickly returned to my seat. Together with my mom I looked at the programme and before I knew the show started! We had some annoying people in front of us who sat forward a couple of times, but my dad asked them not to and they stopped.
Ah, I can’t tell you just how amazing the show was! When the famous Phantom started playing and the chandelier floated in place, I turned cold and I squeezed my mother’s hand while she squeezed back. The show was so amazing, the costumes so gorgeous and the effects out of this world! For the duration of the show, I felt like I was in a (somewhat grim) fairy tale, it was glorious! I cried two times!
And the Phantom… Our Phantom was played by Ben Forster and my God… I am in love with that man! His acting was superb and his singing, oh my God… Every time I look him up on YouTube again I just cry. He is so amazing! Apparently our performance was one of his last, so I am extra grateful I got to see him!
After the show we returned to the main hall, my mom and I somewhat dazed. Even my dad didn’t hate it! My mom ended up buying us both a key chain to commemorate the evening. She was so happy!

With our beloved Phantom.
So in the end we had a wonderful night and went to bed happy! The next day would be our last day in London.

Purchases of the day
Thank you for reading! ~☆~

London ’17, Day 3 – TPC Dream Masquerade Carnival Tea Party

On Sunday August 27th the Dream Masquerade Carnival Tea Party took place in 1 Whitehall Place. Although the main event had taken up a lot of energy, I was still quite excited for the Tea Party. My parents and I had breakfast together and after that, my dad went to explore for a bit while I got dressed and my mom kept me company (and helped me a bit too).
I had planned on a fairly simple outfit, combining my beautiful Fantasic Dolly dress with a black, off-shoulder blouse, pink socks and black shoes. I had tried out a simple updo with flowers for my hair to combine it with, however I changed my mind. My new Triple Fortune hat matched my Tea Party outfit so well that I decided to wear that instead! I rarely change my outfit plans to accommodate a new purchase, so this was quite a big deal for me! I played around with hairstyles for a bit, but eventually settled on a side pony tail that I could rest the hat on.
My dad returned and the three of us left the hotel. This time we did take the bus, which was incredibly nice, because we could sit at the top of the bus, so we had a lovely view. The bus stopped at Leicester Square, from where we could walk to the venue in about 10 minutes. But since we had time left, we first took some pictures of my outfit. My mom took some really beautiful ones in the shade of the great, stone lions in the middle of the square. After that, we started walking in the direction of the venue. When we entered a side street with lots of trees, it was my dad(!) who suggested to take pictures here because the light was just so beautiful! That really melted my heart. ♥
So this was my outfit! I really hope you like it. ^^

♥ Triple Fantasic Fortune ♥
My outfit rundown:
Hat: Triple Fortune
Blouse: Primark
JSK: Angelic Pretty's Fantasic Dolly
Socks: Angelic Pretty
Shoes: Primark
Flowers: offbrand
Earrings: Claire’s
Necklace: RoseMarie Seoir
Button: Imai Kira
Bracelets: offbrand

We walked on to the venue while continuously taking pictures. My mom actually took some really nice ones of me and my dad while reading a city map. It’s nice to have my dad appear on my blog after so long again!

I love this picture so much! And with those red buses it just screams ‘London’!
We soon arrived at the venue, where some people were already waiting. I said goodbye to my parents and joined my friends. Everyone looked as lovely as the day before! I was surrounded by the most varying outfits.

Waiting in line to enter.
Picture by Emilie.
Not long after, we were allowed inside. We were led to a big room downstairs, which was apparently a waiting room. More and more people joined us and it became quite stuffy. We waited for a long time, even past the start of the Tea Party time. As soon as there seemed to be movement, everyone ran for the door, which was not the best idea. x) I hung on to a friend and luckily managed to get out of the waiting room pretty quickly, after which I could have my ticket checked and follow everyone to the Tea Party room.

Event staff ready to check everyone’s tickets.
Picture by Jatzu.
The Tea Party room was very beautiful. It reminded me a bit of the grand hall of a medieval castle: lots of brown and other wood colours, which big chandeliers and tapestries on the walls. There were countless tables everywhere and I ended up on one of the middle tables with an incredible group of girls, next to Emilie and dear Charlie! I was so happy to sit with some new people and people I already knew. Everyone was just so sweet! ♥

The beautiful Tea Party hall.
Picture by Emilie.
All the tables were filled with goodies for the guests. I have to admit it was a bit unclear to me what exactly everyone got, because there seemed to be more items on the table than seats, but everyone surely received an Angelic Pretty fake tattoo sheet, a sticker sheet, a Milkribbon card, a fan and a button (I actually somehow ended up with two). I especially loved the button, since it was from Angelic Pretty and had a London theme. The fans were also a big hit. There were two versions, one of them being dark read and baring the text: ‘I said NO pictures!’

The Angelic Pretty button everyone received. Isn’t it super cute!?
Picture by Emilie.
I explored the hall for a bit with Emilie once she arrived. The raffle table was filled with incredible prizes and the special guests were already sitting at the head table.

Checking out the prizes on the raffle table is an important part of a Lolita Tea Party!
Emilie and I managed to quickly get a picture with Maki and Asuka again. Goal achieved early! They both looked so lovely in their own styles! I loved Maki’s classic pink princess look (with a hat, yay) and Asuka in her circus look. Also, apparently Asuka was playing around with a red paper mask she had been wearing or been given all the time, which was just too cute!

Lovely Maki and Asuka. ♥
And we also walked into Babi and Kaie, who were already doing kabedon early! I got one and Emilie did too! Lots of emotions so early and the Tea Party had barely started! Also, the Triple Fortune designers were happy to see I was already wearing my hat, yay! While writing this I keep thinking… Should I post this picture too? Can my readers handle it..? Well, let’s just do it! 8D

I couldn’t choose, so… both! Either way, as you can see I was enjoying it haha!
Pictures by Emilie.
Everyone seemed to have arrived and the food was being served, so we sat down at our table. I Just as we wanted to start eating, the staff suggested we take the group picture early, so there wouldn’t be a hassle at the end of the Tea Party! It was an interesting choice and some people didn’t really want to get up from their table, but most (including me) did. We all walked back to the grand stair case and posed for a while, trying to all get together as closely as possible. I ended up not being in the frame after all though, oh well. XD

The Tea Party group picture.
Picture by Jatzu.
We returned to the main hall and sat back down. The food was so amazing! There were finger sandwiches, scones with jam and clotted cream and pastries. Everything was so good! ♥

The food at the Tea Party was so delicious!
Left and upper right picture by Emilie.
Tea Parties are always a lot more relaxed: there is less of a schedule and more time to walk around and chat, which is exactly what we did! At first I took some selfies with people at my table and people visiting my table, like dear Poppy!

For some reason my camera wouldn’t focus on me,
but I still really like these two pictures! ♥
After we had eaten enough, Emilie and I left the table, walked around a lot and took pictures with people. Everybody looked so beautiful, so many great outfits were worn that day! And it was lovely to chat with more people, like with Marlessa, Rosie and especially with Stephanie. Chances are likely I’ll never see her again, which is a sad thought because she is such a sweetheart! I feel incredibly lucky I got the chance to meet her in person!

Clockwise from the top left: Poppy and Alexander, me with
Marlessa, me with Rosie and me with Stephanie.
Shout out to the group of girls braving the heat and showing up wearing Puppet Circus to create the long-promised Puppet Circus army! I’m glad the photographer got a nice shot of them together. ♥

The amazing Puppet Circus army!
Picture by Jatzu.
This post won’t be too long this time, because otherwise I’d only bore you with ‘And then I met so and so, after which I talked to so and so’. Let’s not do that this time. ^^ I talked to a lot of people, let’s just keep it at that. However, naturally a picture with my dear friend and partner in crime cannot be missing! Also, I would like to mention that Emilie looked so beautiful in her Tea Party outfit! It was just so her style, she looked amazing!

Love. ♥
The raffle was announced, so everybody sat down in their seats again. But first, we got a speech. The organisers thanked everyone for coming and reflected a bit on their previous events. They thanked the special guests and we all applauded.
Then, suddenly and right behind me, someone rose to their feet and proposed to their partner! And the answer was yes! Everyone cheered and clapped and it was so beautiful! ♥
Then it was time for the special guests to pick their favourite outfits! This is always quite an exciting moment, because it’s so hard to predict who they will choose! All their choices were quite unexpected (as in; none of the winners wore the designers’ brands exclusively)!

All the special guests together.
Picture by Emilie.
Then we got another speech, where we clapped for all the individual organisers. And suddenly, everything turned very emotional, because the organisers announced that this event, their 10th Anniversary Event, would be the Tea Party Club’s last. I wasn’t surprised, but many people were shocked and cried. It was all very emotional. ♥ If you want to see a bit of the speech, please check out my video at the end of this post Then the raffle started! There were many amazing prizes and I ended up winning an adorable pink Swimmer box with my no. 100! But before the organisers would hand it over to me, Michaela requested another fierce fan snap like I had done during the Fashion Fix, so of course I obliged. Everyone cheered, it was so great! ♥ It was a precious and lovely moment! ;___;
Many more lovely prizes were won, including a Mr Yan body pillow, which was met with lots of cheering. XD Also, when Dom won a lovely Angelic Pretty set, this was naturally received with lots of cheering and laughter as well.
The Tea Party was coming to an end, so I went around with my packets of Dutch stroopwafels to give to the organisers and event staff and quickly snuck some more pictures with people. I was very happy I could have a quick picture with Imai Kira and Madame Pretty. Imai Kira used her new fan, it was so cute!

With Imai Kira and Madame Pretty. ♥
Emilie and I left the main hall and headed for the bathroom, where I got changed back into normal clothes again with her help (the toilets looked very beautiful by the way). Outside, I met with my parents who were sitting at a statue. They chatted a bit with some of my friends, while I quickly took outfit pictures and videos for other people. Then, we said goodbye to everyone and went back to the hotel. We had dinner at a restaurant close to the hotel, which was lovely, and then went to sleep. It had been a very eventful day.

Gifts of the day
And to end this post, here is the video I made of the Tea Party! This video also came out quite nicely, so please take a look if you have time! ♥


Thank you for reading! ~☆~