Goodbye 2016, Hello 2017!

Hi everyone!
Today marks the last day of 2016. I already made a 'year in review' for my birthday
(check it out here), so what is there to talk about? Last year, instead of coming up with New Year's resolutions, I decided to write down a list of what I hoped for the new year. Some things came true, some didn't. What did come true? Under the Sea turned out to be an amazing event! My singing project in May went well! I made more videos and I discovered a new, amazing anime (Yuri!!! on Ice anyone?)!

This year, I want to make a new list. Let's hope some things will come true again:
♥ I hope my singing will get better, that I will pass my final exam and graduate.
♥ I hope Omnia Vanitas will be an amazing event and that everybody will have fun.
♥ I hope I can meet up with my friends more often.
♥ I hope I can go somewhere on vacation and enjoy it.
♥ I hope I can make more videos.
♥ I hope I will be able to write more blogposts.
♥ I hope I will wear more Lolita and enjoy it.
♥ I hope I will regain some confidence.
♥ I hope I will become healthier.
♥ I hope to get better.
♥ I hope that 2017 will be a better year than 2016, for everyone.
Because it was quite a shitty year.

Yes, that sounds good.
Of course, thank you as always for reading! All your comments mean more to me than you know! And now, without further ado:

HAPPY NEWYEAR!

23 Lolita Things

Today is a very special day for me, because it’s my birthday! I am turning 24 today, wow! I never really liked the number 23, so leaving that an moving on to 24 feels kind of nice. ^^ Although I miss my 21 and 22… Haha!
Anyway, I’m rambling. So today it’s my birthday! For my last two birthdays I wrote that I didn’t have any exciting plans, but this time I can say I do! Because at the moment this blog entry gets posted, I will be in Paris! ♥ I am staying at a friend’s house for the weekend and I hope it will be tons of fun! Expect blog posts and videos about it very soon… :3
For my 23rd and 22nd birthdays I made special posts to look back at the fun Lolita-related things I did those years. Since looking back on fun things is always quite nice, I wanted to do a post like that again this year. I haven’t done that many different Lolita-related things this year unfortunately, but I did come up with 23 things! So without further ado:

23 Lolita Things That Happened
When I Was 23
As previous years I made some special collages with pictures. Just click the links to go the blogposts where I talk about these events. ^^ The pictures are not in order of time because of lay out appearance, but I am sure you will be able to match the right picture to the right event~!

1. Just after my actual birthday, I attended the Summer Tales Boutique Very Merry Christmas Tea Party. It was a wonderful party, filled with amazing food and amazing people! I was so happy to see many of my friends again. Everyone looked so amazing! I had a fantastic day. But the cherry on top was the fact that I won the outfit contest! I really liked my outfit that day, but still cannot believe this actually happened!
2. At the end of 2015, I celebrated my birthday with a wonderful Bunny-themed Lolita birthday party together with my friend Iris. It was the third time I threw a Lolita party, but the first time I celebrated it together with a friend! It was a wonderful day and everyone looked so cute in their bunny-inspired outfits! I also really liked my own outfit that day. ^^ It was an amazing day filled with beautiful and super sweet girls and wonderful presents and memories. I had a lot of fun!
3. This year I made several haul and review videos on my YouTube channel, like my Japan Haul videos and my Luminous Sanctuary unboxing video. Talking into the camera for so long was quite scary at first, but I am getting better at it and it’s just so much fun! I am really happy there are people who appreciate my long talk videos, thank you!
4. New dresses are also Lolita highlights! At the beginning of the year I managed to get my hands on the Luminous Sanctuary special set in pink. It took a lot of effort since they were a Tokyo Angelic Pretty exclusive, but later on they were also sold in regular stores haha! But at last I got mine very early! x) I still haven’t worn it (boo me), but I hope to do so soon.
5. This year I visited Summer Tales Boutique several times and always bought at least one item from them. I never wrote about these visits, since they were quite casual. But I did post on my Instagram. I am really happy Katie is putting so much effort into her brand and her shop and I want to support her where I can! Also, I pretty much want a whole collection of Pom plushies now…
6. I never wrote about this anywhere, but one of my dreams came true: singing in a performance while wearing Lolita. In March we had our big project, called ‘Les Hotspots de Paris’. The project consisted of several parts, one of them being two pieces from Offenbach’s ‘La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein’. I suggested wearing one of my “doll dresses” for this part (there wasn’t really another way to describe it to my teacher) and it was approved! It was truly a dream come true. People literally gasped when I walked onto the stage in my outfit! XD
7. On Saturday May 7th the Under the Sea main event took place. Months and months of hard work finally came together in this huge event. What an amazing day it was… Under the Sea will always have a special place in my heart. All the stressful things that had happened before got washed away (pun intended) by the actual event. So many happy faces, so many amazing people, wonderful guests, an amazing location. I think I smiled all day! I was truly and fully happy that day.
8. On Sunday May 8th the Under the Sea Tea Party took place. This Tea Party was a lot more laid back for the organisers than the main event and it was a lot of fun! Everyone looked fantastic and I am so happy to have been a part of it.

9. As you can see, Under the Sea brought me a lot of precious memories! Fistly, meeting Yu Kimura was a dream come true! What a sweet person. Her cuteness knows no limits! I am so grateful I got to meet her.
10. Secondly, meeting Akira was a second dream come true! She is such an amazing person. She is kind, funny and at the same time has this brooding energy that makes everyone around her sort of fall for her charms. She is just indescribable…
11. I was very happy I got the chance to meet Mari Nakamura and Mariko Suzuki. Both lovely people. So graceful, so thankful. Another memory I am grateful for.
12. I never dared to dream it, but it happened! Kabedon with Akira was the perfect end to a perfect weekend! I am still blushing thinking back to it, gasping for air. Aaah, no words!
13. One final Under the Sea memory, I promise! Being a part of Street Fashion Europe meant so much to me. Being a part of this group where people I barely knew cared for me was a unique experience. I learned a lot, not just about organising, but also about myself. I made a lot of new friends and finally was asked to join the group as an official member. I cried that day, I was so happy! Thank you Street Fashion Europe, for changing me for
the better.
14. Oh right, non-Under the Sea things happened as well! In June I participated in a
J-Fashion show at a local convention. I represented the Sweet Lolita style. The show was a lot of fun and I bought some nice items at the dealer room. Overall a pretty good day!
15. In July a brand new (yes pun intend again) Angelic Pretty shop opened in Paris! As a Sweet Lolita and massive Angelic Pretty lover, I was and still am over the moon of course! An actual, physical store that receives the same collections as the shops in Japan, a European Lolita’s dream come true!

16. I bought a beautiful new dress at the new Angelic Pretty shop; the Shadow Dream Carnival special set. I am incredibly happy Angelic Pretty opened a new shop and I hope I will be able to support them where I can!
17. I was really happy I got to participate in this year’s Angelic Pretty Tea Party again! The Tea Party had its good and bad sides, but all in all I had fun! I was incredibly proud of my outfit with my beloved Crystal Dream Carnival Carnival, which made me super happy!
18. An incredible highlight of the Angelic Pretty Tea Party for me was winning second best dressed in the outfit contest! I felt and still feel so incredibly honoured and happy! To be elected second best dressed while for so long I felt unattractive and downright ugly was a major boost for me! And my picture appeared in Spoon magazine!
19. Last year I had pretty much just started my YouTube channel, now I have over 30 videos and over 1300 followers! I love making videos and some of the comments I get are so sweet and positive! They really motivate me to keep going.
20. I was sent some goods to review by the lovely Lolita indie brand Fluffy Tori. A tremendous honour and I absolutely love their stuff! I will be meeting the owner in a couple of months and I am very excited!
21. Street Fashion Europe’s next event, Omnia Vanitas, takes place in Barcelona on March 18 and 19. I am incredibly excited! There is much left to be announced and I am sure it will be another great event. This year I will be an organiser again of course, so I am living the true organiser experience: I will be travelling with my friend and co-organiser Josine and we’ll be staying in an apartment. I cannot wait! Although I am also quite nervous…
22. One of the announced guests for Omnia Vanitas is the amazing Kira Imai. I am incredibly excited to meet her and buy things from her! Another guest is Victorian Maiden, which is also so amazing! Keep an eye on the OV Facebook page, because more will be announced overtime.
23. Today, when this blog entry gets posted, I will be picking up the birthday present my parents offered me: the mint Milky Swan jumperskirt by Angelic Pretty! I have loved this dress for such a long time. Although I initially loved it more in dark blue, the mint colour really grew on me and I can’t believe it will be mine. So happy. ;___;

So there you have it: all the Lolita things that have made me happy when I was 23 years old. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to come up with 23 events, but in the end I managed! Let’s hope there will be more than 24 when I look back around this time next year… ♥

Paris ‘16, Day 5 – Sightseeing and Angelic Pretty Shop

Monday July 11th was our last day in Paris. We had breakfast at the McDonald’s one final time and then went back to the hotel to pack. We were done pretty early and after checking the whole room one more time we dragged our heavy suitcases downstairs. We were allowed to leave our luggage in the hotel’s basement so we were able to walk around freely around Paris for one more day.
I don’t really remember when we decided it, but at a certain point my mom and I decided to take a bus tour again! Our metro tickets had expired at midnight, so we had to buy one day tickets to travel around Paris. One of several tourist buses, Les Cars Rouges, had a stop right in front of our hotel. This tour bus had two different routes, as our cute hotel guy showed us on a map, which gave us the perfect opportunity to travel around Paris and do what we loved so much (my mom and I adore bus rides in Paris)!
We waited for the first bus that showed up and hopped on. Unfortunately, their cash machine was broken (?) so I had to pay by credit card. But well, we got our tickets! ^^

My mom and I love tourist bus rides!
As I said before, there were two bus routes: the blue Montmartre route, which passed by our hotel, and the red classic route, which passed almost all the big sights in Paris. We decided to take the bus to the transfer point (the station where the two routes intersected) and hop on a red line bus. Then, after we’d finished the red tour, we’d visit Angelic Pretty one final time and then return on the blue line to Gare du Nord to pick up our luggage and head home. A pretty solid plan. ^^

Checking out the two bus routes on the map.
The weather was very changeable that day, but luckily it started out very nice. The sun was shining and sitting on the roof of the bus in the open was quite nice. My mom and I enjoyed just looking up at the beautiful buildings. In Paris, looking up is often a very good idea, as the buildings have so many beautiful details that can easily be overlooked.

Riding the bus in the sunshine was so nice!
We got off at the transfer station and waited a while until the red route bus arrived. The poor staff guy must get the ‘How an you see which bus takes which route?’-question at least 500 times a day! (Answer: there is a piece of paper at the front of the bus saying which route it takes, haha). We got on a red bus and got settled. ^^
To be honest, there is not that much to say about the tour other than that it was very nice. ^^ We drove past the big sights, which was very nice. The weather changed a lot, at one point it almost started raining! Luckily it never did.
I liked driving around the Arc de Triomphe and down the Champs-Elysées the most. ♥

Some of the famous sights we passed: l’Opéra, the Eiffeltower,
the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame.
I was really happy we had decided to take this tour. My mom and I just like seeing Paris from a bus (or boat) so much! It was a lot of fun. ^^

Mom and me. ♥
Finally we arrived back at the transfer point, so we got off the bus and started walking in the direction of Angelic Pretty. I wasn’t 100% sure where to go, so we just followed our instincts. We only missed the shop by one street, but this caused us to walk past a McDonald’s with McCafé and since we had gotten quite hungry we decided to have lunch there. ♥
I went to the toilet and when I came back we could carry our freshly ordered food to a cute little table outside. We had ordered hot chocolate, apple pie for my mom, cheese cake for me and some raspberry macarons. Everything was so good! ♥

Our delicious lunch!
We even had some cheeky birds flying over to our table in hopes of stealing some crumbs! My mom held up her hand and they took it right off! So brave and so cute! ♥
We went on our way again to Angelic Pretty. The store hadn’t changed much after our last visit (haha), but it was a lot more quiet. ^^

I still cannot believe we have an actual Angelic Pretty shop in Paris again!
We entered the shop and just walked around looking at pretty things. There was more room to look at dresses, so my mom and I took our time. Also, Mila was there so we chatted a bit.
Unfortunately, the necklace I was hoping to buy (a lace cross necklace) was sold out. Instead, my mom was quite enamoured with the Holy Sheep necklace, which is basically a derpy sheep wit wings wearing a cross. But because she thought it was so cute, I fell in love with it too! XD Sooo I ended up getting that one instead! My mom is actually a bad influence. x)
One of the sheep necklaces had a flaw (it missed the little cross), but I decided to get one with the cross. I paid, thanked the shop ladies and then we left the shop.

Naturally a purchase picture in front of the shop needed to be taken.
Aaah I am so happy we have a new Angelic Pretty shop now! I heard they recently painted the shop front pink! I can’t wait to see it…

A little peek into Angelic Pretty Paris…
My mom and I somehow found our way back to the tour bus transfer point and this time took a blue route bus. The route was alright, but not very spectacular. At one point I think we even almost had an accident! The bus was driving very slowly through a narrow street, when suddenly the left side (where I was sitting) drove of a small ledge and fell down at least a meter! I hurt my shoulder on the rail next to me and I am pretty sure that was not supposed to happen. It was quite scary for a moment, but we survived.
We arrived back at Gare du Nord, where my mom and I got off. We picked up our stuff and went to find something to eat for the train ride. We still had plenty of time, so we walked around for a bit and finally chose a sandwich + drink + pastry menu. Then we went to sit outside for a bit until it was time to head for the train.

Waiting in the sun.
After a while, we decided to head for our platform. And what a good decision that was! Remember how I complained there were absolutely no security measures at Amsterdam Central Station? Well, France clearly takes the terrorist threat a lot more serious! We had to stand in line and have our bags checked by an actual scanner! It took quite a long time and we had to run for our train like crazy despite being so on time! A staff lady almost threw us into the train! XD So yeah, good that they take precautions but at least mention it somewhere? Our tickets said: ‘Make sure you are at the platform 2 minutes max before the train leaves’, but no sign of any checks! Oh well, we made it in the end.
The train departed and we left Paris. I waved at the shrinking Eiffeltower ad Sacré Coeur in the distance and we ate our food.

Expensive but good train food.
The journey home felt long, but my dad and brother came to pick us up which was really nice. It had been an amazing adventure. ♥

Purchase of the day
And to end this post with, here is the video I made about our bus tour and visiting the Angelic Pretty shop! I hope you’ll enjoy it!


Thank you for reading! ~☆~