I'm not the kind of person who can dress up only to sit at home all day. I see no point in wasting the makeup and can't find motivation to lounge around in anything other than pajamas and an old t-shirt. If you do - props - but that isn't me.
Because of this, it is sometimes difficult to wear lolita and generally fashionable outfits because I need somewhere to go or someone to visit.
In comes my current boyfriend, who is a guardsman and is away one weekend every month. I've turned these periods of no communication into an opportunity to see friends who live a bit farther away than I would normally be willing to drive.
These weekend trips mean I have an excuse to wear lolita, work on my embroidery, and catch up with friends I miss a lot because they live over an hour away.
This past weekend, I had the pleasure to double dip in my friend pot. I was able to see my friend Alyssa in Fairfield (a two hour drive) and Jenna in San Ramon (a bit over an hour's drive).
Alyssa isn't in the lolita scene much any more, so I don't get any pictures of her, but we have a really nice chat when I see her. We craft together and walk her tiny dog - I think it's called a chweener?
After spending a few hours in Fairfield, I drove down to San Ramon to see Jenna. The last time I saw her was about two months ago, and it just isn't enough!
I want to ask you to tell me if you think we look alike. For some reason, every time we hang out, someone asks if we're sisters/twins/cousins/related. Not only is it kind of rude and irrelevant to ask strangers if they're related, but we find it hilarious because we don't think we look genetically linked at all. The same happens with me and Sara. We just share typical white-girl traits - long straight brown hair, English chins, big noses, straight bangs, black-rimmed glasses, ghostly pale skin, and similar height.
We spent the evening eating taco salad, embroidering, catching up, watching Top Gun (can you believe she'd never seen the classic?!) and doing face masks. Quite a relaxing evening with my best friend.
These are the kinds of activities I love devoting my time to. Always going to formal afternoon tea parties and picnics can be exhausting. They almost take the fun out of casual, simple coordinates. I notice similar sentiment on Closet of Frills, where a lot of lolitas complain about the overabundance of OTT coords that over emphasize intricate, formal outfits instead of what we actually wear most of the time. It's like a competition for who can plop the most items on our heads - but I digress. If you're interested in reading more about my rant, I have a whole post for it here.
Anyways!
The next morning we went for a pleasant walk around a park, under a bridge, and down by a creek. I had forgotten to bring a blouse, so I was afraid of being freezing, but lo and behold - I found that I forgot to move my BTSSB coat out of my car. What luck for the lazy!
I picked a bunch of wild flowers for my honey, who finds tiny buds adorable, before we headed out for coffee and more embroidery.
That face is the sign of an unhappy Ashlyn who spotted a bug on her flowers...
The point of writing this is not just to share some great photos that I was able to get, but also to share a little bit of my life with you. Too often bloggers focus on helpful posts, reviews or hauls or tutorials. These kinds of posts are fun to write and interesting to read, but after a while they start to feel the same to me.
I too am guilty of this. I write really frequently in an old-school diary, and I don't like being redundant with writing about the same life here as well. I want to try to make more personal posts relevant to fashion and your reason for even coming to my blog, but I also want to share things about myself that I'm excited about or want to talk about with you guys.
Do you find yourself wondering about the real person behind the blog like I do? Would you want to read more personal, lifestyle blogs about lolitas beyond their wardrobe?
I hope you don't mind and enjoy reading these kinds of posts as much as I enjoy writing them!
And on a final note, I feel the need to remind you that we're all a bunch of weirdos. I remember going to Berlin and worrying about how the local girls would feel about me. Of course I was completely awkward and stiff being in a new country and only half-understanding what they were saying, but I really enjoyed seeing the silly side of them. It made me realize that every lolita is a human being with stupid faces and really bad jokes just like me.
I don't know if everyone has a bit of silly in them, or if this fashion just really attracts the derps of society... but I hope you get a crack out of these amazingly timed shots of me just being me.
(I know I can't stop laughing at myself!)
Thank you for reading my blog, it really means a lot.
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I totally agree on the whole having a laugh thing! I noticed that a lot of people within the Lolita community take themselves seriously: you see photos with captions like "Sorry about my face", "I had to cover up my face because..." or "I don't know how to pose". Yes, an outfit shot that's well posed will make you feel fabulous about yourself, but don't forget that we're wearing this fashion for fun and it's ok to derp around and photograph you derping around. The sky won't fall and life will go on as normal, but you'll have some great, funny snaps to look back at and remind you of the good times.
ReplyDeleteI'm always saddened by those little comments ): April 1st is my favorite day on CoF because everyone is more silly and relaxed with themselves.
DeleteHaha, I love everything about this post!! Stuff like this is definitely great to read about along with all the tutorials and reviews. I should really dress up and spend some time with one of my friends, too, this weekend instead of just staying in. And those coord colors are gorgeous, I love the pink balanced over the wine!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! Go do that :D spending alone time is good, but dressing up is also important
DeleteHaha this is a fantastic post! That sounds like such a great way to spend time when your boyfriend is away, and a great excuse to wear lolita. I'm trying to wear the frills more casually out and about, so this was as good refreshing post to read about someone doing just that!
ReplyDeletePS Totally loving the derp photos...
Thank you so much! I feel like there's too much focus on tea parties and comm events, and less about just wearing it for fun :) I'm glad you got something out of these derpy photos!
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