Happy Cup Day

I can't let go of the past.

2011-09-09T04:10:00.000-07:00

Every exit is an entry somewhere.

Well look who it is! Fancy Emily Jane turning up at this hour, after months of Not Having Said Anything At All (well, on Happy Cup Day anyway...in reality I've been talking the hind legs off of several unsuspecting donkeys).

Tis true, tis me. But in all honestly, I'm only here to say that I'm not really here, I'm actually going to be here. My new outlet of nonsense is Love From Life, with much less "Lolita", and questionable fashion advice than HCD, and much more venturing into the many life lessons that one learns by repeatedly making stupid mistakes.

Huzzah!

Thanks for the memories my spoons.

Man Points: The First Issue

2011-01-08T15:30:00.000-08:00

Man points are not awarded by an individual. Rather, they are simply woven into the fabric of the universe

Already, so early in my Man Points acquisition, I am a failure. Turns out I should have done some research before I threw myself into this noble quest. Once I'd published my last post, I belatedly asked Google about Man Points, and thus far Google has informed me that I have already lost points for the following things:

Not having a hairy chest
Owning a cat
Lacking in the trouser department
Not being able to get the lid off something
Keeping track of Man Points

Funnily enough, the last offence was the one that cropped up most frequently.

Damn.

I'll change my tack, and instead of counting my Man Points, I'll just acknowledge that some more have been accumulated and therefore I am slightly more masculine. That'll do.

Luckily I also managed to redeem myself for not having made my own sandwich this morning, which apparently earns me some Man Points.

Thanks Mummy Emily Jane!

Man Points

2011-01-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

Beware of the man who denounces women writers; his penis is tiny and he cannot spell

It's been a week. I've spent the last week umming and ahhing over what to write. I've spent the last week not having a clue what I can write about. I've spent a week not writing. So here I am, a week later, and the best I could come up with is writing about how I have nothing to write about. Someone, please, sound the originality gong.

Now that I've decided to veer away from writing about fashion (as if I was the Fountain of All Knowledge), I've also managed to veer away from having anything to write about at all. In all fairness, it hasn't been a particularly exciting week. College returned to my schedule, I returned to work and my car returned to functionality. Poor excuses, I know.

When I mentioned restarting HCD at some point on facebook, a friend of mine from college suggested (jokingly, I believe) that I include some Man Point suggestion opportunities. Man Points, for those of you who are unaware, are Points one obtains from doing Man things. These things do not include fixing a fuse or bleeding a radiator. I will refer to the ever knowledgeable Urban Dictionary for a true definition.

1.	man points	114 up, 9 down
	Points that one receives upon the completion of a distinctly manly task. More often than not, intelligent points and man points are inversely proportional. Points received for doing stereotypical macho actions like starting a fight with a professional boxer, taunting someone to throw a dart at your face, lighting a fart on fire, or holding a scorching object in your hand for an extended period of time -Dude, I totally just walked barefoot over jagged rocks. -Wow, you really earned some major man points.

I took this suggestion seriously, and it is my personal quest to earn more of these Man Points. So far I'm on 20,000 points, all of which I earned for accidentally vomiting in plenty of holy water during a trip to India. I'm going to be taking suggestions for activities that could potentially earn me some Man Points. Suggestions can be made in person, or can be emailed to happycupday@gmail.com, at which point they will be considered by a panel of independent adjudicators in the naughty corner of my history class. Once suggestions have been deemed worthy and given a point scoring, I will then endeavour to collect these Man Points, and document my efforts on Happy Cup Day.

Let the Man Points acquisition begin!

Emily Jane swallows her pride and on with it gets

2011-01-01T16:01:00.000-08:00

The individual choice of garnishment of a burger can be an important point to the consumer in this day when individualism is an increasingly important thing to people

During the months that I spent in Quebec, I truly found out who I am. When you start afresh some place new, you can wipe the slate clean and be exactly who you want to be. I made myself into an eccentric, bubbly poser. And I loved it. When I got home, I took some of it with me, and left other bits behind. Responsibility calls. Employment, education, politics. The months passed and I left something behind that had shaped who I had become.

So when the yearning to restart Happy Cup Day became stronger, I batted the feeling away.

There's a nagging voice in my head that squeals 'Reviving it now will only highlight to everyone that you ever stopped it in the first place!'

It's true. I've let HCD slip through my fingers before, and this isn't the first time that I've promised to get back on the wagon.

However, on a whim (which is how I make most decisions), I have decided that 2011 is a year to face the music. A year to stop procrastinating, swallow my pride, and hurry up and do the things that I want to do. I have already finalised my university choices. Next stop, Happy Cup Day.

This resolution (along with a promise to speak French more) doesn't change the fact that I'm a busy lady these days. I'm on an intensive college course, and I work at my local shopping centre. I also get involved with local politics every now and then, and soon I'll be starting rehearsals for a play. Throw in a family, a 3-in-1 best friend, a boyfriend, and some form of occasional social life, it doesn't really sound like I've got the time to be writing here like I used to.

Happy Cup Day was originally a time filler; now the dynamic has changed. So what will HCD be now? I've got no clue. All I know is that I've missed ranting wildly to my audience of spoons. At the moment, that's all that matters.

Start of HCD 2010 Start of HCD 2011

2011...official year of On With It Get

For Our Information

2010-08-02T01:10:00.000-07:00

Always gotta keep busy or the voices start telling me to do wild things

It's been almost two months since I've written a post here. My past few days have been spent considering how on earth I can get Happy Cup Day running again after all this time. The weeks before that, however, were spent running around like a headless chicken.

Here are the major events that have sculpted the last eight weeks:

PROM

END OF STAY IN BAIE COMEAU

END OF YEAR IN QUEBEC

START OF LIFE

"SURPRISE" PARTY

HOLIDAY TO DEVON

So this morning I scribbled down a post to let you know I'm still here. I've been getting such positive HCD feedback recently, and it only seemed right that I should let you know that I've not gone anywhere.

On top of that, HCD is going to be overhauled (a bit). Since I started Happy Cup Day, my lifestyle dynamic has changed. So over the next month or so, the dynamic here at HCD will be changing too, and what I'd like most is feedback!

Therefore, if there's anything you liked about HCD, or didn't like, or would like to see in the future, please let me know. You can reach me at happycupday@gmail.com and constructive (and even non-constructive) criticism is ~~occasionally~~ always gratefully received.

Finally I'd just like to say a massive THANK YOU to all the anonymous Spoons (you know who you are) who, for some reason or other, couldn't work the google account and sign up publicly for Happy Cup Day. I'm so thrilled that you've been following anyway, and I apologise for seemingly neglecting you in the past.

There you have it....Emily Jane is back.

Babelcute: Paintbox

2010-06-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

The world today doesn't make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?

You never realised primary school art class would come in handy? Search deep into the caverns of your memory and try to bring back your Colour Wheel knowledge. Because what better way is there to compliment the impending Summer than with a palette of bright colours?! (Also works to brighten up a cloudy sky...)

This look is firstly about simple, block colours - think primary, secondary and tertiary at a push. Secondly, look to chose colours from across the wheel. We know neighbours typically look good together, now go for a bit of contrast. Be warned - red and green will always be Christmas, so consider fuscia pinks instead. Thirdly, don't over do it. Two colours are sufficient (three maaaaax).

How I do it: Nothing like a bit of sun, sea and sand.

Dress: 725 Walmart

Belt: Matalan

Headband: gift!

Bright idea: Tie in your make-up with your outfit. Go for eyes or lips, and match away. Make sure the colour is identical - turquoise eyes and royal blue dresses don't cut the mustard. This is strictly for the brave at heart.

A better way of doing it:

A look that works just as well from the runway as in real life...and about time too!

Wedding season anyone? We weren't even thinking about breaking the only-the-bride-wears-white rule.

I love LOVE the rule obliterating red and pink combo shoes. If you're going to go for it, make sure it's obvious you know that your pinks and reds aren't the same colour, rather than looking like you've made some sort of classic error...

Black and feature colour? That's where I start sulking because you've missed the point. Remember the paintboxes with little squares of bright colours? Remember what happened when you mixed black with another colour? It went all murky and mucky. Black doesn't belong here. If you're seriously craving, make black your accessory colour and go for a super bright as your base (beware of Halloween pairings...).

The proof: I originally wrote this article by hand in the local cafe whilst wearing the blue and yellow outift featured above. A lady came in and sat at the table next to me.

¨You look like something out of a film.¨

¨Excuse me?¨

¨Taking tea, writing, all beautiful.¨

¨Haha, thank you.¨

¨Yes. I love what you are wearing. Very bright. Yes, beautiful, beautiful. You know who has the best style? How old are you?¨

¨I'm eighteen.¨

¨Exactly. The young women of today, that's who has the best style. If I was young, you're how I would look, how I would dress.¨

Of course, if you want to go all out, there's only one way to do it...

Bright colours = happy mood.

Don't argue with maths.

Or art.

Or me.

Babelcute: Kimono

2010-05-29T06:13:00.000-07:00

Akinasu wa yome ni kuwasuna

I am what is known as a Changed Lady. Since January I've been going through a development

that started with Lolita, briefly near Hime Gyaru, through Dolly Kei, onto Mori, and then spread out into God Knows What. I love so many different fashions from Japan, but I'm also branching into more high fashion, and I'm becoming interested in Paris fashions right now...(but that's not the point).

For those who are not particularly interested in fashion any further East than New York, any mention of 'Japanese fashion' often conjures up a mental image of a Geisha, which is not quite what we're about.

But maybe we should be taking the hint...

Kimonos graced the pages of the W*C summer catalogue (thanks to Moments Like Diamonds for the information, check out the post here), and have similarly been on the radar of high fashion...

Alexander McQueen: Royal Kimono from the fall 2010 collection

Again from McQueen, a new approach on the traditional Geisha shoe (ok, so it's not a Kimono, but they're freaking awesome)

Wafrica: Japan + Africa = Ultimate multiculturalism (yay!)

Curly Collection: Pop art colours make for an adorable Kimono look

How to get your fix...

subtly: The Furies - Black Cropped Kimono Shirt

unashamedly: Bodyline - Yukata L053

Want to know what the quote for this post means?

Don't let your daughter-in-law eat your autumn eggplants....

Fashion Show

2010-05-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

Bravery never goes out of fashion.

Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th of May saw the students of the Polyvalente des Baies, sec 5, parading around, doing ridiculous poses and generally having a hilarious night. Yes, we had a fashion show, and a jolly good one at that. I modeled for two shops, 33/45 and a local costumière.

Of course, all us models were upstaged by Québec's answer to the Backstreet Boys.

33/45 kit with HCD's ninja resident

Carmen Miranda meets Captain Hook from Lili LaBelle, with HCD's Alexe
(Kindly photobombed by Catherine)

Which Backstreet Boy is gay...?

Babelcute: Nom Nom Nom Necklaces

2010-05-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

Everything is a miracle. It is a miracle that one does not dissolve in one's bath like a lump of sugar.

Every seven year old girl throughout the nineties knew that the very height of practical fashion lay with the Candy Necklace. Both adorable and delicious (it goes with everything daaahling) no party dress was complete without one. However, the nineties passed us, as have the noughties, and with that elapse of time we’ve come to notice some flaws. For example, we now know that we cannot resist from have a nibble within the first ten minutes of donning the necklace. Of course, it looks odd when your accessories are half eaten, so you absolutely have to finish. So what are you left with? Mangled elastic jewelery, a train of sticky spit on your dress (dry clean only? Don't even think about it) and a rather serious sugar high. How bubble bursting.

Luckily, us grown up ladies (for that is what we are now) have been provided with another option.

Betsey Johnson: You cannot go wrong here. Sweet or savory, necklace or bracelet, I assure you you'll find something to love. My personal favourites are the Swiss cheese necklace and picnic charm bracelet.

Aldo: A healthy option!

Forever 21: Strawberries, apples and pears...oh my!

Fredflare: This adorable ring is genuinely finger lickin' good.

And finally from Fredflare, my absolute favourite of the bunch!

Is it weird that my lunch choice for the day was inspired by earrings?...I think not.

Thirteenth Fan!

2010-05-16T06:23:00.000-07:00

Whereupon, at the tender age of thirteen, I set upon the path of playing nothing but hookers.

It's so good to see a new face on the block...well. Not quite a face. A shoe. And an entirely adorable shoe at that.

So a warm Happy Cup Day welcome to the fairly anonymous L-Ro!

If anyone (I'm mainly talking to L-Ro now..) can give me any more information, I'd be grateful (:

Babelcute: Sick Chic

2010-05-16T05:05:00.000-07:00

A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold.

And you thought your cold had gone with the winter?

The sniffles are back with a vengeance. The constant flicking between wet-an'-windy Spring, and almost Summer sunny days means most of us have caught a cold (me included...sniff, cough, curl up and die). Of course, only the most fashionable of the elite can pull of this trend with panache.

So here's how to work Sick Chic.

Please note: if you aren't fashion forward enough to have caught a cold, drinking too much tequila or eating questionable shellfish will also do the trick.

How I do It:

A better way of doing it:

Work your inner Marilyn, and look gorgeous without your make up.

Make like a catwalk queen and venture out in public in your fabulous pyjamas (Ashish AW10)

Time for a cat nap! (Find it here)

You need sleep! I don't think you'd need telling twice with these adorable Tokidoki pillow cases...

If all else fails and you're still feeling miserable, deny all knowledge of attempting to be chic, assume the foetal position under the covers and hibernate until you feel better.

1000 Views

2010-05-06T22:28:00.000-07:00

Yay :D

Emily Jane, right now

2010-05-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

We hope the "real" person behind the words will be revealed as ignominiously as a shapeless snail without its shapely shell.

It is 12:39 AM.
I am in the basement, using the newly fixed computer. It has an overly massive screen for some reason. And blogspot doesn't work the same way, which means I spent half an hour after finishing my last post just trying to organise the photos, then I gave up.
I am catching up on HCD between looking at election results and feeling nervous.
My hair is freshly dyed, but I'm letting it air dry so I'm not sure what colour it is. More orange than red by the looks of things.
I am drinking caffeinated green tea with mint and resisting the temptation to go make strawberry jelly.
My brain is fuzzy from a seriously long day of end of year French writing exams, election results and jogging.
I spent many dollars today on lovely smelling products, including a moisturiser that makes me smell like a giant, walking, talking (blogging!) blob of marzipan.
The heating is off. My hands are cold.

Only 130 seats left to go...

New York "Coordinates"

2010-05-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the more you think about an outfit, the worse it gets

Coordinates goes in inverted commas because, frankly, I didn't put thhaaat much thought into what I was wearing...practicality rules! I didn't specifically take any photos of my outfits, so some of these are a bit dodgy (:

So for the 16 hour journey I went for 'very comfortable yet bright'. I picked up the nickname of 'Miss Coloré' (Miss Colourful).
I Love NY: Times Square (2XXL, shoulders cut)
Leggings: Topshop
Jacket: Eclipse
Slippers (out of shot): Prossy

Change of clothes in a bathroom somewhere near the border...clearly my nickname stuck (:
Dress: Topshop
Cardie: Primark with Beatrix Potter buttons
Trainers: Babycham from Schuh
Head bow: Gift (:
Bag: Thrifted
Bottle carrier: India
Glasses: Specsavers

So this may not be the best photo of my outfit, but Ginger Spice just got replaced, and this was one of the highlights of my LIFE.
Dress: Stitches
Socks: Dollarama
Shoes (out of shot): Batman Converse from Office
Head band: Ardene
Union Jack Scarf (attached to bag, hiding behind Pret a Manger doggy bag): River Island

My last day coordinate was something I bought in New York, which will be featured in an upcoming post :D

For coming home (another 16 hours on a bus) I went for 'I was just in New York, incase you didn't know...and I'm tired'.

Hoodie: Steps, Pier 17, NY
Nightie: Wal Mart
PJ bottoms: Primark

Birthday Highlights

2010-05-03T13:32:00.000-07:00

I am a very lucky person.

I am also a very grateful person.

Be warned; this is a bit long...

My 18th birthday was excellent fun. I popped hydrogen balloons, ate pie and had Happy Birthday sung to me at least ten times...in English as well as French.

I'd love to take the time here to write about each present I received, say my thanks yous, give my comments, but I'll save that for my thank you notes (they are coming, just give me time!). I don't ever really make a birthday list. I just drop hints as to things I'd like. So imagine my delight when my friends and family keep hold of these clues, sometimes for months, and then choose a gift according to this sliver of information. The time, effort and soul that goes into everything makes my presents absolutely priceless. From training shoes and sleep masks, through spending money and rainbow scarves, to interesting books and mouth painted cards, they're all appreciated, they're all kind, and they're all perfect.

I will, however, 'brush' over the Red Cross Birthday Box I received from my immediate family. I sat on my bed saturday afternoon with my presents laid out before me, labelled 1-18 (I didn't get the significance of that straight away - bravo Emily Jane). Each tag had a personal comment or clue. I was in aawwweee.

I will never be able to thank my family (including Zoe, of course) enough for these gifts. My mother being the catalyst behind the operation deserves a lot of praise. I'm sitting trying to find the words to express my gratitude, but minutes pass without my pen hitting paper; I am physically not able to give voice to how opening them made me feel. Delighted. Inspired. Emotional! The only feedback that I've given to my mum so far was over the phone, and she was in a rush.

'It was like a Happy Cup Day orgasm.'

You see, mummy Emily Jane appears to have absorbed Happy Cup Day by some sort of freaky cyber osmosis.

Does it help that she's the editor? No doubt.

Broken Computer

2010-04-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

Love is a medicine for the sickness of the world; a prescription often given, too rarely taken.

Our home computer has been hit by a massively massive virus, and I am forebidden from touching, looking or even thinking about going within a 10 metre radius. We are anxiously awaiting the return of my host brother from university so that he can fix it. Luckily, this will be next week. Due to this, clearly I'm not going to be posting very much, not that I've been posting all that regularly anyway.

Happy Cup Day the blog was started during a time in which I didn't always have a lot to do. It was an excellent outlet, and I thoroughly enjoyed writing regularly. Things started to pick up here, and some of my priorities had to take a back bench. Originally I just started going to bed at 3AM, but for those of you that have experienced 'Emily Jane When Tired', you'll know it's not pleasant. So HCD has been neglected of late, which makes me sad. However, it would be foolish to spend time writing in English, when I have the opportunity to socialise in French (that being The Idea of the trip).

On that note, I can make no promises as to a full recovery of HCD as of May, but what I do promise is to try. I'm posting this now after having braved horrific winds and walked to the library, and I'm planning to do the same again over the weekend. I have some articles in mind including:

New York Haul
Babelcute: tourist
Birthday Highlights
Lazy Girl's Guide to a LoliShag (haircut!..what you do in your spare time in none of my business...)

Yes, you did read 'Birthday Highlights' correctly. Tomorrow, I turn 18. Right now, I am on the very brink of womanhood.

To be honest, I think I felt more like an adult when I was fourteen...

Back from New York

2010-04-25T16:55:00.000-07:00

I am so tired I think my eyes are going to fall out.

More importantly, my trip to NY was perfect. I spent way too long on buses, I didn't have as many showers as I'd have liked to, and I ate like a pig. My photos are a mix-matched collection...sometimes blurry, oddly angled, pouty, posey....I love them.

It was my second time in New York. First time round, it was hot. And smelly. I liked New York, but I couldn't exactly see what the major major fuss was about.

I must have had my eyes closed.

This time round, I fell in love. The diversity, the noise, the personalities. It could be so easy to feel lonely in such a big city, but the feeling of community is so strong, and I felt right at home. Just taking a slow walk around Times Square I was thinking 'This is it, ma fille.'

New York; you're mine...

Stupidly Short

2010-04-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

I have minus amounts of time so this is short.

Goodbye!

In one hours time I shall be on my way to New York...17 hour bus drive, here I come.

See you Sunday!

I'm nearly there New York...are you ready?

Hair Cut

2010-04-20T17:13:00.000-07:00

Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair...

As you may have noticed in the past couple of posts, my hair colour has changed...again. I used Fuxia - Vitality's Art Absolute Pure. You buy the colourant and the peroxide seperately and mix it up yourself. I ignored this, just bought the colourant, deposited it on my head and waited forty minutes. Where my hair has been previously coloured, it's taken rather nicely, but I am still left with a cm of Emily Jane au naturel.

Then today I got a hair cut. The ends of my hair were deady dead dead, so I decided to be severe

and have everything that wasn't perfect cut off. I returned from the hairdressers (half blow dry, then long walk in the wind) looking like this:

which is frankly, a less-than-inspiring hair cut. I got that 'oooooh God, what have I done' feeling in my belly.

However, I am not one to give up without a fight, so 15 minutes and some hair spray later, it looked like this:

What is the moral of the story?

Hair cuts don't have to be scary, and long live hair spray.

Leaving Meal Outfit

2010-04-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

Vanity is my favourite sin.

I have a collection of photos taken over the past week or so of various outfits...are a run down of some of my outfits something we're interested in? Leave a comment or get in touch at happycupday@gmail.com and let me know. Of course you could just pull me over in the street. Whatever tickles your pickle.

Dress: Yumi

Headband: Ardene

Tights: New Look

Shoes: Carvella

And this is the make-up I teamed with it.

"The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love colour the most."

I must be on the right track then...

Tarot and goodbyes

2010-04-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

I've never been a spiritual or superstitious person. When I was seven I broke a mirror, and the ensuing years leading up to my fourteenth birthday were certainly not marred by bad luck. I do have a soft spot for fate however, and the idea of serendipity. This is backed fiercely by my romanticism, rather than anything faith driven. Tarot, I find rather fascinating. Not that I believe necessarily that there is something bigger than us at work when we draw cards, but our reactions to the ensuing results are a fascinating way of realising what we actually want the cards to say. Therefore, we ourselves answer our original question. So when Bridget asked if I wanted her to pull my cards, naturally I jumped at the chance.

Bridge says:

for "the best action to take" you got the knight of swords, who represents obstacles that must be overcome if progress is to take place

it also sometimes represents a man bursting into your life

watch out for that

lol

Emily Jane says:

bursting is always appreciated

* * * *

Sunday night was the goodbye meal for another exchange student, who hails from Alberta. Alexandria has been excellent to have around for the past three months. We've engaged in everything from castle building and biscuits, through whale orientated political parties, to Calamari and piggy banks. Accompanied always (seriously, without fail) by talk of beautiful men. The only person to truly understand an exchange student is another one, so thank you, Alex, for letting me rant, and for yourself ranting in return.

There's no-one here but Alex

I hope you never forget what you have learnt here, and that one day, perhaps, you'll be able to smile without looking stoned.

(I'm working on that too..)

Twelfth Fan!

2010-04-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

The best leaders inspire by example. When that's not an option, brute intimidation works pretty well, too.

Goodness me, a happy day indeed.

Violet LeBeaux has become the latest follower of Happy Cup Day, and I am over the moon. I actually did a little victory dance in my swivel chair (the second victory dance of the day...how victorious I am feeling!). Her blog is inspiring, her attititude humbling, and her nails..well they're just freaking awesome. Truly the Queen of the Hime Gyarus.

So without much further ado, a warm Happy Cup Day welcome to Violet!

I dare say you haven't had much practice, said the Queen. When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast...

Lazy Girl's Guide to Deco

2010-04-16T21:50:00.000-07:00

She may very well pass for forty-three in the dusk, with a light behind her

You will need:

Cheap hand-held mirror
Snacks
Large flat backed jewels
Short attention span
Craft glue
Pyjamas

Step one: Arrange self comfortably on bed with most of the above

Step two: Realise you've forgotten something vital

Step three: Haul ass out of bed and get it

Step four: Apply glue to individual jewel and, starting in the middle, apply in a mildly haphazard manner.

Step five: Attempt to not use the same jewel twice in the same area

Step six: Perfect art of eating whilst crafting, taking care not to glue down snacks, or snack on glue

Step seven: Get bored half way through and take a nap

Step eight: Wake up several hours later, confused

Step nine: Realise that it's taking too long, and decide to bodge it

Step ten: Apply glue willy-nilly to back of mirror and stick on whichever jewel comes to hand

Step eleven: Get frustrated that only certain shapes are left, and that they're all the same colour

Step twelve: Rush finish job

Step thirteen: Camera whore excessively with finished product

Step fourteen: Vow never to attempt any sort of deco again

Step fifteen: Hide epic failure behind a "witty" blog post

Step sixteen: Go to Violet LeBeaux's blog

Step seventeen: Look jealously at her deco skills

Step eighteen: Forget step fourteen

Step nineteen: Order cabochons and tiny diamontés from the internet

Step twenty: Embark on next deco adventure

It's not denial. I'm just selective about the reality I accept...

Cunning Plan: Project Pink

2010-04-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

I believe I will dip my pink-and-white body in yon Roman tub. I feel a bit gritty after the affairs of the day.

Personally, I believed that one was either a pink person, or a red person, but never both. This was reflected by the sheer volume of red things I possessed: camera, shoes, hair, iPod, gloves, carpet, lips...just to name a few. But recently I've felt a real longing for more pink.

On that note, here is the plan in all its simplicity:

if pink is an option, pink is the answer.

So far I've been taking baby steps...my pink highlighter has been getting a lot of action recently, along with the only pink item of clothing I own (yes, that is Blossom from the Powerpuff Girls).

I've also purchased two pink lipsticks and a pair of pink slippers.

I'm heading off to New York next Wednesday with the school (you cannot appreciate how excited I am), and man, oh man, I am going to have a pink field day.

Weeeeee'lllll drink a drink a drink to lily the pink the pink the pink...

Sneaky Peeklet

2010-04-11T19:59:00.000-07:00

If I stand here, I can see the Little Red Haired girl when she comes out of her house...of course, if she sees me peeking around this tree, she'll think I'm the dumbest person in the world...

A teeny peek at my prom dress...I couldn't resist (:

I am real

2010-04-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

"...Likewise, if you look “just nice” in person, you will look “a bit on the plump side” in photos. True, there’s this operating theatre known as Photoshop and we can always perform digital surgery on ourselves."

I usually give credit when I quote from blogs, but not today. In this person's defence, the end of the article is more in defence of not having to skinny down. But still..

Photoshopping...really?! I read this and was astonished.

For me, the blogging world is somewhere we can turn to to follow examples of real people. Of real people, away from the bright lights and high expectations of the glossy pages.

But us real girls get belly rolls when we sit down, our skin isn't always clear, our arms do a little bingo wing jiggling when we wave, and patterned socks distort over our calves. This is all oh so true for me; but my god, I am so deliriously happy with myself right now.

Underneath hair dye, make up, eccentric clothes, high heels and hold em up and in bras, we are just girls. We are girls that make mistakes. We are girls that succeed. We are girls that write. When we go to bed we are nothing but our natural state. And it is essential that we are happy like that, because otherwise, what exactly are we happy with?

So to those of you who photoshop before you reveal, please feel free to go ahead. I must say, it's a mighty skill to be able to use this software so effectively. I have minus amounts of skill in this department...even if I wanted to photoshop myself, I couldn't. Well done for perfecting this art, as art it is, just as it is art when we sculpt our hair and paint our faces.

But now, with my 12 megapixel Holly, I promise you that I will never, ever, photoshop photos of myself.

Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! — I have as much soul as you — and full as much heart!

She's making a comeback

2010-04-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

A lot of people are waiting for Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi to come back -- but they are gone. We are it. It is up to us. It is up to you.

I was gone for a week. A week of being extremely busy for seemingly no apparent reason. A week of never eating dinner at home, of walking a lot, and of talking in English more than I probably should have done. Yet Happy Cup Day was always at the back of my mind, niggling, waiting.

I have, however, managed to not only buy a new camera (yay!) but also a prom dress!

And there she is, my new camera! Her name is Holly.

You'll have to wait til June to see my dress though...

She's a real girl

2010-04-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

They used a doll when I fall through the ceiling

Today brought forth another glorious day. I ate way too much chocolate, spent a lot of time with my host family, and finished the day by devouring a fairly sizeable chunk of rabbit. The cuter the better, that's what I say.

I made the most of the fantastic weather by taking another long walk. I effectively wore this outfit, although this picture was taken a couple of weeks ago (clearly, as I am now camera-less). I also had knee highs and my coat (it may have been nice out, but it's not summer yet!). All along the path in the park, strangers were saying 'Bonjour', older men were dipping their caps, and little girls were grinning inanely at me.

Blank minded, I turned the corner at the end of the path and entered the marina. Hanging on to her father was a tiny girl, no more than four years old, and the cutest little thing you've seen in your life. She pulled on her daddy's hand, pointed at me and said 'Papa, papa....c'est une vraie poupée!' (Dad, dad...it's a real doll!).

Best compliment I've had this year? I think it just might've been...

Easter, realisations and a confession.

2010-04-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hearing nuns' confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn

I warn you, this is one of those posts.

I'll start with the confession; I lost my camera.

The weather here was gorgeous, then suddenly snowy and horrible, then generally a bit miserable. Yesterday it got up to 6C, so I went for a really long walk with my camera. I ended up walking all the way to Dollarama, and buying my first, timid, deco supplies (more on that later). This is a good 50 minute brisk walk each way, but I did a massive amount of camera whoring in the sunshine, and all was good. Around 5pm, I arrived at the church which overlooks the park and the river, and isn't further than five minutes walk from my house. I specifically remember taking out my camera to take a picture of the park, because a sudden fog had descended. After that, I have no clue.

Several hours later, at home, I wanted to upload my pictures to the computer. My camera was nowhere to be found. I searched through the bags, my various pockets, the kitchen, the hall, the living room, my room, but to no avail. I figured I was just overlooking it.

Today I tried again. I searched in all the same places, several times, and many new places despite knowing my camera wouldn't be there (bags I hadn't used for weeks, drawers in the kitchen I hadn't opened, the bathroom I never use...etc). Nada. I was so frustrated. Partially because that was my camera, which I use a lot, and it was a gift, and it was expensive, and that's generally really annoying (sorry parents...subtle way of admiting it huh?). But mostly I was annoyed because I just could not understand how it could go missing. If my last picture had been taken in a shop, or a bathroom, I can see myself putting the camera down and walking off without it. But in the middle of a church car park? Who puts a camera down in the middle of a church car park?!

A bad and highly frustrated mood descended upon me. Outside it was even more beautiful than the day before, with a temperature of around 12C. I could see many people outside walking to the park to appreciate the fantastic weather. And here I was, stuck inside, hopelessly yet tirelessly looking for my camera.

Sod it, I thought. I'm going out.

I went upstairs to get changed, and in a last ditch attempt, I completely emptied the bag I had taken with me the previous day. A bag in which I found something. Not a camera, sadly, but instead a camera sized hole.

So thaaaat's what happened to it.

Feeling weirdly relieved, I went to the park.

There were so many people, it was unreal. And I walked along beside the river, this river that flows not only through the heart of Québec, but also through the souls of its people. Just listen to music from Québec; I assure you at some point they'll sing about the St Laurent. I greeted everyone, the many I didn't know, and the few that I did recognise.

Sun shining on my face, a light breeze in my hair, I realised something. In the end, all things go. We do not use everything forever, and there comes a time when everything is used for one last time. I've had that camera for two years; it was a birthday present from my parents. I loved its red casing. I loved its speed. I loved its size. The fact that it frequently ran out of battery, the self-timer photos were blurry whether I used flash or not, and the memory card flap often got stuck didn't bother me too much. I felt sad for the loss of my camera, but I realised you can't let these things get to you. Mourn for your lost gadget, and then keep walking.

I reached an area of the park without any people. The ground was flooded from the rapidly melting snow and made for a rather watery walk. I stopped and listened. I heard the birds in their late afternoon song. I heard the river, with the tide going out. I heard the factory...the reason that the town is even there, the job provider, money maker, paper producer. It was so uncomplicated.

I ended up walking to the Manoir du Cafe, to have a sit down and a tisane. So I sat down at my usual table, and low-and-behold, I knew one of the ladies sitting at the table next to mine. She's the mother of one of the girls in the gospel choir, and she gives me a lift to and from choir each week. She was with her sister, who, by a great coincidence, used to live in London.

An hour, a cranberry tisane and a varied conversation passed quickly. It was a pleasure to speak of my country with one who knows it. There are many flaws in my land, yet I feel such a strong connection to it and to my life there, despite being so far away. Maybe that's why I feel it so acutely; you don't know what you've got til it's (or you're) gone. I really enjoyed the conversation, and felt honoured when my new friend insisted on paying for my drink.

So there I was, exactly twenty four hours later, in the same spot in the church car park over looking the park and the river. But today, the air was clear, and I could see the river going on for miles and miles. I took a mental picture.

And it was there, where I lost my camera, that I found what I would like.

I would like to go back to Africa.

Happy Easter, everyone (:

Eleventh Fan...Fifty Posts!

2010-04-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

All good books have one thing in common - they are truer than if they had really happened.

So here we are again, welcoming a new reader to the pack, a new friend to the midst, a new spoon to the drawer.

I stumbled across Sophia Alexandra's blog, No No Deja Vu, by accident, and discovered that we have rather a lot of things in common. I also discovered that she takes some excellently eccentric photos of herself...yes, I do occasionally wish I was made of candy. She's also the most striking person I've come across in the cyber world...which is saying something.

So a warm Happy Cup Day welcome to Sophia!

This post also happens to mark the 50th post...so a big thank you to my spoons (:

Emily Jane Experiments: Eyelashes

2010-04-02T22:08:00.000-07:00

Every experiment, by multitudes or by individuals, that has a sensual and selfish aim, will fail

...is the aim 'To have eyelashes that look like grass' sensual or selfish?

No matter; either way, my experiment went very well. Thank you.

I've always had mighty difficulties with applying fake eyelashes, and had never (until the other day) successfully applied a set to my face.

The only eyelashes I have are green, with flowers on, that were sent to me by my mother this christmas. This did not discourage me in the slightest, and spent a good couple of minutes armed with a pair of tweasers, looking down into a mirror (that's the key!), brandishing grass-lashes. Then suddenly there I was, standing in my room, surprised by the fact I'd succeeded, not reaalllyy knowing what to do. Of course, there was only one thing to do.

Camera whore!

Of course, the second photo doesn't show much eyelashes wise, I just included this gratuitous belly shot because I have been working hard on said midriff.

So take that society!

Just for the record, I know I'm not hime gyaru, but...first say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.

Thanks Epictetus (:

MORI GYARU

2010-04-02T21:57:00.000-07:00

This is it baby.

Natural, ethnic, with a gal twist?!

SIGN ME UP :D

Check out Mitsu's Mori Gyaru article at Universal Doll

Babelcute: nature inspired jewellery

2010-03-31T13:49:00.000-07:00

Everything in nature is lyrical in its ideal essence, tragic in its fate, and comic in its existence

Mori girls rejoice; nature is back. Rather than the stereotypical candy-coloured babies of spring, think graceful. Cut-out metal necklaces, light bangles, tree-inspired earrings. Muted gold or silver..and nothing too brash or fancy. Think 'lovingly used'.

Dainty, elegant, natural.

How I do it: my favourite necklace is a cut out sparrow (Claire's, 5$, 2007). I've worn it so much that the corners appear to be rusting, but I argue that this adds to the charm. I also had a snake bangle (Topshop, 20$, same-day-in-2007), but I wore it too much, and the spring broke..sob, sob, die inside, sob.

A better way of doing it:

These leaf inspired earrings from Shop Suey Boutique have a worn in look that I really like.

This looks familiar...do an Emily Jane with this sparrow from Fred Flare

Upside-down tree is the way to go. Very foresty from Sarah Hood

Let your inner forest girl go wild...

Les Gourgounes D'or

2010-03-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the gratefully and appreciating heart

There is an award ceremony at my school here in Québec every year. The students in the fifth (last!) year vote for the funniest, the most charming etc in their class.

It meant absolutely the world to me that, despite having only been here for seven months, I was nominated for and won the prize for the most original girl. I was so chuffed I nearly cried...seriously. Words cannot describe how pleased I was, am, will always be.

Donc, merci beaucoup mes amies. Je vous aimez beaucoup (:

Trial and error: headscarves

2010-03-27T20:02:00.000-07:00

Milk was a bad choice.

Yesterday I managed to achieve a fringe so perfectly rolled, Betty Paige would have been proud. I decided to team this with a headscarf, tied in a fabulously floppy bow that perched unashamedly on the side of my head. Wearing retro disco pants (my mother's, circa 1978) and a bell sleeved top, this would be my first time at school with such head gear; I was ready.

Yesterday I learnt two important lessons:

The Polyvalente des Baies of Baie Comeau is not ready for fabulously floppy bows
Headscarves do not work whilst playing l'intercross

After spending the morning with people staring, pointing, laughing and, most annoyingly, poking (thanks Jérome) the fabulous floppy bow, part of me wanted to abandon ship when I went home for lunch. But I did not! Abuse and rejection of excellent headwear would not stop me; I would not bow to the demands of society!

At last period I had l'intercross. This sport is relatively new to me, and I'm not particularly good. No matter! I dove in enthusiastically, the wind blowing through my fabulously floppy bow, glasses askew, one yellow Reebok abandoned somewhere near our defense. Miraculously, I has just intercepted and caught the ball in my net-on-a-stick, and was sprinting towards the opposition's goal in a blaze of glory. I had five seconds after catching the ball to pass or to score, or the ball would be given to the other time. At second four, my fabulously floppy bow fabulously flopped over my eyes.

Time slowed; I decided to throw the ball in my interpretive direction and hope for the best. The five-second whistle blew just after the ball left my net-on-a-stick, and I pushed the fabulously floppy bow out of my eyes just in time to appreciate my quick tactical decision.

Unfortunately, I have found that life isn't quite an American teen movie. So the ball didn't soar gracefully in slo mo into the goal. The crowd didn't roar. I wasn't lifted onto the shoulders of my team mates. There was no parade through the school corridors. I have not started a fashion for fabulously floppy bows. My name hasn't gone down in history books as the coolest exchange student of all time.

I managed to catch the nano-second where my inexperted-ly flung ball struck the upper thigh of my unsuspecting team mate, was consequently taken by a member of the opposition, who then, sprinting down the pitch in a genuine blaze of glory, scored a goal and won the game.

Bummer.

However, I will not be shied by this experience. Coincidentally, Super Kawaii Mama posted a 3 Easy Ways to Tie a Headscarf - Retro Style video yesterday that I will be experimenting with.

There are no fabulously floppy bows, but maybe that's for the best...

Mori Girl Checklist

2010-03-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

On the journey that started strictly with Classic Lolita, I've discovered so many subcultures and sidelines that I've lost count. My head is spinning; all I know is that I've fallen in love with Japanese fashions. From the deco of the Hime Gyaru, between the sugary Sweet and the victoriana Gothic Lolitas, through to the pop colours of Fairy Kei....I love it all.

Recently I've really been captured by Mori Girl and Dolly Style. I love the textures, the layers, the soft curls and the super vintage accessories. After reading Lolita Charm's Lolita Checklist, I hungrily fell upon the Mori Girl checklist and scored a respectable 65% straight off the bat!

I wasn't sure what to think of the last point...' A friend told you that you look like you belong in a forest'...I feel like this would in reality be followed by 'So get back to your cave, bear face'...

Babelcute: Skinny belts

2010-03-25T13:16:00.000-07:00

Illusions are the mirages of Hope

So cheap. So instant. So flattering. So cute!

I really love this. Just adding a skinny belt over the top of your cardie instantly updates your look. This pulls the attention into your fabulous waist, whilst the thiness of the belt keeps it dainty.

How I do it: I have an adorable skinny gingham belt with a buckle-bow that I got for 2$ at Primark, but I left it in England (seriously..what is my problem?!). Luckily I have a fairly-slim belt with a pink, sparkly, Levis buckle that works nicely.

A better way of doing it:

J Crew has many skinny belts, but my favourite is this flowered sash for 35$.

This girl (photo from Tokyo Fashion) has pulled her dress in with a skinny belt. I love that her tights match her hair :P

These belts from Chadwicks are just 19.99$. I personally love the blue one (:

Choosing a belt with a centre detail draws the attention right to the centre of your waist, creating the illusion of a teeny waist.

I love my big cardies because they easily fit over my puffy sleeves, and they are so freaking comfortable :D...but I was finding they were hiding my waist.

Not any more...

Lolifish: Dior Lace Poudrier Dentelle (and a long and rambling realisation)

2010-03-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

This. Is. Gorgeous.

I love a light pink cheekbone, but so far I've been using pink eyeshadows, as regular blush brands haven't been light enough. This blush by Dior, however, is another story. Not that I have it myself, but I am informed that this adds a light pink hue to your high cheeks. On top of that, the delicate lace is so alluring...

At 40$, it's not cheap, but it's hardly going to break the bank. I can imagine feeling a heady rush of delight every time I would use it.

****

Make-up, unfortunately, is not high on my list of priorities. After buying all the things I genuinely need, my list of things to spend serious amounts of money on goes: shoes, clothes, books/dvds/stationery, fun stuff I don't need, bags, then make-up. So I very rarely spend more than 15$ on one item. My 'nice brand' make-up bits were ~~things I stole from my mother~~ gifts. I did buy a MAC Studio Finish Powder once which I loved, but it made me look even paler that I am (which is fairly ghostly). I blame this entirely on the dead-behind-the-eyes colour match man who sold it to me.

If I'm honest, I can bump shoes off of my list (SOB). I don't need any more; I have 20 pairs with me in Québec, not to mention the fairly sizeable collection I left in England.

I also have more than enough clothes. However, as I start dipping my toes into the lagoon of Lolita (and Hime Gyaru, Mori Gal and Dolly Style), I wouldn't begrudge myself a dress or two (or several).

I have a mountain of yet to read books clogging up my bookshelves at this very moment. I have waaaaay too much stationery to suit my needs. I could spend weeks watching dvds that I already own.

Fun stuff I don't need...it's all in the name.

Bags. I have plenty of cheap bags. I have some lovely clutches, a gorgeous Liz Claiborne bag (why, oh why did I leave that in England?!) and a whole bunch of 3$-or-less canvas totes, which I spent a good hour or so today fixing. I would LOVE this Vivienne Westwood bag, but I think my dad's head would explode.

Then there's make-up. The products I buy myself do an alright job. I almost get the effect I want, but what I lack is anything with staying power. The items that work best are the slightly more expensive ones that I didn't buy myself (Yves Saint Laurent, MAC Viva Glam, Urban Decay).

So I figure I'll start investing in good quality make-up.

Who knows? Maybe I'll even buy a certain Dior Lace blush.

Please excuse me whilst I powder my....cheekbones...

My Top Ten!

2010-03-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

Following the hype around writing 'Top Tens', courtesy of Universal-Doll, I've decided to jump on this band wagon and do my own!

My first, non-inclusive one is blurry photos. Apparently I don't know how to take pictures in focus, so most of the following images are not particularly sharp. I find this gives them a mystical appeal. My mother finds this annoying.

Alice Bands

This is how happy they make me.

Pretty happy huh?

High Heels

Both pairs are from Kurt Geiger. Both pairs are presents from my mother.

Patriotism

Britain for the win!

Pearls

They're not real of course, but that comes under my 'That's Completely Irrelevant' list.

Big Glasses

Practical and totally cool in every way. Also cheap. Winny win winski (:

Ukulele

Me and the original Ukulele (thanks Grandad!). If you don't already play it, obviously there is something wrong with you.

Natural Yoghurt

And as if by magic, ~~the shopkeeper appeared~~ makes an orange into a dessert.

Ridiculously baggy clothes

The teeny part of me that is still a slob will always enjoy boyfriend jeans and oversized hoodies. I make no apologies.

No Pants Party

Not that kind of no pants party...I love the fact that I spend 99% of my time flouncing around in skirts and dresses. School, parties, cinema, cross country skiing - my ability to not wear ~~pants~~ trousers knows no boundaries.

Camera Whoring!

Vintage camera whoring circa Feb 2004. I do love to take a photo or two (or fifty) of myself - the weirder the better.

Ninth and Tenth Fans!

2010-03-22T18:49:00.000-07:00

Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something.

Happy Cup Day has been around for just over a month and a half, and between school and my social life and choir and violin lessons and Wal Mart and sleeping and learning French, we have arrived at the 40th post, and we have a grand total of ten followers!

You'd be surprised by how happy I am about this. Seriously.

So I'd just like to say a massive THANK YOU for everyone who has signed up, for everyone who just reads casually, for everyone who has just arrived. I have a warm, fuzzy feeling somewhere near my belly when I think about how I'm not actually just blogging at myself. I couldn't do this without my Spoons (:

My ninth fan is a mysterious person called Tyler! I know absolutely nothing about this Tyler, but once I do, I'll let you know the details.

A warm Happy Cup Day welcome to Tyler!

My tenth fan is my wonderful, beautiful cousin Rachel! We are the two youngest lady cousins of the mighty Watkins family - may no man underestimate the Power of the Aunties (they're not to be messed with). She's one of the lovliest people you could hope to meet, and a fantastic dancer as well (not that I'm jealous...ok maybe a bit).

A warm Happy Cup Day welcome to Rachel!

2008 family wedding in the Czech republic. I'm going to get a super cool vintage photo and upload that too :P

For my Spoons

2010-03-20T21:31:00.000-07:00

Father, bless me for I have sinned, I did an original sin… I poked a badger with a spoon.

My beloved Spoons,

I have updated and fiddled and altered and rejiggered Happy Cup Day to make it more user friendly. I would like to thank Mr Earl Grey and Miss Shortbread for their help during this process, without whom I surely would have collapsed in a tired little heap.

You can now find me on a whole number of confusing social networking sites:

Emily Jane's Facebook

Happy Cup Day's Facebook

Happy Cup Day's Twitter

Happy Cup Day's Present.ly (I get the feeling I'm not meant to be here, but never mind...)

Emily Jane's Myspace

Emily Jane's Bebo

Emily Jane's Friendster

And of course you can always get in touch at happycupday@gmail.com

Read, comment, follow (:

Makeoverpalooza

2010-03-19T09:04:00.001-07:00

We're undergoing some changes right now - apologies for the inconvenience!

Ramble Ramble Little One

2010-03-18T21:01:00.000-07:00

In general those who nothing have to say contrive to spend the longest time in doing it.

I felt like having a bit of a ramble; what use is having a blog if you can't spontaneously decide to waffle on about nothing in particular?

The thing is, now I'm here I can't really think of anything I want to ramble about.

Recently I've been eating really conscientiously, and doing more exercise. I've noticed a change to my Canada-Bulk that has come about really quickly. Huzzah! I guess we can search endlessly for quick-fix remedies - only eating maple syrup, or just eating carbs on a Wednesday - but eating less and exercising more actually works. I eat lots of fibrous foods, many fruits and vegetables, and drink gallons of water (mostly in the form of tea!). I'm determined to keep it up. It's not about getting thin (I love love LOVE my curvaceousness), but I'd got to the point where my curves were blurry and undefined. I also couldn't walk up a couple of flights of stairs without my heart starting to thump.

So yeah!

I'm going to bed now.

I don't have school tomorrow - there's an activity day at the local ski centre but I'm not going. The conditions there are really not nice at all due to all the warm weather we've been having. It was 13C the other day - I was basking in the sheer glory of it.

I apologise for the waffling my loves...more actual posts coming tomorrow!

Eighth Fan!

2010-03-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

I wish I had a twin, so I could know what I'd look like without plastic surgery.

It has happened; Kezzle my Nezzle has signed up. With much thanks to our older brothers, Kerrie and I have been friends for almost seven years now. It will never cease to frustrate and amaze me that everyone thinks we're sisters. I miss eating a fair quantity of her lunch in the canteen whilst speaking 'German'. I miss putting her in a head-lock for no reason. I miss sticking Pink Lady stickers on her back. I don't miss the noises she makes whilst sleeping.

So a warm Happy Cup Day welcome to Kerrie!

I'm on the left...

For the love of Prom

2010-03-14T19:55:00.000-07:00

When, oh when, will I find a suitable prom dress?

Babelcute: Trench Coats

2010-03-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

Serendipity. Look for something, find something else, and realize that what you've found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for.

I have always loved trench coats. I wore one as uniform in my primary school and I adored it. For years now I've lusted after one of the gorgeous, iconic, nude Burberry trench coats.

Back with Spring (as always), trench coats are lightweight, and practical for the interchangeable weather. This year features trenches in adorable pastels; pinks, blues, even mints.

How I do it: Woe is me; I don't. There are so many beautiful trench coats out there, cheaper, cuter, probably more flattering, but I still yearn after the classic. One day I will stride into Burberry London, buy a trench coat, and flounce out with my head held high. I may not be able to afford food for several weeks afterwards, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

~~A better~~ An actual way of doing it:

Gorgeous, Innocent Worldy goodness, in a practical setting.

Perfection!

Mary Magdalene comes up trumps with this subtle-sailor trench. The colour is dark for spring, but it makes a lovely evening coat.

This is very much THE step from winter to summer. It's light and airy; stay away from heavy knits and long skirts. I love this look with off-white gloves, delicate ankle boots and a light scarf for colder days, and over the knee socks, bare collarbone (oooh...naughty) and a statement hair piece for when the sun is smiling down upon you.

Just try not to screw it in a ball and throw it in your bag when it gets too hot...

Lolifish: Little Bo's Lucite Bangle

2010-03-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

Do not be too hard, lest you be broken; do not be too soft, lest you be squeezed.

Lucite bracelets and bangles are 'absolutely the newest thing you can own'. Most are edgy; rimmed with studs, or containing a heavy chain. However, this adorable one from Little Bo's Boutique will freshen up any outfit. And at only 10GBP, it's a steaaaal.

Mix in with charm bracelets and wear with a 3/4 sleeve cardie...you fashionista you...

Babelcute: glitter polish

2010-03-13T08:01:00.000-08:00

When I grow up, I want to be a little ~~boy~~ girl.

Not quite in the league of deco nails (but fun anyway), glitter polish is a big thing right now (yay!). For nail polish advice, check out my Easy Nails post! Nails stickers are big also; mini kids stickers work almost as well as nail stickers, but you get more variety. Layer them on and seal with a glitter top coat. To keep super on trend, go with a dark, matte purple or a hot neon as a base. Think texture.

How I do it: For my first attempt, I decided to go sweet and went for a light pinkish base (Sally Hansen, Lilac Creme), white flower stickers (Flirt, Wal Mart) and a glitter top coat (Sally Hansen). The pink was really, really thick. After waiting several years for my nails to dry, I applied the stickers. They were a bit fiddly, but really not too difficult at all. However, when I pushed the stickers down (lightly), the polish oozed out around the edges, forming a ridge. The glitter polish was amazing though. In it's defence, World's Thickest Polish didn't ever seem to chip, but after a week I was annoyed with the colour.

For my second attempt I used a dark blue, almost black polish (Kabaret - Nails Inc), yellow flowers and the same glitter coat. The stickers didn't form a ridge with the Nails Inc polish.

I am SO CHUFFED with the results.

A better way of doing it:

Feautured on the Grimoire blog, simple and sparkly!

You can get an effect similar to Katy Perry's super cute nails using stickers

For unadulterated deco nails, fellow blogger Violet LeBeaux sells false nail sets that she makes herself. Visit her Etsy Shop to get a set. And while you're at it, check out her blog, Tales of an Ingénue. It's is full of crafty advice, all writen in her unique, sugar-coated-yet-savy voice.

Add some sparkles to your hands!

No 'Poo? No thanks

2010-03-12T15:22:00.000-08:00

Don't do as I do, do as I tell you.

I really should listen to my own advice. Despite having written an article about how to care for red hair (which you can find HERE), I continued to wash my hair with normal shampoo, everyday, with fairly hot water. Of course, the red disappeared really rather quickly.

In my defence, I had bulk bought normal shampoo and conditioner sometime in November, and I still had 1/4 left which I didn't want to waste.

Furthermore, my hair gets greasy really quickly. I've tried just not washing it everyday and it makes no difference. I've changed products, methods, styles and nothing has helped. The only time during my teenage years when I haven't had to wash it everyday was the glorious six months that I was on Roaccutane.

And hot showers? I guess I just like hot showers...

I stumbled across an article explaining how replacing shampoo with baking soda is not only cheap, but also protects colour and prevents needing to wash hair everyday. Perfect!

I decided to give it a one week trial. Shampoo is apparently full of detergents, chemicals and all sorts of other nasty things. I felt rather eco-chic abandoning it.

On the first day, I washed my hair with baking soda using no conditioner (or conditioner replacements!). My hair was dull, difficult to comb and really dry. By the same time the next day it needed washing again. I had read that if you need to, using a small amount of olive oil works well as a conditioner replacement. So I combed some through the very tips and washed it out. This turned out to be a BIG MISTAKE. After I had dried it, it looked as though I had recently dipped my head in a chip vat. Luckily that evening I was only going to Alexe's house (to do nails - post coming next!)

"I'm sorry about the state of my hair Alexe."

"It's ok, mine's wet too,"
"....mine's not wet."

She looked at me with a face that said 'you're a fool; your hair is wet.'. Then it dawned on her with an expression that flicked from confusion, to disgust, and back to confusion. I explained, which she found rather funny.

It took raaaather a lot of real shampoo the next morning to resolve this mess.

After this fiasco I decided to scrap the No 'Poo Plan. I probably did something very wrong; missed out a vital step or ingredient. There are many people who love this. Victoria Suzanne of Lolita Charm raves about it (check out the bottom of On My Vanity where she talks about it). I would recommend that you give it a go, seeing as there's ~~not much~~ no harm trying. When I have gotten over the trauma of my experience, maybe I'll give it another whack.

In the meantime, I'll be sticking to my detergent filled, chemical ridden, colour protect shampoo which keeps my hair, you know, clean...

Babelcute: braids

2010-03-10T19:55:00.000-08:00

It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.

Not needing much of a translation, as we already appreciated the power of the braid, but the fashion world appears to have caught up recently. Glamour March 2010 (USA edition) featured four different ways to braid - check out their article here for how to braid on trend.

"March is all about milkmaid braids and princess plaits."

How I do it: I experimented with a low, loose, side braid. I lightly teased the bottom mass of my hair to give my braid a teeny bit of volume. To keep it loose, I just used a hairband at the bottom and let the top relax. This caused some of the layers from the other side of my head to fall out, which looked pretty cute. I concealed the hairband with two bow hairclips. To prevent all of my hair from falling out at the back, I "discreetly" used some bobby pins. Not enough, apparently; by the end of the night a fair chunk of my hair had fallen out. But that's my failure.

A better way of doing it: Ok. These are all the Spring 2010 braids from Miu Miu and Alexandra Wang. Need I say more?

My hair skills are generally poor. I took the simplest route with the look and was happy with the results. It took no time at all, looked pretty and went down well with all my friends.

Win, win, win!

Babelcute: Dancer chic #1 - Leotards

2010-03-09T19:26:00.000-08:00

If ballet were easy, they'd call it football.

Instead of a cutesew, why not go for a body suit? It has a cute, off-duty ballerina feel to it; I also think it would be ADORABLE with bloomers and a thick-knit cardie for hanging around the house. This body suit (right!) is from the Spring 2010 Dolce and Gabbana Ready to Wear collection. I really love this; the centre panel has a floral feel that reminds me of the kitch faux-Victoriana motifs that can be found in my house in England, whilst the outside panels have a Rockabilly feel. This example is not particularly Lolita, but beautiful none-the-less.

How I do it: As much as I love the D&G body suit, the $1385 price tag leaves me reeling. I have a plain black lycra leotard, that cost me less than $20 and that I genuinely used to wear to ballet class. Usually I wear this with my Lipsy black lace and pink net skirt (thanks Joe), the black cardie I changed the buttons on with my hair in a loose, low bun. Then I flounce about for the day speaking French and feeling very cultured. Take that society!

A better way of doing it:

For some neon bright, Fairy Kei-on-speed direction leotards, definitely check out Leotard World...I particularly enjoy the hilarity factor of this one :P

The criss-cross back prevents this black leotard from being too dull, and hits right on trend with cut out details.

Long sleeved, lacy bodysuits look really cute under dresses, and make a nice change from blouses. This one (right) from American Apparel is perfect, and only 45$.

Jump on the one shouldered trend with this one shouldered body suit from Miss Selfridge for around 30$ (left). The cotton material rather than lycra prevents it from being an 80s reject item.

We Love Colors has some excellent leotards in their dancewear section. This leotard has a ballet madame feel to it with a roll neck and long sleeves. If you don't like green don't worry; it comes in 51 colours!

If your bodysuit is plain, think about sewing some small beads in a star burst on one side. Sewing sequins along each edge, however, is too faux Busby Burkley for this exercise.

There really are some gorgeous, floral leotards out there if you look hard enough, but I got distracted by the metalic, glittery, neon affairs :P

So go dancer chic!

Leave the legwarmers out of it though; this is ~~unfortunately~~ not a Fame revival.

Seventh Fan!

2010-03-07T20:51:00.000-08:00

Women need not always keep their mouths shut and their wombs open.

Seriously, I could not be happier with the way things are going. I'm doing more welcome posts than regular posts!

And with that, hello to our newest follower Natacha! Natacha is a good friend of mine here in Québec, a no-nonsense, don't mess with me friend. She's fiesty.

So without further ado, a warm Happy Cup Day welcome to Natacha!

Fierce ladies :D

Sixth fan!

2010-03-07T07:57:00.000-08:00

The essence of intelligence is skill in extracting meaning from everyday experience.

Six lovely people. How lucky we are!

Number six is my old friend Bridget. We go waaaay too far back, on a journey that took us past Indian men looking for ice cream, through GCSEs and all her annoyingly good grades that came with our dramas, to a mutual appreciation of quoting and passing time with French people.

So a warm Happy Cup Day welcome to Bridget! (Ultimate vintage photo...!)

Bridget is starting a Postsecret inspired project at our school (which I finished in 2008, and she will finish in 2010). Despite perhaps not actually ever having gone to Gravesend Grammar School for Girls, you can support this excellent endeavour by joining their group on Facebook AND the related blog, Life is calling - how far will you go?

Babelcute: Alice in Wonderland

2010-03-06T19:18:00.000-08:00

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.

Having appreciated 'Alice in Wonderland' for a fair amount of time, the Lolita world was already way ahead when the impending release of Tim Burton's Alice sparked a torrent of wonderland inspired fashions. Not including the general forray into frilly dresses - which seems to come about every Spring - Alice appears to have been generally limited to accessories, which doesn't include her infamous headband.

What I am particularly enjoying is the non-limitation to just Alice; many of the characters are getting a look in.

How I do it: However much ignored by the fashion community, I still love Alice bands; they generally form a part of my everyday wear anyway. In hommage to the Red Queen, I'm wearing red rose studs in my ears.

A better way of doing it: Alice - she wears her hair in loose curls. Embrace your own natural

curls by drying your hair to 80%, then winding it into a bun at the base of your head.

Red Queen - heart shaped paraphernalia! This pair of heart sunglasses are from fredflare.com

White Queen - standing out from her whiteness, her big eyebrows are making a big statement. Organise an indian eyebrow threading appointment and you're good to go.

Mad Hatter - hats, hats, more hats. Visit stephenjonesmillinery.com and be amazed.

White Rabbit - stopwatch! This Audrey Hepburn stopwatch from fredflare.com may be a little off topic, but it is loveerllyy.

Spend or splurge! Some of my favourite frilly ensembles are from Stella McCartney (dress - left) and Miu Miu (skirt - right).

However, If your budget doesn't stretch thaaat far, this dress (left) for only 110$, and this skirt (right) for only 80$, both from Topshop, do the trick!

I saw the new film this evening with Quentin, Mathilde and Jean Pierre (my host brother, sister 3 and father). I really enjoyed it. I liked that it built on the Alice in Wonderland we already know. I didn't like the fact that it was soooo CGI. Of course it had to be, to work with the style, but I was so aware of it that I found it difficult to really believe what I was watching...which kind of ruins the point.

Babelcute: Jumpsuits

2010-03-05T16:50:00.000-08:00

Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.

The fashion world has been walking the love and hate line of jumpsuits for a while now. They've gone from parachute inspired, through to Catwoman-esque, changing their minds about what is or is not 'acceptable'. Since Joy Bryant (right) and Demi Lovato (I think it's her...left!) made it from the 'not' list to the 'hot' list in their overalls, the jumpsuit idea has got my attention.

Some Lolitas may be shaking their heads and searching for the exit button right now, but bear with me on this one.

For serious casual wear, I love this. Think girls with bunchies. Think playsuit. Think patches, textures, colours.

Overalls appeal to me on a practical level. Spring is a time for playing games in the park; do you really want grass stains all over your new AP JSK? (No, I didn't think so). We see certain celebrities bumming out in their tracksuits from time to time; they're quick, easy and comfortable for popping to the shops. Overalls are just as quick, easy and comfortable, and goodness me they are super cute!

How I do it: I have a denim pair that I picked up from a vintage store on Brick Lane. They were designed for someone a lot shorter than me (and I'm hardly amazonian at 5'4"); perhaps the original clinetelle was a rather wide ten year old. Due to this, the flap doesn't go up without me hunching over like Gollum. So when I do wear them, flap down, I look a bit like a gangster style, 90s reject. I'd like to personalise them too, but haven't got a good idea of where to start. Any ideas to resolve these problems are more than welcome.

A better way of doing it:

Lily Allen proves that overalls are just as throw-them-on-easy as tracksuits. And there's no velour in sight.

The bow tie is adorable, and smartens up these overalls in a muddled yet super cute way. Has an Ōji feeling to it (Tokyo Fashion).

Angelic Pretty has a set. Really...need I give you any more reasons?

Work in a cutesew, pigtails and super cute, April showers appropriate wellies and you're set.

Surely the dog needs walking again? This outfit is too cute to just be showcased once...

Babelcute and Lolifish: The Easy Way to Translate High Fashion to Lolita

2010-03-05T11:43:00.000-08:00

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.

A large slice of a Lolita's pride is based on the ability to fashion herself eclectically, without necessarily having the approval of the wider fashion community. This, however, does not equate to closing our eyes, covering our ears and singing BLAH BLAH BLAH when it comes to what happens to be in Vogue. If we look closely, we can see ties between our own special style, and what is currently 'on trend'.

Babelcute: the highlighting of current fashions that work well with Lolita.

Lolifish: the featuring of designer and high street finds that make good Lolita sense.

This series will be full of outfits, hair, make-up and accessories. Tried and tested (where possible!), polished, well put together ideas.

A Lolita and a fashionista? Surely not...

Fifth Fan!

2010-03-05T07:54:00.000-08:00

The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward.

I can barely keep up with the pace of Happy Cup Day's growth. Another follower in the midst! So thank you to Emilie! Emilie is another one of my friends in Québec, who entirely appreciates my tea needs :D

So a warm Happy Cup Day welcome to Emilie!

Fourth Fan!

2010-03-05T06:42:00.000-08:00

A ninja who sincerely wants to stay anonymous.

Welcoming our fourth fan (drum roll please...) Jérome! (I'm fairly certain the o has a little circonflex hat, but I can't find one on the keyboard, so I apologise for that). Jérome is my highly cool ninja friend here in Québec, whose Self Defence Class I fail miserably at every week.

So a warm Happy Cup Day welcome to Jérome!

Credit given where credit's due; this photo was taken by Amélie Méthot at the 2009 Parade de Mode at the Polyvalente des Baies. To see more of her photos, check out some more of her photos HERE.

Fighting the blues

2010-03-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

You cannot prevent the birds of sadness from passing over your head, but you can prevent their making a nest in your hair.

We all get sad sometimes. I can feel it coming...days when I don't automatically sing in the shower are always, bar none, down days. I had a couple of difficult days recently. I have a pretty long fuse, and it takes quite a long to get me mad. Or my fuse is inconceivably short, and I start yelling and crying for no reason. This is why if you had been in Wal Mart - Baie Comeau on Monday, you would have heard me yelling at my host brother, and I quote, 'But the tap water tastes like ass.'

Very classy.

This does not mean we have to stay down/sad/shouty. Here's what I did to calm the fluff down:

Eat something you like with a cup of tea. Be careful with this one. One chocolate bar is okay. One huge chocolate bar within five minutes is not okay. I like to eat frozen berries, which not only taste yummy, but I can eat loads and then not feel bad for having consumed a weeks worth of calories. Sit down with your snack, and a pot of tea, and relax.
Put on something that makes you feel sexy. The words sexy and lolita don't often come in the same sentence. However, the power of feeling sexy is something that surprises me everytime. I went for a mans shirt, with a pair of tights, sky scraper shoes and a tiara. No, not necessarily a winning match, but I felt like a goddess and that's what we're aiming for.
Pump up the volume. Choose some music you love to dance to and whack up the sound. Jiggle around in your sexy outfit.
Talk to yourself! You may feel a little silly, but talking to yourself is a great way of working out your problems out loud. Be brutally honest. If it's a specific problem that's making you feel down, talk through some solutions with yourself. Give yourself a pep talk. Remember: you're beautiful, you're clever, you're funny, you're talented, you're sexy, YOU'RE A PRINCESS. Look in the mirror and keep repeating it until it sounds true. Add any others that you feel apply (I like 'I'm strong' and 'I'm healthy' also).

The last stage is something I do everyday. However, I do this in my underwear just after moisturising and just before doing my hair and make-up. I choose a flattering position, and I appreciate the natural, flawed me.

Because I'm not perfect, but I wouldn't want to be.

Get in touch

2010-03-04T10:27:00.000-08:00

As fire kindled by fire, so is the poet's mind kindled by contact with a brother poet.

So now you can get in touch with me!

Twitter: Happy Cup Day

Facebook: Emily Jane Stedman

Email: happycupday@gmail.com

Huzzah!

Cunning Plan: Yummy Biscuits

2010-03-04T09:50:00.000-08:00

Is it as cunning as a fox what used to be Professor of Cunning at Oxford University, but has moved on, and is now working for the UN at the High Commission of International Cunning Planning?

Why yes. Yes it is.

I figured biscuits are yummy. Especially ones with flavoured icing. The only thing is that once flavoured icing comes into the bargain, that's all you can really taste, so any amount of sugar and fat in the actual biscuit is lost on you.

So I made a batch of low cal biscuits, which were comprised mostly of wholegrain flour and low

fat strawberry yoghurt (35 cals per 100g). The recipe for which you can find HERE. I didn't add the honey, because I do not like honey (: I cut them into little bitesize hearts. For icing, I defrosted a random amount of raspberries and kept adding icing sugar until I got a good, thick consistency. The colour was freaking awesome, and went nicely with the heart shape (good for Valentines, just a couple of weeks too late!).

The biscuits on their own really did not taste of very much, but the texture was light and crumbly. With the icing on top, if I say so myself, they tasted really rather good. I took half of the batch to my friend's house, and left the other half at home. When I got home later that evening, two biscuits were left from the twenty.

I'll take that as a sign they went down well..

Third Fan!

2010-03-04T08:25:00.000-08:00

If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world.

Things just keep getting better and better here!

So without much further ado, a warm Happy Cup Day welcome to Kevin! Kevin is someone I have never reaallyy spoken to, but look forward to getting to know better.

All hail Kevin the Stranger! Check out his blog, Something Like That.

Second fan!

2010-03-02T16:47:00.000-08:00

Feedback is the breakfast of champions.

We are moving on up! Look at Happy Cup Day go :D
Thank you to The Owl Diary for her comment. If you have not checked out her blog already, DO IT; it is aesthetically delicious.

But doubley major merci beaucoup to Alexe, our second follower! Alexe is a very good friend of mine here in Quebec.

A warm Happy Cup Day welcome to Alexe! <3

Easy Nails

2010-03-01T07:24:00.001-08:00

Could I come near your beauty with my nails, I'd set my ten commandments in your face.

My nails are regularly commented on. They're long, and always painted in a bold colour. The nails on my right hand, infact, are actually quite a lot longer than the nails on my left hand. This is because of my ukulele, and now also violin playing (people very rarely notice this however - score!).

I bit my nails until I was 13, at which point I got braces and was unable to chew. Since then my nails have flourished, and I enjoy taking the time out to give myself a nice mani/pedi. Here's how I do it without getting a headache:

Clean your nails off. Use a good quality nail varnish remover and pure cotton pads (good ones, not ones that disintigrate when you look at them), and make sure all the colour is gone. If your nails are stained yellow from previous polish, give it a good week until you start again. It's often a good idea to leave a day or two between polish to let your nails 'breathe', but I very rarely do this myself.
File in one direction. No, I don't know why. A friend of mine with beautiful nails (and beautiful everything else...damn her!) told me this is in a science class 4 years ago. I've also noticed that on the rare occasion I get my nails done professionally, they only file in one direction too.
Set up a workstation. Lots of light, preferably over head rather than to one side. Lay down some kitchen towel incase of spillages. Keep nail polish remover and q-tips close at hand - it's much easier to correct whilst the polish is still wet, rather than when it has dried.
Use a clear bottom coat. I use the word quality again. This is important, and will help prevent staining and chipping. Apply liberally, but don't let the layer be too think. For a mani/pedi that lasts, you'll be using lots of layers, and if they're all really thick it'll never dry, and then just peel off after a couple of days. Let it dry properly, this shouldn't take very long.
Apply first layer of colour. Fill up to the edges with a very thin layer. This layer should be very faint, but cover up to the sides. This is what I call the 'careful' layer. Take your time, and get it right. Let it dry completely! This shouldn't take too long either.
Apply second layer of colour. This should be much thicker, and doesn't have to be as precise. Aim for the middle; it'll spread naturally, and seeing as you already have a thin layer around the edge it really won't notice if it's not perfect. LET IT DRY. This layer, being thicker, will probably take a fair amount of time to dry. Take your time. Watch some tv, listen to music and please, I beg you, do not try to attempt to use your hands. None of this 'I'll be careful' business. I always, bar none, regret trying to do something else whilst my nails are drying. Be patient. Daydream. Wait 20 minutes before even thinking about touching them.
Stroke your nails across the back of your hand. I've found this is the best way of checking if they're dry. If they're not dry, it doesn't do irreperable damage, compared to poking at them with your fingertips.
Apply a top coat. Be fairly generous with this. I find if I don't have enough on the brush it picks up the nail colour that I've already applied, and that's really annoying. Let this dry for a loooong time. I would recommend an hour before you start doing normal activites. Maybe this is a bit much, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Et voila! This works everytime for me.

What products? Quality is important. Your nail varnish will last a lot longer. My

preferred brand is Nails Inc. The quality is fantastic, the colours are awesome and the price is pretty reasonable.

My favourite 'high maintenance' colour is Victoria and Albert (right). High maintenance only because it really does require two coats. My favourite 'low maintenance' colour is St John's Wood (left). The picture doesn't do it much justice, but it's a violetty, bluey, matte colour that is so easy to apply it's unbelieveable. This really only requires one coat, it dries quickly and goes on like a dream. And it goes with practically everything.

I also like Barry M for their crazy colours, and it's really a bargain. It doesn't last as long as Nails Inc, but the colours are so much fun. I haven't got this one, but I'm really itching for Once Upon a Time (right).
For mental low prices, whilst still being an excellent brand of nail polish, I'd go for Collection 2000. This may be a British only brand, which is a shame. You can get two different sizes of bottles, the smaller ones being 'Hot Looks', of which Siren is my favourite (left). The larger bottles are 'MaxiFlex', of which Hello Sailor is my favourite..no picture available... :(

Handy Tip! If your skills leave much to the imagination, try using a sparkly top coat. This is incredibly forgiving, and gives your nails a nice glittery finish!

Singing Power

2010-02-26T21:51:00.000-08:00

I spent many years laughing at Harry Secombe's singing until somebody told me that it wasn't a joke.

I love to sing. Singing is a powerful talent to have. It raises our spirits.

I wasn't born a talented singer. I always enjoyed it, and my voice was average, but I had problems keeping to the right key...I've always gone in my own direction. But I took lessons, and my singing is technically good if nothing else.

I also love to be on stage. I've been on stage regularly since the age of 6; it runs in my veins. There is nothing in this world quite like being on stage. I hadn't been in a performance since May 2009 (unless you count the fashion show in November, for which I was onstage for all of 40 seconds).

Sooo tonight was the first show with the gospel choir that I'm in here. That would be another thing I would recommend if you're far from home; joining a gospel choir. It is hilarious fun! My host family ~~didn't bother to come~~ couldn't make it, so I didn't specifically have anyone in the audience who was watching me, but I got some amazing comments after the show which totally made up for it. Because (as I explained) I am not a natural-born singer I get quite nervous, so being in a choir is great for me, as I can work with others without feeling way too pressured. I had one solo of three lines long, in a song with five other soloists.

Anyway, at the end of the last song, we walked up through the audience and into the hallway leading to the exit whilst singing. This meant we could thank the public for coming as they left. Several people approached me to say how beautiful my voice was, which I was very touched by. But nicest of all, the dad of one of the second sopranos came up to me..'You have an amazing voice, and such a good quality on stage. You have to audition for Star Academy. When you sing on stage, everyone else disappears. You have charisma, and you sing with your heart. I'm a musician, and I know a good singer. You are by far one of the best I've heard.'

I hate to sound big headed by writing this up, but MAN I was so proud of myself.

I guess this post is to gloat a bit, but mostly just to prove that even if you're not amazing at something straight away, that practice and hard work will bring positive results in the end. I was thrilled. Really I was.

Ok, I've stopped tooting my own flute now (or tickling my pickle!).

I bought five cute hair accesories for 10$ the other day, and proceeded to camera whore with them! Here are my favs:

Another hard day's work in the land of the Novice Lolita.

Away from home

2010-02-23T16:38:00.000-08:00

When our relatives are at home, we have to think of all their good points or it would be impossible to endure them.

A Lolita appreciates her friends and family. She knows how much they love her, and everything they sacrifice for her benefit. She is grateful when they put up with her ruffles, lace and princessly behaviour. She understands when they find her a bit much!

There are Lolitas out there who, like me, are and have been away from their loved ones for an extended period of time. It can be very difficult to not cross the line from staying in touch, to practically being at home. Here's how to walk the line:

Throw yourself into life where you are. Relish the new things you are learning. Talk to people that are different to your usual friends. Widen your horizons. Keep a box, and put tit-bits of memories from your new life in the box...notes from new friends, bus tickets from adventures, photos. Everything that reminds you of good times. Look through this box when you're missing home, and remind yourself why you're here.
Keep in light contact with your home life. Some people recommend going cold turkey from contacting your family. I disagree. A change of lifestyle is difficult; don't give yourself too many challenges at once. I find speaking to my loved ones on msn is the best way. I'm using the computer anyway, so it makes sense so say a quick hello. I've found I speak with my family often enough for me not to miss them, but not so often that it interferes with my life. Msn is quite 'detached'; it doesn't have the same emotional strain as a phone call.
Write letters. Msn is great for keeping everyone updated, but a handwritten letter to say 'Thanks for the ongoing support' will go down really well. Remember, your new life seems normal without your family, but they are continuing their regular lives without you, which seems a lot stranger. I write letters to my Grandad (talking about the weather is always good, as it helps them to imagine your situation).
Don't count down the days. Continually thinking 'I have another X days until I'm home' is reaalllyyy going to drag the time out. Make sure you're too busy to be thinking about going home. You should be excited about what's happening in your new life, not about when you're leaving.
Count the months. I know that I arrived in Québec on the 13th of August. I know I arrived in Baie Comeau specifically on the 25th of August. So tomorrow will be six months in Baie Comeau. I like knowing how much time I've been here, and it often crops up in conversation with local people. However I only think about these anniversaries around the date that another month passes; the rest of the month I'm waaay too busy having hilarious fun times.
Keep some home comforts somewhere close to you. I have a teddy bear shaped bag (Henry - coincidentally the same name as my letter writing Grandad) that I've filled with some things from my family and friends. I take him to bed every night, and that way I feel close to my home.

Mushy, yes, but effective.

Charity Meals

2010-02-22T18:13:00.000-08:00

Great love affairs start with Champagne and end with tisane.

Saturday I went shopping with sister two (Éleonore) and our mum. Being a small town, there aren't many shops in general; let alone where I'd really buy anything. So I was mighty pleased when I found a black cardie and grey, partially patterned, angora knee highs. I subsequently changed the buttons on the cardie from black to multi coloured.

I had a rendezvous with the representative of the company that I'm doing the exchange with (ASSE Ltd). Geralda and I decided to meet at our favourite haunt, 'Le Manoir de Café'. I arrived early, so I took 20 minutes to look around the surrounding shops. I found a shop full of super cute, inexpensive things (which I'm going to try and fit into the budget for March!). We ordered pots of tea and raked over the past two months.
I told her of my recent successes and failures. She replied: 'I have no worries about you. You're like a bubble in fine champagne; you're sure to reach the top.'

In the evening I went to a charity dinner with Catherine and Myriam. It was hosted by my friend Emilie St-Laurent to raise money for a group of disabled teenagers to go to Disney World. Her brother is part of this group (and he's absolutely lovely). It was so much fun, and the evening was a success. The tables were covered in disney stickers and balloons...so cute! I won a free hours massage in the raffle, which more than made up for the fact that when my spaghetti arrived, it was slopped across the table and I was left to scoop it up and mop up the sauce.

These things do happen..

Lolita Level

2010-02-22T17:51:00.000-08:00

Continual improvement is an unending journey

With my room well on the way to being Lolita-fied (I'm still tweaking; everyday since the big tidy up something changes...when I'm happy with it I'll let you know), and my man shirts reserved for Slobby Sundays only, I really feel I can begin my quest to become a lifestyle Lolita.

However, I'm not sure how far along this road I already am by accident, as I have realised that some of my characteristics already match with Lolita. I found a 'Lolita Level' quiz on theLolita Charm blog and decided that this would be an excellent place to start (see end of post for more Lolita Charm).

Each criteria is a level. Add up your total and then put yourself into a category. Repost this to your own blog, website, or journal, bolding the ones that apply to you, and then show your score/level at the bottom. The only rule is that you must add one lolita 'level' to the list!

You've been to egl.
You've posted on egl, without an onslaught of 'USE THE MEMORIES' and likewise.
You've bought a lolita mook.
You've picked a favorite brand.
You've ordered your first item.
You've worn a full outfit.
You've worn a full outfit out in public.
You've worn a full outfit and posted photos of it on the Internet.
You know what JSK, OP, and cutsew all mean.
You've bought your first brand piece.
You know your measurements.
You know you shoe size - in American, European, and Japanese.
You know who Mr. Yan is.
You know who Mana is. (+1 points if you know his band. +2 points if you know his brand. +3 points if you know why he's featured in every GLB. +4 if you have a shrine to him in your closet.)
You know who Maki and Asuka are. (+2 if you've met Maki and Asuka).
You've watched Kamikaze Girls. (+1 if you know the real name of this movie. +2 if you know who wrote the book this was based on. +3 if you've also read the manga or novel. +4 if you love the author despite his criminal record).
You own a wig. (+1 if you own more than 2.)
You own a pair of falls.
You can identify lace on the spot.
You can identify an item's brand on the spot.
You can identify the year a dress was made by a specific brand on the spot.
You can name several different dresses or prints.
You answer stock photo requests.
You mod a lolita community.
You decorate your nails. (+1 if you wear fake nails. +2 if you make fake nails.)
You own a pair of a rocking horse shoes. (+1 if you know their abbreviation.)
You've made your own rose corsage.
You've made anything out of your brand dress's waist ties.
You've made anything out of a matching eco tote. (+3 if you were the first one to do it, you think).Y
ou know how to apply false eyelashes.
You know how to pronounce shirring.
You know how to pronounce Moi-meme-moitie, or Metamorphose tempes de fille.
You know a reliable shopping service.
You bid on Yahoo!Japan or Mbok.
You've been to a meetup.
You've planned a meetup.
You've planned a meetup with catering or more than 20 attendees.
You've met up with lolitas while on vacation to foreign or faraway locales.
You've seen a lolita fashion show.
You've seen a brand fashion show.
You've modeled in a lolita fashion show.
You've modeled in a brand lolita fashion show.
You wear bloomers.You know how to make bloomers.
You tell other people to wear bloomers.
You draw lolita art, write a lolita blog, or provide the community with some sort of creative services.
You've taken purikura in lolita.
You've decorated your room/house/apartment in lolita style.
You've listened to lolita music.
You've learned kana.
You've learned enough Japanese to read a magazine.
You wear or own circle lenses.
You've been called a princess by a young child.
You've dressed up a friend.
You've convert a friend.
You've been in media (television, newspaper, magazine). (+2 points if it's Japanese media.
You've learned a handicraft, like jewelry making, embroidery, or sewing.
You've become a lolita mentor.
You've attended lolita events at an anime or multi-genre convention.
You’ve organized or presented lolita events at a convention.
You've visited a brand shop.
Trip to Japan!
You've dressed up and gone out alone.
You're prepared for inclement or colder weather in lolita (coat, parasol, boots, gloves, other climate-specific items.)
You've learned face contouring.
You've made a lolita valentine.
You've got a lolita pen pal or online lolita friends.
You have local lolita friends.
You know how to modify clothes that don't fit you.
You know how to dress for your body type.
You've been in a street snap.
You've been to multiple world locations of the same brand store (BABY Paris, BABY Tokyo, BABY San Francisco, etc.)
You've created a makeup/hair/sewing tutorial.
You've sold hand-created lolita goods.
You have your own lolita fashion line.
You've gotten a lolita haircut, style, or color.
You've mixed other street fashions with lolita.
You've thrown a lolita party/had a lolita wedding.
You've dressed your child/small children in lolita or kodona style.
You've successfully cross-dressed in lolita style at least once (boystyle for girls and girls' clothing for guys).
You've lolified or made sure all the contents of your purse are cute (wallet, lipgloss, keyring, etc.
You have a lolita pet (small dogs, cats, rabbits, exotic birds, fancy fish) or have dressed/accessorized your pet (bows or pet clothes).
You've dressed your significant other or dated someone who dresses in J-fashion/alternative fashion.
You've read Alice in Wonderland. (+1 if you've seen the animated movie or other variations, +2 if you've seen more than one variation, +3 if you own more than one variation)
You've dressed as Alice or another Wonderland character in lolita style, or own Alice themed items.
You've made something from a Japanese pattern.
You've found, bought, or made lolita underwear (bras and panties).
You wear lolita daily, or have gone 7 days straight wearing only lolita.
You have lolita calling cards or business cards.
You play a lolita instrument (i.e., piano, violin, harp, French horn... well any instrument really.)
You can translate yen to your country's currency in your head. (+1 if you can convert other currencies you shop with as well. +2 if you read the news to know how the yen is doing.)
You've sold lolita clothing online (secondhand, egl_comm_sales)
.Your article or entry has been put into the egl memories.
You take photos of your outfits/daily outfit photos.
You’ve posted to daily_lolita.
You own a petticoat. (+1 if you own more than one. +2 if you wear three or more at a time).
You’ve bought a lucky pack.
You keep a style diary or look-book.
You can put together an outfit made entirely from offbrand.
You’ve bought offbrand or non-Japanese brand.
You drink more than just English Breakfast Tea.

Level 23!

Adorable Admirer (lvls 1 - 20) You've started studying or liking lolita but haven't taken that leap of faith yet. Good luck!
Resplendant Rufflebutt (lvls 21 - 40) At home within the land of the rufflebutts and spilling frills from every edge.
Victorian Maiden (lvls 41 - 60) A classy lolita of taste and experience, who knows her way around the lolita social set.
Starry Celebrity (lvls 61 - 80) On page six of the lolita world, you've risen to the ring of the upper crust.
Pretty Princess (lvls 81 - 100) Lolita royalty, truly versed in the ways of the lacey ones, the lolita princesses have achieved a special level of enlightenment.
Ultimate Lolita (Boss Fight!) (lvls 100+) Wow, you've gotten over 100 levels? You're the ultimate lolita with unlimited hitpoints. That's actually a little scary...

Well I am rather resplendant...

Lolita Charm: Just to let you know to READ THE LOLITA CHARM BLOG RIGHT NOW. That's not a suggestion. It is very much thanks to this blog that I felt inspired to take on this journey in the first place. Victoria Suzanne is full of open and honest information, realising and helping with the flaws of living a Lolita life as well as the perks. Warm hearted and sweet as you can be, Lolita Charm is the HQ of Western Lolitas.

Sleepy Friday

2010-02-19T20:26:00.000-08:00

It's hard to take over the world when you sleep twenty hours a day.

This morning I woke up feeling less than perfect, so I went for a super comfortable outfit. Very highstreet. (Jumper: Marks and Spencers; Skirt: New Look; Headband: Present from Mummy E.J). Bare legs today - it was 4 degrees here...centigrade! This winter is mental...it snowed a little today, but it melted immediately - so not much use.

My friend Jérome holds a self-defence class at lunch times every couple of weeks. I go along - even though I'm really bad. It's a lot of fun, although when I was pretending to attack Natacha she flipped me over her back without bending down, and I hit my head on the floor. The space we use is the gymnastics room, so it has a padded floor, but from then onwards I had a headache I couldn't shake.

I forgot to bring a lunch with me, as I usually eat at home, but Brenda brought some snacks for me when she came to school in the afternoon. I honestly don't know what I'd do without her - she's been absolutely amazing over the past six months. *Insert 'Ode to Brenda' here*.

My final class was Ski de Frond (Cross country skiing) in Education Physique (Physical Education...), but it got cancelled because it was too warm. So we just crashed in the gymnastics room again. I was literally fighting to stay awake, and my head was pounding. When I got home I popped some pills, ate some cereal and decided to take a nap. I had nothing planned until 9, when Brenda would pick me up with les filles and we'd do something fuuun. I took off my make-up (did some camera whoring with my fairy lights!) and slipped into bed at around 4:45.

The phone rang loudly somewhere near my head. Confused and sleepy, I looked over at the clock. 8:30. WHAAAT?! I had been in a middle of a dream in which Brenda was really angry at me, and didn't like me any more. It was one of those strangely weird ones where you're not sure if it genuinely happened or not. I still had a headache, and wasn't feeling up to going out, so I called Brenda up and left a message on her answerphone telling her not to pick me up.

'And by the way, I just had a bad dream about us, and I just wanted to say I love you.'

I'm still nursing my headache.

First Fan!

2010-02-18T14:56:00.000-08:00

You know what a fan letter is - it's just an inky raspberry.

We have a follower! A fan! Huzzah!

Ok, I admit, it's Mummy Emily Jane (who is also my editor). But you gotta start somewhere!
And what an excellent place to start.

So a warm Happy Cup Day welcome to Trisha!

Hair Dye

2010-02-18T13:16:00.000-08:00

When red headed people are above a certain social grade their hair is auburn.

Last night Brenda dyed my hair red for me. And I LOVE IT! It's a very very subtle red, which matches alarmingly with my eyes. I've been a redhead many times before, and it's my favourite way to be. There aren't many people in my school here with red hair - it's definitely a personal taste thing. A reason for it not being particularly popular is that it fades pretty quickly, even if you go fully permanent.
Here are a few hints and tips for DIY red hair, courtesy of Miss Emily Jane and Mummy Emily Jane (who is also a faux-redhead!):

Consider the colour your hair is currently. If your hair is black, you're not going to get anywhere; consult a hair-dresser. If you're blonde (especially if the blonde is not natural) the red is going to be really bright, but will fade really quickly. Mid to light brown is a good starting place. If you're dyeing on top of dye, you'll need to 'up the redness'.
Think about what kind of red you want to be. Redheads range from anywhere near strawberry blonde until practically purple. Obviously, same rules apply, if your hair is dark and you want to go for a light red, this isn't going to work as well as a light haired person wanting dark red. If you want a pillarbox red, you're going to have to bleach it before hand. If you're just doing a section of hair, this is safe to do with a trusted friend. However, if you're feeling brave and want to go all over, definitely go to a hairdresser (at least for the first time).
Wrap your head in cling film. If you want a really intense red, wrap your head in cling film (saran wrap!) whilst it's developing to preserve the heat of your head, and wait for longer than it tells you before you wash it off. Please bear in mind, with some darker reds this could easily encourage a hue closer to purple, so do this at your own discression.
Never use white towels. Ever. Even after a couple of washes, it's more than likely that your head will still be leaking red. Use an old towel, or at least one with a very dark colour (I use navy blue). It's important to remember that your head will leak if you go swimming too. I went swimming with Mummy E.J one time after she home dyed her hair red - it looked like she'd smacked her head on the wall or something - the red was pouring out of her hair.
Same goes for pillowcases. Cover your pretty white pillowcases with something - absolutely obligatory if you go to sleep with your hair wet. Please note red hair also enjoys rubbing off onto your clothes, so you might want to forgo the white shirts for a while.
Turn down the heat. Having really hot showers will make your red fade quicker, so pump up the cold and preserve your colour!
Use colour protection hair products. These will add weeks to your colour, and they needn't be expensive. You can buy some that are specifically designed for red hair, but I (Mummy E.J!) tend to find this will make your bathroom look like there was some sort of massacre.
Don't go in the sun without hair protection. You shouldn't be doing this anyway, as we all know how bad the sun can be for your hair. But red hair will go orange in the sun, as I learnt a couple of years ago in Africa. I actually really liked the colour that it went, but there's no way of knowing what it's going to do.

Apart from that, it's easy peasy! I love wearing blue or green shirts and headbands, as they really pop with my red hair.

I also feel like Ariel from The Little Mermaid.

And that's always cool.

St Valentines

2010-02-15T17:55:00.000-08:00

Be yourself, don't take any rubbish, and never let them take you alive.

Another St Valentines day without a date? No problem! I have plenty of significant others, partners, girlfriends, boyfriends, and even a better half. I just don’t have sex with any of them.

I decided not to use the computer all day, and instead embark on a day of utter indulgence.So I took an Emily Jane day!...which included…

· Toast and cretons
· MacGyver
· Friends Like These – Danny Wallace
· Maple Syrup Soufflé
· Cosmopolitan
· Tea
· Ukulele

Many of these things were done alone, in my room, in the prettiest underwear I could find and my tiara.

I realised I hadn’t as yet started a crafts project, and I felt in a strangely creative mood after shaking my thang in the mirror to salsa music (love your bum, and may you find as much joy in watching it jiggle as I do). So I snooped around my host mum’s sewing room – a by-product of this is that I stumbled across the family’s cleaning equipment, and spent a happy ten minutes flitting around my room with a feather duster (still in my underwear, still with salsa music, still shaking my bum). Back in the sewing room I found a faux fur off-cut and decided to make a muff. It was blindingly easy, even with my utter lack of genuine sewing skills. With the fur on the inside (duuuhh) I cut up and sewed on the outside a pair of lacy fancy pants that were too big for me. For a strap I used a length of lacy ribbon I stole found in a drawer.

It probably took me just under an hour and a half to finish it completely. Considering the money I spent (none), the time it took (not long) and the effort I put in (not much), I declare the outcome garish, yet pleasing. (I just wore it to my choir practice, and everyone said how lovely it was!)

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my selfish, vain, narcissistic day.

And that, is Valentines for me.

Belated ‘Bonne St Valentines’ to you all!

In My Room - Mid-Lolita

2010-02-12T14:02:00.000-08:00

Eighty percent of success is showing up.

I had a plan. However, ‘the best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men (an’ Lolitas), gang aft agley’. My plan was to get up at 9, computerize (messy room post), shower around 10:30 and crack on with my room tidying after that. Things started well. I got up at 8:30. After that, it all went wrong. At 11, after faffing about attempting to write something readable with a half dead computer, I went for my shower. At 11:40, freshly washed, scrubbed and moisturised, the phone rang. It was my friend Brenda asking if I’d like to go to the gym…one thing led to another, and I arrived home at 6:45, just in time to leave for my violin lesson. Just after 8, following several versions of varying quality of the ‘Petit Cheval’, I arrived home for a final time.

I stood in my doorway. What was I going to do? If I started now, I’d never finish before my 11pm bed time, and I had school the next day. Frankly, I’ve met me, and if I put off completing the task, I’d probably never finish. The only thing to do was to start, and keep going.

Suck it up.

So at 8:30, in pyjamas, armed with determination (and Gilbert and Sullivan on my ipod), I started.

I got to 10:30, decided to definitely plough on and turned my alarm clock to face the wall. From then until I finally climbed into bed, I didn’t have a clue what time it was.

I had been under the impression my mess was purely superficial. But I gave everything a quick wipe down (just with a damp cloth – I couldn’t find any cleaning equipment in the house) – turns out some of my stuff was pretty filthy. On that note, I’ve decided to buy some cleaning equipment, keep it in my room and do a bit of cleaning once or twice a week. On top of not wanting to live in a dirty room, I also have a dust allergy and I’m not sure my room in its previous state was helping all that much.

I have an irrational mould fear (you may be able to see where this is going). It’s not that bad – but I do freak out a teeny tiny bit around mould. So imagine my horror when, whilst emptying my many bags, I discovered an ex lunch. Luckily it was just an empty box with traces of soy sauce, and a flask with, as far as I could remember, dregs of tea. I wanted to take them downstairs to the sink and run – but it wouldn’t be fair on whoever found them.

Suck it up.

So there I was, at who knows what ungodly hour, armed with a scrubbing brush, washing up liquid and a face mask (left over from when Mathilde had H1N1), hunched over the bathroom sink, preparing for battle. The soy sauce ridden box wasn’t too bad. Despite wearing the face mask, the smell gradually seeped through – a distinctly soy-sauce-gone-awry smell that made my stomach churn. However, that was nothing compared to the hell that I half poured, half shook out of the dreaded flask. A smell like nothing on earth physically hit me, and I gagged – verging on vomiting into the only thing vaguely protecting me from the demons of long forgotten tea.

I did eventually finish my room. I reorganized my wardrobe by item, then by colour. I changed the contents of my drawers. I sorted my correspondence.

I got into bed at 2:40am.

Suck it up.

In My Room - Pre-Lolita

2010-02-10T07:11:00.000-08:00

It's okay to laugh in the bedroom so long as you don't point.

Today I have a day off. Our work experience day organised by the school was scheduled for the 26th of January. However, on the 25th, we had a lot of rain which froze to form sheet ice overnight. Due to the danger on the roads, all work experience days were canceled. This was announced on the morning radio. However, my host family forgot to tell me. So whilst my all my friends were smugly rolled in a ball somewhere under their duvets, I was hammering on the door of the local library. Luckily all the employees were there for the day anyway, and after learning that it was meant to be canceled, I decided to stay anyway. It was stay, or walk the forty minutes home in the rain. I actually had a really good day in the end.

As you can imagine, I was over the moon when the work experience was reorganised, and it was decided that I shouldn't bother going into school.

Currently, my room is unorganised, untidy, and is making me unhappy. My castle? My arse.

I decided to use this day to my advantage - to clear out my room and create the foundations on which my palace will be built. I'd like to mention now, any changes made to my room will have to be purely superficial - this room is not technically MY room...it's my host sister Constance's old room. I'm simply borrowing for my year here.

To give you an idea of what I'm working with, I decided to do some before and after pictures.
So here we go!

This is my work top and mirror, where all the magic happens! Asyou can see, I have perfected the art of balancing things on top of other things. Yes, that is a crown on top of my lamp, I use it to hold back my hair whilst I'm taking my make-up off. The top drawer is for jeans, the middle for pyjamas (hence why it doesn't close) and the last for long sleeved tops. I cannot promise that the current contents are limited to that; I'm fairly certain there's a pair of grey tights lurking in there somewhere.

This is my bed, corner shelving device and pin board. Note the sleeping bra nestled proudly into the folds of my 'I'm a very busy person' shirt. There's also a bra hanging on the corner post of my bed. I scatter bras hither and thither, with gay abandon in my fairy ring. The giant monkey was a present from my sisters Constance and Éleonore when they came to visit me during my one-day stay at hospital. There was a fun time when everyone thought I had meningitis, including a very friendly insurance man who got very confused when I answered the phone to my hospital room, as he had been under the impression that I was in a coma. Her name is Bobette (original; well done Constance). The ukulele is called Lana. I've been playing for almost a year now, and if you take one thing from this blog, for however long it lasts, it should be that the ukulele is freaking awesome.

This is my desk, rocking chair and what I like to call The Floor Show. The tangle of clothing in the bottom left is my laundry pile. I have a serious storage space issue in my room. I arrived with 60kg of luggage (seriously), my parents sent some other things over, and I've bought a few bit and bobs here. So instead of my three desk drawers being full of desk things, they actually contain my pants, socks and bras. It also means I have three suitcases in my room with nowhere to go. The centre back is my actual cupboard where I keep my shoes (very VERY important - I'm a shoe girl), dresses, short sleeved tops and skirts. I don't really have enough hangers either, so most of my stuff is doubled up. That's another reason for mess; invariably the item I want is hung under something else, so when in a rush the first item gets thrown somewhere over my right shoulder.

A further reason for mess is bags. I put stuff in a bag to do something, or go somewhere and it never gets unpacked. The reason for this being that a full bag looks almost as tidy as an empty bag. This has resulted in many, many bags full of stuff.

So today, it all gets pulled out, organised, put back.

My castle's foundations.

GAME ON.

Cunning Plan: The Pyjama Theory

2010-02-08T20:33:00.000-08:00

One morning I shot an elephant in my pyjamas. How he got into my pyjamas I'll never know.

I have a theory.
A pyjama shaped theory.

My pyjama drawer is filled to the brim. When I get home from wherever, more often than not I’ll throw some on, even if I’m going back out again later. Most of my pyjama bottoms are cute prints (gingham checks and pink hearts) but several sizes too large for ultimate slobby comfort. I used to team these with camisoles. However, at some point during the last three years, wearing a bra to bed stopped being a bad habit and became a necessity. I got a giant, stupidly comfortable, hilariously ugly bra and have never looked back. As you can imagine, such a bra teamed with adorable camisoles is not a winning match. So I traded in my camisoles for huge, cover all man shirts. All in all, when wearing pyjamas I look like, well, a guy. But not only that; I act more like a guy too. My usually messy behaviour is amplified. As a would be actress, my ‘costume’ really does affect my mood. So I figure, if I start wearing nice pyjamas, feminine pyjamas, Princess-worthy pyjamas, my slobby, messy problem may well just be eradicated.
The hunt is on.

In my defence, I never said my pyjama shaped theory was a good one...

One Messy Bunny

2010-02-07T10:43:00.000-08:00

I want to lead the Victorian life, surrounded by exquisite clutter.

If you speak to my mother - my real mother Trisha, not my host mother Louise - she'll try and tell you that I'm perfect. After me complaining that it's not true, she'll relent and tell you that I have one flaw. Mess. And that is spectacularly true. Much to the despair of my father - my real father Michael, and most probably my host father Jean-Pierre - things in my hands tend to get abandonned when they are no longer needed. I subconsciously put off putting away my laundry. I scatter make-up across my work top instead of putting it back in the bag.

I'm then stuck in my room at 8:15am on a Wednesday, in my underwear, wet hair, no make-up, looking for a pair of tights I've thrown in a random drawer, to wear with the only dress that matches the only long sleeved shirt I can find, with a heap of discarded clothes at my feet that don't work because it's too cold or I can't find the other half of the outfit, and I haven't packed my lunch, and my room should be tidy for my host family's houskeeper because she's coming today, and I also have sports class, and my sports bra is in the wash, and one of my sisters have borrowed my shorts - but I don't know which sister - and my kit bag is full of clothes from the weekend when I stayed at Brenda's house and I have to give my laundry to the housekeeper because otherwise she gets upset and most of it is in the corner but the rest of it is spread elsewhere and I can't let her wash this or that because it'll get ruined in machine and oh my god I have science today and I know my folder is at home because I had homework but I haven't seen it since then and I'm going to need to wear a hat because otherwise my wet hair will freeze and I musn't forget my glasses wherever they are and I need to put my deodorant with my sports stuff but it's run out...and the bus will be here at 8:30.

I am also a slob. Yes, really. A girl wanting to embark on the journey of a princess who currently labels herself slob. And occasionally slug.

Let me put it in perspective. Today it is Sunday. Last night I was at a dinner party. I crawled into bed around 1am. So fair enough, I got up at 10:30 this morning. I ate a brunch of cereal and a croissant, and came down to the basement to computerise at around 11. It is now...1:30. I am wearing a big, grey, men's shirt, fluffy shorts and bootie slippers. My hair, face, teeth and body are unwashed. There's an ex cup of tea somewhere near my right hand. I'm going to school to help with a function at 3:30.

I always used to be late. I've managed to tweak this to generally on time (if you don't include school days - I've only missed the bus twice, but usually I do my make-up at school before class and dry my hair with the hand driers). But it really knocks me for six if someone requires me to be early. For example, some people helping at the function have to arrive at 1:30 today. If they call me now and ask me to come in, what am I going to do exactly?
If I don't have anywhere to be, I never get ready.

So, setback three: messy slob

Curvy Lolita

2010-02-07T08:14:00.000-08:00

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye.

I have no problem with my figure, let me state that loud and clear.
Once more, just for good measure : I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH MY FIGURE.
Ok, I think you've got the message.

I'm currently carrying a little winter weight, or Canada Bulk as I like to call it. I'm an English Lady, and jogging when it's -30C outside really is not my cup of tea. In England I had an active part time job, I also worked Saturday mornings (and the occasional evening rehearsal) at a dance school. But for most of my time, I was on a technical theatre college course (once a techie, always a techie; it's true) which was, more often than not, fairly physical. Here, as I mentioned before, I have no job. Dance school fees would be another expense to add to my list and anyway, none of them got back to me when I got in touch. High school requires a lot of sitting and listening. I go to the gym when I can, but that depends entirely on when I can get a lift.
On top of that (literally), a lot of the evening activites I do with my friends involve food. The gathering places include McDonalds, Tim Hortons and a local café. Being a sweet-tooth, I usually take the opportunity to have a treat. Unfortunately, when it starts happening more often than not, a treat becomes a habit, and said habit doesn't mix well with my new sedentary lifestyle.

For my 5'4" frame, I am happiest and most comfortable around 130lbs. I'm currently 137(ish). No big problem.

I am designed in an entirely curvy manner. My hips are around 35". My waist is 28". My bust, however, is 40". Yes, they're real. No, I don't get backache. Yes, I can sleep on my front. Do I wish they were smaller? Yes and no. Yes - it was make shopping that much easier, and people would stop talking about them. No - they're naturally a part of me, and I wouldn't change myself too much.

As I'm sure you can imagine, shopping for skirts is no problem. Shirts - more more difficult. Pre tailored shirts hang off my waist and shoulders when bought large enough to fit my bust. But dresses are an absolute NIGHTMARE.
Even if I suck it up, get some fresh air and exercise and stop having habit treats (both of which I'm planning to do, but I can't promise anything), I'm still going to have a major problem ordering the dresses from the internet that I'm dreaming of.
I guess I'm just going for damage control.

So, setback two: major boobies.

The Budget

2010-02-06T10:03:00.000-08:00

I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something.

My name is Emily Jane Stedman. I am 17 years old. I come from Kent in England. I currently live in Québec, Canada where I am an ‘exchange student’ learning French. I left England in August ’09, and I will return in July ’10. I don’t have a job (visa says no) and therefore have a rather limited budget.

Don’t get me wrong, my parents are extremely generous. They have shelled out a lot for me to even be here this year. They send things I’ve forgotten (watch), or replacements of things I’ve lost (plectrums) or broken (glasses!). They give me pocket money every month. I couldn’t (wouldn’t) ask for more. The pocket money is a very decent amount and I am in no way hard-done-by, but there’s always something that needs paying for. School fees, choir fees, skiing days, gym membership, letter sending, toiletries, hair cuts, winter clothes, school trips (one to Montréal in October that set me back 150$ initially, and another 150$ on the actual trip, and a trip to New York in April which is 420$ PLUS the money I choose to spend there on things like eating more than once a day). Then there’s prom which includes paying for the ticket, the photo album, the dress, shoes, hair, jewelery, additional photos etc. On top of that there’s also money spent just doing things with my friends – going for a coffee, for a meal, shopping (I do this rarely, and it’s even rarer that I buy anything unessential i.e not from Wal Mart).

After all that, how much do you think I have to spare to ship peticoats from Japan?

So, setback one : small budget

In the beginning

2010-02-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

Il existait une différence entre avaler de l’information, et la comprendre.
A difference exists between having information, and understanding it.

Almost two weeks ago, I was trawling the internet for prom dresses. I wanted something…different. Tired of the slink-satin-jewel toned-clones (for only 500$!) that most of the websites were throwing at me, I returned to google and typed 'Victoriana'. From there, I quickly discovered the world of Lolita. A world that tied many loose ends of my personality. A world that wore what I loved, but hadn’t come across before. A world that made sense. A world, that I had been missing from for too long.

Since then, I’ve spent a large chunk of my spare time sieving the internet for Lolita information. Handbooks, magazine copies, blogs, vlogs, advice pages, shopping sites – everything I could find in English I read, everything in Japanese I translated.

Why am I starting a blog so early in my Lolita discovery? I’ve decided to publish my journey from the very beginning, all the way from non-Lolita, to Lolita. It will mark my steps, my mistakes, my successes; everything. And I hope those of you, who, like me, are starting from the bottom and working their way up will find something useful, will avoid an easy-to-make mistake, will try something that worked. And for those of who are already on their journey, I hope you can offer advice!