On Being Lolita: Sweet Resolutions

On Being Lolita: Sweet Resolutions

It’s hard to grasp that 2009 is over, and 2010 begins tomorrow! 2009 was quite an eventful year for me; I can’t help wondering what the new year will bring. It turned out that I actually had the opportunity to buy new clothes during this year, but there wasn’t much that really caught my eye. I made new friends within the community and bid other lolita farewell, as they went on to follow their dreams. ♥ I started living in my own tiny apartment, and got this crazy idea that it would be okay to cram many petticoated girls into it! (I still think that’s a good idea, though. I really love having company over~) I even took the plunge and finally had bangs cut into my hair! I feel like most things that happened were positive, and I am hopeful that 2010 will continue in that tradition.

Most years I try to make resolutions for the coming year. Most years I don’t do very well at even remembering what my resolutions were. I thought I’d make some focusing on lolita this year.

★ Host more meetups!
It seems there are more and more lolita and aristocrats in Chicago every day! I want to make sure there’s a variety of activities, from the inexpensive to the more decadent–a little bit of something for everyone’s taste and budget. I’d like to go ice skating at Millennium Park in the beginning of the year, spend more time at the Lincoln Park Zoo when the weather is good, and visit the Garfield Park Conservatory again~ I’d also still like to have afternoon tea somewhere nice–maybe Russian Tea Time again or one of the hotels if the price and service is right. I’d also like more “cozy” meetups relaxing at someone’s home; that’s really my favorite thing to do.

★ Work harder on loli_bookclub!
 I tried to revive this community during the year–an online book club with a lolita focus. It’s sometimes hard to really connect lolita fashion with most books, but I’m hopeful that I can keep on a better schedule with the community so that more members will join. I’d also like to encourage local communities to host book club meetings or start other book-related projects!

★ Hold still for more pictures!
Even though I wear lolita fashion on a fairly regular basis, I almost never pause to take pictures. I’d like to be able to look back when I’m old(er) and reminisce about this time in my life! Seeing pictures of myself dressed in frills and lace, and pictures of my friends, will remind me about how much fun I had and how silly I looked without caring about it~ I won’t be able to wear lolita fashion forever, so I want proof so future generations can giggle at how odd I looked. n_~

 ★ Post entries more often!
I always have something I’d like to write about, but I find that too many times I don’t post because I am worried about not having pictures. I know that my writings are mostly text, and thus not very visually interesting. I’d really like to change that, but I am not very prepared in terms of picture-taking; I never seem to have my camera with me when something actually happens! I also don’t like using pictures that aren’t mine, even with proper credit, unless I know that person well and they have specifically said it was alright.  However, I don’t want readers to be bored–everyone likes pictures, right? Right now I know I wanted to talk about holiday dresses, Christmas, the macarons from Trader Joe’s, and so much more!

Surely there are other lolita with New Year’s resolutions, right? What are yours–especially if they’re lolita fashion-related?

I’m wishing a Happy New Year to everyone! ♥

Meetup Report: Holiday Cookies

Meetup Report: Holiday Cookies

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? My job and courses kept me pretty busy as winter break and the Christmas holiday approached. I certainly haven’t forgot about writing, but sometimes forming a coherent sentence that other people might want to read is a little bit beyond me when I get a chance to go online.

In the beginning of December I hosted the monthly Crafternoon. My apartment is very, very tiny–one room with a kitchen and bathroom–but I have always enjoyed hosting things and I really wanted to have my friends over. Although the Crafternoons tend to not actually involve crafts, this one did–but crafts of the edible kind. I love cupcakes and cookies and sweet delicious desserts in general, so I decided to hold a gingerbread party. I really like fresh, warm gingerbread, but my family doesn’t bake it for the holidays; they prefer other cookies.

So I cleaned up my tiny house, warned everyone that they’d have to sit on the floor (we lack a couch), and started baking! I made the gingerbread, but asked party-goers to bring decorating supplies. It worked out very well. Even though my house and kitchen are small, there was enough kitchen table to place slightly-cooled gingerbread shapes on parchment paper, surrounded by supplies. My tiny stereo played an assortment of Christmas music, mostly Bing Crosby, and my tiny silver tree glittered in the corner where over a dozen lolita conversed over tea and cookies. It was definitely crowded, but no-one complained, and everyone stayed several hours late.

The gingerbread recipe worked out very, very well. I selected it from my Baking Illustrated tome, which is my go-to for baking recipes. (I adore America’s Test Kitchen and everything they do.) The dough was wonderfully spicy, with cinnamon, ginger, and clove, and it could make soft or crisp cookies entirely based on how thick the dough was rolled. Afterwards, we had a wide variety of frostings (Lina brought absolutely every color!) and sprinkles. I supplied sparklegel** in red and green~ Everyone was very, very creative! I think I have pictures of the cookies somewhere, but I was too preoccupied to take any myself.

Afterwards, when the guests had left, we made dinner with my little sister and her roommates. ♥ I had such a wonderful time. I really want to host something again–at least, if everyone is willing to come to my tiny home again!