[Paris] Angelic Pretty Tea Party 2015

Despite being sick for a long time and only being allowed by the doctor to go back to work 3 days before the event date, I decided to still go ahead and travel to Paris for the Tea Party. This could not have happened if it wasn't for the goodness of my friend Aliki and my new friend Melodie since I did not want to book a room without knowing for sure if I would be able to travel and they just let me stay with them at Melodie's. I will never forget what they did for me.

FRIDAY
Anyway I went to work as scheduled on friday and took my trolley so I could go straight to the airport after that. Its not that I like travelling light but Ryanair only lets people take a carry-on trolley and a smaller handbag.

I arrived and got some wine to give to Melodie as a thank you gift (and because Vinho Verde is my favorite and uncommon outside Portugal) and then got in the plane. I used to love flying but now I feel very uneasy to fly on my own. I have a new irrational fear of flying and always think "what if the plane crashes". It really sucks and I know it makes no sense though.
Anyway fortunately it all went well and soon I was in the ryanair bus and then the metro. I am an idiot and I ignored Aliki's address instructions and decided to go with my gmaps documents and therefore ended up getting lost and having to pay a fortune for a cab ride but that was ok, I was super happy and excited to hang out with Aliki (at that point i did not know i'd fall in love with Melodie too).

When I finally got to Melodie's place we chatted for a bit and then went to bed. Boy was it hot in Paris, as soon as I got off the plane I felt as if I was already in Japan for the summer.
Melodie was apparently very worried because I "got lost" at midnight somewhere in Paris which made me feel a bit guilty for making her worry like that, Aliki was right about her, she is such a nice person. Indoors it was super hot too and I felt sweaty and gross haha. We might end up sleeping a bit more and ditching our first plan which was to go to the Rin Rin princess crepe signing session, its too hot and we do not want to arrive at the tea party with running mascara and reeking of sweat.

SATURDAY
Aliki was already complaining about the weather at 9am which is adorable. I understand though, I'm not a fan of heat either but was still super excited to be in Paris.

We got dressed quite fast but still had to get on a cab to get to the popup store to pick up out tea party tickets.

Unfortunately when we got there the lovely shop girl told us we should go to the hotel directly and did not need to make that stop which was a bit waste of money and time (we wish we knew in advance but that's not what we read). We then got back in the cab and the driver after taking a photo of us haha finally left us at the hotel gate. I actually knew that hotel already, i had been in front of it once when i was visiting the eiffel tower with Vania a couple years before. I had no idea what it looked like inside though.
We got the vip treatment from the start with fancy dressed people opening the door for us and greating us at the gate, that's always fun since its not normal for me to be in such places.
There were already some girls inside and we decided to go to the bathroom to check our makeup. In there we saw a lot of girls getting ready. Apparently a lot of lolitas (maybe because of the heat? Not sure why) get dressed in the hotels for these events. I was a bit surprised but it was nice, like being in a huge dress up party. Rosalynn was there and I was super happy to see her.

Aliki, the perfect tea party partner. <3

This sheet was later used to cast the votes for best coordinate. 

Delicious french pastries.

We eventually saw all the girls we knew that were there, I was thrilled to see everyone again and to meet the girls I had in my facebook friends lists but never had met before. <3

During the event we saw Ap new releases in a fashion show (See all the outfits here), took photos with Maki, Asuka and Rin Rin, chatted with a bunch of amazing attendees, got photographed by the talented Marie, ate and drank amazing stuff, voted for best dressed who got amazing gifts, got lucky in the raffle for the first time! and even got super cute freebies from Angelic Pretty. It was a bit short though, I wish it had lasted longer!

Fashion show outfits, aren't they all lovely?

Marie's lovely photo of me in the photo corner. 

Taking photos and seeing friends. ^_^; 

Ada and Rosalynn, I love them and I love this photo <3 <3

Photos with Angelic Pretty designers, Maki and Asuka. How perfect are they?

The table with all the prizes, so amazing! I was dreaming of owning that brown choco bag.

Out of the raffle prizes there was this one chocolate bag that someone really wanted...  

And DAMN I ACTUALLY WON IT! 

Rin Rin was adorable, super nice. I remember her back from when she posted outfits like the rest of us and told her that, she was quite happy to hear that it seemed. <3

The three special guests saying goodbye.

Group Photo for the Angelic Pretty tea party 2015

We said goodbye briefly and went to the pop up store so we could finally see what was available. Got there and we did not want anything so we left and returned to the house.

Still bummed about losing my sunglasses somewhere in Paris.

We told Melodie about the Tea Party, took a shower and ordered chinese food. We also opened one of the wine bottles which was super cool and therefore tasted heavenly. We chatted a lot and eventually went to bed. It was a fantastic day, and I think it was the most fun I have ever had in a lolita tea party of this size.


SUNDAY
When I woke up it was late, for some reason I did not remember to set my alarm the night before and Aliki did not want to wake me up so we ended up getting ready a bit on the late side. We finally got ready and we realized we might not make it when the bus did not come to the stop on time and we had to wait 20min for the next one to arrive. Aliki freaked out and she wanted to get on a cab and the cab driver just left us at some reason place we could get to ourselves by metro (and maybe faster too). So we went to the gardens and to the only fountain I could find and we were 10min after the fashion walk start time so of course we did not see anyone. We walked there for a bit and then just gave up.
I was a bit sad but it was ok, I had such luck the day before I knew I shouldn't push it, it had been enough luck to last for a while. I never get that lucky so I should just take it!
So we took a couple photos around the area, had a cup of coffee at starbucks, took photos with a million tourists (all of which were super nice) and made plans for lunch. I had limited time because of my flight and because i still needed to pack.

I am in love with this bag and feel like wearing choco themed everything now.

Melodie told us the restaurants around the pop up store were good and not too pricey so we went back to the Ap pop up store which was close. When we got there Maki, Asuka, other lolitas (I got to say goodbye to Ada <3) were there. All items had a 20% discount too but i still did not buy anything. i behaved very well this time! We got to hang out and chat a bit but then left because of the time.

We looked for a restaurant for a bit and decided to eat at a sort of supermarket/fast food/bento place and the food was glorious. I got to miss japanese food a bit less which is great, all of that for 10 euros. Parisians are so lucky, i cannot believe how easy it is for people to eat/ stock on japanese stuff there. I have to ask people to mail things to eat certain things.

We got to the house pretty fast and I got ready very fast too. I think I lost my sunglasses in Paris though which sucks but i suppose I can just buy a new pair.
Aliki and Melodie and I parted ways and it was quite sad.
The ride back to Port Maillot was so easy that it made me feel really stupid about missing the way when I had arrived. haha

At the airport I got some small gifts for my daughter and husband as I always do. <3

And had something to eat. Love smoked salmon.

The flight was ok, portuguese people, the way we behave on planes is really awkward and funny so that makes any trip lighter. I was more relaxed. I also wanted to hug my familly really bad, boy had I missed them. I had fun but i couldn't wait to see my daughter and kiss my husband.

When I saw them it was really nice although I knew Mari was sick. We had to take her to the emergency later that night, that was terrible.

If you'd like to see what it felt like to be in the TP, this video is a great example. It is all french but just watch for the nice outfits and lovely venue. Also can you spot me from time to time? :P

 

This is now my final week at work but I tried my best to post this as soon as possible. We have some small meetings coming up in the Portuguese community too which is exciting. If this keeps up I might regain my 100% level of love for lolita which I had slightly lost recently due to my community being so inactive and me being so busy and stressed.

Ah and I almost forgot, this is my haul from this trip:

1.Melty Ribbon Chocolate boston bag (brown) - raffle prize

2. 3 clear file folders from Angelic Pretty - attendee gift

3. Big Angelic Pretty Paris 2015 badge - attendee gift

4. flyers, cards, number pin, thank you card, etc - Paris TP/shop freebies 

5. Angelic Pretty Crystal Dream Carnival Pin (pink) - purchase

6. Angelic Pretty Crystal Dream Carnival Necklace (pink) - purchase

7. Angelic pretty stripe ribbon wrist cuffs (brown) - purchase

8. Angelic Pretty princess victoria wrist cuffs (sax) - purchase

9. Guerlain miniature gift bag - a lovely gift from Melodie <3

I hope you liked reading this post, again this is just how I view things and I am very honest when I write. After all this is my diary. <3

Thank you everyone who contributed for this amazing weekend. I owe you one <3

Love,
Jo

Paris - La Vie en Rose - Part Three

Hello everyone,

This is finally my last post about my trip to Paris. I hope you like reading about my day.

 Sunday, the 22nd of February

I woke up feeling super tired and a bit depressed because I knew it'd be my last day in the house with the best house mates in existence. I was also a bit worried about my outfit. I had gone a bit nuts with creating things to wear the day before the event and although I loved it in theory wearing something so ridiculously OTT freaked me out since it was so damn out of my confort zone. Still I wanted to wear something different for a change and all my other btssb/aatp sets are a bit playing it safe so I gave it a go. 

I asked the girls to help me though because I knew that without the right hair and makeup it would look ridiculously and I couldn't have asked for more, they just made it all come together. 

The interesting part was that out of the 5 of us, 3 of us had circus themed coordinates and I had no idea whatsoever! How amazing is that?

The circus team, all of us looking completely different which is great.

Me and my amazing room mates. They were by far the best thing out of the trip. 

We left right on time to enter the tea party which for me was a bit late because all the staff was there before that. 

We decided to go on foot because according to the map app it wasn't that far from where we were. The weather was amazing, the best it had been so far and it was actually a nice walk. On the way there people stared of course, we knew how ott we looked haha and it was very amusing because along the way we crossed the "rue du cirque" which means circus street and it was totally unexpected and a total obligatory photo moment. 

When we finally arrived there was a huge line of lolitas waiting and of course some of them were familiar faces so I went to the end of the line with the girls, said hello to a few people and then left to the entrance to reunite with the staff. 

I got in, left my coat and went up. I got a short briefing and waited with the rest of the staff for the tea party to start. 

When the time came we stood at the entrance and greeted every guest one by one which was fun. I talked to people for a bit after that and then went to find a place to sit. We tried seating in some areas but ended up in a corner of the room and our party was separated which sucked to be honest. The space was very pink and bright and the ateendees all looked amazing again. 

This was the entrance, the stairs where we stood to greet everyone are on the right in this shot. 

This table was where some of the nicest people sat hehe, the table next to mine - the one there in the back.  

I walked around a bit and asked to take photos of everyone, it seemed natural plus I wanted to redeem myself from taking almost no photos the day before. I still failed at taking photos with people though, and my ott made me a bit more shy, not sure why.

This is the first section of the space, then in the back where I was standing there's another room and then another space in the entrance where tf staff sat along with most of sfe and french cafe.

  

One of the things that made it impossible to move was the space and seating distribution.  I mean for all those people to sit it couldn't be helped but yes people had to ask others if they wanted to pass etc. It made it easier to see everyone's outfits though. hehe

Look, its Fidel in the back! He looked amazing! And I heard the lovely Marlessa in brown there won the best Alice and the Pirates coordinate! She always has the most incredible hair and accessories ever. 

The food was yummy and stunning. There was a tower of macarons and eclairs and some fireworks envolved. Guests all could chose from tea or hot choco which could be refiled. There was also one glass of orange juice per guest and 2 macarons and 1 eclair per guest. But there was a surplus so if one went outside we could get one or two more. There were also other 3 bites of sugary goodness later on. 

This is what I wore (and I'd like to thank the two photographers and my friend Marissa for taking these shots of me!):

Hat: handmade 

Sash: handmade

Scepter: handmade

Bag: Innocent World

Jsk: Alice and the Pirates

Boots: BABY, the stars shine bright

Socks: tutuanna

Necklace: Alice and the Pirates

Shirt: Mille fleurs

With our number tag we also got a couple of papers to vote for our favorite btssb and aatp coordinate. Also there was paper available to write nice notes to friends and people who we admire. I loved that idea and wrote as many as I could myself. And thank you for all the ones I got, i loved them and they made me happy during that plane ride back.

 

There were so many amazing outfits that day I wish I had taken more photos but the time was limited and it was all a bit confusing for me so again I failed to take many shots. This time I also did not get photos with the btssb guests, most of the atendees and my friends. I always regret that but its too late now.  

After this I unfortunately had to rush and leave because of my plane. So I said my goodbyes and rushed out. I asked for a cab because i could not get home myself and got home soon after. I took a phew photos of the amazing art in the house, i loved that place so much, i could totally live there. 

How wicked are these? 

I also took some more shots of my outfit and then got undressed and changed to confortable clothes for the ride. I got everything ready on time which was good. 

After I took this shot something happened... i realised I had left my coat at the tea party venue!!!!!! I was so upset with myself for being so irresponsible. I rushed to get a cab, asked the driver to stop there, got my coat (which was weird because the atendees were all leaving and I was running in there to get my coat looking completely different from before) and after I got it i just got into the cab again. 

The driver was super friendly and we chatted a lot in my broken french, he asked me about the event, about my trip, we talked about kids and travelling, it made me relax and feel happier about leaving so suddently. 

I thanked him and got into my bus towards beauvais airport. After getting there everything was pretty easy and I still had time to get some souveniers (got cheese and mustard for my husband and chocolate for mari).

On the plane i decided to have something to eat, some ratatoulle. It was the first time I bought food on a plane, not joking haha. It was ok, I was really hungry. When I arrived in Oporto, my husband and Mari were there to pick me up. I hugged her really close and cried like a baby. I was really happy to be back despite it all.

And that was it. I am sure i forgot a lot of things and people but its been a while now and my memory is terrible so this was the best I could manage. haha.
I was bummed i missed the raffle, the best coordinate election, the group photo and the after party but I was happy that, despite leaving my coat behind, i could get to the airport on time.

Love,
Jo