Portuguese Christmas

Hello readers,

It has been too long!
Christmas is one of my favorite holidays and so I'd love to share a bit of how it was to celebrate it this year.

I am not sure if you are aware but one of the reasons why I am so inactive is due to my lack of energy. I have been sick for most of 2015 and I cannot find a reason let alone a cure. I have seen multiple doctors and taken several tests but so far nothing found completely explains my state. Anyway it makes me so much less active than before i'm becoming a bit apathic.
I apologize for the inactivity. <3

Anyway we here start festivities around dinner time on the 24th where we gather with our imediate familly around a table and eat codfish.
This year was the first time in a while that we have spent the holidays at my mom's and not our place so it felt different somehow.

We left our presents home which ended up being a good idea because my daughter actually fell asleep right after dinner and we can only open presents after midnight. We waited till midnight and then opened the presents that my mother gave us. 

She got me two pajamas and two lovely hand painted antique boxes. 

This is our traditional meal, boiled vegetables, eggs, codfish and octopus. 

After opening all the presents we got ready and eventually left the house to go to my mom's. 

On Christmas day, for lunch and dinner we have the same. The first course is called Roupa Velha which is basically a recipe made out of all the leftovers from the previous day!

After that came the turkey. Everyone has their own version but ours is just a roast with stuffing... our stuffind was chestnuts, bacon and Farofa.

Dinner was interesting because a cousin I haven't seen in a while decided to join us and right on a night when he was actually on tv because he is part of the Casa da Música choir. Then one of my mom's friends, someone my daughter and I love, came over and we ended up playing cards for a while too. It was just nice. We left quite late, around 2 something a.m.

And that's how I spent my Christmas this year. 

To finish off I'm posting this year's Christmas coord as well as my Christmas haul. 

 I think it might have been the first time I actually put this dress on except for when i got it to try it on. Shame... :\

I sent around 10 postcards this year and got only 3. I have no regrets. Thank you for these, i love receiving mail. <3

Click for a bigger pic. I cheated though, i got the bag and boots for myself. I fell in love with the bag and really need shoes... now i need oxfords. 

I hope you liked the post, let me know if you have a christmas post somewhere so I can read about yours too! I love this season! <3

Love,

Jo

Opposite poles

Hello again!

Today there was a japanese culture tiny convention happening in my town and, like last year, the portuguese lolita community was invited to participate in some way. I was the one in charge of these things before but I have left my position as administrator and am now just a normal user of the comm. So the girls in charge organized something and a couple of ladies participated as models. 

Because I did not want to attend this time I posted telling everyone who did not go that we should wear lolita and post an outfit in order to show support. This is the outfit I chose.

I absolutely love these colors and I adore this dress but unfortunately I hate the way the waist belt looks on my wide and long body and so all the photos that i find decent are all of me covering that area with my arms. I think I might have to sell this dress soon, it makes no sense to keep something I find doesn't look ok on. But selling will break my heart.

Outfit info:

Bonnet - Triple Fortune

Shirt - Mille Fleurs

Onepiece - Atelier Pierrot

Socks - Offbrand 

Shoes - Offbrand (Primark)

Underskirt - Victorian Maiden

I cannot wait to see the fashion show outfits and video. I hope everything went well. 

Love,

Jo

Japan trip 2014 - Some lolita, finally!

Wednesday 30

We did nothing all day which feels good and is exactly what I am doing today.
We woke up, had yummy food for breakfast, had instant yummy food for lunch and had super healthy food for dinner (tofu, mushrooms, fish etc).
Played with Mari, watched tv, relaxed. Best days are those lazy days.

Breakfast included karepan (my favorite) and sweet buns with handmade maio filing.

Mari had fun in that box.

Discovered Mari likes matcha flavored stuff too, this is matcha pudding.

Friday 31

My inlaws wanted to take Mari so we had a more relaxed time. Woke up later than usual and there were some tasty onigiri waiting on the dining table.
After that, we were planning on leaving the house soon but my friend fla has a big mouth and chats a lot which makes me happy haha so i stayed in and we chatted and chatted and I was happy. Unfortunately soon it was time to leave and we had planned to visit Osaka's shinsaibashi área which is supposed to be my favorite in Japan so far.

This is what I look like. People stare a bit because of the sunglasses, very rarely do I see anyone with sunglasses here.

 This pond is right by Sango train station. Last year it was full of water and there were fish and turtles living there. We wondered about the turtles and found out they were taken to a save place but I got very annoyed when i looked at the área beneath a grid and there was water and still fish living there, that place is tiny and dirty! So sad...

Once a beautiful pond, now its like a trash can where some fish are still trapped.

but then vending machines make it better. I got the Café Au Lait which is milky and sugary and reminds me of my kitty cat left back home *tears*

 We got in the train and headed over to the connection station which is Tennoji. I like the fact that i always need to be in a train to go to places although i find the whole line this and that and JR and bla bla ridiculously confusing.

Since it was lunch time and had to literally step out of the station to change to the subway my husband suggested we ate around the area. I actually had been there last year to meet with one of his friends and I like it a lot, its super modern and there's a ton of things to discover, lots of stores and all that. 

The view accross the train station

People with sunglasses. I want to take more photos with my husband but its not easy to do so when we are by ourselves.

We then entered a shopping building because they have restaurants there, usually in the bottom but mostly in the top floors. I like malls here, they look super upscale like the sort of place i'd think twice about entering in my own country because of the price of the items and because I feel like i look odd in them haha but in Japan they are so normal everyone is everywhere and that feels nice.

I stopped twice, once to eat of course and the other time in the kid's floor. I was drooling over Mezzo Piano and even more over Shirley Temple's marvelous pieces. I fell in love with one jsk, but it was 7000yen on sale and still big for my daughter. I swear when she's a year older i'm going to buy this stuff for her. I do not care!

This in jsk version.... how can you not want to dress your kid in this???

The top floors with the restaurants had the staircase área all decorated with these leaves on the ceiling and i though they looked amazing, like something from a dream.

We browsed all the floors until we decided where to have lunch... its just that there are queues out of each one of the restaurants and I hate waiting...

Finally we decided to go to a Chinese food sort of place and I knew what to get from the shop window, plastic food model display, eggplant! I love eggplant!

I ordered a menu which included a small soup, a small salad, a roll and a meat fried piece which i adore.

It was way too much food for me so my husband ended eating half of it. My mother in law told us not to get stuffed for lunch because she wanted to take us out for dinner.
Since we were headed for shinsaibashi and we remembered it was not easy to find a bathroom there we decided to go before. Now I know you were waiting for toilet shots again but common, again? (ok maybe next time).
I did spot something I am actually thinking of requesting people implement here which is this:

Seat for kids

I know it sounds obvious but no, there's no place to put your kid down when you go to the bathroom... so going to the bathroom with a under 3 year old child is a huge drag! They had these in all the toilets and even the men's bathroom which is where this one was located actually. Isn't it perfect? I thought so.

We then left for the subway and headed to our destination, shinsaibashi. We left in the station with the same name and got lost. I always find Bodyline and never find the famous triangle park the first time. This time again we got lost and then laughed a bit when we got there because we totally had been close before and just missed it. I will always find it now though i forced myself to memorize the path to it.
That means we had just a couple of hours to browse things... which is not a lot but i mean shopping can happen any time, and this trip is about familly and resting.
Some photos taken of the area when we were just wandering around:

The famous GLICO sign.

 

When you see these lamps you know you have arrived.

My first stop was the one closest to me which was Angelic Pretty. I was hoping to miracly find a Cameo Window fully shirred jsk in red but of course it wasn't there. The other version not available in the site was there in red but its 89cm long and frankly full shirring is just more comfortable for me so i did not get it. I am still debating if I should get it in Brown or ivory so I left without buying anything.

Angelic Pretty Osaka - Cameo in pink for fla

After that, in the same street I went to two stores, one was the local second hand store which has become much more expensive than it was before, all the things I wanted were close to or over retail price, I really want musee in ivory but nah. But they had really nice things there.

Then I went to Atelier Boz but I found that nothing was too exciting except for this which is lovely but not something i'm dying to have. I also loved their hoop skirts!

After that I went straight towards my favorite store in the world, not because of the brands they carry (juliette et justine, moi-meme-moitie, "chantilly", triple fortune, atelier pierrot and others) but because of the atmosphere and most of all the servisse. The staff are friendly and act and seem... well human. Some stores train their staff to act in a way that seems plastic and just odd or even somewhat not helpful which happens everywhere, not just here and not just in Lolita stores. The Atelier Pierrot staff acts as if they are your friend and just want to help. I wanted to try on some triple fortune corsets and was looking for it in black but did not find it, they only had that pink on the window there. I fell in love with chantilly's prints and was disappointed by the one i actually wanted to see (haha life) and also fell in love with a MmM shirt (can't afford that) and a complete outfit by Atelier Pierrot that I will probably buy next week if its still there. I feel stupid though, buying a complete coord shown in the store but i loved it!

Anyway I just want to go back and get a photo with the store girl because i love her and want to be her friend (how creepy).

Atelier Pierrot Osaka - my favorite store in Japan

We also went in Innocent World where I also was disappointed by the only thing i wanted and almost got a dress on sale. I went in to buy a short sleeved  cardigan in black but they had 0 in L size so i couldn't.

Kera shop had the most gorgeous Lumiebre parasol ever with a stained glass print in it... for like a lot of cash (and for me to get it meant i'd have to play the luck game with the airplane trip "will it or will it not break") and I got to see my new jj dress which is... ok but super thin. Why are my jj dresses never thick and nice like the cat/rabbit dress my friend Vania owns... *sigh*
Finally we went in the PureSound second hand store. I found out their Lolita section is now pretty much non-existant and found two things I wanted there. One I got and will show to you (it was the only thing i bought that day) and the other I left but would like to own and might return to get, i didn't get it because it was just a plain pink dress but i think i'll wear it a bit. Not too cheap nor too expensive.

After that it was time to go, we had scheduled to be in Oji station by 6.30 and we meant to keep our promise.

Regular japanese train, bound for Oji station

In the process of getting there i got realy thirsty and wanted to buy water but we were out of coins so when I arrived at Oji the first thing I did was get Money from the ATM and hit the nearby supermarket. Never did water taste this good.

Buying water at the supermarket, gosh i was so ridiculously thirsty!

When we got back very soon everyone arrived so we got in the car and my daughter reacted in the most adorable way ever screaming "mommy mommy" ^_^; *melts*

After a while we arrived to our destination: more meat heaven!

The restaurante, during the day was black and at night it looked more grey-ish. It looked pretty grand haha

Korean style barbecue. Sooo tasty!

 After that we got back in the car and went back home where we rested a bit and waited for something that we wanted to watch: Cristiano Ronaldo in a japanese food tv quizz show.

Basically two guests have to eat 3 dishes, in the middle there's one the guest does not like. In the end they have to guess which dish the other does not like to "win".
Ronaldo was asked to take off his shirt if he lost (what?) and he did lose so he did take it off, the girl was melting, it was ridiculous haha.

After that we went jogging... and jogging here is harder I haven't made it to the 5k I usually run because its so hot!
Took a shower and slept like a baby!

This is the only thing I bought, I know... how ridiculous! I told you I am most probably falling out of love with lolita. :|

Victorian Maiden Gobelin print capelet. Not sure of name or if anything is missing.

Hope you liked reading!
Love always,
Jo

Carnation Revolution

Hello again,

Yesterday was the 25th of April, the date of the important date, the day when the portuguese got rid of Salazar's dictatorship. Usually one does something more relevant on this date but (maybe because of what the country is going through at the moment) and also because I felt a bit tired, we spent most of the day at home relaxing. After all the chores and working on some thing I felt like wearing lolita for a bit and taking some photos.
I opted for minimum makeup (just a bit of base and eyeshadow) because I was going out afterwards and I didn't feel like having to take it off. I went for a sweet version of elegant classic this time.

I am wearing:

- offbrand underdress (H&M)

- Innocent World cardigan

- Mary Magdalene dress

- offbrand socks (Calzedonia)

- offbrand shoes (Tuk)

- Suppurate system/ offbrand jewelry (primark, china, stradivarius)

- Victorian Maiden corsage / offbrand bows (parfois)

- offbrand bag (parfois)

After this I switched to my regular boring manly self, got my daughter ready to leave and eventually left myself.

We went to the shopping mall to get some new clothes for her, since her 3-6months clothes are getting too small (she's 6 months now) and ended up buying stuff for us too, damn that store, one cannot leave without buying something!

2 new bedsheets (on sale); blue tights; new basic socks; a set of rings; cleaning wipes

We also had dinner and then came home. It was almost midnight when we got home and I had to wake up at 6.30am for work so i ended up having a really tiresome day but we were together and that's always fun.

I have a birthday party this weekend so expect a new post soon.

Love always,

Jo

Relaxed saturday

Hello again,

Nothing much has changed since my last post and we're all doing well. I have been getting some pressure from people who shouldn't even be able to do so in any way anymore but its still stressing me out. I know that in reality there's not much they can do to harm me but it still annoyed me and has made me strongly consider getting into some things I was planning to get into later.

I got some more things in the mail after my last post. I love everything but not everything has loved me back:

Both pairs are from Victorian Maiden, from the victorian queen collection. I really wanted the burgundy pair but these were all i could find. I really loved the blue pair the most but when it arrived i realised it doesn't match anything i own because its more purple than blue. I'll eventually find something though.

I was looking forward for the Angelic Pretty Dream Fantasy set! I really loved all the Angelic Pretty special sets this year to be honest, i think they were fantastic. What wasn't fantastic was finding out that the special set jsks were not fully shirred in the back unless they came in the coat set which this didn't. So It doesn't zip up on me. I still took a photo or two in it covering the gap with a cardigan but I obviously cannot keep it. I love it so much, I am really sad. (it came with the set's socks and headbow and everything seems brand new).

I saw this hat at a local store and fell in love. I don't wear pink that much but I could not help myself. I love hats in general and i really like lolita coords with vintage hats but we don't have a big hat culture in my country so if one does find a vintage hat for sale they tend to be very pricey. Anyway this would look so cute on my friend Lucy!

I was so relieved when i tried this on and it fit well, i really love the colors of this dress and I am a big fan of florals too. It's perfect, i love everything about this Innocent World dress. <3

Other than clothes I also ordered some mooks. I ordered the last Gothic & Lolita Bible (now i'm missing the one released now), the Angelic Pretty mook and the Muchacha box. They all arrived as well!

I totally recommend them all. The bible is one of those number in which i loved almost everything, the Ap mook has great quality paper and the sugary carnival tote that comes with it is huge, durable and handy and the Muchacha box is just adorable. The bag is disappointing (too small for me) but the box is fantastic nonetheless. 

I only have two outfits to share with you this time. I might wear something tomorrow depending on how busy I end up being. We'll see!

I hope you like these:

Outfit info: vintage hat, ap dress, mam cardi, meta socks, antenna shoes and offbrand jewelry.

Outfit info: Moitié dress, head dress, head bow, choker; victorian maiden tights; offbrand jewelry and shoes (primark)

Also you can see where my doll house is and where I store all my bibles and the like. I really like this little corner of my place. It's the entrance for my bedroom and its also where I have that iron door i love so much.

I've also been trying to be responsible with my income because I really want to make 3 trips this year so I won't buy anything for a while now. I even passed on something i really wanted from Innocent World because of that.
I am waiting on some taobao things (first time ordering!) and another item or two but then that's it.
What about you guys? What are you expecting/what did you get recently?

I am trying to catch up on movie watching lately. Since my daughter was born I haven't been able to go to the movies and I probably won't be able to do so for a while so I've been watching them at home. I watched the Oscar ceremony (loved it) and after realising i didn't watch anything in the entire event I decided to do so afterwards. After this resolutiong I've watched the following:
Lés Miserables, Lincoln, Argo, Silver Linings Playbook, Looper, Detachment, This means war, Underworld: awakening, Zero dark thirty... quite a few.
I am now going to watch "the master".

Talk to you soon!
Jo