Birthday don't stop & October lolita and doll meet!

After I got over my severe cold and stopped being a hermit in the house, Keiko came by to sleep over for my birthday weekend and it ended up being a 3 day affair with cake and fun...which also stretched into the next week! Or maybe it should be that the Cake Doesn't Stop! Seems like I've been eating a lot of cake lately!

Fashion week!

Work it!

Keiko actually invited me to go to her friend's bridal fashion show, Paraezo, for Mastercard Fashion Week. It was a nice chance to dress up and bring out the designer bags and shoes! Since I'm not used to wearing heels...I almost died in my shoes, but thankfully I had brought along flats to change into. 

The show was beautiful and had some really lovely bridal dresses. The styling was very elegant and the designer had used fresh flowers to create head pieces. I wish I could have taken better pictures, but my camera isn't that great and we were sitting in the back row, so I didn't get a decent shot from the show. (>_<;)

Since we were all dressed up I asked Keiko if she wanted to walk along Bloor and maybe check out Holt Renfrew. I just wanted to visit the Shu Uemura counter to get some refills for my eyeliner since I had just run out that morning, but it would be fun to see all the shiny expensive stuff...and pretend we can afford it? (*o*-)'

After trying on some shoes and learning about the steep and insane prices of some purses...she asked me if we should eat a snack at the cafe. I didn't even know Holts had a cafe...! We decided to get some drinks and share dessert. Our waiter was super nice and I think, a bit bored since we ended being the only table at the cafe/lounge in the late afternoon. The result was that we have super service. I had a Holts Pumpkin Martini (Belevedere Vodka, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin) and Keiko had the Renfrew (Belvedere Vodka, strawberries and balsamic finessed with Veuve Cliquot Champagne.) We ordered a Pear Upside Down Cake caramel to share, and it was delicious! The desserts at Holts are fairly priced at $8 each, but their drinks range in prices depending on what you want. I believe their most expensive cocktail is $22. (Pricy!! >_<;)

Me in Twinkle Journey

After going back home and pretty much crashing for the night because we were both tired, we woke up bright and early to get ready for lolita! It was time for our monthly doll meet and it would be the first time that Keiko came along. Since I think it's always fun to dress up in lolita and go to doll meets, Keiko borrowed a waloli outfit from my closet to wear. Even though it was raining a little bit outside, water wasn't going to stop us from wearing lolita!

This month's meet was at Marché. It's a nice location to go since there is an extensive amount of seating and every person gets to budget their own meal or drinks. We got there a bit late so a majority of everyone was already there. Oddly enough, besides the long table set up for 12, there was a smaller table to the side with 3 chairs. I kept saying it was discrimination since all the girls in lolita were sitting at the smaller table and we all happened to be resin collectors who brought resin dolls (to a Dollfie Dream/Vinyl doll meet.) LOL It was completely by accident, but it was still funny. ^__^'

I hope Alice doesn't get mad that I posted a picture of her! (*o*@)!! I really liked her gothic lolita dress. There was a lot of ruffles and lace and I wish I could have looked at it more closely. Keiko is wearing my Bodyline waloli coordinate I got a few years ago. Apparently, she's always wanted to wear waloli, and she got her chance! I decided to wear my Twinkle Journey JSK since I haven't worn it yet. I really so love the design and dress, the unicorn print is gorgeous.

I didn't take too many pictures at this meet, since we spent quite a lot of time socializing with everyone who came. Also, a lot of my pictures didn't turn out well because of the lighting. My camera just couldn't cope with it, so a lot of the pictures turned out very dark. 

We had quite an extensive amount of girls show up at this meet though! It was really awesome to see all the dolls. There were a few people who came in to sneak pictures of the dolls, which I thought was a bit odd because all they had to do was ask to take a picture. 

Some of the Dollfie Dream dolls at this month's meet

Our small resin BJD corner

Since it was a Halloween meet, I dressed up Lareine in a kimono and Sora went as a sheep! Alice had cute matching outfits for Yukio and Myles, a ladybug and bumblebee! And Keiko's Eliza is wearing a lovely classic lolita outfit. 

Takoyaki Couple!

Alice surprised me by getting me a small birthday/souvenir gift from Osaka, Japan! It's a cute keychain of a octopus (tako) and an octopus ball (takoyaki) that kiss! It's so amusing, I have them smooching on my desk right now. (^__^*)

After the meet ended, we decided to go back to my place for dinner, drinks and cake! Chanel also came by to join in on the cake fest! I picked up my cake the day before and although I paid a pretty steep price for it, it was totally worth it!

Pic credit: Archangeli

Birthday don't stop!

Cafe Michi's Matcha Red Bean cake is the best! I think if I could, I would have ate the whole cake by myself, but I think I would have gotten a severe stomach ache. I gave my co-worker a piece since I was talking to her about it and the next day she told me it was so good...she forgot her name when she ate it!! (*o*@)!!
My sister and I ended up going to Michi again the next week for some afternoon tea and cake. Their earl grey cake was very good and English trifle was scrumptious! Since my friends from high school were coming over and their birthdays just past in September and October, I got more cake to go! 

Back to my birthday weekend! We ended up staying up quite late, mostly because I was spamming Keiko with k-pop variety show programs. Then I showed her AKB0048 and she started to marathon all the episodes into the wee hours of the morning! The end result is that our group has converted another person into a fan of AKB and our cosplay group grows. We just need to make the costumes! (>__<;;)

The weekend concluded with a meal at Shisho Tree Cafe. I have never been before but I have been by it many times because I like to eat ramen at Niwatei (which is next door.) The food is Japanese and Italian fusion, and oddly enough, it works! We shared a dish of okonomiyaki fries and I got myself the okonomiyaki pasta.

Thanks to everyone who kept the party going and for making my birthday weekend an awesome one! 
♥

Lolita Closet: Metamorphose Rose Letter Set

Let's dive into a new addition that is now part of my lolita closet! I have to thank my wonderful friend Keiko for getting me this set for my birthday. Apparently I'm quite difficult to shop for and I had shown this to her asking if she thought the print was nice or not. She told me to not to buy it and bought it for me instead! (^__^;;)

The Metamorphose Rose Letter series was released in 2011, and I suppose they had a surplus of the fabric print over to make sets to sell for a special price and limited sale. I normally don't actively check brand sites often, and I had found out about this sale from another blog that I follow. The only colour left over was actually my favourite of the colours offered, light brown and ivory. The other offered colours were blue and black, and pink and off white. 

Mail! Receiving mail is always nice!

I did not know when the package would arrive since Keiko did not give me a shipping notice or tracking number. I just assumed that it would take a bit for Meta to ship out the item since it was a special sale item. From the day she ordered it, it arrived at my door 3 days later! But I had to pick it up the next day since I was not home for the delivery. 

Metamorphose Temps de Filles

The package was secure and no puncture holes in the outer packaging. You don't have to worry to much about preserving the shopping bag they have used on the outside since they include another bag in the inside of the package (plus the outer bag has tape and all those shipping and customs forms stuck on it. It's impossible to remove that with ease!)

 Inside the parcel was a paper in English thanking you for the order and had the instructions for returning the items if it was damaged or incorrect listed on the paper. Keiko later told me that she had asked them to write Happy Birthday somewhere on the invoice, but either it got lost in translation or they don't do special requests like that.. (^__^")

Rose Letter Set

 Since this was a limited sale set, it came with extra items. It could have varied between a pair of socks, a handkerchief, jewelry, or a headband. I ended up getting a pair of cute socks and a handkerchief that doesn't match this set at all. (>u<*)

The skirt is lovely in my opinion. It's a shame I was loosing lighting on the day I took the pictures because it looks more muted than it actually is. I tried adjusting the color settings to reflect that the print really looks like. The fabric is of medium weight and a nice quality cotton. It is the mini skirt version of the Rose Letter skirts, but I still find that for being "mini", it is still long and just hits right about my knees (and I'm 5'7"). The waist is fully shirred and is versatile for sizing. 

Rose Letter print

The print is stunning. It's a shame that Meta's own promo and sample pictures couldn't do the print justice. There are just so many details in the print to be shown! The theme of the series is 'writing letters', and features stationary and quills and pens. Meta's trademark swans and crowns are integrated into the print as stamps and seals. 

Lace trim

Detail of Rose Letter print

I thought this small portion of the print was very cute. The bottle of "Rose Ink" with the Metamorphose Swans as the label. You can also see the roses and stationary that occur within the print. The raschel lace along the hem is soft and made of cotton as well.

Socks and Handkerchief

The socks I ended up receiving are the Swan and Polka Dot over the knee socks. I was grateful that the coloring somewhat matched the the skirt since I could pair them together if I would like. I still can't place the name of the handkerchief's print series. It seems really familiar to me but I haven't not found it with any success yet. If you know it, please let me know! (*o*@)!

For the price of 6300 yen, I think if you liked the print, it was definitely a great deal. Normally their shirred skirts cost over 10,000+ yen and factoring that their socks usually cost about 2300yen, overall you do save quite a bit of money.
Unfortunately, since last week, they have sold out of this set and the page was taken down a day after Keiko purchased it for me. I guess I was lucky that I ended up finding out about the sale. ^__^"

Thanks to Keiko again for the awesome birthday gift and to everyone else, until next time!

♥