°˖✧✝ Summer ILD 2016 ✝✧˖°

I just wrote about my previous International Lolita Day (ILD) last year in a post before this, so now lets skip half a year to the most current one, summer ILD 2016.  

For this outing, one of my friends suggested going to a karaoke place in New York City. (We were originally going to do something else, but changed our minds at the last moment.) I've never officially went to a karaoke place where you can rent a private room, so, naturally, I was excited when the opportunity arrived. I'm not too familiar with karaoke places in New York City, I only know of one, but apparently, there are a lot of them. So I  was glad we left he task of choosing which one to go to up to our friend, who organized the event. She ended up picking Karaoke DUET 48.

So my friend reserved a room for four hours, from 2 o'clock to 4 o'clock, which surprised me. Four hours doing karaoke just seemed a little too much for me. And even though my friend ensured that the time would fly by quickly, I decided to come midway, at 4 o'clock.  But of course, life seemed to have other plans for me, and I ended up doing things other than planed. 

On the day of ILD, I go up so early and was even two hours ahead of schedule, which is really rare for me! I though about just going to the karaoke place at 2 o'clock, but stuck with original plan at arriving two hours later. So I just ended up wasting time at home and decided to do some light grocery shopping (there was so much time to waste!!!). The good thing was that I at least had plenty of time to get to my train. The bad thing was that once I got to the city, the subway train I had to get on wasn't on line that day and  I ended up getting on the wrong train! It was an innocent mistake, but, in the end, it caused me to walk twelve New York City blocks (they're much longer than regular blocks)! But it was still nice out, so I enjoyed taking in some of the sights.       

Is it a bear? Or is it a frog?
I can't tell.     

After the lengthy walk, I finally was able to arrive at the karaoke room, but at 5 o'clock and not 4 o'clock liked I had planed! I only wanted to be at the karaoke place for about two hours, but it looked like I was only going to be there for an hour. Luckily though, the karaoke place had a special were costumers would be able to rent a room up to 7 o'clock for only $14! So I ended up getting my two hours in the end. And my friend was right. The times does go by fast. I was there for only two hours, but it only felt like one hour. I was having so much fun singing with my friends that I hardly noticed the time. 

One of the most memeorable was when one of my friends played The GazzettE's song, "Inside Beast." It was so unexpected. Well, not for her, since she loves The GazettE. But it was a real shock when the instrumental started playing after a ballad.  

After we were done with the karaoke we decided to head out to a restaurant to eat. It started raining while we were walking and didn't show any signs of letting up. And that's when someone remembered that we hadn't taken outfit shots yet. Even though it was raining, we tried our best to get clear shots.

Turtleneck: Moi meme Moitie
Skirt: Moi meme Moitie
Boots: Demonia
Headdress: BABY, the Stars Shine Bright

The white band around my wrist is from
the karaoke place.

Because of the rain, we stopped at a closer restaurant than we had planed, and stopped at a place called Wild Ginger. The restaurant had a lot of different Eastern Asian dishes, and was a bit fancy, which taken me aback at first. I've had my share of "fancy" dishes, and they just don't hold up in my opinion. But the dish I had was very good. I would definitely go back a second time.    

Crispy duck with fried rice.
The plate also comes with baby bak choy and hoisin sauce.

°˖✧ 'Till next time

  

°˖✧✝ Winter ILD 2015 ✝✧˖°

(I know, this post is so late! I have so many old meetups that I haven't blogged about yet, so I'm going to be mixing older and current event posts for awhile.) 

Even if I don't get a chance to participate in any of the regular meetups created by the Lolita communities I'm in, I do at least try to do something special for International Lolita Day (ILD). And on the last one in December, my Lolita friends decided to celebrate another one of our friend's birthday on the same day, which was great, because she's a Lolita too. I didn't have a problem with it and thought having both at the same time would be cute. Doubling ILD as a birthday celebration for a friend just made the day even more special and enjoyable.

Because of the special day, Sabrina wanted us to go all out and experience having tea at fancy hotel. We knew it was going to be expensive, but we wanted to be a little adventurous and spurge for at least a day. So, we ended up dinning in the Pembroke Room at the Lowell Hotel in New York City.

The hotel was very elegant and because it was December, the lobby was decorated with a warm, yet sophisticated, Christmas feel. There was even complementary hot apple cider!

We had to wait awhile for everyone to arrive, but once we were all there, we were quickly ushered upstairs to our reserved table. From what I saw, the Pembroke Room is pretty small, no bigger than an average living room. This feature made the atmosphere a bit homey, but all the while still being deluxe. There were even love seats at the ends of our table! I decided to sit on the end with my friend Ashley. Because we were so close together on the love seat, all of the pictures of us made it look like we were on a date!

I don't think our date is going too well, hahaha~
It looks like Ashley is ready for the check.

After getting settled and picking out our teas, the staff eventually brought out our trays of finger sandwiches and savory options. There were about six different options for this selection- cucumber and watercress, chicken curry salad, lobster roll, dill egg and cornichon salad, Scottish smoked salmon, and caviar blinis.

Sabrina had a fancy-schmancy camera,
so all of her pictures came out looking beautiful. 

Next, came our desserts and scones with lemon curd and cream. I believe the type of scones varies on the day, so I don't quite remember which one I had. But, for desserts, we had petit fours, assorted fruit tarts, macaroons, and other French pastries, like eclairs. I love sweets, so I was glad to see a variety of desserts larger than what other tearooms provide.  

Here you can see what a Lolita actually does during a meetup- take pictures!

The tarts were so cute!

But no amount of sweets could soften the blow of what came next- the check! Everyone got the  $55 Classic Pembroke Tea, which was what everyone was expected to pay. But, apparently, with taxes and tip, everyone ended up paying $80 each (and it was eleven of us)! That price through us in such a spiral. It was so much, and, compared to other tearooms, it wasn't worth it. We could have gotten a better selection, including the teas, for less than half the price than what we got at the hotel. But that's what we get for trying to be fancy. 

Look at all of those twenty dollar bills!

This is the money Lolita.
Reblog in the next thirty seconds and you'll get
$100 toward your dream dress.

After paying, we wanted to leave as fast as we could so we could take outfit shots outside in better light. 

Birthday girl, Sabrina, in the middle.

While we were taking pictures, I started to look around the area and notice how gorgeous the neighborhood was (But we were in Manhattan, the frou-frou part of New York, so I guess that's to be expected). Right next door to the hotel, there was a nice building with a glorious stone structure on the outside and and a beautiful, black iron gate. I decided I wanted my picture taken there, instead of one at the front of the hotel. If I'm not mistaken, I believe the building was an apartment building!  

  

I edited the picture to give us that Mana glow, hahaha~

OP: Angelic Pretty
Socks: Metamorphose temps de fille
Accessories: Handmade or Thrifted 

Some of my other friends wanted to loiter with me and
take pictures in front of the building too.

And lastly, here is our group shot! I think it came out very nicely. Blogger wouldn't let me upload the video, but if you can, please take a look at on of my friend's vlog of this day here.

Look at our Sweet to Gothic rainbow!

°˖✧ 'Till next time

°˖✧✝ 2015 Summer ILD with KAMIJO & Friends ✝✧˖°

KAMIJO and his support band thanking their New York City concert attendees
one last time.

Source: KAMIJO U.S. Official Street Team L.A. and N.Y.C. 

If you couldn't tell from the picture above, I was one of the lucky people to attend a concert during KAMIJO's World Tour 2015, and on International Lolita Day (ILD) no less! I was not only an attendee, but also a VIP, which meant I was a part of a special meet and greet that allowed me to interact with KAMIJO personally! I was preparing for the day of the concert for months and could only considerate on meeting KAMIJO. It was for that exact reason why I was completely oblivious to the fact that the concert fell on the same day as this year's summer ILD. I even went as far as making different ILD plans with a friend of mine! It was my friend who notice the shared date and made me aware of my mistake. Going to the concert was my main priority, but celebrating with my friends was just as important. So what did I do? I made a compromise. I always have time for my friends!

In the end, we agreed on going to Laduree Soho, one of the U.S. store fronts of the luxurious Parisian bakery and restaurant, thanks to a friend's recommendation. We decided that going there would be our best option at such a short notice. I've never been to Laduree before, but always wanted to. For some reason, I thought the boutique was exclusive and would be hard to reserve. Though, I was pleasantly surprised when my friend booked seating for us easily. Thanks to her, I was able to fulfill another one of my dreams on an already special day.  

The first two pictures are of the entrance alone! Can you imagine picking out sweets in the presence of marble statues?

The third picture is of their Blue Room setting area. We were seated in the green room.

Laduree is extremely gorgeous, and I plan on returning one day so I can experience it without being on a tight schedule. Because this was last minute, we had to arrange a time before the concert. We thought two hours before would be enough, but we really should have went for three instead.  

We still made time for pictures, though!

The venue that was hosting KAMIJO's concert, the Highland Ballroom, had a selection of food for dinning, and I wanted to taste what they had to offer. So, not wanting to fill myself up at Laduree, I only ordered from their dessert menu. And with it being my first time at Laduree, I had to sample a few of their macrons, of course!

Rose ice cream with four frozen macrons.

After Laduree, I had to head straight to the concert venue for the meet and great. Though, I wasn't going to be alone. Two of my other friends who made it to Laduree were also going to the concert with me! 

There was a strict no camera policy during the concert, so this part will only show pictures of the venue before the show.

Of the two friends who were going go the concert, one of them bought a VIP ticket also, so we went to the venue earlier together. VIPs were brought up stairs to balcony where there was a small room each one of us would be lead into to meet KAMIJO. My friend and I couldn't help but giggle the entire time in line and practice what we were going to do and say when we meet him! I prepared three sentences to say to him in Japanese, but half way through the line I was too nervous and thought it would've been best not to try and get tongue-tied. 

VIP's claiming their spots after the meet and greet. Look how close we were to the stage!

There were quite a few Lolitas there at the concert too.
Can you spot one in this picture?

When I became the next one in line to enter the room with KAMIJO, I could feel my heart beating faster and faster. I knew I had to show some composer so I wouldn't come of as creepy fangirl, but it was extremely hard, especially when KAMIJO is standing in front of you smiling. As soon as the door was closed behind me, he extended his hand and greeted me with a "Bonjour~~." Honestly, that was enough, I could've turned around and walked out of the room at that exact moment and it would've been the highlight of my life.

I was going to wear gloves that day, but I so glad I didn't! I put my hand in his and he ushered me besides him for our picture. His hands are the softest! I kept holding onto his hand and turned to face the camera. But the cameraman was in a resting stance like he was waiting for something. Confused, I looked up at KAMIJO and he was looking down at me smiling. Apparently, we weren't supposed to be holding hands for the picture and he was waiting for me to let go! Embarrassed, I let go and started blushing. It look like he didn't want to, but he laughed slightly, which made me blush even more. Quickly regaining my composure, I turned with him towards the camera and posed.

My purse made me look frumpy, but I think it still looks good.
We look great together!

I'm pretty sure I stood the closest to him than any other VIP.
(Not purposely, though. I swear!)

After the photo, KAMIJO thanked me for coming and shook my hand. I was still in a daze about the experience and got swept into his eyes again (he looks RIGHT at you, I couldn't escape). Even after the security pointed for me to leave, I stood there still hold his hand swooning over him. Thank you, Kamijo, for being so patient with me!

My new friend, Annette.

With the meet and great over, I meet up with my friends to hung out before the concert. But of course I made sure to keep our spots in the crowd. I even made a new friend! There was someone who recognized me from online and came to talk to me also. I was seriously flattered. If there's anyone who sees me around, please, feel free to say hi!

I over heard someone in the VIP line say, "Is anyone as excited as me to see MASHASHI?"
I turned around, looked them straight in the eye, and gave a serious, "YES."

I'm also pretty sure I was screaming MASHASHI's name the loudest.
(This one was purposely.)

Source: KAMIJO Official Facebook

The concert was amazing and had its fair share of adorable moments. One of the cutest was when KAMIJO was singing one of Lareine songs (its been so long I forgot which one!), and an audience member pulled out a bouquet of blue roses for KAMIJO and he accepted them! He even performed with them for awhile. I was also lucky to be noticed in the audience by KAMIJO! I was sending him kisses from the crowd when he came to the edge of the stage. As he was walking away, he saw me, came back, and sent kisses back to me!!! I can't write everything that happened at the concert, but if you're curious about how it turned out, Maria Tolentino from My JHouse Rock Events Promotions Inc. wrote a great recap for the night. Please take time to read it!

After the concert with my friend, Ashley.

This is the closest thing I have as an outfit shot.
I was a bad Lolita an forgot to take a clear one. 

But I guess this closeup shot of me with fairly decent lighting
from my bathroom is a bit better.

Blouse: Algonquins

°˖✧ 'Till next time