Frilly Housewarming

Hosting a meetup at my own place has been something I’ve wanted to do for a while. As nice as it is to go to fancy cafes or interesting places, sometimes what you need is the comfort of a truly private space. So basically as soon as I confirmed where I’ll be living, I organised a casual housewarming meetup.

| Angelic Pretty Crystal Dream Carnival Tiered JSK | Infanta overblouse | Haruhi Clover headbow | Peacockalorum wrist cuffs | Innocent World Moon and Star necklace | Angelic Pretty Crystal Dream Carnival ring | Angelic Pretty Twinkle Carnival OTKs | Deary shoes (only worn for photos) |

I am particularly proud of how I managed to keep my eyeliner so thin.

I should probably figure out some new poses for my closeup/portrait shots, these start to get repetitive.

This seemed like the perfect time to whip out Crystal Dream Carnival. Don’t get me wrong, I love and adore this dress – but it is on the ‘a bit much’ side. As I’m sure many of you will know, sweeter pieces, especially printed ones, attract more attention from the public and I often don’t have energy to spare to deflect the public when I’m out, particularly on my own (so usually when commuting to/from the meetup). This is not an issue when staying in, I also didn’t have to worry about accidentally flashing anyone given that this is one of my shortest dresses too. My initial plan was to avoid white as a base colour and to do something more OTT, again, taking advantage of not having to deal with the public. However, in the end I prioritised comfort and speed of getting ready (the less time I spent on that the more I had to make food for my guests), as well as reminded myself that not every coord has to be unique or different from what I’ve done before. This look somewhat revisited (and improved on) the first coord I put together with this dress and I like how it came out.

Sadly, this is where lolita-specific pictures end. I usually prefer to enjoy the meets, which ends up in me not taking pictures, and as a hostess I had other responsibilities to think of too. There were four people coming over, including one vegan and one gluten intolerant, and I was brought up to not keep your guests hungry. So while some of the foods were ready to serve, like falafels or macarons, majority I made from scratch: a vegan brownie, chicken drumsticks, onion bhajis and chaat (an Indian chickpeas in yoghurt side dish with tamarind sauce). Other than the brownie and the drumsticks, I managed to make all that whilst fully dressed in brand, including deep frying the bhajis, all without a single stain. This should be an achievement badge or something…

Cooking in brand? Not a problem for me!

Once everyone arrived, we had a nice relaxed time, mostly chatting and being amused by my cat. Whilst Spy doesn’t live with me, I’m cat sitting while my parents are away on holiday, which made him the guest of honour. He even got some prezzies in the form of mice toys and treats from one of the other black cats in our comm – super cute! We also enjoyed watching a video on how to calculate your pet’s HP and if you haven’t seen it yet, it is the single most important video on the internet right now. (I was able to calculate Spy’s the following day, which revealed that he is a Level 12 Rogue! So now I can begin to track the speed of his levelling up for extra nerd points.).

Little void with his new toys. He loved them, started playing with them as soon as they were out and they're still scattered all over my flat!

Another surprising discovery during the meet was that Iceland’s macarons are genuinely incredible. For the non-UK audience – Iceland is a chain of supermarkets selling primarily frozen foods, mostly their own labels, as well as some bigger brands. Their dessert/party food section has macarons (pack of 12 for £3 or, like I bought them, 2 for £5), which I was told are lovely and wanted to get, since they’re both a lolita favourite and gluten free. And they honest to God were fantastic – better than Marks and Spencer’s, potentially even better than Patisserie Valerie’s? They had exactly the right texture, the fillings were full of flavour and generous, and (despite my concerns) they defrosted absolutely fine, no sogginess or anything. If you’re in the UK and want macarons without shelling out, do yourself a favour and go to Iceland.

Hosting a meetup at my own place was probably the best thing I’ve had happen to me since moving to this flat. And not just because my lazy arse enjoyed not having to wake up early, not having to go on public transport and staying in slippers. The relaxed atmosphere, being with friends combined with you all wearing lolita is what we all want from a good meetup. And while I guess I already knew that I enjoy hosting meetups, given how many I’ve done already and how many I am yet to do, being able to truly take care of my guests was my way of showing my comm how much they mean to me. Fingers crossed there will be more opportunities to do that in the future.

Lastly, when planning my menu, I deliberately picked foods that I’d eat myself should there be any leftovers. So not only was I sorted for Sunday dinner and Monday lunch, I also had a whole pack of those delicious macarons left to enjoy as a little evening treat on Saturday. Absolute quintessential lifestyle lolita (if we glance over the fact that by that point I was in my pyjamas).

Are you even a sweet loita if your teapot doesn't make it look like you're drinking unicorn vomit?