The end of an era? ~ Tomoyo’s Secret Garden 3.0?

Hello my lovely cuddly kittens! ~

I'm back on my blog today to write a bit about what's going through my mind lately and how is that related to my blogging on here. ~ I always try to be transparent with my thoughts and emotions even if they aren't nice or pretty... I don't believe anyone is perfect and it's a shame to think I need to be, right? ^w^''

As you may have noticed already, I am currently in a bit of a blogging slump lately… (And I have been for weeks/months now.) It’s been hard for me to try and get out a good blog post with interesting content at least once a week.

It’s also been particularly hard to try and make different outfits that are « blog worthy » each week… Sometimes I would post outfits that I wasn’t proud of or that the pictures aren’t nice quality just because I needed to have an outfit post out or I won’t be blogging at all that week… I’ve been stressed out about what to wear each day instead of feeling proud and inspired… It was never my goal in the first place with the fashion I love so much… ;w; It’s affected me a lot regarding to my self confidence and capacity to have « perfect » outfits on the daily and I would beat myself up with that, a lot…

So I decided to change some things regarding to my outfit posts! From now on, I won’t be posting every single Lolita outfit I wear for work/casually. I’ll change my outfit schedule to one or two outfit posts a month with my « best of » outfits from the last few weeks. These outfit may include special outfits I’ve worn to go out/for events, daily outfits in which I am particularly proud of my coordination/theme/colour scheme and outfits in which I try something new with my accessories, hairstyle or makeup, for example.

I’ll also change my blogging schedule to once a week, or maybe less than that... It’s been that way already for a while but from now on I won’t be feeling guilty to only post once a week and maybe skip some weeks sometimes if I have nothing interesting to blog about… XD;

I hope you guys will still follow my blogging adventures and my lifestyle Lolita journey with me! ~

Until next time my precious warm blankets, take care! :3

I've been a lifestyle Lolita for 10 years! ~

Hello my perfectly sweet strawberries! ~

I wanted to take the time today to write a little emotional blog post about something that is very important and dear to me... As the title says, this month is the month where I celebrate my 10th year as a daily and lifestyle Lolita! :3

I remember the young Tomoyo that had just finished high school, with her head full of frilly dreams and her eyes full of sparkles. I knew that I wanted to be a Lolita for as long as I could, but I would never have imagined that it would last that long... I had this feeling that one day "the real world" would take advantage of me and crush me while I let these new blooming flowers wilt before I could do anything...

Yet here I am, 10 years after, still wearing my cute frilly clothes, my lovely armor of battle to face the world pretty much everyday! ~

I don't know if it's something I should be proud about, but I feel extremely proud of myself. I feel proud because I had the courage to keep doing what I love and never give up, I had the courage to find a job that would allow me to wear the frilly clothes that are so dear to my heart, I had the courage to pursue my dreams even if everyone told me to give up, I had the courage to stand up for what I believe in even if the world seemed to be against me sometimes... ;w;

I know that the young 16-17 years old me would be proud. I know that I am walking pretty much exactly the path I dreamed of walking back in the days...

Having my pretty little pastel home filled with plushies, cute toys and flowery antique teacups, having the luck to wake up every morning to the smile of a lovely partner who I call my Prince, getting to work everyday wearing exactly the outfit I feel comfortable and confident in without having to tone it down, meeting up monthly (and locally!) with a community of gorgeous frilly friends that I created myself...

This is the dream that I wanted to achieve. My younger self had that dream but she knew it was silly... She wanted it to happen but she knew it would be harder to achieve... And yet here I am! ;w;

I have so much courage and determination within me that I never knew about... But I am not selfish. I know that right now I am living pretty much what I would call my dream life, but I want others to benefit of it too! So that's why I want to be an inspiration for others. That's why I share my life here, the Lolita meetups, my daily outfits... It's to inspire people that were like the young Tomoyo to pursue their dreams too! ~ If we keep believing in our dreams, we have the power to keep making the sad grey world a wonderful fairytale from our own imagination! :3

I really wanted to reflect on that this month and it took a while to gather my thoughts in order... But that was only the first part of this little "10 years of lifestyle Lolita" celebration! ^w^ I'm going to have a big Q&A about being a daily/lifestyle Lolita post up as soon as I can too! :3

Until next time, take care my beautiful daisies! ~

On self-care, mental health and not so sparkly things...

Hello my cute fluffy lemon scented bunnies. ~

Today, I wanted to talk about something I don't usually tend to mention on this blog. I try to keep this blog more towards the positive and cheerful side of things in my life. However, I think that I wanted to open my heart today, sometimes you just want to be honest and true to yourself and to others.

I've been struggling a lot with my mental health and self-care lately. However I don't want to make anyone worried, I am fine on most days! But sometimes you got to get trough a rough path once in a while...

I don't know how I want to take this blog post to, but I just wanted to share some genuine thoughts that have been on my mind lately and maybe it will help me and help others too?

I always find myself wearing the most colourful, silly, playful and over the top outfits on the days that I feel the most sad, unsure and not so confident about myself. Maybe it's a way of building a little happiness bubble around me just so the darkness in my heart won't be as dark anymore. Maybe it's a way of building my own armor to battle the day ahead, to get ready to fight against the awful, sad and hurtful things life can get in my way... That way, life won't be as hard anymore, it always helped me cope, a lot.

On days like this, I always make sure that I am surrounded by such overwhelming happy and sweet things. I will gather my most precious plushies, put on some happy music, have some meals that I enjoy the most and at least two servings of dessert! ^w^

But on some days, that isn't enough... I just want to say that it's okay to ask for help sometimes, even for the most trivial things like cooking yourself a meal, getting errands done or just getting out of bed on some days.

It's okay to cry, it's okay to feel sad, it's okay to talk about these things that makes you sad, it's okay to ask for help. There are many people out there that care about you. There are people out there who want to help you get better and be happy, they want to bring a smile on your face! Don't forget that it always gets better.

Life's simple pleasures are hard to see sometimes when your heart and soul are surrounded with dark and negative emotions, but they are there, I promise! The the genuine long hugs, the smile on your friends faces when they see you, the warm sunshine embrace, the sweetness of a perfectly infused cup of tea, the smell of spring flowers. They are there, and they are all there for you to enjoy!

Don't be afraid to celebrate yourself! Celebrate each day like it's your birthday! Have that extra whipped cream on your hot chocolate, use that special overpriced bath bomb, wear that lovely dress to the grocery store, put on the perfume you save only for special occasions! Make every single day your special occasion, and really mean it! ~

I just want to send you all some positive thoughts. I want to let you know that it will be okay and it will get better. Don't be afraid to speak up and ask for help, people are here for you and I am here for you... <3

Until next time my sweet cuddly kittens, take care of yourself. ~

The seasons & why they became an inspiration for me. ~

Hello my sweet little green sprouts. ~

Today I wanted to get back to the roots of what this blog was for. At first, I wanted to use my blog to share whatever would makes me happy and inspire me at the moment, so that's what this blog post is about. ~

I used to really hate hot weather; spring and summer were some dreadful times for me and I would get super upset as soon as the snow would melt away. My skin is very sensitive to sunlight (due to medication & genetics) so that would mean I would need to hide for 12 hours a day for a full 5 months, almost...

A couple years ago, I wanted to try Country Lolita. Obviously the most suitable time to wear this fashion was in summer or spring... I slowly got to fall in love with the natural vibes of Country Lolita. The strawberries, the delicate flowers, the gingham patterns, the straw accessories and the simple coordinates would make my heart skip a beat every time. Because of Country Lolita, the fashion of spring and summer, those things slowly drifted away from their negative meanings and would start to bring me joy. :3

This is at the point in my life where I decided it would benefit me if I would get grounded with nature. I didn't wanted to feel negative about the seasons or the weather anymore. I wanted to feel connected to them and to live through them. There's always a little sparkle of happiness you can find within everything all around you. I started to practice mindful living through nature and the seasons.

And that's how I became at peace with all the seasons and all the weathers...

I would start to look at the natural world with a sparkly eye. Those dewy leaves on a spring morning, the water puddle after the rain, the sprouting leaves that are just a little too light green yet, the scent of that crispy autumn afternoon, the sparkly immaculate white snow on a stormy night.

During the last year or so, I even started to try to eat seasonally with more local fresh fruits and veggies. To eat the products that are in season and to even try to grow and eat my own herbs would makes me feel even more connected spiritually to nature. I would feel like I am a whole with all my surrounding and that I am growing trough the earth too, with my own little roots and the little sprout on my head. ~

xox ~ Petite Tomoyo ✿