I’m back, everybody!

Whew, that was a bit of a break. As usual when I return from a hiatus I just wanted to give a bit of an update, both a personal one and a lolita one.

On the personal note it’s pretty simple - 2019 burnt me out. I’m kind of appalled that I’m almost thirty, and can still manage to somehow spend an entire year chasing all the wrong things and running myself into the ground. On the one hand it was a great year and I did lots of amazing things. On the other...it just sucked and by the end I was just ready to give up on everything. I’m mostly back to normal now, but that took months. It was just a stupid year on a number of levels, but I learned from it and have started 2020 with a lot of self-reflection that will hopefully stand me in good stead.

The toughest thing is of being burnt out is that it made me stop loving some of the big things that I really do love in life, mostly lolita and modelling. I just stopped both and felt really uncomfortable with their absence in my life. But I knew that I couldn’t force myself back into either, or the temporary burnout might become a permanent quit. It sucked.

But now I’ve taken some time and am ready to come back swinging at this blog (and wearing lolita again...at least when it's not so damn hot!). There’s a few things that are going to change. I’m going to stop the monthly blog roundup posts - they’re no longer fun to do and I feel like I’m just featuring the same blogs most of the time. I may do a new blog alert when I discover a new lolita blogger but who knows, I’m not going to commit to anything. I may also post less frequently, as I am feeling that I’m just rehashing a lot nowadays. That could be lingering burnout talking or it could be a real feeling - either way I’m just going to take it easy for a bit.

I really missed blogging here (I’ve been sporadically active on Medium but it’s not the same) so I’m glad to be back. I missed lolita and I’m so happy to have started getting my mojo back.

On a kinda personal and somewhat lolita note - I’m going to Japan again! James and I along with two friends will spend two weeks in Japan in February, and it's gonna be amazing. I will totally be blogging about it! We are on a slimmer budget this time so I’m not planning on doing loads of shopping but I’m keen to ramble about everything that we do, see, eat, and yes, buy.

Lastly, on a very purely lolita note which I may end up blogging more about, I did a very big purge of my lolita wardrobe. At the end of it I’ve still got a very decently sized collection with 29 main pieces, but I did get rid of a lot of what you may consider more noteworthy items, like Dramatic Rose and my newly acquired Millefeuille bolero.

I really forced myself to be harsh this time around. If there was no love, it went, even if it was a staple piece my wardrobe needs, like a white blouse. I’ll get a better one later. If it was way too small, it went, because I may lose weight but I can’t guarantee I’ll ever get that tiny. This purge was prompted by a desire for more spending yen in Japan, but it had the great benefit of really making me fall back in love with my wardrobe. Sure, it's got some odd gaps now and I did say goodbye to some pieces that I think are gorgeous but it’s better for me now. Everything suits my style more, and even though I’ve kept some things that are smaller than I currently am, I haven’t kept things that aren’t a size I have been in the past. I’m so much happier with it, and really want to be super ultra selective with new wardrobe additions.

On a wardrobe note, I’m not going to do a wardrobe post again this January. However, I’m actually quite keen to do one when I get back from Japan. I probably won’t post to LiveJournal, just here. Even though it was a good choice for me not to do a post in 2019, I’ve really felt the absence of having that as a reference point, so I definitely do want to do one! I’m just not putting any time pressure on myself.

So that’s where I’ve been at the past few months! I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years, and I’m looking forward to 2020 in lolita.