Introduction 

To be blunt, things have been pretty hard this month. To set the tone, my dad has been sick for the past year and a half, and throughout the year, he has been in and out of the emergency room for acute health complications. ER visits have become a regular event at this point, but lately, his sickness has come to a head and he was immediately taken to the city hospital for specialized care. It's a relief that he's finally getting the care he needs to improve his condition, however, it's been hard on the family having to take the long commute to the city in order to see him (alongside the additional ~20$ parking fee for each visit...) For comparison, the local ER at our town is just a short bike ride away and can even be walked to if necessary. He's stable at the moment, and is currently recouping for heart surgery— for now, all we can do is bide our time while we wait for his condition to improve. Life does not stop for anyone, we just have to adapt to our current happenings. 

Weather Report

When the weather isn't overcast or raining outright, it is deceptively bright and sunny... Many times I've been fooled by the clear skies and warm sun beaming directly onto my windshield, only to step out and walk straight into a bitter cold with freezing winds!
The leaves have also begun to fall from the trees, drifting onto my workplace's lawn and driveway... and I'm the lucky gal that gets to rake them all up!   I actually don't mind it haha, and I voluntarily assigned myself position of workplace leaf raker! I'll probably need some mittens and ear muffs to stave off the cold, and they'll come in handy when I'm promoted from workplace leaf raker to workplace snow shoveler  

Thanksgiving Celebrations

For Thanksgiving, my mom was lucky to score a free whole turkey from her grocery purchase— I had the honour of preparing it for the first time, and it turned out really good!   It was juicy, flavourful, and soft, and it paired very nicely with the homemade gravy I made out of the leftover drippings. We were blessed to have the whole family present, and we had a merry time enjoying food and good company! In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'd like to compile a list of things that I'm thankful for!  

• I'm thankful for the whole family being present for thanksgiving, and that we could all enjoy a warm meal together.
• I'm thankful for the free turkey that we got alongside our groceries.
• I'm thankful for the heating in my car that kept me warm while it rained.
• I'm thankful for Loblaws being open on a holiday so I could buy some last minute supplies for the turkey.
• I'm thankful that the turkey turned out really tasty, especially since it was my first time cooking one!
  
• I'm thankful for the ample leftovers that kept us fed for the week.
• I'm thankful for my girlfriend who is very cute and sweet!

A Lovely Gift!

My sweetheart was kind enough to gift me a teddy bear to lift my spirits  isn't she the most darling thing? Ever since our summer of love reached its conclusion, I find myself longing for my girlfriend's physical presence... Alas, because of our continental distance, most of our time together is spent through phone calls and chatlogs. To make up for it, my girlfriend bought a build-a-bear customized in her image! I snuggle with her every night and inhale the sweet scent of lavender imbued in the plush. The paw comes with a lovely message from her as well! She's so sweet and kind, I'm super lucky to be partnered with such a lovely girl  

Lolita Highlights

Wore Lolita Outside: 3 times!!   
A whole new record considering my full-time work schedule! I'm proud of myself for dressing up and going out, even when I'd rather sleep in and laze in bed! I feel so much happier when I get to dress in beautiful clothing  

New Items: 6  
I went a little crazy this time around... But in my defense, these were purchases spread out between Aug-Sept that arrived this month.  I will confess that my recent spending habits are directly tied to stressful events— I buy stuff just so I'd have something to look forward to in the future. Luckily I'm not in any financial straits at the moment, but still, it would be me good to slow down my purchases and build up my savings; especially since I only wear the fashion semi-regularly...  

 Lolita Haul 

Lately, I've been trying to curate a more casual and "toned-down" approach to my wardrobe. In the past, the only time I could dress in lolita fashion was during an outing in the big city. Because of its distance we don't go very often, and when we do it's usually for essential errands or business.

My mom doesn't mind me buying or dressing in lolita fashion, but she gets a little worried and frets over me wearing frills in town due to the conservative nature of the place. While I haven't experienced anything negative so far, I understand her concerns come from a good place.
My favourite colour, red, unfortunately stands out a lot, so I've been searching for simple tones like black and white in my lolita purchases.

My style has changed significantly as well, and I've been dressing in old school inspired sweet a lot recently. I find it much more versatile and comfortable than classic lolita, however, I still have a fondness to the classic substyle and the corresponding classic pieces in my wardrobe. Without further ado, here's the products that arrived this month!

 Dessert OP 

As of writing, this is my favourite dress in my entire wardrobe! The moment I put on the dress and looked at myself in the mirror I thought to myself "I'm so happy to be in lolita!"  This dress is incredibly comfortable too and is shirred throughout, giving me ample room to move my arms and stretch it above my head. I adore everything about this dress, and I'm so so happy to have it in my wardrobe!

Anna Rose JSK

A dress I bought for half-off its retail price, it's simple but very cute! The scooped neckline and 2-tone colours on the bodice makes it a little difficult to coordinate, however, I have no issues layering a blouse overtop and utilizing the JSK as a "skirt". 

Sweet Alyssum Series Knit Cardigan

A very gorgeous cardigan— the cross detailing on the lace is intricate and detailed, and the construction of the cardigan is unique, however, the fabric feels a little rough on the skin due to being made of 100% polyester. I enjoy the cardigan nonetheless, though I'll take this purchase as a cautionary tale to not buy knitwear made out of polyester fabric in the future.

 Jazmine Black Nappa Shoes 

You can read my in-depth review of these shoes on my blog here!

 Velveteen Babydoll JSK 

This was intended to be a birthday gift that ended up arriving way earlier than anticipated! It's my very first piece in velveteen fabric and I'm in love  The dress is comfortable and amply shirred throughout, and the velveteen itself is very soft! I'm a little scared of storing this dress due to the shirred sleeves and the velveteen material, so I keep the dress out on my mannequin with my lace bolero on top. The reds don't match, but I find it to be a pleasant contrast!

Velveteen Princess Drop Headdress

A matching headdress I bought for my velveteen JSK! The headdress came from a modern rerelease so the colour is a little darker than the dress. The headdress doesn't contain any hair clips underneath, though the velveteen material gives it enough grip to keep it in place. I find the subtle jingle of the charms during movement to be very cute!  

 Lolita Coordinates

There's not much to do in my town, much less anything free, so I usually spend my time at a local cafe owned by a young woman who also happens to dresses in alternative fashion! Seeing her face light up the first time I stepped into her café in lolita fashion is a memory I'll cherish forever.  Afterwards she eagerly showed me a photo of the lolita dress she recently bought!  It was very lovely!

Back to the coords, I've been reusing the hell out of my Baby blouse lately LOL! Seriously, I could order 5 of these in different colourways— the construction is very flattering against my body and it's just the right length to layer on top of skirts and JSKs too!

Lately, it's been getting colder, so I've been coording all my outfits with a cardigan in mind. I've been layering wristcuffs underneath my cardigan sleeves to give it an extra decorative frill and I definitely prefer it over pairing them with short sleeve. It gives the coord the illusion of a long sleeve blouse without the additional layers underneath, very neat!
It should be noted that the blouse is worn on top of the JSKs for all of my October coord spreads— I simply moved the blouse behind the main piece for visibility purposes. Perhaps I'll do a mannequin photoshoot with the pieces layered in the proper order someday!

COORDINATE #1
Café and Crossstitch Outing

Headpiece: Rose Lace Rectangle Headdress - Zero Percent Fruit 
Blouse: Short Sleeve Waist Shirring Blouse - Baby the Stars Shine Bright
Cardigan: Knit Cardigan - HUG SUNSHINE
JSK: White Sundress - Ardene
Petticoat: A-line Mini Petticoat - Aurora Ariel
Wrist cuffs: Star Lace Wrist Cuffs - Zero Percent Fruit 
Ribbon Bowtie: Off-brand
Socks: Ribbon OTK Stockings - Roji Roji
Shoes: Bowknot Mary Janes - Sosic
Notes: My first coord after a long hiatus from lolita fashion! I found out that my petticoat could fit underneath a normie sundress, and it made for a pretty decent shiro coord with a lolita blouse layered on top. I didn't have any white shoes in hand so I opted for a black pair of heels that I already own— the pros about having black hair is that it could be used as a colour element for your coord! It was chilly that day so I decided to throw in a cardigan and matching black bow last minute.

COORDINATE #2
Café and Library Outing

Headpiece: Rose Lace Rectangle Headdress - Zero Percent Fruit 
Blouse: Short Sleeve Waist Shirring Blouse - Baby the Stars Shine Bright
Cardigan: Sweet Alyssum Series Knit Cardigan - Vallée lys
JSK: Anna Rose JSK - Alice and the Pirates 
Petticoat: A-line Mini Petticoat - Aurora Ariel
Wrist cuffs: Star Lace Wrist Cuffs - Zero Percent Fruit 
Ribbon Bowtie: Off-brand
Socks: Velveteen OTK Stockings - Roji Roji
Shoes: Jazmine Mary Janes - Alegria
Notes: Reheating Coord #1's nachos, but this time with brand items. I cobbled up this outfit last minute so I could test out my new shoes from Alegria! 

COORDINATE #3
Comfy Errand Outfit

Headpiece: Romantic Huaerzi Headband - Cat Highness
Blouse: Short Sleeve Waist Shirring Blouse - Baby the Stars Shine Bright
Cardigan: Oversized Cardigan - Kyoukou
JSK: Strawberry Miko JSK - Strawberry Witch
Petticoat: Off-brand
Ribbon Bowtie: Off-brand
Socks: Off-brand
Shoes: Jazmine Mary Janes - Alegria
Bag: Sweet Bow Crossbody Bag - Flower Hearted
Notes: At last! A red coord! Since I was going out on an errand, I decided to tone it down for this outfit. I opted for a deflated off-brand petticoat instead of my usual one and MY GOD, IT IS SO UNBEARABLY ITCHY!!!! I'm seriously going to chuck it once I find a suitable replacement...  

Conclusion

My social battery has been pretty low lately, so it's been hard to articulate my thoughts and communicate with others outside of work and inner social circle... Nonetheless, I still want to try and catalog the mundanity in-between the difficult moments. Lolita fashion, cooking, and video games are the hobbies keeping me afloat these days, and I'm eternally thankful for my supportive and patient girlfriend whos been lifting up my spirits with her joy and wonderful gifts  
I hope everyone's having a lovely autumn, and I'll see you next time!