Autumn is finally here!  I thought it would be fun to have a monthly post schedule detailing random life updates and tidbits that aren't significant enough to have its own dedicated blogpost. Ideally, I'm aiming to publish at least one post per month, but realistically with my procrastination habits... it would probably be more realistic to have a seasonal schedule. With that in mind, let me open with an update regarding the weather!

 Weather Report  

It's September. The leaves have begun to shift into an amber hue, forming a colourful leaf mosaic that isn't quite ready to fall just yet. What a beautiful sight!  
I'm usually indecisive when it comes to a favourite season. If I had to answer, I would go for Summer and Winter* since they're the most straight forward seasons. For summer it's usually hot, and for winter it's usually cold... that's it. When it comes to the in-between seasons like spring and fall, the weather can be unpredictable! For example, in early September, after a streak of relatively warm weather, it suddenly plummeted into an unpleasant chill with gusting winds that made it unbearable to stay outside. The following day, the weather returned to normal, as if nothing happened! With erratic weather like that, it makes it very inconvenient for wardrobe coordinating. More than often, I find myself underdressed and shivering, but when I layer up accordingly suddenly the weather goes warm!  The obvious solution is to have a piece of outerwear that's portable and easily sheddable like a hoodie or cardigan, but God do I find it tedious to lug around an extra piece of clothing in case of spontaneous weather changes. Outfit coordination hasn't been an issue for me lately, since I'd wear the same outfit rotation of a t-shirt, leggings, and socks with sneakers. I'd wear a zip-up hoodie if the weather permits it, though I prefer to go without since the long sleeves interfere with my job. Speaking of my job, my workplace is surrounded by trees! My favourite part of the day is watching the sunset shine through the leaves— giving it a soft, tranquil glow that makes me feel energized and motivated for my commute back home.   Though, lately the sun has been setting much earlier in the day, and by the time my shift ends it's completely pitch black! Ah... the changing of seasons. A transitional part of the year and a predicament that catches me off-guard every time... 

*Note: Trying to find an antonym for the word "in-between" turned out to be a greater struggle than anticipated! It doesn't exist. The closest would be the word "extreme" or "outside", but it doesn't sound right to have "Outside Weather" as an accompaniment to "In-between Weather" 

 Monthly Highlight 

From September 18-20 my family went on a road trip to Minnesota! We stopped by the Mall of America to visit the aquarium and go on some rides inside the indoor theme park. We also ate at the Rainforest Cafe for the first time! It was... an experience. And it was very expensive...  It's one of those restaurants you try out just to cross it off a bucket list. My brother suggested I make a button pin that says "I survived the Rainforest Cafe and all I got was this pin".
The next day we went to the Minnesota Zoo! Unfortunately, it was raining for the entirety of our trip, so we were unable to ride the Monorail or enjoy any of the outdoor exhibitions. We had a good time regardless, and we were even able to see some lynx kitties frolic around in their enclosure! Here's a video my sister took of one of the kitties jumping by the window:

The bad news is that during this trip, both my digital camera AND my cellphone stopped charging at the same time...  Luckily for me I was able to retrieve the data on my digicam since the files were stored on a USB chip! My cellphone is also capable of charging wirelessly via the back. Unfortunately, both of the gadgets will require some replacement parts to fix them up— a new battery for the digicam, and a new charging port for the cellphone.  Because my phone died in the middle of my trip, I had to endure the ride back home with no music, no books, no nothing. It went about as well as you expected, but I lived to tell the tale: 

 Lolita Highlights 

Wore Lolita Outside: 0 times...  
Work has been very busy this month which has left me with zero energy to go outside in frills... Its a vicious cycle! I work more so I can get more money to buy lolita, but then I'm too tired from working to actually go out and wear lolita!! Hopefully I'll have some time for myself next month 

New Items: 3
I bought 2 items from Baby and 1 blouse from Angelic Pretty! I'm pretty satisfied with the haul, though there are some additional fixes that will be required, such as button replacement and stain treatment. All of this will be described more in-depth in this section  

It's been a while since I've worn lolita... I haven't been compelled to dress up as much ever since I decided to go lonelita and my interest in the fashion has diminished significantly as I juggled with schooling and finding work  But now that things have settled down and I've gotten around to re-hauling my site, I'm feeling extra motivated to pick up lolita again! This time around, I decided to focus on quality rather than quantity, and now that I finally have a job again, I can splurge on brand!  I'm buying everything secondhand of course, and my package just arrived earlier this month! Here are the following products

Short Sleeve Waist Shirring Blouse

Hands down my favourite item from the haul! It's my first ever product from Baby and I'm very pleased to start off with a simple staple piece. It's a huge upgrade from the cheaper blouses in my wardrobe and it accommodates my bust way better than the blouse I got from Yilia. The cotton is much softer and sturdier than as well and it's very comfortable against the skin. The product came in perfect condition and there was little to no signs of wear on the blouse, I wont have to do any additional modifications or stain removal! I'm so pleased with this purchase  

Lace Bolero in Red
My second ever product from Baby! I adore the colour and the rose detailing on the bolero, its a very lovely piece! I wasn't sure about the ribbon ties at first, and I even considered taking them out entirely so I could replace it with a clip-on bow. I decided against it since a simpler fix was to install some hook & eye clasps inside the collar so the bolero closes much more snugly. The neckline is also a little low, so it's a little hard to coordinate with the existing pieces in my wardrobe. Luckily it has a similar cut to the popular millefeuille bolero from Innocent World so I have plenty of coord resources to reference off of. 

AP Logo Embroidery Bowtie Blouse

A very spur of the moment purchase; I wasn't planning on getting an additional blouse in my haul, however, this product came with some staining so it was sold at a heavily discounted price. It's 100% cotton too which was a very nice bonus, and aside from the aforementioned stains on the collar, the blouse is suuuuper soft and comfortable  It's much lighter and soft compared to the blouse I got from Baby! The only downsides are the heart shaped buttons... I really dislike heart motifs, and even if I didn't dislike them, the buttons are really tricky to button up and keep in place. With some TLC and some alterations made to the buttons, I expect this blouse to be a quick favourite as well! I hope to make a thorough restoration blogpost soon!  

 CONCLUSION 

I had a lot of fun writing up this blogpost! It was all written up last minute and I managed to get it done before October rolled around! Unfortunately I had to cut out a bunch of topic ideas, such as a monthly recipe and a photo of the month. Maybe next time! I'm excited to try out some autumn themed recipes, I'm thinking a pumpkin pie is in order!