Nyan, nyan.

When I was a wee lass, I spent a lot of my time writing fan fiction. I pretty much existed there. It was my favourite place for almost eight years. But then life happened and things got tough for a while and I stopped writing altogether. Didn't touch it for five years. It wasn't that I didn't want to, it was like I couldn't remember how. Anyhow, that five year curse (Once Upon a Time is beginning to severely impact my life) was broken this week. I can't even remember why, but I found some of my old writing, read it, and somehow reconnected with it. I decided to try again, and it all came back so easily. The bicycle riding thing. I can't imagine it'll be any good since I'm so rusty, but I know how I'm going to be spending future rainy days.

Let's talk for a moment about this utterly adorable cat sweater. I found it in a department store near Kenkyu-Gakuen station, one stop over from Tskukuba on the Tx line out of Tokyo. I'm not sure why, but I wear it with these tartan shorts from Dangerfield pretty much every single time. It was probably because they worked together the first time. Tried and true, or whatever. Standard over-the-knee black socks are standard. Same black flats that keep cameo appearing. x

'Straya.

Happy 'Straya Day. As boyfie pointed out, it's cool to have a national day, but they should change the date of it. Right now, we celebrate our national holiday on the day the British colonised New South Wales. Many activists fondly refer to Australia Day as "Invasion Day", which is pretty much true, and which makes it all very uncomfortable considering the majority of the young, educated population of Australia is all for equality in every way. It would be appropriate to change the date of Australia Day. It's not fine to celebrate only one version of Australia's history, especially the one that silences the voices of Australian indigenous and minority groups. Contrary to popular belief, we actually have multiple histories stretching much farther back than the last two hundred years. Perhaps if or when Australia becomes a republic it'll be a thing that happens. Maybe it can replace Sorry Day. I'd be okay with that.

This dress is one of my most faithful. I'm fond of polka dots, in case you hadn't realised yet. It also has a super cute scalloped collar. It was from Coco-Latte about five years ago, and cost me twenty bucks. The brown belt came with something else - I can't remember what. Pink frilled socks are from a sock shop in Harajuku's Takeshita-dori, and the shoes are from a little shoe shop in Fujisawa, when I visited on the way to Kamakura with a Japanese friend who likes basketball and trying new foods. They were both inexpensive. I love oxfords and brogues of all kinds. If I wasn't trying to avoid buying new things, I'd invest in more. Hue hue hue. x

Bibbity bobbity boo.

I'm Minnie Mouse, you know, in case you somehow can't tell. I'm going to spam you with photos today. It's been a good weekend. This was my costume for a Disney themed 21st last night, which was super fun. Everyone dressed as old-school Disney characters - Cruella de Vil, Pocahontas, Jasmine... There were some cool storm troopers too though, and a minion or two. I prefer old Disney movies over new, though, 'cus I grew up with them and nostalgia and stuff. The cake was the Disney castle. I have no idea how anybody could make that - it was unbelievable. It was the coolest idea for a themed party. 

This pinup-style dress was from a dance performance back in 2014. It's from Frock Up! dancewear in Mountain Gate. Chunky heels are London Rebel, and I can't remember where they're from; I've had them that long now. Minnie Mouse ears were five bucks from Disneyland in Tokyo, so it was fun to dig them out and wear them again. Take me baaaack. x

More house hunting.

Training at work continues; houses continue to be inspected. We've got three we're applying for now, so fingers crossed we have some success. It was slightly cooler the past two days, too, which is a blessing. Yesterday it actually rained a little bit. It was a crummy day otherwise, though; I had a scuffle with boyfie, which is never fun. I've been feeling a bit isolated lately, too. Friends seem to be a bit hard to find these days. However, I was visited last night by a friend (who studied law and likes Sailor Moon), which was lovely. We played with Cornflake, had tea and fresh fruit, and watched Center Stage (one of the greatest movies of the 90s, in my opinion). Charlie remains, inexplicably, one of the biggest babes ever.

Another thrown-together outfit to rush to inspections after work in. Same Cotton On jeans that will continue to feature this frequently. Also same Naughty Monkey wedges, again only because they were still lying under the passenger seat of my car. This singlet is super cute though. Those fat daisies are adorable, and the 90s-style cut is fun and flattering. I really like it. It came from one of those affordable Asian fashion shops you find in local shopping centres. Would've been about twenty bucks. Velvet Ray-Bans were a Christmas present from my bro a couple of years ago, and they're one of my most prized possessions. x

House hunting.

It's still hot. But there's too much going on this week to be overly concerned about it being the peak of summer. Today we went to two house inspections. We have three more tomorrow, and four on Thursday. But we're definitely going to apply for one of the ones we saw today, which is extremely exciting. I also started training for my new position today, which was a massive information overload. Fingers crossed it gets easier with time. Tonight I'm going to write a cover letter for our application, and draft a review for Shogun by James Clavell (which I've been trying to conquer since 2014 and finally finished yesterday), and eat frozen yoghurt. I'm also teaching Cornflake to high-five for treats. Big week.

This was definitely a I NEED SOMETHING TO THROW ON AFTER WORK TO WEAR TO INSPECTIONS WITH VERY LITTLE TIME TO GET CHANGED kind of outfit. I actually got changed in my car in the staff car park before I left. The flannel shirt is from Coco Latte and was about ten bucks many years ago. It has served me well. It even travelled to Japan. Black denim jeans again from Cotton On. And I threw my Naughty Monkey wedges in the car yesterday, so that's what I had. x

Always.

Alan Rickman is dead. We do not smile today.

In typical Melbourne fashion, the day after a forty-plus degree scorcher is gloomy, cold and it rains all day. Mini shorts and sweat one day, jeans and shivers the next. Often both in the same day. This knit is MINKPINK. Dusty black distressed skinny jeans are Cotton On. Gloriously outrageous sneakers are Gola from a few years back. See you another day when I'm not in mourning. x

Polka dot, polka dot, polka dot, afro.

I didn't go to the gym. I went for pancakes with boyfie instead. In my gym gear. Because life. I was going to go today after work, but temperatures hit over forty degrees here today, and the weather's turned into a serious Australian bushfire threat, so I struggled through heinous peak hour traffic (winds whipping stones into your windscreen, branches across the roads, traffic lights out at major intersections) then scarfed fish and chips with my parents. Because life.

Not sure about this outfit. I love these shorts, but I've never been able to figure out how to style them. Patterns clash with other patterns, and white is difficult to wear with most other colours. It works with singlets, but I don't like wearing singlets as tops because reasons, so I'm always kind of stuck when it comes to trying to wear them. I pretty much only wore this to go pick up the fish and chips anyway, so it's not like anything important happened in this outfit. Shorts are from a cheap store in Sydney under Central Station, near Sydney Central YHA, and probably cost me twenty bucks, if that. This tee is one of my faves, and came from K-Mart a few years ago. It was ten bucks. I wear it a lot. Baggy, cute, polka dots, etc. Necklace (if you can see it) was from a sale at the Lovisa in Sydney's Victoria Building. It reminds me of the egg Harry wins in the Triwizard Tournament in book four, except mine is silver. And reliable Converse are reliable. Thumbs up. x

Sparkle, sparkle.

I actually cheated and wore this outfit twice in two days, because I like it so much. The first was to a cute girly movie date on Monday night with a friend of mine who likes pink and bunnies. We saw Sisters, and it was quite funny. Tina Fey is bangin'. The second was to brunch this morning with another friend (who likes wining and dining, and cake) from back in my hospitality slave days. We realised today that we've been friends for five years now. Pretty sweet. I also did my hair and my makeup today, which is a once-in-a-blue-moon kind of deal. Feel free to admire it. At some point this afternoon I'm going to try and motivate myself to go to the gym (I've even changed into my active wear to give myself fewer excuses to not go) but we're in the middle of another heatwave, and even though the gym will be air-conditioned, dehydration concerns and such. I really should go though. Grumble.

White shirt is a sleeveless, lace-back piece from Glassons a few years ago. It's a staple in my wardrobe because of its utter versatility, and has been on several international trips with me. Such a faithful shirt. White singlet underneath is a basic from Coco Latte. Cost me four bucks. Checkered three-quarters are from Uniqlo. They're super stretchy and comfy, and cost about twenty bucks. The show-stopper here is the cardigan, which is an Alannah Hill piece. Those cool shell-like patterns are actually tiny individual diamantes, each carefully sewn and reinforced; I've never lost a single one. It was a gift from my mum for my 18th birthday (if you're still pondering my age, there's your first clue), and if you know Alannah Hill at all you'll know these cardigans are not cheap. They're so beautiful though, and so flattering. I will never throw this away. Such a lovely, sparkly present. I adore it. Obviously, as before, same Carla Milani flats. 

Also, this blog hit its 100th view yesterday (!!!), so to everyone who's stopped by, thank you! I hope your day today is wonderful. x

Nein, das ist mein hamburger.

Sometimes I'm not so good at the photo taking thing. Here I am looking mildly out of focus. Let it be known that I never claimed to be a professional photographer. I've had my DSLR for two years and still can't remember how to find the self-timer. I also still use the "flash off" shooting option, because I can't work out how to manually turn the flash off every other shooting option, and most of the time I can't be bothered spending time learning. It's like when I studied German in high school. "She has the skills," my teacher would implore my parents at parent-teacher meetings, "She just never does her homework. She could do so much better." Ah, yes. I can see my headstone now: She lived a life of unfulfilled potential. Schade.

Worked again today. It sucked even more than yesterday. I'm about to bust out season one of Once Upon a Time again, to feed a sudden craving. I finished the Sailor Moon reboot, so I need to find something else to fill the gaping void in my social life. This loose sweater is covered in a tiny bow pattern, and came from New Look in England. It's another trophy from that shopping trip I took to the Metro Centre in Newcastle. Jeans are an ill-fitting boyfriend cut from Just Jeans (aka: I ate too much at Christmas and now need to stop avoiding going to the gym). Pretty standard, probably eighty bucks? They're comfy, reliable, and easy to throw on when one is too lazy to wear anything else. Perfect. Same Carla Milani ballet flats from yesterday. x

"Super cute" in Japanese.

Sometimes I like to channel my inner adolescent Japanese magical girl and wear varying degrees of garish, baby pink clothing. This is one of those times. Today was a boring day. I worked. It sucked. But my friend (who likes Geelong football club and classic novels) did surprise me with an adorable birthday gift bag full of lovely goodies! That was definitely the highlight. The rest of it sucked. Little else to report.

I found this awesome tee in an arcade in Nagoya back in 2014, but for whatever reason (ie: no real good reason) couldn't justify the 1500 yen (approximately $15) it would have cost at the time. I was filled with regret when we moved on, knowing we weren't going to be returning to Nagoya before our journey home. So when we found it again in Kanazawa at Korinbo109 (the sister store to Shibuya109), I grabbed it. It's pretty much my favourite tee. Twenty bucks, I think. Anime eyes. Dying. The tennis skirt is from one of many Japanese (or at least Japanese-inspired) street wear online retailers like kokopieshop, and probably cost me twenty five bucks. It's also in need of a decent iron. Socks are from eBay, three dollars - if that. Basic flats are Carla Milani, probably about $30AUD. Pink bow barrette is from an accessories store in Takeshita-dori, Harajuku's prime shopping street. Su-pa-ka-wa-ii! x 

Better not be Gryffindor.

True story: Cornflake peed on my original outfit for today, so I had to change into this. But it's okay, because my backup Potter-inspired outfit makes me happy every time I wear it. Today was a lazy home day, except it was actually kind of productive. I called Monash to confirm everything was cool with my degree before officially applying to graduate and paying the exorbitant graduation fee ($215 upfront - ouch). Then I played with Cornflake, did some bloggy stuff, intended to clean but didn't, had coffee at our local chocolatier with an old high school mate, and wrote tons of upcoming events in my diary because I intend to do more shit with my life this year. That's my version of a productive day.

I love everything I'm wearing here. The sweater is a Jay-Jays novelty piece and probably cost me thirty bucks. Potter stuff features a few times a year, so keep your eyes out - they always have awesome merch. These absolutely amazing leggings are from Teefury, and cost $40USD. That's pretty pricey for Australians, who generally have to pay their lifetime's savings, an arm, a leg, and their firstborn child if they want anything shipped from America. But these are 150% worth it, and that's not even mathematically possible. I can't rate Teefury leggings enough. They are so well made, so comfortable, and the fabric is beautifully pigmented. And the designs are all fan-made. I wear these all the time and they haven't stretched or torn or worn out anywhere, and I've had them for about a year now. My booties are from Famous Footwear and they are my staple autumn/winter shoes. I love them so much I wore the heels out and had to get a shoe repairman to replace them. For how much they cost - probably twenty bucks? - I've gotten my money's worth countless times over. I also wore my new Potter earrings, which were my Kris Kringle gift for 2015 and which are completely fantastic, just to add the final touch. Mischief managed. x

Happy birthday to me.

January 4 is my birthday, yay. If you can guess how old I turned this year, then... you'll have the satisfaction of being correct (and who doesn't enjoy that?). I was weird about my birthday this year. I love celebrating other people's birthdays, but honestly, I didn't really want mine. The older I get, the more uncomfortable I am about being the centre of attention. It's probably because I was an attention-seeking asshole when I was a teenager, which I've come to find detestable in young people. 

Anyway, it ended up being a lovely day. Traditional birthday breakfast with my family at our favourite brekky cafe, then cake with my grandparents, a summery walk through Sherbrooke Forest (no, not Sherwood Forest) in the Dandenong Ranges with boyfie - to a waterfall! - followed by afternoon tea with my other grandma, and polished off with dinner at Meat & Wine Co., a trendy steakhouse in a converted old bank. Plus boyfie transformed his bedroom into a temporary day spa and gave me a massage complete with meditative music, candles and delicious massage oil. Pretty awesome. He did good.

This dress is my birthday dress. I ordered it last year during a barrage of deadlines, as a reward for surviving that particularly difficult week. Hashtag unilyf. It's so gorgeous, all covered in cupcakes and strawberries and sprinkles, and I absolutely adore it. Look at that polka dot netted sweetheart neckline. Ugh. Even more amazingly, it's completely handmade by the lovely girls over at bonnechancecollections. Definitely check their shop out, they hand make beautiful one-of-a-kind party dresses with the most adorable designs and prints. Completely affordable, too. Mine cost about $50AUD. I belted it with an off-white belt that came with the Polite and Day dress from Modcloth. The wedge sandals were about twenty bucks from Famous Footwear, and my super rad soft-serve handbag was a gift from boyfie. x

I didn't want a parma anyway.

It was not a lazy Sunday, unfortunately. Lazy Sundays are the best kind of Sunday. But any Sunday is a good Sunday, really. At least you get penalties for working the Sunday retail shift. I was invited to pub parmas with boyfie's family after work, but work is a long way from home, and his parents are incomparably impatient people. I wasn't even home yet before they'd decided they couldn't wait any longer to eat. So I was uninvited. Fine. Who wants to wait for half an hour for their meal at a restaurant, anyway? I'll take my reheated leftover pizza and several hours of Sailor Moon on the couch, thank you very much.

Sob story: When I was in year eight, my mum had a pair of black overalls that she adored. She wore them all the time. All. The. Time. She'd had them for as long as I could remember and they'd been a feature of her 90s wardrobe. But the mother of a friend of mine made fun of her "daggy overalls" when mum picked me up from a sleepover, and that friend told me at school afterward. I was so offended on her behalf, and mum was so mortified that she threw her overalls away. Years later, she was overjoyed to see me wearing these, and she told me she regretted losing her confidence and getting rid of hers. It's pretty heartbreaking. I wish she hadn't let someone else rattle her self-esteem. She absolutely loved her overalls. Now I love overalls even more.

These ones came from a Retro Star warehouse sale and were about ten bucks. They're so loose and comfortable; I love pre-loved things! I hope someone wore these in the 90s while they painted their house an offensive shade of yellow. The tee is covered in fluorescent multi-coloured Minnie and Mickey Mouse heads, and is a souvenir from Tokyo Disneyland. Classic Converse All-Stars make another appearance. So yeah, overalls. Get on it. x

Sailor Moon got a new redub.

High wind alert. At least it covered most of my face, masking some of the awkward. I worked the afternoon, so this outfit was a "What I really want to be throwing on is my comfy smelly trackies and my university sweater, but I'm doing this blog thing now, so I'd better actually wear something out of my wardrobe instead" kind of look. I fell in love with this extremely colourful edition of the classic flannie when I found it whilst visiting the Metro Centre in Newcastle, England for casual shopping/hangs with my friend. Let me clarify that I didn't casually jet over the ocean for a shopping trip in Newcastle, though I'd definitely do it again. Hashtag worth. I was on a holiday. I think the shirt was about twenty pounds, which back in 2010 would have been about $30AUD. Standard Converse are standard. The denim skirt has silver buttons all down the front and is a Jay-Jays staple. It probably cost me twenty bucks. I like it because it reminds me of Usagi's completely wondeful 90s fashion in the animated Sailor Moon.

Speaking of which, the new dub is actually amazing. I'm usually that person who is ridiculously and unnecessarily anti-change, to the point where I'm so loyal to the original that I'll outright refuse to even sniff the new adaptation. I'm also that subs-over-dubs person (who isn't?) for whom only about five percent of dubs are actually watchable (Dragonball Z; Pokemon; the original Sailor Moon). But my friend rated it, so I grabbed it and it's so wonderful. The characters have their Japanese names, which completely works, and it's all uncut, so there's none of the censorship of the original dub, which gives the whole show so much more depth. It's brilliant. After the first episode I was totally attached to the new adaptation and the excellent portrayal by the new voice actors. Gurio/Melvin in particular is fantastic. Well worth your time. It's literally my life right now. x

Goodbye, 2015.

Turns out I'm incredibly awkward in front of the camera. New Year's Day was one among far too many blistering hot days this holiday season. Welcome to Australia, have a heatwave. We'd spent New Year's Eve at a party with friends, so we slept half the day away then spent the rest of it avoiding the heat and eating matcha soft serve at the shops. I hadn't tried green tea ice cream before. It was good; you should also eat it.

This dress is from K-Mart; of the "I left this at my boyfriend's house and had nothing else in his drawers, so this was it" variety. I love these casual dresses on others, but I'm not really a fan of this one on me. I think there's something unflattering about the cut and fit. I bought it to throw into my case when boyfie and I jetted over to spend June/July of 2014 in the Japanese summer. Sandals are from Rubi Shoes. They were a last-minute purchase (steal, actually - $5!) for a short trip to Bali in 2015. They're super comfy and cute in summer. Expect to see them a lot. x