Some Casual ILD Fun in Reading

I hope everybody had a good International Lolita Day on Saturday! There were many different communities hosting meets in the UK, which is always nice to see. As for myself, I didn't actually attend any meets and chose instead to just hang out with Sammi and Shalisa. I guess my attitude to comm meets has changed a bit lately and I need to have a bit of a break from them, especially ones that attract large crowds, which I am not so fond of. I feel really lucky to have some good friends I could spend the day with.

I chose to wear Lief's Gardenberries for the first time. I love this print! As you may recall, this dress was a bit big on me, but in the end I decided to wear it without bothering to do any alterations. I may still put a ribbon corset on the back to help make it go smaller, but I don't think the largeness of the dress is too obvious, like the photo above shows. As for my outfit, it turned out a lot more casual than I was planning because I chickened out of doing something a bit more daring. My initial plan was to use more red in the outfit, but it proved a bit of a challenge to get the shades of red balanced, even though there is some red on the dress. I did get a chance to use my Moss Marchen strawberry brooch though, which I pinned to the neckline of the dress, moving the detachable bow to the waist area. Also, please note that my tights were floral patterned ones, but for some reason the pattern wasn't really coming out well in the pictures! I was glad I was able to get one picture where my hair was curly, as the humidity destroyed my curls almost instantly. It was too humid to wear a wig though!

After checking out the selection in various supermarkets, we ended up with a satisfying picnic spread and headed over to Forbury Gardens. It was only after we had purchased our food that we realised Reading was holding their annual food festival that day! It was a bit devastating seeing all that gorgeous street food and the incredible smells coming from the stands, but I don't think we did too badly for food. It makes me smile to think of all the lolitas who sat down for nicely laid out afternoon teas and here we were with a casually thrown together picnic which didn't look too impressive!

Top food choice had to be the Party Ring biscuits that we picked up in Sainsbury's (reduced to 50p!). When we last saw each other we were reminiscing about children's birthday parties, and how it used to be a time where you could eat all the sugary party food that you couldn't normally have at your own home. Party Rings and Iced Gems used to be my favourites, so I insisted we picked up some Party Rings! To tell the truth, I enjoyed our cheap Party Rings far more than the chewy M&S macarons we also had (and M&S spelled macarons with 2 'O's which is always a big no-no!).

Choosing to have a picnic seemed to open up a world of opportunities for people watching and it is amazing some of the things people will get up to in public places. When we sat down it wasn't so bad, there was just one couple doing some intense kissing on a bench nearby. But suddenly, it seemed we were surrounded by couples! At one point there were 5 different couples surrounding us who were in various cuddled up positions and it got a little bit awkward. This couple got especially randy, and there was some bald head stroking going on and what can only be described as straddling and humping. As you can't see their faces, I decided to let this picture stay up on my blog for now! There was also a couple of mums with kids, who were smoking weed (the mums, not the kids!) until a couple of police officers decided to have a stroll around the gardens and a group of local youths on bikes. After a couple of hours spent in the park, I have come to the conclusion that people are very strange, just like the song by The Doors. It makes me laugh how anybody who dresses alternative is seen as weird, and yet we always seem to come across these quirky individuals who don't know how to behave in public.

A lot of the flower beds were barren in the gardens, but we can always rely on the rose garden part to have some nice blooms going on. I never feel like I truly capture how pretty the roses look in my photos. 

Okay, I promise this is the last of the flower photos! This was my favourite bloom that was out. The red was so vibrant. 

Here is a little group shot. I was glad we were able to get a good angle and not get any of the kissing couples in the background! Shalisa looked so cute in her handmade cherry skirt (it is making me want to add more fruit prints to my bursting wardrobe!) and Sammi looked her usual well put-together self in Melty Cream Donuts. 

We have finally mastered the perfect Instax shot! It is all about the distance and angle. It came out so well and I love the vintage feel to it. This makes me want an Instax camera of my own, but they are so heavy to lug about!

I was told there had been a duck in the pond earlier in the day, but I missed it! If I had known, I would have saved some of my bread for it. I know you are not meant to feed ducks bread, but I think it makes a nice treat for them every now and then.

Afterwards we headed to the Slug for cocktails. I went for flavour over alcohol content and got some Porn star martinis. I love passion fruit so much and it is such a nice drink to sip slowly. Our friend Will joined us for drinks as well, which was really fun. Will is so funny and easy to talk to. I think I may of had one drink too many but it was still good, despite the Slug being loud and a bit stuffy.

So despite not really feeling the comm vibe right now, I was still able to dress up and have a good time. I was glad we made the effort to do something other than going to the pub, even if it meant we ended up witnessing a couple getting their bonk on! I hope all of my lovely readers had a good day as well, no matter what you were all doing.