Springing in to Spring

Winter is finally over! I am more than happy to see the back of this past Winter. Sammi suggested we meet up in Oxford for a bit of casual fun. I had really been looking forward to seeing Sammi and Nicola again.

This is my first time wearing AP's Little Bird's Symphonia, which I got late last year. Initially I had a more Wintery casual outfit planned but out of nowhere, the temperature rose. So I switched out my beret and boots for my lacy Innocent World headdress (decorated with pink Claire's rose clips) and Bodyline flats. I was secretly quite relieved, as the boots I wore the previous weekend had hurt my leg muscles and I know how painful my Bodyline boots can be on a hot day! There are 2 different shades of pink on the skirt, and I paired my skirt with items in the paler shade of pink. I think I may have to experiment with the deeper pink in the future though.

Accessory close-up! The wing themed ring I brought for my Enchanted outfit came in handy for the bird theme. I really love these Red Maria wrist cuffs because they are a lot smaller than your typical cuffs. Sometimes I find wrist cuffs a bit too bulky, so this makes a refreshing change. Just out of shot is my mini daffodils, which are now fully in bloom.

We headed to the Mitre, as I think all of us were happy to eat pretty much anywhere. We usually have a good food experience here. This Pimm's was the first alcohol I had drunk in over 3 months. I had forgotten how refreshing it is. It is the perfect drink to match the warmer weather. I am really looking forward to Summer now. The Mitre was very busy, probably because it was the day before Mother's Day and they had a special menu in. I had what is quite possibly the most disturbing experience ever in the ladies bathroom (may be a bit too NSFW to go in to full detail...) but that aside, I really enjoyed myself. I hope the others did too!

Afterwards we did a little bit of shopping. This was quite a brief interlude because one of Oxford's shopping malls is being redeveloped at the moment. So not quite sure where to go next, James and I jokingly suggested going in to Tigerlilies. Back in the day (we are talking about a decade ago) Tigerlilies was a very alternative shop where you could buy overpriced clothing with loads of spikes, studs etc. There would be heavy metal blasting out and the shop staff would look super intimidating, but actually really lovely when you talked to them. I have some very embarrassing memories of buying bondage pants as an awkward 'edgy' teenager! Eventually it moved location and became a lot more... mainstream. So we went in, expecting an ironic browse, and Sammi ended up buying this massive cat bag! It was amazingly cheap as well. Look how big it is! So I think all of us were eating our words afterwards. It looks like I will be a regular browser again now! All 3 of us are taking an interest in Larme kei, but sadly we didn't have as much luck with finding accessories. It is weird, because I have found in other towns and cities it has been easy to find appropriate accessories. I will be including some in my next haul post (which is not looking very 'lolita' at all at the moment!).

Nothing says happy days like a jokey group photograph! Nicola wasn't keen about showing her face, so she ended up holding the cat bag over her face! Just to clarify, my rosette features a budgie (made by Sammi, because I am now known as the Crazy Budgie Lady) and is not a Conservative Party rosette. We all dressed quite differently, although I like that we are all wearing at least some pink.

We went back to the Mitre for pudding, having left a bit of time to digest our lunch. I ordered this gin and tonic lemon trifle, which is part of the limited edition menu. If you think it looks like a lot of cream... it was even worse in person! There was a bit of custard and lemon sponge at the bottom, but I couldn't really taste any gin. The mint sprig was a nice finishing touch though. If there was a bit less squirty cream then I may have gotten this again, but I wasn't liking the cream to everything else ratio. I was more than happy to try this whilst it was available though.

So it was a very pleasant day with fantastic weather. I really enjoyed seeing Sammi and Nicola again and I hope they both want to meet up again soon. It was really good to catch up. It was also really lovely to have the chance to dress up with other lolitas again. After everything that has happened and some ongoing problems, these light-hearted outings have been a lifesaver for me. It makes me realise that I need to appreciate the positive moments more. I even bumped in to my friend Alice on the train home, which was a nice surprise. Here is hoping for more positive progress.