My Newest Book Is Now Available!

This series is mostly about the normally secondary characters within your typical comic book style universe. The first book follows a museum curator who is tired of her museum getting blown up and robbed, a girl henching to pay for college and a med student who is antsy to start practicing medicine and helping people.

You can download it from the kindle store here.

Yule and Giveaway over at Reality Will Kill You

Like my Yule "Log"? Despite living in rural Texas there aren't many trees on my property. I always figured it was better to stick with the from your property/given to you/cannot buy it part than the log part. Plus it'll be easier to burn on Candlemas. The shadowy thing at the back is an evergreen spray with bayberries for the whole evergreen decoration since... technically I think I was supposed to burn the Yule Twigs on Yule and then the evergreens on Candlemass. But I still have a small problem of no good place to burn anything here to figure out. Hm. And I'm having no luck finding some holly for the door so I went with a glittery holly pick from Michael's.

Also didn't get any pics of the either the Yule log cake I made for last night (Yule was 11:30pm my time) nor the one I made and brought into work. I admit they weren't that pretty anyways but seeing as they were cinnamon cake with honey cream cheese filling and fudge frosting they were absolutely delicious.

And here is today's coord:

Headband: Offbrand (Claire's)

Blazer: Handmade

Lapel Pin: Mechanical Kingdom, Ludwig von Drake

Top: Offbrand

JSK: AatP Operalia Bouquet

Jersey Leggings: Offbrand (wish they covered the tops of my feet) 

Shoes: Offbrand (Liz Clayborne)

There's also a give away going on over at Reality Will Kill You's blog, I personally am hoping to win it for those cute socks!

http://realitywilkillyou.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog-give-away.html

FYI Bodyline Shipping Sale

$5 shipping, airmail at Christmas time so it'd be something you'd probably get after the new year but that isn't a bad shipping price.

They also finally restocked on a skirt I have been wanting for just about forever:

L120

I got the red. Hopefully the vest and underskirt are still removable like they previously were since that vest is awesome. Tempted to get all three colorways but at some point Bodyline decided to start getting expensive. There's supposed to also be a Christmas sale going on but I didn't see it.

So yeah, I'll have a happy post sometime in the next 4 to 17 days.

Although can anyone tell me about the whole declarations thing? I know it is to save on possible customs fees but what kind of risk does one run by claiming their stuff is only worth 25% of what you paid?

Quality Definitely Over Quantity

“It’s no secret that quality matters to most Lolitas, but how much does it matter to you? Do you look for bargains to save as much money as possible, or are you willing to make sacrifices for high-quality products? Would you be more content with a closet full of bargain items, or one or two expensive pieces? Feel free to expand on this broad topic.
If you like, think of this outside of the context of Lolita as well–does your philosophy manifest in other areas of your life”

I'll eat my 33¢ cereal in my $300 dress and love it all the same.
I walk a bit of a fine line here, I look for quality and will pay very good money for it (or for something I’m drooling over) but also will buy less than great quality as long as it will get the job done. And I try to follow a similar set of guidelines as one of my favorite bloggers/writers, he’s summed it up rather beautifully here: http://tynan.com/polarizing. He’s also the guy who inspired me to always only live out of a backpack when travelling (okay I cheat and normally have a laptop bag which I can also shove my purse into but if I were to do more foot travel it would just be the backpack). Even when I’m doing full lolita. I don’t subscribe to his full idea of only the things I absolutely want/need but the idea behind it is very stout. I will spend $150 on a pair of Alice and the Pirates boots even though they aren’t real leather because I’ve been in love with them for ages and I was able to try them on in the store to make sure they fit perfect.

Why aren't you real leather?

But I also try to be smart when buying, I often wait for things to go on sale or clearance or until I have a coupon. Leather gloves at Target? They are some of the few that fit my tiny hands and if I like a certain pair or two enough I keep an eye on them and get them when they are on clearance (or the last pair no matter the price if I’m in love).

Walking in Target, there was a sign for all hats and gloves 40% two days only. So these gloves I've been covetting (Rossi Yellow!) are now mine for $4 less than before. Watch as someone gets them for me for Christmas.

But I also cheap out too. I’ll buy offbrand food and toilette products when I find no difference. Some things I’m kind of stern about like I hate spending money on furniture. Then again with how often I move this works for me since I never take furniture with me when I move. There are very few pieces of furniture I’ve ever bought. I bought a second hand couch, a folding bookcase (which I still own) and a DVD rack (which I no longer own) before my current apartment. That’s it. I had a bit more need so I had to buy some things for the new apartment: a small pantry, two DVD racks and small bookcase, all costing $20 or less each because I probably won’t take them with me in a few years when I next move. I’m scouring craigslist for a free/$20 desk. But I spent a good chunk of change on a 32” flat screen tv. I needed a flat screen because I’m not very strong and have to be able to lift it and I wanted a good sized tv. But for what I got (its even a name brand) I didn’t make out too bad, thanks to the pawn shop.

I don't always move, but when I do I dress fabulously.

I act in similar ways with lolita, I’m willing to pay $250-300 for a Victorian Maiden dress because I know the fit and quality are superb but almost always I won’t buy a Btssb or AatP dress unless I’m absolutely in love because the fit is not so great and the quality is also lesser (in my opinion). I also make a lot of my own clothes because it saves me money and I love some of the fabrics out there. And I’ve always got an eye out for off brand blouses that I can wear with lolita, I can never ever see myself paying full price for a brand blouse and even sale prices are kind of crap. It’s not that I don’t like some brand blouses but that I don’t love them enough to spend the asking price. If they were $20? I’d definitely have a few. But not $80+. And it is a rare occasion when I’ll spend money on brand shoes. I prefer real leather, especially for that price. The Justine boots are a rare exception because I really do love them. I love them so much that when they wear out I’ll probably find a cobbler to make a replica of them (but in real leather).

Utena size sleeve poof for $6 from an Austin thrift store! :D

Giveaway over at Ethereal Beauty

There is a pretty kickin' giveaway going on over at Ethereal Beauty, it ends on the 15th so if you want to enter you should hustle over. :)