Outfits Running Through My Head: Black Cat's and Witches/ Halloween Time

Black Cat, Witch, Apple Tree Halloween inspired outfit:

Black Cat, Witch, Apple Tree Halloween themed outfit by kaceycookies featuring side zip boots

So this outfit has been in my head for a couple of days, and has encouraged me to finally get a polyvore! It was a lot of fun picking everything out, and putting it all together. A shameful secret I have is that I am pretty lack luster when it comes to coords sometimes, hopefully this site will help me out and make me stretch my creativity. How do you guys like the outfit! Be nice it is my first one after all. :D
See you guys soon.

Cookie

Tips and Tricks: Lolita, Starting Your Wardrobe (part 2)

As promised in this post, I am going to continue on with this series! I am doing this, once again, because I want to help you out with your first steps in Lolita. Where I only had some things from the internet, I want you to have the inside story. So you don't make the same mistakes I did. I want you to get the bang for your buck, and know what might happen so you are not surprised when you get packages.

As in the last post, these are some suggestions with my own examples to help. You could choose a huge variety of different things for your wardrobe, or do your wardrobe in a different way, but maybe this could help you and I hope it does. This time we will focus on the last two things, that you might really really need before you get your dress, blouses and shoes! This post will be mostly about how you can profit from my mistakes, and I made a lot of them when it came to the blouses and shoes. So on we go!

Blouses:

Please, please, please remember your colors when doing shopping for blouses. It is really important to have blouses that match the color scheme for the begging of your wardrobe. If you remember, I choose the simple colors of black and white. (However, these don't have to be the only colors to choose. You could have chosen other colors for your wardrobe.) Some things to remember, if you don't have the money, don't worry about buying brand.

My first blouse, may you not be as dumb as me when getting a blouse and not spend all the money.

Some things to look for when buying your first blouse it to diffidently make sure that they have detachable sleeves. This way you can wear that blouse one of two ways, which will get more wear and more bang for your buck. ( I will talk more about this when we start talking about coords.)

Some other things to also make sure to remember when you are getting your new shirts, besides the colors and detachable sleeves that is. Make sure you don't go to extravagant your first time around, I know that that flowy chiffon shirt would be perfect for your classical coord, but could you wear that during the winter? Would that also match your other clothes? By focusing on colors and simple dress ideas you expand the use of your wardrobe by a whole lot more, so keep it simple and don't worry too much about the lolita sub-styles. After getting a good handle on your wardrobe than you can branch out and buy the flowy stuff, the extravagances that you didn't need in the begging. (Unless you really really want that shirt and it is going to be a huge piece in your wardrobe. What I am saying is don't make snap buying decisions. Get the stuff that can really help out your wardrobe early on.)

Shoes:

Once again, before you jump on to the bandwagon of hot shoe shopping in lolita, I would highly suggest looking through the shoes you enjoy wearing in everyday life. If you love wearing 4-inch heels than you can do that. If you love your tennis shoes more than anything (well you might want to do that more for causal lolita but they are your clothes) you can do that, like if you like your tennis shoes or flats because they are comfortable and close to the ground lolita has shoes that can fit those needs. If you like platforms (flatforms or whatever... you know what I mean), punk shoes, gothic shoes, steam punk shoes... lolita can fit those needs as well! There are tons of styles to look from and use in your lolita wardrobe. But remember to stay with in your colors, and stay with what you like or would normally wear and you are good to go. (click links for examples of the shoes.)

My most worn shoes next to my brown ones! These are perfect!!!! Easy to walk in, something I am used too, and comfortable to boot. Say yes to the shoes people!

 Some helpful tips though. When buying white shoes remember that you will be wearing them... so they are going to get dirty and scuff... If you don't want to really worry about that look into getting darker color shoes that will easily hide that better. 

Also, sometimes the shoes will be uncomfortable, especially if you are used to wearing tennis shoes and flats all the time. Keep the shoes you wear everyday in mind when shopping for you lolita shoes, if you are used to tennis shoes get the flats because they will hurt your feet less, and you can wear them for longer with out worrying about your feet falling off.

Because this has no ankle support I don't wear them much, my feet just fall out of them. They are also the most uncomfortable lolita shoe I own, just because it  is cute doesn't mean it will be fun.

Make sure you get the right size and fit. Or what I mean is that they are structured for you to walk. This means making sure you are getting the right size and making sure the straps will keep your foot in the shoe. (Something I messed up in.) Definitely make sure that the straps are placed so that your feet won't fall out while walking. 

Watch out for the accessories that come with the shoes. Some shoes you will buy will come with detachable bows or the like. These can easily get lost, make sure you remember that when going out and whether or not you want to keep them on when going out. You can get replacement bows or what not that you lost, but that just ends up costing extra money.

Off brand shoes are made with the same material as brand shoes. That is right you read me. So when buying your shoes, unless you want the brand item because it is X brand, don't worry about spending all that money. In the end you pay less for the same stuff when buying lolita shoes. Try not to pay too much more. I mean we are on a budget right?

Fasten your lolita shoes once and never fasten again. So unless you are like me (I can be slow on the up take sometimes...) you might have not known that most lolita shoes come with an awesome secret. When we were younger we had to always do the long fasten thing in our dress shoes right? Where we would have to hook it through the hole and it would take a long time, right??? Well you might have guessed by now that the shoes come with these buttons, so once you fasten the shoe to the right size, you never have to do it again. You just button and un-button to get in and out of your cute lolita shoes. Don't waste your time and un-fasten and re-fasten when you first get them, that is what the buttons are there for!!

So those are just some tips and tricks I have for buying your first blouse and shoes, remember all the basics you learned as well from other sources like the forums and what not....(Avoid bad lace...etc.) And you shall do great! Hope my idiot mistakes mean you don't have to make them!!! If you have anymore tips about blouses or shoes just leave them below! See you soon.

Cookie

P.S. Next Tips and Tricks for you Lolita Wardrobe will be the JSK's, OP's, and the skirts. 

Some New Things: Books

Hi guys!
So awhile ago I went to the book store and picked up some much needed books. In fact I got the book I was looking for on vacation! It was a great find... And I got some other books as well of course. This is me we are talking about...

I got Anne Rice's first book of the Sleeping Beauty series, it was pretty good and want to know what happens next, however I haven't had time to get it... So maybe next time!

So while book browsing in Costco I found the Grimm's Fairy Tales and wanted to buy it right away! But I remembered what John Green said, that buying books from places like Costco and Walmart puts book stores out of business. Like Borders. So I went to Barnes and Noble and bought this one instead. I am very happy with it, even if some of the stories do make me mad.

Next, so everyone has been saying great stuff about Neil Gaiman being so great so I checked him out on tumblr. And he convinced me to try out his books! Well, what I meant was that the way he replies to his questions and the quotes in his books convinced me to try him out. I started with his comic books, and omg, they were amazing! I adored it so much I was upset I didn't buy the next ones while I was there!

Last one! While traveling I picked up this book! It is about the stories and lives of people who died in the west. I really enjoyed it for this, as I was going through (still am actually) a huge period wild west thing, and the book was a great read!

Those are the new book I bought, I probably won't be buying much for awhile seeing as I finally got my own library card finally. If you want updates or still want to know what I am reading just leave a comment! Or if you still want me to do Some New Things: Books even with the books I checked out at the library just tell me. Hope to hear from you guys.

Cookie

Some New Things: First Lolita Wig

So I broke down and got myself my first lolita wig! Though I didn't really get it for fun, I got it for jobs. That is to be my life if I want to keep weird hair colors and styles.
However it is my first lolita wig, and I mean lolita wig! I got it from Gothic Lolita Wigs, because I assumed that I could wear it for both... even though I did buy it for jobs... But whatever, it is my money. (This is my motto by the way.... lol.)

Tada! What it looked like coming in. Great packaging.

 So I ordered it and it came in a couple of days later! I was really happy because I wanted it for going job shopping. The packaging was pretty good too. I was in a bag in a bag in the net. And there was a cardboard around it so the wig didn't get really smashed.

What it looked like in the clear bag... I totally made sure you guys couldn't see where I lived.  Hahaha... I am so cool.  

I pulled it out and checked it, combed it through with my fingers and shook it out. I really loved the colors and it looked promising. It also came with a wig cap! Yay! However it isn't the net one, it is like nylon... I sweat so much in it! (You guys really needed to know that.)

Tada!!!!! Me with it on. One day I will get the hang of it. :) 

It was a really weird experience putting it on! It was the first time I have ever ever worn a wig and it was a really different. Many people at my school thought I had got my hair done. They where really surprised when I told them it was a wig. I couldn't believe people thought it was my real hair! I felt like everyone would know it was fake. I felt like I was wearing a huge balloon on my head.

My favorite picture with the wig on so far. I will keep getting better at putting it on I hope. :)

So that is my first wig! I loved how I can change my whole look in just five seconds. And I can't wait to get more! They are pretty freaking cool.

Would you guys like a video of the review and what not? Yes or No? Well I hope you guys enjoyed my first wig! See you around!

Cookie

The Catcher in the Rye "Review"

So I did my first book "review" for you guys. And you might be sitting here, reading this wondering why review is in "". Well it is because I wouldn't really call this a review... But tell me what you guys think??? Review or no. Or if you have any questions....

Places to Go: Camping in Colorado-Part 3

The last post that we will have of this camping trip, I promise. This is was the little hiking that we did that was near our camp grounds. This place is called Zapata Falls, and was one of the most magical things I have ever seen in my life. Well worth the hike! So here goes the story of that great morning and noon time.

We left pretty early, around 9am or 10am. We drove up a very, very long dirt road that bounced us all over the truck. When we finally reached the parking for the trail, this was our view. It is the valley, and it stretches out to where you could see the Sand Dunes. From where we parked it was 1/2 a mile up to the Falls.

So we started hiking, and the trial was pretty much all just up hill. There where many benches you could stop along the way to rest, in case you needed too. The best part was that some of the benches were mostly under shade, which is really nice if you are walking in the dry heat of the sun.

When we got to "the falls", well they weren't what we were expecting. All you could see what a stream, and further back awesome rock formations, that rose up out of the ground. The worst part was that you could hear the falls, but you couldn't see them! Super frustrating. So while walking back everyone decided that we would love to hike up and see the lake, which is where we were hoping to find the falls.

So we started hiking up the steep trail cut into the face of the mountain to go see the lake, in hopes to go see the falls. We didn't see any signs while hiking to the lake about how far we needed to go, or if we were even going in the same direction. We just kept walking.

Just to show you how steep the trails are, that is my nephew at the top of the hill we had to hike up.  

So we kept hiking and moving and looking at some spectacular views if I do say so myself. And than we reached this fork in the road. It now occurs to me that this could really apply to that whole road less traveled thing. And guess which road we took? The one without the tree branches covering it.

Along the hike we saw some very amazing stuff. Like some meadows and fallen trees. My dad expressed his wishes of living up in the mountains around here, and I agreed. It was just magical, and you couldn't help but to think of who else hiked on those trails, whether it was from yesterday or centuries ago. I commented to my dad that I could easily see why Lewis and Clark so loved the wilderness out west. And we kept hiking and hiking and hiking. Stopping to take some cool pictures every now and than.

And guess what? We kept hiking! The ground started to level out, and we started to hear water again. We heard that water for about 15 to 20 minutes. We were so excited! We were getting close to the lake, we hoped.

Nope, it wasn't a lake that we stopped at. But where else could we go? The trail had completly ended, there was no more place to hike, no lake to see. We hiked up the mountain not to see the lake, but to see another stream! We all were bummed out, and figured that the other trail in to fork in our road lead us to the lake. So we sat down, ate, and took some pictures. While we didn't get to go where we wanted, I really enjoyed to unexpectedness of the adventure we went to go see the stream. I didn't feel mad that I didn't get to see the lake at all. However, I still wanted to see the falls. I started thinking... I could hear the falls where the signs said it should be, but not see it. I turned to my dad and said that one the way down we should stop at "the falls" again. He said he would think about it, that he was tired. I explained to him that we should because I was pretty sure the falls where behind the huge rock formations.

So we all finished eating, put our trash in our bags, and started the decent down the mountain. From where we ate, you could see the ledge of the mountain or ridge. That was just so cool to me, that fact the we went all the way up, we were that much closer to the sky. On the way down we kept stopping for more pictures, as well as to pick some of the beautiful flowers there. Surprsingly (not) it took us way less time to go down the mountain rather than up, which is a good thing because the sun was baking us alive, and clouds started to roll in. And it seemed like no time at all and we were near "the falls" again.

I convinced my dad to go with me and his grandson. While we went back up to the stream, a daycare was walking back towards us. All the kids were really excited, and keep exclaiming on how awesome it was. I was right! The falls where behind the giant rocks! So we started to climb all over the rocks like we were Gollum, so our feet wouldn't get wet... Till we gave up and just started to walk in the water. We went around one rock, and the noise went up one notch... but we still couldn't see it. So we kept going till we went around another and...

I think it was well worth it.

Cookie

Places to Go: Camping in Colorado-Part 2

Just like last time I am going to let the pictures speak for themselves. But a little back story first. During the summer you want to go hiking and exploring in the morning in the Rocky Mountains. This is because the heat and pressure pushes against the mountains (or something like that), and during the early evenings there are thunder storms. It would be terrible to be caught out in that when hiking. So even though it rained almost every evening, it did give me so cool pictures.

Just another cloudy day. You didn't really have to read this....

Rain on a window, because I am edgy like that. I make good art.

A clearing in the sky over the valley!

Can you see the rainbow? I freaked out when I saw it... Lol.

Some shady mountains... See what I did there?

See that dark spot on the bottom of the Picture? That is the ground. Just some more clouds!!!! 

My favorite picture, I like the contrast between the light and the dark. With some yellow flowers! Yay.

That is the mountains and clouds pictures. I hope they aren't a huge waste of your time. I found them awe-inspiring and majestic. I loved seeing the dark ominous clouds covering everything in the valley and making the mountains look terrifying.  It was just pretty freaking cool. 

Next time we are going hiking in Zapata Falls! So look forward to those awesome pictures. :)

Cookie

Places to Go: Camping in Colorado-Part 1

So the trip at this point is a huge blur to me... What I am going to do is let the pictures speak for themselves and add in a helpful word or two here or there.
So reading that top part, and seeing the part 1 title probably makes you a bit confused. I was gone for a week, in the Mountains... There are a lot of pictures to say the least. So much that I am NOT editing most of them if I can help it... Before I started to erase the ones I didn't like and what not, I had about 117 photos! And not much more because my camera started to die!!! So I did what I could. So there will be parts for sure! I hope you guys enjoy these posts as much as I enjoyed the camping trip, I didn't even want to come home.

The Great Sand Dunes

That is it for this time. You got to see the camp grounds we stayed at, outside of The Great Sand Dunes. Next time you will get to see pretty clouds on the way back from my grandparents cabin.

Cookie