Friday, August 26, 2016

Lifestyle 365: Gorgeous Gardens!

Let us all rejoice among the flowers!

A you may have read on my previous post, I have begun taking certain prompts from Lace à la Mode's 365 Lolita Challenge, as an opportunity of sorts to get used to blogging. For today's selection, I'll be elaborating on prompts no. 180, which is to share my favourite gardens. Now, I shall restrict this to gardens that I have personally visited, because otherwise I would be doomed to indecision and longing.

My favourite gardens are some that I have visited whilst in Belgium. I have been in quite a number of beautiful gardens in my family's summer travels, like those of Schönbrunn, Charlottenburg, and Versailles. Regardless of their fame, I feel a stronger connection to these gardens and their beauty. To me, they are a real memory of my daily life, and my once-reality.

To start it off, my favourite garden would be that of the Breivelde castle. This castle is now a brasserie, and its gardens are now a public park. It is located in the town in which I used to live back in Belgium, and I would cross it on my way back home on school days whenever I felt I needed to relax and get away from the everydayness. I would sit inside of a pine tree, hidden by the needles, and just listen to music, the wind, and the footsteps.

My second favourite garden is once again, a public park. This is called the Petit Sablon or Kleine Zavel. We went through the park in a field trip for our history class, and out teacher told us something about the statue of Egmont and Horne, but I cannot remember what it was. However, a fun fact is that the Count of Egmont had his castle in the same town that the first park is located in! It is now a library in the city centre, surrounded by another lovely park that hold concerts on thursdays.

Sometimes I wonder if my admiration of foreign parks seems strange to people where it is normal to have well taken careof public areas. In my state it it very uncommon to find a well-maintained public park. If they are not tended to by those who live nearby (which in itself is quite unusual) they will be dried and dirty, and occasionally foul-smelling. Thus far I have found one park in a more touristic area that is pleasant to stroll around. It is quite small and does not have much flair or fancy, but even in its simplicity, I find it quite enjoyable. This park, sadly and much due to some ill-mannered visitors, does not make it into the list.

Now then, I hope that you may have found a way to enjoy my ramblings and reminiscences. If you ever find yourself in East Flanders (or Belgium for that matter, as it is quite small), do make a short trip to any of these parks on a day of nice weather. In case that you visit in spring, you must go to the blooming fruit trees of Hasselt!


Encore et toujours,
Lapine.




Sunday, August 14, 2016

First Lifestyle 365: Citric Designs!

Hello, my sumer flowers!



Whilst wading through a stream of Facebook posts, I came across a page that I followed quite bait of time ago: Lace a la Mode's 365 Lifestyle Lolita Challenge! Her challenge's purpose is to prompt Lolitas to take part in certain ladylike and lolitalike activities, to add a boost of lifestyle to our lives. It is a given that this suits my taste like a tailored glove, so I've decided to select whichever prompts I feel I'd enjoy and work on them! I think this may really help me as a start-up of sorts. 

Today I am tasked with #211,and my drink of choice is the Citrus Cooler, but it is not the usual Citrus Cooler cocktail that you receive from a google search (especially not the Gatorade)! It has the same name, but is a non-alcoholic drink from a local restaurant I enjoy very much. Inside it is ginger, lemon, lime, grapefruit, orange, sugar, mint, and sparkling water! It has a gradient ginger-yellow to orange colour, and is perfectly sweet, sour, and refreshing.

I wanted the coord to have a fresh, summery, and whimsical vibe, and chose a muslin peach-gradient Chemise á la Reine. The dress can be easily replaced by something like Atelier Pierrot's Cantata or Trianon OP's, but I chose not to go with either of them because chiffon does not breathe as well as muslin or gauze, and I felt like that took away from the summer freshness and ease of movement.

The accessories are very cute and fruity, with heart-shaped sunglasses that resemble the drink's colour, and citric hair clips (I am glad to have found all the fruits inside the drink in a hair clip form!). I could not find mint leaves, so regular green sprout hair clips add a light-hearted feel to the look. All in all, I really enjoyed this prompt, and will definitely be doing this more times. 
What do you guys think about it? I'd be delighted to hear your opinions!