Coming of a new chapter

So a saying I like to say a lot is that all good things must come to an end. But to every end, there is a beginning. And so it goes w/o saying that though my time here in Charleston is almost over, its time for me to make a new beginning in Hawaii.

More under the cut.

Revisiting Brolita basics: Transformation

Over a year ago, I started a series of articles called the Brolita Basics. They were a series of writings I put together using my experience to help other brolitas and even other lolitas get an idea of how to get around starting their young lolita lives. Over time I compiled several articles that have probably been the most popular articles to read on my blog.

http://jchiong.blogspot.com/2011/10/brolita-personal-how-to-guide.html

http://jchiong.blogspot.com/2011/10/brolita-basics-hair.html

http://jchiong.blogspot.com/2011/10/brolita-basics-transformation.html

http://jchiong.blogspot.com/2011/11/brolita-basics-going-to-meet.html

http://jchiong.blogspot.com/2011/12/brolita-basics-public-perception.html

http://jchiong.blogspot.com/2012/09/brolita-basics-makeup-accessories-and.html

One of those articles was a transformation post. But it was not a complete transformation, merely showcasing the start and end. And there were plenty of pointers. But I figured it was time to do a start to finish with a step by step of how I go from normal looking me to lolita looking me.

Lolita transformations can take a while and for a guy (and even gals), it can be confusing as to how one should do it. Should I put on my makeup first? Maybe the outfit first? When does my wig come on? O wait, a corset goes on before my shoes? O crap -_-.... It may not be rocket science but for some, it might as well be. Well look no further, here I am to show you how I do it.Using what I have learned and trial-and-error I put together a general procedure I run through to accomplish the transformation.

Come on through and follow along!

BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAINS!!!

On October 21st, 2012, I sacrificed sleep and beauty to take part in a little walk in the heart of Charleston, SC.

Looking at the past and towards the future

 They say that you should never regret the decisions you make in life. After all, they make you who you are. But sometimes I look back and wonder, would my life have been so much different if I had changed this aspect of my life? Sometimes, change really might have made life better.

When the impossible becomes possible

They say anything in life is possible. And I am inclined to not believe in that. At some point in life, things become impossible. Its possible to only run so fast. Its only possible to hold your breath so long. Its only so possible to please so many people in your life. Even good natured me has managed to piss people off and drive em bonkers.

But sometimes, the impossible becomes possible through the most unlikely chain of events. Follow along as I tell you a story of one doll's journey and the events that led to a happy home.

A word on "Itas"

 Just some random thoughts I had on the subject

Banzaicon 2012

Another Saturday has come and gone and I have come back from another anime convention. Banzaicon was a small first year con that happened in Columbia, SC. I managed to snag the day off and made my way up for 1 day of the convention.

Anime Weekend Atlanta 2012

Ah so my 2nd AWA has come and gone and the con high has finally faded away. Luckily the PCD has managed to stay away. But I do miss AWA.

I'm gonna venture off the beaten path here and just review my weekend but not rank it. I feel at this point, I've gotten my point across that I enjoy cons that are lolita-loaded, have dealer's room booths that interest me, and are outside of Florida.

Seriously I still do not know what it is about Florida. Though I suppose you could say Megacon never got a fair deal, its ranking based on a time before I had money, good cosplays, and large lolita gatherings. But it beat out Metrocon, and that's amazing.

Anywho, back to Anime Weekend Atlanta. Follow along.

Murder Mystery Charleston

This past Wednesday, September 19, 2012, I partook in a small cruise. But it was more than just a cruise, it was a murder mystery cruise.

Taking place every Wednesday, the Carolina Queen goes out on the sea to escape the grasp of the Prohibition Law. Once out on the open waters, Andrew Wheeler himself introduces everyone to grand re-opening of the speakeasy Old Hickory. Its a smashing good time celebrating the 1920s till something goes awry.

Follow me and lets go an adventure :3

Brolita basics: Makeup, accessories, and purses. O my.

Its been nearly a year since I last wrote the brolita basics. And in all honesty, I actually started writing this nearly a year ago. It was meant to be part of the brolita basics series. But my experience, or lack thereof, discouraged me from finishing. But now, its a year later and I have plenty of experience under my belt. And so I present to you the last of the brolita basics.

Bloomers review *positive*

As you may remember from reading my D*con 2012 post, I mentioned that I had bought a new pair of bloomers. I'm glad to say that I really liked em and I would like to give a quick review of em.

Dragoncon 2012

Dragoncon is a convention held in downtown Atlanta. Its claimed to be one of the biggest conventions on the east coast and a con that every geek must go to. I myself proceeded to go check out this con and see just how awesome or un-awesome this con would be.

Catholic High Life

Let me just state for the record that I am not catholic. Those days are far removed from my life and are more than likely destined to stay out of my life. But despite my disdain for catholism *and just religion in general* it has given some good times. And there is this one time that I always recall super well because it was just one of those weekends where despite everything had gone wrong, there was always positive to be found.

Otakon 2012 + bonus pics

Its a good feeling when things work out the way they do. That was the case with Otakon, an anime convention I was able to attend this past weekend up in Baltimore Maryland.

A thought on the recent replica ban

So I doubt I really need to make much of an introduction here. Unless you've been living under a rock or just completely not paying attention to EGL news, it was announced quite recently that the buying, selling, and reviewing of replicas would be banned.

http://egl.livejournal.com/18686404.html

 In case you have indeed been living under a rock

Disclaimer: I'm not picking on Oo Jia cause I'm mean. She's the only one I really stay up to date with cause she's on FB. And because of how she responded to the ban. 

Closet update + favorite coordinates + dream list

A little bored and looking for something to write about. And I remembered that I had posted about my favorite dresses. But since there hasn't been much change I figured I would try something new: my favorite coordinates. Also, some new additions have made it to my closet, altering how my dream list as looked over the past few months.

Restaurant Review: Hominy Grill

Today's edition of restaurant review will look at Hominy Grill, a restaurant that had been pointed out to me for its Shrimp and Grits.

Brolita life, part 3: Pretty in Pink

Goodness. Look how long its been since I last even talked about my brolita history to this point. Posted way back when in October of 2011. And a lot has really changed since then. I mean, you probably saw bits and pieces as they came up, such as the disappearance of my goth closet. But its time to piece it all together and see how much farther I have come in my style :3

Last time I wrote, I had just come back from AWA and had just established the cornerstones to my Visual Kei closet. In addition, my Sweets closet was beginning to grow. But those were just the tips of the iceberg that help set in motion how the next year of my lolita life would go.

Frill by Affriliation

On June 9th, lolitas of all types converged on Atlanta, GA to partake in Frill, a convention for lolitas by lolitas.

Do read on :)

Tumble. Me. Random

Its a new month and you know what that means. A whole new list of fun facts and silly tidbits to share about myself :3

A pretty amusing cup my dad bought when he went to Canada

What if....

Talk about one of my all time favorite questions, "what if"... I love it so much because it always gives me something to ponder over.

Recently, I've been thinking....

"What if cancer had never taken my mom's life when I was just 14 years old?"

Read on to find out.

Animazement: 2012 vs 2011

This past memorial weekend, and for the first time since EXP con 2010, I went to a con for a 2nd time. Animazement has really established itself as my favorite con so far so I felt no need to go into another round of ranking, since AZ 2012 would either fall into first or 2nd place. So rather, I've decided to take my 2011 experience and see how my 2012 experience either exceeded or fell short of that mark.

Restaurant review: Toast of Charleston

Hello again kiddos. I know its been a while since I have posted. I've been busy + on top of that, I haven't had much to ramble about. But I have come up with a new weekly topic: restaurants. Every week I will look at and review a restaurant I have gone to here in Charleston, SC.


This week, I'm starting things off with a bang. We're gonna head to Toast of Charleston, a place that has become one of my go to restaurants for eating downtown.

Its Mighty Random Posting time!

You know it. Its that time of the month ago. Time to fill you in on fun filled facts and silliness.

A most amusingly named firm by my apartment

Likes

Its month 2 of Likes. So lets get to it.

My posing style.

If there is one thing lolita has taught me, its that posing is important. It can truly make or break a photo.

Sometimes I make an awesome pose

AAAAAND..... then I have these derp WTF photos

But I am not here to discuss posing and the various aspects of it. Cause honestly. I have no idea. But I wanted to go through a history of how my posing has changed through the meets and where it currently is at. So follow me :3

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY

Lindsey Stirling: You. Are. Amazing

"In any creative process, you can't be afraid of bad ideas"

More Randomness than your body has room for!

Its that time of the month ago. No, not that. I mean this:

Ranking Triad Anime Con

So this past weekend, I embarked on a journey to the area known as the Triad of NC. It was here that a first time con, Triad Anime Con, tried to make a name for itself. Lets see how it stood against my rankings.

Last time we left, here is where everything stood:

7th: Metrocon

6th: Megacon

5th: Exp Con

4th: Ichibacon

3rd: Kira kira con

2nd: Awa

1st: Animazement

Metrocon is still rocking that dead last status, preceded by Megacon and EXP con. Ichibacon comes in at 4th, tailing Kira Kira con.  Taking the top two slots are the power houses of this list, Anime Weekend Atlanta and Animazement.

Disclaimer: These are merely opinions based on my experiences and my expectations for a con.

BE WARNED! MANY, MANY PHOTOS AHEAD!

Jumping on the bandwagon: Likes!

So as you may have noticed, there have been some slight changes to this blog. Some things have been added, specifically linking blogs to other people I follow. But that isn't all. Now every month I will be participating in a blog post that I am adopting from Happy Catmint.

And in case you already don't, you should go follow her too!

http://happycatmint.blogspot.com/

Some say

That money can't buy happiness.

But it can sure keep sadness at bay. As you may or may not remember, I ended leaving my parasol and H. naoto pants at Kira kira con. With my luck, it was probably picked up by the weeaboo-ist person there who just so happened to probably be the only person to not have a FB. That person *cause I honestly couldn't tell if it was a he or she* also had the nerve to shout out "YAOI" at me only because I was all prettied up.

In the end, I never recovered that parasol and pants. In an effort to combat the oncoming and inevitable depression, I went into a spending spree to help buy my feelings some time. And finally after a 3 week wait, they *the items* arrived.

2012 Yearly resolutions and progress

Every year, everyone makes a resolution list.

Well, most everyone. I'm sure there are many people who just don't care to make one.

I myself only recently started making my resolutions list. In 2011, I had 3 primary goals:

1. Return to my pre-navy weight of 140 lbs.
2. Massively expand my lolita closet, especially the sweet portion of it.
3. Lets start the new year right. More positive, less negative. More happy, less sad. More smiles and less disappointment. Its a year of potential and its time to seek out what the world has to offer.

Of these 3, I was able to accomplish all 3 for much of the year. Obviously you can't always stay happy. But whenever things would get out of hand, whether it would be anger or sadness taking over my emotions, I would look back to #3 and do my best to return to my positive attitude. 

My lolita closet took massive steps in new directions. First it expanded gothic by obtaining Meta's Chess Party dress in black. But then sweet took the reins full force and dresses like IW's Band of Forest Animals in pink, BtSSB's Unico in Bloomland in pink, AatP's Night Fairy Fantasia and AP's Aqua Princess in pink were added. Other little bits were added here and there, such at Bodyline's Carousel print and BtSSB's Red Riding Hood. All in all, a couple thousand dollars dropped on expanding my lolita closet. 


And yes I was able to go from about 155 lbs to 140 lbs.

For 2012, I made a couple new resolutions. 

Ranking Kira Kira con

So I have just returned from Kira Kira con and I must say that for all the difficulties encountered with this particular con, it was a pleasant experience.

When I last left "Rank em Week: Anime conventions" the rankings looked like this:

6th: Metrocon
5th: Megacon
4th: Exp con
3rd: Ichibacon
2nd: Anime Weekend Atlanta
1st: Animazement.

Care to take any guesses as to where Kira Kira con landed? Stay tuned and find out.

Silly promises and other random facts

Time. To. Get. Random!

WotS campout weekend *aka Why Metrocon is rated so badly*

So if you read the post I put up about Metrocon, you may have noticed I talked about a group named WotS in the article. You also noticed that it was a different story for a different time. And if you have been rather attentive, you actually have noticed that I have said that I would eventually tell the story of WotS.

Well today, I spill all.

WARNING: If you are a WotS supporter who makes angry comments when WotS is called a LARP, leave now and do not return. Posting of angry comments on my blog will be met with swift deletions *or as swift as I can bring it*.

Note: If you want to see the climaxing event that ended my WotS days, scroll down until you see the Caps Lock motivational picture and sentences that are in caps .

Note 2: If you want to see how this affected Metrocon, scroll to the bottom.

Introduction post... Very. Belated. Intro post

So after going through all my posts, I quickly came to realize that I don't even have an introduction post introducing myself to everyone.

If I ran a panel...

So I have always wondered if I could effectively run a panel that was not only informative but very interesting and definitely entertaining. And since I have always wanted to do something lolita related, I figured why not do something about brolitas. But it wouldn't just be a brolita 101 panel.

It would be a live transformation panel.

Basically, I would be the host/hostess along with co-host/hostesses. I would start off in my normal, street clothed self *w/e that is XD*. And throughout the panel, as we are discussing the various aspects of the 'brolita' I would transform myself from boring self to brolita self :)

Unfortunately I have a rather small amount of time on the East coast and a far too busy schedule to do any sort of planning for such a panel. And so I pass this on to those who are looking for a new type of lolita panel to do.

A closet shift

Its not everyday I bid farewell to things. But not too long ago, the last major gothic piece in my lolita closet departed for a new home.

Its rank em week: Anime Conventions (day 6)

I do hope you have enjoyed reading these as much as I have enjoyed reminiscing and writing about these cons. Writing these really help put in perspective what cons I should go back to and just how badly I need to go to other cons to continue expanding my experiences. Alas, we still have 1 more contender to go. And here it is!


Disclaimer: These are merely opinions based on my experiences and my expectations for a con.

Its rank em week: Anime Conventions (day 5)

 Disclaimer: These are merely opinions based on my experiences and my expectations for a con.

Its rank em week: Anime Conventions (day 4)

Disclaimer: These are merely opinions based on my experiences and my expectations for a con.

Its rank em week: Anime Conventions (day 3)

Disclaimer: These are merely opinions based on my experiences and my expectations for a con.

Its rank em week: Anime Conventions (day 2)

Disclaimer: These are merely opinions based on my experiences and my expectations for a con.

Its rank em week: Anime Conventions (day 1)

So lately I've been asked alot of question about which cons I will be going to this year. Mostly Megacon, some Metrocon, a bit of Animazement, and a single one about AWA.
And this got me thinking: I've been around the block a bit. And I've got my favorite cons and my not-so-favorite cons. So why not rank em in my book.

Disclaimer: These are merely opinions based on my experiences and my expectations for a con.

Petticoat review *Positive* + bonus pictures.

In the first of more to come, here I am to review my newest petticoat addition

Dream dresses and new dream list

Just a quick and casual update on some things I have had on the mind :)

My first bi-curious experience

Ah. Yes. A little history lesson about yours truly :3