Easter seems like the ultimate lolita holiday. Technicolor marshmallows in the shapes of chicks, milk chocolate bunnies, jelly beans in every color imaginable- and need I mention pastels? Even as someone who doesn't celebrate the holiday, I can't help but feel like we're finally approaching those few weeks of absolutely perfect lolita-wearing weather - not too hot that you're sweating in your petticoats, but not too cold that you need to bundle up in your winter coats. What with prints like Happy Garden and Sheep Garden, it's clear that the big brands are finally picking up on the attraction, which means that anyone who owns the above or any other prints that have been released this season or last is pretty much set. But what about for the rest of us? Here are a few ways to celebrate the sweetness of spring without breaking the bank on a one-season-only print:

♥Make a straw bonnet! My friend Savannah and I are going to make these as soon as we get a chance, inspired by this post on Ophanim. It seems easy, not too pricey, and the end result is too cute! Cover it with ribbons, fake flowers, and bows and you have a new staple accessory for spring.  Imagine this with a country lolita outfit- spring perfection that would carry into summer, too!

♥Make yourself an Easter basket! Buy armfuls of way-too-bright candy and trinkets, and display them in anything you have on hand- a basket, bowl, or even a purse you aren't using right now. Alternatively, splurge and buy yourself a nice box of gourmet chocolates. My favorite chocolatier has lavender, violet, and rose truffles that are perfect for this time of year.

♥If you're not into candy (who are you?!), bake something nice for yourself and your loved ones. Cupcakes decorated with icing roses or chocolate chip cookies with pastel M&Ms are exactly what this season calls for.

♥Decorating eggs is by far my favorite childhood memory of Easter, right up there with scouring the house for our hidden Easter baskets. There are so many fun tips and tricks for fancy eggs that I could share, but instead, I'll give you a new one that blows my mind with its beauty: herb-stenciled eggs. What an amazing way to class up an Easter standby- imagine these in pastels! Not able to dye eggs? Try this adorable paint chip garland instead.

♥Go for a super-spring makeup look. I just got an amazing lavender eyeshadow that is so perfect for spring, I can't even handle it. Other shades to try are pastel blue, baby pink, or a bright, shimmery white. Adorn it with a rhinestone, if that's your thing (I'm thinking of using flatback pearls in a makeup look sometime for a classier version of this sweet staple) or draw on a coquettish beauty mark in the shape of a heart.

♥Go out for a walk in the fresh spring air and watch for new growth; channel Mary Lennox and walk the perimeter of your garden, breathing fresh, green air and observing the world as she wakes from hibernation.

♥Alternatively, if you've been having the same weather we have here in New England, sit in the window with a cup of tea, a good book, and a lace shawl as you watch the grass drink the spring rain.

Readers: What's your favorite way to welcome spring?

by Pretty Disease on Tumblr

I'm sure you guys remember my post from last week, Picnic at World's End, which is a short photo-story inspired by a photo shoot I had with my friend Savannah that weekend. Well, there were quite a few pictures that we liked that didn't fit with the theme, so here are a handful of them!

Look, I'm smiling again! Weird! I think I'm getting into the habit of it.

My favorite thing about this shot is that my camera focused not on Savannah's face, but on the flowers in her hair and the edge of her bonnet.

Savvy also just started a blog, so if you're interested in art, crafts, and lolita you should totally check it out here! She's so talented~ She's actually the artist I'm working with to turn the short story from the last post into a comic, which has been giving me great joy in the past week or two. I love having creative projects to work on , it's so cathartic.

Speaking of creative projects, heads up! I'm going to be at Anime Boston this year on Saturday, April 23rd only. I'll be in the Artist's Alley sharing a table with Ophanim and I'll have lots of limited edition not-sold-online goods. Please come check us out! ♥

It couldn't truly be said that the girls were sisters; memories of their entangled lives reached back no further than The Final War, as is true with all the straggling handful of survivors. The biological warfare that ravaged the planet was the result of growing tension between governments who had sought to annihilate each other, and perhaps in some aspects they succeeded. Those who lived through the horrors they had witnessed were not survivors, not really; that word invokes the image of grizzled youths fighting for their lives against forces they were prepared to combat, and no one had been prepared for this. The devastation was not meant to be survived. Even the officials in their bunkers had been found dead within 48 hours. It was a genetic mutation that saved the remaining humans, and those who were left seemed to sort of wander around in a daze, waiting to starve to death or remembering, as if hallucinating, the lives they'd lost.

The girls had abandoned names when they found each other. They referred to each other as "sister," a barely-remembered word that was almost lost with the rest of their memories. They wandered, day in and day out, living in a realm between reality and fantasy. They knew no age, no status, yet they clung to bits of propriety that were remembered more as habits than necessities; the elder still laced her corset every morning, and the younger tied her bonnet's ribbons under her chin as if anyone were still there to care.

On the first sunny morning after the attack, a half-remembered word flitted through their minds. They couldn't quite grasp it, but it was there, whispering seductively around every stream of sunlight on their skin, demanding attention. The sisters followed it through the trees, half-catching it and losing it again with every step, until they came upon the field. Something sparked when they saw the picnic basket, but it was the hoop for which a name produced itself. The elder touched it with the reverence of an ancient artifact and breathed the word "Toy," the only name she could grasp onto of all those vague remembrances flashing behind her eyes. She could remember nothing: only the dance.

The scene was like one of their plaguing hallucinations: everything was laid out - the table, the basket, the food - as if the diners had just gotten up and left on a whim. There was something so haunting to the whole scene that the younger found herself entranced by it- it made her feel like that ghostly word was within her reach, and that there was somehow something to be gained if she could only catch it. It was like grabbing at smoke until she put her fingers around the handle of the basket.

As the sisters passed the abandoned basket between their fingers, they couldn't help feeling like something had fallen into place. There was something here, they could tell, some link to a past that was feeling more and more distant every day. Perhaps they somehow knew the truth, that this picnic had been set out for them in the days when they had someone who cared enough to give them pleasant things. As they passed the basket between them, the younger smiled up at her older sister and whispered that elusive word that had so often escaped them.

 

"Home."

Yesterday I went into NYC for dinner with the ever-lovely Dalin and Crystal. After all the stress of the past few weeks, all of us really needed a girl's night! We ate at South Houston, an awesome SoHo restaurant/bar that serves Southern-style food like hush puppies and pulled pork; I had a veggie burger with avocado and a side salad. It also happened to be happy hour, so Crystal and I had some amazing sangria for only five dollars a glass, because we're secretly lushes.

Here's what I wore:

The night before, I was up til 4 AM finishing "Around the World in 80 Days" by Jules Verne. Inspired by that, my original theme was "Victorian traveller," hence the vintage hat, long JSK, and use of brown. Then I decided that none of my lolita blouses were hip enough to be included in this outfit, so I took a non-lolita blouse and pinned my Angelic Pretty detachable sleeves to make it a little more appropriate for the end-of-winter chilliness (which, today, turned into the end-of-winter snow that's currently accumulating on my car and porch steps. Sigh.) It may stick its tongue out at the lolita rule against showing your shoulders, but I think it works and creates a playful contrast to the grown-up classic feel of the rest of the coordinate, especially combined with the star-print bag.

(also, check out that picture on the right- could I look any younger?! This is why I usually don't smile in pictures!)

FOR FUN: Coord from a year ago today!

In order to better serve mobile viewers, Her Lumpiness now has its own QR reader. To use it, take a picture of the code to the right with the downloadable QR reader app on your smart phone or other mobile reading device (iPad, etc). It will open your internet browser with a mobile version of Miss Lumpy for ease of reading. Please let me know how it works! I don't have a smart phone, but I tried it out on my boyfriend's iPhone and it looked great!