Alas, a Tragedy

Today I experienced a Goth's worst nightmare first-hand. My gorgeous boots, my only pair of long combat boots broke. I knew they weren't good quality when I bought them a year and a half ago, but I was hoping they would last a little bit longer... My poor babies.

Unfortunately, there's no way to fix that. And I wear these boots with everything! My plan now is to just save up for those Doc Martens I've wanted for a while. They'll hold up forever because they're real leather and will be a good investment. After I buy the longer black ones I'll probably get a pair of shorter ones in red, white, tartan, or black with flowers. Problem is, that until I have the money to buy a pair I'll have to go boot-less.

We went out today to go to get some supplies at Joanns and then had lunch. So here's the outfit of the day with a vest I got for Xmas. My hair is really starting to fade out and my blond roots are coming in so I need to re-dye it soon. I'll go black this time instead of dark brown and I think I'll cut my hair shorter. Perhaps a chin length bob. I'm also considering going back to my v fringe. As much as I like straight bangs I sort of miss my widow's peak.

Lately, I seem to be favoring less 'feminine' outfits. I love dresses and skirts, but recently it's seemed like more of a hassle to wear them and better to just pair my black jeans with interesting vests or jackets. Part of the reason might be because it's a little chillier (I say a little because down here in the south we get about one week of cold weather...) and layered tights are a pain to get on and off, but really I think I'm just at a point where my tastes are leaning away from my more romantic/frilly things. In a few months I'm sure I'll be donning my lace gloves, favorite skirt, and waistcoat again, but for now I'll be pulling other things out of my wardrobe.

Actually, if someone decides to bestow upon me the top hat or bowler I so desperately want it'll happen sooner. I think that maybe I'm bored of my victorian-esque clothes simply because I've worn the same outfits too many times. I need a little variety.

 On another note, my plan to buy those Doc Martens has already been sabotaged by this Sherlock shirt. As soon as I saw the Infamous Blujay wearing it via Tumblr I had to have it. It's perfect for the days Casual Goth makes an appearance.

Xmas Haul

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! (Or any other holiday you celebrate) Normally, mine turns into a day of watching screens, as I always have this urge to see if I can beat the video games I've received in record time. (This year's winner being Resistance 2 which is a fantastic game, though not as good as the first one) So this year's haul...

Because I love the Joker. The Killing Joke is a classic after all.

Norse myths because of my Swedish heritage and love of Loki <3
And Edgar Allen Poe because those Barnes and Noble leather-bounds are gorgeous.
Now to get Sherlock Holmes and The Picture of Dorian Gray.

This little voodolls name is Siouxsie. She's "an old school
Goth who rejects conformity".
I love my parents ^^

A talking Dalek because it's adorable. And a Converse
piggy bank. When I opened it I thought they had only gotten me one shoe XD

The original Addams family! And a fishnet hoodie from my family in Sweden.

 

A Tones on Tail record I was eying in the record store and a
collection of 80s songs.

Bringing back my love of Loki. Marvel movie-verse this time ^^

Finally, The Hobbit because I haven't read it since 4th grade and desperately
want to see the movie. And a bracelet made out of bass strings. Isn't that neat?

Of course, there are a few things I didn't get. My Sherlock shirt, (The one The Infamous Blujay was wearing in the picture Jillian Venters put up on her Tumblr) a slytherin scarf, colored contacts, and a spiked collar being the things I didn't receive. So now I know what to spend my remaining money on ^^

I'm going to go see The Hobbit soon. I am so excited. For anyone out there that's already seen it, how was it?

Xmas Walk

Christmas in three days! I cannot wait.

There's little old-fashioned town nearby always puts up lights on the first of december. They have an annual christmas walk where everyone goes down to enjoy the lights, listen to music, buy treats, and do a little shopping. All of the stores stay open late so you can browse and there's some sort of performer on every intersection. Unfortunately, the juggler that normally comes has stopped showing up much to my disappointment, (He was awfully cute. And funny too.) but the lights are still as gorgeous as ever.  These pictures are from the park since it was difficult to get pictures of the town while on the crowded streets.

That last picture of the angel? Yeah, well that was a real person. She moved when I got close to her and basically gave me a heart attack. We also stopped by the used bookstore I like to frequent. They have a cat! A bookstore with a cat. What more could I ask for?

We also made Lussekatter. (A Swedish saffron bread) They're my absolute favorite thing to bake around christmas and I alway look forward to it.

If anyone wants here's a quick version oft her recipe we use. You'll need one of those big electric mixers unless you want to make bread the old fashioned way...

Ingredients

17 deciliters flour. (Swedish flour is different, but we've found that bread flour works the best here.)
1 packet saffron
2 packages yeast
2 deciliters sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
14 tablespoons butter
5 deciliters milk

1) Preheat the oven to 435.
2) Using a mortar and pestle grind up the saffron. Combine all of the dry ingredients in the mixer. Only use about 12 deciliters of the flour.
3) Melt the butter in a pot. Add the milk. Using a thermometer, let the temperature rise to 47 C.
4) Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and mix. Add the egg. Add as much flour as needed until the dough isn't sticky.
5) Let the dough rise covered for about 35 minutes. Roll out pieces of the dough into long ropes. Form s shapes and curl the ends into spirals.
6) Insert raisins into each end. Let the dough rise covered another 30 minutes. Glaze with egg and bake 8-12 minutes until golden.

And that's that! I hope you all are having a great holiday season (Whatever you may celebrate) and I'll be back after Christmas.  To wrap this post up, here's what I wore to the Christmas walk.

 

Corn Maze

I got on here earlier and realized I hadn't posted anything this month! When I said I wouldn't be blogging as frequently I certainly didn't mean for it to take this long! Anyway, last weekend we took the time to visit a corn maze. It was a lot of fun, though to be honest I was a little disappointed by how short the corn was this year. On the other hand, if it had been taller it probably would have taken three hours instead of one, and considering it was so hot I'm not sure if we would have survived much longer.

A view from higher up

There are people in there...somewhere.

Corn!

There was also a Farmer's market so we ended up buying some jam and corn before we left. I love buying home-grown food, it just tastes so much better ^^ Then we stopped by a bakery to get a treat and the owner recognized my Bauhaus shirt! We ended up chatting for a while about Peter Murphy (She's seen him a bunch, as well as Bauhaus) and about how she doesn't meet many people outside of her generation that have even heard of them. Then she gave me the largest lemon square they had for having excellent music taste.

So what else have I been up to? Well I bought this adorable little hat and found my favorite choker the other day.

Sitting in Spanish class. Fun.

I've started watching Dexter (I don't know if any of you like that show) and I'm already up to season five. It's really good actually.

School has been beyond stressful. I've gone from disliking math to absolutely hating it. The stress is wearing me down and a friend sent me this site to help me out. It's actually more helpful than I thought it would be. So if anyone needs a place to just vent that's the site for you.

There's also this site if you're an artsy type of person. It kept me busy for quite some time ^^

I have a few more posts planned for the near future, especially since xmas is coming up. So don't think I've abandoned you. And all of my new followers, welcome! When I saw I had reached fifty I got this ridiculous smile on my face. You guys seriously made my day.

30 Day Clothing Challenge~Day 12: A Piece of Jewelry Everyone Compliments you on.

Hey guys! I know it's been a while, but lately I haven't really had enough time to get around to blogging. (Or comment on other people's postss) You'd think I'd be free more often, what with just having Thanksgiving break, but it seems the opposite is true! Also, I used to think that in order to be a good blogger I needed to get a certain amount of posts out so I didn't bore people. Lately, I've realized that's absolute crap. I love all of you followers but I created this blog for myself, to have some fun and connect with other alternatively inclined people. Trying to get a post out every few days is stressful (Remember when Amy at Stripy Tights was churning out a post a day? I don't know how she managed it...) and I want to thoroughly enjoy blogging instead of feeling pressured to get new material on the internet all the time.

Of course, I'm still going to be posting on a pretty regular basis, I absolutely love blogging, I'm just not too concerned if I wait a few extra days here and there. With math kicking my butt and a freed social life now that marching band is over I have a chance to spend time with some real-life friends again. (I'm not gonna be a hermit anymore!) Point is, posts are gonna be a little less frequent but don't think I've abandoned all of you. Definitely not.

So now I'm going to continue with the 30 Day clothing challenge. I'm almost halfway there~ ^^

These three necklaces are the ones I get comments on, probably because they're among the more ordinary/conventional pieces I wear. I've had the star for so long I don't know where I got it. The music note is something I received for my last birthday. The one in the middle is jade and I purchased it at a small store in Vancouver two summers ago when we went on a vacation to Canada.

Please excuse the dog hair. I swear I vacuumed yesterday, but it just comes back!

Also, I dyed my hair! I decided to go really dark brown and I'm so happy I did. I've always loved dark hair and from here I have loads of things I want to do. Undercut...deathhawk...short hair... the possibilities are endless.And then when I get bored of this there's a host of other colors to choose from. Of course, I love this so much that I have a feeling dark hair is going to become my staple. My dad is still complaining about how I got rid of my blond hair, but he's just going to have to get used to it because I might even go black next time.

I still shock myself every time I look in a mirror.

Today's outfit for good measure. I think you might have seen this sweater before...

Finally, I know I've seen this on a blog somewhere before, but I'm going to bring it back. There's this adorable pin-up creator on Deviantart. I spent about an hour creating cute lil versions of myself. This one's my favorite.

Obviously before I changed my hair.

And that's that. I'll probably have something else up in a few days because we're going to the corn maze. I can't wait ^^

Weekend in Tampa

I've just realized how behind I am on posts this month. It's all Tumblr's fault! I swear! I refresh my dashboard and suddenly there's enough to keep me occupied for another hour. Of course, being the fangirl I am it turns into several hours and then it's time for bed... *sigh*

This weekend my mom had a triathlon in Tampa so we drove up and spent the weekend there. When we were at a restaurant one of the waitresses with black hair rushed up to me and gushed non-stop about how she'd never seen someone else there (In that specific restaurant) with a Bauhaus shirt and how she'd seen Peter Murphy in concert like 22 times (She might have exaggerated a bit...) ....and then she ran back to work before I could comprehend that I had actually met another goth.  I didn't even get the chance to speak. Damn.

I like Tampa, I really do. People there are so much more open minded than the ones in the Orlando-ish area. I suppose some of it might have to do with the fact that there's a club called The Castle that has a Goth night that seems really cool. And don't hold me to this, but I'm fairly certain Razor Candi used to do something there on Friday nights. Why aren't I clubbing age again? *shakes fist angrily*

Here's a video I found about the club. Just in case anyone is ever around Tampa and wants something to do. All in all, for being an interview for the news this is pretty good.

Now have two outfit posts/pictures of me trying to not be blinded by the sun. The daystar and I are mortal enemies who have been at war for years. I'm losing. If you could see my tan from band....yikes.

I...don't like the beach.

My new band jacket from Trash and Vaudeville.

Do you see my roots coming in there? I'm getting my hair re-dyed this weekend. I'll either keep going blond or go a really, really dark brown. (Because I don't want to go straight to black) I'm a bit conflicted because I've been blond all my life (albeit, not quite that blond) and I'm trying to gather the courage to try something new. We'll see. I just need to make up my mind by the weekend.

Finally, I was browsing the interwebz and came across this interview which just about made my day. Some of the biggest icons of Goth sitting around and discussing Goth. Why have I not seen this before?

30 Day Clothing Challenge~Day 11: A Piece of Jewelry That a Grandparent Gave You

We're all saved!

Can I just take this moment to point out that since Romney did not win the election I won't be packing my things and moving to England?  I'm not saying Obama is the cure for everything, but hey, Bush had eight years to screw things up, so I say give Obama eight to try and fix it. Not to mention, he isn't a racist, homophobic, women-hating idiot who would have ended up offending every country known to man. I bet if Romney had won we would have been at war with Canada within the year... *facepalm*

Unfortunately, I'm surrounded by conservatives down here and they're all crying and yelling about the election results. Basically, this is my reaction to the number of people that have said to me because I don't like the current views of the Republican party (And ESPECIALLY Romney) I'm part of the American population that has doomed this country and are betraying God.

Um, have you ever heard of seperation of church and state? We are not a theocracy people. But I'm not going to go on about politics. I spammed everyone on Tumblr enough before the election and that's over and done with. Time to move on! I couldn't pick just one thing I've received from my grandparents, so here are my favorites through process of elimination. I'm not really sure if most of them are even considered "jewelry"  but whatever.

A pocket watch that I'm going to find a chain for and turn into a necklace.

I'm not sure if this counts, but it's a Russian clock(minus the wristband) from the 70s.

Do I have a shirt that requires cufflinks? Nope. But they're really old and I love them.

I have a pair with Viking ships too! I'm not sure where the other one is right now...

And of course, my ankh. Simple and goes with everything.

In other news...

1. I just read a book called Shadow and Bone. Unfortunately, like almost all YA books out there at the moment it has a love triangle, but the originality of the rest of the book makes up for that. Not to mention, the villain is amazing. So go go read it!
2. This is completely personal, but my marching band got top marks at the competition we do every year. Straight superiors! We spent all day at the citrus bowl watching the other bands. One of them did Gangham Style. (And it was HILARIOUS) There was a Back to the Future show which made me very happy and then some of the more serious bands were great. (Our show was a New Years theme if you wanted to know. People loved it.) 
3. DVD releases for the Beetlejuice cartoons are set for 2013!
4. Young Dracula Season 4 has started up. I've seen the two episodes and I'm really excited.

That's all I have for you this time. Here's the outfit of the day ^^

Sophistique Noir Challlenge~ Tights

Well I love tights. I really do. It's really a shame I don't own too many pairs. I have black and red fishnets, and normal black tights. Then I've got a pair of skull covered thigh highs with bows. ...And that's about it! My most used tights though, are any regular pair that I've taken scissors to and gone crazy. I think ripped tights are a great way to make an outfit interesting when you're dressing casually.

A plain hoodie and skirt....

And then bam! Tights ^^

Of course, I'd love to add to my tights collection. Here are some of my favorites that I've bookmarked on my computer, ready to be bought.

I'm going to make these once I get more plain black tights.

Finally, I promised you guys a few better pictures of my Halloween costume. Here you go! I have my bow tie this time. Unfortunately, the skull beads to attach to my glasses broke so I had to do without.

With my jacket.

Which I lost later...

All in all, a pretty successful Grell I think.

There was a pumpkin carving contest at the Halloween thing I went to yesterday. We only had 15 minutes and this is what my friend and I came up with. He has a goatee (though you can't see it) and bat wings ^^

Sorry this post was so short! Or rather, there's an extreme lack of text and I haven't edited it for grammar at all, but I've got to get an essay done before I go to bed and I don't have time to do more. I'll make sure to have something better for you next time ^^