Blogging Isn't As Easy As I Thought (Japanese Gardens!)

Getting things all lined up and what not is harder than I thought it would be, and even just sitting down and typing out the post is more exhausting than I expected! I love it though, I really do.
Anyhow, on with the post, outfit links after the jump!
There are these beautiful Japanese gardens a couple of hours away from where I live, and on the last Saturday of September every year they have a Cherry Blossom Festival. I hadn't been since I was a little girl, because my family moved away from here when I was 10, and it took me 9 years to get it together and move back, which I eventually did because The Boy and his family live here and I knew he was THE boy for me.
So a couple of friends invited us to go with them this year, and off we went. It was beyond gorgeous, but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Dress AU 26.44  GBP 16  ; Necklace AU 21.48  GBP  13

I loved the little Koi! We bought a bag of special fish food (which looked and smelt like cat food to me, but whatever) and fed them from a bridge. It was so cute watching them gaping and cavorting around trying to get the food.

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<3<3<3 I love that I got a picture with The Boy, we don't have many pictures of us together AT ALL because we are always the ones behind the camera!

The DRESS! I love this dress, I adore this dress, I think it is the cutest dress in the world. It is the Waist Detail Floral Dress by ASOS. I can't believe I didn't think to get a shot of the back of it, because it has the cutest cut out, with buttons at the back of the neck. It is so much nicer than I was expecting from the website. It is a nice thick fabric, lightweight and cool but still substantial, so it doesn't feel cheap at all. You can't see my black undies underneath, so that is a definite plus for a summer dress, and it made me look infinitely more busty than I actually am. Which is a huge plus for me, but when my friend (who IS more blessed in the chest than most) tried it on she found it didn't make hers look any bigger, because she was actually filling out the pleats. So if you're smaller, it looks awesome, if you're bigger, it still looks awesome! (because said friend couldn't leave the house if her ladies looked any bigger.)

*ahem* MOVING ON.
I wore it with the bangle and necklace from my previous post, with some flat brown thrifted sandals and a gorgeous pair of earrings from (is it ever anywhere else lately?) ASOS.

ASOS Heart Shaped Floral Cameo Stud Earrings AU 5.78  GBP 3.50

 These might be the prettiest stud earrings I own. Seriously. They are so adorable and make me think of grandma treasures. Considering my style has been christened Granny Chic, they're perfect.

When my mother first visited my house (she lives in another state) I told her I was going for a "Grandmas house in the woods" type thing, and she said "Oh, yes. I can see THAT." in a tone that said I was stating the obvious. Which made me feel my work there was done. It may not be for everyone, but it is a style I adore. Kitsch is everything.

Well, my work here is done also. I need to take pictures of all my new things!

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A sneaky peek at some things to come...

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With love,

OOOTD* Lace Waisted Dress in Rust

*Old Outfit of the Day!
My camera has been recovered, and I spent a wonderful day opshopping (thrifting) and buying new plants at a nursery.

Kumquat, Climbing Rose, and Raspberry plants! New babies!

 So, here is my very first purchase from ASOS Curve, the Lace Waisted Dress in Rust.
 Please don't mind my hair, I have every intention of dying it, I just have a procrastination problem. ^_^

Sookie has a habit of being photographed

So, this dress had me super nervous. I didn't know if it would fit because even with measurements and all, some websites are super iffy about sizing. Many plus size places have provisions in place for the bust, and comparatively, I don't have much of one.
I needn't have worried, because it fit me gorgeously! It is so comfortable, with a really lovely jersey fabric underneath, and stretchy in a really subtle way - that is, it fit against my skin and stretched where I needed stretch, but the lace overlay made it look as if it weren't stretching at all.
It has cute sleeves, too - I hadn't ever seen sleeves like that before, with cute little points along them that I thought made my arms look smaller, which is always a win!
I wore it with black tights by Target, which upon looking at the pictures were likely not the best choice - I thought they looked better at the time, so that's slightly annoying.

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This is my favourite bangle/bracelet ever, ever, ever. Its by Disney Couture, and I got it from ASOS in the same order. It is gold plated, and has "Have faith in your dreams" in gold raised out of baby pink enamel. It has a little clasp, and it fits my wrist so well, and goes with just about everything. It came in a super cute purple satin pouch, which I wish I had photographed before it got lost in the whirling abyss that is my bedroom.

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The bag is vintage GloMesh, thrifted in a rural Salvation Army store, and the necklace is actually a super cute watch by Oasis, bought from, you guessed it, ASOS. It came on a very long silver chain but I thought it looked kind of cheap and nasty. The watch itself is sort of heavy, and coated in a thick white enamel, and the chain really threw it off, so I put it on a gold loop chain I've had for a few years (my mother gave it to me when I turned 16) and it really made it look better. I can't read it myself from there, obviously, but The Boy tells me the time anyway. When I've been out on my own I've worn a longer chain, and I recently safety pinned it to a floral handbag (I triple pinned it, because you can never be too careful, but the pins were on the inside so as not to make it too obvious) and that was super super cute.

The earrings I got for only a couple of dollars in an ASOS sale, and I know you can't see them too well. They are little floral balls hanging off hoops, with a regular earring hook above. The price has gone back up again, but they are still only really cheap, and great quality for the price.

Disney Couture Bangle 

AU 46.27 GBP 28

Lace Waisted Dress  AU 36.35 GBP 22

Oasis Floral Ball Hoop Earrings  AU 10.74 GBP 6.50

Oasis White Bow Pendant Watch AU 23 GBP 13

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I love this outfit. I love every piece. I hope you like it too.