Saturday, February 26

Drumming My Fingers

I think it's time to get back to blogging, even if it is to just lift my spirits a bit.
The official death toll for the Christchurch earthquake stands at 145 right now, with many still missing (there is almost no possibility of finding anymore survivors). We had a moment of silence at our school assembly yesterday, which I was very thankful for, and it was a great reflection on how big of an impact it has had on New Zealanders; even the loudest, rowdiest girls observed the silence.
I'm going to donate some money to the relief fund, so hopefully that can provide help (even though it will only be a little) to all those in need. I really wish I could do more! 。・゚・(ノД`)・゚・。


PHEW. It seems really awkward (and almost tasteless) to start blogging normally again...

*:・゚’✿,。・:*:❀・゚’❁,*:❀・゚’❁,✿,。・:*❀・゚’❁
This will be a long entry as it's been a while! Just a warning...
Here's some outfit shots. (Some of them are very similar to previous outfits... `Д´)

I look rather sinister in the second one... `ー´
The last one is a bit odd. Also my jumper says 'Wednesday'. I wore it on Saturday. REBELLION 

My very prairie-esque outfit that I wore to Auckland. 

*:・゚’✿,。・:*:❀・゚’❁,*:❀・゚’❁,✿,。・:*❀・゚’❁
Last weekend I had a very exciting time in Auckland!

I had breakfast at this cafe that used old train carriages as rooms! It was becoming overgrown with plants and had this fantastic green light throughout.


I went to an antique store that had giant baskets of crocheted doilies and tablecloths! In the end I stumbled upon this diary from 1924. Everyday the owner, who is a young nanny by what I've deciphered, wrote in it. She accounts when visitors arrive at the house, day trips she goes on, and even the days when she washes her hair ‘~` She appears to be quite the budding photographer, as her cash account shows that she spend a good portion of her wage on film and film processing.
We've managed to source more information about the family she worked for, and a regional museum is pretty keen to display it!  ゚ ヮ゚


I had a picnic at this gorgeous house!


Later in the day, I visited my (and my friend's) favourite shop of all time; 'DGL Crystal Symphony'. Although it sounds like a crockery store, it is in fact, a Russian gift store! 
As soon as you walk into the tiny store you are greeted by this glistening wall of delight:

My father, the Russian shopkeeper and myself make a surprise cameo in this photo!

It is covered, floor to ceiling, in various bright-coloured matryoshka dolls! 
The store also sells glassware, various kinds of vodka (●´ω`●), apparel and books on Russia.


The ladies who work there are Russian themselves, and are very kind and helpful. They also don't mind too much when I spend 1/2 and hour there just staring at everything ・ω・ 
After oogling Russian dolls for much too long, I went to Atrium on Elliot. This is a (very empty) mall that is filled with Chinese, Japanese and Korean clothing stores. One of my favourite stores there is 'Ippondo'.


It specialises in Japanese cosmetics. You can find all the famous cosmetic brands there like Dollywink, Canmake, and Shi Uemera. Because I read magazines like PopTeen occasionally, they were all familiar to me, which I think kind of surprised the woman working there. She was so adorable and kind; I felt really bad for not buying anything! 
There also was another worker there in Mori Gyaru style. My camera had died by then, although it may have been awkward trying to ask her for a photo anyway... ┐(‘~`;)┌

I strolled around the mall and found a few goodies that I'll talk about in another post! 

I was lost for words when I went to the Auckland Central Library and saw this miniature display! It was a cross section of a tree that housed a family of mice. It was so adorable- there was so much detail! (It's dedicated to an illustrator that has slipped my mind... D:)
As my camera had died earlier in the day, I had to take photos of it with my phone... ╯︵╰, I hope I can get up to Auckland again before it's taken down, so I can get some better pictures of it!


My friend drew this beyond adorable picture of me! ♥ Thank youuu! ♥ I hope she does not mind me posting it here- it's just really cute and I wanted to share it! ╥_╥ ♥
The cake... thing on the right is from a crafting kit from the Daiso. I mucked it up in various places  
Does anyone have any suggestions what I could do with it now? It's roughly 3 inches in diameter... 

*:・゚’✿,。・:*:❀・゚’❁,*:❀・゚’❁,✿,。・:*❀・゚’❁
Congratulations if you've made it this far! ♥ I've actually cut this post down a lot- I was planning on writing a lot more, but I'll save it for another day. ◡‿◡

My heart and wishes go out to everyone from Christchurch and whoever has been affected by the quake. I also send the same love to the Libyans fighting against Gaddafi. ・゚,,。・:*❀・゚ 

18 comments:

  1. Yay for long posts! :-)

    I've been following the events of the earthquakes in the news... and all the terrible things happening in Libya too. Reading about it always makes me feel a bit powerless... (.__.);

    On a brighter note, I love the shop with all the matryoshka dolls, it looks like heaven~ ♥♥
    cute outfits as usual, Cath! (゜ー゜*)☆

    Have a great weekend

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  2. Dear Cath,

    I saw that you're following my blog and checked out yours, and I love it! Your blog is full of eye-candy photos and thoughtful musings.
    It's so lovely to meet a fellow Western mori-girl!
    I'm also happy to see you're from New Zealand. I just finished watching all the seasons of Xena:Warior Princess and have found myself very interesting in New Zealand. It seems like a really gorgeous country that is not heavily populated. Indeed, a very appropriate land for us Mori-girls :3
    Anyhoo, nice to meet you. I look forward to more of your blogging!

    JGV

    P.S. I love your outfits, they are just adorable!

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  3. @myakïn; I hope I don't cause too much boredom with my long-winded posts... :S
    Exactly my thoughts. Especially with the earthquake- our country is small, so it really isn't /that/ far away, but it is too far for me to give hands-on help! ;-;
    Thank you so much <3 The same to you too!

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  4. @JGV; Ahhh thank you so much for your lovely, lovely comment! <3 I grew up watching Xena! Haha.
    I've been following your blog, but I've yet to comment on anything! /hits self. I must! Your art is beautiful and whimsical <3
    Thank you again!

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  5. I just love your outfits! I want to get a crocheted vest like the one you are wearing. I'm toying with the idea of making one myself but I am so impatient with crocheting! That Russian doll shop is beautiful too! I adore matryoshka dolls. And what a great story about that diary!

    I've been thinking of you and everyone in New Zealand. It's so sad that the whole city has been so devastated. It seems like a bad year for natural disasters down this end of the world (and everywhere, really).

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  6. When I heard about this earthquake I was so startled if you live in this city >.< Thankfully you're okay.

    What a beatiful place Auckland is!
    It's a pity that pics from library are so small :(

    So cute illustration of you, aha :)

    And I'm surprised at the Russian shop :) I'm from Russia :)

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  8. Hello! :) I'm glad you found my blog too! franche lippee's prints are released in different colors and seasonal versions, but they release the same colors and versions just to tweak one little thing a month later it seems. I guess the seasonal thing makes sense, but their fabrics are usually quite light as it is and it's a bit silly to release the same print over and over. For example, after I posted my entry on repetitive prints they released another shirt of that cat! They are forgiven because I think I need it! My poor wallet :3

    My savior for shopping on Y!J is using http://www.sharpservice.jp/. I swear you will not find a better service. They only charges 5% and are super speedy at replying :)

    I love your photos! Especially your Auckland outfit.

    -Janelle

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  9. Your posts are always so nice! : )

    Ooh it seems to be that you really had wonderful time in Auckland! All the places you visited look like interesting and adorable, aaa I want to see them too haha. :' ) Especially that mall filled with asian stores sounds interesting to me (there is nothing like that here in Finland and never will be haha...) and would love to be able to buy some japanese cosmetics from a place like that. *o* (I have been thinking about ordering at least a couple of dollcandy blushes since they they are cuuute but yeaaah I`d love to have pretty much all their cosmetic stuff and I wonder if they cost much less in "real" stores than online, dunno... : o).

    And loving those miniatures, aaa so cute! Maybe I`ll have to get a dollhouse one day and decorate it with all kind of nice tiny tiny stuff hehe! :>

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  10. i kind of obsessed with russian dolls pattern <3

    ps: always when i send a comment here, blogspot do something wrong and the comment doesn't go aaaargh blogspot hates me ;.;

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  11. you always look so dashing in straw hats! makes your blogname so fitting. (because you also kind of remind me of a cat! haha)

    sorry to hear about the tragedy :( but keep blogging! i always look forward to your posts

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  12. @Lyndall; If you do plan on making one- please, please, please post pictures! I love seeing people's crafts <3 The matryoshka shop is so much sparklier and pretty in real life!
    Thank you so much <3 I know that our thoughts were definitely with Australia during the floods. It's beautiful to see the support our countries give to each other

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  13. @Natalie; I live in a town where not much happens haha. Thank you for thinking of New Zealand and me! ●´ω`●<3<3
    I am hoping to go to Auckland again soon and take better pictures ノД`
    Matryoshka are a very popular souvenir in Russia aren't they? ℇ:

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  14. @Janelle; Thank you for all the information on Franche Lippee! It's really cool to meet someone who's 'in the know' about a brand haha.
    Thanks for the shopping service link too! There are so many amazing things on Y!J aren't there? ≧o≦ I don't think anyone could keep their wallet safe on that website...

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  15. @Noora; Thank you so much for your long and lovely comment! <3
    I was kind of surprised the first time I found the stores too! Ever since then, I have to visit them every time I go to Auckland haha.
    The blushes were 45 dollars (about 27 euro). I don't know if they should be that price though... °Д° I agree with you though- the dollcandy cosmetics are so cute and have such great colours!
    You should! It is a fun craft ^▽^

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  16. @MARINE; They are adorable aren't they? <3
    O: I'll see if there's anything I can do to fix it! Thank you for telling me!

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  17. @rikit; Haha! I love hats so this is good! (Although in my head I always read my url as 'cats in stra whats') :s
    Thank you <3 Here's hoping that Christchurch will make a good recovery

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  18. Well, in my city nothing usually happens :) It's quite a young and quickly developing city, it's so modern...Oh, I don't like those dull similar buildings with huge glass windows... Fortunately we have some small green parks and many grass-plats with flowers. And there are many beautiful places in the countryside.

    They're are so popular, aha :) Especially in Japan I think. I don't know why ^^ And Cheburashka :) But as for Soviet animation heroes there are so many cute and strange ones, haha :) I love them!
    As for me most of all I love Vologda lace, Orenburg shawls and Khokhloma pattern.
    And books from Soviet period - their covering, illustrations. And translators were great in my humble opinion.

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