Angelic Pretty Paris 2nd anniversary Tea Party

Hi! I hope everyone is enjoying summer!
We are in July, so you guessed what it means: it's time for the annual Angelic Pretty tea party in Paris!!! I am always happy to attend, but I don't exactly know why, I was especially excited this year. It is funny, because I thought it would be less and less spectacular with the years, but nope! Every year the staff is working hard to blow our minds and amaze us with gorgeous venues!

It was my 9th Angelic Pretty tea party and my second one at the famous Ritz hotel! Can you believe that? I feel a bit old... I think next year, I'll have to attend in a wheelchair with lots of wrinkles and white hair! Hahaha

I had a bit of trouble to organize everything this year. First, most of my colleagues decided to take vacations at the same time without consulting me first (I am the one doing the schedule) and I was left with nobody to work on the first weeks of July. Yay. So no day off for me. I had to go to Paris on Saturday afternoon after work and come back right away on Sunday to be back at work on Monday morning. That was SO stressfull... but WORST: the SNCF (the national French train company) decided it was a brilliant idea to extand their strike to the 7th and 8th of July! What a great idea, because that meant I had no train to go to Paris anymore... After some anxious tears, a stop at the counter to change my train ticket and some negocitations with a coworker to take some of my hours, I finally was in the train for Paris! YES!

In the end, the strike brought me some good as I had to take an earlier train and arrived sooner in Paris, which meant I had time to have a lovely dinner with dear Rosalynn and her sweet mom! We went to Aki Boulangerie where I ate a delicious katsu curry and a straberry shortcake! Yum! After that, we had a bubble tea (of course). It was a simple, but nice evening! It helped me relieve the stress from the days before! Rosalynn even gifted me a super cute Swimmer (rip ;__;) comb! It was the most perfect way to spend that Saturday evening!

So happy I could spend some extra time with Rosalynn!

Soooooo, on Sunday morning I woke up very (too) earlier at 6:00. I just couldn't sleep anymore... I had a small breakfast, talked a bit with Rosalynn who also has trouble sleeping late and tried to go back to sleep to not look like a zombie for the party.

It was then time to get ready! I left the hotel all dressed up around 11:15 and went on my way to Place Vendôme where I had to meet with Rosalynn. She arrived just past noon and we took some pictures together outside before heading to the Ritz!

This is my favourite picture of us ♥

I actually love how our pictures turned out! I always like how she takes pictures of me, she is the best event buddy I can hope for! Things are easy between us, she knows what to do for me and I know what to do for her! 
But let's talk a bit more about our outfits! Rosalynn went for a very elegant coordination with her beautiful Cameo Window JSK in wine. I am so used to see her in pastel colours, but she definitely looks amazing in darker colours too! She was a real princess! 

Pretty Rosalynn in her very elegant outfit ♥

I went for a very simple and cute maid outfit myself, with my beloved French Café JSK. Many attendees wanted to make outfits matching the name of the tea party "Le banquet des anges", so I felt a bit out of place! Haha! (no, actually, I really enjoyed wearing this outfit!)

♥ Angelic Pretty French Café ♥ 

Barrette: Angelic Pretty 
Daisies: Claire's 
Cutsew: Angelic Pretty

JSK: Angelic Pretty 
Apron: Bought on Etsy and customized with an AP ribbon
Socks: Angelic Pretty
Shoes: Bodyline
Wristcuffs: Angelic Pretty
Bracelet: Angelic Pretty & Claire's
Rings: Claire's & Zygomatics

I soon started to spot more and more Lolitas around Place Vendôme, so we decided to head to the hotel! Many girls were already waiting outside. We were still a bit early, but we entered the Ritz anyway so I could leave my suitcase to the wardrobe. The staff was really nice and curious and I chatted a bit with them! An employee then told us to go to the salon, where we could wait for the party to start.

The Ritz isn't *that* impressive from the outside, but let's peak inside...

I am dying! So luxurious!!!

That was a bit awkward as only Rosalynn and I were given these directions and we ended up all by ourselves waiting near the salon. We then were asked to go back to the entrance, before being told to go back to the salon again... That was sketchy! Haha!
Eventually, all the guests started to arrive and we weren't by ourselves anymore. The party was late and we waited quite a lot of time before being able to enter the actual room. It wasn't a problem for me though, as I enjoyed talking to friends, taking pictures and all.

After a while, we were finally invited to enter the main room! Rosalynn and I went ahead and I was officially the first one to enter, oh yeah! This is when I was blown away by the room! It was so amazing! I am always really grateful to Angelic Pretty staff to invite us in such gorgeous places, because let's face it: I would never ever go there by myself! Thanks to all their hard work, I can feel like a true princess for a day! ♥

Pink gifts bags were waiting for us on the chairs! We have been spoiled: there was a badge, a tote bag, a cute British Crown plate and a RinRin Doll postcard inside! I especially like the plate, as I love British Crown print... even if, honestly, I will never use it! Haha

People were slowly coming in and we had a lot of free time before the party actually officially started! I went around to take pictures of friends and talk with them. We were then asked to go back to our seats, were welcomed by Angelic Pretty Paris manager and told about the program: there would be a fashion show, a special cake made by the Ritz chef, a raffle and the election of the Best Dressers!

I don't remember now if we had the cake before or after the fashion show (my memory is so bad, dear... another fact that shows I'm an old grandma! Hahahaha), but let me tell you that cake was amazing! Raspberries & cream = it was delicious!

I don't have any pictures as they were not allowed, but let's talk a bit about the fashion show. First, we had Risa Nakamura and RinRin Doll modelling, which was nice (I was especially super happy to see RinRin again, because she is a total sweetheart)! About the upcoming series: nothing really caught my eyes, but OMG the last two dresses modelled by Risa and RinRin were totally CRAZY!!! They weren't the usual Lolita dresses: they were princess dresses! They were floor lentgh, with lots of sparkles, lace and bows and were totally over-the-top!!! I think everybody gasped in amazement when they appeared! That was really something! I can't wait for the official pictures!

After the fashion show, we had quite a lot of free time again! I appreciated it, as last years that was really what was missing the most. I had plenty of time to say hello to friends, to take pictures and to eat! Only down side: Maki and Asüka weren't around at all... I wish we could have seen them a bit more!
I was glad to see my friend Lea, who also came all the way from Switzerland! Our outfits were perfectly matching and we didn't even talk about it before! That was a nice coincidence! Her outfit was inspired by 1920s fashion and was super gorgeous!

The tea party was actually way longer than what was planned! It was supposed to end around 15:45 but at that time, we still haven't had the raffle or the Best Dresser prizes! I was of course delighted to have more time, but I also started to get a bit worried about my train!
Fortunately, the raffle started soon after. There were many many many prizes, but I didn't win anything. Rosalynn, who is always super lucky, got a lovely cutsew though! I was so happy for her! Lea also got one, lucky girls! As a consolation prize, we got a cute pink tote bag with a ribbon and poodle print on it!

So many lucky winners!

This is where I started to get quite anxious about my train as it was almost 16:30 and my train was just after 18:00. Lea already had to leave in the middle of the raffle for the same reason, but I would have been so disappointed if I had to leave early!
The Best Dressers still had to be announced and we also still had to take a group picture!
There were 2 prizes for the 2nd place best coordinations! Beautiful Noke, from Finland, won a prize with a super lovely ice cream outfit! I think her idea was quite clever as she chose a very wintery print but managed to make a super summery outfit with it by turning it into an ice cream princess outfit! She made some amazing props herself too! The other 2nd place prize went to a cute Chinese (I think?) Lolita who was wearing Astro Regimen. I didn't really understand what she said about her outfit, but I think she at least said she chose this dress because she loved that shade of blue!

2nd place best dressers!

The first place for the Best Dresser went to a gorgeous girl with a pink and soft Cupid coordination. She made lots of accessories and props herself too, including her wings I think. You could tell she put lots of effort in her outfit, so it was well deserved! She was very moved!

Too much emotion!

I think everyone deserved the best dresser prize, because you can really tell all the guests made their best to wear their most beautiful or favourite outfit! I am always so happy to see everyone's different styles, it is so inspiring! But I actually felt a bit lazy as I didn't craft anything myself and went for something comfortable! Maybe next year I'll try to be a bit more creative!
Here, I just want to give some extra credits to my friend Roxane's outfit. It is quite rare I fall so much in love with a coordination, but hers was truely amazing! She was the real angel of the day ♥

The infamous time to take the group picture arrived. You know, that lovely time where you have to stand squatting during very long minutes while the photographer tries to fit everyone in the frame.... well, that time Rosalynn and I were smart and went to sit on the stage. But I send all my best wishes to the girls standing behind us who probably ruined their knees. Haha! RinRin and Risa joined us for the picture and I went all emotional when RinRin hugged me after recognizing me ;____; I just love her so much!

It was now time to leave... I wish I had more time to properly say goodbye to all my friends, but I was quite in a hurry! Rosalynn still wanted to give her gifts to Maki and Asüka and bravely went knocking on the backstage room's door. Maki and Asüka came outside and were kind enough to take a picture with us! So happy!!! An Angelic Pretty tea party isn't a real Angelic Pretty tea party without a picture with them!

Kudos to Rosalynn for making a perfect heart! Haha

After that I had to quickly go back to the entrance to grab my suitcase at the wardrobe, then come back to the tea party room to find the toilets and get changed into casual clothes (I didn't want to made a +3h30 train ride in full Lolita). I changed and packed all my stuff in less than 5 minutes. Go me! When we came back to the entrance we spotted RinRin again... oh I wish I've had time to take a picture with her, but I was running late. She hugged me again though, so that's OK ♥ Two hugs from RinRin are worth any picture! I hope I will be able to see her again in the future!

Outside, we met with Rosalynn's mom and after some more hugs and goodbyes I went on my way to the train station.

Thank you so much to all the Angelic Pretty Paris and Japan's staff for all their hard work to make this tea party real! I had a blast! It was amazing! Thank you to my friends and especially Rosalynn for making this moment even more magical and thanks to you for reading ♥

Highlights of 2017!

Hello! 2017 is slowly coming to an end and I have been reflecting on the year already. Let me tell you what I was thinking: 2017 was a shitty year for me, like really. I felt sick most of the time, which was scary and tiring. I spent a loooooot of time seing doctors, made lots of tests and in the end... nothing! We still don't know what's wrong with me. Fortunately I feel better recently, the worst months (the period between march and june was especially awful) are behind me!

Anyway, so as I said I have been reflecting on the year and I told myself that of course there was some really bad stuff going on but also really happy things! And I wanted to write an entry about the happy ones then!

Let's have a 'happy me' picture from last summer first!

 
- I travelled the world again and went to many events!
I was lucky enough to be able to travel a lot in 2017 again! I even started the year by visiting Vienna with my mother, which is one of my absolute favourite cities! I swear if my German wasn't that bad I would totally move there!

In march, I also went back to Japan and I managed to enjoy it even if this is exactly when I started to feel sick. I wasn't able to eat for days, but I love Japan so much and was so happy to be able to spend time with friends and with my brother's family-in-law that it was all worth it! I visited Tokyo again of course, but also went to Osaka for the first time which I really loved! I definitely want to go back to explore Osaka more as I only had a short weekend there.

I was so lucky to meet my dear friend Marie in Tokyo again!

Visiting the Angelic Pretty shop in Osaka was a dream come true!
Read about it here!

I also travelled to Paris for the Angelic Pretty Tea Party and visited Disneyland with my dear friend Marie-Lou for the first time of my life! Hope we can do that again in 2018 because it was the best trip ever!I love how easy things are with Marie-Lou! She is such an easy-going and caring girl! I enjoyed every moment we had together in Paris, even the ones when we were just litterally lying in bed watching stupid videos on Youtube!

Read about our adventures in Disneyland here!

At the Angelic Pretty Tea Party ♥

And in August I went to London all by myself to attend Dream Masquerade Carnival event. I was at first a bit disappointed to go alone, but it made me realize that I actually love to travel alone! I could meet with lots of old and new friends which definitely added magic to the trip!
I was also especially happy to spend this two-days event with Rosalynn! It reminded me of 2013 when we went to so many events together. I have so many happy memories with her! I was a bit afraid to not be able to as close to her as I used to be, but she is the kindest person on earth and she helped me have a really great time (and I hope I did too for her in some ways!)

Dear Rosalynn, Nicole and I ♥

Rosalynn and I at DMC Tea Party

-  I finally met Kira Imai, one of my favourite illustrators!
I can now happily say that I met with all my favourite artists (John Howe, Alan Lee, Range Murata and Kira Imai then). And Kira Imai is such a sweetheart that I will dearly keep the moment I met her in my heart! I also proudly to give her one of my original paintings too and she seemed genuinely happy about it! She even posted it on one of her Instagram stories!

I will cherish this pic for the rest of my life ♥

Illustration I gave to Kira Imai as a gift!

- I lost a lot of weight!
This one is a bit tough. I feel better in my body now that I can say I lost more than 17kg, but knowing that I lost so much weight because I was feeling sick and wasn't able to eat anymore is a bit conflicting. I have a BMI of 22.1 now which is healthy and perfectly normal, but I didn't ask for it and I really felt like I was going to die so I wouldn't want to go through all of that again. Though, I am more confident now and I can wear Lolita clothes that I couldn't before (Yay for non-shirred OP and skirts! And for Emily Temple Cute dresses!) That's definitely a highlight and I wouldn't want to go back to my old weight again (and don't worry, I eat normally again and I'm closely looked after by doctors).
Only downside: I had to buy new clothes as they were all 2 sizes too big now! Haha. But I love shopping, so.... xD

October 2016 me VS november 2017 me.

When I see all the pictures where I am smiling with friends, it really makes me think that 2017 wasn't such a bad year in the end, uh? I am blessed to have precious friends who always manage to cheer me up! I am also lucky enough to be able to travel, enjoy my hobbies and passions, have a loving family and a job that I like!

Now I wonder what 2018 will bring me?

What about you? How was 2017 for you?

Paris 2017 Day 3 : Angelic Pretty Tea Party

Last full day in Paris, and an important one! The day of the Angelic Pretty tea party! This year, it was held at Le Meurice, a very fancy palace hotel. Actually, 4 years ago in 2013 it was already organized there so I was a bit less amazed by the place! (Talk about being blase...hahahaha)

After our full day in Disneyland, Marie-Lou and I were quite tired so we slept late. Marie-Lou was brave enough to go out and buy croissants for us so we could have a decent breakfast. We watched some TV too, while slowly starting to get dressed for the party! I had planned an outfit with my beloved Angelic Pretty Dreamy Jewel JSK that I bought during my last trip to Japan. I made accessories with gemstones to matche the print and had my outfit slightly inspired by 1920 fashion. I was lucky enough to find the matching tights on Lacemarket a few weeks before the event so I had the perfect final touch for my outfit! I was really happy with how it turned out! ♥ Here are some pictures of my outfit when I tried it on at home:

♥ Angelic Pretty Dreamy Jewel  ♥ 

Gemstones headband: handmade

Barrette with feathers: Merveilles
Blouse: Axes Femme
JSK: Angelic Pretty
Gemstone Brooch: handmade
Tights: Angelic Pretty
Shoes: Axes Femme
Bag: Angelic Pretty Bracelets: Claire's
Gemstones ribbon bracelet: handmade
Rings: Chocomint & handmade

Did you spot I braided ribbons in my hair?

I was a bit upset while dressing up because I realized I forgot my pearls bracelets at home and also some pearls sewn on the sleeves of my blouse fell down... This wasn't really noticeable with in the end my wrists looked a bit empty...

Marie-Lou also had planned an amazing retro outfit with her white Drained Cherry JSK. I loved it too, it was totally HER style and suited her so well! We decided to go the jardin des tuileries earlier to have a small photoshoot of our outfits before the party. Weather wasn't so hot fortunately and a bit cloudly so we were not melting in our outfits!

Marie-Lou in her amazing retro outfit!

Her pink hair was also so perfect with this outfit!

We can do it!

My favourite picture of this photoshoot!

We still had plenty of time before the start of the tea party so I invited Marie-Lou to have an ice cream at Häagen-Dazs as we were quite hot after posing outside for a while. I chose a delicious brownie special cup that was delicious! 

There were still 30 minutes left before the start of the tea party, but we decided to head for the hotel already anyway. Angelic Pretty staff really asked for attendees to not come too early to the hotel, so we won't bother other clients. Marie-Lou and I arrived 15 minutes early, and some friends were already there waiting in the lobby. I immediately saw the hotel staff was a bit annoyed and asked us to follow them to a small salon to wait, where other people couldn't see us. The staff was always polite with us though, so well OK...
Actually it was better for us to wait in that salon so we could start chatting and take pictures!

This salon had a nice light to take pictures! I love this one!

With friends, Tro-Tro and Marie ♥

Many more Lolitas were arriving and after a while we were invited to form a queue to enter the actual Salon Pompadour for the tea party to start. Our names and invitations were checked and we then received a number. Mine was n°16!

Lovely Mila and a cute Japanese staff, working hard!

I quickly entered the room and joined my friend's Marie table. I was sitting just next to the tables where the raffles prizes were displayed, so I quickly went to take some pictures! I always love to see what's to win, it's so exciting! I immediately noticed the clearfiles and thought I would love to win them, but they were actually the consolation prizes for people who didn't win anything so I got them without even winning anything! Yay! Haha!

 Marie-Lou won a beautiful set with a necklace and matching bracelet! Lucky her! And as she doesn't like wearing bracelets she was the kindest and gave it to me!!! How sweet is that??! Thank you so much, Marie-Lou!

Marie-Lou and the other lucky winners!

Anyway, the tea party started with the fashion show, but we weren't allowed to take pictures so I don't have much to say about it... Nothing really caught my eyes, but I was happy to see some friends modeling :) and also the special guest, Tina Tamashiro!

After that, they announced the cake! A special cake, especially made by the pastry chef of the Meurice hotel! It was quite a beautiful cake... but I actually think they don't really get what exactly was Lolita fashion as the dress they put at the top of the cake was everything but Lolita! Hahaha!
Asüka first posed with the cake (that'sthe only picture of her I could take during the whole party...) and then we could do it ourselves too so of course I wanted a picture with it as I actually was matching it quite well!

The glorious cake!

 

Everyone gathered to take a picture of the cake!

Asüka presenting the cake. I'm sad it's the only pic I have of her...

We had some free time. Food and drinks were served and we could chat a bit. Marie-Lou quickly spotted Maki in a corner taking pictures with guests and she told me: "Emilie, we have to go to her now otherwise we won't see her again." Oh dear Marie-Lou, how smart and wise you are, because she was so right! So we ran to Maki and asked her for pictures. Well, you have to know that I LOVE MAKI. YES, I REALLY LOVE HER. Since my very first tea party 7 years ago, Maki is my Lolita idol. She is so pretty and kind! I was so happy to pose with her and she also asked for a picture of my outfit, which was quite flattering! I hope she liked it :) She also really loved Marie-Lou retro outfit, so maybe we'll see more retro inspired series in the future? ;)

Maki is an angel ♥

I was so happy she wanted to take a picture of me!

Marie-Lou was really on alert as she then spotted Mrs.Honda, Angelic Pretty's owner or "Madame Pretty" as we call her in the French community. We went to her and asked for a picture too. She was fully dressed up and very beautiful! She is also so funny, doesn't understand a word of English and then conversations with her are always amazing! Hahaha!

Madame Pretty & I. We were matching!

I also had a pic with the lovely Japanese staff girl!

We didn't have lots of free time and we were quickly asked to go back to our seats for Q&A with Tina Tamashiro. Again, no picture allowed and we couldn't ask questions either. The manager of the French shop were asking prepared questions and translating. It was great, but I honestly wish we culd have talked ourselves with Tina Tamashiro and have a picture with her at least... I like having guests, but if you can't interact with them at all, it's not so fun in the end... I used that time listening to eat scones and have some tea. We also had... interesting... pastries. The peach ones were quite original, as they was some basil inside I think?

Those scones were absolutely delicious with cream! Yum!

Then it was time for the raffle.As I already said, I didn't win anything but were more than happy with my clearfiles! The prizes were all amazing though, we are always spoiled I think! At the end of the raffle, they served us the cake which was DELICIOUS! Really, but I didn't have much time to eat it as they were already announcing the best dressed winners and then asked us to leave.

I wish I had more time to enjoy this cake. I had to eat it in like 3 sec...

That was it, the party was over. They asked us to leave like, immediately! Haha. I rushed to finish my cake and take my stuff and we were out. We stayed outside of the hotel for quite a while though, to chat and take pictures together as honestly we didn't have much time to do it during the party. It annoyed the hotel staff I think, but hey, we are on public space we can do whatever we want. Blah!!!

Picture with dear Ada, that I'm so happy to meet every year since 2010!

Cheesy picture with Marie-Lou ♥ She really is one of my best friends!

With my lovely Rosalynn, totally rocking Promenade de Paris!

Hearts with Marina and Rosalynn ♥♥♥

After a while, we decided to go back to the shop to see if we could meet Maki and Asüka there. And they were really there, inside the shop.

 We saw them taking pictures together and then disappeared... so well, that was it, no more Maki and Asüka *disappointment*
It was starting to rain quite heavily and my feet were hurting (I am not used to wear heels...) so Marie-Lou and I decided to go back to our hotel. As that was a good idea as a terrible thunder storm started as soon as we stepped in our room! It was crazy!!! Rain, hail, thunder, wind, wow!

And this is how our trip to Paris ended. We took off our outfits, took a shower, packed our stuff and went to bed completely exhausted. We had to wake up very early the next morning to catch our train back to Geneva and in the afternoon I was already back to work...

All in all, this weekend in Paris was AMAZING! I spent wonderful moments with Marie-Lou, was so happy to meet old and new friends and to take part again to an Angelic Pretty tea party (even if I have to say I miss the old parties from 2010-2011...)

Next event for me will be Dream Masquerade Carnival in London! I want to know who's going? If you are, I'll be very happy to meet you so don't be shy and come to say hi!

And let's end this entry with a picture of Maki of course, because I am sure you like her at least as much as I do! ♥ ;) Thanks for reading!
Oh and my friend Coffee Princess made this amazing video of the party, featuring me goofing around and showing my outfit, so go and watch it!!!