Adventures in Dog Sitting

The days have slowly been getting darker earlier and the mornings are getting chillier, but I'm having a blast over here. Over the past week I have been dog sitting for a co-worker while she has been out with her husband on vacation. My dog died a little over a year ago, so it has been nice to spend time with a dog again. Especially a girl dog, because while I loved my dog, he was such a doggy dog dog instead of a little princess.

There are so many little things that you do while dog sitting that you don't notice at first. I have never really been a morning person, so imagine my surprise when I realized that I had been getting up early to go for walks. And not short little walks either, but a good medium length walk around their huge backyard and up and down the street. Not only were we getting up early, but I was enjoying it and I am starting to feel groggy when I let myself go back to sleep for "just thirty more minutes" on the days where I get to get up later. Oh my, I might be turning into a morning person over here.

Of course, there are also the little quirks that each dog has that are adorable. Daphne the Dog (aka the little princess) loves getting her belly rubbed and snuggling when it is time to go to bed. It is quite comforting at night when it starts getting a little chilly. I am also convinced that she thinks she is part cat. She is allowed to lounge on the furniture, but I have never seen a dog lay on the back of a couch like a cat would.

Since it is just the two of us during the day, there has been plenty of time to do what needs to get done and I still have plenty of time to play with my leftover yarn stash. Which means lots of hexipuffs until I get home to the rest of my yarn stash.

I have only managed to use up one ball of leftover yarn so far and that was one of my leftover balls of Knit Picks Felici in Spring Mix. I used the last bit of the dark green to embroider a little heart on one of the hexipuffs. I made it off center and I think it looks adorable! The puffs are not quite perfect yet, but they are almost there. I think I need to add one extra plain row and then they will be perfectly even on both sides.

The Lolita Lifestyle

There are people out there who say that the Lolita Fashion is just a fashion choice and doesn't dictate the rest of their lives. Then there are the people out there that say that because they wear Lolita, they choose to live in a more elegant way. Then there are people like me who live a lifestyle that fits in perfectly with Lolita, but they found the fashion last.

Any way you put it, the Lolita Fashion is going to have some "lifestylers" out there. These are the people who want to live like what they perceive to be the perfect Lolita Lifestyle. For many people, as soon as you say the words "Lolita Lifestyle", the first thing that pops into their head is Momoko from Kamikaze Girls.

Momoko is (at her core) a spoiled brat who lives in the most elegant way possible. She doesn't like sports because it isn't dainty enough. She prefers to embroider, look at pictures of flowers, eat only sweet things, listen to classical music, and basically live a life of elegance and luxury as best as she can. Don't get me wrong, I love Momoko and Kamikaze Girls is one of my favorite movies out there, but I don't think it portrays a good version of the Lolita Lifestyle that everybody thinks of.


A lifestyle is more than a style of dress or what music you prefer listening to. A lifestyle is made up of your hobbies, habits, general aesthetic and (for some people) your job. I'm not saying that you should go out and try to find a job that fits in with you love of the Lolita fashion. But if you want to make your love of Lolita fashion part of your lifestyle, then you should do it.

 A lifestyle makes up who you are and you shouldn't be chained in by what you think that other people think you should do just because you are a Lifestyle Lolita. As Momoko would say, "if it makes you happy, do it!"

Almost all of my hobbies fall into the category of the Lifestyle Lolita, so I am going to do a series of posts about Lolita friendly hobbies if you are interested in picking a couple up. There are tons of activities out there that could be considered proper for the sometimes cute, sometimes sassy, sometimes elegant lifestyle of a Lolita, so I am just going to write about the hobbies that I have a personal experience in. Keep your eye out for them and I hope that you will enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

Lolitas in the Closet

There were debates floating around on EGL about if you have to be actively wearing lolita fashion to be considered a Lolita (with a capitol "L") at all. There is one side that decided that you did have to be wearing the fashion to be a part of the lifestyle. There is another side that thought that you don't have to be wearing the fashion actively, but you have to be working your way up to wearing the fashion to be considered a Lolita.

I have considered myself part of the lolita lifestyle for a year now and I don't wear the fashion yet. Part of it is because I don't have the spare money to buy anything new right now. Part of it is that I just didn't have the right amount of confidence to wear it earlier because I discovered it when I was still in college and my confidence in my body image was still developing.

If you take a look at my other activities and my other interests, it wouldn't be a big surprise that I am into this fashion. I enjoy knitting, spinning, tatting, embroidery, sewing, quilting, crocheting, tea, reading, classical music, cats, and many more that makes up the span of the "lolita lifestyle". But if you take a look at what I wear and the make up of my living space, you wouldn't have any idea that I was into cute and frilly at all.

I think that if you are in the lolita closet, then you should come out for yourself. Just recently I picked up an old copy of the Gothic & Lolita Bible and showed it to my mother. She thought it was funny that I was drawn to such a girly fashion, but was glad that I was getting in touch with my feminine side at last. I needed to share this with my mom to consider myself "out of the wardrobe" so to speak, but others may not need to take a direct approach. If anything, start to match your decor to what you are interested in. Or maybe make yourself a giant head eating bow.

For all of you lolitas still hiding in the closet, please come out and accept that there is nothing weird about liking this fashion. Be proud of you interests. You will feel a lot better once you do.