Flying Skirts!

Image from FlyingSkirts

My new skirt came. Woo hoo. It's soooooo wonderful. The fabric is nice and sturdy but lightweight enough for good spinning. The one I have has a purple satin trim instead of olive, and though it may not be visible in the photo to all, there is a nice floral embroidery at the trim. I love it!

My troupe is doing our first group performance at a hafla in October. I have been belly dancing for a while but never for performance. I just like to dance. Angel is newer and hasn't performed either. Ariel has been dancing and performing for 5 years. Our routine is pretty good and set to "Beauty Beats" by Beats Antique. If I had the time to make a new choreography, I would also dance (solo) to "Caterpillar" since I love that song somethin fierce.

Anyway, just I love my belly dancing skirts because they also work for the ethnic/boho looks. I think it's pretty clear that I love mode and ethnic trends the most. The next in line is military. I am very much looking forward to the Fall. Yay yay yay.

On Blogging

Blogging has been a serious part of my life since I was in my first apartment in 2001. It was a chaotic lively time in my life and needed an outlet. I kept physical journals all throughout my youth, but I found out a bunch of my friends were on LiveJournal so I wanted one. Now back then you had to be invited. I had to find a friend who had invite codes left so until I got one from Eric (whom I haven't seen or spoken to almost a decade) I was using DeadJournal. Eventually, I was able to import all my old entries to LJ.

I stayed with LJ for ages. I've had multiple journals, but the one I currently use (ocasionally) is under the username AvyTech. That one is the less drama/sex/alcohol/party-laden journal. It's far more PG-13 than its predecessor, AvyGrrl. The new journal was my phoenix rising type of thing. Life was sooooooo bleak at the end of AvyGrrl. So much so that I needed to just leave it alone. I still haven't deleted it because I need to look back and have a good solid cry. It keeps me focused on reality. Don't get me wrong, life is great now. Unfortunately just because things seem dandy doesn't mean they are.

There were problems with me and people I love and I was so busy having fun that I didn't really accept the problems that were staring me in the face. AvyGrrl was a chronicle of lies and death. Some of that traveled to AvyTech, but the amount is minuscule in comparison.

This blog has none of that. I try to steer clear of expressing serious emotions in this blog. I try to keep it superficial, light, and fun. I do try to be informative and I try to include my point of view on gyaru style as not just a Westerner, but as a wife, mother, and potential domestic goddess. I will even be posting soon about how belly dancing and other parts of me influence my fashion choices. I want to be able to look back at any post and never feel a bit of sadness or anger. This blog is for for nothing but care-free gyaru goodness.

Giveaway at the Doll

It's a good thing Robin posted about this. I forgot to do it  when I entered last week. I'm sloooooow sometimes.
Clicky clicky the piccy. That doesn't even look right. Oh well. Click the image or the link below to get to the giveaway.

Click here to enter Miss Mitsu's giveaway at Universal-Doll!

Picture from Universal-Doll.com

LOTD post

Sure this is from a couple of days ago. Oh well. Looky looky. I was going to wear a black top, but I felt a pop color was needed. I almost wore red since that's like B&W pop color #1, but went with pink instead. I don't have any red tank tops or camis! I like the end result.
Cardigan - by Torrid
Top - from Dots but I forget the brand
Skirt - by TrippNYC
Shoes - by American Eagle (black wedges)
also: silver Pandora charm bracelet, rose quartz and silver necklace and I forget which earrings I wore. Probably black ones.

My make-up was my simple MAC standard: Viva Glam V lipglass with Woodwinked and Show-stopper on my eyes.
My hair is in a side bun with my favorite black & pseudo-quartz head band.

How I Get Down

So my husband's band is playin in Delaware tonight and Xavier is at my mama's to spend the night, so I decided to stay home and read/write/game/clean/sew in peace. So far I've only done a few of those things. I was gonna go downtown for a bit but that seems like it ain't gonna happen. That's just as well because my side-back area still kinda hurts. 

Luckily I made time to do some make up! I did a purple smokey eye. I guess you could call it that. I used the Buxom Stay There eyeshadows I bought from Sephora. I got Schnauzer (purple) last week and didn't think it held up to the "Stay There" name at first. Yay for being wrong. It was my fault for improper application. I just did it like a newb. I apologize, Buxom. 

I picked up Golden Retriever and Black Lab yesterday. The colors are obvious, but I would like to note that Black Lab has tons of teeny tiny rainbow glitter dots. Golden Retriever reminds me of Urban Decay's Corrupt-- only with a little more orange to it. It's like a gold foil. Going beyond color, these eyeshadows feel great to put on. I didn't have to bother with a primer either. Also, if I were to just use my finger, the color would go on bold with little to no effort. The only annoyance is that the glitter spreads a little  if you touch your face a lot like I do. The color truly lasts and it's never creased for me. I've been wearing the Schnauzer way too much and have had no creasies. 

For the look pictured, I used the Schnauzer and Black Lab. I used my Shany large eyeshadow brush and the Sephora large eyeshadow (#25 & rounded crease (#13) brushes. Buxom has a brush specifically for these eyeshadows but I seriously don't need any more effing brushes.  My Shany & Sephora brand brushes worked just fine. I have also used just my finger with these shadows and been very pleased. As a side note, the Sephora 13 is great. I used to use my Nyx contouring dome brush with no major complaints, but the Sephora brush is clearly the winner of any debate. The price wasn't even horrible. Maybe someday I'll pick up a MAC blending brush. I like both the 217 and 222. The Sephora 13 brush I have is similar to the MAC 222 so I don't intend to get the latter any time soon. I said I don't need any brushes-- I never said anything about wanting them. ^_^

For fun, I thickly lined my eyes (top and bottom) with the Blackened Teal end of my Milani Black Magic Liner & Eye Glimmer. The eye glimmer (in this case: Teal Magic) sucks donkey bollix. Seriously. It's a mess of crumbly crap. 

To complete the look, I used MAC fluidline in Blacktrack on my top lashline, the waterproof pencil in Engraved on my waterline, and the MAC Zoom Lash in ZoomBlack on my lashes. I then used my MAC Studio Fix pressed powder (NW-45), MAC blush in Raisin, and Nyx lip lacquer pot in Caramel Fudge. I used a cheapo N.Y.C. lip liner pencil in a very warm brown shade of 952A. It's better suited for eyebrows than lips because it's too dry. It just doesn't feel good to put on the lips. Either way, I had to do something for those furry brows. They'll be waxed tomorrow!

So I hope this post makes up for my absence. I'll be back tomorrow with an outfit post.  XOX

Lovely Blog-Sa 3rd ed.

This post goes out to the ladies of the Lovely Blog-Sa.  I fear I've been all sorts of off the internet this week. I'm sure next week will be full of erratic posting. I just have to get through this week. Sorry I can't give you all the proper individual shout outs you deserve. Some have gotten comments from me at least. But without further ado, looky looky looky at the many blogs listed below. You're sure to find something awesome!

Chaudie | Jen | Len | Lu | Tini | Sharona | Shahana |

 Fuyume | Alicia | Suzanne |Ayame | Elena | Tilde 

I'm Still Alive

Hey guys and gals. Sorry for the absentee bloggerism. This weekend was a bit of a getaway for my little family in celebration of my anniversary. My husband and I have been married for 2 years now (but together for nearly 8). It was a nice weekend at his parents' beach house despite the random sprinklings of rain followed by intense heat. I stayed off the beach and enjoyed the house. Xavier made Erik chase him to the dunes while i mailed a letter, but that was iy for brach activity. （＾＿＾）☆

I am going to get to your blogs tonight and make a post of my own as well. I just wanted to say "hello, world."

Hello, world!

Decoden Newb

So I'm a total newb to deco. I'm sure I can do it. I just fear I'll spill an entire container of stones, get pissed off and go for a bottle of Jack and watch TV. I bought a new case for my iPhone to use as my first base. It is simple: hot pink and black zebra print with a hole for the Apple logo to show. When I work on it, I want to leave some of the zebra visible.  I think I will use pink stones over the pink parts to give it texture and maybe place a black and white stone skull in the middle with a bow.

That project aside, I know for certain that I will do some of these deco projects:

Preview: Glamorous September 2010

First off, I'd like to credit Jam for uploading these scans. You can get the whole thing from:

http://tokyo-jam.livejournal.com/8696.html. After skimming through, I decided to go to hudie.com and check out other stuff. I will post on my deco inspiration next time. I'm definitely gonna have to start experimenting. But onto Glamorous. Here are some things I love. My notes are captioned below the photos.

I prefer these methods of using leopard
and fur as accessories rather than clothing.

I could see myself wearing these
in the office of at a nice dinner with
a freelance client... though I hate
outfit number 4. It's not for me.

I'm into the vest more than anything else
on this page, but the fur boots + tights.

I swear I wear that middle outfit every day.
Also, it's time for me to get a zebra purse. 

I NEED that red sweater-dress thingy,
but I find myself liking most of the
things on this page. Esp. the grey purse.

Chic Prints for Nails via Sephora by O.P.I.

So I recently picked these up from Sephora and am glad I did. I really thought they were stencils. I've been looking around for stencils lately. Anyway, these were really easy to put on. They're like heat-activated stickers for your nails. You just file off the excess (unless you have super long nails that require usage of the full strip). I Should make it clear that if you have wide fingernails, there will be a little space left uncovered at the sides of your thumb nails. There are 16 in each pack so if you screw up you can peel it off and try a new one. They're easier to get on than take off. I find this to be a good thing, but when I messed up a thumb (bad fit), it was a beast to get it off.

I give these 4 out of 5 stars. I can't blame Sephora or O.P.I. for my man hands, but I can blame them for only having 16 in a pack, 4 of which are anchor designs which happen to also be the widest strips. What if I wanted a plain striped thumb and to put the anchor on my ring finger? They've got to do better.

Riot Grrls Do it Better

Some gyaru love j-pop, eurobeat and whatnot.

I'm riot grrl at heart and when it comes to Japanese music, I prefer the likes of Gito Gito Hustler, Red Bacteria Vacuum (as well as Asian Kung Fu Generation and Beat Crusaders).

Shopping Plans!

Hello, World. I am a big fan of mode kei.

So this post will have a bunch of shopping inspiration-- some mode and some not--  which doubles as thinspo. I say that because some things will have to be bought elsewhere (or made by me) to fit properly. Fat or skinny, people all over the world get their clothes tailored to fit as close to perfectly as possible. It's just way easier to find clothes in smaller sizes. I'm not whining. That's just life.

This first grouping is a lovely stripey blazer and stripey tank top. In case you all don't know, I love-love-love bold stripes (& dots & plaids). I like how white looks on me when coupled with black or sometimes brown.

This grouping contains the only look I love overall from JSG's new collection and a black lace cardigan that I NEEEEEED. I love cardigans, blazers, and fly-away wraps. I'm a layering type of gal. I feel like I need to have a lace cardigan. At LEAST lace on the back. I needs it. The precious.

These items from Juriano Jurrie are appealing. I don't like thos shorts, as they are too destroyed and I'm only okay with lightly distressed. Still, I think the length and fit ofthe shorts would work for me. What I really love is the jacket. It's just fun. As for the next look, I love that sweater-dress. I'm guessing it's not really in trend for gyaru this fall but... I really don't care! I don't love the top they chose to put beneath it, but I would wear the hell out of that thing.

And last, but certainly maybe not least, I want these bags:

Honesty Tag

Show off your honesty (and modesty) by thanking the person who gave you the award and link to their post.
Thanks to CaramelCutie0215! 


List 10 honest things about yourself.

• I just did my oracle and am waiting for my morning tea.
• I have a banana or a protein shake every morning; not because of hunger but because "you're supposed to eat breakfast!"
• I love belly dancing and am gearing up for our next hafla (in October).
• My anniversary is 8/23 but I keep forgetting because our original wedding date was 9/6. 
• I love sewing and making soap, but I'm not great at the former and getting too lazy for the latter. 
• My cramps are so bad that the pain immersed itself in my dream. There were cubicles in the forest and I was going from department to department, checking the first aid kits for ibuprofen but they were all expired. Then I woke up. 
• I blame my gross love of TMI on the fact that majority of my friends have always been guys. 
• I'm getting really stressed out about finding a new job. I need more money to buy portable lighting for photoshoots.
• I'm a fairly decent photographer. Just google: AvyTech Photography if you don't believe me.
• Today will definitely involve 100 Push-ups, 200 Sit-ups, and Dead Space: Extraction 

Select 7 other bloggers you think deserve this award and pass it on to them.
How's about we go with these gyaru (off the top of my head, of course):

• Alicia
• Lulabelle
• FriFri (en Español está bien, pero puedo responder  en Inglés porque mi espanol no es muy buena y me da pereza con la gramatica (~ y ' marcas/puntuacion).
• Chaudie
• Robin
• Destini
• Anya

Notify said bloggers about the award and invite them to be the honest ones next. 

I'm on it now. 
* Oh and I won't be all cranky-pantsed if any of you choose not to do it. I just did it because I'm awake it, I like these things anyway, and it was fun to be asked. 

Mama Gon' Tell Ya

That just popped into my head. Don't ask.

Moving along.

I took a few days off blogging. I don't even think I posted any tweets this past weekend. Home life is stressfully intense right now. Water damage at home has led to some creative living. It's not like we're living in squalor by any means. It's just once you're used to a certain level of comfort, all heck breaks loose when a monkey wrench is tossed in.

Today I finally got around to changing my blog to the fun polka dot design. I tried last week or the week before and the header was all off so I went to my original layout, but this is the one I like best. Thank goodness I had the patience to fix it.

* If this kid turns the light off one more time, I'm gonna scream. (>_<)!
** He just gave me a cuddle so it's okay. (♥ω♥)

Now it's time to give a shout out to the gals in Lovely Blog-Sa.

Sharona: Makes me miss my three little guinea piggies with all her photos of Coco. 

Elena: She was nice and shared some hair inspiration pics and could use some help picking a style for her hair appointment THIS FRIDAY. Help a gal out!


Chaudie: Blogs about working on being a super shufu gyaru. Marriage and kindergarten are hardcore business!

Jen: Was a sweetheart and posted an Agejo make video tutorial. 

Tini: One of my favorite types of Peel off masks gets a photo review!
Fuyume:  Miss Fuyume has reviewed a chocolate face mask that likely smells good enough to eat. 

Ayame: This gal gets +10 cool points from me for  her photo-taking strategy. I hate people. Seriously. High five to Ayame. 

Alicia: Took an outfit + make look that was okay and spiffed it up to give it more gyaru powaa! 

Lu: This gal has an adorable dress! 

Elena: She was nice and shared some hair inspiration pics and could use some help picking a style for her hair appointment THIS FRIDAY. Help a gal out!


Suzanne: Is making me jealous with all her pretty faux lashes! Thanks to her, I now have 2 new stores to peruse.

Special Things

This was recorded pre-tantrum. It's about Nyx faux lashes and some other unexpected stuff. 

Please Excuse This Temper Tantrum

FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML FML

Eff My Effing Life

Five words I never wanna hear again:

"It didn't occur to me."

I love being an after-thought.

Gyaru Gyaru Everywhere!

Hey hey. So I think it's good to think about gal inspiration outside the magazines. For this I will NOT be linking the obvious gals Euro & American gals. You know who you are and so does everyone else ^_^ I will also avoid listing the wonderful gals in the Lovely Blog-sa. Overkill is lame. Well unless you're gaming. Then it's just funny.

These gals have either inspired me through-out the years or become a recent addition to my real life gal inspiration list.

Robyn, Xti, whatever your name is :-p This gal has been a great source of information and inspiration for me since before I was doing bad banba make on LiveJournal. She is known around the net as "EggVIP" and runs a nifty blog, Honest Unique Beautiful.

Naka has the sewing skills I wish I had. I'm Jealous! Check out her blog, Naka's Net.

Anya is a crafty mom-to-be who has great gal style. Visit: The Veiled Bump.

Tori seems to always have great outfits. It's to the point where I think she made a pact with Satan. Seriously. Well no, not really serious. But still... Cherri Story <-- go there.

Oh, Chanel.

The Coco Cocoon line of Chanel handbags are finally gal-worthy. There are quilted purses as expected for Fall trend, but also some that are all furry . Now I know fur is trending, but I didn't expect it in a whole purse. I think the darker colours look better than the white.  I can't stand that seam running vertically through the middle.

Also, there are skin purses but that's nothing special. I kinda like them, but they aren't shocking or NEW-new. I also love the big soft quilting. Don't laugh, but it reminds me of my blue quilted diaper bag with brown leather handles. It was a gift I didn't love at first, but now I'm more into the quilted look. I just wish the handles were faux leather. Blah blah blah. Looky looky:

Cheap Face Challenge!

So I decided I would try to do a look using as many inexpensive products as possible WITHOUT relying on my 120 palette. For this, I turned to Nyx and couldn't be happier. I used my MAC Studio Fix powder compact as usual, but I could have just as easily used my Revlon Colorstay Foundation (liquid). I also used my MAC cream and pencil liners, but could have used my Maybelline Line Stiletto (liquid) & Define-a-Line (pencil). I just couldn't find them! I have too many make-up bags and such (and that's another post entirely).


So the rest of the products I used were simple and all by Nyx save for the Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara. 
I decided to go with:


Nyx 10 Color Palette Eye Shadow The Runway Collection: 01 Jazz Night
 (silver, dark grey and blue), 
Nyx Mosaic Powder Blush in Paradise, 
and 
Nyx Lip Lacquer Pot in Caramel


* Notice I didn't use any primer at all and the colors worked out well. They also lasted at least 8 hours. I will check out the Nyx Eyeshadow Base soon to see how it compares to my Urban Decay Primer Potion.


Now my Cheap Face Challenge wasn't just about the make-up. I also wanted to use cheap brushes. I used my Shany 12-piece brush set for this. They performed very well but the set has one major flaw: no blending brush. I ended up using my Nyx Contoured Dome Brush because it's cheap and awesome. 


I will have to post photos of the look later. It will more than likely also include my semi-matching nails. If i feel like it, I'll also post my outfit. We'll see. I have to rush to my in-law's for dinner now.

Lovely Blog-Sa

This is an open blog circle (much like a gyaru-sa) for western gals who... blog. Duh. You should join if you're a like-minded chica. Or chico. There have to be some gyaru-o and sentaa gai on these here intarwebz.
Click HERE if you'd like to join!


Here's some highlights from the past week:

Chaudie is getting married today! Congrats to her and her lucky guy.

Jen had a killer time Newport Beach! Everyone needs to go on holiday sometime, right?

Len is a Houston gal with a rockin layout. I love it and wish I found it first. She also has awesome taste in head gear.

Lu got a super adorable girly heart necklace from an etsy shop. 


Tini  has a way of finding some really cool shops! She also has a really cool layout.

Sharona is now a finalist in multiple categories of the Black Weblog Awards. Check her post for details, especially voting information!

Outfit, Make-up

I love this dress but my boobs are so big that I have too much booby showing. I'm not 18-21 years old. I'll be 27 this year. I'm gettin to be too old to show all that business! So I wear black lace bra (by Goddess) under it so that if anything shows, it's that.

Semi-off-topic: Does anyone know where I can buy some 4" wide black elastic? I can't find it at my usual spots.

You can't really see my hair, but it's in spiral curls that start just beneath my ears. I don't really love the agejou super volume hair for daily living. It's phenomenal in photographs but that's where I draw the line for my own wear.

These brows really need to be waxed but I faked it.

     Next up is my make-up. Here we have some variety. I usually use my MAC Studio Fix (powder), but this time I used my Becca Cosmetics Fine Loose Finishing Powder in Nutmeg. I love this stuff because a little goes a LONG way and it smells great. I love the company because while they are expensive (avg. $10 > MAC for example) they have quality products that seem to last a long time. Plus, they have a great range of colors from super pale gals to super dark gals (ganjiro to gonguro if you will).  I need to buy more of their lipgloss in Grenadine. It was my perfect pink. It was my first pink as well.

Before curling my hair.
Make ALWAYS comes first.

Anyway, back on topic. Here's what I used:
Concealer - MAC Select Moisture Cover in NW45
Eye Primer - Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original
Face - Becca Fine Loose Powder in Nutmeg
Cheeks - Posner Bronzer in Oasis
Contour (dark)- NARS Bronzer in Casino
Contour (hi-lite) - Nothing as usual
Eyeliner 1 - MAC Fluidline in Black Track (top) 
Eyeliner 1 - MAC Waterproof Pencil in Engraved (bottom) 
Mascara - Rimmel The Max Volume Flash 
Eyeshadow 1 - MAC in Woodwinked (lid only)
Eyeshadow 2 - MAC in Glamour Check! (crease & blended up)
Brows - MAC eyeshadow in Embark (or Showstopper)
Lipstick - MAC Funbathing 
Lipgloss- Dots Lip Plumper in Pink (which doesn't plump anything, but has a nice shimmer)