As Thanksgiving and Christmas flew by and the end of the year approached, I started to think about how I wanted to start off the upcoming year. I’m not really a superstitious person, but I like the reliability of rituals and traditions. I try to make some kind of effort to begin each year in the spirit of the way I want to enjoy the rest of it. I don’t want to think back and wish I had done anything any differently. This particularly matters to me because I usually see my immediate family on New Year’s Day. Sometimes we can’t all be together for the other holidays due to various obligations, so we try to get together on the 1st. I love my brothers and sister very dearly, and now that we don’t live in the same home I don’t want to miss the chance to enjoy their company!

My husband and I both had to work on the 1st, however, so we had to get everything planned out in advance! The only picture I managed to get of what I wore is pretty low-quality–it wasn’t taken until after we made it to my mother’s house for dinner.

Quick snapshot taken in the dining room. It was the best we could do at the time!
I knew I’d be at work all day and then having dinner with my family, so I wanted something more casual than formal. I also wasn’t sure what the weather would be like. It hasn’t gotten particularly wintry here yet, which makes me very concerned about how the weather might turn around February. That said, it isn’t exactly warm most of the time–and it is definitely not always warm at my office. I chose to wear this jumperskirt because it is one my little sister (although not the little sister I saw for dinner) made for me. ♥ It’s lovely in its own right, but the fact that it was made for me means it fits perfectly, doesn’t have any of the details I dislike, and has pockets. Dresses with pockets always make me happy.

I paired it with a cream-coloured lace turtleneck and knit tights of a similar shade. There’s a pink ribbon in my hair, but you can’t exactly see it in pictures~ I didn’t wear my lolita coat but instead my daily coat, and when I do that I rarely wear actual hair accessories due to the hat or earmuffs that I wear with my coat. The brown boots are a staple of my cooler-weather outfits, whether they match or not. They protect my socks in the event of inclement weather, and they also let me wear extra layered socks to keep my toes cozy~ If I’m going to be doing a fair amount of walking, like on my way to work, it really comes in handy~

Another late-night indoor and totally awkward picture! This is an unfortunate theme lately.
I packed more frills to wear the next day. I was unbelievably lucky and received several lovely lolita pieces for Christmas from my mother, so I wanted to show my appreciation by wearing something while I was at her house. One of my gifts was this beautiful cardigan. It’s a beautiful shade of pink with a metallic thread that gives it a definite glimmer and shimmer, and I love the little bows between the buttons, at the wrists, and on the back! They’re so cute!

I’ve never been able to coordinate this skirt in a way that I’m happy with, so I thought I’d give it another try. Nope, still not satisfied. The print is cute and I love the glitter, but somehow it manages to match absolutely nothing that I own on a very regular basis. It seemed to match the sweater at first, at least to some degree, but it’s still a bit off. I had to bring everything with me, as we stayed overnight at my mother’s house, so there wasn’t time to revise my decision in the morning. I thought I had pink socks to match the sweater, but I actually forgot to pack them. ;_; More off-white tights, instead.

With this outfit, I didn’t really feel like I was wearing lolita as much as just something girly, but I’m still much happier having worn it than wearing something totally casual. Lolita (and girly things) makes me feel much happier than anything else. It’s still something I really adore~ ♥