The end of January contained three important events–another 3-day weekend for me, a snowstorm, and my 2-year wedding anniversary~ ♥ I had a really wonderful time.

Usually my husband and I like to celebrate our anniversary by spending a night or two in a hotel downtown for one very, very, very important reason–a thermostat! Our apartment has whole-building radiator heat that we have no control over. Sometimes it is downright frigid in our home! (I can’t bear to run a space heater due to the accompanying rise in our electric bill. We tried it once and it felt like highway robbery! Usually we just layer on clothing and drink warm beverages.) Upon check-in we crank the heat way up and proceed to bask in the warmth.

This year it didn’t look like we’d be able to do this. I had earlier decided that it was a rather unnecessary frivolous expenditure and thus removed it from our budget for the month, only to start regretting that removal when the days inched along and the temperature indoors felt like it was dropping. My father, who travels frequently for business, saved us by using some reward points to secure a room on very, very short notice. (Literally the day of.)

However, this was also the day of a very severe snowstorm. So severe that buses and cars were rerouted from Lake Shore Drive to prevent anyone getting stranded, buses routes were cancelled, and taxis skidded around on the snowy and icy roads. It usually takes us about fifteen minutes to get downtown using buses or trains. On this day, it took hours. The buses we tried were cancelled, the taxis looked like suicide, and finally we retraced our steps–through the blizzard-like conditions–and boarded a train, then walked to the hotel. My husband had worked all day, and he was absolutely worn out. I have a sordid history of dragging this poor guy out into the most inclement weather possible; I’m lucky he’s so kind and patient with me.

This photo was taken pretty late! We traveled far too much on this day!
The outfit picture was something I really wanted to get a snapshot of, but at this point it was very late, we were both very wet from the now-melting snow that had coated us, and he was too exhausted to hold the camera steady. I had chosen my outfit based on the foolish insistence that I wanted to dress up even if it was a snowstorm. I wore my red jumperskirt because I know it is colourfast and won’t be ruined if it gets wet. I paired it with a black shirt and black tights for extra warmth, and layered a cardigan as well.

This was one of my earlier attempts at French braiding my hair. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but never really learned. I’ve been teaching myself slowly since then, and I’m getting a little bit better at it, but it isn’t perfect. I really love the style because it helps keep my hair out of my face and neatly arranged. It really came in handy on a day like this; even after being out in the snow for hours my hair didn’t look like a puff-ball!

I really like the combination of gray and pink~
The next day we took a trip to the aquarium to see the jellyfish exhibit. We had visited the aquarium the day after our marriage, so it was both fun because we like the aquarium and fun because it was reminiscent of such a happy memory~

I bought this gray sweater nearly a year ago intending to wear it with lolita, but I kept holding off on it because I really felt I needed gray socks or tights to match with it. A few days before I had spotted a cute pair of gray tights, and then I remembered that I also had gray legwarmers. Now I want to incorporate more gray into my wardrobe~

I was so happy to wear this dress again~!
I was determined to wear my wedding dress on the actual day of my anniversary. I’ve been planning for this for a while; it was something I wanted to do the previous year. I didn’t want to wear my wedding dress in the same coordination that I had worn it on my wedding day, mostly because I was really, really, REALLY cold. I searched around for a blouse that would compliment the dress, but I didn’t find one before last year’s anniversary–although I did find and purchase one shortly after. I’ve been saving it since then and was very excited to finally wear it.

I paired it with the same hair ribbon and shoes that I wore on my wedding day and plain white stockings.

I really like all-white coordinations although I rarely wear them.
I still have more plans for this dress. I love it so much that I want to wear it rather than seal it away somewhere. I’d like to feel like I’m getting my money’s worth from it, hee hee! My next plans involve finding white lace tights that would match it well, or maybe white socks topped with tulle lace, and a white bolero. I don’t own any boleros, although I always think about how useful one would be; I think I just need to find the right design~