This morning we got up nice and early to finish packing and get ready for our Vacation. The lovely Lee planned a trip for seven of us to the southern coast of Australia, near a little country town called Denmark and we were eager to be off! Mirai and I were just finishing making Onigiri for lunch when Doug and Lee arrived in a big van they had rented for the trip, it was new and very comfortable even with the seven of us squished in together. We picked up the rest of the travellers and stopped for breakfast quickly (I had pancakes) before beginning the five hour journey to Denmark.

On the road down it was raining heavily and for part of the drive nothing could be seen out the windows but driving rain and long forks of lightning, it was nice to be warm inside the van chatting and playing on our DS’s. We stopped for lunch at a fuel station and as we drew closer to our destination the clouds parted and we were greeted by incredible emerald green hills all about us, steep rolling hills with pockets of forest and grazing sheep and cattle. It was how one imagines the english countryside and I as happy to just stare out the window and drink in the scenery.

We arrived in Denmark shortly after noon and drove to our little rented house. It was so cute and cozy inside, painted in cornflower blue with buttercup yellow curtains. There were two levels and Lee, Tang, Ze, Doug and Ben slept upstairs while Mirai and I claimed the downstairs bedroom. There was also a wood fireplace that heated up the whole house nicely.

As it was still early, we decided to stop by a few of the local attractions. Our first visit was a Meadery, just down the road from where we were staying. They made delicious honey wine and we all had tastings, though I don’t drink myself I did enjoy trying the different types, it was so sweet and you could smell the honey too! They also sold different flavoured honeys, like ginger and chocolate. Mirai bought a jar of hazelnut honey and I had a honey, almond and rose icecream which was delicious!

Our next stop was the Toffee Factory, we tried sticky confectionary in many different flavours and they also made yummy sauces and chutneys. The building itself was surrounded by beautiful green fields and we said hello to a friendly goat.

Before the sun set we headed to the beach that was only five minutes drive from our accomodation. The beach is called Greenspool and it is like a lagoon, a small sheltered back edged by big rocks that keep it calm even when the waves outside are high. The sky was still quite cloudy and the reflections of the setting sun on the water were magical. Lee and I played on the shore and both ended up getting wet and sandy. We all explored the rocks and found little baby fish in the rock pools.

Refreshed and exhausted we headed back to the house and enjoyed hot showers before dinner, which was Okonomiyaki cooked by Lee and myself. It was quite a challenge cooking for so many people, and I think it would have been better to start earlier but it was fun to do communal meals. After dinner we settled down to watch movies, play cards and chat before tucking in for a good night’s sleep.

Although the trip down was a bit tiring, it was a great start to our holiday and I was looking forward to the next day and all the things we had planned!

(photos courtesy of Mirai and Ze)

I apologise most sincerely for the scant updates lately! Things have been very busy at the palace of late. We are preparing costumes and a dance for an event coming up in month and it is both time consuming and exhausting, I am looking forward to the results though!

This coming weekend I’m fortunate enough to be going on a little holiday with some lovely Lords and Ladies. We will be visiting Denmark, not the European country, but a small town on the southern coast. It is one of my favourite places, because of it’s great natural beauty, it is literally where the forest meets the ocean and our little cottage will be but a short walk from the beach! I will not have my computer there, so there will be no updates from the 31st of May to the 2nd of June, but I’m looking forward to sharing tales of our adventure when I return!

I hope you are all going well with your Princess Challenge for the month. I’ve missed a couple of days, but otherwise I’m pretty happy with my progress. I can’t wait to read them all! Please don’t forget to send them in when you’re done!

It was a blustery day today! The wind played with my hair and skirt and sent the autumn leaves dancing in little gypsy whirls, the sky couldn’t make up it’s mind whether to rain or shine and the last summer roses are blooming in the palace gardens. I love this little one, its as red as blood and makes me think of Beauty & the Beast.

After getting my morning chores out of the way I headed in to the city. My main errand was to purchase a new shirt for work, I found one surprisingly fast (usually it’s such a hassle!) and so decided to treat myself to lunch from Utopia. I had this yummy curry bread that was shaped like a triangle and covered with sesame seeds and a strip on nori, to go with it I bought my favourite Rose Milk Tea.

Following lunch I decided to have a browse in borders, I love the international magazines section. Today however I found myself drawn to the poetry shelves, where there was a little book of French poems that occupied my time for a while as I sat in a puddle of skirts on the bookstore floor. It was full of romantic poems, with the original on one side and the english translation on the other. One of my favourites was Tristesse d’été, or The Sadness of Summer.

My other errand for today was to buy a new sketch book! One of the goals on my 101 challenge was to start a new sketch book and do some drawing every day. Art is something you have to practise, I don’t believe the world is divided in to those who can and can’t draw, sure there is natural talent, but most of it comes down to experience. Although I usually buy pretty stationary, when it comes to sketchbooks I like them to be very plain, the one I bought today has a blue cover and gorgeous antiqued yellow paper, it is as soft as velvet and I’m just itching to start drawing in it. I also picked up this cute little moleskin diary, I plan to carry it with me to help record beautiful thoughts and little moments of inspiration.

The city was really beautiful today, there are Maple trees planted all down the main shopping streets and their golden brown leaves dusted the sidewalk. I loved seeing all the new winter fashions coming out too, I like the colours a lot better this season and I even bought myself a little winter dress. I need some more warm clothes!

I hope you had a beautiful day aswell!

Today is one of those perfect autumn days, absoloutely beautiful. The sky is blue with little traces of cloud and the air is cool enough that the grass was still dew-wet at noon.

I slept in a little bit this morning, worked on some things and then decided to go outside and enjoy the day. I didn’t really need to go to the market, but it was an excuse to get out of the house so I went down the hill with my shopping bag and picked up some nice crunchy apples, spring onions and noodles for yakisoba.

On the way back I couldn’t resist stopping for a bit at the park down the road and playing on the swings. It’s a very small park, usually empty and it only has one set of swings and a huge jacaranda tree arching overhead. It was leafy green today, but when its in flower it becomes a scented lilac cloud that rains petals on me as I swing. A curious little willy wag tail came to join me and I watched him catching bugs out of the air like a tiny acrobat and swinging his fan shaped tale back and forth.

This afternoon I have a few letters to answer, and then I’m going to sit outside and enjoy my book with a nice big bowl of hot chocolate! Tonight I’m going to a friend’s place to play boardgames and catch up with everyone, can’t wait!

I finally finished my illustration to my Princess Challenge story for last month, The Lion of Astolat. I hope you like it!

Tonight I have a little bit of a surprise for you. Its something rather different, and I hope it won’t shock you too much with my australian accent! I’ve wanted to run a podcast or audio element on this site for a while now and recently a wonderful opportunity come up!

A little while ago I met a friend of a friend named John. John helps run a small, local community radio station in Perth and one of his jobs is to interview people to broadcast on the station. After finding out about my site and Lolita fashion he asked me to participate in an interview and I thought it would be a fun experience so I said yes!

I must admit, I was very nervous about it, as I’ve never done anything like this before, and I think that comes across in how fast I’m speaking (though I normally speak quite fast anyway) and some of my answers are a bit un-prepared but I think John did an incredible job of editing it all and putting it together so all credit for the polished result is due to him! Just a note, the Princess mentioned in the intro is Mary of Denmark, who is Australian aswell.

John has very kindly supplied me with an Mp3 of the interview so that I might share it here. To play the mp3 click the Swan image above, to download it right click the image and select ‘Save Target As…’ Thank you to John and the people at Fremantle Radio for letting me be part of their show. I hope you like my first audio post!

Today was Mother’s day, but the Queen really isn’t too keen on the holiday so I just spent the night at her place and we had yummy thai food and watched movies. It was nice and relaxing, and in the morning I got to explore her garden and the passionfruit jungle that has grown there!

In the afternoon, Sab and I went galivanting in the hills where I grew up. We visited beautiful Stirk Park that was in full autumn colour and took a few photos. You can see the rest of the ones I took here, I love the autumn leaves and want to head back soon for a picnic. Afterwards we went for a nice twilight walk in the forest, up to the lookout where you can see the entire valley and back. I felt quite refreshed afterwards, the cool, eucalypt scented air is delicious. They have also opened a cupcake store recently in my home town, it was closed today but I am determined to go back and try some!

One of the things I love best about winter is cooking. In summer I don’t cook or bake very much because having the oven on during hot weather can make the house unbearable and I enjoy eating a lot of raw fruit and vegetables anyway. However now its a little colder, I’m having fun baking and cooking a hot dinner every night!

Today I roasted some chestnuts that Claire brought me (thank you!) they were delicious and warming, a great comfort food. They taste a little bit like sweet potato but with a nuttier, meat like taste aswell. Quite filling! Here is a quick guide to roasting chestnuts at home.

Choose chestnuts that are firm and not too dark, soft ones are likely to be rotten. If the nut flesh is a pale grey colour when you shell it, then its too old. It should be a warm yellow colour inside.

Wash the Chestnuts and use a sharp knife to score an ‘X’ in one side. Preheat your oven to 220C or 425F and roast the nuts for about 15 minutes.

When they are cool enough to touch, peel back from the little ‘X’ and take off both the firm outer shell and the furry inner shell. I find using a butter knife makes this process easier. Inside you will find the flesh of the nut, you might like to season it with a bit of salt. Enjoy!

I also bought a Recipe Journal today, to start recording my recipes in. I couldn’t resist the cute little cupcakes and birds on this one! Every page is pink and has lines for ingredients, method and notes. I hope to share more of my recipes over the coming months, although I don’t make sweets and desserts all the time, I do cook a lot of japanese dishes and other healthy meals. Would you be interested in recipes and photos of some of those?

Autumn weather here is so unpredictable, I went down to the market to buy some fruit and it was clear and sunny but on the way back I had to walk quickly to outrun the rain! Big fat heavy drops in the humid air.

Today was rather lazy and relaxing for me, its nice to slow down once in a while after a busy period. I watched some japanese dramas I had downloaded the night before and baked a yummy carrot cake which is perfect with with tea and a thin layer of melted butter. I promised I would take a photo of my adorable new socks, so here they are! Its cold enough now to wear socks and slippers around the house and these have become my favourite pair. The little rabbits and sakura blossoms are so sweet.

How are you going with your Princess Challenge for the month? I’ve made a document on my computer with a line for each day, and I have been filling it in with something beautiful I saw that day, before I go to bed. Most of them so far are about nature, so I think I need to focus more on people now. Even if you don’t manage to find something for everyday, try and record those that you do notice, it makes a lovely little list to read on your less-than-perfect days.

So what did I get up to this International Princess Day? Well it got off to a bit of a slow start. I slept in a little because we were up late last night after the party, talking and dancing and enjoying ourselves. Some of the girls slept over in the living room which was still lit up by fairy lights and in the morning we just lazed about on the mattresses and talked for a while, in our little bower of balloons and streamers.

After everyone had left, I got ready to head out for my Princess Day! I wore my white chiffon OP and left my hair out. The weather has been so beautiful all weekend, sunny and a little cool and just perfect. As I caught the bus to Highgate I watched the little streamers of cloud, like angel hair, that streaked across the blue sky. When I reached Beaufort street, one of my favourite shopping districts I spent a little while browsing my usual stores. The Lady in ‘Heart & Home’ was kind enough to let me take a photo to share with you, which you can see here! Its the most feminine little gift store, and they sell the sweetest things. I also visited Ware, which is a quirky little shop and bought some Tabi socks! They are so cute, I will have to take photos tomorrow. I spent a while in the store next to it aswell, which imports French beauty products. I love smelling all the little bottles.

For afternoon tea, I stopped by The Leaf where I had a yummy Chai Latte and an adorable little vanilla cupcake with a pink icing swirl on top. The Leaf always has a delicious range of treats and they make some amazing teas too. After relaxing and reading my book for a while, I headed on towards Planet Books. Bookstores are like candy shops to me, and I pored over some of the new releases by Phillip Reeve and Dianna Wynne Jones before heading on to my next destination, the Day Spa.

I had a four o’clock appointment for a facial at Keturah, a Spa that I have not visited before but really enjoyed! I love the chairs in their reception area, they’re high backed and painted gold, like little thrones. The treatment was incredibly relaxing. It went for about and hour, and included a facial steam, exfoliation, mask and shoulder/head massage. It was so nice I very nearly fell asleep, and when it was over my skin was practically glowing! It feels so soft too. If you’ve never had a facial, I can definitely reccomend it. Its a pleasant experience and makes you feel quite the pampered Princess.

After leaving Keturah, I browsed the many flower stores that line the street and then walked up the road to Hanami, one of my favourite japanese restaurants. I ordered Udon and Vegetable Tempura which was delicious, and so filling! It was a nice way to end the day, listening to all the conversations around me as I ate. When I left the restaurant it was dark, not too cold but very clear and I could see the stars above me.

Its been a wonderful Princess Day, with the Party included I don’t think I’ve had such a fun weekend in a long time! What did you do for Princess day?

Last night we had a Party at the palace to celebrate International Princess Day! I spent the whole weekend preparing, baking cookies and cupcakes with Clara, making strings of paper pennants to decorate the house and with the aid of Jill, Emily and Lee blowing up 60 pink and white balloons! It was a lot of fun putting up the decorations, but I never would have had time without my helpers, thank you!

The other Princesses started arriving in the late afternoon and we made a sea of cushions on the floor in front of the television so we could watch ‘The Princess Bride.’ It’s one of my favourite movies and it was a fun way to start the party. While everyone was thus engaged, I finished off making some snacks ( onigiri, cucumber sandwiches) with help from Lee and Claire. By the time the movie was over, everyone had arrived and it was time to start the games! I had far too much fun making up these games, which were based on old favourites with a Princess ‘twist.’

The first game was our Sleeping Beauty challenge. We had Clara seated at one end of the courtyard, blindfolded and in front of her was her ‘treasure’ (candy and chocolate gold coins) Everyone else had to walk from the opposite end of the courtyard towards her, trying to sneak up and steal the treasure. If Clara heard anyone moving she could point at them and they would have to start again. It was harder than it sounds!

The next game we played involved sitting in a circle and taking turns to roll a dice, whenever someone rolled a six they had to jump up, put on a tiara, feather boa and pair of opera gloves then they could start eating a block of chocolate, using a knife and fork to cut one piece at a time. As soon as the next person got a six we all yelled ’six ‘ and they had to pass the items on. It was hilarious when we had a good run of sixes and one had only just finished putting on the gloves before the next person took over.

Following this, I asked everyone to practise walking with a book on their heads and once they’d gained the knack of it we played musical chairs! It was the slowest, most careful game of musical chairs I’ve ever seen because people had to make sure the books didn’t fall off or they would be out!

Our last game was probably the most fun of the night. The girls seperated in to teams and chose one member of their team to be the ‘model’ while the others were ‘designers.’ They had to use nothing but toilet paper to create Princess outfits for their models in a time limit of 15 minutes. At the end we had a little fashion show and Sanyu and I judged the winners. We had a traditional Princess gown with puff sleeves, a Samurai Princess and a very creative entry that involved bows and a dress with a petticoat!

We ended the night by watching ‘A Little Princess’ a movie that I’ve seen a dozen times but still makes me cry! I think we were all a bit teary by the end of it.

Thank you to all the girls that came! It was a magical night and I hope you had as much fun as I did.