HNNNGGG

I died! CANNOT WAIT!

Also this reminded me that I still need to finish re-reading The Hobbit. Did I even read this in middle school? Why do I not remember anything?!

Lovely Queen Elsa

My Disney Store exclusive Anna and Elsa dolls arrived yesterday!

Number 1492/2500

I absolutely love Elsa! Ice has always been my element, so when Disney announced the release of Frozen, I was over the moon excited! I was able to get both the limited Elsa and Anna dolls through the online orders! Luck was definitely on my side :) I am so in love with this lovely lady ♥ For those of you who haven't watched Frozen yet, I urge you to go! If I could take everyone with me to see it again, I would!

I need to take pictures of Anna as well. Probably not til next week. I need more light! :X

Apparently ...

Apparently, my having anxiety is just another little thing to brush off to the side. I doubt that most other people in the world have thoughts of death to end the pain associated with anxiety. Not that I would ever think of killing myself, but sometimes it just hurts that much. Like I don't want to exist anymore. And after years of talking every day I had thought that that person would be able to understand it. But I guess if that person don't suffer from the same pain, headaches, worry, etc., it doesn't make sense to that person. It's hard explaining what I go through - panic attacks and feeling like the universe is closing in on you. I know I'm not alone, and I'm so glad to find people who suffer in the same way I do because it makes it that much easier. But please, don't ever tell me "oh, everyone goes through the same thing," because I can confidently tell you that not everyone has it as bad as we do. And I am okay with knowing that my anxiety still is under control when I hear others' stories about their episodes. Makes me wish there was an easy fix to all of this so that we wouldn't all have to put up with it by ourselves! It's hard knowing that the person I lean on will never fully understand what I go through on a daily basis.

Don't know

My sister got engaged this Monday! Woo!

Also, I hit the 50k word mark in NaNoWriMo on Tuesday (only because I was crazily distracted when my sister got engaged!! I wanted to finish by Monday!).

Yuuki's familiars should be shipping out this weekend? Idk if Aileen Doll will remember to add my Penny to my order. I guess if not, I can just go crazy on them on their Q&A. I mean, we've only sent correspondence every week for the past three weeks. No big deal or anything!!!!!

I also finally got a shipping confirmation email for these two beauties! I hope hope HOPE that I will be able to pick them up on Wednesday. Fingers crossed for that! I will be way too busy to pick them up on Friday. Well, not busy. I have to work from 8-4:30 so there's no way I will be able to do that lol. I guess I could always just let them get delivered to the house, but I'm a bit scared, even with my family possibly staying home all day!

And that has been my random update!

Double Yuukis

Earlier this month, I bought a silvery-gray wig off of eBay for Yuuki, thinking I might as well start looking for one now that she's here. The white wig she's been wearing has been a temporary fix, but I've been too lazy and/or broke to find her a permanent wig. This one arrived today, but it was ridiculously thin at the top. I was going to contact the seller to get a refund, but it seemed like too much work for my $25 back (shipping would have been to China and I didn't wanna deal with that). So I'm going to try to make this work.

The first thing I noticed, however, was not the thinness, but the length of the wig. Looking at the auction/listing, it looked like the wig would just fall below her knees. Well. I was pleasantly surprised that it is long enough to be dragging on the floor. JUST like Pullip Yuuki's was! Seriously, Pullip Yuuki was wearing an SD wig, and it even touched the floor on my old SDs :'P That thing was MASSIVE.

I have been wanting to take a picture of my minifee with Pullip Yuuki for a while now, but have been too lazy to get her down from my bookcase. I thought since minifee Yuuki's wig came in, it was a good time to do it! Seeing them together like this, they are so different! But the character is really coming alive in my heart once again, and I'm so happy to have them both here with me.

Since we're on the topic, my novel for NaNoWriMo is at about 45k words right now. Well, missing pieces here and there, just like it was in 2009. But I'm making such good progress with it. I thought I'd come alive again when minifee Yuuki arrived, and having her in front of me is just so motivating. Once Ryo comes in (I'm expecting him to come in January. He was a last minute tan skin order through DDE.) - that'll be great! And I know I'm gonna want to make a doll version of all my OCs, just because that's how my brain worked in the past, haha. Soon, I'll have to find a YoSD for Reinor, another minifee for Xyrnne ... Not too much money is flowing in right now, though, unfortunately :'P I'll have to stick with having Yuuki and Ryo for now and make the best of it!

We meet again.

Last month, I decided to attempt NaNoWriMo again. It has been years since I've done it - lots of emotional struggles and just LIFE have kept me from writing, which I used to love so much. With the Priestess coming home in MSD form (my newest MNF Miyu), I've found it easier to find motivation to work on her story. After all, how can I introduce her to my friends if she's got no story?! So, this year, I'm cheating a bit and editing and adding more to my previously unfinished attempt to write part of her story. Oddly enough, this is book 2 out of the trilogy (with one other minisode stuffed in between books 2 and 3), so I'll have to also be wary of keeping timelines and other oddities in check when I finally do get to writing the first book. For now, all these ideas are mixed in my head, on notebooks, in binders, in my email drafts, and on multiple word documents. It is craziness!

I am absolutely horrid with blurbs, so I don't even know if I can fully explain what it is I'm writing about. Though I know not everyone will want to be reading the 75+ pages of my still-expanding novel about her. Still, here's a silly little blurb of sorts that give the gist of this second book I'm writing.

The Priestess is back, with powers she never thought she would be capable of without the help of her spirit guardians. After a confusing re-introduction into the Ronins' lives, the Priestess has to face dark secrets about her past as she confronts old friends-turned-enemies. In this sequel to Winter Premiere, we find out the real mission with which YUUKI was sent to Earth, the reason that she hasn't been able to get back, and, even moreso, why she absolutely must find her way to AURYEALIS now more than ever before.

I have to admit - I am absolutely in love with this story right now, and I'm constantly in the mood to be surrounded by all my messy notes and on the computer typing every night. So much so that I often lose track of the time and find that it's way past my normal bed time. For instance, last night, I slept around 3 and was just so lazy to get out of bed. I finally pulled myself out because I had to use the bathroom, lol. By then, it was 12 noon! Oops! I'm just on such a writing high right now. I'm not going to let a night go by without doing some writing because I just know that one night without writing will be enough to undo it!

So that's what I've been up to lately!

2013 Holiday Operation!

Fill out the form below, please! I do still have all your answers and addresses from last year, but I like to do this every year in case favorites/likes/dislikes change (I know mine do all the time)! You can email me at alawrendra@gmail.com ^^ I will at least send cards and some small things to everyone this holiday season :) I'd love to get a card back from you! I keep ALL my cards and letters from everyone! Take your time answering the questionnaire! And don't worry about long responses to questions - those are the best because of range of options! And, yes, I do realize I have a very specific Disney question thrown in there. If you haven't heard yet, I work at The Disney Store now, haha! Looking forward to hearing from you ♡ 

The questionnaire:
1. Full name and address 
2. Favorite colors (and any dislikes)
3. Favorite animals and "characters" (such as Hello Kitty, Stitch, Twilight Sparkle, etc.) (and any dislikes)
4. Any favorite Disney movies or characters?
5. Other things you like (mention other movies or series you watch, other things you like receiving, etc.)
6. Things you definitely do not want/like/will not have a use for
7. Do you have an online wishlist anywhere? (Amazon, Wishpot, etc.)
8. General hobby-related wishes ("LTF clothes," for example)

My answers are below to serve as examples! I tried to be as thorough as possible. The more answers you give me for each question, the better! :) Thanks, everyone!

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Favorite colors
Pink! Also mint, teal, red, light blue, and any pastels! (Not huge on purple or orange, but I do like all colors!)

Favorite animals and "characters"
Animals: GIRAFFES, penguins, puppies (corgis, German shepherds, labs, huskies, shiba inu), pandas, llamas/alpacas, octopus, tigers, unicorns (are those animals? yes, I guess so), jellyfish & squid, deer, dragons, foxes, pigs. Squirrels and tiny dogs scare me in real life haha!
Characters: Korilakkuma, Iiwaken Shiba Inu, Chopper, Zoro and Nami (One Piece), minions, Eevee, Charmander/Charizard, Vaporeon, Gengar, Scraggy, Stellina and Donutella (Tokidoki), Ryo and Rowen (Ronin Warriors), Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie (MLP), Midna (LoZ: Twilight Princess), Zuko (A:TLA), Yamamoto Takeshi and Hibari Kyouya (KHR)

Any favorite Disney movies or characters?
Movies: Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Nightmare Before Christmas, Beauty and The Beast, The Lion King, Tangled, Lilo and Stitch, Cars & Cars 2, Pocahontas, Hercu
Characters: Ariel, Olaf, Donald Duck, Jack Skellington, Aladdin, Rapunzel & Pascal, Perry the Platypus, Belle, Meeko, Tigger, Hamish cubs, Stitch and Angel, Peter Pan, Merida

Other things you like
Socks, anything Disney, One Piece, earrings, lip balm, stickers, tea, stamps & ink pads, small figures (blind bags! :3), notepads, deco tape, princesses, bows, tokidoki, pirates, mermaids, glitter, stars, hearts, fairytales, Pokemon, carnivals, weddings, anything handmade (cards, knits, fanart of my characters, etc.), scarves, floral prints, hair clips/pins, gift cards!

Things you definitely do not want/like/will not have a use for
Soaps and scented lotions because I'm allergic to them! :x

Do you have an online wishlist anywhere?
I have one on Amazon and disneystore.com, HT, etc.

General hobby-related wishes
Minifee basic clothing items (plain tanks, tshirts), gift cards to Denver Doll, shoes that fit the tiny moe-line feetsies!

Arrival - High Priestess Yuuki

I got an email notification from Denver Doll earlier this week, and it showed that Miyu would be here by Thursday, woo! But then a problem came to mind - I do Kids Club on Thursday afternoons! What if the truck decided to come by while I was out?! I had opted for signature delivery because I don't trust my neighborhood anymore. But, I also really dislike UPS, and whenever I'd missed a package from them, it had been a horrible experience. Anyways, I found that I could ask them to hold it for me there, and I picked it up first thing this morning! 

What caught my eye immediately is this gorgeous illustration of Celine ;A; I can't wait to get her next! Haha, because I have SO much money lying around. I opened up the box and saw Miyu and my heart melted! She is so adorable! :) 

 

Had to rush downstairs really quickly to pry her eyes out of Sophie (my Minifee Dark Elf Soo), haha! Just adore these eyes, but not sure if she is going to be using them continuously or just when she's in her full out priestess mode. (Think Avatar state from A:TLA.)

She is the first Minifee I have gotten to stand on her own! The M-line body is a dream come true for me. It poses so well! I need to take more dynamic shots when I have the time, but for now, I'm really just so happy that she can stand on her own, lol! 

There was one teeny tiny problem I came across for now - the WINGS I got for her have magnets already installed. Her body also already has magnets in the shoulders ... Can you see where this is going? They were not compatible :( So I'm going to have to somehow take the magnets out of the wings and replace them the correct way so she can actually wear them! Some more glamour shots below - (She is way beautiful!!)

And some silly outtakes! Loki was next to me the whole time I was opening the boxes, hehe! He's no cat, so he was totally in our business! 

 

These are NOT the best pictures - they're all grainy and such! But I was just so excited that I didn't care how overcast it was :'P 

Birthday shenanigans! :)

Random birthday details to record for future reference! I had a great weekend, thanks to all of my friends and family! I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to see or do everything I wanted to do, but all in all, it was really nice!

I received some cool things from Brii along with the SP Miyu head I adopted from her ^^

And earlier this month, this awesome gift from Neko-chan! Everything is sooo super cute! She sent me so much, too T__T!! Thank you so much, Neko-chan! You really know how to spoil me, hehe :) This gift came at such a low point in the quarter! It was perfect *hugs*

Thursday

This is the birthday card my brother gave me. It has pawprints from all three of our dogs xD It was great hearing his methods with each dog. I have a super hyper one + a really old one, so I can only imagine how hard it was to do!

This was the first year he and my parents gave me money for my birthday! I used the money he gave me that night to buy Tokidoki stuff D: It's like they put on the sale just for my birthday! I got 6 - three of which I really wanted, and 3 which snuck their way into my cart xD

Friday
My mom and dad, as mentioned above, gave me money. They were originally going to buy me a new iphone 5, but since I've been going back and forth about different phones, they just gave me the cash haha. I am so not an Apple lover, but I can't bring myself to like any of the other available smartphones on the market /: My bestie at SCU also brought cupcakes for me to my class! They were super yummy. And her husband, who I never met, got me an itunes gift card! How funny! And then we went with my family to Tomi's for dinner. We ended up waiting there for an hour x_x;;

Saturday

The best part of the day was stumbling across this bookstore that sold the most adorable greeting cards! We also spotted these two - Liam the llama and Ginger the giraffe! My friend immediately took them from my hands and ended up buying them for me ^^ When we first saw them, we wondered why the llama was so much bigger than the giraffe, despite being made by the same company. And then I had the idea to make them an odd couple :))) Yay!

Basically, I felt loved and spoiled and special this weekend! :) It was great!

Auryealis Giveaway!

THE GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED!

Winner: Eileen/ Paillette

I had always wanted to be able to do a giveaway after I started sewing some more. I didn't really *feel it* when I was sewing for Blythe, but I've been able to get some Lati Yellow/Pukifee dresses made :) Since my birthday is this Friday, I thought it would be a great time to do this!

My shop: Auryealis by yuhime

Time period: It's now over!

The prize: One winner will win a Lati Yellow/Pukifee sized dress from my shop! You can pick any of the ones currently listed (and I will be able to create a new dress if nothing suits the winner)!

To enter: 
1. Just comment here and please leave your Flickr username!
2. Answer this question to qualifiy: Which is your favorite of my dolls and why? You can see all my BJDs in these collections: Tinies; Yo-SDs; Minifees
3. To gain another entry, share one of the above pictures and a link to this post somewhere else (Facebook, Flickr, instagram, twitter, tumblr, etc.) and share the link here. Only one extra entry for each person!

BONUS!! This whole week (starting Monday morning until next Sunday night), everything in my shop is 23% off in honor of my 23rd birthday! ^^ That makes dresses only a little over $10 shipped! Just use this coupon code: B23OFF!

Priestess Yuuki :)

A while back, Brii agreed to let me adopt her sleeping Miyu head :D I'm one step closer to having the Priestess in Minifee form. I don't pick up my Pullips at all anymore. Actually, I should probably sell the lot. I am so in love with her already! I need to start getting more etsy sales or something so I can save up for her because a job doesn't seem likely in my near future x-x Sadly. Ahh, she is just so lovely!! 

I have been having such a hard year already /: But! My birthday AND graduation are coming up! I probably won't have a huge celebration for either, and presents are sparse, but it's still exciting!

Wishlist time again?

Since my birthday AND graduation!! are coming up, my mind automatically went into wishlist mode! This is just for fun (aka a good way for me to waste time that would be better off put into writing that essay that's due on Thursday morning). I will be showing some people outside of this blog (RL people), but I am not expecting anyone here to buy me anything on this list! It's just a good way for me to keep things organized in one place!

DOLLS

Minifee Miyu - Thanks to Brii, I don't need her sleeping head anymore ^^

Sugarble Angelic Wings (40.00)

TOKIDOKI

Tropicool Tank (33.00)

In The Clouds Tee (24.00)

Tokipop Tee (24.00)

Instadoki Tee (24.00)

Float On Tee (24.00)


Cosmic Romance Tee (24.00)


Here We Go Round Tee (24.00)


Unicorno Blind Box (Series 2) (8.00 at official website, but varies)
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MY LITTLE PONY

MLP RIM Raindbow Dash Vinyl Figure (14.99)


MLP Crystal Empire Rainbow Dash (9.99)

MLP Group Shopping Tote (4.50)

Pinkie Pie Okie Doki Lokie Shirt (22.50) BOUGHT! ^^
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DISNEY

The Little Mermaid Ariel Sketch Tank (24.50)

The Little Mermaid Leggings (22.50)

Disney The Little Mermaid Ariel T-shirt (22.50) BOUGHT! 

Ariel Beach Towel (12.50) BOUGHT!!

The Little Mermaid 2-Disc Combo (24.95)
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DESPICABLE ME 2

Despicable Me 2 Talking Dave (39.99) - I have Stuart and he needs a buddy!


Despicable Me 2 Minion Fireman (9.99)


Despicable Me 2 Stuart Plush (24.99) - Again, I have Dave plush, and he needs a plush friend!


Despicable Me 2 3-Pack Minions Bean Bag Plush (29.99)
________________________________________________________________________

KAWAII

The above screenshots are taken off shopkawaii.com (was too lazy!)

Above is a screenshot of my public wishlist at janetstore

OTHERS

Doc Martens - Page (Pink Meadow UK 4) 120.00

Crafty books wishlist on Amazon (my other wishlists are sorta out of date :P)

OTHER NOTES
Other places I'd love gift cards for? American Eagle, Forever 21, Joann Fabric&Crafts, Victoria's Secret, Amazon. Also, I absolutely love socks! My sister just bought me a year-long monthly sock subscription ;A;!!  Straight up cash is the best present, but apparently it's a rude gift or something. Pshh, not for me! :P

Shop update!

etsy shop!

Finally have some dresses up on etsy! I know it's not much right now, but I was just wanting so badly to post them and move on with other things I needed to finish hehe. (Like homework!!) I hope I can sew some more this week. It has been my therapy since I started having off days with the boyfriend. Sadly, there are midterms and projects and other things to be done now that we're in the 4th week of the quarter!

P.S. to all you lovely people who tried to cheer me up and encourage me over last week, I LOVE YOU. Sorry if I wasn't able to respond to all of your FMs, replies, messages, etc. but I was just feeling so burnt out and not wanting to talk more about it after I posted /: Sometimes I just need to get things off my chest and let it out. And often, if I do it in a public arena, I feel like it's really just lifted up, and it makes me feel more "okay" for having such feelings, etc. etc.

In other news, it's exactly one month to my birthday today hehe (: I am not as excited about it as I used to be - a sign that I'm getting old! xD

Lady Bee, why are you so pretty??

I have fallen in love with her (: I hope I can raise some funds to get her soon! I also saw Kid Delf Nana a couple days ago and I'm getting so antsy about getting new *bigger* dolls. I love my Latis still, but all the negativity that comes to mind when I hear Latidoll has turned me off from really paying attention to others' dolls and mine as much any more.

Since the start of this year, I've been looking at MSDs a lot more. Even though I never really play with my Minifees (they're just so hard for me to pose because they're so tall), I still love them just the same. Maybe if I get to spend more time with them, I'll get over my fear of getting more MSDs. I still am debating using MNF Miyu or not as the priestess .. I guess she's close enough. No other doll has struck me as the priestess as Miyu. She's just such a recognizable mold and I see so many pictures of her, so I'm wondering if that's the reason why I think she would match the priestess.

Aladdin LYs Arrive!

After waiting months for them to ship, Lati started sending Aladdin orders in January .. Then I had to wait til MARCH for them to send mine! :( And there are still people waiting for theirs to even ship! Lati's service has gone down A LOT recently. They seem so unorganized these days. Darlene and Brii and other people had told me that it would be worth all this waiting when the dolls finally come home, and they were right ^__^ I think Lati did a great job on these dolls. I hope I can dress them out of character as well, though their stock outfits are so beautiful that I don't know when they'll ever step out of them, hehe!

I was also one of the first 27 to order, so I got a free head! I was expecting to get a Christmas elf, which would have been okay (since they're free!), but ever since Neko-chan mentioned her unicorn, I was crossing my fingers for a unicorn! Lo and behold - I got H.K. unicorn Ruki *__* Dream come true!! I'm unsure if he/she will be keeping this faceup, but right now, I'm just super excited about those cute ears!

Anyways, I'm really happy with this release. They both photograph beautifully, and I've always had trouble with the light tan dolls ^^; Even Aspen, my tinman Lea, doesn't get a lot of playing time because of her irregular skin tone. I guess I'm just a NS-loving girl after all! Both outfits are really nice this time around. Cookie's is just gorgeous! I don't know if I'll ever take it off, hehe!

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One last unrelated thing - I hate going on the DoA thread these days. There are so many people who just keep asking the same question that was answered just one page ago. If they could just read, then we could save like 10 pages per thread of repetitive questions! I also find that new members who have started posting on the thread have been very judgmental or harsh about other members' comments recently. Plus all the negative talk about Lati has made me really want to stay away from the thread lest I start feeling the same way about them, too :P I definitely do dislike Lati's business practices, but I still will buy from them after all. I haven't been on there much, even though I used to frequent DoA all the time /: I miss how it used to be - full of beautiful pictures and excitement around new releases!