Herb Garden

Presenting a super corny post, with a pun! Do you know of the Mori Girl Pen Pal community on tumblr? It seems that it will allow interested parties to post up an application, so to speak, with an introduction and interests then other members can message whom they would be interested in swapping letters and addresses with. I signed myself up and went to go pick up some stationary at Daiso for the occasion.

I found this Herb Garden themed one, it's really cute! Although a few of the pictures confuse me, wild strawberry is shown both on the envelope back and on the upper left corner.  Why would wild strawberry be in an herb garden? There also pictures for Bergamot and Juniper, both of which I had to look up! I don't think those were in the herb garden from my childhood and even still, after looking them up, I'm not sure if this is supposed to be referencing the Bergamot Orange or the type of mint. I think I should take this stationary into a Whole Foods and go try new spices. 

Do you have any recipes or food recommendations for using either of these herbs?

Tea Swap: Part Two

Today my package in the mori girl tea swap arrived, I was actually a little worried thinking it had gotten lost making it's way across the pond. 

When I opened it I was greeted with the most lovely aroma of one of the teas, after much deliberation I think I've nailed it down to the OstergruB tea, which Rachel says is an Easter blend tea from Austria. I keep making regular passes to my desk to give it a smell, it reminds me of the way that our Royal Milk Tea from Royal/T used to smell. A bit of nostalgia. Luckily, I don't think that it will be as difficult to make this one. 

She also sent teas called Creme Brulee and Regent's Park tea. All this said I think we both have similar tastes in tea, which makes me even more excited to be able to make a cup.  If this tea actually tastes like Creme Brulee it will be the most amazing thing...ever? I hope it gets cool enough that I can have some of these in the morning, it's officially summer here and been really hot but I really look forward to trying these. Thank you so much Rachel!

Inspiration Sunday: Hama Girl

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Hama Girl, I would say, a subset of mori girl where the concept is to take the aspects of mori girl and apply them to the theme of living by the beach. Nautical stripes, shells, boater hats, etc. The color palette is cooler with colors like cerulean blue, light blues, greens.

Personally the colors and aesthetic remind me of a beach on the East coast or somewhere else, not the beaches I’m used to living on the West coast because the palette really isn’t the same.

Anyways, here’s one of the answers ohyeahhamagirls said about the same question:

Specific pointers for what I think evokes the “hama” vibe:

• a “cooler” color scheme than mori usually has, like blues, greys, stark white, sea greens
• sailor motifs, like blue-and-white horizontal stripes, sailor collars and boating hats
• other clothing items that could be useful at the beach like sandals, parkas or wellies
• accessories made from found objects of the beach are cute! Think seashells, sea stars, feathers and sea glass. Or any accessories that follow an ocean theme.
• for hair generally everything that also works in mori, messy intricate braids and such. I even imagine it to me more wind-tousled, sun-bleached and matted by sea salt.
• all of this should stay within the silhouette of mori girl, loose-fitting, layered, effortless.

   

Mori Girl Questionnaire

Source:

A series of questions for mori girls and boys on tumblr to answer.  Just for fun.
1.      How did you find out about mori girl/boy?
2.      If you had a garden what would you grow?
3.      What’s the least mori thing you do (in your opinion)?
4.      What is most inspirational to your style?
5.      What is your favorite fairytale or myth?
6.      If you weren’t a mori girl/boy, what fashion would you wear?
7.      What’s your favorite style of art?
8.      What motifs (ex: flowers, deer, stripes) do you include in your mori girl/boy style?
9.      Choose the place you’d rather live: a cozy cabin in the mountains, an old Victorian-esque house in the woods, a cottage on the beach, a farm house with an old barn and silo.
10.  What book or movie do you consider mori?
11.  What do you dislike about mori girl/boy?
12.  What do you like most about mori girl/boy?
13.  What’s your favorite season?
14.  Who’s your favorite character (from books, movies, or television)?
15.  What’s your favorite flower?
16.  What genre of music, artist, or band do you feel is most mori?

One : The internet.
Two : We had a vegetable garden when I was a child, so ideally I would like to grow my own vegetables but I really like flower gardens so both would be ideal. Now we just grow herbs out of pots, the soil in the back is not as good as it used to be when I was younger.
Three : The aspect of anything being traditionally "mori girl" and therefore acceptable to do being a mori girl is absurd to me, just as it is to lolita. It's a fashion, an aesthetic, you should not dictate the rest of your personality or likes around it.  If you want to stretch your ears, get tattoos, unnatural colors of hair, go for it.
Four : Everything. Pochee, older mooks, fellow bloggers, the online shops.
Five: Gosh I love both so that's way too hard to pick. For Grimm fairytales, I suppose it is Snow White and Rose Red.
Six: The Free People aesthetic, so bohemian, I suppose.
Seven : Alphonse Mucha, Arthur Rackham,  Edmund Dulac, Beatrix Potter, Jan Brett, Alan Lee.  Art nouveau, the Golden Age.
Eight: Patchwork, Gingham, deer
Nine: Victorian-esque house, though I've wanted one in San Fran since I was younger though that is really unrealistic seeing how expensive the price of living is up north.
Ten :  Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden.
Eleven: The mentality that one cannot do things that are not "mori". 
Twelve : Simplicity.
Thirteen : Spring.
Fourteen : Why is everything one?! A Song of Ice and Fire's House Stark. Yes the entire house, by the book verse, please. Gemma Doyle from A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. Howl, Sophie and Michael from Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle. Tomoyo Daidoji from CLAMP's Card Captor Sakura. 
Fifteen : I don't have one.
Sixteen : Listen to what you please. Personally I like Florence + the Machine, The Lumineers, Mumford & Sons, Of Monsters and Men, Cecile Corbel. 

What are your answers?

Monthly Theme: Birds

The monthly theme on the morigirl LJ has been decided: April is for the birds!

I started this a few days ago to pass the time, though my Spring Break is here it's too windy and cold to go outside. In better news: I  think I figured out what to do with some of the test embroidery pieces that I've been collecting, slightly inspired by the oversized pins in Cult Party Kei, and hair fasteners.  On the back it has both a flat top pin to be worn as an accessory or brooch and a slip to be ran through a headband.

Music Monday: The Mystics Dream

Handmade: Crochet Collar

Another handmade item, but not one by me, it's the lovely crochet collar that Jackie made for me! Since I only know the basic chain stich I knew that it was going to be impossible even with a detailed tutorial for meto figure out how to make one. Swimmer and the Japanese brands who used to carry them earlier in the season are not in stock. Luckily I have friends who are much more talented then I am.

Thanks Jackieeeee!