Friday, April 11, 2014

My March Favorites!

March into April with some of my favorites from this past month.


I've been a fan of Japanese music since I was a kid, most likely because I've been watching anime since I was five. As I got older, I began listening to J-Rock and J-Pop religiously. This month, I was reminded how much I dig "idol style" music. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu has had my heart since "PonPonPon", but with her recent US tour, there has been a buzz about her in my local Lolita comm. Naturally, I became obsessed with her again. While watching countless hours of Kyary music videos, I came upon something wonderful: BabyMetal.

A sort of kawaii idol, hardcore metal hybrid, BabyMetal consists of three young girls (two middle schoolers and a high schooler) who dress in adorable punk/wa Lolita-esque dresses and sing sweet melodies over rocking beats. I'd briefly seen them mentioned on the Lolita Memes page on Facebook, but I didn't realized the wonder within. These two musical acts really reflect my current mindset of "kawaii riot" and they are just really, really exciting to listen to. 




One of the big events I did this month was my first 5k fundraiser called Mary's Walk. It's sponsored by the owners of a local pub who lost a member of their family to cancer. Now hundreds of people come out to participate as runners and walkers. It was insane to see the amount of people and feel the sense of community. I was joined by Miss Allegra and my grandmother, as well as a few other family members. Our team raised over $1,000 for the cause!
My grandmother bought us socks that matched the promotional posters for the walk.

I enjoyed it so much that I've signed up for our local March of Dimes walk this coming May. I've left my donation badge below if you'd like to help me reach my goal for the walk! 



Kawaii is pain, my friend.

Allegra got me this game for Christmas and I've been on and off playing for a while, but this month I sat down and did some hardcore bell scoring (thanks to Lin and Ko over on YouTube). There is just something about Animal Crossing: New Leaf that gets me hooked when I go to play it. It might be the fluffy villagers, the adorable downloadable content, or the rush of collecting bells to pay off your home loan, but once I start playing, I have to keep playing. 

I also got to "cross animals" with my friends via the interwebs, which always helps when you're in need (Allegra paid off the donations for my cobble stone bridge this time around!) Even though I am an "adult", this game is by far one of my favorites. 


I have also been obsessed this month with the web and app versions of Luvocracy. It's a pretty simple set up: it's a recommendation site that pays you in store credit when other people buy via your recommendations (or "Luvs"). While the pay off isn't immediate, it's still a fun way to share your favorite and dream products with others, as well as checking out what's on other people's hot lists. There is also nothing more exciting than when you hit the Trending page (I've hit it three times this week~). 



My last little favorite is kettlebells! If it was possible, I'd probably be in a relationship with one of these. Not only can you get them in cute colors and they fit so naturally in your grip, they burn a whopping 20 calories per minute! Wowzies! 

It's also nice because by finding workouts that incorporate kettlebells, you can get agility training, cardio, and strength training all at once. I've really liked chichihealthfitness on YouTube.


I hope y'all liked this *overdue* list and found some stuff you'd like to try or things you also enjoy! 

~B