Hello Kitty

Oh, you knew it would come sooner or later! *laugh* I guess it wouldn't be a surprise to anyone if I said I like Hello Kitty. ;) Let's face it, it is cute. The whole concept that is. I have a few PC-games that I really enjoy - Dream Carnival, Cutie World, Bubblegum Girlfriends... - so I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled across this: Hello Kitty Online. It's exactly what it looks like; a Hello Kitty mmo! And better up, it's absolutely free!

Maybe I should take it from the beginning. I've played Wow for about four years, but the last year...well, anyone that play it at higher level would understand what I say if I say that the game has lost the spark. It's become very boring and it's not challanging anymore. So, I've been looking for something else to play. I tried Swtor (Star wars the old republic), but found it even more droll - and gray! The whole game is gray! @.@
What to do? Well, I found this page: MMO Hut, which reviews and lists free online games. And there are so many! I had no idea. Among them I found a few of interest, and unfortunately realised that one of them had been abandoned, so I ended up installing Hello Kitty Online.

So here's my little mini review. :) First of all, it's really cute. <3 It has the same Hello Kitty feel as ever - every npc in the game is very sweet, understanding and caring. The tone is very light and I appreciate that, since I don't like the games where everything is doom, doom and gloom. And gray. HKO is light and pastel coloured, the only thing that's a little freakish (probably not intended to be that though) is how everyone have statues of themselves or Hello Kitty on their houses, or their picture on the door mat of there house...or the Hello Kitty ponds. Wow. o.o It looks pretty narcissistic, and quite a bit scary, but I don't think that's intended.
Anyway.
Unlike other mmo's, HKO's focus isn't kill monsters. It's rather a collect and craft game. Sure, you do smack a few (adorable!) monster over the head with a broomstick, but you don't actually kill anything. They just fall asleep, so you could as well just through dream dust on them. I'm playing solo, which is a slight disadvantage in this game - at least when it comes to your farm. You own your own farm, where you can plant things and build a house. The house is the main problem, since if you're alone it takes quite a lot of time to build it.
The only thing that I've found mildly annoying is that you travel on foot everywhere, though that may change on higher levels I've yet to see anyone with a mount. The maps aren't large, but there's a lot of running back and forth. I advice checking the official wiki for the items you will need for quests before you sell anything, or you will do quite a bit more running than necessary.

Oh, and if you decide to play it - remember that the Dream Carnival is a playable downloader! It's not really part of the game, so don't bother levelling anything! You can't keep anything from the Dream Carnival when you start the real game.

It gets a 4/5 from me, because even with this tiny flaw it's a really fun, lighthearted game and I like that. :)

Blueberry jelly

This Christmas, much like every year, I always end up eating way too much candy... *laugh* Telling yourself 'not this time' apparently doesn't work. And the funniest thing? I don't even like candy that much!
So, I decided that I'd have a go at a bit healthier snacks. The first thing that popped into my mind was blueberries. "How do I make them into a snack?" I thought. A blueberry pie was the first idea, of course, but anyone that's made blueberry pie knows there are loads of sugar in it - and your prone to have ice cream or custard to it as well.

So I kept thinking, and then I saw a picture of pomegrenade jelly. Well, that got me thinking, why not try that with blueberries? So! That's what I did. :) The first test turned out great! They don't look so pretty (mainly because I thought they'd be sticky and powdered them with corn starch needlessly...) but they taste yummy. :D And they were so easy to make, too! Next time I won't bother with the dusting though, they aren't sticky at all! :)

A little bit of shopping

This may sound really odd, considering how much rice I eat, but...today I bought my first rice cooker. :) Yes, it's true! I eat rice nearly every day but I didn't own one! *laugh* It will make life so much easier for me. <3 I'm going to try it this evening. I'm making calamari today. If you haven't tasted it yet - do! :) Just make sure that the second it "curls" (if you've cut it into stripes - that's what I do), remove it from the stove instantly, or it will get really chewy.

Also, I did a bit of shopping today besides the rice cooker. I got gluttinous rice flour to make some mochi (among other things). Maybe I should split the dough and make them in several colours...that would be really cute, don't you think? :) I think I might even try putting icecream in some - I read somewhere that that'd be really yummy but I haven't tasted it myself.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Whether you celebrate Christmas today, or tomorrow, I wish all of my readers - secret or not - a very, very Merry Christmas. <3 I wish you all the best, and a calm and peaceful evening. <3

I received the most beautiful gift today: a merry-go-round music box. <3 It will be playing lullabies for me tonight. <3 (The picture is of a similar merry-go-round of unknown origin.)

Mist and mashmallows

My original plan today, was to take my camera, go out in the forest and take a few snaps of the beautiful snowcovered trees...however, it's been a very mild night, so most of the snow on the trees are gone. The mist is also thick outside. :( I'm going to go out anyway, but there's a big chance there won't be any snow to photograph. Oh well.

Yesterday evening I made more candy, mashmallows this time. :) Pink ones. <3 It's my second go at mashmallows actually - the first try being some five years back, which ended in disaster... - but this time I followed a much better recipe, and they turned out great! :) The only drawback (if any) is that I had too much icing sugar in the form I poured the batter in, so they have pink icing on them. XD Oops!

They were a bit tricky to cut with a knife, so I used a pair of scissors. The result is that they're not entirely even, but then again I made them pretty thick. *giggles* I imagine they'd be easier to cut if I'd split the batter over two forms instead. But...I think it gives them that home made charm, don't you? :)

Cape

Once again, I woke up as the tree came alight, which is - I think - one of the best ways to wake up. <3 Yesterday I did the last Christmas-shopping, and ended up sitting with my crochet work. <3 It was a really lovely feeling, sitting there in the light from the Christmas tree and the candles, working on the cape. The only thing missing was a Christmas quoir singing. :)
As I went to bed I only had a tiny bit of work left on the cape, so I finished it this morning. :) As usual...I'm not a very good photographer, but still. Here is a picture of it. :)

So there it is. :) It only needs to be ironed a bit, but I'll do that later. Now, it's time for a stroll in our magical winter wonderland. <3

Candymaking

This morning greeted me with a dark, winter dawn as the lights of the tree lit up. The dawn is coming slowly... It's still very dark outside, but it's oh so pretty! All the trees are decorated with snow on their branches. :)
Yesterday I was making chocolates and saffron bisquits. <3 I always do chocolates for Christmas, but this year I wanted to try something different... So I made several kinds. One with rose-flavoured Turkish Delight, one with pink white chocolate on top, one with strawberry flavour... It was fun! *giggles*
It actually turned out a lot better than I expected, even though the white chocolate didn't really want to set again. It still has a few days left to the 24th. :)

I've been trying to figure something out to sew now that I finally have the time again to do so, but I find myself very short on materials... *sigh* I really need to buy more white and pink cotton fabric.

Snowfall and crochet

Saturday greeted us with a lovely snowfall, which kept on all through the night and Sunday. So right now there is a beautiful, winter wonderland outside my window. <3 It's so beautiful. :) I wondered if there would be snow on Christmas, and it looks like there will!
It comes at the right moment, too, since I don't need to go to school again until January, so I don't have to worry about delayed trains, which is a great relief. Also, I've managed to complete the small projects I've been working on now and then when I've had a few minutes. Among them were the legwarmers that I showed you a few posts ago. :) Only I made them in really thick, comfy yarn. <3 So they're really warm. <3

The other day I also found a great crochet book - a Japanese book, which in contrary to Western pattern books didn't have the usual diagrams but actual pictures of the patterns, which I find so much more useful! <3 I've never been able to decipher Western knit- or crochetpatterns, but this was so easy! I've been working on an adorable cape with a lovely pattern, and it actually looks as adorable as on the pictures, just because they were so easy to use!
It's been the same for me with sewing patterns, so I think I will now completely give up on Western patterns and only go for the Japanese ones, since they are so much better - and so much cuter! <3

(The picture is child-sized, I'm making mine adult-sized of course. :) And in white and pink. <3)

Soon frequent updates again!

No, I haven't forgotten. <3 I'll soon be updating more frequently, as I've simply been far too busy to do so the past few weeks. :) We presented our game today, and on Thursday is the C++ exam, so after that I will have a lot more time on my hands. Hopefully that also means I'll have time to sew again, I've been itching to make something new...

Anyway. ^.^;; Back to this lovely book: 

First snow

...do you ever get the feeling that you're not really you, but a spectator of your own existence? That you are merely watching your life pass behind glass, but not truly living. I used to feel that way all the time. It was the kind of movie which never seemed to really start, and you wondered if you'd reach the end and nothing meaningful ever happened.

That changed almost four years ago. But...sometimes there's bad days when that feeling returns. Today was one of those days. Waking up wondering what the point of it all ever was. But... I have my beloved. That's all only reason I need. Still, it's been one of those days. That pass as if behind glass.
Going home, I ended up sitting alone in the dark, waiting for a bus on a lonely bus stop. I don't really recall what I was thinking, I must have zoned out like I tend to on these days, when I felt something cold and wet on my face. Looking up, tiny, icy snowflakes fell around me. It must have snowed for a while and I hadn't noticed a thing.
Isn't that peculiar? The winter's first snow, like some kind of promise that things will be ok tomorrow. :) They probably will. Thankfully these days fall away and life goes on as usual. I wonder why it happens though. Maybe it's a reminder for me to not take anything for granted. That I could as well not be here, had not fate been kind to me.

Maybe it will snow more tomorrow?

I'll leave you with a lovely picture of winter lights in the trees, like thousands of tiny fireflies. <3

(found here)

Sleepy sunday

It's past nine and I'm still so very sleepy... It was tough getting up today! The covers were so warm and fluffy... <3 I think I will be taking the day off from studying today. I sat in front of my computer all day yesterday. @.@

I was thinking...that maybe I could take the time to sew something today. :) It's been so long. It's not that I really need more Lolita things, but... *sigh* I can never really have enough, either! *giggles* Also, something I saw today made me think. I've always vouched for that leg warmers should be used with great care in combination with Lolita - or not at all. Today I did see a pair that actually had the right Lolita "feel".

Please ignore the shoes and the rest of the outfit. :) Besides that the hanging lacing doesn't look too attractive, I think the design is pretty nice. I'm usually not much for lacing, but I do think these look similar enough to over the knee socks to actually work with Lolita.
Maybe making something similar wouldn't be too hard. What do you think? Finding inspiration for leg winter wear that suits Lolita isn't easy - and finding products at a reasonable price is even more difficult! In a country where winter is both very cold and very windy, you have to get creative or freeze! *laughs*

I've been looking everywhere for nice, warm leggings and boots - but to no avail. So it's time for plan B, pretty much. Maybe this might be a reasonable plan B. :)

Knitting and lamb's wool

Oh wow, it's already been a week! Where did time fly off to? It's been one of those weeks when you work, work, work and feel like you're not getting anywhere. I've been working on the game - the player and enemies to be precise - and it's taken so much time for every step along the way. Just making an object react to when you press buttons on the keyboard - and that was a lot easier than making an enemy follow the player!
Phew!

Anyway. The fair. :) It was a windy and pretty cold day, but I had fun. <3 I only bought two things, but one of them was such a great thing I need to share it with you! <3 It was lamb's wool soles to put into your shoes. <3 Oh, I love them! <3 Now my feet are cozy and warm inside shoes with lamb's wool. <3 A perfect thing to buy at a fair!
I've also been knitting some. Made a new pair of mittens and a really warm polo-neck collar. <3  (You know, just the neck instead of a whole sweater to wear instead of a scarf?) I found a thick, soft yarn for it. <3

We've also bought Hyacinths, but they're not blooming yet. I can almost smell them already. <3 Ahh, the scent of Christmas!