Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Rain!

Hello, lovelies! It's Usamimi here, posting for the first time!

While my lovely Allie is experiencing snow and chilly weather in the Seattle area, down in North Texas, we're getting a heavy hit of rain. And over the years, whenever it rains, I can't help but think of Teru Teru Bozu!


What's Teru Teru Bozu, you might ask? Well, you might have already seen them before in anime, manga, or Japanese movies & dramas. They're those cute little things that sort of look like ghosts that you see people hanging from eaves, in windows, or on their umbrellas. But what do they mean?

Today, they represent a "wish" by a child (or anyone, really, but they're more common among kids) for bad weather to go away and be replaced by sunny weather so that they can go out to play. Teru Teru Bozu also has a nursery rhyme song similar to ones American children have, like "Rain, Rain, Go away." However, like many old customs and nursery rhymes, the tradition is actually based on something a little darker that many people forget or don't even know about--"yokai" (Japanese ghosts or monsters) stories!

So next time it rains, why not try your hand at making your own little Teru Teru Bozu? You can go with the traditional white cloth or tissue paper, or make it even cuter by trying out different colors of fabric, tissue, or whatever you like! You could even make it look like one of your favorite anime or video game characters.


(Of course, if you're like Allie and live in Seattle, yours might not have as much effect on the weather. ;D) If you ever make one, be sure to leave us a link to a photo in the comments!

Until next time!
Usamimi

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Snow!

This week in Seattle it has been ridiculous! Snow, freezing rain, bad driving and power outages. The one highlight of all this snow? We actually get to build snowmen! Here are a few of my favorite snow sculptures...

D'awww, who can pass up some Miyazaki love? Cute Totoro family!

These ones are cute too!

Domo-kun and... is that Taa-chan? I'm sadly not up enough on my Domo knowledge to be certain...


I LOVE KITTY too!

So cute! I love Minnie's bow best! [Source]

Here on the Northern hemisphere temps are supposed to be warming up, but I'm content to drink a warm mug of tea and sit with a video game... as long as I can just look at it and not have to touch it (or leave my house!), snow is great!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Some Cute Pokémon Tattoos


It should probably be stated early [and it will probably be stated often] -- I am a huge Pokémon fan in general, since I first got my Pokémon Blue for the Game Boy Pocket when I was in the sixth grade. I'm currently in the process of saving up for my very first tattoo, and it's not that much of a surprise that I'm contemplating a Pokémon themed tattoo.

Needless to say, before I get permanent ink, I've been doing research on what an awesome Pokémon tattoo looks like. Here are just a few examples I've found scouring the 'net!

The combination of Pikachu, bows and flowers? I'm a fan.

Bellossom looks adorable seamlessly integrated into this girl's flower sleeve! [Source]
 

 Three Pokémon, so well executed! [Source]


Here's a serene sleeping Mew [Source]

Should I take the plunge and get a Tepig on my ankle? That's yet to be determined, but when done right, Pokémon tattoos can be all sorts of adorable!

Obligatory First Post: Welcome to Glitter Parfait!

Welcome to Glitter Parfait, an internet extension of the quests for adorableness in the every day lives of two girls who love cute.

Glitter Parfait is [as of right now] a fairly open formatted blog -- cute news, stores, pictures, products, games, music, or just about whatever it is that makes us smile at any given time, all available to you in bite sized blog form so you don't have to spend extra time working hard to be in the know about what's adorable -- we'll save you that step by putting it all in one place.

If you have any suggestions for content, questions, or fanmail [♥] please feel free to e-mail us at allie@glitterparfait.com or bunny@glitterparfait.com -- this our first time working on a collaborative blog together so it may take awhile to get into the swing of things; please bookmark us so you can watch us grow.

Love,
Allie