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Miseducated

Tokyolux Lookbook: Rainbow Cats are Taking Over

12/15/2010

Hello, creative collective. So thanks to a lot of work another one of my goals are coming true.. taking over the world with cats, rainbows and other kitschy deliciousness.

I know a lot of you love fashion so I thought I’d add a feature about the new Tokyolux designs me and Audrey have been working on.. as you can see it’s right up our alley. Cute kittens meet gothic lolita and rainbow hair. What do you think? Will you be donning a Rainbow Kitty Cardigan this holiday season? I know I will! ^_~

What’s inspiring you right now?



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Sanrio Small Gift Big Smile LA VIP Party

12/12/2010

What are the two most amazing obsessions of mine that were combined perfectly for the Sanrio anniversary events this year? Sanrio characters (duh) at the CARNIVAL. Can you imagine it? It was like a little taste of Harmonyland right here in the states! It was curated by BUBBLEPUNCH and Japan L.A. for Sanrio’s 50th Anniversary POP-UP Tour.

beam me up

Celebrities in attendance that I saw exploring the Sanrio carnival alongside us were Bridget (Girls Next Door), Tarina Tarantino, Justin Beiber (lol) and HELLO KITTY MAMA. All of your favorite contemporary artists were in attendance as well and so were their Sanrio-inspired masterpieces. Actually there were a lot more wonderful people in attendance but I was so out of it this night that I didn’t get to take everything in as I would have liked to.

Thanks for the photos, LAWEEKLY and Huffington Post.

Upon walking around and eyeing the food trucks (it’s an LA thing) we walked around the carnival and I ran into some more of my sweet online friends Maria of Locketship, Stephanie or Twinkiechan, Yume Ninja and Chubby Bunny. I sadly missed Shrinkle because I left early — we’d planned to meet up again but everything was just too crazy! The pop-up shop had me running around like a maniac, drooling all over the limited goods that you can’t even get in Japan.. it really brought me back to Puroland a teeny, tiny bit!

the sanrio carnival

I got to meet so many of you that I was overwhelmed with happiness and so sad I didn’t take more photo ops! I actually didn’t take ANY… which means I have to wait for the girls to upload their photos before you can even see what I wore, LOL. Oops. I felt like a total failure flaking out at the VIP Event but I was in SO MUCH PAIN you can’t imagine. I couldn’t enjoy myself so I tried to meet all of the friends I could and run around spotting all of the adorable décor.

I also met some of my absolute sweetest friends and co-workers which was the main reason I had decided to go. Hihi Caro whom I work with in design for SWEET STREETS is one of my absolute new favorite people. There are so many genuinely nice people in this world, and there are ALWAYS new friends to meet. (You can never have too many friends! – Hello Kitty) It’s so refreshing to find such positive, motivated and inspired girls to share my love of cuteness with.

The always adorable and sweet Audrey Kitching and I met up for a short time, she had the flu and since I’m only here for the weekend our craft trip was cut way short. After whining to each other about the inconvenience of our schedules this weekend she gave me a present filled with Tokyolux goodies from the new line we worked on and we hugged in relief to finally be together after everything we have been going through side by side.

strawberry king spotted

I would have to say the night was a complete success although I still regret not getting a red carpet photo with adorable Maria due to my anxiety and rushing around.. and I never have regrets! Maria is a really sweet girl and her jewelry (Locketship!) is as sweet as she is.

After I could no longer stand it I got a cab home alone and proceeded to experience the most horrifying night of my life (ha!). If I told you.. (which I will in another article) and you probably wouldn’t even believe me. One of those nights where everything that could go wrong went horribly wrong. I was so frazzled by the end of the night that I immediately passed out on Kimi’s (Kimikat of Rainbowlicious) couch with her cat Pekoe curled up next to my feet.

audygift
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The Night My Anxiety Consumed Me

12/10/2010
MLPYou can't make everyone happy.

One of my new year resolutions (and I’m starting now) is to be more open and raw.
I, much like yourself, want to achieve psychological happiness and in doing that I am starting another new year resolution.
I am finally going to the psychiatrist to deal with all the things I have never dealt with.
I want to make sure I’m much more sane before Colette is a toddler and knows what’s going on!
I have anxiety and depression but I’ve been ordered to the psychiatrist for the zillionth time to get diagnosed and treated..
.. and I’m finally doing it.

Kitty Car

My dreams have come true. I have made it to cute central, USA to meet so
many of my long-time internet acquaintances kept and lost through the years.

I was feeling fine all day.. chugging coffee to stay awake, made it through airport security with no nonsense (for the first time!).
Now I’m finally ready, finally here waiting outside with a bunch of excited and adorable girls.

I can hardly breathe.
Wait! I’m missing Colette.
Why did I come here?

I can feel it.. my anxiety taking over.
I need a drink.
I need to just start talking to someone and forget about it.

I do not realize that I have actually forgotten to take my Prozac all day.

I converse with the sweet and talented people I am lucky enough to be graced with (I was with Stephie and was so happy to see the sweetest of the sweet Audrey, Miss Kika, Cicely, a long-time web friend, Twinkiechan, and sweet as ever Maria of Locketship) and my anxiety begins to consume me.

I cannot be side-tracked.

It does not occur to me why this is all happening because sometimes I have panic attacks.

After beginning to get sick and unable to get my shit together I have to excuse myself.
I have to take a cab back to LA.
I can’t stay another minute.

I arrive at a friend’s apartment, I change out of my outfit, I leave.
Kimi is picking me up and she’s here.. somewhere.
I walk outside and she can’t find me. The street is split.

I go back inside to look at the directions and try to explain.
She can’t find me.
Why wont my brain work?
I keep having panic attacks and I finally tell her I’ll just leave and walk
until I see a busy street.
So off I go, suitcase and suitcase-sized purse in tow.

I need to leave the key in case I get lost..
I don’t know this area and there are no street lights.
I drop it in an orange cone as I leave after making sure no one was around.

I walk all over and around, not familiar with the area.
More darkness. More houses.
My phone is dead and I cannot even reach Kimi anymore.

I walk back to the apartment and try to get the key because I’m starting to
get really upset and worried.
I cannot reach it. Under the cone was a metal pipe and the key has fallen down it.
You have got to be kidding me.
I make the worst decisions in this state of mind.

I start crying and getting sick.
Why can’t I keep it together?
How am I going to get ahold of Kimi?

I see a man on the sidewalk.
His eyes are shrouded by a large, black top hat that sits on top of his long, black hair.
“Did you call for a cab?” , I ask pleadingly.
He looks me up and down and tells me that I do not belong here.
With my suitcase and large purse I stick out like a sore thumbnail.
I beg the cab driver to let me ride with them to their destination and then take me to mine.
He says no.
I can see in his eyes that he’s not prepared to deal with a crazy girl and her suitcases.

I stand back, understanding and proceed to go back up the sidewalk.
He tells me to wait.. get in.

On the way to the mad hatter’s destination he tells me all about why I
should go with him to Rainbow Bar & Grill.
How it’s probably the safest place for me with a suitcase because a lady just got shot in front of it recently.
There will probably be lots of lights and news crews there.
I politely decline.
I’m already on the verge of having some kind of breakdown.

On the way to Rainbowland my phone finally turns on.
I have just enough battery to try to make a call.
I get through and Kimi tells me where to meet her.
Home Depot on Sunset Blvd.

Taxi driver takes me through all of the lights again on a trip that I am not mentally present for.
The lights blur beside me and I wonder if this is all going to end.

Finally we arrive at Home Depot and she’s no where to be seen.
There are sketchy characters running around in the sheds on display.
I ask if I can wait here and the cab driver tells me it isn’t safe.
Another panic attack comes on and I start crying.
She’s not here.. my phone is dead.. where is she?

I ask if he can take me to a gas station..
When we arrive I tear apart my suitcase in the back of his car.
Glitter and tulle fly everywhere.
Tarina Tarantino bags of jewels litter the floor.
I don’t even care. I’m not able to remain in tact. I cannot find my phone charger.
Surely I didn’t leave it in her apartment?
Did it fall out of my suitcase?
Polkadot heels fly out the window.

I tear everything I have apart.
I pour my purse out into the seat.
I do not even wince as my dead grandmother’s necklace falls to the ground.

I begin to give up.
I begin to get very overwhelmed and unable to focus.

I start to pack everything up and there, stuck in a mass of stockings, it is.
My phone charger.

I leave everything I have and run inside to ask if I can charge my phone.
After what seems like endless hours of trying to turn it back on with no avail it gets enough power to work.
I call Kimi.
She’s finally found the apartment.

I tell her to come back, to come to the Shell on Sunset Blvd.
She’s on her way.

I pack up my suitcase, pay the man the miniscule fee he asks for and thank him.
We’ve developed a bond by now and he asks me to take his number.
He’ll be around until 2am in case I don’t find my friend.
There are always more amazing people to be found.

I sit my suitcase near the counter, plop on it and wait.
I buy a water.
I suddenly realize I forgot to take my anxiety medication.
So that’s all it was.. it happens to all of us, right?
We can’t be embarrassed or ashamed.
We have to move on.. if anyone doesn’t like you for who you are then they don’t really like you.
If they cannot stand you at your worst then they do not deserve you at your best.

Kimi arrives and we talk about music, raves and cats the whole way home.
She plays electro and we ride into through the lights of LA on a feeling of peace and an unexplainable feeling of belonging.

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You Can’t Make Everyone Happy

11/25/2010

So don’t even try.
Trying to will only affect you in a negative way.

You Spin Me

This is for all of you out there that get hung up on anxiety like I sometimes do. You just have to take a breath and move on, you have to keep doing what you know you should be doing.

No matter what you do and how amazing it may be, not everyone will like it. There will always be someone who doesn’t like what you do. You can’t make everyone happy. No matter how sweet, out-going and approachable you are, some people are not going to get along with you.

So forget about them. Don’t sweat it. If you try to make everyone happy you’re going to find out down the road eventually that you cannot and that you could instead of been making yourself and those who mean a lot to you happy.

So if you are doing something you love, keep doing it. Passion pays off. If I would have stopped what I was doing at the first NO I got I wouldn’t be living the life I love now. I wouldn’t be doing the things I love to do on and offline, living where I want to live, with whom I want to live with.

“You have to forget about what other people say, when you’re supposed to die, or when you’re supposed to be loving. You have to forget about all these things. You have to go on and be crazy. Craziness is like heaven.”
~ Jimi Hendrix

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Simple Combinations That Make Life Great

11/22/2010

Hello! I’ve been missing you so much, just writing to you makes my week so much more enjoyable! In fact I’ve written quite a few articles that I know many of you are waiting for.. and they’ll be here soon!

Where have you been? Where is my story? Can I join the staff? Will you support my work? ♥ My full-time job is designing goodies for clients on and offline — and now that we’re nearing the holidays work has went insane. As I’ve said before, I wish I could devote a lot more, if not most, of my time to Miseducated and helping new artists — but it’s not in the cards right now. I am however continually working in the background to ensure our success, the miseducated women’s voice will only get stronger.

That being said I love and am responding to many of your submissions!

I am very much in the works of preparing articles from great new and current contributors.. I know you’ll love so many of these! I’ve met many great current artists that I cannot wait to feature and I have recently heard from many new artists who are dying for the chance to have center stage soon! Lots and lots of deliciousness headed your way.

Deer Haus

So for some nonsensical escapeland fun I’ll tell you about a little something that I enjoy, combinations. Combinations of what? Interests, experiences, etc.

So do you have examples?

Examples

Some of my favorite combinations through the years, some common and some not.
dubstep & driving
coca-cola & icecream sundae
warcraft & royksopp
neopets & rice krispee treats
strawberry body shop cocoa butter & several week-long ‘hot bitch vacations’
coffee & dessert
hot dog on a stick & limeade
electro & dancing
strawberries & brie
coconut & the ocean beach
cheech & chong
driving & singing
fruity hooka & a group of friends
kitties & bunnies
glitter & makeup
miseducated & cereal
art/design & music

Surely you have some random or commonly known combinations that you prefer?

Join

<a href="https://www.miseducated.com/?p=5781">one &#038; two</a>
On your blog or website, simply type your favorite combination and link it here. ^*^ Others may question our sanity upon further investigation.. or join our side of tasty complementary combinations!
.. What?

You are also encouraged to leave as many of your favorite combinations here as you want — I can’t wait to see them!

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Hello Kitty’s Home in Puroland, Japan

11/18/2010

in front of you stands a mansion Where is Kitty*Chan’s -that’s Hello Kitty’s for those outside of Japan- house anyway? Is it up in the rainbows or something? Yes, her non-cartoon home is nestled safely in Puroland, a place in the rainbow at the end of a brick road. Hello Kitty’s house is a one of a kind treat, everything in the home is cute, stylish and kittied, from her steering wheel to her bathtub! I couldn’t help wish that Kitty and I could hang out after the tour and check out her favorite interior shops (or get to making some perfect one of a kind furniture!) so I could kitty my whole home, too. Can you imagine a kitty fridge to store your treats in?

Kitty is a bit flaunting of her image in her home, sure, every inch is dripping with sweet Kitty coated icing, sparkling and bright. The fountain in her entryway pulled droplets of water up and down, the droplets seemingly appeared in thin air~

Her car had me panting quite a little bit as well, I cannot imagine that outings they have in it! Cruising through the bunny*laden orange groves? Along the sweet, candy sprinkled with palm trees sparkling beach? Well, it seems it was for looks only but perfect just the same. After all I’m not a big car person so it really got me craving a Kitty*car or at least a Kitty-shaped steering wheel.

queen kitty surveying the land

let's go inside!

bubble fountain

kitschen

hello mod kitty

kitty sky lights

magic mirror

it's in the mosaic

bath time

the garden gate

More Information

Japanese | English

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Learn to See People for Who They Really Are

11/17/2010
on melrose

I’d like to travel, for a moment, back to the time when I was five years old. I remember my mother shushing me for trying to talk to a stranger. I didn’t understand what the big deal was. She said that “we don’t talk to strangers,” and that “it’s rude to ask people personal questions!” This made no sense to me at all – if you never talk to strangers, how are you supposed to make any friends or get to know anyone? Obviously I wanted to avoid a spanking, so I did as I was told, but even the threat of corporal punishment couldn’t quell that insatiable desire inside me to talk to people and get to know them. Now, of course, it’s part of my work as a relationship expert, but what I’d like to do today is pass on to you the skill of really getting to know people, including yourself.

Going back to my childhood for a moment, I used to make mud pies quite frequently. I’d put them on my neighbors’ doorsteps and wait to see how they reacted. In my head, this was a way of testing the waters to see who was friendly and who wasn’t. If someone accepted the pie and the humor that came along with it, then for me they were safe, friendly, and open. If they didn’t see the humor, then I would use that as a sign to steer clear. I didn’t cry about it or beg them to like the pie or call them or stalk them or promise to change the pie into something they’d like better… I just moved on to another doorstep and tried not to take it personally. My pies weren’t to everyone’s taste, and that was fine. No big deal.

So I’m asking you now to make the leap forward with me and apply this to your own life. How many of us currently play a much more neurotic version of the mud pie game, giving too many pies to people who don’t want them, and causing unnecessary suffering by not listening to our intuition when it tells us the response to the pie isn’t a positive one?

Learning to see people for who they really are – and who they aren’t – is not just a matter of learning a few clever tricks that will give you insight into the opposite sex, and that’s not what I’m trying to do here. Instead, I want to give you the power tool of all power tools for your relationship tool belt – the knowledge of how to inner-view for success!

The difficult part about “learning to see people for who they really are” isn’t the people out there – it’s learning who YOU really are and what you really want. If you look at great relationships and think that could never happen to you, I want you to know that you are wrong! Great relationships ARE possible for you! You just have to put in some initial legwork getting to know yourself, and setting up a plan that will not only help you succeed in finding someone compatible for you, but that will also greatly increase your chances at having a great relationship.

Remember that getting older does not necessarily mean getting wiser. Many of us make the same mistakes over and over again. But the basics of a great relationship are easy to learn, no matter how many times you’ve gotten it wrong. When we want to explore a spark we feel for someone, we offer up the adult version of a mud pie: a friendly introduction, a smile, or a flirty glance. Then it’s the intuition’s turn to measure the response we get from that, and decide either to back away, or take another step forward into a conversation. After that next step, then the intuition does its magic again, and again it’s up to us to read the signs and choose which way to go. My goal for you is this: once you have a comfortable knowledge of who you are and what you want, then you can learn to take your passion for connecting with someone, and use it wisely, to make sure your time and energy are spent on the positive road to your next great relationship!

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See You at Small Gift, Big Smile in LA!

11/10/2010
Screen shot 2010-11-03 at 4.39.04 PM

So if you know anything about the creator of Miseducated you know that she is absolutely obsessed with cuteness of all kinds. Especially the kind she grew up with, the kind that wove a magical world for her to live in when she wanted to leave the real world behind. THAT’S RIGHT, I’M TALKING ABOUT SANRIO.

5144572804_24bf7027bc

My love for Sanrio knows no boundries.
I have a Sanrio domain and blog that none of you even know about! LOL!
I had to go to Japan and devote a lot of my time to Puroland, Hello Kitty and other Sanrio cuteness.
I spend all of my spare money on Sanrio.
My home has no Sanrio boundries.. (my husband just deals with it, LOL)
Now that I have a daughter I spend my spare money buying her cute Sanrio goodies.

Sanrio is celebrating their 50th anniversary at Small Gift in Los Angeles as well as other places around the USA with the Small Gift Mobile Pop-Up Shop Tour October – December 2010.

See me at both the Sanrio VIP Party (on the 11th) and the Sanrio Nerd Party (on the 13th) and don’t be too shy to say hello! If you can’t make it, stay tuned for reports on all of the cuteness!

Right now myself and a few friends are planning some VERY EXCITING and CUTE outfits, all Sanrio theme of course. We’re dressing as characters and I cannot wait to show you.

Learn more here at the official website.

smallgiftsm
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Dear Motivation, Stop Hiding From Me

11/08/2010
rainbow bunny

So this new place is just perfect for writing and when I get my studio set back up I’ll be in business again.. but until then I cannot get myself motivated.

Motivation. A scary thing. Where do you find it when you have none?

It’s not hiding under your bed with green tentacles just waiting to grab you when you least expect it.

If you’re anything like me you assume that when you get things as they should be it will hit you in the face. You’ll be kicking your feet up to watch the water and all of a sudden you’ve gotten a stroke of creativity like no other!

It does happen. As creative people we come to adore when it happens. If we’re prepared we even take advantage of it.

… but what do we do when we have no motivation? No stroke of creativity?

We’ve discussed ways to get creative when creativity feels impossible.. but we haven’t discussed motivation as well as I would have liked to.

I struggle with motivation so I assume maybe others do too. The wonderful thing about the internet is that we can connect with others all over the world that are experiencing similar difficulties that we are. No one is expected to go through anything alone. We are very social creatures and we crave a connection with others (so that our bodies may produce dopamine and make us naturally happy).

I have depression, as I’ve said before, and one of the most destructive aspects of depression is the way it paralyzes your willpower. (David D. Burns)

There are many reasons why this is so but only you can really understand. Think about your undone task and write down words that come to mind. Write a journal or blog entry about it. See what the underlying reasons are that you’re putting off getting things done. Reasons can range from overwhelming yourself, undervaluing rewards and even fear of success! Or how about perfectionism? That is one myself and many of my friends struggle with most.

Try to pinpoint your discomfort so that you can work to resolve it. Be strong and carry out your goals. No one else will do them justice.

One of my guilty pleasures is a book called Feeling Good by David D. Burns, M.D. This is a valuable tool in learning to improve your emotional health. I like to read it when I get really frustrated and forget how to use the tools to remain focused. It helps my mind unstick sometimes when a worry wont stop. I highly recommend it!

However, as we said before, depression is actually a chemical imbalance in your brain so if you lack motivation because of depression you should first get help! Even if you’re too scared to talk to your family about going to a psychologist for some strange reason (my parents had a stigma about it) you can always tell your family doctor first. They can then refer you to a psychologist and many times they’ll start you on a small dose of an anti-depressant to see how you do. Sometimes these pills give you an absolute moment of clarity in which you understand every particle of your disorder and how to live without it.

The trick is to train your brain to be positive. To be able to change your life and the way you feel everyday.

So get motivated (no matter who you are) and do something new.

packaging :)
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1980s Toy Box: Poochie by Mattel

11/07/2010

It’s time again for another of those absolutely pointless posts that allow me to relish in the visual deliciousness of popular icons from my childhood.

I’m planning a whole slew of updated posts filled with nonsense information about the adorable icons of our past. If you lived in the 80s as a kid you’ll probably enjoy it as well.

Our first feature is Poochie. I had the cartoons and stationary.. it makes my heart go to a special place when I see things I loved as a child. Everything is colorful, cute and so very magical. I love feeling like that. Like anything is possible!

How does your childhood nostalgia make you feel?

Who is Poochie?

poochie

In the early 1980s Poochie was introduced by Mattel. She’s the cute poodle with hot pink hair and purple sunglasses who worked as an advice columnist whenever her owner was away. Sounds like an early blogger with a flare for fashion to me~

Although she was once very popular in North America she had her greatest marketing success in Italy and other parts of Europe. It’s very common to see Poochie items and ad prints in Italian!

Poochie, is it really you?
Sitting at the top knowing what to do
Poochie, now I understand–
how you’re always there with a helping hand.

Oh boy, it’s not so far away
I know you’ll be there come one day

Poochie is it really you…

Poochie Television Special

Poochie Commercials

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