Stars, gypsy souls and magic dust.

Poetic Mondays - romanticizing house chores

2012-02-06T11:12:00.003Z

Mary Poppins:
[Spoken]
In ev'ry job that must be done
There is an element of fun
You find the fun and snap!
The job's a game

[Sung]
And ev'ry task you undertake
Becomes a piece of cake
A lark! A spree! It's very clear to see that

A Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-wown
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way

A robin feathering his nest
Has very little time to rest
While gathering his bits of twine and twig
Though quite intent in his pursuit
He has a merry tune to toot
He knows a song will move the job along - for

A Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-wown
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way

[Interlude]

The honey bee that fetch the nectar
From the flowers to the comb
Never tire of ever buzzing to and fro
Because they take a little nip
From ev'ry flower that they sip
And hence (And hence),
They find (They find)
Their task is not a grind.

Ah-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h ah!

A Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-wown
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way

Trying to believe the words of Mary poppins and having and endless list of tasks that should be done in order to control the chaos and keep my mental sanity, I thought that the best way of starting this monday could be to think of it all in a most romantic and appealing way.

I need poetry and romanticism in my life. Don't get me wrong, I actually like the fact that house chores are a lot easier to do nowadays than it was some decades ago. Still, I also think sometimes it is good to think back and understand that there is a meditative quality and house chores and everyday tasks of a sort. A quality we tend to forget, because we forget being in the moment and just want to brush of chores and get them all done and over with. So, what am I proposing, to live your own house chores??? Well.....ridiculous as it sounds, it is something like that I am proposing myself, as the ever growing list of undone things around the house is making me stress out and I can see there is no end to it during the next.....decades! And the most I look at things as chores, the more likely I am not to make them. And nowadays it seems that even keeping my nails short is too much of a task to keep updated.

So here we go, another view over housework.

1909

Torii Kotondo (1900-1976) 'Combing hair'

Mary Cassat 'Mother and child' 1900

Waterhouse 'Destiny' 1900

What's your spoonful of sugar?

Weekend traveling: Remembering Jerez de los Caballeros

2012-02-06T00:12:00.001Z

This weekend we didin't do our usual wandering around. It was cold, my partner had just had some sad news from home, and so it was time to stay home, rest and enjoy family life. I must confess that I was led to understand though, how much our saturday short trips are essential to my peace of mind. Being a stay at home mum can be a lot more demanding that it seems. As much as I absolutely love my daughter with every fiber of my being, not having one moment to myself all through the day can be hard on the long run. I make sure we have some sort of social life by getting ourselves out there in Parents and Toddles, breastfeeding groups, library rhyme times and similar. I also do my browsing around local charity shops but only as much as her patience will allow me. Her naps are slept ON me and during the night she must have me by her side, otherwise she won't sleep. Which I have said before, I still love. I now she needs her time to become more and more independent, slowly, and I intend to be here for as long as she needs me and support her during that path. I may gently encourage some sort of independence (for example, falling asleep without being nursed) but I won't push her into independence for my convinience. That being said.....have I mentioned how demanding it can be?

Once upon a time I was a reasonable writer. I could put my thoughts into words easily and add a bit of humour to that along the way. Lately, I seem to have what people call a 'mum-brain'. And a 'mum-brain' may not be the best adviser for writting.....

Oh well, all this to say, going somewhere every saturday is more important for my sanity than I thought. It is a family time I really apreciate and it keeps us all distracted for some hours. Being away from friends and family and haven't yet built new relationships around here, it is nice to do something different on a regular basis.

Considering all this, I was led to remember when we used to travel before Beatriz was born. And searching my digital albuns I found this particular saturday trip, to a little town in the South of Extremadura in Spain. It was nearly one year ago and I remember perfectly being surprised by the size of my belly when I saw my reflection anywhere. My bump was really starting to show and it felt so strange and amazing at the same time that that person with the big belly was me! Ok, looking at that bump now, it is not THAT big.....but it certainly felt like it for someone who was new to all that bump-business!

Jerez de los Caballeros is a beatiful peaceful place to visit by the way.

Thursday whimsical findings

2012-02-02T18:01:00.001Z

One day late for this article I know, but when an object finds you it chooses no right time to do so. And these three miniature chinese tea pots have definately chosen me, calling me from the charity shop window. They are not lamps, but I am sure there are miniature genius inside each one of them. I don't intend to spend all my wishes just yet, I will just keep them in a warm and comfy home and ocasionaly take them into the garden, so that the genious can play outside with the fairies and all other creatures my dog uses to stare at from the top of the stairs.

Poetic Mondays - haikus

2012-01-30T16:14:00.001Z

''It's my snow''
I think
And the weight on my hat lightens.

Takarai Kikaku (1661-1707)

A single river streching far
Across the moorland swathed in snow.

Nozawa Boncho (d. 1714)

A gust of wind,
And the waterbirds
Become white.

Yosa Buson (1716-1783)

Weekend traveling:Black Mountains

2012-01-30T00:19:00.000Z

Yesterday, we went to search for a few more items for my vintage shop in a car boot sale and then, after a light lunch, we headed to the Black Mountains. There is certainly something magical about that place, with those naked green hills and those miniature poneys. Because I have been lately too tired for words, I will leave you with the pictures. The first one was taken when too of the poneys that live there decided they should be invited to share our custard creams and put their noses right inside our car. Our dog wasn't too happy about it. If you look close, you can see on the first picture, on the right, there is a sort of grey fur. That's a second very very little adult poney. You can see how small they are in that picture that shows a family going up the hill escorted by our friends.

Thrifty wednesday: a skirt, 4 tops and a necklace

2012-01-25T16:48:00.002Z

Wordless Poetic Monday

2012-01-23T18:56:00.000Z

Weekend travells: what's around the corner?

2012-01-23T00:09:00.001Z

Vintage wednesdays - ebay findings

2012-01-18T11:23:00.002Z

Because my camera keeps playing up, I will leave you today with a few gorgeous vintage dresses I found browsing on ebay this morning. Bare in mind that when you see these their biding time might have ended. No harm in checking though. I just found these randomly, but they are so beatiful I think they are worth sharing:

DOLLYBIRD-1960S-VINTAGE-BLACK-FLORAL-FRILLY-MOD-MINI-DRESS

VINTAGE-70s-RETRO-FOLK-BOHO-FLORAL-FLOATY-DREAMY-ROMANTIC-TIERED-MAXI-DRESS-8-10

Vintage-1970s-Stunning-Black-Red-Floral-Maxi-Dress-Uk-10-12

Vintage-60s-70s-Boho-Hippy-Psych-Folk-Victorian-Theatrical-Costume-Dress-30s

VINTAGE-LAURA-ASHLEY-COUNTRY-WINTER-FLOWERS-WOOL-MIX-WINTER-DRESS

VINTAGE-LAURA-ASHLEY-ENGLISH-PINK-BEAUTY-FLOWER-50S-STYLE-DRESS

Do you have a favorite?

Happy wednesday everybody!

Poetic Mondays - the poetry in a cloudless day

2012-01-16T23:56:00.001Z

Out we went and early it was, and above us, the sky, cloudless and still, like it doesn't often dare to be in these islands. And under the blue sky, the white light and the crispy air we walked, fragments of memories rushing in and out of my mind. Because in days like these I go through all my ages and all seasons of the year, chaotically, aleatorily. For all that it takes is a small drop of past, a single pearl of by gones, for our present to feel more present than ever, more vivid, more ours, more worth while.

THURSDAY MOTHERHOOD RAMBLINGS- CO-SLEEPING

2012-01-13T00:41:00.001Z

Oh dear oh dear.....Thursday post is coming on friday isn't it? Gotta get this right! I swear I try but oh....it is hard! Anyway, we're already in the early minutes of friday and I don't expect to be online for long, so I better get on with today's (or should I say yesterday's) post.

This is NOT a technical post on co-sleeping. I won't talk about safety tips about co-sleeping nor will I advocate it or advise against it. i do it with my 7 month old. Have been doing it ever since she was about 4 months. Before that I would do it for half of the night. If you do want to co-sleep please find a good article about the rules for doing it safely. It is good to do things in an informed way. And co-sleeping without taking notice of safet rules can indeed be dangerous.

What I want to share with you is my experience of it. I started doing it out of convenience. My baby always woke up too many times during the night and I cope very badly with lack of sleep. If you breasfeed, co-sleeping can make your night a lot more comfortable and garantee you some good rest. At least it did for me. What I didn't know was how co-sleep was going to feel. Can you imagine how good it feels to share your sleep with your baby, feel her next to you all through the night. From the beggining it made me feel so much more in touch with my deep instincts. I feel like the female wolf who has her children safely close to her body during the night. Everything seems so natural and instinctive. It feels right and it feels incredibly good. It's amazing how when she falls asleep on my chest (which she will some times, if I am trying to sooth her to go back to sleep) I won't move even when I am supposed to be deeply asleep. The position in which I fall asleep, is the same I have when I wake up.

The other night she had a cold. She wouldn't settle anywhere, not even on the bed, right beside me, as always. So she spend a good part of the night sleeping on me, literally, like a puppy would sleep on their mother. And waking up with that fragile little thing sleeping confidently on my tummy or on my chest is being one with the nature, is being one with the universe.

But in general, she sleeps right beside me. When she wakes up, even if not properly, she will turn to my side and stretch her little arms and hands looking out for me. On the nights when she doesn't wake up so often, I wake up naturally and check on her. After all these months I still check on her breathing. I wonder when I'll stop doing that. Will she be nineteen and I will snick into her room and check to see it she's breathing? Strange thing being a mum. Strange and marvelous thing. I know deep down she is safe. She is healthy and she will grow up to be a confident happy child. But still, we mums always worry, always.

Co-sleeping made our bonding even stronger. I remember when she was very very little and my mum was staying with us for a couple of weeks, I would leave her with my mum while I napped for half an hour in the afternoon. And I used to miss her. I swear I did. It didn't feel right to leave her there. Ok, it is my mum, and I wanted her to have the chance to bound with her as well, but still, it feels right when nowadays, if I need a nap, we both lay down together for a nap. I mean, this sort of closeness, this sort of bounding that makes your baby almost a part, an extension of yourself, won't last for long. Soon she'll need more independence, and eventually she will go and live her own life. But these first months, these very first years, are ours. Of course, I include my hubby as well. Although I know and he knows the sort of bonding I experience is very different from the one he experiences. I can easily dedicate 24h of my days to her. Even when I am doing something else, she comes first. And when I sleep, her presence is there, right there by my side. I hear her breathing as I fall asleep.

People say if we start co-sleeping we'll never get them out of our beds. Which is probably why there are so many teenagers still sleeping with their parents,right?? I know, she'll probably want to stay in our bed for a while now. And do I mind? Of course not. It's a wonderful experience. I wish there were words for it, because if they existed, then this would be the most poetic post ever. But words are no enough to describe it.

THRIFTY WEDNESDAY - SMALL INDULGENCIES

2012-01-11T23:58:00.005Z

....yes...I do know that when one says one's gonna post on wednesdays...they usually refer to the beggining of the day....not nearly thursday. But being a mum has these things and the truth is I couldn't find the time to post earlier. We woke up late to start with, I walked into the village to browse a couple of charity shops whose browsing I had left unfinished yesterday, rushed back, cooked lunch, walked dog, sat down for a moment at the computer, but little Missy was unsettled, therefore ended up having a nap on me. Long story short, when I saw the time it was already time for bath, dinner and Miss Lilliputian Empress' bath. It's amazing how days go by....I haven't even washed up after dinner and we missed Parents and Toddles this morning....

Even now I am sitting in bed, next to the little one, hoping she won't wake up when I stant up to take some pictures for todays' post and wash my teeth. I wonder what I do wrong...I probably iddle way too much, it must be it. Because I honestly don't know what I do with my time.

I am happy though, because I really felt like buying something for myself and have found a good number of nice bargains, which I hope to post on here today. I also found some vintage items elsewhere, so I am continuing my collection for my soon-to-be-opened online vintage shop.

The other good thing is that we (out little Empress, her father - aka my hubby, and me...oh, and Chacal, the dog) saw a beautiful sunset and we lingered on by the estuary, in spite of the(not too strong wind), in order to see it until the end. It is such a wonderful sensation to watch the sunset in a winter afternoon and know that there is a warm and cozy home waiting for you.

My camera is playing up with me big time, and I am starting to convince myself it is time to spend a small fortune on a REAL camera....

Pictures will be close to terrible on this post, because I have to take what my camera generously decides to give me and I also don't have a lot of time for editing....so....I beg your pardon for that. I really hate posting lousy pictures...

The pictures don't do justice to this skirt, but it is a gypsy/hippie style skirt, just how I like it. The colour is brighter, but as I said, pictures are not coming out all right today. I still have to fix it though, because it is way too big for me (it's a size 14, so a couple of sizes bigger)

I am usually not a rose girl, though nobody could say so from today's post. I will buy rose if I see something I like very much....in this case not only I liked this pieces very much, they were all 1 pound each...impossible to say no! The top was originally 4 pounds, and when I saw it I thought ''naaaah, way too expensive''. Yesterday there it was, on the 1 pound rail!!

....

Oh yes, I do realize that there is a flag in that t-shirt. Well....actually I do now. When I bought it it was only a nice t-shirt with many butterflies and some daysies. Then when I looked at it at home, there it was, the flag. I am NOT a flag girl, believe me. But here we are, the t-shirt has a flag on it, there's no way around it. I am not even much of a t-shirt girl, but this one was snug and had very short sleeves. And the printing had butterflies on it (ok, and a flag, I can now see....) I might transform it a little bit in order to make the flag less apparent. Sorry, I just feel strange carrying a flag on my chest, no matter what country it is from....

Anyone got any good bargains lately you would like to share?

Poetic Mondays - loving the seaside (Much love mondays)

2012-01-09T00:37:00.003Z

The sea - huge, unmeasurable, vast - there it was in all its greyness. The winds, being kind for once, allowed us to walk in bare hearts across the pebbles, and on we went, step by step, attracted by the liquid grey, the immense liquid grey whose end we could not see, whose raising tide we jonkingly feared. There we were, connecting the circles of time, parents, child, dog. I went back many years and visioned myself, grey trousers, long wavy hair, inocent expression in my 9 year old face, holding my puppy, sitting on the rocks, looking at the sea, laughing like we only laugh when the duende that lives in our hearts is still reacheable. Jumping back in time I held my present very dearly, taking it all in, my love, our love, the unexplainable feeling of holding a baby, the sea, the skies, the smells, the sounds. I held my present very dearly and touched eternity very lightly.

.....loving to live by the seaside again.

Weekend Travelling: Monsanto, last year.

2012-01-08T10:47:00.002Z

Yesterday, we went to the beach and it was a great afternoon to do so. As it doesn't seem to be so common around South Wales, it was neither very windy or very cold. Which meant that having a walk on the beach was actually most enjoyable. We went to the mumbles, and I would gladly share some pictures of that, if my camera hadn't most uncooperative, as it has been lately (apparently her- yes, my camera is a lady, batteries are full but then she refuses to work clamming are batteries are empty....most annoying). While walking around with my partner and my dog, carrying my baby girl on a wrap and feeling happy I remember a trip we did last year, when I was in my early pregnancy, in which I started to imagine already how we would be making all sorts of travelling with our baby when she/he (we didn't know by then) was born. That too, was a very special weekend travel, which I am about to share with you.

The place we went is called Monsanto, it is in Portugal, not very far away from the Spanish border (we were living in Spain by then). It is a small village with stone houses, some of them built in a way that they seem to melt with the rocks. Pictures will show it a lot better than my words.

Probably due to its rustic look and the feel that one have gone back in time once entering Monsanto, Spaniards call it ''the most Portuguese village of Portugal''. Portuguese people always wonder at this designation, but I can understand where they are coming from. The village is built on the top of a rocky hill, which only adds charm to it.

Weekly themed posts

2012-01-06T10:40:00.001Z

Lying in bed the other day, my baby already fast asleep, orange lamp light through the bedroom window (gotta love the windows in this house) I started to wonder what I have to say right now, which are the things that are important to me to talk about, and how to make a weekly habit out of it. This is still a 'test-drive', but this is what I came out with for now:

Poetic Mondays - Not that I write poetry, but I do like to write poetical short texts, which help me keep my eyes on the beauty of life. I also like to think I do the same through photography and photo editing. But in here fits anything that is poetic to me, may it be my texts, my pictures, situations, videos, a music, a quote.

Thrifty/vintage Wednesdays - The name says it all. Thrifty findings, old and new, and anything vintage comes in here.

Thursday motherhood ramblings - So many discovers, so many questions, so many wonders, this will be my place to talk about my experiences, to share related articles or videos. I must warn you, this will be a sort of alternative motherhood, though ;)

Weekend travellings - all travels big and small. Maybe I just went around the corner and found something I would like to share. Maybe I went on hoiliday three years ago and found some pictures I would also like to share with you. Or maybe I found something very interesting about travelling. Who knows what will come out...

This it is for now folks! My style posts will come anywhere in between with no fixed day for them. I may double post some days.

Bare in mind this will be my particular vision over things. Bare also in mind english is not my native language, so forgive me for any misspelling.

And as the week ends, and we haven't done anything outside the comfort of our house rather than walking the dog, Miss Lilliputian Empress (yeah, that's my baby) and I will get dress and go for a little charity shop browsing baring in mind our future internet shop.

Doing anything special this weekend?

Through the seasons

2012-01-05T19:44:00.003Z

I managed to change the look of the blog (as you probably can see) and also to merge two blogs into one. I have also made some decisions regarding my weekly themed posts, but will talk about those further on.

Getting up this morning I realized once more how much of a summer girl I am. Although I love the beauty of winter time, I have a lot more energy during the summer and am definately a lot more inspired to get dressed beautifully. Winter makes me want to hang around in my pajamas and curl up cozily in the sofa with a hot cup of tea (as if that was possible with a nearly 7 month old around ahahaha)

Anyway, as we are now living in a house with central heating, it is not quite so bad, and I did make an effort to have a spark of creativity in my choice of clothes today. But keeping the comfort, obviously (which I always do anyway). So I went for my oversized 'little house on the prairie' top over a green sweater and some jeans. A touch of spring in a winter day. Just to remember seasons change, I decided to include pictures from an outfit from last summer and another from last autumn (both post baby bump lol)

Summer:

Autumn:

Winter (today) with central heating:

Change or new blog?

2012-01-04T13:10:00.004Z

I either need to slightly change this blog or start a new one where I can gather all the different directions I want to follow regarding blogging. I could also keep 2 blogs going as I used to....

I really don't want to delete my old blogs, including this one, because messy as they are, they are my begginings, my first experiences and I am a memory keeper. I wish I could just gather the information contained in two of my blogs, merge them into one and start from there.

As for what will be covered by my blog, I intend to keep on the personal style side of it, but would like to add other bits and pieces that alltogether have a lot to do with my personal universe: a bit about the way I add poetry to my days, some comments about motherhood (as it was to be expected), some crafting, whenever I have time to do that again, my photography, my trips and small things that just make my life special. That would probably be the big filosophy of it: little things that make my life special and also that make it MY life, and not anybody else's life. But this time, for a change, I would like to do it a little bit more structurely. Maybe have fixed days every week for different subjects. I know too well the lack of structure eventually leads to months without writing.

Another thing that will be subject of my writing will undoubtly be my thrifty findings. I am expecting to open a vintage shop soon, on either etsy or dawanda, and this is a good place to start putting my ideas together.

And, at last but not at least, I would like a change of look.....I don't mind my blog layout but I am looking for something else...haven't found out what just yet...

Autumn

2011-10-26T19:49:00.001+01:00

And how fresh the air smells with this untamed sudden wind. Our bodies still hold fragments of the eterntity of the summer afternoons, where everything was in silence suspension. Now comes the freshness and it feels like we're pushed into human life again, slowly, softly, tenderly....

Hot cordials, teas and coffees; fire coloured dancing leaves; cosy blankets; pumpkins, quinces and chestnuts; fresh untamed winds; dramatic sunsets; scones, pancakes and apple pies; long walks through changing nature; knitted clothes; colourful yarns; soft melodies; watching movies curled up in the sofa; early starts; berets and wool hats; memories of unstarted notebooks; jams and marmelades; cold hands; crafting ideas; photographs; dried figs and dates; warm colours; endless skies. Here we are again.

Pregnancy (fresh) memories - part IV

2011-09-14T09:12:00.007+01:00

Pregnancy is a special state, in which one feels in deep connection to the nature
and to their most transcendent self.

Eventually, it reaches an end. It was not until the last two weeks of it that I became really anxious to know my little one. And when I did, my first comment was: ''she is perfect''. And so she is. No experience can compare with this one. Everything that can be said about it, it's an understatement. :)

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

Pregnancy (fresh) memories - part III

2011-08-27T10:38:00.005+01:00

I was lucky enough to have the ''big bump'' part of my pregnancy during spring time....the best time ever to have a big bump. Apart from the weather being quite pleasant, everything was flourishing, so it was a very poetic a beautiful time for me.

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

2011-08-26T09:47:00.005+01:00

Last post didn't work out so well in terms of layout, but I will just keep going instead of trying to correct that.

Some more pictures of pregnancy:

When the bump started to show. Again, no pregnancy clothes.

And then pregnancy started to inspire to take other sort of shots.

Thankfully, spring started early around here, alowing for light clothes when the bump was starting to be a REAL one!

Summer dresses against spring water flowers, dancing with the wind.

2011-08-25T09:44:00.004+01:00

So I think I am back. The long absence was due to many things, between which the most important is that I am now a proud mum to a gorgeous 2,5 months old little baby. Pregnancy was a time when I needed my space and silence but shortly after the baby was born I felt the need to reconect with the world. So...back to blogging it is. And I want to put things in their places as well. This blog goes back to its original aim, which was to register the particularities of my style, especially when it comes to clothes, although that can be expanded to decoration and anything style related.

It is likely that I will post some baby clothing in here as well from now on, but I will not post pictures of my baby....at least not pictures that show her face. Not that I worry too much about internet privacy and all that jazz, as I tend to think that with so many people on the internet and so many pictures around who would do something really bad using my pictures in particular. But the child's father, aka my hubby, wouldn't like it, so I am left with respecting his wishes hahaha.

Anyway, to start with, I will leave you with some pregnancy pictures. While I was pregnant I felt the strong need to still feel totally identified with my style, which by the way is becoming more and more boho/gypsy/hippie. I also felt that dressing nicely was a way to honour nature who was giving me such a wonderful gift. And so I proudly showed around my ever growing bump using bright colours and confy but yet beautiful clothes. On the other side I keep my tendency to avoid wasting money, therefore I didn't really buy any maternity clothes. My mum bought me a pair of trousers, which was useful, and some tunics, many of which resulted more flattering for someone who is not pregnant. So I wore a lot of afgan trousers, colourful tunics and dresses, most of which, not specifically designed for pregnancy.

Here's a general picture of how it went:

Still in the beggining. Winter is always the time of the year when I feel less pretty, because I need to wear too many layers of clothing. At least I didn't have to cover the huge bump during the cold season, as my baby was born in June! The slippers where not part of the outfit ha!

When I could still wear ''normal'' tops. I bought this one at the market for a ridiculous price, by the way. I think it was 1 euro or something like that... The trousers are a little bit like elf trousers. They might need some apliques though.....

These lack afgan trousers are warm, pratical and confy, though not exactely very flattering.... They were very useful during this last winter, as you can imagine, though. I might thing about applying some embroidery to them, to make them prettier and more special. The tunic was not very exciting and way too big when I got it from my mum, but I adjusted it a little bit and painted those ''fauvistic'' trees on it.

Next post will show a bigger bump under fresher clothes. I must now go as baby is claming for atention!

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

2011-01-24T08:38:00.005Z

These are old photos I have been playing around with through edition. Photography is one of my dreams yet to fullfil. I want to learn how to doit well and buy a decente camera. But while that doesn't happen, I can always have some fun with this photo editing programs!

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

2011-01-23T09:35:00.000Z

“When we're incomplete, we're always searching for somebody to complete us. When, after a few years or a few months of a relationship, we find that we're still unfulfilled, we blame our partners and take up with somebody more promising. This can go on and on--series polygamy--until we admit that while a partner can add sweet dimensions to our lives, we, each of us, are responsible for our own fulfillment. Nobody else can provide it for us, and to believe otherwise is to delude ourselves dangerously and to program for eventual failure every relationship we enter.” - Tom Robbins

2011-01-17T19:17:00.000Z

What's life without rambling conversations under the stars? How could I ever considered being alive if I had never had an unlikely dream? How could I live without watercolours in my drawer?

2011-01-15T12:05:00.000Z

Saturday morning. Racing mind on a slow body. Humidity outside reminds me of the seaside. ''I've got so many dreams that I don't know where to put them.'' Missing long talks with alike minds. All we have is our present, let's make it magical.

2011-01-12T10:04:00.000Z

I really miss posting photographs.

2011-01-01T18:41:00.000Z

As the year starts I think about all of the things I can do to improve my life. Then I get carried away and think about things that have been in my ''to do one day'' things since forever, to which new wishes have been added over the time. Some of the really old ones are:
* learn photography
* make my own clothes
* learn how to draw
* grow my own vegetables
* make the biggest number of eatable things at home (as marmelades, etc)...
* learn italian
* travel

others have been added along the years:

* learn japanese and french
* live in yet another country(s) (I'm portuguese and I´ve lived in England and now Spain)
* learn video and ilustration

These are actually just a few, I'll be adding to them.

As for this year, I would like to be able to be a lot more generous and tolerant. I am about to be a mother and I think that is a good reason to try to improve myself as a person...

I would like to wish everybody a wonderful 2011!

2011-01-01T18:22:00.002Z

I want to come back to bloging on here. This new year is very promising and as per always there are so many things I dream of doing. I think I will be talking about them on and off, but in clothery I want to go back to what it was created for in the first place: clothes, personal style and variations around it.

I am 4 months pregnant and I have been wondering how to mantain my personal style and be pregnant. The reason why this is relevant to me is because I find pregnancy one of the most beautiful states a woman can go through, and therefore I want to wellcome it the best way and feel beautiful and more importantly, to feel like ''myself''. I have a hard to describe style, but it is something in between hippie, gipsy, folk and vintage, or better saying a combination of aspiring to all those styles at the same time hahahaha.
Or maybe I am just describing the styles that are most appealing to me, and in the end my style is just a combination that comes from my personal taste and my day mood (adding to this the fact that I only buy bargains and I have no problem in wearing things that have nothing to do with the above mentioned style)

Anyway, I a general way I find pregnancy clothes a bit too serious and neutral for my taste. It seems that they are made to make us look pretty and respectable instead of looking as though someone who is celebratring life. My mom bought me some pregnant clothes for christmas, and though they are cute, they are all cream and dark blue, plain or with stripes. I am thinking about ways to jazz them up, making them look maybe a bit more....folk? For me there is so much poetry and romanticism in being pregnant, and I feel so connected to the nature that I can imagine going through it as if I wanted to disappear! That is why I started the year wearing a silver long dress :P A bold option maybe, but everybody commented I looked beautiful and my sister in law said I looked like a mermaid ;)

Pictures to follow!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

2010-12-18T09:38:00.000Z

17/12/2010

Oficially on holidays. From now on I'll be worrying about home made christmas presents!

Turkish delights, felting, fudge, butter cookies, beading, marron glacés.

18/12/2010

Chilly saturday morning. I have my morning toast and coffee while I do something silly as playing farmville. I look out the window and prepare to take Chacal outside, under the grey skies and by the cold lake. There's this whole day ahead, and it looks promising.

2010-12-14T08:10:00.001Z

I'm 3 months pregnant. My rooms of wonders is about to be filled with new colors.

2010-12-14T08:07:00.000Z

10/12/2010 Plans for the weekend: end tourism assignement, so that I can feel free, go to the cinema or to a show, try Caceres' Wok restaurant, write, take some pictures, be attentive to beautiful details, a little felting, a little cooking, meet a dear friend if possible, dream, plan portuguese classes, breathe, be happy.

12/12/2010

Misty day out, bright day in, after time shared with two of the most wonderful people in my world, yesterday night.

13/12/2010

Golden leaves hang from the trees, warmer temperatures come over for a short while. We breathe in watching the blue sky. I dream of colours, lights and textures, make short term plans in my head, start to salute the renewed freedom. There is beauty in most things, therefore I must be lucky.

14/12/2010

Waking up to another misty day. I practice streching the minutes, making them long lasting, being in the present. This sense of freedom opens my senses, brings in fresh air, pulls me back down to earth, to the realm of sensations. Freshness is all around.

Hi strangers.....

2010-11-17T08:49:00.000Z

....I think I am back. I miss blogging.

Back? Finally?

2010-11-17T08:42:00.001Z

I´ve got some big news in my life. What´s the biggest news that can be in one´s life?? Good ones I mean. I don´t think anybody will answer, as there´s been ages since I last posted, but I will still keep the suspense.

Computer problems and other distractions

2010-05-15T17:02:00.002+01:00

So...my computer suffered a little accident, which led to me being without computer and internet for a while. What accident, you may ask....well...it sliped from my hands into the hard floor breaking its hard drive....not good, but it´s sorted now!

In the meanwhile I have some news first of all is: we have a DOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is beautiful and I will post pictures of him very soon!

Also I have been entretained with some free workshops and other events around here, which included: martial arts workshop, urban art workshop, stage ilumination workshop, world music festival, butoh street performances (to watch, not to perform myself...I wished!), changing house decoration trying to attend to feng shui rules, musical evenings, beers and dinners with friends and so on...

I have started teaching my improvisation dance classes, which is being good, though I have a veyr small group. Also, next tuesday I will have 3 people as my first portuguese language students ever (portuguese is my mother language). Other than that I am seriously thinking about trying to expose my felt ''paintings'' (which I still need to post in here....). I have also written a project to teach creative dance in schools and will also propose felt classes somewhere around here.....

Another good thing is that a group of people around here will start to meet up twice a week in order to do some chi kung.

I am trying to organize my life, as next year I want to start having drawing classes.

Life is uncertain and we (me and my boyfriend) are still jobless but......life is good as well....and I am sure something will come up soon!

Love to all.....will post soon WITH pictures!

2010-04-07T08:35:00.003+01:00

Hi world! Spring seems to be here to stay anb I have a new camera!

I had a wonderful time painting. Will show my first paitings ever in a next post.
I am now back to felting full force. First stage was to draw some inspirational images, which you can see in this post.

My dance solo presentation went really well and I might be starting my dance improvisantion classses next week, if I can gather all my students!

I have also be introduced to chi kung this week and I loved it! (for the ones who don´t know it chi kung is a chinese technique envolving breathing and smooth movements and it´s believed to have a lot of benefits). We did it on the grass, surrounded by tiny flowers and birds flying!

By the end of the week we will be travelling some miles up north to see the blossoming cherry trees. I can´t wait for that as well!

Wishing everybody a cheery start of spring, this time I will hopefully be back soon!

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

2010-03-25T09:01:00.002Z

No, I haven´t died of flu.....and I intended to post earlier, but life just got in the way. Also my camera decided it wouldn´t let me pass the photos to my computer, so we have ordered a card reader on ebay and also another camera (ours needed an improvement...hopefully I will be able to take better pictures from now on!)
I had a friend visiting, which meant less internet time, as we had a lot to catch up. Also, I will be having my dance solo tomorrow evening, so I have been busy rehearsing. I am quite looking foward to it!

I think I found a couple of shops to sell my felt things...I just need to do more felting!! After the solo I will pick up the 2 kg of wool rovings I have ordered and after that it will be felting, felting, felting!!! I have also started needle felting and I am loving it!! As soon as I am able to, I will post pictures of my little wool statues!!

I really don´t like to make posts with no pictures, but I expect to have my new matherial in less than a week!

Wishing everybody a wonderful start of spring!

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

Spring flu

2010-03-11T20:32:00.001Z

Well...not exactely flu, just a common cold...but that´´s what got to me this week and why I haven´t posted this Monday, as I should have.

Hopefully, I will be able to make a decent post soon... :) I hope you´re all doing well!!
Weather here is starting to change...for better!

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

Spring flue

2010-03-11T20:29:00.001Z

Well...not exactely flue, just a common cold...but that´´s what got to me this week and why I haven´t posted this Monday, as I should have.

Hopefully, I will be able to make a decent post soon... :) I hope you´re all doing well!!
Weather here is starting to change...for better!

Spring flue

2010-03-11T20:29:00.000Z

Entry by Paper Face - Recommendation

2010-03-04T09:57:00.000Z

I want to recommend a wonderful blog entry by the talented and inspiring Paper Face:

http://nataliapaperface.blogspot.com/2010/02/your-secrets.html

Please read...she has an amazing talent to write and to see beyond obvious....enjoy :)

2010-03-01T22:48:00.006Z

Images speak for themselves, but these are my latest felt creations. They are not up for sale yet, as I can find little faults in all of them, but I can see now I am going somewhere with mhy felting technique :)

I spent last week on a choreographic residency. A very handy one though, as the dance studio is just around the corner (well.....in this case, more exactely just around the little lake) It wasn´t too hard either, because I will only present my dance solo in a couple of weeks time, and I know I can rehearse in between.

Weather had been slightly better around here, at least temperatures are not so bad and there is both sunny and rainny intervals. Not so good as to encourage me to change very much in terms of style though....I am still at cave woman stage, as I tend to be during winter. Nevertheless, cave woman (and boyfriend) went out to a friend´s house saturday night and had a very enjoyable time until past 5 am......nedless to say my sunday wasn´t at all a productive one, but maybe a needed a lazy sunday anyway. Not so sure I needed the half-lazy monday I had today but hey...tomorrow is another day and I intend to craft the hell out of it.

I will also pumper myself a bit with the new hair products I bought the other day (I run out of the ones I had, and they are the supermarkets make....so not that exciting...but that particular supermarket has a good white lable for the hair products so...not too bad either) My hair seriously need to be cut. Not big time cut, as I am not ready for that (and I like it long anyway), but it needs to be trimmed.....seriously trimmed. And dyed, by the way! I am holding on because I need my hair as long as possible for my choreography....All in name of art :P :P

I am so happy to have followers on my blog. Hi all! Thank you for following. And thank you as well for anyone who is reading :) I am trying to get to know each one of you, just give me time ;)

Wishing everybody a great week, maybe we´ll start ot feel a bit of spring in our hearts......just maybe.....

:) wellcome to my room of wonders.

Rainny, rainny day....

2010-02-21T19:11:00.005Z

Again, I let time slip by before I manage to post again. I have decided though, to compromise myself to do at least one post a week. It is perfectely doable, as long as I organize myself!

After a period of almost getting desperate due to the fact that I don´t seem to find a professional path through which I am able to express my creativity (or a professional path at all, as Spain has been having high levels of unemployment for the last year) I decided I would stop feeling sorry for myself and actually fight for things. At the moment we (my love and I) are not in the situation of having to panic about money. We still have some money saved, and though it won´t last forever, we know we can manage for some time. Why not use that time to actually invest energies on my dream, that is to sell handmade by me? So, that´s what´s been taking most of my time lately. I´ve been felting and dyeing and sewing, and some pleasent results are starting to come out from the effort :)

Also, I have started a choregraphic residency for a dance solo choreographed and performed by me :) It will last this week only, but presentation will only be in March, so I am not overworried.

Other then that, we went to Madrid last weekend, which was lovely. I have bought the loveliest dress, reduced from 75 € to 6€ (yes, you read it right), in teal silk, which I am dying to show you all, but I need to have the courage to dress it and take a picture in it (is not exactely a winter outfit, and temperatures around the house are about 10 degrees celsius)

We´ve been having a hard winter, but thankfull not as drastic as it seems to be in other points of the planet. Still, I long for central heating.....the chill burns in my fingers and toes are starting to be very annoying!

I wish you all a wonderful week. Let us all try to use our romanticism to help us survive through the winter. I am lucky though...in this part of the world, spring should be just around the corner (give it a month or two...)

:) wellcome to my room of wonders.

2010-02-10T19:35:00.002Z

Because we went to some friend´s house to have lunch, because my friend is such an inspiring woman, in terms of many things, including clothing, and also because they have central heating in the house, I was inspired to at least think twice about what I was wearing and try to compose a bit my outfit. Ok, not a bit effort, one must assume, but at least I put a skirt on! Yaaay...... :P

Anyway, we had a lovely lunch, and ate something I´ve never eaten before. Apparentely it is a french dish, it´s called racklette (or something like that) and it consists of pieces of cheese (different delicious varities) put over a hot plate until melted and eaten with baked potatoes. Really nice.

The lunch did me good. I have been getting slightly depressed over the lack of jobs around here and the uncertainty of our lives, so it was good to get out of the house and socialize a bit. I do miss having more friends around.

Anyway, the last picture is one of the necklace of my next collection, yet to be put on sale on my etsy shop. I like the way they are turning out and I like that I am risking something in my creation process...I am not sure if there will be anyone interested in this sort of necklace though. Any opinions will be wellcome (even if to say the necklace is rubish hehehehe).

:) wellcome to my room of wonders.

2010-02-07T10:37:00.002Z

Hi all!

I´ve been more or less away from this blog, partly because I was so busy with other things (the busiest unemployed in this world, that´s what I call myself), partly because I was away during part of the summer, and then, when winter came....it doesn´t seem so exciting to post about clothes. I love winter clothes, don´t get me wrong. But we live in a place where there´s no central heating and I spend most of my days wraped around so many layers that if I took a picture of myself you´d only see my head coming out of a ball of wool ..... :P

Also, I have been crafting a lot and I finally opened my own online store...yaaaaah!

But yesterday the temperatures was milder, and although I haven´t gotten back my will to think too much about setting up my outfits (I am not an elegant winter dresser...), we went for a ride, and I thought I would share with you some of the shots. And even though my priority on dressing is still, during these months, keeping myself warm, I will try to start posting again, as I have made some good finding in terms of clothes throughout these few months.

:) wellcome to my room of wonders.

2010-01-27T11:05:00.000Z

Sunny, sunny day. Late raising, big cup of coffee. Repeat. Felting, dyeing, painting t-shirts, making necklaces. Send email to nepalese dance teacher. Check dance texts. Wonder of I am getting in the course for which I applied. Looking foward to meeting a friend tomorrow. Looking forward to dance master class on saturday. Breathing and living.

Pointless

2010-01-16T10:41:00.001Z

After a dense night with multiple, complex dreams, a voice whispers through the door 'psssiu, they´re asking if you can work today at 12h' 'sure'. Slowly drag myself out of bed, too much considerations for the time of the day. Life isn´t at all as we expected it to be. Principles are just sentences that half the time ...don´t apply to real life. Coffee and shower, please...

Another phonecall: 'could you not work today, after all?' 'yes, sure, no problem'. Where's my sofa? Oh, another coffee please. Back to my inner world. Life still surprises me every day, not always in a good way, but then again, if surprises were for sure always good, maybe they wouldn´t be so much of a surprise. God c...loses one door and opens one window. What´s the difference between a door and a window, anyway?

A body of butterflies

2009-12-02T11:25:00.002Z

-The problem is....well...the butterflies, you see?
-Butterflies? - she asked.
-Yes, in my stomach

-Why don´t you let them out?
-Excuse me?
-Yes, the butterflies. Why don´t you let them out?
-I tried to. They seem to like it in here, though.

-What about flowers?
-Flowers?
-If you surround yourself with flowers, maybe the butterflies will want to be around you, instead of inside you........... Just don´t eat them!
-What?
-The flowers.

-If you grow flowers in your stomach, the butterflies will never leave it.
-I don´t think one could, anyway.
-So...where could one grow flowers?
-Inside one´s body, you mean?
-Yes.
He paused and said: - Inside their veins, I suppose.

-Probably also in their hearts, I should think.
-And....would it be really terrible to have butterflies in your heart?
-I don´t think so. Actually...that could even be enjoyable!

-So, what´s the plan then?
-First you have to grow flowers all around you. Then, wait for some seeds to fall into your veins. When there are enough flowers in either your veins and your heart, the butterflies will leave your stomach.

Mara C.

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

Some more bad things about me

2009-12-02T10:38:00.000Z

8) The need to feel special. Ok, we all have that in a way or another...but is ...I don´t know, silly. I am addicted to people telling me 'oh, you´re a special person'. Of course people who are close to us are special and unique for us.... The thing is that sometimes I find myself believing that´s an absolute truth, instead of a relative one....

9) Goes with the previous one......I can be so arrogant sometimes. I think to myself I have this big insight not everyone has, and that I am so cool because my priorities are so peculiar, and because I have this constant need to create, and that although I am afraid of most things, I am also brave, because I tried facing a lot of them....and therefore I end up feeling superior ot some people. I know, it´s really stupid...and I actually hate it when I see it in other people, but it happens to me a lot. I must slap myself in the face (not literally) and remind myself how obnoxious I am being!

10) I hate confrotantion and run away from it as the devil from the cross. Not saying it is good to be confrontational. But it´s not good to be unable to deal with it. If I really have to, I will, but probaly I will end up all shaky and tearful. In general, I always try to avoid it though, at least with most people.

11) Need to please. I love to be liked. I will not try to be someone I am not in order to please. BUT...I will try to get to people´s heart, so that they can not 'not like me'. Meaning, I will understand their way of seing things, and find a way to make them sympathize with mine.

12) My tendency to feel rejected. I often take things personaly, even if I don´t necessarily show it. It´s childish, and I am able to think rationally about it....but I am unable to avoid the feeling.

13) Bad temper. And guess who suffers the most with that...my boyfriend. I am not a usually bad tempered person, it´s not that. But I do tend to do that very stupid thing, when something doesn´t go wrong, internally I search for someone ot blame, and that someone must be my partner. Getting better at understanding what I am doing though....

14) The fact that I am inteligent enough to often find excuses for myself.

15) The fact that no matter how many excuses I find, I am my worst critic and not always very toleran t about my failures. And that doesn´t help, because the more I criticize myself, the less I am able to do for myself.

16) Think too much about death. Well, it´s true. Every since I was a child I was midly obcessed with the idea of 'do we really end when we die? or is there an after death life?'. I am not wondering about my days in paradise, nowadays, but I am always too concious that life will end, for each one of us, and I often wonder if there is another sort of stage, of existence, after that happens. It´s not always a bad thing to be aware of life´s finitude....but sometimes it just makes things overdramatic.

Back

2009-11-26T09:59:00.007Z

It´s been a long absence, but I´ve returned, and would like to share some pictures of Madrid with you. MadridasI am learning to know it, everytime I visit and take the day just to wonder around.

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

Madrid through my eyes

2009-11-26T09:44:00.000Z

Very bad things about me...continuation

2009-11-06T12:31:00.000Z

5) My absolute lack of tolerance with people who have no insight towards themselves. I can´t help it, I can feel myself being mean, but I hate when people choose not to face their real selvs. It gets even worst when people are trying to show off, when it becomes obvious that they are trying to show the world they are a certain type of person. I just get this impulse to be really really mean and make them know I can actually see that they are showing off. I feel like a really bad person then, because I wan´t to destroy their masks, and I often can´t help it.

6) I hate it when I find myself showing off as well. (and it´s really annoying, because I know I am showing off, and I hate myself for doing so). It´s not happening a lot these last years, thankfully.

7) The fact that if people try to compete with me, I will get into the fight. In a general way I have no real interest in competing with anyone, but the moment someone shows a tad bit of competition towards me, it all changes and I feel this need to tell them without words 'get out of my way, you´re no challenge for me!'.

Things I hate about me...continuation.

2009-10-29T11:24:00.000Z

4) Proscratination. One of the most odious things about me.

Things I hate about me...part I

2009-10-28T10:05:00.000Z

1) I hate it that I am so bad at managing my time.
2) The fact that I slip so often into a protected space, that protects me from pretty much everything, including the things I need no protection from.
3) I hate that my will is constantely fighting against my fear and my inertia.

Back

2009-10-25T09:24:00.000Z

It´s been a long while since I don´t post in here, because I haven´t been having internet at home. But now I do, and I intend to go back to posting soon. I miss it. I just need a short time to find my....posting path, let´s say.

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

The brighter side

2009-10-21T17:31:00.000+01:00

Although I am not exactely in the mood, I will write about the things which I most love about people. The reason I am not exactely in the mood has actually nothing to do with anyone but me (so that you don´t think I am a witch that does nothing but to be annoyed by others) I´ve got this wheezing sound when I am breathing in that is having me worried. Partially because I am a bit hypochondriac (probably not spelled this way) about unusual symptoms and partially because they say on the net that I should be worried :P

Never mind that for now, as I have no way to solve it.

Here they go, things I love about people:

1) People who are themselves, who don´t worry about causing an impression or being cool. (this has ramifications, as you will see)

2) Ramification 1 - People who assume things that are usually seen as 'uncool' and really don´t bother about that. Stupid example: I was asking this really nice guy 'which sort of music do you like' and he answered 'know what? I really don´t listen to music a lot. I used to when I was a teenager, but you know, mostly comercial, like Queen, etc' It might sound silly and obvious but it is not. Lots of people would just make something up.

3) Ramification 2 - people who assume their downfalls (although this is a tricky one, some downfalls can actually cause an impression). Even the downfalls they really wished they didn´t have. Like: 'not all my feelings are noble.'

4) People who have no age. We all have age, obviously, but some people, even being perfectely aware of theirs, just don´t have it as a justification or limitation for anything (it doesn´t equal to be imature lol)

5) People who actually are interested in other. Who listen, who want to know others deeper.

6) People who see behind the masks, behind appearances. People who are not foolled by shallow images.

7) People who are able to play.

8) People who are able to put things in perspective and not overdramatize situations.

9) People who are not afraid of being afraid and are not afraid to show they are afraid.

10) People who are open to their feelings....no matter how strong OR WEAK they are. Meaning...for some people it´s easier to enfactuate feelings, for others to reduce them. Some people are afraidof feeling too much, others too little. I love it when people just FEEL. Final stop.

11) People who can put themselves in others place and respect their choices, efforts, etc..

12) People who don´t need to compare themselve to others to feel they are good enough. (rare, for most of us poor mortals, but some people get really close to this)

13) People who dare trusting. Really hard to do, really hard to find, but how beautiful is it when somebody just trusted you for apparentely no reason.

14) People who dare making mistakes, who dare being absolutely unperfect. Again, beautiful. They are the ones who always learn the most.

15) People who tell you what they think on your face (it doesn´t equal to being insensitive). Sometimes not very pleasant, but hey.....at least you´ll know where you´re stepping.

16) People who have a sense of humour towards themselves, even when the situations truly suck.

17) People who never feel they know enough.

18) People who are creative.

19) People who have a personal style. Not fashionable, not trying to look different, not trying to look cool. People who just have it. It doesn´t mean they are not aware of that, or that it isn´t something built- of course it is. I can´t explain it, but some people just make it an art. It´s just how they are.

20) People who have small attentions to you.

21) People who share with you the good and the bad.

22) People who are willing to support you when you´re down, but also to share your victories.

23) People who can read between the lines.

24) People who love to discuss feelings for hours no end.

25) People who believe in the invisible.

26) People who feel the urge to create, as something natural.

27) People who live and let live.

28) People who think beyond day to day life.

29) People who know anything is possible.

30) People who are still in touch with their inner child. (again, it doesn´t equal imaturity)

31) People who are willing to listen to what life has to say to them.

32) People who are passionate about something.

33) Warm people.

34) People who try to understand before making any judgments.

35) Tactful people.

36) Sensitive people (don´t, it doesn´t necessarily mean having to have a physical reaction towards anything that is supposed to cause an impact).

37) People with a sense of humour.

38) People who half live in wonderland.

39) People who know their limits. (many ways to interpret this, but I just mean....we all have limits....)

40) People who recognize their dark side.

41) People who can recognize and aknowledge the dark side in others.

42) People who recognize, aknowledge and admire the dark side in others, without pointless fascinations.

43) People who allow themselves to be fascinated by other people, without necessarily wanting to become like them.

44) People who are beautiful (nope, not magazine cover beauty :P ) .

Woooo.....I am glad my creativity is still more stimulated by positive things than by negative ones. I could actually go on and on, but honestely, I am a bit tired alrealy LOL. Having said all this, I do love people, and there is a lot more I love about people than what has been mentioned.

Other things I should say:
1) every rule as one or more exceptions.
2) Mentioning these things doesn´t mean:
a) that I don´t love someone because the don´t tick the boxes.
b) I am conviced I fullfil most of what´s been said. I don´t. I wished, but I don´t. But those are things I love and admire. Also, I am not saying none of it applies to my person. Some does.

Following: things I hate about myself, things I love about myself (maybe like will allow me to have a bigger list), and just things I love, in general.

Rants

2009-10-20T20:58:00.000+01:00

Ok, this will be a totally sensless post, but I really need to ramble. Just have into account I am in one of those days of the month. And that we all have our small annoyances. Right?Hope so, otherwise I will feel quite the freak.

Anyway, this is a post about what I hate in people. That´s not a very nice thing to write about?! Well...you don´t really HAVE to read it, DO YOU???? (ok, jocking, I swear, just kidding now)

Sometimes it´s good to let some things out, that way you vent them and you may be able to think more clearly afterwards (and hopefully this is not just wishfull thought)

So, things I hate about people:

1) When people who are supposed to be are only your friends under certain conditions. And I don´t mean it on extreme conditions. I mean when people always impose a series of conditions, as if they wished to control the exact distance between you and them, as if they didn´t trust you in some sort of distorted way.

2) People who are under or over reactive to things. Do you know those people who always react as if nothing in the world excited them? They annoy me. Final stop. But do you know the ones who always find everything OH SO AMANZINGLY FANTASTIC? Well...they annoy me as well. As in: a lot!

3) People who can only talk through sentencies and ideas that were made and written by others. Who don´t really talk, just quote.

4) People who avoid you not to say something nasty they are feeling about you. Oh for God sake, just shout it out!!

5) People who always like what you like, even if they had never heard of it 10 mn before you had mentioned it. Why don´t they just get a personality of their own?

6)People who always have to blame the bad happenings on something or someone. If it´s not the person next to them, is their boss, if it´s not their boss, it´s the neighbors, if it´s not the neighbors it´s the government, if it´s not the governement it´s global warming....... Get over it, life sometimes it´s just not fair. I am so sorry, there is no one to direct you anger to!

7) People who always have to have an opinion about something (even if they don´t really have any knowledge on the subject) because they think it makes them sound cool.

8) People who always have to excuse their downfalls 'I´d dance better, if my foot wasn´t hurting', etc... Yeahh, we´re not perfect. Duh

Ok, I do hope this post doesn´t give me bad karma. I will write one tomorrow about the things I absolutely love about people :)

Four weddings and a comunion....

2009-07-10T16:31:00.003+01:00

I had 4 weddings this year (and a comunion, but I took no pictures of my outfit that day). As I said before, weddings are not my cup of tea...but I enjoy the opportunity to wear my vintage outfits. All of the previous one are truly vintage, except from the third one (which is from primark :P)

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

A little bit of this and a little bit of that.

2009-07-10T09:37:00.004+01:00

I haven´t been around a lot lately, for a series of reasons. First we´ve been travelling around a bit. Second, I have been a little (to say the very least) lost regarding the future, our plans, our life, etc... I have moved country twice in the last four years, which, in the end, can become a bit confusing. We are now in Spain, and that´s were we intend to stay. (my love is spanish, I am portuguese), and although we´ve been here for more then a year, our live is still far from settled (professionaly). We been moving around a lot, and at the moment we are both unemployed. Which is all right for now, as we still have our savings, but we keep moving house (3 different houses in 3 different places this year, plus the times we were just staying with family, either in spain and portugal).

Professionally speaking there are 2 main areas I would like to be in. One is dance. I am not exactely a dancer in the 'pretty baillerina' meaning of the word, but I have studied contemporary dance and dance composicion and work mainly with dance improvisation. I have some projects that may result in something interesting but they will only happen (if they do happen) next year.
The other thing is that I am learning (self-learning) several techniques regarding clothes transformation and creation (and accessories) because I would really like to open an etsy shop some day soon.

In the mean while, we enjoy the beautiful surrounds of the place we live in, and here are some pictures of that. The beach pictures are from portugal though. The previous ones are from a weekend with friends, a bit further north then were we are, except from the first one, which is from another spanish city (badajoz) I can not, for the life of me, explain why my writting is coming up underlined, and I can´t find the way to change that, silly as this sounds.......

And these were my visitors this morning. Most inspiring, especially when we need something to bring you some brightness and courage!

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

2009-06-30T09:44:00.003+01:00

My yet to finish experiences with vintage patterns. I´m sewing them by hand....and that means I am sewing them slowly....

Some outfits over the weekend....

I will be in Portugal for the next 3 or 4 days, which means I won´t have internet. I wish you all a great week.

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

2009-06-24T17:52:00.004+01:00

This was me the other day, with a top I bought at the market, obviously for the 60´s inspired pattern. I still had my curly hair.

And this was another (not so well succeded) attempt with curling my hair. It is necessary to sleep with it overnight for it to work perfectly.
I was playing 50's housewife. That picture in negative reminds me I used to have an A-line white denin skirt, straight from the 70´s. I want another one like that!

My next post will be on the vintage patterns I´ve been playing around with.

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

Grosgrain: Vintage Wedding Refashioned Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-06-22T11:08:00.000+01:00

Grosgrain: Vintage Wedding Refashioned Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

It seems I am in a giveaway publishing (and entering contest) mood. This is another very beautiful giveaway..and very romantic one as well. Be amazed by giver´s capacity to transform a dress!!! Do check it out...it is definately worth it!

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

The Mysterious Life of the Metropolitan Housewife: Give Away! Give Away!

2009-06-22T10:58:00.000+01:00

Hello girls!

Just wanted to let you know about a marvelous give away being hold at The Misterious life of the Metropolitan Housewife, a terribly charming blog I´ve just found recentely. The giveaway is something any vintage lover would absolutely love to have but also the blog is a must know one, as her host is a tallented vintage beauty. Go and check it out at:
The Mysterious Life of the Metropolitan Housewife: Give Away! Give Away!

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

Again....a dress and a detail.

2009-06-18T10:22:00.003+01:00

I like this dress, there is even something vintage about it, but there was also something no working. The flowery pattern is beautiful, and the cut is ....nearly good. And that nearly was bugginn me. My adding that scarve to my waist, I liked it much better.
Also the 40´s inspired hair sort of helped......better.

I now have my hair in 6 long rolls, due to that hair styling... will post it later if it mantains.

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

Hair experiences

2009-06-15T07:18:00.005+01:00

So this is the story. Yesterday I decided to have some fun with my hair, and make some defined curls. I took the idea from a blog, but I can´t find the link right now. I will post it when I find it though.

When I was in the middle of the process somebody called us to go out for some beers. So I wrappped a scarf around my head and off I went. I really liked the scarf in your hair thing, and I think I´ll do it again!

Anyway, this was last night:

And this is the result, this morning:

I like the result. My hair is not short enough to look vintage with these curls, but still there is something romantic about this curls that I like. I think I will make them for the next (and thankfully last) wedding of the year. I am not a girl to like weddings, but when you can´t beat the enemy, you better take advantage of it, so I use them (weddings) to have fun dressing out, in a not exactely wedding-like way.

I wish you all a great start of the week!

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

Summer´s back...

2009-06-14T12:05:00.007+01:00

...and I hope it´s for good.
Hope you´re all having an excelent weekend..!

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

Hey, moon

2009-06-09T14:50:00.000+01:00

Sometimes you look and your soul is not there (it is always there of course, but it doesn´t always show). Sometimes you feel lost and can´t recognize your finger tips. Because they remind you of another life you don´t remember having lived.

Sometimes, and when you look back you can´t exactely explain why it was so, you just can´t grab your joy that easily. And there is no reason, no reason, but you just can´t get hold of it.

Sometimes you shake inside, disturbed by ancestral fears. There are tears that don´t seem to belong to you. Voices you can´t identify speaking of memories you haven´t lived.

Sometimes, it feels there are a million stories inside your story, a million lives inside your life, a million faces behind your face.

Other times however.....all the universe is at hand reach.

Sometimes I know there is a reason I don´t remember but I know exists. Sometimes I know everything is connected and the reason I don´t remember it is because I am not suposed to. Sometimes I know this weight comes from long ago and it lingers on because you can´t deny your history or the history of your ghosts. Because we remember wars we didn´t fight, but we also remember lights we can´t conceive.

Being human is a dirty job, but somebody´s gotta do it.

2009-06-09T14:20:00.003+01:00

Last sunday I was feeling a bit down. So we went to a river nearby and got some fresh air a lot of beauty.

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

A detail that changes a dress

2009-06-04T09:15:00.006+01:00

I was never 100% sure about this dress. I like the neck shape and the colours, but were never sure about the way it fits and the pattern. Originally it had a brown shinny lace to put around the waste, but yesterday I decided to use something I had crochetted some months ago, and for me, it worked much better. Strange how little details can change everything.

The temperature was still hot yesterday. Today we have a cloudy day and things have freshen up a little bit. Gotta search in my closet for something more spring like.

My internet has been having loads of problems, so I may be slow on posting and commenting... I hope this can be solved quickly. It takes me ages to upload anything and even more to try to open a blog page that has many pictures on it.....and just now that I was having so much fun with blogging.....!!

Happy day everybody.

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

2009-06-02T10:30:00.005+01:00

When the heath is hot, simplicity is the operative word.....!

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

2009-06-01T16:30:00.000+01:00

Teal skirt, flowery top.

2009-06-01T11:28:00.004+01:00

Busy day ahead, with loads of things to do around the house (writting projects, finishing costumes for a performance, etc). It´s hot outside, and I need to run some errands. Opted for something fresh and pratical.

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

Maxi dress

2009-05-27T11:04:00.002+01:00

Something happy and flowery, to cheer me up when I feel lost inside my chaotic creative mind.

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

On the go

2009-05-26T13:21:00.003+01:00

Tooth ache tonight and then I woke up later than I wanted. Not much imagination for outfits, so I just put something on and off to the market!

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

And still this weekend

2009-05-25T10:13:00.000+01:00

This is was the other side of my weekend.

When magic meets your way

2009-05-24T14:59:00.000+01:00

Last weekend, coming back from my solo performance, we found this wonderful spot along the line. Sometimes magicland is just around the corner.

A long rich weekend

2009-05-24T12:52:00.000+01:00

A beautiful street show, from Producciones Javier Leoni together with Karlik Danza Teatro.

A band playing passing under my window.

It was a rich weekend. We had the cattle fair around here, and a lot of other things happened as well, as you can see above. We drunk, we ate, we talked, we laughed. It was nice. I was happily surprised by the theatre play mentioned above, as it was not announced and I know many of the people in there.

And I still found time to do some crafting and, obvioulsy, for my pictures.

Something comfy

2009-05-24T12:29:00.002+01:00

It has been a long weekend, and it feels like we haven´t done anything but partying since thursday. Yesterday I decided to wear something comfy to visit the cattle fair and then follow on drinking beers and rum.

That top is from a catalonian make of clothes that has wonderful prints: La Isla. They are not exactely cheap, but my mum bought this one for me. A few weeks ago while I was walking around in Madrid I found a street shop selling clothes from La Isla, and I felt like bringing home half of them. Too bad I couldn´t...

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you would read my two first posts.

TEAL RETRO DRESS

2009-05-22T12:55:00.005+01:00

Nothing too exciting to start with. Very minimalistk, if one thinks in terms of composition. I do love this dress though. It is from Primark, but there is something delightfully retro about it. Primark was by far my favorite conventional shop in England. The only place I used to buy clothes apart from charity shops. (except for the ocasional treasure found in an organic clothes shop I used to know)

The shoes are from Hush Puppies. My mother buys shoes for me, but now I get to choose them. I am getting more and more feminine about shoes as years go by. But first rule for shoes, for me, is still confort. I can´t do non-comfy shoes.

The colour of the dress is teal, a shiny teal. I love it! What do you think?

:) wellcome to my room of wonders. If you´re new here, I would appreciate you read my two first posts.

INFLUENCES

2009-05-21T12:09:00.005+01:00

It would be strange to talk about clothes and not mention my influencies and inspirations. Because every composition is influenced and inspired by something, wether the creator likes it or not.

First important thing is, I don´t really have an identifiable style or, I go in and out of every style I fancy - choose the one you find more apropriated. There are some styles that influence me more than others, that is pretty obvious. I will mention them in a moment. The other important thing is inspiration...and I am inspired basically by everything that catches my eye and my soul.

So...styles. The first of my loves in terms of style is Vintage. I love vintage since...well forever. I was interested in vintage clothes long before I was aware that word actually existed, long before I knew there was such thing as vintage clothing. Since I was a little girl I´d religiously collect every piece of clothing that had been in my family for long. Anything that smelled like past. I am attracted by old days. Say it clothes, environments, movies, music, pictures, objects....it has a hold on me. It catches my eye, it catches my soul, it makes me dream and wonder, it gives me a sort of non-logic nostalgia for something I never really lived.

On the other hand, I was always a thrifty buyer. I love the hunting. It probably came from my father, and assumed thrifty buyer and garbage searcher...you never know the treasures people can throw away. My father wasn´t so much of a clothes searcher, his fields were more stamps, or anything he could find useful (and you´d be surprised by the things my father could find useful.....from graduated glasses sold at the market to metal searching machines, anything could be of some interest to him!) I do like objects and matherials in general (something I can work on, something that can become something else), but clothes were always at the top of my 10-most-wanted-items.

I can´t really explain the feeling of fiding a place where you find all the items in a pile or in some sort of strange order, and you can´t really imagine at the beginning what you will find in there at the end. It´s the hunt, and I guess to fully understand it, you must be a hunter yourself. It´s not the same as finding bargains at sales. That can be fun, but not half as fun. If you go to a known clothing store, you are aware of what you´re likely to find. There won´t be big surprises. A thrifty store, a market, a charity shop, a vintage shop or a second hand shop, are something completely diferent. There is always room for surprises. You know you´ll see hundreds of things that don´t really interest you that much, but there are treasures hidden. It´s the hunt, and once it starts few things can stop you. If you´re a hunter like myself, who likes bargain treasures, money is not often a problem. Sometimes, obviously, you´ll find a few items you´d love to have that are out of your price range. But most times it´s fiding treasures at ridiculously low prices that makes your day. And when I say low, in some cases I do mean low, as in I-couldn´t-buy-a-coke-for-that-amount-of-money low.

So...that´s how I get my stock of clothes....collecting long lost family pieces, hunting. Part of my stock is also provided by my mother, who is, in her own way, a clothing fanatic as well. For years, this resulted in a large wardrobe from which I would wear only half, as my mother is an elegant woman, but in a classic sort of way. She doesn´t risk and mantains her style for years and years. She dresses originally for her age, and in a way always did for her generation....but she is very plain. Elegant pratical clothes with a touch of originality, usually in form of a hat or a scarve. But that´s her. Plain colours, plain lines, comfy clothes. She is addicted to buying clothes for me, though. Even more as the years come buy and she stopped working and doens´t have that many social ocasions to attend. For years and years she would buy me clothes that were not exactely what I would dress. And to be very honest, by that time, I don´t think I was absolutely sure about what I would dress. On the last few years, she has been catching much more my sort of style, although with some allowable mistakes. My clothing transformation tecniques (the ones I intend to learn soon) may become handy to convert some of those clothes.

So vintage is definately my main style influence and inspiration. When it comes to defined styles, I also have a secret love for hippy clothing. Long skirts, jewellery, flowers....pretty much into it. But I guess hippy would classify as vintage as well, and when it comes to vintage I can go pretty much into most of the decades, excluding the eighties which honestely I find slightly....well....horrible. Most of it, anyway.

I also like the more ethic sort of orientacion, mixing influencies from other cultures. I am not likely to dress all in one style, except ocasionaly when it comes to vintage.

The truth is, I like so many things it´s hard to name them.
But in a general way I love colours. My two favorites since ever are dark purple and red, but then there are others, many others. The last few years I developed a love for teal. There is hardly a colour I don´t like at all. I have my days and I like to change. Sometimes orange is good fun too. Dry green, roasted yellow (yeah, I know there must be a better name for this), deep dark reds, all the variations of purple, teal, strong blues are probably the first ones calling for my attention. Strong greens, dark blue or pink are not amongst my favorites...which doesn´t mean they can´t be worn. Brown is good to combine with other colours.
I can´t even choose between dark or light colours, soft or strong. It depends on the day, it depends on the moments.

I have a weakness for vintage floral motifs. I like to combine different textures. I love applications, beautiful drawings, elegant shapes, odd shapes, old time shapes. I absolutely adore hats. I like scarves and accesories. I believe I´ve learned to like every type of accessory with time, until the point when there´s is hardly any type I wouldn´t wear at all.

As for inspirations, and those will be more important when I start making clothes myself, or modifying them more (I have a few embroyed items, for example, which counts as a modification for me) and as I said, I will use everything that catches my eye. Nature is probably one of my main ones....but isn´t it so for nearly everybody, when talking about colour and shape?

I guess from now on images will speak for themselves. Don´t get too excited tough. This is mainly my daily style...which means you shouldn´t expect to find cameleon David Bowie showing up in every post. It´s, as I said, living and experimenting. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Sometimes this will probably be just boring. I don´t know what will come up, but I am willing to find out.

I am guessing, by the road I am starting to go down, that this won´t be exactely only a diary of the clothes I wear. I will probably be also showing things that inspire me, my experiences in making pieces of clothing and the results from my hunting.

Summer aproaching

2009-05-21T10:45:00.000+01:00

It is true. If you come from a warm climate, you will miss the warmth when it´s time for it. And I am sure I was born for hot summers.

I was born in Mozambique´s capital, Maputo, former Lourenzo Marques. It is Africa, it is hot and it is a coastal city. My parents are portuguese, so we went back to Lisbon when the colonies became independent, so I really only got to live in Mozambique the first 3 years of my life. But I am sure something become engraved in me, something to do with the heat, the sun on the dry skin, the long days, the waves of heat showing up in the horizon.

We then moved to Lisbon, not that hot during the summer, but still warm enough (which would be considered hot by lots of people) and still coastal. I do like a type of weather that has 4 seasons, and that´s how I spend most of my life. Four distinguished seasons.

When I lived in England, for nearly 3 years, I missed the heath, the sun burning on our skins. I missed the summer, a proper summer, a summer that changes you from inside out, that changes your skin, your nature, your rhythms. I loved England, but it was not the place for me to live permanentely. Something very essencial in me was missing all of the time.

I am a south person. I need that time of the year in which everything changes drastically, in which I need a minimum of clothes. I don´t even wish for freshness at night, I like warm nights, and I sleep perfectely well in the heathm thank you very much, as long as I don´t have any clothes on.

Last year we (my love and I) went to visit Almeria, shortly. For the ones who don´t know it, it is a coastal area of Spain caracterized by the fact that is has a desertic sort of environment. It is dry, hot and sunny....and I felt strangely at home. I can´t explain it. The dryness of my skin, the heath in the air, the smell, that sensation that the world is slowed down, that everything happens in a sort of maze...I love it.

The oposite thing happens to me when I go up north. I love the north of either Portugal and Spain...it is probably the most stunning part of both countries. But for me, it is always a place to visit. I feel happy to be there, I feel alive, I love it. But I don´t feel as if I arrived home. Even when it´s hot, it´s not what I feel yellow hot, sandy hot. It´s just...hot, sometimes very hot, but not the same.

Now, in Extremadura, I feel the summer aproaching and I know that although I am far from the coast, and I am, in essence, a coastal person, I will still feel at home here. Not as much as if there was sea. But still somehow at home.

INTRODUCTION

2009-05-20T17:28:00.007+01:00

Clothery = diary of clothes, aka, my clothes, day by day. And who, in God´s name, would ever be interested in that? Don´t know, don´t care. I like the idea and it is pretty much what matters, since this is my personal cyber space. ha!

I like clothes. I like fabrics, textures, colours, shapes. I like to put 2 and 2 together and make one. I like the art of composing one´s look. My look in this case....but who else´s look would I compose anyway? I am ....well me.....and unless I turn into a fashion adviser (which I won´t, because I´m not sure I am that fond of fashion), I won´t have much chance of using anyone else as a guinea pig. And in the unlikely case I would have available guinea pigs...I would like to actually choose them,and you know how it goes with guinea pigs...the ones you choose are never the ones you have available.

Apart from that, and lets be honest here, I am the main character in my life and partially, I am as well its main artistic director. So, since I was brought into this world and I am a sucker for good old tales, quality cinema and novels beutifully written....I should try to make the best out of my main character. Right? Please understand that when I talk about charater, I don´t mean it in a hypocrit, self constructive, false sort of way. Actually, I didn´t write the lines for my own character, and I am not responsible por most of its story board. As an artistic director though, I do have a saying about her aesthetics and about the general way my character fits into this movie/novel (errr....it changes...sometimes I am even in a cartoon).

Have you ever been young, very young, maybe a child, or maybe even you still feel it to this day, and felt a desire to be like a movie star? You look at Katherine Hepburn, or Audrey Hepburn (swear this was coincidence) or....lets say a more modern one...Isabelle Hupert (this was the most modern I could come up with? cheez, I must be becoming out of date pretty fast hahahaha), and you think to yourself: 'if only I had that elegance, if only my life was so exciting, if only I was that charming, if only I had a theme song running behind me, turning every moment of my life into something extremely poetic?'. And then you go on with your regular life and nothing looks that exciting? Well....I pretty much consider life full of hard bits as it is, and I decided that if I let the rest of my life become just 'normal' or 'regular' or even 'boring', that would make my life, in a general way, one that is pending to the low end of the hapiness scale. Which I don´t intend to let happen...

We are all characters. I am pretty sure someone is up there looking at us and having a good time. Or then again maybe not. Maybe nobody is up there watching us. Or maybe there is something, but the way or little lifes go is of little matter to that something. It doesn´t matter. WE are always following our own personal lifes. And how often it is that people end their own lifes without knowing themselves at all and without having a slighest idea of the greater picture? How often iis it that people come to the end of their lifes and think 'Where the heck did my life go? Where or how did I spend the last 30 years?? What did I do, who was I? And when did I become this person I don´t remember recognizing in the mirror?'

In a general way and in our sweet society, it is almost considered a crime to give too much attention to yourself. Sometimes we are even ashamed of being happy. It seems it needs a justification as in ' ok, I am happy now, but don´t forget everything I have been through before. See all the previous sacrifices in my life and you´ll understand that I do deserve this little drop of happiness now.' Sometimes it feels like we had to be sacrifing ourselves all of the time and that we are not supposed to praise ourselves, love ourselves, be proud of ourselves . A close friend commented very wisely that people are more likely to be by your side when you´re down then when you up. Meaning, if you´re sad, or going through a though moment, many people will give you a hand, support you, be by your side. But if you´re happy, very often you feel that some of the people you expected to be by your side, will actually be wondering why is it you that deserves all the happiness and not them. Have you ever wanted to share something good with someone, and instead of having the other person asking you 'really? that´s really good! and how will that be? how did that happen? how are you feeling about it? I am really happy for you' the only answer you get is 'oooh, I am really envious (in a joyfull sort of way) I want that to happen to me as well!'. Half of the time people may not mean something wrong. But if someone close doesn´t ask you anything else about what you are so excitedly telling them, and the only comment is 'I want that for myself as well' or 'why is it that those things never happen to me?', you can´t help feeling a little sad. That dangerously aproaches something called envy, and I think we´ve all (or nearly all) been there and done that, in both roles. But then, when finally something good happens to people, they feel they have to justify it to the world with all their previous misery. As if we have to prove we deserve to be happy.

I see it the other way around. I think we are responsable for being as happy as possible. I believe that if there is something superior to us all, and we were put in this life for a reason, then we are supposed to live it, and live it in the best way possible. And that means 1) Loving one´s self 2) Fighting for your happiness at every moment - if you're happy, you are more likely to make other people happy and to bring good things into this world. It is not a crime to suffer, to grieve, to feel, to cry. But when it is time to be happy- be happy. Don´t be normal - be happy, enjoy life, smell it breathe it, live it. It´s yours! 3) Taking part of life. Come down to earth and get your hand on the ground. Feel the pleasure, don´t deny it. Being imaculate will not take you to heaven...it will only drive you away from the rest of humanity and make you more arrogant. And arrogance is no exactely charming...unless you know how to play with it very well. Feel, admit you feel, admit not all your feelings are noble. Nobody in this life does things only for their noble reasons. We are all selfish in a way, and that´s the way it goes. Half of our altruistic reasons, are only hiding our major fears and justifying them. Let loose, let go, come down to the ground and get dirty. Life will have a flavor then.

And if you´re wondering, yes, this is all, in some contorted way, related to the main theme in this blog: my passion for clothes AND dressing up (and down and sideways, I just like dressing!)
Clothes are considered shallow. Well I say, things are not shallow in itselves. It´s the way we aproach things that can be or not be shallow. Not liking what everybody else likes doesn´t make you more special or profound in itself. Because as far as I know, you could have choosen that in order to 'be different'. And that´s shallow. I think you get my point in here....no need to go on. As I said at the beggining, clothes for me are pure composicion. The clothes and accessories in themselves AND the way they are put together in a person. Or, if you rather, in a wall, in a chair, in a graveyard or a daisy field. The way you compose with what you have in hands. And yes, for me you can use clothes to compose visual art (I know art is a very dodgy word in here, but I should warn you...I am not going into semantic or artistic discussions in here - my point here is.....well to make my point in an understandable way). This is one bit.

The other bit is that clothes are a statement. They always are, weather you care too much or too little about them. They may be more or less active, or more or less important in the way you express yourself wordlessly to the world, but they are, necessarily, part of that expression. A part that oyu choose actively. And if you choose to always be plain...then you are clearly making a choice. For years, I tried playing with clothes, but I knew it was something that was not harmonized in me, yet. I loved them, but I didn´t feel 100% confortable in them. It was like I was always either chasing something I couldn´t grab, showing off or hidding. I really couldn´t express myself through clothes. Until I started admiting I really love them and, most importantly, until I started feeling some love for myself as well, and allowed myself to ....put myself in the best way possible. Until I lost all the fears. Presentely, I am quite aware of the way I wear clothes most times. Meaning, I am aware that sometimes I am trying to say something through them. For example, everytime I am meeting people that belong to more convencional environments, I have the tendency to dress in a way that is not exactely shocking (not even close to that) but that says, in a way 'don´t expect convencionlism from me. I am NOT convencional, look at me, read that, and if you aproach me, you do it at your own risk. ' It more or less helps to keep some people and bay, and it saves me part of the effort of having to make myself clear. Usefull!

I had a lot of prejudices about clothes, although I never dressed exactely in the most conventional way. But I wouldn´t use certain things for a variety of reason. Nowadays I´ll wear everything I like as long as I like the combinations I am making. Final stop. And sometimes I will take care of what I dress, and other days I am just worried about getting ready quickly. But I don´t care that I care. And I don´t mind taking time. And I don´t mind taking records of my creations. Meaning, taking pictures, taking records of my character and the way the costume guys (aka me) decided to dress her up this time around. And this is where my blog is born! Clothery...a diary of the clothes I wear. Twenty years on, and I will find it fascinating to look at this pictures. I do like documenting my life. It´s my own personal way of not only being in love with the characters of my everytime movies and novels, but also in love with my character. Finally. After all this time. I wanna be aware of my character, the same way I am aware of the other characters around. Because I am aware of the other characters around. Who they are, they way they present themselves, they way they dress, they move, they talk. I observe and admire. Some of them are very close to my own character, some of them just by passers. I watch, think, admire, love, enjoy (or not hehe). But I am aware of them. And for some time now, I have been aware of myself as well. Which is a pretty good thing to do.

And....to end this already long introduction....there is something I want to add. Just in case someone feels like playing smart guy with me. Yes, I am making all this speech partially to prevent people from calling me narcisistic. And yes, it is still narcisism to upload pictures of myself. And yes, I am making the point of letting everybody know I really couldn´t care less. I like this. I like clothes, and pictures and myself. And it took me years to like myself and even more time to be able to say this out loud without criticizing me for being conceived. Thank God I am free now. I am finally free to consider myself in between the beautiful beings I enconter in my life. And just to make sure you are following me, I was not talking about movie stars in the last two paragraphs. Just in case you were wondering! I was talking about everyone who is part of my life, long time friends, short time (but long souled) friends, passers by, acquaintances, and so on....

Speech is over. Wellcome here if you like whatever you find in here. I am delighted to meet you, even more if you let me know you were here. I am not sure what will happen in here. I have been conciously paying more attention to my passion for clothes. I am learning how to transform them and even to make them, as well. So really, anything could happen. This is pure experimentation, like everything else in my life. First and main rule, is to have fun with it.

So let the party begin!!!!!

ON THE ROAD

2009-05-08T12:59:00.000+01:00

VINTAGE

2009-05-08T12:40:00.000+01:00

Weekend

2009-04-27T20:06:00.000+01:00

What to do with spring weekends when warm weather alternates with chilly winds, sun comes and goes and flowers are everywhere? ....enjoy them, of course!

Playing around with pictures

2009-04-27T19:56:00.000+01:00

What happens when we play around with the little means we have available?

Going through the decades

2009-04-23T10:26:00.000+01:00

My world

2009-03-24T13:34:00.000Z

My world is populated by magical creatures. My mind wonders through the labyrinths of creation and only comes down to praticallity when absolutely necessary. I dream of unicorns and blossoming trees, flying baloons and petals rain, tea parties and talking cats, flying on my umbrella and dressing up for the ball.

In my world I like to play up with colours and lights and movement and sounds and shapes that have never been made but have really been there forever. I hear birds and I breathe clean air and I close my ears when I don´t like what I see. My time is eternal and my body always dances, because I dress as a princess and act as an artist. I love through my skin and hear through my fingers, get muddy on rainy days and follow every rainbow. I have a secret place I carry around with me, a magical case big enough to have me inside. I close myself in it for days and days and then one afternoon wy house in invaded by what my hands made up. Water runs through my fingers as they are my magical tool, and everything that ever was is on everybody´s fingertips.

My world is magical and it sounds like singing mermaids. I hang up fairy lights and boil water for the tea. Bake my lucky chocolate biscuits and invite my friends over. Dance with my cat on a blue soap bubble, build the tree house I never had and invite the world to a party nobody will ever know about.

My world is so secret very few are invited, but promise to love it, and I'll fix up your room.

My world is not shallow, nor would I allow anyone to say such a nonsense. It is innocent and happy as life will never be though. Or is it 'as life should always be'? Or maybe I meant 'as only life can be'.

My world is not shallow, because if anything, it so terribly real. As real as my finger tips, or your nose, or my friends knees or a fairy's lucky charm.

My little place in the british countryside

2009-03-02T09:36:00.000Z

There is a quote by a portuguese poet that says something like ´first you find it odd, then it penetrates you'. This is probably one of the worst translations ever made. The original expression refers to something that you find hard to adjust to at the beggining, but that afterwards you somehow learn to find familiar. Something that is external to you but that somehow it becomes part of you with time.

That was more or less how the english country was for me. Only that I didn´t really find it odd at the beggining, when I first got it touch with it 3,5 years ago. I loved it at first, then I got bored with it, then I think I just got used to it. And now, that I just had the opportunity to go back there, after an 8 months absence, it was like being back home in a way.

Everything was familiar and sweet. Even the dump weather seemed right. As I was being driven through east anglia´s country roads, green fields and brick houses passing by me, pheasants standing in the middle of your route, clouds over our heads and that familiar feeling of fresh air and humidity I knew there would always be a place for it in my heart. I knew I had grown to love it and cherish it. The people as well, make me smile. The expressions, the accents, their whole way of being. In a strange sort of way, I fit in, there is a place for me in there. I feel welcome in there, as much as the whole thing is more than welcome in my heart.

And then there are these dearest friends:

................just how beautiful are they???

It´s spring again

2009-02-16T08:37:00.000Z

It´s spring again. I could say time has gone by fast, but that´s not interely true. Well, it is and it isn´t. In any case many things happened, and it´s not even really spring in the calendar. The sunny and warmer weather decieves our senses though.

This blog started in the first place because I wanted to remind myself of the magic little (or big) things. That´s why I can´t let it fade away. This will be my magic book of the special things. And there are a lot of those.

For now I gotta say it is a gorgeous day out there, and I have a lot to look forward to during the next few months. I feel very fortunate.

Today or about everlasting fires

2008-05-14T09:25:00.000+01:00

I did say it would be an internet-free day but then I broke the promise at breakfast and shortly after I went outside and it has happened, it happened and I could help myself. I had to write. The birds are born. I was counting the days from when we found the nest and I was praying we would have the honour to see them and they are now born, a lot earlier then I thought they would.
It's so beatiful and so promising and I feel excited though worried. I want them to survive, I want them to get stronger and come out of their nest and spread their wings in the air and fly away, free for their lifetime. I can't help seeing them as a metaphor of our changing lifes, although that's quite conceived of me to think so, but I really don't mind.
Look! Isn't it amazing, just outside out door?

I will not spend the day typing on the computer though. My heart feels so full of feelings and hopes and excitment and anxiety and ohhh everthing.....Not only because of the birds but because of everything. The sun outside, although it is cooling down again and the clouds making their way back to this parcel of sky. All the promsing time ahead. The love. This fear like a constant claw pressuing my heart, this fear of the ends, of all the ends of all the things and the everlasting fight that makes me want to live eternity in each moment and forget about the finitude because there's nothing that can be done about that.
This fire inside me, something big always about to explode, something I've felt forever and that takes me back to when I was 14, 15, 16, 17.....this strenght, this love for life that is scary, because everything can be so beautiful and so glorious. All the doors are open and I fight to watch the open doors instead of staring terrified at the moment when they will be closed. I want to see a ghost, I want to fly out of my body and then come back again and finally live intensely, loving with all my heart, each moment and let myself be, through the moments, through the feelings. And everything is so glorious I feel like crying and fear must stop and I must trust eternity, this touchtable eternity of now, while I am in this body, this life, this love.
I prepare now to live another day and thank for that day and many others to come until we are wrinkled and twisted and small, and our hearts and souls big from all the love and light and life behind us.

Yesterday or about old ghosts

2008-05-14T09:24:00.000+01:00

There are moments where the (my) world is turned upside down by the simple lining of numbers, the numbers, when the numbers line differentely, bringing an undesired sequence. The numbers I talk about, knowing everything has names which I rather ignore, have been with me for far too long, past their due living time, so long they forgot to be left behind, so long they barely need me to be fed. They feed themselves, little devlish things. They feed temselves on the memory of bony limbs. of endless steps along endless pavements, apples eaten under the sun and that cleaness of the air (was it true, or is is just a trick of my memory?). These moments when I loose track of both ends, let them slip through my fingers ,I wish to be able to crawl in a dark corner, waiting cristalized until the numbers are re-alined and the air can enter my nose abd fill my lungs.
I want to sleep until it goes away, I want to evaporate until there is order.
I just don't want to feel the world like this.

'Corset dance by the window' or 'spring time and the living is easy'

2008-05-09T15:10:00.000+01:00

Spring

2008-05-06T07:23:00.000+01:00

Memory: The first day of the year when I was able to wear short sleeves used to make me feel like a bird somebody just set free in the sky. Smells, sounds and the general feeling of spring. Even through my worst years, later on, this feeling remained, no matter how faint.

Nowadays, is becoming stronger and stronger again. I now live in a world of colors, flowers, creation, love, friendship and discoveries. Tempered by the ever present conciousness that we are nor eternal (should I say fear?). Learning to feel the eternity in each moment though.

The flowers and the warmth are back, and I prepare myself to feel the air on my skin.

Funny fact: For two days in a row, a bird came to our window, called for our attention and stood there, staring at us, while we stared back at him, wanting to ask him if there was something special he/she wanted to tell us. He/she flew away when I got my camera the first time, and flew away when I mentioned the word 'camera' the second time. I feel happy when I think about that visit.

We'll never know what made him/her stay there, for a short moment that felt like forever, looking inside while we were looking outside. My love freaked out a bit. That bird looked way too human I guess...birds don't just decide to stare through your window, calling for you on their arrival. 'Let it be' I said, 'he's bringing us a good message, whatever it is'. I decided he meant good fortune for our big changes about to come. How handy is that??

One of my special flowers...since ever. Pansy. 'Amor perfeito' in portuguese. That means 'perfect love'.

'The blackbirds flights are low, short and undulating but fast and direct over open country. They move with determination and focus and can teach us how to do the same. When blackbird flies into your life your connection with nature and the forces of creation increase. The magic of the underworld surfaces in your life. Awareness is heightened and change on a cellular level begins. The blackbird teaches you how to acknowledge your power and use it to its fullest.' (http://www.sayahda.com/cycle.htm)

'Blackbird - Omens and mysticism, color of fear and promise' (http://www.semjaaza.com/ur/sof_birds.html)

Starling - Sociable, communicating diversity, forceful (http://www.semjaaza.com/ur/sof_birds.html)

It was either a female blackbird or a starling (our visitor, that is).
I felt the visit was a good thing anyway.

2008-05-05T20:42:00.000+01:00

Memory: For years, through my adolescence and maybe my childhood, seeing the sunset made me so happy that I wanted to run through a field, run through the beach, through the woods, express my happiness somehow. My heart seemed to explode with happiness, for a short untangible moment.

The hour that followed always seemed sad though, that short period when it's not day anymore, and it's not night yet. The night represented curiosity and later on desperation..although not always. There was also a fascination about nights as well, there has always been.
When I was little, I especially liked being in a car at night, being driven through the streets, watching the lamp lights, looking inside windows, having a short glimpse of somebody else's life. That fascinated me.