Thursday, December 29, 2011

21 daily reminders


ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.. 
TWO ... Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other. 
THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want. 
FOUR . When you say, 'I love you ,' mean it. 
FIVE. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.. 
SIX ... Be engaged at least six months before you get married. 
SEVEN.. Believe in love at first sight. 
EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much. 
NINE . Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely. 
TEN. ...  In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling. 

ELEVEN.  
Don't judge people by their relatives. 

TWELVE.  
Talk slowly but think quickly. 
THIRTEEN.  When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?' 
FOURTEEN.  Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.. 
FIFTEEN.  Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze. 

SIXTEEN.  
When you lose, don't lose the lesson ! 
SEVENTEEN.  Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and responsibility for all your actions. 
EIGHTEEN..  Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.. 
NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it. 
TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone.. The caller will hear it in your voice. 
TWENTY-ONE. Spend some time alone.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Sui Inspired



So I've finally got the Anna Sui book. It only took about 10 days to get here but alas it arrived yesterday morning. Several of my current projects have been stuck and after reading the first couple pages of Anna's story I got my motivation back. I will post pics later as some of them will be gifts for the family. I really love Anna's ability to mix colors and textures. I tend to be too matchy sometimes and putting black on top of grey can really bring a garment down. With Anna's style she always adds a little flair to a normally dull garment that's what really makes her fashion work. Her work is not over the top but always edgy enough to set it apart and give it that extra umph. She really pushes the girliness in her garments and I think that is lost in most of today's clothes. The ruffles, the trims, embroideries, buttons, and bows fulfill every fashionista's dream.

More on that later, time to finish packing for Barcelona!!!!

Me vs. Pippa: updated*

I just discovered BDBA this weekend in Barcelona. Love their bright colors and florals, everything is so girly. They have the same dress but for a little more than what I paid for it at Zara. 
Vita goes for 198 Euros. That's about 5 times what I paid. 



this one from Pippa's best of 2011 (April)

Me in Madrid (March)

Love

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Spiced Coconut Lentil Soup

Spiced Coconut Lentil Soup

I made slight adjustments, instead of coconut oil I used sesame oil. Instead of an actual chili I put chili powder. No himalayan salt. Regular milk for half the amount of coconut milk. So yummy!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Hugo Cabret Bande Annonce VF


My fourth film. Love love loved. really beautifully done and now I will have to go to the Lumiere museum after missing out on the excursion with my school a while back.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Bubble Blues

Thanksgiving has passed, though the holidays are still continuing strong. After four months of marriage I haven´t given much thought at all to working out. I almost joined a gym but wanted to wait until we stopped travelling so much so I wouldn´t waste money on something that I can´t use. However, after putting on my old jean jacket (it´s always a good detector because it never stretches or shrinks too much),  I´m pulling to make the buttons fit. This means that I probably would be getting angry with myself if I stepped on a scale right now. Starting today, it´s firm-up time! Well, considering that I´ve already got bacon in the oven for some bacon wrapped prawns the diet will have to start after lunch (no carbs though!). First step, we´ll shake the dust off the old dumbells.

Here´s a good bootyshakin´song

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Movie # 3

I took my friend Gijung to the movies last night for her birthday. We saw the lady. Amazeballs.

Friday, November 18, 2011

flying back to the states.

in just over 5 hrs my alarm will be going off and we´ll be heading to the airport. First flying to paris and then to houston. Looking forward to this week.

So many references lately to ¨I like the concept of..... but I don´t really like........ ¨
For example the clips from the movie Like Crazy  and an FML I read last night where a guy got broken up with because his girlfriend liked the concept of him but didn´t really like him. I think the same is true with the French and Americans. Everywhere I go in Lyon, I see people wearing sweaters, jackets, purses, anything with an American Flag plastered on them. There is a shop I recently discovered called Carrie Bradshop. Obviously a play on the American series character. Anyways the store is filled with gorgous vintage items such as dress, shoes and purses. Yesterday I brought some friends there to show them and I found a necklace that was a big black heart on a gold chain that had a plastic casing of smaller hearts around the larger one. It was 25 Euros and I thought I would treat myself except when I went to pay they only accept cash. So the lady said that when I come back tomorrow the shop owner would be there. Long story short I came back to the store and was looking at the heart when I notice that the casing was loose and needed to be reglued to the heart. The shopowner saw me looking at the necklace and told me to try it on. So when I put the chain on the heart fell off and hit the ground. He picked it up and saw that the casing was loose and told me I broke it. I showed him that the clasp on the heart was broken and that´s why it fell off and the casing was like that before. Just then my friend walked in and he sees that she is with me and he immediately tells her that I broke his necklace. I explained again that it was already broke, in two places, and that I didn´t have anything to do with it. So, I tell my friend let´s go and the shop owner looks at me with his head cocked to the side and says, ¨I think that´s for the best. Go ahead, get out. ¨

Seriously?! Carrie Bradshaw wouldn´t buy anything from that janky store and I am sure that any American wouldn´t have gotten all mad-hatter about some second hand defunct jewelery. Glad I didn´t purchase it the day before.

starting at 6:22

You Say Party! We Say Die! 'Monster' from the album 'Lose All Time'

Au Revoir Simone . Take Me As I Am

Alice + Olivia

Aliv

Friday, October 28, 2011

Ohio - CocoRosie


Reading about chez Chanel. Prepping another dress for sewing and waiting for the landlord to comeback so I can get my sewing machine. and oh yeah, Tony Parker just moved in on the next block.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

my first dress

I am back with the needle and thread again, determined now to finish a garment. I´ve realized I think I am more interested in making the clothes than wearing them for fashion. So, hopefully one day this will take me somewhere. Most times when I´ve put down a dream or a goal in writing it has come true. Here´s to hoping one day I will come back to this post and think that I can´t believe it started here.....

Here´s my first work in progress. I bought this tissue last year and in the encouraging words of Tim Gunn ¨Make it Work¨. So when you´ve given up or think that the idea´s a dud, don´t give up and do the best with what you´re given.

It started when I went into the store Nice Things (Yes, that´s the actual name), and fell in love with all the vintage looking dresses, sweaters, dresses, accessories. I wanted everything but couldn´t afford hardly anything (at least without some buyer´s remorse). My problem is I love fashion but I will never pay designer prices. The average price of a dress was about 75 Euros. Not too bad because it is quality Catalan design but still most of the pieces didn´t have more than 3 seams.
That´s when I was looking through the catalog back at home that I though, why can´t I make this myself for like 20% of the price?
So, I picked this simple dress on the left, I already had the pattern and some fabric I bought last year. I´ll try making one and see how it goes.....




The first fitting, not too bad. Pretty close to the Nice Things dress.  Needs some shaping up and work on the sleeves. In the meantime I´ll cinch it with a belt and try to find some different fabrics.

website of the day

I was looking for help with my french anatomy today and I stumbled across this website. I like the disection of the gummy bear.

http://vi.sualize.us/michelew/anatomy/

Thursday, October 6, 2011

"If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on."


Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs, RIP

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."


Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011

Self-Portraits in Segovia

We´ve just arrived back in Lyon, but I wanted to share a few pictures from my outings in & outside of  Segovia today.
I´m practicing my shooting technique using the self-timer. Finding places to situate the camera was sometimes tricky and sometimes the photos turned out better than I planned.

I hiked to the outside of the town to get a good view of the Alcazar castle that I visited on Monday.



This is the view from the Vera Cruz Templar church.



Consecrated in 1208, Vera Cruz was built by the Knights Templar to house a fragment of the True Cross. It  has a unique 12-sided exterior with a tower on the south side that is patterned on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, It is thus not really a parish church or even a monastic church, but primarily a shrine. The relic is now housed in the nearby village church at Zamarramala.








Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Me and My Shadow

Ruins of El convento de San Agustín, destroyed in 1912


The Aquaduct


Enjoying a patio lunch solo with gazpacho soup topped with fresh pepper, cucumber, and tomato.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Segovia Specialities

Cochonillo



 
Panche, tastes like a créme brulée cupcake. deliciousness.

Segovia, Alcazar castle




This Roman-originated castle was the inspiration for Walt Disneys princess' homes.









see me?                                                                                                  ^

Sunday

Sunday rowing at Parque del Retiro

Madrid, we meet again

Saturday outside the  Puerta de Toledo,  a prominent Madrid landmark signifying the old enterance to the city from the city of Toledo.


Roger gets a haircut. I think I like this one mainly because of the TX licence plate.