Unemployed on Wednesday

Today's idea is not some big, happy, sparkly thing to improve your quality of life, but life itself. The tiny, fragile, peaceful, taken-for-granted life.

I've been spending time with a terminally ill friend lately.
She used to be my sitter when I was a kid, but she's also been much more. I've never seen a grandma in her as her behaviour was a little wild for a grandma (in the best sense possible), but an older friend who'd lived her life to the fullest.
Photos from her youth would make you think it was Sophia Loren - a buxom, flirty, beaming woman. She'd always have the craziest ideas, taught us stuff we probably could have done better without, read our coffee grounds (a tall dark man)... you get it.

Her latter years brought a lot of stress and anxiety due to being separated from her son because of the war, and her health started to deteriorate. And today, I can barely recognize her. It feels like she could fit into my palm. And yesterday she said, 'Look how tables have turned, you're my sitter now'.

And they have. They do all the time, don't they?

I guess what I'm trying to say is this - take care of yourself. Detach from bad influences and sift everything that happens through a very fine sieve. Let the important people and things in. Keep everything else out. And by things I mean food, nervous Nellies, idiots who feed themselves off of tragedies and pollute the rest of the world (bosses, 'friends', etc.). Do what you like to do. Deter those who want to mess with your life (they're only avoiding their own). Wear a reversible smile, inside and out. It's the best accessory you'll ever find. XOXO

Winter Solstice At Last!

Tonight at 00:38, a few moments ago, the winter solstice arrived!
Although the pagan in me likes the other, Midsummer-Night's-Dream-solstice better, something keeps me from enjoying it entirely. I have always been and will always be sensitive to the passage of time, and no, by that I don't mean the wrinkles and grays and such. The thing is I always prefer being in a less favourable state, waiting and working on the better one to come, than the opposite.
So the winter solstice is something I look forward to because, as the longest night of the year passes, the nights get shorter and shorter, and that's what keeps me going through the gloomy, rainy, cold winter days.
Happy solstice :)

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Inspiration for Your Tuesday

One of the characteristics of growing up (or so they say) is supposed to be losing the 'rebel' inside of you. I don't think the word 'rebel' should even be used, as it only stands for 'ahead of your time', at least for me. And as the time - your time - will surely come, don't lose that feeling of revolt inside of you because, eventually, you will only lose yourself.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

I stayed up until 2 am the other night, watching this amazing movie, it was on TV as a tribute to late Blake Edwards. I've seen it in pieces a thousand times, but never entirely. So I made it my goal to stay up and absorb all the details. And I did. And then I decided to make the Polyvore set immediately (gotta strike while the iron is hot).
My mom has always had a thing for Audrey Hepburn, and it sort of grew on me, too. I love her portrayal of her characters, kooky and heart-breaking at the same time, and so, so feminine.
Breakfast and Audrey, 1961...

and a closer look...

and here is how I see it today

A Winter Walk

As I went for a walk tonight, to visit my Grandparents, I noticed a small cat was walking by, a few steps behind, a few steps in front of me, but she never left my side. She'd stop, look around, and go on walking. I felt bad for her as most of the path was covered in snow and ice and she obviously had nowhere to go. Along the streets, she took the same turns as I did, and came to my Grandparents' yard, through the garden gate, leading the way. And then up the stairs to their home. She put her tiny head through the door and took a peek. I tried to show her where to stay, a dry mat on a covered verandah. I wish I could have taken her home with me, though. I'm getting more and more sentimental as I get older.

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Random Friday - Baylis&Harding

Sooo, on Fridays I'll be blogging about random things I love - either those that belong to me, or those I've seen, touched and drooled over :)
To kick off the new feature, I'll present Baylis&Harding products. As they say, they specialise in 'delicately fragranced bathroom essentials'. What I like as well is the dedication to creative packaging (textured, imprinted boxes, simple, straightforward labels), but above all is the mindfulness behind each set - the things seem to be organically tied in to each other. I love giving them to people I like & love :)
My faves...

girly-girl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

fluffy

 

zzz

 

indulge

 

after a long day

warm tummy

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Unemployed on Wednesday

The thing to do today - exchange love notes with your gal-pals.
I remember the notes we used to exchange years ago: during a boring class, across the classroom, the feeling that you two are in on the greatest secret in the world, and the adrenaline caused by the possibility of getting caught. Letters, cards sent just because, or on important occasions. We used to write letters, remember?
With colourful pens, on scented paper, possibly smeared with tears (the drama!).
And today, in these mostly drama-free years, what remains is the sweet sentiment of years past and surviving friendships. And I don't know why - just because - I've written to all my friends lately (friends from different periods of my life), saying how much they meant to me, how I cherished the attitudes we still share, the stuff they did for me, the good old feeling of being aware that someone, somewhere laughs at the same jokes, loves the same songs, and wishes you well no matter what.
We've grown and we've changed, but the bits and pieces of who we used to be to each other still remain etched in who we are today.

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Inspiration for Your Tuesday

Feeling lovey-dovey lately :)
And feeling the need to be on our own.
And luckily, there's a place where you can stay for free.

Vertigo

This feature is becoming addictive :)
Today we have Vertigo, a 1958 Hitchcock masterpiece. And the Hitchcock blonde? Kim Novak. Here she is in the movie...

...and here is her 21st century outfit

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Kooky Thursday

It's time for me to stop pretending that weeks only have three days :) As I promised in the welcome post, there will be cooking here, too, and as I like to misspell stuff intentionally, you're blessed with a Kooky Thursday from my kitch.
Last week I made grissini per my mother's request. We used to buy them, but our grocers don't seem to carry them anymore.

I used this recipe, skeptically, as I didn't believe they'd turn out exactly as we knew them.

They turned out great, however, crunchy, dry and fragrant, so much better than the store bought version.
I baked them in two batches, the first entirely by the recipe, and in the second batch I accidentally discovered something: the dough was much easier to work if you switched the moves in the process - so I formed small logs and let them rise. After rising, I rolled them into their final size and baked them. Enjoy :)

Unemployed on Wednesday

The first book I absolutely adored from the first page when I was a kid (ok, a younger kid) was Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. I've read it several times, both in my mother tongue and in English, and I often go back to it either to see how I've grown over the years and how my attitudes have changed, or to look for answers to some of life's omnipresent questions. It's the literary counterpart to a bowl of creamy polenta or mac and cheese = pure comfort.
As it opens just before Christmas, I always remember it around this time. So this year I decided to put more meaning into the gifts I'll be giving by making them myself, and I'd like to ask you to give it a thought, too. Make or do something meaningful, by your own standards. I also did this.
And here is a little excerpt to make you see just how they did it.

 

"Merry Christmas, Marmee! Many of them! Thank you for our books. We read some, and mean to every day," they all cried in chorus. "Merry Christmas, little daughters! I'm glad you began at once, and hope you will keep on. But I want to say one word before we sit down. Not far away from here lies a poor woman with a little newborn baby. Six children are huddled into one bed to keep from freezing, for they have no fire. There is nothing to eat over there, and the oldest boy came to tell me they were suffering hunger and cold. My girls, will you give them your breakfast as a Christmas present?"

They were all unusually hungry, having waited nearly an hour, and for a minute no one spoke, only a minute, for Jo exclaimed impetuously, "I'm so glad you came before we began!"

"May I go and help carry the things to the poor little children?" asked Beth eagerly.

"I shall take the cream and the muffings," added Amy, heroically giving up the article she most liked.

Meg was already covering the buckwheats, and piling the bread into one big plate.

"I thought you'd do it," said Mrs. March, smiling as if satisfied.

"You shall all go and help me, and when we come back we will have bread and milk for breakfast, and make it up at dinnertime."

 ...

In a few minutes it really did seem as if kind spirits had been at work there. Hannah, who had carried wood, made a fire, and stopped up the broken panes with old hats and her own cloak. Mrs. March gave the mother tea and gruel, and comforted her with promises of help, while she dressed the little baby as tenderly as if it had been her own. The girls meantime spread the table, set the children round the fire, and fed them like so many hungry birds, laughing, talking...

...

That was a very happy breakfast, though they didn't get any of it. And when they went away, leaving comfort behind, I think there were not in all the city four merrier people than the hungry little girls who gave away their breakfasts and contented themselves with bread and milk on Christmas morning.

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Inspiration for Your Tuesday

Don't telephone companies always have the sweetest commercials? I wonder why... :)
They'd have to work harder to make me go shopping, but they always make me giddy, especially in holiday times.
Today's inspiration comes from one such source.

High Society Pt. II

I've already sung its praises to this movie. And I also promised to post a feminine edition of its fashion.
So here's Grace Kelly in the early fifties...

and a better look...

and what she could choose from today...

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