Parody GIRLS Season 38

"Girls" Parody

A sharp video parody on tv show "Girls", what the characters would be like in 40 years.
I am a fan of the show and I think this is hilarious.
Great job girls!

Who doesn't like flowers

 Especially when they come in a nice pot, beautifully arranged. I did a small, tiny favor to a friend and got this beautiful thank you gift. Needless to say I wasn't expecting or hoping for nor expecting anything. It was such a lovely gesture and a great surprise.
It really is the small things.

You even get a rose attached to the bag

 It was bought in Au nom de la rose shop in Milan.
Here are some pictures of one of their Milan shops, in via Mercato.

xoxo

 Lately

I know I've been gone for a while now, so I am bringing you a small mix of what I've been up to lately.

My latest customised sneakers in the train, DIY coming up soon

My brother's PHD in Electrical Engineering and Computing defense, I cried like a little baby

Turkish style coffee

A friendly seagull and a ribbon bracelet for the International day against homophobia, the 17th of May

Summer and snow time in May

Another crayon canvas, check here for a DIY

Limoncello preparing for cold winter months

Have a great week!

bisous

The Great Gatsby

It is getting close and closer and I just can't wait for the movie to come out, now more then ever. I love the 1974 version with Mia Farrow and Robert Redford, the story, the acting, the costumes, the music, everything is so good so I am so curious about the new one.
Add the fact that I love Baz Luhrmann's movies, find Leonardo DiCaprio to be a brilliant actor and was totally conquered by Carey Mulligan in "Drive" (if you haven't seen this one, do it, Ryan Gosling's abs, can't go wrong) and you get to understand how excited I am, or somewhere close to it because I'm so waiting for this one!! I can't even watch the trailer because I become so nervous.

Hope you enjoy it!

Recycled music

 A couple of months ago I told you about an amazing documentary I watched, "Waste land" (I hope you did/are going to as well). It showed us everyday life of the recyclable-pickers and I have found it rather awareness-raising as well as a great art project.
 Now I would like to share with you another interesting project. This time I'll let the music do the talking.
Enjoy!

Girls, season 2 finale

 For all of you who still haven't seen it, stop reading now, watch the finale and then come back!

 For all rest, what was that?!? Even though I am a huge fan of SATC, Gossip Girl and other chic lit shows, I loved Girls because it was different. It wasn't a happily ever after show and television lacked that in this, young girls/ big city context. It was real, dramatic and, sometimes, disgusting, but that kept it real, closer to us. I'm sure there were times when each one of us could have related to one of the characters, at least for what we could have done. It was no fake promises, stockings from Germany or macarons from Paris, less Nora Ephron, more real life. In the last night's episode it felt as if Lena Dunham said 'let them eat cake'.

 As a result we got:
 Marnie and Charlie are back for good. No, no and no! He should have dumped her after everything he's been through for her, she never really cared about him. I simply don't believe in this type of second chances, I'm sorry Marnie.
 Hannah and Adam? Could have predicted that when they left him in the series, but I so don't like it.
 Shoshanna and Ray? One good thing, that girl has to live her life and not being stuck at home with her world-hating boyfriend.

 I was sure Natalia, or whatever her name was, would dump Adam after he got drunk and kind of raped her. Kind of because in this episode, she is still there, having sex with him, which confirms her consent for the abuse scene from the previous episode. I thought that was totally wrong, but if I think about it better, this is how us girls are, masochists when it comes to men.

My opinion on this season finale isn't the best one because it changed my whole perspective on the show, but I'm looking forward to the third season to see what way it will go.

Pedro the turkey

 Time to time I watch old movies, getting into character comes way more easily than with modern-day cinematography, at least for me. I am not always in the mood for an oldie, nor do I like all of them, but when I find the one I like in the right moment, I keep thinking about that movie for days, running through the scenes in my head.
 Last weekend I watched "Giant", an amazing film starring James Dean whom I like so much (I know it's a cliche', get over it) and Elisabeth Taylor. If you haven't seen it, I'd recommend it.
 There was this one scene with Leslie's (E. Taylor) kids who didn't want to eat Thanksgiving lunch because they realized it was a turkey they were playing with earlier that day. I think it's such a good example of how genuine we all are in early childhood, it's such a pity that growing up we lose that sense of guilt.

This weekend was "The Great Gatsby", I'm slowly getting into the Charleston mood while expecting Baz Luhrmann's version.

Hope you all had a good weekend!

On vegan diet

 Almost two months ago I've decided it was time for me to give a go to the animal friendly diet (it wasn't my new year's resolution, it just happened like that). I decided I would try it for a month, just to see how it is.
 A month has passed yet I haven't gotten back to my old eating habits. I'm doing this the adjusted way, my way, but it still feels great! I don't know how long I will stick with it, I'm not giving any promises, but I'm certain I will always have the compassion in me.

 I have found it very hard to survive on a vegan diet in Italy. I don't want to use it as an excuse, but it really is, trust me! It works perfectly when eating at home, the problem is eating out and at other people's houses. A plant-based diet seems like something so hard to understand, and the few who get it seems they don't accept it. You can't even have a non dairy cappuccino for breakfast!

 At the beginning I was feeling tired and grumpy, but then I got some vitamin B complex supplements which helped a lot. (B12 can be found naturally only in foods from animal sources so supplement is needed.)

 I have put on some weight which might seem weird because people usually go down, but I have been eating way more white carbs than I did before. I still have to work on that even if I did not do this to lose weight.
I think this is psychological, I feel like I'm substituting animal products... I will figure it out eventually.

Here are the pictures of what I have been eating:

 On more than one occasion I was in a situation where I felt uncomfortable refusing food that I "wasn't" supposed to have, so I ate it. If I want to be honest, most of these times I really wanted it.
At my friend's place for a dinner; a friend I haven't seen in ages bringing Laduree macarons for a desert at my place; a friend of mine coming by my place at a late hour with 1 kilo of my favorite ice cream; my (by now) ex flatmate making a Bavarian breakfast just for me (it was an old promise and she had all the ingredients flown in from Germany); my best friend's traditional sushi birthday dinner (and this year it was even a goodbye dinner); my Argentinian friend bringing me traditional cookies from home...

Rose petals macaron; rose petals- white chocolate, pistachio and coffee- almond ice cream; mochi ice cream

Alfajores and mate, Argentinian traditional cookie and drink; Bavarian breakfast; more ice cream

 As you can see I haven't been very strict and for now this is how I will do it. I will cook vegan and tend to buy as many vegan products as I can, but for all the rest, eating out, at other peoples' places etc I will be flexible. This is my way.

 I am well aware vegan is a lifestyle and not a diet, but I'm not there yet. I'm not ready to completely change my lifestyle and I'm not sure I'm even going there, but for now this is where I stand!

If anyone has any advices, especially on the supplements, please fill me in!

3D pen

Isn't this cool!? It is a Kickstarter project, similar to the hot glue gun, but with a completely different output.
Now you can bring your doodles to life for $75.

Creepy Valentine

 I was never a big fan of Valentine's Day, I think it is too commercialized and has lost its genuine significance who knows when. Some of you may think I'm just frustrated because I'm single and, to be honest, haven't had a serious partner by my side for quite a while now, but I have actually never liked it.

 At 14 I had my first "serious" boyfriend, it was all so sweet, we'd meet after school, go for a walk, hung out at schoolmates' birthday parties, the simple life. He was a really nice guy that I'll remember forever, he was my first kiss after all. On Valentine's Day the whole city was running around with red roses, and different types of heart shaped goods, I got out of school and there he was, my boyfriend, with a yellow rose in his hands (no, he wasn't stingy, he just couldn't find another red rose because they were sold out). It was a nice gesture, but isn't it lame!? Even a kid got trapped into a consumer wheel. I didn't appreciate the rose and I was quite clear about it, wouldn't it be so much nicer if he just came, said "Happy Valentine's" and kissed me.
Or he could have written me a note or something, I'm sure I would have kept that!

 (When I was 7, on Valentine's my classmate gave me a hand written card with a note saying he loved me and that the dried rose that was attached to it was the rose his dad gave to his mom many years before that. That is romance!)

 I got a bit out of the track, the plan wasn't explaining my Valentine's Day cons, the idea was to let you know why this Valentine has been a bit creepy for me.
 My building's concierge is a single man in his 30s, not so good looking, someone people would refer to him as a loser. I've always had a nice professional relationship, I smile, say hello, comment the weather time to time, to make the long story short, he fell in love with me, or at least he says so. When I came back to Milan after Christmas holidays, he gave me a present, a perfume. I thought it was rude to refuse so I thanked him and took it.
 This morning he rang for me to come down to pick up a package, too bad it was from him. It was an orchid, a red rose and a crystal statue of a bear with a red heart pendant. I hate these kind of gifts!!! But he doesn't have to know that, it's ok, he doesn't know me. On the other hand, why would you do something like that for a person who told you didn't like you, and didn't want you in her life?! When I said I was uncomfortable receiving gifts from him he said he wants us to be friends! So smart, on the lovers' day you give me a red hearted gift that should be saying lets be friends.
The thing is that these are just some of the things he has done over the years, and when a friend of mine showed me this trailer I had to share it with you. He even looks a bit like a guy from the movie. I don't think I will see this movie as long as I live in this building, but in case I get a rash, I will let you know. :)

 I'm sure we all have our own opinion on days like these, and I'm also sure it changes with the changes in our life and with our situation. If I'd be cuddling with my boyfriend, I'm sure I wouldn't be "freaking out" over my concierge situation.
Hope you had a nice day and will be having an even better night. Sleep tight lovelies!

Drug half-faces

 When I was a kid, my dad took me and my brother to a drug rehabilitation center to show us the gravity and the consequences that the consumption of drugs has on one's life. We had a chance to talk to people who were in the treatment and it had quite an impact on me and on my seeing of the things that were so far from me. Taking us there was a bit radical, but I have found it to be a great educational measure.
 Everyone has their own philosophy of values in life and having the values that my parents taught me it is hardly possible for me to fall into the trap of drug use, but our visit to the rehab has had it's part for sure.

Photo credit: Roman Sakovich

Waste Land

 Some time ago I watched a consciousness raising documentary "Waste Land" about a project of a Brazilian contemporary artist with a NYC address Vik Muniz. The movie was shot at one of the world's largest landfills, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. The artist spent two years working on this project and in the movie we get to know people who make a living picking the recyclables.
 The garbage-pickers (2500 people) spend their days digging through piles of trash, day and night, in the worst conditions ever, yet they remain joyful, happy to be able to make an honest job. For most of them, the alternative would be drug-dealing or prostitution, but this way at least at the end of the working day they can wash off the dirt.

Source: Waste Land website

 The artist photographs some of the pickers and gets to know them better, goes to their homes, meets their families, talks to them about their hopes and dreams, their past and their future.

Meet Charlotte, aka Charlie

  I've always been good with hands, since I was very young I enjoyed doing crafts, sketching, cutting other people's hair, cutting my hair, whatever included manual work I could direct was my thing.
 A couple of years back my brother (who is a few years older) got me this super cool sewing machine as a surprise gift. His intention was to get me back on the track, to help me express my creativity and maybe to help me choose another profession. When it was first delivered, I didn't know what to do with it, how to use it and/or where to keep it, it seemed like a very complicated gift to deal with. I felt as if someone just gave me a hamster. Not that it was needy, but just as one of those gifts you're not suppose to present (you are not supposed to give animals, unless requested). Nowadays, I can say I really appreciate his gesture. It hasn't drastically changed my life, but for sure it has had some positive influence on me.

At first, I started off a bit too ambitious, got Burda (a fashion magazine with patterns) and wanted to sew a tailored jacket. The problem was that I didn't even know how to thread the machine, not even to mention the use of other parts. It took me ages to understand how to put pieces together, countless tutorials on youtube and numerous searches on google. By the time I learned how to do it, I got annoyed, it was too time consuming and I wasn't seeing any results, so I gave up and put it away in a closet.

Well done girls

photo credit: Gerard Julien

 I just wanted to share with you the amazing gesture these two french girls did earlier in the day in Marseille, France. Since it was first published, the picture has been retweeted thousands of times.

 The big deal about this picture isn't the fact that there are two girls kissing, it's that they were kissing in front of the outraged mass, the anti-gay marriage demonstrators- Amazing!!
 The girls said that they are both straight (not that it matters) and that they did it to demonstrate solidarity.
The world definitely needs more people like this!
Chapeau!

Paris is coming to you

 Don't you absolutely love the new Lanvin campaign?! In an industry where everything is about making famous even more famous I find the use of the non-professional models for the campaign quite bold. The creative director Alber Elbaz went for 18-81 years old "real people" (as if professional models were all fake) to bring the clothes back to the street.
 Even though I like to see the participants of different ages and from different backgrounds, I can't help but notice the lack of  different sizes. These one-time models could all easily be real models and our streets are a bit more various than that.
 I love how video is made, ordinary people telling random stories while showing off the fall collection.
Enjoy!

Muah

Same mistakes

"I never did grow up
Feels like I never will
My friends are all adults
I’m still a teenage girl"

Same Mistakes by The Echo Friendly

 This song was played in one of Girls episodes (Hannah's Diary, for all of you watching, and for the all the rest, get on the bus), and I thought it was a perfect fit.

 For the end credits and for my state of mind at the moment.

Is pregnancy the new black!?!

_MG_6106, Photos by Lina, Flickr, CC by 2.0

 Yesterday I talked to a friend of mine who lives in Beijing. She got married a couple of years ago and is expecting her second child. We talked about life, the times when she was young and carefree (I still am) and how different ones' perspective, and not only, becomes after having a baby. The whole motherhood thing is very far from me for now and I just can't understand some things related to that. On the other hand a friend of mine always dreamt of a family life. She graduated, got a job, got married, got pregnant, quit her job and had a child. She was never the one that could stay still so as soon as she saw an opportunity, she took it. During her pregnancy and after giving birth to her baby girl, she realised the power of photography on new moms and opened a baby studio. -A baby what?!?! was my reaction, but apparently it works quite well. It is a photography studio dedicated to pregnant women and their babies. They go there to have professional photos taken so they would never forget one of the best moments in life, as they say.

 This got me thinking and I remembered that I bumped into an article on Fashionista some time ago. It is about Julia Restoin Roitfeld's pregnant magazine cover. She is very pregnant and quite undressed, showing her belly to the world. There were many others before her to do so, the first I have heard of was Demi Moore, on the cover of Vanity Fair in 1991 she went naked with her belly covering her sex, or something like that. She started a trend and was followed by Cindy Crawford, Brooke Shields, Monica Bellucci and many other celebrities.

Demi Moore, by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair

 They say pregnancy is a "moment" (the way I see it it is more nine months of sickness and huge swollen feet, but lets take it as they say) when a woman feels special, fulfilled (I believe that), seductive and sexy (really?!) and probably has the need to share that state of mind and body with people around her or just to capture it so she wouldn't forget.

 Fortunately I am not surrounded by people who are pregnant, have babies, or, the last, but the worst, talk about it non-stop. In the rare occasions when this happens I feel very much like Anthony (Charlotte's gay friend in SATC) in the "I am sleeping and walking, sleeping and walking. How am I doing that?" scene.

 Isn't it enough that we get disturbed by a crying, screaming or misbehaving children all the time, almost everywhere, we are supposed to tolerate them and not to say a word because they are only children and are not doing it on purpose. That's life and I get it, but do we really have to bear them on the covers of the fashion magazines!?

Who would buy it

 

Is it me or is something wrong with this picture, a flowery swim cap, € 25!?!

I have to highlight that I saw this on the way back home from Chinatown, aka everything seems bloody expensive compared to the prices there.

I might not be retro enough, so I won't even consider explaining why I would never think of wearing it outside the movie set/ theater play about the bourgeoisie wives in the 60s in the South of France who drink champagne from a coupe glasses by the pool while their husbands are somewhere in the bush with one another, their maid or maybe a golf caddy, with the excuse they went hunting. Yes, the revelation scene would be when one of the wives gets out of the pool with the 25€ cap and discovers her husband's secrets. For me that would be the only reasonable, justified, worthy  reason to spend that much money on this cap. Her shocked face would be something like mine when I saw the price tag.

Ok, ok, i might have lost myself in the scenario somewhere between champagne and Cote d'Azur but it wasn't my intention to comment on the fact that they sell this item in a shop in the central Milan, but the fact that they are actually asking that kind of money for something like this. I might be ignorant about fashion and style, but I sure ain't one when we talk about common sense.

Have a lovely day beauties