This year higlights

My calendar reminded me it is time for another monthly round-up this week, but for December I thought it could be interesting to forget about my last month adventures and simply talk about this year´s highlights instead.

And gosh, this year has gone by so quickly! 

I can´t believe 2014 is almost over and we are getting ready for 2015. The truth is I can´t actually complain about it, as this has been a very positive period for me. Of course there are some little things I would like to have solved better, but today I want to focus on all the other small good moments and share them with you.
My 2014 highlights have been...

Bucharest Christmas market

A couple of posts ago I mentioned one of my current favourite things about Christmas are traditional street markets. We don´t have those in Spain, so celebrating the holiday with mulled wine, sausages, candy apples and hot chocolate while having a walk around is totally new to me.

 At the very beginning I couldn´t understand why people would enjoy just spending the evening around a bunch of shops, listening to some seasonal music and trying their luck at traditional games (silly city girl, right?) but after a little while we finally managed to pay our own visit to the place in proper conditions AND without being in a hurry because of the fear to get hands totally frozen (this is a hundrer per cent literal, last December was so chilly, you could feel your fingers hurting even with wool gloves...).

December wedding preparations uploaded

December has been a good month to us in terms of wedding logistics. Until now, the only thing we had managed to solve was the reception venue (which we KNOW is actually the main source of concert for most peoples) but we had a very vague idea about how to manage the rest of the preparations: should we start dealing with providers already? Do we need a wedding planner? How could we make it truly personal without spending a little fortune? (and 'Oh, God, can we afford this? PLEASE, tell me we can afford this and avoid the bankrupt!').

Special ocassion outfit drama

 I´ve got a dramatic side, I always have had it but the good thing about it (or bad, it depends on your perspective, actually) is it just pops out once in a while, mostly during stressful situations. Once again the problem about stress is it totally depends on your perspective too: what a person considers an issue might not be necessarily a source of anxiety for another fellow.

For example, I am currently scheduling my holiday posts, as I won´t be around the internetz that much during the festive period. For many other bloggers that´s a source of stress, but to me is just ok, as long as I have proper time to plan.

Welcome to Narnia

Well, well, well, it looks like Christmas are around the corner.

 You can feel it in the air (or you can simply enter any shop, where seasonal goodies have been around for a whole month now, which is kind of CRAZY).

 Personally, the main sign for me is the end of this semester professional duties.
Yes, darlings, I am pleased to say I am officialy on holiday!

 On Friday evening I threw my boring office clothing, embraced comfy clothes, favourite tea and good book. And then next morning, we put up our Christmas tree.
This is the first year we decorate the house with actual snow outside. I have no words to explain how christmasy it feels the first time!
For me, it was like finding suddenly finding myself in Narnia.

Winter is coming haul

 Gosh, Winter is not coming, it is already here!

When I first began composing this post yesterday, it was just slightly cooler than the previous week. Then I woke up this morning, just to find out it had been snowing all night long and now I am apparently living in Winterfell.

Yes, I know it sounds like I am overstating the situation again (I tend to sound like that when I speak about the weather) but come on, we don´t have any snow at homeland AT ALL, so this sudden white landscape always makes me freak out a bit.

Xes a Devil beta tester box

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by the nice people at Xes a Devil, a little and brand new gothic-friendly company. They wanted to know if I would be interested on receiving a pack as a gift, in the hope I would write an honest review.

On the first place, this was not a normal box but a beta tester box, which basically means the company is on the previous stage of launching their online shop and they are curious about potential costumers honest reactions.

Actually, I liked the idea of testing a sample selection of their future catalogue products, so I decided to give it a go.

What I did in October

 I found myself checking the calendar this morning just to get amazed about how quickly November is going by.
Yes, I know I mention this on a monthly basis, but I can't avoid a certain feeling of loss when I am busy. It looks like time behaves like water running through my hands.

 There is a couple of specific reasons for this making me feel a bit stressed, but I will be coming to it later.

In any case, as November is almost over, my electronic agenda rang again to remind me it is time to write about what I did last month.

 There we go!

Sephora red carpet eyeshadow review

Following my current red shade obsession in the search of gothic-friendly items is not new stuff, is it?
But it´s not actually my fault guys, I swear! Lately it looks like, wherever I go, there is some beautiful red item craving to be picked by me.
And you can´t simply say NO when the universe tries so hard.
That would be quite unmindful!
(Not like if I were looking for excuse, ahem...)

Concert outfit

 Last weekend we The Gentle One decided Friday was a good night to go out for a concert. To be honest I was not feeling like partying at all, partially because I had been dealing with boring health issues almost the whole month, and partially because after 

my eight good hours of regular work, last thing I would do is to attend a crowded concert

on a stuffy basement.

Sometimes we do silly things for love, don´t we?

Seasonal auburn nails tutorial

At the very beginning of the Autumnal season, I posted a picture of my auburn manicure on my Instagram account. 

A follower asked me to make a tutorial of it, as it was a bit more elaborated than a simple coat of nail polish. I didn´t think think too seriously about it, as I have little experience on the tutorial-art-land. However, I have been asked repetedly since then, so I finally decided to give it a chance.

I hope you will find it helpful!

November in the park

Do you know that type of day, when you feel lazy but you think it´s not healthy to stay indoors the whole time, so you basically force yourself to put some cozy clothes onand go outside?
Well, that was my Saturday.

The Gentle One and I went to a concert on Friday night and yesterday´s morning we were quite reluctant to make anything but procrastitating on the couch.
Nevertheless, we started a funny conversation about pros and cons of our current lack of exercise:

Belated Halloween post

It took me a few days to collect all the pictures from Friday´s Halloween celebrations,

which is always a double special ocassion for me, as The Gentle One and I

celebrate our anniversary at midnight.

Yes, what a cliché, right?

A gothic couple celebrating their romantic relationship on All Hallows Eve...

Well, all I can say in our defense is we ACTUALLY started dating that night, so we consider it as an amusing coincidence (although all our non-gothy friends roll eyes when the subject is brought into conversation and can hardly believe on our innocence).

What I did in September

Yes, yes, I know. In this ocassion my monthly series is very delayed.

I bet you even thought I was not posting this month (and to be honest I was about to consider it, but I finaly managed to find some unexpected spare time to do it, after all).

The reason is my lack of luck, in other words, October has been a terrible period.

I mentioned I got sick at the very beginning of the month, and as fool as I am, I thought things could just improve afterwards.

HA.

Halloween countdown

As I already mentioned, my last two weeks and half consisted on long couch and blanket seasons, hot lemon tea, fever and chills.

Nevertheless, I decided not to let my spirits down, and spent my forced extra spare time by syntonizing with the season and oficially starting my Halloween countdown.

In other words, as I had to stay at home as much as possible,  I would download a ton of horror movies, selected half a dozen of ghost and ghoul stories from our bookshelves, dusted the Autumn decor, and listened to some (low volume) music.

Third blog anniversary give away

Happy Sunday, everyone!

This week I was having my normal routine of work, early Halloween rituals 

(basically consisting on horror movies marathons, book and decor shopping, pie baking...) and my typical seasonal chills, when I suddenly remember this month is 

the third blog anniversary!

I can´t believe I almost forgot about it. Well, I actually do.

Not only because I am really clueless, but also because this week my health is 

playing hyde and seek with me, and I am partially inside my own little bubble...

Nibble, nibble, gnaw, Who is nibbling at my little house?

I don´t know about you guys, but there is something on Victorian houses (specially on little Victorian houses) that makes me think of fairy tales. To be specific, of Hansel & Gretel. 

I mean, yes, I know the witch lived by herself on a chocolate house,

NOT on a Victorian house. Nevertheless, my childish imagination tended

to picture a little cute Victorian house hidden in the forest. I don´t know why exactly was that, but I suppose my grandma´s 1860 house built on the edge 

of the woods had something to do with it.

Of course there was nothing "witchy" about my grannie (nothing of the wicked witch type, anyway). However, for some reason, her house resembled the 

candy house and since that moment, every little Victorian house reminds me of

fairy tales.

What I did in August

I can’t believe it’s been (almost) a month since I last did one of these posts. 

 Another thing I can’t believe: the fact that I’ve kept a monthly series going for a full four months without giving up on it! 

The most remarkble is I am not bored of it at all (and really hope you are not bored either...)

Although August temperatures were quite extreme, I managed not to weaken

and could enjoy great adventures. 

Also, some lovely news made this month the best this year!

In between, this month I...

On Saturn days we used to sleep

For most people Sundays are the typical resting day.
A day linked to late breakfast, newspaper, family lunch and all that jazz.
I share that vission, but Saturdays can be as lazy as Sundays for me.
The reason is simple: I am quite lazy homely myself.

The zombie diaries

I am quite sure you already noticed I had a hard month due to job reasons, as I would not stop complaining about it here, here and here.

Yes, I know, I can be a little very annoying when I am tired.

Specifically, I tend to become a small child even under the slightest sleep deprivation.

 And no, I am not exagerating.

I DO mean it.

Engaged

I turned thirty-one last Monday and I am glad to say I got formally engaged the same night too. 

As you already know if you read this blog on a regular basis, 

I am currently living in Bucharest for professional reasons, which means this year 

my usual extravagant party was replaced by an apparently nothing-out-of-the-ordinary dinner with The Gentle One.

Or so I thought.

What I did in July

After my trip across Europe last month (yes, the one that lasted just six days 

in real time, but which seems to have wore away six years in blog time) and its consequent post saga, my electronic agenda 

rang to let me know it is time for another monthly roundup (already?!) 

I have no idea how this month flew away so fast, but I suspect it has something to do with my current zombie condition, 

derived from the fact I must wake up at six o´clock in the morning. 

EVERY DAY.

The Dresden files

Due to the lack of new weekly adventures and spare time for job reasons lately, I´ve had a hard time to post here.
Nevertheless, I could find a little gap to write this post earlier today, and want to share with you the continuation of my European tour saga, featuring Dresden and Karlovy Vary in this ocassion.

Plague on Prague

Unfortunately, good things do not last forever and of course Summer holidays are not a exception. 

After a deserved three weeks break, today was my first day back to work (and the messy real world), so I thought bringing you some more impressions about my trip would probably improve my mood. So here you have the second part of my European tour series, featuring Prague this time.

Viena, baby

Hi everyone! I am back after a week of exhaustive and unforgettable travelling.

My European tour consisted on a crazy roadtrip, including: Budapest-Vienna-Prague-Dresden-Karlovy Vary-Konopiste-Brno-Bratislava-Budapest, so as you can figure out I am less than a shadow of myself at the moment. Nevertheless, it was TOTALLY worthy, and I can´t see the moment of travelling abroad again!

The world is not enough

The hourglass sand has been falling specially slowly this month.

Do you remember when you were a child and the first day for school holiday seemed reluctant to arrive?

What I did in June

When I first posted the June roundup, I received a couple of messages from readers suggesting me to continue with this section on a monthly basis. Positively, I think it is a good idea, mainly because I can be a bit lazy about setting posts together sometimes, and this is a non-stressful-way-at-all  to stay stuned.

Vampire blood lips

If you were asked what is my favourite colour, I am quite sure you would bet for black. 

Mostly because a good 95% of my wardrobe belongs to that tonality.

Nevertheless, you would be wrong. My absolute fav is red, specifically a type of red shade dancing between burgundy, ruby and crimson BUT it is so difficult to find pretty clothes on that colour to match with black... so I basically focus on red lips instead of red clothing. 

Botanic garden

Look twice at this picture: it´s me, on a sundress AND ponytails! 

How this hapenned? As a standard rule I don´t wear sundresses or ponytails at all.

In my homeland the weather is not that warm in the Summer with the exception of one or two weeks a year, so I basically limited my hot season options to average fabrics and full length hair over there. Indeed, I had never needed to wear the classic cotton maxi dress back in the north of Spain.

Sutu palace

As many other fans of Gothic fiction and Victorian horror stories, I must admit I feel some kind of weird attraction about haunted places. Well, or more exactly about places that look like haunted places but maybe lack of the scary factor: the ghost emerging in the next corner to scare the shit out of you. That´s pretty much because I am the kind of windy person and, as I have previously told you, I can get totally terrified by the same books and films I love. 

Murphy´s law for everyone

When I was a school girl I found a bit difficult to understand abstract physical laws and concepts, unless practical exemplification was providen. To be exact, I would NOT believe in any kind of principle I couldn´t see with my own little eyes. I was a midget skeptical, if you please, and this frequently produced a good dose of fun in the family meetups.

Things I did this month

Considering my recent lack of activity here, I am quite sure it won´t be a total surprise for you if I tell that I´ve been pretty busy this month, mainly due to professional reasons. But well, that´s what adult life is made of.

Even so, I found some spare time to spend by doing things I could enjoy.

Here you have a little summary of my life lately, hope you enjoy it!

The long hair axiom

Please, raise your hand if you have got or had got long hair at any point of the past and you do think hairdressers totally hate long hair.

Right, it wasn´t just my own impression then!

I had planned a lovely post here about the magnificent views of the lakes around during the early days of the Summer  (because ey, the warm weather is finally here!), as well as the ton of precious parks you can find in Bucharest (no worries, there will be more about that coming, anyway) when "The long hair axiom" stumbled upon me.

Victorian deviations

One of my favourite deviations hobbies consists on looking for places where I can sit, have a good cup of tea, and pretend I am the first beta-tester for a time machine prototype to be successfully transported to some point between 1900 and 1929. Well, yes, that can be considered a little weird, but you weren´t expecting anything different from me, were you?

Valentine, the ruins are no place for you to play

Weather has been acting like a bipolar psychiatric patient lately.

That means that most of the times my early morning plans go totally ruined just before lunch, as the sun tends to dissapear quickly and be replaced by heavy rain.

So as soon as I realized it was improving a bit during last weekend, The Gentle One and I jumped from the coach (we had been spending a good dose of our spare time by watching movies, which was the only thing you could actually do on this weather) and went for a long walk through the city.

Londoner Sunday

You know the type of person who has a natural sense of orientation? 

I mean, the type you would trust without question to drop you safely home if you were forced into the deepest part of the forest. The type of person who is a living compass.

Well, that´s NOT me.

I am more the type of person who is lost by following any new itinerary (and also at well-known places, unfortunately), inmediately panics and finishes her day crying on a dark corner where no strangers can see her misery.

Enchanted

I managed to collect all the wonderful pictures I could find about the great Lolita event from the oficial photographers. It looks like somehow all my own photos looked blurry and quite dark.

But the important thing is that here they are: FINALLY.

I do hope you enjoy my lolita adventures as much as I did, darlings!

Pre-Enchanted brunch

On Saturday morning I woke up at my friend´s place in London, got ready and took the underground to Liverpool Station (as a matter of fact, I usually call it Loverpool Station, but that´s a different story and it would deserve its own post), where I was picking up some girls for brunch. I have no idea of how this happened, but at some point between January and last weekend, I realized I knew hardly anyone attending the big Lolita convention and figured out it could be super nice to arrange a pre-Enchanted meal, so I would have the chance to make new international acquaitances.

Landing in the UK

"With great power, comes great responsibility".

That´s what I normally keep in mind whenever I am taking a flight. Why? 

Well, I might actually have an shocking secret to share with you, darlings: I am a super-hero.

Camden Town Haul

I am finally back home after a very exciting (and also exhausting) weekend.

There are lots of good memories as well as tons of pictures, but those need some time to be processed, so I thought I could start telling you about the trip by showing my shopping haul.

Next destination: London

The time I´ve been waiting for, since I received my special Christmas gift, has finally arrived.

Enchanted event will be run this weekend!

That means three hundred Lolitas from the European continent meeting on a Victorian luxury hotel to watch fashion parades, have tea, take pictures, and of course make some serious shopping.

And specially, it means I will be boarding to London.

On Friday I´ll land there to spend the weekend with my friends (I miss them so much! They were my family during my UK stay), and after Saturday convention we´ll be able to enjoy some quality time together. And well, let´s admit it, Camden Town too ♥

So everything is packed now and I hope I´ll have a bunch of good stories to tell you when I am back.

Lots of love meanwhile, see you soon!

Five O´clock Tea at Phileas Fogg´s place

This has been a very long and nice weekend.

The type in which you make so many things that at the end it looks it has lasted ages.

On Friday afternoon, The Gentle One and I decided to spend the day together as on Saturday I was busy by developing a second brain plus a second pair of arms in order to organize and attend a Lolita meetup in Bucharest (but that´s another story... and I´ll be telling later).

Martie Soare

It looks like Father Winter has decided is time to go.

We haven´t had any snow lately around here (yay!) and Spring has come, not just like weather, but also under the shape of calendar festivities.

At the beginning of the month we celebrated Martie Soare  or the Spring party in Romania.

Royal purple roses headpiece

I´ve never considered myself really crafty.

I mean, when you grow up on a family in which everybody seems to be gifted for manual works and you are clumsy, well... you start thinking you must be the clack sheep. I mean, there is not other black sheep around so... it has to be you.

My mum can sew a dress with one hand and knit a shawl with the other, one of my sisters used to design (AND make!) her own corsets, my dad can fix up any ruined supply, my youngest sister can make amazing pictures with eyes shut and I...  eerrrr... I am the smartie bookworm but, being honest, I never tried to use my hands the way they do.

Tonya, can you play the balalaika?

When I first read about Sophistique Noir´s month event being outwear, I inmediately thought it was the perfect ocassion to show my new Russian countess cape to you.

As I told you before, I received it on Christmas Day and, as long as it was a very expensive item, I did not expect it at all. 

BUT I was a nice girl and Santa decided to pet me a bit.

Good for me!