Its beginning to look a bit like Christmas

Instagram pictures: 1) Snowflakes on my tree. Those are the first snowflakes I could find onn my entire life/ 2)Wrapping The Gentle One´s presents/ 3) Huge Christmas Day dessert/ 4) Sparkling red nails/ 5) Nut latte at Starbucks/ 6) Early gifts with black orchid scent.

Christmas concert at the Romanian Atheneum

As a child I received a very strict musical education, nearly Victorian.

I used to study sol-fa, piano and voice practice because well, one of my uncles is a musician and he thought I was sensitive and could easily learn. After some years of non-stopping practice, I decided music was not my vocational path, but I always kept a tender love towards it deep in my heart.

Q+A (plus give away winner)

During the past two months and a half, I´ve been receiving questions from my readers.

I want to thank you for all the surprising interest about this blog and its author.

Of course it took me some time to tidy and answer the questions, but it is done now.

I hope you enjoy as much as I did it by reading them. ♥

 

Is Violette your real name?
  
No, it´s not. 

Loving tales as much as I do, my alias had to come from a collection of children´s novels by Lemony Snicket called A Series of Unfortunate Events. In fact, the original spelling for the character´s name is Violete, but I decided that Violette sounded much more glamourous (and French) to me.

Do you have siblings?

I have two lovely sisters.

One of them is just thirteen years old. If you speak Spanish, you can follow the Japanese adventures of my other sister here.

From which comunity/city/town are you? 

I am Galician, and very proud of it. That´s the West-Northern part of Spain.

 

What are you hobbies?

Writing (but is more like me true vocational path, not just a hobby), reading, the study of fine arts, alternative fashion and photography.

 When I travel abroad I always take the chance to make portraits of old fashioned places, so my photo albums are full of castles, mansions and palaces.

♥ Basildon Park´s octogonal tearoom (a.k.a. Netherfield Park on Pride and Prejudice).

Taken on July 2010, during my stay in the UK.

What is your most unrealistic and most realistic dream in life?

My most unrealistic dream is living in a nineteenth century mannor house. As I mentioned above, I love old buildings so much, that I spend a good portion of my spare time taking pictures of them. Most of my trips pictures are just a bunch of architectural pictures. And for most realisitc dream in life, well, I would like to become a proffesional fiction writer in my mother language if I had the chance.

 Nevertheless, dreams are dreams, so it´s dangerous qualify them as realistic.

   Do you like travelling?

Of course I do! I am the happiest person in the world when it comes to discovering new places.

 What places have you visited abroad?

Apart from Spanish cities, mostly the UK (Berkshire, Stratford-upon-Thames, Canterbury, London) and Germany (Berlin).

Besides, I am currently living in Bucharest (Romania).

 ♥ Stratford-upon-Avon. Taken on 2010.

 If you know that in after life you will become - reincarnate - into something or someone what / who will be? And why?  

It can sound a bit egocentric but answering honestly, I think I´d choose to live my life again, just to have the chance to repeat all the wonderful moments I´ve lived with my beloved ones.

Even the difficult times have been worthy at the moment and the make they shinny ones to look brighter.

What´s your passion? 

  

Life! I try to take advantage of every single day.

You never know how much time is left.

 What's your job?

I am a foreign languages teacher, both in Spanish and English.

Do you have lots of friends with common interests or do you feel a bit odd in your social life?

I am not the kind of person who makes tons of friends but a few loyal ones instead.

However, my friends are so cheerful and noisy that you can easily take them by an army.

And in relation to interests, I like to think we all have a lot in common!

 ♥ The Gentle One at Dorotheenstädtischen Friedhof (Berlin) in 2006.

 

 How much time have you been dating your boyfriend and how much have you been living together?

We started dating in 2004 (so nine years now) and in relation to coexistence, we moved to our own flat a year after that.

I want to know if you have any kind of idol inspirational person, dead or alive, fictional or real.

There are many individuals I admire, specially people linked to art and literature. 

Virginia Woolf, Henry James, Scott Fitzgerald, Edith Warthon, Louisa May Alcott or The Pre-raphaelite Brotherhood are some examples.

I'd like to know which historical period you'd choose to live in if you had the choice!  

  

Any time between 1750 and 1930 would be ok with me.

At least on an idyllic level (considering my health issues, I don´t think I could live a long time without penicillin, haha).

Are you a coffee or a tea person? 

I drink tons of tea everyday. Indeed, I have to confess that, as times goes by, it has become kind of a chronic addictive habit: if I don´t have a certain number of teacups a day, I go totally unsatisfied and even a bit techy. On the other hand, tea provides welfare and drinking it at home or at any other relaxing place helps me to reduce stress.

What´s your favourite tea/coffe brand?

I am not a big coffee fan and I normally just have a cup in the morning if I am really tired, so I can´t really make any reccomendations.
As for tea (and hot chocolate) I would suggest Whittard of Chelsea.
 

I may be traveling to Bucharest soon, so do you know any good cafés for pastries and such? 

I´ve been living here for just two months, but I already have my own preferences.

Chocolat is great for bakery (their style and cake design is pretty similar to Ladurée, unfortunately their prices too). Madame Lucie has great macarons as well and their prices are more popular. As for good quality patisserie and tea, I love the international chain Paul. But if you really want great tea, try Tea House. Their chart is a delight.

I am still trying new places all the time, but this is my list of suggestions for now. 

♥ Paul shop in Bucharest.


Did you go to university?

Sure! I chose English Literature as my degree subject purely because I saw it as an excuse to read even MOAR books, while calling it “work”.

Do you have any addiction?

As a matter of fact, I am addicted to three things: books, tea and (on a lighter level) clothing.
  

  Where do you usually buy and where your clothes and where do you draw inspiration from to form your outfit?

Well, inspiration can be everywhere, so I buy my clothes in the most diverse places:

goth and underground shops, internet, Japanese brands, second hand shops and even mainstream stores. 

How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?

Generally, between 20 and 30 minutes, but for more ellaborated outfits on the weekends I usually need about 45 minutes or even one hour.

Do you have a signature style?

I don´t really think so. I am keen on trying new things all the time.
My only general signature look is a vague vampire vibe (and maybe eyeliner catseye).

 Do you mind if I ask where you got those tights in your outfits? They're lovely, but I can't find anything like them anywhere!

I mainly buy all my stocking at Pamela Mann and Calzedonia.

 ♥ Summer holiday, 2012.

I was wondering, do you have any words of advice for someone who may not feel very confident in their looks or style?

I think everybody feels a bit insecure sometimes. My advice for you would be investing some time to realize what type of clothes, colours and shapes suit you. Everybody needs some experience to figure it out. So be patient and don´t be afraid of aesthetic experimentation.

What do your parents think about your fashion sense?

When I was a teenager I started searching for my own style and tried pretty crazy and agressive looks, so obviously my parents were a little concerned about me. Nonetheless, I easily found my path on gothic culture. As a child, I used to be a little princess and somehow my love for silk dresses and corsets is a resumption of it. 

Consequently, my parents say my neo-romantic tendences were just the natural progress for me. 

 May I ask how do you afford all those amazing pieces? All your items and backgrounds seem to be quite expensive. I hope this is not rude, I just wonder how could I get to have such a dreamy wardrobe as you.

Well, as everybody else I simply have a "real life job" that pays the bills.

Besides, my wardrobe is the result of many years collecting clothing and skip throwing anything away (which is why good quality is good, as it lasts longer) . And of course priorizing is also important (for example, I do not drive, I do not buy take away coffee each morning, I make my own lunches, etc.).
Honestly, it just takes time, effort and patience!

Skirts or dresses?

It depends on the ocassion. I generally prefer dresses, but for some reason, most of the times I wear skirts at job.

I noticed you wear Japanese clothes sometimes, do you like Lolita style?

I do! I discovered Lolita as a teenager in the late nineties but it was not a very sophisticated style by then, so I never really tried wearing it myself. However, with the pass of the years, Japanese brands started showing more interesting alternatives, so I became more and more attracted to it.
Of course, I consider Sweet Lolita is not my cup of tea, but I have a deep crush on Gothic and Classic Lolita styles. In fact, I mixture toned-down regular gothic with Classic Lolita for job purpouses, as people perceive it as less agressive than just regular Western gothic style and I frequently work with children.

Another interesting point might be that the general Lolita subculture has lots in common with Romantic Gothic (which I secretly consider my true style at heart): Tea parties, reading, grand masquerades, autumn picnics, art and antiques searching are so deeply linked to my own personality that I inmediately connect with most Lolita ladies.

In other life I am sure I would make a perfectly upstanding Lolita!

 
How do you stay so pale? Not only your face, but your entire body?

I use a high protection sunscreen under my makeup (+50) all year, plus a parasol on the summer time.
I also try to avoid proplonged sun exposition during the warm season.

 I was wondering, what you do to keep your skin so lovely and clear?

Some time ago I made a post explaining my skincare regime.

You can still reading it  here.  

   ♥ Galician wild landscapes, April 2011.

 How do you get split ends do not go? How do you look after your hair?

 

I just use some serum on them, and for the rest, cutting twice a year is enough to look after for my hair.

 How long did it took you to grow your hair so long? 

Pretty much a decade! I haven´t cut it for ten years.

I would like to know what do you do to have such a great figure? 

 These are not really tips, but this is what I do:

-I drink A LOT of water and tea. In general, I drink about 2-3 L a day. Tea is also great because it taste great (if you like tea, of course).

-I eat what I want. Sure, it helps that I am not a big fan of fried food… In general, I eat about 1500 calories a day. I also eat lots of fruits and veggies.
However, in my case is all about genetics.

-I try to sleep 8 hours every night.

-I walk a lot.

Well I was wondering what your hair cut is. Meaning do you have any layers and what kind? Also I'm not sure if you have actual bangs or not, but how long are your font bits? I have very long hair as well.

I don´t have  proper cut, no layers or bangs. I just leave grow as it pleases.
And for the font bits, I would say about a metre or so.

  Since your hair seem to be a mix of straight and curly/wavy, how do you usually sleep in order to keep it controlled?

I just brush my hair every night and after that I braid it. For me is the best way to stop making a total mess of it while sleeping.

How do you perceive something as worthy of blogging about?

I think almost everything can constitute an acceptable post topic. All you need is a bit of imagination to take pictures and tell a story. However, I always try to separate my personal life from the blogosphere. After all, you never know who is reading out there!

Do you read many blogs? What kind of blogs do you prefer?

Of course I do! Apart from the great ladies in my blogroll list (you can see it in my profile), I also like to track the net in search of new interesting bloggers. Although many of them are gothic-related, many others are people who has something interesting to offer beyond the scene. 

These are the blogs that have conquered me lately:

Wednesday Mourning, Aletheia Nocturne.  

 

 ♥ Proffesional photoshoot, 2011. 

How long have you been in the Gothic subculture?

I started feeling attracted by dark aesthetics when I was a teen, but I didn´t truly embrace it until I was nineteen, so it was about eleven years ago.  

What kind of music do you listen to and who is your favorite artist?

I mainly listen to Gothic Rock and Dark Ambients bands (Ritual, Medieval and Dark Folk genres are my number one options).    

Ashram, Corde Oblique,  Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, Dead Can Dance, Ataraxia, Persephone, Arcana, Faith and the Muse, Clan of Xymox, The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud, Camerata Mediolanense, In my Rosary, Lacrimosa, Ikon, Killar,   Sopor Aeternus, The Chameleons, Camouflage, Flowers for Agatha, The Snake Corps, Anne Clark, Annie Lennox, The Eden House, Nennia Calladhan...

I also like classic music very much, maybe because I studied piano as a child. In that case I prefer Schubert, Schuman, Rameau, Monteverdi, Couperain, Verdi, Bach and Satie.

 Are You feeling lonesome being a goth in Spain? Are there many of them?

There used to be many goths in Spain, but somehow the number decreased spectacularly. I think it was a mixture of bad feelings created inside the secene by gossip, and the progressive coalescense to real working life for many of them. In my humble opinion, you must have a very strong personality ans tastes in order to skip giving up in the gothic scene. It is probably one of the most socially persecuted underground cultures. 

In the top of all it, unfortunately there aren´t lots of clubs in Spain right now, which can make very difficult to meet new people with the same tastes.

I want to know some of your favourite books and why.

For books I have a very wide taste, but it´s all about classics for me.

I appreciate English and Russian literature.

The Brönte Sisters, Henry James, Virginia Woolf, William Shakespeare, Edith Warthon, Jane Austen, Leo Tolstoi, Chéjov and Pushkin are my favourites. 

What I want from a book is mainly a memorable story, but also a good dose of literary quality, as I am very fussy about the Western canon.

What tv series do you watch the most?

I am very fond of period drama series (Downton Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, Desperate Romantics, Lost in Austen), fantasy and horror thematics (Game of Thrones, American Horror Story). 

Well, I think that´s all! 

Thank you so much for reading!

And Finally, I am able to announce the winner of the second blog anniversary Give Away as well as the surpise prize! 

 ♥ A vintage fortuneteller teacup ♥

It took me some time to find the perfect one, but I think it was worthy.

And the winner is (drums roll):

Which according to the list is

Adela

Congratulation, darling. Please, contact me on my mail again to provide your postal address. Hopefully, you will receive your prize before Christmas.

And for the rest of you, thank you SO much for participating.

Good luck next time!

Kretzulescu palace

 One of the things I love the most about Romania is the incessant possibility of finding an amazing building in the next corner. 

When we first moved here I knew very little about this country, so inmediately had a crush: you wouldn´t believe the overwhelming quantity of historic places flooding the streets.

Castles, palaces and old mannor houses are a national symbol of their glorious past. 

By the nineteenth century Romania maintained a continuos rivalry with the Russian Empire, and this was reflected on the architectural magnificence of the period. They wanted to buy more and better in order to demonstrate their cultural superiority.

In this very context, the princess Elena Kretzulescu decided she would like to leave her own print on the history of Romanian arts and hired young architect Petre Antonescu, who had studied at Paris, in order to rebuild the family residence.

They followed the French Renaissance style, by imitating Loira Valley constructions.

Kretzulescu Palace was finished in 1902.

Since 1972, it houses the headquarters of UNESCO's European Centre for Higher Education UNESCO-CEPES.

The superb palace is situated on Ştirbei Vodă street nr. 39, very close to Cismigiu Gardens.
If you visit Bucharest, don´t miss its evocative view.
And, in case you want to know more, there you have a Top 50 of the most beautiful Romanian palaces.
Just for your joy!

♥ The winner of the Give Away will be announced in the nex post.
Please, remember you are still having the chance to participate.

It was the radiance of an opium dream, an airy and spirit-lifting vision

It actually began like any other horror story.

I was at home with The Gentle One a couple of nights ago. The previous evening it had started snowing and since then the white flakes continued falling. Indeed, it was pretty cold and windy, so we decided to stay indoors and dedicate some time to read and just having some nice relaxing time together.

 To this point everything was right.

I don´t have all my books here at the moment (unfortunately, they rest in many boxes at my parent´s place) and consequently I chose the gorgeous brand new volume waiting on my library. A friend of mine gave it to me during my recent visit to Spain this month as a late birthday present. This very beautiful copy of Tales of the Macabre is illustrated by Benjamin Lacombe and also so stunning that I spent the first half an hour looking at the pictures. But then I started reading (or re-reading, like most of you, gothic ladies, would probably do with Poe).

 Is in this point when things went weird.

Didn´t you realize?

Ok, I´ll help you a bit.

 It was a dark and stormy night, the wind was howling around the house, the snow was lashing against the window, and we were all alone in our new apartment.

So, recap: stormy night, new house and bizarre tales... we were totally in a horror movie!

In fact, I had been feeling kind of conscious about it the whole day, maybe because I am not used to the new apartment (you never know if it is haunted until, I don´t know, six months or so? At least that´s the quantity of time that I need to feel comfortable at a new place), maybe because I was reading Poe and partially because I had been watching The Conjuring the previous evening and by then I was totally horrified...

And then, it happened.

Tap, Tap... went the window.

"OMG!" I shouted, jumping from the couch. "Here they are!"

"It´s just the wind" said The Gentle One (who had totally jumped out of his seat too, and was now adopting a reasonable attitude in the hopes that I hadn´t noticed.) "And who’s ‘They’ anyway?"

"I don´t know," I answered hidding myself behind the sofa. "It could be ghosts, psychos or those evil Romanian spirits I have been reading about" (and, in point of fact, I had been reading a bit too much about Romanian folklore and the Vârcolac too, which actually didn´t help either). "I have watched too many horror movies, dude, I can recognize it when I´m in one!"

 

"I think YOU´ve watched too many of those movies now" he observed. "But seriously, it was just the wind. Now come out from behind the sofa, please"

And I was about to do it when, believe or not, lights went off.

"Oh, God!" I screamed into complete panic then. "You see? I was right!"

The Gentle One didn´t look too secure by then, but he heroically found the value to go outside (against my will, you don´t want your boyfriend to leave you in the hunted house after saying "I´ll be back in a minute") and check what was happening. Apparently, it was a general blackout affecting the whole street. And darlings, I can tell you I am not a big fan of them. I mean, I do love horror films, but just because I like to know they are not happening to me. 

The thing is that my noble fiancé was brave enough to turn some candles on and prepared a delicious dinner all byhimself (I was too busy by casting suspicious glances around) and when the electric power was restored, well, he prescribed to me a good dose of non-horror movies for a time.

 Fair enough, don´t you think?

P.S: By the way, I keep receiving so many questions about me for the next Give Away on my mail, that I just decided to open an Ask Fm account in order to make it a bit tidier. 
Remember that every question is an extra chance to participate.

This is the link: www.ask.fm/Violettebaudelaire 

Good luck!

Autumn in Bucharest

Ey, darlings! It´s so good to be finally back! I did miss you.

It looks like we arrived to Bucharest yesterday, but tomorrow is the two month anniversary of the day we moved to our new home. 

Can you believe it?

However, reporting my adventures has taken me much more time than I expected.

When we released our shimmering apartment I was foolishly convinced that we would get an internet connection soon.
 I assumed I would simply jump into the first internet provider office I could find, get a good deal and happily walk back home to make a couple of posts or whatever.

Silly Violette (I can hear you saying), she will never learn.

And you´re totally right. I am a chronic optimistic...

 The first time I visited an internet provider they smiled a lot (I really mean it, people. The kind of smile that makes you think about The Jocker), but as soon as I started talking in English the smile vanished from their lips. They (and from this point I will refer to them as The Inexplicable People from the Internez) sent someone who could "speak" English to me and explained that I couldn´t be able to register with their company as a foreigner.

 "Really?" I thought. "Ok, I´ll look somewhere else".

 

So merrily off I went, searching for the next internet shop.

And against all expectations, I heard the same words again. In fact, I tried three different companies that evening. 

"What´s wrong with The Inexplicable People from the Internez?" I asked The Gentle One. "Don´t they want our money?"

And then I started thinking they wanted something else in exchange.

 Something like children to eat.

 Because if they are able to transform a simple internet contract on a nightmare, well, they must come from hell or something.

 So, after a week of stupidity and confusion, one of those demons employees told us that we needed to get a national identity number in order to hire any service.

Yeah, like a foreigner you don´t have that kind of right.

As you might deduct, we finally got it but it took a long, long time.

Nevertheless, I am back and I´ll be able to tell you about my Romanian experience, which despite the crazy internet issue is being really amazing. ♥

The Autumn is a lovely season here, as you can see in my pictures from Herastrau park.

Oh! And I don´t forget about the whole Give Away thing.

 I kept receiving questions through the blog mail (you can see the address on the right column). 
So nice to see I have many lovely readers out there! 
I will answer them all on a post very soon and then I will claim the winner and the secret prize.

Good luck everyone.

Stay stunned! ♥

Blog jubilee (& give away)

Time flies when you are comfortable.

Somehow, Castitatis Lilium arrived to its second anniversary and it would not have been possible without all your support. 

So this year I have decided to make something a little different to celebrate this small part of my life, as well as acknowledging your role on this.

Here´s my idea: take the chance to ask anything you feel curious about. 

My life, hobbies, philosophy and personal opinions, habits... all kind of questions are welcome (of course  respecting some privacy boundaries).

 I´ll classify the questions into categories if necessary, and will answer them over the next few weeks.

And this is the important part: 

I´ll make a small surprise draw with all the participants and will give a prize to the winner.

Time is counting now. 

What do you want to learn about me?

I know I am but summer to your heart, and not the full four seasons of the year

It might be not surprise if I tell that we´ve been invaded by a box flood. 

It´s more like an ocean, actually.

 There are so many boxes at home right now that there´s hardly any space for us, and we (poor souls!) have to swim among the cardboard waves to do anything.

Ok, maybe I am exagerating a tiny bit (me, really?), but The Gentle One and I are feeling a little bored about all this packing up madness. Indeed, a couple of days ago we started needing  to do something else than placing our personal belongings into boxes, so cheerfully decided to go out for a coffee or at least some fresh air.

That´s the good thing about Spain: you always find the opportunity of having both things at the same time, even on September. 

For a few more days, we won´t feel the coldness of Autumn coming. Instead, we can still wearing summer clothes while we have cool drinks on a sunny terrace. And that´s exactly what we did, we flew to our favourite private garden, a place where you can spend the evening surronded by bunches of precious flowers.

Sunglasses : Primark  / Dress and belt: New Saks /  Tights : C&A /   

Shoes : H&M/
  Bag : DIY (mum´s work) /  Necklace: DIY (me) / Tiara:Claire´s

 We were just enjoying the day and taking the chance to make a smallie photoshoot when I heard the most funny comment coming from a lady: 'Oh look, she is all dressed up. She must come from a wedding!'.

She was staring (and pointing an inculpatory finger) at me as she passed through the street with a friend.

Believe me or not, it took me a couple of seconds to understand I was the focus of such a comment.

Well, I think this person was not being intentionally negative.
She couldn´t just assume that my clothes were a normal/daily outfit to me. These days anything other than jeans is considered "overdressy". And if someone judges you are overdressing, it automatically means you are a frivolous person, who is looking for extra attention and can´t be interested about serious issues. After all, if someone makes such an effort to dress up, this person must have no responsabilities at all, right?

Over the years, I have dealt with tons of comments like that (and not to mention about the gothic-look).

Not a long time ago I received a similar comment from a colleague: 'Don´t you feel akward on your dress with this rainy weather?' No, I didn´t. Indeed, I think stocking tends to get dry easier than jeans.

The way in which we judge other people´s appearance is mad, making all kind of weird assumptions.
 Are you a goth? You must be promiscuous!
Do you pay "too much" attention to your look? You must be superficial!

I consider myself a well-balanced and professional person. I have lots of other interests apart from fashion, and (oh, surprise, surprise!) dressing up is not an effort to me. In fact, is not dressing up at all. It´s just my way of dressing. I don´t know why, but I find more comfortable wearing dresses and skirts than trousers.

I don´t like being judgemental, but maybe those comments come from people who feel a bit threatened, only because they mistakenly think you did some effort to look nice and they didn´t.

For instance, in one occasion I even heard a girl excusing herself for wearing non-gothic clothes (I was wearing a black silky dress that day. We had met the previous weekend on a gothic-friendly party, where she would wear a very radical outfit). Of course, I didn´t care about her clothing. I don´t pay too much attention to other people´s look, but this girl kind of felt bad about her appearance.
 Obviously, that was her fault, not mine, but it was a little sad she thought I was judging her...

I´d like people to stop asking if I have a job interview, a Halloween party, or a fancy cocktail just because of my outfit. Clothes represent an artistic and creative way to externalize my personality, but it´s not the only one.

Wouldn´t be everything better if we could forget about first impressions?

Wouldn´t be everything better if we could just be ourselves?

How should I your true love know From another one?

 I told you about the Celtic roots of my people many times.
Therefore, it won´t be a total surprise if I say that, even nowadays, some fellow countrymen are still getting married by the ancient pagan rite. The custom dictates that weddings must be celebrated on Lughnasadh, and we respect this old belief.

Following the tradition, my friends Ana and David joined the multiple ceremony last weekend.
So I had the rare privilege of documenting the whole experience as a photographer, which made feel really honoured.
It was one of the most special occasions ever.
I had the chance of trying archery, eating lots of traditional food cooked on a bonfire under a huge canopy and drinking mead, as well as wearing a gorgeous customized gown mildly inspired by the
House Tyrrell of Highgarden  (thanks mum, you´re simply the best! ♥).
It was very pretty to witness how two of my long-term friends decided to unite their lifes on this very romantic way, attaching their hands with a red ribbon under the moon and stars, all their beloved people around in such a romantic location.

At the end of the night I was given the bride´s bouquet, so who knows about next year?

Now you have the oportunity of joining this beautiful event at Sophistique Noir.

Let the world know about the most precious moments of your life!

Big Mistake Notification: It looks like I accidentally erased some comments while I was trying to publish them this morning. So my apologies to Faísca, 1666 X 30, Linnea-Maria, Shannon Rutherford and all the other charming people who left a comment. Technology can be a pain in the ass.

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it

Well, it looks like the boxaholic period has finally begun.

Just before last weekend we got some of these awful cardboard boxes and started packing to face our future. I´d like to say that we are making a wonderful job but actually, the ONLY things we´ve packed so far are The Gentle One´s books. Just his books, not mine. Didn´t even try.

'Why?', I can hear you intelligently asking.

And the reason is, to be completely honest, that I don´t want to do so.

Please, do not get me wrong.
I am dying to move to Romania and start this atonishing adventure, but if only we could wake up one fine morning in our new apartment without all the Last-time drama...

The idea of packing it´s truly hard to me because, as soon as I place the first book, dvd, or framed picture in a box, I´ll be saying goodbye home and I am not ready, not quite yet anyway.

I might get started to freak out a bit here. A little bit. OK, maybe a huge bit.

We are supposed to be moving in less than a month. A MONTH, do you understand? And by then I won´t be sitting in front of this desktop computer anymore, I won´t bake cupcakes on my old oven, I won´t read books by the window (here we go with all the Last-time drama again...). Indeed, in less than a month I´ll have left this house forever.

Yes, I know this house is old (older than Matusalem, actually), and we (well, that´s The Gentle One) spend a lot of our spare time fixing up ruined supplies, but the thing is that we´ve been living here for the last seven years and a half. This house was our first house, the place where we first moved when we started our relationship. 

This shabby house is our home. And now we must leave. OMG.

Ok, I´ll keep breathing, I promise.

[Uses the asthma medicine again]

So, I decided to start documenting the little things that make me happy all around the apartment.
Like my summer reading refuge by the window, the light in my boudoir, or the glowing purple colour we painted the walls many years ago. Because someday I won´t probably remeber the place clearly, and then I´ll have my pictures at least.