Bellu

This week it´s been so hot we hardly managed to leave the house. However, as weekend approached, temperature started slowly descending. We know Summer is definitely not over yet, so we decided to take this opportunity window and make the best of it. On Saturday afternoon we headed to Bellu Park, a nineteenth century cemetery famous due to its upstanding mourning art.

 

 

Cities in dust

There is something undeniably ghostly about cities in Summer. They always acquire a certain desolated look, due to the vast space left empty by people absence. However, that´s am scenario I love, as my vivid imagination tends to portray a post-apocalyptic landscape (the image of a metropolis after vampire consumption, or maybe once the zombie plague is over. The tons of lovely movie scenes you could set in here...)

Summer reads

At the beginning of the week I tried to organize my spare time a little bit, as I had no chance at all recently. I thought  sorting out my Summer reads could be a nice start, as this task seems to have lived in my to-do list like FOREVER. So last Monday I patiently sat on the bedroom, and started separating the unfinished books in a group that I called the "pile of shame"  almost immediately (as a philologist and a general bookworm it is quite rare to leave any unfinished stories to me. However, most of them happened to be short stories compendiums, which I tend not to read in strict chapter order. As a result, there´s always some story forgotten and left behind).  

 

Bits ´n Bobs

Hi again, everyone!

It has felt really great to be back, thank you much all for your nice words and supportive comments.

You are just the best! ❤️️

This Summer has been a very busy one.

To make it short (although I tend to transform any "short" story or summary on a 500 words post,
 so I beg you pardon in case the contingency is given): I shifted job
as a consequence of my fixed term contract expiring, got a new one,
spend a lot of time trying to get used to my fresh daily routine,
 had a good portion of academic stuff done (not of all it, I am afraid, but my days are not long enough),
AND found some extra spare time to suffer a couple of minor (HA!) panic attacks related to the never ending wedding preparations
(more about that on future posts, you bet!).

 As you can see, I was managing life as good as I could, but that left little time for anything else. 

 I thought I could write a little recap of the more mundane and positive side of my Summer here.

I hope you enjoy!

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!

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.

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.

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.

My Transylvanian fate

I am the kind of person who makes plans. I really mean it. 

I write a list with all I need before packing for a trip, I decide what to wear one week before a dinner out, and if I have to host people I choose the menu as well as the sheets for the guest room with time enough (and what I call time enough is considered insane by many others, I can tell you).

Obviously future is a source of concern to me. 

Double concern when speaking about career and professional choices.

I am sure some of you already know about my plans of moving to the UK in order to improve our occupation standards (The Gentle One is also very focused on his walk of life), and that was supposed to happen at some point between this autumn and next winter-tide.

I said was supposed because something else took place.

♥ The Gentle One is fond of taking unadvised pictures.

At mid-February The Gentle One and I decided to take precautions (you never know about life, do you?) and apply for several international programs. My choice was obviously Great Britain and a modest post as Spanish teaching assistant. Meanwhile, my fiancé applied for a vacancy as Spanish language and literature lecturer. His initial idea was asking for a slot at some British university, but (oh, alas!) there was not such an option this year. So we moved to the next reasonable choice: the European continent.

Because well, we were not expecting a real chance of moving to another country apart from England, and the whole thing sounded funny and misterious to us. Were we totally senseless by playing that way with fate?

YOU BET!

As the little unwise people we are, we totally forgot about the grants-thing and continued with our working daily routine for a while. And then, during May, I was told I wasn´t given the teaching assistant job in the UK. No need to say how disappointed I was.

But those bad feelings finally vanished and once more we forgot about all the international issue once again (yes, I told you we can be fool children sometimes), until June.

One fine morning I was still lying in bed when The Gentle One bounced into the room like a flood and simply said: 'Darling, I just received an email from the Foreign Office and I think we are moving to Bucharest'. At this point you might know me well enough to predict my reaction. Exactly. 

I totally freaked out. Like a LOT. 

 I was puzzled and couldn´t figure out how that had happened, after all, we were just playing with possibilities. And playing does not kill anyone, huh?

Sunglasses : Primark  / Jumper Skirt: Gift from my sister (Japan) /  Shirt: Zara / Tights : Calzedonia /   
Shoes : Customized/
  Bag : Brigitte Bijou (old) /  Necklace: Family heritage / Hairclips: Primark 

But ey, after some post-considerations we started framing the whole picture and decided that a couple of years in some other European capital was a good thing for both of us (lots of professional experience and good money to save up). I even got another teaching position over there, so everything looks fine at the moment.

So yes, darlings, this little Vamp girl is moving to Romania on September.

My whole family had a good time joking about spotting me in Transylvania!

Nonce, and as you can see in the pictures, I am having a lovely summer here in Spain (maybe the last one for a while).

Stay stunned, this is the beginning of an era!

Lillian colours

 Can you believe Saturday was the first sunny day of the year? 

Considering I live in Spain it is pretty surprising. And even so, it was not really warm but windy and a little cold. I am sure The Gentle One would have preferred to stay home in comfort clothes and reading books (poor little thing), BUT I had finished my May exams and I needed a break. Besides, my mother gave a gorgeous new purse to me last moth and it was the first real chance to use it. 

Among my multiple and very annoying manias there is one that it can be a pain in the ass sometimes:

If I get a brand new piece of clothing and, by any chance, I can´t inmediately use it for the first time I feel that the piece of clothing in questions starts looking at me with sad eyes... I really mean it. For the las thirty days the purse (which by the way is one-piece handmade collection item from a local artist) has been looking at me every single time I entered the bedroom.

 Every-single-time. 

Trying to sleep? Bag watching. Trying to write a post? Bag watching. Trying to watch a movie? Yeah, you get it. Too much pressure.

So? Exactly! Off we went.

I have to recognize I wasn´t specially brilliant when decided that a light poncho would be enough to keep me warm for the day. As a consequence, we had a really short walk. And this included non-stop walking to avoid freezing, which basically explains why the pictures are so bad (I know you´ll excuse me this time, but I had to choose between proper outfit pictures and keeping all my fingers!).  

 But ey, am I not lovely on this hippie-like attire?

There´s something on it that makes me think about Dark Shadows and Barnabas Collins ♥ 

So tell me darlings, are you already enjoying summer?

Only the good ones die in summer

 The last few days have been pretty chaotic.

On Friday I decided to join my family at my parents´place as long as we had planned some pre-birthday celebrations together. This is a comparatively new tradition among my relatives as a consequence of the eventual distance between us (we don´t live in the same city anymore). Basically, we meet for having a delicious lunch or dinner together, chatting and enjoying of some extra time close.

 Next weekend I´ll be turning twenty-nine (no worries, you will read enough about the party through the following days), and in this occasion it meant a glorious lunch composed by lobster and Spanish wine, lots of mint mojitos and many beautiful gifts. What else do you need?

However, the fast rythm of these days is a little too much for me.

I am a shy and quiet person, so I felt really lucky when I could go back to my relaxing holiday routine.

Probably I sound like a peevish girl, but I do need disconnecting during the summer break.

Otherwise, I would probably get overloaded.

As soon as I could come back to my city I just left my stuff behind and went for a walk outside, this wonderful place is full of lonely gardens and parks where you can virtually disappear.

 All I need to feel good is a book and the company of The Gentle One.

I am sure many of you understand what I am talking about.




Now I can say my batteries are charged again, so I´ll be able to enjoy the company of my friends at the birthday roaring twenties event on Saturday.

I´ll be back with a good review soon!

Oh, I almost forgot!

Just in case you are wondering what am I wearing in this post (sorry, I never remember about it):

Dress: Stradivarius.

Shrug: New Look.

Stocking: Pamela Mann.

Shoes: Gift from a friend.

Necklance: My sister´s donation.

A Midsummer Night´s Dream

Greetings to you all, dears. 

I hope you are having the most wonderful of the summers. In my case, this period is being a very relaxing one after a good quantity of crazy months. At the beginning of the summer I began working in a new teaching assistant position, but now I got my vacational break and can really enjoy of some (well-deserved) spare time.

And what does free time mean to me? 

Oh, that´s a good question: First of all, means unlimited time for reading and writing; yes, just for the mere pleasure of doing it. I´ve told you too many times I am a bookworm and yes, I am even proud of it. So I am spending great and mad quantities of time with Lovecraft, Lumley, Prize etc. Of course, some of those reading will be handy in the future for my bibliography but right now I am just enjoying. 

I also found time enough to liberate some of my creative power beyond literature and study. I´ve been making some ornaments myself, such as necklances, brooches and ribbons. You can see a couple of examples above. The pendant was made using one of my spinal bone earrings, which were far too big and heavy for me. The ribbon is just a little piece of velvet, a cameo and one hair pin. Easy, isn´t it? I always enjoy by recycling old useless materials that I have at home.

I am spending some quality time with friends and The Gentle One.

In the last few weeks we went out for outdoors walk frequently. It´s nice to feel the fresh air on your skin, even if you are not a big fan of summer baking temperatures. I tend to develop a huge allergy because of the pollen but in the last times I just discovered many natural remedies against it, as the tea flowers in the picture. I have to thank my friend Morgan for that, she was the one to teach me how to use herbal remedies as a medicine instead of dozens of pills.

Oh, and of course we finally went to watch Prometheus together.

I have a couple of things to say about it: 

The visual level (photography and artistic conception) is great. Giger does its job masterfully. However, the film falls apart towards the second half. There are times of little or no credibility, and a total lack of connection and coherence. The first half is quite acceptable, with moments of genuine and classic science fiction, but the desenlace quite goes forced and "commercial" with moments taken from any action movie. As for the actors, the interpretation of "David" is wonderful and does not detract some of his predecessors in the original series. "Shaw" is admissible the most of the time, but falls frequently over-acting and compunction. Overall I give it a six and a half.

Anyway, darlings, I hope you do have a great summer break full of  special moments.

Life is just a bowl of cherries

Welcome back, dear readers. 

First of all I want to wish a happy Midsummer to everyone! I had the most wonderful one with friends and better half and a really memorable weekend after my recent academic nightmare.

I´ve been away from the blogosphere for one month now and, although I really missed it a lot, I did have no time for procrastination at all. As I had planned, semester exams consumed my entire life: I had books to read, essays to write and notes to memorize. Not funny indeed. My last test took place on Wednesday evening and since then I fell in a strange kind of clinic coma. I wanted needed some sleep. Finally I came back from the grave on Saturday, just in time for Midsummer celebrations. The Gentle One is a really empathic person and did his best to make me feel reborn. We met many friends of us in the afternoon, had dinner together and hanged around to drink lots of tasty cocktails by the midnight fires. So nice to let stress going away!

But exams were not my only source of concerns. I formalized my pre-registration for the literary research work next year. To understand the whole thing, I´ll explain the process quickly. Applicants are supposed to contact a tutor and to present informally a personal project for next semester, then they get a position for their project. I fulfilled every step and when the list with the positions was published. Somebody had replaced me on my project! Apparently, a classmate who was spending a year abroad did not learn about the burocratic process and just chose my project without making any consultation to the department head or the tutor who, by the way, knew nothing about this girl abroad. I had spent one month and a half preparing my project so you can imagine how dissapointed I was! I had to talk to the tutor again and she gently fixed it all but for three days I lived in hell. The girl apologized and evidently she did not do it on purpose but I was under a lot of stress and this did not help. My project is very important to me because it will let me to improve my academic file notably, which means that I´ll have the chance to get a teaching position grant the following year. Of course, I am in the project again and I´ll be spending my summer working in the bibliography. So everybody is happy now.

This week my holiday goes on at my parents´place, it will be good to get relaxed by the sea for a while.

Have you any fantastic plans for summer at the moment?