spanish love!

hello everyone!
i'm back from madrid...although i would love to stay for another week!
it was absolutely lovely! i have many pics to share with you starting with this post.
madrid is a very organised and beautiful city,
it has magnificent architecture, style and the lifestyle is so wonderfully european.
my favorite part was taking breaks in all the parks and gardens under the shade!

so vicky and i arrive at madrid's airport....pretty excited (both in stripes-a coincidence i promise!)

it was amazingly hot, so we left our stuff at our fantastic hotel (jc rooms), put on some shorts and left for the queen sophia museum 
where, much to my happiness, found a yayoi kusama temporary exhibition!

and of course many other amazing works, we got to see the guernica too (no pics unfortunately)

and so we walked and walked...and walked...

the caixa forum

the caixa forum's piloti (p.s. i love this building)

prado museum

botanical gardens

i will leave you with these pictures for now!
so you can get a good taste of spain...i will be making an editorial on madrid fashion...i got really inspired!

hope you all enjoy!

xoxo!

packing!

hello everyone!
i am now officially finished with my french lessons and exams and am chanelling madrid!
the time has finally come for me to pack! i am leaving on friday!
so since i'll be travelling i thought i might show you some packing tips!
here is how i pack for spring trips...
a cardigan and jackets like these ones, because it is still spring and therefore chilly:

along with these go a pair of stylish waterproof shoes and an umbrella!
basic tees and tank tops that can get you from morning to night with dignity:

since it's spain and i like dressing according to city, you can play with colors and prints too!
along with these go funky colored bangles and tons of hoop earrings!
when i travel, not for working purposes, i prefer jeans and perhaps a pair of shorts
for the really warm days:

i always take a pair of boyfriend jeans for comforts' sake...and dark wash denim is super for night time!
along with these you can pack a pair of ballet flats and some sneakers if you plan on hiking.
it wouldn't harm to pack some platforms too ;)
then....i always stuff in one or two dresses:

in this case, frills and patterns are most certainly a do!
now
along with my rouge, i pack:

and of course...a hat ( i always take my baby pink yankees' jockey) and shades.

well, what do you think of my list? what do you pack when you travel?
have you ever been to spain?

xoxo!
pictures from net-a-porter and polyvore

cartoon mode

hello everyone!
i've been studying like crazy for my french exams this friday and saturday and i'm so stressed!
but of course life goes on and so my little nefew grew up and it's almost time for
his baptism!
so i in between work and study i had to buy a gift and figure out...
what else?...what to wear!
i wanted to combine childish fun and some vintage chic.
and this is what i came up with!

so i dug up my favorite olive oyle t-shirt, a vintage skirt i had fixed, a black waist belt and black purse....and for another bit of color, my grey-lilac heels!

the lovely purse was my late grandmothers' and it's knit. i have fallen utterly in love with it!
the belt is hand-made, and since recently i was asked to do a diy post,
the belt is what i'll be showing you!

well...what do you think? would you wear any of your favorite cartoon charachters?
especially to an event?
would you combine navy blue and black? it's become one of my go-to combinations lately!

p.s. i would like to thank christina of lemoncake wardrobe for nominating me with the
"one lovely blog" award!
here are seven things about me (more like quirks but oh well) that i'd already posted recently!
thank you so much!

xoxo!

keep it calm

mid week and i'm already on robot mode.
so midst work and combating approaching panic attacks i thought of
those sweet little "keep calm" posters that have become such a trend lately.
those were first published in england during world war II...more precisely 1939
with the well known phrase "keep calm and carry on".
today you can stumble upon hundreds of different versions, some of which are quite humerous!
here are my favorites...hope they'll help you smile and cope with work too!

found in: http://fuckyeahkeepcalm.tumblr.com/

found in: http://contentinacottage.blogspot.com/

found in: http://foodlovehappiness.blogspot.com/

and my most favorite one....(that always makes me laugh)

found in: http://keep-calm-and.tumblr.com/

so... hope you're all having a great and productive week!

i'd really like to hear which ones are your favorites!

and i'll go finish my french now!

xoxo!

a point of view - art

a while ago, attending a course "history of art - contemporary art" we were asked
to write an essay upon the work of an artist we chose. i chose the greek sculptor
stavros diakoumis 
and just a few days ago i had the luck to visit an exhibition of his in athens...with him!
there is nothing like having the artist conversing with you about
his art at the very spot of its exhibition.
before i show you pictures of his work i must make as small as possible an intro about
his work and it's meanings.
stavros, uses the form of his own body, dismantles it and re-unites it creating wonderous
"crippled" monsters of himself.
this is his way of looking at himself and our lifestyle today and wonder...
what if you lose a hand, or a leg? how perfect is the body exactly? and most importantly...
how free is our mind?
free of the limits that forms and shapes press upon us,
free of the information overload we bear from the media,
free of our own passions and faults...
his work is a self-critic, a self critic that he invites anyone who sees his art to think of
and maybe even recognise in himself.

his sculptures are the images beyond the one we see in the mirror, but the ones we see when we start to wonder about all those "what if"'s

this is actually a reproduction of his wife...

installation.

do you ever look at yourselves and wonder about things being different than what they are?
have you met any artists that inspired you?

xoxo!