Dec 23, 2010

New Year

So... New Year's coming, and I actually want 2010 to be over, finally! On friday Nico and I are going to his parents' house in the country. This week it's been more than 90º F everyday down here, so we can't wait to get out of the concrete jungle and jump into the pool. I'm making Lemon Pie for dessert on Christmas Eve and we're giving Nico's 6 months old nephew a tiny "swimming pool" for himself (I can't wait to see his face in there!). Hopefully, it will be a nice, quiet weekend outdoors.
On December 31st we're going to my parents', and I'm sure that won't be quiet! We're almost 20 people in my close family (my parents, sisters, nieces, nephews and brothers in law), plus some aunts, uncles and cousins with their children that are coming for the ocassion. As always, I'm in charge of the decorations, so I'll show you the things that are inspiring me right now. I wanted a fresh, airy theme, and I thought green, white and gold would be a great combo. Oh! I already made some DIY candle holders with  glass jars and golden thread and I'll be making mojitos to refresh everybody's throats after a lot of chatting. I'll show you the pictures next year! :P








Well, that's it, I guess I'll be back to posting in 2011, as the next few days will involve a lot of office work, packing, last minute shopping and stuff.
I wish you all a wonderful Christmas, surrounded by friends, family, and whoever you love, and hope we all start the New Year with the right foot. Besos!!!!

Dec 5, 2010

Argentina: Places

I've been planning some posts to show you my country. It's so big, I've only visited a few places yet, but I'd love to know the whole country one day.
I'll start showing you a few pictures of a region I adore, it's in the North West of Argentina, and I'll show a few pictures of three of the provinces in the region, from north to south: Jujuy, Salta and Tucumán. I specially love this region because my eldest sisters and their families live there (in Jujuy and Tucumán), so I go there quite often.





 These are the Salinas Grandes (Grand Saltmines), in Jujuy province, they're close to the north eastern border of Chile.


This is the route that takes you to Salinas Grandes, it's more than 4000 metres above sea level 



This is the town of Purmamarca and its Seven Colors Hill (Jujuy province)



Yeap, that's me  in the Quebrada de las Conchas, Salta province. 



 As you go south, everything gets greener. That's Tafí del Valle in Tucumán province.


 And it's so green it looks like a jungle! On the way back from Tafí del Valle.

* All pics taken by me


Next time I'll show you the other end of the country: the shouthernmost city in the world!

Besos!

P.S.: I've just realised that my lovely hummingbird template doesn't work properly with Firefox, does anyone know how to fix it? Can't find the answer in Blogger's Help. For those of you using Firefox, sorry for the blinding colors, they're not suposed to be THAT bright.

Nov 20, 2010

J'adore: Poppies

When I was little, my Mom used to have a patch of poppies in her garden. Oh, how I loved them! I used to "cook" them and always ended up with my clothes and hands dyed in shades of red, purple and pink, getting my Mom super angry, of course. When I was 8 we moved, and we never had poppies again, but my love for them remained. They’re so fragile, beautiful, and almost transparent. And also versatile! Take a look to all these lovely poppy options:

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Cuando era pequeña, mi madre solía tener un cantero de amapolas en su jardín. Ah, cómo las amaba! Solía "cocinarlas" y siempre terminaba con mi ropa y manos teñidas en tonos de rojo, púrpura y rosa, haciendo que mi Mamá se súper enojara, por supuesto. Cuando tenía 8 nos mudamos y nunca tuvimos amapolas de nuevo, pero yo seguí amándolas. Son tan frágiles, hermosas, y casi transparentes. Y tan versátiles! Miren todas estas adorables opciones con amapolas:


Lulu Chair from  thisnext 




Poppy Art Dress from ModCloth




Vynil Wall Decals Stickers from this Etsy shop 





Cranberry Poppy Seed Bundt Cake from Coconut&Lime  
 (I've actually made this cake, and it's delicious!)


Oh! And have a great weekend! Next monday is a National Holiday here, so we're going to the countryside the whole weekend... sooo relaxing! Hope I can show you some pics next week. Bisous!

Nov 14, 2010

Fashion discrimination

I know this blog is supposed to be about the things that make me happy, but this time I'm posting about something that makes me a little angry... I just felt I had to talk about this.


It's not easy to follow fashion trends in Argentina, you know. The other day I was determined to get a few Spring/Summer "essentials" (the shirts and shoes in the previous post) to kick off the warm season in style... When I realised that we're not only one season behind the North Hemisphere, but TWO seasons behind! Looking at the windows of the most "affordable" shops I saw all the trends from 2009 (!?) beautifully displayed, so I was headed to the shopping mall thinking at least Zara would give me what I was looking for. Unfortunately, after almost one hour of checking every single rack in Zara, I came home with the hypothesis that they don't bring down here the clothes I see in the European and American blogs (I spent the whole winter saying: "I'll get that blouse/skirt/pair of shoes this spring"), it seems they just bring what they don't sell up there.
Beautiful Zara outfits I'm sure I won't be seeing next year in any of the 6 stores they have in Buenos Aires

SO dissapointing! I mean, I know we're the 3rd World, but do we have to wear what they want instead of what WE want?? I think a proof of that is the trip The Sartorialist made to Buenos Aires a few weeks ago. He did'nt take a single street style picture! Of course there's a lot of people who go to Europe and the US and get their clothes there, but what about the rest of us?? And what's wrong with our own designers? Nowadays, they have a lot of tools to be "on trend", we don't have to wait months to get a Vogue magazine delivered in a ship anymore! Anyways, what was the only thing I bought at Zara that day? A pair of trousers for my boyfriend :S
Hope you're having a great weekend. xoxo

Nov 6, 2010

Old Year Resolutions

First of all, sorry for being away so long. As I said before, the last couple weeks have been crazy, too much work, too much "homework" (had to write a paper and a PR plan), too little sleep and quality time at home. But, now I'm free (well... kind of), so I made a few "Old Year Resolutions", things I want to do before the end of 2010. Here they go:

  1. Get a silky blouse like this and a denim shirt like this.
  2. Go on a spa weekend with my sisters (had to postpone it a month ago)
  3. Spend a weekend here, where my boyfriend's family has a house.
  4. Get a pair of shoes like this
  5. Clean up these messes:
 
                                                                                                Pics taken by me

Do you think I can make it in less than two months?
Later!

Nov 5, 2010

Back

I didn't mean to be away soooo long, but I've been so busy with school, and life, and everything else! And I didn't want to do a meaningless post, just to post something. So... that's why I'll be posting something nice tomorrow, promise. I'm almost done with school for this year, and I'm getting my life back!!

See you later,

Oct 15, 2010

Make a Wish..

I have always dreamed of a wall full of shelves in my living room, you know, to display books and nice stuff. But since Nico (my boyfriend) and I rent a small apartment, we can’t make it true… yet. We’re planning on buying a bigger apartment soon (hopefully next year), so I’m dreaming about those shelves again (our lovely maid would be thrilled to dust it off!). May be once I get it I can start collecting something, like vases, teapots, and all that kind of useless and beautiful objects. We would definitely put our books, which aren’t a lot now but hopefully would grow in number in the future.

Here are some cool display options for living rooms. Have a great weekend!



Black & White living room contemporary living room

Amoroso Design contemporary living room
 




Pics via Houzz and other sources I didn't take note of and really can't remember :(

Oct 13, 2010

Pink Awareness

Being October the month for Breast Cancer Awareness, I thought it would make me happy to tell you about this, and may be create some conciousness about it...
One, day, two years ago, I decided to check my breasts. Just because. And I found a lump in my right breast. I remember thinking "Really? It can't be!" Concerned, I asked my boyfriend to check it and he felt it too. I panicked, actually we both did. But instead of staying at home, crying and googling about cancer I made an appointment with the doctor. He made me an ultrasound and found more lumps, smaller ones. He told me they were just tissue and would eventually go away. We kept doing the ultrasounds every 3 months or so, but after about a year I told him I was still worried and wanted to see a specialist. He was ok with that, so I went to a Breast Pathology specialist, who told me the exact same thing, just tissue, nothing to worry about, they'll gradually go away. Anyways, he told me we could do a biopsy of the lump, just to convince myself. I was supposed to do it last January, but instead I decided to start the New Year from scratch, trusting the doctors and putting all my energies on better stuff. Next month I'm gonna have another ultrasound though, just for "checking purposes". The thing is that since I discovered the first little lump, almost by chance, I started telling every woman I know, to often check their breasts. It doesn't matter how old you are. Cancer doesn't care if you're 18, 70 or 35 years old, and trust me, I've seen many wonderful women, of different ages, struggling and some of them dying, because of cancer.  It just takes you a few minutes, but it could save your life.
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Siendo octubre el mes para la Concientización sobre Cáncer de Mama, pensé que me haría feliz contarles esto, y tal vez crear consciencia sobre el tema...
Un día, hace dos años, decidí revisar mis pechos. Sólo porque sí. Y me encontré con un bulto en mi pecho derecho. ¿Recuerdo haber pensado: "En serio? No puede ser!" Preocupada, le pedí a mi novio que se fijara y él también lo sintió. Entré en pánico, en realidad, los dos lo hicimos. Pero en lugar de quedarme en casa, llorando y googleando sobre el cáncer, hice una cita con el médico. Me hizo un ultrasonido y encontró más bultos, más pequeños. Me dijo que eran sólo de tejido y que eventualmente se irían. Seguimos haciendo los ultrasonidos cada 3 meses aproximadamente, pero después de un año le dije estaba todavía preocupada y quería ver a un especialista. No tuvo problema, por lo que fui a un especialista en patología mamaria, que me dijo exactamente lo mismo, sólo tejido, nada para preocuparse, gradualmente van a desaparecer. De todos modos, me dijo que podríamos hacer una biopsia, sólo para convencerme de que no era grave. Se suponía que debía hacerla en Enero pasado, pero en lugar de ello decidí empezar el año nuevo desde cero, confiando en los médicos y poniendo todas mis energías en cosas mejores. El mes que viene me tengo que hacer otro ultrasonido sólo para checkear que todo siga bien. La cosa es que desde que descubrí el primer bulto, casi por casualidad, comencé a decirles a todas las mujeres que conozco, que se hagan un examen de vez en cuando. No importa la edad. Al cáncer no le importa si tenés 18, 70 o 35 años, y confiá en mí, he visto muchas mujeres maravillosas, de diferentes edades, luchando  y algunas de ellas muriendo debido al cáncer.  Sólo te toma unos minutos, pero podría salvarte la vida.

Oct 10, 2010

Some favorites from Paris FW

Here are some of my favorite pieces from the Spring 2011 Paris Fashion Week shows:
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Aquí van algunas de mis piezas favoritas de los shows de Primavera 2011 de Paris Fashion Week:

Some neutrals... .......................... Algunos neutros...


... and some color. ....................... ... y algo de color.


All pics via Style.com and edited with Picnik

Oct 9, 2010

Spring is in the air...

It's Spring here in the Southern Hemisphere, and it's wonderful. Spring and Fall are my favorite seasons: not too cold, not too hot, flowers blooming, leaves falling. Here are a few things that make me love Spring...
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Es Primavera aquí en el Hemisferio Sur, y es maravilloso. Primavera y Otoño son mis estaciones favoritas: no hace demasiado frío, no hace demasiado calor, florecen las plantas, se caen las hojas. Acá van algunas cosas que me hacen amar la Primavera...

Pics via VER, jardinerias.org, Martha Stewart and Elle Decor, edited with Picnik

Wouldn't it be lovely to wear that outfit for an outdoor dinner of asparagus, in that adorable patio scented with jasmines? Oh... daydreaming!
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No sería hermoso vestir ese conjunto para una cena al aire libre de espárragos, en ese adorable patio perfumado de jazmines? Oh... sueño despierta!

Moi

I'm a 26 years old PR student, full time secretary, girlfriend (living w/boyfriend), avid blog reader, and fashion/interior design lover. Oh! And all that living in Buenos Aires (a city pretending to be the "Paris of South America"), Argentina (a developing (?) country). I was raised in the countryside: my dad is a ranch manager who always wanted to be Mechanical Engineer and my mom is a housewife who always wanted to Psichologist but they both ended up raising five girls in a small budget. Anyways, they've always said that the only inheritance they could leave us was education, so they struggled all their lives to get us to university to study wathever we wanted. Soooo, when I was 17 I fell in love with PR, I got a scholarship and started attending a very expensive university. But... I eventually lost the scholarship and had to start working full time in order to pay for my education. At some point I had to drop school because I was unemployed, and that's why it's taking me so long to get my degree. Hopefully, I'll get it next July. The bad thing is that I'm not in love with PR anymore, can't picture myself making a career in it. Besides, it's still very difficult to get a nice job in PR in Argentina. As I said before, I've realised that I love fashion and interior design, and I think I'd really enjoy working in any of those fields... Time will tell...
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Soy una estudiante de Relaciones Públicas de 26 años, secretaria de tiempo completo, novia (viviendo son su novio), ávida lectora de blogs y amante del diseño de modas e interiores. Oh! Y todo eso, viviendo en Buenos Aires (una ciudad que pretende ser la "Paris de Sudamérica"), Argentina (un país en desarrollo (?)). Me crié en el campo, mi padre es un administrador de estancia/hacienda que siempre quiso ser Ingeniero Mecánico y mi madre una ama de casa que siempre quiso ser Psicóloga, pero los dos terminaron criando cinco chicas con un pequeño presupuesto. De todos modos, ellos siempre dijeron que la única herencia que nos dejarían sería la educación, así que lucharon toda su vida para que pudiésemos estudiar lo quisiéramos. Asi queeeee, cuando tenía 17 años me enamoré de las Relaciones Públicas, conseguí una beca y comencé a estudiar en una universidad muy cara. Pero... eventualmente perdí mi beca y tuve que empezar a trabajar a tiempo completo para poder pagar mi educación. Llegado cierto punto, tuve que dejar la universida porque estaba desempleada, y por eso es que me está tomando tanto tiempo obtener mi título. Con suerte, lo tendré en Julio próximo. Lo malo es que ya no estoy enamorada de las Relaciones Públicas, no puedo imaginarme haciendo carrera de eso. Además, todavía es muy difícil conseguir trabajo de PR en Argentina. Como dije antes, me he dado cuenta que amo la moda y el diseño de interiores, y cre que realmente disfrutaría trabajar en alguno de esos campos. El tiempo dirá...