She

Julie, from Moments of perfect clarity wrote a post on third person here, and invited us all to do the same. It's incredibly liberating! If you try it, leave a link so we can read it. Here is mine:

She likes pink, the sea and riding her bike. But sometimes, she prefers yellow, the city and going places on the train. She doesn't believe in horoscopes, but she is a real Gemini. More than two, she has multiple personalities.
She enjoys a good conversation (online or offline) with her friends, but sometimes, she'd rather be alone. Or with a book.
Books are her friends. "Books are not the answer to everything", a good friend told her once. But she convinced her that she was wrong. Of course books are the answer to everything.
She is starting to realize that good friends are difficult to find, but keeps on finding good friends in those that she has known for a long time.
She loves going to the cinema. The movie is not that important. The big screen, sharing the experience, leaving the cinema and talking about what you have just seen. Those things, she enjoys. She doesn't have a TV but she spends too long on her computer. She likes writing, but she can always find excuses not to do it.
Sometimes, she'd like to live in a small house in the middle of nowhere. Others, she dreams about living in New York, London or Tokyo, and never stop doing, learning, seeing.
Her home is in England, but her past, and possibly her future, are in Spain. She lives in two worlds, not the same, not too different. In Spain, people tell her she is very English. In England, everyone reminds her that she Spanish. She likes traveling but she is bored of flying. Right now, she'd like to be back in Buenos Aires, walking around Palermo.
Belly dancing makes her feel better. Coffee makes her feel better. Breakfast in bed, a nice surprise, the sun between the clouds, walking in the park. All those things make her feel better.
She is a hypochondriac, with herself and with those she loves. She worries, all the time, about everything. She doesn't know why she is like that, but she is trying to find out.
She'll be 30 soon. She doesn't feel old, but she's starting to realize that time passes too quickly. It's time to take decisions. Or let life take them for you.

This week...

... had a distinctive South American flavour. I went to see the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who came to Oxford as part of the Oxford literary festival. He gave a beautiful talk on storytelling: "Perhaps the purpose of the storyteller is to keep the soul (of the group)".


All week I dream of being back in Buenos Aires. Walking around Palermo, going in and out of cool shops, visiting the biggest bookshop in South America, Ateneo, and enjoying the best ice cream and croissants in the world.

Slow down and dress up

I love the dresses in this shop (none of which I'm going to buy, you know why), but my favourite thing is their motto:
"Take time to slow down and dress up." A reminder to stop and appreciate things, to make an effort to enjoy every moment. Maybe I'll dress up for my home cooked dinner tonight.

When objects talk to you

Can you be in love with a shop? I think I'm in love with these jewellery pieces from the Pia Jewellery catalogue. They are not only beautifully simple but remind us to dream, laugh and follow our hearts, all advice that I definitely need to start following. Is that a good enough excuse to buy these pieces?

Think before you buy

I thought I'd explain a little bit about my non-buying challenge, to make it real and stop me forgetting I'm doing it. And because some of you are wondering what it's all about (Hello Julie!)
It all started with the spending hiatus at Simple Lovely. Although I never signed up officially, I thought it was a great idea and decided to try it. It also ties in nicely with the new, "post South America me", the one who promised never to forget what's important, and to live a simple life full of fun and love, but with few things.
The exception to this is, of course, basic items like food and toiletries and books. I have a lot of books and I'm NOT getting rid of those, books are friends, I've said it before, and you just don't get rid of friends, even when you know them very well (specially when you do know them very well!).
But I did decide not to spend so much on things that I normally buy on a whim and that provide instant, but not lasting, gratification, namely, clothes and magazines. Surprisingly, non buying clothes has proved very, very easy. As long as I don't get close to the high street I'm fine, I don't even think about it. Not buying magazines, on the other hand, has proved so much more difficult. Borders is my happy place, you see, and Borders is full of all kind of magazines. I'm not doing so bad, I've bought a couple of magazines in the last couple of months, as opposed to 10 (but I did buy this one), but I have to try harder.
I have noticed others things that I was spending my money on, specially take away food, or eating out, and I'm now making a conscious effort not to spend so much on those.
The key to this is that I'm not really forbidding myself to buy stuff, I'm just trying to think more carefully about what I buy and why.
If you'd like to do something similar, this video would definitely convince you.

Xul Solar

Xul Solar (1887-1963) is an Argentinian artist that I discovered only last year, during my time in Buenos Aires. When I find a new artist whose work I really enjoy, I like learning about his life and his ideas. In Xul Solar I found an incredibly personality, a very creative life, and an important dream.


He produced paintings, sculptures, architectures, and also he created games. But what I found fascinating is that he created a new language based on a mix of all the languages spoken in the American continent. He wanted America to be a united continent in peace. His rationale was that language is the base of our ethnicity and so, a common language would mean a common race, an opportunity for people to connect, communicate and understand each other.

Inspired by book covers

And more book covers inspiration. I really like this week's collections, I feel calm when I look at these covers. They are simple, beautiful and have a mysterious air. As if the calm was hiding something dark... Can you find something calm and unsettling at the same time?

Otra colección de portadas de libros. Estas portadas me encantan porque me inspiran calma. Son muy sencillas, pero preciosas y tienen algo misterioso. Como si detrás de su aparente calma se escondiera algo oscuro... ¿puede la misma cosa inspirar calma y miedo al mismo tiempo?

If you buy one thing...

Have you seen Giselle's photos for the Elle and RED campaign? The photos have appeared in 30 editions of Elle magazine to promote RED's work against AIDS in Africa. The slogan is "If you buy one thing this month, buy (RED)." I'm not buying anything at the moment, but if I were, these Converse would be mine:

Inspired by book covers

And more inspired book covers, I love, love, love these ones. So romantic and mellow. The words on the cover just a promise of what it's to come. I want to read (or reread for some of them) every single one of those books.

Más inspiración en forma de portada de libros. Me encantan las que forman este grupo. Tan románticas y tiernas. Las palabras de la portada son solo un pequeño avance de lo que vendrá al abrir el libro. Me gustaría leer (o en algunos casos, releer) cada uno de estos libros.

I want to be her. If I was her, I think I would be happy under the English rain.

Photo from the amazing Garance Doré