Thanks!

I feel I don't say it enough! Thanks to my bloggy friends, my Flickr friends, my Twitter friends. This amazing community of people who offer inspiration, wise words, a smile, a laugh. People who open my eyes and my mind to new possibilities, new ways of doing things, new places to visit, new things to say, new photos to take....

Some of my favourite photos that have been inspired me on Flickr: 

1. 47 365 Golden, 2. 46/365: Go Girl, 3. 44/365 Shine the light on Lake Peten Itza, 4. 46/365, 5. 45/365 Pink Love, 6. 46/365, 7. sideways, 8. DSC_0012, 9. 36/365, 10. cat posing, 11. LA Sky Last Night, 12. Tea and books, 13. in the post {34/365}, 14. rubber balls {35/265}, 15. Happy Snowy Bokeh Wednesday :D, 16. Pink Vanilla Meringue, 17. it snowed., 18. 24:365 winter watercolor, 19. 25:365 casting shadows, 20. paris et ses monuments, 21. 100119_WellThumbed, 22. Orbs, 23. IMG_0030, 24. hear the silence**, 25. 7/365, 26. Untitled, 27. 6/365 2010, 28. 5 365 A whiter shade of lemon, 29. gull, 30. DSC_3738 (55:365), 31. 1 365 The pylons are coming, 32. Untitled, 33. white snow crystal, 34. Bicycles and Polaroids, 35. dirty diana, 36. i want to run away

Thank you, most of all, to those of you who visit me here, read my ramblings and continue the conversation. Your comments always make my day. And your comments on my wedding post were amazing! They made me smile, they made me furiously nod in agreement, they made me so happy...  Happy that you understood what I meant and reminded me what's important about my wedding day.  Thanks Francesca, Jan, lamediterraine, An Open Heart, Cyndy, Spud, Rach, Kristina, Jane, Julochka, Green Ink, Ida and Christina. If you send me your addresses (My email is in my profile), I'll send you a little present to thank you! Because I'm feeling happy and generous today! :)

The Wedding Posts

 Via Green Wedding Shoes

I've been trying to write this post for weeks, a post about the wedding planning. And I struggled to put my feelings in writing, until I realized that I was actually trying to write two different posts.

One about how happy I am and how much fun it is to plan, to think about our day, to talk about what we want, to reflect about what it all means. I wanted to talk about the beautiful and fun inspiration around the blogosphere, and all the wonderful ideas.  Because I'm, at heart, a romantic girl and I'm excited about this day, I can't wait to wear the dress, and I'm looking forward to sharing and celebrating our love with family and friends.

Via Green Wedding Shoes

Via Snippet and Ink

But then there is this other post that I feel I also need to write. About how confusing, frustrating, at times incredibly boring, this planning also is. How the inspiration can overwhelm you to the point that you don't know what you want anymore, and you start needing wanting things that you never even knew existed and that you could never afford. How tiresome it gets when absolutely everyone has an opinion and don't hesitate to tell you what you should and shouldn't do, regardless of what you want. How upsetting it is when people assume that my future husband has no opinion and no say about the whole day (What groom? You'd think he's merely another accessory for your day, if you hear what some bride magazines are saying.)

And I suddenly don't know if I want...

... a vintage wedding...

Via 100 Layer Cake

... or maybe a beach wedding...

 Via Kiss the Groom

... or perhaps, I'm meant to have a winter wedding...

Via Snippet and Ink

... a rustic wedding...

Via Style me pretty

... or a modern one...

Via Green Wedding Shoes

And so, I've been struggling, going back and forth between those two stages of mind, feeling all the above, often all at once. 

But then I read about other people who feel like me in this wedding blog with a difference, and I re-read the story of the best non-perfect proposal, and hear others talk about what it means to be married. And I remember that even though our wedding is an important day, it's not The Most Important Day In Our Life, it's only the beginning. And it's not all about me, it's about us, and it's not about having the perfect party, it's about getting together with the people we love to celebrate with them.

And then, I can dream again about our day and enjoy it, and I'm not thinking about eloping anymore...

Via Green Wedding Shoes

 

And I know that certain things are important to me... and I can compromise on others.  I'm going to have red shoes and a red jacket... whatever my family thinks! Because it's the important things that matter... :)

 Via Green Wedding Shoes

New projects

Even though one of my New Year's Resolution was to do less, I found myself participating in two new projects at the beginning of the year. And I'm so glad I didn't say No to any of them!

Since the beginning of the year, I've been taking a photo a day for our Blog Camp 365 group on Flickr. Yes, I've found it difficult at times, yes I'm a bit behind adding them to the Flickr pool, and yes, this stressses me out sometimes. But it's all worth it because of everything that I've already learnt so far about photography and about Flickr. Seeing the photos that the others in the group take and choose to post is very inspirational, but it's the comments that are making this project so fun for me. From the beginning, we said that we all wanted constructive criticism as that's the best way to learn, and I'm loving everyone's suggestions on how to improve my photography.
You can see above some of my photos for January. Not all of them are there, as I've been playing with my new Diana + camera too and I need to develop and post those. Stay tuned!

The second project is a journaling project, Sojournal, a collaboration with three amazing ladies: Stacey. Julie and Polly. I truly love these ladies and I'm constantly amazed by their creativity. It all started with Stacey's idea that Writing is the new praying. We have each started a journal and are going to be sending them into the world soon. Initially we'll send them to each other and later, we're planning on including more people who want to be part of the project and start their own journal. The project is still evolving, we have lots of ideas to take it forward and I'm really excited about what we can do. I've posted some of my incomplete pages above (I need to add my own words) but will be posting the complete ones over at the Sojournal blog. Do come and visit!

It just shows that, sometimes, you should just say Yes... even if you struggle for time!

Good design is...

We went to the Design Museum in London at the weekend to visit a very interesting exhibition about the work of Dieter Rams, an industrial designer who was the Head of Design for Braun from 1961 to 1995. He's generally considered the inspiration behind many of Apple's designs, including the iPod and the MacBook, so I was already expecting clean and beautiful products. But I didn't expect to find his work and his vision of what good design is so inspiring. .

According to Rams:
Good design is innovative.
Good design makes a product useful.
Good design is aesthetic.
Good design makes a product understandable.
Good design is unobtrusive.
Good design is honest.
Good design is long-lasting.
Good design is thorough down to the last detail.
Good design is environmentally friendly.
Good design is as little design as possible.

(Copyright Dieter Rams, amended March 2003 and October 2009)

I was so inspired by his words that I actually took more photos of his quotations than the actual products, so I'll leave you with my favourites:

12 months of being 30: The Blog Camp edition

* This post is part of my 12 months of being 30 project, an attempt to record what happens during my year of being 30.

We celebrated the very first Blog Camp right after my birthday (and I did go on about being 30 maybe a teeny tiny bit too much!). Barely two months after that, we organized an almost impromptu Blog Camp 1.5 in England. There was Blog Camp 2.0 which I couldn't attend but I followed in the Blog Camp blog. And we have just come back from Blog Camp 3.0. So you could say that my year of being 30 is also the year of the Blog Camp :)

This was the last time that we celebrated Blog Camp in the mythical blue room, and in the place where the idea of Blog Camp was first conceived. Incidentally, I was reading back to the wishlist Julie posted when husband had the idea for Blog Camp, and you should go and read it because that's exactly what Blog Camp 3.0 was!

Like both times before, I had an amazing time and it's taking me some time to digest it all. I'm still reflecting on the fun and the laughs, the photographs taken and the creative art journaling (that you can see here), the conversations (at Starbucks, in the kitchen, at the table, in the blue room...), the food, the coffee, the wine, the thoughtful presents. But above all, I'm still marveling at the fact that I've been so lucky to find real friends through this dear blog. That something that started as a personal project to push my writing has given me this community of friends, online and offline. And that I've actually got to meet some of them.

It's been there all along, but I truly saw it last weekend. It's not simply that there are real people behind the blogs, it's that there are real friends. The ones who have been at every Blog Camp with me, the ones who came to the first one, or the second one, or the new additions on this third one. They're all friends.

And I'm so grateful for it.

12 months of being 30: November & December catch up

* This post is part of my 12 months of being 30 project, an attempt to record what happens during my year of being 30. During November and December, I did my writing and collage, but I forgot to post something here, so I'm catching up now!

November felt like a transition month. I was still getting used to my new job. Already looking forward to Christmas, but without wanting to get too excited. It got cold, but I managed to keep the blues away thinking about the simple things that make me happy. And, of course, in November, we got engaged!

December was all about Christmas, and I loved it! This year I realized that I love the run up to Christmas probably a tiny bit more than Christmas itself. The parties, the drinks after work, the office party, even buying the presents can be fun (maybe because I was very organized!). I always go home for Christmas, and this year, we celebrated it twice: Once in Spain with my family, and later in England with boyfriend's family. It was the best of both worlds! December was also a month for looking back, saying goodbye to 2009 and looking forward to the future!

Still

3:365, originally uploaded by ByBlanca.

Words haven't been flowing easily lately. I've been quiet, both here and offline. I've also been moving more slowly, and doing less of everything. It's almost as if my body and my mind need to hibernate for the winter, or at least take a rest.
And for once, I'm not fighting it. If there is something I learnt during the past of year of writing, observing, reflecting, recording my thoughts in this blog, experimenting with writing and art journaling, etc. is that I need to allow myself to go through these quiet, still phases.
It's difficult and frustrating at times. My to do list is not getting any easy to manage, but all I can do at the moment is to keep adding things to it, so that when the next phase starts, and I'm full of energy, I can put it to good use. And it's going to happen. I know it. So I'm just waiting.

Salamanca

I really love my hometown. It's one of the most beautiful and friendly cities I know. It's full of nice independent coffee shops and great tapas restaurants. There are historical buildings everywhere you look, and a story in every corner.

Even The Independent UK thinks so.

A meaningful 2010

So, after looking back at 2009 here and in my previous post, what's left for 2010? Surprisingly, not resolutions (if you don't count the ones that I'm keeping from last year), but a single word that will hopefully carry me through the year.

The truth is that I've been having problems expressing exactly what I want to accomplish in 2010. I guess it feels like such an important year (probably, because I'll be getting married in August!), and it's a bit overwhelming. And so I have started multiple resolutions lists, both as drafts in this blog and in my journal, but none of them felt right. Until a single word popped into my head and I realized that it really encapsulated what I want 2010 to be: Meaningful.

Now, I've seen people around the blogosphere choosing their own words at the beginning of the year. I think it all started with Ali Edwards who has chosen a word for each year since 2007. Last month, Christine Kane hosted a Word of the Year month in her blog, in which several people revealed what their word for 2010 was.

But I really wasn't looking for a word myself. However, once it came into my head, I knew that I should use it instead of a list of resolutions this year. Because meaningful really is what all the thoughts in my head are about. It's not about spending less time online, it's about making the time I do spend here meaningful, visiting inspiring places, connecting with creative souls and not just jumping from one website to the other. It's not about buying less, it's about thinking carefully about what I need and want, and buying only those things that will make me happy for a long time. It's not about reading all the books in all the lists of books to read before you die, it's about reading those that mean something because they teach me something, or simply make me laugh, if that's what I need. It's not about going through an uncluttering phase and getting rid of stuff, it's about keeping and living with those things that are beautiful, useful or special. And it's definitely not about organizing a party for our wedding, it's about creating a day that is special for us, our families and friends and that we'll remember for ever.

It's about living a meaningful life, savouring each moment, reflecting on each decision. Giving meaning to every day.

Looking back

I love the days between Christmas and New Year. A slow time to recover from the Christmas excesses. A quiet time to reflect on the year that has almost passed. An exciting time to dream about what's to come. And, yes, a time for resolutions. I love resolutions, thinking about what I want to achieve in the months to come and what I want to concentrate on. I enjoy sitting down and spending some time making plans for the year ahead. I always start looking back at the resolutions made the previous year, because my new resolutions normally evolve from those. I also think about those resolutions I didn't keep and reflect on why and whether I want to try again this year or maybe it's time to let go of something I'm not really meant to do. This year, as I told you about all my resolutions for 2009 in the blog, it was a lot easier to look back. A year ago, I promised that I would:

• Write more: I'm feeling a bit bittersweet about this one, the resolution that appears in my list every year (and that must mean something). I've written more often, I've started several short stories, I've thought about plots and topics for potential books... but I don't feel I've done as much as I hoped. I certainly haven't managed to write every day, and I still haven't finished any of my stories. During the year, however, I took a writing class for the first time and went on a writing retreat, I collaborated with Discounderwold, and I definitely step out of my comfort zone with my writing. So, for next year, I want to continue challenging myself and I'll come up with specific targets for my writing (I'm thinking at least a short story and a non-fiction article every month), and I'll be trying again to write something every day.

• Take more photos: I feel I've achieved this one. At the beginning of the year I knew I enjoyed taking photos but I really didn't know much about photography. My blog camp girls, and specially Julie and Kristina with their passion, and Spud with her Camera Club have inspired me to think more about photography as art, composition, and even aperture! I definitely want to continue with this one, and I have several ideas for fun photography projects for 2010. I've also decided to participate in the 365 photo project that Julie has started in Flickr. I know it's going to be challenging, but I'm looking forward to it! Also, I got a a Diana F + for Christmas and I can't wait to start playing with it! The boyfriend and I are going on a photography expedition this weekend!
  

• Decorate my own house: This is a difficult one. Yes, I bought a house, but I bought it in the wrong country! My boyfriend and I bought a flat in Spain and spent the week before Christmas getting it ready to rent it out in the New Year. So, yes, I'm proud to own my first house, and I enjoyed trying to make the most of it on a budget, but I haven't been decorating the house for myself and it was a bit sad knowing that we won't be able to enjoy living there any time soon.
  

• Would do more crafts, specially sewing and knitting: I'm not sure about this one... I certainly tried and learned how to sew a bag, a purse, a skirt... I took a course on bookbinding and loved it and I've been trying to do more things with my hands. But I think I was pushing myself too much with this one, and I'm going to relax a little bit. I want to continue learning and experimenting, but I need to realize that not everything I make would be perfect, specially not the first time that I attempt something!
  

Uff, do you think that was too much? There was also the reading challenge that I didn't keep, the think before you buy challenge that I loved, my vow to not read the news, and a lot of thinking about my 5 rules for life, which can be considered resolutions for life.

What's left for 2010? Stay tuned... :)