Into the West.

Yesterday night I had dinner with all my cousins and went to dance. My cousin Rocio was leaving today for Berlin, and we wanted to have a good time with her.

Me with Rocío!

 

At la Vaguada, as always here!

Tshirt - Pull&Bear customized

Skirt - Bershka (second hand)

Tights - Calzedonia

Shoes - Sonia Rykiel vintage

Ribbon - Offbrand

And today, I pass the evening in a hip hop competition, it was great and I had a lot of fun there! We've got here plenty of good guys on this!

Tonight I was going out, but when I was having my dinner, I realized that they were showing on TV "The Lord of the Rings: The return of the King"... so I stay home for seeing it. Yes, of course I saw it before (at the cinema, two times; on DVD -I've got the collection-); but I love those films and those books... you know, there are lots of good books outside here, I know... but for me, TLOTR contains not only a good story, but also means so much for me... Let me show you why...

J.R.R. Tolkien.

It was the 9th of December of 1991, my tenth birthday; and that day, a package arrived home, from my dad. My parents were divorced when I was very young, and I didn't see my father very often, because he lived so far away from me. Sometimes he sent me presents, normally books... and in that time, he realized that I wasn't like the "normal" girls; so he was always sending me books and tapes with awesome music.That summer I spent it with him at Barcelona, and during it, he had been telling me stories about a faraway place called Middle Earth, about a magician and a tree that could speak. My curiosity was boundless, I wanted to know who or what was Tom Bombadil, I wanted to read the poem about Tinúviel ... and he insisted that I should wait, that was not the time yet, but I insisted and insisted ...

So, here I am, my birthday... I opened the package and I found three books wrapped, and a letter. In that letter, he explained to me that those three books were the path to another world, a world full of adventures, good and bad moments; that I might cry, I might smile... but always, always, I should lead my imagination fly and my heart guides me into the shadows, just for finding the light...

He said, "First, you must know Bilbo Baggins, so you must read The Hobbit first. After that, follow Gandalf into The Lord of the Rings... and finally, find the beginning of al the things that cares at The Silmarillion". So I took The Hobbit, opened it and started to read, smiling as I was reading the dedication wrote inside it... "Walk with Bilbo and don't lose sight of Gandalf. In the next book you'll meet Barbol. Leave your imagination fly free..."

And I read...

And in a week, I read the full story of The Hobbit (for a ten years old girl, reading a book like The Hobbit in a week is too fast!). So I opened the second book, The Lord of the Rings, and read the dedication... "So that the paths of the imagination lead you to the truth"... and I read... and read... and read for six months... and I laughed, cried, smiled...

 

 

 

And after those six months... "Meet the beginning of everything, and make your dreams come true", said The Silmarillion...

So for my next birthday, he gave me a Bestiary from Tolkien's world. And a book for learning Quenya.... And I read all the books again, and again...

My father died when I was twelve years old. And I keep all his books and records, and the books he gave to me... Thus, these books are not just nice stories about things I like. They're almost like his legacy, a gift that opened the door to an unexplored world for me, to be who I am today.

He never saw the films of Lord of the Rings, only the old animation ... but I'm sure that, despite the failures, would have liked them, perhaps because it is set in the beautiful illustrations by Alan Lee, our favourite illustrator... I remember talked with him about this...

So, now you know why I love so much this books! And why I always cry and smile when I see the films, read the books or listen to the music of the films!

Thanks for reading and have a nice Sunday! I'm coming back to Barcelona today... yaw!! Oh, and thank you for all the cute comments, tips and advice for the cold weather at Berlin!!

Illustrations by Alan Lee and John Howe.

The songs we used to sing...

2009 was a year full of great inspiration for me. As you may know, one of my sources of inspiration is music, I think the biggest one... and since I blog, there are some lovely bloggers that I really feel like they're muses for me... Here I want to share some of the people and things which inspired me last year and would be inspiring me this year...

Folies Bergère Performers

Twiggy

The Clash and Joe Strummer

John Lydon

The past fascinates me, from the muses of the late nineteenth century to the present pin-ups, but if there is something that fascinates me are the happy 20's, the sixties and seventies, especially in its most punk way. I really believe in punk as a very powerful ideology that given the current political situation can be repeated as a cultural movement or counter-cultural. And every day that passes, I am clear that this revolution can begin in Berlin ... I guess it's a hunch.

I think John Lydon and Joe Strummer were the punk thinking heads, each with a different ideology but successful, and that led to each one to different extremes. Joe believed in his ideas to the end, John ... well, you just have to look at it today and see what has become something that I hated ... maybe that's why I respect him even more.

And Twiggy... she's magical. She always gives me the inspiration of freedom in her pictures!

Interpol

Foals

Mando Diao (I adore this funny pic!)

Maxïmo Park

Guys well dressed (as Joshua Third)

I cannot deny it: I am a fetishist of menswear. And when a guy is well dressed and he also tells beautiful things in songs, as a poet, like the men I mentioned in the pictures ... I fell in love with. Curiously, the artists that I like (at men) tend to be always well dressed.

This doesn't mean that a smart man will be well dressed and vice versa; there is everything in the world, but curiously the boys who I always have interesting encounter a unique style.

Of course, many other artists inspire me, but these are the most remarkable to me in 2009 ... and will be in 2010. Foals will release soon a new album, and I will vibrate with their math-rock again. Interpol will also release a new work soon. And Mando Diao and Maxïmo Park... I simply love them (they are the first two in my Lastfm) and I hope to see them live this year (again!).

 

Florence + The Machine

Shirley Manson from Grabage

Little Boots

Amanda Jenssen

Miss Li

Theoretical Girl

Hannah Murray, from Skins

My musical muses, some from last year and some new.

Florence and Shirley are my favourite redhead, with opposing voices and styles contrasting, but equally inspiring. While Florence inspires you to scream and go out dancing in the rain, Shirley encourages you to snuggle in your room and whisper in the ear of someone special the lyrics of her songs. Florence sometimes wears costumes seventies, Shirley is sophisticated ... but both have an inner world that shows us in their songs and are fabulous.

Little Boots, Miss Li (whom I recently discovered), Amanda Jenssen and Theoretical Girl are my bets for 2010 women, particularly Theoretical Girl, who has an attractive voice and a fascinating minimalist ... not to mention that her style is wonderful (and already is starting to influence mine).

And at the end, I mentioned Hannah Murray, Cassie from Skins' series... I simply love both, the actress and the character. I've been all 2009 saying "wow"... and in 2010, I will do it again, and again, and again... 

Sandra

Elin

Emma

Three of my blogger muses. I adore the three of them, and I thank them for making myself dream, learn and smile during the past year. Of course, I hope to continue doing the same things with them in 2010!

My friends!

I always learn from my friends, and I'm learning a lot from these three little people that inspire me every day. Thanks to my Laia, Esther & Rocio, and the way they are and be loved!

So, thanks for reading and as always, please... have a nice day!

A part of the weekend that never dies...

Hello everybody and thanks for your lovely comments on my last post! How many wonderful words, yaw! I'm glad that your NYE was lovely too!

Tomorrow here in Spain it's the night of the Magi. Here in Spain we don't share our Christmas' presents until the 6 of January, because it is supposed that on the night between the 5th and the 6th of January, three Magi from the East came into Belen, just for sharing their love and present with Jesus... so traditional here! The pity is that in almost all Spain is raining, so maybe the party for tomorrow would be a little bit wet!

Anyway, did you had fun last weekend? Mine was quite good; on Saturday I had dinner with my cousin Rocio, who is at Berlin this year (and who I'll be visiting in a few days there!!); Rose, Jose, Godino, Alfonso, Paula, Manolo and Angie... we went to an Italian restaurant just in front of my home, called "La Tentazione"... so delicious!!

 

Rose and Jose

Angie and Manolo

Godino and Rocío

 

Alfonso and Paula

We're a happy family!

Godino eating his saldad with bread sticks..

My pasta!Stuffed with pear and goat cheese sauce!

After dinner, we went to E Trocadero, a very nice pub where we always drink Paulaner, our favourite beer!

And at 3:00 am we decided to go into La Vaguada, the rock pub from Algeciras, where we met Miguel Luis... he was at Berlin for NYE but now he's back, cool!

 

Rose with her Blanco's dress

Me with Rose's Stradivarius dress... I love it!!

Dress - Stradivarius

Tights - Calzedonia

Shoes - Offbrand

Totebag - Blanco (old)

It was quite funny because Jairo was all night saying that Rose and I looked as Velma and Daphne from the Scooby-Doo series! I love this kind of dresses, I don't mind looking retro!! That's why today I bought a retro-style fabric for making a dress like the blue one!

And on Sunday I went to the mall just for buying my last Christmas' presents: a fragrance for my grandma! I saw a very nice dress in a shop, but I think it was quite expensive for the kind of piece it was, so I didn't buy it...

And you? Are you buying a lot of sales? Here, sales will start on the 7th of January!

By the way, I saw the Soulwax's documental Part of the weekend never dies, and now I want to party a lot! And in March, my beloved Florence and the Machine is coming to Barcelona... I can't wait for her!!

Are you going to or have you been to a concert recently?

Dance dance dance (on 2010)

Hello everybody! How was your first day in a new year? Mine was quiet, at home, seeing some films and listening to music, making a review from the past year, and searching for some information about interesting things that I'd like to share with you... but not today, because today, you want to see what I did last night, right?

So, here we go... 

 

Greta, my uncle's dog!

 

My mom was stunning!

 

We had dinner at my uncle's house; it was quite and with the family, as I really like it! And after that, I went home just for meeting there my beloved Jairo. Then we walk to the On pub because our friend Parti was working last night there... and we met there some gorgeous people... my friends!

 

Carlos was AWESOME!
 

Godino, Angie and Carlos.
 

Jairo, so elegant and great!
 

Angie, Carlos and me!
 

Jairo and Manolo, Angie's boyfriend.
 

Parti, Palma and Angie.
 

Me with Santi, he was so cool!
 

 

And here you can see what I was wearing last night:

 

Dress - Madcap

Socks and tights - Calzedonia

Boots - Aces of London

Feather - H&M

I hope you all had an excellent night!! Happy New Year to all of you!!