Festivalissima

It’s that time of the year… That exciting, thrilling time of the year when we crave for holidays and for escaping the routine, the strict codes and the deadlines. We desperately want to go away and feel free for a few days, forget about the rules, enjoy the sun somewhere hot, go to bed late at night and wake up at noon, without an alarm clock ruining our day.

It’s that jolly season when music festivals bring us together by the (tens of) thousands, giving us all that feeling of absolute freedom, of bohemian life lived without barriers and, most importantly, fabulous music! You haven’t truly lived if you didn’t experience this blood-rushing, thrill-giving joy, at least once in your life. Tents, colourful wellies, hats, funky sunglasses, live music everywhere, clowns, barbeques, mud, loud teenagers, old hippies trying to revive their flower-power hearts, beer glasses paving the grass - there’s something for everyone who decides to wear the colourful plastic bracelet  giving them access to such cool happenings. You feel like you’re on a summer camp with all your best mates, with no teachers around to tell you off and ready to make all the naughty things in the book, with no risk for a detention the day after.

With Glastonbury in full swing these days and with my memories from last year’s Somersault Festival as vivid as a freshly painted picture, we grabbed a few props, prepared our cameras and I put together a festival outfit that would offer me that charming, sweet flower-power look, but with a current twist. Anita was more patient and creative than ever before, suggested new framings and locations, took her time shooting and even followed a few of my suggestions, which is some sort of a novelty, considering she’s a typical teenager who adores arguing just about anything. Well, what a lovely day out it turned out to be: the field was empty (the occasional dog walker who stopped and asked us if we’re shooting for Vogue aside), the wind helped my hair look romantically tangled and rebellious, the wheat didn’t graze my legs too badly and we cleverly avoided the cow poo in the adjacent field. Productive and memorable! Did I mention I had the chance to make soap bubbles in the process? What more could one ask for? Well, going to Glastonbury, really… but it’s too late for that this year. I guess we had our own little version and it bonded us that little bit more. Daisies in our hair and music in our hearts – here we are, summer-ready!  

Viorica

I'm wearing: Chelsea Girl @ River Island dress, sandals - Manifattura Artigiana (hand made in Italy), leather belt from TK Maxx (also made in Italy), lovely leather vintage suitcase picked in a chic boutique, while all the accessories are sourced from good old, charming charity shops. 

Hello! First time blogging.

Here we are, but what a struggle! What hard work just coming up with the name! And this is only the beginning…

It all started as an idea my daughter and I had a little while ago, something that would unite us and show all the stupendous things we do in our pretty normal life otherwise, things we adore, things we’d like to do, things we dream of, you know – simply, those sparkles that give our dull routine the appearance of an exciting and worth-living existence.

I said “something that would unite us”, mother and daughter, friends, almost sisters sometimes…but it ended up dividing us: why put your name first, what do you mean by that, why don’t you make it fair?? We took a bit of time off and Anita ended up saying “It needs to be about what we both like.” Let’s name it “Just what we like… Just what we adore.”  I concluded.  Peace again, another little storm we overcame with a smile and a hug in the end. And there it was: a simple title we won’t regret later, something that will describe us 20 years from now on as well… It will still be about those things we like, although they might be radically different from what we prefer now. And hopefully we won’t argue so badly in the process of making this and the “we” will still represent our bond.

There we go, “Good light”, like photographers say, “Fair winds and following seas”, as sailors wish each other or simply “Good luck to us!” Who knows what great adventure awaits ahead?

Will we do more for the sake of this blog? Will we understand we do so much already but didn’t realise it until showcasing them here? We’re truly enthusiastic about this journey we’re about to start together and we hope you’ll come aboard. It feels like a celebration… and I’m celebrating my birthday today, but it suddenly became more significant. What a joy! I love you, Anita!

Viorica

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