Teenage with a difference

My little girl is not so little anymore and I just want to celebrate the wonderful person she is becoming, day after day. Although she turned a certain age recently, she didn't want me to post anything  linked to that special day. I didn't. I even postponed it a few more days, trying to enjoy a bit of holiday and a bit of precious time with my Mum. But I wish her  many, many amazing, fabulous years feeling happy, accomplished and serene. I want to declare here openly that I just adore her and that she has always been and will continue to be my little sunshine, illuminating my life.

She's having a great time these days going to gigs, listening to good music, wearing clothes she likes, being herself, feeling fantastic, even if a few harsh exams are ahead of her this year. Outrageously, Anita says she's feeling old and I look at her and I see youth and freshness transpiring through every look and move she has. We often go out together for walks or visiting places, doing things and I love her company. She's joyous and positive, she's confident and grounded, she's becoming a young adult, someone I can talk to about everything knowing I can trust her and count on her. She even teaches me things: how I should have a healthy skin routine and how unaware I am of the wonders of Instagram. Yes, I do learn a lot from her too nowadays and sometimes she thinks it's okay to have a role reversal. Nevertheless, I am still reluctant to accept being told off by my daughter. After many years of parenting, she still can't take that from me and tidying her room continues to be an impossible mission. This bit of criticism aside, to me, watching her do all the things she does makes me feel amazed by how all our experiences shaped her, enriched her and created a solid base she can build upon. In my heart though, she'll always be my sweet little girl, smiling contagiously and having moods that used to exasperate me, but now bring smiles on my face, looking back at everything and feeling nostalgic.

I took these photographs on a winter somewhat sunny day and I think this look encapsulates pretty much my profile of her. She loves classic items, combined with vintage elements, which necessarily must feel comfortable. She knows exactly what suits her and has a lovely style, very personal and original. She's never into trends and likes making subtle statements that her peers take inspiration from. I'd like to see that in more teenage girls who are very much copy paste Highstreet windows, forgetting to express themselves and be that little bit different.

  

Winter in style

I love winter only for the way I can dress. Layers over layers, hats, funky boots, woolly skirts, adorable coats - all those items that wrap us in warmth and style, added together to create a sweet melange of textures and colours. I go crazy for nudes and whites in winter, paired with jeans to create contrast in the palette and style,  just as much as I adore tweeds in crazy colours, squares and zigzags in deep greens and strong auburns, matched with cute, vintage items - they're all there to delight me. And when it's not raining, as it so often does where I live, I can take my cream or white coats out and give them a bit of light and fresh air. Soon, spring will arrive and I realised I didn't make a post on winter style. This was a day out in Bristol, on a December day, when my daughter and I enjoyed the sunny, blissful weather (despite the wind), with more degrees than we hoped for - an unexpected surprise that I didn't predict while getting ready (Hence the hat! Well, I love hats so much, I wear them for their cuteness, not necessarily because I'm cold.). I wasn't dressed for a shoot, this is a simple stroll, in casual clothes for me. I love a bit of vintage charm with a funky twist. I was wearing a M&S shirt, an United Colours of Benetton jumper, Ming Originals western ankle boots and a lovely vintage coat I bought in a vintage fair. Oh, those treasure finds! Priceless!

First day

2016 is here and its first day was just another day. That made me happy. Happy beyond words. Happy in its most gratifying simplicity. Don't you find it overwhelming when you charge yourself with a lot of expectations from yourself and from the others? Where to go for the New Year's Eve, what food to prepare, what friends to see, will you be a guest or the host, what should you wear, will you have fun, should you just lock yourself in, wearing your pjs, and watch TV under a blanket, pretending you're not at home? All these questions we start burdening our mind with when December comes (if not earlier) simply make our festive season stressful and  tiring and we all come out of it rather drained of energy and depressed.

 On the train to Bristol a few days ago, I overheard a lady talking on the phone (I couldn't help it, it was the train to Glasgow and the only 3 carriages available that day were bursting with luggage and travelers, all regretting surely they took the unfortunate decision to spend their holiday away from home), saying "Now that Christmas is out of the way..." and I thought "Well, British people must really love Christmas!" , but then I remembered I didn't quite have tonnes of enthusiasm for the holidays myself this year. Today I found myself thinking  "Now that the holidays are out of the way we can finally carry on with our lives." I loved that feeling I had today - maybe for the first time in my life - that the first day of the year was a normal day, no pressure, no exhaustion, no headaches, no big thing after a much expected big thing that wasn't quite as big a thing as I had imagined... Today was a lovely, simple, normal day like any other and I hope I learned not to put any more useless pressure on me next year and the years to come. I hope I'll choose to have special days during the year, out of the blue, when I'll feel the need of a bit of sparkle and I'll decide to have new beginnings on a sunny Tuesday for example, whatever month that will be. I'll put a lovely dress on and allow myself to feel special on a Sunday morning, take a few photographs and make it a moment to remember. I'm ready to start work (No, I'm not! I am desperate for another week or at least one day...) and I am ready to continue what I had before today. I don't want to remember last days of old years or first days of new years, I simply want to remember special days. My special days. I'll let sparkles into my life. Monday mornings if I feel like it. Ok, I'm not ready to feel the sparkles this Monday, I'll be realistic...
2016, bring it on! Or I should rather say "Tomorrow, bring it on!"

Happy New Year! Have a fabulous 2016!

I started this new year with joy and happiness, close to dear members of my family and full of dreams and love in my heart. I wish you all to feel the love in your hearts. Whatever you do this year, remember to love and let yourselves loved. Start every day with the enthusiasm you start a new year, start fresh and give it another go each day. Don't wait for new years to have resolutions, do it every morning. Be happy for every sunrise for it brings you a new chance. Remember, there's no bad year, just a bad day, maybe. And when the morning comes, let your face be illuminated by light and your soul inundated by warmth. Keep the hope alive and follow your dreams every day of every year. 2016 will be beautiful if you make each day matter. 

N.B. I was wearing a QED London dress and a River Island collar necklace.

 

Aren't the festivities over?

The festive season is quickly unfolding in front of our eyes and, although the weather keeps tricking us into believing it's Easter, I still want to take this opportunity and send you my best wishes and a warm hug for you to start the new year equipped with positive vibes. Christmas is now gone, it was short and sweet this year - I wasn’t in the most Christmassy mood, because I simply empathised with Anita who announced at the beginning of December she was having none of that stuff this year. Well, I put a few Christmas decorations up (very few, to have an easy task undoing them, because from tomorrow I will have to start preparing for work), I made my "sarmale" (and ate some), I met some relatives, I opened a few pressies, I offered a few… I did my part. I even wore a new Christmas jumper, all fury and fluffy and gave up wearing a cute dress. I now feel ready to put everything in order and I would even pass on any party to celebrate the New Year. It’s been a weird mood we had at the end of this year. Blame it on work, blame it on stress – we simply want these festivities gone without big efforts or drama. Tomorrow jogging needs to happen ( I devoured some chocolates that clearly left a mark, I can feel it), my house needs to get some TLC and I have to start organising things for me to commence 2016 with the right foot. I owe Anita a trip to Bristol in the meantime and I'm actually looking forward to our day together this week. She is too. We always get along ... when there's any opportunity for her to do some shopping in the process. If Mum pays, the day is great. I hope you are having a good time too, doing the things you like, relaxing, spending time with your family or simply vegging out. We all need to restore our levels of energy and enthusiasm to be able to dive into the new year's challenges. I'd like to know what you're up to, so please leave some comments. Stay tuned, for there might be another post about our road trip coming soon, if I manage to dig successfully through my five thousand pictures or so to select the ones I need to illustrate our adventures in Austria. Stay serene and don't let the festivities get to you.

Looking forward

I’m so happy to say “Hello!” to you again, my dears. I almost have the blank page blockage, considering how long it’s been since I last had the time to write anything. I have been busy living, my life has taken a turn that requires all of my time and dedication, but I am happy and thrilled. I was finally offered a full time, permanent job in education and I’m a fully recognised teacher in England, which has been my goal since I moved to this country. I didn’t have time to drink the champagne or go out for dinner to celebrate that, because I’ve been swimming in seas of paper work and climbing mountains of books to mark, but, hey, great things are great because they require all of your energy and achieving anything with effort makes it worthwhile and so much more gratifying.

Tomorrow is Christmas and the year is about to end. For me this has been the best year ever. I have accomplished marvellous things - I started this blog, I went on an epic, unforgettable road trip, I won a poetry competition with a trip abroad attached, I had all my diplomas recognised in the UK, I obtained my full time, permanent job as a teacher and I didn’t want this year (that my Mum predicted was going to be MY YEAR) to end without me taking the tests for my British citizenship. So I did. I scheduled it 2 days before Christmas, because that’s just so me: I couldn’t relax and enjoy anything knowing that I still had one thing on my mind. I left my house lamenting for my attention, I postponed the making of our traditional “sarmale” (stuffed cabbage), without which our winter celebrations are inconceivable, I took Anita with me promising her a fun day in Exeter and after a sleepless night, all packed with “Life in the UK” tests, we embarked on the train - my daughter’s most recent passion (yes, she finally overcame the anxiety of travelling by train and she’s now loving it).

The sun was invading the cabin through the train window and all I could think of was that it HAD to be a great day, I had to pass the exam and end the year positively. I arrived at the testing centre an hour early, I went in straight away, I took the test in less than half the time allocated, because I simply couldn’t wait another second. Then, there I was, out of the room, with the receptionist holding the paper with my result in her hand, telling me that it was her birthday and that she would get home in Southampton at 8 pm, where her daughter was waiting for her with a nice cake. “But ... did I pass?” I whispered timidly. Time felt suspended in the air for a few long moments and then she smiled gently and replied “Oh, yes, sure you did my dear!” I felt like jumping up and down with joy, but instead I continued listening to her stories about visiting my country 25 years ago and how awful it looked, how she had found our people hospitable and kind. Our conversation ended with me promoting my country, inviting her to go visit it again with the certainty she’ll find it completely changed, although in my heart I know we still need a century or two to get to where I'd like it to be. I couldn’t wait to grab my paper and run out to tell Anita the good news.

A big hug outside, as soon as we met again, smiles and high fives and then she switched quickly to "Lets' do some shopping". You see, she doesn’t quite grasp the fact that 25 years ago I was her age and I was coming out of an era when I didn’t even dare dream I could go out of the country, I could visit any place abroad, I could talk to people that were living outside our borders. She doesn’t understand that I accomplished a dream that seemed impossible and now I am/ we are a small step away (1800 pounds for me and her) from becoming citizens of a country I have always loved and admired. A memorable day for me, a day out shopping in Exeter for her. She’s relieved she won’t have to do all this “test thing” herself though and I’m happy I can spare her from it. I think she deserves to enjoy a serene, happy teenage, just like all her British friends and feel she’s equal to them in every way.

We bought a few items on sale, admired the shops’ vintage décor, enjoyed the Christmas decorations in Exeter, took a few cute pictures that I’ll allow you to take a peek at here and then the rain sent us home. Back on the train, back home, back to reality. I can finally relax for a couple of days and enjoy the festive season. No Christmas tree this year, but I feel I have baubles and fairy lights in me. Very few decorations in my house, but I sparkle inside. Happy festivities, darlings! I hope you had a good year as well and I wish you all a serene, tranquil Christmas, with your dear ones near you or in your hearts. My heart is full of joy and love and I embrace this warm feeling that I’d like to take with me in the year to come. I am looking forward. I’m so looking forward to all the other great things I’ll bring in my life next year, because I do believe it’s up to us to make good things happen if we strive and persevere. Ho, Ho, Ho and holidays to remember to you all!

P.S. I was wearing Wrangler jeans, my one and only Christmas jumper inherited from Anita who stopped liking it and an adorable little jacket from United Colours of Benetton that I bought in Italy. Casual for a day out shopping, accessorised with a big and heart-felt smile for a very memorable achievement. J