under the arches

First things first: a big thank you to everyone excited for me about my move to London! I'm excited too, although somewhat stressed and already making weekly budget lists. The last time I lived in the UK was a bit of a financial disaster for me. Not because I went shopping or anything, simply because my rent took up 3/4 of my (admittedly dismal) salary. I was very poor, and not in a pituresque, darning-your-underwear way, but in a living-for-the-month-of-December-on-chocolate-and-wine-my-flatmate-and-I-were-given-for-Christmas-way. However, I'm hoping that since this time I have better savings and the exchange rate is significantly better, that it won't come to that!

Apologies, meanwhile, for being a poor commenter the last few days. My internet is fiendishly bad... I plan to burn down the Telmex building when I leave! Starbucks has been coming to the rescue!


Gaah... heatstroke!



Now, these pictures were taken recently when my sister and I made a day trip to Tlaquepaque, a village contained within Guadalajara that's famous for their ceramic work. We went to a lovely and free ceramic museum. Many of the pieces are enormous and exquisitely detailed and really have to be seen to be believed. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures, so you'll have to take my word for it! In general, we didn't take too many touristy pictures that day; I think we were a little overloaded in the last several weeks. However, on the way home we did grab a few. The light and shadows are a bit harsh in these, but then, you're not really supposed to take pictures at 4 pm...









Oh, and of course I can't resist sharing...

It wasn't really the best neighbourhood to be flashing a camera around, as you can tell by the state of the vochos, but I simply couldn't resist! The second one was so gutted as to not be a car anymore, I think it was that neighbourhood's idea of a bench!

Oufit:
Dress: from Barcelona
Tank: H&M
Shoes: Victoria (Spanish children's brand)
Sunglasses: Sanborn's
Bag: Stolen from my mother
Earrings: Self-made

On Shona:
Dress: Oysho
T-shirt: Smart Set
Shoes: Converse
Earrings: Native Store on Granville Island
Sunglasses: Alfred Sung

As you'll note from our aggressive layering, it's best not to show too much skin around here. We get enough attention as it is for being white and (compared with Mexicans) tall.

And after such a scorchingly hot day, there was really only one thing to do: go to the Teteria (teashop) near my house...

Polaroid Android

You may have already noticed that I have an acute case of vochomanía, or the love of vochos, aka old style Mexican beetles. Fun trivia: the old style beetles were manufactured in Mexico until 2003 so there are many of them, still in very good condition. And many more, like the one above, in not-so-good condition...

The vintage quality and all around grunginess of these cars made them the perfect subject for my new favourite photo editing technique: poladroid, which my boyfriend found and sent me last week.

While it's not altogether serious, poladroid is loads of fun. You download a little digital polaroid machine, feed your favourite photos into it and... shake it... or wait... but we all know how that turns out. If you don't know it already I suggest you head over and get started... it's addictive!

Here's a picture of our car last year, when we lived in a less transport-friendly city... oh vocho rojo, how I miss you!


Meanwhile, back in Guadalajara, Shona and I discovered that sometimes it's good to co-ordinate your outfit...


...and sometimes it's better to contrast it


When playing with poladroid you should use pictures with some distance as it does tend to randomly crop them wherever it wants, and you may find yourself a bit devoid...

...of a head.

And last but certainly not least, a true classic!