sunset on the roof of la pedrera

This was Easter Sunday... and we went to architectural masterpiece/tourist trap La Pedrera after lunch. Albert and I bought "Art Cards" back in the fall for €25, which get you into seven museums around Barcelona. La Pedrera was one of them, and for a while we thought it was just the exhibition space, which is free anyway. But it was actually the whole building, which is usually €16 or something, so it was a great deal!

We mainly just hung out on the roof in the sunset and enjoyed the panoramic views. Those of you who have been to Barcelona have probably been up here yourselves, so I won't waffle on about it. It's funny how when I get visitors here, I pathologically try and create a not-too-touristy experience, but here on my blog I always seem to be showcasing well-known places. I suppose places like the Gaudí buildings and Els Quatre Gats really are the most photogenic, though not the most representative of the life I love here.


Ha! I do look particularly full of it in these pictures... I was aiming for a "50s movie star on vacation" look though


Albert and I ;)



Photos by Albert

dress: I Love Mona(gift from Albert), top: Topshop (gift from my mom circa 2006), sunglasses: TKMaxx, shoes: Fly London

foodie, and odds and ends

I always take so many pictures when travelling (or even when not travelling), and often there are leftovers that don't fit into a coherent post... so here's an incoherent post, showing a few more moments from Easter weekend (because I'm still in denial that it's over, I guess).

After we left Collioure, we drove up to a similarly picturesque mountain town called Céret. There was a lovely view of the surrounding mountains in the setting sun from "The Devil's Bridge." And those pretty purple flowers...





That night we stayed in Roses, only an hour from Barcelona on the Costa Brava. We didn't really get up to anything, except stuffing ourselves silly on a three course menu. The "first" course was paella, and they brought us an entire frying pan of it to share. I have no idea how I managed to stuff down beef stroganoff and then mel i mato (a dessert consisting of soft, mild cheese covered in honey) afterwards.







In the morning we pretty much had to head to Barcelona to return the car, but not before I'd gone, bare-legged but wearing my winter coat, down to the beach to breathe some more sea air and sink my toes into the sand. I. cannot. wait. for summer!

And Sunday night basically involved eating an enormous plate of cheese... outfit post at an iconic Barcelona location, from my pre-cheese state coming next time!

à collioure

Isn't Collioure (or Cotlliure) one of the prettiest seaside towns you've ever seen? With its Medieval buildings, the intense, paradise blue of the sea and sky embracing the town from above and below, the sunshine and the blustery wind... Summer is 100% my favourite season of the year, and although it wasn't exactly summery (note the appearing and disappearing cardigan) it was so lovely to be by the seaside in the sunshine.

The town was crowded, but after an infuriating time parking (luckily our rental car was a Smart, so we took the space no one else could fit into, woohoo) we managed to avoid most of the tourists by keeping out of the restaurants; instead we ate quiche and ice-cream on the beach, and wandered up to a cliffside lookout, where we perched on some deserted steps overlooking the panorama.

I'm wearing a dress from the 70s that was made by Albert's mom! And if anyone's wondering, the orangey smoke in the third picture is from a simulated rescue mission they were conducting in the bay (you can see the helicopter in another shot...)













photos by Albert and I

dress: vintage, cardigan: absolutely ancient, belt and purse: vintage via my mom, shoes: Steve Madden via ebay, sunglasses: TKMaxx
*I got this entire outfit for free minus the shoes and sunglasses!

c'est tout?

On Good Friday morning, Albert and I peeled ourselves out of bed after an ill-advised late night, rented a car, and set off for Perpignan/Perpinyà in the South of France/Catlonia North, depending on who you are. It was about a three hour drive from Barcelona, followed by lots of driving in circles looking for parking, but we made it. Most of these pictures are from the Palace of the Kings of Mallorca (clear Catalan connection!) and others are from the town centre.

Notes on the Perpignan experience:
1. My French sucks.
2. The people of Perpignan appear to be verrrry proud of their Catalan identity, as witnessed by the Catalan flags stuffed into every corner of the city. Way more than I've ever seen in Barcelona. Or perhaps they're just really proud of their rugby team, who also use the flag! On the other hand, the French seem to have done a good job of killing the language, the only Catalan I actually heard was from fellow tourists and in song.
3. French pastries are made with butter, not lard!! Observe and learn, Barcelona bakeries!
4. French customer service is "special." Because our hotel was in the middle of nowhere, Albert and I ended up having dinner in a very tacky and very overpriced restaurant next door. We decided to order the cheapest things. So, I ordered us each a slice of €18 fish and the cheapest bottle of wine, at which point the waiter looked down his nose and asked me, "Is that all?" Umm, yes thank you.

Perpignan was good fun, but the next post will show you an unbelievably cute seaside town.... : )







Ok, so I'm wearing a leopard print dress... and I've pretty much loathed leopard print since... forever. I blame Sandra, Kallie, and ebay, in no particular order! My bun was looking a bit flying-saucer after the drive, but such is the nature of being on the road, right?









The majority of photos are by Albert

Also, has anyone else arrived at that point where both toes are literally sticking through their tights but you refuse to buy more because it's APRIL? ;)

dress: vintage via ebay, sweater: thrifted, bag: vintage via Mom, shoes: Camper, sunglasses: TKMaxx

be right back

Photo source

Happy belated Easter, everyone! Sorry for going AWOL the last week, but I'm having major issues amalgamating and backing-up five years of photos from my computer... I had actually used 100% of my memory as of this morning, and it's all a bit haywire! I'll be back hopefully tomorrow with photos from a great weekend road trip to the South of France/North of Catalonia.

Above is a Barcelona Easter tradition... the bakeries all sell "Monas," which are chocolate sculptures or cakes, and Escribà, a large bakery in the centre, sets out to outdo itself every year with an especially large and crazy one for the shopfront window. This year's was an enormous Chinese dragon to celebrate the "Any del drac." Loving dragons and chocolate in similar measure, I was well impressed!

Wishing you all a good week!

blossom

Sunday in Bonn was sunny, and we rode to a neighbourhood that is famous for its cherry blossoms in spring. Unfortunately, they hadn't quite flowered yet, although they were all clustered in tight pink buds just waiting to burst out, but we did find this beautiful tree later in the day. Does anyone know what kind of tree this is. I'm not sure you can tell, but the blossoms are much bigger than cherry blossoms. We have these in Vancouver too, and I always thought they were plum, but having just googled them, they don't seem to be. Any horticultural experts out there? Ok, the consensus is Magnolia, thanks!

We also saw The Artist (the second time for me). I just love movies that leave me feeling happy, optimistic, and like I want to be a tap dancer. Don't you? ; )




It was still pretty chilly, despite the sunshine.



P.S. I was featured (looking rather glam, I must say) on Life Like Honey, and also on the Smashion Lounge (they do frequent interviews, and I discovered a bunch of other great blogs I'd never heard of there too)!

Photos by Albert

dress: vintage via ebay, belt: thrifted, scarf: hand-me-down, shoes: Camper, coat: Zara

on remixing, and so on

I was reading Franca's thoughtful responses to some Friend Friday questions on remixing and one-time wears a few days ago, and thought I'd weigh in on a couple of the questions myself, since I wear all these clothes all the time, ya know!

Re-mixing is something a lot of bloggers are proud of being able to accomplish – are you a re-mixing pro or do you shy away from posting items frequently? Why?

I don't consider myself a remixing pro at all, although I do wear things over and over, and not always the same way. But I almost feel intimidated by this concept of remixing, like it's not considered legitimate, once you've come up with an outfit, just to wear it again and again until you get bored. I like the idea that remixing can take a limited closet further, but I also like to just wake up and get out of the house. Hence looks like this, which are technically remixes since I've never worn this exact combination before, but really it's just one of my garden-variety outfits with a different pair of tights and a sweater thrown in.

As for posting... I post what I have, basically, but I always do wonder if some of my clothes get too much air time around here. Namely, this dress, which I love and which is so easy to wear, but when is enough enough? Ultimately though, I don't have that much stuff, so it's a bit inevitable.





Do you find yourself bored when reading a blog in which clothing items are often remixed and appear frequently?

I'm actually bored or frustrated by blogs that don't! There is a point after which you've probably seen something enough times on a particular blog, but I hate it when a blogger I love gets an awesome new dress and we only get to see it once. I find reading style blogs is a bit like vicariously owning some amazing clothes... and when they're only worn once I'm cheated of the opportunity to enjoy them!

What do you all think?





Incidentally, I bought this dress right before I started my blog and always planned to wear it with a 90s vibe... which I seem to have finally accomplished a year and a half later.

P.S. White tights are the best thing since sliced bread, but they do get a bit grimy!

Photos by Albert

dress: River Island, sweater: hand-me-down Gap, tights: Calzendonia, shoes: Camper

summer can't come soon enough

The last few days in Barcelona have been almost summery during the daytime hours (so naturally this weekend I'm headed to Germany where it's 10 C and raining, bah. Summer is by. far. my favourite season of the year, both socially and fashion-wise, and though I'm not the first to post some of these summer inspiration looks, I wanted to weigh in with some fashion-related inspiration.



By far my favourite Summer collection and lookbook this year is Family Affairs' S/S line "Les Vacances." I always feel as though their pieces weave a delicate and considered path between adult and youthful, retro and modern, and I think this collection is their best to date. I'm not normally very into models or lookbooks either, but there's great ease and charisma to the stylings, and I realy can imagine wearing all of these clothes on the scorching days and balmy nights I'm waiting for...





Lazarri was a new brand for me (thanks Ale for alerting me to them), and well, they have a whale print. Although I feel like I want to move in a slightly more simple and "acting my age" direction this year, those whales are not helping in the least. The collection is also rife yellow, my favourite summer colour.



I preferred last years Sessùn summer collection, which had a perfect, sold-out white dress, but they are always masters at a cheerful brithday-party aesthetic, and I find myself visiting their website just to listen to the summer mix-tape they've put together....



...and last but not least, I'm loving Alexandra Grecco at the moment. It's not about any specific collection or year, but aspects of all of them. I love the easy marriage of 20s-style silhouettes, hints of the 60s and Mexico, and a pared-back Brooklyn cool. The below video by Celia Rowlson-Hall is a few years old, but I think it does a wonderful job of capturing not only the clothes, but a free and easy lifestyle that is synonymous with summer. I'll be having sliiiightly less sugar in my coffee though!

One Sunday from celia rowlson-hall on Vimeo.