SPYING ON BOATS

Happy Pancake Day!

Did you make yourself some? Nutella and a bit of cream on top is seriously the best! People on Instagram already started to fight over the fact that they are crêpes and not pancakes, but here in Europe pancakes are usually thinner and larger. They don’t differ all that much from crepes, they are slightly more spongy, that’s about it (or at least that’s what I think haha).

The day started slow. I woke up early as usual, and was glad to see that the insane wind and rain of the past days have gone away. Because the weather got better, I was able to do one of the things I enjoy the most when I’m on my own – and here is where you might think I’m a weirdo…

I spy on boats!

I don’t know why I started doing it, but having a telescope and sea view, it was only logical to me. There is something fascinating about it, it makes me wonder what kind of job they were assigned, where they come from, where they are going. And so on.

I will never know the answers, probably, but it’s fun to come up with theories.

When I was a child, I used to spy on my neighbours. I would write down when they were leaving and when they were coming back. I would take notes, make up a story – mainly a crime or horror one – and keep it on my diary.

So I guess, in a way, I’ve always liked doing this kind of stuff.

So yeah, aren’t you glad you know this about me now?! haha.

Another thing I like to do when I’m having lunch or dinner alone, is to talk to Siri. She gets so easily upset, have you ever noticed? Our conversations are great. Sometimes.

Anyways. I’ve been also doing lots of reading, getting the boring work stuff done, and watched plenty of movies. I’m currently half way through the movie “Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil”, which is based on a book I’ve read a few months back. As you might know, in October 2015 I went to Savannah and met up with my friends Bunny and Dogman. There, every tour guide mentioned the book in a way or the other, so of course I had to check it out: I did enjoy it very much, and now the time has come for me to watch the movie.

So far, I do like it, the only thing that failed at, compared to the book, is to really translate the way of living in Savannah; it’s missing all of those tiny details that made you understand how each character in the book thinks and why they are the way they are. They skipped many minor scenes that, to me, really set the book apart from the movie. But hey, I’m going to keep watching it, it surely is enjoyable!

Don’t forget to eat your pancakes, Marzia.

THE WEEKEND IS (ALMOST) OVER.

I know I said you wouldn’t hear from me until Monday, but here I am.

Daizo left earlier today, and I simply felt like coming here and tell you a bit about our weekend together. It was crazy, police was involved, but I will skip that part… just know that we are well, don’t worry!

We watched lots and lots of horror movies, and regular movies, and documentaries. We basically lived in front of the TV, except for one day.

I decided to spend part of our Saturday in the centre, and so I brought Daizo to one of my favourite shops: the Indoor Market.

I found it a month ago as I was walking with Felix, it was pretty random. As soon as we entered I fell in love: it’s a creative space, where sellers can expose their creations, vintage finds or second-hand objects.

One of the best things is that there is a Photo Booth on the top floor, and so Daizo and I were able to take some pictures that we decided to cut in half, to keep one half each.

Currently for me it’s late evening, and the weather outside is absolutely insane. Rainy and windy. The TV is shaking from how much wind is coming in through the chimney; the air from the window cracks sounds like light whistles. It’s kind of cozy and kind of creepy at the same time (just how I like it).

What have you been up to in the past few days?

Gonna go watch a movie now, to end the day. I hope the wind won’t make me fly away when I go out to walk the pugs later. If I don’t, you will hear from me soon.

Goodnight, Marzia.

SHE IS COMING.

I do realise it sounds a bit creepy… but Daizo is indeed coming, which means HORROR!!

OUTFIT // Sweater: OLIVE CLOTHING – Overalls: LAZY OAF

This is a quick post just to let you know that I might disappear until Monday, because my friend is coming over and don’t want to be busy writing while she is here. In fact, I plan to watch a bunch of stuff, mostly horror, but maybe I will be able to either re-watch “Making a Murderer” or “The Jinx” with her, since she hasn’t seen them yet.

By the way, have you? If not, GO WATCH THEM NAO. You need to, seriously.

Anyway, I’m gonna go make the house all nice and bake warm cookies to welcome her, but before I leave I just wanted to say that this blog is making me incredibly happy. I’ve always enjoyed writing for myself, that’s how I free my mind, but I was so afraid of putting my thoughts out there because, of course, they can be a bit private and you never know if they are “interesting enough”. I have been focusing on just sharing anything I want to write about, and so far your support has been amazing and I’m just really glad I’ve started this blog.

Have a great weekend!

See you next week, Marzia.

FUN STUFF.

Go grab a cup of tea. Or anything you like.

We are going to talk about fun stuff!

Yesterday I asked you for suggestions on movies and tv series I could check out, so now it’s my turn to share some of the things I enjoy… so take a seat, get comfy, and sip on your hot drink!

Edgar is having troubles finding a comfortable spot.

I want to touch on books, music, movies and games; for each I selected 3 to talk about – not necessarily my favourites, but rather the ones I’m most in the mood for, or the ones I believe more people could enjoy.

So let’s begin with books:

1. “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” by Shirley Jackson. This book *is* my favorite, it has been since I’ve first read it last year, after being recommended to me. It’s a short read, but it’s rich in content. I have a tattoo inspired by one of the things the protagonist keeps repeating to herself in the book. I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that Stoker, one of my favorite horror movies, is based off of this book (not entirely, but it was enough for me to be happy about it);
2. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare. I remember reading this book a few times during my high school years, and finding it extremely fascinating. This was probably the piece that pushed me to read more classics;
3. “Kitchen” by Banana Yoshimoto. It was gifted to me by a friend after I told her about my love for Yoshimoto’s work; I read it in a day, once again it’s very short, but to me, this book is amazing. It was the author’s first piece and after reading it, I felt incredibly inspired to start writing my own book, Dream House (coming out in English in April). Don’t get me wrong, my story has nothing to do with Kitchen, but the way the writer was able to narrate and describe so well from the very beginning, showed me that I shouldn’t be afraid to put myself out there. Her first novel was a masterpiece, I’m aware I need way more practice to reach that kind of level, but the point is that all of her work always deeply inspired me and motivated me; not to mention how well I can relate to her characters and how much I truly enjoy reading through anything she writes.

Moving onto movies, these aren’t any of my favourites, but I will explain you why I picked them:

1. “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” (2015). Okay, well… I know I just said this wouldn’t be one of my favourites, but it’s definitely on my top 10 list. I was invited last year by FOX to an early screening in London: as soon as I watched the trailer, I knew I was going to love it. And I was not disappointed, even in the slightest, by watching the movie. It’s brilliant, it’s creative, it’s heart-warming but in a non-cheesy way. This movie was realistic, which I appreciate. It’s clever. I could watch it over and over again without getting tired of it. And trust me when I say that, because I was in a 8 hours flight that only played 3 movies on repeat and this was the one I chose.
2. “The Squid and the Whale” (2005). A recent find for me, although it has been around for a long time. I picked it up a few weeks ago, simply intrigued by the title. Once again, it’s a realistic movie, not happy, not sad; just very interesting to me. As I was watching it I could overall enjoy the vibe of it, but to be fair, the reason why I liked this movie so much, comes from the very last scene. It gave me chills, it just wrapped up the movie so perfectly.
3. “The Room” (2003). Now, this one isn’t your typical movie. Before you call me crazy, or look up reviews, give me a moment to tell you about it. I was shown this film last year, and since then I have shown it to so many of my friends – the reactions are always priceless. It’s just so bad it’s amazing, and anyone who has seen it will tell you the same. It becomes part of your daily life, you will be quoting it often when it doesn’t even make sense. You just won’t be able to help it. So if you get the chance, give it a go, but make sure you are watching it with friends, otherwise there would be no fun in doing it. You would just think I’m a weirdo.

Next up on the list is music, which I find kind of challenging to talk about but will try my best for you:

1. “In Rolling Waves” by The Naked & Famous. They are my favorite band, they have been since they brought out their first album and every single song is just so unique compared to anything else I came across. They have a very specific style, you will hear it immediately, and that’s how I know that no matter what, their music will always sound enjoyable to me;
2. “Post Tropical” by James Vincent McMorrow. This guy’s voice is incredible, his talent is very obvious. He isn’t a very popular artist; his music is soft, alternating slow moments with quick, loud ones, managing to keep a nice balance. The way he matches the background sounds to his words is impressive. You will have to give it a listen for yourself, I can’t promise this will be of your taste, but I personally always go back to his songs;
3. “Coexist” by The XX. Another extremely interesting band. I believe they reached some popularity after composing a piece for “The Great Gatsby” (which was amazing, in case you were wondering / both the moving and the song) but once again their songs have something special about them. Some could definite them as “trippy” and would be right, but in my opinion they also tell a story. One song after the other.

Finally, let’s focus on games:

1. Neko Atsume, Kitty Collector. I’m looking forward to the dog version of this app, but for now cats will do. It’s really fun, nothing too crazy happens, but you get to buy food and toys for cats in hopes that you will collect all of them;
2. Undertale, the game everybody is talking about. It makes sense, it’s a great game. I got half way through and then smashed my laptop, so I had to restart the game, which isn’t a bad thing as depending on how you play it, you will get a different ending. I’m trying my best to go for the pacifist route.
3. Sushi Go! This little card game is simply a must have, it’s so fun and easy to play, and the packaging is so tiny that it makes it easy to bring it to parties. The rules are simple, and it’s not a very long game. I highly recommend it.

Looks like these guys finally got comfortable.

Oh! What a long, descriptive post. I hope you found something new you will try/watch/play/listen to. If you had to pick one favorite for each category, what would you go for? (not between the ones I listed).

Have a fun day, Marzia.

ON MY OWN

Felix left this morning.

I’m inviting a friend over for a few days, but I will still have about 5 days to spend on my own. I don’t mind it at all, I love focusing on my work, pampering myself and chilling with the pugs – what I don’t love so much is that, being accustomed to live with somebody on my side for so long, any time Felix leaves all the responsibility is on me: cleaning, getting food, taking care of the pugs, letters, bills… everything. Which still, is fine, for the most part.

It was a promising day, I woke up early to say bye to Felix. The sun came out, it looked stunning. I got most work done, even the boring stuff.

The day was going well.

I decide to take a break and snack on a “hard-bread sandwich”: first mistake of the day. As I bite onto it, I feel something strange with my tooth; the wire behind my teeth broke. If you didn’t know, I had clear braces for about 9 months and now have the bonded retainer in the back.

Now, usually I would be fairly okay with this, I just need to make my way to London and get it fixed, the problem is that I can’t leave the pugs alone, and Felix isn’t back until next week. I’m sure I will figure something out in the end, but this was just the beginning…

I wanted to release some of the stress by going on a longer walk with the puggies. It was a wonderful day outside, after all.

I get ready, prepare the pugs, and make my way out. We reach the beach, where they love to run around, and so I let them. After about 5 minutes I notice that Edgar is walking strangely, he seems to be in pain. I lift him up and see a giant seashell stuck to his paw: I try to get it off but it’s really deep in there.

I start to panic, not really knowing what to do.

Suddenly, I see a couple walking by with a big dog and force myself to ask for help – if you have social anxiety, you can understand how horrifying it is to talk to strangers – but I did it, and I’m glad, because the man was able to get it out by pulling at once with strength, which is something I wouldn’t have been able to do.

Edgar cried a bit, but no blood; he is fine now, sleeping in my lap as I write this post.

The final thing to add up to this mess, is that Maya has an upset stomach today, which means she is leaving wonderful gifts all over the house.

I was basically having a great day… until it all went wrong.

But hey, there is still half day ahead, and I want to leave all of this behind; to do so I need to get my head off of it by watching something. Any suggestion on series or movies I could check out on Netflix?

Thanks for keeping me company, Marzia.

GIRLS DAY OUT

Today I got to spend the day with my friend Emma.

YAY!

MY OUTFIT // Shoes: ASOS – Bag: SKINNYDIP

We enjoy meeting up at least once a week, and this time we decided to have lunch together at one of our favorite places, Chopstix (if you live in Brighton, make sure you try their food, it’s just so so good). Fun fact: you need to request chopsticks to eat with when ordering; isn’t that kind of strange considering the name?

Right after eating we went shopping at the mall, which carries most brands, as well as Home Sense, that happens to be placed right in front of it. How convenient!

We started off with Urban Outfitters, I enjoy browsing through its Renewal section, but ended up getting a marble accessory holder shaped as a hand (I have an obsession with hands, yes, I know) instead and a bath product that intrigued me: it reads “green tea” in big letters… should I say more?

After, we moved to Pull&Bear, which produces its clothing in Portugal, and so I was able to pick up a few gifts for Felix but unfortunately can’t show not to ruin the surprise; just let me tell you: if you check out the male section, there is a Cartoon Collection that is just stunning! Very old school, really cool.

I also picked up a few movies, some of which I haven’t seen but some others I truly love, like “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” – such an amazing movie. I’m planning to watch a bunch of horrors soon, I can only recommend “The Visit” out the ones I got, but I will let you know about the others. Or actually, if you won’t hear about them, it probably means they weren’t anything special.

Anyway, when I got home I had two packages waiting for me: one from Grace Helbig, she sent me her book; the other one from an art store.

Let me just say that I was impressed with Grace’s book, I didn’t get her first one but I would love to, now that I checked this one out. It’s always nice when content creators come up with something new. Go team internet! haha

So back to the art shop, it’s called Studio Arhoj. I was familiar with the brand because my friends PJ and Sophie gifted me and Felix a couple of their “ghosts”, so we decided to stop by their website and order a few things: we were so pleased by how gorgeous and unique each one of their pieces are, so we got ourselves four cups of different colours. Very happy with that purchase!

Finally, as I mentioned, Emma and I went to Home Sense, which is one of my favorite places to shop when it comes to home decor. To be fair, the main reason why I was out shopping is because Felix asked me to replace real flowers with some fake ones, since we will be travelling a lot soon and we would’t want to keep dead flowers in the house; and, the most important thing, I was scouting for new bed sheets.

Felix and I have a very specific taste when it comes to house stuff, so picking anything sometimes can be a challenge, but when I saw these sheets, I could have cried of happiness. They are super soft, the softest I ever came across, they come on the right size for our bed, and they absolutely match our style.

I honestly can’t wait for Felix to come home and see them. Yes, we do get excited about these kind of things.

And that’s all! I figured I could write this post as I get asked quite often where I get my decor pieces, so hopefully this answers some of your questions and shows you what kind of style I usually go for.

Hope you are having a great day, Marzia.

THE FOOD I COULD CARRY HOME

Let’s all take a moment to celebrate the fact that a new month has begun. I always get way too excited about it.

It happens to be a Monday, which means it’s time to get back outside.

Usually that’s the day Felix and I go grocery shopping, but our car broke down so we weren’t too sure what to do: instead, we decided to walk to a local shop and get some food from there, the only challenge being that we would’t be able to carry much with us, so we planned to simply pick up stuff that were extremely necessary for the time being.

By doing that, I was kind of forced to select a very small amount of items, but at the same time it made me realise which kind of food I prioritise, and that was somewhat interesting to me.

So these, apparently, are my “essentials” – the stuff I really must have on my kitchen.

DRINKS:

• Water, an obvious choice;
• Smoothies, perfect for breakfast;
• Milk, which I shouldn’t drink but can’t help it;
• Tea, Arizona Green Tea to be precise (my favorite drink in the whole world).

SNACKS:

• Potato chips, these baked ones are extremely good;
• Nutella, of course. How could I ever forget about it?
• Chia pot, because everybody needs a break from junk foods every once in a while.

FRUIT & VEGGIES:

• Potatoes, I LOVE POTATOES.
• Mushrooms, I enjoy adding them in most recipes;
• Peppers, I highly dislike greens, but all other shades taste delicious;
• Courgettes, they complement peppers so well… or anything really.
• Lemon, makes water look fancy (and I actually like the taste of);
• Bananas, gotta get them vitamins.

I wish I had found some avocados as well, because those are simply the best thing you could ask for, but no luck.

OTHERS:

• Porridge, which I have been obsessed with since I moved to England;
• Honey, great on anything. Even my face (seriously, one of the best face masks);
• Pasta, I probably cook it once every other day;
• Eggs, I go through them way too fast because of how often I bake;
• Olive oil, the one thing out of this list I could really not stay without. My kitchen feels empty without it.

I think I covered everything! This was all I managed to carry, but I’m pretty happy with my choices. I also want to point out that unlike many people believe, I’m not a vegetarian, I simply enjoy other foods more than I enjoy meat, which I do eat occasionally.

If you had to pick just 3 items, what would they be? I’m curious to know!

Thanks for reading, Marzia.