Colore

I've been seeing a lot of local men here wearing great colors. Men in colored pants is a personal favorite. Yesterday I spotted fuchsia, burnt orange, and a nice shade of dark turquoise. Italians aren't afraid of color and they're good at putting playful twists on classics.

A lot of my style muses are Italians - Margerita Missoni, Giovanna Battaglia and Miuccia Prada (genius!), to name a few. But the girl who does color best is Verona-bred Elisa Nalin. She's currently living in Paris where she works as a stylist and shoe designer. I love seeing photos of her during Paris fashion week because she stands out among a sea of monochrome and black. Nalin has a knack for making menswear-inspired looks flirty with layers of bright color. And her shoe collection makes me drool.

Piccolo Paradiso

The coastline here is dotted with free-form towns nestled in the sides of hills. I love the little stacked villas facing the beaches, the clusters of buildings hanging over seaside cliffs, and the winding streets that zig zag from the tops of mountains all of the way down to emerald waters. The little towns here are so organic - it's like they've sprouted up from the soil. And speaking of the soil, I learned today that it's rich with ash from Mt. Vesuvius, which makes for some pretty luscious vegetation. The Italians here grow lemon trees, tomatoes, fennel, et cetera, under their grapevines, and all of those flavors find their way into the local wines. The cows munch on wild fennel and arugula which is what makes the mozzarella here so inimitable.






The colors here are great too - washed out pink and peach pastel homes, with the occasional saffron or rust-tones building, fuchsia bougainvillea, and of course the sea in its many shades and ranges of blue and green.

Hello from Sorrento

I'm in It'ly y'all! I spent one afternoon and night in Naples. My hostel was in the old city center, and it took my taxi driver and I about 45 minutes to meander through the maze of narrow stone streets before we found the place. And by that time I was starving, so I stumbled out into the labyrinth and into a raucous, bare-boned restaurant that served the tastiest pizza I've ever had in my life. I'm not really a pizza person, but this pizza was supernatural. I decided to walk down to the sea and got some gelato along the way. Also supernatural.

Naples had a certain authentic/trashy port-city charm. Apparently for the past two years the mafia has been controlling the garbage/waste disposal and hasn't really been doing any kind of, um, trash collecting? There were gigantic piles of trash all over the place along with lots of graffiti and black soot on the buildings, but it felt really... real. Clotheslines between narrow streets, scooters zipping around, loud southern Italians yelling at their kids, tons of bookstores, outdoor markets...

My camera was dead so I didn't take any photos in Naples. These are a few Sorrento pics. The Mediterranean and the bluest blues. I have some kind of obsession with boats and ships, the different colors and shapes, the way they look just floating out there on turquoise waters.

Palais Tokyo

Skater kids, photo booths, architecture books, coffees overlooking the Seine, and a clear blue sky.

Fridays with Josid

Halloween night. I blackened his chest hairs with my eyeshadow. He was a Chilean coal miner.

It's always nice to have real people in your life. I've never really been the kind of person who can just live off of small talk and doing whatever. Sometimes I feel like a grandma because I go out less and less, but I just can't be bothered to go out for the sake of going out. I'd rather have good conversation, preferably on a porch. And today I started to feel insecure and weird about that. "Am I a becoming a recluse????? Does this mean I'm lazy?" I think it's just a transitional phase. I becoming more aware of what I want out of life, what kind of people I want to be around, how I want to live... And sometimes it doesn't seem very glamorous, but leave it to good friends to make you feel good about turning into a grandmother. A little chat with Josid while he packed his bags to leave South Korea and I started to feel less lame and more empowered.

Magic Feather

Patti Smith. In Paris, I believe.

"try to ride on waves of activity
in every direction
you're the center and you're always free
in every direction"

Grey nails. New black jeans. Fake tattoos. Short(ish) hair. White blazer. Turban. Those are my Paris staples for this little stay.

Trying to look a little more chic and a little less hippie.

I love Paris, and it is so damn beautiful, but, well... I feel like I'm biding time here. I can't wait for, in no particular order: my denim shorts, Barton Springs, Polvo's Tex-Mex, Big Bertha's vintage, Tara's baby girl, hugs from my little (but very tall) brothers, yoga, late night walks, porches, and Austin sunsets.

CAN'T WAIT

"I can not wait for summer,
I can not wait for June when all the ghosts are quiet,
when everything is new"

Oooooh, I went to see Twin Shadow last night and it was wondrous.

I'm in Paris, left Tunis yesterday. It was a bittersweet goodbye. I arrived to this city that I know so well, but I immediately felt like a stranger. The culture shock kinda hit me unexpectedly. I feel like a little fish in a big pond all over again. I've been living in this little curfew-laden revolution bubble, and it's acted as some sort of protective cocoon. And now I broke out of it, a bit earlier and in a different manner than I'd expected...

But back to Twin Shadow. Basically I told myself that if there was a Twin Shadow show in Paris, it was probably a sign from above that I should go. And there was and I did and it was great. I went alone as sort of a rebirth into Western culture. Would have preferred going with Austinites, but someday very soon I will, I'm sure. George Lewis Jr. had a cool stage presence. I like his style and whatever he's been doing with his hair is good. And the drummer was pretty awesome, also had some interesting hair going on. He was working a good old 90's bun. Yes! Tomorrow night I'm going to Little Dragon. Part deux of breaking out of the cocoon.

Picture and more to come when my thoughts are less sporadic and hazy.

25

No depressing posts today, it's time to lighten the mood a bit. This year I turn 25. 25 is my favorite number. My parents married on April 25. I was born on June 25, my brother Wes on May 25, and my youngest brother Marshall was born on October 25. 25 reminds me of the ones I love. I suppose it's fitting then that I'm heading back Stateside to start my 25th year with friends and family.

Sooo then I have to ask myself the shallow question: What to wear for my 25th birthday? And I'm leaning toward Christian Dior S/S 2011. I LOVE the hair. I don't think I'm brave enough to go for the gold with those bangs, but maybe... Sheer chiffon dresses and colors that pop, that I know I can do. Once I get back to Austin, I'm going to troll the vintage shops to try to get these looks.

Leonard

I went to bed with tears in my eyes and woke up with tears in my eyes. My heart is sad for this place, sad for my friends here, and, selfishly, sad for myself.


"You are right, Sahara. There are no mists, or veils, or distances. But the mist is surrounded by a mist; and the veil is hidden behind a veil; and the distance continually draws away from the distance. That is why there are no mists, or veils, or distances. That is why it is called The Great Distance of Mist and Veils. It is here that The Traveler becomes The Wanderer, and The Wanderer becomes The One Who Is Lost, and The One Who Is Lost becomes The Seeker, and The Seeker becomes The Passionate Lover, and The Passionate Lover becomes The Beggar, and The Beggar becomes The Wretch, and The Wretch becomes The One Who Must Be Sacrificed, and The One Who Must Be Sacrificed becomes The Resurrected One and The Resurrected One becomes The One Who has Transcended The Great Distance of Mist and Veils."

Breathless Expectation

Falling asleep at night has become a total joke this week. I find myself either giddy with excitement about my pending move or completely nervous, freaking out about the uncertainty of the future, making plans even though I have no idea what Austin holds for me the 3rd time around. Hoping it's a charm and an adventure full of new discoveries.

A little C.S. Lewis put things into perspective for me last week, and I'm working on embracing the gracious uncertainty, welcoming it even.