Cycles of Love

Colorful patterns, motives and dressing up

2011-07-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

I want you to open your wardrobe; or remember last time you went to ZARA to take a look on the new collection. What do you see? What I see in my wardrobe, is a jungle of fancy, eye-catching clothes, full of patterns, colors, lace and all these cute little details that make a piece of cloth look like a lovely puppy! The same with my scarfs; maybe I can count 3 or 4 of them having no more than 2 colors (out of many). Each of them is absolutely beautiful - carefully picked and worn and loved and all together make my wardrobe and my scarf basket look like gardens in blossom! The trouble comes when you try to combine them. How can you match detail-with-detail? Floral-with-stripes? Laces with prints? Ok, they might even share a color, but how many chances are there for these two strong-personality items to match on my outfit? And why buying low-key minimalistic clothes and accessories is not so much fun?
Well, my slightly prone to conspiracy theories mind, tells me that selling patterns must be much more profitable to companies than selling low key garments; the opposite is for consumers. Think of how many outifts you can make with a single pair of black jeans and how many with a blue-with-strawberries ZARA skirt. And this is how we return all the time, to buy matching items, or to buy another fancy eye-catching garment with which we can make a few more outfits.
And this explains why many times, I stand in front of my wardrobe, thinking I have nothing to wear, while the fancy jungle of clothes is laughing at me.. And then standing like a little colorful clown in front of my mirror, I miss minimal stuff in one color that won't dominate my outfit.. So back to basics for me..And hopefully greek basics! (how much I want back my black slim attrativo pants, soooo nice fitting and fabric, torn after excessive use one frosty day in the Netherlands!)
... From autumn and onwards I am gonna be a simple girl :)

Leuven. Berekclauw. Clothes free!

2011-05-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

Hi.
People change and I am not an exception. From a clothes victim, I became clothes free!
I almost didn't buy anything for a year. Blogging about clothes and me, I must admit made me feel guilty.
Because of its vanity.Clothes still give me the same pleasure though and I find it surprising! I am surprised by the fact that I lost interest in buying but clothes still make my day (or ruin it)! I really love wearing them, making nice combinations and I would really love to report them, but I still miss a nice camera that will give me the motivation to take and post photos.
Moreover, I understood that the kind of people I like the most, don't care what they wear. . I am recently very proud about things that I still wear years after I bought them. My oldest cloth is a black sweater that has gone small and thick and it's so good for layering during the cold dutch winter. I also have fabric leggings that I bought so long ago, and I treasure their little holes on the knees. They remind me how good times I had in great parties.
Another nice thing about wearing my old clothes, is that I can lie on the grass or sit on the pavement and don't care.This is an amazing freedom..
I still make nice outfits though, although I fail more often because I miss the right things to complement my outfit, or because I have bought during my life so many clothes with patterns and these clothes never compromise; they need their unique pair (top or bottom) that will take them out of the wardrobe and give them a fascinating life ...on my body!

Lego Antikythera Mechanism

2010-12-12T06:31:00.000-08:00

Gustavo Dudamel at the Proms - Arturo Márquez - Danzón Nº 2

2010-12-10T02:25:00.000-08:00

Dream A Little Dream Of Me - The Mamas & The Papas

2010-12-10T02:07:00.000-08:00

I'm posting songs here because
1. I want to remember the music I like in moments when I don't have any idea what music to listen.
2. I want to remember my mood (which now is romantic, retro, melancholic like this song and much more)

Radiohead - A Wolf at the Door

2010-12-06T02:53:00.000-08:00

Sail Amsterdam 2010 memoire

2010-11-20T16:33:00.000-08:00

SAIL AMSTERDAM is a festival in which beautiful old boats sail in the canals of Amsterdam. It takes place end of August every five years! Boats from all over the world gather in Amsterdam. Locals sail with their own boats, drink eat and greet other people from their boat. I went there with my friend R. who was taking pictures. And guess who was really happy to stand in front of his dslr lense!

Me!

I was walking and chatting around with my friend, I was wearing colorful clothes and I was feeling happy not following the map - that was given to us to navigate through all the different places where boats were parked.

R. is pointing at me - I dunno why. Here you can see what I am wearing :

a desigual skirt,

a light blue short jean jacket pull'n' bear,

an old black knitted bolero

a scarf ( I dunno if it was a stylish choice in the end, but it worked for my mood!),

black leggings

an eastpak bag (bought 3 years ago from Vienna and travelled in most places where I have travelled:))

and a mng bag.

Quite a lot and not so carefully picked!But for practical purpose: water and food in the backbag. Wallet and phone in front.Scarf and leggings for the changeable dutch weather. The jean jacket when it's cold above the bolero.:P

We went on some boats and I tried out what I would do if I was a pirate like my grand-grand-father* (* that's a long story). Most boats had beautiful interiors.

All this post will be sent to Santa, because for this Christmas I want a boat. I have my island, now I want my boat.I've been nice all year long, in case you didn't notice.:)

PS.: Please do not use the photos without asking my permission (I will ask R.).

Design For Usability

2010-11-12T10:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a great day. We had the opportunity to travel to the University of Twente and attend a workshop there about product impact.We splitted into groups and studied cases of products that had a certain impact on users;

1.the moving poles set to prevent cars from entering the city centre on particular hours; people don't notice or they try to sneak in and they get accidents.
2. the electrical meters ; they could afford playing a role in user's energy consumption.
and 3. the OV chipcart, a system for prepaying a certain amount for using the train and how people use it or forget to charge it.

Here is the last year's logo.

I had a cool team - two master students and a cute lady - we had great collaboration (don't take that for granted, I heard that in someone's team, two girls started fighting over brainstorming).
After the workshop was over, it was raining and it was already 6 so we decided to go back home. Getting into the car, I remembered I didn't take any pictures, so I just took the view from my window;

So, here you see different perspectives of University of Twente.:)

The organizers were really hospitable.

It was the right place to be, the right day.

Thank you University of Twente:)

Dutch Design Week Eindhoven

2010-11-11T14:09:00.000-08:00

notice the foofoori I'm holding and the one standing on my scarf

see where I got it from... isn't it cool?

I'm copying from Melvin the Machine site:

In full he is called Melvin the Magical Mixed Media Machine, but he also listen to the short version Melvin the Machine. [..] This ‘machine’ that will be assembled by means of a contemporary crowd-sourcing method is not in fact a design machine. Instead of actually designing a product, it mainly provides an insight into the design process. The makers, the designer duo HeyHeyHey, are after what they call the 'super moment' and the experience of it, rather than an end result.

Happy Nameday Me!

2010-11-08T16:06:00.000-08:00

I' all happy today. All it took was to skip my dutch course and tai chi. I like them both, but I was too busy you see... At work I was making a drawing - that would be the storyboard for a video prototype for our project, and then I got into flow and I forgot to go to my dutch course... And then I needed some time to enjoy myself before we would go out with my friends for a nice walk in the city, so I skipped tai chi...
That is what I wore today.
Sorry for the photos
but I have to buy a camera...and I'm saying that from April..
OMG, I'm really anticonsumer when it comes to stuff other than clothes...
hehehe

what I wore today

my new pink scarf from Men At Work

black beret

bolero MNG

a purple heart on my chest : graduation gift

rest : h&m

Polka dots is fun and make my day!
I felt really vintage-like today..

Assistance is here! (or ur sista's here :P)

2010-11-06T14:52:00.001-07:00

Let me help you a bit with that "photo obstacle"........

Back again

2010-10-31T16:30:00.000-07:00

After a long break, while we were really wondering with my sister what we have to say and if we want to say it to the blogosphere, I decided to come back. And keep blogging. I don't know about what, but the truth is that I have big fascinations with several things, deep as philosophy or swallow as clothes and I want to share them. Or I want to create a box of memories that will be pretty enough for other people to see.
Another truth is that I'm changing my mind all the time. So if this is my last post, don't be surprised.:)
For now, my halloween costume:

and another pic

They are not all that nice bcos I took them with my iphone. But can you guess who am I dressed like?

....

THE RED QUEEN

from alice in Wonderland movie!

Rust, fungus and mold

2010-06-01T05:03:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I don't know if anyone is still interested, because we were too bad bloggers all this time- inconsistent, unreliable,
almost abandonned our blog- but we are moving. I don't remember what exactly urged me to the point one day to think that with blogger you cannot really do what you want to, not so many choices for customization or different tabs so I opened a blog at wordpress. Well, my sister says that also our name, cycles of love is a very important statement; or too melodramatic.. I still love the title.

We are moving and we took all our stuff with us. Or almost all..
Our new address is dizzy butterfly ...
...and you can always pay a visit..
we will have fresh cupcakes & sweet candies..

My ballad right now

2010-03-20T15:52:00.000-07:00

Tell me prety girl do you know who I am?
Have you ever seen me as your friend
Anything we have is those hungry nights
but there's so much left unsatisfied

All those little things you told me
ain't good enought to show me
That we're gonna make in through the time

I found out in the middle of a heartbeat
and I know that i'm doin' right
Together we are still so far apart...

No matter how you are feeling isn't this ballad very deep and true? It's just wonderful, great, beautiful. It's bringing teardrops on my eyes

Update

2010-03-18T13:54:00.000-07:00

I walked out of the University around 6 today. I had first seen a nice exhibition at the entrance hall of our building and I was about to go home when I saw this :

Nice weather after long time, sunset, smell of freshly cut grass -don't make naughty thoughts bcos it's in Netherlands, I mean real green grass- music and cool and relaxing environment. And beer cans all over.
That means it's time for green grass parties in Thessaloniki. Oooooh, I was moved a bit...

Tea Visions

2010-03-18T13:38:00.001-07:00

I wrote this note on Saturday, but I didn't have internet at that time.

TODAY, I had tea with me. The reason is that my housemate is talking on the phone and that we bought a nice one seat-couch today and I wanted to use it. By the time I sat on the couch I went several times to the fridge to take something, then I walked around, looked at the washing machine and at the sink with the dishes, thought of washing them, but nuh, not now - it's Saturday!- and then I thought why I cannot just sit and enjoy myself in the couch, like I know that people do. Do I find myself unbearable? no,on the contrary, I claim I love me. I asked myself how she imagines her future. The only thing she could see, was the picture of three following her, on their bikes up on the hill.Sun is going down and the hill is getting dark and four figures biking straight to the top.
She's wearing a red-white polka dot shirt,a red hat and black bell pants.

bright day

2010-03-03T02:48:00.000-08:00

YESTERDAY, we slept first time in our apartment the two housemates, me and B. I will call her Beanny, to protect her anonymity.:) It was really nice. She cooked rice in an indian way : she sauted cumin with bay leaves and onion and it smelled like roasted meat! Then she added the rice and green peas and tomatos and potatoes cut in pieces and after 20 minutes we ate. It was really yummy!
MY housemate is vegetarian, that's so cool. I am trying to be one too.OR at least a flexitarian. That is, you eat meat only when you really really want it or you feel you need it :) I want to become a vegetarian not because I want to mimic my housemate but for a number of reasons.
1.they say it's healthier. Mediterrenean diet is also not based on meat (especially on red meat).
2. it's good for the environment. If you see cows as machines, during all their lives, they burn tonnes of cereal and green stuff and water to produce milk and only some dozens kilos of meat per animal and also some artifacts, e.g. sheet, methane.That's not efficient in terms of energy, water and natural resources in general. (Plus, methane is partly responsible for ozon hole!)
Moreover, I am buying mainly organic stuff from the supermarket. It's a little more expensive but now I am used to it. Again for the same reasons :
1.they say it's healthier.
2. it's good for the environment.organic stuff keep part of the earth clean from pesticides and other nasty chemicals.

goodnight sweetie...:)

Moving out - Moving in

2010-03-02T05:03:00.000-08:00

καιρό έχω να αισθανθω τόσο πολύ.
και αυτό μου προκαλεί θλίψη,
δεν ξέρω πόσο βαθιά είναι,
το πιο πιθανό είναι ότι θα την ξεχάσω,
αλλά προκαλεί ανατριχίλα οταν ακούω τραγούδια
όπως το jigsaw into place
και στα ανωτερα στρώματα υπάρχει και μια μικρή χαρά,
ότι ~~"νιώθω"~~ και ακόμα η χαρά της δημιουργικότητας
γιατί όταν είσαι συνεχεια ευτυχισμένος
δε μπορεί να είσαι δημιουργικός
και εγώ από φύση είμαι σαν το φελλό
όσο και να με βουλιάζουν, θα ανεβαίνω με ένα μαγικό τρόπο
στην επιφάνεια
μέσα στον καθορισμένο χρόνο μου,

προσδιορισμένο απο τις φυσικές εξισώσεις της άνωσης.
Κι έτσι αυτή η μικρή χαρά
υπονομευεί τη θλίψη στην οποία έπεσα με πλήρη επίγνωση
χθες και σήμερα,
διοτι απλά θέλω να θυμάμαι ότι χθες
ήμουν επίτηδες στεναχωρημένη.

Brugges, Belgium

2010-02-24T14:00:00.000-08:00

Brugges

Medieval, chariots with horses, flemish, old-fashioned. Keywords to describe Brugges.
I was not decided what to write about this town...It is sooo beautiful though it smells rust and chocolate in every corner (and in every hotel).
Belgian chocolate is considered art. And belgian rust is their pride and their pole of attraction for quite a lot of tourists.

oooh....
they have a lot of clothes too...but
didn't have time to pay attention there.

Great, right?

And ...
(To be continued)

Untitled Outfits

2010-02-22T14:03:00.000-08:00

Rock Colorful Outfit

pink t-shirt H&M around 3 euros

purple scarf from Men at Work around 5euros

(that had a very short life bcos I lost it during Carnival)

and jean from zara 10 euros

all on sales! :)

black laced vest from Mango

t-shirt with Marylin Monroe from a store in Navarinou

pendant from six
and make up with a concealer for coloured women
(bought by mistake!try brown concealer on your lips and eyes, it should look like this)

Carnival Gothic Outfit :)

and my favourite purple polka dot umbrella

still alive after sooo much rain and storms

make up same here as well

I will try to draw my thoughts on this space as captured some hours ago. While I was thinking my precious thoughts, I thought it would worth sharing. So to say, I was thinking of a way to escape in my foggy and soft and dreamy cloud, where there is no troubles like in real world. No traffic, no pollution, no insurance, no inconvenience, no bureaucracy, no boredom and people stay beautiful and active until their 100's. Just like in the movies. Have you ever seen a movie hero paying bills or visiting his insurance company? NOoOoOo. If I want to escape though, I have to leave everything behind and be a street something. Just find a decent position between those who entertain us in the parks, in the streets and have their really cool vans and get inside when it's cold.And then no ambitions, no long-term goals, no contracts and bureaucracy. My mere and only goal would be to earn my living for the next day. Interesting and romantic.Starting from zero outside of my known world. Seems like attempting to reach america from Greece by boat. :P

Yeah, if I pay a second thought, this option doesn't seem worse than my life plan, that is :

8h/day work and then dishes and housework, on weekends travelling around.

Anyway, seems like it is not leading nowhere or I'm too lazy to tink right now.

Sorry for the oti-na-nai english, just before I sleep and dig in my cloud again,

Kisses,

Alice

Music-Video Choices

2010-02-21T05:18:00.000-08:00

Today it is such a great day. Great day for great thoughts and great things to do!

I want to share with you these:

This is a great video with stop-motion technique: Her Morning Elegance shown to me by my sister :)

this is a Radiohead's video with stop-motion technique: There, There

this is an interesting home-made video with scenes that "ran faster" and Air's All I need song as a setting: All I need

And this is a nice funny stop-motion video showing us how a child would cook spaggheti ;)

Western Spaghetti

also:

Check PES the director of the last video and more short funny videos (like: KaBoom!, Roof Sex and Pepper Heart ) in his Youtube channel.

....and a useful advice: never ever go skiing without using special glasses (or at least sun-glasses) and sun lotion. Except if you want to end up red-faced, just like me!

Kisses

Konna

2010-02-10T18:03:00.001-08:00

STEIM.org

On Wednesday. Should I stay or should I go?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo2tKqLRuas&feature=player_embedded#

Music Choices

2010-02-10T12:38:00.000-08:00

During the last month I have been "exploring" several music albums and so I decided to share some small "diamonds" I met during this procedure. Among them I favour "Left turn on a red light". This song has been accompanying me the last days and I really really think you should take a listen to it. Enjoy! :D

A little bit of love - Free

" 'Cos I believe, if you give, a little bit of love, to those you live with, a little bit of love... Oh oh oh.... has gotta come your way. "

Left turn on a red light - Blackfoot

" Sun shines down on the desert, And it seems to make my life a haze

And I dream of my childhood sweetheart, And the freedom that I had in those days
When I wake from all my dreamin' , Will this boxcar always be my lonely home, yeah
Well I don't know where I am
And I really don't give a damn
This crazy life of mine will soon be gone "

Wild Flower - The Cult

" I'm a wolf child, girl, Howlin' for you....Wild flower, Star of my dreams

The most beautiful thing, Wild flower, I love you every hour....

Wild flower, Burning down the night, Set the world alight, yeah "

Eindhoven Snowy Days

2010-02-09T13:35:00.000-08:00

Buses in Eindhoven. I observe them as if they were wild animals.

I never get too close. Buses and knees do the job.

Neighbourhood tree. This tree is really beautiful.

I have many pictures of it carrying snow, see?

I don't know what's this, I see it when walking back from the University and

I have seen it to a couple of t-shirts in the gym lately. It might be a political socialistic party.

My future car..

I'm very fond of technology ;)

Neighbourhood again. Looks like a peaceful village,

only you don't know who's your neighbour.

This was a tribute to the Snowy Days of Eindhoven, the days of glory and royal white purity. The days of falling-off-my-bike-twice-every-day.

Have a nice afternoon!

2010-02-08T04:56:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

sometimes I overpost and sometimes I don't post at all for looong time. But that's life. Now that I savour a spoonfull of chocolate paste during the lunch break, when nobody is here and you can do whatever you want, I feel that this guy really made my days and the days to come. Aaaaah, chocolate.

all-time favorite Mango skirt, Mango belt,

t-shirt Zara with Alice in Wonderland on it!

many accesorize necklaces on-sales.

I really liked this outfit. It's colorful, but the colors are unusually nicely matched!
Pity that no one was there to take a picture of me! So I took a shaky pic of me lying on the couch (again!).

Have a nice day!

2010-02-08T00:39:00.000-08:00

Goodmorning from office!
I am here, just arrived, actually 10 minutes ago, and 2 boxes of pure belgian chocolate paste were waiting for me! A very nice colleague of mine who knows that I am choco-addict went to Brussels and brought it for me! And the funny thing is that he is not that close to me, not someone I hang out with often, as he lives in Utrecht. I am really moved. I don't know what to do to show how graceful I am! I thought of giving a hug, but hm, that's something I do rare with colleagues I don't know well!:P
That present made my day!

:D I made such a good start today

B/W Sketches!

2010-01-27T11:58:00.000-08:00

Hello, hello!
:)

On Friday i am taking exams on a lesson called Electronics. I have been lucky enough to pass the lab of this exam, but the real thing is coming...... ! And during my small break I found the time to post some more sketches I have made. ;) It's nothing really great actually appart from abstract (as always!) lines, circles and motifs compined together, but it feels good making them! And afterwards, it feels good posting them! So, this one was made by me and Angeliki (a.k.a Alice) in a ship. We were travelling to Skopelos for summer vacations and had one mp3 player with us. It was unfair! So we quited listening to music and decided to do sth together:

the second one is a silly happy girl with huge hair :D

Slavoi Zizek talks about ecology

2010-01-24T10:33:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGCfiv1xtoU&feature=player_embedded

Rainbow Sketches

2010-01-24T07:21:00.000-08:00

Congrats Alice :)
We are all glad that you found them! So this is wise on behalf of you, making a conclusion after an every day mischance. I will make an effort to expand this thought. First of all, it is true! When you miss something, you do appreciate more it after all. Secondly, when a mischance happens, it is a huge mischance if it happens to you during a bad period, while it is less important during your better days. So, I think that people are like jars that can afford certain capacity of bad feelings! If you are empty of bad feelings, one piece of them will not really mind you. If you are full of them, one little thing can make you burst out into tears! It's like... overdose.

Today, i want to share some sketches I have made during the last weeks. I will dedicate this post to my colourful sketches and later I am going to have a post for my black sketches. So, rainbow sketches are the one that make our mood, that fill our eyes. Rainbow is connected with happy feelings and also, it is connected with pluralism. That means the peaceful co-existence of many, different ideas. It is not surprising that a rainbow flag is the flag of homosexual people. (Rainbow flag) So, this is it: variety, co-existence, tolerance.

So here are my happy sketches:

bike keys II

2010-01-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

Koeln, December 2009
spoiler : irrelevant pic!

In case you've wondered, I've found my keys. Inside the supermarket. I felt really nice. I even bought a present to myself, ha! Not because I lost them, but because I realised it right after I got out of the supermarket. :) I made also this useful thought : If you want to make someone happy, take him something he takes for granted and give it back after a while.
I promised once that I will talk about the book I read about Dalai Lama. Well, there's not much to say, the book was really nice, you 've probably heard all of it before, but this book makes you think about life in a romantic way, again! Words like compassion, sympathy, warmth, hapinness and kindness are the kernels of this book which will make you love the whole world at least for a day, maybe two.:D
I now borrowed a book called "Dalai Lama at MIT". No, I don't intend to become a Buddhist. I am only interested in well-being in general. And in clothes of course...

Coming soon...

My new SALE babies

bike keys

2010-01-21T13:40:00.000-08:00

that's how my bike looks like. Adorable, isn't it?

No posts so long because I lost the cable that connects my camera with the computer. I also lost my bike keys today. Where is my mind? I think I lost it in the supermarket. There are 2 keys with a light green body shop ribbon through them. I miss my keys, I have second pair but I want them both! What an inconvenience....:S duh...

Thank God, I have good friends here. At least I was not alone looking out of the supermarket for my keys..

wish me luck!

I miss also my outfit posts btw. But since there's no one here to take pics of me, I can only take crappy pics of myself in my room and that's not something that I want to show..

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T05:27:00.000-08:00

Christmas Market, Koeln

Since it is Christmas and Christmas is about love and hapinness (and food and decoration), I am reading the book "The Art of Happiness" by Dalai Lama & Howard Cutler and I am starting gradually loving you all! :) I loved already most people reading this blog, so it's not that hard. Probably most of you are wondering if you can learn anything at all from this kind of books, so I promise if there is something you need to know to be more happy in your life, I'll let you know!

Love & kisses & hugs,
please save a piece of your Christmas thoughts for me..
Alice

P.S. to help you get into the Christmas mood, try this :
Dream a little dream of me

Taking Woodstock

2009-12-15T14:07:00.000-08:00

Everything is going pretty well here, studies are going well, I have friends, I travel on weekends, I have problems of course -but who hasn't- and I was about to ask myself "Am I still missing something? What would I need more to be perfectly happy and content?". So today I saw this movie and .. I remembered!
I miss the lack of discipline and of alarm clock at 8.00, freedom, partys, concerts,something going on in the background,dirty-muddy festive concerts, protests in the University,political discussions in every corner, weirdos, lefties with beards and bell-bottom pants, seeing a familiar face in every corner!
I miss MY OWN mornings, having nothing to do, and thinking about how and with whom I will spend my day!
But ... except from being free I want to be safe too. And this is the cause of my nostalgia. Because what would happen if I continued living this life I enjoyed during my early studies? Can I quit job and do what and with whom... Just a rhetoric question, hidden deep inside me..:S

So me stupid girl, waking up tommorow at 8, being at 9.00 sharp at work went today to the University cinema -yeah, still doing University things- and enjoyed that movie and her new clothes and now is about to take a shower and sleep. Wish me luck or a second woodstock in my life!
I am in desperate need of lack of discipline (no, i don't mean holidays)

Consume. Fun and safe!
h&m dress and pulln bear bangle, but they don't match together..
sorry to disappoint you

Panic brings panic but granny's always there

2009-12-13T12:53:00.000-08:00

One week ago I returned from Holland. Eventually, i visited my sister and had such a great time :) . It seems that during this year, appart for "my first adult travel" (without parents) it was the time for me to experience also "my first lonely travel"(without anyone)! My travelling experiences are increasing!

On the 27th of November I was flying to Amsterdam. I had 50 minutes to change aeroplane in Budapest and after arriving in Amsterdam I should find the train station to go to Eindhoven. It's not that difficult. During my last trip in Stocholm I faced many situations like this. So, I felt quite responsible and self confident about the whole thing. Found some company on the aeroplane, enjoyed my coffee, changed in Budapest, all perfect! I arrived in Amsterdam Shiphol airport without troubles and I was quite impatient to reach Eindhoven since i had been travelling for 6 hours!

A small source of anxiousness came when I was looking for my luggage. I had to walk a thousand miles or sth like that. It didn't seem that normal! Still I did find them and was ok again.

Then, I had already bought my train ticket, when someone approached me and asked me where could he buy tickets from. It proved out that we would use the same platform so ,while going there and afterwards, he started talking to me. He seemed quite normal and friendly, nothing to be scared about, still i wasn't in the mood for talking. I was tired and worried about picking the right train.

Some minutes after, I thought my train came and I jumped on it (well, hm, jumped is not actual since i had 15 kgs of luggage with me). He did the same too and sat next to me. I was getting a little bit suspicious about him because some minutes ago he had told me he was going somewhere else and that train had come exactly the time that MY train was coming (you cannot confuse something like 20:52 !)

However, I didn't really think a lot about it because I was SURE this was my train.
After some minutes I realised that the stations announcements were quite difficult for me to understand due to the accent and so I had to ask in order to be sure where I should leave the train. I opened the door of the next wagon (we were sitting in 4 seperate seats) and:

-Excuse me how many stations after is Eindhoven?
-Hahahahahahahahha!
-My lady, this train doesn't stop in Eindhoven!
-It doesn't??? Are you sure? (what the fuck! since i took the correct one!) So where am I?
-You are in Amsterdam. Maybe you should go back to Shiphol and take another train.

Some sparkles of panic lighted through my head.
It was around 22:00. What if I didn't make it and there were no trains after 00:00 or something? Where was I mistaken? Since initially I was so sure!

And then things started getting crazy. Everybody saying different things, some others that I cannot go to Eindhoven from here or sth else and many more things. I was totally frustrated! I was like: OH MY GOD! I managed to get lost in Netherlands!! Due to my excessive panic I couldn't think logically.

Then came this strange old woman, that was dressed like a beggar and in the beginning I thought she was some kind of street trader. She was in the train and rushed to protect me (I guess I looked lost and desperate). But she couldn't speak English! Everybody left the train and i was there with a woman that was really shouting at me sth in her language and I couldn't see anybody around appart from her! Or an exit! (that's panic).

-Oma!!! I am your oma! Don't be sad! Stay here, don't go!

That's what she was trying to say to me eventually but she was a bit awkward!
She left and came back holding two train managers from their arms, totally pulling and forcing them !!! Then she called a third one and told them about me (or I think so) and she left after sending me big air kisses! SMOOCH SMOOCH!!!

Sincerely, I feel so grateful to her. I would like to thank her wherever she may be, because she bothered so much about me. Rare people, right? So giving with a stranger!
Thank you Oma! :)

ps: Blame me for my panic!

Helping a cute street doggy

2009-12-13T12:36:00.000-08:00

Today I helped a cute street dog! While i was waiting for the bus, he came in front of me and stood there awaiting for sth. Then, I remembered! A week ago, I was waiting again for the bus when i found out that the door of the building in front of the station was open. And it was so cold! So I went inside along with many other people who were waiting. The doggy was inside, sleeping on the carpet and enjoying some warmth! It seems like he did this every day and today that the door was closed (they probably fixed it) he lost his cosiness. So I was there to help him. And I did. After some efforts the door opened and his majesty entered the building in a way that showed that this position was made for him :)

ps: the picture is not mine

The Wheel in Maastricht

2009-12-11T12:16:00.000-08:00

Two Sundays ago, I was in Maastricht with my cousin and a friend from the University. And I took this amazing picture. I am still wondering how it is half so perfectly greyscale, while the sky is blue. Maybe I can practice in photoshop with it a little.
So Maastricht was amazing of course, as you can see. It looks like a french village. Yet it has a lot of life! At least when we went there! We pumped into the Philarmonic Orchestra of Maastricht that was playing forming a parade. And we found a jazz band jamming jazz around 5am in a very small cozy place, in front of a small audience, possibly their wives and children. Men around their 50's singing old jazzy songs spontaneously and full of passion! In Greece, it's rare to see an improvisation!Jazz is posh in Greece..
Later on, we went to another live country concert in a normal bar.So much fun, I danced as usually a lot!

Entrance of Maastricht

Cute! I want to have a bike painted like this.

The Snow White and the seven dwarfs

2009-12-03T15:14:00.000-08:00

Finally, an outfit post! I have dreamed of it some time ago, today it is realised because of my sweet, beloved, perfect -all nice adjectives fit- sister! I usually prefer to take photos during day, because at night with a compact camera like ours -canon 2 years old- you can't do much. Besides, I hate flash coz it's very unflattering for pale skin! Well, since I work from 9 to 5, I leave in Holland, sun is a luxury for me. And outfit posts.
But today she convinced me to get dressed right after work and the result is not very crappy I think!

mango skirt, mango waistcoat, mango shirt, shoes I don't remember.

Wishlist

2009-11-30T05:59:00.000-08:00

Things I want to learn or improve!

Photoshop
Illustrator
Flash
photography
drawing
and
math

Half-finished room

2009-11-22T14:41:00.000-08:00

It's 00:41 and I have been having my birthday for the last 41 minutes :))
My mood is better I think. Who's responsible? I don't know. Could it be birthday? Could it be the fact that I am leaving in 5 days to visit my sister in Netherlands? Who knows?! It could also be the fact that I have a semi-finished room and that I already started dying my sister's old room. The colour will probably be a bright green. I call it: the toothpaste green! We also have matching curtain and light. I will show it to you as soon as it is finished or at least semi-finished.

And these are some pictures I took of my new room at night with only a small source of light. On the ceiling a part of my drawing is obvious. I haven't still decided the complete shape and colours but it is definitely going to look like a rainbow :). Also, you can see my favourite band's poster: Pink Floyd.And here is half of my sister's curtain. She used to have two pieces of curtain, an orange one and a toothpaste-green one. Sorry angie, I had to split them!!! :D

I will come up with more soon.
Kisses

Sleep well

2009-11-15T15:39:00.000-08:00

People say I should sleep more. My eyes look tired every morning. I have difficulties in going to bed, because I want to do as many as possible during the day and probably subconsciously I can not accept that the day is gone and I try to keep it alive. Today I thought that I should not be afraid of the End of the Day - instead I should celebrate the beautiful day I had. So, for today's celebration I chose these pictures from my Sunday 15th of November..

There are pure pictures, no photoshop at all! Not that they look perfect, but they show the colours of Amsterdam. It's a really colorful city, full of pubs bars, small shops, junk food, funky people..

A warm and tasteful coffeeshop. One of my favourite pictures today!

A temple in the Chinatown in the Middle of Amsterdam.

A canal.I like the surface of water. It looks really like the moment I saw it.

Netherlands and Me

2009-11-06T14:40:00.001-08:00

A beautiful Friday morning with my father wandering in the Canals and the Jordaan Neighbourhood, Amsterdam...

I want to keep this Friday.. and save it in a nice clean place, next tomy other favourite days in my life. The following video is dedicating to my beloved Konna. It was originally made for her.

A day from home to University in Eindhoven. My Neighbourhood. Something really bad happened to my neighbourhood today. I saw ambulances and police cars and a red-stripped ribbon hanged on the trees. That might mean 'area under investigation'. I don't know anything else. I hope no one is hurt.

and me one of the first days to University. Look what I choose to wear! Everybody would think of me as a weirdo fashionista!

cOLOURS, CoLOurS, ColOURS!

2009-11-04T15:19:00.000-08:00

Υeah!
After two whole years of meditation and wondering processes I ended up findind the colours for my room! I have been dying my room for 4 days, although it is the smallest room of the house. Whether this is a result of my lack of technique or normal I cannot tell. But I can certainly tell you the winning colour:

the colour of the little pot accompanied by the same colour in a brighter tone :)
I call it a strawberry pink and think that it is so representative of hapiness. It is merriful and joyful and I think it is going to affect me in a positive way, hopefully.
The reason I chose this specific pink is because I feel the need to capture all the hapiness I have expreienced in my life (specifically during the last 2 years) and keep it as a precious feedback for some harder days to come. I wanted a message of optimism and so I chose to have a room that will look a lot like a candy :D
I hope this won't affect my appetite! I am not sure of the meaning and the psychological effect of the colour but I think it represents friendship and it's as well energy-giving colour (along with all the "warm colours"), not really relaxing. I guess I 'll dye my sister's room with a "cooler colour" in order to find some peace and relaxation inside my house.

Of course I am going to ask her about the colour!!!!

So, today the third of the four walls was finished by me. One more day without any mistake and hopefully my candy-room will be ready. And I am really bound to show you some pictures!
Referring to colours this is a picture of my very first large laundry.
What do you think about the colours?! What do you think about my assiduity?!

Candy Kisses

ps: a very interesting and fun site: COLOUR LOVERS
:)

A beautiful song

2009-11-02T13:57:00.000-08:00

There is this wonderful song which moves me every time I listen to it. It is called "A little too far" and the band's name is "Savatage". Savatage is a well known band with lots of successful and wonderful songs that I really admire! However, this specific song is so special for me because in the way I see it, it is dedicated to the loss of immaturity and excitement, to our growing-ups...
Just notice the way he sounds when he says: Got to get back... :) So important message!

Unfortunately I coudn't find the link on youtube :(
But you should really search for it...

LYRICS

Do you remember
Look at me
At all the things we said we'd be
We'd beat the house
We'd push the odds
We'd take it all we had the cards

With years to burn
And years to trash
Livin' life based on flash
But somehow reaching for the stars
I think we went a bit too far

Got to get back
Got to get back
Got to get back
I never meant to take it this far
Got to get back
Got to get back
Got to get back

When everything you touch turns gold
Can weigh you down
Can make you old
When metal doesn't ring the same
Reaction from inside your brain
And all the years we offered up
To gods who couldn't get enough
Though we still stay up all night
The mornings aren't quite as bright

Got to get back
Got to get back
Got to get back
I never meant to take it this far
Got to get back
Got to get back
Got to get back

And all those things we thought we learned
As we watch our bridges burn
While standing in the afterglow
I guess we gave them quite a show
And who's to say what it's about
When John Wayne caught the last train out
And Spock and Kirk have had enough
And no one's left to beam me up

Got to get back
Got to get back
Got to get back
I never meant to take it this far
Got to get back
Got to get back
Got to get back
I never meant to take it this far
Yeah
Oh ho
I never meant to take it this far

Has any of you ever found himself weeping over his lost innocence or is it just me?!
Kisses

Konna

Those happy moments

2009-10-04T03:59:00.000-07:00

Yes! It's Sunday, an election day for Greece. And for me it is one of those days when sudden pure hapiness with a touch of serenity hits you on head while you are sitting on your chair, enjoying some warm coffee and the priviledge to be locked in your own room without anybody pissing you off!!!

When I get to this level, i am thinking that this is what life is worth it. You have to shed some tears (as more as you can without dying out of sorrow) and feel some pain to achieve those things you used to dream as a child. You know, all of those things you would dream while watching at the ceiling when everything seemed so far far away from you. Those moments I get to think that they are all I am expecting in my life!!! You see, there is always too much pain and effort during life but you can forget it forever as soon as you reach the tip of the mountain!!

Usually I am feeling happy and calm when my mood touches a childish way of forgetting everything and it doesn't last much but it's definetely worth it :)

BEIRUT - SCENIC WORLD

ps: I miss my sister soooooo much !!! :* She is just enough to make me happy!

Sketch to afford a better mood =)

2009-09-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

Hello!

it's obviously been a long time since the last post of mine. the reason is unique and serious: my sister is leaving in a few days and ,if you add this to the rest of my everyday problems, I have no time and mood to post! Yet, I have to notice that sometimes ,when I have a quite melancholic and sad mood, I find it helpful to sketch.
I can remember since I was a child the plot of a fary tale over a young painter. She had a major problem that wouldn't allow her to paint and create beautifull picures: she couldn't chose a colour to use. She was so much attached to all of the colours that every time she was ready to use one she could hear the rest of them yelling: "Use us please! Why won't you???!!!" And so she was spending her time doing nothing and feeling bad about it, until once she saw a rainbow. She was so happy that she d found a way to use all of her colours-friends that she decided to sketch and paint only rainbows and she became very famous out of this :)
Well, and that is to point out that I have same kind of feelings over the colours. I really like to see them all together, not because they are yelling at me (I am totally sane :D), but because they give me a happy, energetic, childish feeling. So, I am really trying to use at least all of the basic colours in every little childish sketch-psuchotherapy of mine. =)
That is a quick colourful sketch I made for the ceiling. Maybe one of those days I will find some time to sketch it around my light. Isn't it happy and funny?! :D

This is a motif i made that looks like the open tale of a peacock! That's why i am going to name it: A tale of a peacock! It may be a poor motif but it deserves a name as well!!
Above you can see a sketch (it's actually a blot!)
that I made when I was really angry and sad for some reasons. It is a sun (in case it is not obvious :D) behind prison bars! And next to it another sketch a little abstract. It could be a sun, a flower or even a sharp cog!!! You choose :D. And that's the advantage of being not too specific when you want to picture sth ;)

Kisses!!!

New Mango Dress!

2009-09-16T02:32:00.000-07:00

This is what I bought today :new Autumn Winter Mango Dress 49 euros.

I try it on with shirts, t-shirts, blouses and I noticed that with each top it looks different: with short-sleeves shirt classy, with white shirt back-to-school-look, with t-shirt minimal! Do you like it?

Bangles

2009-09-09T11:24:00.000-07:00

Do you like bangles?Here I present you some treasured ones from our collection.

up to down:
black bangle Pull&Bear 2 days ago about 8 euros
brown wooden bangle some shop in Prague
cyan bangle H&M
wooden bangle a gift.
floral bangle Accessorize, gift from sis.

Golden bangle from Xanthi's bazaar some years ago
black and red bangles from INDISKA, a shop in Stockholm

It's a sketching Tuesday!

2009-09-08T04:54:00.000-07:00

I might have not mentioned that I enjoy sketching with my favourite little black pens. Recently my sister had the idea to buy a whole bunch of colourful pens that you can see above. I think I 've always preferred sketching with pens or pencils (sometimes at the tip of a school book page ;) ) instead of tempera and brushes. Its simpler, quicker and the whole process is like a game that I always want to play, especially when I have nothing to do. You see, carrying tempera and brushes everywhere is not possible whereas all you need for a sketch is a thin black sketch pen and a piece of paper! The result can be painted at home with colourful pens or anything else or even in Photoshop (my choice) and ,thus, you can create a nice picture out of a little pattern you've thought! :)

One of my favourite sketches (of those I have painted :) ) is a butteftly wing I made during the last August. I was sitting on my couch for 3 or 4 hours thickening lines or adding spots in order to finish one single wing. But I had already thought Photoshop's many potentials ;). And so, after I scanned it the result was:

My scanner is short of childish and immature and it never shows fully or appropriately all lines!! And so i really needed the picture editor to show some lines more clearly. After I did, I picked for the butterfly a deep green which is (usually) my favourite colour and a dark cold purple to surround it. I was about to use it as the demo cover for the band Clock Stooges where I participate by doing the vocals (and I am going to talk to you about it one of those days!). So i added the demo's name as the butterfly's body and woilla! Here is my little butterfly, isn't it cute?

I went on designing my favourite black patterns and using them as buttefly wings, it could be described as an obsession with the butterflies!! So my next pattern was a little bit more tricky because it was not clearly a butterfly wing and I had to work a little bit more to give this butterlfy look it eventually has.
My initial pattern (it's kind of showing my mood, I was pretty confused those days!) :

On the right side you can see its final state :) A butterfly with a broken wing which I used in the Clock Stooges' logo! You can see it if you follow the link given by the first butterfly on the top of the blog.

I also sketched something quick yesterday that I would like to share it with you as well. I decided to name it "Sometimes I feel so happy that it hurts" which is a name i thought while I was sketching. This is a feeling that I have felt sometimes and the only way to explain it briefly now is to say that sometimes you get to win something you had wanted for a long time and simultaneously lose something you had for a long time because those two cannot co-exist. Personally, I 've felt this way many times and I think it is a glorious priviledge of growing up and living an adult life. That's my sketch and now I stop writing so that we won't get too melancholic!

And so, that's all with sketching for today :)

bye!!!

Up to date with some abstract photos

2009-09-07T13:42:00.001-07:00

Hello!!
Today it was a fairly rainy and foggy day just like my sister said! That means only one thing: autumn is here! Here in Thessaloniki students (who weren't too successful during the last year) take exams in September, people go back to their jobs and a big event takes place opposite the university campus:ΔΕΘ or Thessaloniki International Trade Exhibition. This is a major attraction for people into trade and economics but also a "hot potato" for syndicalists, leftists, anarchists and ,thus, a sparkle for the match of demonstration.

This is not the right place and the right time for a political conversation or analysis though! This is just the recent news that surround me and form my mood! :)
So, let me skip those and just post two more abstract pictures of those I used to take in Xanthi:

And so here we are about to live one more September.....
Greetings

Red Hot Sweet Tomatos

2009-09-07T05:34:00.000-07:00

Hi all!
Today is a rainy, cloudy day and I'm on my blues "Do you read me?".
When September starts, there is a long list of things to prepare for the winter. My mother starts by capturing summer breeze and freshness into small jars! Marmelades, tomato pulp with onion or basil, grilled red pickle peppers...Yummie! I won't give any recipes though.. First of all, because my mother uses magic spells in the kitchen and she wouldn't like them to be revealed! And secondly, because I prefer not to know, but enjoy the result..:)

Joan Jett Outfit

2009-09-06T05:53:00.000-07:00

While my sister talks about love swirls and magic blue, I enjoy my little materialistic world: my closet. A new outfit, called Joan Jett with a sweet purple touch. I got the inspiration from the videoclip "I hate myself for loving you" .

Shoes VANS, tights very old and used, skirt Pull&Bear last year,
t-shirt BSB (I bought it on sales about a week ago), waistcoat Mango,
funny purple umbrella H&M, red bangles Indiska (?) shop in Stockholm.

Falling in love and my totally blue room

2009-09-06T02:12:00.000-07:00

Hello! How's your mood going?

Today I would like to speak about falling in love with something or someone and also I would like to show to you (as I had promised!) a view of my totally blue room in Xanthi, as part of a fully blue life.

Yesterday, I had the chance to meet again after two years on of my favourite roomates while still in High School. That girl has always been living in a swirl of a love fume. Actually, she would often find herself passionate about a person with all of her heart, having this feeling flood her existence. Of course, this is something that we all need and like to do. However, in case we don't, I 'd like to focus a little bit on the essence of love.

There are two seperate recources of energy for a person: by digesting food he finds the energy that his body needs and by falling in love he finds the energy that his mind needs. The real motive behind every difficult and tiring task you have succeeded in is your love over its result. This is what gives you all of the energy you need in order to complete it in the way you consider to be the best possible. Food is an essence of course but ,no matter how many energy drinks you might have drunk, you cannot exceed your abilities! Love is what makes people go further and evolve and it hides the tremendous strength of will. A spiritual hunger, a real weapon in your hands to face all of your difficulties.... :)

GO PERSISTENT BY FALLING IN LOVE!!!

And now the revelation of my blue room.... You can see in this photo one part of the curtain and the walls ehind it. Can you figure out the difference in the colour? NO?! This is because it doesn't exist one!!! :P Can you imagine 4 walls in the same colour and matching furniture? Short of a melancholic environment that has affected all of my melancholic moments in there!

And that's a common blue view out of my window:

Good for me I have escaped from this totally blue room :)

Farewells!
:)

Privacy please!

2009-09-04T02:23:00.000-07:00

Hello!

today I 'd like to mention a few things about privacy. The most important of them is: I NEED PRIVACY!!! Have you ever felt the need to stay alone in a place for a long time? The desperation for some silence around you? The deep will to think over yourself and your life, to go around naked in the house or listen to extraordinarily loud music? It is normal and human, understandable and in most cases easily found.

My main point over temporary volitional isolation is that during your life thousands and thousands of stimuli pass in front your eyes and you need to process and think on them in order to be able to recognise, categorise and maybe use them in your life. When you are constantly socialising you don't have the time to do this important process in your mind! Socialising is a totally different process that absorbs your energy! So get rid of people! ALL OF THEM!!!

I am just kidding... :P

Well, all I wanted to do today is to dedicate this single tiny post to my great need for isolation. This feeling today is filling my brain all day long. Seems like I need this cold dark breeze of loneliness!

Have a nice day!!
madly yours

Berlin August 2009

2009-08-29T11:51:00.000-07:00

A lot of things have happened since the last time I wrote to this blog and I feel quite unable to describe them with words right now. I enjoy a really intense and nice life this period as I prepare myself emotionally and practically for my moving out of my hometown. I have done this before, in March 2007 where I was in Vienna as an Erasmus student, but only for 4 months.Well, enough with emotional crap, let´s talk about Stockholm Berlin 2009.
The truth is, I don´t remember what we did every day in our trip or the beautiful buildings in Stockholm. I kept merely my impressions, thoughts and feelings in particular scenes in our trip and here it goes..

BERLIN. I remember getting of the plane and taking the train to Stadt Mitte (Centr of the City) and the Metro to our Hostel. It was already dark when we arrived there and some very friendly german guys informed us that the hostel was in an underground area and that we should take care of our stuff during night. They also suggested some alternative streets to visit and some techno clubs but we had only half the next day to explore Berlin. Next morning at 11 we were in Bradenburg Gate and had an free tour. There is some group of guides around Europe that work on tip basis - you give a tip to the guide at the end of the tour if you liked it - and this seemed to work very well both for us and the guides! During our tour we saw a lot of monuments and memorials. I don't have to say much about the monuments, because I don't remember exactly what our guide said and because, you are not here to learn history from me, huh? :P School and books are better resources of knowledge, so please enjoy our photos from BERLIN!

Jews Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
This was my favourite memorial and I recognised the fact that the memorial occupies a huge square as a brave gesture of german "Volk" towards Jews.
A architecture and art masterpiece.
It also reminds me of the dutch painter Escher.
It's a must-see in Berlin.

GDR-era mural of Meissen porcelain on former Council of Ministers building,
facing Leipziger Straße

The Wall

Graffiti on the Wall
and ...
I just couldn't resist!

My first travel as an adult! part II

2009-08-24T05:21:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone again! How 's your mood?

I am going to continue from the point I left my narration. Helped by the Stockholm Tourist Center (Visiting address: Hamngatan 27, Phone: +46 (0)8-508 28 508 (Tourist information), +46 (0)8-508 28 500 (Operator)) we managed to find one fine, cheap and cosy hotel (and that's why we shouldn't be prejudiced against hotels compared to hostels). Don't expect us to be too lucky, there was one main disadvantage. The hotel Quality Winn was located outside the city so it took us around 30 minutes each time to get back to our base. However, we were exhausted, hungry and we wouldn't allow this small detail to ruin our mood even more.

Although the night went on in a pleasant way, I cannot help but remember that our series of unfortunate events hadn't finished yet! And so, during our return to our hotel we got lost (this happened many times in general) and a taxi driver would have sent us far away from it if one us hadn't remembered the correct track. Let's go on with mentioning the "black spots" of this travel which form the "black monster" that tried to eat our excited mood!! After we lost one of our bank cards and one of us experienced a wasp bite, we wandered around Stockholm looking the answer to the question: "How can someone use the public bikes?". After 5 tiring, walking and asking hours we had the bike cards in our hands (you can make a bike card with the use of your identity card in the Central Station, around 15Euros for 3 days, a very nice experience :) ). Black point: by that time the museums that we were interested in had closed :( (most museums close around 5 o'clock!).

After many enjoyable bike rides around Stockholm (especially in the beautiful area of Skansen) we fought. Actually, our nerves were stretched and everyone found something against the other so we had a terrific fight inside the train. By the next morning everything was solved in our relationships, our bad luck was still dealing with us though.... That was our last day and we were hoping to visit some museums but hadn't noticed that on Monday most museums are closed. Music Museum, Vasa Museum, toys Museum, Science and Technology Museum -> all closed!

Our flight was at 04.00 in the morning, so we had to find a bar or sth to spend our night. A very cute blues bar hosted us and we were excited to listen to live music and afterwards Stockholm's streets proved to be very hostile :P. We couldn't find a satisfying bar and ended up in MAX burger house where I slipped on some shit and one of our friends threw by mistake a couple of tables !!! Our mood was touching perfection and the night was still long.... :P Sleepy as we were (and add to this that I had an aching foot due to narrow shoes) we lost our way to the T-Centralen and after we found it, took the train to the airport and finally got on board, we experienced a shaking-trembling flight.

Aren't you jeallous yet? :D

I really should write lots of post to describe all of our wonderful moments as well but what's the use? What is memorable is what is unique and do not doubt about the uniqueness of such a series of unfortunate events ;)

:) :)

ps: Travelling is the essence of life!!!

One little note! If you 're planning to visit Stockholm, visit this site and its brochures:
http://www.visit-stockholm.com/
Really helpful!

here are some photos of the jazz-blues bar we went to:

My first travel as an adult!

2009-08-13T03:18:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody!

We have been away for the last one week. We were on vacation! Specifically, we travelled abroad in two cities: Berlin and Stockholm.
Actually a couple of years earlier all I was dreaming of was a long interrail travel across the europe, for example Stockholm-Amsterdam-Paris-Barcelona-Rome-back to Greece. I can get really excited with the idea of wondering without limits and besides that, I believe that a travel above all is a journey for somebody's soul, a didactic experience. So, last year I started organising my special journey that would last 21 days. Without entering too much detail I have to say it never happened :(. Disagreements, practical and economic obstacled didn't allow my dream to come true (although I still keep it somewhere in my mind's closets ;) ). After all, during June 2009 we rushed to organise and book flights for a smaller trip and so, it was 215 Euros Thessaloniki to Berlin with easyjet and 30 Euros from Berlin to Stockholm with ryanair (all tickets including return). Thus, our final programme was: 1 day in Berlin, 4 days in Stockholm and the last day as well in Berlin before our return flight!

A very special characteristic of this travel was the fact that nothing at all seemed to go the way we had imagined it would. Of course we have to admit that we didn't really organise our actions. After booking 3 seperate hostels (2 for Berlin and 1 for Stockholm) we just let the summer pass without much thought over the excursion until the flight day! As soon as we arrived in Berlin a couple of German fellows informed us that our hostel is located in an area of high criminality. Well, MEININGER Hotel Berlin Hallesches Ufer was a fine hostel but we didn't really like the information we had just learned. Among the few plans we had made was to make a small air-balloon flight. After our free tour (read Alice's post 2 posts above!) we realised we couldn't because we had forgot it was Friday evening, a non-flying hour for Air Service Berlin. When we returned from Stockholm, during our last day in Berlin we couldn't fly as well because Air Service Berlin claimed it was a too windy day at 150m. above! So, no air ballooning.

After our no-air-balloon experience we hurried to check out and arrive at airport for our 21:55 flight with Ryanair. After we repacked and took many of our stuff in hands/handbags because the weight limit per bag is 15kgs, we eventually took off. During the flight, while I was looking my leaflets with information over our Hostels I just noticed this small though important note:

‘Rygerfjord Hotel and Hostel,’ a former cruise ship, floats by the banks of trendy Södermalm, minutes away from the centre of Stockholm and within easy reach of public transport.

So we were staying in a boat?!?! Hmm..... Some of us were suspicious and some were enthusiastic. Well... the time was approaching. Of course there was no public tranport and the exchange spots were closed when we arrived in Stockholm and our taxi driver made some fun of us when we told him our adress. "This is not a hostel, this is a boat!" Well, what's the problem with a boat-hostel?! Old interior, small rooms-cabins, shared bathroom for a whole ship, floating dizzy sense, lots of insects, dirty sheets. 2 of us stayed awake all night and early in the morning went out looking for another place to stay. Nothing. All hostels within Stockholm were booked, plus we had to wait until 10am for the Tourist Info Center to open.

Well I now have to leave so I will continue narrating about my adventurous excursion later. Until then farväl!!!

:) :)

It's time to leave baby

2009-07-28T01:47:00.000-07:00

My life is lately on the rush. I am working long hours, even on weekends, I am leaving on Saturday for holidays on the amazingly beautiful island of Skopelos (my father's birthplace) for five days, then Berlin for one day, Stockholm for four days and Berlin again for one day, then back to Thessaloniki and then Halkidiki to the student camp-that-is-almost-for-free!
That was vacation. End of September I am leaving for My Master, oh yes! Such a big change in my life. Leaving behind everything I love and treasure such as my sister, my friends, my family, my life, my house,my clothes :P. I am going to the Netherlands, Eindhoven. I really like the subject of my master - I don't want to reveal now more about it, the only I can say is that it is considered a Professional Doctorate in the Netherlands, it last two years and it takes place in Eindhoven. I am really excited, but sad that I have to leave all I love behind. And my deepest fear is maybe that when I come backmany things may have changed...I would have spent two years of myself there, being out of my favorite people lives, talking with them on the phone and missing them..
But still on the other hand, I want to go. Because I believe that this particular Master is going to open for me new paths to explore and widen my career options.And since this choice seems to bring me closer to what I want to do professionally in my life, I feel that I want to go. As I say to my profile, I crave for hapiness. Of course, that might seem obvious, everybody does. But I have set it as a purpose in my life. So, I was thinking that work is about 8 hours a day (a normal work on a normal day). Plus 1,5 hours to go and come back from work and prepare for work (that is the minimum amount I could thought of. I need much more for the time being). That is about 60% of your time. Then you have another 40% to eat, drink, bath, put some clothes on and see friends or your kids or the ceiling if you are bored. But leaving out all the necessary things, only 20% of your day can be used for fulfilling my inner need to feel complete, happy and self-conscious. That's too little. I don't have the time to stare at the ceiling any more as I am always on the rush seeing friends in my 20%. And I miss a lot of things I don't have time to do. Being crafty and creative for example. Or meet new people or go dancing! SO, that's why I am going to the Netherlands!To advance this 60% of my daily routine in the future!What do you think?
And if you have any idea about how is life up there, in Eindhoven,Netherlands, don't hesitate to leave a comment!

A dreadful morning that had no reason to be dreadful

2009-07-26T03:52:00.000-07:00

Hello :)
Have you ever lived a day when the circumstances work together to make you believe something that cannot be true? For example, if your door's room got closed by the wind just after a scary thriller movie wouldn't pictures of ghosts cross your mind? Well..

I was sleeping in my room and my sister woke up in order to get dressed to go to her job. I was almost awake since she is always too noisy, she shuts and opens again the door,the closet and throws things on the floor :D. I think I 've watched a documentary about sleeping and noticed that when you complete your night's sleep you cannot remember your dreams. On the contrary, if somebody wakes you up during the dream you can remember it (although you miss the end!). So, I had many small dreams that I remembered afterwards.

Firstly, it was this serial killer dream. And... the serial killer was me! I would kill strangers using toothpaste in this awful way: I would put some toothpast in their nose and eyes. Weirdly I was helped in my crimes by a person I haven't seen for some ages.

Secondly, there was a dream about an area somewhere in africa where some wild rhinos lived. Those rhinos were eating meat, one kind of meat that cannot be easily found. And there was a conspiracy to feed unaware people to them. I happened to be there doing some research and I didn't know anything about this disgusting conspiracy. And I remember that somebody was ready to feed me to those frightening creatures when I ran away and hid to avoid becoming a lunch.

And so... after some minutes I woke up around 2 o'clock in the afternoon. I opened my eyes quite lazily and turned from the other side. And first thing i see in front of me is a knife with its sharp part looking at me! Well..... and that happened only a little after my dreams!!!

During the day it proved that my sister had forgotten (!) the knife on the bed while struggling to cut something!!!

After all, it's profound who is responsible for this whole freaky experience: my sister!

Making summer jewels

2009-07-25T15:38:00.001-07:00

Hi again! Since the last post, I returned from work, cleaned up a little my bedroom and then devoted myself to make these 'summer jewels'. The bracelet is going to serve as a 'goodbye gift' to my friend and colleague Vagia, because she is leaving Thessaloniki to continue her studies at a University in Switzerland.

The necklace is for my friend and colleague Xenia. I should have made it long ago though. She waited a lot for it, I hope she won't get disappointed. The beads on the top that seem not joint to the necklace were later joint with silver wires.
Making jewels is like a puzzle, you never know how long is going to take to match all colors, shapes and textures of the beads... And this match is kinda random and magical. Sometimes it's just not going to happen.

Hi all!

2009-07-25T03:28:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday morning, it's 40 degrees outside and I am at work. Today I am going to lose two graduation parties that will take place in two campings in Halkidiki. And I know I would have loads of fun if only I could convince myself that I am not tired enough to travel one hour till the bus station and then two hours till one of these wonderful campings, then stay for one day and then come back tomorrow in such heat, completely exhausted and sweat..Even if I managed to go, I wouldn't be able to swim because of obvious for women reasons (easy!)...:S
But at least my office is air-conditioned, and we have youtube and facebook and twitter, all nice services to kill time when you are bored or in between work and breaks. And I am listening to my favourite Johnny Cash's song. When man comes around.

Abstract photographs in Xanthi

2009-07-22T08:12:00.001-07:00

Today I remembered my life 2-3 years ago. When I was a little tired and wanted to rest, I used to sit in my totally blue room in Xanthi ( I am going to show it to you once, it's actually too blue to be true!) and stare at all the things that surrounded me. I was really busy then, I had exams and during my breaks I liked to take abstract photographs of the things I stared! I also tried to take a picture οf a little sparrow and put some bread in my balcony in order to attract it. Isn't it very cute??? I was hiding behind the curtains so that I wouldn't scare it :)

This is Ms Lucrecia the cat spying on us :)

Delicious strawberries... mmm!!!
Some dead flowers in our living room

Plastic Bags r.i.p

2009-07-21T05:40:00.000-07:00

I woke up today at 9pm. I got dressed and rush to the bus station because I had to meet a friend to arrange some insurance stuff! Actually we needed the European health card because we are travelling abroad in a couple of weeks.In our way, we found a bakery and bought something to eat. I usually try not to eat out. But most of the times I can't resist to a nicely baked croissant! Bakeries and morning are my favourite place and time to eat out .:) So I got my croissant and a juice and in 10 minutes I was done.
And then I saw the plastic bag carrying the juice and the croissant, the plastic bottle of the juice, and the little sachet containg the croissant. And I thought that I should throw away all these stuff, that were made in a factory and waited patiently long time on the shelf of this bakery to be used for their 10 minutes of publicity and then thrown away!Energy that spent for the 10 minutes of my devour!

I think that there is no creature on this planet that has only ten minutes of life!I have once heard about an insect that is born,breed and die in one day. And maybe there are also some bacterias with life expectancy a couple of hours. That happens because Nature is wise. An amount of energy is spent for every new creature, to be born, grow up and fulfill its purpose. Each creature on earth has a Purpose. Darwin says this purpose is to breed well and protect your offsprings.And then the creature dies and becomes one with the earth, soil.

People on the other hand, are dump. We create things without being able to manage their disposal. These things usually take a hundert or more years to become one with the earth. During their production, nature is destroyed and life cycles are disturbed. We call them trash when we don't need them anymore even before they lose their attributes and their usability. We show absolutely no respect for things if they are old-fashioned or not technologically updated. The volume of the trash increases constantly, poisons water and ecosystems and threatens even human life.
But yes, I know, we can always recycle.:) Recycling helps our creations to have a second life (most of the times in a lower caste) by spending some more energy on them. That's a solution. The problem is first, that in Greece we think that this solution is optional. Second, we need to pay a second thought before kill something that can be used a second and a third time. Like the plastic bag that contained the little sachet with my croissant and the juice bottle. I will carry it back home but I'm afraid that there will be one last use for it ; to carry the trash to the trash bin.:(

A Calamity Jane Outfit

2009-07-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

Well, now it's time for the first confession. My inspiration for this blog came from lopi, a very talented -to my mind- fashion blogger who writes about clothes she buys or is willing to buy. Her posts have caught my attention lately, because I am mad about clothes! And because of her down-to-earth, nice and mild writing and photos!:)

Although this is not a fashion blog, a cycle of love in my life is fashion! Actually I don't like this word : fashion. Maybe I won't use it again in this blog. It brings to my mind the current trends that all magazines write about. And then I see girls at the street, all wearing proudly the current trends!(for example silver cork shoes matched with almost everything,what a nonsense!). I don't want to be mean, but I find that kind of fashion boring.

As I said before, I am mad about clothes!That doesn't mean I am a shopaholic. I think I consume clothes and stuff quite reasonably and after serious thought. But I really enjoy going downtown and wandering all along Tsimiski, searching for treasures!Especially during sales!

now that's enough with words!

I bought these boots today -yeah in the middle of the summer- from Pull'n' Bear, bargain!cute, aren't they?

And that's an outfit with the boots, ideal if you are Calamity Jane!
lace shirt, earrings by Mango, Skirt from Zara, boots from Pull 'n' Bear, hat from Accessorize, all of them bought some years ago except from the boots.
I find the shirt adorable, although it's not nicely ironed in the pic.

Tiger Lillies

2009-07-16T03:19:00.000-07:00

During the last month I had the chance to watch a Tiger Lillies' show, the Freak Show.

During the show a man with the expected eccentric appearance of a circus-man (and that was Martyn Jacques) was presenting his "colleagues". The Carnival of Circus Freaks included everything. It was focusing on people who were born different from others, like 2 dwarves, a pair of Siamese twins, a "snake-woman" and a man with three hands. Realistic or not they all gave a stunning perfomance and I should definitely mention the 2 breathtaking acrobats (they were women!).
Cynicism, decay,emotion
Miserable madness...

The carnival of circus freaks is a really freaky,theatrical show.

Here are some photos from the stage. They are a little blur but if you try you will see 5 wagons :)

"cds please, buy your cds!!!"
Some links:

information on Tiger Lillies' history
a nice funny song: Start a fire
video from Freak Show Rehearsals

A gesture with a flourish

2009-07-10T05:38:00.000-07:00

And so it's cycles of love.

A name wide enough to carry all of our "confessions". It could be a pretty piece of clothing, a remarkable scenery, an exciting concert or a beautiful piece of art. It could be a fascinating idea regarding vacations or hobbies. These all are about to be put in the cirle of the things that interest us both (so come they, the cycles of love!).

Just like the rainbow comes after the rain and recieves all of the admiration, the cycles of love contain the things that make our lives more colourful, but the essentials in life will always be health and love. We like and not crave for money that help us afford everything is circled by the cycles of love.

this paragraph was a teaching one :)

The cycles of love are the motif on a line, the rainbow after rain, the flourish in a discussion, a smile on a face and anything that brings us and you inspiration and happy creative moments.

My beloved sister and I will have together this blog, which happens to be my first one. So, I wish us a good start!

Konstantina A

First of all

2009-07-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

First post, third blog, or I've lost the count. I start by expressing my deeper will to have this blog and the enthusiasm for it for long time and be creative with it, at some point. I mean, do some work for it, develop my photography skills, learn to write in an amusing way, give me some motives for creativity.
I won't introduce myself because I find it pointless for now. If this blog lasts, you gonna learn a lot for me, if not, who gives a penny about me? :P
Konstantina, brand-new blogger, my sister and most-beloved friend : now it's your turn!