10 Things I loved about my latest trip to Greece

Here 10 things that made this trip a very special one:

1) I learned to play scala 40. I am telling you: this game is addictive!

2) I hugged and kissed my yiayia every-single-day: my wrinkled little princess.

3) I visited my grandmother’s sister aunt Eleni (sweetest lady on earth).

4) We had a big delicious family meal on Sunday at my cousin Babis’ house.

5) My aunt Tasia made «cremidopita» and it was amazing!

6) A lovely purple good-luck necklace I am wearing right now from my aunt Agni.

7) My aunt Rena made me laugh all day…everyday.

8) I saw the most beautiful sunset of my entire life.

9) I got to have a heart-to-heart conversation with my cousin Leon.

10) I visited my grandfather’s grave and missed him even more.

 

By the way…I just joined Bloglovin…oh yes…better late than never. If you wish to follow me (please do, it’s fun I promise) click here.

7 Resolutions for 2015

I have a delightful feeling that this year is going to be wonderful.

January always comes with a promise of something new and I am all in for that. I want to make this year count just as much I did with last year. I am proud of what I have accomplished and I am really excited for the new and exciting things to come.

Last year’s resolutions were achieved and this 2015 I am adding some more just for the fun of it. For me, resolutions are like small bucket lists (we know how much I love them).

So here my official 2015 resolutions:

1) Finish the first draft of my book. 

Don’t laugh: I am writing my book since forever. This has been a long journey for me and as all we writers know, we always think our work it’s never actually finished. This year, at least I need my first draft ready.

2) Start dancing flamenco again. 

When I was 12 I took flamenco for 5 years. I remember seeing this movie and wanting to be a flamenco dancer right away. I used to love dancing my sevillanas and fandangos. I am in Spain so…flamenco be ready…I am coming back!

3) Decrease my diet soda intake.

I am guilty: I really love diet soda. To my defense, I used to drink so much more diet soda before and now I have managed to decrease the daily amount. Oh yes, you heard me…daily amount. But this year I am decreasing it even more.

4) Take a lovely vacation.

The beach. Ah the feeling of going to the beach and having the warm sun on my face. This was the last time I was swimming in the ocean and it was almost two years ago! Planning to take a vacation in the sand, with tons of sunscreen on and a caffee frappe in hand.

5) Attend a concert. 

I have to confess I don’t love going to concerts because I get an urgent feeling that I want to be on stage! (The little superstar diva in me is really rebellious). My first real concert was Britney Spears in Las Vegas.

6) Acquire a new skill. 

Yes, I want to make this year fruitful. I want to learn new things and I would love to acquire a new skill!

7) Keep up my good work from last year.

I still want to manage to exercise at least 3 times a week, control my migraines and smile more!

🙂

Have you made your list yet?

December: 6 lovely things just before the year ends

How did December arrive so fast?

It seems like yesterday that I was a caged little bird living in Caracas and now here I am spending Christmas in Madrid. Time flew so fast. I am trying to embrace every little detail and breathing everything in. My life has changed so much that I quite can’t figure out how did I adapt so smoothly to this new chapter of my life.

This month has been a lot of work and I am happy that I am keeping busy. Jimmy and I have been producing and directing other artist’s music videos and I have to say I am enjoying myself a little too much. I have been running in the cold lately and I have found out that this way I run faster. Now I am also an official «Fannibal» after having a «Hannibal» TV series marathon (you got to love Lecter don’t you?).

So here six other things before the year ends:

Our little tree cheering up my cold mornings

My glorious Britney-moment when I got to meet the cast of Nito’s music video

Finally gifting myself some exotic eyeshadow and the amazing Beauty Blender (where has this been all my life?) 

Surprise on my coffee: no, that is not how you write my name, but who gives a damn when you have a lovely little flower next to it?

I am not supposed to eat chocolate due to migraines…but this happened. 

Changing our bedroom colors. My mom sent me these and they still smell like her.

10 things I am loving about moving to another country

I thought this would be so much easier. I have been dreaming of this moment for five years. It was like a distant dream. I would write about it and fantasize about a life outside this chaos. Suddenly I realize that moment has come. I am leaving all of this behind and starting from scratch.

I still can’t believe it but reality just slapped me in the face. I am packing and selling everything. You have no idea how much stuff you have hoarded until you have to move.

I can’t take everything with me, but I have some things that I do need. I am moving to a colder country and the nice tropical Venezuelan weather will be a cherished memory.

I am putting in a box all my summer clothing and taking out my winter clothing that I kept from my year studying dance in Toronto.

I am extremely anxious. I can’t sleep, I eat more than I should but deep inside I am truly excited.

This change is a big step towards a better life.

I want to share with you ten things I am loving about moving to another country.

1) I will be finally able to walk outside without the fear of getting robbed. 

2) I am getting rid of everything I don’t actually need. 

3) New culture to explore. 

4) Wearing high boot without looking ridiculous .(You do look funny wearing winter boots in a tropical country.)

5) Finally going to the supermarket and finding everything I need. 

6) Sharing my new music with a different part of the world. 

7) Meeting new people. 

8) Being really close to my Europe family. (Spoiler!) 

9) Continue my book in a different country.

10) Taking the Golden Limoncello with me!

«Divergent» inspired: my 3 worst fears

Yesterday I saw «Divergent» and I liked it. Well, I actually liked it a lot.

I thought making a post about my fears would be fun. (I have tons of things but I narrowed down to three.)

So I was watching the movie thinking «ok, if this was me, what would they see on screen?». I knew right away, so here my three worst fears.

1) Spiders. I would probably be covered by them and have a heart attack right there. I won’t even post the real picture because I get anxious just looking at a picture of them.

2) Earthquakes. One day I was at my parents house and I felt my computer’s screen moving. It was a small quick movement. The the second time it was a little bit stronger. I got up and from my window I felt my building literally swinging. There is no words to describe how terrible this feeling is.

3) Darkness. I sleep with some kind of light on because I need to see when I open my eyes at night. I can’t be in pitch-black darkness.

So my part of the movie would go like this: I would be in a dark room, covered with spiders and the building would be trembling due to an earthquake. Sound like absolute fun…

My small summer bucket list: 7 things I want to do

No beach for me this summer, just the plain old city. But I will make the best out of it and stop complaining. Last Friday I told you guys I would share my summer bucket list. It’s small and achievable. So here it is:

1) Swim at least once a week. My dad is on vacation and he left me in charge of his business. So that means coming to the office really early in the morning from Monday to Saturday. Yup, Saturdays too. So I am planning on spending my Sundays swimming at my parents pool.

2) Finish my screenwriting script before August 15th. I am extremely loving this new chapter of my life: learning how to make scripts. From dancer to singer and from singer to screenwriter…I am like a little Swiss Army multitool!

3) Have a picnic. I used to have so many picnics before. I seriously don’t know what happened. I plan on dusting off my little basket, add some yummy snacks and use my new polka dot blanket. (I will try this recipe too).

4) Read J.G Ballard’s «High Rise» novel. I want to read the book before the movie comes out next year. (Yes, Tom Hiddleston, I am eagerly waiting).

5) Make these fresh popsicles. I found this recipe from «Gimme Some Oven» blog. Fresh and easy! Healthy too!

6) Try blue makeup. Here is some lovely inspiration with its tutorial.

7) Finish the «August Photography Challenge». I think I just made that up. But it consists of taking a daily photo of all August.

What are you guys planning to do this summer?

 

 

 

 

 

My top 5 favorite smells

Smells can transport us to many places; some of them remind us of good times, some of them repulse us and some of them remind us of a specific person. Isn’t it amazing how we can recognize smells? Have you ever thought about it? How our mind clicks with aromas? I think is pretty awesome.

Here are my top five:

1) Coffee. Well this is an obvious one. Mornings go to a whole new level when the kitchen is filled with delicious fresh coffee aroma.

Photo credit

2) Clean sheets. I change my sheets on Friday. It makes my weekend nights so much better. Coming home from a long day and dive in clean sheets is heaven.

Photo credit

3) Basil. This smells takes me back to my childhood and reminds me of Italy. My mom uses basil for her «pasta al pomodoro» and I love her classic recipe.

Photo credit

4) White musk. This was my first «cologne». I remember my impromptu trip to the Body Shop with my aunt Nani and falling in love with this fresh smell.

Photo credit

5) Jasmine flower. Buy one of these aromatic flower plants and your whole house will smell heavenly.

Do you guys have any favorites?

10 things I like about my birthday

When I was a little girl I used to count the days until my birthday every year. You have no idea how exciting was telling my friends that June 5th would be the day when I had everybody’s attention in school. The night before was usually a sleepless night counting the hours for my special day.

The past three birthdays have been a little stressful. I felt a little anxious the night before because my mind was focusing on «I am a year older now» and «I need to get my life together before 30» or «I wish I was 25 forever». This year I want to make it special as if I was 10 years old again. I promised myself to focus on the positive and forget about the «get your life together» craziness.

So I want to share with you some things I still enjoy about my birthday.

1) I fully charge my phone the night before because I have a big family in Europe who always remembers my birthday. Bless them.

2) My little sister Stefania always tries to make it special for me. This is one of the things I enjoy the most on my birthday, having her by my side.

3) I love that my birthday this year falls on a Thursday because it is my favorite day of the week. (Maybe that is why I unconsciously named the «OCD Thursdays» on the blog.)

4) I get to eat cake! (I am trying the gluten-free version this year)

5) I get to open some presents and I am the kind of person who loves EVERYTHING people gift me. Really.

6) Fun fact: Emeregildo Zegna and Federico Garcia Lorca share birthdays with me. (And my cousin Babis in Greece.)

7) Jimmy and I have this absolute fun tradition that we call «the birthday week» where we grand each other a week of celebration before the special day. You should try it, it’s fun!

8) Still having my parents by my side to share this day with.

9) I always make myself a gift. (Why? Well… why not?)

10) I am grateful that I am a year wiser, alive and looking forward to more birthdays!

 

Any other Gemini buddies out there?

 

6 things I learned in school

School: this word brings nostalgia, joy and some dreadful memories. I had a love/hate relationship with school. I enjoyed seeing my friends everyday and had fun learning new things in several classes. I also had some teachers I enjoyed seeing and loved what they used to teach me but there were also many other ones that I could not stand.

I learned tons of things in school regarding basic education, some teachers tought me valuable lessons, others taught me things that were a terrible waste of time. 

That being said, I have six things that stuck with me from school in my everyday life that I will treasure forever.

1) You take a test, you get all the answers right, you get an A+. If in the test you don´t know all the answers, rule is you get a lower grade. In life it´s ok not to know all the answers. Most of the time you won`t and that is all right. You just have to be open in recognizing what went wrong and work towards making it right.

2) Some establishments have rules and they are there for a reason.I remember one of the rules at my school was to always have your shirt tucked inside your pants. I found this incredibly stupid but I followed it because it was a rule. The point is you don´t have to follow every rule ever written in life but you don´t have to be rude either. If there is a smoking sign and is prohibited to smoke in a specific area, please understand that as rebel as you may be, it´s comon sense not to smoke there.

3) Teachers are human beings, they don´t always know all the answers and they too, as you and me, make mistakes. Same goes for the rest of the world. Often behind a rude behavior there is always something going on behind that person (or they are just a**holes, but that is a total different story). Don´t judge. 

4) Be polite to everybody; from the janitor to the principal. Be thankful even when you don´t feel like it, chances are the other person will often appreciate such behavior. Why spend energy on being disrespectful or mean when being nice takes less time and effort?

5) Just because you are bad at something doesn´t mean that you are a failure. In my school if you were bad at math, chemistry or physics then you were considered a terrible student. What about literature? What about art or history or even biology? Everybody is different and has different skills. There is a fantastic quote from Albert Einstein that says «Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life thinking it is stupid».  

6) You never, ever stop learning. 

The art of relaxing: 5 things that help me unwind

We all have those days; you wake up and every-single-thing feels like a slap in the face. Yes, you know what I am talking about.

Everybody has different ways of relaxing. People often told me meditation was a wonderful thing to do when you are stressed. The last thing I want to do when I am stressed is meditate, I mean, seriously? Please do not get me wrong, I love to meditate but not under stressful circumstances.

Here are five things that help me get through moments of stress:

1) I go for a run.

It works every time.I sweat, I mentally curse a little, then I am a brand new person.(Can this count as meditation?)

2) I watch a movie.

If I am feeling like a potato-couch, I dive in my sofa and watch a movie. (Not a horror one obviously.)

3) I make myself some tea.

There is something about tea that soothes me.

4) I cook.

I go to the kitchen and make something yummy. It brightens my mood right away.

5) I put my favorite classical music playlist.

Since the ballet days I fell in love with this genre. It has been scientifically proven that classical music is good for relaxing.

Sometimes I do more than one of these at the same time…

What do you guys do to relax?

Guilty: bad habits decoded

I don’t consider being extremely tidy and anxious bad habits, I just think of them as part of my personality. There are certain things I don’t like about myself that I would love to change. Here are my five bad habits I’m working on changing:

1) Skipping breakfast.

I am guilty of skipping this important meal. I try not to but unfortunately I sometimes do due to lack of time in the morning or being not hungry at all. A year ago I started paying more attention to my breakfast habits and I’m proud to say I am on the right track to making it a good habit.

2) Cursing.

I do curse a lot. I grew up with mostly male friends so you can imagine how much I curse. I really try not curse when I’m in a public place or speaking to people I don’t know, but once I get to know you, I start cursing like a sailor. I’m really working on that too.

3) Grinding my teeth.

This is very annoying. I really can’t control it because I usually do it while I’m sleeping. Think about it like snoring. I have chipped my back teeth and I’m currently using a custom-fitted mouth protector at night. Not very sexy.

4) Drinking too much coffee.

Wonder why I am anxious all the time? Well this is part of the answer. I love coffee. I can have it all day, everyday. I had to cut it down because I was extremely agitated all day. One or two cups a day is fine, but I have to learn to not over do it.

5) Overusing my car s honk.

If you hear someone honking behind you like a maniac, it is probably me. I try not to do it but in the country I live in, people seriously don’t know how to drive and I find myself honking all the time. I will work on it, I promise.

Do you guys have any notorious bad habits?

Wanderlost: 5 places I want to visit

Lately, I have found myself in a state of nostalgia of the places I have visited and how wonderful it felt. I find myself with the desire to be anywhere except here. Has it ever happened to you?

Trapped in our daily routine we often forget how big the world is and how many things we still have to see. Personally, I want to find the courage to move but there are still many things I have to sort out before I go.

Meanwhile I want to share with you the places I would love to visit. It is kind of a small bucket list.

1) My father-in-law was from Sicily. Mr. Carmelo was one the most special people I have ever met. He sat whole afternoons telling me about this wonderful place.

(Photo credit: http://09am.com/sicily-italy/ )

2) Since my mom is Greek, this country has been part of my heart since a little girl. My mom made sure I learned Greek and I will be truly thankful for that my whole life. I stumbled with this picture on the internet and fell in love with it. My aunt has been there and told me it is magical. This is the Melissani Cave, Kefalonia.

 

(Photo credit: http://besttravelphotos.me/2013/11/12/melissani-cave-kefalonia-greece/ )

3) A dear friend went on a short trip to Istanbul. He really loved the place and gave me amazing tips for my future trip. The only word I know in Turkish is «Yavrum», depending on the context, it means «my dear». Since Turkey is near Greece I might even visit Istanbul and Kefalonia at the same time. Convenient right? 

(Photo credit: http://www.anascreccatravel.com/en/index.html)

4) Blame Woody Allen for this one. When I saw the movie «Vicky, Christina, Barcelona» I fell in love with this city. I have plans to live there one day, who knows. 

(Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sb4lynn/7084635515/in/pool-72006205@N00/lightbox/)

5) The Taj Mahal, India. This has been on my bucket list since a little girl. I would absolutely love to go there. 

(Photo credit: http://www.youramazingplaces.com/15-places-top-travel-list/)

I would love to know, what are five places that are in your bucket list?