There are obvious reasons for gardening. One of them is, basically, that mankind has done it for the last 4000 years, just think about the hanging gardens of Babylon, the waterlily paintings in the pyramids, herbgardens in medieval monasteries, the gardens in Versailles and the recent roofgardens in New York.
Gardening is an occupation, which gives you many a good reason to do it.
First of all you are out in the fresh air. Then you get your hands into the soil, which is a deeply satisfying feeling. Just remember playing as a child in the mud and the joy of getting more and more dirty, which then ended in the complete abandonment of mudbattles between siblings or jumping into rainwater puddles until getting totally mudded up and wet. I did it as a child and have seen it all over the world - most beautiful perhaps in India, the day the Monsoon started. I think this is a very deep down human feeling of playing and joying around. Working in the garden, using your own hands, is getting very near there. It is satisfying.
Then there is the joy of achievement: After a day of planting and weeding you see what you have done. It is a good workout as well - no need to pay huge amounts of money to be tortured in a badly smelling gym with 450 other people sweating senselessly around yourself - just work a day in the garden and I bet you feel muscles you never thought you had in your possession. If you are lucky and dressed to the game, you can get a lovely tan for free too on such a day in the garden, working.
But there are two bigger lessons to be learnt in gardening.
First, nothing is ever finished - therefore the Camus saying, that we have to imagine Sisiphos being a happy man, has some truth in it ( hello to all mothers and housewifes: you have just cleaned the kitchenfloor and the dog comes with wet feet from outside.. or the beds are freshly made and you have children jumping happily in them, with the wellies on? Sounds familiar, no? Or just finished a meal, kitchen is done and some people come in and start again to eat out of the fridge?? Well, let us pretend, that we think, good old Sisiphos was a happy man).
But back to gardening.
The second, perhaps even more important lesson is: Patience.
You only can work so and so much on a garden - and it does really not make any difference at all, if you go there every half hour to control whether and where your flowers have grown or not. A daily round in your garden is a very good exercise in anticipation and patience - apart from being a deep pleasure - but the fact is, it just does not help to grow it more quickly, if you want it to grow more quickly. Just not possible - so you are back on your basic feeling: wait and see.
This feeling is a valuable lesson for all things in life: If you want something to badly, it will not work out in this way. Applies also to children, to love, to friendships, to cooking and to buying houses.
You will say, that you do not have a garden, not even a terrasse? You fear not to have any knowledge about plants, nor a "green finger"? Well, no reason not to start in a little way your own gardening experiences. Believe me, plants are much harder to kill than you think. And there is always one species which will be ideal for you. I, for instance, kill orchids very easily. But my Basilikum loves me to bits: it grows and grows and grows. Even if you have no confidence in treating your plants well, just give it a try. You just need a bit of interest in the thing.
Buy yourself a gardenia - smelling so wonderful! - for your bathroom, some nice herbs for your kitchen sill and a good pot of azaleeas for your salon. There you have a good and almost foolproof start. And if there is a terrace, then just get some buxus and some tomatoplants; or some roses - if they are well tended, they can thrive in a pot as well. I have two boxes of white geraniums on my terrace and they need little attention (just water and pruning the old flowers off) and flower all over the summer, without me doing nothing.
No need to have much space for gardening, you can start in a small way - and it is as satisfying as anything in the world. Believe me, it makes you a better person as well.
Tuesday 31 May 2011
Sunday 29 May 2011
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| Holland House Library Suffers Damage 1940 London England (copyright Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis - VPM) |
This is class indeed.
Saturday 28 May 2011
Old clothes - yes AND no
I think it was Coco Chanel who said, that old clothes are like old friends - one cannot live without them. I suppose the good lady talks naturally about couture clothes, not the stuff one buys in H&M or at Zara. Old clothes are worth a good thought. In the end it is this stuff, we tend to wear most of the everydays of our lives.
Do face it: when you open your wardrobe, then most probably you have admit, that you wear all over and over again always the same old friends. Apparently there are studies, that we out of habit wear only about 20 % of the clothes we harbour and hamster in all possible places. Makes sense, as the times, where one had to change from a morning dress into a lunch ensemble, followed by an afternoondress and get changed for dinner again are long and sadly gone. Would not fit our modern times and timetables... Good golden times...
There are clothes which are simple foolproof - we love them, they are our basics and we can throw them on without even thinking about what we do. A grey jacket, for example - good for everything, from an evening in the Opera or your bussiness dinner and also with jeans good for a stroll in the park. Those basics make the skeleton of our wardrobe. In the best case basics are really your best friends. And as it is the case with best friends, we should care about them. What is different: old friends normally are not discarded when worn out - thanks God! As Coco Chanel was talking about timeless couture pieces, this principle may apply to those clothes too. Unless you change your figure dramatically..
In the 18th century (only in England?) it was somewhat bad taste to wear sparkling new clothes - I speak of the leisure classes, of course. As clothes indeed are still an indicator of class, sorry. This habit has come down to us, fresh and sound. There are always the lovely old tweedjackets, which get better and better with age. Or the old cashmere pullover, which has some inbuilt aircondition with all the holes in it. Or the good old "Church"es, hopefully inherited from your grandfather and cherished for their inimitable colour after 40 years of cleaning with several colours of shoepaste. Or the leatherjacket, which looks the part only after two generations having worn them. Those are real friends, never to be parted with. I bet, as soon as you have found a substitute and got rid of the old thing, you never ever wear the new pullover with the same glee as you did the old one. Try it! I bet.
But then there are other old clothes: the horrible ones, mostly used out of indifference for one´s own pleasure and housed in a crammed wardrobe of equal antiquity. They are still "good",ie no holes and all the buttons intact and therefore have to be worn - despite of offending all around you, because the yellow colour of the old poloshirt really does nothing for your complexion, or the cut of the jacket was in the hight of fashion in the early 1980ies, but this revival is to be expected only in 2045. Old worn shoes fall in the same category for women. Likewise plastic trousers, hanging on your stately figure long out of shape, but comfortable. Take a hard look at your old clothes and divide good from simply old. Good exercise, for sure.
I have seen in my time some wardrobes, crammed with clothes, which were only fit for the bin - inspite of horrible high pricetags at the time of aquisition. The only remedy here is ruthless throwing out and weeding. Just imagine that good old Kate would have got married in the meringuedress of her dead mom in law?
So, just get over it and dispose what has had its time and is not worth being kept and loved and worn until the very end. Those get-rid-offs have had their time and deserve a good recycling. Best fate for them: to ressurect as something new/odd/happy for someone who really loves it. One never knows!
Do face it: when you open your wardrobe, then most probably you have admit, that you wear all over and over again always the same old friends. Apparently there are studies, that we out of habit wear only about 20 % of the clothes we harbour and hamster in all possible places. Makes sense, as the times, where one had to change from a morning dress into a lunch ensemble, followed by an afternoondress and get changed for dinner again are long and sadly gone. Would not fit our modern times and timetables... Good golden times...
There are clothes which are simple foolproof - we love them, they are our basics and we can throw them on without even thinking about what we do. A grey jacket, for example - good for everything, from an evening in the Opera or your bussiness dinner and also with jeans good for a stroll in the park. Those basics make the skeleton of our wardrobe. In the best case basics are really your best friends. And as it is the case with best friends, we should care about them. What is different: old friends normally are not discarded when worn out - thanks God! As Coco Chanel was talking about timeless couture pieces, this principle may apply to those clothes too. Unless you change your figure dramatically..
In the 18th century (only in England?) it was somewhat bad taste to wear sparkling new clothes - I speak of the leisure classes, of course. As clothes indeed are still an indicator of class, sorry. This habit has come down to us, fresh and sound. There are always the lovely old tweedjackets, which get better and better with age. Or the old cashmere pullover, which has some inbuilt aircondition with all the holes in it. Or the good old "Church"es, hopefully inherited from your grandfather and cherished for their inimitable colour after 40 years of cleaning with several colours of shoepaste. Or the leatherjacket, which looks the part only after two generations having worn them. Those are real friends, never to be parted with. I bet, as soon as you have found a substitute and got rid of the old thing, you never ever wear the new pullover with the same glee as you did the old one. Try it! I bet.
But then there are other old clothes: the horrible ones, mostly used out of indifference for one´s own pleasure and housed in a crammed wardrobe of equal antiquity. They are still "good",ie no holes and all the buttons intact and therefore have to be worn - despite of offending all around you, because the yellow colour of the old poloshirt really does nothing for your complexion, or the cut of the jacket was in the hight of fashion in the early 1980ies, but this revival is to be expected only in 2045. Old worn shoes fall in the same category for women. Likewise plastic trousers, hanging on your stately figure long out of shape, but comfortable. Take a hard look at your old clothes and divide good from simply old. Good exercise, for sure.
I have seen in my time some wardrobes, crammed with clothes, which were only fit for the bin - inspite of horrible high pricetags at the time of aquisition. The only remedy here is ruthless throwing out and weeding. Just imagine that good old Kate would have got married in the meringuedress of her dead mom in law?
So, just get over it and dispose what has had its time and is not worth being kept and loved and worn until the very end. Those get-rid-offs have had their time and deserve a good recycling. Best fate for them: to ressurect as something new/odd/happy for someone who really loves it. One never knows!
Wednesday 25 May 2011
Monday 23 May 2011
Newest finds for the bathroom
Life never stands still - and I have some new findings for those bathroom shelves!
Have been - again - looking hard at facecreams recently and the fact is, that I do come back over and over again to the hydrating and lovely smelling facecream "Crème Splendide Généreuse" by Annick Goutal. Simply the name is already a treat! At least my skin loves it and if there is some sort of fidelity building up, it is to this one. The eyecream is also - for me - the best I have tried so far and not have become immediately bored with... One which I will certainly try in the future is by Lancome, "Sécret de Vie" - had a tester and loved the very thick and goodsmelling cream-paste - it sinks in immediately and skin pretends to be smooth and flawless. But the price lets your heart sink...
What makes me always curious is the stuff of "Farmacia Santa Maria Novella" in Florence.
When I was a month in Florence in 1989 I did not yet know about them, my cosmetic education starting at Clarins and ending at Clinique at that time ( courtesy to the generous supplies of enchantillons by my sister A. and thanks God, my skin was more robust when young!). If I would have known then, I would most probably have moved in with the soeurs, to learn all about their production and recipes and the lot of it. ( For sure I would not have gone so far as to become a nun for that, no, but pretty near anything else).
So, here in Brussels there is a spot - about I shall write also in due time - where you can find these little jewels! There is a body oil with Jojoba, which smells divine - of pommegrate, which I do do do love. The scent of pommegrate, "Melograno" is also wonderfully oldfashioned and powdery. I have to go back to this one... Old loves are sometimes the best. Then there is also a hydrating cream, "Idralia", which is pretty good and affordable, without any SPF and in a good and easy texture: not too thick and not too thin neither. My daughter nicks this one all the time - and it seems to do her good. Smells of some sort of vanillacurd - mmh. The handcream went with me to Turkey and was and is still a favourite - expensive, but a little goes a very long way... Next time I will try the face water of Orange Blossom - "Aqua di Fior d`Arancio" - do admit! Apparently the Rose Water is more for robust skins, whereas Orangeblossom is soft and kind for hysterical skins like mine. To be followed...
It seems that roses are on my screen right now - there is this Rose-o12, Ultra-Moisture-Serum, by REN, more an oil for the face which is doing wonders on softness and hydration for the more mature skin - I am normally far too lazy for serums and lotions, but this is nice, leaves the skin soft and well hydrated. Have to check out more of their things!
Another, newish find in the scent department is definitively "Les Parfums de Rosine" - there is a shop in Paris, waiting for a post of its own. I have recently dived into "Rosissimo", and it smells great! Not too rosy, as it is a masculine scent, nice mixture between roses, freshness and earthy undertones. Lovely drydown..
By accident I fell over a sample of Galenic Argan Oil Body Lotion - which turns out to be very easy to apply and very hydrating. Advantage is also, that you can get dressed immediately after applying, which is definitely a plus. There is also a new basic series by Vichy, "Essentiels" whose bodylotion is a bit wet at applying, but then sinks in lovely and gives a light smell of roses - better than the horrible plastic smells you get normally in the supermarket creams ( well, apart from Nivea, which is childhood memories pure).
Concering the Summer Tan, there is also a new favourite: Lierac, "Selftanning Lotion for Face and Body" - it smells really good and gives a very natural looking tan. My trick of not getting too streaky brown legs is always to moisturize first and only then layering a small amount of the selftanner on top of it, as the legs are already creamy, the melange is better and more natural. IF it is not enough, you just repeat the procedure the next day, until you look the shade of "brown" which you think is yours. Anyways, one should be cautious not to have too many different colours on the old body - tanned legs and white arms do not look the part.
Latest newest love are Powders - body powders that is. I have read somewhere, that the fine people used to put powder in the shoes before wearing them and I have taken to this habit too - it is highly recommended - feet feel not squeezed into the shoes, do not sweat and look nice after a long day running around. Try it! Babypowder or some delicious powder in your favourite fragrance - Chanel is doing this, Penhaligons, Aqua di Parma and some more.
And as we are at the feet: Chanel Nailpolish "Dragon" nr. 475 should be definitively on your shopping list next time you are out for a treat! Perfect wonderful deep, but brilliant red for those toes!!!
Summer, we are ready!
Have been - again - looking hard at facecreams recently and the fact is, that I do come back over and over again to the hydrating and lovely smelling facecream "Crème Splendide Généreuse" by Annick Goutal. Simply the name is already a treat! At least my skin loves it and if there is some sort of fidelity building up, it is to this one. The eyecream is also - for me - the best I have tried so far and not have become immediately bored with... One which I will certainly try in the future is by Lancome, "Sécret de Vie" - had a tester and loved the very thick and goodsmelling cream-paste - it sinks in immediately and skin pretends to be smooth and flawless. But the price lets your heart sink...
What makes me always curious is the stuff of "Farmacia Santa Maria Novella" in Florence.
When I was a month in Florence in 1989 I did not yet know about them, my cosmetic education starting at Clarins and ending at Clinique at that time ( courtesy to the generous supplies of enchantillons by my sister A. and thanks God, my skin was more robust when young!). If I would have known then, I would most probably have moved in with the soeurs, to learn all about their production and recipes and the lot of it. ( For sure I would not have gone so far as to become a nun for that, no, but pretty near anything else).
So, here in Brussels there is a spot - about I shall write also in due time - where you can find these little jewels! There is a body oil with Jojoba, which smells divine - of pommegrate, which I do do do love. The scent of pommegrate, "Melograno" is also wonderfully oldfashioned and powdery. I have to go back to this one... Old loves are sometimes the best. Then there is also a hydrating cream, "Idralia", which is pretty good and affordable, without any SPF and in a good and easy texture: not too thick and not too thin neither. My daughter nicks this one all the time - and it seems to do her good. Smells of some sort of vanillacurd - mmh. The handcream went with me to Turkey and was and is still a favourite - expensive, but a little goes a very long way... Next time I will try the face water of Orange Blossom - "Aqua di Fior d`Arancio" - do admit! Apparently the Rose Water is more for robust skins, whereas Orangeblossom is soft and kind for hysterical skins like mine. To be followed...
It seems that roses are on my screen right now - there is this Rose-o12, Ultra-Moisture-Serum, by REN, more an oil for the face which is doing wonders on softness and hydration for the more mature skin - I am normally far too lazy for serums and lotions, but this is nice, leaves the skin soft and well hydrated. Have to check out more of their things!
Another, newish find in the scent department is definitively "Les Parfums de Rosine" - there is a shop in Paris, waiting for a post of its own. I have recently dived into "Rosissimo", and it smells great! Not too rosy, as it is a masculine scent, nice mixture between roses, freshness and earthy undertones. Lovely drydown..
By accident I fell over a sample of Galenic Argan Oil Body Lotion - which turns out to be very easy to apply and very hydrating. Advantage is also, that you can get dressed immediately after applying, which is definitely a plus. There is also a new basic series by Vichy, "Essentiels" whose bodylotion is a bit wet at applying, but then sinks in lovely and gives a light smell of roses - better than the horrible plastic smells you get normally in the supermarket creams ( well, apart from Nivea, which is childhood memories pure).
Concering the Summer Tan, there is also a new favourite: Lierac, "Selftanning Lotion for Face and Body" - it smells really good and gives a very natural looking tan. My trick of not getting too streaky brown legs is always to moisturize first and only then layering a small amount of the selftanner on top of it, as the legs are already creamy, the melange is better and more natural. IF it is not enough, you just repeat the procedure the next day, until you look the shade of "brown" which you think is yours. Anyways, one should be cautious not to have too many different colours on the old body - tanned legs and white arms do not look the part.
Latest newest love are Powders - body powders that is. I have read somewhere, that the fine people used to put powder in the shoes before wearing them and I have taken to this habit too - it is highly recommended - feet feel not squeezed into the shoes, do not sweat and look nice after a long day running around. Try it! Babypowder or some delicious powder in your favourite fragrance - Chanel is doing this, Penhaligons, Aqua di Parma and some more.
And as we are at the feet: Chanel Nailpolish "Dragon" nr. 475 should be definitively on your shopping list next time you are out for a treat! Perfect wonderful deep, but brilliant red for those toes!!!
Summer, we are ready!
Sunday 22 May 2011
Saturday 21 May 2011
Are there any Flowers in the house?
There are some indispensable elements in a comfortable home. One of them is the generous display and happy cohabitation with flowers.
As a matter of fact, flowers have an extrem chic factor - and they are easy to display, no need to be a great artist in putting a bunch of flowers of the same kind in vase. Mixed bouquets are perhaps a little bit trickier, but very quickly to be mastered: the 3 colour rule applies here too: green and two colours, different flowers of the same colour family giving an easy impression of glamour. Most glamourous and foolproof ( that´s why they do it) are monochrom bouquets. Really, no secret behind.
Long gone are the days, where every selfconscious lady had her garden and there-in a spot only for flowers to be cut and displayed in the house. We poor citydwellers depend on supermarkets ( not always the worst option if you have developped an eye for possibilities!) or the pleasure of our week: the common market.
Of course, if you happen to live in the country side, there are numerous other possibilities of doing your flower shopping: in the woods for branches, near the roads for Marguerites, Lupines in the sandy woods... But in town: No. No shopping in the public parcs please!
I personally love the flowers, which are in season. They give the year a certain rhythm - especially in rainy Brussels, where the sky has a tendency to wear a certain grey.
In January my first flowers are primroses, snowdrops, going over to wellscented hyacinths. I never buy tulips before Carneval. Soon then in April and May there is lilac and false jasmin: the glory begins. Later in the early summer days the lovely lovely peonies are in bloom ( for a long while now my favourite flowers!!!) and to be bought in the market in huge bunches. They look best on their own, I think - and any beautiful Nymphenburg Vase you should have inherited makes your day filled with lush peonies.
Sommerroses are in abbundance from june and then in august. I love the old varieties best, they have a dense bud and smell beautiful. There are delicate colours to be found from peach to palest white. Beware of the generous display of red roses - the poor dears are so worn out, that it could happen that they do not help to glamour in the house.... The sunflower makes things more earnest and give a hint of autumn. Chrysantemus, for a long time completedly out of fashion are coming back now and I am too happy for this - they look so great in a great mass. In winter the orchidees have their prime time, especially if not left to be alone whilting away, but grouped together, best in one big container with some moss for hiding the roots - they too like company!
One of life´s greatest innocent pleasures: going to the big markets and buying the flowers of the moment in the dozen. Not expensive, too. Right now: PEONIES, roses, and all.
Long gone are the days, where every selfconscious lady had her garden and there-in a spot only for flowers to be cut and displayed in the house. We poor citydwellers depend on supermarkets ( not always the worst option if you have developped an eye for possibilities!) or the pleasure of our week: the common market.
Of course, if you happen to live in the country side, there are numerous other possibilities of doing your flower shopping: in the woods for branches, near the roads for Marguerites, Lupines in the sandy woods... But in town: No. No shopping in the public parcs please!
I personally love the flowers, which are in season. They give the year a certain rhythm - especially in rainy Brussels, where the sky has a tendency to wear a certain grey.
In January my first flowers are primroses, snowdrops, going over to wellscented hyacinths. I never buy tulips before Carneval. Soon then in April and May there is lilac and false jasmin: the glory begins. Later in the early summer days the lovely lovely peonies are in bloom ( for a long while now my favourite flowers!!!) and to be bought in the market in huge bunches. They look best on their own, I think - and any beautiful Nymphenburg Vase you should have inherited makes your day filled with lush peonies.
Sommerroses are in abbundance from june and then in august. I love the old varieties best, they have a dense bud and smell beautiful. There are delicate colours to be found from peach to palest white. Beware of the generous display of red roses - the poor dears are so worn out, that it could happen that they do not help to glamour in the house.... The sunflower makes things more earnest and give a hint of autumn. Chrysantemus, for a long time completedly out of fashion are coming back now and I am too happy for this - they look so great in a great mass. In winter the orchidees have their prime time, especially if not left to be alone whilting away, but grouped together, best in one big container with some moss for hiding the roots - they too like company!
One of life´s greatest innocent pleasures: going to the big markets and buying the flowers of the moment in the dozen. Not expensive, too. Right now: PEONIES, roses, and all.
Friday 20 May 2011
Why don´t you...? 8
-Stop worrying?
It helps nothing, changes nothing but depletes you of your energy like a drain with rainwater. Worrying is nothing more than the "keep busy" approach of the brain, blocking out other possibilities and keeping you in suspense. The one who worries normally does not find the obvious solution.
-Stop nagging?
Nagging is an unconscious habit - it worms itself into your brain and all of a sudden takes over. Lateral damage is, that nobody will want to be near you - naggers are no fun at all. Give them a glas of Champagne, and they will still find fault in it: or the bubbles are to big or it is a degree to warm. Brr.
-Stop regretting?
What is past is past is past. No way of getting the clock turning backwards. The "IF I ONLY" sentences are not allowed - again, they stop you in going on to find new pastures, where your loves and interests can find new and fresh green grass to indulge on.
-Stop hating?
So tiring and so overwhelmingly emotional. The one who hates can´t let go of the thing/person/idea he hates. Sort of obsession. Obsession = not good. Stop it, move on.
- Stop playing in the National Lottery?
Thou willst not win - apart from the 35 Euros every 7 years. Better to invest it in gold. One ounce is quickly bought, and over the years.... some sort of Lottery with the gold-price though. All the thrill, and no risk of loosing, how is that???
It helps nothing, changes nothing but depletes you of your energy like a drain with rainwater. Worrying is nothing more than the "keep busy" approach of the brain, blocking out other possibilities and keeping you in suspense. The one who worries normally does not find the obvious solution.
-Stop nagging?
Nagging is an unconscious habit - it worms itself into your brain and all of a sudden takes over. Lateral damage is, that nobody will want to be near you - naggers are no fun at all. Give them a glas of Champagne, and they will still find fault in it: or the bubbles are to big or it is a degree to warm. Brr.
-Stop regretting?
What is past is past is past. No way of getting the clock turning backwards. The "IF I ONLY" sentences are not allowed - again, they stop you in going on to find new pastures, where your loves and interests can find new and fresh green grass to indulge on.
-Stop hating?
So tiring and so overwhelmingly emotional. The one who hates can´t let go of the thing/person/idea he hates. Sort of obsession. Obsession = not good. Stop it, move on.
- Stop playing in the National Lottery?
Thou willst not win - apart from the 35 Euros every 7 years. Better to invest it in gold. One ounce is quickly bought, and over the years.... some sort of Lottery with the gold-price though. All the thrill, and no risk of loosing, how is that???
Wednesday 18 May 2011
Munich Impressions
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| Hofgartengallery |
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| Theatiner Kirche seen from the Hofgarten |
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| People in the Hofgarten |
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| One of the possibilities to eat outside in the Residenzstrasse |
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| Boule in the Hofgarten |
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| The pavillion in the Hofgarten |
Tuesday 17 May 2011
1,6 Days in Munich
Brussels, I am back - to rain and cold temperatures, around 8 degrees in the mornings. So no skirts and self-tanned legs, but socks and jackets and grumpy children, who freeze at the busstop in the morning.
In Munich there was rain too, but not ALL the time. In the mornings some heavy-douche-happenings, in the afternoon you could sit again happily outside in the café and people-watch - one of the favourite pasttimes of the munich population. I join in whenever I can! Better than a movie.
I just was there for a little bit more than a day - not much time, indeed, but if you should be one of the Lucky Ones, here is a small bite of things to do in good old Munich. First thing, after being picked up by my friend Lilli at the airport - alone this was already pure luxury, was a coffee and snack in the Glypthothek - a museum with only antique sculptures, a peaceful place and most inviting for a stroll. There is a café, inside and in the patio, where we used to sit during our times as students, as the History of Art Institute and the Musikhochschule are very near. Still the same peaceful and out of space and time atmosphere - only that nowaysdays access to the café alone costs 1 Euro ( well spent I would say) and if you take a card valid a whole year, you have to spend 2,5 Euro. Bavarian generosity.
I did not have too much time for a stroll in the city, as I was seeing friends, but had a quick look around on friday morning. The obligatory look at the Residenzstrassen shop of Eduard Meier was a success - they are already in soldes and I found a great pair of shoes, in green! Not far, in the Theatinerstrasse, is right now a beautiful exhibition about Otto Runge, very pratically settled between all the shops we like. Had a good look at Hugendubel, the bookshop in Munich, right next to the exhibition and enjoyed, once again the peaceful atmosphere of people sitting and reading in the huge old hall of the former Hypo bank.
Lilli and I went also to buy some little presents for the young girls in our lives at Thomas Sabo, toast of town right now - he does little braclets with charms in silver. My daughter got one with a pug!
In the early evening a dear old friend schlepped me to Schumanns, which formerly was on the Maximilianstrasse, but now has been for quite a while already at the Odeonsplatz. A must is a lunch ( only during weekdays) at the backpart of the bar, inside the Residenzgarten. Lovely place to watch tout Munich having the famous Fleischpflanzerl mit Kartoffelbrei ( meatballs with potato mash - horrible translation of the most delicious comfort food !!) - anyway, they are famous for their good cooking and their Bratkartoffeln are really the best in town. There is still this feeling of "Schickeria" simmering - a mixture of old money, wannabees, starlets and sensible down to earth people, elegant but kitschy, easy but artificial - something very special and only found in Munich.
Had a look at the Theatiner Kino - one of the few cinemas, where you can watch films in the original languages - unfortunately, the film I wanted to see as I had missed it here in Brussels, Potiche with Catherine Deneuve in a smart nicky gym outfit, had started already at 17.00, so no chance. Alternative: off to one other favourite place: Ludwig Beck am Rathaus Eck. Just celebrating their 150th anniversary and looking very much alive.
Had a good good look at the music shop in the 5th floor - they have the most amazing choice of classic music and jazz - also films and dvds - really an Aladdin´s Cave. Could spend hours there. Another must there is always the groundfloor cosmetics department - with all the really nice salespeople, always ready for a chat or a make over, never pressing you to buy. They seem to like their job. After some soulsearching - they have Jo Malone, which is not (yet) available here in Brussels - I left this paradise for another amazing place, a couple of houses further: Manufactum. This is a phenomenon, which is worth some contemplation: you find here only the "good old things", very expensice, very exclusive and very crowded. The typical well earning intellectual is buying here old models of bicycles, creams of Santa Maria Novella ( the place has even some rare scents, which are not to be found anywhere else, like Aqua di Genova!), organic bread and apple juice, biological soda powder for cleaning the toilets and gardentools, specially made bedlinen, etc - the choice is fascinating and I never miss an oportunity to have a look around.
For a good sun-downer, after so much walking and seeing and digesting, the place to be on a sunny day - so I am told, but there was no time - is the roof terrace of the Hotel Bayerischer Hof. Next time. In the later evening we popped into a bar called Tabbaco - apparently a renegade of Schumanns - looks like having been there for years too. Nice cocktails in all shades and good food, too.
I did not have time to stroll the Maximilianstrasse up and down, but then this has little interest: those streets of high luxe start to look all the same all over the world. So boring. The agglomeration is amazing and gives some fun, but then I do not really have to see the same clothes again hanging on the same hungry looking mannequins as I do in Brussels? I am more for the Only-in-Munich-to-find shops. One of them is certainly the Zechbauer Tobacco Shop - opposite of the Opera. Please do stop by and have a look, inhale and enjoy. The atmosphere is a last twinkling of the 1950s and will hopefully not change so soon. Right next to this last of the Munich Jewels is the Meiser Hat shop - also well worth a good dwelling - I found at least 2 headgears, which would have propelled me straight into the jetset orbit - and without having to pay the prices of London or Paris - hope the next wedding is on the horizon, so I have an excuse to come to Munich to buy my hat there - so chic! Coming back to the Weinstrasse, there is for the cosmetic and scent friend one place of veneration: the Parfumerie Brückner - for already three generations and a friendly and cosy place in our eternal search for the right scent. Amazing choice!! Not only Castle Forbes, but also Nicolay. Real niche stuff. Wonderful!!!
And this was already the small slot I had for Munich - otherwise friends and family and wonderful bavarian landscape, trees and sky. Some pictures will come soon...
In Munich there was rain too, but not ALL the time. In the mornings some heavy-douche-happenings, in the afternoon you could sit again happily outside in the café and people-watch - one of the favourite pasttimes of the munich population. I join in whenever I can! Better than a movie.
I just was there for a little bit more than a day - not much time, indeed, but if you should be one of the Lucky Ones, here is a small bite of things to do in good old Munich. First thing, after being picked up by my friend Lilli at the airport - alone this was already pure luxury, was a coffee and snack in the Glypthothek - a museum with only antique sculptures, a peaceful place and most inviting for a stroll. There is a café, inside and in the patio, where we used to sit during our times as students, as the History of Art Institute and the Musikhochschule are very near. Still the same peaceful and out of space and time atmosphere - only that nowaysdays access to the café alone costs 1 Euro ( well spent I would say) and if you take a card valid a whole year, you have to spend 2,5 Euro. Bavarian generosity.
I did not have too much time for a stroll in the city, as I was seeing friends, but had a quick look around on friday morning. The obligatory look at the Residenzstrassen shop of Eduard Meier was a success - they are already in soldes and I found a great pair of shoes, in green! Not far, in the Theatinerstrasse, is right now a beautiful exhibition about Otto Runge, very pratically settled between all the shops we like. Had a good look at Hugendubel, the bookshop in Munich, right next to the exhibition and enjoyed, once again the peaceful atmosphere of people sitting and reading in the huge old hall of the former Hypo bank.
Lilli and I went also to buy some little presents for the young girls in our lives at Thomas Sabo, toast of town right now - he does little braclets with charms in silver. My daughter got one with a pug!
In the early evening a dear old friend schlepped me to Schumanns, which formerly was on the Maximilianstrasse, but now has been for quite a while already at the Odeonsplatz. A must is a lunch ( only during weekdays) at the backpart of the bar, inside the Residenzgarten. Lovely place to watch tout Munich having the famous Fleischpflanzerl mit Kartoffelbrei ( meatballs with potato mash - horrible translation of the most delicious comfort food !!) - anyway, they are famous for their good cooking and their Bratkartoffeln are really the best in town. There is still this feeling of "Schickeria" simmering - a mixture of old money, wannabees, starlets and sensible down to earth people, elegant but kitschy, easy but artificial - something very special and only found in Munich.
Had a look at the Theatiner Kino - one of the few cinemas, where you can watch films in the original languages - unfortunately, the film I wanted to see as I had missed it here in Brussels, Potiche with Catherine Deneuve in a smart nicky gym outfit, had started already at 17.00, so no chance. Alternative: off to one other favourite place: Ludwig Beck am Rathaus Eck. Just celebrating their 150th anniversary and looking very much alive.
Had a good good look at the music shop in the 5th floor - they have the most amazing choice of classic music and jazz - also films and dvds - really an Aladdin´s Cave. Could spend hours there. Another must there is always the groundfloor cosmetics department - with all the really nice salespeople, always ready for a chat or a make over, never pressing you to buy. They seem to like their job. After some soulsearching - they have Jo Malone, which is not (yet) available here in Brussels - I left this paradise for another amazing place, a couple of houses further: Manufactum. This is a phenomenon, which is worth some contemplation: you find here only the "good old things", very expensice, very exclusive and very crowded. The typical well earning intellectual is buying here old models of bicycles, creams of Santa Maria Novella ( the place has even some rare scents, which are not to be found anywhere else, like Aqua di Genova!), organic bread and apple juice, biological soda powder for cleaning the toilets and gardentools, specially made bedlinen, etc - the choice is fascinating and I never miss an oportunity to have a look around.
For a good sun-downer, after so much walking and seeing and digesting, the place to be on a sunny day - so I am told, but there was no time - is the roof terrace of the Hotel Bayerischer Hof. Next time. In the later evening we popped into a bar called Tabbaco - apparently a renegade of Schumanns - looks like having been there for years too. Nice cocktails in all shades and good food, too.
I did not have time to stroll the Maximilianstrasse up and down, but then this has little interest: those streets of high luxe start to look all the same all over the world. So boring. The agglomeration is amazing and gives some fun, but then I do not really have to see the same clothes again hanging on the same hungry looking mannequins as I do in Brussels? I am more for the Only-in-Munich-to-find shops. One of them is certainly the Zechbauer Tobacco Shop - opposite of the Opera. Please do stop by and have a look, inhale and enjoy. The atmosphere is a last twinkling of the 1950s and will hopefully not change so soon. Right next to this last of the Munich Jewels is the Meiser Hat shop - also well worth a good dwelling - I found at least 2 headgears, which would have propelled me straight into the jetset orbit - and without having to pay the prices of London or Paris - hope the next wedding is on the horizon, so I have an excuse to come to Munich to buy my hat there - so chic! Coming back to the Weinstrasse, there is for the cosmetic and scent friend one place of veneration: the Parfumerie Brückner - for already three generations and a friendly and cosy place in our eternal search for the right scent. Amazing choice!! Not only Castle Forbes, but also Nicolay. Real niche stuff. Wonderful!!!
And this was already the small slot I had for Munich - otherwise friends and family and wonderful bavarian landscape, trees and sky. Some pictures will come soon...
Monday 16 May 2011
Wednesday 11 May 2011
Munich, Bavaria
Dear all,
I am off to Munich for a few days and will certainly bring some new ideas and informations for the Good Life! Have already prepared my camera and am looking forward to smell the clean and fresh bavarian air.
Therefore no postings in the next days ( leaves you all time to catch up on those old posts...)!!
Cheers, Jola
I am off to Munich for a few days and will certainly bring some new ideas and informations for the Good Life! Have already prepared my camera and am looking forward to smell the clean and fresh bavarian air.
Therefore no postings in the next days ( leaves you all time to catch up on those old posts...)!!
Tuesday 10 May 2011
Q&A : dressing in flowers and patterns?
Ha wrote in her comment on my "manifesto for dressing better", that she loves to dress in flowers and patterns all the same - cheeky question: would that be allowed?
Yes indeed! (Who am I not to allow you to dress as you like??)
I for one like clear lines and clear colours - but this is a personal preference of mine. I think, it is always so tiring, if you cannot see the eyes and the face of a person, because there is so much going on in her dress and hair. It makes me nervous. This said, patterns are a wonderful thing in fashion, as are flowers. Colours in general!
For flowers a word of caution: IF you dress in a flowerpatterend dress you have two possibilities: or you have the traditional "tea-dress" out of the 1930, which are combined with sleek hair, little jewellery, clear colours in accessories (f.e. shoes and handbag in the same colour and a good red lipstick).
This can quickly look pretty dowdy, so be careful - bold statements are required here! I think it is also a question of age and especially the age of your mind. I have seen matronly ladies dressed in flowery frocks and with a small round hat at weddings, sporting white embroidered gloves: all you want is to scream, turn on your toes and run for the hills. Mutton dressed as lamb is just not acceptable - even, apparently, if there is a public out there. So if you really want a smallflowered dress, make it modern in restricting other colours, wear it with bold and big singlecoloured jewellery and never ever ever wear white shoes (brr..).
The other variation is Flowerpower pure, with huge flowers, overwhelming and very present. This can be gorgeous, if the occasion is right and the surroundings complimentary. Beach, swimmingcostumes for the slim one, gardenparty in the grand life, but please not for the barbecue on the balcony of your neighbour in the 3th floor.
The idea of the Hawai Shirt and badly cut shorts is to be avoided, by both sexes and definitely after 20. I doubt even Hugh Grant could pull it of in "4wed&1Fun".
Pattern is again another thing.
African Patterns are glorious and very chic if applied with restriction, once again. I have a 2-coloured, not too small patterend dress by Diane Fürstenberg, which is so easy to wear - the pattern does all the talking, you need a pair of uni shoes, a big necklace and off you go. The balance here must lie in the combination of number of colours ( max 3!!!) and the size of the pattern involved. The bigger, the more dangerous. The smaller, the more boring. So, be careful to get it right. When in doubt, refrain...
Of course there are patterns, which are eternal: Leopard and Zebra Prints are always in and out. I have a belt in leo-printed ponyskin, which I love and use a lot. Just for the fun and the touch of it. I used to long for a pair of Leopard trousers, together with a black turtleneck and a sleek bob - seems still a good possibility, when I am in my 70ies. One will see.
Leopard Pattern is also highly recommendable for your Interiors - what is there chicer than a cushion of leopard or zebra on a unicoloured chair in your sitting room. The wild animal is alive in all of us.... and no seriously aspiring flat/apartment/house and sitting room should be without ONE piece of wildness.
All this said, do go ahead and wear pattern and flowers and all which gives you the feeling of being YOU - this is the only thing that counts in the end. Just keep in mind, that the person who looks at you also has feelings and falls under the human rights chartas of this world: don´t be cruel to animals, women and children and make them spinning with patterns and colours, like a trip on LSD ( so I am told?).
Most men will not bother. They do not notice those things.
Yes indeed! (Who am I not to allow you to dress as you like??)
I for one like clear lines and clear colours - but this is a personal preference of mine. I think, it is always so tiring, if you cannot see the eyes and the face of a person, because there is so much going on in her dress and hair. It makes me nervous. This said, patterns are a wonderful thing in fashion, as are flowers. Colours in general!
For flowers a word of caution: IF you dress in a flowerpatterend dress you have two possibilities: or you have the traditional "tea-dress" out of the 1930, which are combined with sleek hair, little jewellery, clear colours in accessories (f.e. shoes and handbag in the same colour and a good red lipstick).
This can quickly look pretty dowdy, so be careful - bold statements are required here! I think it is also a question of age and especially the age of your mind. I have seen matronly ladies dressed in flowery frocks and with a small round hat at weddings, sporting white embroidered gloves: all you want is to scream, turn on your toes and run for the hills. Mutton dressed as lamb is just not acceptable - even, apparently, if there is a public out there. So if you really want a smallflowered dress, make it modern in restricting other colours, wear it with bold and big singlecoloured jewellery and never ever ever wear white shoes (brr..).
The other variation is Flowerpower pure, with huge flowers, overwhelming and very present. This can be gorgeous, if the occasion is right and the surroundings complimentary. Beach, swimmingcostumes for the slim one, gardenparty in the grand life, but please not for the barbecue on the balcony of your neighbour in the 3th floor.
The idea of the Hawai Shirt and badly cut shorts is to be avoided, by both sexes and definitely after 20. I doubt even Hugh Grant could pull it of in "4wed&1Fun".
Pattern is again another thing.
African Patterns are glorious and very chic if applied with restriction, once again. I have a 2-coloured, not too small patterend dress by Diane Fürstenberg, which is so easy to wear - the pattern does all the talking, you need a pair of uni shoes, a big necklace and off you go. The balance here must lie in the combination of number of colours ( max 3!!!) and the size of the pattern involved. The bigger, the more dangerous. The smaller, the more boring. So, be careful to get it right. When in doubt, refrain...
Of course there are patterns, which are eternal: Leopard and Zebra Prints are always in and out. I have a belt in leo-printed ponyskin, which I love and use a lot. Just for the fun and the touch of it. I used to long for a pair of Leopard trousers, together with a black turtleneck and a sleek bob - seems still a good possibility, when I am in my 70ies. One will see.
Leopard Pattern is also highly recommendable for your Interiors - what is there chicer than a cushion of leopard or zebra on a unicoloured chair in your sitting room. The wild animal is alive in all of us.... and no seriously aspiring flat/apartment/house and sitting room should be without ONE piece of wildness.
All this said, do go ahead and wear pattern and flowers and all which gives you the feeling of being YOU - this is the only thing that counts in the end. Just keep in mind, that the person who looks at you also has feelings and falls under the human rights chartas of this world: don´t be cruel to animals, women and children and make them spinning with patterns and colours, like a trip on LSD ( so I am told?).
Most men will not bother. They do not notice those things.
Sunday 8 May 2011
Becoming a favourite colour: BLUE
But a dark blue dress of Diane Fürstenberg is another story! Or mixing black and blue, or prussian blue and brown. Just start to think different about The Blue(s) and a whole new world opens ( as if it would be always so easy?!)
Friday 6 May 2011
Why don´t you...? 7
- do every day something new?
Things you have never done before, like smiling to the busconductor, buying immensly beautiful and expensive flowers in the lunchbreak for your office, walking home on foot, even with the groceriebag stuffed, buying oysters without a reason. Or something more daring - going into an exhibition of something you have always loathed, talking to someone you do not know.
It will give you a sense of being here and there, and alive.
-start to note down the happy things in your day, now and here?
We are all so focused on the catastrophies around us, that we miss out on the real stuff. And often the real life we lead is more optimistic than we do recognize. I am not any longer interested in knowing how many people died in a bus accident in Bangladesh. My knowing does not change anything about it. But my knowing, that I have made the day of the vendeuse in the breadshop, because I smiled to her and asked her, how she was - this makes a difference.
-give up on trying to change other people into your ideal persons?
Selfish and immature.Nobody can and should want to change someone. Look on your own shoes instead.
-start counting those smiles again?
Neverending story.
- start the famous Peach Diet, to get in shape for summer?
You can eat EVERYTHING, but peaches. Hard one, this. I for one cannot follow it. Love peaches.
Things you have never done before, like smiling to the busconductor, buying immensly beautiful and expensive flowers in the lunchbreak for your office, walking home on foot, even with the groceriebag stuffed, buying oysters without a reason. Or something more daring - going into an exhibition of something you have always loathed, talking to someone you do not know.
It will give you a sense of being here and there, and alive.
-start to note down the happy things in your day, now and here?
We are all so focused on the catastrophies around us, that we miss out on the real stuff. And often the real life we lead is more optimistic than we do recognize. I am not any longer interested in knowing how many people died in a bus accident in Bangladesh. My knowing does not change anything about it. But my knowing, that I have made the day of the vendeuse in the breadshop, because I smiled to her and asked her, how she was - this makes a difference.
-give up on trying to change other people into your ideal persons?
Selfish and immature.Nobody can and should want to change someone. Look on your own shoes instead.
-start counting those smiles again?
Neverending story.
- start the famous Peach Diet, to get in shape for summer?
You can eat EVERYTHING, but peaches. Hard one, this. I for one cannot follow it. Love peaches.
Wednesday 4 May 2011
On Luxury
It seems hedonistic to write about Luxury - in the sense of a Louis Vuitton bag and some Manolo shoes, it is also boring. Better to buy Vogue or Harper´s Bazaar for that.
True and real luxury is something quite different and elusive - difficult to recognize and once learned and tasted, never forgotten. It is a certain flair; an attitude; a being-in-the-knowing; quite secret sometimes; never ostentatious. Not to be bought with money - definitely. Sorry for the Beckham Family...
True and deep-going luxury is something very different and has indeed nothing to do with money - or at least after a certain level, it is not any longer possible to buy it with money - you can throw so much cash at it as you like, if you do not know how it looks and feels, you will never find it.
And one advantage: It cannot be taken away easily from someone who knows what I am talking about.
Sounds a bit like the fox and the green grapes, you will say - she has no cash, but knows about Luxury, ha ha ha. But: Indeed, I do.
And now there will be no sermon about how happy we should be to have running water in our bathrooms and heating in winter. Closely viewed, those appliances were the summit of luxury still 80 years ago - only the super-rich could afford the personal and the means to supply generously feline wellbeing in their homes. Just remember all those american heiresses who in the 1920ies married into tremendously cold english castles and whose everlasting heritage is the installation of bathrooms and central heating? THIS was a clash of Luxuries indeed: paid decoration hermits in the park against neverending hot water. Just read Edith Sitwell.
No, real real luxury is something more discreet. And reckless, careless. Sometimes almost haughty. The "not necessity" - only possible for the one who has had everything and can decline, out of knowing and not out of need to proof something.
As it transpires more and more, time is also becoming rapidly a great a luxury - during the last 50 years the fad was, not to have time, i.e. to be important, powerful and jetsetty. This is no longer the case.
People invite again to their homes, do their cooking themselves, some even know the chicken they cook by name. Reading a story to your children yourself instead of a nanny is luxury. To drink wine only, when it is a good one, is another. Drinking champagne for the whole meal. Having fresh flowers in the house. Fresh flowers in the bathroom. A window in the bathroom. Playing an instrument. Painting. A room for oneself. A good piece of soap. Friends. The luxury of having true and everlasting friendships.... Marrying from home, not in a hotel or rented castle is luxury pure. Eating good chocolate, whenever it comes in your way. The feeling of loving and being loved. A good exhibition, with wonderful works of Art - to walk leisurely through it, best in good company, and have a chat about life and its beauty. A good and perfect fitting pair of shoes. The ideal lipstick, which makes you feel 1000 pounds/minute. A good scent. A warm bathroom. Freshly ironed bedlinnen. A place to live, which is home. Space. Quiet. A bedroom facing east, to have the sun in the morning. Coffee and a cigarette with a friend in a lovely café in the beautiful streets of our towns. An old joke shared for 20 years, which still makes you smile. A book read 10000 times, known by heart and still a pleasure to take it in your hands. Travelling by train in an almost empty carriage. Silence. Working in the garden. Waiting for 5 minutes before getting out of bed in the morning. Sitting under an old tree, drinking good tea. Laughing and conversing with friends. Old and young. Sitting in the park with a friend and watching the children play. Walking a dog.
Freedom to do what one would love to do. Looking stupid in the air. Old whisky. A fountain pen. Getting a letter. Looking at old fotographs. Having memories which make you smile....
Time to think.
I could go on and on. But my point is to prove, that real luxury is not dependent on money.
But money is NICE. Ok. Nevertheless..
True and real luxury is something quite different and elusive - difficult to recognize and once learned and tasted, never forgotten. It is a certain flair; an attitude; a being-in-the-knowing; quite secret sometimes; never ostentatious. Not to be bought with money - definitely. Sorry for the Beckham Family...
True and deep-going luxury is something very different and has indeed nothing to do with money - or at least after a certain level, it is not any longer possible to buy it with money - you can throw so much cash at it as you like, if you do not know how it looks and feels, you will never find it.
And one advantage: It cannot be taken away easily from someone who knows what I am talking about.
Sounds a bit like the fox and the green grapes, you will say - she has no cash, but knows about Luxury, ha ha ha. But: Indeed, I do.
And now there will be no sermon about how happy we should be to have running water in our bathrooms and heating in winter. Closely viewed, those appliances were the summit of luxury still 80 years ago - only the super-rich could afford the personal and the means to supply generously feline wellbeing in their homes. Just remember all those american heiresses who in the 1920ies married into tremendously cold english castles and whose everlasting heritage is the installation of bathrooms and central heating? THIS was a clash of Luxuries indeed: paid decoration hermits in the park against neverending hot water. Just read Edith Sitwell.
No, real real luxury is something more discreet. And reckless, careless. Sometimes almost haughty. The "not necessity" - only possible for the one who has had everything and can decline, out of knowing and not out of need to proof something.
As it transpires more and more, time is also becoming rapidly a great a luxury - during the last 50 years the fad was, not to have time, i.e. to be important, powerful and jetsetty. This is no longer the case.
People invite again to their homes, do their cooking themselves, some even know the chicken they cook by name. Reading a story to your children yourself instead of a nanny is luxury. To drink wine only, when it is a good one, is another. Drinking champagne for the whole meal. Having fresh flowers in the house. Fresh flowers in the bathroom. A window in the bathroom. Playing an instrument. Painting. A room for oneself. A good piece of soap. Friends. The luxury of having true and everlasting friendships.... Marrying from home, not in a hotel or rented castle is luxury pure. Eating good chocolate, whenever it comes in your way. The feeling of loving and being loved. A good exhibition, with wonderful works of Art - to walk leisurely through it, best in good company, and have a chat about life and its beauty. A good and perfect fitting pair of shoes. The ideal lipstick, which makes you feel 1000 pounds/minute. A good scent. A warm bathroom. Freshly ironed bedlinnen. A place to live, which is home. Space. Quiet. A bedroom facing east, to have the sun in the morning. Coffee and a cigarette with a friend in a lovely café in the beautiful streets of our towns. An old joke shared for 20 years, which still makes you smile. A book read 10000 times, known by heart and still a pleasure to take it in your hands. Travelling by train in an almost empty carriage. Silence. Working in the garden. Waiting for 5 minutes before getting out of bed in the morning. Sitting under an old tree, drinking good tea. Laughing and conversing with friends. Old and young. Sitting in the park with a friend and watching the children play. Walking a dog.
Freedom to do what one would love to do. Looking stupid in the air. Old whisky. A fountain pen. Getting a letter. Looking at old fotographs. Having memories which make you smile....
Time to think.
I could go on and on. But my point is to prove, that real luxury is not dependent on money.
But money is NICE. Ok. Nevertheless..
Monday 2 May 2011
More of the Life of a Dog
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| In my next life I will be a pug. |
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