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despite feeling like an old lady due to the flu, today has been the best day ever; and also the coldest.

one. I bought everything to recreate my favourite bagel in london. the beef will start its brining tomorrow. and next week, it will be time for some bagel-making action.

two. I took the loveliest polaroid of my rainy window. blurry and all. I’m in love.

three. I finally made that one dessert I had in mind. photographed it. and talked (too much) about it.

since today is my very own sunday I treated myself with some delicious ricotta and spinach ravioli. hmmmm. good night. x

tags: bread, film, food diary, foodbeam, list, london, pentax me super, polaroid, rain, window.

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to me, a ladybug landing on you means that you have to make a wish. so when I spotted this one on my bike – minutes after I got it – I knew everything was going to be fine.

do you believe in signs?

tags: animals, bike, film, london, pentax me super.

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(top picture by Tim Walker)

one summer ago. we saw wolves. and I fell in love with you.

we had dreams made of road trips, the kind of them where you sleep in the car. we had dreams of lazy nights, the kind of them spent by the seaside with good wine and grilled fish eaten with fingers.

yes, that was the day I fell in love with you.

tags: animals, canon 400D, film, guillaume, love, pentax me super, sadness, tim walker.

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three new things that make me happy.

one. the fantastic polaroid spectra, or more accurately, a minolta instant pro. this is my (only and) very first shot. I’m in love, already.

two. some illustrations I made for foodbeam. drawing feels like kissing, for hours.

three. the bridge that I cross every night. the view from my bike is just breath-taking. I love riding back and forth to work. such a lovely moment.

any happy list to share?

tags: bike, film, fruit, happiness, illustration, list, london, minolta instant pro, night, pentax me super, polaroid.

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three summer essentials for the couple of hours I get to spend at the park during my break.

one. the perfect ballerines. after years spent looking for a replica of the simplest repetto I had back in 2003, topshop made those. same pastel pink. same thin sole. same leather. I am in love.

two. the notebook. and as usual, the papermate felt-tip pen. to work on my little big project.

three. the coffee. a grande skinny iced latte. just enough caffeine to keep me going and make pastries until late at night.

ps. I’m currently listening to a lovely playlist, which I quite fittingly called calm down. here is one of the tracks. the words. the words.

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what are your three summer essentials?

tags: coffee, film, hyde park, london, moleskine, music, pentax me super, shoes, snow patrol, summer.

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today I’ll be looking for a bicycle, then possibly biking to this fair and stopping on the way to sip through a coffee while reading being and the nothingness.

in fact, I’ve finally started enjoying being by myself. no limits, just happiness.

what are your plans for today?

tags: bike, film, london, pentax me super.

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it’s barely monday anymore, but I felt like celebrating this new week. which I expect to be made of visits at the tate modern (Jiri Kovanda’s photography makes me breathless), lunch at borough market, unmatched socks, fireworks inside my heart, fresh green peas, cake drawing, and possibly, a summer pudding.

have fun. x

ps. since I’m on the subject of fireworks, I shall admit that I believed for a long time that they were called feu dentifrice (literally, toothpaste fire) instead of the more conventional – apparently not for my always funny dad – feu d’artifices. thanks papa for having made my world such a crazy cool one.

tags: film, hello monday, jiri kovanda, love, papa, pentax me super, photography, tate modern, toycamera analogcolor.

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an early summer day. we were lying in the sun. surrounded by pretty flowers. and he said, I could die here right now. and I secretly thought the same.

now, a couple of weeks later, I’m left alone with my fears. so many of them. paralysing me. I thought there was no such thins as fearing your own fears, but I’ve been proven wrong.

there is this thing I really want to make happen. instead, I stay nestled in my very own fortress. hiding from the rest of the world.

this is about to change. I’m off to work on the business plan. wish me luck. x

ps. the picture above is very much like an accidental and genuine polaroid quote (minus the polaroid part, that is).

tags: film, la pomme d'amour, london, nature, pentax me super, summer, tate modern.

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this moves me. turning the ordinary into beauty. or perhaps more possibly, underlining the beauty of the ordinary.

when I stepped into room eleven of tate modern’s fifth floor, I was in awe. all those daily objects – part of an installation created by Peter Fischli and David Weiss – are in fact sculptures. I could have stayed there for hours. consciously scanning the details that I would have probably overlooked in my everyday life.

art is this for me. opening a new window to our lives. getting us to think about what surrounds us. and maybe, more simply, making us apperceptive.

what kind of art moves you? to me it’s all about hidden beauty and melancholic words.

tags: david weiss, film, installation, london, pentax me super, peter fischli, tate modern.

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along with every new season that comes, some images become less and less blurry.

bright red cherries, endless nights, hot white sand, splashes of sea water, glasses of golden-coloured wine.

I love summer.

I only wish I was living closer to my three favourite girls of the universe, whose names coincidentally all start with an A. because to me, a summer is not one without them. x

what makes you fall in love with summer?

ps. totally unrelated, but I think it’s safe to say that my favourite lunch ever is: avocado + tomatoes + spring onions + red chillies + coriander + lemon juice + prawns. love love love.

tags: aïda, amanda, anna-sarah, film, fruit, london, pentax me super, summer.