Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas from my family to yours. Hope you have lots of fun today and are surrounded by happy feelings and lots of love!

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Sunday Sunshine

This weekly series of posts is intended to include all the moments that nourish me, that make me happy, that inspire me, that are an experience of love in my daily life.

It feels like I haven't written a sunshine post in a very long while. Between finals and holiday errands life has been a little too busy lately, so I'm glad to finally stop and feel some gratitude. My happy list of the week includes:

Sleepovers with childhood friends

Ideas, ideas, ideas

Christmas decorations

Knowing my family will be with me soon

Candles and glitter

Being done with finals

The Met Museum

Carrot & ginger soup

London, maybe?

Spending hours on the phone with my dad

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Walking Around

Finals. There's something about them that always makes my mind go crazy! Fortunately enough, I've learned––as an eternal student––not to stress about them and to take it easy. In fact, the week of finals has become my favourite part of the term, because it is when I finally manage to concentrate and put all my energy into what I like, researching and writing about what I love. However, this tends to become a problem, since my mind apparently likes finals even more than I do, and starts working so much that sometimes I feel it's going to explode.

Here's what happens. When I'm in finals, trying to concentrate on writing the best research papers I can, my mind always decides to go an step further and starts thinking on a thousand extra things––not just on my research. So ideas will pop-up in my mind and wake me up in the middle of the night, I will have the weirdest dreams, and I will not be able to sit down in class and listen to other people's presentations in peace. Something I truly hate about this is that it tends to result in a lack of sleep––although my mind is normally so active that it doesn't care at all, and I don't even feel tired.

But in New York, I've found a way of calming my mind down––sort of: go out for a walk. Somedays––like today, which has been grey, cold, and miserable––I can't really make myself go out of the warm comfort of my study nook at home. However, some days I have managed to actually leave all my thoughts behind––or at least pretend I'm doing so––and go out for a very long walk. This makes me clear my mind, while helping me open my eyes to new ideas and inspiration. Especially in a city like New York, there are thousands of attractive things to the eyes, and that definitely makes my walks so special.

So yes, walking around has become my dearest strategy to calm my mind. And I've been finding really soothing things lately, such as the pops of blue in one of the beautiful townhouses of the West Village (pictured above).

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Happy Thanksgiving!

Although this year I missed out on my friend D's amazing turkey and Thanksgiving dinner, today is still a day to be thankful for. Even though I'm far away from my family and most of my lifetime friends, I have finally come to a point where I call New York my home, and I am absolutely loving my new life here. I definitely have to be thankful for that!

I'm thankful for New York and its craziness. 

I'm thankful for all the new friends I've made, and from the old ones that have now become my family. 

I'm thankful for my family, who has showed me they can be very close to me, even if we're miles apart. 

I'm thankful for school––yes, I'm a geek––and all the wonderful things I've learned this year. 

I'm thankful for art history and the Met Museum. 

I'm thankful for a potential Ph.D application. 

I'm thankful for finding a new obsession for photography and for everyone who takes the time to see my pictures every day. 

I'm thankful for seeing my dreams slowly coming true. 

I'm thankful for life!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Sunday Sunshine

This weekly series of posts is intended to include all the moments that nourish me, that make me happy, that inspire me, that are an experience of love in my daily life.

My new baby––aka project that I'm working on––finally has a name

Walking in the rain

Fall foliage in New York––especially in Central Park

Christmas decorations everywhere

Fairytale evening dresses

The Met Museum & the Apollo Circle

Fairy lights

Algerian food––especially the desserts

Seeing my girls!

Dancing the night away

My 5 year old cousin's letter to Santa

December is almost here!!!

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Sunday Sunshine

For one of my classes at Parsons, we've been keeping a happy journal for almost a month now. This is one of the classes that I struggle with the most because it's absolutely different from everything I'm used to. However, it's been teaching me how to overcome my lack of creativity and it has made me push the barriers of my daily life.

After spending pretty much all day in bed knitting and listening to music on a rainy New York yesterday, I decided it would be nice to change my now "traditional" Sunday inspiration series of posts for a happy one. After the first week or so of keeping my happy journal I realised that writing down all the little things that make my days happy inspires me much more than anything else in life...

So I thought it could be cool to translate this inspiration into a new weekly series of posts, which is intended to include all the moments that nourish me, that make me happy, that inspire me, that are an experience of love in my daily life. I hope they inspire you as much as they inspire me!

Eating pumpkin ice cream at 40 Carrots

Dreaming of princess palaces with my baby S

Finally making the time to read Balzac 

Knitting the warmest scarf

Halloween costumes

Blankets

Planning a wedding in the Temple of Dendur

Skirts

Rainy days in bed

Waffles for breakfast

Earl Grey tea

Evening & party gowns

Boots! 

Hot water

New friends

Christmas decorations

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Winter Essentials: Beanies & Parkas

My friend Diego had his birthday on Monday, so we went out for dinner and some drinks to celebrate. To be honest, he's one of my favourite people in the world because he's got such a good energy that you can't stop being happy whenever he's around you. But I especially loved on his Birthday how he was so excited about it that he even made us all sing to him. He also asked the waiters if they could do it but they didn't like the idea that much...

Another thing I love about Diego is his honesty. And how he loves bossing around and telling everyone what to do... Which is exactly why I'm writing this post! He told me I was looking pretty the day of his birthday and told me to go and take some pictures with the clothes I was wearing and upload them on the blog. And since I love him so much because he's a great friend, I'm following his instructions.

Love,

The Twelve Grapes

One of my favourite rituals for NYE is the 12 grapes. It consists on eating 12 grapes and making a wish with each one of them, the moment the clock strikes 12. My friend Geoffrey says he loves it because speed is a very important factor in the game. Anne thinks it's great, so she decided to include the tradition to start 2014 in a great mood. I just think it's the best tradition you can ever get!!

However, 12 wishes tend to be a lot. I don't remember a time when I've been able to actually wish for 12 important things, so I usually end up wishing for unicorns and glitter and monkeys... This year, however, the wishes came out more naturally, leaving me only a couple of grapes to wish for things that are not so closely related to me. This --as well as my resolution list, which I wrote on the 1st––made me realise that 2014 will definitely be a great year in my life!

The Sky Is The Limit

With graduation from college coming so soon, deadlines for grad school applications happening this week, and my first travel of the year happening in only 3 days, I'd say there's nothing holding me back from achieving my dreams this year. If there's a word I'd say describes me, it's dreamer. Ever since I was a child, I remember dreaming of big things happening to me. And so far, I haven't been disappointed. I do have some ups and downs––but hey, don't we all have those?-- but I'm absolutely thankful for what I have. I think I'm a very lucky person!!!

Revealing my wishes would bring me bad luck. But I can share my resolutions. In fact, I've always thought that sharing them with my friends and family actually helps me succeed in them because I feel the responsibility, now that other people know what I'm supposed to be doing. Doesn't it happen to you?

During the last weeks of December, I realised I was feeling really thirsty before going to bed. And after doing a quick analysis to my daily routine, I discovered I was drinking too little liquid. So I decided I should start drinking more water this year. Water is good for you, since it helps you stay hydrated and it also helps other body functions, such as digestion. So, yes... Bring me some water!

Speaking of being healthy... I've mentioned before how much I love yoga, and how great it is to stay healthy. However, when I get absorbed into my college assignments, I tend to forget about it and just leave yoga behind. And this is absolutely terrible, especially because yoga helps me relief all the stress, as well as any tensions I might have from working all day in front of a computer or with my nose inside a book. So I decided I will do more yoga this year, especially during those hard study times!

One resolution/wish that has been constant throughout my entire life has been traveling. And, although I'm leaving to Rome on Saturday, I still want to know many places of the world and visit countries I've never seen. So travel is another resolution. Any cool destination suggestions out there?!

I probably haven't mentioned this before, but I'm currently applying to grad school... So if everything goes according to my plans, I will be leaving home and moving overseas by August/September. This means I will have to leave my family and I won't have the chance to kiss my sister every morning before going to school. So I think I should just try and spend more quality time with my family. That way I will probably miss them less when I go... Or I might not, but at least I'll know I spent as much time as it could with them when it was possible!

I'm also becoming more and more addicted to food. However, I'm not a big fan of seafood and I don't usually try new things out. But this might be because I haven't explored enough. So I decided to stop being a chicken and try more things out. If I don't like them, that's ok... But at least I'll know I've tried them!

Finally, I want to improve my jewellery design/making abilities. I will be taking a jewellery course this semester, and I really hope this will boost my creativity and improve my skills. I can't wait for my lessons to begin!

Love,



Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Christmas Dinner

One of the things I love the most about Christmas is that it is almost a worldwide holiday. Even if different cultures celebrate it different ways, I'm pretty sure almost everyone around the world knows the magic of Christmas trees and fairy lights, and the sound of Santa's laugh.

One of my favourite traditions in Colombia is having dinner on Christmas Eve. Ever since I was a small child, I remember seeing my mum and my grandma baking a huge turkey for all of us to eat. I remember playing with my three cousins until Santa came with our presents. I remember being as happy as I could possibly be!

This year––and it has been similar for several years now––it was a quieter Christmas: just my mum and dad, my sister, and I. But we couldn't skip the turkey. It's definitely the best turkey on Earth and I would never miss it. This time, we had it with potato salad. My dad contributed with a special wine he had saved for a special occasion––a Santa Rita sauvignon blanc Reserve 2007––and I made some mushrooms for a starter, and the dessert was our favourite chocolate cake!

We had dinner at home: a place that I used to believe could compare to Santa's own place of living. My mum is the hugest Christmas addict I've ever seen, and she has always decorated the house with the best of Christmas. I remember my friends from school loved to count how many Christmas trees there were––and this number was never below 20! And this year it was as magical as always: full of lights and love!

Oh, and Rudolph came by to say hello!

Merry Christmas!!!

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Merry Christmas, Everyone!!!

I must confess I have mixed feelings about Christmas. I really love all the lights and parties and seeing old friends... But at the same time I hate all the stress, gift wrapping and shopping––this is only cool when you're doing it for fun!

The same kind of mixed feelings I have with respect to Christmas songs. I bet you all know it's Christmas time when you wake up with a ridiculous Christmas song in your mind. And even if you pretend you hate it, you can't help but smiling when you listen to your first Christmas song of the season, don't you?

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

My dad's birthday was on Wednesday, and my sister and I decided we should make him happy for the day. So we made a a reservation in one of our favourite restaurants––Harry's Bar––and invited him to lunch.

He's absolutely a meat person––I guess I didn't learn to eat from him––so he ordered baby-back ribs. I was so tempted to try them that I asked for a bit... And they were just amazing! The barbecue sauce was made with guava––a tropical fruit that has a sweet flavour––which made the sauce really soft and delicious. Plus, it had a unique taste!

My sister and I decided to share the Harry's Bar Ravioli. These are filled with crab and salmon, and they have Bechamel sauce with some tomatoes. They're so delicious I could eat them every single day of my life!

We also ordered some asparagus with butter as a side to share. One of the things I like the most of this restaurant are the side dishes. They're made to share, so they're huge. And if you have a bigger appetite than we had that day, it means that you can actually try different sides –and trust me, they're all delicious!

Finally, we ordered chocolate cake with nocciola in the inside and vanilla ice cream. This was a bit of a sugar overdose –especially considering we were having Birthday cake later on that day– but absolutely delicious. I could never eat one of those by myself, but when you're sharing with your family it gets better!

After going back home, we sand Happy Birthday to my dad and let him have his birthday wishes. My wish for him is to be happy, and I hope he was that day!

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio