to ditch...

...like when in school, when we would skip class to go and have a coffee... at a cafeteria!! Ok, admittedly I only remember doing this once, escaped from education with my (very briefly...) high school  boyfriend on his scooter and went to the city for coffee... it wasn't even a good day... was cloudy and cold... Anyway, the point is that I do not normally skip class... or work... Being an adult all my life, as my kindergarten teacher once said I was never a child (poor me... what a waste...) I always took my responsibilities very seriously and and now, as a professional, I do the same... usually...

Because last Friday I opened my eyes and the sun was shinning so brightly and the sky was so blue that it felt that it would be a crime to go to work! So, obviously not wanting to commit said crime, I didn't go... had a cup of coffee while chatting with my mom on the phone (yes, of course I have a mom, I did not come out of a kitchen sink...) and then got ready and went out... No, I do not have any amazing stories to tell about my day off, my name is not Ferris Bueller, but this is not the point... The point is not whether I did something spectacular, which I didn't (I didn't even indulge into shopping though I did visit one of the most interesting shoe stores in the area which unfortunately had only a very poor selection to offer... I mean, who chooses merely 4 pairs of Jimmy Choo's for a respectable store, huh??...) but it is about what I did not do!

And what I did not do was the expected thing, the usual... I did not follow the routine, I went out of the track even if just for a day... A sunny day that I spent walking under the blue sky, having a drink in little cafe and watching people pass by... no, not much, nothing worth mentioning... But what I think is worth mentioning is this feeling of ditching work (or school or any aspect of our everyday life) just for once, just for fun, just to spend with one's self... and this feeling is better then shoes... A mix of pleasure and freedom and rebellion and a tad of guilt... just a tiny bit of it... ;)

Bubbles... and candles...

You thought "champagne", right? Well, not today, people... though it may very well be the case that a good french bubbly is better than shoes, today's post is (mostly...) non-alcoholic :)

When I moved in to the apartment I currently live, about two and a half years ago, I gained a lot compared to the old one: A great neighbourhood with a shopping area with two supermarkets, a dry cleaner and a shoe repair shop within 5 minutes' walk, two trams stopping outside my door and taking me to the city centre in 3 minutes, a garage so that I can stay dry everyday when I leave for work and when I come back (not to mention that I no longer need to clean my car from the ice every morning during winter time...), a big guest room and lots of storage space for my shoes!

But there was one thing I gave up... my bathtub!! And the pleasure of taking a bubble bath every now and then!! And though most of the time I think that it was a good trade-off, sometimes I really do miss it so much!!
In my old house, I would come home on a Friday evening after work, usually exhausted, and I would finish the working week and welcome the weekend with a bubble bath! I would fill up the bathtub with lots and lots of bubbles and salts and scents and oils, put on some music (I even have a play list suitable for baths in my iTunes... true!!) and light up the candles in the bathroom... Then I would treat myself to a glass of wine and soak in there until all the tiredness would disappear and I would feel like a brand new person!  And that, my friends, was truly better than shoes!!!

Yep, that's it, a nice long bath... Relaxing and pleasant, helps clear up the mind and pumpers the body, not to mention that it's excellent for your feet after having been wearing a pair of stiletto's all day... if you are up to it that is... So I miss it... Especially after a busy week, I really miss it... Not that I would give up all that I gained in this apartment for it... But enough to make sure that I have all the pluses of this home AND a bathtub in the next house, whenever that is :)

Primavera!!

or, if you prefer, Spring!! No matter what the name, the meaning is the same! The time of the year when nature is reborn, colour comes back to our lives, smells fill up the air and we get rid of the heavy coats and jackets... and yes, we take out of their boxes our pumps and moccasins and ballerinas and those classic converse all stars and we wear them with pride and joy! So yes, spring by all means is better than shoes and moreover it combines marvelously with it!!!

I fear spring came two weeks ago... and lasted for about 3 days... started on a Tuesday and was over by Friday... In this country you really have to pay attention not to miss the good seasons, that is spring and summer... the bad ones (autumn and winter) never go unnoticed as they last for sooooooo long you cannot but notice them... and hate them.... But the good ones, with the exception of last year when we had a wonderful spring and a lovely summer (bless global warming...) they can come and go as fast as the blink of an eye... and if you are for some reason away from here, say on holidays in a nice and warm place, then you just miss it and you don't even believe that it happened...

Anyway, this year I was here for it... the sun was shining, the weather was warm, the mood was great and then... it was over... The cold and the rain and the (borderline...) winter came back... along with my bad mood... I know I have promised to talk about good things in this blog (not only good but better than shoes...) so I should stop the whining and the misery and just hope that what happened two weeks ago was just a preview of the spring who is just about to come for good... so that I can wear those lovely snake skin Jimmy Choo ballerinas I have my eye set on ;)