my birthday...

was yesterday... and it was better than shoes!! And no, it did not involve any purchase of my favourite kind...

Since this was not just any birthday, it was my 45th, I started the celebrations as early as three days ago by flying to the Big Apple! Yes, if N.Y. is not THE best place on the planet to be on my own on such a special day, well, I don’t know where that is! Big cities make me feel at ease, they take away my loneliness and make me feel part of a living organism, a buzzing one, one with an energy that charges my batteries! Plus, there’s so much to do here that one could not possibly get bored!

So I arrived, had my first shot of Shake Shack (yes, people, I would cross an ocean for these burgers!) and the day before yesterday I went to see “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert! Fun fun fun!! And there I met two lovely ladies, G and AM, who made me feel at home in their city, invited me to go to dinner with them afterwards and offered me the immense pleasure of a conversation about anything and everything! Ahhhh... meeting such interesting, cultured, funny and talented women, what a treat!

And yesterday I woke up and found a miriade of messages of love and best wishes from all my friends that kept coming all day! Who could ask for anything more?! I felt truly blessed and, mind you, I’m not a religious person! To top it all up, I went for a birthday lunch (you are not really asking where, right?...) and then headed to “The Daily Show” for my “date” with Trevor Noah! Amazing!! I touched hands with Desi Lydic, people!! The day of course could not end without saying “hi” to my favourite building in this city, the Chrysler building! I got there right before it got really dark, smoked a ciggy while looking at all its glory and then headed back to my hotel. Ok... not before I had another burger... I walked a lot, needed the calories!

Yesterday was a wonderful day! One to remember forever! My heart is full of joy, I’m ready to see what the next 45 years will bring and I can’t wait to go to the Met today! Rainy days are great for museum visits 😉

Ps. To the teen boy who told me yesterday “hey lady, you look marvellous today”, many thanks darling, and... call me when you can have a drink 😁

wishes...

...are “better than shoes”. That is, except for when you wish for shoes, then they are just “shoes”... I guess...

But, anyway, yes, wishes... wishes, very very very rarely do come true. Fact. So very rarely that it almost doesn’t even count. I mean, when was the last time you wished for something and it actually happened, hum? It usually rains when you wish it didn’t (and on your good hair day...) and those 2 kilos you put on during Christmas are still with you no matter how many times you wished you lost them and that text you wished for with all your heart never actually did come and if we are talking lottery, forget it, right?

Still... we keep on wishing... we wish upon a falling star (when the sky is clear enough to see it fall...), we make a wish every time we find an eyelash on our cheek and every year when we blow our birthday candles... why? Because... if we stop wishing, then what? If we stop dreaming, then what? A life without dreams, is it worth living? Our wishes, our dreams is what keeps us going when reality gets grim... which is ever so often... we wish because even for that tiny moment we make that wish, we feel such joy as if our wish had actually come true... and it’s worth it, even for that tiny moment! We wish because our wishes are a sort of compass that shows us where we want to go!

So, I say, dream big! No, dream huge! Do not be afraid to wish for the sun and the stars and the moon! Wish for everything your heart desires, don’t discount your yearnings, don't stop longing, don’t get trapped in reality, live in it but be ready to escape from it as often as you can! Wish for love,  wish for friendship, wish for laughter, wish for health, wish for a better world, wish for the change you want to see and then be it!

And you never know... every once in a blue moon, wishes do come true 😉

take a chance...

...it might prove to be “better than shoes”!

I’m a control freak... no, I’m not proud of it, if anything it’s a damn burden usually! I try to stay in my comfort zone as much as possible and, when I cannot do that, I try my hardest to stretch  the comfort zone around my path... to foresee everything, to predict everything, to be prepared for everything ahead...

But... if I look back into my life, the best moments I had were those unforeseen ones! The best experiences were the unplanned ones, the best meals were the ones had by chance at a little restaurant I had not yelped beforehand, the best views were on detours, the best trips were the ones planned at the last minute, the best clothes I have are the ones I thought “oh, this is not me” when I bought them, the best kisses were the ones with people I thought “no way on earth this is ever happening”... yes... the best moments of my life were the result of chances taken! These rare moments in the life of a woman who is afraid to take a chance, were the best ones! And even when it turned out to be... well... not so good (yes, there was the occasional “oh, crap... I should have googled this place first...”) even then, it just made a funny story to tell afterwards!

So, from now on I vow to take more chances! To let go more often! To just wing in, to be present in the moment and enjoy what comes! I vow to be more spontaneous, more unpredictable, more free! And, if I may, I advise you to do the same! Take a chance! Take a chance with that dress you have been thinking about for months but feels “not you”, take a chance with that person you have been thinking about but were afraid to approach because they might say “no”... because, you know, they actually might just say “yes”!...Stop trying to think ahead... think now! Life has no guarantees and that’s the beauty of it! Things can go wrong but things can go right too! Choose to think they will go right and turn it into a self fulfilling prophesy! That’s surely worth a chance, no?