couchsurfing addiction

ENG

When you say “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

Because it is for necessity and needs that you get in touch with Couchsurfing.

“I found a super-low cost flight to Stockholm, I’ll leave in two weeks!”

“Stockholm is really beautiful, it’s a pity that it’s the most expensive city in Europe!”

Recently it happened to me, and it happened to many people, for any city in the world. Pushed by the idea to find a way to save money till the last cent on holiday, you try to cut at least on the heaviest cost: the accommodation. So you get to know Couchsurfing and a world opens to you.

It’s July, the exams for high school diploma have already finished, the travel planned before is faraway and there’s no responsibility till October. You have two options: watching again the 6 seasons of Sex and the City + the two movies or throw yourself in an adventure without references or certainties. So I decided to begin hosting with Couchsurfing.

I wouldn’t know if Couchsurfing or Ryanair helped me more to discover the world. It’s sure that with the first one I could do it on the veranda, without luggage limits.

Switzerland, Turkey, Honduras, Brasil, Australia, Poland, France, Japan flew to my house. I learnt what the names of Dragon Ball characters mean, how to make origami, and the abc of Japanese and Turkish cousine. I know everything about Brazilian and Polish politics, about Turkish design. I have a boundless knowledge of how people enjoy in Honduras and what you can drink in Poland, about Swiss and French universities and Australian fashion.

I have a complete enough idea on how people see Italians abroad, on how much can be exiting and touching staying in front of St. Mark square or Duomo in Milan.

I saw the shocked faces discovering that Italians can eat a pizza each, I enhanced the beauty of the sound of our language, in addition, finally, to find again the bravery to speak English. I have become an expert in farewells, even though the hope to meet again one day to the other part of the world never dies.

If you’re still wondering what I am talking about, take a look to Couchsurfing, surely one of the pages that changed my life.

ISSUU - free gorgeous magazines

KNEON                                                                   FRISCHE

ENG

One of my favourite sports is to go to Mondadori in Duomo square and browse for hours all the crazy foreign magazines they have, of course without buying anything because none of them costs less than 10€. As well, it’s  not possible taking pictures to the incredible reports, because – we can say it – it’s not so good, so I come back home every time more down-hearted for all the beauty lost into thin air. In this situation of despair I tried to find something on the web but it didn’t work: some of them are so underground to not have their website (I googled everything, I swear.) In compensation I found out the website that changed my life, where mainly indie magazines - that cannot even afford to print - can publish their editorials on issuu.com, legally and for free for each reader. And often they’re more beautiful, interesting and original than the ones you buy at the news-stand.

Here the magazines I got addicted to.

gente strana ma bella

ENG

Did you know that the things that in common life are absolutely outmode are fashionable in real fashion? Real fashion, the one of whoisinthecircle, is always, paradoxically against the tide. Because it seems by now that to be creative consists just in denying what people think is right and raise as stunning everything people think is wrong. So we’re open to sandals with socks, one-piece swimsuits, men wearing skirts, white hair. I suggest you to throw away your skinny jeans, low waist jeans, stiletto heels and shatush.

And I’ll tell you the truth, I think thecircle fascinated and convinced me.

just bored

ENG

I think I grew up in these last eight months more than in all my life. I mean, I found myself, I understood what I’m really able to and what I’m not good at. I learnt how to put myself to the test, to sort out for myself, but aboveall (more than anything else) to get bored and astonished with an incredible talent.

Truly, my passion for fashion was born many years ago, when I began to follow the first bloggers who were appearing (yeah, before it was mainstream) and to dream of all their clothes. I’m very alive to how people are dressed on the streets, and street style was my world. Now guys, after 5-6 years of black trousers + white t-shirt + leather jacket I have to say stop. Is it really necessary sharing your outfit of jeans + white t-shirt + shoes of the moment every damn day? I could be envious (yes I am, a lot), but you have a lot of money and opportunities. So, risk, reinvent yourself, let us be surprised! And I’m not saying that shirt + jeans or trousers + t-shirt are  ugly/wrong/boring, but I can understand by myself it is a pretty match. Please, it’s not necessary that you show it every damn day. With love.

And follow Susie of Style Bubble, a blogger and woman who knows how to do it.

life is too short to

ENG

Of the series “pills of simple wisdom of an almost-twenty-year-old girl”.

Life is too short to not begin to become what you want to be today. To continue to try to earn money you’ll never enjoy, because you do and will have a job you hate for all your life.

Life is too short to skip the dessert to order twice the same pizza. To finish reading a book you don’t like or to watch a boring movie.

Life is too short to not begin saving money to go to New York, To India, to Thailand, to China or to Australia. It’s too short to lose even only a summer in Riccione.

Life is too short to wear boring clothes and shoes that hurt. To not wear a different necklace or earrings every day. To always have the same hairstyle.

Life is too short for who dream too big. For who don’t believe in himself, and for who believe too much in it.

“Life is too short to waste it and realize other’s dreams.”

Oscar Wilde

what I'll buy when I'm rich

 James Hock

ENG

It’s a matter of pure envy, I swear. But I’ll never understand who spends 100€ (because it’s possible spend them) for a white t-shirt. So I get indignant about it, I search for a reason inside me, I imagine a conversation with the possible person, trying to explain how many incredible high-quality items exist, result of a deep research of young designers, who look for a place in the fashion world dominated by the same 10-15 famous maison. And I dream about when I’m rich.

(I didn’t write the price because I wanted to cry)

l'insostenibile leggerezza della dieta

ENG

My willpower is something like around zero, whatever the matter is. I'm the classic type of person who excites for two days, and finishes - always and punctually - to let herself go to her weaknesses and to boredom. So, every year May comes and I decide that - when feast days are over - I don't have justifications anymore and I have to lose weight. And not with a view to the swimsuit season at all, I probably go to the seaside once in July and maybe once in August, and only if they force me or I have a lot of time to lose. The only real reasons to lose weight is worth for are: to wear two clothes got back in a jumble from my wardrobe and look like wicked cool anyway, and to eat a lot without feeling so much guilty. Exactly, as soon as I lose one kilo I can’t look forward to pig out, because I have lost one kilo and then I enter in a vicious cycle, which as soon as I allow me to step out of line in my healthy diet, this become a huge mistake and I have to begin all over again.

Will ever exist a moment when we women will stop wanting to lose weight?

blogger of the week - Love Aesthetic

ENG

I appreciate Ivana from Love Aesthetic for the way she’s able to be totally loyal to herself and her style, focused uniquely on black and white. Despite that, she’s never banal in any way, on the contrary she’s able to be more original than a lot of other bloggers in the world. And what can I say about her unlimited clutches? Perfection.

my personal energy

ENG

It's true, white is ideal for spring and summer, it spreads a sense of balance, serenity and quietness. However, you can't live always down-to-earth. The stroke of energy that a touch of colour can give you is  invaluable. And believe me, inspiration can come unexpectedly as from a starry sky, as from a multitude of flowers, and the same from the reflection of the sun on a wall. Shown below some moodboards I did on paper in the last months. 

what if

ENG

Between the International Furnishing Exhibition and other activities, I was missing quite a lot but I count on being forgiven soon. It’s exactly among the events that invaded the city in these days, observing  every type of people, that I developed some considerations about what the value of money is for me.

I came to the conclusion that with the money spent for a Louis Vuitton, I would leave for Japan tomorrow.

With the money spent for shatush, I would buy hair masks for a year.

If I could buy Beats headphones, I’d rather choose 4 or 5 concert tickets.

If someone gifted me a Tiffany ring, I would sell it to fill up my house with blooming flowers.

Instead of buying a pair of Hogan and looking like a post-menopausal 50-year-old woman, I’d prefer these, these, and these shoes to my collection.

Instead of staying three weeks per year on holiday in a 4 star hotel, I’d swap my flat with one at the first stair with the garden.

Probably it’s only a matter of priority.

parisian farirytale

ENG

Coming in Paris is the beginning of a fairytale. And as it is made of princesses, castles, and heroes, you realize the ville lumierewelcomed you thanks to some details. The first “Brasserie” sign, ivory on a red background if possible. The outline of the Eiffel Tower that – you don’t know how it can do it – appears among the buildings, wherever you turn around. A man with a baguette, and another one, and another one again. The blue plaque in Rue de Rivoli and an indication to the Opera. The tree-lined avenues in the center, but also in the suburbia, and a guy skating among people. A girl, with the fringe and a striped t-shirt, runs on her heels like she has never done anything different in all her life. And everyone lived happily ever after.

blogger of the week - Lucitisima

ENG

I discovered Lucitisima pretty much... Today! I couldn't stop searching for her old looks (I looked until something like September 2013) and now I can do without it. I was seriously tempted to go out and buy a pair of white jeans, above all because almost everything Lucita wears is from H&M or Zara (like the marble ones I absolutely have to find). Discovering a new blogger is a great satisfaction!

a sort of home

ENG

You take up residence on your own, without money, shared with other people, in a house furnished in the 70s, and even in a bad way. Your only relief valve can be your bedroom, usually small and spare.

Shown below some photos of simple, possible, lowcost, funny,  solutions to transform an anonymous room-pit into something that can be like your “home sweet home”.

blogger of the week - Frassy

ENG

For me  Frassy is: wide skirts, pastel tones, crazy hair, tiny height, double polka dots, puff sleeves, Audrey glasses, and above all Paris. “A spontaneous overflow of fashion”, using her words. At this point, I think it’s taken for granted why I’m obsessed about her blog.

ode to simplicity

ENG

“Luxury is the expression of rude wealth that wants to shock who remained poor. It's the expression of the importance given to appearance, and reveals the lack of interest in everything is cultural elevation. It's the triumph of appearance on substance.

Luxury is necessary for a lot of people who want an impression of supremacy on the others. But the others, if they're civil people they know luxury is fiction, if they're ignorant people they'll admire and probably envy who live in clover. But who's interested in the admiration of ignorant people? Maybe stupid people.

For example: how a gold tap can be necessary? If some polluted water spills from that gold tap, isn't it smarter putting a purifier keeping the normal taps with the same costs? So, luxury is the wrong use of expensive materials, which don't improve the purpose.

[...]

In other words, I want to say that luxury is not a problem of design”.

Bruno Munari, “Da cosa nasce cosa”, 1981

lowcost magazine editorial

ENG

It's true, I'm subscribed to ELLE magazine, I confess, and I often fall in love with its articles. But I'm sorry, my favourite fashion shootings are for sure the ones by D Repubblica, which gives you newspaper+weekly publication for 1.60€. Lowcost wins, one more time.

travelling is always a good idea

ENG

We all know that travelling is awesome, it’s not necessary saying it. But is it really useful visiting thousand places, tasting briefly some little thing under the summer sun, led by who knows which tour guide or similar? I don’t know, this is not my style. Finding some time to go some days on a strange vacation, in an unusual period in which Ryanair begs us on its knees to get on its plane, is always possible. And my surprising advice is: come back in the same place, more times, in different seasons, in the distance of years, because it’s better knowing and understanding a place, a culture, a population deeply, rather than being strangers, or better tourists, everywhere. Maybe I’ll grow up, I’ll realize I haven’t enough time to visit all the countries I want to, and I’ll change my mind drastically, but it’s not the time. Is there anyone else like me?

If yes, or also if not, in two weeks I’ll leave to Paris for the ninth (or tenth?) time, spending 55€ for the flight, round flight I mean. My boyfriend will accompany me, and - as always – my friend Ryanair, that leaves from Bergamo, from Milan for 4€ and comes back from Paris for 15€ (alas!). and yes, distances are measured in euros, because kilometers and time don’t exist; they’re discovery, travel experience, while money doesn’t grow on trees. Even easier and often cheaper, Thello night train leaves from Venice or Milan for 35€ and gives you good morning in the center of Paris, usually enriching you with some new curious knowledge. And then, there’s someone lucky to have a brother that lives there; for all the others, couch surfing exists.

And the holiday is served.

blogger of the week - Cuillère à absinthe

ENG

My mood of this week is for sure that of Cuillère à absinthe.

I’m partial to her hair, her fringe, the vintage tone of her photos, to stripes and polka dots,  faded denim, gray, and her loafers. Saying that Typhaine is a great inspiration is not enough, for me she’s rather a model.

apps - Top 5

ENG

I want to thank technology for sure, and aboveall the Appstore. Although we’re talking about a huge world, and who knows how many apps I’ll discover in the future, I want to share the ones I depend on at the moment and that makes me save (or I think they do) a lot of money.

IT
Il ringraziamento di oggi va sicuramente alla tecnologia, ma soprattutto all'appstore. Per quanto sia un mondo immenso e chissà quante app ancora scoprirò in futuro, per il momento voglio condividere quelle da cui ormai dipendo è che ogni giorno mi fanno risparmiare (o mi illudo che mi facciano risparmiare) molti soldini.

ESP
Hoy quiero agradecer la tecnología y sobre todo el Appstore. Es un mundo inmenso, y quien sa cuántas apps aún descubriré en futuro, ahora quiero compartir las de que dependo a esta altura y que me hacen ahorrar (o creo que me hacen ahorrar) mucho dinero.

MELAROSSA

Sure, it’s not as I’m going to a nutritionist, but this app allows me to organize my meals according to weight, measures, tastes and activities I do during the day, however it doesn’t allow me to lose more than a kilo per week (which I think is the right amount). The option I prefer is the grocery list that is already ready: a dream.

MELAROSSA

Non sarà certo come andare dal dietologo, ma questa app permette di organizzare i propri pasti in base al proprio peso, alle proprie misure, ai gusti e alle attività svolte durante la giornata anche se non permette di perdere più di un chilo a settimana (e mi sembra pure giusto). L'opzione che preferisco è la lista della spesa già pronta, un sogno.

MELAROSSA

Por cierto no es como ir al dietista, pero esta app permite organizar las comidas según el peso, las misuras, los gustos y las actividades hechas durante el día, pero no permite perder más de un kilo por semana (que creo es la justa cantidad). La elección que prefiero es la lista de la compra ya preparada, un sueño.

blogger of the week - Do the Hotpants

ENG

The blogger of the week is DO THE HOTPANTS. I love the way Dana can be so original and chic, mixing ethnic and minimal, and playing without taking herself too seriously. Moreover, she deserves a visit just for her brilliant and autoironical comments on looks, poses, and expressions. You absolutely can't miss it.