Patricia loves: Strawberry Koi

May 16, 2013 | patriciablaj

Hey lovely people! I wanted to apologize for not posting as much as I’ve used you to and not replying to all of your lovely comments, but I’m having a really crazy week, month actually now that I think about it. I promise I’ll get back on track as soon as possible!
As for today, I’d like to share with you a brand that’s been growing on me really fast these days. I stumbled upon their lookbook after their name, Strawberry Koi, caught my eye and decided to follow their blog. Their owners, Aya and Thomas Smith describe it as the lovechild between fashion and photography, with a touch of vintage. They’ve got two oh so darling children and take the loveliest photos. I’ll leave you with their SS2013 lookbook for now, since I really need to get my ass back to studying

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Patricia Loves: Fabled and True

May 2, 2013 | patriciablaj

I was thinking of making a series for a while and Ta Dah!~ Here it is, Patricia Loves. I’ve always thought there’s no joy in having something wonderful if you don’t share it with the ones around you and that’s what I’m going to do here. Well having is a little ill expressed, more like knowing about (although I’d kill for the brand that I’m about to show you). From brands to books to movies, I’ll show you everything I take inspiration from, or brightens my day, hoping it’ll do the trick for you as well.

I’ll begin the series with Fabled and True, a wonderful vintage inspired brand from Australia: “Born of a love of vintage and days gone by, each piece is designed and made with love in Brisbane, Australia by little old me. No sweat shops or mass production here! No siree, Bob! Vintage florals and ladylike silhouettes are our signature look and ALL of my printed fabrics and the majority of my lace and lining are either pre loved, re purposed or vintage. That means they have lived another life already, have been (sadly) cast aside, sat in the back of cupboards no longer used and eventually disposed of. I search far and wide for my fabrics and trims looking for discarded pretties that I can give new life to so they can be loved and admired like they once were. This means your F&T is one of a kind or one of only a few, and in a world of sameness that’s pretty sweet, PLUS we’re VERY proud to be known as a local Eco label, doing our little bit for the environment by practising sustainable fashion…and looking darn cute while doing it I might add! YUP!”
I fell in love with their unique dresses the moment I accidentally stumbled upon their facebook page. The lace, the floral patterns, the designs, I can only imagine how amazing it must feel to wear them…
I couldn’t find a lookbook, so I selected my favourite photos from their photoshoots. Enjoy!

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A Mediteranean jewel

May 1, 2013 | patriciablaj

I’ve been incredibly moody all day and I’ve got no clue why. I’m finally on my second pseudo spring break and that should make me happy, instead it made me pissed-offy and restless and nothing I did made me feel better. I cleaned up my laptop, which ended in me deleting permanently pictures I still damn needed and as you can imagine that made me slump even lower than before. I ended up eating some dark chocolate and cursing at the heat when it started melting all over my hands. This sudden heat wave (obviously) made me thing of summer, last summer to be precise. And so I decided to look at the photos I took in Crete and remembered I’ve been a lazyass slacker all last summer and didn’t blog about any of it.
The hotel we stood in was a total beauty, it wasn’t a big chunky building as most are, it was made out of tiny little houses spread all over the resort. We were (obviously) given rooms in the furthest one, but I didn’t really mind, walking around the resort was exhilarating. I’ll leave you enjoy the Cretan beauty now, for little mean comments keep popping up regarding everything in my hear right now due to my difficult mood and I wouldn’t want to spoil any of it.

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Roma mi amor

April 28, 2013 | patriciablaj

Saturdays always put me in a lazy mood, the kind that when it strikes, all I want to do is think, listen to music and read. Nothing more adventurous or calorie consuming. Most of the times I end up strolling on memory lane. This morning while I was cleaning my laptop a bit since it was running low on space (again), I stumbled upon a batch of pictures from Rome that I haven’t shared with you.
I fell in love with Rome, it made me feel almost as princessy as Paris did. The thing I miss the most abut it, though, is the company. I miss spending whole days with mom and her alone, not being bothered by work or school or any worry in the world except the soreness of our feet caused by too much walking.

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Rain on the samurai city

March 25, 2013 | patriciablaj

One of the prettiest old cities I’ve visited in Japan was Kakunodate. Founded in 1620, it used to be the home of 80 families and it had two districts: one for the samurais and one for the merchants. Almost 400 years later, Kakunodate still has some of the best examples of samurai architecture in Japan. The samurai city is also well known for the beauty and the abundance of its cherry trees: in spring it’s one of the most sought sakura viewing spot in the Tohoku area.

Unfortunately for us, it was raining the day we visited. I don’t know how summer rain is in your country, but the one we had in Kakunodate was a killer: it poured down all day long, no breaks. As time passed it seemed it was only getting stronger, but maybe my patience was wearing thin. Such a pity, we could’ve enjoyed the beautiful city a lot more if we were dry.

Silly us! We went in a small restaurant to grab a bite, hoping the rain would stop. By the time we went out, it was raining harder.

Traveling in style is an understatement. My flats were fully soaked and started to rub against my skin and cause blisters, so I just took them off.

Kakunodate, at least the samurai district is opened for visitors. Most of the buildings host tiny museums, with the families belongings and the sorts. You can also find a lot of tiny restaurants and souvenir shops.

In some of the houses’ backyards you could find festival floats. This was definitely my favourite.

Thank you for reading! Have an awesome evening!

Maybelline’s Colosal Volum’ Express

March 24, 2013 | patriciablaj

After reviewing my favourite makeup palettes and eyeliner here, here and here I thought it was time for another one of my favourite essentials to stand in the spotlight. In the beginning I was a little hesitant about buying it, because it was twice the price of my usual mascaras, but I read quite a few good reviews so I thought I’d give it a try.
I usually don’t spend much on mascaras since my lashes are rather short and none really made much of a difference especially since I’m the kind of person who either goes for dramatic makeup or none at all. I also rarely wear only eyeshadow, so my eyes are always contoured by eyeliner or kohl, anyway what I’m trying to point out is that I basically used mascara only to remove the eyeshadow that would stick to my lashes.

I’m SO glad I bought this one, though! It’s the first time I truly see a significant difference. I don’t regret a penny I spent on it, even though it was more or less an impulse buy. Ok, it doesn’t instantly and magically give you 7x volume as the advertisements promise, but it’s as damn close to magical eyelashes I’ve ever been. Although it comes off really easy with eye makeup remover, it doesn’t smudge (I cried with it on, it didn’t budge).
Another thing that usually bothers me at mascaras is their scent, it’s definitely not my cup of tea. I was incredibly surprised to find out this one doesn’t have that unpleasant scent, but a slightly floral, totally cool one!

Here you can see the bristles. They don’t make my lashes clump together, there goes another white ball!

Above you can see my eye without makeup and below with Maybelline’s mascara on. See the difference?

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

PROS:

-Doesn’t smudge

-Doesn’t smell

-Gets off easily

-Doesn’t clump the lashes together

-It truly gives volume and some extra length

CONS:

- A little pricy

Over all, it gets five hearts! I will definitely buy it again. Thank you for reading and I hope you found this useful!

Saturday’s inspiration: nature!

March 16, 2013 | patriciablaj

Now that spring is slowly settling in (although here it snowed yesterday, out of the blue) we have less and less excuses to sit indoors all day long. During winter it was cold, or it was cloudy, or windy, or snowy, the amount of reasons we could push forward for watching a movie or reading a book were countless, while lately the daylight lasts longer, the snow has melted and it’s sunny and warm. Where are your excuses now? I miss the forests, I miss the seaside, the lakes… I miss going out in parks instead of cafes, hearing the birds sing, laying on grass…
The forests are definitely the ones I miss most. First of all, they’re beautiful and mysterious and in summer it’s always a little colder within them so that’s a huge white ball, but what I like most about them is that they’re the only place in which I can be alone and not feel lonely. I’ve always liked sharing time with myself, but sadly I can’t do it much because I always start feeling that annoying hole in my chest. Even while I’m taking a bath, sometimes I have to cut it short and go talk to somebody, anyone, just to make that empty feeling go away. In forests, though, I’m at peace. The only things that scare me are snakes, but otherwise I could spend hours by myself walking, or just reading in the shadow of a tree and not feel that fear.
Forest rant aside, I think everybody takes inspiration from nature and it has always been a part or us (some need to remember that, though). Whether they’re flowers or wolves or the sea, nature plays a big part in fashion too. Patterns, embroideries, flowy textures and fabrics, one way or another, it’s almost always there, don’t you think so?

Dreamers shall travel: Crete!

February 27, 2013 | patriciablaj

Today has been an incredibly sunny day and as I was browsing through my computer I came across pictures from last summer that I had completely forgotten about! Last summer I kind of took a break from blogging because I wanted to focus more on my non-virtual life so all the pictures I took while being in Crete with my dad had gone to waste. Until now! I miss summer dearly and remembering Crete only makes me miss it more. We’ve been there for a week at the end of August and it was super windy, people were saying that that’s the weather they usually have in October. I’m not a big fan of intense heat so it fit me like a glove. And we all know the consequences of windy weather on the shore. The waves, ah the waves were glorious!

The pictures I chose for today’s post were taken on a one-day boat trip. We rode a bus to the other side of the island and on the way to the harbor we stopped to visit one of Crete’s oldest Christian Churches. I tried to remember its name, but couldn’t and google is not being friendly today either. I remember the guide saying that it was built secretly because at that time Christian practices were banned and people were punished if caught, sometimes even murdered.

One of the sights that took my breath away. If you look closely, you can see the sea above the road, between the cliffs. Another thing I loved about Crete was its cliffs, that they’re usually not bare, they have small bushes and trees growing on them. Such a pittoresque view.

Thank you for reading! If any of you know, by any chance, the name of the Basilica, do tell! Have a nice day!

Magic Friday: Dark and Dangerous

February 15, 2013 | patriciablaj

I can’t say I’m against Valentine’s day, nor do I like it, but the tackiness of its promotion made me seek refuge in darker concepts, to try and make the cheesiness surrounding me disappear. I thinks it’s a really unnecessary holiday though. If you truly love someone you should do something special for them whenever you can to prove your feelings, not just do it because it’s a holiday and you’re supposed to. Just my two cents. It’s been a hard week for me, but the air smells of spring, so I’ll keep my chin up and somehow stay strong. Enjoy my dark side

The song of the day is Hurts’ Blind. Sadly their album is not yet released so all I have is a live version that I’m listening to on repeat. It’s of pretty good quality though, so enjoy!

Have an amazing weekend, heartbreakers.

Friday night magic

February 8, 2013 | patriciablaj

I’m still a little sick and I’ve got a competition tomorrow morning, so there ain’t no party for me tonight. A band I really like is having a concert but after a few minutes of mature pondering on the matter, I came to the conclusion that the competition is more important and I should be properly rested.
Sooo, instead of watching series of reading all evening I thought I’d look for some inspiration. This is what my perfect week-end would look like (hell, the perfect life). Enjoy!