Friday ♥

My bed. It's pure bliss in the form of a warm snuggly duvet in an Egyptian cotton cover and sheets. Heaven in my bedroom. Especially now that I came home to find a new mattress courtesy of my landlord. A really high mattress. My bed is more like a throne now! And I love it!

::inspiring Mondays::

 

It rained pretty much all morning. And early afternoon. However... and the key is in the "pretty much" bit... I got to work dry; on the cold side of dry, but dry nonetheless. Monday morning, you rock!

I live in an old Victorian house. It's my dream house and if I could ever afford buying it, that's pretty much what I'd be getting in Oxford. It has high ceilings and spacious rooms and the most beautiful original features, like the enormous sachet windows, the old wood and glass doors of the kitchen cupboards, and the doors of every room. I like it so much that my heart feels warm at the very thought of my cosy room with its fireplace and big window; and inner warmth is precisely what I'll need to survive the cold winter ahead at this place. That, and a few warm blankets... I'm thinking white and red, or taupe. What a lovely thought!

:: my house ♥

:: working on a project with Little Brother and aiming for the stars.

:: figs, a new pleasant and yummy discovery. 

:: running. like the wind. more often than not against the wind.

:: laughing. that from-the-belly laughter.

:: homemade fig jam with cheese.

:: Cocina Global and what is pushing me to do.

:: setting up a little corner of a room to become my studio.

:: dryness on a Monday morning.

:: warm homemade soup.

:: my books.

:: cinema.

:: pretty. I like pretty.

How was your Monday? Warm and cosy? Cold and wet? A bit of everything?

Whichever it is, I hope you had a lovely and stylish start to the week :)

P.S. - It was also dry for our afternoon run... and my cycle home... what can I say, really?! Ta mucho, Monday!

disclaimer

Due to a small technical problem, inspiring Mondays will be published tomorrow. LMJ appreciates your patience. Here, have a flower!

This weekend...

I cooked with figs for Cocina Global and I loved it. Who knew figs were this amazing fruit that you can eat in yummy salads and make delicious jam with? Seriously, who knew and why had LMJ not been informed earlier? 

This weekend was a little bit about figs and a little bit about other things. Like knitting club and good chats over coffee, about the little things and the big things. Or cycling for a night out (completely against my principles), so I could spend time with friends I wouldn't otherwise be chatting about nothing with. Or how I finally rewrote LMJ's About page with all you've ever wanted to know. Well, not quite, but I like it better now.

Little Miss Joey

Little Miss Joey the blog started as a place of nothingness soon to be filled with rambles of my photographic adventures and inspiring mondays, just because I like Mondays! My friend Nicky and I wanted to improve our photography and that gave me the focus I had been lacking; we would post to match each other, always with a photo, never more than two posts difference. This was our 2011, an amazing year for us both, I dare say. Our photography did improve and we took great joy in it and the world was our oyster.

When 2012 arrived, I thought it would be more of the same, but what things stay the same, really? Change is not necessarily bad, it just is. Things change and the world keeps spinning as they say, and for one to enjoy it fully, much as we did in 2011, one has to adapt and go with the flow a little bit. When I look back, 2011 was a year of change too. Oxford became more of my home then; I realised fully how lucky I am to have the friends I have, friends for life, the ones I'll truly endeavour to keep come what may; LMJ appeared on the scene and gave me space to be the funny me (yep, I've accepted I'm funny, occasionally!); I improved on my running and on my photography. No dream was too big and I was happy, because I let myself be happy. 

Why am I going on about what was back when? Because I had a little think about things and I realised LMJ wasn't making me happy anymore. She had become this little piece of me that tried to amuse me when all I wanted was to curl up on the sofa and be miserable about all the dreams that hadn't come true in 2012. Or 2011, for that matter! LMJ was eating into my precious time and the time of my projects and that was annoying, really! I thought the best thing would be to end it and stop attempting world domination through cuteness even before it had been achieved (I have been running low on my world domination attempts, but LMJ never sleeps!). And then I had a hot shower after a run... and with it an epiphany!

Do you know how amazing hot showers after good runs are for the brain? If not, I'd recommend you give it a go, you may really crack the next big thing in your line of business. Anyway... Photo editing was the real problem. See, when Nicky and I started, we barely did any editing. Interestingly, as we improved our skills and technique and explored other creative angles, our thirst for editing increased as well. We became more demanding with the quality of our images, rightly so, but at a huge cost for me... it was now a burden to always have to have decent images for the blog, beautifully composed and edited. This was the single most time consuming aspect of the blog, the one truly preventing me from concentrating on my life's projects (more of that at some point). The writing was easy, for LMJ is an expert in rambling on (as you can tell), it was the photo editing all along, that little bugger. 

Insert a mega smile in said hot shower and I no longer have to feel pressured nor say bye bye to this mini me that is LMJ. I'll just live without the perfect image! I'll give LMJ more creative freedom to share more of her take on things, I'll speak in the third person whenever I feel like, I'll make use of my iPhone and Instagram and whatever gives me a way in without taking over the rest of my life. Don't get me wrong, photography is still a huge passion, but sometimes love needs a little bit of distance and a little bit of its own pace and I shall be photographing away as now, just without the blog pressure.

All of this to say that things change and being happy is knowing when to embrace it. LMJ evolved to no longer being about LMJ's photography; LMJ has evolved to being about LMJ, whatever LMJ is at the time of writing. 

Hello cold

How are you today, Mr Cold? All good with you? Not that you're asking, but I'm slightly annoyed you've decided to visit so early! And in particular, that you arrived before I had time to buy (decent) gloves for my cycle! I'd suggest you go for tea and cake far, far away and come back next week; I'll be ready then!

::inspiring Mondays::

Monday. Yet another Monday. I wake up less tired than I will be by the end of the week, so I guess Mondays are good like that; you're as fresh as you'll ever be for that week! The room felt chilly but the hot shower made up for it. Inventor of hot showers, LMJ sends you her love!

Autumn is arriving to the UK and I like it. Autumn is such a beautiful season, with its warm colours and Sunday afternoons filled with tea and cake, that the thought is enough to make this Joey happy. Autumn is also a time of new beginnings! Since the schools days, or 18 years of my life, Autumn was when it all began again and the feeling stuck. And how not to like new beginnings? The promise, the little nervousness about the unexpected, but ultimately the excitement of starting afresh and moving on. Yep, let it shine through on LMJ!

:: lovely girly Saturday around London.

:: walking in and around Kensington Palace. wonderful!

:: randomly finding Muriel's Kitchen and its ever so yummy food, in such a cosy atmosphere!

:: Peggy Porschen tea room and its divine red velvet cake!, in a beautifully set tea room.

:: Little Brother's random texts and pictures of his day.

:: Whatsapp. Get it! Now!

:: plant hospital. and one happier peace lily willing to have a life rather than fight for one constantly.

:: sleep. a good 10 hour straight happy sleep.

:: a much needed massage.

:: projects. prioritising projects and working out how to get things done.

:: indian takeaway on a cold evening.

:: running after work. feels soooooo good!

This was also an epiphany Monday... but more on that on another day :)

Hope you had a lovely day and a wonderful beginning to the week.

::inspiring Mondays::

 

I went home. It was lovely and warm and sunny and lovely. Did I say lovely? I had Little Brother time and parents time. I met the newest baby in the family. I saw one of my cousins get married and overwhelm us all with happiness and joy. I sunbathed in beautiful beaches and swam in the sea. I ate grilled sardines and it was delicious. I drank Portuguese wine, especially my favourite Planalto. I ate bread from my favourite bakery and croissants from my other favourite bakery. I had a pastel de Belém. I wore flip-flops and pretty dresses. I had some quality time in Hotel Rural Casas Novas and indulged in the countryside's slow paced good food lifestyle. Do you get a picture of awesomeness? It was pretty much it!

Then I came back. To reality, to where bits of my life are, to a place I should call home but it is oh so hard just after I'm back from the real-non-real home. As always, insert LMJ's friends to the rescue and life felt a little bit less boo. The sunshine we had all of last week also helped with the hard return. And so it is I've settled back into my real world and I've finally put some photos on display in my room and I feel cosy again here.

My list this Monday is quite enormous. I'm happy, I feel happy, I have things I'm grateful for, things to keep me warm inside, things to look forward to, things that make me smile for no apparent reason, and so many pictures to look at that I need coffee and sunday mornings plenty.

:: cousin's wedding. pure happiness!

:: baby cousin-nephew. LMJ may be getting broody, but tell no one; that little one is adorable!

:: family time. there are times when you really feel it, you know, that thing of family warmth and knowing you're never alone.

:: a little letter with a little drawing from my 7-year old cousin-nephew. a little piece of happiness and heart sunshine on a paper. on my wall already.

:: Paralympics. I saw Oscar Pistorius run the 100m T44 final... live! I was there when the crowd shouted for Jonnie Peacock and saw him win. What an atmosphere!

:: the UK. sometimes, being part of this nation makes me smile. seeing the Paralympics is one of those times; I'm so proud of the great British people who embraced foreign athletes and the Paralympians and made everyone feel welcome and part of something great!

:: summer time.

:: homemade bread.

:: homemade soup.

:: Oxford Open Doors.

:: Monday office silliness. some of it courtesy of this (pretty reliable) erratic gentleman!

:: a cooking project with a lovely lady!

:: my life!

It rained today. I laughed. Now I'm truly back and you know what? It's not so bad... if you let be good... if I let it be good ;)