Zara, sweet Zara

Seems like I live in a Zara fitting room, doesn't it? But it's the perfect place to take outfit pictures! Nice light, two-way mirrors and privacy. Yes, I may be in the temple of sin, but these are all my own clothes, no new shopping! Let me explain: Today I was in downtown Athens running errands, but I finished early and I had some time to kill till 6, when I was supposed to meet up with my sister. So, what better way to kill time than browsing through racks of clothes, right? No, I never get bored of going there. Yes I did shop some things, *but* they weren't for me, they were for my dear sis, who as I mentioned before, is too posh to shop. Doesn't count!

Wearing my really old black Zara trench coat, bag, scarf, barely seen gray cardigan and this blue dress all from Bershka and gray ballerina flats from Pull and Bear.

Gotcha!

I arrived at Zara feeling assured, knowing my babies were behind the counter, waiting for me with my name on them. But I didn't go straight to them. I still needed some time to think, so I passed the cashier nonchalantly, trying to play cool, browsing casually, going through rows and rows of hangers touching random fabrics, without paying any attention to the clothes whatsoever. I thought and thought and when I saw the queue growing I said "this is it, it's now or never". I got my ass on that queue, my turn came, I asked for my reserved goods and there they were. Two pairs of brown pumps, so alike in color, but so different in all other aspects. The fierce, fashion-forward stilletos and the sensible, cool, wooden wedges. I only had a second to make a choice. But I couldn't...

.

I. Did. Get. Them.
Both.

.

But before I'm condemned as a hopeless shopaholic, let me explain myself first. The stilleto pair I'm definitely keeping. As I originally thought and many of you kind readers pointed out (20 comments on that last post and counting, thanks guys) I would most probably regret it for the rest of my life if I passed on those shoes, and trust me, I know how much that feeling sucks. I believe all of us have a story of sadness and regret about that perfect pair of shoes/coat/dress we chickened out buying and regretted ever since. And I didn't want that to happen again. Afterall, it wasn't what you would call an impulse buy. I had a whole day to myself thinking and deciding. The wedges, well, most of you weren't that much impressed, and I get it. They are relatively plain, some of you may even say boring. But they are damn comfortable, in an amazing color, edgy in their own way but still very versatile and have that cute round-toe I always fall for. However, even after citing all these advantages, I still haven't decided if I'm going to keep them. I have the receipt and exactly one month to decide. In the end, it all will come down to how much I'll spend in Venice. Oh, and how well they will test-drive on my carpet.

Note to my boyfriend

When I win the lottery, I'm gonna buy you a piano just like this:image taken from New York Social Diary via MadeByGirl

I wanted to but I didn't

This is what happens when good girls put themselves into bad situations, in our case a seemingly innocent "just looking" visit to Zara. Not one, but two amazingly beautiful pairs of brown pumps will haunt my dreams tonight. For the record, I managed to restrict myself only to the belt (Zara kids, 7,90 euros) and a pair of loose gray organic cotton leggings (12,90 euros). As for the objects of my affection, the stiletto pair is 80 euros and the wedge pair is 45. I have them both reserved and waiting for my decision tomorrow. I want them both! What will I do?

Sometimes it's only about architecture

I drove all morning (this means afternoon to most of you) and arrived in Athens at 4pm. I went straight to the Benaki Museum to see the retrospective of greek architect Konstantinos Dekavallas. Great architect with so much work to show. His flawless sketches made me so jealous of his skills! After I paid a quick visit to the museum shop, I drove once again through the centre of Athens and nearly over some pakistani street vendors, to my good friends' Angela and Greta's house to catch up on some girly gossip. Then I drove some more over to my sister's house where I'm now, too exhausted and hungry to concentrate on what I'm typing right here. Gotta run to the souvlaki place down the street. Bye-bye!

Leaving on a jet plane

Well, not just yet. Remember how I was whining about curbing my spending habit in order to save some cash for a trip? Well, it's time I told you that in exactly a week from now I'll be feeding pigeons in St Marco's square in Venice! Four girls, three days in Venice for the Architecture Biennale and one day in Milan for shopping. We're flying next Saturday and yes, I'm really excited. All we talked about this week was what's the weather gonna be like in Venice (really cold and rainy) what we're going to pack (comfortable boots and heavy knits) and what we're going to buy (murano glass jewelery and shoes). But before we take off I have some serious business concerning my final thesis to attend to. Tomorrow I'll be driving to Athens for that reason and that means I have to pack everything I will need for the next 12 days in three cities, RIGHT NOW. In the picture above there is me exactly two years ago in the 2006 Architecture Biennale in Venice. I'm gonna pack the exact same Camper boots and Zara trench coat and also some cosy sweaters and cardigans, two pairs of jeans, knit dresses, thick tights, scarves and berets. And I have so much more stuff to do before I go, I really can't stay any longer... Tomorrow I'll resume posting from Athens!

Good crazy or bad crazy?

I'm nursing a bad hangover from last night's party sporting pyjamas, my boyfriend's hoodie and a face that kinda reminds me of Courtney Love, so no pics today. However, the circumstances were asking for an eggs-and-bacon breakfast (yum-yum) and a tour of my favorite celeb gossip sites, where I did notice a pattern that led to a question: Are celebs are getting crazier or is fashion getting too weird? And is that a good or a bad thing? I don't have enough brain cells left today to decide, so I'm asking you instead. What do you think?

Picture of Katy Perry via Egotastic, picture of Victoria Beckham via Holllywood Rag and picture of Beyonce via Dlisted.

***UPDATE*** Bryan Boy also did a post on Beyonce's crazy Gareth Pugh armor dress and he seems just as confused as the rest of us.

Five random things about me

1. I'm not a musical person. My parents tried to get me to learn how to play the piano when I was young, but that only lasted three months. I was just not intrigued. I don't own an Ipod, I almost never have music playing around at home and I still don't know how to download songs on my own.
2. I can't eat fish soup. I enjoy eating grilled, baked or boiled fish and seafood in general, but fish soup makes me feel sick.
   
3. I can count the times I've had my hair professionally cut on my fingers. Right now it's been two years since the last time. Because of childhood trauma I just can't trust hairdressers. When I was about 6 my mother took me and my sister to have our hair cut. I can still remember my words to the hairdresser: "Not too short, please" and she nodded "ok". But the hairdresser already had an agreement with mum and we both came out sporting really short boyish hair. I couldn't stop crying days after that and I still haven't forgiven neither my mum, nor the hairdressers of this world.
4. I hate painting my fingernails and/or toenails. Those few times I bothered with nail polish, I felt like they were gasping for air and I had to remove it immediately.
5. I ride a dirt bike. I started when I was 17 and now I own a 125cc KTM EXE. I haven't been able to drive it for several months because it is being repaired, but the parts we were waiting for finally arrived and I should be able to pick it up from the garage in a few days. I'm so excited!

Thanks to the lovely Antoinette for tagging me. Now I'd like to tag Elena, Little Stylist and well, everyone actually, but I'm afraid most of you have already done that. If you haven't, please do! I'd love to hear about your lovely random quirks!

Shopped

I shopped today. And I hesitated to tell you because I feel guilty about it. The economy is in really bad shape and I am supposed to be saving in order to have spending money on the trip I'm going on next week. To add insult to injury, so to say, there are people out there who actually have the will power to put themselves on shopping bans. My girl Sal is currently on a six-month-ban that will end on April. Enc has already completed hers and kindly shared her experience, and most importantly the valuable lessons she learned, in a four part post you should all read and gain from. And last, but certainly not least, we have the 40-something working mother of WorkThatWardrobe who is the most extreme of all: she chose to put herself on a one year shopping ban! All these different stories have affected me profoundly those last few days. To add on that, I recently re-organized my closet and I came to the conclusion that I really have many clothes. A lot of them. Although I don't need to take such drastic measures as my fellow bloggers above, I really hope that I can stop all unnecessary shopping. Today I think I kinda succeded. Or at least this is what I'm saying to myself. This is what I got:blue cotton dress, 25 euros
long cream cardigan, 20 euros
blue knit beanie, 6 euros
faux leather black bag, 25 euros
And here's my justification: The dress reminded me of this and this. Yes, those two are the same dress in purple and in brown. Since I bought them one month ago I've been practicly living in them, so I thought a similar one would be a good investment. I've also been living in my long gray cardigan which sadly has already started falling appart because of the heavy use, hence the new cream one. The bag was a necessity. When my precious Accessorize gray/green one gave up on me, I replaced it with a cheapie gray tote. Don't get me wrong, I haven't regretted it. On the contrary, I love that bag and as it only set me back 20 euros, I consider it one of my best buys this year. But it closes with a magnet, whereas my old one had a zipper. Here in my little town I don't find that a problem, but I really needed a zipper-closing one for trips to the big cities. Enter my brand new only-25-euros buy. And I didn't even have a single everyday black bag. Scored! And well, the blue beanie I bought just because the color reaaaally suited me. But like I said, I have some room for improvement...

***note*** all stuff from Bershka

Michellaneous lovelyness

A yellow Daihatsu Terios covered in green leaf stickers.

My friend's Archo's boots. I already asked. They're from London.

A heart-shaped piece of building insulation. A builder is in lurve!

I went not shopping today

...and managed to not get that gorgeous little party dress.Please applaud my self-constraint. Especially after I inform you that my friend Jasmine got that amazing plum number below. Now excuse me while I go take some deep breaths. Damn you Mango!

Home is where the cats are

I was tagged by my blogfriend Sal of Already Pretty to write "Five Reasons I Love My State". Well, that probably meant State as in United of America, but a little customization never hurt anyone. I was quite torn about if I should write about Volos, the town where I've been living and studying those past 7 (ouch, that hurts even in writing) years, or my actual hometown Samos, the town where I grew up in, but don't actually live in at the moment, although I intend to after a few years. Samos island won, so here's my version:

Five Reasons I Love My Island

• It's a greek island. That includes lots of cliché things you may imagine. But most importantly it means I can visit my family and catch up with old friends, while having holidays. And all this usually by the sea.
• The way people talk. Samos people have a very distinct way of pronouncing words. It may sound a bit redneck to big-town people, but it makes me feel home. Even I start talking like this on the second or third day there, even if in real life I sound like an news anchorwoman. And I love it!
  
• Small distances. It's a bliss to know that everything is a 10-15 min. walk away. You even get a tan on the way, and it gets even better at night. Painful high heels, breathalyzer tests and weird cab drivers are not an issue here. The worst thing I ever had to do was walk the 5 minutes from the bar back home barefoot.
  
• Home. More specifically the garden, my cats and the fact that I can hear the waves breaking on the beach when I go to bed at night.
• Saying "good morning". Many people hate small towns because everyone knows everybody else and argue that gossip is inevitable. Well, I never had such a problem. I love knowing everyone and the walk from my house to my mum's work in the morning is filled with familiar smiles and heartfelt good mornings. Makes my day!
  

More about Samos island here.

Evi and Larry

Last night me and my friends went to a gig to see our other friend Larry Gus perform live. He's great, go and listen to his songs now. Here he is by the way:

My friend Evi was there too. Evi and Larry must be my only real-life friends that not only check my blog regularly, they actually read it too. Yes, that means not just looking at the pictures. Here's wonderful Evi. Quite a fashionista herself, don't you think?Can she get any more fabulous? Oh, yes she can! There we were, talking about the blog, and I was whining about how hard it is to take nice outfit pictures, as I never seem to find people willing to help and setting the tripod, pushing the timer button and running to get in front of the lens is just too time-consuming and boring. "Do you want me to take your picture right now?" she asked and before you know it we were outside, shooting away and giggling, while total strangers walked by whispering "what are those weird girls doing".
The real backstage hero is Evi's friend, who took both my and Evi's pictures. She refused to be photographed, except for her pretty tomato-red ballerina flat.
No, don't go! Where will I find another photographer like you? Please stay! I'll pay you in shoes?

Dress to skirt

I am yet to find a nice background for my outfit pictures. After the sun sets, the only place lit enough for pictures is the elevator. And I'd hate it for my neighbors to find out there is a self-obsessed mad woman taking pictures of herself in their elevator.The skirt I'm wearing used to be a dress, bought 18 months ago. Why I took the scissors on it? It was a turtleneck, and I find turtlenecks completely irritating. They make my neck itch, my head look fat, my chest look huge (not a good thing for me) and when I get indoors, I sweat. Not to mention, I have a nice collection of much more practical scarves. They do the exact same job of keeping my neck warm, but are fully removable when indoors. Down with turtlenecks!Why I bought a turtleneck dress then, you may ask? Well, it was last reduction down to 6 euros, nice wool blend fabric and bubble hemmed, so I bought it in all four colors available: black, charcoal, brown and dark green. They actually were worn as dresses a couple of times, but turning them into skirts always seemed like a better idea. I cut them just under the sleeves to leave enough fabric to make a tube where I inserted 1 inch wide elastic to create a waistband. I only managed to finish two before I run out of elastic and the stores are closed now. More DIY on Monday!