maria's day out

It's so nice and sunny, and today is all for culture.
See you later!

Have a nice Thursday.
M.

this is f*cking awesome

"I'm wearing your Grandad's clothes,
and I look incredible."

Late-night packing beats, guys and dolls.

Don't be fooled by the beginning. This is definitely a huge beat.
And also - what Alessandra has got to do with any of this, beats me.

PS
Once you've hopefully listened to the remix version which I think is better, please please read this.
Brillliannttttt!
http://www.gq.com/entertainment/tv/blogs/the-stream/2012/10/the-macklemore-bible-of-thrift-store-shopping.html

So fine.
M.

10,000

Thanks for the pageviews, guys!

I hope my moving drama is not too boring, and I hope to lighten up soon.

Lots of looove.
M.

And to celebrate, here's a photo of my 3 rolls of bubblewrap and 2 rolls of tape. Yayy!

useful

Today is a useful day!
It's so nice and sunny outside and I've decided to make this a useful one.

I think I'm almost a the point where I can book a flight back!!!
Seriously excited about this!
It will give this whole moving project some structure (finally). So let the ball roll!

Today's hyper interesting tasks include stuff like, buy bubblewrap, or buy tape. So all-round riveting projects. And writing more lists is also on the list.

Me and my sunglass chain are gonna head to the ghetto now.

USEFUL.
M.

pai

destino

Collaboration between Salvador Dali and Walt Disney.

Destino.
M.

the one to set you free

The amount of love I have for this tune is crazy.
M.

I could be the one to make you feel that wayI could be the one to set you free

coffee

I spoke to E. and got some motivation to do stuff!
So now I have my coffee and my apple and we're doing this!

Motivation.
M.

singing

So.
I use this blog as my personal wall space.
If I could actually use the 4 walls in my room, and write on those, I would. But that would be a bit annoying afterwards.
So I use this as my personal space where I blurt out whatever needs blurting out.
And this has helped me a lot, in terms of getting clarity and staying on top.

So now I thought, if I've managed to help myself through this blog, why not see whether I could do the same in terms of singing. This won't mean loads of technical boring stuff. But rather more of the same, but with a singing angle.
Singing for me is the most psychologically charged subject matter. I think it's partly because I started singing so young and kind of grew up judging myself. So now, whenever I sing I can just feel that voice in the back of my head start to criticise again. Criticism is good. But not when all you do is just bash yourself in the face with it.

Cause I do worry a little, about my singing stuff. The line between working on actual issues but then just steering away from hard work is so thin I think. But I might apply my workout logic with this: "If it's hard, to more of it."

I'll see how this goes, or doesn't.M.
My absolute favourite 'work' photo of me, ever. Ever.
And the second one is a bunch of flowers that this old man gave me after one of my summer concerts. These simple simple flowers were just so sincere and therefore, a photo of them.

desktop background

I love my desktop backgrounds, really.
Because I spend a lot of my on my laptop and therefore see the desktop quite a lot, it has to be something that either inspires me, or goes with the season, or calms me down - basically whatever I need at the time.

And since my love of wolves (more about this later) is growing, one has now found a way onto my desktop.

I heart wolf.
M.

sthlm

Reblogging these because they warm my heart.
And because I'm so going to visit STHLM very soon.

The other day, A. mentioned something about her "happy place".
And I decided that one of my very prominent happy places was following A. around the globe. Whether it's eating cheese in Zürich, or sitting on her floor in Basel, or sauna time in HEL, or crashing on her sofa, reciting soft porn and building furniture in STHLM.
Adventures, man. That's my happy place.

Nordic.
M.

fitness

New goals!

If fitness stuff really really bores you, then this post will really really bore you.

So.
I've been on my fitness train since the 22nd of October. That's 3 months. That's all!? (Sorry, I have just realised that it is like nothing. 3 months, that is it. Moving on.)
My end goal is and was to get stronger, a lot stronger.
Physically and through that mentally.
3 months down the line and I've realised I need to start doing more weight training.

Now then, ladies. 
If you're anything like me you are inclined to believe that lifting any weights (heavier than like a banana or something) will make you bulky.
I have done a whole lot of reading about this.
For you to get "bulky" you would have to lift INSANE amounts of weights and eat more protein than you weigh yourself. The women who do dedicate their lives to bodybuilding spend crazy crazy amounts of work on this, so a session or two a week of lifting some weights is not going to bulk you up.
This should go hand in hand with a healthy, well-balanced diet (which includes carbs, protein, fats), and cardio (preferably high intensity interval training HIIT, rather than low-intensity. Having said this, it depends why you're working out/what you're training for).

This is what I have been doing for 3 months. I've done a lot of cardio (high and low intensity) and hardly any strength training at all. I eat well and often (3 meals, and like 3 big snacks).
Okay, I have lost weight - but do I feel stronger? Not really.
So therefore, my new fitness goal is to get over this silly myth than women immediately bulk up when they touch weights and start lifting.
If you just do cardio till you're purple in the face, all you're doing is losing the excess fat, however, you're not really toning and changing your shape. Weights are so good for this.
So, because I want to tone up and feel significantly stronger in my body, I am going to lift weights.
(And see how it goes.)

Also. I'm so fed up of this "what's your number on the scale" chat. I mean, what does it even matter? Unless you're very over- or underweight when the number is directly a matter of staying alive or not, it doesn't really matter.
So I've decided to start measuring my successes in like, reps and weights, and distance etc.
And since I can't do push-ups to save my life, this is going to be my new goal.

So, two brand new goals, for the next 3 months.
Weights and push-ups.

Do your research, guys.
This doesn't mean go psycho and get ripped. It means, if you're working out, and want to see any results at all, do your research. Simple as that. There's a lot of stuff going around that's just not true. Many "facts" that are passed around as truth but are really far from it.
And absolutely have lots of fun!
Because we can all do so much more than we think we can.

PS. I do not claim to have any special knowledge, or to have been educated in these questions. I am simply reciting what I've heard from other people who work in fitness, or my friends, and from personal experience. And from the reading I've done. And I absolutely do not claim to be right.

Strong is the new "skinny".
M.

And to finish this off, some mermaids, and a happy seal.

iceland

Once A. and I go to Iceland, this will be our holiday.
I feel the left one would be my mug.

Travel.
M.

oh, joe.

robert lepage

Sometimes I just forget how brilliant some people are.
Like Robert Lepage. He must be "Maria's Inspirational Man no.100".
He's a theatre director/writer, actor, film director, installation artist and just an absolute genius. And I don't use this term very often.

He's from Quebec and was born in 1957. At the age of 5, he was diagnosed with alopecia, a rare disease which caused all his hair to fall off. As a teenager he struggled with depression, and then turned to drama classes to climb out of his protective, somewhat tortured shell.
And then from the age 25 onwards he has just been writing and putting on the most amazing theatre.

There are 3 reasons why I love him and his work to such a ridiculous extent.

Number 1. He is the most exquisite story-teller and I respect this a lot. I think that societies have always been built on the skills of storytelling, from bringing up your kids, to deciding where to build the next village, down to politicians - I mean, it is all storytelling, all of it. And Lepage is so creative and so so imaginative with his storytelling.
Number 2. The way he uses visual stuff (whether it's costume, objects, installations, or other multimedia, and music too actually) is just phenomenal. He just manages to tap into something, to see the core of the story, and then tie it together with something else, so seamless. He believes that theatre was born when the early early humans realised they can manipulate their own shadows and therefore create something "larger than life".
Number 3. He lost all his hair when he was 5. Now then. Let's think about this for one second. All of his hair. Eyebrows, eyelashes. You lose all the hair on your body. Also, having pubic hair is SUCH a rite of passage for boys when growing up. So, he had no hair, at all. And as opposed to let this other-ness consume him he channeled it, to become an absolute visionary theatre-maker. Hats off. Absolutely hats off.

And so, I forget sometimes, how much I truly love his work and what he stands for as a person.
One of his shows, "Playing Cards 1: SPADES", is coming to London in a week or so. And I really want to go see it. I want to go and witness him and his company bring together parts of the world, the current and the forgotten, the lost and the found, the painful and the beautiful, add some absolutely incredible music, and I want to see this. I want to see this and feel this and go, yes, thanks, Robert, for making theatre.

Lepage.
M.

kardashians

Last night was hard.
I don't even know why but I just got so frustrated, with the endless packing (seems endless), and not having a date.
This is so boring, for everyone. Truly, truly boring.

SO.
New day, new stuff.
And for now I'm letting the Kardashian sisters cheer me up.
I don't like reality-TV really, it's never been my thing. And from what I knew about Kim Kardashian was like, just annoying. Void, and annoying.
But then, I don't even know how or why I started watching Keeping up with the Kardashians, and turns out they're good people. The other girls work hard, and their step-dad is a good man.
The eldest sister, Kourtney, has 2 kids with Scott Disick. Who I think is great. He's gone through some rough rough times, but it's so clear that those two love each other to the Moon and back.

And also, Kourtney, Khloe and Scott doing the rain dance, cause they're bored, is pretty great.

Cheer up Monday.
M.

exhausted

Pretty simple - I'm exhausted.
Of this packing stuff.
Of thinking what I'm going to do with my life.
Of not knowing when I can move. Of not knowing when I can fly home.
Of not knowing anything apparently.
Just, no.

F*CK
THIS
SH*T

Night-night.

With love.
M.

spring

So.
Reasons I will miss London LOADS.
It's currently the 27th of January, and it is +10C outside. And it's sunny.
I mean, seriously?
Back home, we'll have to wait till like, April for this?
End of March, if we're lucky.

But then again, May at home is magical. And I've been moaning about this for about 4 years that I'm not at home during this great great month. And I will be this year.

Pros and cons.
And 10C.

London.
M.
Here's some spring pizza for you, and spring flowers.

happy b-day, l!

IT'S L'S BIRTHDAY TODAY!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Powerhouse bitcheeeeees.

The amount of goodtimes we have had is ridiculous.
For many more to come :)

Palju õnne.
MAUHHHHH.
M.

l'été

And as usual, I miss the summer.
But it's coming.

Slowly, but surely, it will come.
M.

i follow rivers

This song
This song
This song
This song
This song
This song
This song
This song

Be the ocean where I unravel.

Can I follow?
M.

short fuse

Well, well.
I got really pissed off today. Just because (STILL) so, so much is up in the air. (Through this packing process I've realised that I'm such a control freak with some weird things. Like I'm currently frustrated out of my eyeballs because I can't book my flight.)
And like, ugh, whatever.
So, I decided to apply a lot of make-up and do my hair just for the purposes of packing.
And for the purposes of not feeling like a forlorn sock (which, A. can vouch for this, is my all-time least favourite feeling).
Then I played some loud music (from the playlist GO) and burnt some lavender incense.
And calmed the f*ck down.

And I'm gonna carry on packing.

But before I do this I'm gonna give myself a little point an a pat on shoulder (can't reach my own back too well) for catching my friend, anger, by it's tiny little vicious tail and dealing with it.
So, there you go, self, I'm giving you a point!

Ride the wave.
M.

then do it again

pull

I truly, truly wish we could all be quiet enough to recognise it.

Pull.
M.

let's go Hollywood

So over-flowing with zhuzh.
Curvy.
Lush.
Naughty.
And vivacious.
And healthy.
Well-fed, well-dressed, well-spoken.
Beau-ti-ful.

Screw this, and let's go old-school Hollywood.
M.

nifty fifty's

1950s.
The beat of my day.

A handy album called 1000 hits from the '50s.

I just want to dance, y'know.
M.


It had to be you - Dinah Shore (which is the best version of this song. The. best.)
And Venus - Frankie Avalon

facts

I like squirrels.
I like sweets.
I like this T-shirt, that E. got me.

Facts.
M.

grateful

Something happens.

You follow your path. You wake up, go to sleep, wake up, go to sleep.
You go through the steps and the motions. Think your thoughts and do your thing.
Swim and swim, and it's all fine.
You walk the path.
And then something happens.
Suddenly something just happens.
Something happens to you or around you that just flicks a switch.

Something
happens

And then you kind of, notice.
Suddenly you notice the path, the track, the flow, the motions, and the steps.
Then after that you see what's happened.
You see you, on this track, that is not even yours.
You see the steps, that are not even yours.
And then you see, that this you is not even you.

All because something happened.
A little insignificant something that should've been added and drowned in the white noise that is life.

But it doesn't.
It won't fade out. This feeling stays with you.
It won't disappear, because it made you look up and see that this is not your path.
It nudged you off this course, that only you know how you got onto anyway.
It gives you back the greatest gift, the belief that you can do anything.
You can do what you choose. Become what you choose.
It gives you back your fire.
And oh my, it makes you so grateful.

Something
happens.

So have the courage to go again.
Throw the dice, again. Start, again.
Have the courage to tread a new path.
Because it will pay off.
And you will have people to help you and to care about you.
And at the end of this you will be a more balanced, grateful, content version of you.
The you that is strong and not scared and doesn't just dodge. But instead faces things head on, because why not. Because being a frikkin pirate of life is great, and courageous.
And so much better than being like a halfway version of yourself.
Because let's be honest, that can go and suck d*ck.
Be the pirate, be the Beyonce, be the adventurer, the traveller.
The poet, the painter, the dancer, the singer.
The child, the successful business woman.
The linguist, the acrobat.
The warrior and the wolf.

Because, WHY NOT.

The Devil still doesn't play fair.
M.

just do it

NEW TRAINERS!! WOOO!!!

Ordered my first ever proper pair of actual running trainers yesterday and I'm just so excited it's ridiculous!

They should arrive in 2-3 days.
And just to repeat myself - I am so so excited. 
NEW TRAINERS.
M.

my Nordic heart

The second image is entirely for A.