Greetings from Italy!

Just got back home (from a 10 day snowboarding trip in Italy) full of experiences, bruises and memories and I can't wait to post all about it. :) Thank you for all the nice comments while I was away!!! This blogging thing starts to be waaaay too addictive! For now I need to sleep! :)
Ciao till tomorrow!!!
xxx

Happy Wednesday!

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Barcelona Districts

My favourite areas to look for a room/apartment right now:

1. Exiample (both)... city center

2. Borne... cool and hip

3. Poble Sec...fiesta, fiesta

4. Gracia... parks & views

5. Barceloneta...beach!!

My dear readers in Barca! I'd love to hear where you live, and which area would you recommend/not recommend from the above?

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Project Snowboard

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm leaving on a 10 day snowboard trip tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited. Me and my gals will be landing in the Alps in Italia. Although, I was watching alpine skiing on the Olympics yesterday and I did get a bit discouraged (did u see all the falls? damn) Anyway I am hoping for nice weather, lots of snow and cheerful nights.

Here is a glimpse of how i will look like on the slopes:

And here is the female section of the company I'll be having:

Last chance to "enjoy" winter, spring is approaching fast (yippie)! Hit the slopes this weekend if you can!

Summerbelle City Maps

I'm a big fan of Julie Summerbelle. I love everything she does but more than anything I adore her papercut city maps. I can't wait to have a nice living room so I could hang out her prints. So far she's done London, Paris and New York but I have requested Barcelona to be the next one! :)

Look! That's how she does it! Marvellous!

My MUST HAVE Items for Barcelona

With the Barcelona project getting more and more concrete in my head I started to think about the items I absolutely need to own before I can move... :)

1. Barcelona Luxe Guide

2. Barca scarf... claro... :)

3. Classic Converse shoes for all the long walks around the city

4. Ray Ban metal frame aviator sunglasses

5. CH Eau De Toilette Spray - Carolina Herrera - Fragrâncias femininas

6. Rebecca Minkoff Linear Stud Nikki Hobo Bag... I've been searching for the perfect black leather bag for so long...

7. Nikon D60 to capture all my memories

8. Chanel Le Vernis Nail Color Colour Polish Barcelona Red No. 207

Pfff.... gotta go work now! :)

Happy Monday!

Carnaval in Barcelona....

Today is carnaval in Barcelona. Oh how much I wish I could be there..... Don't miss it!

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Valentine's Day in Barcelona

Ok, I totally didn't want to blog about Valentine's day, but i just found this awesome article on OH-Barcelona about "How to spend Valentine's day in Barcelona". It categorizes couples in 4 categories and offers programs for each category individually... and yes, it does have recommendations for Anti-Valentines :) Check it out if you're looking for something special to do with your significant other like:

• Hot air ballooning around Catalunya with Balo Tour
• Hammam steam baths and massages at Rituels D'Orient
• Dinner at Mirablau on Tibidabo, with great views across the city
• Helicopter tour with Cathelicopter
• Rent a scooter to tour around the city like a local with Cooltra
• A concert at Palau de la Musica
• Take in some Argentine tango in one of Barcelona's top hotels

I personally would love to take a long walk along the beach, just before hitting an Anti-Valentine party... :)

Inspiration for a grey Valentine's day weekend.... love u Audrey!

Loft is Love

My absolute dream? To have a gorgeous loft with a roofterrace in Barcelona one day. This one, designed by Christina Rodriguez gets pretty darn close to what i have in mind :). Okok, i can certainly settle for something smaller, but this two bedroom at Passatge de Sert in Eixample is just beautiful. I love the simplicity of it, the colours, the effortless design..... and who knew there were lofts in Barcelona? :)

6 weeks till spring... hang in there

I just LOVE Tulips...

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Quote of the day... :)

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10 observations on renting a room in Barcelona

These days i find myself spending hours looking at idealista searching for a place to stay in case I finally make the move in the near future. I've also seen many questions on different forums regarding flat prices, so i thought i'd share my findings with you.

1. I pretty much narrowed down where i'd like to live: Eixample or Gracia

2. I used to rent a small apartment in Berlin and I am very hesitant to move together with other people again, but a couple of things i've learned from living alone:

• it is very expensive!!! paying for all the agency fees, warranties, buying all the furnitures and necessary daily things cost a LOT of money, much more than i anticipated (the first day that my bank account was in positive was the day i moved out, and that includes the days i got my (pretty good) salary as well)
• I find it almost impossible to find furnished single apartments in Bcn (especially in a good location with a terrace :)
• You can afford a very nice and big room in a very nice house in a very nice place with huge terracce for the same money as what you would pay for a crapy single apartment with paint falling on your head without any furnitures
• Renting a room normally also means that someone else takes care of the bills for you! Nice! :)
• Prices are normally all included, no hidden fees, extra payments... when you live alone you never actually know how much you paid at the end of the month

3. So i decided i would share an apartment with max 2 other people (girls...) things can get messy with more people! (also more fun...:)

4. My preferences: central location, big terracce, big room (i work from home), great people, nice furnitures, preferably modern, clean... etc, not much i know :D

5. Prices for renting a room: 300-600 euros... I'll target 450.. you can get some pretty sweet rooms for that (all bills included, sometimes even a cleaning lady... not that it's a priority)

6. P.S i am surprised how many people have cats in Barcelona! no cats for me thanks

7. Which reminds me, I'm astonished by the poor search options on idealista, i can choose if i'm a boy or a girl, if i have any pets and if i want to live with gays and lesbians or if i don't mind.....

8. More people should include personal descriptions/photos, it's crucial to know who you're gonna share your life with!

9. When you move to a new city it is actually not the worst to move together with people who know the city and have many friends! (i'll definately choose a place with the nicest people in it!)

10. Living in a place like Barcelona where it can get very hot and it's sunny most of the year i'd definately look for a place with a terracce! :)

So if anyone is reading there.... do you share an apartment in Barcelona? How much do you pay? What are your experiences? Would love to hear...

Mad World

So nice, so perfect, so much reflects my mood right now...

Winter Blossoms...

By my new favourite Barcelona based fashion photographers, Bela Adler and Salvador Fresnada... I love the Spain inspired fashion, flavoured with some wintery flowers. Can't wait for spring, can't wait for spring, can't wait for spring....

Have a lovely weekend!

Weekend in Barcelona?

I really like this "How to spend a weekend in Barcelona?" slideshow of the New York Times. Check it our if you need some inspiration! (WARNING: For tourists only! :))

Wishful thinking...

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I'm back... sort of

I've been a bad, bad, bad blogger this year. Call it sadness, winter sleep, lazyness or loss of interest due to the fact that moving to Barcelona sometimes seems like it would never happen. :( It still does. I'm in a major crossroad of my life and sooner or later i have to make a decision on how to move forward.... hard decisions, sadness and pain, but hey, que sera sera... I'm sure by the time the first spring flowers are out i'll be happy with whatever decision i'll make by than... oooo very misterious... honestly i just dont have a clue....until than i curl up under covers



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