Life

Hello.

I wanted to apologize for not posting for such a long time.
I was busy "creating life".
During the last few months I just didn't have the brains to take pictures and write blog posts.
All I had on my mind was the baby and how my life was changing.
Now she's finally here.
It's impossible to describe how she makes me feel. It's amazing.
I can spend hours (read: days and nights) watching her sleep.
Every day is a new adventure and it's almost as if time had stopped.
Happy two-week birthday, my little princess!

I'll probably keep uploading and updating my baby-blog more often. So if you're curious just head over there: 1+1=3

As soon as I feel ready for "normal" life I'll take some shots of my new studio space and I'll share some new projects I have in mind...

Simple Pleasures

Without my equipment and a growing baby belly to attend to (exercise, childbirth classes, buying all the supplies a baby needs, etc) there's not much exciting content I can offer you. So today's post is all about the simple pleasures, the tiny things that brighten up your day. In my case, it's mainly bright, colorful, fresh food :)
So there you go: a bunch of food pics to put some color in your day!
xx

A few colorful shots from the weekly "rastro" or farmer's market.
And yes, those are oranges on the piles of undies - just to prevent them from flying away in a gust of wind!

Perfect dinner: oven baked potatoes with cumin and fresh tomatoes with basil from the garden and
roughly chopped garlic - yum!

Fixing a quick lunch: pasta with a broccoli-mushroom sauce

Our staple snack and dessert: fresh strawberries from Huelva (known for its strawberry crops)

And another spanish staple: churros with hot chocolate and coffee with my oldest friend Laura,
who came to visit me and see my expanding belly! Can you believe we've been friends for just
about 20 years by now!?!?

I hope you enjoyed the pics, and if you're curious and feel like taking a peek at my baby blog, head over to 1+1=3 to see some belly shots. Have a great weekend, xx

Inspiring Work Spaces

via nice*room

It is pouring outside, has been for the last few days. As I find myself forced to stay in (here's not much to do when it's this rainy around here, trust me), I find myself yearning to get back to work, checking my email for any updates on the shipment of our belongings (including all my metalsmithing tools and supplies) and brainstorming about how to decorate the new NIMO. work space.
The studio is a closed garage space, completely separate from the rest of the house. It has a gorgeous wide glass door facing a tiny pond and the most amazing rustic tiled floor: alternate terra cota and white marble tiles, a bit like a giant chess board. This space has gone through a whole lot of transitions: a guest bedroom, my mom's painting studio, storage space, my studio when I decided to venture in the world of graphic design, back to storage space (when we moved to the US in late 2007). Now I'm visualizing a creative haven, the new NIMO. headquarters so to speak but I also want to dedicate a chunk of space for my mom's painting endeavors.
The room has a built in white table, that goes along the walls in a u-shape and a big bookcase, filled with books, old records and my photography and graphic design files.
I can't wait for the rain to stop for good this year, so we can get started on repainting (now 2 of the three outside walls are wet), putting up some more shelving and getting all our tools in place.
I have been using pinterest as a tool to keep track of all the amazing work spaces people have found on the web and I can't wait to add a little vintage feel and lots of metalsmithing tools and paint brushes to the blank white space. Here are a few of my favorite spaces so far. If you feel like seeing more or if you want to take a peek at what other inspiring images I have found on the web, click on this link to see my other boards.

via interiors porn

via WORKSPACES

via HOUSE & HOME

via Aubrey Road

via oh, hello friend

Highlights of our Daily Lives

Istán reservoir. After the first heavy rains of the winter, we ventured to a good lookout spot to see the excesss
water being released. 

Wild lavender.

Black spaghetti. No taste difference,  just a feast for the eye. 

Mikki is renovating his recording studio, while we wait for all our belongings to arrive.
The whole place had to be rewired, tiles knocked off the walls, floors need to be replaced and walls need to be painted.
Can't wait for the decorating part :)

I've been told that walking is a great exercise for my growing belly. So I try to do it along the beach. So far I haven't done it often enough though... 

When running errands in the morning Mikki and I always try to sneak in a breakfast stop.
This simple "pan tumaca" (toasted bread sprinkled with delicious olive oil and freshly blended tomatoes)
 is one of our favorite choices. 

Last time I stayed inside the car, while Mikki washed it. Ohhh, the advantages of being pregnant!

Happy weekend everybody! The weather here has suddenly turned cold, windy and rainy again. So I'll probably spend the next few days inside, browsing through pinterest for wall color and jewelry inspiration. I'm having serious withdrawal symptoms after waiting for over two month for all my jewelry tools and supplies to arrive from LA. I hope my belly still lets me get close enough to the bench, by the time everything gets here!

Little Glimpses into our new/old Home

When we decided to move back to Spain in mid July last year, little did we know of the life changing things that were going to happen in the next few months - I found out I was pregnant in mid September. 

So once we got the news, we decided that moving back in with my mom was the smartest move to make (instead of jumping head over heals into a house search). My mom lives in a beautiful old house with a huge garden overlooking a little reservoir just about 10 minutes out of town. This is the house I grew up in, and it feels amazing to know, that this is where our little girl will spend the first part of her life, too. 

The layout of the house is great for cohabiting - with bedrooms and bathrooms on both ends, enclosing the common areas such as the living room, the kitchen and the dining room. My mom was generous (or crazy) enough to move out of her quarters and to let the our little growing family use the two back bedrooms, the big bathroom and the walk in closet (a dream come true!). The second bedroom used to be my bedroom as a kid and has now the functions of a guest bedroom, living room, baby room, and yoga room :)

Anyways, today I thought I'd share a glimpse into some corners of our new-old home. 

Bedroom: antique chest of drawers, the pictures are a limited edition print of one of my teachers in
photography school, a small pic of my grandfather and a poster of the Godot Art Gallery in Prague.
The lamp is from Ikea. 

Bedroom: my side of the bed. An old photograph of my great grandmother and her kids, a "photographer"
snoopy, a love letter on a piece of wood, a vintage looking tin of Droste Cocoa, books, my beloved
macbook and a lamp from Ikea. 

Bedroom: the only downside of my love of books is that I need to put a bookshelf against each inch
of free wall space. On top is another limited edition photo a teacher of mine took, a candle, an empty
box and the cutest pair of baby shoes,  passed on from my little nephew. 

The hallway: more bookshelves!!! One of my last screen prints based on a photo I took of Mikki
on our way to San Diego, a photo collage I made when I first started photography just out of
high school and the african version of the "matryoshka" my dad brought me from Ruanda. 

Hallway: more of the same and a print I got at the Renegade Craft Fair in Los Angeles.

Hallway: my parents. 

The multi-function room: has this wonderful vintage wood sink in a corner. 

The multi-function room: with a pretty empty book shelf (we're still waiting for our
belongings to arrive, they're going through customs these days). The wonderful thing about moving
back in to your childhood home, is finding old toys. Like this cute baby and mommy bears. 

The multi-function room: this will eventually become the changing station, for now I parked
this woven crib here. We have been so lucky to get so many things passed along from
my sister in law and our nephew!

The muli-function room: between the sink and the future changing station a wooden guardian and
old toy of mine: the elephant on wheels.

The multi-function room: last but not least a huge teddy bear sitting on the bookshelf, a sake bottle
I took home after a sushi dinner in Germany and beautiful pieces of drift wood my mom brought home.

Day Trip to Tarifa and Bolonia

Tarifa, the southernmost point of Spain and Europe, is a small town in an area famous for wind- and kitesurfing. Like most places in Southern Spain, it is mostly visited in the summer months. But I absolutely love visiting during winter, when 99% of the people on the streets are locals and the climate is nice enough to enjoy a coffe and lunch in the sun, but wearing a jacket or at least a jumper. 

Bolonia is a minute beach town, famous for its roman ruins, and it's beautiful beach.  

The most striking thing about the area are the white sand beaches, the turquoise or intense blue colored Atlantic ocean and on a clear day, the breathtaking views of Morocco (which is a mere 8.9 miles (14.3km) away). 

So today, a mild sunday, my mom and I decided it was time for our first visit to the towns of Tarifa and Bolonia this year. 

First we walked through the old part of Tarifa, stopped for coffee in the sun and then headed over to nearby Bolonia for lunch and a quick stroll at the beach. 

Can I move in? Apparently behind the door there's a huge patio surrounded by antique furniture. Sigh! 

Tarifa. Old moorish city wall.

Old town Tarifa. 

The sign says "zapateria" (shoe repairs) 

Door to the town market.

Coffe in the sun - yum!

Funky street name

View of the Estrecho (Straight of Gibraltar) with Morocco in the background

Old ruins. As close as it gets to the ocean. I would have loved to see this building in its full glory. 

Empty coke bottles. Remnants of a busy summer. (Backyard of a restaurant in Bolonia)

Delicious olives to ease the wait for the food. 

Pan de pueblo (town bread made with corn)

Our friendly lunch companion.

Beach of Bolonia 

Footprint and marks of early morning rain.

Broken glass.  

This cute house is right at the beach. In the garden there were girls in a swing and playing badminton. Oh, and a donkey!!! Can I move in here instead?

Actually I wouldn't mind any of these options either. Especially with those nice neighbors :)