Wednesday 28 December 2011

Christmas Eve...


I can't believe Xmas Day is over! All those months waiting and waiting.... Well, we still have New Years (I hope so anyway because I just heard the news that the party at the bar we had a ticket to just cancelled.... )
I spent Christmas Eve in the countryside with my mum's family and some friends. We ate a lot (I had to unzip my skirt, THAT is how much), opened some presents (photos below) and played Party & Co until 2 in the morning and drank some gin. I have to say I slept like a baby that night....
I hope you all had lovely evenings too :)

XOXO

P.D The next post will be about Xmas lights.... my hometown looks lovely these days




This was a gift from Jason. It is a book with different stories, all pretty disturbing... but the drawings were beautiful
Second gift, lovely piyamas from my mum :) For the cold cold winter that awaits in London...
An "Iris" diary from my cousin Iris... :)
Some paintings from my cousin Zoe. She has modeled for me before, you can see her here and here

Iris, Zoe and me




Burgundy sweater from Zara
Skirt from Uterqüe


Friday 23 December 2011

They say that is all you need...



Merry Xmas!

XOXO


P.D Photo from Fortnum & Mason Christmas displays

Tuesday 20 December 2011

All I want for Xmas...


Hello!
It is Xmas time :D At last... I have been waiting for this moment for the last 2 months! During this term, specially on the busiest moments, all I could think about was coming back home to enjoy Christmas with my friends and family.
 On Saturday, right after the plane landed, Asturias welcomed me with pouring rain (I wasn't expecting less); it feels nice to walk around your hometown and see that some things never change, that your favourite coffee shop is still there, the big christmas tree is up, the smell of roasted chestnuts, the feeling that you will bump into people that you know on the streets (something that never EVER happens in London)
Today, I thought I'd share some things that make my Christmas special and gifts I have wished for.... :)

XOXO

Oysho Special for Christmas

Always Eartha Kitt

F.Scott Fitzgerland, one of my favourites...

Pena Jewels aren't they cute?

Diana camera from Lomography

Churchill's Confectionery  Best toffees EVER

Massimo Dutti's lovely silk shirt

Watch Audrey in Breakfast at Tiffany's one Sunday morning with a croissant in one hand and a coffee in the other

The ultimate Xmas Cardigan by Pull&Bear

A trip to Brasil to spend the holidays with my lovely Carmen Manzano......  
maybe next year :)





Friday 16 December 2011

Ubu...


Tonight we had our last performance of Ubu Roi. It is funny how we build up to certain moments; we prepare, work hard, sweat, fear, imagine... and then it is all over in 30 minutes. It might seem a bit dissappointing, even unfair, but that is the way theatre works.  For the past two weeks we've had no life (you don't wanna know when was the last time I did my washing....), waking up at 9 every day and coming back home at 8. Some people might say if it is all worth it, all the hours spent, the bruises, the stress... and sometimes I think so too. But then you find moments of clarity when you realize that what you do has a purpose, a meaning, and that is what keeps you going:  it can be the most stupid little things but they make everything worth while.

I am by nature a negative person, constantly questioning everything (including myself). From time to time I think about my life back in Spain, all the friends and family I left behind to come to London to study. I don't think I realized the consecuences, the look on people's faces when I told them I was studying Theatre. Now I look around and I think, what would have happened if I had actually listened to them? I wouldn't have had the chance to meet and work with such talented, inspiring, funny, caring, passionate, beautiful  group of people for the past 2 months; and produce a brilliant and strong piece of theatre.

 It was an honour being on stage with you all.


















Monday 12 December 2011

Random Moments...


About three weeks ago, one Sunday morning I was walking around Chelsea, on my way to the Tate Britain for a bit of culturizing, when I came across this moment:  at first I thought this girl was rearranging her skirt or looking through her bag, but she seemed to be doing it in a very strange (and dangerous place), right on the middle of the road. I though it was a really nice image so I took a few pictures. Some people were also watching her from the pavement. When I got closer, I realized that she wasn't standing there for pleasure, her skirt had gotten stuck on the back wheel!! I was going to go help her when a boy went there and untangled her skirt. If this was a movie, they would get married and live happily ever after...

XOXO

P.D Had the dress rehearsal for our play, Ubu Roi, today. Slightly nerve wracking day but fullfilling at the end. The performances start tomorrow until Thursday and then (hopefully), some proper hard core celebrating and off to Spain on Saturday for Christmas!

Friday 9 December 2011

Young V



Here are some pictures of the Young Vic Theatre where we went to see Hamlet last Monday. It is an incredible production with Michael Sheen as the main character. It is nothing like what you would expect a Shakespeare play to be; in a good way. To begin with, they took us outside the theatre to enter through a back door and guide us into a mental institution. Everything was down to detail: the painted walls, the cupboards with towels, blankets, pills, the strong white lights, people with clipboards and medical attire... by the time we got to the gym (the space where the performance would take place) it was as if us (the audience) were taken into the mental hospital. Everything had a retro feel, like when you see something and you think:  well, that is definetly not actual but it isn't 19th century either. I think the main inspiration for the set and costumes was the film "One flew over the cuckoo's nest"; they have that 70s feel...



The performance itself was stunning. The energy throughout the piece never dropped and even came higher towards the end. Michael Sheen delivered every single line religiously, without flaws and created such a complex character, with many different facets.
We all came out of the theatre breathless (and the girls with a bit of a crush, to be honest....)

XOXO


Hamlet is on at the Young Vic until the 21st of January

Friday 2 December 2011

Oh, Marilyn


On Wednesday, Will and me went to the cinema to see "My week with Marilyn". After talking about it for months, watching the trailer (more than once) and going on the tube and seeing the posters everywhere, we finally managed to sneak away from our busy busy schedule to go see it.
Considering all the expectation build up, the film didn't dissapoint me at all. Michelle Williams portrays to perfection all the habits, expressions, manias of the iconic actress. There are also beautifully shot moments like her admiring the doll house or the little dance with the white dress... you can see how tortured and troubled she was, and to a certain point, misunderstood. To me, she was made of contradictions:  naive but sexy, maniatic but intuitive, happy and sad.  And Eddie Redmayne is a sweetheart (and also a good actor), those freckles....

The costume designer is Jill Taylor (Match Point, Cassandra's Dream). She did a great job considering the budget restrictions. She looked at original stills from the cast and crew of The Prince and the Showgirl; that is where Emma Watson's vintage tartan dress came from. Eddie Redmayne wore vintage 1950s suits, more tailored and "uptight" to show his Englishness in contrast with the Americans like Milton Greene (Dominic Cooper) and Arthur Miller.

For Michelle, Taylor looked through the archives for photos of Marilyn on her early days of her engagement to Miller. Casual, off-duty outfits were achieved with pencil skirts, pullovers, knitted jerseys and, of course, her trademark head scarf and Ray Ban's. All the on-set dresses and some iconic looks, like the grey dress Marilyn wears when she lands in England were created from scratch because it was too expensive to rent. Taylor said in an inteview the white dress worn by Williams in the beginning of the movie was a nightmare! The zip got stuck the fourth day of filming; they didn't have the time to pull the dress apart to fix it so every day, Michelle had to be stitched into the dress! They were afraid the dress wouldn't make it through filming but it did.

XOXO

P.D It's theatre time! Going to the National on Sunday to watch "13" and wear my new dress...



"I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best"