Blue Bird

Blue Bird

I think covid, and going through a complete lockdown where we couldn’t leave our houses for more than 1h/day really changed things for so many of us. One of the things I found to be the hardest was not being able to see the sun from my apartment. Or even much of the sky really. I used to stop in the street and close my eyes for a second, before continuing to the grocery store in Paris during my 1h, just to enjoy every single second of the sunlight warming up my cheeks. The days I looked up at the sky and I was able to see the moon were extra special. It became a routine. A ritual. To look for the sun, the moon and to watch birds play in the sky. I brought me so much peace and gratefulness. Which is something I also took with me when lockdown was finally lifted and our lives slowly settled back into what we once called normal.

When I later went to Rome and was lucky enough to have a beautiful terrace overlooking the Roman rooftops, domes and churches, I went out in my bathrobe every single morning and night to look up at the sky for a few minutes. Nothing brings me more calm and appreciation for what I get to see, live and feel every single day.

This was a moment I captured from my terrace in Rome, looking up at the sky one of those mornings or evenings. It will always remind me to stop for a second and appreciate where I am.

Picnic

After picking flowers and brewing coffee in a moka pot that was probably older than myself, my friend and I laid down on her pink picnic blanked in the middle of nowhere of Tuscany. We talked about our fears and our hopes and everything we usually share between us. Things you only share with those closest to you. The boys were playing darts (or some game I don’t remember), laughing and drinking Aperol Spritz in the background. The air was still so warm.

We laid there looking up at the sky. These friendships mean the world to me. And I consider myself so very lucky to have met so many wonderful people in this life. I hold them, and the memories we make and share together, closer than anything else to my heart.

Santa Marinella

During the summer of 2019 my mother rented a house in Santa Marinella. Santa Marinella is a little town not too far outside of Rome, which apparently saw its glory days back in the 60s when movie stars and other known Europeans enjoyed the coast during the summer months. Today you would probably not look at it twice but it’s the perfect escape from Rome if you want put your feet in the sand for a few hours and have lunch by the sea before heading back into the capital again.

My sister and I joined our mother during the summer of 2019, together with our boyfriends, for a week or so before continuing onto our separate vacations. We spent the evenings cooking all together, and later enjoyed dinner on this beautiful rooftop terrace overlooking the sea, nestled in among pink bougainvillea and a warm breeze from the sea.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” as they say. But this place will always be special to me and I love coming back during sunny winter days to have pasta at a little place right by the water, while enjoying a glass of wine and thinking about how strange life can be and how we never really know where it will take us.