I truly believe love is the only thing worth living for, and on average, I fall in love at least three times a day, and these are of few of my favorite ways and places.
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Glad we got acquainted, you see it's been a while since I fell in love. I went to Milan this weekend for fashion week and fell in love with fashion all over again! Playing around with my outfits I fell for all the drama of a little extra skin and boots, tons of boots. I have a few staple pieces you'll always find on me, like my Off---White bag and my Max Mara coat, but besides that, I tested my fashion styling abilities and got creative. All I have to say is a became a new person, and she might just be into a litttttle drama. However, sans coffee, she's a little more tamed.
To the lucky guy, I always write about when I write about love.
I dreamt about you last night, but I can't remember if I really did or just wish I did. You're my favorite song always on repeat. I have a whole track list of moments where we've intertwined and passed the time. You're the closest I've ever come to falling in love. I remember when you'd tell me you loved me, but I never believed you, so instead you started to say you loved my writing, and that I knew was true because it was always about you. And you're not capable of loving more than yourself. Two sides to the same story. My Yin & Yang.
As always, inspired by: Mark Rothko, Untitled (Olive Over Red), 1958. As I sit here in the garden and let what feels like the first warmth of Spring fall over me, I wonder where I’ll migrate to next.
What path will I follow and where will I plant my feet next. Will I wander with the wolves in the desert or flow through the next city like a river. I want an environment that will help flourish my growth and water my ideas. But in life, you don’t often get what you want, but rather what you need, so until then, I’ll get lost in these adventures, and always end up longing for you. Is it cliché if... I think the person, better yet people, that live in 3305 are a couple, one that has been together for eight years, had a courthouse wedding last year with a dinner reception in their backyard. Their friend's and family enjoy them together because they are honest with their love they admit that love has hardships, cultural differences, and even while they lived coast apart, they have always managed to stay honest, honest with themselves and honest in their love.
They have a five-year-old Dalmatian, and one of them is a scriptwriter, who is a bit unorganized, and the other is an architect, that always calculates every risk and plans ahead. On the weekends you can find them at the dog park or on Sunset Blvd. just going to grab an afternoon coffee with their dog. The first thing you notice about them is their embraces between one another are sweet, soft, and filled with love. You might catch them walking down the street hand in hand or gently moving the other's hair when it falls in their partner's eye, not to mention they are unbeatable in couples charades, just ask their neighbors in 3305. They love to watch old bond movies together, tend to their garden out front, and take trips to Malta or Morocco together. They are always bringing back souvenirs for their dog watcher and a camera roll full of film that they showcase when they invite over friends for dinner, cooking a meal they learned during their vacation. On Sunday mornings they dance to Marvin Gaye together, and as they dance you get a snapshot into their life together. While blending so effortlessly together, they still have their flair that they add as they move to the rhythm, but there is never any doubt that their partner is there after that each turn and dip. I’ve always believed as a woman the most empowering this you can do is to authentically be yourself because when society and culture have these boxes, labels, looks, and beauty standards they want you to fit and mold to, I think breaking them and making your own path is more fun (and great for the soul.)
Happy International Women's Day to all the fearless women in my life (especially my mama) who all forge their own path and follow their dreams because now more than ever it’s so important we all do, and I hope you all know I’m rooting for you all. I hope you set the world on fire and if anyone ever stands in your path and holds you back I hope you never second guess burning that bridge because out of those ashes the wind will show you a new path. Flame by me inspired by Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1958 Growing up I was always in the public school system in South Florida, and truthfully I always felt safe. I knew the adults and teachers were there to help me and to provide me with an education that would eventually lead me to college and so forth. I was fortunate because I not only have great teachers, those that cared, but I felt protected in my environment and showing up to class every day.
After my public school education, I attended The Florida State University (FSU) and into my 3rd year there was a shooting on campus, at the library. I remember when it happened and how the university felt and reacted after. When it happened, I was fortunate to be in my apartment off campus, and I was getting ready for sleep when I heard the gunshots. It was ominous. Somehow it felt different from all the other loud bangs you might hear outside, Tallahassee is a college town after all, but to see how FSU came together as a community after was heartwarming. People were reaching out to the victims and their families offering help and monetary support, we held walks, and memorials, and when you are a young adult, and far away from your families back home it is easy to feel unsafe and alone, but the FSU community didn’t allow for that to happen. It was nice to see us all being there for each other and those that needed it the most. The Seminole community, be it what it may, but it is a family. One that cares, supports, and in times of need helps out, and we occasionally party hard too, but we celebrate our wins just as much as we give back during losses. Before showing up on the doorsteps of FSU, I was apart of another community the Atlantic Community High School Eagles (ACHS). I loved my time in high school. In high school I was part of the IB community at ACHS, and that in itself has always felt like an extended family. IB is a tough program to get through, and I couldn’t have survived and gotten through it without the help and support of great teachers and my classmates. Even now if any of those kids from any of my classes reached out to me, I would do my best to help them however I could. During my time at ACHS, while I loved the school and the fact that my teachers always encouraged me to speak my mind and argue my thoughts, there were a few rules I could have lived without (me and the administration did not agree on dress code, so I pushed the limits when I could), but I never once felt threatened or like my voice was silenced. I wrote for the school newspaper while in high school and even then it didn’t feel like much was off the table regarding publication, we just had to make sure we always got our facts and represented the truth. That’s why it is so sad for me to hear that the same high school is silencing the voices of their students when it comes to the issue of gun control. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is a school in South Florida, and what happened there is a result of adults, I guess I am an adult now, that have failed to address and take an issue seriously such as gun violence to protect the youth of this next generation. We haven’t done enough, and for that I am sorry, so, so, so, sorry! I know those words will never bring back those brave angels that were lost or mend the hearts that broke that day, but I am sorry and promise to support you all in your fight to bring towards stricter gun laws by echoing your voices and assisting you. ACHS is a magnet school meaning kids anywhere in the Palm Beach School District can attend that school if they get into a program. So it is quite likely that kids are attending ACHS from Parkland or who have friends that attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. So for the administration at ACHS to tell the students there that any kid participating in or planning a walkout, exercising their rights and standing with solidarity with those lives that were lost, will be kicked out of their program is a slap in the face. And the best part, the principle is holding a prayer circle in substitution. What is going on ACHS? As administration at this school, you should be well aware that thoughts and prayers are not enough to keep your students safe. Does it not feel wrong to keep pushing your old aged agenda of thoughts and prayers when students around the country as asking for action? Do you not feel as though you are failing to help prepare and give these kids the skills they need for real life by pushing them to be bystanders? Do you not want to empower and support the voices of your school showing them that you are there for them and help their dreams (which calling it a dream sounds utterly ridiculous) of feeling safe while getting an education not just for them but for those that follow them? I especially can’t get over the fact that you are threatening to kick kids out and alter their future for them to support your agenda, why? Now it should be stated that I believe everyone has their right to religion and to pray to the G-D of their choice and I think many kids have already expressed their concerns through prayer, but this generation wants more, and rightfully so. They want action. So please as the alma mater that gave me such a strong voice and supported my dreams and projects please don’t discourage or hold back this generation. Support them and empower them as you did with my ideas, which in comparison seem minuscule compared to the dreams this upcoming generation has. I know you mean well, but please give them the opportunities to take control of their life and make the changes they need to better it. Call it tough love ACHS, but it’s because I expect more from you. I guess I should explain what’s going on. About six months ago, during the Eclipse in August, I read this quote from Stevie Nicks about a journal she keeps that said, and I’m paraphrasing/rewording, keep a journal and on the right side of the page share all the thoughts and moments of the day, highs/lows, etc. and on the left side of the page poeticizes it for songs. I love that. I loved it when I read it so much that I implemented this technique into my own life. Now I don’t write music, but trust me if I could I would (and I'm already a karaoke queen, so if I could actually sing, it would be done), but I started keeping a journal with the same technique really just for myself and to help me with my writing and just to put my thoughts out on paper vs. keeping them bottled up. I haven’t written in it every day, and some weeks are more consistent than others, but looking back and seeing how I’ve grown during specific moments in my life has been what I’ve needed to see, to appreciate the growth of life. I think we can often brush over our growth unless we feel like it is “transformative,” hence why girls get bangs. You get bangs when your life's falling apart in hopes by the time they grow out you’ve figured it out. A reflection of the growth, but bangs aren't my style, journaling is (anyone surprised I was a angsty teen with a diary in middle school? You shouldn't be.) This journal has basically been my diary (see, old habits die hard), one that I never thought I would share pieces of, let alone in bulks. However, I have shared moments of my journal in my fashion posts. The top two lines in color and italicized are all from that journal, sneaky, I know. My journal to me has helped me process my emotions and in turn become better at accepting my feelings rather than keeping them bottled. Now, this is where Mark Rothko comes into play. There are few things in life that I love more than a Mark Rothko painting. I love the size, most 27" x 25", and the use of color, so much color. If you ever seen a Rothko in person, you know what I am talking about, the painting takes up a good portion of the wall it is on, and the way you are meant to view the art, is not from afar, but rather from 18 inches away. At 18 inches you are completely embraced in not only the color but the emotion that the painting gives. Rothko's art is meant to make you feel something, whether it be happiness, peace, sadness, guilt, just as long as it's something. Any work of art, painting, music, writing, should make you feel something. I think the beauty of a Rothko is, the fact that when you are standing up close and personal with it, you are facing your emotions and letting them take over. Sidebar, while I don’t think you should let your feelings control you, it can lead to some pretty careless actions, I do think you should feel them, every last one of them, and feel them till you understand why you have that emotion and then let it go. A Mark Rothko painting can help share a mood or feeling that you can’t yet put into words, or words that you don’t yet have. A few posts ago I talked about being vulnerable, and how I want to give more of myself and open myself up this year, well this is the beginning (well I guess the second step technically, step one was the post but still the beginning.) I just finished my journal and pulled out some of my favorite quotes and pieces that describe every feeling and emotion I have had in the last six months, If you think it’s been all OOTD pics and brunches, boy have you been fooled. I paired these quotes and excerpts with Rothko paintings that either helps to display the emotion I want to get across or inspire the emotion I am feeling or was feeling when I wrote the piece. While we might not go to museums every day or own a Rothko in our own home, I think there are different ways we can learn to manage and feel our own emotions. We shouldn't fear emotions, but rather express them in a healthy way where we feel them, recognize them, and let them go, and to me, it is what the Untitled. series inspired by Mark Rothko represents.
Fair Warning Rothko has over 300 paintings, and I have a lot of emotions to express, so this might be a long ride, but if it matches your mood and vibes, welcome along. We fell in love the way all lovers do. Quickly, and over red wine and pasta. In an alternate universe, it’s the 80s, and I am a Sicilian mob boss’ wife. It really is the only thing that makes sense for my undying love of pasta, mob movies, and oversized blazers. My name would be Maria-Isabella (hyphenated), and I would still go by Mia, perfect for the Italian boys to bring up the comparison between Mia meaning “mine” in Italian, but I would roll my eyes because I had heard it all before and was spunky like that. My mob boss husband and I met the way all good Italians would, at Sunday brunch after church he was a friend of a friend that was visiting. It would be love at first sight and at first "Ciao," we’d fall in love (before I found out about his mob ties) but once I did, I would love him too much to leave him. He’d call me Amore Bella, and we’d marry in the same church we met. We’d eventually set our sights on New York, build a community there. That would be hard to do, leave our families behind and most of our friends except his brother and cousin. I’d wear tons of Versace, Valentino, and Dolce & Gabbana and while there were a few brushes with the law (one in particular that almost gets us arrested, think Bonnie & Clyde but more shoulder pads and pasta). We would mostly escape the breakup of the mobs and the government crackdown on crime in the late 80s untouched, of course, if anyone asked I knew nothing and was a stay at home wife. By the 90s we had both gone to too many funerals and decided to cut back on the life of crime after his brother was assassinated by becoming an agency that outsources Italian leather to fashion houses with the help of Domenico & Stefano this would allow for tons of travel between Italy and New York, and Miami in the summers to visit Gianni, rest his soul. I mean it kind of works. It needs a bit more character development and backstory, but until I work out the details allow your creativity to wonder while I set the scene with some photos. I may have also watched Goodfells, very recently and it might have sparked some inspiration, but let's be honest this has always been in me. Also, how I went so long without seeing it I am very surprised and also disappointed in how it never cam up in conversation before. *Update* per suggestion of Andrea, it is me. I am the mob boss taking over. The end. All photos are raw, unedited, and by: Emily Bofelli
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