Madrid tiene Sazon

Packing for a trip while being hungover is really difficult to say the least... yes this is how the story begins... and uhh pretty much ends.. but wait im getting ahead of myself here...

After doing many "weekend" trips back and forth from LA to SF for about 6 years has taught me useful skills on packing lightly and "correctly". i had exactly one hour to pack before i had to begin my journey. I packed a backpack leaving enough space for any purchase i may make on my trip, tossed it on my back and headed out the door. yes, i was only doing a carry on.

After catching what felt like a subway then a bus then a bike, then a mule, then a boat then a camel then a chariot then plane i arrived in Madrid.

regardless of the hangover, i was extremely excited. Ive never been to Madrid but have always dreamt of it and knew i would be coming sooner or later and also i get to be in a whole new city which is great because sometimes Milan feels like its already too small.

So, after figuring out the subway system Tea and I headed out the door...



and walked right into, yes... Starbucks... yea yea yea, i know yall thinking "wtf" i know me too, i dont even do starbucks back in the states but damn that caramel macchiato hit the spot.
We walked around downtown and splurged for no goddamn reason just the fact that we were on some sorta "vacation".
We stayed at Claudia and Stefano's house where they live with a whole bunch of other people, its one of those houses where there is ALWAYS people and something going on.. kinda like a bar hahaha, there is always an opportunity for fun!

And fun is what we did have. Non stop, never ending fun. Sleep was non existent at this point but sunrises were...

honestly, i think we took more indoor picture of ourselves/each other masquerading around than we did outdoors of the city doing the tourist thing. ooopps...


Well be getting ready
then all of a sudden, bamm a pseudo photoshoot begins


The last night we were all there together we decided to get dressed up and do a photoshoot on the roof. At around 3am we all headed to the roof with a half empty bottle of grey goose and took like 12 pictures because it was soo f-ing cold...
(i dont have those pictures yet because the camera is m.i.a. =/
It was hilarious actually, we put in so much effort and took it so serious... bcus
WE WORK *snaps fingers*


We went out to some clubs..



arrived to these clubs at about 2/3am...


yea because Madrid doesnt sleep. the parties go on and on forever

i mean FOREVER. like you know how sometimes you get to a party and it feels like you just danced one song when the party is over!?
Well in Madrid its the opposite. It felt like, i walked to every single corner of the club, danced to 100 songs (and u know in Europe one song is like 15 minutes), had conversations with tons of people, went and came back from the ladies room 100 times, got pregnant, gave birth, raised a family, went to sleep, woke up, made breakfast, digested it, got married, got divorced and the party WAS STILL JUMPING!!!

After so much parting we also wanted to roam the streets which we did


We ate some AMAZING mexican food

On our "down" time we sat absorbing the sun at a plaza downtown drinking ICE COLD beer


feel asleep on tables "siesta"


Even played a little bit of chat roulette LMAO
There were a whole bunch of other "in between" stories that either i forgot or cant really mention
but i know Madrid is dope! i loved it and the people! Shout outs to Claudia, Stefano and Steven for making our experience that much more better.

Real Life Absolutely Fabulous

It was yet another evening at the school's cafeteria called NABAR. Here you can usually find Tea and I: over eating some dry ass pasta, drinking coffee and/or an alcoholic beverage, because yes you can have a bloody mary right before class.

So like usual were sitting there having an intellectual conversation, catching up on the latest news, since we have a pre paid/pay as you go phone out here it is impossible to have actual conversations on the phone, so sitting for coffee takes place instead.

So were talking about art, politics, music, travel, fashion week, pink nail polish, parties, our future, men, etc and watching Absolutely Fabulous all at the same time, sometimes even in the same sentence, when during this Ab Fab episode there is a scene where Eddy and Patsy are on an airplane destroying it via drinking tons of alcohol from the little bottles they give away on airplanes as there going to France.

I go on and say, "wow Tea, one day we will be on a plane together drinking little bottles of wine, laughing out loud trying to join the mile high club and old ladies rolling their eyes at us..."
Then Tea replies... "well uh, im actually going to Madrid to visit a friend, i think she said its cool to bring someone...YOU SHOULD COME!"

"Madrid?" i ask myself... omg hell yea! so i quickly get online and search for flights! im not even kidding, 10 minutes later i had purchased a flight to Madrid!!!
I love doing things on the spontaneous tip... they always turn out more exciting, and you know me, i LIVE for excitement.

As soon as my purchase went through and I received my confirmation email...

...out of nowhere, like from the sky or something, traditional flamenco music began to play and i jumped on top of a table and danced a solo inspired by the one and only bad ass Carmen Amaya. It looked a lot like this:


;)

And that's how, ladies and gentlemen, the story of Madrid begins....

Carnaval

Carnival yall! Yea you know i love me some carnival and have been part of it for the past 4 years in San Francisco via dancing/performing, photographing or just showing up to be an spectator/i'll start sambaing or breaking in a second if i get the chance for or with groups such as Loco Bloco who do amazing community work.

Anyhow, so as you may or may not know, Carnival originates from the Brazil but is also celebrated all over the world, including Italy. So i had to check it out.

SO a group of us hopped on a train and headed 3 hours towards Venice. And let me just say that Venice is as beautiful as it looks like on t.v. no lie.

The Italians dont play when it comes to the costumes though . These are a few of what i got.

You know the only thing though was that the whole thing was lacking one MAIN and crucial element. MUSIC!!!! wtf! i almost didnt have fun because to me the whole point of Carnival (and to my life in general, ha) is to dance!!! I saw no drums! no shakers! no nada! I just didnt get it. I guess im just used to doing it how people of color do it... im used to seeing hot girls and men half naked wearing beads and feathers shaking it like a salt-shaker.

Im used to people playing the fuck out of some drums!

Im used to people dancing in the middle of the street!

ohhh i was hurting! But then i had to be like, "duh Nono this how the white people do it" (no offence but its true) but if you hang out with me then i know you have spunk so dont worry friends... its cool yall... i got over it after a few sips of some Ginebra someone brought from Spain

Yea i was happy i went and had that experience in Venice, before it sinks and all. You know me, im going to have fun no matter what. And i did. Mostly running around doing crazy things Europeans like to do, like dance in a circle doing call and response something uhh i dont even know/care.
Then these giant spiders came out and ate everyone. I survived of course via me being a ninja/spider woman.

EVERYday is Valentines... okaaaaaay!

yes we can talk all the shit we want about today because we are bitterly single or we can embrace our past/current relationships/love affairs in hopes of finding absolute joy mostly brought to us by our own selves. this is my suggestion and personal goal. im creating my own joy, in my own way via not depending on another person to fulfill me and my needs/desires - except those times when you need another person to carry out certain intimate tasks and ... ok lemme stop before i get too detailed..but you know what i mean...
Also, for now im single and pretty much ready to mingle, so if your interested you can call me at +39 327-84......... oh my bad... see, already im digressing....g'sus...

I just want to say this: If your in a relationship right now i hope your happy and giving and receiving all that you want and deserve and being true to yourself and whoever the lucky person is. If your single, i hope your using that status to its fullest and safest potential. If your ish is complicated i dont know, uuhhhh, what can i say, just follow your heart and hopefully you guys aren't fronting too hard on each other to make something work. I know deep down inside everyone just wants to be loved but too many people are scared and therefore vicious cycles like this are sometimes created.


Ok that will be $20 bucks for that real -better than Dr.Phil- advice. We can talk about payment options later. thanks.

So, there are about 4, more or less, possible emotional situations one may be in from being in/out of a relationship/love affair. Knowing how much music influences our thoughts, i went ahead and created small playlists to enhance your feelings. Each playlist consists of themed songs based on the possible emotional situations. Please download them, you might find something you like or that suites your current emotional state. Of course i didn't put ALL the songs i wanted to, i had to choose and decide and so these where the winners....

The first one is: 1. Love.

This is for the lovers out there who may be in love/lust, whatever, sprung/attached/ truly in LOVE, etc.from being in a strong, healthy and functioning relationship. So for the love birds we have the following songs:
1. Kiss -Dj Smash Remix (Prince Cover)
2. Rock With You -Eric Robinson
3. The One For Me -Rahsaan Patterson
4. Sexual Healing (Nick James Remix) - Marvin Gaye
5. The Make Up -Cody Chesnutt
6. Inside My Love - Minnie Riperton
7. Cocoon -Björk
8. Love Song #1 -Me'shell Ndegéocello
9. Dont Look Back -Télépopmusik
10. Sabor A Mi -Lila Downs
11. Rosebuds - Sa-Ra
12. Little Bit -Lykke Li
13. No Greater Love -Blu & Exile
14. Girlfriend -Jay Electronica
15. Aint Nothing Like You -Blakroc (ft. Jim Jones & Mosdef)

Ok this mix is GUARANTEED to get you lovers quickly loving or your money back!!! Very sexy tunes with a positive message. Click on list above to download!!!!


The second one is the: 2. ERASE you mix

This mix is the - after the relationship mix - (especially if it was a bad breakup) the songs you need to have so you can get over your ex. I mean, just for the time right after the breakup then maybe after time you can "be friends".

1. I Like It (But I Don't Need It) -Vivian Green
2. Mr. Messed Up -Floetry
3. Why You Bullshittin'
4. Erase You -ESG
5. My Love For You -ESG
6. Deceptacon -Le Tigre

These songs will get you to realize that its ok and that it might be better to breakup anyway.

The third one, i call the: 3.Baggage Claim Mix

These songs are for the lovers out there who just cant let go and end up caring bags... ugh, the worst choice to make, really it doesn't work for anyone... its even worst when the emotional bags are carried into the next relationship...Its for those that know its all bad but dont know how to let it go and move on and may even become self destructive. Ok just to be safe, dont download this one unless your REALLY over it because it may enhance your feelings that may lead to depression. If thats the case you should defiantly get the last #4 playlist. Just sayin'.

1. Remember Me -Sweet Soul Sisters Vol.1
2. Runabout -Little Dragon
3. Maps -Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4. Breaking It Up -Lykke Li
5. Dirty Peaches (ft. J'Davey) -88-Keys


The last one is called the: 4. im Over it mix

This mix is for those who dropped there emotional bags off at baggage claim and moved on via realizing that it is unhealthy to loathe in past relationships that did not work. This is for those who were in a really bad situation and were unable to clearly see its impediment and settled for less but have now gained the ability to really push forward.

1. I Gotta Get It -Sweet Soul Sister Vol.1
2. Get Out of my Way -Ayo
3. Ever Fallen In Love -Nouvelle Vague
4. Outta My Head -Teedra Moses
5. Butterfly Girl (ft Eric Robinson) -Dj Spinna
6. Que Sera -Wax Tailor

So yea, this is my playlists for Valentines Day and for these possible situations. hahaha. Please Download!!!
This post started of as a joke but reading it over it sounds really serious. LOL. maybe its a little bit of both...well nonetheless I really do hope this can benefit at least one of you. Music is inspirational, empowering and healing. enjoy.

editors note. on playlist #4, the 3rd song should have been in the #3 playlist maybe. Also, i tried to make the songs relevant for both men and woman, i mean i tried to make it from both perspectives because both genders can act the same, both good and bad, but it was a bit hard via that fact that more women write love songs....

New Blogue Statussssss

Hey there. Guess what?.... keep guessing... keep guessing....ok! stop! i will tell you now! I started another blog! you might be wondering, why? me too actually- because i know i have no time these days and adding another blog to keep up with sounds like a bad idea. But check it. the new blog is different from this one. This other one is Great! Amazing! Inspiring! much like this one yet the new blog is going to consist of mostly pictures and quotes. Why i didnt just add all that to this one, you may be asking yourself. Well i dont know either. Really, i just wanted to play around with TUMBLR and quickly realized i like it a lot and so ended up keeping it and thus promoting via talking about it here and on my twitter....

This new blog is called Electric LadyLand, inspired by one of my favorite Jimi Hendrix songs


& the URL thinga ma jig is called Retro Electro also inspired by a Jay Electronica joint.



"i like that one, nice and thick" ahaha this reminds me of this one quote:
"ok, leave the thick ones for me" -NoNo during Men Fashion Week Milan

So yea expect this shit to be shockingly electric... might want to turn your lights down and keep your electronics far away while navigating on it.


Its basically a mood board for my life. Whatever it is. Mostly fashion, art, beauty and music. I use this one live & technicolor blog to yap about whatever i want basically and ive noticed my post are always pretty loooong. So i thought i'll keep this one for them adveture stories or whatever and the other one will be simple for those people who have a.d.d .and cant read long ass post (im like that sometimes unless your shit is funny, ill read it all day).

Oh yea, and since i just claimed to be a yapper i will yap to be consistent. I just realized how i dont even fux with FB that much anymore. I dont know why... actually i think its because i added people that im not even sure i like and im too i dont know what to erase them...yet.
Im suddenly a tweeter now. yea right i know, like i got soooo much too say right. No actually i do. Soooo much happens to me in one day. Its rough but i somehow manage to turn it into a comedy. Living in Italy has been quite the experience especially when coming from Los Angeles to the SF Bay area to here. Nothing is the same. Your forced to learn quickly. You learn from your mistakes very fast. Your adaptation process can cause trauma if not flipping it and making it work for you. Im broke and have to really budget. I leave people in awe with my hustlin' techniques. I speak about 3 languages at the same time, sometimes in the same sentence. i mean the list goes on & on...

Ha, anyhow, i used to not be into twitter because no one ever @me and thought it was pointless ... until after reading Twitter for Dummies. I recently found out which thing to click to see the tweets i've have been mentioned in... yea slow, i know.... i found old messages from last year that i never even saw

anyways, i dont own a TV, dont read the paper and i live in Milan so twitter can sometimes work as my daily news. I find out about all the regular -everyone knows- news as well as underground hip hop news, mainstream music news, fashion news and local SF bay area, Los Angeles and NYC news provided my fellow tweeters.
So yea get yourself a twitter account, if you dont have one yet, then go ahead and follow me... you may soon see that i may be oversharing but i thought that was the whole point of status updates!? haha i never thought i would take it this far with this social networking thing, but here i am....

oh yea, btw the link to my new blog is:

http://retroelectro.tumblr.com/

enjoy.