Ciara Bird

Europe 01 / London

Posted 28th June 2014

london-2

Ahh London. My first international experience. Looking back I cannot think of a better city to have started my trip. I instantly fell in love with everything about it and at the time falsely assumed that it was because I hadn’t seen everything else and was just excited to be there. From this side I can say London is still one of my favorite cities—top 5 for sure—and I cannot wait to return.

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london-5

I vividly remember the taxi ride (on the opposite side of the road) from the airport to our hostel and immediately noticed how stylish and posh everyone was. The street style was by far my favorite here. and my god, the architecture. I have 100s of doorway, ceiling detail, and store front images that I flitted around snapping with probably as much grace as a crazy person and the same crazed facial expression.

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Within a day I was trying to convince B to let us live there and began fantasizing about what it would be like to wake up in London everyday and get to do life their way. How long would it take for me to become immune to it’s charm?

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I miss walking. as in walking as my form of transportation vs. going on a walk for exercise. I miss being in a place that allows me to physically become a part of the city and forces me to be outside therefore seeing and experiencing all of the details we miss from the comfort and safety of our cars.

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There is no way for me to describe my experience in a way that makes sense or even fully captures my feelings, what I did/saw, or the city itself. so i think these posts will just contain random thoughts I had at the time and not really focus on any of the details. but to round this first one out here are a few of my favorite moments in London:

1. (Sherlock Holmes?) themed bicycle ride I saw across from St. Paul’s Cathedral.
2. Fish & Chips the second night at a random bar. I don’t eat seafood so this was big and it was delicious.
3. Wandering through the spitalfields market where I got a vintage black kimono that I’m obsessed with.
4. Meeting up with two of my best friends from LA.
5. and obviously visiting the Harry Potter Studios.. it was completely surreal.

london-7

#this.

Posted 28th June 2014

In fact a mature person does not fall in love, he rises in love. The word ’fall’ is not right. Only immature people fall; they stumble and fall down in love. Somehow they were managing and standing. They cannot manage and they cannot stand – they find a woman and they are gone, they find a man and they are gone. They were always ready to fall on the ground and to creep. They don’t have the backbone, the spine; they don’t have that integrity to stand alone.

A mature person has the integrity to be alone. And when a mature person gives love, he gives without any strings attached to it: he simply gives. And when a mature person gives love, he feels grateful that you have accepted his love, not vice versa. He does not expect you to be thankful for it – no, not at all, he does not even need your thanks. He thanks you for accepting his love. And when two mature persons are in love, one of the greatest paradoxes of life happens, one of the most beautiful phenomena: they are together and yet tremendously alone; they are together so much so that they are almost one. But their oneness does not destroy their individuality, in fact, it enhances it: they become more individual.

Two mature persons in love help each other to become more free. There is no politics involved, no diplomacy, no effort to dominate. How can you dominate the person you love? Just think over it. Domination is a sort of hatred, anger, enmity. How can you think of dominating a person you love? You would love to see the person totally free, independent; you will give him more individuality. That’s why I call it the greatest paradox: they are together so much so that they are almost one, but still in that oneness they are individuals. Their individualities are not effaced – they have become more enhanced. The other has enriched them as far as their freedom is concerned.

Immature people falling in love destroy each other’s freedom, create a bondage, make a prison. Mature persons in love help each other to be free; they help each other to destroy all sorts of bondages. And when love flows with freedom there is beauty. When love flows with dependence there is ugliness.

— Osho

vivrant.inmadrid.

Posted 20th June 2014

What a gorgeous place! this little gem is the Madrid home of interior designer Mariam Alia. Madrid is now one of my favorite cities and seeing this home just adds to the magic of what I imagined was hidden in all of those fabulous apartment buildings.

i’m still sorting through my 8000+ images from the trip. tales to come! Images Via Desire to Inspire

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roots&wings.

Posted 15th June 2014

barcelona

9 countries. 20+ cities. 30 days.

Somewhere between Zaragoza and Madrid — Two thoughts written towards the end of my trip. I’ll go through and recount each city with images as I see fit. But these are the most honest feelings of my overall experience.

The only purpose I now see for wealth is to travel. If you have a lot of money and choose to only spend it on material things instead of travel and experiences you’re foolish and have no idea what you’re missing. I no longer have a desire to save for things, of course there will always be stuff I want, but now all I really really want is to travel again. To be free to wander through cities at leisure. I may never be staying in the most luxurious hotels and dining at those restaurants. But I can see them. I can get next to them. I can go to the bars and people watch. I want to see everything the world has to offer. When I’m an old woman I want to be elegant, but I also want to leave my grandchildren with exotic stories of the places I’ve been.

I want to be in love, create art, and see the world. This trip was the best thing for me. Going back to LA right now would only pause what I need to do and create more confusion for my inner self. Perhaps in another chapter of my life I’ll end up there again — but right now as I’m riding through the Spanish countryside reminiscing on my strolls through Venice and how large my eyes got at the sight of the French Riviera.. it all makes sense to me now. All I have to do is go live it.

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Another reoccurring thought I’ve had as the trip winds down is the fact that I feel like I could keep going for a few more weeks, months, years? But I see that it would be impossible to maintain a relationship. I barely get to talk to b or to my family, but I don’t feel lonely. I miss him when I see something amazing and wish he could see it too, and I’m sure if I stayed in one place for a long time I would really feel the separation, but as I jump from place to place it’s like the world is on pause and the only thing that matters is what I’m doing that day or getting some rest. I’ve noticed myself not really wanting to tell my friends and fam what I’ve done each day, I feel annoyed as if it’s too personal and I just don’t feel like reiterating it (especially after I spend hours journaling) and it’s too detailed too vibrant too intense too emotional to try to explain through a text or email. I want to know more words so I can describe it better, but then I also want to keep it for myself. And I can barely remember what I did or where I was a few days ago.

They say a picture tells a thousand words, but honestly no one knows what I was doing when these pictures were captured, the circumstances, if it was staged or candid. How can I possibly share my experiences with someone unless they saw it too. I kinda love the feeling that I could disappear into the world and just keep traveling with no idea what’s going on around me.

My life back home seems so quaint and comfortable compared to what I’ve been doing and seeing. It’s unreal. But it kind of scares me too, why do I feel this way? Why do the things that are so important to me seem less important while I’m here? My reason for wanting to go (what I was seeking inspiration for) is still here. I still have the vision and constantly snap pictures to remember, but it seems so small. so separated from me. Does that mean they really aren’t that Important? Or no? Am I really that passionately in love? I’m not sure. Maybe I’m just thinking about it too hard.

I am excited to get back home and to my regular life to see what kind of shift has actually taken place. My brain is literally bursting with so many thoughts. I’m eager to look back through my pictures and read my journal to relive each place I visited and turn these inspirations into work and style and ways of living.

—

Sneak peek at the pile of the loot I drug home:

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First image is of me at the W Barcelona and the second was taken on the street in Firenze, Italy.

departure.

Posted 15th May 2014

don’t be so easily defined.

“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” – Oscar Wilde

today i leave.

thosewho.wander.pt1.

Posted 10th May 2014

EUROPE2014

It’s official! I will no longer be the last person on the planet (in my age bracket) that hasn’t been across the world.. or even out of the country for that matter (the bahamas doesn’t count!) It always surprises people when I tell them I really haven’t been very far. Every time a travel opportunity comes along I jump for it, but as far as taking a big leap it has always seemed like a far off dream that would take years before I could achieve— an exclusive membership club I didn’t have access to.

Not any more!

After a few crazy (and I mean crazy, I will spare the details— but thank GOD there are people who love me) days of thinking and being neurotic (ie. ben stiller in along came polly) I decided to push back my return to the City of Angels and take a 30-day Grand Tour of Europe… leaving next week!! and only about 3 weeks following the initial thought.

I knew that reading the alchemist would do terrible things to my brain and like it said “when a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream.” This has been so true— once I made the decision everything kinda fell into place, almost as if it had been set-up to work in my favor before I’d even considered it.

Of course once I get back I’m going to think I’m a travel blogger (kidding, kinda.) so I want to make nice little lists and take pictures of all the things I packed and places I visited and the things I learned for future travel.

Now to the fun part…

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Where I’m going: London (United Kingdom), Paris (France), Brussels (Belgium), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Heidelberg (Germany), Lucerne Region (Switzerland), Venice, Rome, Florence (Italy), French Riviera, Provence (France), Barcelona, and Madrid (Spain)! There are obviously a ton of other cities I’m dying to visit; Milan, Positano, Berlin, Basel, etc. but I will save them for next time (and there will definitely be a next time) when I stay longer in the cities I really liked… or move to Rome ha who knows.

I had the option to visit Greece, but it would have meant losing out on Spain, so again, another time… and more likely when I try to do Egypt (my true bucket-list trip) and Turkey.

I have this visual of the things I want to wear, the books I’ll read, the museums I’ll walk through, but we all know that things rarely turn out the way we expect so even though I think I’ll come back all different from the things I’ve seen and experienced — I’m just going to pack up my little stuff and go with the flow, fully enjoying each moment and the fact that I will have a month to do absolutely nothing work related, just go-go-go— my favorite thing ever!

xx,
C

—

The books I’m taking:
Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi
Perfume by Patrick Suskind
An Italian Affair by Laura Fraser
Graduates in Wonderland by Jessica Pan & Rachel Kapelke-Dale

digitally… against my own wishes lol.

onmymamma.

Posted 10th May 2014

#girlboss

Posted 9th May 2014

A girlboss is someone who’s in charge of her own life.
She gets what she wants because she works for it.
As a #girlboss, you take control and accept responsibility.
You’re a fighter— you know when to throw punches and when to roll with them.
Sometimes you break the rules, sometimes you follow them, but always on your own terms.
You know where you’re going, but cant do it without having some fun along the way.
You value honesty over perfection.
You ask questions.
You take your life seriously, but you dont take yourself too seriously.
You’re going to take over the world, and change it in the process.
You’re a badass.

I was super excited for Sophia Amoruso’s new book, #GIRLBOSS, and so far it hasn’t disappointed. Not a memoir or a feminist manifesto, just a story about what happened to her and the explosion of Nasty Gal. Her carefree, straight forward, ballsy writing style definitely reminds me of Kelly Cutrone’s books. While it hasn’t inspired me as much in a dreamy way like the alchemist, it is a true story about an under 30-something female that created her dream job without following societies guidelines. It’s fascinating. Here are a few of my favorite quotes…

“I don’t want you to look up, because all that looking up can keep you down. The energy you’ll expend focusing on someone else’s life is better spent working on your own. just be your own idol.”

“I always suspected that I was destined for, and that i was capable of something bigger. that something turned out to be Nasty Gal, but you know what? I didn’t find Nasty Gal. I created it.”

“Who cares if a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it? The tree still falls. If you believe that what you’re doing will have positive results, it will— even if it’s not immediately obvious. When you hold yourself to the same standard in your work that you do as a friend, girlfriend, student or otherwise, it pays off.”

there are secret opportunities hidden in every failure.
–all quotes by Sophia Amoruso, Founder, CEO and Creative Director of Nasty Gal

My overall opinion on #GIRLBOSS is that it’s the same success story and advice we’ve heard and been fed over and over just in a different setting. I don’t mean that in a bad way at all. I think that it just further proves the mantra we all repin regularly— good things come to those who hustle.

Extras! A few of my favorite spreads from The WILD Magazine.

yana.puaca.

Posted 8th May 2014

I am seriously digging this girl’s lovely home— and the fact that when she went on a tour of Egypt and Jordan she says that “the experience was so incredibly humbling { I } literally cried while seeing the Pyramids” means she is definitely a kindred spirit (because I completely see that being my reaction). Her space is airy and light, but still feels luxe and well traveled without being overly decorated. perf.

See the full interview and tour at The Every Girl and read her blog NoMad Luxuries.

“travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living”
– Miriam Beard

Aidan or Big? 
I’ve always been drawn to the Big(s) of the world, but as Carrie says, “I’ve done the merry-go-round, I’ve been through the revolving doors, I feel like I met somebody I can stand still with for a minute”. I finally decided to stand still, and I couldn’t be happier. – Yana Puacas

rainstorm.

Posted 3rd May 2014

you were born to be a rainstorm,
to send your voice throughout the night,
to sing your song with falling raindrops,
to break the darkeness with your light,
you were born to show raw beauty,
to wash the dirt out from their eyes,
but the whole world ran for cover,
when you opened up your skies,
so you made your thunder silent,
and learnt to bite your rainy tongue,
you gave them what they thought they wanted,
you gave them life with endless sun,
but as they watched their lives grow weaker,
watched as their leaves turned brown and dry,
they wished they didn’t take for granted,
your booming presence in the sky,
you were born to be a rainstorm,
to be chaotic and be bold,
to show there’s beauty in the knowledge,
that you cannot be controlled,
because you might think you’re not needed,
life without you is the same,
but nothing beautiful would ever grow,
if it wasn’t washed with rain.

e.h. via—

—

i loved her
not for the way
she danced
with my angels
but for the way
the sound of her name
could silence
my demons

-christopher poindexter

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