Easter Chocolate

I finally went Easter shopping! I decided to go to my town's most famous Chocolate Shop, Entrelagos. They make artisanal chocolate, right there in the shop! Even though the wait took more than an hour and it was really crowded, it was totally worth it. 

I really wanted one of those big bunnies (they must have been about 0.5 m) but they were way out of my price range. So after buying for my family I got this cute little one instead.

Wishing you a happy weekend, no matter what you plan on doing.

Take care, 

~Rose

Cemetery on film - Corral

Sometime during the end of February I went along to a trip with my partner to Corral, and one of the thing we did was visit the local cemetery. It's located along a hillside where there are graves scattered around everywhere without any real path or order. One of the nicest things about this one it that it was very colourful.  As you can see from the pictures the predominant colour is white, and it's filled with bright fake flowers; even though these aren't my favourite it did add an ever lasting touch of colour and brightness. 

I plan on going back soon with my digital camera and take more photos of this place.

Take care,

~Rose

"Hongos" - Fungi Exhibition

I don't know why but recently I feel as though my town's recent exhibitions were just made for me. The exhibition "Hongos: Un Reino por Descubrir" (spanish for "Mushrooms a Kingdom to Discover") was no exception. It was mainly developed by the Fundacion Fungi, and the information and photography was provided by them. So now I shall show you the pictures!! 

(I will name the fungi from left to right)

Coprinus disseminatus, Geastrum floriforme, Bolbitius vitellinus

Cyathus olla, Cortinarius magellanicus

Sarcoscypha coccinea, Coriolus versicolor

Mycena cyanocephala

The details really made all the difference. It was beautifully set out, very dinamic and the information was easy to understand and very complete. 

They even had this adorable platform so one could take photos and feel like a small pixie. My partner was the one who invited me to the exhibition and was more than happy to take pictures of me.

He even laid on the floor in order to take this angled shot!! And as you can see in both photos I was trying not to burst with excitement and skip around with glee.

Take care,
-Rose

Life Goals 2k16

Okay, so I know it's pretty late to be publishing this since we are already in March, but it's better late than never, right? So here is a list of my resolutions for this year!

1. Clear Skin
Okay, so I think this one is pretty straight forward. I've suffered from skin blemishes since early adolescence and 2016 is finally the year for me to put a stop to that (or at least make a difference). So I basically plan on focusing in skin care this year, and incorporating it as a ritual for my self care.

2. Get into uni
This year I'm  going to study for the University Selection Test (necessary in my country) to be able to get into medical school.

3. Pick up my hobbies
So last year with so much going on and finishing school I left my hobbies totally behind. My bones, bugs, flowers, art, photography... all of it was left gathering dust on the shelf. But this year I plan on getting back into them and maybe  finding something new!

4. Go out more
Hi, you are reading the blog of an introvert with an anxious personality. You can probably guess by now that I'm not the most social and outgoing. So I tend to stay at home and in solitude. So this year I plan on going out more and exploring my beloved city and it's nature sanctuaries. Also I would like to not only go out, but go out to social gatherings (and actively participate).

5. Read
This is another thing that I love doing that I have left behind. I used to be those people who would read 50+ book throughout the year... but time and study (as well as the all time consuming notion of tumblr and social media) have strayed me away from that life. I actually have already started to work on this one, having already finished 12 books so far.

6. Keep my room dust/spider/trash free
So let me tell you something, we moved on the 29th of December 2015, so one of the many things I had to do was pack my room. And I have never seen so many spider in my life. I'm not scared of spiders, at all, and I have a lot of respect or them and we live in perfect harmony; I let them make their little homes in between my bookshelves and they leave me alone. But when I started packing I had to wreck all their little homes, and that made me really sad. Also I never knew that my room was home to so many spiders, every day that I was cleaning up I would easily find 20+ deadly spiders (Loxosceles laeta). So after that I became a bit paranoid with spiders (after having found them not only in my bookshelf but also in my shoes, in between my covers etc..) and that's why this year I plan on staying spider free. Also I have this bad habit of not cleaning up my room in general leaving dirty clothes on the floor, never putting anything away... so I also want to work on that this year.

7. Be cleaner tidier in general
I guess this one is pretty self-explanatory as well. Just incorporate being clean an organized into different parts of my life: my bag, my desk, my emails, my house...

8. Love myself and those around me
I guess the biggest challenge here is showing my love towards others and myself, especially myself (see number 19).

9. Compare myself less with others
Okay, this one is a habit I really wish to break this year. I want to stop comparing myself upon seeing someone. Looks, lifestyles, grades, clothes etc. It has more to do with breaking my internalized need for competition and for putting others below me in order to feel significant. Not only does it make me generally bitter but it also makes my self image and self worth go down the drain.

10. Get back into photography
So ever since I got a smartphone in 2014 I have left my camera behind, preferring to use the phone camera instead. And even though I lost that phone in march 2015, I still didn't pick up my camera throughout the year. So this year I wan't to start shooting again, and I would also like to go back to shooting film.

11. Spirituality
So I won't really go into much detail for this one because it's somewhat personal.

12. Take care of my health
I really want to up my game when it comes to taking care of myself. Taking my medications regularly, making my doctors appointments (and then not forgetting them), following treatments etc..

13. Personal Hygiene
 This might sound a bit weird (and no, I'm not a slob). At the end of last year I went to a special dentists appointment where they taught me how to properly wash my teeth (when using toothpaste your not meant to rinse with water!) and I would like to apply that to my regular life. Oh, and FLOSSING! I think that even flossing twice a week would be a huge achievement. Also I want to take proper care of my nails like an adult. No more chippy nail polish, no more outgrown nails, no more dirty nails etc...

14. Help around the house
So since I'm still living with my family I really want to help around. Not only to clean, but to actively participate in the garden, the kitchen, making stuff for the house etc.

15. Make Art
Don't feel I have to really elaborate much here.

16. Take up exercise willingly
I hate to exercise. Let me repeat that for you. I. Hate. To. Exercise. Last time I willingly participated in an extracurricular sport/exercise activity was in 5th grade. This year, I'm hoping to change that.
So I'm not adding this to lose weight, or to gain muscle. I really just want a healthy functioning body, and part of that is exercising :( I want to do it not because I have to, but because I want to. Not sure how I'm going to make this work, but we'll see...

17. Work on my friendships
I'm horrible at friendships. I'm really bad at keeping friendships over the years, especially long distance ones; I'm one of those people that doesn't wish you a happy birthday on facebook. This year I wish to make an effort to change my horrible antisocial habits. I'm going to pick up the phone and make plans, I'm going to wish people happy birthday (even if it means I need facebook to remind me) and I'm going to start really devoting myself to letter writing.

18. Wardrobe
This year I wish to keep working on my wardrobe, to keep elaborating my style and self expression (also I wish this year to incorporate a bit more makeup into my looks)

19. Body positivity and self care
It's 2016 already, I can't keep wasting my time with negative thoughts that bring me and other people down. I'm really going to take care of myself as the beautiful, life deserving creature that I am.

20. Try to save up, work and buy my own stuff
Gods, this is going to be hard...

21. Indulge yourself in earths delights

Life really is to short to save things for a rainy day. Enjoy every single day. Immerse yourself in life with all of your senses: touch, smell, taste, hearing, looking... there really is so much to life. And I really want to enjoy it.

22. Learn to listen
I'm excellent at listening, but I need to lean to just listen, and shut off the side of my brain that criticizes, analyzes and corrects everything every once in a while. This includes learning to listen to people who have problematic points of view (racist, homophobic, sexist etc) without getting really mad and interrupting them and trying to correct them.

*   *   *

So these are my new years resolutions. I really want to make the most of 2016, I want to grow as a person and just immerse myself in life.


~Rose

Hotel El Castillo

I got a job! Well, I had a job... During part of the summer I worked in the Hotel y Departamentos El Castillo. It was a wonderful experience; to give you an idea I give you the web's description of the Hotel:

"This beautiful hotel is hosted in an old mansion from 1920 displaying the typical architecture of the German settlers in the south of Chile. Furnished completely with antique furniture, the house itself is considered as of special interest by tour operators. It offers you all the comfort you need, so you can find peace and recreate your spirits"

 

The main entrance had a gorgeous sunroom. 

If you wanted to go in you had to ring this adorable goose bell.

The reception area.

The stairway leading up to the second floor, and the hallway that took you to the dinning room. 

Twin beds from one of the rooms.

The house was not only filled with antique furniture, it also had a large collection of tea sets, porcelain dolls, clocks, decorative dishes and teddybears. 

Can we talk about the soothing color schemes?

All these frames hold antique postcards. They belong to Julia (while dusting I took the time to read them all), a woman who lived in the late 1800 early 1900. Most letters were written around 1904-1915, and they were from two of her friends who lived in Valdivia. One was named Rosa, and I don't quite remember, but I think the other was named Nora (or maybe it was Oma). Apparently Julia collected postcards and her friends were happy to help. In short sentences they sent season greetings, good and bad news (like the death of a friend and the birth of a child), and even small things like getting their portrait drawn. These postcards truly were 100 year old time capsules. 

There were quite a few embroideries, but this landscape was my favourite. 

The drawing room was by far my favourite part of the Hotel. The colors, decor and furniture just gave the room a really nice feeling to it. 

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So this is why I didn't upload anything during February, however I do have quite a few post lined up. 

Till then,

~Rose