Walpurgis Night

This May-eve shares many traditions with Halloween and is actually directly opposite Halloween on the calendar. Named after the English missionary Walburga whose canonization happened on May 1st, the eve of May Day became known as Walpurgis night.

Poetry book by Johann Friedrich Loewen

Vikings would light huge bonfires in hopes of scaring away evil spirits and ensure early Spring weather to help their crops. Aromatic herbs were also burned in order to fumigate rooms that had been shut up during the winter months.

Celebrations still include bonfires and dancing...

Its pagan roots were a celebration of a wedding between two German gods Wotan and Freya which marked the end of winter. It was also said that it was the last chance witches had to stir up trouble before Spring reawakened the land. Here is a good book if you feel like getting festive...

In German folklore witches would meet at Brocken mountain which is the highest of the Harz mountains. This peak is noted for the Brocken Spectre which we think only made the night a little more magical....

Some Lovely Things

We've been a little behind on keeping up with blogs lately but had some time to catch up over the weekend. There's just so much good stuff out there. Coincidence that everything we loved has some kind of connection to Spain or Morocco?

Tarajia Morrell feature on StyleLikeU

 And her beautifully written food blog, The Lovage.

España via Marmunia

And her sister, Magic Surrounds.

We are getting so excited for our trip! Mary & Iain leave at the end of May and Candice will be meeting them in Barcelona soon after.

Stop and smell the roses!

The rose garden in Balboa park is in full bloom...and it is unbelievably beautiful. Candice snapped a few pictures while catching up with an old friend. The smell was intoxicating and we highly recommend going if you are in the neighborhood.

This one smelled exactly like JOY perfume, which makes sense since the fragrance is made from 28 varieties of roses. It was launched in 1930 as "the world's most expensive perfume". Candice would douse herself in it whenever she was alone in Nonna's dressing room. At least $60 worth on her 10 year old neck, it was fantastic.

Místico: Pocket Dwellers

Candice picked us both up some angelite yesterday. We cleansed it last night using our selenite and since it's best worn on you or close to you, we are following in our grandmother's footsteps and slipped it into our brassieres today!

Angelite has a connection to the higher realms, facilitating angelic communication. It is a very soothing, peaceful stone that is helpful during times of transition. Angelite heals and clears the Throat, Third Eye, and Crown Chakras, and sends energy to the Soul-Star Chakra. This is a powerful healers stone that enhances your ability to connect with spirit guides, animal guides, angels and archangels.

Promoting self-expression , Angelite helps you to speak your truth. It dispels fear and disorder, opens the way for spiritual inspiration, deepens attunement and heightens perception.

Since you can use this stone to call your angels for guidance and support, we will be listening/watching/feeling for subtle hints today.

Moda: The Long Goodbye

We were rewatching one of Iain's favorite films, The Long Goodbye, and were reminded of how amazing Nina Van Pallandt's wardrobe is in that film. It's basically how we would dress everyday if we could: bohemian and breezy. Loose hair, flowy caftans, barefoot... we wouldn't exactly mind living in that gorgeous home on the beach either.

We kind of have a major crush on Elliott Gould as Marlowe too. He's just so nonchalantly sexy and cool.

Apart from the film, Nina just had great style. How cute is she here?

Also interesting to note, part of The Long Goodbye was shot in Tepoztlan which is quite possibly our favorite city in Mexico, or anywhere for that matter.

Arte e Cultura: Jubilee Hitchhiker

Much like music, certain authors bring us back to certain times in our lives. We discovered Richard Brautigan when one of Mary's old boyfriends handed her a copy of Trout Fishing in America.

Not exactly the most compelling title for a teenaged Southern California girl, needless to say, she wasn't exactly thrilled. But she read it, and it sufficiently tripped out her little teenage mind. Turned on by his writing style, we spent the next couple of months consuming all of his works.

Aside from reading the occasional poem every now and again, we hadn't thought much about Brautigan in quite some time until yesterday, when we saw a copy of his new biography, Jubilee Hitchhiker. It's massive and looks amazing. This is just the literary stimulation that we needed, considering the last book we read was The Hunger Games...

The Shenevertakesherwatchoff Poem

For Marcia

Because you always have a clock

strapped to your body, it's natural

that I should think of you as the

correct time:

with your long blond hair at 8:03,

and your pulse-lighting breasts at

11:17, and your rose-meow smile at 5:30,

I know I'm right.

From Sombrero Fallout:

I will be very careful the next time I fall in love, she told herself. Also, she had made a promise to herself that she intended on keeping. She was never going to go out with another writer: no matter how charming, sensitive, inventive or fun they could be. They weren't worth it in the long run. They were emotionally too expensive and the upkeep was complicated. They were like having a vacuum cleaner around the house that broke all the time and only Einstein could fix it.

She wanted her next lover to be a broom.

Sabroso: Bali Hai

Sometimes it's fun to act like a tourist in your own city, it makes you feel like you are on vacation. It was so gorgeous out yesterday, a perfect day for cocktails and the beach so we raced the sunset after work for some tiki goodness at the Bali Hai.

We proceeded to order a drink the size of our heads...

At least the size of Candice's!

When your drink is bigger than all of the food you consumed, you might be in trouble the next day...

But a gorgeous view and a fun, kitschy night with your best friend/sister makes it all worth it.

Voyage: Las Pozas

Our heads have been in the clouds this week so we thought we'd end it with a little trip to Las Pozas, Edward James' surrealist gardens in Xilitla.

Edward was born into a very privileged, aristocratic life in England. An eccentric outsider, he befriended the likes of Dali, Picasso, Magritte, Stravinsky and one of our favorite filmmakers, Luis Bunuel. He later retreated to the jungles of Mexico where he would spend the next 20 or so years building one of the biggest and least known artistic monuments of the 20th century.

The design of Las Pozas was inspired by the orchids Edward grew and the vegetation of the Huastecan jungle along with the Surrealist movement he was so closely involved with. In 1962, a once in a lifetime frost killed thousands of his prized orchids, inspiring him to "build a city of flowers four stories high that no frost could ever kill". He spent millions of dollars creating his "Surrealist Xanadu", eventually leaving it to his friend and guide, Plutarco Gastelum.

The gardens are owned and preserved today by Fondo Xilitla. It has always been a dream of ours to visit and stay at El Castillo, his former home.

The documentary, Builder of Dreams, is fantastic and includes footage of Edward James and his reflections on a truly fascinating and eccentric life. This article is a must read as well.