(This is Rogelio, my sweet, grey, not-to-be-confused-with-a-mop cat. He is abundantly friendly, vocal and opinionated. He prefers not to use his cat box to go number 2)

What’s a simple activity that consistently makes YOU happier? Do you feel that you are happy most of the time? Take a sec, let your eyes water up, and watch this quick photo video by Gretchin Rubin to remind you about how we really need to appreciate the NOW www.theyearsareshort.com/

(Note: someone needs to start a website/blog about humans that like to give important-sounding human names to their pets, with funny pet pictures)

This change that I refer to makes videos like this bring tears to my eyes…

Here in Cádiz, the locals have a good time making fun of how the “guiris” (a half-endearing, half-derogatory term for foreign people) sound when they talk. It is not rare to hear “Gwatch E Nay” when a blue-eyed, blond-haired person walks past a group of construction workers, mimicking the sound of “what’s your name” that they have heard over and over. Or to even refer to someone or something foreign as a “Gawtch E Nay”. My husband (who is fluent in English, with a slight British accent, grrr), does an amazing non-English English imitation with lots of -nation, -ization, schwe-, and-then-I-was-like- (influence from his stays with my family in Southern California?), hey-, and shwa-.

Here is another video from the Morancos, two comedian brothers from Sevilla, imitating how American’s speak (and dress, and analyze insects) with their George Evan character and a lice bug, in a skit called Doméstical Geografic: el Piojo.

I don’t give a BEEEEP! I just want to sleep. I just read this in the New York Times about women’s sleep and how the z’s we start losing throughout pregnancy are never, ever, ever regained. Pregnancy sleep loss (oh yes, that HUGE belly, that tiny bladder, those extra gallons of liquid cursing through our veins with kidneys on over-drive) leads to infant-caused sleep loss (is the baby okay? the baby is crying. How can my husband not wake up through these endless night tremors? the baby wants to eat again. Should I let her cry? Am I a bad mother?), leads to young child sleep loss (I’m yet to experience this, but I can only imagine) leads to a lifetime pattern of stressing about the minutiae of our day-to-day lives at the darkest hours. Work, children, our partners…our mental health, our aging bodies, our aging parents. The house, feeding the family, professional development. Meetings, events, dinner parties. Making ends meet, getting the dog to the vet for her yearly vaccines a year late, forgetting to take that beer out of the freezer (POP!).

(Maybe I just need a bedroom like this one, with my favorite bed linens from The White Company)

Sleep is FUN-DE-MENT-AL. Without sleep, our bodies feel like sh@t, our minds turn to slush, and our tempers soar to new levels. Patience dives to minus 7. Energy sinks to minus 20. And overall woman craziness bee-lines for the skies. Large quantities of chocolate of any quality are desired, and a glass of red wine becomes not only interesting at 9am but necessary.

Can you tell I had a bad night last night? Baby wake-ups turn into an endless accelerated cycle of thoughts, concerns, anxiety, mental lists and frustration at not sleeping when one needs to be sleeping.

How do you other women handle this? Or maybe you are one of the lucky few who doesn’t experience some kind of insomnia? Do you take (gasp!) drugs to help you sleep? This is where you share your eye-opening/life-changing secret strategy to getting back to those 8-9 hour nights of blissful, uninterrupted sleep. And how does anyone have more than one child after experiencing all of this?

My husband just asked me for a hug. My response: Your hug quota has already been met for the day. Indicative of the current state of affairs. Poor guy.

Do you exercise in the morning? Do you have a secret anti-stress/depressant activity like morning surf sessions?

(Note to all you big bad surfers out there: 1) although these waves LOOK small, they are about 1.5 meters tall; and 2) I am what I call a “small wave surfer”. I have a large wave phobia and I’m ok with that. As long as it is well formed and has some power, I prefer those little (insert: safer) waves. I’m 30, I have a baby, and much less strength than I used to.)

www.theuniformproject.com

“Uniform Project was born in May 2009, when one girl pledged to wear a Little Black Dress for 365 days as an exercise in sustainable fashion. Designed to also be a fundraiser for the education of underprivileged children in India, the project acquired millions of visitors worldwide and raised over $100k for the cause. U.P. then continued into Year 2 with a monthly series of select Pilots taking on the 1-Dress challenge for causes of their choice. Today, women around the world continue to take on the 1 Dress challenge and wear U.P. LBDs as an expression of socially conscious fashion.”

I feel very strongly about reducing our belongings, taking care of what we have, making conscious purchases and supporting sustainable behavior in all aspects of our lives. That said, I find it difficult to follow this in a coherent, constant manner. I purge my closet, but then “things” somehow creep back in from moments of weakness (I’m a sucker for shopping when traveling, for example…). I get distracted by life. I get lazy or seek convenience (it’s easier to buy imported, non-organic fruits and veggies at the local produce vendor than driving out to a nearby farm). I get suckered in to the occasional new beauty product, chemical-filled sweets, using the car when public transport or the bicycle can be used, or purchasing yet another white tee-shirt. I use disposable diapers. And I feel bad about it. Sigh.

Obviously, I’m having a hard time finding my balance regarding these issues, my uniform that works with my life, my capability to commit to sustainability in as many realms as possible in a realistic manner. When I read about projects like the Uniform Project, I am inspired and become newly excited about executing some of the same principles inside my home, in my life. I also get that sick feeling in my stomach when I turn around from my little desk here and see all the clothes I have. All the things. Where is my coherence (I was just peeking through the Anthropologie website as I thought “I NEED those bright green skinny jeans”…busted!)?

I’ve already talked about how great having a daily uniform feels, about the benefits of purchasing less, and appreciating more what we already own, but also, imagine what a great example this would be for my little girl?

I will leave you with this 1989 Brazilian short film, Ilha das Flores, by Jorge Furtado, that has stuck with me over the years following the path of a tomato from the tomato farm to the dump as a social critique on poverty, highlighting the contrasts of those with purchasing power and those without, and the use-and-toss nature of so many. A writer from www.reverseshot.com, an independently published film journal, writes that ”it distills the logic of exchange in contemporary, capital-driven societies to reveal the nearly perverse economic inequality and social discrimination that forms its backbone” (the rest of the description of the film can be found here).

(The English version of the video)

Last weekend I was in Paris for a blogging-photography-photoshop course given by Bri Emery, from Design Love fest, and photographer Angela Kohler (who shot this fun picture). Just fifteen minutes in THAT room, at THAT studio (Studio Vermes near the Bastille), in THAT city would have been more than enough to make my little new bloggy brain swoon. After two whole days in that location with about 20 other amazing, diverse and inspiring women, led tenderly by Bri and Angela (almost holding our hands at times), not only was my new bloggy brain swooning, but it was about to explode! We learned SO much in our two-day program and quotas of inspiration and excitement about new skills, and being with really artistic, stylish, creative and über talented beings (like photographers Elizabeth and Anne, or NGO founder Sarah with Sanejo, or web designer Emily, to name a few) were matched, eye to eye, with high levels of intimidation to keep this little ol’ blog trudging on. Somehow, signing up for and attending a class like this, with people like them, taking time away from my 11-month-old daughter, my husband, and my real job, makes all of this that much more serious…and therefore threatens to hamper my creative process with attacks of perfectionist daggers and zooming bullets of mediocrity. However! HOWEVER! I, Anna Frandsen, pledge to dredge on with my musings while trying to improve my design, my photos and my content. BlogShop Paris was amazing!

Here’s a few pics of my perusal this afternoon (mostly so that you can see the before-after from the mad skillz I’m going to learn tomorrow and Sunday):