Barbados Bling Bling

When leading the sunny beach life - ah, how much I love that kind of life - I find that there is simply no room for bling bling items, jewels and the like. For one thing, salty air and water can cause significant damage, not to mention that it is really easy for a ring to slip off my finger and disappear in the water. 

What I do enjoy, is going to the beach wearing nothing but a bikini and sun block. Easy peasy. I do admire women and men who carry all their jewelry around, starting with their watches. I just cannot do it - I would feel uncomfortable in an environment that I cherish like no other.

When the evening comes though, this is entirely a different story! This is when I love to take my sea baubles out for a twirl under the stars. My summer favorites are listed here, but the one I took on a trip across the Atlantic and all the way to Barbardos was the pendant above. The two droplets of crystal enlighten the cleavage. This lovely piece of fantasy jewelry has the advantage of needing no added frills. I can stand its ground on its own for a great effect either on a night dress or on a simple white t-shirt.

Credits: TheDaydreamerDiary

The Quote

"Un jour, j'ai vu sur la mer une île toute paresseuse, immobile sur les vagues, comme un long lézard vert."

--Eduardo Manet, L'Île du Lézard vert.

Rainy day and party down the street-sweet life in Barbados

Todays' sound: a mix of heavy rain and far away sounds from the neighborhood party (rum and music)...

http://soundcloud.com/the-daydreamer-diary/rainy-day-in-barbados-and/s-jdDXH

On a Cloud

The small cloud I am on is young and light, just recently formed above the Atlantic Ocean and traveling now with the city of Bridgetown in sight. From high above the city dwellers look like busy bees while the horns of the numerous mini buses reach us at regular intervals. The colorful hustle and bustle is captivating.

My cloud brings some relief in the heat of the day: a 15-second shower, barely refreshing. Nobody leaves the street despite the droplets, on the contrary: the inhabitants all keep themselves busy as usual, indifferent to the blessing from the sky. A little shade means a few fresher seconds, most welcome today.

Moveable (sea) feast

When in good company in a setting as fantastic as Silver Sands Beach, the activities and moments of blissful contemplation are countless.

The idea of going off to the Oistins fish market was the starting point of a greedy feast. The fish market is as authentic as it can be and welcomes stalls of flying fish, barracuda, sharks, sword fish and tuna among roosters and friendly locals who always find a good opportunity to chat with tourists from all over the world.

Our eyes were set on thick and opalescent slices of fresh sword fish destined for a cold rice salad. The idea for the evening feast though was to get tiger prawns for our favorite Jamie Oliver's dish, rich with chillies -oh we will remember the jalapeños for a few years - and grated ginger and garlic. The rest of the company chipped in to get ingredients for hasselback potatoes and Turkish biscuits to be rolled in icing sugar once baked - the recipe comes straight from a grandfather's cooking habits if you can believe it.

The feast promised to take us all over the world based on everyone's taste and experience. The perfect feast, bathed in the evening light of Barbados.

The Barbados top shelf

After a day of wandering and Caribbean-like sweet life, nothing beats the soft shade of a semi darkened bathroom with drawn curtains that sway in the breeze. What helps even more is the thought of taking away all the sun block and sand by jumping in the shower with delicate smelling top shelf products bought on the spur of the moment at the local mini-market at the end of the afternoon among the locals who buy their groceries after work.

Their routine is the same as ours, miles and miles from here. The surroundings and context are radically different, but other than that, the routine is the same everywhere it seems.

These are products that I used also in the past but that are somewhat difficult to find back home. Not too aggressive and focused on deep moisturizing, they just untangle the hair and soothe the skin after a day in the sun, leaving a very subtle fragrance that does no interfere with the warm evening breeze.

Top products for deep relaxation moments by the sea.

January Eye Candy

From the world of sounds

There are letters and there are now also sounds on The Daydreamer's Diary stemming from the wish to share more experiences with you from all over the world, from one day to the other.

Let's start with Mother Nature, our faithful friend and her soothing waves all the way from...Barbados and its south Western shore:

https://soundcloud.com/the-daydreamer-diary/sound-of-waves

Breathe in...Breathe out...

Miroir mon beau miroir

La Grande Librairie est source d'inspirations et de découvertes, les rares fois où j'arrive à regarder l'émission dans de bonnes conditions - sans pleurs, cris d'enfant et lancement de jouets non identifiés.

C'est là que j'ai vu pour la première fois le visage d'Eric-Emmanuel Schmidt, après avoir entendu parler de lui à maintes reprises. C'est là que j'ai retrouvé la curiosité de la lecture après des mois d'abstinence volontaire due essentiellement à tous ces petits malaises qui accompagnent le début de la grossesse et qui minent nuits et jours au point finalement de m'éloigner de nombre d'activités.

Célèbre pour ses pièces de théâtre, il a aussi écrit des romans et c'est ce volet que j'ai décidé de découvrir en premier, histoire d'appréhender son visage le plus caché. La Femme au Miroir se penche sur trois destins entrelacés, trois époques de prime abord séparées par les siècles et en réalité intimement liées ne serait-ce que par la présence féminine qui résonne de la première à la dernière page.

Anny des temps modernes, Hanna de la Vienne impériale et Anne au cœur de la Renaissance belge vivent sous le poids de leur époque, subissent, sursautent et se débattent à la recherche d'elles-mêmes. Un jeu de miroirs fascinant et entraînant, une belle nouvelle entrée en matière, de belles retrouvailles littéraires qui, sans être bouleversantes restent agréables.

Is it too late?

They say that the New Year wishes can only be said during the first month of the year. Is this true? Am I too late?

I rather believe that there are never enough wishes, so here I address you mine, from far away, while waves crash and tiny birds sing and fly around our breakfast bowls under the porch to try and grab a piece of fresh fruit.

Happy New Year to all of you, from the bottom of my heart. May it bring you inspiration and bliss.

The Daydreamer