#candvinroma

[cocoandvera]

Walking into the new year carrying a book… because of course I am, I never leave home without one📚 sweater | @andotherstories jeans | @zara heels and bag | @chanelofficial sunglasses | @celine earrings | @mejuri #bibliophilia #candvinroma (at Rome, Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmttRE_r3NG/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[cocoandvera]

“Faites des bêtises, mais faites-Léa avec enthousiasme.” - Colette Loosely translated: Make mistakes, but make them with enthusiasm. To anyone who is coming to the end of the year wishing they’d accomplished more or regretting certain mistakes or starting to think, “Maybe 2023 will be my year…” - please, just stop. Let it go. Life isn’t about checking boxes. Success is not measured in productivity or in achieving specific milestones by a certain age. You did the best you could with what you had, and today, just like everyday, you have a chance to do better. You also have the opportunity to try new things, to make mistakes with enthusiasm and to learn from them. That’s a gift 🖤 blouse | @oakandfort jeans and sandals | @zara sunglasses | @celine #candvinroma (at Rome, Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmWiE10rIKw/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[cocoandvera]

I want to pause and acknowledge my privilege. The ability to change my life because I didn’t like the way it was going was a luxury. That kind of luxury is not open or accessible to everyone, no matter how hard they work for it. I don’t say this to diminish the work I’ve had to do to be where I am now, because there’s been no shortage of sweat and tears and lean months where I survived on bulgur with vegetables, but because sweat, tears and lean times aren’t all it takes - I could pack up and leave because failure was an option for me. If everything fell apart, if I stumbled off the tightrope I was walking, there was a wide safety net for me to fall into. I am a Caucasian woman from a mostly British background. I have benefited from and continue to benefit from colonialism and white supremacist systems. I have a university degree from a relatively prestigious Canadian school that I did not have to pay for myself - scholarships covered a chunk, and my parents and grandparents paid for the remainder. To this day, I hold no student or commercial debt. These facts allow me to take risks because if I fail, I always have another option. I can always earn more money and start again. My choices are all my own. But the environment in which I made them is a unique one and I know that luck enabled them, as much as my own work allowed me to execute them successfully. What you see in this space is only a very small part of the whole picture - never forget that 🖤 To be continued… sweater | @hm skirt | @oakandfort shoes | @jonak sunglasses | @oldceline #candvinroma (at Rome, Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/CivBnOPLF5d/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[cocoandvera]

Sometimes, I forget what a rare and special life I’ve lived - not consciously or intentionally, but because this is my normal. In some ways, I knew what I wanted very early in life - to see the world, and read all the books in it - which allowed me to pursue it single-mindedly when others around me were just getting themselves sorted out. (On the flip side, I had a harder time than average determining how I could pay bills and still live the way I wanted. No one has it all figured out.) Yesterday, I talked to a colleague about holidays; they just came back and I’m getting ready to go. Our experiences of vacation are antithetical. While I’ve built a life around mine, around opportunities for exploration and discovery, they’ve built a life at home. When I talked about stargazing in Athens, they expressed wonder, and some curiosity, about how things might have been different for them, what experiences they might have had by now, if they’d made different choices. The road less travelled is less travelled for a reason. It’s not easy to go your own way, to diverge from the group. You’ll be expected to defend your decisions often and at length, which means you have to be firm in them. But it’s beautiful. And what I’m learning is that as time goes on, the choices that made you strange become the ones that make you interesting. So this is your sign: be fearless in pursuit of what you love. It will be worth it 🖤 #candvinroma (at Rome, Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/ChpK-xdL0hw/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[cocoandvera]

Life is so - busy. I just finished typing an email response to someone who said, somewhat vaguely, I’ll call you tomorrow morning. I had to let them know my morning is fully booked, because that’s the way all of my days look. That’s the way my life looks, with every second accounted for and allotted to something… I suppose it’s nice to be needed. But it’s also a lot to carry. The only time when I don’t have dozens of competing demands to contend with is when I’m on vacation. We fly to Vancouver tomorrow morning and I’m so looking forward to four days when my time is not scheduled down to the second. Four days of unscheduled wandering and wondering. It’s those moments, the balance they give, that make the overbooked calendar and overflowing inbox and to-do list that I will never get done seem, somehow, almost manageable 🖤 #wanderlust #shetravels #candvinroma (at Rome, Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/ChKQ1kdLzD0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[cocoandvera]

Life is too short, and too full of beautiful options, to do the same things over and over 🤎 But there are exceptions to every rule, and I would gladly start every morning of my life with cappuccino and maritozzi ☕️ #aestheticbreakfast #candvinroma (at Rome, Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cgwgr1zLW0h/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[cocoandvera]

When the long weekend is almost in sight… 😎 Manifesting vacation vibes, an empty inbox and large glasses of rose for the next three days. Happy Friday 🥂 top | @sezane jeans | @zara sunglasses | @celine #lestyleàlafrançaise #sezanelovers #candvinroma (at Rome, Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgmOtGjL6Kk/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[cocoandvera]

You kind of owe it to yourself to do all the things you’ve dreamed of… just saying 😉 sweater | @hm skirt | @oakandfort shoes | @jonak bag | @celine #candvinroma (at Rome, Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgRnUDDrdWd/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=