Maira Martins

self-taught in everything

"Drawing... it is the best thing that I ever do. First of all because it gets me to be so silent. To not be blurting out what I think about this or feel about that. Second, I become an open observer, jotting down visual notes about something I see. And third, it puts me in the world of praise. To be looking upon an object and taking the time to sketch it is an innocent, unaggressive, and grounding act. It is where bliss resides. It is pure being..."

โ€” D. Price, The Moonlight Chronicles.

Inspiring video on illustrated journals

Watched yet another inspiring video on illustrated journals by Danny Gregory and signed up for his course! ๐ŸŽจ Between this and the 2 books I read this past week, my drawings have improved a lot already...

journaling

Watched: Murder Mindfully Season 1 ๐Ÿ“บ

Watched: Murder Mindfully Season 1 ๐Ÿ“บ Loved it! Iโ€™m fully convinced about the power of mindfulness and will get back to my daily practice, as I have many great things to accomplish! ๐Ÿ˜‚ Looking forward t...

tv

Week 15: Illustrated journal

๐Ÿ“บ Finished season 5 of Only Murders in the Building. ๐ŸŽจ Watched an inspiring video on illustrated journals by Danny Gregory (from Sketchbook Skool) and decided to give it a try. I've been very inconsis...

weeknotes, journaling

Finished reading: Draw Your Day ๐Ÿ“š

Finished reading: Draw Your Day by Samantha Dion Baker ๐Ÿ“š I saw a video by Danny Gregory on illustrated journals and now Iโ€™m on a quest to learn to draw and sketch so I can have an illustrated journal....

books

Week 14: Wild pomegranates

โœˆ๏ธ MIL flew back to Sweden. It was great having her here for five weeks, but also somewhat stressful for me, as my daily routine and food habits change a lot when she's around. I was honestly dying to...

weeknotes, Astro

"There is a time to go long, a time to go short, and a time to go fishing."

โ€” Jesse Livermore

Week 13: Astro is getting old

I didn't write my weeknote last week as I was in Italy with my family, but I'm here now, two weeks later and two kilos heavier happier. Rome was amazing! It was our mothers' first time in Italy and ex...

weeknotes, Astro, Luna, dogs

Back from Rome with my mom and mother-in-law! Their first time in Italy, rightfully enjoyed with a little sightseeing, a good amount of pasta, some aperol, a ton of pizza, and a lot of wine. Didn't write any weeknotes this week, will get back on track next Monday :)

Recipe: Rรถdvinsรฅs

Aaah, Swedish red wine sauce... Poured over oxfilรฉ, potato gratin, or just eaten by the spoonful... So delicious. Original recipe by Karl, I made tiny changes to use ingredients easily available to me...

recipes

Week 12: Autumn Vibes

This week's notes are coming in two days late, on Wednesday instead of Monday. I've just had too much on my plate, too little sleep and didn't feel like writing. We are traveling to Rome in a few days...

weeknotes

Didn't get ANY sleep last night. A massive storm hit us, power went off, dogs in panic. I locked myself in my office with them, petting and calming music until early morning. Now the storm is gone, they are snoring and I'm here, disheveled, zombified, with a full day ahead. ๐Ÿถโ›ˆ๏ธ

Just finished my 47th Agatha Christie book and I'm so tired of her formula, I really need a break from this project. Decided to pivot to 20th century dystopias, starting with "We", followed by "Brave New World", finishing with "1984". ๐Ÿ“š

Week 11: Driving theory

We started the week by taking our mothers to Aras de los Olmos, to drink coffee and snack on sandwiches and cookies under the core of our beautiful galaxy, Via Lactea. ๐ŸŒŒ I took a day off from work to...

weeknotes, Astro

Best Sunday ever

playing PSVR2

Best Sunday ever, laughing and sweating and taking turns playing RAGNAROK VR2 with my husband, my mom and my mother-in-law!!! ๐ŸŽธ๐ŸŽฎ๐Ÿค˜

Today I took my driving theory test and I PASSED! ๐Ÿš— I got my license 20+ years ago, but because of fear, never really drove. Now I'm 41 and finally ready to get over this. I want to take my dogs to nice places, to take turns driving on road trips, to visit the plant store on a whim!

Week 10: My birthday

This week I turned 41. I'm pretty happy with how everything is, love is good, home is good, career-wise could be a little better but I'm working on it; health-wise all good, apart from a rotator cuff...

weeknotes

My street's library box

A small wooden bookshelf filled with books.

I noticed my street's library box was a bit sad, so this morning I left six books in it! ๐Ÿ“š Sherlock Holmes, Oliver Twist, Treasure Island, The Three Musketeers... Hope someone enjoys reading them as much as I did.

Week 9: New mails and vets

Mom helped me make beans in the Instant Pot! I have made lentils a few times, but failed at beans. Mom shared her "secret sauce" and the beans turned out delicious! It's the step I needed to stop buyi...

weeknotes

Watched: Nosferatu (2024) ๐Ÿฟ

Just watched Nosferatu (2024) and it's one of the bottom 10 movies of my life. A solid 0,5/10 (generous half point for the effort). ๐Ÿฟ๐Ÿคฎ

movies