Email from MdlC

To: pippa@weekendbirdie
From: maribel-de-las-casas@vavavoom
RE: hola

or maybe bonjour pippa

i come back from paris today showing my stuffs at the shows. so tired how are you and el pequenito? i can't wait see him in few weeks.

anyway paris was good. i find some new accounts for va va voom, some new concept store. now concept store is everything, everyone tell me "i have concept store, i have concept store" - what is concept store? i no undestand it but is good i think.

i see anton and andres at shows - they are good and tell me hi to you. one night i go with them to le marais to meet some friends at la perle, some grungy bar with germans smoking and talk about more "concept"! i think some your friends like this bar. maybe even ludo.

anyway, i come to london very soon. i call you

besitos a ti e a la familia!!

bel

x

i facebook you!

To:pippa@weekendbirdie
From:maribel-de-las-casas@vavavoom
RE:honeymoons!

hola pippaaaaa

i come back from the honeymoons on saturday. dios mios what a travel - was amazing pippa, i cannot believe so much fun.

in sydney we are stay in the W hotel like you tell me, they upgrade we to honeymoon suite - big view, big tv, big everything. one night we have dinner in iceberg restaurant and esteban say me oh my god, look bel and i look and on the next to table is nicole kidman, naomi watts and david lynch.

esteban sister now is living in australia with the baby and her boyfriend and he is very rich (lucky for she) so we meet them in whitsunday islands for sailing, swimming etc.

then finally we stay in the bloomfield lodge in the rainforest - so beautiful and so relax pippa.

now reality again and busy busy. oh pippa, steven meisel send me the fotos from the wedding - so beautiful.

i come in london at end august. i facebook you.

besitos

bel xx

ps quincy jam rock!!! quincy jam yeah!!! LOVE IT!!!

Wowy!

Wowy! as Maribel would say...what an amazing wedding that was.

It was a two-tier wedding which seems to be all the rage these days...no-one has a one hour wedding in a church anymore. So, first we all flew to Morocco to Ouarzazate for the small evening boho desert wedding; I say small, we were 130. They'd set up these huge Bedouin tents and Maribel and Esteban appeared over the dunes on white horses. We all clapped and fireworks went off. They stayed on the horses for ages. They had to do all their vows up there and everything. Maribel said she had a very sore bottom afterwards. Luckily it was an evening do or else we would all have died of heat exhaustion. My blessing was not happy.

The next day we flew to Madrid for their official wedding (700 people). It was at the Catedral de la Almudena, which shouldn't strictly have been allowed but her husband Esteban is a distant cousin of the Royal Family or something, plus the Pope said it was OK so hey-ho.
The reception was at the Casa de Madrid, which is only in Conde Nast Traveller like every month. We had a right old knees-up...Gwen Stefani jumped out of a cake! And I don't mind telling you, the Olsen Twins were hammered!

Anyway, feeling muy retro since I saw some dear little Italian school children on the tube with Invicta rucksacks (my, they still really love those things), so I think I'm going to go to bed, listen to the Betty Blue soundtrack and weep a little.

Email from mdlc

To:pippa@weekendbirdie
From:maribel-de-las-casas@vavavoom
RE:besitos!


hola p
you can believe i am married at the weekend? so sorry i am so quiet at the moment but so busy with esteban and his mother - ooh la la - planning all the things.
anyway you must to come to the chicken night (so strange this term) i have on friday. my friend blanca will to telephone you to say you the details but will be so especial night. how is your stomach - i'm sure so big now.
anyway all is perfect. celine will sing some jazz and weather is so sunny and hot now. my dress is so beautiful pippa i can't wait you see it.
o dios mios pippa, i am too busy now with massaje and pedicure and hair etc etc.

besitos
bel

x

Email from MdlC

To:pippa@weekendbirdie
From:maribel-de-las-casas@vavavoom
RE:wowy!

pippa

i cannot believe!!!! you crazy lady no? so many news and now who i can drink the champagne with celebrating? maybe you can have some little glass with me and esteban. when you have the baby? esteban tell me good idea for you - you MUST to come to puerto banus in july with me and the esteban for relaxing before baby. esteban mother house very beautiful with big pool and many room for you and big stomach!!!

felicitaciones

besos

bel x

A definite cheese night

I'm feeling a bit down today. You know when I said I was going to put all that Celine/Tony Novembre stuff out of my head and enjoy the moment? Well that was before this happened:

To:pippa@weekendbirdie
From:maribel-de-las-casas@vavavoom
RE:big news!!!!!

hola

i have big news p. so exciting i must to tell you now. esteban propose me - yes, i cannot believe! we went my parent house for the christmas lunch and esteban family also came - his mother, his father, his sister and baby - yes she has baby now. she is so crazy and make big scandal in the family. she never marry the father of the baby and esteban thinks maybe father is the circus guy from when she was doing trapeze in praga. anyway all crazy but cutting the story esteban on the middle of the lunch suddenly make speech and propose me. of course i say yes and all the family very happy. i feel like he sweep my feet (correct? i remember this expression from school) and i feel so happy.
anyway we want marry on beach and i ask celine to sing some jazz. maybe you can take the photo. we don't know what day will be the wedding but we have many planning to do now.
oh pippa so happy and excited.
i'm coming to london soon for va va voom - some WAG say she like my collection - what is WAG? so we can drink cocktails together celebrating.
life is so crazy
besitos
bel
xx

Now I'm glummer than glum can be so I'm off to Cheese Appreciation tonight for some comfort eating.

La cucaracha

To:pippa@weekendbirdie
From:maribel-de-las-casas@vavavoom
RE:hola guapa

hola p
oi my legs is hurt from the merengue yesterday night but que divertido no? i laugh so much when julio show you the maracas mochacha - so funny your face. i think ludo is jealous no?
i went to la cucaracha after you go home, with julio, alejandro, skye and milo. many mojitos and crazy dancing with alejandro. now i feel like big bang in my head and esteban is so angry with me for come home at 5am!!! i tell him is all for my work i need networking (correct english?).
next week you must to come with us - it is too fun.
now this morning i have shoot for big spread in korea vogue and they ask me wear my hula hula bikini - dios mio my face is terrible. maybe i go to see shrini for facial and massage before.
besitos my merengue miracle!
bel

Rainy days and Mondays

Some feelings I need to unpack: Ever since Ludo Jansdotter came back from Paris, I have been feeling a little uncertain. Don’t get me wrong, I think I really do heart him, but it’s all been such a whirlwind and I am so very tired.
I thought the reason I liked Ludo Jansdotter was his get up and go but if I have to wake up one more morning with a Mitch Martini hangover, before an afternoon of Parkour for Beginners, and dinner and dance at The Cuckoo Club, I think I shall collapse.

Recently, I have been thinking about Celine and how happy she is looking after Agnes and Etienne. OK there is the occasional film review for La Bicyclette Bleu, singing every Saturday night (and alternate Thursdays) at Soiree, manning the phones at Les Samaritans twice a week, but it’s a simple life. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that maybe I’d like a nice husband one day soon, and maybe even a family. And I can’t imagine Ludo Jansdotter is ready for all that.

And all this is compounded by the fact that I heard on the grapevine that my ex, playboy celebrity hair-designer, Tony Novembre is getting married next month on a beach somewhere in Zanzibar, where they’re going to settle down and export woven goods to overpriced shops in Notting Hill.

Deep breath…sigh…

…And then I look at someone like Maribel de las Casas, whizzing around the world, party after party, and I think she’d be happy doing that forever.

Deeper sigh…

…I saw an elderly couple holding hands this morning. It made me cry. Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

Gosh I’ve just had an epiphany! Ludo Jansdotter is actually me, in male art director/photographer/graphic artist/illustrator David LaChapelle-type form. We’re exactly the same, what with our 100 projects at once and countless after school activities.
Now I’m really confused. This warrants more unpacking than I had first envisaged.

I’m coming down with something. Imagine how much I feel like meeting Maribel de las Casas in 2 hours for Three-Legged Merengue.

Missing you...

The Vanity Fair shoot was a breeze. It was a sexy librarian story with Natalie posing in Maribel de las Casas swimwear among the antiquarian books at the British Library.
She was a little subdued though; she’s been getting a bit of bad press recently. In fact, everyone’s a bit miserable at the mo, what with Nancy and Loretta snapping at each other and I’m suffering a little from S.A.D myself, especially as I am missing Ludo Jansdotter something rotten. Not helped by going to Progressive Urdu last night and everyone in my class asking where he was and recounting anecdotes from the night we all went out.
So it was a real tonic to get this card this morning accompanied by a basket of brioche from Boulangerie Delacroix.

I think I heart Ludo Jansdotter.

Lunch with C.B

Soooo busy. Lunch with Charlotte Gainsbourg was lovely and it transpires that Ludo Jansdotter knows her mother since they attended the same Hungarian Throat Warbling class so I had no need to worry about him using me to get to her. Silly, silly Pip!
Still, I’m sure she may be somewhat perturbed to know he makes strange experimental films about her, nay alarmed!

Anyway, Miss Gainsbourg doesn’t half talk but she is such a natural beauty, I was quite spellbound. After lunch we had brandy and chocolates at the Covent Garden Hotel and what with all the hot yoga in the morning, it turned out to be quite an exhausting day.

Ludo Jansdotter is off to Paris tomorrow for a few days working on a Diesel ad so I will have a chance to catch my breath. Hoping he’ll be back in time to escort me to the opening night of Yo Beowulf – a shadow puppet cabaret.

I’ve got Natalie Spooner’s Vanity Fair shoot this week to keep me occupied. Graziella and I are up to our eyes in Maribel de las Casas swimwear. I do miss having Celine around to share all this with, but alas she is stuck in Paris with the little bebes and busy enough keeping la bicyclette bleu en float.

A master class

Well, I’m all for a free lunch at Chatulle and plentiful air kisses but it wasn’t half a palaver (ooh, get me coming over all cockney) flying to Milan for a 30 minute meeting.
So I took the opportunity to meet up with swimwear designer to the stars and general bon vivant, Maribel de las Casas. She gave me 2 leopard print bikinis and a kaftan! Then we did drinks and dancing at Just Cavalli and crashed at her pad.

Anyway, Ludo Jansdotter is as special as expected and working with him was a master class. He literally took my contact sheet in one hand, a razor blade, paint brush and typewriter in the other (well, not quite literally) and 3 hours later we had our whole story. Just emailed the prints to Sofia.

After that we hopped on his Vespa and went for Japanese Mojitos at The Zetter, then the crazy fool demanded to come to Progressive Urdu with me, wowed everyone by picking it up in 10 minutes and insisted on taking my whole class out to dinner!

Tomorrow he’s taking me to Bikram yoga and then to lunch with Charlotte Gainsbourg who, rumour has it, is also a big fan of Weekend Birdie.

It’s so nice to go out with a man who wants to do more than just dinner and a movie. I have been thoroughly swept off my feet.

Mmm…just thought of something. I hope this lunch with Charlotte Gainsbourg isn’t just a ruse to get close to Jane Birkin, he is a little obsessed…and I met Jane Birkin a few weeks ago when I shot her for Issue 11. Just a thought.

Hola Guapa

To:pippa@weekendbirdie
From:maribel-de-las-casas@vavavoom
RE:hola guapa

pippa mi amor
como estas? i have really sorry not see you in the Helsinki. i did see your friend Ludo at the party for the my new swimwear - Va Va Voom - he did take the photos for the catalog and he say me that you had meeting with sofia coppola - que suerte - she is the my hero!
everything happen in helsinki now no? but so cold. now i come back to madrid and next week new york for more Va Va Voom promocion with spike jonze, then finally i go to ile de rey with esteban - my new boyfriend - i tell you him no? be in love is life. life is crazy!
thank you for the invitation to the party for the book of cave spooner - i will go to it and i see you there yes? i hope. we can dance and chat many things.
besitos
maribel de las casas

Yo Beowulf shoot

Rehearsals continue

Went to the Yellow Clog shoot today. Picture Loretta, sitting at the back of the theatre, bowler hat and cigar, waving a walking stick around. It was like Cabaret meets The Kid's from Fame.

Yo Beowulf (a shadow puppet cabaret) is actually very impressive. I didn't think it was going to be my bag but it's truly cohesive. No wonder Loretta is so esteemed in the world of performance-experimental-theatre-art...or whatever.
And Pfeiffer Braun's flute solo at the end of Act II is a revelation. I had almost like, a spiritual epiphany.

Nancy was there. Loretta's given her a bit part; her left thumb is involved in a battle scene.

Anyway, off to a ukelele session, then dinner with my friend Natalie, uber-babe of the new literati. She wants me to shoot her for Vanity Fair in Maribel de las Casas swimwear.
x

p.s. Ludo Jansdotter's coming over next week to work on the Sofia Coppola photo montage.
I'm thinking trapeze skirt/military jacket or military skirt/trapeze jacket...can't quite make up my mind.

p.p.s. Ludo Jansdotter seems to be a little obsessed with Jane Birkin. Maybe I should go more skinny vest, jeans in boots, mohair beret, beads...

ICA review

Just got the blurb from the ICA for Issue 11. It's very gushy, how flattering!


Weekend Birdie
£8

Another outing of engaging whimsy for this hip quarterly magazine, which always thinks outside the box.

We didn't think it was possible to outshine Issue 10's bountiful offerings - which included Yoko Ono, Bill Viola and Kraftwerk - but Issue 11 will not disappoint.

Featuring: The Yellow Clog Theatre, Maribel de las Casas, Jane Birkin, Cave Spooner, The Scandi Design Festival and Sofia Coppola, with artwork by Ludo Jansdotter.

Each issue is a collector's item.