Airine

what I pledged

Technical Info:

• Italian PS is weird. Just so you know, a package can get to USA in less than a week, and a postcard never show up. So if I owe you a swap, please let me know before rating me a 3 and I will do my best to resend.

• If you're sending to me, please be careful with what you state on the Custom Form, as I may have to pay a pretty high custom fee

Please see bottom of profile for other general info

Hello, I'm Irene (or Airine) from Rome, Italy. Born on Dec. 4th 1976, married with 2 cats, I live in a gorgeous apt. with a beautiful garden.

I like to describe myself as a languageaholic: I speak English, Spanish, French, Catalan, some Brazilian Portuguese and a some very little German (Hallo, Wie geh'ts, etc...) - I love studying new languages, it's pretty much what I'd like to do non-stop in my life, going from one language to another. Sometimes I use this as the standard answer to the question "What would be the first thing you'd do if you won the lottery?". There it is. Quit my job and attend as many language schools as possible, better if on-site, staying on a foreign country for, say, a year and learning lots about it and its people. The first country I'd go would be Japan, where I spent my honeymoon and I swear, a month wasn't enough!

Another passion I have is the Net and the Communities (my family and friends make fun of me saying that whenever I discover a new and interesting thing in life, I will first Wiki it and then signup to the official forum of it) - but I think it comes from my passion of loving to share my 2 cents with different people. Plus, I love swappy projects like this, that mix the Net and the ol' Snail mail (I am already a member of Postcrossing and Letters Writers' Alliance).

I love photography, I'm always with my small Canon on my purse, to be able to catch any interesting moment when I'm walking... I'd Love to make a photography course or find a good "Photography for Dummies" book where I could understand the basics and do more than some random shooting until the picture is ok =)

![Thanx to kptdarling on LJ](http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/8814/th13x.gif"Thanx to kptdarling on LJ")

Series I've currently gotten addicted to: Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Lost

My Classics: Sex & The City (yes, I'm a girly-girl!), Friends

So-So's (series I've started and got bored, then tried to restart watching mid-season and couldn't figure who was who anymore): Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Gilmore Girls, Six Feet Under, House

Series I'd like to watch but dont'have time/they don't show it anymore/etc...: Heroes, Pushing Daisies, Flash Forward

(and I'm sure I'm forgetting something)

[in constant updating as I seem to forget what I like when I have to write it down =)]

Lavender! I love the the flower, the smell of it, natural or in essential oils and beauty items (as long as it's not the synthetic smell of "I've created something that reminds lavender, but it's a bunch of chemicals instead). I love pictures of lavender fields, they amaze me. And whenever I find a Wild bush of lavender i Have to Stop & Smell and maybe take a couple of flowers with me.

Lush Cosmetics - I'm a complete lushaholic and use almost only their products for Beauty. And thanks (or because of?) it I developped a deep love for handmade cosmetics: whipped soaps, bath powdres, body lotions (the ones that leave your skin sooo silky!)... mmmmh!

Smells: Anything chocolaty/vanilly/coffeey, some light flowery smells such as jasmine (no roses!) and of course Lavender - anything as long as it's natural and doesn't have the alcoholic aftersmell (in fact I tend to use basically body lotions or solid oils as a perfume).

Seaside, Beaches, Summer and warm climate make me extremely happy.

Colors: Sky Blue, Purple, Teal. Absolutely no browns, I hate it!

Spices!

Cats, Dogs, Seagulls, Red Pandas/Firefox, Racoons, Lions and Big Felines.

I am basically a Rocker girl (Indie, Rock, Metal, Goth, Electroclash, etc - see my Last.fm profile), when I go dancing with my husband and my best friends, I like to dress up a bit (Spiky belts, fishnet, and a LOT of dark makeup) - so I am a bit allergic to things that are too girly, even if I don't even know how to define what's too girly - I may dislike the color pink or the Martha Stewart pattern, but then -for example -I find myself amazed by crocheted stuff (beanies, scarfs, and i just LOVE amigrumis!).

I LOVE stationery! Envies, letter paper, decorations, pen & pencils, but my real passion are Journals! I keep on buying and buying them, they look so beautiful!

I will be shamelessly thankful to anything handmade, I literally venerate someone who can create something beautiful with its own hands.

Fridge magnets are my obsession - the more tacky, touristic and LOUD (in color, shape, but also the ones that actually have a sound) the better.

Anything coming from Japan, from old animes (Doraemon, Yatterman, Cyborg 009, etc...) to anything sushi-related or bento-related (!), will be venerated and adored and I will be ooohhhing and aaahhing for a whole week till my husband will hit me with a club to make me stop (unless you want to bribe him with some Gundam/Hurricane Polymar/Tekkaman stuff). I like kawaii as long as it's not too girly/childish (I like ironical/funny kawaii such as pandas on sushi, etc...).

I'll love anything (T-shirts, Cards, bookmarks, etc) with a funny/sarcastic statement (I have a t-shirt stating something like "The insane are you" and I wore it at work and even made an important briefing with it) - Anne Taintor is one of my idols in this area.

Coffeeeee! I just had a Craving for a good fuming mug of American Coffee, oooh how i miss the USA and the drinking of coffee almost anywhere and anytime.

Tea is another liquobsession, I drink a lot of teas, herbals and sometimes try to make my own mixtures (yes, it usually includes lavender =) )

Chockolate and cocoa, mmmmmhhh!

I was a Strangers in Paradise reader (have to buy the last 3 or 4), and tend to re-read the whole story periodically.

I am a shameful old hen totally loving the Twilight series (but sane enough to not obsees with the movies).

Wall of Shame (?): I was a New Kids on the Block fan (if you want to get rid of some vintage gadget I'd be glad to help :) )

I am really clumsy and useless with almost anything crafty. I can't do crochet, knit, stitch even though I would love to, I think they've extirpated the crafty gene from me right at my birth.

But I love journaling, drawing, doing some collage... And I like drawing some small Comic/Cartoon when I'm inspired.

I am new to swapping and there's a lot I still have to learn (scrapbooking? What's that? FB's? What? And I still haven't catchesd the real meaning of ATC...), so I may discover some new talent in the future!

I am a smoker and I live with two cats, but:

• I will do my best to not let cat hair get into what I send, but still some spare hair may sneak into the package

• I always wash my hands with hand desinfectant before getting them on something I'm sending out - even snail mail, postcards, etc...

In addition to my Postcrossing profile, please send me your postcards bare naked, let me see how far they traveled, how many rude hands squished them and if they arrived safely at my place!

I am not that bothered by general lateness in sending: I won't rate you a 3 for a couple of days lateness - heck, not even a week! Things can get busy IRL, and I myself sometimes just can't go to the PO... Just use your common sense and, if you see thet you won't be able to send, let me know by PM - which is what I always do

If I have tagged you on something and you haven't received it yet, please PM me a reminder! I try to keep track of everything but sometimes my mind goes fuzzy!