Living vicariously through an American ex-pat in London.

It’s impossible not to develop a serious friend crush on Ana Maria Munoz after following her charming life “across the pond” on her blog, Anamu. Originally from Los Angeles, the self-described flea market fanatic recently relocated to London, where she documents her love for design, adventures in DIY, and weekend jaunts, all set to a soundtrack we want to adopt for our own lives. Apart from Anamu, Ana Maria also curates stylish vintage home accessories at The Pond Market and posts a daily dose of inspiration at Howdy Day! Plus, she’s a regular EcoSalon reader. Yeah, we don’t know how she does it all either.

Name: Ana Maria Munoz

Website: www.anamublog.com, www.thepondmarket.com, www.howdyday.wordpress.com

How did you get introduced to EcoSalon and what keeps you reading it?

From my best friend Google. I studied fashion merchandising in college and after a few jobs and internships in the biz I realized that I wanted more substance out of the industry. I think it was my Junior year when I discovered EcoSalon and I fell in love with the fashion articles and non-crunchy approach to eco living. The perfect balance of everyday topics and thought provoking content is what keeps me coming back!

You recently made the jump across the pond from Los Angeles to London. What are the major differences between the two cities?

They’re both so incredible in their own way but the most obvious difference is simply not needing a car. I lived car-less in LA for eight months before moving to London and got around via public transportation and a car share program, LAXcarshare, just fine (it can be done, people!). However, in London, I haven’t had a need for my own ride in nearly one year! I now have zero desire to ever be a car owner again. Another difference – and perhaps my fave – is that in Europe you don’t need to say “it’s five o’clock somewhere” to excuse yourself when having a drink before evening time. Pub culture is very casual and it’s nice to be able to relax somewhere that’s not a sports bar, swanky lounge, or a full on restaurant.

Tell us a little bit about your current projects, like The Pond Market.

I’m self-diagnosed as a flea market fanatic so as soon I moved to London I knew that I was going to have to do something about getting my treasure-hunting fix. Even if I don’t need it for myself,  I can’t deny the feeling of discovering something and bringing it home for a new lease on life. Because I had experience running an Etsy shop with my previous business of handmade clutch purses, I knew that I could easily set something up for my vintage finds and share them with folks back in the States.  But, since I can’t shop all of the time, I’m exploring a freelance career in graphic design and photography. I’ve always had a passion for both but my new expat status and recent travels have really motivated me to take them to the next level.

How you do source your finds?

Flea markets are my main source for buying but I do occasionally find items in antique stores or charity shops (thrift stores). As for how I pick what what I buy, it’s really as simple as “I know it when I see it.” I literally zoom in on pieces from afar like a hawk on prey. It’s kind of freaky.

Where do you get your design inspiration?

For the shop, I’m a sucker for brass so that’s always the first thing that catches my vintage-loving eye. There’s a very warm quality to it that brings so much character to a space. I try to buy pieces that are functional and beautiful, something that will make a statement on its own but also compliment existing contemporary spaces you may have at home. Design-wise I find a ton of inspiration in the lines and patterns of buildings. Just as in clothing from different eras, buildings give incredible insight into different design styles and what is culturally relevant in any given place. I do tend to lean towards simple geometrics so I went completely nuts in Morocco and fell back in love with the art deco and mid-century lines found all over LA.

What are your favorite flea markets/vintage spots around the world?

Hopefully there are many more to discover but I do love El Rastro in Madrid for its local and maze-like ambiance. It’s held in a residential area of La Latina where you’re surrounded by balconies draped with the day’s laundry. In Paris I love the Vanves Market because it’s super low-key, has an amazing selection of unique French bric-a-brac (as well as fine antiques), and is big and small enough to be manageable and satisfying for a morning outing. In London I love Camden Passage because in addition to their Wednesday and Saturday market, the pedestrian-only street is filled with well-curated vintage clothing stores and independent shops from local fashion and accessories designers. And last but not least, my ultimate favorite is the Rose Bowl Flea Market in my hometown of Pasadena, CA, USA. I’m not just being biased on this one – they really do pack a lot in there! It has by far been the best market I’ve been to for furniture and clothing. People in Europe seem to hold on to their furniture much longer than Americans so there isn’t much turnover for vintage lovers to buy into here. The next two trips are to Tuscany and Brussels so we’ll see what I find there!

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ColumnThe capital city’s own mayor puts it best: “Berlin is poor, but sexy.”

In Scott Roxborough’s How Berlin Became the Coolest City on the Planet, he writes that the 3.45 million-person city is everything Germany is not: spontaneous, open, cosmopolitan and exciting. While Roxborough’s summary dismissal of Deutschland might be ungenerous, his synopsis of its capital is unerring. The metropolis defies easy definition – dynamic and polymorphous, Berlin is in perennial state of becoming.

Pop-up restaurants, shops and galleries are the norm; sprawling former warehouses cum all-night dance clubs featuring pulsating electronic beats are open every day of the week; the city streets are a menagerie of graffiti and street art; and internet start-ups are in such abundance that Berlin has been dubbed Europe’s “Silicon Allee.” Young internationals from the creative sector flock here for the cheap rent in the East, allowing them to set-up studios and storefronts at a low cost in a globally-relevant urban center. From an all-vegan supermarket to a remarkable, Finnish-style sauna that literally floats on the Spree Canal bisecting the city, Berlin is a place where radical, even seemingly preposterous ideas have room to germinate, take root and flourish.

Mayor Klaus Wowereit – who, incidentally, happens to be gay, but whose sexual preference is a complete non-issue in this tolerant locale – provided the city with its unofficial motto when he described Berlin as “poor…but sexy.” And it is so. While the country of Germany’s staid, export-driven economy is propping up the euro zone from collapse, Berlin’s unemployment level exceeds 10-percent. It’s not a place for industry, but rather a cultural capital. Its very financial malaise is what makes it a tenable global destination for artists who might have a slim pocketbook, but whose straits energize their creativity – this is where the sexiness comes into play.

Berlin isn’t for everybody. Of all the European cities, it certainly doesn’t place first as one of the most beautiful. Far from the posh digs of Paris, Rome or London, Germany’s capital isn’t a center of high-end fashion or epicurean eats, which is precisely what makes it so attractive. It’s Berlin’s tenuousness and frayed edges that make it sparkle. After The Wall fell, there was a mass exodus from the former Socialist enclave; derelict, care-worn buildings were abandoned and young, downwardly mobile people sought out the empty shell as a playground of their own imagining.

In two intervening decades, Berlin continues to discover its own vicissitudes, to be carved out by ex-pats and Germans alike. Poor and sexy sure, but also touched with no small dose of both madness and magic. It’s a city of those who are willing to stand on ground that’s not quite solid, but that is rich with the ferment of do-it-yourself derring-do.

Berlin-based Abigail Wick is a contributor to The New York Times and National Public Radio. ‘From an Ex-Pat…with Love’ is her weekly EcoSalon column about cultural dislocation, romantic relationships and lifestyle choices – filtered through the lens of an American woman living and working abroad in Europe.

Berlin Image, Roland Anton Laub; Author Image, Alina Rudya

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ColumnStaving off depression during a dark Berlin winter sometimes means a communal sauna and a cold beer.

In the popular American imagination, Western Europe is still a bastion for in-the-buff recreation. The mere mention of the Mediterranean, for many of us, calls to mind glorified, sun soaked stretches of impossibly beautiful coastline crawling with tan-line-free bodies. Yes, Europeans exhibit a comparatively relaxed approach to sexuality, but for a current generation, nudism is on the downswing – a past time relegated to the territory of grandfathers influenced by hippie zeitgeist now past.

While the growing disinclination to disrobe in public holds true in many countries across the pond, the phenomenon hasn’t fallen out of favor in East Germany – especially not in Berlin. In this former Soviet stronghold, plenty of culturally-enshrined opportunities exist to enjoy oneself sans cumbersome clothing and, oddly enough, this is perhaps best evidenced during winter.

Here, the sauna – in import of the historic Finnish variety – reigns. Typically co-ed, these clothing non-optional environments help stave off the depression that attends not only the grisly German winters, but also dearth of daylight at such a northerly latitude. At the season’s height, daybreak doesn’t come until late morning, and the sun again sets before the end of the work day. With winter comes a world of bone chilling cold and a smothering cloak of darkness seeming without end. The antidote? Frequent trips to one’s neighborhood sauna, where a multi-hour visit costs mere euros – about the same price as a decent bottle of red wine.

In the U.S., saunas are usually a costly luxury and in same-sex company; in Germany, it’s not only a quotidian luxury that comes at little expense, but also one that proffers a mild, mixed gender thrill. Far from the terrain of socially inappropriate lechers, sauna culture is so commonplace that families come with their children, groups of university students gather and hang out, and even business people (although typically groups of men) converge to talk shop and sweat it out together.

And, of course, the body’s fluids must be replenished after subjection to such extreme heat. While an uptight doctor might classify a post-sauna beer as ill advised, rest assured the Germans aren’t wary of its indulgence and, in fact, consider it a tidy closure to the evening. In a land where the average life expectancy is long; the men, brave and strong; and all of the women beautiful – well, they might just be on to something. The sauna isn’t just a recipe for enduring the long slog of winter, but also the crux of enjoying a good life and aging well.

Berlin-based Abigail Wick is a contributor to The New York Times and National Public Radio. ‘From an Ex-Pat…with Love’ is her weekly EcoSalon column about cultural dislocation, romantic relationships and lifestyle choices – filtered through the lens of an American woman living and working abroad in Europe.

Bio Image: Alina Rudya, Article Image: thomaswanhoff

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