Once upon a time there was a house on Tudor Road, in London’s East End, and I was lucky to inhabit the attic of that house for a couple of years. There was a crazy and creative vibe to that semi-detached: a constant whirl of people coming in and out, delicious girly chatter by the kitchen table, quirky projects like super-hero costumes and wearable fairy wings, barbecues in the garden and dj-powered costume parties that lasted all night. A lot of chaos, a bit of drama and, most of all, tons of fun. I really, really, miss those days.

In addition to all the friends that would stay with us now and then, I saw a few house mates come and go. There was Xico (my boyfriend), Danny, Charles, Angi, Jeremy, Aude, Angi again (who lived in a tent in the middle of Fleur’s studio for three months), and of course, Fleur herself. Fleur was THE housemate.

At the time, Fleur was running her own company, creating and producing incredible costumes with strange fabrics and hi-tech materials, among other things. She was the one who rescued me from the flat-sharing hell I was living in, and invited me to Tudor Road. She also rescued me from the flaky job I had at Argun Stationers and dragged me into freelance world, being simultaneously a mentor and my main client. And we became great friends.

Living and working in the same space makes for very intense and complicated friendships, though. By the time we decided to move out of the house, we were definitely in dire need of some space. As it happens, our time-out lasted about 5 years.

Nowadays, the distance between us is only geographic, and although the Tudor Road days are sadly over, instant messaging is here to bring the chatter back. Great chatter, I have to add. Fleur writes so well, I practically forced her to open a blog (to be honest, she hardly gave me any resistance) and share her ramblings with the world. Please stop by Biancafiore’s Lexiphania. and wish her a happy birthday while you’re there!