Inspiration - Summer Hair

I don't know what's with me this week, but all I can think right now is summer. Summer holiday, summer dressing, summer hair you name it. Maybe because it's been raining a lot lately and it's very cold outside for summer weather, or maybe because my holiday starts in 3 weeks time and I can't wait for it. Maybe both.

Lately I've been considering changing my hair style, maybe adding few highlights here and there, chopping it shorter, curling it loosely - all those things to have a summer looking hair which seems to be so naturally undone. However I know the amount of work need to achieve such a look. But I love the end result, so for me it's totally worth it.

I made a selection of hair styles that I love at the moment, for short and big hair alike, and maybe this will help me decide what I want sooner, and could get you inspired as well. Almost all are following the oh-so-loved cropped trend. Enjoy!

                                    

       

         

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How will you keep your hair this summer? Which is the most inspiring style?

Inspiration - Summer holidays

Ah..this time of the year ... most of us have our holidays booked and just few weeks are setting us apart. We start making plans of what to do, what to visit, how to split the activities and the days so that we get the most out of everything. We make mental lists with what to pack , how much to spend, what electronics to take - endless question marks.

We get very positive and enthusiastic, we start counting the days. During summer most of us take "the big holiday", of 2 weeks, the lucky ones even 3.

I am very much a summer person. During my summer holidays I love to go to Greece, I cannot even consider any other destination that could offer me more pleasure and recharge me in a better way than 2 weeks in Greece do. I adore spending my days reading books, having endless talks, countless sea dips, great food, all with the sea waves crushing around me. I love the smell of sea, the look of it, the feel of it. I love to sit and watch it for hours and not get bored. This holiday for me is the one that I look most forward to. Call me lazy or comfortable, but on the beach and in the water is where I renew. I step in a world of freedom, I forget about my other life which involves work, home problems etc, and I absorb with every pore the magic of salty water and careless life. I might have been a mermaid in other life or maybe I was a fisherman living on waters all my life. 

I have another small point to make, so that you don't think I'm a beach vegetable, which is not that far from the truth:). 

During spring I take a week off to wonder the streets of Europe. This spring I have been in Provence and,boy!, was I amazed! Amazed by its little colorful streets, amazed by the the nice and very relaxed people, by its history, by its food. If you are considering Provence I totally recommend it - but in spring or autumn when its not so hot.

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What about you? How do you spend your summer holidays? Beach hanging or city roaming?

Happy new week friends!

Deco Experiments - Kitchens

It is already a common fact that cooking, like dancing or some of the sports, have a great effect on our brain, in terms that it makes us relax a lot. Due to the natural endorphin release while doing something we actually enjoy, a lot of people get to love this activity. 

Now, I am not a person that cooks or likes to cook necessarily. I only step in the kitchen when I totally crave for something, when there is nothing left in the fridge, or when my husband has a particular dish in mind. So then I set in the kitchen and cook. I don't like to buy ready made food, nor do I like to order in. I try to maintain myself on the healthy eating side, so I avoid as much as possible restaurants and take-outs.

Whenever I do cook I am quite good at it, or at least I get a good rating from my husband and I entirely chose to believe him. And for me, a nice looking kitchen is totally motivating me to spend time in it.

Ideally I would like it to be white, I love lately the open shelves and the contrast that the wood makes against the tiles. I like simple lines, cut from time to time by pops of color. A nicely decorated kitchen can totally spruce up your mood and help you in getting the habit of cooking at home, which means more healthy food. This is my biggest goal for this year, to experiment more in my kitchen both in decorating and cooking.

For your eyes' delight and Saturday's read, I am leaving you today with some great kitchen images that I saved for inspiration.

But before that, do you agree - can kitchen decor influence the amount of time spent in it?

Experiments talk - What being creative really means

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We are surrounded by a strong and misleading myths about creativity. We are said from the start that people either are or not creative, and that being creative means you will always have great ideas. If you work in finance you are from the start not creative, but if you work in marketing then you definitely must be. There, no need to give it another thought. We are put in a box and labeled.

But have you wondered that it might be totally different than this?

I strongly believe creativity is all about trial and error. It's not about getting it right the first time, or the second time. It's about trying without feeling the pressure of the goal. Due to the society we live in, we are forced and pressured to get it right every single time and we develop of fear of being wrong and inhibit all our chances of being creative. In order for us to feel creative we need to get others confirmation that we are and we need to have guaranteed success in all our actions - which is a huge inhibiting factor, it's a show stopper. When you get it wrong, out of fear you chose the easy path and say I am not creative, I'll leave it to the ones who are. But we don't realize that in those particular moments we give up to a very important side of us, we hide it.

The truly brilliant creative ones are those people who are willing to make mistakes, to try. The real essence of creativity is the joy you get from the experience, without worrying about the outcome. When you put aside all society patterns that limit you, when you don't setup a goal and you just let yourself flow, you will find out that the path of creating something is absolutely amazing. You feel free, you feel powerful and in charge of your own ideas. You might get it right and feel rewarded, or get it wrong and learn. Don't get attached to the result and don't put your focus in it as you will miss the whole journey. I am most of the times guilty of that. 

I found that having moments when I let my thoughts flow, my ideas to set, are the most creative and relaxing ones for me. I get all my inspiration from the moments when I have no purpose, no fear of making mistakes, no problem in actually getting in wrong - I learn so much from those moments. I learn more about me, about other people, about the setup for which I am brainstorming ideas. 

How do you feel about your own creativity? Do you set goals for yourself, are you afraid of results? 

Just take few moments and think about it, think deep. And next time you feel you are not creative try to reverse the pattern - you are creative, but need your own way of sorting out ideas, of letting inspiration flow. Don't be afraid to try, fear is the biggest rock chained to our feet.

Monday - Stay creative

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I liked a lot this info-graphic, it's pretty cool and it has some great suggestions. I'm taking up on some of them, already put them on my list.

No more words, just stay creative and enjoy Monday!

Have a great week ahead friends!

Weekend reading 7.06.2014

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Ok, so you might not need tea and warm socks particularly in this period, but this image is very sweet and suggests hight relaxation mode, which is what I wish for all of you today.

 

As you read this post I am in Rome, wandering around the streets, but I did want to share with you the top articles that I read during this week and I considered worth sharing.

 

So, without further adieu:

 

•  Fashion skills that you should have mastered by the age of 30 - this is a fun article, cute, that shows most issues that we women face. But mostly the article implies that by 30 you are quite familiar with your own self and know your habits and what suits your or not, and how to take care of your belongings - worth reading for the fun in it
   
• Spring - summer looks - as you may have noticed by now, I am continously looking for inspiration for summer dressing and this article has some pretty cool ideas.

   
• In case you ever wondered why the same lipstick looks in one way on your lips and in a totally different way on your friends' lips - check this article and actually check the entire site. I use it almost daily as a source of cool and interesting info for women
• Sleep procrastination is a thing now - nice article, but to be honest I liked the cat inside - go check it out:) 

 

 

This is it friends!

Take care of yourselves, do something nice for you, take some moments to enjoy some alone time and reflect on what is going on currently in your life. Use this long weekend time and get back to you, get centered in love and joy.

 

Happy weekend friends and thanks for dropping by!





Deco experiments - Gardens/ Relaxation nooks

I live in a house with a garden for almost 2 years now.

I cannot even begin to say that I made the best decision of my life by moving out of the city and by living in a house surrounded by green places and with my own garden. It's not big, but it's my serenity place. 

I keep it quite simple, no major decor yet. I am still trying to get its mood and see what can fit best to my own ideas as well. But I did put candles in jars all around, light bulbs in trees that look just divine when night comes.

I also planted a lot of flowers, but my garden is still in the very early stages of decorating.

I love coming back home from a hard day and just go bare foot through the grass. Some days I would sit in my swing with a bucket of ice cream no less, or a book/magazine and just get in the relaxation mode completely.

When night sets and all the candles are lighting I like to sit in peace, a bit like meditating. Just sit and breathe in the beautiful scent of summer nights, clear my mind from any thoughts, just be. These are some of my most treasured moments. I feel that I get centered and feel my own sensations so strong, I love being in my garden on my own, when it's dark. I think it is very important to have at your house or apartment a relaxation nook. It can do you so well. Be that a garden, a well decorated balcony, surround your small place with those items that inspire serenity to you and just get out and enjoy your place. Your mind will step aside and make place for abandonment.

Some few places that I like and that inspire me for creating a very peaceful and balanced nook:

How do your peaceful places look like?