MUSINGS: AUGUST

A compilation of images, music and thoughts that are all over my head now. I am heading towards making August a month of progress and creation.

Stay awesome!

Anja

SUNDAY WISH: PERFECT JOB

Usually on Sunday I don't think too much of work (Sunday is a relaxing day ;) ), but today I will make an exception. I have found this awesome pictures on Arch20.com facebook fan page and its message is so important I decided to share it with you. 

Endeavor to feel fulfilled, guys! It is worth the effort!

xoxo

Anja

'TO DO' LIST: MAY

April has finished and May has come...Here is a compilation of my latest obsessions and a bit of an overview of what will accompany me in upcoming weeks. What have you planned?

HOW TO: LINGERIE DRAWER CLEAN UP.

Have you ever wanted to wear a top, but no bra was looking good with it? Have you ever decided not wear a dress, cos your panties was too visible under it? I had, so I decided to make a lingerie drawer clean up and this is how I did it.

LATEST OBSESSIONS

Spring has come. Beginning of 'new' prompts me to summarize past period. Here is the list of what I have been about in past weeks.

RECENT LOOK & 5 REASONS TO GREET SPRING

I can see first signs of spring and it makes me overexcited! I love winter with its dreamy snowy landscape, but I missed warm weather so much! These are reasons why I am so ridiculously happy with upcoming spring.

TREND ALERT: RESERVED SS2015

 
I need to update my wardrobe for spring. To get inspired, I dig through fashion magazines and websites. There are so many vintage inspired stylizations and collections (like my very favorite YSL! Check it HERE), but ( with all due respect) I don't like to blindly  follow what is served by fashion guru.

MUST HAVE: FRINGED ACCESSORIES & 5 REASONS JUSTIFYING ANY PURCHASE

Yesterday I came across shoes destined to be mine! Yeah, I do believe in destiny when it comes to clothes and my beliefs are supported by scientific theory.

TOP 10 ANTI-AGING TIPS FOR WOMAN IN ALL AGE

From the moment I turned 30, I decided to double my anti-aging efforts. To do it smart, I have done a research and learned surprising fact. Expensive creams, serums, elixirs and other available cosmetics are obviously very beneficial for the skin, but I have the faster I will start using it, the faster my skin gets lazy and stop fighting with aging itself.

Dear...- I thought.- There has to be an alternative!

I couldn't be more right! Not only that there is another way, but what more exciting, it costs nearly nothing! What is it? It is a set of habits that prevents skin aging, that I need to introduce to my daily routine.

Here is a list of the most crucial ones and help your skin to look younger now and in the future.

HOW TO: CLOSET CLEAN UP!

even

 

Are you struggling with lack of space in the closet? I do too... To tame a space in it, I make a clean up at least twice a year. To decide which clothes to give away or (what is even more terrifying) to throw away is not easy. At the back of my head, I hear a voice whispering 'I am going to miss it so much...' Do you know that feeling? A couple of times I have made a terrible mistake and lost valuable items. To avoid that in future I have implemented a successful method. If you need some help to clean your closet check my way of doing it.

HOW TO SHOP SALES??? INVEST IN CALSSICS!

                                                      “Fashion fade, style is eternal”
                                                                     Yves Saint Laurent


During past decades fashion trends have been changing as fast as pictures in kaleidoscope, and every season there is more revolting fashion ideas than fishes in the see.

Regardless all 'new', there is a few timeless fashion designs. Such items are unchangeable fashion icons and always remain in style. Use discounts on sales to get them! Enjoy the most sophisticated design in the best possible price.

HOW TO SHOP SALES??? FOLLOW TRENDS FOR SS2015

It is not easy to shop on sales. To become successful you need to dig through pales of clothes and decide what do you want need to buy.


Check the trends for upcoming season before they storm the streets, get inspired and enjoy your shopping on sales!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Today a New Year has begun! I am so excited, 'cos it is going to be a good one. It may seem, that I am so confident about it, as I would have a crystal ball to see the future, but it is not the case. I do not need to have any magical equipment to know how I will live my life this year, 'cos I already have everything to achieve what I want. The features are motivation, consistency, belief in myself and positive attitude with which I will greet every single day!

Not to be lonely with my happiness I want to wish you all exactly the same amazing future! I wish you all to fell in love with yourself and be for yourself the best partner you have ever had (unless you already are so, than I wish you to continue this relationship with confidence). 

I wish you all to find more time for yourself, your hobbies and self- development. I believe that if you push yourself, you can achieve everything, so once it happens take your time to award yourself and enjoy the successes. 

I wish you all to be your best friend, 'cos when you are so, all the universe will support you in whatever you need help. 

Happy New Year to you all!

xoxo

Anja 

If you feel that in any way I violated copyrights, please let me know. I will either list you here or remove the picture from my blog.

PARTY LOOK AND THOUGHTS ABOUT SETTING UP NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

I was never the kind of a person who think of any New Year resolutions. I never believed in myself and didn't see a point in setting up aims that will be difficult to follow. (This negativity is really distracting character trait!) Now I am not the a pessimistic person anymore. I keep saying to myself that 'IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING' and that is why this year I decided to create a list of new year resolutions. It will be a plan of how to become a person whom I want to be and whom I will be proud of.

Making such list is not easy... I started with: I want to be rich and finished with I want to be beautiful... Hmmm... This is not very realistic or clear in it's meaning. To make my resolutions more achievable and comprehensive, I decided to follow couple of rules and straight away it improved quality of it.

My idea on how to set up goals?
1. DO NOT EXPECT MIRACLES- Set up goals that are achievable, understandable and compatible with what you really want.
2. DO NOT GIVE UP! Just because you do not see results over night, it doesn't mean that you didn't do anything. Rome wasn't built in a day and so will not your success.Be patient and focus.
3. ORGANIZE SUPPORT. It is easier to be consistent, if people from your surrounding support you.
4. LEARN. Find a specialist in the field you want to improve and don't be shy to ask him/her questions. Learn how to succeed from the best ones.
5. MOVE STEP BY STEP. If your plan is huuuuge and makes you scared, divide it into sub points. It will help you to see more clear a path to follow. Succeeding in completing small goals, will motivate you to follow your plan further.
6. MAKE A DIARY. Write down every success you achieved to track the progress. It will be easy to see if you are going right way. Seeing a physical evidence of what you have done will motivate you to keep focus.

SUMMING UP YEAR 2014

The end of the year is followed up by its summation. What was the most important in the past year? Let me introduce list of tops of 2014 by Anja Ge.

RECENT LOOK AND RANDOM THOUGHTS (the one to motivate)

There was one morning, back in UK, when I woke up and knew that something has changed in my perception of life. This morning part of my consciousness that was dormant, woke up and started to scream out loud. Screaming part was one responsible for making my dreams becoming true and it was furious with my behavior. After being for myself too kind I had to face the truth- trip that was suppose to make me strong and help me to develop my passions ended up to be a nightmare presenting one of the worst scenarios of my life I could imagine. I felt trapped! 

That morning make me to wonder how does it happen, that some people succeed in their lives, while others got stuck in between what they want and what they are given. I started to think how to improve my life and how to transform it to the one I am dreaming about.

REALITY IS WHAT IS REAL FOR ME

I was always a do-kind of person with half full glass of water*1. There was nothing impossible for me and I used to get annoyed when hearing word IMPOSSIBLE. I tend to repeat: 'Nothing is impossible, unless someone doesn't want to make it happen!' and I strongly believe in it.

This is how I was living my life, firstly when I was a kid (I wanted to play violin- I played), than when I was a teenager (I wanted to write stories- I did) and later when I was a student (I wanted to move to Indonesia- I did). This very morning when I woke up in UK, feeling totally hopeless I thought: 'What have I done wrong, that despite plans I had, I end up in a life I was so embarrassed about???' I believe that acknowledging that something went wrong is first step to improve.

'SUCCESS IS A PROGRESSIVE REALIZATION OF A WORTHY IDEAL'*2

It may sound simple and obvious, but success is indeed  progressive realization of a worthy ideal. 'Worthy ideal' is a flexible and cleaver term, so it can be underlay with whatever one can imagine. If any ideal can be realized, than whatever one will imagine can be done. I asked myself : If there is so much space in this term and it is so open than why MY dreams cannot became true???

I found an answer when listening to a lecturer when hearing: 'Imagine ship that do not have any destination'. Where will it go, will it even leave a harbor? Probably not. Same is with our dreams and goals, if we wont set any up, we will not be driven by any forces to proceed them. Setting up the goal is the thing that need to be done, when hoping to become successful. No one can achieve anything without field in which he/she can be successful.

'THE STARTING POINT OF ALL ACHIEVEMENTS IS DESIRE'*3

Now with set up goal and having desire to reach it, the how-to process has to be created. To help youreslf make notes, draw a map, write a synopsis, choose whatever is most comfortable for you, as it is to make your life easier. Think of small steps to get closer to your aim and make them. And please do not treat this personally, but STOP WASTING TIME FOCUS ON IMPROVEMENT INSTEAD.

Driven by passion let yourself to sacrifice some parts of your life to improve others. Think again of your main goal and think of all the things you have done day before to get closer to it. Need some stimulation? Try 'The rule of 5 things' advised by #BodoScheafer. Each day write on a piece of paper 5 things that made you proud of yourself that day. Not long after you will start making such listS, you will see how your overall life will improve.

SUCCESS CONSISTS OF GOING FROM FAILURE TO FAILURE WITHOUT LOSS OF ENTHUSIASM*4

Do you sometimes have a feeling that you do all what I wrote above, but still something gets wrong? Unfortunately, I have to admit, even if you follow all the advices given by 'all-the-smartest-people', something will not go as you imagine. We are not machines and there is no universal instruction 'how to be successful' with which we are getting born. Each of us is different and has to find their own way. It is normal and natural that we make mistakes, so lets look at them as signs to teach us how to do better than before and give us view on what can be done differently.

Learning to fail and do not give up is one of the most important abilities. My fitness trainer often says 'Why when choose success, failure is an option?'*5 so once you walk on the path of success work hard and you will see fruits of it.

*1 to oppose all them who see glass half empty and never have power to do anything
*2 #EarlNightingale
*3 #Napoleon
*4 #WinstonChirchil
*5 #JillianMichaels

My latest look:

sweater NEXT/jumpsuit TALLY WEIL/shoes and sunnies H&M

HOW TO MAKE ASYMMETRIC SKIRT

As some of you may remember I loooove to shop in vintage stores where I can find clothes of excellent quality in a very good prices, sometimes though there is the problem with it's size. :/ I don't remember, if I mentioned before that I enjoy to re-make the clothes I find in second hand shops and create totally new garments out of it. If I didn't today is going to be the first time. 

Let me introduce you to how to make an asymmetric skirt tutorial :D

Basically what you need is a skirt approx 10 sizes too big for you, made from fabric you love and 4 attaching snaps buttons. It has to be a simple skirt (maybe like a pencil skirt or one with the rubber around the waist). Remember it is crucial for it to be simple! The reason for it is that you need to get a rectangular piece of fabric out of it. 

Once you have an rectangular the only thing is to attach the snaps to it. One part of first snap you attach to the very (lets say) left corner and its second part you have to fit to your waist size. Once you will do it rectangular will fit you and should stay around your waist. You are left now just with 3 snaps. One its part you attach to loose part of skirt, the other one you need to measure and attach to the core part of the dress. Once done it is finished- asymmetric skirt is ready. 

I hope I explained it right- below you can see the pic-tutorial how the buttons are being attached and my look in this skirt. 

How do you like this project and it's final effect?

skirt HOME MADE/top CALLIOPE/shoes ANNAGEMMAGIE/sunglasses IAM

JUMPSUIT FAIRY TALE

It took me couple of years, thousands of hours in fitting rooms and a lot of courage to eventually get off doubts about jumpsuit. Yeah, it is trendy and yeah it looks fancy and yeah, all this bla- bla- bla, but truly I have never ever seen any, which would look good on me. This happens actually quite often- pieces, which looks gorgeous on models, on photos in magazines and which I admire on mannequins in shop-windows when pulled on mine body starts to look like a bag for potatoes :/ Due to this traumatic experience for long time I didn't even try on any jumpsuit- not to lower my selfesteem, 'cos who likes to see him/herself looking hideous??? 

I lived safe life in my cave free of jumpsuits until I have seen one of my favourite fashion bloggers: Maffashion in gorgeous blue jumpsuit looking so sophisticated and so chic as no one before (to verify my taste you can check HERE). That was the moment I understood that I have to go hunting and find exactly the same piece! 

As you can imagine searching for ideal piece always ends with nothing, and so that had happen. No jumpsuit, no outfit of blue queen and no happy face for me, my friends... I agreed with my destiny and get over with greeve and that is when miracle had happen. TOTALLY BY ACCIDENT I went for sale shopping and I actually didn't even want to buy anything, rather to verify that all the best is already sold out when I reached shop I usually do not go in and found THE ONE AND ONLY PERFECT JUMPSUIT!

After trying it on for half an hour I decided it passed the test and I still love it and so you can see it now on pics. It is fully mine and I will never split with it. Now I have everything- I am fulfilled and I can enjoy my time peacefully! 

jumpsuit TALLY WEIL/backpack H&M/sunglasses NEW YORKER

SALE's HUNTING

Who  loves sales??? I definitely do! 

In the middle of the summer all brands, luxurious and main stream ones, organise a happening for all fashion addicts (like myself) and decide to sell out all the garments up to 75% less than original price! Good bargain? Undoubtedly, especially that during this time we already know trends for upcoming season and we can simply buy something for future.

My way to deal with sales involves a lot of walking around the shops, but it is so worth it. Usually, I do one round through shops in the very first week of sales- even though everything is still quite expensive to asses what is there. If you were anxious to buy something from the middle of the March, but due to it's ridiculous price your conscious was stopping you, this is the moment to buy it! 

There is also a bunch of stuff we don't so-so-urgently-need and these ones can wait for the second round through sales, in the middle/end of July. This is not only time when everything reaches it's lowest price. Important is that all the old things from last season are being pushed out from warehouses and this is the time when you can find some bargains and shop for autumn. 

I usually shop two type of things: shoes- there is nothing better than pair of amazing leather shoes in crazy, low price(!), and things I would never-ever buy in it's regular price, but wont refuse to get it for when it's nearly for free.

My pics this summer were: 

leather stilettos- it would be a sign not to buy it!

skirt- just 'cos it was so cute,

jumpsuit- I was afraid I will never wear it and now I'd not take it off even to sleep, 

top with transparent detail- c'mon this trend is so hot! 

and bunch of accessory including necklaces, rings, bracelets, bag (my backpack is from H&M not CHANEL, but looks so-so alike I didn't find it's picture though :/ ) and of course sunglasses.

What was your pics?

Happy hunting!!!

1. top and skirt from MOHITO; 2. stilettos from RESERVED; 3. jumpsuit, sunglasses TALLY WEIL, 4. backpack, rings, (tops, bracelets, necklaces not included here) H&M

EGO-POST

(Recently I try to focus on FASHION BLOGGING, but today it's time for a bit of EGOBLOGGING*. )

I become a bit passive lately. I don't know, maybe it is so called Spring Solstice. 

It has been more than half of the 2014 gone, so time for a little summary has come. I set up some goals (yeah, yeah... NEW-YEAR RESOLUTIONS are coming back to me as a hiccup) and I so-so-so very want to achieve it by the end of December. To really make it happen I decided to do a little review. 

Now after a couple of months, I KNOW what I have missed, I KNOW whenever I have skipped the training or did not focus on my VF project or just have been lazy. I am the most strict judge for myself, simply because I KNOW EVERYTHING! The worst part is that THERE ARE NO EXCUSES.

The reason I write it down is that now, when it is published, I will motivate me more. I will squeeze myself as a lemon and make my project work. I will also proceed with my training, even though it is so G*D* hot and exercising is the hardest activity ever. 

It is like my trainer always says: If I give up now, just because it is hard, it will not make it easier. I will make myself look ridiculous instead.  

So fingers crossed, attitude improved, head up and I am going to rule this world .

*I read this term on one of the blogs, HERE.

P.S. One of my recent looks to still be connected to fashion ;)