Trends & Collections: Dolce & Gabbana Autumn/Winter 2015. Runway video.

Hello all,

How are you doing? I am back to my home in the North. Some people somewhere are still enjoying the August warmth. As for me, I have not gone out without a raincoat since I came back. More for the wind than the rain. But even though you could not say it’s exactly cold here, the summer warmth has definitelly made some other plans, packed its bags and left. So that’s that.

However, feel a need to mention that autumn is one of my favourite seasons of the entire year. I do not mind the change so much for what I get back is the thriving colours of the leaves and the smell of the morning chill. Chuncky sweaters, hot chocolate and all of those other benefits come to my mind first to make me excited about it first and foremost.

Not to mention the pleasures of reviewing the autumn/winter collections! So many pleasant things up my way in autumn 😉

This time D&G collection was very comforting. Still very fancy and elegant but it had many other angles: floral applications for those seeking a playful style; shinning crystals for elegance; long gloves and high knee stockings for warmth and comfort; golden key detailing for those seeking more mystery.

So here it is: a short album of D&G autumn/winter collection: http://stiliausraktas.lt/sveciai/item/140-dolce-gabbana-ruduo-ziema-2014

At the end of the article you will find a line in blue with the end word “VIDEO” – that will take you right to the runway show. For you to have your own impression.

Stay stylish and warm!

Yours truly,

Vaiva k.

 

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Melting Down The Promises

One delightful Saturday afternoon, with a casual cappuccino and a never-ending interesting stuff on the internet, I was researching the internet wedding pages as my good friend is about to get married. Unfortunately, what seemed as an innocent delightful time helping a friend to plan the finishing touches of such a special occasion I have come across something that I didn’t bear to take alone. So I decided to share it so that I can get your opinion and reflection on some very bizarre facts and statistics:

•   A woman from Taiwan had the most unusual weddings in history – she married herself (video was banned or not uploaded, but here is a sneak-peak review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir1T_NXePr4).

•   A man from Japan married a virtual game character (not to a virtual person but a virtual game character that only exists in the game!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsikPswAYUM ).

• A man from Korea married to a giant cuddling pillow with an Anime picture on it (here is a link to him and his “wife” on a date: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q90Iq7kCOr8)

• A man from Azia just recently married to…a dog! (watch this here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr9-YjU-Apo&feature=player_embedded)

What:

Coat: Marks & Spenser’s.

Shoes: QQQ.

Tights: Iggy.

Blouse: Bershka.

Skirt: Monton .

Gloves: thrift.

Pearls: Seppala/ Silver City.

Belt: New Yorker.

OMG Item: “Pearls. It’s the same if you put on just one piece or an entire sea of pearls hang on your neck – you will always look expensive, smart-looking and in style. Pearls are a little predictable but still you can get many looks: from an elegant A class princess to a Lolita chick. However, I always find it the most beautiful, when different pearl strings are being blended together than mixing pearls with other type of jewelery, specially plastic or fake looking things. It’s time for fun and it’s time for pearls. This time – pearls only!”

Gay marriages and marriage among the family members are not as rare as it may seem. Since the global population has trebled in the past 50 years, has it become actually impossible to find your significant other? There are legendary stories telling us that there must be someone out there for every one of us. The significant other, the soul mate, love of your life somewhere walking the same Earth as you and all you have to do is find him/her. Obviously, easier said than done. And in the world where you can marry anyone or anything, have the endless possibilities made it impossible to choose right?

Divorce statistics are more than frightening: more than 4o percent of Lithuanian marriages fall apart. Have we forgotten that the promise “for better or for worse” is intended for forever and not until the road get’s rocky? And if you can get divorced and can get re-married so easily – why marry at all?

Very often I see press headlines blinking from celebrities announcing their 2nd , 3rd sometimes even the 5th or 6th marriage. Each time: wearing a white dress, pearls, diamonds, tiaras, spending thousands of dollars for an impressive ceremony and pricey entertainment for a party afterwards. But  the most importantly – promising each time and yet again to be with the person for as longs as they shall live…

And then I look at my parents: with all the ups and downs in every marriage, just 3 years ago, they celebrated their silver wedding anniversary. We had a ceremony with family and friends, went to the city hall in the city of Kaunas to celebrate the 25 years of their union. It was very interesting as an adult to see my parents re-marry.

With both of them being so emotional as they are,  I have seen my parents raising their voices at each other, slamming the doors before sitting in separate rooms for hours, going on for long walks separately. But I have also seen Christmas holidays cooking together, dinning together, building snowmen, playing team games, cuddling before bed, movie nights with popcorn and classical Russian/ American cartoons, picnics in the yard, birthdays… A lot of those moments are worth living all together.  Worth building a relationship for and worth giving it another try. Sometimes I used to think that my parents would be better apart but now, after all this time, I see that they are not just husband and wife, but also friends and soul mates. Growing old together made them slow down, taught to forgive and forget and although they are quite different, they  have mastered the secret knowledge of how to live together in peace and to accept people and things as they really are.

Up to this day, I have a great pleasure to be back home with my parents. Living every day together can create lots of tension and good and bad things can happen: things get misunderstood, people expect different things from the same event, etc. But exactly all the love, fun , joy and all those every day troubles make life bubbly and interesting.

And what is your point of view? Marry or not? Is it still possible to find someone to love and are we still able to make the commitment last ‘forever’?….

Yours truly,

Vaiva K.

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10 Things Every Man Should Know…

…about a Woman. Even if some of you have conquered the Everest of a relationship and marriage there are still things that you could improve, renew, refresh, or newly determine. Those things include 10 top secrets that were designed after consulting with my married and single friends.

Of course, a list “What Makes A Women Happy” could be almost endless but just for clarity sake, I have decided to list these five. These things are easy to implement and the positive changes are almost immediate. So off we go – into a brighter tomorrow in the world of women! 😉

What:

Scarf: Marks & Spenser.

Coat: Next.

Shirt: Ivo Nikkolo.

Skirt: Bershka.

Shoes: QQQ.

Tights: Gatta.

Purse: Thrifted, no label.

Gloves: Italiana Mode .

Belt: Bershka.

OMG Item: “Gloves! Gloves! Gloves! They feel like silk, look like velvet and are so soft and sleek. Hands feel not only warm but heavenly. I also like the ‘royal’ touch that long-sleeved gloves give to the outfit. With the clothes being all the same it immediately gives that edgier more feminine touch and overall more fancy look. ”

Number 1. Make sure she has at least an hour for herself everyday. The time when she is at work or at the supermarket does not count, because she is busy. I mean a whole hour for herself – without the kids, you, without anyone. Either she chooses to spend that hour at a beauty salon, relaxing in a hot-tube, doing yoga, learning origami or just quietly reading a book – plan that hour every day and do not complain about it. She will love you respecting her private time. During that time women re-charge their beauty / well-being/ self-confidence battery and so she can shine again. For you.

Number 2. Do not kill her joy. She orders a strawberry milk-shake and pics a straw with a paper heart on it. You lift an eye-brow and say “What – are you 12 again??” DO NOT DO THAT. She wants it. It makes her happy. Let it go.

Women are the vivid reflection of a child living in them. Of course nowadays  the preferred “toys” are somewhat different in price and purpose but pleasing a woman is similar to pleasing a child – a full hand of balloons, a big bouquet of flowers or a box of candy can make her very happy. Instead of trying to find what’s right and what’s not right – look at her and sink in the happy glow of her eyes.

 

Number 3. Hug her as often as you can. Huging is sometimes even more important than kissing. Women love to be held in a hug for a long time. Of course everything has its limits and doing it every time she passes by may be fun but also irritating. For as far as many women have indicated, they like to be tenderly hugged for a long time like before falling a sleep, when watching a movie, or simply relaxing on the couch in front of the TV. And remember: One long hug a day keeps the break up away! 🙂

Number 4. Encourage her to want more. There is no greater joy for a girl than knowing that her partner is proud of her and believes that she is capable of achieving big goals. Do not laugh at her sweating in a parking lot learning to drive. It is important for both of you to become strong well-prepared individuals. Girls are more sensitive and therefore they may get upset faster and react to criticism much stronger than many men would expect. So a little joke about her driving mistakes may become one of the many reasons to pick a fight about who and how should drive.

Long story short: if you want an interesting partner permanently contributing to a colourful life together  – invest some time in encouraging your girlfriend to fulfill her dreams and goals.

 

Where: A frozen lake, Utena, Lithuania.

Number 5. Do more than you planned to. Example 1. So she asks you to take out the garbage. Before taking it out make sure you have inserted a new garbage bag in the bin. Or broom the floor around the bin if some garbage have fallen on the floor…

Example 2. She asked you to do the dishes. After you clean them, make sure you put them back and the things that you used all to their places. These little steps will not take longer than 2-3 extra minutes but what it will do – it will show that you care and try to make such routine tasks as house duties easier. Trust me, she will notice your efforts. And appreciate them.

Number 6. Be a gentleman. No matter what a women says it is your duty to take over the tasks that requier bravery, physical strength or manhood. Nowadays nobody is asking you to fight the dragon and I am afraid that very few man could. But there are other things such as carrying the shopping bags, helping her with her coat, digging the snow, dealing with impolite – noisy neigbors, cutting the grass, catching spiders, letting her through the door first, repairing the furniture, taking the car to the mechanics, going first into the dark basement – these and all the other tasks that will make you her hero.

 

Number 7.  Be a part of her world. The greatest thing of trust a man can get is to be the first person a woman will come for an advice. This means that she values your opinion and cares about your point of view towards the issue. To get to this point you may neet to reflect on yourself and find the moments when you use your sarcasm or ignorance and kill her will to talk to you. This also includes practicing your skills of active listening.

Trust us, we are able to see if you are just sort of listening to us during the commercial breaks. That will never be a good base for an honest conversation. When woman is puzzled or in trouble – no difference if the problem is related to global economy or a fight with a closest friend – you will be in her heart forever if you will just sit down with her and talk about it. For many women unspoken truth is like a ghost – it’s scary because it is in the dark. Once the words are said aloud they are a fact.

 

Number 8.  Surprise her with a kinder surprise. If your calendar indicates just 2-3 gift giving occasions a year – your relationship has taken a wrong turn. When it come to the gift-giving topic I often hear “limited budget” as an excuse. Presents to your girlfriend are not entirely about money.

You do not have to get her an iPhone or a diamond right to show your dedication. I’ve seen my friend totally in love with a girl, making 50 white origami birds for his girlfriend for no occasion. He came to her building at 4 a.m. and hung each one of  them on a thread in front of her door. Do you imagine how pretty that must have been? My friend, the girl, was totally blown away by such surprise. And it costed him almost nothing!

Writing a poem, composing a CD of her favorite songs, home-made cookies, a drawing,  a cute – heart-shaped chocolate are just a few tight budget friendly ideas that can be implemented often with just a little bit of imagination and creativity. It tights bonds with your girl and brings some romantic breath into your every day life and relationship.

Who: Photographer – Aurelija Apulskienė.

Number 9.  Tell her she is the one. Now this may seem as the easiest thing from the entire list but this is the most complicated. It’s not only about saying the words aloud. It’s about finding the perfect time, the exact moment when the heart is open and she is able to hear it and feel it. Do not forget that actions speak louder than words –  never say these words after you’ve done something really really mean (like if you were gone for a day or even worse-a whole night without a call or warning). Instead of repeating that you are sorry – do not do things to be sorry about. Without a sense of regret to it, the special words will sound powerful and pure.

 

Numer 10. Find time for more satisfying activities to do together. Love, romance and trust does not build itself from nothing. Make sure that you find time regularly to do  some common activities together such as sports or games: jogging, tennis, badminton, skating, skiing, hiking, swimming, frisbee, chess, sudoku, biking, playing with your pets, dancing or singing lessons, sight-seeing, painting, crafting, DIY projects, reading books, movies, bathing, knitting, puzzle solving – anything that you enjoy to do and that produces satisfaction. Sharing common experience of adventures will keep your feelings updated and fill yoru days with fun, pleasant and silly moments to remember. Do not forget that in order to have something to remember tomorrow, you need to make it happen today! 😉

And after all – yes, we might be from different planets but I think exactly for that fact we can live together as the opposites attract! 🙂

Yours Truly,

Vaiva K.

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Letters To Heaven

I was thinking to myself the other day, what it would be like, if you could write a letter to Heaven, ask questions that you were never capable of understanding and receive good fulfilling answers? As I browsed through memories full of people and more or less special events, I realized how many of them were to this day unclear. Getting that one true answer perhaps might have solved the “forgive and forget” puzzle that keeps haunting me for years.

What:

Jeans: Zara.

Shoes:  my mom’s treasure.

Sweater: Cholckhouse .

Bracelet: e-shop www.eleja.lt

Omg item: “Jeans by Zara. When everyting’s dull, grey and wet I miss colours the most. During the cold season, streets are crowded with black coated people. Exactly at that time, we miss the sun and the colours the most! So I have decided to break the ice and bring colors back to the dayligt, despite the cold. And I love the intensity of this blue – not a ababy blue and not a navy blue – the golden middle”

Who: Pictures taken by Aurelija Apulskienė

And as miracles occure, I have stumbled upon this delightful letter shared on Facebook. This is by no means written by me neither I am claiming any copy rights over it. I would simply like to share it as I found it, totally unedited.

“Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month. The day after she passed away my 4-year-old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so, and she dictated these words:

Dear God,

Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.

I hope you will play with her. She likes to swim and play with balls. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love, Meredith

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

When: 24t of February, 2012

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, ‘To Meredith” in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, ‘When a Pet Dies.’ Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,

Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help and I recognized her right away.

Abbey isn’t sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don’t need our bodies in heaven, I don’t have any pockets to keep your picture in so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I’m easy to find. I am wherever there is love.

Love, God”

Where: Countryside of Antalgė village, Utena, Lithuania.

I was so touched by this story! I loved the post officer who made time and effort to send a reply to this little girl. I am sure it brought a great amount of joy, faith and love into her life.  This made me think about how wonderful would it be to have an actual and real mail line with God?

What would you tell him if you could? What questions would you ask him? Would you bare to open the answering letter?…

Yours truly,

Vaiva K.

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Under The Red Label: LOVE

Valentines is one of the many occasions when I am undecided and I am able to support both parties: the ones that cover themselves in hearts from head to toe and also those, who do nothing and hate even calling Valentines day a special occasion. And so every year I act depending whether I miss romance or not. Valentines day was a big deal in my life when I was a child and a teenager: sending post cards via ‘Cupids’ Post Office’ at school; exchanging secret angels’ gifts… Years of experience in this field now allows me to share the most intriguing items from my secret box under the label “LOVE”. 🙂

What:

Jeans: Zara.

Shoes: QQQ.

Blouse: H&M.

Scarf: Seppala.

Earings: Marks& Spenser.

Ring: Seppala.

OMG Item: “This time I’d definitely go for the ring . I find it so wonderfully made : it’s a very cute statement piece and together with it you have a very little need or none at all to accessories anything else. Although it’s quiet a big item, it doesn’t have any sharp unfinished edges that could break materials, for example catch tights or get stuck into knitted materials. Also, irrelevant to its size, the ring is very light and comfortable to wear. When I saw it in Seppala (which lately has gotten my full attention – really improved the quality and the service) I felt as if I was tickled! Could this get any cutter?? ;)”

A written love letter or at least a love post card is something very special, to which every detail becomes important: the selection of words, the size and the shrift of the letters as well as your hand-writing manner. The days come and go, years rush by so fast and later  for me there is no greater joy that browsing through my letter box and reading the cute lovely Valentines wishes that my classmates and friends once send me.

Where: “Coffee Inn”, Gediminas avenue, Vilnius.

Not yet written to me but have impressed me a lot as a very touching, very smart and loving expression of feelings. Here is my favorite love letter:

To : Antonie Brentano

 “Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us – I can live only wholly with you or not at all.

– Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits

– Yes, unhappily it must be so – You will be the more contained since you know my fidelity to you. No one else can ever possess my heart – never – never – Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves. And yet my life in V is now a wretched life – Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men – At my age I need a steady, quiet life – can that be so in our connection? My angel, I have just been told that the mail-coach goes every day – therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the letter at once – Be calm, only by a calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together – Be calm – love me – today – yesterday – what tearful longings for you – you – you – my life – my all – farewell.

Oh continue to love me – never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.
Ever thine
Ever mine
Ever ours.”  

~Ludwig van Beethoven~

A fantastic Valentines hair tutorial!

In this video a woman will explain how to make a very uncomplicated and yet very cute and original heart-shaped hairstyle. With a bit of imagination, you would be able to make it yourself,e.g. instead of sawing the ribbon, you could add it to the braid at the time when you braid it or wrap around when you finish. And bobby pin it to create the shape of a heart. Really lovely, isn’t it?

Heart-shaped Valentines Braid Tutorial

Ideas for hand-made Valentine cards.

Please refer to the fact that your date is not the only person who may get one. A close friend or a lonely person that you know is also among the list of people who are in need of a little reminder of all that love in the world. Making a card is not as hard as it may seem. Give it a try and you will discover the joy of creativity plus there will be more of your heart in it.  The most simple way is to glue a pretty red ribbon on the cover and clue some multi layered hearts in the center. Drawing and hand-writing is making a huge come-back!

(illustration found at a website which belongs to ‘graf_zahl’)

An idea for a gift box project.

A fun project of a Valentines gift box, for something small like candy. Quick, easy and budget-friendly.

I have made many of these boxes in silver and red for Christmas and I can tell you, that one box fits about 3-4 ‘Raffaello’ or a small soap or a tiny package of Skittles. But I would recommend adding less candy/items and instead forming a ‘nest’ on which the candy is going to lie on. This way, it looks neater when you open it. I made that “nest” out of glitter paper, ribbon or tiny piece of velvet.

 Who: Pictures taken by Dovydas Toleikis.

 

When: 13th of February, 2012.

Love yourself first and most. 

Despite the fuss and rush about finding the perfect partner, organizing a perfect date, preparing the perfect outfit, creating a perfect atmosphere, there are things that in my opinion, are mistakenly overseen. Those things include caring for yourself just as much as for others.

I do not ,by any means, intend to sound like a yoga or self-help instructor. But in my sports activities and elsewhere I often hear people talking about happiness. And followers of a music and dance therapy believe that it is closely related to finding our center. The ‘center’, as I found out, is a psychological and also a physical term to describe a place in your body as well as the a state of mind from where your feelings evolve, grow and come out. Music and dance therapists claim that persons psychological health is directly connected to the physical condition of the body and vice-versa.

You can easily find out more by reading some relevant literature. But my point here is that we should not only care about others and spoil them but also spoil ourselves and love ourselves how we really are. Taking care of yourself may mean living a more active, healthy lifestyle, taking a foam bath just for fun, spending more time by yourself to concentrate on things that are important to you.

So happy Valentines to ourselves! Kisses on the cheeks to everyone! 😉 ❤

Yours truly,

Vaiva K.

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Strangers In The Night

I have been thinking a lot lately about how do I happen to have such brilliant memories of people I have met in my life. Most of those meetings so bizarre and disturbing that writing about them would put no novel to shame. Most of those meetings happened by a total coincidence as if someone had planned it all. It would have only taken a five-minute time difference and some of those people may have remained strangers to me forever…

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Winter Wonderland

Winter is my absolutely favorite season. I love the cold season in general but Winter Holidays are the most fascinating time of the year! That’s just in my point of view summer lovers 😉

What: 

Skirt: Terranova.

Blouse: Lindex.

Sweater: ZARA .

Tights: Veneziana.

Shoes: Isabel Bellido “BEL BEL”.

Earings: www.eleja.lt .

Ring: www.eleja.lt  .

For me even the birthday is less special than Christmas. It probably comes from childhood – as most of our memories have the biggest impact on how we see things later in life. And so winter holidays were always a big thing in our family. When I was small kid, my mother and I would start drawing pictures of winter landscape which later would be turned into post cards and sent to my grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts. They would all kindly reply, so I began to fall for the paper mail as I loved to read the letters and postcards that were send back to us.

When: 23rd of December, 2011.

Later, we’d cook the dishes. Now I know that it varies from all around the world and there are different things that you put on the table on Christmas Eve. Traditionally in Lithuania we normally have: 1- “Herring under the covers” – herring coated with graded beetroot, boiled chopped carrots and eggs, fried fish, 2- “white salad” (canned peas, chopped vegetables: pickles, boiled carrots, potatoes, and chopped eggs ),3- some other kind of salad normally with beetroot, 4- fruits; 5- cooked minced meat in sort of jello; 6- poppy seed milk; 7- Christmas Eve cookies “kūčiukai” [koo-choo-kai]; 8 –  Bread; 9- Boiled potatoes with dill;  10- Mushroom cutlets; 11- buns with poppy seeds; 12 – buns with mushrooms.

     

Of course that is a lot of food to cook for one family, so we normally share the dishes and 2-3 families cook it and bring ti to our grandmothers house who cooks the rest. There would many of my cousins gather and rooms begin to fill with hot steams from the kitchen, children’s’ laughter upstairs and parents hurrying about to make sure the table gets set and the presents are ready. Our grandparents had two rooms upstairs for kids bur very often we ended up sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor in order to be in one room. After the lights were out, there was still a lot of games, talks and colouring going on in our room. What a night that used to be!

My grandmother is very sympathetic so she used to put a giant christmas tree in the dining room and a separate one upstairs just for us. The tree downstairs was always a natural tree, decorated beautifully with sets of ornaments and matching bows and lights. The tree upstairs was an old plastic tree, flat branches and stiff pieces. It was always overwhelmingly decorated with colourful ornaments, golden bows and big shining lights. If I would see a tree like this nowadays I’d probably think the owner lacks a sense of taste. But then, for me as a child the tree was heavenly beautiful!! When we had to go to bed the grandparents would then leave the lights on the tree and we could enjoy that breath-taking beauty all night long. I used to think the tree was so beautiful that I imagined it having its own little world – with toys and pictures on the ornaments coming alive at night and would make up stories in my mind how do they live and what do they do walking on branches of the Christmas tree… 🙂

  

The brightest memory about the tree where the decorations: grandmother has saved up till now ornaments from her own childhood and the soviet times. The toys are far faaar from what are we see in the shops now; the ornaments would include plastic mushrooms, squirrels, glass balls and birds, acorns, all kinds of fruits: pears, strawberries, grapes…

(I guess you gotta be there to understand the sentimental point of it 😀 )

Here are some examples:

 

So from the beginning, Christmas is always about the special times when I was and still am loves, cared of and appreciated. The magic of the night, the mystical and festive spirits, good wishes, coziness, hugs, gifts, joy and laughter. Happy holidays everyone!

Truly Yours,

Vaiva K.

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Bloody Mary

So it’s December. With a great delight, joy, love and fascination I made a Christmas Calendar – a huge project for me and my family.(You can check it out at D.I.Y page!) I was so anxious for December to begin that I didn’t even realize how much I wanted snow. Soft, light piles of snow. Crowding from feather-like snowflakes in a delightful light of a cozy evening.  The one that you picture when you hear “Winter Wonderland” by Aretha Franklin 🙂 or “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey. 😉

What:

 Coat: H&M.

Sweater: Mango.

Blouse: Lindex.

Tights: Gatta.

Rings: H&M.

Shoes: e-store www.lightinthebox.com

Necklace: e-store www.eleja.lt

Skirt: Just B.

OMG Item: “Skirt. I bought it in a thrift store – boutique in Belgium. I went on that trip when I was having a difficult time in my life: my first job, final exams in university, a new place to live. I was under some kind of pressure and could feel how my self-esteem was getting below the line of “low”. So I took a week off and travelled. Very luckily, on my way to the flight, I grabbed a full pack of Sex & The City. I laughed and I cried together with the characters and then realised that life is, in deed, really fabulous and I should love it, feel it and live it with a smile.”

Watching what do those beautiful characters wear inspired me to experiment. At that time – this piece of clothing was almost impossible for me! I thought it’s so bizarre, so strange and so unique that I thought I might not be brave enough to wear it. But I paired it with high loose black leather boots and went out to have my coffee take-away around the old town. 🙂 It was a break-through moment for me as the skirt is light, interesting and flies beautifully – a heavy woollen top layer is cut half way in about 4 places. Underneath lies a light synthetic layer with a round or ruffles so delicate, you can’t really tell they are there but when the wind opens the top layer it looks like I am wearing at least 3 skirts underneath 🙂

And like a sprinkle of cinnamon or a cherry on the top of the whipped cream – the skirt is spiced up with a leather belt that wraps around the hips. Arty, funky, punky and interesting! :)”

The only really colourful activity nowadays – is Christmas shopping. That’s when I get to look at all those lovely reminders of Winter holidays – ginger cookies, jelly beans, silky bows and wrapping papers, and tons of things to look through until I find the right ones to delight my family with. I have once read an article about a Lithuanian painter who said that she buys her gifts all year round. I loved the idea for many reasons: first, you do not have to spend tons of money at once specially right before the holidays when you already know you will have extra costs due to the preparation, travelling and else.

 Secondly, you save time – you see a lovely item – you buy it even if it’s in May. Then you stuff your secret drawer with beautiful and nice things and when Christmas comes – you do not have to run around the crowded shops in panic looking for things to buy and you do not risk to get same things like everyone else. Months passed, things forgotten – the gifts are very fresh and again “unseen”;)

Thirdly, you are prepared for anything and everything – even small surprises for the unexpected visitors. Because if you want to – you can shop for gifts when season sales appear. And when the right time comes – you just have to decide what items from your secret drawer go under which name tag. Love the idea!

When: 2nd of December, 2011.

And since there is no snow, everything apart from shopping, seems dead and dull – colourful leaves are gone, fog covers whole city in white and grey almost everyday. Instead of an intensive short showers of rain we have a misty rain all day long. Really upsetting when you look through the window or when you have to get around town by the public transport…

So I had to find a solution. And instead of expecting nature to bring a trace of intriguing new colours or whitening all with pure virgin snow – I coloured myself.  I used this red and brown to energize my every step and to break out from the everyday dullness of routine tasks and suits. It was so powerful, like a warming shot of something strong and red after a busy day 😉

Where: The Hill Of Taurus, Vilnius

P.s. Talking about red and winter – I have a secret in my wardrobe for Xmas 😉 It’s a Santa’s Helpers kinda dress  – all red, decorated with white fur around the neck, hands, and thigh area. Looks super cute, flirt and Christmas ! The only thing I need – is a red ribbon..;)

Looking forward for my white merry Christmas!

Yours truly,

Vaiva K.

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