STYLE PICKS: SEX AND THE CITY

Carrie oh Carrie. I guess at some point in our lifes every girl has to get infected with the virus called 'Sex and the City'... I came across season 1 the other day at a local book store but didn't want to spent over 20 dollars on something that I wasn't sure I was gonna like - so I left it behind. Good call - just a week later I found the DVD at my library - for free. Yeay!

Now halfway through it, I caught the bug. Strangely though, I actually prefer the french dup version even though I understand less. To me, the original Carrie-Voice sounds way too young. So double score for me - entertainment + learning!

Well, starting the show I was expecting some crazy 90s fashion that today would seem totally unwearable. Well, fail! Although Carrie's era ended about a decade ago, she still has some serious fashion advise going. I picked the trends I especially marveled over while watching and went scrolling through the fashion lookbooks of Asos and Topshop - Well no surprise, all these trends are having a comeback this fall!

Carrie for sure sports a lot of (bra-less...) outfits that feature silky fabrics and thin straps. I love the feminin and vulnerable look of this. Also, here the material and color really come into play. Perfect for a day-to-night-outfit.

So here are my picks. All three basically go with any other piece but the more they are left to themselves, the more they shine. I definitely fell for the silky fabric, probably so nice and soft on the skin! Also - rhinestones on a dress? As long as kept classy for sure a trend that could come back!

Tank Black  // Silk Top // Dress

This Pic is just so classic 'The Girls' - haha. I'm not quite sure yet about this big-manly-coat trend yet but I'm like that with most trends that are just a bit off the track. Right now I think it looks very classy and grown up while still being very eclectic. 

I was actually kinda surprised how easy it was to find oversized coats that both fit the wallet and my taste. Like the peach one - OMG, want it so badly. But the other two, too ..mmh, that grunge look. Just great. I love how in the series these are thrown over any kind of fancy evening dress - say fashion!

Peach // Black // Beige

Ohhh look at this gem - and I'm not talking about Mr. Big! The look on Carries face resembles quite well the way I admire her fur coat. I wonder if back in 98' PETA was already a thing? Anyway, I love the sophisticated look and overall luxurious style.

Fur has been with us for quite some seasons now. And once again, it didn't miss its place in the A/W'14 lookbooks. I guess you have to be either very brave or very cold to wear a full-on fur coat on a daily base though.

Still, a girl can dream right? So here we go: 

TeddyBear (Ok, I would actaully wear this one - so fluffy!)

 // Garmisch-Style // Carrie-Like

Well that was my style-guide for some major 90s-fun. I loved making it and I honestly can't wait to continue watching 'Sex and the City' for more Carrie, more fashion and more NYC-lifestyle.

Hope you're having a faboulous day! Until soon!

Photocredit for all SATC-Photos: HomeBox Office 2010

IT'S PINK - I WANT IT!

Didn't this bookcover just get you within a second? Ohhh how I love my BUST DIY Guide to Life! And because today was such a rainy, gray day (rhyming like no other...) and all I wanted to do was to cuddle up under a blanket, I grabbed this precious little thing to brighten up my afternoon a bit.

I bought the BUST Guide last January as a late Christmas gift to myself after having hovered over it literally every time I'd walk into Barnes & Nobles for weeks. I fell for the book the day I discovered the craft section at the store (reminder: I was there as an exchange student so I didn't know there was such a section at the store). I discovered there was a magazine to this book and so I bought my first BUST issue. It didn't take a day for me get through it and start longing for the book real badly...

BUST is sort of a feminist magazine but not quite so 'Hear me roar, I'm a feminist!' (nothing against that type of (maga)zine). I guess I would describe BUST as an indie magazine for creative girls - and man I've been looking for that for ages! So in the book the BUST team has collected all kinds of DIYs, recipes, tipps on style, sewing and life from former magazines issues.

Okay enough chatting, here's a peek inside!

This' the season to be sewing lalala-la-laaa! Haha, there's some great advise for sewing beginners like me in there. First they explain how a sewing mashine works, simple stitches and stuff. Later on one learns how to reshape sweaters, hem and sew skirts and pants and also how to make fascinators and jewelry! Homemade fashion here we come!

There's a hair and beauty section and I'm especially a fan of these curls, how darling are they? I'm debating on cuting my hair .. mmmh.

In this section you'll also find some snazzy tutorials on how to create the Amy Winehouse Beehive and the Twiggy eye make-up. But since beauty isn't all about hair and make-up you can find tipps on how treat scratches, insect bites and PMS etc. I find that very helpful and it also promotes the whole 'beauty comes from the inside'-thing. Like that!

Talking about the inside ... It's called a Guide to life - so there has to be food! Gooood food! As you can see the recipes look flipping delicious, but you know what? There's even a tutorial on how to make a pinata! Ahu! We love pinatas!

The lower picture is from my favorite part of the book. When I first read it, I just felt so encouraged. Finally there was someone out who'd talk excatly about the things I think about future-wise. Travelling alone and articles related to independent businesses and part-time working ... I was in wonderland!  The chapter is called 'Moving & shaking' and it'll give you all the tools you need to move&shake it as an independent lady! Makes me excited to move out and pursue my goals and dreams!

Lastly - tell me how cute is this? There are lots of cute little doodles all over the book which along with the other photos make it really fun and visual.

Hope I could infect you a bit with the BUST bug - 'cause being a BUST-girl is cooool!

Lots of Love, Tabea

SHOUT OUT FOR RANDOM PHOTOS!

Blogger are  overall pretty amazing at sharing about their life through photos - some even take better daily life photos than blog-post photos. I don't know what it is, maybe the age old curiosity thing, that makes people wanna have insight into other's lifes. I'm not sharing too much personal stuff here, probably because I'm scared of stalkers. Haha, no, but sometimes I wonder whether certain bloggers actually have stalkers ... They have fangirls for sure ... so who knows?

Well I don't want to talk about fans, stalkers or creepiness (no offend to anyone - I consider myself a bit of a fangirl, too, sometimes). I'm just fascinated by how bloggers document their daily routine. I take pictures for this blog regularly. But the other day I wanted to put up some more personal photos up on my wall and naah. I didn't have any recent ones that I really connected with at first. So today I wanna give a shout-out for random photos! They are personal, lovely and great memories. 

I took this picture during my biology class. It just captures the moment so perfectly. We use a lot pencils in that class to draw things and well ... sometimes I like to put my head on the table. Just for a minute. Haha! Moments like oftentime get lost in the daily hassle. Also I could take a picture excatly like this one any time during my school week - there wouldn't be much of a difference. 

But 'not much of a diffrence' is still a difference.Just a few weeks ago the seniors at my school graduated. That made me realize how precious our school time is and within less than a year I won't be going to school anymore. So by taking picture more frequently I can hold on to those moments for a bit longer. 

Also, our days might often seems quite similar to each other, people aren't. And neither are cats. So I'm a big fan of 'living-things'-photography. I don't do it often enough though. Taking selfies in front of my mirror is one thing, but with other people I just find it uncomfortable sometimes to take photos. It's not a common request around here to take a photo that is not all smiles or even take random photos in general. I often hear things like:' What are doing? Are you taking a picture now?'... Makes me feel a bit awkward. 

On the same page I think it's so important to find new angles for photos. It takes a lot of practise to realize quickly, oh this is a picture-moment and immediately find a cool angle to snap a great shot. That's why I love the pciture of my cat above. It's sorta unexpected.

These last two photos kinda show the difference between 'real life' and 'real nice set-up' pretty well, I think. The first one was taken while walking up the stairs from a subway station in Berlin, the second one is once again my night-stand. I happened to have all these notebooks flying around and I thought: 'Well this is cool, let's take a picture'. So I actually arranged them to look like this - tried to make it look like a coincidence though, such a ganster! 

As a photographer of any kind, I think it takes a lot of courage to do what you like. Simply because others aren't used to cameras being around them for no appearend reason. So let's pull ot the iPhones and DSLRs and what-nots and make people feel comfortable, so we can feel comfortable snapping away every moment of our life! And soon I hope to have more meaninful photos to frame and decorate my room with!

Hope to encourage!

Lots of Love, Tabea ♥

DAYDREAMING & THE TRAVEL BUG

What a weekend you guys! Eastern Germany is fighting this huge flood, folks are out to help everywhere and what do I do? I'm staying at home sick to my stomach, stuffed nose and throat. Brilliant! My area isn't affected very much but I feel with those people living in the badly damaged areas close by. Kinda crazy to think that yesterday my family and I were sitting outside idly eating dinner, whilst only 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) from here people are fighting for their houses and lifes! I'd love to help, but right now it's just not possible for me. Also it's getting more and more and dangerous so people are leaving and the military is taking over now. Prayers for the people are greatly appreciated! 

Because I couldn't just sit around all day, pittying myself for not being fit and ready to help, I tried to find something to keep me busy. Whenever I need distration I like to daydream ... mainly about the future. That Is why I pulled out My cool Campervan. It's my rainy-days joker! 

Going on a trip through all of Europe with a campervan or caravan is defintily on my life-long bucket list. Or maybe drive down the Westcoast from Seatlle all the to San Diego. Oh the travel bug ... 

Since I love this book so much I wanted to share some of my favorite pages with you. Jane Field-Lewis and Chris Haddan write great books and leave alone the photos are an inspiration for everyone who likes colors and crafting.

Aren't these campervans just the most darling thing you've ever seen? They are so retro - You could jump in and travel back in time to see Woodstock with these! I've always had a weakness for cute looking cars but I'm seriously over the moon for these. 

After I graduate from High School I'm planning on taking a year off... It's completely crazy but I love the idea of doing my europe trip before I get too old for it. I think once you've gotten used the comforts of an apartment and having a steady income it's hard to let go and just take off. Obviously this is pure daydreaming ... but who knows what will come?

This is my very favorite photos from the book. VW busses aren't just cars - they're a lifestyle! What would I give for a beauty like this one? 

Dreaming about a life on the road gets me excited! I have no idea whether I'm made for it or not but it feels so good to look forward to a future with this as a possibility. The world is ours kids! Let's conquer it!

Lots of Love, Tabea ♥ 

QUOTE WALL ART

Hey Sweetiepies! Summertime finaly arrived around here now. Temperatures in the 70s and sunshine non-stop!  Wohoo! So today, because the sun was shining so nicely into my room I thought I'd share some of my inspirational wall art with you. 

I've talked about my obssesion with Pinterest as well as my love for poetry. These posters and prints are basically the cross between those two, short quotes in an artsy packaging. The get the certificate 'super-duper-totally-rad'! I oftentimes catch myself browsing Pinterest's quote section way too long. It's an instant motivation / inspiration cocktail! I don't pin very much of it, because I almost always get overwhelmed and just glide into that stage where you stare at the screen and after a while all the little pictures start dancing. Usually that happens late at night. Other people buy loads of stuff at 3am - I pin words of wisdom. It's all good. 

The poster / painting above though is completely handmade by me though and yepp, I'm kinda proud of it. 

I like to say that I have the happiest nightstand in town. And the most crafty one - I painted both paintings, made the little flower box and obviously my journal. I'm into colors and pink clouds, if you didn't know.

To the poster: I made this because at the time I felt like I needed a bit more of a positive vibe in my daily life. Choosing your attitude is the most important decision you have to make on a daily basis. Choosing and writing those words, I hoped that one day I myself and others could see me this way. Also I like that there is no 'no' or 'don't' on there - I strongly belief in the power of 'yes' (YES MAN FANS UNITE!). It's a little reminder for me now. When I wake up, I can choose to be a person just like this. Positive, thankful, light-hearted and all the other good things. 

Talking about sayings I also wanted to show you another wall art thingy... this time Pinterest hit - big time.

I tried to come up with a cheap way to display some art in my room, without spending like 10 bucks on a single picture frame. I saw this washi tape technique on Pinterest and immediately loved it. It's super simple and can easily be changed up whenever I feel like it. I gathered a few of my favorite quotes and art pins and went for it. It was a one-afternoon project and really fun. The 'I love you deerly' - one is just too charming, isn't it? Yes I love deer, yes I miss seeing them on my way home, yes Minnesota is awesome for deer fans like me! The one with the girl is slightly creepy, but I thinks that's why I like it. Oh and my mom told me it sorta looks like me. Thanks mom, kinda creepy, kinda beautiful - excatly what I'm going for! Haha! 

My favorite is the MORE one. So cool! Ultimate summer advise, isn't it? 

Getting stuck on Pinterest at 3am is probably not the best way to spent your night, but sometimes there's really some great wisdom out there. 

I already took on the advise and went for MORE ...

More sunsets! Uuuh! Pink clouds are for real - summer IS the best! By the way this picture was taken from my friend's car and even though we'd only been in there for like 5 minutes, it felt like a roadtrip!

Get Inspired! 
Lots of Love, Tabea ♥

POETRY JOURNAL + ANTHOLOGY

Did you know you cannot mix the colors hot pink and magenta? With some thinking I probably would have remembered the latter one. But I wasn't aware of the fact that it's impossible to whip up a nice hot pink by yourself. You need pigments for that and blaaah... - I'm guessing the people at Menard's can tell you all about that. I was kinda bummed though. So bummed that I had to run outside and cry over my mom's peonies... Not really. But I did ran outside 'cause I saw how pretty they are blooming right now.

So let's get to the point here. I went to fight round number two with this littler bugger of a journal... It gave its everything - I had to work with a KNIFE to get the sand/glitter mixture and paint off again.. Second kind of glue on my black list - wood glue. Don't even ask why I used that stuff...

While murdering this poor little thing, I mused about what to do with it after I would have revived it. Mmh .. looking around .. uuh what is that over there on the shelf? Ahhh! My poetry anthology from last year! 

I always loved poetry in this weird way. I'm the most impatient person, but when I really take the time to read a poem it's so deep somehow. For me poetry is the most elegant writing style of them all - I have a passion for word groups and short sentences. A sentence like 'And then the rain started pouring' just gets my imagination. Weird example, kinda depressing - sorry, I'm a happy person, believe me!

I used to write poetry myself when I was about 14 or so. Then last year we actually got this anthology as an assignment. We had to write and collect poetry and present it in a way that would represent our feelings towards poetry. Love this assignment! I actually took it to Chicago with me, when we went there shortly before this was due to be handed in. Somehow special to work on a small piece of art that is so close to
your heart in such a huge city.

Well I love to share my beloved things with you, so here without further ado - my poetry anthology of 2012.

Don't you love the Cat Stevens Poem, too? I learned so much during those weeks of working on this. Poetry can have so many forms. There are literally no limits! Poetry can be anything from random funny words to deep thoughts put into just the right words. The most beuatiful thing about it is that everyone can do it. Talent or not - everyone owns paper, a pencil and a head. 

You might have already seen my Summer-List, so you know that I'm hoping to write some poetry again this year. Just for me. To have a nice place to put it, I created the journal I was talking in the beginning of this post.

It's not quite this bright pink in reality (hehe Photoshop .. my partner in crime..) but still a very lovely shade of pink. It's got bumps from the cutting and I wasn't very careful with the paint. My bad. I just got too excited about the glitter, I guess. Hot pink glitter - I almost fell over when I came across it. 

If anyone wonders how I did it. Basically 4 easy steps: Paint the journal - Drizzle the glitter over the wet paint - Let dry and seal with ModPodge (or something similar) - Stick the (fake) polaroid on it. Now you're a boss at journal-making! 

Okay one more message - in case I didn't mention it earlier on.

Be cool and try your hands on writing poetry - you'll be surprised by the results!

Lots of Love, Tabea ♥

THE BIG BOOK OF ALL THINGS INSPIRATIONAL

Have I mentioned lately how much I love thrifting? I often wonder how people can throw out treasure like the one above. The picture in the right is not a joke. Yoga 1970s style. I'm in love. Maybe because I stayed up until 1 am yesterday night and then slept on my couch. I just didn't feel like sleeping my bed - I'm such a rebel. 

Yesterday I wrote something in my journal like 'The inspirational Jesus is coming back to me' - like whaaaat? Haha I kinda felt like in trance when I wrote that. No I'm not on drugs, I'm too cheap for those.. 
But I seriously felt like there was a ton of inspiration out there, that I needed to take in and because having everything on your screen is fine and dandy, but having something in your hands is even better, I decided it was time for 'The Big Book Of All Inspirational Things'. I just came up with the title right now, haha! Has anyone ever watched that show with the kid and this huge book that he could jump into? No? Well it was great. I should go and find it. 

Albums are expensive and I'm a cheap gal, so this was why I headed to the thrift store. Obviously the walk over would even  have been worth it, if I would only have found the yoga book. Anyway, I found this old cook book from 1974. I feel like it has made a career in some old ladies bookshelves for decades and now it finally got its life back. Horray!  

Sometimes things just come together, and so it happened that I came across this book during a phase of being obsessed with plain white books and black and white pattern. I almost stopped breathing when I saw this inner binding. Whipped cream traces! I'm dying!! On the cover it says 'The cold kitchen's delicacies' which I think is a hilarious title for an inspiration-scrapbook. Oh I'm just sooo in love!

Since its a recipe book it is obviously filled with tons of recipes (and food porn as you can tell). The 1970s loved their easy foods though, I think. Think meat platters, fruit platters, 'The perfect Toast' (seriously, they got a recipe for that in there!) and loads of other cold goodness. Might  try a recipe at some point.

Because sometime too much text might be distracting, I painted over it with acrylic paint. Don't you ever use water on book pages! Aaaand theeen - I went to town glueing down all the fancy pictures I had at hand or that I found yesterday during my late-night blog-reading session. 

Did I mention I'm in love? 

Lots of Love, Tabea ♥

CELEBRATING, FAILING & CHEERING UP

Yeay today she's talking about books again! How exciting! Naah actually not, I really just needed a good starter picture for this post, so I won't scare you away, before you even considered reading this. Well I' gonna talk a bit about the book, too, later on but for now I felt like I should just share some other things.  

Today we can celebrate the one month-anniversary of days-in-a-lifetime! Wooop! It's been a great month I can say. I created a lot more than I used to and pressuring myself just that little bit to put up a post every other day really fueled that process.

There's no sunshine without rain though and today I wanna give a shout-out to all those failed DIYs and craft projects. Remember the picture of the painted book the other day? Well, this is what it turned into... 

Gaaaw! What ARE THIS? (I love Jenna Marbles - sorraaay!) I think we can all agree that this was quite a fail. I mean, you can see where I was trying to go with this but ... man ... I just never got there. Sadly I spent most of the last portion of glitter I had lying around which I wanted to save up for something special. There goes that, I guess. Even bigger bummer... Obviously this wasn't the first project ever that didn't come out the way I had imagined it, still this kinda made me a bit mad. Because I wasted that glitter you know? And because I 'wasted' time. Even giving it a do-over (which I'll go for) won't give me that back. 

Which made me think of other things that have made me grumpy these days... Like this for example

Maths. We've been really close friend ever since I'm a junior. I didn't do well on pretty much every test this year. With sucks since I used to be pretty good at maths. In this photo I didn't even show you my own notes, these are my best friend's 'cause mine are just ... yeay not that neatly written I'd say. I got frustrated over the last few months and also I build up a fear of the upcoming final exam (it's tomorrow!). Seriously, I've been freaking out about that for the last weeks! I put in a lot of study time but still felt overwhelmed with new chapters coming up all the time and mistakes I made repeatedly. 

Tonight though I pulled out 'The hundred-year-old-man who climbed out of the window and disappeared' by Jonas Jonasson. I was gonna lend it to my friend and before I stuffed it in my backpack I open up the first pages just f. And there it was again. The quote that I kinda fell in love with back when I read this book some time ago. 

"It is what it is, and it'll be what it'll be." 

Just like that all my problems seemed to be much smaller. Do you ever have those moments when a quote really helps you calm down or cheer up? I realized it doesn't matter that I wasted time on the journal, because in actuality I didn't. I just learned something new. Mistakes make smart, too, you know? And maths. Yeah, I don't how the exam will go tomorrow, but I feel a lot more content about its outcome, whatever it might be. I'll give my best, in the end, it'll be what it'll be anyway.

Jonasson wrote a fanstastic book and I'd really recommend you reading it. But even if you don't, I just felt that there are a lot of people out there who feel like me when it comes to the bigger and smaller obstacles they face in life, so I just wanted to spread some godness to make it all a bit better.  

Also if you feeling a bit down like me today, watch this Video by Meekakitty. She's awesome and I love her voice & message. 

Let's all relax for a bit and be graceful for the problem we DON'T have! Because .. (imagine me singing) .. Alway look on the bright side of life ... (imagine me whisteling) ... 
Lots of Love, Tabea ♥