Friday Mindset - Blogs of the Hive

Ok it's Friday again and I just realised that it is also the end of May and summer is still not here. This is a bit depressing for summer enthusiasts like me. Honestly how can it be that we are already entering the sixth month of this year?  Until I get over my time shock, I put together a list of blogs that I discovered by attending the Hive last weekend. There are a lot of creative minds out there and meeting some of them was really awesome. It made me realise once again that creativity is something you can grow and discover within yourself, similar to your style. And is never too late you let yourself be and embrace your passion. So hey to being creative!

The two ladies from Hauptstadtmutti were really cool and their website about stylish mums from the streets of Berlin is lovely.

If you need travel advice, or just a simple dose of travel inspiration, then I recommend Travelettes. It focuses on the travel needs of us ladies, since apparently 80% of the travel decisions are made by women. Something I learned today from here.

A blog about museums, who would have thought? Well Jenny, that loves museums and decided to write about her passion on Museum Diary. It was just amazing to see someone so passioned and enthusiast about what they do.

The decorations at the Hive were done by the lovely Lauren from Folies du Bonheur.

Finding balance in our every day life is so crucial that we had a interesting talk with Luisa from the The Wednesday Chef about it. That is how I found out that multitasking is so overrated and that if you organise your time a bit, you might just have a chance to enjoy every day much more.

Ailine takes the best food pictures you have seen. And it is not even about the picture, but about the food, on her blog, Aicuisine.

Scandinavian home design inspiration can be found at Emma's blog.

I like knitting, but I haven't done it for years. If you share the same passion as Heidi, visit her blog, Wool Rocks. It just invites you to make your own sweaters.


A cooking blog from UK, Anne's Kitchen.


Belgian Waffles recipe from Jillian in Italy. I am seriously thinking of giving it a try.


Elisa, my fellow blogger from Zurich, wrote the perfect post about the Hive. Read it here. She captured all the moments of the conference.

Thanks Peggy and Yvonne for organising. It was creativity at it's best!

A few words about Berlin

I finally get a chance to write about our weekend in Berlin. First of all, for me Berlin is a very atypical city especially if you compare it with Southern Germany. It is a mix of different cities in one. At one moment you feel that you are in an American city, with wide boulevards and buildings that remind me of the new world and the other moment you feel like you are in your little hometown. This was the feeling I got after just one day. One thing I love is the fact that it has so much history and exploring all the museums and sides of the city is really worth it. And let's not forget the reason of my being in Berlin, the Hive Conference. It was a great pleasure to meet all those cool people and to get their insights of the blogging world. I had fun and felt very inspired by some talks. I especially enjoyed meeting Dietlind Wolf and listen to her tips on styling. Here are a few pictures.

The famous Berlin Wall, or what is left of it.

Sightseeing is so worth it. Museum Island is a nice place to hang out and the Dom is really breathtaking.

Gendarmenmarkt

Charlottenburg Castle

And my outfit for the first day at the conference

Another post about Berlin will follow. Until then, have a nice Friday!

Friday Mindset

We are 3 hours away from getting into our flight to Berlin. As you might know, I am going to the Hive in Berlin this weekend. I am beyond excited and I hope I will have tons of energy the next two days. I did not have an easy week, I feel a bit overwhelmed with all that has been going on lately, but I am set to have a weekend full of fun and interesting experiences. And since last weekend we were walking the streets of Paris, I am showing you a few photos from a very spontaneous photo shoot at Louvre Museum. Traian had the idea and I like the pictures so much that I have to show them to you.

And I managed to gather some links from the web as well. Have a nice weekend, my dear readers!

Could you go two weeks without social media? Someone gave it try.

Check out this sofas. I have one in our living room and I love how it changes our home.

Trends for Spring from Garance Dore.

This is what I would eat right now.

The mix of colours on Chiara's outfit is just perfect.

I am wearing: Zara pants, shirt and scarf, Massimo Dutti bag and Converse sneakers.

My Paris Guide

My happy face when I realise that I am under the Parisian sky

Guys this is going to be a long post, so get confortable before you start reading all my babbling about my favorite city in the world. By no means I intend to bore you, but in case this happens, just look at the pictures. They should make up for the fact that once I start talking about Paris, it is hard to stop me.

I've put together a list with a few things I like to do when in Paris. I figured that sharing my Parisian recommendations might be fun, since you never know, what inspires you. I always like to get advice and cool tips when I travel, so this might be as well helpful if you plan a trip to Paris someday.

Eat

If you are a gourmand with a sweet tooth, then Paris might be the place for you. French people start their day with a sweet breakfast and every Boulangerie offers the best of the best. This is one of the reasons why we never get breakfast at the hotel when in Paris. You will find a bakery at every street corner and you can start your day having the best croissant or chaussons aux pommes you ever had. Also try the Baguette. It is the best bread there is.

 This time we had a crush on Maison Privat Boulangerie that was just outside our hotel, in the 15th arrondissement in Paris.

Eclairs from L'eclair du genie. 

In what the restaurants are concerned I recommend trying the bistros and maybe sit on the terraces facing the street. You can check the menu before you sit down and decide if it is what you are looking for. We had a nice lunch near the Eiffel Tower on a terrace and we also tried out Blend, this really hip place in the 3rd district. It really serves the best burger we had so far. As a fan of French fries (it is my guilty pleasure that only once in a while I can indulge) I appreciated that they make them in house same as other ingredients. We had to queue since the place is really small and very popular, but it was so worth it.

Waiting for a Table at Blend

And the best burger in Paris 

Stay

On our different trips to Paris we stayed in different locations and I can’t honestly say which is the best or worst. It all depends on your budget and how long you plan to stay. But a good thing about Paris, is the public transport that allows you to get around very easily. Yes, the subway can be crowded and not very clean, but if you consider how big the city is, they do a pretty good job. This time we stayed in the center area of Paris, 10 minutes walk from Eiffel Tower. We paid a bit more but since we were there for only 2 days it was worth it. The hotel was this and we had one of the best views of the Eiffel Tower.

The view from our Hotel room

Shop

No secret here that this is one of my favorites activities whenever I travel. I try to avoid shopping malls since they are pretty boring especially if you are in a new city and you want to explore a bit. And Paris offers a lot here. I recommend the area around les Galeries Lafayette, metro Opera and Piramides, near Opera Garnier. High street and designer labels can be found here. Another cool area is the neighborhood Le Marrais, with old buildings and vintage shops. Most of the shops are opened on Sundays as well and if you are looking for something original, you might just find it here. This time I found this jewellery boutique, Satellite that had some really cool stuff.

Another place is the famous Champs Elysee, that for me is a bit too crowded but it might be worth a stop especially if you want to see L’Arc de Triomphe or take a long walk from Musee du Louvre, through Le jardin des Tuileries.  Shops here are opened on Sundays as well.

Street in Le Marrais

Places des Vosges

Place des Vosges

Street around Opera 

Sight seeing

In what the museums and all the other touristic attractions are concerned I recommend a travel guide and confortable shoes since you are in for a lot of walking. I always like to walk around the area of Notre Dame, Saint Michel, Le quartier Latin and my favorite museum is Musee d’Orsay. Also keep in mind Montmartre, where all the street artist are. It is so colorful and full or art history that is just a pleasure to discover.

View from the Montparnasse Tower 

Happy travels!

All pictures taken by my great husband, Traian.

Friday Mindset

I am glad this week is ending, first of all because I am fighting a cold and second of all because this weekend we are going to Paris by train. I love Paris (who doesn't?). It has been my soul city ever since I visited it at age of 10, worked there for a summer in my early twenties and then returned for a semester as an Erasmus Student. Some of my best memories are from Paris and every time I return it's something special, because I always see it with different eyes. Also hoping for some good weather so that we can take lots of nice pictures. Here are my finds from the internet for you.


Elisabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love talks about artists and how they can manage creativity.

Fashion Blogger, The Blond Salad shares images from her home.

This man is in space and he sings a cover from David's Bowie, Space Oddity. So cool.

See live photos from Cannes red carpet. I love this photo of Leonardo di Caprio.

I know these days everything is about gluten free stuff, but I am so looking forward to a french baguette in Paris. It is my absolute favourite bread and nobody makes it better then the French.

Source here

This Romanian T-shirt by Romanian designer Adrian Oianu reminds me of my home country and the beauty that lies in our traditions.

I love this pair of Manolo's .

I am thinking of buying this dress. It would make a great summer office outfit.

Lately I have been cooking quinoa and this is a recipe I recommend. If you did not try quinoa yet, here is what you need to know about it.



















Have a nice weekend my dear readers! I will look for the coolest stuff to share with you from Paris. Instagram or Facebook follow me!

10 Ideas on how to store accessories

If you are a girly girl then you must have a lot of accessories, from jewellery to bags, shoes, perfumes and make up. My bathroom stores a lot of my makeup because that's were I usually get ready in the mornings. Jewellery is stored mostly in the bedroom and even though I manage to arrange everything in  a very decent and practical way, I still find myself in a chaos once I start picking what I want to wear. One reason is the fact that I don't manage to rearrange everything the way it was before. So you can imagine that when I saw the below pictures I was very pleased. The best thing is that they offer very practical ideas for storage so that you can actually see all your jewellery before you chose it.

The Frame idea is brilliant. You can take a frame you like, staple or glue a piece of fabric
to it and just pin your jewellery to it.

Similar tray can be found in Ikea

A cake plate to put your perfumes on it 

Another usage for you kitchen Bowls, especially if you like to collect them, like me.

What a cool idea to place your bag, once you get home, on a stack of books.

Imagine you put coffee beans instead and you get the smell of coffee as well.

Source here here here here here here