Why do you blog?

If you're familiar with the Man Repeller (www.manrepeller.com) you might have read one of her most recent blog posts about The 12 best and worst of 2012. The award for the most over-saturated occupation went to blogging. Her reason: "Blogging. Indeed, everyone and their mother started a blog in 2012, bastardizing whatever dreams we may have had of plausibly and proudly dubbing ourselves bloggers. I do believe in matters of the fabricated occupation, “bloggers” are the new “stylists.”". I definitely agree with the fact that there are soo many pretty much pointless blogs out there at the moment, usually run by people claiming to be "bloggers" as such, and this one is no different. I obviously stray far from calling myself a blogger as I consider this to be a purely recreational, fun way of writing which I do for myself really. 

In a world where every other person you meet is a so-called blogger what do you call the people that have made blogging their profession and can live off the money they make from it? Geniuses? Trust-fund kids? Lucky assholes? In any case the bloggers making money will continue to be envied. Everyone else should probably not rely on their blogging career to take off any time soon and make them millions over night and should probably go out into the real world and maybe get a real job. Even after Ms MR crushed my dream of ever becoming a real blogger (sarcasm (the brackets were necessary as I have come to the realisation that people don't get me.)), I will continue to write this blog as I am and probably always will be on the search for some form of self-satisfaction and the feeling that I'm doing something even slightly lucrative with my free time. 

As for you lovely bloggers, here's a question: Why do you blog? What is it that made you want to start a blog? Feel free to leave your urls down below, I'd love to feel like I'm not the only one reading my blog posts. :)

Shopping "Abroad"

If you live in Switzerland, you might know that thousands of swiss people drive across the swiss border to Germany to shop. They do this mainly because a lot of things like clothes, shoes and especially groceries are significantly cheaper there. My dad, always looking for a good deal was of course completely blown away by the fact that, just an hour away from our apartment is a mall selling items for a fraction of the price they would normally be in Switzerland. So I am currently in the car, on the way back home, feet aching and a few hundred euros poorer. This is something that I would probably just do once a year If I lived here permanently. We decided to cross the border at Kreuzlingen and go shopping in Konstanz at the Lago shopping centre. It's not the best shopping I've ever done and it was extremely busy the day we went, but there were a couple good stores and I did get a few things like my new leeathhaa paannttss (for those unfamiliar with hood lingo, this refers to a type of outer garment worn on the legs made of leather or in this case faux leather cause frankly, who even buys real leather pants...). They're red and they're great and I'm gonna get some funny looks wearing 'em but I love them very much. 

The mall: http://www.lago-konstanz.de/. I guess it's worth a visit if you live close to the border so check that oouuutt.

In other news, Christmas is over, we're all a couple pounds heavier (obviously excluding the Heidi Klums of this world that have a kid every year and look better than most of us normal people ever will) and a great deal merrier. While I miss the holiday season already, I'm holding on to the last couple days of the year hoping to make the best of them before life throws us back into the reality of things. 

Christmas- The Aftermath

25.12.12
The day is now coming to an end and I have fallen into a literal food comma. While my stomach is bursting at the seams and i'm completely exhausted, it was all worth it. This christmas, like pretty much every christmas was incredible. It was everything christmas is meant to be, joyous and delicious. My mom and I spent the day preparing the food, tidying the apartment and screaming at my father to get out of the way and make himself of use. It's days like these that are important in our lives. I'm also quite content with what santa brought me this year.  Hope everyone had a fantastic christmas and I cannot wait for the new year to roll around. 2013 looks very promising!

I decided to put on all of my christmas gifts at once, cause, why not?? This includes my new phone and sparkly case, (never thought I would have a sparkly case but it's soo puurrtyyy!), my new xmas pjs underneath and I also sprayed on some of my new bottle of Lola by Marc Jacobs. Most amazing smell ever. I'm wearing a wine colored sweater and a wine colored snood I got from my mom from asos, a leather skater skirt and a new pair of black leather ankle boots with a strap buckle kinda thing which are from H&M I believe. Yaaayy presents!

I'm In Switzerland!

22.12.12
Despite the world coming to an end, my family and I decided that we would still be going on our annual trip back 'home', well, our second home. Having survived the apocalypse we set off early on Saturday morning and now I'm hheeree! And there's nothing better than leaving a gloomy, rainy Cyprus to come to an equally rainy but a little bit colder and brighter Switzerland. A change of scenery is vital from time to time. Our second christmas tree is up (see picture of my beautiful creation), most gifts have arrived but are impatiently waiting to be picked up at the post office and tomorrow the remaining gifts and supplies will be bought.

My new do and updated wardrobe in toll, I can't wait to get out, try new things out and just enjoy the next two weeks as thoroughly as possible, before i'm thrown back into reality, with upcoming IGCSEs and finals. I also can't wait to go out on the ski slopes, something I unfortunately only get to do once a year, and maybe shop a little? Shop a lot? Who knows..only time can tell. What's everyone else doing this holiday season? Do share.

Unfortunately an instagram pic, too lazy to go take another one :)

Pretty Luzern at night 

The Fear of Change

Being wary of change is a topic quite frequently addressed when you think about it, yet I hadn't really come in to contact with it until recently, when I made quite a minor change to my appearance. No, I did not get my breasts enlarged, or my nose straightened. I'm actually quite content with both my chest and my nose. But anyway, having had long hair for the longest time, I decided I was ready for a change. I decided that i wanted to cut my hair really short, not buzz cut short (something people have been a little too fond of lately), but about up to my shoulders short. Having had hair which went well past my shoulders, possibly to my mid-back, this was quite a change for me. And, finally deciding to make that hair appointment was such a tedious process which when you think about it, should really not have been that big a deal, I mean come on, It's hair... But this process of major decision making is what stresses this problem we face as people. It seems like most people are allergic to any changes in their lives, be it changes in their professional life, changes in their living environment, changes in their appearance or even changes in politics; revolutions and reforms. Most people react negatively to any kind of alterations. 

So, why are we really afraid? Some might say it is the fear of the unknown, doing or experiencing something we're not used to; in other words, stepping out of our comfort zones and diving into the unknown. Another reason why we might fear change is low self confidence or insecurities. When you are contemplating making a life change you will usually begin to doubt whether you are up for the challenge. Things can also seem a lot bigger and harder than they really are. You are unsure of what will result of the change you are going through and this scares you. 

And that's completely okay, because so many people actually experience the same exact fear, every single day. What a lot of us forget, is that we don't have to settle for whatever happens. Things can change back to their original state, if this is truly necessary, or things might change for the better. And when we allow ourselves to gain the confidence and the trust to let certain things in our life change, whether we let them change or we make the changes all depends, but if we can allow ourselves to take that leap, that slightly larger step, we are enriching our existence as people in every possible way. Change allows you to explore every aspect of yourself, it allows you to test yourself in different situations and most importantly it encourages you to learn new things about the world and about life; even if these lessons come from failed attempts. You have absolutely nothing to lose in any situation.

In case you were wondering about my hair, I've been having the best time with it. We're like the best of pals right now and I would so recommend something like this if you're up for a little bit of a change in your life. A haircut like this not only does wonders for your hair (it's sooo healthy) but it also does wonders for your confidence and your general wellbeing. There is nothing that can make you feel better than knowing you look good. So do yourself a favor, take that leap of faith, embrace change and trust me, you'll thank me later. 

Thank God I'm not Jewish

If the title has offended you, I'm sorry. Jews are great people and you guys have Hanukkah, so who even neeeds Christmas... But seriously I guess this is just my way of expressing my joy for being Christian just once every year, nearing Christmas time. I very well could have said Thank God i'm not Buddhist or Thank Allah i'm not Muslim. Any other time of the year, I honestly could not care less about anything regarding any religion. There's just something about Christmas; something that makes it pretty much my favorite time of the year. So, what better way to start a new blog than a cheesy-ass Christmas post.
Christmas is and always has been a pretty big deal in my family. Having a Swiss mother definitely makes our Christmas a little more special since it is kind of a blend between true European traditions and mostly European cooking and baking, and of course the Cypriot, east Mediterranean traditions which have of course been heavily anglicised but some old traditions do remain. For me Christmas is definitely a family occasion, a gathering of sorts, a presentation of good, good food and of course, presents. Presents are freakin cool. This year I'll be spending Christmas with my family in Switzerland which is quite rare since we usually stay in Cyprus till after the 25th. I'll be posting some of the baking my mom and I have already done and definitely some other Christmas themed posts. This is me pretending I have an audience that actually cares. Meh, I've always liked talking to myself.

Nothing says it's Christmas like a little gingerbread man on a mini tree.

Traditional Swiss christmas  cookies.

My not-so-swiss but amazingly delicious mince pies.