New Year's Resolutions, anyone?

New year, new you, right? It seems like everyone has their fair share of new year's resolutions. While most peoples' start with being a more frequent visitor at the gym and end two days later with "what the heck, there's always next year", i've decided to allow  myself some easier, more doable goals or aims. I feel like giving yourself smaller goals and lots of time to reach them, makes the whole thing seem a lot more approachable. I mean, I'm all for reaching for the stars and not stopping till you get there, but sometimes it's okay to just accept the fact that you're not gonna lose 20 pounds in the next three months and you're also probably not gonna be the next Anna Wintour, but hey, here's to the dreamers. What my resolutions are concerned, they are as follows:

1. Try not to always be late to everything or the last one ready all the time.

2. Get my teeth bleached- it's the coffee's fault, but i'm the one paying for it.

3. As expected- continue going to my gym classes AT LEAST 3 times a week. (See now if i go the 4th time which even though is normally in my schedule, i'll feel proud because I did more than I had planned. SCORE.)

4. Try every bra on before I buy it. Seriously, why does this need to be a resolution? 

5. Write at least twice a week- whether it's a blog post, an article, an idea...just write.

(6). I'd like to include reading to this list- like to always be reading a book, no matter how long it takes me but this might be a bit difficult with school this year so maybe i'll leave it off another year.

I could obviously go on for days, I'm one of those people that get so inspired to change their life around and become this new amazing, healthy, fit, gorgeous person who loves life and is like totally bangin. But that usually lasts for like 2 good minutes and then I'm back to just being cool with who I am. So let's see what 2013's got in store. Remember, we're all just happy to be alive.

Why 2012 was a stinkin good year.

If I've learned one thing from the little life experience I have it's that doing what everyone else is doing can rarely go wrong. So I've decided that I too should write about what made 2012 a great year for me and the general popular of our planet Earth. Surely, the year 2012 consisted not only of joyous occasions and promising developments. On the contrary, some of the events of 2012 would rather be forgotten by many. The young lives lost in the Connecticut shooting, half of Europe and the world in general still struggling with the economic crisis, resulting in way too many hungry, homeless people. There was also hurricane Sandy, destroying thousands of homes and of course one of 2012's most popular songs, "Gagnam Style" which proved that there are in fact 1 billion idiots out there all willing to watch Korean pop singer PSY strut his shit. Just kidding about the last one, but in all seriousness, while all of these negative events of the year should be taken into consideration, I have to say that 2012 was a pretty good year, and here are, in no particular order, 11 reasons why:

1.We're all still alive

Despite the world being scheduled to end on December 21, 2012, according to the Mayan calendar, most of us are still on this Earth, whether we like it or not and in my opinion, that's a reason for a toast: Here's to the human race being way stronger than the apocalypse.









2.Instagram

        Granted, instagram has been around since way  
        before 2012 but I feel like it bloomed most in 
        the   past year. While there has been some
        controversy about their privacy policy and 
        whether it's an app worth using at all, let me just  
        tell you- instagram rocks. And if you disagree, 
        you probably don't.









3.Leather Everything

And I mean everything. Leather skirts, leather pants, leather dresses, leather sleeves, leather boots...I could go on all day. Leather has been a major staple in every fashion-conscious person's wardrobe this past autumn-winter and I too have been a loyal follower.







4.Felix F*****g Baumgartner

Must I say more...? An inspiration to all of us lethargs out there.









5.Romney isn't president of the US.

Now, while I am not a citizen of the United States of America and aren't really entitled to a political opinion what their system is concerned, I for one am glad that Obama was chosen president for another four years and so is more than half of the US population.

6. Travelling is also cool.

Another thing, definitely not related to 2012, but highly popular the past year was travelling. And travels were also a big part of my 2012. Travelling, in my opinion is one of the greatest gifts a person can give themselves, and after a summer of Berlin, Switzerland, Rome, New York and LA and a sweet ending to the year bag in the mountains of Switzerland, I can safely say that travelling was in fact one of the highlights of the preceding year.

7.The Big Screen

Let's also not forget some of 2012's contributions in entertainment, more specifically cinematography. 2012 was a year of big titles such as the highly awaited addition to the Bond series with Skyfall or something a little  more in the fantasy area of the movie scene with The Hobbit which as amazing as it may have been also consumed three tiresome, long hours of my life I'll never get back. 

8.Cro

While I understand that most of you reading this probably are neither German speaking nor under any German influence, I need to add one of my favourite musical obsessions this year which surprisingly is an ultra cool, panda-mask wearing German rapper called Cro who only rose to fame this past Summer 2012 and only released his first album this Fall (hipster much?). He only entered my sphere of interest in the last month of the year, enrapturing me with his uplifting but still pretty well thought-out lyrics and beats ( Forget Eminem, this guy's lyrics are meant to make your day a little bit brighter). Definitely worth a listen even if you might have to google translate some of those lyrics ;)

9.Finger Bling

And not in the form of diamond rings. Again, another late addition to things that made 2012 pretty cool (and most probably one of the least important ones) lies in the beauty department-glittery freakin nail polish yO. And this one is for the girls because I'm sure that more than at least half of you, and If you're a guy, half of the women at this years Christmas parties, were sporting this  version of nail-bling. Besides, a girl needs a little glamour from time to time and not everyone's wallet is permanently expandable.

10. Animal Pelages 

Let's not forget the fuuuur. Another fashion component of 2012 (sorry boys) was of course faux fur or  real fur if you can afford it, that is…Until you can, let's just stick to the faux stuff which looks equally cool and definitely completed a number of outfits this past year. From fur collars to coats to fur trimmed cardigans or fur vests, the outer part of hair covered mammals has been big this year, and I don't mind it at all.  You PETA advocates can also shut your trap cause I definitely will not be sporting the real stuff anytime soon. 

(accompanying image totally stolen from http://cablook.design42day.com/)  

11. The Food

Last but not least one of 2012's biggest culinary trends in my opinion, has been the movement of vegetarianism. It seems like more and more people I know, hear or read about seem  to be cutting meat out of their diets. While some of the nutrients meat contains have been proven to be essential in our diet, I believe that there are other ways to replenish those, even if you have to eat some foods you normally wouldn't touch. But that's the price of cutting out meat. Never having been a huge meat-lover I decided to halfway take on this trend, only eating meat every now and then, If I really feel like it. This has shown me how many other delicious foods the Earth has to offer and has made me a lot more creative what cooking is concerned. Even if you thought your mom was a crazy person when you were little, she was right all along,veggies are indeed not only healthy but also quite delicious.

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.