October stylishness

This weekend was fantastic. I fall in love more and more with this beautiful city, especially when so many good events happen.

It started with Mash Up at Kunsthal Rotterdam. A "Nocturnal Animals'' film directed by Tom Ford with Jake Gyllenhaal (big sigh) and Amy Adams starring. Very stylish and very well designed piece. After, we've got a chance to see this wonderful exhibition of Peter Lindbergh fashion photography. 

                            

Photography, which shows a natural (not hidden under fancy shmancy wowowewa Kardashian lip kits crap) beauty of super models such as Cindy Crawford, Milla Jovovich, Lara Stone, Sasha Pivovarova and others. And we finished with a very fun disco of an 80s music, sort of related to the exhibition.

John Talabot was our Saturday star. One of the coolest European DJs in the Transport - very spacious underground club totally full of people. No photos, only dancing.

I still can't believe days can get so warm here even at the end of October. Sunday was perfect for a lunch outside with my sister and a nice bike ride.

This North Africa and Middle East restaurant Bazaar has an amazing food. We were completely full after this. Yummy!

And to finish this lovely weekend: yes, it's him. I just couldn't resist. 

F the plastic!

Save the mother Earth, doņ't use plastic bags and be a little more hipster.

This recycled plastic bag is made by cool Rotterdam guys using old plastic posters (they told me so in the nicest Rotterdam shop Groos), which is quite impressive, because the material is very strong and can be used, let's say, for carrying 5 bottles of good wine and 5 pairs of new shoes.

What's written on the bag? Translate it yourself.

Rotterdam Vibes

Smart people say changes are good. So I did a couple of it for myself this summer and love it so far.

More than a month I call myself a Rotterdammer and enjoy every piece of this pretty hip dutch city. It has everything what you need for a stylishly comfy lifestyle: cafes, restaurants, bars, galleries, parks for a little afternoon nap, an outstanding architecture and lots of bikes!

Even though I live in one of the nicest and greenest areas of Rotterdam, I already have my favorite places in the other parts of the city as well. I am not even counting the main shopping area in, which is however not the most impressive area of Rotterdam.

I love spending my time (still summer, though!) at Fenix Food Factory. Guys have everything there: good food, dutch craft beer, flower shop (things are not possible without flowers here!) and a lovely book store. 

Witte de With straat is a dutch version of Malasaña (Madrid). This never sleeping street has a couple of modern art galleries, nice bars, cool vintage shops, in one of those I bought that lovely pair of Goliath (a dutch brand from 1925) sneakers. 

My place to be. They hosted a street festival last weekend; it totally rocked. Especially when I had a good friend of mine visiting me.

Despite that everyday here is a highlight for me, I had a couple of those special ones.

Yes, my birthday! That wild 28 kicked in. Celebrated with my friends and my Amsterdammer sister. We are neighbours now!

We also had a chance to have a little sneak into the opening ceremony of Peter Lindbergh fashion photography exhibition. With Lara Stone, Milla Jovovich and Cindy Crawford. Nice gang, I would say. Can't wait to see the exhibition in one of the upcoming weekends.

I am still in discovering mode but I always keep my eye sharp: you never know when someone will pass by you in pink hair on the rainbow color bike! 

Stylish people never get tired.  

summer power

Those happy days enjoying summer breeze, sun and yourself.

Love having sea right by me.

                                                     

Cool times with friends in even cooler open air bars 

and treat yourself moments.

Happy Midsummer!

Let's do some sports

Elegant outfit is not boring anymore, add some sporty flavor to it and you're the queen of the day (or the night)!

Sunny Monday

I am always super happy going back where I originally come from.

This town has all you need to get relaxed: sandy beaches, lots of places full of pine trees (fresh air, you know), paths for biking, few restaurants serving a really good food. 

Took a long walk around this sunny Monday. This is what I caught: 

a sea view with this nice presque summer breeze ;

my main spot for chillin' ;

myself taking a selfie with the sea ;

and finally! This wonderful white faux leather blouse! (you don't get any better than pure white for the nicest season of the year) 

 Have a rocking week ahead!

Freshness and Lightness

It's not that I am jumping around like a crazy, excited about the spring and such. Not at all: I barely feel 10c outside. Yuppy?

But still! You have to boost your energy and get no shitty mood coming up to you.  

How?

Simply go to the local market, get as many fresh veggies/fruits/nuts/bio yogurts as you can carry to the way back home. I am not talking about your trip to the market with a car! Walking (running if you wish to) or biking! 

This is what I brought from the market to my dinner table. I am not vegetarian, but love every piece of these goodies.

And finally, enjoy and rest yourself for the upcoming week.

These were my rainy Sunday's essentials.

No fools in April

My sins for the spring: Chanel tote bag and these Minnetonkas I could sleep in for the rest of my life. Oh yeah! And it is a complete spring out here!

 

Greyness

No, this is not about fifty or one hundred shades of grey which is used in every crappy (sorry, - I pretend to be a very polite one) article. 

I got really crazy about this grey set of simple basic T shirt and a lovely pair of grey jeans with a cool long zip at the back of the leg. And all this was bought in H&M! It really has a nice stuff, should not be considered as a cheap clothes store.

•         Those spontaneous moments are the best: 

yesterday - a very cultural date with one of the coolest of my amigas in the National Drama Theater watching the marvelous Ana Karenina dance performance by Anzelika Cholina Dance Theater; 

today - a little shopping straight after work just to celebrate these longer days! 

A green nail polish adds some charm to the celebration too.

Lekker Amsterdam

No, I don't speak Dutch, but I've got impression that this word is used on every corner in Amsterdam. And it means 'delicious', even it has some other meanings, I guess.

This long weekend was more than amazing. I've been to Amsterdam a lot of times already, but every time I'm there I discover more and more sweet little things about this city.

The idea was to spend some time with my sister living there and people surrounding her - sort of like a big, funny, even a little crazy Dutch family!




We started really loud - went to a Paul Kalkbrenner concert. The only DJ I love is him. A film 'Berlin Calling' about his ups and downs during his career is one of the greatest I've ever seen too. It was an awesome show with hundreds of people and one Paul!

What I love about Amsterdam, it's those little street markets with tons of fresh fruits, vegetables, those tasty sinful dutch frites, lots of beautiful flowers - you sometimes only need them to create a warm and cozy, even a slightly chic atmosphere in the house. 




I didn't take a lot of pictures since the weather was pretty usual to that dutch one. Rain and wind, but still nice! Especially inside, in those tiny little cafes or restaurants, like the Voldaan one, where we went to take some really filling and lekker parsnip and tomato soup with Arabic lamb meatballs. 

There was no rush - enjoying the spirit of a city with a breathtaking architecture and relaxed people. 

Walking around and sneaking into some cute vintage and not vintage boutiques in the 9 straatjes (9 streets) area. However, I'm a bit sad - couldn't renew my vintage bags collection, since Amsterdam for me also means the capital of a wonderful vintage goodies. 

The stores where I always find some nice old stuff are Bij Ons Vintage and Episode, of course, there are many more! Just have to be curious and cross every little street. 

To cheer myself up, I found this nice Huidenstraat street where I couldn't resist to enter the Superga store and look what they would have for me. And they had! Their simple but very stylish and hip sneakers hopped into my shopping bag in five minutes. They perfectly go with my over sized fall/spring coat and one of the vintage bags. (Well they don't really go with the snow).

I also took these sharply feminine vintage sun glasses, oh, just to hide my eye bags after a sleepless night out.

For a Saturday dinner, my sister and her boyfriend took me to the one of chicest Amsterdam restaurants, called Cafe Restaurant De Plantage, which is actually based in the zoo and while enjoying your meal you can see the flamingo birds walking right outside the window! Regardless the 3x lekker food (from bavette with marrow bones to a beautifully made chicken and linguine with seafood), I couldn't hide my wows to the restaurant's spaciousness, simplicity and this luxurious atmosphere. 
                                                                          

After this wonderful diner, we went to a very hip and cozy place called Nieuwe Anita. I always feel there like I would be taking a beer in the living room, huge fluffy sofas and big vintage lamps.

Sunday was for the family gathering for a funny and cozy brunch. Later, some rest with my favorite literature and movie time. I was really curious to watch the Coen's 'Hail, Caesar!', could recognize their black humor, but still saying that this is not their best movie. Oh wait, I've got to learn some of the Dutch words too! The funniest one is zozo. It means so so.

I've tried to catch some of the cool street looks, but what I've noticed that there is some craziness about the fur around the Dutch men! Look at these two funny guys. All can laugh, but I love their look and that 'I don't really give a shit' attitude.

I really enjoyed my weekend's trip to Amsterdam - place with people never losing their spirit.
I say Ik zal je snel zien, Amsterdam! (I hope the Google translator doesn't trick me this time).

I feel spring!

Since this February is really warm, our whole bunch of nice people decided to go to a really cool place right outside Vilnius called Trakai. Taste some good food, walk around and get some fresh air.

We went on the ice of one of the lakes! This looks really awesome.

And that's me - got scared of the ice breaking noise. Wearing my coat of the year and looking for some golden fish. 

It's Monday tomorrow, have an easy one.

Love,

Simona

Vintage is the New New

Hey fellas,

Happy belated New Year! 
Hope it's nice, chill and calm out there.

Yes I hit the second hand (or I should say vintage!) stores again.
Just for fun and I know there are always some good stuff which you cannot find somewhere else unless you want to wear same coat or boots like your neighbor, colleague or a friend.

So I picked up a not really casual trio.

Some old Italian brand super over sized (still wondering if I might to remake it into a smaller size) coat which is warm, comfy and very stylish, la la la. Rock those spring streets of Vilnius!

This is how it looked on me when I've tried it on.

I am not a big fan of little purses (since I choose my massive vintage purse for everyday and on weekends I prefer to not to carry any bag) but I couldn't leave this beauty all alone in that store. Nice and very elegant for a light summer dress or a long pleated midi skirt!

The last one goes perfectly with my black, sort of envelope, bag, too.

Those were my little treasures of this weekend. Besides a wonderful winter, books with a cup of tea and some nice talks with friends. How was it for you?

Cozy Sunday,
Simona