Spectacular!

 World didn't end, we're just a step before New Year 2013! 

 I wish each one of you to be spectacular, to feel spectacular, to live spectacular! Do spectacular things, dare to dream of spectacular things, wear spectacular dresses! Plenty of minutes and moments will pass unnoticeable in your lives but cherish few, even the simplest ones, as the best treasures! Focus on what's good and what gives you hope, reach for what you want, let the world and people surprise you. Let you surprise yourself! Forget about old rules and set new ones, discover unknown lands, don't take anything for granted. Look for love and happiness and don't be ashamed of it. Shape your life, don't let others to do that instead. 

Live! Love! Laugh!

After Christmas post

 No matter how long you prepare and wait for Christmas, they always end and require coming back to reality after them. That's their charm and flaw. I hope your Christmas were as calm, happy and relaxing as mine, with family and dear people, without internet and worries, with dreamed gifts and delicious dishes.

  

  From tomorrow shops will be opened again, people will get up in the morning to go to work, all the machinery called "Life" will start again. For a while we could feel like in another, better reality. But few days will pass and we'll be in New Year's Eve rush. People like to have something to wait for, some special days marked in calendar with different color than grey. I'm also trying to make some days so special but they got mixed with everyday routine that sometimes turns out to be even more extraordinary and surprising than special occasions. Both kinds of days- usual and unusual ones are still the same life. Just as your favorite cd with two-three amazing songs and the rest of them that still makes this music your best.  

Intuition

 I had a teacher at university that used to praise cats as perfect creatures and, what's more, perfect killers- with their great hearing, silent step, paws with "automatic" claws, eyes seeing perfectly in the dark. Oh, not mentioning their ability to fall always on four paws and 9 lives. What else can we do, us poor human beings, than to be under the rule of the cats? ;)

 Cats were mentioned here not without any reason. In literature they symbolize magic, sensitivity, omen. We also have catlike element in us- i n t u i t i o n . We intuitively sense best friends and beloved ones. Sometimes you feel such a strong need of eating certain things- it's your intuition telling you what you need. (But why, oh why it has to be chocolate all the time? :D ) 

 Try to listen to the quiet voice prompting you new ideas and paths and see what will happen :)

 

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Talent

  Talent is a very complicated thing. When I hear about talented person, I picture artist or musician. Talented can be also actor, athlete, dancer, scientist, cook. I have a feeling that the way I see talent is very narrow and unfair, because I connect it with an occupation, with the fields when it can be the most visible. Talent is something very personal and individual- even among artists someone has talent to combine colors, someone has interesting line, someone perfectly captures moments, someone sculptures with amazing precision.

 I used to think that talent is a very rare gift. That on the whole planet there are only few lucky ones and the rest can just admire their greatness.  But now I'm much closer to the idea that talent is actually something really common (which doesn't mean it's worthless!). It's banality but: EVERYONE HAS TALENT. And talents are like snowflakes- you won't find two identical. It's a real talent to stay calm and find a solution for your problems. Some people have that amazing ability to always find the right words, describe the simplest things in an interesting way or tell the jokes. A friend matches simple clothes in fabulous sets and the other one finds amazing things in second hands.

 It's cool to live on a planet full of talented people :)

Nobility

  There must be something that differs common novels with the ones that become classic. And I don't mean here bestsellers that New York Times described as "Amazing book!" but books that take place in canon of literature.

  There must be something that differs one movies from another. Some of them won Oscar prize but it's not the distinction that I'm talking about here. I mean the movies that stay in the global memory as good, valuable ones. 

  There must be something that differs people. Of course except the obvious outer shell. Some of them stay unnoticeable while some we remember all our lives. 

 Nowadays everyone can be a writer, painter, photographer, designer, actor, someone famous. It's a huge privilege of our times but also a curse. Privilege because  you don't need to graduate from a prestigious university to be accepted as a talented man. Curse because it's harder to distinct who's real creator and who "just" has skills.

Warmers

  Cold days have come and with them warmer thoughts about coats, sweaters, caps and gloves. It's my little winter pleasure to wrap a long wool scarf around my neck, making sure that there's no way for the cold to slide under it. Or to hide under fluffy blanket, armed with mug of hot tea (with lemon and honey). 

 Another of my little guilty pleasures is to make lists. So here you go!

 Martka's favorite winter warmers:

  - mulled wine & beer (will they taste sooo good in summer???)
  - cinnamon (yep, known from its warming  up properties; pinch in a coffee or in carrot cake!)
  - cap (since I heard that 70 or 90% of your warmth 'escapes' through your head)
  - thick hot soups (mmm, can you feel the warmth spilling in your body?)
  - ice skates, sledges, snow fight, winter walks (just to produce more warmth and more endorphins!)
  - long lazy evening spent with the ones you love (aww, instantly warmer in your heart)
  - looking for best gifts marathon (that adrenaline...)

 How about you? Do you have any favorite warmers? :)

In the anthill

 Last year I felt like I'm living in a different reality before Christmas. I couldn't feel the atmosphere that other felt, that shops were trying to create, that songs in radio were trying to make me feel. This year is different. This year I was so impatient to hear first Christmas songs- immortal "Last Christmas" and "All I want for Christmas is you". I wanted to be charmed and seduced by the shopwindows, by the magical Christmas fairs and cities illuminated by the milion of lights.

 I'm dividing my time equally between housework and visits in the city center, where I join the before-Christmas-rush. How many preparations for spending three days with family! For making unique, festive atmosphere full of magic, kindness, sugar, spice and everything nice. Those two weeks before Christmas cities transform into huge anthills, with people following different directions, taking shopping and using it to build, to create something: gifts, cakes, decorations. 

 This everyday efforts and checked out points from lists of things to do calm me down and give me the satisfaction of spending my time in a good way, not wasting it. Each done things it's a small achievement that shows instant results: pile of creased clothes ironed, windows cleaned, gifts bought and wrapped, etc. I actually started to enjoy all those activities that usually I find boring, annoying or useless.

 Viva Christmas! :)

Simple beauty

 After a phase for sequins, shiny gold, hair full of volume and bright colors I'm dreaming about simplicity. Give me fresh air, give me sunlight, give me blue sky. Simple beauty of walking, drinking tea, stretching, listening to music, falling asleep, walking. Am I turning into Buddhist? Maybe :)

 Gok Wan believes in zen in your bathroom with your cosmetics- the less, the better. Choose quality over quantity. Maximum 10 make up cosmetics, but the best quality. I tried it-it works :) I felt instantly bigger pleasure of all beauty rituals because I wasn't distracted with the tons of lipsticks, shower gels, boxes and bottles of creams and liquids that got old and unattractive in my eyes. F.ex. instead of two or three cheaper lipsticks I can buy the one that is more luxurious and feel like a goddess every time I'm using it. You say: but you'll use it faster than three cheaper ones! I say: but do you really like to use old lipstick? After a while you'll throw it to the waste bin because it got expired or out of fashion.

  Oh, wait... But I wanted to write about dresses :) So does this zen rule applies to the wardrobe? Sure it does! Take a closer look on the piles of clothes in your closet and think of your every morning struggle: "This is too big!" or "I'm too big for this!" or "This one has a hole/stain!" or "I don't have time now to iron this!" or "What I had in my mind buying this?!" or "I don't have where to wear this!" or "I don't have what to wear this with!" etc. Save your time and place in the closet by giving all the clothes in good shape but no longer matching your shape to the charity. Throw out old to make a place for the new one. And next time you'll go for shopping, remember to complete your wardrobe with things that you need, you look and feel good in, you can mix with what you already have. 

Pareto principle

 Once I heard about it, I keep discovering how true this rule is and how well it works in everyday life. Have you heard of it? Pareto law is based on proportions: 80 and 20 and of course no one can explain it as well as Wikipedia ;) 80-20 rule can be applied to almost anything. Mr Pareto (Italian economist)  noticed that 80% of wealth in his country belongs only to 20% of population. Quite unfair, huh? But there are also examples from other fields, f.ex. one of my favorites: for the 80% of time you wear only 20% of your clothes! :) The rest is waiting for special occasions.

 Another example worth remembering, especially if you have an important goal in your life and you divided the process of reaching it into few steps. In this case: 20% of your effort and work is giving you 80% of effect!

 How could I apply it for the blog? Hmm... Maybe 80% of views comes from 20% of faithful readers (thank you all! :* )? :)

Some nights

 Let it be, this post will be about a song! :) Fun. with their "Some nights" stayed in my ears, head, heart and on my playlist for a little longer than usual new songs that I find cool. You can find link to the song on my fan page on Facebook. And I don't know if that was author's goal but it made me actually think...what do I stand for? What do you stand for? What do we stand for?

 
 My author list of what to stand for:

 1. Ice cream. Yes, definitely. Another portion please!
 2. Free Sundays. Greedy employers and spoiled bored consumers that have nothing better to do on Sundays than do to the malls- Prepare to fight!
 3. Your own well-being. Sorry to ruin your ideals but Greenpeace, WWF, government (sic!) or even your granny won't take care of this if you won't. Stand up and fight!
 4. Family, Friends, The One. Is there actually anyone that wouldn't take with him on a lonely island best friend? Or dog at least? Remember standing up for your friends at school when teacher wanted to give them unfair mark? Or standing up for your sibling when they did something that parents wanted to punish for? It didn't change that much now. Life brings situations that is easier to face together, not alone.
 5. Looking good. Yep, I'm serious. All the fights in front of the wardrobe when I was finally giving up and choosing something comfortable (read: neuter) taught me one thing: it's always better to be overdressed than meet people that you hate/love/try to impress while you're in old (super ultra comfy!) tracksuit.
 6. Fun. Sometimes having time for yourself and for doing things you want to do may remind real fight, war with Life and Time. But while after while, hour after hour-you can win this battle ;)

Retro Romance

  Yes, I left my soul somewhere in the past. Or actually my soul came from the past and found my body to see the future. Do you know what fascinates me? What people from beginning of XX century were thinking about their times. What were they every day routines? What were their dreams about? Did people from then were much different than we are? They had breakfasts and were meeting with friends in cafe... They had walks and talks about life and future. They dreamed about love. they were looking for happiness. They wanted to live their life to the fullest. At least this is what I think. Do people differ that much? Over centuries, among countries and continents?

 Time machine wouldn't be a bad thing... Until it won't be created and let for public use I'll watch "Midnight in Paris". Woody Allen did this movie especially for me ;)

 

Sitting, understanding

 It's a sunny day. I just got a recipe for pear&ginger muffins from my friend. Life slowed down. I'm surrounded with books and I have time to read them. Maybe I'll go for a bike ride, maybe play the piano, maybe I'll sew. So many opportunities and finally time! 

 One moment from yesterday was very important for me- I smelled the coffee in my cup. I felt the aroma. I felt that very little simple thing! How many similar little pleasures I didn't notice because I was in a hurry, tired, wanting something bigger and better? It's not life that is crazy and difficult. It's us, it's me making things complicated, unbearable, painful.

 I feel like I'm sitting in a class of a Life school and making notes from today's lesson:

 1. Slow down, calm down

 2. Look around carefully, notice little things

 3. Trust more life, yourself, people around you

 4. Understand how blessed you are with all that you have, that you experienced

 Home work: do something that you love today.

  

DIY part II

 

  I can't walk into the shops lately, it irritates me. I'm looking at the clothes and nothing seems interesting enough, seducing enough. It's too much of everything, the merchant is overflowing from hooks and shelves. Too much! And too much of anything can make you sick. Yes, I'm sick, I should visit a doctor... I'm getting a rash when I have to walk into shopping mall, I'm sneezing when I enter a clothes shop. I can feel my temperature rising when I'm searching between the hangers but it's the bad kind of fever, the one that you want to get rid of by sleeping all day long.

 Give me some antidote because shopping, clothes, fashion and all that jazz used to be fun part of my life! Used to be thrill and way of self expression. And now it's unpleasant duty (can duty be otherwise?). Surprising how things can change!!! :)

 And here comes the part according to the post title- Do It Yourself. Do your fashion yourself!  Sew, cut of, add, design, decorate, mix! You and I and our creativity can be an antidote for dull pieces of cloth in the shops!

Second hand

 Hunting for treasures in second hands is one of the best things in life. I'm walking in, trying to stay calm and explain to myself "Maybe you won't find anything interesting here, don't except pearls, you may be disappointed". But do you think it's working? Of course not, there's always that thrill, and desire to find something so extraordinary, so cool and fancy that all my friends will be green out of jealousy ;) Especially if I pay for it the price of a bus ticket. 

  One of first things to discover in new places are the best second hands in da town! The ones that maybe not always, but usually you leave with a prey. It's a real treasure map for modern pirates, arr arr arr! Put your hat on Captain! We're looking for a stylish cape for you ;) 

  I like the general idea of second hand things. Not only because they're cheap and you can find something really bizarre. It helps to reuse things that someone got bored with, even though they're still in perfect condition. We produce mountains of "waste" that is not really a waste. It's just that trend changed, we saw something in prettier color, we felt need for change, etc.  Second hands suit perfectly to the re-think, re-use, recycle way of thinking. Suits me like my new-old sweater! ;)

  

How much life in life?

This question bothers me lately: how much life I really have in my life? By life I mean high quality spent time, when you simply enjoy what you are doing, who you are, where you are. When your time is being spent but not wasted.

 I feel need of more life lately. I was trying to count how much time for real life I actually have, so I tried to count how much time I spent on different activities:

  7 hours of sleep (yep, very active activity ;))
  8 hours at work (such a waste of time!!! 1/3 of my day???)
  [it's already 15 hours, so over half of a whole day]
  2 hours for preparing meals and eating
  1 hour in trams and/or buses
  1,5 hour for beauty (choosing clothes, make up, shower, manicure, etc.)
  [ 19,5 hours. I have 4,5 hours to do whatever I want ]

 4,5 hours doesn't look that bad but how can I fit in this time relations, meetings, drawing, bike rides, reading books, traveling, cinema, concerts, yoga, creating process, shopping, crazy adventures, long walks, being lazy, and so many many things more?

 What's my alternative? Ok, there are still weekends, free days to use your life. But that's too little! I can read or listen to the music in the bus. Perfect solution would be to find work when you can do what you like the most. Or find joy and celebrate even as prosaic actions as cooking, washing the dishes, taking a shower, commuting...

 I'm trying from now on! :) More life in life!

Seriously?

Important notice: I have nothing against fashion bloggers and I love some of their blogs! 

Some people treat fashion like it's religion. Honestly? I'm fed up with sentence "fashion is my passion", because I see and hear it repeated again and again, used in commercial about kitchen tiles, chocolate or toothpaste. Oh, you feel resentful? Why being so serious about it? It's just a piece of cloth with a price tag, isn't it? And somehow we went crazy about it, allow it to became our only desire to be fashionable. Nothing can give girl a chills like new fashion season does but are we too blind to see that most of the shops offer us products of poor (or even very poor) quality, covering this fact with trendy style and high price?

  Whoa! Hold on crazy fashion girl! Take a deep breath and take a while before you'll start a race to the shopping center for newest collections or best sale offers. Keep calm and be smarter than marketing strategies!

  More beautiful side of fashion is style. Doesn't require big bank account and often visits in famous boutiques. Wearing what you like and want saves you from becoming fashion victim and allows to show to the world who you really are, not was the model on last fashion show dressed up in.

  I want to see happy people in the streets, expressing themselves by the outfit! Not copy-paste models from catalogs.

Blogging Beasts :)

 1. Where? In the cinema! But not typical one... Cinema that wants to be popcorn-free space open for art and positive initiatives. Special place requires special outfits so bloggers had an opportunity to present themselves in costumes inspired by movies :) Want more photos? Check them out here:

http://blog.kacperos.pl/filmowe-pogaduchy-wroclawskich-blogerow/

http://wroclaw.gazeta.pl/wroclaw/51,35771,12821899.html?i=0

 

2. Who? Charlie Chaplin, a priest, Al Capone, Princess Amidala, Gandalf, Mia from Pulp Fiction (even two!), Ghost Buster, Lord Vader, Woody Allen, Pirate, Marie Antoinette... And plenty more :) Bloggers' imagination and creativity had finally a space to be presented. Everyone who has own blog was invited to participate for free, to talk and listen about blogs. What blogs? All kinds! :) Fashion, lifestyle, cooking, technology, marketing, travels, physics, poetry, art... No matter what you write about, the fact that you do is the one that matters ;) Curious who is the perpetrator of this bloggers' mess? Check it out here: http://studiumprzypadku.com/ludzie/

I love those old guys playing chess in the background! :)

3. Why? Why Bloggers from Wrocław meet and what they do then? They talk. About blogs, about their experiences, about themselves, about anything. That's the whole magic of these Meetings-

 different people connected with one thing-blogging-find time and will to detach from their computers for a while. The atmosphere there is electrified with enthusiasm and passion. Contacts and web addresses are circulating between participants, as well as positive energy :)

Moodboard: Blue

  Post will be blue but not because of blue mood, not at all. It will be blue because my eyes are so, or maybe because I'm wearing blue jeans jacket today? Or maybe the blue won't have a meaning at all?

  Meaning... The meaning of life, yes... After over 20 years of looking for the meaning of life I finally discovered weird true: life doesn't have meaning. Doesn't have it unless you'll give it one (or two, or five thousands meanings). It works the same with everything: you can give it a meaning or don't give a damn about it- you choose. Sunny day, break up, concert tonight, global warming, last summer- you decide what has a meaning for you.  So is your life meaningful or meaningless?

  It made me also think about the meaning of this blog. It has a meaning for me. Does it have meaning for humanity or blogosphere? I don't know. But I know it'll stay my virtual sketchbook, with my drawings, photos and short comments for reality I'm living in. If it has a meaning for you-let me know! :) 

Good vibrations

  Autumn... Rain... Clouds... Depression... Stop! People! Give me some good, good, good vibrations! :) Give me some colors, some new dreams, some sweetness, some smile and some dance! 

  Did you ever met those crazy fellows with a "FREE HUGS" tablet? I love the idea! Ok, it's so awkward to hug in the middle of the street with complete strangers but think about it... Actually... Why not? Why not use what world offers us and offers it for free? I've noticed that the reason I'm feeling upset is always the same- I closed my mind, fixed on only one thought/problem or way of thinking and decided that there's no solution and help. And how can I be helpless with over 7 billion people on this planet??? 

 Wisdom from internet: "If you change nothing, nothing will change"

 

Life without trousers

  Do you remember this post: http://martkadoroszko.blogspot.com/2012/07/bye-bye-trousers.html ? It's from 17th of July and I'm proud to say I still didn't give up and didn't buy a new pair ;) But it was easy to live without them when it was warm; now, when winter is gathering all coldness to attack, how can I defend? I'm sure I'll find the way!

   Did throwing away last pair of trousers made me go threw some inner transformation? Hmm... Not really :D I'd like to write you an essay about positive influence of wearing dresses on my mind, health and how I became crazy party rocker but no... It's all about wearing clothes that you feel good in. My absolute guru in this topic is Gok Wan, with his "Use what you've got sexy Girl!". The best advice you could get from a stylist is from his book: "Look at you, look at what you're wearing. If your clothes aren't saying <I'm the most wonderful creature on this planet> take them off immediately!". He's so right! So all my sexy Girls, show the world what you've got :)

Hey, soul sister*

 I am a woman. I'm surrounded with women. My sisters, my friends. Net of subtle connections, knowing looks, gestures that explain lot more then words. But also words: written, outspoken, shown with grimaces, kept for themselves. Gallons of coffee, tea, beer, wine; tons of chocolate, cakes, pizzas, etc. Hours spend on talking instead of sleeping, discussions about life and guys till the dawn. Best advices on shopping. Twinkle in eyes for the same dress/pair of shoes/memory/boy. Certainty of the "I know what you mean". Silent solidarity of ovaries. Lipsticks, dreams, high heels, constant diet. Understanding that the hug can save a life. Distinguishing which tears are from happiness and which from sadness. Walking encyclopedia of little and huge worries. Consternation in front of the wardrobe. Little girl inside. BFF, DFTBA, PMS. Endless relations,look, soul and life repairs. Wanting simple things, being complicated. 

 "O-oh girls just wanna have fun"

* If you're a guy you may not understand over half of this post.

Fear

 There's nothing better to do on your free Sunday morning than cut out paper pumpkins, bats and spiders to decorate your work place, especially if you don't give a damn about some foreign tradition that became another opportunity to revive trade in the times of crisis (I mean Halloween of course...) :[

  But I wouldn't be myself if I wouldn't  find an inspiration in that ;) People like to be scared when they control it- it's Halloween, we have costumes that we'll take off tomorrow, or it's a scary movie but it'll end and we'll go out of the cinema to the real, less scary life. Is it less scary indeed?

  There's only one scary thing in this world: our mind. It can make us fearless but it can also make us scared of anything.

Take me home

WARNING: this is very nostalgic post!

 Is it first snow this Autumn, is it cold, is it a year far away from home, is it tv series reminding best friends, I don't know but I'm thinking about my home more lately. Home town, house that I can call home, my room that stays empty, piano that no one plays. Parents. 

 I saw woman in the bus today with tiny little creature on her hands called child. It'll take some years for that creature to become fully independent. It'll want the independence, then it'll regret it, then it'll understand it and accept it, maybe even use it to make its life happy.

  When I look back at my life I regret that in some moments I didn't notice and used the chances that I was given. I'd like to go back in time with the wisdom and way of thinking I nurtured now. But I realized that it has to be this way- to be clumsy and silly all your life. To be still a student in a life school. To miss some classes and fail some tests, to learn new things and skip some classes. To have some knowledge and to forget it all. And finally to pass away, not much smarter than in the moment of birth.

Girl with a Moschino bag

 It happened quite a while ago. Used to my monthly ticket I sat in the bus without care. On the next stop, young woman came into the bus and validated her ticket in front of me. That reminded me that I didn't do the same with mine. Few stops later ticket controllers asked me for my ticket- what a luck! Girl with Moschino bag saved my life! Or at least my wallet from getting more skinny ;) I got off the bus thinking about that girl. Why? She was dressed very nice, very fashion and chic way. That Saturday morning, on my way to work, I made big decision: "I am a fashionist!"

  I'm sure I wrote about it in one of my posts but today it's more live than ever: you can do whatever you want, it's all matter of your decision. To stay in your job or quit it? To live here or in another country? To go out or stay inside another evening? To take this challenge or give up? To complain or to do something about it? To buy this or to save the money? To care or to ignore?