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Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Music Favourites of the Month | May


Bonjour, my friends!
Welcome to my round up of best songs of this month. Of course it's purely my subjective opinion but I figure these types of posts are kinda useful because I find a lot of cool new music through them. Now, not all songs from this list were released in May, actually most of them. But we don't care as long as they're great, right? 

Therefore I present you my May playlist:

  • Fall Out Boy - Young and Menace 
  • Royal Blood- Ten Tonne Skeleton
  • Beck - Dreams
  • White Lies - Bad Love
  • New Politics - One of Us
  • BTS - Not Today
  • Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne - Look at Me Now
  • Kygo & Selena Gomez - It Ain't Me
  • Dragonette - Lonely Heart
  • Beach House - Other people
  • Wet - You're the Best
  • Cristobal Tapia de Veer - Utopia Overture
  • The XX - VCR
  • Emma Blackery - Nothing Without You
  • Conan Gray - Idle Town
  • Cigarettes After Sex - K
  • Harry Styles - Sign of the Times
you can listen to my full playlist as well 



Follow my journey on  Instagram


Dance, dance
Stay true
XoXo
Ivana

Rough Leather, Intricate Silk & Soft Cashmere | OOTD


Bonjour, my friends!
Today the weather is definitely on the cooler side so I layered up to stay warm. And I thought, why not use the opportunity and mix a lot of different forms and materials. I sheer shirt asked for something underneath it and a cashmere dress seemed to be fitting enough for the occasion. I personally like wearing contrasting materials like rough leather and soft cashmere or silk. All materials are complementing each other making it a perfectly balanced look.

wearing: leather jacket - Kosmika; shirt -  Tricat Chic; cashmere dress - Ferre; leggings - H&M; shoes - Dr. Martens


You can follow my fashion journey on  Instagram


Ah, I love Japan so much
Travel when you can
Stay true
XoXo
Ivana


Tuesday, May 30, 2017

How Often to Clean: reflective surfaces, windows & windowsill | Philosophical Life


Bonjour, my friends!
Welcome to a second part of Clean Life series. Today we're going to quickly talk about how often you should clean mirrors, windows and any reflective surfaces as well as windowsill. I know that it's not the most interesting theme out there but we still should at least touch upon it.




As you can see, I included a pic with a table and some tips as per usual. Again, let me know if want a pdf version of it. I think that there's not much to talk about today. I'm pretty sure you know how to clean mirrors and others reflective surfaces. So I'm going to say some more things only about windows and windowsill.

Windows:

  • Light - just clean windows from the inside (aka your room) with some cleaning supplies 
  • Deep - cleaning both sides of windows with cleaning supplies and water (just like car windows if know what I mean). I usually do this in the middle of spring & autumn
Windowsill:
  • Light - again some fiber cloth and cleaning supplies of your choice
  • Deep - add water and soup to it for deep cleanse (don't forget about side panels)

Viola, one more part is sorted and cleaned!
See you in the next post 


Live clean
Stay true
XoXo
Ivana

Japanese Chic | OOTD


Bonjour, my friends!
This time I'm bringing you a flowy, simple summer outfit. With the hot weather finally hitting my city I thought it's to take out my fav kimono, which I actually bought in Tokyo, and style it with something. Pants are definitely matching the vibe of kimono with it's oversized look. Tho, I'm still gal and I can't really afford wearing it all with a big loose tee, you can try it. I'm using a bodysuit that makes me look slimmer. And finally, a pair of sneakers, Nike Airforce would work with it perfectly but I wanted to have something white on my feet so my choice fell for a new pair of Gucci sneakers. Also, a tiny bag looks really complimenting with this big flowy look. 


wearing: kimono - Japan; tee - Wolford; pants - Monki; kicks - Gucci; bag - Zara




You can follow my fashion journey on  Instagram


Ah, I love Japan so much
Travel when you can
Stay true
XoXo
Ivana




Monday, May 29, 2017

How Often to Clean: Carpets, Floors & Dust | Philosophical Life


Bonjour, my friends!

In this post I'm going to introduce a Cleaning Guide series connected with my Philosophical Life theme of the month in the Connection Dimension. This "month"  we're are starting Meditation which helps with cleaning mind and I thought what a better time for actually cleaning physical space around us. You know what they say - "Clean Room, Clean Mind". Of course we're are going to try and create  a clean environment around us, it's our goal but cleaning your room and apartment is a good start. This is the first post on this theme that's why I'm writing a small intro. Throughout this entire 30 Days or maybe even more I'm going to post different Cleaning Guides on anything I can think of. We're are going to talk about towels, bedding, books, kitchen and more. This type of posts will be going up every other day and by the end of the month I'll leave you with a big table of everything. 

I'm starting with General things that can be united into categories or don't belong to one specific room/space. Of course first thing that comes to mind is floors and carpets. I added some dusting as well because it seemed to be most fitting here. There are a lot of ways and devices that will help you through this process. Most of them are well known and need no explanation, like vacuuming carpets or mopping floors but some of them deserve more attention. In particular, carpet rakes, tbh I don't many people that use this cool tool so I figured I need to mention it. Carpet rakes are a fancy facial for your carpet. Using them actually helps even better than vacuum. Because they most usually are made of rubber, they will get every little thing out of the deepest depths of your carpet. I don't want to overwhelm you with info in this particular post so you can just check out a very comprehensive article, with a lot of examples and variations at different price points, on How to Choose a Carpet Rake  to make the ultimate right decision. 
Now, let's get into it. Scroll down ↡



Take a look at the pic above. Everything clear? I've included some useful tips as well. Let me now if you need pdf and I will include it in my next post. Let me explain what different levels of cleaning mean.

For floors:
  • Light - just lightly washing the floors with some soup and water. Nothing too fancy
  • Medium - washing hard-to-reach spaces
  • Deep - moving furniture and washing everything
For carpets:
  • Light - vacuuming them once
  • Medium - vacuuming and going over with some rubber brush
  • Deep - giving them to Dry Cleaning (if you own a pet may be done every season) Tip: you can use a carpet rake to help you out a lot. 
Dusting:
  • Light - dusting any open visible spaces
  • Medium - dusting hard-to-reach spaces and under things
  • Deep - dusting inside of bookshelves, cabinets and ceilings 

Vacuuming stands for carpets mainly but for floors as well. There's no one specific answer to how often you need to do all that but this table is a compilation of what works for most people including me. Don't forget to check out the tips. If you have questions ask them in the comments section.

Until next time, babes


Don't forget to use  #30daysofphilosophicallife if you  want to
Keep it clean
Stay true
XoXo
Ivana





Matching w/ Style | OOTD


Bonjour, my friends!
Another week, another Monday style post is here. Summer is just around the corner and I'm feeling super risky and ready to try new looks. That explains why today I have an all matching outfit. I'm not only matching colours but materials as well. Here we have a denim jacket and skirt. If we forget about the heels and scarf for a moment it'll be just a simple office appropriate casual look. Now back to my outfit. Shoes are matching, honestly, I'm using and opportunity of having these heels and the scarf is there to add some definition. This look for sure makes a statement that's why you should be confident while wearing it. For a more safe, chill option I would go for a black/white pair of heels or mules and a smaller silk scarf just around you neck, or maybe even ditch the scarf.


wearing: jacket - Joseph; top - User; skirt - TopShop; heels - Indiana


You can follow my fashion journey on  Instagram


Stay chic
Stay true
XoXo
Ivana



Yoga for Beginners | 30 Day Yoga Challenge + Free Printable


Bonjour, my friends!
Today I'm introducing 30 days of yoga for all of us lazy couch potatoes. Don't worry we're not going to do just straight up whole 30 days every day, I know that it's feels like too much so we'll have some rest days in between.
Now, this challenge is designed to go with my Philosophical Life program (part1, part2) and it's this "month's" side course for The Connection section. You can join in today if you want or any other day for example from June 1st in which case please start from the corresponding day aka Thursday. Same goes for any other day except Sat or Sun, I'll leave a little extra schedule for them at the end of the post. 



Here you see the schedule that is designed for 30 days starting Monday. (pdf included in the end) I decided to work with each day of the week instead of just Day1 to Day30 to help us survive weekdays and relax on weekends. 
  • The first week is all about easing into it so we'll only do 5-10min of Basics of Yoga to get a taste of it. If you feel like repeating 5 times the same routine is boring then it's just for you I've done three different types of routines aka for the First(two days), Second(two days) and Third(one day)

  • The second week:  we're doing some basic yoga as well but this time it has more meaning to it. Every Monday is going to start with Morning Yoga to help us start the week fresh and happy. Back to the second week, it's mostly an alternation between morning and bedtime yoga which makes it easier for us to actually complete it because it's one set time of the day (after waking up or before going to be). On Thursday we have Yoga for Stress relief as at that point of the week all we want is weekends and some free time to chill so it'll help relax a little bit and finish the week. Friday's Morning Yoga will give you energy to not only work but also party in the evening. For Sunday I chose Bedtime Yoga simply because we need to have a good night sleep to have more energy on Monday's morning.

  •  Third week  starts with our usual Morning Yoga, then a rest day ('cause you deserve it) and a middle week Yoga for AnxietyI feel like we all have it at some point and the middle of the week tends to be the busiest and most tiring so we're dealing with problem at it's peak. For weekends this week we have targeted exercises. Saturday is a spine day as it's one the most important issues nowadays, you've been sitting for the whole week and probably have a lot of tension in your spine and neck which can cause migraines, dizziness and more, Yoga for Spine will help get everything in place and relieve the built-up tension. Sunday is all about self-care, go for a walk, watch your fav movie or TV show, run a bath and have a quiet me-time while doing Yoga that'll help you feel fresh, calm and happy.

  • Forth week gets a lil more intense making our yoga fun into a real routine allowing us to maybe actually make yoga a part of our daily life. Don' worry we still some days off (I understand you guys). Morning Yoga Monday and a Rest Day on Tuesday (if you feel like doing something I recommend Bedtime Yoga or Healthy Body yoga) are followed by something new aka Yoga for Feet, it feels like we don't pay much attention to this part of our body but it's actually very important because that's how we connect with the earth and also get rid of any bad energy. Thursday and Friday are our usual waking and sleeping routines, nothing overwhelming. Finally, on Sunday we have Yoga for Confidence which will help us start the new week with minimum anxiety and max motivation. 

  • Final Fifth week leaves you somewhat experienced in different Yoga Routines as well as what your mind and body needs so after Morning Yoga Monday you have a Day Routine of your choice.
Congrats! You've done it!  We've made through our 30 Day journey. I hope that through these few weeks you've learned a little bit about yoga and a little bit about yourself. Guess what, all these will be even better if you do meditation as well (this is a part of my Philosophical Life series so check it out if you need it). Although, I kinda hope that you can join the yoga community and come with your own routine, I still will be here helping you out if you need me. I have a some ideas for future challenges or posts so hit me up, let me know.

Okay, I've included some links throughout my explanation part but in case you need it all in one place here you go. All of my fav youtube videos that I personally will be following for these 30 Days:

Here's a pdf with a printable table for you. There are to different ones, depending on whether you start during weekday or weekend. 

A full pdf table here



You can follow my journey on  Instagram




Join in, comment and post using #30daysofphilosophicallife 
Unwind and relax 
Stay True
 XoXo
Ivana

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Philosophical Life p.2 | 30 Days to Better You

Bonjour, my friends! 
I'm interrupting this beautiful Sunday afternoon with a comeback of my monthly series leading to better you. This post is all about cleansing, searching, training and just getting life together one piece at a time. Now the first part or the 30 days started back in April and I decided to extend it to two months to give us some space and time to get used to all these new stuff as well as the concept in general. I hope you've also tried some of my challenges that I posted throughout these two months, trust me they're made to help you ease into it. Check them out: Self-care and Water Drinking, Creating a Mood Board. Okay, now, in today's post I'm going to take a further look at our previous three chapters: Eating Healthy, Law of Attraction and Yoga. Moreover, I will add one new chapter to each dimension.



Volume I

"Mens sana in corpore sano"



Body

Healthy food
Let's start with healthy food. We tackled this topic last time and have even done 30 Day Water Challenge to help us stay hydrated. My personal experience tells me that it's just not quite possible to get used to a new routine even as simple as the one I choose for us if you love fast food and have no self-control whatsoever. That's why this time I'm not going to add a lot of new things. Once again, one step at time. I'm going to remind you that we are cutting one any fried, sugary or in general fast food meals. It's also important that you drink enough liquid especially during summer, you can come back to 30 Day Water printable any time you need it. For these 30 Days I will introduce one challenge later this month and we're also adding some new elements to our routine. We're already consuming less sugar and less fat and stuff so our next challenge is cutting on salt as in adding less salt to anything we cook. It will not only help you slow down aging but will give all the products a much richer natural flavour. Don't worry, we won't stop using salt at all (at least rn), although, you can change your regular salt for a sea salt which is healthier and richer in taste.



  
The Plank
image taken from https://i.kinja-img.com
The Plank exercise (also called a front hold, hover, or abdominal bridge) is an isometric core strength  that involves maintaining a position similar to a push-up for the maximum possible time" - as said by Wiki.  Yes, yes, I'm bringing some exercise. The time has come to start doing some training with our body. Besides, it's summer, isn't it just motivating you to do more stuff? I thought that we probably start with something easy so I choose a workout that doesn't need much space, time or movement. Plank may seem like a very simple and easy exercise but it actually does tone our muscles a lot. There're several positions and timelines that you can choose but don't worry if you're feeling lazy and don't want to do a research I will 
provide you with my own curated 30 Day plan later this month. For now I challenge you to do one position (new each day) a day for 30 seconds (if you can do 60 then totally cool). 



Soul

Law of Attraction (new thought)
In the Body dimension we've talked about Positive thinking and made a mood board last time. For these 30 Days I'm going to take you on 30 Day Happiness Challenge starting June 1st with a lot of cute, funny and random things to complete. Also, let me know if you want any literature recommendations on this topic.


Meditation
What can be more helpful for our finding some peace and quiet in our mind than Meditation? Well, sure there are some things but meditating is also rather helpful. Our challenge will be to understand what's going on inside us, not trying to change anything, just letting it happen and observing. Trust me, it's enough work for one month. Of course you can't just sit down and suddenly realise everything (I mean, you can but rarely does it happen and it's also not really healthy) so we're going to start with just about 5-10 minutes of meditating each day for these next 30 Days. You can do in the morning, evening, during a walk in the park or while commuting, literally whenever and wherever so there may be no excuses. Although, it's possible to just figure it out all by yourself, I'm still going to recommend you guys some of my fav apps that I personally used (#notspon but I wish I were). They're all free. A great way to start is to take a 10 Day 10 min course by Headspace. You'll get guided meditations each day for ten days. If you need to deal with something more specific then Breathe is an excellent choice. You'll be able to choose from hundred different meditation to deal with a particular feeling or problem.





The Connection

Yoga
Rounding up, our goal is to ease into doing a lil bit of yoga now and then. We're going to go deeper on this matter in our next 30 days enhancing our abilities and workouts.
I don't know about you but I couldn't make myself do a whole month of yoga everyday. Believe me, even if you've done yoga like once a week or two weeks throughout these two months, it's still real cool. We're getting to know our body here as well as our mind so no need to rush, we can be a lil lazy why not. I totally understand that some people need extra motivation to do all that and doing it everyday is quite time-consuming and hard. So I've created my own 30 Day Yoga Challenge that will help us all lazy couch potatoes ease into it without to much effort. It starts tomorrow so keep an on my blog!




Clean Life

Finally, finishing this part with a new addition to The Connection section. You what they say - clean environment, clean mind. For this time we'll just with basic cleaning. No decluttering, no fancy organising yet 'cause we're taking it easy. Also, I feel like it'll still be helpful with these listed problems. So kids, we're cleaning our rooms, bathrooms, cabinets and literally anything that can be cleaned. Throughout upcoming weeks (or weeks) I will be posting guides on how and how often you need to clean this or that thing in your house so stay tuned. For I'm simply recommending you go wash the dishes, swipe dust off and maybe vacuum. 




You can follow my journey on  Instagram




I'm going to post every month bringing something new each time.  
I'll pay more attention to previous topics as well as add some new ones.
I may also post some semi-posts during the month and maybe explain 
more about each topic or catch you up on my progress
and how I'm feeling.
If you're still here and want to start this journey with me comment  and post using #30daysofphilosophicallife

Stay true  
XoXo 
Ivana   

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Plan with Me #5 | June




Also, check out my spreads, trackers, art and more for other months:




You can follow my journey on  Instagram


Plan if you want to 
Stay true 
XoXo
Ivana

Friday, May 26, 2017

Easy Day to Night | OOTD


Bonjour, my friends!
Today's Friday and this means going out with your bros and parting all night! That's why I chose a versatile look that can be easily changed from day to night. It's somewhat inspired by Bella Hadid. So for the daytime we have hear a tight fitting dress, a short denim jacket, sneakers and a silk scarf. Quite a simple chic outfit. But for going out you change sneakers for heels and wear a leather jacket instead if denim. Viola, you're ready for the party!


wearing: jacket - Miniconf; dress - Kapriz; sneakers - Converse; bag - Chanel; sunglasses - Ale-Hop



You can follow my fashion journey on  Instagram


Go party like a pro
Stay true 
XoXo
Ivana







Thursday, May 25, 2017

Accessorize Like a Pro | OOTD


Bonjour, my friends!
On this rainy Thursday we're talking about accessorising. I'm surely not a hoarder in terms of putting a lot of accessories on but I do believe that a slight touch of a few things can take your outfit to a whole other level. Now, let's start with staple basic accessories you can use - scarf, belt, shoes and bag. Scarfs are so variable in ways of styling them, you can use silky scarfs and tie them around your neck, hand, hair or bag strap; big cotton scarfs can keep you warm and work as a poncho, jacket or a cape (why not?) you can also hide in them from the outside world. In my look tho, I'm wearing what seems to be trending rn for some reason and it's the most basic simple straight scarf that you can find basically in any small brand, mine is from a cool Russian youth brand Sputnik1985. To make it look somewhat fashionable and interesting I tied it with a belt which helps accentuate my waist (that is highly needed when wearing an oversized jacket like this). Oh, now the shoes. I know, I know, no one really matches their shoes and bags anymore (although, if you do then totally props to you <3), you use both of them to make a statement. Red is a very "out there" colour that definitely gets some attention but it also so happened that my heels go together with the black and red colour palette of my outfit. All I'm saying is that an interesting pair of shoes can basically compensate for even the most basic outfits, that's why you often see bloggers in a white tee, jeans and some bomb shoes and\or statement bag. I feel, like it's enough for today but there is for sure a lot left uncovered so stick with me for more.


wearing: scarf - Sputnik1985; belt - Concept Club; jacket - Vestino; pants - Zara; heels - Indiana


You can follow my fashion journey on  Instagram


Have fun
Stay true 
XoXo
Ivana