Hello you lovely people, 

since you reacted so good on the quote I shared with you last Monday, I thought I could make it a thing... or at least do it again today. I know Mondays are hard, so it's nice to remind oneself once in a while that life is not all Mondays, it's a pretty good deal of Fridays as well. And the days in between? Learn to embrace them as well.

One of the Loves of My Life: Amsterdam (& Some Exciting News)

Last year I was lucky enough to visit seven European capitals and another major city (Zurich). Two of them managed to capture my soul and heart forever. One I have praised on the blog many times (hint: Rome), and the other one isn't any less beautiful. Have you ever seen something so beautiful your heart ached? That's how I felt while roaming the streets of Amsterdam. The town is as if it came straight from a fairy tale. The buildings make me feel as if they're made of chocolate. The canals, the bridges, the bicycles... I have no words, I'm bought for life. I kept imagining how wonderful it would be to wake up in the city, hop on the bike and pay a visit to the market where I could buy a bouquet of fresh tulips. Apparently I don't need much to be happy.

Weekend Reads #18

I began 30 Days Yoga Challenge some time in January, but I stopped halfway. I'm now doing it again, and again I'm convinced that yoga is one of the best workouts there are! So no, it's not very energetic, but the stretching feels so nice, and I feel wonderful after every single class. Classes are quite short, by the way, so you can definitely incorporate them in your daily routine. The teacher is the wonderful Erin Motz, she's so amazing and probably one of the reasons I feel so good doing this. I'll be done soon and I'm already eyeing some other yoga courses taught by her. So apart from the regular Friday link love, I'm recommending Yoga Challenge to literally everyone - and especially to you if you think yoga is boring. Just try it, and, well, if you still think it's boring, you're completely wicked :)

Three Months Later: Where I Am with my NY Resolutions

This year was the first year ever I've published my New Year's resolutions. I did that as a reminder to myself, but mostly to not have an excuse to quit. So I thought it'd be interesting to see where I am now that we're three months into the New Year. (Already, I know!) I might do this every three months and check my progress. I invite you to do the same! 

A Thought for the Beginning of the Week

So I stumbled upon this quote some time ago and kept it on a note on my desktop ever since. I've been wanting to share, and is there a better opportunity to do it on a Monday and inject you all (and myself!) with some energy?! Here goes:

Positano, Italy

Just before I had planned the itinerary of my Italian trip last year, I read that Margo from The Overseas Escape had thought Positano was the most beautiful place in Europe. It sure seemed cute, and as I was planning to start in Naples, I thought: why not? Let's check this out! However, I wasn't as bought as she was. The place is indeed colorful and interesting, but there was something about that, I cannot even explain it... nah, we didn't click. I didn't feel the feel, you know? Would I recommend a short getaway to Positano? Yeah, I think so, it's nice to spend an afternoon there, have a stroll, have a dinner (the waiters were just the nicest human beings!) and go back. I would probably never stay there for more days, because it's small and full of tourists, I figure I could get bored easily. But hey, if you're the type of gal (guy?) that doesn't mind small touristy places, go for it! Oh, and also: the bus ride along the Amalfi coast (I got on the bus in Sorrento) is just the best - when going toward Positano from the direction of Sorrento or Naples, make sure to grab a seat on the right side of the bus, because the views are uhhhhh-mazing! Here are some photos for you guys. I just wish I had had better weather, because as you will see, it was quite cloudy. 

Weekend Reads #17

Today one of my best friends is having a premiere of a play in my hometown theater. Worth mentioning: he’s not from my hometown. We met in high school. He was an amateur actor, I had wanted to become a journalist for years. In the year and a half of high school that we knew each other, we both changed our minds. He entered law school, and I became a student of general linguistics. A year later, though, he quit law school to try his luck in acting – and got accepted to the academy. Fast forward to today – he’s an actor (obviously), and me, well, I’m still in linguistics, but I’ve been toying around with journalism as well. More on that to come – I don’t want to reveal too much, but I’m super excited to be doing something that has at least minimum connection with journalism and writing. Crazy how life turns out sometimes, right?!

Pompeii

I definitely didn't expect to have my Italian travel stories on the blog six months (!) after I left the country, but that's life. Today I'm bringing Pompeii photo diary. If you're anywhere near Naples, you don't want to miss this famous ancient city. Actually, you can even visit from Rome on a daily trip. I would recommend this even if you're not really into ancient history, because it's a really unusual experience to roam the streets of a city that was alive two millennia ago. As you probably know, the city was destroyed in the eruption of the Mount Vesuvius. It was buried in 4 to 6 meters of ash and stayed like that for 15 centuries! Now, I know these facts and I've seen photos of Pompeii in my history textbooks in school, but what I somehow failed to realize was that it was indeed a city. Not just a random excavation site that can be seen in half an hour, but an entire city, with streets, roads and squares, houses, villas, backyards, public baths... I may sound silly, but there you go. :)

What I Wore Today

Gemma Correll and Jillian Evelyn

My friends know that I'm the one in the circle who follows blogs. We even joke about it and I don't mind - as long as I'm free to get in front of my computer and find out what's new in the blogosphere. I don't really think they get what it is about following blogs that I like, and it's okay - I guess you do know since you're here, right?! Anyway, one of the categories I follow is fashion blogs - not my favorite, but there are some I don't miss, it's a mix of a habit and curiosity. Plus, I must admit that ever since I started blogging myself, I've realised how much effort people put in this and that it's not as easy at is seems - take some clothes, strike a pose, upload pictures, done! And if you're looking for inspiration, all you need to type in Google is "what I wore today" - voila, tons of hits! But there is one that is a bit different - it's a blog by the illustrator Gemma Correll, who chose not to take photos of everyday outfits, but to draw them. She created a flickr group where illustrators post their outfits. I'm sharing my favorites with you today!

Nice People

When you ask a successful blogger, or someone who is well traveled, what the best thing about what they do is, they'll almost always tell you this: people they've met on the way. Well, I'm not a successful blogger, nor someone who is paid to travel (I wish!!), but I am an international student. You'll see the connection in a sec. I have had this wonderful opportunity to live and study in three European countries, to attend lectures by amazing teachers, try different lifestyles and foods (let's not forget foodies, right?). But twenty years along the road, do you think I will remember what subjects I had in school? I don't think so. I will remember, though, people I met and stories they shared about their distant or not so distant homes.