Goodbye 2014

It`s new year`s eve, and it`s so quiet. It feels just like any other week night but still for people all around the globe this is the night of happy endings and new beginnings. Goodbye 2014 and hello 2015. It`s been quite a year. With happy and sad moments and any other year in any life I guess, but you were`nt that bad and depressing so, thanks for that. All that has happened or didn`t happen is on me, not you, you were here just... doing your job and being what time is... a mixture of moments and events, ever changing with occasional feelings of repetition. Panta rei as a famous greek would say and I couldn`t agree more. The moment is gone, but ever present in our hearts, memories, photographs and on internet. God bless internet. Goodbye 2014, you can scream and bit but I will be OK. 

Today I found so many inspiring words and quotes on social networks that people posted while they parted with 2014, and I would like to share some of them with you and write them here as a reminder for some future times.

" I keep turning over new leaves, and spoiling them, as I used to spoil my copybooks; and I make so many beginnings there never will be an end." - Louisa May Alcott

Turning over new leaves can happen in any given moment, when you are ready to do it. Mostly people have strong feelings about year ends and new beginnings so, turning a new leaf will be natural for most of us, staring a new journal, new habits and checking resolutions we listed to do when the clock turns 12. New years resolutions. Sometimes I find them silly, because I mostly don`t make them happen, and if you are trying to become a better self, you should do that any day and every day, and because you feel it not because a list told you so. But I do love to make lists.

What resolutions made the list will be something I plan to share with you tomorrow when my hangover subsides and I regain basic functions as a human being. Just kidding, I`m too old for that shit. Here I go again, I`m on a roll. I really do sound like someones grandma. Sad. So sad.

Now seriously, I would love to hear about your resolutions, these always inspire me so please share them with me. Don`t be shy.
This is it, the final page of a book that was called 2014. I hope you had an amazing year, and if you didn`t that is OK too. The point is not to dwell in the past but look at the future and have just one important plan on your mind - enjoy the ride. And keep in mind this saying from Buddha:

What you think,
you become.

What you feel,
you attract.

What you imagine,
you create.

Have a lovely celebration of 2014 going away and 2015 arriving with nothing else but endless possibilities. Take a step and follow your heart.

Happy new year!

Xmas wishlist - what would I like to find under the tree?

It is night before Christmas and I was thinking what if I could play a little game of wishing for some lovely little things and they would be right there packed and ready, waiting for me on (of course snowy) Christmas morning. What would I like to find under the Xmas tree? Here is my Xmas wishlist. I hope you are all having a lovely time with your loved ones and I wish you happy and merry holidays and the rest of the year.

These may seem unrelated altogether as an outfit but, most of them would find their way to one unique ensemble. I am sure of it. The dress will probably find its way to my closet sometime right after Christmas day (Boxing day hellooo), and the rest is a maybe baby but I would sure loved to see them wrapped up nicely under the tree.

Dress/Shoes/Earrings/Clutch/Glasses/Watch

 

 

Link Love

Its almost end of the week and here are some interesting finds from the web. I always get amazed how infinite internet really is and how much information and knowledge one can gather from it. Sometimes I daydream that I am the investigator of internet and my job is to see and read (almost) everything there is to find on www. Something like Indiana Jones, but in cyber space. With or without the fedora. But since it is cold outside I`ll take the fedora.

I bet there is no one person in the world that hasn`t heard that positive attracts positive and like attracts like. What you wish and think is what you live. Here are some interesting words on the subject from the Braid creative.

Talking about reading and soaking it all up like a sponge, you can never learn enough as a blogger right? So here is one very important list for all the bloggers out there. A bunch of skill share classes for every type and person, and we all love to learn new skills and widen our repertoires, right?

Reading, researching, learning. But I bet there are times when even the best of us get railroaded by resistance. Jenny Purr has some great advice how to stop and be a successful creative. Stop wasting your time. It is your biggest treasure.

We all have our little daily rituals but what were ones from famous writers and creatives? Brain pickings picked my brain again. And she picked it good.

For some lovely inspiration and to feast your eyes and soul go see ALO. A little opulent "is an online lifestyle magazine for embracing creativity and our many passions and creative interests". Such pretty pictures and even more pretty words. I fell in love in a second.

If you need some free photos that are licensed and free to be altered and used without express permission of the owner, and you have`nt got your own, visit this site. It has an amazing selection of truly astonishing photography. But don`t forget to credit the artist. Thank you for providing me with a photo for this post.

Its that time of the year, when the days are getting numbered and we think about days passed and how we lived them more than any other time of the year. `tis the season for making resolutions for the year to come, to make plans and make the most of it out of the month left. Jenny offers some great tips what to do for your blog before 2015 shows up.

I wish you all a great weekend, maybe snowflakes and a lot of fun.

December to-do list

Hello December, here you are. The year is slowly coming to an end and here you are, cold and jolly making us remember that. You are the last month of the year and everyone is suggesting we should make it count. Do all the things possible to make it count. That only makes me wanna do endless to-do lists but never really do anything (because I am too busy making to-do lists of what should I do this December). So little time. But I will try to do my best. First of all to greet you properly I will do a December to-do list and see what I could do this month that will make it the month of 2014 to remember. and its been quite a year.

First of all for December I decided to have a project that is related to writing and making it a habit. I will discuss that in a separate post in a few days, but I just wanted to mention it as it is pretty much my priority this month, that will probably include lots of things that could be on a December to-do list too.

For investigative purposes I pinterested (I guess that is a word now, right?) some lists of things to do in December or that people do around and related to Holidays, and I can say, there is so much stuff and the Grinch in me is not particularly interested in them. I will try to make the list interesting tho.

So, lets begin!

1. Make paper snowflakes
I haven`t done this one in years. Decades to be precise. Like from middle school or kindergarten. There is no time like the present for some paper snowflakes. Need to google some patterns.

2. Do Christmas pancakes
I am not really sure what are those (but Google is my friend), but I do love pancakes so, this will be done for sure.

3. Find Christmas music
I LOVE Christmas songs. Maybe someone is thinking church related, no not those - sorry, but still, I am gonna blast my speakers like crazy with Wham, Mariah and all other cheezy sounds that I can find. Can`t wait for this one. I will repeat this on a regular basis.

4. Christmas photo shoot
This one won`t be easy but it sure will be lots of fun. Cats or no cats?

5. Decide on a new years resolution that is very important to me
I think this one will be the hardest one to keep. I suck on resolutions of any kind, but that is why posts like this one exist, right? And maybe I will make it this time. I just need to think this one through.

6. Learn how to knit
Or refresh your memory and knit something already.

7. Build a snowman
This one, I think is an forever will be my favorite. And I make it (almost) every year. I just hope snow will bless us with its presence

8. Take photos (try a photo a day)
And post weekly update. And I already have one for today. Some tree branches and gray, gloomy skies. Not so December jolly. Write a post with themes for each day. YAY.

9. Decorate our house ASAP!
What in the world am I waiting for? Holiday cheer and Xmas spirit are waiting to take over the house. I always think of HIMYM and their Xmas land :) I want that!

10. Write a letter to Santa
I don`t remember if I ever have done this, I think I did but I am not sure. I would need to check with Mom. My memories can be tricky at times. But I have a feeling I did this one. And doing it again as a grown up could be fun.

I think these 10 sound good. Baking gingerbread or making any kinds of biscuits and cookies is just not my thing and I don`t really like chocolate or sweets (pancake exception!) so... Watching Christmas movies makes me sad and teary but I am sure I will watch some of them.

Having nice family Christmas traditions sounds and seems nice in this crazy times when people are so estranged from each other. And I do miss all those little traditions and rituals we had with Mom and Dad when we were little. Kind of makes me want to have kids. ???? No. Rather to be a kid again. But, seriously, it would be nice to make some new traditions in our (new) house/family.

How do you spend your December? What are your Holiday traditions and what would you put on your December to-do list?
And are there some nice, easy non baking Xmas cookies for super lazy people? Send the recipes my way. I would be forever grateful :)

Have a lovely month darlings.

Love,

I.

DIY inspiration board

 Wednesday is here and my Pinterest feed is full of DIY inspirations. Although most of them is holiday related (I will leave this one for another post), I managed to find few interesting ones to share with you. Crafting, Sewing, Decorating... who does not love a good DIY project? Sometimes I just daydream of times where I could just quit my job and DIY all day long. And read. This DIY inspiration board contains ideas and objects that are not DIY per se but seem like something that could be done.

I think most of these are doable, I just need to decide which one to start first.

What is your oppinion on DYI? Are you passionate about doing something yourself, diving into craft and making it your own little project and piece of art?

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Mary Katrantzou x Adidas Originals

Mary Katrantzou has teamed up with adidas to present adidas Originals by Mary Katrantzou and they made a color vivid capsule collection that channels both Mary`s hyper-color and kaleidoscopic patterns, and both the spirit of well known adidas Originals. Famous adidas models  ZX 5000, Marathon TR, and Equipment Racer became a blank canvas for Mary, tabula rasa which she filled with string colors and patterns, floral prints and studs, both metal and gummy, added some glitter soles and made this collection interesting for a wide audience.

I could have them all. These are not something I would usually pick, but I like how she let herself play with design like a little girl. And I like what she did, how she transferred her vision and essence to the product. But one must remember, these shoes are made for walking on the runway, not for the gym. Although, I`d wear them there to. And to the office, if only I could.

Alongside with "running" shoes, Mary Katrantzou x Adidas Originals collaboration also offers us a range of interesting apparel pieces. Dresses and sweatshirts, tights and skirts.



I have always been a huge adidas fan and each time they have new collaborations I get all excited, like a kid in a candy store. My all time favorite was with Stella McCartney, and I would have bought everything. Collaboration or no collaboration my love for adidas is eternal. They can never go wrong. My only "advice", more of a request, would be, please make that green Originals zipper sweatshirt jacket that you do in men`s size  - make it in women`s size xs too. Pretty please. I tried the men`s xs, with all the maybe-s on my mind, but it was too big for me. Please!

I feel like a pokemon fan - gotta have them all!

You like? Which collaboration with adidas would you like to see next?

On page SEO guide

How to make your posts more interesting to search engines? These are simple SEO rules that can help you rank your posts better. Although SEO science can seem a bit intimidating at times, I promise these 11 tips are easy to understand and implement quickly and efficiently. On page SEO is not quantum physics anymore. It used to drive me mad but as time goes by, as I do my research and learn a lot about SEO I can say that this has totally been demystified.

Although sometimes the world seems to be living by that famous idea from Heraclitus - Panta rhei, some things still remain the same. Yes, SEO is changing with each passing year and Google really keeps up with making our job of ranking good in search more difficult with each new SEO tip. But worry not, for now the most important elements of good SEO have remained the same. Being a good writer is still very important because no amount of SEO craftsmanship can`t substitute bad writing.

1. Friendly permalink URLs

Avoid ugly un-customised URLs. Use your URL to say to search engine what are you talking about. First 3.5 words in a URL are the most important. Says the Google.

2. Title with kyword

Title tag is THE most important element when it comes to on page SEO. Pages with their key word in the title ranked better than those that had the key word somewhere in the middle.

3. Multimedia

It is important to have great, compelling content that tells the reader who you are and engages him in your story. But, it is important to have pictures, videos and other available multimedia in your posts because that attracts users more than just text, thus reduces your bounce rate and increases time on site.

4. Outbound links

They help Google to focus on your page`s topic, thus this helps you boost your page`s rank in Google.

5. Keyword in first 100 words

Putting the relevant keyword early in your content emphasizes that your article is about that particular keyword.

6. H1 Title tag

That is your headline tag. Most platforms automatically add this tag but some themes are built to override it, so check your settings and see if it needs to be adjusted. H1 tag for your title tag is the most important thing for your on page SEO and the best thing you can do for your blog.

7. Loading speed

This is an important signal to search engines. Users don`t like to wait for pages to load and if it takes more than 4 seconds they usually leave. That is a bad sign, search engines do recognise it and your bounce rate increases. Use CDN, compress images and have a good and fast host for your site.

8. Social sharing buttons

Search engines do recognise the importance of social sharing and to take it into consideration when ranking your site.

9. Long content

Longer content ranks significantly higher in Google. At least 1500 words per post.

1. Bounce rate

Why do people stay on some sites and leave others? First impression is the most important one, but a second too. Take loading time into consideration but more importantly your design - make it simple, clean and user friendly. Write compelling stories and add internal links to your posts.

1. LSI keywords

Google uses them to determine page`s relevancy and quality. LSI can be found at the bottom of Google search (searches related to..) or in Google Adwords Keyword tool.

Don`t be afraid to do your research. I know these three little letters, S - E - O, can be a little bit intimidating at times but, if you just give yourself enough time to do your homework on what it takes for good SEO and to really understand it, you will be OK. Awesome, as a matter of a fact. As scary as it may seem it is really very simple and can be summarized in one or two sentences. Like Jason DeMers did for Forbes magazine:

Ensuring that your topic and keywords are clearly identifiable in your content, URLs, and header and image tags isn’t difficult (though it does take time), and will go a long way toward ensuring the best possible organic search rankings for your content. But most important of all, ensure that you’re publishing awesome content on a regular basis. That’s the foundation of on-page SEO in today’s modern era of SEO.

From my experience, SEO sounded really, really scary and when a friend of mine told me how this is basically cheating and that Google can and will punish me and ban me, I was terrified. What to do? Just play by the rules and you will be ok.

It took me some time to find a source from which I can understand and really learn about this topic, and I did baby steps. Connecting the dotts can seem slowl at times but in the end it will all fall into place. Lucky for us, Wordpress has amazing plug-ins that can really help. All you have to do in the end is just write. And write good.

How do you SEO your blog? Do you believe in SEO commandments or do you just play it by the ear?

photo source