"The brain is a muscle, and I'm kind of body-builder." Karl Lagerfeld It is the first part of this quote that caught my attention. Lagerfeld certainly has a way with dressing bodies; I am not so sure about his ability to build bodies using only fashion. But I certainly agree with the first part of this quote: the brain is a muscle and as such needs to be trained, shaped, and nurtured.  My brain is without doubt the most important part of my body—this is what I conclude whenever I have those unfortunate yet unavoidable moments of visualizing potential catastrophes....

With winter storms and the cold weather outside, while some of us are heading to ski resorts, I couldn’t refrain from sharing memories of a beach vacation with sun, sea and bright blue skies— could one imagine a more relaxing vacation!  And it is hardly surprising that we then try to keep our holiday memories alive by integrating some of the concepts encountered during our time-off into our everyday lives— even if it is just an ornament, a souvenir or a photo. Such is every visit to the Far East for me, as you can read about here. These beach holidays make you want to turn ev...

"You can never be overdressed or overeducated" Oscar Wilde For the sake of simplification, I would say that there are two main approaches to choosing an outfit for a party, a meeting, or any other kind of gathering.  According to the first, it is always better to be a little overdressed in order to feel good, while the second, the total opposite, stresses dressing down a bit in order to fit in and project an easygoing attitude. From my experience the appropriate outfit just right for the occasion, can enhance your confidence; feeling overdressed or making the wrong dre...

"Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else." Margaret Mead A feeling of uniqueness can easily be interpreted as arrogance and hubris, and at times, even rudeness. Understanding that your singularity is not an excuse for superiority is the first step to accepting your true individuality. Uniqueness doesn’t make us superior, just as excellence isn’t the key to being unique. And though it is often an aversion to uniformity that drives us toward extreme means of self-expression, as discussed in Part 2 of this series, I believe that it doesn...

One of the pleasures of traveling is exploring new places, sceneries, people, language, tastes, smells, design, atmosphere, and traditions—in other words, everything that contributes to the creation of customs that signify a society's culture. That is the reason why traveling to places so different from where we come from in terms of attitudes to modernity, life, and beliefs is what makes the destination so fascinating. I still have a long list of places I hope to find the time and budget to visit, but I am quite happy with my achievements so far. There were trips planned for the...

I love journeys. They represent a struggle, the determination not to give up. They indicate a path that someone followed, the movement of the soul from one place to another, a place of new realizations and achievements. My Journey  I believe in connections and yet, one of my biggest struggles is being connected. Connection means home, a safe place, company, love and belonging. Isn't belonging what everyone desires? But connections also mean fitting in, mingling, compromising, and being associated, bounded, and chained; the direct opposite of individuality and priv...

"As soon as we realize that style is about expressing ourselves rather than adhering to strict rules, getting dressed in the morning becomes all the more liberating and…it doesn’t take much to reveal yourself to the world." Shannon Ables, The Simply Luxurious Life Blog  Understanding that style is far more than just the way we dress makes us realize how powerful a form of communication style it is. The way we dress is about making a first impression, it is about presenting who we are or which group we belong to. It is about sharing your current mood or improving how yo...

I am afraid of rats. I don’t really know why, but those grey four-legged creatures evoke in me, as in many others, an unexplainable aversion. It may be their ability to pop out from nowhere, taking over my home as if it were their own; it may be their scavenging tendency which results in their turning up in people's belongings; it may be the dirt and nibbling marks which they leave in their wake; or it may be their craving for food scraps. Perhaps it is the fact that they live in sewers or in the trash, or perhaps it is the thought of the diseases they may transmit … I don’t know,...

"A personal style is handwriting – it happens as a byproduct of our way of seeing things, enriched by the experiences of everything around us."Massimo Vignelli A week into 2015, with celebrations, vacations and resolutions all behind us and a sense of anticipation in the air, there is no better time for a heart-to-heart with yourself. To remind yourself of those precious attributes that make you the person you are; some you were born with and others acquired over the years. Building your own signature style is an example of the latter. Our style is a mean of presen...

The Confidence Code is a must-read for every woman who is looking to excel and every mother, especially of daughters. The authors, journalists Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, raise hard questions and meticulously research the subject of "womenomics" and self-assurance, offering some very astute suggestions for self-awareness and improvement.  Their bottom line is that confidence is a key factor in the ability of women to succeed and building confidence is something you need to work at: "You won’t get it if you don’t work at it, because all of our self-generated confidence comes...