Weekly Hopes {5}

Happy Monday!!

I cannot believe today is the last day in August. Where did the time go?! September is tomorrow! Tomorrow!!! Wow. I'm so excited and I hope I am not the only one here. So without further ado, here's today's list of what I am hoping is going to happen this week.

1. Dental Cleaning on Thursday {yes, I'm excited about that!!!}

2. Cooler temperatures - no more triple digits, no more super hot dry or humid summer weather

3. More motivation

4. A potential part-time job that will keep me distracted, starting tomorrow {eeeek!!}

5. A cleaner home - fall cleaning is due

6. Making a new order on my essential oils {I'm addicted; please don't judge, they've helped me a lot}

7. Hot apple cider...to get into the fall spirit

8. A possible double date night with new friends

9. More tomatoes from our patio

10. Dinner at the nearby Turkish restaurant 

How's your Monday?!
Are you excited about this week or rather dreading it?

It's a new week, a new day...just make the best and most of it.

xoxo

One Year

 

It's hard to believe it's been one whole year since B and I said "I Do." All day we have been talking about our special day and how simply beautiful it was. We were blessed with gorgeous California weather and were surrounded by great people on the most important day of our lives. Our first year has challenged both of us but we also believe it has made us stronger and appreciate each other better.  I'm so lucky to have B for a partner. I know we have many fun adventures ahead of us and I cannot wait to share it with him. 

Thanks for an amazing first year! I love you!

xoxo

image via here

10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

The amazing Krysten and  Lindsay started a weekly linkup last week, and this week I am linking up with them. On Monday I shared with you what I was looking forward to, and today I am sharing with you what really, truly made me happy this week. 

1. Our trip to Napa {photos will follow}

2. Songs that give me motivation to move on and let go of the past

3. Kara's Cupcakes 

4. Less pain

5. 36 Hours {travel shows are fun}

6. Fruits - lots of fruits and yogurt

7. HomeGoods

8. My beautiful blue blouse from StitchFix

9. Movie Night

10. Essential Oils by Young Living

This week was great!!!! How was yours?!

Happy Friday my lovelies,

xoxo

Strong and Dark - Blue

End of August nears! End of August nears!!! 

Not only is our one-year anniversary approaching {August 29!!!!!} I am also hoping to see and feel some cooler temperatures. Honestly, summer will stay in California for quite some time and I don't think fall will arrive until October or even November. With darker and stronger colors I can trick my mind and make me slowly adjust to upcoming cooler temps, perhaps? No?!

top / romper / floral romper, / shorts / short romper {different color} / flats {similar} / handbag / wallet / bangle {similar} / scarf {similar} / umbrella {similar} / belt {similar}

I think, despite the very hot temperatures we are still having, it is time to take out my navy, dark blue colored wardrobe. It will make for a fun date outfit. I don't own rompers {I am too short for that; insert sad face} but I own some cute, tight navy colored pants that I can easily pair with a printed top, or use my newest blue colored top I received from StitchFix. They really nailed it when I received my last fix and I could not be any happier with my new top. So, blue is definitely my color. It's great for any season but it's definitely a fantastic color to transition into any new season. This is my fall color I can tell!!!

Any fun color you are looking forward to wearing soon? Are you wearing a specific color to transition into fall? Let me know. I need some ideas. 

Have a fantastic day my lovelies,

xoxo

Weekly Hopes {4}

Good morning everyone!
It is a beautiful day, a beautiful morning and just one fantastic week. I cannot be any more excited about this week, so my Weekly Hopes for this week will be fun and literally hopeful! :) 

1 - Enjoying our beautiful Napa trip {we really needed this} - check out my Instagram for updates

2 - Wineries. Whether or not you drink, walking through a huge vineyard is an amazing feeling

3 - Time away from home

4 - Date Night on Friday {I think a movie at home with a home cooked meal will do the trick}
5 - A trip to HomeGoods
6 - Going to the Animal Shelter; we are thinking of adopting. It is time.
7 - September approaching {I can feel fall knocking on our doors!!}

This week is a good one. We are on our anniversary trip, having a blast, and B and I both get our deserved vacation. It's a honeymoon and anniversary trip in one. Amazing. Also, when you know you are slowly feeling better it makes life even more beautiful. I'm a happy gal. I'm still grieving and that is normal, but I do see light at the end of the tunnel knowing it will get easier and "softer". It just takes time. So, with this beautiful week and our trip...it is really what we both needed, and we couldn't be any happier.

Have a fantastic day!!!!

xoxo

My Europe Trip {1}

In May I had to abruptly fly to Europe to spend incredible last hours with my mom and say my good-byes to her. I am still in awe at how everything turned out to be so negative, so unfair, so fast and so unexpected. However, it was the right thing to do, and today I know it was the right timing for me. If I had gone earlier to see her my hopes would have been up and I would have been more devastated. I still carry anger with me, and I am still upset at everything but I understand that this needed to happen whether or not I liked the outcome. 

So flying to Europe was not exactly a positive trip for me, BUT even on my saddest and darkest days I tried to find happiness and enjoy my months in Europe. Being back home was fantastic yet sad. I was able to see some friends and their beautiful children, see family, talk endless hours about life and love, eat my favorite dishes, see sights I hadn't seen in years, and I learned that no matter what happens in life, we gotta move forward and keep smiling. I wanted to do more but did not have the energy to do so. Exhaustion sucks. 

Finding happiness and beauty was one major thing that kept me going {and knowing I will be reunited with my favorite person again of course}. So with my old iPhone I captured what I could and today I am sharing it with you.

Switzerland - the Swiss weather blessed us most days...hot, blue skies, and some rain at times. Perfection.

Yes I saw that sheep. It was actually a cute one. I still kept my distance though. I took a lot of shots of the lake, panoramas of my hometown, and of simple, ordinary things most people take for granted and would not even ever consider taking a photo of. Imagine me taking photos of cobblestones, a bottle of soda, and street names. Weird, I know. I had a good time in Switzerland despite everything.

Today I am coming to terms with everything, and I know it is for the better that I am in California and not in Europe at the moment. Fingers crossed I get to recover smoothly and happily. Just blogging alone and knowing I am doing this somewhat on a regular basis again is a good sign I think. No?!

I have more photos to share with you but didn't want to share too much at once. :)

Hope your day is going great!!!

Happy Wednesday!

xoxo

P.s. Don't worry, I didn't eat any of that pastry. I was trying to but friends kept me away. Good friends, really good friends.

Freshly Uplifting - Yellow

August is still in full session and summer hasn't technically ended yet. So I thought yellow would be the perfect color to add to my weekly color inspiration board. It's fresh, uplifting, and just screams happy!! If I only had more yellow in my current closet...

sleeveless dress / dress / sleeveless dress with flowers / pleated skirt {similar} / high heel sandals / ballet flat {similar & different color} / purse / glasses {similar} / stoneware

Yellow is not really a color that suits my fair skin {tan or not} but a perfectly matching yellow hue added to any outfit has never hurt anyone. Yellow flats, or a scarf, or a simple purse go so well with almost any other color, especially blue, black and white!!! It's still summer after all.

Do you own anything yellow? I only have a scarf and a couple of tops that go well with cardigans or blazers. Flats would be cute to own in that color. It's like wearing a splash of sunflower all day long!

xoxo

Weekly Hopes {3}

Good morning.

Let's do this Monday...I don't know what it is but I always feel like I have the biggest headache on Mondays; why is beyond me. Mondays are supposed to be awesome, a new start, a new beginning into a new week and hello, even a totally new day. So I don't understand why I always have those headaches on such a fresh new day.

So this week I am looking forward to the following:

1 - Cooler temperatures {low 90s and high 80s are perfect}
2 - Seeing my tomatoes come into shape...we can soon eat them in our salads
3 - DATE NIGHT comes back this Friday
4 - Trying a new essential oil I hope will help lessen my muscle pain
5 - Cooking a new recipe {haven't figured out which one but I have five options}
6 - Pool time; and that without any kids screaming and yelling thanks to back to school days
7 - Starting to attend weekly grief meetings

I love kids but I prefer the pool less crowded so I can swim in it. Also, the hot tub is to relax your body and not worry a kid will kick you in your legs or arms. Yes, this has happened. It's not my place to say a thing. Children aren't even allowed in the hot tub but they are in there, and they are only maybe eight or ten. It says they need to be accompanied if under 14 but there is no one there. I call this irresponsible, again, not my place to say a thing. 

In other news...how about those date nights that I made reappear in our relationship? YES. Very important. I may come up with new 10 {almost free} Things to do with Your Significant Other so watch out for that. Any ideas? Shoot them my way.

Have a great day!

xoxo

Refreshingly Beautiful - Turquoise

It may be August and it may cool down soon but this does not mean we can't stop thinking about cool summer colors. Turquoise, teal, light blue or whatever you may call this refreshingly beautiful color is one of my very favorites. It's a great summer color! I use it in our bathroom. I also use it when I have a bad day or need something uplifting. The only thing I don't use this color on is my eyes. Turquoise works with my eye color but not with my skin color. It always looks like I got punched in the face. So, I use it everywhere else but on my eyelids. My favorite top for a date night? You guessed right, it's turquoise.

tank top / top {similar} / wristlet / bracelet {similar} / watch {similar} /
glasses / fragrance / mug / coasters / tier / bowl

This board reminds me now to get a turquoise bowl or probably two for our home. I am not entirely done with our bathroom, so who knows, I might put a bowl in there. Besides, doesn't this color remind you of the beach, endless sunsets, and your feet walking on sand while a cool summer breeze comes in? It sure does, doesn't it? No wonder I chose this color.

Happy almost mid-August...where did the time go? Besides, we are going to have sizzling temperatures again...I am in desperate need of some cool refreshing inspiration; turquoise definitely does the trick.

xoxo

Weekly Hopes {2}

Happy Monday my lovelies,

How was your weekend? Mine? Quite boring to say the least. However, I got to relax, organize our new home, add some fun stuff to our small space, and can finally say it looks like someone human is actually living here. Very excited about that feature. I really relaxed most days. I didn't want to do much because, one, it was hot, two, I think my grieving process constantly tires me out, and three, it was my time to spend some quality time on the couch with a bag of chips {no judging!}.

This week, my weekly hopes look like this:

1 - Reading more of Me Before You {started yesterday}

2 - Getting a deserved manicure and pedicure

3 - Going to the Farmer's Market on Tuesday; well, tomorrow

4 - Learning more about my Young Living Essential Oils {I have felt and seen awesomeness}

5 - Hoping to find an alternative to our one-year anniversary since they didn't give my man the requested days off {boooo on them!!!} and we had to cancel our Napa trip. Needless to say he has been pissed ever since he found out. I'm not happy about it either but I am trying to figure something out to lift the mood.

Have you read the above mentioned book? A family friend told me to read it and even though its original version is English she told me to read it in German. Challenge accepted. I haven't read a book in two years I think, maybe more?! So this is fun. As German is my first and a half language {haha; first will always remain Swiss German} this is no biggie, but I'm eager to know how good it is because that family friend said it is a must read. And what can I say? My YL Essential Oils are just beyond terrific. My favorite person is still quite skeptic but he will adjust and get used to them at some point. 

Happy Monday!
I'm smelling lemon and peppermint in the living room...fantastic way to start any day.

xoxo

Coffee first, then a HomeGoods run

When you move thousands of miles and move into a new place you always need to work on making that new place feel like home. When we moved I was going through a horrible time. I was pretty much cleaning out a home and filling boxes in Europe while my folks here in California were opening up boxes and moving furniture around. I put all my faith into them that everything worked out beautifully, without any back ache and sore muscles. Everything went well. However, when you leave your guy alone for so long {yes, unwillingly} and regularly send boxes home you come home to a mess. 

Last week and this week I have opened up thirteen boxes {the last one has yet to arrive}, organized the kitchen {I pretty much switched everything around, including the fridge}, the bathroom, linen closet, laundry corner, bedroom, and closet. The living room didn't need much. However, it still needs to have some life added to it. It is sooooo boring.

So my current work is to make my new home feel more like home. Home may be where the heart is as yesterday's post talked about...but it also needs to look and feel like home. 

This is my update so far: 

* I need YOUR help and ideas

The kitchen needs a clock. A colorful one, I want to have fun while cooking.

The bathroom has gotten a touch of turquoise/teal color added; two to three items are still missing. 

*The dining area has a real table and chairs!! YAY. Something is missing though; a picture? Letters?

The entrance is complete. Maybe a cute tray to put keys on is needed?! Hmmmm...

The living room needs a rug, and new pillows!

The bedroom needs a cozy corner and a mirror.

*The closet is almost complete. It needs a better shoe rack {why do I have so many shoes?}, and a place to put my purses. I also need a better jewelry box; mine is too small now. I inherited some cute things from my mom. Vintage all the way. Yay.  

The balcony is complete. MIL brought us plants and we love them.

*The outdoor entrance...should or shouldn't I decorate it? Ideas? Come Halloween I will add a pumpkin or two.

I need a strong coffee first and then hit up HomeGoods and other places...

...wish me luck and don't forget to give me any ideas. I'm a hands-on kind of girl...I must touch the material first before I purchase it. Weird I know. I would have better chances ordering online I am sure.

xoxo

images via here / here / here / here

Home is Where the Heart is

This summer started off by being shocking, draining, and just downright sad. I have come to terms with what happened. Not saying I am over it or not grieving anymore. However, there is nothing left in me that denies what happened or fights the idea of what happened. Life happens. I have to remind myself every day that everyone fights some sort of a battle; whether it is an illness, the loss of something or someone, a broken home, or just a really really bad day. I am not alone. We are all in this together but we walk our own walk and fight our own fight - with or without the help of friends or family. 

When I went home this year I never imagined to go through what I had to go through. Granted I knew this day would come but didn't expect it to arrive this early and suddenly. Either way, I am proud of how I handled it and how I tried to make myself smile and enjoy my hometown for a while. I realized that home to me is not merely where I grew up or where I feel safest. It's a combination of many things including safety, happiness, memories, a place that allows me to be me, and a place that allows me to grow in all directions. Home is certainly also where the heart is. 

So where is my heart?

It is definitely in Northern California, in Southern California, in Istanbul, and in Luzern. Each one of these area offers another definition to what I call home. Luzern is my hometown. I was born and raised there. I have friends there. I have memories there. I will return to visit. Istanbul is home to me as well. I have family and friends there. I have memories there. I can be me, and this city allows me to grow and be astonished every year I return to it. Southern California is home to be because I felt happiest there while in the US. It allowed me to be me and grow. I feel safe there and have memories there as well, even though nothing beats Europe. Northern California. Who knew I would return after I left it 15 years ago? NorCal and I have a special bond. I am beginning to like it again, and make memories with my favorite person. It allows me to be me but so far I have yet to find that new me. Time will tell. Sunsets, too.

In short...my home is where I am physically - right now. However, my mental state still lingers in other places. I know this will change, I just don't know when. You'd think it is only in Northern California since we chose to move and live here, yet, I don't know...it is not yet home home.

Where is your home?
Is it where you currently live, or where you grew up?
Or it is somewhere else?

Weekly Hopes {1}

August and the following months are going to be very different and new to me. Well, as you know, I want to change things up in my life, on the blog, and just in general and forever. After my quite long ordeal in Europe I think I have the right and should make it an effort to live life differently. Positivity is important. Hope is important. So, I thought to share weekly Monday posts on hopes or wishes, or things I wish or hope for to happen; or things I know will happen. What do you think?!
I think YES. 

So for the first installment of Weekly Hopes...here we go:

1 - Seeing my MIL tomorrow. She will be driving over two hours to see me for the day. Best MIL ever

2 - Hoping to make an appointment at the Swiss consulate to get some paperwork done

3 - Hoping to get a massage session squeezed in; we desperately need some relaxation time

4 - Date Night on Friday {I have to reinforce this weekly ritual again}

5 - Getting the pain on my left side taken care of...or just lessened because it's no fun
6 - Finding a great acupressure therapist
7 - Pool time {do I need to say more?}

What do you think? Positive enough? I think so. Also, in order to make the consulate visit work in our favor I need to order a few things for my favorite person. They want a birth certificate of him that was issued no older than six months ago...hmmm, really?! I don't think a birthday is going to change once it happened, but whatever they want we will make happen. Gotta get that stuff done, it's ridiculous paperwork but it is what is needed. Wish us luck.

Happy Monday!!

What are you looking forward to this week?

New Month, New Me

Hello my lovelies,

How has your summer been? You know about mine, and in case you missed out I am going to enlighten you. Spring started out beautifully until I was notified that my mom was in the hospital and despite a great surgery was suffering and deteriorating, so I booked a flight within hours, flew home to Europe, saw mom for three full days and knew that those hours and days were our last days together. I felt it, and I am sure she did too. It was the most devastating, most surreal experience ever and even though I knew that at some point life will end I didn't want mom to leave like this let alone this early. I think I spent May in denial. I knew it happened but couldn't fully grasp its reality. June came along, and with my birthday month I also learned that my body was exhausted from everything I went through in May. I not only lost my mother, I lost my home, cleaned up, organized a ton and yes, did all that by myself. Yes, I had awesome friends helping me out and without their generosity, help, heart, and patience I would not have made it through, but most of the stuff I had to wrestle with alone. July was a whirlwind of emotions. My cousin got married and I flew to Turkey to attend her special day, I had to see a few more friends of mine before I was finally able to fly back home to California. 

I flew home last week. I am home. It was time. I'm finally where I belong. I am with the love of my life, in our new home trying to find my path in life again. Things between us have not changed but I know I have to work on a few things in order to grief accordingly and to move on. My favorite person and I will work on this together and I can already tell you that this will help me heal.

NOW, I took quite a break from blogging. I missed it dearly. I missed this community, and I missed sharing recipes, or my healthy challenges, photos, and life stories with you. Mostly, I missed you! With August started today I decided I needed to get back into some sort of a blog groove. 

So what do you say?! New month, new start, new everything?! 

I'm even updating and working on my summer list - go check it out!!
Oh, and I'm trying to catch up on blog reading as well...does that count towards those six books I wanted to read over the summer?!

xoxo

image via here