courage... mid-week quote

laundry day... shanghai

remember when i told you about how shanghai reminds me of venice? this is why

shanghai, china... photos by me

the ultimate beauty secret

i have told you before about my girl-crushes / muses..... there are ones that i have short affairs with and some that will always inspire me and motivate me to boost my fabulous-ness.

one of them is michelle violy harper. if you know who i am talking about you might have recognized her influence on my make-up looks, from time to time. for everyone else.... here is a shreen-shot from a little instagram-conversation i had with here a whiiiile ago (that i was totally shiiiiiitting myself over, by there way)

anyway, why am i telling you about this, now? i was just on garance dores blog, and her last  post is a beauty minute with michelle..... where she says: 

"the most important things for beauty, aside from products is your happiness because that is what shows in your face. you can use as many products and as much makeup, but if you’re a miserable person, nothing is going to work. the other thing is stress......" 

and not i love michelle even more! because, that's exactly what i believe with all my "smile!" and "have fun!" stuff......

open... to change

the other day when i got really side-tracked about moving to a new planet... i actually started out by wanting to tell you about how my fitness routine has changed, since my move to shanghai. i was fully aware that it would not be the same as back in new york, where it consisted of yoga, pilates, running and zumba. (incase you didn't read about it yet... here  you can catch up on all of that.) well (just like my make-up) it changed from versatile... and rather time-intensive to quite minimal. now it is it's yoga... only... mostly in the mornings... pretty much daily.... at home. yes, i was totally surprised that i had the discipline... and know-how to be able to keep up my practice. and i also want to note that i do not practice yoga with a superficial (lacking a better word) motive (not going to lie though... i do appreciate a nice yogi-body), but because nothing helps me more..... my body... my mind... my spirit..... and really aaaaanything. (i hope i didn't go too yogi on you there...... )

but what i am trying to say is.... be open to changes and switching it up. your beauty routine... your diet (used in the actual sense of the word, not in the "i'm on a diet" way.)... your work-out. who knows what your taste buds will discover..... what new beauty products you will find....or you will learn about yourself.

when the morning-sun shines onto my mat, i could not be happier and doing yoga in #mycalvins is a bonus.....

and, (this iiiis for my yogi-readers) do you want to know the very best tip i can give you if you are also interested in practicing at home? the answer is this wonderful online-sight (that, i am sure i will be raving about much more, in the future)... www.yogaglo.com. i will stop myself from telling you all the reasons why it is sooooo good, but (believe me) i never would have though that on-line yoga classes were for me.... or any good at all, for that matter. (let me know,if you do want me to tell you more about it or tips how to use it)

more suzhou....

here are more pictures of from my little trip to beautiful suzhou... (the first part is here)

suzhou, china... september 2014.... all photos by me

all i need...

have you ever asked yourself: if you could only eat one thing (not a meal) for the rest of your life... what would it be? well i have...... my answer is pretzels... bavarian pretzels (i am after all guilty of a hashtaaag-pretzel on instagram....... more than once.... or twice) 

as far as make-up gowes..... this is my answer (keeping in mind that this could will change): 

skin:  revlon's photoready bb cream, skin perfecter with spy 30

eyes: bronze eyeliner that i roughly frame my eyes with and smudge with my fingers before adding black eyeliner on my upper waterline and (of course) mascara.

and the lip color that i have literally been wearing almost every day...... stila's liquid lipstick in aria (and even though i have told you about it, about a million times before) it is my unbeaten champion. no-fuss, no-smudge, co crease.... and best non-classic-red color. the other day i wore this lipstick... and after a good-old midnight snack (at ottos's tacos) my friend says to me "what is that lipstick!? i have to buy it! it made it through tacos aaaand guac!!!". there you have it.

but no matter how many beauty products you neeeeed, or want.... have fun!

new planet.....

moving to a different city... country... continent planet is exciting, exhausting, scary, adventurous, challenging... and basically any other adjective you can think of. my move to shanghai is my third adventure of such sort. the third time is the charm. before i moved to a country i had never even visited before i knew two things....... that there was no way i could possibly imagine what to expect... and that i would have to throw my previous routine out the window. food... workouts... social activities... hell, even tv shows (don't worry, keeping up with the kardashians and ray donovan marathons were totally flagged with high-importance for my next trip to ny). well, like i said: the third time is the charm... because instead of driving myself crazy, looking for... and ultimately failing to find the things i was accustomed to...... (like i did the first months of my new-york-life.....) i decided to fully dive into everything china has to offer. i want to find new things to learn and things that i would then miss again, once i would decide to move to yet another planet. 

to just name a few of the things i can already see myself missing........ the food (oh my god, do i loooove the food here!).... the teas (they put my last  at-home-tea-bar to shame)... superstition (one of my favorite ones is that i the paths in the gardens are zigzagged because ghosts can only fly straight and consequently can't follow you. brilliant!)... the architecture (the corners of the roofs are bent up to let the light in) and of course, chinese medicine (everybody knows that what you eat effects you... but maaaan they take it to the next level, here).

so i totally got side-tracked with this post..... (but these thoughts have been wanting to come out be posted for a while now) because this is was supposed to be a fitness-post....... about my new fitness routine. another time then, i guess. uuuuuuuuuh what a good teaser! 

instead i will finally show you some pictures i took in suzhou, then. i spent a long weekend there and it will always be special to me because it made me fall in love with this country.... a country that i was honestly not even interested in visiting before. and that's why it is important to be open in life. open to new food... new cultures... new people... and ultimately adventure.

humble administrator's garden in suzhou, china... september 2014.... all photos by me

blond corn

remember when i took pictures of my friend rachel... and her hair looked like this?

some time has passed since then..... about 8 months (damn, time flies.........). well when i saw her last week in new york she was rocking those fabulous black roots and i immediately had a strong urge...... a strong urge to do this...

what should i say.... braiding makes me happy

photos by h, a very cool lady! (check ouuuuut her blooooog stuffbyh.com)

bare minimum

i am back in shanghai after my two week vaycay in new york, that was absolutely incredible. (you got a liiiittle idea about that here) i'm not gonna lie.... i had so much fun that it was maaaaybe (but not really) good when it was time to leave... or i might have died... of sleep deprivation. but actually more likely... a bagel-overdose..... i kid you not.  maaaan do i still have stories to tell photos to show you. 

 my trip also involved breaking my mac powder foundation, multiple fingernails, my roommates' friends' cup (i reimbursed her for it, don't worry) and maaaaybe also a heart (no reimbursing possible.....) jk..... i hope.

anyway, when i travel i do like to travel light... also when it comes to my make-up. (you might have came across this topic before...... like here or here). i still found myself not using most of the little pots of color i brought with me. if you have been checking out this little blog of mine for a while (so probably my direct family.... jk) you will have noticed that i have definitely been doing less complicated and time-intensive make-up looks lately. but for the past few weeks my routine has been reduced to the bare minimum..... not because of time or laziness, though. i actually really just like it more.

revlon, photoready bb cream, skin perfecter with spf 30 (here i first introduced you to it). i am not even using any powder over it and really like the dewy finish. okok a little concealer for those little friends that i can't travel without.... breakouts. then of course mascara (sometimes also just on the top row) you are about to ask "what mascara do you use?" the answer is "lash architect, baby!" my one and only.  after filling my brows lightly and throwing  mac's lip conditioner (tube) in my bag, i am out the door.

when i want a little more i only add a touch of blush with mac, mineralize skinfinsh, in soft and gentle on my cheek bone and brow bone aaaand any sort of lip color i was in the mood for.

so ladies... how bare can youuuu go?

meet constance... the modern nomad

since my move to shanghai (from new york) my life has had waaay to many stupid annoying little grow-up-hurdls to overcome. dealing with various bank accounts... understanding the tax systems from three different countries... wrapping my head around the fact that i got an absentee voting ballot for arapahoe county in colorado... sent to my parents in munich... while i am in shanghai. this life of a nomad makes me think of my friend constance a lot.........

i can confidently say that there is no other person in the world, like constance. she considers herself to be a “modern nomad”. and yes, since we stopped working together (because she had a beautiful little girl) i literally can not keep track of in which city (...or continent, for that matter) she is living, let alone all the places she lived in befoooore she had a family. (but i am getting the feeling some of people  have the same thoughts about me now......) and no, "nomad" does't mean that you will not see constance in the latest tom fords or vintage prada.

she is truly a free spirit with an admirable youthfulness about her. who else would do a spontanious photo shoot with me... on a wall, by the side of a road, in the hills of tuscany? and even though we have had big, yelling fights (i particularly remember one, at our riad in marrakesh while we were sipping mint tee)... 30 min later we would always laugh about it, though. she is the only person i can do that with. 

 

all photos of constance in london, marrakech, fez, paris and new york... by me  

going through these pictures i really missed our crazy trips and adventures and i felt very fortunate to have experienced them with her. i hope you have a friend that (even though you might want to strangle them from time to time) has had a crazy life and shows you that it is ok to not do things / be like every one else.