After the storm has passed

After three weeks long NYC vacation, I could not wait to come home and rest. Almost nothing went as planned, but I have learned about myself more than ever before. I had wonderful first two weeks and not so wonderful week following my birthday.

Good thing is that I have seen some of my friends who I had such a great time with and who were such a great support through it all, I did some shopping, I have seen many art and fashion exhibitions, I baked my first apple strudel, cleaned the apartment and tried to be a role model - supportive girlfriend, I fought a little, loved a lot, cried even more, I forgave and struggled to forget. Finally, I got a taste of what I would be dealing with if I stayed in that relationship.

I learned that I can forgive and be unselfish; I learned that not all people are able to be honest and truthful - even when you give them all your love. I realized that I to have made mistakes and I will try not to repeat them in the future. I did not know how to not love him; I only learned how to not let him go. I failed to realize how two people who are a good match for each other, with so much love, mutual plans and hopes in life just could not persevere and hang in there just a little bit longer!

However, I did learn how far I would go for love - around the world and back! I also learned that I am yet to meet the man who would do the same for me.

Even though it all came tumbling down under me, all of the future plans, my hopes, all of the dreams, the expectations of our love to stay strong and survive it all, all the invested effort and all of the emotions, I can be at peace knowing that I fought so, so, so hard for that relationship to work, I stayed gentle and caring until the very end, despite lies and pain and I still worry every day - but I did my part, now this battle is not mine to fight anymore.

Lastly, I walked away stronger and with my head up high. My only worry now are all the good memories I want to keep, these I am having hard time to let go, I wonder - If I stop thinking of you, will you be gone to me forever?

Fashion's night out in NYC

10.09.2009.
For today, Vogue and CFDA have organized international party celebrating style on four continents. It started as a New York thing but it expanded quickly to the rest of the world. More than 700 stores are participating across five boroughs and more than 12 countries around the world have organized their own version of the event.
NYC stores are organizing special shopping events, selling the event T-shirts and staying open until 11pm tonight.Anna Wintour imagined this initiative as a sale on 7th Av. with intention "to seduce people back to the stores and make them excited about shopping".


The recession had a major impact on peoples clothing shopping habits and their confidence; people became more careful and scared of uncertain future. In NYC more than 175,000 people are employed by the fashion industry which generates more than $10 billion in total wages, which is why NYC Major Bloomberg supported this event as vital way to give a boost to NYC economy within this crucial industry for the City area as well as the country and world overall.


Shopping in Barneys the day before the event, I got really excited about seeing the preparation process they did (catering preparations, window changes etc.), this is when the sales lady offered me to buy a Fashion's Night Out T-shirts for $30, of course I got it. Profits from shirt sale are going to the National September 11th Memorial & Museum. There was also a clothing drive "Shop for Good" where people could drop their gently used clothes which will after Sep.12th be donated to NYC AIDS drive.


Many major store chain representatives expressed their excitement about this event and would love to see it become a tradition as an introduction to Fashion Week which will translate the runway craze into retail energy. They said that the focus here is not to make huge sales within this one day, but to excite people about people and bring them back to the stores. Many stores offered finger food and drinks, cosmetic giveaways and award games, many had a celebrity guests and designer make over, runway walk lessons and style tips by famous stylists.


First, opening event happened in Macy's in Queens where Anna Wintour, Major Bloomberg and special celebrity guest Blake Lively from gossip girls, the cast of "Hair" gave performed three songs.Oscar de la Renta was (literary) serenading to his customer at his 5th Av. store, Alexandar Wang, Proenza and Shouler's were selling their wares out of the vintage car trunk in front of their Soho stores, Justin Timberlake had a pop up store for William Rast in Saks 5th Av. Olson twins visited Bergdorf Goodman where other celebrities also appeared, the line to enter the store was around the block at 7pm already.


As for a celebrity seeing I saw Blake Lively right by the back entrance of Bergdorf and Sarah Jessica Parker, as I was coming back from the MET earlier in the day, she was on the set of shooting Sex & the City 2.


I spend most of the day in MET, I was absolutely excited seeing work of Picasso, Monet, Salvador Dali and many others up close! After that, around 3 pm I had a Greek lunch - pita and green tea with mint, I went to Barnes and Nobels to read some fashion magazines and bought a new fashion history book - I really need to stop or I am going to pay another plane ticket for my extra baggage.


At 7 pm I met Ania and Ola and we went to Rugby Ralph Lauren for a Fashion's Night Out, there was a fair number of people there, DJ Matt was spinning, yellow and blue chocolate cupcakes were served and there was a cool instant photo booth with which we had lots of fun, sales people were giving away small Rugby balls and dancing around, and Rugby also issued its own newspapers with style tips and introduced many new peaches and ways of personalizing your Rugby clothes. It was great seeing all of my friends there and seeing new Rugby fall and trans collections can't wait to do some shopping there before I go back home.


September Vogue is out, Fashion's night out is over, designers are carefully optimistic...Mercedes Benz Fashion Week has oficially started.


xoxo from New York :)


~Kat~

Love-pacer

Since my last post I have been thinking and researching a very complex matter of heart. I conducted my research on a fair sample of my closest girlfriends and myself.

Now after weeks of listening to their stories and living my own, sitting here in my soft pink cow pattern bath rope, I feel ready to share it with all of you guys.

As most women do, after we finished discussing current economic situation, current fashion trends, each others office gossips or mutual acquaintances' "Ouu my Gosh did you hear...." stories, we did our personal love situation reviews in a clockwise manner around the McCafé table.

We were talking about how it often happens that a girl loses herself in a lovey-dovey-kissy-smoochy kind of a way when in love. One gets emotional and slowly but surely men feel like they can get away with almost anything.

So, while she is floating on her soft and cozy cloud nine without a seatbelt or a parachute for emergencies, he is piloting her sky with his manly guard, flirty cool attitude, parachute on his back, goggles on, extra air supply beside him and with a firm grip on the steering wheel, taking her higher and higher.

All through this "flight" she never thinks he would let her fall. He would never do anything to hurt her- he always used to say, but he eventually does. Sometimes he gets carried away piloting this plane, drives a bit to fast and drops her by accident. Than he flies back down real fast and catches her before she hits the ground, apologizing and promising he will never ever do it again.

She gets back on her cloud, this time she holds it a little tighter, but as the time goes she relaxes, loosens her grip and she is floating once again. Than, it happens that he drops her and she hits the floor real hard, it is painful and her heart is completely broken.

Now, I am not going to act as a firm feminist and say women should always be a pilot of their own planes, nor that she needs to be sneaky and get him before he gets her.

I was just thinking how nice it would be if there was some kind of a heart-love-pacer machine...like a little gadget you buy for $59.99 in pharmacy and place on your chest. Let’s call it a Love-pacer.

This gadget would pace your feelings towards a person you get to like. So you could turn it on and enter the data of the guy you fancy. You could enter the start date and on the need basis - the end date (this applies to summer romances, when you know he will go back to his country and probably never return).

It would be great if it could be adjusted accordingly as you are getting to know the guy, you know? Just like a +/- list many women make when still not sure if a guy is a dating material or not, but much more sophisticated with wires and all.

So let’s say he treats you right, he is honest and loving - you turn your Love -pacer to 40% - so you feel ok to return same feelings to him.

Let’s say you are suspecting he could be a player, than you make him work and prove himself otherwise, but play it safe and keep the Love-pacer to safe 15%.

If after a steadily growth, you allow yourself to get to 90% and decide to marry a guy, go ahead turn it to a big double zero -100%, but remember - never, ever, ever take the Love-pacer off.

Ohh..I wish such a thing existed...I know it seems so not romantic and cowardly.What is a great love story without some pain, suffering and broken heart? One would say.

It is an entertainment. Until it happens to you.

                                                                       xoxo,

Recession in fashion - Dress for less

Economize
Dictionary: e·con·o·mize (ĭ-kŏn'ə-mīz')
1.To practice economy, as by avoiding waste or reducing expenditures.
2.To make economical use of something



Right, Webster was a really smart fellow. I am not so sure that he was a fine dresser. Anyhow, one thing is for sure, recession is hitting us on all fields, so is the case with dressing and shopping. Does this mean we should stop spending money on clothes, shoes and make up?



Of course NOT!!! It is very important to continue to stimulate economy by continuous input of fresh cash. In short, by spending, you are actually helping general bad state of the economy.However, the key is, spend less than what you earn. It does sound simple, but it is the hardest thing for people to learn. I am the prime example.



Now, the current state in retail is seemingly very beneficial for the consumer, right? Sales everywhere! This however encourages you to shop for things that are cheap, not those that you necessarily need or are of a good quality. Basically with the economic situation as it is, you simply cannot afford to buy cheap stuff. You are looking for good quality pieces that are timeless and fit your personality.



So we could have seen on Paris, New York and Milan Fashion Weeks for Fall 2009. your timeless dark and light grays, blacks, browns, beiges all were spiced up with zippers, shoulder pads, big chunky statement industrial jewelry , tie high boots, lather pants, sequins, men shoes, interesting head pieces etc. Designers could not afford to make cheap and weak collections.



Cost saving was definitely noticeable, but not in a bad way. In contrary, many designers showed their strength by going back to their roots and covering basics.

Gareth Pugh did a video fashion show which showed fashion pieces and fabrics in a whole new dimension.
Botega Veneta did many feminine value added pieces: white coats, great detailing, low back dresses.
Marni focused on investment pieces as well, he did great fur coats and peacoats, short skirts, huge chunky jewelry and line chain necklaces.
Angelo Missioni had a vision of ice princess who wore layered cardigans, light and delicate lace pieces in pale pink and baby blue armored with huge chunky knits.

My favorites were:
Zac Posen - Zac's story happened in Paris in 1920's Patty Smith era, he did gorgeous silk dresses and suites in pale pink and gold. His message to women was to create their goddess existence.
Ana Sui did not disappoint, her collection was of course colorful, hippy, feminine and gothic-cool, she used feathers and designed some great head pieces.
I loved Alex Wang's rock and roll minimalistic look. Alex did leather pants and tailored jackets, great texture and finishing in black and white, beading with bras-nickel metals, beautiful purple dresses and great sequin hoods and hats.
I also loved Oscar de la Renta's gowns, smokey eyes, duchess hair puffs kind of look and wool-fur combinations in red, orange, blue and purple.
Donna Karan created gorgeous gowns and skirts by cutting and draping, these easy and flexible pieces came in purple, red, burgundy and blue.

Of the chart were my top favorites "beyond fashion" designers:

Galliano for Dior - with Ukrainian virgin bride muse who wore coin necklaces, gray, silver green and red pieces - see-through silk pants and wide and long sleeve dresses with gorgeous beading.
Ana McGibons made a great collection for Chloe, great capes, rolled up pants, black velvet overalls, military colors, tall shorts, oversized coats and a special beige sleeveless dress with high neck.
McQueen did a very strong collection - colorful tights, long skirts and coats, great hats, all in red, white and black, very fetish, fierce and gothic.
While Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel did super cool retro hats, deep V front tops in black, white, jade green and pale pink, body suites, high neck and half sleeve.

In conclusion, try to pull the inspiration out of next seasons designer pieces, pay attention to details and invest in timeless pieces which are always in style.
Luckily, many spring items are still in, like harem pants which just got sequin detailing for fall, chunky jewelry and zippers are back, red lips and high tie boots are still in-style from last fall. Please note that shoulder pads are optional trend worth of passing.

Let the recession inspire you to recreate, reuse, shop for vintage pieces, go through your grandma's closet or simply organize a little yard sale or trade among your girlfriends with stuff you grew out of or were given and it doesn’t fit your personality.
If you are a designer wearing girl, you can now get the designer jewelry for less: Erickson Beamon did jewelry collection for Target, in Croatia Leonarda Boban did a cute jewelry collection for Kozmo drug stores, so there is something there for every budget.

Get inspired!

xoxo

Roko - the worlds wirdest dog

Sunday, 28th of July

Dear all...I have been mentioning him in many of my posts..As he is rather peculiar creature...This time I decided to attach his picture as well, for your better understanding of his character (I haven’t still figured him out but maybe you will).

On the left you see his picture about 6 months ago...now he looks pretty much the same, although his legs are longer...nothing else changed really. Roko still hasn’t learned to pee like a male dogs do; he is still scared of everything. Roko is hardly a macho, house protecting, hunting and fearless kind of dog. The only word I can really use to describe Roko is: awkward. He actually behaves more like a human that like a dog.

In spite of all of our efforts, Roko is very misbehaved, we even had to take him to see a dog trainer, who refused to work with him after 2 days, as Roko continued to pee on his leg ( he never does it to us, I promise). The trainer said that Roko has his own will and will listen to nobody, he said he have never seen a dog like him.

Roko doesn’t sit, does not lie down when you ask him to...but he will gladly eat the cookies. If you yell at him he cries like a baby, and when my father is around he runs and jumps into his lap shaking (I swear he does), awkward right? I know!!!

Every day something new happens with this dog, another incident, as our neighbors like to call it. I have stop telling my friends about it, they do not believe me, well, that’s until they meet Roko.

Last night for example, yet again( Saturday night) he had waken up the whole neighborhood, he was crying and hauling like crazy. I woke up and I thought it had started to rain or something, which would kind of make sense because Roko is terrified of rain and hates to get wet, so than he cries and demands that we stand by his little house until he falls a sleep (again, weird, but my dad does it out of embarrassment in front of our neighbors).

This time it was not raining, I took a flashlight and annoyed went to see what’s going on (it was 4am); I found that some slimy snail have entered his house and Roko was scared and could not sleep.

Naturally, I was also scared, so I woke up my dad to take the snail out. We gave Roko a brave cookie (which is how we call special colorful cookies he will eat, only) and again, dad was standing by his house until Roko fall a sleep.

So that was the latest and the greatest with Roko.

Ouu yea...and another thing...I try to play catch with him..Roko seems to like it a lot, although whenever I throw a ball, he runs up to it and brings me a leaf...how weird is that? Every single time I throw a BALL he finds a leaf to bring..and completely ignores the ball.

Love life: Uff...lots of interesting stuff lately... I am considering offers, although not yet acting upon any. July will be very interesting, in terms of getting in touch with what I really feel. I am actually looking forward to finding it out...as paintful it might be later, it is worth of checking, just in case.....you never know.

xoxo

~Kat

HELP: Young people fighting for democracy

June 21st,2009.

Have you watched the TV news lately? Visited facebook? Youtube? Twitter? Young Iranians are posting new pictures, videos each second in hope to reach US: YOU and ME. Young people all over the world, in hope that we will support, help , aknowledge their efforts to get their votes back.

CNN : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eClZukFWy0

In the past elections their votes have been ignored, now they are fighting to replace totalitarian extreme regime with a democratic one.

These young peoples weapon is cell phone and camera, which they use to capture the images and send it to the world to help. They fight guns with rocks and march on the streets with their backpacks while their own police and military is shooting at them. Their strenght is their courage and determination to get their country back in their own hands.

ABC NEWS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-tc84gSrk8

BBC : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcHT8-ps64w

Now, this is a true courage. If anyone than Croatian and Bosnian people should feel compation and obligation to help. This is what happened to us 19 years ago. YOU know how it is to feel helpless and all alone, thinking why nobody in the world cares enough to give us a helping hand, to fight with no weapons and to try to survive with little or no food.

SBS:http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/watch/id/600081/n/Interview-with-Reza-Pahlavi

Do it now for the Iranians, send their message to as many people you can, support them on the facebook and twitter, give them advice, they are scared and getting killed, few days ago they were attending college classes and planning summer vacation like you and me, now they are on the streets getting shot at! See some of the messages they send to each other on Twitter:

ATADORT IRAN: Basij are everywhere also inside all hospitals, and this is currently a big problem #iranelectionabout 13 hours ago from web

ATADORT IRAN : URGENT!! Basij marking doors 4 later attacks. Check doors regularly, & if you see any, wipe it off!! #IranElection RT RT RT!about 13 hours ago from web

ATADORT WASH YOUR DOORS FROM MARKINGS BY BASIJ! GO TO EMBASSIES IN LARGE GROUPS! THEY ARE BLOCKING ACCESS! #iranelection #gr88

ATADORT "Acid" is just tear gas w/ water. Treat w/: sol. of 5% baking soda/95% water, keep cold. Carry spray bottle #iranelection #gr88 #Tehranabout 14 hours ago from web

ATADORT we didn't realize for a moment they started shooting at people, the gun sound was like a toy gun& the soliders were smiling #iranelection

Please consider that even if you are after hearing all this still not caring enough to spread the word, you have to know that Iran has one of the most developed nuclear programs which the dictator Ahmadinejad (whos scarry and hatelful speeches in front of UN you might remember) itends to use to wipe the United States and its EU supporters of the face of the earth, all supposadly in the name of Alah.

Join the Iran group on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ftehranbureau.com%2F&h=c4feb45cb905e74b007715a0a94b3774

See how Stocholm supports Iran:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJu54WUd2vE

Please get involved and help Iranians. Join the groups, follow them on Twitter and go to the protests in your city!

~Kat

Its OK to be gay

13th of June 2009

This morning I slept in, as I stayed up late last night making Swarowski crystal earrings for my friends weeding today. I made her real nice and elegant chandelier earrings and met with her early this morning, she stopped by on her way to hairdresser.

I went to buy some fruits and fresh bread at the market on my way back home, showered and put on my Leonarda Boban floral lace and ruffle dress I got on this years Fashion Week charity auction, I was surprised it ended up being a bit big on me, I swear my body sometimes seems to transform sizes based on newly purchased fashion pieces, it happened to me with shoes as well....my foot miraculously fits in like 5 different sizes...every shoe I like fits in whatever size available...weird.I guess my body follows fashion trends by shrinking according to current season top looks hahaha....

After taking about two hours to get ready I went to meet up with a very cute new friend for a coffee, he took a train home and I walked through my home town Zagreb which I fall in love with every day for a new reason. Today this reason was growing tolerance. I was proud that my city hosted "Gay Pride 2009." and I was disappointed to see there was "Anti-gay pride protest" as well....although Croatian population (read urban parts of Croatia) is getting more and more liberal and sexually and racially tolerant there will always be small minded people who hate just to hate.

Reading the articles following the Pride I was deeply saddened with post event incidents. I take it to heart, because I simply don’t understand why people are such a hypocrites and so scared of differences.Many feel so morally superior to others, calling upon religion, family heritage, nationalism where the only thing that lies behind their hatred is their insecurity in their own sexuality and/or inability to comprehend that we all are not the same and shall respect each other for who we are as individuals.

It is simple, being gay and supporting gay pride has absolutely nothing to do with sex and it has everything to do with asking for equality of people, not a boy and a girl, girl and a girl, boy and a boy...just people.

Equality.

Equal opportunity to love, to share, to live together, to kiss, to argue, to break up, to eat lunch together in public, to flirt, to party, to get in trouble, to have friends gay and straight, to believe, to get married, to have family, to buy a house, to move in together, to visit your love one in the hospital when sick, to meet the parents, to be scared, to have the right to inherit loved ones property, to bury your partner when he or she dies.

Live and let live.

It’s ok to be gay.

xoxo

~Kat