Coffee with cream some sugga & a necklace anyone?

As you might remember several posts ago I have introduced a small monthly gathering where with your Saturday morning caffeine fix you can also get a cute piece of accessories, a purse, designer T-shirt or piece of unique hand-made jewelry. 


This time I am announcing this event ahead of time, so you can go there sometime tomorrow and get a feel of this unique cafe fashion showroom! I hope you like it! See ya all there!


 Next,one of the young and up and coming Croatian designers Igor Galaš won a award for an iD emerging designer in Dunedin, New Zealand. By winning this award Igor got the invite to prestigious Mittelmoda contest in Milan expected to start at the beginning of April. 


 Igor will also participate at Dove fashion.hr Croatian fashion event where he will present his Fall 2010. Collection.


This was the first time he entered this competition and he won! Igor's collection is full of hand made wollen pieces, it took him a week to knit each of the garments. They are soft and voluminous yet wearable, floaty and impeccably designed. 

Bellow you can see the winning collection:

"Galas' range consisted of woollen headgear with long woven dreadlocks hanging almost to the ground, and ruched backs, similar to dinosaur ridges.

Many of the ranges were reminiscent of the 80s, with pipe-leg pants, exaggerated shoulder pads, jodhpur pants, riding boots and lots of black and white.

Neutral colours were also prominent, with the exception of several fluorescent red and pink mini dresses.

There was greater diversity of individual garments and designers showed a lot of creativity, using buttons, can tear-tabs, curtain rings and doilies."

I am excited to see more of Igor's work soon!

"My weakness ... is architecture. I think of my work as ephemeral architecture, dedicated to the beauty of the female body."

~Christian Dior~

Xoxo,


Kat

Pro's & Con's

Every time I see your face,

You take my mind to a better place

But every time u don't take of that bling,

I remember there's nothing good this can bring

Than again you make me smile,

And I forget about it all for a while

And than again you don't call much,

So I really start missing your voice and your touch

I realize that to you I might be a passing thing,

but we're both cool and its just a fling

I love the fact that you are a man and a boy,

but I hate it when you treat me like your little toy

Its so silly how your jokes are corny and stupid,

so why do I laugh so much? Did I got hit by a cupid?

Ouu hell no Cupid! Please skip my ass!

This taken man is not getting my heart's pass!

Than again you make me smile,

And I forget about it all for a while

And than again you dont call much,

So I really start missing your voice and your touch

I love that you are artistic and strong,

So why does it then all this still seem so wrong?

Every time you call we talk for hours,

But we can't go in public and you don't send me flowers

You wrote me a song, the sex is bombastic,

I'm happy around you and feel fantastic

I miss you often but feels stupid to say,

I know you always travel, and that you have to play

I date other guys, they're nice, I make excuses, I get serious with some...

....but than you make me smile, and I'm yours for a while....

OMG WTF is going on with us? LOL

  




 Since the first rays of sunshine peaked out I can see new bloomed optimism on peoples faces around town. Its like they are carefully and suspiciously taking of their layers of protective clothing they were wearing all through the viciously cold and dark winter. 


However, in part due to natural disasters and in other part due to economic crises (thank you Wall Street- not only you messed up my boyfriend but you also f...up the economy) people are less enthusiastic and more careful about not only investing, falling in love, planning families, booking vacations and buying fabulous clothes and shoes but also people are distancing themselves more from each other in this age of financial uncertainty by spending more time on the internet and communicating via social networks than in person.


   Lets face it. I mean, I am registered and actively using all social media there is, but I do feel the lack of face to face communication. Online, SMS and even video communication simply is still to primitive to replace the tone of the voice, facial gestures, the smell of the perfume, body language and the touch which are crucial for human existence and procreation. Thinking back, I used to be sad. But now I am still confused on WTF has happened and what is that I wrote or didn't write in my text message in the middle of the night to my ex to make him hate me so much and never want to talk again. Gotta love long distance SMS relationship and breaking up by changing relationship status on Facebook - very mature! 


 I am sorry, but facebook hug and kiss is not gonna cut it for me!I freaking hate those! Whenever somebody sends me one, I think to myself: Pick up the damn phone and call me you cheap jerk!
Whats next? SMS proposal? Twitter weeding? Giving birth to facebook baby via artificial IM insemination? I can see my husband asking me whats for dinner by adding comment to my blog or facebooking (yes its a word now) me that he paid the bills or forgot to pick up the child from school! 


Are all these cool new technologies bringing us closer and making the communication easier or pulling us apart? Who will you hug to sleep tonight your girlfriend or your iPhone? Will you wake up to kiss somebody or to check your facebook updates?

Xoxo,


                    Kat

Baby love.....

  Yesterday I traveled to Split for a press conference for one of the charity projects my company closed with handing over the purchased donations to different child care institutions. The event was held in local orphanage where we used the donation money to build little playing houses on their playground - this is what kids requested at the start of this campaign. 

  Children prepared a surprise theater play for my company, our client donors and the media - I was surprised how professional and dedicated they were in acting, the message they were trying to send with their performance was that material things are not what they need the most - mothers love, hug, kiss, kind word, human touch and some one-on-one attention is what they were craving for. The play was really emotional for us all, company directors, looking serious in their suits were visibly shaken by kids performance.

         The catering was served and kids were shy to eat, they were just kind of walking around checking us all out. While directors were giving statements to media, I sat down to check gazillion messages on my phone received during the play. My pink iPhone cover attracted the little girl -Ana Marija. She asked me to see the phone, she tapped on it couple of times and found the game of dress ups on it. In first couple of minutes she broke my record (and she was 9, which was kind of depressing for me). I could notice the lack of trust towards people in her eyes. I asked her if she would like me to bring her something to eat, she nodded - no.

                                  

 My motherly instinct kicked in, so I went to get a plate and put together some protein, veggies and carbs - a spoon full of each and offered it to her. She eyed me suspiciously and asked me to restart the game for her - I said I will if she eats something, so she did.

  Seconds later a boy - Ivica ( skinny, dark hair, blue eyed 6 grader) approached me and asked me what's my name. I introduced myself. He asked if I am a singer, am I from Zagreb, how old I am and if I have a boyfriend. I said I am not a singer and laughed ( I though to myself - trust me hon, you do not want to hear me sing). I said I was 25 and he smiled and said - OK, thats just 12 years difference :) He said he played basketball and that he would love at least for once in his life visit Zagreb. Ivica sat down couple of chairs away and kept coming back next to me once he though of a new question to ask me.

                                      

  In less than an hour I totally fell in love with these kids. When I was leaving Ana Marija was crying, she gave me a hug and shoot me with disappointed look. Ivica played it cool and quietly walked upstairs where their bedrooms are. I walked out to make some final arrangements with the agency and the media. As I was walking towards the car, somebody called my name - I looked up and Ivica was waiving through the window. A foot beneath him Ana Marija sticked her little pink nose from crying and her little two palms to the window glass.

This pushed me over the edge. I was crying during the whole trip home like a baby, as I remembered some recent personal challenges and a painful breakup. 

"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, 
home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for."

Killer shoes

How many of you have heard the expression: would kill for shoes or will work for shoes?

 If you think this is a just a figure of speech you haven't been shopping for shoes on a sale day in Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman or Saks. Trust honeys, its dangerous out there!

 There are a couple of key rules to follow in order to survive: 

Rule #1 

Do not touch the shoe until the other women has completely placed it down on the shelf and walked away at least 2 feet at a steady pace without turning her head (give it time, she might be back)

Rule #2

Do not flatter or  insult with an intention to change once mind from buying or it may result in a mob (girl never shops for shoes on a sale day alone - it's to dangerous)

Rule#3 

Do not (and this is the most annoying) make piles and guard them - pick - try - pose -move to the next one, should be simple as that

 If you think job market is competative right now, during crises, you don't have a clue. Looking at this old Harpers Bazaar editorial made me remember The Rules and how much I really enjoy the process of looking for and finding the perfect shoes, and let's face it, we never seem to have enough of them.

I first started to go deaper into thinking about shoe design while I was interning in Showroom Seven in New York. I worked with Chris who was really talented and creative guy. Chris worked in jewelry merchandising and sales which seemed to limit his creative potential and his aspirations. He wanted to go to Europe to study shoe design. I wonder if he ever went...we lost touch after I started to work in Ralph.

Although economy is tough, lets not forget about our deserved splurges and if we need to go down, lets go down in style!

Here are some awesome pieces to ticke your fancy. 

                                                  

Funny that a pair of really nice shoes make us feel good in our heads - at the extreme opposite end of our bodies.  

Levende Waters

Xoxo,

           Kat

Fashion for Compassion

Every Saturday I plan to be productive. Productive being - doing stuff I don't have time for during the work week.


Once I got up (and those who know me know how horribly confused I am when I wake up) it took me almost two hours to get ready for the gym. After the gym, I ran home where a smell of freshly baked crepas welcomed me.
        
Coming home, although in a rush to get ready, I noticed small things I usually do not. 
My mum's freshly cleaned kitchen, fresh crepas and warm milk on the kitchen table, the smell of the fabric softener coming from the scarves she hang to dry. This feeling brought back now sad memory of my past relationship. 


During my subway ride on the N train,after I would meet my ex to pick up the keys from his apartment cause he had to stay at work until late, on that dreadful brick walled 49th Street, never knowing when he will come home to bed....

 I was planning what groceries I needed to get from the small grocery on the corner, where the (always confused looking but friendly) Chinese guy used to work. 


Then I would rush to the apartment with these bags of groceries, dropped them on the kitchen counter, opened all the windows to air out the apartment from boyfriends smoking before going to work, cleaned out all the messes and started to prepare the late dinner. While the food was cooking I would shower (and do my Shakira solo - I could because he was not there to make fun of me) and got ready for bed, light some candles and hoped to stay awake until he arrived. I hated falling a sleep alone.


I really enjoyed doing this for him, that was my favorite part of the day and will never forget him coming home one day running up the stairs loudly and saying: "I love how when you are here my apartment always smells so nice." Duhhh,  I though.... that's cause I clean it. :) 


      Back to present. So, I took a quick shower ate couple of crepas and ran to get ready for "PechaKucha 20x20 night" at MSU (museum of modern art in Croatia). Pecha Kucha is Japanese word for " the sound of conversation". 

The project originally started in Japan and then spread across the world. In the light of recent tragedy which devastated Haiti, together with Architecture for Humanity, "PechaKucha 20x20 nights" are organized in over 230 cities around the world including Zagreb and Rijeka in Croatia in a form of informal and fun gatherings where creative people get together and share their ideas and works in Pecha Kucha 20x20 format.

      Basically, each has 20 slides of pictures on topic of his choice and 20 seconds to present each slide, this is the 5th time this event it taking place in Croatia, this time the money gathered for tickets goes to aid Haiti victims. 

More that 230 000 people died in Haiti earthquake. The country was poor before this earthquake and a vast number of people have now lost their already modest homes and the rain and the flood season hasn't even begun. They are predicting another, even stronger earthquake to hit Haiti this season. Based on some estimates it will take 3 years just to clear out the remains, and 10 years to rebuild. Croatian people have gathered 4 million Croatian kuna so far, which helped open 7 emergency clinics for vaccination and other medical needs.


First presentation was held by local Caritas representative - his slides were pictures of dead people, crying babies and ruined cities. His presentation was a call for compassion and help. A call to care about the problems of people hundreds of miles away, as somebody did for us during the War in Croatia in 1990s. I cried like a baby on his second slide - took me exactly 40 seconds. 


After him, 12 artists presented their work: musicians, architects, fashion designers, actors etc.
One of which was igle studio, represented by duo of lady fashion designers, already established on Croatian scene, who's presentation was a slideshow of photographs which famous photographer took during making of the photo documentary "Fashion Story from Croatia". 


At the end, all of the participating cities went live for a couple of seconds via live stream online - it was so moving to see how the people from around the world at the same time were united to help the suffering people of Haiti.


After the event, still emotional and feeling goosebumps, I went for a drink with Ivan and a friend from Miami who is a DJ and came to play for a night in one of the Zagreb's night clubs. 

"Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean."

~R.Satoro~

Xoxo,


              Kat

I SPY: La Café Flores, Zagreb.

Last night I decided I shall for once, for once, relax during the weekend and do something for myself - just something - anything really. So I did. 
          
As one of my new years resolution was to get reacquainted and reintroduced with my hometown - Zagreb, as a young adult who traveled a lot, lived overseas "got to know the world" and finally came back home - semi-matured. I decided to be proactive and I started working on it. This way I can for once check off something on my new years resolution list (FYI - going to the gym daily is still on, keep your fingers crossed for me to continue and I shall be the tight butt bomb this summer on the beach - unless mum's evilly good cooking prevails). 
      
Once my iPhone "used to think its cool, now annoying" melody rang - Wakeeeee upppppp!!!Why wontttt youuuu waaaaake upppp!!! I jumped out of the bed, opened the window to see that it is super sunny outside and the huge amount of snow that fell during last few days is finally melting. 
I called a friend and we decided to hit the Zagreb's Saturday morning "wanna be seen and photographed in my best clothes" rush hour, and explore the city to find a café we haven't been in yet. First I went to get the British Vogue's  March edition with fabulous Alexa Chung on the cover wearing all Ralph Lauren Spring 2010 RTW ( notice the fabulous beaded denim jeans bellow).

 We walked around a bit, he got his "Sports Daily" to sink in all the info he needed to know before the handball game at the evening. We finally walked in one of the small side streets to find the Institute Parfumeur Flores in all of its grace - it is an niche perfume shop founded by Mr. Teo Cabanel, they hold the finest and most luxuries custom made perfumes - royalty favorites. Within, there is a small café as well, with wonderful warm and soft pastries and coffee with cream in a heart shape ( I totally fell for that).
The most beautiful part you can see bellow my dears....

Thats right darlings...these are not Bergdorf Goodman Christmas edition windows your are looking at, in the NYC. Ouu noooo, these are windows of the Café de Flores - in the tiny street in Zagreb. 

Here you can buy the most elite French perfumes or scented candles and have a warm home brewed coffee with cream in a heart shape and soft fresh cookie on a side, served by a cute waiter, all in an artistic and luxurious yet small and intimate environment while you are reading a March edition of British Vogue in a good company. Ahh...splendid Saturday morning....

 Whats up New York? You better step it up!

Xoxo,

           Kat