I wish....

Since I was a child, I knew what I wanted. 

I was not good in planning how to get to it as I can't keep my focus on one thing for a long time, but I always mutlitask. Most of the times I would improvise and I do most things last minute (which I would like to change) but I always know exactly what I want and I achieve it sooner or later.

My family used to call my plans and drawings “rich imagination” or “dreaming” but recent discovery of my “map of life” which I drew when I was 14 and theatrically and romantically burned a bit at the ends to make it look more vintage.

Finding this forgotten map in my room surprised my family quite a bit, every single point of this map was very precisely completed, from my life and studies in US, my basketball career, my choice of a certain type of men for boyfriends (tall menJ ), career focus on fashion and working in big company afterwards.

So…I decided to use this post as my "grown up map", as there is obviously some truth in the fact that you accomplish things easier when you put them down in writing (I am the living proof as it seems :)).

Just to explain...I am not making a to do list here…God knows I have to many of those. I am meerly writing this as an inspiration board and as a draft of my plans for the next couple of holiday days ahead with an overal guidelines for what I would like next year to look like for me. I hope you will to find it inspirational or at least calming :)

I wish…

....for a stress free,work free Christmas dinner with my family.

“Other things may change us, but we start and end with family.”

 Anthony Brandt

...I wish to spend more time and give more of my undivided attention to my attention craving and human childlike acting dog Papi…

“My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet.“

Edith Wharton

I wish to continue to grow and learn doing the job I love every day, exploring my interests in fashion through my blog & my column while learning to be more patient and open with people and slowing down a bit now and then…just to be at peace for a while and clear my thoughts here and there...

“It is only when we silent the blaring sounds of our daily existence that we can finally hear the whispers of truth that life reveals to us, as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts.”

K.T. Jong

I wish everything goes well and we welcome the first baby in our family in about 8 months from now (no its not me but I like the suitcase)...

“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…”

I wish to have a great relaxing fashion crisis free first New Years evening with no special expectations with my boyfriend.

"We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.

We are going to put words on them ourselves.

The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."

Edith Lovejoy Pierce

I wish no one would ask me again why do I do it or if it’s hard…cause they just don’t understand…yes I am sure, yes I like it and I choose it to do it my way...

“Missing someone gets easier everyday because even though you are one day further from the last time you saw them, you are one day closer to the next time you will.”

All I want for Christmas is....

Many of us are kind of planning Christmas shopping for weeks and then all of a sudden some anomaly in scheduled week happens its like the black hole in time continuum and all of a sudden - upsss…tomorrow is Christmas Eve and you still don’t have all of the presents and you are terrified to enter the stores because all of those nice-mannered fashionistas all of a sudden start acting like they have been let out of prison early and didn’t have time to adjust back to civilization so they are pushing and pulling each other while waiting in lines to pay or to try on stuff.

So, if you don’t have time to look around or you are scared to get hurt during Christmas shopping mania you can be sure some of my recommended gift ideas bellow, all made by Croatian designers will  look fabulous under every fashionistas Christmas tree!

All Croatian designers:

Elfs / Lei Lou by Alex Dojčinović / Juraj Zigman / Ledenko shoes / Fensice / Ženski rokovnik

In my next  post, tomorrow, I will write about some quick and simple ideas on how each of you very busy working girls can decorate your home in a bit of a less traditional and less expensive way for holidays as well as about some cool ideas on how to make some of the presents on your own. J It is 2 am now and I am finalizing one of the 2 presents I am making for my boyfriend.

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.

Roy L. Smith

I SPY: at Mimi's in Madrid.

One of my now favorite places in Madrid is most definitely at Mimi’s.

Mimi’s Craperia with its old fashion exterior and more modern interior with crystal chandeliers, 80s cooking appliances, proudly displayed huge jars of everyone’s favorite crape topping – Nutella and most importantly friendly staff from Balkan countries, tons of positive energy in the room and the crapes to die for is definitely a place I open heartedly recommend you to visit when you are in Madrid. Kind warning! – You might get hooked and come back again the same day!

This cool little café in very center of Madrid close to plaza Mayor in the building of the oldest hotel in Madrid, serves amazing crapes of all kinds: salty and sweet, with fresh fruit, ice cream, Nutella, cookies, various nuts or any other toping you can think of appropriate to be eaten as a full meal morning to evening. You can also purchase your crape as part of the daily special with a cup of coffee and a soft drink on a side if you wish.

This is where my boyfriend and I come after his games when I visit, hang out and eat our favorite crape with Nutella, banana, cookies and coconut with vanilla ice cream on a side!

p.s. My friend Zoran saids their Tiramisu is also amazing!

What's yours favorite place in Madrid?

El hogar es donde esta el corazon....

The worst thing about going away 

is fighting every little piece of me which just wants to stay.

The hardest thing to do 

is leaving without being sure that giving my all is good enough for you.

The worst thing is the day before, 
when sadness silently floats around the room, 

next morning you come home to an empty house and can still smell around what's left of my perfume.

All the feelings which are left unsaid 

keep spinning around in different forms in my head.

While I am walking towards the plane 

trying to silence my heart and listen to my brain...

...I kind of wonder where is home?

….with you where my heart is …or there where I’m from….

Fancy Giveaway winner!

 I am happy to announce the winner of my Fancy Giveaway which ended December 5^th at midnight. The lucky giveaway winner is Andrea with a nickname Little Miss Sunshine and she named her Fensica sheep – Barbara!  The winner was selected via list randomizer.

Andrea I hope you will send us the photo of the outfit you put together with your Fensica sheep!

Thank you all for participating, keep following La Passion pour la Fashion and participating in my upcoming giveaways!

Xoxo from Madrid

Día dos: YSL Restrospective @ Madrid

I was thrilled to go and see Yves Saint Lauren Retrospective exhibition here at Madrid’s La Central yesterday! I felt like walking into fashion Narnia. There was about 20 minutes wait to get it although exhibition is open since the beginning of October, seems like the interest is vast. The entrance was free as the exhibition was sponsored by the Pierre Berge Yves Saint Lauren foundation.

Exhibition was shown on three floors and it was organized into 11 sections that display about 150 examples of haute couture and prêt-a-porter, shown together with various photographs and films and with about 81 sketches, 46 toiles and models for hats showing the work and life of this remarkable designer from his first creations in Dior in 1958 to his last collection presented at the Centre Pompidou in 2002.

Through this exhibition one can see many garments that revolutionized the traditional definition of the elegance with garments like: tuxedo and jumpsuit…. all still relevant today, which provoked scandals in their day. As they say, Coco Chanel has liberated women, but YSL has liberated fashion.

The other focus of the exhibition was the process of creation on its own, showing personal universe of YSL and places and things out of which he pulled his inspiration like Russia, Morocco and Spain.

As YSL’s partner Pierre Berge said about YSL:

“His work went far beyond that of mere fashion designer. It was created by an artist who revolutionized his own time.

It is true that his work is not sculptured in marble but it changed the life of women, empowered them and gave them confidence and self-esteem.”

Día uno: Chocolates, Starbucks & love

Agatha Louis de la Prada @ El Corte Ingles Christmas store window

Sitting in the plane from Prague to Madrid those two hours 20 minutes seemed like an eternity. I kept asking a flight attendant – are we there yet? Like the kid on a road trip with the family. I just couldn’t wait to finally see my boyfriend. I walked so fast to luggage check that the other people from my flight made a passage for me in the crowd probably a bit scared of my military stamping in my heels, I picked up a luggage in a second, fixed my lip-gloss and ran out and..Mwaaa mwaaa….Ante was not there yet as I was obviously too fast. In few minutes he appeared, he said he missed the exit to airport twice out of excitement.

\
He was wearing a green and black sweat suit combo, his favorite, with his signature messy hair and in the car there were 88 chocolates waiting for me together with a Christmas star flower, he didn’t know the flower was related to Christmas but he said the store didn’t have regular flowers J LOL

Most of the next day I was sleeping, cooking, kissing, shopping , ending the day with getting the fabulous (as Ante calls it Heidi) warm, soft and cozy sweater made out of 100% wool and gorgeous Lamb skin leather jacket @ Zara (Spain’s signature brand). There is one more piece I am looking to get while I am here – new black motorcycle boots.

I found myself shopping quite carefully and conservatively as the economy is becoming so unpredictable lately, nothing is sure – employment, pay, living expenses are rising, so I am thinking twice while picking up a piece to purchase focusing on price per wear ratio, quality of making and quality of fabrication rather the brand name which we all know doesn’t always stand for quality. In that regards, I am proud of myself knowing that the Xmass decor and discount together with stores packed with people manically shopping does not affect me much. I take more pleasure in observing gorgeous Chistmas store windows and sipping on Starbucks peppermint mocha.

I’m excited to see YSL Retrospective exhibition today before my boyfriend’s basketball game. This will be the topic of my tomorrows post. Xoxo from Madrid lovelies!