Start fresh

One can always start fresh. Especially the first day of a new week and a new month. Happy Monday.

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Words to live by

What a great title to a book! And a great advice to always keep in mind. This upcoming book is the next title in line for fashion author Amanda Brooks. Her first book, I love your style, was published a few years ago. Since then Amanda Brooks has moved from NYC with her family to her British husbands farm in England. "Life on the farm" is a frequent section on her blog. One can also get a glimpse of her life on Instagram where she posts frequently as @amandacbrooks and read a previous post with Amanda Brooks fashion advice:  "I always dress the part. My only rule was to never buy the trend of the season unless I was sure I would wear it beyond the three months of its expected fashion lifespan." The new book is out May 19. 

Words to live by

Céline taking the lead

Author Joan Didion

"The willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life 

is the source from which self-respect springs." 

- Joan Didion

I love the fact that Phoebe Philo for Céline puts 80 year old writer Joan Didion as poster girl in new campaign. Talk about celebrating beauty at any age and a step away from youth fixated fashion industry, giving the Céline brand even more cult status and impact of being a timeless brand. Joan Didion is the author of several books. Her biggest bestseller is The Year of Magical Thinking, an amazing book that I read in my book club a few years ago. Although I don´t remember the whole book (I never do, I read too many, too fast...) its' title stuck with me, being one of the most beautiful book titles.

"To free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves 

- there lies the great, singular power of self-respect."

- Joan Didion

Image from Pinterest. Quotes from Brainy Quote

Famous women on ageing

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OUTER BEAUTY
“There is a saying that with age, you look outside what you are inside. If you are someone who never smiles your face gets saggy. If you’re a person who smiles a lot, you will have more smile lines. Your wrinkles reflect the roads you have taken; they form the map of your life."
— Diane von Furstenberg, The Woman I Wanted to Be, October 2014

25 Famous women reflect on getting older, a fact none of us will escape. Better start doing our best instead, life is too short and too precious. You can read the whole article in NY Magazine but here are some of my favourites:

"I'm very f*cking grateful to be alive. I have so many friends who are sick or gone, and I'm here. Are you kidding? No complaints!" — Meryl Streep, Vanity Fair, January 2010

“I do think that when it comes to aging, we're held to a different standard than men. Some guy said to me: ‘Don't you think you're too old to sing rock n' roll?’ I said: ‘You'd better check with Mick Jagger’.” —Cher, Fifty on Fifty: Wisdom, Inspiration, and Reflections on Women's Lives Well Lived

"I find my emotions are way more accessible than they were when I was younger and I've come to feel it has to do with age. I have become so wonderfully, terribly aware of time, of how little of it I have left; how much of it is behind me, and everything becomes so precious. With age, I am able to appreciate the beauty in small things more than when I was younger perhaps because I pay attention more. I feel myself becoming part of everything, as if I bleed into other people's joy and pain." —Jane Fonda, on her blog, February 2014

"My 40s were pretty great, but now, in my 50s there comes this wonderful self-knowledge. You're not trying to be somebody else, or do something else with your life. You think: Here I am. I've gone through this, I've survived that, and I know who I am now. There's still the part of me that wants to leap at every opportunity, but now there's the other side that says, 'Let's just wait a minute and see what happens.' That's intuition, and it comes with age and experience. I'm grateful for that, for knowing that I don't have to put my heart out there all the time and can just listen to that inner voice." —Kim Cattrall, Good Housekeeping, July 2014

Be your own best friend

INNER BEAUTY - THE MONDAY PEP TALK

Well, this pretty much says it all, don´t you think?

Bon Weekend

Trying to embrace this. Wise words.

OUTER/INNER BEAUTY
Have a fabulous weekend! My weekend will consist of afternoon Champagne with the girls, body combat, yoga, and mainly just hanging around the house spending time with my family after a very busy week.

Words of wisdom {intution}

Image from Pinterest

Words to live by

INNER BEAUTY
I find this to be true, very true actually. I saw these words a few days ago and have repeatedly thought about them ever since. I don´t know about you, but for me this was a great reminder. Standing still may definitely be necessary several times during a life time, but it´s much harder to be passive but active. So let´s be nice to ourselves when life "stands still". Standing still is also a job that has to be done, maybe as prep time for when it´s (the right) time to take the next step.

Image from Pinterest via Positively Present

On being 40ish

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Kelly Rutherford, 40 ish and fab

INNER BEAUTY
"The modern 40s are so busy it’s hard to assess them. Researchers describe the new “rush hour of life,” when career and child-rearing peaks collide. Today’s 40ish professionals are the DITT generation: double income, toddler twins." As a mother of three children with the youngest being three years old, and me being 42 these days, I really enjoyed reading this article by Pamela Druckerman in NY Times where she reflects on being 40ish today, with both insight and humour. Head over here to read the whole article. I also liked the small tips she gave "gleaned from four decades of experience:)

- Do not buy those too-small jeans, on the expectation that you will soon lose the weight. 

- If you are invited to lunch with someone who works in the fashion industry, do not wear your most "fashionable" outfit. Wear black.

- If you like the outfit on the mannequin, buy exactly what´s on the mannequin. Do not try to recreate the same look by yourself. "

Words to live by

INNER BEAUTY
Oh, I just love this. Wise and beautiful. Have a great start to your Friday.

Image from Pinterest. 

Words of wisdom

INNER BEAUTY

So true. The older I get, this makes more sense. As Steve Jobs said; your time is limited, so don´t waste it. And definitely don´t wast it trying to be something else than you. Happy new week friends!

The habit of happiness

INNER BEAUTY

Note to self. At least every morning during summer. Then when the fall comes, it may be that the habit is established...

Words of wisdom - content

INNER BEAUTY
I don´t know if it´s the vacation, the summer feeling, maybe wisdom with age or finally getting it after years of practice, but lately I´ve been feeling sort of content and really in the appreciating mood for what I have. And it´s a great feeling. Note to self; try to stay in that vibe...

Vacation words

INNER BEAUTY
Happy Thursday! Very close to my upcoming vacation...

Image from Thefreshexchangeblog.com

Life wisdom from school

INNER BEAUTY

This week our daughter had her graduation from 2nd grade. I was so happy that her teachers got her this great quote that I think we adults shall not forget about either in our daily life.

“Promise me you'll always remember: 

You're braver than you believe, 

and stronger than you seem, 

and smarter than you think.” 

Christopher Robin

― A.A. Milne 

Favourite wisdom of Maya Angelou

INNER BEAUTY

The much beloved and read Maya Angelou past away this week at the age of 86. The world will remember her for her many fantastic books, but also for her short but true words of wisdom that she sprinkled over us throughout her life. Here are my favourite Maya Angelou quotes that I tend to stick to.

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style."

"Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better do better."

"I´ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

"It´s the fire in my eyes, the flash of my teeth, the swing in my waist, and the joy in my feet, I am a woman phenomenally."

R.I.P Maya Angelou.

Words to live by [literally]

INNER BEAUTY
These word will actually start off my day today, trying to do them all. What kicked this was a night of excellent sleep. You know when you wake up and realise that this is how good sleep feels like...a reminder to take responsibility for better sleep. It all starts there. I don´t know why it´s so hard to get into bed at night, having ten thousand things left to do. And some more episodes on Netflix. And that great book to read. All research shows that sleep affects almost everything in life, from diseases to performance to happiness. So from today on I will try to take sleep more seriously. Having a day off from work today might result in decluttering the bedroom as well, another fact for better sleep. Now I´m off to the gym and then on with the rest of the list. Hope you find some inspiration in this list too.

Words of wisdom

INNER BEAUTY

Words to start the day with. Letting go...

Words to live by

INNER BEAUTY

I think these words are very accurate and true. This year I have finally let go of a lot of things that were sort of just hanging on there, since a long time. It could for e g be a dream, or a prior goal, that I had been holding on to for too long, only to realise I actually don´t want that anymore, at all. Such a relief to realise that you can adjust your goals and dreams along the way, and that it is ok to do so. And a lot of this has to do with realising that you cannot change everything. "It is what it is" has been my mantra so far this year, and that my friends has been a huge relief in itself, to not fight so hard to change stuff. Just find your flow and go with it and let go of the other stuff, it is what it is, at least for a while.