Summer Little Pleasure I: Book and Black Cherries

Every season has its specificities, its highlights and good points. But for me they are way easier to find in Summer. It feels like everything is easier during this season, to be happy is an easy game, and there are many simple activities that can make your Summer days. That is why I decided to start this mini series, "Summer Little Pleasures", where I will share with you my favorite useless things to do in Summer, simple activities that can look silly, but will make out of your Summer the best yet. 

My first Summer Little Pleasure will be to go in a park, or even in my garden, no matter if it is by a pool, the lake, or in a square of grass in the mountains, and sit down on a picnic blanket with a good novel and a bag of black cherries. How simple, right? I don't know why but to me it looks like the perfect combination for a good Summer day by myself, eating sugary fruits while reading a good book - book review coming soon by the way! I am not going on holiday this Summer, and I do not have a lot of friends in my area, so to find things to do by myself and that make me happy is crucial in my Summer ritual. Here, there is the perfect recipe. Fresh air, good book, good food, and an almost poetic loneliness. 

xo

Amy

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July Favorite Bag: Stargazing Bag, Rebecca Minkoff

I will never say enough how much I love Instagram. This platform is not only awesome to share your own images, but also to discover a tone of stuffs. And thanks to the famous blogger Camila Coelho that I follow since only few weeks, I discovered this amazing bag by Rebecca Minkoff, the Stargazing. Let me say, most of the time when I find my dream bag of the month, I do some researches on it, and I always end up visiting the brand's website to have the more details that I can. For this bag, I did the same, and let me tell you that I was shocked at the price. What, $195 for a designer bag? This is then not a dream bag anymore, but an actual one that you can actually get! Best surprise ever. Especially when we look closely at the bag.

When I saw it on Camila's Instagram, I instantly fell in love with it. I never saw this bag anywhere else before, and that is also one of the thing I like about it. It is not one of those it-bags we see on all bloggers' shoulders, it is more personal, it is more like a love story between you and the bag than a style story. You buy it because it looks like you, not because it is trendy. Of course the size of it limits you in what you can bring along in it, yet it does not really mater, we all know that style - and love ! -is more important than space. The studded stars, the details, the shape, all of it gathered together is the recipe for a unique bag, so unique that it stays discrete, reserved to some special girls with a special sense of style, a special eye. But what I loved even more is the association with the guitar strap, also by Rebeca Minkoff. It adds a rock'n'roll look, something different, something that is for sure a beautiful mix at the birth of a true love story between a bag and a girl.

xo

Amy

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Keeping a Diary

Write things down. Nobody ever gave me this tip to make my life better. And I wouldn't have guessed that to pick up an empty notebook and write in it all of my sadness and frustrations would help me get through my issues. Anxiety is still part of my everyday life today. I have issues getting rid of it, and since I do not have the possibility to talk to my therapist every time something goes wrong - which is almost everyday in my situation - I had to find a way to make myself feel better,  by myself. Which is already a complicated concept for the kind of issues that I've got. But anyway. I found something that can help me get through everyday's sadness. I keep a diary. I know, many people do, but I don't know why I did not start before. This is my new good habit since three months and a half by now, and I feel like I need it to make it through the day. Today for instance, was a very bad day. A lot of anxiety took root in me when I had an argument with my boyfriend, and the only place I could express my sadness and my stress was this diary. I just wrote down everything that I felt, and all the thoughts I was not bold enough to say to my boyfriend, all of my anger and my weirdness were on the pages of this notebook, and not in the ears of my beloved. To keep a diary just to keep a trace of your life is already such a nice thing to do, but to keep a diary of what is going on in your head when you suffer from something like anxiety, is definitely a tip I would have loved to receive earlier. It helps you realize what you came through, the progresses you made, and then to be proud of how far you've come. I still need this diary to feel better when anxiety comes my way, but now I also see that I have changed a lot, and I like better the girl from the latest pages of my notebook than the one from the first words. 

xo

Amy

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Summer Lunch

Summer is a real special season. I will talk a lot about it and about my favorite things to do during this period, and I start today by telling you about my love for Summer lunches. During Summer we meet up with family, with friends, and the best place to gather is around food. This might be the place my Summer lunches love comes from. Just some Summer fruits, cheese and bread,  a salad and some ice creams, and here you have all the ingredients needed. Effortless but yummy, the kind of lunch that pushes you to share and to participate, the kind of lunch that gathers people in the best way. On the terrace of the family house, or on a picnic blanket along the lake/river/ocean, it is the real taste of Summer.

xo

Amy

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Almond Tree, Van Gogh

To think and to look out of the box is something we tend to forget in our society. It is hard to create your own taste in a world where everybody is shaped on the same basis, learning the same ideas about the same thing. In art, it is the same. We learn about "master pieces", what this famous painter did best in his career, what was his main accomplishment, which was the painting that made out of him this famous painter. For Van Gogh, useless to say that the "Sunflowers" is for sure his most well-known work, a work that everybody look out with amazement, finding magically all the reasons why the system named this one the best one. Authority in art is art history shaped by art historians. They tell you what is worth looking at, and when you go to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, you will be sure to find everybody in front of the "Sunflowers", completely forgetting about the "Almond Tree", which is for me far better. 

I discovered this painting in Amsterdam, not during my three years studying Art History. I met this painting and I instantly fell in love with it. It was so different from the rest, so original thanks to the color palet that he choose, opposite to the sunny yellowy shades he usually worked with. This piece stand out of the crowd as for me in the career of this artist. It is maybe the piece nobody cares about, but everybody should. To enjoy it however, you have to forget about everything the authority told you. You have to forget about the "Sunflowers", you have to forget about everybody's favorite painting. Yours might be the "Sunflowers" however, it might be the "Almond Tree", it does not really matter. What matters is to learn to think and to look out of the box, here are the real treasures. I found mine. 

xo

Amy

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Summer Makeup

Summer means less makeup and a natural face! So in this blogpost I would like to share with you my Summer makeup look, which is completely different from my Winter routine, involving only a little bit of makeup and exploiting as much as I can what Summer offers, from water to sun, to make my skin naturally glow. A heavy coverage is the opposite of what we want in Summer, so it is all about using the less makeup I can. 

I start by moisturizing my skin with the Avène High Tolerance cream, the best that I found to fight the bad effect of the Summer, drying the skin really badly. Then, I use my Correcting Cream by Bourjois just to hide my blemishes and red zones, unifying my face without adding too much coverage. A creamy blush for the healthy look, at the moment I am using a Bagsy cream blush in pink, a brand I will tell you all about really soon! Highlighter, for sure, definitely needed to obtain the glow we want in Summer, and then only some mascara - obviously waterproof, I never know when I will have a swim in this hot weather, better be prepared. The last touch is the lip, hydrated as well with one of my latest purchase, the Coconut Lipbalm by Sephora, and according to my mood I add on top of it one of my beloved summer lipstick or lipgloss. Last but not least, my perfume! Better smell good, and for that there is nothing better than the "Love Story" fragrance by Chloé. Ready for Summer!

xo

Amy

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A Day In... Geneva

Sometimes we forget about the place we live in. We go there everyday, in a beautiful city, but we never think about the beauty of this place. Geneva is a city I have been studying in for three years. I left it some time ago, but with my family living nearby I am back there and I recently spent some time walking around those last few days. At the moment, I did not think about it. I was just enjoying my days, having a walk along the lake with my boyfriend, or going shopping with my family, but I only realized today, when I was at home, far from the business of Geneva, how incredible this place was. Thanks to my year off in Basel I have shared with you my trips to some other Swiss city, but I now realize that I never told you about Geneva, and after my first year in Amsterdam I realize how much I love being back here. More than showing you images, I would like to share with you what my dreamed day in Geneva is (inspired by many magical Summer days spent there with my amazing boyfriend). A beautiful town just before my eyes. 

Geneva is a fancy city, it is Switzerland, the country of banks and money, everybody know that. So even if you cannot afford this lifestyle, took a bite of it at a La Durée shop, having macarons for breakfast, maybe on a bench in the Parc de La Grange, for a beautiful start of the day. I love to spend the morning shopping in the rues de Rive, where most of the shops are located. I rather go early, before everybody come into the shops around noon. In Geneva, shopping wise, you have a lot of options, for all kind of wallets, and the temptation is at every street corner. For makeup and fashion lovers, try the Manor shop on the other side of the town, where about a year ago opened a Sephora!

For lunch, I have my favorite spot. I love to go to Edward's, where you can choose everything you put in your sandwich or salad, and they also have awesome desserts. It is for sure because the food is really good that I choose this place, but also because it has a history for me. It is where my boyfriend and I used to have lunch together when we first met and where still just friend. Delicious and meaningful, for sure I'll recommend it!

One thing you should not miss in Geneva is the old town. To be honest there is not much to properly visit apart from the cathedral, yet to have a walk around is a real pleasure for the eyes. Old houses, beautiful streets where are hidden art galleries and cute cafés, and of course a beautiful view over the lake and the famous "Jet d'Eau". 

In Summer you definitely have to go the the lake and test the water even though it is quite cold. A nice spot would be the Baby Plage or the Bain des Pâquis. It is not the sea nor the ocean, but the view is just as beautiful, in the middle of the town. To end up the afternoon with a sugary touch, have an ice cream nearby the "Jet d'Eau" and enjoy the view. 

I hesitated about evening plan to share with you, but last Wednesday my boyfriend and I did something quite simple but really nice and I think it is the best way to end up the day there. We just bought a pizza in to take away and ate it sat in the grass of the Parc des Bastions, where my old university was. It was not really a fancy dinner, but for sure one of the favorite I had in Geneva with him. I know, my travel diary is turning into an editor's letter, a declaration, but I feel sad that I never wrote about Geneva before. I mean, this city is the place where I met him, the place where we did so many things together, the place where we had our first kiss, the place where we fell in love. It is more than a simple city for me, it is a life changing place. I hope the recommendation I gave you will also change your life in the best way when you will visit them. 

xo

Amy

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Blogger Style: Chiara Ferragni

My "Blogger Style" articles matter a lot for me since I need fashion bloggers and icon to find my own style and to get inspired. Of course, I am faithful to my favorite bloggers, Song of Style, Tuula Vintage and Sincerely Jules being for sure my main inspirations. But I am always trying to find new ones, in order to first of all propose something new to you, but also for me to find new ideas and outfits that I could make mine. I have looked for a new blogger for quite a while now, and I finally stumbled upon Chiara Ferragni, from The Blond Salad, who is a blogger I used to follow some years ago. Yet for a reason I don't know I have just stopped being interested in her, and I now realize that it is because my style changed just like hers, and I do not see much in common by now, making out of her an interesting blogger but not a source of inspiration. Yet I took a look at her Instagram, and even though I am not a huge fan of her new grungy look, I must say that some of her outfits definitely caught my eye. So today I am sharing with you some of her looks that I really like, finding small pieces to inspire our daily style. 

Beach Vibe

Casual Chic

Pretty & Comfy

Pictures from Chiara Ferragni's Instagram

xo

Amy

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Weekend Inspiration I

I spend a lot of time on Tumblr to find inspiration for everything, from my wardrobe, to home decor or just lifestyle. So I have decided to launch a new category on the blog, that you will find under "editor's letter", where I will share with you some of my favorite images from this platform. Whether it is fashion, food, pets or bedroom decor, I will share here some bits of my beloved Tumblr founds. And remember that you can always follow me here! Get inspired!

xo

Amy

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