I hate winter.

Ok, maybe I don’t hate it hate it… except when I do. Like now. After a relatively mild holiday season, temperatures have taken quite a dive in Switzerland (in all of Europe in fact), and now it is really, really cold outside! So cold that as a result I have been kind of wishing I was a bear, so I’d have an excuse to stuff my face for several days and then go on a looooong nap, but not before saying “See ya! Wake me when spring comes!”

Failing that, I have been anxiously and not-so-patiently waiting for the upcoming 2-week vacation (what the Swiss call Sportferien), so I can become a near-shut-in and kid myself that just because I am a warm-blooded, I-love-the-beach island girl it doesn’t mean I won’t at some point get used to the Swiss winters.

Gah.

Unfortunately I am not a bear (though on days when lack of sleep and PMS collide, my mood may suggest otherwise), and I cannot become a shut-in even if I wanted to (which I don’t, not really), ’cause eventually you just have to leave the house, everyone has things to do and people to see. Which means that when you do leave the house, you should also be presentable, i.e. not in your flannel pajamas and wrapped in a comforter and wearing those  weird lined Crocs which frankly send as many shivers down my spine as the freezing temperature does.

My solution? Layering.

That lovely blouse is waaay to light to wear in such inclement weather, but pop a thin woolen turtleneck underneath, and you don’t have to save it until spring. Balance the casual touch layering adds by wearing an extra-girly or bling-y piece, like a gold necklace or an armload of thin bracelets. Pair it with black pants (a skinny cut works best with a voluminous top) and some black hiking-inspired boots, so you’ll look put together but not risk slipping or getting your feet wet on a snowy sidewalk. Add a cat eye, a warm woolen coat, a thick scarf and cute hat, and you’re good to go.

And now excuse me while I go put on my own layered outfit to brave the outside temperatures once more. Brrr.

How is the weather where you live? How do you cope with low temperatures?

A cute tank, some stylish sunnies, a fab pair of wedges, my trusty SPF, and a chic carry-on.

3. What item would you buy before the trip to take with you?

Definitely these sandals. I love the bright color and my wardrobe is brimming with bows!

4. The last quotable thing you heard or read, and why did it leave an impression?

This Steve Jobs quote gets me every time. I’ve definitely found what I love and I’m determined every day to do great work. Steve’s entrepreneurial spirit definitely resonates with me!

5. What inspires you right now:

In my living room, I have a New York shelf. It is home to books and TV series taking place in NYC, as well as a framed black & white photo of a lovely corner of Central Park and a paper diorama my friend Jax brought me when she visited last May.

I have been wanting to go back to New York ever since I left. I vowed to return within a year, but our Spain vacation cut right  into the time I had scheduled for my trip, and at the thought of walking aimlessly through Barcelona and exploring the Costa Blanca… I was swayed.

Long  story short, I haven’t been back since the summer of 2009 (much to the dismay of my friends). And whereas I no longer have that “someone is ripping out my heart” feeling when I think of New York, I do miss it. And I miss my friends. But it seems to be virtually impossible for me to get away for a week to travel to the other side of the globe sans famille, so… I just need to suck it up.

It was under a slightly bored-with-a-hint-of-sullen mood that I looked up New York on the Amazon.com website. We are all quick to call Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter etc “time suckers”, but if we were to track down the original time sucker, that title would proudly be held by Amazon. You go on to order a specific book, and then you find yourself clicking on similar books, and looking at all of them, and then you look at lists, and then you add stuff to your wishlist… and sometimes you emerge an hour or two later with a foggy memory of a book you wanted to check out.

Which is exactly what happened when I started looking for books about New York – do you know how many awesome books there are about the place?

I don’t know if it’s settling or if it’s stubbornly getting ready for the trip I am determined will eventually happen (and by eventually I mean before I am old and grey and all my friends have moved away, thank you very much), but I am almost ready to drop my current novel for any one of these volumes:

New York Diaries is a collection of diary entries from many different writers, artists and thinkers (some famous, some not), starting on January 1 and traveling day by day through the year, but spanning 400 years – from the early 1600s to the present. Some were New York natives, some visitors; they came from different backgrounds and different walks of life, but they all had one thing in common: they spent at least some time in New York and they chronicled their views of the city in their journals.

“Today I arrived by train in New York City, which I’d never seen before, walked through the grandeur of Grand Central Terminal, stepped outside, got my first look at the city and instantly fell in love with it. Silently, inside myself, I yelled: I should have been born here!”—Edward Robb Ellis, May 22, 1947

“My experience is that a man cannot go anywhere in New York in an hour. The distances are too great—you must have another day to it. If you have got six things to do, you have got to take six days to do them in.”—Mark Twain, February 2, 1867

I sure would like to see what all these people thought of New York, and what it was like at their time. Kind of like talking to your mother in law and old friends about what your husband or boyfriend was like as a child and as a teen – you weren’t there, but when you love someone that much it’s kind of fun to have someone else fill the blanks a little

(If you like the concept but would prefer something more recent, say from the 1930s to the present, check out My First New York: Early Adventures in the Big City (As Remembered by Actors, Artists, Athletes, Chefs, Comedians, Filmmakers, Mayors, Models, Moguls, Porn Stars, Rockers, Writers, and Others)

You can’t think of New York without thinking of its architecture. Famous for its art deco buildings and details, the city is actually home to many buildings of various and disparate styles, and I’m sure knowing more about their history and development would give any visitor (and many locals) new appreciation for structures that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.
Which is why I can think of nothing better than exploring the city with new eyes, after reading The Historical Atlas of New York City: A Visual Celebration of 400 Years of New York City’s History, or maybe New York: A Historical Atlas of Architecture. I love being able to look at things differently and discovering new details about a place I was already familiar with – it’s like finding a treasure buried in your own backyard.

The beautiful cover alone makes this book a shoo-in for my New York shelf, or more likely for my coffee table, since the great photos and interesting material make this a great conversation piece and something even my daughter will likely want to browse again and again.The story of New York from the mid-19th century to the present day is told rough  photographs, photo-portraits, maps, aerial views, and hundreds of quotations and references from books, movies, and songs.

As someone who is obsessed enough to have a New York shelf, the idea of a book containing quotes from all sorts of different sources, including music, is simply perfection.

What do you think? Would you read these books? Or any other books about a favorite city or location of yours? Or do you prefer traditional guide books for travel and novels while home on the couch?

Traveling: no actual traveling this month, but definitely some travel inspiration.

Wearing: believe it or not… beige.

Craving: sunshine, warmth…  yellow. Also, statement necklaces and the Jason Wu for Target collection!

Loving: studs, iPhone apps, glittery keys… among other things.

Oh, and this dress.

Resolving: to focus on the right things.

Watching: The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, at the movie theater with my expat pal Emma. Rooney Mara is great as Lisbeth!

Shopping: at Zara for colorful accessories

Reading:  A Clash of Kings, book two of A Song of Ice and Fire and the sequel to A Game Of Thrones. These books are really, really good, and amazingly enough, the TV series does the characters justice. Can’t wait till it comes out on DVD in March!  

Painting: my nails with OPI Metro Chic.

Eating: the vanilla cupcakes I made for my brother in law’s birthday.

How about you? What have you been up to this month?

Yeah… that would be me. Whoops. Mind you, beige can be boring. It is entirely possible to make neutrals boring – beige by no means has the exclusive on that, you can also do it with black, navy and grey.

I used to think people who wear beige are no fun. What I have realized however is that beige actually enables you to have more fun! Quirky accessories, loud patterns, bright colors? Pair them with beige, and you are toning them down just enough to make them oh, so wearable!

For instance, I tend not to wear gold jewelry much. Next to my olive skin it feels too… kitsch. But pair a couple of gold pieces (even something quirky like these owl earrings) with beige, and – surprise! – the effect is nicely understated (and yet, not boring!)

Lesson learned. So much so in fact, that I have already indulged in a little more non-boring beige.

How about you? What’s your take on this neutral shade?

If you know me personally or if you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you no doubt know how much I love traveling.

Source: etsy.com via Elisa on Pinterest

Do you remember what it felt like to meet a cute boy or develop a new crush as a teenager? The excitement, the nervousness, feeling giddy, like you have so many emotions building up and fighting to get out that you are not sure if you are going to explode in a fit of giggles or start crying from the sheer emotion overload? Thinking that he was absolute perfection, often simply because he was so uniquely him? Wanting to sometimes just stare and take it all in?

That is how I feel when I visit a new place.

The excitement starts mounting up when I book the trip, and keeps on building while I wait for the time of departure to come, while I do research, look at photos, plan possible itineraries, imagine getting lost in little streets and interacting with locals in the most mundane, normally unexciting ways.

Source: sundayinbed.tumblr.com via Elisa on Pinterest

Packing for the trip might occasionally get my mind off things for a brief moment, because I am a tad neurotic about packing just right. But by the time I board the plane/train or get in the car, the excitement usually prevents me from taking a nap or focus on a movie or book (with the exception of guide books, of course.)

By the time we actually get there, the excitement has reached stratospheric proportions and I can barely handle it. When our destination finally appears into view I often have to fight back tears, in part from sheer relief that we actually made it there, despite all the organizing and budgeting and suspended flights and such, and part because OMG!! We are there!!

Because of money and time constraints, this year I probably won’t travel a whole lot.

My trip back to New York, the one I have been planning for months? Not going to happen.
I am crossing my fingers that I’ll manage to sneak a weekend in Berlin in the fall and perhaps a few days somewhere pretty during the Easter weekend, but really, it’s all up in the air and aside from my trip home to Sardinia in May, I could easily be stuck in The Great Land of Cheese and Chocolate for the whole year.

Just saying that aloud (or typing it) makes me feel… not unlike a beached whale.

To fight those feelings (frustration, disappointment, beached-whale-ness) I decided to go on Pinterest and take a few virtual trips by looking at some of the gorgeous photos of places I haven’t yet visited or places I have already traveled to and would love to visit again (and again, and again!)

but frankly I was just getting more wistful and my mood showed no improvement.

So I decided to focus on something that’s much easier to accomplish: lovely places within Switzerland, or at least at driving distance from Zurich. Why feel all travel-deprived when I have some gorgeous places fairly close to home?

Here’s the list I came up with:

40 minutes away: Lucerne
Sure, I have been there before, but there’s so much more to see! For starters, I haven’t even peeked at the old town, nor walked along the Rathausquai; I haven’t seen the sleeping lion nor taken a boat trip on the lake. Plus I know Krystal wants to show me some cute boutiques.

Source: google.com via Emily on Pinterest

1 1/2 hours away: Bern
Aside from arriving at the Bern station a couple of times when I went to visit M. and a walk through the old town when we went to get our Visas before moving to NY, I haven’t seen Bern – I mean properly visited it, the kind of visit that a capital city or any city so rich in culture, history and beautiful  architecture actually deserves. Must change that.
Before the year is out, I plan on visiting Bern properly and spending time exploring, photographing and enjoying the best this beautiful city has to offer.

1 hour and 40 minutes: Lindau
My husband suggested a trip to the Bodensee a few times, but frankly, with all the lakes we have in Switzerland I have a hard time keeping them straight. Now, the Bodensee is actually Lake Constance for those of us not of the German-speaking persuasion, part of which is in Switzerland, and part in Germany. Lindau is a lovely island on the German side of the Bodensee – excuse me, of Lake Constance. And based on a few photos I have seen, the place warrants a visit. Or two.

2 1/2 hours away: Lugano
Lugano is in the only Italian-speaking canton in Switzerland, Ticino (or Tessin, if you prefer Deutch). To get there you cross one of the longest tunnels in the world, the Gotthard tunnel, which is roughly 17 kilometers long. While that is no fun if you have even a hint of claustrophobia, you are rewarded on the other side by a taste of Italy, literally: not only because of the language, but the climate is very different, much milder and more often sunny – the picture is complete when you see palm trees, something you don’t spot very often in the German part of Switzerland.
Though we briefly visited Tessin (Locarno) on our way to the Lago di Garda a couple of years ago, I haven’t been to Lugano since I was pregnant with Sarah. Which is, like, forever ago.

3 hours away: Como, Italy
We passed by Como on our way back from Lake Garda, but it was a very cold day and we wanted to make sure we wouldn’t get home too late, so we only spent a few hours there. However I really loved Como, and I have been meaning to go back since. And I promise it’s not because of the nearby designer outlet – though bonus points if we pass by there and I score something good.

Now, that should keep me busy planning and not make me feel too travel deprived, right?

In fact, I will pitch the idea of an Easter trip to Como to my husband tonight. Wish me luck. Or the patience to persevere until I’ve convinced him.

After a fairly mild Holiday Season, the temperatures have dropped here, and you know how I feel about that. To be fair, we did have a few days of sun, but it was so cold that it prompted Stella’s teacher to joke about the possibility that there was actually something wrong with the sun, since its rays seemed to bring only light but no warmth at all. (… ok, maybe you had to be there.)

After whining about the grey, dark days, it feels like someone is playing a cruel joke: Here, have some sun, you spoiled brat. But make no mistake, it is still friggin’ winter, you silly cow.

Yes, I know that it’s good to have seasons and all, but I can’t help but long for warmer spring days – hence the yellow collage, ’cause yellow just seems to exude warmth, doesn’t it? And boy, could I do with some warmth. Brrr.

I hope it’s warmer where you are!

Image credits: 1. Bart Brussee via 79 Ideas; 2. Kate Spade; 3. Pinterest; 4. Hauté Mama’s Faves; 5. Apartment Therapy; 6. Style Me Pretty.
All images found through Pinterest. 

tights • shorts • pumps • lipstick • pinwheel studs • pearl studs • heart studs • star studs
wrap bracelet • spike bracelet • bangle • bangle set

I have ooohhed and aaahhed over a lot of iPhone cases, but I’m pretty sure these are the cutest ever. (And if you’d love to have some of those patterns as backgrounds, there’s an app for that!)

Speaking of iPhones, have you heard of iPhonography? It’s a whole movement about taking pictures with your iPhones; there are sharing apps (you have no doubt heard of Instagram), fancy photo apps, tutorials… and now there’s also this really realistic iPhone case.
(P.S. No need to feel left out if you have an Android, there are fancy photo apps for you, too!)

Simple black outfit, nude nails, and gold sequined clutch. Simply fab.

If you are a serious coffee junkie and consume enough cups of Joe for it to qualify as a major food group, you’ll probably love this.

I love makeup, yes, but one thing I never leave home without natural is lip balm. If it’s lightly tinted and/or smells delicious, even better. So this is right up my alley!

If you love novelty items and like elephants you really need to check out what Erin put together.

Rustic loveliness. They'd be perfect for an outdoor party!

I kind of wish I had seen this before Christmas, but hey, better late than never!

Now, tell me this isn’t the most adorable princess party you have ever seen.

The best way not to get your keys mixed up? Why, glitter, of course.

Image credits: 1. Oliver & Lilli’s; 2.The Drifter & The Gipsy.

I got this award from my fellow Swiss expat and bloggy friend Linda, and a while back from the lovely Erin– thank you ladies! The rules dictate that I:

Why mess with a good thing??

8. EVERYDAY ATTITUDE: Whatever the modern-gal spin on “The hills are alive with the sound of music” is

SEVEN RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME:

1. I haven’t cut my hair really short since I was very young. The shortest I’ve had it since was an angled bob in 2009.

2. I don’t have TV connection at home, on purpose. It’s easier to keep our TV watching in check and to be more discerning (except for guilty pleasures, see above.) I watch some stuff online, buy our favorites on DVD and a lot of stuff… I simply don’t watch it.

3. Which I could live without TV, I coulnd’t live without books. I am an avid and voracious reader and I like a lot of different genres; I’ll be reading chick lit one day, then follow it with a classic, then follow that with a nutrition book or a travel book.

4. I hate the way I sound son the phone. My voice sounds like I’m about 12 years old.

5. I haven’t had chewing gum for nearly 8 years.

6. I hate going to the dentist. Like, really hate it.

7. As much as I miss New York and love the East Coast, California will always have a piece of my heart and I would really, really love to live in San Francisco!

I GIVE THIS AWARD TO:

I want it all

I want it all

I want it all

And I want it NOW!

sang the Queen. And this is exactly how I feel about the upcoming Target collaboration with Jason Wu.

I could tell you how talented I think he is, and how every time I see one of his designs I just mentally drool all over the place.
I could tell you how awesome it was to see some of his creations and him, in the flesh, last year at the Zurich Fashion Days.
I could tell you how I marvel at his ability to design clothes that look incredibly chic and amazingly wearable at the same time.

But I think I will simply show you a few pieces from the collection he designed for Target, instead – and let you be the judge.

Every piece in the collection will be priced between $20 and $60, and will be for sale in Target stores starting on February 5th. Now, this is one collab I would simply hate to miss, so I might have to beg one of my friends in the US to grab a few pieces for me!

How about you? Does anything here strike your fancy?