L'ART OF FASHION - Page 25 of 73 - FASHIONL'ART OF FASHION

Needing less, getting more

May 16, 2016

As you might remember from my previous posts, I’ve been mentioning that I would be attending my friend’s wedding and it happened two days ago in a little town on the South of Croatia. Little town in which I grew up, went to school in and have so much that still connects me to it. Some of the memories will never die and I will always in a way or another have special place for this town in my heart.

I was happy to bring along my daughter with me to the wedding ceremony to witness one of the most beautiful moments and highlights of any relationship. I know that real love doesn’t need any papers, stamps or “files” but when there is a wedding happening already, it’s such a sweet and magical moment which makes everybody equally happy and excited to see the smiles and proudness on the faces of the bride and groom.

Seeing my friend and her now husband getting married, having that magical love aura surrounding them and being just so truly happy in that moment, right there and then surrounded by the closest people made me realise how little we need to be truly happy and how often we think that we need this or that in order to be someday completely happy. I have already touched base on this same subject before and it’s more clear to me now than ever before that…

There’s no such thing as complete happiness and there are no formulas on how to get happiness come to or be part of your daily life. We all hurt and cry, we all laugh and love, it’s just up to our inner selves how much we’ll let the real happiness be part of our daily lives. Seeing my daughter being excited and happy about the smallest things such as Kinder Surprise and which toy she’ll get in it made me think more and realise that happiness truly does lie in the smallest things and it’s never about the big things, let alone materialistic ones. I have been “guilty” of thinking that having more will give you more happiness, stability, closure… Whatever! That’s bullocks my dear readers. Core of real happiness is inside of us and it’s not up to anybody else OR hoarding on things to make us happy… It’s up to us to let ourselves BE happy and appreciate the smallest, daily life miracles. It is a miracle and a pure happiness to open your eyes every day and know that you are alive, that you breathe, that you have a possibility to do a good deed, that you have a chance to put a smile on another person’s face, that you have the choice to surprise a friend with a flower bouquet… That you have an option to be happy and spread happiness anywhere you go. It’s not in the big things, it’s not in materialistic things… It’s in that kid’s honest smile, it’s in that perfect ice cream ball in a cone, it’s in the sun that is shining today…

Thank you for reading and commenting my dears, you are among other “small things” what makes me so happy day in-day out. 🙂

I’m wearing: Shoes – Marc by Marc Jacobs, Jeans – Tiger of Sweden, Shirt – Pepe Jeans, Bag – Chloe, Bracelet – HOH1960, Long blazer – Uusi Kuu, Trench – , Sunnies – Dita, Earrings – Chanel

Lifestyle, Travel

5 for Friday

May 13, 2016

Hello everybody and greetings from sunny Croatia!! I’m here for my friend’s wedding day which is tomorrow and I’m very excited to see her take a big step in her life like this one. I’m also looking forward to just relaxing and having some fun with close friends.

I’m also here for some work and small projects which I can’t wait to talk to you about. Most of it is still “under construction”, but already next week, I’ll be kickin’ off the first assignment. 🙂 Keep an eye on this space because Croatia is a big time “hotspot” as the world’s most wanted Summer destination this year.

5 for Friday is my little roundup of 5 favourite Instagram photos which I took over the past week and if you wish to follow me daily and see what I’m up to, then def. follow me up at natakar .

Since I have a lot to do and prepare for tomorrow’s wedding celebrations, I’ll take off now, but stay tuned for so much more to come. 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend everybody!

Food, Lifestyle

Visit Helsinki: Bystro

May 11, 2016

It’s time to introduce you to one of the newest jewels on the Helsinki’s culinary scene and that is Bystro! Bystro are celebrating Russian traditional kitchen with an accent on blinis which are thick, round pancakes usually topped with different kinds of sweet or salty toppings.

Bystro are proud to welcome you to taste Russian cuisine in the middle of Helsinki city center with an incredible sea view on the port of Helsinki and Old Market Hall. Bystro are offering a lot on their menu, there’s a wide selection of finest roes and caviars, as well as a great choice of vodkas, Russian beers, tea and house shots.

Besides the regular menu, the restaurant is serving a popular lunch on every working day from 11:30 to 15 and that’s a great time and “reason” to try the all you can eat blinis with different types of roe, homemade smetana, pickles, etc. as toppings.

Usually, Russian restaurants in Helsinki are quite on the pricy side, while Bystro are maybe having “shorter” menu and are more concentrated on blinis, the prices are very affordable for the quality and authenticity of the food that’s being served.

As starters, we have tried blinis with mushroom salad, pickles and salmon trout roe with homemade smetana. Hands down, these were the best blinis I ever ate in any restaurant. So far, only my moms and Russian grandma’s ones were the ultimate winners, but Bystro’s blinis came the closest to that perfection and definitely brought me back into my childhood while we were eating those delicious bites.

As warm, main courses, we had to go with the classics such as Borscht soup and Pelmenis. Borscht soup was served in a big bowl and could easily be shared between two people. It was a warm, rich with flavour and comforting soup. I ate it with the slice of rye bread and house made Adzika spread. I gave it 5 stars! 🙂

My companion ate Pelmenis stuffed with minced meat and topped with caramelised onions and smetana. Smetana is Bystro’s own and it’s just incredible, I couldn’t believe the taste, it was like no other smetana that we have tried before. Pelmenis were done perfectly, it’s such dish that requires a great chef not to mess it up, because it’s one of the staples of Russian kitchen and not everybody can turn this simple dish into a fine dining one. Top notch! Well done Bystro!

Finally, we have finished off our lunch with Syrnikis ( small pancakes filled with fresh cheese ) served with raspberry jam and whipped cream and quark mousse with sherbet and pomegranate. Wonderful desserts that brought me back to Summers spent at my grandparents’ Datcha and the taste of fresh berries that I used to pick with them as a child and make homemade jams from, later on.

As Russian born, I am more than happy to welcome a newcomer that serves authentic, unpretentious but wonderful, homemade cooking style Russian cuisine. Thank you Bystro for welcoming us, we will be back! 🙂

*This post was made in collaboration with Bystro Helsinki, all of the opinions are my own.

*Thank you to Miss Annika for making this collaboration possible!

*Photography by: Natali K. photography

Lifestyle, Outfits

One heart in two bodies

May 9, 2016

That’s how I feel like about my daughter… We are one heart in two bodies. Ever since she was born, my world has completely changed and has never been the same. Each day, esp. since she has grown up a bit and is away at kindergarten or at a playdate, I feel that half of my heart is “gone” with her. Whenever she’s hurt or sad, I feel it double as she does… If she’s happy and smiling, I’m double as happy as she is.

I feel like this world is the most beautiful place ever each time I see her sunlike wide smile and diamond spark in her eyes shine the beauty and pureness of her soul from the inside. Becoming a mom, I didn’t take it as something that makes me somewhat better, smarter or more important than any other woman around, but being a mom def. has thought me so much about life, feelings, worries, etc. more than any other “role” in this life could. Children are our biggest teachers and they always speak the truth, no matter if we like to hear it or not. As much as I like to hear my daughter tell me how she thinks that I’m the best mom ever and that she hopes to become like me someday, I also don’t like to hear when she complains at times that I work so much and we haven’t managed to play a board game we were supposed to play 2 days ago. If anybody can quickly shake me up and make me rethink my daily life, habits, choices and “forces me” to get my time management and scheduling in order, then it’s her.

She also thought me, or should I say has reminded me to see the world through child’s eyes more often… Something that I can pass by many times on daily basis and not see it’s beauty, she will spot it immediately and see so much in perhaps, so little… Taking a moment to really “look up” and around yourself just the way that she does, made me remember what’s the core of life… To see beauty everywhere, to be happy about everything and anything. As long as we’re breathing, as long as we’re jumping in the muddy puddles, as long as we’re enjoying the sun that’s shining while laying in the park on the freshly grown green grass, as long as we stuff our faces in ice cream cones and laugh together, as long as we hold onto those precious little moments that make life so special, we’ll forget about any worries we might’ve had.

Life can be so simple, so real and so good, only if we change the way we see things and how we act or react to what happens to us on daily basis.

They say that a woman has always been a woman and she will forever be a woman, but mother, mother has been born when the child is born… The moment that birth cord has been cut, one heart has been split in two newborn bodies, one body of a child and another one of a mother. None of them existed up until that moment. That is so true! I have and always will be a woman, the one that loves unconditionally, the one that is silly, the one that is vulnerable and strong at the same time… The one that is bit crazy and different but has pure heart and a soul that hold so much inside… The one that wants to inspire and help, the one that wants to go out with her friends and have fun… But I’m also a mother… Something I never thought I’d be, something I have never been even imagining what it feels or looks like to be a mother. I’m a mother that I hope my daughter will be proud of someday and will look up to me when she decides to give birth to two bodies of one heart…

Happy Mother’s Day to me and to every single beautiful mom that I know in real or this “virtual” world!

Have a good Monday everybody!

I’m wearing: Sneakers – New Balance, Jeans – Tiger of Sweden, Sweater – Max Mara, Kimono – Asos, Bag & bracelet – Balenciaga, Sunglasses – Chloe

Lifestyle

5 for Friday

May 6, 2016

Good morning my dear readers! It’s finally a weekend and I’m very excited about it. There’s a lot of things I’m looking forward to do over the weekend and ultimately, I can’t wait to celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday. I’ve been a mom for 7+ years now and I can’t put into words what it means to me to be a mom to the most special, beautiful and smart little girl like my daughter is. <3

Are you a mom? Do you celebrate Mother’s Day this weekend too? Are you going to treat your mom something special? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

In only a few days, I’ll be travelling to Croatia and I can’t wait but it sure will be hard to leave the gorgeous weather that we’ve been having in Helsinki for over a week now! It’s a record believe me, esp. for the month of May. 😀

Past week was a mix of turbulence and chill moments so to say… I’m totally in a need of good weekend, so I’ll kick it off early and head out to do some gift shopping for my family in Croatia.

Have a great Friday and weekend everybody! May the sun shine strong wherever you are right now!

Here’s a roundup of my 5 favourite Instagram shots from the past week.

Food, Lifestyle, My Work

Visit Helsinki: Savotta

May 4, 2016

About 9 years ago, I came to visit Helsinki for the first time in my life and I was overwhelmed with how beautiful, different and somewhat mysterious this city was. I knew right there and then that I must come back to this city as soon as possible… I felt that there was just something calling my name and that 7 days spent in it were “not gonna cut it”, if you know what I mean.

Only about half a year after, I had my bags packed and I have moved to Helsinki. Ever since, I’ve been all the time learning and exploring more and more about Finnish culture, traditions, food, etc.

Let’s stay on that “food” part of exploring because today, I’m bringing you a new post from my cycle of “Visit Helsinki” posts in which I’m recommending you and presenting you the finest places in this city to stay at, dine at, go shopping, etc.

In the past 2-3 years, there’s been a boom of fine dining cuisine restaurants opening in Helsinki. It’s been very popular to have a restaurant serving Finnish food French style with a modern twist. While I’m not the biggest fan of such dining ( not that I dislike it either ), I’ve been constantly on the lookout for a restaurant that serves traditional Finnish food, the traditional way, so to say.

Savotta has it all my dear readers, the interior, the food and an overall warm vibe of a Finnish countryside. All of the waiters are dressed in typical “workers” old traditional clothes, interior is styled in “Finnish grandma’s house” and the food is hearty, delicious and as authentic as it can be.

If you want to enjoy the best of Finnish food dinner with your family or a partner while overlooking the majestic Tuomiokirkko ( White Cathedral ) and a Senate square, then Savotta is your ultimate destination! 🙂

For the starters we’ve opted to have a fish starter plate for two which consisted of: fish roll known as “kalakukko”, Carelian pastry with the egg butter, boiled and buttered new potatoes with dill, mushroom salad, salmon carpaccio cured with beetroot, marinated pickles, smoked pike with horseradish puree and baltic herring with sour cream and dill. Along with this came a small green salad and a bread basket.

Carelian pastry was one of the best ones I ever ate in Finland during my whole 9 years of living here, salmon carpaccio cured with beetroot was something completely new which I haven’t seen in other restaurants and it was one of my favourites from the starters too.

To be honest, all of this was so delicious and filling that even just eating this platter would have been enough for the two of us. Luckily, we came hungry and “food adventurous” so we were very excited to get our mains anyway.

One of the main courses was arctic char with kale, caramelised onions and baked carrots and potatoes. Alongside with it came a cucumber, dill and sour cream sauce. Everything was fitting so well together and even though it was a “simple” dish, it was explosive in richness of taste. Do I need to mention that the plate was empty really fast?! 😀

Another main course was reindeer meat with baked parsnip and mashed almond potatoes in a “sweet & sour” like sauce. Red wine gave the sweetness to it while cranberries gave it a crunch and sour kick. Wonderful, very traditional and perfectly made dish. Highly recommend it as a main course choice.

I don’t know how, but we did managed to squeeze in some desserts too! 😀 As per tradition, we went for Finnish style french toast with berries, vanilla and whipped cream and as per “modern” choice we went for Sisu ice cream with biscuit crumble, liquorice and berry sauce. I have one sentence to say: “God Lord of my sweet tooth, that was uber delicious!”

Savotta is proud to use only Finnish ingredients picked from the carefully selected small business suppliers. They’re also a part of wonderful, long lasting and one of a kind experience, restaurant chain A&S ravintolat so if you wish to check some of their other restaurants read my posts about Saslik and Saaga.

*This post has been made in collaboration with A&S ravintolat/ Savotta. All of the opinions are my own.

*Thanks to Miss Johanna Haataja for making this collaboration possible!

*Photography by: Natali K. photography

Lifestyle, Outfits

Starting fresh

May 2, 2016

Happy month of May everybody!! How was your weekend? Did you had a nice May Day celebrations? I had a chill weekend which consisted of long walks, “sucking up” all of the sunshine ( weather was incredible ) and having an ice cream by the beach. I went to Sea Life as well since I love the sea world and it’s creatures. 🙂 Sea Life always makes me calm…

I love the idea and feeling of new, fresh beginnings and every time, when the 1st of month comes around, I feel that I have a chance to press that invisible “restart” button, sort out my thoughts, have a conversation with my inner being and get a clearer picture of the path I’ll be taking on that month(s).

I feel that the time which we’re given in this life is a gift and a curse at the same time. It’s a gift, because if we use our time right, we can do so much, we can make a big difference in the world eventually and we can def. someday die knowing that we’ve done it and seen it all… But if we don’t use the time that we’ve been given to the max, we’ll always feel somehow “lost”, uncomplished and as if the time just slipped out of our hands. E’ll wake up someday when we’re suddenly 10 years older and will have no idea where did the time in between pass by.

Writing down 5 things I’m thankful for and 5 things that I want to accomplish/ do each month does help me see and feel that I’m using my “fresh start” correctly or they give me perspective on what I could and want to do more of in the next month.

Couple of years ago I had the attitude of “there’s still time” and a lot of days were taken for granted because of that. I only now see that the time we’ve been given is so precious, uncontrollable and it might end tomorrow, so hitting the refresh or restart button every 1st of the month has proven to be a very good thing for me.. It also made me much more humble in sense that I’ve learned to find the beauty everywhere around me, in the smallest of the things. Hitting the restart button made me see that when you do a lot of little, but significant things each month, you’ll end up having a year that will equal the value of 5 years of being “lost in translation”.

Go, hit that restart button today and make this month of May the best one so far. 🙂

I’m wearing: Ballerinas – Chanel, Bag – Gucci, Scarf & trench – Burberry, Sunglasses – Celine, Dress & ring – Free People, Bracelet – Kate Spade, Longline blazer – L.A.M.B

Lifestyle, My Work, Travel

5 for Friday

April 29, 2016

Good morning world and hello FriYAY!! I’m back with my 5 for Friday post where I’m sharing my favourite 5 Instagram photos from the past week. If you wish to follow my daily adventures on Instagram, please do check out my profile HERE!!

One more working week is almost behind us and “the” mark of 1st of May is coming this Sunday! I just can’t wrap up my head around the thought that 5th month of this year is kicking off… Time flies and there’s still so much that I want to do and complete in this year. I better start driving bit faster and take my foot off the break for a little. 😀

What are your plans for the month of May? I’m taking off to Croatia soon and I can’t wait for that. I will do my best to bring /create some awesome content to share with you. It’s such a gorgeous country, esp. in the end of Spring and whole Summer, there’ s just no better place to be at. 🙂 Also, as I’ve mentioned already, my childhood friend is getting married so I’ll be happy to get all dolled up and celebrate with her!! It’s been about time to go out “properly”. 😀

After a week of rain and clouds, it’s finally sunny in Helsinki and I’m about to hit the gym and after that, I’m off to two meetings, but in between, I’ll make sure to inhale some of that natural D vitamin in some of adorable cafe terasses in the city center.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Food, Lifestyle, My Work

Visit Helsinki: Toscanini

April 27, 2016

Growing up in Croatia and eating the finest of Mediterranean cuisine, including my mom’s and grandma’s impeccable cuisine, I was born to be a self-proclaimed foodie master! 😀 I’ve always loved good food and my standards to what tastes good have developed through the years, so by this age, if I’m eating at home, I make sure to buy only the high quality ingredients when cooking my lunches and dinners because I’d rather buy something bit more expensive in the food aisle and save on that 10th, unnecessary skirt for the Spring/ Summer “wardrobe refreshment”!

Yeah, I know, not so fashion thing of me to do. When I do go out for a lunch or dinner, I wanna go to places which deserve a dollar to be spent there… There’re way too many restaurants nowadays but not many do give what they ask you to pay for. Bummer, I know, so that’s why I’m more than happy to once again bring you an article from my cycle of “Visit Helsinki” posts in which I’m presenting you the best places to visit, dine at, hotels to stay at, etc. in case that you find yourself visiting my city this Summer perhaps! 🙂

If you are a local or somebody who’s living nearby, even better, then you get to test these places even sooner and share your experiences with me!

Going back to me growing up in Croatia, I have practically lived on an Italian food for a good amount of my life. I know how “the real” Italian food should taste and look like, so upon moving to Helsinki, Finland almost 9 years ago, I didn’t really have a chance to satisfy my Italian cuisine cravings. What was presented to me here as “Italian food” was a far cry from that. Ever since, I’ve been on a hunt for the real deal and I finally found it at Toscanini restaurant ran by a proper Italian chef! Hallelujah!! Pasta perfection here I come!

Toscanini restaurant is a “house restaurant” of a design hotel Klaus K which happens to be one of my favourite hotels ever. That’s how I came in “touch” with Toscanini for the first time about a year ago, by ordering in a room service for dinner. I remember thinking that my dinner was so delicious that I must pay a visit to this restaurant in person and not only via room service delivery.

I did it… Ok, a year later, but I still did it and guess what? The food is absolutely amazing and if I wasn’t looking outside the window on the Boulevard street and seeing the Finnish “Spring weather”, I would totally think that I’m in Italy, by the sea and any moment now Eros Ramazzotti songs will start blowing from the speakers. 😀

Besides weekly changing lunch menu, Toscanini are serving a full course, a-la carte menu in the evening times and over the weekend. There’s a little bit of everything for everybody and I’m so happy to see a menu which is not 3 meters long one with various pasta and pizza options, as it’s usually the case with all of the touristy versions of Italian restaurants I’m used to see around.

As starters we’ve opted for fish and seafood soup aka bouillabaisse flavoured with chilli and garlic bread and San Daniele ham cured for 18 months and a modern version of crispy bruschetta with Buffalo mozzarella cheese. The soup was one of the most delicious fish soups ever. I could “taste” the sea, it was so fresh and a perfect starter for a fish lover like me while ham + mozzarella might have looked like a simple combo but the explosion of tastes was incredible.

Main courses were perfect follow ups to starters – fresh spaghetti chittarra with oyster mushrooms and crispy Parmesan cheese and fresh rigatoni pasta with juniper flavoured hare ragu.

My mushroom pasta was so simple, but perfectly creamy and satisfying perfection of mushroom and cheese taste while the hare ragu made in red wine and tomato sauce was cooked to perfection and had a wonderfully balanced and rich taste. I don’t have to mention that both pastas were cooked al dente, which is also something I had problems with finding in Helsinki.

To complete the already successful Italian feast, we couldn’t pass on classics like Tiramisu which is truly the best one in this city and Citrus semifreddo with chocolate cake and berries. We loved every single spoonful and left back home with smiling faces and dreams of Italy.

*This post has been made in collaboration with Toscanini restaurant, all of the opinions are my own.

*Thank you to Miss Sissi E. for making this collaboration happen.

*Photography by Natali K. photography

Lifestyle, My Work, Outfits

Not fitting in

April 25, 2016

I came to a conclusion that for the past 28 years, I’ve been trying too hard to “fit in”! I’ve been doing everything “the right” way, just that it was never really the right way for me… So in reality, I was working against myself. This whole time… For almost three decades I’ve been trying to “box” myself and be something that has never been “me”!

I always had this tiny little voice, my own inner voice telling me what it wants and how I should do things, react, act… But I have rarely listened to it. Most of the time I’ve been either ignoring it or make it quiet. Guess what? Did I fit in, after all of my hard efforts to do so? Nope! Was I happy while trying to fit in and always missing out in doing so? Nope! Was the final outcome what I wanted it to be? Nope!

The answer was always no and the only time when I did feel good and alive was when very rarely I did listen to that little voice inside of me and did things “my way” or have been myself. The people I was surrounded with would then point it out as me being “weird” or not doing things the right way. They would get upset for that one moment seeing a different person than the one that they’ve been used to having around, would get confused and of course I would take it as something really bad and personal… I would think that : “There you go when you try to NOT fit in and when you don’t alter yourself to other people’s wishes and expectations.” Then I would just go back into trying to fit into all sorts of boxes that weren’t mine… Filling the boots that weren’t mine to walk in.

Do you know when I did become happier, more fulfilled and inspired? Only a few months ago, when reached that final, rock bottom of realisation when I truly didn’t know who I was. For a moment I stood in front of the mirror and I simply didn’t know whom I was looking at? Who was this woman that was staring back at me? What are her dreams? What are her wishes? What are her thoughts?

I was always afraid to voice my real opinion, my real dreams and wishes because I already “knew” that because they’re not the most common or usual ones, people won’t approve of me and I won’t be able to fit in. If I’m not fitting in, I won’t be socially accepted and it’s better to alter myself and do fit in… WRONG!

I could have saved myself so much time, so many problems and wrongly traveled roads if I would have let myself just to BE who I am, who I was supposed to be all of this time.

Now… Now I’m unapologetically myself, every single day and I’m blooming of happiness and proudness for being who I am, for not being ashamed of anything that makes me – ME and for living the life the only way I ever want to live it – saying what I really feel, think, see… Not something that people expect me to say or think. Now… Now there are finally people in my life that accept me and love me for who I really am, there’re no wrong or right things to do or say in front of them. There is just me, in all of the beauty of my true character and guess what? I have never accepted or loved myself more than I do now, because now, for the first time ever I am finally at peace with myself. I’m free!

This is something that I can wholeheartedly suggest to all of my readers. We were all born to walk this Earth in our own way in our unique pair of boots, so don’t try to trade your road and boots trying to fit in and walk the ones that were never meant for you… Walk your road in your own boots with your head up high, confident and trusting that even the roads less traveled are the ones worth travelling, esp. if they’re your own ones… They’re worth that extra effort for choosing to be true to YOURSELF!

Much love to all of you! Take care sweet people!

I’m wearing: Shoes,bracelet and vest – Asos, Bag – Celine, Jeans – Tiger of Sweden, Blouse – Mango, Earrings – House of Harlow 1960