Lift your spirit

Hi guys,

As promised, I'm posting some photos of me and my friends flying the kites last Saturday afternoon. It was my first time and I loooooved it! I was a bit afraid at the beginning, but I succeeded to overcome my fear and actually have fun!

I truly have the most fantastic group of friends, with such different personalities and backgrounds: some of them are doctors, other are architects, graphic designers, web designers, programmers, engineers, sales persons, teachers... I've known most of them basically my entire life (we've been in high school together), and I'm so, so proud of what they've become! I mean, some of them actually save lives... how awesome is that! I'm thankful that I have them in my life and I cherish the time we spend together, in spite of our busy schedules! We always seem to find time to get together and have some quality time, even if it doesn't happen as often as we would like to.

Friends are life snowflakes: all different and all beautiful!

Love,

Mamalina

Photo credits: Alex Popescu & Roze Chira

Shirt & Vest: H&M
Jeans: Mango
Sneakers: Converse
Bag: Massimo Dutti
Sunglasses: Promod
Necklace: Bijou-Briggite

Tara wanted to play- as always :)

Caught in the act

Prettiest redhead

Man's best friend- Tara

Sunset light

Hi guys,

Yesterday was the picture perfect spring day! Come to think of it, the entire weekend was pretty amazing as far as weather was concerned! I was so thrilled, that I finally went to the hairdressers and got a haircut (something that I'd been planning for a while but was too numb to go forward with it). Unfortunately, the joy didn't last long, because the beautiful Sunday was followed by an extremely cold and windy morning. It was like seasons had changed during the night. I mean... what?? It wasn't a very nice start to the week but I heard it will get better towards the middle of the week so I'm looking forward to that.

Another manic Monday is about to end, and I'm left with only 4 days of work until the weekend. I'm more and more excited for the weekends because me and my friends always engage in some pretty awesome outdoor activities as the weather starts to get warmer. On Saturday we actually flew the kites for the first time this Spring and it was super fun! It was windy, yet warm and sunny so we really enjoyed the day. I'll post some pictures on the blog towards the end of the week. We also plan to do some hikes, picnics, go to adventure parks, basically staying busy until our long awaited Spanish holiday in May. If only Spring would quit playing with us...

On a different note. can you believe Easter is only 3 weeks away? It's incredible how time flies!

Many hugs!

Mamalina

Skirt:Zara
Shirt: H&M
Shoes: H&M
Necklace: Accesorize
Sunglasses: Promod

Free your mind

Hi guys,

I'm working a Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 job. I'm thankful for it, don't get me wrong. But sometimes I feel trapped, like I'm stuck in a rat race... Work takes over my mind, it disrupts my sleep and I find myself stressed, tired and nervous all the time.

Some time ago these moments happened quite often... Until I realized I just had to lay down the things that are most important to me and find a way to focus on them instead of being swallowed by work and this toxic daily routine. I just had to set some boundaries! I decided I needed to find ways to free my mind so that I could enjoy the time spent with family and friends in my spare time. I needed to relax and take better care of my quality of life.

Some people around me told me at some point that I had a lot of creative energy and that I had to put it to work... That's when I decided to start this blog. And it has since become my little personal project, my escape, my wonderland!

Another thing I started doing was taking a day off from time to time, not for doing chores or for a planned vacation... Just one of those "dolce far niente" days.

This week, me and Alex took a day off on Monday and it was like therapy. We went to Palatul Stirbey to take a walk, it was sunny and fresh outside, and just wonderful! No one else was there!!! (this was my favorite part- usually, during weekends or holidays every place on earth is packed with people). Then we stopped by IKEA (again, very few people- we almost didn't recognize the place without the hundreds of people buzzing around). The day was great! Oh, and not to mention we only had a four-day working week, which was awesome!

So my advise to you, whether you're working, or studying, is: Take a day off! You're worth it!

Have a beautiful, sunny weekend!

Love,

Mamalina

Jeans, Blouse, Poncho, Boots: Mango
Bag: Massimo Dutti

Spring clean

Hi,

I don't know about you guys, but I'm predisposed to weight gain during winter... As a child, I was always quite thin and athletic, but something happened in my early 20s that messed up my metabolism and made me realize I had to be more careful with what and how much I ate, and that I had to develop a workout routine and hold on to it.

I'm going to share a little story with you. In May 2011, I was shopping for bathing suits with my best friend for my company's summer party. We were in the dressing room, and I was trying on this two-piece suit when my friend (who is the most sincere and outspoken person I know) told me that I had gained some serious weight. It was the first time I looked at me and realized something was different. At that moment, I was nearly 20 kg above my normal weight. The funny thing is that while all my close ones had noticed some changes in my weight, nobody believed that I was that heavy until I hopped on a scale and showed them. I'm rather tall, and apparently my clothes and my style were doing a great job hiding the extra kilos (even without me knowing or intending that).

After that wake up call, I started this intensive program, combining workout sessions (aerobics, total body workout, kangoo jumps, Pilates)  with diet. In about 6 months I succeeded to go back to my normal weight and on this journey, I also discovered the benefits of a healthy lifestyle- healthy food and sports! My diet was a dissociated one (that I adapted, because I hate those extreme diets) and it suited me like a glove. I wouldn't force this diet on anyone, I'm just saying that it was the perfect one for me. It wasn't very restrictive and I still go back to it from time to time, when I feel the need to.

As I was saying, I'm predisposed to weight gain. What happens is that during winter, I don't exercise that much (the cold does bother me, I'm not Elsa :P) and I tend to eat more, mainly because I spend more time inside my house, I get bored and feel the need for a snack from time to time. And since colder months are so depressing, those snacks consist mainly of chocolate or other kinds of comfort food.

The moment of truth is when I want to wear my spring clothes and realize they don't fit, or when I have to shop for bigger sizes in the new spring collections :). That is when I know I have to go back to my diet and exercise routine, and this is where I am right now (if you follow me on Instagram- @dresssidestory, you might have seen my fruity breakfast a couple of times).

I'm excited that it will soon be warm enough for me to start my evening runs and I'm confident that I'll be back in shape in no time.

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Mamalina

Skirt: Zara
Shirt: Mango
Coat: Mango
Shoes: Humanic
Bag: Musette