Good morning : )

Good morning :)

 from our reading corner which is dressed up in autumn colours and mood.

Weather wise, "she" might as well be wearing winter colours (actually the white can be accounted as so), as snow in the surrounding mountains has already started!

Germany, Germany...the effort that is required for a Greek girl to get adjusted to your clima!

Na jaaa...better not comment on that.

I'm still gratefull for these golden October days we had.

...now that the ground is warmed with a little small talk and good morning wishes have been exchanged with a smile, let's take matters there where they were left about a week ago, when the centering process begun.

On  a first note, it is quite good & positive that it is taking place.

I have this wish & need as a person to always remain grounded, eventhough I like to fly.

In simple words, I like to keep in touch with who I am, avoiding getting confused with

online presence, which can rather easily be the case for those of us who have chosen to do so.

Especially when this is a means of expression, as  much as a means of communicating our work.

This centering process has brought the following results so far:

1~ taking care of my online places, in order for as much information about me, what I do and what I can be of use and availability to you are known

Therefore, on the left side of these pages, you can be finding links to the shop, Busy Bee - the first blog I authored for a year, twitter, bussiness mail and logo, which takes  you to more info about me displayed on the flickr profile.

Moreover you can now be quiclky linked to the favourite reads of yours, as decided by the blog's statistics.

And last but definetly not least, you can be linked to my blog posts @ Ikea Family Live site.

Stay tuned as there will be new series coming soon!

2~ taking care of my closet of emotions, which as expected uncovered a lot of fragile issues.

One of them being, realising that my upcoming trip to Greece, is on the one hand very much happily expected, as both work and seeing friends & family will be combined.

On the other hand, I detected a bunch of sad feelings arising from the fact that I'll actually now be faced with and really have to deal with our dog's loss.

She (Bianca) passed away this July, a few days after I had returned to Germany from my vacation there.

So it'll be the first time that after 18 years I enter a home without her, without a dog in Greece.

Despite the fact that I'll be quite busy, I know that I'll have to take some time to deal with her loss and the sadness that this brings.

Undealt emotions can turn into huge monsters and this I do not want for me.

It is part of the choice to live a life of awareness.

...quite hard in a world which always rushes to show (and show off) big smiles, "successes"

....and everything "positive"

You'll find thousands of advice on how to get over your "negative" emotions, such as sorrow, sadness, feelings of inferiority and so on and so on, but so very few about how to actually recognise them, accept them, realise that they have a reason for existence and finally move on, leaving them behind you step by step.

We live in the era of  "fast & effective","two in one", "three in one", tin laughs, "Omgs", "lol" and the rest....what a poor quality of life indeed.

Always being caught in the middle of a race of some kind...

Most will say that this is the system....well, we create the system and we make a concious choice to be part of it.

There are of course marvelous things about being part of a system, but we should not forget that if we become sheep (not that I have anything against these cute, lovable animals) then we cannot really have too high of expectations, neither can much be achieved.

Finally, this centering process has led to reorganising our space,

and welcoming new cabinets ( Thank you Ikea!) in our reading corner, where now most of the things related to the shop are held there.  In a next post I'll show you how everything is miraculously organised inside.

Please, take  a look:

 I love adjusting furniture on a low level to the wall.

The low hight creates a sense of calm, while it is also quite functional.

On the eye level the space is left free, therefore a sensation/illusion of  more space is created.

Finally, by leaving the floor free. this same sensation is emphasized.

On the practical point of view, extra room for storage is provided.

Such as here where the two baskets are resting.

The one on the right is left empty so as to be holding the current orders of the week.

The left one holds the German Architectural Digest issues, which I try to read in my attempt to also practise the language. Not very easy as my eye is caught by the breathtaking images!

New issue arrived in the mailbox yesterday and I plan to make time for reading it this week.

I'm sure you'd also like to know what do we thank Ikea for in this corner of our home:

~ the Besta cabinet with its shiny, white doors, much like those used in the guest room of Apartment 44 in Greece, where I'll be staying in a while

~ Lunna chair

~ Ram frames, painted white

~base lamp, dating back to 2003

~ combined with a more recent chestnut brown velvet lampshade

~ and a low basket (on the left)

On a last notice before I go, I'd like once more to thank wonderful Christina, from awesome Divas & Dreams blog, for hosting me over and having a great time while talking with her about Interior Design and Photography.

You can read our little inerview here.

Wishing you all wonderful days!

I'll be back soon with pictures revealing the cabinets inside and new cards made for the shop.

Till then, take care, enjoy and stay true ;-)

Love

Ivy ~ xx