planting happiness ~

 am wondering whether getting away with just few words is possible...

 knowing that lots of you here appreciate my communicative nature,

it seems hard to be coming here to make "simple" posts and go...

 still, it will have to be the case for some future posts,

 cause there is so much of my time & energy directed

 in designing our new living space to be,

 that I feel the need to come and post here

 sometimes saying few words if any...

 I would just not like that you feel that I'm cheating on you...

 in the meantime, I start getting prepared to be sharing some facts about the new home

little by little

so, this simple collage put together above,

is a little story on its own.

... these baby aloe vera plants, are not just any aloe plants

but the "children"of very productive parents,

or else the first aloe plant I bought for the second apartment,

that I was renting on my own back in 2004 - 2006 in Greece

in the meantime, they adjusted wonderfully in my parents' new apartment

{aka apart44} in such {white super functional & pretty pots},

while endlessly growing an expanding.

now let's hope that these baby immigrants will adjust to the German climate ; )

on another notice,

how would you like popping by Ikea Family Live's site,

and reading the latest post I prepared?

I'm so happy to be sharing my thoughts with you

through blogging posts there, too!

today it's all about

"Enjoying your home"

 and then unless you have already done so,

 wonderful Holly from decor8 has written

one fabulous post on

 "Authentic Interiors" and was so kind into including 

our current home as an example

with these pictures...

am beyond honored and happy ...

hope your days were nice 

&

 your weekend will be an even nicer one!

kind regards you all ~

pop by and say hello when you can, would you?

xx

32 + 1 reasons for a Friday to love ~

[via]

 Hello everyone!

   currently having only but little time to devote to posting here,

  I thought that wishing you all a happy Friday

  with {32 + 1 reasons to love}

  would a be a fine thing to do...

 &

  that it can actually make up for my usual extensively

  communicative posts ; )

  in the meantime:

  -> find the link to the above collection / treasury here

  -> find more of the treasuries / home decor inspiration curated by me

  here & there

 -> don't miss the fantastic give aways organized by the new

      Concept page of Vosges Paris 

  -> give a helping hand to this Cancer Fund Raiser action ending tonight

 -> find some of my current news shared here a while ago

 -> and indulge yourselves in one of the most amazing places ever,

 right here

I'll try to organise my days this way, so that there is a little time for posting

every short now & then, despite the current busyness!

see you around lovely all ~ 

♥

staying in ~ the new going out

[via]

 hello again everyone, on this since just a little while, rainy Tuesday afternoon...

  our fresh vegetable soup is being cooked and is almost ready,

  to be served right after this post is written

   hope you are all well

 &

 thanking you a lot {smiles!} for your warm response on yesterday's post.

 ... among designing our new home & sorting out things

  to be carefully packed for our upcoming movement,

 I took a little break today for only but a quick

 stroll on the inspiring, virtual corridors of etsy.

 I'm clearly flirting with grey since a long time now,

 {find here a relative post on "grey happiness"}

 especially after being infatuated with 

{this lady's}  fabulous use of it in her 

{amazing home in Amsterdam}

quite possibly, some doses will be found in our new living space,

but no firm decisions are made before a first,

shiny and bright as fresh snow, white coat has been 

"worn" on the walls.

about this time next week though,

some progress will have taken place

and then will be the time for final decisions.

in the meantime,  I wanted to share with you,

these recent finds gathered above,

{for details & prices click here}

while emphasizing

the very often heard & talked about view on new modern life,

that:

"staying in is the new going out"

here are few of my thoughts on the matter:

~ staying in can provide opportunities to learn more about ourselves,

as it is often the case that by going out,

we simply avoid coming into close contact with 

ourselves & our family

~ no no, there is nothing wrong in going out and enjoying

nature or the pleasures of a delicious cooked meal,

tasty coffee in cozy & inspiring environments.

In fact , it is great!

Still, it is simply another thing to go out as a choice,

and another to go out in order to avoid

domestic life.

~ there is no doubt that a nurturing home adds to the quality of our life,

by adding to enjoying our sleep,

relaxing in the bathroom,

cooking homemade meals,

setting the table,

interacting with our loved ones,

reading our favorite books in our cozy corners,

listening to our favorite music,

to mention but a few

ways...

all can be experiences worthwhile,

when taking place

there where we can call home

what about you my dears?

how do you feel about staying in?

besides the obvious financial gains,

what other positive attributions can you make?

and most of all, does your current home inspire you for staying in?

looking forward to hearing form you!

the soup is ready...

time to set the table and light up some candles... 

enjoy your evenings!

... might be stealing away some time 

tomorrow for a little post & connecting with you ; )

Life's higher qualities...

hello everyone!

  it has been quite a while, since {the last time I came to post here},

wishing, to all those who seem to have left earth's classroom too early,

to rest in peace.

 days passed by and in between, I spent a few days in Greece,

taking care of some rather not so pleasant dental care appointments,

catching up with some friends,

while enjoying the view to the mountains facing east

and to the sea facing south from my parents' apartment.

I tried hard to focus on all things positive, as the political & financial situation

there makes it rather hard.

sometimes I succeeded & then others I failed...

 some family situations brought up to the surface traumas of the past,

 only to realize that one actually never gets over them...

 not completely, as much as time heals...

  we simply choose to turn the page

instead, quite often leaving behind people who are unable to follow...

. . . . . . . . . . . 

but, but, but!... have come with nothing else than positive & relaxed mood to share with you,

some pictures taken yesterday, back home in Germany,

(where the movement process is step by step and quite relaxed beginning)

with my partly damaged camera 

(the digital display got destroyed),

which though to my surprise, still takes wonderful pictures.

... the only difference is that I must wait until the card's images are transferred to the computer,

where I can see what I actually did.

and off course, there is always a silver lining in every cloud,

so long as we are willing to find it, right?

using the view finder is something I since more than a year happily did,

with my newest DSLR camera,

bringing back memories from more than 10 years ago,

when I was happily shooting with my parents' vintage Ricoh camera,

similar to this one 

but trusting my eye & instinct cause there is no possibility to immediately check on the display 

what I did is something new.

I'm pleased with the results,

so I'm happy to share them with you!

A couple of shots of the amazing order that arrived

 from {AM studio} [find an explicit post here]

 all captured during the magic hours of early morning sun

and early afternoon...

unplugged...

unstyled...

just as I set them on the table

one by one, while opening my parcel...

 discovering the extra surprises Melissa was so kind and thoughtful to include.

She loves her job and I know it with all my heart...

and it is becoming more and more important

in my everyday life that I interact with people

who know themselves what they love with all their heart, too

and are devoting their lives in doing it...

everything that is pictured in this post, except the "Hello ideas" porcelain letters,

which you may find {here},

were added as a gift.

Melissa has been wanting to thank me for {the post I wrote about her}

a while ago, but I reassured her that my present was that I actually discovered

her & her work.

She anyway surpassed any expectations (that I didn't actually have)

by including a little white dove ornament,

a mini himmeli mobile {check them here!}

and a vintage, wooden thread spool,

together with a handwritten book card,

with notes referring to love.

                                              I hope that you'll enjoy watching this pictures,

 as I literally felt that time stopped when I was taking them...

I also hope to be able to transmit some of the love and peacefulness

felt...

this is to peace eventually all around the world 

but most of all and before all,

in each and every one of our hearts.

I keep reminding this to myself:

peace or war begin inside us.

and war can take many simple kind of "acceptable" by society every day forms...

like over antagonism or over ambitiousness for example.

I recently realized thanks to a few situations,

that a peaceful life

is one of my highest goals to achieve through this life...

what about you?

what is important to you?

which qualities are of higher importance in your life?

which ones are your striving to achieve?

rest in peace ~

 why do the most inspiring & wonderful people seem to go away

  from life's classroom so soon?

 perhaps because they were such good students that they reached to excellence?

 however they might physically be absent from life,

 people who lived meaningfully

 shall always stay among us,

 alive as ever.

 let's honour them all, by being strong enough to

 adopt some of their wisdom & gracefulness in our own lives...

 let's do rather than talk or talk about it or them.

 rest in peace Steve Jobs & every other person

 that seemingly left sooner than we wished them to...

Mediterranean fresh ~

some fresh Mediterranean taste

 is soon to land on our dining table...

a home made spinat pie,

with fresh onions, 

dill & feta cheese

while it's getting baked,

 some time is... stolen to share this picture with you,

made soon after the cook had just chopped the

fresh onions...

a little quick styling + veranda's natural light

and there we go!

guten Appetit

& 

warm regards from this place in Greece,

where I'm visiting for a few days,

before diving into

new projects & lots of work

back home in Germany

posts will keep on taking place sporadically,

 so do surprise yourselves

 and come back for more 

from time to time!

hope your weeks are evolving wonderfully!

just another day...?

[via]

 ... Sunday night after another day in the middle of Germany

 where you feel that you somehow, accidentally beamed yourself to the South,

 putting the calendar back to July,

 ... another fire burning in the little veranda

 getting prepared to grill dinner,

 under thousands of stars visible on the sky

 ... and short after you have come to accepting yourself,

all your charisma & all your shortcomings... 

 all that you are, were, have become

and all you are yet not,

there comes this thirst to reinvent yourself

and all you do...

all form the beginning... 

 but then also picking things up from where you left them

strange combination you'll murmur to yourself

and you'll be right...

and then I say to myself...

this upcoming movement of ours

smells as if it is going to be

a whole lot of a complexed issue

than simply putting things

in a box

and taking them from place A to place B

so you and you and you dear reader,

deserve to know that

posts will be getting spontaneous here for some time,

- well, in a way they have actually always been -

they might be as frequent as I never thought

or then maybe not

one thing is certain:

simplicity

charm, tranquility, happiness

&

openness to new horizons

{much like this picture above inspires}

are qualities both desired and welcome

 in our lives,

a new home

and 

around these lines & pages

there are mails to reply to

and posts to submit 

and yet these lines are currently written instead

like a stream...

while my mind is totally blown by:

the story of this magnificent lady & her work

this blog post by a friend which touched me, as does her whole blog

and simple, honest & pure approach to life

...and then,

 did I mention that I got to know a very rich person this morning?

where? when? 

while by the river, watching ships pass by,

feeding the ducks & swans while having

a spontaneous early breakfast,

after having passed by the bakery for fresh bread and

Simiti or Koulouri in Greek...

a proud Greek grandfather who was out with his

 2 year old grandson,

told me after a small discussion which begun with a  "Kalimera":

"I have two sons, one daughter and 3 grandchildren...

Plousios..." (meaning I'm a rich man)

said he proudly standing straight and tapping on his chest

showing his heart area...

you know these unexpected occassions

which might change your whole view on life?

priceless, aren' they?

.......

 and then

 hope your weekends turned out as you expected them

or even better, that you got pleasant surprises and realizations along the way...

have a great start within the new week tomorrow,

 it's a special day here in Germany celebrating the fall of the Wall  back

in 1989...

der Tag der Deutchen Eiheit

I might be here with nice things for you this week

but can make no promises...

I think its better this way for now

 do pass by regularly though

and maybe share a thought or two..

hearing from you is always such a nice occasion

lots of love

Iro - Ivy

.............................................................................

picture credit: Cote Bastide for BODIE and FOU