pictures on film / part eight

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i am so excited about having so many pictures from paris taken on film. cannot wait to print them and to put them into my album. all of the images below were taken on an amazing weekend that i have had after the work was over. you can read about one of those days here, and the first post with pictures on film from this trip to paris is here. the weather was perfect and everything else seemed perfect as well. those days were very active, so there were numerous locations, including a gallery and a store 0fr, terrace at the institut du monde arabe and a garden at petit palais | musée des beaux-arts de la ville de paris. so much incredible beauty everywhere, so much inspiration!

a day in paris / edition two

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i wake up feeling exhausted, but excited. it is saturday and it is my first free day in paris. i cannot wait to get ready and to go explore the city! the weather is supposed to be really good today, and the bright blue sky is a proof to that. it is still early and i do not want to make too much noise and bother the nicest people on earth who are helping me out by letting me stay at their place, so i remain quiet in bed. i answer some work e-mails and read a few articles (you have no idea how many of them i had missed in the last ten days). some time later i get ready (how often do you see the eiffel tower from the bathroom window?), have delicious breakfast and leave. i have a walking tour planned, while anya is enjoying her yoga class. as soon as i get outside, it becomes clear that the day is going to be great. the air is still fresh, because it is early morning, but the sun is already getting warm. my goal is to reach park monceau, stay there for a bit and go back. i do not know yet how many beautiful places i will discover on my way, but i am already overjoyed, because i love going on long walks, especially in this city.

pictures on film / part seven

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five months ago i published a post with pictures on film from my trips to warsaw and paris. i have not taken any pictures on film after that due to bad weather and lack of extra actitivites. for all of these reasons i was extremely excited about spring, about me going to paris, about having more films with me than i did in october. paris is always beautiful, but this was my first time there in spring and it was a marvel (even though the first few days were very cold, windy and rainy). ok, i am lying. my very first time in europe was in spring, so technically i had already been in paris in spring, but it had happened more than ten years ago, i was there for just a few days and it was cold, so that does not count anymore. nowadays i dream of coming back in april (some time in the future) to see it in full bloom.

on travelling alone

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travelling is the most extraordinary activity for me. i do not dream of having an expensive car or a huge house, but i do constantly dream of travelling on a regular basis. i want to see the world, i want to explore it, i want to feel it, i want to create impressions and memories. and yes, i want to write about all of it. frankly speaking, my experience with travelling is a proof of my belief that my life consists of extreme contradictions. travelling alone is a whole other thing, and it is something i started doing at a very young age. i have been thinking of writing a text about this subject for a very long time and i am excited to finally share it with you.

exploring my personal style

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taking to consideration that i work in the fashion industry, it is unbelievable how rarely i actually talk about clothes on my blog. today is that exceptional case, and i am excited about it!

i was four or five years old when i let my mom know that i wanted to choose my outfits myself. even at that very young age it was very clear to me that clothes had a strong effect on my being and i was not ready to compromise in that regard. i wanted to look good in my own understanding, and i wanted to look good on any occasion. i hated an idea that you had to wear old or ugly clothes at home or when you went to the countryside. i was convinced that there were outfits that were both appropriate and good-looking. throughout the years of growing up and changing, i have had various preferences, but i have always known what i wanted to look like. for me clothing has always been so much more than a way to cover my body up. for me, its essential characteristic was and is how it expresses what you feel and how it makes you feel on top of that. there are days when i choose an outfit in order to express my emotional state and there are others when i try to hide it with the help of clothing. this is why my favourite fashion writer is leandra medine, the founder of manrepeller. i relate to her attitude to clothes a lot, despite the fact that we dress ve-e-ery differently.

hello from paris / volume two

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just a short note from paris, because various extreme emotions have been piling up inside for two weeks now, and it is finally time to start sharing them piece by piece. paris makes me feel a lot, and it makes me think a lot as well. i started writing this post at nine am today, but thirteen hours later i deleted everything. it is now almost half past eleven at night. it is my last night here, and i am torn between two choices - on one hand, i want to stay awake for as long as possible, because i do not want to wake up tomorrow and realize that i have to go, but on the other, i realize that it makes perfect sense to fall asleep immediately in order to wake up really early tomorrow and enjoy those few hours i will have left. i have been in paris for two weeks now, and it is unbelievable how quickly the time has gone by. also, half of march is gone now, and it feels like just yesterday i was daydreaming of both paris and spring. i am still here and i am already thinking of when and how i could come back.

even though, i sometimes think that it is so banal to love paris as much as i do, i also realize that i have a very strong connection to this place. there is history, that is not letting me go. there are memories that multiply the intensity of how special it is for me. i am simultaneously happy and sad tonight, but both of those things are good. i am grateful for all of these experiences and all of these emotions. finally, what makes coming back to kiev less painful and more exciting is knowing that i will get back to my daily routine, which also means that i will get back to reading and writing. gratitude is what fills me right now. i am scared, but also thrilled.

i published first volume of "hello from paris" back in october.

сегодня решила написать просто короткую "записку" из парижа, потому что на протяжении последних двух недель внутри меня активно копились разнообразные эмоции, которыми пора начать делиться. париж всегда вызывает у меня и много мыслей, и много эмоций. я начала писать этот пост сегодня в девять утра, а в итоге вернулась к нему тринадцать часов спустя и все удалила. это моя последняя ночь здесь, и с одной стороны мне хочется вообще не ложиться спать, чтобы растянуть свое пребывание здесь, а с другой - я понимаю, что правильнее заснуть прямо сейчас и завтра встать как можно раньше. в этот раз я прилетела в париж на две недели! то есть не на семь, не на десять, а на целых четырнадцать дней, но и они прошли совершенно незаметно. кажется, только вчера я прилетела, кажется, только вчера закончилась работа и я с предвкушением ждала своего первого свободного дня. кроме того, вместе со временем в париже прошла половина марта, а ведь я только-только мечтала и о весне, и о поездке сюда. я всё еще здесь, но я уже думаю о том, когда и как смогу сюда вернуться.

несмотря на то, что иногда я думаю о том, как же это банально так сильно любить париж как это делаю, я также осознаю, что у меня есть самая настоящая связь с этим местом. есть история, есть воспоминания, которые меня не отпускают. я приезжаю не просто в париж, я приезжаю в свой париж и в основном хожу по одним и тем же местам, где чувствую себя как дома, где мне невероятно хорошо. я одновременно испытываю счастье и тоску, но обе эти эмоции положительны в этом конкретном случае. я благодарна за опыт, за возможности. в конце концов, мысли о возвращении в киев угнетает и удручает чуть меньше, так как я думаю о том, что смогу снова вернуться к своему привычному режиму, а значит, снова буду много читать и писать. в итоге, я иду спать, а меня переполняет ощущение благодарности с примесью страха и восторга.

кстати, в октябре я опубликовала свою первую "записку" из парижа. 

on saving up money

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some people are smart when it comes to money and how they spend what they have and others are not. i am among the latter. i have always been that way. i am a true hedonist, and i constantly keep on spending money to add a portion of joy and pleasure into my life. let me give you an example - as a child i never had any pocket money left. if i did not have any money, well, then i did not, but if had any, i would always buy something. always!!! chewing gum, sweets, stationery and all sorts of other fun things that i really-really wanted to have, but probably did not always need. unfortunately, this is how i grew up and this is the way i have been for many years now. after graduating from high school,i dreamt of becoming financially independent as soon as possible, and even though it took me years to come any closer to that point, i did what i could right away. for example, it was essential for me to receive a scholarship from the government while studying at university in order to not have to pay the tuition fee and to receive a monthly bursary, which was not much, but that was not the point. the older i got, the clearer it became that i had to do something about the way i spend what i earn. i have read so much about the importance of saving up and i have thought about it a lot too, because it is clear - if you want to buy something more expensive than a few books, than you have to make an effort to stop buying some other things and to put the money aside. i think i have finally made some progress and i would like to tell you about it today!

to women

it is an international women`s day today, and i thought of writing a proper post about it, just like i did last year, but i have been at paris fashion week for a week now and have not been able to make the time to do it. this is why i am going to be extremely short! women, this is your day, just like any other. i hope that today you are going to get inspired, motivated and empowered by other women! i hope that you let yourself be yourself and do not let anyone tell you or make you believe that you should be anything else. women are incredible creatures, and i am thrilled ot be one of you! we can make wonders, so let`s continue doing so, shall we?

oh, and by the way...

cool things and great information keep on being posted here, and even though i am not in the us, i appreciate this organization a lot! also, i am wearing red today. what about you?

сегодня - международный женский день! изначально я планировала написать полноценный текст по этому поводу как в прошлом году, но всю последнюю неделю я провела, работая на неделе моды в париже, и времени не было совершенно. по этой причине сегодня я буду максимально краткой! девочки, девушки, женщины, сегодня - ваш день, но он - каждый день! помните об этом всегда и не давайте забывать об этом другим. я надеюсь на то, что сегодня вас особенно сильно вдохновят и мотивируют мысли и идеи, слова и действия других женщин! я надеюсь на то, что вы будете собой и не позволите кому-либо другому заставить вас думать, что вы должны быть кем-либо еще или просто другими. женщины - невероятные создания, и я горжусь тем, что я - одна из вас! мы можем творить чудеса, так что давайте продолжать заниматься именно этим, договорились?

и, кстати, не могу не сказать о том, что этот день - это дополнительная возможность обсуждать тему феминизма и борьбы за равные права с мужчинами. многие из них совершенно не понимают того, насколько острой является это проблема даже сейчас. многим кажется, что женщины "уже давным-давно всего достигли". но ведь это не так! поэтому я предлагаю каждой из нас как можно больше читать на эту тему и делиться этой информацией и с женщинами, и с мужчинами. напоследок, скажу, что да, я убеждена в том, что настоящие мужчины - феминисты.

good things list / february

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winter is over! YES!!! fina-a-a-ally! the best thing about february? definitely, the realization that it is the last month of winter and that spring is just around the corner. february was busy as hell and sometimes painfully freezing, but it is the shortest month and its second part was pretty mild. the weather got better, so i was kind of inspired to go out more. after spending all of my time at home and at work in december and january, i finally wanted to go to places and to see people in february, which was great! also there was a lot of reading, that is why quite a few parts of this list are going to be about books. again, it was a very-very busy month, but i found time for things that cheered me up and made me feel good, so writing this list was not that hard this time. now tell me - have you already tried writing yours? ;-)