Ever since I transitioned to work from the fashion industry to more corporate environment I started consciously changing my workwear looks to better fit the company I was representing while still keeping details which allowed me to express my personality. I certainly went down with heel sizes and more classic with my outfit choices by adding more structured pieces and keeping the skirt and dress length mostly up to the knee.
FROM CORPORATE TO HOME OFFICE
On the other hand, in last 5 years, I went from the corporate position with quite a lot of travels to work from home office for myself with a couple of out of office meeting a week. This was yet another transition when it comes to my personal workwear style.
No, I am never wearing pajamas or sweatpants while working in a home office, I swore to myself I will get up and get myself dressed and head to toe ready to go to work (into the next room) and keep myself on my part-time work from home schedule and so far, 5 years later, I am keeping this promise to myself almost every workday (with an exception of days I start of with a trip to the gym).
FLORALS & PASTELS
During last 3 years, after delivering my daughter, my clothing size kept changing which was also one of the things I kept in mind while shopping for clothes. However, shades and patterns remained the same. I continue to go for long or midi dresses with emphasized waist (which my figure can handle as I am quite tall) like this midi blue linen wrap dress with shirt collar, button fastening and a wrap belt which nicely rounds the figure.For the business meetings, I wear this dress with blush pink Zara jacket with midi sleeves and decorative pearl buttons to make the look more formal.
ACCESSORIES TO SHOW PERSONALITY
I usually use accessories to show off my personal style and add pops of color to more plain colored looks. For this outfit I choose a colorful knot headscarf from Violeta by Mango, chandelier earrings from Violeta by Mango, blush pink velvet chunky sandals with sparkly heel by & Other Stories and a hat backpack by Croatian brand Mala Radnja Dizajna which never goes unnoticed wherever I go.
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I have to say when I shop for clothing rarely do I go for anything orange or let alone tangerine. That was the case with this adorable, romantic tie shoulder tangerine dress I ordered from the Outnet thinking it was actually red. However, when putting the full outfit together with Ganni bow tie kitten heel pumps and straw hat it all came together quite nicely.
BOW TIE SHOES
Since I became a mom I wear much lower heels and more comfortable shoes in general, this does not mean I wear sneakers all day. I try not to compromise on style and elegance thus it took me a while to find a nice pair of V cleavage suede, red kitten heel shoes which are comfortable despite the pointy toe. I opted for Ganni brand and it did not disappoint, these were my only Spring/Summer new shoes which did not leave me with painful blisters. Yay to that!
LEATHER NET BAG
In our house, we eat and buy fresh fruit daily since I am trying super hard to avoid buying anything in or with plastic this elegant leather net bag is super useful for daily fruit shopping. After I pick up Anabela from school I stop by local fruit market and just pop different fruit into my leather bag and hand it to cashier lady to weigh it separately without using a separate plastic bag for each piece of fruit. This makes for an elegant and environmentally friendly way to shop and carry fruit. I got this reusable and chic leather net bag from Violeta (plus size Mango brand).
THE HAT
My hat collection is a straw hat richer this week. I got this fab hat from Asos for very little money and it has a useful rubber band on the inside which helps adjust the hat size and prevent it to fly of and you running after it like a lunatic (which is what happens to me often).Quick tip - when you travel do not pack your hat in the suitcase (unless it's semi full) as it almost always gets ruined. Store the hat filled with tissue paper and when traveling take it with you as a carry-on or pack it in a special hat suitcase.
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Colorful stripes are not necessarily my 'go to pattern'. If you take a sneak peek into my closet you will see tons of florals, a dash of leopard and some dots but little or no stripes, let alone in rainbow colors.
I purchased this t-shirt dress (yes it is a dress, but due to the lenght of my legs it would be super mini so I tucked it in and wear it as a shirt) on Asos and although its knitted, it's thin and fairly comfortable to wear, even during in warm Summer days in Barcelona.
70s STRIPES AS INSPIRATION
My inspiration for this post were 70's stripped knitted tops however I went for bright Summer hues rather then brownish Fall colors 70's looks used to feature along with flared, high waisted denim pants or A line mini skirts.
Instead of long flare pants I went with black, high waisted culotte pants and orange suede leather, super soft and comfortable pumps by & Other Stories.
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There are many things I got blown away this past week (not just a strong wind in Barcelona ッ). We got a feminist of color entering the royal family and pulling it into 21ct, but I have been also blown away with many cases of #momshaming on social media as well as women being nasty to other women for one reason or another.
Isn't it hard enough to be a woman, let alone a working mom in this day and age with various economic, lifestyle and peer pressures all around? We are literally bombarded with informations and trends on how are we supposed to parent, look like after having kids or managing our life and career if we decide not to have kids?
THE BLOWN AWAY #OOTD
Let me knock out the information about this look first, as those who follow me for a while know I feel most comfortable wearing maxi dresses with booties or jeans.This look stayed with me even after I became a mom because it is simple enough to put together and it's not difficult to move in when running after a toddler or sitting in the sand in the park or on a beach.
In this post, I am wearing a rather sheer Zara knitted dress with low cut front and back cleavage. I usually wear it with sleeveless black top or a bra while during colder months I wore it with a black turtleneck. I decided to post this look as I love the pieces of clothes which you can style differently and wear 365 days per year as part of different #ootds. The dress is so light you can wear it over a swimsuit with flip-flops.
I styled this dress with black Free People booties which I wear a whole lot and with my new mini YSL LouLou bag which was a gift from me to me for a recent work project completion (and payment finally, YAY!).
TO BE OR NOT TO BE A MOM
Before I became a mom and during my last corporate job where I often worked very long hours I did sometimes feel like 'that single career girl who doesn't have a family' as a couple of times I was told to do another female colleague part of the job because she has to go pick up her kids or to sign something that arrived in mail to our office because colleague who was there to take the mail ahead of me didn't want to be responsible if something goes wrong 'I have kids you know' she said. Then and there I swore to myself that when I have kids I won't use them as an excuse to avoid doing my job, take the responsibility or pile my work on someone else, I will rather quit my job.
WORKING MOM
After I became a mom everything changed. My job suffered, my blog suffered (I was doing two in parallel right from the delivery room, stupid idea, don't do it!). I didn't sleep almost nothing for 6 months, I was miserable and wished to go back working for 12 hours rather than being with a screaming baby (there I said it, it was true). When I went to the gym (because I felt shitty in my body) for an hour and left my baby with her father I felt guilty I was taking time away from her and worrying how she is doing.Working for myself, I realized I don't want to take some business trips and I am ok to earn less if need to be, because my baby is small and she needs me more then I need that extra money or that client I need to travel for (this decision is a luxury many women cannot afford). I just try to make it work without travel or I just don't go or don't work some hours when it doesn't feel right.
There are many sacrifices (if we can call it that way) a mother has to do simply because of how important she is to the young child which father doesn't have to always and it would be insincere from me to say this doesn't hurt sometimes. It would be dishonest to say I don't miss it. I do miss creating new value, being creative, doing things I love to do full time, meeting new people, dressing up to go to work, making very good money for myself.
But I finally did make peace with it (which took me a very, very long time) to be ok with working part-time for some time, spending quality time with my fabulous little daughter and my boyfriend daily and rigorously organizing my schedule to minute to be able to fit it all in short 24 hours daily.
DON'T SHUSH US
Before I was a mom I have to say I couldn't care less during lunch breaks to listed about stories of colleagues kids pooping or not pooping, sleeping or not sleeping or looking at million of their photos on their phones. But guess what I DID IT ANYWAY. I took it as part of teaching myself compassion even if I couldn't empathize I could certainly sympathize, it takes just a bit of effort and curiosity to do and it means the world to the struggling colleague, a new mom who had to leave her child in nursery and go and be productive at work (it ain't easy I know now).
First time I went on a business trip and had to stay overnight, I left Anabela with her dad and cried the whole ride to the city when the meeting was taking place. I had to stop 3 or 4 times to get my shit together and to continue to drive. On the other hand, it felt sooooo good to sleep in that hotel whole 8 hours without waking up, it was a straight-up miracle! Motherhood can be bipolar like that.
We are all different and we all have different emotional and physical capacities and different personalities, many struggle to concieve and are later understandably much more cautious with their kids then average parent would be which is why I think arguments like 'you are posting to much photos of your child, it's annoying' (I agree with child privacy argument but understand the mother's pride and love) or 'every mother has it hard, you are nothing special, stop complaining' or 'women had it harder before, stop complaining' are very insensitive and selfish. Also, unfollow button is a blessing, always there and better to use than when to post an ugly comment on fragile condition as early motherhood many times is.
I think it's great to talk about all these emotions and everyday issues that are hard, emotional, raw and where we can all be very judgmental.
Finally, if you came to the end of this post and if I can have one point I want you to take out of it is to try to have more compassion to other women and to ask yourself before commenting and posting how will the receiving person feel when they read it and if you are really bringing any value to the conversation. Be kind to other women, even if you don't agree with all they say. Mother or not it is not easy for women to be all they want to be in one life, let's not make it harder for each other.
Yield: 4Pin it
So here we go, this is my Friday go to recipe, a salmon file which I top with salt, pepper, and sweet paprika or with pesto and cherry tomatoes depending on the mood. As a side dish, I usually go with zucchini spaghetti with a bit pesto and salt along with 1 min polenta with some greek yogurt and mint sauce (literally just mix greek yogurt salt and fresh mint leaves and cool) or as I made today with coconut and lime rice.
prep time: 15 minscook time: 18 minstotal time: 33 mins
ingredients
- 3 salmon filets (one per person)
- pinch of salt and paper to taste
- 1 tsp powdered sweet paprika
- 1.5 cup of jasmine or regular white rice
- 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
- 1 handful of chopped cilantro
- 1 tbsp of coconut oil
- 1 tsp of sugar
- 1 cup of coconut milk
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1 cup water
Vegetable Side Dish
- Steamed broccoli or steamed green beans or asparagus
instructions
- Preheat oven to 210 C/410 F. Brush salmon filets with olive oil, and the mixture of salt, pepper, and powdered sweet paprika, place it on baking paper and in the oven for 15-18 min depending on the thickness of your filet (add 4 min for each half inch thickness). Salmon fillets are done when they are easily flaked with a fork.
- Heat coconut oil over medium heat, add 1 tsp of sugar and mix it with a spoon add rice and mix until rice becomes lightly sheer like glass. Add water and coconut milk, reduce to low heat and cook for 15 min or as directed on rice packaging, stirring frequently.
- After 10 min of cooking, once the liquid is evaporated, steer in cilantro, lime juice, and coconut flakes. Combine well, taste to check if well cooked and serve with steamed vegetable of your choice alongside salmon filet.
How often do you prepare fish?
Bon appetite and please let me know if you have tried it and how you liked this recipe!
From corporate workaholic to self-employed mom and from floral dresses to polka dots and color blocking looks, it's funny how some of my lifestyle preferences changed after giving birth. Let's not forget that I haven't put on a pair of heels for more than two years and I do not miss them a lot.
FROM MISS AMERICA TO MINI MOUSE
1926 - Miss America was photographed in a polka dot swimsuit.
1928 - Disney introduced its cartoon darling Minnie Mouse wearing a red polka dot dress and matching bow
1930's - polka dot dresses appeared in stores, the fabric suddenly subversive, nipped in by ribbons and accentuated with bows
1940 - Frank Sinatra’s ballad “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” captured the height of America’s polka dot mania
1951 - M.Monroe was famously photographed wearing a polka dot bikini
1960's - the artist Yayoi Kusama became known for the busy dotted swarms that covered her paintings
This polka-dot dress was shot in a beautifully decorated Italian restaurant in Barcelona - Vivo Tapas Restaurant.
ONE PIECE OUTFIT
Light and flowy midi and maxi dresses have always been my go to one piece outfit choice, today I wear my polka-dot dresses and tops all year through, this year I wore them over jeans with a leather jacket and with color blocking boots (pictured in red) in Fall and sandals in Spring.
Pictured polka dot dress is from Zara and boots are Stuart Weitzman.
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Citrus salmon salad is one of my favorite quick and easy weekday lunches. I usually eat lunch between going to the gym and my last few office hours before picking up my daughter from school so I only make dishes I can prepare and eat within 20 minutes.
This salad is rich in omega 3 acids, nutrients and vitamins so it is an ideal post-workout meal and it will certainly not leave you hungry. If you are missing carbs in this meal you can also add a handful of whole grain pasta to it.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 orange
- 2 small or 1 big avocado
- 9.5 oz smoked salmon
- 3 handfuls of arugula salad
- 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves (optional)
- 1/4 cup fresh dill leaves
Dressing:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- salt per taste
DIRECTIONS
1. Wash orange with baking soda and water ideally and set the zest aside. Cut the orange ends and peel the rest of the orange peel off, slice the orange into thin slices and set aside.
2. Add olive oil to the zest and then add the lemon juice. Add salt to taste and whisk the dressing well.
3. Mix the arugula, fresh mint and dill leaves together, add orange slides pour the dressing over the mixed salad.
4. Arrange the smoked salmon pieces over the salad.
5. Cut the avocado into large chunks and add it to the salad, gently mix ingredients with salad spoons and serve immediately.
Voila, ladies and gents! Enjoy your salad made in quick 5 min :)
She has a power to move the mountains, she has a power to be the heroine of her life, the power to lead others and the power to create, to create love, to create life. I want my daughter to know it and I want her to live it. This is why I try to walk the walk and talk the talk on importance of human rights, human right of women to be treated by society as equal human beings to men.
It is absolutely incredible to me that in today's day and age we have to walk the streets to ask the governments for legal protection from domestic violence and abuse to ask to stop discrimination on workplace just because our bodies are different or because we are the gender who have the possibility and the choice to bring children to life which should be protected and rewarded by the society and not discriminated against.
WOMEN'S DAY.
International Women's Day is a global celebration of women's social, political, and cultural achievements from the past and present, while pushing for progress for future generations and gender equality.
"When SHE raises, we all raise."
WHO IS A FEMINIST?
Feminist is not an angry women with mustache who hates man as those who are dismissing feminism would like you to think. A feminist IS a good human being, male or female who understands the importance of equality of women and men in society, home and workplace and aims to achieve it by modeling this equality in own everyday life and by standing up and speaking up to fight for this equality.WHAT DOES (S)HE WANT?
Feminist want's equality among genders and protection of women's rights until all human beings are educated enough to know how important it is for women to have the opportunity to strive, equally as men do today and until human kind progresses to the point of respecting all human beings equally.
It absolutely baffles me how many developed countries are facing the problem of low birth rates, yet they are not addressing women's rights enough to allow women to plan their pregnancies and earn enough to feed their children.
Here are some opportunities to improve women's rights:
- For each 100 managers worldwide there are only 34 women
- Women currently earn $74 for every $100 men make
- 1 in 3 women worldwide have experienced either intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime
- Less than 30% of the world's researchers are women
- Women hold only 4.8% of CEO positions at S&P 500 companies
- 1 in 5 women on U.S. college campuses have experienced sexual assault
- Around the world only 32 % of all national parliamentarians are female
- Women around the world aged 15-44 are more at risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, car accidents, war and malaria
- American women serving in Iraq or Afghanistan are more likely to be raped by a comrade then killed by an enemy
- Female genital mutilation (FGM) affects more than 200 million girls and women alive today in 30 countries
- 4 out of 5 victims of human trafficking are girls
- 62 million girls are denied an education all over the world
- African-American women earn 64 cents and Latina women earn 56 cents for every dollar earned by a Caucasian man
- In culture and sports women's salaries and more then quadruple less then their men's counterparts
- Only 23% of politicians are women
- $10 trillion is the estimated value of unpaid work performed by women every year across the world - twice as much the men do
- Less then 13% of agricultural land holders are women
POWER OF SPANISH WOMEN
I haven't been so impressed in a long time as I was when I felt and seen the power, the positive vibe, the sisterhood energy March 8th among enormous number of loud and proud spanish women, girls, kids and men marching the streets of Barcelona in celebration of Women's day and in fight for equal rights and opportunities men have in today's society.
I am beyond proud and happy my daughter is born in Spain and gets to grow up in community of women who speak up and extend their hand to other women every day, no matter what. Especially I am proud of this new generation of girls who very clearly dismiss the discrimination and are entering the work force and daily life expecting of their partners to respect and match their work ethic in the offices and their efforts at home.
PERSONAL EXAMPLE
So far in my life I have experienced some discrimination due to my gender. When I was little I was told playing sports for women doesn't do any good, it earned me a scholarship to great business school, leadership skills, healthy lifestyle and lots of connections worldwide.
When I started interviewing for work I was asked on a job interview if I am married and if I plan to have kids and if so, when, I reported the company asking me this question to authorities for discrimination.
I haven't experiences sexual harassment at work but many of my girlfriends did, to the point that they had to quit the job. I also have a very dear friend who was drugged and raped at the job related meeting and still has to deal with this horrible trauma for a very long time along with her partner, family and friends.
For all of those who are dismissing feminism and ongoing fight for women's rights and equality among genders just because they haven't felt it on their own skin or because they see it as trendy new age movement I have one thing to say....You don't have to actively participate in this fight and you don't have to sympathize, but as a decent human being, just based on cold hard facts of every day struggle and inequality women face worldwide you can be kind enough to empathize for those who are hurting daily just based on the gender they are born with.
If you want to participate in debate for women's right and help improve it you can check out: International Women's Day website, Me to movement, Women's network for change etc.
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