Another post from Portland,  more exactly from the Chinese Garden. Despite being flanked with buildings and busy streets, the garden is a peaceful place. From the moment you step in, you forget about  the busy life and get sunk in the culture and history that invite you to know more and more about China. This place energizes one's batteries for a long time.
I was wearing this H&M dress for the first time since las year when I bought it: This is just a first ! I will attend to this floral garment in this S/S again for sure.
This was another day spent wonderfully with Bogdan and Roxana in this magnifique city.

                                                                         Dress: H&M/similar style here, here and here
                                                                         Pants: H&M/another great pair here and here
                                                                         Ankle boots: Sam Edelman/ similar style here
                                                                         Bag: Margot
                                                                         Cuff bracelet: St.Thomas/ similar style here
                                                                         Ring : thanks to Poshlocket
                                                                         Sunglasses: Ralph Lauren/ similar here

I'm having another monkey monkey underpants episode.

Between finishing the couch, trying to get inspired to finish the bedroom, children, jobs and the general merriment that is life, my brain has a hard time resting these days. Since our society apparently frowns on early morning cocktails (I should have worked at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce) I have to find alternative ways to let the stress out. This results in small projects, which results in more on the to-do list, which results in more stress. These are the days of our lives.

The newest example of this was over the weekend. I wanted to get something hung up in our bedroom so that it starts to feel more like a room and less like a prison on Locked Up Abroad. So I made my templates for everything, just like I did with the gallery wall, and all was progressing. Until I ran out of newspaper. No panic required though, I just used my MacGruber MacGyver skills and decided wrapping paper would work just as well.
(I'm cropping out most of the mess in this picture btw. I'm all for keeping it real, but some people might be eating.)

After hanging the wrapping paper, my ubiquitous and ever helpful 4-year-old said "Oh mommy, I really love these stripes. These are good colors."

While I agree they are good colors for something else, not so much for my room. However, the longer that stayed on the wall (we're talking minutes here) the more I kept thinking 'I like this idea'.

Now I've framed wrapping paper many times before. Hell, I even tape it to my mantel at christmas. But this time I was thinking a little different. Something longer. Possibly a way to introduce more pattern into the room.

Something clicked (not my jaw this time) and just like that, it became my mission to find this 'something'. I found a few options the next day and temporarily taped them up to see what I thought.

Not bad.

My husband liked it as well and said, "you know what would be cool is if it went all the way to the ceiling and down to the floor" (he'll be getting an extra present on his birthday this year).

Then, yesterday I saw this picture on Chinoiserie Chic
Its a sign.

I'm thinking I'm on the right track here people. Or at least a track. Which is a big improvement from the muddy gravel nothing I was on before. Inspiration is a'rising again. I better get something done before it disappears.

Have you had any happy accidents lately? And did you see RHONJ? Oh yeah baby, this is gonna be good.

A first post from my trip in Portland:) we spent a wonderful time with our dear friend, Roxana, who showed us the most important's touristic points in Portland. I'm declaring myself in love with this city for so many reasons. Somehow, it reminds me of Europe. The ability to walk a lot, see great exhibits at art museum, the outdoor gardens, the shops... everything together creates the perfect atmosphere that I have been missing for so long.
Here are some photos from the river walk, where Bogdan and I, we enjoyed in one of these days. I worn a very simple outfit with a fuzzy sweater( backwards again), and skinny jeans.
More photos from my trip very soon !

Denim suit? YES! why not? Two separate pieces worn as a suit, which combined, give you a masculine  touch to your look. It is indeed a comfortable outfit. I paired it up with my cadmium yellow vest for more contrast, especially because it has that masculine cut. Nothing is more practical then jeans; an essential piece in our wardrobe, a timeless trend in fashion history, worn by all of us in different personal style.




                                                                     Jeans: American Eagle/ similar style here and here 
                                                                     Ankle boots: Zara
                                                                     Vest: Benetton/ a chic version here
                                                                     Blazer: vintage/ similar style here and here
                                                                     Bag: Sequoia/ another great version here and here
                                                                     Sunglasses: Ralph Lauren/ similar style here and here
                                                                     Cuff bracelet: Vince Camuto/ similar here and here

 

While delivering his federal budget on March 29, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced production of the penny would end this month. Despite reaching a production peak of nearly 1.3 billion in 2006, a 2007 survey showed only 37% of Canadian used pennies.(Photo: Kayla Chobotiuk) RELATED From the editors: Iceland, the loonie's all yours The Canadian one-cent piece, commonly known as the penny, was born in 1858. Minted alongside five-, 10- and 20-cent pieces, it was among the first series of coins produced by the then-province of Canada, which for years had fought to distance itself from the sterling monetary system in use throughout the British empire. A decimal system was adopted to put Canada’s currency in line with the U.S. dollar. The first penny was composed of nearly 100% copper. The original coin’s L. C. Wyon design—with a bust of Queen Victoria, the reigning British monarch, on one side, and an arrangement of maple leaves on the reverse—was not radically different from today’s penny. The maple leaf twig designed by G. E. Kruger-Gray on the current penny was introduced in1937, and has appeared every year since, with the exception of 1967, when it was replaced with a rock dove designed by artist Alex Colville as part of a centennial series of coins. The penny’s cost has been an issue nearly since the year it was first produced. Due to its lack of physical heft, the first Canadian penny proved so unpopular that by 1859 the coin was being sold at a 20% discount to encourage consumers to circulate them, and was not minted again until 1876. In 1920, the increasing price of copper forced a decrease in the penny’s size from roughly that of today’s quarter to its current familiar form. Copper prices were responsible for another major change in 1997,when the penny’s composition was switched to 98.4%zinc with a copper plating. Three years later it was changed again, to its current composition of94% steel, 1.5% nickel and an increased copper plating of 4.5%. As its buying power lessened with time (a penny in 1858 could buy a loaf of bread), Canadians became reluctant to carry pennies, hoarding them in jars and leaving them in convenience store take-a-penny trays. With those pennies effectively out of circulation, the Royal Canadian Mint was forced to produce an average25 pennies per Canadian per year. Despite reaching a production peak of nearly 1.3 billion in2006, a 2007 survey showed only37% of Canadian used pennies. While delivering his federal budget on March 29, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced production of the penny would end this month. In the end, the penny was collateral damage in the battle of inflation, its manufacturing cost rising to 1.6¢. In a world where even penny candy now costs more than a nickel, the copper coin became a nuisance. The Mint refused to grant the coin the dignity of becoming a low circulated collectible like its cousin the half-dollar and announced it will begin withdrawing them from circulation in the fall, though the one-cent piece will remain legal tender and retain its value indefinitely. The penny is survived by the quarter, dime and nickel, though rumours already have begun to circulate that the latter’s days may be numbered as well. PrintText: A A More Sharing Services

QMI AGENCY

FIRST POSTED: FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2012 01:18 PM EDT | UPDATED: FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2012 01:24 PM EDT

Giving up our vegetarian ways and choosing to include meat into our diet is what helped humankind successfully populate the planet, according to a new study.

When early humans started eating meat and hunting, the higher quality diet meant women would wean their children earlier and give birth to more children and quicker, say researchers at Lund University in Sweden.

What's more, hunting required people to step up their communication skills, plan and use tools. These new developments required bigger brains, which our robust new diets helped us develop, according to the study, which compared 70 mammalian species and found clear patterns.

"This has been known for a long time. However, no one has previously shown the strong connection between meat-eating and the duration of breastfeeding, which is a crucial piece of the puzzle in this context. Eating meat enabled the breastfeeding periods and thereby the time between births, to be shortened. This must have had a crucial impact on human evolution," says Elia Psouni of Lund University in a press release.

The researchers reject another dominant theory - that breastfeeding duration is a social thing, and that new moms cut it short because of time constraints and family size.

The team created a mathematical model using data on brain size and diet of 70 mammals and found all species stop breastfeeding when their brains have reached a particular stage of development, which carnivores reach more quickly.

"That humans seem to be so similar to other animals can of course be taken as provocative. We like to think that culture makes us different as a species. But when it comes to breastfeeding and weaning, no social or cultural explanations are needed; for our species as a whole it is a question of simple biology. Social and cultural factors surely influence the variation between humans," Psouni said.