THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS

Happy Friday!

As promised, here are my thoughts on my trip to the Big Apple! New York quickly turned into my favourite place on Earth! I don't know whether it's the energetic atmosphere where everyone seems to be on the move 24/7 (really is the city that never sleeps) or the hot Summer days, or the shopping or the people, but I fell in love, and I don't think it's a love affair that's going to go away any time soon. 

To those of you who are looking for their next travel destination, NY should be at the top of your list. So I thought I'll share some of my favourite places from my trip. I'll write more about the best brunch spots and restaurants we went to on a separate post, just to keep things more concise.

Central Park 

Melissa and I decided to have a picnic in Central Park on a Saturday morning, which then turned into us eating bagels and waffles and strolling around the Park for a good three hours in 40 degree weather, no regrets. Central Park quickly turned into my favourite place in NY, maybe it's just being able to sit on a bench and do some people watching, observing the baseball games or going on the horse carriages, but it just makes you feel like you're part of something big, like you know your place in the world, surrounded by the breathtaking view of the city buildings. I can't really describe the feeling, but I knew that, that's where I was meant to be at that moment in time. 

Empire State Building 

Can't beat the feeling of being on top of the world. The view is mesmerising. 

Soho

Our first hotel, The Hugo, was located in Soho and only a short walk from the shopping district along Broadway and Spring Street, with the Chanel boutique being only 10 minutes away. With so many restaurants, bars and shops to choose from, it's one of the city's best places to visit. 

Broadway

How can one go to New York and not go to the theatre? We decided to see a classic, Phantom of the Opera, and it's an experience that we enjoyed tremendously. The best place to get tickets to Broadway is from the TKTS booth located behind the Red Stairs at Times Square on the day of the play to make sure you get the best prices. 

Times Square 

The best place to feel that NYC vibe. 

Staten Island 

If you haven't seen Lady Liberty, have you actually even been to New York? 

Other places that I also fell in love with without an exception include Brooklyn Bridge, Grand Central Station, the MET and Fifth Avenue. 

Even if you're only going to NY for a few days, visiting these places is definitely a must. 

Ah New York, I cannot wait to come back, I'm pretty sure I've left my heart with you. 

xx

2017

Happy New Year lovelies!

While I've been missing from the blogging world for the latter part of 2016, I'm back to share my love for all things style and travel related.

It's no secret that 2016 was a tough one for me, and as sad as it is I felt like I lost my identity for a while there, I felt like I didn't know my place in the world. So I took some much needed time off to reflect on myself, people around me and just life in general. The best thing that happened to me was travelling to New York with my best friend. The adventures we had, meeting new people with incredible stories with that energetic and bright vibe that only New York seems to have gave me the push I needed to restart. I'll talk more about my trip and share some of my travel tips and favourite places that I got the opportunity to visit in my next post.

2017 marks the beginning of a brand new adventure, and I could not be more excited! I've set my goals for the year and thought I would share my thoughts on how to stick to your resolutions and be well on your way to achieving the goals that you set out for yourself.

Firstly, write down your goals and resolutions in a place that you can always come back to and revisit. Merely thinking to yourself about your plans in your head often leads to failure because your mind is abstract and too clouded with thoughts and distractions. After a while, you just seem to forget about the things you set out to do. The more detailed you plan out strategies for your goals, the easier they are to stick to and follow because you know exactly what needs to be done to get there.

Secondly, accept fallbacks as part of the process. Chances are you're not going to get what you want straight away, there's going to be failures and times where you stray away from what you've set out to do, but that's completely okay. Just as long as you come back to it. Failure is a much needed experience that will help you learn and grow, it's your choice to keep going and do better next time around that counts. Allow yourself to be upset when your plans don't go as expected, but don't linger there, create better plans, after all you now know what doesn't work, so it's much easier to figure out what does.

Thirdly, accept that things, especially change, takes time. It's no secret that our generation hasn't learnt what patience is, which is a shame because we tend to call it quits the second things don't go our way. Impatience is one of my biggest flaws, and one that I'm actively trying to overcome every single day (it's one of my personal development goals), and I know that once I learn to be more patient, good things will follow. You can't expect yourself to change and to achieve the goals you set out straight away, and you have to remind yourself that that's okay, that you've still got time. Would you rather have it done properly and have all the satisfaction that comes along with hard work or rush it and do something that you're not really proud of? Remember that it's always your choice. Don't settle for good, strive for great. And great things take time.

Keep these tips in your mind when you're developing your goals this year, allow yourself with time for fallbacks and keep reaching for your targets even at the face of failure. Let 2017 be the year that you stick to your goals and achieve things that you're proud of, let it be your best year yet!

Wishing you all the best of luck for a great year ahead, may you go on to write epic stories and make memories that will last a lifetime.

Love always,
Neth
x

TAKE ME TO NEW YORK

Image source: Pinterest

Can't wait for NY in less than two months - Running away to the city that never sleeps. 

28.05.16

Ever feel like you've got the weight of the whole world on your shoulder? And you feel like all you want to do is run, far away from all your problems and people that are making you unhappy? Feeling like you're alone in this and everything feels like it's entirely too much? 

Believe me, you're not alone in this. But knowing that also doesn't help does it? Do you know what will though? Let me just tell you, everything will be okay. It might not be right this moment, it might not even be tomorrow, or the week after, but it definitely will be okay. Do you know why? Simply because everyday you don't give up and don't give in, you're becoming stronger. 

Here's a little fact about life - It sucks sometimes. Really, it does. And we get hurt, and we face situations that break us down. And we think, surely there's no way out of this, surely it can't get better. But those thoughts are just in your own head. The second you control your thoughts and think, 'You know what, I can do this, it's not going to be easy, it might even be the hardest thing I've ever done, but I've got this and I'm going to make it through it', your whole perspective on things will begin to change. 

It's up to you to change your 'I can't' to 'I can.' Because you can. 

First lesson to getting through a tough time to is to stop feeling sorry about ourselves and blaming everyone else for how things have turned out. We can't change other people, but we can change ourselves for the better. Things that happen to us don't change, but we are the ones solely responsible for controlling how we face a situation. 

One thing to remember is that everyone copes with a situation differently. I break down sometimes, I cry. I write, like I am right now, and sometimes I just go for a drive to clear my head. Whatever you do to face a situation is okay. It's okay to be weak, because your strength comes from it. How can you possibly know what strength even is, if you don't let yourself be weak? But weakness is not the same thing as feeling sorry for ourselves though. 

What you need to know is that we can't be upset about things that are not within our control. The only thing we can control is ourselves, and that's exactly what we should do. We also can't expect immediate results. Facing a situation and healing is going to take some time. And that's okay. Because like I said, the longer it takes, the tougher you become. 

The next time you feel weak, or feeling like the whole world is against you, remember, YOU are not against you. In fact, you are there to pick yourself up. 

You are meant for greatness. Do not let setbacks stand in the way of you being amazing! What you're facing right now is nothing but a moment in time, all part of the journey. You're responsible for getting to the destination you want. And when you do, you'll feel incredible, knowing you passed a whole lot of hurdles and challenges to get there. You'll appreciate it a whole lot more, knowing things weren't easy. 

Believe me, you've got this. So take a breath, and get ready to face the world. It's been waiting for you to unleash your inner power. It's been waiting for you to make a difference. 

Right this moment, you have inside of you, everything you need to do deal with whatever the world can throw at you. 

So go out there, and show them what you can do. 

Image source: Pinterest

25.05.16

To all my beautiful readers,

I received a piece of advice today that really changed my perspective on things. It made me genuinely smile and it's a little life lesson that I thought I'll share with you all.

That lesson is that, it's actually okay for you to care about something or someone as much as you do. Regardless of the circumstances. Here's the thing, we've all faced situations where we've been hurt, we've been battered down and we think things just cannot get any worse. When that happens, we always end up telling ourselves that we care entirely too much and maybe if we didn't, it wouldn't be as painful. We have other people telling us the exact same thing, telling us to stop caring and be strong instead. What I learned is that, strength doesn't come from a person changing themselves or becoming a harsher person, strength comes from them caring about the situation, from being forgiving, from accepting things as they come and facing those difficult situations anyway.

Truth is, people are going to hurt you. Certain situations are going to break you. Life is going to turn you on your head when you least expect it. That doesn't mean you should change yourself though, you can learn from it, grow as a person. But it doesn't mean you should change all the beautiful values and qualities that make you, you. Most importantly, it doesn't mean you should stop caring. It's really okay for things to not go your way, sometimes it may seem unfair, but that doesn't mean what's around the corner isn't going to change your life for the better.

Even though you've faced these difficult circumstances, it hasn't destroyed you. That's because you're better than that. You're stronger than that. It takes a lot of heart to forgive people, to not hold a grudge, to want the best for people that may have hurt you.

You care too much, about the people that are in your life and the people that you loved in the past, and that's okay. It's not your weakness, it's your strength. Do not let your negative experiences turn your heart into stone. Learn from it, let it transform you into a better person. Everything that happens in life are learning opportunities.

So keep being you, keep loving, keep caring, keep being strong.

Here's the advice I received - 'Never stop caring and loving with that big, beautiful heart of yours. Because for the right person, you won't be too much. You will be the perfect amount.' 

Love always,
Neth
xx