happy holidays!

i am one of those who always waits until the final hour to get all the presents, and make and send a christmas card. but i enjoy receiving post from my family, friends and colleagues, and reading all the creative wishes for the upcoming year.

today, this greeting card amazed me the most, and i'd like to share it with you.

a10 studio on facebook

feliz navidad, happy holidays, vesel bozic!
romana

Turtles in Baja

Baja's clorful nature and wildlife offers many possibilities to experience the pure life and to become part of some of the most beautiful things in life. Watching the whales breeding in Baja warm waters, swimming with the dolphins, or releasing baby turtles into the ocean.

The coast along the Baja California peninsula and the sea of Cortez is home to five of seven spieces of the world's sea turtles; Hawksbill (Tortuga Carey), Loggerhead (Tortuga Caguama, Amarilla o Cabezona), Leatherback (Tortuga Laúd), Green Turtle (also Black Turtle, Tortuga Prieta, Negra o Verde) and most abundant of all the species of sea turtle, Olive Ridley (Tortuga Golfina). All of them are endangered and four are ecologically extinct. Baja's organization Grupo Tortuguero is one of the companies formed to address the main threats to turtles survival. Often you can see their members on the beaches of Baja Sur oranizing a release and short educational seminar for children and by-passers who participate at the release of baby turtles.

While release of baby turtles are still quite often, in November I counted up to two releases per week, Grupo Tortugero says, that releases today are much rarer than they used to be. Poaching, incidental captures in fishermen nets, collection of eggs and meet for consumption, costal development and ocean pollution are some of the most threathening factors to turtle extinction. Sea turtles mature very slowly and live very long lives. They need to reach 20 to 30 years of age before they are sexually mature and able to reproduce, and most sea turtles return to the beaches where they were born to lay their eggs.

I was present at one of the releases of baby turtles, and they were adorable. And the whole experience is just amazing.

Why I love my friends?

Because they make my day every day. Today I received these cute photos of a hedgehog from my friend Sana. And the smile is on my face. Hvala Sani :)

ESCAPES magazine, 2nd issue is out!

Get your own - Open publication

Being considered as my 'baby' and one of my favorite projects (and there are more of my favorite ones) i'm working on at Grupo Riveras, i'd like to share with you the new issue of ESCAPES magazine, which came out today.

ESCAPES is a magazine which wants to share with its readers the best escapes, places, towns, beaches, cuisine in Baja California Sur, the culture, tradition, fiestas, social responsibility projects and all those things that make Baja so special. These are also the things that make me like this piece of the world so much.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Oktober, Gorenje and Ora-ïto on Russian Fashion Week

If you haven't heard about Slovenia yet, you should start looking out for it. Only 2 mio country, but with 4 NBA players (Mexico with more than 105 mio people has only 1, and Spain the world champion has 5), 5 olympic medals this year, and so many great fashion designers, creative people and such a cool wibe.

My fav Slovenian fashion brand is Oktober. As its name holds some nostalgia and 'revolution', it indeed signifies a real romantic revolution. Together with one of the best home appliances provider, Gorenje, they do some really cool stuff.

Like last year, also this year they were winning over Russian lovers at Russian Fashion Week in Moscow. Gorenje presented theit new collection of home appliances, Gorenje Ora-Ïto White. Their models were wearing white Oktober dresses, so as DJ SHE, one of the most famous Russian DJs.

Comme des Garcons for H&M

The countdown has begun. 8 days to go. And then - NEW YORK CITY here I come!

My to-do, to-see, to-buy list is getting the shape (and length).

Today I added one more necessary stop: H&M. Not just because there you can always find at last some detail or garment which you can use to freshen up your warderobe, but especially because on November 13th they are launching their Comme des Garcon collection. Wow. Love it! The collection is quite impressive. It consists of women’s, men’s and accessories along with perfume. I sure do hope there will be something left when I get there...

I was telling you already about my fascination and admiration for Japanese designers. Among them amazing Rei Kawakubo and her work for Comme des Garcons. Before i was able just to admire her work (admit it, it is way more than just clothes), but with this cooperation with H&M, which make it more accessible and, not the least important, usable, I will be also able to wear them. Yay!

I loved this styling, which appeared in Vogue Japan.

beautiful getaways

Cabo San Lucas is quite a small (turistic) town. But, if you want, you can always find hidden beautiful places, not far away from the turist centre, where you can experience Cabo in totally different way.

One Monday, on our lunchbreak, we escaped with my friend to this place... I'm not giving away the location, though :)

enjoying at the abandoned house

framed views

fisherman

fisherman & sky

Japanese chic. Back to basics.

I have not been feeling myself lately. Many things have happened. Things you never know when they will come around the corner and smash you in the face. Of course you know they are somewhere out there, but you don’t expect them, and when they come it hits you so much harder. But - I’m still breathing... They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. So in order to become me again I’m going back to basics, to things I like and love doing. Like photography, writing, fashion, music, culture…

I’ve always had a fascination for a Japanese culture. Their sensibility and sensitivity. Starting with their tradition, ancient culture, and some (not all) of the ‘crazy’ unimaginable things they are doing today. Another world, different, but so similar. Today I received a newsletter from one of my fav online stores La Garcone themed La chic Japonaise. And the imagery just brought me back to remember the things I like so much.

Yohji Yamamoto, Limi Feu, Rei Kawakubo, Issey Miyake and Kenzo are only one of them. And then an architect I discovered only lately Junya Ishigami, SANAA architects, Kanebo cosmetics, Haruki Murakami, Japanese green tea, cherry blossoms, etc… and some of La Chic Japonaise.

eternal icon, Kate Moss

This text is taken from The Guardian, but as i never stop being amazed about Kate, i just wanted to share this post with you. Simple things, not a big deal if you look at them, but also just so cool & easy.


Kate for Top Shop

How to dress like Kate Moss?

For 20 years, Kate Moss has been the undisputed queen of fashion. What's her secret? Angela Buttolph explains the supermodel's 10 golden rules.

More than a year ago, I started writing about the world's most famous wardrobe: the outfits Kate Moss has chosen to wear over the years. Everyone knows that Kate has a great sense of style, but I wanted to find out how she developed it, and the lessons she had learned along the way.


Kate for Agent Provocateur.

Moss has been dressed by the best in the business: from top designers, to big-name stylists and the greatest vintage dealers worldwide. Moss knows clothes. And over the years she has developed her own fashion formula. She may be the ultimate rule-breaker, but when it comes to her style, Moss follows a strict set of 10 "dos and don'ts" that she has stuck to religiously.

1. Do denim edgily
For Moss, jeans are a major style statement, not a no-brainer slob-out basic. Over the years, she has popularised low-cut skinny Sass & Bides, Diesel's tiny hotpants, flared J-Brand Love Stories, and pale-wash (vintage Chloé) wide-legged jeans. And each time, these were the exact opposite of the style that was currently "in". Often, making the biggest statement means choosing a style no one else is wearing yet (Moss wore her high-waisted Ghost jeans when everyone else was just getting the hang of emulating her low-waisted skinnies - and the denim devotees soon switched over and followed Moss's lead). Last week, Moss was spotted in Balmain's bold zebra-print boot-cut jeans - think on.



2. Make it look effortless
Wear your cocktail dress loosely belted; don't brush your hair for the red carpet; wear teenage black kohl eyeliner; hack off hemlines with a pair of scissors; buy vintage clothes and accessories that are already a little beaten up. Moss never looks like she's trying too hard which makes it all look effortless, and cool, and fun, and young, and sexy. Take note, Victoria Beckham.

3. Go for quality
Other than wearing her own Topshop label, Moss rarely shops on the high street. When she was a skint teenager she would buy second-hand cashmere polo necks, silk 1930s nightgowns and original 1940s tailoring from Portobello market. Real vintage clothes can still offer a quality of fabric and cut that no longer exists, and at a fraction of modern designer price tags.



4. Be a dress-code rebel
If there's one sneaky style trick that always guarantees Moss is the centre of attention, it's this: she'll wear the exact opposite of what is expected. From a grey, pared-down knee-length shift dress on the red carpet at the Cannes film festival, to tight leather trousers and a tuxedo jacket at the strictly-black-tie Metropolitan Ball in New York, to a sweet 1950s prom dress and swept back hair at the NME music awards, to sequins at a muddy music festival, or, ahem, white-hot pants to a wedding, Moss disregards the dress code and yet somehow manages to make everyone else feel like they're the ones who got it wrong.

5. Keep prints timeless
A cotton shirt in a pale blue cowboy plaid, a foxy ocelot-print jacket, classic stripy tops (thin and French, or wide and punky), 40s-style floral dresses, a glam-rock star pattern blouse ... Moss keeps her prints simple and classic. She rarely wears a designer's print of the season, or unusual or stylised modern patterns. This is the key to her timeless style, and, alongside a mostly neutral palette of black, grey and navy, has helped her style endure through the years, so that even pictures from 20 years ago look stylish today

6. Wear it tight to the torso
Moss has spent years watching the world's top designers and stylists tailoring clothes to her frame for catwalk shows and photoshoots, so she knows about fit. And she always wears her clothes tight to the torso. Moss is short (5ft7in) and very petite, but this is a great tip for flattering and slimming any body shape. Moss regularly has clothes altered that do not fit her signature ribcage-hugging silhouette; it's a simple but subtly effective device and means that the clothes always look as if they were made for her, and could never have been worn by anyone else.

7. Go for authenticity
Hippy, punk ... glam rock ... 1960s ingenue ... 1920s starlet - Moss flits effortlessly between personae without ever looking like she is wearing fancy dress. She pulls it off because she always buys authentic pieces rather than "get the look" styles. If Moss wants hippy boots, she'll buy the original Minnetonka lace-up fringed suede boots. If she wants to go punk, she'll buy a Vivienne Westwood T-shirt from the late 1970s. She won't go to Topshop and buy a new T shirt with a "punk-style" slogan on. Whether it's a genuine 1920s beaded flapper dress, a man's trilby or Hunter Wellington boots, Moss's clothes have integrity, which is why she always looks like the real deal.



8. Focus on clothes
For Moss, getting dressed has never been about fashion. It has only ever been about clothes. Early on, through her adventures in vintage shopping, she learned to appreciate each garment on its own merits. A beautiful silk blouse is a beautiful silk blouse, so how can you go wrong? A trench coat that fits you to perfection will always look amazing. If a piece resonates with her at that moment in time, she'll buy it. Focus on looking great, rather than on looking on-trend, and you can't fail. As Moss herself says "clothes go in and out of fashion, but that's not style. Style has to be classic."

9. Mix and mismatch
Moss mixes clothes that really shouldn't go together. A lace Victorian mourning cape with PVC jeans? Punk boots with a sequined dress? A prom dress with a leopard-print coat? She breaks the usual style rules and sets off new trends worldwide.

10. When in doubt, buy diamonds
From the 19th-century diamond drop earrings depicting flowers growing in a pot, to the simple set of diamond, sapphire and ruby bangles she was given by Donatella Versace, Moss knows that nothing brightens up a simple outfit like some serious, but subtle bling.


For boys & men, check out Justin Timberlake and his clothing line William Rast in video.

Life 1.0: The killer application

Ok, this is the post i read at 1000Watt Blog, posted by Davison, but as i liked it so much, and i think it has some truths we nowdays often tend to forget, i wanted to share it with you too:

In a time past
We looked before we crossed.
We checked our change.
We spent only part of what money we had.
The rest we saved.

We read books from cover to cover.
And articles from headline to closing paragraph.
Because most writers were credible.

Friends had a vested interest.
They were few but sincere.
Who they were said much about you.
At a drop of a hat they'd come to your rescue.

People we knew could get us on the phone.
If they needed a job, they didn't reach out to our connections.
They called us direct.
Because anything else would be considered rude.

When we did something, we just did it.
We didn't write about it or call friends.
By keeping our thoughts to ourselves we preserved a part of us that made us seem ... dignified.

Today
Pedestrians have rights of way.
We use credit cards.

We scan.
And cite opinion as fact.
And get those facts from the greater depths of fiction.

We have a friend named Natasha who attends college in Minsk.
She found us on a social network and thinks we're hot.
Blake's a friend too.
He's friends with 286 of our other friends.
Including Natasha.
She thinks he's hot too.

We are all connected by six degrees of separation.
But we can only reach them through some third party's website.
Or pay to get access to these otherwise strangers.
Who will hardly ever hear, feel or care about the drop our of hat.

People do things then run to the computer to publish it for all to read.
Or they write fiction so the world believes they're doing something they really aren't.
But what they're doing (whether they're really doing it or not) has no impact on our lives.

Going forward
I'm not living in the past. Or knocking the present. But looking forward in the future, I hope we don't let technology or the euphoria we place on Web 2.0 replace the preciousness of real life or our accountability within it.

Personally, to me living 10,000 miles away from my native country with most of my family and friends being there, internet and all means of long-distance communications means a lot. Frankly, i couldn't live without having them 'in the reach of my fingertips'.
But i also try to go back to basics where i can. I call my (also long-distance) friends by phone, send them personal one-to-one e-mails (as snail mail letter would travel 2 months) and to those who are near me, hang out with them and try to be with them here and now. I try to balance both, because both of them do balance my existance. But i do try to keep that pristine personal touch in all of them.

All is full of love

(photo: http://www.wanderlost.org/)

Is it because of the butterflies in the air, of the lovely sunny day, of Björk sensually singing in the background, or of the expectations which bring butterflies back again to my tummy? ...

All is full of love.

"You'll be given love

you'll be taken care of

you'll be given love

you have to trust it

Maybe not from the sources

you have poured yours

Maybe not from the directions

you are staring at

Trust your head around

it's all around you

all is full of love

all around you

All is full of love : you just ain't receiving

All is full of love : your phone is off the hook

All is full of love : your doors are all shut

All is full of love"

Björk

Interior design with Mexican flavour

In the past eight months I moved three times. You probably know how it is, boxes in, boxes out, unpacking, arranging, and so on. The most attractive, exciting and challenging for me though is the decorating part.

When I first came to Mexico, there were not so many places where you could buy nice (and affordable) furniture, but things are changing for the better. There are more and more attractive furniture stores opening in Baja, and I was lucky enough to meet Maria Luisa Reynoso, a wonderful person, interior designer and owner of Simmetria, furniture and decoration store in La Paz, which offers a wide selection of Mexican furniture combining colorful tradition and contemporary style, and individual personalized consulting. Malis, as her friends call her, is also an excellent interior designer and decoration consultant, and if you need a tip for what to do to give your home, an office, a store or a hotel, a special touch of your personality, she’s the one to help you with that and beyond. I had an interview with Malis for a Baja California Sur magazine Home, and here is an excerpt from the article.



Living in Baja is like a dream come true. Sunny weather, amazing contrasting nature, oceans, pristine beaches, friendly people and so much more. There is this Mexican flair in the air, which you can bring also to your home with lovely strong colors, exotic details, and a touch of passion and emotions. At my visit to La Paz, Malis took me to see one of her recent projects, a case study and example how a Mexican home can be elegant, classy and comfortable to welcome the family home. We visited a model home of Villas Aguamarina, a development of 28 beautifully crafted Mexican villas in Pedregal de La Paz, a home to which she gave that style and that special Mexican personality.

Malis explains her work: "When thinking about a decoration for this project, I wanted to give the house a touch of elegance, style, quality and simplicity, yet in a Mexican way. It is really important, that the quality of the construction goes hand in hand with the furniture that you pick. And in Pedregal de La Paz, where influence of nature is essential, I was able to focus on natural material and fabrics, which are also my favorite: wood, wool, cotton and leather among others." She continues: "I was looking and thinking about each space individually, I wanted to create an ambient which is cozy, not too crowded, with the right amount of furniture and accessories, so people would enjoy living here."

A model home of Villas Aguamarina feels very cozy indeed, in fact, it feels like a home. It makes you want to pack all your belongings and just move in. The play of colors, materials and details is what you will find fascinating in this home. Colors are very important, says Malis. They give the house a touch of personality, and make the space warm and appealing. "When searching for colors to match the house with the ambiance and environment, I walked the neighborhood around the house, I took a piece of dirt, desert, sand and stone and created my ideas and colors based on them," Malis explains. The composition of the ground in Pedregal de La Paz for example is completely different from the one in Pedregal de Cabo San Lucas, in Cabo it is brown, and in La Paz it is pink, an amazing work of the nature.

Playing with materials and matching them with colors creates a unique combination and connects the space together. And details, which you might not even notice, but would miss them if they were not there, they add the flare to the house, that special something that catches your sight everywhere you turn and bring out the beauty of the house; even if it is for a simple thing like placing a candle in a special place.

Interior of the house has some special features, like a beautiful tall, thin and elegant palm tree in the centre of the house, smart and functional arrangement of rooms (I would say it is family-friendly) and terraces from every bedroom with their own personality, but also matching the adjacent room. Every terrace and outside space has a special ambiance. It is connected with the inside of the house, but different. The concept for the outside spaces has aroused from the imagination what would people like to do outside their rooms. Have a breakfast at the terrace perhaps, or a dinner at the sunset; maybe relax or read a book, or entertain with family and friends at the patio with community pool and palapa, overlooking the aguamarine waters of the Sea of Cortes.

It is true what they say, the home is where the heart is. And by adding to your home your favorite color or some special detail it will make it more personal, more ‘you’. Visit Malis at Simmetria, she will welcome you friendly, show you around her beautiful store stocked with plenty of ideas and many of details you’d love to take home with you immediately. She will share with you stories about her decoration projects, give some valuable and useful advice, and if you want, she can help you transform your house to your special home, too.

Swimming with the dolphins

There are (currently) 10,100,000 hits in Google on 100 things you need to do before you die. I haven't made up my list yet, but, swimming with the dolphins is one of the things I warmly recommend.

I've always liked dolphins (remember Flipper?). While living in Slovenia, I wanted to adopt a dolphin through organisation Morigenos. Adoption of a dolphin of course doesn't mean that you'll have him in your bath tub or swimming pool - it means that with a small yearly fee you can contribute to the research and protection of the dolphins. And besides that you will be also able to learn more about the dolphins and their way of life, follow your dolphin in his adventures etc.

Here in Baja California Sur, living so close to the ocean, and being able to see them from Pedregal or my favorite beach in Zacatitos, I finally might adopt a dolphin. I just need to find where. You can adopt a shark in La Paz, but I still want my dolphin. Last Sunday I went to get to know them a little bit better, and see, if they are indeed as nice as they seem. And they are. I was swimming, playing (and kissing) with Monet (or shorter Mo), the dolphin from Cabo Dolphins, a dolphin center in Cabo San Lucas. If you have the chance, go swim with them... They are so soft, gentle and amazing. I'm looking forward to my friends visiting me in Cabo, as I promised I will take them swimming with Mo and his friends too.

The only things I was missing in Cabo Dolphins is a research center, or some other dolphin-firendly activities, which would enable you to learn more about them, give a contribution to research of their lives and preservation. But, I hope this will change soon too.

If you like dolphins, you might like also:

- Le Grand Bleu, the movie, amazing movie by director Luc Besson, with Jean-Marc Bar and Rosanna ARquette... check the trailer

- Deep Blue, the movie by BBC. They say: 80% of life on earth lives in ocean, yet more people have walked on the moon than have seen the ocean's deepest floor.

You can see more photos of my swimming with the dolphin experience here.

Suckers for sunsets

One of the most amazing things about living in Baja California Sur are sunsets... They are incredible, every single day they change their shape, color, intensity... they are different, but always amazing. Our balcony at night becomes a theatre for performances of the dancing sun. And we can never get tired of it.



Sun performance from our balcony, Cabo.



@ Buzzard's beach, San Jose del Cabo.



@ Pueblo Bonito Pacifica, Cabo San Lucas, with a setting for a private dinner at the beach.



@ Pueblo Bonito Pacifica, Cabo San Lucas.



@ San Jose del Cabo.