8 things to change in 2018

Happy New Year!

This year I decided to write down just 8 things I want to change in 2018... & I will also keep a monthly diary to track myself & make sure I stick to my resolutions!

{https://liagriffith.com/printable-new-years-resolution-cards/}

So, here they are:
1. Meditate 8 minutes per day;
2. Follow an 8-min daily beauty routine;
3. Sleep 8 hours per day;
4. Work 8 hours less per week;
5. Exercise 8 times per month;
6. Meet, call & catch up with friends 8 times per month;
7. Cook 8 new recipes or visit 8 new restaurants throughout the year;
and, last but not least,
8. Write 8 posts per month!
Let's see if I make it!!!

{https://liagriffith.com/printable-new-years-resolution-cards/}

paris is always a nice idea!

a month has passed since the tragic events in Paris & Europe is still trying to heal its wounds.
Paris is a special place for me... it is the place where I got married, the place where I celebrated my 30th birthday, the place I visit when I have an important reason to celebrate life!
however, it is always better to let French people express their feelings about this magnificent city. this is exactly what Benjamin Millepied, director of the Paris Opera Ballet & husband of Natalie Portman, did through this stunning short film. a pair of dancers are virtually flying above the roof of the Palais Garner. & Paris is ready to welcome a new era...

friendship vs. distance

i am sure you remember what happened in the last episodes of Sex & the City just before this image...

if not, check it out here:

that was the feeling of this past week... living far from your friends & loved ones, you feel like you are missing a big part of their lives and, most importantly, of your life too.
you are not there for their birthdays, their anniversaries, the birth of their children, and then their children's birthdays. you are not there at their happiest moments.
& unfortunately, you are not there at their saddest ones. these hurt you the most. because deep inside you, you know that it is then that you are much more needed. just to be by their side. hold their hand. tell them "i am sorry". in person.... & not through a telephone line.
as i am terrible at picking up the phone, i have developed my very own & extremely naive way to cope with this... i am doing something i call "long distance support". so, whenever i know a friend is going through a tough time, i focus on remembering all her dazzling moments, all her happy times, all her success stories. i am sure all your friends have moments when they shine. wherever i am, in the tram going to work, in the supermarket buying my groceries, at home cooking, i spend some time remembering all these moments. moments where my friend was happy & smiling. & i try to surpass all the distance that keep us apart, by sending all my positive energy to her.
i know it is extremely naive & romantic, but, somehow it works!
after all, even Aristotle at Nicomachean Ethics commented that "distance does not break off the friendship absolutely, but only the activity of it".