…illuminates my working space. It’s time to make a cup of tea and get started. I wonder what today will bring?

A while ago I was asked by the ever lovely anne if I could answer a few fun questions (like: what’s in your “designer travel kit” ? and: on an average, how many pictures to you take on a trip?)  for her boarding pass series on her blog, prêt à voyager. Today, the post is up! With loads of photos and little handwritten descriptions…

To read the full post, please click here. I do hope you like it. Thank you dear anne! I hope to see you in Paris one day soon.

xx

PS I just added the link within widget which is something I have been meaning to do as I am quite liking it on other blogs. What do you think of it? I thought it might be a nice way to see old posts that you may have missed. Let me know your thoughts…

UPDATE, 2 days later: I have removed the link within widget for the moment because I feel like it messes up the tranquility of the posts. If I can find  a way of making it more subtle, I shall put it back in. Thanks for all your feedback on facebook!

…eventful. And included a beautiful night ride along the ij river, a late supper of dim sum, a stroll around the spiegelkwartier gazing at glorious antiques, afternoon tea, and sweet sweet music, live,  as the sun set, in my little boat living room.

Oh, and my hair caught on fire in a cafe, with thanks to a table candle. Thankfully I saw the flames reflected in french boy’s suddenly wide eyes the second it happened and managed to grab it with my bare hands to pat it out. For the whole night all I could smell was burnt hair.

How was your weekend?

For the last few months I’ve been feeling like life is flying by, and I know from past experience that when I have that feeling, it’s a sign that I am super stressed out.  It means that I am letting things get out of control, overwhelm me, instead of taking things step by step.

Step 1 – Understand where you are living from…
If you are living from your head, you just get dizzier and dizzier, until you eventually fall over. If you live from your centre, it is easier to focus on what is important to you and let everything else drop away.

Step 2 – Connect with what is important to you…
The first thing you need to do is create a vision for yourself, your family and your children. Next have a look at where you are expending your energy. Are you doing the things you love or the things you feel you should do? Are you nurturing and caring for yourself and your family or looking after everyone else? What are you doing to create a peaceful and harmonious home? Another useful tip is to look at your world through the eyes of your children.

Step 3 – Stick to your vision…
The final step is to stay focused on your vision. So when any new opportunity comes your way you can easily decide if it’s really what you want to do.

It is also important to learn to say no; schedule your time with lots of space to just hang with yourself, your partner and your children; and remember to look after your health.

………………………………………………

I hope you find these little steps as useful as I do. I can see there is lots I need to work on, especially the saying ‘no’ bit, and making time to hang out with myself. Life is full of lessons, non?

Thank you Karin!

…if you haven’t already added your name alongside Robin Williams, Billy Connolly,  and the Dalai Lama to The Prince’s Rainforest Project to help stop tropical deforestation, please click here to do so – it will be the most day enhancing thing you could do on this fine Monday. I added my name on Friday, but if at least one or two of you add your name today then you will be enhancing my day too as you know how passionate I am about these things. Merci beaucoup.