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Headphones at the Ready: January 2015

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January was a bit of a “slow” month for me, music wise, but it did usher in a couple of new releases I enjoyed and thought I’d share with you all.

Now, since ‘Headphones at the Ready’ is a new feature, let me clarify: I’m far from a music expert so there won’t be any reviews here (lengthy or otherwise). Just a list of new albums that have caught my eye & provided me with a soundtrack for the month(s) in question. Feel free to take me up on any/ all recommendations and let me know what you thought, in the comments below…

January


Milo Greene – Control
Night Terrors of 1927 – Everything’s Coming Up Roses
The Sidekicks – Runners in the Nerved World

If you wanna get a taste of what these sound like, you can listen to the songs below (not necessarily my favorite, just what I managed to find on Soundcloud) or check out the full length albums on Spotify (you can click on each album name above, to be taken to the relevant Spotify page). Enjoy!

When in a rut…

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First of all, please allow me to apologise for the minor interruption in access to Lifestyle Counter, earlier today. What happened (as it often does) was that I kind of, slowly but steadily, grew tired of my old template and started feeling like a change. I hope you like the new layout (there’s probably still gonna be some tweaking here and there, but you get the general idea).

Let me know if you believe the design leap of faith to have been a succesful one – or if you’d rather I’d let sleeping dogs lie and stuck with my old design. I’d also welcome any suggestions for improvement or ideas you might have to make the “new” Lifestyle Counter better, so do tell me all about them in the comments below.

Creative Blogger Award

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On Feb. 22 I was kindly nominated for the Creative Blogger Award, by the lovely Jaanethough from Singapore! First of all I’d like to say ‘THANKS’ – knowing that you girls (& guys) out there enjoy Lifestyle Counter means the world to me! Then I’d also like to apologize for not tackling this sooner. I would hate for that to come across as ungrateful when, in fact, it’s just another side-effect of my – generally – being all over the place. So, without further ado, here goes:

The Rules:

  • Nominate 20 other blogs and their links
  • Thank and post the link of the blog that nominated you (very important)
  • Share 5 facts about yourself to your readers
  • Notify all nominees via their social media/blogs
  • Pass these rules on to them

My 5 Facts:

  • I’m currently obsessed with “How to Get Away With Murder” and “The Americans”. On that last note, I also have the sneaking suspicion I’m developing a bit of a crush on Matthew Rhys (it’s the eyes I tell you)!
  • I’m absolutely rubbish when it comes to… drinking water! Know those eight, daily recommended, glasses? Well, most days I won’t even drink half of that. I have tried everything to get into the habit of doing it more – but nothing seems to work. Thankfully I do, at least, hydrate in other ways (mainly coffee, tea and/or juices).
  • I’m 37 years of age but consistently get mistaken for a 27-year-old (& find people’s reactions when I tell them my actual age highly amusing). I guess I’ve stumbled upon the one benefit of having oily skin (extra resistance to fine lines and wrinkles that is).
  • I’ve never broken a bone or needed stitches in my life (shhh…don’t jinx it!)
  • When I was younger I wanted to become an actress. Somehow I ended up with a Master’s in Politics & International Relations (?), instead. People often comment on how I’m so passionate & expressive, I would have made a great actress. Makes me wonder if, maybe, I missed my calling…hehe!

Should you fancy reading more random facts about me, you can check out this and this.

My 20 (amazing) Nominees:

Beauty (& Health) Obsession of the Day

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I swear… Every time I check my inbox, there’s at least one newsletter there promoting something I suddenly realize I absolutely need to try. Case in point, from today: FOUNTAIN Molecules.

According to the Look Fantastic e-mail which introduced me to the brand: “FOUNTAIN is focused on offering water-soluble, highly bio-available forms of proven health and beauty nutrients in easy-to-take liquid formats.”. Or, simply put, liquid supplements with a twist. Since its launch in August 2013, FOUNTAIN has apparently become one of the #1 selling supplement brands in the UK (and, if their products work as good as they look/ sound, I guess I can see why). I was immediately drawn to their sleek packaging and clever marketing and promptly visited the FOUNTAIN website, to check out the full Molecules range. Available products fall under 3 categories: Look Good (with supplements for skin, hair and nails), Feel Good (with mood and energy supplements) & Be Good (with overall good health oriented supplements).

Following some looking around, I have decided I’d like to try the Pomegranate flavored Beauty Molecule (35€) & the Kiwi flavored, Super Green Molecule (40€). I think I will be ordering these next time I get paid (despite the fact that they are currently on offer @ Look Fantastic), so if any of you happen to have tried them and have feedback do let me know. If not, do you think these fancy liquid supplements are something you’d like to try (& if so, which would you choose)? Or are you hesitant when it comes to things you actually need to swallow to get the expected results (ok, that sounded weird but I guess you know what I mean)? Let me know in the comments below…

Color is the touch of the eye, music to the deaf, a word out of the darkness…

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… Wrote Orhan Pamuk in “My Name is Red”. Color makes me happy – it soften my sorrows, gives me hope and makes everything feel a little bit better.

By extension, colorful, vibrant art makes me happy too. I love finding new artists whose work I wanna put up on my walls. And recently I was lucky enough to happen upon just such an artist: the Russian born and Moscow based, Slava Fokk.

His unique style (which, for me, brings to mind some sort of Modigliani-esque Lolita Lempicka) immediately drew me in and now… I’m hooked. The fact that I haven’t yet figured out how much his pieces usually go for (probably too much) or if one might find prints of them available for sale, pains me greatly. In fact it does so to such an extent that I am considering contacting the artist himself. If/ when I find out more, I’ll update this – just in case you find yourselves as mesmerised by his work as I am.

Until then, here’s some of my favorite pieces from his website…

[All images/ paintings © Slava Fokk]