Working, working

Happy Saturday!

I haven't been around much and now it is the time to tell you why! I'm working on something that will be ready in a few days (hopefully!).
I will keep you posted :)
Until then, have fun and enjoy the lovely weather!

Hop like it is a Friday! :)

May Flower

Hello and Happy May! :)

Today I want to remind you all of the wonderful event that Crafty Hippo Designs is hosting; That is Picket Fence Friday and it is "a different kind of blog hop!".

If you are already familiar with Picket Fence, or thinking of listing your blog there, then this is a great opportunity for you! Come and join us!

Don't let that "Friday" confuse you and, as the title says, Better Late than Never! So, click here to get to Crafty Hippo for all the details! Let's hop hop!

 See you there! :)

Royal Rooms

I have been to London once. But, unfortunately, I was too young and I can't say that I remember many things from that visit back then. Although, I do remember the Natural History Museum and that is probably because of all the mummies! I guess they can be a pretty frightful sight for a kid:)

Since I don't remember much from my trip there, it is a good opportunity to see some new things from London, and to be more exact, from Buckingham Palace.

The big day is (almost) here and the royal wedding ceremony will start in a few hours so, let's have an inside peek or Buckingham Palace.

Click here to go to the original source for more photos!

A Nursery for Twins

Preparing the nursery can be a wonderful experience. It is a process where the parents -or, mostly the mother ;) - imagine and create a colorful, bright and peaceful environment. It is a safe, little nest, filled with hopes, dreams and fairy tales.

Now, let's see how Mariah Carey decorated the nursery for her twins.

It has a romantic style, with whites and greens being the dominant colours. 

What do you think? Do you like it? Is it "too much"?

I'll be back posting Monday-Tuesday! 

I wish you all Happy Easter!

FAB Friends Thursday

Welcome Fab Friends! 

If you are here from Fab Friends Thursday Blog Hop, please remember to mention it in your comment, so I can follow you back :)

If you are here from somewhere else, please click here to go to pregnancybaby411 and get your button!

Let me tell you a few things about this... lamp. Green Ceramic Table Lamp is new and it is still trying to find its... voice! It is about everyday life and making a beautiful home! Nothing complicated, or difficult! Only simple, easy tips and information. Or at least that is where this blog is trying to go :) 

Spend a little time here, search the blog, subscribe, or follow me on Twitter. I would really love to hear your comments, or any suggestions you might have to improve this blog and make it more interesting to you. Also, if you would like to get my button, look on your right and... grab my lamp! 

Have a great day,

Dimitra

Organizing the PC #2

Today I'm going to propose another add-on that is convenient and helpful. I tried it this morning and it found about 50 (!) duplicate bookmarks, which I had them delete! Now, I'm one step closer to a more organized browser. 

I never knew that I had 574(!!) bookmarks, but I knew I had… many! Lately, I was bookmarking wonderful blogs and then they got lost in a huge list and when I tried to find them I just couldn't. That made me so frustrated and I knew I had to start organizing my bookmarks... asap!

This add-on is called Check Places and "checks your bookmarks are valid and the pages still exist, checks for duplicates and for empty folders and can restore missing favicons."

So, it does quite a lot in terms of organizing! If you are using firefox and suffering from a loooong list of unsorted bookmarks, then it would be a good idea to try it.

To download it click here. To learn more about how to use it, click here!

What other areas in your PC do you feel are in need of some organizing? 

A City Within a Garden

Happy Sunday!

Two days ago, I came across an article about Singapore. The title, "The City Within a Garden", draw my attention, because we often think that it is the other way around; first, we build our cities and then we allow some nature to intrude. Apparently, it is not profitable to just leave some green spaces. We have to build and build and build until everything is covered, so we can sell, or rent. However, this scenario has failed completely in my city. So much so, that my street doesn't even have one tree!

I have to drive my baby daughter 15 minutes away, so she can actually see nature, instead of concrete blocks of flats:

Thank goodness we can't build in the sea.

I am thankful for having this post for our walks.

But Singapore is another story! Although it is a giant city, with huge skyscrapers and a large population, they seem to respect nature, as a priority. They actually co-exist harmonically as "50% of Singapore is covered with foliage, trees and plants". (50%??? Amazing!)

This is their City Within a Garden:

(By the way, excellent descriptions, lovely music, magnificent scenery!) 

That's a place I would love to visit. Just for the philosophy behind the way they chose to build their city.

What about you? Is your city green? Is your street green? Is your house green? Would you like to share a photo to show us? 

Organizing the PC #1

Small tribute to... an add-on!

As I have said before, I'm pretty new to the whole blogging, social networking, twitter, etc business. At first, all I wanted to do was to write in my blog, jot down a few ideas about decorating, organize my thoughts (as if I will ever be able to accomplice that!!!), and generally, have a nice time. But now, as I meet all you great people with your lovely blogs, I realize I want to stay more and more in touch with you and your new posts. That's why I created a Twitter account. 

But, what I discovered then has, literally, made me sooo happy:)

It is a small, tiny, add-on for Mozilla Firefox. As you are browsing the internet, reading your favorite blogs, writing e-mails, etc, Echofon is sleepless and it delivers all your tweets in a small window. Yes, it is instant notification of new Tweets, within Firefox. You never miss a tweet, and you are the first to get it!

So, if you are using Firefox, then I recommend Echofon to be your loyal companion!

You can read more about this add-on and download it, here.

It is also available for iPhone, Mac and Facebook, too. Visit their website, here.

7 Tips to keep your Desktop clean and shiny!

Sometimes I look at my desktop and realize that it is ready to burst! So much clutter! It just can't take it anymore. And neither can I. 

So, it is time for some desktop de-cluttering! 

1. Delete shortcuts (sometimes when you install programs, shortcuts are created by default), or pin them to your start menu.
2. Create folders to keep your files organized and place them into categories according to type. For example, you can have: "pictures", "applications", "music", "pdf files" folders and place the corresponding files in them.
3. Move the files you already have (and don't want to place to a folder on your desktop) to your documents folder.
4. Don't make the same mistake I did, changing the destination folder for downloads to the desktop folder.
5. Uninstall programs you don't want/use anymore.
6. Try programs that can do the job for you, such as Fences. Try it, here.
7. Don't allow time to go by without de-cluttering your files, otherwise you will end up not remembering what is important and what is not so.  
 

What about you? How do you keep your desktop clean and clutter free?

Feeling lucky?

Feeling lucky?

Experimenting with the lucky bamboo plant.

 

So, I have had 3 of these plants for over 2 years now. 

photo credit

They have been living quietly and peacefully in water and they seem happy (I think!). But a few days ago I realized that their growth rate has stopped, and the leaves on one of them are turning yellow.  :(

That's why I decided to experiment with it. I got a pot, a thin layer of perlite and a soil mix and.. Here is the result!

This is the before:

And here is the after:

So far, so good :) I will keep watering the plant to have enough moisture. And, I have read that it doesn't want direct sunlight. This is something I need to keep in mind, as the plant is now out in the balcony. 

I will keep you updated on the lucky bamboo's progress :) 

Yes, I want to stalk Jane Austen!

Happy Saturday all!

As I'm drinking my morning coffee, and reading my favorite blogs, I came across this lovely and funny list about the top 10 reasons why we should stalk Jane Austen! (Yes, the magnificent, but dead writer!) Well, the top reason is, of course,

• "Mr. Darcy, Mr. Knightley, and Edmund Bertram are the sexiest male protagonists of all time.  Enough said."

:) That is true, indeed! Although, Pride and Prejudice was first published in 1813, Mr. Darcy still remains one of the most fascinating and handsome characters ever written. He is so well established in our eyes as the "male prototype", that he is incomparable.

Why do you think that is?

For the complete list of "Why you should stalk Jane Austen", please click here. 

Small, bold and beautiful ;)

I'm sorry for not blogging much lately, but I have been lost in the blogosphere! Through Ultimate Blog Party I have literally found myriads and myriads of lovely blogs to read and follow. It seems to me, that eight days of partying, it just isn't enough! How about an… "After-Event" ? :) 

Well, I also need to say that reading all those wonderful blogs has made me rethink my blog's content. Maybe it should contain more everyday bits and pieces, maybe Greek recipes, etc. I really don't know yet, but I will think about it more. 

Until then, I would like to go back to my main focus, that is décor. Recently, Apartment Therapy has begun a contest entitled "Small Cool 2011". It is, as the title reveals, a contest about small spaces.

In my opinion, decorating small spaces can be more difficult than decorating big spaces. And that because you have to keep practical in mind, as well as beautiful.  Every meter counts! 

I had a quick look through the participants and I have to say that there are many, many inspiration gems :) 

Here is a small sample: 

This is the schedule:

Schedule

Apr. 1-Apr. 20

Submit Your Entry

Apr. 4-May. 1

Favorite Your Picks

May. 2-May. 9

Vote for Grand Prize Winner

For more small and cool, please click here. 

Would you like to participate?  (hmmm should I???    )

Ultimate Blog Party Tribute

This is a small tribute to The Ultimate Blog Party 2011. 

It is day 4 of the party and I feel the need to express my thanks to the 5 Minutes for Mom, for organizing such a wonderful event. This is my first party and I never thought it would be so much fun. I got to meet new people and read so many interesting and lovely blogs. I'm sure, I wouldn't be able to find them all, if it wasn't this party. 

For those of you who haven't listed their blog yet, go ahead and do it, because the days are passing by! Come and party with us!

Ultimate Blog Party 2011

Hello and welcome to my blog! I'm so happy to see you here :)

Let me introduce myself. My name is Dimitra, I'm from Athens, Greece. I'm a mother of a 4 month-old, wonderful girl. I'm new to motherhood and a bit clueless, I'm afraid. I'm trying my best, though, and I'm learning everyday. 

My blog is even younger than my daughter, so I'm new in blogging as well. It is a little bit about everything, but it is mostly about home decor. I'm, also, learning much everyday and I'm hoping to meet great people, through this amazing blog party. Oh, this is my first blog party, as well!  

Let me share my dreams with you-for this lifetime, I hope :)

1) I hope that someday we'll move from this: 

Traffic in Athens

To this: 

Quiet life in Portaria Village on Mount Pelion

  

2) Find some peace of mind and soul, and some time, to finally sit down and write my book.

3) And, my biggest dream of all… move to Scotland! I don't know what it is; the nature, the whole country, the feeling of seclusion, but whatever it is, it is an enchanting country. Unfortunately, let's face it: It takes guts to move to another country.

photo from freephoto.com

What about you and your dreams?

That's it from me, for now. Again, I'd like to welcome you all. And for those of you, who haven't heard yet… 

The party is on, so, come and join us! Oh, and happy April Fool's Day!

Flowers for summer balconies

 

As I'm looking at my balcony, I realize that it is in a desperate need for plants and flowers. Thankfully, it still has a few "survivors" from last year's heat wave and a small strawberry plant that even made it through the winter!
So, I have to buy some new plants that have to be "sun-resistant", as my balcony get serious, scorching sunlight during summer. It seems that the best solution would be to get some cactuses, because they are rather strong and durable. The only problem is that… I don't really like them. I would prefer plants with vibrant colors and big blooms:)

But, until they genetically mutate roses and daisies, I did a quick research to find plants that are sun-resistant. Here is what I found:

Gazania

A great variety of colors to choose from, and with pretty flowers.

Helianthus
 

Such a lovely, lovely, impressive flower. Plus, it can grow into a really tall plant! 

Lobularia maritima

Small, white, fragrant flowers that look really cute.

 

Osteospermum 

A wonderful, resistant plant with daisy-like flowers. My mother used to have these plants in our balcony, but, as I recall, they have a weird smell.

 

I will buy them and see if they.. like my balcony's sun :) 

Do you like these flowers? Which plant do you think can survive the summer heat? 

Outdoor Furniture

Crate and Barrel has introduced their new Dune collection. It is, as they say, an urban style, indoor room that lives outdoors. A bit too grey and industrial for me, but other than that it seems comfortable :) More on their line you can find here.

Three decorating accents

Hello all! 

Let's talk about home decor! To design, or to decorate a room, or a house is not an easy task. Let's not forget, that decorating and design are in fact professions. They require not only knowledge, but inspiration, too.

What do you think are the most important items that can make a room "pop"? What exactly can dress a room? What do you use to create a comfy, happy and welcoming feeling?

Let's see 3 home accents, that a room looks empty without them:

Cushions

Mix and match, or the same color, different patterns and different shapes, small and big, the cushions are there to "spice up" your room. Also, a nice and easy way to update, or to completely change your decoration. 

photo from HouseBeautiful.com

Curtains

Curtains seem a bit tricky to me! Hehe! And I say this, because their presence can never be subtle.   

 

Lamps

This blog's personal favorite. What a wonderful addition to any room; in the bedroom, in the living room, even in the kitchen, lamps are not only functional, but an ornament we cannot overlook.

All photos from hgtv.com

Lamps, lamps, lamps

Table lamps are a lovely decorative accent.  Depending on the lamp, it can give the room a nice, soft, subtle light, but it can also create a color pattern. Some lamps are big enough, or their color is bright enough, to become the centerpieces of the decoration.

I found this brand that makes customized lamps. So, you can design your own lamp by choosing the shape and the color. Really convenient, if you are looking for a specific design or color. Truth is, they are beautiful, a bit pricey though. But it is good to have our options open.

Spring Catalogs -- Ikea

It is true. Small spaces require a clever arrangement of furniture, so as to have some room for us and to avoid the look of a cluttered space. Now, that the weather is getting warmer, we seek to spend more time outside the house. And, here, in Greece most of us live in apartments with balconies, so we do enjoy a nicely arranged space. Add colorful flowers, fresh plants and the bright sun and we are set!

Let's see what Ikea proposes for Spring/Summer 2011.

 Click to enlarge

What do you think? Would you buy them to furnish your balcony?

Spring Catalogs -- Laura Ashley

Spring is here! With all its energy and the feeling of a new beginning, we can't resist it! We want this change, too!

Spring is all about bright colors and delightful floral scenes.

So, bring the flowery aroma into your home and let spring carry you away!

In this exuberating feeling, let's see what the new spring catalogs have for us.

Laura Ashley

Click the photo to enlarge

This catalog is full of pastel but also vivid spring colours. It can certainly make you feel happy, just by looking at the colour combinations. Laura Ashley has a distinctive romantic style that can inspire you. I'm sure there are plenty of wonderful ideas for you to choose from. For the complete catalog hop here.

Digging into the Etsy site #2

Whatever shines is not gold -- But it might be.

Hours and hours of browsing and searching, can bring up a small treasury!

I have recently discovered a great little Etsy store that sells handmade brooches inspired by the 20's. Even the thought of a brooch pinned on the lapel has a special... romantic feeling. But look at those little women! They are simply... art. 

I love them! They look so chic and they represent such a nice and innocent era (fashion-wise, but not only). 

Now, what if we framed them in elegant white frames and turned them into wall art? 

I'm sure they would look lovely!