London diary

    Ph 1&2 us and giant book / Ph 3 taxi in London 

    Ph 3 Hyde Park in December / Ph 4 Winter Wonderland Hyde Park 

    Ph 5 friendly squirrel in Hyde Park / Ph 6&7 random in Winter Wonderland 

    Ph 8 Harrods / Ph 9 window at Harrods

    We hope you spent a wonderful Christmas surrounded by your loved ones. Ours was in London and somehow, this city never fails to work its magic on us. Even though it rained constantly, during the Christmas day it was truly a challenge to find a restaurant open and on Boxing Day there was a general strike, we managed to have some memorable moments. Such as being part of the Christmas procession at St. Paul's Cathedral and listening to the magnificent choir. Or entering by chance the smallest and most intimate church on Christmas Eve at midnight and feel the unique spirit of Christmas . And, of course, the endless suite of hot coffees and teas served at windowed cafés when juicy conversations stalled just to admire the eclectic crowd that strolled the streets relentlessly. 

Sometimes a city break is all we need to get over the daily routine and to feel that life is actually wonderful as long as we surround ourselves with the right people and we get to be in the right place. And if it happens to be during Christmas time... then it's just perfect :)

 Now that we are heading into a new year and before preparing our Wish lists for 2013, let's try to be grateful for all good things that 2012 brought in our lives, for all the interesting people that we have met, for all the amazing places we have seen and for all the life experiences that brought us here and now and above all for having all possible means to fulfill our dreams in the year to come. 



Love,

Laura&Elena

Christmas Giveaway!

Christmas is around the corner and everyone is buying presents for their beloved ones. And because we still believe in the Christmas spirit  and we still find joy in giving rather than receiving, we decided to organize a giveaway for you, our readers. And since it is our first giveaway it had to be a special one. So we have chosen a meaningful gift for you, a timeless friendship necklace " Wish upon a star" from Fossil.

Why a friendship necklace?? Well..it's simple.

Because we are best friends and because we genuinely believe in true friendship that stands for support, respect, attention, understanding, love and above all trust. Friends are those people who cheer you up when you feel like giving up, who encourage you to step forward when all the rest are pulling you back, who make you smile when you feel like crying and most important those whom you feel very close to you, even though they are far away from you.

With this giveaway we would like to make you and your best friend happy by offering you something that you can share and that will always be a reminder of your friendship.

And why " Wish Upon a Star"? Because at Christmas time everyone has to make a wish.

Elena's wish this Christmas is to cherish the present together with all the significant people in her life and for the future she wishes to be somewhere in the world where she can make a change..., in her life and in the life of others. And above all, she wishes to be always surrounded by good people, always inspiring and kind, spreading a positive vibe around them.

Laura's wish this Christmas is to have all her loved ones close, to be happy and good and to be able to take advantage of all the good opportunities that arise in her life.

Now, after all these confessions, which are your wishes for this Christmas??

Share your wishes with us by commenting on this post, become a follower of this blog via Google Friend Connect and you may win the friendship necklace" Wish upon a star". The giveaway is open till 26th December 2012.

Good luck and we are looking forward to read about your wishes!

Love,
Elena and Laura

PS: We believe that an inspiring song is needed for this post so we are leaving you with "Imagine" by John Lenon.

 

Sunday at the Second Life Festival Christmas Market

On Sunday we attended the Second Life Festival Christmas Market in the exquisite Le Berger boutique hotel in Brussels and discovered an unique and interesting concept. In each of the rooms of the hotel, all  different and distinguished by women names such as Chloé or Antoinette, jewelry and clothing designers, vintage collectors, make-up artists and photographers awaited the crowd.

One of our finds was a collection of collars entirely made by hand. We were particularly attracted by those imposing golden studded collars enriched with pearls.

In another room, we met the astonishing lady from Lolly Wish which impressed us with some vintage hair accessories that we had to purchase. It was love at first sight :) You will see them soon on the blog.

We also run into two very pin up designers from Miss Chickadee Hats. It seems that, when it comes to fabulous mini hats and pillboxes, a Canadian and a Dutch are a perfect match. Elena tried on the bird headpiece while Laura fell in love with the military one. You can check out their Facebook page here!

After falling in love with the hotel rooms and after trying some lovely vintage pieces, we ended our tour  in the lobby situated at the ground floor with some green tea flavored cupcakes and a cup of coffee dreaming about our future projects. It was relaxing, inspiring and nevertheless, the vintage market made our Sunday perfect!

Love,
Laura & Elena

P.S. Stay tuned this week for a Christmas giveaway!

Cologne-Bonn diary

    We arrived in Cologne on a Friday afternoon in which media had been pouring severe snow weather alerts that we, obviously, ignored. Our first meeting with Antonia was scheduled later in the evening so we took our time to visit the beautiful and world renowned Christmas Fair. And well, lets's just say that Germans love their Christmas Fairs. And not just the Germans, since the Cologne Christmas Fairs proudly report over 2 million visitors each year. Among the things you immediately notice is that everyone is drinking hot Gluweihn from cute porcelain cups or cold eggnog in tall legged glasses, speaks out loudly and buys everything from pretty colored gingerbread to home made soaps and baskets.  A serious part of the crowd was heading towards the Hohenzollern Bridge, or popularly known as the Love padlocks bridge. Gladly, Deutsche Bahn hasn't succeeded in removing the locks because of public opposition and tourists are still able to enjoy these modern love statements. Each inscription is different. Some chose to engrave just their initials while others wrote, even with marker pens, meaningful words. Who knew that Cologne was such a romantic city?

    A new day, a new Christmas Fair. This time the one in the coquettish city of Bonn. But not before enjoying, along with Antonia, a well-deserved brunch in an oriental tea house. Great food, desert and the most wonderfully fragranced teas carefully served according to their provenience. 

    In the end, our weekend in Cologne-Bonn brought us not only a successful interview with the wonderful Antonia, but also a Christmas preview and some beautiful authentic gifts for our loved ones. What more to make us smile?

Love,

Laura & Elena

PS: If you have questions or suggestions for us, contact us at rcgstaff@gmail.com

Inspired by…Antonia Nikolova DHL Regional Talent and Development Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa

This is the first post from our series called Inspired by…

Today we will introduce you a very special person, a young woman with a contagious smile that has been living amazing experiences, meeting fantastic people and traveling in places where most of us only dream about.

 Her name is Antonia Nikolova and she is currently working for DHL as Regional Talent and Development Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa. 

 We met her, in the coquettish city of Bonn, Germany, which has been her home away from home for the past year.In front of a cup of tea in the most wonderful setting, with pine trees gracefully covered in the first snow, we tried to take her back where it all started. 

 "I guess it all started because I wanted more than life could have offered me if I would have never left my home town in Bulgaria", she began her story.  I was part of AIESEC and dreaming about studying abroad, but my parents couldn't afford to pay for that, therefore I applied for several scholarships and got accepted in a couple of universities here, in Germany". In the same time period she received an award from her university in Bulgaria for Best Student and an official meeting with the Minister of Finance from Bulgaria radically shifted her views to the point that she decided to remain in the country and bear a hand to building a better future for youngsters like her. "I declined the scholarships and got fully involved in the AIESEC activities". 

 "What made you stop believing and influenced you towards leaving the country?", we were curious to know. "The political involvement" she sighed and we moved further on with the discussion. She started a Traineeship in the International Relations Department within DHL at their offices in Bonn, Germany only to move to their Corporate Executive Department which was more into the direction of HR, her recently acquired point of interest. "I met really inspiring people during a Leadership Program. Being among people with international careers in Leadership had such a powerful impact on me, that I instantly decided the course of my career path". "Ok, that was the moment when you decided what you wanted to do, but how did you actually end up doing the thing you like?" we asked. "After finishing my Traineeship I had to move back to Bulgaria because there was no position available for me in the company". There was also a difficult period because Bulgarian nationals needed visas in order to work in Germany.

 She kept applying for jobs abroad and obtained one in the UK but along came the disappointment because there were a series of problems with the paperwork and she couldn't carry forward. Almost immediately, she received an offer from the DHL headquarters in Brussels and met the head of the HR Department. "At that time, this lady was in her 50s, and as she further on told me, she saw herself in me at that age. She told me, ok, you don't have experience, but I want to give you a chance". She became Antonia's mentor and possibly that one person that positively determined the course of her career. She successfully delivered large HR projects despite her being Junior and proved that she did not take her chance for granted.

 After four years of living and working in Brussels as a HR Consultant on Leadership Topics and struggling with the weather she decided that a change was much needed and found herself more and more attracted to the Asian culture, lifestyle and traditions. Singapore had been of particular interest for Antonia, even without her knowing much about this eclectic country or about the reasons that made it so appealing to her. She started applying and received a series of rather peculiar rejections. "For one particular job I was rejected because I was a woman and I was too young to be on a Senior position. That was the last time I included my age in my CV". 

She finally obtained a position of HR Specialist in Leadership for Asia and Pacific in Singapore and packed her bags to move there. "Was it a cultural shock? How did you feel when stepping out of the plane with your suitcases knowing that this will be your home? It's not a vacation, you cannot pack your bags and go home when you don't like it anymore" we smiled and curiously asked. "I had no time to have a cultural shock", she laughed. "After a night flight I just took a cab to the hotel and then another one to the office, it was my first very busy workday". Actually, her cultural shock happened in her first weekend in Singapore. While looking for the cinema on a well-known commercial street she saw a huge queue in front of the Louis Vuitton store. "People would have killed to enter that store and buy those high priced items. Well, that was a shock for me!", she added astonished.

 "Did you manage to travel around while you were in Singapore?" we were, of course, curious. And travelled she did! She went to Australia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Macau, China. While in the swim we were pry about a must-see place in the world in her vision. "Bali", she answered without even thinking about it. "The couple of times that I've been to Bali have offered me such different and amazing in their own way experiences, that made me really fall in love with it and it's energy". Antonia decided to leave Singapore after living there for two years. "I wanted to do more and I knew that while being there, I will never be given the opportunity to grow. Also I was missing my friends and family. For the first time, I was missing them!". After being away from the loved ones and out of her comfort zone, she finally realized that family and friends were the most important links that kept her world unbroken. Therefore, she moved for the second time in Bonn, Germany, to take over the Regional Talent and Development Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa position at a very early age but with plentiful experience. "I knew where I was coming to" she gave a laugh. "It's small, at least compared to Singapore, I only have one Brazilian bar nearby…but I wanted to be in Europe". 

 Among the questions we had for Antonia was one in which we asked her to give an honest advice to young graduates seeking an international career. "First decide what you want to do and be really frank with yourself. If you want to work abroad, find a way to do that whether through an internship if not possible through a first job. A Master's program, a summer course or a short-term project can be the start of your international career. Go for large companies. Do not underestimate positions in the consultancy companies. The Big 4 are always looking for young fresh talent. They don't care if their talents are from Bulgaria, China, Vietnam or Ecuador. And dream big. You are as big as your dreams are!" 

 The interview with Antonia left us rewinding images from her life at high speed in our minds. Europe and Asia melting together in a nameless footage about one powerful and yet so sensible young woman who dreamt about changing the world. The people she met along the way, though we have never seen their faces, seem now so familiar to the point that we could have met them. Antonia's life story made us realize that it is, nevertheless, up to us to make a change in our small universe and to take all the chances that life is giving us because, as she argues, as long as you dare to say Goodbye, life will reward you with a new Hello!

We would like to thank Antonia one more time for sharing her inspiring story with us!

 With love,
 Laura & Elena

 PS: Don't forget to put your rose colored glasses on and dream! Because if you dream it, you can achieve it!
And if you have any kind of inquiries contact us at rcgstaff@gmail.com

Introduction

They say beginnings are always the hardest. How does one begin to talk about himself without sounding pompous? I guess there is no right answer to this question. In the following days you (yes, YOU, the reader) will get to know us better without us even talking much about it.

We are Laura and Elena, two girls that have started their adventurous journey  3 years ago when we both decided to follow our dreams and risk the certainty of our lives for the unknown and the unexpected. Again, the beginning was hard but we had each other and that made us best friends. 

We are very similar and yet so different in so many ways and we like to think we complete each other as friends.

Laura, the blonde half of the blog, is a passionate reader and amateur writer with a fondness for fashion, intriguing movies and interesting people. She believes that we all have stories to tell, we just have to find the right ones to listen. She believes that the most open-minded people find a way to get together and create magic. For themselves and for the people around them.

Elena, the brunette half of the blog, is a dreamer by nature, she dreams by night and she dreams on daylight because she strongly believes that dreams are the preview of our lives as long as we fight for them.  Her hunger for knowledge and thirst for inspiration is endless, always looking up to role models to gain confidence and enhance her positive attitude. An incurable romantic, helplessly in love with life she is guided by one quote that dazzled her some time ago " Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I'M POSSIBLE!" by Audrey Hepburn.

We created this blog in order to share our experiences meeting random interesting people around the world. We listen to stories about their growth, learning and life-time experiences and we bring them in front of you. They are not famous people, maybe they will never make it on the covers of the glossy magazines, but they are real, and so their stories are. 

We attempt to promote a healthy way of living,  first of all by doing good for us and for the people around us. We believe in and promote volunteering, people who smile for no reason and being happy above all.