welcoming september

late summer afternoons, linen shirts with light knits, iced coffee turning into cappuccinos, woven bags, golden-hour walks, sunglasses, fresh perfume, open windows, first cardigans, leather loafers, denim, handwritten lists, farmers’ markets, bookstore afternoons, warm bread, candles after sunset, cooler mornings, the first rainy day, early dinners, autumn playlists, brown leather, September air, and one last swim before the season changes.

THE LAST DAYS OF SUMMER

the last days of summer always feel a little slower. the suitcase is finally unpacked, the beach bag is sitting by the door, and the evenings are beginning to get just a little shorter. take one last swim, stay outside until the sun goes down, and wear your favourite summer outfit one more time. get an iced coffee, wander around without a plan, meet your friends for dinner, and take too many pictures. wash the salt from your hair, put on some body oil, light a candle when you get home, and play the songs that will always remind you of this summer. start putting away the things you won’t need for a while, but leave a few summer pieces out a little longer. one last slow morning, one last warm evening, one last excuse to stay out late before September begins.

THE FIRST DAYS OF FALL

the first days of fall always feel like a little reset. the mornings are colder, the evenings arrive earlier, and suddenly you’re reaching for the sweaters you forgot about all summer. make your first coffee of the season, open the windows, and let the cool air in. wear your favourite knit, take a walk through the changing streets, stop at a café, and spend an afternoon somewhere warm with a good book. light a candle when you get home, put on an autumn playlist, cook something comforting, and start making plans for the months ahead. buy a new notebook, rearrange your room, take pictures of the leaves, and let yourself enjoy the feeling of beginning again. the season is changing, and so can you. slowly, quietly, without needing to become someone new.

THE ESSENTIALS

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THE PLAYLIST

WHAT TO REMEMBER

you don’t have to make every day magical just because it’s a new season. some mornings will be rushed, some plans will fall through, and some days will feel completely ordinary, and that’s okay. wear the outfit, take the long way home, call your friends, drink the coffee, go outside even when it’s cold. don’t rush through the season waiting for the next one. let yourself enjoy where you are before everything changes again.

here’s to autumn- let’s make it one worth remembering.

xoxo,

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welcome, autumn !

It’s officially fall! We are now saying our final goodbyes to those warm summer days as we are entering the season, where the warmest thing about it is the shade of the fallen leaves, and our rose-coloured cheeks. The days will get shorter, the air will get colder, our layers of clothing will get thicker. So let’s make the most of it, and set the mood for the first month of autumn !

September, the month of:

vanilla candles

gilmore girls rewatch

library sessions

ugg shoes

turtleneck sweaters

suede bags

trench coats

long scarfs

english tea

loafers

crispy leaves

coloured tights

museum visits

pumpkin spice lattes

leather jackets

apple cider

brown eyeliner

fuzzy socks

freshly baked cinnamon rolls

foggy air

leather boots

warm fireplaces

spontaneous coffee shop visits

toasted makeup

set the september vibe with:

01 listening to: The Cranberries

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I come back to this band every autumn. As a musician myself, I find their music super enjoyable specifically because of the vocals preformed by Dolores O’Riordan. I bet you know this band already, but if you aren’t the biggest fan of Zombie or Linger, i assure you there are more songs you can fall in love with. If you want to feel like you are living in Stars Hollow, or simply make your autumn feel more bright, this band is just for you!

02 watching : The Dead Poets Society (1989)

I can remember the very first day I had watched this movie in my bedroom. It was after my study session with a close friend of mine, who simply wouldn’t stop talking about it. She literally made me watch it and I am so glad she did. It has been on my watchlist for years! I bet a lot of you has seen it already, or at least, heard of it. But for those who didn’t, this story follows a group of young boys that were influenced by their new English professor John Keating, to make their life more extraordinary. They form a secret club, where they let their passion run wild. They discover the beauty of language and the importance of it. But soon they find out, that their new found freedom can have consequences. And I won’t tell you more. You can watch the trailer I linked, but let me tell you something, this film had me crying, had me rethink my whole life., but mostly made me Carpe Diem my life out.

03 reading : If we were villains (by M.L.Rio, 2017)

I picked this book for my oral examination that would be one third from my final grade. I got an A and my storytelling made my teacher buy this book on the very same day. I believe there is no better way to describe this book than saying it is beautiful and tragic at the same time. I don’t want to say more about it. You should find for yourself.

♡

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aaand lastly, spice it up with my back to school playlist!

I am wishing you all a wonderful September, carpe diem it. ♡

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by Celina, August 2026

5:30 AM alarms, black coffee, crisp notebooks, early lectures, wired headphones, oversized trench coats, leather totes, library afternoons, annotated books, silver watches, reading lists, quiet cafés, laptop screens, handwritten notes, dark loafers, brown leather, tortoiseshell glasses, campus walks, freshly sharpened pencils, rainy mornings, pressed shirts, one more chapter before bed.

THE NIGHT BEFORE SCHOOL

the last night of summer always feels a little different. your bag is waiting by the door, notebooks are stacked on your desk, and tomorrow’s outfit is hanging where you can see it. take a long shower, wash your hair, do your skincare, and put on something comfortable. make your favourite drink, paint your nails, tidy your room, and put on an album you haven’t listened to in a while. check your timetable, pack your pencil case, set your alarm, and write down a few things you want from the year ahead. get into bed a little earlier than usual, read a few pages, and let yourself be excited for everything that hasn’t happened yet. one last quiet evening before the routine begins again.

THE MORNING OF SCHOOL

the alarm goes off earlier than it has all summer, and for a moment you forget why. then you remember. open the curtains, make your bed, and let the morning light in. put on the outfit you planned last night, do your skincare, brush your hair, and add a little perfume before leaving the room. make coffee, toast, or whatever makes the morning feel like yours. put your laptop, notebook, headphones, and everything else into your bag, check that you have your keys, and head out the door. the streets feel familiar but somehow new again. new notebooks, new classes, old friends, a new playlist in your headphones. summer is officially over, and the year is beginning.

THE ESSENTIALS

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THE PLAYLIST

WHAT TO REMEMBER

don’t let one bad grade, awkward day, or unfinished assignment make you feel like the whole year is going wrong. you don’t have to be perfect, productive, or constantly ahead. take breaks, ask for help, sleep when you need to, and remember that school is only one part of your life. let yourself have fun, make mistakes, change your mind, and enjoy the little things. you’re allowed to take this year one day at a time.

here’s to a new school year- let’s make it one worth remembering.

xoxo,

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by Celina, august of 2026

I have watched the Anthony Bourdain: The Layover | S02E02 - Paris (Full Episode) the other day and as the video ended and I had the click on the X to exit the video, I felt like I had just come back from Paris.

Which is absurd, considering I had been sitting in my bedroom the whole time.

But there was something about the way Bourdain wondered around the city, that made Paris feel less like a destination, but instead, more like a way of living. He wasn’t trying to convince me that Paris was beautiful- everybody know that already. Instead, he made me want to understand it more. He made me want to walk through the streets without having a plan and just sit somewhere for too long, eat something I couldn’t even pronounce correctly, and notice the little things I would probably miss if I were busy trying to see everything.

And as I was almost halfway through the video, I realised, that Bourdain had accidentally taught me a thing or two about Paris and traveling itself.

It had been my dream to visit Paris ever since I was a little girl and it feels surreal that I can finally claim that’ll be staying in Paris for a few days in just weeks!

Naturally, I had spent the last months planning my trip, researching museums, metro lines, restaurants and everything that comes to your mind under the term “Paris itinerary.” All I wanted was to make the most out every second, see every place I had saved on Pinterest, eat at every little restaurant I had circled on Google Maps and, ideally, come home feeling like I had truly done Paris.

Because I always thought I knew what Paris was. The Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, cafés, museums and pretty streets of clichés romantiques.

But then I came across this video of Anthony Bourdain’s show on my YouTube and I suddenly realised that the trip that has been my life-long dream is giving me stress already, and I am not even there.

“I should be more like Bourdain”- I though to myself.

01. Paris isn’t a checklist.

I think we’ve somehow turned traveling into a strange little competition.

Did you see the Louvre?

Did you make it to the top of the Eiffel Tower?

Did you visit every museum on your list?

Did you get THE picture?

Did you somehow manage to fit fifteen neighbourhoods in like 3 days?

I was definitely guilty of it. Before watching Bourdain, my idea of a successful trip to Paris was becoming a very ambitious checklist.

Where on the other hand, Anthony Bourdain seemed completely uninterested in doing Paris correctly.

He wandered. He ate. He sat down. He stopped for a coffee. He let himself get distracted by whatever that happened to be around him. And somehow, that actually felt more like experiencing the city than running between landmarks ever could.

It made me wonder wether seeing everything is actually the same thing as seeing one place.

Maybe this time, I don’t need to visit every museum. Maybe there are streets that i’ll never walk down and cafes I’ll never find. And maybe I’ll miss a landmark or two, but it is completely fine. It is the Bourdain way to do it.

Because Paris is not going anywhere.

And perhaps the best souvenir I can bring home isn’t a mental list of all the the things that I managed to see, but a handful of completely unplanned moments that I couldn’t have put on an itinerary if i tried

02. Get Lost on Purpose

There is something so romantic about not knowing where you’re going.

We are so lost on our mobile phones which are telling us where to turn, how long will it take and which route is the quickest, that getting lost has almost become an inconvenience.

Now I want to do the opposite and see Paris as some kind of a labyrinth.

I want to put my phone away and just wonder the way Bourdain did.

Paris seems like the kind of city where you should be allowed to take the long way. To turn onto a street just because the buildings looks prettier there. To stop because you noticed a tiny café, an interesting shop window or a street you have never seen before.

To walk somewhere without the need to get somewhere.

I think this is one of the things I am most excited about doing when I am finally there. Not just going from one attraction, to another, but leaving a few hours completely blank. No reservation and no little blue arrow on Google Maps telling me where I should go.

I’ll just walk.

Because some of the most memorable places you find won’t be on maps, nor on the social media.

And maybe, getting lost isn’t really getting lost at all.

Maybe it’s giving yourself the chance to find something you never would have found if you already knew exactly where you were going.

03. Food isn’t just something you consume

One of the things that struck me the most while watching Bourdain blend so well with the beautiful capital of France, was how naturally the food seem to appear into the video without Bourdain asking “What are we eating next?” or him asking the chef “What is the best thing on the menu?” The food was a part of the experience of being there.

Because I think, when traveling it is so easy to turn dining into another itinerary. We save restaurants on our phones, we even make reservations weeks in advance as we search for the pastry that we apparently HAVE to try. And of course there is nothing wrong with that. I have definitely been guilty of that myself.

But in my opinion there is something much more appealing about the idea of simply eating.

Sitting or simply standing in a café that had caught my eye enjoying my little espresso like the locals tend to do from what Bourdain said, instead of taking my usual takeaway walking my way to the 47th attraction of the day. Or taking my time over breakfast, walking into a bakery because something smells good. Having a long lunch without constantly checking the time, like if the four digital numbers on my lock-screen could actually change something at the moment. Or maybe I could just sit outside as strangers pass me by.

For a moment I could just transform into the window of the city itself.

Because you can just learn a surprising amount about a place just by watching the people around you consume their meals. What they have for breakfast, how long they stay at a table, what book are they reading as they are finishing up their third coffee of the day.

Be an observant.

And perhaps that is what I want from the food in Paris. Not to have the perfect list of places I’ve eaten at, but to have moments I actually remember.

The taste of something that I found as I was wondering down the street I wasn’t even supposed to be on. A coffee that turned into an hour. Or a lunch that made me forget that I had somewhere else to be.

So, maybe, food isn’t another thing to do in Paris.

Maybe, it’s one of the ways to simply live it.

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04. Luxury isn’t the point

Paris is admittedly, very good at making you want things.

I mean you wouldn’t be wrong for claiming that you immediately think of a luxury bag or a beautiful hotel room under the word “Paris”.

But somewhere between watching Bourdain eat, wander and just spending far too much time just existing in this beautiful city, I started to wonder if i had misunderstood what luxury truly means.

And perhaps by just wandering around I’ll accidentally create the secret recipe of how to actually miss the place you were so desperate to see.

Because there is something so strangely sad about travelling to one of the most beautiful cities in the world and spending the entire time worrying where you have to be next.

Bourdain’s Paris made me leave gaps.

Not because I don’t care about the museums or landmarks, but because I don’t want every memory of Paris to begin with “we had a reservation at 2PM, so we had to leave early”.

I want at least one afternoon where the plan is just doing nothing.

I want the feeling of “I have nowhere to be right now”

And stay there.

05 Maybe this is what Paris actually is

When I started watching Bourdain’s Paris, I though I was going to add even more locations to my never-ending Parisian checklist.

Instead, I think, I have learned how to be there.

Which is perhaps much more useful.

For years, Paris has existed in my head as an idea before it even became my reality. I’ve imagined the streets, the cafés, the museums, all those little bakeries, and all those little cinematic moment, that could potentially make you think- this is Paris.

And now, with my own trip, only weeks away, I’m realising that I don’t actually want to be chasing that image.

I want to walk without knowing where I am.

I want to eat without thinking if this restaurant is worth adding to my list.

I want to observe.

And i want to get lost.

Until Next Time, Paris

I suppose this is what I took away from almost an hour of watching Anthony Bourdain wander around Paris.

And if I had the sum it all up I would simply say ^“the best way to experience a city might be to stop treating it like something you have to conquer”.

I simply want to arrive curious, rather than determined.

I want to remember Paris a little different from the version, I’ve imagined in my head since I was a little girl. To find things I wasn’t looking for, miss things I didn’t think I would eventually, and come home with stories that may have started like complete accidents.

Because sometimes the best thing we can do when traveling, is simply, being present.

So I’ll still go to museums, I’ll still eat the pastries I dreamt about, I’ll still take too many pictures of beautiful buildings. Of course I will.

But I’ll also wander.

I’ll sit.

I’ll get lost.

I’ll leave a few hours blank.

Because when I eventually leave Paris, I don’t want to remember how efficiently I saw it.

I want to remember how it felt.

And maybe that is what Bourdain was teaching me all along.

And this doesn’t end with my trip to Paris. I want to carry it in my luggage with me into every city I ever step in. And if anything in this article resonated with you, I hope you’ll carry it into yours too.

xoxo,

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There’s something about August that makes the world feel quieter. The days are still warm, but softer somehow, as if summer is exhaling before it lets go. The light slips through open windows, afternoons stretch lazily across white sheets, and time feels measured in slow breakfasts, fresh fruit, and the breeze from a paper fan. August doesn’t rush. It simply invites us to linger a little longer, to wear linen, to embrace simplicity, and to savor the beauty of ordinary days before the season gently changes.

oh August, the month of:

white linen shirts
paper fans
sun-washed bedrooms
fresh blueberries
cotton sheets
open windows
morning light on white walls
minimalism
quiet Sundays
barefoot mornings
clean scents
light breezes
simple silver jewelry
rolled-up sleeves
slow breakfasts
ceramic bowls filled with fruit
iced water with lemon
natural beauty
August by Taylor Swift
hot summer nights
reading by the window
doing less, noticing more

There are so many incredible musicians whose work never quite reaches the audiences it deserves, whether because they’re outside the mainstream, simply creating something too unique to fit neatly into an algorithm. Every month, I’ll be sharing one artist who has completely captured my attention and explaining why I think they’re worth listening to.

For the first edition, I couldn’t think of anyone more fitting than Zaho de Sagazan.

There are artists you admire, and then there are artists who quietly change the way you listen to music. This month, that person is Zaho de Sagazan.

She’s one of those musicians I almost don’t want to recommend, only because discovering her feels so personal. Like finding a little corner of the internet that somehow hasn’t been turned into an algorithm yet.

Zaho de Sagazan is a 26 year old French singer-songwriter from Saint-Nazaire whose debut album, La Symphonie des Éclairs, arrived in 2023 and immediately made it clear that she wasn’t interested in fitting into a genre. Within a year, the album had become one of the biggest critical successes in France, earning her four Victoires de la Musique awards, including Album of the Year and introducing a new generation to French chanson through an entirely modern lens.

Trying to describe her music is almost impossible because every comparison feels incomplete. It’s electronic but never truly cold. It’s theatrical without becoming dramatic. It borrows from classic French chanson, Berlin techno, synth-pop and piano ballads, somehow making all of those worlds feel like they were always meant to exist together. You can hear echoes of Jacques Brel and Barbara, but also Kraftwerk and ‘80s electronic music in the same song.

What keeps pulling me back isn’t just the production, but mostly her voice.

It’s deep, textured and beautifully imperfect. She doesn’t sing as if she’s trying to impress anyone. She sings like she’s trying to tell you something she couldn’t explain any other way. There’s so much emotion in the way she phrases even the smallest lines that I sometimes forget I don’t actually speak fluent French.

A lot of her writing comes from a place of hypersensitivity and loneliness, themes she’s spoken about openly in interviews. Yet her music never feels hopeless. Even at its most melancholic, there’s movement to it. You want to dance before you’ve fully realised the lyrics are quietly breaking your heart.

She’s also one of those rare artists whose live performances seem to add another dimension to the songs. Whether it’s performing barefoot in white socks at Cannes or standing almost completely still behind a synthesizer, she has this magnetic ability to make a room feel silent before making it erupt.

If you’re meeting her music for the first time, I’d start here:

• La Symphonie des Éclairs

• Tristesse

• Les Dormantes

• Dis-moi que tu m’aimes

• Modern Love (her breathtaking David Bowie cover)

I believe that some artists can become a part of your playlists.

Others become part of your taste.

Zaho de Sagazan is definitely the second kind.

What actually happens is that a handful of colors quietly take over. You start spotting them on the runway, then in Zara, then on the girl sitting across from you at your favorite coffee shop. By October they’re everywhere and somehow they feel like they’ve always belonged.

This year, the palette feels richer. Less about making a statement and more about making everything in your wardrobe look better.

1. Burgundy

Burgundy isn’t exactly new, but it has officially replaced black as the color that makes every outfit look expensive.

The best thing about it is that it does all the work for you. Throw on a burgundy knit with jeans and suddenly your outfit looks considered. Add a burgundy bag to an all black look and it feels less predictable.

If you’re only buying one thing this season, make it burgundy.

1. Chocolate Brown

Chocolate brown has become the foundation of modern wardrobes because it feels softer than black and richer than beige. It’s also one of those colors that somehow makes affordable clothes look more expensive.

There’s a reason every brand keeps bringing it back.

1. Olive Green

Olive is one of fashion’s most underrated colors.

It never has a viral moment, but every autumn it quietly returns and somehow works with everything. Cream, navy, burgundy, denim. You really can’t go wrong.

If your wardrobe is mostly neutrals, olive is probably the easiest color to introduce.

1. Butter Yellow

I wasn’t expecting butter yellow to stick around after spring.

I’m glad it did.

It brings lightness to autumn dressing without feeling out of place. A butter yellow jumper under a camel coat is far more interesting than another grey knit.

Sometimes one unexpected color is all an outfit needs.

5 Deep Plum

If everyone else buys burgundy, buy plum.

It has the same richness but feels slightly less obvious. Whether it’s a satin skirt, a leather bag or even just a lipstick, plum adds depth without screaming for attention.

It’s the kind of color people notice without immediately knowing why.

So what should you actually buy?

Honestly, probably less than you think.

Fashion moves quickly, but good wardrobes don’t. If you’re investing this season, choose one or two of these colors in pieces you’ll wear for years rather than filling your cart with trends you’ll forget by spring.

The best dressed people rarely own the most clothes. They just know which ones are worth keeping.

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There’s something about July that makes ordinary days feel worth remembering. Maybe it’s the light that lingers a little longer, maybe it’s the excuse to eat dinner outside, or maybe it’s simply the feeling that life has loosened its grip on the calendar. July doesn’t ask for much. It just quietly reminds us that joy often arrives in small, sun-warmed moments we almost forget to notice.

oh July, the month of:

salt air

fresh-cut lemons

ralph lauren fashion

mediterranean sea

calvin klein in2u perfume

striped shirts

flip flops

olive trees

Françoise Sagan literature

film cameras

round sunglasses

La Piscine (1969, a movie)

butter yellow

open windows

v neck tops

frozen grapes

bronzing drops

Call me by your name (2017, movie + the playlist)

boat trips

cotton blouses

Sade

morning yoga

Not because I’m some productivity machine or because I think everyone should be busy all the time. Quite the opposite. I’ve just always had something that interested me.

A new band to listen to.

A language to learn.

A camera to experiment with.

A book idea.

A random topic that suddenly becomes my entire personality for three weeks.

I’ve always been fascinated by people saying, “I don’t have any hobbies.”

Because in my mind, hobbies were everywhere.

My friends often joke that I’m basically an encyclopaedia for The Beatles, Queen, movies, fashion, music, old Hollywood, directors, albums, and random pop culture history. Not celebrity drama, but the stories behind things. The artists that influenced other artists. The films that changed cinema. The trends that disappeared and came back twenty years later.

I’ve spent hours researching things that most people would probably consider completely unnecessary.

And I love it.

But here’s the thing.

I’ve also had a head start.

I started taking instrument classes when I was three years old. I started learning English when I was four. I started attending art classes when I was six. I’ve been singing and playing instruments for as long as I can remember, and today I’m lucky enough to be in a band.

Creativity has always been a huge part of my life.

But that doesn’t make me better than someone who starts learning guitar tomorrow.

Or someone who buys their first camera next week.

Or someone who decides to learn Spanish after reading this article.

Nobody gets extra points for starting early.

The only thing that matters is starting.

I think a lot of people believe hobbies are something you’re supposed to magically discover one day, as if you’re waiting for your true passion to knock on your door.

In reality, most hobbies begin with a simple thought:

“What if I tried that?”

So if you’ve been feeling bored lately, here are some hobbies that I genuinely think are worth trying.

Not because they’ll make you productive.

Not because they’ll make you money.

But because they might make your life a little more interesting.

Create a Secret Account About Something You Love

This is probably the easiest hobby on this list.

Create a TikTok account.

An Instagram page.

A Pinterest board.

A YouTube channel.

And start posting about something you’re interested in.

Maybe it’s music.

Maybe it’s fashion.

Maybe it’s books.

Maybe you’re the friend who somehow knows every Beatles fact ever discovered.

Maybe you’re obsessed with Formula 1, architecture, sharks, coffee, vintage magazines, or movie soundtracks.

Everyone knows more than they think they do.

You don’t need followers.

You don’t need views.

The fun part is becoming the person who documents what they love.

Write, Journal, and Create Stories

Writing doesn’t have to mean publishing a novel.

Some people love journaling.

Others love poetry.

Some people write songs.

Others write short stories.

Maybe you start a blog.

Maybe you start a Substack.

Maybe you simply keep a notebook where you write down your thoughts at the end of the day.

One of the best things about writing is that nobody has to see it.

You can create an entire world that exists only for you.

And if you’ve ever thought, “I’m not creative enough to write,” that’s exactly why you should try.

Learn a Language

A few years ago, I started teaching myself French.

Eventually I became busy and had less time for it, but I genuinely loved the process.

I’ve also been learning Spanish in school for the past two years, and it’s become one of my favorite subjects.

Learning a language feels like unlocking a new corner of the world.

Suddenly you can understand songs differently.

Watch videos from different countries.

Read comments.

Discover creators you’d never otherwise find.

You don’t need expensive lessons.

Try Duolingo.

Watch YouTube videos.

Listen to music in that language.

Watch movies with subtitles.

You’d be surprised how quickly small daily habits add up.

Walk, Run, and Explore

This might sound simple, but it’s one of the most rewarding hobbies I’ve found.

Give yourself a goal.

Walk more.

Run one kilometer.

Then two.

Then five.

Then ten.

Explore parts of your city you’ve never seen before.

Listen to music while you walk.

Listen to a podcast.

Or leave your headphones at home and let yourself think.

Some of the best ideas arrive when you’re moving.

Try a New Sport, Gym, or Movement Practice

A lot of people think they hate exercise.

I think many people just haven’t found the version of movement they enjoy.

Maybe it’s running.

Maybe it’s swimming.

Maybe it’s climbing.

Maybe it’s cycling.

Maybe it’s pilates.

Maybe it’s yoga.

Yoga is one of those hobbies that seems simple until you try it. It improves flexibility, helps you slow down, and gives you a reason to disconnect from your phone for a while.

Not every hobby has to produce something.

Sometimes feeling better is enough.

Photography

Look around your house.

You might already own a camera.

Or maybe your parents do.

Or maybe there’s one sitting in a drawer somewhere collecting dust.

Try it.

Take photos of your friends.

Your city.

Your pets.

Random details that catch your attention.

Personally, I especially love film photography.

There’s something exciting about not immediately seeing the result.

Every photo feels a little more intentional.

If film photography seems expensive, try a disposable Kodak camera first. Or look through thrift stores and local markets.

You’d be surprised what you can find.

Photography teaches you to notice things.

And noticing things is one of the best skills you can develop.

Make Music

One of the biggest myths about music is that you need expensive equipment.

You really don’t.

Download GarageBand.

Download BandLab.

Put on a pair of headphones.

Start experimenting.

I’ve spent years around music, and I can confidently say that every musician starts somewhere.

Some people begin with professional studios.

Others begin on their bedroom floor.

Both are valid.

The point isn’t creating the next hit song.

The point is creating something that didn’t exist before.

Become an Expert in Something Random

This is one of my favorite hobbies because it’s completely free.

Pick a topic.

Any topic.

Fashion history.

Classic films.

Architecture.

Coffee.

Space.

Marine biology.

Vinyl records.

The Beatles.

Anything.

Then learn everything you can about it.

The internet has made knowledge more accessible than ever.

Be the friend who somehow knows way too much about one incredibly specific thing.

Those are usually the most interesting people to talk to.

Collect Something

People often assume collecting has to be expensive.

It doesn’t.

You can collect books.

CDs.

Vinyl records.

Postcards.

Concert tickets.

Magazine covers.

Film photographs.

Vintage advertisements.

Old cameras.

Anything that tells a story.

A collection isn’t really about owning things.

It’s about documenting your interests over time.

Years later, you’ll be grateful you kept them.

Train Your Brain

Not every hobby has to be creative.

Some hobbies are simply satisfying.

Try Sudoku.

Crossword puzzles.

Chess.

Logic games.

Word games.

Puzzles are a great reminder that not every moment of your life needs to be productive.

Sometimes it’s enough to sit down, solve a problem, and enjoy the process.

Final Thoughts

Maybe the reason so many people think they don’t have hobbies is because they’re looking for a passion instead of following a curiosity.

Most hobbies don’t start with talent.

Most hobbies don’t start with confidence.

Most hobbies don’t even start with a plan.

They start with someone saying:

“What if I tried that?”

So if you’re bored right now, pick one thing from this list.

Not all of them.

Just one.

You don’t need to become the best photographer, musician, runner, writer, language learner, or artist in the world.

You just need to start.

Because the most interesting lives aren’t built from extraordinary talent.

They’re built from curiosity.

But it was different with him. Let’s call him V.

We started talking in May 2025 and I have never felt closer to any guy before.

It is not like guys never hit on me.

No.

It is actually the opposite.

In fact, I would say, that I had guys hitting on me almost my whole life. It was me who always rejected them.

Maybe you are asking right now..

Celina… isn’t that.. heartless??

maybe.

maybe not.

I don’t really know.

But I always knew what was the best for me.

I always known, that I should do thing the way I feel.

I have always hated the concept of somebody having a control in my life, asking where I am, when I am gonna go home, asking me why I am not answering,

they might think that I am somewhere out there cheating on them with some other guy, but in fact,

I couldn’t care less.

I knew that if I ever dated someone, it would be someone, who can understand, that sometimes I just need to be by myself and no, it doesn’t mean that I am sad or lonely. I just needed space and I feel like dating now-days is super limiting in that way.

But V, he understood.

Everything with V was sweet.

I was his first as well.

But it did not work out after 6 months.

We did not have time to see each other anymore. Which surprisingly,

broke me.

I did not eat, I did not sleep. I just cried and cried.

We ended on good terms.

I just had this feeling in myself that I simply could not help.

It was almost like if I was grieving our love.

I really was.

I was disgusted with myself.

I thought everything was my fault.

2 months after the break up, I found out , that there was an another woman during our relationship.

taller,

younger,

a brunette.

a very beautiful girl.

I feel like this was the turning point for me where I absolutely stopped crying over V.

Ew.

It was almost like I didn’t recognise this person, It wasn’t the V I knew. It was not the V I had fellen in love with.

It was a completely different person now.

I don’t really know that girl.

I don’t want to.

I don’t need to.

I am actually very grateful for both of them.

Without them, I would be wasting my time crying over my ex, who sorry, acted like a total loser.

Ew.

But after that situation, I finally feel like myself again.

I am finally me, again.

You didn’t watch them and think about messaging or representation or tone. You didn’t dissect them in real time. You just let them happen to you.

They were chaotic. A little loud. Slightly unhinged in the best possible way.

And they worked.

Movies like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, 10 Things I Hate About You, and Clueless didn’t feel curated. They felt like someone pressed record on chemistry and decided not to interrupt it.

Now everything feels a bit more careful.

The era of unfiltered chaos

Old romcoms were not subtle. That was the point.

They were built on exaggerated personalities, bad decisions, impulsive lies, and emotional reactions that made no logical sense but somehow made perfect romantic sense.

Nobody paused to ask if the characters were being “healthy.”

They were being interesting.

There is a difference.

And somewhere along the way, we stopped trusting that difference.

Chemistry used to feel like disruption

The best romantic tension used to feel slightly inconvenient.

Two people who shouldn’t work. Two people who actively annoy each other. Two people who would never, in real life, survive a group chat.

And yet.

That friction was the entire engine. Not compatibility. Not alignment. Disruption.

Now a lot of on-screen romance feels like compatibility from frame one. Like the algorithm already matched them and we’re just watching the confirmation process.

It’s pleasant.

But it’s not electric.

When did humor get so polite

I miss when romcoms were funny without checking the room first.

Not “safe funny.” Not “brand-friendly funny.” Just… funny.

Characters were allowed to be ridiculous. Scenes were allowed to run too long. People embarrassed themselves without the script stepping in to protect their dignity.

Now humor often feels like it’s been filtered through ten layers of approval. You can feel it trying not to offend anyone, not to alienate anyone, not to be misunderstood.

But comedy without risk starts to feel like commentary on comedy, not comedy itself.

The moment storytelling got self-aware

At some point, romcoms started looking at themselves too much.

They became aware of how they were being perceived. They started anticipating criticism inside the script. They started smoothing edges before anyone else could point them out.

And in doing that, they lost a kind of innocence.

Not innocence as in simplicity.

Innocence as in freedom.

Older romcoms didn’t ask permission to exist in their own tone. They just committed.

We didn’t just lose movies, we lost looseness

What I miss isn’t just a style of filmmaking.

It’s looseness.

The permission for things to be slightly wrong. Slightly too loud. Slightly embarrassing. Slightly emotionally irrational.

Modern romcoms often feel optimized. Designed. Pre-understood. Even the chaos feels scheduled.

But romance, real or fictional, has never been good at scheduling itself.

It spills. It contradicts itself. It refuses clean structure.

So what happened?

Maybe culture got more cautious. Maybe audiences got more analytical. Maybe everything started being watched too closely while it was being made.

Or maybe we just stopped allowing stories to be messy without explanation.

Because when I go back and watch those older films, what I feel isn’t just nostalgia for the plot.

It’s nostalgia for the lack of hesitation.

Nobody was asking if it was perfect.

They were just asking if it was fun.

And it was.

She didn’t flood the world with herself. She barely let it in.

And somehow, that made her impossible to look away from.

The power of not performing

In the 90s, an era already obsessed with visibility, Carolyn moved in the opposite direction. She didn’t overshare. She didn’t overappear. She didn’t explain herself into existence.

She simply existed.

And that restraint became its own kind of spectacle.

Because in a culture that rewards excess, silence starts to feel like confidence. And distance starts to feel like power.

Style that didn’t ask for approval

Her aesthetic wasn’t loud, it was exact.

Clean lines. Neutral tones. No excess detail competing for attention. She dressed in a way that felt like editing the world down to only what mattered.

Working closely with houses like Calvin Klein, her style became synonymous with a very specific kind of modern femininity: effortless, controlled, slightly untouchable.

She didn’t dress to be noticed.

She dressed like she already knew she would be.

Privacy as identity, not avoidance

What made her magnetic wasn’t just what she wore, it was what she refused.

No oversharing. No constant public explanation of her life. No attempt to turn herself into a narrative the world could easily consume.

Even her relationship with John F. Kennedy Jr. existed in a strange tension: intensely photographed, but emotionally sealed off from public ownership.

She wasn’t absent.

She was protected.

And that protection created myth.

The modern obsession with access

Today, we are used to constant proximity like stories, posts, updates, fragments of identity served in real time.

Carolyn existed before that expectation fully took hold, but just close enough to feel like a contrast we can’t stop revisiting.

Because now, privacy reads differently.

Not as distance, but as luxury.

Not as absence, but as control.

Why she still feels magnetic

Her magnetism wasn’t built on volume. It was built on restraint.

She didn’t try to be understood by everyone.

She didn’t make herself endlessly available for interpretation.

And in doing so, she became more projected onto than most people ever choose to be.

That’s the paradox: the less she gave, the more the world insisted on looking.

The thing we keep missing

Maybe what we’re really responding to isn’t just her style.

It’s her boundary.

Her refusal to turn herself into constant content.

Her ability to be seen without becoming consumed.

And in a world where everything is shared, explained, and optimized for attention, that kind of presence feels almost unreal.

She wasn’t loud.

She wasn’t everywhere.

She didn’t need to be.

And that, more than anything else, might be why she still lingers in the cultural imagination like a half-remembered photograph, slightly blurred, perfectly composed, impossible to fully access.

Not because she was mysterious on purpose.

But because she never agreed to be fully known.

The way they changed a room before you even said a word. The way they forced posture, attitude, presence. The way they made even the simplest outfit feel like a decision. You didn’t just walk in heels, you arrived in them.

And now… they’ve quietly disappeared from everyday life.

Not entirely, of course. But enough that you notice the absence. Enough that the sound of them on pavement feels almost nostalgic, like a version of womanhood we collectively stepped away from.

So what happened to us?

At first, it was comfort. And honestly, fair enough. Life got faster, messier, more practical. Sneakers started making sense. Flats stopped feeling like surrender and started feeling like freedom. The idea that beauty required pain slowly started to rot from the inside out.

But it wasn’t just shoes, it was women changing.

We stopped dressing for imagined audiences. The office dress code softened. Work moved into homes, then into screens. There was less need to perform “put-togetherness” from the ground up. Heels, once a silent requirement, suddenly felt like an optional character choice instead of a default setting.

And then fashion shifted with us.

Sneakers became cool. Not ironic-cool, genuinely desirable. Expensive, curated, styled. The kind of thing you build an outfit around instead of compensate for. Comfort stopped being the opposite of style and became part of it.

But somewhere in that evolution, something was lost.

Because heels weren’t just aesthetic. They were attitude. They made you move differently, deliberately, dangerously, like every step mattered. They slowed you down just enough to make you aware of yourself. There was power in that restriction. A controlled kind of femininity. A curated sharpness. Something, we used to lean into.

So why did we move away from it completely?

Maybe it’s because we started rejecting anything that felt like expectation. Anything tied to the idea that women should present themselves in a certain way to be taken seriously, desired, or respected. And heels were deeply tied to that expectation. They weren’t neutral. They were loaded.

So we stepped out of them.

But here’s the question I keep circling back to: did we lose something in the process?

Because now, everything is easy. Everything is soft. Everything is optimized for movement, for speed, for function. And while that’s beautiful in its own way, I can’t help but miss the drama of it all. The intention. The unnecessary but delicious effort of it.

There was something cunty about not being practical.

About choosing beauty even when it slowed you down.
About entering a room knowing you were slightly overdressed and doing it anyway.

Heels were never subtle. That was the point.

And maybe that’s why I think about them coming back, not as a requirement, not as a rule, but as a choice we’re no longer afraid to make. Not because we have to suffer for style, but because we remember that style can be a form of power.

We didn’t evolve out of heels because they stopped being beautiful.

We evolved out of them because we stopped wanting to be seen in a certain way all the time.

But maybe there’s room again for the moments where we do.

Not every day. Not out of obligation.

But sometimes.

For the feeling.

For the attitude.

For the undeniable, slightly irrational, completely unnecessary cunty energy of it all.

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