Viewing: Meet the Blogger

Meet the Blogger Amsterdam

Have you ever heard or read something that was so inspiring, so perfect for that point in your life, that you just had to write it down and look at it again? Maybe even print it out or stick it on your wall?

That’s how I felt about quite a few things I heard at Meet the Blogger, a gathering of over 100 interiors and lifestyle bloggers in Amsterdam last weekend. The main agenda, of course, was blogging, but the real highlights for me were bite-sized pieces of advice that could also apply to any area of one’s life… the kind of life lessons that deserve to be pondered, printed and yes, maybe even stuck on a wall.

Since we could all use some inspiration now and then, I’m taking my Meet the Blogger notes out of my notebook and sharing them with you in a way that I hope you’ll find inspiring too. Feel free to grab these “notes” from here or from Flickr—just leave me a comment to say thanks, if you do!

Find your passion-Frida Ramstedt

As keynote speaker, one-woman empire Frida Ramstedt of Swedish interior design blog Trendenser shared the lessons she learned along the way in her rise from average student to blogging millionaire. Her first step: finding what she was truly passionate about. (And it wasn’t what she was studying in university.)

Not certain where your heart truly lies? One simple thing you could do, Frida suggested, is to ask yourself this question.

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Sisters who rock

Sisters rock! Especially mine, who celebrates her 3xth 30th 26th birthday today!

My sister & I at ages 8 and 3, photo by Mom; then, at ages 25 and 20, photo by Anton Sheker

My sister’s name is Sheila, but she’s always been Ate (“older sister”) to me. My ate rocks, and she always has. At an age when most teens wouldn’t be caught dead with their baby sisters, she always let me tag along with her and her friends (she was 16, I was 11). She helped me jump over the fence at a Bon Jovi concert, brought me into the awesome universe of Robotech, let me wear her vintage 60s dresses from Bambang Market (in 1998 when nobody our age was wearing vintage), even introduced me to my first boyfriend (let’s say that was a good thing).

She took on huge responsibilities at an early age with no questions asked, and supported me throughout college while building a stellar career. She has all the classic big sister traits—good, sensible, successful and responsible—combined with the boundless energy and adventurous, fun-loving spirit of a younger sister. (Especially when it comes to a night of partying, when I become not just the older sister, but a total granny.)

My sister and I have shared everything from clothes to late-night conversations, to international mommy handovers and mad dashes through airports. She shares because she has a big and loyal heart, and I’m so lucky to be one of the people whom I know always has a place in it.

Happy birthday, Ate!

Speaking of sisters, let me leave you with some weekend reading from another pair of sisters who rock. Thea and Toni Neubauer publish sisterMagazine, an online mag for “active, widely interested and digitally living women.” Covering topics that range from food, lifestyle and fashion to technology, mobile developments and start-ups, sisterMAG is bursting with content and is beautifully designed to boot. You can see for yourself by browsing sisterMAG’s second issue right here.

I met Thea and Toni briefly at The Hive in Berlin and was blown away by their style and smarts. So I’m really looking forward to meeting them again this weekend at the Meet the Blogger event here in Amsterdam.

I’ll be back after the weekend with details on Meet the Blogger and a week’s worth of posts on beautiful, beautiful Florence (yay!). In the meantime, happy reading… and happy weekend!