Picture Perfect {A 2013's cognition}

While I almost have been too busy to take a moment for myself to reflect on this past year, there is one special topic I have been wanting to write a few words about for quite a time. Not only because I am studying media communication, but also because I do spend a lot too much time on the internet, I am critically, yet - considering some positive developments - favourably, observing, how the world wide web is changing and how we are all using it, how we participate in that huge virtual space. 

What I really, really wanted to speak out about after all that time of observation in 2013 is one fact: what you see is hardly ever representing reality! The net is a wonderful place, indeed, and we all know about certain traps and dangers, too. But what I discovered as one of the greatest hazards, is that the oh so picturesque virtual world changes one's idea of reality, just like Walt Disney did about love or whatever emotions come with the cute, yet irrational movies. 

With Pinterest and instagram and partly blogs, too, we are surrounded by perfectly styled, relaxed, beautiful, skinny, sporty and happy people all of the time. Surely, they all live in neatly decorated houses with their stepford neighborhoods and perfect kids. Their weddings are beyond marvelous and it goes without saying that they all do get their happily ever afters. But you know what? They don't. And please do not get me wrong - I am not as pessimistic as I may seem now, it's only that I discovered how much I changed throughout the year just by having those wrong conceptions of other people whom I don't even know personally, in mind. And that is when you start comparing your life, your budget or even your wardrobe to others. Comparison is the key to an unsatisfied life and will lead you nowhere else than to a frustrated version of yourself that you'll most likely never love and accept fully. 

Now, what was my intention about this post and which message do I wanna spread? In the first place, I needed to accept the fact that the glamorous and happy-go-lucky pictures online do not represent people's lives - they're more like snapshots of happy occasions and the way they - we all - want to represent ourselves to the outside world. And with that lesson still to be learned, I wanted to, on the one hand let this past year go and on the other hand, tell ya'll that people might suffer much more than you could ever know, much more than you could ever tell by their pictures, blogs or social media profiles. Sometimes, they need these happy images to even remind themselves of the blessed life they have.

Happy, happy new year to all of you and a big thank you for being such an honest and lovely community on Stereotypically Me!

Love, Julie.

Perks of the Holiday Season {Christmas Movies}

Ho ho ho, my dearest readers! Tomorrow's the big night and I try my best to get into a festive mood - which, due to sunshine and spring-like weather, isn't that easy this year. Of course, material presents are lovely, even more when they come straight from the heart of/to a beloved one, but what I do wish the most, always, and this year especially, is to have a healthy family! I also want myself and y'all to enjoy the festivities and have a relaxing time - so call off the Hollywood sceneries in your head and try to avoid too much pressure. I know, easier said than done.

If you are up to do similar things tonight than I am, you might as well put up the christmas tree, do some final gift wrapping and watch cheesy movies meanwhile. My christmassy favourites are listed below and I hope these are just as enjoyable for you as they are for me. 'Single Bells' and the 'Sissi' trilogy do count to the Austrian Christmas tradition and are an annual must-see for me, 'The Holiday' is on my all time favourite movie list, 'Four Christmases' is nice and comforting and 'Love, Actually' also caters for some cheesy festive romance.

What I also love about christmas is - obviously - decoration. I am such a fan of fairy lights and was highly delighted when I got a lovely Tchibo parcel containing these. Also in the box were the headphones you can see below, which are totes amazing! I've never seen ones before that are also loudspeakers and can be used both ways. If you still need one or two last minute pressies, go check these out.

Merry Christmas! Love,

Julie.

Headphones and fairy light stars*: Tchibo

The winner of the Labello Giveaway has already been informed and probably received her prize. This time, the lucky number was 42, so the parcel went to Germany. Thanks for participating!

Guerlain: Crazy Paris

Guerlain never ceases to amaze me with their pretty products and I'm always head over heels with the beauty surprises the company sends me. Some time ago, these goodies stepped into my life and today I wanna share some information about them with you! Maybe you still need some gift ideas for the upcoming holidays..

Love, Julie.

Crazy Météorites: Radiance powder to revive winter complexions and sweep away dullness. Creates a radiant and glowing effect. I honestly love the smell of this powder, although I'm not using it too often. I tend to stick with special occasions when it comes to using rather expensive (beauty) products.

Ultra Violet Top Coat: This nail polish shapes your nails and makes them look smooth and glossy with an acrylic effect. The real highlight, though, is that its pigments react to black light and makes your nails become fluorescent! Unfortunately, I haven't tried that glow-in-the-dark effect yet, (no disco time right now, but I noticed that my nails looked ultra bright and nice when I applied one coat of the varnish as base coat.  

Rouge Automatique: That hydrating long-lasting lip stick comes in a crazy cool packaging with neon details as a contrast to the shiny, intense and bold shade of the lip colour. Guerlain lipsticks are my favourites so far! Truly love them.

Advent Giveaway

Today's the day you can finally virtually open the 8th window of the Austrian Blogger Advent Calendar, which means it's GIVEAWAY time on Stereotypically Me! Here's what you can win: a crazy lip care package consisting of about all Labellos ever produced. Almost. Your prize will be a collection of 16 (!) Labellos to either surprise your friends and family on Christmas eve or enjoy them all by yourself and be in the lucky position to won't ever have to buy any lip care again in your entire life ;)

In order to win you just have to be or become a reader (GFC) or follower (Facebook, bloglovin) of Stereotypically Me to keep in touch and get informed about all the new adventures and giveaways coming up. The next one will be up in no time, btw! Leave a comment below with your (GFC/Facebook/bloglovin) user name and e-mail address so I can count you in! As always, the winner will be chosen automatically via random.org. Be quick; the giveaway is closing tomorrow, the 9th! Good luck!

Love, Julie.

Christmas Wish List

via Polyvore

Once a year, you gotta be a kid again and write your letter to Santa. I have always loved doing so and remember well how I used to create collages out of catalogue pictures and started scrapbooking early ;) This year's wish list contains some fashion picks, good music and other comforting stuff. Honestly, I'm thankful for the privileged life I get to live and each of these gifts would just be the icing on the cake. So here's what I currently crave:

1.) Studded Selma Bag by Michael Kors (large)
2.) H&M Platform Heels aka lower 'Lita' Lookalikes (25% with code: 0560)
3.) The Book 'IT' by Alexa Chung
4.) Pink's 'The Truth about Love' Tour DVD
5.) New Yorker Aztec Cardigan
6.) 'Be Jeweled' Perfume by Vera Wang
7.) Tegan and Sara's 'The Con' CD+DVD
8.) Tegan and Sara's 'Get along' CD+DVD
9.) Butlers 'Stars and Stripes' Blanket (Might be the coziest I have ever seen!)
10.) The Body Shop Vanilla Shower Gel

What's on your list this year?

Love, Julie.

Christmas Decoration

As you surely know, I'm usually anticipating christmas for a couple of reasons - one of them is definitely decorating my home. I love being surrounded by sparkling, shiny, glittery, kitschy decor that spreads some festive spirit around the flat. My colour scheme is rather 'girly' (hello sexism!) due to a strong childhood obsession with the colour pink and an almost equally strong hoarding problem ;) Anyways, here are some impressions of this year's christmas decoration. Do you like it clean and simple or as opulent as I do?

Love, Julie.

1st of Advent

Happy first of December, ya'll! I'm always as excited as can be for this time of the year - snow, tea, cookies and comforting food, cuddles, presents and of course some quality time with your beloved ones. Christmas in my family has its tough sides too and ain't just all sparkly and picturesque, but I still love the movie-like sceneries and fairy lights you get to see everywhere around, plus I can't wait for my own little family to start traditions and discover a whole new American way of christmas. That's pretty much what you can expect when I'm the boss - an over the top deluxe kitchy feast ;) 

But for now, I just wanna wish you a lovely, super happy first advent Sunday and send you off with some exciting news: there's gonna be a great advent calendar filled with amazing giveaways, starting today! Try your luck till' December 24th when the last Austrian blogger closes her giveaway. A crazy cool prize will await you here on Stereotypically Me on Dec. 8th!

Love, Julie.

Farewell, Fall.

Fall has always been my most favourite season of the year and as much as I love the cozy, chilly time around christmas, spring blossoms or long summer nights out and about, for me the change of colours and that very special atmosphere between the end of summer and finally the clock change is just too beautiful to let it pass by without cherishing the the last few weeks and months. With the first of December just around the corner, there's now a teeny-tiny photo bomb awaiting you below to kind of celebrate the end of autumn before it's getting a lot more winterly and christmassy on Stereotypically Me.

Thank you fall for being a good one. We enjoyed all of your colours and the crisp walks around town. We snuggled up in our favourite pj's and had some lovely cups of tea. We danced, we laughed and partied and enjoyed major quality time.

Love, Julie.

Orange is the new black?

Since autumn is almost over and people seem to be in the classic 'christmas hurry' already, I have one of the last few fall posts prepared for you. Today's look is about two weeks old and the pictures were taken on our Sunday stroll around Kahlenberg. On clear and bright days the view up there is phenomenal! Vienna at your feet - and for those who are more into nature than 'skylines', there's plenty of it wherever you look. I actually never realized we had so many trees in the city!?

Anyway, the outfit was a typical easy-peasy fall look - lots of black going on here, 'disturbed' by a major orange colour boost, combined with a jumbo scarf and a little crop to make it more exciting. Oh, and regarding to my very creative title - wink - I wanted to ask you if you've already heard of the American tv show? It's said to be SO good, like over the top, and I'd appreciate a short review, if you don't mind!

Love, Julie.

Skirt, Crop Top, Jacket: H&M, Scarf: Zara, Boots: MaxShoes, 

Bag: Liebeskind, Tights: Bipa, Ring: Bershka

Basically.

Basically, this has got to be my most favourite casual look currently. In my opinion, nothing can beat a good basic! I love stocking up on plain white tees, simple black tops, jeggings or really anything solid that helps create a low key outfit within a couple of seconds. Today's outfit shows that these key pieces of my wardrobe aren't even expensive, though I think they look a lot classier than the actual price did ;) Basics are also the most clever sale picks to 'invest' in - you'll hardly regret having bought the eighth white t-shirt (especially when it was reduced to 3€!) but could very well wanna get rid of the neon pink dress aka impulse buy failure shortly after. 

Lipstick or eyliner and maybe some statement jewelry can upgrade any casual daytime outfit to a fierce date look - believe me. If you wondered about my arm tattoos - they're temporary and I might have gone a little too crazy on them but honestly? I loved em'. Cheers to the Tegan and Sara merch I got them from and to the themed party where I could free my inner rockstar for a bit.

Love, Julie.

 Coat: Zara, Tee, Jeggings, Necklace: H&M, Boots: MaxShoes, 

Studded Bracelet: Resteröds, Ring: I am