About me

Hi! I am Asta! I am a philologist and a philocalist to the heart's core. Here I share things that I consider being aesthetic and fantastic!

31 Dec 2017

My 2017

2018 is almost knocking on our doors, so it's time to look back and remember what happened during this year. So, without further ado, all aboard the train down the memory lane! 


In general, 2017 was a good year! Despite few issues with my health, it was quite successful both in my personal and professional lives. I am very happy that I managed to keep my new year promises that I set in my first blog post this year, especially the one where I promised myself to start going to the gym again. And guess what? I've been attending Pilates group classes four times a week for almost a year now! I feel stronger, more in sync with my body, and there's no way that I am going to quit that! 
   My second goal was to learn how to save money properly. I still need to work a little bit more on that, but I managed to put something aside from time to time, so it's a nice change!
   I also promised to draw more this year. Sadly, this was only partially fulfilled since my PhD studies and work consumed probably the greatest part of my life. Nevertheless, if you follow me in Instagram, you saw that I had enough material to combine collage of my best nine drawings this year! 
   I didn't buy cello as I wished, though, but I started to listen more of classical music as I did few years before. And you know what? It rocks! I experienced many awesome moments accompanied by music, created by Bach, Chopin or Mozart!


Travels

It's no secret that I do love to travel! One of my colleagues often jokingly asks whether I spend more time abroad than at home (this year I spent three months in total living in foreign countries, so the answer to his question is... no☺). My biggest challenge this year was Estonia, where I lived for two months (and here are my blog posts on that topic). I lived in Tartu, but I got a chance to go to Tallinn, Viljandi, and later in the autumn I went to a conference in Narva. 


My unexpected journey this year was... Mexico. I went there together with my husband and explored ancient Mayan cities and other sites. All about that - here


When I remember this year's vacation in France, I still cannot get over all the wonderful emotions that I felt during this road trip. I saw and experienced so much, but at this same time I felt so incredibly relaxed! 


I also visited some Lithuanian cities and explored them with great curiosity! Here are my posts about my trips to Kaunas, Biržai, and Klaipėda!


Books

You already know that reading is my passion. I do read a lot since my profession requires it, but it's always nice to find some time for a good book that has nothing to do with my studies or work. This year I've read many good books, started a few that I put aside after 20 pages (that's the usual limit that I give for a book to make me interested). I wrote about some of them here on my blog, but I couldn't find enough time to write about them all. 


I compiled a quick list of 10 books that I enjoyed the most this year: my definite favorite is this simple yet amazing story told in the book "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doer. I also was amazed by "Stasys Šaltoka" by Gabija Grušaitė, "Kraujas mėlynas" by Undinė Radzevičiūtė, "Alamut" by Vladimir Bartol, "Dr. Kvadratas. Greimas ir jo semiotika" by Miglė Anušauskaitė, "Šermuonėlių mantija" by Rimvydas Stankevičius,  "Du miestai" by Adam Zagajewski, "Didžioji būtybių knyga" by Kotryna Zylė,  "Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs, and "Vyvenimas" by Beata Tiškevič. As you can see, these books are various, but I like to read books for children and young adults as much as I love to read "serious" literature. 


Looks and Beauty



This year I challenged myself a lot in the area of beauty products and outfits. Dark matte lipstick? Why not! Golden metallic skirt? Yes, please! I experimented a lot with styles and tried to find what suits me the most. Be it linen dress, NB kicks or geeky t-shirt, I think I finally can find my way around it. 



I wish you all the best in upcoming 2018! May those 12 months be inspiring, full of adventures, and delights for soul and body! 

See you next year!






 Photos  © thingsilike

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