2017 reflections
Words and photo: Adela Mazankova
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One month in, eleven more to go. By somewhat skipping the first half of January (by doing nothing else than bathing in the sun) I only now got to the point, where I feel like reflecting on what 2017 has been.
It has been a different one. Different from all the other before and completely different from what I’ve expected.
It was the first full year back home again. It was also the first full year we had an apartment in Prague. It was the first year I had a full time job. My first official employment actually.
If anything, I expected this year to be the one, where everything slows down a little. Where I finish off my short term projects to carry on with long term ones, where I stop running around so much and stay home for a while, where I get a rhytm in all the things I do and everything stabilizes. Calms down.
In the end, 2017 was anything but calm. In the best possible way.
This year I ended my studies.
Despite the fact of being unsure whether it’s a pop-up a side job or a proper store, we carried on with our love project Míšeňská 10. And then we closed it.
For the first time ever I realized, that it is true your work colleagues become your second family and it’s that bit harder to let go, when things change for the sake of starting something new and better. Thank you Andrea, Jan, Martin, Cindy and the rest of the ELLE gang for letting me be a part of your glorious era and showing me what true teamwork looks like. Huge experience and I got nothing but R.E.S.P.E.C.T., oh so much respect.
44 cities, 12 countries. This popped up on my Fohr statistics last week. Instead of “furnishing the apartment and staying calm and home for a while” I have travelled like never before. Without exaggeration, I don’t think there has been a month without a different country or a different city. I’ve had many press trips and a lot off weekend escapes and I am grateful for all the new people I met and even more for the ones that enjoy my repetitive escapism with me. Thank you.
I have been to LA and San Diego, as a marvellous kick off and an escape from cold February. Then I went to my second foreign love, Barcelona, with Huawei. Then there has been our first time in Stockholm. After a short break I got to revisit the fashion crowd of Budapest with Société. We went to Berlin with Market, a trip I like to think of as tradition now. Can’t miss our short getaway to enjoy the bits of spring sun on Ještěd. Then there was London for a flash minute with F&F. Hangovers and other stories in South Bohemia. Afterwards, magical summer entrée in Split and Trogir with Uber. We had concert duties in Vienna. My first time in south of France, in Avéne and Montpellier, with Avéne. Can’t forget my 25th birthday party with 91k people at the Wembley in London, with Adele singing to us. Straight to a very intense work week and Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and ELLE Beauty Lounge in the full for the first time. A little break needed after that, but back to Budějovicko shortly after. Then, it was time for some dolce vita. First in Verona with Intimissimi, then at the Biennale in Venice with my super trio. After that, quick and unexpected Budapest again, and straight to Munich with Huawei. Both tired and energized from all this we escaped for a bit of a summer vacation, not in summer, but in the cutest minimalistic heaven on the island of Kos. If only to stop over at Dresden and then enjoy another perfect girl trip to Paris with Hermès. Looks like London has been on my radar last year, because a trip with Marks & Spencer followed. To conclude the crazy ride, we got on the train and went to Berlin as our last trip of 2017. Only to book flight tickets to LA and Mexico on the 31st of January, again.
And here we are. I am still lost in the thrill of it all. But this was the year that catapulted me into my biggest adulthood thoughts, experiences and responsibilities so far and bursted that few of my bubbles that needed to be burst.
For all of that, 2017, I thank you.
Now. On to the next.