While at the farmers' market this morning gathering peonies, freesia and veggies for my table I came across a kiosk and spotted a brand new decorating magazine called We Love Living. Great title! The magazine is very similar to Living & More (also published in Germany) but has a bit more English text in it and feels fresher and younger which I love.

Their motto is to, "Be the change you want to see in the world", a familiar expression but so powerful. I like the message behind this magazine as it supports what I stand behind so fully -- the idea of loving your life and being happy THEN tailoring your home to meet the needs of you and your family -- to support you spiritually, emotionally, physically... in every way. I think for a long time we were more interested in impressing others and less so in living at home - really living there and loving it - this is how it should be but how it wasn't for awhile as the trend was to simply fill your home with what would make the neighbors say, "Ooooh my".

These days I feel this shift, it's been going on for awhile but getting stronger, but I feel a shift in how people live at home and how they are decorating -- don't you? In more affluent parts of the world in pockets where there is wealth there is always a feeling that one must have the biggest and best to beat out all of the others. But in my circle of friends, and no doubt in yours too, there is more of a feeling now to personalize the space and to be a bit different from the pack.

Truly, the home is the only place on earth where we have absolute freedom of self expression. We can run nude from room to room if we choose, eat cereal for dinner from time to time, throw our clothes on the floor if we're too tired to bother, and dance in the shower singing Donna Summer tunes with a shampoo bottle as our mic. It's not just where we can be 100% ourselves, but it's also where we can show our personality through how we choose to decorate and live -- the colors we select, the crafts we make and display, all of it gives us a unique opportunity to surround ourselves with what makes us, well, us. I'm still a student of German so I cannot read all of the text in We Love Living as well as I wish I could -- but I get the sense that this magazine supports how I feel about the home and it precisely why I like it. It's also very affordable, only 2,90 Euros per copy and it is sold all over Germany, Austria and Switzerland, 10 issues per year beginning with the one shown in these photos - their first of what I hope to be many, issues to come.

I wish the team in Offenburg at We Love Living, Caroline Vogel, Angelika Wuenscher, Stephanie Volk and Petra Weissburger all the best with their new magazine!

(images: holly becker for decor8)