fillets and foxes

Hi guys!

How are you?
Ah, today I finally have time to post these photos. The first time this week that I have some spare time after work to sit here at the desk with a coffee to blog and to get back to all your nice comments on the last posts :)
I've been feeling pretty exhausted lately because of a recurrent muscle ache, the result of my new work out program at the gym. I swear I have muscle ache in muscles that I didn't even know I had before. Plus uni is about to start again next week, so the loafing days will be over.




♥ dress: joe brown's ♥ cardi + tights: h&m ♥ belt: primark ♥ boots: vintage ♥ necklace: accessorize ♥ ring: papersparrow ♥




These photos are from Saturday when my Mum's boyfriend had a belated birthday party. We only celebrated with a small group of people that mostly consisted of friends who are also former neighbours from the place where Mum and I used to live. It's nice to see them from time to time, it kind of gives me the feeling to be "at home" because we had lots of neighbourhood parties back when we still lived in this little village with them. And my Mum made some delicious pork fillets with yummy creamy sauce and salad. And raspberries with cream and chocolate flan for dessert, yummmm... It was lovely!






As I don't have many opportunities to dress up I used this little celebration to do it. Well, I admit I'm not really dressed up, but at least I tried something different with my hair. The day before my friend Farah wore lovely milkmaid braids on the back of her head when we had our monthly ladies night, so on Saturday I felt inspired to try out a similar hair-do. I'm not good at braiding my hair at the back of my head, so I did the well-tried "on top of the head" version that I found here a few months ago.





photos were all taken by Patrick

How do you like my new ring? I'm so in love with it! I stumbled upon it while I was browsing Etsy for anything cute. It's called "Foxes in Paris" ring, I purchased it from Papersparrow, a very lovely art and accessories shop that sells pictures, jewelry, purses etc. with the most adorable illustrations. I'm a sucker for animal jewelry anyway and I have discovered a certain love for foxes on necklaces, rings, clothing and other things. I even found a MAC nail polish called "Sly As A Fox", oh isn't it such a pretty shade of red? It's from an older collection so I hope I'll be able to find a bottle at Ebay or one of those swap websites.

What new obsessions have you discovered lately? :)

Have a nice day!



now playing: jack johnson - flake

portuguese friday night

Hi guys!

I hope you all had a nice weekend!
I'm just dropping by to post something about mine before Patrick and I will let this Sunday evening fade away with some good food and a movie.
These photos are from Friday, which was a normal day at the office:



♥ dress, scarf, tights + headband: h&m ♥ cardi: promod ♥ belt + shoes: primark ♥ necklace: accessorize ♥



On Friday morning I was listening to the radio while getting ready for work and they played Milow's new song "You and Me", have you heard it yet? It's so so cute! One of the cutest lovesongs I've ever heard. The lyrics always make me smile.
My favourite lines are

"I sometimes wish you were a mermaid
I could raise you in the tub at home
We could take a swim together
On weekly day trips to the bay."

I love it :)




My hair is too long, I really need to have it cut soon...




Friday night me and the girls had another one of our monthly ladies nights here in Düsseldorf. We went to a really good Portuguese reastaurant called Clube Portugues where we had tapas and where I ate the most delicious meat skewer (for the second time).
The restaurant itself rather looks like a snugly little taverna with wooden furniture, dimmed light and lots of knick-knack deco on the walls and window sills.
I didn't want to take photos with the flash there because some people might have felt bothered, hence the low light made most photos turn out too blurry so I can't show them to you.
Only a few:










If you ever happen to be in Düsseldorf I can really recommend this restaurant to you. I was able to borrow some pictures from their website so you can get an impression of how lovely it was there:










Alright, that's it for today. I'll be back tomorrow next time with another post about what we did yesterday evening ;)
Happy Sunday!

bigfoot is not yeti

Hi guys!

I have recovered from the flu and pertinacious cough almost completely and today was my first day back at the office again. It's like a déjàvue because I wrote almost the same about two weeks ago when I first stayed at home sick. Now after the second time staying at home I hope it's over.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed...




♥ shirt, belt, skirt & shoes: h&m ♥ blazer: handmade via ebay ♥ tights: gina tricot ♥ socks: primark ♥



It felt so good to put on tights and a skirt after one week in pyjama pants :)
This skirt was practically already gone from my closet, I put it in my rejected-stuff-bag a few weeks ago when I was sorting out clothes for a swap website. Then this bag stood around for some days and the skirt was on top and everytime I passed by I saw it and thought how nice the colour of the denim is. To cut a long story short I tried it on again and kept it - obviously.








And this shirt! I missed out on it when it was in the stores and luckily found it on Ebay after some months then. I love the print, it's so cute.
But only today I noticed that the print is wrong. It says "The Return of the Yeti - Bigfoot strikes again" and it shows a brown furry creature. Now if I remember correctly Bigfoot and Yeti are two different creatures. Bigfoot is a brown kind of great ape who lives in the woods (or with the Hendersons haha) and the Yeti is a creature with white fur living somewhere in an icy and snowy region.
Believe me I'm a pro for freaky topics like this, I used to be part of a mystery hunters forum when I was younger. Nerd alert! I told you so...
So H&M definitely didn't do a good job in researching about what to print on their shirts.
Nevertheless do I love the shirt dearly :)




♥ ring: six ♥ socks: primark ♥




By the way, when I was browsing Youtube for a Harry and the Hendersons video to link above I found another video of an old TV show: The Dinosaurs!
Yay, I loved them. Okay basically I still do, I just forgot it because they don't show it on German TV anymore.
Look at the baby:

The Dinosaurs: Baby says Daddy

His facial expressions are so awesome :D
It's so good to reminisce about childhood from time to time.


Have a lovely day!



now playing: afterfeedback - that old guitar

summing up favourites #3: colour combos

Hi guys!

I've come across some really awesome colour combos in the bloggosphere lately and I'd love to share them with you because they inspire me so much.
When I'm in a good mood I love to combine some bright colours too and when I see looks like the following I want to own skirts, blouses and tights in any existing hue in the world :)
Enjoy!



Melanie Likes and Bees With Feathers


Keiko Lynn and Night Lights


Bad Penny and bekleidet


sock monkey and gee and Monochroma.Chic


Waking Life and Fancy Fine


Wasn't this a nice little journey through the world of colours?
I'll definitely try out some of these colour combos soon - well as good as my wardrobe allows me to ;)

Have a fantastic day!



now playing: band of horses - detlef schrempf

nicest things

Hi guys!

As I've spent almost the whole last week at home it once again were only the little things that made my days :)



I started playing Kirby The Epic Yarn on the Wii. I believe it's actually for little children because it's all fluffy and lovely and rainbow-coloured and cuuute! It's really easy to play and you can't even die, it's so fun :)



I put together my schedule for the next semester (lots of philosophy, almost no anglistics) and wrote it down on my lovely new fox schedule that I bought at ene-mene-mu.



I cooked and stuffed my face with oven tortilla, yum
(I'll post the recipe soon)!



I had this lovely little asian purse in the mail! I bought it via Ebay although I didn't know what to do with it, but I had to have it because it's so prettyyyy. And it was only 1,50€ so I really couldn't resist. Now I use it for my make up when I'm out and about.



I catched up with watching Fringe. Gaah, it's so thrilling! I hate to be forced to wait one whole week for the next episode now. I want to know what happens next!


Btw can anyone recommend a good tv show? I've finished everything I wanted to watch, that is all seasons of SATC, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Fringe, X-Files, Two And A Half Men and Supernatural.
And I think I'm not a type for Glee, Gossip Girl and all this vampire crap.
Yes it's complicated, I'm choosey ;)

So, any recommendations?



now playing: the postal service - nothing better

spinach-feta-strudel recipe

Hi guys!

I forgot to tell you that I had a kind of relapse with my nasty cough, so I've been staying at home since Wednesday. I used my forced timeout for baking and cooking because apart from internet and TV there's not much to do for me. Okay housework too.
Anyway, I thought I could share another recipe with you, haven't done this for quite some time.
It's relatively easy and quick to make and tastes good :)


spinach-feta-strudel



You need:

300g deep-frozen leaf spinach
2 onions
1 garlic clove
1 tin (425ml) tomatoes
salt and pepper
200g feta cheese
6 sheets deep-frozen puff pastry
(or 200g Turkish yufka dough)
100g ham
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon sesame
baking paper




1. Defrost the spinach. Dice the onions and garlic, fry until transparent.
Add tomatoes and boil it all up.



2. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add spinach, fry for a short time.



3. Dice feta cheese and ham. Defrost the puff pastry sheets and put them together to one big layer on a baking tray with baking paper.
Spread the pan mish-mash and the feta and ham on the puff pastry, leave out the edges (you have to roll them up in the next step).



4. Roll up the edges to get a typical strudel-shape. Don't worry if it's not pretty, the dough will bake up anyway ;)
Then cover your strudel with the egg yolk and dredge it with the sesame (I left out the sesame so it's not in the photos).



5. Bake in the pre-heated oven at 180° for about 25 minutes.
It should look nicely goldenbrown on the outside.


Bon appétit! :)

P.S. I found a slightly different recipe with an extra recipe for the dough to do it yourself here.

Und für meine deutschen Leser gibts ein Rezept auf Deutsch hier.

jessie j acoustic version

Hi guys!

I don't know if I'm the only person who thinks like that, but could it be that popsongs are much cooler in acoustic versions?
You know, I'm not a fan of pop music resp. the charts because in my opinion generally 95% of the top 100 are crap. I listen to music a lot when I'm online because I need this kind of background sound, however I don't want to always play my favourite bands in such a situation because I think they deserve to be more than just background music. Hence the radio.

Anyway, so I knew this song "Do It Like A Dude" by Jessie J before (from the radio) and didn't find it special. Just another one of these typical Rihanna-, Gaga- and/or Kesha-esque songs, neither my cup of tea, nor something special.
But hey, neither did I know Jessie J has a classic musical background, nor did I know she looks like a modern Snow White.

So I was pretty amazed when I happened to hear her doing an acoustic set at a German radio station today. It's surprising how good this song sounds as an acoustic version and how brilliantly she uses her voice to empahsize certain lines.

Clicking the screenshot will lead you to the full video of the acoustic song:

What do you think?
Does it sound better or worse to you?
Does this change of perspective (and sound) change your view on this song?
I'm curious.


Happy Thursday!

let the music play

Hi guys!

Wow, it's already Tuesday. I hate how time flies! March is almost over although to me it seems like it began just yesterday.
As long as it's semester break I try to work more than the usually permitted 20 hours a week in the semester. It's good that I'm allowed to earn more money during the break because I want to save a bit every month for an Ireland holiday next year.
And I'm still struggling with this never-ending cough! I bet you can't hear it anymore and I'm so fed up with it either.



♥jacket, shirt & jeans: h&m ♥ belt & shoes: primark ♥ hat & necklace: accessorize ♥ watch: casio ♥ bag: roxy ♥


the outfit photos were taken by Patrick

Anyway, I have some photos from Saturday for you when Patrick's band tornapart played a concert in Aachen. It was a nice evening because I was able to meet some friends and acquaintances who live there and I accompany Patrick to his concerts as often as possible anyway, simply because I'm old-fashioned and think that two persons in a relationship have to support each other in what they do ;)



these photos were taken by René R., a friend of the band



The sound system and the guy at the mixing machine were a mess but it was a cool concert anyway. tornapart are kind of local heroes there because half the band lives and studies in Aachen, so they motivate all their families and friends to visit their concerts when they're in town.



another two photos taken by René R., he even caught me filming the gig :)




It's funny that I'm posting about last weekend although the next weekend is almost there. The next days will be full of work, so time will probably go by so fast again. I don't have any exciting plans, only grocery shopping, an appointment at the doctor's and watching Fringe.
I hope one or two dates for the weekend will arise on short notice.

Have a lovely day!




now playing: dredg - i don't know