Wednesday 27 February 2013

favourite february pieces

8 comments

Hello guys!

I had absolutely no money to go shopping this month, but I have a couple of nice things lined up on my wish list that might be purchased next month - at least some of them. Can't wait for the next payday, seriously.
Until then I can dream...




Oh if I could only buy them all....
Well, let's see what'll be in the mail next month.

Have a nice day guys!






Saturday 23 February 2013

heartburn

18 comments

Helloooo!

How is everyone doing today?
Hope you're enjoying your weekend!
I don't even have much to tell you this time, my week was busy but rather uneventful. It included watching "The Master" (with a brilliant Joaquin Phoenix!) with some friends, Wing Tsun class, a local band's concert, the monthly allergy immunization and working as much as possible at my two jobs because it's semester break. Exciting...not.
Well the movie and concert night were fun but still I'm kind of unhappy with the way things go in my daily grind at the moment. I really need to find a way to make a change concerning my sleeping pattern, eating resp. cooking habits, free time activities etc. because otherwise I'm going to freak out soon. It seems I can't do my own urge for action justice, I often got ants in the pants and just don't know what to put my energy into. And this in turn is a problem when I have to sit down and do something that doesn't involve physical activity, e.g. writing papers for university and stuff like that.
Well, I don't know what to do about it yet but I definitely have to come up with a plan soon.

Today I plan to get stuff done around the apartment before I'll meet my mum, stepfather and stepbrother in Cologne, where we'll stuff our faces with Brazilian food, yummm!
What are your plans for the rest of the weekend?

Happy Saturday!






Thursday 21 February 2013

weight watchers: one year later

16 comments

Hello everyone!

The other day I noticed that it's February, ha - yes I'm a bit late noticing it, I know... Anyway, the special thing about it is that one year ago, at the 1st of February 2012 I started putting my plans to lose some weight into action.
At this time I had been complaining about my weight and body for some years and finally had enough of it. The years before I had slowly gained lots of weight due to changing from a job in retail (running around all day) to an office job (sitting on your butt all day).
So one year ago I had 80,5 kilos and was really unhappy with it. For the record, I'm not saying it's wrong to have 80 kilos or more, because everyone has a different body and different proportions and a different "feel good weight", but I knew that this was not my personal feel-good weight and that it was high time to change the situation. Looking back I still think that I always looked good and dressed nicely, but still I also remember how unhappy I felt about myself way too often.
Now, after one year I have lost 15 kilos and can proudly say that I have reached my ideal weight and that I feel more than fine with my body in general. Of course there are always little details I'd still change about myself if I could and I admit I'm eager to try losing another 5 kilos only to see if my upper arms and calves might be a little more in shape afterwards, BUT in general I feel very good with 65 kilos now.

To show you the difference I dug out an old photo.

I have to underline that I am the most undisciplined and most unambitious person I know. I love food, I love to eat, also or especially when I'm not even hungry and I hate to work out.
I definitely wanted to lose weight without having to work out that much - yes I'm super lazy.
So here is how it actually worked for me.

For me it was and still is Weight Watchers. But I only registered for the online programme because I was not interested in regular meetings and all that jazz. Here in Germany it costs about 15 € per months, which is cheaper than most gym memberships.
Their online programme calculates a point value for every food and it calculates your personal daily point value that you are allowed to consume (they calculate it based on some personal information like height, weight, age etc.).
This point system is not for everybody, there are lots of people who prefer counting calories or simply go for other kinds of diets, but for me it was perfect. I needed one or two weeks to get used to it, but after that I was "in the flow of things" concerning point values of different foods.
I still have no clue how exactly it worked, but with this system I unconsciously changed my eating habits bit by bit. I automatically replaced unhealthy stuff with fruits and vegetables because they don't have any points at all, so I would rather eat a cup of fruit salad instead of instant pot noodles.
The main effect was losing weight of course, but a very nice side effect is that my digestion got much better and that I had less problems with an upset stomach. Luckily I'm not allergic to any kinds of food, but in the past I sometimes had problems with flavour enhancers or with meals that contained too much oil, cream and stuff like this.
I felt healthier - I had never thought that I would be able to notice these improvements so fast but I really did. I don't get a cold so often anymore and my constantly returning cystitis disappeared completely. Of course I treat myself to pizza, Mc Donald's and other fast food from time to time, but I don't live on microwave food anymore - and the very thought of this makes you feel healthier immediately.
Like I said above: I hate to work out. I'm way too lazy for this crap.
I admit that after a good long workout you really feel better and fitter - but most often I was too unmotivated to drag myself to the gym.
So you maybe won't believe it, but: during the weight loss process I went to the gym only once or twice a week and each time I only stayed on the cross trainer for 30-40 minutes and then went back home. And I lost weight though - so it is possible you disbelievers out there! I think if I had worked out more, I would have lost the weight quicker - okay, but I was not in a hurry anyway.
I cancelled my gym membership a few weeks ago because I simply hate the gym. I go to a 2 hours Wing Tsun (martial arts) class once a week regularly now and sometimes on days when I feel extra sporty I go running for half and hour or an hour, but that's it.
15 kilos less but still a couch potatoe - some things never change!

Oh and by the way, I have managed to maintain my weight for a couple of months now. Thanks to Weight Watchers there were not even the slightest signs of a yo-yo effect because when you have reached your goal you can easily switch from "lose weight" to "maintain weight" in their system.

Now you know my story.
I hope this helped, motivated, made you interested or at least aware of that it can work when you put a bit of effort into it.
I know other girls who had great successes in losing weight with other methods, but I'll stick to this one here because it turned out to be the healthiest and best-working one for me.

Until next time,


Sunday 17 February 2013

just for a piece of fact or fiction

29 comments

Hello Sunday!

Bummer that it's already Sunday again! But I slept in, had marmelade toast and chai latte for breakfast and plan to head outside because its sunny and nicely cold outside.
Sundays like this are my favourites because I wrap myself up in warm clothes, grab a coffee at the next bakery and then explore the streets of my neighbourhood.
What are you up to today?


In the photos you can see what I wore on Friday night to spend it at a pub with friends. It was fun, we had drinks, wore paper mustaches, got free cigarettes from two different promotions (which saved me 10 Euro and I'm a poor student so this was amazing) and of course, where did we end up afterwards? At McDonald's. I love me my cheeseburger after a night out.


To complete the weekend report: yesterday was pretty uneventful. I finally got my hair trimmed and have new layers and shorter bangs again (thank God, it was high time!). I also baked coconut bread, made scalloped pizza toasts, went to McD again and watched the Total Recall remake.

Hope you had a nice weekend end too?





P.S. Oh and my Fenice giveaway ends tonight, you can still enter by clicking this picture below:




Saturday 16 February 2013

my ghost just tries to keep you warm

17 comments

Hello folks!

How are you today? It's Friday, so I hope everyone's fine and has some nice plans for the weekend.
I have to admit I don't have concrete plans yet, but as it's the loveliest winter weather outside, I think I'll definitely take a long walk tomorrow.
Something I've been loving to do at the weekends lately because during the week I hardly find time for it. That's also the reason why I had to take photos of this outfit in my kitchen: I had no time to head to one of my outdoor photo spots. Plus it was too windy and snowy outside to take pictures without the warm winter coat on because we had a kind of mini blizzard here yesterday.
Hm what else? Oh, I tried something new with the jumper over the dress, how do you like it? I think it looks nice but admittedly I'm not a jumper person at all. I can't even explain why, but I prefer cardigans. I have roughly twenty cardigans in my wardrobe but only two jumpers, haha.

Some other news: maybe my German readers remember this Nikon commercial that was on television last year? I used to love the the song in it back then. Well, a few days ago I stumbled across it in my browser's bookmarks and clicked my way through more of the artist's Youtube videos and since then I have a big crush on his music. He's called Radical Face and I've been listening to his tracks on repeat for the last couple of evenings in front of my laptop. It's beautiful music, calm, kind of nostalgic to me and folky so that I will not only listen to it until the end of winter, but definitely also on sunny summer days - folky music is something that matches all seasons and moods if you ask me.

Wishing you all a happy Friday! :)






Thursday 14 February 2013

wish list for the apartment: living room/bedroom

15 comments

Hi guys!

I've been living in my new apartment for a while now, but you know how it is after moving to a new place - there's always something you still don't have and that needs to be bought to make a room complete.
I got all the basic furniture I need, like a bed, a kitchen, a desk etc. but there are still furniture wishes that got lost along the way in the course of the past months due to a lack of money and the problem of not having a car to transport heavier pieces.
Also there are certain things, e.g. my dining table and chairs, that I brought from the old home but don't really like anymore, so I plan on replacing them as soon as possible. Oh well, never really content with what you have, I guess it's just the nature of mankind, right?
Anyway, here is a little wish list and collection of inspiration for how I want my apartment to be in the future. It will be a big project as a whole, but I hope I'll manage to get closer to my ideal step by step in the course of this year. 
Btw if you'd like to see some impressions of my living room/bedroom visit this post.

sources: // above left // above right // below //

I like it cozy and rustic mixed with modern, playful and colourful. My biggest wish is a big and comfy brown leather armchair or sofa to go with the vintage cocktail chair I already bought via Ebay. It would be great to have a little "living room corner" as my bedroom is also my office and living room at the same time too. I need more seatings because at the moment I can either offer my guests only the bed to sit on (which can be quite awkward with some guests...) or I have to stay in the kitchen with them.
For the rustic touch I'd love to have one of these tables made out of a wine box and for the coziness some cute pillows and a knit plaid.
Not a must, but a bonus would be a beautiful new lamp and some nice prints or paintings for the walls.


Furthermore I found some awesome DIY projects that I'd love to try out soon. I'm not good at crafting, but maybe it will get better with a little practicing?
Here is a little collection of my favourite DIYs from Pinterest, which all happen to be light-related:



Have a lovely day everyone!






now playing: ed sheeran - drunk

Monday 11 February 2013

you were always gold to me

22 comments

Mornin!

Monday morning to be precise - oh boy I'm having such a hard time getting out of bed in the mornings lately. That's why I gladly slept in today. It's a phenomenon: in the mornings I'm always dead tired but in the evenings when I'm supposed to go to bed I'm wide awake. What's going wrong here?
I'm desperately trying to get back to a normal sleeping pattern that I last had in autumn 2012 and that I've been missing since then.
Some of you commented on my last post that they cannot sleep when they are home alone. Well since I live alone I sleep like a baby, it just takes me ages to fall asleep and to wake up and that is what bothers me. I need at least one episode of The Three Investigators at night and at least three times the snooze button at 20-minutes-intervals in the morning - this can't be normal!
I imploringly hope I'll get my act together because otherwise I'll get some serious time management problems when I start to write my bachelor thesis soon.


The outfit is from Saturday when I took a long walk through the cold. It was a perfect late morning, I slept in, got dressed, grabbed some coffe at the next bakery and wandered around my neighbourhood in the crisp winter air. I love it!
I'm one of the few people who are happy that the temperatures have dropped again. Actually we already had two or three rather mild days at the end of January but then suddenly we were back around zero with icy winds and sometimes even a little snow.
I'm wearing the hell out of my different winter boots, jackets, hats and scarves and I never get tired of putting together new combos with them. I just love to wrap myself up in knit, winter is my season.


See this cute colourful shirt? Let me tell you something: it's actually supposed to be a mini dress. Whaaat? Yes! I couldn't believe it either. The brand is called Yumi (which is a Japanese longbow, wtf?) and seems to be British - which surprised me because basically I thought it was Japanese, uh?!
Now you see that the dress is actually way too short on me to be worn as a dress. You may think "Okay maybe it's a petite version for the small and petite Asian girls." - yes my first thought too, but how can this be when the brand is British? Furthermore I'm not very tall and I think a dress should at least be long enough to cover your private parts, no?
So this dress will always stay a mystery to me and I will wear it only with pants underneith! 

Hope you're having a good start into the week!





 

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