Marble and Copper

I have been loving all things marble and copper lately. I blame H&M! They had so many beautiful things like marble trays, containers, boxes, tablecloths, baskets… I bought half of the collection!

Generally the marble pattern just makes everything look more luxurious and clean. If you want to beautify your home with marble you don’t have to fork out a fortune for the real deal, there are plenty of easy and inexpensive DIY’s out there to make it at home! One of the best investments for me was marble contact foil – its like a sticker that you can stick to any surface and it instantly looks great!

Same with copper. As it has been quite the decor trend lately, a lot of companies are making overpriced copper articles but with a bit of spray paint you can easily transform an old piece into a trend article! Also, look for copper parts in your local DIY store, pipes etc make great DIY projects!

Check out this lovely collection of copper DIYs at The Crafted Sparrow!

festive feasting days

Christmas time is feasting time. I think that’s the same in every family! I love the food and being close to my loved ones, especially now that I live in China and things like an average supermarket really excite me because of all the stuff I can’t buy in Beijing! It does feels like you are in a constant move from plate to plate, mindlessly stuffing everything inside you… but this is no time to feel guilty! For these days I make an exception to my usual eating habits and have whatever I like. Come new year we will all be sweating in the gym again, trying to get rid of our Christmas pounds but that’s ok. Christmas is feel good time.

Sunday Update #1

Thought I’d start doing a little weekly update on life and what is happening and what day would be more suitable than Sunday? (Of course I know that this is not a new idea but it’s not like I could care less.)

So it’s the first Sunday of the year and I just drove my sis to the rail station to catch her train back to Vienna. In two days I will be leaving for Beijing again and it felt like these couple of weeks went in a blink of an eye. I managed to see all my best friends, spend a lot of time with my family and even sneaked in some nice little shopping (Primark hehe) but I always feel a certain melancholy when I pack my bags and leave for another place. When I am in Germany I don’t want to leave, when I am in London I want to stay and I never want to say goodbye to Beijing. I am still waiting desperately for a teleport so that I can finally be at all the places and with all the people I love…

I am starting my new job in a couple of days which is very exiting (I did work there for a trial period of a week already to see if it suits me) and I am looking forward to a couple of interesting projects. Of course I am also missing my friends in Beijing and can’t wait to see them again.

Unfortunately a new job always means that you have fewer holidays and it might be a while until I am back home again. Thinking about the future always troubles me a little because I didn’t really choose the easiest path and there are always sticks and stones in the way that you have to get past in order to achieve your goals. But I guess it will all be worth it in the end and there are so many great things that are happening on the way so stick to your dreams and make it happen. 2014 is going to be a great year.

2014 is going to be my year.

What I did this week:

• Saw -  Doctor’s Diary – An awesome German TV series from a couple of years back
• Listened -  Lorde - Royals
• Learned -   a bit about HTML/Design, a little bit Chinese vocab
• Ate – Sushi, sushi, sushi.
• Read -  HTML/Web hosting/design tutorials
• Drank -  All the (non alcoholic) leftovers from NYE
• Thought -  Why do so many things go wrong when you really need them to work
• Wished -  to be at home for one more week
• Bought -  a couple of bits and pieces from the sale + Primark craziness

Happy new year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014!

 

Hey Lovelies! I hope you had a great start in 2014!

 

I celebrated the new year with my closest friends and of course we had to play around with the sparklers haha! We had a great night with Raclette, silly games and lots of drinking till 4.30am… now I am a little bit dead (and ill – seems like I brought a cold into the new year) but very happy and looking forward to an eventful 2014!

 

I am planning to travel a lot and make the most of what is to come; I hope you are looking forward to what 2014 has to offer as much as I do!

All the best!

 

xxx

 

Back in Christmas Wonderland

China switched to full on Christmas mode over the last couple of weeks – blinking lights in red, green and blue everywhere accompanied by kitschy cute Santa Claus faces and Christmas unicorns. Not really what we Europeans define as classical Christmas decorations, but then again who can blame them – it’s not like they actually celebrate Christmas. The Christmas equivalent in China is the Chinese new year – usually celebrated at the end of January or beginning of February (depending on the moon calendar).

Since I am back in Germany for the holidays I enjoy driving through the little towns with pretty lights in each window and on the trees. In Germany as well as France Christmas markets are a must during Advent – the time leading up to Christmas Eve. They have become widely popular in other countries too, usually emphasizing on the “German” Christmas market like Winter Wonderland in London each year. Even Beijing had it’s own little Christmas market a couple of weeks back at the German embassy.

I personally think that the Christmas Market in my hometown Trier is one of the most beautiful ones, mainly due to the location within the old center of the city, surrounded by old buildings from different eras and the Dome watching majestically over the many visitors. Have a look for yourself!

xxx

DIY: Bird food tree ornaments

We have always had flocks of birds around the house during winter because of our extensive feeding opportunities. We just love watching them come by, see them return every year and hear them sing. While the humans eat Christmas cookies inside why not share some love with the birds? Get out your cookie cutters and make some bird treats! This is a cute idea to not only do some good for the animals during the cold season but also decorate the empty trees outside.

What you will need:

- Coconut fat or beef tallow (if you are using tallow add about 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil)
- Bird food
- Cookie cutters
- Cutting board
- Toothpicks
- Cord

And here is how it works:

1. Put the cookie cutters onto a cutting board. 

2. Heat the coconut fat a little so that it becomes softer and workable (not too liquid though!).

3. Add the bird food to the fat and mix it well. Don’t use too much food or the cookies might crumble afterwards. 

4. Fill the mixture into the cookie cutters and poke a whole big enough for the cord with the toothpick. Make sure it’s big enough so that you can fit the cord through the whole comfortably. It is very hard to make the whole once they are hard because they will break easily. 

5. Put the cookies onto a big cutting board and leave them outside (in case it’s not freezing) for a couple of hours (best overnight). Once they are hard enough you can push them out of the cutters and pull the cord through to make little hangers. We put a little Christmas tree outside on the balcony and decorated it with the ornaments and a garland made of peanuts and dried & fresh apple slices.

Now you only have to lay low and wait for the first little bird to come pick on it! :)

   

Hello... from China!

The Temple next door: Yonghegong.

 

Well... I guess it has been a while... hasen't it?

So where do I start?

I guess the title gives it away: I am in CHINA. Beijing more specifically. When I first got here I was faced with 2 major problems that prevented me from Blogging:
1) No laptop of my own (only from my company), therefore:
2) No VPN (which you need in China to get access to websites such as Facebook, Twitter AND Blogger.
For the ones who haven't heard it yet: China likes to block websites. Nuff said.
After I had solved 1) - remind me to tell the ordeal of buying a laptop in China one day - and finally even 2) I was simply so busy enjoying my life here that blogging was always on my mind but never on my schedule. But today I am off so instead of enjoying the glorious weather I finally get around to explain.

If you have been reading my blog carefully you will know that I had been planning this for a while but if you don't here is the story:

Last year I graduated from Uni in June. I partied for one month and then decided to get serious and find a job. And so I did... After a couple of months it just so happened that I got offered an internship in Shanghai and when I told them they offered me to work in our office in Beijing. So in February 2013 the day finally came, I packed all my belongings in about 400 boxes (give and take 300), locked it in storage and flew off to Beijing.

Now I have to say I am not someone who plans things through and through; I wanted to live in Asia... so I took the chance I got. I did have a crash course of Mandarin but it was nowhere near sufficient as I found out soon enough - when I tried to check into a Hotel. None of the staff spoke a word of English and if it hadn't been for my lovely colleague I would have been lost from day 1. Said colleague helped me with everything (which I will be forever grateful for); getting a 3G sim card (don't even ask), finding a flat, registering stuff and principally surviving in China.

I have decided that I will not tell the whole story in one post because that would take forever and I doubt anyone has the patience to read it so here is just a first batch of Instagram pics of the journey:

   

On my first plane at Heathrow Airport and sunset in Amsterdam before boarding an incredibly big Airbus filled with 90% Chinese travelers. I guess I have to get used to that. As well as getting used to using hand signs instead of language because the flight attendants don't seem to speak English... sigh.

   

Finally relax at the hotel... Chinese water is my highlight of the day.

And because I am particularly lucky I got one of the first flu of my life the next day. Struck down in bed for 5 days while there are fireworks outside like the world is ending. Happy lantern festival!

Enough time to watch Chinese soap operas. Needless to say I have no clue what's going on. Not that it matters in Soap Operas anyways.

   

Best thing to settle in: Start working! My savior and little angel: My colleague Lucky aka Little Panda. | The view from our office on the 16th floor. | Work.

   

Time to start exploring the city. My first visit: Tiananmen square! Hi Mao! | Just 5 min from my house: Great restaurants and old traditional Chinese houses: Hutongs!

 

 

Queuing for IKEA. | People where actually sleeping in the beds and on the sofas. The Chinese take "Try before you buy" very seriously.

 

LUNCH. Ususally between 1-2 Euros. Can get used to that.

   

SMOG. Will never get used to that.

 

COMFORT FOOD.

New friends. It’s starting to feel like home.

 

Don’t forget the parties!

Finally feel like I arrived in China.

 

xxx

 

Ines