Taking Stock: December

Making : A lalylala doll. Again. This time it's Lupo, the sheep and I will trade him for the cutest hat!
Cooking : nothing. The man's at home and he does all the cooking. And he does it sooo well...
Drinking : fresh lemon juice, freshly cut ginger, brewed up with hot water and a dash of honey. It tastes great and it help prevents getting a cold. My immune system is on top right now, my last cold was more than 6 months ago.
Reading: A LOT. I am prepared with 6 new books for my upcoming 2 week christmas holiday.
Wanting: the holidays to come. Two work-free-weeks. I can't wait!
Looking: at interior blogs and IKEA catalogues. I don't want to jinx is, as nothing is signed yet, but it looks like we got ourselve a house!!! It's just getting built and won't be finished until spring 2017 but who cares. A HOUSE!
Playing:
Deciding: on whether or not we can afford that house. But it looks like we can. Hurray.
Wishing: that everything will go as planned
Enjoying: the harmony at home. My man and I have found a wonderful rhythm. We hardly ever argue!
Waiting: warmer weather. It's not even belo zero here but I still think it's way too cold!
Liking: the fact that it's still 10 days until christmas and I already have ALL gifts.
Wondering: how it will feel to pick out my very own kitchen!
Loving: my friends and family right now.
Buying: I just bought new clothes yesterday. I hardly ever buy new clothes for myself. It felt good.
Watching: nothing. Time for a new series. I finished Gilmore Girls for the 4th or 5th time and it left me sad. Can't wait for that netflix revival! Does anyone know when it will start?
Hoping: that we won't get disappointed!
Cringing: at the sound of my neighbor snoring! Those walls are soooo thin I can hear EVERY move that man makes...
Needing: a hot bath. We don't own a bathtub and it's been too long since I enjoyed a long, hot, bubbly bath...
Smelling: christmas cookies. Bought ones, though. I didn't find time to bake. Shame on me!
Wearing: The new clothes I bought yesterday. I got the most comfortable yet stylish sweater. I love it. I will never take it off!
Following: a new workout routine. I manage to go for a run at least once a week and do some workouts at least two or three times. Feels good!
Noticing: that I'm really growing up. I'm married, we're thinking about moving into a house...and I squeek everytime I see babies...let's see how this will all turn out in the next couple years.
Knowing: that I'm living a very nice and privileged live!
Thinking: about what my man will say when he opens his christmas present.
Admiring: knitters. I really want to learn to knit. My goal for 2016!
Sorting: through our stuff. Well not now, but we will, eventually, when we finally move!
Getting: things to spoil myself with. books, clothes, nail polish. That's my secret addiction...
Bookmarking:crochet patterns. I really want to start selling my stuff 2016.
Disliking: the fact that it's getting dark so early. I miss the daylight
Feeling: motivated to go for a run, later tonight. I know that I'll feel great afterwards!
Snacking:  on way too many cookies. Hence the need for a run!
Hearing: Frank Sinatra Christmas songs. Those old school songs are the only christmas music that I endure. I want to scream whenever I hear the opening bells of "Last Christmas". The worst piece of music that ever got produced. And every damn year the radio stations keep torturing us with that horrible, horrible song!

a (not so) typical work day...

Hey guys!

I'm back!

The Vienna Book fair is over which means that I have my life back. In the past few weeks I stayed late at work, came home, ate, took a shower, went to bed, got back up, went to work, stayed late, came home, ate, took a shower, went to bed and so on. So there was no time for blogging.

On Friday, I had to walk around in Vienna to visit different venues and prepare them for readings, that took always place in the evenings. It was a beautiful and sunny day, quite warm for November and it was really nice to escape the office and have a stroll through beautiful Vienna. I want to take you with me on that walk. So let's go, through the inner district of this wonderful city!

I started with walking down the "Herrengasse", a shopping street where I never shop, as it's the home of all the luxury brands. Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton and similar. As I never spend much money on clothes (rather use the amount on books and yarn - you get much more for the same price!) this aren't shops where I will ever set foot in. But it's nice to look at the windows and ask myself who in the world would spend hundreds of Euros on clothes that look like they are second hand. And in very bad condition!

I walked past the Michaelerkirche. It's one of many beautiful churches in Vienna. The Vienna National Library has an Archive inside this building and I remember having a Seminar right under this dome when I was still studying German Literature.

Just right around the corner, you get the beautiful view of the Hofburg, where the National Library is situated and which is the former imperial palace of Vienna. Those two buildings in the background are the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Art History. The two buildings stand opposite each other and are identically built. Right in the middle is now one of the most beautiful christmas markets in Vienna. Though there are dozens of them taking place all over town right now.

I then had a stroll through the Volksgarten, a small park. During the warmer seasons, it smells really intense of roses. That is because there are hundred of different roses planted all over this park. I used to spend my breaks here when I was back at university, as it is just right around the corner of the campus.

And then I arrived at the Rathaus, the town hall of Vienna. I was there to watch over an award ceremony which I organized the last couple of weeks. Did you know that I used to work in a library in that building right before I stepped on a plane to Bangkok and travelled the world for the next four month? I have beautiful memories of those five working months there. Such a historical and wonderful building.

This is the room where the award ceremony took place. The town hall has hidden rooms like this all through the building. Beautiful, isn't it?

I wandered back to the office after that, spend the day on the telephone and then walked back to the town hall. The same route, but now in the evening, when it was already dark and the town as already lit up.

I was at a reading that evening which I had to supervise. Very interesting, it was bilingual, the author was from Romania and read in her mother tongue and of course we had a translator. It was really funny, though the book isn't about a funny topic of all. Those are the moments where I really love my job. Unfortunately, things like that mostly happen during the week of the Vienna book fair, when everyone is exhausted and worked out already. 

There is another christmas market right in front of the town house. I had some time before my train went back home, so I strolled through the stalls, breathed in the wonderful christmassy smell of baked goods, sweets, chocolate, sausages, glühwein (mulled wine) and everything else that belongs to a market like this. And I really looked forward to a calm and nice and relaxing christmas time.

If you've read until the end: Thank you for your patience.
Have a happy weekend.

Weeeekeeeeend

Hey guys,

It's getting a little more quiet around here. As some of you might know, my company is organising the Vienna Book Fair. It's taking place in three weeks so of course there's an awful lot of work to do. Which means loooong hours and short evenings. I haven't finished my third Kira. I'm not even close as I didn't do any crochet for the last three weeks. There just isn't time. I know it will get better once the fair is over so I'm looking forward to that. 

In the meantime I'm packing my bags for a quick weekend trip with my big brother. My brother started the love for music in me. When we lived together, about four years ago, he introduced me to Dave Matthews Band and I've been addicted ever since. 

So for his thiertieth birthday in May his girlfriend and I gifted him not one but two concert tickets. As his girlfriend has to work I sacrificed myself to accompany him. So in about half an hour we'll start driving to Germany. Tonight we will visit the Dave Matthews Band concert in Munich, tomorrow we will drive up to Frankfurt to watch them again and on Monday we will drive back home. It will be an amazing weekend and I can't wait to finally start! A detailled post on the concert will follow! 

I'll leave you with some snippets from my appartment today. As I told you in my last post I wasn't really happy with my appartment and decided to clean it out a little. So here are some improved corner. But we plan to move next year to a nicer and bigger (and maybe even suitable for a baby - who knows?) and newer appartment. So there won't be much use for a lot of decoration and work. 

The sun is shining through the window and I'll finish my second coffee before I'll finish packing and make my way to Germany. 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend too. Take that, Autumn blues. You won't grt me down! 

the postcards are handpainted from my best friend. She let our wedding guest write something on every one of them and once a month she sends one of the postcards to us. I love getting them. They are such a beautiful memory!

nothing makes rooms more cosy than candles. Well, books, but they wouldn't look that good on the stairs!

on of our many cactus. The only plants that survive in this household. Which doesn't mean that we weren't also able to kill a few of them...

I love that pillow. Yes, I know, I could have easily made it myself, but let's be honest - that will never happen. The sewing machine and me will never be friends.

again - candles.

my ever growing mug collection. Each mug comes from a different country or has a special story behind it. 

Autumn Blues

Hello guys!

Autumn is here. Definitely. Right now, the rain is tapping on my window, I hear the wind howling and our radiators make that little clicking sound when they try to battle the cold. I'm drinking cups of tea and I'm wearing the Alpaca poncho, that I bought on our trip to Peru.

And I feel miserable. It's dark, when I get out of bed and walk to the train station. It's dark when I walk back home. I don't feel cosy in our tiny appartment. It's cramped and full. There's stuff everywhere, there's no place to decorate and I don't really like our furniture. I can hear our neighbour. I hear him coughing, I hear his TV, I hear him snore at night (!), I hear him screaming at his children. And he screams to his children a lot. And they scream back. Constant noise.

I'm always cranky. I can't find my peace in reading. I don't have the calm to sit down and crochet. I don't like watching TV, I stop every movie in the middle and go to bed. But I don't sleep well. I am cranky in the office. I can't wait for it to be evening so I can get back home. But I don't like being at home. I don't feel comfortable in our appartment.

I started to go running again and to be more active. I run three times a week. I see and feel the progress. When I started running about a month ago, I barely made 2 kms. Yesterday I ran for 5.4 kms. It's my first time EVER that I ran more than 5 kilometers. That made me very proud. I felt good, happy and alive. The feeling didn't last.

So I'm trying to find a way to get out of this constant bad mood and negative feelings. I try to appreciate the little things in live. I want to sort out or appartment, to get rid of some of the mess, to make it more comfortable. I try to spend more time in the kitchen, cooking food that keeps us warm. Cuddling up in my crocheted blankets. Planning to crochet a new one. I'm going to buy a load of candles to place around our rooms. I love candles.
I'm trying to embrace autumn and winter as parts of the circle of life.

But it's not easy. The old habits keep creeping back on me. So I ask you:

Do you have any advice for me to lift up my mood? Do you have books that you can recommend? What do you do, when life gets you down and you are tired of everything?

I'm glad for every tip that you have for me!

Soulfood Saturday

Hey guys,so today I got up in the morning and immediately thought: I want to bake! Now you might or might not know, baked goods are an extremely important part in the Austrian culinary culture. As I told you in my wedding post this can take a turn into the extreme.When I think back to my childhood I remember that my mother and grandmother always used to bake on the weekends - because then they had enough time to spend in the kitchen. When we visited my grandmother on sunday my mother always asked: What did you cook and bake today? And then they talked about food - cause food is important!Autumn has finally arrived here in Austria. After a glory, sunny and very hot summer, the weather is now cold, misty and wet. And I hate it, I really do. So to make myself feel less miserable I decided to bake (for the first time, might I add) an Austrian classic: Buchteln.Strange word, I know, so I consulted Wikipedia to help me explain them to you:

Buchteln (pl., sing. Buchtel; also Ofennudel(n), Rohrnudel(n)), are sweet rolls made of yeast dough, filled with jam, ground poppy seeds or curd and baked in a large pan so that they stick together. The traditional Buchtel is filled with plum Powidl jam. Buchteln are topped with vanilla sauce, powdered sugar or eaten plain and warm. Buchteln are served mostly as a dessert but can also be used as a main dish.The origin of the Buchteln is the region of Bohemia, but they play a major part in the Austrian, Slovak, Slovenian, andHungarian cuisine too. (source: Wikipedia)

So now that I made you smarter, let's get started:

Ingredients: 800 gramms flour1 package yeast150 gramms caster sugar120 gramms butter2 egg yolks, 1 whole eggca 500 ml milks

First, put the flour into a large bowl. Create a little crate in the middle where you crumble your yeast into.

Warm the milk in a small pot and put the sugar into the milk. The milk should be lukewarm, just test it with your finger. If it feels warm and not too hot for you, it's perfect. Put a little bit of the milk on to the yeast to dissolve it. Now leave it for about 15 minutes. 

milk and dissolving yeast

The yeast should rise and look something like this:

it has risen (Please read that in a deep masculine voice!)

While you let the yeast rise, melt the butter in the rest of the milk. When the yeast has risen, put the rest of the milk and the eggs into the bowl with your flour-yeast mixture. Keep a little bit of the whole egg and mix it with a splash of milk, this will later be lathered on your buchteln.Now let the dough rise for at least one hour. After that it should look something like this:

the dough

and the dough after it has risen. It should at leaste double up its sice. Put it in a warm place and put a dish towel on top of the bowel. That way your dough will rise easily!

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees.

Now take the dough out on a surface where you put some flour. Cut the dough into four parts. Take on part and roll it out. It should be about 5-10 mms thick. 

whoops, should have turned that picture. sorry.

Cut the rolled out though into squares - they can be small oder big - just how you like it.

Now you can fill these squares. You can practically fill them with whatever you want. My mother always mixed cocoa powder and caster sugar (about 50:50) and filled them with it. I tried to fill them with strawberry jam and Nutella. A mixture of Cinnamon and Sugar will also taste lovely (if you like cinnamon - I HATE the taste of it, so no cinnamon for me!) Don't fill too much of it into them or it will run out again. 

that's the cocoa - sugar mix. the cocoa will melt and the sugar will make it a little crunchy. My favorite filling!

Now knead the four corners of the dough together, so you have a nice tight roll. No jam or nutella or cocoa should be able to run out of it. 

Dunk the sides of the roll into oil - this will help prevent them from sticking together, and place them in a buttered pan. 

should have taken a bigger pan...

If you filled all the Buchteln, take a kitchen brush and put the egg-milk mixture on top of them. This will give them a nice, brown color.

Put the pan into the oven and bake the Buchteln for about 20 minutes. If the tops get brown too fast, just cover them up with a piece of baking parchment. The Buchteln are ready when they begin to smell delicious. Alternatively, you can take a toothpick and pick it into the Buchteln. No dough should stay on the pick. 

omnomnomnom

Enjoy your Buchteln while they are still hot, with a cup of coffee or tea - whichever you fancy. If you visit an Austrian café, they will drown the Buchteln in a Vanilla sauce! But my mother always made them plain, so that's what I'm used to!

Please let me know if you tried this recipe at home - I'd love to hear if you liked it! Now if you'll excuse me - I have a delicious treat to devour! Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

The year in books. September

Another month has passed (how can it be October already???) and as I always I'm a little late with my list of books to link up with Laura. I've gotten through a lot of books again. I'm currently reading the 47th book this year, so I'm definitely going to make my goodreads reading challenge of 50 books in 2015. I'm pretty certain that I will top it and read more than 50 books. I really need more money and more shelf space for my ever growing reading habit, it's getting slightly out of hand.
Anyway: Here are my books.

Dolores Schmidinger - Im Bett mit dem Teufel
An Austrian comedian who wrote her first crime novel. I'm always falling for crime fiction as it's perfect reading material for train journeys to and from work. I was positively surprised. The book has two timelines: one in the 80s and one in the present. It tells the love story of a woman who falls in love with a man who is a member of a catholic cult group and the second timeline tells the story of her daughter who, after 20 years, gets in contact with said man. It was funny and thrilling and although you knew, who the murderer was, right from the beginning, it was interesting to read until the last page.

picture from google

T.C. Boyle - Wassermusik (Water Music)
I bought this book on a flea market when I was still back at university. I totally fell for it (as I fall for all books of T.C. Boyle) and then I forgot it on the train went I went to visit my parents. On the next flea market, I bought it again and this time I finished it. Boyle tells the story of an 18th century explorer who travels to Africa to explore the Niger. He fails on the first exploration but it never lets him go and so he travels again. I love the style of T.C. Boyle. As I read the first half of the book now three times but the end just twice, I forgot some things that happened at the second half of the book so it was still fresh and interesting. If you love looong books and perfectly detailed drawn characters - Boyle is the perfect author for you.

picture from google

Davig Lagercrantz - Verschwörung (The girl in the spiders web)
Did you read the Millenium trilogy from Stieg Larsson? I absolutely adored it. Even my husband, who barely ever reads, didn't stop reading those books until he finished them in absolutely short time. Unfortunately, Stieg Larsson died after the third book and wasn't able to finish the fourth. After a long struggle with Larssons wife and his family, David Lagercrantz published the girl in the spiders web, which is kind of a continuation of the Millenium trilogy. Of course I was very curios and couldn't wait for that book to come out. I made the mistake to read a lot of article and reviews before I read the book myself. Not a good idea, as my mind was heavy with a lot of different opinions which of course, affected my own. Let's just say this: If you loved Stieg Larsson, you will like David Lagercrantz. Just try to ignore the fact that someone else is writing the book and you won't really notice a difference.

T.C. Boyle - San Miguel
I think I made it clear, how much I love T.C. Boyle. I already read San Miguel, but as I forbade myself to buy new books until the Christmas Holidays, I have to read books again. San Miguel tells the life of two different families who try to live on San Miguel Island, a little Island off the West Coast of North America. When the book first came out, critics said, that nothing happened, that the book is boring, that it only tells of the ordinary, everyday life that people lived on the island. Duh. Of course it only tells that. There are four people, living on an island, away from the main land, in the 19th century. What did they think will happen there? But things happen. And as always, Boyle describes the protagonists so well, that you feel, that you really know the people in the books. You know about their past, you get inside their head to know what they think, feel, smell, talk, you know, what they dream of and if they're disappointed or happy or sad. And that's what I love about Boyles books - his characters.

Robert Schneider - Schlafes Bruder (Brother of sleep)
An Austrian classic. Again a book that I've read before, though it's been some years since I first had a go at it. It's about a boy, who grows up in a little village in the Austrian alps. He's a little strange, doesn't look normal and has an enormous musical talent! He falls in love with his neighbour and thinks, that no one can really love, when he's sleeping. True love never sleeps because when you sleep, you don't think about the woman you love, you can't spend time with her, you can't make her happy. Thus, he stops sleeping.
Rather creepy and disturbing story but it left me thinking about it for some days after finishing it and that's what a good book should do to you - stay in your mind, even if it's back on the shelf!

picture from google

Jo Nesbo - Kakerlaken (Cockroaches)
I've written about my love for Jo Nesbo and his Harry Hole series a few times now. Again a gripping thriller, the definition of a pageturner. The Swedish embassador is found dead in a Motel Room in Bangkok and Harry Hole is send to Thailand to investigate in the case. I won't tell more, Nesbos thrillers are awesome and everyone should read them.

picture from google

Now that Autumn has definitely arrived, I tend to read even more as I love to curl up under a warm blanket, with a cup of hot chocolate in one and a good book in the other hand. We'll see what October has to offer, book-wise.

Happy reading, everyone!

Amigurumi Madness

Hello lovely readers and a very warm welcome to all my new ones! How nice of you all to be here! 

About one year ago I bought a pattern for a lalylala doll. Paul the toadstool was the first one for me. I was addicted from the first few stitches to the easy and lovely pattern. It didn't take long for Paul to emerge from my crochet hook. But as it is with things that you do for the first time - you make mistakes. Pauls hat was way too thick and heavy, so his head kept waddling backwords and forwards and never held up. I am very, very bad when it comes to needlework. I really have troubles with sewing on buttons and so I naturally had difficulties with sewing on the different limps and body parts. I wanted to add beads as eyes but ended up glewing them on poor Paulies face because I got so frustrated when I wasn't able to sew them on his head. 

And so Paul stayed alone and didn't get a lalylala companion to spend his time with! 

Until now. 

I have a friend who bakes. She loves to make cakes and cake pops and cookies and she is very talented when it comes to decorate them. She works in a bank and she earns some money on the weekend with selling those cakes. 

Now as some of you might know, my man and I are saving for a house. And as you can imagine - buying (or building, we haven't decided on this was yet) a house needs A LOT of money. So I thought: if my friend can earn some extra money with something she loves to do why can't I? And since I got so much positive response to poor little wonky Paul, I thought it must be possible, to crochet some not-so-wonky amigurumi dolls and sell them. Not on a "I earn my living with this"-basis, but to have a small, little income on the side for our future home. 

To make a long story short: I made another lalylala doll. I'm sure you are familiar with her. She's making her round through the blogosphere for a while now. So I'm going to stop my blabbering and proudly present to you: Kira the Kangaroo! 

Not yet perfect, but still adorable and - to my endless delight - already sold. 

 

And now if you'll excuse me: I have am order for a Kira. Little Lena already waits for her own little kangaroo. So I better start to crochet!

Taking Stock: September

Making : Amigurumi. Lots of it. I have a new plan in the making and I hope that it will work out!
Cooking : Pumpkin Risotto. I love Risotto!
Drinking : Water and Tea. And I hade a few glasses of Wine on the weekend.
Reading: T.C. Boyle - San Miguel
Wanting: for an opportunity. it hasn't arrived, though.
Looking: at sport videos. I think I have to give "Blogilates" a try. I really need to get fit!
Playing: music, again. As long as I remember, there was always music around me and I stopped listening to music in the last few years. I'm starting to get my love for music back again.
Deciding: on whether or not I should look out for a new job...
Wishing: somebody would make this decision for me!
Enjoying: autumn days. but the warm, sunny ones. not the cold, rainy ones that we also had in the past week...
Waiting: for the weekend. A friend from Hamburg will come visit!
Liking: the fact that I could maybe earn a little money...
Wondering: if the refugee crisis will come to a peaceful solution!
Loving: that my crochet mojo is back.
Buying: NOTHING! I am not allowed to spend any money on anything. We're really seriously saving up for our own house. And for a big holiday next year!
Watching: I watched "Frozen" yesterday. The man fell asleep immediately. nice movie. Too much singing for my taste. I think I prefer Pixar movies.
Hoping: that my nice big plan will work out...
Cringing: at the news at the moment. Austria is overflowing with Refugees. The people are doing their best and it's amazing to see, how many people help to volunteer. But that situation can't go on like this. We need a solution...
Needing: more time for sports.
Smelling: freshly brewed tea. As autumn slowly comes along, I'm back in my baking mood. I really need to make a cake on the weekend.
Wearing: JACKETS! It's way too early to wear jackets..
Following: blogilates. And some sewing blogs.
Noticing: the small changes my man and I go through. I wonder if it's because we're married now...
Knowing: that certain things will have to change in 2016.
Thinking: that I'm really excited to start my yoga lessons next week!
Admiring: how people find time in their lives to crochet, cook, bake, work, make sport...I'm always so short on time!
Sorting: through my yarn stash.
Getting: massages. I have a lot of headaches and my doctor thinks it's because my shoulders and my neck are so tense. So I get massages two times a week. They only last 10 minutes, though.
Bookmarking: Blogilates videos and cake recipes. Perfect combination! ;) 
Disliking: the refugee situation. This world can be such a cruel and terrifying place. It really makes me sad!
Feeling: motivated. I'm about to go for a run. I've set up a reward system for myself, where I save 2 euros for every sport activity that I made. Then I'll use the money to spoil myself. With a nice massage, new shoes, a facial treatment...something like this. Let's see, if this works!
Snacking: apples. Apple season is on and I love a good apple and everything you can bake with it!
Hearing: Music again! Dave Matthews Band, Calexico, Kasabian, Katie Melua and many many more.

Lush Cosmetics - A Random Act of Kindness

Do you know Lush Cosmetics? There are two Lush shops in Austria and I used to walk by one of them on my way to the university, when I was living in Vienna, some years ago. The smell that came out of the store was always very intense and though I liked the displays in their windows, I never went inside. My best friend gave me a Lush handcream some years ago for my birthday. I liked it and loved to use it but still - I never went into a Lush store.

Fast forward a few years. The same friend who gave me the handcream and I were talking about our hair and shampoo and soap and haircare. Typical girl talk. She said, that she uses the shampoo bars from Lush and that her hair is absolutely gorgeous since then. So I walked into a Lush store. And that's where a new addiction began.

It all started with a Shampoo Bar. The image of a solid shampoo made me curious and so I bought one. What I like about it, is that it last a veeery long time. Much longer than the shampoo that I bought in the drugstore. And it has all natural ingredience. The older I get, the more important it is for me to use cosmetics that has natural ingrediences and ideally no chemicals in it. And that's the whole concept of Lush! Aside from the shampoo (I just bought my second one) I already tried two different hair conditioners (I have really long hair so I need products to care for it and make it look shiny and healthy!), a body conditioner (kind of like a body lotion, but richer. perfect for me, as I have really dry skin), a body soap, lip balm and a hand and cuticle cream as my skin around my nails is always extremely dry. And I was amazed by every single one of these products.

Now the reason why I write this post:
Last week I went into a lush store again. I actually just wanted to buy a new bar of shampoo, though I already knew that I probably would buy some more. It's really hard to go into that kind of store and buy just the thing that you came for. A nice young lady came up to me and we talked a lot about my hair and my skin and she recommended some products for me. Aside from the shampoo I bought a new conditioner (I already used it in the shower. My hair smells amazing and it's really strong and shiny!), a lip balm and a body soap that's supposed to replace my shower gel. At the checkout, they always ask you if you want a sample of something. They give you that sample in a little black box. It's usually something liquid - a face mask or a body lotion or something like that.
I'm having some problems with my skin lately. It's oily, greasy and shiny and I have the occasional pimple and I have the feeling that it's getting worse. Before I went to the shop I had a look at the lush homepage and saw a facial soap called Coalface. It seemed perfect for my problematic skin. But I already spend more money than I wanted to, so I asked the girl if she could give me a piece of that soap as a sample. She said, she couldn't do that. But then she told me, that once a week, they were allowed to make a "Random Act of Kindness". If they like a customer, they can give them something for free. And that's what she did to me. She gave me a whole piece of the Coalface soap. It would normally cost around 10 euros. 

Now I don't get any money from Lush for typing this post. I'm sharing this with you because I love the philosophy of that company. No animal testing. No chemicals. Just natural ingrediences. Handmade. And best of all: No useless plastic packaging. Everything I bought today was just wrapped into a piece of paper. They try to use as little packaging as possible. If you buy a face mask or a shower gel, thr packaging is recycled and you can bring them back to the shops. I've been using Lush products for over a year now. My husband doesn't and I see how much plastic packaging and garbage he produces with his shampoo and shower gel. And it feels good, to help spare some useless plastic litter and do something good for the enviroment. Even if that means, that you have to spend a little more money. Believe me - it's worth it.

Now if you'll excuse me - I have to get back in the shower!

Travelling Austria - Wellnesshotel Pierer (mountain pasture wellness)

oh my, seems that I'm writing nothing else but Travelling posts these days. But two weeks after our wonderful tour through the west, we had another little time out. Our families know, that we love to travel. Travelling through Austria, through Europe our through the whole world is our shared hobby. My man and I have little in common (surprisingly - the relationship works perfectly fine. Opposites do attract, apparently!) but we really share our love for adventures and our need to see as much of this beautiful world as possible!
When we got married in April, our parents and my man's sister gifted us with three vouchers - each for a weekend away in a beautiful hotel in Austria. And so we decided to use one of those vouchers to have a little spa treatment in a wonderful resort in Styria, about a two hour drive from our home.

The hotel was wonderful! It's called Almwellness Hotel Pierer. It's located at 1.200 metres obove sea level on a little mountain. Styria is called the green heart of Austria because of its forests and vegetation. Unfortunately, it rained during our whole stay so we didn't get the chance to wander around the mountain a little bit.

Instead we spend the time between eating, reading and sweating in the Sauna. The hotel hat 6 different saunas. We got a massage and I got the chance to try out my first yoga lesson. I LOVED it and it won't be the last time, that I'm doing some yoga. I already looked up a yoga course near my home and I can't wait to give it a try!
The breakfast buffet was amazing - the hotel treated us with homemade and local products, in the morning as well as for the 6-course-dinner in the evenings. Let me tell you that we had a very, very nice stay there.

Enough with the words - here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

our wonderful room

the view from our balcony

another picture of our room. that cow greeted us every morning!

the view we had from the rest area

they had this beautiful natural pond, unfortunately it was a little too cold to use it...

the 90 degrees hot sauna. It originally was a hut on the top of a mountain. I loved the smell of wood inside.

a shower inside a hollow old tree.

no words needed. amazing view.