Sonntag, 30. Dezember 2012

Last days

I don't really feel like giving a recap of this year (Though I've been doing it myself quite a lot over the last couple of days). Just so much: 2012 was crazy, awesome, beautiful, scary, challenging...the best year in my life so far. And I'm thankful for everything that happened.

And to be honest...I'm just going to finish 2012 quiet and lazy. Some time to think, to plan, to recover, to enjoy. And for that I used one of my Christmas gifts this Friday. A gift card for Michael's. Heaven on earth.


For everyone not familiar to Michael's: It's a huge craft store filled with ribbons, baking stuff, tape, pearls, paper, fabric, yarn...pretty much everything you can think of. Thanks for an awesome Christmas gift!! :)

I also looked a bit more into the black dress section. This challenge might have to wait until next year though.

What do you think?
And I watched the hunger games and ate all my Christmas cookies in the evening! (Comfy cozy)

Since things have to be balanced I woke up to sunshine (for the first time in what feels like years) and decided to go for a run. I love how the mountains look now. Beautiful! (Who's in for a snowball fight?!)

Running down to the store. Shopping and walking up.
Oh and just to prove a point of Vancouver-is-so-expensive: I bought 7 bananas, 1 jar of pickles, 1 jar beet root, yogurt and a small pop...and payed 17$!!!! (What would have been like 5 Euro at home, but oh well....)

Here we go with random-end-of-the-week :)

(Oh and I've got a lot of complains that it wouldn't be possible to post comments on my blog, if you know something about that I would be really glad to hear of it!)

Listening to:
Hall Of Fame - The Script
Home -  Phillip Phillips
Die Young - Kesha
Abraham's Daughter - Arcade Fire
Counterfeit - Greg Neufeld
The House - Katie Melua
Red Baloons - Katie Melua

Freitag, 28. Dezember 2012

My Christmas 2012

Sorry for no posts last week but finally getting better also meant I got around to do all the stuff that I couldn't do the weeks before...in other words...I was super busy and around all the time last week ;)
But: here goes the super long Christmas-week post!

Well I obviously survived the 21st (as we all did) Soooo... here we come with some new Christmas traditions! (Apart from all the Egg Nog I got introduced too (I never ever had it before!...) And it's seriously seriously good!) here is what my Christmas week looked like.

I just mentioned the Egg Nog and as it turned out: That one is pretty awesome for french toast too!

Just combine:
2 1/2 cups Egg Nog
2 Eggs
Cinnamon
Dip/Soak your bread. Fry it in a pan with a bit of butter. Sprinkle with icing sugar and (as for me) soak it in maple syrup. Yumminess!
(Makes a comfy breakfast and even better with a cozy Christmas movie!)

On Sunday I went to see the lights in Stanley Park together with my (host)sister and some friends. It is a smaller area, which they decorated entirely with millions and millions of lights. You can meet Santa (several) and drink hot chocolate or eat organic popcorn :) And...if you're tough enough to stand in line... you can do a train ride. We were not. But the lights by themselves are already pretty enough! (And it's FREE!)

Super snowy mountain
A tiny Christmas village with twinkling lights and everything...and "If we can fit Santa, we can fit anyone" :P
Entrance...
Lights

I spent Christmas eve with my family.
My host mum made an amazing dinner and we went to see more lights after we unwrapped our presents. (Oh and I love our small Christmas tree which was not able to cover all the presents :P)

Since we don't want to waste any time (time is money, right!?) I had to do something before dinner...guess what I did :P

The Christmas tree stood on top of the drawer...too many presents :D
My host dad Ernesto, Paul, me and Pasc
Here we go tiny Christmas tree ♥
Turkey, spring rolls and more good food which was brought in after I took this picture...bummer...but oh well
Someone has to start...
Right, here we go!
After lots and lots and lots of food: Presents (and even more pictures)
On our after-dinner-light-walk
And the best host parents ever!

Christmas day was spent with my boyfriend (more Egg Nog french toast :D) and I discovered the craze of boxing day shopping on Wednesday...which I'll never do again by the way (only if I'd get up at 5AM...but who wants to wake up at 5AM on the 26th of December!?)

I'm back to work today and Friday but there is another long weekend ahead, with saying goodbye to 2012 and hello to 2013.
It was definitely a crazy year but I'm stoked for the next one even more! (New Years makes me either super emotional or super giddy and active...I guess this year it's a mixture of both! :D).
So I'll spend my evening today organizing all my lists (Bucket lists, what I want to do next year list, what I did this year list...quite...list-overloaded...)

Oh! And I had a discussion over if the Grinch is green or yellow. (Feel free to leave your opinion. I think he's yellow!!) ...that totally IS yellow....right!?


And the my days in Canada section got updated finally! So more pictures over there again ;)

Photo of the Day {Monday}


 A heart from the Barista...I guess it was my smile ;P (or the tiny fact that it was the 24th...and I'm super bubbly on those days...oh well :D)


Mittwoch, 26. Dezember 2012

Blogvorstellung

Heute findet ihr etwas über mich hier bei der lieben Anton. Ganz ganz lieben Dank und schaut alle auf jedenfall mal bei ihr vorbei! (Wahnsinniges Kreatives!!)


Montag, 24. Dezember 2012

Merry Christmas


The 4th Advent {1 day until Christmas}

I don't feel like saying a lot...but there is nothing against a few pictures ;)

We woke up to snow on Wednesday...and total chaos on the streets. But it's still beautiful isn't it?!
What my room looked like while I was sick
Color, Vitamins and a nice pattern to get better....
What I saw while I was sitting in bed (Wednesday)
 And I'm done with my Christmas baking. Now it just needs to be packed up nicely...


Nutella Truffles, Oreo Fudge, Spritzgebäck...differently :P, Cranberry-pistachio-white chocolate, and chocolate walnut pieces (All recipes here)

Einen wunderschönen vierten Advent :)

Freitag, 21. Dezember 2012

Vancouver, Canada

So, I thought as a review for 2012, I'd focus on my Canada stay this time...and going through all the posts made me actually realize how much I did. Geez! (And remember: those are only the highlights...so coming to Vancouver is definitely a good idea...and trying all this stuff out yourself!!!!)

I arrived on the 13.8.2012 at around 11PM...loooong flight and even more hours to wait in between...

We started my summer with some Barbecue on the beach (I love my family!)


Right after that (like I hadn't even completed my first week in Canada!) I participated at the Color Me Rad Race and if you ever get the chance to do it: DO IT!


We went hiking in Lynn Canyon AND did the Grouse Grind!!


More hiking later and discovering that Deep Cove is the best place EVER for Donuts!


The next big thing was Paintballing...tough...but awesome!!


And Vancouver is awesome for berry picking and lazy afternoons at one of the beautiful beaches...together with a bunch of awesome people (In this case my family :D)


And even though I think it's a bit overrated...everyone loves Whistler. (And it's great for a road trip and to get out of the city)

For Thanksgiving I ended up making my very first Pie ever! (And I guess my second one will be better...but it wasn't as bad as I had feared ;P)

Halloween around here is huge!! So you probably won't get around buying a costume (and they are waaay better than the ones in Germany!!!) Pumpkin carving...and house parties ;)


Somewhere in between, it's good to do something random!

And since Vancouver is as close to the border as it gets, we had to see Seattle!


Autumn can be cold...but still beautiful. And we definitely made the most of it and enjoyed the last days with leaves on the trees.

And for Christmas, there had to be a Christmas tree...a nearly real one...and a creative one for myself ;)


Now it's finally winter and we had our first snow this week (not just in the mountains!) There is so much smaller and bigger stuff that happened in between, but I guess (blog-considering) this is a pretty good summary. Vancouver is one of the best things I ever did in my life and the only thing I can say: If you have the possibility to do it: Do it!!
(Oh and if someone has questions, feel free to leave a comment. I'll make sure to answer them ;))



Three days until Christmas and just a couple more and this year will be over.
Time definitely flies by ;)

And more on what my actual week was like on Sunday :)

Dienstag, 18. Dezember 2012

Little Update

Not much happening here right now except for...I'm still sick. It was better for two days and got worse again today. I'll try to sleep as much as possible...but sometimes...you wish it would just be over already.
Not much enthusiasm up here.


Photos of (last) week

Because I'm late but whatever....

Apart from being sick, I did some more paper cutting, went downtown for Christmas shopping (twice), I love this view, I painted my nails, we made a very important list!, and compared shoes, I had a reeeally good lunch, and more coffee/tea...and this is happens when I lick my yogurt bowl ;)

And because I'm female and have to meet certain cliches...here are my shoes ;)...in Canada...

Otherwise I'm getting better and better and I'm also back to work today. Only 7(!) days until Christmas...time flies by...