Lovelybooks-Lesemarathon

Hi everyone! This is the reading marathon I was talking about. It's hosted by a German book community that's why I'm writing in German today. But be sure to check out the music I've been listening to at the end of this post. And feel free to ask any questions!

Hier geht's zum Lesemarathon. Viel Spaß!

09.26 Uhr
Ich fange an mit "Die Monster anderer Eltern" von Veronika Immler und Antje Steinhäuser. Das Buch gab es vor Kurzem als kostenlosen Kindle-Download bei Amazon. Ich bin auf Seite 51. Auf dem Cover ist ein kleiner, trotziger Junge zu sehen. Ich hatte das Buch schon angefangen und finde es lustig, weil ich mich selbst häufig über nervige Kinder und deren Eltern ärgere.

11.11 Uhr
Ich lese immer noch "Die Monster anderer Eltern". Es handelt sich dabei um Alltagserzählungen, was ich ganz gerne mag, weil sich solche kurzen Erzählungen, Kolumnen usw. gut für zwischendurch eignen, zum Beispiel um sie in der Bahn zu lesen.

12.07 Uhr
Es läuft ehrlich gesagt etwas schleppend im Moment, was daran liegt, dass ich immer mal wieder unterbreche, weil ich noch ein paar Dinge zu erledigen habe. Deswegen mach ich jetzt erstmal eine größere Pause, ich bin so in ca. zwei Stunden zurück, natürlich mit den nächsten Aufgaben von Lovelybooks und hoffentlich etwas mehr Durchhaltevermögen!

15.13 Uhr
Weiter gehts. Immer noch das gleiche Buch.
Dritter Satz auf der aktuellen Seite: "Muss ich diese Sprache richtig ernst nehmen, gar als neue migrationsspezifische Variante des Deutschen betrachten?
Außer mir liest das Buch übrigens gerade niemand bei Lovelybooks. Hat aber nichts zu bedeuten, weil ich auch nicht immer meine Bücher aktualisiere...

17.06 Uhr
Neue Aufgabe: Wo befindest du dich? An welchem Ort spielt das Buch, das du gerade liest? Da es sich um Alltagserzählungen handelt wechseln die Orte. Gerade waren wir auf einem Spielplatz in München-Schwabing.

17.55 Uhr
Buch Nummer eins ist beendet, jetzt gibts nochmal ne Pause.

19.53 Uhr
Ich gebe auf. Irgendwie läuft es nicht heute. Naja, macht auch nichts, die Statisik fällt eben etwas schmaler aus dieses Mal...


Statistik:

• gelesene Seiten: 148
• gelesene/angefangene Bücher: 1
• getrunkene Tassen Kaffee: 2
• getrunkene Tassen Tee: 1
• Zeit: 280 Minuten

Musik, die ich zum lesen höre:

• Pink, Nate Ruess - Just give me a reason
• Swedish House Mafia - Don't you worry child
• Maroon 5 - Daylight
• Macklemore, Ryan Lewis - Can't hold us
• Sportfreunde Stiller - Siehst du das genauso
• Mumford&Sons - Little Lion Man
• Culcha Candela - Berlin City Girl
• Labrinth - Express yourself
• Passenger - Let her go
• Justin Timberlake - Mirrors
• Lauryn Hill - Everything is everything
• Gentleman - You remember
• Mikky Ekko, Rihanna - Stay
• Cypress Hill - What's your number
• Feed Me, Crystal Fighters - Love is all I got
• Phoenix - Entertainment
• Gentleman - It no pretty
• Samy Deluxe - Hab gehört
• Die Ärzte - zeiDverschwÄndung
• Flo Rida, Olly Murs - Troublemaker
• Sportfreunde Stiller - Applaus, Applaus

Beim nächsten Mal habe ich hoffentlich wieder mehr Durchhaltevermögen,

Jenny, xoxo

Lovelybooks-Lesemarathon (reading marathon) 27.4.2013

There it is: The reading marathon I've been waiting for. As I'm sick at home and can't really do a lot I will definately join and I hope so will you. As last year, I will write about what I'm reading, what else I'm doing and how it works. But (again as last year) I'm going to blog about it in German. I can tell you the original book titles though and if you're interested in how they were I'd love to tell you. Just for the community where the marathon happens I think it's the easiest thing to write in German.

Let me know if you're going to join and what you're planning to read!

Not only because of the marathon: What have you been reading lately and how was it? Extra question: Are you reading paperbacks, hard covers or ebooks?

xoxo, Jenny

Look- who's still there (News Part II)

Hello there, lovelies,

how have you been? Here's the second part of the "what's been going on here"-thing I've been doing.

Well, as I told you there has been a lot of work with the moving and all, that's when I actually didn't feel like blogging. It would have been the same moaning all the time, I think so I just kept my mouth shut.

There was also work. I had kind of a hard time because I had to figure out what I wanted to do. I now have decided- and already applied- to take classes for becoming a specialized nurse for anesthesia and intensive care. It's not sure that they'll take me but I really hope so. It means that for two years I will be taking classes and I will work at different intensive care units and operation theatres. I'm pretty excited, it's supposed to be very hard but I want to do it! So keep your fingers crossed!

Then, after I moved I actually didn't have internet access for a while so that kept me from blogging. But now I am back, I'd say ;-)

The other thing I was thinking about was finally opening my own little shop to sell what I knit and sew and crochet. I have many ideas but I haven't made the final step. My biggest wish would be to open an actual shop on my own but that is really too far away so first it will be an online shop, I think. Here are two bags I recently made, kind of my Spring Collection:

What do you think? Do you like them? I love the colors!

Well and the last thing that kept me from blogging was that I actually took a blogging e-course at Magnoliaelectric and wanted to be sure how I like to go on blogging before I'd do it. I found a few ideas and I thought about it a lot and I think I have it kind of figured out by now.

Between all these things there just have been a few days where I didn't feel really well because everything just seemed to be too much so I hope you'll understand that I really do love blogging but sometimes I just have to put myself before all of those other things to just breath deeply and take care of myself and what makes me happy. That I did and now I feel great!

Do you sometimes think you're doing too much or you have too much going on? How do you handle that?

xoxo, Jenny

Look- who's still there... (News Part I)

It's me! I guess you barely remember, I'm the person who owns this little piece of the Internet here. And I'm back to tell you what happened around here, what's new and what's about to happen.

I finally moved! At the beginning of February I found the perfect flat for me. 50 square metres, living room, bedroom, a nice, big kitchen, balcony and a tiny bathroom with a bathtub. All of that in exactly the area where I want to live plus even cheaper than my old flat! After all the stress with the flat hunt I thought I could finally relax a little and look forward to moving there but that was actually when the stress began. I had to find someone new for my old flat so I could get out of the contract earlier, I had to paint walls, fix stuff, sort things out, get packed and organize the whole moving. I didn't think it was that much work but it definately was. But it was also worth it! I moved in here on Easter weekend and I had help from some of my great friends, co-workers and my parents who drove all the way up here to support me (incredible!). The first days were a lot of work again with painting the walls, getting unpacked, making this space my new home but that was actually a lot of fun. And now I'm pretty much done and enjoying it a lot. It only takes me a few minutes to get to work in the morning and when I'm going out late there's always a subway home or I can even go by bike. I just love it. But let me show you some pictures:

Living room. I want to have a big desk there by the window where I can put my sewing machine and all my craft supplies and my computer, printer and stuff from work so that these thing get sorted. But I haven't got the table yet so this is what it looks like (oh, I put my tv there in the left corner in the meantime to be able to watch DVDs although I won't get regular television there).

My nearly new couch. It's the same I used to have in the old flat but I upholstered it. It looks really better now although I've never done something like that before.

The hall. It definately needs some more decoration but I'm not too sure about it yet.

The bedroom. I kept everything pretty simple in there because I'm not too sure what I want. I definately need some nice curtains to keep the light outside in the mornings and I'm still thinking about buying a new bed. I haven't found the right one though so I'll wait with the rest until that is decided, I think the bed should be the main part in here. The keyboards are in here because I had some extra space and because I sometimes want to play when I can't fall asleep.

The kitchen. Oh, how I love the kitchen! For someone who likes to cook and invite people over for coffee or dinner, it has been very hard to have a tiny little kitchen during the last three years. So there it is, my kitchen, where I can sit on my own, reading, having coffee, where I laugh with my friends over some gossip, where I cook dinner and have people actually near me because there's enough space for more than one person. That's also the place where most of the housewarming party took place last weekend ;-)

The balcony. The weather hasn't been too good yet so I haven't done a lot out there but there are big plans about vegetables, strawberries, herbs and flowers. And warm summer nights with friends and long talks. This balcony is about twice the size of my old one which makes it huuuuge for me ;-) 

There aren't any good pictures of the bathroom so I'll show you another time.

So this was part II of the news around here, part II is in the next post, be sure to read it, too and thank you so much for your patience!

What have you guys been up to? What have I missed?

Jenny, xoxo

My top 10

I'm pretty busy with the apartment hunt at the moment, during the last days I went to about 10 different flats but without any success. Most of the flats were too small, not very nice, too expensive or in neighborhoods where I don't want to live. I found something like the apartment of my dreams last weekend. It looked great, a bit special, just as I like it, it was big enough for me had a reasonable price, was exactly where I want to live and even had a tiny balcony and a garden! Unfortunately I didn't get it and I am really disappointed and lost my motivation to go on searching. I will, though, I just need a break for a few days...

In the meantime here are some nice things I wanted to share with you:

• Passenger - Let her go.

• Stef's ecourse on magnoliaelectric.
  I'm doing it and it's a lot of fun to rethink my blog, my writing, everything. She's telling about all of her experiences with blogging so you won't learn how to do everything step by step but she gives ideas, inspiration and motivation. Have a look at it! Oh, it's in German by the way.
  
• Hats.
  Winter still goes on. It actually only started a few days ago around here, but now it has been freezing cold and we even have snow (there's not too much snow in Cologne usually). So what could be better than a warm hat to keep your head and ears warm?

• Knitting.
  I know... I do THAT all the time. But I always love doing it. At home, in front of the television or while listening to good music or an audiobook. But now I actually found a few girls who like to knit as well. Some of them want to learn it (and doing a really good job!), others have been doing it for quite a while. We met up and the funny thing is: They are great! I mean, it's a really good time we're having, meeting on Sunday afternoons, knitting, drinking lots of coffee and tea, eating cake and talking. I'd say I have been really lucky meeting them.
  If you ever think about meeting new people, try to meet them through a thing you love doing so there's always something you can talk about and the other things will just come with it! 

• Orchids blooming in winter.
  I love that they don't care if it's snowing and give me some spring feelings.

• Pink Jeans.
  I actually thought I'd be too shy to wear them but I'm not! I'm in love! When it's dark and grey outside bright colours make the days a bit nicer...

• Carnival preparations.
  Carnival is a big thing here in Cologne and I have always adored it. At the moment I'm working on costume ideas and outfits. Some friends had the great idea for me, I'll show you as soon as I'm finished. Anyone else celebrating Carnival???
  
• TV-shows.
  I know, I'm watching too many tv-shows, but some of them are really good. Like "Girls", season number 2 is on, yay! And I just started watching "Danni Lowinski", a German show about a young, naive, funny lawyer. She's great and I can't believed I missed that show so long. Have a look at it if you know German!
  
• A good read.
  At the moment I'm reading Das Glücksprojekt. It's funny, the writer says she read all of the self-help books to become the happiest person in the world and now she writes about her experiences. It's a real fun read.
  
• Lovely Coffee Place.
  I like all kinds of coffee places because I like all kinds of coffee and other hot beverages, but unpersonal and expensive coffee-to-go places are just not nice if you want to hang out for a while, read a book or have a chat with friends. I'm always looking for alternatives. Here is one:
  Cafe Duddel
  Great food and drinks, nice waiters and lovely homemade cookies with every coffee. When I told them that they are brilliant they brought me the recipe. The waiter sat down at our table for a while and talked to us, really nice guy. They also have smaller events like readings and concerts. If you're ever in Cologne you should stop by.

Well, that's it for today I guess, I hope you have some nice things to cheer you up when you're down, too!

Jenny, xoxo

Food from scratch

Do you like to cook? I do, but as I live on my own sometimes it's just too much effort to cook every day. I often cook bigger meals and take the leftovers to work or just eat the same two times in a row. But there are some times when I don't want to eat the same stuff twice. There are also times when I don't want to go grocery shopping so I started cooking stuff with very simple ingredients that I always have at home or with leftovers.

Just last week I wanted to have a burger and chips. I make the chips myself, it's so easy, just cut a few potatoes into sticks (leave the skin on it or cut it off, whatever you like), put them in a bowl with some oil and spices and bake them in the oven for about 30minutes. Easy as that and they are so much better than bought chips. The problem about this meal were the burger buns. As they were only offered in bigger packs I still had some of them after and wasn't sure what to do with them. I went through my fridge and also found a handful of pasta, two cooked potatoes, a few pieces of vegetables, a piece of feta cheese and some butter with herbs and garlic. And that's what I made:

grilled feta cheese with spices, onion and pepper 

potato salad with mayo, herbs, sea salt and mixed, freshly grounded pepper

pasta salad with vegetables and sunflower seeds

toasted burger buns with herb/garlic butter

It was all really delicious. But there were still burger buns left! I thought I might run out of ideas but then I thought that they are not too different from usual toast and made french toast for breakfast the next morning.

I like french toast dry so I didn't soak them for too long and then fried it in a little bit of butter. You could put them in the oven instead if you don't want to use butter or oil. Eat your french toast warm for a nice breakfast or leave them until they are cold and eat them with a bit of custard, vanilla sauce or fruit as a dessert.

I might show you a little more easy recipes that I try around here, are you interested? What are your favourite recipes that can be made easily with stuff you have at home?

Jenny, xoxo

Music 2012 - part II

So here is part II of my music recap... Enjoy!

• Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones
  Simply good! I might go to see him on stage this month! I already loved his album Love, Ire &Song...

• The Fratellis
  Unfortunately no new album yet but I have listened to the older ones "Costello Music" and "Here We Stand" a lot last year...
• Kate Micucci
  If you know the tv-show "Scrubs" you probably know her. It's Ted's girlfriend. The one with the ukulele, you know? A friend of mine showed me some of her stuff and it's hilarious! She's also one half of "Garfunkel and Oats"

• Maroon 5 - One more night
  I have been crazy about Maroon 5 since their first album "Songs about Jane" and I still am. One more night was my favourite last year
• The Rifles
  I was browsing the internet in search of new bands or bands I haven't known yet and I found The Rifles. They are great so I'm glad I did:

• Jamaram - La Famille
  They played at Summerjam Festival here in Cologne last summer and I saw them there. They are really good, their music is a bit of a mix of Reggae and Latin and.... I don't know, they're special. Give them a listen!

• Amy Macdonald - Life In A Beautiful Light
  I really like Amy Macdonald's previous albums (This Is The Life and A Curious Thing) so I had to get her latest one as well
• Blumentopf - Nieder mit der GbR
  I still love German Hip Hop. Yep, I do and Blumentopf have been one of my favourites for years. Last year I tried to get tickets for a show where they wanted to play only the songs of their first two albums (my favourites!) but I didn't get them. Anyway, in September they released their new album "Nieder mit der GbR" and I bought it a few weeks ago. It is pretty good although I haven't listened to it too often yet.
• Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
  That one is pretty old and I had it on my wishlist for quite a while. A friend finally gave it to me a couple of weeks ago and it's exactly what I expected. You might know this one:

• Mumford&Sons
  They will forever remind me of my time in Ireland, their first album came out when I was there. I still love the mix of the folk music and the voice of Marcus Mumford

• Rise Against
  I've known them for a couple of years and they still got me. I like that their music is often political, contains subjects to think about and stuff. You should really check the band out not only because of their music but because they are vegetarian/vegan and work for PETA. They had me with that already but their music is really great so it's like an all-in-one...

That's it, I think. I probably forgot lots of other songs and bands but I might let you know whenever I remember one ;-)

I started using Spotify by the way (a while ago, actually, but now I upgraded), it's all I could ever wish for. I can find the music I'm looking for, listen to it immediately and don't have to pay for every single song or album but pay a monthly price. Do you use something like that? Do you know anything that is even better than Spotify? Let me know, I'm still trying...

Jenny, xoxo