Coincidence

Passenger!

Happy Sunday! 

I hope your weather is by far better than it is in Paris at the moment since I spent the last week as well as the weekend in indoor places. What a shame. Yet, I don't want to complain because Paris in rain has also its charm.

Coincidences are a great part of our lives. Not expecting something and then it happens - the feeling of happiness inside my body is every time an unforgettable experience. 

So happened yesterday: it rained and rained and rained and I started to become disappointed that I couldn't stick to my original plans (usually running wildly around Paris) when I saw Passenger's announcement on his facebook page - free concert in 2 hours in the 15th district. Two hours later my friend and me were in a shopping center with some hundreds of others visitors and listened to his great Folk music. I couldn't have imagined a better way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon, especially with a funny and sympathetic guy whose lyrics deal with daily stuff that drives me crazy, like living in an online world, being superficial, forgetting about politeness and other.

Speaking of coincidences I want to further name "Heures heureuses" (= Happy Hours) on Friday night. In was the same morning that I read about this event in the metro and thought that this might be a great way to spend the night with my girls. After work I therefore met with two good friends in order to pick up our "passport", a little book with 200 participating restaurants all over Paris. In every restaurant you could get a glass of wine for 2 Euros and an "amuse-gueule" (= Appetizer) for another 2 Euros. For three hours we hopped from one restaurant to the next, tasting delicious appetizers and starting the weekend with great wine selections. What I adored even more about the event was that I kept my passport and now have 200 great restaurant tips that are not only offering great food but which aren't overloaded by tourists. 

I wish you an amazing week and can't wait to share another post with you very soon!

Heures Heureuses: Codfish with sweet carrots - Salmon burger - Melon Gazpacho with Serrano Bacon - Parisian Pizza

If I lose myself

Hi everyone,

It's far beyond morning although I've just got up after I slept the entire day. Right, after a crazy weekend at the WHU Euromasters I arrived back here this noon and then went straight to bed - until now.

Euromasters: Already two years ago I raved about this event, so there was no question that I would participate again this year. Instead of playing soccer as anticipated I ended up cheerleading which was as much fun as always. So what's it about?
2000 students from all over Europe (France, UK, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany) come to a little village called Vallendar somewhere in Germany. The host university WHU is organizing the event which is a mixture of sports and parties. The entire day you are in the gym cheering for your teams and competing in different disciplines. We unfortunately couldn't win any of the trophies but we supported each other strongly. Highlight is the cheerleading competition by the end of the competitions on Saturday afternoon. We were extremely nervous beforehand but once you are on stage, you can only enjoy the atmosphere and rocking the house! After the long exhausting days, two parties followed on the agenda: "Cirque de Nuit" on Friday and "NEON" on Saturday. It was a blast, I can tell ya'!

Enough written, let's speak videos and pictures for themselves. Impressions can be found on www.whu-euromasters.com or on their facebook page.

Cirque de nuit

Spirit

CESEM at Opening Ceremony

Our performance

And this years Euromasters Hymn to finish - cannot wait to come next year!

A second shot from Portugal

Capture I

Good morning,

I have the feeling that my single post about the city of Lisbon didn't reflect all what I have experienced. Here comes the second shot!

June turned out to be the perfect month for visiting. Less tourists stroll through the city and the Lisbon people are still in town. For them the "Festas de Lisboa", taking place in exactly this month, are the traditional festivals where they meet friends, have some drinks and dance to traditional music all night long. Main places are the districts of Bica and Alfama where tourists feel like outsiders on Friday and Saturday nights. As the atmosphere was so inspiring I prepared a short video for you.

All tourist guides lead you to Cascais, a maritime village 40 minutes away from Lisbon. Instead of seeing tanned Lisbon people at the beach, you face pale (or/and red) British tourists that roast in the sun. Well, Lisbon people have better places to go.
One of them is the beach of Carcavelhos: it is only 20 minutes away from the city and full of Portuguese people on the weekends.
Why? Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean are known to be a perfect spot for surfers and you will find them here. The waves are enormously high. When we were there we were surprised by the high tide that forced us to move back three times in 5 hours because our towels got wet all the time. For bronzing in the sun this phenomena is slightly an inconvenience but for the surfers it is exactly what they want: great conditions.

(Personally I like WATCHING surfers but I wouldn't dare to stand on a board myself as I am far too afraid of the ocean)

Thank you so much for reading!

Decoration in our apartment - call for inspiration!

Cemetery

Harbour of Belém

Capture II

Capture III

Capture IV

Traditional Portuguese music: fado

Every summer has its own story, soundtrack, love.

Good morning my dears,

Do you know this fear of having an injection needle being put on you arm? I would love to run away. As fast as I could. On Wednesday I had suffer this happening since I must get my mandatory vaccinations for South East Asia. I have always been afraid of this procedure and turning older doesn't change it at all.

Despite this negative experience this week, I really enjoyed every minute of it. My brother returned on Monday from lovely Barcelona and therefore he was forced to do a lot of activities with me: Teaching me how to drive a scooter, eating fresh beef burgers (here) and playing tennis. With the entire family I am heading to the lake in a few seconds - a huge sailing race that we watch is on the agenda!

Crystal blue ballerinas (maddison)

But I also needed time for me that I went - surprise, surprise - shopping. Sales are already ongoing and I thought that I was time for ballerinas. Crystal blue like the Caribbean ocean they bring a touch of the summer to every outfit. It is actually the first time that I possess two pairs of ballerinas which is quite untypical for a woman, isn't it?
Another fashion highlight was the announcement of H&M that this year's designer collaboration will be with the great French designer Isabel Marant. Much better than last year's Anna dello Russo...The 14th of November is already highlighted in my calendar because I need at least one of her pieces. Like, like, like!

Flower

Car

On a hike

The balcony reminds me of Romeo & Juilet

I thank you very much for your tips for Lisbon. I am really looking forward to seeing this great city in less than two days! So long, I wish you all the best.

Releasing endorphins

Happy Sunday!

Castle's walk

I truly wondered longtime what I could post today and rewrote this post dozen times.
On Tuesday night after a successful day at work (first project finished!) I walked home for an hour in beautiful sunshine and relatively warm temperatures. I felt so happy, especially because my Mom dropped in the night before and will come back in a few hours to spend another two days with me. Friday afternoon I got even more positive feedback at work, we there celebrated two birthdays with delicious apple cake and I finished the night having dinner with a friend.
Arriving back home I talked to my Spanish room mates then. It was the first time that we had some serious discussions: They are here because of the crisis and looking for some jobs. Even with full bachelor and master studies they don't find any and are getting nervous as their savings begin to shrink more and more. It was then that I realized how much I am blessed with my life. So far, everything went quite well, I always had options to live my life and had never to fear that there is a point screwing my plans.

Before only talking about personal and social issues, I want to shift the topic to notes on my smartphone that I have been scribbling for a while now. I compiled a few ideas I want to write about and will start with one of them today.

One note was "Karl Lagerfeld". Admittedly, I am not an expert in fashion or design but nevertheless he is one of my favourite designers. On one hand I have been liking Chanel's styles for years, on the other hand I watched a few reports about Lagerfeld himself. In those he appears sympathic and honest - of course with a certain disposedness to creative crazyness that is absolutely allowed in his metier. Thank you Karl for your inspiration.

I love the black jacket in 0:42 and the adorable black dress in 0:51. So classy!

Well, this is all I can tell you today. The upcoming week will be more filled with some plans I can talk about. Enjoy your Sunday and the next week, thank you for reading.

Northern lights

Feeling as if I betrayed you, my dear readers, I apologise for my unforeseen delay. At least I can come up with a plausible excuse: I spent the weekend in Hamburg at a friend's and had no Internet access this  morning. Only arrived a few minutes ago, I feed you with my post immediately:

Hamburg was as lovely as ever. As it wasn't my first time, I can only confirm former positive impressions. The water (Alster & Elbe), boats, picturesque Speicherstadt, modern Harbour city, Reeperbahn, fresh fish - yes, the city in Northern Germany has a lot to offer. Therefore I let pictures speak and it is your turn to make up your own mind.

Alster

Elbe

Speicherstadt

Marco Polo Terrace

Harbour

Hamburg

Since I only arrived Friday night, my friend and I, we had so much to catch up that we ended up talking in her room for hours. Yesterday we went to the city centre to do some shopping (unsuccessful...) and had dinner with college friends before we went to a house party in Harbour city. Today we did a harbour trip and met another colleague from school. To sum up, the weekend was less stressful than thought because we primarily hung out and enjoyed the short period together.

In order to shorten the post, I compiled the rest of my activities in some quick notes: 3 hours of cleaning are exhausting but the sacrifice was worth the result - our kitchen, bath room and hallway now gleam in new splendour /// As predicted last Sunday, I am now member of a fitness centre. I start tomorrow night with Pilates /// I finished my first own project at work and got very good feedback /// About 30 interns met on Thursday night for after work drinking. Terrific!

As I get up again in only 7 hours, I'd better go to bed now. Eventually I must work tomorrow. 

Thank you so much for reading!

Small recommendation for the end: Penso's music is very inspiring and I am always in mood for holidays. Perfect soundtrack for a beautiful weekend!

Penso - More Than Fine by PensoOfficial

US MOOD

Happy Sunday!

Today I want to sweeten the girls' morning with a little video I found the other day. We all know the hype around Abercrombie & Fitch and their boys, so check it out!

 

The video gets myself in mood for my US trip in a few weeks. My entire family gets more and more excited the more our departure approaches. We discuss about where we want to go, what we want to do, who we want to see. Do you know any particular places, restaurants, bars, theatres, museums, hikes, activities in Los Angeles, Lake Havasu, Grand Canyon, Moab, Cedar City, Las Vegas, Yosemite or San Francisco that you could recommend? I would be delighted to get some insider tips from your side. 

During lunch break last Tuesday, I went to the Elizbeth Arden private sell with my collegues from work. It requires a special invitation and was at a hidden (not very welcoming) spot in the industrial zone. But it was worth to go because you got Elizabeth Arden and Shiseido make up for a quarter of the normal prize. I only bought a new blush that has a creamy texture for a few bucks instead of spending a whole fortune on this brand make up. It doesn't provoke spots and sticks the whole day, absolutely recommendable.

These pictures are the best proof for my my horrible camera. But it is my birthday next Tuesday, so hopefully I can then finally take pictures with a new Canon or Nikon.

After each hard day in the office, I went to rehearsals in my former school because my brother asked me to participate in a small concert. Yes, I sang. Alone. On the stage, only accompanied by my brother playing his guitar. Knowing that I am not the best singer, I did my best and I didn't embarrass myself entirely. However, I prefer singing under the shower at home.

Being in the city in these days is kind of hard for me because there is sold everywhere. But I don't want to buy anything now as my trip to the US is just ahead. I absolutely need new pants, shirts, ... ah you guess it: I need a whole new closet.

See you next week!

And it's summer in the city...

 Good morning everyone,

The time has come: This weekend is the Fête de la Musique in Geneva, an event I have been looking forward to since last year. In the entire city every kind of music is represented during three days without paying any fee. Therefore I yesterday went seeing The Postmen, Catalpas, Trio Dorin Gall and other different ensembles. Today I scheduled a few more concerts which I go to with my Mom before I drag her to have an original NY cheesecake in a lovely café downtown.
Moreover the occurence is a tradition for me and my friends in order to meet again after having been apart for a long time as we study at different places.

Parisian Jazz (Trio Dorin Gall) in front of the museum

The Postmen in a stunning atmosphere

Beach volleyball tournament at the lake

On Thursday it was the first official day of summer, so I want to post a new summer outfit that found my way into the closet.

New in: Top - Zara / Jeans - American Eagles / Sandals - Tincreek / Glasses - Ray Ban

The announced internship started in the middle of the week. So far I really appreciate my work and the people I work with are also sympathic. To brief you quickly about what I do: The company sells products for aestethical surgeries (not that I would ever do that) and I can call myself an export trainee. This position supports not only the sales export team (promotions, distribution) but I also get in touch with the event marketing team organizing and helping them in their department.

Enjoy your Sunday & your week, I will now continue my artistic voyage!

Ups and Downs

Hi everyone,

hope you had a wonderful week. Regarding the weather it absolutely was one: Blue sky and temperatures up to 20° Celsius. In contrast to the perfect weather, my personal week wasn't the best.

There is a topic I haven't talked about here which I would like to reveal today. It is about my 3rd semester when I need to do an internship in a German company. As it should start in August or September, I am now starting to apply for positions at Unilever, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, L'Oréal, Adidas, etc. Although it is quite tough to get into those companies, I applied because last year's students did their internships there as well. But during the week, I realized that life is sometimes hard: I got a few refusals. Might be that I am too impatient (my real weakness), but  refusals are extremely discouraging. Owing to CVs, companies try to judge you and evaluate whether you fit into the company... I doubt that process.
Not only the refusals are demotivating, moreover I realised that I made a spelling mistake in my CV on monday - so even the start into last week was bad. I can't wait to be tomorrow: New week, new hope!

As I am writing this, a friend came over to watch formula 1 because his internet is not working (and he is a formula 1 fanatic). And he brought some breakfast freshly from the bakery, I call that a service!

Maybe you know companies where I could apply for (I would prefer Marketing in the fast moving consumer product industry). Or do you have some ways to motivate for me? Just let me know if you have some suggestions.

You have probably realised that I am not totally concentrated on today's post but situation is nagging me. If I have a better upcoming week, my post will be much more interesting. So long, I wish you all the best!

Xoxo

Lang Lang

Good morning,

I can't believe that my two weeks of holidays are almost over. Only a few hours left until my train leaves and that I must suffer 7 hours in the train. It gives me time to read the Steve Jobs Biography.

My last week was again really relaxing and calm. On Wednesday I skied in the Swiss Alps where I couldn't see anything at first because it was too foggy. The first hours I was as blind as a bat hoping not to leave the slope and trying to orientate myself along the rods. Luckily, it brightened up in the afternoon and I really enjoyed then the powder snow while skiing off-slope.

Actually I wanted to ski a lot more in these holidays but either the weather wasn't good enough or it was just too cold. Within the last days the temperature fell to minus 15 degrees Celsius. Beyond that there is a strong and cold wind blowing that doesn't improve the situation. Therefore I prefer drinking tea, eating cookies and listening to music while sitting in front of the fireplace. Here is a song I really like these days: Many of Horrors by Biffy Clyro:

I also went to a concert this week. My Mom gave me tickets as a present because she knows that I really like piano concerts and especially famous Lang Lang who played in Geneva this night. We went there together and it is incredible what his fingers are able to play. What a tempo, what a tension, what feelings!

Well, as I said, my week wasn't any kinf of spectacular which will probably change when I am back at my own place. Indeed. I have lots of plans for next week and I am not even back. What are your plans? Is it as cold as here?

In order to help my mom in the kitchen I prepared some nice finger food, easy and fast to make:

Cheese straws

Puffed  pastry

1 egg's yellow

1 bag grated cheese

To begin enroll the puffed pastry and preheat the oven (180°C). Then smear the pastry with the egg's yellow. Now spread the grated cheese all over the pastry. Cut the pastry into 2 cm thick and approximately 15 cm long stripes. Each stripe must now be rolled: Take the endings of each stripe and turn them in opposite directions so that the cheese is on the inner side. To finish, arrange them on a baking tray and put it into the oven for 10 to 15 minutes (until the straws have a nice golden colour). 





Now I must continue packing my stuff and later catch my train.
See you next week!