Merry xmas and goodbye.. ;)

With bags packed and the best xmas ever behind me (now know what it is like to have an actual family) I'd like to wish you all a very merry xmas although it's almost over (but never too late) :)

I am off to Ireland starting tomorrow. It's been 3 whole years since I've last seen the place i call home and i cannot express in words how much i miss it. Probably I am luckiest person on earth right now. I will be back on January 12th - with a massive post about Ireland (or lots of different posts about Ireland)

PS: it really annoys me to see how people are moaning about not getting an i phone or a car or write posts like " i hate christmas " ... i cannot believe words like this are written by people who have a lovely family, girlfriend or boyfriend, great friends, a good job etc etc... some people have NO IDEA about what is important and that the best things in life are free but not to be taken for granted. On christmas my friend and me have been driving into the city bringing clothes,chocolate and other things to people in need. Where will this world go if everyone stops caring? People seriously need to wake up and stop being so selfish and arrogant and over all: ignorant. I love this world but it hurts me to see how s t u p i d people can actually be...take your time and think about it next time you see a homeless.

New flatmate

Name: Carlos
Age: 13 weeks
Passion: Waking me up at 5am every morning by jumping on my blanket :3

Life's good.

Stop, look and see what is real, in our rushing world no one has time for this.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnectic Zeros- Om Nashi Me by LPmusicobsessed

Back from the Hols!

Back on the Albion, very relaxed from the holidays but also stressed from the first two days at work where a whole lot of work was already waiting for me to get back...

So i had my friend Briseida over who is living Mexico and will be moving back to Canada quite soon. We met 4 years ago and got in touch when she wanted to send her cousin Maria a text but accidently send it to me - an accident that lead to a great friendship. It was the first time we ever met and also her first time in Europe. I wanted to make the best out of her trip and luckily i seem to have succeeded. We spend the first two days in the capital, Berlin and had loads of fun there. First thing we actually did was helping out a homeless - twice. Also we visited all the famous sights like Brandenburg Gate and the goverment buildings..and of course we couldn't deny a visit of Madam Tussaud's. After discovering Berlin we went back to my beautiful hometown Erfurt, which she totally fell in love with. She said that i actually live in a fairytale ( I think she is right.. ;) ) .. We also gave my favourite city Weimar a visit and Thuringias most famous castle "Wartburg"...despite the touristic stuff, we partied alot and had fun with hot wine on the local christmas markets... told random people how beautiful they are...sat down with Mafia people for drinks...and...even got a tattoo. Well - at least SHE got one. A beautiful Canada maple leave. She spend many years of her life in Canada, it is where she had her most important time ever - so it means a lot to her. Enough with the talking, enjoy the pictures and the video (sorry, it was my first time I tried Magix..i promise I'll do better soon - also, i will most likely buy a video camera soon)

Holidays...

The reason why I am not posting much around this time is that i am on holidays, my friend Briseida from Mexico came to visit me,it's her first time in Europe ever and i am hosting her on her trip :) We've already been to Berlin and now we're in Thuringia for the rest of the week...I'll be back next week for sure with lots of pictures and videos from the holidays!

Nails nails nails...

No one who really knows me would ever define me as a "girly girl"... what they dont know (and what i don't like to admit) is that i do indeed have a very cheesy site: i love cheesy love romance movies and books, i love "kiss me" by Sixpence None The Richer, fashion and yes...nails. During the past few weeks i discovered my passion for nail design, i started using nail polish but then discovered a less annoying, better looking innovation of German brand "Essence" - Nail Fashion Stickers ! They are easy to put on, last several days and are easy to take off too. All cost about 2 Euro only. I can highly recommend them!!

Where is the love

Looking at the world as it is now, as it always was, i wonder if humans will ever learn. There is NO need for war, NO need for depression NO need for crime. If all of us would be open minded AND open hearted this world could be nothing else but paradise. Spread love. Not hate. We are one, we are a whole big family and none of us must be alone. Such an easy message, yet so hard to understand for so many of us.
100 people were asked about their greatest wish. 78 answered with "Universal peace".
You may think this sounds quite good. I do not agree. My question is: Why only 78....
The reason i come up with this is Couchsurfing.org . I booked my flight back to the place i like to call home, Cork - Ireland for December/January. I also already booked my b&b for the first week in Cork City, but as we would like to spend another one nearby at the seaside i decided to look for a host at couchsurfing. CS is a place like no other. Whoever wants to travel, alone or not alone (because you WILL meet great people wherever you go) should take this into consideration. It is one of the most heart warming things i have ever seen. Please take your time and take a look at this truly beautiful, humanly network. We need people like this.

( Big ) foot notes

Refering to the comment on an older post on the Albion i will now show the video of getting the tattoo done. You can also see the end result. Surprisingly the healing process was incredibly quick. After just one day it didn't hurt anymore, i could wear any shoe i wanted to wear, i felt nothing at all. It still looks great and healed perfectly! I feel sorry for my friend who had to deal with me being all whiny squeezing his hand - and shirt. Never go to a tattooist on your own. Enjoy the pain.. ;)

Get on your boots!

Sick at home and lots of time for [FASHION] blogging...cuz how i spend my days sick at home is just not really interesting...and i surely don't want to bother you.
The past week i found some amazing boots on www.mustang.es ' fall / winter collection (yes i do tend to surf on spanish sites). I just couldn't let go, i looked at these boots over and over again so i went to find similiar ones (as we don't have a mustang store here and i couldn't find them online)... and yep, i saw the shoes of my dreams in a shopping window. They are very practical, they make me alot taller, improve the way of walking, look extremely nice ( i just love the grunge style ) and are extremely comfortable. For the looks of them, i added a chain to one of the shoes. I also found the hat of my dreams in a shopping window, on the shop window mannequin. The mannequin must now be freezing on its head because it was the last one they had and they gave it to me, ah the luck i had. In (sick) times like these, shopping just makes you happy...and when cleaning up my room (because i've got hell loads of time today) i also found the ring of my dreams, which i lost some time ago :) It kinda represents my ANKH tattoo which i got in 2010.
Have a great weekend x Mary

The season's ending

*sigh*...back home with a bruised and blue thumb, sword traning just NEVER ends harmless and without injuries. So this Saturday we went to the last medieval fair for this year ( thank you Peter for telling me bout it! ) ..and I can only say that i am very proud that i attented more than 10 medieval festivals this year, one of them being one of the TOP events in Germany. I spend about 18 years of my life being jealous of the people who lived history at those events. I always wanted to be one of them, i always wanted to own these outfits, wanted to own a sword, go to these concerts, just LIVE this hobby with passion. Over the past 2 years i finally got into the scene via some friends. I met amazing people at the fairs, some of them now being friends I would never want to miss ( Huge shout to Martin ), i got my very own outfit, i bought a very good sword and i do have regular sword training with my friends now. I finally live the dream i never dared living. And this year just topped it. I spend so much time living history, it is incredible. Thank you Simon, Lukas, Martin and Tanja for making the time there even more amazing. You are four of my greatest friends ever, i love you guys.

but for now... i'm pretty wrecked. Good night. ;)

I'll be the fly in your soup

Seriously, I am no good at cooking. Like not at all. Even my pasta is crap. It's not like i never try cooking, i regularly do - it just never turns out great. Except my cheese leek soup with minced meat! Even others like it :P Never thought i'd post a recipe here but then again...never say never. So here we go.

You need:
1 1/2 l water
3 tbsp oil
700 g mincemeat
Pepper and salt
200 g soft cheese
3 little packages of vegetable stock
1 pack of whipped cream
3-6 stalks leek
And some spices, as you like ( i prefer ginger and nutmeg )

1st step: Heat the oil and add the mincemeat until brown. Slice the leek in rings, add to the meat, and p our in the broth. Bring to the boil and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes. Don't forget to add some pepper and salt to the meat.

2nd step: Boil water (including the vegetable stock!) for 10 minutes on low temperature. Then add the cheese and let it melt. As soon as melt, add the whipped cream and, the meat and leeks, and the spices. Taste every now and then until its perfect for you. If the soup is not thick enough, add some roux.

If any of you should ever try this, please let me know. :)

TGIF ! [THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!]

Time for some Oktoberfest and some party after a truly horrific week! Have a lovely weekend everyone!




Dress by "H&M"
Shoes by "Street"
Leggings by "Mister Lady*"

Last Friday Night - T.G.I.F. (Scott Melker Freakshow Remix) - Katy Perry by scottmelker

Alsace

The one thing i was mostly looking forward to during my holidays was the trip to Alsace, which is a very eastern region of France. We went to Strasbourg for just one day but it was amazing and I don't really know where my love for France ,the french language, culture and music is coming from but being in the country i love so much ( and I've only seen it once before when driving through France to get to Spain ) meant alot to me. People were incredibly friendly, the sights beautiful and the food amazing ;) And yes, we've had a whooole lot of wine to carry home. I was in the back of the bus basically surrounded by 20 packages of wine :)

When they said yes.

I can now say that I've got a sister-in-law.
Weeks of stress for all of us are now over but all the stress was worth it. The marriage of my brother and his girlfriend (who looked beautiful!)was amazing. The location was beautiful too, it took place on a castle set on a lake, so there was also time for a rowboat trip. We've had it all: a beautiful ceremony, nice music (i learned how to dance to Rock n Roll!), firework, games and lots of good laughs. Truly a night to remember. I wish both of them best of luck for their future! And now...pics pics pics! (as lovely as my purple dress looks, it is truly the most uncomfortable thing i have ever worn...!!)

Between work, wedding and vacations

There is a reason why i could barely post anything recently. My dear brother is getting married! It will be the first wedding i ever attented and i am super excited and happy for him! However, the marriage means a l o t of stress for the family and me. It all started yesterday with the "eve of wedding party" (wedding itself is tomorrow). In Germany it is a tradition to throw and break old porcellaine dishes in front of the house. It is said this banishes evil spirits and brings luck to the couple. The more porcellaine, the better.
Now after tidying everything up, i will take my time for the last wedding preparations and to pack my bag for my vacations (starting saturday). I will be off to Palatinate (very west Germany) / Alsace (very east France ;)) for a couple of days. We will stay at a vineyard for the yearly wine festival. Let's just hope i won't be spending ALL the time there being all tipsy ;)

The hairdryer method of saving your phone

Yesterday night i ended up in some really big trouble. Two words: massive thunderstorm. And me in the middle of it. Within just 5 seconds all my clothes and even my leather bag were all soaked. The inside of my shoes turned into little lakes. And worst of all: i needed to run through the city to get to my car. Jumping into the sea would have had just the same result. First thing I checked when coming home was my mobile phone: it was broken, all keys seemed to mix up. Before crying and getting hysteric my brain came up with a really good (but awkward) idea: why not drying it with the hairdryer?

1. Turn phone off if not turned off yet.
2. Take phone apart, move out the battery and cards.
3. Pre-dry your phone with a towel. Dab it, don't rub it.
4. Take your hair dryer and well..dry it. Make sure you keep a certain distance so it doesn't get too hot.

My phone worked perfectly again! And believe me, even my phone was soaked in water. But let's hope this will never happen to yours.

Oops, she did it again...!

Liberty is now accompanying me with every step i am taking...the word is written in yiddish letters. Foot is now half the size, can't really walk properly and yeh, now that i cannot go swimming for two weeks summer says hello (and it did not before). But this is so worth it.

About Change

The Lakes Of Canada by the innocence mission

In these wonderful times, surrounded by wonderful people, wonderful music and a wonderful country i find myself slightly lost. Don't get me wrong, I am happy. I am just not happy with what i am doing. I feel the urgent need to change the directions (Libertine calling eh..) i need to do what my heart and mind wants to do, and it is certainly not about sitting in an office wasting precious life time while dreaming of what i really want to do. Let's give the cards a shuffle rather than wasting too much time... I have no idea how and where to start but I hope that by January i can say that i am doing something i feel fine with.

Albion

"What is Albion...is it a ship?" asked my friend...
My answer:

"The idea of the Albion was created by Pete Doherty and his band- and ex best mate Carl Barat. It is the ship en route Arcadia, the paradise everyone can create in their head. A dreamland free of any laws and moral standarts, just liberty. But in fact, the journey is the destination. We all know that. Arcadia is the highest of dreams but who knows, maybe i will once end up saying This is it. Arcadia. Maybe in this life, maybe after this life."

In Peters words: The symbolism is that Albion is a passageway to Arcadia, a utopian society without rules or boundaries, where "life trips along, pure and simple as a shepherd's song." Mentaly of good deeds, freedom and lust of life.

After all those years i can still identify myself with it, I'd even describe myself with that one word: Albion. I live the idea, i always did, ever since i know about it. It means everything to me.
Pictures below: (1) My Albion tattoo which i got in September 2008 in Ireland [Munster Ink] (2;3;4) Pictures taken at a shooting in 2010 (5) Random photography by Chris