the comforts of home...

It feels so good to be home. I rebooked my flight to arrive three days earlier than originally planned and didn't tell my mom - it was a great surprise :)



Germany welcomed me home with a tiny little bit of snow. It makes for a nice change after weeks of rain in Vancouver. I spent my first day eating lots of good food, spending lots of quality time with my family and unpacking.



I spent my second day blocking some Christmas presents and shawls I knitted in the past months, spent some time with friends and made Christmas presents.



And of course a much needed cozy evening with the cats, lots of cookies and tea, a roaring fire in the fireplace, some knitting and TV :)

Something random

I usually don't share lots of videos I find online (because let's be honest, by blog would be flooded) but this cute printer is soo cute. I want it!


Hello Little Printer, available 2012 from BERG on Vimeo.

I have one last final tomorrow evening and then I'm done. I can't believe how fast the term passed by... Only a couple more days before I go home! I'm so excited about Christmas and spending time with my family and friends. Going home for Christmas is the best gift I can imagine and I'm truly thankful that I get to spend the last days of the year with my family.

Another Trip to Victoria

I hope you're enjoying the Christmas season - December is my favorite month. Chocolate every day(literally... love the advent calendar my mom sent me!), Christmas lights everywhere and most TV series have great Christmas episodes (e.g. the latest the office episode...). Unfortunately, December also means lots of exams and a crazy amount of homework. My friend Katja and I decided to go to Victoria for a day because let's face it, nobody stays on campus for three weeks straight and spends every day studying.

We had a relaxed day wandering around downtown, exploring cute boutiques and cafés. We found a really great café called 'Wild Coffee' with the most beautiful interior design. The handcrafted chairs and couches were stunning, the atmosphere was cozy and the food was great :)

Of course we couldn't resist some thrift shopping. In contrast to most thrift stores in Vancouver, the thrift stores in Victoria are reasonable priced. Along with some books I also found what I've been looking for for ages:



A GRANNY SQUARE BLANKET!!!
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this beauty - isn't she gorgeous?
I love love love the colors and it was cheap, too :)



There are some threads that wait to be sewn up - it makes me sad to imagine a person working on the blanket for months (or even years?) yet having to give up when it's almost done. I'll finish it tonight while watching a movie.

Craving...

Craving for an afternoon in bed, drinking tea and reading a good book. Throw in some knitting, a cuddly cat on my lap and some quality time with friends and I'd be thankful forever.
However, I spend my days studying and trying to cram 450 pages of microeconomics into my head. Not working well...



Yesterday evening we had a spiced wine party at Molly's and made German gingerbread. We had a great time making and decorating it.

I really missed baking. Not having a kitchen isn't my favorite part of living in a dorm. And making about two kilograms of dough by hand made me realize how essential a KitchenAid is. This beauty is on the very top of my 'buy-and-be-happy-for-the-rest-of-my-life' list. 

autumn minibook: final update

Here's the final update of my Fall Twenty Eleven Minibook. It was a great joy but I'm looking forward to moving on to my winter minibook(more about it tomorrow). This book was fun because I tried some new techniques - like glitter, stickles, pressed leaves, and I wrote most texts myself (although I don't like my handwriting).
I left a couple of blank pages, did not incorporate all the pages that were originally in the minibook, and I left out many many things. Which is okay, because it only gives a small glimpse of what my fall was like . We've had a lot of rain in the past weeks (welcome to Vancouver) which, sadly, really limited the number of pictures I took. Hopefully that will change in the next weeks :)

Habitat Hat

I won't deny that we get quite a lot of rain in Vancouver. And living next to the sea means that it's pretty windy most of the time. The mix of wind and rain means that I didn't leave my dorm without a hat for the past weeks. I only brought three hats from Germany and you need at least two per day (there's always one drying on my heater) so I figured I 'need' a new hat.

I love pretty much all Brooklyn Tweed designs and I had a hard time deciding between these hats: Irving, Habitat, Rosebud, and Laurel. I decided on the Habitat hat and looove it. Can't wait to make more of these hats :)

It took me four evenings to make the hat(= about 3 movies + 3 House episodes), but it was worth every second :) Now I'm back to knitting more Christmas presents... I wish I could share them on here but I know some of the people read my blog so you have to wait until after Christmas - I'll photograph all presents before I give them away though :)

I realized that I've done a terrible job sharing my Autumn Twenty Eleven Minibook updates with you - sorry! I'll post an update later - if there's enough light to take some decent photos.

Actualmente...

Do you know those days when you wanna blog but there's simply nothing to blog about? That's what it's been like in the past days. I feel like I've spent the past two weeks studying and writing essays. I terribly neglected my camera and pretty much everything creative and fun. I did finish knitting some Christmas presents but I can't share them on here yet... after Christmas, I promise :)

Today I went to my local yarn store (only 5mins by bus... and it is HUGE and the people are really nice. I'll miss it terribly when I'm back in Germany.) with my friend Katja who needed yarn for a pair of mittens and I couldn't resist buying the Jane Austen knits magazine. The patterns are really unique and lovely and the pictures are nice, too. I can't wait to read some of the articles :)

Last week we did a quick shoot of her very first knitting project: a hat :)

I'm so proud of her (she finished knitting her second hat today... learning how to knit + finishing two hats within one week? wow.) and it's great to have a friend to spend evenings knitting and watching movies with :)

Other than that, there really isn't anything noteworthy going on at the moment. We've had a tiny little bit of snow today, which made me really happy. Did I mention that I love snow? I probably did like a thousand times. Well, I hope you have a great weekend :)

Craft Circle Christmas Market

Yellow Leather Book Necklace by nicopapergoods

I went to the Craft Circle Christmas Market on Friday with two friends. The market was huuuge with 200+ vendors. There were some really cute stalls but most were ridiculously overpriced ($70 for a pair of earrings that contained only one tiny glass pearl?!)

But I bought this cute necklace from an artist based in Seattle and a rice bowl! I'm excited to finally learn how to use chop sticks!

I had hoped to find some Christmas presents but it wasn't the right location for a poor college student ;)

In other news, my college workload for the next 2-3 weeks is insane, so this place will be rather quiet for the next weeks. But I'm planning something special for my 100th post. I can't believe I've had this little space for over a year already!

Morning Routine

I thought it would be fun to share some more about my everyday life. Here's my morning routine :)

My alarm clock usually does off at 8am. I like to spend a couple of minutes in my bed and check my mails, facebook etc. on my phone. Next I go take a shower, looking like this:






After taking a shower I'm still kinda tired but not as bad as before (see the difference?)
Next I make tea and (sometimes) some morning yoga.



Depending on what my plans are for the day, I talk to my parents on skype or read some blogs before I do my make up and get ready.

When I have classes in the morning (Mo, Wed & Fr), I eat cereals in my room. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I usually walk to Starbucks to have breakfast with a friend.

I love the morning light and although 8:30am might be early for most people, the campus is still quiet and empty (compared to 1pm).



My current favorites are the granola fruit yogurts and smoothies. Though I can't wait to try all the Christmas specials in December. I miss pumpkin scones already :(

Do you have a morning routine, too?

The past weeks in instagrams

 

 

 

  

 

 

Some randomness about the past weeks:

- found out that the soups that look good aren't necessarily tasteful (and vice-versa).

- got my Canadian health insurance card. I feel kind of Canadian now.

- craved homemade cookies and pumpkin soup/muffins/seeds/...

- spent evenings in my bed feeling unmotivated to anything. I blame the weather.

- bought a pack of organic honey bear cookies and had a contest with friends which bear looks best. The one in the top right corner won.

- found the only cool Halloween decoration in my residence. Unfortunately, somebody turned it into a trash bin :(

- spent afternoons with friends in my dorm, 'cooking', laughing and enjoying having company.

- missed my loved ones.

- learned a lot about economics and enjoyed it.

I was shocked when they took the pumpkin spice lattes off the menu on November 1st!! As soon as Halloween is over Christmas season begins. I would've liked to enjoy some more fall feeling but who complains about gingerbread and caramel brûlé lattes??! Unfortunately, I'll have to wait until December because I decided to 'save the calories' for December so I can enjoy all the homemade cookies and gingerbread etc. without feeling guilty :)