Something to read

The darker nights of the year are not just good to eat cookies and drink tea - they are perfect to hang out on the couch and read a lot.

I got my hands on some nice magazines and books this week. When I get a magazine I tend to read it with starting from the very end and working myself through it until the the first page. I am most of the times so excited that I usually examine the magazine by briefly looking through all the different articles...stop at some images and articles which attract me and than make a little list in my head which article I should read first.

The first little orange book shows very pretty drawings made by the Japanese artist Yuka Katagri it is her first published book and I think it is very nice.

There is this really great magazine store in Berlin called "Do you read me?!" which is in Berlin-Mitte and sells all sorts of great magazines which don't have a high circulation and are sort of hard to get. When I was looking for some Christmas gifts I saw the "apartamento" magazine and ordered it. It has such great images of all sorts of apartments all over the world in it and I was thinking to try to get the older issues too.

At a little book sale I could get my hands on this Berlin guide which is made very beautifully and shows a view special spots in Berlin, like Paul Knopf (engl. Paul Button) a store in which you will definitely not find any zippers but all sorts of buttons. I can't wait to go on a little trip to Berlin anytime soon.

The NEON magazine is a German magazine which I like because of their good topics and nice way of writing but especially because of their really great images. They are most of the times the cherry on the cake and fit perfectly to the articles...

"Tender is the night" I got as a gift from my boyfriend. It is one of his favorite books and I think I will start reading it tonight. I like to start reading a book but I need to know that there is enough time to at least read so many pages that I can sort of "find into the book"...it is the same with finishing a book...I stopped reading the last pages of a book in the subway the other day because I wanted to give it more attention and just waited until I was at home. : )

What are you reading at the moment?

Maria

A Monday evening

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Just a week and a bit until Christmas. We had the first snow today..how nice and surprising it was when I looked out the window and the flakes where dancing down from the sky..

And how nice it is to have a quiet evening at home.

A nice package from my boyfriends family reached us today with some gifts for Christmas and also some Panforte (for which we were secretly waiting for) made by his mum. It is so good with all the fruits and almonds in it. Ah we love it.

She also got me this cute tea pot. It has such a beautiful shape and pattern.

So we lit the candles and had the first slices of Panforte and some tea.

I like you Advent and I am glad the usual Christmas stress hasn't reached me yet. I hope it will pass me this year...

Maria

Flea market

I love weekends. They are like little holidays to me. And I sometimes like to have little traditions, like going to the farmers market getting fresh veggies, biking to a nice café to read in a book or the paper and stroll over the flea market to find some treasures or just to look at the funny and bizarre things they sell there. There is this all-year-fleamarket close by which I like to browse. It is very central which means that lots of people go there and it is sometimes hard especially when you are late to find something but every now and than it happens and I carry real treasures home.

I remember that I wanted to find something with this nice Catherine Holm pattern for a very long time. On one Saturday when my sister was visiting me we went to the flea market and I even told her about my hunt before. And there it suddenly stood, lonely and beautifully orange on a table. I got so excited and couldn't believe it and sort of run to the stall to have a look at it. I got it for a very good price and and I am still so happy about this find.

Yesterday we passed it too but as it was a Saturday in December and already cold there were not so many stalls there like in Summer. We just had a quick look at some of the weird stuff there, like this leg with flowers in it:)

I hope you have a fantastic weekend.

The sun just came out here and I look forward to going out for a walk later on.

/Maria

...

On my way to work this morning I passed these amazing posters from the Thalia Theater, which I actually pass every morning and which I think are really eye-catching. Some of them remind me to Alfred Hitchcock and one particular reminded me this morning that I still have some gifts to make and get; Weihnachtsgeschenke in German.

So I decided to take a different way home to have a look for some things I had in mind...and I stumbled over a few blue lights...which I wanted to share..

Oh and speaking of Alfred Hitchcock. The Advent Calendar promised an Alfred Hitchcock night tonight.

Will watch "Strangers on a Train"...

/M

Little sewing project II

I got some more nice fabric printed from the talented Australian ladies from Ink and Spindle the other week. It took a little while until the package found its way to my mailbox here in Germany but when it came I couldn't wait to open it, to get the right zipper and sew the first pillow. So I finished it and I am very happy with it.

I really love the little doll next to it which is made by my boyfriends little sister. She is so talented and made it for me the last year. I love all the details on it, the little heart she stitched on it, the face and the of course the wool hair.

A lovely Tuesday to everyone

Maria

Something checked

a little owl with checked feathers

boyfriends shirt

A DVD

Part of the Advent Calendar

My summer dress from Copenhagen

Kitchen towel with salad

The checked shirt of the lead singer from Vampire Weekend

I got tagged from the lovely Dotti and she asked me to find 7 checked things.

So here we go.

Happy weekend to everyone

Maria : )

Advent

So it finally became December.

It does sound silly but sometimes when I need to write the date for any reason I need to think for a split second what month we actually have, (sometimes - very rarely- even which season: ).

I think it happens to me because sometimes time just seems flying by...There was this nice sunny beach day or Autmun walk which feel like yesterday and suddenly the cozy time of the year is knocking on the door..The time of Christmas markets, mittens, dark evenings with tasty hot water (tea) and self-made cookies...I sometimes wish things would last a bit longer...to enjoy them more...but maybe they are so special because you just have them for a certain time in the year ...

Anyways, speaking of baking, I am just about to make some "Lebkuchen" (gingerbread). I got the recipe from my grandmother and it has all sorts of good stuff in it, like walnuts, cacao, cinnamon ...I can't wait to get them out of the oven...

Here are some pictures of the Advent calendar I sewed the other week to really appreciate every single day of Advent and also give little treats

/M