Friday, August 31, 2012

Friday letters! Pumpkin beer and animals.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I hope you are all doing great and ready for the weekend! 
I really like the idea to write some short letters on a Friday and that's why I do it again today. 


Dear red neighbor's cat,

thank you for cuddling so much with me last night, it really made me feel good. Even when you tried to eat my hair and to bite in my forehead. You are one awesome cat and I am very sorry that I scared you away with the big hedge shears. I did not mean to. 



Dear David,

I hope we will be able to find some pumpkin ale in that mysterious alcohol store your friend talked about. I am really excited to try it. 
I am really excited that we have such a long weekend together. Thank you for taking the day off from work!



Dear squirrel,

please be careful when you cross the road. I know I only rode a bike but it is still dangerous to hop in front of a moving vehicle on the street. No matter if it's a bike, a car, a handcart or a carriage. I am glad I was able to stop. Please take care of yourself. 

Dear peanut butter chocolate awesomeness,

you taste so delicious and you are almost empty. It seems like I need to get another jar. You are just too good and I can't resist you. Thanks to the person who invented you. 



Dear friends,

have a lovely weekend and thanks for being so wonderful!


Thursday, August 30, 2012

Random Thursday! If I had $1 Million...

Hallo meine Lieben,

time for another Random Thursday with my favorite LinSarah and Em. Thank you so much for hosting! It's a lot of fun!

This week's topic is



Well, I have so many plans...I don't know where to start.

I guess first of all I would go on a vacation with David to have lots of time to make further plans. I think David would be very happy about a beach vacation. And when I think about it...I might have to  buy a vacation house at a tropical beach. He would appreciate that.


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I loooove hammocks by the way. I have a pretty cool green one from the 70s from my Mom. It's so much fun to spend time in there reading a good book and having an ice-cold beer. 

Okay, further plans. 
I would totally buy an awesome house. Probably in Ireland. A castle would be great. With lots of space and no neighbors around. And I would renovate it the way I want to. 
Something like this.


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And because I have so much space and money I would adopt all kinds of animals in need. As many as possible. Cats, dogs, cows, chicken, donkeys, goats, bunnies, pigs, sheep....I would love to spend every day taking care of animals. That's what makes me happy. 







David would get the whole basement of the castle for all his music gear and his own recording studio. 
And I would totally have my own library in the tower of the castle. Thousands of books, a chimney, and old armchair and a globe bar. I have always dreamed about owning a globe bar and a library. 



And I would totally share some of the money with friends and family.
What would you do if you had $1 million?

Have a lovely Thursday! And you can join the fun here!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Travel confessions & fall fashion.

Hallo meine Lieben,

yesterday my friend Megan from A Suitcase and Stilettos tagged me in her Travel Confessions post. Megan, it was so much fun to read your confession and it made me want to eat tons of chips!

So now it's my turn to confess. 
Here are the rules.


How to Confess:

1.  Post a photo(s) and description of your confession in a new post.
2.  Tweet your post with hashtag #TravelConfession and follow/tweet @Traveling9to5
3.  Tag 3-5 other travelers you'd love to see confess and tag them on Twitter

Confession #1.

I try the local beer and compare it to German beer. 
German beer is the best in the world, every German will tell you that. :) But it is possible to find good beer outside of Germany.And I don't mean buying German beer in other countries.  So far I have found some great beer in Belgium and the Netherlands, Ireland has great beer and I even found some good beer in America. It's definitely not Budweiser but I guess it can  taste good when you like stale beer. 

And I am really excited to try some pumpkin beer. You are not able to get things like that in Germany, thanks to Deutsches Reinheitsgebot. 


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What's the best beer from your country?

Confession #2.

First thing I check in a hotel room is if there is any hair in the bed. And freak out if I find any. I am very picky about that. If I find a hair in my hotel room bed I just don't feel comfortable. And use sanitizer. I really don't want to know that other people slept in that bed before. 



This bed was perfectly clean by the way! Thank you Renaissance Hotel in Amsterdam. 

What are your travel confessions? I can't wait to hear about it! I want to hear all your confessions and especially the ones from

Celeste at The Punching Teacup
Beate at Wish it. Dream it. Do it.
Miss Sugar Shack at Miss Sugar Shack
Niken at Read My Mind
Amanda at Overseas Adventures

Thank you again Megan for tagging me! You rock!

I am also linking up with Natalie and Bella and share some fall fashion with you.




Okay, after looking around I really feel like I want to go shopping now. I need new shoes for fall! And I think my favorite fall colors are dark green, orange, bordeaux red and mustard yellow. 

I need something like this.


and these shoes.



And this cardigan.


Do you want to go shopping for fall stuff? What do you need?
I need lots of scarves. I can't survive without them.



Have a wonderful Wednesday!





Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Ten On Tuesday! Pack masters, bloody vampire gods, furry friends and pretty dresses.

Hallo meine Lieben,

time for Ten On Tuesday with fantastic Lin from Linny's Vault! Lin, thank you again for hosting the fantastic giveaway! You absolutely made my day when you told me that I won the CD! Can't wait to listen to it! Thank you so much!

And here we go.
(Oh, don't read #2,3 if you haven't watched the last episode of True Blood yet. And don't read #4 when you haven't watched Breaking Bad yet.)

1. I have a new furry friend with a funny habit. He likes to lick you. Usually he only licks my hand after I gave him some dry food. But yesterday he started to lick my nose and I am pretty sure my nose doesn't taste or smell like cat food.



2. Let's talk about True Blood. So the whole Authority is gone now but Bill is the new Lilith? Billith? That  sucks. Why didn't Eric kill him? And Sookie wasn't a great help with her girly tears and stupid speech. I don't want more blood covered vampire gods. It's enough. 


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3. It really makes me sad that we never found out why Alcide dug the hole in front of his Dad's trailer. Probably for the remaining bones of the poor deer they roasted on the grill yesterday but couldn't eat because Alcide had to go and kill the current pack master to become the new pack master. Good job, Alcide! But you never had to take off your shirt! Not once!


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4. "Shut the f... up and let me die in peace." That's probably one of the best quotes ever. Walt killed Mike and Mike was my favorite! Walt feels unappreciated by Mike and then decides to kill him. Boah. Makes me angry. Not that I was surprised but still....I like Mike!


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5. I am watching season 6 of Sex And The City and can I please have the pink Oscar de la Renta dress Carrie gets from Aleksandr Petrovsky? It's so pretty.



6. We listened to the new Minus The Bear album yesterday and I definitely recommend it. It's great and I want to listen to it 12675564 times more. I can't describe it but their music is just perfect. And I really like the voice of the singer. And I like that they wear Adiletten when they give interviews. No socks though. That would be German. 



7. I totally want to try to bake these vegan cinnamon rolls. I love cinnamon rolls. And I will definitely follow the instructions this time because I want them to taste delicious. I need to work on my baking skills. You can find the recipe here.



8. David is checking out different kinds of onions to find out which one is the best. I already know the answer: none of them. It's that easy.



9. I am a little addicted to "Paint it black" by The Rolling Stones currently. I heard it somewhere recently and can't get it out of my head. At least this is a good ear worm.

10. I am thinking about darker hair. Something like this. What do you think?


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Have a lovely Tuesday!

Monday, August 27, 2012

Vegan peanut butter Nutella awesomeness & rock star awesomeness.

Hallo meine Lieben,

yesterday David discovered something really fantastic on the internet. A mix of peanut butter and dark chocolate. That sounds too good to be true but it really exists. We looked at the website of the company that produces this heavenly stuff and found out that the next store that sells it is only a mile away. 
Which means that it was time to get out of my ugly pants (comfy pants I only wear at home) put on some fancy clothes and go grocery shopping. 
We ended up buying a lot of awesome things ( I think I ate a kilo of watermelon yesterday) and we were lucky to find the peanut butter Nutella awesomeness. 

So this was part of my dinner last night.



They sell different types of funny peanut butter but as chocolate lovers we had to get this one. It is certified vegan, gluten free and kosher. What else could you ask for. 



And it tastes delicious on fresh baked baguette. 
You can find all the different types here. The next one I want to try is definitely Cinnamon Raisin Swirl
I love to discover new delicious things.

I have a question about watermelons: How do you eat them? Do you spit out the seeds? Or do you remove them before you even start to eat? Or do you just eat them? Like me?
David asked me how I do it yesterday and when I told him that I always eat the seeds he told me that a watermelon will grow in my stomach. That's fine for me because I think it's too much effort to remove all the seeds or spit them out.


As you probably know David's band played on Saturday and it was awesome. 
It was so great to see this:



How cool is that? I think it's pretty awesome and I would probably burst with pride if this was my band. I mean, I was already proud that this was David's band. Haha. 

And don't they look like rock stars?



And that's how they look on stage. You just have to ignore the terrible quality of the picture, my iPhone doesn't take really good pictures. 



How was your weekend?
Have a great Monday, Ihr Lieben!

PS: Mama, I love you & I miss you so much!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Sunday Confessions! Give me a blanket and a hot water bottle. please!

Hallo meine Lieben,

I hope you are enjoying your weekend! 
I am linking up with the most wonderful Alyx from Every Day Is A New Adventure and here are my confessions.

Confession #1.

I am not normal. Yesterday David played with his band in a bar in Columbus and it was fantastic. But I almost froze to death. I mean it. It was so cold in that bar and they had fans blowing in every corner. It was a nightmare for me. Everybody else seemed to be fine though. There was a girl wearing shorts and a top and she looked like she was totally fine with the temperature. I just don't get it. 


Confession # 2.

I packed my two new books in my purse and brought them to the bar because I was so excited about having two new books. But no, I did not end up reading in a bar. 

Confession # 3. 

I have a heating blanket and I am not ashamed to use it. Even when I look like an idiot wearing it. It feels so good. 


Confession # 4.

I found a recipe for vegan cookie dough ice-cream and now I need to buy an ice-cream machine. 

Confession # 5.

I really hope that Erik will kill Bill tonight at the True Blood season finale. I love season finales because I am pretty sure that something exciting will happen. But I also hate season finales because that means that I won't be able to watch True Blood for a while.
I can't wait to see more Breaking Bad tonight! This show is so awesome.

I hope you guys are having a wonderful Sunday!
What are your confessions?

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Wishlist #2. Books books books.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I hope you are enjoying your weekend! David will play with his band tonight and I am so excited to see him on stage again. They play with two other bands but their band is the headliner which totally makes sense because they are the best. 

I am waiting for the mail to come because I want to start reading the two new books I ordered. One about Iceland and one about carnism. You can read about them here.

I have to admit that I love to stare at my bookshelves. It just makes me happy to see my collection of books. Maybe that's crazy, I don't know. But I always feel comfortable when I have a lot of books around. 
That's why my wishlist for books is a very long one. 

I want to show you some books I am really excited about. These will be the next ones I'll buy. 

Eiseskälte by Arnaldur Indridason

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The latest crime novel by Arnaldur Indridason . I hate that I have to be patient and wait until November 16th. That's the day it will get published and that's also the day I will start reading it. Indridason is under the top 5 of my favorite writers so I am really excited about this. The description sounds very promising. Detective Erlendur travels to the place where he grew up to find out more about his brother who vanished when they were kids.
It also makes me a little sad because this will be the last novel of the detective Erlendur series. What will happen?

Vegan Cupcakes by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

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My last attempts to bake cupcakes were a disaster and that's why I decided that I need professional help. The thing is: I don't like to follow recipes. And that's fine when you cook. But not so much when you bake. It won't taste good. Trust me. I tried it several times.

The encyclopedia of serial killers by MIchael Newton

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Thank you Amanda for the recommendation! :) I am glad you like reading about serial killers as much as I do.
She recommended several serial killer books to me and I can't wait to check them out. This topic fascinates me a lot. 

Cat versus Human by Jasmine Surovec

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If you are a crazy cat lady like me you have to check out her comics here. She always makes me laugh. Every time I see a new one I am totally excited and I can only agree with her observations about our feline friends. 

Some we love, some we hate, some we eat by Hal Herzog

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I am very interesting in this topic and I can't wait to start reading the other book I got about it. After I finished that I will definitely purchase this book because it looks very promising too. 

Am Abend des Mordes by Hakan Nesser

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I love Nesser's books. Every single one of them. This is the last book of the inspector Barbarotti series and it will get published October 1st. So I probably won't talk at all that day. I don't know what Nesser's future plans are. I was devastated when he finished his Van Veeteren series and now this is already the last book of the Barbarotti series? I can't believe it. I really hope he won't die! I am SO excited to start reading this.

What's on your wish list? Any recommendations? 

My books just arrived! Yay! 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday, August 24, 2012

I like to write letters about rock stars, kitties and TV shows.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I enjoy writing letters and that's why I decided to write some more on this lovely Friday.




Dear rock star husband,




I can't wait to see you on stage again tomorrow. I love to see you playing and I am so proud of you! It's funny that your band won't play before midnight but awesome that you are the headliner. You're the best.



Dear neighbor's cats,




you are so sweet. Thank you for always coming over and letting me pet you. Red kitty, thank you for finally trusting me. I am glad you like the food I give you. Please don't stop coming over and keeping me company. 

Dear Awkward,

thanks for entertaining me so much. Please keep the episodes coming and never stop.

Dear friends,

you mean so much to me!
Do you watch Awkward? Are you team Matty or team Jake?

Dear pepper plant,

please ask your friend basil plant what's wrong with him and what he needs? Why is he not growing? I am really trying to take care of you guys and I have no idea what I am doing wrong. Please help me. 

Dear new books,

please arrive soon, I want to start reading you!

Dear world,

you really make me sick and angry. 




Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Random Thursday! Fun summer reads. Books, magazines, more books.

Hallo meine Lieben,

time for more randoms. This link up is so much fun, thank you so much LinEm and Sarah! By the way, you can join here
Okay, enough links....this week's topic is....



In case you've read my blog before you already know that I am a huge book worm so this topic is fantastic. I'll show you what I am currently reading...

VegNews.


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I heard about that magazine last week and was able to find it at Barnes & Noble. I was so happy because there was only one issue left and I got it. I am in love. This magazine is fantastic. It contains recipes but also great articles about all kinds of vegetarian/vegan topics. There is an article about vegan wedding parties in this issue and it was so much fun to read about it. Can't wait for the next issue!

Neon.


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That's a German magazine but my Dad sent me the last issue. He knows how much I love it. It's a lifestyle magazine and it covers all kinds of topics: politics, business, education, love, fashion, job, friendship etc. 

The devil she knows. 


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I am a huge fan of crime novels, the bloodier the better, I love all the suspense. David picked out this one for me and I have to say: he did a great job! There are so many great book out there but I have to say that mysteries and crime novels will always be my #1. 

Why we love dogs, eat pigs and wear cows. 


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I have to say that I haven't started to read this yet. I ordered it yesterday and now I can't wait for it to arrive. I have heard a lot about this book and I was interested it in for a while and now I finally ordered it. I guess this should be interesting for everybody, not just for vegetarians or vegans. 

Iceland (Lonely Planet country guide)



Another book I ordered yesterday. I admit that I am a little obsessed with that country and I really hope that we will be able to travel there soon. I would move to Iceland. Right now. I want to learn more about the country and I can't wait to start reading.

What are you currently reading?
Any recommendations?

Have a lovely Thursday!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Me and my mate. Questions and answers.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I hope you are doing great. I found these questions on Christina's blog and I thought it might be fun to answer them. Thankfully David agreed to join. It would have been a little boring otherwise. 

So here are some questions answered by David and me. 
That's us by the way.




Your house is on fire. What five items do you grab before you leave?

David: Assuming people and animals are safe: my phone, laptop and external hard drives which have pretty much my entire life on them, and as much of my music gear as i can carry, but my Fender Strat, Peavey Classic 50 and pedal board being priority.

Katrin: First of all I would rescue the animals and make sure that people are safe. Then I would take as many books as I can carry. And my stuffed animals.  I would also take electronic devices like my laptop, my phone, my Kindle and my external hard drive. Because there is so much stuff on it. Oh, and I need some clothes and shoes. I would probably burn to death. 

If you could be/had to be the main character of any movie, who would you be?

David:  The Bride in Kill Bill. Despite the fact that, 1, she's a woman whereas I'm a man and, 2, she goes through a ton of horrible shit, she is unstoppable both physically and mentally, and I think it would be interesting to be an assassin. I might not be normal. 

Katrin: One of the McManus brothers in The Boondock Saints. Because they are so damn cool and do what they want. As you can see something is wrong with us because David wants to be a woman and I want to be a man. 


What physical feature do you love most about yourself?

David: My teeth are pretty good.

Katrin: I know that's pretty boring but I really like my eyes. And my mouth...and I hated my mouth as a kid because other kids made fun of me and said that my mouth is so big. But many years later a sales person in a store told me that I have lips like Brigitte Bardot and that makes me feel awesome because Brigitte Bardot looks pretty good and she is an animal activist so I like her a lot. 

Tell us why your name is your name. And if you don't have (or know) an answer, make one up.

David: David means "beloved," and I guess my mom and dad love me. He's also a main character from the Bible, which might have played a role for them.

Katrin: The hospital I was born in exploded and a doctor named Katrin rescued me out of the flames. That's when my parents decided to name me Katrin to honor that woman. Okay, I might have made that up. My parents really liked the name. 

What is the greatest place you've ever traveled to?

David: I've traveled out west three times to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Arizona, and I can't get enough of it. I want to live there some day.

Katrin: I love being at the North Sea and Amsterdam is my favorite city. I also like Colorado a lot because the nature is beautiful. And the Croatian islands are very great places. Oh, and Venice. 





Are you a morning person or a night person?

David: You shouldn't even talk to me in the morning.

Katrin: I am not very talkative in the morning. I need a coffee first. So I guess I am more of a night person. 

What's your favorite memory with your childhood best friend?

David: In high school, I played in a band with my best friend and his brother and those were great times writing music and playing shows.

Katrin: I spent every day with my best friends Julia and Susi. We had lots of fun building a stone age city. 

If you had to move out of the country where would you move to?

David: As my wife is from Germany, that seems like a logical choice, but I really like Amsterdam.

Katrin: Iceland, Ireland or the Netherlands. But I am sure it would be fun to live in Germany with David too.

What's your favorite meal and why?

David: I like a lot of kinds of food, but if I'm given a choice of where to eat, I would choose a good Chinese buffet every single time.

Katrin: Indian food. I love curries. 


I hope you enjoyed our little questions & answers game. Please feel free to ask if you have any other questions you want us to answer.
And have a great Wednesday!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Ten On Tuesday! Shirtless hole diggers, awesome surprises in the mail and furry little friends.

Hallo meine Lieben,

time for Ten on Tuesday with lovely Lin from Linny's Vault. I hope you are all having a great week. Let's start.

1. Who watched True Blood? It was such a smart decision to let Alcide dig a hole in his father's yard without any reason just to show off his shirtless body. I mean, there was no important story line that included him but you should show his half-naked body at least once in every episode. 



2. I am so sick of hearing Lilith's name and seeing her bloody naked body all the time. Can somebody kill her please? Eric? Would you?
And now I know why I always hated Bill. He is so annoying!


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3. I got a pretty cool new shirt. I guess I am a nerd. But I just love Star Wars and Yoda is my favorite character. He absolutely rocks because he is so wise and powerful. 



4. I made some new furry friends. A cat and two dogs. They are totally awesome. 



5. I ate a whole lot of Sauerkraut last night and it was delicious. I can't understand why David doesn't like it. He says it's too sour but hey, that's the main thing about Sauerkraut. My plan is to make a Sauerkraut-potato-gratin soon. 

6. I totally turned on the heater in the bathroom this morning. It was way too cold to take a shower. It was only 14 degrees Celsius this morning. That's freakin' cold. 

7. I got another wonderful surprise from my fabulous friend Miki! She sent me this amazing emergency kit and she absolutely made my day! She always makes me smile so much!
Thank you so much, Miki, Dante & Dimitri! You rock!



8. I totally have to live in Iceland someday.



9. I have a new addiction. Horseradish. In my opinion you can totally combine it with everything. It's delicious. 


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10. I would love to be a professional poker player. I don't know why. I am not even good at playing poker because I can't make a poker face. 

Join Lin and write your own Ten On Tuesday, it's so much fun!
Have a lovely day!