A great hen’s night

Yesterday we celebrated my friend N.’s Hen’s Night (Junggesellinnen-Abschied in German). It was something I really looked forward to, because I have never been to one here down under.

In Germany this tradition is relatively new so there are less strict rules on whether you do a girl’s night like that at all. And you are also pretty free to choose what you do on that night. So my hen’s night in Berlin included all the things I love: Thai food, dramatic eye make-up, Audrey-Hepburn-gloves, fake pearl necklaces, champagne, singing in the car, lots of giggles, my favourite cocktail bar, French fries at midnight, lots of dancing and my dearest friends. A wonderful night out with the girls!

I have to say, I heard horrible things about hen’s nights in the UK, USA and Australia. About brides and their friends going really crazy. Getting absolutely smashed. Kissing every boy they can get their lips on. Wearing embarrassing pink things – especially the poor bride. Showing their boobs. Playing ridiculous drinking games and then throwing up on the sidewalk/ in the taxi/ on each other. Horror! Especially if you have to stay sober because you are 5 months pregnant.

Maybe all these rumours are wrong. Or I was lucky and N. and her friends are a wonderful exception of the rule. Anyway, I had a great night!

We started with champagne, sausage rolls and meat pies at her maid of honour’s house in the early afternoon. We chatted, got to know each other and soon the giggling starting – even without alcohol.

Then we went to Pole Divas to get some pole dancing lessons. You cannot believe how much fun that was. 15 girls of all ages, shapes and sizes and the preggie girl (that’s me) swinging around our poles for an hour. Trying to imitate all the sexy moves the teacher showed us and smile at the same time. It was hilarious!

So many new pole dancing talents!

Afterwards it was time for some drinks (more champagne and lemon-lime-and-bitter for me), nibbles and gossip at Gertrude’s Brown Couch, a lovely and a bit run-down place in Melbourne’s hip Fitzroy district. A few fun but nor embarrassing games were played, the bride collected quite some money for her Girls Night Out fund with the newly learned dance moves and there was a lot of excitement about the upcoming wedding in Fiji. And some well-deserved jealousy by those, who cannot make it to the amazing sunset ceremony – including me ;-(

"Okay, one Cowboy shot and then I am ready to collect some money."

On the way to our last destination for the night, a few traffic lights and lamp poles were used as training equipment to refine our new dancing skill, but otherwise everybody behaved very well and we were still in good shape. A Bar called Barry is a classic for hen’s nights in Melbourne. The music is great (80s every Saturday all night long), the dance floor is always full, the drinks are great (and cheap), the barkeepers are friendly (and quick), there are always heaps of other birthday and hen’s and buck’s night groups, it is pretty dark (and therefore no proper photos of this place exist),the floor is sticky but who cares and there is even a karaoke bar upstairs. And that is where every party ends ;-)

I danced until midnight and my little one obviously loved it, because she was all quite and the minute I sat in the taxi, she started her dance routine in my tummy. Her first girls night out ;-)

My weekly online readings

Gossip Magazines:
to be up to date what is going on in the celebrity world – high gloss, distracting, involving no brain work at all
o Bunte (D)
o Gala (D)
o Hello (UK)
o OK (AUS)

Blogs:
crafting inspiration, real life stories, beautiful pictures
o Dude Craft (USA)
o Durbanville (D)
o Fuenf hoch Neun (D)
o Making it Lovely (USA)
o Machen und tun, Muenchen (D)
o The happy home (AUS)
o The Grassy Garden (AUS)
o Meet me at Mikes (AUS)
o Smile and wave (USA)
o Sfgirlbybay (USA)

Crafting Ideas:
how-to-dos, inspiration, sewing patterns & more to keep my going and become more creative
o Burda (D)
o Martha Stewart (USA)

Baby News:
another 'new world' for me and therefore an important source of information
o Bubhub (AUS)
o Eltern (D)
o The Bump (USA)

Passion No 6 – reading

I ♥ reading.

Fiction. Clever thriller in particular. Non-fiction. Scientific books. Novels. Poems. Love letters. Historical books. Travel diaries. Travel guides. Cook books. Craft books. Guide books. Children books. Magazines and and and ...

So my plan is to introduce my TOP 5 favourite readings to you. One category per month. Revealed every 15th of the month. My personal book lovers' club.

Today I start with my favourite category of all – clever thrillers. With limited blood, but lots of brain, with lots of twists and turns and likable heroes. And since I have read so many thrillers that I couldn’t even decide on my top 50 favourites, here are

My 5 Favourite Thriller Writers:

• Sujata Massey – her heroine Rei Shumura is constantly caught between her American and Japanese heritage, between her heart and her intelligence – for me reading her stories, feels like a short trip to Japan

           (available in German and English )

• Dick Francis – a former jockey, who had to quit riding after a mysterious accident with his horse and then started to write thrillers in the equitation world, incredible suspenseful and full of twists, I have never been able to guess the murderer before the very last page, every of his books takes you in the (for me) unknown world of horses and races. He wrote about 25 stories and yes, I have read them all ;-)

          (in German and in English)

• Agatha Christie – the grande dame of thrillers, sometimes a bit old-fashioned but very charming and full of surprises, my favourite film adaptation of Miss Marple are the ones with Margaret Rutherford – hilarious!

          (in German and English)

• Donna Leon – I find the adventures of her Commissario Brunetti are always intoxicating and they transport you to Venice in an instant, I think at the moment the last book I read was no 16 and there is no sign of repetition

          (available in German or English)

• Yrsa Sigurdardottir – my latest discovery, I have just read two books of the series, but I am totally addicted, these are one of the books which you read in one night, you just cannot stop until the murderer is found

             (in German and English) 


So, I hope you found some inspiration for your next trip to the bookstore or Amazon spending spree. ;-)

Now, please help me with my insatiable hunger for new thriller:

               => What are YOUR favourite 5 thrillers?

Passion No 5 – travelling

I ♥ travelling.

I ♥ trips. By plane. By train. By bus. By car. By bike. By foot.

I ♥ discovering new countries. New cities. New cultures. New food.

I guess my parents are to blame for my travel passion. They also travelled a lot and they always dragged us kids along. Sometimes we had to be bribed with lots of ice cream and sometimes games had to be invented to keep us going. But it has really taught us to be curious, to be open-minded and also a bit adventurous. Because on every trip something goes wrong and you just have to get over it pretty quickly.

According to the “Where I’ve been” app on Facebook I have just been to 7% of the world. Wow. I would have guessed it was more than that. Anyway, that is great because then there is more left for me to discover. ;-)

I always have a big Where-I-want-to-go list. Although I travel a lot, it doesn’t seem to get any shorter, because every time I have been somewhere, I have new ideas and new recommendations. Oh well, it is just one of those lifetime-projects of mine. I hope I never get tired of it. And I am very happy that Andi is a passionate traveller as well.

The next destinations on my Where-I-want-to-go list are (in no particular order):

• Japan – outside Tokio
• North Australia – Darwin to Broome with Bungle Bungles and Kimberleys
• Italy – always, again and again
• South Africa – not necessarily for the soccer world cup but for the amazing animals and landscapes
• Bavaria – the lakes where I spend so many of my childhood holidays and where my granny has a little house near the mountains

The latest place ticked off my Where-I-want-to-go list was: Queensland, Australia

Andi and I spend three wonderful weeks there in October. What a wonderful trip. We drove from Brisbane up to Cairns. We drove a lot. We camped. We snorkelled. We sailed in the Whitsundays. We hiked. We discovered gold. We saw amazing animals and plants. We meet wonderful people. And we ate beautiful seafood and fresh fruits. I rarely had a holiday as exciting and relaxing at the same time. Definitely worth doing!

I have no favourite country or city. In my opinion each is too unique to compare it with another. They all have their beautiful and fascinating places – sometimes they are easy to find, sometimes you need more time or luck, but they always exist somewhere – in a small alley way, in a hidden restaurant or in the house of a normal family. So keep on looking for that special place. It is definitely worth it.

13 – my favourite number

I ♥ 13

I know a lot of people think 13 is an unlucky number. Not me, tough. Nothing bad ever happened to me on a 13th. On the contrary, a lot of good things happened to me on 13ths.

Firstly, I was born on a 13th – almost at 13 o’clock actually. And I think I am a very lucky person.

My Andi was also born on a 13th and he is also a very happy person.

I have also lived in a couple of houses with the number 13th and had a great time there.

Today was another lucky 13th. My friend C. finally gave birth to a little girl. She was almost 2 weeks overdue, so everyone was particularly looking forward to the little one's arrival. And today was the day of the days. Baby and mum are healthy and recovering well. Another lucky 13th baby – we are so happy! We wish you a wonderful life, little Joy!

So hurray for 13! A wonderful number with a undeserved bad reputation!

12 on the 12th

12 on the 12th – what is that? It is a great blog campaign initiated by Caro , a wonderful crafter and blogger from Germany.

The rules are simple. On the 12th of each month all you have to do is take a lot photos throughout your day. Then in the evening choose 12 pictures and post them on your blog. To show others what you have been up to on that day. To share your joys, your finds, your routine, your surprises, your disappointment. Great idea, isn’t it? So if you want to join this great campaign, just sign up here

On a hot day, all I want for breakfast is Muesli in ice-cold milk and a glass for fruit smoothie. Pineapple-Orange-Mango it is today. Yummie!

Quick news check. Thank God - no bush fire catastrophes in Victoria! Melbourne is sizzling hot though. 43 degree yesterday, more than 30 degrees last night and 37 degree predicted for today. No wonder that I didn’t really slept well.

Our air-conditioning broke down before Christmas and the first attempt by the service to fix it failed.So Andi and I try our best to keep cool – lots of cold drinks, a hand fan and a spraying devices for plants filled with cold water. Doesn’t work wonders!

The service team was here again. Success this time! They were able to fix the airconditioning after checking everything, changing several parts and sweating in our small apartment. So hurray for Rodney and our working air conditioner! It makes such a difference!

With the air-conditioner finally doing its job, I go on a quick shopping tour to our local Carlisle Street. These guys are the latest addition to the one of the many graffiti walls. Don’t they look cool?

I have to get some accessories for a friend’s hen’s night on the weekend. I start in my favourite shop: Astoria Paper Works. They have all types of tableware, plastic containers, dress-up and kids’ party supplies.

As always I find everything I need and much more. 24 massive fake diamond rings, a tiara for the bride-to-be, balloons and crafting material.

My trip to the supermarket is less exciting and joyful. Nevertheless I manage to find a new baby project – a pretty plain wet wipe box for the nappy bag, which absolutely needs some customising.

Et voila. 10 minutes later. With a piece of adhesive foil. Much better, isn’t it?

Checking my emails I find a request from a former colleague. She wants me to quote for a quite big job. Just what I need. How exciting! Freelancing is really an up and down and this definitely sounds like an up.

It rains! Finally! The temperature drops by the second. Wonderful!

A fresh salad is just perfect for dinner tonight. Afterwards I will pretty much head straight to bed. A good book is waiting for me and I also have some sleep to catch up on.

Thanks for watching and see you next month!

Passion No 4 – food

I ♥

Wiener Schnitzel with Bavarian Potato Salad* Dim Sum * Lasagne * Salade Chevre Chaud * Tom Ka Gai * Spaghetti Bolognese * Green Chicken Curry * Spaetzle * Prawn Cocktail * Tomato Salad * Salt and Pepper Calamari * Tapas * Schwarzwaelder Kirsch Cake * Lemon Cous Cous * Pizza Margarita * Nachos * Spaghetti Vongole * Mashed Potatoes * Sushi * Rigatoni Arrabiata * Malaysian Chicken Herbal Soup *Mango Icecream * Vitello Tonnato * Spare Ribs * Risotto Milanese * Ginger Stir Fry * Gazpacho * Apple Pie * Antipasti * Scampi Rice Paper Rolls * Chili con Carne * Tiramisu * Sashimi * Seafood Laksa * Pumpkin Soup * Thai Fish Cakes * Christmas Cookies * Quiche Lorraine * Miso Soup * Melone e Parma * Paella * Zwetschgendatschi * Oysters * Roasted Sweet Potato * Steak medium-well * Frittatas * Penne Amatriciana * Beef Burritos * Pad Thai * Crepes Charlotte * Pomelo and Prawn Salad * Terriyake Chicken * Flammkuchen * Fruit Salad ...

Sorry, I have to leave you now and eat something. Talking about my favourite dishes made me really hungry. Although it is 43 degree in Melbourne today and you really don’t feel like eating anything warm today. So maybe an iced soup?