... what you got cooking – my favourite food blogs

More blogs for you to have a look at today. After my favourite wedding blogs and my favourite fashion blogs , it is time for my 5 favourite food blogs. Here they are: 

·         Schöner Tag noch: a wonderful food blog which I just discovered recently, inspiring recipes like “Avocado-Mango-Salat mit schwarzen Bohnen “or “Ricotta-Basilikum-Nocken auf Rucola-Erdbeer-Salat” and the photos are soooo appetising, unfortunately in German only

·         Delicious Days: the classic modern food blog, who hasn’t got Nicole’s amazing cookbook (buy it if you haven’t ;-)), new recipes about once a week or so, but definitely worth the wait

·         La Fuji Mama: I love Rachael’s motto of “bringing world flavors to the family dinner table”, she has lived in France, Japan and the USA and I love who effortless she adds an exotic twist to all her recipes

·         Sparrows and Oranges: yummy recipes from a Hawaiian girl, I love how she combines Asian influences with Mexican dishes and tropical fruits like in her Sesame Orange Tofu Bowl or Grilled Tofu with Asian Slaw, Mashed Sweet Poatoes & Nori Burritos

·         Pi mal Butter: beautiful photos that make your mouth water plus the recipes to give it a try yourself, even difficult recipes seem easy to handle due to the detailed recipe description, unfortunately in German only

From now on you can also find my favourite blogs on the right hand side of this blog. Just below the archive. And just above the dictionary. So, you can always come back to them if you are hungry. Or if you don’t know what to cook tomorrow. Bon appétit! 

hey good looking... – my favourite fashion blogs

No worries, I haven’t forgotten about the favourite blogs. I was just distracted ;-) After showing you my favourite wedding blogs last Wednesday, I today want to inspire you with my favourite fashion blogs:

·       Cat-und-Kascha: the queen of retro sewing, unfortunately in German only, but make sure to have a look anyway, because a picture says more than a hundred words.

·      La couturiere dimanche: Evie makes the most amazing retro dresses and actually wears them everyday, I love her passion and her dedication to dress beautifully every day (and post about it)

·      You sew, girl!: this blog is full of great, easy to understand tutorials, for pants, skirts, jackets, lingerie and tops but also important basics like buttonholes, pockets, zippers and very important pattern alterations

·       So Zo: Zoe invented the Me Made June and this fabulous idea of wearing something self-made everyday of a month spread quickly, I really admire her style, it is classic with a twist, a dash of vintage, a sprinkle of colour – beautiful!

·       Sew Retro: a fabulous platform for all fans of retro fashion, literally hundreds of skilled retro sewer share their work with you there, very inspiring

A Casual Christening – The Day

I love parties! I love to go to parties! I love to throw them! I think there are many things to celebrate, not only birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas and Easter. Therefore I now dedicated my Friday posts to parties: to creative party invitations, to easy-to-make party food, to party decorations that make all the difference...  I hope you feel inspired by the festive atmosphere on Fridays and celebrate many small and big events.

 Last week was the Christening of my little one and it was a beautiful celebration: the weather was amazingly sunny and warm. My little one was in her best mood: well-rested and social and she even allowed the priest to water her head and to put her hands on her head.

The service took place on the lawn outside the church St.Elisabeth in Berlin, which created such a special and casual atmosphere: kids were running around, birds were singing, a band was playing chants and the sun was warming our heads.

Afterwards we went to our favourite restaurant Nola’s , where we have also celebrated our wedding 2,5 years ago. We were sitting outside on one long table which I LOVE for the very reason I already mentioned here. We had a brunch buffet which meant that everyone could get whatever, whenever and how much she or he wanted. I can only recommend a buffet both for brunch and dinner, if you are after a casual party and if you want your guest to mingle and not only talk to the people they already know.

Ah, I am still indulging in the memories of this wonderful day! Hope you have a great party or celebration coming up soon as well!

Eye Candy: Kokeshi Dolls

Inspired by Melanie’s finds here, I discovered the world of Japanese Kokeshi dolls. I have seen them before, but I didn’t know they were called Kokeshi and what their characteristics were. After a little research I found out that:

• these dolls come from Japan (no big surprise, really), from northern Japan to be precise
• they are handmade from wood, have a simple body and an enlarged head
• one characteristic of them is that they don’t have any arms or legs (or at least you cannot see them)
• there are "traditional" and “creative” kokeshi – the former being quite strict in terms of colours, shapes and patterns (they are usually particular to a certain region in Japan), whereas the latter allowing more creative freedom

Well, I guess these are a mix of regions as well as a mix of "traditional" and “creative” kokehsi, but they are all soooo  beautiful to me:

Found here

Found here

Found here

Found here

Found here

here comes the bride... my favourite wedding blogs

I am currently working on this little blog of mine. To make it more interesting for you, dearest readers. There won’t be any major design changes. A) because I am not great at html. And B) because I like it simple. This gives the pictures more room to “pop”, don’t you think J

Anyway, I thought it is about time now that I show you my favourite blogs. The ones which I visit regularly if not daily. The once which brighten my day and fill me with inspiration.

Since my interests are so manifold, I will limit myself to my 5 favourite blogs in each category. And since it is wedding Wednesday today, here are my 5 favourite wedding blogs:

·         The Offbeat Bride: a site off the beaten wedding track, I love the stories, the photos, the ideas and the tone of this wedding site which is so different from the usual wedding business

·         A Practical Wedding: the motto of this site is: “weddings. minus the insanity. plus the marriage”, it offers wedding planning for ‘normal’ people,  and I tell you there are not too many normal people in the wedding planning business ;-)

·         Brooklyn Bride: pure eye candy, the most beautiful photos you can think of, many ideas are quite over-the-top, but that is what you need as inspiration

·         Jesse and Deanna: a blog about the wedding of Deanna and Jesse, the wedding is over, but the ideas and the heart-warming stories live on, start with their first post in 2007 and work your way towards their big day in 2008, you won’t regret it

·         Theresa heiratet: the story of a young woman who suddenly turns into a bride-to-be, she takes you dress-shopping, to her meeting with the priest, to her hens night and all the other parts of a wedding planning process, hilarious and soooo true, unfortunately in German only

I hope you enjoy a bit of wedding inspiration, nostalgia, kitsch, romanticism or porn, no matter whether you are newly-wed, a bride-to-be, married for ages or single.

Birthday in a Box

It’s my lovely brother-in-law’s birthday and since he is on the road today – without a proper birthday party – I gave him a birthday in a box to take with him.

It contains:

·         A self-made garland
·         Some balloons
·         A birthday candle
·         A chocolate “cake” – well actually it is one of these
·         Some birthday music
·         And of course: a birthday surprise

Well, it won’t replace a party with 50 of his closest friends, a real chocolate cake or a girl jumping out of the later one, but I am sure he will get this once he is back at home anyway.

So, have a happy, happy birthday, dear T.! I hope you have a wonderful day! And yes, the chocolate is all yours, you don’t have to share it with anyone today! Not even my lovely sister.

Baby-Proof your Home – part I

Every Monday I will post something related to babies: inspiration, craft projects, baby news, and discoveries I have made in this new and exciting world for me. I hope you come along on that rollercoaster ride with me.

* * *

If your little one is suddenly (or not so suddenly like mine ;-)) starting to crawl, it is time to have a close look at your home.

The best advice I got so far is: GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES

You really cannot tell what might be exciting (aka dangerous) as long as you don’t put yourself into baby’s perspective. Babies are extremely curious and I didn’t want to limit her movement to a radius of 1 m in a playpen. Therefore I carefully looked for:

Toxic things (washing powder, detergents, plants, cigarettes, alcohol, medicine,...)

Picture found here

Things that could fall onto her (anything leaned against the wall like pictures or mirrors, heavy or breakable items that could be pulled from tables, sideboards or shelves, table cloths of which she can pull all things at once,...)

Picture found here

Things she could fall down or onto (furniture with sharp edges or corners, stone window sills or glass tables, stairs...)

Picture found here

Hot or electric things (candles, oven, stove, electronic appliances, power outlets,...)

Picture found here

Sharp objects (forks, knifes, scissors,...)

Picture found here

Things you don’t want to be broken or stained

Picture found here

That is all for the moment, I think, but please let me know if you can think of anything else.

The next part of the baby-proof series is going to follow as soon as my little one has taken the next developmental step. Walking probably?