The Last Fourteen

Dear Everyone,

Christmas is over, sadly, but that also means it's less than a year til next Christmas. I still have some days left to spend at home, which I'm really grateful for. Today I want to share with you the last fourteen products that have been inside my Advent Calendar. Enjoy!

Door 11: From Douglas' own make is this dark red nail polish. One layer is enough to get full coverage and it's the perfect Christmas colour.

Door 12: There's been another I love... bubble bath and shower gel inside the Advent Calendar. This time it's Mango&Papaya scented, which smells just as good as the other one.

Door 13: I was really happy about the Rexaline X-treme Eraser, which is supposed to lift and erase wrinkles. I use it every night now.

Door 14: The NYX Eye Pencil in the shade 937 Silver Glitter was a nice present for my Mum. 

Door 15: Another product from venus was the rich body cream. It's really moisturizing and helps with dry skin.

Door 16: I can't wait to try the IsaDora Nude Fluid Foundation in summer, because at the moment it is a bit dark for me. I also like the little glass bottle, it's just cute.

Door 17: The Jette Sensual Showergel smells incredibly good and I like all the travel sizes in the Calendar, because it means I can try lots of different products. 

Door 18: Along with that came the Jette Sensual Bodylotion. 

Door 19: The Viva La Juicy miniature perfum by Juicy Couture is the cutest thing ever. Everything is better as a mini version.

Door 20: Behind this door I found the Annayake Ultimate Anti-Wrinkle cream, which I can't wait to use. 

Door 21: The Hilfiger Woman Peach Blossom Bodywash smells of spring time, like sunshine and butterflies, it's a heavenly scent.

Door 22: The German singer Helene Fischer released her own scent called That's me! It is a sweet scent you can wear every day. 

Door 23: I was really excited about the Smashbox Photo Finish Primer, because I wanted to try something from Smashbox for a really long time now. 

Door 24: The final and biggest surprise was a full size Toni Gard perfum. It's called my Honey and I can't wait to wear it. 

It was great opening the Advent Calendar every day and I had a great Christmas with my family. I hope you enjoyed the holidays too and have some great final days of 2015.

See you! 

Home Sweet Home

Dear Everyone,

I am sorry I haven't posted in a long time. It's been some busy days. On Saturday I was doing last bits of Christmas shopping in London and on Sunday I flew back home to Germany. It was quite an adventure, because my bus was on a huge delay, but I made it to the airport just one hour before my flight, sharing a cab with three lovely people who also went home for Christmas. I hope they have an amazing time, just like me. 

On Monday and Tuesday my family and I have been to two Christmas Markets and I ate a lot of sweet things and drank Mulled Wine. Today we did all our grocery shopping for dinner tomorrow. In Germany we celebrate on Christmas Eve and open our presents then. We're going to spend the day with my Grandma and Uncle, having Christmas Tea and Dinner. I am absolutely happy to be back home and I am going to make the most of my time here. 

I wish you a very merry Christmas and a jolly time with your family!

See you!

It's Starting To Feel A Lot Like Christmas

Dear Everyone, 

I have no idea for a blogpost today so I thought, I'd just write about a few things that have been going on this week. 

When I came home on Sunday night my host family had bought a Christmas Tree and decorated the house. It helped a lot to get me into the Christmas mood, but it's still hard feeling all festive when it's 16°C outside. I can't wait to go home to Germany on Sunday, although I know it won't be any more wintery there. 

On Monday my host Mum, J and I made a Gingerbreadhouse. We make one at home every year and they said I'm a real expert in Gingerbreadhouse-making. I also got my Christmas present that day, but I didn't open it yet. I put it under the Christmas Tree with all the other presents that are already there.

The next day J and I had waffles for breakfast and he asked me what to put on them, because he thinks I am the master of Christmas and therefore know how to eat waffles properly. He didn't know, but deep down it made me really proud and happy to be called the master of Christmas, because it's just my favourite season.

Yesterday we made some stars out of old newspaper to hang on to the Christmas Tree. They look pretty amazing and were easy to make, so it was a lot of fun. And then I got another Christmas and Birthday present today from Celine. I didn't have anything for her, so I am a bit ashamed, but it was lovely that she thought of me and I really like the presents. It's an paint your own (Minion) mug and some christmasy sprinkles I'll use for baking when I go home.

That's all I have to talk about today.

See you!  

Singing Christmas Songs

Dear Everyone,

a very festive weekend has passed and on Sunday I'll finally make my way home to Germany for Christmas. Of course I can't come home with empty bags. That's why on Saturday I went Christmas shopping on Oxford Street and Regent Street. I knew it would be crowded and unnerving, but I did it anyway. Now I have most presents and only need a few more little things. I think nearly everyone in London is in a christmasy mood, because we saw a lot of people wearing Christmas jumpers, silly glasses or hair accessories and there were about one hundred Santas riding bikes along Oxford Street. 

On Sunday myself and two other Aupairs met to go see the exhibitions in the Serpentine Gallery and the Serpentine Sackler Gallery. After a delicious lunch we made our way to the Royal Albert Hall to join a Christmas Carol Singalong. We thought it would be a formal concert, but it was one big party. The choir and orchestra were incredible and everyone singing together just felt amazing. Especially after they played Let It Go and Snow Is Falling. Those were my favourite songs. I nearly screamed along, not being the best singer. But it was just too fun. Also there were people wrapped in Christmas lights or decorating their seats. They were just loving Christmas. Also the Royal Albert Hall is a beautiful arena and worth seeing from the inside. 

I'm still hoping you're all having a wonderful time too. 

See you!

Beauty Advent Calendar

Dear Everyone,

now there's only about one and a half weeks left til I go home for Christmas. I am super excited to see my family and friends, especially my little brother Hans and my best friend Romy. To make the time of waiting feel shorter my Mum gave me the Douglas Advent Calendar this year. Douglas is a German perfumery chain everyone knows. At least in Germany. Today I wanted to show you what's been behind the first ten doors of the Advent Calendar, because I love beauty and have a lot of fun opening them every day. 

Door 1: The venus shea butter hand cream came in really handy (see what I did there? :D) as I just run out of my old hand cream.

Door 2: The IsaDora Flashing Volume Instant Effect Mascara has the perfect size to take home with me over the holidays.

Door 3: I always wanted to try a product by the brand I love... Now I have their Raspberry&Blackberry bubble bath and shower gel, which smells like red gummibears.

Door 4: The BeYu eyeshadow is a dark brown colour with purple shimmer. Unfortunately I'm not too keen on wearing dark eyeshadow, but I like that it is a full size. 

Door 5: The scent Club by Mercedes Benz is a fresh scent for men. I will probably end up giving it to my brother, although I really like the design of the bottle.

Door 6: When I opened this door, I was jumping around my room, because of joy. It's a full size eos lipbalm in Vanilla Bean. I just love the smell and how it feels on your lips.

Door 7: The shower gel AN`NA by Annayake has a lovely lemony smell, that reminds me of a friend at home.

Door 8: The Douglas Naturals Face Day Cream for sensitive skin is perfect for the colder months we're facing.

Door 9: Another product by venus is the Moisturizing Mask. I can't wait to use this in the bath tomorrow.

Door 10: Today I got the Anny Medium File Mini, which is always useful to have in your handbag. I am not a fan of pink, but I can live with the color. 

Would you like to see, what else is inside the Advent Calendar once I opened more doors? Let me know.

See you!

Countdown To Christmas

Dear Everyone,

I am so happy December is finally here. It means everyone feels the Christmas spirit, there are a lot of Christmas Markets to go to and a lot of beautiful decorations to admire. That's why this weekend was an all around Christmas weekend. 

On Saturday Celine and I took the Tube to London Bridge and went to the busy Borough Market. It was a food paradise and a lot of nice sellers let us try some of their delicious products. Then we made our way along the Thames to Tate Modern, where a small but lovely Christmas Market is. After drinking Hot Chocolate and eating some sweets we went on til we reached Westminster Bridge, where we crossed to make our way to Trafalgar Square. Its Christmas Tree is a little bit disappointing, because it is leaning to one side and kind of slim. But it is a lovely present Norway makes London every year. 

From Trafalgar Square we went to Covent Garden, because I wanted to see the Christmas Train build of Lego bricks. We then went to Pizza Express before we saw 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - The Musical' at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. It was incredible. The songs are catchy and it is so funny. If you are an Au pair living in London, I definitely recommend going to see a play at least once. 

On Saturday we took the Tube all the way to North Greenwich, to see the Coca Cola Christmas Truck in front of The O2. They even had fake snow and free soda for everyone, which was fantastic. The O2 is huge. It's basically an arena and build around it is like a shopping center, but only with restaurants and there is a cinema as well as a bowling center. You can also climb over The O2, which is now on my list of things I want to do while I'm in London. Celine and I also had a really lovely walk along the Thames Path where you have an amazing view over Canary Wharf. Afterwards we warmed up with a White Hot Choclate and then went home.

I hope you're feeling all jolly and festive too.

See you!

Dressed Up

Dear Everyone, 

today I have a different type of post for you, one my male friends probably won't be too interested in. But I love fashion and clothes and therefore also want to write about them here on my blog. I thought I would just show you some of the outfits I wore during the last weeks, which I really liked. But before we come to that, I have a funny little mid-week update:

J's Granddad from Northern Ireland is spending the week in London and staying in our house. And I don't understand a word he's saying. It's not just because of his strong accent, but also because he mumbles. The other day we had a conversation that basically consisted of him asking questions and me going 'pardon?' or 'sorry, I couldn't understand you.' So after nearly ten minutes of this I gave up and just smiled and nodded. 

But now let's move on to my outfits. My style is pretty simple, and if you'd ask my friends, they would tell you I mostly wear black and white. They are right and they love to mock me about it. I just like simple clothes you can wear with everything without it getting to wild and mixed up. To spice my outfits up a little bit, I recently discovered the power of different jackets, blazers or gillets you can use to put on top of your outfit to give it a final touch. So here you go: 

I am normally not a person for mixing patterns, but I kind of like how my shirt goes with that beautiful, oriental wall.

I love simple jeans and T-shirt looks and throwing over a coloured leather jacket to make it look more interesting. 

Simple black and white combinations is what I feel most comfortable in. (And can you tell I love this pose for photos? :D) 

Layering multiple jackets is something I just recently tried. Here I'm wearing a knitted long cardigan without sleeves under my leather jacket to keep me warm.

And finally, I love all black looks and to break the monotony I pair it with my blue leather jacket.

I hope there are people who like to read those kind of blogposts. Let me know, whether you liked it.

See you!

Loving London

Dear Everyone,

after a fabulous weekend I am sitting in my bed writing this post and I realise once again that I absolutely love London. I fall in love with it again and again every day and when I see the Shard and the Gherkin in the distance from a hilltop it strikes me each time, that I live here. I am not an ordinary tourist anymore.

So this Saturday I got to know a new part of London: Hampstead. Hampstead is truly beautiful. There are so many nice houses and busy streets, but also the Hampstead Heath park, where you can take long walks and you have a great view over London from Parliament Hill. That's exactly what I did, taking a nice and long walk through Hampstead. Unfortunately I had to go back home in the afternoon to babysit, but I will definitely come back to Hampstead.

Today we went to the British Museum, which holds huge collections of artefacts from Africa to Ancient Greece and Iron Age Britain. After wandering around for some hours we still didn't see everything, but left to get lunch at Nando's. Then we walked over New Oxford Street, High Holborn, Chancery Lane and Fleet Street to St. Paul's Cathedral. Before we attended an Advent Procession, we crossed the Millenium Bridge and enjoyed the great picture of London at dawn. The Advent Procession was magical with everyone singing together and lots of candles burning. It also gave us the chance to go inside St. Paul's for free. 

I hope you all had a great first Advent.

See you!

Escape To The Sea

Dear Everyone,

about a month ago it was Half Term and as Jack went to Northern Ireland to visit his grandparents with his Dad, I had the week off. I decided to spend a couple of days in Brigthon. I first visited Brighton in 2013 on a school trip and fell in love. So I always knew I wanted to come back, if I got the chance. And there it was. 

On Monday morning I set off by bus on a nearly two hours ride, after which I arrived at my hostel. I've never stayed in a hostel before, but have to say it is a great experience. There were people from all over the world and I met another German girl, who was really nice. As I didn't really plan my trip, the first day I spent walking along the pier and beach, enjoying the sound of the waves and inhaling the salty breeze. 

The next day I visited the Royal Pivilion, one of the most magnificent and beautiful buildings I know. I love all the details, Eastern elements and the gold. After marveling at all the rooms, I went to the Booth Museum of National History, which mainly contained stuffed birds, animals and skeletons. Then I visited the Hove Museum and Art Gallery. I finished off this day of walking and museums by having a nice Italian dinner. 

Wednesday was shopping day. I started by walking along the big shopping roads, which are West Street, Western Road, North Street and East Street. I've also been to Primark and the Churchill Shopping Square Centre, before I had all you can eat lunch at an Indian restaurant. All full and satisfied I started to walk through the Lanes, which I absolutely love. The small independent shops are all so cute, that's why the Lanes are one of my favourite places in Brighton.

On my last day I woke up early to pack all my stuff and check out on time. I then walked to London Road where I had a look at all the shops. After I made my way to the North Laines, a great place to wander around and shop too, it started raining. I decided to have Lunch at Burger&Cocktails, which was delicious. I spent more than two hours there, because I didn't want to go back outside in the rain. After this time I already made friends with the waiter. That is what I love about British people, they are all so welcome and friendly to you. To bridge the time till my bus left for London in the evening, I went back to Churchill Square. At least I had a roof over my head there. Later that night I arrived in London, exhausted, but also really relaxed and happy from my short holiday.

If you ever have the chance to visit Brighton, do it! That's all I have to say. Maybe you know some other nice cities woth seeing in England?

See you!

Christmas Time Has Started

Dear Everyone,

another busy weekend has passed and for me it is now officially Christmas time. Last week has been quite busy, that's why I didn't find time to write a post. But I am back with a lot to tell about this weekend. 

On Saturday I slept in and took time to get ready. I was meeting Celine for Lunch at Dudley's, the best Pancake House here in Barnet. After that we went to the cinema to see 'Mockingjay Part 2', a great film. After seeing it I really want to reread the book, because there are a few things I didn't remember anymore. When we left the cinema it was already dark, although it was just about 4:30pm. Nevertheless we took the Tube to Hampstead and wandered around in the dark for a bit and I can tell by that, Hampstead is a beautiful area in London. 

Sunday was even more exciting, because Celine and I went to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. The Brits really tried to make it look and feel like a German Christmas Market, but it just wasn't the same. It was more like a leisure park with a lot of rides. But nearly every advertisement was written in German, which was quite funny. And it didn't feel weird to order a Bratwurst or Glühwein. I feel like the only thing we did was eating and drinking and walking around for hours, but there was just so much to see. After we had enough, we walked to Buckingham Palace and then wandered through Green Park and St. James's Park, till we ended up at River Thames. We had a walk along it and went back home when we couldn't take the cold anymore. It's freezing here now, and I am not sure yet, if I like winter this year or not. 

I hope you're all feeling the Christmas spirit already and I wish you a merry and jolly time.

See you!

The Lord Mayor's Show

Dear Everyone,

this Saturday was the Lord Mayor's Show in London, a parade to celebrate the new Lord Mayor of the City of London. The City of London is also known as the Square Mile, an independent county in the heart of London. There's a new Lord Mayor elected every year, who then lives in Mansion House. We've been to the parade on Saturday and although we spent two hours watching in the rain, it was fantastic. So much to see and good vibes all around. Brits know how to celebrate. 

After getting all wet we warmed up again in Starbucks, before we went on wandering through London. We wanted to go to the Bank of England Museum, but it was closed. So we decided to just walk around and see where we would land. In the end we saw St Paul's Cathedral at night, which was intimidating and a bit scary. Over Strand and Aldwych we made our way to Covent Garden where we watched a street performer and found the most magnificent Christmas tree. After a short walk to Leicester Square we left the theatre-goers behind and went back home. 

On Sunday we took it easy and took the Tube all the way out to Wembley Stadium, just wandering around all day. We also saw the X-Factor studios and that was about it. Next weekend is already planned and I can't wait.

See you!

What I've Learned

Dear Everyone,

after I moved out of my home and came to England I learned and lot of things. I had to become more independent, but I'm also talking about things I learned about Britain and Brits. So here's a list of what I've learned so far. 

1) Not all British people love tea and drink it whenever they can. I live in a family that highly praises coffee and I never saw anyone in this house drinking a cup of tea, except for me. 

2) The weather isn't as bad as its reputation might suggest. It is not raining for days and it is not constantly grey and windy. The way I would describe the weather is moody and changeable. Let me tell you about the weather today for example. The morning started off dull and when I was on a walk with Harry it started raining. This lasted for about two hours and suddenly the sun shone bright and there were no clouds. Then it rained again and now there is sun again. So you see, the problem with English weather is you never know what you will get exactly.

3) The Irish accent is just like a noise and doesn't sound like separate words. Living with an Irish Dad, who says so himself, I can confirm this. Sometimes I am just sittig there being like 'What did he just say? Was he even talking to me?'

4) Keeping a house clean, doing the laundry and cooking for yourself isn't difficult at all. It just takes up time you have been willing to spend. But let me tell you one thing: caring for yourself, seeing the house shiny after two hours of cleaning and eating something you cooked yourself make you really happy and proud.

5) In London every day of October is Halloween and now that November has started, it's officially Christmas. I don't mind, I love it! I mean, just look how beautiful Christmas lights are.

6) London is the place to be, if you love Asian food as much as I do. I've eaten more Indian and Chinese food the past two months than I have the last two years. 

Is there anything you learned when moving out from home and maybe even to another country? Let me know. 

See you!

Week 10 Is Over

Dear Everyone,

it is Monday, which means another week is over. As crazy as it sounds I am now in London for 10 whole weeks. That's about two and a half months! In six weeks I'm going home for Christmas and I am already super excited to see my family and friends. 

But today's post is going to be about last week. Looking back it was quite busy and a whole bunch of things happened.

On Thursday night my fellow Au pair and friend Celine and I wanted to go to the premiere of 'Mockingjay Part 2' at Leicester Square. We were hoping to catch a glimpse at the actors and might even take some pictures. Unfortunately Celine had to work longer than usual, so we arrived there too late. The only thing we saw were men packing together the red carpet and all the cameras and lighting. Nevertheless we stayed for a bit longer and had a walk along the southside of River Thames. London at night is truly magnificent with all its lights, especially now that the Christmas season has begun.

On Friday I had the night off, because J was having a sleepover at a friend's house. So after skyping to my Dad and brothers I was craving Chinese food. I took myself out to dinner, something everyone should do every now and then. 

       

The Weekend started with me waking up already hearing the pouring rain against my window. But I can't complain, I chose England to be my new home. After getting ready and having breakfast I took the Tube into Central London to do a bit of shopping on King's Road. King's Road is, at least till now, my favourite shopping street here in London, although I can't afford to buy anything in about 90% of the shops. After getting really wet from walking I met up with Celine at the National History Museum. We've already been there last week and saw the Dinosaur exhibition and a lot more. This time we went to the Earth Hall. But we didn't stay long, because we already left in the afternoon to go to the Bonfire Night celebration at J's school.

Bonfire Night celebrates the murder of Guy Fawkes, who tried to set the Parliament on fire with his friends. There are fireworks all over town as well as bonfires people gather around to chat and have a jolly evening. At our bonfire there also were stalls where you could buy Hot Chocolate, Burgers, Cakes, Candy Floss and toys. I have to say, altough the reason English people celebrate that nigth is quite macabre, it is one of the nicest holidays I know.

Sunday was a perfect-weather-day. Celine and I went to see the Remembrance Sunday parade at Whitehall in the morning. We didn't see the Queen, but we saw everyone else, being lucky enough to find some poles to stand on, overlooking the crowd of people. After the parade finished we walked along Whitehall to Trafalgar Square and from there we went to Chinatown, where we had an all-you-can-eat lunch. Afterwards we wandered through Soho strolling through some shops and eventually ended up on Oxford Street. From Marble Arch we went back home, being tired from another successful weekend in London. 

If you ever get some questions please feel free to ask them in the comments. I am happy to answer and help. Or just write something nice that is going through your mind. 

See you!