Let's Go To The Beach

Dear Everybody,

I am sitting in my room and after days of sunshine the rain has come back to London. So let's talk about my weekend which was sunny and beautiful.

On Saturday I had to look after J till about 3pm. I still made it to Waterloo Place, where I met Celine, in time to see a good bit of the Pride Parade. It was incredible colourful and diverse, with proudness and happiness all around. After the Parade we kept on celebrating on Trafalgar Square and because of the showers coming down from time to time, there was an actual rainbow. It was kind of magical.

On Sunday we went on a daytrip to Brighton. It is so easy to reach from London and makes a great destination on a sunny day. We went to the pier and it was the first time I actually went on one of the rides. Then we had a long walk along the beach and went shopping in the Lanes. Of course we had to stop by the Royal Pavilion to snap some pictures and have Fish 'n Chips for lunch.

See you!

Smile And The World Smiles Back At You

Dear Everybody,

I haven't been up to much this weekend but I thought I'd still write a short post. I am just trying to fully enjoy the last few weeks I have left in London. I can't believe that I'll be going home at the beginning of August and my heart doesn't really want to leave yet. But I am making the best of my time, having fun and smiling at the incredible world we live in.

On Saturday Celine and I visited the Charles Dickens Museum. It is set in the house Dickens used to live in during his time spent in London. You can learn a lot about the famous author's life and his work, marvel at original furniture like the desk he used to write on and see originals of his books. For fans of great British literature this museum is a must-see.

On Sunday I decided to go for a nice relaxed stroll on Oxford Street. I never thought this possible, but if you are not in a rush and just want to browse through the shops, it isn't as horrible as you'd think it would be. 

I also went to the National Gallery to see the 'Dutch Flowers' Exhibition. It was beautiful and extremely satisfying seeing this rather small room filled with paintings of colourful bouquets. 

In the evening I met up with Celine to go to one of the shows of the Udderbelly Festival at the Southbank. We saw the Pun Run which was hilarious. Listening to puns for one hour left my tummy hurting from laughing. My favourite sketch was two guys dressed up as Mrs Bee and Mr Bee. There are just too many good puns with bee. 

See you!

My Favourite Highlighters

Dear Everybody,

today I want to share with you my favourite highlighters. Over the last year or so, highlighter has become my favourite make-up product to use. So here we go:

These were the first two highlighters I owned. As you can see, they are travel sized, because I purchased them inside benefit's super affordable make-up kits. High Beam is a rosy colour with silver shimmer which I love for autumn and winter because of the cool tone. Watts up! on the other hand is a bronzy champagne that looks super pretty on tanned skin in the summer.

Just recently I bought this tarte Rainforest of the Sea Skin Twinkle Lighting Palette, which I am extremely happy about. It was out of stock on all major make-up websites, so I ordered it off ebay. The left colour, called sunlight, is the cooler toned highlighter in the palette, which again I would prefer wearing in the colder months. At the moment I am obsessed with the right colour called moonlight, the perfect tanned highlighter. 

What are your favourite highlighters?
See you!

Laughing Out Loud

Dear Everybody,

I had a fantastic weekend. Although I didn't have anything planned really (as usual), except for going out on Saturday night, it was a lovely weekend most Londoners probably spent celebrating the Queen's official birthday. I only saw the Trooping of the Colour on TV while getting ready on Saturday morning. But I've been at Trafalgar Square with Celine in time to at least watch the Fly By of the Royal Air Force. Celine managed to snap a beautiful picture which I don't want to hold back. 

After the spectacle ended we headed to Oxford Street to browse some shops and just have a relaxing stroll. In the afternoon we went to the Magnum Pleasure Store on South Molton Street. It is off Oxford Street near Bond Street station. The pop-up store gives you the chance to create your own luxurious, delicious (and Instagram-worthy) Magnum Ice Cream. You will have the chance to go there until September, so there is still a lot of summer days left to let your imagination run free and create the perfect ice cream.

After weeks of anticipation, on Saturday we finally went to see Whose Line Is It Anyway Live at the Palladium. WLIIA is an improv show that kicked off on TV in the Eighties. It's hard to explain what is going on during the performance to someone who doesn't know the show. I suggest, if you ever have time to spare and you want to watch something funny, look it up on Youtube. I laughed for 2.5 hours straight and had one of the best nights out. 

On Sunday we took it easy and basically only waited for the little parade going along with the Patron's Lunch on the Mall (which, sadly, we didn't attend because tickets were 150 pounds...). As the weather wasn't too great after that we just treated ourselves to a feast at PizzaHut (again) and went to Covent Garden afterwards. 

I hope you had a great weekend.

See you!

Great German Expressions

Dear Everybody,

after living in London for 9 months I am much more used to express myself in English than in German. Still, sometimes I'm missing some great expression that exist in my mother tongue but not in English. Luckily, talking to my friends I can just literally translate them and they'll understand. This can sound quite funny and that's why I wanted to share some of my favourites with you.

Practising makes the master

This one is kind of self-explanatory. I stumbled across it when I was doing maths homework with my host kid and him complaining that he doesn't know his timestables. So I told him: practising makes the master. No one is born mastering multiplication or anything else, like a sport or music instrument. But through practise and training you can become a master. 

The jumping point

Is the crucial, most important argument or point someone can make. I just love imagining a little dot happily hopping over a piece of paper.

Stop the monkey theatre!

Another thing I would love to tell my host kid sometimes. Making a monkey theatre basically means making a fuss about nothing, exaggerating or being overly silly. And when my host kid is arguing with me, although I already won, I am often tempted to cease our discussion with this line.

A Perfect Day In London

Dear Everybody,

I am back working after my week off. Sorry I haven't posted twice last week, but because I was out everyday, coming home late, I didn't feel like writing a post in the middle of the night. I had a great time and I am really relaxed. That's also thanks to the sun that came back out on Sunday and brought extreme heat. I spent one of my best days in London so far, although I didn't do much. But I thought it may be an inspiration for some of you on how to enjoy a sunny day in London.

Start your day off with a nice picnic in Green Park. Take some friends, make sandwiches, buy snacks and strawberrys and get something to drink. Sunbathing and frolicking in the sun is even better when you put on some music and bring small games. We forgot the time and after three hours of laziness we made our way to the Southbank.

There is always something going on here. During the summer a lot of food and bar vans can be found. At the moment there even is a huge sandpit to enjoy your cocktails and the sun in. You'll also find ice cream trucks en masse, but even more exciting than that is the pink doubledecker bus used by SNOG bringing you delicious Frozen Yoghurt. Enjoy it while sitting on one of the deckchairs overlooking the Thames or being lucky enough to catch a seat on the upper deck of the bus. 

See you!