The happy-list.

Hallo meine Lieben,

happy Sunday to everybody! I hope your weekend is fabulous!
Life can be hard sometimes. or very often...there seem to be so many bad things, you get frustrated and just want to hide under the blanket the whole day. At least that's how I feel sometimes. And on days like that I try to concentrate on the good things in life. I try to see the positive side of things that happens. I know, it isn't always easy but at least you can try. And there are always some things in life that can make you at least smile a little bit. And to remind myself of these things in life, I thought it would be good to create my own "happy-list". Things that make me smile, even when I feel depressed.

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- spending time with animals. No matter if it is a cat or a cow,
   It even makes me happy to carry      a rain worm over the street.
- David.
- my own pets make me happy of course. 
- watching bunnies yawning. It is the most adorable thing to look at. Trust me.
- the smell after a rain shower.
- listening to David's music.
- drinking a great cup of tea.
- reading a book. Especially crime novels. Yeah, reading crime novels makes me happy. 
- petting an animal.
- spending a relaxed evening on the couch with David.
- traveling.
- going to the movie theater. Even when I freeze to death there.
- being in the nature.
- helping somebody.
- blogs.
- window shopping.
- cooking books.
- spending a Sunday at a flea market. 
- watching an episode of one of my favorite shows.
- pasta.
- ice-cream.
- David's smile.
- my friends and family (which includes my pets). 
- smelling my favorite Lush body lotion. 
- laughing out loud.
- Grumpy Cat. 
- seeing a rainbow.
- beautiful flowers, plants, trees.
- looking at old pictures.
- memories of my Mama. 
- when David tries to tickle me.
- taking a bath. 
- looking at my bookshelves.
- hot water bottles. 
- pancakes. Even when the first one I make always looks really terrible.
- dreaming.
- crafting.
- learning something new.
- cuddling with animals.
- doing something good. 
- making a difference.
- playing a board game.
- singing. Even when it sounds horrible. 
- being silly. 

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What's on your happy-list? Have a wonderful week!

My dream home.

Hallo meine Lieben,

it's time for this fun link-up again. I hope you are all having a wonderful week so far! 

I am absolutely in love with this week's topic. I love to build and decorate my perfect house in my dreams. And I can't wait to see yours!

First of all, my dream house is totally unrealistic but that is how I would want to live if I could choose. You are allowed to dream, aren't you?

My house should look like this from the outside.

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So basically. I want to live in an old castle with lots of space and nature around it for all the animals I want to rescue. I need space so I don't want any neighbors or roads around. The castle needs to have at least one huge tower because that is where I want to have my library. A ghost would be nice too. I mean, no old castle without a ghost.

This could be my dining room. 

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It is hard to find pictures of room that look exactly how I want them too but you can't have everything. I would decorate my house with a mixture of new and antique things.

I also like how this room looks.

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The most important room would be my library, located in the tower.

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It needs a fireplace with an old and cozy armchair in front of it. And a globe bar is important. I have always dreamed of a bar like this.

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My kitchen can be a little more modern. Something like the following one. But I would decorate it a little more. Maybe with some old coffee mills...stuff like that.

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And I want a bath tub like this one. In the middle of the bathroom.

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I would like to have a living room with wooden floors which I would decorate with some colorful rugs. I need to have a huge couch where I can relax in the evening. A wooden table would be great. And more book shelves. And of course a fireplace like the  one in the next picture. 

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This looks nice. 

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I would also like to find an antique sideboard like this one. 

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And here is my office space.

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I also need lots of space for animals, a room for David's music studio, maybe a home cinema. 

And last but not least, a bedroom like this one would be nice. I couldn't find anything that looks exactly what I want but I think I would be comfortable in this one.

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I am a huge fan of these 50's tables.

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Oh, and a wall like this would be awesome.

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As I said, I need lots of space for the animals, indoor and outdoor. I want my cute little friend here to be able to live with me.

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I could go on like this forever. It is so much fun to browse the internet and find some inspiration. I really hope that I can have something similar to this one day. As I said, you can dream.

I am sorry about the picture overload, I got a little obsessed.

I would also like to have a little creek that runs through my garden. I want lots of cozy pillows and beautiful colors in my house. I love wooden floors so that is a must. 

How does your dream house look like?

You can link up here.

Have a lovely Thursday!

Ten On Tuesday. Mean English expressions, chips for lunch and cancelled shows.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and are doing fine! I am linking up with lovely Lin from  Linny's Vault for another Ten On Tuesday.

1. I hate the fact that they cancelled "Go On". I really really liked that show and I have no idea why they did not give it a chance. Seems like I have to start to watch Friends again. You can never get enough of that.

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2. It sucks when funny Mother's Day videos make you cry in the end because you are not able to show them to your own Mom.

3. I tend to stress out really easily. So I think I should make a list of things that make me happy. And every time I stress out, I will look at that list, pick something from this list to do, look at, smell, think of, whatever. And hopefully it will make me feel better.

4. My mean English expression of the day is "grocery shopping". I hate to say the word "groceries" so I try to avoid it as much as I can. Instead I say that I need to go to the supermarket. Some words are just not made for Germans. 

5. I think it is a very German thing to end English sentences with "right?". Like "We will go grocery shopping later, right?". I am pretty sure nobody else does that, only Germans. I catch myself doing that a lot.  I think people will always be able to hear my German roots. 

6. It is so funny to see that so many people eat chips for lunch. I have never seen that in Germany.  It is totally normal for Americans but it always makes me laugh when David eats chips with his burger. For me, chips are an evening snack which I eat on my couch while watching a movie.

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7. Well I guess it was weird for David when I told him to eat fried potato patties (in German Reibekuchen, in my dialect Grumperküchelcha) with apple sauce. 

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8. I never check my Facebook feed. 

9. I am absolutely in the mood for some rhubarb pie. Rhabarberkuchen in German. I think I haven't eaten it for over 10 years. 

10. Grumpy Cat must have heard a really awful story. Kidney stones are horrible.

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Remembering my Mama.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday and a happy Mother's Day! I can barely believe that this is the 12th Mother's Day without my Mama. I really wish I could be with her right now. I miss her so much. 

She was the most wonderful person I could ever imagine. So loving and caring and funny and wonderful and beautiful. She was always there for me. And still is. Every time I need some advice I think of her. I wonder what she would do in my position. And that helps me a lot. 
She always helped other, no matter if human being or animal. She offered our house to so many animals in need. She helped people when they had problems. 
She definitely is my hero and will always be. 

I love you, Mama!

Please give your Mom's an extra huge hug today! Every day should be a Mother's Day. I think of my Mom every day and I wish I could tell her what she means to me. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Confessional - Tell a secret.

Hallo meine Lieben!
Happy Thursday!  Please link up here for another Random Thursday post with a fantastic topic.

It is time for some revelations. I am pretty excited to read the other girls' posts.

Secret #1.

When I was a kid I totally looked like a boy.
Must have been at the age of 7 or 8. I did not care for girly stuff like Barbie dolls etc. I played soccer, I loved to play in the mud and get dirty and I had a huge collection of toy cars.
Need proof? 
You can have proof. See here.

This picture was taken at a vacation to the North Sea. There was a group of boys that played soccer together every day. Only boys were allowed to play with them. So I told them that my name was Daniel (that was my parents' choice of a male baby name) and joined their team. They believed me. Even when I was wearing a pink shirt and red pants. My parents had to call me Daniel for the rest of the vacation.
True story. My Dad still loves to tell it and embarrass me. 

Secret #2.

It took me an embarrassing amount of time to figure out what this sign exactly means. 

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I mean, I knew what it stands for but I had no idea that "ped" means
"pedestrians" and how I am supposed to know that 'xing" means "crossing"? I am German! Come on!

Please, tell me your secret!

Have a wonderful day!

Ten On Tuesday. A happy bunny birthday, a guilty pleasure and some wise words.

Hallo meine Lieben,

happy Tuesday, everybody! I hope you are enjoying the day because it is a special one! But we will get to that. 
I am linking up with Lin for another Ten On Tuesday.

1. Happy bunny birthday! Today is Tiffie's fourth birthday! Yay! He is such a lovely little bunny and he and his buddy Findus (together with the cats for sure) make me happy every day! Tiffie, you rock! Alles Liebe zum Ehrentag! Ich lieb' Dich!

Love this picture of him! He is a very laid-back, sweet, cuddly, awesome bunny! 

2. This story of the rescue of a baby goose really warms my heart. It is good to hear some positive stories once in a while. There are too many horrible ones. 

3. I can't find my favorite pair of sunglasses anymore. And that drives me crazy. I know I did not lose them so they must be somewhere. I hate it when I can't find things. So I guess I will have to buy some new sunglasses because my eyes are very sensitive and always hurt when the sun shines (yeah, I know I sound like a wussy but it is how it is). 

4. I want  those.

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5. Do you celebrate your pet's birthdays like human birthdays? I do. 

6. I feel the need to do a puzzle. I even downloaded a puzzle app for my iPad but it is not the same. I need at least 1500 pieces.

7. Tolstoy really was a smart man. Examples?

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8. It is his birthday so I think Tiffie deserves another spot in my Ten On Tuesday. Also I think that it would be a crime not to share his cuteness. 

Can you find the cat in the picture?

9. My guilty pleasure "True Blood" will start again next month. I am a little excited but I already get annoyed when I think about Bill.

10.  I adore Grumpy Cat's wisdom.

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Have a lovely Tuesday!

Favorites.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend! Because of that that I don't feel very creative today and the fact that I like to creative lists, I decided to show you one of the current favorite things in my life.

Book. 

Crime novels for sure. I enjoyed the books by Jussi Adler Olsen so much that I can't wait for the next one to come out. Right now I am reading the latest book by Arnaldur Indridason. After that I want to start reading the crime novels by Ian Rankin.

Krimi Couch

Song. 

Hey Dude by Kula Shaker.  There are many but this was the first one that came into my mind. 

Color. 

bottle-green.

Smell. 

The smell of rain, vanilla, cherries, strawberries. 

Food. 

Potatoes. I could eat potatoes every day.

Drink. 

Ginger Ale. Tea. 

Movie.

I need to watch my all-time favorite Boondock Saints again. And I finally need to watch "Forks over knives". All my favorite movies are pretty "old" to be honest. 

TV show.

Can't get enough of my crime shows: Bones, The Mentalist, Castle. But also: The Big Bang Theory, New Girl, Awkward....and True Blood will start again soon.

Reality TV show. 

What not to wear.

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Thing to do.

The usual. Reading, spending time with my loved ones, eating, being in the nature, shopping, dreaming, cooking. going to flea markets, blogging, being with animals.

Piece of jewelry.

I would love to find an awesome golden bracelet.

Clothes.

The ones I showed you here. I would love to find a maxi dress for summer. And a bottle green dress. 

Breakfast.

Oatmeal with chocolate soy milk and fruits. Mint tea. 

Shoe.

The ones I showed you in my last post. I would also love to find some Toms and some new sandals. 

Dream.

Well, I always get chased by some mysterious killers in my dreams. I don't mind it. Crime is interesting. And usually they don't get me. 

Vacation destination.

On top of my list are still Ireland, Iceland and Christmas Island. I would also love to see San Francisco.

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City.

Amsterdam. Love to spend time there. Cities I want to travel to are San Francisco, Dublin, Rejkjavik, Stockholm, Delhi. 

Fruit.

Kiwi. Now that I know that you can eat them with the peel. Also cherries, strawberries and pomegranates. But I love all fruits. 

Vegetable. 

Broccoli. Pretty much anything except of onions. 

Superhero.

Capt'n Planet.

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Quote.

Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind.
Albert Schweitzer 

Ask the experimenters why they experiment on animals, and the answer is: "Because the animals are like us." Ask the experimenters why it is morally okay to experiment on animals, and the answer is: "Because the animals are not like us." Animal experimentation rests on a logical contradiction. 
Charles R. Magel


The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
Gandhi


Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.
Albert Einstein

Magazine.
Neon is my favorite. I do love cooking, animal, fashion, entertainment, DIY magazines. 

Actor.
Joaquin Phoenix and Ewan Mc Gregor. 

Singer.
Robbie Williams, Tom Smith from The Editors and Jake Snider from Minus The Bear. And David of course.

Tree.
There is a really old and huge oak tree in my hometown in Germany. That's the best tree I have ever seen.

Item on my wishlist.
A case for my iPad and books.

Recipe I want to try.
I got a new vegan cooking book from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and I want to try all her recipes. I just won't use any onions.

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Sport.
Fußball. I am German. But I will try to understand the rules of Baseball. 

Band.
Kula Shaker, Oasis, Tocotronic, Minus The Bear, The Editors, The Beatles, Refused, Blur, Suede, Die Sterne, Beatsteaks, Ash...my taste in music hasn't really changed since I was a teenager. 

PS: My friend Martha is hosting an awesome giveaway. You can win one of three beautiful eye shadow palettes. You can enter here!

Have a lovely Sunday!