theinbetweenismine

just a girl living the expat life

Archives for July 2010

Project 365

filed under: 365 project, photography

June 7, 2008 - day 341

I think, I will go on a new adventure. A photographic adventure, that is.

I’ve once  – more or less successfully – (almost) completed the 365 self-portraits project (narcissist much?) and it was fun, but I started it when I had way more free time on my hands and much more leisure to explore views and angles and perspectives.

Time is rare these days, but I figure that taking 365 photos of anything (without me having to be part of every single shot) seems much more doable. And it could be fun. And I would have the opportunity to get re-acquainted with my camera, which is something I have hoped to do  for quite a while.

Have I mentioned before that I’ll be heading to Hawaii on Sunday (probably more times than you care to acknowledge ;))?
Well, what could be a better place to start the project, right? Hawaii should provide some of the greatest photogenic subjects that exist, so I plan on making August first my Day 1/365.

If you would like to follow along, I’ll upload all of my photos to my Flickr account.
If you are interested to see which other lovely ladies are currently doing the 365 project, or who have successfully completed a full year already, take a peek over here. (Make sure to also check out the Other 365’ers in the sidebar.)

Things I Love Thursday

filed under: about me, good things, love, TILT

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I’ve seen Things I Love Thursdays pop up on other blogs before, so I thought I’d rise up to the occasion and share some things I love with you.

Right now, I’m loving …

… the fact that I’ve mistaken the State Fair fireworks for rumbling thunder a few days in a row, until I realized that the “thunder” always happened right at 10 o’clock. Oopsies.

… Groupon, LivingSocial, and such  for the fantastic deals they provide. I got tickets for a baseball game tonight (including access to the sportsbar and a souvenir baseball cap) for $16. YES!

… Nan Lawson‘s art. It’s been popping up all over the place (I’ve seen it being mentioned on a couple of websites now and I can’t even remember where I’ve seen it first), but it’s definitely worth taking a peek: check out those awesome prints.

…  my first hot cup of (creamy milk-) coffee in the morning. Makes my day!

…  my new little blender that I bought off Amazon this week. I am looking forward to making smoothies, blended coffees and all other kinds of blended drinks.

… Sudoku puzzles. I swear, it’s addicting. It totally appeals to my nerdy side and it helps me wind down before I go to bed. Some people read before they sleep, I do Sudoku puzzles. Go figure!

… Justine’s Secret Pal project. I think it’s an awesome idea to connect with other bloggers other than through their blogs.

… the opportunity  to take a gazillion (hopefully) breath-taking photos when I go to Hawaii next week.

What are you loving right now?

On that note, I have a little announcement to make, so stop by here tomorrow!

What I’ve been up to…

filed under: about me, good things, my so-called life, nuisance

I’ve been quite busy the last few weeks. Busy with all kinds of exciting – and not so exciting – things.

The non-exciting things:

– trying to stay on top of the household chores. I really don’t know how our tiny apartment can accumulate that much dirt/dust over the course of a week. I guess, living downtown comes with a a price, but I swear, I feel like we’re living next to a coal mine (and believe me, I know what that’s like, because my hometown in Germany lies right in the middle of an open-pit mining area.) I really am trying to immediately clean up every mess that I make, but regardless, chores keep piling up towards the end of the week.

– dealing with some health insurance stuff. Frankly, this matter would easily justify its own separate blog post, but since I don’t want to bore you with excruciating details and I don’t want to get more riled up than I already am, I leave you just with one plain and simple: The US health care system makes no sense whatsoever!

The exciting things (including, but not being limited to):

– getting ready for my trip to Hawaii. I feel like I am going on a vacation, although I am damn sure the week is not going to be a walk in the park. We’ll probably work long hours and my boss is not really someone who can turn off his brain when the work day is done. I can already see the three of us bending over our respective laptops processing data at night. Then again, my boss also knows how to have a good time, so there will likely be a lot of exploring of the island, photo-taking and exquisite dining while we’re there. I can’t wait for the nice change of pace from my usual office routine.

– hoping to start some new crafts projects soon. As I blogged here, I am currently working on a baby quilt for my sister, but I am also planning to get back into card-making/stamping and crocheting in the weeks to come.

– planning a belated anniversary trip with J for October. We haven’t decided yet where we want to go, but we’ve been throwing ideas around like San Diego or the Northern Californian Coast. We’re definitely still open to any other suggestions that involve short flights or moderately long car drives. Have at it!

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What have you been up to?

Crafts: a work in progress

filed under: crafts, family, photography

I don’t think I ever reported back to you, but the cross-stitching project went over really well with my sister. She couldn’t believe I really made it myself. Here’s a photo of the finished project:

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It took me 83 hours to finish this (I wrote down every minute I worked on it, just to get an idea of how long it would take me) and I ended up putting it in a black wooden frame. It’s now hung up in my niece’s and nephew’s bedroom and it ties in wonderfully with the rest of the room.

A short while after finishing it, I decided (maybe against better judgment?) that I was going to try and also complete the matching baby quilt. The project above was a counted cross-stitch, in which one usually uses easily countable evenweave fabric called aida cloth and counts the threads in each direction so that the stitches are of uniform size and appearance. The quilt, however, is a stamped cross-stitch, meaning that one simply stitches over the printed pattern on the piece of fabric.

Stamped cross-stitching may sound like a much easier way to work (especially if you’re a beginner), but in all honesty, the counted cross-stitching is much more rewarding. The aida cloth is MUCH easier to work with than trying to stitch evenly on fabric, even with the help of the stamped pattern. Just trust me.

So this is what I am working on right now.

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This is going to be the finished project:

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And this is the fabric that I picked out for the back of the baby quilt. Cute, yes?

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Hopefully I can finish all of this by December. I am contemplating on buying a sewing machine to finish up the back side of the quilt, once I am done with the stitching part. I cannot imagine sewing on the back by hand (sounds insane, right?).

Recipe: A Summer Snack

filed under: food, Germany, recipe

Semolina pudding

This weekend, I didn’t really want to cook and I, having a sweet tooth, had  a craving for one of my Mom’s sweet treats. I don’t know if you were already able to figure out what it is from the picture or if you remember it from earlier posts, because I have talked about it before.

It’s semolina pudding.

It’s super-easy to make and so tasty, so I thought I’d share the recipe with you today. You can pour some raspberry sauce over it, eat it with fresh strawberries or just enjoy it plain.

If you haven’t had it, give it a try. I think you might like it!

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Semolina Pudding

1 liter (34 oz) milk
30g  (1 oz) butter
salt

125g (4.4 oz) semolina (flour)
100g (3.5 oz) sugar

2 egg yolks

Bring milk, butter and salt to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in the semolina and sugar until it thickens.

Stir in 2 whisked egg yolks and pour in a bowl that was rinsed out with cold water.  Sprinkle some sugar on the top. Cool over night and enjoy :)