Archives for March 2012

Friday Link Love

March 30, 2012 filed under: link love

To Thine Own Self Be True by Mandy (Knowing the Difference). Sometimes it’s hard to be yourself, but it’s always worth it!

Coming home to your shoes by Hannah Katy (Hannah Katy). Sad, but beautifully written.

Care by Nilsa (Somi Speaks). Don’t get me started on the health care debate!

Revealing everything by Ashley (Writing to reach). Do YOU reveal everything?

In defense of women who want a relationship by Eleni (Eleni Zoe). What’s wrong with wanting a relationship?

Are there any blog posts that you’d like to recommend to me this week?
Happy Friday, peeps!

The science of sleep, or something

March 29, 2012 filed under: about me, fierce love

Remember how I tackled my morning routine a couple of weeks ago? I am happy to report that I am still sticking to it (most days) and love the little bit of ‘down time’ with which I get to start my days now. In fact, I am kind of giddy to get up in the morning and to hear my coffee maker start automatically when I am in the bathroom getting ready. However, it has become blatantly clear to me that, while I love getting up a bit earlier to enjoy my mornings, I do have to work on my night routine. And with that, I mean my sleeping patterns.

As it stands, I get 6,5 hours of sleep right now (on average) during my work week and while this may be enough for a lot of people and I am able to function fine on 6,5 hours of sleep, I know that I would love to get at least 7 hours every night, 8 would be even better.
On the weekends, if I don’t have to be anywhere the next morning, I sleep anywhere from 8 to 12 hours a night – easily. They say that you can’t really ‘catch up’ on sleep, but I can only assume that this is what my body is doing.

The dilemma is this: I know I’ll always be tired in the morning if I don’t get enough sleep, but it’s so hard for me to implement an earlier bed time, because my evenings are always so short and there are so many things I want to do. I know that sleep should have as much, if not more, weight in the decision on how I spend my time when I am not at work, but during the week, it always gets cut short in favor of other activities/chores.

And then, to make it even more difficult, I think there is an adjustment period to a certain (longer) sleep pattern, because if I occasionally manage to pull myself away from the computer/TV/a book/J/you-name-it earlier than usual and head to bed early and actually do get more sleep during the night, I am typically even more exhausted the next morning than I usually am.

Does that sound familiar to anyone?

Maybe I do fine with 6,5 hours of sleep, maybe that is my “happy average”? But then why am I often tired in the morning? And why do I crash like this on the weekends? Is there even an average amount of sleep that makes us feel most energetic, or is this just a hypothesis and in fact unrealistic because our need for sleep changes with every day circumstances?

As I am still in the “testing phase” of finding a new, better!, sleep pattern to compliment my improved morning routine, I am really looking for some insight and experience from you:

How much sleep do you get during the week? Or on the weekend?
Do you feel sleep-deprived or are you pretty happy with the sleep you’re getting?
What’s your night routine?

Weekend Recap Bullet-Style

March 26, 2012 filed under: food, home, weekend

Things I did this weekend:

• We watched “Real Time” with Bill Maher on Friday. This show alone pretty much justifies our cable subscription. It’s my favorite thing to watch on Friday nights.

• I went to the gym not once, but twice. Yay! One of those times, I saw a girl working out with a scrunchie and a disc-man. Ha, so 90’s.

• I wrote some birthday cards, sorted and filed bills, and cleaned up our dining room. (I have a tendency to pile all papers that arrive during the week on our dining table and I know it’s a bad habit. I need to find a dedicated place for new bills/mailings.)

• I had a long phone talk with my sister on Friday morning. Often when we talk, I forget that she’s 6000 miles away. Talks with my sister are the best. Just sayin’.

• I studied for the civics test for my Citizenship Interview.

• I went out to a (very) late brunch with J on Sunday. Sunday brunches are my favorite. Last week I went to brunch with Katherine (hooray!) and if anyone wants to volunteer for brunch next week, I am in!

• I took a Sunday afternoon nap, and I think I could get used to that.

Things I did not do:

• I didn’t see the Hunger Games, like ~~all~~ many of you did. My Twitter feeds were crammed with Hunger Games updates.

• I didn’t send off my taxes (as I had planned to do), mainly because I currently don’t have a printer at home and I couldn’t print anything for my records. Duh.

• I didn’t participate in the #twookclub chat this month, because I didn’t read the book “Extremely loud and incredibly close” by Jonathan Safran Foer. I had once before started the book and put it down half way through because I couldn’t get into it at all. While I usually try to finish pretty much any book that I start, it wasn’t worth it for me to force myself through a book that I didn’t enjoy.

Other good things this weekend:

sleeping in ♥ a phone talk with a dear friend ♥ tea ♥ warm, fresh bread ♥ Draw Something ♥ Real Simple magazine ♥ blue skies ♥ oven fries ♥ a new sports bra (sorry if that’s TMI) ♥

How was your weekend, peeps?

2012 in pictures: week 12

March 25, 2012 filed under: a year in pictures

in my home // fajitas // Ferrero //
clouds // magazine // favorite Müsli //
me // our double-sink // breakfast //

(Friday) Saturday Link Love

March 24, 2012 filed under: link love

I’ve been slacking a bit with collecting links the last two weeks, so I’m pretty sure I missed to copy some worthwhile reads, but here’s at least a short list.

My sister’s keeper by Hannay (Hannah just breathe). I have a special bond with my sister, too.

Making it up by Lauren (Lauren from Texas). Make up and being real.

Doing my own thing by Lesley (Lesley Myrick). On being authentically YOU.

Germans confused over U.S. Healthcare debate by Miriam Widman (The Lund Report). Interesting take on the health care debate.

Trayvon Martin by Katelin (Pretty Sandy Feet) and Grace (Sunshine and Potatoes). This story is so heart-breaking that I don’t even know what to say except for: repeal ridiculous gun laws in this country!

QLC bloggers over at Stratejoy. Those are some inspiring stories, you guys. I can so relate.

Are there any blog posts that you’d like to recommend to me this week?
Happy ~~Friday~~ Saturday, peeps!

Blog Positivity Week: A Thank You

March 23, 2012 filed under: about me

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” Friendship isn’t one big thing. It’s a million little things.”

-unknown

I think I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that all but one or two of my closest friends I met through letter-writing/blogging/the Internet. I used to have a core group of friends when I still lived in Germany, but a break up and a 6000-miles-away-from-home move later, not many of those friends have remained. Since then, I have relied heavily on making friends through my blog and other social media sites. I am not – and never have been – a person who goes out a lot and introduces herself to people, I am usually the quiet observer and hardly ever make the first move IRL. Through my blog, however, I feel more confident to approach people and putting myself out there, because by the time I communicate with people directly through email or chat, we learned so much about each other already that the chances of being rejected are pretty slim (although I am aware that it can still happen).

Today I want to say thank you to the blogoshphere for so many positive experiences and for introducing me to so many amazing people, some of whom have turned into most certainly life-long friends!

I am thankful for the community. Going from being part of a group of friends to literally not having any local friends around has been tough and I appreciate the sense of belonging that my online friends have provided. Even though many of you also live not quite around the corner, I have a place to go to on a daily basis to connect and interact with you.

I am thankful for exchanging encouraging comments, cheerful tweets, little rants and heartfelt “Me, too”s. You don’t know how much those little things make my every day!

I am thankful for the openess. Some of you are incredibly honest and you share your stories and tell your truth without holding back. I admire that and know that by doing so you have touched the lives of many and have also helped others to feel understood and not so alone.

I am thankful for the knowledge and expertise that so many of you share. I’ve learned so much from reading your DIYs, How to’s and most importantly your “This-is-how-I-manage” -posts. It’s so encouraging to know that we can learn so much from each other in so many ways!

I am thankful for the inspiration that I find on blogs on a daily basis. May it be that you’re sharing your favorites products, your favorite books, a quote or a song. Or may it be pointing me in the direction to other, new-to-me blogs. It’s an endless string of inspiration and it’s amazing to venture out and see where every click leads you.

I am thankful for each and every one of you who reads and comments over here. There is nothing better than reaching out to other bloggers and receiving some sort of acknowledgement and feedback back, because for me this is what blogging is all about: connecting.

If you want to learn more about Blog Positivity Week, head over here. You can write your own posts this week and link up! We’d all love you to spread some positivity around the blogosphere!

More of beautiful San Francisco

March 21, 2012 filed under: California, photography, USA

I went a little crazy on my birthday weekend and had my DSLR and iPhone camera going at the same time (while my husband was continuously – but lovingly – rolling his eyes at me for taking a picture of practically EVERYTHING. Ha!) And you know what? My DSLR is awesome. It really is. I love it. The picture quality is amazing and it’s so much fun to learn more about settings and composition. I love the feeling of a real camera in my hand. Looking through the view finder. Trying to get the best shot.

But, and here’s the big but: my iPhone + Instagram filters produce some pretty kick-ass pictures that can easily mingle with the more “professional” shots. Take a look! Here are some more pictures of beautiful San Francisco.

Blog Positivity Week: Be kind or stay away

March 20, 2012 filed under: blog stuff

March 19 through March 25

One week dedicated to reminding us all that the blogging
community is an awesome thing to be able to be a part of.

Ashley over at After Nine To Five had this fabulous idea to declare this week “Blog Positivity Week” to spread some positivity around the blogosphere and remind all of us that we’re part of a pretty amazing community. Today I want to talk about kindness and the conscious choice of eliminating negativity from your blog reading experience.

Obviously, when people blog, they share opinions. That the nature of blogging. Often we agree with what other people put out, have encouraging and supportive words for fellow bloggers and make incredible connections with people all around the world based on similar experiences, opinions and interests. Naturally, as in real life, we also come across bloggers and their blog posts that annoy us, that we disagree with and that we judge.

I guess, I have been very lucky to personally never have been the target of hateful comments or outright attacks online. This could be due to the fact that my blog has a relatively small readership compared to others and I am totally ok with that. (If that GFC widget would still be working for us WordPress bloggers, you would see a number of about 150 followers in the sidebar, but judging by the number of comments that are on average left on my blog, I would suspect the actual number of readers is even smaller). It might also be due to the fact that I haven’t posted content that was controversial enough to offend anybody or the fact that when I communicated my opinion, I did it in a mostly calm and respectful manner as to not lend myself to attack and harsh criticism. Either way, while not having been in the center of negativity myself, I have witnessed my fair share of meanness, disrespect and personal attack online and I am here to ask people to implement good manners and go by the rule

“if you don’t have anything nice to say,
don’t say anything at all”.

I always wonder about people who take the time and effort to bash other bloggers, write elaborate comments and/or emails only to spread negativity and lash out. After all, nobody makes you read someone else’s blog and if you find yourself repeatedly annoyed, I’d suggest you just stay away from this particular blog.

If you do feel the need to respond to a blog post that strikes a cord with you and if you have a legitimate point to make, do so with uttermost respect and tact. And for Peets’ sake, know your facts. There is nothing more frustrating than getting into a heated discussion with someone who argues on the basis of shaky knowledge.

The anonymity of the Internet makes a lot of people forget common courtesy and leads to them ~~saying~~ writing things that they would never say to another person’s face. If we all remind ourselves that words can hurt just as much as physical attacks and that there is really nothing gained from attacking people in the meanest possible way, I think there is a pretty good chance that we can all get along. We should never forget that the best way to resolve a difference of opinion is simply to

agree to disagree.