Archives for September 2012

2012 in pictures: week 39

September 30, 2012 filed under: a year in pictures

Dinner // at Paesanos // evening glow //
salad // pretty // brunch //
pumpkins // apple spiral // llama //

Friday Link Love

September 28, 2012 filed under: link love

Oppressive language and the pointless of arguing with teens on Facebook by Elly (The Life of Miss Elly). How would you react?

Mini Travel Guide: Germany by Naomi via Sarah (Yes and Yes). My home!

Rezept: Kaiserschmarren by Coco (Scenes de la vie). Oh holy yum!

I can’t eat that by Andie (Can you stay for dinner?) The way you look at food.

Cologne (The city, not the men’s fragrance) by Daryl (Roots, Wings and other things). Daryl’s visiting my (almost) hometown.

My 40 day experiment without social media apps on my phone by Rhett (Rhett Smith). Would you give this a go?

On sexism and empathy by Ginger (Ramble, Ramble). An important topic.

Are there any blog posts that you’d like to recommend to me this week?

Happy Friday, peeps!

Splurging and saving

September 27, 2012 filed under: about me

Both, Lisa and Kyria recently wrote an interesting post about the things they like to splurge on and other things that they are happy to save money on. It’s interesting how everybody has different priorities when it comes to spending their hard-earned money!
Although I’ve always been a pretty frugal person in general, there are definitely things I like – and don’t feel guilty about – splurging on. Some things are just totally worth it!

I splurge on…

food. I try to be very cognizant what I put in my body and I buy a lot of organic, fresh and unprocessed food. I do try to be mindful of our weekly grocery spending, but I don’t really cut corners if it would mean to compromise the quality of my food.
shoes. I try to get good deals on shoes, but when it comes down to it, my feet hate plastic and shoes that are simply not well made. They clearly tell me with blisters and overall foot-aches and I am not having that.
my iPhone. Obviously the costs are higher than if I didn’t have a smartphone, but it makes me so happy on a daily basis that it’s totally worth it.
actual coffee beans. I am a bit of a snobby coffee drinker and I will only drink good coffee, or no coffee at all.
travel. Weekend trips and then the annual overseas trip home. It’s a necessity.
gifts for other people. It makes me happy to buy stuff that will make someone else happy.

I save by…

doing a lot of DIY projects.
making coffee at home (and at the office) pretty much every day; I hardly ever stop at the coffee shop. It’s usually only a special trip when we’re traveling or out and about.
buying mostly non-brand clothing (I’ll make an exception for longer lasting quality every once in a while)
packing lunch usually for all days of the work week (we only go out to group lunch every once in while).
using credit cards to earn reward points and cash back. I am very good about the credit cards that I use. When I buy something with my credit card, I almost always transfer the amount from my checking account to the credit card on the same day; that way I earn rewards, but don’t end up with a huge credit card bill at the end of the month and I am never tempted to buy ‘on credit’, but only spend the money I have.
comparing prices. I am a bit notorious for making sure I buy certain things where they are cheapest (obviously, only when it’s reasonable. I won’t drive 20 miles to a gas station just because gas is 2 cents cheaper – defeats the purpose!)
using coupons and store sales. No worries, I am not one of those extreme couponers, but I do pay attention to coupons, store sales and personalized deals at the grocery store. I only use coupons for stuff that I would buy anyway and try to plan my shopping around sales for certain items. It does pay off quite a bit. Also: buy certain things in bulk at Costco.
using the library or book swapping website.
cooking at home (we try to only eat out maybe once a week, if at all).

What do you like to splurge on? What makes it easy for you to save? Tell me in the comments or write your own blog post! I am curious!

Recipe: “Strammer Max”

September 26, 2012 filed under: food, Germany, recipe

Today I am going to share a German recipe with you… something that my Mom sometimes would make as a quick lunch, but which also perfectly works as a hearty brunch item (especially here in the US, where hot sandwiches are much more common on the menu).

“Strammer Max” means ‘hard’ or ‘tight’ Max which is Saxon slang and means exactly what you probably think it means. I swear, I never made any sexual connection to this dish until I read the Wikipedia description last weekend. Am I, as a woman, even allowed to eat it?
I seriously thought that the name of this dish was a reference to ‘giving energy and strength’ to the person who eats it. Innocent me. (But I asked my Mom and she also had no clue where this phrase originally came from, so..).

Traditionally a “strammer Max” is a butter fried slice of bread with ham and (a) fried egg(s). I served this for brunch last weekend for the first time and J loved it.

It’s really filling and so quick and easy to make. You need:

1-2 thick slices of whole wheat or mixed bread (toast doesn’t really do it here)
2 slices of ham (I prefer the natural ham of the bone, but other ham or even prosciutto works too.)
1-2 eggs over easy (my favorite – but you can also do over-medium, over-hard, or sunny side up).

Heat some butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add bread slices and cook, turning once, until golden brown. Transfer bread to a plate and top with 2 slices of ham. Add eggs to the skillet and cook to taste. Top the sandwich with the egg(s) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve hot and enjoy!

From Lemons

September 25, 2012 filed under: blog stuff

You guys, I am super excited to finally share a new project with you that I am involved in and that has been in the works for a few weeks now. Four very awesome ladies and I have gotten together and dreamed up a new collaboration blog to write about the trials and tribulations of life and to support each other on (and hopefully others out there who can relate to) our respective journeys.

I am very excited to be part of this group of wonderful women, with whom I have fallen in love fast and hard after Katherine put us all together in one (virtual) room and asked “are you up for this?” and the response was an unanimous and really stoked “YES!”.

So, here’s the new blog space where I’ll be writing every Wednesday alongside the other ladies for the foreseeable future. I’d really love it if you would go and check it out!

We have a Facebook page (that you’re very welcome to go “like”) and we’re also on Twitter. Follow us there for updates from the new blog.

2012 in pictures: week 38

September 23, 2012 filed under: a year in pictures, photography

Stumptown coffee // new stamps! // cooler weather //
Endeavor shuttle flyby // Sacramento // kitty //
Sharpies // Essie // t-shirt //

Awkward & Awesome

September 20, 2012 filed under: awkward & awesome

This is a regular feature post on my blog. See the archives here.

When your blog is down repeatedly and you have to deal with some stupid hacker activity. I am just a small, personal blogger. Why?

I’m kind of having a hard time with the fact that season 2 of ‘The Newsroom’ will not air until June 2013. That’s a long time, people. How to deal?

Job negotiations. Do not like.

Running out of time on my “borrowing time” from the library when I haven’t finished the book yet and there is a waiting list to re-borrow it again. Stupid.

Finally some cooler temperatures. It’s still in the mid-80’s here during the day, but the mornings are noticeably chilly. Come here, fall. I ♥ you.

New stamps in the mail from Elise! Hooray!

I am kind of obsessed with the news and politics right now. Honestly, I cannot wait for the (vice-)presidential debates in October. I think everybody should pay attention to what’s going on in order to be able to cast an informed vote this November. Do you follow the news?

Licorice! Found a bag of ‘salted licorice’ in my kitchen drawer that I had completely forgotten about. Win!

I can’t wait to cook more soups and stews again this fall. They’re so easy and so delicious. My favorites right now are barley soup, string bean soup and a mixed vegetable soup. If you have any other awesome suggestions, leave them in the comments! I want to try something new! (e.g. potato soup from scratch!)

Expensive coffee. I just ordered some of the most delicious coffee my mouth has ever tasted and might have become poor in the process, but who cares? Delicious coffee!

Re: Coffee. Costco sells Peet’s Coffee in 2 lb-bags now with significant savings over supermarket prices. Just FYI. (You know, for the every day coffee pleasures.)