theinbetweenismine

just a girl living the expat life

Archives for January 2014

January Favorites

filed under: love, monthly favorites

January2014Favorites

1.) As I mentioned on Twitter the other day… I think I fell down the rabbit hole that is “Parenthood“. As always, I am kind of late to the party (of yet another TV series that I haven’t watched when it first aired), but I am very intrigued and have already cried through the first 4 episodes. That bodes well for the rest of the (so far 5 seasons), right?

2.) My Erin Condren life planner! It finally arrived last week and I am so excited to get organized. I am one of the people who use every possible device on their fingertips to help stay organized and a paper planner is definitely part of the equation. Do you use a paper planner? Do you have a favorite?

3.) I am back to knitting (and crocheting). For some odd reason, I didn’t find much time during the pre-Christmas season to knit, but right after we came back, I started two new knitting/crocheting projects. It’s such a soothing activity for me to wind down after a long day. Do you knit/crochet?

4.) I bought some rosehip tea when I was in Germany. It reminds me of my childhood, because whenever we went on (overnight) school trips, they’d serve rosehip tea at the youth hostels where we were staying. Most people that I know dislike rosehip tea (for that very reason), but I like it. I get a nostalgic feeling when I drink it (and besides that, I think it’s yummy).

5.) I’ve been using this vitamin fluid from Alverde (a German line of natural cosmetics) for a while and I really love it. It has a really nice texture, soft and fast-absorbing, and I love (!) the smell. Anything with Sanddorn (seabuckthorn) usually smells really good (and promotes the regeneration of the skin).

6.) Since I am not a big fan of traditional oatmeal (especially the “instant” kind), I’ve been playing around with different grains (semolina, oat bran, rolled oats,…) the last few months, but I think I have found my favorite: steel cut oats. I am completely in love with its chewy, slightly nutty texture/flavor and it reminds me a lot of “rice pudding” when I eat it… which basically makes it “dessert for breakfast”, you know, with a healthy kick. (Favorite way to prepare this coming soon!)

On who I am right now

filed under: about me, Who I am

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I am …

… very grateful for the wonderful time we spent with family and friends over the holidays. It’s always such an intense, but very special time. I still feel a little emotionally jetlegged (is this even a thing?), so bear with me, if I haven’t been on top of my conversational game (I am behind on emails, Whatsapp-convos, Twitter, blogging and blog reading), but I am sure I’ll catch up some time soon.

… looking forward to a knitting class I signed up for with a friend. I technically know how to knit and read patterns, so I don’t need a class, but it (a) gets me out of the house and (b) gives me an opportunity to ask a real person some questions instead of googling YouTube videos when I get stuck!

… so incredibly happy that it finally rained after 50+ days without any precipitation at all. California really needed it (and will hopefully get more).

… enjoying some new skill-related challenges at work (it’s always fun to solve problems and learn something new, right?), but am also still quite frustrated with my overall work situation. I won’t go into it here, but let’s just say, I am not happy.

… finding time to get into not one, but two (new to me) TV series. I am always a little late to (most) TV-series-bandwagons, but I also enjoy the freedom of watching episode after episode at my own pace, without being slave to the TV schedule. Because waiting for a week (or even months between seasons) after ending an episode with a cliff-hanger is just plain cruel.

… so devastated that some of my friends are going through some really rough times right now. I was really hoping that 2014 could start for everyone with a lot of good fortune and happy things to look forward to, but alas, that doesn’t seem to be the case. I know, I know, there is this whole “you can’t enjoy the good times without experiencing the bad”-thing, but you know, the bad could just disappear for a while already. Seriously, ENOUGH!

… really enjoying Miss Kyla’s “Planner Camp” e-course on how to design your own life planner. This is the second e-course that I attended and Kyla is seriously pushing out some awesome e-content right now. I highly recommend you get in on it when the next available opportunity comes around! Hint: new e-courses start this summer!

… looking foward to a getaway to SoCal in February! I need some beach time in my life and pizza from – what I claim to be – THE best pizza beach hut in all of California.

Photo of the week: Street art

filed under: my so-called life

Foto der Woche

Another week, another ‘Foto der Woche‘. This is easily becoming my favorite photo project of 2014 (so far). I am curious to see what made you happy this last week and which photo you chose to share with all of us.

My Glücklichmacher #4

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Maverique Style House – Sacramento, CA (taken on January 27, 2014)

My hair stylist switched work places and I am a loyal customer, so I followed her to a new (to me) hair salon. I love the street art on their building front, especially the scissors and hair comb. Neat, right?

January Birchbox

filed under: beauty

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When I came back from my trip to Germany, one of the things that was waiting for me in the mail was my Birchbox subscription. This month I received box #61.

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Here’s what I received (*calculated value of the samples in parenthesis):

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Wish Three Wishes Body Butter ($0.15) I haven’t ventured much into the world of ‘body butters’, but this smells really good. I just hope it’s enough for one full body application.

100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Mascara ($7.71) For the size, this a hell of an expensive mascara. Well, it’s all-natural and organic and separates and glosses with fruit and black tea pigments, while oat and wheat proteins condition lashes, helping them grow stronger over time. We’ll see if it’s any good.

Serge Normant Meta Revive Dry Conditioner ($9.38) We all know dry shampoo (it’s one of my best friends), but this is a dry conditioner that goes onto the ends, instead of on the roots. I am very intrigued.

Paula’s Choice RESIST BHA 9 for Stubborn Imperfections ($3.70) Supposedly it works on bumps, spots, redness and wrinkles. Skeptical is my response right now.

Ahmad Teas Assorted Teas ($0.53) Since I am a tea lover, I always love to try new teas. However, there could have been a few more pouches. Ha!

The total for this box came to $21.47. Not too bad and I am excited to try all these products.

What was in your January birchbox?