Monday, February 29, 2016

Striped Skirt and Poncho Love

Poncho + Skirt = Love :)

At least thats how I feel. This poncho made it on my blog quite a few times already, like here or here or even here. I love it! Some of you may remember I got it back in 2013 as a birthday gift... anyway, so I was wearing this poncho of mine together with this really old blouse from Mango and this skirt from H&M. I actually bought this skirt back in 2014 when I was around three months pregnant. It was on sale at H&M and at the time I bought way too many things on sale at H&M. So I bought this skirt even though I had a little bit of a belly already and it did not fit. After pregnancy I was super excited to finally wear it - just to realize two months after giving birth that I still have quite a womb and that the skirt does not fit. Then I somehow forgot about it. And last week I took it out of the closet and decided that now, finally, its time to wear it :) 

What you cannot see on these pictures is that we had to make our little shooting underneath a roof because it was snowing so bad. It was freezing cold when I took of my coat for the pictures and I was glad I left my scarf on. The poncho does just not look as good with a coat on top so I did not want to wear it for the pictures - and I am totally willing to freeze for my blog, you know ;)

Now, how do you like this look?



By the way, I realized that recently I make like soooo many mistakes when I write my blog. Writing things as life instead of live or roof instead of ceiling, or now instead of know etc. To my defense, I wanted to let you know that I always write my posts at night, after a long, exhausting but wonderful day, spent with work, my daughter, my daughter, my daughter and my daughter. And my husband too. Usually I am pretty pretty tired after 8pm but of course I do want to blog anyway. Thats how all those spelling and grammar mistakes increase and multiply. I hope you dont mind :) 

Now, be ready for this first week of March, the first month of Spring! isn't is super exciting that Spring is juuuuust around the corner now? Let the snow melt and give me some sunshine! Yay!

Sending much love to all of you!  

Thursday, February 25, 2016

January and February Purchases

This is probably the most boring "my purchases" post I have ever made...


... not only because I bought only three pieces in the last two months, but also because those three pieces are pretty much basics with no fancy colors and not fancy cuts. 

Anyway, since these purchases posts really help me analyzing my shopping behaviour AND made me improve so much in the last 12 months, I am still going to continue with them, even though this one is boring. 

Also, the fact that its boring is actually good - I did not shop a lot and thats pretty much awesome in the end. No shopping = no ressources wasted for making new clothes = good for the world :)  

So what did I buy? 

I took advantage of the sales in January and made some shopping at Hess Natur. I bought new bed linens for my family, a few things for my husband and a few things for my daughter. And these three things for me: a sheath dress in dark grey 100% wool, a cotton skirt and a woolen sweater in light grey and light blue. 

I spent 60 Euro on the dress and 60 on the sweater (both 50% off) and I spent 25 on the skirt (also 50% off). I LOVE all three pieces. I wore the dress like a million times (whenever I do not know what to wear I wear this dress. Its awesome, it goes with everything, its comfy, its warm and yet its chic!), I wore the skirt like three times or so (I wore it on the blog here) and I wore the sweater like for one week straight (find it on the blog here)

So I spent a total of 145 euro on these three pieces and I am very happy with them. Also, I am happy that I did not buy more!
 

For this year I decided that I want to buy only what I am wishing for since a long time. The Winter sales have been an exception ;)
 
No, honestly, I find myself often buying things because they are pretty or on sale but there are a few things on my list since forever and still I did not buy them yet, because I spend my money on other things. So next I want to buy a camel coat (something I am looking for in two years or so) and some light brown boots. Thats what I will be looking for in March and April. I would also like to find another nice second hand high waist jeans and maybe a black blouse. 

Now lets see what my new "my purchases" post will look like and if I stick to my new rules ;) 

Concerning the "ethical only" rule; its normal now. I do not even thing about going to H&M or Zara, its just a normal thing for me by now to buy ethical only. Either second hand or from ethical brands. 

By the way, those of you thinking about if its good for the animals wearing so much wool - I buy virgin wool only, so wool from sheeps that are clipped alive and that come from organic farms. This is why I buy so much from the brand Hess Natur; here I know they take care of what kind of wool they choose. 
I find wool better than non-natural materials because the pieces simply last longer. When my woolen sweaters begin to look old, I can brush them and they look great again - try to do that with an acryl sweater. Well it just does not really work really well. Okay, that was a very short discussion on the topic of materials. Maybe I will make a post about it sometime... 

Now, how do think I made in these first two months of 2016? How do like my choices? And how did you do in January and February when it comes to shopping? I would love to know :)

Sending much love!

Monday, February 22, 2016

More Winter Layers

Another woolen sweater...

... because its all I wear these days. Sorry for being boring ;) 

So today I was wearing this reeeeallllyy old sweater. I think it used to belong to one of my big brothers so its probably some 15 years old or even more. I think I will have to brush the wool so that it looks a little "newer" again, but today I forgot to do it so it looks as old as it is ;) 

Underneath I was wearing a long blouse from H&M and on top I was wearing a simple black scarf. Some black tights, black boots, earrings, all done :)

How do you like this look?  


Did you try my bliss balls over the weekend ;)? I made a few ones and enjoyed them Saturday night while watching youtube videos and pampering myself with a nice facemask, some sugar free whole wheat brownies with homemade banana nice cream and a hot tea (plus the bliss balls! I love this livestyle where you can just eat in abundance and you never have to worry about calories or getting fat or being unhealthy or whatever!). 

How was your weekend? 

I wish you a most wonderful week ahead and I send a ton of love to all of you!

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Bliss Balls (Raw Sugarfree Treats)

Have you ever tried bliss balls? 

Bliss balls are sugarfree, raw, healthy alternatives to all the junk candy out there. Being healthy does NOT mean to do without sweets. Oh no no no. It means eating sweets without feeling guilty :) 

I make bliss balls around once a week and have a few almost every night. I have my favorites recipes which I make again and again. However, there a tons of other recipes out there. I am just a lazy person so I stick to my simple ones ;)


To make bliss balls all you need is:

Nuts of your choice (I recommend almonds or walnuts)
Dates
A little bit of agave syrup

Spice of your choice (I like to use cinnamon and vanilla) 
And/or
Cocoa 
And/or
Superfoods of your choice

Add nuts and dates to your food processor and mix until you get a creamy texture (add water or agave syrup or even maple syrup if the texture is too dry). Add spices or cocoa or both. Add superfoods or roll the ready made bliss ball in some powdered super foods.

On the picture above you can see:

Cocoa-peanut-agave syrup bliss balls
Walnut-dates-vanilla-cinnamon bliss balls
Almond-dates bliss balls with the superfood mix Protect from Greenic, matcha, aronia powder, and a blossom blend

You can play around with all your favorite ingredients and make bliss balls with chai spice, pumpkin pie spice, with plums, raisins, or mulberries, all the nuts you like, and different alternatives to sugar. I love my walnuts and almonds and I love dates, cinnamon and vanilla. So thats why the ones I show you here are my favorite ones :)



In case you ever tried bliss balls - whats your favorite recipe? I would love to know and to try it too! In case you did not try bliss balls so far, I highly recommend making some and eating them at your next movie night instead of sweets and chips! Its such a delicous and healthy alternative!

Sending much love to all of you!

Monday, February 15, 2016

Oh Happy Gray

Oh happy day, oh happy gray...

... it's still all gray around here - the sky, the streets, and my coat :) 

Today I was wearing a new skirt from Hess Natur, an old sweater from Old Navy, my second hand coat from Monki which I bought in Winter 2014 when I was pregnant, and my cashmere scarf that my friend from Pakistan brought with him when he came to visit last year. I am also wearing my earrings from my friends brand FRNCK :)



So how was your Monday? 

I had my weekly toddlers group which is always very nice - not only does my little one love it to play with other small ones, but I also really enjoy sitting together with two friends of mine, chatting and drinking tea while the little ones are having a good time :) 

However, today I was still somehow tired from my weekend which I spent at a seminar and networking meeting in the Harz Mountains. It was great and I went home with soooo much new inspiration but it was also exhausting somehow. The little one went with me and she did such a great job! She just played while I was networking, discussing different topics in seminars, or listenting to speeches held. 

It was a wonderful weekend overall, but I am sure you all know that it can be exhausting to talk to loads of people and to listen to loads of intersting things said :) 
So I guess tomorrow will be pyjama day again, it is supposed to be cold and rainy anyway and since I can work from home and I did the groceries today, I guess I will be fine ;)

Have a greeeeeaaaat week everyone! I will be back on Thursday with some healthy, sweet and delicious alternatives to all the sweet junk food out there!

Sending lots of love!




Thursday, February 11, 2016

Everyday Make Up (With Lavera)

Its time for a new beauty post!

Finally! I have been missing my beauty posts but since I am only blogging twice a week and since I love posting my Monday outfits there is only one post per week related to something else than my boring looks ;) in these last couple of weeks food was more important to me than beauty so I posted mainly food related things on Thursday. And I have all those food posts waiting to be posted in the coming weeks too... but TODAY is a beauty Thursday :)  

Lavera. Lavera was the first beauty brand I reviewed for you on my blog aaaaaall the way back in 2013 (you can find the post here) and around once or twice a year I brought some Lavera products back to the blog to remind you how much I like this brand ;) 
I currently use a Lavera shower gel, a Lavera body butter, my husband washes his hair with Lavera shampoo, and my baby is always getting some Lavera baby oil in her bath tub when she is taking a bath. So Lavera definetly is part of my everyday. I already wrote back in my first post about this brand that my mother already used to use their products and hence, I know Lavera since childhood. Since, the brand has changed from being a niche in the organic cosmetics section to being a modern, colorful, popular and trendy brand, playing a huge role on the organic beauty market.

All products from Lavera are 100% organic, 100% cruelty free, 100% made in Germany, and 100% free of parabenes, mineral oil etc. - but you know that already because I would not promote this brand as big if it were`nt so ;) 

Anyway, so today is all about MAKE UP!  



Those of you who follow me for a while, know that I am not a make up pro and I am not wearing loads of make up. I cannot live without a really good blush, eye brow pencil and mascara though. These three things definetly are my essentials. I like to add some lip stick too, and sometimes I also wear eyeliner. Rather rarely I make use of make up or eye shadow but this does not mean I never do. I really love to put make up on, I just rarely feel like its the right occasion to do so. Anyway. I got this hyper wonderful package from Lavera to show you their idea of an everyday make up. Well, it fits (almost) perfectly with my idea of what a great everyday make up would consist of :) 

So here is what we you can see of the picture:

The Natural Mousse MakeUp Ivory
The Natural Mousse Blush Classic Nude 
The Beautiful Mineral Eyeshadow Mono Shiny Taupe 
The Intense Volumizing Mascara 
The Soft Eyeliner Golden Brown 
The Eyebrow Pencil Blond 
And the Brilliant Care Oriental Rose Lipstick 

All links go to the German version of the website but you can just change the language to English :) 


After taking the obligatory pictures of the new in products I used all of them to create my very own Lavera everyday look. I felt really pretty afterwards ;) 

But, more importantly, the products were all really nice to my skin and easy to use. I was surprised how soft the eyeliner was and how easy it was to apply make up and blush (when I first saw them I thought they will be rather hard and difficult to apply). 

The make up is very light, which I like because I always prefer to look natural and I do not want to feel pasted up. The blush has a very soft color which I find great (even though I usually use a stronger color) plus its a cream blush and I have been looking for a cream blush everywhere! My husband found one from a Greek brand called Korres and gave it to me for Christmas and now, lucky me, I got another one! The eyebrow pencil has a perfect brown color and is really soft too and the eye liner in golden brown is so much better than a black one! Well at least when you have rather light hair as I do, and when you do are going for a simple make up. The eye shadow has this really nice soft and slightly shiny color which I would probably not wear in a everyday make up but which is beautiful for special occasions or nights out. The mascara is great too, yet I think I prefer my other mascara from Lavera (which I showed you back here) because its somehow richer. And finally, the lipstick - its creamy, pinky, shiny and makes my lips feel so nourished!  


On the pictures, I have to say, it really looks like a light everyday make up, very natural, I would say. In reality it was slightly too much for me (because of the eye shadow I think. I just do not really use eye shadow during the day) but I felt pretty. I went out for a coffee date after taking these pictures and when I came home the make up still was were it was supposed to be - so nothing bad to say about durability :)  

How do you like these products on me? Do you think I look like a slightly too busy mother which is not getting enough sleep or like a fresh young woman after a very good nights sleep ;)??? (I guess its something in between ;))


Wow, guys, I wrote a lot. Now just make sure to check out www.lavera.com or www.lavera.de and let me know if you have any questions. 
I will now take this pretty make up off, put a Lavera face mask on, and jump on the couch, reading my new book and drinking some hot lemon water :)

Sending loads of love to you! 

Monday, February 8, 2016

High Waist Jeans and Winter Coat

I am totally able to understand why high waist jeans are so popular...

 ... I am totally not able to understand why I did not wear a high waist jeans on the blog so far! I mean they make long legs, they are cozy, they make your belly look flat, they are warm, you rarely need a belt. There are so many reasons for why to wear high waist jeans.

So here it is. Finally. A high waist jeans on my blog. The jeans  is second hand from Pull&Bear (btw, do you know this brand? I have no idea where its from and what kind of brand it is...), the sweater is second hand (I almost sold this one at the fleamarket last November but then, last second, decided to keep it anyway, and since I wear it like once a week) and the woolen coat is from when I lived in the US back in 2013. Oh yes. Finally a Winter coat on the blog! The weather these days is really made for stay-at-home mums. Or for unemployed. Or for students on break. Its simply a weather where you want to stay inside. And when you go outside to take advantage of two minutes of sunshine (we took the pictures here in those two minutes) then all you want to wear is a jeans, a sweater and a nice big coat to wrap around you. So thats what I did today :) 

How do you like this cozy look?  




So is the weather where you are also as grey and windy and rainy as it is here?  I think I  spend as much time as home as never before in my life these days/weeks. I work in my pyjamas, I cook in my pyjamas, I play with the little one in my pyjamas and every once in a while I take a shower, put some jeans on and go grocery shopping. I am a very lucky girl, cause my friends support my current lifestyle and come to my place in the afternoon, arriving here in big jackets and with wet faces from the rain. And I welcome them with hot turmeric latte and raw sugar free treats - being thankful for not having to go outside to spend time with them ;)

Thats how life looks like these days. I have to stay that I pretty much love it :) 
How is your life doing? 

Sending you LOADS of love!

Thursday, February 4, 2016

About Acids and Alkalines

Lets talk acids and alkalines...

... in my last food post I talked a little bit about acids and alkalines when I told you why I decided not to eat any white flour nor any refined sugar for (at least) a year. Some of you asked why sugar and white flour is bad for you so I thought it may be a good idea to write a little bit more about acids and alkalines (which are only PART of the story of why white sugar and white flour is bad - the other part is all about the gut flora which I may write about someday too). 

Now, what is the story with acids and alkalines? Your body maintains a delicate acid-alkaline balance and everything, truely everything, in your body (and outside too actually - like water, soil...) is affected by pH. PH stands for “potential hydrogen” and it is the measure of hydrogen ions in a particular solution, like your blood for example.

The pH scale measures how acidic or alkaline a substance is and ranges from 0 to 14. Seven is neutral. Below 7 becomes increasingly acidic, above 7 increasingly alkaline. Proper pH varies throughout your body for many reasons. For example, your bowels, skin and vagina should be slightly acidic – this helps keep unfriendly bacteria away. There is a constant balance throughout your body when it comes to acids and alcalines. Hence, acids are not always bad and alkalines not always good - its all about the balance.

By far the most important measurement is your blood. For optimal cellular health, your blood pH must be slightly alkaline with a pH between 7.365 and 7.45. Your body will maintain this range no matter what, since even the slightest dip or rise in pH can have seriously dangerous consequences. Now here is where food comes in: when you eat loads of acidic substances and foods, like meat, dairy, highly processed food products, white flour, and refined sugar your body has a looooot of work to do to keep up with a healthy pH. 

To keep up the pH between 7.365 and 7.45 your body is forced to borrow minerals—including calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium—from vital organs and bones to neutralize the acid and safely remove it from the body. Because of this strain, your body can suffer severe and prolonged damage due to high acidity — a condition that may go undetected for years and can lead to various symptons, such as cardiovascular damage, bladder and kidney conditions, including kidney stones, immune deficiency, premature aging, osteoporosis, joint pain, low energy and chronic fatigue.


By eating a more alkaline diet (leafy greens, veggies, sprouts, fruits) as opposed to an acidic diet (high in animal products, white flour, refined sugar, soda, etc), you will give your body more alkalinity, vitamins and other nutrients.



So far so good. But what is an alkaline diet and how many acids do you need?

The most acid foods are animal products of any kind, white sugar, white flour, all processed foods, soda etc. The most alkaline foods are all fruits (except for cranberries), all veggies, all greens, almonds, quinoa, amarant, wild rice etc. However, some foods are somwhere in the middle - like oats, corn, or potatoes. So even on a plant based diet you will get some acids. And this is good! Because you need SOME (around 20%). However, you only need SOME! When eating animal products, white flour or sugar you will easily come up with muuuuuch more than 20% of your total food intake as acids and hence, you will be out of balance. 

This is why I decided to stop eating white flour and refined sugar on top of eating a vegan diet :)  

Does this sound too complicated to you? Its not! Its easy - just eat all the good whole plants out there and you will have so much fun in the kitchen, feel full of energy, save the planet (animal production is responsible for 50-85% of emissions!) and be happy :) 

And in case you need some help to begin with, there are tons of awesome ready made products out there which are truely healthy for you and the planet. I recently tried this yummy quinoa mix from Alvito which is composed to help you to get your alkalines. Its full of alkaline ingredients such a herbs, veggies, quinoa, amarant and millet. Plus its really tasty. I added some extra veggies to it and had some chicory and chili-soy-yogurt with it. Delicious! 
Feel free to check out more alkaline products on alvito.com (German only as far as I can tell)


Writing my Thursday posts is always so much fun! I am really happy with the decision to post only twice a week instead of three times. I have more time to prepare my posts and I enjoy writing these long posts on Thursdays. I am already looking forward to next weeks Thursday post (it will be beauty related...;)) and for the one the week after (which will be sweet and yummy ;)).

But now tell me how you liked this post and if you were familiar with the topic before! Are you now able to understand better why I decided to stay away from refined products such a white flour and sugar? 

Sending sooooo much love to all of you wonderful readers and friends!

Monday, February 1, 2016

Pastels All Over

Here I am with a new look...

... as a no-real-fashion-blogger (see my last post) I still like to share my personal style with you ;) 

I really appreciate all the interesting comments on my last post! It was so much fun to read your opinion on the topic and I found it very intersting how different everyone is adressing this topic. For me it was basically more or less of a fun post to write and I put some irony in it as most of you realized (e.g. that I do not iron my clothes and that this is why I could never be a real fashion blogger). Some did not actually read the post and commented as if I blamed them for something. Thats totally fine. I do not read every single word of every post I comment on either, so I do not mind that at all. I just found it intersting that some people actually felt offened by (obviously) just reading the title of my post (why???). I also (finally!) learned the difference between a style blog and a fashion blog! Thank you for that! I stick to what I wrote and I really enjoyed reading the comments on this last post of mine aaaaaaand I really appreciate all of your words and thoughts shared! You are the best and always will be! 

Now back to todays look :) 
I love pastels. Really do. So I decided for this all pastels outfit today. My light grey second hand jeans (they are from Esprit and they pretty much became my favorite jeans), a light blue and grey (looks like grey here on the pictures actually) woolen sweater from Hess Natur, my favorite light pink jacket that I bought in Chicago when I was there in 2013 (and it was sooooo cold even though it was May so I really needed a new jacket, went at 9pm to the next H&M and grabbed this one on sale - together with the scarf I am wearing here by the way ;)) plus a hat on top since it was pretty windy around here today.  
How do you like this look?


I wish all of you a most amazing start into this first week of Feeeeeebruary! The month of love and everything :)! To be honest, we never celebrate Valentines Day but I still like the idea that February is the month of love. Since its the 1st today, its our anniversary day (October 1st is our wedding day) and we are going to celebrate that with some homemade (vegan) pizza and the movie "Taxi Teheran" right now. Have to watched the movie? It won quite some prices and is supposed to be very good!

Sending much love to all of you!