I got so many wonderful gifts for my birthday and Christmas that I decided to share few with you guys...
... so this is the first part of my Christmas gift favorites :)
I want to start with the Honey Collection from Burt`s Bees which I got from a dear friend of mine. The gift came as a surprise and I was thrilled! I love Burt's Bees (I know its not vegan but I have to say that I just love it anyway) and I used to spent way too much money on Burt`s Bees products during my stay in the US. Here in Germany the products are quite expensive so I do not buy them here - but this dear friend of mine actually bought this wonderful box in the UK and send it all the way to Leipzig, Germany.
In the box there was my all time favorite Sugar Scrub (I promise - I never had a body scrub as good as the ones by Burt`s Bees! Try yourself if you don`t believe me :)), a honey lip balm, a small size body lotion (which was perfect for the hand luggage on my way to Lissabon) and a hand cream which smells like honey and all the goodness in the world. I love it!
I can totally recommend each of these products and I want to say a huge THANK YOU to L!
I hope you guys are having a wonderful weekend and I hope New Year`s Eve was just the way you wanted it to be :)
I will share more about my New Years trip to Portugal with you very soon!
Sending you all lots of love and all the best for this new wonderful year!
Before 2014 comes to an end I want to share a best off of my year...
My first outfit posts of the year 2014...
...My somehow different outfit post from February...
...Some more outfit posts, including this outfit where I am wearing Christmas gifts only (cardigan, dress, shoes and necklace) and an outfit from my monochrome week in February...
...small journeys, between others to the town of Rostock in Northern Germany for a training for multipliers and to Hessen for a further training on how to manange your own non profit project (picture below with the sunrise) ...
...my first Spring outfits in March plus me selling FRNCK (http://www.leamariefranck.com/) jewellery on a market in Leipzig...
(by the way I really miss wearing my much loved skirts now that I am pregnant... :))
...a vegan brunch in my living room in April...
...a wonderful Easter holiday in Northern Germany with my family...
... a most amazing trip to the US in May... including a visit of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Chicago and of course Ohio :)
... a beautiful weekend trip to Vilnius in Lithuania in June...
....Some Summer outfits and of course lots of vegan food in July, August and September...
Wedding preparations in September and of course my wedding on October 1st :)
Some Fall outfits in which I try to hide my belly which is already growing (yet, we do not tell people yet that I am pregant...)
A most wonderful Honeymoon to Tunesia in November... and a growing belly :)
The lift of my small secret: My Pregnancy makes it on my blog :)
And finally, gift wrapping and a wonderful Christmas celebration 2014
This is a wrap up of my 2014. Of course many more things happend in my life which did not make it on my blog. Some of the things I learned in 2014 will make it on my blog sometime next year (like what I think about finding the perfect job and how to design ones life), some things will be kept in my mind and my heart. 2014 was a great, adventourus, intersting, and educational year filled with joy, love, happiness, sometimes frustrations but most often hope and confidence. This year, I think I learned more about what is important in life than in any other year and I am really grateful for this.
Now, I am exited to welcome 2015, the year in which my first child will be born! I am all ready for new adventures to come!
Happy 2015 for all of you!
My Christmas 2014...
... was really wonderful, like every year. I spent the most wonderful time with my family, I got awesoem gifts, I saw many friends and I enjoyed really good food. I spent Dec 24 with one part of my family, Dec 25 with my husbands family and Dec 26 with another part of my family in Berlin. The pictures in here are from Dec 26.
How do you like my maternity dress? I bought it second hand (like the other one which I am wearing you in my last post) and I just love the light pink color and the cute shape.
How was your holidays and how did you spent the days of Christmas?
I hope you all enjoyed your holidays and are ready for New Years Eve now!?
I am actually going to Lissabon for New Years. I can`t wait to share pictures and outfits from there with you guys!
Merry Christmas to all of you lovely readers!
I want to say THANK YOU for being part of my blog and my life and I wish you all a most wonderful christmas!
Enjoy being with your families, friends and neighboors, eat well and relax as much as you can. This is the most important at this time of the year. Christmas should not be stress but it should be love and relaxation :)
Like every year, my birthday was on Dec. 22 (which means yesterday :) ) and I had a wonderful day with my family! We had a great breakfast together, I got beautiful gifts (I am sure I will share a few of them on my blog later... like my much much loved new Poncho from the German organic brand Hess Natur :) ) and I even got some first gifts for our baby. Oh guys, the baby things are too cute! I may share a few of them with you too :)
So this is my happy gift-unwrapping face from my birthday yesterday :)
These days I feel so happy with my big belly and my family around me. The dress I am wearing in here is actually my first maternity dress. Its from the H&M MAMA collection and I bought it second hand from my new favorite mothers-and-mothers-to-be-online fleamarket. (a German one which is called mamikreisel.de)
So once again, a most wonderful christmas to all of you! I actually hope in the coming days we all stay away from our blogs for a while to enjoy the company of our families. This is at least what I will do :)
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Time for a yummy recipe which you can try during the holidays :)
I love the combination of coconut and chocolate so I came up with these muffins with a super yummy coconut topping.
What you will need:
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp distilled white or apple cider vinegar
Blend everything together and fill in a muffin tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
And for the topping:
Either vegan coconut-whip cream from the store
OR
blend full-fat coconut milkwith some sugar and vanilla and leave in the freezer or fridge for a few hours (more healthy, more yummy, more good ;))
These are just a great treat for you during the holidays. When I feel like eating something really sweet (which happens more often now that I am pregnant) I always prefer to make something myself instead of buying sweets. These muffins are not what I would call super healthy, but at least you know whats inside and you can choose e.g. whole-grain flour, brown sugar or agave syrup instead of sugar.
So enjoy and let me know how you liked these yummy little baked goods :)
I am new in this world of maternatiy clothing...
... and I love to get into it :)
My belly is growing around 1 cm a week, so I need more and more maternity clothes by now. In the coming months I will share with you some of my must have pieces for a Winter pregnancy and I will also share a few tips and tricks with you :)
My first must have piece for Winter is definetly a big enough coat! I do no longer fit in my normal coats so I needed one in a different shape and I found this one:
The Coat is from Monki and the wide shape is just perfect for my belly. Its super comfortable and cozy. Since its not labelled as a maternity piece it is also less expensive. And this is also my first tip:
Go for the normal collections in your favorite shops and just look for pieces in the oversize-style or one to two sizes bigger than what you usually buy.
For everything you need from the maternity collection, buy it second hand. The jeans I bought now will no longer fit in a few weeks and I will need new ones again. So I better buy them for a little money second hand and I just resell them after a few weeks. Its better for the environment, its better for your bank account and its a lot of fun! Plus you can afford buying a little more ;)
Now, for under the coat my first Must Haves are knit dresses
You can wear your normal knit dresses for the first (at least) six months of pregnancy and they will look great! The good thing is that leggings and tights are acutally really comfortable to wear with a big belly so its easy to make a nice outfit with a knit dress and a tight which you used to wear before pregnancy.
For later I recommend to buy maternity tights and leggings but in the first few months you will be totally fine with your normal ones. They strech :)
I hope you enjoyed this first Pregnancy Must Haves post :)
Thank you a lot for your sweet comments on my last post and have a wonderful end of the week!
I am going to northern Germany today to see my family for christmas. I can`t wait to meet them and show them my belly... and tell them the sex of our little baby!
Sending you all lots of christmas-love :)
