Home, sweet home

 

Excuse moi for the lack of posting in the last days, but I've had no time for anything but my family and friends. It's so weird to be back in germany. It's cold and windy and cloudy and everything is so german. Don't get me wrong, i like Germany and I'm sooo happy to be here to celebrate christmas with my family, but i do miss New Zealand so much. The horribly synchronized TV-shows and movies, the enormous crowd in the city trying to do the last-minute christmas shopping and german beer ads in irish pubs make me miss the relaxing way of life in the idyllic little country. For fairness' sake I have to admit that there are some good things here like SNOW!! And Germanys biggest christmas tree, 1700 little trees and 45000 lights in Dortmund.

Murphys Law

If anything can go wrong it will. - Murphy's Law

True story. After a night spent packing my suitcase and not coping with having to make decisions which handbags must remain in New Zealand and two hours sleep I finally got to the airport just to find out that my early-as flight wasn't actually an early but a late flight, we had booked 7:25 PM NOT 7:25 AM!!!! Rescheduling my flight, sending the people back home (who had to get up sooo early to say goodbye) keeping my lovely realtives from doing what they were supposed to do, having to repack my back, dropping all 4 handluggage pieces when trying to get on the tiny tiny plane to Christchurch. My suitcase didn't arrive with my flight, and I had to spent 30 minutes worrying and hyperventilating (if that word does exist) just to find out it had been sent with an earlier flight. Now I'm finally here and a lovely guy who smelled like a bunch of homeless people offered me a cigarette. At least something... 

At the check-in they also wanted to put my violin away but I could persuade them that they would not want to be responsible for any damage.. 

Well, I'm now waiting for my flight to Dubai via Sydney and Bankok and then from Dubai to Duesseldorf. I just hope my plane does not explode or anything else is going to happen although I not too sure about that. New Zealand doe not want to let me go and I will miss every second I spent in this lovely lovely country. 

Red is the colour of christmas

About three months ago I got really really sick and had to stay in bed for over two weeks. My aunt was knitting a scarf for my cousin at that time, and I thought it would be fun to start knitting a scarf for myself.. It's one day before I leave this country and look how far I've come.. Most of it was done today.

This is so typical for me. I just can't get my things done until the last minute. Scarfs, homework, presentations, essays, packing my suitcase... I am always postponing (do you english guys actually use that word? i love it, i think it's amazing ;)) everything as much as possible and the worst thing is that I always get away with it. I hate that. I will never be able to get rid of my bad habits when they don't turn out to be bad. 

I'm not even sure if I really like that pattern. I had come that far with another pattern before but didn't like it anymore so I started all over again. Do you like it? Does it look stupid??

And the last proof for my never-ending stupidity is the width of the scarf. I had so much fun casting on the first stitches that I didn't realize that this scarf was going to be massively spaced out. 84 stitches a row. That could only happen to me. If you ever want to knit your own scarf don't use that many knitting, it will take you ages to finish it.

I wanted a dark blue scarf at first, but I couldn't find pure wool in the right colour so I got red instead (bust a rhyme!!). Red is the colour of christmas and the wool is lovely and soft on my skin.

I feel a little nostalgic, sitting on the couch with my knitting needles, eating chocolate and watching TV. I used to do that a lot with my grandmother when I was little and I actually miss those good old times. Everything is constantly changing and, although I believe change is a good thing, it's hard to let go sometimes. Anyways, I'm very happy with me keeping up old traditions, saving some money and creating my very first own something. I'm sure it's going to turn out great and I will show you how it looks like when it's ready. Promise :)

Flower - Power never stops working

Then

I just love this dress. It has great power. When I slip into it I'm like superwoman. I feel light, summer-y, beautiful and everything turns into a big big party. It was a stroke of luck to find this fabulous dress. I wore it to my friends birthdayparty and found this card which says : A beer please! You wouldn't believe how many beers I had this evening. And didn't pay for any. 

That was almost two years ago and somehow this dress got lost in my closet. I took it with me when I came over to New Zealand and because today was one of the most wonderful days, weatherwise, I felt like wearing it. 

Now

Well.. the weather doesn't look so fabulous on the last few photos, but that was only on the beach!! Hundred meters further up the sun was burning my delicate skin!!!! 

Ah, and those people are my lovely uncle and auntie Richard and Robyn, who have hosted me for 6 months and made my stay here in New Zealand the best it could have been. <3

EPIC

I chose this epic title for this post because I wanted to upload something more than just epic. Something EPIC! Apparently too EPIC for blogger (blogger, y u no let me upload EPIC video??!), so I had to think of something else referring to EPIC.

And I had one of my numerous flashes of genius! Well, it's not quite epic ... but something extraordinarily beautiful and something I'm going to purchase next year and something which has been my only wish on my christmas list for a long time (until a polaroid camera, a Julia Fischer disk and shoes replaced it) and something which consists almost entirely of something else I'm obsessed with at the moment - sequins - came to mind. 

DISCO PONY <3 is producing genius pieces of art like this dress

this bikini

these jumpers

and muuuuuuch much more.... 

Did I promise you too much? Aren't ALL those pieces just wonderful? Are you dying to get some of these handmade pieces? I certainly am!!!!!! 

I first heard about disco pony when Natalie from Natalie Off Duty hosted a give-away with one of the "Natalie dresses" ... Well, I didn't win it. Unfortunately! But I just HAD to have one, so I researched a little and told my mom about it (read the previous post about my awesome mom!) and made it the top ten wishes on my wishlist. The day my mom agreed to get one, Disco Pony (hope you can see that link) posted on facebook that she can't do any more pony dresses or jumpers for this month!!!! 

I am slightly heartbroken, because I really really wanted to find a shiny sparkling item out of her repertoire under the christmas tree... I would have lived in whatever piece my mom would have chosen until 2012! I wouldn't take it off, there are too many parties around christmas. I'll be partying the whole time through until the 1st of January and then I will have a massive hangover (Kater, as we say in Germany). 

Disco Pony I'll wait for you! I will still love you next year and I will be the first person ordering one marvelous creation of yours! <3 

Stay tuned, I'll try to fix the problem and I shall not rest until I know what bloggers problem with my EPIC video is about. 

Have a glorious start into the week, I will celebrate my monday with sleeping in until 2. :) xx

First two images via google, all Disco Pony photos via Disco Ponys facebook page

Farewell

Today has been my last family afternoon tea with my Kiwi-family. And, as real Maddens do, we all drank a lot and talked too loud and too much and had a great time. I don't want to upload photos of my whole family because they wouldn't mean anything to you, but this one is just too funny. Just seconds before this photo was shot my aunt and uncle, who have hosted me for the last 6 months, were that drunk that they ended up throwing tissueboxes at each other. Well, I took them outside to take a photo and they couldn't stop laughing and cuddled me to death.

Do you think it's funny or inappropriate? I'm not sure about this. I might remove it tomorrow. It's funny because I was in the middle of two hysterically laughing adults... Nevermind...

And this is how I ended up after singing and dancing to Neil Young and Seals and Crofts with my uncle. It was like one of my beloved homeparties with my friends in Vienna. People getting into the music and having the best time of their lives. VIENNA I'LL BE BACK SOON!!!! <3 

Perfection

The best Streetstyle blog ever has captured the perfect outfit. Once again! I have never seen a single outfit I didn't fell in love with on their website! How come there are so many beautiful people in Sweden?! And, for that matter, how does the photographer finds them all??! However, make sure to check out one of my most favourite blogs: Stockholm Streetstyle!!!

Rediscovered Love

Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare yourself to meet my rediscovered love ..... LYKKE LI!!!!!! 

This wonderwoman was born in Sweden, raised by fabulous parents who gifted her with their greatest talents, photography (in her case rather modelling) and music. I am seriously in love with her debut album Youth Novels, of which I truly adore every single song!  I can physically feel her passion for music in Melodies & Desires!

It was a beautiful warm summer night when I first heard her soft and touching voice. I was walking home after having spent the evening with my good friends lying in the grass and watching the sun set. In those days I didn't own a flash phone, so I was just listening to the german radio station 1live. Boy, I loved their late night programs! This guy with the most amazing taste in music had his hour from 11 o'clock on weekdays filled with the most divine tracks I'd ever heard. On this particular day he chose to play Lykke Lis Little Bit and me, having a crush on my handsome friend, had no chance not to love this song!!! That's how I got to know Lykke, one of my always-have and always-will-be favourite artists.

These shoes are the reason for my shoe-fetish. Seriously, aren't they just incredibly gorgeous???
I did a little research at that time and found out that Lykke had experimented with fashion and dancing and art in general. In Dance Dance Dance she sings about the time when she simply danced her problems away and dancing was her way of expressing her emotions!

She was my first fashion inspiration/role model. I admire her classy, different, quirky, special, wonderful, outstanding, beautiful, remarkable, ... style a hell of a lot. 

The most heart-broken song ever, Possibility, ended up expressing Bellas emptiness in the New Moon movie. 

Extraordinary? Yep, that's the right word to describe this incredible woman! 

Check out her facebook page here to find out more about this outstanding young woman and make sure you listen to my youtube Lykke Li playlist. It's worth it. I promise! 

Pink glasses

 I bought some fantastic John-Lennon-like glasses in PINK, green, purple and mirror-y at the one dollar shop yesterday. They are so cool!!! I just needed to have one for every possible outfit! 

Seeing the world though pink glasses definitely made my day. I found all the christmas presents I was looking for and - I actually can't believe it - I have almost all my presents ready to be presented!!!! I just have to find something very special for my mom.. Any suggestions???

Ah, that day was soo much fun!!! My pink aura and me had a great time embarrassing my family in public! :) Do you like John Lennon glasses? Do you have John Lennon glasses? What kind of sunglasses do you prefer to wear?

A lovely pop of orange

My auntie sorted out some of her bags and I went home with the biggest smile on my face. She gave me sooo many beautiful bags! This is one of my favourites, it is 'my lovely pop of orange' which completes every outfit in the most amazing way. I got inspired by the flowers in our garden which are blossoming now. Yey, I'm finally getting my little bit of summer and that makes me wear my brightest bag and my biggest smile! :)

And yes, I enjoyed this day so much that I was walking down the main street singing passionately to Frank Sinatras 'You turned my world around'! :)

First day of Freedom

I swear I haven't edited any of those photos! The colours and the lighting are all natural!!!

As I've posted in a previous post my boyfriend flew 34 hours just to be with me here in New Zealand (<3) and we went on a trip around the south island. We had some issues with my family, so we both were more than relieved to finally leave everything behind and spend almost three weeks on a bus tour. It was just AMAZING!!!
These are photos of our first day on tour, taken at Mount Cook, where some scenes of the Lord of the Rings movies were shot. It was just stunning! The feeling of total freedom overwhelmed both of us; the endless space and massive mountains, the intense colour of the sky and the plain colours of the grass and the rocks; we felt like we'd own the world.
And, as mentioned earlier, I'm SO glad my camera could captivate a little bit of the magical atmosphere we could experience. Aww, I'm missing it so much just by looking at the photos.

And if you guys ever want to travel in New Zealand or Asia, consider travelling with Stray. I promise you'll meet interesting and fun people on the bus and the drivers have definitely done their homework and will make your journey unforgettable!