Book Challenge 2013

Aloha all,

This year I will again start a book reading challenge. I have 53 books as a target and I really hope I can keep the speed :-)

As I am not always keen to read after going through millions of documents at work (not the most thrilling topics I am afraid).

So I have quite some books on my list and will maybe write one or the other review/ recommendation.

So far I am on track with 6 books already read in this short time (my brain & my fantasy are screaming for food – really day & night)!

Already one of the most lovely books I've come to read in a while are the ones by Tamora Pierce (Alanna-stories I adore). So I absolutely recommend those if you have a slight interest in women adventure, magic, knights's age and a bit of love strugges on a side note. You won't be disappointed - believe me!

More later on. But when I am mentioning this I should also mention goodreads.com --> here you can exchange, study & research about good books, new authors, beloved fellows etc... I love this place as much as I love books. It helped me discover some great reading pleasures - so let's relax, enjoy and browse the site!

Cheers,
StrangenessOfHeart

Sunday*Brunch

Aloha All,

|Watched| Drama around me...
|Listened| Wolke 7  by Max Herre feat. Philipp Poisel
|Read| Alanna-books by Tamora Pierce
|Action| Wine tasting with a friend, museum visits (I was far too long not in one but there are that many interesting exhibitions ging on!!!
|Food| Soj vanilla yogurt and fresh fruits in the morning, easy tossed salads for lunch (except for one chinises take away - veggies with rice and tofu, & finally a friend discovered a vegan restaurant & I was given an voucher for that. Yay!!!
|Drink| Green tea with fresh ginger, lemon*aid drink, black coffee, white wine
|Thought| I have to contninue this road more eageryl ...
|Made me smile| Friend swho worried and supported me through this week, a spontanous trip to Rome in spring.
|Made me go hmmm| The recent happenings around me are more than scary: People waiting in front of our house and being pretty rude, throughing eggs on our door & wall, there was blood in the entry hall...and there was a fight in ine of the other apartments... I am shocked and scared. Hopefully this will be solved fast.
|Wished for| That this week never happened...or/and that this problem is quickly solved and it is ok.
|Best Buy| Wine
|Online| blogger.com, gutefrage.net, youtube.com, vegan blogs...

Cheers,
StrangenessOfHeart

Resolutions 2013 ~ Details

Aloha All,


here are some more details on some resolutions I mentioned before. But I had the feeling of clarifying them a bit further. Details make the difference, right?!

Reduce & Use Up:

I was kind of obsessed with new products. So each and every time I went to the drugstore I bought something (I guarantee: I didn’t need it!). No matter what I had to buy and of course I had to try everything that was mentioned by more than 3 of my fav beauty bloggers/ youtublings. It was a crazy time and I perfectly made up for all the years I wasn’t too impressed with beauty (just really the basics – after all I was a real tomboy and mascara and a bit of lipgloss was all I needed. Maybe some eyeliner on occasions but plainly that was it.).

You see I had to make a short recap and I did.

But now I have far more than I will every be able to use up (especially when you look at powders, blushes and eyeshadows – I could easily make up half of the female population worldwide (at least I feel like it).

Will.Stop.This.Now!

I already made a sound start in 2012 with quitting beauty boxes and stuff. So I will continue this journey. Wish me luck!

à For an easy check I will start with “UsedUp” – a new series where I recap what I used up and will throw away. This way you get a review AND an overview about my endless supplies on beauty related products.

Shop My Stash!

It comes with the one above easily: I will work with what I have. Because it is a lot. End of period.

I will get more creative in the way I use things and will rock some looks I didn’t do as I felt to shy to do them. Examples as follows:

- Wearing a bold red lip – hej sassiness, I am coming!

- Wearing colourful eyes – thanks nude/natural shades, I still love you but you must admit that your brighter brothers and sisters should have a chance to shine as well!

- Breaking the Make up rut. I am one to go for a look I liked over again and again (although I am bored easily)

- I think of a weekly bag of things I will throw in for the week just for fun… I have to see how this works out (maybe monthly is better as I can really test & try what is best to do with the products).

Lifestyle & Health

Drink more water & tea throughout the day

Start to find a routine for my daily dose of working out (would love to install a 10 minutes program but have to find one I stick with)

No more smoking (I don’t do this on a regular base but sometimes)

Use SPF 15 at least – better be off with SPF 30!

Care about my starting wrinkles (my face is pure cinema as my friends say. It is always in movement and you can read my face like a book. All emotions are shown and this is causing some wrinkles I should worry at this age ... but they make me who I am right?)

Think this is clarifying quite something ;)

Cheers,

StrangenessOfHeart

Resolutions 2013 ~ Fashion & Lifestye

Aloha All,

Welcome to the 2nd part of my resolutions for a happy and exiting 2013. Enjoy and let me know if you have some resolutions yourself. And they might be identical with the ones I have?!

Fashion

Stay true to my style & shop my stash more often

Combine the things & also kick myself for wearing some more adventurous outfits if I like them (sometimes I think others won’t approve – wth?!)

Only buy key pieces and/or things that compliment my wardrobe (and forget about a lot of it-pieces who won’t make it on my body a second time)

Lifestyle

Follow the vegan path (love it!)

Eat even more fresh & organic and most important of all: Overcome the last rest of my bad eating habits

Be more active & don’t let myself down to easy (I did so the last 2 years and it didn’t do me any good. I need to remind myself what I already achieved)

Cheers,

StrangenessOfHeart 

Resolutions 2013 ~ Beauty

Aloha All,

I’ve read quite a lot of these resolutions and I found them brilliantly useful. For me as just someone who you after all fell fairly recently into a beauty routine (and yes, let’s call it a slight obsession) this is THE perfect way to start a new year.

I have found so many inspirations around and now I am eager to try this for myself.

I will split them into short posts  :)

So here we go with my beauty resolutions for a happy 2013!

Skincare

Always clean my face properly and get rid of my make up. (Think I am already pretty good on this part BUT I often found my eyes – especially my mascara – not quite perfectly washed of)

Pay closer attention to my skincare & here go deeper into the special needs. I am only a mid-twenty-lass but I have a string problem with T-Zone and the first wrinkles (because of dryness) around my eyes.

MakeUp

Don’t buy more stuff! Shop my stash (more details on another post)

Use the things on hand & repurchase what has been faithful to me over the past months & years (there are products who worth to be stables)

Come out of my comfort zone with some things (gel eyeliner, felt tip liner – it looks good, I just have to practice)!

Stay true to my style nevertheless

Hair

Let it grow and wear if more often down (I used to have it up 360 days a year)

Give it careful treatments

Try new styles (Curling iron is my newest tool on hand – so I need some more practice with it)

Don’t penetrate it with bleaching, colouring, highlighting & heat all the same (I try to go back to my original colour & embrace it for what it is – because it compliments by type so why change it?)

Cheers,

StrangenessOfHeart

Sunday*Brunch

|Watched| Alice in Wonderland - Don't know what took me so long! Awesome!
|Listened| The Last Time by Taylor Swift,
|Read| Alanna by Tamora Pierce & Taberna Libraria by Dana S. Eliott
|Action| Writing job applications for my Mentee, being a support for family and friends, acting with my job unsatisfaction, being supported by close friends...
|Food| Vegan brunch with lovely freshly made rolls, strawberry creme, black coffee with
soj milk - yummy! Some "false scrambled eggs" (all tofu & herbs magic)
|Drink| fritz cola (yummy) fruit mixes, black coffee, white wine
|Thought| At least a beginning & let's see where this brings me ...
|Made me smile| The massive interest in my vegan lifestyle and my cooking&baking abilities - people seriously asked me if I could give them some kitchen advice & learn them how to do! I am honered!!!
|Made me go hmmm| Me being to eager and to unsure with myself at the same time. Think I have to work on finding my own pace (without thinking I have to be fast/ slower or better or anything to please others).
|Wished for| Time to take a deep breath and relax.
|Best Buy| Bought a present for a little friend <3
|Online| wikipedia.com, various job center pages (for my Mentee), blogger.com

Cheers,
StrangenessOfHeart

Sunday*Brunch

|Watched| LiefeOf Pi - So wonderful! Great pictures & those 3D effects are incredible! Go and watch it (the book is awesome too btw)
|Listened| Scream & Numb by Usher
|Read| Life Of Pi
|Action| Cooking dinner for friends - I was quite excited because it is me cooking dinner and especially as I am serving vegan food only. It is always a challenge to convince people that this won't hurt them ... so yeah for those brave friends of mine (more on the topic later).
|Food| Vanilla soj yogurt, red beet olive-salad, smoked tofu and vanilla cookies
|Drink| Christmas teas (have to use them up right?), black coffee, white wine & Tullamore Whiskey
|Thought| Wow, 2013 started wonderful, full of action, lovely people, interesting news and some light on my personal dark tunnel. Maybe this is not the end of news?!
Change be embrace & be assured: we will be great friends!
|Made me smile| Adorable people complimenting me on being me, preparations for my "perfect" little vegan dinner and a message from my mentee. She is great!
|Made me go hmmm| I ordered a lot during sale time and I am more than disappointed as nothing fits good enough. Grmpfl - those deals would have been great!
|Wished for| Some more time to sort out my thoughts.
|Best Buy| Food. Lots of food! I could cook for an armee - really. It is amazing how I filled up each and every single free spot in my home with food!
|Online| tchibo.de, blogger.com, various blogs, youtube.com

Cheers,
StrangenessOfHeart

Some thoughts on StrangenessOfHeart 2013...

Aloha All,

I hope you had a more than fantastic start in 2013 and this is hopefully ongoing J We have an adventurous year ahead! I am excited and for my yearly tradition I once more was cleaning out my whole flat.

Felt so good to throw away things that are useless, get some clothing to the Red Cross or store some things for a Swap-party with friends. I also cleared out my Make Up drawers and organized this differently – so much better now and I think I will post some pictures for this.

(Think I should post more pictures in general or what do you think? Pleas let me know if you think this is a good idea) J

This year I am focusing much more on working with what I got than buying more and more … I had a real issue with collecting all things beautiful (which of course is a nice hobby and I think we do not have to argue that there will be always times when I will fall for a nice new item BUT the overall idea is to stick with what I got and use up the things I have).

More regarding this will follow in my “Beauty Resolutions” Post. I loved reading them and will do a special post about it.

If you have any further ideas about this and further ideas I would love to hear them – thanks!

For my little blog space here on blogger.com I intend to free some more time to care much more about it as it is a beloved little thing. I was just to “shy” to publish more ideas but to be honest: Who cares? It is something just for my own little pleasures, so for those who are visiting every now and then: Thank you! For those just browsing by: Merci too J

And now: Enjoy!

Cheers,

StrangenessOfHeart

Thank you for 1000 people visiting :)

For some this might be a daily rate for me it means the world! So I thank each and every one who was visiting my little space here - Merci & take care!

Cheers
StrangenessOfHeart

Sunday*Brunch ~ Welcome in 2013

|Watched| Smash - Omg, I am hooked! I love Musicals & I love Marilyn :-)
|Listened to| Scream & Numb by Usher
|Action| New Year's clean out - big time. I turned all my cupboardy insideout and cleaned&cleared everything out...it is sooo good! Feels awesome. Let the year begin!
|Food| Provamel soy jogurt in vanilla, caramel & coffee flavour.
|Drink| Ginger tea, coffee
|Thought| What adventures will 2013 be waiting for me? What challenges and what magical moments? I am eager to discover the secrets and I am ready for some changes :)
|Made me smile| Lovely messages, upcoming adventures with people which slipped into my heart very quickly.
|Made me go hmmm| Back at work...nothing new there.
|Wished for| Even more time to watch Smash and for my cleaning master plan!
|Best Buy| A nice little present for a friend and I ordered quite some items online (sale time of the year) - but I am not sure if these things will be mentioned next week. Stay tuned!
|Online| zalando.de, asos.co.uk, tchibo.de, blogger.com, youtube.com, some blogs

Cheers,
StrangenessOfHeart

Favourites 2012 - Skin Care

Aloha All,

My skin is my biggest problem area: It is sensitive, on the side of oily-to-combination (depending on season and environment), it is going crazy as soon as it is this time of the month and of course stress is a whole new story… it is difficult, always and sometimes I wish I could exchange my skin but we have to work what we get, right?

Without further ado I will explain what helped my skin to deal better with all the troubles around:

Overall Facial Care Brand: Kiehl’s (I am so glad I tried this brand)

Overall Body Care Brand:  The Body Shop

Overall Hair Care Brand: - no decision yet made

Special Heroes of my daily life***

Hand Sanitizer & Wipes, P2 Almond SOS Nail care pen, Soap & Glory Hand Food Mini and my Burt’s Bees Hibiscus Lip care

Cleanser| Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Oil-free cleanser

Toner| Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Oil-free toner

Face cream - Day| Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Oil-free gel cream

Face cream -Night| Kiehl’s Ultra Facial cream

Face mask| Lancome

Face treatment| Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate

Eye cream - Day| Yves Rocher Serum vegetal

Eye cream – Night| Kiehl’s Avocado Eye Treatment

Eye treatment| Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Eye Concentrate

Lip care (with colour)| Burt’s Bees Hibiscus

Lip care – Night| Kaufmann’s Hand-&Kindercreme

Lip care – Day (w/ colour)| Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream (frequence free) Mini

SUMMER SPECIALS

Face| Lancaster Sun (SPF 30), Alverde After Sun Lotion Face

Lips | Balea Sun Lip balm (SPF 50+)

Body| Balea Sun Lotion (SPF 50+), Balea Sun Spray (50+), Balea Sun After Sun Lotion & Spray (with Aloe vera)

Hair| Balea Sun Spray (50+ for hair), Balea Sun After Sun Shampoo & Conditioner

Hand lotion| Balea Australia soap lotion

Hand cream| The Body Shop SOS Almond Care (I use it for hand and feet); however in my daily bag is Soap&Glory’s Hand Food (love!)

Shower Gel| The Body Shop Olive Shower Gel

Body Scrub| Soap & Glory’s Flake Away

Shampoo| Fructis Garnier Volume & Shine

Conditioner| Kerastase for fine hair

Hair Treatment| Arganoil, Mythic Oil by L’Oreal

Styling product| Elnett Hair spray

So you see it is quote some fun to care about your skin and hair J But who would know but you?!

Hope you found this interesting!

Cheers,

StrangenessOfHeart

*2013* Welcome

Aloha All,

Welcome in 2013! Enjoy the start and stay positive for the upcoming days, weeks and months to bring the utmost beautiful memories to your mind. Let adventures happen to you, let the magic in your daily life and embrace a certain amount of wickedness to feel light-hearted, lightweight and alive in all situations!

I wish you and your beloved ones a wonderful time, joy and health & a lot of bubbles J

Cheers,

StrangenessOfHeart