Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Finally it's this time of the year again. Isn't it just the best time of the year? Everything's so cozy and lovely decorated. I for myself enjoy this special time to the fullest. Yesterday at Christmas Eve I went to my family for dinner and the handing out of presents. We enjoyed a very good meal, since I am vegetarian my mom served me hummus with avocado, chickpea curry with rice and vanilla ice with self-made date-almond-cacao-blissballs. It was so yum. Since I had no real wishes this year, I received quite a lot: Natural cosmetics, a gift voucher for my fav bookstore, earrings, a ticket for the Pink Floyd exhibition "Their Mortal Remains", candles and natural perfume. So thankful for all that.

Today on the first Christmas Day, it is so sunny! I'd wish for some snow, but this won't happen. This morning I went to church with my grandma and after that I cooked a vegan christmas meal for me and the boy, it's been a good day so far.

Now I will continue reading my christmas crime novel.

Wishing you all lovely holidays!

2nd of Advent

Happy 2nd of advent, everyone!

Today is just a lazy day, eating cookies and drinking tea. I am also thinking about reading today, I wanna finish my current readings to start with my new christmas crime story "Das Geheimnis der Grays" (original: Portrait of a Murderer).

I also need to wrap some christmas gifts for friends that I wanna send out via mail tomorrow.

I hope you're enjoying your advent sunday!

1st of Advent

Happy first of advent!

Today I lighted the first candle of my selfmade advent wreath. Two days ago I visited a little workshop with my friend Laura, where we made our own wreaths for the advent time! I only had to bring the candles, the material was offered by the workshop. I decided to use only dark evergreens for  tying and natural materials for decorating. I am so super proud and happy with how it turned out! Really really loving it! I also still have my scandinavian advent tray from last year which I am using as well. I decorated it with pinecones, walnuts, greens, golden christmas balls and ceramic angels.

Yesterday I went to the city and strolled through all the christmassy things that the shops sell atm. I found a scented candle, "Rustic Spruce" which smells, as the name reveals, of spruce and Christmas trees! I also visited two christmas markets yesterday, but the weather is really warm for december, so there is no real christmas mood yet and also the hot mulled wine is not tasting that good in these temperatures. 

Nevertheless I am super excited for Christmas, this cozy time, beeswax candles, books, tea, hot mulled wine, snow, christmas music, bubble baths, smell of frankincense, cookies......

❅ Merry Christmas ❅

Christmas morning: Had some vegan pancakes today and I finally could light the fourth candle on my advent tray.

 Merry Christmas, everybody! 

It's here, christmas eve! Can't believe it's this day again, christmas came so quickly. There was so much to do this past week, sending out christmas mail to my friends, getting and decorating our tree, making some cookies, buying and wrapping the last gifts. But now it is all done and finally I can enjoy the free time to come. This morning I made some vegan pancakes for me and the boy, just to start this day very good. I already unwrapped some gifts, the ones from my love and one from a dear workmate. I am so happy what I received, some people just know me so well. ♥

 Now it's time for me to get dressed in my new dress and drive to my family. I can't wait for some christmas time with my dearest people.

I hope you're having a good holiday season and enjoy time with your families.

❅ ❅ ❅ ❅ ❅ ❅

Christmas things: A book "the mistletoe murder and other stories" by P. D. James, christmas yogi tea and some smoking candles with a christmassy scent.

Time to burn my gingerbread scented candle. Got this for a few euros and I love it. // We also had a little baking session yesterday evening. I made some star-shaped cinnamon cookies, my favourite vegan cookies and some normal cookies in different shapes.

Wrapping time: All of my gifts are finally wrapped and packed. So in love with the cute animal wrapping paper ♥

Christmas musings

Christmas market with beautiful surroundings.

❅ Hello lovely people,

 two more weeks to go until christmas. This week my lovely "advent wreath" (well, it is not really a wreath, more a tray for candles) arrived! Just in time for the second of advent tomorrow! I am really loving it, it looks so timeless, is minimalistic and I can use it every year again. I just need to get my hands on some walnuts and fir branches to complete it's decoration. It is still looking a little bit bald.

Anyway, it snowed today (again!). But it is not a winter wonderland, the snow melts quickly from the ground, only the rooftops and the trees are still covered with a little white blanket. On the radio they said that around christmas it will get colder, so maybe we can hope for a white one? That would be so wonderful, I can't remember the last white christmas here...

Today I went to the city and ended up in the bookshop (as always). Of course I bought a new one. But I have to finish my christmas books that I bought for december. So the next time I will be busy reading.

❅ ❅ ❅

Today I made some banana pancakes for breakfast. They are so simple to make and you need less ingredients. I put some vegan choco creme on top and some frozen berries. As a hot spicy winterdrink I had the "Kurkuma Latte Vanilla" by Sonnentor.

Vegan potato carrot soup I made about a week ago, some cress on top and some yummy rye bread as a side dish! Perfect winter dinner! // I am currently reading "Mystery in white", a christmas crime story.

This is the book I bought today. A fantastic fantasy novel, it looks like it is more aimed for younger people, but it isn't. I think it's kind of a fantasy story for grown-ups ( :

Cozy christmas market. One of my favourites here in the area. Went there with my boyfriend and his parents. We enjoyed some mulled wine and I had a Langos which was so yummy. I bought some little christmas gifts, some finnish honey & essential fir oil.

Recipe: Making Chai Syrup

Like last year, I want to share my Chai Syrup recipe for cold winter days with you. I hope you all had lovely christmas celebrations!

You need for 250 ml:

10 g ginger
 6 capsules of cardamom
 1 teaspoon of black pepper
 1 vanilla bean
 3 cinnamon sticks
 4 cloves
250 g sugar
3 bags of black tea

1.
  ➳ Shell the ginger and cut it in thin pieces.
  ➳ Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise & scrape out the core.

➳   Crush the cardamom and pepper in a mortar so that the  capsules open up.

 


2. 
 ➳ Put the cardamom, pepper, cinnamon sticks and cloves in a pot.
 ➳ Roast them with stirring until they start to scent.


3.  
     ➳ Add 500 ml water.
    ➳ Add ginger, sugar, vanilla core and bean in the pot.
    ➳ Boil it up.
    ➳ Add the teabags and let all simmer for 10 minutes.
    ➳ Remove the teabags after 5 minutes.
    ➳ Let everything brew for 30 minutes.

4. 
      ➳ Pass the liquid through a fine sieve, then allow the liquid (in the pot again) to reduce to
         almost a concentrate of 250 ml.

     ➳ Fill it hot in a clean bottle and allow it to cool down.

I've made a bunch of this yummy liquid for me and my friends ♥

All photos by me

You can drink it in tea, cacao or coffee or use it for desserts or your breakfast porridge!

♡ Enjoy ♡

❅ Hello Christmas. Finally you are here... ❅

❅|| Christmas Eve. Finally. Can't believe that the time has come. It's so exciting. I stared the day with a cinnamon porridge and choco tea [it's so damn delish!!!]. Then it was time to decorate our christmas tree. Oh, how I love the scent of firs! It's so magical! We made a nordic dessert, pearl barley with raspberries for the evening! It looks so fantastic and yummy! Now the food preparations are running at full speed, and it's time for me to get dressed and wrap the last gifts ☻

Oh, I received the loveliest christmas mail the past days, I need to show you guys. Some little wishes from friends from France, Germany, Sweden and the US. Vintage cards, tea and a lovely Elsa Beskow calendar! How nice is that? I am so happy to have all these connections around the globe, such wonderful people I know. ♡♡♡

[Scroll down to see what I received ☻]

 

Christmas outfit: A 70ies blouse and a dark blue velvet top combined with silver jewelries! ♡

Love it!

I wish you all a wonderful christmas, and heartwarming moments with your friends and family! 

Enjoy the little happy things, lovely gifts maybe, the food, the drinks and try to be all there (I will try especially the last thing!). Happy holidays, with or without snow!

❅♡❅♡❅

❅ Christmas is on it's way ❅

 ❅| Happy 3rd of advent, dudes! Soon it's christmas, whohoo...The cities look so pretty dressed in all that beautiful lights. On friday I went to an old city with my mom, also to see the pretty christmas market there. It was not too crowded, so we could have a look at all the stalls we were interested in. The athmosphere was just breathtaking, for some seconds I felt like a litte child again. A brass band was playing old german christmas songs, and we just stood there, listened and had a cup of hot white "Glühwein". We also bought some gifts for our loved ones, it was such a nice day! ❁

 ➳ Celebrating this 3rd advent sunday with an old vintage advent wreath made of ceramics, hot black tea and selfmade cinnamon rolls. God, they taste soo good! I also seized the day for making some gifts for my friends. Handmade stuff is always made with tons of love and care! So I am so curious about how they'll like it! ♡

➳ Christmas athmosphere everywhere you look. All that is missing is snow...❅ I am wishing for a real winter wonderland for the holidays, but it's too warm here still...

 ➳ I also made a bunch of vegan cookies, my favourite cookies for this season. And with less ingredients. So quick! So yummy! So good! Recipe? [just ask for it]!

 "My idea of christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others."

-Bob Hope

 ➳ December days in Germany are all about colourful paper stars hanging in the windows. And I really love that. This is my little indian decorated star looking out in the dark.

 ➳ I need to get my mail send out as soon as possible now! I gathered so many pretty postcards and tags from different shops and markets, that I want to keep them all for my own ☻ Haha, no seriously, I plan to send everything out the next week, so I hope my friends all over the world will receive them safe and sound before the holidays. Much L O V E to you! ♡ ♡

 ❅ ❅ ❅

All photos by me

 ➳ I am already searching for vegan recipes for christmas eve. I am thinking of something with hummus...Christmas is the feast of love - love, also for the animals ☮

It's THE time of the year

☽ || Ohh finally it's december, can't believe it! Where the hell has the year gone? Christmas markets opened their doors a week ago, the streets in the cities are full of people rushing from one shop to another to buy christmas gifts. I think I will take things slow and relaxed, I don't want christmas stress to get too close to me. That's not the thought of this feast.
Since I love handmade gifts, I plan to make some on my own ( : Surprising lovely people is the best way to make yourself happy too! ♡♡♡
  
Today is St. Nicholas Day, and here in Germany we make each other little gifts. I found christmas tea and cacao & mint & cocos and cacao & sesame bliss balls in my shoes ( : Everything is super delish.

Last week I went to the first christmas market of the year, it's a really tiny one and it only takes place for one day in our neighbor village. The things you can buy there are all handmade and homegrown/local, for me it's good to support small companies. Here's what I found: Two wintery ceramic plates and hangers, selfmade cookies, homegrown tea with melissa, mint, rose, marigold and St. John's wort and two jams, rose and hawkbit. ❁


Here's a belated photo of my birthday gift from my swedish friend Sina! She made me these wonderful latvian mittens! ♡ They will keep my hands warm during the cold season. She also gave me a handdrawn illustration!

I am already preparing my christmas mail, gosh I found the cutest postcards yesterday ♡
Can't wait to send them out! Even if I am not showing photos of mail here anymore, I am a passionate letter writer still. And for me - christmas mail is the best mail of the year ( :

All photos by me