back.

Sorry I've been away for so long! Now I'm back and my intention is to be better with blogging again.

I hope you're all well?

Many things have happened in the last couple of months:

• Spring finally came and allowed us to step outside in flip-flops for the first time
• I planted peas in the garden and they've grown a meter high
• Cherry blossom came and went, tiny green cherries showed on the tree in front our balcony and now turned reddish
• I found out that I'm pregnant :)))
  

The last point is also my excuse for not blogging - well, basically it's my excuse for everything right now.

Whenever I had time (and was not in the bathroom throwing up), I spent it being lazy in the hammock, talking to my veggie plants or trying to minimize the huge pile of plain pillows from our last IKEA trip sitting in my room. Above you can see one of the results, made from a tiny part of the many many yards of new fabric I bought on our last trips to Berlin and Hamburg. To make them more personal, I appliqued lace and doilies I inherited from my grandmother. Making pillowslips is so much fun - you don't need huge supplies of fabric, instead it gives you the chance to convert something old into something new and - it's quick!

Take care,
J

pre-spring breakfast

i had a friend over last week for a pre-spring and pre-departure (he's going back home to the states for 3 weeks) breakfast.

we had fresh rolls, homemade jam, cheese and raspberrry-jogurt-muffins topped with pomegranate flavoured sugar.

we were basically talking about food, men and japanese cooking. do you know the youtube show "cooking with dog"? it's fabulous, i spent all sunday watching it.

have a nice week!

home instead of berlin...

i was gonna go to berlin tonight, instead i'm home due to - uhm - infrastructural problems. i was pretty frustrated since i was looking forward to going there for about 3 years (ok ok, but at least 4 weeks).

so i sat down on the sofa with the cats, a glass of red wine, a huge plate of sushi and booked a new ticket for tomorrow morning.

can't wait to go to sleep and wake up again.

my plans include these:

si an - one of the best vietnamese restaurants i've ever been to.

watch funny people.

cupcake berlin - so good.

get some new fabric supply from frau tulpe (source)

stop by fräulein herz's new shop

have i mentioned i can't wait?

letters & writing

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my zurich

don't be suprised if you don't recognize the swiss capital :)

some time ago, i decided to not take pictures of famous sights or monuments any more, because i believe they have been photographed so many times before - and so much better than i would ever manage. instead, i try to capture what made a place special to me.

so, depending on general attitude or current mood, in this case this could mean:
* old clutter * rusty containers * sugar, fat & colourant * scungy shed *

or:
* lovely pieces full of history * the coolest store you've ever seen * pastel deliciousness * a cheerful euphemism*

which suits better for you?

bartering en petit

i've been hoping, praying, swearing and conjuring.
completely in vain.
it's not gonna stop snowing.

in times like these, i can recommend having a lovely colleague who knows how to knit and will knit beautiful winter accessories, like these supersoft wrist warmers:

personally, i'm not a knitting person, not patient enough. so i prefer having someone knit for me and keep the more coarse stuff for myself, like baking. i made these cakes for her:


i'll be off to zurich tomorrow, taking my camera and hopefully come back with loads of photos.

have a nice weekend!

zurich & chopsticks

my first (and only) time in zurich was when i was 19. i visited a friend who had just started going to university in constance.

we drove to zurich because a) it's not far and b) the gas was cheaper in switzerland. besides that, the only thing i remember is that we went to a beautiful japanese store where we bought chopsticks.


chopsticks.

not for eating - by that time, i wasn't very interested in home improvement articles. my friend and i returned them to their true determination, as we believed: hair accessoires. seriously, they were perfect to pin up our long, curly hair, and so much prettier than regular pencils or whatever else could be found in our bags during boring classes.

so this is my connection between chopsticks and zurich, and since i will be going back on the weekend, i had to think of that.

btw, what are you favourite guidebooks?