SHOOTING: snow white and bright red.

[en] my lovely readers, i'm wishing you a merry christmas time and wonderful moments with your favourite people, loads of fun and great food! i will be driving home for christmas tomorrow to spend christmas day with my family in gießen. how will you celebrate christmas '17?

once again we will have no white christmas in germany, thus i want to help you out with todays outfit post – we took these crystal magic photos some time ago in the vast gardens of schloss favorite near baden-baden.

this year i also became a bit reconciled with the cold seasons. might be because of the fact that i stopped smoking some months ago and that since then it takes some time until i start to feel the cold. or maybe it's because i feel more comfortable with my life and with what i have already achieved and that i know what i still want to achieve.

maybe it's some kind of catharsis. I'm excited when i think about the new year. i'm curious to get to know it, alongside with all the new impressions which i will be able to experience. it will also be a new and big chapter in my life, because i will finally turn 30. oh, how the time flies. sometimes this thought scares me. but then again i believe that every year offers you an account which 8760 hours in the red and you should live these hours to the fullest and seize everyday as good as you can. i swore to myself that i will do it just like this. that's my only New Years' resolution. Although … to find THE one and to travel as much as possible is of course comprised in it.

i'm wishing you an exciting new year '18 and loads of positive energy! thank you for reading me. my blog wouldn't be the same without you.

SHOPPING: 10 festive outfits for the holiday season '17.

[en] Advertisement - christmas is just around the corner and i can't wait for the first stroll over the christmas market (the christmas market in baden-baden will open its doors next week, on the 27th of november), the smell of freshly baked christmas cookies and the scent of delicious mulled wine.

of course it's also high time for glamorous festivities - and the perfect time to take out your most beautiful wardrobe pieces!

at the peek & cloppenburg online store i have found some flamboyant dresses, high heels and clutches and created my top 10 outfits for this years festive season.

which outfits would be your favourites?

CHRISTMAS: individualized advent calendar - my schoko world.

[en] ADVERTISEMENT - christmas is just around the corner (i'm already counting the days ...) and one of my favourite christmas traditions since my early childhood days is the obligatory advent calendar, filled with delicious chocolates and pralinés.

my schoko world offers you the possibility to create your very own advent calendar, personalized with your own photographs and filled with belgian milk chocolate.
i tested the service and today i want to show you the result.

i created a special strangeness and charms advent calendar featuring my personal shooting favourites from the past few years. it is very easy to create your own design - you can simply upload your favourite photos onto the website and do not need to download an external software.

i really like the outcome! what do you think of it?
as a special goodie you can win the advent calendar shown in todays post!

GIFT GUIDE: interactive world map with scratchable areas / weltkarte zum freirubbeln.

[en] ADVERTISEMENT – hi peeps! christmas is waiting around the corner and thus i want to show you a gift idea proving perfect for for any travelette around: a world map where you can scratch the places you have visited so far by beneart®.

in my early childhood days i was such a sucker for scratch cards and my dad used to buy me tons and tons at the local kiosk and i guess i haven't been the only one XD that's why i think that this world map is a super fun idea.

you also have the possibility to scratch some of the worlds greatest sights at the bottom left of the world map.

CHRISTMAS: you're a gift! show yourself off - 9 party outfits for the holiday season.

dress: via shopsplash.com / bag: YSL (direct link) / statement earrings: SNÖ of sweden (direct link) / heels: aldo tormini (direct link)

CHRISTMAS: DIY - how to create your own advent calendar.

[en] hi peeps! i love to be creative and i love handmade things. in my onlineshop i can express myself and my passion for many years. this year le boy and me decided to create our own advent calendar for the holiday season, and not to buy it at the supermarket or elsewhere. today i want to give you some advices on how easy it is to create your own pretty and individual advent calendar. i also show you some impressions of our own one. i guess it turned out quite well :)

it all begins with the selection of the right advent calendar bags, which you can fill up with little gifts and treats. there are no limits being set to the imagination. you can craft them yourself with beautiful velvet fabric in festive colours such as gold, red, emerald green. cut it into squares. take your own individual fillings and put them into the middle of the fabric. use a cord in fitting contrast colours with which you can close the bags afterwards. hang them on the wall or somewhere else, for example your christmas tree, if it is already set.

you can also buy prefabricated bags. we decided to take prefabricated ones this year, because we have loads to do at work at the moment. le boy had the idea that we could hang the advent calendar bags on our dream tree in the bedroom.

those who want to save the mural, can fall back on a wall tattoo in the form of a tree. the bags can eventually be attached to the tree with needle pins.

you don't need to remove the wall tattoo afterwards. after the holiday season it could decorate your home further on.

number cards can easily be crafted with cardboard and typographic skills. but you can also buy prefabricated ones in different beautiful designs online. we decided on THIS SET. the different days are numbers which have to be calculated (11+11), they are written out in english or german or displayed as pretty ornaments.

on DaWanda you will find a greatselection of nice fillings for your advent calendar. or you can fill up your single bags with homebaked delicacies, with gathered chestnuts, with gemstones, origami creations and so much more … there are no limits being set to the imagination.

do you love DIY as much as we do?

have you ever crafted your own advent calendar?

what do you love most about the advent season?

IMPRESSIONS: december will be magic again.

i love kate bush and how she creates magical sceneries with her poetic lyrics and beautiful harmonies so full of splendid and avantgardistic creativity and warmth in every note.

i have heard 'december will be magic again' again after a long time and i still truly love it. today i want to share with you some photos of this years' christmas decoration in my new home and also this nostalgic memory, so important for me in the past and so totally speaking of a beautiful present-day - and him, finally present in my life and about to stay ... ♥

december will be magic again - because of your light and your love, shining for me.

'december will be magic again

don't miss the brightest star

and kiss under mistletoe'

MUSIC: 10 christmas songs definitely getting you in the mood for the holiday season.

to celebrate the holiday season and to get in the mood for christmas, what is better than listening to the perfect christmas soundtrack?

here are my personal fab 10 christmas carol playlist definitely being able to getting you in the mood!

how do you like my playlist
do you have a favourite christmas song?

1. oh holy night - my favourite version is from ella fitzgerald. brings tears to my eyes every time i listen to it. it's so full of devotion, hope, and also a bit of melancholy. also the favourite christmas carol of david garrett.
2. my favourite things - from the sound of music. for me the perfect christmas song because it talks of so many things brightening up the beautiful holiday season.
3. 12 days of christmas - fiiiive goooolden riiiiings! i must admit that first i didn't like the song because it annoyed me. no joke! but after some listenings i embosomed it and have loved it from this moment on. my favourite version is sung by kathleen battle and frederica von stade from a carnegie hall christmas concert.
4. walking in the air - from the snowman. no matter if sung or solely the piano instrumental: both versions are so beautiful, no matter if you have watched the movie or not. the overwhelmingly beautiful harmonies in a minor key will bring tears in your eyes and the lyrics are wonderfully touching.
5. hark! the herald angels sing - a christmas carol classic. this song shouldn't be missed out on a traditional holiday season playlist.
6. maria durch ein dornwald ging - once sung in my choir when i was in my young teenage tears, this carol never let me go anymore. i love the ancient medieval harmonies which are most beautiful and touching when sung by a childrens choir of soprano and tenor voices. when i heard this song for the very first time, i imagined holy mary wandering through the gardens of thorns, which miraculously turned into beautiful blossoms. this is the wonder of faith - it can move mountains and turn thorns into flowers ... and give hope, where there seems nothing to hope anymore.
7. ave maria - by johann sebastian bach and gounod. wonderfully soothing harmonies. magical, with or without the lyrics. a beautiful homage to holy mary. and a genuine evidence that bach's music is perfused with feeling and not aseptic and cold, as many people like to state. 
8. in the bleak midwinter - a wonderful christmas carol. the lyrics are based upon a poem written by christina rossetti. in 1906 gustav holst (composer of 'jupiter, bringer of jollity') set the beautiful poem to music - what a beautiful unification! so devout and soothing. my favourite version is sung by sissel, the wonderful soprano singer from norway, who has also sung my favourite poem by lord gordon byron, 'she walks in beauty like the night' as set in music in the phantastic movie 'vanity fair', starring reese witherspoon.
9. last christmas - by wham. a favourite of mine, every year, since the day i have heard it for the very first time when i was still in my young teenage years.
10. the christmas song - my favourite version is sung by nat king cole. such a must-listen-to ... 

'although it's been said many times, many ways: 

merry christmas to you'

have a wonderful holiday season.

don't forget to participate in the best of the blogs competition for january 2015!

         

GIFT GUIDE: christmas gift guide for mum & dad, him & her.

if you still don't know which gifts to buy for your beloved once and still need some christmas shopping inspiration, i want to share a little gift guide with you in today's post. here you can find inspiration what to buy as a christmas gift, wether it is a little something for mum & dad, your best female friend, your sister, brother, cousin, or boyfriend.

what do you think of my little christmas gift inspiration?

did you already buy all of your christmas gifts?

1# michael kors - selma large top zip satchel fuchsia, seen here: click / 2# drachelfels design - flammeninferno, seen here: click / 3# alexa chung - it, seen here: click / 4# D&G - DG4180 sunglasses, seen here: click / 5# christian louboutin - pumps suspendo sling, seen here: click / 6# nach bijoux - porcelain cheetah earrings, seen here: click / 7# gucci - gucci by gucci perfume, seen here: click / 8# veuve clicquot - ice jacket edition, seen here: click


1# daniel hope - escape to paradise, seen here: click / la mer - crème de la mer, seen here: click / 2# john lewis: cognac amber decorative drop earrings amber, seen here: click / 3# krug vintage champagne, seen here: click / 4# roeckl - classic cashmere, seen here: click / 5# saint laurent - rouge pur couture lipstick belle de rose, seen here: click / 6# chanel - no.5, seen here: click / 7# howard schatz - h2o, seen here: click


1# bozzetto, seen here: click / 2# fossil - men's watch grant leather, seen here: click / 3# coffee-table book, seen here: click / 4# fossil - watch box, seen here: click / 5# ludovico einaudi - stanze, seen here: click / 6# baldessarini - strictly private, seen here: click / 7# cardenal mendoza solera gran reserva, seen here: click


1# swiss kubik by bornemann - watch winder, seen here: click / apple - ipad, seen here: click /  2# slyrs bavarian single malt whisky, seen here: click / 3# fossil - george peacoat, seen here: click / 4# gribani - iphone case tanned, seen here: click / 5# philips - shaver series 9000, seen here: click / 6# paco rabanne - one million for men, seen here: click

don't forget to participate in the best of the blogs competition for january 2015!

         

CHRISTMAS: rum truffles and marzipan potatoes.

hello, my dears! i have started my first christmas bakery session some days ago and today i want to share some of the results with you. this time i'm sharing some photos of my rum truffles and marzipan potatoes with you. i have made them last year for the very first time ever. marzipan potatoes are an all time christmas favourite of my dear brother, so i wanted to try out the recipe to gift him with some of them on christmas eve, and i succeeded. the rum truffles are a bit elaborate, especially if you grate all the chocolate yourself. each time i do that i have to time 30 minutes more for my baking session.

you can find the recipes of the rum truffles and the marzipan potatoes below.

i'm wishing you a wonderful holiday season!