new planet.....

moving to a different city... country... continent planet is exciting, exhausting, scary, adventurous, challenging... and basically any other adjective you can think of. my move to shanghai is my third adventure of such sort. the third time is the charm. before i moved to a country i had never even visited before i knew two things....... that there was no way i could possibly imagine what to expect... and that i would have to throw my previous routine out the window. food... workouts... social activities... hell, even tv shows (don't worry, keeping up with the kardashians and ray donovan marathons were totally flagged with high-importance for my next trip to ny). well, like i said: the third time is the charm... because instead of driving myself crazy, looking for... and ultimately failing to find the things i was accustomed to...... (like i did the first months of my new-york-life.....) i decided to fully dive into everything china has to offer. i want to find new things to learn and things that i would then miss again, once i would decide to move to yet another planet. 

to just name a few of the things i can already see myself missing........ the food (oh my god, do i loooove the food here!).... the teas (they put my last  at-home-tea-bar to shame)... superstition (one of my favorite ones is that i the paths in the gardens are zigzagged because ghosts can only fly straight and consequently can't follow you. brilliant!)... the architecture (the corners of the roofs are bent up to let the light in) and of course, chinese medicine (everybody knows that what you eat effects you... but maaaan they take it to the next level, here).

so i totally got side-tracked with this post..... (but these thoughts have been wanting to come out be posted for a while now) because this is was supposed to be a fitness-post....... about my new fitness routine. another time then, i guess. uuuuuuuuuh what a good teaser! 

instead i will finally show you some pictures i took in suzhou, then. i spent a long weekend there and it will always be special to me because it made me fall in love with this country.... a country that i was honestly not even interested in visiting before. and that's why it is important to be open in life. open to new food... new cultures... new people... and ultimately adventure.

humble administrator's garden in suzhou, china... september 2014.... all photos by me

blond corn

remember when i took pictures of my friend rachel... and her hair looked like this?

some time has passed since then..... about 8 months (damn, time flies.........). well when i saw her last week in new york she was rocking those fabulous black roots and i immediately had a strong urge...... a strong urge to do this...

what should i say.... braiding makes me happy

photos by h, a very cool lady! (check ouuuuut her blooooog stuffbyh.com)

bare minimum

i am back in shanghai after my two week vaycay in new york, that was absolutely incredible. (you got a liiiittle idea about that here) i'm not gonna lie.... i had so much fun that it was maaaaybe (but not really) good when it was time to leave... or i might have died... of sleep deprivation. but actually more likely... a bagel-overdose..... i kid you not.  maaaan do i still have stories to tell photos to show you. 

 my trip also involved breaking my mac powder foundation, multiple fingernails, my roommates' friends' cup (i reimbursed her for it, don't worry) and maaaaybe also a heart (no reimbursing possible.....) jk..... i hope.

anyway, when i travel i do like to travel light... also when it comes to my make-up. (you might have came across this topic before...... like here or here). i still found myself not using most of the little pots of color i brought with me. if you have been checking out this little blog of mine for a while (so probably my direct family.... jk) you will have noticed that i have definitely been doing less complicated and time-intensive make-up looks lately. but for the past few weeks my routine has been reduced to the bare minimum..... not because of time or laziness, though. i actually really just like it more.

revlon, photoready bb cream, skin perfecter with spf 30 (here i first introduced you to it). i am not even using any powder over it and really like the dewy finish. okok a little concealer for those little friends that i can't travel without.... breakouts. then of course mascara (sometimes also just on the top row) you are about to ask "what mascara do you use?" the answer is "lash architect, baby!" my one and only.  after filling my brows lightly and throwing  mac's lip conditioner (tube) in my bag, i am out the door.

when i want a little more i only add a touch of blush with mac, mineralize skinfinsh, in soft and gentle on my cheek bone and brow bone aaaand any sort of lip color i was in the mood for.

so ladies... how bare can youuuu go?

meet constance... the modern nomad

since my move to shanghai (from new york) my life has had waaay to many stupid annoying little grow-up-hurdls to overcome. dealing with various bank accounts... understanding the tax systems from three different countries... wrapping my head around the fact that i got an absentee voting ballot for arapahoe county in colorado... sent to my parents in munich... while i am in shanghai. this life of a nomad makes me think of my friend constance a lot.........

i can confidently say that there is no other person in the world, like constance. she considers herself to be a “modern nomad”. and yes, since we stopped working together (because she had a beautiful little girl) i literally can not keep track of in which city (...or continent, for that matter) she is living, let alone all the places she lived in befoooore she had a family. (but i am getting the feeling some of people  have the same thoughts about me now......) and no, "nomad" does't mean that you will not see constance in the latest tom fords or vintage prada.

she is truly a free spirit with an admirable youthfulness about her. who else would do a spontanious photo shoot with me... on a wall, by the side of a road, in the hills of tuscany? and even though we have had big, yelling fights (i particularly remember one, at our riad in marrakesh while we were sipping mint tee)... 30 min later we would always laugh about it, though. she is the only person i can do that with. 

 

all photos of constance in london, marrakech, fez, paris and new york... by me  

going through these pictures i really missed our crazy trips and adventures and i felt very fortunate to have experienced them with her. i hope you have a friend that (even though you might want to strangle them from time to time) has had a crazy life and shows you that it is ok to not do things / be like every one else.

fall-light

my two week vaycay in new york has been so lovely! ooooone of the reasons is this amazing fall weather that is filling the streets of new york with the most beautiful light. 

new york, october 2014, all photos by me

one of those new york days....

today i am having a..... dare i say........ "perfect day". yes it is still goin on (it is currently 3:44pm) and i don't have a doubt in my mind that noooothing can cramp my style today. i might be "praising the day before the evening" (a german saying... it is pretty much exactly what i just did....) but if i think about that i will be spending the rest of it in the company of good friends... in this incredible city... filled with beauty. it is hard for me to imagine that it will could possibly do a 180. 

it started off with meeting my lovely friend and yoga teacher for a deeeelecious bagel at my new favorite all-day-hang the native bean. followed by chai lattes and a stroll with my new friend lindsey (a beautiful-free-spirit who i will tell you aaall about another time) to flower power. my other yoga teacher had told me about it..... and i can't believe i didn't know about it before! shame on meeee! it has teeeees and heeeerbs and oils and incense and.... uuuuuh all that good stuff. right now i am at konditori my neighborhood go-to for gooood coffees... people-watching... out-door-blogging..... meeting friends and making new ones.

new york, october 3rd 2014 (sorry for the bad picture.... but you get the idea......)

i hope no matter what city you live in and no matter if you like nature-shit stores or prefer cappuccinos over lattes... or your perfect breakfast consists of scrambled eggs with beans and bacon toped off with sriracha sauce on an english corn muffin...... you did/ate/drank soooomething you love and saw someone who inspires you. 

yes i am having a i-am-ball-of-love day.... but can you blame me?

safe and wild soulmates

the word “soulmate” is a word that is one of those words that we have probably all used before. it is one of those words that (to me) was always a bit cliché and… empty. but… now that i have found my soulmate, i know what it means. to me it means that you "equal each other out" perfectly... without meaning “opposites attract” or “made for each other” (...other cliché phrases to describe the complicated relationship between two people) soulmates complete each-other perfectly... like two puzzle pieces. 

being someone who has never really yearned for.... a domestic life, i nerver concerned myself (or felt the pressure to... for that matter) with finding such a special person. and lets not forget that i don't believe that soul mates are limited to romantic relationships. i aaaam talking about a friend here.... fyi. but i did find the person that is so very different put fits so perfectly to me.

and this phrase describes me and myyy soulmate perfectly…