Bye bye, 2013

Oh there it is: the last day of 2013.

I cannot believe the year’s over already! It’s gone so quickly… I just love how the city is buzzing with excitement. Everyone has put on something nice and sparkly to welcome the new year.

2013 was a great one. I have settled more into my life in London now, got a permanent contract at work and I am still not tired of this beautiful city. Success!

But it had some rough patches as well. There was a lot to take in as I faced things that I have been avoiding for a very long time. Turns out there’s always something new to learn about yourself.

Luckily there is always a bright side to everything. So facing these issues has been one bumpy ride, yes, but it has shown me again how lucky I am to have such supportive and wonderful people in my life.

My friends have been very understanding and just never get tired of reminding me of the good things when I tend to see only the negative side. As well as my family, whose love and support give me so much strength.

And, boy, did I have good times this year. I’ve spent quite some time at airports going from England to Germany back to England and then four months later do it all over again. London blessed me with another beautiful, warm summer filled with adventures. And going to the pub with ze Jules and other colleagues or spending a day at Westfields with Fatima is adding up to many, many hours of laughter, drinks and food.

And I’ve gotten back into dancing, which will hopefully stay in my life for ever now.

This year was about learning and accepting and having fun. And it was fantastic. Thank you, 2013.

So I don’t have any specific goals for 2014. No long list of things to do or fixed plans to stick to. 2014 is going to be about improvement, preparation and security.

I have to keep my finances is check, mate! And I will probably spend a lot of time studying my buttocks off – these A levels are not gonna write themselves….unfortunately. Another big thing for me will be feeling secure – in relationships and about myself.

And now it's just a couple of hours until midnight…

But tonight I am going to stay inside, have a little piece of chocolate cake and watch the fireworks in my jim-jams.

I wish you all a very happy new year. May 2014 bring you loads of love, laughter and happiness – and a pocket full of magic!

Christmas at Home

Here we are again. I have just arrived in Frankfurt airport and am now on my way back to my place in the wilderness. Kidding.

It is very late and I am running on about 5 hours of sleep. Last minute packing – not again. But I made it. Getting up, going to work, working, getting to the airport, flying, leaving the airport.

And even tho I am pretty knackered I could not help but notice that Frankfurt is getting more charming with every return. Staff at the airport is so nice, their smile could freeze hell. And the helpful guy who charged my 6 quid for two bottles of iced tea. And changing trains in Germany is a bitch.

But it’s all good and it’s all worth it. Because I can be home for Christmas! I will have food and pressies and cocktails and more food. Food until I pass out! And we will put up a huge tree and lots of Christmas light. I am gonna Christmas the shit out of this one, people!

Have you got all your lights and trees and presents out already, guys? Or are you really late to the party?

I was a bit down last year because I could not be with my family for Christmas due to work. It wasn’t too bad, I had a very nice English Christmas (including the veggies from hell – Brussel sprouts!) with a bunch of lovely people. But it’s just not the same….

So I am even more excited this year. Christmas is, as you might know by now, my favourite time of the year and I love our traditional meal (which is not very traditional) and being with the family and my ladies. Plus, this year we will have two little gems at our table and Mama K and the Princess are back as well.

Oh, I have to get off the train… I hope you’ll all have a wonderful, magical Christmas. Let’s hope Santa brings you a load full of awesomeness!

Thank You, Universe

Christmas Season! My favourite season of the year! And this year I even get to go home to Germany to celebrate this fantastic holiday with my family. My crazy, wonderful family.

During this most jolly time of the year I think it is always very nice to say thank you. So I go around, giving hugs and love and kisses to all my dear ones and say thank you.

Thank you to my family, who love me unconditionally.

Thank you to my ladies, who know me and still don’t leave.

Thank you London for being beautiful and a place I can call home.

Thank you to everyone at work for not kicking me out.

These are the most important peeps/things in my life right now and I am SO THANKFUL! But I want to take this chance to express my utter gratefulness for all the other amazing things in my live. Like books, I love books. Thank you to everyone who writes books, to everyone who prints them, to all the trees and the ink and the blood, sweat and tears that go into making a book. Thank you. I love books, really.

And I am thankful for my smartphone. Because without my iPhone I couldn’t talk to my loved ones in Germany that easily. Or watch cute cat videos on my way to work. Or even get to work. And I can listen to music while I’m out and take pictures of places I go. So thank you to all the smart people involved.

McFLY, I am thankful beyond words for this band, their music and just… Thank you, Harry, Danny, Tom and Dougie for being the most awesome, hilarious, genuine, wonderful band a fan could wish for.

My favourite article of clothing: sweatpants! Thank you, whoever came up with the idea to make huge, wide, snuggly sweatpants. The bigger, the better! There is nothing like coming home from work or a day/night out and getting out of your jeans, tights, skirts or leggings and put on some nice, comfy, big sweatpants, am I right?

And cats. Cats! Thank you, Mother Nature, for making cats. My cats. Your cats. Big cats. Fat cats. Just cats in general. They make me happy and they are so soft and cuddly and if they’re pissed off they don’t give a shit. I love cats.

Oh, there are so many things I am thankful for. Chocolate, and ice tea, and Starbucks and planes and fruit cocktails,… hach!  But I think I should stop here. Made my point.

I hope that you will find some time this Christmas to tell people that you are thankful, for them or something else. Just a few minutes, maybe.

One last thing: Thank you, person reading this, for reading this.

And yes, I wanted to post this on Thanksgiving. Sorry, I’m late.

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

Blurb:

Harper Curtis is a killer who stepped out of the past. Kirby Mazrachi is the girl who was never meant to have a future.

Kirby is the last shining girl, one of the bright young women, burning with potential, whose lives Harper is destined to snuff out after he stumbles on a House in Depression-era Chicago that opens on to other times. 

At the urging of the House, Harper inserts himself into the lives of the shining girls, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He's the ultimate hunter, vanishing into another time after each murder, untraceable-until one of his victims survives.

Determined to bring her would-be killer to justice, Kirby joins the Chicago Sun-Times to work with the ex-homicide reporter, Dan Velasquez, who covered her case. Soon Kirby finds herself closing in on the impossible truth . . . 

My thoughts:

I was really looking forward to reading this. A time-travelling killer? Fascinating!

Unfortunately, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed. I didn’t really like most of the characters and I was constantly waiting for the ”secret” of the house t be explained. I would have liked to know more about the reason of the killing and the house and the objects.

But I did like Kirby, one of the Shining Girls. She’s interesting intense and refreshingly different. Even tho the house and why this is happening wasn’t explained, it did like the ending of the book. But no spoilers.

Lauren Beukes has a great feeling for details and the story didn’t drag or moved too slowly. The three main characters were well developed but I unfortunately didn’t grow on me.

This is an interesting thriller with a twist and was mostly enjoyable. I would still recommend.