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.

I miss you. I’m missing out.

Once again I am packing my suitcase. Once again I am counting down the days. I am going on holiday. Holidays at home.

It’s been about four months since my last trip to Germany, and I cannot wait to see my loved ones again. Less than a week to go!

I got two weeks off, which will be my longest stay since I left Germany, and even though I have nothing planned really it will be busy.

There are a lot of things happening at the moment and me living in London means that I miss out on most of them.

My cousins just had their babies – two gorgeous little baby girls. The Bestie moved in her first apartment. My Princess and the little Rock star are growing and learning and exploring more and more of the world every day. My brother started his first job. And so on….

Of course I get pictures and emails and I text and Skype and phone them all on a regular basis, but it’s not the same as actually being there.

And it’s not just about the big changes; it’s the small things that I miss the most. Hanging out with my girls. Being unproductive with the Bestie. My old room and the view. Watching telly with the Mumsy. Having breakfast with my brother. Being able to see the stars. Playing with the tabbies. These are the things I miss the most when I’m away.

Don’t get me wrong, I love living here. I choose to do so and I have no plans of changing this in the near future. But it does suck that I am not there to see all those wonderful things happening. And it sucks that I can’t share this beautiful city with them.

But when I’m down I just pick up the phone and call my ladies or my family (wish I could call my cats as well), and that makes it a whole lot easier.

Hamburg's city lights

I spent my last day in Germany with all my favourite people. I saw my girl Marlain and the Bestie and ended the night on the sofa watching a movie with the Mumsy.

The last night is always the hardest because I am torn between going out and staying in. Times like that I do wish I could be in more than one place at the same time.

But let me tell you about Marlain’s and my trip to Hamburg….

We left early Monday morning, ready to explore the North. And against all odds, we did make it in less than 10 hours and in one piece; quite alive too. Our to-do list was quite long and we managed to do…nothing. No, not true.

We walked along the river, which I was very much looking forward to and we even had our own private city guide who, I am sure, has missed walking along the water with me. Unfortunately, I was raining cats and dogs so it was not as great as it could have been. I, living in London, was not much bothered by the wet weather but my girl was very much against spending the night catching a cold so we got hot chocolate and Marlain even lost her falafel virginity.

One thing you can’t miss out on in Hamburg is the Reeperbahn, which is lined with sex shops, brothels and the like. I think it might look a bit creepier during the day than at night but interesting nonetheless. We did not enter one of those buildings, sorry to disappoint on the naughty news front here.

And because we were on holiday we decided to treat ourselves to a few happy hour 4 pm cocktails. Yum! Oh and food, lots and lots of delicious food!

I have to admit, I pictured Hamburg a little differently. Not really more beautiful but maybe more…exciting? When we planned this trip we talked about bars and clubs filled with young, hot, well-dressed people partying the night away, downing shots and popping champagne bottles.

Didn't see any of that. I’m not saying that doesn't happen, we might have just ended up exploring the wrong nightlife part of the city.

But to be fair, tropical cocktails and a good old laugh with my girl is more fun than any club could ever be!

So we left Hamburg with a slight hangover, drenched clothes and – as always – loads of wonderful memories.

Was Hamburg worth the trip? Definitely! The food is incredible up there! Just make sure it won’t rain when you want to go…

I do miss my old room, and my loved ones and sometimes even the quite, but for the first time since I came to London I felt like I could leave Germany without freaking out about it. I usually worry myself sick about everything that might happen while I’m gone but this time I felt like… it’s gonna be okay.

And now that the sun has decided to finally show its face in London, I am (almost) ready for another wonderful summer in the city!

Holidays at home

*what happened yesterday*

Back in Germany.

Although it’s only been four months since I’ve waited at Frankfurt main station in this very same spot, I still need a couple of hours to get used to everything. I’m aware it’s still Europe and just a short plane ride away, but still.

Talking German on a daily basis is not new; everyone else talking German is tho. Everything sounds very different.

I got up at 5 a.m., threw another pair of shoes in my suitcase and headed for the airport. Creepy how quite London can be… But nothing like being surrounded by screaming children in the cosy atmosphere inside of a plane. Hurray! I did manage do snooze for about 10 minutes tho.

And now I am on my way to the countryside. From England’s capital with more than 8 million human beings back to woods, cows and awful public transport. And I am really looking forward to it. Not the damn, basically none-existing, public transport, but to the view from my old room, my cats and family and the Bestie. And to being able to see the stars at night!

(An elderly lady next to me on the train has a plate of cake on her lap. Hmm! Bestie,  get baking!)

Got to admit, I’m a bit disappointed by the grey sky that’s greeting me here! Over the last few days it’d been sunny in good ol’ London town. A bit breezy maybe, but not that grey.  I hope Germany will lighten up a bit, especially up north since I want to walk along the river in Hamburg. No rain!

However, it looks a lot more… springlike here. Very green.

I can’t wait to get to our house, get some kitty kisses, and hugs hugs hugs from my loved ones. Much needed, to be honest.