Feeling of the Day...

[ via we ♥ it ]

Have a wonderful Christmas!

[ via we ♥ it ]

Frohe Weihnachten! Merry Christmas! С рождеством! Vesele Vianoce!

Feeling of the Day...

[ via we ♥ it ]

Feeling of the Day...

[ via we ♥ it ]

On the Big Screen...

Sound Garden...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via big dreams expensive taste ]

Sleep is the best meditation.
- Dalai Lama

Le Inspiration...

I went to the Christmas market on Karlsplatz... They always have wonderful art and handicraft things there. Not quite cheap, but it's wonderful to stroll around and get some inspiration. I found this little market stand selling paper artwork.

Really beautiful things there. A lot of it made with Origami paper and prints of actresses - the likes of Audrey Hephurn, Romy Schneider and Marilyn Monroe. Or Maria Callas, as you can see on the photo. (Great choices by the way, I love all of them!) They were adorable. But 160 Euros for an A4-size image? Really? I know the technique they are using because I do that every year for the cookie boxes I give away as Christmas gifts (filled with home-made cookies, of course!). I do know that Origami paper (the real one) is not cheap either and that you have to charge for the working hours as well... but really?! That's slightly overprized. Besides, tell me who's going on a Christmas market with 200 Euros in his/her pocket?! Well... maybe I'm gonna try myself on one of these...

So... do you have any plans for handicraft for Christmas?

Sound Garden...

Les Adorables...

Da wird einem gleich ganz warm ums Herz bei diesem Lachen... ^_^

Feeling of the Day...

[ via Cherrybam ]

Feeling of the Day...

[ via we ♥ it ]

Sound Garden...

On the Big Screen...

Just... WOW! I want to see it...

Wise Words...

[ via Pinterest ]

Sound Garden...

On the Big Screen...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via we ♥ it ]

Sound Garden...

Have a Laugh!

Sweets for my Sweet...

Tom Hiddleston eats chocolate before an interview... How cute! And it's Mozartkugeln, of course... They get everyone (and make up for going through the same stupid questions in very bad English again and again...). ^_^

Feeling of the Day...

[ via tanzdreamer ]

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; 

for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; 

we must die to one life before we can enter another.  

- Anatole France 

 

On the Big Screen...

Not sure if this one will ever make it to the movies here but I'm definitely gonna see it. Always loved Rachel Weisz and I have developed a fairly new passion for Brit actor Tom Hiddleston... And my kind of movie anyway.

Love at First Sight...

OMG! These look fantastic. Just a shame that Кофе Хауз did not sell those when I was there (and I was there every single day for the whole 4 weeks of my stay in Russia!). I feel tempted to try them myself... But maybe I'll wait until after Christmas because I've got all these cool Christmas and winter decoration stuff for cupcakes already... (Thanks Etsy)

[ via Сеть кофеен «Кофе Хауз» ]

On the Big Screen...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via naive ]

Autumn bowed to place a beautiful crown on the Queen of Morning, 

and her velvet robes sway merrily in the chilly breeze. 

-Terri Guillemets

Le Inspiration...

Found at my dear friend's Fffleur de Lys... Absolutely beautiful! Dreamlike.

Wise Words...

[ via we ♥ it ]

Feeling of the Day...

[ via we ♥ it ]

Love at First Sight...

I'm currently re-decorating my bedroom... After browsing through like a million different magazines about interieur and homes and gardens, I've decided I want less violet in my room and instead more "romantic and shabby chic"... Don't worry, I'll post pictures once I'm done!

Today I got the Anthropology newsletter in my mailbox and following the link (yes, I'm a willing victim of these newsletters) I found these incredibly beautiful mirrors (which is one of major elements I want to change in the room)... Unfortunately they cost a small fortune so I will have to do some more looking for a more budget-friendly piece. Just to give you an idea of what I'm looking for, here are some the beauties...

 Mod Sun Mirror

 Circle Jig Mirror

Antiqued Round Mirror

[ all images via Anthropology ]

Feeling of the Day...

[ via chibird ]

On the Big Screen...

One of my favourite stories. Of one of the great writers... And two of my favourite actors in a movie by one of my favourite directors. What more can I say? I'm gonna see that one, for sure. Who wants to join me?

Feeling of the Day...

[ via Etsy ]

No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace
As I have seen in one autumnal face.
- John Donne

Sound Garden...

Sound Garden...

Out of the Blue...

I'm a bit in the blogging mood/mode tonight so I just want to quickly add these awesome pictures of... myself! My dear friend Suna went for shopping and coffee with me on Tuesday... The last day of summer. On our way back home we spotted that fantastic blue door at Mariahilfer Straße and she told me to pose for a few shots... Those turned out really well even though I usually never do that and I'm not much of a great poser anyway. But judge for yourself!

Die Bruncher...

Slightly belated but... better late than never. An update about our Saturday Home Brunch. After a seemingly endless summer break with our delightful clique spread all over the world, we finally managed to meet for another famour At-Home-Brunch at Kerstin & Alex' place again. Even Vera and Chris stopped by from Vorarlberg (other end of the country) with their freshly extended family. Let's welcome our newest addition to the Bruncher family: Ella - 4 months old and the secret star of this happening, gaining most of our attention and most of our talk circled around her and toddlers in general.

Just for explanation: our illustrious circle of friends usally has the most enjoyable conversations about university in general and Slavonic studies in particular as we all got to know each in the first place at some Russian class at university (with the major exception of Alex who first joined us as Kerstin's sidekick but know has gained a profound knowledge on Russian language, the Vienna Institute of Slavonic Studies and its staff and pretty much all Slavonic-related rumours and gossip over the years)! Ella's still too innocent to be part of that but she's grow into it at some point. Haha! And she did really well for a first time...

As usual, we had way too much of everything! Even though our "meetings" start somewhere around 10 AM and usually last to 4 or 5 PM!

 Also as usual, we had a lot of healthy food first before the common Nutella and Macadamia Cream feast started! ^_^

My contributiuon to this event, also as usual... Cupcakes! Blueberry and chocolate, this time. And I so wanted to use my fancy cupcake wrappers!

Some fun with the Satananas... ^_^

No chance to come short of bread with this amazing giant pretzel...

As always we end up in the kitchen, cleaning up and distributing the leftovers...

La Cuisine... Apple & Pear Quiche

Fall has finally come. This usally means: lots of apples to "work" with. They are my favourite fruits and I just love all sorts of apple pie or strudel. Just 2 weeks ago I found the new Spar magazine Mahlzeit! in my mailbox and it reminded me that I haven't used my quiche form for far too long already... It added perfectly to the fact that I had some ripe apples at home that needed to be eaten... I rather frequently look for recipes to use up ingredients I've got at home already and I'm always happy to try out something new. This one sounded very quick and easy which was great because I did not have too much time that day... And it turned out exceptionally well. 

Apple & Pear Quiche

Pastry dough

250g finely ground flour

1/2 tsp salt

120g butter, room temperature

60g icing sugar

extra flour for developing

Filling

4 medium apples

4 medium pears

1T cinnamon

250ml whipped cream

90g brown sugar

2cl brown rum

3 egg yolks

1. For the pastry dough, knead all ingredients into a dough together with 3-4T cold water. Add extra flour if needed for texture. Roll the dough out onto a floured work surface. Put into the greased quiche form, slightly press and cut off protruding edges and put into the freezer for 10-15 minutes.

2. Peel apples and pears, cut into halves and remove their cores. Cut into rather thin slices. Arrange circularly on the pastry dough (for this you sometimes wish for a 3rd hand - especially in the beginning of the outer circles... ^_^ ). Mix 2T  brown sugar with cinnamon and pour over the fruits.

3. Preheat oven to 200°C (392°F).

4. Mix whipped cream with the rest of sugar. Stir in rum and egg yolks and pour over the fruits. 

5. Bake on medium shelf for 40-45 minutes. You may cover the quiche with aluminium foil after 3/4 of baking time.

6. Let quiche cool off a bit and sprinkle with icing sugar. Serve still (luke)warm or cold with whipped cream.

Bon appetit!

The Breakfast Club...

Today I had breakfast with some good friends at the lovely Cafe Jelinek. Unbelieveably, I've been living only 10 minutes from there for over 25 years and never been there until about 3 weeks ago. They have awesome breakfast, a funny waiter and a charming old-fashioned interior. Plus it's only 2 minutes from where my grandfather lives so that made the Sunday visit at his place even more convenient...

Our conversation took the usual rambling-mode within minutes and I spent the better part of the morning laughing so hard that I could hardly eat... Topic number one: baby talk. Reason for that: presence(s) of my best friend Angelika, 9 months pregnant and now 3 days overdue and slightly annyoed with this ^_^ At this state you obviously can't do much but the (unborn) baby demands proper breakfast after all! Also, our friend Silvia brought her super-cute 4-week-old baby-girl Anna who behaved so well but entertained us by making funny faces in her sleep... Our jokes probably disqualified the rest of us as possible future babysitters... haha.

La Cuisine... Sweet Pepper & Ham Spread

Today I just had quick dinner with some leftovers from today's brunch (which is also the reason why I simply couldn't eat much anymore...). This spread was my first try and it turned out very easily and very tasty.

Sweet Pepper & Ham Spread

approx. 10 slices of bread
1 sweet pepper
2 cloves of garlic
160g turkey ham
150g butter, room temperature
250g sour cream
250g low-fat curd cheese
1T herbs (parsley, chives, cress, dill)
salt
pepper
cayenne
nutmeg

1. Peel garlic cloves. Wash pepper. Dice both of them together with the ham (and 1T capers, if you like them).

2. Stir butter until creamy. Add in sour cream and curd cheese. Add all other ingredients and season to taste with herbs and spices.

3. Goes with almost any kind of bread but I prefer fresh crusty bread. As topping you can use green asparagus, capers or  and/or cress. Or you can add extra ham... Just as you like it best.

Bon appetit!

Home alone!

What a better way to spend the evening than with my favourite cup of tea and some interior and decoration magazines about autumn looks for you home. Dreaming about my future home(s)... Comes in handy that dad is an architect! ^_^ Currently I'm all about country style and shabby chic...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via we ♥ it ]

Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts.  

- Author Unknown

Shoemanic...

[ via HUMANIC ]

Wanna-have! Love the colour...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via lose the mask ]

Silences make the real conversations between friends.  

Not the saying but the never needing to say is what counts. 

- Margaret Lee Runbeck, Answer Without Ceasing

Sound Garden...

Sound Garden...

Sound Garden...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via panniella ]

Just living is not enough...

 one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.  

- Hans Christian Andersen

Sound Garden...

Ein bisschen Heimat-Feeling... ^_^

On the Big Screen...

Tonight. At Cinemagic!

On the Big Screen...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via we ♥ it ]

Sometimes you believe a thing that isn't true 

because in the world you wish to live in, it would be true.  

- Robert Brault

Feeling of the Day...

[ via we♥ it ]

Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes,

 and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit.  

A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief

 that all's right with the world.  

- Ada Louise Huxtable