TV Junkie...

A New Beginning...

My latest addiction... The Good Wife. I came across it by chance... It was on Tv right before Drop Dead Diva which I really love and so I watched one episode (somewhere in the middle of Season 2) and really liked it. I also came across some familiar faces like Juliana Margulies (from E.R.) and Matt Czuchry (from Gilmore Girls) as well as Chris Noth (from SatC - although I never really liked that). I've always liked  TV series about lawyers, whether it was serious as in The Practice or funny as in Ally McBeal... So I had a lot to catch up and now that I'm almost through with the first two seasons, I'm really looking forward to the third. (Yeah I know I'm way behind but as usual everything starts much later over here so...) Some nice entertainment and drama ahead of me for the Easter break!

Birthday Girl...

The best thing about having a birthday - and no, getting one year older certainly isn't - is getting all these nice things - and my sister making a cake a for me! I know how little she likes baking so it's kind of a sacrifice on her side. But she absolutely outdid herself this year. Although I love making all that fancy stuff, when it comes to eating I like it simple and fruity. I totally love the cake!

 with candles

 ready to eat...

 a closer look to the inside

And here are some pics of the lovely things I got. A lot of Russian and Uzsbekistan and Kirgistan related things. For those who don't know yet: I'm going to Central Asia (Kirgistan, Kasachstan, Uzbekistan) for one month this summer, travelling around with my friend Ines. You guys certainly know I'm a bookworm... Also got some money to stock up my travel budget... ^_^ Thanks to all of you! It was a great night last night!

And getting up this morning was really great too. My sister arranged everthing on our dining table, including the cake and her present. I felt happy like a little child...

gift table

beautiful flowers from my sister's boyfriend

Kirgisian love stories and a handmade travel journal

more books... Russian and Spanish stories

 cookbook from the times of Ludwig II.

 my ticket to the Onegin ballet in Bratislava

cupcake-shaped kitchen timer and more Russian stories...

and Polish vodka in the background...

 salt & pepper in porcelain Matrioshka style

travel budget supplement from my sis and her bf

Feeling of the Day...

[ via you only live once ]

Пусть бегут неуклюже пешеходы по лужам,
А вода по асфальту рекой,
И неясно прохожим вэтот день непогожий,
Почему я веселый такой!
*****
А я играю на гармошке
У прохожих на виду,
К сожаленью, день рожденья
Только раз в году!
*****
Прилетит вдруг волшебник в голубом вертолете,
И бесплатно покажет кино,
С днем рожденья поздравит, и наверно, оставит
Мне в подарок пятьсот эскимо!
*****
А я играю на гармошке
У прохожих на виду,
К сожаленью, день рожденья
Только раз в году!
К сожаленью, день рожденья
Только раз в году!

[ listen here ]

Feeling of the Day...

[ via we ♥ it ]

From Russia with Love...

Last night Ines and I went to the Vienna State Opera to see the Anna Karenina ballet. It was really beautiful and passionate (although personally I prefer the classic ballet style like Swan Lake...) and of course I love the music by Tchaikovsky. And it sure helps if you read the novel by Tolstoi to know what's going on. Oh, and it was a good reason to dress up anyway... I should have put on my blue blazer (which I was wearing with the dress) for the photo shooting but it was so warm in there...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via dustjacket attic ]

It's spring fever.  That is what the name of it is.  

And when you've got it, you want - 

oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, 

but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!  

~ Mark Twain ~

Cinemagic...

There we are again! Tomorrow's gonna be Thursday Movie Night at Cinemagic again and I'm gonna enjoy my evening with Ryan and George... and a good story!

On the Big Screen...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via Pinterest ]

Wishful Thinking...

I travel not to go anywhere, but to go.  

I travel for travel's sake.  

The great affair is to move.  

~ Robert Louis Stevenson ~

La Cuisine...

 

Das hab ich bestimmt schon 100 Mal gemacht, aber beim Essen bin ich immer so schnell, dass nie Zeit war, es mal zu abzulichten. Es sieht nämlich immer soooo gut aus und riecht so verführerisch... Eignet sich wunderbar als Hauptgericht, aber auch mal Snack zwischendurch (auch wenn der Halloumi ganz schön satt macht!) Und da bringe ich meine Lieblingszutat Tomate wunderbar unter... Und der Halloumi quietscht so wunderbar zwischen den Zähnen!

Halloumi-Tomaten-Sandwich mit Balsamico

[ Rezept nach Ravinder Boghal ]

Für 2 Personen
4-6 Rispentomaten, längs halbiert (oder 2 Handvoll Cocktailtomaten)
Olivenöl und Balsamicoessig (oder -creme) zum Beträufeln
2-3 Knoblauchzehen
3 Zweige Thymian
1 TL Oregano
2 TL brauner Zucker
Meersalz und frischer geriebener Pfeffer
200g Halloumi, in Scheiben geschnitten
4 Scheiben Ciabatta
2 EL gehackte Petersilie

Backrohr auf Grill vorheizen. Tomaten in einer Glasauflaufform (oder einer anderen ofenfesten Form, aber vorzugsweise nicht aus Metall) verteilen und mit Olivenöl und Balsamico beträufeln. Gehackten Knoblauch, Oregano und Thymian und zum Schluss den Zucker darüber streuen. Im Backrohr 10-15min grillen, bis die Tomaten karamellisiert sind.

Eine Grillpfanne sehr heiß werden lassen und dann den Halloumi mit wenig Olivenöl auf beiden Seiten goldbraun knusprig anbraten. Ciabattascheiben mit Olivenöl (und nach Wunsch auch mit Knoblauch) einreiben und in derselben Pfanne ebenfalls rösten.

Ciabatta zuerst mit Halloumischeiben belegen und dann die Tomaten darauf legen. Mit dem Saft aus der Auflaufform beträufeln und nach Geschmack noch mit Balsamico, Salz und Pfeffer abschmecken. Mit Petersilie garnießen!

Bon appetit!

PS: Kann man auch später kalt noch wunderbar genießen!

Feeling of the Day...

[ via Pinterest ]

I know that if odour were visible, as colour is,
I'd see the summer garden in rainbow clouds.
~ Robert Bridges, "Testament of Beauty" ~

Sound Garden...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via Pinterest ]

Clocks slay time... time is dead as long 

as it is being clicked off by little wheels; 

only when the clock stops does time come to life.  

~ William Faulkner ~

Sound Garden...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via Pinterest ]

The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses.  

~ Hanna Rion ~

Feeling of the Day...

[ via safe and sound ]

There's music in the sighing of a reed;
There's music in the gushing of a rill;
There's music in all things, if men had ears:
Their earth is but an echo of the spheres.
~ Lord Byron ~

Feeling of the Day...

[ via Pinterest ]

Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard.  

~ Anne Sexton ~

Feeling of the Day...

[ via Larapixie ]

The pursuit of perfection, then, is the pursuit of sweetness and light.  

~ Matthew Arnold ~

On the Big Screen...

Thursday movie night again! Gonna love that one.

EDIT: It was amazing. I constantly had tears in my eyes... from laughing AND crying! It's one of the finest movies I've seen in a long time with stunning performances and some shocking truths...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via Pinterest ]

Poetry is just the evidence of life.  

If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.  

~ Leonard Cohen ~

Zodiac Signs...

[ via Pinterest ]

I found this kinda cute...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via A people in someplace on a map ]

Feeling of the Day...

[ via protège moi mes désirs ]

The family.  We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.  

~ Erma Bombeck ~

Sound Garden...

On the Big Screen...

I admit I'm a bit on a Scottish drool right now... ^_^ The man has been busy making great films. A lot to look forward to...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via we ♥ it ]

On the Big Screen...

Weil der grade im TV lief... Ich fand den schon im Kino damals extrem süß und entzückend... Must-see! Lauter herrlich exzentrische, chaotische Charaktere... überaus liebenswert! Und so schön ehrlich und direkt!

Rusalka

Tomorrow night I'm gonna see A. Dvorak's Rusalka at the Volksoper Wien. Not with Anna Netrebko, though... but I'm still gonna love it because the music is so beautiful.

Feeling of the Day...

[ via WILDFLOWER ]

Pleasure is the flower that passes; 
remembrance, the lasting perfume.  

~ Jean de Boufflers ~

Le Ballet...

Happy families are all alike;

 every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

~ Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina ~

I'm gonna see that on March 28, 2012 at the Wiener Staatsoper... Can't wait!

On the Big Screen...

Tonight's film for the Thursday movie night at Cinemagic. Really looking forward to that one.

Sound Garden...

Do you like what you see?! Just a short part of it... You can watch the whole video here!

Feeling of the Day...

[ via Hecticity ]

Responsibility's like a string we can only see the middle of.  
Both ends are out of sight.  

~ William McFee, Casuals of the Sea, 1916 ~

Ballet Revolución

Last night my parents went to see Ballet Revolución but they had one extra ticket (because a friend couldn't go) so I got lucky! I've only seen a poster of the show somewhere but didn't think much about it... Until Monday when my mom told me that I'll have to go with them, I didn't even know what we're gonna see. But... It was absolutely amazing. Brilliant! We had first row seats which was slightly difficult for watching because there was so much going everywhere on the stage and it made it hard to focus on one thing! But you could see every single muscle of the dancers when being that close! And the speed they kept up throughout the whole show! Really astonishing! I'm still slightly deaf from the volume of the music but it was totally worth it. If you have a chance to see it, go!

Sound Garden...

Feeling of the Day...

[ via we ♥ it ]

A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.  

~ Marion C. Garretty ~

On the Big Screen...

Think I might like this one... Costumes and story look promising...

And this one too. I think I'll spend a lot of time in the cinema... At least this one starts next week over here so I won't have to wait too long.

Feeling of the Day...

[ via Espiritube ]

Money Money Money...

 [ via we ♥ it ]

Yesterday when (kind of) cleaning up my room, I came across my passport! No, I did not find it between laundry as you might guess... I actually keep all of my movie tickets in a little box in my night stand - just found some older ones and wanted to store them ayway properly - and my passport was on top of it.  (Anyone who wants to break in and rob me now knows exactly where to go first... LOL) There was a lot of lose papers in it from my trip to Russia in August. You won't believe how many extra papers and forms you have to keep apart from your visa... Anyway, guess what? I found a 50 € note in between... Must have put it there in Russia in a hurry and totally forget about it. Finders keepers, haha...