Hello sunshine!

[unpaid ad, because of mentioning the brand]
Today I want to talk about fitness again. For me it is a big part of my life and I would really like to include this part in my blog as well. I would like to know what you think about it.

Today it’s all about the #gymshark66 challenge.

As you may have seen on Instagram, I’m currently taking part on this challenge. I want to tell you what it is, what my goals are and how I measure my achievements.

I posted this photo on the 2nd of January and qualified myself for this challenge. It denotes my “before”-picture and so a starting situation for the 66 days challenge.
Gymshark itself is a brand for gym cloths and active wear, which I like and wear almost every time.
For me this brand is mostly denoted by its ambassadors or athletes. Of course I know, that they are payed to promote the cloths but it motivates me to wear the same outfits as my role models and to know where I want to be. It’s inspiring and motivating at the same time.

What is this challenge?
The basic idea is: allegedly it needs 66 days to create a habit (I’m a different opinion but that’s why they say 66 days). And Gymshark invited everyone to upload a photo on Instagram till the 7th of January with a sign, to participate the challenge.
At the 8th of March I need to upload a second picture with the results I achieved (hopefully) to end the challenge. And if you are fast in calculating you know: it’s halftime!

What am I hoping for?
Certainly, I have resolutions for 2019 and lots of them are fitness related and so this challenge was a heaven-sent opportunity. Unfortunately, I was ill at the beginning of the year, but this could not stop me from starting the new year with all this motivation.

One of my main goals is to reduce body fat. It’s not about loosing weight that much, it’s more to build muscles, feeling strong and to see the results of this hard work. I’ve been working on my strength for a long time now and I finally want to see the results for that.
I already have good muscles, but they are still hidden under fat and this is what I want to change!

Furthermore, when I was in Scotland I created myself the habit of going to the gym 5 times a week. Back in Germany it seems to be impossible for me to keep doing this. That’s why I wanted to start with home workouts and to be active for at least 5 minutes every day.

And of course: the diet! During the holidays I granted myself a lot and I enjoyed it! But I know that I cannot lower my body fat on the one side and eat pizza on the other side. That’s why we (me and my boyfriend) decided to start with a low-carb diet at least for those 66 days. We still make one “treat” (cheat) day a week, because we don’t want to quit all the food we love but we want to change it in a healthy way.

What did I achieve so far?y
3rd of February was halftime and I think I’m on a good way. I cannot say, that everything worked as expected and I have to accepts (again) that I am not able to change everything at one time, but all in all it’s going well.
Diet-wise I’m in my fifth week of low-carb diet and I’m getting used to it. I have one higher carb day in the middle of each week with mostly whole grain food and my “treat” day, but besides that we are eating healthy and balanced.

I completely changed my morning routine and get up at 6:30am every day to do a quick workout before I go for a walk with my dog. This way I feel like I’m starting my day quicker and get in the mood of being productive. Currently, I’m one of those people who can work more effective in the morning instead of afternoon and with the beautiful winter-sun shining through my window, I’m so much happier while working.

In terms of weight lost about 2kg, which is not much, but what satisfies me a bit more is that I lost almost 4cm waist circumference. I notice that I’m getting more visible abs (still under my belly fat but anyway) and I changed my training a bit. To cut fat I incorporate more cardio and interval training and at the same time I try to challenge myself a bit more when I’m doing weight training.

We will see whether this is the perfect way to achieve my goals or not. But currently, I have fun when I’m training, I’m motivated to start each day and I’m satisfied with my diet. My weakness is and will be chocolate or sweets in general. Once I started I cannot finish, but let’s change one habit at a time.
I’m happy about how the challenge is going and that I’m still part of it.

I’m curious whether you knew about this challenge before or if you are part of it? What would be your goals if you would take part? Let me know in the comments below.

See you next time. ♥

Hallo ihr Lieben!

[unbezahlte Werbung, da Markennennung]
Heute möchte ich mit euch mal wieder etwas über das Thema Fitness reden. Für mich ist es ein großer Teil meines Lebens und ich fände es schön, diese Leidenschaft auch in meinen Blog einfließen zu lassen. Ich würde mich freuen, wenn ihr mir eure Meinung dazu in den Kommentaren verratet.

Heute geht es um die #GYMSHARK66 Challenge.

Wie du vielleicht auf Instagram gesehen hast, bin ich aktuell dabei an dieser Challenge teilzunehmen. Was genau das ist, was meine Ziele sind und woran ich meine Ziele messe, möchte ich heute mit dir teilen.

Dieses Bild habe ich am 2. Januar 2019 auf Instagram gepostet und habe damit meine #gymshark66 Challenge gestartet. Es ist sozusagen das „vorher“-Bild zu einer 66 Tage andauernden Challenge. Gymshark selbst ist eine Marke für Sportbekleidung, die ich selbst sehr toll finde und fast ausschließlich nur noch trage.
Für mich ist Gymshark gekennzeichnet vor allem durch super inspirierende und motivierende Sportler, die die Marke repräsentieren und dafür werben. Natürlich weiß ich, dass die Leute dafür bezahlt werden, aber für mich persönlich ist es super motivierend das gleiche Outfit zu tragen wie meine Vorbilder und zu wissen, wo ich irgendwann mal hinkommen möchte.

Was ist diese Challenge jetzt eigentlich?
Der Grundgedanke dahinter: es bräuchte angeblich 66 Tage um eine Gewohnheit aufzubauen (ich bin da anderer Meinung, aber deshalb die 66 Tage). Und deshalb hat Gymshark aufgefordert bis zum 7. Januar ein Bild auf Instagram zu posten mit der eigenen Ausgangsform und einem Schild, um an dieser Challenge teilzunehmen.
Am 8. März endet die Challenge dann mit einem zweiten Post auf dem dann – hoffentlich – Erfolge zu sehen sind.
Aktuell habe ich also schon die Hälfte der Zeit „geschafft“.

Was erhoffe ich mir davon?
Natürlich habe ich mir 2019 wieder einmal neue Vorsätze überlegt und viele davon sind Fitness bezogen und da kam diese Challenge wie gerufen. Zwar war ich Anfang des Jahres ziemlich erkältet, aber es hat mich so sehr motiviert mit all den anderen Teilnehmern zu starten, dass ich unbedingt daran teilnehmen wollte.

Eins meiner wichtigeren Ziele ist es Körperfett zu reduzieren. Es geht mir nicht so sehr darum Gewicht zu verlieren, sondern eher darum Muskeln aufzubauen, mich stark zu fühlen und endlich die Erfolge zu sehen, für die ich jetzt schon so lange das Grundgerüst aufbaue.
Ich habe mir schon gut Muskeln erarbeitet, aber die sind aktuell noch versteckt und genau das möchte ich ändern!

Außerdem hatte ich es während meiner Zeit in Schottland geschafft mir eine Routine von 5 Trainingstagen angeeignet, was für mich zurück in Deutschland nahezu unmöglich scheint. Deshalb wollte ich unbedingt damit anfangen home – workouts zu machen und zumindest jeden Tag wenigstens 5 Minuten meinen Körper zu beanspruchen.

Und natürlich die Ernährung! Über die Feiertage habe ich mir vieles gegönnt und es genossen wieder zu Hause zu sein. Aber mir ist natürlich bewusst, dass ich nicht auf der einen Seite Körperfett reduzieren will und auf der anderen Seite Pizza bestellen kann. Deshalb wollten wir (mein Freund und ich) gemeinsam an unserer Ernährung etwas ändern und zumindest für die Zeit der 66 Tage eine Low-Carb Ernährung umsetzten und bis auf einen Cheat („Treat“) day pro Woche uns gesund und bewusst ernähren.

Was habe ich bisher erreicht?
Am 3. Februar war Halbzeit und ich bin bisher mit meinen Ergebnissen ziemlich zufrieden. Ich kann nicht behaupten, dass alles immer so geklappt hat wie ich es wollte und ich mal wieder einsehen musste, dass man nicht alle Gewohnheiten auf einmal umstellen kann, aber es läuft ziemlich gut.
Ernährungstechnisch befinde ich mich jetzt in der fünften Woche meiner „Low-Carb-Diät“ und ich habe mich an vieles schon gewöhnt. Ich mache einmal pro Woche einen gesunden Carb-Day an dem ich hauptsächlich Vollkornprodukte mit integriere und einen Cheat Day an dem ich mir vieles gönne, aber selbst dann noch im Rahmen bleibe.

Meine Morgen-Routine habe ich komplett umgestellt und stehe jetzt jeden Tag um 6:30 auf um als erstes Sport zu machen und danach mit meinem Hund Gassi zu gehen. So habe ich das Gefühl schneller in den Tag starten zu können und von Beginn an aktiver zu sein. Ich gehöre aktuell zu den Menschen, die vormittags mehr leisten können als später am Tag und vor allem diese schöne Wintersonne die aktuell durch mein Fenster scheint motiviert mich sehr meine Aufgaben zu erledigen.

Vom Gewicht her habe ich bisher nur ca. 2kg abgenommen, was wirklich nicht viel ist, aber was mir glücklicher macht sind die 4cm Taillenumfang die bereits verloren gegangen sind. Ich merke, dass ich schon deutlich Bauchmuskulatur aufgebaut habe und auch in meinem Training habe ich etwas umgestellt. Um Fett abzubauen integriere ich mehr Cardio und Intervalltraining, gleichzeitig versuche ich mich aber auch im Krafttraining mehr herauszufordern um den Muskelaufbau zu fördern.

Ob ich damit die Ziele erreiche, die ich mir gesetzt habe, weiß ich nicht – das wird sich zeigen. Aber aktuell habe ich Spaß am Training, starte motivierter in den Tag und bin zufrieden mit meiner Ernährung. Meine Schwäche ist und bleibt Schokolade bzw. allgemein Süßigkeiten. Einmal damit angefangen fällt es mir schwer damit aufzuhören, aber auch dass wird sich mit der Zeit noch ergeben.
Ich freue mich, dass ich die Challenge bisher so gut durchgehalten habe und bin gespannt auf mein Endergebnis.

Mich würde es wahnsinnig interessieren, ob du auch schon von dieser Challenge gehört hast oder vielleicht sogar daran teilnimmst. Was wären denn deine Ziele bei einer solchen Challenge? Schreibe es mir doch gerne in die Kommentare.
Bis zum nächsten Mal.♥

Hello sunshine!

"I'll be home for Christmas
You can plan on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree..."

I'm happy to tell you: I'M BACK IN GERMANY!
I arrived Saturday noon and we had 6 hours’ drive to finally get home, but I was so happy to be in Germany again. I missed everything so much!

After one week of waiting I was so happy when I restored my pillows, planked and keys and made my way to the bus station. It was a difficult walk with two 23kg suitcases, a bag and a backpack through sleet. I was so sodden when we arrived at the airport but still happy!
I had enough time to check in and walk through the security check, but I had never to wait too long. After a little delay we departed and one and a half hours later I landed in Düsseldorf.
My dad and my boyfriend with our little dog picked me up at the airport and together we drove home. Our first stop was McDonalds because I love it :D
The British one is not the same and so I granted myself some nuggets!

My highlight was to surprise my friends.
Sunday morning I got up early to unpack everything and then we bought fresh pizza! With the help of her boyfriend and mine I surprised Lisa from flowersandcrowns with this tasty pizza and we talked for hours. She was so happy which made me feel even luckier.

Monday morning Lisa and I surprised another friend when I joined them for breakfast.

I am so happy that I have so many people who are glad to have me back and who want to talk to me. Not that I had no one in Scotland but it feels so great to have people who know you and who are happy to have you.

I already have been in my good old gym and I decorated our Christmas tree. Unfortunaltely, I have so much to do that every day feels too short but I know that this will fade away after Christmas.
For now I try to upload my blogmas post every day even if I did not prepare anything. I had to buy all my presents and need to wrap them, I wanted to bake Christmas cookies and today we're making a Secret Santa afternoon.

I hope that you all have a more relaxed and festive December than I had but I'm so happy to be back home now!
I enjoy the time with all my friends and family, and even if it's stressful I'm glad to be back home!

Merry Christmas!❄

Hello sunshine!

"The moon is right
The spirit’s up
We’re here tonight
And that’s enough
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time..."

This post is inspired by flowersandcrowns. Lisa the beautiful girl behind this blog invented the idea of sharing other blogs/ instagram pages/ youtube channels and others to spread love to the world. And because it is Christmas, I want to follow that idea and show you my favourite instagram pages.

spread love with flowersandcrowns

I don’t have many Instagram profiles I follow in terms of Bullet Journal inspiration but I have a lot

fitness inspiration pages!

If you have read my gym routine you might already know some of my favourites, but if not feel free to check it out afterwards.
Scrolling through my Instagram is basically just like being in the gym with all those beautiful and inspirational, well dressed Instagram fitness influencers. I don’t know how to describe them, but you will see what I mean. I will show you my current 5 favourites!

Robin Gallant

Robin is a very cute girl and I love her stories. She is so brave and strong. I followed her for a while and she got my attention because she took out her brust implants a few weeks ago because of brust implant illness and I think she looks so beautiful with or without!
She is the girlfriend from the founder of Gymshark and they both are so cute together with their little dog.

Natacha Oceane

For me Natacha is unique! Obviously, she is doing fitness videos but she is not focusing on gym-workouts with barbells and building muscles. I always call her workouts the ninja style because she is doing a lot of compound movements for the wohle body and most of it with body weight. Some exercises I have never seen before and that's why I love her workout guide, because you are doing something new almost every weeks which moves the body to new movements building new muscles.
As you probably have seen in my workout routing post I am following her guide cut and I still totally recommend this!

Whitney Simmons

She is the one and only reason why I started to go to the gym! I love her videos on youtube and every instagram post! She is amazing! In my opinion Whitney Simmons is one of the most motivating youtubers ever and if I don't know what to do in the gym and I don't feel like following my guide, I just go on her page and search for the muscles I want to train.
She is not just beautiful and funny but also honest and helpful in terms of food. If you don't understand why I love her, just watch her whitmas videos and you will understand!
I already convinced my friends with the love for her videos :D

Meggan Grubb

Meggan is so cute! I followed her guide in the beginning of the year and it was so great. ANd if you don't know her you have missed the most amazing booty on earth! I meant: She looks like goals! I think she is so motivating and what I really love about her is that she is posting a lot if HIIT workouts, which I have/love to do to burn calories. She (and her boyfriend) vlog their live a lot and it is so nice to see that even beautiful girls like her treat themself with chocolate, which is my excuse to eat as well.

Hanna Öberg

Hanna Öberg is my new discovery. I saw one of her videos on youtube and thought that this was the most helpful video I have ever seen. It was about common mistakes at the gym . And she showed what people make wrong and how to improve it. I'm always afraid that I am making mistakes because first I don't want to hurt my body and second I don't want anyone else to think I don't know what I'm doing - even if this is the truth. And I think her videos are the most helpful and funny at the same time.
She is also one of the girls with more muscles and not just skinny, what I really like. And I think she still looks amazing and feminin!




And if you already know them you see the pattern: all of those girls are Gymshark athletes. I love this brand and I wear their cloths every day to the gym! I found those girls through their Instagram page and They inspire me every day.

If you want me to show you more of my favourites maybe about bullet journaling or others, let me know in the comments below!

And again, this spread love idea is from Lisa from flowersandcrowns. I’m pretty sure you will like her blog! She is putting her heart into it and each post is made with love. She is an amazing women and I can recommend you hear blog from the bottom of my heart!

Merry Christmas!❄

Hello sunshine!

"Santa baby, slip a sable under the tree for me
Been an awful good girl
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight..."

2018 is coming to an end and my Bullet Journal as well. IM proud of me that I managed to use it one whole year and today

I want to show you my whole Bullet Journal of 2018!

This is a very special post for me, because in the middle of the year I thought I will never be able to write it, because I wasn’t feeling it at all. I was so bored by drawing my bullet journal every month and I had no motivation at all. But here we are in the middle of December and I can show you the two Leuchtturm1917 I used this year!
Before we start, I want to show you my 3 most favourite pages!

year in polaroids jan -aug

Number 1: My year in polaroids
Looking back at this page makes me so happy! I know that the picture for May is missing, because I forgot to stick it in but I have one at home. Honestly, it challenged me to make a polaroid every month because I don’t use my polaroid camera that often. I rather save the pictures for special moments, but this year ended up with so many special moments that I’m glad that I have this page.
But this page will not be in my bullet journal for 2019 I think. I bought myself a photo album made for polaroids and I prefer to have them all in one place.

I am a floating dreamer, I am only going up

Number 2: Quote page
This quote is one of my favourites, because I love the watercolour painting! It was my first attempt to paint something like this without any template and I really like it. And the lettering has a funny story, because when I wrote the blogpost about this layout, I saw on the photos that there was a mistake and two or three months later I ended up finding another mistake.
I’m still not sure whether there are still mistakes I can’t see, but I love the page and that it has such a funny story for me.

days in Scotland tracker

Number 3: Day tracker

I think this is my most used page ever! When this post comes online I have been in Scotland for 111 days and I ticked a number every day. I know that I am thankful that I had the chance to be here and I’m happy about the time I had.
But during the last week and during a time, where I had so much trouble here, this tracker was my anchor. Seeing that the days pass and that not that much is left, gave me strength and hope. It makes me realize that tomorrow is a new day, a new chance and another tick on this page. Time goes on no matter what happens.

And now we’re coming to the final part! I’ve made a picture of each page in my Leuchtturm1917’s and I tried to put it all in one gif, because this post would be huge if I would show you every single picture.
If you don’t like to see it like this, I’ve filmed you a video. You can watch it here!

my bullet journal 2018

I know that most of the pages are in German, but this is how my brain works and this is the way it works most efficient for me. Nevertheless, you get an idea of my pages, my spreads and my designs.
If you want to see each month in detail, feel free to check out the bullet journal menu on top. There you can find each post I published on this blog about my bullet journal.

I hope you like this post and I really wish that I can show you a second post like this next year.
Have you used a bullet journal this year? And if so, have you stuck to it the whole year? Please tell me your thoughts in the comments below. 😊

Merry Christmas!❄

Hello sunshine!

"I'm driving home for Christmas
Oh, I can't wait to see those faces
I'm driving home for Christmas, yea
Well I'm moving down that line
And it's been so long
But I will be there
I sing this song..."

The holidays are coming closer and closer and I hope you already have an idea of how you want to use them. If your answer is: relaxing and watching series, then this is the perfect post for you! We’ve already had a #blogmas post for festive movies, but if you prefer series, then stay tuned because

today I want to show you my 5 favourite Christmas episodes!

movie night quotes

Vampire Diaries – Season 6 Episode 10

Currently I’m rewatching the whole series starting with season 1, and I’m already in season 2. It is my most favourite series of all and I’ve watched it more than 6 times now. I love the love story between Elena and Damon. Kat Graham is one of the best actresses I know and I mean: Ian Somerhalde (Damon) looks so amazing! And the fact that he is married with one of the vampires from Twilight makes him even more likeable.

This episode is about Bonnie trying to remember old traditions and thinking about the good old times. Sheriff Forbes brings holiday cheer to Caroline who is currently at the Whitmore College and I cannot tell you more, because I don’t want to spoiler myself. I know I’ve seen them all before, but now I’m feeling the second season again and I don’t want to ruin that feeling :D

Watch here

Dynasty – Season 1 Episode 9

Dynasty is remake of a soap opera from the 1980s, which I watched a view weeks ago. I think it is close to Gossip Girl and I like that it is "easy" content. You don't have to follow every episode without breathing but it is nice to watch and thrilling.
It is about the Carrington family and what would a Christmas episode be without drama?
So, they get unexpected guests and shocking scandals come up.
If you like series like this with drama, gossip and manipulations, you will love this Christmas episode!

watch here

Riverdale – Season 2 Episode 9

I think Netflix made a pretty good job with the first two seasons of Riverdale! I'm not the biggest fan of the third, but I will keep watching it hoping that it will get back to the original content. But if you haven't seen it before: It is a series about a handful of teenager in Riverdale, who were shocked by the dead of one of them and then the story keeps going.

This Christmas episode is the mid-term final, which means that it is going to be thrilled! And instead of cosy Christmas mood the episode starts with heartbreak and drug dealers. With all the problems, Archie, Betty, Reggie, Cheryl, Kevin, Veronica, Jughead and Josie still do a Secret Santa evening, which is awkward because of the recent break ups but it is still Christmas.
If you like Riverdale and have seen it up to this point than I would definitely recommend it to you! If you have no idea what I’m talking about than you should probably start with the first season and not at the mid-term final of season 2!

watch here

How I met your mother – Season 2 Episode 11

This is a basic series and I think everyone has seen at least one episode. You don’t need to know the whole season to understand this one episode. This is what I like about HIMYM. You can come and go whenever you want. It is funny and a good distraction, but it is not as thrilling or compelling as other ones.
This episode is about how Lilly stole Christmas. Because of an old answering machine an old sore reopen. It causes a little dispute between the friends which makes them all think about the past. But it is still a nice festive mood and about love and friendship.

It is just a classic wonderful Christmas episode you don’t have to miss!

Watch here

How to get away with murder – Season 1 Episode 11

If you don’t know the series, here is a short introduction: Wes and five of his fellow law students accidently kill someone. And the story is about how they smother this. If you like those law/ justice series such as suits, how to get away with murder is made for you!
This episode is not very festive, but after Christmas and New Year Wes and his friends arrive back at the office and immediately they get another case. It is about a woman who claims to have been abused by her husband and forced to imprison young girls for years.

Watch here

And if you can't get enough of watching random series you can check out wikipedia. This is a list of Christmas television episodes but just for the USA.

Hello sunshine!

“It's the most beautiful time of the year
Lights fill the streets, spreadin' so much cheer
I should be playin' in the winter snow,
but I'ma be under the mistletoe..."

As it is getting darker earlier each day, I love it to have a hot tea and watch a Christmas movie. I feel like I have seen almost all of them and today I want to give you my

5 favourite festive movies

I’ve chosen some classic romances, some funny ones and one which is technically not festive but as often as I have seen it in TV during the holidays it always reminds me of Christmas. So no more blabbing, and let’s go!
Just a little explanation: I have Netflix and amazon prime! I’m watching my movies on those sides and I don’t know how to watch it without paying for them.
and because of copy right I just included gifs from giphy.com to give you an impression.

A Christmas Prince
The basic Christmas lovestory! An American journalist – Amber - is sent to Aldovia a country far away, to cover press conference with the crown prince Richard. Because of a misunderstanding she stays in the palace undercover and the story follows its way.
Amber is clumsy, friendly and has her own opinion and Richard is overwhelmed by his new task of being head of the state after his father died.
And if you can’t get enough of them Netflix has released a second part A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding.

The Holiday Calendar

Kat Graham

The talented photographer Abby – acted by Kat Graham – is unhappy with her current Job. At the beginning of December her grandpa gives her a German Advent calendar which seems to be magic opening a door a day.
I really liked this movie not just because of the good old German calendar, which could be really traditional German handicraft, but also because of Kat Graham who has been an amazing actress in Vampire Diaries.
I know that both movies are exaggerated, and no one would fell in love that quickly, but it’s Christmas! Everything can happen during this magical and wonderful season. And I like watching those unrealistic movies.

The Santa Clause

Who does not know this movie?! I mean: it is fundamental Christmas-movie-knowledge!
Scott Calvin – an “adult” man who doesn’t believe in Santa – accidentally causes Santa Claus to fall from his roof. Because it’s Christmas Eve he and his son finish the trip and deliver the presents and then they go to the North Pole where Scott learn that he becomes the next Santa.
I think it is such a funny story and I love watching all parts of it! And even if it is from 1994, it is still good, and I don’t know any movie with such a story being better than this one. Do you?

A Christmas Carol
The classic from Charles Dickens’s 1843 story of the same name, is one of my most seen Christmas movies! When Disney released its version with Jim Carry in 2009 I have been in the cinema to watch it.
For those who don’t know the story: GO WATCH IT!
Ebenezer Scrooge is an old cheapskate is haunted by 3 ghosts during the night before Christmas. The ghost of the Christmas Past shows young Scrooge the moment the women he loved left him when he became obsessed with wealth. The ghost of Christmas present, shows him how his loyal employee Bob celebrates Christmas and the ghost of Christmas yet to come shows him his future. Back in 2009 when I watched the movie for the first time, I was really scared when I saw this part.
I love the statement behind the story and I am sure that I will watch this movie at least once this year again!

And finally:
Harry Potter

You might think this does not fit into the festive season, but you’re wrong! It is always Harry-Potter-Time! Honestly, I know that this is not a typical Christmas movie, but if you are a #potterhead as I am, why don’t use the holiday to rewatch all movies again? In the philosopher’s stone there is a scene where Ron and Harry are celebrating Christmas, so basically it counts!
And if you don’t know who Harry Potter is: ask J.K. Rowling! She created this magic boy back in 1997.
And this is it!
Those are my favourite movies for Christmas! As I’m done with my work for Uni in Scotland and I have a few more days here, you now know what I will be doing all day long! So, grab yourself some gingerbread, cookies and a hot tea, and join me!
What is your favourite movies for the holidays? And have you seen any of mine? Let’s talk in the comments below!

Merry Christmas!❄

Hello sunshines!

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
From now on your troubles will be out of sight..."

Today I want to publish my first chatty article, to show you a bit more of me - the person behint the written words. I want to share my experiences of living abroad.
This time it is not about all the amazing trips I did, the places I saw and the people I met... It is about how it feels to be so far away from home

home quote and photos of my friends

Before you can understand how everything feels like for me, you have to know who I am.
I have lived at home with my family since I had to move to the city where I am studying. But that doesn't mean that I have lived alone. Actually I had my own 15m² flat, but honestly I have spend there three or four nights if at all. I spend nearly all the time at my boyfriends shared flat. We didn't had more space than in my flat, but it felt better. In march 2017 we moved together in a new flat and now we have been living together with our little dog since then.
So I never had to live alone are have been alone for longer than 4 weeks.

I feel like I have to excuse for this, but I won't! I feel lucky to have such a lovely family and an amazing boyfriend. I appreciate that my social environment is that stabil and reliable.
Since I ventured the step to go to Scotland I knew from the very beginning that I left my comfort zone. My home is my holy place, not connected to my bed or my kitchen or my washing machine, but to my parents, my boyfriend and our dog!
I never tried to build myself a home here, because it could never be the same... but I tried to make me feel homey and familiar. And I think I was successful.

cooking ideas page in my bullet journal

But honestly:
I miss my own kitchen and my washing mashine!
I live in a students accomodation with 5 other erasmus students from France, Holland, Italy and Germany. I really like them and if you have seen my videos on youtube, you may know that I had trouble in the beginning (short version: they gave me the wrong room and I had to move) and now I'm really happy that I met all of them.
But for me it is strange to have a shared kitchen. I mean ... I am one of those late-night-nutella-spooning girls, but I don't want to go in the kitchen in my pyjama. So either I keep the Nutella in my room or I dress up to go to the kitchen. First is to risky to eat to much and second is to effortful.
In the beginning I had the same problem with makeup, but now they have to bear my natural beauty :D

It is not just the late-night-actions, but also the fact that usually everyone gets hungry around the same time and than it's one kitchen for 6 people who try to prepare food... and we have only one sharp knife. Luckily I'm one of the early eaters and I'm already eating when the others start to prepare.
Moreover, I'm the worst cook and I don't want to be judged because of this. I tried new recipes before and I will do when I'm back home, but I don't want to ruin a kitchen when 5 other people are waiting for me to make space. So I stick to what I know and try to avoid cooking when I know that other people need the stove later.

home quotes for bullet journal

And then there is loneliness.
Not that I have no friends or no one who wants to talk to me... but when you are used to life with your family or your partner a room for yourself and just for yourself can be very quiet.
Of course I call my mama or my boyfriend or anyone else who has time, but I don't want to annoy them and life goes on. They cannot stay awake till 11pm, just because I'm in a weird mood. I have to handle this all by myself.

And this is when you start thinking about everything.
Why am I doing this? What am I doing afterwards? What will I do when I'm done with my studies? What are my goals in the next 5 year? Where do I want to go next? Do I want to go somewhere or will I start to build myself a real home in a new town? If so, which town?
Trust me, I had so much time to think about everything and I still have no answert to those questions!

I'm happy to be nearly home and dry and I can't wait to have my loved persones back!
I don't regret my decisions and I learned so much. I grew metally and I found some plans I want to follow the next weeks to finally find answers to all my questions. But I really want to have excitement all around me, and if it's just my little dog. I'm so done with all the silence!

What about you? Have you ever or do you live alone?
What do you do if it gets boring and you have no one to talk to?
Let me know it in the comments below (:

Merry Christmas!❄

Hello sunshine!

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow..."

If you have been following me on Instagram during the last months, you have propably noticed that I posted a lot of workout related stories. The gym is a big part of my weekly schedule and today, I want to share my routine, my goals and my motivation with you.

I know, it is weird to talk about sport right before Christmas and trust me, I am the first eating Christmas cookies, but you may want to start to think about your resolutions for 2019 or you don't want to wait any longer for the next year, but start now, then this is the right post for you!

BuJo weekly spread with workout plan

First of all:

my routing

Since I am in Scotland, I have been in the gym four to five times a week. In the beginning it was hard to find the perfect time to make it fit to my routine, because I hate it to be there when everyone is there and you have to wait for your equipment. I prefer during the morning or at lunchtime, when there are less people. Furthermore, the gym where I am has a room for classes such as yoga, ab-workouts and so on, which is nice if you want to take part on those classes but more than that I like the room, because you can use it as long as it is free.
As you will read below, once a week I train just with bodyweight and this can look strange. And then I'm rather in a room where noone can see me than somewhere else.

Cut by Natacha Oceane app

my workout split

Because I got a few questions about my training, I like to include it in here. I am not a professional and I am not as athletic as I whish I would, but I can tell you my experiences.
2018 has been my year of gym plans. I started with the peach plan from Meggan Grubb (one of my favourite youtuber btw) and after that I bought "Cut" from Natacha Oceane. Because I had a little break during summer where I just trained what I wanted, I am now in the last weeks of Natachas plan.
And to be honest: I love it!

This plan includes 5 trainings a week, which is perfekt. The first one is plyometric training or as I call it Ninja training. Most of it is just with bodyweight and it includes a lot of jumping and bouncing. As I said I am no professional and I can not tell you, why this training is so special, but I always feel like a ninja afterwards and this is so cool!
After this I usually do an upper body and lower body training, depends on what I would like to do. I try to do my legday in the beginning of the week, becaus I love leg workouts and I feel so sore after it, that my legs need a rest day.
Then I have a full body workout and a HIIT workout left. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is perfect for burning fat and loosing weight! And I don't like it. This is one of the training where I have to start to enjoy it. I would never say: today I would like to do HIIT training. But if it is on my schedule, I do it!

Instagram saved pictures with workout motivation

my motivation

I had a lot of those days where I was not motivated at all! But it feels like the key is routine. I chose a gym where I have to walk 20min to get there and I am paying a lot for it, so I don't want to waste my time and money! I have to make the best workout I can to use it.
Most days this is my motivation, but for the days where I just want to stay in my bed or/and eat a pizza, I have to get off my backside. I like scrolling through fitness instagram pages (such as Meggan Grubb, Natacha Oceane, Whitnes Simmons...) or watching youtube videos.
But if you be constant and create a routine where the gym is part of your life, you will make it anyway!
Honestly, another huge motivation for me was to se results. I know every progress is progress, but taking a higher wait then the week before or holding a little longer, makes such a difference to your mindset! The moment I realized, that I am betten now then I have been before my time abroad, helped me to get through a phase of no motivation.

I hope you got a little insight in my gym routine and if you are interested in that topic, please leave a comment below, because I have some other ideas but I am not sure whether this is the right place to share it. Or you can follow me on instagram, to see some of my weird looking exercises.

Merry Christmas!❄

Hello sunshine!

"You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town..."

Today I want to share some of my resolutions for 2018 with you and how I stuck to it. The next year is at the ready and as everyone I will have new resolutions . I don't beliefe in unrealistic changes just because a numbre changed, but it is a good chance to get motivated to change things you don't like. But actually you don't need a new year to change something but that's quite another cup of tea :D

resolutions page 2018

I divided my goals 2018 page in 6 diefferent parts to split up my goals in these sections.
The first one is travel, because it was my main goal to see the ocean again. At the beginning of the year I felt so much wanderlust and I saved all my money to travel. Me and my boyfriend made so many plans for our holidays and daytrips - we had to discard some of them because of my Fulbright scholarship to study in the USA for 3 weeks but we could realise at least one.

#see the ocean - did it in Scotland ✔
#go to an museum - National Mall, Washington DC ✔
#discover a new place in Germany - Kologne ✔

The next section is fitness, which is the one I struggled most to fulfil. To be honest: my goals changed during the year... but this was a classic fail!

#do the peach plan - didn't finished it in the expected time but I did it ✔
#12 weeks of low carb - who can resist to good pasta or just bread?
#get to 65kg - nop

Let's combine Selfcare and Productivity, because these ones are my menthal ones. Actually I wanted to add more bullet points to the selfcare section but I forgot about it.

#go to the hair dresser - first time in march and second time in august ✔
#average of 2.0 in uni (we score from 5 to 1 - one it the best) - I'm currently at 1.9 ✔
#find a routine - yes and no! I found my routine at home and since summer my routine is not having a routine because of the changes I had. In America we had a fixed schedule which made the routine for us and in Scotland noone cares about what I am doing, so I don't have the same routine every day... so I think I have to continue with this next year

goals 2018 page

Next section is called art. Drawing, painting and sketching are my passions and sometimes I forget taking my time for doing things like that. So I tought that it would be a great idea to include this in my resolution to motivate and remind me to do something I love.

#fill in my sketchbook for at least 50% - I have a new sketchbook now but it is more then I expected I would draw ✔
#paint at least 3pictures - one for my dad and more then 4 for the frames in our flat ✔
#draw stickers - drew myself some stickers. I'm not satisfied yet, but I am trying! ✔

For the last part - social media - I have to say that this was just for fun. I don't spend that much time on social media to get that much attention as I would like to have. But I think for my amount of efford, I am really good and I am trying my best.
I decided that I don't want to look at the numbers to say whether I'm satisfied or not. I use these numbers enough for university purpose and that is enough. I think I am currently doing a good job with my blog and I like what I am doing. It feels like a hobby to me and not like work as it sometimes felt before.

I think I did pretty good this year and had good resolutions I could accomplish. I am proud of myself especially of my gym-journey and my travel experiences this year.
I hope you had a great year as well!

If you follow me on Instagram you probably have seen my "challenge". So I basically started a challenge to push through the last days of the year and make it the greatest and fulfil all resolutions. To be realistic I can not do any of my goals but I set new ones for the last days to have a good base for 2019!
So if you want to join you have still 27 days left to change something.

What is your conclusion about your resolutions this year? Have you been successful? Feel free to tell me your storie in the comments below!

Merry Christmas!❄

Sketchbook

Hello sunshine!

I love painting, drawing and sketching and the week before last, I made a little sketch every day to show you, how easy it is to paint something every day in less than 10 minutes. Even if each of these sketches is not a whole masterpiece, I like that I did it and that I can tell you some stories to my pictures.
Usually I use such sketches to put in my Bullet Journal because (for me) every spread looks prettier with a little painting. So if you don't like it to prepare your weekly pages in advance, you can find some time to paint something for each week whenever you like.

A Bullet Journal is free to use in any way you want to use it and this week it is my Sketchbook!

MONDAY 29|10|18

I started the week with a very long and productive Monday. I have two of my modules on this day, so most of the time I’m somewhere on campus and sometimes I feel that I would be more productive if I wouldn’t sit in class and listen and make some research instead. In Germany I wouldn’t go to classes like these because we do not have to be there and honestly I don’t have 100% attendance, but here I have to be there.
And when I was talking to my boyfriend at the end of this day, I started painting this mouth. I saw it on Pinterest before and I felt like everyone was talking beautiful shit, but it does not make as much sense as the people wished for.
I drew some easy flowers coming out of the mouth with small circles and leaves. To highlight the senselessness of words, I thought it would fit to make the mouth melting. So I added in these melting-lines and painted over the end of the mouth with a white gel pen.

Sketch for Monday

TUESDAY 30|10|18

This was a very good day. I was very productive and did all the things on my to-do list for this day. Again I painted the sketch in the evening but this time before I could talk to my boyfriend, and I was missing him a lot. So I drew this rose as I have been drawing thousands of roses before, but I didn’t want it to be like every other flower… I wanted it to be trapped. And I remembered a old picture I painted years ago and there was a lightbulb shining at some flowers and so I drew the lightbulb but this time, it was around not above it.

Sketch for Tuesday

WEDNESDAY 31|10|18

To be honest: I love painting women. The female body is so curvy and aesthetic that it feels easier to draw and in addition to that it is easier to have a picture in your mind of what you see in the mirror on a daily basis. But I hate drawing faces and hands with a ballpoint pen, and that’s why I decided to hide the hands in the hair and sketch the shades instead of mimic.
I have never painted a kneeling woman before, so I started with the upper body. After adding the belly, I realized that the t-shirt was to short even for a crop top. This is ok, because it is just a sketch, but I wanted it to fit proportional. So I changed the perspective! Instead of standing in-front of her, I imagined looking from below. Do you know these photo shootings on the beach where it looks like the photographer is melting in the sand to get the best angle? Now I imagine to be the photographer! And the women ended up kneeling somewhere.

Sketch for Wednesday

THURSDAY 01|11|18
As you can see by the dates: Wednesday was Halloween. So Thursday was the day after and I was so tired! Not that I have been partying for so long or got drunk or anything, but the people in-front of my window did! So I had an unsettled night and had to get up early for university.
The result was that I was missing my home more than I usually do. Normally I party with my friends and when I go home after it, I will wake up next to my boyfriend the next day and as kind as he is he would bring me some breakfast in bed. But here I am alone, I have to move on and no one really cares about my mood. The only thing I can do is motivating myself to keep going and on days like these it is hard.
But I took the time to drew down my feelings and actually, this picture took the longest time. When I am painting hands I try to paint left hands, because I can hold mine next to the picture and use it as a template while drawing with the right hand. I used my ballpoint pen for my hand and a blue fine liner for his.

Sketch for Thursday

FRIDAY 02|11|18

To be honest: I haven’t been very productive in Thursday and so I had to make good for this on Friday. I had to finish an assignment, I wanted to paint something for Instagram, I wanted to write a marketing plan for one module and I had to write the next blogpost… End of the day: I felt like I had done everything but nothing. I managed to hand in the assignment because it was the deadline, but after this I lost my focus again. I don’t know whether the translation is correct but: you can’t have your cake and eat it too .
In Germany we say: You can’t dance on two weddings, and that’s why I wanted to paint someone dancing on different places at one time. The girl is going through black holes and again she is hiding her face behind the hair. Moreover, I was too lazy to draw fingers or toes, so she just has something that could be hands and feet if you look from far away.
I don’t like that sketch so much, because I think the proportions are not correct and it could be way prettier if I would take more time.

Sketch for Friday

SATURDAY 03|11|18

Honestly I lost my motivation to paint anything. I totally forgot that I was doing this week of sketching and it was almost midnight when I saw my sketchbook. So I ended up redrawing what I saw on Instagram. I love @dinasaurus.art and her paintings.
I had a whole month in my Bullet Journal with recreations of her drawings and why not again painting a picture from her? Nothing is wrong in recreating someone’s art to practice and learn. I think her paintings are perfect to learn to paint faces and this is what I really want to improve.

Sketch for Saturday

SUNDAY 04|11|18

Finally! One more week done and one week less until I can go back to Germany. I can’t wait to go home and see all my loved persons. I can’t wait for Christmas and I can’t wait to give my Christmas presents to all my sweethearts! Currently I’m motivating myself by focusing on all these upcoming events to not give up. I have so fu*** much to do and I am giving my best to get very good marks.
I know I sound like a nerd, but I want to give my best to achieve something. And on days like last Sunday, I feel like I could conquer the world.
But to be fair: I have been drawing ballerinas since I started to learn how to proportion a human body. After using these manikins, I loved sketching it in unnatural positions as ballerinas do. They have my respect for being that stretchy!

Sketch for Sunday

And this is it. This is my week in sketches! I hope you got an idea about my week and how I paint my little sketches. The secret is practicing! Even if the sketches are not the greatest, once ore I painted human bodies and maybe next time I know, that the crop top should be longer or some proportions should be different.
If you would like to see more of these, check out my Instagram and follow this blog. I would love to read your opinions in the comments below!

See you next time!♥