Happy Serendipity

Today I’m going to tell you about finding the perfect dirndl. The dirndl dress is essential for the Oktoberfest and women don’t go to the Wiesn without it. For me this was a task that almost made me go berserk. I thought I’d check the net, find one, order, try it on, keep, pay, done! YEAH RIGHT! I checked out the internet and found an insane number of different dirndls. And now – I mean I’m a woman looking for a dress – choose ONE. It took me 6 weeks and 7 dirndls to find the right one. After that the word alone made me scream.

It started with this one. The very first dirndl I liked very much though it made me feel like little red riding hood. I mean… I live in Hessen (German state) and I’m so not used to wear this kind of fashion except of maybe for carnival. It’s weird. Totally a Bavarian thing. Me with an apron…. Ok – but this dress was fine (that’s why I’m smiling) BUT the girls said it’s too large. It crumpled on the sides and they said if I can still breathe it’s too large. Actually I thought it’s too long but nooooo it was too large. NEXT.

This model here was exactly the size I needed (according to the girls). For me that was exactly the size that made me catch my breath. Standing was ok. Moving not so much. My boobs were right under my chin and I still wonder how we managed to close that dress. I didn’t like the color. On the screen it looked much better. NEXT.

The next dirndl looked fantastic on the model in the internet. It looked like a cleaning rag on me. It was too long, it was too large, the blouse had too many ruffles… uaahhhh. NEXT.

This one here was actually the one I liked best though the apron had a color that was not so much my taste but changing the apron would be no problem. I just thought the black would be too harsh. And by that time this one here arrived I already chose the one that I finally kept. While I waited for this 3 other ones arrived and in the end I chose

… this one! I just liked it when I saw it. It’s brown and the top and the skirt have different colors, the apron is silky… it’s just fine. And I had to stop at some time, right?! Together with the little deer it’s a nice outfit.

Though breathing is difficult in this one too. I maybe have to wear it at home before the Wiesn to stretch it a bit.

And since I bought that in an online store I assume that there will be many many other women sporting this dress. So I thought I’d pimp it a little bit. I took the Tattoo Your Towel set from Sublime Stitching patterns and stitched along. First I wanted that banner but then I didn’t know what to write in it so I ended up stitching a heart.

A simple way to enhance a piece of clothing. One of my favorites. It’s easy and with the fabulous patterns from Jenny Hart it’s done in no time.

That was the dirndl story. Looking for a wedding dress cannot be worse now at least I’m prepared

Tomorrow I’ll show you a nice collection of fun accessories for the Oktoberfest so stay tuned.

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Customize, dirndl, oktoberfest, stitching, wiesn

I’m happy and excited to welcome you to my little Wiesn sale. From today until end of September I will sell the “Original Mass-Band” to my readers and fans while supplies last.

You will ask yourself “What the hell is a Mass-Band?!” Let me tell you!

The beer bucket is called a MASS. And the MASS-BAND is there to pimp your mass so you know which one is yours.

This spring I got to know a lovely couple from Munich. When I told them that I sew they asked me if I had a nice solution for a certain problem that people have when they’re at the Oktoberfest. The problem is that there are many people sitting at one table and they all drink beer. When you leave the table and come back or when you’re engaged in a conversation and you don’t watch your glass… after a while you just don’t know which one is yours. And there you are standing and wish your glass had a little sign to tell you which is yours.

So the “Original Mass-Band” is my sweet little handmade solution to that problem. A band that goes around your Mass. It’s made from felt with a woven ribbon and a personalized label that will be closed with a press button.

I have almost 40 different designs so even when you’re in a group of 10 people no one has to share the same design. Seems pretty perfect to me.

And I have a little special, too. I designed a little hair accessory with a little resting deer. You can choose the ribbon that fits your dirndl best (I’ll stitch it on for you) and there you have an unique little piece to complete your outfit.

This is the whole collection.

The Wiesn Sale will take place on my Happy Serendipity Facebook Fanpage. There you get all the details regarding pricing and shipping. Please write me an email if you’re interested in the bands or the deers (or if you’re not on Facebook and need a better picture of the goods).

Whoooo. I’m really excited. Those are my little babies and I worked pretty hard and long to get them the way I wanted. I hope they all end up in good hands. Especially the little deers. They are so precious.

Let me know what you think. Comments are very appreciated.

Xo, Lou

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oktoberfest, sale, wiesn sale

Today I want to talk about the popularity of the Oktoberfest all over the world.

Maybe you thought the Oktoberfest is just something Germans celebrate in Munich. Yeah right. I’ve found the website of Zinzinnati that claims to be America’s largest and most authentic Oktoberfest in the U.S. Happening September 18th and 19th in Cincinnati (took me a while to find that out; I thought Zinzinnati was a real town).

The website made me laugh. Somehow they’re all over the chicken dance and you can watch videos of people dancing it. I mean…. last time I’ve danced the chicken dance was carnival 1986 but they seem to like it. Fun what others think is popular here.

And there are a LOT of people. Ok… they’re not wearing costumes but they’re there anyway. Isn’t that amazing?

The programme is really nice though. They have everything from Musikanten (musicians) to Schuplattler Dancers (guys who dance and clap their hands and on their shoes at the same time – watch this). They have the Schnapps Band (Schnapps is the German word for booze) and they serve typical German food and beer. I’ve even found 2 German beer brands on their list. A typical dish at the Oktoberfest is half a chicken, or white wurst with sweet mustard and radish (delicious!), or wurst with sauerkraut… all things that serve as a basis before you drink liters of beer.

And all that you can get either in Munich but in Cincinnati as well. Isn’t that great? A whole culture with its traditions on a different continent. I think that’s fantastic.

What really made my jaw drop was the fact that even the Japanese have an Oktoberfest. You might say now “Well… the asians copy everything in the world!”… yes but a German Volksfest?! For real? Yes they do. In Tokyo. They have a website and I’ve found out they’ve been doing this for 15 years already. Unfortunately they didn’t show any good pictures but at least they serve Bavarian dishes and specially brewed Oktoberfest beer. In Japan!! Still I can’t believe it. But aren’t those kids lovely in their costumes?

And for last… even Mr. Hugh Hefner couldn’t resist to look for a Wiesn girl in the German issue of his publication each Oktober. There must be a certain attraction toward women with a short blouse and a bucket full of beer. Well. Ok. Let’s just take this as a fact.

So while looking for Oktoberfest facts that are the oddities that I’ve found out and even I was amazed that this fest is so popular all over the world. Man I can’t wait to finally get there.

See you again tomorrow and I must say I’m soooo excited. I’ll have a little sale of things especially made for the Oktoberfest. Handmade, pretty and only while stocks last. Servus!

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oktoberfest, wiesn

I already teased on Friday that I’m going to have a special week here on the blog. It’s Oktoberfest Week and that is worth mentioning.

Here’s the story: this year it’s the first time I’m going to the Oktoberfest and since March I really dug into the topic due to a sewing order that I received. More on that on Wednesday. So this week I’m going to talk about this big ass German event that takes place in Munich, Bavaria, south of Germany. It’s a fest that lasts 2 weeks (this year it’s September 18th – October 3rd) and everyone shows up in traditional Bavarian costume and they drink LOTS OF BEER. Ask anyone who’s been there 3 things that come to his mind when they hear Oktoberfest. It’ll be “Beer”, “Munich”, “Dirndl”.

The Oktoberfest (also called Wiesn) is one big event. Millions of people from all over the world go there to squeeze themselves into a tent together with 3,000 others to drink beer and have a good time.  Yes! In one tent there are up to 3,000 people, in some tents even 8,000. I still can’t believe that until I saw it. There are 15 tents on the Wiesn. Some are bigger and some are smaller. Here are some impressions of the inside of some tents.

So basically people go there in traditional Bavarian costume and eat and drink and dance.

The beer…. in Bavaria people drink beer as if it was water. You can order a beer for lunch and no one would ever look at you strange considering this time of day too early. Now on the Wiesn you don’t get a glass of beer. It’s a bucket! A bucket that contains 1 liter of beer. That’s 33.8140 fl.oz. And I tell you – German beer is strong.  Last year on my first visit to Bavaria (Martin is from there) I’ve tried to drink one of those. Look at the dimension of the glass alone….

After one of those beers you can imagine how I felt. Some days I can’t manage to drink a liter of water, let alone beer. Anyway. That’s the way it is and either you follow the rules or you don’t.

And now imagine a tent with 3,000 people. Thirsty people. Somehow the beer needs to come to their tables, right? I don’t know how those ladies are capable of handling so many full glasses. I’ve seen it. They carry 10 – 15 glasses of beer, with a whistle in their mouth. Incredible.

What’s typical as well are the nice decorated gingerbread hearts. They come in all sizes with different texts. Sweet.

The area from above.

That was part one of my Wiesn Woche (Week). In the course of the week I’ll be showing you my drama of finding the right Dirndl Dress, what I did to it to make it more unique, I’m having a Wiesn Sale of things that I’ve been sewing and some other nice facts about his German event. I hope you enjoy it.

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oktoberfest, wiesn

Hello everyone,

yeah I’ve been absent for loooong though I’ve posted a picture almost every day in August. In the meantime I had my 30th birthday and I thank all for the wishes. That really made my day. Being 30 is really cool. I was looking forward to it and now I’m certain that it will be the best year ever!!

Now back to blogging. My august break comes to an end. I’m working on something fun and next week we’re having a special here on Happy Serendipity that will even include a little sale. I’m really excited about it and it really took a bit to think through and prepare. I don’t want to tell too much – maybe just one thing – it’s something about Germany… actually something typical German. So stay tuned.

Until then I’ll have a good laugh, a long sleep and still loads of work to do. See you on Monday and I wish you all a terrific weekend.

Xo, Lou

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quote, wallpaper

after such a day i can’t wait to get away!!

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august break

faces of today

exhausted

bored

wanna kill someone

thinking of m

can’t wait to have my life back.

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Didn’t have pizza in something that feels like years. Home made with heart shaped mozzarella. You gotta enjoy your meals

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august break

The light after the storm was amazing today. A rainbow appeared outside my window and cheered me up….

… and then I saw where it ended and almost went to the house next door to grab that pot of gold. Wohooo.

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august break

I can’t believe we’re back home and I have to go back to the office tomorrow! The only thing that cheers me up is that our place is FULL of flowers from my mil’s garden.

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august break

is august really almost over?!? incredible. been enjoying the sun and a good book and great flowers on our last day.

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august break

Hello dear readers. We’re still on the road enjoying our free time and today was a fantastic warm day that we’ve spent on the island Mainau. I haven’t seen so many flowers at one spot in my life. And they had great names. Lovely.

But this week I didn’t layout the quote but will attach it with some fine pictures. It’s really nice and fits so perfectly.

“Happiness consists of living each day as if it were the first day of your honeymoon and the last day of your vacation”

I’m sending you loads of sunshine from Bavaria. Have a nice weekend!

xo, lou

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happiness, quote, vacation

i demanded euphoria and found a tamagotchi. figure that!

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august break

bavaria. deepest bavaria.

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august break

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august break

my in-laws are the best. welcome us with chocolate and flowers. smoootch

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august break

Picture of me 29 years ago. My first birthday. Oh god. time flies…

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august break

auntie and niece. we had fun!

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august break

It’s my last day being 29. I’m excited becoming 30. Really. Can’t understand how people, especially women, can have a crisis because of it. I believe it’s a great age. Being 20 (-something) was… starting to work, going to university (while having a full time job), making a degree, making a career choice, making relationship experiences, travelling a lot (ok.. that was less stressful) and now I feel like I have finally arrived. I don’t know where exactly but I feel very comfortable being myself. I didn’t always in the past 10 years. But there was a lot of life in my years and I’m happy about it and I’m sure the best years are yet to come.

Have a happy weekend my dear readers. I’ll be on vacation next week but since I’m on a lil’ break anyway I’ll still show you a picture each day. Totally new surrounding. I’m excited. Again. Yay.

Xo, Lou

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quote, wallpaper

That’s it. It was my last day at work and I’m off on vacation. That was overdue… .!

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august break

Looks big but it was itsy bitsy tiny. So cute and it made my day.

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august break

Sometimes you must enjoy some things. A good espresso is worth a million.

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august break

frankfurt sky tonight.

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august break

“Walk the line” was on TV yesterday night and I spend a good time practicing some vintage hairstyles. This is the best result I achieved after 30 minutes of rolling, bobby pinning, hair spraying…

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august break