Category — shopping

today was the first day i left without a thick pullover and chunky scarf. it’s super sunny and warm outside and the air smells fresh and crisp. spring is on its way and i wish i could go shopping today instead of sitting in the office. and this would be my choice. my favorite fresh colors {swoon}

jeans * shirt * scarf * cardigan * bag * shoes * bracelet * earrings * gloss

guten tag. nachdem ich mir am wochenende an einem körnerbrot einen halben zahn ausgebrochen und die letzten tage im delirium verbracht habe, bin ich weitgehend wieder auf dem damm und staune und jubele über den neuen lena hoschek katalog. SO SCHÖN! in der letzten winter kollektion war ja nichts für mich dabei (außer dem dirndl, das jetzt auch noch runtergesetzt ist…), aber unter den neuen modellen sind unmengen an shirts und kleider die ich direkt einsammeln würde (und ich trage überhaupt keine kleider, würde es aber unter diesen umständen durchaus wagen). mit der kombo von seite 37, einem softeis und einer dunklen sonnenbrille würde ich über capri spazieren und das leben genießen.

after being in major tooth pain i’m back in the saddle again and swooning over lena hoschek’s spring/summer collection. it’s so beautiful. i didn’t like the winter collection much (except of that dirndl) but the new designs are plain wonderful. i imagine myself strolling around capri with a cone of icecream, a pair of sunglasses and the dress of page 37 enjoying life. {sigh}

what happens when a silversmith, a textile designer and a product designer meet? it can only end up in something fantastic. before christmas i received a lovely email from stockholm that introduced me to a wonderful brand named “HAPPY STHLM“. kajsa aronsson was so kind to show me some of their handcrafted products that are all made in small swedish factories. the product line contains hand printed textiles, ceramics and glass, cast iron scultpures and jewerelly. i really love the ceramics and hand blown vases. very minimal and plain, very elegant! and i’m very smitten with the hand printed textiles and their playful designs.

don’t you just love their collection? they have a big focus on material and quality and i just love the details that they put in each item. very very wonderful. if you want to shop happy sthlm you can do that on EH design import. enjoy.

ich bin letztens in den genuss eines zalando gutscheins gekommen und hatte dann die qual der wahl weil ich vor einem unglaublich großen angebot stand und nicht wusste was ich kaufen soll. erst habe ich geschrien vor glück, weil ich einen gutschein bekam und jetzt schreie ich, weil ich mich nicht mehr weiter weiß. das hat man nun davon.

recently i received a zalando voucher and since the offer there is so freakin’ big i now have to decide what to buy and need your advice. totally euphoric i’ve ordered most of the outfit that i submitted to win the fashion flatrate. when it came nothing fit. the ass didn’t fit into the jeans, the shirt was too tight, i was too short for the jacket and the shoes were not comfy. terrific. so i decided to buy new training shoes so that i’ll fit into normal clothes again soon.

total euphorisch habe ich mir den großteil des outfits bestellt, mit dem ich die fashion flatrate gewinnen wollte. es kam. es passte nichts! in die jeans passte kein po, das shirt war zu eng (klar, weihnachten war ja erst), für die jacke war ich zu kurz und die schuhe waren unbequem. also habe ich mich dazu entschieden, neue trainings-schuhe zu kaufen, damit der po irgendwann mal wieder in die jeans passt und das shirt nicht mehr an allen ecken kneift.

8 kilo müssen runter, die bingo wings sollen nicht mehr flattern und die hose soll verflixt nochmal wieder zugehen! das sind die ziele bis juli und jetzt habe ich zwei paar ganz prima schuhe und kann mich nicht entscheiden.  i need to get rid of 8 kilos, the bingo wings and i want to fit into my darn jeans again! that’s the goal for july! christmas really left me in a bad shape.

nike ist schon seit immer die sport marke meines vertrauens. aber nun gibt es da ein sehr bequemes paar nike free schuhe in schwarz mit neon pink und ein paar nike+ in meinen farben und der möglichkeit, den nike+ sensor in der sohle zu versenken, was schon ganz schön motivieren kann, wenn man die ergebnisse auf dem ipod sieht. sie sind auch bequem, aber sie knistern irgendwie ein bisschen beim laufen. Nike has always been the brand of my choice. now there’s a very comfortable pair of Nike free shoes in black with neon pink and a pair of Nike + in my favorite colors and the possibility to use the Nike + sensor which can be very motivating when i use it. they are also comfortable but somehow they crackle a bit when running.

und jetzt dachte ich, ich frag mal euch. habt ihr vielleicht erfahrungen mit einem der 2 paare? oder vielleicht könnt ihr mir einfach einen guten rat geben? also beide sind bequem (wobei der schwarze wirklich SAU bequem ist und ich steh grad auf neon…), beide sind für meine zwecke ausreichend, im grauen kann man den sensor benutzen. beide paare sind keine option, so weitreichend war der gutschein dann doch nicht :-) was meint ihr?  and now I thought I’ll ask you. do you have any experience with one of the two pairs? or maybe you can just give me some advice? both are comfortable (although the black is REALLY comfy and i really like neon pink these days), both are adequate for my purposes, the gray one i can use with the sensor. both pairs are not an option. can you help?

The other day I wrote this post about handmade gifts you should give away for Christmas. I thought about it again and yes… some people are just not as crafty or have two left hands or really have no time to make something. I understand. Then I strongly suggest BUY HANDMADE. Let me tell you 7  good reasons to do so:

• Handmade products are more than just a product. There is love, creativity and uniqueness. And that shows.

• Price vs. value. If you buy your best friend a handmade journal instead of a mass produced one and spend twice the money, it’ll be worth every penny. Treasures are handmade with love and thought, not mass produced.

• You can be proud knowing that your supporting small businesses.

• Everyone loves to see and have handmade items around! It makes people feel special!

• One of a kinds. You can have detail and personality in a handmade item that is hard for a machine to reproduce.

• Buying handmade shows our children that not everything in this world needs to be mass produced. It teaches them to love and appreciate the unique and the imperfect. And it inspires them to do their own creating as well.

• Buying handmade celebrates humanity.

Since I opened my shop 3 weeks ago I had several conversations about buying handmade and realized there are a lot of people who actually never considered that. Could be that stores mostly don’t sell handmade goods by local artists and it’s obvious that Etsy or Dawanda or Supermarket or Made it are not yet as popular. And that’s very sad so I’m really promoting it now to whoever I speak.

a simple bird and a button photograph. The photograph was taken by Kristi who has this wonderful blog. We got to know each other beginning of this year and I love her work. She sells her photos on Etsy. Isn’t it beautiful to actually know an artist? That’s another good reason to buy handmade!

Flower Hairpins and a beach towel. Made by two talented blogger friends of mine  Sandy and Suze. Real people who let you have a peek into their lives. A wonderful add-on when you buy handmade as many artists have a blog where their share nice things.

A happy yellow tote bag by Sweet Nature Designs and a cross stitch wall decor by my friend Erin.

Custom tree slices and a Cashmere scarf

I guess you get the picture now. Real people do real good things here and sell it online. They are from all over the world and you can just purchase those items with one-click without leaving your home and meet all those stressed out and unfriendly people in the stores.  And it’s not some mass-produced stuff you will see all over the place. It’s unique and made with a lot of love. Let’s support all those artist and enjoy giving their items away to our loved ones. Believe me, they will appreciate!!