t's hard to believe that our Bailey-dog is seven years old today. Could it really have been that long ago that we saw her photo on the Bay Area Boxer Rescue site, her rescued mother having just given birth to a litter of black and white mixed-breed pups and called to say that we wanted to come and pick her up? Seven years seems significant in dog years and it amazes me to think of all we have been through together..

From the very first night we brought her home,

all we wanted to do was snuggle her and take care of her, 

play with her,

and provide her with warm alternatives to snuggling with her brood of brothers and sisters. 

We will never forget the time we looked all over for her, only to find her curled up in the closet amongst daddy's shoes. 

Or how quickly she became a daredevil to get out of her puppy confines in the kitchen.

She has grown up with a major love of sticks,

(one might even call it an obsession)

even when said stick is actually a whole tree.

She has been through a lot in her seven years, including packing up life in California to move to Germany,

being made to wear ridiculous things like doggles

and daddy's old shirts, 

and last summer, she had her first - and then not long after, her second - attack by other dogs in the park. She is resilient though (I'm still more traumatized than she ever was). 

As a dog, she's gotten to experience more than even some people, going from a California beach doggy,

to being a swanky Wiesbaden Hund,

not to mention visiting castles in Germany, 

to sightseeing in Strasbourg, France. 

She has gone from her first California snow trip in Tahoe, 

to snowy parks every winter here in Germany,

and from swimming in Grandma's pool, 

to having entire rivers to cool off in.

She always warms our hearts and makes us laugh, whether it's becoming 'nun Bailey' whenever anyone is in the shower, 

the silly ways she contorts her jowls

and her ears,

how she kind of looks like a cow from underneath

and like a Gremlin when she was a puppy that we used to let sleep on the sofa,

that she always wants to be a part of whatever is going on in the kitchen, even if she shouldn't,

her never-ending quest for people food, 

her boundless optimism that one day, she will get that squirrel, 

or just her general, jubilant craziness.

Sure, she is afraid of doors

and vacuum cleaners,

has a bit of a drooling problem,

(make that a major problem)

and as an elusive Boxador, perhaps suffers a bit from an identity crisis,

but deep down, she's really a lover

(even to her toys she rips apart)

and when we're away from her, we miss her terribly.

We've come a long way together...

and we only hope she has enjoyed the ride so far as much as we have!

So today we wish a big happy birthday to our furry member of the family as well as to my baby brother, though he's far from a baby now. Happy birthday guys - we love you both!

Here's to many more years of fun!

Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische

I think Valentine's Day gets a bad rap from all the singles being made to feel lonely out there. But romantic love isn't all there is out there. Growing up, my mom always made me feel loved and special on Valentine's - one notable year I awoke to her making batches of heart-shaped frosted cookies for me for breakfast. Just last week my oldest and dearest friend said she'd been thinking about me a lot lately (we haven't seen each other in nearly two years) and wanted to send me something for Valentine's Day.

Of course we all should appreciate and show our love every day, but let's be honest, we get busy, we get distracted and we can forget. Why not take this day to remind everyone you love just how much they mean to you?

Here are a few Valentine-y things that I've been loving lately...

1. Non-traditional jewelry // Things that feel unique and special hold so much more appeal than that diamond pendant that's in every mall ad come Valentine's Day. I love this nerdy Venn diagram necklace and this block ampersand pendant for their quirky sweetness.

2. Sweet tech // Who says romance can't be functional? A case for receiving loving phone calls or a swanky way to transport electronic love notes and photos are little ways to bring love into the everyday.

3. Matching morning mugs // I like the idea of celebrating your own person within a couple. These make-you-smile mugs for loving looks over morning coffee are perfectly representative of me and my husband.

4. Something rich & chocolatey // While this chocolate mousse is oh-so rich and decadent (and my favorite bit - so easy!), it won't weigh you down like some other heavy chocolate desserts. I like to make mine with chili Lindt bars, cinnamon and a little Cointreau.

5. Gourmet caramels // Not only do these award-winning caramels come in the mouth-watering flavors of sea salt and bourbon vanilla or chai, but the Big Picture Farm website is enchanting all on its own. Each product lists which goats provided the milk for that product (with names like Gertrude and Winnimere, how could they not provide delicious milk?) and has photos of the goats frolicking and looking cute. The whimsical drawings of each goat just adds to the charm. You can also keep up with the goats' glorious life on their blog.

6. Heart prints // It's hard to not feel the love with your heart literally on your sleeve. I'm loving these very Marc Jacob-y prints at Gap and Old Navy to wear throughout the year. Who says you only have to be in the mood for love around Valentine's?

7. Classic romance // There's just something about the classics. Sure, the stories are timeless, but ever since Penguin started releasing the most beautiful books in existence, it's made reading them - or heck, even displaying them on a bookshelf - feel like a much more romantic endeavor. Think I might have to read a Shakespeare sonnet or two this month...

8. Cozy nights in // Ever since my go-to cotton pajamas ripped gloriously down the back a few weeks ago, I've had my mind on a fresh new pair to replace my now very threadbare and rather dated set. It's hard to go wrong with a classic stripe or chambray - and how lucky for me that Victoria's Secret pajamas come in tall! No more freezing ankles and wrists, thank you very much.

9. Festive manis // Everyone knows I'm a bit of manicure nut, but holidays provide even more reason and inspiration to put something special on your fingertips. The Beauty Department has some great tutorials, although some are a bit too much work, even for me. This xoxo mani, as well as simple hearts - either freehand or with a stencil - are just right.

10. Packaging is everything // I am definite Chanel girl when it comes to perfume, but Tocca runs a very close second. If not only for its wonderfully unique scents, the bottles look like ones you might find in an antique store and downright beg to be displayed on a dressing table. This little trio, which includes my very favorite Tocca scent, Cleopatra, would be the perfect way to beautify my perfume shelf and allow me to change things up depending on my mood.


Happy Valentine's Day!


see this collage bigger here

Our first Rosenmontag parade in 2011

ast time we took part in the Rosenmontag festivities in Mainz, we had a lovely perch on a friend's rooftop deck directly over the parade route, not to mention being nearly a month later than it was this year, it was amazingly warm and sunny. This year, we headed across the river to brave the crowds on the ground in the freezing February weather for the first time. Since we had previously donned the giraffes only in apartments and on brief train rides, we had yet to experience any reaction to these costumes beyond our circle of friends.

Riding the buses and trains in Wiesbaden on Rosenmontag is always interesting, since the festivities are in Mainz, because those in costume are few and far between. Those that are usually only have a sparkly hat or colorful outfit, perhaps in an effort to avoid the abundant and somewhat judge-y German stares from what is often considered the 'uptight' side of the river. Sometimes I just want to scream at them "yes, I know it's Monday morning and you're dressed in your work clothes and I'm dressed as a safari animal but I'm going to party at the Rosenmontag parade, so back off!" Once over in Mainz, the the German stares dissipate and are replaced with smiles, waves, and once everyone is drunk enough to lose their German inhibitions, even hugs.

We might not have been the only giraffes, but we seemed to be the most popular

Once deep into the festivities, we started to see how popular our costumes were. At first, I would just catch someone pausing with a camera pointed in our direction, but once the first person came up and asked if they could take our picture - or the ones I most enjoyed, where they wanted their photo with us - it was like it opened the floodgates for all the other Germans too reserved to ask. I started to feel like a Disneyland character, posing for photos every time we turned around, and wondered if kids would start asking for autographs soon. I'm pretty sure our photo is going to be spattered all over the internet in connection with this year's parade. It seems we could hardly go a block without someone calling out for us "giraffe! giraffen!", or just overhearing someone pointing us out to a friend after we had gone past. One lone giraffe actually called out "Mama! Papa!" to us. Amidst a sea of Germans, with whom we rarely feel a sense of belonging, we felt as if we had hundreds of new, accepting friends.

It wasn't just the fellow costumed adults that took a shine to the giraffes. One old lady stopped us to ask for a photo and said we were her favorite costume that she had seen. Little kids often stared after their parents pointed us out, only to break their intense German stare once we smiled and waved, letting them know that we were friendly animals. One such very small guy in the cutest lion costume, stared at us for a good five minutes on the train platform, even after I'd smiled and waved. He just didn't know what to make of us. Finally, something in him let go, because he pulled the little lion-clawed arms of his suit down over his hands, curled them up, scrunched up his face and started growling at us. Perhaps he had figured out that as a lion, he was at the top of the animal kingdom, or perhaps he just wanted my giant cotton candy.

How these guys didn't freeze their, well.. important parts off, I'll never know!

Being on the ground this year meant being right in the middle of all the action. We could stand parade side and reach out for all the treats that were being thrown from the floats into the crowd. It also meant that in -1C weather, we were freezing our giraffe tails off. The music at least made it acceptable to bounce and jump around to keep warm, but even under four layers on top, two layers on bottom, snow boots, hat and gloves, I was so numb I could barely move. This meant that when the circus float with a giant giraffe on the top rolled by and the woman in front noticed me and chucked a giant candy bar/roll of cookies right to me, my popsicle of a hand could only reach into the air, to which the treat meant for me bounced off my numb, unclosing fingers and into the crowd for someone else to claim. What a sad Karneval failure.

Being on the ground this year meant more than frozen toes and being at the mercy of increasingly drunken people who wanted to manhandle our giraffe heads, it also meant we could take part in gathering loads of goodies thrown from the floats. As stated previously, I did not contribute greatly to our haul with my slow-moving, frozen limbs, but we came away pretty good nonetheless. And I didn't even have to show my boobs like they do in New Orleans.

The highlight of the parade are the humorous political floats. Not entirely up to speed on all things going on over here, some of it can be a bit beyond my breadth of German political knowledge, but I saw enough that gave me a good chuckle. My favorites included the one poking fun at the ever-extending deadline for the new Berlin airport opening and the one about greedy America and who is really pumping up that economy. Germans making fun of what could be potentially sensitive topics to this level never ceases to surprise me. For a culture often labeled as having little to no sense of humor, I think they hit the nail on the head with these floats, whereas I could see such political humor upsetting a lot of Americans. Jon Stewart aside, politics in America seems to be such a hot button topic and is often avoided to keep the peace. Well it's good to know Germans have a sense of humor about their politics, although only at the appropriate time and place, of course. 

Wait for it...

The rest of the floats and paraders were often just as impressive, but after an hour or so, the growing rowdiness of the crowd and our already full bag of treats - not to mention my numb feet and hands that were beginning to expand to the rest of my body - signaled that maybe it was time to head out. We made our way slowly through more hugging and photo-taking to what we hoped would be a warm stop for some food at our favorite Mexican restaurant - only to discover that they are not in fact open every day, all day. So we dragged our freezing giraffe butts back to the trail station, picking up a warm crepe and Glühwein on the way and awaited our ride home. As cold as it was, we were thankful that the grey skies that day were not filled with the sleet of the week before, but rather the confetti from all the festivities. Karneval, we may have to come back to celebrate again with you next year! 

Kind of wished they had been throwing fresh pretzels

Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische

he thing is, it's hard to save. There is always something to spend your money on. Sure, sure, I am an American consumer to the core, but I think being an expat makes it even harder. You have to gut your belongings and buy a lot of things quickly - and with cash only, of course - upon arrival in your new city halfway around the world, only to find out when you're still here three years later that maybe you made the wrong purging and purchasing decisions (I still regret letting go of my olive J.Crew jacket, dammit...). Don't even get me started about the way bills work here either. That first January we learned about the massive utilities settlement bill that comes for the entire previous year that pretty much wiped us out. Good times. It just seems like there's always something coming up.

On the not-so-great purchasing decisions front, our meager pan collection had been getting to me for some time. The few Ikea ones we had were so thin, they practically bent like aluminum foil and required keeping a screwdriver handy to tighten the handles after every use, lest they fall off. Using the one non-stick pan we had meant picking out black coating from our meal to avoid cancer and/or PFOA poisoning. The fact that I had graduated from an 'I burn water' to an 'I just threw this together - without a recipe' kind of cook only exacerbated the issue of our pathetic cookware. 

My spicy orange-ginger beef creation - without non-stick coating included

So when a major housewares retailer was going out of business and slashing their prices last month, we figured it was worth a look. Everything we were finding was a Goldilocks kind of situation - this set is too small, this set is missing an important-sized pan - until we happened upon the set you see above at the far end of the store. It was so comprehensive we couldn't pass it up - not to mention 60 percent off. Since significant German sales hardly ever happen (seriously, I've seen the same sweater on the P&C sale rack for three years running, not once being additionally reduced in an effort to move it), we figured such a large purchase was well worth it. We knew we'd never see, let alone be able to afford, something like this here again.  

So shiny, so pretty... so promising of all the good food to come

January did involved this little setback in our Berlin savings plan, but on the plus side, my desire to cook has not waned in its usual way since this purchase. I look forward to meals where I can use multiple pans from the set and the indulgence of using a proper steamer pot for things like broccoli and tamales. I hand wash and dry all the pieces in our shiny new collection and put them lovingly back on the shelf to inspire my next meal. I think In short, I've become a bit of a hausfrau nerd. We may have set our Berlin departure date back a bit, but it's certainly going to be a tasty journey getting there.  

Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische

ith rain and dreariness expected to continue through the weekend, I kind of want to just hole up like this little guy with all the nuts, ahem, leftovers, we've been saving away and not come out until there are new nuts (aka - sunshine, blue skies, better eating out options) to be had. I think we're actually going to brave the downpour and go out tonight, maybe that Chinese place we love or somewhere new. Who knows, we might even run some errands tomorrow. Guess it can't rain all the time. Can it..? 

Please, oh please, let the snow forecast for the next week be right. I could with a bit more winter wonderland and a bit less soupy grey mess. Thanks. It is February, after all. Things can only get better from here. 

Daily Drop Cap by Alejandro Paul for Jessica Hische