2009 feelin' fine list

A friend of ours always comes up with some rhyming theme for the new year (ie. Comin' alive in '05). These references are usually created to motivate him to lose weight and massively bulk up at the gym, I just think they're funny. And since I am too much of a hedonist to create a list with a bunch of resolutions I don't intend to keep, here is my 'What I'm excited to do in 2009' list, or as I affectionately like to call it:

Feelin' Fine in '09:

1. Getting into more old & rare blues music--this sound is the earliest I can remember from my Daddy playing slide guitar and singing in the living room. I wanna dig real deep this year and find some treasures. Starting with Martin Scorcese's blues documentary might be a good way to go.
2. Paying off the ole toaster box car.
3. Go dancing with Philipp somewhere really sleezy & where no one can see our moves
4. Get into some more hardcore/post-hardcore music--whatever--stuff that screams and makes me want to run faster through the woods like Rocky Balboa
5. Spending as much time near water as possible
6. Discovering more microbreweries
7. Brewing our 1st batch of homebrew
8. Keeping a reading log for 2009 on Goodreads
9. Getting a freaking haircut
10. Going to the Keys
11. Planning some road trips
12. Re-connecting with my sister

**I'll keep adding as I think of them**

2008 Highlights

At the closing of every year I like to get nostalgic remembering all the things I've done. Now that I have a format for it (ye olde blog), here are the highlights of my {our} year:Packing up all our newlywed goodies and driving across the country from NC to CA (we saw this truckload of little piggies on the way over. We've made this journey so many times it was one of the few pictures we took to document the route!).Unpacking in our 1st apartment. Even though we've been in the States together for 2 years, we have never "lived" anywhere, only traveled around, so this was fun. We bought a shitload of furniture from IKEA only to sell it on craigslist in 4 months! Vagabonds!All the cooking and baking done throughout the year. This picture is from Valentine's Day.The many, many road trips taken in our little toaster car (ahem, Scion xB). This one is from the central coast, where Philipp asked me to marry him in '07.Getting to spend time with one of our favorite people, The Muenzer. From a hike in Santa Rosa Reserve.Being near water so often this year. Self timer-ed up on the Central Coast someplace.All the secret places we stumbled upon. See the ocean there at the end of the path? Perfection.
I love waking up to Philipp someplace different. We slept in the tool shed of the B&B we used to work at. If you have lowered standards, man can you have a good life!Craziness/Impulsiveness & the freedom to do/be so. Tracking down the Manson haunts? Driving 5 hours to Vegas to see an old friend just for dinner? Driving to the beach (the one four hours away, not down the mountain)? Doing things just because you can.
Hanging out with my ridiculous sister & her even more ridiculous boyfriend. Always too brief, always hilarious.On the way to Oregon. The feeling is one of being immensely content amongst other things.
Being loved for who you are (guilty of something, probably, in this picture).Beer. Oh how I love thee, especially when you come to me straight from the source (and preferably next to an ocean).Love. And how it reaches the places no one else can.Another beach. In Florida with Martin.Back in Switzerland with Eveline and Jo. This leads us into the present. And the present leads us into the future.All the best for you & yours in 2009. The sky is the limit.

jantzen knock offs at Target!

Remember the bathing suit I was lusting after last summer? Well, pat on the back to Target for totally yanking this pattern right out from underneath the Jantzen people. A 100 buck suit is now $35-40. I am getting one of these for sure. Chem 'em out here.

earmuffs

Earmuffs have never looked so cool. From American Apparel.

grease is the word

Eveline, Philipp & I finally watched "Grease" last night and it was the word. I'll be doing this all day today, thankyouverymuch:

gingerli

Gingerli + Kristin = Best Friends ForeverSort of like Basel Leckerli, but with hot ginger.

stockings/the loot

Eveline & I made stockings for all of us this year. Here is how they turned out:
Of course Philipp's had to be black. And evil {sort of}.All sorts of goodies hanging out of mine....and giving it the 'feel check'.Eveline's stocking.Johannes with his--must have been right when they were hung---not fat with goodies yet.The sausages stockings were hung by the ceiling chimney with care.Shortly after opening the loot.I got a schneeman!A table full of goodies!!

**Doing only stockings for Christmas is the way to go I think, its so much fun to find little small things instead of spending loads of money on giant ones. Also all throughout the holidays this year I was thinking how I cannot wait to have little ones in the house--P & I will make Christmas the most fun when we have kids!

decorations

Remember that giant gingerbread star I made? This is what it finally looked like on the tree:And our cheesy 'Just Married' ornament from last year got a prominent place on the ole Tannenbaum.The finished tree. Did I already say we made dried oranges and they're totally going on any tree I do from now on? They brighten everything up. Okay, except for the proper exposure when taking a picture ; )

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, Philipp & I went into the city for some last minute shopping and later celebrated just the four of us at home with a four course meal. It was d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. Eveline came up with the menu plan and did most of the work, but I think I washed a few salad leaves here and there ; )
1) Pumpkin-ginger soup with herbs and cream2) Nussli salad (Lamb's lettuce its called, so I hear) with fresh garlic croutons (I did actually make those!) and walnuts3) Puff pastry stars filled with with two white fish & shrimp in a cream sauce4) Molten Chocolate cakes with vanilla frozen creme and orange slices

**Apparently, my little idea of opening the stockings on Christmas Day was a disappointment to these Swissies who primarily open gifts on Christmas Eve. Ooops. Better luck next year!

date balls/kim

The southern holiday staple, date balls were always made in my family by my dear aunt who died this year so I decided to whip up a batch to honor her memory this Christmas. I got the recipe here. They were a complete disaster---WAY WAY WAY too much sugar. Everyone in Philipp's family was calling them "Sugar Bombs" last night. I briefly entertained the idea of presenting them as a gift from Eveline, but had mercy on my mother-in-law. Kim would have thought that funny.

Rest in peace, Kim.

nina simone box set

How freaking awesome is the person I married? Nina Simone To Be Free box set awesome, that's how.

green

Love, love love this lady-like green dress from this fashion blog.

white deco

For those of you needing an escape from the traditional red & green holiday explosion, perhaps this?:Via Apartment Therapy.

the bowmans, etc.

Philipp & I went out last night. We went to the Basel Christmas market, peaked around for ornaments and a snow globe (all of these for me, of course--not my masculine husband), ate at our favorite pizza place & went to see The Bowmans play at the Culturium.

It was a really lucky night in smoke-free terms. Our restaurant is pretty good about dividing up the smokers and these girls had requested the venue be smoke-free for the night so I got to enjoy the evening without cancererous by-products. I was a happy duckling. And the show was really good. I enjoyed it. They even sang a song dedicated to Charlotte, NC which I had to give a loud shout-out for, of course.

The bizarre and amusing part of the evening was how the one sister totally looked like a taller, stretched out version of our friend Clare. Immediately after I turned to Philipp to say this, they introduced themselves as Claire and Sarah. Weird-o.

hug me sweater

This sweater is too cute. I think it would be pretty simple to make too. You could sew the little hands onto an existing sweater, for example.

DIY snow globes

When I was in 1st grade each class created holiday crafts to "sell" at a market during school before holiday vacation started. For the weeks leading up to the market you could earn "money" by being good and then this money could be used to buy all the little crafts for "sale".

I remember this being the highlight of my existence up to that point. We made dozens of things, but the little snow globes I remember most. I think I still have mine in our family's ornament box, although through the years I think my reindeer became loose in the globe and now floats with the snow.

Here is a page from Martha Stewart outlining that craft. So much fun. I'd make one right now if I had all the supplies.

airy room

Nice living room. From here.

tchotzke treat

Check out how to make this snow globe-esque place card for a winter table. So kitschy and cute:Instruction on Design*Sponge.

mitten topper

The aforementioned Black Apple's Christmas tree topper. Isn't that excellent?

gift labels

Check out these adorable (and free!) gift tags from the quirky little lady over on Black Apple. Click here for them.

winter photo shoot

Extremely fun winter shots from the talented nicolephoto.com for rb! More here.

snow globe

Walking around in the forest and up to the clearing today with all the snow coming around me, listening to Aretha sing Christmas songs, I have not been this happy since taking my FM radio to bed as a kid. I felt as if inside one of these:

key lime thumbprints

Today I am making these for my lovely husband since he is so good to me and deserves an extra special treat every now & then. He loves Key Lime Pie. Plus he's in an office all day having to watch all this snow behind glass. There's something inherently wrong about that. Key Lime Thumbprint cookies. Recipe here.

more snow

Yep. Its snowing again. I cannot remember a holiday season where I've had snow. Outside my window:I've downloaded over 10 Christmas albums and have been spinning them shamelessly all morning long. I think I'm covered in the Christmas music department for years to come.

On a side note: Isn't it curious that I will listen to Christmas albums from artists I wouldn't consider listening to with their regular stuff (ie. Mariah Carey, Faith Hill, etc.). Bring on the cheese, its Christmas time!

beards

This is for Philipp:

puj baby bath

Oh my goodness. This makes me want to steal that baby. Seriously. A new bath product from these people.

mitten stockings

How sweet is this little version of the traditional stocking? I will definitely do this with my little kiddies in the years to come.

cotton candy

Don't all these bridesmaids look like cotton candy sticks (in a good way.)? They're all vintage prom dresses worn for this gorgeous wedding. Awesome.

last xmas

This one's dug up from last Christmas. Our first Christmas being married. I was sporting some serious red eye so converted it to black & white. Now my eyes are twinkling, right? Yeah. Oh and that's my old baking apron from childhood. I guess I figured I could go there since we were living in my parents' house at the time. Ha.

R.I.P. Betty

Since I don't read the newspaper, I was late to hear Betty Page died last week. Dark hair, red lips, 50's clothing. I dig her style. And lingerie.

festivities & all that

The internet in our room has been down all weekend, which was good in its own way, but now I am happy to be out & about in Internet Land again. Some pictures of what's been going on at our place:We made a snowman. And put my bra on it. I guess that makes it a snow-woman. Eveline remarked on how low the bra was. I told her it (the snowman) was old.
We quit playing around (read: violating) with the snowman and let it be normal.I made a humongous gingerbread star (am I Jewish?) for the tree topper.Its me and Philipp in Gingerbread-Man-Cutter-Land. Somehow I'm not liking how my girth is about 1/3 bigger than his.Finally, this palm tree cookie is for you, Martin. Because I guess all the geriatrics, Jewish New-Yorkers & Cubans in Florida want to celebrate Christmas too.

terrible holiday sweaters party

Next year, wherever we are during the holidays, I am totally throwing a "Don we now our ugly-ass Christmas apparel" party. The idea is to send out an invite ( I personally like this one taken from a USA-today blog):for a Christmas party where everyone attending must be wearing the most god-awful holiday themed sweater they can find. You know where those dreadful things lurk; in the circular rack at Goodwill, in every local thrift store, even brand new in Wal-Mart. The more kitsch, the better. Extra points for puff paint.

Prizes would be given for the most hideous get-up.

Love it!

lisa hannigan

Listening to Irish singer Lisa Hannigan this morning. I've loved her voice for quite awhile now and was pleased to see a solo album is in the works for release in the US.This image of her is fun but looks nothing like the long haired girl most know for singing with Damien Rice.

elliott

Listening to sad tunes today, Elliott Smith is still a favorite for sure. And this book has me curious to read more.

snowing + borscht

Its snowing. I wanted something warm. And delicious. I made borscht. This is what it looked like:(It was warm and delicious.)

stencil

Banksy's not mine.

About a year or so ago, Philipp & I were in a bookstore and he was flipping through a collection of the notorious (ie. really cool) street artist, Banksy's collection of photographs. And recently I have realized how much I like stencil graffiti. And stenciling in general. Cool stuff. Lots on Banksy here.

a life in lists

Also particularly interesting to me as I have a fondness for compulsive list making, the Listography Journal, a way to write an autobiography entirely comprised of lists. Yay.

soviet/american book

This looks like it would be a fascinating read. I had a long lived obsession with all things Soviet for quiet awhile and after living for a few years in Ukraine, I think this book would be especially interesting to me. Two Soviet writers went on a ten day road trip across America in the 30's to chronicle the parallels & dissimilarities between the Soviet Union and United States. I'll have to keep an eye out for this one in the book store.

earmuffs (sort of)

Helluva chic pair of sorta earmuffs. But not happening with that hulluva expensive matching pricetag.

asshole boss

This t-shirt should find its way into my stocking. Except I don't have a boss. Yet.

christmas cards

Yesterday I met Philipp in the city to take our photo booth pictures for the Christmas cards I am going to make:
Click on it to enlarge.

and now for some snow

The snow in the forest was absolutely majestic. And there was so much of it.

sunday recap

If you haven't already gathered from the picture dump(s), we went to the Black Forest in Germany on Sunday with Eveline & Jo. We stopped off at a little Christmas market along the way:

patience

Philipp waiting very patiently for his beer to arrive at the brewery.

familiar faces

Johannes & Eveline.
P's mama is so cute.

trummers love snow

happy me at the christmas market

Yay! Christmas market in Germany. Happy Kristin! Happy!

philipp in der schwartzwald

Philipp from the Black Forest over the weekend.

carrots

From the kitchn.com

Just had to post this picture of some carrots from a San Rafael farmer's market. Carrots are for sure one thing that by far tastes better straight out of the ground.

snowmen cupcakes

If those marshmallows we bought for our party don't get turned into S'mores soon, I know what they'll end up being:

from Martha Stewart

These remind me of the treats my Mama would make with us over the holidays as a kid. She would bring all the fixings to our classroom at school and we'd make snowmen with all sorts of candy decorations. She would bring along 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. I thought I was the bomb. I am pretty sure I wore something special on those days too. Itchy Christmas stockings, some sort of tacky hair bow & for sure Keds with little jingle bells tied to the strings.

holiday movies

Some Christmas movies I have to watch to be happy this year:What are you going to watch? Ahem, Die Hard does not count.

addiction

Must. Step. Away. From. Marthastewart.com.

kitchenaid mixer

If I was going to be a good girl and stay in one place, I would for sure invest in one of these bad boys:
Why? For one its red. Secondly, this would make my baking endeavors that much easier to accomplish & clean up. Plus, its just such a machine. Like raw, unleashed mixing power. Its the woman's equivalent of a power drill.

swing

I could sit here for awhile. From these people (whoah, look at the price!).

celery stamped

How gorgeous did this little project turn out from Creature Comforts blog? Its wrapping paper stamped with a celery stalk base! So cool.

rub-a-dub

You could probably fit two in here easily. From Remodelista.

perfect child's room

An absolutely perfect little kid's room spotted on Remodelista. I love the sparse look and the old crates as a bookcase.

cool stocking

I love this stocking. Since its sold out and I plan on making my own this year anyway, I am for sure taking the idea of adding a tiny picture frame to one of mine.

recycling clothing

I love this chick's style with recycling humongous t-shirts into wearable clothing. Check out the site here. Found on Design Mom.*PS* At one time my hair was supposed to look something like that, but never happened.