Munich in Pics

After spending a few days with my dad in Düsseldorf, getting over the slight culture shock and acclimatizing to the heat wave, it was time to move on to Munich. There, I spent a long weekend with one of my dearest friends and helped her move to a new apartment. I had a great time, even though we we're moving stuff from a 5th (american 6th!) floor with no elevator (I was so thankful that she was moving out of there, at least that way we only had to carry stuff down, not up!). We managed to sneak in some jewelry shop scouting, refreshing drinks, watching some soccer games and a whole day at a local lake!
I really liked the jewelry shop Patrik Muff. The jewelry is quite pricey, but the whole store and their catalogs have an crazy cool vibe. I wish I could just take all their props and use them forNIMO.Click here to get a glimpse of the shop.

This is where I had some of my german breakfasts :) First at my friend's mom's place, then at in the Glockenbach district.

My friend Laura taking possession of her new apartment.

The "pay" for the friends who helped her moveDetails of the super cute Schneewittchen Café (Snow-white) in her block.
New neighbors. View onto the street from her new french balcony.
The living room, before filling it up with boxes and furniture.

Orchids on the windowsill.

"Special" Tablenumbers. Don't you love little details that remind you of special dates, birthdays of special people, etc? I do.

Ginourmous "Bretzel"

The neighborhood at night. Munich

On Sunday we spent the day at one of the lakes in Munich's surroundings: the Ammersee. It was a perfect day for relaxing in the sun, going for a swim and a stroll along the lake. Monday I packed my things and left for Berlin, so make sure to come back to see the pictures of Germany's capital some time next week, xx

Europe in Pics

Hello everybody! Today is the first day of my summer vacation, so over the next month or so I'll be sharing some pics of my travels through Europe. As I don't know if I'll be able to post on sundays, I decided to rename this section for the time being. That way I'll be uploading pictures on the go, whenever I feel like it and the wifi situation is sorted out.

I just arrived in Düsseldorf today, so most of my pics this week are still of good old California:

Yes, you're guessing just right: we (Mikki and I) stood in line to get the iPhone4 this week! And yes again: it was worth it. The night before att started selling them, Mikki sold his old iPhone and we decided to get up 5:30 am to stand in line till 7:30 am to get our new toys! The streets in the usually busy Oldtown Pasadena were completely empty, except for the line in front of the att store :)

Weathered sign in old town Pasadena.

This is one of my very first shots with the phone: amazing image quality! Depicted are my legs in a very colorful dressing room.

Oh, my frist (and hopefully not last) California Drivers License, expired on the 30th.

We had a visit from Spain just the day before I left, so we drove to Venice and Santa Monica. These are pictures of the sunset from the Santa Monica Pier.
The gorgeous mister in the fading sunlight. Can't wait to see him again in 10 days in Spain!
The tail of "my" plain. If you ever plan on traveling USA-EU or vice versa between the months of may and october, you have to check out this airline: airberlin

The flowers on both sides of my dad's doorstep: they reach all the way up to my shoulder!

First european meal: dark bread with goat cheese and fresh tomato - yummy!

A corner in the guest room at my dad's place

Whenever I come and visit my dad always has fresh flowers waiting for me in my room. How cute is that!? This time it's a huge sunflower.

In the afternoon we went for a stroll along the Rhine river. It was a great sunny day and really nice to be surrounded by all the lush green trees and fields.

Have a great week everybody, wish me luck sleeping away the jet lag!

My Week in Pics

My first week of vacation and the beginning of summer!

As most of you may already know, last wednesday night, June 23rd, was the beginning of the summer solstice. Back home in Spain it's a big deal (who would have thought: such a pagan rite in such catholic country! Oh, the irony - love it!) and it's celebrated with huge bonfires on the beaches and an assortment of rituals (jumping the fire, walking into the sea, etc).

Pure coincidence had it, that we were to head out to Catalina Island for an overnight camping trip just on that day. As you will see in the pictures, Avalon (the main city on Catalina) is a gorgeous little place and it somehow reminded me a lot of Europe. We went with two friends and two kids and had an amazing time: lot's of walking (cars are extremely restricted on the Island, a cabdriver told us the waiting list is about 30 to 50 years!!!!), we rented tandem bikes, had a bbq (including marshmallows), played tag in the dark armed with flashlights, spent a day at the beach and I event went for a quick swim in the ocean!

View of Avalon from the ferry.

Instead of cars, everybody on the island drives golf carts

a very minty looking house

Dog taking a nap in a golf cart - judging from all the stains on the seats it wasn't the first time ;)

Me, making funny faces on the back of the tandem

Mikki, making funny faces in our tent

Boats on the way to the beach. Who names their boat Huevos (Eggs/ balls, depending on the interpretation)???

Hmmm... iced water with lemon on a hot beach day = perfection

Every summer I face the same issue: finding a summer dress. I either don't like them, or they don't fit. So this time around I decided it was time to sit down and make one. It's a military green knit dress with black trims. I opted for a racerback top and an a-line shape for the skirt. I'll take pics when I wear it!

Then I received the cutest letter from my friend in Japan! I don't know how they do it, but even magazine pages and color swatches look much more special over there.

On saturday I finally finished my latest necklace. It's a one of a kind piece. The pendant is made out of a thick sheet of faux bone, which I then sawed and filed into the shape of a C2 cervical vertebra. To make it more interesting I added a little "spark". Faux bone is a fun material to work with, but it's a lot of work. I'm happy with my result - so worth the infected blister on my finger!

No, I'm not in Germany (yet). This is at a local Biergarten in Silverlake: The Red Lion. Although the name sounds more like an irish pub, they have really good authentic tasting german food. The inside is quite austere, but the outside space is perfect for summer evenings.

Apparently all the soccer/football craze turned this week into an culinary experience, because we watched the Spain-Chile game at Tinto in Hollywood, the day before heading to the the Red Lion. The food was pretty authentic, too. The gazpacho had been made by the owners mother, not the chef! Too bad that it was pretty pricey.

Hope you had a great start into the summer, too.

Have a great week, xx