.SOMETIMES RAW.

Hello and Happy Friday/Earth Day! 

Today is Earth Day. Facebook reminded me this morning while I enjoyed my cup of coffee. I think it is important to celebrate Earth Day every single day. Just simply cutting down on waste and learning about how to recycle and compost is important to me. I wrote not too long ago that I love to cook and I am amazed every single time about the amount of plastic and garbage I throw away afterwards. Have you heard about  this place in Berlin? Zero-waste is key! Check out their website.  What a great store concept, no? So in honor of Earth Day I try to be extra aware how I can create a healthier, happier place to live for me and my family. And if it is just for buying a coffee to- go without the plastic lid. This week went by so quickly again. Way too fast. This is what I have been up to if you would like to read. 

Reading: A lot. Actually, I found good book recommendations and literature blogs all over the place and my list of books-to-read grows and grows. I read Benedict Well’s book Vom Ende der Einsamkeit which kept me breathless several times. I have never heard of this amazing author before but a book that actually made me cry in the end is always worth recommending I think. Mr. Wells, I will read all your books for sure! Highly recommended! Next, I loved Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove. I actually won this book and a movie ticket at Riemann Bookstore.  Beautiful, simple story and a gem of a feel-good novel! To observe how Ove’s world full of sadness and anger changes over time is fantastic. I want more Fredrik Backman!  I read Blauschmuck by Katharina Winkler and this book made me uncomfortable. In a nutshell, it is about Filiz, a turkish woman, who suffers psychologically and physically the beatings of her husband Yunus. Blauschmuck (Blue Jewelry) describes the different blue-shades of bruises she has all over her body. And this is by far not the only pain she experiences. This is a book that cannot be reviewed so easily because the everything is based on a real story. I suffered with Filiz, it made me so angry, sad and helpless. Highly recommended, disturbing, thought-provoking but a book like this needs to be read.  I finished Wreck and Order by Hannah Tennent-Moore. Read the review here.  Currently, I am reading Jed Mc Kenna’s Spiritual Enlightenment -Book One. Review will follow.       

Watching: I went on a movie-date with my husband to see A Man Called Ove. The movie very accurate to the book’s content which made it so special. I only found the German trailer and don’t know if and when it will be released in the States. Soooorry! Or you learn Swedish. 

Learning/Discovering: I found this blog about a couple who travel the world, write about it while living mostly on raw food and back to nature. No shampoo, deodorant, shower gel but plain water. Check out their website. It is definitely worth it to get a bit of inspiration. Tie-Restaurant in Coburg. You like vegetarian/vegan food? Do check out this place! Also, it is National Letter Writing Month! Yaaaay. When I moved to Munich and later to New York I used to send my mom a letter at least every two weeks. It was a tradition that we somehow started. Also sending letters and postcards to my grandparents, sister and brother is just still a great thing I like to do. I used to have pen pals as well but for some reason, lack of time, smartphones, Skype, FaceTime and emails letter writing is not so much on my mind these days. I also remember writing consistently to my best friend Julia and attached a Simpsons Postcard. How awesome is this feeling when you open your mailbox [not on your phone or computer] and find a handwritten letter or postcard? I love it and I am great at writing letters. I decorate the outside and letter itself with stickers, paintings, add photos – it is so much fun! When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone? Do it TODAY. 🙂 

Loving: This t-shirt

Listening to: Nick Drake’s Album Pink Moon which is so beautiful. I love discovering new musicians and then be instantly hooked. Usually, I pick my favorite song of the album and listen to it on “repeat-one” for days until I am tired of it. Crazy, I know! For some reason I believe that this won’t happen with this song. What an amazing voice Mr. Drake! Makes me almost tear-up a bit. 

What are your plans for the weekend? What are your five things for the week? What are you up to? I would love to hear from you. Have a great weekend. 

Advance Reading Copy Disclosure:

Thanks to Blogging for Books and the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review. I have not heard about Hannah Tennant-Moore before but what drew my attention to this book the most was the cover and title. This does not affect my opinion of the content or the book in my review.

“I was not loved as a child and now I find it difficult to love others- how can I heal? I hate my job but I need the money – should I quit and live as a pauper? The monk answered them each the same way: Be earnest. If you want to be free, do not let anything stop you. Examine every thought, desire, sensation until you fully understand its source. Expect nothing from the world. Then you will naturally wake up to your true state. Remain open and quiet. That is all you can do.” 

This book is very raw and honest and about a young woman, Elsie, who is searching for a purpose in life. She also feels stuck in a weird and impulsive, abusive relationship with her boyfriend Jered. Her father helps her financially until she “finds what she is looking for” while she works at a newspaper for a while and makes a plethora of bad decisions mixed with alcohol and drugs. Then she meets Bryan. He seems perfect – no drugs and alcohol and no physical pain. However, she is not happy and this relationship seems not to be right either. She goes back to Jered. After a weird drug party she decides that there is only one possible solution at this point. A drastic change. She travels to Sri Lanka and Paris in search for a new way to live, new connections and friends and experience. Elsie is on a quest to figure out what she wants and most importantly who she is and come face-to-face with herself. 

She wants to be comfortable in her life, to not make these bad decisions anymore and most importantly think about these sexual cravings she has and needs to fulfill with Jared. There is quite some spirituality in this book but not as much as I hoped for. Also, the Elsie character bothers me at points. Her constant whining and going back and forth in this abusive relationship trying to make it work even though it seems all hopeless and self-destructive is annoying. The sexual descriptions are very graphic but not vulgar. But, if too many graphic details about violent sex offend – or make you uncomfortable, this is most certainly not your book to read. I guess since 50 Shades of Grey sex sells. Sometimes I had the feeling of reading a memoir because the descriptions of places in Sri Lanka were so real and accurate. You will get a  pretty good idea on how people in Sri Lanka live as well as their culture and lifestyle. 

“I need to reconcile my ideals with my personality,” Elsie stated and wanted to help a woman she befriended in Sri Lanka. Her desire to do good and make some changes is definitely something I enjoyed reading about. Elsie’s character is very realistic and I loved to find out about this little barrier a person may created between actions and thoughts. 

Order your copy here. 

Hello and Happy Saturday! 

A couple of days ago my husband and I decided to surprise my brother at the Spartan Race. So we just woke up early this morning, had a quick breakfast and hit the road. Could there be anything more fun than just being in the moment and doing what you really feel like? My parents told me to leave our son at home with them for the day which was awesome. So mini-solo-roadtrip it is! Spontaneity is awesome! I took two books with me and actually finished Blauschmuck by Katharina Winkler on the way to Munich. [Book review will follow] 

I think it is important to create great memories and to see my brother at the “start line” and knowing that he totally did not expect us was priceless and made me feel so good. I also realized that he is doing his thing, that he is grown-up but will always remain my little brother. It is weird sometimes to think about him being older than he is now. Or thinking about what he did throughout the years at every stage. And then he hopped to the next stage, and the next and time flew by. He grew up so quickly and is doing his own thing. It is just crazy how fast it all goes – especially if I just saw him next to me in my parent’s sand box when he was so little. When people told me time goes by so quickly I never believed it. I just thought; “yeah, well, time is time and whatever.” I would then smile politely and never really thought about it anymore. When I saw my brother today, a grown man, I realized again that everything changes too quickly.  That one hour, one day means nothing. It seems all double-or triple speed and this pace only quickens. 

I savor all the memories I had when I was a child. I have so many pictures and when looking at them I am trying to stamp them onto my memory again – hopefully permanently. 

I feel so lucky that my brother is not just my brother… he is also a really good friend! He has seen me go through so many stages of my life and I just feel we have this special bond. We grew up together so he has seen what I have seen and we had the same experiences in a way as kids. He has been with me, side-by-side through the corn fields and building forts. He just knows me really well at this point and also understands me. I saw his eyes lit up when my husband and I arrived fifteen minutes before the start and this was simply amazing. So much love and happiness. 

I am just thankful for it all. A ray of Sunshine.