Best egg tree ever

I was looking up some info on Easter egg trees and I came across one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life here:  http://whatthecool.com/post/3485347978/easter-egg-tree-in-germany/

It's an article about an actual tree that a family in Germany decorates at Easter time with almost 10,000 handpainted eggs!  We've always had an Easter egg "tree" at home, but it's some pussy willow branches with out handpainted eggs on them.  My mom's are always the best, but my art skills have definitely improved from the ones I did at age 5.  I need to figure out what to paint this year.  It's like a Christmas ornament, but for Easter, and more personal because it's handmade by us.  I'm excited with the anticipation!

Here's some of the pictures from the giant, insanely impressive German Easter egg tree:

Musik Monday - Glücklich

I've decided to try to force some consistency on this blog, so I'm going to do a Musik Monday (or Music Montag).  I'll put up something to do with music weekly on mondays, maybe just a song or something about an artist or band.  Music has been such an important part of my life and it's something that transcends all cultures and lifestyles.  What better for a blog that celebrates my cultures?


I have a big entry involving country music planned, but I want to do it justice, so I'll hold off for a week or two.


For today, I wanted to share a song by Farin Urlaub named "Glücklich".  I love him and all the members of Die Ärzte.  I actually found a band poster while I was studying abroad in Heidelberg and brought it home.  It's not horribly classy, but it's a centerpiece in my apartment, right above my tv.  What better way to decorate than those 3 talented men?  


We learned this song one of my years at Waldsee German Camp.  Some of the words were changed (The dominatrix line was changed to "Bist du Bürgermeister oder liefest du das Brot"), but the message made clear in the refrain stayed the same:
It doesn't matter what you are as long as you're happy.

St. Patty's Nails

I may be the crafty German, but I've got a little Irish blood in me. So, I have to have a little green for Saint Patrick's Day. I have a shamrock covered scarf in my hair, but that's not enough. So, after several attempts, I came up with some Saint Patrick's Day nails.

They're not perfect or up to my standards really, but I'm still pretty happy with them. I intended to have the design on the thumbs on all the fingers except the ring finger, but when the clovers started looking like hemp leaves, I just painted the whole nails dark green. So, 3 fingers green, ring gold, and shamrocks on the thumbs.
For colors, I used

• N.Y.C. "French White Tip"
• N.Y.C. in a New York Color Minute Quick dry "Flat Iron Green"
• Claire's "14 Karats"

Again, not my best work, but I'm overall satisfied with the end product - I got a couple of compliments so that's some nice reassurance.

Left hand

Pi Day 2012!

It's Pi Day!  Almost the ides of March, but even better.


Some not-so-nerdy people may not get it.  March 14 is also 3/14 or 3.14, which equals Pi (π).  So, some of us geekier people find it important and necessary to celebrate the day.  Tonight, I'm "baking" a pie for Pi Day!  I'd have done it earlier, but I was too lazy to get ingredients and then was at a basketball game until tonight.


I ended up making a pie out of my Costco cookbook called "Chocolate Peanut Butter Mouse Pie" by Eagle Brand/Jif.  It uses a premade graham cracker crust, which made my life easier since I have no pie pan.  There's a layer of sweetened condensed milk/melted semisweet chocolate chip mixture over the bottom of the pie crust.  On top of that is a layer of:

Captain Planet, Held der Erde

One of my favorite pastimes is being nostalgic and watching intros from 80's & 90's cartoons.  I think it's something that makes almost everyone from my generation happy.  I was doing just that the other day when I came across one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life:



Yes, that is Captain Planet in German!  I am making a late new year's resolution to learn this entire thing (at least the song part) by memory before the end of the year.  I've already had the American one memorized since I was a kid and this show was still on the air.  It's awesome that even though there are slight differences, the German version is essentially the same.
So, remember...Ihr habt die Macht!

Rummelpott

This post is quite late considering New Years was a while ago, but I still wanted to share my awesome German New Year's experience with the blogging world.

My parents were kind enough to bring me to Germany during my winter break so that I could see family and enjoy Berlin once again.  My family on my mom's side lives in the very north of Germany in Schleswig-Holstein.  They're either on the North Sea coast on the mainland or on the Island Föhr, which is part of the Frieisan Islands in the North Sea off the coast of Denmark.  The island itself has actually changed ownership between Germany and Denmark several times.  I'm not intending to give a history lesson though (at least not now).


So, I got to spend New Year's with my family and enjoy the North German tradition I've never experienced before!


Here's some of what I saw leading up to New Year's:

Clover plants with different lucky symbols such as chimney sweeps, pigs, mushrooms, and more

Leftovers from Christmas, but who can resist a picture of Santa in a Captain Morgan pose?

Cocktails!  All along the Main street there were booths with drinks.  They're set up at least a week before New Years.  A bunch of them are given awesome regional names.  I went for the Foehrer Fischer Punch and my mom got the Wyker Wahnsinn...hers was better than mine, but both tasty!

A very geeky Christmas

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I've got an amazing boyfriend.  We decided to not spend much on gifts this year and he still found me the perfect present.  He got me the Planet Express shirt (Futurama) from thinkgeek.com!!  First of all, favorite show.  Secondly, one of my favorite websites.  Thirdly, I've been wanting this shirt since I first saw it years ago, but they never had it available.  Amazing.

I took a picture with my Halloween craft, Nibbler.  I was Leela for Halloween and needed a Nibbler with me to complete the costume.  Thinkgeek has the most adorable Nibbler stuffed animal, but they were out of stock and I needed something that week, so I decided to make my own.  After a failed attempt, I saw a craft kit for a big spider and bought some white, black, yellow, red, and peach felt.  Lots of cutting and scraps later, I ended up with something I was super proud of.  I'll post more of my Leela costume another time.  Until then, enjoy my awesome Christmas present with my awesome homemade Nibbler:

I kind of forgot the whole backwards text in the mirror thing