It is already December and the Christmas Markets are open. This year I went to the one in Nurnberg, Frankfurt, Heilbronn and Dresden! I met many friends that I haven't seen in a while, drunk mulled wine and had a good time! The good thing: I noticed, that the price for the mulled wine is the same everywhere! But the so-called Stollen is very different: in Frankfurt they sell the imported Stollen of Dresden, because they don't make any Frankfurt Stollen. In Nurnberg I tried a Baileys-Cherry-Stollen which turned out really dry but in Dresden the chocolate-Stollen was very yummy! Only the weather was not Christmas Market alike. We had + temperatures and no snow! Well let's hope the winter is waiting until I'm home for Christmas. This year I'm going home on December 24 and returning to work on the 27th. It's going to be a short Christmas break but we have so much to do at work, I can't miss it. New Year's Eve I'll spend with my boyfriend, only the two of us, no parties, no friends! And since I'm working I will be glad to have some quite time. Alright so check out the pictures of the Christmas Market in Dresden and the pictures of the Christmas Get Together in Frankfurt.
The German Equity Forum takes place once a year and on the second day the panel participants and visitors are gethering together to get to know each other and to have a nice evening. This time the Get Together took place at the palais in Frankfurt, a new location situated at the Hauptwache. I really looked forward to that evening, because I would meet my friends from work again. At the entrance everybody was welcomed with champagne and when I walked downstairs to the huge hall I was overwhelmed! It looked very fancy! A bar and a stage in the middle, on one side a buffet with yummy food and on the upper right and left side seperate balconies with bars. Five minutes after 7 the location was already packed! I looked around for my collegues and was glad when I found my russian friends Vitali, Katja and Polina. A little later the others arrived and we started to drink and eat! Around 8 pm our boss welcomed everyone and the band began to play. The atmosphere this evening was great! We talked, we danced, we drunk - all in all an awesome night! Pictures!
Every year our Aupair Reunion gets bigger: with Aga, Elli, Stefanie and Me there are now three kids: Antonia (Stefanie's daughter) and Aga's two sons Sebastian and Noah! Noah was born in May 2011 and it was time to get to know him. We chose a weekend after Aga's 29th Birthday and went on the long way to Belgium. On Friday morning Stefanie, Antonia and Elli flew from Berlin to Bruxelles and I took the train from Frankfurt. The girls picked me up with a rental car in Gent and we got to Aga's after noon. It was great to see them all again: Sebastian is a big boy now, running and chasing around the house. The little one, Noah, is very calm and wants to explore everything. Even the dogs Happy and Maggies were happy to see us, because we brought goodies! We didn't do much on Friday, since we were all exhausted from the long trip. Saturday we went to a HUGE park only 5 minutes away from Zelzate. Actually it was about 20 minutes away, but Aga said it is supposed to be 5! Anyway they had playgrounds there for all ages, a flower park with fountains and even a zoo with animals. And everything was for free! The kids really liked it and we liked it too. I'm glad we had such a great sunny November weather! On the way back home we stopped at Aldi to get some groceries and Gluhwein! Stefanie cooked rice, salmon and spinach for dinner and afterwards we watched a movie. Guess which movie we watched? Yes, � Love Actually! I don't even know how many times we already watched it but it is fun to synchronize the actors. On Sunday we slept in and decided to visit Brugge before going home. Stefanie and Antonia never been to Brugge and I just love the city so much, I didn't mind to visit it again! The historical old town and the cute little houses are so beautiful! Words can't describe the feeling of being there. Of course we had waffles and chocolate, it is a MUST when you visit Belgium. Thanks girls for a great weekend!! Pictures!
It's hard to find words for the best day of the last 14 years being a proud Hanson fan! Finally it was my turn to meet the guys in person. Via the hanson.net fanclub I won a Meet'n'Greet during their Shout it Out Europe tour. Hanson planed two concerts in Germany, one in Cologne and one in Stuttgart. Unfortunately I was only able to go to one concert and Stuttgart suited me alot better. So on Tuesday after work I took the train from Frankfurt to Stuttgart and arrived around 5 p.m. The club "Die Röhre" where they were playing was only walking distance from the main station. The club was strange, no lights were on outside and it was very hard to find it. Fortunately some fans were walking infront of me, so I only needed to follow them. At the club there were only about 20 fans waiting. I asked around for Mona, Natalie and the rest of the girls I met online in the hanson.net forum and founded them very quickly. There were also two girls from Finland and one girl from Australia! Dezzie, the australian girl already met Hanson on the plane to Stuttgart on Monday, and two German girls met them in Stuttgart while Hanson were sight-seeing.. so lucky girls!! We waited and waited for the doors to open and after a man delivered pizza, the M&G winners were finally allowed in. The manager of Hanson checked our ID's and said we should form two groups of 7 people each. Me, Mona and Natalie were in the first group and got our present out for Hanson: a box filled with german sweets! When the manager opened the door to the concert hall we saw Hanson waiting infront of the stage. The 7 of us walked very slowly towards the stage but the guys smiled and welcomed us warmly. We all got our stuff signed (but Taylor wrote my name with a G instead of J), had a little chat and Sylvie our reporter took a group-photo! I don't exactly know how long the M&G lasted, time passed sooo fast but it was an overwhelming feeling, that I cannot really describe. On the one hand it felt really good on the other hand it was weird to know everything about them but not to know how they are in real. Since I know everything about Hanson from the internet and magazines, I was not able to ask them any Hanson related question. I had a little chat with Zac about their trip to Europe, how they liked Stuttgart and the Christmas market etc. But when it was time to leave the hall, Taylor gave me a good-bye hug and a dream came true!! After the second group had their M&G, the 14 of us had to stay outside the hall but fortunately were not sent outside the club again! I bought a DVD and a keychain at the little store, some other girls went to the restroom and about 10 minutes later we were allowed back in. Of course the 14 of us were all in the first row!! Only seconds later the other fans joined us. Me and the girls were standing on the right side of the stage to have a perfect view on Taylor. Isaac was situated in the middle and Zac on the left side. The stage was so small, it would have only taken me a foot to stand right next to Taylor. The whole concert was more like a private concert with only 50 people but we had so much fun singing and dancing along! They played new songs of the Shout it Out album but also old songs, such as MMMBop, Penny and Me and Deeper! Unfortunately I had to leave the concert at 10.45 p.m. to catch the last train back to Frankfurt, so I missed about 8 other songs! I got me the Shout it Out World tour poster and ran to the train station! I was so messed up, that I first ran into the wrong direction but fortunately noticed it! On the train back to Frankfurt I wasn't able to do anything, I still felt overwhelmed and happy! Happy to finally have met them in person and to realize a dream came true.. Pictures!
My summer vacation this year were very adventurous: I did something, I have never done before: I went sailing! Franzi and Ralf invited me to join them on a two weeks sailing trip to Greece. Along came seven friends of Ralf, so we were 10 people. Our goal was to sail around the Cyclades islands. The crew met at Athens Airport on September 24. I already arrived the night before because I booked a cheap flight from Frankfurt to Athens with Lufthansa. Stayed at the Airport hotel for one night and got ready to welcome the crew. But the rest of the crew arrived very late. Their Aeagean flight from Berlin was 6 hours late! And you can imagine, after six hours I knew the Airport like my own pocket! After they finally arrived, an old guy named Giannes picked us up with a little bus. He gave us a 40 km ride to the Athens harbor, it was already 7.30 pm when we got there and we had another 30 minutes to get something to eat from the supermarket. So the half of the crew run to the super market and the other half checked out the sailing boat called ANNA. Anna was 15 meters long, had 6 cabins, 4 restrooms, 1 living room and 1 kitchen. I shared a cabin with Maria, who was my age and already had sailing experiences. Together we had a restroom for ourselves! Franzi and Ralf had the cabin next to us, also with an own restroom, the other 7 guys shared one restroom! The cabin was tiny, with only one bed and one wardrobe. We unpacked and went out for dinner at a restaurant nearby, which didn't serve greek food!
Serifos
The second day we woke up around 8 am and our cook Seppel prepared breakfast. At 10 am the rental guy arrived and explained everything to our skipper Martin. And we had luck, the rental guy knew the guy from the super market, so we were able to go groceries shopping on a Sunday. Then finally we left the harbor and sailed along the Athens mainland. Everybody was brave and no one threw up! The second night we anchored in a creek with an amazing view on a greek Acropolis. But the night was kind of stormy and the boat rocked! We got up early the third day because we had plans: The first island we wanted to reach was called Serifos, which was 12 hours away from the mainland. The trip was long, very long and we had wind force 8 the whole day! Of course we got all wet from big waves and of course the first guy threw up! It was Ralf's brother Jenser, who couldn't resist after a 5 min break under deck. Never go under deck when you are sailing, that' what I learned first! Because under deck the boat is so rocking that you cannot walk and you get bruises everywhere. Finally we reached Serifos, but it was already dark outside, so we were not able to reach the harbor. We anchored again in a greek and had Curry sausages with potatoes for dinner. The fourth day we stayed in the greek near Serifos and were worried about the weather forecast. The wind was about to increase the next days and we did not know where to sail next. Our skipper Martin announced the next goal at dinner: Mykonos! Another 12 hours away from Serifos, so we got to bed early and catched some sleep.
Syros
At 4 am the next day we left Serifos and we were all kinda worried about the wind! Because our boat was only insured up to wind force 6 and the forecast announced up to wind force 9 that day. The waves were about 10 meters high and I felt sea-sick after a short break under deck. So I threw up and right after me, Henne threw up! After a second and a third time of throwing up I decided to go under deck again to lay down! But I was not able to sleep, the waves whipped against the boat and it was very loud. I just hoped we would arrive soon and the awful trip would be over! Then I needed to go to the restroom and there it happened, I threw up, again! Finally the boat became slower and I got on deck. But we didn't arrive at Mykonos, we landed at Syros. The reason: Our sail broke and we were not able to sail any further. Finally in Syros we were able to go on land and it felt weird to walk again! While the guys tried to take of the sail, me and Franzi checked out the nearby bars and treated us to drink a milk shake. Martin called our rental guy and told him that our sail broke and that we need it to be fixed. The rental guy was really nice and promised to send over somebody. Ten minutes later two guys arrived to pick up our broken sail, they would fix it until the next day. At the harbor we filled our water tanks and charged our batteries. We were finally able to shower the first time since we left Athens! For dinner we went out and had greek food! But I was kinda disappointed because the Tzaziki didn't taste like Tzaziki. Oh well!
Mykonos
The next day we waited and waited for our sail but the guys didn't show up. So me, Franzi and Maria decided to check out the island. Syros is the capital island of the Cyclades, with many churches, restaurants, shops and a huge harbor. We went souvenir-shopping, had ice-cream and were just happy to walk on land. When we came back to the boat, the guys just brought the fixed sail and Martin decided to leave Syros to get the sail back on. We anchored in a greek 5 nautical miles away and had yummy fish and cous cous for dinner. We stayed there overnight and got the sail ready for our next goal: Mykonos. The island was only 10 miles away, so we got there in the afternoon. Mykonos is also known as gay-island and of course we saw gays! We anchored in a hotel bay and with our binoculars we saw gay people playing volley-ball. For dinner we had Spaghetti Bolognese and greek Samos wine; the boys had greek Mythos beer and Ouzo!
Fournoi
On October 1st we left Mykonos in the morning to sail to Fournoi. This island is the closest to the Turkish mainland and about 12 hours away. The weather was still stormy but nobody threw up. When we finally got to Fournoi, we had trouble finding the greek we wanted to anchor. Although the moon was up, we almost did not see a rock tower up in the ocean but fortunately we did not hit him. The greek was surrounded by high rocks that formed an U. Our GPS gave us wrong details, so we anchored by flashlights and eyes. The night was the calmest of all and we all had a good night sleep. The next day we stayed in the greek and I finally went swimming. The water was refreshing but very salty! Our water tanks were empty again, so we needed to refill them soon. We sailed to Fournoi harbor but the harbor was crowded with fishing boats. Only one spot was empty, we tried several times to get the boat on land and finally did it! But a guy came over and told us, that this spot is reserved for the fairy and we had to move. While the boys moved the boat, me and the girls checked out the little island! No tourists, a few restaurants and a few shops. We walked up a hill and took amazing pictures of the harbor, the ocean and the island. For dinner we stopped at a restaurant and of course we were the only guests. The old lady was not able to speak either English or German. She described us the food with hands. We ordered everything she offered and it tasted delicious! We asked her English-speaking grand-daughter where to get water from and she offered us to help out. The next day a fire engine stopped in front of our boat and refilled our tanks for free! 300 liters for free! We were so happy and I was happy to shower for the second time!
Tinos and Kea
In the afternoon we left Fournoi and anchored in a greek nearby to get ready for a night-sailing-trip. The wind was supposed to decrease and we needed to get back to Athens, since we were already in our second week. After a fish-dinner we sailed away in the night. I tried to stay on deck as long as possible but after the moon set I went to bed. Seppel and Henne joined me and the rest of the crew stayed awake until the morning. It was hard to catch some sleep because of the waves bumping against the boat and I was afraid the people on deck wouldn't see a rock but we made it all the way to Tinos! After a quick breakfast, Henne, Seppel and Me started to tan a little and the rest went downstairs to sleep. Martin was the first to awake around noon and decided to sail right on another 4,5 hours to the island Kea, because Kea was only 70 nautical miles away from Athens mainland. When we got to Kea we met some other sailing boats and were able to get new food! We didn't go sight-seeing but I and the girls found shells!
Back to Athens
On October 5 we made it all the way up to the Athens mainland and anchored in a large bay. We had chicken and cous cous for dinner when I received a text message from my boyfriend. On that Wednesday a bomb threat arrived at my work. The german stock exchange had to be evacuated and the trading was stopped for over half an hour. I was more than shocked when I got the message from my colleague that our new intern picked up the phone in our office. Poor guy it was only his second day as intern! That day I felt a little work-sick but we had another three days until our vacation was over. On Thursday we had no wind, so we decided to practise some maneuvers.
Sight-Seeing in Athens
The last miles to the Athens harbor we covered on Friday morning and can you imagine we saw a real dolphin!!! First we thought Martin was kidding, when he told us he saw one but a little later I saw the dolphin too, so cool! When we got to the harbor, the rental guy already waited and helped us with the boat. Some of the crew wanted to spend the rest of the Friday in Athens, so Martin, Seppel and Henne stayed at the boat and the others went sight-seeing. We took the tram to the Acropolis and took lots of photos. I didn't like the Acropolis; it was more like a huge building site with thousands of tourists. In the evening we cleaned the boat and got rid of our garbage. We took a last shower and I guess it was only me who went to bed early. The rest of the crew partied all night long and only catched 2 hours of sleep.
On Saturday, October 8 we got picked up at 6.30 am and the rental guy gave us a ride to the Airport. Our plane departed at 8.30 and after 3 hours we were back in Germany. I flew with them to Berlin because I wanted to stay at my Aupair friend Stefanie's until Sunday. Back in Germany I can say that I would never go sailing again for two weeks, with wind forces up to 9! It was a totally new experience and I'm so glad we all got home safely. Thanks to Martin, Henne, Seppel, Bastl, Jenser, Micha, Ralf, Franzi and Maria for the great vacation!
My cousin Stefanie never been to Frankfurt, that's why I invited her for a weekend at my place! I took Friday off and picked her up from the train station in the morning! I showed her the whole city, we went up the Heleba tower, visited the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, went shopping and of course had original Frankfurt apple-wine and Grune Sosse! We had a blast! Here are some pictures!
Our city tour took us to Switzerland: Zurich as largest city is located in central Switzerland. Lake Zurich tips the city in the northwestern part, the river Limmat devides the city. From Frankfurt we took the ICE train to Zurich, where we arrived after four hours. At the central station we changed Euro money in Swiss franc and bought a 1-day travelpass for public transport. The tram took us to our hotel: Four Points by Sheraton at Sihlcity. We checked in at noon and really liked our Superior Room. It had an extra large shower and bed, air-conditioning and of course flat-screen TV. Friday afternoon we walked through the city, stopped for at Sprüngli, the best confisierie in Europe and had very expensive home-made ice-cream! My Banana split was 15 CHF but tasted delicious!! We also went on a boat-trip on lake Zurich for 1,5 hours. The swiss scenery is very beautiful and romantic, from everywhere you can see the snow-covered Alps! It was so warm that we actually wanted to go for a swim! But we had no time, we wanted to see all of Zurich.
Saturday we got up early, bought 1-day travel passes again and took the tram No. 6 up the Zurich hill to the Zoo. The Zoo wasn't crowded at all, we did not see alot of kids but alot of animals. The Masoala Rainforest was one highlight of the Zoo, but unfortunately we were not able to stay there long, it was so hot and humid that we were glad to get out of there. For lunch we had Bratwurst and Bürli, Bürli is the name of a special bun. We paid 6.50 CHF each, again expensive, but it seemed like everything is expensive in Zurich! After the Zoo we visited the headquarter of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) and took the bus to Rigiblick. With the Rigiblick cable-car we went down the Zurich hill and at the station we finally found a super market!! Thanks god! We bought cheap water, ice-cream and sweets and really enjoyed that Zurich can also be "normal". But you cannot imagine what we paid for our dinner at an Italian Restaurant. We only ate two pizza, antipasti and tiramisu and it was 90 CHF!!! AHHHH!! That was the only time, we went for dinner in Zurich!
We had the whole Sunday for another sight-seeing tour. This time we checked out everything on the right side of the Limmat. We went up the Grossmunster tower and had a beautiful view on the City and the lake! We saw the houses where Lenin and Buchner lived, the Zwingli Memorial and before we went to the train station to catch our train, we had Zurich sausages! But they weren't that good!
Pictures!
Pictures are coming soon!
In the last month I finished two Acryl paintings! One is hanging at my boyfriend's and the other one in Franzi and Ralf's living room. Me and Franzi had alot of fun last weekend, because we also finished a wand-tattoo-painting for their bedroom. Of course we documented the process. Pictures!
A legend! The goal: Racing 24 hours through the Grüne Hölle. My boyfriend booked a mansion in Adenau with 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, sauna, huge living room with terrace! It was awesome! Better than the camping area next to the race course! We arrived on Thursday evening, unpacked our stuff and prepared everything for the BBQ party! After the guys arrived, Frank's family and friends came over to our mansion and we started our BBQ and planned the upcoming days. Friday we went to the Drift Challenge! It was really awesome to see the cars drifting. The only bad thing: it started to rain and didn't stop until Sunday! Saturday was the big day! The start of the 24-Hour Race! We watched the start and then walked around the racing course for about 5 hours! I was so glad we finally got to the entertainment area! The guys could visit the pit lane and we could eat and drink something! The entertainment area was supposed to have a rollercoaster, but they didn't finish the rollercoaster. Too bad! Me and Ramona were already tired from walking, that we decided to take the bus back to Adenau and the guys walked further around the racing course. Exhausted from the day we went straight to bed because on Sunday we wanted to see the finish! Pictures!
After the wellness weekend I checked my e-mail and got news from Aga! Her second son, Noah, was born May 12 and she sent me baby pictures! I'm very happy for her, Alex and for Sebastian, who now got a younger brother! Congratulations! I need to plan another trip to Belgium to see Noah! Maybe I can figure out a date with Elli. I'm going to see her this weekend, since her boyfriend is celebrating his 30th Birthday in Leipzig and I'm invited!
I really looked forward to a relaxing weekend with my boyfriend in a nice hotel, with pool, candle light dinners and good massages! And I got the relaxing weekend but without a good massage: We both took Friday off and met in Speyer. From Speyer we drove another hour to our destination: Dahn. Since the check-in wasn't due to 2 p.m. we stopped in a so-called shoe-city. In the internet I read that Hauenstein, the town was known of 100 shoe shops. Of course I brought a big suitcase to carry all my new shoes! But guess what? I only found one pair of sandals. It was very frustrating, because there weren't 100 shoe shops, only about 20 and in those shops you could only buy granny-shoes! Perfect start in a nice weekend I thought! So I had to buy this one pair of white sandals that go along my dinner-dress. The sneakers I brought were a no-go! After that frustrating shoe-shopping we were off to check into our hotel. A young lady welcomed us at the garage already and showed us our parking spot. After that she carried our luggage into the hotel lobby and we were pleased to take a seat and fill out a form. We got a welcome-drink and needed to wait in the check-in area until 2 p.m. because it was only 1.50 p.m! Gosh! Exactly at 2 p.m. we were allowed into our hotel-room, which was very comfy. A big single room with balcony, chill-out area, king-size bed, bathroom with shower and seperate toilet-room. We booked a modern-style room, since we could choose between diffrent theme-rooms. They also had landstyle-rooms for oldies, 60-style, and some more. In our wellness-package included were free coffee'n'cake breaks, two candle-light dinners, two breakfasts, two back-massages and one milk-bath. We unpacked and went straight for coffee'n'cake. They got plenty of cakes to choose from and we ate and ate until we were stuffed. Afterwards we decided to check out the nearby so-called Teufelstisch. Thats's a huge rock that has a table on top. It looked awesome and they also had an entertainment-park for kids there, with 60m slide and miniture-golf. After hiking up the hill to the Teufelstisch we took the slide back down. We got very fast on the slide and landed in the hot sand. Dinner was made for us between 6 and 8 p.m. so we had to drive back to the hotel. Our 5 courses were delicious and we had a wonderful table situated next to the pond. We slept really well in our king-size bed and unfortunately had to get up early on Saturday. Breakfast was between 8 and 10, and we both had our massages at 10 a.m. I really looked forward to the massage but it was a disaster. The girl who massaged me had no experiences at all and I felt nothing! She just spread out the massage oil and massaged with her finger tips. After 20 minutes she was done but my boyfriend was pleased to massage me further. And he did better than that girl! Never got such a bad massage! In the afternoon we walked to the Dahn-castles. From there we had a beautiful view on the scenery and the town. But see yourself: Pictures!
An annual city event is the Museum's Night in Frankfurt. Last year I went there with Nadja and this year again. Our boyfriends came along! We started off with a BBQ party at my apartment and at 7 p.m. left to the first museum: Classic-City, an automobile museum with new and old cars. A band played, we got free champagne and our boys loved the cars. Unfortunately there was no Isetta car shown! For all people, who do not know what an Isetta car looks like, I got a picture! Our next stop was the town hall at the Romer. I always wondered what the inside looks like, but I was really shocked. The town hall was in a 60th style with king-paintings, one king named like the other. Not a nice place to marry, and I see a lot of couples getting married there when I pass the town hall. Another "highlight" was the museum of ??? on the opposite of the town hall. It is supposed to close soon, so there was nothing to see, but you could leave your name on the wall or even get a piece of a wall for free. After midnight we visited the museum of communication and the boys really liked the old cell phones and computers that were shown. It is funny, I still remember my first cell phone and it was huge! I think I still have it somewhere. Maybe I should keep it for my children. God knows, what the future in communication will bring. Pictures!
I spent Easter at home with my family. Me, Josi, Tobi and Christian went by car and arrived in Dresden very late on Easter Thursday. But that was normal since the autobahn was packed with cars, all driving from western Germany to eastern Germany. Guess it took us about 6 hours and we were so pissed that a stau appeared out of nowhere 10 km before our exit in Dresden. My grandmom already awaited me and was still awake when I arrived after 1 a.m. That's so sweet of her! Saturday Morning I met up with Nadine and Nicole for brunch at Espitas. Nadine is now living in Hamburg and is studying for her Public Relation Master. I really need to visit her soon, maybe I got some time when I'm there for the Borsentag in November. In the afternoon me and my Grandmom took a long walk in the Grosser Garten, had coffee'n'cake at Carolaschhlosschen and took a ride on the Parkeisenbahn. We both enjoyed the afternoon! Saturday Morning my Mom picked me up at 7 a.m. after her night-shift and we went home to Glashutte. Mom went straight to bed and I took another nap until 11. It was such a nice weather that I decided to do my tax outside in the sun. I finally made it and was done until she got up. Together we made potatoe salad for the BBQ on Sunday and colored Easter Eggs. They looked great this Easter and were ready for hiding. In the evening I met up with Anja, Enrico, Josi and Christian for the fair fest. The fair was really silly and there was absolutely nothing going on. That's why we went for a drink in the Neustadt at BBC! I never noticed that they sell cheap cocktails there. I only paid 3,50 Euro for a cocktail, that normally is 8 Euro! Easter Sunday the rest of the family, including my boyfriend arrived. We hided our colorful easter eggs in the backyard and everybody needed to find them. But guess at the end two eggs were still missing and were never found. The BBQ we had for dinner was delicious, steaks, sausages, green salad and homemade potatoe salad. All in all I enjoyed Easter but had to be back in Frankfurt on Monday for work already. My boyfriend was lucky and took the rest of the week off! Pictures!
I went to Dresden on Friday after the IPO and arrived in the afternoon. Checked in at my Grandmom's and met up with Susi and Bine in the evening. Bine got some good news to share with us: she is expecting a baby in November! So, Baby-party is already planned! On Saturday I went to a moving-in-party since Franzi and Ralf moved to a new apartment in January! Perfect time to celebrate because it was also Franzi's 27th Birthday two weeks ago. Their new apartment is perfect situated: close to our favorite mexican restaurant and to the Großer Garten, for skating and running. They invited alot of friends, about 30 people and luckily they had enough room for all of them: kitchen, living room and kids room were packed! I helped them a little in the kitchen: mixed and served drinks, provided food and took pictures. Ralf and some friends opened a BBQ infront of the house and we had Bratwursts and Steaks for dinner! Yum! The funny thing about the new apartment is, that they are living wall on wall with friends. Over the balcony, they can go to the other apartment, if somebody is home. The friends next door also had a Birthday party going on that night and we had fun checking out drinks, food and friends. Thankfully on Sunday morning Franzi and Ralf invited me for brunch at our mexican restaurant, which finally reopened, after a fire in winter. We were so stuffed afterwards that we took a walk thru the Grosser Garten and finished the Sunday with a yummy soft ice-cream, flavoured vanilla-plum. Pictures!
We were invited to Frank's 40th Birthday in Adenau. I took the Friday off and my boyfriend picked me up in Frankfurt at 10 a.m. After a quick shopping-stop at Main-Taunus-Center we drove to Adenau. The plan was to be there by coffee time so we stopped in the middle of nowhere to have lunch - very expensive lunch! The sea-hotel looked nice from the outside but the inside was really crappy. But we were hungry so we took a seat and were welcomed by a nice waitress, who spoke the same slang as us. She was originally from Freiberg and worked at that hotel for 9 years now. Planned to go back to Saxony in the summer. The meal was really expensive: I had a steak for 25 Euro!! So all in all we spent about 50 Euro for lunch at a crappy sea-hotel. Actually they were able to afford new interiors with the prices they take and we wondered where our money went to. Anway, after lunch we drove further to Adenau and checked into our hotel. The same hotel we booked when we were in Adenau for Frank and Ramona's wedding. We got a different room this time, smaller and situated to the other side. Unpacked a little and took a quick afternoon nap before we were invited for dinner at Frank's. They prepared sandwiches for us and Ramona's family and we had a nice evening before the big birthday party. I couldn't wait until the next day, because I just love Birthday partys! The plan was to visit a grandprix event at the Nürburgring in the morning and be back for coffee and cake in the afternoon. What I didn't know was, that we were going to walk around the Nürburgring while the event. It started smooth but after 2 hours, I felt already sore, my legs were tired and I was tired too, because the sun was shining really badly. But we walked further and no end in sight. Finally at around 3 p.m. we got picked up by car and drove back. We took a quick shower and then it was already coffee time. But the coffee didn't help much, I was sooo tired! The party started and I already wished it was over. I was absolutely not in a party mood, I just wanted to sleep and relax. But we were here for the birthday party, so we stayed. Weirdly nobody else felt like me, my boyfriend wasn't that sore from walking and the others neither. Well seemed like I was absolutely not in shape! Although the gym is my second home! I survived until midnight and finally at 1 a.m. we quit. I slept like in heaven but the next morning was awful: my legs were still sore, I hardly got up and walking steps were horror! My boyfriend felt the same way, fortunately! Plus he got a really nice sunburn on his face. On Sunday around noon we checked out, had lunch at Frank's again and in the afternoon we went back home. Nice sore weekend but I got some cool Pictures!
It was time for another Get Together of our Issuer-Interns and -Students. I booked a table at a apple-wine restaurant called "Apfelwein-DAX". Perfect location since we work and worked at the Stock Exchange. From the ex-students Maria, Steven, Alexander, Stefan, Solvegj, Jan, Claudia, Matthias came. And the current students/interns Ioana, Jan, sina, Stefan, Jakob, Lille and ... The old lady that served us, was kinda annoyed of us, but who cares. We spent a nice evening all together and shared job-news. Got some pictures!
It was definitely time for a girls night out in Dresden! Iwona organized the night and it was awesome! The 10 of us girls met at 7 pm to have dinner at Maredo, a spanish restaurant in the inner city of Dresden. I had steaks, YAY! Cannot get enough of steaks, I tell you. After dinner we went by car to Carte Blanche, a travesty theater. It was my first time there and the stage was very tiny, actually the whole room was tiny, and we got a table in the first row! Thanks God, I was not sitting infront of the stage, because Sara, the girl who did, had to do some weird kinky stuff infront of everybody! The travesty artists were dressed really fancy and glamorous and did look like ladys! The show was awesome and at the end, the artists cleaned their faces and we could all see that they were normal guys! The show was over after midnight but that wasn't the end of our night! After the show we went dancing at a new club called "Musikpark". It opened some months ago and looks like the old dancing-club DAFA, where me and the girls used to go. The surprise of the night was that we met a guy from our DAFA-times: Mike! And Mike even looked the same, of course I got some pictures taken of our night out: Pictures! and Partypics!
Next in the row of birthdays was my cousin Stefanie. I missed her birthday party but went over to Thalheim on the first March weekend. Besides my cousins birthday it was my Aunt's Birthday as well! Auntie threw the first BBQ in 2011 and I loved the steaks and garlic sauce coming along. What can I say, I just love BBQ's and I promised myself to attend more BBQ's this year. I even have an electronic BBQ in Frankfurt, so I can throw a BBQ party at my new living room, which has a balcony! And the balcony at my boyfriend's is even bigger! Franzi already invited me to her BBQ-Birthday party in April! YAY!
Six days later it was my Birthday! I took the days off between my Mom's Birthday and my Birthday, so I could relax a little. I stayed at my Mom's until Wednesday because on that day we had our family-hair-cutting event. Me, my Mom and my Grandmom got our hair done. Thursday evening I was invited to Stefan's parents for dinner and we almost celebrated into my Birthday. But I left before midnight so I actually turned 28 in the tram. I took a picture of the tram-display when the time switched to the 11th! I slept in on my Birthday but got waken up by several phone-calls and text messages. In the afternoon my boyfriend picked me and my granny up. We had coffee'n'cake in Glashütte and guess who else came over? Elli and Christian! They stopped by on their way back to Leipzig. They spent a week in Poland. After coffee time we got ready for my Birthday party at Kugelhaus in Dresden. I invited all of my lovely friends and of course something happened again: I booked the table already in January and expected that they saved it. Well when we got there the table I booked, was already taken by idiots, who probably pretended to be me. Fortunately we got another table and of course free chamapgne for the booking mistake. I should think about writing a book of how to get free alcohol! At my Birthday party showed up: Anja and Enrico, Josi and Christian, Susi and Waleed, Franzi and Ralf, Elli and Christian, Anita and Dirk and the friends of my boyfriend. Thanks again for the presents! Pictures!
After my uncle Heiko turned 40 and Anita turned 30, my Mom was the next with a zero at the end: She turned 50! It sounds old but my Mom doesn't look that age! Only 22 years and I will turn 50! We celebrated my Mom's Birthday in Thalheim, she got a huge birthday cake with 50 candles, made by my aunt! We had trouble to get all candles lightened at the same time, because they were so thin! When we finished the first candles were already dead, lol! It needed three of us to get them all lightened in time! My Mom loved the cake, loved the presents and we also had a little surprise for my uncle: For dinner we went to a restaurant nearby and two other guests joined us: Franzi's parents Moni and Uwe! My uncle was really happy to see them and we all had an awesome night! Oh I forgot to tell you what my Mom got: a teddy-lion and two tickets for the musical in Hamburg: The Lions King! Pictures!
I got thrown out of my room! Nah, joke!! We did a switch: Siham moved down the street, together with her boyfriend. Siham's brother got a new job in Frankfurt and moved into Sihams old room and in the first week of February I moved out of my room and into the WG next door. So actually I only moved from 5 meters. It even didn't take long to pack my stuff and transport it next door. My new room is larger than my old one and with new furniture. I also got a new roommate: an irish guy! Hope I will get along with him! It wasn't just me who moved, Franzi and Ralf also moved into a new apartment in Dresden. Guess it is moving time!
Before I start I have good news from Aga to share, which I forgot to tell you. Aga is going to be a Mom again! She and Alex and expecting a baby in May! Soon little Sebastian will have a brother or a sister! Okay now I start with the main topic: My boyfriend turned 31 and we went out bowling with his friends Frank, Ramona, Jerome and Ben. The 6 of us met in the afternoon and bowled two hours. The boys were definitely talented in bowling but me and Ramona loosed alot. Well we might be better at some other sports and I can't actually remember when I last bowled! After bowling we went for dinner and something happened again. Why is it always me? Everyone ordered their dinners and everyone got their dinners, except me! The waiter forgot me! Gosh I was so frustrated but I did not want to ruin the evening by getting loud. The waiter said sorry and offered me a free drink until my dinner was done. I accepted and got my dinner when everyone else finished! Pictures!
Every year in January the Börsentag in Dresden takes place. And of course I participated! This year with Enrico and Sabrina. We were placed at the same position like in 2009 and we noticed that also the people were the same. All give-aways were gone by end of the afternoon and there wasn't a minute where we could relax. For lunch break Franzi and Ralf visited me and in the afternoon my ex-boyfriend Jens came by! I was a little surprised to see him, because I did not expect him. Exactly a year passed and it was weird to see him again. He said he is doing alright, still with his girlfriend and started studying. Well I wish him good luck with his studies! After the Börsentag at around 6:30 pm Anja and Enrico picked me up. We were all invited to Anita's 30th Birthday party! Yes Anita turned 30 and I'm going to turn 28 in February. Ahhh! The birthday party took place at the location where I threw a birthday party in 2005: at Stefan's parents gardening club-house. Of course Anita's whole family was invited, so I got to see Anita's and Stefan's parents, grandparents, Aunt and Uncle, cousins etc. and we finally got to meet Anita's new boyfriend Dirk! They got know in December and Dirk seems like a nice guy. Finally Anita got a boyfriend and hopefully he is the right one, because Anita wanted to get married with 30! We are waiting for the wedding invitation girl!! Also: Happy Birthday to my Uncle Heiko, who turned 40!!
Between Christmas and New Years Eve I was off! I stayed some days at my Mom's and on Thursday I took the train to my Boyfriend's Mom. Because on New Years Eve we wanted to go over to Elli's. Elli and Christian invited us to celebrate with them into the new year. We first wanted to go by car but then decided to take the train to Leipzig. Everyone in the train was already in a party mood. Half hour later we arrived in Leipzig where Elli and Christian picked us up. It was already 7 p.m. so we went straight to Elli's friend Anne, who threw the New Years Eve party. At the party we met some other friends of Elli, that I knew from her Halloween parties years ago. We played card games and drinking games, watched TV, had dinner and mostly waited until midnight. At midnight we had Asti champagne and went downstairs to watch the fireworks. We didn't buy fireworks this year and could enjoy more. Around 3 a.m. we arrived at Elli's and took a short nap, because we had to be back home at my Boyfriends Mom's for lunch. Pictures!