Whoop Whoop GIVEAWAY Time! // Win a Black Mask & Starbucks Bucks, Beaches!

Howdy and HAPPY TUESDAY!!

I love the internet. I love blogs. I love funny cat videos. And I love stuff like THIS - I bet we all have seen the videos of "black masks gone wrong". The one below is most definitely my favorite:



I was brave, and tried it myself. You know what? I do not have ANY idea what the hype is all about. I applied the mask, pretty thick, let it dry for about 30-40 minutes, and peeled it off. It does stick a little more to your skin than your average peel-off mask. But it is not as bad as people make it look on the internet. And the cleansing effect is just amazing. I would share a picture of all my ex-blackheads, but I'll spare you.

...yea...had to do the Hitler beard. Sorry. :oD

The mask leaves your skin super smooth, trust me! My friend tried it, and she said the same. She even put it on her man, and he is still alive, so man up everyone!

Ok, I was a little worried though to be honest - I mean, all the videos are pretty ummmmmmmm intimidating. So I decided I will just let 2 readers of my blog be the judge!

Giveaway: Win a $10 Starbucks Gift Card

Happy Saturday!

My birthday is only a few days away, and I decided to celebrate a little earlier. You know how thankful I am to be able to take my work to Starbucks every once in a while, to be able to work without any interruptions from nosy interrupters?

So, sure thing: I'll give away a $10 Starbucks gift card! 

Entering is easy - just use the rafflecopter below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

“Giveaway ends June 17th at 12:00 AM UTC. Open to Residents of the US only.  Prizes cannot be shipped to PO Boxes.  Winner will be selected by Random.org and be notified by email. Winner have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected.  I will make every effort to assist you obtaining your prize. If there is an issue, please notify the blog you won a prize from within 30 days for assistance, after that we may be unable to assist you. The product offered for the giveaway is free of charge, no purchase necessary. My opinions are my own and were not influenced by any form of compensation.  Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are in no way associated with this giveaway.  By providing your information in this form, you are providing your information to me and me alone.  I do not share or sell information and will use any information only for the purpose of contacting the winner.”

 Check out my amazing sponsor:

Starbucks // Small Town Life

First of all: Pictured above is my first Pumpkin Spice Latte for this season. It happened on September 5th in Bossier City, LA. Thanks for the Fan Pass! I really enjoyed it!

Don't you love Starbucks? Not only coffee-wise, but office-wise? Would you believe me if I tell you I drive an hour to sit down at Starbucks? I do. For various reasons.

I live in a freakin small town (18883 people), and I'd say because of my job, at least 70% of those people either "know me" or think they "know me". That's why I don't really do anything there. If I leave the house, I drive. At least 1 hour. Or even further. You literally can't do anything without being object of gossip. Or just bluntly being watched/observed.

I thought I'm the only one thinking like that, but I was relieved to hear one of my friends (Police Officer) saying pretty much the same thing: If you want to enjoy your life during your time off, get the heck out of town. And I live by that rule. You might bump into "locals" everywhere. But the chances are significantly smaller as soon as you leave the county, or state.

I've tried sitting down at the local coffee shop to do some blogging work a couple of times already, but it just doesn't work. Even if I put on my HUGE BLUE headphones, people sit down next to me, and start talking. And they are nosy. This blog is public, I know. But it's not everyone's business which companies send me e-mails, who sends me e-mails - period, how I tout, or whom I work with.

Don't get me wrong, I love this local coffee shop, but I don't like people overstepping boundaries and trying to crawl into my personal space when it comes to my time off.

At work, I have to be nice to you. Being professional. But when I'm off, I am Annika. Not Annie, the front desk coordinator. I can talk to whomever I want, and refuse to talk to whomever I want as well. And if I let you know politely that I don't feel like talking to you, you should accept this fact.

So lately when I have a few hours of time on my hands, I grab my macbook, hop in the car, drive across the border to Louisiana, and sit down at Starbucks in Ruston, Bossier City, or Monroe, LA. Maybe it's even an unwritten law, but I love the fact that people in there just leave me the heck alone. I can be productive, without being distracted.

So thank you, Starbucks, for welcoming me, and giving me a place to work and hide.

 

Life Lately

This quote is 100% me right now. Life throws curveballs. And I've learned to dunk them. Being miserable doesn't change anything. It just makes everything worse. And at one point a couple of weeks ago, I was done being miserable. I was done being belittled, and I was done being abused.

Long story short: You've all read about the shitty times I've went through in my marriage. So at one point shit hit the fan, and now we are separated. Still living in the same house, but he has his bedroom, and I have my rooms. It works pretty well - but I can't wait until the day the lease is up an I can move into my own place. At least we can communicate like human beings again. Well, that is if we talk. But we don't talk much. Which is ok.

As you can probably tell, I am currently not spending much time at home. Easy, since I work a lot lately (got promoted to a director position). When I'm not working, I'm probably working out. Running. Or I'm on the road. My car is my best buddy lately, and we go places. I think a lot while driving. Not sure if this is a good thing though.

So right now I'm sitting at a Starbucks in Bossier City, LA. I've spent the day with my friend's kids at a waterpark, just dropped them off again, and now finally taking the time to blog. Personal stuff. I owed you gys an update - and it doesn't hurt to sit down, breath, and reminisce about what actually happened.

People keep asking me if I will go back to Germany now. But right now, I won't. I don't have the power to give up everything again. Do you know how tough building a whole new life is? It drains you. Physically, and emotionally. I don't have the power to pack up again. I don't want to built a new home. I don't want to give up this job, and all the friends and coworkers I really really love. SO, for now, I will just stay in this little town in southern Arkansas. I will keep living this crazy life as an expat.

Let's see what the future holds.

  Check out my amazing sponsor:

No-Bake Cupcakes

I hope this title caught your attention and you won't be too disappointed reading what this post is about!

Those of you who follow me via Instagram or Facebook already know about my newest hobby:
I started crocheting about 2 weeks ago! Yay!

I have to admit: when I started, it was pretty frustrating. Check this out:

Day 1: DISASTROUS!!! (aka: cat bikinis, how Michael called it)

Day 2: It finally turned out right! A SQUARE! I've never been prouder of a square.

So this is how my career started. I ordered the set below on Amazon, and I had to be very patient.
Corcheting ain't easy. Learned it the hard way.

I didn't even use the yarn that came with the box, cause I didn't want to waste it! I've tried, and tried, 

and tried, and finally´, after a couple of hours, I finished my first cupcake. Not perfect, but kind of cute.
Oh and I had a little fun dressing up Coco with some of the cupcake parts as well. Mean mama I am.

But last night I finished my first real masterpiece! 

As I would call it in German: Frau Schwarzwälder Kirsch!

English version: Mrs. Black Forest Cake! 

You might think I'm crazy, I know. You might be right. But I am a little proud of the progress I made in that short amount of time. 

Do you crochet? Any advice? I will work on some more of those cute little Amigurimi food things, but sure will start crocheting something useful as well. Like a blanket. Or beanies.

Have a lovely Thursday!
And don't forget to enter the giveaway!
One more day until rafflecopter will pick one lucky winner!

  Check out my amazing sponsor:

OvO Coffee Break Giveaway // Origami Owl Locket & Starbucks Gift Card

Hello and happy Saturday! 

I hope you all survived Thanksgiving and Black Friday? Still stuffed like a turkey?

Today I'm teaming up with my friend Steffi, another German expat in the USA. She is an "Origami Owl" designer!
I love all the charms and lockets and dangles and... EVERYTHING! You can check out her store HERE. If you want to do some Christmas shopping, go ahead! Customers will get +10 extra entries in our giveaway!

So the German girls decided it's about time for a time-out. Relax. Recharge before the Christmas insanity starts.

This is why we are giving away this amazing "OvO Coffee break" package!  

One lucky winner will win: 

1 "Origami Owl Living Locket - Silver Mini Locket" 

or 

1 "Origami Owl Living Locket - Silver Mini Locket with Crystals"
(winner chooses!) 

PLUS 

1 $10 Starbucks gift card!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sweepstakes at Sweepstakes-Search.com

 
Check out my amazing sponsor:

Up and away!

Chicas, I'm nervous. I will hop on the plane in 12 hours. Flying across the big pond to my boo and his parents. I HATE FLYING.
Nuremberg -> Frankfurt -> Houston -> Little Rock. That's my plan. My flight-plan ;o)

I was all cool during the past weeks, but now that it's HERE.... Geez. My stomach is acting up and I'm just one wreck.
The alarm going off at 3am won´t be much help, too! Arrrrrrrrrrgh!

But: I'm looking forward to be with M again! I miss him so much!

I will be in the US for 2 weeks, but I will try to keep you guys updated with a couple of posts :o)

While I'm away: Don't forget to enter our Starbucks Verismo Giveaway! 

 

 

March Madness! // Verismo Giveaway

It's a March Madness Birthday Celebration over at Big Apple Mami and I'm joining 16 other bloggers to celebrate and give you an awesome prize! There are actually several reasons Kristina at Big Apple Mami is celebrating this month including two birthdays, an 11th wedding anniversary and her sweet little 1 month old, Mateo who was supposed to be  born in March, but arrived on Valentine's Day instead! :)

So let's party!!! This Giveaway will run from March 18th - March 28th (Kristina's actual birthday) and once all entries have been verified, the winner will be announced.Enter the rafflecopter below for a chance to win! Good luck and Happy Entering! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Shopping // Miranda, my new love // Weekend Recap

Howdy!

Sunday night. Another weekend is over, and I´m already ready for the next one! Getting up tomorrow will definitely hurt. I know it.

Oh well....

I´ve promised you guys to show you what I found on my little shopping trip saturday. Here we go:

I definitely needed black ballerina flats. So I bought them. 5 Euro. Pfffffft! Then I saw the colorful ones. Took them as well. Yep, another 5 Euro! Then I found the dress! And darn, I couldn´t decide which color I should take.... So I took em both :oD! Not even 10 Euro each, so that was a great deal and I wore the pink one last night and the blue one today already. New favorite pieces!

The flea market I went to kinda sucked, to be honest. People were just selling crap and it was pretty small so I was done after 30ß minutes. I did find a book though! 2 Euro... It´s a hardcover, so it´s alright. The english title is Oracle Night the first german book I read in a loooong time!

I thought I would stay at the flea market at least 1.5 hours. Well, I didn´t. I told M I will be at his place around 5PM for dinner and movie date. So I had a lot of time left. What I did? :o) I was having a great time in the sun:

Plus I stopped by at my beloved LUSH... And found a new love: MIRANDA! Oh. My. God. This soap smells sooooo good!!!

Dinner and movie date was awesome :o) we had a wonderful time, even though I passed out around 10PM I think. I was so tired cause of the emotional past days plus all the traveling.

Today I just went to church, had a great time of course, and since I had a 50% off coupon for Starbucks today, I stopped by on my way home, and put approx. 170000 calories into my body :oD! IT WAS WORTH IT!

Now I´m about to go to bed - almost 10PM over here and another busy week is coming up.

What did you guys do this weekend?

Smooches,
Anni