Weekend, January 29

January 29, 2012
general, writing
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It’s been one of those weekends where I feel I need to make a few changes. Maybe that “new year” feeling, which seemed absent at the actual beginning of the year, is finally kicking in. Or maybe it’s the fact that, after a very mild autumn and winter with unseasonably warm weather, we’re finally getting a cold spell. I started spring cleaning yesterday, despite the fact that it’s not yet spring. I started by going through my lingerie and swimsuit drawers. It’s something I haven’t done in ages. I threw out a lot of stuff. I just got a new order of underwear in from La Senza UK (I have yet to find anywhere that sells underwear I like in Germany that also has good sales), so I figured it was as good a time as any to throw out all the older stuff that I never actually wear. I also threw out old, misshapen bras and a few “what was I thinking” purchases from when I was around 22. These included a copper lamé bikini from American Apparel, which I really can’t explain. I actually do NOT know why I have it. See for yourself:

http://store.americanapparel.eu/rsac300.html

http://store.americanapparel.eu/rsac301.html?cid=32-589

If you’re asking yourself “why would you buy that?”, I’m asking myself the same thing.

I also hung out some fabric and coats outside, because moths descended on my apartment this summer and I want to make sure they’re all dead and wont come back. I really chose my moment well, because as I was letting them sit out there to get cold, this happened:
Snow
(sorry for the picture quality…I took it with my phone).

Luckily it was fairly powdery snow, so nothing got too damp and I just brushed it off and hauled it all back inside. It’s supposed to get colder next week, and it will be clear out, so I’ll finish my moth-obliterating then.

In the evening I met a friend for wine at Weinerei, which is always a great place to go if you like wine and are on a budget. It’s a pretty well-known wine bar where you pay 2 Euro for a glass, which you free-pour, and then when you leave, you pay what you think you drank. They also do food, usually a pasta dish, soup and salad, and it works along the same principle, but I’d already made nachos with home-made salsa and guacamole. When we left we got fries at the curry place on Rosenthaler Platz, and I noticed they had hot sauce, which they’d labelled with degrees of hotness. I love hot sauce on my fries, but I was a bit skeptical that it would actually be spicy, since most Germans have a very low spice tolerance. Still, to play it safe, i ordered 2 (out of 4) and I have to say, I’m pretty humbled. It was spicy. Very, very spicy. I had to go to the Späti next door and get a carton of milk to dull down the burning. If you like spicy food and find yourself in Berlin (or live here) check it out. I dare you to try 4…apparently you have to sign a release form!

Today is low key. I’m continuing my cleaning project and making a cheese, olive and rosemary loaf. I’m also reworking a short story I did years ago, which I’d shelved for 9 years, but I’ve decided it has promise if I heavily rework it and change the setting.

Tips for Fair Skin

January 27, 2012
fashion
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I made a post on Facebook today about difficulty finding makeup for fair skin in Germany, and it struck up quite a conversation. Seems a lot of people have the same problem! I remember the selection being a bit better in Canada, but it was still best to go with brands such as Clinique and the selection wasn’t as good with the cheaper drugstore brands. Also, the selection was much better in Victoria or Vancouver than the North Island. Here, I can still find a good shade, but I have to be prepared to pay for it. Clinique doesn’t sell the shade I used in Canada here. Last time I found makeup that really matched my skin, it was made by Shiseido and cost 45 Euro. I bought it.

My first tip is to embrace your fair skin. I really think fair skin is beautiful. I’m not saying it should be the new ideal or anything, but I definitely think that more people should embrace their fair skin rather than trying to tan it. To use a celebrity example, Alyson Hannigan’s character Lily is often tanned in How I Met Your Mother:
Alyson Hannigan tanned
(Image courtesy of MTV)

And I’m not saying she looks terrible or anything. She’s an attractive girl. But I think she really suits her natural, fair tone a lot better:
Alyson Hannigan fair

If you’re fair, tanning can be a bit risky. For a lot of people, tanning beds and spending time out in the sun can lead to bad sunburns (I, personally, am very lucky…I’m a freak of nature and don’t burn). Fake tan can easily make you look orange, or like you have dirty skin. A lot of people associate tanning with health, and while people often get paler when they’re unhealthy, naturally fair skin wont look the same if you take care of it. This leads to my second tip: keep your skin glowing. If you have naturally fair skin, it can look extra-dull if it’s really dry, and dryness also leads to redness, which tends to show up a lot more. Make sure you exfoliate and use a good moisturizer. If you have oily skin, blemishes look a bit more obvious, so make sure you take care of that as well. If you have good, clear, moisturized skin, being fair wont make you look ill.

For a third tip, I’d have to say that bb creams and highlighters are your friends. I know that a lot of Asian girls love bb creams, but I recently got into them as well. It’s basically like a primer, and you can wear it under your foundation or on its own. MAC makes a great one, and I use Garnier’s, as it’s more within my budget. The Garnier one is a tad dark for fair skin, so I wear it under foundation, but I don’t find it too heavy. It moisturizes and evens out your skin tone, which is a big help with fair skin, especially in the winter, when redness becomes a problem. Highlighters can also help brighten up your skin. Just be sure to pick one that suits your tone. Yellowish or gold ones are pretty bad if you have cool undertones (you look best in blues and pinks) and if you have warm undertones (you look best in brown and orange), pinky ones will look a bit weird.

Finally, colour choices are key. Any colour you wear, from your hair colour, to your makeup, to your clothing, will stand out more when you have fair skin. Dark makeup can look clownish if you’re not careful. The wrong hair colour can make your skin look dull or red. Clothing choices can make you look washed out. There’s no real rule to this, because it really depends on your undertones (see above) and your colouring. If you’re not sure what undertones you have, I find it best to use white as a guide. If you look better in bright whites, you’re probably cool. If you look best in ivory, you’re probably warm. You don’t necessarily have to be afraid of dark or bold colours. I have fair skin and cool-toned skin, and I look striking in jewel tones (ruby, indigo, turquoise, emerald and violet), and I find black works for me!

Anyway I hope that’s helpful to a few people!

Writer’s Block

January 24, 2012
grievances, writing
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I have it. I got by on some older drafts and ideas for a bit, but now it’s caught up. I work on blog drafts and can’t seem to articulate my thoughts clearly or conclude them. I have essays due at the end of the week and I have one that has some patchy progress, and that’s it. A big part of my job involves writing, and I’m slow at it.

It’s so frustrating! I can barely even get this post out.

New Hair Colour

January 22, 2012
fashion
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I woke up this morning and almost shrieked when I looked in the mirror. In my half-awake state, I’d forgotten that I dyed my hair last night! Anyway as usual, I did it myself. I had to compromise a bit on the colour, as the selection in Germany is very, very poor, and only a handful of red or auburn shades are available (and only a few brown for that matter..it always seems that most hair dye colours are some sort of ashy blonde). Anyway I’m not quite sure if I’d call it “red” or “auburn”, and it’s a tad redder than I’d originally intended but it’s growing on me!

Danielle
(I took this picture on my webcam…that’s my closet-wall behind me!)

Reflections on Berlin’s Future

January 22, 2012
musings
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One thing I’ve noticed about the Euro crisis is that there are a lot of people (more than usual) coming to Berlin. Countries like Spain and Italy have really high unemployment and youth unemployment is especially bad. Even countries that are doing “better” still have problems, and Germany is (so far) relatively stable, and therefore attractive. For a while, I kept thinking, “Why Berlin? Why not Munich or Cologne?” After all, Berlin has high unemployment compared to the rest of the country and lower wages, so how are we to support an influx of people (mostly young people) from the rest of the Euro zone?

I gave it some thought, and decided that maybe things aren’t so dire. I’ve had a theory for a while (a rough theory anyway) that some of Berlin’s problems stem from its underpopulation and high vacancy rates. The city is built to house something along the lines of 5 million people, but it only houses about 3.5 (give or take…I don’t know the most recent figure). This leaves a lot of the city unoccupied and though there are a lot of services located here, they are often under-utilised. Perhaps more residents will solve this problem, if they can find work. This is easier said than done, but another thought is that a lot of the people coming here, while young, are relatively well-educated and often creative. A well-educated, creative, diverse work force can be a very attractive asset to a city. I heard a rumor (no idea whether or not it’s true but it sounds plausible) that the city is advertising a cheap work force as an asset. If this is true, I think it’s a mistake. A cheap work force is hardly a unique asset, and within Europe it’s likely to be challenged by other places full of people willing to work for less money. Even the cheap real estate of the city will likely find itself up for competition. A skilled, educated and creative work force, however, is more competitive. Just my two cents.

Link Sauce #1

January 20, 2012
general, musings
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This may be the laziest post ever, but bear with me…I’ll write a real post later! I have some ideas floating around in my head, but I need to do a bit more studying and essay writing first. Until then, I’ll fulfill my blogging addiction by sharing some interesting things I’ve read over the week!

1. A UK town shut off all its lights so people could see the stars: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-16607293

2. Tensions between rich and poor at an all-time high (in the US at least, though I think this may be an international thing): http://moneyland.time.com/2012/01/13/class-warfare-study-shows-tensions-at-20-year-high/?iid=pf-article-latest

3. Save the bees!: http://www.grist.org/food/2012-01-13-honey-bees-problem-nearing-a-critical-point

4. Funny political protest signs. I especially loved the ones full of grammar and spelling mistakes insisting people “speak English”: http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/funnypictures/ig/Funny-Protest-Signs/

5. Bad habits you pick up growing up poor. I found this bittersweet: http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/?wa_user1=3&wa_user2=Weird+World&wa_user3=blog&wa_user4=feature_module

6. Really great ideas for reusing items!: http://www.budgetsaresexy.com/2012/01/stop-buying-stuff-refurbish-things/

Enjoy!

A Guilty Pleasure

January 19, 2012
general
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I’m a bit embarrassed about it, but I really want to see American Reuinion:

The other three movies were silly, but I admit I kind of enjoyed them. They always seemed to come out when I was in the same phases of life they were depicting. Now, my high school reunion will be this summer, and there’s an American Pie movie about their reunion.

On Reading

January 17, 2012
musings
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I love reading, a lot. There’s a power that words have that film and television do not. It’s more permanent; a television show is fleeting. The words are there even after you put the book down, and reading a book is a lengthy process that involves patience, savouring the words and delving into the story. I can watch too much television or grow bored of watching movies, but I can’t seem to read enough. I have queues of books (on my shelf, on my iPad, on an Amazon wishlist) that seem to get longer the more I read. Each book represents something new to learn, a new world to delve into, or new characters to get to know. Joyce Carol Oates said that “reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.” I definitely feel this way. It’s the ultimate escapism…the closest you’ll ever get to being someone else and seeing the world (albeit a fictional one) through his or her eyes. Also, reading is a super cheap form of entertainment!

Recipe: Butternut Squash, Leek and Salmon Pierogies

January 15, 2012
food, recipes
3 Comments

I made these over the autumn squash season, and they were very tasty, and I promised some friends on Facebook that I would blog the recipe, but never did. It’s very late, but here it is!

pierogies

Ingredients:
1/4 butternut squash
1 medium potato
1/3 cup chopped leeks and/or red onions (I used more leeks and a hint of red onion)*
1 clove garlic
1/3 cup canned, smoked or cooked shredded salmon*
dill, to taste…fresh is better but as I made this in autumn, I used dried. If you use fresh, use more. If you use dried, a little less
salt to taste
butter

(All the ingredients are pretty much to taste. The recipe above will give a slightly smoother filling. If you want a chunkier filling, use more leeks and salmon).

For the dough, I didn’t use my own recipe. I used from About.com’s section on Eastern European food. If you’re gluten free, you can still make it! Just use your favourite recipe for homemade pasta and substitute some of the liquid for sour cream. It’s fairly similar to pasta dough.

Directions:
Make the dough and set aside. Steam squash and potato until thoroughly cooked, and mash. Chop leeks and/or onions and crush garlic and sauté in butter until transparent. Combine with squash and potato mash and add the salmon and seasoning.
Roll out your dough. I used a pasta roller because it’s much easier (not exactly traditional but I like to cheat), but if you don’t have one you have to use a rolling pin on a floured surface. You don’t want them to be too thick, but you don’t want them to be too thin either. They should be thin but you should still be able to work with them. Use a large class or biscuit cutter to cut out small circles, spoon some of the filling in the middle, fold over and use a form to seal. Boil in salted water, and lightly sauté on a frying pan in butter. Serve with sour cream and dill to garnish.

*If you’re British and the cups confuse you, take a 250 mL drinking glass and use it as your guide…this is about 1 cup. The proportions don’t have to be exact and they can be made to taste, so don’t worry if it’s off a little bit.

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