About Snail Mail and Sara Mari's Giveaway

Hello everyone, are you doing fine? I'm okay, it has become so hot lately in Germany, and my room is like an oven, so I can't use the Net that often, and I usually spend my time in the living room. Part time jobs are really exhausting atm, specially with this weather outside, but I'll give my best again. At least my restaurant shift changed from 18 to 19 o' clock, so that leaves me time to watch soccer today. It's Japan vs. Paraguay today!

I was surprised as I opened my dashboard today to see that I've got 193 followers! What?? I can't believe it. Is it only because I hold a giveaway or could it really be that people actually really like my blog and what I post about?? That makes me really happy, thank you, readers!!

Today I wanna write about snail mail. Do you also like snail mail as much as I do?? I've been writing letters since I started learning to write, so that's over 17 years ago, hahaha! I am the self proclaimed expert on writing cute and (hopefully interesting) letters, and I wanna show you why :-) I love snail mail so much, most of my salary goes into that. No, kidding, I'm saving my hard earned money for my WH in Japan. XD

In our times of electronic communication, a handwritten letter is something special right? I love the feeling when I open my post box to see a letter for me inside, expected or unexpected doesn't matter. Sometimes a few lines from people you love or adore can really make your day. Okay, let the fotos speak!

Here are some of the letters I received from friends within the years (I own some more boxes full of letters :-)

Here you see some standard stuff I use for writing letters, glue stick, scissors, cute tape, loads of pens and colours, ink, etc.

Cute stationary (I used to own LOTS of more, but since I'm writing quite much, it's used up very soon. I'll pick up new ones once I'm in Tokyo again :-)

Same goes for stickers, I had tons of it! This is really a very small amount, just a hand full :) I really love decorating letters with stickers.

My collection of Shitakjiki!! You put it between the papers you write to avoid traces on the next paper.

And finally, this is how my desk looks like when I write, next to me is always my Care Bear agenda, to check up what happend the last couple of days and to probably write about it! XD

Here are some finished results without stamp, though. Sorry I had to censor the foto to protect the addresses privacy :)

I hope you got a good impression of how my hobby is like. It takes a while to write, though, but if you know there will be a happy person smiling while reading your words, it is really worth it. 

Oh, last but not least, enter one of my best Net friends Sara Mari's great Pack Your Bag's Giveaway!!! There are great prizes to win!

Did I already tell you I'll skip universtiy today?? It is too hot and I have to work in the late evening, so I better get some rest, hahahaha! See you next post!

Finally an update!

Finally, an update from me! I was so busy the last days, I got two shifts this week at the restaurant, because the other waiter got an appointment. So I had to take over his shift. And there was some uni stuff to do as also. I couldn't post the last days, but I tried to comment to all of your entries. If not, I will catch up soon! Anyways, now I can write a bit more, since it's been a while, right?

First of all, Keiko from Chocomintbubblegum is holding an awesome gyaru-inspired giveaway! Make sure you check out her awesome blog and enter! You can win a bunch of cute stuff!

Speaking of giveaways, remember that I told I won some Moe Candy from Thomas Blog Exotic Japan??

It arrived today! I was so happy to find the little package in my postbox!

Here it is, the famous Moe Candy <3333

This foto is just for you, Thomas! See my 3 years old Qoo tin I bought during my very first stay in Japan?

The candy box and Qoo seem to get along very well! :-)))

We have a pet now! Well, it is actually not our pet, we are just taking care of it for my sister's ex-boss, who will spent 4 months in her house in the Hamptons (well, she is kinda very rich but can't take her cat with her? Maybe because of the difficult customs in the US for importing pets?? I don't know). It is a male cat, his name is Florian! He's very cute!! :-))

Oh, yes I watched the soccer game yesterday, and Germany is in the eight finals! I'm quite happy about that, it was an exciting game! The US has also qualified (as many of my followers are from the US) XDD

Okay, I don't have anything more to tell right now, hope I can post again the next days with some interesting stories! Have a nice day!

EDIT: I just found some very awesome giveaways I wanna share with you! Try your luck and enter!

Parokeets is holding a super summer giveaway with many nail goodies to win!

Babbling Brooke is also hosting a summer giveaway with tons of beauty goodies! 

Happy Birthday again!

Ah, how much I love doing those birthday posts! :-) Happy Birthday, this time to Kate from Ribbonlicious! She celebrates her birthday today! She is an awesome seamstress of cute and wonderful Lolita fashion! I urge all Lolitas and others, of course too, to visit her blog! Here is a birthday cake for you, Kate! And I still regret not having the chance to meet you a couple of weeks ago, cause I had to work at that day. Hope to see you soon!

Today I went to town with Lara to have lunch, shop, and to watch the soccer game in our local mall. It was a desaster, Germany lost 0:1 to Serbia. The game itself was quite interesting. Still it is very sad Germany lost. I hope that Japan will win at least tomorrow, but the chances are low, cause the opponent is our neigbour country The Netherlands! :-)

These are my first attempts to take pictures of myself. I always see them on other bloggers post, so I thought maybe you are interested in seeing my fotos :-)) Do you see the German flag tattoo on my hand?? :-) I was prepared so well for the game, but we lost :-( Ah yes, and the soccer poster which hangs on the door will only be there for 4 weeks, until the World Cup finishes:-) I took this foto by selftimer, so sorry for the bad quality!

Here's my outfit of the day! Took this picture in the clothing shop while Lara was trying some clothes on. I'd love to have such a huge mirror in my room :-) Now you can also see how tiny I am with my 154 cm, hahaha!

Most of the people think I am about...16 years old??

Jacket: Spiral Girl

Pullover: Olive des Olive

Jeans: Honeys

Bag: Accessorize

Shoes: No Brand

Camera Bag: Rilakkuma, San-x

(Yeah, most of my clothes are from Japan XD)

What do say, would you like to see more pics from me and/or my outfits? Or do other bloggers spam you with such pictures that you don't like to see any more?? I'd like to hear your opnion about that! 

So, some other news! I won the giveaway at Sakie and Thomas Gantz Blog! Check out their awesome blog about Japan! Anyways, I'm so much looking forward to the can of Moe Candies! :-))

My giveaway is doing fine so far! I get new entries every day, thank you so much! I promise to try to catch up with all of my new followers blogs and follow you back soon. I am also thinking of putting the date of deadline a bit forward, since August was maybe a bit too long, right?? When I decided I will announce another date soon. :-)

My dear readers, I can only wish you a lovely weekend now! I can't post the next days, cause I'm busy with work and university, but I try to comment at least to all of your posts.

Happy Birthday! :-)

First of all, thank you for your wonderful replies to my little giveaway! I was astonished that so many people joined, even though it contains items, which are more less... old, hahaha! I wish you all good luck! :-)

Today it is time for a birthday post again! Happy Birthday to Ken! I've become his follower only recently, but he's cool, and one of the few male bloggers I know (including him, I know three :-) Here is a birthday cake for you! :-) And since it is his birthday, he's holding an awesome giveaway, too! Wait, who is the birthday kid? XD Check it out here: Ken's giveaway!

Okay, there is nothing more to post about so that's it for today! :-)

100+Followers and Special Summer Giveaway

Here is my (maybe long awaited) surprise post: I'm having a giveaway again! The reasons: I've got more than 100 followers now, and it's summer! And since I'm leaving for Japan in November I decided to clean out my entire room and found some nice items I'd like to give away! Yes, all items of this giveaway are from my room and more or less from Japan XD Most of the items are absolutely new and unused (I still ask myself why I never used them :-) Have a look, and if you like, you can enter, of course! :-) I wish you all good luck!

Here are the rules:
1. You must be a follower (new followers are welcome, too).
2. For one entry leave a comment saying: Enter Me! Give me your name and email address, too!
3. For 2 additional entries link my giveaway on your blog or on any other net platform (Facebook, Twitter etc.) and post that link.
4. Put all of your information in ONE comment! (that makes counting a little bit easier for me!)

5. The giveaway will close on August, 1. The winners will be drawn randomly.  

6. There will be secret prizes, too!

Now I want to say thank you to all of my readers and followers at this place! My blog wouldn't be anything without you, thank you for your support so far. I will give my best to make everything more interesting! And think about the giveways I can hold when I'm in Japan! (Well, it is still a bit until then, though! Maybe for Christmas??) Okay, now your surely wanna know what you can win, right? Have a go! (I'm sorry for the bad quality of the fotos! Hope you can see everything.)

A collection of hairclips, pins, brooches and two pairs of earings from Paris Kids I bought in Harajuku but never wore. All of it comes in a small Hello Kitty make-up pouch! (The cupcake plushie and pink flower are only decoration, but you can bargain with me :-)

A set of different deco stones from Chiara, a shop in Harajuku. I did use some of the hearts and some glue :-)

Extra present: The Marie cellphone display protector! It is shimmering! :-)

 

A set of various stationary (about 150 pieces) from all kinds of Characters, Hello Kitty, Rilakkuma, Mamegoma, Cinnamoroll, Kappibarasan, Kamio, etc. All from Japan and new!

Last but not least: A little stationary set, which contains 3 notebooks, two mini folders and a kabuki hankerchief.

Again an award-am I getting popular?? XDDD

Hi friends, how are you, how was your weekend? Mine was quite good, my brother changed the comment system a bit, now everything looks more neat, right? I'm not sure about the header yet, maybe I won't change it at all. If I find some cool pics I may consider changing it. But now as it is, everything is finished about the new layout, I hope you do like it as much as I do.

I want to thank you all for your lovely comments on the cupcakes. I want to go there again next week, then I'll tell the shop owner that you liked her creations! :-) I think she will be happy about it. I will also ask her if I may take some pictures of the cafe building itself. It is really cute!

Then, I was awarded again! This makes me so happy! Thanks, Minsu from The Juliette! She is such a cute girl, and  you should check out her blog as well! :-)

The award is called "Sweet Blog Award" Here are the rules!

-Give this award to 10 sweet and friendly bloggers
- Make a post about the award including the picture above
- In your post, mention the person who gave it to you
- Put the award on your blog
- Let your nominated 10 know you've awarded them by leaving a comment

I nominate:

Sara Mari from Moments Like Diamonds

Clairey from Oh So Glam  

Miruku from Milk Tea

Rii from Utsukushii Gal

Steffi from The Other View

Lisa from Shop N' Chomp

Bianca from ER4F

Mimisa from Strawberry Kiss

Jenny from Sushi-Cat 

Megan from The Strawberry Corner 

I'd love to nominate you all, though! :-) 

Okay, my surprise post has to wait until tomorrow, then! Cause I'm gonna watch tonight's soccer game Germany vs. Australia. Dou you follow the Soccor World Cup?? Under normal circumstances, I am NOT interested in soccer at all, but at the World Cup I'm cheering for my team, of course. A bit of national pride may be allowed, right? Have a nice day!

Do you like Cupcakes?

Did you realize I am posting very often this week?? I try to be a more active blogger from now on ;-) 

Today's post is about cupcakes (it is so easy to write about food XD). Lara and me went to the first cupcake cafe in our town Düsseldorf, it is actually around the corner from where I live (I live near the city centre). The cupcake cafe is really cute, and the cakes themselves are so delicious!! The shop owner is a very young woman with a doctoral degree, but she decided to leave office work and open her own cafe. If you happen to live in or around Düsseldorf, I really recommend this place! Check out her homepage, too!  Cupcake Cafe Düsseldorf   (sorry, the site is only available in German!) Let the fotos speak!

This is what we had!

Left: my chocolate cream cupcake with vanilla frosting

Right: Lara's rasperry vanilla cupcake with rasperry frosting 

Part of the cafe's assortment

Stylish Blogger Award

Hello, how are you today?? I guess you're not as tired as I am. Yesterday's shift was so exhausting. We had two big reservations (only japanese customers) and many German guests, too. I was only running and bringing the orders, luckily I didn't drop anything, hahaha! I was at home at about 11 pm, and finally in bed an hour later. I'll give my best again at next week's shift!

On coming Saturday, my brother and me will finished the layout, and then there will be a little surprise for you! Thanks already to everybody who complimented! I really appreciate that!

I was tagged by Keiko from Chocomintbubblegum for the Stylish Blogger Award! Yay, yet another award! I want more more more, hahaha! Part of the award is to list 5 facts about yourself and then tag 5 bloggers to get the award as well, so here I go...

1. I really wanna go to the States (I've been to Japan that often, but never to NYC or L.A. XD)

2. I am a TV Series addict! Latest seen DVD boxes are Dynasty, Dallas and 24. 

3. Japanese food is the finest on the world :-)

4. My favourite japanese actor atm is Miura Haruma. Isn't he lovely??

5. My regular readers know that I'll give my last shirt for a piece of NY Cheesecake!

I tag:

Illness_Illusion  from Away with the Fairies

Bommie from Like Snow White

Shou-chan from Sweet Milk Coffee

Steffi from The Other View

Ken from Kenchanayoh

What gives you hope?

I came across some awesome sites by browsing Minsu's blog The Juliette that I want to share with you! Check out her blog as well, if you want, she is a very cool net friend! :-))

Check out the follwing links!

Who is the cutest person in this world?? 

(This really made me smile! Just click and you know why!)

Yay for confidence! 

(I need a lot of confidence the next time and also for my WH in Japan :-))

What gives you hope?

(I usually don't have that often but some of the posts nearly made me cry. )

I also have a "What gives you hope" story to tell. I was walking downtown, where a homeless person was sitting in front of a store with his dog. Everyone was walking past him, I happened to stop nearby to wait for my friend, so I could see the following. It seems everyone was ignoring him, but then suddenly a rather rich looking woman with fine clothes and designer handbag approached him, and gave him her freshly bought meal from the store next door. It was the first time I saw a person doing something like this for a homeless. Most of the people don't even give a penny.

We don't have that much money ourselves, but we donate regulary for a children's charity project. Having much money or not, what you do with your money is important, and doing good deeds with what you have gives me hope. Even if they are little things.

Half way finished...

I'd like to update more often but maybe you know, time's flying when you have so much to do like me! Well, at least my new layout is half way finished, I'd still like to change the header, the link bar on the top and  the comment layout (which looks awful atm, untidy and with no fotos from the people who comment...). Well, I promise to change (or rather have it change with help :-) soon, so you can enjoy my posts with a freshly new done layout.

Everyday life is as always, university, working, meeting friends, nothing is really happening right now. I'm just waiting for my grade to come (the one for the graduation paper I handed in Mid April), my professor should hurry up a bit. And yeah, the weather's been great lately (though it's already a bit hot for me).

I've got to realized yet that I have reached unbelievable 100 followers! Although not all of them comment, it is just great to know that so many people are reading my posts. I think a "Thank You Giveaway" would be appropriate at this place! Check out my posts the next time! XDDD

Today I'd like to close this post with a (yummy) picture. We have something similar in our restaurant, called Ten-Don (Tempura on a bowl of rice). It's my shift again tomorrow! :-)) See you!