Why I don't plan on going back to Germany (at the moment)

At the moment, with Uni coming to a close and all of that, so many people ask me if I am going back home to Germany. Um, no.

I think people don't realise how much studying abroad changes you. And I don't mean just a semester abroad but a whole degree. I have been living here for four years- it has been the first place I have stayed for such a long time other than Germany and it feels like my home. The guy from the shop next door knows me too well, I don't even wanna mention my eyebrow lady, I know all the short cuts and bus routes, tourists think you are a local and ask you for directions, you always meet people you know on the street... it doesn't just feel like my home, it truly is.

Germany obviously still feels like home, too: My small home town is the place where I will always know people, where the bank employees recognize me, and I have made lifelong memories here. It feels good to be home once in a while, and it feels special. My mum makes a fuss, everyone I meet is asking me about my plans for my life and you have that weird status of being that cool kid back in town. But I guess that only works if you leave again at one point, and that is fine with me. I also don't have the urge to move to a bigger German city either, because.. there is no one that I fancy living in. I dislike Berlin, Hamburg and Munich are too posh and all the other places... meh, I am not convinced.

I feel out of synch with German culture at times, because I have learned to love Scottish and American culture so much. I love greeting everyone with 'how r u', having nice talks with shop assistants, making friends at the bus stop with random strangers and ordering tap water for free. In my mind, all of these things seem impossible in Germany. It probably really isn't that impossible, but my heart just wouldn't be all there if I moved back to Germany.

And if I have learned one thing, then it is that one: Wherever you go, go with all your heart.

So I guess that's what I'm doing. For now.

And maybe one day, my heart will lead me back to Germany.

ROAD TRIP// Glen Etive & Kilchurn Castle

So I have been living the life of freedom this past week and as I said, it feels awesome. To top it off, a lovely friend from home came over to visit me. I knew I wanted to go to the highlands with her, which is why we rented a car and took a few other Germans with us (haha) (also I didn't drive the car, the left side driving thing is still too scary for me).

This was our route I think- we drove to Kilchurn Castle, and then along the beautiful and weirdly deserted B8074 we stopped to have a picnic- we picked a beautiful day and it didn't rain AT ALL. It was already afternoon when we drove to Glen Etive and drove all the way until we got to Loch Etive. On the way home, we stopped in Callander and had dinner.

It was an amazing day, I just love the highlands and having your own car means you can pull over whenever you want- which we did like a million times.

Alright, brace yourselves for a picture heavy post.

One of the lochs we stopped at just to take a picture.. and I already forgot which one this was...

This beauty was so still, the mirror image is perfect.

Obviously we couldn't pass on the photo op.

I defff wanna have a jeep one day. They just look too cool and seem really practical haha

Kilchurn Castle!

View from Kilchurn Castle

We are photo obsessed.

View from the castle.

Denise is a very skillful photographer

Yes yes, there she is.

I think this is already Glen Etive

It has the most beautiful river with shiny glittering water that you just wanna swim in.

At the very end, Loch Etive.

Alright I will end it here, I am super tired and I have a lot more pictures coming of other stuff... who is ready for some more Edinburgh?

DISSERTATION FREEDOM

3 days early, this bugger is out of my way! Julia and I nervously submitted our dissertations on Friday, followed by a lunch in the SUN! Scotland has finally seen some sun and everyone freaked out, obvvviously. Since then, I have done a lot of nothinggggggg and it is GREAT! 

I hoovered my room, painted my nails, chucked a ton of dissertation drafts and spent all Saturday in BED. OH sweet freedom!

2 more essays to go, then this uni thing will be officially over...(well until graduation in July, woohoo!)

All things BACON

x x x

Aw Bacon, my one true love. Maybe you remember when I made those Chocolate Beer Battered Cupcakes with Maple Bacon Frosting. And it was ah-mazing. The combination of chocolate and bacon is ridiculously good, but the frosting is unbelievably good. 

Recently I stumbled upon this recipe, for a chocolate pound cake with bacon bourbon frosting. UM, NOOOM?! My flatmates are just as obsessed with the sweet and salty combination of bacon and...anything, really. So I made this cake for them when they submitted their dissertation. The recipe is not the most difficult, but it does take quite a while to make and I am probably the messiest baker in the land, so I don't even want to talk about how the kitchen looks like right now. OOPS. But the cake is amazing, let me tell you.

The recipe calls for two baking pans that are the same size, and I didn't have that- so I had to use one bigger and one smaller, round one (see picture). Oh and I also used whisky instead of bourbon, which turned out really good too. It looks quite different to the original different, but I guess that happens when you use slightly different ingredients. Anyways, this calorie bomb is SUPER SUPER yummy, and will send you in a delirious sugar shock that is well worth it.

How to get strong eyebrow game

We all need eyebrows, don't we? Otherwise we would look like this...Not so cool.

About two years ago, I heard about the Benefit Brow Bar and when it came to John Lewis here in Edinburgh, I had to try it out. Benefit waxes and tints eyebrows and creates a shape that suits your face. They are like magicians, I am telling you. They can bring out the best shape the way you never could do it yourself. Thanks to a beautician in my village in Germany, my eyebrows have not been horrible per se. But I plucked them myself and it's one of those dangerous activities- "just one more hair, then I will stop"- and all of the sudden you end up with something like this.

This is a little video I found on YouTube to show you what they do.

Now I sadly don't have a glorious before and after picture of my eyebrows, but I guess these come close:

It's not just me, look at other results from the Benefit Brow Bar: x and x and x   So I started going to Benefit regularly now, about every six weeks or so. I used to get them tinted too but rarely do so anymore. My eyebrows are naturally really dark and I barely see a difference, so I just get them waxed. Ever since, I have turned about five of my friends in to benefit-believers and we never looked back! I cannot stress enough how amazing they are, every time they just make you eyebrows look so much cleaner, more defined and more out there. In the UK, it's 11£ for just the wax and 18£ for a wax and tint. Not super cheap, but definitely worth it!