19 places I want to see 2015

'You may say I´m a dreamer, but I am not the only one' 

- John Lennon

(Please not that these pictures are from Google, besides the places I´ve been too.)

1. London

Yeah, I have been there this year, but I am just completely in love with this city and I can´t seem to get enough of it.

2. Morocco

Being so close to Spain, Morocco is actually a must to visit. I heard about the crazy markets and the beautiful landscape and my fingers prickle by the thought of it.

3. Lagos 

This is supposed to be the spot to go surfing in Portugal. I always wanted to try it (well I have been windsurfing before), but I didn´t have the chance yet. 

4. Papua New Guinea

I once watched a documentary about it and it just seemed like an absolutely beautiful county. It would be amazing to go hiking & trekking or scuba diving.

5. The Galapagos Islands

A friend of mine spend his Gap Year in Ecuador and he often visited the Galapagos Islands and they just seem really lovely. I am not sure, but they appear to me as some kind of world wonder. Again, I´ve watched too many documentaries about them to not like them.

6. South Africa

You know what is really depressing sometimes? Following Youtube sensations like Ben Brown or Louis Cole. They just get the hang of life. Ever since I watched Bens first vlog in South Africa I´m crazy in love with this country. It just sounds like a good adventure to me. 

7. Sri Lanka

When I was in 4th grade or something I read a book about a little girl who traveled the world by boat with her parents and ended up living in Sri Lanka. I don´t remember the name of the book, but I remember what a massive impact it had on me. I thought she was super cool and I told myself: one day I´ll go there.

8. Amsterdam

It may be known as the city of drugs, but it is also know as the city of beautiful little canals. I have seen countless pictures of it and this year it played a somewhat big role in 'The Fault In Our Stars'.

9. Argentina

I´m not sure if I shared this little piece of information before, but now you´ll have it. Prior going to Spain for a year I wanted to volunteer in Argentina. Well, I got through till the last round, but then they turned me down. Cool. 

I still love the country nonetheless.

Especially I really want to see the Iguazu falls.

10. Lisboa

Is there really a reason needed why someone wants to go to Lisboa?

11. Ireland

Once my obsession with Ireland was so huge that I dedicated a whole pinterest board to it. 

12. Patagonia

About 4 years ago I have been to a presentation of Patagonia at the Weitsicht-festival with my dad. We both were absolutely fascinated by the pictures that were shown and since then I guess it has been on my bucket list. 

13.Vietnam

Due to speaking about it in school or watching movies like Forrest Gump I am always quite curious to see how countries look after they´ve been in war. The same goes with Germany, history is history, but shall not be forgotten. And what better way to remember than seeing the results with your own eyes?

14. New Zealand

As an absolute middle earth freak I am supposed to visit this country at least once in my life time. And two of my best friends spend a year abroad in NZ and they have been loving it! 

15. Prague

Out of all the Hot Spot's in Europe I feel like this is a secret lava one.

16. Sweden

Being raised with a massive Astrid Lindgren book impact it´s impossible not to be prying whether it looks just like I imagined or completely different. 

17. Salzburg

This city never gets old or boring to me.

18. Obergurgl

I miss my mountains. I miss them dearly. I used to live right in front of them and now.. I barely get to see them. Now I´m more than happy to hear that my parents already decided to go Obergurgl (Austria) next winter to go skiing. We were supposed to go this year, but unfortunately we couldn´t make it. Fingers crossed that it will work out next time. 

Being surrounded by mountains always makes me feel home.

19. Iceland

Since Game Of Thrones Iceland is the land to be. 

Well these are my dreams (& potential realities) about 2015. Let me know what you think in the comments and where you´d like to go!

Second Outfit Of The Week

Yep, it´s been a while, sorry 'bout that.
Nonetheless, here it is (if you try really hard - it rhymes):

This one is a cosy one, winter is just my season (after fall). There is nothing better than comfy bottoms and a snugly sweater, go have a look x

Comfy pants - Oysho (shop here)

Sweater - GAP (similar here)

Shoes - Oysho (similar here)

Ring Number 1 - Charity Shop

Ring Number 2 - made it myself

Bracelet - passed down from a friend

December Favorites

Lacking of a proper introduction, I´ll make it short. Here are my Dezember Favorites:

(Be warned, they are unintentional christmas related)

Slippers

You won´t believe it, but it´s getting ridiculous cold, even in Seville. These are from Oysho and super cozy! You may or may not see them in a future post.

Frank Sinatra

I´ve been raised more or less with oldie music. Well there was my rebellious time when I thought it was stupid but these days are over. Frank Sinatra is a hero and he shall be in my heart forever and ever.  

Winter rose

If you have seen 'My very own Advent Calendar' you realize that this was a gift to myself and I am very happy about that decision. It was 5 bucks and now it´s blasting happiness and oxygen in my room.

Die-Hard-Series

Other than the fact the first 2 movies are set on christmas day, there is no really connection between them and christmas. But Bruce Willis is a super cool dude and I love his movies. Whilst I watched them I attempted to knit a scarf. It worked more or less. Yippie ka yeah, mf.

Hot Chocolate

It´s this time of the year again.. The mornings and evenings are chilly (however throughout the day it´s pretty hot) and I´m craving nothing more than a really (and I am mean almost burning) hot chocolate. Sometimes you just have to treat yourself. :)

Thegoodquote

This is an account on Instagram and I found myself loving it. With over 2.5 million subscriber it´s not that small anymore, but nonetheless they post daily and have some pretty inspiring quotes. Sometimes it´s just that little sentence you need to get out of bed.

Chestnuts

Well they do have this little booths in the streets since October, but it was waaaaay to hot back then. But now once in a while I enjoy picking some up and munching on them on my way.

What I learned from 2014

It was a very eventful year with ups and downs.

This blogpost is inspired by the wonderful Charly Cox.

1. Don´t do last minute purchases

Whether you´re into Prom or not, don´t buy your dress last minute. Believe me, it´ll stress you out to the moon and back. I didn´t really care, but truth be told: You can´t just go naked.

2. Live life on the edge

If someone offers you a hook up on a plane don´t decline just because you´re crying over a boy you´ll never have and shouldn´t even want in the first place, 'cause he is a dumbass.

3. Write a list why you love yourself

This may seem slightly egocentric, but you know what: It is your life, at least once in a while you should be a smidge self-centered.

Finding out you´re actually pretty cool feels damn good.  

4. You can´t buy kindness.

When I was younger I used to admire intelligent people, as I grow older I admire kind people. I noticed the personal impact others have on me is mostly brought through kind words or gestures, but not through intelligence or money.

5. No one can ruin your day without your permission

I often have to tell myself this phrase, because it´s true. They can only bring you down if you let their words or actions get to you. 

And more important: never let someone with the significance of a speed bump become a roadblock of your life.

6. Changing your mind is not lying

There is no law that you have to stick with your opinions for the rest of your life. If you feel like your   mind or character needs an update, go ahead and do it. You are still you.

7. Don´t try to argue with spanish people

It´s pointless. 

No matter how great your points are, they´ll repeat their senseless statements so long until you get tired of it and give up.

8. Just say 'nothing'

If you don´t have any essential words to add in a conversation, simply don´t.

Maturing is realizing how many things don´t require your comment.

9. Forgive your best friend

Sometimes people do shit. Sometimes you do shit. 

But before you try to sort things out: make up your mind.

Do you still want to have this person in your life?

Yes: Go ahead sort it out

No: Don´t bother. Sometimes you have to let things go.

10. Don´t try to climb fences

You will remain with half your arm open.

This is a random picture I took whilst climbing on a a hill in Granada

going back to my moms cookies now x

Dealing With Loss

Warning; This is a bit of a personal post.
This is not gonna bring you joy or brighten up your day, so feel free to skip it.

But this is why I started this blog in the beginning, to write about matters that occupy my mind. Whether they´re happy or sad.

A couple of weeks ago my very good friends mother passed away. It was an accident and completely out of nowhere.
It wasn´t actually him who told me, but a close friend of mine who goes to the same uni.
When I found out, I couldn´t really believe it. Do you know the feeling when you just can´t comprehend something at all? It´s like you´re in this utterly numbness. It´s almost as if you feel nothing. The thought of "she passed away" is on your mind all the time, but you just DON´T get the meaning of it. A bit like a really hard math problem, you´re trying to decode the term but no matter how hard you try, it won´t get through to you.

Soon after finding out I skyped my mom. I talked to her about it and what I am supposed to do. I just wanted to be there for him. I just wanted to hug him, just hug him. And the knowledge that I can´t was hurting me. My mom suggested to write him a letter.

And that is what I did.

I took me almost 2 hours, just to write this damn letter. This was so so difficult.
What are you supposed to tell someone who just lost their mother? There is no sentence like 'Don´t worry' or 'It will be fine', because it won´t. It will never be fine. No matter how you turn and twist the story, the outcome is the same and it´s just NOT an happy ending.
I really struggled to find the right words. Well to be honest, I don´t think I found the right ones, since they don´t exist.
Yet, I was just trying to tell him that I care.

After all the reasons why I thought a letter might be the best option is because:
1. It will take several days to even arrive, hence he has a bit time trying to comprehend
2. He can choose whether to read it or not
3. He doesn´t have to respond me (unlike a Skype-call / face-to-face conversation etc.)
4. I wrote it with heart


After writing the letter I was calling my parents, bawling my eyes out telling them how much I love them.
Life is just crazy, you never know what happens next. With an impact of a moment your life changes completely upside down.
I spend the rest of the weekend coming up with endlessly reasons why I love my mom. I just love her so much. And knowing that your friend does exactly the same but won´t be seeing his mom ever again, is just so.. hurtful.
I was hurt, solely because he was hurt.



I always had a heart time dealing with loss. And to be honest there is no really way on how to deal with it. It´s just something you kind of have to live with.

I remember the first funeral I attended, was my great-grandmothers. I didn´t really know what was going on, to be fair I was only around 4 or 5. And I wasn´t really close to her. I just remember my grandmother crying and me trying to crack a joke to comfort her (probably failing) and that afterwards we had a lovely lunch together and everybody was smiling again.

After that I did not really have a lot experience with death, fortunately.
Until 1 year ago. 1 year ago my 3rd grandfather passed away. He was not my real grandfather, but my great-uncle and him and his wife didn´t have kids, hence we being the substitute grandchildren. He was great, an incredible lovely man, but he definitely had his own mind. That´s what I loved about him, he didn´t try to fit in, he was born to stand out.
So that was my real first situation on how to deal with death. I didn´t cope very well, I was blaming myself for not seeing him often enough when I could have and things like that. It was a tough time to be honest. I still don´t know how to include death in my life, I really don´t. There is just no sort of 'plan' for it or a recipe for it. It´s something you get thrown right into. And you have to decide whether you learn swimming or you drown.

But what I did learn is: Always make sure your loved ones know that you care for them.


If this whole thing is just confusing for you, then I´m sorry. But I just had to get my thoughts out of my mind. If you want to, leave a comment below and tell me your story. Just know that you´re not alone. There is at least one person in this world who goes through the exact same.

'If thoughts are energy, energy is matter and matter never disappears; Then a person can never truly leave you, unless you stop thinking about them.'

Winter Playlist 2014

Since about 3 years I´m into making seasonal playlist. I don´t think I´m the only one though haha. But it all kind of started when I went abroad and was constantly send new music by my friends / family. Hence for every season I have a playlist. Some songs are taking a marvelous strike through almost all of them (such as 'Lemon Tree' by Fool's Garden, 'Shine on' by The Kooks, 'Fly me to the moon' by Frank Sinatra, etc.) and some go as quickly as they came.

My music taste usually has an even spread, but this time the playlist is more 'winterly' and 'oldie' themed - sorry not sorry ;)

1. Baby It´s Cold Outside - Dean Martin
2. Follow Me - Uncle Kracker
3. High - Lighthouse Family
4. Hotel California - The Eagles
5. A Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
6. In My Life - The Beatles
7. Somethin' Stupid  - Frank Sinatra
8. Change Will Come - Samuel Harfst
9. Hold Me Now - Thompson Twins
10. Let It Snow! - Ella Fitzgerald
11. Fly Me To The Moon - Frank Sinatra
12. Little Drummer Boy - The Jackson Five
13. Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen
14. Coming Home - Diddy
15. All Out Of Love - Andru Donalds
16. Dancing With Myself - Billy Idol
17. Heat Of The Moment
18. It´s Hard For Me To Say I´m Sorry - Chicago
19. Join Me - HIM
20. Behind Blue Eyes - Limp Bizkit
21. Aicha - Cheb Khaled
22. Dreamer - Ozzy Osborne
23. Don´t You - Simple Minds
24. I Can´t Help Falling In Love With You - UB40
25. Asleep - The Smiths

Stay lovely,  Marie x

Cutting Media News

I am not very 'into' political aspects, but I am curious about what happens in the world. To keep up with the news while being away I have several Apps on my phone, such as 'Focusonline', 'CNN', 'SPON', 'Die Zeit', 'stern', etc.. But the last couple of weeks (and many other times through this year) I  felt like being bombarded with terrible news everyday. Every morning when I would look at my cell phone to see my Push messages I was instantly put into a bad mood hearing about a 'shooting' here and a 'stabbing' there. Sometimes I didn´t even dare to glance at my phone when it vibrated, afraid of what awful scoops where next. It just got to a point where I constantly worried over everything, because the thing is that all they ever seem to post is disasters and scandals. Apparently that´s the only thing people are interested in hearing these days.

Spreading positive vibes became so rare these days, it´s revolutionary. 

About one and a half years ago I went to a talk by Rolf Dobelli  and listened (among other topics) to his  'News Diet'. Let me tell you, he´s absolutely brilliant! The way he puts his words is absolutely stunning. My whole family went to hear him and even several months afterwards we still brought him up in daily conversations or we recommend him to friends. 

Basically, he puts it in a nutshell how toxic media can be for our body. I just felt under pressure to make the right decision and to constantly put peoples well-being over my own. I grew addicted to create solutions of other people problems. 

And one day I just couldn´t do it anymore. It was like a media overload. 

Accumulating facts DOES NOT help me to understand the world and it certainly doesn´t help me to make better decisions. 

And this is exactly what I did, I deleted all my news-Apps and I´m definitely feeling better.

If anything is stressing you out, do something about it. Don´t let little things ruin your day.

My very own Advent Calendar

Well seems like this year I ain´t no gettin´ one. But hey that´s alright (okay I might have been a tiny bit upset). But you know what, I don´t constantly need someone else to make me happy, I can do that perfectly on my own. This calendar is going to be about things I´m struggling to do or what could brighten my day. The only sad part about this is that it´s not a surprise anymore but oh well haha.

So without further ado here´s my very own advent calendar:

1. Get back into blogging

2. Take a super long walk around the city

3. Buy yourself a flower

4. Make homemade Hummus

5. Squeeze in some exercise

6. Knit yourself a scarf

7. Sip hot cocoa

8. Make a list of lovely things

9. Do some Yoga

10. Buy the lipstick you always wanted to have

11. Treat yourself with a glas of wine (or tinto de verano)

12. Buy a new book, sit in a park and just start to read

13. Explore a museum you´ve never been to.

14. Go and see a movie you´ve been dying to see, even if you have to go alone.

15. Treat yourself with your favorite ice cream

16. Buy an album or audiobook you always wanted

17. Start writing a story / screenplay or whatever floats your boat

18. Finally start a project you always wanted to start

19. Tell someone you really really like them

20. Go and have a fun night out 

21. Have a nice bath (maybe with some lush?)

22. Buy some really good cheese and some crackers and have a fondue in front of the fire place

23. Go on a winterly picnic

24. Bake some Nutella cookies

I hope this doesn´t sound to desperate, but I´m trying to make the last month of 2014 count. Not for you, not for the world, but for me. 

Hope you all have a lovely christmas time x

A day at the beach of Malaga

Last sunday I hopped on a bus and drove to Málaga! A few of my friends already got there on saturday but I had to work / was busy so I couldn´t go with them. But that didn´t hold me back to join them on sunday. At first I was skeptical about it being worth to drive 4 hours forth and back, but it totally was!!

This was exactly what I needed after so many hectic days, just relaxing, taking in the sun and chatting  away with your friends.

And yes, I did get sunburned, oh man..

Why I love fall

If I scroll through Instagram or my bloglovin´ feed nowadays all I can see is people praising fall!
I´m jealous! :(
I just miss fall. I was never a summer person. Maybe a bit of winter, bus mostly a fall person. There is just something about the colors, the wooly oversized jumpers, the homemade Chai Tea Latte, the laying in bed all day watching old movies, the reading a book at your window watching the rain dropping against the glass... I get quite melancholy currently haha. It´s not that I´m appreciating spending my fall in Spain (I promise you, I have the time of my life), but it´s just something different.

My parents just spend a week hiking in Austria and visited my great-aunt (she´s called Nagymama) on their way back. She lives in Salzburg ( I recently blogged about it, go check it out here) and I used to spent so  much time during fall at her house, sitting in front of the oven, cracking walnuts, eating them, telling stories (Nagymama once told me how she felt during war, she was only 6 when it all started.. but it´s crazy how much children notice even at that age), sipping tea and just simply enjoying time together. He sent me a few pictures and I´m gonna share them with you.

Fall, I love you x