Snow on the Beach

Have you ever seen snow on the beach before? It's something new to me, something I saw for the first time last year. And although I prefer sunny days and louging around in a bikini on the warm sand, there is something magical about the mix of snow and sand and ice.

This was how it looked last year during a particularly brutal winter at our usual spot on the German island of Rügen: Göhren.

And this is what it looked like this year. Less snow, more ice, but still some gorgeous views.

But really, enough with the bone-chilling winter days already. Bring on the warm sunshine and outdoor grill parties!

In Hopes of Spring

Anyone who's visited us here in Berlin knows that I have quite the passionate love affair with my balcony plants in the summer. Our balcony isn't huge, but I squeezed in plant boxes full of herbs and flowers all the way around the railings and last year we even had tomato plants taking up half of the floor space.

 These were from two summers ago. It got even more crowded last year!

Currently it looks a little more like this:

Well, ok, that snow has luckily all melted, but you get the idea.

Still, even though winter has decided to rear its ugly head for a last freezing cold hurrah, we are planning for spring. And the bright sunny sky keeps me hopeful even through the bitter cold of the last couple weeks. 

Last year we planted our herb and tomato seeds entirely too late. Which we also realized entirely too late. Namely in September, when we still had a plethora of tiny green tomatoes that just would not ripen. And we hadn't been able to pluck one the whole summer. It was then that we said we'd do it differently this year. And that we did. Cue last Sunday:

 The handy dandy herb starter kit we got at the Baumarkt.

 Tomato seeds galore!

 We got that handsome devil in the back there in Philly last year. I have no idea what the seeds will turn into...

 The starter pods

Be forewarned, when I start blabbering about my "babies" come spring, these are the little rugrats I'll be talking about. That, or a baby pigeon named Henry. But that's a story for another day...

Sister, Sister!

 So I'm more than a wee bit sad today that my twin sister will be leaving us tomorrow! I feel like she just got here. Even though it's been over 3 weeks now. It was a rollercoaster 3 weeks full of every emotion under the sun and then some. But still, if I had my way, I'd keep her as my workout buddy in Berlin forever. (Though, she'd probably have to move out of our apartment at some point, or we would be likely to kill each other at any given moment, in between our fits of laughter.)

 We didn't do much sightseeing this trip, as we didn't really need to. She's been here too many times to count and lived here with me in the beginning too.

Didn't do a very good job of sharing the spotlight there, but look how pretty the Berliner Dom is!

To celebrate her last night of Euro fun (until September, at least her next visit is already planned!), we've decided to throw ourselves an impromptu wine and cheese party. Fitting, no? It will be happily reminiscent of the wine and cheese birthday party we threw ourselves last summer while she was here visiting. Though with less people (only us two, my man, and his little brother) and, for my sake, hopefully less wine. Seeing as it's Monday and all.

 

Anywho, I was inspired by one of my favorite blogs, and only hope that our evening looks as lovely as this one at Nothing But Bonfires. We'll see. You really can't go wrong with  multiple varieties of cheese, olives, bread, and wine.

 

Until next time, sisko! Or rather, until April, when we'll be visiting you in NYC!