Yay For October!

 I have a total girl crush on this lady.   The new Feist album Metals will be out in October! CANNOT WAIT!
See more here. 

 

© All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

A Love Story

In less than a month, Marco and I will be celebrating our first 365 days of being married. Our one-year wedding anniversary is on 21 August. 
As I did not have a blog (nor would I have had the time to write one) while we were organizing our love fest, I thought I'd indulge myself and reminisce about the wedding, our relationship and the planning that went into the big day over the next few weeks. 
Let's call it:

I know I have shared little bits about our wedding here before, but this time I am going to go all out. I am planning to put out a wedding-related post each day up to the day of our anniversary, so there will probably be some wedding DIY, some wedding food, some wedding frustrations, and definitely a post about my hen weekend.

I am going to start things of by telling you how we met:

I moved to London in 2004. I was young, single and dead set on having a great old time. Even before my actual moving date, I had checked out some personal ads on a website that I knew travellers and expats used to network and meet other people in order to make life in the big city fun, sociable and less lonely. I already had my good friend Christina, who had moved to London a few years before me, but I also wanted to make new friends. 

I emailed with a few guys and girls who sounded nice to organize some meet-ups. I had seen an ad by this one Canadian guy, Marco, who was looking for people to do "normal" things with, like going to the movies, or meeting for a chat over coffee. He said he enjoyed travelling and hiking. I thought that maybe he was a bit old (nine years my senior, would you believe it?!), but I had always been a big fan of all things Canadian, so he had that going for him, and I replied.

This is what I wrote to him: 

From: Annika
To: Marco
Subject: Your Gumtree.com ad: Canadian looking to meet new people
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 11:07:30 UT

Hey there!

Great! I am into normal things, too! Especially the sitting-around-with-a-coffee-in-my-hand-stuff! :o)

Am 27, female, German, have just arrived and am looking for nice people to spend my time with.

So are there any good places to go hiking around London?

Am looking forward to your reply!

Have a fun weekend!

Annika

This is what he wrote back:

From: Marco

To: Annika

Subject: Re: Your Gumtree.com ad: Canadian looking to meet new people

Date: Mo 02 Aug 2004 23:59:11 CEST

Hi Annika.

Thanks for answering my Gumtree ad. Surprisingly I got quite a few responses which is nice so I'm busy replying to people who took time to email me. To complicate my life BT cut of my internet in error so I'm waiting to get that sorted. Busy week this week as I'm on a surprisingly difficult Project Planner training course and I changed jobs. So once it all dies down I'll get in touch and hopefully find time to meet up. Being from Vancouver I always like to sit around with a couple of coffee so no problems doing that. Haven't done much hiking around London yet. Would love to. I do a lot of biking along some of the canals in North East London and sometimes I cycle to work at Oxford Circus. What part of London are you located? Where in Germany are you from? Hear from you soon.

Cheers

Marco

So very Marco, moaning about his internet and his training course...  In the end, we did arrange a meeting for the afternoon of 13 August in front of the Virgin Mega Store on Tottenham Court Road. We went on to a lovely Italian café that I knew and chatted. We then went on to a pub in Covent Garden and chatted. After closing time, he walked me to Leicester Square tube while we chatted. And chatting, I'll have you know, does not come easily to me - not with complete strangers. But this stranger was funny. And interesting. And tall. And he had gorgeous brown eyes. I felt at ease around him. More than at ease. In fact, when I came home to my friend Christina's house, where I was staying while I was looking for place of my own, I established that I had met the man I was going to marry. No joke! Christina can confirm! I stayed up all night and watched Four Weddings And A Funeral, because I was too exhilarated to sleep.

Lucky for me, Marco seemed to like me too, as we kept emailing and texting and met up a few more times. I just had to find out if he maybe also felt more than friendly towards me. 

I bought new outfits to wear to our dates. I wore skirts, mostly, because I once caught him checking out my legs... I cooked for him. I took him to the movies and to dark live music venues. You know, so that he could get comfy around me, if you get what I'm saying. Nothing. 

I wrote him a late night email once, after one of our outings, pretending to be tipsy and more or less confessing that I saw more in him than a buddy. Nothing.

I thought that maybe he really just wanted to be friends, because that had been what he was looking for.

But still, I thought he was sending out all the right vibes. If he had not been sending those vibes, I would probably just have declared defeat. After all, I had sworn to myself never to make a move on a guy again, after one too many heartbreaks in the past.

On 30 September, 6 weeks after our first meeting, we were out together again, looking for an Irish pub with live music somewhere in West London. We never actually found the pub, but had a great evening nonetheless, just walking the streets and talking. I was growing more and more desperate, especially as my Canadian was to depart on a trekking holiday to Nepal in two days time. I feared he might chance upon a sexy lady backpacker or a sweet Nepalese beauty and forget all about his German friend in the UK. So, here is what happened on the way home.

We had some part of the way to go together and were sitting next to each other on the Underground. I swallowed all my pride and rested my tired head on Marco's shoulder. 

Surely, any guy who was interested in the girl would put his arm around her, take her hand? No, not this one. 

So the girl, not believing that all the signs could have been wrong, asks him: "Is this okay?". And he says: "Yes!" So simple. 

We had to change onto different trains at Leicester Square. Which is where we then had our first kiss when saying goodbye, on the Southbound Northern Line platform. And the rest is history, as they say.

It turned out that Marco had been falling in love as well, but was also a master of self-restraint. He had not wanted to get too close to me, knowing that he would have to leave me behind for a while to go on his trip. So, he went to Nepal for 3 weeks, and that was the last time we were ever apart for any amount of time. We moved in together in fall 2005, bought a house in 2007 and had our first cat Mae move in with us in 2009. 

And the moral of all this? Love will hit you when you're not looking. Or: If it feels right, make the first move! Or: The shy girl's guide to winning the heart of a timid boy.

How we came to get married? That's a story for another day...

Linking up here!

© All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

The Cursed 27

Today, Amy Winehouse was found dead at her apartment. Like so many other young, talented, troubled musicians before her, she died at the age of 27. 
I would like to say thank you for the music.

{via}

© All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

Fine Tuning: Mumford & Sons - Winter Winds

I really dig Mumford & Sons at the moment. I saw them live a few weeks ago, supporting Arcade Fire, and they were magic to watch. So much joy and exuberance passed from the stage to the audience during their set. They seemed truly happy to be making music.



As the winter winds litter London with lonely hearts, oh, the warmth in your eyes swept me into your arms. Was it love or fear of the cold that led us through the night?
For every kiss your beauty trumped my doubt.
And my head told my heart: "Let love grow". But my heart told my head:"This time no".
We'll be washed and buried one day my girl and the time we were given will be left for the world. The flesh that lived and loved will be eaten by plague, so let the memories be good for those who stay.

And my head told my heart: "Let love grow." But my heart told my head: "This time no". Yes, my heart told my head: "This time no".
Oh, the shame that sent me off from the God that I once loved was the same that sent me into your arms. Oh, and pestilence is won when you are lost and I am gone and no hope will overcome.
But if your strife strikes at your sleep remember spring swaps snow for leaves. You'll be happy and wholesome again when the city clears and sun ascends.
And my head told my heart: "Let love grow". But my heart told my head: "This time no".

{via}

 It's the weekend!
 Have a happy one! 
  © All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

Bremerhaven - 13 to 18 July 2011

As promised, here are the picturers from my trip home. There are a lot of them...

 

 The ferry terminal in Dover at 7:30 in the morning.

  

This seagull was the welcome party at check-in.

In the hold of the ferry.

 

Breakfast of champions.

In the souvenir shop.

50 is what we were supposed to do on one highway in Holland...

 

And this was our actual speed for a lot of the time. Traffic was mad!

Trying to recreate childhood memories with potato salad, Frikadellen, and fizzy drinks.

     

 Welcome meal at my parents'. White asparagus, hollandaise sauce, potatoes and cubed ham.

Some impressions from my home town Bremerhaven. I've been going to Teo's ice cream parlour since I was a teenager. The prices have not changed much since then, and the gelato is fantastic! It's a real Italian family business.

Bremerhaven was badly bombed during World War II, but some of the beautiful old architecture remained, like this church, built with red bricks in gothic style, which is very typical for the region.

One of the many harbours in town. All the ships are museums and you can go aboard for a look, even on the submarine.

       

On Thursday evening, Marco, my Mama and I took the bikes to go to the Schnitzelbuffet. We rode through the fields. It reminded me of my child hood, when I used to go out and play in the countryside a lot.

       

An honesty stand by the side of the road. All the flowers and produce have a price sticker, and you just take what you want and leave the money. And a very typically German restaurant interior.

    

Some images from the Friday Farmers' Market in my parents' town.

       

After the market, we went antiquing.

Vintage pudding mix or pickling aid, anyone?

The antique store was amazing. Housed in an old mill (you can see the old mill stones in some of the pictures), there were several rooms of antique furniture, paintings, crockery, jewellery, knick knacks... of everything your heart could possibly desire!

Glass lamp shades.

 

A doll's kitchen.

You could peak into the dealer's workshops, with all the solutions and tools he ises for restauration.

Marco and I bought a 50s side table, an old printer's tray, a pretty bowl, a stein, a earthenware bottle, and an antique cross stitch booklet for €45. Erm, and a magnificent 50s cupboard (similar to this) for €120. I failed to take a picture of it, and my parents will bring it in their VW transporter on their next trip to England after my Papa has restored a few minor things. It all felt like such a score!

After the exhausting task of spending money, we needed a cake stop and went to another harbour area, where we also bought some smoked fish.

Sprats and eels.

Fresh fish from the North Sea.

 

The wrapping paper was made to look like newspaper.

Smoked mackarel and Fischbrötchen.

 

Fish stock, freshly made.

Old figureheads adorningng the walls by the shopping strip.

       

Saturday morning, we went for our big grocery shopping trip. In the afternoon, some freinds and family came to my parents' house for a barbecue. It stayed dry just long enough to grill and eat outside. Once the last steak was done, the rain came... 

My Papa manning the grill.

 

 My two Omas.

My Opa on my Papa's side and my brother Aiko with his girlfriend Mareike in the background.

          

My aunt Christa (Papa's sister) and my uncle Werner (Mama's brother).

My Opa on my Mama's side and Marco, Aiko and Mareike.

      

My Papa and yours truly.

There is never any rest on a visit home, so Sunday morning, we were off for our horse and cart ride. This outing was a present to my Opa on his 80th birthday, because he loves horses. It took 1 and a half years to arrange this trip, because my brother and I were never home at the same times before.

              

The owner of the horses and the cart, Hermann. He is an acquaintance of my Papa's.

Hermann's gigantic German Shepherd. He was a very friendly giant, though.

       

The horses were called Kaspar and Amigo. Amigo is 23 years old!

      

Uncle Werner in the back of the cart.

       

My parents and some overcast countryside.

      

Cakey snacks for our coffee break.

   

We stopped for coffee and cake at this very typical house, which is a museum, but was closed. We had two differnt kinds of Butterkuchen, which is a tray bake with a butter and almond topping. My Papa and Opa made one each.

       

One of the villages we went through had a very characteristic festival going on. A lot of small German villages have a shooting club with a shooting range. Once a year, there is a big shooting competion, with the best shots being crowned shooting king and queen. These festivals usually involve a lot of drinking, and the streets of the village will be festooned with wreaths and ribbons like these.

   

Early on Monday morning, it was time to say goodbye again. I tried to take some pictures of the car. It was packed to full capacity, I was amazed how much stuff we were able to fit.

 

We had some time in Dunkerque before we had to board the ferry, and I took these pictures by the beach.

We also stopped at a huge hypermarche on the way to the port. Unfortunately, we only had half an hour for what we would have needed 2. We managed to pick up some wine and cheese, and I guess with the limited space we had in the car, it was good we did not have more opportunity to browse the aisles.

They had this cool digital price tags there...

The last picture (congratulations if you have made it all the way here!) shows the contents of the car on our living room floor after we got home. I still cannot believe that it all fit! My Mama was very happy to reclaim some of her attic space, and I guess I will have to spend the weekend to sort through everything!

 © All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)