Recent Reads #12 - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

When was the last time you read a book that was so good it made you forget the world around and seemed to absorb you into its very own world? I know exactly when I did. When I was reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs at the pool back in Tenerife, the noise around me seemed to die down and I didn't even realize when little kids splashed me or dripped ketchup from their hotdogs on me.

This book is a very special one, pretty much one of a kind, at least on my shelf. I can't be the only one who has seen it sit on a shelf in the bookstore a thousand times and never picked it up. To keep you from passing up this gem, let me spill the beans about it to you.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children follows the story of Jacob Portman, who appears to be a completely normal American boy at first sight . Jacob thinks of his life as boring and doesn't really feel comfortable with his family's wealth. The one member of his family he has a real, strong bond to is his Polish grandfather, who used to tell him the most fantastic storie about the children he grew up with when he was a kid. Children who had strange abilities, like making plants grow, flying or foreseeing the future.

But when Jacob wants to visit his grandfather one day, he comes to find that his grandpa has been  murdered viciously. Before he dies, however, he tells Jacob to "find the bird in the loop on the other side of th old man's grave on September 3 1940, and tell them what happened". Even though everyone tires to tell Jacob that it was dogs who killed his grandfather after the incident, he can't stop feeling like that it wasn't like that at all - he saw a man-like figure. With tentacles coming out of its mouth. In fact, he keeps seeing them.

Jacob feels like he is losing his mind, but then he finds a small box when cleaning out his grandfathers house. A box containing the pictures Jacob's grandfather brought out when elling his stories. Only that suddenly Jacob feels like those aren't stories anymore.

As Jacob tries to unravel the mystery surrounding his grandfather's life and death, he has to realise that there is a whole other one surrounding him, and that peculiarity can be found even in the most blunt of people.



While I really like the book overall, I have to admit that it might take you a while to get into the plot if you are not an avid lover of fantasy or mystery novels. After the first fifty pages, however, all hell  breaks lose, and you'll read like your hands are glued to the pages because everything that is happening is so strange and yet so wonderful.

What I also found extremely interesting is that this book has two different time settings - modern day America, and 1940 Wales. Every peek back into Wales during the second World War was really intense - I really enjoyed that as I don't think I've ever read a book set in that historical period, even though I've learnt so much about it during the past few years.

I haven't even touched base on the best thing about this book yet. It's actually not just your average book - it's filled with pictures that help introduce characters, set atmospheres or just plainly freak you out. The photos used in this are all original, vintage photographs the author collected, and they were chosen so perfectly that they tie into the book's plot seamlessly. They're incredibly fascinating to look at and make the book even more exciting and intense!


Overall, this books an incredible piece of work that draws you in completely and doesn't let go of you for a while, even after you manage to put it down. It has incredible characters, especially if you take into consideration that the majority of them are children, and an awesome plot that is carried by fascinating yet sometimes terrifying, authentic photographs.

If you want to see if all the stories are true, you can pick up Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children from Amazon for 7,99€.

If you liked this post and want to be updated on fresh content regularly, why not follow me on Bloglovin'? You can find me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram as well!

Lush Haul: Halloween Edition

Lush is one of my favorite companies. Not only do they not test on animals, openly campaign against testing products on animals and sell vegan products, but besides that, their products are absolutely top-notch. I've never come across a product that I didn't like, and I would pretty much do anything for  their face masks and bath products. Probably even steal a kid's lolipop or ice cream. They're that good.

But do you know what's even better than Lush's products? Their limited edition products. There's nothing like bath bombs that get you into the mood for a festive season, be it Easter, Christmas or Halloween. As Lush have brought out their new, limited products for the latter, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to pick up some of them for myself - and while I sadly didn't manage to get all of them, I'm happy to get to show you my three treasures!

Sparkly Pumpkin (Bubble Bar) 5,95€  

Just how pretty is this bubble bar? It's super glittery - seriously, by merely picking it up you'll find your hand covered in it - and the pumpkin shape makes me want to run to the grocery store and buy a real one. And it smells incredibly - a lot like lime as well as lemon, which I love as the scent doesn't become to overpowering even if you stay in the bath for longer.

What's also great about this little one is that, as it is a bubble bar, you can use it multiple times - depending on how many bubbles you want to create, you'll get at least two or even three uses out of this!

Lord of Misrule (Bath Bomb) 5,25€

I tested Lord of Misrule last fall and absolutely adored it, so I had to get myself another one of these this year as well! Its green outside might look a little bland and boring to you now, but once you drop this bath bomb into the water it'll turn into the most beautiful spectacle ever.
The scent of this one is really rich and prominent - not so much that it's overwhelming, but enough to make most of my flat smell like it for the first few days after purchase. I don't mind that at all, though, because who doesn't want their flat smelling of patchouli, cape jasmine and pepper?

Pumpkin (Bath Bomb) 5,25€

This little guy is the cutests, it's basically a carved pumpkin turned into a bath bomb. I had never seen it before storming into Lush last weekend, so I definitely had to give it a go. I actually don't even know how it'll look once put into the tub as I wanted to be suprise and thus didn't ask for a demo.
It does, however, smell divine - the cinnamon scent reminds me of all sorts of Christmas cookies and cakes, which is kind of funny.

Are you going to pick up any of Lush's - or other brands' - Halloween/fall products?

If you liked this post and want to be updated on fresh content regularly, why not follow me on Bloglovin'?

You can find me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram as well!

7 Things I've Learnt Through Blogging

I've been blogging for roughly one year and six months and started devoting most of my spare time to my writing and this blog at the beginning of this year. Even though I'm not nearly as experienced as some of the girls and boys who have been grooming their blogs for three, four, even five years, but I recently realized how many things I've learnt ever since creating this outlet for myself.
Some of those things are really helpful, some eye-opening and some just pretty funny, but I think some of my fellow bloggers might be able to relate to this and have a good old laugh!

[source]

1. Taking those glossy, perfectly organized photos you've been admiring on other people's blogs or Instagram accounts is bloody hard. Photography itself is bloody hard. It's an everlasting process, one of those skills you always seem to keep on learning new things about. And while it's mostly fun taking pictures for your blog, constantly re-arranging props or deleting 98 out of the 100 pictures you took because they're out of focus or too dark can be a little discouraging.

2. Natural lighting is your best friend. And also really hard to get hold of come fall and winter. You might find yourself scheduling your day around the fact that you need to squeeze in a week's worth of pictures during those few sunny hours you get every day or so.

3. You don't always have to be positive on your blog. I think most of us aren't postive in our daily lives, so why would we put on that facade for our blog? It's okay to talk about topics that make your stomach turn, and it's okay to tell your readers if you think a product sucks. It's better to be credible.

4. There's no one-for-all recipe when it comes to blogging. You can read as many "tips on how to improve your blog" post as you like, but in the end, blogging will always be a very personal thing. You often learn through trial and error, that way you find out what works for you and what doesn't.

5. Blogging is actually hard work. When I created this blog, I thought I'd smack down a post at least every second day. Ha ha, good one. It takes time to create the kind of quality content that makes people want to read your posts, the kind they might come back for. It's definitely better to chose quality over quantity.

6. It's really exciting when brands approach you for the first time, but you shouldn't be too quick to accept when it comes to collaboration offers. If the product you're asked to promote has nothing to do with you and your blog, you will most likely not profit from it. Imagine promoting tampons to your audience if you're a male blogger or reviewing cat food if you've never had a pad - it'll look a little strange and make you look like you don't take your collaborations into consideration.

7. Don't ever compare yourself to others. It's incredibly easy to look at other people's stats and get discouraged, but all of our blogging journeys are different. Maybe they have been at it for a lot longer, or they have more time to spend working on their blog, or or or. It sounds like bullshit, and it obviously can't always be avoided, but you should be aware that your path will most likely not be like someone elses, but completely unique.

Is there anything important you've learnt during your blogging journey?

If you liked this post and want to be updated on fresh content regularly, why not follow me on Bloglovin'?

You can find me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram as well!

My Everyday Make Up

I love extravangant make up looks for nights out or special occasions, don't get me wrong, but on an average day, I can hardly be arsed to sit down at my vanity and do anything with my face at all. Because of that, I need a quick make up routine that I'll still be able to do when my eyes are still falling closed.

And as I'm sure I can't be the only one out there who presses snooze at least three times and is left with next to no time to make themselves look human during the morning, I thought I'd share my weekday make up routine with you guys - maybe you can let it inspire you!

After experiencing all kinds of problems with my skin ever since February, I've stopped wearing heavy base products like foundation altogether. On a normal day, all I need to even out my complexion is my MAC 'Mineralize Skinfinish Natural Powder' in 'Light Plus', which covers quite a lot of redness - and if there's any spots it can't take care of, I'll use the MAC 'Mineralize Concealer' in 'NW20'. For the deep blue circles under my eyes, Benefit's 'Erase Paste' in 'Light' is the best remedy as it covers them next to completely!

I'm one of those people who just cannot leave the house without doing their eyebrows - they would literally be non-exsistent if I did - so I use Essence's 'shape & shadows eye contouring palette' to fill them in and bring them into shape. Then I'll apply two coats of my beloved Too Faced 'Better Than Sex Mascara' - and that's my eyes done!

My lips tend to chap a lot, especially during the colder seasons, so lip balm is an absolute must. I've been loving the Burts' Bees lipbalm in 'Honey' lately, and it tastes just as lovely it feels on the lips!
I don't wear lipstick every single day, but I've been getting back into nude shades during the past few weeks - MAC's 'Velvet Teddy' is the perfect everyday shade as it's pretty subtle and goes with just about every look!

Do you wear a full-face make up on a daily basis, or do you like to keep it more casual?

If you liked this post and want to be updated on fresh content regularly, why not follow me on Bloglovin'?

You can find me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram as well!

My Final Year: Hopes, Expectations and Fears

[source]

I don't post about my personal life on here too often, and while I'm not one to put their entire life and everything that comes with it out there for everyone to see it, I want you guys to have more insight into my thoughts, my processes and my actions. I've had this blog for roughly one and a half years, and I still feel like this is somewhat unpersonal - so this is me letting you in some more. And what better way than to start with something that's been giving me headaches and sleepless nights for weeks? But really, it's one close to my heart.


If you follow me on Twitter, you might know that my final year of high school started this week. The word "final" itself gives me the creeps because, as much as I like to shout "change is a good thing" from the rooftops, I'm freaking scared of endings. Like, crippling-terror-scared. Exsistential-crisis-scared.
I think the worst thing about this part of my life coming to an end is that school is the one thing that gave my life a routine, and, as much as I loathed it at times, I find comfort in that routine. It gives me something to do. It gives me a secure future, at least from the ages six to eighteen. And after it has ended? Then what? Do I really want to go to uni? Can I do this? Who am I?

At least I know I'm not the only person dealing with this "how the fuck am I going to cope as an adult" buisness from talking to some of my friends, because it feels like we're all pretty much lost and only a fair few have their next few years completely figured out. Phew.

The realization that everything might not be as bad as I think - but still bad enough to give me nightmares now and then - will hopefully help me focus on actually finishing this year and with it, my A-Levels. Now, I'm a pretty good student, so unless I completely blank out on either of my five A-Level exams, I should probably not have to worry about failing too much, which is extremely reassuring.

I'm pushing myself to get better and better, though. I want, and actually really need good results as you need an overall grade of 1.7 or better to be admitted to what I want to study at uni. For all of you who aren't familiar with the German school system, that's a little above an A- as an overall final grade, made up of your scores from year 11 and 12 as well as your A-Level exams. Scary, eh?
I really, really want to be able to achieve this, and I know it'll take a hell lot of studying to get there, but I hope I can do it.

What I hope for even more is that I won't ruin my health as much as I did studying for my exams last year. I was so dedicated to achieving the grades I wished for that I worked myself up quite a bit. I did end up with really good grades, but also in physical pain, with stress levels as high as Mont Blanc as well as insomnia. I don't want to do this to myself anymore because as much as I'd love great results, not wrecking myself needs to be a priority.

And, besides all the boring but somewhat terrifying educational aspects, I hope that I'll still have plenty of time to spend with my friends before our last year ends. I don't think I'll ever get to see them as much as I do at school ever again, and I have no clue where we'll all end up a year from now - probably spread all across the damn globe, in Australia and America and Turkey and Germany - and it's really weird and sad thinking about not being able to see them for long periods of time.
I wish for it to be a great year for us, no matter what life throws at us.

If you liked this post and want to be updated on fresh content regularly, why not follow me on Bloglovin'?

You can find me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram as well!

How to Bake Lemon-Chocolate Cupcakes

 Baking is one of my favorite pastimes, but I did very little of it during the winter because no one in my family likes to eat a lot of sweets when it's so hot and it'd be a waste to throw all that good food away.

However, yesterday was my last day of freedom, aka the last day before senior year started, and because of that, I decided to do some celebratory backing. I wanted to try something I hadn't done before, and when I came across this lovely recipe on Pinterest, I decided to tinker with it - and what came to be were these lemon-chocolate cupcakes! They're both sweet and a little sour, they're the ebst of both worlds y'all.

When I asked you guys on Twitter whether I should share the recipe on here, the responses were utterly positive, so here we go!

To make these, you will need:

Cupcakes:
- 2 large eggs

-200g flour
- 115g caster sugar
-115g non-salted butter
- 100ml lemon juice, preferably freshly pressed
- zest of 2 lemmons
- 1/2 baking powder

Buttercream:

- 115g Butter

-175g icing sugar, sifted

- 1/2 tablespoon cacao powder

Decoration:
- 10 Raspberries
- Sprinkles

Method:

Cupcakes

1) To make your cupcakes, place all of the ingredients but the lemon juice into a mixing bowl and whisk for around two minutes so you'll have a well combined, smooth mixture.
2) Now, add the lemon juice to your cupcake mixture. Then whisk for another minute.
3) Place an even amount of your mixture into 10 cases.
4) Bake on the middle shelf of a preheated oven 190 c (170 c fan) for twenty minutes - once that time is over, use a coctail stick to check whether your cakes are done - stick it into a cupcake, if some dough sticks to it when you pull it out, then your cakes aren't done yet!

Buttercream

1) Whisk 115g of butter until it's very fluffy - the amount of time depends on how fast your whisk can go, really, and whether the butter is room temperature or was previously forzen - then add 175g of icing sugar into the same bowl.
2) Once your cupcakes have cooled down, you can pipe the buttercream onto them using a piping bag.

3) To give your cupcakes the final touch, place a raspberry on top of each cake and then dapple them with sprinkles - done!

If you liked this post and want to be updated on fresh content regularly, why not follow me on Bloglovin'?

You can find me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram as well!

Recent Reads #11 - Vanishing Girls

It's been months since I last chatted to you guys about my recent reads, and that's because I hardly had the time to read for my own pure pleasure with all my finals crashing over my head as well as working on my thesis.

However, you will know that I've made a promise to myself to read as much as I possibly can during my summer holidays if you've seen my summer book haul. I actually managed to make a lot of time for reading this summer - especially during my time in Teneriffe. A lot as in devouring a book a day. Is there anything better than reading a great book on the beach or by the sea?

One of the books I read while I was away was "Vanishing Girls", a thriller by Lauren Oliver, which I didn't know anything about prior to purchasing it. But as it was praised to live up to the likes of "Gone Girl", I decided that I should give it a shot. But was it worth it?

Vanishing Girls follows the story of the two very different sisters Dara and Nick, Nick being the studious, quiet child while Dara always seems to get herself in trouble for partying, drinking, smoking and the like. The two of them had used to be as thick as thieves until they got into a car crash one night that left half of beautiful Dara's face completely scarred and the bond between the siblings broken and poisoned.

When Dara disappears on her birthday, Nick supposes that her sister is just playing another one of her games with everyone. However, as time progresses, Nick starts to connect the disappearance of her sister with that of an eleven year old girl from their town. As more and more evidence proving that the cases are linked shows up, Nick's search for her sister becomes more and more urgent because she is convinced of one thing - Dara is running out of time.

Now, how did I like this novel? Was it really as good as I was told it would be?

Well, for one, it was quite hard for me to get into the story at first, I'm not going to lie. It takes at least a third of the book for the whole thriller aspect of it to pick up, which can be quite annoying when you expect something to finally happen for a hundred pages.

I did, however, really like the way the plot ended up unfolding once it finally did. The storyline is pretty intense and - if you're a young woman and can imagine yourself in a similar situation to either of the two sisters - even terrifying. It's a clever and incredibly thought through book - but you will only realize this once you reach the book's plot twist, which I could never have predicted. I actually had to put down the book for a hot minute because I couldn't believe what I had just read!

I also really enjoyed the dynamics between the two sisters, and I think everyone who has siblings themselves would, too. I myself have a younger brother who I have a real hot-and-cold relationship with (really, it's either "Don't breathe in my direction" or "I'll help you burry the body" and nothing inbetween), so I could really identify with Nick, who is the older sister. I often felt like Lauren Oliver somehow took my thoughts and feelings and put them into Nick's mouth, and that's also what made her so incredibly relatable for me!


Overall, I think this book is a great read, especially if you're into thrilling and/or dark reads. It's an incredible potrayal of the relationships between siblings and sibling rivalary as well as the dark depths of human nature - and the plot twist is incredible.

If you want to see and find out how all this turns out in the end, you can get "Vanishing Girls" off Amazon for 8.99€.

If you liked this post and want to be updated on fresh content regularly, why not follow me on Bloglovin'?

You can find me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram as well!

20 Things I Look Forward to in Fall

Isn't it crazy how we're already onto the middle of September? Time truly does fly - and now I feel like a complete granny for saying this, but it's true! Fall seems to creep up on us more and more every day, and even though the weather has been exceptionally great and it still feels like the peak of summer around here, the leaves are starting to turn colorful already.

I feel like I say this about all seasons, but I feel like fall might be my favorite. There's so many good things that come with fall that I look forward to all year long, and because I'm sure you reading this either love this time of the year as much as I do or a just curious to learn about the things I love, I decided to share some of the things I look forward to this fall with you!

1. Lighting candles in the evening.

2. The new semester - not necessarily because of classes because dude, that's too much effort after summer break, but because a new semester means new stationary!

3. Rainy days spent in bed with a good book.

4. Colder days so I can finally wear my favorite sweaters again.

5. Pumpkin spice lattes. I know, it sounds so basic, but I do actually like them quite a lot. I would've already had one if it wasn't still 30 degrees outside!

6. Actually, pretty much pumkin everything.

7. New seasons of all the TV shows. Except for Pretty Little Liars. I'm suffering.

8. Fall DIY projects.

9. Halloween.

10. Getting out all of my fairy lights again.

11. Family movie nights,

12. All of the leaves outside my bedroom window turning a million different colors. It's like watching a painting unfold.

13. Wearing my favorite pair of boots.

14. Scented candles.

15. Making up ideas for cute Christmas presents. Don't laugh, I'm that organized and think of those things months in advance.

16. Scarves. I bloody love snuggly scarves that are so huge they can also be used as blankets.

17. Jumping around in a pile of leaves because I'm really a four year old at heart.

18. Funfairs - so many pop up where I live around this time, it's a dream!

19. Bonfires with marshmallow and s'mores.

20. Spending more time with the people I love, the people who believe in me and make me a better person.

Is there something special you look forward to this fall?

If you liked this post and want to be updated on fresh content regularly, why not follow me on Bloglovin'?

You can find me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram as well!

Tenerife Photo Diary Pt. 2

I feel like I've been talking about my time in Tenerife all day every day ever since I've returned - even though that was well over a week ago. I've shared quite a lot of my impressions over on my Instagram and also shared the first part of what I called my "Tenerife photo diary" on here earlier this week, and as I got quite a few lovely comments from you guys I was really exited to share the rest of my travels with you!

This one includes some real goddies - photos taken 30 meters below the ocean's surface, the burgers that dreams are made of, amazing animals, the list goes on. So let's dive right into it, shall we?

DAY 6 - Thursday

Marina San Miguel

     

An entire afternoon of exploring the bottom of the sea in a submarine - is there a better way to spend your Thursday?

DAY 8 - Saturday

Couldn't resist eating at the Hard Rock Café at least once. Can you believe my family had never been there before? Thank god they have me to introduce them to incredible food like this.

DAY 9 - Sunday

I can imagine few things that are more beautiful than a sunset at Playa la Pinta.

DAY 11 - Tuesday

 

Loro Parque, which is rated to be the second best animal park in the world, was absolutely amazing. There were so many animals I had never seen in person before, like the Orcas, so it was an incredible experience.


DAY 12 - Wednesday

And then we're off to go home again...


And that marks the end of our trip to Tenerife. I hope my photo diaries have showed you how absolutely breathtaking this little island is and how great of a time I had there!

How do you feel the idea of sharing travels through photo diaries? Do you prefer those or rather read chatty posts about travelers' experiences?

If you liked this post and want to be updated on fresh content regularly, why not follow me on Bloglovin'?

You can find me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram as well!

Tenerife Photo Diary Pt. 1

If you follow me on any of my social media, you might know that I recently went on a trip to the island of Tenerife - I literally talked about it non-stop and shared quite a lot of photos of it, I was that excited.
I had never been to the beach prior to this holiday and it's been a while since my family went on a long get-away, so I was convinced that those 12 days would be the best trip we ever went on - and I was not let down.

As Tenerife is an incredibly versatile island when it comes in landscape, cities and activies you're offered, there were so many incredible things I got to experience and so many incredible things I got to see that I decided that, instead of blabbing on and on about how much I enjoyed myself, I'd share my impressions through a photo diary, just like I did for my Rome trip - so here we go!


DAY 1 - Friday

Post-arrival pool shenanigans

Gorgeous decor next to our hotel's entrance

Playas de Troya

DAY 2 - Saturday

Playa la Pinta

Candid holiday photos courtsey of my star photgrapher (thanks Mom!)

After spending two days straight at the beach or our hotel's pool, my skin had clearly had enough as I woke up in the middle of the night with what felt like a hellish fever - my sunburn started to show!
I then proceeded to spent day 3 hidden beneath the shade of an umbrella, trying not to faint. Glamouros, I know.

DAY 4 - Monday

Caves near "Los Gigantes" - how incredibly pretty is this water?

Hiking up to the pirates' village Masca

What these pictures don't show is that we went on one of our most exciting adventures on this day - we took a speed boat ride far out into the ocean to watch dolphins and whales, which I sadly couldn't capture. Those were such intimate moments - especially seeing one only a week-old dolphin, that I will always remember.

What you also don't see is that it was nearing fourty degrees Celsius that day, which meant that I was basically bathed in sweat after our hike - luckily I got to jump into the freakishly turquoise sea afterwards!

DAY 4 - Tuesday

Playa de las Teresitas near the capital Santa Cruz - Tenerife's only beach that is covered in pure, white (or yellow-ish) sand which was imported straight from the Sahara!

  

 

Exploring Santa Cruz, the island's capital

Gorgeous greenery in La Laguna, the island's oldest city

Teide National Park

DAY 5 - Wednesday

Doing what I do best - shopping 'til I drop at the "Siam Mall", Tenerife's biggest mall and an absolute paradise for gals like me!



And that is it, at least for the first half of this photo diary - I feel like I covered so much in this post already that adding the other half to it might be a tad overwhelming. Because of that, I'm splitting this post into two, with the second part coming up on Saturday, so keep tuned for that!

If you liked this post and want to be updated on fresh content regularly, why not follow me on Bloglovin'?

You can find me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram as well!