Three Years On: A Lovestory

It has almost been three years since I moved to England, and with only a little over a week to go until I graduate from university, I thought this would be a good time to reflect on my time in this country. I have chosen the title of this post as the story of my life since I moved to this country feels like it has been a lovestory. The story of me falling in love with a city and a country, and falling even more in love with science
I want to use this to talk about the experience as a whole, but I want to do this honestly. Moving to a different country is not all making new friends and traveling and eating new food, a lot of it is loneliness, doubts and fear. But is it all worth it? HELL YEAH!

The first year was the hardest, and looking back I see how I could have made it easier for myself, but we always know better once it's all worked out anyway. I loved my course, I loved university, I knew I had found the thing I wanted to do. But I didn't have many friends, which is something I really struggled with. Not having my family and friends around was made more difficult by the fact that I didn't have anyone I really wanted to talk to. In retrospect I should have opened up a bit more, gone to more events, joined more societies. And most importantly, asked for help. This is something I still struggle with, but I have gotten better at it. There is no shame in not understanding the healthcare system in a country you've only lived in for a few months, no one will look at you weird for asking how things work. I managed to work it out in the end though, I learned a lot for myself and how to live my life, and it was at the end of my first year that I met some of the people who are still a big part of my life.

The University of Manchester iGEM Team 2015

Determined to make second year better than the first, I moved into my own little flat to have my own space, I took part in more society activities and volunteered at the Manchester Science Festival for the first time. My health wasn't amazing for the first semester, but all of my memories of that time are still filled with spending time with friends and loving university, so I guess it can't have been that bad! Second year was also the year I made one of the best decisions of my life and joined our university iGEM team to spend six months working on our own synthetic biology project, and spend the summer in the lab. Not only did I meet some amazing people this way, some of which are still my best friends, but I also learned that working in a lab was well and truly what I loved. And working with bacteria is basically the best thing in the world for me. At the end of a summer full of work we got to go to Boston and present our project, most definitely one of the best experiences of my life and I am so glad I made the decision to take part. I honestly think my life would be very different now if I hadn't chosen to do it.

Media City after a day volunteering at Manchester Science Festival

After a summer full of science I returned to Manchester ready for my third year. After a few weeks of Boston-induced jet lag which almost lead me to forget to send off my application for Manchester Science Festival, I started researching the topic for my literature review which would lead to my lab project in second semester. The whole project gave me even more confidence that I was going down the right path, and I decided to stick with microbiology in the future. Bacteria are great after all.

I can say without a doubt that my third year at uni has been the best yet, I made some important decisions, and even more important memories. I can well and truly say that this has been the best year of my life and I wouldn't change a thing about it. This past year I well and truly fell in love with this amazing city, staying here over summer and spending the rest of the year exploring the city both on my own and with friends truly made me feel at home here.

Moving to a new country isn't an easy thing to do, but in my case it was more than worth it. I am especially happy about the things I learned about myself along the way and how much it changed me in the best way possible. My love for science and this city lead to me to volunteer at the Manchester Science Festival twice and meet some of the best people in the process. People who share my love for science and this city, some of which have since become a very important part of my life. It is due to the people I met along the way that I have fallen more in love with this country, felt welcome and was made to feel at home. I honestly cannot thank them enough for making me feel that way. I might not have started out with a large group of friends, but I now have people in this country I know I can rely on.

This country is my home now, England you're stuck with me.

An Austrian in England

Almost three years ago I moved to this country that I now call my second home. I moved here because It had been my dream for many years and because it would help me achieve my biggest goal: to study science. In the three years I have lived here I have learned a lot of things, about this country and about the people and the culture. I know no place in the world is ideal, and I now see this country with all its weird and wonderful traits, and I still call it home.

I don't mean to write a hugely emotional post although this is an emotional matter for me. I had a whole post written out about my time at uni and how I have grown as a person, but I feel at this point I would much rather write about something a little different. I want this to be positive still, I want to show how welcome I felt and still do, and most importantly, why I even had the chance to make this dream of mine come true.

 

I waved goodbye to Austria almost three years ago to come to England. Two countries which are very different in many ways, Austrians drink less tea, smoke cigarettes in pubs...and most importantly, don't really have many pubs. In England it's almost impossible to get a good schnitzel, footballers are actually talented...and most importantly, people don't hate Austrians. At least not anymore.

My two home countries were once at war with each other, and less than a century later I can live here without having to hide where I come from. I can say I am Austrian and the first reaction is most likely something along the lines of: "oh yeah I went skiing there" or: "I love the sound of music!" And while those are still stereotypes, they are positive ones (at least compared to many others).

I was able to come to this country, study here, make friends and call it home because my two home countries decided not to be at war with each other and instead be united. I strongly believe that we need to look in the past to make decisions about our future. And the past of my two countries tells me two things: that our history should have taught us that having a union with each other and other countries was a good decision, and that I am grateful to this country and the many people that accept me and so many others who have moved here. 

I am an immigrant. And I am lucky to have people who have welcomed me here. I can only hope that everyone who wants a chance like this will still get it in the future. 

A more light-hearted post about my years at university is to follow, but I felt it was important to write down my thoughts. And that's all this is, my thoughts, I do not have a say in whether this country remains part of the EU or not, but I can express my feelings and hope, that whoever reads this agrees at least a little bit.

11 Things Not To Say To An Austrian

As an Austrian who has lived in the UK for over two years now I have encountered several reactions and opinions, so I thought I would share a list of things you should (probably) not say to an Austrian.

Obviously this is not entirely serious and I in no way claim to represent all Austrians when writing this. Some of the best people I know have said several of those things to me (you know who you are), so as long as you are not entirely serious you can get away with it, us Austrians sometimes do understand a joke after all.

1. "So, you speak German then?"
Yes, technically we do. But we take a lot of pride in speaking Austrian rather than German. Austrian is very different to German in many ways and we consider it to be superior. We are also quite proud of the fact that in many occasions we understand the Germans whereas they don't understand us. If you speak a bit of German be prepared for us to teach you new words, we love doing that.


2. "Are there any famous Austrians?"
This is a question people usually ask before actually thinking about it. We have Hitler of course! But there are several Austrians that did less evil things, such as Schrödinger (the guy with the cat), Mozart (he likes chocolate right?) and many more. Most importantly with have David Alaba (who basically makes up the whole of our football team). Just try not to mention Arnold Schwarzenegger, we have a love hate relationship with the guy.

3. "Do all Austrians talk like Arnold Schwarzenegger?"
What did I just say?! Also, are you talking to me? Can you hear my voice? I clearly do not talk like Arnie and neither do most Austrians unless it's some sort of party trick. I don't know what sort of concoction of Austrian and American Arnie's accent is, but it is nothing that makes scientific sense.

4. "Everything in Austria is like the Sound of Music right?"
Umm...NO! Sorry to break it to you, but although I've never seen the film myself (and neither have my Austrian friends) I can tell you that we did not grow up dancing on mountain tops with bad CGI. Certainly, we do have a tendency to wear traditional dresses every now and then, but even on those occasions we are more likely to sing songs like this rather than something about hills or goats (anyone ever notice that all of these songs are in english?!).

source

5. "What is Schnitzel?"
Honestly, do your research. It's only the most amazing food in the whole world (no I'm not bias or anything). If you really don't know then just ask us and we'll be happy to provide a detailed explanation of the dish, including what sides to serve it with and where you can get the best schnitzel in our hometown.

6. "I went on a skiing holiday in Austria once."
Oh how wonderful. Honestly this is probably a good conversation starter with most Austrians as (and yes that is a cliché that is more or less true) a lot of us love skiing. I don't ski, I'm not even a big fan of snow, so chances are wherever you went on your skiing holiday is a place I want to hear nothing about.

7. "is Austria any good at football then?"
Are you English? Then we are actually only one FIFA ranking below you, so don't sound so condescending. Chances are come the Euros we will do better than you. Also, we have Alaba.

8. "So, was Hitler actually Austrian?"
Yes, but don't blame us for that bastard. We dislike him just as much as you do, in fact, probably even more, you know since he either killed our ancestors or left us to deal with having nazis as grandparents. You're ok to joke about Hitler though, most of us are fine with that.

9. "But, you don't look Austrian"
What does that even mean? Not only is it slightly racist, but it also just points out that there is no one way to look Austrian. We are in the middle of Europe, we are a small country, think! Most of us don't have typical Austrian sounding last names either. We are a very diverse country which is something we should be proud of.

10a. "So, are there really that many mountains in Austria?"
No, not really.

source

10b. "I walked up this mountain the other day..." (when referring to somewhere in the UK)
Nope, not a mountain mate. Chances are it was more of a hill. We also won't accept you complaining about snow. Although we find it entertaining when you get seriously excited about some 100 snowflakes that are barely visible.

11. "Merry christmas" on the 25th of December. Or referring to Santa Claus/Father Christmas as the one who brings the presents
In Austria, christmas is on the 24th of December (christmas eve for you),  that's when we have christmas dinner, that's when we get our presents, and we have a real christmas tree, not those plastic ones. And the Christkindl brings the presents. Sorry to break it to you, but Santa isn't real!


Seriously, the hills are not alive.

healthy lullaby & my favourite shake recipe

hi guys,

after my last post I believe you should be updated as to what is happening in my life at the moment. well, to be honest there's really not a lot happening since all I am doing is preparing for my exams which start in 6 days. however there is one thing that I didn't write about in my previous post just because I thought it would deserve it's own little post; I have decided to live somewhat of a healthier life.

all of the updates.

Well hello guys,

Over the last few weeks it just hit me, I needed to get back on this blog and write stuff. I have had this little piece of the internet for quite a while now but in the last 1 1/2 years I just haven't appreciated it as much even though the blogging community has remained a big part of my life. However, lately I realised how much I want to blog again even if it won't be all that often and probably not regularly since my life is still crazy busy (which I absolutely love by the way).

I thought I would start my new found love for this blog with a bit of an update as to what I've been up to, since after all this blog is mainly about what I get up to (and what I eat, duh).

The year (which for me starts in September) started off pretty well, I had some more friends at uni including the lovely people I met through the blogging society (especially Nisha) and was generally feeling pretty motivated. I was happy with my flat and absolutely loving my modules at uni. However apprently it wasn't meant to go as well as it should have gone and only a few weeks into the semester I started to get really bad headaches, looking back now I am not sure how I managed to do all the things I did but I just really wanted to keep going. Turns out my headaches were caused by stress which is pretty unfortunate when you're a science student and can't really ever stop being stressed in a way. Luckily the headaches disappeared over christmas (although I still get them every now and then, but now I panic way less).
Despite the headaches I still had a great time, I volunteered at the Manchester Science Festival where I met some great people and got to love science even more.

I managed to do reasonably well in my exams and the second semester started pretty well. I absolutely loved my labs and was feeling myself again and managed to spend a lot more time with my friends and go on little adventures with the boyfriend. One of the best things that happened to me this semester was that I joined the university iGEM Team which means I will get to work in the lab over summer where we will be working on our very own synthetic biology project.

At the moment I am starting to prepare for my exams that are coming up sooner than I would like, but the end of exams means the start of a science filled summer which I honestly cannot wait for. I shall be keeping you updated and I also have some food related posts lined up.

It's good to be back.

Magdalena.

#FoodFightMCR Launch Night

Preloved Vintage Fair

Back in Manc & Back on the Blog

The last two months (!) have flown by and I cannot believe I have been back in the UK for that long. I think it's about time I update you about what I've been up to.

The first few weeks back were spent moving in and sorting out my stuff in the new flat. Then my mum came over for a few days and we had a really great time going on daytrips and around town.

Ever since uni has started in the middle of September I have been crazy busy with loads of great stuff. I helped out at the Blog Society stall at the freshers fair which was so much fun and our first social was a great success.

Nisha and myself at the freshers fair

Breakfast at Die Scherbe Graz

The other week when I was still visiting my hometown of Graz in Austria me and my mum went to the market at Lendplatz to get some fresh vegetables. Before we hit the market stalls we decided to go to a lovely Bar/Cafe/Restaurant nearby called Die Scherbe (which is German and means the shard) for some breakfast.

It was a lovely warm morning and we decided to sit outside in the back garden where we were greeted by some nice and colourful chairs and tables. After a little look through the breakfast (german: Frühstück) menu we decided to get the Swedish and the Indian breakfast and share them between us.

Bluebird Tea Co Brighton

Whilst wandering around the streets of Brighton I spotted this sign indicating that there was tea to be had which always results in excitement for me. The boyfriend was dragged in (he is not a fan of tea, yeah, I know, shocking, but more for me) and I started exploring the shop.

Bluebird Tea Co. call themselves Tea Mixologists which not only is a word I have trouble pronouncing (I managed though) but also reminds me of alchemy and something a little magical. It is actually pretty magical in there, shelves and shelves of tea and brewing devices and of course the smell. Those of you who love tea as much as I know will know what I mean.

The lovely ladies behind the tea bar offered for me to smell some of their favourite creations and I made the most of that offer for sure. Finest creations of Earl Grey and Co were to be had and we even got a taster of a Mojitea as well as the Strawberry Lemonade tea which were both served cold appropriate for the warm weather and were deliciously refreshing.

I ended up purchasing the Strawberry Lemonade tea while the boyfriend bought some Roibos and Early Grey for his parents (can't believe he actually spent more on tea than I did, for once). I haven't tried mine yet but I tried it in the shop and absolutely loved it. I would definitely recommend you check them out if you're in Brighton, the people there were so lovely and the tea was absolutely delicious. I am definitely going back.

Fishy Fishy Seafood Brasserie Brighton

Before our trip to Brighton I spent quite some time researching good places for food and that's when I came across this Seafood Brasserie called Fishy Fishy. I really wanted to have some seafood while we were close to the sea so this place looked perfect, easy to find, and I loved the name.

It's not directly by the sea but like most things in Brighton not too far from it and I didn't mind since the location was really nice next to some other restaurants and there was some street music going on too. We got a lovely table outside and it felt like a lovely summer evening, not too warm and not too cold either. We got some Fish Tacos to share which were really nice, not too spicy for the boyfriend either. They came with lovely fresh vegetables and guacamole.

For mains the boyfriend got the Fish Burger (standard) which he said was delicious (and I think I got a bite too and enjoyed it). I got the Seafood Paella which was absolutely amazing, it came with all the lovely seafood I'd been craving and some nice spicy chorizo too. All the seafood was fresh and they'd used just the right spices for the paella.

I'd definitely go back there when I'm in Brighton again and try something else off their seafood menu. A cute Brasserie that is definitely worth a visit.

Wednesday Wishlist: Desk & Study Area

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

Can you tell there's a theme here? Yeah I can't either. These things are all a bit random but they're all things I definitely want/need for my study area. The desk obviously is essential, and since I am not the typical desk kind of person (does that even exist?) I like this dining table as it's big and I need space when I want to be productive. It's also not currently in stock at my IKEA so can someone have a word with them please?

The shelf goes nicely with the table (I think) and some other things I have chosen for the flat, it's also cheap, what's not to like? I'm gonna use it to separate my desk and my bed and also (and most importantly) to store my most precious science books.

Tray and basket are both some sort of storage solutions for all sorts of things on my desk. I love the look of those really tidy desks with loads of nice things on them but truth is mine never looks like that, so I'm gonna try to at least contain my mess of paper in style. 

Those two prints I found on easy are on top of my list that's for sure (well, just behind the desk and the shelf, duh) they're such a nice style and really represent science in a lovely way. I definitely want some more science/art around my study area as motivation. 

The notebook is obviously essential (not, because I already have loads, somewhere) and it has owls on it, what's not to like? And the tape basically represents all sorts of tape with all sorts of pattern on it, I'm joining the trend and will use it in every way possible. (so leave me your favourite uses for washi style tape below)

xx

 

Sunday Roast at Beef & Pudding Manchester

Back in June just after I had finished my exams but dad and my brother came to visit me in Manchester. This was very special to me for many reasons, one because my dad doesn't usually do travelling and especially flying so it meant a lot that he would do it just to come and see me, it also meant a lot to be able to show my brother where I live since it was especially hard to move to a different country after we'd gotten closer again.

Of course such a special occasion has to be celebrated, and since we all love food it was a very welcome task for me to show the lads what the british cuisine has to offer. I love doing this for everyone who comes to visit as it is really easy to impress people since they all seem to think that british food isn't the finest there is.

Places like Beef & Pudding make this especially easy, it is an 'Urban Pub & Kitchen' in the centre of Manchester which had me lusting after their creatings right from when I first found their facebook page and they starting posting pictures of their creatings shortly after they opened. Taking my dad and my brother there was a very welcome excuse to try out their meals as you can imagine. 

Sadly they had run out of their beef dinner (which is my favourite of all sunday dinners) so me, my dad and the boyfriend opted for pork instead. My brother changed his mind mid-order and got the famous 'The Pudding' instead which he thoroughly enjoyed (I stole a bite and can only agree).

The pork sunday roast was also rather delicious and came with the best mashed potato I have had so far, I don't know what they put in that stuff but I would go back there just for that (and that says something since I make a rather nice mashed potato myself).

Altogether I was very pleased with the experience, the staff was extremely friendly (and our waiter didn't look bad either) and the food was delicious. I will definitely visit there again sometime to have one of their puddings to myself.

You should definitely check this place out if you're in Manchester and want to show someone how good british food can be, or simply refresh your own memory.

xx




Places to find Beef & Pudding
Menu (just do yourself a favour and look at it)
Facebook 
Twitter

Brighton & Bexhill

After being stuck in Manchester with only the occasional visit to North Wales or Liverpool for about ten months I realised that after exams I needed to treat myself to a little trip down south. I'd been meaning to discover this country a bit more for ages which all of the international students I am friends with on facebook do all the time it seems. I just never had the time, I was so focused on my studies which really isn't a bad thing I guess.

Once I was done with first year I packed my bags and my boyfriend and took the train down to London and then to Brighton for a few days by the seaside. We had a wonderful time, eating, watching football in our hotel room and just sitting by the sea for hours (which is something I could do forever).

One of the highlights of the trip was finally getting to meet Sami from That Redhead Said who is just as lovely as I knew she was going to be. We had a great time in many of Brightons vintage shops and the best conversation with a botany/zoology expert who taught us everything we never thought we needed to know about insects and moss. Apparently this is something you only ever experience in Brighton, and this alone is definitely worth visiting this place.

On the third day we got the train from Brighton to a bit further east to a little seaside town called Bexhill (I say little, I guess it was just smaller than Brighton). The main reason we went there (or so I thought) was because it was a Friday and we couldn't really afford a hotel in Brighton because they all went up to about 3 times the price. The actual reason the boyfriend suggested going to Bexhill was actually a completely different one which the KEANE fans amongst you might have realised before I did (I was in the middle of exams when we planned this though, in my defence). Meaning the actual reason was that the band KEANE grew up not far from Bexhill and filmed their famous video for Sovereign Light Cafe by the sea in Bexhill.

 

This lead to extensive walks along the beach, trying to recreate the music video and album cover (which the boyfriend did really well). We stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast where we had a takeaway kebab for dinner due to everything else being closed after our walk along the beach.

The next day we enjoyed our breakfast and then wandered around town enjoying the quietness and reading by the sea. We had fish and chips at the Sovereign Light Cafe where we sat at the table KEANE apparently always sit at and the food was actually really really nice.

I was really sad when we had to get the train back to London and then Manchester, it was a lovely trip but just not long enough. I hope sometime in the future I can come back but maybe for a week at least. I really miss the sea already and hope I can come back soon.

xx

Wednesday Wishlist: Kitchen & Dining

I have already posted an extensive kitchen wishlist before moving last year and I don't want to bore you with the same things again, since yes, most of them are still on my wishlist at the moment.
I thought I would add dinnerware and dining items in general (such as glasses etc.) to this years wishlist. The reason I don't have most of these things is that I was lucky to have a housemate who moved in bringing along a set of plates, pots, pans and all sorts of other useful things who she kindly let everyone use. Truth be told there wouldn't have been space for everyone to have their own stuff anyway so I was very grateful.

But since I am going to be living by myself now I obviously need certain essentials such as plates and bowls, pans and all those things you need when you don't want to have take away every day. This means that some items on this wishlist are going to be a little boring for those of you who aren't moving out this summer, but I tried to find some that are fun despite being practical.

1. Salad Dressing Mixer - Butlers
I saw this at the Butlers store in my hometown the other day and thought it would be really useful to make and store salad dressings. It even come swith some recipe suggestions on the bottle and you can close it and store it in the fridge.

2. Vinegar Bottle - Butlers 
I'd like to get a set of matching oil and vinegar bottles. This isn't exactly necessary but I think they would look cute so if I have some spare money I'll order them too.

3. Glass Bottle - Butlers 
I think you've realised by now that I'm in love with Butlers, it's such a cool shop and most things are really affordable (unfortunately they are cheaper here in Austria but I can't take things back with me) and so unique. This bottle for example is just awesome, made to look like a plastic bottle. I would use it to store homemade juice and syrup probably.

4. Green Glass - IKEA
I definitely want a glass that looks similar to this one, I like the patterns on it, the colour and it seems pretty solid which I also like a lot about glasses. Definitely on my IKEA shopping list.  

5. Flamingo Glass - IKEA
This is a more fun version, I like flamingos a lot and I already have one glass like this so I was rather excited to see they are still in stock, these will probably be used for lemonades and some fruity cocktails. 

6. Mint Service - IKEA
This is exactly what I'd like my plates to look like, simple and pastel-y. Unfortunately this particular set doesn't seem to be in stock at my IKEA at the moment, but fingers crossed it comes back or they'll have something similar.  

7. Patterned Bowl - H&M & Patterned Plate - H&M
I'm in love with patterns at the moment and this set of plate and bowl from H&M are really up my street, if I happen to place an order they might just slip into my basket.

8. Retro Plate - Butlers & Retro Bowl - Butlers
Love for patterns again huh? I think I actually prefer this set and both bowl and plate come and five different colour combinations, love love love.


xx

Moose Coffee Liverpool

On a Sunday a while ago now I jumped on a train to Liverpool to not only attend a bloggers meet up but also to meet the amazing Hannah from Heart Of Cake who I've been friends with for a while now although we mainly communicate via Twitter (although I think we should meet in person much more often).

She's great and she makes me most amazing things, I just wish I could eat at her house all the time, we'd have so much fun. Anyway, she asked me if I wanted to go to the FABB event in liverpool with her so I thought that would be a great way to see her and to meet some other bloggers from around the North West.

As the event wasn't due to start until 1.30 Hannah suggested to go somewhere for brunch beforehand, because two food bloggers can't meet without having some food together. I left it up to her to decide where to go as I know she knows some amazing places in Liverpool. She suggested Moose Coffee and admittedly I wanted to go just because of the name, but when I looked at the menu online there was no way we were going anywhere else: American/Canadian breakfast heaven.

Me and my boyfriend met up with Hannah and her boyfriend in the centre and walked to Moose Coffee together, I love that about Liverpool, you can literally walk anywhere. When we got there there were people waiting outside (luckily it wasn't too cold) and we got a bit scared as to whether we'd be able to get a space or not. We asked the waitress and she said there was a 25 minute wait, after a little discussion we decided it had to be worth the wait as there were so many people already waiting so we just had a little chat outside (the sun had come out too).

  

We were called in after what wasn't even 20 minutes and we were happy to get into the warmth, you see, 'warm' and 'spring' and 'sun' mean something else in the UK than they do in the rest of europe, but I'm used to it by now. We sat upstairs and looked around to see what the people around us were eating (I'm not the only one who does that right?) and it all looked amazing so we get even more excited for our food. Hannah and I both ordered a Double Dutch which is pancakes with streaky (or may I say actual) bacon and smokey sausage in the batter, topped with fried eggs and butter and maple syrup on the side. This could only be amazing.

What can I say, we weren't disappointed. The batter was delcious, the bacon and the sausage were perfect. The sweetness and the smokeyness worked so well together. The only slight issue was the size. We could've easily shared one of these and would've still been full. But with the help of the boyfriends I managed to finish my plate and it lasted me throughout the whole of the day aswell.

The place was really lovely, it smelled nice from the second you walked in and everyone was really friendly. The food might seem a bit expensive at first but considering the amount and the quality you get I think it's really good value.

And now the best part: There is actually one of these in Manchester aswell! I can't wait to go there and try out more of their amazing things. The sandwiches look really good too so I might have to give one of them a go next time. (Before managing to publish this post I went and had a ruben sandwich, it was amazing, just so you know.)

Wednesday Wishlist: Bedroom

Being a student in the UK means moving to a new place is on the agenda pretty much every summer. However, unlike most other second year students I am not moving into a house with 5 coursemates, instead after having lived in a house with two housemates last year I decided to get my own little studio flat. I managed to find one that was affordable and could still fit me in it so I'm pretty excited to be moving in.

As the flat is furnished I hopefully won't have to buy too much furniture myself, but I know there will be certain things that I will need to get as I haven't really bough many things for my place over the last year. I have spent many hours on the internet looking for things I might need/want so I thought I'd share them with you on here, starting with things for the bedroom. There will be a bed in the flat but that's about it so here are some things I've been looking at.

1. Quilt Cover - IKEA
Considering I owned just one set of quilt and pillow covers for about 4 months last year (which yes, I did wash) I am quite proud of myself to have this on my list this early. I do now own two sets but I believe three is a good number and this floral one is perfect for me.

2. Floral Throw - Butlers
I've been after a floral throw for ages, I had my eyes on one from dotcomgiftshop for a while but that one is way too expensive. To be honest this one from Butlers is still too expensive but I have hope that one day I will find one I can afford.

3. Cushion Owl - Butlers
One can never have too many own themed items. I already have an owl called Henrietta who sits on my bed during the day so I am sure she would welcome an owly companion.

4. Green Cushion Cover - H&M Home
I'd like some decorative yet practical cushions in my bedroom. Since I won't have a sofa I will probably use my bed for things like watching films or tv shows on my laptop so some more cushions would be very useful. I love the mint colour of this one especially, and it's currently on sale (fingers crossed it stays like that until I can actually order it)

5. Rose Party Lights - dotcomgiftshop
In all honesty I have no idea where I would put these, maybe on my bookshelf? They're not the most necessary items and this version isn't exactly affordable either. So if someone finds a cheaper version please let me know.

6. Bedside Table - IKEA
I definitely need a bedside table this time around, using a pile of magazines wasn't the most practical thing to do but it worked for the last ten months I guess. This little item from IKEA is perfect, it's really affordable and would go with the other pieces of furniture I might buy. Definitely on my 'to buy' list.

7. Green Alarm Clock - dotcomgiftshop
Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while might recognise this item, it featured on a wishlist last year already but I still want it and thought this would be a good reminder for myself to finally get around to buying it. Wouldn't it look lovely on my bedside table?

8. Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch - eBay
I am currently reading the first book of this series, Rivers Of London and I absolutely love the style of it. It combines both crime and magic which are two things I love to read about so I cannot wait to read this second book of the series.

9. Autumn Bergamot & Grapefruit Candle - Flamingo Candles
This is the perfect scent for a cosy autumn evening which makes it the perfect bedside table candle in my opinion. I tried this scent as one of flamingo candles' scent melts and loved it so I couldn't stop myself from ordering the candle version when they had 20% off the other day.

xx

I'm Moving To The UK! Again!

Well I'm not technically moving to the UK again, although I am currently in my hometown in Austria but since I've already moved to the UK once I'm sure it doesn't really count as big news.
What is big news however (at least to me) is that I am going to be moving into a little flat which will be all mine. Well I am renting it, so not technically mine, but you get what I mean right? (yup, no housemates.)

It is a little studio which has everything I really need. A bedroom/livingroom/office, seperate kitchen and bathroom and even a room for storage. Perfect if you ask me.

I will of course be doing some posts of what it looks like once it's all ready to be photographed, but up until then I thought it would be nice to start off with some wishlists. I have been on several websites over the last few weeks and have accumulated quite a few items. Maybe you guys can help me what I need and what I don't really need. And most importantly, what I should get even though I don't really need it.

The first wishlist will be up this wednesday, keeping with the old theme. So I hope I'll see you all then.

Magdalena

Tales Of An Auswanderer #2: the friendly visit

Not seeing the people you're used to seeing every week is one of the things that's most painful about moving to a distant place, even if it's relatively close (aka the same continent). You can't just jump on a plane to go out for lunch or a cocktail with your best friends, well some people probably can but I can't because believe me I would if I had that much money. 

Having some of my closest friends come to visit me is something I'd been looking forward to for ages, I was really eager to show them every part of my new life and my city. Obviously I was amazingly happy when two of my lovely girls booked a flight to come over during their uni holidays in february (which by the way, we don't get here in the UK, why?!)

As the day came closer and closer I got more and more excited but also more and more nervous. What if they didn't like it here? What if they found it too wet and too cold? What if we'll start to argue because we're not used to being together 24/7? I never even realised there was so much I could be worried about, but I did my best to just forget about those things and prepare as much as I could, I cleaned my room, got an airbed, got some fresh flowers, sprayed the room so it smelled nice, you know, all those things.

I don't want to go into too much detail about the whole week they were here because that would just be a very long post, but I'll just mention some things that might be important to someone who is in the same situation. Or someone who is visiting a friend abroad even. 

Firstly, there is no need to try and plan everything, when you're with your friends at home and you meet up in town, most of the time you don't even decide where to go for coffee before you actually meet each other, so why plan everything when they're there to visit you? Yes you should make a list of things you want to show them and ask them to make a list of things they want to see, after all it's not all your job, you're not a tourist guide, you're their friend, they'll realise that eventually. (maybe).

Now, I love my friends because, well, they're obviously my friends so I must feel some sort of positive feeling towards them right? But everyone is different, and some people are more alike than others, some people are extremely easy to deal with and some aren't especially in out of the ordinary situations. When one of your friends is being really annoying while visiting you, maybe because they don't like that you're happy in your new country, maybe because they're jealous, whatever. Just try and ignore it, I'm bad at this but I keep telling myself all over again: I have achieved something by moving here and living my dream (basically) so those of my friends who are happy for me are the ones I listen to and then ones I trasure because it is hard to be so far away from each other and still be friends, but some people do it really well whereas others just suck at it. But that's just life and I try and ignore it as much as I can.

So this was a bit of a random post I guess, I just felt like I wanted to share some of my thoughts, I also want to encourage more of my friends to come here because it's great here (really!) and I'm really thankful for their support. 

Magdalena.

Graze Box #1 (a little intro)

I've been meaining to try Graze box for a while, probably since I first saw one of their vouchers lying around in Smiths. However it's taken me a while (well, and the fact that when I first found out about them I didn't actually live in the UK) but thanks to Tilly and her code I finally got around to ordering my first box. That was a few weeks ago now so I thought it was about time I did a little blog post about it and if you guys enjoy it I might do some more in the future about my boxes and what I think about the snacks.

I am probably a little weird when it comes to snacks. I'm not much of a snack person when it comes to buying things. I don't like crisps (I know, shock, horror!) and I only very rarely buy sweets unless I really really want some (which, luckily, only happens rarely). I do however still really like to have things to snack, I'm just never really sure what would be the right thing for me. So Graze is pretty much the perfect thing for me.

For those of you who haven't heard of them I'll just explain it to you briefly. Basically you subscribe to their snack boxes and you can choose whether you want them twice a week, every week or every other week (which is what I do, you know, the money).

 
You can then go on their website and look through all the snacks they have in their repertoire and rate them as either 'BIN' which means they won't send it to you, 'TRY', 'LIKE' and 'LOVE' which basically define how regularly they are going to send it to you. You also get the option of ticking 'Send Soon' if you are particularly eager to try something (I do this all the time).

Each box is £ 3.89 and you can get voucher codes which means you get your first, fifth and tenth box for free, you can use my code by clicking HERE. You get four snacks per box which may not sound like too much but I think they're reasonably sized and for me they're perfect to take to uni and are definitely all I need for those two weeks they have to last me for.

So now on to my first box.