a week ago

Ruth and Ian popped in last weekend, lots of delicious food (tacos and Strawberry Margaritas courtesy of Drew & Lisa), long conversations (the original plan was to watch a movie but never got around to it - we talk way too much haha) and laughter followed.
Life is so much better with friends like these around you :)

my glorious - recording sneak peeks

The boys have been in Weed, CA for almost a month now recording like crazy with Sylvia Massy. Here's a peek of what goes on at RadioStar Studios :)

Wish I could be that lobster, just like a fly on the wall haha

question

Yesterday Erwin McManus asked everyone on twitter "what is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?"
What a great question!
The first thing that came to mind was a double rainbow over a loch in Scotland, breathtaking to say the least - the colours, not just of the rainbow but those greys(clouds) and blues(sky and water) and greens(hills) were phenomenal. But I just couldn't shake this question and have been thinking about it ever since.
There are a couple of beautiful things I have seen in my life:
old couples on a walk still holding hands
the view from up the mountain the first time I went rock climbing in Italy - had to conquer my fear of heights otherwise I would have never experienced it
standing at the back of JAM(youth conference in Sydney) one year and looking at a sea of young people worshipping their hearts out and God whispering "this is the next generation!!!"
watching my friends belly grow and grow after the doctors told her she could never ever have children - God is all for life and worked unbelievable miracles and she had that baby - praise God!!
Marc Jacobs dresses season after season
a brother and his deaf younger sister signing on the train - he was that age when everyone's too cool for anything, but there was so much love for his sister... made me cry watching them!

I couldn't pick just one, there are so many beautiful things I've seen and gotten to experience and I have to say that God was very evident in all of them.
Those memories keep you going in the desert times and I'm thankful for every single one!

things you do to fight the winter blues

...go for a walk the minute the sun decides to turn up!

matchbook magazine

Something new to dig :)
Matchbook Magazine launched on Tuesday and I think it's cute. Go and have a look here.

award show junky

One of the fun things that this dreaded season brings us is the start of the award season...
As if I could miss that, to be honest I just watch it for the dresses on the red carpet haha (did you see those long sleeved dresses on Angelina Jolie and Anne Hathaway at the Globes? simply stunning!)
Still think that the British shows are heaps more fun than the American ones. Sorry guys, but England rules when it comes to humour :)
The Academy Award nominations were announced today and it looks like a cool mix. Still haven't watched The King's Speech and should get my butt into gear before it goes nuts after the win everything, by the looks of it!

winter blues

For the last five years I haven't really had a proper winter. For the first three I lived in upside down world aka Southern hemisphere and had blissful sunshine and the ocean at this time of year.

The last two were split between mostly London, a couple weeks in Austria and a tiny bit of NYC & Connecticut glory.

Probably I changed over those years and now winter here is taken its toll on me (remember how excited I was about it back in November?!). Anyway if it was up to myself, spring could have started the first few days of January!!!! I'm so over it by now and am seriously considering relocating to another country - a much warmer one, mind you :)
Years ago when I spent a year in Scotland I truly got the whole concept of starting to drink when it's just dark for a couple months of the year... Never thought the sun was that vital in life! This is getting close and as pretty as the snow can be, I am ready to ditch those thick winter boots and can't wait to wear my flip flops again!
Bring on spring time!

brownies

I'm not a chocolaty person but this will win me over every time :) Everything from licking the bowl to eating the gooey brownie itself. Yum yum yum

tailored suits

I'm a fan of snug suits... nothing worse than baggy jackets, was a bit excited about these pictures today :)

Don't they look sharp!! Maybe the best part are the groom's socks and the bride's boots... I likeit!

(images by Priscila Valentina via Green Wedding Shoes)

life as we know it

Yesterday was probably one of the best nights we've had at connect group so far. It went all the way back to basics: why do we pray? or what are we on this earth for?... Tough questions!
The beauty of our journey in life is that we can wrestle with these questions and statements together. There is a reason that Paul wrote about "working out our salvation with fear and trembling". It is not a concept we can grasp, ever, and I guess one day we will stand before our Creator God and ask Him a million questions. (apart from the fact that I doubt it will matter to us by then haha)
There are so many things I wish could get into people's heads, but the number one thing we all need is an encounter with the resurrected Christ. To be in His presence where there is fullness of joy, love, peace, wisdom, utter satisfaction and life in abundance.
That is my prayer today that we will visit that place on a regular basis!

dear sun

it was so good seeing you for the three days you decided to come out of hiding. You were beautiful and it felt good to have you around. Now that you're gone the world seems grey and depressing again.
You know what would be really nice? If you fought your way back out of the clouds and fog and won that war once and for all! At least a couple minutes per day would be incredible.
Sincerely
Astrid

birthday festivities

On Saturday we celebrated this guy

Michi is not only an old friend, but he's also my boss at the moment - that part still cracks me up hehe.
We went out to this restaurant/bar that is done up in a style resembling a skiing hut in the mountains. Very random but delicious food and drinks.

Would love to get some of those cast iron pans they serve the food in! They'd be great for camping!!

aftermath

They're family and I couldn't champion them more...
Hillsong United will be releasing their next album "Aftermath" on the 15th of February... To have a listen go to hillsongunited.com.
Go to their website anyway because the artwork is unreal - you gotta go to the blog section!! Well done you guys, keep up with the great things you are doing x

image via their website :)

things you do while waiting for your ride to come and get you

you play with Photo Booth on your macbook haha

haha just realized how untamed my hair got by the end! Have a wonderful Sunday everyone x

thankful for...

... all the great people in my world!
Honestly I have no idea how I would have survived the last couple weeks without them.
If I had one piece of advice to give you today, it would be to surround yourself with people that will speak life over you and encourage you to keep going. People who believe in you and want the best for you.
People who sit and cry with you but also rejoice with you over good news!
So very blessed to have friends like that!
You guys rock my world. Thanks for being part of the journey xxx

inspiration

Just been flicking through the new Lonny Jan/Feb issue.
Have a look and hunt for those treasures :)

something for a grey Monday

Just because she's so lovely and it will brighten up your day :)

resolutions

For the last couple years I've always written down things like
read more books (couldn't get enough of it),
write more,
be more creative,
start running (which is still unbelievable, but I did!!),
change the world,
get a proper job (haha as if that was ever gonna happen!),
take care of the environment (go green),
go after God like never before
...
as my new years resolutions.

2011 sees a new decade rolling in and I've been thinking about the things I want to look ahead to? What do I want to speak over the next couple years?
Some resolutions never change. I still want to read and write more, I'm still all out for God and his kingdom and making this world a better place. Those were good resolutions and I'm keeping them!
For this year there is only one big resolution - so please remind me if I stray haha:
Eat better - meat only once a week(just read up on the meat industry, I know Austria is really privileged but still yuck!) and stick it out living gluten and dairy free. It sucks so bad, but will help with my intolerances :)
Other than that I promised my friend to run a half marathon with him in May... What the hell was I thinking, tell you what though, it's easier to go running when you have a goal!

NYE the aftermath

You know a day will bring good things if you have breakfast plans with your friends for 11.30am!! Technically this would be more brunch/lunch time, but if you go to bed in the wee hours of the morning, you can do whatever you want. And that's what we did...
We ate lots of yummy food, tuned in to the last couple minutes of the New Year's Concert, watched some ski jumping, relaxed on the sofa, said bye to Jetty, Lisl and Tobias, who were off to Germany, and later to Chris. We went for a walk, baked cookies, cooked some more and talked talked talked... before we watched The Holiday - thanks for sticking it out boys :)
Could there be a better first day of the year?!

this made my day

Right, so ever since I watched Josh Groban on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, I knew he was a funny one!
But this is just the bomb!

thank you Josh for making me laugh!!!

farewell 2010

Instead of getting everyone together and have a massive party, this year we decided to start off differently.
The inner circle (besties) gathered together, late in the afternoon, for some praise & worship.
It's been a tough couple of days beforehand and that was all I needed to finish off last year! Totally felt like nothing has been working out and all my hopes and dreams of moving back to Austria were so not accomplished. Too much expectation? Maybe but I rather dream big than think small!
That aside it was a great time to put this new year or rather the new decade!! into God's unfailing hands and have Him walk before us. There are no limits to His goodness and grace, despite how I feel.
After p&w we split into two groups and six of us had a lovely dinner. If you've never had "Raclette" before, you don't know what you're missing :)
Being completely stuffed we drove over to our friends house, for their house warming party and to meet up with the others again.
It's become a tradition to walk up a hill that overlooks Salzburg, thank God the temperatures weren't as low as last year! Fireworks and champagne is all I'm saying!
The night ended in the early hours. Thanks everyone for pulling it together, nothing better than starting into a new year with the people you love and do life with. So many possibilities and chances to be taken this year.

2011 is a blank canvas waiting to be painted people. Let's make this one a masterpiece!

LC nights

My friend and former flat mate works at a lovely restaurant/bar called Lemon Chilli and every now and then we all meet up there.
As Simon was here for about two days, okay it was five but it was one of those "blink and you'll miss him" stays, the gang got together and crazy ensued :)

A couple of drinks later we all wished we had more time together... Simon you have to come back soon hehe!

2010 review

What a year it's been. Lots of ups and downs and I have to say I'm glad it is coming to an end. Nothing better to turn over a new page, start fresh!
It all started off in Vienna

we started a band that only performs Alanis Morissette covers :)

 Linda Harrison came and played with My Glorious at their album release party!

 got to see my hard work(lots of coats that I made for Prophetik) on the runway

 hang outs with this cheeky monkey

 moved up to North London to live with the girls in Finchley

 planted stuff :)

visits up to my Northampton family - Luke looking especially thrilled to hang out with us haha

 went to the beach

 Colour Conference for the last time @ Royal Albert Hall

went to fun a comic book launch with gorgeous Zola aka the African princess

Kitchener Road flatmates <3 those girls!

 harvesting the goodies I planted - delicious!

 world cup... lots of pub time haha

 good times with the german girls in London

 Zoe Boomer storms SATC 2 premiere evidence here

Rob & Dee got married and their wedding doubled as a college reunion

 United came to town and I got to hang out with my old team

last day in London before moving to Salzburg

 2 hour trip to Paris :)

 farewelling Ines & Thorsten

finally met cute baby Liah

we went camping in Lechtal

spent a weekend in Vienna with the gang

explored the surroundings of Salzburg

 made fires when the weather started to get colder

 dyed some fabric

 Schniffi moved back to Salzburg yippie yeah!

celebrated Christmas with the family

Thankful for a year that has been shaped by change and most of all friends and family. It's all about God and people right :) But as we all know, the best is yet to come.

happy 2011 everyone!