spur of the moment getaway

My friend Claudia messaged me last week that she needs a change of scenery and if I'd be up for a city trip anywhere from Budapest to Salzburg. Being the gal that I am of course I said that I would come along.
Friday night we decided to go to Graz and stay at flashy Hotel Daniel, after our friend Steve couldn't recommend it highly enough.
The next morning the sun was shining in full force and we were off :)

 ridiculous spring time weather invited us to relax in the park

funny story: for the entire summer I listened to one of the gentleman of the choir talk about how lovely the tiled roofs are in Graz. A very opinionated person slagging off every other city compared to the beauty of these roofs. Now I'd have to admit that they are quite pretty :)

the design hotel - whatever that means haha - if you want to visit Graz, I'd totally recommend it!

 funniest thing about the rooms: the shower has this massive glass panel looking into the room

a tiny bit weird but nice to have that much light while showering :)

It was a short trip filled with excellent food, great chats, time with God, walking around a pretty city, going to cafes just for the sake of reading the newspapers (if you've never done that, please do yourself a favour and do it), hanging out in the park getting some sun, browsing through lots of little shops, an early night and an unexpected breakfast with the lovely Chris.
Sometimes you need to get away from it all and a mini city trip plus a close friend will make all the difference. Happy weekend everyone x

birthday number one

new doll

new cushion

family

xxx

Ladyhawke album number two

Ladyhawke "Sunday Drive" - AllSaints Basement Sessions from AllSaints Spitalfields on Vimeo.

The lovely Pip Brown aka Ladyhawke did a little something with All Saints as part of their basement sessions. Who knew they did stuff like that. If you don't know All Saints, it's only one of the nicest stores with the best knits and crazy constructed clothing from London.
Ladyhawke's album is the one album I've been waiting for as I really liked her first one. Can't wait to listen to the final result, until then I'm liking this and this album teaser she released a few days ago.

Le vent (ballett super slow motion)

Has anyone seen this? Can't take my eyes off this video, simply breathtaking... (via swissmiss)

an afternoon with ringlringl

Last week I had coffee with the lovely Romy of ringlringl fame. She is one of a kind and I swear no-one can laugh like her, it's awesome!
We met at Pure Living Bakery, a cute little coffee shop with delicious cakes and yummy coffees, and headed to the vast gardens of Schoenbrunn Palace, as it is basically next door, afterwards.

admiring the Japanese garden haha it was somehow covered in netting?!

Finished off the day with falafels and humus at Naschmarkt with Romy and Paul. First picnic of the year!

Spring time is my favourite, well I like all of them apart from winter which seems to drag on forever and is always just too grey around these parts, but I realised that spring wouldn't be as pretty without winter beforehand :) 

diy play cushion

It was Miss K's birthday and I set out on a little diy challenge to make a present that would tick all the boxes of what I would look out for in a toy:

• non-plastic
• adventurous
• colourful
• different textures
• fun
• no noise (!!)
• educational

This is what I came up with, after playing around with all the fabric and haberdashery I found in my stacks of supplies :)

denim shutters to reveal a stitched love heart

window with curtains, back of window is waxed fabric to contrast

voila! house part: door with zipper, leather flap with string to thread through

big button on top - a favourite as it turns out

flowers with different textured buttons, 

tree with hidden pockets and apples that can be pulled off the velcro

there is also a pocket on the side that holds a medium sized knitted bow

Maybe I had more fun making this cushion than she will ever have playing with it :) 

happy birthday Miss K - you are a special little girl and I'm glad to know you x

Jupiter Jones win Echo!!!

(image stolen off their fb page)

Well deserved and nothing short of spectacular :)

Jupiter Jones, huge congratulations on your Echo!!!

current obsession

Gorgeous and her dress to die for... Can't stop listening to this song!

This pile of fabric is sparking inspiration... Currently trying to make an interactive cushion for Miss K's first birthday. Fun when it turns out that you have everything on hand - very much like my treasure trove :)

write it down and keep it in your heart

‎"Behaviour is learned 

Change is decided

 Character is developed

Victory is won!" 

Brian Houston

Minefield Tour day 20

Munich
Well we've had our ups and downs with that particular city and its crowd but Friday night turned out to be fantastic... almost reconciled with that city huzzah!

support: die Reste von gestern

cowboy song line dancing :)

Susi who hosted us for the night :) thanks lovely!!

a Minefield holiday

 It all started off with a stuffed up car... could have totally gone the wrong way but thank God for road assistance and rental cars. A couple hours later we arrived in Muenster and were greeted by two of Germany's best people :) Hooray for amazing friends who open their home to a group of 6 and a half people!

walking around town

 bumming around, reading, writing, playing, talking - felt like being home!

Raphael cooking up a storm

proof that we're all just nerds haha

Thanks Nicholas and Steffi for letting us invade your house, cooking for us(still regret not taking a photo of the cake N made for us - taste explosion!), being so lovely and fun to be around. Love you lots, team MG xxx

Minefield Tour day 19

Jena
Every time we've passed this city, driving from who-knows-where to cant-remember, all we've seen was horrible housing estates. What a surprise to find a nice town behind the concrete jungle :)
It was a fine evening with a great crowd and a fun support act.
Only drawback: eating soup and going into lactose shock.
FYI after weeks on tour Raffi and I have started a campaign "stop the bread". If you're sick of feeling tired and bloated all day from eating too much bread, come and join us haha

 how cute are the carrot and pepper palm trees :) 

do you see the masses of bread?! imagine having that every day, all day!! this was by far the nicest display so far though, but still "stop the bread"!

 support: tapes in mailboxes

Minefield Tour day 18

Hildesheim
Another student club, another dance party NOT.
For two songs Raffi, Bianca and I danced around like crazy people with everyone else watching and being way too cool to even twitch... Oh the freedom to know you'll never see these people again haha

 cage people

pulling a Zoolander haha

stock take

Do you ever feel like you don't belong or that life is getting too much to take or that your thoughts are taking you places, you really shouldn't go?
It's been the weirdest week so far... ups and downs and everything in between. Everything culminating with me going for a walk and crying in the park. Why the park, you ask, because you're never by yourself when you're on tour! The surrounding houses must have thought a crazy lady is in their midst: massive sunnies and sobbing and shouting to God haha What a terrific sight that must have been. It felt great to get it all out though :)
I have an amazing life and I love what I do but sometimes it takes a few little things to make you question all your decisions and your place in life and where it is heading. Strange but never wrong to reflect on all these things.
Nothing like a New Girl episode to pick you up while everyone else sound checks and knowing that there are three days off in the very near future :) Okay rant over, happy weekend everyone x

Minefield Tour day 17

Hannover
What can I say, the crowd was fun - killer front row haha - spirits were up and some of us danced the night away into the wee hours. A night to remember :)

 nothing quite like plastic flowers to liven up backstage

that lady was partying into her birthday and came up on stage :)

Funnest part of my day though...