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What I Spend Money On

What I Spend Money On
Honestly, on too many things. And often on things I don’t even would need but which give me the feeling of having a piece of luxury for my long working days and short free times. Food, as food is something where I seldom save money. If I want to eat a piece of beef fillet, I just buy it. I’m not eating it daily but if, then it has to be a good one. As women, and I’m pretty sure I am one, clothes, shoes, beauty stuff or something nice to decorate my flat and make it cosy is also something where I can spend lots of money.
Nowadays I try to take myself back as we need to plan a wedding and weddings let money vanish quickly. But during normal times there is always a certain piece of something which I haven’t yet and which is needed desperately. Men can’t understand that we need everything in different colors and shapes as they go along quite perfectly with a brown and a black pair of shoes and that’s all they need. But think how stupid it would look like if I wear black shoes to a yellow dotted pink skirt. And the clutch in brown wouldn’t fit either. Women do not have problems in buying all that stuff, it’s more the men who are scared as they see their hard earned money going over the counter every time we wear something new. Luckily I’m a full time worker which means I don’t have to rely on my husbands money and what’s even more important I don’t have to ask for permission.
Happy shopping, girls!
Take care, yours
Miss Faith

>My favorites

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Loving DIY

Loving DIY

While planning a wedding I realized shortly that I love to create things myself.
I’m just now in the process of thinking about decoration and what to do how but the first two “projects” are done already.
One is a nice way to store my earrings, bracelets, etc. and just use them as wall decoration.
The other one is the seat cards for our guests.

Let’s see during the next weeks what else I will do myself – I’ll keep you updated.
Greetings from the DIY Miss Faith

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The Wedding Dress

The Wedding DressI never imagined how hard it can be to find a wedding dress.
I always said I’m not the typical woman when it comes to a wedding. Never dreamt of being a princess for one day. And then I detect myself in front of thousands of dresses to like some which fit totally in the picture of a princess.
Was that the flood of pictures or what was it? At least I’m glad that I realized it myself before doing the final choice. What could be worse than walking down the aisle in a dress which let everyone stare at me in disbelief – murmuring “where’s she, that couldn’t be her?” or “what drugs is she taking recently?”.
But even with a clear mind I still had the problem of ‘being a woman’. How should we choose one when there are so many nice styles?
I reduced it a bit by buying the shoes and the bag before the dress which is limiting the dress style itself a bit and fortunately NO princess dress is going along with my shoes!
So what to do now? Once bought its yours, and if alterations have been made its even more yours.
Here the realistic Miss Faith started to think – as realistic as a bride to be – I have to add this as brides are never 100% realistic.
We will celebrate in a garden which means long trains don’t make sense as well as dresses who are too expensive. Who wants the bride to stay in the house the whole day because she’s too scared that she may have grass ruining her dress?
Our wedding should be kind of laid-back, summer, garden, loved ones around us, a big summer barbecue with a chocolate fountain as dessert. Kids running around maybe with ice cream when it’s hot in August.
The realistic bride decided now to order a dress from China, the prices are more than OK, reviews of the dresses more than Ok and I don’t have to worry in the end if something is happening to my dress.
The only thing I have to worry about is how long it will take until its here and if its fitting properly.
And here comes the “being a woman” Miss Faith – to be on the safe side I just ordered two different dresses from two different sellers and the total price is more than good so I won’t have to worry about little chocolate hands passing by my dress or pieces of cake falling in my lap.
I like both styles so much that I’m not able right now to decide which one it will be in the end and I would love to post picture here to hear your opinions but the groom knows the blog and he is not allowed to get a clue of what I may wear!
Now it’s time to keep fingers crossed until they hopefully arrive and I can make the final decision.
The story will continue…

Keep the faith – you only win if you take a risk sometimes.

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Sometimes I wish to live back in the 1970’s or 80’s

Sometimes I wish to live back in the 1970’s or 80’s
Don’t understand me wrong, I’m not unhappy with my life but when it comes to certain points I would prefer these times. The time without mobile phones where we didn’t had to be available 24/7, the time without emails where it wasn’t expected to answer each “letter” within an hour. If you just think about the work-life balance everyone is talking about nowadays, I’m pretty sure people were much more relaxed.
Do we have constant life’s?
What I see is that almost no one wants serious relationships as it was back then. We switch not only jobs, flats or cities within a short period of time, we also switch private connections instead of putting efforts in. The time where family and friends were counting more than social networking seems to be history. I have the impression that many just try to connect with other persons for their own needs.
Are we becoming more and more selfish nowadays?
I knew persons who started to bother when not receiving a reply on a short message within five minutes. Bother means after the text they started to call, to talk a message on your mobile box, sending a message on Facebook, checking if you are somewhere to be seen as ‘online’ for a chat message. And for what? Nothing special, just being bored or telling the newest gossips they heard somewhere.
Aren’t we allowed anymore to disconnect for a while?
Also the newsfeed is overwhelming, people back in these years weren’t aware of every single small catastrophe happening on the other side of the world. If I say small it doesn’t mean it’s awful for the persons being involved but honestly, even if I know something happened somewhere, I cannot change the whole world to be safe and good. Instead of bothering myself too much with bad news of a country I haven’t a single relationship to I should start to change the part where I’m able to make efforts. I just told my husband a few days ago that I would become depressive if I would watch the news channel for too long.
On the other hand not everything is bad but we have to be careful on how to use all these connections we have, they shouldn’t start to use us. Without the web I would never have met my husband and without world wide news I wouldn’t be aware of what’s going on in his country.
The biggest task for us now is to use it carefully, filter for the parts which are important to us and not to forget that there is a real life outside. Real people who may want to have us around, need us or just want to step by for a coffee to tell about their own personal important news.
And never forget that we are allowed to disconnect, mute mobile phones, shut down computers and turn of TVs whenever we think we need a time out for ourselves!
Stay yourself!
Faithfully…

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My favorite beauty treats…

My favorite beauty treats……are from Origins
Did you ever try the mega-mushroom skin relief?
If not you should. Since I discovered them for myself it’s like my own home spa.
As soon as applied them on my face the skin is relaxing and I smell the cream which has kind of a calming down smell, at least for me. What I do just these days additionally is applying the all-purpose high-elevation cream in the evening to smooth my skin. Wintertime leaves my skin dry as I stay lots in heated rooms and the dry air seems to suck out every moisture of my skin.
Why is the Jo Malone candle also on the pic? Because it smells so nice, I couldn’t resist adding it.
I light it up in the bathroom while pampering myself or just on a small table next to me while reading, writing or listening to music. This scent is addictive.
What are your favorites?
Nourished greetings from Miss Faith

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The first weeks of 2013

The first weeks of 2013Just around two weeks have passed in 2013 and it feels like months already. I’m quicker back in my working routine than I thought. Where is the relaxation from before? Gone almost in the second I turned my computer on and checked the first emails. As I wrote in one of my earlier posts, I have no New Years resolutions but there’s one point I honestly have to think about. Either how I regain the motivation for my current job or how to change my life in regards to work to be motivated again, maybe another job in a different area. Let’s see what this year may bring.
It’s less than one month left until my parents celebrate their 60st and 66th birthday and if all goes as planned, my fiancé and me will be there together. At least my parents are prepared when it comes to food as I was the halal meat deliverer. We have a good halal butcher here in Munich and I carried eight kilogram of meat to them last time to put it in the freezer.
The January itself is not really exciting up to now. Besides working I meet from time to time my neighbor for coffee or tea, or for exchanging food. We made almost a habit out of cooking for the two of us, one day it’s her turn, the next mine, so that we have days off cooking and also get to know more recipes. As the weather is more than awful I spend most of my time in the flat. Even the newspapers were writing about the “depressive” weather, the last sunshine was visible in December, since then it’s only cloudy, rainy and grey sky. I’m definitely not a winter person and can’t wait for the first spring days.
The only good thing about this is that I have lots of time to read and watch the movies I wanted to watch and of course to update my blog! I’m in the process of collecting ideas and topics to write about and if someone would pay me for doing it I would say in the second yes and make it my daily job. This is more interesting and fascinating as I discover so many things I want to know more about. But for the time being this is just a dream.
My colleague told me one be careful what you wish for as it sometimes can come true. So I try to wish more, maybe I’m lucky – haha.
Never loose the faith!

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Weird advertising

Weird advertising

A perfume is called an “essence” for woman – what do I do without it? My life has to be senseless as I’m lacking the “essence”. Best to hide myself from society from today onwards as I will never be able to fit into all these ideal ‘what a women should be like’ pictures.
Make up for a “bare skin effect”, make up for “naked skin effect”? Why to wear it then at all? Am I the only one not getting the sense here? I thought make up should underline, cover, make the skin even, but naked?
If I finally buy the “essence” perfume what about the one which gives me “the scent of eternal beauty” – can I use them both at the same time or do I have to choose between “essence” and “eternal beauty”? As long as I have the cream on my face which is bringing the “illuminating magic light” onto my skin I will choose the “essence”. And good to know that I can completely ruin my hair with too much heat as I just have to use the shampoo “to erase the damage of 100 blow-drys within 7 days” afterwards. As addition I can use the hair cream which makes my hair ten times healthier. Next advertisement and I have another problem. A new scent which should make me able to “choose your own path to happiness”. I want this too but am not sure if it can be combined with “essence” and “eternal beauty”.
Enhance your flawless face…may I use it under or above the “naked skin effect”?
The “24 hour eyeshadow” is a nice idea but not sure if I have to take it off before I add the “over night repair” cream to my skin which can do miracles while I’m sleeping. And is it still OK to use the patches to keep wrinkles in check and prevent furrows while sleeping?
I think I found the solution for my face. I just buy the cream “within ten days a 25% reduction of wrinkles” – means forty days and I look like in my twenties and no need for any further make up or cream, right?
My face is OK now and i don’t care too much about my hair as the solution is the wonder shampoo but the next problem is just around the corner – my body. Is it appropriate to use the “anti-aging” body lotion with thirty-four or should I go with the one for “dry skin”? And which for “dry-skin”? The slightly tanning lotion with sparkling effect or better with silk proteins? I would love the one with this blend of rosemary but this may not go together with the perfume. You think these decisions are not easy? Ha, in comparison of what is adequate to wear it is, believe me. Clothes are more difficult to choose. The skirt which is too mini should not be on a women above twenty-five but the longer version looks like my grandma’s. And why looks it so nice on a cover but when I have the same combination my mirror says “NOOOO”? Do I have to choose upfront if I’m the boho, pure, leather, business, mexican, clean, color or nude type or is it ok to be kin of schizophrenic in regards to fashion? Oh gosh, is there a therapist specialized on “who am I and how should I look like”?!? I’m lost in this world. Can I still drive a BMW wearing flat boots or is it only possible with the red sole high heels? And what about my flat, is it stylish enough to go out to the new opened “low carb, healthy vegetable” restaurant or do I have to move upfront into a loft?
Are these the important questions in life? If you believe what you see, then yes.
Fortunately I’m not believing all this and just do what I like, wear what I like, eat what I like and live in a way which makes me happy. Nothing is perfect or flawless or illuminated and you know what – that’s exactly what I want! Maybe I’m the individual, unique type.
Find yourself regardless of what the majority think as you don’t live for them, your life is just for you!
Keep the faith!

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Eat, Pray, Love, my all-time favourite

Eat, Pray, Love, my all-time favourite

 
Eat, Pray, Love
 
You want to know which book is my all-time favourite? 
 
The first book that comes to my mind when being asked about books is Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat Pray Love”
 
That’s on the top of my list and feels already like an old companion!
 

How often I read it? I cannot count it anymore.

It was several times and I also watched the movie afterwards more than once.
Not sure if it was hitting me because I was in a same situation when I started to read it first and that’s completely the reason I like it so much or because it’s really that good.
What made me wonder is that I like both, book and movie, although in most cases the movie never can reach the book.
It’s in this case also not matching up completely as you cannot exactly translate all sense of writing into pictures but both have a unique kind of showing people what it is all about.
 

First time read

 
When reading it for the first time I was flashed of all the hidden messages in it but when reading it for a second and a third time I was taking even more out of it.
There are always passages which I didn’t focus deep enough on during the first reading which got me the second or third time.
I would say it’s more detailed in description about how she feels and thinks and how hard she is trying to find her path in life but also the movie has many of this hidden sense in it too.
Here again I realize each time I watch it again something “new” and this is awesome.
I was never a big fan of any actress or actor but for this movie I have to say Chapeau to Julia Roberts. She fits perfectly as she’s able to act the way it was meant in the book and still it seems to be easy. It’s kind of art to act like this and it’s really appreciated, she’s not changing the story to adapt it to her, she’s adapting herself to fit into the story. And what’s most important is that my impression of the book didn’t suffer after I watched the movie, no, it was supporting it and giving a bit extra sense.
I read some recensions a few weeks ago and I have to say, call me vainly if you like, but people thinking that both, book and movie, are boring, lame, long-winded, atrabilious, they just didn’t get the deeper sense behind it.
That’s not a comedy story or a movie full of special effects and action, it’s about the search in life we are all facing once in a while, sometimes more and sometimes less, some focusing on it more as some others and this story is for me like a guide.
A guide in many senses, it’s not that I start now to travel for one year to find myself, but to be aware, even if we all knew it, that I’m not the only one asking myself all those questions what life is about and how to cope with it, this is giving a little hold. How my way onward is looking like will be totally different from the book but the main questions it raised are almost generally fitting to many of us.
So, and now you can call me again vainly, if not even one part of the story is hitting you, you are ignoring yourself in this game called life and others are ruling you.
It seems to be easy and common for many people on this earth, but I think that just taking the easy way is kind of running away from yourself. To focus on your own life with all needs, scars, emotions, dreams, wounds and love is the hardest way, I know what I’m talking about, but we all are talking so much about being free, taking over responsibilities for our own life, being self-determined, so why not start with yourself?
If you are not starting with your own life, even if it is painful at times, you will never reach the stage where you are free. It’s like the old saying “only if you are able to love yourself you will reach the ability to love others” – that’s true, maybe even the key in life.
Start trusting in yourself and building up the faith you need to face all situations is life. It’s a long way and I don’t know anyone who reached the goal already or if there is a goal at all but it’s sure that this is enriching!
Good luck!
 
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My ten guilty Pleasures

10 guilty pleasures

My ten guilty Pleasures

I read an article about guilty pleasures and tried to put a list of mine together. It’s not as easy as I thought in first place but in the end I succeeded.

1. Shoes&bags

Seems as if I’m a typical woman but honestly, it was the first coming to my mind. And seeing my lack of space for them it has to be true. I already sorted out shoes I’ve never worn but still can’t walk by a shop taking at least a glimpse.

2. Cake

…with lots of cream on top and I melt away. Ok, I have luckily no weight problem at all but sometimes I feel a bit guilty because we all know that fresh fruits or vegetables are the better food and too much sweet stuff isn’t healthy but if you put a piece in front of me I can barely resist.

3. Sleeping long

When I hear friends or colleagues they think sleeping until ten a.m. is long. No, I mean really long, which is lunch time or even worse. From time to time I feel a bit guilty here as well as the early morning hours are really nice especially in summer when it’s not yet too hot and the sun is rising over the city but these moments are not too often seen by me. And if seen just because I just went to bed by then. I’m a real night owl and wouldn’t I have a job which forces me to sit on my desk in the morning I would switch my life to the night hours. When everything is quiet outside I’m active and also productive. Most inspiration is hitting me in the middle of the night.

4. Hot chocolate with cream

Another sweet stuff. But what is more calming on a cold winter day? I also like tea but the hot chocolate is the yummiest.

5. Romantic movies

Oh yes, I’m a totally romantic. Give me everything from Jane Austen, Charlotte and Emily Brontë but also new romantic comedies. I’ll watch them all and can’t get enough of it. Why a guilty pleasure? Because sometimes the feeling hits me and I start to think if I’m getting stupid with only watching stuff like this. Where are the high intelligence movies with so much deep sense in them? But then I quickly decide I don’t need them. Most of the movies I watch are in original language means English, so that is already a proof for me not to be too dumb headed. And even if not in original – who cares, it’s one of my pleasures and I love it!

6. Magazines

Women magazines, this pleasure started to get worse when I began to travel so much for my job. What else should you do while waiting for the next flight? Ok, many are working during waiting hours and I had my laptop with me but after already eight or more hours at work I decided for myself it’s time to calm down the mind. And for sure these magazines are also feeding my pleasure topics one, seven and eight with lots of information about what’s new, what’s a must have, what to try soon and maybe to stop by the duty free to catch something.

7. Buying clothes

Here I’m really guilty! I started a few weeks ago to clean up my wardrobe and what I realized is really insane. Do you also have double and triple layers of shirts, pullovers and many other stuff? Every style and every shade of my fav colors is present, long sleeve, short sleeve, no sleeve, print on and without print, lengths varying, in the end far too much. I have two wardrobes, a small one and a big one and both were completely full. What I promised to my fiancé is to empty the smaller one for him and I’m not yet there. At least I’m improving as I see free space now. But only because I want to minimize the amount doesn’t mean the fashion industry stops designing and selling. My aim is now to only buy one new piece after I took out at least five old ones.

8. Beauty products

Yep, creams, body lotions, make up, nail polish, perfume, I love it all! And they promise to make me looking brighter, shiny, rosy, tanned, young, sun kissed, natural, so I have to try if it’s true. Who doesn’t want to get the most out of the own beauty and smelling like an exotic jungle queen, an erotic lady, a sporty women or like a flower. And samples are not making it better, some even worse if the result is great and then you realize how expensive the original product is and that you are not buying it. This is a guilty pleasure circle as you will find more products each day. Some are now in my daily use and for all those thousands others just send me samples, haha, I promise to give them a try!

9. My two unique tattoos

To list them as ‘guilty’ pleasure is strange because they belong to me nowadays like my right leg or my nose. But there were a few short moments before I decided to get them under my skin where I was thinking if it is something where I feel guilty in the end. Getting a tattoo is a decision which is not reversible. At least not easily reversible. My fear, which vanished quickly, was to be stamped. But who would stamp me, only people who don’t know me, my life, my way of thinking, so I don’t care. I love them! They are what I am.

10. Staying up too long

This may be a reason for number three. I am a person who has to force herself to sleep. It’s not that I’m insomniac, not at all. I lay down and normally it doesn’t take two minutes and I’m in the land of dreams. It’s more that I like the nights. It’s silent, it’s dark, and it’s the time to focus just on myself. No phone is ringing, no emails are dropping in, I have free time to do whatever I like to do. There are so many things I like during the night. Writing is one of them, but also watching old black and white movies on TV, putting a mask on my hair, reading, having candle light around me which only shows its full beauty when it’s dark outside, checking the web and read stories there or shop online and just let my thoughts run in every direction, getting inspired, making notes of things I want to do or to see. I’m completely calming down but with my mind fully awake. Sleeping would also calm me down but I would miss the hours to think about my life. So I feel guilty because I have a lack of sleep and then I feel guilty because I slept so long the next day but in the end it’s what I am.

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Fighting my perfectionism

Fighting my perfectionism
 
 
I’m cleaning up my life.
Trying to get rid of old habits is not as easy as getting rid of old stuff.
I cannot sell my bad habits on eBay.
 
Who wants a piece of my perfectionism?
Maybe some people would say directly yes if they don’t have it all. But if it would be so easy…it wouldn’t change me. It’s something you have to work on.
 
If I ask friends or tell them what I don’t like in me it’s common that they don’t understand it at all.
For them my life is near to be perfect.
But who wants to be perfect?
At least not me – it’s more an insult than a compliment for me.
 
So the first step is, what is my perfectionism in detail, splitting it into its various details.
These are only a few examples. If I list each single item I could write a book of thousand pages.
Just a small example on how things influence us and if we become aware it’s the first step of changing them.

Cleaning – I cannot sit quietly and read something or relax if I have the feeling that my flat needs some cleaning.
Problem: it’s only me seeing the dust on the cupboard, water drops on the mirror or dirt in the corner behind my couch, people who visit me just see a complete clean flat.

Solution so far: I started now to set rules for my weekends.
Weekends are cleaning free days from now on. For sure I’m not keeping it too harsh but I try my best to remind myself if I want to start a “cleaning-action”. Just sit on the carpet and read a book or start a meditation and even if I see the dust on the TV, just leave it. I could clean it later or during the week. There will always be something not perfect, as I’m living here, it’s not a sterile area, it’s my home.

Work – having the complete overview. Being aware of every step my staff is doing and detecting the need of additional work or problem solving directly before anyone is considering it.
Problem: I have no twenty-four hour days and even if it’s not my task. Sure I want to deliver quality but the first thing to learn is to trust others that they are doing their jobs and second is to delegate. Delegate with checking it again in depths afterwards, I could have done it myself if I feel the need to check it.

Solution so far: Letting go and trusting, that’s on my to do list for work.
I work with professionals so why don’t trust. I started to let go at least a bit and one of the results is that I’m really stop working after my contracted working hours. And not as before with a bad feeling as still so many things need to be done. No, with the feeling, that things are fine and my leisure time can start. I’m not feeling as exhausted as I felt weeks before. Just get some time for yourself to be with yourself, friends and live. Work life shouldn’t be the major part of your life. We work to live, not we live to work!

Look – everything is fitting, the nail polish is chosen to meet the colour of my shoes, belt, handbag, my shape is completely underlined by the clothes I’m wearing. My hair is shiny and perfect but should look a bit undone, not too perfect. No spots in my face or lipstick on my teeth. Skin needs to be slightly tanned.
Problem: No one is perfect and no one is looking like women in magazines – and I know that, there’s no photoshop in real life and it’s good that we are all unique beings, so why am I like this?
I have to relax!
All these small things bothering me are not realized by anyone around me. It’s just my mind pushing me into this direction. Simply be and don’t think too much.

Solution so far: I tried it with tiny steps.
Hair undone and I go for shopping, once you realize that no one is looking in a strange way at you, you become more confident with yourself. Only because the nail polish is not matching the rest of your style doesn’t make you a person which looks weird or strange. The truth is nobody is realizing but you. Instead of needing at least fifteen minutes before leaving the flat I go out now without checking and re-checking. A more relaxed way and also something others will like in you. You aren’t the one to wait for any longer.

Others – what may they think about me and my life?
Problem: fortunately no problem.
Solution: I changed already and not recently, no, years ago. When you are young you think about what others think of you. You try to adapt just to fit into the picture others want to have of you. It’s not like this in life. I grew into myself which means whatever decision I made, I made it for my life. So don’t care what others think. It’s your life and you should be happy. It doesn’t mean that you deny other opinions, no, as they are essential, you just judge for yourself if you follow them, took parts out of them into your life or just ignore them totally. For sure I care about what my loved ones think, but this a small holy circle in my life and they don’t expect me to be perfect or to be like they want me to be. They take me as I am. For the rest: I really don’t care what they think.

And again my motto is matching a blog post – keep the faith in you and you are fine.

If you want to fight your perfectionism – check this book, it is a great help to start.