Thank you!

Thank you for sharing 2011 with me! 
It was a pleasure to meet you all and to get so much inspiration by what you thought
 and by what you saw through the lenses of your cameras. 

I am very much looking forward to another year of glimpses into your world and to share mine! 

Wishing you and yours joy and happiness in 2012!

♥ Emilie's daughter ♥

Get that fresh look...

When I have days I look tired due to lack of sleep, long nights with friends or just because life is taking me hard I have a remedy: Egg yolk, olive oil and honey! It may sound a bit kooky to you but it helps! Just whisk an egg yolk, good olive oil and good honey together and apply the paste with a brush to your face and neck. Lay down and put some slices of cucumbers on your eyes, listen to your favorite music and maybe even drink a glass of bubbly champagne... after 30 minutes you will be refreshed and rosy... your skin will be subtle and soft for a few days... no preservatives, no chemicals... and nearly no costs... I can only say: TRY IT OUT! It is a recipe I received 20 years ago from Ina and since then no other mask has ever touched me... 

Wishing you a relaxing day... hope to meet you tomorrow again with rosy cheeks!

♥ Emilie's daughter ♥ 

A little bit of spring...

... in my house! I love the green and the white of the hyacinths and the subtle color of the amaryllis.

I have noticed that even the days are getting longer... already!

I love the week between Christmas and New Year it is a kind of sentimental... a valediction and a beginning into something new...

Let your feelings flow... they are you... and you are precious... remember also imperfection is beautiful!

♥ Emilie's daughter ♥ 

White day

When I woke up yesterday morning the weather was misty. Everything outside was coated with white icy layers. My white morning! I put on my shoes, a thick pullover, a cap, my gloves, a scarf and went out. I do not know whether you have ever noticed that fog has an unique smell - to me it has... However, the air was filled with that smoky scent which I love a lot. I ran down to the pathway along river Aare and here you see what filled up my soul and made me sing for the whole day.

When I came home I took down some of the X-mas deco... I was longing for WHITE!

♥ Emilie's daughter ♥ 

Now that Christmas is over...

THANK YOU!

♥ Emilie's daughter ♥ 

Merry Christmas

Yes, that's what it is: CHRISTMAS!

Emilies daughter

To you and yours...

♥ Emilie's daughter ♥

One day till Christmas Eve...

 Found this sweetie the other day on a fleamarket...

Could not stop making more wreaths yesterday afternoon...

Have a jolly and Christmassy day!

♥ Emilie's daughter ♥

Boxwood....

I wanted to make this kind of wreath since November. My plan was to go to the park nearby to get some boxwood. Today when I went to work I passed a gardener's lorry. He had freshly cut boxwood in the back of his little truck. My eyes got really wide and I asked whether I could have some branches. He said that he would throw it all away and that I could have as many as I liked. I tucked some in my bag and when I got home that is what came out... I'll do some more so every window gets that delicate Christmassy touch.

Sometimes one just needs a little patience...

I hope you have many happy thoughts today!

♥ Emilie's daughter ♥

PS. Have you seen that candleholder?

 I had it on my balcony all summer long and now it is rusty and has a vintage look which I like a lot.

 Next summer I'll be bringing many more outside...

Christms cookies...

but before get a cup of coffee or tea...

Have a wonderful day - we are only a few hours away from Christmas... 

♥ Emilie's daughter ♥

WIntery impression

My neighborhood today at 8 o'clock this morning! 

Unfortunately the temperatures are going to rise and the snow will turn into rain. 

I'll go out now and enjoy every flake falling on my head!

Have a beautiful day!

Emilie's daughter

My boys' Christmas book...

When my sons were small this picture book about the Christmas of dwarfs was their absolute favorite. End of November I used to unpack our Christmas boxes. We decorated the house and in the end we took out this book, lit a candle, made some tea, cut some gingerbread and sat on the sofa. On each side I felt the warm body of a boy and then I narrated the story over and over again. As you know my boys are grown up now but at least once every Christmas they look at the pics and then we remember those long gone afternoons and laugh about the funny but friendly faces of these chaps. We had many Christmas books but this one was and is our most precious one.

Warm hugs to you all!

♥ Emilie's daughter ♥ 

pictures by Fritz Baumgarten, Titania-Verlag Stuttgart

ISBN 3 7996 3246 8

What a weekend!

The weekend started on Friday evening with the traditional Christmas aperitif at Luana's:

That's how neat and beautiful the buffet looked in the beginning...

That is how it looked it the end... 

Luana's napkin... she always wears red lipstick....

I like neat tables but when I have guests and the table looks like people enjoyed their food and had a memorable evening I am even more happy....

Thank you Luana, Laura. Ernesto, Teresa, Alex, Paulo, Lorenza, Vincenzo, Naomi, Moritz, Domenic for such a stimulating and funny evening.

On Saturday Paul made this delicious Advent pizza for us:

Before baking....

After baking.... Yummy!!

On Sunday we went

to the forest to collect some decoration material

It was cold and snowing... MAGIC!

Hubby carrying deco material like ivy, fir branches etc.

Crossing river Aare on the way home

In the afternoon we went to town with our boys to get the X-mas tree

First we had a cup of hot chocolate in the Christmassy pub

Choosing the tree - a family matter

Finally we found OUR tree, it was grown in a village nearby
so it is practically CO2-neutral! Great!

Good luck do I have three strong boys

The tree is waiting on our balcony now 
We will put it up on December 23 in the evening. The decoration is a family matter as well.

Later on I hung up the ivy wreath Paul had made for me:

Isn' it beautiful! To crown the day more snow fell in the evening. It was all so cozy and warm. 

I am very much looking forward to the forthcoming Christmas week. 

Hope you too!

♥ Emilie's daughter ♥