German lifestyle & fashion blog writing about fashion, travel, food and everything that comes to my mind.
Matching the photos, the sun is shining again here in Berlin. At the moment I am full of work. At the moment there is simply nothing exciting. I use the grey winter months to plan my current construction project, among other things. That will be super exciting! One project after the other… but that’s what keeps me going!
Today I’m going to have a relaxed winter look with a cosy sweater and a bit of glitter. Why not wear sequins in everyday life?
7:50 and I am sitting under my roof window while the rain is pouring down softly on the glass. Berlin shows itself again from its most beautiful side. I am a little bit proud. Proud that I made it out of bed before 8:40. Vicky, what’s wrong with you? Me, who usually got up at 7:15-7:30. For the past few months, I’ve been adjusting to my partner’s rhythm. Always going to bed after midnight and woke up just in time for going to work.
What I really miss is my morning rest, the time for myself, the time for writing blog articles. Early in the morning I’m usually full of energy (given that I have enough sleep) and can develop creatively much better. I would say that 80% of my texts here on the blog were written before 9 am. And as important as the morning routine is, so are the evening habits to get the most out of your sleep. Together with TEMPUR® I’ll tell you what works well for me.
Impressive here are some results of the TEMPUR® Sleep Survey on the habits of Germans.
70% are satisfied with their sleep. I would have estimated this at much less, since in today’s environment one hears very frequent messages about stressed, exhausted people. I am glad that only 30% of them sleep badly.
I can only emphasize. Especially in spring and summer I love the early hours. I enjoy my first hot drink and sit in the sun for a few minutes. This makes me one of the 54% of Germans who are early risers.
I’ve been a side sleeper forever. I’ve been wanting to get used to a disciplined back sleep for so long now (yes, allegedly one hardly gets wrinkles from ;-) ). In the end the body does what it wants at night, I always wake up turned to the side.
Yeah, there’s probably a lot of that going around. The Tempur study also found another interesting fact that the quality of sleep increases with income. People with high income usually have a very high pressure, so I would have classified the result differently.
And how many alarms do you need in the morning? Usually I only need one alarm clock and I belong to the 49% of Germans. Currently I like to sleep over several alarm clocks.
*10.000 people were interviewed. The full study of the TEMPUR® Sleep Survey can be found here.
I haven’t come back to my old morning routine yet, but 5 points of my evening routine can be implemented super:
With my morning creativity this article shot out of the blue. And in the background I already hear the 3rd alarm clock of my friend, who probably ignores it. But in this horrible weather, I can understand too well why no ten horses can get him out of bed. I cuddle up for a few more minutes.
This article was created in cooperation with TEMPUR® but reflects my personal views.
LA Restaurant Guide.
What beautiful memories we’ve created in Los Angeles. We spent two days with dear friends in LA. Of course, I was very excited about the city, because probably everybody has a certain idea of the city because of the movies. However, you clearly need more time than two days for the city of stars. It is huge and you’re going to spend a lot of time in the car. The traffic is really unbearable. But LA has incredibly cool restaurants, cafés and great architectural masterpieces. And this is exactly the reason why you need a lot of time and planning beforehand, because many of the sights can be visited on certain days only.
In the 2,5 days we have been testing a lot. Luckily, my friends were also foodies and been living for some years in LA now. Of course, they’d brought us to super cool places. Also, I thought the restaurant prices in LA were humane. In fact, there are many local, authentic restaurants in the respective districts (Korean, Japanese, African … districts).
Here are my LA restaurant recommendations. At the end you will also find an overview where the restaurants are located.
If there was one place I’d go back immediately it is Gjusta Bakery. The location in Venice is so, so great. You come in and find a long banquet that starts with bread, continues with small appetizers, fish, sweet pastries and ends at a long marble counter. In the backyard there is a small terrace. We found it close to the action at the counter way cooler.
Order here the Salmon Rye Bagel or Shashuka. Both were super good. Otherwise you can get inspired at the bar. And the bread, the bread was so good.
320 Sunset Ave, Venice, CA 90291
//
Yes fast food, but what a fast food! I couldn’t believe the hype about In-N-Out. In California, everybody loves the chain. Even after the Oscars, the stars and starlets meet after the event for a burger. But I have to admit that the price and performance is just right here. The burgers are fantastic. The meat is not frozen like with other fast food chains, because In-N-Out sets great store by fresh products. There are only classic burgers here, which is backed up by the good price discount and no waste of food. Insiders know that there are still different secret menus. The only thing that is not good at In-N-Out are the fries. But as my girlfriend said, that’s just part of In-N-Out. So always order “Animal Style Fry”!
8731 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069, United States
Little tip: break open the Japalenos and put the spicy juice on the burger! Yumm!
//
An absolute must-do for us was to go for tacos once. My girlfriend’s husband is Mexican, so we were in good hands. In her opinion, the best tacos are at Leo’s Tacos. The tacos cost $1 and you can top them off as much as you want. A highlight was that the meat is cut from the spit and then from the top a piece of pineapple. We went to the one in Wildshire, which is apparently the best one.
1515 South La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90019, United States
5525 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028
1533 Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90006
//
The Café Stella in Silverlake was recommended to me by a friend. The interior is super nice and inviting. Outside you can find some seats in the small courtyard.
3932 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90029, United States
How beautiful is the beard counter please?
//
For a quick lunch I can highly recommend Pine & Crane. Like Cafe Stella, it is also located in Silverlake and only a few meters away. The Taiwanese-Chinese restaurant offers delicious noodles and rice dishes as well as various salads. We found it very tasty there.
1521 Griffith Park Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026, United States
//
The Bar Caló is a new bar in LA, where a dream in pink has come true. The interior is super nice. Supposedly even nicer during the day. The cocktails are also very good – what more could you want. We were really lucky that it was so empty. Supposedly it’s always super crowded.
1498 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026, United States
//
A visit to the ACE Hotel is not to be missed. The interior is unbelievably beautiful and on the terrace one can stay very well. For us, it was a very nice ending.
929 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90015, United States
You should not miss these recommendations under any circumstances. Here are some addresses I’ve saved.
Street City LA
Silver Lake
Korea City
Venice
Malibu
Santa Monica
//
Here you can find more and current recommendations!
//
Did you also have such a weird start into the new decade? I definitely had. Even though I started the new year with maximum relaxation a little down phase followed back in Berlin. Moreover, I got sick. Was it a little winter depression? I do not know. Maybe it was. Then finally the sun came back and warmed up the sad winter Berlin. I was full of energy again. The thought that 2020 is probably one of my most planned years at the beginning of the year reawakened the joy of life in me. What a little bit of sun can do…
Last year there was a stop sometime. As much as I loved shooting outfits, I lacked inspiration. But exactly these posts were missing, where I could share my thoughts with you besides looks. In the “editorial” travel and culinary articles I find this more difficult to accommodate. After almost ten years of blogging, I’m constantly asking myself how the journey should continue. Everyone is always talking about change and variety. I have to admit, it does me good to blog about exactly the same things as I did three years ago, five years, ten years ago when I was 18.
Bohoo dotted chiffon blouse here
Oasis metallic skirt similar here
Sandro Pepita bag here
Pura Lopez boots
“The landscape will certainly be similar to the Dolomites”. Without great scenic expectations, Julia and I drove four hours from San Francisco Airport into Yosemite Valley – the tourist hub of Yosemite National Park. I was positively surprised, overwhelmed by the scenery. I dare say that the Yosemite trip was one of my highlights of our West Coast road trip. We couldn’t have done better with the season and gladly traded my saint South Tyrol Autumn for it.
From yellow fields in front of Yosemite Fields to arid landscape in Yosemite National Park …
Jet lag also has its good sides. We arrived so overtired that at 9 pm we fell into the feathers dead tired. Shortly before half past five we were wide awake again. Just right for an early hike. Unfortunately we only had one full day of hiking and we wanted to choose the best hike. A schoolgirl recommended me for the first time the Mist Trail, which she had done with her parents. Well then, let’s march! It was 8:30.
The beginning on tarred paths…
The Mist Trail is an unbelievably beautiful hike, which started for the first time on tarred paths. Growing up in the mountains I already joked about the way the trail was equipped. But this changed quickly and turned into “stick and stone”. The barren mountains, autumnal colours and peace did me so well.
Starting point: Happy Isles Shuttle Stop
11 kilometres circular hike
800 altitude meters from starting point
Depending on your endurance, only the following stops are possible:
*Our time with many photo stops
the huge rocky mountain landscape is already very impressive
Trail past Vernan Fall up to the first viewpoint
Impressive play of colours at Vernan Fall
the first acquaintance with the cute squirrels
Top of Vernan Fall
first view of the Nevada Fall
top arrived with the impressive Half Dome in the background
the steep ascent to the Top of Nevada Fall was definitely worth it!
We reached the Top of Nevada Falls at 12pm. We forgot to buy some more and so we got the leftovers from our backpack on the Top of Nevada Falls. Our avo toast and German bread leftovers were too good.
impressive view onto the Half Dome and Nevada Fall
Cooling down after hiking – it did so good!
I can really only recommend a hiking tour, but a round trip by car is also worthwhile. We were back at the Curry Village at about 15:00 and got into the car again for an hour in order to drive to some more view points. Unfortunately we were so tired that we did not stay until sunset.
Google Maps didn’t work so well here and relied on the navigation system of our car. From the Curry Village take the Southside Drive and then up on the Wawona Road. Everything is signposted from there.
The main viewpoints are as follows:
In the end the views from Taft Point and Glacier Point were not very different.
We booked a tent at the Curry Village campground, which we had found and booked directly via the Yosemite National Park. The prices for a simple tent with heating and shared bathroom are steep, but it is worth it. You are directly at the foot of all hiking starting points and can leave the car. Furthermore you avoid possible waiting times at the entrance of the national park (allegedly sometimes up to 3 hours). What I can’t recommend you to do, however, is to enter the national park too late (and jettlagged). The roads are very curvy and it gets pitch dark. From the park entrance to Yosemite Valley it is another hour’s drive.
Curry Village Canvas Tent: we paid 165€/night p.p. including taxes
Yosemite Cabins with Bath $231 + taxes
Yosemite Cabins without Bath $167 + taxes
Canvas Cabins without Bath $170 + taxes
(Prices from 6.10.2019)
the famous view from Tunnel View to finish!
Entrance to the park valid for 7 days: 30$ (from October to April 25$)
A pizza at the Curry Village Restaurant costs $35
you better buy some food before entering the national park
For more information about Yosemite National Park, flora and fauna and possible wildlife, click into Julia’s detailed guide to Yosemite National Park!
If you have any questions, feel free to write me an email or on Instagram (@thegoldenbun.com)
