January Favourites

Alex's

preparing my Maturaball (=Prom)

The first two weeks of January kept me really busy. You may have read “January Blues And How To Beat It” and know, that I was part of the Maturaball - committee. In spite of the stress and the responsibility, it was a great time. If you love to organise and plan and of course have the possibility to help preparing your Prom or a similar event, I recommend you to participate, you won’t regret it!

sleeping as long as possible

My favourite pastime in January (after my Maturaball) was sleeping as long as possible. Sadly school was in my way and kept me away from my new best friend, my bed. But when it was finally time for me to go to bed I felt like falling into a kind of hibernation. Equipped with woollen blankets and fuzzy socks, even the loudest and most persistent alarm clock (later my mum) wasn’t able to get me out of my cosy and warm bed.

fresh snow

My third favourite of January is fresh snow. I love getting up, looking out of the window and seeing all kept in snow. My mum always says, it’s like god spilled some icing sugar all over our country.

“It” by Alexa Chung

You may have heard of Alexa Chung’s book “It”. I got it for Christmas and finally had the time to read it. “It” is filled with thoughts and pictures of Alexa and is a great book to spend an evening with. I have to say, I really enjoyed reading it.

Juno's

Hair Oils

January in Austria is still very wintery and therefore rather cold. My already dry hair due to natural curls and colour treatment has definitely been lacking moisture lately. There is only one thing that can save it: lots and lots of oils! I enjoy doing oil hair masks on the weekends, when I have time to stay in and they can stay on the hair for a few hours and work their magic. I particularly like coconut oil or olive oil and I usually put it on overnight. Furthermore, after I’ve washed my hair I avoid blow-drying it and just let it air-dry and use the Garnier Fructis Marvelous Oil.

Nike Training Club

As you all know from our New Year’s post we did, a big resolution for us is to get in shape. First I tried to get fit just by working out with YouTube videos and sort of creating my own workout plan. But more often than not, school and loads of homework got in the way and just took over the majority of my leisure time. Then I got introduced to the app Nike Training Club by my cousin Sophie and we partnered up to be training buddies. We have started the “get toned program – beginner” and are already in our fourth week. I can definitely already notice a huge improvement on my body *screams with joy*.

Skype

My last favourite is very connected to this one. As my cousin and I live approximately 350km apart, we had to come up with a solution to overcome the separation. Just calling each other is not as much fun, so we moved to Skype and FaceTime. But luckily I came to visit her this weekend which was really fun! We went out, did a workout together, went shopping and even sledging!

Shameless

Words cannot describe how much I love this TV show! I’ve seen every single episode at least twice, I wait full of anticipation for the next episode every week and cannot contain my excitement when the time has finally come and I can watch it. Not only the witty content is amazing though, they have really great choice in music, as well. A song that’s just been featured recently has been particularly stuck in my head: The Interrupters - Take Back The Power

We hope you've enjoyed reading our little instalment about the things floating our boat in January!

Have a good week, see you next Sunday! - Alex and Juno

Our favourite Christmas songs

Seeing as it is almost Christmas, we like to get into the festive spirit by replaying that Christmas playlist over and over. Here we've compiled a list of our top 5 picks:

1. The Pogues - Fairytale of New York

2. Slade - Merry Xmas Everyone

3. Coldplay - Christmas Lights

4. Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone

5. Train - Shake Up Christmas

I hope you like our list and feel free to share yours with us in the comments!
See you next Sunday!

Alex and Juno xo

November Favourites

Juno

green tea with peach

As it has already been freezing in November here in Austria, I have really needed to keep myself warm with some lovely tea. I especially love this one from the brand Teekanne because it has a very fruity taste that resembles actual peaches. In the summer they are one of my favourite fruit to eat but I could drink this tea all year round. Personally, I don’t like to sugar mine because that is not really my cup of tea (…my oh my, I am hilarious :D) If, however, you do feel the need to put some kind of sweetener in there, you can of course.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, our teachers seem to like to play a game called “let’s see how many tests and exercises we can fit in one week!” which is, as you can imagine, extremely stressful. That is where a huge perk of this tea comes into play: comparable to coffee, it helps to keep you awake for longer!

french food

I am in the language class in senior year of the grammar school in my town. With that comes the joy of welcoming new exchange students every time school rolls around again in September. This year our exchange student is from France and an excellent cook. Lucky me, have I already had the pleasure of not only tasting his delicious food, but also helping him make it. We made a specialty from the Bretagne, called “galette de blé noir”. It was savoury crêpe-like goodness with cheese, ham and an egg sunny side up. And yes. They were as delicious as they sound!

dark nail polishes

Autumn and winter, the time where every girl cracks out the purples, bordeauxs, oxbloods and all the glitter she can possibly find in her nail polish stash. I am no exception – in fact, nail polish wise, I prefer the colder months. Some of my favourites include Essie’s Bordeaux, Essie’s Bahama Mama and she’s polish in 314. As for the last polish, I am not sure if it available internationally.

guns’n’roses – don’t cry

Growing up with this kind of music, Axl Rose and his band members will always hold a very dear place in my heart, I really do love their music. This song in particular, has the ability to calm me down, if I am feeling upset or it makes me excited if I am seeking to feel this way. Whatever my reasons are for listening to this wonder in 5 minutes, it always leaves behind a smile on my face. In case you don’t know this song and have never heard of it, before carrying on reading, go and listen to it: 

Alex

hunger games
Rainy days, the first snow or strong winds make it difficult for us to go outside. If you don't want to get ill you should probably stay at home, which can be really boring. I found the perfect solution for this "problem", when I was cleaning my bookshelf and suddenly found my Hunger Games book collection. I have to confess, I had the best afternoon so far rereading the last book called Mockingjay. If you haven't already read the books, then it's time for you to switch off your computer, tablet ore mobile phone immediately, go to a library or a bookstore (Do not use the temporary weather condition as an excuse!) and read all the books!! They are worth it!

taking a stroll in the evening
About a week ago, I had to go to town because I needed some stuff for school. I was alone and had time, so I decided to walk around and do a bit of window shopping. I really enjoyed watching people passing me, hearing bits of music coming out of the shops and smelling sweet chestnuts from the stalls. While I was walking down the street, the sun set and the Christmas lights were switched on. This moment was magnificent! Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures.

Christmas songs
Yes, I know we are talking about November favourites, but I enjoyed listening to some Christmas songs at the end of this month. I don't want to hear them all day long on the radio, but sometimes they can be really catchy. My favourite song so far is "Christmas Lights" from Coldplay.