cheap TP, an experiment, spiders, and how the orthopedist killed me.

I know, I can't believe it either that I haven't talked to you in a few days!

This week was incredibly busy and I am just happy that it is finally Friday.

Although, my work never really leaves me and the unfinished paper is staring at me from my desktop behind this browser window, it's still Friday!
And Friday means that tomorrow, Nick and I get to spend time together at the grocery store and the bakery for breakfast in the morning. Two of my favorite places!

I am always so happy when I fill up the band with all the things we need and spend about 1/3rd of what I would spend in Baltimore. Milk for 50 cents, a 2liter sparkling water for 19 cents, 2 delicious pizzas for €1.99, and 18 rolls of 3ply TP for  €3?! Yes please! Don't be jealous. Just come visit!

To make our upcoming trip even more adventurous, Nick is planning on attaching this:

to one of these:

I am curious how this is going to work, but I am certain that this experiment will be spectacular.

Now let me fill you in what happened in the past few days.

First of all, there were at least 98.5hrs of this:

Which resulted in eating a lot of these.

chocolate covered peanuts <3

Then I was dreading this:

waiting room at the orthopedist

 The doctor examined my knee forever. She also did an ultrasound and then an X-ray.

The result: PFPS (runner's knee) and irritated IT bands.

The treatment: an extremely painful cortisone shot right into the side of my knee. I really liked the doctor until then. We even bonded over our shared disgust for spiders. We could have been best friends forever!

But then she came back into the room with something that looked like she was going to knit a sweater. I reminded her that the cap was still on the needle, but she just laughed a devilish laugh, I am tell you, I think her eyes turned red, and before I knew it, I died.

Before I whine about it for longer (I could, if you'd like though), I will leave it to this beautiful article to tell you more about what PFPS is. http://www.runnersworld.com/tag/runners-knee

To have plenty of time when it's time for my comeback, once I am fully recovered, I decided to work as much as I can at my desk and get this ridiculous paper done.

Have I told you what the library at my host university looks like?

what

is

this?

I can't help but be reminded of a postmodern version of the body of that steam-powered tarantula from Wild Wild West. Maybe that's just me. 

Maybe it's supposed to resemble a brain? A tick after it sucked all your blood (ticks are gross. and rude)? 

We don't know. 

Oftentimes, I would not leave my desk before 9.30pm and the trains are completely empty! (at least until we hit the next major stop) A nice change to the packed, smelly train that I get to take in the mornings. And can you see it's still light out?! I love it!

Then, in the tunnel,  I turned around, because I thought someone was looking at me and this "lady" scared me to death and may or may not have caused me to scream on the train! 

Imagine screeching, out of tone violins in the background.

After this week, we treated ourselves to Döner (Lamachun for me) and Flutschfinger (also for me). 

Döner

Lamachun

heaven

Despite any painful, draining, and scary moments this week - all is perfect, if you come home to a weekend with your husband and puppy. 

Happy Friday!

Have you had runner's knee before? Did they torture you with a shot, too? - If yes, I hope they didn't!

How did your week go?

Döner or Lamachun? - Lamachun!

strawberry relay, big news and a sleepless night

Lets just pretend yesterday was the most productive day and this is a celebratory popsicle and not the second "I need carbs to cope with my frustration" Flutschfinger.

Speaking of major food groups. On Saturday, Nick and I spent the entire second half of the day eating the most delicious food - nonstop!

It started with a short trip to the Turkish store next door to get fresh fruit. Since it was almost time for them to close for the weekend, they were giving away some of their things for an incredible price. 

So I bought 4lbs of fresh strawberries for 1Euro! Can you believe that?! From now on, we all need to go buy produce the minute before closing time. 

Just when we had already finished half of this bowl, I remembered to take a quick picture. Yes. We had a strawberry relay with that one fork there and finished without taking any breaks.
I didn't stop the time, but I am guessing we had a 4:32 min pace. At least.

Because we are crazy, we walked 20 miles (at least!) to find a place to sit down and have a drink and eat more. We had no idea where we were going, but the neighborhoods here all have wonderful little cafes and restaurants that we just walked until we decided for one of them.

We just wanted drinks at first. Then we figured, we should get appetizers. But then we ended up having a big salad with tons of feta cheese, a whole pizza bread, and because we clearly don't know our limits, we ordered a pizza with prosciutto, artichokes, and gorgonzola.

Always eat all your feta cheese first.
You don't want the greens to fill you up
before you can finish the good stuff.

Almost forgot to take a picture. Again.

The picture doesn't give the pizza enough credit. The crust was the fluffiest - yet perfectly crunchy -piece of crust heaven I have ever tasted. And the toppings. Ooooh the toppings...
It was so incredibly delicious and we fought really hard, but had to leave one slice of shame. But we will be back. And we will finish.

One thing we both know how to do well is: eat ridiculous amounts of food in no time.

Friday night had the same motto. Then it was sushi. I am just saying: 15Euros and all you can eat. Yes. Totally awesome!

I took two pictures. One around the beginning and another one close to the finish. About 10 minutes and 23 plates later. 

Whoever invented never-ending food on a conveyor belt should receive a Nobel prize. 

The reason for last night being a sleepless night was, however, not an unimaginable amount of food. When I came home from school yesterday, Nick surprised me with the big news that this morning, we would go to the gym to sign up for a year. 

I was so thrilled, I can't even tell you. I have been going insane not being able to run. Again, I was worried all night that we would sleep in and not make it there in time before I had to get to the office. Especially since we watched Cloud Atlas last night! The whole thing. Without falling asleep. Nobody told me that it is a 3hr movie! 

We can talk about the movie itself some other time, but wow, it was long. Needless to say, we didn't start watching it until 11.45pm. Eeek.

Back to the big news: We did make it to the gym, and we signed up!!! It really happened, people! 

I would show you a picture of my brand new key card, but I am sharing the office and I don't want everyone to see that I am not actually typing on my paper here, but taking pictures for my blog. I can't afford my cover to be blown.

I will be signing up for a trainer to show me how all those machines work. Since I already managed injuring myself by picking up Lucy's poop with a bag, I think there is a pretty high chance of me killing myself in the weight room. 

Source

Now, it's time to stop pretending and actually get some work done. 

Happy Tuesday everyone! 

Do you like sushi? We both love it!

How often do you go to the gym? 

Have you seen Cloud Atlas? How did you like it?

Dropping in and the world's best coffee mug

Mondays aren't that bad after all!

After I woke up this morning, I got all organized and packed my bags to get to work.
Mama, you would be proud. I even prepared some food to take with me and it didn't contain Haribo (No worries, I can buy that on campus).

Of course, coffee had to be packed as well. 

Keeps the coffee hot and tasty for the entire day!

I am still thankful for the wonderful thermos mug that my two friends, Anja and Nina, have gifted me with. It is the best mug ever and I am using it every single day! Hence, me taking it with me from the U.S. to Berlin. 

(Neither Starbucks, not Anja and Nina have paid me to say this. Unfortunately.)

my ride.

This is what my daily ride looks like! I have missed public transportation so much in the U.S. and Berlin is spoiling me now with the most developed subway/ light-rail/ bus network imaginable. 

The best part: We have subway ("U-Bahn") access right in front of our house. 

With switching trains once and walking from the final stop to my office, it takes me exactly 30 minutes to get from our apartment to work. 

Loving my new pair of sandals!

The commute is even better if it's as beautiful out as today!

Inside, the view of my desk is not as pretty.

I better get back to work now. So far, I have underlined two irrelevant sentences and eaten all my food. 

At least that's taken care of. 

Happy Monday, everyone!

What do you love starting into a new week? Getting to work well rested!

Flip flops or sandals? both!

Coffee or tea for breakfast? coffee

random (K)nights in Berlin

Today is an incredibly slow day. It's really nice and warm out, so a walk to the park will probably the only accomplishment of the day. I'm not complaining, since tomorrow is going to be the start of a really busy work week.

Over the past few nights, Nick and I went to a few different new places. We love to explore and Berlin has so much to offer, that I doubt we will ever be bored here.

Two of the light rail lines in Berlin, go all around the city. It's a terrific way to just sit and relax, see a lot of the surroundings, and get ideas where to go next.

Source

So we hopped on the train, got off at "Treptow Park", and walked around for a while.
It is remarkable how quickly you can distinguish landmarks or memorials that are remainders of Soviet times.

Hammer und Sichel
or as the English call it "hammer and sickel" 

After finding out that it is super easy to learn a different language, because you can just pronounce your own language in a different way, we moved on and took more pictures.

I am still thrown off by the fact that these statues of soldiers are created after the model of knights kneeling down, but instead of swords, they are carrying machine guns. It is hard to see in this picture, but those guys were quite big!

After having walked enough, we found a place to eat. If you are in a touristy city, please try to find the most touristy place to buy food. I am sure you will get the best deal there. 

Isn't this pretty?!

To be fair, it wasn't all that expensive and the food was truly amazing. After a lengthy discussion with the waitress about whether salads should contain tomatoes or not, I had a salad with sesame chicken in a mango glaze. And yes, I won. The salad had tomatoes.

See the tomato under the chicken?

Another thing that I am really liking about all the restaurants here: If you sit outside, you will have a blanket on your chair, in case you get cold. It's the absolute best!

My skills of taking pictures with my phone in the dark
are a work in progress.

Sadly, it was comfortably warm throughout dinner and I didn't get to use this red, soft, and cozy fleece blanket. A good reason to come back another time!

If you think that having this blanket, or finding a huge Soviet memorial was the biggest surprise of the day, you are mistaken. We had walked Lucy to the park earlier and trust me, all three of us were confused when we heard and saw this. 

A group of six people in armor that was having a battle in the park. And trust me, these guys were getting at each other. You could hear them hitting and yelling from afar.

Unfortunately, they didn't have any horses with them, but we still thought they were cool and much more lively and friendly looking than the "knights" at the memorial.

Where do you eat when you are in a new city?

Are you adventurous to try new foods or do you stick to what you know?

Back to school and running with an injured knee

I know, I know. It's been a while.
But rest assured, all is well, we are still alive. Sort of.

With the wonderful piece of stamped paper the admissions office gave me, I was able to move into my new office and spent every day there. I am sure you are dying to see what my desk looks like.

It has windows!

Lucky me, I am sitting right by the window. I am thrilled! I never had an office with a window. 

There is nature outside!

Having access to all this oxygen, I am sure I will be able to write my papers in no time!

Although, the pretty view comes with regular landscaping. I found this out on my second day. 

And he took his sweet time.

Fortunately, Nick had a few days off this week and cheered me up with a surprise visit! I hope you all know how much I love surprises! 

He had never been to my office, so it was extra special to be able to show him around. Lucky me, Nick also charged my cafeteria card with money when we went for lunch. Now, won't have to starve at work! So much happiness on one day!!!

Source

Yesterday, I spent most of the morning running back and forth between doctors offices. Since my knee is quite annoying with all the hurting after my runs, I finally decided to have someone look at it. Yea, and that's pretty much all they did. Look at it - and then send me to an orthopedist.

Add caption

I now have an appointment for an X-ray on Thursday morning. The doctor told me I should get a knee brace to stabilize the bands (since I can walk without pain now and she could rule out that anything was torn) and try to run carefully. 

Have you ever done that? Do you have any suggestions when it comes to knee braces? 

I would really appreciate any advice from you. 

For now, I will just go for a walk and pick up some fresh bread at the bakery. Remember? Tomorrow is Sunday and Germany will be closed. 

Happy weekend!

Do you work at an office? Does it have a window?

If you pack lunch for work, what do you take with you?

Have you ever run with a knee brace before? How did you avoid chafing?

Terrific times coming up and favorite part of the day

Have I ever told you that, when Nick and I still lived in Baltimore, Saturday mornings were reserved for just us? It was our favorite part of the week.
I don't recall the date when it started, but I remember that we started calling it "adventure Saturday" from the very beginning.

Most of the time, we would just grab a coffee from Dunkin Donuts and drive around the city, go for a walk, or just do whatever random thing offered itself (like buying a travel house for Lucy).

Source

With the move here, we also gave up the luxury of having a car and we both knew, adventure Saturday would (for) now be history.

However, we have already established another fun tradition and that involves not only coffee and us, but also Lucy. We fill our travel mugs and go to the dog park!

Lucy is always the most pathetic saddest dog in the entire world before we leave.

"I hate you and your slowness!"

Coffee mug in the close up
and Lucy harassing a little dog in the back.  

It is always my absolute favorite part of the day when we get to just have a cup of coffee and spend some time together. It doesn't get much better than that.

Of course, if I get to run before this, I can barely handle my happiness! This morning, I very carefully ran 4.5 miles. It was already quite warm, so I by the time I got home, I looked like a pig roast.

Can you see that I am showing you 4.5 with my hand?!
Of course you can. 

When I walked in the door, I just couldn't believe the sweat dripping from my body. I had never seen anything like this. It was absolutely insane! Until I realized, the water bottle that I had squeezed in my arm, had been leaking all over me. 

Tell me this happened to you before! 

In case you were wondering - no, this is not my favorite shirt and I do in fact have a few other tops. However, I am lazy and I own three of these shirts (they were on super sale). One day, when I did laundry, I just happened to have all three in there. They ended up on top of all my running things, all ended up in the laundry again... a vicious cycle was created. 

I may never make it out. 

I will leave you with the most terrific news. 

Today, this happened: 

Yes. It is what you think it is.

After a long month of being tangled up in bureaucracy - I finally received my student ID and train pass. 

Exciting times are about to come up!

I already spent the afternoon at school and will share more about my new study home later. Now, it's time for a Flutschfinger and some "White Collar"! 

Do you have a favorite thing to do (aside from running)?

For regular hot coffee: Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks?

What is your favorite TV/ Netflix/ Hulu show?

running break and favorite healthy snack

Guten Morgen!

There was no run yesterday.
There was no run today.

My knee is being rude and not too cooperative, so I have no choice but to take it extra slow.
I thought I did an awesome job walking like a normal person, but somehow, it was discovered that something was off.

Source

No idea how.

Yesterday, Nick asked again, if we shouldn't sign up for the gym. He is absolutely right and it would be awesome to maintain training when I'm injured, working with weights, running on the treadmill when it's hot, having 24hr access, having a gym a 3 minute walk from our front door: but I am really stubborn when it comes to spending money.

So instead, I will be whining about not being able to go there.

Source

It makes a lot of sense to me.


I have told you before that Müsli is one of the keys to my survival.
When I moved to the U.S., there were many trips to grocery stores in several states to find this delicious healthy snack, but even if you are lucky to find some sort of Müsli, it either tastes like old cardboard, or is way out of my price range - yes, a lot of things are, but we are talking ridiculously overpriced here.

Then, after 3 years, it occurred to me that I could just mix my own! Please feel free to admire my quick thinking.

Source

I don't have any pictures of my creations, but I promise, I spent hours to find the prettiest creations I could steal online :o)

This is what I would for just the "base":

4 cups of old fashioned oats
1/4 cup of flax seeds
1/3 cup of pumpkin seeds (not salted)
1/4 cup of sunflower seeds (not salted)
2-4 table spoons of chia seeds

Once you have this base, you can just play with it and turn your Müsli into whichever kind you like. 

Here are some ideas: 

Chocolate-Nut Müsli:

1 cup of chocolate chips (I prefer the dark kind, but either kind works)

1/2 cup of sliced almonds 

1/2 cup of walnuts (pistachios, or pieces of cashew nuts work really well, too)

1 cup of honey nut cereal

1 cup of raisins/ cranberries (you can also use chocolate covered raisins or cranberries)

2/3 cup chocolate rice crispies

I found this picture here. 

Fruit Müsli:

1 cup of raisins

1/2 cup of cranberries

1/4 cup of cut up dried figs

1/3 cup of dried bananas

1/4 cup of cut up dried apples

(any dried fruit will work! If you want to have a tropical mix: peach, mango, figs, dates, apples, and bananas work great together)

1/2 cup of plain corn flakes

Source

Yoghurt crunch Müsli:

1 cup of yoghurt covered raisins (or cranberries)
1/2-3/4 cup of rice crispies
1/2 cup of dried cranberries (or raisins)
1/2 cup of granola (any kind works)
1/3 cup of dried strawberries or raspberries (cut in very small pieces)

Source

You can play around with this! I would just always have a few small separate containers of the dry ingredients for my base and then have one big container for the Müsli. Once I am running out, I would just add whichever sweet ingredients (dried fruit, dark chocolate) I felt like and then create a new kind.

I prefer my Müsli in Yoghurt. Either I have it with plain yoghurt/ greek yoghurt and add fresh fruit (banana or cut up orange), or I just buy strawberry yoghurt and put it in there.

Here in Germany, many people love to eat their Müsli with just cold milk. My brothers would even use cold chocolate milk. Other people I know, prefer their Müsli with warm milk or they put it in their yoghurt the night before and have it just like overnight oats. This would be my second favorite way to eat it - if I had enough self control to not eat it after I mixed it together.

There is no need to add any sugar or anything and because all the ingredients are dry, it lasts for a few months (in theory, of course). Since it contains just whole grains, nuts, and dried fruit, it will keep you full for hours!


In other news:

Source

They got me on my forehead. Twice. 

What is your favorite healthy snack?

How do you protect yourself from mosquitos?

Dark chocolate, white chocolate, or milk chocolate? dark chocolate, but when I have covered raisins or m&ms, then definitely milk chocolate.