Sophie Kinsella and Jennifer E. Smith

Hello there.

I have read some more books! I have now finished the first 10 books of my aim of reading 30 books in 2014. And the latest additions to my read-shelf have been The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith and Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella.

I've ordered The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight (seriously? this is like the longest book title ever) online together with Every Day (which I talked about in my last books post) and decided to save it for last. Not really save it, I just wanted to read the other one first. And I don't really know what to say about it. It's a good book. It's not outstanding and it's not bad. It's just a good read (if you like chick lit) and I enjoyed it. I've really felt like reading those kind of easy-going books lately that you can just read through in one take. And The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is a perfect example for such a book. It's a really nice story about these two teenagers who meet at the airport and then happen to sit next to each other on the flight from New York to London. It's all set in a very short amount of time (24 hours I think) and that's pretty much why I bought it in the first place. Maybe not the best idea because now I feel like it makes the story quite unrealistic (well, what did I expect?) but I liked it anyway. It turned out to be more family drama than teenager love drama which I quite liked as well. It's just a good book. You should go read it and write a better review about it because I really don't know what to tell you.

So, on to number 10 of my books-I-read-in-2014-list: I actually read through the ebook of Can You Keep a Secret before actually buying a hardcopy. Which is very unlike me. But what can I say, I couldn't really stop reading. I love Sophie Kinsella so I was quite sure I was gonna like this book. The storyline sounded like the perfect mix between very-unlikely-to-ever-happen and I'll-just-pretend-it's-possible and it didn't let me down. Like pretty much every chick lit, there's the typical ups and downs and you know from the beginning what's going to happen but enjoy reading how the story exactly turns out anyway. And it's absolutely hilarious too. You get to know all the most secret secrets of this woman Emma (which she all tells a stranger on a plane) and they're just hilarious and so relatable. And of course that stranger turns out not to be exactly a stranger (as in he's the boss of the company she works for). And it all gets quite complicated and very funny from there.

I would definitely recommend both of these books for some relaxing reading and getting lost in these people's lives that are all up and down and then turn out fine in the end anyway.

Thank you so much for reading!

New Clothes and SUN!

Hello there, lovely person.

I'm actually doing my nails and watching Alfie's livestream at the moment and I thought, like a proper multitasker, why not write a new blogpost as well?

Because on Friday, the things I ordered from Zalando arrived and I'm gonna show you what I bought. I've wanted to get some casual things for summer and spring because I feel like at the moment I own a lot of work clothes and not so much to wear in my free time. So here's what I got:

1. Blouse by mint & berry
2. Top by DC shoes
3. Summer dress by even & odd

These are only the things I'm actually gonna keep, I did also order two other tops but didn't like them that much. And I also got some basic black jeans but I figured that those wouldn't be too interesting to look at. I don't usually order jeans online because they never fit but these fit perfectly and I'm really happy with them.

I'm really excited for spring and the weather has been really lovely here in Switzerland these past few days even though it's still quite cold. So on Thursday, I went snowboarding with my sister and my dad for the first time this year and the weather was perfect and surprisingly warm. I used to really love snowboarding but I feel like I'm starting to like it less every year and don't go that often anymore. But it was still a beautiful day and, even though it was really exhausting (I'm very out of shape) and there were so many people, I really enjoyed it and thought I'd share some pictures of snowy Switzerland with you.

 

And then today was like the complete opposite, still perfect weather but not a bit of snow. We visited my grandparents at Lake Constance and it was so beautiful that I had to take some pictures.

I really hope the weather stays this way for a little while, it just makes everything better. Thank you so much for reading! 

Valentines Day

Hello there!

Even though I didn't really want to in the beginning, I'm going to tell you about my Valentines Day because I've read so many posts about it and couldn't just not share my day, even if it's not all that exciting. Since it was a Friday and my boss wouldn't let me take the day off, I had to work all day and then went over to my boyfriend (Sam)'s place. And because Sam's birthday is on the 14 February and he turned 20, celebrating Valentines Day wasn't our first priority. So we had a nice family dinner for his birthday and then (even though I always feel a little stupid when he gives me a present on his birthday) he gave me this really cute necklace that I absolutely love (and of course all the chocolates didn't hurt either).

So that's pretty much all we did for Valentines Day. On Saturday we then celebrated Sam's birthday with some friends which was really nice too. And if you're interested in what I got him for his birthday: Skyrim (which we were playing all weekend), a shower curtain (the one from The Big Bang Theory with the periodic table on it) and a travel guide for Liverpool and one for Florence (we're planning to go on a city trip in September and I thought it's never too early to start planning because we have no idea where to go). These may not be gifts for everyone but Sam really liked them and I guess that's most important.

Thank you so much for reading! :)

Goodreads & Every Day

Hello there, lovely person.

As you may have noticed, I changed my blog layout a little. Mostly because I really wanted to add the Goodreads Reading Challenge widget. I've discovered goodreads a while back on someone's blog (I just can't remember who it was) and I really liked the website. I can't believe I haven't found it earlier, it's such a great way to keep track of the books I read and also to find new books. I haven't added all the books I've read but intend to do so at some point. If you're interest you can check that out here. And if you're a book lover like me, you should definitely have a look at the website in general.

So for 2014 I've set a goal of reading 30 books. I wanted to put 50 at first but that's quite a lot and I don't think I will be reading as much as I am now all throughout the year. So I decided to go with 30 because I think that I should be able to reach that. The only problem is that until now I've finished 8 books and I have one at home that I want to read but that still means that I have to find 21 other ones that I like. So if you have any recommendations, you're very welcome to leave them in the comments because I might be facing a serious problem here.

The reason I'm writing this post now is because I've just finished 'Every Day' by David Levithan yesterday evening. And I kind of liked the book very much but also kind of didn't like it at all. I've been reading a lot of these young adult books lately like the John Green Books and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. And I just liked all of those better than Every Day.

If you don't know the book, it's about this person called A who wakes up in a different body everyday.  I thought this was quite a nice and unique idea, so that's why I bought the book in the first place. Now one day, A is in the body of Justin and falls in love with his girlfriend. And after that it all gets really complicated. And I'm obviously not going to tell you what happens but it all gets very philosophical and a little too much for me.

But it was still a good book and very easy to read. I like the fact that it's just a chapter for each day and you get to know so many different people because A is alway someone new the next day. But somehow I feel like he never really wakes up in a body of someone 'normal'. I know there's no such thing like a normal person because everyone's different but there just wasn't anyone that I felt like could be me. Or the people I know. A always wakes up in I think 16 year olds and I just couldn't really relate to most of them.

So, all in all, I do like it I'm just not absolutely in love with it. But I did read it in only like 1.5 days so  it definitely does get you hooked.

Thank you for reading and if you've read the book too, please feel free to tell me what you thought about it!

Mini Haul and Ellie Goulding!

Hello you lovely person!

I realize it's been a while and I'm kinda mad at myself because of it. I was so determined to post regularly on here, but time just passes so quickly. At least now I have something to talk about. Because yesterday I went to see Ellie Goulding live in Zurich and it was amazing. But more on that later. First I want to talk about some things I bought right before the concert. I had some spare time after work and actually intended to buy my boyfriend's birthday present and then ended up with two nail polishes... But at least I bought a part of what I meant to buy too. So not a total fail.

So, these are the polishes that I bought:

essie help me grow anti-break base coat and Maybelline COLORAMA in Cool Blue

You should know that I already own waaaay too many nailpolishes. But I just love buying new ones and it's just so easy to find ones that I like. But unfortunately I always seem to buy the same colors. And when I want to paint my nails I feel like I don't have enough after all. Because almost all the polishes I own are dark colors, mostly dark reds. And I just can't stop buying new ones that are almost the same. I always think "oooh but this color is clearly a more purple dark red than the other two thousand I own." But then in the end they look pretty much the same. So when I had a look at the nail polishes yesterday, I forced myself to look at the brighter colors and fell in love with this baby blue one. I'm actually applying this while writing and I can already say that I love it. I think the Colorama polishes are really nice and a real bargain. Because essie or OPI polishes are just soo expensive here in Switzerland. But obviously I can't not look at the essie polishes and ended up buying this base coat in the end. I really hope it was worth it because my nails always brake and it's just so frustrating, so if this somehow helps that would be great! And I don't know why but the essie polishes I own have become really viscous (is this the right word?!) with time and are really hard to apply now and I'm really disappointed because they do cost a lot of money. So I hope that this one will be better.

So, I'm really happy with what I bought (I'm not gonna tell you about the gift for my boyfriend just yet because I'm pretty sure he's gonna read this). But of course, shopping was not the most exciting thing I did that day. Because afterwards I met up with my brother and sister and we went to see ELLIE GOULDING! And it was soo great. I don't actually know that many Ellie Goulding songs but I generally like her music. And I still can't believe how good she was live. She danced and jumped around the stage for 1.5 hours and I have absolutely no idea how she did that. And the singing didn't suffer at all, she still hit like every single note in that typical Ellie Goulding voice.

The only thing that didn't go that great was the fact that I somehow ended up standing right behind a woman with her hair up and it always tickled my face which was so annoying. And the fact that right in front of her stood like three super tall people didn't really help either. But I could still see the stage for like half of the concert at least and during the other half I just watched Ellie on the phone of the woman in front of me who was like constantly filming as well. But I did manage to take some pictures myself, so here you go (and yes, I realize they're like the worst quality but it was dark and the light was constantly changing and my phone can only do so much):

Chloë Howl as supporting act was amazing as well!

So if you ever get the chance, I definitely recommend going to her concert! And Chloë Howl played as supporting act and she was really great too.

And that's all that's new in Karinland. Thank you so much for reading!

The Liebster Award

Hello you!

I'm still not 100% sure I'm actually supposed to write this post and this wasn't all a mistake. But the thing is, Isabel from I is for Iz nominated me for the Liebster Award. Now I didn't even know there was such a thing but from what I read on her post, it sounds great. And of course I'm gonna do it.

So, the rules are:

1. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to.
2. Choose 11 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and notify them of the award.

If you could dye your hair any other colour, what would it be?
I don't really know, I quite like my hair as it is and I'm not really one to try out crazy new things. So, I guess I would just go for a medium brown. I've actually dyed my hair like that once and quite liked it, so maybe I'll go back to it at some point. But at the moment I'm a happy blonde.

When you're not blogging, what do you do for fun? 
I love to read but unfortuantely I usually spend more time on the internet than reading. And I love to play video games, whether it's alone or with friends (or mostly with my boyfriend).
 

On a big night out, are heels a must? 
I don't think so. I like to wear heels every once in a while but usually just for like really fancy events like weddings or something like that. And I absolutely hate wearing heels when you're going out to like a club or someplace where you have to stand a lot because my feet always hurt so much.

What is your favourite item of clothing you own? 
Phu, this is really hard. I don't own that many clothes but I like all of them equally. So I couldn't really decide on just one thing, so I picked two. One for work and one for the weekends. And this is probably gonna change the next time I go shopping, but still. Here you go:

                            

Where would you love to be right now?
Vancouver. I spent three months in that lovely city from September to December 2012 and I really fell in love with the place. Even though I was happy to be home when I first got back, I'm starting to miss it more and more and would just love to go there again. Maybe right now, Vancouver wouldn't be the best choice because in winter it usually turns into Raincouver (during those three months I was there, there were maybe 2-3 weeks of sunshine) but I'd still love to go back and just have a look at all the places I visited and see my host family again.

What is a name you really hate?
Mike. I don't know why but I just don't understand why anyone would call their son that (not trying to offend anyone).

Who is your celebrity idol right now?
Probably Jennifer Lawrence. She's not really my idol but I love her and I think she has a great personality and I love to watch her interviews and of course her movies.

Guilty pleasure music?
Probably ABBA. I just recently listened to some of their songs and it just makes me happy (yes, I was singing along with it and yes, my boyfriend thought I was pretty weird).

Name three essential items you need in your bag when you go out.
Well, apart from purse/keys/phone I would say a book, some tissues and chewing gums. Because a) I love to read and I do most of my reading on trains because if I'm on a train and don't have a book it's just a waste of time, b) whenever I'm out and don't have any tissues, my nose starts to run like crazy and c) I don't like to have bad breath.

Favourite dessert.
Chocolate mousse. It's my favourite dessert to eat and also the easiest to make. Yumm!

Describe an ideal weekend.
I'd say going out with friends from work on Friday night and then sleep until noon on Saturday. Then spend Saturday afternoon on the internet or reading. On Saturday evening I would have a nice cozy evening with my boyfriend or grab a drink with some of our friends first and then sleeep again on Sunday and just spend some time with him until dinner, which I spend with my family.


So, that's it. Now here are my questions:

1. If you could keep any animal as a pet, what would you choose?
2. What's your favourite sport?
3. Name one thing you would like to change about yourself.
4. When's your birthday?
5. Last book you read?
6. What makes you laugh?
7. Favourite nail polish?
8. Name something you keep with you at all times.
9. Do you like your handwriting?
10. What's the best present you ever got?
11.  Are you a good cook?

And because I'm very new to all of this blogging thing and everyone has already done it, I don't really know who to nominate. So I'm just gonna say that if 11 people are even gonna read this, please feel free to answer my questions :). And I would love to see Deenie from Just Add Deenie and beautylover7694 do it.

Sorry for failing the last task miserably. And thank you for reading!

Productive Weekend

 

Well, hello there. I am very happy to announce that I've had a rather productive weekend! Because whereas I usually spend my weekends in bed and on the computer, this week I finally got some things done. I've had this idea in my head of how I wanted to redecorate my room for quite a while and so I went and bought that shelf some weeks ago but never got around to putting it up. And I've always wanted some fairy lights but never managed to find ones that I liked. But then I went to IKEA last wednesday and bought soo many things (even though I didn't really need anything), including the bed sheets (unfortunately, the pillow case wasn't big enough :( ), pretty much every scented candle I could find and those beautiful fairy lights. I wasn't too sure about them but now I'm soo happy and I think they're perfect.

So, on Saturday, I had this perfect plan figured out of how me and my boyfriend (Sam) are gonna put up my shelf and the fairy lights and everything. Unfortunately I'm not really used to putting up shelves and drilling holes in walls and things like that. So I basically spent the first hour sitting around and being afraid that something might go wrong and that we didn't have the right equipment and material. But when my mom came home, the three of us finally started the whole thing and it totally worked out. My mother is surprisingly good when it comes to this kind of work and of course Sam was a great help too. So, to be honest, I didn't really do much myself. But mental support counts, right?

 

And then, that evening, it was time to improve my blog a little. Now, I think a huge thanks to my lovely boyfriend would be appropriate here. Because, first of all, I don't own photoshop myself and even if I did, I wouldn't really be able to use it. So I went over to his place and we designed a new header and all the links to my social media and I'm just really really happy with how everything turned out. I'm hoping to create my own background someday, too; the one I use at the moment is from Hot Bliggity Blog.

But all in all, I couldn't be happier with my room and my blog. I can't believe everything turned out exactly how I imagined it. I usually have this image in my head of how I want something and then it never ever works out the way I imagined it. And this time it just did!

Thank you so much for reading!