It all started with a mess. A yogurt mess.

1 c. Kashi Heart to Heart cereal and a crumbled cashew cookie Larabar mixed into 3/4 c. Kefir topped with almonds and soy nuts. On the side, a tall glass of Silk.

Sixteen year old Karina Pinzon figured this was the only proper way to begin her busy Friday. She had to be down at her nutritionist’s by 12 o’ clock, and was already running late: something she was no stranger to.

Life had taken a turn since she began to follow her nutritionist’s plan. Her meals seemed to occur more naturally after she’d finally met that magic calorie number on Wednesday.

It baffled her how sometimes all it took was one time to break a fear. The anxiety and nervous fluttering were all worth it once that fear was overcome. And a life lived in fear is a life wasted.

Soon after a fine lunch at Starbucks, Karina lay out on the grass feeling the autumn breeze puff against her cheek. She was exhausted of her battle against the clock and all the constant watching, staring, waiting. Time was her foe and she was it’s opponent.

Once 3:30 struck, she hastened up the stairs to get dressed for her 3 hour dance class. She couldn’t wait.

She fueled herself with 1/2 an iced gingerbread Clif Bar with a glass of Nesquik hemp milk before she left, and packed the other half to eat during the five minute dance break.

This was her first straight taste of an Iced Gingerbread Clif Bar. Before it entered her mouth, Karina warmed her half in the microwave for 15 seconds until it was a moist, gooey mess. The warm sweet, aromatic mush reminded her of her family’s Christmas Eve parties.

Hours spent dancing and laughing to hispanic Christmas melodies and children running to their parents asking, “WHEN CAN WE OPEN THE PRESENTS!?”

This bar was a winner.

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After ballet, Zoe came for a visit. It was nice to spend time with someone Karina’s age who she could talk to and eat her lasagna with. Conversation was a large factor of what Karina based her friendships on. Without communication, what does one have?

Zip. Zilch. Diddly-squat.

————————————-

It was 8:45 the next morning.

LATE AGAIN.

Karina bounced off of the bed and went down the stairs to make a tasty pre-ballet breakfast:

1 package instant oatmeal cooked in 1/2 c. hemp milk, 1 banana, 1 scoop of strawberry Bluebonnet protein powder, and 2 tbsp. of Maranatha peanut butter.

She had ballet until 5 PM that day and overall had a wonderful time…. except for that dreadful 1 hour lunch break.

Usually, lunch only lasted 30 minutes and usually, she had at least one friend there.

Today, she had no one. No one but herself.

See, her dance studio was more dramatic than a middle school. There were 3 cliques among the Junior and Senior companies: The Older Girls, The Younger Girls, and The Others.

The Older Girls were the perfect ones. They did every pirouette, every piqué, every tondue with flawless precision and technique. By general knowledge, they owned the right side of the room and if a Young One or an Other stood in their spot, dirty looks would ensue.

The Younger Girls consisted of the Junior company, mostly middle schoolers and stood on the left side of the room. They were not as experienced as the Older Girls and although they were bratty and undedicated, they were excused for their lack of perfection because they were well…. young.

Then there were The Others, where Karina stood. They belonged to no specific sector of the room and just stood wherever they could. There were only about 3 Others. And these Others were neither young enough to be a Younger Girl, nor experienced enough to be an Older Girl (new people were known as Others too, no matter how good they were. If they were unfamiliar, they were Others). Level wise, however, they were placed in the Older Girl’s Advanced class because they were good enough. Ironic.

Synopsis: Karina had no one to sit with at lunch and had to call her mom to pick her up so that she could eat in the car.

COOL BEANS!

credit to: google

After her long and arduous day, Karina relaxed at the cinema with her family and watched A Christmas Carol.

Although she took a fancy to it and all, she honestly preferred the Mickey Mouse version.

Oh sweet nostalgia, how I miss my childhood!

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Sunday morning treated the small town of Spring with cloudy skies and cool winds. The sun hid behind a fat, leaden cloud that was ready to burst it’s rain on the peaceful community.

Karina decided to bring the light out in her breakfast to make up for the colorless weather outside:2 Kashi strawberry flax waffles spread with PB&Co’s DCD PB and topped with a chopped apple, an apricot mango Brown Cow Cream Top, Kashi’s Apple Harvest granola, and a 1/4 c. cottage cheese.

But Karina felt anxious. This Sunday was the day her and her father would spend the day alone, by choice, in order to bond.

For the past year, she’d resented her father a bit because he was always away on business trips. Of course, he had always traveled for his profession but never every single week, five days a week. And not to mention all the horrible things he had said to her mother and the rest of their immediate family that year.

No… 2009 had not been a good year.

Karina loved her father, but at times she had to question whether he loved her. But deep inside, she knew he did. She only missed him, and sometimes that translated to hostility.

No matter what or how she acted, he would always be her daddy. Nothing would change that.

————————————-

They ate sushi.

They walked down Old Town Spring.

They ate Mozartkugeln.(OMG Maya and Eliza, I randomly saw these when I was in the little German shop in Old Town Spring. I literally gasped and bought them immediately. They are so delicious! If it hadn’t been for you girls being so inspiring, I never would have even tried these. Love you both <3)

They sipped on cappuccinos.

They talked.

They hugged.

And he bought her a beautiful golden locket, in which Karina planned to place a picture of him and her mother just like Sara Crewe in A Little Princess.

She loved her daddy so much… he was a wonderful, wonderful man. <3

The beautiful day of bonding ended perfectly with a bowl of spontaneously concocted curried lentils:

1 c. lentils

1 vegetarian italian sausage

2/3 c. peas

10 g. sunflower seeds

15 g. pistachios

5 g. pumpkin seeds

1/4 c. coconut milk

Karina felt grateful for the day spent with her father. She made a promise to herself to never hold so much anger against him again, no matter how much she missed him or disliked his job.

Wherever he may be: in India or Canada or New York or California, it didn’t change the fact that he was there for her… even a thousand miles away.

“Love puts the fun in together, the sad in apart, and the joy in a heart.”

Und nun sind wir zweistellig… Weihnachten rückt immer näher.

Der Schatz wird sich freuen. Von Jana gab es heute Mozartkugeln und da der Schatz so gerne Marzipan ist werde ich (großzügig wie ich nun einmal bin ) mit ihm teilen. Und wenn er ganz lieb ist, dann darf er die Kugeln auch ganz haben. Ich will ja mal nicht so sein. Schließlich ist ja bald Weihnachten.

Vom Schatz gab es eine leckere Praline aus meinem Lieblingsschokiladen. Weiße Schoki mit Erdbeere und einer Nougatfüllung. Yummie!

Vorweihnachtliche Grüße

Sommerschwester

Die EM hat nicht nur Auswirkungen auf Fernsehprogramme, sondern auch auf Werbeideen und Werbeplakate. Wie immer waren Marketing-Experten fleißig dabei, ausgefallene Ideen zu entwickeln. Ich muss sagen, dass es vielen tatsächlich gelungen ist.

Von der Ideenvielfalt der EM-Werbeplakate bin ich positiv überrascht.

Nun habe ich ein Ranking von Werbeplakaten gemacht, die ich gesehen & fotografiert habe.

Mein absoluter Favorit ist die Werbeidee vom Kunsthistorischen Museum Wien: Eine ägyptische Figur im Fußball-T-Shirt. Ich finde es gleichermaßen kreativ und amüsant. Auch die Kunst geht mit der Zeit und zeigt sich von ihrer „lockeren Seite“.

Auf Platz zwei landet diese Werbung:

Eine Mozartkugel als Fußball dargestellt, bringt jeden auf den EM-Geschmack!

Auch beim Humanic sieht man zur Zeit Fußbälle im Schaufenster. Die Idee ist zwar nicht besonders originell, dennoch kann man nicht wegschauen.

Damit auch ihr eure Favoriten wählen könnt, zeige ich euch noch weitere Bilder.

Alles Coca-Cola unter der Maria-Theresia Statue:

Julius Meinl (hübsche Tasse!)

Mastercard: irgendwie zu agressiv, oder?

Originell: ein Fussbalfeld aus Schokolade (Demmel):

Große Emotionen und goldene Turnschuhe von KÖCK am Graben:

Swarovsky: irgendwie zu weit her geholt?

Sogar die Apotheke am Gaben konnte das Thema nicht auslassen – allerdings finde ich die Gestaltung ziemlich primitiv:

Und was meint Ihr?

Sylvain est vraiment sympa : sachant que nous restions à Paris dans la canicule, il est courageusement parti à Salzburg pour nous rapporter les Véritables Burger Mozartkugeln, une spécialité chocolatière typiquement autrichienne qui se présente sous la forme d’une petite boule de massepain (donc amandes, sucre et blancs d’oeuf) entourée de deux couches – l’une foncée, l’autre claire – de crème de nougat, le tout enveloppé dans le plus subtil des chocolats ! Beaucoup plus intéressant à manger que d’assister, cet été à Salzburg, à la représentation de l’Enlèvement au Sérail du même Wolfgang dans la mise en scène de ce clown de metteur en scène dont il vaut mieux taire le nom pour ne pas lui faire encore plus de publicité ! En tout cas, merci Sylvain pour cette petite escapade autrichienne !