Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everybody!

I hope you all had a few amazing days!

Since I don't know if I have any incoming right now and I don't yet have pictures of the last incomings (I got Christmas cards from India and Portugal, among others (the replies are on their way....)) I'm gonna keep this post short. I'll be back with my mailbox in about 10 days - we'll be gone skiing to France in a few days! I'm already looking forward to it. Do you ski?

Over here it's kind of warm - no snow here but instead about 10°C more or less. Nevertheless, Christmas still is a beautiful holiday. I love looking at our Christmas tree, this year it's decorated with golden ornaments and, like always, bee candles which smell wonderful. I'm looking at it right now :)

My Christmas actually already started a week ago - on Thursday my boyfriend and I had our personal Christmas at home in Saarbrücken. On Monday, I celebrated Christmas with my mother here at home (and we also went to a reading at night). Tomorrow I will celebrate Christmas again with my mother, my boyfriend, my older brother and his girlfriend, who arrive here today, my brother had to work on Christmas eve.

So, I was wondering - how do you decorate your Christmas tree? Also, do you use real candles?

I have to go now, I'm having another Christmas dinner at my boyfriends house - goose. What's a typical Christmas dinner for you?

All the best and take care please!

Alles Liebe und fröhliche Weihnachten,
Caddi

Just one more week....

... and it's my birthday and Christmas as well! I can't wait :)

Edited on December 23rd: Another Christmas Babe found me! Ashley is actually hosting a giveaway in honor of her birthday tomorrow, so you might want to hop over to her blog :)

4 things sunday # 9

This is a little challenge I'm doing each week. Every Sunday I decide on 4 simple little goals I'd like to achieve in the coming week. I'm not talking about graduating university or buying a house. These are little challenges, challenges I really can accomplish and which will help me to make my life just a tad more organized. Do you want to take part as well?


Here are my 4 things for this week:

* Finally finish my paper for Tuesday.
* Get the last Christmas presents and wrap them all.
* Gather everything I need to take to Berlin and skiing for the weeks until January 6th.
* Start reading a new book.

How did I do last week?

* Buy all the train tickets I'll need in the next weeks - at least the ones I already know about. *Not done yet.* I will do this as soon as I finish my paper!
* Get some more Christmas gifts. *Done!* I got some for my goddaughter and her mother, for my brother, his girlfriend and my mother and I already know what to get my father and and my boyfriend.
* Write more Christmas cards. *Done!* There are still some I still need to write though...
* Think about what to get my grandma for her 80th birthday. *Thought about it - but with little success :)*

What are your goals for next week? Leave a comment or write a post on your own blog and leave a link, I'd love to know!
 
Alles Liebe,
Caddi

PS: I'm so jealous of everybody who is already done with school! I currently have to focus on a paper which is due on Tuesday, but I will hopefully have time to catch up with all of you (e-mails as well as letters) as soon as I'm through with that... I can't wait!

4 things sunday # 8

This is a little challenge I'm doing each week. Every Sunday I decide on 4 simple little goals I'd like to achieve in the coming week. I'm not talking about graduating university or buying a house. These are little challenges, challenges I really can accomplish and which will help me to make my life just a tad more organized. Do you want to take part as well?


Here are my 4 things for this week:

* Buy all the train tickets I'll need in the next weeks - at least the ones I already know about.
* Get some more Christmas gifts.
* Write more Christmas cards.
* Think about what to get my grandma for her 80th birthday.

How did I do last week?

* Write three letters. *Almost Check!* I did send quite a few Christmas cards and have written letters to Laura and Steph and I'll write another one today - still have to decide which one :)
* Do a bit of research about the paper due on December 18th. *Check!* Luckily I put the word "bit" in there - because it was only a tiny bit of research I did. But I'll read lots of it today!
* Go to the Christmas market once. *Check!* Just a short visit though - but well, life is busy this time of the year, right?
* Continue with the photo-scrapbook I'm currently making. *Check!* Even though only a few pages :)

What are your goals for next week? Leave a comment or write a post on your own blog and leave a link, I'd love to know!

Alles Liebe,
Caddi

Letters I love

Dear readers,
what kind of letters do you like?

I got some sweet letters last monday and I thought about the kind of letters I just love - so let me show you :)

I love letters which show that effort was put into making them pretty...

... which arrive in awesome airmail envelopes...

... and with lots of stamps...

... from places I only know very little about.

I love letters that take me to where the sender is and show me tidbits of their life...

...  are at least medium length...

... provoke thoughts and discussions... 

... are chatty and personal...

... and make me want to write back immediately!

So tell me,
what kind of letters do you love?

Alles Liebe,
Caddi

4 things sunday # 7

This is a little challenge I'm doing each week. Every Sunday I decide on 4 simple little goals I'd like to achieve in the coming week. I'm not talking about graduating university or buying a house. These are little challenges, challenges I really can accomplish and which will help me to make my life just a tad more organized. Do you want to take part as well?


Here are my 4 things for this week:

* Write three letters.
* Do a bit of research about the paper due on December 18th.
* Go to the Christmas market once.
* Continue with the photo-scrapbook I'm currently making.

How did I do last week?

* Study for the two exams that are coming up. *Almost check!* I studied for the one on last Monday, today I need to study for the one I'm writing tomorow!
* Drink Glühwein on the Christmas market at least once. *Check!* Right on monday and then I ate a Crêpe again on the Christmas market last Thursday.
* Decorate our apartment for advent. *Check!* I went to the woods and got some nice stuff, put up candles, the Advent Calendar I made for my boyfriend (it looks lovely - the wrapping paper is golden and I hung it up with ivy)...
* Read at least 15 pages on the paper about atomic law. *No* - I didn't receive it yet. So there goes that.

What are your goals for next week? Leave a comment or write a post on your own blog and leave a link, I'd love to know!

Alles Liebe,
Caddi

Stats of the Month - November

Hello there!

Just in time on December 1st, here are my Stats of the Month!

In the past month I received (if I counted correctly...) 13 letters, 2 postcards and one small package, so a total of 16 snail mail items. Not too much, but given that probably some of my letters from last month took quite some time to arrive to Kenya or Uganda.... It's also quite good because that way I'm not that much behind with sending letters. Right now I only have two letters waiting for a response, and I just got them on thursday, so no need to hurry yet :) Yesterday we got notice that a package is waiting for us and I'll pick it up on Monday, there might be another Advent Calendar for my boyfriend and me - his mother usually sends them out to all her kids (and their partners). Lucky us.

I sent 14 letters, 4 postcards and 4 small packages, so a total of 22 snail mail items. The average amount of money spent on postage was a bit higher than normal - I spent 26,10 € on postage to send all these out. Of the sent items ten mailings were sent within Germany, quite a lot actually! I suddenly have three German penpals, one of whom writes quite frequently and am also communicating with my mother over mail more than before, so it all adds up.

How was your month? Do you plan on sending Christmas cards this December?

Alles Liebe,
Caddi

4 things sun... okay, tuesday # 6

This is a little challenge I'm doing each week. Every Sunday (we'll just pretend it's Sunday, okay?) I decide on 4 simple little goals I'd like to achieve in the coming week. I'm not talking about graduating university or buying a house. These are little challenges, challenges I really can accomplish and which will help me to make my life just a tad more organized. Do you want to take part as well?


Here are my 4 things for this week:

* Study for the two exams that are coming up.
* Drink Glühwein on the christmas market at least once.
* Decorate our apartment for advent.
* Read at least 15 pages on the paper about atomic law.

How did I do last week?

* Write two applications for an internship next year. *Check!*
* Buy 3 christmas gifts.*Check!*
* Write four letters. *Check!*
* Clean my desk - at least a little bit! *Check!*

What are your goals for next week? And did you do better than I did last week? Leave a comment or write a post on your own blog and leave a link, I'd love to know!

Alles Liebe,
Caddi

Look what I received! Advent Calendar update

Look what I just got in the mail!

I mean, I knew that Aya had already sent her package - but that was on Saturday (well, the post was on Friday, that's right, but the sticker said November 17th - and now it's November 20th! So, I guess it came flying here on Sunday, then got send from Frankfurt to Saarbrücken yesterday and I received it today in the morning at 11 am)! Who knew that the package would travel all the way from Japan to Germany in only 4 days with a weekend in between? I am amazed. Not only by the travel speed, but also by the package itself! Let's have a look at it...

First, I took off all the papers because I don't want to show either mine nor Ayas address here :)

After taking of the wrapping paper and the bubble wrap I came to see this christmas themed box...

The first look inside!

After taking out the goodies from her "Fumi no hi" giveaway project which lucky me won :) I am so looking forward to December now! And it's all wrapped beatifully :)

Sadly, I can't unwrap all the presents by now... But I had a look at the goodies she sent me! Ooooh I was jumping around with excitement :)

70 paper stamps to use as letter seals or in scrapbooking projects.

A few (some of them self-adhesive) labels - aren't they lovely?

At first I wasn't quite sure what this flower is....

but it's a neat stationery! You can unfold it and then there's writing space inside :)

Christmas themed stickers!

I love these! I just realized that you can't really see that much here - these are some envelopes and postcards and there's also lots of writing paper in the backe (you can see some of it next to the moomin-envelopes. I'm so looking forward to writing letters with this!

Can you see what this is? It's washi tape! Oh my, I am so incredibly happy. 

Aya also included a brochure with many nice pictures of Japan (the leaves are so colorful!) but the photo turned out very blurry, so I can't show it here.

I am so so happy with the package! Thank you so much Aya! And I'm so much looking forward to the Calendar now!

Did you already receive your calendar?

Alles Liebe, Caddi

4 things sunday # 5

This is a little challenge I'm doing each week. Every Sunday I decide on 4 simple little goals I'd like to achieve in the coming week. I'm not talking about graduating university or buying a house. These are little challenges, challenges I really can accomplish and which will help me to make my life just a tad more organized. Do you want to take part as well?


Here are my 4 things for this week:

* Write two applications for an internship next year.
* Buy 3 christmas gifts.
* Write four letters.
* Clean my desk - at least a little bit!

Do you notice something? Yes, those are the exact same things like last week - because I really failed at most of them. I still didn't write the applications - but I spoke to someone who might just get me an internship without having to write an application. I bought one christmas gift for my boyfriend, but that's about it - but I developed some more ideas. I wrote some letters (I finished two and am in the process of writing a third one), but I didn't get them ready to send yet - they still need their envelopes and everything. And lastly, while I did clean my desk a little bit, it's already a mess again (I've seen some of you guys posting photos of your "messy desk" - that's nothing! I'd be happy if my desk looked like that after it's cleaned. But hey, I can see some wood of the desk through all the stuff which is piled on it, so it's not that bad, right?). I'm frustrating chaotic.

What are your goals for next week? And did you do better than I did last week? Leave a comment or write a post on your own blog and leave a link, I'd love to know!

Alles Liebe,
Caddi

Dear Penny...

please send me your snail-mail-address :) You can either use caddipenpal at yahoo dot de or just answer the e-mail I just sent you :)

Take care everybody! No mail for me the last two days - was your mailbox happy or hungry today?

Alles Liebe,
Caddi

Advent Calendar - Update!

I sent my advent calendar yesterday! How far are you?

I would love to tell you what I included, but I don't want to ruin the surprise... =)

 A few of the surprises on their way to their recipient.

The wrapped calendar. I loved to use the stickers I got from Katri on this package, as well as the airmail sticker I got from Aida from Malaysia a while back (hello there!). I think they are so much prettier than the German ones, can you see the bird on it? I am very bad when it comes to parting with them :)

Another look of the package. I thought I would need to add an ugly postage sticker in the blank field there, so I didn't make it pretty and just had an old piece of paper with the address on it with me - well, it turned out that that's all I had and I had to use that one. I'm sorry! I would have made it prettier if I would have known that I didn't need to use a postage sticker. Well, luckily I had gotten a letter with Washi tape attached to it so I took a bit of that to adhere the "label" to the package. Also, I used the stamps as "adhesives". And I'm a bit jealous of the receiver because she will get the 500 cent stamp with the Enzian on it - I am collecting the flower stamps and that's one of the few I'm missing. Does anybody have a spare one of it?

Did you already send your calendar? How many days did you prepare until now? Remember to send it by the end of the week!

Alles Liebe, Caddi

Monday's Mail

Guten Abend!

This post is to show you three of the four letters I sent this weekend - I have to admit, the other one was not special at all (sorry Jennifer! I was in a hurry - but at least I put two flower stamps on it!). Today when I went to the post office I also got a few new stamps - the latest "Day of the postage stamp"-one. I loooove it! I think I'll go back and buy lots more. It celebrates the first airmail-flight in Germany 100 years ago.

I just love this stamp! I mean, it has airmail stripes and an image of an old stamp on it - ain't it amazing?

This is the letter I sent to Laura. I love polka dots - what about you?

 The reply to my mom. This letter is sealed with a feather on the back as well. I do like how it turned out!

A reply to Bee in the Czech Republic. As some of you know, I really like those feathers, but until now I only used to put them inside the letters - I'm changing that now and I will just glue them to the outside of the envelope.

What are you guys up to? How far are you with your Christmas calendars? Remember to send them until the end of this week! Did anyone already receive hers?

Oh, also, Gladys is hosting a giveaway on her blog! Make sure to check her blog out, it's very cute :)

Alles Liebe,
Caddi

4 things sunday # 4

I'm taking part in Sallys 4 things challenge. Every Sunday I decide on 4 simple little goals I'd like to achieve in the coming week. I'm not talking about graduating university or buying a house. These are little challenges, challenges I really can accomplish and which will help me to make my life just a tad more organized.


Here are my 4 things for this week:

* Write two applications for an internship next year.
* Buy 3 christmas gifts.
* Write four letters.
* Clean my desk - at least a little bit!

How did I do last week?

* Write two applications for an internship next year. *Fail!* I really need to do this so bad!
* Write two letters. *Check!* I wrote four letters, three already went out yesterday and one is going out tomorrow.
* Switch from the summer feather bed to the winter feather bed. *Not checked* It's gotten warmer again so there was no need.
* Prepare at least ten more days of the advent calendar I'm doing for the swap. *Check!* Not only that, I also already sent it! Check back later for pics :)


What are your goals for next week? Leave a comment below, I'd love to know!

Alles Liebe,
Caddi

Incomings of the last days - photos!

Hello Dears!

I finally photographed the incoming letters of the last days so I can show them to you :)

Bee / Czech Republic

Korina / Guam

Jennifer / UK

Sabrina / Germany

Laura / USA

Sigrid / Philippines

She included a neat postcard!

My mother / Germany

Fish / Taiwan

So, in this one past week I received more letters than in the whole month of October! See how true the old saying is? To receive mail, send mail. That's what I did and that's what I'll continue doing! I'm sending out a few letters tomorrow as well as the advent calendar! How far are you guys? Remember to check back with me once you mail it and that you should mail it by the end of next week.

Take care and have a wonderful weekend!

Alles Liebe,
Caddi

The giveaway winner...

... will be posted soon! Sorry for the delay, but I have loads to do!

In good news, I already finished packing all the goodies for my advent calendar and I will send it off this weekend! How far are you guys? Remeber that you should send it in a week or so...

I know for sure that Lou already sent her calendar - when I saw that photo I wanted to know so badly what was inside! Advent calendars are a good way to teach your kids (or yourself... ahem) patience by the way!

More good news: I'm back to receiving mail! (Bad news: It already started piling up again....) In the past week I got letters from two pals from Germany (I already replied to one of them), from Jennifer in the UK, Bee from the Czech Republic, Korina from Guam / USA, my mother (Such a lovely surprised! I haven't received a letter from her in a few years I believe - I do get postcards and Care-packages a few times a year though!), Laura from the USA and Sigrid from the Philippines. I will post photos tomorrow for two reasons which somehow are connected to the same reasen:
a) It's already 10.30 pm and I'm deadly tired and don't want to wait for blogger to upload the pictures.
b) It's already 10.30 pm so I wouldn't be able to take good pictures anyway.


How is life treating you these days?

Alles Liebe,
Caddi

Monday's Mail

How are you doing? Is it also rainy over where you are? Over here I didn't see a tiny bit of sunshine during the whole weekend. Thats a bit depressing in a way. But after all, it's November so I knew it was coming.

In an attempt to brighten the days with mail, I sent out five pieces of mail today.

First, I replied to a letter I got from my German pal. I love how the envelope turned out.

She had sent me in her previous letter some craft paper envelopes to use (aren't those just fabulous?) so I went ahead and used one of them for the reply to Almantè.

Next is a letter I sent to my grandmother for the Fumi no hi project on Aya's blog. She usually doesn't write letters and currently her husband is in the hospital, so I wanted to cheer her up a bit. The colours don't really show in this picture, the envelope is a beautiful red and the blue is much brighter in reality - but oh well, you get the idea.

One of my goals of the last week was to send a postcard to both of my parents, so these are the last outgoings of today (I already wrote them on friday, but I didn't want to go to the post box due to the rain....)

This one is on it's way to my father...

 and this one is on its way to my mother.

Did you send mail today?

Alles Liebe,
Caddi