Happy New Year, Loves!

Cheers! Prost! Salut! 

2012 might just be the best yet, though 2011 will be one for the record books.

2011 at a glance.

i traveled alone for the first time.

and fell in love with the UK.

we were bogged down by many a blizzards.

big pups & break ups were heavy on my mind.

the royal wedding stole my heart, i made some big decisions,

and future dinner parties were planned.

i summoned up some courage & moved half way across the world.

(after a few minor bumps in the road, i found my new home.)

i got settled in Germany & flew back home for a quick jaunt 

to watch my best friends get married.

i went on the trip of a lifetime to the 

Mediterranean with my wonderful host family i au paired for.

from croatia to greece. italy to turkey. it was a dream come true.

i met some german friends & 

lounged by the baltic sea after work most days.

i began to feel like kiel was our city 

& i got bangs & enrolled in a new university.

i went to copenhagen, & of course, fell in love with it.

i bought some rad red pants that i love & 

welcomed flat nathan to germany.

i wrote a lot about being unsure. i wrote about my grandma allen & 

i became uncharacteristically calm about the whereabouts of my future mister

(& our future.)

 i discovered an awesome trick. made a big decision. 

(big decisions were the theme of 2011.) & moved back home with

beautiful words planted in my heart.

“I would much rather have regrets about not doing what people said, than regretting not doing what my heart led me to and wondering what life had been like if I’d just been myself.”-Brittany Renee

Christmas (back) in Kansas City.

 i hope your holidays were merry & bright.

{Christmas night. 2011.}

if you've ever been apart of an Allen family Christmas, you'll understand my delayed posting. 
it is the most exciting, laughter-filled, stuffed to the brim with grub, zillions of tales exchanged, trivia challenge-jam packed, fun experience you will ever have.

start this three day celebration right after a 30+ hour day of travel & jet lag? yep, you can guarantee you'll be a bit zonked for a few days.

so if i fall a bit behind on my posts, i apologize. but my bed awaits & my abs are resting from all that laughter.

p.s. my sister is way better at this keeping up business. you can see all of our shenanigans at her blog. ;)

{Quote of the Week.}

{via: note to self.}

Like I'm home.

Goodbye, sweet Deutschland.

{via: tumblr.}

Words; simple seeds for the soul.

{12.20.2011the day before i bid farewell to my forever love, deutschland.}

the words i've been blessed with the past few days are forever tucked in my heart.

words people are telling me before i leave their sweet home, before returning to mine.

these words, they're so genuinely meant for my heart, my mind, my life.

these are words spoken for my ears, these are words that i am writing down in my diary right this moment, slipping away in my jewelry box to keep forever-- packing away into my heart. 

words that i will return to when i'm feeling lost, unsure, exhausted with the chaos life sometimes throws our way. 

i can't really transcribe these treasured words at the moment. for now, i let them rest gently on my heart, i let them seep in, plant their seeds, and i'll nurture them to grow, grow, grow.

but these words, i had to tell you about.
because if there was ever anything i needed to hear before i bid this country farewell,
it's these words.


and for these words, these sweet souls who speak them to me, i am thankful. i am entirely swollen with gratitude.

remember it always.

{via: winter.}

don't take this for granted//thought catalog.

People should not be taken for granted — not the ones who raised you, not the ones who ground you, not the ones who love you. Not the stranger who chased you for a half-block to tell you you’ve dropped something, not the one who holds the door for you, not the one who asks you if you’re feeling okay or the one who asks you to dance. Their actions are not inconsequential; they are what it means to be human, a state so common that it’s rather easy to forget how extraordinary it can be. Don’t. Remember it always, remember how bland and unsatisfactory and meaningless life would be without humanity.

{Quote of the Week.}

snowflakes and life changes.

[deustchland 2011.]

sometimes i feel like a snowflake bustling around in the wind.
never sure of where i'll land.  


one minute on the steady path with the wind, ready to set my toes gently on the destination in line of vision.  


but of course, one swift blow of the breeze and my direction changes completely. 
***
and that's exactly how i found myself where i am today. seven months have come and gone with many adventures in between.

all the while, just as spontaneously as a i decided to up and move across the world, i decided it was time to return home.

it's been a bit of a whirlwind. a bit of a tearful ending. but, it's been all wrapped up in a bundle of a blessing. so yes, i will bid farewell to deutschland wednesday, but i'm ready to go home, give my family a big old hug and snuggle up with this pup in my arms every night, like before.

so this is a tiny update of what's to come in the next few days. goodbyes, packing and traveling quickly back home.

xoxo-

get your giggles on friday part V.

hello giggles never fails to... well... make me giggle & this series is just one of my very favorites.

happy friday, loves!

this is the kind of confidence i'm working toward.

who's with me?

p.s. this post by meg with laura is all kinds of important.
and i had the honor of posting a special something at a dreamer's daze this week.

tis the season for a wishlist.

1.Fat Face hand knit sweater, £38 // 2.Kate Spade clear crystal earrings, $48 // 3.Urban Outfitters strap watch, $24 // 4.Women’s: Featured | Free Shipping at L.L.Bean, $69 // 5. J.Crew striped socks, $13// 6. Parisian Chic: A Style Guide | Anthropologie.eu, €24 // 7. Vintage Square Frames - Fashion Eyeglasses | BonLook, $99 // 8. Bobbi Brown Dual-Ended Eye Liner, $24 // 9. F j a e l l r a e v e n - Kånken Mini, €39,95 // 10. PHILOSOPHY Great Skin Is In Gift Set, Dry Skin, £55

{Quote of the Week.}

get your giggles on friday part IV.

bring on the weekend!

your feet & mine.

(via: tumblr.)

dear mister-whoever-you-are-wherever-you-are,

(but someday destined to be by my side.)

i hope you like extra quirky shoes. 

or, at least, don't mind if i like to rock some myself, 

cause let me tell ya, i love me a pair of sassy sneakers. 

and i love it even more 

when i get to buy some cheeky footwear

for the love of my life.

(well, i haven't ever done so, but i get giddy just thinking about it!)

love your smitten Schatzi

who writes whole posts dedicated to our shoe compatibility. 

{Quote of the Week.}

{via: tumblr.} 

“Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.” -ralph waldo emerson. 

how to make your life feel more like a movie.

{germany. fall 2011}

grab your headphones.
find a bike & get peddling.
crank up this jam.

& have a rad weekend.

with oil skies & aquarelle rivers.

{Copenhagen. October 2011.} 

Far far, there's this little girl
she was praying for something to happen to her
everyday she writes words and more words
just to spit out the thoughts that keep floating inside
and she's strong when the dreams come cause they
take her, cover her, they are all over
the reality looks far now, but don't go

How can you stay outside?
there's a beautiful mess inside
how can you stay outside?
there's a beautiful mess inside
oh oh oh oh

Far far, there's this little girl
she was praying for something good to happen to her
from time to time there are colors and shapes
dazzling her eyes, tickling her hands
they invent her a new world with
oil skies and aquarelle rivers
but don't you run away already
please don't go oh oh

-Far Far, Yael Naim