About Californians, free dinners and the most beautiful thongs.

Say what you want:  

Californians are hard to beat when it comes to being outgoing and friendly. 

Where else would the Hispanic woman at the gas station’s checkout tell me her family’s story in minute detail, listen to my opinion about it, thank me with tears in her eyes and give me a quick hug – completely ignoring the line of people getting longer and longer, all waiting patiently without once uttering a sigh of annoyance or complaining? 

Where else would I – armed with a big Starbucks cup and the American edition of Vogue magazine – be prepared to wait for hours due to the late arrival of my husband’s flight, but not be able to read even one single page, because I am having an animated 2-hour-long conversation with an elderly Asian gentleman about the cultural differences between East and West – a conversation initiated by a simple “Hi!”? 

Where else would I spontaneously be invited on a fishing boat, kindly encouraged to overcome my shyness towards the crawling, freshly caught crabs, but to pick out the nicest ones and then be sent back home with friendly farewells and a free dinner (including a recipe and detailed how-to advice, because I have never prepared them before)? 

Anyway, we had great fun on the boat and the crabs were one of the most delicious dishes ever – and all of it entirely unexpected and undeserved! 

I took my new shoes for a walk today; they arrived in a package from Germany:  

The thongs are buttery soft, do not cut (like some other models that chafe the big toe a lot) and match any outfit with their subtle metallic look.  

The gilded and silver-plated bracelets by Sence Kopenhagen are equally universally wearable – due to their matte finish they look very luxurious and simple. 

Btw: their size is perfectly adjustable and will fit big as well as very slim wrists! 

I prefer wearing them both at the same time or something with them – but you can also combine one each with a watch in the same color. 

It is really easy to make contact with people here, by the way: 

Wherever I go, first I am asked where my accent is from. My answer prompts nearly EVERYONE to say something about Germany: either an aunt on the father’s side comes from Germany, or they have driven a BMW for years or they own an Alsatian. 

One time the checkout person’s monologue amused me so much (for five minutes he listed all and any BMW models he had ever owned and none of them meant anything to me) that I spontaneously replied: 

"Yes, I know that it's an awesome car, right?

 Actually - it's my family who owns the company." ;)

Sources of supply:

Thongs by Ilse Jacobsen: HERE (mine are pink metallic, they are also available in gold and copper) 

Bracelet by Sence Kopenhagen: HERE

Everything by Inside Living

Love,

Joanna

p.s. I have often heard Americans being reproached as being friendly, but superficial. 

While this may be true in some cases, I still think: 

Rather superficially friendly than deep down unfriendly! 

Thank you to Ginnell Studio for translating this post.