10 back-to-school ideas!

Soon it’s back to school for us again!


I am a rather relaxed mother regarding this and I really do understand, if you don’t feel very enthusiastic about sitting through lessons – as I can vividly remember my own school days with incapable teachers and dry, uninteresting subjects that nipped any motivation in the bud. 
(Yes, there were also great teachers, but unfortunately there were rare.)

So when my kids bitch about school I tell them this:
1. "Yes, I understand."
2. "Stop whining, you are only harming yourself.”
3. "Make sure you still get your act together somehow.”

(Jil claims I am way too laissez-faire. Oh, well. Whatever you do, it’s always wrong…)


A thing, however, that I love without reservations is the start of the new school year. That busy energy, the pile of new exercise books and text books, the beginning of fall – I like all of these a lot and try to make it as comfortable as possible for my children.

Yesterday we all brainstormed about what would ease you into going back to school – and it resulted in this list: chockfull of tips and ideas that have been tried and tested in our house for years!

What makes for a nicer start of the school year?

1. A new pencil pouch, if the old one is worn out.
The classic pencil cases are not cool enough anymore for older kids – so here is Noelle’s tip: simply check the beauty department for stylish cosmetic bags. They are big enough for all the stuff, sometimes monochromatic or simply chic: Noelle and her friend found nice ones by Ted Baker in the KaDeWe department store in Berlin.

2. For the desk at home:
find a pretty one-of-a-kind receptacle on the flea market – a crystal votive, a wooden container or a small painted vase, no matter, main thing it can hold pens and you like the shape of it. 
We found a silver vintage cup last week, everything looks twice as nice in it.

3. Wrap all school books in monochromatic paper:
it will look very neat and uniform in your school bag and on the shelf at home!
You can use either monochromatic gift wrapping paper or wallpaper scraps, which are sturdier.
Two matching colors are great, such as black and white.

4. Since this German tradition is too lovely to reserve it only for first-graders, my children get a miniature “cone” every year on the day they go back to school.
It’s not so much about the content, more about the token gesture.
As I don’t like most of the colorful cones you can get in retail stores, I buy unprinted ones made of cardboard (like these ones via Amazon), and wrap them with fabric scraps which I glue down along the edge with hot glue – the finishing touch is a ribbon around the edge (hot glue again) – the whole operation doesn’t take more than 5  minutes.
Pretty idea: decorate the cones with black and white postcards retro style and add paper letters (e.g. by MyCircus).
I fill them with some gum and other candy.

5. My children agreed upon one thing immediately: one thing improving the start of the school year is the prospect of yummy lunches!
You will find recipes and ideas from pretzel balls to healthy breakfast cookies-to-go HERE.
Or how about breakfast muffins?
I enjoy packaging lunches nicely and once again got these new lunch boxes for the coming school year.

6. Reserve a new special T-shirt or sweater for the first day back.
Often one goes shopping for new fall clothes in the days before anyway – you can hold back the prettiest item and wear it on the first day of school – improves your mood instantly and enhances your self-esteem (it’s true!).
Noelle joyfully calls it: "back to school-shopping time!" ;).
Ben chose this Stella McCartney Shirt this year.
(Noelle’s outfit has also been picked out, I will ask her whether I may take pictures of it).

7. Take inventory of other school supplies:
- For all of those in need of a new P.E. bag: isn’t this DIY model beautiful?
There is more creative inspiration at Burda.
- For all cycling and longboarding kids: you can buy the prettiest helmet at Smallable ;).

8. Very important:
The switch to “having to get up early again” is not so great.
Best to bake some delicious types of granola at home 1-2 days earlier that you can look forward to!
I already wrote down the recipes for our favorite granola and the world’s best chocolate granola. 
Those who prefer a warm breakfast might love oatmeal?
And for those who hate breakfast there are smoothies made with your favorite fruit.

9. Has the school bag seen better days?
My advice: If they don’t want a classic satchel anymore, have a look in Zara’s men’s department to find backpacks or messenger bags.
They are usually big enough for all the stuff and nicely unadorned, matching everything.

10. Design your own school planner!
This was Jil’s idea:
Every school year she bought a neutral planner/calendar instead of a special homework notebook and spent hours embellishing it scrapbooking-style.
She cut inspiring pictures from fashion magazines, quotes that she found encouraging, etc. and glued everything down (with washi tape, etc.) and thus creatively designed every page according to her personal taste.

Sources of supply:

Star-shaped pillow: HERE

Lunchbox: HERE

Shirt Stella McCartney: HERE

Protective helmet: HERE

Everything by Smallable

Your ideas and advice are most welcome!

And a note to all students:

Get your act together, somehow, without frustration and pressure, OK ;)?

Love,

Joanna

This post was translated by Ginnell Studio.

Love is sweet: plum butter + compliments for your best friend.

Today I’ll introduce you to two lovely ideas that will be a treat for somebody and make her smile.

The first one is my mother’s time-tested (for decades), blindingly easy and incredibly delicious recipe for plum butter – completely without jam sugar!

All you need are ripe, sweet plums and a bit of regular sugar – the amount of which you can decide upon yourself, in case you prefer the plum butter to be less sweet.

After a while your whole house will be filled with this irresistibly delicious fragrance that you will hardly be able to wait for the plum butter to have cooled off – seriously!

So you better reserve a few jars for the family and fill the rest into small, engraved glass jars – whether you take them to your neighbor’s, offer them to your guests as a sweet hostess gift, or use them straight up for a wedding: you can hardly package (plum) love in a more beautiful way!

By the way, this is my first home-made plum butter and it is absolutely foolproof:

You really cannot mess up this recipe.

Grandma’s Plum Butter without Jam Sugar  

you need:
7 pounds plums
approx. 1 pound 5 oz. sugar (this is the amount for a more tart kind of plum – feel free to use less, if the plums are rather sweet)

Wash and halve plums, remove pits.
Place into a casserole, add approx. 5-6 Tbsp. water and sugar and bring to a boil over low heat.
Simmer in the uncovered casserole until plums disintegrate, stir every now and again – this process can take approx. 1-3 hours. Purée and perform a “handle test”:  
dribble a little bit of the jam onto a plate and separate it with the handle of a wooden spoon: if the “path” closes up again behind the handle the liquid is not yet firm enough and needs to simmer some more.
If not, you can pour the jam into jars that have been rinsed with boiling water, tighten the screw-on lids and let it rest upside down for about 5 minutes.
Done!

The second idea:

When was the last time you told your girlfriend what’s so beautiful about her?

You can do so right now with the help of a video message by Coke Light’s campaign:

A lovely compliment delivered to a good friend to tell her what you love about her and why she – just by being herself – is really sexy.

The special thing about it:

The message will be delivered by James Franco himself – his deep voice is guaranteed to make the addressee smile!

Composing the message barely takes 3 minutes and this is how you do it:

- enter your friend’s name on the Coke Light website,

- choose a category of compliments,

- send the video!

My message today goes to Olivia:

I don’t know any other woman who is as intelligent and at the same time so full of joie de vivre and lightness.

She is like the summer rain!

Thank you for allowing me to know and love you!

This video is for you, Olivia!

Sources of supply:

Small engraved jam jars: AvieArt

Mason jars: Blueboxtree

Do you already have an idea who you could surprise with a video full of compliments ;)?

Love,

Joanna

Thank you, Eva from Ginnell Studio, for translating this post!

Liebesbotschaft etiquette, or: 10 examples of proper behavior.

We’re getting down to business today:
hitting the mark, going the whole hog.

A few simple modes of behavior will not only lighten your every day life immensely, but also save you from uncomfortable moments and situations, and others from feeling embarrassed for you. Some have it in their blood, some grew up with it in a home that attached value to decent behavior, others were either never informed or they simply don’t pay attention.

There are just a few, very concrete things – nothing profound, nothing completely unknown, earth-shattering or vital.

All are things that you could call “decent”, to use an old-fashioned word.

So:
are you ready for good manners?

1. When someone gives you a gift, never reply:
"But you shouldn’t have…”

You will degrade yourself instantly.
If the gift was a necessity, it wouldn’t be a real gift, but a way to remediate a defect – which would degrade you (you had a defect), instead of appreciate you.  
You are worthy of receiving gifts.
Often.
Spontaneously.
Unexpectedly.

So be happy about it, say thank you and enjoy.
That’s it.


2. When you are at the checkout, when you are waited on in a restaurant, when you buy a burger, when you take your things to the dry cleaner’s, when room service hands you new towels – look people in the eye.
Even if it is just for 2 seconds: LOOK AT THEM.

NOT the belt, NOT the bill, NOT the shirts, NOT the gas station receipt – look people in the eye.  

Yes, you are busy, and yes, maybe you are thinking of something different right now, and yes, this isn’t your day, blabla… - but those are simply lame excuses.
Nothing is more precious than people – you are here because of them!

For the advanced learner: SMILE.

3. When you go for a meal with someone, pay the bill.  
Simply as a basic principle.

There’s nothing worse than having coffee with a man and, when the server asks “Altogether?”, hear him say: “Separate bills.”
Its’ all over after that, believe me.

Don’t ever, ever, never do this.
If you are a man, please internalize it forever: you pay the bill.
(and don’t bother me with your emancipatory spiel).
If you are a woman, pay the bill as often as possible.
If you are a mother/father, drum it into your sons.
Yes, into your daughters, too, but even more so into your sons – they should be as fast as lightning ;).

Do it discreetly, without great hoopla, best to excuse yourself and to pay on the way to the bathroom.
By all means don’t make a fuss.

Remember: you pay the bill.
Generosity is an essential characteristic of a love messenger.
Don’t ask, just do it and enjoy.


4. When somebody comes to visit (unexpectedly or not), the question you ask within the first seconds is:
"What may I offer you to drink? Coffee? Tea? A cool drink?”
(not: “Would you like something to drink?” – which would leave that person the option of declining, so as not to “bother you”.)

Do not allow the person having to ask – nothing is more uncomfortable and makes the other one feel more unwelcome.

A custom in Southern cultures: ”Are you hungry? What may I offer you to eat? There’s xy…would you like to try some?” – not necessarily the norm here, but equally nice!
At least nobody ever declined, when I asked ;).



5. Upon entering a room, when you are new/unknown/insecure, the basic principle is this:
walk up to people, look them in the eye, reach out your hand, introduce yourself, smile.

This is always the better option to standing in a corner, feeling insecure, or saying “Hello” without any physical contact.

Remember:
always look people in the eye when saying hello.
Don’t say hello to the ground.
Or your own hand.
Or the horizon.

Exception:
when you enter a waiting room, an elevator, or a shop, just say hello – no need to shake hands with anyone ;).
But do not enter without saying anything at all either.

6. When you have company, do not check your cell phone. 
Never.
Even when there is a lull in the conversation.

If something is pressingly urgent, check ONCE, and ask your counterpart whether he minds, if you quickly check something important – yes, you need an explanation here.
If you are a man and you check your cell during a date – over and out. Don’t make a person feel as if their presence is of lesser value than a virtual message – you wouldn’t start reading the newspaper or a book either ;).

If you are close friends and spend hours together, and the atmosphere is very casual, it’s a different story – but you are well aware of the difference.

When in doubt always check less.



7. When you pay somebody a compliment, don’t package it as an insult.

"I used to think you are arrogant – but you are really quite nice.”
"Your new haircut suits you – your old one made you look so frumpy.”
"At last this dress is something different compared to the jeans you always wear.”

Nobody can feel happy about something like that, it is really below the belt.
And NO: it isn’t honest – it is impolite, hurtful and impudent. You don’t have to like everything, pay compliments left, right and center and adulate, but take this to heart: 
if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

In other words: shut up.

8. Oh, and while we’re at it…

The most horrible replies to compliments:

 - "Yeah, nice jacket, right? It was only 20,-€ !"
(Oh, yes? Who is interested in the jacket’s cost? Or that it was a great bargain?) 
- "You like the skirt? Oh, that old thing…I’ve had it for aaaaages!”
(You question the other person’s ability to judge by calling a garment that he liked on you old (and therefore nothing special). Except when you were asked specifically whether your garment is new ;)).


- "Yes, but I still weigh in at 15 pounds too many, because of the pregnancy.” – as a reply to a compliment on your slim legs, etc.
(Why immediately devaluate and belittle what is beautiful? Just enjoy your beautiful legs and be quiet.)



9. Valid not just as part of an etiquette, but also at work (especially in the service sector), in relationships, in the general everyday life interacting with others:
when something hasn’t worked out all that well and you messed it up, simply admit it.

Without inferiority, without hours of justification, without dogma, without never-ending explanations, without hiding behind excuses:
"Yes, I made a mistake. I apologize.”

Stand by it.
Simple as that.
This piece of advice will help you so greatly – and will instantly defuse most awkward situations.

10. When walking through a door, look behind you and hold it open, if someone is behind you.
Oh yes, just do it.

At the elevator you ALWAYS wait, until people have finished exiting it, before entering yourself.
Same goes for busses or trains.
Trying to squeeze in between the exiting people does not only show bad manners – it also shows that you are stressed.

And don’t you know:
If you are in a hurry, you are a footboy.
If you have time, you are a king.



You knew all this all along.
But – free reminder service for the 3 readers who have forgotten ;).



Love,
Joanna


P.s. this post was not intended to get all worked up about other people’s bad manners – but to help you very concretely.
So, if you write ranting comments about how badly others behave, they won’t even be published.
Thanks for your understanding.

This post was translated by Ginnell Studio.