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Summer? in Berlin

It’s officially summer, although you wouldn’t always know that here in Berlin. That’s because the weather is so hit and miss, raining one day and hot the next. Regardless of the what kind of weather we have, I am still able to enjoy it all, largely in part to my new desk setup.

A couple weeks ago, an old friend and former bandmate of M. gave us an old table of his, which we set up as my desk. It’s not super huge (80cm x 80cm) but it’s sturdy enough and gets the job done. I am able to have a desktop setup, which is a big plus for me. Not only that, but my workspace is directly between the two bedroom windows, and next to M.’s own desk (the area forms an L-shape of sorts). I am loving the location, the only downside being the bright sun shining through and affecting the lighting in the mornings.
As the picture shows, there is adequate nighttime lighting as well. On the right is a picture of me with my siblings when we were young. I also have my bulletin board hung for more pictures and other things like postcards, reminders to myself, business cards and old photo passes. Above that is my Santa Rosa picture: a little piece of home.
To round off the entire setup, I also picked up this little number, a pink office chair from Ikea. It’s not the best of the most comfortable, but it was free, so for now I think it will do.
However, because it’s summer, my work schedule has tapered off, leaving me relatively poor and having to take on any freelancer work I can find. The most recent assignment was editing the English translation of a German publication. When I was paid, I decided to treat myself to a few beauty products at my favourite pharmacy, DM. Anyone who knows me knows I am obsessed with this place, namely for its vast selection of super inexpensive beauty products.
Of course, I ended up getting more than I intended: case in point is the blue nail polish… it has been ages since I’ve actually painted my nails, but I thought since it’s summer, stocking up on fun colours might be worth my while. Plus, this shade of blue has been haunting me everywhere I go, and there was no question about it being the colour I had to get! I also have a nasty habit of biting my nails from time to time, something I know I don’t do when they are painted.  And, my super adorable friend Mayette over at Looks Cute, Though has me a bit inspired. I have always done a pretty crappy job of painting my nails, but I am hoping this improves with practice.

I also ended up getting some shampoo and conditioner since my current stock of Aveda is not only running low, but makes my hair feel too dry. For my face, I got a purifying mask to try out; we’ll see if it makes any difference. Next, I grabbed a new container of body cream, because coconut is a smell I love, I already have the coconut body wash, and I love to match my scents. These containers are like the body butter they sell at the Body Shop, but cost 2-3€, not $19. I got a new razor, since M.’s trip the other day resulted in him picking up the wrong razorblades, and so I needed the razor to match. And my goodness, I had no idea having 5 blades instead of 3 made such an awesome difference, but it does! Finally, although we have about 5 or 6 bottles of shower gel, the grapefruit scent is back (it was a limited edition kind last summer) and I love the smell, so I jumped on the chance to restock.

As I was leaving the store, the newest edition of the free DM magazine caught my eye, and I will totally admit that it was because the German soccer coach, Joachim Löw, was on the cover, and I love me some Jogi. Naturally I had to grab a copy. I mean, I am totally going to read it to improve my German… and on that note, let’s not talk about Germany’s devastating loss to Italy last night.