Mary Kay Brunch

Yesterday, I attended a fun little brunch with some of my neighborhood gals (and a few out of the neighborhood ones too!). Jen the Baker was hosting us all for a Mary Kay event.

Now, I've never been one to have, or even go to, these kind of parties. But I gotta admit, we had so much fun!

Jen cooked an amazing spread for us, including muffins, a frittata-style egg bake, fruit tray, and coffee service. Her coffee set is so beautiful, I love drinking out of the delicate cups. I contributed with my favorite NY-style crumb cake and a cheesy potato bake (keep an eye out for the cake recipe tomorrow!).

Our consultant was one of my favorite people, who also runs Freedom Birds Jewelry. If you haven't yet checked out her work, what are you waiting for??

Everyone had their own place at the table, complete with mirror and makeup tray. As Courtney guided us, we all had a mini-facial using the supplied products. Then, our skin was color-matched before applying foundation and eye make-up. And lip masque, and colors!

I loved the SatinLips line. In fact, that's the product I wound up purchasing. Everyone loves soft lips, right?

I thought this was such a fun idea for a girls' day. Food, makeup, coffee, and good friends = a great, relaxing day for all involved.

Good job, Jen the Baker! Your party kicked serious booty. Since we started at 11, and I didn't leave for home until after 5, I must have been having fun!

What are your favorite ways to spend your girls-only time? Feel free to comment below!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

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Chinese Fasching in Dietfurt

Last week, I joined up for an ACS trip to Chinese Fasching in Dietfurt. I love taking field trips through ACS! They are always inexpensive (or free!), and they've really helped me adjust to living in a foreign country. You feel safer with a group, and it's nice to have someone available who can explain what's going on around you.

 Anyway. That was my ACS spiel. Check yours out today, peeps.

Onward to the parade!

"Fasching" is not just a German tradition, but has many names around the world. For example, in Italy Fasching is known as Carnival. For my American friends, you know this tradition as Mardi Gras. Fasching begins here on November 11th at 11:11 and 11 seconds.

I'm really not sure why. But that's the way it is.

Most of the parades and festivals are in the last weeks before Ash Wednesday and Lent. Dietfurt has an unusual  Fasching tradition, called Chinese Fasching.

Our group at Dietfurt's Chinese Fasching

I'm no expert, but the basic story behind Dietfurt's Fasching is this…

A long, long time ago (I have no idea of the year, or even era), the people of Dietfurt were being charged to pay more taxes from whoever the guy in charge was at that time. This was not cool with them. So rather than pay the taxes, the population closed their gates and hid behind the walls of their city. Essentially, when the tax man came knocking, they pretended no one was home! Needless to say, the head honcho was pretty annoyed. He compared the town of Dietfurt to the Chinese behind their great wall, and the moniker stuck. Nowadays, the town is extremely proud of their "Chinese" heritage, and they celebrate it every way they can.

Kinda cool, isn't it? I love crazy stories like that.

Our local tour guides

After a tour of town with a local, we ate lunch and squeezed into the crowds. Lucky for me, Jen the Baker made friends with a super nice gentleman. He helped us get to the front of the crowd, and stay there.

Jen the Baker, with our new friend Ziggy

The parade itself is so much fun! Candy and popcorn and treats are tossed into the crowd. We were even passed pieces of cake. And shots of liquor.

Lemme tell ya… Germans know how to have a good time.

Singing abounded. Chants were called and answered. The energy is amazing. Check out some of the video feed:







I was way too short to take perfect photographs from my position, but the camera did a great job when held high over my head, ha. Here are some still images from our day:

Because the day of the parade was also "ladies' day", most of the men were dressed up as women! Even the younger boys of the town got into the spirit of things.

 I wasn't sure how I'd feel about Fasching, but I LOVED IT. I had such a good time, the Hubs and I went to the Fasching parade in our town that weekend too. I'll be back soon with pictures from Velburg's celebration.

Until then, happy travels!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

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Asian Dragon Market, Czech

This week, some of the ladies and I took a random road trip to Cheb, in the Czech Republic. This may sound like a ridiculously long road trip, but in reality, the border is only about 90 minutes away. I was so surprised to arrive in Germany and find that countries are really the size of a US state. Lucky for us, we're very centrally located, so it's easy to visit many countries whilst here.

Our Cheb trip was all about shopping, with a bit of sightseeing thrown in. We specifically wanted to tour the Asian Dragon Bazar, have a little lunch, wander town, and then be home before dinner.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE living in Europe??

Of course, I was a little nervous driving into a new country. Who wouldn't be? But it turned out to be simple. Driving from Hohenfels, our car didn't even require a vignette. Plus, the market was so close, we got there and back again with less than ½ tank of gas.

The ladies, with their purchases, at the Asian Dragon Bazar

For those of you who wish to visit, this is the GPS address for the market: 

Svatý Kříž

350 02 Cheb

Czech Republic

After crossing the border (the sign is quite small, we almost didn't see it!), the market is just a short distance down on your right hand side, perhaps a mile or less. 

We arrived early in the day, around 10:30 a.m., and many of the vendors were just setting up. Upon parking, we noticed the vehicle next to ours could use, ahem, a little work.

As my pal, Jen the Baker, quickly pointed out… we shouldn't park next to that vehicle. Seriously. We moved several spots over, and then… we were ready to shop!

Some of the vendors at the Asian Dragon Bazar

Fair warning: If you're the type of person who's used to sparkling shopping malls, perfect displays, and polite sales clerks (not that there's anything wrong with that!), then this is not the place for you.

As our group wandered down the first aisle, I instantly felt at home. Come on, we all know my favorite place in the world is NYC! This collection of stalls was simply Manhattan's Chinatown in Czech. Shopkeepers whisper to you, "Louis Vuitton? Prada? Gucci?" as you walk past. (Take careful note, however. Knockoffs are strictly illegal, so I don't suggest attempting to purchase these). Bargaining is fully expected when you buy anything here. In fact, if you don't bargain, you're a fool. 

For example… several members of our group walked away with woven picnic baskets. The initial asking price was around 24 euros. By the time they finished, they had two baskets for the price of one! Don't be afraid. Bargain.

I'm even going to give you a good tip: Before you even ask what the price of your item is, decide what you're willing to pay for it. If the vendor won't lower to that price, then walk away. You must be capable of walking away, peeps. I swear, these shopkeepers can smell a sucker a mile away.

Next topic! Receiving an honorable mention on our market tour was the restrooms (pictured above). This was definitely the most interesting bathroom I've used in Europe so far (that's the nicest thing I can say). Like many restrooms here, there was a charge for use. What wasn't expected, however, was the few stingy squares of paper you are handed as you walk in and provide payment.

I'm not even kidding here. And I wish I was.

So, I don't suggest using these if you've really gotta go, if you catch my drift. Another note, most of the doors didn't lock or even shut properly. Engage the buddy system people! I wouldn't want to be in those bathrooms alone. It's better safe than sorry.

Despite the bathroom adventure, our shopping was a blast! We bargained well, and everyone found a good deal. Some of the items for sale at the stalls included: wooden bird houses, Christmas decorations, scarves (hundreds of scarves!), jeans, sweatshirts, shoes, purses, wallets, luggage, linens, china, crystal, rugs, picnic baskets, hats, gloves, children's' toys… the list could go on and on!

The best thing for sale, however, was this: Dirty garden gnomes! I definitely regret not purchasing a few of those. Next time, I'm getting several. There were mooners and flashers (of both sexes, haha), and a variety of other hilarious (and totally inappropriate) positions. I can't believe I resisted purchasing. I want a gnome!

From the market, we made our way to the town center of Cheb. 

Cute, isn't it? This town was great, we loved wandering the city streets. I'll be back later this weekend with all the pictures and deets about the rest of our day.

Until then, happy traveling, my friends!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

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Pinterest Tested: Dutch Oven Bread

Today, I spent some time with one of my new neighbors (all day actually!), and we tried out several bread recipes. You see, Jen (my neighbor) offered to teach the rest of us plebeians how to make real bread.

Like, from scratch.

Obviously, I couldn't resist!

Especially when I saw how simple some of the recipes can be. We made several loaves of French bread  (from one of Jen's recipe books), and we also made an artisan Dutch oven loaf. You can find the recipe at FrugalLivingNW.

Artisan, dutch oven bread 

This was the easiest bread, ever! Yesterday, Jen mixed the dough and left it to rise for 18 hours. Yes, you read that correctly. 18 hours. I know that sounds like forever, but let's be honest, peeps… it's not like you actually have to do anything to the bread during that 18 hours. You just let it sit and work it's magic.

When I arrived at her place this morning, the bread was already done with the first rise:

Bread after first rise

Jen quickly shaped the dough into a ball (no kneading!), and left it to rise for a few more hours. Then, we simply plopped it into the dutch oven and baked.

Seriously, peeps. That's it.

Viola! Jen shows off our bread baby

So simple, so easy, and soooooo delicious! This loaf was HUGE, even after we split it in half. We snacked on it for a while, dipping it in various oils, slathering it with butter, and using it as a base for bruschetta mix.

The crust is crunchy, but not too thick. The inside is a fabulous texture, both light and moist (we used bread flour instead of all-purpose, so this likely helped). I sliced my half into sandwich bread for the Hubs, and we ate the remainder with our dinner.

If you've always wanted to make bread, but you were afraid to try, then this is the recipe for you. I've already started looking into a Dutch oven for myself, just so I can make this, ha!

Hopefully, I can convince Jen to guest blog some of her other bread recipes for us soon. Until then, happy baking, my friends!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

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