60 15 - Month No. 5, 6, 7 & 8

I have been rather lax with the 60 tasks in 15 months challenge these past few months and have not been able to tick off too many tasks. But as it's been a few months since I last gave you an update I feel like it would be great to take a look at what's changed.
Since I have moved to the US in March, a few of the tasks I set for myself are no longer doable. I have not yet come up with new tasks for all the ones I had to discard, but decided to wait for a flash of inspiration and will continue working on the list then.

Soooo, these are the discarded tasks:
No 3. 15 visits to a sauna - no need for saunas in sunny California
No 5. censored
No 11. visit grandma 20 times - she's still in Austria
No 12. invite my family for a house warming party - not living in that apartment anymore
No 13. have a game night with my friends from the dance class
No 20. have a dinner/game night with my boyfriend's brothers - we had one, but could not squeeze the second one in before moving
No 24. declutter and organize my jewelry - I didn't take all of it with me
No 26. buy a carpet to go with the wing chair - don't live in that apartment anymore, won't be using the chair for quite some time
No 28. clean the doors in the apartment - did not make it before moving
No 30. finally plant spider plant cuttlings - hopefully they'll survive in their water glasses until I return next year
No 36. go 200 days without using my car - impossible in the US
No 44 + No 45. get at least 25 ects credits at university + work out digital filing system - obviously university has to wait for a few more years
No 50. visit London - will visit some other city
No 59. sort through my hand bags and sell/give away unused ones - I didn't take all of them with me

Now, let's talk about the tasks I finished.
First of all, I went to the opera with my mum to see Evita, that ticks off task No. 32. Just before we moved to the US, I managed to declutter and clean out our bathroom cabinet (No. 22) and wash all the windows in the apartment (No. 27). I felt like I had to do that as a colleague of ours was to move into our apartment while we are away.

I also went to eat a cupcake from Take the Cake (No. 40), but was disappointed because it wasn't anything like I expected it to be.

Once we got to the US we went to see a game of the San Francisco Giants, which I will count for task No. 31. We also already made a road trip to Los Angeles, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, which finishes off task No. 52.

How are you doing working on your resolutions/tasks for 2015?

Xoxo, have a great week!

60 15 - Month No. 2

I am so sorry for not posting at all during November, but I have started university again this semester, while still working full time, so it has been quite stressful with the first examinations taking place and all.

Anyhow, in November I managed to go 12 days without using my car and only now have I finished up the first half bottle of shampoo that I'd had in use already when the challenge started. So much for living sustainable...

As for the other tasks: I have read the novel Hothouse Flower by Lucinda Riley, which I can only recommend to you, because it's such a great story about two families and how it's been interwoven for more than a century. Also, my boyfriend ordered himself a few classic children's books, because he finally wanted to read them, so I read Alice in Wonderland to tick off the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge.

Through coincidence I got to tick off task no. 58, because my aunt got herself a new dressing gown, which she gave to me because she didn't like it after all.

During last week, I've been meditating a lot, because I feel like I'll need to be calmer and not get upset so easily when the new year comes around. There are a few possibilities and options that might become real, which will bring big changes to my life. I will tell you more about it, once it's decided.

For now I'm in full christmas mode, decorating, buying presents and simply enjoying this magnificent time of the year!

Xoxo, I hope, you are having as much fun as I am having!

60 15 - Month No. 1

Wow, the first month of the 60 tasks in 15 months challenge is over already! Time goes by so fast!
Anyway, I've been trying to work on as many tasks as possible so that maybe  - just maybe - I'll be able to finish all the tasks a little early.

This past month I've completed 3 tasks. Of course I've also been working on a lot of other tasks which can't be completed in just one go but take some time and efforts.

Now, I'll try to give you the highlights of last month:
First, and most important to me: I've finally made it through Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen. (I've written about that here) It's been my 4th attempt, so I'm quite proud that I actually read the whole thing this time. It's only one out of ten books that I'm supposed to read, but this one's been a tough one, so I feel like I need to share this milestone.

Also, I've picked out a nice wing chair that fits perfectly into our living room.

Then we had my boyfriend's brothers over for a game night, where I also tried (and succeded) to make cake pops.

Aaaand I watched all episodes of Lipstick Jungle, so that's another task completed.

Above all that I've been trying to not use my car, which isn't so easy because my parents live about 30km from our apartment, so every time I wanna go there or go shopping, I just have to use my car. Also, I'm studying again, so now that it's suddenly turned cold outside, I sometimes use my car to go to university.

Usually my enthusiasm for challenges fades rapidly after the first week or so, but this time I feel like I'll actually pull through and complete all the tasks. I'm so motivated :)

Xoxo, have a great week!

RGRC Update #5

Wow, it's been more than 6 months since I last posted an update for the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge! I'm shocked.

But I just didn't feel like reading anything on the list - I prefered light and entertaining love stories above the sometimes quite hard to read titles on the list.

However, at my 4th attempt in as many years I finally made it through the original version of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It has been hard to understand her 19th Century language, but after a while it got easier and I finally read the whole story about how Elizabeth's and Mr. Darcy's lives got intertwined. And I loved it! So romantic - but at times a little strange to see how things worked back then.

I hope to be reading some more books of the list soon. Let's just hope that I'll have some more free time and motivation this winter than I had last summer.

Xoxo, happy reading!

60 tasks in 15 months

Recently I've seen a lot of 101 things in 1001 days-lists pop up all over the internet and decided to also make a little list for myself. I figured, once I have everything written down and published, I will complete the tasks more easily - mostly to being able to ticking stuff off the list. So I've set down and come up with 60 tasks, that I am trying to complete until the end of 2015.

Usually the time frame is 1001 days, but I've decided to shorten it to 15 months, because I was afraid I wouldn't go through with it, if I set too big a timeframe.

I have already started completing tasks at the 1st of October, and I have to say until now it's going pretty well - except for the tasks where I wanted to exercise for 2 hours/week and meditate for 20 hours/week. I haven't even started, so I'm afraid I'll have to change these two.

I'm excited that I made myself write down all these tasks and also still be working on the list 3 weeks into the project.

To make it even more binding for myself I've decided to blog about it and write a post about my progress once a month.

Here you'll find the tasks -->

I hope to inspire some of you to make a list of their own or just follow my progress. Maybe some of you even have some tips on how to actually follow through and complete all the tasks.

Xoxo, let's hope I'll succeed!

Great Lent - Easter Preparations

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The 40 days of great lent are almost over and I thought I'd share share with you what I gave up on. Before waiving I had had this habit of checking my phone every 10 minutes to see if there was any news. Most times it would only be a newsletter or some other boring notification I weren't even remotely interested in. So I thought about it and decided to waive internet my phone for 40 days.

And it worked! I don't feel like checking my phone every few minutes and sometimes even completely forget about it. Which led as far as forgetting to switch it back to loud mode and therefore not being able to answering any calls for a whole afternoon.

I have to confess, the first two weeks or so I was bored out of my mind at times, just because I couldn't be on Facebook or play my favorite game. But that got easier every day. Also, I had to switch mobile data on a few times, because I had to use google maps and transfer some pictures. But apart from that, I have sticked to the plan and am very proud of myself!

Did you guys also waive something? How did you feel?

Xoxo, happy waiving!

RGRC Update #4

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It's update number 4 on the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge. So far, I haven't been working so hard on the challenge, but nonetheless have I read 16 out of 340 books. Aaaand, I've been reading a bit more than last time, but I have to admit, that Brave New World, The Wizard of Oz and The Scarecrow of Oz are quite short and easy to read.

The wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum is a colorful, exciting and entertaining story for children, which I will happily read to my future children. Except, of course for the scenes where the lion beheads some of their enemies.

Just as The wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Scarecrow of Oz is a nice adventure tale for children, taking place in many wonderful, strange and fantastic places. Also, we get to meet a few characters again, that have been in the story about the Wizard of Oz.

A bit shocking, but definitely an eye opener was Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. With all that's going on in Russia right now, it is more relevant than ever to think about what could happen if there was only one government that made all the rules and regulations for everyone - especially a government like the one they have in Russia.

And then there was Madame Bovary, written by Gustave Flaubert, which is a book about a bourgeois woman's (love) life during the early and mid 19th century. The book gives the reader an broad insight, but is a bit lenghty at times.

Xoxo, happy reading!

RGRC Update #3

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Wow, I can't believe it's been three months since I last posted about my progress in the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge.

Over Christmas I had been determined to read at least 3 or 4 books that are on the list, but all I managed to read until now was “The strange case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”, and I didn't even read it until on the plane to India. And I have to admit, I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand what Mr. Stevenson is trying to say in this book. It is well written and I enjoyed reading it, but I can only imagine that maybe he wanted to illustrate the transition of a nice man into an evil one. Or maybe he’s talking about some kind of psychological disease. Or even something entirely different. Who knows?

What do you guys think this book is all about?

Xoxo, keep on reading!

RGRC Update #2

I've been very lazy over the last two months. Basically, all I did was work. Even the books I actually made it through, I read at work during my less busy late shifts.

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This time I chose two very differential books - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald on one hand and Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe on the other.

I have to confess, if I had to choose, I'd prefer The Great Gatsby over Uncle Tom's Cabin, simply because it's story is so glamourous and makes you want to live in the Roaring Twenties and experience one of Mr. Gatsby's great parties.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed reading both books. Both of them brought a whole new world to me and made me see certain things in a different way.

So, in light of all this I hereby vow to try and read more until it's time for the next update. I'm planning on reading:

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Lady Chatterleys' Lover by D. H. Lawrence
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Xoxo, have fun getting lost in your book's world.

RGRC Update #1

I was very busy working on the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge during my holidays - whilst doing some sightseeing in Paris and the South of France and enjoying a few days of sun, sea and beach in Croatia.

So, during these last couple of months I read about 2300 pages. Three books, that couldn't be more different if intended. "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell, an epic love story and famous classic, "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America" by Erik Larson, which is a non-fiction book about the World Fair in Chicago in 1893 and "Lord of the Flies", a novel about a group of boys stuck on an uninhabited island.

All three books were very interesting to read and carried you off into a whole new world to explore. Now, that I'm finished with these books, I'm planning on reading these:

Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen - Sense and Sensibility
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby

Xoxo, have a great time reading!

What I'm reading

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Over the last weeks I've been reading two books, that have been on my To-Read-List for months now. Two books that couldn't differ more. Two books that are miraculously part of the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge, too. The first one is "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson, the other one "Gone with the wind" by Margaret Mitchell, which has been made into the same-named all-time classic movie.

"The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America" is a 2003 non-fiction book by Erik Larson presented in a novelistic style so thrilling, that you almost can't put it down. The book is based on real characters and events. Adapted from source

"Gone with the Wind", an epic novel about life in the Southern States of the US during the Civil War. It follows Scarlett O'Hara, a Southern Belle, who pines after - what she thinks is - the love of her life, after he marries another girl. The book describes the events in her life and the Civil War in very colorful terms and pictures.

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All in all, both books are very interesting, thrilling and informative and you feel you can't put them down. In "The Devil in the White City" some parts are nothing for highly sensitive people, but these are the parts that make the story thrilling.

I could only recommend to read both books, as they are stories everyone should have read in their lives.

What other books would you recommend everyone should read? Why?

Xoxo, enjoy the summer and read on!

The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge

A few weeks ago, while I was spending some time on StumbleUpon, I came across this post about the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge, where taking part means reading all (or as many as possible) books Rory ever mentions throughout the show. I decided to give it a go and take part because of three reasons:

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1. I love Gilmore Girls! When I was still in school I loved to watch as many episodes as they would show. Also, I admire the way they sometimes integrate quotes from movies, books and songs into their conversations.
2. I love reading. When I was younger people always told me to put that book away and do some sports or whatever.
3. I love ticking things off lists.

And, after going through the list of books, I discovered that a lot of them are either older books or biographies, so I'll be learning a lot while reading. Usually, when reading, I tend to choose books that are romances, which naturally all end the same way, so I am quite excited to get to know other genres (and plots).

I opened up a new page, which you can find here, where you'll find a list of all the books to be read and already read. Also, I'll sporadically write posts to update on my progress.

Xoxo, enjoy your summer while reading a good book and getting tanned!