Five Favorites: Procrastination

birthday flowers, brightening up my room!

Well, it's exam time again here at our friendly neighborhood medical school, and as always, I am finding time to do everything besides study. That's because I am one of the world's best procrastinators. I eventually sit down and get to it, obviously, because long hours in the library with a textbook are the only path through medical school. But before I pull myself together, I'm fabulous at doing just about anything else.  

Here are some of my favorite ways to push off studying.  I highly recommend them for anyone looking to create an inefficient and frustrating exam-prep experience!

1. Clean room, organize shelves, rearrange desk ect. This is particularity great if you want the feeling of being productive while actually avoiding the task at hand.

2. Spend time researching some rare pediatric mutation in glorious detail instead of focusing on the relevant material. If it's a topic I find interesting, an hour flies by. If it's boring, I look up after an eternity and twelve minutes have passed.

3. Do laundry.  Fold each piece in lovingly instead of just shoving them in the closet like I usually do.  Pinking off lint is also time consuming.

4. Discuss the pros and cons of health care reform in excruciating detail. Always great if you have med school friends who are attempting to avoid studying with as much dedication as you are.

5. Bake cookies! I tried these ones, recommended by Naomi from Love Taza. We brought a bunch to the library with us and an empty tupperware back. Way too delicious!
 

chocolate chip cookies: keeping blood sugar and spirits up since 1938!

Other common pastimes for when I should really be studying include writing thank you notes for birthday gifts, bickering unnecessarily with Karl, spending a lot of time deciding what to make for dinner, leafing through recipe books, wondering why the fridge is empty, and using exam stress as an excuse not to go grocery shopping. I'm a procrastination champ!

Look up at the Sky!

-Zanna

PS. Five Favorite Birthday Things, Ways to Save, Romantic Movies, Parlour Games, and Vacation Destinations! 

PPS. Last semester's exam week here!

Bonfire!

I love fire. In a safe-distance-away, controlled-setting kind of way, of course. I love the way it looks and moves, all those flickering colors and fleeting shapes. I love it's warmth and coziness and maybe even the whisper of danger. Huddling around a fire feels primordial and right.

Karl and I were down south last week on a skiing getaway weekend, right on the border between Austria and Germany in tiny little village in the mountains. There we stumbled on a local celebration (outside, of course, in below freezing temperatures, because the people that live there year-round must be utterly resistant to cold) and man, what a bonfire! It was huge, the size of a small house, and magnificent. People stood around and drank beer while the flames licked high into the night sky and sent sparks and smoke flying across the snow. The whole scene was like Robert Frost's poem, Fire and Ice, come to life. There were kids playing everywhere (because this is Europe, after all, and safety is more an every man for himself, common sense kind of endeavor) and people laughing and talking but all I could do was stare into that inferno.

Then I noticed clusters of people huddled around some sort of "warmers". I had to take a closer look. From what I could make out, they were hollowed-out tree trunks with smoldering ashes inside that emit heat as a kind of makeshift mini-fire. I was fascinated. What keeps the whole long from burning? How does it self-contain? I have no idea, but I huddled up to one too as the night got colder and I must say; I'm a fan!

Look up at the Sky!

-Zanna

Monday Memories: Sun, Snow, Skis!

The view from the living room window.

As I mentioned here, Karl and I ditched this icky winter weather last week for some sunshine and sport on the slopes!

We spent five days in the tiniest tinyest alpine village you ever saw, where the views are breathtaking and the rules are rigid. Seriously, only four families live there year round, and

Karl on his board--he's actually a certified instructor!

you can bet everybody knows everybody else's business. Karl's family has a vacation home there, and you can ski right up to your own doorstep! They have been visiting the same valley since his grandfather's day. Though his mom officially owns it, all cousins, aunts and uncles, and friends are welcome. You just have to give her a call to see if it's free when you want to go. Needless to say, Karl knows the village and the slopes inside out--but this was only my third time so I'm still learning! 

Stopping at a ski hut for luch!

It was great to get away just the two of us, especially as I am entering exam season now and won't reemerge for a couple weeks.  We had wonderful weather and new snow and lots of time to talk and smooch around on the lifts. I'm so glad we made time for this little trip!

One of the highlights was enjoying that hearty Bavarian cuisine. Lots of "wurst" (sausage), knödel (bread dumplings), spätzle (egg noodles), and pretzels with extra sides of meat and carbohydrates and more meat and more carbs. Just what you want after along day skiing in the cold! Of course, Karl loves his apple strudel, but my favorite is "flädle suppe", a flavorful broth with thin strips of pancake floating around. Yum!
 

Knödel soup, pretzel, apple strudel and flädlesuppe!

 Look up at the Sky! (or down at your plate!)

-Zanna

PS. More monday memories of playing "Who am I?", lake fun, a romantic weekend in Lausanne, and hiking in Brazil!

Five Favorites: Birthday Edition!

 

Blindfolded at my 21st Birthday Party

I love my own birthday. I just do. I know that sometime after you turn twelve, this is supposed to subside. What can I say? I'm immature. 

Today, Karl and I are heading to Berlin to celebrate my birthday family-style. This evening we have tickets to see Igor Levit perform Beethoven's sonatas, and I am so excited! Levit is an incredibly talented, up-and-coming pianist and it's such a stroke of luck he's performing the day before I turn twenty-three! As for the rest of the weekend...I think Karl has a couple surprises up his sleeve (he's the worst secret keeper ever) and whatever we end up doing to celebrate, I'm happy to be spending this day with him and with my lovely family.

Now for my Five Favorite Birthday Things:

1. CAKE. My dad always makes me an amazingly decadent and buttery chocolate tart from the incomparable cookbook, From Simple to Spectacular. Yum!

2. PRESENTS. My style for the year is basically defined by what my fashion-guru of a younger sister gives me for Xmas and Bday. Thanks for that, Zelda! Sorry you had to explain what an ombre is to this trend-ignoramus sister of yours. And my Mom is a pretty amazing gift-giver as well.

3. REFLECTION.  I love looking back over the last year, like we do at New Years and on birthdays, and really taking stock of the grace and blessings in our lives. Too often our gratefulness gets swept away by life's many small frustrations like papercuts and annoying cell phone ringtones. I try to grab any opportunity to put those little things aside and embrace this time as it flies by!

4. FUN PARTIES. When we get back, you betcha we're having a big ol' blow out. Above is a pic from my twenty first, and yes, that's me blindfolded and on the way to god knows what. Whether it's a crazy party or a group of friends gathering for some food and conversation, we love having everyone over for a good time.

5. GETTING OLDER. Nope, it's not my favorite, but in an effort to stop hating it, I'm putting it on the list! I started having serious angst about my birthdays passing when I turned 10 (double digits!) and it hasn't ceased since. But as much as I mourn how fast the years are going by, I know it only feels like that because we are having so. much. fun. every step of the way. So I am going to love every blink of an eye that passes before this time of year rolls around again...each blink is an immeasurably precious gift.

Look up at the Sky!

-Zanna

Breakfast table decked for a birthday (dark because it's 6:00AM in northern Europe)

PS. Five Favorite Ways to Save, Romantic Movies, Parlour Games (some even work for parties!), and Five Favorite Destinations for 2015!

Super Quick and Easy (Microwaveable) Brownies

Ladies and Gentlemen, a confession. 

I am an absolute and unabashed chocoholic. The darker, the better, and I can never get enough. Today I'm sharing with you one of my favorite last-minute-must-get-out-the-door recipes. Its for those days you arrive home sweaty and frantic twenty minutes before a dinner you've been invited to...thirty minutes away. This is great for potlucks, hostess gifts, spontaneous gatherings and late night meltdowns.  I first got this recipe from my best friend Clara, a prodigious baker, who used it as a bakesale contribution in high school whenever she overslept.  Its incredibly easy to put together (in one bowl), uses ingredients we always have around the house, and best of all, it's practically fool-proof. Seriously. Even Karl made it (while I yelled instructions from the shower while simultaneously brushing my teeth and writing a card).

 
And did I mention you can bake it in an oven or a microwave? And that the later takes all of six minutes? Yeah. It's awesome. They also happen to taste pretty darn good.

Here's Clara's recipe for Super Quick and Easy
(Microwaveable) Brownies:

Ingredients

115 grams butter (1/2) cup
1 cup sugar 
2 eggs
200 gram dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 /2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda


Instructions

If you have a pan or pot that is oven/microwave proof, great.  You'll be able to mix and bake this all in one go. If not, grab any old pan/pot and transfer your batter before you bake.

Melt butter on the stove. Turn heat to low and add sugar. MIX WELL about three or four minutes with a fork until mixture is fully emulsified. This is the only really important step. The batter will become thicker and paler and the sugar grains should all disappear. If you proceed too quickly, the brownies won't turn solid and will taste fatty.
 

1. Melt butter, 2. Add sugar, 3. Mix extensively until thick and pale, 4. Add eggs

Emulsified butter and sugar? Good. Now take off the heat and add half the chocolate, mixing until melted and integrated. Remember, the better the quality of the chocolate used, the better the brownies taste! A dash of coffee powder will sometimes help compensate for lower quality chocolate. When mixture is brown, add  eggs and and mix till combined. Add all the rest of the ingredients in one go.

For microwave:

Microwave your batter on high for one minute. Then, add the rest of the chopped chocolate and mix with a fork. Return to microwave for five minutes. If the brownies are unfinished, keep microwaving in 1 minute intervals till they are done. My microwave usually needs six minutes total to finish the job.

For oven:

Add the rest of the chopped chocolate and bake brownies in oven at 190°C (375°F) for twenty minutes. Voila!


Let brownies cool and enjoy! They're even better the next day....

Look up at the Sky!

-Zanna

PS. Tragically, no pictures of the finished product...it got eaten too fast!

PPS. Try adding some chopped nuts sprinkled on top, its even more delicious.

Monday Memories: Skiing in the Alps

Patrick, Frederika, and Karl with our epic snowman!

Just a short post today, because we are beyond the reach of reliable internet...in the Alps! I love it here. The mountains are majestic and the snow makes everything so serene and still.

Karl's family has a vacation place here and we come almost every year for some snow, sunshine, and skiing. Last year, we went with a couple of friends from medical school, Patrick and Frederika, but this years it's a romantic getaway à deux, which is lovely after the hustle and bustle of these busy winter months. 2015 is just flying by and I'm so happy to have a couple days of calm with my sweetheart to leave it all behind and just enjoy eachother's company (and some hot chocolate and good books too)!

Look up at the Sky (it's a fantastic night sky here)!

-Zanna

PS. More Monday Memories here, here, and here.

Five Favorites: Ways to Save

Pete's Christmas gift currently graces our bathroom

This week's "five favorites" post stems from our very student-y budget constraints. Many of the things I love (great chocolate, fresh fruits and vegetables, organic meat, and most of all: trips) don't come cheap. Here are some tips Karl and I have gathered on how to make each Euro count!

1. DIY.  This is a "duh" suggestion that I never really took seriously until I started making my own bread (yum!) and realized how much dough we were saving (terrible pun intended). Now we're all about finding ways to add thoughtfulness and save pennies with DIY. We loved making  homemade holiday cards out of scraps and our low-key  Valentine's Day fit right in with this new philosophy.

2. Turn that thermostat down! Last winter, during the coldest week of the year, our heating broke down. We froze for seven days before it got fixed.  After some bitter complaining and several evenings spent exclusively in bed (the only warmish place in the apartment) we actually kind of...got used to it. To our surprise, we just sort of shifted from breakfast in PJs to breakfast in an Anorak. The couple seconds after a shower were hellish, but beyond that, we learned that when one is ensconced in fleece, cold is actually okay. Although we certainly cranked the heating up when it was finally fixed, we tend to keep the apartment about seven degrees colder than before...and now we save several hundred Euro a year, without minding at all!

3.Stay in! At the Sophie/Pete/Karl/Zanna house, we LOVE games. We've found an evening of poker or a snuggly movie night on the sofa is just as awesome as a fancy dinner out--for a fraction of the price!

4. Meatless Mondays...and Tuesdays...and Wednesdays.  My roommate Sophie is a vegetarian, and though the rest of us identify as carnivores, we only eat meat about once or twice a week. I tend to insist on organic, local, and free-range (for various ethical and health-related reasons) and that's about as expensive as it gets! So we have some morally righteous meat every now and then and enjoy eggs and other protein-laden, purse-friendly alternatives the rest of the week.

5. Car sharing.  It took me a while to warm up to this one, but Karl insisted, and now we use it for every car trip and have never looked back. When we travel as a couple, there are two empty seats in the back and it can cover the entire cost of gas to rent those out! We use the two most popular sites here in Germany, Mitfahrgelegenheit and Bla Bla Car, but we learned during our time in France and Switzerland that there are equivalent sites for most European countries. We're heading down south for some skiing this weekend, and the rides we have lined up will reimburse the whole car trip!

In addition to these tips, we also have a couple general rules, such as: no credit card debt, no bottled water, no magazine subscriptions, no take-out, no ATM-stops at non-affiliated banks, no brand-name products, ect.

One thing we NEVER agree on is handymen. Karl always thinks he can fix it, whatever "it" is, and I would rather just call an expert and not make it worse. We're still hashing that one out!

What about you? What are you favorite ways to save pennies and what's worth a splurge?

Look up at the Sky!

-Zanna
 

PS. Very first "Five Favorites" here!