That´s how it felt today when I opened my feedreader today. I recieved 456 (!!!) gorgeous presents. Some of those fair and beautiful presents are tiny, some are gigantic and some are something in between. You all have been blogging zealously while I was absent.

My abscence… I had to neglect my blog for a few days by reason of an urgent call from my real, non-cyber life.

Who´d have guessed this? Coffee-auntie Sanni´s got a “real” life, too. ;)

This real life has a marked preference: it loves to put obstacles in my way. I´ve swept most of those obstacles out, but some of them I can´t iron out easily. There´s some very personal stuff I still need to attend to - that kind of not bloggable stuff which I´d love to forget about… but I can´t swamp this stuff out anymore… and I know I will get my problems solved, step by step - and, hopefully I´ll get from strength to strength.

However, my real break, without posting and even reading my favorite blogs, is over. Real life grants me a bit more spare time to blog… and to visit you. I will unwrap my lovely postie-presents tonight, digging through your archives.

I confess I´ve opened 2 of my presents already. I found my big butt tagged twice.

The inimitable Barb @ Skittles´ Place tagged me to tell ya

Seven Things About Me

I can assure my seven facts will be the most boring you´ve ever read in this MEME!

1. I can´t stop buying glass candle holders. *TeeHee* How random was that? Seriously - though I think I´m collecting them now. They´re everywhere. I love love LOVE them!

2. I get my nails done every two weeks and pedi every three. I love getting my nails done because mine just won´t grow. It makes me feel soooo girly. :)

3. I have a very bad habit of licking my lips too much. So I always a (few) carry chap-stick(s).

4. I am so NOT a morning person. Although I do have to wake up (Hello, Luis! Thanks, darling! *LOL*), I despise mornings.

5. I love steak. Not just any steak… either it has to be t-bone or New York. When I was a child I would eat mine and then swallow any that others in the family would leave. To this day I can scarf a 24 oz! Love me some good ol’ steak baby! *Yum*

6. Although I love to buy shoes (453 pairs and counting) I prefer to go barefoot. Weird, isn´t it?

7. I have a bad habit of buying clothes in small sizes for the sole purpose of losing weight. I now have two full huge plastic containers in my closet just waiting for that special day. *LMAO* (Oh, this might help! *grin*)

And 7 people to tag?

- Gattina
- Danielle
- Mimi
- Neila
- Anndi
- Turnbaby

The rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to blog about their seven things and post the rules as well . At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don´t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

The one and only Danielle at Modern Musings challenged me to jump on the

Musical MEME Wayback-Machine

(Can´t name it MEME, because I like to pass it on to Matt-Man, who hates the ME… thingys *grin*)

The rules:

1. Go to www.popculturemadness.com
2. Pick the year you turned 18
3. Get yourself nostalgic over the song´s of the year
4. Write something about how the song affected you
5. Pass it on to 5 more friends

God, I´m old :) - Are you ready for some 1992 nostalgia?
Here we go:

Jump Around - House Of Pain
Lithium - Nirvana
One - U2
Under The Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Damn, I wish I Was Your Lover - Sophie B. Hawkins
Hazard - Richard Marx
Sexy M.F. - Prince (And The New Power Generation)
Layla (unplugged) - Eric Clapton

1992 - The year of Grunge.
Possibly the hardest year in my life so far. I was busy (more or less) working on my Abitur (the German university entrance diploma), working in a pizza delivery service as a “cockroach” (kitchen help and telephonist) and in a cocktail bar (bartender). I moved out of my parents´ house when I was 16, living together with my “puppy love”. It was a hard, but fun time. Sometimes frustrating, sometimes fun - as you can see when you have a look at my song choices… absolutly different music genres, but totally me… reflecting my hopes and fears - culminating in my split personality =)

And you? Please let me know, especially you 5:

1.) Matt-Man
2.) Bud
3.) Trav
4.) Bond
5.) Mo
… and - just because I can´t count and I can´t get enough of her, Turnbaby again (Noooo… no other reason *LOL*)

I hope everyone had a bit of chocolate today!
*SMOOCHES* - I´m out!

And now…
… our moment of Homer J.:

Scully: Homer, we’re going to ask you a few simple yes or no questions. Do you understand?
Homer: Yes. (lie dectector blows up)

… in the face of almost unbearable stress

Welcome to Manic Monday Edition #15:

SURVIVE

Did you ever wake up in the morning thinking everything is going to be relaxed? And then you came to the sudden realization:”Wait, I´m going to do all of that? In one week? This week? *shriiiiiek*”

You know how you have those days (or maybe weeks, months or years) that just seem to be loaded with stress? I know: It´s all relative - one person´s stress is another person´s holiday.

How do you survive a stress storm? Do you have any ultimate plans how to cope when everything hits you at once?

When my life somehow has gotten out of control, like now, and stress has its grip on me I try to break the grip of stress - by providing some time off and using different anti-stress techniques

How to survive almost unbearable stress:

1.) Plan an escape. Take a few hours off and do the most dramatically easy but fun thing you can think of. Go see a matinee downtown, have a fantastic lunch, shop, browse, and walk. Be as indulgent as you can stand, and drag as many of your friends along with you.

2.) Laugh. Whatever it is you find funny, bring more of it into your life. Whether it´s certain people, films, tv shows, plays, books. Choose to laugh -

“Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.”
(Bill Cosby)

3.) Scream. I do believe in primal screams. I always feel better after I´ve yelled at the top of my lungs for no particular reason, doubly so if I´m pissed off about something. Practice different screams, such as yelling ordinary words (”Coffee mug!!!” - “Bratwurst!!!” - “Apple juice!!!”) vs. generic scream sounds (”Aaarrrrgggh!”). Advanced stage of screaming: Get friends and co-workers to participate if you can.
But even if you scream alone, and you have to do it into a pillow or underwater to not upset the neighbors, do it anyway. You´ll feel better, I promise.

4.) Fun time. How much time per day do you do stuff purely for fun? Just because you like it and for no other reason? Why isn´t this number larger? What is more important than fun and happiness over the course of a lifetime? Allow yourself fun, no matter how stressed you are.

5.) Sleep & Exercise. Unfortunately, our minds are connected to our bodies, and if we treat our bodies poorly, well, our minds kind of get pissed off. I´ve found that if I´m not getting enough exercise, I´m about at least half as useful to the world than otherwise. Start taking a walk every day. Go swimming. Have more (or better) sex. Free up your body, and your mind will follow.

6.) Bunk. Get in the car, pick a direction, and drive. Grab friends, or not. Bring food, or not. Play music really loud, or just roll down the windows, and stick your head out (*psst* This is a good time to scream).

I´m not sure about how I´m going to make it, but by this time one week from today I will be marveling at all I accomplished - hopefully. Right now, I´m wondering how I’m going to do it. I will take my “How to survive“-guide to my heart and (I hope) I will survive. Please keep your fingers crossed for me ;)

You are that <———-> closed to survive my survival post. Are you ready to identify these random “Survive” lyrics?

(1) After of all of the darkness and sadness/Soon comes happiness/If I surround my self with positive things/I´ll gain prosperity
(2) You alone across the floor/You and me and nothing more/You´re the great mistake I never made/I never lied to you, I hated when you lied/But I´ll survive your naked eyes

(3) Some people put the best outside/Some people keep the best inside/Some people can´t stand up strong/Some people won´t wait for long.

(4) I’ll never be an angel/I’ll never be a saint it’s true/I’m too busy surviving/Whether it’s heaven or hell/I’m gonna be living to tell

(5) And so you’re back from outer space/I just walked in to find you here, with that sad look upon your face/I should have changed that stupid lock/I should have made you leave your key/If I had known for just one second you’d be back to bother me

Oooops, I reneged on my promise to myself not to post anything about this song today… the reason is it evokes some “”strange memories. But I´ve chosen (5) especially for Mo, my wonderful friend and brilliant force behind Manic Monday. Everything´s gonna be alright, my friend! You´re a survivor! =)

Now, whole Blogosphere, let´s screeeeeam! 3-2-1:
“Braaaaaatwuuuuurst!!!”

xoXOxo,
my dear readers and survivors of this special “How to survive“-post!

And now…

… our moment of Homer J.:

Homer: Oh, so they have internet on computers now!

Manic Monday
survive
lyrics
The Simpsons

Welcome to SPSH 56 - Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt #16 for me, Ladies and Gentlemen!
This week´s theme is “CHILDHOOD“.

Yes! I´ve installed all pictures on my new hard-disk - I´m happy to be participating in SPSH on a regular basis again. I missed you all a lot =D

I considered the theme a tough one on first sight, but digging deep in my archives I found surprisingly many CHILDHOOD photos of mini-me. I ended up deciding which CHILDHOOD picture to post by drawing lots.

The winner is a picture taken on my Daddy´s birthday - Sept. 17th, 1974. I was a busy baby - a wild one, like our son Luis. So it was very hard for me to hold out patiently until my auntie Christel had taken the picture. Just for the record: That´s what my parents told me when we were having a look at our family photo album some time ago. I was way too young to remember this myself…

I adore my Mommy´s dress… and Daddy´s totally seventies hair-cut. Amazing to see my Daddy´s had HAIR in the past. I guess he lost it during my CHILDHOOD. Don´t worry, nowadays I´m not known for making people bald*LOL*

I hope you liked my CHILDHOOD picture. Did you participate in the Interview thingy making the rounds through the Blogosphere yet? No? If you are interested in a 5-question-interview or if you like to be interviewed again, please leave a comment at my latest interview - I promise I won´t bite =D

Thanks for stopping by - happy weekend ya all!

And now…
… our moment of Homer J.:

Homer: The problem in the world today is communication. Too much communication.

SPSH
childhood

I took part in the Interview Meme a week ago. I´ve had lots of fun answering the questions, so I decided to willingly participate again. Hey, I´m an egomaniac - having a blog is not enough excuse to talk about myself *grin*
The five following questions are sponsored by Danielle, the very talented one and one Taureandevi. Thanks for giving me another platform, my friend =)

1. A recent article described the importance of a blog’s brand and visual identity in creating a successful blog. How long did it take you to come up with your own “visual identity”? Describe Coffee 2 Go’s style in three words.

I was sitting on the patio, enjoying a huge Starbuck´s Frozen Caramel Frappuccino in July 2006, shortly after I gave birth to Luis. I decided to start blogging although I knew there wouldn´t be much time to - just as long as it would take to… to… to prepare this wonderful Coffee2go is was enjoying. So this blog was born within 5 minutes. When I started Coffee2go the template was full of coffee flavor, too… coffee and cream - colored all over. I´ve lost this visual coffee-flavour when I pimped Coffee2go with my “Spring Has Sprung” template. Now the little coffee corner smells of lavender *achoo* =)

Welcome to Coffee2go. We are

Open-minded | Paranoid | Caffeinated

2. {This question is to be answered by both the lovely Sanni and her EvilBlogger Twin.} I think we could safely say that the majority of your readers are American. What do ya think of us?

It is rarely possible, but sometimes it occurs -
Sanni and her Evil Blogger Twin are in complete agreement:
We both love our readers. We are proud to announce the 20,000th visitor at Coffee2go soon… Okay, Evil Blogger Twin adds she´s a bit jealous because her part in the blogosphere doesn´t get as much attention as mine. While she blames this on people´s inhibition I blame it on her lazyness to post ;).

Having a look at my statistic I can say you´re right. The majority of my readers are American. I´ve been to different places in the U.S. so far - the persons I met in “real life” were all warm-hearted and friendly - and so are my visitors in the blogosphere. I really appreciate your visits - and I do love ya all!

3. If you could give three gems of advice to a new blogger what would they be?

1.) Be yourself - always and always. Not matter if you are posting or showing some love to your fellow bloggers by commenting.
2.) Dress your blog as well as you would dress yourself for a meeting with an unknown person. Just for the record: I´m not talking about mini-skirt and high heels, but about fonts and design.
3.) Add tags and ping technorati yourself. Or find someone smarter than me who tells you how to ping technorati automatically. If you found someone to guide you - please let me know =)

4. When did your obsession with coffee begin?

It started with espresso. I guess it was 1995, while I was working as a manageress on Canon´s booth at the CeBIT in Hannover, Germany. We were tired as death and running out of drugs, but needed to be wide awake. So I fell head over heels in love with the Jura espresso machine in the front office. I will never forget the nice promising sound the magnificent percolator made after I fondly pressed its “Double Espresso”-button! Actually I´m still dreaming to give a home to one of those marvelous machines: The Jura Impressa Z5. Well, I can´t afford this one… so I leave it at hanging around at the official Jura dealer in Duesseldorf, Germany every now and then, visiting my dream machine, stroking “my” Z5 suavely…

(It´s sad, isn´t it? Wanna endorse our love? Please don´t hestitate to click the donation button in the left sidebar! *wink*)

5. If you invented a time machine when would you go?

I´d give my time machine a test going back to 1998, telling my younger self: “Stay away from that guy. Far, far away!!!”
Thereafter I´d go back to the Middle Ages, to sate my medievalism (of course: carrying a clothespin on my nose) - and then another flying visit: A pirate´s life for me -YO-HO!

I confess I was lousy late coming up with the interview questions for my 3 volunteers last time. My weird schedule made it impossible to prepare the questions earlier than today. I promise to be much faster now. SO:
Anybody else up for the challenge? If so, here are the rules:
- I’ll interview the first three people who request it.
- If you want to be one of them, leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
- I will respond by e-mailing you five questions.
- I get to pick the questions. (Make sure I have your e-mail address).
- You will then answer the questions in a blog post of your own.
- You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
- When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions, and the cycle will repeat forever and ever until the end of time.
- Have fun!

And where do we go from here???
Enjoy your wEEkEnd, everybody!
Feel free to return for Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt tomorrow =)
Scavenger Hunt - by the way: Did you sign up for the Blog Scavenger Hunt @ Amy´s Random Thoughts already? If not: Hurry up and join the fun!

Update for Amy! The cuddly version:

Love ya all later,

And now…
… our moment of Homer J.:

Homer: Fame was like a drug, but what was even more like a drug were the drugs.

Interview MEME
The Simpsons
Blog Scavenger Hunt